Levistus's_Leviathan
5e Freelancer
The title is pretty self-explanatory, but I will elaborate a bit more just in case.
So, this thread is about us sharing book series that either helped you get into the hobby of D&D (by giving you a vision of what it was like, etc) or otherwise inspire your playstyle in D&D. However, these book series have to be decently obscure or lesser known. No obvious series like Lord of the Rings, Dragonlance, Conan the Barbarian, Percy Jackson, Chronicles of Narnia, and other obvious examples.
I'll start with three book series that fit my vision of D&D fairly well (or at least did when I started playing the game) in order to give some examples (if you happen to have read any of these series, let me know down below):
So, this thread is about us sharing book series that either helped you get into the hobby of D&D (by giving you a vision of what it was like, etc) or otherwise inspire your playstyle in D&D. However, these book series have to be decently obscure or lesser known. No obvious series like Lord of the Rings, Dragonlance, Conan the Barbarian, Percy Jackson, Chronicles of Narnia, and other obvious examples.
I'll start with three book series that fit my vision of D&D fairly well (or at least did when I started playing the game) in order to give some examples (if you happen to have read any of these series, let me know down below):
- Adventurers Wanted - I have never met another person (other than my cousin, who introduced me to it) that has read this book series. It is very obviously inspired by Tolkien's works, the first book is practically a rip-off of the Hobbit (a group of adventurers go to track down a red, fire-breathing dragon whose name starts with "S" and ends in "G" in order to kill him in his mountainous, ancient city lair and take his gold), but the later books are more unique and compelling. However, the style of the adventures and the characters are much more important than the bland main plot of the first book. I highly recommend this series, there are 5 books, (the author wanted to do 7, but unfortunately he had a stroke while writing the 5th and thus had to quickly rap up the series in a less than satisfying way due to a stroke-caused difficulty to write), the first three of which are very good IMO, and the last two are at least worth reading if you enjoyed the first three books.
This series is aptly described by its name "Adventurers Wanted" contains an adventure shop where those with the skills of adventurers can learn about a diverse array of adventures and choose to sign an adventure's contract. How its adventures work is unique and possibly one of the best parts of the series. The series would be worth reading if only to learn more about its adventure contracts, how treasure gets divided amongst the party, and so on. - The Books of Umber - This is another book series that I have never met anyone else that has read them. This trilogy of great books takes place in an in-depth fantasy world with awesome, unique magical creatures that are likely unlike anything else you've ever read/seen before, while also having some recognizable fantasy creatures sprinkled throughout (Sorceresses, Dragons, Giants, etc). I also highly recommend this book series, its overall plots are much more compelling than those of the Adventurers Wanted series and its characters are much more unique, compelling, and notable than those in the Adventurers Wanted series. If you like a bit of mystery mixed into your awesome fantasy adventure novels, this series is perfect for you, and is exactly what D&D feels like it should be to me; intrigue, horrible mysteries, fantastic creatures, and amazing characters with unique, yet relatable personalities.
- The Last Apprentice - This series is likely more well-known than the previous two (it got its own movie awhile back, although it bombed and has horrible ratings), but is nowhere near the popularity of the more obvious examples. This book series has a ton of books, 13 in the first series and 3 in the sequel series, which isn't including the 3 companion books. It has a much darker mood than the other two series, with an overarching theme of the series being a small force of Good against the hordes of Evil monsters and men, while also constantly forcing the characters to question where they draw the line between evil and good when innocent lives or the fate of the world might be at stake.
This series embodies the feeling of "everyone is out to get us" that many, if not all, D&D parties experience on their adventures, as well as the feeling of getting way over your head and having to deal with world-shaking problems when the odds are heavily weighed against you.
