Can novels make or break a setting for you?

[RSKennan]

Hey everyone, it's been a long time since I posted here, but I wanted to ask everyone a question. I started the same thread on RPGNet, but realized that EN World was the place I probably should have posted it, since D&D's the game most famous for having published game novels. Sorry for crossposting.

Say you had two settings, A and B. Both are, for the sake of argument, equally good, according to reviews. A has a core book and few novels set in it, while B just has a core book. You've weighed everything you can think of, and the only real difference (aside from the genre and other details of the settings) between the two is the novel aspect. Are you more drawn to A, or is your decision unaffected?

 

[Teflon Billy]

B) My decision is unaffected.

I've found nearly all RPG Fiction to be really sub-par. With the exception of a couple of titles by the late Nigel Findlay, I can't recall a piece of RPG fiction that I thought was even as good as the "Girl with a Harp on the Cover" fantasy title of the week.

I mean honestly, even titles that I'm told are paragons of the genre tend to not be good.

Streams of Silver? Come on.

 

[Teflon Billy]

In your poll, how are options 2 and 3 different?

 

[RSKennan]

A little background; I ask this question because I was having a conversation with a close friend of mine today, and it was his position that all the settings he really loves have novels. He told me that he can't GM a setting (or even get into it) unless he has a ground level view of how the world feels, looks, tastes and smells. He needs to understand the themes, the types of action that fit the setting, and what kinds of adventures work best there, abnd the best way for him to do that is to read game fiction. It makes sense to me, but I'm hoping to get everyone else's opinions.

 

[RSKennan]

In your poll, how are options 2 and 3 different?

I figured I'd put it in as a release valve for something I hadn't thought of. For example, in the RPGNet version of the thread, one person brought up the idea that novels can send the message to potential customers that the line is well supported, and that can make people want to buy the setting, even if they wouldn't read the fiction.

 

[Sound of Azure]

It's more like the other way around for me.

If the setting is evocative and interesting I might pick up a novel about that setting. If the novel's good, it might enhance my enjoyment of a setting I already like (because it expands on what I already know), but having novels certainly wouldn't make me choose one setting over another if that's the only difference.

A novel might (though it probably wouldn't) inspire me to check out a setting that I haven't seen before if it was a good novel.

Also, as Teflon Billy stated, most rpg-based books aren't exactly great.

 

[Ron]

I would suggest your friend to move from commissioned game based novels to author created novels. There are quite a many settings based on fantasy books that are quite good. I can recommend the Dying Earth, Black Company or Game of Thrones, the last two being d20 books. However, novels based on games usually suck badly.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

Maybe, if they were very good.

But what are the chances of that?

I'll read game fiction, but I don't expect it to capture my affections to any great degree.

I do like being able to read about my favourite game settings, though, so if the two were truly on par but only one had the novels, I'd probably go with that one.

 

[RSKennan]

I would suggest your friend to move from commissioned game based novels to author created novels. There are quite a many settings based on fantasy books that are quite good. I can recommend the Dying Earth, Black Company or Game of Thrones, the last two being d20 books. However, novels based on games usually suck badly.

I'd say with relative certainty that my friend has read most of those books. He's an omnivorous (if indiscriminate) reader. He's a highly intelligent guy, with good taste. He just happens to like a very wide range of media. I''m sort of the same way, which is part of why we get along. I think it's a matter of just accepting something on its own terms.

That said, he's been trying to urge me to write novels for my own setting for years. I've resisted what he said because I'd prefer my first novel to be more original, like the fiction you've mentioned. Of course it's a moot point now, since my setting's no longer in print.

 

[BRP2]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but are they any actually "good" setting novels out there?