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Thread: Books

  1. #1

    Books

    > Also, I'd recommend to everyone the Brother Cadfael mysteries by
    > Ellis Peters ("Mystery" on PBS is currently televising them, but read the
    > books, they're far better, and they'll give you much better ideas). In
    > these books you get a wealth of detail on the running of a medieval
    > monastery, a medieval town, medieval law and justice (what exactly is a
    > "sherrif", etc.). Plus many of the plots are transferrable virtually
    > instantly into a magic low world like BR (I had good success with both
    > _One Corpse Too Many_ and _The Virgin in the Ice_ and have been
    > considering having a go at _The Rose Rent_). Too many divination spells
    > can foil the set-up of many literary mysteries, but these do well with at
    > least low-level spell-casters.
    >
    > Mark VanderMeulen

    Fascinating, I used "St. Peter's Fair" (title?) as the start for my
    latest BR campaign. It has digressed somewhat from there, but I
    thoroughly agree that the books give a good idea, not only of the
    running of a medieval town, but also of the appearance, people and
    customs of that town. Can't recommend 'em enough.

    John.

    "Once I was a lamb, playing in a green field. Then
    the wolves came. Now I am an eagle and I fly in a
    different universe."
    "And now you kill the lambs," whispered Dardalion.
    "No, priest. No one pays for lambs."
    - David Gemmel, Waylander

  2. #2
    Kurt Wiegel
    Guest

    Books

    What books do DM's for birthright read for plot ideas? There are
    a lot of big empire building/shattering novels out there. Right now I'm
    reading "A Game of Thrones" by G.R.R. Martin. Aboslutely wonderful. What
    else do you all read?

    Kurt

  3. #3
    Ed Stark
    Guest

    Books

    At 08:51 AM 2/10/98 -0600, you wrote:
    >
    > What books do DM's for birthright read for plot ideas? There are
    >a lot of big empire building/shattering novels out there. Right now I'm
    >reading "A Game of Thrones" by G.R.R. Martin. Aboslutely wonderful. What
    >else do you all read?
    >
    I've always been a huge Tolkien fan, and, as cliched as it may seem, I
    establish the mood of "epic adventure" for myself through THE HOBBIT and
    THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Think about it. Within the larger adventures, both
    stories contain tales of kings and princes and would-be or once-were lords.
    It shows adventure balanced with responsibility, necessity balanced with
    morality, and practicality balanced with heroism.

    I've also used Elric as another model of an "adventuring king." Most King
    Arthur/Camelot/Knights of the Round Table tales also show very good reasons
    for kings and lords to go out and adventure themselves--and the object of
    their adventures is very seldom treasure for its own sake. Making BR
    players adventure for reasons other than pursuit of power and gain is
    sometimes a trick (since that's so ingrained in AD&D anyway), but those
    models make it work.

    Hmmm ... other than that, I've even drawn some ideas from non-fantasy
    reading. Shakespeare often shows kings and lords out there in the forefront
    of quests and wars, and, when he did use fantastic elements (MIDSUMMER and
    TEMPEST particularly), he used them well--and in ways that have inspired
    me. There are some good SF books out there, too--David Weber's Honor
    Harrington novels show a lot about command responsibility and personal honor.

    Sorry for the fragmented sentences and the rambling ... I tried to get as
    many thoughts out quickly as I could.


    -- ->-- ->-- ->--@
    Ed Stark
    Game Designer, Wizards of the Coast/TSR Division
    Asst. Brand Manager, BIRTHRIGHT/GREYHAWK/MARVEL Group
    TSR Website: http://www.tsrinc.com
    (soon to be http://www.tsr.com)

  4. #4
    Mark A Vandermeulen
    Guest

    Books

    On Tue, 10 Feb 1998, Kurt Wiegel wrote:

    > What books do DM's for birthright read for plot ideas? There are
    > a lot of big empire building/shattering novels out there. Right now I'm
    > reading "A Game of Thrones" by G.R.R. Martin. Aboslutely wonderful. What
    > else do you all read?

    I base the "feel" of Anuirean feudalism on Katherine Kerr's "Deverry"
    books (the latest _The Red Wyvern_ just came out, and based on the review
    in _Dragon_ looks like a good resource for warfare, besides just being a
    jolly good read). The cultural level needs to be updated by a couple of
    centuries, but they really help put me "in the minds" of my NPC's.
    Also, I'd recommend to everyone the Brother Cadfael mysteries by
    Ellis Peters ("Mystery" on PBS is currently televising them, but read the
    books, they're far better, and they'll give you much better ideas). In
    these books you get a wealth of detail on the running of a medieval
    monastery, a medieval town, medieval law and justice (what exactly is a
    "sherrif", etc.). Plus many of the plots are transferrable virtually
    instantly into a magic low world like BR (I had good success with both
    _One Corpse Too Many_ and _The Virgin in the Ice_ and have been
    considering having a go at _The Rose Rent_). Too many divination spells
    can foil the set-up of many literary mysteries, but these do well with at
    least low-level spell-casters.

    Mark VanderMeulen
    vander+@pitt.edu

  5. #5
    Trizt
    Guest

    Books

    On 10-Feb-98, Kurt Wiegel (wiegelkn@wave.st.usm.edu) wrote about [BIRTHRIGHT]
    - - Books:

    - ->What books do DM's for birthright read for plot ideas? There are
    - ->a lot of big empire building/shattering novels out there. Right now I'm
    - ->reading "A Game of Thrones" by G.R.R. Martin. Aboslutely wonderful. What
    - ->else do you all read?

    Here is some of the books which I have read,
    Wheel of Time, by Robert Jordan
    The Sun Cross series (Don't remeber the authors name, but it's a female)
    The Cycle of Fire, by Janny Wurtz
    The Satanic verses, by Salman Rushdie (gives good ideas, even if the setting
    isn't right for fantasy)
    The Autobiography of Henry VIII, by Margaret George
    Most of Kaari Utrio's books

    Then I have some books on hold to a day when I have time over to read and they
    are
    Shroud of Madness, by Carl Sargent and Marc Gascoigne
    Dragoncharm, by Graham Edwards

    //Trizt of Ward^RITE

    -

  6. #6
    Mauricio Muñoz Lorenzo
    Guest

    Books

    - --------------937C8CC0E8FD32A93C532D54
    Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
    Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
    X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by canari.step.es id UAA02826

    How much lucky are you mate ! it=B4s good to be a english speaker
    ;(

    Kurt Wiegel escribi=F3:

    > What books do DM's for birthright read for plot ideas? There ar=
    e
    > a lot of big empire building/shattering novels out there. Right now I'm
    > reading "A Game of Thrones" by G.R.R. Martin. Aboslutely wonderful. Wha=
    t
    > else do you all read?
    >
    > Kurt
    >
    > ************************************************** *********************=
    ****
    > To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with the =
    line
    >

    - --------------937C8CC0E8FD32A93C532D54
    Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
    Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit


    How much lucky are you mate ! it´s good to be a english speaker
    ;(

    Kurt Wiegel escribió:
            What books
    do DM's for birthright read for plot ideas? There are
    a lot of big empire building/shattering novels out there. Right now
    I'm
    reading "A Game of Thrones" by G.R.R. Martin. Aboslutely wonderful.
    What
    else do you all read?

            &n bsp;       &nbs p;                 &n bsp;       &nbs p;              
    Kurt

    ************************************************** *************************
    To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@mpgn.com with
    the line
    'unsubscribe birthright' as the body of the message.
     

    - --------------937C8CC0E8FD32A93C532D54--

  7. #7
    c558382@showme.missouri.
    Guest

    Books

    Biographies of any period figure are good.
    You might also try monographs on subjects of interest, diplomacy, war,
    magic. I've recent picked up a nifty little books called "Magical Jewels
    of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance" by Joan Evans. I'll soon be able
    to revive the chart on p. 26 and 27 of the 1st ed DMG.

    Kenneth Gauck
    c558382@showme.missouri.edu

  8. #8

    Books

    At 08:51 AM 2/10/98 -0600, Kurt Wiegel(wiegelkn@wave.st.usm.edu)wrote:
    >
    > What books do DM's for birthright read for plot ideas? There are
    >a lot of big empire building/shattering novels out there. Right now I'm
    >reading "A Game of Thrones" by G.R.R. Martin. Aboslutely wonderful. What
    >else do you all read?
    >

    Take a look at "The Riftwar Saga", or even better "The Serpentwar Saga", by
    Raymond E. Feist. Both series of books are great stories of "Royal"
    adventuring. IMO, you can skip the books he co-authored with Janny Wurts. I
    found them dull. BTW, Richard Knaak's "Dragonrealm" books, are a good
    source of Mage Regent plots.


    Sepsis, richt@metrolink.net (ICQ:3777956)

    "War is a matter of vital importance to the State;
    the province of life or death;
    the road to survival or ruin.
    It is mandatory that it be thoroughly studied."
    -Sun Tzu,(The Art of War)-

    BR Netbook: http://webpages.metrolink.net/~veleda/birth.html

  9. #9
    gandalf
    Guest

    Books

    >Take a look at "The Riftwar Saga", or even better "The Serpentwar Saga", by
    >Raymond E. Feist. Both series of books are great stories of "Royal"
    >adventuring. IMO, you can skip the books he co-authored with Janny Wurts. I
    >found them dull. BTW, Richard Knaak's "Dragonrealm" books, are a good
    >source of Mage Regent plots.


    Maybe... I never read the books Feist wrote with Wurts. However, The Wars of
    Light and Shadow by Wurts alone are IMO excellent. Though not necessarily
    useful to any BR campaign.

  10. #10
    James Ruhland
    Guest

    Books

    Books I've mentioned before, nonfiction, with regards to BR, but always
    laud any chance I get are the books by Harry Turtledove set in Videssos.
    You got your rulers (or folks like Krispos clawing his way to the throne),
    magic (low-level, generally, though the main villian is quite the
    sorceror), battles (and some great descriptions of battles), intrigue.
    Everything a good BR fan would enjoy and profit from reading about.

    Plus, historical note: much of what he (Turtledove) includes is "real", in
    that events very simmilar happened, in a place most of you don't know too
    much about (so it's all "new" to you). I enjoy spotting stuff that I've
    read about (I.E. there's an obvious Manzakurt parallel in the 1st set of
    Videssos books, Misplaced Legion, the Krispos stuff is really about Basil I
    [mainly, some other emperor's stuff gets bundled in, too]. You get some
    good descriptions of a city, and of a palace, and all kinds of fun stuff,
    IMO.

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