Reading Elric

Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné is immensely influential. It not only inspired Dungeons & Dragons—especially its intelligent and cursed swords—but also left its mark on numerous books (The Witcher, the Targaryens in Game of Thrones), comic books (Berserk, and probably many of the "multiverses" form Marvel etc.), and even music (Hawkwind, Blue Öyster Cult, both of which collaborated with Moorcock himself).

In short, Elric is one of the pillars of dark fantasy.

But people often ask how to start reading it. The series can be confusing, since there are so many books and the publication order doesn’t follow the internal chronology at all. The books have been republished rewritten, collected under different names, and so on.

Another complicating factor is Stormbringer—the book that (sort of) concludes the saga. It’s one of the greatest entries in the series (probably my favorite), one of the two Elric works mentioned in the Appendix N, and ironically, one of the earliest to be published.

I’m a big fan of Elric, and part of me wants to just say: Read the whole thing in internal chronological order! But I think it’s easier more helpful to offer a few different starting points.

So, how do we begin with Elric?

Start with Elric of Melniboné (1972).

It’s not the strongest novel in the collection, but it’s a solid introduction to the character, his world, and the themes that define the saga

If you like it, you can go on and read The Fortress of the Pearl, The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, and The Weird of the White Wolf, before going to Stormbringer. 

All of them are great.

But I'd say is even easier to just pick any collection of your choice, as long as it contains the first and the last.

For example (from Wikipedia):

In 1977, DAW Books republished Elric's saga in six books that collected the tales according to their internal chronology:

Elric of Melniboné (Hutchinson, 1972, cut vt [variant title] The Dreaming City Lancer, 1972 US; DAW, 1977) ISBN 0-425-08843-X

The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (Quartet, 1976; DAW 1977), ISBN 0-441-74863-5

The Weird of the White Wolf (collection, DAW, 1977, contains "The Dream of Earl Aubec", "The Dreaming City", "While the Gods Laugh" and "The Singing Citadel"), ISBN 0-441-88805-4

The Sleeping Sorceress (NEL, 1971; Lancer, 1972 as The Vanishing Tower; DAW 1977), ISBN 0-441-86039-7

The Bane of the Black Sword (DAW, 1977, fixup of "The Stealer of Souls", "Kings in Darkness", "The Flame Bringers" and "To Rescue Tanelorn"), ISBN 0-441-04885-4

Stormbringer (cut, Herbert Jenkins, 1965; restored and revised, DAW, 1977, Berkeley, 1984, fixup of "Dead God's Homecoming", "Black Sword's Brothers", "Sad Giant's Shield" and "Doomed Lord's Passing"), ISBN 0-425-06559-6

Now, if you dislike it... we have a few options.

You could go from Elric to directly Stormbringer to see what all the fuzz is about. If you like the story but dislike the prose, there is another great alternative: reading the comics.

Elric's comics and graphic novels

Elric has been adapted several times into comic book format. My favorites are the ones adapted by  Roy Thomas and illustrated by P. Craig Russell and others—and once again, Stormbringer (by P. Craig Russell) stands out as the best of the bunch, but I'd recommend reading the The Michael Moorcock Library first (Elric volumes 1-5: - Elric of Melniboné, The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, The Dreaming City, The Weird of the White Wolf, The Vanishing Tower).

There is also a French version by Julien Blondel in the works, with a few volumes already published. The art (Didier Poli et al) is both dark and really stunning. But the story is much less faithful to the originals, which I'd favor on a first read.

There are other comics that are also worth checking out (The Making of a Sorcerer, Druillet's version, Moorcock's Multiverse, etc.), but I'd start with the "main books" mentioned above.

Additional reading:

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2025/07/odysseus-elric-epic-musical-and-tragedy.html

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-appendix-n-project.html

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2021/03/my-weird-dark-twisted-fantasy.html

https://methodsetmadness.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-broken-sword-one-of-best.html

The Tombs of Atuan

The Tombs of Atuan is the second book in the Earthsea cycle. If you liked the first one, this is a decent sequel, if a bit slow and underwhelming. I've read it maybe a decade ago and revisited it last month.

The book is about Tenar, who gets taken from their parents as a child to become the new high priestess of the "Nameless Ones" - supposedly for being the reincarnation of the former priestess - in the Tombs of Atuan, a religious complex of a few buildings over a big, mysterious dungeon.

The first few chapters show a child trying to navigate the duties of a high-priestess, dealing with isolation, insecurity, friendship and jealously from other priestesses. Halfway through the book, a peculiar prisoner gets caught in the dungeon, and it is up to Tenar to decide what to do.

Like the first book, this is a coming-of-age story, adequate to young adults, although a bit simpler than the first. Tenar is taken against her own will, and while her decisions might be difficult for the character, they look a bit predictable for the reader. 

This book very deliberately avoid having any action. There is no swordplay, flashy magic and even the "monsters" are mere shadows. Unlike the first book, there is not much travelling either. Instead, the focus is on the characters, their dilemmas and feelings.

For D&D players, the book might be worth the read for the portrayal of the labyrinthine dungeon and the process of navigating it in the dark.

The book feels very true to the first book in the sense that the themes follow naturally. Ged was looking for a name in the first one, and here he has to face the Nameless (hinted in the first book). Like Tenar, he was taken as child, but they had different mentors. Ultimately, both have to learn responsibility in order to grow.

It is another short, easy-to-read book, that I'd recommend if you like the first one - even if I liked the first one much better. In any case, I enjoyed it and proceeded to (re)read the third book in the series - which I'll review soon.

Read more about the Appendix N and other fantasy books HERE.

A wizard of Earthsea

A wizard of Earthsea is an old favorite of mine. I've read it in more than two decades ago. Seeing a new edition illustrated by Charles Vess and in hardcover, I thought it was a good idea to revisit it, especially in the context of the Appendix N (the book is not on Gygax's list, but in Moldvay's).

Well, the illustrations were a bit sparse and not particularly awesome, but the story is still worth reading again.

The book was written for "young adults", but it does not feel juvenile. It is a good "coming-of-age story" that portrays the upbringing of a wizard, from childhood to maturity - and what that entails. Still, a good book for young teenagers - easy, short, no sex and little violence, but carrying a deep message.

The main character is Sparrowhawk, a child who discovers magical powers and then starts an apprenticeship before going to "wizard school". While trying to prove his worth to his peers (and, maybe, trying to impress a girl - but that's subtle), he foolish unleashes a being that will haunt him for years. While re-reading the book, this was my favorite part, because it subtly shows the character's immaturity and insecurity against offenses that might be small or partly imaginary.

The Earthsea books are famous in D&D fandom for its magic system, which focus on learning the true names of things and maintaining balance. There are a few suggestions of spell mishaps that are very interesting - for example, the book mentions that many dolphins are wizards that forgot they had to shape-shift back to human form!

The archipelago setting looks decent for adventuring. There are dragons of varying size and power and a shadow monsters, both of which might have been used as inspiration in D&D. Other than that, the book does not have many monsters or magic items, but still feels like decent inspiration for D&D games - including an interesting mysterious castle...

While I am usually a fan of dark fantasy, this is "light fantasy" at its best. It is not pulp action in the vein of Burroughs and Howard, nor Lovecraftian horror (although it contains nameless things and being older than humanity) or the dark fairy tales of Dunsany. It is somewhat reminiscent of "The Hobbit" but for older readers, or Piranesi for younger ones - but not quite. The author deliberately tried to subvert some fantasy tropes, avoiding war almost entirely. It contains little parody or humor, and the horror is almost entirely metaphysical. It is reminiscent of fairy tales, in a way, but also more "serious".

It is, in some ways, a melancholic, sensitive book (and setting). 

There are no epic battles (except one brief encounter with dragons) and few great heroes. The people  of the archipelago are mostly peasants and fishermen, some having little knowledge of anything except their own island (in the saddest part of the book, this is a very small island, and almost no knowledge at all). Beyond the archipelago, there seems to be a vast expanse of sea and nothingness. The protagonist also spends a lot of time wounded, sleeping, or escaping, which reinforces this feeling. But it is not a sad book, necessarily - on the contrary, it has a hopeful bend, a light tone, and a mythic/archetypal truth to it that mimics the hero's journey without being clichéd. 

In any case, it is a classic and a short read. Definitely recommended to anyone with interest in fantasy and D&D.

[BTW, after finishing this one I immediately started re-reading The Tombs of Atuan, who centers around a labyrinthine dungeon and the cult of  the "Nameless Ones"... I don't remember the details of ths one, but should be fun!]

Read more about the Appendix N and other fantasy books HERE.

The Fallible Fiend (book review)

(Part of the appendix N project).

The Fallible Fiend is a novel by L. Sprague de Camp recommended in the Appendix N, which is why I bought it in the first place.

I had never read anything from the author (who wrote over 100 books, wrote and edited Conan stories, invented the term "E.T.", among other things), and I was pleasantly surprised.

The Fallible Fiend tells the story of the demon Zdim, bound to work for one year in the (earth-like) "Prime Plane". During that time, he gets constantly confused trying to understand human customs, subtleties, and contradictions. Amusingly enough, the demon is often more moral and reasonable than most humans he meets. After being summoned by a wizard, he is eventually sold to other masters, gets to see the wider fantasy  world, and embarks on an epic (if still funny) quest to save a big city from being destroyed.

The first few chapters are very funny, and I thought the book would follow a series of vignettes as Zdim gets handed from master to master, but by the middle of the book the demon gets embroiled in much larger matters. This second part is equally good if maybe not as funny - it could be the basis of an heroic D&D adventure by its own right.

The setting described in this book is very D&Dish, and you can see how Gygax might have been influenced - maybe this was one of the sources of DMG shamans. We've got underground cities, kangaroo riders, giant reptiles, mazes, and various wizards.

Each country visited by Zdim has its own customs, religions and forms of government. The author uses this an opportunity to mock some idiosyncrasies of human societies, somewhat like Gulliver's Travels. 

It is also comparable to authors such as Vance, Lieber and Clark Ashton Smith, both in theme and style.

The book is reasonably short and the pacing is great, never making me tired or bored. 

Overall, a great read, and I will definitely look for other books by the same author - probably starting with THE CARNELIAN CUBE.

Recommended!

Read more about the Appendix N and other fantasy books HERE.

The People of the Pit, by A. Merritt

When I wrote my most recent post (about The APPENDIX N PROJECT), I've mentioned that I didn't include Abraham Merritt in my top 10 authors because I've tried his books and didn't like them as much as others in my list - despite the fact he made "top six/seven" for Gygax influences.

I read half of The Metal Monster before giving up, as I found it too slow for my taste at the time. A similar thing happened when I tried The Moon Pool.

Anyway, after writing that, a couple of people, here (thanks Tamás) and elsewhere - suggested I gave Merritt another chance. So, I did.

And they might have been right.

I decided to start with something shorter: so I've got The People of the Pit, which has not only one but two adaptations as OSR modules, and BOTH look interesting (I haven't read them).

Anyway, I've read it and I was pleasantly surprised.

The story is about two prospectors in Alaska looking for a peculiar group of mountains. When they get closer, they see a strange blue light in the sky, and eventually fight a wounded, nearly insane man crawling out of an abyss and telling stories about the creatures he found there.

If you've read lots of Lovecraft like me, the tone will be instantly recognizable; it contains hints of cosmic horror and wouldn't be out of place in a collection of Lovecraft stories.

However, this books was published in 1918 - it is not only one of Merritt's earliest works, but also predates most Lovecraft stories. In fact, Lovecraft mentions being an admirer at his work since 1919 (source).

In fact, this story compares favorably to some of Lovecraft's stories in at least a few ways.

First, it reaches a good balance between showing monsters and leaving something to the imagination. Some mysteries are left unsolved, but the monsters are described and not simply "unnamable". The story literally more "colorful", in a literal manner - blue, red, yellow and white, not dark, gray, prismatic or unknown shades.

Second, it has plenty of places, beings, and situations ready to be used in your D&D games, which is not always the case with HPL. And the physical nature of some challenges are closer to D&D than the risk of going insane that is more common in Lovecraft's stories (but also happens here).

TBH, this really feels like a D&D adventure waiting for a few maps and stats.

Of course, I'm comparing Merritt's to Lovecraft's only because more people read the latter, and it might be a reference that is easy to grasp; I'm not saying which one is better or worse, which would be silly (even if I had read as much of Merritt as I have of HPL, which is not the case).

The reason I'm writing this post is both to share a cool short story that you can get for free and will inspire you D&D games, and to say that Merritt does indeed deserve a chance if you have any interest in Lovecraft or the Appendix N. There might be more Merritt reviews soon...

---

Contains affiliate links. By purchasing stuff through affiliate links you're helping to support this blog.

The APPENDIX N PROJECT

As you probably know, the appendix N is a list of "inspiration and educational reading" contained in the AD&D DMG. 

Reading the books listed will help you to get a glimpse into Gygax's mind and understand the origins of D&D and its settings.

I've been delving into a few of those books, and reviewing them in this blog. Some are great, some are weak. There are a few obvious omissions. Some people say this is simply a list of books Gygax had on his shelf, or his favorites, while others say the list is extremely curated and important.

This post organizes my reading of Appendix N stuff and will provide you a guide to delve into it if that is what you're looking for.

The entire text of the Appendix N is reproduced in the end of this post, with links to my reviews.

Valerie Valusek

The Basic D&D list

Tom Moldvay's Basic D&D has also an "Inspirational Source Material" list on B62. Here is a good analysis. 

There is significant overlap between the two lists. Appendix N includes a few authors not listed in Moldvay including Frederic Brown, August Derleth, Margaret St. Clair, and Stanley Weinbaum. [...]

Where Moldvay’s list eclipses Appendix N is in its completeness and attention to detail. [...] Gygax states that in some cases he meant to cite specific works, but when no works were listed he simply recommends all of a given author’s writings. [...] Moldvay appends “et. al” to at least as many authors as does Gygax, but always lists at least one, if not multiple, actual book titles for the reader.

Moldvay’s list is more comprehensive, while still managing to be confined to a single page in the basic rulebook. Some big names I’m very fond of jump out at me immediately: Moldvay lists Karl Edward Wagner (Bloodstone, Death Angel’s Shadow, and Dark Crusade), E.R. Eddison’s The Worm Ouroboros, Lloyd Alexander (The Book of Three, The Black Cauldon, the Castle of Llyr), Talbot Mundy’s Tros of Samothrace, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Mary Stewart’s The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills, and The Last Enchantment, and T.H. White’s The Once and Future King. None of these appear on Appendix N. Perhaps most noteworthy, Moldvay also lists Clark Ashton Smith (Xiccarph, Lost Worlds, Genius Loci). Many have pondered why Gygax did not include the third of the Weird Tales holy trinity along with REH and Lovecraft, as Smith’s lush, ornate prose recalls something of Gygax’s writing style, and his dark necromancers and evil spellcasters seem like they could easily have stepped out of The Vault of the Drow.

Here is the entire list, with links to Wikipedia.

I will not delve too into Moldvay's list here, but will keep this is mind when the Appendix N lists an author but no books.

The 1976 list

Apparently, there was an earlier (1976) version of the Appendix N in "The Dragon". The most notable difference is the inclusion of Algernon Blackwoods. I don't see a huge influence in D&D, but he is an author I very much enjoy and recommend (try The Wendigo).

Where to start? My TOP TEN

If you want to explore the Appendix N, you could start with Gygax's favorites: 

de Camp & Pratt, R. E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, H. P. Lovecraft, and A. Merritt.

My own favorites would be a different list, of course. I didn't include:

- de Camp & Pratt, as I haven't read it.

- A. Merritt, as I haven't enjoyed it as much as the others in my list (but read this).

Here is my current top ten; I will update it as I go. This is in no particular order. 

Some authors are better known for short stories that you can read in any order - I just selected a few of my favorites, but pick any collection of short stories you like, preferably containing these.

- Moorcock, Michael. Elric of Melniboné, Stormbringer.

- Tolkien, J. R. R. The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring.

- Vance, Jack: The Eyes of the Overworld. 

- Anderson, Poul. The Broken Sword.

- Burroughs, Edgar Rice. A Princess of Mars.

- Leiber, Fritz. Favorites: “Ill-Met in Lankhmar”, “Lean Times in Lankhmar”, “Bazaar of the Bizarre”.

- Dunsany, Lord. Start with The Book of Wonder, especially "The Hoard of the Gibbelins", "How Nuth Would Have Practised His Art upon the Gnoles"; I am re-reading Dunsany's work to give more specific advice.

- Lovecraft, H. P. Favorites: The Call of Cthulhu, At the Mountains of Madness, The Colour out of Space, The Shadow over Innsmouth, The Dunwich Horror, In the Walls of Eryx.

- Howard, R. E. Favorites: Red Nails, The Tower of the Elephant, Queen of the Black Coast, The People of the Black Circle, Worms of the Earth. 

And two authors that are not in the appendix N (see About Clark Ashton Smith and Ursula LeGuin, below).

- Smith, C. A.. Favorites: The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis, The Beast of Averoigne, The Tale of Satampra Zeiros, The Empire of the Necromancers, The Isle of the Torturers, The Abominations of Yondo.

- Le Guin, Ursula K. - A Wizard of Earthsea.

Well, "top eleven" I guess...

Most books in my list are reasonably easy to find. Some of these books are in the public domain; you can find them for free online. Some short stories are also available online.

About "series"

The appendix N suggests a few series, e.g., "Mars series". Obviously, you do not need to read the whole series; start with the first book or a few short stories (as suggested above) and continue if you like the writing.

I did the same for my own reviews, writing my impression of the first/best stories rather than judging the series as a whole.

About Clark Ashton Smith and Ursula LeGuin

As I've mentioned elsewhere, the Appendix N has a few obvious omissions, the most notable being Clark Ashton Smith. Despite not being included, he is a favorite of mine and influenced many appendix N authors, and probably Gygax too.

Ursula LeGuin, on the other hand, is just a favorite of mine. The Wizard of Earthsea was one of my first fantasy books and it held up on a second reading decades later. Maybe not hugely influential to D&D, but I find the quality above average.

Both authors are included in the "Basic D&D list".

Inspiration versus literature

Some books in the list are good literature. Others are just fun. Some are not particularly fun or well-written, when compared to the best, but might still be worth checking out because they provide pieces of inspiration for Gygax or for your own game: monsters, settings, etc.

In my list of favorites, I tried to balance these three factors - which are mostly subjective - with the most obvious "these were the books I've enjoyed the most".

Which are YOUR favorites?

Let me know in the comments!

The original APPENDIX N...

...is reproduced below, with links to my impressions/reviews.

APPENDIX N: INSPIRATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL READING
“Inspiration for all the fantasy work I have done stems directly from the love my father showed when I was a tad, for he spent many hours telling me stories he made up as he went along, tales of cloaked old men who could grant wishes, of magic rings and enchanted swords, or wicked sorcerors [sic] and dauntless swordsmen.
Then too, countless hundreds of comic books went down, and the long-gone EC ones certainly had their effect. Science fiction, fantasy, and horror movies were a big influence. In fact, all of us tend to get ample helpings of fantasy when we are very young from fairy tales such as those written by the Brothers Grimm and Andrew Lang. This often leads to reading books of mythology, paging through bestiaries, and consultation of compilations of the myths of various lands and peoples.
Upon such a base I built my interest in fantasy, being an avid reader of all science fiction and fantasy literature since 1950.
The following authors were of particular inspiration to me. In some cases I cite specific works, in others, I simply recommend all of their fantasy writing to you. From such sources, as well as any other imaginative writing or screenplay, you will be able to pluck kernels from which will grow the fruits of exciting campaigns. Good reading!
Anderson, Poul: THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS; THE HIGH CRUSADE; THE BROKEN SWORD
Bellairs, John: THE FACE IN THE FROST
Brackett, Leigh
Brown, Frederic
Burroughs, Edgar Rice: “Pellucidar” series; Mars series; Venus series
Carter, Lin: “World’s End” series
de Camp, L. Sprague: LEST DARKNESS FALL; THE FALLIBLE FIEND; et al
de Camp & Pratt: “Harold Shea” series; THE CARNELIAN CUBE
Derleth, August
Dunsany, Lord
Farmer, P. J.: “The World of the Tiers” series; et al
Fox, Gardner: “Kothar” series; “Kyrik” series; et al
Howard, R. E.: “Conan” series
Lanier, Sterling: HIERO’S JOURNEY
Leiber, Fritz: “Fafhrd & Gray Mouser” series; et al
Lovecraft, H. P.
Merritt, A.: CREEP, SHADOW, CREEP; MOON POOL; DWELLERS IN THE MIRAGE; et al
Moorcock, Michael: STORMBRINGER; STEALER OF SOULS; “Hawkmoon” series (esp. the first three books)
Norton, Andre
Offutt, Andrew J.: editor of SWORDS AGAINST DARKNESS III
Pratt, Fletcher: BLUE STAR; et al
Saberhagen, Fred: CHANGELING EARTH; et al
St. Clair, Margaret: THE SHADOW PEOPLE; SIGN OF THE LABRYS.
Tolkien, J. R. R.: THE HOBBIT; “Ring trilogy”
Vance, Jack: THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD; THE DYING EARTH; et al
Weinbaum, Stanley
Wellman, Manley Wade
Williamson, Jack
Zelazny, Roger: JACK OF SHADOWS; “Amber” series; et al
The most immediate influences upon AD&D were probably de Camp & Pratt, R. E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, H. P. Lovecraft, and A. Merritt; but all of the above authors, as well as many not listed, certainly helped to shape the form of the game. For this reason, and for the hours of reading enjoyment, I heartily recommend the works of these fine authors to you.”
– E. Gary Gygax, 1979, AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide, p. 224

Grokking 5e D&D (I) - Skills, and how they (don't?) work

The Fifth Edition of D&D took me a while to fully understand. One reason is that, contrary to what it may seem, 5e is in some ways different from all other editions (although probably not as much as 4e, for example), even though it keeps enough classic features to allow most fans to recognize in 5e a (somewhat) familiar version the game they always loved.

Another reason is that 5e is a bit opaque about some of its design. For example, it is clear that skills are, by default, more important than tools, and some tools (thieves' tools) more important than others. The designers realize this, and create backgrounds (and other rules) accordingly, but at the same time create a feat that lets you choose tools OR skills, as if they had similar importance, which can be confusing to newbies.

I like it more now than when I first started playing (j fact, it is probably my favorite game at this moment), so I though I would share some little insights about 5e's philosophy. They might be obvious to some (specially if you're a long time 5e fan), but they may also vbe helpful if you're trying to understand the system a bit better.

The first things that comes to mind is how skills work. Or don't work, depending on what you're looking for.

The thing is, you cannot rely exclusively on skills do do things in 5e - including the things skills are supposed to do.

The proficiency bonus is small, from +2 to +6. I do like the idea of smaller numbers in general, but this means your proficiency will only make the difference between success and failure 30% of the rolls, that's on level 17. For most of your characters' career, proficiency will only be useful about 20% of the time.

This causes other unexpected effects. For example, clerics are not that good at religion, since it is Intelligence-based. Nature is also based on Intelligence, making wizards better at it than rangers and druids. Wizards do not have the option of being great at arcana; the Arcane Trickster is probably better (if that is what the player wants), since he gets Expertise, even if the Wizard casts more powerful spells.

Fortunately, the designers know this - and they have taken several steps to "fix" it, by using different features other than skills.

A cleric can be good at religion - if he takes the right archetype. A Champion fighter can a "remarkable athlete", not because of his athletic skills or the (quite unremarkable) feature of the same name he gets on level 7, but because he gets more points to put in his abilities as he levels up. Even a wizard is decent in arcana, not only because of the skill, but because he will often have better Intelligence than other classes (even if they have the skill). Druids and rangers can be good at dealing with nature - by using the appropriate spells and features.

The rogue, being the best at skills, gets not one, but two fixes: expertise and "reliable talent" - because skills, by themselves, are unreliable.

Copyright: Wizards of the Coast

Of course, a Fighter gets better at fighting (which is NOT a skill or ability check, but worth mentioning here), not (unlike earlier editions) because he has a better chance to hit with every roll, but because he gets more attacks (as seen in some of the earlier editions), better criticals and other features that have nothing to do with attack bonuses (I do acknowledge this option has some significant upsides, such as allowing the level 20 wizard to have a good chance of landing a blow if he attacks a powerful foe with his staff, even if the damage is minimal; on the other hand it leads to hit point inflation instead of skill inflation, which deserves a different post).

As you can see, if you look at the big picture, the game works as intended. But, in order to keep the "bounded accuracy" idea, it has sacrificed some degree of simplicity.

If the designers had chosen to make proficiency equal to half-level (or half-level +2, of course) for some "expert" skills, or just let advantage from multiple sources stack, or just allowed more possibilities of expertise, you could do away with multiple class features at once - making the game a lot simpler.

On the other hand, this would make classes too similar to each other for some players. Unfortunately for me (since I like simpler systems), many people seem to prefer having different ways of relying on skills instead of having more significant skills (i.e., greater bonuses) to begin with.

Like many others, this is an aspect of 5e that works as intended, although it might look a bit strange at first sight. Even if you disagree with some of the designer's choices - and I often do - the results make plenty of sense.