Abraham Merritt said "Creep, Shadow, Creep!" Creating the shadowfell where the undead weep. Shadows and their demons, under a black sun, You can thank him for your plane shifting fun. There's Merritt in the Stirges, and and before you turn, Check out mobsters fighting hags 40s style in "Burn, Witch! Burn!" (Dig that typewriter, cat!) Merritt gave you izard-men driders and Yuan-ti Immortal Dinosaur Riders fought with TNT And just in case you thought his mark is dead, Remember he invented monsters You gotta shoot in the head. Leiber's got the fighters with the buddy cop vibe, Fafhrd and Grey Mouser alway holding the line. The AD&D mechanics about blowing your cash And petty gods falling to his graphic hack and slash. If you want to know how to play the game, Leiber's got the skills his ideas are insane, Magic gone wrong will always bring the pain, Hell, Thieves' guilds just fell out of his brain. Check out Mouse the Arcane Trickster He's the original Dual Class Mixer, He's a player who aces both of his roles, The reason that your thief can read those scrolls. Zelazny gets a gasp from me , his word will get you high His story's got the glory to make a campaign fly. Nine Amber princes might be too many to list, But they inspired Sigil, Limbo, Arcadia, and the Abyss (Not to mention a lot of games like Riven and Myst) The battle for reality that Corwin saw, Gave D&D it's clash between Chaos & Law, Fighters leading armies with guns from Avalon You looking for high level? Just get your Amber on. Elric is the Eternal hero of Moorcock fame, With the original soul-eater, Storm-bringer by name, Most of the demons you know fell to Elric's blade, And the hand and eye of Vecna are Moorcock made. You want evil elves falling into shadow or dark? Malnibonne is the original evil elf arc, Dream thieving mages when they are in despair, Cast a planar binding to call Elric out of thin air. To get Relics with an ego Down to Malnibonne we go Dream and Summons spells And badass heros invading Hell A dying earth under flickering star, Jack Vance is where all the grues are, Wizards making monsters by mixing DNA Is a major premise of the game that you play M-Us reading books to trap spells in their head, Leveling up their skills by making enemies dead, T'sais is the original magical girl Hatching from a tank where old scrolls furl. Guy of Sfere with bag of holding and sanctuary blade Funky magic items that Jack Vance made. Strength, Water Breathing, and Prismatic Spray, Clone, Imprison, Teleport are some of his spells of the day. Kugel is a thief who makes his skills work, Stealing eyes and princesses, he's a class-A jerk, The Chaotic-Stupid Hero you love to see, He and Rhialto helped shape your PC. Burroughs' John Carter is the OG Fighting-Man Carved out a Dominion on Martian sands. Ever had a Girallon drag you to your doom? Or get shot by a Thark, you can scream at Barsoom It was Robert E. Howard who made Conan king You see the Cimmerian coming, better get outta the ring The Barbarian hero that they wanna all imitate But next to R E H the faux-barians can't even rate Busty babes, swashbuckling, and busting up beasts, Nobody out-performs Conan at wenches and feasts. Evil powers from the beginning of time, Red-nailed witches reading his sign Freaky mutant wizards better step back, Mess with Conan's girl it's all out attack. But don't forget Kull or Solomon Kane Bran Mak Morn jumps time bringing the pain Heroes aplenty tough cunning and bold Still the best action stories that:s ever been told. H.P. Lovecraft with tales cold as deep space, Loved looking madness straight in the face, Crawling hands, liches, soul searing light, Elder things don't bump they devour the night Twisted cults call old ones down from the stars, Broken down heroes with sanity scars Spider-riding nomads from frozen grey waste Gibbering oozes wanna know how you taste. Cosmic horror shapes the cultists and fiends, Your favorite bad guys leak out of Howard's dreams, When you step up with a whole world to defend, Remember it's H.P. you should thank in the end.
