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J.R.R. Tolkien and fantasy RPGs.

Voodoo4 · 2000-08-12T10:45:15

I wonder how much have authors like Tolkien ,Lavcraft and others affected the fantasy themes in RPGs and other games. Especially Tolkien introduced many features that are used in games like monsters,hero ideals,picturesque landscapes,long journeys,etc. How many of you have been inspired by great authors (not only Tolkien)? I can say that Lord Of the Rings was a milestone for me although i don''t really agree with Tolkien''s theory about the Dragons. Voodoo4

Game Design and Theory Game Design

Started by Voodoo4 August 03, 2000 03:16 PM

35 comments, last by Voodoo4 23 years, 10 months ago

dwarfsoft

1,237

August 05, 2000 05:36 AM

I thought that we were calm... I know I was

. I have to admit that he has been a very inspiring Author, but as with all good authors, they keep memories in your mind and give you a piece of their world. Dune inspired me greatly, as did Magician, as did Daggerspell... and all of the rest of those series (well, The dune series started to get boring by book 4 -> Messiah I think it was)... Authors simply give us ideas and provoke emotion. They are the greats and if we game programmers can acheive what they have in so many, then can we truly call ourselves storytellers and world makers. *sniff*

-Chris Bennett ("Insanity" of Dwarfsoft)

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ahw

264

August 05, 2000 07:27 AM

Voodoo, sorry I didn''t mean to be that offensive :/
I just meant that trying to summarize a symbol such as dragons in a line seemed a bit, how would you say, fast ? (this is what I called stupid, not you).

And anyway, my point was to show you that there are some very good authors around, and that they didn''t necessarily copy their stuff on Tolkien. I really really don''t think that Leiber was inspired by Tolkien.

I am still amazed, though, at how much reaction the writings of Tolkien can provoke. When I see flamewars about some guy saying something about Tolkien, and getting mailbombed by fanatics

It reminds me of another Holy book

Anyway, if you are eve worried of being accused of copying Tolkien, just remember the saying : "Copying from one author is called plagiarism; copying from several is called research"

youpla :-P

-----------------------------Sancte Isidore ora pro nobis !

dwarfsoft

1,237

August 05, 2000 07:32 AM

Very true... I always try to broaden my... "research" so as not to upset any balance. Anyways, a story that has already been told is now no longer a story that another can tell. You need to have something fresh and new... Has anyone here tried ever writing a book?

I did, when I was 10. It was alright at the time, but I wouldn''t show it to anyone now

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SonicSilcion

122

August 06, 2000 10:13 AM

Well, I have tried my hand at short stories, but a book is well beyond my skills. Besides, everything I''ve written is usually more of a mood evoking piece than anything I''d ever consider epic.

----Sonic Silicon----

dwarfsoft

1,237

August 06, 2000 10:21 AM

Unfortunately I am only bestowed with the gifts of anarchism, individuality, and weird views. The largest thing I have written which I still have is my doc titled "The future of RPGs" (what I see is wrong with them and how I think they can be improved) which is only 5000 words at the mo...

I am working on a proper story for my "Learning Experience"

Edited by - dwarfsoft on August 6, 2000 11:22:58 AM

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ECKILLER

122

August 06, 2000 10:39 AM

I really liked the chronicles and legends trilogy in the dragonlance series. They seem based on tolkien but they made a lot of changes and added a lot of original stuff.

ECKILLER

ECKILLER

dwarfsoft

1,237

August 06, 2000 10:49 AM

How do you see these influencing games? I would like to hear about it (as a broadening of my research

)

I have been rather narrow in my reading (Feist, Kerr, Herbert... thats pretty much it

) so I would like to hear suggestions for fantasy genre books that are likely to inspire me... Melanie Rawn comes to mind too... She has a rather different view on magic (then again, so does Nakor form Raymond E. Feists books

).

-Chris Bennett ("Insanity" of Dwarfsoft)

Check our site:
http://www.crosswinds.net/~dwarfsoft/
Check out our NPC AI Mailing List :
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Anonymous

August 06, 2000 11:53 AM

For years I''ve read every fantasy book I could get my hands on. I keep a list of books I''ve read on my hard drive, and the number of books is approaching 200. Sometimes I get tired, feeling that I''ve seen everything, and that nothing can suprise me any more. However, I''m always wrong.

If you''re tired of all the Tolkien plagiarism in the library bookshelf, I have some suggestions. Check out "Gormenghast" by Mervyn Peake - it''s so different that I''m not sure if it''s really classified as fantasy, and then look for my favourite: "The Book of the New Sun" by Gene Wolfe. Dark and thought-provoking, it made my jaw drop through the floor. None of these are recommended for children, though.

/el Hamil, from Sweden

ahw

264

August 06, 2000 01:18 PM

el Hamil : are you referring to the 3 part TV show called Gormenghast ? or is it something totally different ?

dwarfsoft : for a list of some nice stuff, read my previous lengthy post. But I have to recommend Fritz Leiber and his Cycle of Swords, if I have to make a choice.
what do you call "diiferent" view of magic ?
maybe we could start a thread on magic system ?

youpla :-P

-----------------------------Sancte Isidore ora pro nobis !

Anonymous

August 06, 2000 06:04 PM

Well, the TV show is based on the book, or rather a series of 3 books. They were written sometime in the 1940''s, about the same time as Tolkien''s books came out.

/el Hamil, from Sweden

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