Appendix Lit: A Gamer Inspiration Book Club
- A Timspiration Project
Welcome to Appendix Lit, a speculative fiction book club built to expand your reading list and inspire your tabletop roleplaying games. Whether you’re a seasoned Game Master or a player with a growing character roster, our curated booklist is here to add to your creative toolkit.
It’s incredible what stories can spark—backstories, plot hooks, worldbuilding ideas, or something entirely unexpected.
Appendix Lit began in 2020. While I was one of the few who had/got to work during the lockdowns, I still had a ridiculous amount of free-time as we all adjusted to stay-home realities. I used to love reading and thought heck, nows as good a time to start again.
I decided to read Appendix N, Gygax’s list of books that inspired the creation of D&D. I quickly realized a lot of the books came from the same type of authors: mostly middle-aged men of Western European descent. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, it doesn’t really reflect tabletop gaming. Any Game Master knows that if you run the same story for different tables, it will always turn out differently. Why wouldn’t I want my gaming inspiration to reflect that too?
Even if it were not the summer of 2020, I knew enough to know that a broader selection of styles and views would only make me a better story teller.
“Upon such a base I built my interest in fantasy”
– in reference to Appendix N found in the first DMG 1979
I spend months building a short list for the twelve books we’ll read each season. The authors are curated from a master list of hudreds of books—seriously, its a vast spreadsheet—to get a wide variety of diversity, modern authors, and inclusive stories, so I can ensure our inspiration reflects the world we live in—and the futures we want to build at the table.
By the time we had read our second book we realized the classic star rating system wasn’t going to work. We didn’t like asking if a book is “good.” Cause maybe it’s just not for us.
Instead, we rate based on what we the reader can collect to use in our games, then apply dice to them. If you don’t have a d4 in a set, you are unlikely to use that set – even if you don’t use that die. So everything has a place.
Book Club features
Game-First Thinking
We read with our GM brains on. Would this book run as an adventure? What characters, factions, or worldbuilding elements could you use in your game?
Dice Rating System
No stars here. We use our gaming dice to rate how likely we are to use something from the book. It’s based on what sparks play, not literary merit.
Creative Inspiration
A vibe, a villain, a magic system, or a plot twist. We’re looking for the stuff that fills your mind with new characters, campaigns, or considerations at the table.
Support Local
We aim to support and buy from local bookstores or libraries whenever possible. (Indie > Indigo > Amazon.)
DEIR-Centered Curation
We prioritize novels by culturally diverse authors, queer writers, and Canadians wherever we can. Representation on the page translates to better stories at the table.
StoryGraph Challenge
We have a seasonal Challenge and the book club is on the app. It’s a wonderful upgrade from goodreads, and can import all your stuff so you can avoid amazon more.
Book Club Questions
When we discuss the books we ask questions like: What can this story teach us about gameplay? How could you use it in a campaign?
What
scenes or moments felt like they could be dropped into a roleplaying game?
Which
roleplaying game system would you use if you were adapting this book into a game? Why?
What
do you think the author was trying to explore? Could it influence your GMing or roleplay?
Which
character, setting, or encounter sparked the most inspiration for you?
Where
would it be difficult to progress this story’s plot in a game? Either as a player without being pulled along, or as a GM without railroading?
I We Have the Time, We Consider These Questions...
Was there a quote or passage that sparked something for your game prep or roleplay?
How did the setting shape the tone of the story—and how would you recreate that mood at the table?
If these characters were D&D PCs, what would their species, background, and class be?
Which character would make the best NPC or antagonist? How would you use them?
What location in the book would you most want to drop your players into?
If you heard this story from another character’s point of view, who would you choose?
What kind of emotions did this book evoke? Could you mirror that feeling in a game session?
Did this book make you think of a style of music at all? Create a book group playlist together!
If you were making a movie of this book, who would you cast?
Even if you don’t join the club, we encourage you to check out a local bookstore or library wherever you are. There is something special about wandering the aisles, flipping through the covers, and breathing in that paper smell in the air that online shopping just can’t replicate.
If online is your option, most the indie bookstores listed below have websites and we’ve linked the season’s books to Indigo, a Canadian bookstore chain.
Also, sometimes money or space is tight, luckily, these books are usually available at your public library—and they have air conditioning for those stupid hot days.
Bookstores We Recommend (And Love):
- Vancouver, BC Pulp Fiction Books (on Commercial Drive) and Iron Dog Books are both *chefs kiss.
- Kelowna, BC Mosaic Books. One of our favourite bookstores anywhere.
- Portland, OR Powell’s, of course. You know the vibe if you’ve been.
- San Francisco, CA Fabulosa Books. We LOOOVE a queer bookstore that knows their stuff <3
If you have suggestions where you live/love, let us know and we’ll add it.
Join the current season’s reading challenge on the StoryGraph app.
Where we do the chatting about the books.
Our Discord has a zero-tolerance policy for spoilers or hate.
