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RPG Sourcebook Reading Lists

Some rulebooks/sourcebooks for tabletop role-playing games include (usually in an appendix or something) a “suggested reading” list. (Sometimes the list is called “inspirational reading”, “references”, or something else along these lines.) The works included in such lists are mostly fiction novels or stories (usually, of course, this is “sf”, a.k.a. “speculative fiction” a.k.a. “science fiction / fantasy”), but sometimes the list includes non-fiction works, films, etc.

The idea is that the listed works inspired the sourcebook author’s RPG creations, and the author hopes that they will inspire the creativity of those who read the sourcebook and make use of it in their games.

The most widely known such list is, of course, the famous “Appendix N” to the Dungeon Master’s Guide for the 1st edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. But there are many others. This page attempts to collect all of them.

These reading (and viewing, playing, etc.) lists offer a fascinating glimpse at the cultural influences on various tabletop RPGs, and the historical evolution of those influences, from the hobby’s development to the present day.

If you know of a reading list in an RPG sourcebook that’s not listed here, tell me about it! You can contact me via email, at obormot [at] obormot [dot] net.

The lists below are organized by the game to which a sourcebook belongs (all D&D sourcebooks in one section, all Alternity sourcebooks in another, etc.), with the games listed in chronological order (according to the publication year of the earliest listed book); and within each game, are ordered chronologically by publication year.

Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeon Master’s Guide (1st edition AD&D), 1979. Appendix N: Inspirational and Educational Reading.

Inspiration for all the fantasy work I have done stems directly from the love my father showed when I was a lad, for he spent many hours telling me stories he made up as he went along, tales of cloaked old men who could grant wishes, of magic rings and enchanted swords, or wicked sorcerors [sic] and dauntless swordsmen. Then too, countless hundreds of comic books went down, and the long-gone EC ones certainly had their effect. Science fiction, fantasy, and horror movies were a big influence. In fact, all of us tend to get ample helpings of fantasy when we are very young from fairy tales such as those written by the Brothers Grimm and Andrew Lang. This often leads to reading books of mythology, paging through bestiaries, and consultation of compilations of the myths of various lands and peoples. Upon such a base I built my interest in fantasy, being an avid reader of all science fiction and fantasy literature since 1950. The following authors were of particular inspiration to me. In some cases I cite specific works, in others, I simply recommend all of their fantasy writing to you. From such sources, as well as any other imaginative writing or screenplay, you will be able to pluck kernels from which will grow the fruits of exciting campaigns. Good reading!

Anderson, Poul: THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS; THE HIGH CRUSADE; THE BROKEN SWORD
Bellairs, John: THE FACE IN THE FROST
Brackett, Leigh
Brown, Frederic
Burroughs, Edgar Rice: “Pellucidar” series; Mars series; Venus series
Carter, Lin: “World’s End” series
de Camp, L. Sprague: LEST DARKNESS FALL; THE FALLIBLE FIEND; et al
de Camp & Pratt: “Harold Shea” series; THE CARNELIAN CUBE
Derleth, August
Dunsany, Lord
Farmer, P. J.: “The World of the Tiers” series; et al
Fox, Gardner: “Kothar” series; “Kyrik” series; et al
Howard, R. E.: “Conan” series
Lanier, Sterling: HIERO’S JOURNEY
Leiber, Fritz: “Fafhrd & Gray Mouser” series; et al
Lovecraft, H. P.
Merritt, A.: CREEP, SHADOW, CREEP; MOON POOL; DWELLERS IN THE MIRAGE; et al
Moorcock, Michael: STORMBRINGER; STEALER OF SOULS; “Hawkmoon” series (esp. the first three books)
Norton, Andre
Offutt, Andrew J.: editor of SWORDS AGAINST DARKNESS III
Pratt, Fletcher: BLUE STAR; et al
Saberhagen, Fred: CHANGELING EARTH; et al
St. Clair, Margaret: THE SHADOW PEOPLE; SIGN OF THE LABRYS
Tolkien, J. R. R.: THE HOBBIT; “Ring trilogy”
Vance, Jack: THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD; THE DYING EARTH; et al
Weinbaum, Stanley
Wellman, Manley Wade
Williamson, Jack
Zelazny, Roger: JACK OF SHADOWS; “Amber” series; et al

The most immediate influences upon AD&D were probably de Camp & Pratt, R. E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, H. P. Lovecraft, and A. Merritt; but all of the above authors, as well as many not listed, certainly helped to shape the form of the game. For this reason, and for the hours of reading enjoyment, I heartily recommend the works of these fine authors to you.

Basic Rulebook (Basic D&D), 1981. Inspirational Source Material.

(This is the Tom Moldvay a.k.a. “B/X” version of Basic D&D.)

A good D&D campaign is imaginative and creative. Sometimes a little research is useful to improve a dungeon, flesh out a scenario, and provide inspiration for a campaign. Books on folklore, mythology, fairy tales, bestiaries, and knightly legends can often help the DM fill in important details of a campaign, but fictional tales and fantasy novels usually provide the best sources of inspiration. The following list includes some books which might prove useful. A title list followed by “et al.” means that the author has written more fantasy titles than those which can be listed in the limited space available. Note that some books listed as “non-fiction” are about myths or legends, but are labeled as non-fiction because they are not on the fiction shelves of the library or bookstore.

Fiction: Young Adult Fantasy

Alexander, Lloyd: The Book of Three; Black Cauldron; Castle of Llyr, et al.
Baum, L. Frank: The Wizard of Oz; The Emerald City of Oz; The Land of Oz, et al.
Bellairs, John: The Face In the Frost; The House Without a Clock on Its Walls; The Figure in the Shadow, et al.
Burroughs, Edgar Rice: A Princess of Mars; At the Earth’s Core; Tarzan of the Apes, et al.
Carroll, Lewis: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland; Through the Looking Glass
Garner, Alan: Elidor, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen; The Moon of Gomrath, et al.
Le Guin, Ursula K.: A Wizard of Earthsea; The Tombs of Atuan; The Farthest Shore, et al.
Lewis, C. S.: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the “Dawn Treader”, et al.

Non-fiction: Young Adult

Baker, Richard: A Companion to World Mythology
Buehr, Walter: Chivalry and the Mailed Knight
Coolidge, Olivia: Greek Myths; The Trojan War; Legends of the North
d’Aulaire, Ingri and Edgar Parin: Norse Gods and Giants; Trolls
Hazeltine, Alice: Hero Tales from Many Lands
Hillyer, Virgil: Young People’s Story of the Ancient World: Prehistory – 500 B.C.
Jacobs, Joseph: English Folk and Fairy Tales
Macauley, David: Castles
McHargue, Georgess: The Beasts of Never: A History Natural and Unnatural of Monsters, Mythical and Magical; The Impossible People
Renault, Mary: The Lion in the Gateway
Sellow, Catherine F.: Adventures with the Giants
Sutcliff, Rosemary: Tristram and Iseult
Williams, Jay: Life in the Middle Ages
Winer, Bary: Life in the Ancient World

Fiction: Adult Fantasy

Anderson, Poul: Three Hearts and Three Lions; The Broken Sword; The Merman’s Children, et al.
Anthony, Piers: A Spell for Chameleon; The Source of Magic; Castle Roogna
Asprin, Robert: Another Fine Myth
Brackett, Leigh: The Coming of the Terrans; The Secret of Sinharat; People of the Talisman, et al.
Campbell, J. Ramsey: Demons by Daylight
Davidson, Avram: The Island Under the Earth; Ursus of Ultima Thule; The Phoenix in the Mirror, et al.
de Camp, L. Sprague: The Fallible Fiend; The Goblin Tower, et al.
de Camp, L. Sprague and Pratt, Fletcher: The Incomplete Enchanter; Land of Unreason, et al.
Dunsany, Lord: Over the Hills and Far Away; Book of Wonder; The King of Elfland’s Daughter, et al.
Eddison, E. R.: The Worm Ouroboros
Eisenstein, Phyllis: Born to Exile; Sorcerer’s Son
Farmer, Philip Jose: The Gates of Creation; The Maker of Universes; A Private Cosmos, et al.
Finney, Charles G.: The Unholy City; The Circus of Dr. Lao
Heinlein, Robert A.: Glory Road
Howard, Robert E.: Conan; Red Nails; Pigeons from Hell
Lee, Tanith: Night’s Master; The Storm Lord; The Birth-grave, et al.
Leiber, Fritz: The Swords of Lankhmar; Swords Against Wizardry; Swords Against Death, et al.
Lovecraft, H. P.: The Doom that Came to Sarnath; The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath; The Dunwich Horror
Merritt, A. E.: The Moon Pool; Dwellers in the Mirage; The Ship of Ishtar, et al.
Moorcock, Michael: The Stealer of Souls; The Knight of the Swords; Gloriana, et al.
Mundy, Talbot: Tros of Samothrace
Niven, Larry: The Flight of the Horse; The Magic Goes Away
Norton, Andre: Witch World; The Year of the Unicorn; The Crystal Gryphon, et al.
Offutt, Andrew: The Iron Lords; Shadows Out of Hell
Pratt, Fletcher: The Blue Star; The Well of the Unicorn
Smith, Clark Ashton: Xiccarph; Lost Worlds; Genius Loci
Stewart, Mary: The Crystal Cave; The Hollow Hills; The Last Enchantment
Stoker, Bram: Dracula
Swann, Thomas Burnett: Cry Silver Bells; The Tournament of the Thorns; Moondust, et al.
Tolkien, J. R. R.: The Hobbit; The Lord of the Rings (trilogy)
Vance, Jack: The Eyes of the Overworld; Dying Earth; The Dragon Masters, et al.
Wagner, Karl Edward: Bloodstone; Death Angel’s Shadow; Dark Crusade, et al.
White, Theodore H.: The Once and Future King
Zelazny, Roger: Jack of Shadows; Lord of Light; Nine Princes in Amber, et al.

Some additional authors of fantasy fiction are:

Beagle, Peter S.
Bok, Hannes
Cabell, James Branch
Carter, lin
Cherryh, C. J.
Delany, Samuel R.
Fox, Gardner
Gaskell, Jane
Green, Roland
Haggard, H. Rider
Jakes, John
Kurtz, Katherine
Lanier, Sterling
McCaffrey, Anne
McKillip, Patricia A.
Moore, C. L.
Myers, John Myers
Peake, Mervyn
Saberhagen, Fred
Walton, Evangeline
Wellman, Manly Wade
Williamson, Jack

Short Story Collections

Carter, Lin (ed.): The Year’s Best Fantasy Stories (in several volumes); Flashing Swords (also in several volumes)
Offutt, Andrew (ed.): Swords Against Darkness (in several volumes)

Non-fiction

Borges, Jorge Luis: The Book of Imaginary Beings
Bullfinch, Thomas: Bullfinch’s Mythology: The Age of Fable, The Age of Chivalry
Funk and Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend

Complete Psionics Handbook (2nd edition AD&D), 1991. Related Reading.

To find models for the psionicist, one can delve into Indian and Asian folk tales. These contain many characters with abilities that mirror psionics, largely because Eastern mysticism emphasizes meditation and the harnessing of internal energy. Fantasy fiction also offers some good examples. The bibliography below includes several good sources which deal with psionics. Players with an interest in the subject are strongly urged to read some of these books for inspiration.

Fiction

Bester, Alfred; The Demolished Man, The Stars My Destination
Bradley, Marion Zimmer; Darkover series: The Bloody Sun, Children of Hastur, Darkover Landfall, The Forbidden Tower, Hawkmistress!, The Heritage of Hastur, The Keeper’s Price, The Planet Savers, Sharra’s Exile, The Shattered Chain, The Spell Sword, Star of Danger, Stormqueen!, The Sword of Aldones, Thendara House, Two to Conquer, The Winds of Darkover, The World Wreckers
Brunner, John; The Whole Man
Del Rey, Lester; Pstalemate
Henderson, Zenna; The People, The People: No Different, Holding Wonder
Foster, Alan Dean; Flinx series
King, Stephen; The Dead Zone
Kurtz, Katherine; Deryni Rising, Deryni Checkmate, High Deryni
May, Julian; Saga of the Pliocene Exile series: The Many-Colored Land, The Golden Torc, The Non-Born King, The Adversary
Nourse, Alan E.; Psi High and Others
Pohl, Frederik; Drunkard’s Walk
Russell, Eric Frank; The Mindwarpers
Robinson. Frank M.: The Power
Schmitz, James H.; The Universe Against Her, The Lion Game, stories
Simmons, Dan; Carrion Comfort
Sturgeon, Theodore; The Synthetic Man
Tucker, Wilson; Wild Talent
Van Vogt, A.E.; Slan
Zelazny, Roger; Creatures of Light and Darkness, The Dream Master, Lord of Light, Isle of the Dead, This Immortal, To Die in Italbar

Nonfiction

Brookesmith, Peter (ed.); Strange Talents, from the series “The Unexplained: Mysteries of Mind, Space, and Time;” Orbis Publishing, London, 1983.
Index of Possibilities: Energy and Power; Pantheon Books/Random House, New York, New York, 1974.
Mind Over Matter, Powers of Healing, Psychic Powers, Psychic Voyages, from the series “Mysteries of the Unknown;” Time-Life Books, Alexandria, Virginia, 1987.
Puharich, Andrija; Beyond Telepathy; Anchor Press/Doubleday, Garden City, New York, 1973.
Rhine, J.B.; The Reach of the Mind; William Sloane Associates, New York, New York, 1947.

Player’s Handbook (5th edition D&D), 2014. Appendix E: Inspirational Reading.

Inspiration for all the fantasy work I have done stems directly from the love my father showed when I was a lad, for he spent many hours telling me stories he made up as he went along, tales of cloaked old men who could grant wishes, of magic rings and enchanted swords, or wicked sorcerers and dauntless swordsmen. … All of us tend to get ample helpings of fantasy when we are very young from fairy tales such as those written by the Brothers Grimm and Andrew Lang. This often leads to reading books of mythology, paging through bestiaries, and consultation of compilations of the myths of various lands and peoples. Upon such a base I built my interest in fantasy, being an avid reader of all science fiction and fantasy literature since 1950. The following authors were of particular inspiration to me.

A great deal of fantasy literature has been published since the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons wrote those words, including breakthrough works set in the shared worlds of D&D. The following list includes Gary’s original list and some additional works that have inspired the game designers in the years since.

Ahmed, Saladin. Throne of the Crescent Moon.
Alexander, Lloyd. The Book of Three and the rest of the Chronicles of Prydain series.
Anderson, Poul. The Broken Sword, The High Crusade, and Three Hearts and Three Lions.
Anthony, Piers. Split Infinity and the rest of the Apprentice Adept series.
Augusta, Lady Gregory. Gods and Fighting Men.
Bear, Elizabeth. Range of Ghosts and the rest of the Eternal Sky trilogy.
Bellairs, John. The Face in the Frost.
Brackett, Leigh. The Best of Leigh Brackett, The Long Tomorrow, and The Sword of Rhiannon.
Brooks, Terry. The Sword of Shannara and the rest of the Shannara novels.
Brown, Fredric. Hall of Mirrors and What Mad Universe.
Bulfinch, Thomas. Bulfinch’s Mythology.
Burroughs, Edgar Rice. At the Earth’s Core and the rest of the Pellucidar series, Pirates of Venus and the rest of the Venus series, and A Princess of Mars and the rest of the Mars series.
Carter, Lin. Warrior of World’s End and the rest of the World’s end series.
Cook, Glen. The Black Company and the rest of the Black Company series.
de Camp, L. Sprague. The Fallible Fiend and Lest Darkness Fall.
de Camp, L. Sprague & Fletcher Pratt. The Compleat Enchanter and the rest of the Harold Shea series, and Carnelian Cube.
Derleth, August and H.P. Lovecraft. Watchers out of Time.
Dunsany, Lord. The Book of Wonder, The Essential Lord Dunsany Collection, The Gods of Pegana, The King of Elfland’s Daughter, Lord Dunsany Compendium, and The Sword of Welleran and Other Tales.
Farmer, Philip Jose. Maker of Universes and the rest of the World of Tiers series.
Fox, Gardner. Kothar and the Conjurer’s Curse and the rest of the Kothar series, and Kyrik and the Lost Queen and the rest of the Kyrik series.
Froud, Brian & Alan Lee. Faeries.
Hickman, Tracy & Margaret Weis. Dragons of Autumn Twilight and the rest of the Chronicles Trilogy.
Hodgson, William Hope. The Night Land.
Howard, Robert E. The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian and the rest of the Conan series.
Jemisin, N.K. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and the rest of the Inheritance series, The Killing Moon, and The Shadowed Sun.
Jordan, Robert. The Eye of the World and the rest of the Wheel of Time series.
Kay, Guy Gavriel. Tigana.
King, Stephen. The Eyes of the Dragon.
Lanier, Sterling. Hiero’s Journey and The Unforsaken Hiero.
LeGuin, Ursula. A Wizard of Earthsea and the rest of the Earthsea series.
Lovecraft, H.P. The Complete Works.
Lynch, Scott. The Lies of Locke Lamora and the rest of the Gentlemen Bastard series.
Martin, George R.R. A Game of Thrones and the rest of the Song of Ice and Fire series.
McKillip, Patricia. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld.
Merritt, A. Creep, Shadow, Creep; Dwellers in the Mirage; and The Moon Pool.
Miéville, China. Perdido Street Station and the other Bas-Lag novels.
Moorcock, Michael. Elric of Melniboné and the rest of the Elric series, and The Jewel in the Skull and the rest of the Hawkmoon series.
Norton, Andre. Quag Keep and Witch World.
Offutt, Andrew J., ed. Swords against Darkness III.
Peake, Mervyn. Titus Groan and the rest of the Gormenghast series.
Pratchett, Terry. The Colour of Magic and the rest of the Discworld series.
Pratt, Fletcher. Blue Star.
Rothfuss, Patrick. The Name of the Wind and the rest of the Kingkiller series.
Saberhagen, Fred. The Broken Lands and Changeling Earth.
Salvatore, R.A. The Crystal Shard and the rest of The Legend of Drizzt.
Sanderson, Brandon. Mistborn and the rest of the Mistborn trilogy.
Smith, Clark Ashton. The Return of the Sorcerer.
St. Clair, Margaret. Change the Sky and Other Stories, The Shadow People, and Sign of the Labrys.
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.
Tolstoy, Nikolai. The Coming of the King.
Vance, Jack. The Dying Earth and The Eyes of the Overworld.
Weinbaum, Stanley. Valley of Dreams and The Worlds of If.
Wellman, Manly Wade. The Golgotha Dancers.
Williamson, Jack. The Cosmic Express and The Pygmy Planet.
Wolfe, Gene. The Shadow of the Torturer and the rest of The Book of the New Sun.
Zelazny, Roger. Jack of Shadows and Nine Princes in Amber and the rest of the Amber series.

Castle Falkenstein

Castle Falkenstein, 1994. A Falkenstein Bibliography.

Although the World of Castle Falkenstein takes place in a universe with only a passing similarity to our own Victorian Age, here are a number of books which I found useful in deciphering Tom Olam’s notes and expanding upon matters of Steam Age importance. As Tom himself has cautioned, however, this isn’t our history and any of the facts contained within the following bibliography may not actually have a direct bearing upon New Europan reality. But most are lots of fun to read anyway and may help improve your sense of the Falkenstein universe. Enjoy!

—Mike Pondsmith

General History

Asimov, Isaac. Asimov’s Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. New York: Avon Books, 1972
Burke, James. Connections. Boston, Longdon: Little, Brown and Company, 1978
⸺The Day The Universe Changed. Boston, London: Little, Brown and Company, 1985
Davis, William C. with Russ Pritchard. The American Frontier. New York: Smithmark Publishers, Inc., 1992
Garraty, John A. The American Nation. New York, San Francisco, London: Harper & Row, 1971
Grun, Bernard with Werner Stein. The Timetables of History. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1979
Martin, Montgomery, ed. The Illustrated Atlas of the Nineteenth Century World. London: Studio Editions, Ltd., 1989
McEvedy, Colin. The Century World History Factfinder. London: Century Publishing, 1984
Moore, R.I., ed. with Mark Greengrass and Bernard Wasserstein. Atlas of World History. New York, San Francisco: Rand McNally & Co., 1983
Reader’s Digest. Everyday Life Through the Ages. Reader’s Digest Assn., 1992
Taylor, Colin F., ed. with William Sturtevant. The Native Americans. New York: Smithmark Publishers, Inc. 1991
Trease, Geoffrey. Timechanges: The Evolution of Everyday Life. Warwick Press, 1985

Military History

Britt, Albert Sidney III. The Wars of Napoleon (West Point Military History Series. Griess, Thomas E., ed.). Wayne: Avery Publishing Group, 1985
Burt, R.A. British Battleships 1889–1904. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1988
Cross, Robin, ed. Warfare, a Chronological History. Secaucus: The Wellfleet Press, 1991
Diagram Group. Weapons: An International Encyclopedia from 5000BC to 2000AD. Diagram Visual Group, 1990
Donovan, Timothy H., Jr. with Roy Flint, Arthur Grant, Jr., Gerald Stadler. The American Civil War (West Point Military History Series. Griess, Thomas E., ed.). Wayne: Avery Publishing Group, 1987
Hicks, James E. German Weapons, Uniforms, Insignia 1841–1918. La Canada: James E. Hicks & Son, 1958
Hoggs, Ian V. The Encyclopedia of Weaponry. Secausus: The Wellfleet Press, 1992
Massie, Robert K. Dreadnought. New York: Ballantine Books, 1991
Moore, John, ed. Jane’s Fighting Ships of World War I. New York: Military Press/Crown Publishers, Inc. 1990
Palmer, Dave Richard and James Stryker. Early American Wars and Military Institutions (West Point Military History Series. Griess, Thomas E., ed.). Wayne: Avery Publishing Group, 1986
Sachse, L. & Co. Full-Color Uniforms of the Prussian Army. New York: Dover Publications, 1981
Schuyler, Hartley and Graham. Illustrated Catalog of Civil War Military Goods. New York: Dover Publications, 1985
Shann, Stephen and Louis Delperier. French Army 1870–71, Franco-Prussian War #2, Republican Troops (Men-At-Arms Series #237). London: Osprey Publishing, 1991
Silverstone, Paul H. Warships of the Civil War Navies. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1989
Waxtel, Dave and Robert Burke. They Died for Glory. Quantum Printing Co., 1992 (Thanks, Bob!)

European Empires and Imperialism

Craig, Gordon A. The Politics of the Prussian Army 1640–1945. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1968
Headrick, Daniel R. The Tools of Empire. New York: Oxford University Press, 1981
Kennan, George F. The Decline of Bismarck’s European Order. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1979
Taylor, Edmond. The Fall of the Dynasties. Garden City: Doubleday & Company, 1963

Airships

Althoff, William F. Sky Ships. New York: Orion Books, 1990
Brooks, Peter W. Zeppelin: Rigid Airships 1893–1940. Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992
Dick, Harold G. with Douglas Robinson. The Golden Age of the Great Passenger Airships/Graf Zeppelin & Hindenburg. Washington D.C., London: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1985
Griehl, Manfred and Joachim Dressel. Zeppelin! The German Airship Story. London: Arms & Armour Press, 1990
Nowarra, Heinz J. German Airships (Schiffer Military series). West Chester: Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 1990

Victorian Biography

Bierman, John. Napoleon III and His Carnival Empire''. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1988
Gutman, Robert W. Richard Wagner. New York, London: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1990
Huston, Desmond Chapman. Ludwig II, the Mad King of Bavaria. Dorset Press, 1990
Marek, George R. The Eagles Die. New York, London: Harper & Row, 1974
Nelson, Walter Henry. The Soldier Kings. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1970
St. Aubyn, Giles. Edward VII, Prince & King. New York: Atheneum, 1979
Strachey, Lytton. The Illustrated Queen Victoria. New York: Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1987

Fashion

Blum, Stella, ed. Paris Fashions of the 1890s. New York: Dover Publications, 1984
⸻. Victorian Fashions & Costumes From Harper’s Bazaar: 1867–1898. New York: Dover Publications, 1974
Bryk, Nancy Villa, ed. American Dress Pattern Catalogs 1873–1909. New York: Dover Publications, 1988
Yarwood, Doreen. Fashion in the Western World 1500–1990. New York: Drama Book Publishers, 1992

Victorian Life

Altick, Richard D. Victorian People and Ideas. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1973
“The Chateaus and Castle-Hotels of Europe.” Travel & Leisure, May, 1984
Croutier, Alev Lytle. Taking the Waters. New York, London, Paris: Abbeville Press, 1992
Dale, Rodney and Joan Gray. Edwardian Inventions. London: W. H. Allen & Co., 1979
Friedrich, Otto. Olympia. New York, London: Simon & Schuster, 1992
Girouard, Mark. The Victorian Country House. New Haven, London: Yale University Press, 1979
MacColl, Gail and Carol Wallace. To Marry An English Lord. New York: Workman Publishing, 1989
Matthews, Roy T. and Peter Mellini. In ‘Vanity Fair.’ Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1982
Morton, Frederic. A Nervous Splendor. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1979
⸻. Thunder at Twilight: Vienna 1913–1914. The Macmillan Co., 1989
Pearsall, Ronald. The Worm in the Bud. Toronto, Ontario: The Macmillan Co., 1969
Pool, Daniel. What Jane Austen Ate & Charles Dickens Knew: The facts of Daily Life in 19th Century England. Simon & Schuster, 1993
Reynolds, James. Panorama of Austria. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1956
Royal Castle Neuschwanstein''. Wilhelm Kienberger GmbH, 1992
Woods, Lawrence M. British Gentlemen in the Wild West. New York: The Free Press/Macmillan, Inc., 1989
The World As It Was: 1865–1921. Summit Books, 1980
von Boehn, Dr. Max. Modes & Manners of the 19th Century, Volume Four. Benjamin Blom Publ., New York

The Faerie

Arrowsmith, Nancy and George Moorse. A Field Guide to the Little People. New York: Pocket Books, 1977
Froud, Brian and Alan Lee. Faeries. New York, London: Peacock Press/Bantam Books, 1978

Fictional Victoriana

Baring-Gould, William S. Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street. New York: Bramhall House, 1962
Chesterton, G. K. The Man Who Was Thursday. New York, London: Penguin Books, 1908, 1986
Doyle, Arthur Conan. The Illustrated Sherlock Holmes Treasure. New York: Avenel Books, 1976
Farmer, Philip José. Tarzan Alive. Garden City: Doubleday & Company, 1972
Fraser, George MacDonald. Royal Flash. New York: Signet/New American Library, 1970
The Brothers Grimm. Grimms’ Fairy Tales. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1945
Hope, Anthony. The Prisoner of Zenda. New York: The Heritage Press, 1966
Lovesey, Peter. Bertie & the Seven Bodies: A Victorian Mystery Novel Featuring the Prince of Wales. Mysterious Press, 1990
Verne, Jules. Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea. Garden City: Nelson Doubleday, Inc., 1956
⸻. From Earth to the Moon/Around the Moon. New York: The Heritage Press, 1970
⸻. Jules Verne: The Collected Novels. Castle Books, 1984
⸻. Master of the World & Robur the Conqueror. Ace Books, Inc., 1951
Wells, H.G. The Complete Science Fiction Treasury of H.G. Wells. New York: Avernel Books, 1979

World of Darkness

Sorcerer: The Hedge Wizard’s Handbook, 1997. Bibliography.

I referenced many books (and simply tossed aside many more) during the writing of this work. There’s a gold mine of material available on occult societies and sorcery within the context of global cultures; unfortunately, there’s also a horde of dreck out there. Enterprising Storytellers and characters who want to add more depth to sorcerer characters or build new societies should peruse this list.

The following books were particularly useful or interesting, and I’d recommend them either for research or for inspirational reading. Sometimes the amount of reference material is disproportionate to how much was ultimately written. I often had to wander through various works to get to a point of understanding; other times I was just interested and kept on reading!

I fully realize that books that have had an impact on me might have absolutely no impact on anyone else — “Your mileage may vary,” as the saying goes. This reading list is merely a reflection of my own study and path while writing this book.

—James Estes Looking Eagle

Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art (1936)
- An often amusing but likewise compelling look at magical practices through the eyes of an “authority” who believes most forms of the art are blasphemous. Very World of Darkness, and politically incorrect as hell.
Rosito Arvigo, Sastun: My Apprenticeship with a Maya Healer (1994)
- The true story of an American woman’s apprenticeship under an authentic Maya spiritual/botanical healer. This is not simply a fable of someone’s “apprenticeship into ancient Maya magic”: Rosita Arvigo lives in Belize, where she cultivates rain forest plants and trees and conducts research into the medicinal properties of traditional Maya herbal remedies, including possible cures for AIDS, cancer, and other diseases. Her work has attracted international attention and recognition.
Brian Bates, The Way of Wyrd (1983)
- A fictional retelling of a medieval Christian monk’s introduction to Norse magic and mysticism.
Peggy Beck, Anna Lee Walters and Nia Francisco, The Sacred: Ways of Knowledge, Ways of Life (1992)
- An insightful study of Native American spirituality, well-received by scholarly and Native American communities alike.
Hal Zina Bennet, Zuni Fetishes (1993)
- A study of Zuni fetish construction and the use of such fetishes in meditation and reflection.
Madeleine Biardeau, Hinduism: The Anthropology of a Civilization (1989)
- An erudite examination of Hindu culture; highly recommended for those who want a greater understanding of Hinduism, but not recommended for beginners.
J.F. Bierlein, Parallel Myths (1994)
- A cross-cultural examination of common themes in world mythology. Magic is often born of a culture’s mythology, and though this book is somewhat light, it is flavorful.
Ralph Blum, The Book of Runes (1982)
- The book that popularized runic divination for the masses. Many serious rune-workers don’t care for this work, but it’s still a fun read.
Margaret Bunson, A Dictionary of Ancient Egypt (1991)
- A valuable reference on ancient Egyptian history, culture, and mythology.
Richard Cavendish, A History of Magic (1987)
- More appropriately called “A History of Magic in the West,” this book covers the scope of Western occult history. Not just a catalog of movements, it discusses magic within its cultural affiliations.
Richard Cavendish, editor, Encyclopedia of the Unexplained: Magic, Occultism and Parapsychology (1974)
- Yet another useful compendium on magic and the supernatural.
Tom Cowan, Fire in the Head: Shamanism and the Celtic Spirit (1993)
- A thoroughly engaging study of Celtic shamanism. One of the best books I read for this project, but it really needs an index!
Edward Curtis, edited by Gerald Hausman, Prayer to the Great Mystery: the Uncollected Writings and Photography of Edward S. Curtis (1995)
- A collection of Native American myths and legends accompanied by the evocative photography of Edward Curtis, an American photographer noted for his studies and portraits of Indian life.
Arkon Daraul, A History of Secret Societies (1961)
- A highly sensationalistic book penned in the purplest of prose. Each of the groups depicted within could easily be turned into magical socieities in the World of Darkness; in fact, many have been!
Afolabi Epega and Philip John Neimark, translators, The Sacred Ifa Oracle (1995)
- the authentic source of Yoruba tribal wisdom, and a must-have for anyone interested in African traditions.
David Fridel, Linda Schele and Joy Parker, Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand Years on the Shaman’s Path (1993)
- A fascinating examination of Maya shamanism, based upon anthropological study and not just on whimsy or alleged apprenticeships.
Rosemary Guiley, Harper’s Encyclopedia of Mystical & Paranormal Experience (1991)
- The title says it all. An invaluable reference work.
E. J. Holmyard, Alchemy (1950)
- A history survey of alchemy across the world; dry but informative.
Bentley Layton: The Gnostic Scriptures: Ancient Wisdom for the New Age (1987)
- A collection of Gnostic works deemed heretical by orthodox Christianity and Judaism. In addition to its historic value, this is an interesting look at a church that might have been.
Daniel C. Matt, The Essential Kabbalah: The Heart of Jewish Mysticism (1994)
- An excellent (and well-received) introduction to Kabbalism, containing both original texts and commentary.
Caitlin and John Matthews, editors, Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom: A Celtic Shaman’s Sourcebook (1994)
- A collection of essays dealing with various aspects of Celtic shamanism.
Caitlin Matthews, The Celtic Book of the Dead: a Guide for your Voyage to the Celtic Otherworld (1992)
- A study of Celtic voyage tales and their spiritual significance.
Arnold Mindell, The Shaman’s Body (1993)
- An introduction to shamanism and the dreambody in a variety of cultural traditions, written by a process-oriented therapist.
R. Laurence Moore, “The Occult Connections? Mormonism, Christian Science, and Spiritualism,” in The Occult in America (edited by Howard Kerr, 1986)
- An article discussing occult themes in early Mormon history.
R.K. Narayan, Gods, Demons, and Others (1964)
- A collection of South Asian stories about gods, demons, magicians.
Peter Occhiogrosso, The Joy of Sects (1996)
- A clearly-written introduction to world religions with occasional forays into mysticism. Has a good section on New Age movements. A fun and engaging book throughout.
Thomas O’Dea, The Mormons (1957)
- A very sympathetic treatment of the Mormons by a Gentile, this book is a useful introduction to the Mormon world for the non-Mormons.
Scott Peterson, Native American Prophecies (1990)
- Perhaps a bit sensationalistic and not very scholarly, it still contains some interesting material on Native American religio-magical prophetic beliefs.
Idries Shah, Oriental Magic (1956)
- A stroll through magic of the Middle East, Africa, India, China and Tibet. Although somewhat dated, it still contains some interesting bits of information.
Jonathan Z. Smith, editor, The Harper Collins Dictionary of Religion (1995)
- An incredible piece of work, constantly at hand during the writing of this book.
Joseph Smith, Jr., The Book of Mormon (1830 ff.)
- According to Mormon tradition, Smith is the translator of an angel’s work. The Book of Mormon is at times fascinating, at times droll, but overall a peculiar work (from a non-Mormon viewpoint).
Morton Smith, Jesus the Magician (1978)
- The seminal scholarly work on how Jesus was viewed as a magician by his Near Eastern contemporaries.
Lawrrence E. Sullivan, Hidden Truths: Magic, Alchemy, and the Occult (1987)
- A collection of articles from the Encyclopedia of Religion (edited by Mircea Eliade), this is a scholarly but still quite readable introduction to various occult traditions and themes.
Luisah Teish, Jambalaya: The Natural Woman’s Book (1985)
- An easily read collection of African-American feminist folk wisdom from a priestess in the Yoruba Lucumi tradition.
Edred Thorsson, Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic (1984)
- An important book in the subject of runes and Germanic magic. The book is somewhat controversial, and some of its ideas may not be very legitimate; but it does make interesting reading, and is worth considering if you’re contemplating researching Germanic sorcery or playing a vitki.
Time-Life Books, “Mysteries of the Unknown” series (various dates)
- Rather light in content, these books nonetheless contain many useful tidbits. The volumes Ancient Wisdom and Secret Sects, Magical Arts, Witches and Witchcraft, and Secrets of the Alchemists are particularly relevant to this book.
Donald Tyson, Ritual Magic: What It Is and How to Do It (1992)
- Fascinating reading on theories of ritual magic and its various cultural manifestations.
Ken and Jo Walton, GURPS Celtic Myth (1995)
- Yes, a game book. This is filled with well-organized and well-written information on Celtic culture, mythology and magic.
Bill Whitcomb, The Magician’s Companion (1993)
- A compendium of details relevant to a number of magical traditions.

Site-ography

A few websites make very useful tools, especially for those trying to understand various cultural traditions. Only the major sites are listed — they all inevitably link to each other anyway. Addresses for these sites may (will) change over time, but with any luck you should be able to find them through major search engines.

OrishaList
- A collection of links, specifically dedicated to the Yoruba tradition and its relatives (Candomblé, Vodoun, etc.).
Ifa Foundation of North America
- A center that hopes to spread understanding of Ifa and the Yoruba tradition across the West.
Gnostic Society Index of Links
- A compendium of links across the web to different sites dedicated to shamanism and neopaganism.
Svartur’s Mystic Links
- Many links dedicated to a variety of esoteric topics.

New York by Night, 2001. Resources.

The following books, movies and other media should provide you with prime source material, whether as factual information or inspiration. Note that we’ve listed only a few for each section. You’ll no doubt have others to add to this list.

Books

Reading is fundamental.

Fodor’s New York City, edited by Karen Cure (2001 ed.).
- This should be the first stop for anyone wanting more maps and hyperattentive detail than we give here. As the Fodor’s books are by nature, this is very touristy, but it does dig below the surface with regard to the social settings that the vampires make a part of their world. The Fodor’s guides are also updated annually, so you can always be sure that you have current names and cutting- edge locales for the Kindred to make their haunts.
The Encyclopedia of New York City, edited by Kenneth T. Jackson.
- This one will cost you, but for those Storytellers who enjoy building layer upon layer of backstory into their chronicles, you have no greater single alternative. Including everything from two-hundred-year-old social rolls to a list of the city’s Catholic officials of the New York Archdiocese from 1808, this book is a wealth of supportive detail. It runs the spectrum from the broad to the minute (with entries for such things as “sports” and “Lincoln Kirstein”), and should contain ample historical information for a Vampire chronicle set in New York City. Note that the entries are accurate up to 1995.
The Bonfire of the Vanities, by Tom Wolfe.
- A clash between the haves and the have-nots results in some serious questioning about what it is that makes the haves so damned enviable in the first place. If you have any interest at all in the Camarilla, read this book, as it’s rife with the sorts of treachery, lying, sacrifice (both noble and false) and social constructs that embody the Ivory Tower.
The Waterworks, by E.L Doctorow.
- While this novel’s events take place in the late nineteenth century, the book is an excellent resource for visual setting. While parts of New York are hypermodern, others still have at their foundation the American Gothic that the city defined for the rest of the country. The book itself is a macabre blend of turn-of-the-century science fiction and honest-to-goodness horror.
The Alienist, by Caleb Carr.
- Another nineteenth-century New York period piece, this time rich in gothic tone and rife with the unpleasant underbelly of the city. The story features brutal street gangs, cocaine-addicted teenage prostitutes, the dubious acceptance of psychology in the contemporary American mindset. Oh, and murder. It’s a bit revisionist, but who cares; it’s fiction.
American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis.
- When the Kindred’s morality and sanity erode, this is what happens to them.

Music

How the Storyteller chooses to use music is up to her, but here are a few suggestions for specific artists and songs.

Tical 2000: Judgement Day by Method Man. The actual physical conflicts of the Camarilla-Sabbat conflict in New York no doubt played out to this album. The skits are a little silly, but the songs themselves are lyrically bleak and musically spooky. An excellent mood-setting resource.
Velvet Underground and Nico by the Velvet Underground. If you ever liked anything punk, new wave, gothic, avant-garde or “independent” and you don’t have this album, go buy it now. Yeah, it’s the one with the Andy Warhol banana on the cover. This is the seminal album by the New York band, and it is a metaphor for everything vampiric in this game, from the desolation of the lyrics to the hanging out with famous artists to being a slave to blood, er, heroin.
The Global Underground series by various artists, mixed by various DJs. For a collection of up-to-the-minute sounds of the New York club scene, look no further than this series. Some of the DJs’ sets are more appropriate than others for the somber feel of Vampire, such as Dave Seaman, Nick Warren, Sasha and John Digweed, but the whole line is done with high quality. Particularly strong collections are Nick Warren’s Budapest set and Sasha’s Ibiza set. Paul Oakenfold also has a set performed in New York, but his own Perfecto Presents Another World is a darker mix of music.
The music of Frank Sinatra is also appropriate, even if he was from Hoboken. Old Blue Eyes’ standards evoke the romance of decades past, of less complicated times when morality wasn’t so gray. Of particular value are Sinatra’s Capitol Records recordings, when he focused on standards and before he became cranky.
Soundtracks also have much to offer in a chronicle set in New York. Downtempo scores to include are Vangelis’ Blade Runner, the somewhat dated-sounding Giorgio Moroder score from Scarface and the very moody, quirkily neo-classical A Clockwork Orange. Go ahead and dust off that soundtrack from The Crow, and you may as well put that The Matrix soundtrack in the rotation, too. You know you’re going to anyway.

Film, Video and Television

As visual media, these forms of entertainment are excellent resources for illustrating or describing to players what their characters see. As one of modern popular culture’s most readily consumable resources, they also offer a great deal of common ground. Note also that by any standard, this list is going to be woefully inadequate. It can’t possibly name every good New York movie, but isn’t that the same of all these recommendations?

Goodfellas.
- Make the mobsters vampires and you’re golden. Yes, right down to the fact that they’re willing to fuck each other over for their own best interests.
Batman and Batman Returns.
- The films’ highly stylized Gotham shows a fantastic take on what a Gothic-Punk New York might look like. Avoid the Day-Glo-streaked drag parades of Batman Forever and Batman & Robin.
Law & Order.
- One of the best shows on television today, you could do a lot worse than taking notes on their plots and adapting their more Byzantine elements for your own. The show also has a great range of diversity, from street-level hooliganism to high-profile, white-collar crime.
The Sopranos.
- Smart television for discerning audiences. Sure, they all live in Jersey, but Jersey’s just a Holland Tunnel away from Manhattan, or you can easily change that to Belmont in the Bronx… or any other neighborhood, for that matter. What you’re really watching The Sopranos for is the characters’ reconciliation of their lives with what they do — morality is as central to this show as it is to a good Vampire chronicle.
Gangs of New York.
- Okay, so it hasn’t been released yet, but we’ll go out on a limb and suggest you see this Martin Scorsese film about criminal organizations in New York nonetheless.
Men of Respect.
- Macbeth reinterpreted as a gangster story. This satisfies Vampire’s high-art side at the same time it represents the street grime of the World of Darkness.
The Godfather and The Godfather Part II.
- Skip the third one. These movies have excellent plots that revolve around secret organizations and the treacheries they commit to remain on top. They’re also very strong character studies, proving that you don’t have to be irredeemable to be a criminal. Extrapolate that for vampires and you have a strong moral undercurrent ready to be used in a chronicle.

Alternity

Gamemaster Guide (Alternity Core), 1998. References.

⸻. Astrologicus Galaxy Simulation Software. Logicrucible, Inc., 1995. http://www.logicrucible.com.
⸻. Encarta Multimedia Encyclopedia. Microsoft, 1994.
⸻. The Planets, ed. Byron Preiss. Bantam Books, 1985.
Bova, Ben. Space Travel. Writer’s Digest Books, 1997.
Clute, John, and Peter Nichols. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. St. Martin’s Griffin, 1995.
Dickinson, Terrence, and Adolf Shaller. Extraterrestrials: A Field Guide for Earthlings. Camden House Publishing, 1994.
Gallant, Roy A. National Geographic Picture Atlas of Our Universe. National Geographic Society, 1994.
Gillett, Stepheln L. World-Building. Writer’s Digest Books, 1996.
Gribbin, John. Unveiling the Edge of Time. Harmony Books, 1992.
Hathaway, Nancy. The Friendly Guide to the Universe. Penguin Books, 1995.
Hawking, Stephen. Black Holes and Baby Universes. Bantam Books, 1994.
Hazen, Robert M., and James Trefil. Science Matters. Anchor Books, 1992.
Henbest, Nigel, and Heather Couper. The Guide to the Galaxy. Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Kepner, Terry. Proximity Zero, 2nd edition. The Bob Liddil Group, 1995.
Mauldin, John H. Prospects for Interstellar Travel. American Astronomical Society, 1992.
Moore, Patrick. Atlas of the Universe. Rand McNally, 1994.
Nahin, Paul J. Time Travel. Writer’s Digest Books, 1997.
Ronan, Colin A. The Universe Explained. Henry Holt and Company, Inc., 1994.
Sagan, Carl. Pale Blue Dot. Random House, 1994.
Schmidt, Stanley. Aliens and Alien Societies. Writer’s Digest Books, 1995.
Thorne, Kip. Black Holes & Time Warps. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 1994.

Mindwalking: A Guide to Psionics, 1999. Suggested Reading/Viewing.

Suggested Viewing

The Haunting
The Fury
Akira
The Star Wars Trilogy
Millennium
The X-Files
Babylon 5 (especially “Mind War,”, “Ship of Tears,”, and “A Tragedy of Telepaths”)

Tangents, 1999. Suggested Reading or Viewing.

Almost every science fiction, fantasy, mystery, or horror story, TV series, or movie can be thought of as a “parallel world” where fantastic things not common to the real world occur. In fact, every work of fiction is potentially a “parallel universe”. However, there are many stories that deal more specifically with the idea of parallel universes. Some of those are provided below, as chosen by the author as exemplary examples of the “parallel universe” genre. Reading or viewing from some subset of these works may provide countless idea seeds for tangent campaigns of your own creation.

Frankenstein Unbound by Brian Aldis [sic]
The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov
Eon, Eternity, and Legacy by Greg Bear
The Practice Effect by David Brin
Timestorm by Gordon R. Dickson
Diaspora and Quarantine by Greg Egan
Timescape by Gregory Benford
Twistor and Einstein’s Bridge by John Cramer
The Number of the Beast by Robert Heinlein
The Incredible Umbrella and The Amorous Umbrella by Marvin Kaye
H.P. Lovecraft’s Mythos stories
No Brother No Friend, At the Narrow Passage, and Vestiges of Time by Richard C. Meredith
“Elric,” “Corum,” and other “Eternal Champion” stories by Michael Moorcock
“All the Myriad Ways” by Larry Niven
Singers of Time by Frederic [sic] Pohl and Jack Williamson
The Coming of the Quantum Cats by Frederic [sic] Pohl
“Trips” by Robert Silverberg
Ring Around The Sun by Clifford D. Simak
The “Amber” series by Roger Zelazny

“Mirror, Mirror” episode of Star Trek (original series)
Sliders Television Series
Back to the Future II Movie

Dark•Matter Campaign Setting, 1999. Recommended Reading & Viewing.

Rather than a comprehensive list of all applicable titles (which would no doubt fill this entire book), the list below is a selection of titles that inspired and informed the designers in writing Dark•Matter. Enjoy!

Books, Nonfiction

Addison, Charles G. The History of the Knights Templar
Baigent, Michael. Holy Blood, Holy Grail
Baigent, Michael. The Temple and the Lodge
Bamford, James. The Puzzle Palace
Brookesmith, Peter. UFO The Complete Sightings
Castleden, Rodney. Minoans: Life in Bronze Age Crete
Coe, Michael; Dean Snow; and Elizabeth Benson. Atlas of Ancient America
Daraul, Arkon. A History of Secret Societies
Douglas, John. Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit
Fort, Charles. The Book of the Damned
Frazer, James George. The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion
Goldman, Jane. The X-Files Book of the Unexplained (Vols. 1 & 2)
Grun, Bernard. Timetables of History
Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. Harper’s Encyclopedia of Mystical and Paranormal Experience
Hancock, Graham. Fingerprints of the Gods
Howard, Michael. The Occult Conspiracy: Secret Societies—Their Influence and Power in World History
Keel, John. The Mothman Prophecies
Keith, Jim. Black Helicopters Over America: Strikeforce for the New World Order
Keith, Jim. Black Helicopters II: Endgame Strategies
Keith, Jim. Mind Control, World Control
Kovach, Sue. Hidden Files: Law Enforcement’s True Case Stories of the Unexplained and Paranormal
LaVey, Anton Szander. The Satanic Bible
Lyne, William R. Space Aliens From the Pentagon
MacKey, Albert G. Encyclopedia of Freemasonry
Manning, Jeane and Dr. Nick Begich. Angels Don’t Play this HAARP
Mannix, Daniel P. Freaks: We Who Are Not As Others
Moench, Doug. Big Book of Conspiracies
Moench, Doug. Big Book of the Unexplained
National Insecurity Council, The. It’s A Conspiracy!
Partner, Peter. The Knights Templar and their Myth
Posey, Carl & Gahan Wilson. Big Book of Weirdoes
Rodman, Selden & Carole Cleaver. Spirits of the Night: The Vaudun Gods of Haiti
Segel, Binjamin W. A Lie and a Libel: History of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion
Spence, Lewis. An Encyclopedia of Occultism
Temple, Robert K. G. The Sirius Mystery
Thomas, Kenn and Lincoln Lawrence. Mind Control, Oswald, and JFK
Vankin, Jonathan and John Whalen. The 60 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time
Von Daniken, Erich. Chariots of the Gods?
Wilgus, Neal. The Illuminoids
Wilson, Robert Anton. Everything Is Under Control

Books, Fiction

Bear, Greg. Blood Music
Cobb, James H. Choosers of the Slain
Crichton, Michael. The Andromeda Strain
Crichton, Michael. Sphere
Crowley, Aleister. The Book of Thoth
Crowley, Aleister. 777 and Other Qabalistic Writings
Eco, Umberto. Foucault’s Pendulum
Finney, Jack. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Gaiman, Neil. Neverwhere
Garrett, Laurie. The Coming Plague
MacAvoy, R.A. Tea with the Black Dragon
Newman, Kim. The Bloody Red Baron
Reaves, Michael. Voodoo Child
Rushkoff, Douglass. Ecstasy Club
Stephenson, Neal. Snow Crash
Stephenson, Neal. Cryptonomicon
Wilson, Colin. The Mind Parasites
Wilson, Colin. The Philosopher’s Stone
Wilson, Colin. The God of the Labyrinth
Wilson, Robert Anton & Robert Shea. The Illuminatus! Trilogy
Wilson, Robert Anton. The Historical Illuminatus Chronicles Trilogy

Comics

Ellis, Warren. Planetary
Ennis, Garth. Hellblazer
Ennis, Garth. Preacher
Ennis, Garth. The Unknown Soldier
Gaiman, Neil. Sandman
Grant, Alan. Batman: The Abduction
Moore, Alan. Swamp Thing
Moore, Alan. Watchmen
Morrison, Grant. The Invisibility

Magazines

Fortean Times
Probe
Strange
Steamshovel Press
Uncensored UFO Reports
The Unopened Files

Movies

The Abyss
Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension
All the President’s Men
The Arrival
Boys from Brazil
Chain Reaction
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Communion
Conspiracy Theory
The Conversation
Dark City
Enemy of the State
The Entity
The Exorcist
Fallen
Fire in the Sky
The Haunting
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
JFK
The Keep
La Femme Nikita
The Manchurian Candidate
Manhunter
The Matrix
Men in Black
Mercury Rising
Odessa Files
Omen 1, 2, and 3
The Philadelphia Experiment
Prophesy
Repo Man
The Serpent and the Rainbow
Silence of the Lambs
The Specialist
Species
Them
The Thing
The Things From Another Planet
Village of the Damned

TV Series

Brimstone
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Dark Skies
Millennium
The X-Files

Websites

(NOTE: Most of these links are, unfortunately, broken. I’ve provided links to archived versions where available. —ed.)

Alien Chaser (original URL: www.geocities.com/Area51/Hollow/8827)
Blather
CIA Electronic Document Release Center
Conspire.com
Disinformation
Dreams of the Great Earth Changes
Ethnologue Language Index
Forbidden Science (original URL: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Rampart/2271)
Forensics and Crime Scene Investigations
History of Egypt
Impropaganda
Mysterious Places
Parascope

Call of Cthulhu

Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game (d20), 2002. Recommended Reading List.

If you want to do further research into the Cthulhu Mythos, go straight to the source. The following list includes dozens of stories, anthologies, and novels to inspire your games.

Mythos Stories

H. P. Lovecraft

The Dunwich Horror and Others (esp. “The Call of Cthulhu,” “The Haunter of the Dark,” “The Whisperer in Darkness,” “The Thing at the Doorstep,” “Shadow over Innsmouth,” “Pickman’s Model,” “The Colour Out of Space,” “The Rats in the Walls,” “Cool Air,” “The Terrible Old Man,” and “The Shadow Out of Time”)
Dagon & Other Macabre Tales (esp. “Herbert West, Re-animator,” “The Temple,” “The Hound,” “The Festival,” “Under the Pyramids,” “The Horror at Red Hook,” “The Cats of Ulthar,” and “The Strange High House in the Mist”)
At the Mountains of Madness (esp. “The Statement of Randolph Carter,” “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward,” “The Shunned House,” “The Dreams in the Witch-House”) and The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Horror in the Museum and Other Revisions (esp. “The Curse of Yig,” “The Loved Dead,” and “The Diary of Alonzo Typer”)
The Fungi from Yuggoth (sonnet cycle, ideal for use as excerpts of poems by Justin Geoffrey or Edward Pickman Derby); “Nyarlathotep” (prose poem)
The H. P. Lovecraft Dream Book (transcriptions of actual dreams Lovecraft had, some of which he later turned into stories)
Supernatural Horror in Literature (essentially Lovecraft’s own recommended reading list of weird horror)
H. P. Lovecraft’s Book of Horror—It not only contains Lovecraft’s treatise, “Supernatural Horror in Literature,” but also contains twenty-one of the stories he mentions in that essay, by authors including Poe (“The Fall of the House of Usher”), Bierce (“The Damned Thing”), Chambers (“The Yellow Sign”), Smith (“The Double Shadow”), Hodgson (“The Hog”), Machen (“The Great God Pan”), and James (“Count Magnus”)
The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft: Dreams of Terror and Death, The Transition of H. P. Lovecraft: The Road to Madness, Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos. These titles, available from Del Rey in both hardcover and trade paperback, are easier to find than the collections listed above, and contain most of the same stories.

Clark Ashton Smith

Complete short stories (esp. “Genius Loci,” “The Devotee of Evil,” “The Double Shadow,” “The Return of the Sorcerer,” “The Tale of Satampra Zeiros,” “The Door to Saturn,” “The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis,” “The Plutonian Drug,” “The Empire of the Necromancers,” “The Charnal God,” “The Maze of Maal Dweb,” “The Nemesis of the Unfinished,” “The Holiness of Azederac,” “The Beast of Averoigne,” “The Enchantress of Sylaire,” “The Mandrakes,” “The Maker of Gargoyles,” “The Colossus of Ylourgne,” “The Disinterment of Venus,” “The Enchantress of Averoigne,” and “Morthylla”) and The Dead Will Cuckold You (play)
The Book of Eibon

Robert E. Howard

Nameless Cults

Frank Belknap Long

“The Hounds of Tindalos” and “The Horror from the Hills”

Robert Bloch

Mysteries of the Worm (esp. “The Shambler from the Stars” and “The Shadow from the Steeple” [the first and final stories in a triptych to which Lovecraft’s “The Haunter of the Dark” is the centerpiece], “Fane of the Black Pharaoh,” and “Notebook Found in a Deserted House”)

Ramsey Campbell

Complete Short Stories (esp. “Cold Print,” “The Insects of Shaggai,” “The Faces at Pine Dunes,” “The Franklyn Paragraphs,” “The Plain of Sound,” “The Moon-Lens,” “The Room in the Castle,” and “The Inhabitant of the Lake”

Fritz Leiber

“To Arkham and the Stars” and “Terror from the Depths”

Henry Kuttner

The Book of Iod (esp. “The Salem Horror,” “Hydra,” and “The Eater of Souls”)

Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.

Nightmare’s Discipline

Roger Zelazny

A Night in Lonesome October

John Tynes

Rules of Engagement, “The Nullity of Choices,” and “The Second Effort”

Thomas Ligotti

Songs of a Dead Dreams, “The Sect of the Idiot,” “The Last Feast of Harlequin,” and “The Dark Beauty of Unheard Horrors”

Robert Price

Scrolls of Thoth—Unusual historical fiction featuring Simon Magus as the central character. Mythology and Roman history blend with the Hyborian and Cthulhu Mythos cycles.

Lin Carter

The Xothic Legend Cycle

August Derleth

The Trail of Cthulhu, “The Thing That Walked on Wind,” “The Snow-Thing,” “Beyond the Threshold,” “The Shuttered Room,” “The Sandwin Compact,” and “The Lair of the Star-Spawn”

Anthologies, etc.

Alien Intelligence, Bob Kruger, ed. An anthology of short stories showing many different aspects of Delta Green (one of the settings featured in the Settings chapter of this book).
A Cthulhu Mythos Bibliography and Concordance, by Chris Jarocha-Ernst. A terrific resource that lists over 2,600 works by title and author with bibliographical data and a listing of which Mythos terms appear in which stories.
Cthulhu 2000, Jim Turner, ed. This collection of modern Mythos fiction includes stories by eighteen authors, including T.E.D. Klein (“Black Man with a Horn”), Poppy Z. Brite (“His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood”), Michael Shea (“Fat Face”), Gahan Wilson (“H.P.L.”), and Harlan Ellison (“On The Slab”).
⸺Enclyclopedia Cthulhuiana, by Daniel Harms
⸺Tales of the Lovecraft Mythos, Robert Price, ed. This volume contains tales from Howard (“The Thing on the Roof,” “The Fire of Asshurbanipal”), Bloch (“Fane of the Black Pharaoh”), Smith (“The Seven Geases”), Kuttner (“The Invaders,” “Bells of Horror”), Derleth (“The Thing That Walked on the Wind,” “Ithaqua”), and others.

Non-Mythos Stories

M. R. James

Universally recognized as the greatest writer of ghost stories ever.
Complete ghost stories (esp. “Casting the Runes,” “The Tractate Middoth,” “The Mezzotint,” “A View from a Hill,” “A Neighbor’s Landmark,” “Mr. Humphries and His Inheritance,” “Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad,” “The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral,” “Count Magnus,” “The Treasure of Abbot Thomas,” “Martin’s Close,” “A Warning to the Curious,” “Canon Alberic’s Scrape-book,” “Count Magnus,” and “Rats”)

R. W. Chambers

The King in Yellow (esp. “The Yellow Sign” and “The Repairer of Reputations”)

Ambrose Bierce

Ghost and Horror Stories (esp. “The Damned Thing,” “Strange Disappearances,” “The Suitable Surroundings,” “The Moonlit Road,” “Haita the Sheperd,” and “An Inhabitant of Carcasonne”)

Edgar Allan Poe

“The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar,” “The System of Dr. Tarr & Professor Fether,” “A Tale of the Ragged Mountains,” “Ligeia,” The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym (referenced in Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness), “Silence,” “William Wilson,” “Never Bet the Devil Your Head: A Tale with a Moral,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” and the unfinished “The Lighthouse”

Algernon Blackwood

“The Willows,” “The Wendigo,” “Ancient Lights,” and “Entrance & Exit”
John Silence

Arthur Machen

The Three Imposters (esp. “The Novel of the White Powder” and “The Novel of the Black Seal”)
“The White People,” “The Inmost Light,” “The Shining Pyramid,” and “The Great God Pan”

Wm. Hope Hodgson

Carnacki the Ghost-Finder (esp. “The Whistling Room”)
Deep Waters (esp. “The Derelict” and “The Voice in the Night”)
The Ghost Pirates, The House on the Borderlands, The Night Land, and The Boats of the ‘Glen Carrig’

Lord Dunsany

The Gods of Pegana (esp. “The Deeds of Mung,” “A Shop in Go-by Street,” and “Alhireth-Hotep the Prophet”)
Time and the Gods (esp. “The King That Was Not”)
The Sword of Welleran (esp. “The Highwayman,” “The Ghosts,” and “The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth”)
A Dreamer’s Tales (esp. “Where the Tides Ebb and Flow,” “Bethmora,” “The Hashish Man,” “Poor Old Bill,” and “The Field”)
The Book of Wonder (esp. “The Hoard of the Gibbelins,” “How Nuth Would Have Practiced His Art Upon the Gnoles,” and “Chu-bu and Sheemish”)
The Last Book of Wonder (esp. “The City on Mallington Moor,” “The Burea d’Echange de Maux,” and “A Narrow Escape”)
Fifty-One Tales (esp. “Taking Up Picadilly,” “The Sphinx in Thebes [Massachusetts],” “The Trouble in Leafy Green Street,” and “Lobster Salad”)
Tales of Three Hemispheres (esp. “How the Office of Postman Fell Vacant in Otford-under-the-Wold” and “The Sack of Emeralds”); also “The Return”
A Night at an Inn (play)

W. B. Yeats

“Rosa Alchemica,” “The Tables of the Law,” and “The Adoration of the Magi”

Robert Arthur

“Footsteps Invisible,” “Mr. Dexter’s Dragon,” and “Do You Believe in Ghosts?”

Henry James

“The Jolly Corner”

A. (Abrahama) Merritt

Dwellers in the Mirage and The Moon Pool

Modern Horror Stories

John Bellairs

The Face in the Frost, The House with a Clock in its Walls, “The Spell of the Sorcerer’s Skull,” “The Doom of the Haunted Opera”†, “The Spectre from the Magician’s Museum”†, and “The Beast Under the Wizard’s Bridge”† [†: with Brad Strickland]

Jonathan Carroll

The Land of Laughs

Shirley Jackson

The Haunting of Hill House (the ultimate haunted house novel)

Stephen King

Salem’s Lot (The model of how a horror classic, in this case, Dracula, can be updated to the modern day without losing any of its impact.)

Jorge Luis Borges

“The Book of Sand,” “The Zahir,” “The Circular Ruins,” “The House of Asterion,” “The Aleph,” and “Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius”

Brian Lumley

The Burrowers Beneath and “Cement Surroundings”

GURPS

Social Engineering, 2011. Bibliography.

A second date in brackets (e.g., “2004 [1813]”) indicates the year in which the material was originally published.

Books (Fiction)

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice (Oxford University Press, 2004 [1813]). A story of courtship in the British upper classes, closely and wittily observed. One of the classic sources for the theme of hostility as unadmitted attraction. See also Bride and Prejudice.
Barnes, John. A Million Open Doors (Tor, 1992). A young man from one society in an interstellar federation joins an aid mission to a newly contacted and very different society.
Budrys, Algis. Michaelmas (Berkley, 1978). A journalist and his AI companion use subtle manipulation to guide their world through a crisis.
Bujold, Lois McMaster. A Civil Campaign (Baen, 1999). Bujold’s hero Miles Vorkosigan pursues both political and romantic goals in the complexities of a modernizing empire. The earlier books in the series are also worth reading.
Clement, Hal. Mission of Gravity, included in the Heavy Planet collection (Orb, 2002 [1954]). An Earthman in a distant solar system hires an alien sea captain on a high-gravity planet; much of the story is about negotiations between them, and among different alien groups.
Dumas, Alexandre. The Count of Monte Cristo (Everyman’s Library, 2009 [1844-1846]). A brilliant man’s pursuit of vengeance through subterfuge.
Dunnett, Dorothy. The Game of Kings (Vintage, 1997 [1961]) and the other volumes of the Lymond Chronicles. A sixteenth-century Scottish Renaissance man, whose talents include nearly every social skill this book discusses, has adventures that bring him into contact with every level of society from street beggars to the Sultan of Turkey. Extensively researched and considered major historical fiction.
Eddison, E. R. Mistress of Mistresses (Orion, 2001 [1935]). High fantasy in a pagan world with Renaissance political insti- tutions – and Machiavellian intrigues.
Heinlein, Robert. Double Star (Del Rey, 1986 [1956]). In a future solar system, an actor is recruited to play the part of a kidnapped political leader. A brilliant account of cultivating a persona.
Heinlein, Robert. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (Orb, 1997 [1966]). One of the best of Heinlein’s later novels portrays the mechanics of revolutionary conspiracy in future Lunar prison colonies.
Herbert, Frank. Dune (Ace, 2005 [1965]). A novel of large-scale military and economic conflict in an interstellar empire, and the secretive groups that manipulate the conflict.
Kingsbury, Donald. Psychohistorical Crisis (Tor, 2001). The author deconstructs Isaac Asimov’s concept of psychohistory in an ingeniously constructed Galactic Empire.
Kipling, Rudyard. Kim (Barnes and Noble Classics, 2003 [1901]). An orphan boy in India is recruited by the Secret Service and trained for the Great Game.
le Carré, John. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Scribner, 2002 [1974]). Espionage and counterespionage in the British Secret Service of the Cold War era.
Lewis, Sinclair. Elmer Gantry (Signet Classics, 2007 [1927]). The career of a corrupt fundamentalist preacher in 1920s and 1930s America.
Lynch, Scott. The Lies of Locke Lamora (Spectra, 2006). A young boy in a corrupt fantasy city-state is raised to become a master thief and con man.
Merwin, W. S. (translator). The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes (NYRB Classics, 2004 [1554]). One of the classic Spanish novels of an adventurous rogue.
O’Brian, Patrick. Master and Commander (Norton, 1999). The first volume of a long series about naval warfare and shipboard life in the Napoleonic era – one acclaimed for its authenticity. Its central characters’ roles as ship’s captain and master spy neatly illustrate different sets of social skills.
Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four (Everyman’s Library, 1992 [1949]). The most widely known dystopian novel in the English language, and the source of commonly used phrases for political manipulation and repression such as “groupthink,” “memory hole,” and “Thought Police.”
Panshin, Alexei. Star Well (Ace Books, 1968); The Thurb Revolution (Ace Books, 1968); and Masque World (Ace Books, 1969). Three great humorous science fiction novels about an aristocratic misfit’s adventures in a galactic empire.
Powers, Tim. Declare (William Morrow, 2001). A grimly realistic story of espionage in World War II and the Cold War, in a world where supernatural forces can affect a war’s outcome.
Pratchett, Terry. Going Postal (Doubleday, 2004). A brilliant con artist on the Discworld finds himself in his first legitimate job – revitalizing a stagnant government agency.
Rand, Ayn. The Fountainhead (Plume, 2005 [1943]). Many of this novel’s major characters are manipulators of different sorts; the protagonist is a classic portrait of a man immune to manipulation.
Sayers, Dorothy. Strong Poison (HarperTorch, 1995 [1930]); Have His Carcase (HarperTorch, 1995 [1932]); and Gaudy Night (HarperTorch, 1995 [1935]). Among the best of Sayers’ novels about the brilliant amateur detective Lord Peter Wimsey – especially the third volume, with its detailed portrayal of the inner life of a women’s college troubled by hate crimes.
Spinrad, Norman. Pictures at 11 (Bantam, 1994). When terrorists seize a local television station and hold its news crew hostage, their captives turn the power of the media against them.
Stross, Charles. Halting State (Ace Books, 2007). A crime is committed in a virtual environment and three very different investigators are assigned to it.
Thackeray, William Makepeace. Vanity Fair (Barnes and Noble Classic, 2003 [1848]). A dark view of courtship and marriage in the British upper classes, shown through the life of a young woman with a questionable background and few scruples.
Williams, Walter Jon. The Crown Jewels (Tor, 1987); House of Shards (Tor, 1988); and Rock of Ages (Tor, 1995). Another science fictional version of the clever rogue, in the guise of an “allowed burglar” whose crimes are broadcast as sporting events.

Books (Nonfiction)

Alinsky, Saul. Rules for Radicals (Vintage, 1989). A founding work on “community organizing.”
Anglo, Sidney. The Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe (Yale University Press, 2000). A historical study of the teaching of combat arts.
Arendt, Hannah. The Origins of Totalitarianism (Schocken, 2004 [1951]). A pioneering study of governments founded on total control and mass terror.
Aristotle (George A. Kennedy, translator). On Rhetoric (Oxford University Press, 1991). The oldest systematic work on the skill of persuasive speech.
Benedict, St. (Timothy Frye, editor). The Rule of St. Benedict (Vintage Classics, 1998). Guidelines for managing a monastic community that have worked for over a millennium.
Carnegie, Dale. How to Win Friends and Influence People (Pocket Books, 1990 [1937]). The book that taught Americans to smile.
Castiglione, Baldesar. The Book of the Courtier (Penguin Classics, 1976 [1528]). The book that defined the Gentleman’s Code of Honor.
Craveri, Benedetta. The Age of Conversation (New York Review of Books, 2005). A study of French salons and upper class conversation under the ancien régime.
de Toqueville, Alexis (Gerald Bevan, translator; Isaac Kramnick, editor). Democracy in America (Penguin Classics, 2003 [1835-1840]). A French aristocrat’s study of American customs and institutions in the early 19th century.
Fussell, Paul. Class: A Guide through the American Status System (Touchstone, 1992). A funny, but not exclusively humorous, guide to American social classes twenty years ago.
Goffman, Erving. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (Peter Smith, 1999 [1956]). The book that founded dramaturgical sociology, an approach that views society as a stage and life as a performance.
Heinlein, Robert A. Take Back Your Government (Baen, 1992). The science fiction writer’s guide to practical politics, based on his own experiences in the 1930s.
Luttwak, Edward N. Coup d’État: A Practical Handbook (Harvard University Press, 1979). Methods for seizing control of a government.
Machiavelli, Niccolò. The Prince (Bantam Classics, 1984 [1532]). The book that gave us the adjective “Machiavellian” and the idea of political manipulation for its own sake.
Martin, Judith. Miss Manners’ Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior, Freshly Updated (Norton, 2005 [1983]). Did you know that there’s a rule book for daily life in American society? Martin’s approach is not only clearly explained but amazingly entertaining.
Milgram, Stanley. Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View, reprint edition (Harper Perennial, 2009 [1974]). One of the great studies in social psychology, on the psychological mechanisms that get ordinary people to perform monstrous actions.
Olson, Mancur. The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups (Harvard University Press, 1971 [1965]). An economic analysis of the process by which special interests come to dominate governments and other large organizations.
Robert, Henry M., III. Robert’s Rules of Order, classic edition (Filiquarian, 2007 [1876]). Rules for conducting a formal meeting.
Stone, I. F. The Trial of Socrates (Anchor Books, 1989). A study of the ancient Athenian judicial system and how Socrates talked himself into a death sentence.
Veblen, Thorstein. The Theory of the Leisure Class (Oxford University Press, 2008 [1899]). One of the first major books on American sociology, exploring the cultural origins of upper class manners.

But to enable a prince to form an opinion of his servant there is one test which never fails; when you see the servant thinking more of his own interests than of yours, and seeking inwardly his own profit in everything, such a man will never make a good servant, nor will you ever be able to trust him.

– Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

Books (Other)

These titles include poems, plays, and other literary works.

Homer. The Odyssey. An epic account of the homeward voyage of a Greek hero famed for his cunning mind and persuasive tongue.
Kipling, Rudyard. Departmental Ditties, included in the Complete Verse collection. Written in Kipling’s youth, and including many satiric portraits of Anglo-Indian society.
Molière. Le Bourgeois gentilhomme [The Middle-Class Gentleman]. A stage comedy about the conflict of social classes in monarchic France.
Pope, Alexander. The Rape of the Lock. A mock epic about a social squabble between two respectable English families.
Sei Shonagon. The Pillow Book. A collection of short personal writings by a lady of the Imperial court in ancient Japan. Much like a blog, often incredibly sarcastic, and sharply observant.
Shakespeare, William. Othello. The villain, Iago, may be Shakespeare’s most manipulative character.
Shaw, George Bernard. Pygmalion: A Romance in Five Acts. A poor London girl finds her way into the respectable classes through speech training. See also My Fair Lady.

Comic Books

Mori, Kaoru (William Flannagan, translator). A Bride’s Story (YenPress, 2011 [2009]). Set in 19th-century Central Asia in a Turkic community with carefully researched cultural details. Explores both tensions between communities with differing customs, and courtship within an arranged marriage that’s the focus of those tensions. Originally published as Otoyomegatari.
Moore, Terry. Strangers in Paradise (self-published, 1993-2007). Partly a “slice of life” story about the emotional bond between two young women and its complications; partly a noir portrayal of a secretive criminal organization that uses highly trained prostitutes to manipulate the United States government. The characterization is complex, and the art is stunning.

Every well-bred petty crook knows – the small concealable weapons always go to the far left of the place setting.

– Inara, in Firefly #1.12

Movies

American Gangster, An (Ridley Scott, 2007). A crime film about a criminal entrepreneur’s rise in the heroin trade, a police officer’s investigation of the drug trade – and the corrupt New York City police who are the enemies of both.
Bride and Prejudice (Gurinder Chadha, 2004). A Bollywood treatment of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice that’s astonishingly true to the original story.
Brotherhood of the Wolf [Le pacte des loups] (Christophe Gans, 2001). A naturalist investigating stories of a huge beast terrifying a French province uncovers evidence of a secret conspiracy.
Cage aux Folles, La (Édouard Molinaro, 1978). A gay couple attempt to appear straight when the son of one of them brings his fiancée’s conservative parents home for dinner.
Dangerous Liaisons (Stephen Frears, 1988). A drama of social manipulation in an aristocratic society, focused on a bored nobleman’s efforts to seduce two younger women.
Glengarry Glen Ross (James Foley, 1992). Real estate salesmen compete to make sales, with their jobs at stake. The action includes varied social stratagems including creation of a persona, manipulative sales tactics, and bribery and blackmail.
His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940). A newspaper editor tries to get his star reporter to return to work, rather than getting married, by involving her in covering a crime story.
Hot Rock, The (Peter Yates, 1972). A caper film in which the criminals suffer a long series of comedic mishaps in getting the loot from a museum exhibit to its intended buyer.
Makioka Sisters, The [Sasame-yuki] (Kon Ichikawa, 1983). A family drama of the failing fortunes of a wealthy Japanese family in the changing society of the 1930s.
Mississippi Masala (Mira Nair, 1991). A drama of intercultural conflict between a black man and the family of the Indian woman he falls in love with.
My Fair Lady (George Cukor, 1964). A musical based on Shaw’s Pygmalion (p. 83).
Stage Beauty (Richard Eyre, 2004). An ambitious young woman in Restoration England seeks the right to appear on stage, against the opposition of an acclaimed actor who specializes in female parts.
Sting, The (George Roy Hill, 1973). A caper film in which two con men set out to separate a 1930s mob boss from his money in an elaborate version of the long con.
Taxing Woman, A [Marusa no onna] (Juzo Itami, 1987). A witty comedy about a tax collector’s strategies for proving that a wealthy man has unreported income.
Vatel (Roland Joffé, 2000). A look at the French aristocracy before the Revolution from the viewpoint of the head servant of an aristocratic household – and at the behind-the-scenes problems he has to solve to sustain the household’s prestige.

Television

Alias (J. J. Abrams, 2001–2006). Leaving the action scenes aside, the heroine and her allies spend a lot of time wearing false identities and playing roles. The treatment of the internal dynamics of a team of operatives is also well handled.
Dexter (James Manos, Jr., 2006–). The viewpoint character, a serial killer who targets other serial killers, is instructive to watch precisely because he lacks an intuitive understanding of human social behavior and has to roleplay it.
Firefly (Joss Whedon, 2002). The adventures of a tramp spaceship crew who spend much of their time in social interaction at every level of their future, from highest to lowest.
Genshiken (Takashi Ikehata, 2004). An anime series about the relationships among the members of a college club of anime fans.
Jeeves and Wooster (Clive Exton, 1990–1993). Jeeves is a master of Savoir-Faire (Servant), among many other talents.
Leverage (John Rogers and Chris Downey, 2008–). A “caper” series whose protagonists use their criminal skills to help victims of wrongdoing.
Mad Men (Matthew Weiner, 2007–). An almost science-fictional look at the alien world of the early 1960s, focused on the organizational politics of a Madison Avenue advertising agency.
Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, The [Suzumiya Haruhi no yuutsu] (Tatsuya Ishihara, 2006, 2009). A good example of high school as a setting, focusing on five Japanese students with very different personalities, four of whom also have fantastic abilities from four distinct sources.
Mentalist, The (Bruno Heller, 2008–). A series of police procedurals focused on a retired “psychic” who’s extraordinarily good at noticing and interpreting psychological and social details.
Nip/Tuck (Ryan Murphy, 2003–2010). The continuing theme of this show about two plastic surgeons is the contrast between illusion and reality – both in physical appearance and in social roles.
Upstairs, Downstairs (Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins, 1971–1975). A dramatic series largely set within one upper class British household, with parallel plotlines about the family and the staff.
Veronica Mars (Rob Thomas, 2004–2007). This high school girl detective operates in a noir setting where nearly everyone is corrupt and manipulative – but she’s better at it than anyone else.
Wire, The (David Simon, 2002–2008). A series of explorations of dysfunctional organizations in a modern American city and how people within them cope with the problems they create.
Yes, Minister (Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, 1980–1982, 1984). A British Member of Parliament is appointed to a Cabinet post and faces an ongoing struggle against his civil service subordinates’ resistance to change. The follow-up series, Yes, Prime Minister (1986–1988), has similar themes.

Social Engineering: Back to School, 2015. Bibliography.

A surprising number of works tell tales of schools, learning, teaching, and so on, and might prove inspirational for campaigns that explore such themes.

Every desk had two key reference books chained to it, books that Gurlen expected everyone to be able to hunt through and find any indicated text at a moment’s notice.

— Garth Nix, Clariel

Books

Allende, Isabel. Zorro (Harper Perennial, 2006). A retelling of the life of Don Diego de la Vega, emphasizing the early experiences that enabled him to become a costumed adventurer.
Brunner, John. Stand on Zanzibar (Orb, 2011). One of the plotlines of this classic novel has a character undergoing technologically accelerated training for covert operations.
Byatt, A.S. Possession (Vintage, 1991). A story about scholarly research and the dangerous passions that can in uence it, as two researchers are haunted by the subjects of their research.
Card, Orson Scott. Ender’s Game (Tor, 1994). The first novel in a highly regarded series portrays the training of a brilliant child, who is a potential military genius, for service in an interstellar war.
Dean, Pamela. Tam Lin (Firebird, 2006). Interweaves the academic careers of a group of students at a Midwestern university with a complex supernatural plot.
Dent, Lester (as Kenneth Robeson). The Man of Bronze & The Land of Terror (Nostalgia Ventures, 2008). The Man of Bronze kicks off a long-running pulp series about a man trained to near-superhuman abilities.
Grossman, Lev. The Magicians (Plume, 2010). A postmodern exploration of the education of wizards, set at a present-day academy of magic.
Heinlein, Robert A. Space Cadet (Orb, 2006). Young men from all over the solar system train to become officers of the Space Patrol – a modern-day version of Plato’s “guardians.”
Heinlein, Robert A. Starship Troopers (Ace, 1987). The education of a soldier and a citizen – from high school through boot camp to OCS – is a central theme of this classic of military science fiction.
Heinlein, Robert A. Tunnel in the Sky (Pocket Books, 2005). A final examination in a course in survival, held on another planet, turns into a prolonged adventure.
Herbert, Frank. Dune (Ace, 1990). Much of this novel concerns the education of its hero, first as a nobleman’s son and then as a refugee among the tribes of a desert planet.
Hesse, Hermann. The Glass Bead Game (Picador, 2002). The life story of a scholar in a future European society, focused on an arcane game of manipulating cultural symbols – and on his eventual renunciation of it.
Kipling, Rudyard. Kim (Simon & Brown, 2011). The story of an orphaned Irish boy in India being trained to serve the British government as a spy.
Kipling, Rudyard. Stalky & Co. (Elibron Classics, 2000). A series of school stories written in a subversive spirit that celebrates its characters’ cleverness in breaking the rules.
Le Guin, Ursula. A Wizard of Earthsea (HMH Books for Young Readers, 2012). A story of the education of a great wizard, with one of the first literary portrayals of a school of magic.
Leiber, Fritz. Conjure Wife (Orb, 2009). An anthropology professor at a small-town college discovers that his wife is using magic – and so are all the other faculty wives.
Lovecraft, H.P. At the Mountains of Madness (Sterling, 2012). Perhaps the most purely science fictional of Lovecraft’s stories, in which a geological expedition sent by Miskatonic University to explore Antarctica’s interior makes unexpected discoveries.
Lynch, Scott. The Lies of Locke Lamora (Del Rey, 2007). The education of a young thief and conman in a corrupt fantasy city.
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Scholastic Press, 1998). The best-known magical school story of the present day. Hogwarts embodies nearly all the tropes of classic British school stories.
Sayers, Dorothy L. Gaudy Night (Harper, 2012). Sayers sends Harriet Vane back to her college at Oxford, where she becomes involved in solving a mystery and in debates over scholarly ethics.
Shaw, Bernard. Pygmalion (Dover, 1994). In the play that inspired My Fair Lady, Shaw portrays the education of a flower girl in upper-class speech and manners.
Smith, E.E. Galactic Patrol (One Earth Books, 2014). Midway through his early adventures, Lensman Kimball Kinnison returns to Arisia for advanced training by an alien superintelligence.
Tchaikovsky, Adrian. Guns of the Dawn (Tor, 2015). In a fantasy world inspired by Napoleonic Europe, one side is desperate enough to call women into military service. The story of a young gentlewoman who goes through training, “sees the elephant,” and comes home changed.
Vinge, Vernor. Rainbows End (Tor, 2007). In this near-future science-fiction novel, both virtual-reality-based high school education and technologically accelerated learning are crucial to the plot.
Walton, Jo. The Just City (Tor, 2015). The goddess Athene attempts to found a city based on Plato’s Republic and to educate several thousand children as its future citizens – only to have Socrates disrupt her plans!
White, T.H. The Sword in the Stone (Philomel Books, 1993). The wizard Merlin uses his magical abilities to tutor a young boy called “the Wart.”

Films

Batman Begins (Christopher Nolan, 2005). Bruce Wayne’s preparation for a career as a superhero is a good example of becoming Trained by a Master.
Belles of St. Trinian’s, The (Frank Launder, 1954). A comedic reversal of morally uplifting school stories: The St. Trinian’s girls’ main pursuits are crime, vice, and cunning schemes for making money.
Divergent (Neil Burger, 2014). A major element of this young-adult dystopia is the heroine’s training as a warrior while she conceals her potential fitness for multiple roles.
Hanna (Joe Wright, 2011). A “rite of passage” story about a girl genetically engineered as a super-soldier, and trained since age two as a spy and assassin.
Léon: The Professional (Luc Besson, 1994). The title character, a hitman, takes in the young daughter of a murdered couple and teaches her his trade.
Mask of Zorro, The (Martin Campbell, 1998). Great training sequences between the original Zorro, Don Diego de la Vega, and his chosen successor, Alejandro Murrieta.
X-Men: First Class (Matthew Vaughn, 2011). A film treatment of the founding of the prototype school for superpowered heroes.

Remember when this place was just flamethrowers and rotating knives? I miss that.

— Kitty Pryde, in Astonishing X-Men

Television Series

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Joss Whedon, 1997–2003). An important focus of this series is the relationship between Buffy and her mentor and trainer, Rupert Giles. Also notable for the high-school setting of the first three seasons.
Gakuen Alice (Takahiro Ōmori, 2004–2005). An anime treatment of a school for the super-powered – and of its tensions and secrets.
Girls und Panzer (Tsutomu Mizushima, 2012–2013). An unusual school sports story: Miho Nishizumi becomes the leader of a girls’ school team for sensha-dō (the art and sport of tank warfare).
Glee (Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan, 2009–2015). A hybrid of musical comedy and soap opera, focused on a struggling high-school vocal group and its teacher.
Kung Fu (Ed Spielman, Jerry Thorpe, and Herman Miller, 1972–1975). The original martial-arts Western series. Nearly every episode has scenes of its hero as a boy studying at the Shaolin temple.
Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, The (Tatsuya Ishihara, 2006 and 2009). A comedy set in an ordinary high school with a club whose members nearly all have extraordinary abilities.
Revolutionary Girl Utena (Kunihiko Ikihara, 1997). A magical-girl drama whose protagonist must fight a series of sword duels with other students at Ohtori Academy to realize her destiny.

Comics and Graphic Novels

Foglio, Phil and Kaja. Girl Genius (Studio Foglio, 2001-present). A young woman studying at a steampunk university gets drawn into wild mad-science adventures.
Robinson, Jimmie. Five Weapons (Image Comics, 2013-2014). A whimsical storyline about a young outsider enrolled at a boarding school for assassins.
Whedon, Joss. Astonishing X-Men (Marvel Comics, 2004-2008). A new exploration of the classic school-based team and the relationships between its students and teachers.
Williams, Aaron. PS238 (Dork Storm Press, 2003–2006; Do Gooder Press, 2007-present). Collected volumes of an ongoing webcomic about an unusual school for supers – not a high school or college, but an elementary school. Good characterization and an excellent portrayal of the central character’s relationship with his adult mentor.

Games

Chart, David. Ars Magica, Fifth Edition (Atlas Games, 2004). The quintessential academic RPG (originally created by Jonathan Tweet and Mark Rein•Hagen), where the academics are scholarly wizards pursuing advanced research and sending their apprentices to collect arcane materials.
Johnson, Sam. Miskatonic University (Chaosium, 2005). A Call of Cthulhu supplement with all the details on H.P. Lovecraft’s fictional New England university.
Long, Steven S. and Williams, Aaron. PS238 – The Roleplaying Game (Hero Games, 2008). A version of Champions custom fitted to roleplaying in the elementary school for supers.
Masters, Phil. Transhuman Space: Personnel Files 5 – School Days 2100 (Steve Jackson Games, 2009). A sourcebook for campaigns about school-age young people in an ultra-tech future, with write-ups of five potential characters and their AI companions.
McCoy, Elizabeth and Milliken, Walter. GURPS IOU (Steve Jackson Games, 2000). A classic GURPS supplement. Students at many fictional universities accidentally learn of Things Man Was Not Meant To Know – but at IOU, they’re a required course!
Peregrine, Andrew. Hellcats and Hockeysticks (Cubicle 7 Entertainment, 2010). If you enjoy St. Trinian’s, this is the RPG for you.
Stoddard, William H. GURPS Locations: Worminghall (Steve Jackson Games, 2012). A sourcebook for campaigns that feature magical training, set in a medieval university town. Includes new rules for studying magic and gradually learning spells.

Exalted

Exalted 2nd Edition Core Rules, 2006. Suggested Resources.

Fiction

Tales From the Flat Earth, Tanith Lee

This collection of stories originally released as three separate novels—Night’s Master, Death’s Master and Delusion’s Master—that with two more novels—Delirium’s Mistress and Night’s Sorceries—make up Lee’s Flat Earth Series. These novels formed the single largest influence to Exalted’s development as a game.

Hawkmoon, Michael Moorcock

The magitech of Exalted in particular owes a lot of its look and feel to this seminal work. In it, the hero strives to save the world from being overrun by a decadent empire of sorcerer-warriors led by an immortal king. These tyrants consider themselves and their system of beliefs to be in all ways superior to those around them.

The Complete Pegana, Lord Dunsany

The third great literary influence to Exalted, Dunsany’s Pegana tales birthed a number of ideas that made their way into this game. The gods, especially the Five Maidens, owe a great deal of their character to his work.

Classics

The Bible

That’s right. It’s not just a book of commandments and begetting, it’s also a story of epic heroes given power by God and a mandate to go out and right what is wrong with the world.

The Iliad and The Odyssey, Homer

The Iliad is basically the template story of the flawed hero from which every other story in Western civilization draws its inspiration. And if you want to see the classical underworld from which grew the Underworld of Exalted, look no further than The Odyssey. Besides, there is no greater juxtaposition of Dawn Caste and Eclipse Caste than Achilles and Odysseus in these two works.

Journey to the West, Wu Cheng’en

This cornerstone of Asian myth follows the quest of the priest Sanzang and his three disciples (Pig, monk Sand and the Monkey King) as they travel from China to India to retrieve the Buddhist Sutra. More than perhaps any other tale of Asia, this has found its way into world culture via everything from anime such as Dragonball and Saiyuki to live-action productions such as A Chinese Odyssey and The Lost Empire.

Manga

InuYasha, Rumiko Takahashi

This manga, featuring a modern girl flung back in time to feudal Japan, is excellent in its depiction of larger than life characters in battles versus demons while the normal folk just take it all in stride. Besides there are few better depictions of a daiklave in action than InuYasha’s sword, the Tetsusaiga. If you’re not a fan of manga, at least check out the anime based on it and the movies it’s spawned.

Ragnarök, Myung-Jin Lee

Though more properly a manwha (a Korean comic book), this reinterpretation of Norse myth is full of over-the-top combat and sorcery, and its conflict between larger-than-life demigod heroes striving against the forces of undeath greatly mirrors the Solar/Abyssal conflict of Exalted.

Movies and Anime

RG Veda (1992)

This series has everything; equivalents to many of the major Exalt types—Solar, Sidereal and Terrestrial—beautiful animation, an engaging story, and great depictions of what Exalted would term Charms and sorcery. What it lacks is an ending. Only two episodes were ever completed, so it’s a bit of a tease, but it’s a fun ride nonetheless.

Ninja Scroll (1995)

This anime was one of the main inspirations for Exalted, and there’s not a better depiction of Wyld mutants out there. The later series is also good inspiration.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)

Probably the most popular wuxia film ever made—winning four Academy Awards—this film served as many Americans’ first exposure to wire-fu. This film rises above the many such films released from Hong Kong studios every year through its gripping story of love and honor, brought to life by the gripping performances of Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh—not to mention the beautiful visuals, pulled off by its director Ang Lee.

Kung-Fu Hustle (2004)

Yes, it’s silly and irreverent, but this movie features possibly the best depiction of Exalted-level martial arts ever committed to film. Besides, it’s a great story that will leave you with a smile on your face long after the credits roll.

Video Games

Dynasty Warriors 5

Admittedly, this Dynasty Warriors game is little different from those that preceded it, but it and its predecessors do one thing quite well, and that is showing heroic characters leading units of mundane forces against other such heroes and their units. There’s no place where Exalted mass combat is better illustrated.

Jade Empire

This game is just awesome. It’s beautiful; the threats, look and tech are very Exalted; and it’s got maybe the best supernatural martial-arts system ever devised.

Thief: Deadly Shadows

Like the Night Caste? This game is all about sneaking, spying, stealing and assassination, just like the stereotypical member of the Daggers of Heaven. And you fans of Wood Aspects, check out the moss arrow. It’s greenery-gagging good fun.

Exalted 3rd Edition Core Rules, 2016. Suggested Resources.

Fiction

Night’s Master, Tanith Lee

Night’s Master and the rest of Lee’s Flat Earth series were instrumental in the making of Exalted. Night’s Master is set in a world pervaded by weird magic, full of apathetic gods, wicked spirits, and wicked men, from which a tale of triumph may still be told.

Hawkmoon, Michael Moorcock

Hawkmoon was another major influence in the making of Exalted. It gives a great example of a sorcerous empire hell bent on conquest. It also features strange, sorcerous mechanisms that are imperfectly understood, even by the few sorcerers who have a prayer of using them. The character Count Brass from the Jewel in the Skull is a perfect example of a Solar Exalted.

The Complete Pegãna, Lord Dunsany

Lord Dunsany’s gods were a major influence on the character of spirits in Creation. The Maidens of Destiny owe much to the gods of Pegãna, and more than one Yozi echoes the threat of Mana-Yood-Sushai, while certain Third Circle demons can often be compared to beings such as Skarl the Drummer, whose drum beats the rhythm of time and existence. Pegãna also takes a cynical view towards holy men, particularly in a world where gods exist and are indifferent to prayer at best, or hostile at worst.

Imajica, Clive Barker

A man awakens to his long-lost divinity and remembers lost lives and lost loves. With unmatched sorcerous talent, he travels across the broken landscape of the universe to unite all worlds as one, and bring magic back to Earth. A must-read for the battle that occurs inside the worldsized body of Hapexamendios, God and creator of the Five Dominions.

The Black Company, Glen Cook

The powerful, large-scale magic of this series was a major source of inspiration for Exalted’s sorcery. It also has great character development, and takes place in a gritty world, unromantic in its depiction of the lives of common men—something Creation shares.

A Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martin

This revolutionary series provides a great example of how politics, lore, and geography all come together to set the stage for major events, some of which were set in motion years, generations, or centuries before.

The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, Robert E. Howard

Solars owe a lot of their DNA to Conan, an ostensibly mortal man who yet demonstrates superhuman might, quickness, and resistance to injury. The sorcerers of Conan played a major part in the reconceptualization of sorcery in Exalted. Thoth-Amon’s thrall is a good example of a blood-ape, while Yogah in “The Tower of the Elephant” is a good example of an ancient spirit or a pre-human sorcerer from the Time Before.

Classics

The Iliad, Homer

Achilles is sulky, self-centered, quick-tempered, and undefeatable. Watch the fate of the known world depend on how he feels on any given day.

Journey to the West, Wu Cheng’en

This story details the exploits of Sun Wukong, born of the Five Elements, master of many divine secrets, who uses cunning as much as his divine power. It serves as a limitless source of ideas for a world understood through spiritual pretexts and divine (and martial) allegories. Its first seven chapters are also the primary inspiration for YuShan, Exalted’s Heaven.

The Book of Judges

This book of the Bible focuses on a number of divine heroes who led the children of Israel in victories against enemies who were vastly more powerful. While Samson gets most of the attention, one should not overlook Shamgar of Anath with his ox-goad, or Deborah whose leadership and cunning crushed the enemies of her people.

Manga

Inuyasha, Rumiko Takahasi

The yokai in this series provide an example of spirits and sorcery in Creation. It’s also good inspiration for Artifact weapons. It can be a good source for more lighthearted takes on Exalted.

Claymore, Norihiro Yagi

This manga deftly illustrates life in a world of predatory supernatural beings, where gods and heroes are usually only stirred to help by lavish bribes. The titular Claymore monster-hunters are reminiscent of the Liminal Exalted.

Anime

Ninja Scroll (1995)

This anime heavily influenced the Charms and supernatural martial arts of the Exalted. Ninja Scroll deftly reconciles a world of supernatural magic with a world driven by money, politics, and mortal men, by putting that magic in around the margins. Also, the fight scenes are a great example of what combat in Exalted looks like.

Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

Howl is a great example of a Twilight Caste sorcerer. His castle played a large part in conceptualizing sorcerous projects. Howl also gives a good example of what it’s like to deal with a Solar who is acting out a Virtue Flaw.

Television and Movies

The Bride With White Hair (1993)

A wuxia classic, this film is condensed Exalted: a hero moved by his passion to guard a magical mountaintop for years on end, a “wolf woman” heroine that serves as great Lunar inspiration, demonic sorcerers, and impossible mystical kung fu, all woven around a story of romance and politics.

Rome (2005)

A spellbinding look at Rome at the end of the reign of Julius Caesar, Rome shows off the decadence, filth, and corruption of the ancient world’s most enlightened government. It’s a must-see for players who are interested in Realm politics, social influence, political maneuvering, or showing how assassins and strongmen can have a huge influence on rule.

Video Games

Dynasty Warriors series, Koei Tecmo

Based on the classic Chinese epic Romance of the Three Kingdoms, this series is a good visceral representation of the power of Exalted characters. Few other sources get across the sheer impact of an Exalt on the battlefield quite as effectively.

Final Fantasy VII, Square-Enix

Though the technology is far beyond Creation’s, Final Fantasy VII features a world run by a powerful military government, with superhuman agents who derive their powers from a celestial being. A life force moves through all things and eventually returns to the Planet. The empty unsettledness of the world is thrown into stark contrast by almost anachronistic elements of basic technology: in all the world there’s only one small airplane, and a single rocket ship makes up the entirety of the space program. The Planet seems almost as if it were recovering from an unspoken apocalypse.

Dissidia Final Fantasy, Square-Enix

Dissidia’s heroes wield giant weapons and over-the-top magic that fits right in with Exalted. Its agile, cinematic battle system was the single largest influence on Third Edition’s combat rules.

Faery’s Tale

Faery’s Tale Deluxe, 2007. Bibliographies/Filmography.

Bibliographies

Reference

Andersen, Hans Christian. The Complete Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales. Gramercy (1993). ISBN 0517092913. Illustrated version of 159 classic stories including The Ugly Duckling and The Emperor’s New Clothes.
Briggs, Katherine. Encyclopedia of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, & Other Supernatural Creatures. Pantheon - American Ed edition (1978). ISBN 039473467X. “… a valuable single-volume reference work in the study of folklore, mythology, and literature.”
Dubois, Pierre, Claudine Sabatier (Illustrator) and Roland Sabatier (Illustrator). The Great Encyclopedia of Faeries. Simon & Schuster. 2000. ISBN 0684869578. “… comprehensive celebration of the world of faery [that] describes the extraordinary richness of the faery kingdom…”
Eason, Cassandra. A Complete Guide to Faeries & Magical Beings: Explore the Mystical Realm of the Little People. Red Wheel/Weiser (October 2002). ISBN 1578632676. “… wonderful companion for those who wish to tour an enchanted world. … a journey throughout the world to introduce us to the many different varieties of these mysterious beings.”
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. Includes all 215 stories collected by these 19th century German brothers, including Cinderella, Rapunzel and The Frog Prince.
Keightley, Thomas. The World Guide to Gnomes, Fairies, Elves & Other Little People. Gramercy (September 5, 2000). ISBN 0517263130. Originally published in 1880 as The Fairy Mythology, this is a 608-page reprint of old tales and mythology. Good for “flavor text.”
Lang, Andrew. The Complete “Fairy Book” Series (Unabridged). Shoes and Ships and Sealing Wax (2006). ISBN 0954840151. Fairy tales from around the world collected in books named by color: Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, Pink, Gray, Violet, Crimson, Brown, Orange, Olive and Lilac.
Perrault, Charles. The Complete Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault. Clarion Books (1993). ISBN 0395570026. French folklorist best-known for his classic version of Sleeping Beauty.
Rose, Carol. Spirits, Fairies, Gnomes, and Goblins: An Encyclopedia of the Little People. W.W. Norton Company (1998). ISBN 0393317927. “…fabulously entertaining work with over 100 delightful illustrations [and] more than 2,000 alphabetically arranged entries.”

Fiction

Augarde, Steve. The Various. David Fickling Books (2004) ISBN 0385750293. BBC animator/illustrator Augarde uses the theme of fairies living secretly in our world in “an entrancing debut fantasy.”
- Celandine. David Fickling Books (2006) ISBN 038575048X. Prequel to The Various about Celandine, a “teen protagonist who doesn’t fear her own darkness but hasn’t yet mastered her gifts.”
Berk, Ari and Brian Froud. The Runes of Elfland. Harry N. Abrams (2003). ISBN 0810946122. “If runes are the keys to Faery, this book is an Open Sesame.”
Black, Holly and Tony DiTerlizzi. The Spiderwick Chronicles. Scholastic (2003); Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing (2003 – 2006) Young Adult 5-book series chronicles the adventures of the three Grace children at the Spiderwick Estate, with plenty of additional material.
Colfer, Eoin. Artemis Fowl. Miramax (2003-2006). This five-book series (+ one to come) recounts the adventures of the young anti-hero criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl.
Dunsany, Lord. (Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany). The Book of Wonder. Wildside Press (2003). ISBN 1587156377. “…Dunsany at [the] peak of his talent. … lush tapestry of language, conjuring images of people, places, and things which cannot possibly exist, yet somehow ring true.”
Feist, Raymond E. Faerie Tale. Spectra (Reissue 1989). ISBN 0553277839. Deliciously terrifying fantasy novel about a family’s battle with a forest spirit they call “the Bad Thing.”
Froud, Brian. Faeries (25th Anniversary Ed.) Harry Abrams. 2002. ISBN 0810932741. Expanded version of their original “faery field guide” …book remains a delight.”

Filmography

FairyTale: A True Story (1997). In 1917, young Elsie and Frances discover they can photograph fairies. Cameos by Harvey Keitel as Houdini and Peter O’Toole as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. (99 min.; PG for brief mild language).
La belle et la bête (Beauty and the Beast) (1946). Jean Marais as The Beast and Josette Day as Belle star in Jean Cocteau’s exquisite b&w version of the classic fairy tale. (96 min.)
The 10th Kingdom (2000). Originally shown on TV, this 9-episode mini-series follows the adventures of Virginia (Kimberly Williams) and her father Tony (John Larroquette) in the land of fairy tales (with lots of cameos). What makes it unique is the dark slant on Virginia’s relationship with her mother. (417 min.; not for young children)
Cinderella: Several notable versions include the Disney classic, two musical versions (Rodgers & Hammerstein’s version which originally aired in 1965 with Julie Andrews, in 1965 with Lesley Ann Warren, and 1997 with Brandy; and The Slipper and the Rose aired in 1976 with Richard Chamberlain singing and dancing!) The most recent version, Ever After (1998), starred Drew Barrymore and Doug Ray Scott. Several plot twists and the perfect Wicked Stepmother portrayed by Anjelica Huston. (PG, 121 min.)
FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992) and FernGully2: The Magical Rescue (1998). Animated tale about fairies trying to save their magical rainforest. Stellar voice talent including Tim Curry, Christian Slater and Robin Williams in the first film; the second was direct-to-video. Not Disney-quality animation but enjoyable. (76 min. and 75 mins. respectively.)
Fractured Fairy Tales: Jay Ward’s irreverent take on classic fairy tales. Aired as a segment of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show (1959-1964) and The Bullwinkle Show (1961-1973); narrated by Edward Everett Horton.
Labyrinth (1986). Brilliant fairy tale about Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) who wishes her baby stepbrother (played by Brian Froud’s son Toby) to the Goblins and then has to battle the Goblin King Jareth (David Bowie) to get him back. Music by Trevor Jones. Directed by Jim Henson with concept design by Brian Froud (who also helped design the costumes). A quality production on all levels. (101 min., scary for younger children)
Legend (1985). Richly filmed story about Jack (a very young Tom Cruise) who must stop the Lord of Darkness (Tim Curry) from destroying daylight and marrying Princess Lily (Mia Sara). (114 min. Director’s Cut; some scary scenes.)
More Than a Miracle (C’era una volta …) (1967). A beautifully filmed, gorgeously costumed fairy tale starring Sophia Loren and Omar Sharif. Wonderful musical score; very romantic movie! (104 min.)
Shelley Duvall’s Faerie Tale Theatre (1982-1987). High-quality production with first-class talent in hosted versions of classic fairy tales. Available on DVD.
Shirley Temple’s Storybook (1958-1961). The TV show (41 episodes, a different fairy tale or myth each week) was hosted by Shirley Temple Black, who acted in several episodes. A lot of well-known talent including Charlton Heston, Boris Karloff, E.G. Marshall, Estelle Winwood and Elsa Lanchester. Available on DVD.
Sleeping Beauty: Although there are a number of versions, Disney’s 1959 is a classic. Director: Clyde Geronimi. Maleficent is the perfect villainess! (75 min.; battle between Prince Phillip and Maleficent as the Dragon could be scary for small children)
Snow White: Multiple versions as early as 1913, but the most famous is the 1937 Disney version with the lush hand-painted animation. For a dark twist, check out Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997) with Sigourney Weaver as the evil Stepmother. It’s actually a more faithful rendition of the Grimm version. (100 min.)
The Watcher in the Woods (1980). The real reason why young girls should not go into the woods. An odd Disney live-action movie that underwent multiple changes before release. Not brilliant but good for the creepy scenes in the woods with Bette Davis. (84 min.)
Willow (1988). Director: Ron Howard. With the help of Madmartigan (Val Kilmer) and a quarrelsome pair of brownies, Willow (Warwick Davis) must protect a magical baby from the evil Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh). (126 min.)

Pathfinder RPG

Core Rulebook, 2009. 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 Elfland’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.

GameMastery Guide, 2010. Appendix: Recommendations.

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

Alighieri, Dante: The Divine Comedy
Barker, Clive: The Hellbound Heart, Imagica, Weaveworld
Barlowe, Wayne: God’s Demon
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.
Carter, Lin: ed. The Year’s Best Fantasy, Flashing Swords
Clarke, Susanna: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
Cook, Glen: Black Company series
Cook, Hugh: Chronicles of an Age of Darkness series
Dunsany, Lord: The King of Elfland’s Daughter, et al.
Epic of Gilgamesh (traditional)
Farmer, Philip José: World of Tiers series, et al.
Feist, Raymond: Riftwar saga, et al.
Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm: Grimm’s Fairy Tales
Gygax, Gary: Gord the Rogue series, et al.
Homer: The Odyssey
Howard, Robert E.: Conan series, Almuric, et al.
Hugo, Victor: Les Misérables
King, Stephen: Dark Tower series, et al.
Kuttner, Henry: Elak of Atlantis, The Dark World
James, M. R.: Ghost Stories of an Antiquary
Le Fanu, Sheridan: In a Glass Darkly
Leiber, Fritz: Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser series, et al.
Lovecraft, H. P.: Cthulhu Mythos tales, et al.
Machen, Arthur: “The White People,” et al.
Malory, Sir Thomas: Le Morte d’Arthur
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 and Kane of Old Mars series, et al.
Moore, Alan: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, et al.
Moore, C. L.: Black God’s Kiss
Morgan, Richard: The Steel Remains
Offutt, Andrew J.: ed. Swords Against Darkness
One Thousand and One Nights (traditional)
Ovid: Metamorphoses
Poe, Edgar Allan: “The Fall of the House of Usher,” et al.
Rosenberg, Joel: Guardians of the Flame, et al.
The Ramayana (traditional)
Saberhagen, Fred: Changeling Earth, et al.
Saunders, Charles: Imaro series, et al.
Sapkowski, Andrzej: The Witcher series
Shahnameh (traditional)
Shakespeare, William: Macbeth, et al.
Simmons, Dan: Hyperion series, The Terror, et al.
Smith, Clark Ashton: Averoigne and Zothique tales, et al.
Sturluson, Snorri: Prose Edda
Stephenson, Neal: The Baroque Cycle
Stoker, Bram: Dracula, Lair of the White Worm, et al.
Tolkien, J. R. R.: The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit
Vance, Jack: Dying Earth series, et al.
Verne, Jules: Journey to the Center of the Earth, et al.
Wagner, Karl Edward: Kane series, ed. Echoes of Valor
Wellman, Manly Wade: John the Balladeer series, et al.
Wells, H. G.: The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, et al.
Wilde, Oscar: The Picture of Dorian Gray
Zelazny, Roger: Amber series, et al.

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
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
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
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
Record of Lodoss War, dir. Akinori Nagaoka
Rogue, dir. Greg McLean
Seven Samurai, dir. Akira Kurosawa
Sleepy Hollow, dir. Tim Burton
Spirited Away, dir. Hayao Miyazaki
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
Vampire Hunter D, dir. Toyoo Ashida

Burning Wheel

Burning Wheel Fantasy Roleplaying Game, Gold Edition, 2011. Bibliography.

Non-Fiction

Andrew McCall, Medieval Underworld, Trafalgar Square.
Barbara Tuchman, Bible and Sword, A Distant Mirror, The Proud Tower, Ballantine.
Bernal Diaz, The Conquest of New Spain, Penguin.
Bill Whitcomb, The Magician’s Companion, Llewellyn.
Desmond Seward, Monks of War, Penguin.
Desmond Seward, The Three Hundred Years War, Penguin.
Eric Jager, The Last Duel, Broadway.
Stephen Glazier, Word Menu, Random House.
John Keegan, The Mask of Command, The Face of Battle, Penguin.
Joseph Campbell, Primitive Mythology; Oriental Mythology; Occidental Mythology, Penguin Arkana.
Jost Amman, Ständebuch, Dover.
Lisa Steele, Fief, Cumberland Games.
Maurice Keen, Outlaws of Medieval Legend, Dorset.
Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince, Penguin.
Sydney Painter, William Marshall: Knight-Errant, Baron, and Regent of England, Medieval Academy Reprints for Teaching.
Terence Wise, Medieval European Armies, Osprey Publishing. (and many others)

Fiction

Dave Sim, Cerebus the Aardvark, Vanaheim.
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, trans. Nevill Coghill, Penguin Classics.
Homer, The Iliad, trans. Robert Fagles, Penguin Classics.
John Gardner, Grendel, Vintage.
John Milton, Paradise Lost, edit. Merrit Hughes, Macmillan.
JRR Tolkien, The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Houghton Mifflin.
Stephen R. Donaldson, Thomas Covenant: Chronicles of the Unbeliever; Mordant’s Need, Del Rey.
Ursula K. Le Guin, The Wizard of Earthsea, The Farthest Shore, Tehanu, The Birthday of the World, Always Coming Home, Bantam. Tales of Earthsea, Ace.
author unknown, The Song of Roland, W. W. Norton & Company.

Games

First Edition of Burning Wheel

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, TSR.
Cyberpunk 2020, R Talsorian Games.
Marvel Superheroes, Deluxe Edition. TSR.
Paranoia, 1st Edition. West End Games.
Shadowrun, 1st Edition. FASA.
Timelords, 1st Printing. BTRC.
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Games Workshop.

Revisted Edition of Burning Wheel

Dogs in the Vineyard. Vincent Baker, Lumpley Games.
FVLMINATA. Jason Roberts and Michael S Miller, Thyrsus Publishing.
Inspectres. Jared Sorensen, Memento-Mori Theatricks.
My Life with Master. Paul Czege, Half-Meme Press.
The Riddle of Steel. Jake Norwood, et al. Driftwood Publishing.
Sorcerer. Ron Edwards, Adept Press.

Talkies

Andrei Rublev, directed by Andrei Tarchovsky [sic]
Excalibur, directed by John Boorman.
Ivan the Terrible, directed by Sergei Eistenstein.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, directed by Peter Jackson.
Hidden Fortress, Kagemusha, Ran, Red Beard, Sanjuro, Seven Samurai and Yojimbo, directed by Akira Kurosawa.
Vampyr, directed by Carl Dryer.

Music

At the Gates, The Red in the Sky is Ours, Terminal Spirit Disease, Slaughter of the Soul.
Dimmu Borgir, Death Cult Armageddon.
ISIS, Mosquito Control, Celestial, Sgnl > 05, Oceanic, Panopticon.
Johnny Cash, Live at Folsom Prison.
Kenji Kawai, Ghost in the Shell (1 and 2) Soundtrack.
Morbid Angel, Altars of Madness, Blessed are the Sick, Covenant, Domination.
Neurosis, Enemy of the Sun, Through Silver in Blood, Times of Grace, Sovereign, A Sun That Never Sets, The Eye of Every Storm.
Scorn, Colossus, Evanescence, Gyral.
Sephiroth, Cathedron.
Slayer, Reign in Blood, South of Heaven.

Eclipse Phase

Eclipse Phase Core Rules, 2011. References.

Eclipse Phase borrows liberally from many sources, which deserve recognition and credit. Gamemasters may also find them a good source of inspiration for adventures and campaigns. Further resources can be found on our website: http://eclipsephase.com

Fiction

Ian [sic] Banks
- The “Culture” Series
  - Consider Phlebas
  - The Use of Weapons
  - The Player of Games
  - The State of the Art
  - Inversions
  - Excession
  - Look to Windward
  - Matter
Greg Bear
- Moving Mars
- Queen of Angels
- Slant
David Brin
- Earth
- The “Earthclan” series
  - Startide Rising
  - The Uplift War
- Sundiver
Paul Di Filippo
- Ribofunk
Cory Doctorow
- Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom
- Eastern Standard Tribe
Greg Egan
- Axiomatic
- Diaspora
- Distress
- Permutation City
- Quarantine
Warren Ellis
- Crooked Little Vein
Kathleen Ann Goonan
- The “Nanotech Cycle”
  - Queen City Jazz
  - Mississippi Blues
  - Crescent City Rhapsody
  - Light Music
Peter Hamilton
- The “Commonwealth Saga”
  - Pandora’s Star
  - Judas Unleashed
- The “Greg Mandel Trilogy”
  - Mindstar Rising
  - A Quantum Murder
  - The Nano Flower
James Hogan
- Voyage from Yesteryear
Ken Macleod
- The “Fall Revolution” series
  - The Star Fraction
  - The Stone Canal
  - The Cassini Division
  - The Sky Road
- Newton’s Wake
Richard Morgan
- The “Takeshi Kovacs” series
  - Altered Carbon
  - Broken Angels
  - Woken Furies
- Thirteen
Linda Nagata
- The Bohr Maker
- Deception Well
- Limit of Vision
- Tech Heaven
- Vast
Frederick [sic] Pohl
- Gateway
Alastair Reynolds
- Absolution Gap
- Chasm City
- The Prefect
- Pushing Ice
- Redemption Ark
- Revelation Space
Kim Stanley Robinson
- The “Mars Trilogy”
  - Red Mars
  - Blue Mars
  - Green Mars
- The Martians
Karl Schroeder
- Ventus
Dan Simmons
- Endymion
- Fall of Endymion
- Llium
- “Hyperion Cantos”
  - Hyperion
  - Fall of Hyperion
- Olympos
Neal Stephenson
- Diamond Age
Bruce Sterling
- Caryatids
- Crystal Express
- Holy Fire
- Schismatrix Plus
Charles Stross
- Accelerando
- Glasshouse
- Halting State
- Iron Sunrise
- Singularity Sky
- Toast
Karen Traviss
- City of Pearl
Vernor Vinge
- Across Realtime
- A Deepness in The Sky
- A Fire Upon The Deep
- Rainbow’s [sic] End
- True Names and Other Dangers
Elisabeth Vonarburg
- Slow Engines of Time
Peter Watts
- Blindsight
- “Rifters’ Trilogy”
  - Starfish
  - Maelstrom
  - Behemoth (ß-Max + Seppuku)
Scott Westerfeld
- The Risen Empire
- The Killing of Worlds
Walter Jon Williams
- Aristoi
- Angel Station
- Voice of the Whirlwind
David Zindell
- The Broken God
- Neverness
- War in Heaven
- The Wild

Comics and Graphic Novels

Jamie Delano
- Narcopolis
Warren Ellis
- Doktor Sleepless
- Doom 2099
- Global Frequency
- Ministry of Space
- Ocean
- Transmetropolitan
Jonathan Hickman
- Transhuman
Grant Morrison
- The Filth
- The Invisibles
Masamune Shirow
- Ghost in the Shell
- Ghost in the Shell 1.5: Human-Error Processor
- Ghost in the Shell 2: Man/Machine Interface
Adam Warren
- Iron Man: Hypervelocity
Makoto Yukimura
- Planetes

Non-fiction

Ronald Bailey
- Liberation Biology
Susan Blackmore
- The Meme Machine
Cynthia Brezeal
- Designing Sociable Robots
David Brin
- The Transparent Society
Richard Brodie
- Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme
James Brook and Ian Boal (eds)
- Resisting the Virtual Life
Rodney Brooks
- Flesh and Machines: How Robots Will Change Us
- Cambrian Intelligence: The Early History of the New AI
Critical Art Ensemble
- Digital Resistance
- Electronic Civil Disobedience
- The Electronic Disturbance
- Flesh Machine
- The Molecular Invasion
- The Marching Plague
Richard Dawkins
- The Selfish Gene
K. Eric Drexler
- Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology
Freeman Dyson
- Disturbing the Universe
- Imagined Worlds
Ann Finkbeiner
- The Jasons
- Imaginary Weapons
Joel Garreau
- Radical Evolution
Adam Greenfield
- Everyware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing
James Hughes
- Citizen Cyborg
Ray Kurzweil
- The Singularity is Near
Howard Rheingold
- Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution
John Robb
- Brave New War
Clay Shirky
- Here Comes Everybody
Bruce Sterling
- Shaping Things
- Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the Next Fifty Years
Gregory Stock
- Redesigning Humans: Our Inevitable Genetic Future
Simon Young
- Designer Evolution: A Transhumanist Manifesto

Roleplaying Games

Blue Planet
Burning Empires
Call of Cthulhu
CthulhuTech
Cybergeneration
Dawning Star
Delta Green
FreeMarket
Gamma World
GURPS: Transhuman Space
Morrow Project
Paranoia
Shadowrun
Shock: Social Science Fiction
Traveller

Movies and Television

Aeon Flux
AI
Alien series
Andromeda
Babylon 5
Big O
Blade Runner
Cowboy Bebop
Crusade
District 9
Dollhouse
Dreamcatcher
Event Horizon
Ergo Proxy
Firefly
Gattaca
Ghost in the Shell
Ghost in the Shell: Innocence
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Solid State Society
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig
The Island
Jekyll
Moon
Pandorum
Planetes
Serenity
Sleep Dealer
Solaris
Stargate and Stargate: Atlantis
Sunshine
Uzumaki
Zardoz

Adventure Conqueror King System

Adventurer Conqueror King System, 2011. Recommended Reading For Judges.

Anderson, Poul. The Broken Sword; Three Hearts and Three Lions; The High Crusade; The Merman’s Children.
Baker, Kage. Anvil of the World and its sequels.
Bakker, R. Scott. “The Prince of Nothing” trilogy; “The Aspect-Emperor” trilogy.
Brust, Steven. “The Book of Jhereg” series.
Chabon, Michael. Gentlemen of the Road.
Cook, Glen. “The Black Company” series; “An Empire Unacquainted with Defeat” series; “Tyranny of the Night” series.
Erikson, Steven. “Malazan Book of the Fallen” series.
Fox, Robin Lane. Alexander the Great.
Gemmell, David. “The Drenai Saga” series; “The Rigante” series.
Heaney, Seamus, transl. Beowulf: A New Translation.
Homer and Hammon, Martin, transl. The Iliad: A New Prose Translation.
Howard, Madeline. “The Rune of Unmaking” series.
Howard, Robert E. “Conan” series.
Jones, J.V. “Sword of Shadow” series.
Kay, Guy Gavriel. “Sarantine Mosaic” series; The Lions of Al-Rassan, The Last Light of the Sun, Tigana, Under Heaven.
LeGuin, Ursula. “Earthsea Cycle”.
Leiber, Fritz. “Fafhrd and Grey Mouser” series.
Lovecraft, H.P. “Mythos” novels and stories.
Lynch, Scott. “The Gentlemen Bastard” series.
Martin, George R.R. “A Song of Ice and Fire” series.
Moon, Elizabeth. The Deed of Paksenarrion.
Moorcock, Michael. “Elric” series; “Hawkmoon” series.
Polybius. The Rise of the Roman Empire.
Pressfield, Steven. Gates of Fire.
Renault, Mary. Fire from Heaven, Funeral Games, The Last of the Wine, The Persian Boy.
Tolkien, J.R.R. “The Lord of the Rings” series; The Silmarillion; The Children of Hurin.
Vance, Jack. “Dying Earth” stories.
Williams, Tad. Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn.

Numenera

Numenera Core Rulebook, 2013. Bibliography and Resources.

While creating Numenera and the Ninth World, I consulted a lot of sources. Much of this research was done online, but there are some amazing books out there discussing things of interest to Numenera GMs—ideas on cuttingedge technology and, even better, speculation on what that technology could look like in the far, far future. Reading about such wild ideas will inspire the discoveries that Numenera PCs can make, the cyphers and artifacts they can find, and so on.

Additionally, there are novels, stories, graphic novels, TV shows, and movies that have greatly influenced Numenera. I want to not only credit them as such but also share them with you so that you can be inspired by them as well. Sometimes the inspiration they provide is mood or setting, sometimes it’s a lot of wild technological ideas, and other times it’s just the look or feel of something that might fit well into a Numenera game.

Enjoy.

—Monte Cook

Nonfiction

Eternity: Our Next Billion Years, Michael Hanlon
Indistinguishable From Magic, Robert L. Forward
Nanotechnology, Mark and Daniel Ratner
Physics of the Impossible, Michio Kaku
The Physics of Superheroes, James Kakalios
Strange Matters, Tom Siegfried
Visions, Michio Kaku

Fiction

Airtight Garage, Moebius
At the Mountains of Madness, H.P. Lovecraft
Arzach, Moebius
The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe
A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller Jr.
The City and the Stars, Arthur C. Clarke
Dancers at the End of Time, Michael Moorcock
Dreadstar, Jim Starlin (comics)
Dune, Frank Herbert
The Dying Earth, Jack Vance
Eon, Greg Bear
Eternity, Greg Bear
Eternals, Jack Kirby (comics)
Far Futures, ed. Gregory Benford
The History of the Runestaff, Michael Moorcock
The Incal, Alejandro Jodorowsky (comics)
Last and First Men, Olaf Stapledon
Neverness, David Zindell
New Gods (and the entire Fourth World series), Jack Kirby (comics)
The Night Land, William Hope Hodgson
The Nine Billion Names of God, Arthur C. Clarke
Planetary, Warren Ellis (comics)
Prophet: Remission, Brandon Graham (comics)
Pump Six and Other Stories, Paolo Bacigalupi
Roadside Picnic, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
Saga, Brian K. Vaughn (comics)
Star Man’s Son, Andre Norton
The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks
Timelike Infinity, Stephen Baxter
Viriconium, M. John Harrison
The Zothique Cycle, Clarke Ashton Smith

Television and Movies

A.I.
Adventure Time
Cloud Atlas
The Fifth Element
Fringe
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Oblivion (2013)

Starfinder

Core Rulebook, 2017. Inspirational Media.

The Starfinder Roleplaying Game draws inspiration from a wide range of science fiction and fantasy sources. Need ideas for a character or adventure? Check out some of these works, both classic and modern.

Literature

Adams, Douglas. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Asimov, Isaac. I, Robot and Foundation series.
Baker, Kage. The Empress of Mars.
Barlowe, Wayne. Barlowe’s Guide to Extraterrestrials and Expedition.
Bear, Elizabeth. Jacob’s Ladder trilogy.
Brackett, Leigh. Eric John Stark novels.
Bradbury, Ray. The Martian Chronicles.
Brin, David. Uplift Universe series.
Burroughs, Edgar Rice. Barsoom series.
Butler, Octavia E. Xenogenesis series.
Chalker, Jack L. The Four Lords of the Diamond series, the Saga of the Well World series, and Soul Rider series.
Cherryh, C. J. Alliance-Union series, Foreigner series, and Morgaine Cycle.
Cho, Zen. “The Four Generations of Chang E.”
Cixin, Liu. The Three-Body Problem.
Clarke, Arthur C. Childhood’s End.
Corey, James S. A. The Expanse series.
Delany, Samuel R. The Fall of the Towers trilogy.
Doyle, Debra & Macdonald, James D. Mageworlds series.
Drake, David. Hammer’s Slammers, The Reaches, and Seas of Venus.
Foster, Alan Dean. Humanx Commonwealth universe.
Frank, Pat. Alas, Babylon.
Gatewood, David (editor). Dark Beyond the Stars: A Space Opera Anthology.
Gibson, William. Neuromancer.
Gloss, Molly. The Dazzle of Day.
Griffith, Nicola. Ammonite.
Haldeman, Joe. The Forever War.
Hamilton, Peter F. The Commonwealth Saga.
Hao, Jingfang. “Invisible Planets.”
Heinlein, Robert A. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress and Starship Troopers.
Herbert, Frank. Dune.
Hurley, Kameron. The Stars Are Legion.
Jemisin, N. K. The Broken Earth series.
Jones, Diana Wynne. The Homeward Bounders.
Kaufman, Amie & Kristoff, Jay. The Illuminae Files series.
Kikuchi, Hideyuki. Vampire Hunter D.
Lackey, Mercedes (with Larry Dixon, Mark Shepherd, et alia). The SERRAted Edge series.
Lackey, Mercedes (with Rosemary Edghill and Ellen Guon). Bedlam Bard series.
Lafferty, Mur. Six Wakes.
Le Guin, Ursula K. Hainish Cycle.
Leckie, Ann. Imperial Radch trilogy
Lee, Yoon Ha. Ninefox Gambit.
L’Engle, Madeleine. Time Quintet.
Lisle, Holly. Hunting the Corrigan’s Blood.
McCaffrey, Anne. Dragonriders of Pern series.
Miéville, China. Embassytown.
Moon, Elizabeth. Once a Hero and Vatta’s War series.
Moore, C. L. Northwest of Earth.
Naam, Ramez. The Nexus trilogy.
Niven, Larry. Known Space series.
Nix, Garth. Shade’s Children.
Okorafor, Nnedi. Binti and The Shadow Speaker.
Perry, Steve. The Matador series.
Robinson, Kim Stanley. Mars trilogy.
Roth, Veronica. Divergent series.
Russell, Mary Doria. The Sparrow.
Sagan, Carl. Contact.
Shinn, Sharon. Samaria series.
Simmons, Dan. Hyperion Cantos.
Singh, Vandana. “Somadeva: A Sky River Sutra.”
Smith, E. E. “Doc”. Lensman series and Skylark series.
Steakley, John. Armor.
Stephenson, Neal. The Diamond Age and Snow Crash.
Sussex, Lucy. “The Queen of Erewhon.”
Theodoridou, Natalia. “The Eleven Holy Numbers of the Mechanical Soul.”
Watts, Peter. Blindsight.
Weber, David. Honorverse series.
Wendig, Chuck. Star Wars: Aftermath.
Williams, Liz. Banner of Souls.
Wilson, Kai Ashante. A Taste of Honey.

Comics

Cabrera, Eva & Visaggio, Magdalene. Kim & Kim.
Cockrum, Dave. Starjammers.
De Landro, Valentine & DeConnick, Kelly Sue. Bitch Planet.
Diaz, Aaron. Dresden Codak.
Dragotta, Nick & Hickman, Jonathan. East of West.
Ezquerra, Carlos & Wagner, John. Judge Dredd series.
Faerber, Jay & Godlewski, Scott. Copperhead.
Gibson, Ian & Moore, Alan. The Ballad of Halo Jones.
Kellett, Dave. Drive.
Lee, Mindy & Wiebe, Kurtis J. Bounty.
Maihack, Mike. Cleopatra in Space.
Nightow, Yasuhiro. Trigun.
Pak, Greg. The Incredible Hulk: Planet Hulk.
Remender, Rick & Scalera, Matteo. Black Science.
Staples, Fiona & Vaughan, Brian K. Saga.
Tayler, Howard. Schlock Mercenary.
Valentino, Jim. Guardians of the Galaxy.

Video Games and Video Game Series

Aerannis
Borderlands
Dead Space
Destiny
Deus Ex
DOOM
Environmental Station Alpha
EVE Online
Final Fantasy
Halo
Mass Effect
Master of Orion
Metroid
Out of this World
Phantasy Star
Read Only Memories
Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri
Star Trek Online
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Starcraft
Stellaris
Syndicate
System Shock
VA-11 HALL-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action
Wing Commander
X-COM
Xenoblade Chronicles X

Film and Television

2001: A Space Odyssey. Dir. Stanley Kubrick.
Æon Flux. Dir. Peter Chung.
The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers. Creator Robert Mandell.
Alien series. Creator Dan O'Bannon.
Alien Nation. Dir. Graham Baker.
Avatar. Dir. James Cameron.
Babylon 5. Creator J. Michael Straczynski.
Battlestar Galactica. Creator Glen A. Larson.
The Big O. Creators Kazuyoshi Katayama & Keiichi Sato.
The Black Hole. Dir. Gary Nelson.
Blade Runner. Dir. Ridley Scott.
Blake’s 7. Creator Terry Nation.
Captain Simian & the Space Monkeys. Creator Gordon Bressack.
Cosmos series. Creators Carl Sagan, Ann Druyan & Steven Soter.
CowboyBebop. Creator Shinichirō Watanabe.
Crumbs. Dir. Miguel Llansó.
District 9. Dir. Neill Blomkamp.
Doctor Who. Creators Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber & Donald Wilson.
Event Horizon. Dir. Paul W. S. Anderson.
Ex Machina. Dir. Alex Garland.
Farscape. Creator Rockne S. O'Bannon.
The Fifth Element. Dir. Luc Besson.
Firefly. Creator Joss Whedon.
Futurama. Creator Matt Groening.
Gravity. Dir. Alfonso Cuarón.
Guardians of the Galaxy. Dir. James Gunn.
Heavy Metal. Dir. Gerald Potterton.
Interstellar. Dir. Christopher Nolan.
Jason X. Dir. James Isaac.
John Carter. Dir. Andrew Stanton.
Jupiter Ascending. Dir. the Wachowskis.
Krull. Dir. Peter Yates.
The Last Starfighter. Dir. Nick Castle.
Macross. Creator Shōji Kawamori.
Mad Max series. Dir. George Miller.
The Martian. Dir. Ridley Scott.
The Matrix series. Creators the Wachowskis.
Metropolis (1927). Dir. Fritz Lang.
Metropolis (2001). Dir. Rintaro.
Minority Report. Dir. Steven Spielberg.
Moon. Dir. Duncan Jones.
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Dir. Hayao Miyazaki.
Pacific Rim. Dir. Guillermo del Toro.
Pitch Black. Dir. David Twohy.
Planet of the Apes (1968). Dir. Franklin J. Schaffner.
Predator. Dir. John McTiernan.
Pumzi. Dir. Wanuri Kahiu.
Robotech. Creator Carl Macek.
The Running Man. Dir. Paul Michael Glaser.
Serenity. Dir. Joss Whedon.
SilverHawks. Creators Jules Bass & Arthur Rankin Jr.
Space Battleship Yamato. Creator Yoshinobu Nishizaki.
Stargate series. Creators Dean Devlin & Roland Emmerich.
Starship Troopers. Dir. Paul Verhoeven.
Star Trek series. Creator Gene Roddenberry.
Star Wars series. Creator George Lucas.
Steven Universe. Creator Rebecca Sugar.
The Thing. Dir. John Carpenter.
Thundarr the Barbarian. Creator Steve Gerber.
Total Recall. Dir. Len Wiseman.
The Twilight Zone. Creator Rod Serling.
Westworld. Creators Lisa Joy & Jonathan Nolan.

Tabletop RPGs

Achtung! Cthulhu
Cyberpunk and Cyberpunk 2020
Expedition to the Barrier Peaks
Eclipse Phase
Firefly Role-Playing Game
Gamma World
Interface Zero 2.0
Lords of Creation
Mutant Chronicles
Numenera
Part-Time Gods
Pathfinder RPG: Iron Gods Adventure Path
Rifts
Shadowrun
SLA Industries
Space Opera
Spelljammer
Star Frontiers
Star Wars: Edge of the Empire
Titansgrave: The Ashes of Valkana
Torg
Traveller
Warhammer 40,000

RPG Sourcebook Reading Lists

Contents

Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeon Master’s Guide (1st edition AD&D), 1979. Appendix N: Inspirational and Educational Reading.

Basic Rulebook (Basic D&D), 1981. Inspirational Source Material.

Fiction: Young Adult Fantasy

Non-fiction: Young Adult

Fiction: Adult Fantasy

Short Story Collections

Non-fiction

Complete Psionics Handbook (2nd edition AD&D), 1991. Related Reading.

Fiction

Nonfiction

Player’s Handbook (5th edition D&D), 2014. Appendix E: Inspirational Reading.

Castle Falkenstein

Castle Falkenstein, 1994. A Falkenstein Bibliography.

General History

Military History

European Empires and Imperialism

Airships

Victorian Biography

Fashion

Victorian Life

The Faerie

Fictional Victoriana

World of Darkness

Sorcerer: The Hedge Wizard’s Handbook, 1997. Bibliography.

Site-ography

New York by Night, 2001. Resources.

Books

Music

Film, Video and Television

Alternity

Gamemaster Guide (Alternity Core), 1998. References.

Mindwalking: A Guide to Psionics, 1999. Suggested Reading/Viewing.

Suggested Reading

Suggested Viewing

Tangents, 1999. Suggested Reading or Viewing.

Dark•Matter Campaign Setting, 1999. Recommended Reading & Viewing.

Books, Nonfiction

Books, Fiction

Comics

Magazines

Movies

TV Series

Websites

Call of Cthulhu

Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game (d20), 2002. Recommended Reading List.

Mythos Stories

H. P. Lovecraft

Clark Ashton Smith

Robert E. Howard

Frank Belknap Long

Robert Bloch

Ramsey Campbell

Fritz Leiber

Henry Kuttner

Joseph S. Pulver, Sr.

Roger Zelazny

John Tynes

Thomas Ligotti

Robert Price

Lin Carter

August Derleth

Anthologies, etc.

Non-Mythos Stories

M. R. James

R. W. Chambers

Ambrose Bierce

Edgar Allan Poe

Algernon Blackwood

Arthur Machen

Wm. Hope Hodgson

Lord Dunsany

W. B. Yeats

Robert Arthur

Henry James

A. (Abrahama) Merritt

Modern Horror Stories

John Bellairs