TheAlkaizer
Game Designer
So, putting aside official RPG products, 3rd party products or anything directly related to TTRPGs; what are some books that you read in the past or still use as reference that had a positive impact on your TTRPGs experience? It can be fiction for inspiration, non-fiction books related to game design, game theory, history, psychology, etc. It can be for making characters, or roleplaying them or preparing a campaign or even designing content. Anything goes, the weirder the more interesting!
I'll list some of mine:
Architecture: Form, Space and Order - Francis D.K Ching
A classic architecture book. When I started in the video games industry I had to do some level design, which I had never put much time into. I figured architecture would be a good side-topic book to get help me. It's been one of my reference book both for level design in video games, building dungeons or environment in TTRPGs and anything related to space honestly.
A Distant Mirror - Barbara W. Tuchman
I unfortunately didn't get to finish it (about 75% in) but I look forward to starting it over. A very unique account of a character of the middle ages that lived through many of the different lives/events that you could in the middle ages. It's a refreshing read compared to most non-fiction. Very original structure for an history book.
Les Misérables dans l'Occident Médiéval - Jean-Louis Goglin
In french, my mother tongue. I have no idea if it's available in english. It's a marvelous little book that focuses on societal groups of the middle ages that lived on the fringes. The forgotten ones. Those affected by famines, epidemic, war, etc. It's been an interesting read and allowed me to bring new topics and concepts to my game which generally have a darker tone.
The Kalevala - Elias Lönnrot
Everyone knows mythology is perhaps the greatest source of inspiration. However, some mythologies have been done to death. The Kalevala is a Finnish epic and classic literature. I never read it from start to finish, but I've stolen so many ideas and names from this. And very few people recognize them, don't even need to reskin them!
English Frisian Topic Dictionary - Jessy Gonzales
Conlangs, naming languages and real languages are one of my most used tool when worldbuilding. It makes things feel real to me and the process of creating names makes me remember them. I use several tools for that, but topical dictionaries are some of the ones I use the most. I own several and this one is just one of my most recent purchases. Frisian is one of the languages that's closest to english, and yet it has something alien to it. It has given some nice flavor to my last worldbuilding project.
Primal Branding - Patrick Hanlon
A marketing book I purchased for work-related reasons last year. I haven't finished it, but everytime I finished a chapter it gave me ideas. It approaches marketing and marketing from a primal and sense of belonging aspect. It touches on psychology, us vs them and other stuff like that. I referenced it when creating factions, groups, cults, etc. Looking forward to reading the last third.
I have a ton more, but that's a good first selection.
I'll list some of mine:
Architecture: Form, Space and Order - Francis D.K Ching
A classic architecture book. When I started in the video games industry I had to do some level design, which I had never put much time into. I figured architecture would be a good side-topic book to get help me. It's been one of my reference book both for level design in video games, building dungeons or environment in TTRPGs and anything related to space honestly.
A Distant Mirror - Barbara W. Tuchman
I unfortunately didn't get to finish it (about 75% in) but I look forward to starting it over. A very unique account of a character of the middle ages that lived through many of the different lives/events that you could in the middle ages. It's a refreshing read compared to most non-fiction. Very original structure for an history book.
Les Misérables dans l'Occident Médiéval - Jean-Louis Goglin
In french, my mother tongue. I have no idea if it's available in english. It's a marvelous little book that focuses on societal groups of the middle ages that lived on the fringes. The forgotten ones. Those affected by famines, epidemic, war, etc. It's been an interesting read and allowed me to bring new topics and concepts to my game which generally have a darker tone.
The Kalevala - Elias Lönnrot
Everyone knows mythology is perhaps the greatest source of inspiration. However, some mythologies have been done to death. The Kalevala is a Finnish epic and classic literature. I never read it from start to finish, but I've stolen so many ideas and names from this. And very few people recognize them, don't even need to reskin them!
English Frisian Topic Dictionary - Jessy Gonzales
Conlangs, naming languages and real languages are one of my most used tool when worldbuilding. It makes things feel real to me and the process of creating names makes me remember them. I use several tools for that, but topical dictionaries are some of the ones I use the most. I own several and this one is just one of my most recent purchases. Frisian is one of the languages that's closest to english, and yet it has something alien to it. It has given some nice flavor to my last worldbuilding project.
Primal Branding - Patrick Hanlon
A marketing book I purchased for work-related reasons last year. I haven't finished it, but everytime I finished a chapter it gave me ideas. It approaches marketing and marketing from a primal and sense of belonging aspect. It touches on psychology, us vs them and other stuff like that. I referenced it when creating factions, groups, cults, etc. Looking forward to reading the last third.
I have a ton more, but that's a good first selection.
