h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi there

Would it interest anyone to check out the Guide article on Michael Moorcock, the science fiction author credited with creating the system of alignments used in D&D as an integral part of his novels?

Ekatarine co-wrote this. It is to be found at A16676517, if anyone thinks it's worthy of being built into this entry as a valid link.

Thank you kindly!

Yes, thank you for that intel. It's always good to know who started things.

I must point out Mike Moorcock didn't invent the alignment system used in D&D; he actually got it from Poul Anderson's 1953 novella "Three Hearts and Three Lions" (published as a novel in 1961). Moorcock undoubtedly popularised the Law vs Chaos axis with his Elric stories, which in turn found its way into D&D where it was further expanded into the LG, CG, LE, CE sub-alighnments now so familiar in RPGs.

Moorcock used Law and Chaos as the two forces in his stories because he wanted to avoid simplistic Good vs Evil stereotypes. For him Chaos can be a force for good and for evil; ditto Law. Creativity and Romance derive from Chaos, Structure and Classicism derive from Law but too much Chaos is destructive, too much Law is stultifying. Moorcock believes one should strive for Balance (not necessarily the same as Neutrality). Moorcock's 1962 novella 'To Rescue Tanelorn...' best summaries his position.

Unfortunately most RPGs nowadays tend equate Chaos solely with 'Evil' (cf. Games Workshop's 'Warhammer'), thus lacking Moorcock's own subtleties.

Incidentally, while not specifically relevant to this topic, Anderson's 1954 novel "The Broken Sword" was also an influence on Elric himself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Hearts_and_Three_Lions
http://www.multiverse.org/wiki/index.php?title=To_Rescue_Tanelorn...

One, two, three, I'm back, after a long layoff: wow, you learn something new every day, and I'm indebted to you for the correction. I will go back and correct the entry as time allows.