Kinda Like Appendix N

Rodney Hampton

- 4 minutes read - 746 words

The grognards told us where to find inspiration. We weren’t listening.

Everybody knows about Appendix N. But are you aware that in the final issue of Strategic Review, there are hints about what kind of music inspired the original players, and which movies they found worthwhile?

Before we go there, let me share a little bit about my own personal madness. In Dave Arenson’s First Fantasy Campaign (pg. 42, 1977) he tells us (perhaps unreliably) that the Blackmoor “dungeon was first established in the Winter and Spring of 1970-71 and it grew from there.” What inspired him?

”I was sitting around… with nothing going on except the monster movie,… reading Conan and conceived of the idea for the dungeon. I populated it and the next time the boys showed up for a battle, they had a castle sitting in the middle of the board. That was the spring of 1971.” (Game News* #5, July 1985, p9)

Hat tip to D.H. Boggs for his blog on picking out which movies:

Saturday May 29, 1971 - The Black Room (1935) Saturday June 5, 1971 - House of Frankenstein (1944) Saturday June 12, 1971 - House of Dracula (1945)

https://boggswood.blogspot.com/2018/08/thoughts-on-cinematic-inspiration-for.html

So I watched them. All three of them were on Amazon Prime. The House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula are pretty awful movie making, but The Black Room is top notch.

There are other indications that the Mummy movies also provided inspiration. Take, for example, the Potion of Longevity and the descriptions of the Mummy from the 1973 draft contained within the Arneson v. Gygax lawsuit. Here we see references to Tana leaves and a mummy that behaves differently than what we get in BTPBD and OD&D.

It seems that Arneson must have been familiar with one or more of the Mummy movies by Universal that reference Tana leaves:

But what about Gary Gygax and his merry bunch? For that we finally turn to The Strategic Review, Vol II, No. 2 from April 1976. Tim Kask’s “In the Cauldron” article on pp. 2 and 7 tantalize and frustrate. Although the final sentence on page 2 seems to relate to yet another composer, when he picks up again on page 7 he starts with a brand new paragraph about comics. Tim Kask, rest in peace, has gone on to editorial heaven.

Contained within the same issue, there is a blub about the upcoming GenCon where we hear that Jeff Perren (co-author of CHAINMAIL) will be bringing movies to watch. I have seen The Three Musketeers, The Vikings, Henry V (Lawrence Olivier and Kenneth Branaugh), and The Adventures of Robin Hood. I have seen a version of Journey to the Center of the Earth, but The Six Wives of Henry VIII (BBC television series) is new to me (and probably you too!). It is amazing to me that we are still piecing together the milieu in which our hobby was created. I, for one, am excited to go in search of these movies and soundtracks and get them into the queue. Who knows what other tidbits we may discover?

Journey to the Center of Earth (soundtrack)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkAUJkbhd-RhHkMyBBvz8AYgosNb5QU2Y

Embedding must not be allowed.

Myths and Legends Surrounding King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

Seems to be some kind of 1970s rock opera style album. There is a wikipedia article.

The Six Wives of Henry VIII (side 1 of record)

The Three Musketeers

The duel at the end of the sequel (The Four Musketeers) is excellently choreographed and performed by Michael York and Christopher Lee. I can’t help but include it here.

The Adventures of Robin Hood (Errol Flynn)

Henry V (1944)

Music composed by William Walton. Titular character portrayed by the peerless right honorable Lord Lawrence Olivier.

The Vikings

Last, but most assuredly not least, is The Vikings which absolutely has to be watched right now.

Forgive the bitcoin pitch (you can skip) in the middle of this soundtrack playlist. The title of the first track ought to tell you how far removed this film is, culturally, from the 2020s.

Post Script

I also found a fantastic soundtrack from another movie of the golden era of cinema. Again, the theme is Arthurian legend. And the only scene posted online has me intrigued. I have to give this a watch soon.

Originally published on Substack on February 15, 2026.