What is Your Current Campaign's "Appendix N"?

[Reynard]

I think it is pretty common to have some media sources -- television, film, novels, comics, games, music, etc -- that underlie a campaign. Not so much "adapting" elements outright (although of course that can happen) but things that inform style and tone and genre and such.

So for your current campaign(s) -- running or playing in -- what would you list in its specific "Appendix N" of inspirational media? And are you actually adapting any elements from those inspirations, in addition to tone, mood, style or genre?

I am running two current Shadowdark games. one is a pickup game with my regular D&D group (we rotate GMs so I am not sure how long lived it will be) but the other is an attempt at a full on long term SD campaign (after running some shorter things as well as con games). For both games, I take inspiration from grim and gritty fiction -- Abercrombie, but also The Black Company. I also like the tone and style of Darkest Dungeon, and since the longer campaign is The Gloaming from Cursed Scroll #1 I take the dark faerie talke vibe of Legend (the 80s movie) as well. My soundtrack when prepping is almost always the Doom video game soundtrack.

 

[jdrakeh]

I'm not currently running anything, but I have a campaign on the docket for this fall that is heavily influenced by Cthulhu Dark, Traveller (all iterations, but specifically the three little black books), and The Expanse (TV show), as well as John Brunner's The Complete Traveller in Black (to a lesser degree). The system is my own Travelling Dark, currently available as a PWYW PDF at Itch.

[Edit: Add Megadeth and AC/DC as musical influences.]

 

[payn]

Currently in the War for the Crown AP by Paizo in Pathfinder classic. The metaplot is the nation of Taldor is currently in turmoil as nobles duke it out for seat of the emperor and control of the direction of the country going forward. I'd say Game of Thrones is coming to mind a lot so far.

 

[payn]

I'm not currently running anything, but I have a campaign on the docket for this fall that is heavily influenced by Cthulhu Dark, Traveller (all iterations, but specifically the three little black books), and The Expanse (TV show), as well as John Brunner's The Complete Traveller in Black (to a lesser degree). The system is my own Travelling Dark, currently available as a PWYW PDF at Itch.

My Traveller games end up being a bit Babylon 5 and a bit The Expanse for sure.

 

[Voadam]

I am running a 5e D&D conversion of the Iron Gods adventure Path.

Army of Darkness.

Thundar the Barbarian.

Road Runner Looney Tunes.

Mad Max Thunderdome.

Star Trek Voyager for the holo doctor.

Gamera.

Star Trek The Next Generation for the Romulans.

Fifth Element.

Mad Max Fury Road.

Warhammer 40K novels.

Are there any paranoia novels?

Doctor Who.

Blade Runner.

Star Wars.

Shadowrun novels.

Werewolf the Apocalypse novels.

Mage the Ascension novels.

2001.

1980s WWF involving Randy "Macho Man" Savage. Slim Jim commercials would be fine too.

Ben 10.

TMNT.

Thomas the Tank Engine.

The Dark Tower with Blaine the Train.

 

[payn]

I am running a 5e D&D conversion of the Iron Gods adventure Path.

Army of Darkness.

Thundar the Barbarian.

Road Runner Looney Tunes.

Mad Max Thunderdome.

Star Trek Voyager for the holo doctor.

Gamera.

Star Trek The Next Generation for the Romulans.

Fifth Element.

Mad Max Fury Road.

Warhammer 40K novels.

Are there any paranoia novels?

Doctor Who.

Blade Runner.

Star Wars.

Shadowrun novels.

Werewolf the Apocalypse novels.

Mage the Ascension novels.

2001.

1980s WWF involving Randy "Macho Man" Savage. Slim Jim commercials would be fine too.

Ben 10.

TMNT.

Thomas the Tank Engine.

The Dark Tower with Blaine the Train.

I ran this in the original Pathfinder classic. I loved that AP. Before Fury Road dropped, I added orc bards with electric guitars and backpack amplifiers.

 

[HaroldTheHobbit]

On a gaming summer break. But I will start a DCC campaign next month where my Appendix N inspiration obviously will be Appendix N.

Next year I'll start a Savage Worlds sci fi campaign where I aim explicitly for a slightly fattened up Traveller sandbox with ancients-style secrets. Appendix N inspiration is - besides the Traveller rpg - The Expanse and Firefly, and a mash of my (too many) shelf meters of sci fi literature. And as always, network news channels are my main inspiration for intrigue and political shenanigans in my campaigns no matter what genre. I still haven't put my thoughts of a Fox Galaxy space conspiracy campaign in the waste basket, one of these days...

 

[Voadam]

I ran this in the original Pathfinder classic. I loved that AP. Before Fury Road dropped, I added orc bards with electric guitars and backpack amplifiers.

I turned Helion into an AI monster truck instead of a spider robot, and I turned the orc cleric into a Macho Man wrestler orc radio televangelist. I turned the hobgoblin necromancer into a necrosurgeon who summoned ghouls and turned prisoners into RoboMen from the Dalek Invasion of Earth inside her M.A.S.H style tent medical compound.

A lot of Paizo APs are very rich opportunities for riffing. Iron Gods is particularly open to a lot of such adaptations.

 

[payn]

I turned Helion into an AI monster truck instead of a spider robot, and I turned the orc cleric into a Macho Man wrestler orc radio televangelist. I turned the hobgoblin necromancer into a necrosurgeon who summoned ghouls and turned prisoners into RoboMen from the Dalek Invasion of Earth inside her M.A.S.H style tent medical compound.

A lot of Paizo APs are very rich opportunities for riffing. Iron Gods is particularly open to a lot of such adaptations.

Indeed, I had a blast adapting Iron Gods and many others to my own tastes. I gave the PCs their own 4 wheeler truck they used to get around. Added in a vehicle combat sub-system for randomly duking it out with raiders. So much fun!

 

[Fifinjir]

FAITH: The Unholy Trilogy
Avernum and Spiderweb games in general
A few Clark Ashton Smith stories

I’m sure there’s more.