Adapting Novels into Campaigns?


Gamer Life General Discussion


Which literary novels have people used as source material for role-playing campaigns? I'd be interested to know which books DM's have found useful for settings/adventures.

My own attempts at adaptations have included:

The Prince of Nothing (trilogy) - Bakker
The Book of the New Sun (series) - Wolfe
The Books of Invasions (trilogy) - Mills

Although each campaign was supplemented by much home-grown material, extra depth and flavour were bought to the table by the inclusion of ideas that I never would have conjured, surprising and delighting players with a different 'voice'.

Do others have experiences, recommendations?

The Exchange

No. The closest I have come to outsourcing my setting is plundering the Medieval Monastary from the Aliens 3 concept art (its amazing what they didnt do in that movie-it would have been freaking awesome). I found Swords of Shanarra mediocre, Riftwar Saga was annoying, and in the end aspects of Starwars, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi made it in though they were cut back to something dark and medieval and unrecognisable by the Players...A lot of my own short stories make it into the Game.

"Wall at world's End" is about taking a ride in a slave galley after being snatched by pirates...only to find they have traveled out beyond the island kingdoms to a "man made wall" of stone fortresses poking up out of the ocean. Efectivly the wall cuts their tiny little island kingdoms off from the real world (a fractured empire) long forgotten.

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