Indispensable and Valuable Non-Fiction Sources

[Jack7]

I don't have a lot of time right now because of the deadline on my paper for the Navy. But I noticed some interesting comments and sources made in this thread and I appreciate them. I think many here will find them useful.

I think RPGs are more like drama or poetry than they are novels, as their essence is in performance.

That's an interesting observation from my point of view for two reasons. 1. I have also often noticed the similarity between poetic sagas and epic works - and fantasy gaming, it seeming to me that fantasy games are often a sort of "poetic saga" reenacted, and so it reminds me a lot of a poetic stage-play, with a chief "background" bard or skald who is the DM/GM, and several supporting poets, the players. 2. I have recently come to view, through my work with simulations and Virtual Reality, that RPG gaming is an early form of imaginative (or non-technological, though nowadays technology is overlapping the medium at the edges) Virtual Reality. If mixed in the proper way with other technologies it could have far wider applications than merely gaming.

Mallus; the trick with using real-world stuff is to do what Tolkien did. Use just enough that the players unconscious accepts the fantasy stuff that you mix in with it. Then somehow, the whole thing feels much more real, at some deep emotional/visceral level.

I completely concur with that Ydars and I'm gonna create a thread on that theme, as well as write a paper about it entitled, History as Sympathetic Novelty. By the way, in doing some background research I found out that Tolkien probably developed his idea of the Black Gate to Murder from the Iron Gate separating Eastern Europe from the Byzantine Empire, and that the way Minas Tirith was laid out and arranged was based largely on aspects of Constantinople, as well as other historical cities.

Here are some of my useful internet links. I'll post more sources when I get the time but now I'm very busy. These are a mix of history, research, scientific, religious, open source governmental, mapping, military and other such sources. A lot of these sources come from my files and are based on my old contacts but I think each link is probably still valid. If you find a broken link then let me know and I'll correct it.


INTERNET SOURCES

Rome Reborn 2.0
Theban Mapping Project
Who's Who in Medieval History and the Renaissance
For Researchers (Library of Congress)
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection - UT Library Online
Byzantine Reference Documents
Hagiography Database - Home
De Re Militari: The Society for Medieval Military History
Crime and Clues
United States Department of Justice
U.S. National Central Bureau of INTERPOL
NecroSearch International
U.S. Marshals Home Page
CI CENTRE | Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies--Premiere Counterintelligence, Counterterrorism and Security training, education, awareness, analysis, research and consulting by veteran senior intelligence experts from the FBI, CIA, D
US Army War College
Institute for Science and International Security
Army Intelligence and Security Doctrine
DARPA | Home
Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Main Page
The Classics Pages - Home Page: Main Site Index
Weapons and Warfare in the Ancient World
The Labyrinth
National Nanotechnology Initiative
MIT - research
Classical Curriculum Guide
LibrarySpot.com: Encyclopedias, maps, online libraries, quotations, dictionaries &amp more.
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory


I don't know if all of you guys know what a palimpsest is, but this is a very interesting one that is derived from the work of Archimedes that I have been following for years with great interest. I had a better general link for this but it's now dead.

NOVA | Infinite Secrets | The Archimedes Palimpsest | PBS
Archimedes Palimpsest


For this site you have to register to view (I have an account) but it is extremely good as it allows you to review many of Leonardo's (Da Vinci) less famous and unpublished notes and works. the invention notebooks alone are well worth a visit.

Desk di Consultazione

Seems like this thread and the history / mythology one I started should be merged, many seem very much on the same wavelength....

Seems like we agree. This is a thread on this site that I have found very interesting and a good general background source. Gall, I'm posting a link to your thread here.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/242110-history-mythology-art-rpgs.html


Keep up the good work people.
I'm liking what's turning up.
Well, I gotta go. Got work to do and I gotta get to sleep.
Up all night and I ain't a young man anymore.

 

[Gentlegamer]

I think what he meant was it was primary mythology / folklore and in that sense 'real' as opposed to modern derivitive fiction.


G.

Makes sense then.

On that note, I recommend "Bullfinch's Mythology:"

The Age of Fable
The Age of Chivalry
The Legends of Charlemagne

 

[Gentlegamer]

Sounds very in sync with the elitist / fascist mentality of the REPUBLIC and of Plato himself.

Is Plato and REPUBLIC really elitist/fascist? Or have you not studied it enough?

I'll add another recommendation: the works of physical philosophy (Latin: natural science) by the Master of Those Who Have Knowledge.

 

[Galloglaich]

Is Plato and REPUBLIC really elitist/fascist? Or have you not studied it enough?

I'll add another recommendation: the works of physical philosophy (Latin: natural science) by the Master of Those Who Have Knowledge.

It would probably be less inflammatory to say I find Plato a bit authoritarian and cynical in his analysis, and I personally prefer the Swiss type of decentralized democracy which seems to historically be more stable. Speaking of which, per the OP, I HIGHLY reccommend Terry Jones book "Barbarians" as well as the accompanying BBC / History Channel series that went along with it for those interested in another perspective the history of many of our ancestors.

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Terry-Jones-Barbarians-Alternative-History/dp/056353916X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231190691&sr=8-2[/ame]

The Repiublic contains valuable knowledge nevertheless and I do actually agree people should read it, it's an important key to understanding many of the foundational concepts of the world we live in.

G.

 

[Jack7]

BOOKS

Barbarians to Angels: the Dark Ages Reconsidered - a nice little book that reconsiders the notion of the "Dark Ages."
Books on Fire - a fascinating work concerning libraries that have been destroyed throughout history and what works and information such libraries probably and possibly contained.

INTERNET SOURCES

FBI — Federal Bureau of Investigation Homepage
U.S. Department of Defense Official Website
https://www.cia.gov/
Federal Bureau of Investigation - Investigative Programs - Critical Incident Response Group
Arms & Armour Glossary of Terms
HowStuffWorks - Learn How Everything Works!

 

[The Shaman]

Osprey Publishing books continue to be one of my automatic go-to's for any genre of roleplaying game.

 

[Jack7]

Osprey Publishing books continue to be one of my automatic go-to's for any genre of roleplaying game.

Indeed.
They're invaluable.

 

[Dedekind]

Since historical fiction counts, I really like the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell Bernard Cornwell - The Author's Official Site - Sharpe Books dot com. It is set in Spain during the Napoleonic wars and includes a fair amount of freedom fighting. There are "squad" "adventures" that would translate fairly well into D&D adventures, and the historical descriptions (like the city and battle of Salamanca) have been very useful for me.

(I ran Sean K. Reynolds' Against the Giants and much of my campaign was inspired by these books.)

For true non-fiction, I use Google images to find real world photos that are similar in look and feel to in game locations. (E.g., a mountain jungle was necessary for Shackled City.)

 

[Jhaelen]

Interesting thread!

I'm generally too lazy to look for non-fiction sources that might be useful for roleplaying.

Mostly I'm using Ars Magica supplements (from Atlas Games) which always include an extensive bibliography with the sources (both fiction and non-fiction) the authors used when they researched stuff for their supplements. This is a real time saver for me if I'm looking for something specific. I really wished, more companies would do that!

 

[Jack7]

While working on a case tonight and waiting for my wife to get back from Virginia I developed a bad case of insomnia. If I don’t get to bed by 0300 I’m pretty much screwed anyways and won’t be able to sleep at all that night. So I decided to do something productive to kill a little bit of the time before sunrise.


BOOKS

Ghost: Confessions of a Counter-terrorism Agent – I like Fred Burton (the author) and I take STRATFOR. So when I saw this book it interested me. The book is down-written, and by that I mean it is generally written down to an audience that has little or no previous experience with Counter-terrorism matters. Nevertheless it is a real good read on his personal experiences, and the man has some interesting work methods that I enjoyed reading and thinking about. An excellent resource for anyone with an interest in counter-terrorism, and who plays espionage/counter-terrorism games.

Survive! – This work is by Les Stroud. Now I like Stroud and am a big proponent and practitioner of survival tactics myself, both rural and urban, going back to my days in the CAP, and my childhood growing up in the country. Stroud is to me part of a new breed of survivalists who employ very creative and innovative uses of simple tools that many others might overlook. This book is great, as is his series, Survivorman, which I also highly recommend. I’d like to meet the man one day. This is good for any kind of game that has survival elements included. One day I’m gonna write articles about "Vadding and Survival in both Gaming and Real World Situations."

The Terminal Spy – Now, yes, I like Intel work. I like espionage matters. But criminal and detective work has always been my first love. So when I saw this book on the Litvinenko Case, which I have been eagerly following since it first broke open, I saw immediately that it would be fascinating to me because it combined elements of international espionage (especially the newer Private espionage and Intel Rings – which fascinate me personally and about which I have written a couple of theory papers – not to mention my personal interest in the fact that I have some old buddies in Russia going back to the Cold War days who worked against the KGB ), Intel, terrorism, and, most especially homicide and assassination. So I got it. The book is an excellent work of investigative journalism and detective work from what I can tell so far. If you have any interest in Intel/military/espionage games then this book is not only full of ideas, it is a good and thorough objective examination of the case itself.


TV

Weaponology – A really good series, generally speaking. Not as good as Futureweapons, but excellent nonetheless.

Warriors – I saw the preview for this the other night and really enjoyed it. It seems well researched too.


LECTURE SERIES

A History of Ancient Greece – this lecture is by Eric Cline. Cline is one of my favorite modern lecturers to follow. He is a professor at George Washington University and not a bad anthropologist/archaeologist in his own right. He is also a very good teacher. I generally prefer Madden out of Saint Louis University, but Cline is awfully good at what he does. Speaking of which –

The Catholic Church in the Modern Age – You should really listen to any of Madden’s lectures on the Catholic Church, from any era he addresses, but especially his lectures on the Crusades, which are fantastic (as are his lectures on the Byzantine Empire). They are extremely well balanced and brilliant. Full of historical detail and insight. I’d like to take a class under the man sometime. For now though his lectures are well worth listening to.

Since historical fiction counts, I really like the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell Bernard Cornwell - The Author's Official Site - Sharpe Books dot com.

Indeed, I am about to start reading Agincourt, which I got at the library yesterday, and is about Hook the English longbowman. It is hard to go wrong with Cornwell, so detailed is his research, and so great is his writing.

The Sharpe books and the series starring Sean Bean, I believe it was (Over the hills, and far away...) are both excellent.