Most fans of our hobby love reading, and it the odds are good that you’ve read lots of fantasy novels. I’ve just finished a year long journey of re-reading the Robert Jordan epic, and along the way it’s given me lots of great ideas for my games. It’s pretty straightforward to use the characters, places, and events in fantasy novels books as inspiration for our own games. But what about non-fiction? There’s a lot to be learned from all sorts of authors.
In no particular order, here are 10 books that have helped me come up with story ideas and add realism and intrigue to my world.
- Alive. An amazing tale of plane crash survivors in the Andes mountains. The story is a tale of survival in harsh conditions, perseverance, fear and hope. There’s also a movie version.
- Salt. Or my favorite commodity history: Rum. It’s pretty incredible how much trade and rare commodities have shaped the political, military, and geographic landscape over the years. Behind every trade deal there’s plenty of intrigue, and adding this notion can really make a fantasy world come alive, and can bring forth ideas for adventures and settings.
- 1491. Did the Chinese land in America before Columbus? I’m not sure how widely accepted the author’s views and research is, but it’s a great tale of maps, voyages, and adventures.
- Theodore Rex. Teddy Roosevelt is an icon of American History, and a pretty interesting character. He was an accomplished military leader, farmer, politician, hunter, etc. He’d make a great King NPC and all the adventures he had in his life would be a great story for an PC as well.
- A Walk in the Woods. This is Bill Bryson’s story of his Appalachian journey trek. It’s a great reminder for players who set their characters walking in the woods for months, dreaming of normal comforts and dealing with the same companions day after day.
- The Art of War. An excellent military strategy guide that has been applied to every aspect of modern life. It’s advice can also be applied to NPC motivations and strategy on a per-encounter basis.
- Weird US. There’s a lot of strange stuff in small towns all across America. It seems like everywhere has its diversions and claim to fame. Not every hamlet in a fantasy kingdom needs a Largest Ball of Twine, but why not have a solid gold dwarf statue or an elf that builds giantic crystal mushroom statues and charges a modest copper fee to see them.
- A People’s History of the United States. Besides the obvious “commonly accepted truths about historical events is wrong,” which adds a lot of depth and intrigue to a RPG world, this book also shares the historical perspective from the common folk, who live day to day through major historical events. How did the last Goblin War affect the local shopkeeper, sailors guild, and player characters?
- The Peloponnesian War. This ancient history text is a bit dry, but full of interesting descriptions of armies and battles. In addition military history buffs might be interested in the land and sea strategies of the Spartans and Athenians. It’s also a tale of civil war that completely changed a country and its culture.
- Three Uses of the Knife. David Mamet describes effective structuring of drama. Useful for a playwright, but also great for DMing, after all an adventure has many of the same elements as a play.
What non-fiction books do you use as inspiration for your games?
This is by far one of the best articles I have read.