Inspiration and the Spirit of D&D
- Thread starter Najo
- Start date
GMforPowergamers
Legend
1) thunder cats 80's cartoon (although the new one was cool)
2) he-man 80's cartoon (even though I liked the new one better)
3) Necroscope series by Brian Lumley (yes it's horror and adult)
4) Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher
5) Lord of the RIngs... I mean how is that not in everyone's 5
2) he-man 80's cartoon (even though I liked the new one better)
3) Necroscope series by Brian Lumley (yes it's horror and adult)
4) Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher
5) Lord of the RIngs... I mean how is that not in everyone's 5
Li Shenron
Legend
Movies:
- The Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit (all of them)
- Labyrinth
- The Neverending Story
- Excalibur
- Indiana Jones (series)
Music:
- Led Zeppelin
- Jethro Tull
- Uriah Heep
- Marillion
- Enya
Books:
- all Greek mythology
- J.R.R. Tolkien
- J. Vance
- R.A. Salvatore
- C.S. Lewis
Games
- Temple/Gateway to Apshai (series)
- Dragon's Lair (series)
- Eye of the Beholder (series)
- Baldur's Gate (series)
- The Temple of Elemental Evil
- The Lord of the Rings / The Hobbit (all of them)
- Labyrinth
- The Neverending Story
- Excalibur
- Indiana Jones (series)
Music:
- Led Zeppelin
- Jethro Tull
- Uriah Heep
- Marillion
- Enya
Books:
- all Greek mythology
- J.R.R. Tolkien
- J. Vance
- R.A. Salvatore
- C.S. Lewis
Games
- Temple/Gateway to Apshai (series)
- Dragon's Lair (series)
- Eye of the Beholder (series)
- Baldur's Gate (series)
- The Temple of Elemental Evil
Tolkien and Howard are certainly up there (and I think Howard's otherworldly stuff in Conan is more apropos to a lot of D&D than the direct Lovecraft stuff).
I'm a huge fan of Glen Cook for the Black Company, Dread Empire, and Garrett Chronicles. (I thought it was neat that Gygax listed Black Company as one of the two sets of books he might add to the 1e DMG list http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...t-XIII/page2&p=3447702&viewfull=1#post3447702 ). I'm still undecided on Cook's Instrumentalities of the Night series - I really liked the first book but the next two progressively less so. I'm getting ready to reread them before the next volume comes out in a month or so.
Lately though I've started picking up anthologies, and they seem to evoke _a lot_ more of D&D per page than any novel I've ever read. I thought the three I got this past year were all outstanding. (I picked them up for the Glen Cook stories, but I liked the ones he's had in his own two short story collections significantly more than his contributions to these three anthologies). They were:
Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery
Fearsome Journeys: The New Solaris Book of Fantasy
Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honor of Jack Vance
So for books:
1) Tolkien's Middle Earth (Epic Fantasy)
2) Howard's Conan (Sword and Sorcery)
3) Cook's Dread Empire, Garrett Chronicles, and Black Company (Political, Gritty, and City Adventures)
4-5) A huge bunch of short stories to pick from.
I don't have any movies or songs that jump right out at me. (Some details in a lot of Disney movies always get me, but not enough to list them here).
I'm a huge fan of Glen Cook for the Black Company, Dread Empire, and Garrett Chronicles. (I thought it was neat that Gygax listed Black Company as one of the two sets of books he might add to the 1e DMG list http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...t-XIII/page2&p=3447702&viewfull=1#post3447702 ). I'm still undecided on Cook's Instrumentalities of the Night series - I really liked the first book but the next two progressively less so. I'm getting ready to reread them before the next volume comes out in a month or so.
Lately though I've started picking up anthologies, and they seem to evoke _a lot_ more of D&D per page than any novel I've ever read. I thought the three I got this past year were all outstanding. (I picked them up for the Glen Cook stories, but I liked the ones he's had in his own two short story collections significantly more than his contributions to these three anthologies). They were:
Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery
Fearsome Journeys: The New Solaris Book of Fantasy
Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honor of Jack Vance
So for books:
1) Tolkien's Middle Earth (Epic Fantasy)
2) Howard's Conan (Sword and Sorcery)
3) Cook's Dread Empire, Garrett Chronicles, and Black Company (Political, Gritty, and City Adventures)
4-5) A huge bunch of short stories to pick from.
I don't have any movies or songs that jump right out at me. (Some details in a lot of Disney movies always get me, but not enough to list them here).
Last edited:
tuxgeo
Adventurer
Books or Authors (aside from the obligatory Lieber & Tolkien):
Williamson because of "Darker Than You Think"
The Compleat Enchanter (DeCamp & Pratt)
Lewis Carroll - "vorpal" added to the lexicon
Zelazny - the Amber series & the Merlin followup
Music:
In The Hall Of The Mountain King
Fingal's Cave Overture
Til Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks
Nearly anything folk-instrumental. Particularly:
Stolen Apples (Dalglish & Larsen at The New Varsity, Palo Alto)
Through the Woods (Metamora)
Williamson because of "Darker Than You Think"
The Compleat Enchanter (DeCamp & Pratt)
Lewis Carroll - "vorpal" added to the lexicon
Zelazny - the Amber series & the Merlin followup
Music:
In The Hall Of The Mountain King
Fingal's Cave Overture
Til Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks
Nearly anything folk-instrumental. Particularly:
Stolen Apples (Dalglish & Larsen at The New Varsity, Palo Alto)
Through the Woods (Metamora)
Hussar
Legend
Books or Authors: (Excluding the obvious choices of Howard, Tolkien and Lovecraft)
Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles
Robert Heinlein
Orson Scott Card
Frank Herbert
Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels
Movies or TV
Krull
Beastlord
Hercules or Xena TV series
Monte Python
Army of Darkness
Video Games:
Baldur's Gate (duh
)
Temple of Apshai
Various Sierra Quest Games
Ultima 3 and 5
Many, many 4x games like Master of Orion
Music - to be honest, I never really related D&D to music very much.
Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles
Robert Heinlein
Orson Scott Card
Frank Herbert
Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels
Movies or TV
Krull
Beastlord
Hercules or Xena TV series
Monte Python
Army of Darkness
Video Games:
Baldur's Gate (duh
)Temple of Apshai
Various Sierra Quest Games
Ultima 3 and 5
Many, many 4x games like Master of Orion
Music - to be honest, I never really related D&D to music very much.
Stormonu
NeoGrognard
Books:
1) The (3) Book of Swords
2) The Hobbit
3) Lord of the Rings
4) Odessey
5) Dragonlance Chronicles
Movies:
1) Clash of the Titans (the original)
2) 300
3) Dragonslayer
4) Sinbad's Seventh Voyage
5) Hawk the Slayer
Video Games
1) Skyrim
2) Dragon Age
3) Baldur's Gate
4) King's Quest series
5) Ultima series
Music
1) March of Cambreadth (Heather Alexander)
2) Infernal Dance of Koskitchi (Igor Stravinsky - The Firebird)
3) Anvil of Crom (Basil Poledouris - Conan the Barbarian Soundtrack)
4) Prelude to War (Bear McCreary - Battlestar Galactica Season Two Soundtrack)
5) The Bridge of Khazad Dum (Howard Shore - Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Rings Soundtrack)
1) The (3) Book of Swords
2) The Hobbit
3) Lord of the Rings
4) Odessey
5) Dragonlance Chronicles
Movies:
1) Clash of the Titans (the original)
2) 300
3) Dragonslayer
4) Sinbad's Seventh Voyage
5) Hawk the Slayer
Video Games
1) Skyrim
2) Dragon Age
3) Baldur's Gate
4) King's Quest series
5) Ultima series
Music
1) March of Cambreadth (Heather Alexander)
2) Infernal Dance of Koskitchi (Igor Stravinsky - The Firebird)
3) Anvil of Crom (Basil Poledouris - Conan the Barbarian Soundtrack)
4) Prelude to War (Bear McCreary - Battlestar Galactica Season Two Soundtrack)
5) The Bridge of Khazad Dum (Howard Shore - Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Rings Soundtrack)
