D&D-influenced Fantasy Novels

[mythusmage]

Hmmm, I am amazed that no one has mentioned Terry Pratchett's Discworld series - the early books in particular were very heavily D&D influenced, right down to the spell mechanics!

The Auld Grump

The Disc World started out as Terry's game setting, and Rincewind began as a D&D magic-user. Later, when he picked up GURPS, Terry converted Rincewind to that system.

And speaking of people nobody's mentioned yet, our own Col. Pladoh has done two RPG 'influenced' series. Most of you have no doubt heard of Gord the Roque and his tales, but I suspect few of you have ever met the Magister Inhotep of Ægypt. Protagonist of a trilogy set in an early version of the Mythus setting, Ærth.

And while we're on the subject, contrary to legend Dragonlance was not gamed out. According to Margaret Weis (panel at the San Diego Comic-Con last year) they tried gaming out a few scenes to see what would happen, but after three different 'playtest' groups got our heroes killed investigating a well, it was decided to quietly drop the idea. (BTW, it was company management who decided the books had to have one representative from all the then available character classes. Margaret let it be known that had it been up to her certain characters would've croaked early on.)

 

[Steel_Wind]

I vaguely remember comments that the core authors got the idea while playing in an RPG. I might be confusing it with the Wild Cards series (also edited by George R.R. Martin), which did come from a Superworld RPG campaign.

Yup. GRR Martin's a gamer. As is Steven Erikson and Terry Goodkind. . Others include Katherine Kurtz, Marrion Zimmer Bradley, Thomas Harlan, Glen Cook, Paul Edwin Zimmer (when he was alive - and he was a SCA founder as well).

I just pulled those names looking over on two of my bookshelves. The ones I saw on the shelf who I do not know to be gamers would be JRR Tolkien, Frank Herbert, Stephen R. Donaldson and Robert Jordan (and I'm not sure about Jordan.)

The list goes on and on.

RPGs in general - and D&D in particular - have dominated the imagination of those who enjoy Fantasy and, to a lesser extent, SF for many years now. SF, in fact, has taken a serious beating in the marketplace because of the popularity of D&D and the effect it has had on the genre. Fantasy sells - but SF is a much, much harder sell and that has been so for over 20 years.

That is not an accident.

 

[rounser]

i read a rumor about J Rowling's attempts at D&D in her youth. so my guess is Harry Potter was influenced by D&D. but that is purely speculation.

It's hard to tell. The hippogriff and "polyjuice potion" seem conspicuous in this respect, and the goblet of fire is referred to as a "magic object". Anyone else spot what could be D&Disms in the HP books?

 

[mythusmage]

... Marrion Zimmer Bradley ...

Years ago at a local relaxacon I told Marion about an incident involving some trolls, a wizard with too many magic sticks, and a wand of wonder. The wizard thought he'd found his wand of fear. He got butterflies.

 

[demiurge1138]

It's hard to tell. The hippogriff and "polyjuice potion" seem conspicuous in this respect, and the goblet of fire is referred to as a "magic object". Anyone else spot what could be D&Disms in the HP books?

It should be noted that hippogriffs are actual mythological creatures. They're a Greek elaboration on the Scythian griffon.

Demiurge out.

 

[mythusmage]

It should be noted that hippogriffs are actual mythological creatures. They're a Greek elaboration on the Scythian griffon.

Demiurge out.

Actually (I do like that word, don't I? ) ... Actually, the hippogriff first appeared in Orlando Furioso, a parody of Italian epics. The hippogriff (griffin-horse) is the result of breeding between horses and griffins. The latter being animals who love horse flesh (as a meal) and will dare most anything to get it. In short, griffins kill and eat horses on sight.

The hippogriff was therefor the author's way of saying his spoof was full of impossible things the reader wasn't supposed to take seriously.

 

[rounser]

It should be noted that hippogriffs are actual mythological creatures.

That was my understanding too; it's just that they're so obscure that D&D seems the most likely means by which someone might know of them, unless my assumption is wrong and they're more common than that. Not so griffons, who appear rampant in coats of arms, I gather.

When the monsters are considered as a set (ogres, trolls, pegasi, hippogriffs, centaurs, dragons, elves) the odds of coincidence seem to begin to drop. Unless fantasy novels have changed a bit since I was into reading them, not even that lot are in as common currency as one might assume.

 

[Cam Banks]

Jim Butcher, author of the of The Dresden Files when asked in an interview with Crescent Blues stated that he has done alot of "gaming with every gaming system that you can think of." In fact he says that gaming has influenced his writing.

Jim's an old friend of mine and a great guy. When he and his family lived close by, they were part of our gaming group. My Elizabethulhu campaign (which I started with the release of 3.0) included them as players. Jim also runs a fantastic Warhammer FRP game, too.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[TheLostSoul]

...Robert Jordan (and I'm not sure about Jordan.)

He DM'ed games for his kids and their friends when they were younger I cannot remember where I read it, but it was in an interview.

 

[WayneLigon]

Oh, two more I remembered: Wargamer's World by Hugh Walker, and the sequel Army of Darkness: Magira II. The world there is literally laid out like a gaming board, even down to the hexes. Passing from a plains hex to an arctic hex is like stepping from one painting into another