I'm feeling loquacious so I thought I'd post again...A friend of mine Jeff posted today on his Google+ page that he'd gotten some more titles from Appendix N. Appendix N refers to the 1st edition Dungeon Masters Guide p. 22. The author Gary Gygax included a list of fantasy and science fiction books that he thought might be of some use to assiring Dungeon Masters. Jeff inspired me to crack open my DMG and take a look at what titles were on the list. I hadn't remembered all the titles on the list. I was amazed (in a good way) to find Manly Wade Wellman. A long time ago, I purchased a few of his used hardbacks on Amazon.com because Wellman was a main source of inspiration for another love of mine Hellboy creator, Mike Mignola. Mignola was mainly inspired by the character of Silver John. Silver John was kind of an occult detective in the Appalachian Mountains in mid 20th century America. I'm not sure if Gary read those novels. Wellman was a pulp writer who died in 1986. I can see that other pulp writers infuenced Gary. I was suprised today at the link between Hellboy and D&D. I wonder if Gary would include the graphic novels of Mignola in a "new" Appendix N. I could see using In Nomine or GURPS as a system for a Hellboy game. But Hellboy himself might have too much over the characters. Some of the themes and settings of Hellboy don't seem to fit directly into a fantasy game. Maybe some link to Ravenloft? Who knows..

I was reading over The One Ring the past few days and I have to say I love the artwork and I'm impressed what I've seen so far. I think as I mentioned on a post in the cubicle 7 forums that my one concern was I would have liked a few more creatures in the Loremasters book. Simple animals like vipers, horses and bears weren't included. Given that most of Middle Earth seems like Western Europe, I would have expected those to be included. I'm running a one shot game for friends in a few weeks. I'm looking forward to the other supplements. I'm glad that I finally got this. I've been a fan of Middle Earth role playing products for a while.