D&D General No One Reads Conan Now -- So What Are They Reading?

[GobHag]

Look, Conan hasn't been relevant for over a decade at this pont and while certain trapping of Sword-n-sorcery still exists the genre as a whole is far from any influence these days.

So what are the genres and media that do have an influence these days?

Doesn't have to be actual literature ofc but basically what are the cultural touchpoints for what fantasy looks and 'feels' like for modern players in your experience? Bonus if it's from players who started with 5e.

Lord of the Ring is cheating.

Is it Sanderson's works? The romantasy 'Court of X and Y' style? Warcraft? How much anime(-adjacents)ness do you think the average DnD player considers now? Is Genshin impact the way younger player/DMs think of how fantasy 'should' be like even subconsciously? Or is it all a bit incestuous with Frieren, Dungeon Meshi and Critical Role being the touchstone of how things should be like?

 

[Charlaquin]

Tolkien is kind of just vicariously relevant at this point - obviously his work had a huge and lasting impact on fantasy as a whole, but it’s no longer the direct reference for anyone under 30. George RR Martin is pretty influential due to Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. Brandon Sanderson is pretty big too. Harry Potter has lost a lot of cultural chache, but it’s definitely still relevant. Percy Jackson is kinda niche but has some relevance. Frieren and Dungeon Meshi on the Estern side for sure, and Goblin Slayer to a slightly lesser extent. Critical Role is, naturally, one of the most significant influences. World of Warcraft is a shadow of its former cultural relevance but still desperately clinging to what influence it can. The Witcher series is decently relevant. Elden Ring is absolutely huge.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

As it happens, I reread Conan a couple of weeks ago. But it doesn’t hold up well! But Tolkien and Moorcock where bigger influences on me in the early days.

As for modern players, the game has expanded well beyond people who read large quantities of fantasy fiction. So film, TV, and especially video games are a much bigger influence. The only fantasy author my players seem familiar with is Terry Pratchett. Even LotR they only know from the movies.

 

[MerricB]

Brandon Sanderson, Seanan McGuire, Sarah J. Maas, Ilona Andrews...

Not to mention the amazing selection of manga that even stores in Ballarat are now carrying...

Here's last year's Goodreads top contendors for

Fantasy

Romantasy

Young Adult Fantasy

Science Fiction

See which category has the most votes?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Here's last year's Goodreads top contendors

But the overlap between "people who play D&D" and "people who read fantasy fiction" has become much smaller, so that doesn't really tell you much about D&D players. I haven't read any of those, and I don't think any of my players have either.

 

[overgeeked]

Honestly, I see a huge shift away from Western fantasy to Japanese fantasy. The manga and light novel sections of most bookstores and libraries are exploding while the sci-fi & fantasy sections are stagnant or shrinking.

Western Novels. Game of Thrones. Brandon Sanderson. Joe Abercrombie. The Witcher. Patrick Rothfuss. Harry Potter.

Anime/Manga/Light Novels. Fullmetal Alchemist. Fairy Tail. InuYasha. Demon Slayer. Black Clover. Made in Abyss. Berserk. Frieren. Delicious in Dungeon. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. A Certain Magical Index. Sword Art Online. Slayers. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Mushoku Tensei. Overlord. The Rising of the Shield Hero. KonoSuba. Goblin Slayer. Witch Hat Atelier.

 

[jdrakeh]

I read mostly non-fiction stuff. One book that I re-read every year is The Turk: The Life and Times of the Famous Eighteenth-century Chess-playing Machine. It's a lot of fun. Right now I'm working my way through the Shadows horror anthology books.

 

[Distracted DM]

As it happens, I reread Conan a couple of weeks ago. But it doesn’t hold up well!

Agree to disagree! I read all of Howard's Conan stories ~8 years ago, for the first time, and found most of the writing visceral and energetic (obviously there are some ethically problematic parts). They were real page-turners for me.

 

[overgeeked]

Agree to disagree! I read all of Howard's Conan stories ~8 years ago, for the first time, and found most of the writing visceral and energetic (obviously there are some ethically problematic parts). They were real page-turners for me.

I'm in the middle of a Conan re-read right now. Except for the overt racism, the writing holds up quite well. It's very much page-turning, thrilling, action-adventure, sword & sorcery. Howard was a fantastic writer. He deserves a lot more recognition than he gets.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Honestly, I see a huge shift away from Western fantasy to Japanese fantasy. The manga and light novel sections of most bookstores and libraries are exploding while the sci-fi & fantasy sections are stagnant or shrinking.

Western Novels. Game of Thrones. Brandon Sanderson. Joe Abercrombie. The Witcher. Patrick Rothfuss. Harry Potter.

Anime/Manga/Light Novels. Fullmetal Alchemist. Fairy Tail. InuYasha. Demon Slayer. Black Clover. Made in Abyss. Berserk. Frieren. Delicious in Dungeon. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. A Certain Magical Index. Sword Art Online. Slayers. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Mushoku Tensei. Overlord. The Rising of the Shield Hero. KonoSuba. Goblin Slayer. Witch Hat Atelier.

Most anime/manga or light novels do not tend to have much to really add to dnd that is either compatible or not already being done.
secodnly sao is not fantasy it is video games and it utterly useless for dnd