Since it's Dungeons & Dragons im going with a (mostly) fantasy theme.
- Game of Thrones
- Conan The Barbarian + Red Sonja
- Clash of the Titans
- Indiana Jones
- The Dark Tower
I prefer what I would call sophisticated sword and sorcery. By that I mean ancient secrets and knowledge but in a modern medieval age. High amounts of political intrigue, but low amounts/occurrences of highly powerful magic. Sense of wondrous adventure is more important than world ending threats and super heroics.
So, I bumped Lord of the Rings off because... I'm bored of the rings. while I appreciate what Tolkien did for the genre and literature, I found it an absolute chore to read his works. Dry, no sense of personality in the characters, repetitive world ending matters that just get exhausting.
I added The Dark tower because of the plane jumping and world building. King writes strange anomalies that are interesting and characters that work well right along side of it.
Indy made the list because I believe the movies were the blueprint of Paizo's Pathfinder, PFS, and adventure paths. Its an interesting story that starts out as lost secrets that ramp up to grand schemes and finales. Making fantasy Indy was a killer move and gives PF a brand identity that D&d just cant seem to come up with.
Clash of Titans because I love the politics of Gods and men. The interesting monsters and sense of adventure. Its just a great example of a fantasy adventure filled with wonder and baddies.
Conan and Sonja have that classic sword and sorcery. No magic marts, plenty of players across the board, sense of wonder, etc.. On top of that, lots of what the kids call mundanes kicking the life out of overconfident sorcerers and cultists on repeat.
Finally, Game of Thrones. Less on the lethal anybody (but Tyrion anyways) can die at any moment. However,love that no character is central and of utmost importance, while at the same time can be key to any story arc or plot development. The political maneuvering, the excellent characters and exposition, etc.. Speaking of which, where the hell is 5E Birthright?