Fantasy fiction and RPGs. Appendix N. You hear about it all the time. What book or series of books reflect your style of play best?
For me, it's the old Thieves World series. Primarily the first four or five. I dig the grittiness, political overtone, religious intrusions and the cultures that co-exist next to each other.
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Fritz Leiber. Spent a year effectively playing the Grey Mouser with another guy being Fafhrd, and I'd never even read the books at that time. I since have done, and that type of fantasy is exactly what I aspire to recreate when playing or GMing a fantasy game.
ReplyDeleteTolkien's my favorite story-wise, but for gaming purposes, the setting's low magic levels, plenty of Conan and Leiber lovingly poisoned with heaps of HPL, and I love Bellair's novel, which probably gives my first point the hairy eyeball.
ReplyDeleteA Song of Ice and Fire i.e. Game of Thrones by G.R.R. Martin for similar reasons that Tim gives.
ReplyDeletePlus the Riftwar Saga and the Empire Series by R. Feist. I reread them two years ago and forgotten how many of the early elements of my Majestic Wilderlands was inspired by the series.
Of course Tolkien particularly the Simrillion which inspired my worldbuilding.
Last but not least Harn by N. Robin Crossby. While not novel fiction the whole package has been a continuing source of inspiration for my own games.
Mine can be found here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.gamersandgrognards.blogspot.com/2012/06/like-holes-everybodys-got-one-or-my.html
I am the odd one. My appendix N is full of old Hammer Films and 80s horror.
ReplyDeleteI read all the big names in fantasy, but my games tended even then to be more horror inspired than fantasy.
Most of my games tend to resemble my favorite gaming fiction (Dragonlance, Icewind Dale, etc.). however, sometimes I will base stuff off of shows, movies and books. I once ran a very successful Dragonstar campaign that took a lot of inspiration from Firefly.
ReplyDeleteAs far as writers, the two most prominent for me would have to be Michael Moorcock and H.P. Lovecraft. More than any others, those two shaped how I think about fantasy. J.R.R. Tolkien is right up there too but I only was able to wrap my head around his work a few years later. So while important to me, it wasn't at the formative stages of my fantasy consumption.
ReplyDeleteClive Cussler's Dirk Pitt Series, and not just for modern games. I've used his stories for inspiration in a number of different genres.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Tim. Thieve's World is a big influence on my gaming, mixed with a healthy dose of R.E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith.
ReplyDeleteVance, Kafka, Clark Ashton Smith, Lovecraft, Stephen King, site-based thrillers like The Relic.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I'm leaving off something important.