DM Fulcrum
Squire
Posts: 46 
Favorite D&D Class: Paladin
Favorite D&D Race: Dragonborn
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Post by DM Fulcrum on Jul 8, 2015 3:49:01 GMT
So, I was going through my collection of books I read that inspire me to create. Just curious if we could start a feed on what series or one shot novels that you have read or are currently reading. The major fantasy series such as LotR and Game of Thones excluded. Give a short synopsis of plots if you wish.
Mine, The Belgariad/Mallorean Series by David Eddings
Young farm boy finds he is of royal blood beyond compare and to claim his right he must travel with his aunt, an old man, and an assortment of warriors to take back an orb that was stolen.
Whose next?
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Samuel Wise
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Posts: 989
Favorite D&D Class: Warlock
Favorite D&D Race: Mousefolk
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Post by Samuel Wise on Jul 8, 2015 4:24:12 GMT
I'll take it! Since this is slightly less popular fantasy novels, I will have to find something on my shelf that is not Narnia or Tolkien. I would say the biggest book that inspired me to create (outside Tolkien) wasn't even fantasy (actually, according to Tolkien, it isn't even a Fairytale). Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. The sheer horror of the Queen of Hearts, A eerie, almost misshapen world, the jabberwocky... the list goes ever on and on. Still, today, I'm never sure whether to be disturbed by this book or excited. I almost always leave this book in a sense of awestruck 'fantasy'. Worlds are not just limited to the laws of science or even the laws of fiction. Worlds can be as weird and twisted as desired, and Lewis Carroll proves this. The reason Alice in Wonderland is also my number one (outside of Tolkien) is that it breaks me from the 'Tolkien' worlds, that are so prevailing in the fantasy genre. It brings me into a new (though unsettling) one. Love this idea! (But it is going to give me a huge list of books to read!) |
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Post by friartook on Jul 9, 2015 20:55:03 GMT
Alice in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. The sheer horror of the Queen of Hearts, A eerie, almost misshapen world, the jabberwocky... the list goes ever on and on. Still, today, I'm never sure whether to be disturbed by this book or excited. I almost always leave this book in a sense of awestruck 'fantasy'. Worlds are not just limited to the laws of science or even the laws of fiction. Worlds can be as weird and twisted as desired, and Lewis Carroll proves this. The reason Alice in Wonderland is also my number one (outside of Tolkien) is that it breaks me from the 'Tolkien' worlds, that are so prevailing in the fantasy genre. It brings me into a new (though unsettling) one. I remember watching that movie as a kid, the old Disney Alice In Wonderland. I couldn't handle it. I've seen the whole movie, but as a kid I could never make it through the whole thing. It disturbed me too much, and I couldn't figure out why until I sat down and read the book as an adult. It disturbed me because the story is a nightmare written as a story. It calls up all the same feelings of an alternate reality that is almost but not quite internally consistent. As we are going with slightly less popular choices, I will leave out Tolkien, Martin, Rothfuss, Herbert, etc. who have inspired me greatly to create. The first series I'll call out is is A. A. Attanasio's take on the Arthurian legends. The first book is called The Dragon and the Unicorn. He does an amazing job of blending the Arthurian legends with real historic context. He also blends the mysticism, magic and religion of the time with modern physics in a way I had never thought of or heard of. The story itself is tragic, as the Arthurian legend is. The story telling is inspired! I've also been greatly inspired by Max Gladstone's Craft Series. I am in the midst of reading the second book, Two Serpents Rising, and the worldbuilding is just amazing! The stories occur in a world reeling from the aftermath of war between living Gods and humans who harness the powers of Gods (magic). People use their own soul energy as money...I won't reveal more than that, because its just incredible. NEXT! |
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Post by frohtastic on Jul 9, 2015 21:43:11 GMT
The gospel of loki, and norse mythology inspired me in the worldbuilding, the different planes / realms and travel in between.
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Samuel Wise
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Posts: 989
Favorite D&D Class: Warlock
Favorite D&D Race: Mousefolk
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Post by Samuel Wise on Jul 9, 2015 22:42:15 GMT
The gospel of loki, and norse mythology inspired me in the worldbuilding, the different planes / realms and travel in between. Norse Mythology is also huge for me. Apparently, as well, it was the one of the main things that inspired Lewis to write. Lewis' book: The Horse and His Boy is a must read, in my opinion. It has a much more Tolkienish feel, then any other works by Lewis. Mainly because it doesn't deal with the exchange between worlds. |
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dmgrendel
Squire
Posts: 42
Favorite D&D Class: Barbarian on the table, Cleric at heart
Favorite D&D Race: Orcs!
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Post by dmgrendel on Jul 9, 2015 23:31:19 GMT
I read every single damn thing I could read about Norse mythology while working on my senior thesis. The Icelandic Sagas are really interesting and full of great characters. But what I just recently realized was a fantastic source of plots, names, settings and characters? The Redwall books. Seriously. It's so great. My mom used to read them to me, and now I'm getting back to them for the first time in almost two decades. So delightful.
Next?
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Post by whipstache on Jul 19, 2015 15:39:46 GMT
I'll take next. I've always been partial to dwarven races in D&D (and fantasy at large), and almost always play as one when I can. So when I somehow came across " The Dwarves" series by Markus Heitz, I immediately grabbed it and read the whole thing. It's really great. But the best thing about it, for me, is that since basically every character in the book is a dwarf, it really helped me expand my understanding of how to use intra-race factions and other differentiating details to create personality apart from a character's race. It's so easy to fall into the trap of "I'm a dwarf so I'm like xxx." This series has really helped me create characters that are individuals, not just cardboard cutouts. |
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Post by rorrik on Jul 19, 2015 16:06:53 GMT
Here's a weird one no one's probably read, and it's been long enough since I read it that I should go back and refresh my memory, but I love the Patricia McKillip books: The Riddle Master of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, Harpist in the Wind, The Cygnet and the Firebird. That's some unique material unlike anything else I've ever read and great fuel for Dungeons and Dragons creation.
Synopsis of the first three, a trilogy: A prince of a small island had the chance to be married and become king of a larger nation. Shapechangers attack. He and his princess end up on an epic quest to become rulers of the whole world. The setting is low magic, but "Land Rulers" have power over the land in which they preside, like in the last creation and inspiration where there was the Water King who could control water and the Sand people who controlled the sand, but basically in every land. The series is winding and epic, and all orchestrated by what is clearly a DM-PC.
The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley was also an early source of inspiration: Princess reads about dragon slayers, decides to become one, comes up against a powerful dragon no one can slay and kills it at great personal cost. Is sent on a mission to defeat the Dark Lord.
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DM Fulcrum
Squire
Posts: 46
Favorite D&D Class: Paladin
Favorite D&D Race: Dragonborn
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Post by DM Fulcrum on Jul 19, 2015 16:19:17 GMT
I'll take next. I've always been partial to dwarven races in D&D (and fantasy at large), and almost always play as one when I can. So when I somehow came across " The Dwarves" series by Markus Heitz, I immediately grabbed it and read the whole thing. It's really great. But the best thing about it, for me, is that since basically every character in the book is a dwarf, it really helped me expand my understanding of how to use intra-race factions and other differentiating details to create personality apart from a character's race. It's so easy to fall into the trap of "I'm a dwarf so I'm like xxx." This series has really helped me create characters that are individuals, not just cardboard cutouts. Ill have to check that series out. I felt the same way when I read R.A. Salvatore's Dark Elf series the way he went into detail about the Drow culture, society and their need for power and favoritism with their goddess really captured my attention. I immediately made a PC Drow who like the main character got out of the Underdark but became a Paladin of Corellon and fought against my culture. |
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Samuel Wise
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Posts: 989
Favorite D&D Class: Warlock
Favorite D&D Race: Mousefolk
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Post by Samuel Wise on Jul 19, 2015 16:25:35 GMT
Synopsis of the first three, a trilogy: A prince of a small island had the chance to be married and become king of a larger nation. Shapechangers attack. He and his princess end up on an epic quest to become rulers of the whole world. The series is winding and epic, and all orchestrated by what is clearly a DM-PC. This sounds really interesting. I'm going to have to check it out. For some reason, Fantasy between 1970 and 1990 has a very distinctive feel to it that I enjoy. Sword of Shannara, Forgotten Realm's novels, old Warhammer novels. |
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Post by friartook on Jul 27, 2015 4:16:09 GMT
Sorry all, but I am hijacking this thread with questions for you Norse mythology fans.
I'm playing with some ideas around reskinning elves and dwarves to give them a bit more flavor and more of a feeling that they are "mystical beings". I've been looking at the Icelandic concept of the Elves and the Norse/Germanic concept of Dwarves.
I'm getting a bit hung up on the Dwarves though. Some references refer to them as being synonymous with the Norse "Dark Elves", but some classify them as separate. I'm looking for a take on these ancient Dwarf myths that has a bit of internal logic, but I'm afraid I'm asking too much.
Can one of you fine fans of the Norse clarify and/or classify the Norse Dwarf? I'm looking for mythological flavor that I can use to customize a racial option; both fluff and crunch.
Thanks in advance!
P.S.: Please don't tell me to go read the Poetic Edda or something. I simply don't have the time in my life for such respectable pursuits. The days when I could spend hours wading through classics were dead and buried the day my third son was born (For the record, I have read Paradise Lost, The Odyssey and many other classics; I got brains too!).
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Post by joatmoniac on Jul 27, 2015 6:02:08 GMT
The first series I'll call out is is A. A. Attanasio's take on the Arthurian legends. The first book is called The Dragon and the Unicorn. He does an amazing job of blending the Arthurian legends with real historic context. He also blends the mysticism, magic and religion of the time with modern physics in a way I had never thought of or heard of. The story itself is tragic, as the Arthurian legend is. The story telling is inspired! Truth on this series. It was fantastic. I will quickly toss out a lesser known Chronicles series by Lloyd Alexander: The Chronicles of Prydain. Good series that I read when I was younger, but enough of that back to Norse stuff! I see where the dwarves are referred to as dark elves, and to me it comes across more as the duergar. Potentially their features aren't as varied as in canon D&D. Then again I stumbled onto this as well "The dwarfs are small and misshapen creatures made from the maggots in the giants Ymir dead body. They live under the ground in the world of Nidavellir, the home of the Dwarfs." Which is a very interesting origin story. I think a big key is making legend into truth for your world, if that makes sense. Instead of "They were created through this crazy way." You could do "We can go over that hill and there will be giant maggots turning into dwarves from that giant's dead body!" Can't wait to see more info from others as I am by no means an expert, but want the convo to continue! |
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Samuel Wise
Demigod
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Posts: 989
Favorite D&D Class: Warlock
Favorite D&D Race: Mousefolk
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Post by Samuel Wise on Jul 27, 2015 7:09:07 GMT
Sorry all, but I am hijacking this thread with questions for you Norse mythology fans. I'm playing with some ideas around reskinning elves and dwarves to give them a bit more flavor and more of a feeling that they are "mystical beings". I've been looking at the Icelandic concept of the Elves and the Norse/Germanic concept of Dwarves. Can one of you fine fans of the Norse clarify and/or classify the Norse Dwarf? I'm looking for mythological flavor that I can use to customize a racial option; both fluff and crunch. Thanks in advance! Note: please excuse me as I tend to run off when talking about mythology/fairytales. It is something I enjoy immensely and have (until recently) spent much of my time on. I also don't mention exactly the history of dwarves, since there are so many, I lost track of them all. I'll put a few facts that differentiate older Norse/Germanic/original Dwarves from modern ones (some things, such as the love of metal, remain the same). 1. Dwarves have very misshapen faces (as Joatmoniac has already said). They don't look like short humans with beards. They have long pointed noses, wrinkled deformed faces, and about nothing that Tauriel would fall in love with (errp... sorry about that last bit). 2. Dwarves are usually spindly. This is probably one of the biggest differences. Dwarves are not as stocky or "rough" as usually imagined. They have long thin fingers and long thin legs. This might pose a problem when "re-skinning" dwarves. I imagine you could still keep the stats, due to their unusual toughness (they due work in black smithies all day). 3. Dwarf mentality is far different. Dwarves are more like hermits: don't usually get along well with the outside world/keep to themselves/have nearly no community, at all, with other races and, actually, they can be sometimes downright savage or evil (they have known to have consistently stolen gems/mechanical contraptions and have even kidnapped a few children throughout different myths/fairytales). Now these are just dwarves and, in my opinion, perhaps easier to reskin, then elves. They have many of the same desires, same qualities, and even (luckily, but unlike the elf) around the same height. Also, don't worry about getting a perfect pre-Tolkien dwarf every single myth/fairytale has a completely different look on dwarves/elves. Even what was popular in myth changed from year to year and from generation to generation. Dwarves:  I think these fellows have a human child. This particular picture is slightly disconcerting, but you can see the spindly and deformed strangeness of these creatures.  Tony Ditirlizzi drew this in the Spiderwick series (a great series to google, or flip through, pictures for pre-Tolkien Faeries, well... except his wood elves). This dwarf is closer to the modern view (not as misshapen), then the last picture, but still retains some of the aforementioned elements. |
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Post by friartook on Jul 27, 2015 13:51:51 GMT
I read this creation myth too. One aspect that is missing from your description here (at least, compared to the version I read) is that the Earth itself IS the corpse of the Giant Ymir. So, if the Dwarves are the maggots infesting its body, we are the fleas on its hide. One of the most frustrating aspects of this project is the vast diversity of myths. There are many which seem at first consistent with one another, but then diverge wildly. I like the idea of this version of Dwarf being created in a way completely separate from all other races. I was contemplating having them not reproduce at all as humans do. Instead, each Dwarf constructs a sculpture of itself. When the Dwarf dies, its spirit essence (but not its consciousness) is transferred to this sculpture which is then magically animated into a new Dwarf. Perhaps a ritual is performed once in a great while where a new Dwarf is created using a similar method, but gleaning the spirit essence from elsewhere (where? This idea is just brainstorming) allowing for an expansion of the race. |
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Post by friartook on Jul 27, 2015 14:09:40 GMT
1. Dwarves have very misshapen faces (as Joatmoniac has already said). They don't look like short humans with beards. They have long pointed noses, wrinkled deformed faces, and about nothing that Tauriel would fall in love with (errp... sorry about that last bit). 2. Dwarves are usually spindly. This is probably one of the biggest differences. Dwarves are not as stocky or "rough" as usually imagined. They have long thin fingers and long thin legs. This might pose a problem when "re-skinning" dwarves. I imagine you could still keep the stats, due to their unusual toughness (they due work in black smithies all day). 3. Dwarf mentality is far different. Dwarves are more like hermits: don't usually get along well with the outside world/keep to themselves/have nearly no community, at all, with other races and, actually, they can be sometimes downright savage or evil (they have known to have consistently stolen gems/mechanical contraptions and have even kidnapped a few children throughout different myths/fairytales). I think these fellows have a human child. This particular picture is slightly disconcerting, but you can see the spindly and deformed strangeness of these creatures. Tony Ditirlizzi drew this in the Spiderwick series (a great series to google, or flip through, pictures for pre-Tolkien Faeries, well... except his wood elves). This dwarf is closer to the modern view (not as misshapen), then the last picture, but still retains some of the aforementioned elements. Is it just me, or are things getting rather Gnomish over here... I do not plan on reskinning their appearance much. Truth be told, I am planning on further accentuating their burly aspect. The "ugly" and "misshapen" descriptors are very consistent though, so I will likely keep some of that flavor. I was contemplating instituting a racial feature to institute this mechanically; likely making Dwarves have disadvantage on all Cha (persuasion) checks with anyone who is not a Dwarf. Here's the features I have in mind so far. You guys let me know if you think they make sense: -Great Crafters: Dwarves live to create. They have little else that motivates them in life. They care nothing for the politics of the outside world, and little for "good and evil". They will readily back-stab anyone to get materials they need for their creations (but not go against the letter of a bargain, see next item). In many stories, the weapons of the gods themselves are created by Dwarves, so I may institute some higher powers that Dwarves either serve or make deals with. Mechanically, I am considering making Dwarves the sole providers of magic weapons and armors. I am also considering having each Dwarf character start out with one magic weapon or armor immediately (determined by DM) on character creation. -Bound by Bargain: This is an item I am planning on appending to Elves too. In many myths and fairy tales, these otherworldly being make bargains with mortals. They frequently get the better of these bargains by being more clever than the mortals, but if a mortal can get the upper hand in negotiations, the beings are bound by their agreement and must come through (even as they seek for every possible loop hole). -Surly/Ugly Aspect: Dwarves are stout, bearded, and foul of feature. They also have no regard for the niceties at all. They can have no courtly demeanor and can barely muster up enough politeness to keep from getting killed by any higher powers they may deal with. Dwarves consider all mortals beneath contempt, and will not deal politely with them unless it is proven that they are more powerful than the Dwarf in question. -Unrepentant Thieves: Dwarves will take whatever they want or need from other races without a second thought. They will do the same with other Dwarves, but will consider power balances first. This aspect of thieving can even extend to the children of mortals (I'm interested in any myths that outline the fate of such kidnapped children; are they devoured? Raised by Dwarves? Killed? Sold to to Demons? In my context, perhaps their life essence powers the "new" Dwarf statues needed to expand the races population?). Let me know what y'all think of these and if there are any others I have missed. |
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