What Authors Have Most Inspired Your Campaign?

[Olive]

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.

sure, but not as a fiction author - I haven't read th Gord books since I was a kid.

Good to see LeGuin getting the props. I love ehr stuff, but she's not much of an influence on my world as such. The influences on the campaign really come from game books much more than fiction.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Now there's an interesting campaign to envision.

You're tellin' me.

There's fleets of ships and armies clashing, the PC's are god-touched, they do it amongst strong symbolism and a constant reminder of their own mortality and fragility, and then there's screaming "Haaaaaaaaa!" for three episodes before the battle with the Strongest Martial Arts Fighter in the Universe...that is, the half that isn't getting their butts handed to them by the tentacled monstrosities I sic on them.

And me without a good idea what to do to 'em next....pheh.

 

[The Thayan Menace]

Gothic Cthulhu Mafia

CRIMSON RECKONING, our current FRCS (Thayan) campaign, is a thematic hybrid of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos and the Secret Books of Paradys by Tanith Lee.

It's basically a scenario of unspeakable horrors and decadent pursuits, with heavy doses of political intrigue and organized crime.

 

[sellars]

My favourite and most inspiring authors are:

Neil Gaiman
Tad Williams

Their books Neverwhere (N.G.) and the series Otherland (T.W.) are simply brilliant!

The books are treasures in adventuring ideas, the mood is very good, and they are just plain good writers!

If anyone haven't read it yet, it is certainly reccomended.

Another (current) favorite is the Night's Dawn Trilogy by Peter F Hammilton. It is scifi, but loaded with brilliant ideas and a superb mood.


For the people who are into ravenloft, the victorian Russian and English writers are a must.

 

[S'mon]

Moorcock & Leiber especially; Howard & Tolkien to a lesser extent - those are the 4 I voted for. Gygax's Gord books to some extent, mostly as campaign background material. Also an Australian guy called Andrew Whitmore who wrote The Fortress of Eternity/Fireflaught.

 

[JoeGKushner]

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

DB

MIght be a little older crowed. Like not have Clark Ashton Smith perhaps? It's funny how times change. Compare the recommended reading list, if you have it, in the DMG for AD&D 1st edition with a more recent one.

 

[kikai]

Hi,

this ist my first post on Enworld. I´m not a native english-speaker, so i apologize for mistakes.

I am inspired by:
- Robert Jordan`s Wheel of Time,
- Kathrin Kerr`s Deverry-Cycle (?), because it` maintheme (one magic user did something very wrong [e.g. he preferred his work about [?] his loved-one and drove her in Problems, in which she eventually committed suicide]. He swore not to rest, until this has been "corrected", and the gods acceptet his oath: He cannot die until he and the other significant persons (which he met and recognised in other reincarnations) were "okay"), it` word-epos, magic system, elven history (more feral, perhabs more like "sidhe") and last not least her faszinating writing-style ist absolutely amazing.
- Tad Williams "Dragonbone-Chair": cool plot, faszinating characters, different elves (more "strange", feral oder sidhe-like), but needs to gain speed at some passages (?).
- Warcraft III Plot

Bye,

kikai!
-

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

For me, there are so many different ones, but the ones I think have most inspired my campaign are:
David Eddings (and now I guess I need to give proer credit to his wife Leigh
Melanie Rawn (maybe someday she will actually finish the Ruins of Ambrae)
Kate Eliott (One last book to go in her Crown of Stars series - hope it comes out soon)

 

[iblis]

just too many...

Ack. Too many to list, given the variety of system, style, character, plot etc. that I've been involved with even so far - and I'm certainly not the most experienced roleplayer - or reader - out there.

So, a few fiction writers who have influenced roleplaying for me :

(from the list)
--------------
J. R. R. Tolkien - the immortal
H. P. Lovecraft - clever, often disturbed
Terry Pratchett - gentle amusement


(other)
-------
Raymond E. Feist (& Janny Wurts) - still not bad for 'classic' fantasy
David Eddings - as above
Tad Williams - again
David Gemmell - and again
William Gibson - for c/punk
John Brunner - for c/punk and sci-fi
George Orwell - just because you don't think...
C. J. Cherryh - wisdom and finesse
Victor Kelleher - sentimental childhood fave
Lloyd Alexander - as above
C. S. Lewis - again
Alan Garner - and again
Tanith Lee - very off and on, but some immaculate imagery
Frank Herbert - Dune and co. have been very helpful
Isaac Asimov - for sci-fi, and for world-building in general
Edgar Allen Poe - self-important, but nonetheless...(also Lovecraft's idol)
Aldous Huxley - visionary and scathing
William Shakespeare - it's been said before, yada yada : still, is good
Ursula K. LeGuin - for Earthsea and Omelas and more

And so on. Really, every book I read from beginning to end influences me in some way or other. Which probably goes for lots of folk, I guess.

(my 2c)

 

[BluSponge]

I can't believe George R.R. Martin and David Eddings aren't on this list! Those two did more for my conception of gaming (changing the focus of my GMing work from locations to characters) than anyone else. As far as my other choices: I've only recently begun to read Howard, but I really like the gritty nature of his presentation. And Gygax? Well, not so much for his novels, but his adventures are just plain inspirational.

Tom