Inspirations for Golarion / PFRPG

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From Varisia and the the Inner Sea, to the Dragon Empires, to Distant Worlds, the Dark Tapestry, and the Great Beyond, the world and atmosphere of the Pathfinder Campaign Setting has always drawn from evocative and atmospheric creative sources, including film, music, visual art, and the reproductions of our understanding of history. Many of these inspirations and recommended reading/viewing/listening lists or sources are spread across publications, these forum posts, and the discussion at countless conventions and other events. I am hoping to create a sort of central source for these inspirations, in order to help players and GMs wishing to re-create the atmosphere of the setting without feeling the need to purchase every item. This approach of backwards-engineering the developers creative processes, should help to eliminate the fear of being under-informed about the setting and its composition of elements.

I will begin with the lists in the GMG and Dragon Empires Gazetteer, and for now, the following links will serve as the basis for my understanding of what already stands on these forums.

I was originally going to make one post with a comprehensive list of the above base sources, but decided against it in favor of a new forum thread: Pathfinder RPG GameMastery Guide, product discussion.

This came up before on another thread, and with the re-publishing of CotCT, I don't think that anyone should count on getting a complete re-print of all of JJ's original inspiration lists. Source post, 'Ask James Jacobs' thread.

Also, someone made this thread which was a nice start for my own quick research for this topic: A Question of Literature thread - which featured a nice similar list: Appendix N blog post, off-site. And while this list is very helpful for finding great inspirations in general, it doesn't tell us how each element relates specifically to the worlds/multiverse of the PF campaign setting, or how these pulp sources were re-invented or otherwise served to fuel new ideas.

So, I am hoping this thread can serve that purpose. I will split up the following posts according to their sources, the GMG and DEG.

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CRB Appendix 3: Inspiring Reading

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the fantasy RPGs that preceded it took inspiration from the great classics of fantasy fiction. The following list includes those authors and tales that specifically inspired Paizo Publishing in the creation of this version of fantasy RPG rules.

• Barker, Clive: The Hellbound Heart, Imagica, Weaveworld
  
• Beowulf (anonymous)
  
• Blackwood, Algernon: “The Willows,” “The Wendigo,” et al.
  
• Brackett, Leigh: The Sword of Rhiannon, Skaith series, et al.
  
• Burroughs, Edgar Rice: Pellucidar, Mars, and Venus series
  
• Campbell, Ramsey: Ryre the Swordsman series, et al.
  
• Dunsany, Lord: The King of Elf land’s Daughter, et al.
  
• Farmer, Philip José: World of Tiers series, et al.
  
• Carter, Lin: ed. The Year’s Best Fantasy, Flashing Swords
  
• Feist, Raymond: Riftwar saga, et al.
  
• Gygax, Gary: Gord the Rogue series, et al.
  
• Kuttner, Henry: Elak of Atlantis, The Dark World
  
• Homer: The Odyssey
  
• Howard, Robert E.: Conan series, et al.
  
• Hugo, Victor: Les Miserables
  
• King, Stephen: Dark Tower series
  
• Leiber, Fritz: Fafhrd & Gray Mouser series, et al.
  
• Lovecraft, H. P.: Cthulhu Mythos tales, et al.
  
• Machen, Arthur: “The White People,” et al.
  
• Martin, George R. R.: Song of Ice and Fire series
  
• Merritt, A.: The Ship of Ishtar, The Moon Pool, et al.
  
• Miéville, China: Bas-Lag series
  
• Moorcock, Michael: Elric series, et al.
  
• Moore, C. L.: Black God’s Kiss
  
• Offutt, Andrew J.: ed. Swords Against Darkness
  
• One Thousand and One Nights (traditional)
  
• Poe, Edgar Allan: “The Fall of the House of Usher,” et al.
  
• Saberhagen, Fred: Changeling Earth, et al.
  
• Saunders, Charles: Imaro series, et al.
  
• Shakespeare, William: Macbeth, et al.
  
• Simmons, Dan: Hyperion series, The Terror, et al.
  
• Smith, Clark Ashton: Averoigne and Zothique tales, et al.
  
• Stoker, Bram: Dracula, Lair of the White Worm, et al.
  
• Tolkien, J. R. R.: Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit
  
• Vance, Jack: Dying Earth series, et al.
  
• Wagner, Karl Edward: Kane series, ed. Echoes of Valor
  
• Wells, H. G.: The Time Machine, et al.
  
• Wellman, Manly Wade: John the Balladeer series, et al.
  
• Zelazny, Roger: Amber series, et al.

GMG Appendix
The Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook presents a list of suggested reading that helped inspire those rules and the fantasy RPGs that preceded the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. The following lists include and expand upon those suggestions, drawing also upon a variety of sources inspirational to fantastic adventures and even useful during play.

Recommended Literature
Duplicates from above have been removed. I could have missed some.

• Alighieri, Dante: The Divine Comedy
  
• Barlowe, Wayne: God’s Demon
  
• Clarke, Susanna: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
  
• Cook, Glen: Black Company series
  
• Cook, Hugh: Chronicles of an Age of Darkness series
  
• Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm: Grimm’s Fairy Tales
  
• Kuttner, Henry: Elak of Atlantis, The Dark World
  
• James, M. R.: Ghost Stories of an Antiquary
  
• Le Fanu, Sheridan: In a Glass Darkly
  
• Malory, Sir Thomas: Le Morte d’Arthur
  
• Moore, Alan: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, et al.
  
• Morgan, Richard: The Steel Remains
  
• Ovid: Metamorphoses
  
• Rosenberg, Joel: Guardians of the Flame, et al.
  
• The Ramayana (traditional)
  
• Sapkowski, Andrzej: The Witcher series
  
• Shahnameh (traditional)
  
• Sturluson, Snorri: Prose Edda
  
• Stephenson, Neal: The Baroque Cycle
  
• Verne, Jules: Journey to the Center of the Earth, et al.
  
• Wilde, Oscar: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Recommended References

• Aliens in Space, by Steven Caldwell
  
• The Atlas of the World’s Worst Natural Disasters: by
  
• Lesley Newson
  
• African Mythology, by Jan Knappert
  
• Barlowe’s Guide to Fantasy, by Wayne Barlowe and Wayne Duskis
  
• Battle: A Visual Journey through 5,000 Years of Combat, by R. G. Grant
  
• The Book of Imaginary Beings, by Jorge Luis Borges
  
• Bulfinch’s Mythology, by Thomas Bulfinch
  
• The Cassell Dictionary of Folklore, by David Pickering
  
• Cause of Death: A Writer’s Guide to Death, Murder & Forensic Medicine, by Keith D. Wilson
  
• Castle, Cathedral, City, Mosque, Pyramid, by David Macaulay
  
• A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology, by John Dowson
  
• A Cthulhu Mythos Bibliography & Concordance, by Chris Jarocha-Ernst
  
• Deadly Doses: A Writer’s Guide to Poisons, by Serita Deborah Stevens with Anne Klarner
  
• A Dictionary of Angels, by Gustav Davidson
  
• The Dictionary of Imaginary Places, by Alberto Manguel and Gianni Guadalupi
  
• Dictionary of Symbolism, by Hans Biedermann
  
• The Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology, by Michael Newton
  
• Encyclopedia Cthulhiana, by Daniel Harms
  
• The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, by Rosemary Ellen Guiley
  
• Great Tales of Jewish Occult and Fantasy, by Joachim Neugroschel
  
• Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond
  
• The Illustrated Directory of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Creatures, ed. Ingrid Cranfield
  
• Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology, by Robert Graves
  
• Mapping the World: An Illustrated History of Cartography, by Ralph E. Ehrenberg
  
• Military History series, by Osprey Publishing
  
• Minerals Encyclopedia, by Petr Korbel and Milan Novak
  
• The Mythical Creatures Bible, by Brenda Rosen
  
• National Geographic (periodical)
  
• People’s Names, by Holly Ingraham
  
• A Treasury of Irish Myth, Legend, and Folklore, ed. W. B. Yeats
  
• The Voynich Manuscript (anonymous)
  
• Warrior: A Visual History of the Fighting Man, by R. G. Grant
  
• Weapons: A Pictorial History, by Edwin Tunis

Recommended Music

• Arkenstone, David; Bush, Tracy; Duke, Derek; Hayes, Jason: various Warcraft soundtracks
  
• Beal, Jeff: Carnivale, Rome
  
• Bell, Joshua: The Red Violin
  
• Carpenter, John: Halloween, et al.
  
• D’Ambrosio, Marco: Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
  
• Dead Can Dance: Dead Can Dance, et al.
  
• Elfman, Danny: Red Dragon, Sleepy Hollow, et al.
  
• Fiedel, Brad: Terminator
  
• Giacchino, Michael: Cloverfield, Lost
  
• Goldsmith, Jerry: The 13th Warrior, The Mummy, et al.
  
• Grieg, Edvard: In the Hall of the Mountain King
  
• Herrmann, Bernard: The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, et al.
  
• Holst, Gustav: The Planets
  
• Horner, James: Aliens, Avatar, Braveheart
  
• In the Nursery: Engel
  
• Jablonsky, Steve: Transformers
  
• Jones, Trevor: From Hell, Merlin
  
• Kilar, Wojciech: Bram Stoker’s Dracula
  
• Kronos Quartet: Dracula, Ghost Opera, et al.
  
• Kyd, Jesper: Assassin’s Creed 2
  
• Mansell, Clint: The Fountain, Requiem for a Dream
  
• McCreary, Bear: Battlestar Galactica scores, et al.
  
• McKennitt, Loreena: The Mask and Mirror, et al.
  
• Morricone, Ennio: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly, The Thing
  
• Navarrete, Javier: Pan’s Labyrinth
  
• Newman, David: Serenity, The Phantom
  
• Nine Inch Nails: The Fragile, et al.
  
• Orff, Carl: Carmina Burana
  
• Pelican: City of Echoes
  
• Poledouris, Basil: Conan the Barbarian
  
• Saint-Saëns, Camille: Bacchanale, Danse Macabre
  
• Schubert, Franz: Death and the Maiden
  
• Serra, Éric: The Fifth Element
  
• Shore, Howard: Lord of the Rings
  
• Uematsu, Nobuo: Final Fantasy series, et al.
  
• Vangelis: Blade Runner, et al.
  
• Williams, John: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, et al.
  
• Yamane, Michiru: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
  
• Zimmer, Hans: Batman Begins, Gladiator, et al.

Recommended Films

• The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, dir. Nathan H. Juran
  
• Aguirre, the Wrath of God, dir. Werner Herzog
  
• Alice in Wonderland, dir. Tim Burton
  
• Army of Darkness, dir. Sam Raimi
  
• Big Trouble in Little China, dir. John Carpenter {DEG}
  
• Braveheart, dir. Mel Gibson
  
• Brotherhood of the Wolf, dir. Christophe Gans
  
• Clash of the Titans, dir. Desmond Davis
  
• Conan the Barbarian, dir. John Milius
  
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, dir. Ang Lee {DEG}
  
• The Dark Crystal, dir. Jim Henson and Frank Oz
  
• The Descent, dir. Neil Marshall
  
• Dragonslayer, dir. Matthew Robbins
  
• Elizabeth, dir. Shekhar Kapur
  
• Excalibur, dir. John Boorman
  
• The Exorcist, dir. William Friedkin
  
• From Hell, dir. Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes
  
• Gladiator, dir. Ridley Scott
  
• Interview with the Vampire, dir. Neil Jordan
  
• Jaws, dir. Steven Spielberg
  
• Jason and the Argonauts, dir. Don Chaffey
  
• House of Flying Daggers, dir. Zhang Yimou {DEG}
  
• Kingdom of Heaven, dir. Ridley Scott
  
• Ladyhawke, dir. Richard Donner
  
• The Last Winter, dir. Larry Fessenden
  
• Lawrence of Arabia, dir. David Lean
  
• The Legend of Boggy Creek, dir. Charles B. Pierce
  
• Lord of the Rings Trilogy, dir. Peter Jackson
  
• Master and Commander, dir. Peter Weir
  
• The Mummy, dir. Stephen Sommers
  
• The Name of the Rose, dir. Jean-Jacques Annaud
  
• The Neverending Story, dir. Wolfgang Petersen
  
• Night of the Demon, dir. Jacques Tourneur
  
• Ninja Scroll, dir. Yoshiaki Kawajiri
  
• The Omen, dir. Richard Donner
  
• Pan’s Labyrinth, dir. Guillermo del Toro
  
• Pirates of the Caribbean Series, dir. Gore Verbinski
  
• The Princess Bride, dir. Rob Reiner
  
• Princess Mononoke, dir. Hayao Miyazaki {DEG}
  
• Record of Lodoss War, dir. Akinori Nagaoka
  
• Rogue, dir. Greg McLean
  
• Seven Samurai, dir. Akira Kurosawa {DEG}
  
• Sleepy Hollow, dir. Tim Burton
  
• Spirited Away, dir. Hayao Miyazaki {DEG}
  
• Stargate, dir. Roland Emmerich
  
• Suspiria, dir. Dario Argento
  
• The Thing, dir. John Carpenter
  
• The Thirteenth Warrior, dir. John McTiernan
  
• Trilogy of Terror, dir. Dan Curtis
  
• The Wicker Man, dir. Robin Hardy
  
• Yojimbo, dir. Akira Kurosawa {DEG}
  
• Vampire Hunter D, dir. Toyoo Ashida

Dragon Empires Gazetteer Inspirations
...Furthermore, countless movies helped to guide and inspire the development of the Dragon Empires—far too many to list here. Instead, presented here are a few mainstays—“required viewing,” if you will, for anyone who’s looking for more inspiration on running a Dragon Empires adventure.
((Duplicates from above have been removed, and marked as {DEG}. I may have missed some.))

• 13 Assassins, dir. Takashi Miike
  
• Curse of the Golden Flower, dir. Yimou Zhang
  
• Godzilla, dir. Ishiro Honda
  
• The Hidden Fortress, dir. Akira Kurosawa
  
• The Host, dir. Joon-ho Bong
  
• The Legend of Drunken Master, dir. Chia-Liang Liu and Jackie Chan
  
• Master of the Flying Guillotine, dir. Yu Wang
  
• Once Upon a Time in China, dir. Hark Tsui
  
• Ong-bak, dir. Prachya Pinkaew
  
• The Ring, dir. Hideo Nakata
  
• The Warrior, dir. Sung-su Kim