Post/Author/DateTime	Post
weasel fierce 04-25-05, 04:28 AM	What authors inspire you in regardings to playing or running D&D ? My two main ones would propably be the good Jack Vance, and David Eddings. Many others, but those are the main ones I have read this year (which has been a year of little fantasy reading, unfortunately)
Eliza_Stormwhisper 04-25-05, 04:44 AM	I can find the strangest influences around.... Douglas Adams, J.R.R. Tolkien (typical, yes), that author who wrote the Sword of Truth series (can't remember his name), J.K. Rowling, Ayn Rand, Malcolm X.
GaffeR 04-25-05, 08:18 AM	that author who wrote the Sword of Truth series (can't remember his name) Terry Goodkind. Fantastic books, great author, great influence for me too
Kheldren 04-25-05, 08:22 AM	I find some authors' short stories good for when I need to wing an adventure on the fly - case in point being some of Mercedes Lackey's works, one of which I have run at least 3 times for different groups now...
sambudak 04-25-05, 09:09 AM	Tolkien(a given I suppose), Glen Cook, Robert E Howard, Lin Carter, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Terry Brooks, Fritz Leiber, Ellis Peters, David Eddings, Joe R Lansdale, and Frank Miller.
CzarGarrett 04-25-05, 09:33 AM	George RR Martin Gregory Keyes John Marco
Nalgoth 04-25-05, 09:56 AM	Steven Erikson R. Scott Bakker Robert Jordan (although I'm getting really tired of his series)
Khudere 04-25-05, 12:34 PM	David Eddings is the largest influence for me. But I do take influence from Tolkien, Terry Brooks, Raymond Feist, Terry Goodkind, Dragon Lance books
caeruleus 04-25-05, 01:05 PM	Current ones are Robert E. Howard and Michael Moorcock. Also a bit of Thomas Malory (Le Morte d'Arthur).
Draco Strang 04-25-05, 01:18 PM	George MacDonald Frasier, author of the famed Flashman Papers. Ok, so a fictional 19th century British Army hero who survived the Charge of the Light Brigade, put down the Sepoy Mutiny, fought in the Civil War for both the North and South (winning the Medal of Honor to boot), being the only white survivor of Custer's Last Stand, and making a personal enemy of Otto von Bismarck, while all along being a self-professed womanizer, cheat, liar, drunk, and coward isn't what you'd call high fantasy inspiration, but the swashbuckling attitudw with which he presents himself has given me tons of inspiration for various characters and plots.
weasel fierce 04-25-05, 01:52 PM	Flashman is a very enjoyable read :)
Draco Strang 04-25-05, 01:56 PM	Flashman is a very enjoyable read :) I started reading Hornblower at age 8 (that made for a unique 3rd grade book report) and my uncle, who is a history buff/nerd/**** retentive freak gave me the first Flashman when I was "old enough" (13). Apparently, his criteria was that once I'd kissed a girl, I was ready for the sex and debauchery that ole' Flashy engages in. I love those books.
twad 04-25-05, 01:59 PM	Most stuff i read is in french so i dont know the titles in english. Marion Zimmer Bradley with "La romance de ténébreuse" Tolkien, of course. Anne Robillard with "les chevaliers d'emmeraude" Many, many articles and stories on the net, i finished readind these recently: http://www.majik.be/roleplaying/impyrra/game_index.html
wordserpent 04-25-05, 02:24 PM	Fritz Lieber, Michael Moorcock, John Barnes, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, Lawrence Watt-Evans, Joseph Campbell, Shakespeare, C.S. Lewis, Sir Walter Scott, Lady Gregory, Will Durant...The list goes on.
TrothgardtheMad 04-25-05, 03:37 PM	Mine go a little weirder I guess, Terry Pratchett's Discworld, Piers Anthony's Xanth, Piers Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality, Piers Anthony's Tarot Series, Neil Gaimon, Douglas Adams, Tolkein (of course), Richard Burton's translated 1001 Arabian Nights... I guess by that book selection you can tell my games are pretty lighthearted. Though there have been some very good elements of my game that have come from the wonkiest books, anywhere from my deities to major NPCs to different items and far out names... Trothgard the Mad
Sulaco 04-25-05, 03:46 PM	Tolkien, Terry Pratchett, Jacqueline Carrey, Patrick O'Brien, Arthur Conan Doyle, HP Lovecraft, Frank Miller, Robert Howard, Kevin Smith, and Chuck Palahniuk spring immediately to mind.
Big Tom 04-25-05, 03:52 PM	George R. R. Martin, espicially his A Song of Ice and Fire series. Tolkien, dur. Jack Le Carre, politicial intirgue master. any classic literature (the ancients, up to the middle ages particualrly.) most anything I read ends up triggering some sort of idea that I can attach to my D&D game.
NehpetsTtocs 04-25-05, 03:55 PM	George RR Martin, Orson Scott Card, Child's Ballads, Tanith Lee, Harry Haroldson, The Brothers Grimm, Mercedes Lackey, and various others I cannot remember at this time.
Sorrowmoon 04-25-05, 04:32 PM	1st-Terry Goodkind 2nd-George R. R. Martin 3rd-Terry Pratchett . . . . . 7900th- Hitler 7901th- Tolkien
Qual 04-25-05, 04:47 PM	George R.R. Martin - Song of Ice and Fire Orson Scott Card - Alvin Maker Tim Powers - Last Call, Anubis Gates, On Stranger Tides, Drawing of the Dark Jim Butcher - The Dresden Files Steven Erikson - The Malazan Cycle. Fantastic books. Robert Silverberg - Lord Valentine's Castle Fred Saberhagen - Empire of the East, First book of Swords There's more, but I can't think of them off hand.
sculyblast 04-25-05, 04:47 PM	George RR Martin I grant you: :cheer: sculy, everyone! read a song of ice and fire!
Archus Forix 04-25-05, 05:07 PM	hmm, : Margret Weis & Tracy Hickman (the famed Dragonlance series), : Never read LOTR : Bernard Cornwell (Sharpe, and the 'Holy Grail' trilogy) : The Composer of the songs from Nightwish (Tuomas Halopainen) Weird, but you check them out, and ull understand
Jonman99 04-25-05, 05:13 PM	Robert E. Howard- The Conan Novels Edgar Allen Poe- His various works Edgar Rice Burroughs- Great Pulp Author Joe Dever- Lone Wolf Arthur Conan Doyle- Sherlock Holmes is a great inspiration for mysteries Leo Tolstoi Bram Stoker- Dracula Mary Shelley- Frankenstein Jules Verne- Various Works Isaac Asimov- It is interesting trying to get ideas from Sci. Fi works but some of his stories can produce great NPCs and adventures. R.A. Salvatore- He isn't that great of a writer IMO but his fighting scenes and choreography are excellent. Suprisingly, I never enjoyed Tolkien much. His use of bringing mythological enities into the mainstream is incredible though and he does deserve kudos for the innovation. Howard, a great fantasy writer involved similiar writings in his pulp adventures though years before Tolkien set down to write.
Quoriil 04-25-05, 06:04 PM	A. A. Attanasio - Radix, Last Legends of Earth, others Machiavelli - The Prince Gregory Benford - Great Sky River Tolkien - Silmarillion (I don't honestly care what others think about him as an author, his obsessive attention to detail in his world building and language creation makes him a must read (IMO) for aspiring home-brew DMs) H. P. Lovecraft - All of his novellas and short stories R. Jordan - I know, I know Andre Norton - Witch World Patricia Kennealy-Morrison - The Keltiad C.S. Friedman - The Coldfire Trilogy and many more... edit: I can't believe I forgot Stephen R. Donaldson! (reminded by agent_paper, thx) The Thomas Covenant series has had a lasting impression on me in both DnD and non-DnD writing.
Quarterstaff 04-25-05, 09:07 PM	ultimatly my inspriation is Steven King but that is just the kind of campaign i like to run
Enkeli 04-26-05, 01:47 AM	China Mieville, Glenn Cook, REH, HPL, Lord Dunsany, Fritz Leiber... those are the main influences. Moorcock's non-Elric works as well (von Bek, et al.).
Sarella Starshine 04-26-05, 02:11 AM	any book by any author i read gives me inspiration. since i read about 1-2 books a day, its hard for me to keep track of which authors i have read., though i have read works by at last 90% of the above mentioned authors.
Kalanth 04-26-05, 02:35 AM	Alexandre Dumas, J.R.R. Tolkein, Margret Weis and Tracy Hickman to name a few. Authors inspire me less thanks to the Hollywood industry and my short attention span, but these are some of the ones that have managed to hold my interest.
agent_paper 04-26-05, 02:39 AM	Robert Jordan (although I'm getting really tired of his series) I know the feeling. I find Stephen R. Donaldson very inspiring in general. And I'll admit I do draw quite a bit of inspiration from anime and video games, also.
Darth Syntax 04-26-05, 03:53 AM	Here are some of the authors and works I find to be sources of inspiration. Gene Wolfe: The Book of the New Sun, The Book of the Long Sun, Latro in the Mist Umberto Eco: The Name of the Rose, Foucault's Pendulum,The Island of the Day Before Jorge Luis Borges: Collected works H.P Lovecraft: Collected Works Michael Moorcock: The Eternal Champion especially the tales of Elric and Corum. Thomas Pynchon: Gravity's Rainbow, The Crying of Lot 49, V. excellent for massive conspiracies and the like Terry Pratchett: Discworld of course Roger Zelazney: Amber, Lord of Light George Orwell: 1984 Jules Verne: Lots of things H.G. Wells:see above Ursula K. LeGuin: The Left Hand of Darkness Earthsea J.R.R. Tolkien: The Silmarillion, The Lord of the Rings C.S Friedman: The Coldfire Trilogy Mervyn Peake: Gormenghast Dan Simmons: Hyperion and others James Clavell: Shogun Mary Stewart: The Arthurian Cycle Issac Azimov: Foundation Homer: The Odyssey Douglas Adams: The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Alexandre Dumas: The Count of Monte Cristo. The Three Musketeers Varrious unknowns: Beowulf, The Kalevala, The Mabinogion
Wil_Hyral 04-26-05, 04:22 AM	George RR Martin, mostly. I couldn't stomach the more mainstream authors. Tolkien of course is some exception to that, as I do find the effort in his work to be an inspiration, all on its own. In a distant sense, Stephen King, too. Most his literature doesn't directly affect my D&D material, but from On Writing, I've come to agree with some concepts he goes over, regarding originality, doing things on the fly, etc.
caeruleus 04-26-05, 01:20 PM	If we also include non-fiction authors, I'd have to include Aristotle, Rene Descartes, Isaac Newton, John Locke, and Charles Darwin. (Of course, these guys influence more than just my games. But I suppose that also goes for Moorcock.)
BeyondFated 04-26-05, 01:37 PM	Terry Goodkind. Fantastic books, great author... I like, the author, but hate Richard with an undying passion :rant:. Even though I've read the whole series thus far. But thats a different topic entirely. My influences are mostly R.A. Salvator, and all the writers of the War of the Spider Queen series. Except the one who killed my favorite character. Also, the writer of Avatar series (I don't have the books with me, and it was so long ago). That's mine... (DIE, RICHARD, DIE!)
PurdueDave 04-26-05, 02:00 PM	George R. R. Martin is very good inspiration for a gritty, low-magic campaign. I'm particular impressed with how well he writes regarding how his characters act given each one's personal motivations.
Morik the Rogue 04-26-05, 02:21 PM	I would say J.R.R. Tolkien, RA Salvatore, Robert Jordan and Raymond E. Feist