Lankhmar: City of Adventure

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we walk the shadowy streets of Lankhmar: City of Adventure, one of the greatest RPG city sourcebooks. Based on the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories by Fritz Leiber, Lankhmar is both a city and a larger campaign setting for Dungeons & Dragons (using a modified character creation system) that captures the atmosphere of the original stories. The real genius of the book is the approach to the city, which uses modular geomorphs for the tangled and ever-changing back alleys. We also talk a bit about Leiber, his Lankhmar co-creator Otto Fischer and the stories themselves, which form one of the biggest influences on early Dungeons & Dragons.
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Tune in next week for the next episode. Until then, may the dice always roll in your favor!

[@SimonAshworthWood]

Coincidentally, "To Have a Sandwich and Get Laid" was the first Lankhmar story ever written.

[@kennethdickinson2591]

Ah, this brings back memories! I still have my copy of “Lankhmar, City of Adventure” on my bookshelf. Also, Fritz Leiber pronounced his name “LIEber,” not “LEEber,” according to an interview he gave not long before his death.

[@athenassigil5820]

These two characters and their great setting, the city of Lankhmar is the stuff of what fantasy is made of. Most modern folk don't realise what legacy and heavy influence of this world and stories are mirrored in our current lineup of rpgs, films, books etc. And honestly, most are but pale reflections...great conversation, by the way! I merely stumbled on this and glad I gave a listen. I found these books in the early 80s, devoured them and realized how rich the mythos and world is....I also read the Elric books at the same time.....Thanks Deities and Demigods!

[@keatonhughes7269]

Underrated as hell.

[@marxmeesterlijk]

there is also a DCC release of Lankhmar now. Which I really want, but is kinda hard to get overseas.
As for the novels, its been a while, but I really enjoyed one of the first one (maybe it's even the very first) where Fafhrd is still iving in his northern cold barbarian village, getting in to trouble and doing fetch quests. My favourite were the women in the village who were almost all magic users who kept sneaking around trowing snowballs at their unfaithful husbands and doing minor magics.

[@pricerowland]

Just found out you two had a YT channel, glad to see it

[@ver87ona]

I just finished reading the original FGM books. Without a doubt one of my favorite series.

[@pe003]

Best fantasy books ever written, if any one has any recommendations of any books that even come close, let me know

[@SimonAshworthWood]

Wow, this video has inspired me to consider buying the "Lankhmar: City of Adventure" book and borrowing the Lankhmar novels from libraries.

[@TylerSkylionChilders]

I've had a few players press me about what the difference is between High and Low Fantasy. So I came up with the following:
High Fantasy is Queen, "Princes of the Universe"
Low Fantasy is Tom Waits, and you are in a dirty back alley fighting over a can of beans.
Have a sammich and get laid is better.

[@theodoredansen6152]

All hail Greg Stafford!

[@sullyb23511]

You can find the first Lankhmar compilation here: archive.org/details/swordsdeviltryla00frit/page/n5/mode/2up

[@mikehallaron]

Dying alone in a bed covered in books in a shabby apartment is the fate of many devoted rpg players/GMs! Lol😂

[@Raycheetah]

3:58 I'm sorry, but organized guilds of thieves (such as we understand them) actually have historical precedent in medieval Europe, including the use of a form of "thieves' cant," an argot devised to confound outsiders and the authorities, as well as rules and codes of conduct. Leiber may have popularized the ideas in modern literature, but he did not invent them. ='[.]'=