Mearls talks about his inspiration for the 4e classes

[mach1.9pants]

Well I can sing many songs, but I wouldn't call it 'performing'...

....in fact most people would call it torture!

 

[catsclaw227]

Avenger: Ripping aside the ethereal nature of Wolf's Book of the New Sun and treating it as a comic book of sorts, Severian the torturer was a major influence on this class's initial feel and direction. Obviously its divine roots steered in a different direction, but I can easily see playing an avenger based on fantasy's most famous torturer.

Bard: Fflewddur Fflam from Alexander's Prydain books provided a fair amount of inspiration.

I'm unfamiliar with either of these.

You can be forgiven for the former, but lack of familiarity with the latter is cause for having your Geek Card revoked.

Wait... I think my Geek Cred card is in jeopardy! While I certainly know of Wolfe and the Book of the New Sun (not for the casual reader, BTW, but excellent nonetheless) I didn't know of Lloyd Alexander until today. Did I miss an important part of my childhood? I was a young fantasy reader in the mid-late 70s and early 80s.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I didn't know of Lloyd Alexander until today. Did I miss an important part of my childhood? I was a young fantasy reader in the mid-late 70s and early 80s.

Um, yes. Yes you did.

In the pantheon of Classic Fantasy You Darn Well Better Have Read, Lloyd Alexander is only one step below Tolkien, Howard, or Moorcock in importance. Heck, he's also the only semi-modern writer I can think of to have inspired a Disney movie. (The Black Cauldron, while neither a fantastic movie nor particularly loyal as an adaptation, at least pushed the books further into public consciousness for a time.)

 

[The_Fan]

Um, yes. Yes you did.

In the pantheon of Classic Fantasy You Darn Well Better Have Read, Lloyd Alexander is only one step below Tolkien, Howard, or Moorcock in importance. Heck, he's also the only semi-modern writer I can think of to have inspired a Disney movie. (The Black Cauldron, while neither a fantastic movie nor particularly loyal as an adaptation, at least pushed the books further into public consciousness for a time.)

Ohh! I remember that now! That's the movie with the puppets and the vulture-things called skeksis, right?

 

[Hairfoot]

Ohh! I remember that now! That's the movie with the puppets and the vulture-things called skeksis, right?

That's Labyrinth. Everyone knows that.

 

[The_Fan]

Double post

 

[Mouseferatu]

Ohh! I remember that now! That's the movie with the puppets and the vulture-things called skeksis, right?

Please don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry...

 

[Rechan]

Okay Mouse, I think you should educate us about these here books.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Okay Mouse, I think you should educate us about these here books.

But someone else has done it for me.

The Chronicles of Prydain - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Skip the descriptions of the individual books, though, as they contain spoilers.

For those who don't want to read the entire entry, the Chronicles is a five-book fantasy series. It's technically written for adolescents and young adults, but I've found it to be enjoyable as an adult, and it's much darker than what we consider to be YA-material today. (It was written back in the 60s.)

It draws heavily on Welsh mythology, particularly for names and locations, and even includes some characters from said mythology (though they're often reimagined for the books).

I don't know if modern readers will find all that much new in it--it is, as I said, nearly 50 years old--but it really is part of, if not the foundation of today's fantasy, then at least the first or second floor.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Fflewddur Fflam was the first 'Bard' (in this sense) I came across, as a kid. Loved those books.

Anyway, regardless of how I might feel about the game in general, that's a pretty righteous source, right there.