Books, movies, etc. to inspire [Archive] - Wizards Community

Books, movies, etc. to inspire [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Pulp_Friction
03-19-06, 06:35 PM Well, I was thinking about all the movies, books, comics, and T.V. series that could help a DM with ideas for his or her adventure, campaign, and NPCs. I have only a couple and would like to see what things have inspired you. So far I have:
Books: Conan books(Robert E. Howard), Brave New World(Aldous Huxley), Hero of a Thousand Faces(Joesph Campbell), Beowulf, The Count of Monte Cristo(Alexandre Dumas), Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Beyond Good and Evil, The Island of Dr. Moreau(H. G. Wells), 1984(George Orwell), Tortilla Flat(John Steinbeck)
Movies: Pulp Fiction(R), Kill Bill(R), Star Wars Episodes II, III, IV, V, VI, A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good The Bad and the Ugly
Thats all I could think of right now. Please if you have more to add, add.
Thanks.
TalonofTiamat
03-19-06, 07:04 PM Books: The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher; The Codex Alera by Jim Butcher; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
I can't really think of any movies at the moment.
Xaxor
03-19-06, 07:11 PM Books
Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit[?] by J.R.R Tolkien
The Elric Saga by Michael Moorcock
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Trigun and Trigun Maximum (much longer and more in depth compared to the series)

Movies/Television
Record of the Lodoss War (OVA)
The Princess Bride [obviously]
Vampire Hunter D and VHD: Bloodlust
The Thirteenth Warrior
The Mummy I&II
The Magnificent Seven/Seven Samurai
tharivol266
03-19-06, 07:36 PM movies:
ocean's 11
ocean's 12

they get you thinking on a whole diff. level of rogueishness.
Kage_Ryu
03-19-06, 08:20 PM If we're talking about ideas for a campaign then these listed below will all do... If you're talking about those movies/books that make you want to just go out and do that then these might not fit...

Anyways, here you go:

Books:

Epic Poetry of the Norse, I can't think of the poet who wrote it, but it has tons of ideas for a viking/germanic/norse campaign.

Myths & Legends of Ireland by Samuel Lover & Thomas Croker - A really good book with traditional Irish legends, cool ideas for tricksters, bards, and other legends.

Eragon (And the rest of the trilogy) by Paolini, he's a pretty good young author (Well not young now, but young when he wrote these.) and the books illistrate a D&D universe well.

I don't read many fiction books so I can't hold up well here.

Movies:

Wow, there are some great movies for ideas...

Zato Ichi - A blind samurai who goes around killing. That's about the gist of it.

Seven Samurai - A movie about samurai's, heroes, and strategy.

Esca Flowne - Set in a medieval timeline with big gameliths that are basically giant robots. It's not as bad as it sounds and gives -really- good ideas on NPC's.

Indiana Jones - If only for the puzzles it's good enough. Seriously though, great storylines and very adventure-like.

Bruce Lee movies - Especially the cheap ones, give good ideas for an encounter, although cheap storylines they have the basis for stories...

Shows

Esca Flowne - This is a lot better than the movie and will totally give you amazing ideas, every show is like a new encounter!

Naruto - About ninjas, if you like oriental adventures, this is the place to look. It has tons of ideas for tests and "Becoming a true ninja".

Arc The Lad - Both the games and show are excellent guides to character development as well as interesting twists on the world.

Games:

Final Fantasy Series - Self explanatory. Look for the older stuff though because they're more D&D oriented... Such as Final Fantasy 1-6, 9, and Tatics. (I'm even using some ideas from four for my upcoming campaign.)

Dragon Warrior - They're so oldschool, and yet so awesome. Definately a good D&D resource because it mostly falls along the rules of D&D with the exception that the only race is basically human.

Arc The Lad - See above.

Lufia - Interesting stories with pretty good twists at time. Very romance oriented though with most of the story.

Brain Lord - Pretty much a puzzle game with battling inbetween, little story. Good for puzzle ideas.

There are a few others and I'll mention them when I think of them.
lrellok
03-19-06, 08:58 PM a few warnings on coopting matereal,

1) borrow, don't adlib. i had a DM run a campain off of AKIRA, and it was the most obvios, railroaded game i have ever seen. Another tried one based on Neon Genisis Evangelion, and it wasn't much better.

2) remember, its a RPG, not a movie. cut scenes detailing the enemies inner thought are in movies, not roleplaying games.

3) remember, if you borrow matereal from a well known sorce, your players have probobly seen it to. you might want to start with some semi adlib, then mix things up, just to keep them guessing. hearing the words "hey, that didn't happen in the movie." is more fun then you can imagine.

as to matereal.

Books
any terry Pratchet novels
any HP Lovecraft (good for ravenloft)

Games
resident evil 1-4
Karota
03-19-06, 09:21 PM BOOKS

Ray Bradbury. Something wicked this way comes.
Edgar Allan Poe. Arthur Gordon Pym.
Howard Phillips Lovecraft. In the mountains of madness.
Cervantes. The Quixote.
Gérard de Nerval. Silvye.
Stendhal. Red and Black.
Herman Hesse. Demian. Sttepenwolf. Tales.
Jack London. The Call of the wild.

MOVIES

Tim Burton. The planet of the apes (with the soundtrack)
Roman Polanski. Tess.
Someone from Japan. Mononoke Hime and Spirited Away.
Xaxor
03-19-06, 09:30 PM That would be Hayao Miyazaki.
Sianger
03-19-06, 09:30 PM Actually there's already a "Suggested Reading for Better Gaming" thread on Redgar's. It's quite complete. Although it doesn't include movies, so maybe you could try starting a movies one there too.
Pulp_Friction
03-19-06, 09:50 PM Actually there's already a "Suggested Reading for Better Gaming" thread on Redgar's. It's quite complete. Although it doesn't include movies, so maybe you could try starting a movies one there too.
Oh Drats. That'll learn me. Thanks, and to everyone else for their suggestions.
raven darqhart
03-19-06, 11:02 PM I can't believe no one mentioned Fred Saberhagen!!!

The campaign I am running now is based loosely on Dragonlance 4th Age, Fred Saberhagen's Swords of Legend Series, ICP's Dark Carnival/Dark Lotus with a bunch of original stuff thrown in.
Marvos
03-20-06, 03:26 AM Books:
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
Orson Scott Card's short stories
Greek Mythology

Movies:
Indiana Jones movies
Star Wars Movies
Chronicles of Narnia (when I saw this I thought "this is exactly what DnD looks like)

Games:
Final Fantasy (especially 4, 6, 9 and 10)
Chrono Trigger
Magic: The Gathering
Eternal Darkness
LugWrench
03-20-06, 03:35 AM Books:
"Neverwhere" by Niel Gaiman
"Armor" by John Steakly

Movies:
"The Green Mile" Percy makes a wonderful little weasel.
hawaiianbrian
03-20-06, 03:53 AM Some suggestions that I'm surprised haven't come up (they aren't that obscure, are they?):

Books:
Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series... some of the best fantasy out there, in terms of character development, cultural immersion, and quality magic system. A bit long, though. :waits:
Ursula K. Leguin's Earthsea books.
Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar books. Can be hard to find sometimes, but well worth it.

I'd also recommend Tim Powers -- On Stranger Tides, The Anubis Gates, Dinner at Deviant's Palace, The Stress of Her Regard. He writes well-plotted books of "magical realism" and "alternate history" combined. On Stranger Tides is about Blackbeard in the Caribbean looking for the Fountain of Youth. Lots of voodoo and ghosts/animated skeletons. The Anubis Gates is about... a lot of things, but mainly its a time-travel supernatural thing set in 1800s London. Those are the best two, imho.

Movies:
Dragonslayer. Best depiction of dragons, like ever. I don't care about your fancy-schmancy CGI. Give me some stop-motion animation! Seriously, though, the dragon is astonishing.
Beastmaster. It gets knocked around a lot these days, but the original was entertaining.
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (coulda been better, but still intriguing; pulp action stuff)
The Rocketeer, more pulp action. Very good, plus Jennifer Connelly. :love:
Pirates of the Caribbean, natch.
Aliens
In the Mouth of Madness, for horror of a cthulhu vein. :coolcthul:
Legend, Tim Curry as the Devil, Tom Cruise as a warrior, goblins and a green hag and a unicorn, the works!

Video Games:
I only know PS2 games...
The Mark of Kri
Shadows of the Colossus (haven't played this but I hear its amazing)
Castlevania series
Silent Hill series for some very powerful, effective horror techniques (that dang game, man... It had me literally shaking).
Ico
Drakan: The Ancient's Gates. This one is really cool because you play a warrior woman who has a dragon ally you can ride around sometimes, and the levels are simply HUGE. A lot of fun.
...and of course, Grand Theft Auto for d20 Modern games. The missions are set up just like miniature RPG sessions, with a clear objective but a variety of ways you can approach accomplishing the objective, plus a massive open city to wander around in!!!

If I think of anything else, I'll post it.
Sh0ck-Wave
03-20-06, 06:03 AM Michael Scott Rohan has a few good fantasy books :
The Winter of the world trilogy (which now has 6 or 7 books in it)

A Spell of Empire - The Horns of Tartasus is an interesting book and follows a party of characters through a more magical europe.

The Lord of Middle Air also has some good ideas in it.

I've found that Battle Angel Alita has provided some good gaming ideas for me. Its set in the future, but most of the stories translate well into fantasy setting (eg. I changed Den into a giant golem controlled by a subconsciously by a wizard, Barjack was a gang of very way-laid and destitute people but who all believed in their vision and were quite jolly about it).

As for movies ..
Ronin
Hellboy
Erik the Viking
Serenity (and the firefly series)
any Mystery Science Theatre 3000 episode (but to be more specific : PumaMan, WereWolf, Prince of Space)

I've always thought 'magic' has been done pretty poorly in movies, and usually looks more like laughable scratches on celluloid rather then inspiring feats of arcane power.
HandOfDoom
03-20-06, 08:10 AM ...is definetly Raymond E. Feist...Strongly suggest reading his stuff...
babysamurai
03-20-06, 08:28 AM ...is definetly Raymond E. Feist...Strongly suggest reading his stuff...

Wow, totally - I haven't thought of those novels for years.

Wasn't the first one; "The Sorcerer Apprentice", with Pug/Milamber, Martin Longbow and the Tsurami or something?

...it's been 20 years since I read them.
Xaxor
03-22-06, 07:46 PM Rise from your grave!

Just watched Serenity, one hell of a ride. Now I just have to buy the series and movie (borrowed from the library 'natch). Great party dynamics, epic background battles (Reavers vs Alliance, great set-up), and just a hint of what a high level character looks like (you know what I mean). Figures that FOX would kill the series: "Good and original series are bad!"
Mobar2006
03-22-06, 08:33 PM Don't forget the Sharnia series, or the Sword of Truth series. Both very excellent.
Hedstrong
03-22-06, 09:01 PM Books:
All four series by David Eddings
The Bridge of D'Arnath Trilogy by Carol Berg
Ed Greenwood The Kingless Land
The King's Blades series by Dave Duncan
wrecan
03-22-06, 09:39 PM Books:
A Song of Fire and Ice series by J.R.R. Martin
Quag Keep by Andre Norton

Movies
Ladyhawke, with Matthew Broderick
Court Jester, with Danny Kaye
On the Road series, with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby (no, really!)
Spy Who Came in from the Cold, with Richard Burton
The Manchurian Candidate, with Frank Sinatra (not the remake)
Conan the Barbarian, with Governor Scwartenegger
Spartacus, with Kirk Douglas
Reighnhell
03-22-06, 11:27 PM Here's a brief list of reading I find inspirational for a solid fantasy game. I could keep going with the movies, t.V series and other media I find inspirational, but I don't want to go on for 50 pages.

Books
Aesops Fables
Grimms FairyTales
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Mythologies of any sort ( I favor Greek and Norse).
The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King.
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson.
Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll.
The Art of War by Sun Tsu
The Book of 5 Rings by Musashi Miyamoto
The Prince by Machiavelli

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Pulp_Friction 03-19-06, 06:35 PM	Well, I was thinking about all the movies, books, comics, and T.V. series that could help a DM with ideas for his or her adventure, campaign, and NPCs. I have only a couple and would like to see what things have inspired you. So far I have: Books: Conan books(Robert E. Howard), Brave New World(Aldous Huxley), Hero of a Thousand Faces(Joesph Campbell), Beowulf, The Count of Monte Cristo(Alexandre Dumas), Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Beyond Good and Evil, The Island of Dr. Moreau(H. G. Wells), 1984(George Orwell), Tortilla Flat(John Steinbeck) Movies: Pulp Fiction(R), Kill Bill(R), Star Wars Episodes II, III, IV, V, VI, A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good The Bad and the Ugly Thats all I could think of right now. Please if you have more to add, add. Thanks.
TalonofTiamat 03-19-06, 07:04 PM	Books: The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher; The Codex Alera by Jim Butcher; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I can't really think of any movies at the moment.
Xaxor 03-19-06, 07:11 PM	Books Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit[?] by J.R.R Tolkien The Elric Saga by Michael Moorcock The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis Trigun and Trigun Maximum (much longer and more in depth compared to the series) Movies/Television Record of the Lodoss War (OVA) The Princess Bride [obviously] Vampire Hunter D and VHD: Bloodlust The Thirteenth Warrior The Mummy I&II The Magnificent Seven/Seven Samurai
tharivol266 03-19-06, 07:36 PM	movies: ocean's 11 ocean's 12 they get you thinking on a whole diff. level of rogueishness.
Kage_Ryu 03-19-06, 08:20 PM	If we're talking about ideas for a campaign then these listed below will all do... If you're talking about those movies/books that make you want to just go out and do that then these might not fit... Anyways, here you go: Books: Epic Poetry of the Norse, I can't think of the poet who wrote it, but it has tons of ideas for a viking/germanic/norse campaign. Myths & Legends of Ireland by Samuel Lover & Thomas Croker - A really good book with traditional Irish legends, cool ideas for tricksters, bards, and other legends. Eragon (And the rest of the trilogy) by Paolini, he's a pretty good young author (Well not young now, but young when he wrote these.) and the books illistrate a D&D universe well. I don't read many fiction books so I can't hold up well here. Movies: Wow, there are some great movies for ideas... Zato Ichi - A blind samurai who goes around killing. That's about the gist of it. Seven Samurai - A movie about samurai's, heroes, and strategy. Esca Flowne - Set in a medieval timeline with big gameliths that are basically giant robots. It's not as bad as it sounds and gives -really- good ideas on NPC's. Indiana Jones - If only for the puzzles it's good enough. Seriously though, great storylines and very adventure-like. Bruce Lee movies - Especially the cheap ones, give good ideas for an encounter, although cheap storylines they have the basis for stories... Shows Esca Flowne - This is a lot better than the movie and will totally give you amazing ideas, every show is like a new encounter! Naruto - About ninjas, if you like oriental adventures, this is the place to look. It has tons of ideas for tests and "Becoming a true ninja". Arc The Lad - Both the games and show are excellent guides to character development as well as interesting twists on the world. Games: Final Fantasy Series - Self explanatory. Look for the older stuff though because they're more D&D oriented... Such as Final Fantasy 1-6, 9, and Tatics. (I'm even using some ideas from four for my upcoming campaign.) Dragon Warrior - They're so oldschool, and yet so awesome. Definately a good D&D resource because it mostly falls along the rules of D&D with the exception that the only race is basically human. Arc The Lad - See above. Lufia - Interesting stories with pretty good twists at time. Very romance oriented though with most of the story. Brain Lord - Pretty much a puzzle game with battling inbetween, little story. Good for puzzle ideas. There are a few others and I'll mention them when I think of them.
lrellok 03-19-06, 08:58 PM	a few warnings on coopting matereal, 1) borrow, don't adlib. i had a DM run a campain off of AKIRA, and it was the most obvios, railroaded game i have ever seen. Another tried one based on Neon Genisis Evangelion, and it wasn't much better. 2) remember, its a RPG, not a movie. cut scenes detailing the enemies inner thought are in movies, not roleplaying games. 3) remember, if you borrow matereal from a well known sorce, your players have probobly seen it to. you might want to start with some semi adlib, then mix things up, just to keep them guessing. hearing the words "hey, that didn't happen in the movie." is more fun then you can imagine. as to matereal. Books any terry Pratchet novels any HP Lovecraft (good for ravenloft) Games resident evil 1-4
Karota 03-19-06, 09:21 PM	BOOKS Ray Bradbury. Something wicked this way comes. Edgar Allan Poe. Arthur Gordon Pym. Howard Phillips Lovecraft. In the mountains of madness. Cervantes. The Quixote. Gérard de Nerval. Silvye. Stendhal. Red and Black. Herman Hesse. Demian. Sttepenwolf. Tales. Jack London. The Call of the wild. MOVIES Tim Burton. The planet of the apes (with the soundtrack) Roman Polanski. Tess. Someone from Japan. Mononoke Hime and Spirited Away.
Xaxor 03-19-06, 09:30 PM	That would be Hayao Miyazaki.
Sianger 03-19-06, 09:30 PM	Actually there's already a "Suggested Reading for Better Gaming" thread on Redgar's. It's quite complete. Although it doesn't include movies, so maybe you could try starting a movies one there too.
Pulp_Friction 03-19-06, 09:50 PM	Actually there's already a "Suggested Reading for Better Gaming" thread on Redgar's. It's quite complete. Although it doesn't include movies, so maybe you could try starting a movies one there too. Oh Drats. That'll learn me. Thanks, and to everyone else for their suggestions.
raven darqhart 03-19-06, 11:02 PM	I can't believe no one mentioned Fred Saberhagen!!! The campaign I am running now is based loosely on Dragonlance 4th Age, Fred Saberhagen's Swords of Legend Series, ICP's Dark Carnival/Dark Lotus with a bunch of original stuff thrown in.
Marvos 03-20-06, 03:26 AM	Books: Hyperion by Dan Simmons Orson Scott Card's short stories Greek Mythology Movies: Indiana Jones movies Star Wars Movies Chronicles of Narnia (when I saw this I thought "this is exactly what DnD looks like) Games: Final Fantasy (especially 4, 6, 9 and 10) Chrono Trigger Magic: The Gathering Eternal Darkness
LugWrench 03-20-06, 03:35 AM	Books: "Neverwhere" by Niel Gaiman "Armor" by John Steakly Movies: "The Green Mile" Percy makes a wonderful little weasel.
hawaiianbrian 03-20-06, 03:53 AM	Some suggestions that I'm surprised haven't come up (they aren't that obscure, are they?): Books: Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series... some of the best fantasy out there, in terms of character development, cultural immersion, and quality magic system. A bit long, though. :waits: Ursula K. Leguin's Earthsea books. Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar books. Can be hard to find sometimes, but well worth it. I'd also recommend Tim Powers -- On Stranger Tides, The Anubis Gates, Dinner at Deviant's Palace, The Stress of Her Regard. He writes well-plotted books of "magical realism" and "alternate history" combined. On Stranger Tides is about Blackbeard in the Caribbean looking for the Fountain of Youth. Lots of voodoo and ghosts/animated skeletons. The Anubis Gates is about... a lot of things, but mainly its a time-travel supernatural thing set in 1800s London. Those are the best two, imho. Movies: Dragonslayer. Best depiction of dragons, like ever. I don't care about your fancy-schmancy CGI. Give me some stop-motion animation! Seriously, though, the dragon is astonishing. Beastmaster. It gets knocked around a lot these days, but the original was entertaining. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (coulda been better, but still intriguing; pulp action stuff) The Rocketeer, more pulp action. Very good, plus Jennifer Connelly. :love: Pirates of the Caribbean, natch. Aliens In the Mouth of Madness, for horror of a cthulhu vein. :coolcthul: Legend, Tim Curry as the Devil, Tom Cruise as a warrior, goblins and a green hag and a unicorn, the works! Video Games: I only know PS2 games... The Mark of Kri Shadows of the Colossus (haven't played this but I hear its amazing) Castlevania series Silent Hill series for some very powerful, effective horror techniques (that dang game, man... It had me literally shaking). Ico Drakan: The Ancient's Gates. This one is really cool because you play a warrior woman who has a dragon ally you can ride around sometimes, and the levels are simply HUGE. A lot of fun. ...and of course, Grand Theft Auto for d20 Modern games. The missions are set up just like miniature RPG sessions, with a clear objective but a variety of ways you can approach accomplishing the objective, plus a massive open city to wander around in!!! If I think of anything else, I'll post it.
Sh0ck-Wave 03-20-06, 06:03 AM	Michael Scott Rohan has a few good fantasy books : The Winter of the world trilogy (which now has 6 or 7 books in it) A Spell of Empire - The Horns of Tartasus is an interesting book and follows a party of characters through a more magical europe. The Lord of Middle Air also has some good ideas in it. I've found that Battle Angel Alita has provided some good gaming ideas for me. Its set in the future, but most of the stories translate well into fantasy setting (eg. I changed Den into a giant golem controlled by a subconsciously by a wizard, Barjack was a gang of very way-laid and destitute people but who all believed in their vision and were quite jolly about it). As for movies .. Ronin Hellboy Erik the Viking Serenity (and the firefly series) any Mystery Science Theatre 3000 episode (but to be more specific : PumaMan, WereWolf, Prince of Space) I've always thought 'magic' has been done pretty poorly in movies, and usually looks more like laughable scratches on celluloid rather then inspiring feats of arcane power.
HandOfDoom 03-20-06, 08:10 AM	...is definetly Raymond E. Feist...Strongly suggest reading his stuff...
babysamurai 03-20-06, 08:28 AM	...is definetly Raymond E. Feist...Strongly suggest reading his stuff... Wow, totally - I haven't thought of those novels for years. Wasn't the first one; "The Sorcerer Apprentice", with Pug/Milamber, Martin Longbow and the Tsurami or something? ...it's been 20 years since I read them.
Xaxor 03-22-06, 07:46 PM	Rise from your grave! Just watched Serenity, one hell of a ride. Now I just have to buy the series and movie (borrowed from the library 'natch). Great party dynamics, epic background battles (Reavers vs Alliance, great set-up), and just a hint of what a high level character looks like (you know what I mean). Figures that FOX would kill the series: "Good and original series are bad!"
Mobar2006 03-22-06, 08:33 PM	Don't forget the Sharnia series, or the Sword of Truth series. Both very excellent.
Hedstrong 03-22-06, 09:01 PM	Books: All four series by David Eddings The Bridge of D'Arnath Trilogy by Carol Berg Ed Greenwood The Kingless Land The King's Blades series by Dave Duncan
wrecan 03-22-06, 09:39 PM	Books: A Song of Fire and Ice series by J.R.R. Martin Quag Keep by Andre Norton Movies Ladyhawke, with Matthew Broderick Court Jester, with Danny Kaye On the Road series, with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby (no, really!) Spy Who Came in from the Cold, with Richard Burton The Manchurian Candidate, with Frank Sinatra (not the remake) Conan the Barbarian, with Governor Scwartenegger Spartacus, with Kirk Douglas
Reighnhell 03-22-06, 11:27 PM	Here's a brief list of reading I find inspirational for a solid fantasy game. I could keep going with the movies, t.V series and other media I find inspirational, but I don't want to go on for 50 pages. Books Aesops Fables Grimms FairyTales The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Mythologies of any sort ( I favor Greek and Norse). The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll. The Art of War by Sun Tsu The Book of 5 Rings by Musashi Miyamoto The Prince by Machiavelli