What Authors Have Most Inspired Your Campaign?

[Theocrat]

Brust, Steven

Hi all-
Steven Brust with the Taltos novels has done wonders for some of my old campaigns. Playing in Greyhawk there wasn't much information several years back for the Kingdom of Keoland. I modified many things, including creating a city of Dragera, based upon the Imperial city from the novels. I even made my own undead witch queen named Sethra.
I think that it would make an excellent D&D world.

 

[SmokestackJones]

Hey there,

I said "Other" so I gotta 'splain.

Campaign influences:

John Ford/Howard Hawks
Raymond Chandler
Jim Henson
Terry Gilliam
Tim Burton
Looney Tunes
Monty Python
Charles Addams
Chuck Jones
Bob Clampett
Jay Ward/Bill Scott

-SJ

 

[Hodag]

Tom Clancy, I don't run many fantasy games.

 

[Orius]

I listed Bulfinch, Tolkien, Howard, Jordan, Greenwood, Weis (that really should be Weis and Hickman, IMO), and other. Pretty much any fantasy author i've read has influenced me to some degree or other,a dn I suspect this is the case with most typical generic D&D campaigns.

Quick note: Greenwood's influence is from various game acticles he's written on the Realms. I haven't read any of his fiction, but his game articles usually contain a lot of great ideas.

 

[Haloq Jakar]

my 2 bits

Glen Cook for both The Black Company and Garrett PI
Lin Carter just about everything
Alan Burt Akers/Dray Prescot lots of useful stuff
Edgar Rice Burroughs again just about everything of his
Raymond E Feist for Krondor
and finally Harry Turtledove for the Lost Legion

 

[milotha]

Jack Vance DOOD. You gotta be kidding not to have his name on the list.

DB

I agree completely. Here's a seconf Other vote for Jack Vance and Roger Zelazny.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

Glen Cook. More specifically his Garrett, PI "Metal' series for their mix of camp and grit.

 

[arwink]

Whatever I've read in the last week that makes me go "Oooh, that'd be cool."

Whatever my players read that inspires them to create and play the kinds of characters they do.

Who-ever did the cartography on the two-part known world trail map that's hanging on the wall of Capellan's game room.

 

[drothgery]

I tabbed Jordan and 'Other'; the only game I run these days is a d20 Wheel of Time game, so there's no question about who the biggest influence on that game is. And the smaller influences tend to be 'whatever I was reading most recently', which usually isn't on the list. Almsot everyone I've read and liked -- most recently Brust and Bujold, but I'm not sure how many authors are on my bookshelves -- has some influence on my game (not everyone; some people's ideas just don't translate well to the WoT universe), though it's not always obvious.

 

[d4]

Surely all D&D campaigns are influenced by EGG? or at least for all of us that started with OD&D, Basic Set or 1e.

nope. i started with the Basic Set and 1e, but i try to remove whatever "Gygaxian" flavor i can from my campaigns.

other than Tolkein, i don't think i've even read any books by any of the other authors listed in the poll. i'm not a big fantasy reader.

most of my worldbuilding comes from reading nonfiction history or mythology. of the fantasy/sci fi writers i do enjoy, high on the list would be Gene Wolfe, Jack Vance, Julian May, Elizabeth Boyer, Frank Herbert, and Philip Jose Farmer.