D&D General Appendix EN - What one book/series inspires your D&D?

[Yaarel]

Harry Potter, Adventures of Merlin, with the shaman/wizard archetype as the main hero.

 

[Yaarel]

Brave New World tv show as a utopian experiment.

 

[whimsychris123]

Complete Plays of William Shakespeare

 

[Yaarel]

Humans tv show as sapient constructs.

 

[Yaarel]

Sense8 for implications of psionic telepathic link.

 

[Yaarel]

X-Men, New Mutants, Teen Wolf, for motley magical crew.

 

[Yaarel]

Complete Plays of William Shakespeare

For me for D&D, especially Tempest, Midsummer Nights Dream, Merry Wives of Windsor, for fey lore, and MacBeth.

 

[Yaarel]

Heh, sorry, didnt read the rules.

In any case, for modern D&D, we must mention tv and movies as well.

 

[CleverNickName]

I would add the four-book "Heritage of Shannara" series, by Terry Brooks. It's arguably his best work, so if you've only ever read the Sword of Shannara you're really missing out.

This series has been my D&D inspiration since I was a teenager.
How does magic work? Shannara.
How do I do court intrigue? Shannara.
What do bards and druids look like? Shannara.
How do I create a villain? an artifact? a mythology? a dragon? Shannara, Shannara, always Shannara.

 

[Dioltach]

The Broken Empire Trilogy, by Mark Lawrence.

Because let's face it, no matter how intricate the DM's plot is, the PCs will mostly muddle their way through by acting like a bunch of murder hobos.