I’ve spent the last two blog posts pondering the mysteries of Elves. In particular, with respect to the craft of writing. That focus remains.

What I have discovered in my reading since is, perhaps, the most freeing of all. The majority of my previous posts come from the perspective of being perplexed as to the peculiar attributes of Elves as they are portrayed in the game Dungeons & Dragons, and branching out from that into professional writing.

My confusion came from a bias towards Elves as portrayed in The Lord of the Rings. I underwent a study of comparative literature and analysis of game rules to arrive at an answer. As an author, it is crucial to understand the nature of your characters so that their interactions make sense. Both of my previous conclusions could be correct. Many things may be true at the same time. I take comfort and pleasure in writing this because it’s a staple of the era of fiction that inspires me. Something happens in fiction and the author offers two, three, or four possible explanations.

What I have discovered is that the peculiarities of elves as portrayed in D&D are very strongly based upon themes and motifs out of folklore. The peculiar immunity to the paralysis of a ghoul could easily be explained by the ancient view of elves as spirits themselves. Contrary to popular mythology, the strange immunity to sleep spells and not needing to sleep aren’t derived from Legolas’s strange abilities as described in The Lord of the Rings. They come from the Lai of Tydorel, which ascribes the insomnia of its protagonist to having had an elven father.

It all boils down to world building. I prefer my games based upon literature, but I have finally traced the weirdness of D&D elves to our folklore. Thus, the confusion ends and I am truly free to write my own take, having traced these things to their sources. It all makes sense, in context. Knowledge is power, world building is a fine art, and this is my final word on the subject.

And now I have my own Elves to bring to life. I wish you well and hope to see you back here very soon.

(The above illustration is taken from the cover of Into the Borderlands from Goodman Games. I believe it is fair use. However, if I am mistaken, please let me know and I will remove it without hesitation.)
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Regards,
John

From the very first print of the Original Dungeons and Dragons, there has been an unusual relationship between elves and ghouls. For a start ghouls possess the unusual power to paralyze their prey. And elves are...just immune. Why?

This was something that emerged as an artifact of game play in the Chainmail war game that preceded Dungeons & Dragons. But where did it come from?

Generations of gamers have puzzled endlessly about this enigma. Some cite Tolkien. The official early explanation was derived from Poul Anderson’s depiction of elves being soulless. There have been plenty more. None of them ever quite hit the mark. I’m a firm believer that a roleplaying game’s rules should model the literary or legendary source. In this case, it goes without a real explanation.

I’m content to play a game with peculiar rules, but once I decided to become an author, I had to know the answer! You cannot write about characters you do not fully understand. Just what is this peculiar trait?

Context is key. First, what is a ghoul? Then, what is an elf? The answer to elven immunity appears by juxtaposing Jack Vance’s Mazirian the Magician and Basic D&D.

There you have the inspiration behind the ghoul’s paralyzing touch. Now what of the elven immunity?
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Now comes the game design aspect. Some abilities that had been innate in Chainmail became spells in Dungeons & Dragons. Thanks to Delta’s D&D Hotspot for teaching me that. Thus, an elf who wanted to become invisible, had to become a wizard (or Magic-User) as the Class was then called. In Moldvay (the editor’s name) Basic D&D, elves were Fighter/Magic-Users. The class itself was just called Elf.

Juxtaposing the literature with the game design, the answer emerges. Elves aren’t immune to the paralyzing touch of ghouls. They can cast a spell that counters it. The original oversimplified game rule falls away as a relic of Chainmail that should never had made the conversion.

I hope you gamers, and in particular, writers out there enjoyed this post. Now, whatever you do with your particular take on elves, at least you have an explanation for what is actually happening in this particular situation.

​(Please note that the illustration used above is fair use. However, if I am mistaken, please let me know and I will remove it without hesitation.)

See you around the web!

Regards,
John

Welcome to my very first blog post! There's a lot to unpack here, but I'll try to keep it short.

I'm one of the generation of authors who learned about fantasy through the lens of Dungeons & Dragons. In fact, I owe my choice of profession to a bit of text on the back of the Moldvay basic boxed set that was my introduction to the hobby.

I'm also keen on doing my own thing. As much as I love the game, I have no desire to be dismissed as just another D&D author. I have been studying a variety of disciplines, everything from animal behavior to Historical European Martial Arts, all with a view to grounding my fiction in reality. I have also been diligently reading the literature of Appendix N from the Dungeon Master's Guide with a view to both better understanding the game and to see what has been done in my chosen genre before making my own unique contribution.

Dungeons and Dragons is full of homages to this literature. It's one thing to play a game, it's quite another to publish your own original fiction. To avoid inadvertently infringing copyright, I have been diligently studying the Appendix N literature. Which brings me to the thrust of this post.

From its earliest days, Dungeons & Dragons has featured a peculiar relationship between elves and ghouls. I will not summarize the numerous explanations I have seen elsewhere online.

Here's the rub. Ghouls have the ability to paralyze their prey. Elves are immune to this strange power. Why? As an author particularly fascinated by elves, it's important for me to fully understand the characters I write about.

It's important to note that the ghouls that inspired D&D were actually drawn from several influences: the ghouls (Romero used this term, not zombies) from the film The Night of the Living Dead. They also bear some resemblance to the zombies out of H.P. Lovecraft's Herbert West, Reanimator. Finally, much of their lore is drawn from Pickman's Model and the Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath, also by H.P. Lovecraft. Another possible influence is the Ghoul-bear Thrang out of Mazirian the Magician, a short story by Jack Vance (later incorporated into his novel Tales of the Dying Earth). Particularly prominent is Thrang's strange paralyzing power.

The elves that inspired D&D were originally inspired by myths, fairy tales, and the appendix N literature, but a satisfying answer to the immunity to this paralysis remains elusive to this day. Part of the problem is that D&D elves straddle a nebulous middle ground of being modeled both on the older material and on Tolkien's noble depictions.

My own tastes run more towards Tolkien's portrayals. It is those elves whose immunity has perplexed generations. It was on a rereading of H.P. Lovecraft's Pickman's Model that I stumbled across what I believe to be the answer.

First of all, many are quick to note that Lovecraft's ghouls do not have this ability. What you discover upon reading, is that there are cleverly hidden homages to the Norse Draugr in this story. They very definitely had the ability to paralyze their prey. The original Arabian myths also speak of the hideous nature of the ghoul. Paralysis could be one possible interpretation.

There is also this, from the same story.

There is the literary evidence. It takes knowledge of Tolkien's elves to arrive at the conclusion. Elves are more powerful than mere humans. They are therefore beyond the power of ghouls to affect. You may or may not agree, but for me it has solved a decades long mystery of fantasy and horror.

I hope you gamers out there enjoyed this post. I hope to see you here again, whether you're a gamer or a fan of fantasy fiction. I've recently solved a couple of other mysteries of fantasy gaming that I'll be sharing over the next few weeks. Particularly as they relate to 5e.

Many thanks to Michael O'Brien at Chaosium, Inc. and especially to Loic Musy, the illustrator.

I would be remiss if I didn't add that I have also enjoyed the Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game since its debut, for both its faithfulness to the literature of H.P. Lovecraft and also in helping to understand the character of Elves.

Have a great day!

Regards,
John