Quote from: Benoist;565784Well I didn't, actually. I'm guessing from that answer you meant "a fantasy role playing game that makes ALL the others next to useless" then?

Which you already understood.

This is just you thinking I was taking a swipe at D&D, right?

You mean "D&D" Jeff.

Quote from: jeff37923;565808Which you already understood.

No, I did not understand. Which is why I wondered if you were taking a swipe at people who like, say... the AD&D game very, very much, yes.

Quote from: Benoist;565819No, I did not understand. Which is why I wondered if you were taking a swipe at people who like, say... the AD&D game very, very much, yes.

Yeah, you might want to not be so touchy about Your Favorite Game....

In the spirit of the OP this is a list of the books and movies that inspired my view of fantasy RPGs.  You will note that I am not really up on more modern fantasy authors, so my fantasy gaming is really informed by many of the same sources cited in the original Appendix N.  My gaming tends toward the darker swords & sorcery, so you might notice the obvious absence of standards such as the Lord of the Rings (but curiously not The Hobbit).  I read the books, and they of course were formative influences on fantasy RPGs, but they do not inform much of my personal style.

Authors and Books:

Robert E. Howard - Particularly the Conan and Solomon Kane stories.  My basic assumptions of what make a good fantasy game (for me) come directly from Howard.  Good and Evil are just abstract concepts argued by philosophers, the gods are distant and uncaring, magic is foul and dangerous stuff, weird horror is usually in the cards, and sometimes it takes courage and a sword to solve your problems.

Fritz Leiber - Lankhmar is my second most important fantasy gaming influence.  When I imagine urban fantasy, this is what my mind goes to.  I have run several campaigns inspired by Lankhmar.

Clark Ashton Smith - One of the masters of weird fiction, I love the atmosphere of Smith's work.  The collection "Tales of Zothique" or "A Rendezvous in Averoigne" are good places to start.  An example of why I like Smith is The Charnel God.

Jack Vance - Any of the Dying Earth stories, but "Eyes of the Overworld" and "Cugel's Saga" in particular.  The characters of Vance are often petty and venal, and totally out for their own self interest - kinda like most real people.  And the beautiful word-smithing by Vance brings the fantastic setting to life.

"The Hobbit" by JRR Tolkien - Although "The Lord of the Rings" is not my bag, "The Hobbit" was deeply influential to my 10 year old self.  The idea of kinda average people, sometimes not all that willing or prepared, being thrown into adventure and becoming better people for it was a touchstone for me.  In the end, they were not trying to defeat an ancient Evil and save the world, they were after the gold.  And the burglar got himself a magic ring to boot.  Sweet.

H.P Lovecraft - I have a soft spot of weird horror.  It often is present in any game I run, even if lurking in the background.  His stories are awesome: "Whisperer in Darkness" and "Pickman's Model" being two of my favorite, but don't overlook his fantastic "Supernatural Horror in Fiction" for a view of the effective use of horror.

Edgar Allen Poe - For the same reason I picked out Lovecraft, I also pick out Poe.  I usually shoot for the dark and moody, so reading Poe inspires me in that direction.  Every time I read "The Cask of Amontillado" I can't help but smile.  Does that make me a bad person?

Honorable Mention goes to "Eaters of the Dead" by Michael Crichton and "Grendel" by John Gardner for two very different modern interpretations of epic literature.


Films: To be honest, films are not as big an inspiration for me as for many people.  I get that they provide powerful, especially visual, influences but I am having a much harder time thinking of examples.  These will have to do.

"Conan The Barbarian" -Cheesy as it sometimes is, and even though it bears little resemblance to any actual Conan story, this is a classic.  The soundtrack alone is gaming gold.

"Brotherhood of the Wolf" - Set a little late historically and featuring a lot of kung fu action, nevertheless this movie strikes a nice tone of terror and decadence that I find mood inspiring.


Non-Fiction Works: I am in the business of teaching history so it is inevitable that all the stuff that I read in that pursuit is picked clean for gaming use.  If you can find them, here are a few examples of non-fiction that has influenced my gaming style.

"Rogues, Vagabonds, and Sturdy Beggars: A New Gallery of Tudor and Early Stewart Rogue Literature" edited by Arthur F. Kinney.  This is a collection of actual period "exposés" of the many brands of thieves, conmen, and petty criminals that roamed the highways and byways of Shakespeare's England.  It totally formed my take on thieves and rogues in my games.  Complete with Cant dictionaries!

"April Blood: Florence and the Plot Against the Medici" by Lauro Martines.  This excellent social and political history of power politics in Renaissance Florence is definitely an inspiration for my urban campaigns.  I tend to use a mix of Lankhmar and Florence and Venice, so this book is a good primer on how social power and political power (and family politics) interact in a pre-modern urban society.


My hope is that some people here who have never read some of the old classics might be motivated to track them down and give them a read.  As for me, there are glaring holes in my fantasy fiction reading.  I have read almost no modern fantasy, and even some of the classics (like Poul Anderson) have been passed by.  

This thread is useful for the recommendations to help correct this.  I read some Poul Anderson long ago that sucked and never read anything else by him.  Taking a cue from this thread I read one of his fantasy short stories ("The Valor of Cappen Verra") and was pleasantly surprised that it didn't suck!  Was pretty good in fact.  I am planning to get some of his novels and check them out.  Keep up the recommendations!


-TGA

Books

Tolkien (Hobbit, LotR)
Lovecraft (Cthulhu)
Howard (Conan)
Leiber (Fafhyrd and the Gray Mouser)
Moorcock (Elric)

Martin (A Song of Ice and Fire)
Glenn Cook (The Black Company)
Steven Erikson (The Malazan Books of the Fallen)
David Gemmell (Legend)
Elizabeth Moon (The Deed of Paksennarrion, Vatta's War series)
Guy Kay (Tigana)

Charles de Lint (Newford series, any other urban fantasy stuff)
Jim Butcher (Dresden Files)
Patricia Briggs (Mercy Thompson series)
Seanan McGuire (October Daye series)

C. J. Cherryh (Downbelow Station)
Robert Heinlein (Starship Troopers)

A bunch of Forgotten Realms and Ravenloft novels (I like a lot of them, though there are some bad ones)
A bunch of 40k and Warhammer Fantasy novels

Movies/TV
Avatar: The Last Airbender series (NOT the movie)
Conan the Barbarian
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Firefly series
The Clone Wars series
A bunch of supers movies (Avengers, Spider Man, Iron Man, Captain America, X-Men)
Starship Troopers (It was over the top, but the combat was awesome)
Afro Samurai 1 and 2
Doctor Who
In the Mouth of Madness
Lord of Illusion
Cowboy Bebop
Dark Angel
Robotech
Lord of the Rings

I'm sure I'll miss some, but here they are:

Books
LoTR
Shannara series
Dragonbone Chair Trilogy
Endless Quest Books
Dragonlance Chronicles
Icewind Dale Trilogy
Fafhrd and Grey Mouse stories
Robert E Howard's Conan


Movies
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Destroyer
Krull
Flight of Dragons
Original Animated Hobbit and LoTR
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Predator
Aliens
Dragonslayer
Ladyhawke
Labyrinth
Willow
Secret of Nimh
Excalibur
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Time Bandits
Clash of the Titans (Harryhausen version)
Heck, all Harryhausen movies (Sinbad, etc)
Dark Crystal
Princess Bride

Quote from: John Morrow;565495Legend of the Seeker

The TV show?  Yes.  Very good.  The book it's based off of, Wizard's First Rule?  Hell no.  The only book I couldn't finish.  It was like reading something that Joseph McCarthy wrote if he wrote fantasy.

Quote from: jeff37923;565847Yeah, you might want to not be so touchy about Your Favorite Game....

Yes. I was, and I am.

That's because it sucks.

Quote from: Gib;565873That's because it sucks.

OAD&D is the one true game. All the others are pale imitations of the real thing.

That's what all the 1vengers say.