30 Days of Gamemastering: Part Five

This is part five in the continuing series of posts for the “30 Days of Gamemastering Challenge” from Triple Crit.

Stealing like an artist: what inspiration have you drawn from other games, books, movies, etc?

Two of my more recent campaigns have taken place in “franchised” universes: one with the Serenity RPG and the other with the Dresden Files RPG. So, obviously, those draw inspiration from other movies and/or books. Serenity was good in that you could draw inspiration not only from other science fiction settings (such as Aliens or Blade Runner), but also from westerns. I even drew a couple of NPCs out of the movie “Raising Arizona“. With the Dresden Files, I have a whole slew of urban fantasy to draw on–from Laruel K. Hamilton’s earlier Anita Blake books to Kim Harrison’s Rachel Morgan series. With Dresden, I also draw on inspiration from other Dresden campaigns on Obsidian Portal. There are some really interesting campaigns there to “aggressively borrow” from. One of my more successful fantasy campaigns was with a home-brewed rules system and my own campaign world. It lasted for about ten actual years and everyone seemed to enjoy it. The initial impetus behind that campaign was my take on the legend of Sleeping Beauty. I’m not sure any of my players realized this, but that was where I got my initial idea.

What about you? Any sources of inspiration you’d like to share? Throw ’em in the comments!