Drawing from famous stories

[RangerWickett]

I just read the Wikipedia article on the movie Predator. It mentioned a theory that the film was inspired by Beowulf, which I thought was a pretty cool idea.

What are some other stories, preferably pre-modern ones, that could be retooled to a D&D setting?

 

[Umbran]

Well, that Arthurian myths and Robin Hood spring to mind.

Arthurian myths, btw, have a huge history that most folks are not familiar with. Most modern readers don't hear versions of the story that predate Sir Thomas Malory. But the legends go back farther.

For example, the prototype for the Grail Quest may be from a Welsh tale - a man is cursed to love a giant's daughter. The giant sets the man 40 great tasks (which he figures will never be accomplished) before his daughter can marry. The man goes to Arthur's court for assistance. One of the tasks is to recover a magic cauldron (in Welsh myths, all cauldrons are magic, it seems) - it will not boil a coward's food....

 

[00Machado]

Any recommendations are where to find the pre-Mallory Arthurian stories?

Regarding what to take ideas from, I'm thinking the 1001 Tales, and Mythology. Pick any that interest you - Norse, Greek, Indian - all have themes and adventure hooks you can expand on.

 

[Voadam]

I just read the Wikipedia article on the movie Predator. It mentioned a theory that the film was inspired by Beowulf, which I thought was a pretty cool idea.

What are some other stories, preferably pre-modern ones, that could be retooled to a D&D setting?

Epic of Gilgamesh.

Bull of Heaven, Humbaba, quest for the macguffin of immortality.

Odyssey,

Journey by boat, stop at isles and face exotic monsters, spellcasters, and hazards one by one.

 

[Mycanid]

Any recommendations are where to find the pre-Mallory Arthurian stories?

Here is a wikipedia link to King Arthur:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Arthur

There is a wonderful summary of some of these early sources by C.S. Lewis in his exceedingly rare book "The Arthurian Torso". (Might be able to find the text online.)

Some scholars divide the Arthurian Canon into three periods.

1. The "historical references" ... in material up to the 10th century or so where Arthur is mentioned briefly and in passing.

2. The "romantic literature" ... beginning with Geoffrey of Monmouth and especially including the writings of Chrétien de Troyes in France.

3. The "contemporary literature" covering Sir Thomas Malory to the present day.

I think Umbran was referring to the literature covering numbers 1 and 2 ... there is quite a bit of the stuff in category #2, by the way.

 

[Tauric]

I am currently building a campaign around the search for the Kingdom of Prester John: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prester_John

Other pre-modern stories that I considered:

The Vikings in Canada
The Ulster and Fenian Cycles
Song of Roland
El Cid
the Treasure Ships of China

 

[pawsplay]

Why pre-modern? I regularly rip off Star Wars for for my fantasy games.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

When in doubt, I troll through Wikipedia's links to individual Grimms' Fairy Tales, concentrating on the ones that I've never heard of.

 

[kenobi65]

I've done "Seven Samurai"/"Magnificent Seven" in both D&D and Star Wars RPG. A lot of fun both times.

 

[00Machado]

Here is a wikipedia link to King Arthur:

Thanks. For some reason I thought the answer would be more esoteric than that. Got to love the Internet.