The Forge Archives

TROS has a suggested reading list on p. 242-243, but it's pretty small (due to paper costs and what not...those of you that have dealt with small printing know what I'm talking about).

I'm proposing a beefed-up list for the webpage. I want:

Books (fiction and non-fiction)
Movies
Music
TV Shows (educational and fantastical)
Generic Supplements (Fief, Palladium's Comp of Weap, Arm., Castles, etc)
Websites

I'll need the title and author of each entry as a minimum, and I'd strongly engourage date of publication, pertinant web sites, and other "bibliography" type info as well. Nothing will be posted without the title and author/director/whatever.

Bring 'em on...

Jake

Hey,

I already have a pretty extensive list in my own book, in Sorcerer & Sword. Let's see though ... just thinking about movies for the moment, and not to repeat the obvious ones ...

The Bride with White Hair (1994, Director Ronnie Yu)

Macbeth (1971, Director Roman Polanski)

The Three Musketeers, The Four Musketeers, The Return of the Musketeers (1973-74, Director Richard Lester)

Best,
Ron

Hi
A couple of books spring to mind
"Ash - a secret history"
"Architect of Desire"
both by Mary Gentle, she certainly knows her military stuff.

No reading list could be complete without the 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series by George R. R. Martin.  

This series of books, starting with A Game of Thrones, is a very gritty and thought provoking Fantasy series that will remind you of The Riddle of Steel.  Or if you've already read it, like I have, TROS reminds you of ASOIAF.

Unfortunately, I think Fantasy Flight Games owns the license for the series.  But TROS would be ideal for running adventures in George R. R. Martin's Westeros.

Actually Fantasy Flight only grabbed the collectible card and board game rights.  No news on the roleplaying game rights.

I really see a lot in common  between Weyrth and Osten Ard, the world in Tad Williams' "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" Series. This has to be my favorite piece of fiction ever written. If you've never read it, you are missing out on one of the most detailed and facinating fantasy worlds ever created. One similarity to TROS is the "elves" of this world. They're called the "sithi" and appear to have been drawn from the same mythology as the siehe. Also, magic in Memory, Sorrow and Thorn is rare and powerful, as it is in TROS.

The books are arranged as a trilogy, here's the info:

Book 1: The Dragonbone Chair
ISBN: 0809900033

Book 2: The Stone of Farewell
ISBN: 0886774357

Book 3: To Green Angel Tower
ISBN: 0886775213

The first book starts off slow for the first 100 pages or so, but then the story takes off. I HIGHLY recommend this series for game inspiration or just plain good reading.

Brandon

Into the Green, by Charles De Lint
Tor, 1993; Orb 2001

I read this one after pestering the librarians for recommendations. It turned out to be an oddly different twist on fantasy. It bears some striking resemblances to the RoS setting, especially in the way the "kowrie" (ie Fey) are portrayed. I could easily see (though it's been several months since I read this book) most of the characters being created as RoS characters, with Passions and Drives and everything. I haven't read anything else by De Lint, but I am guessing by reviews that he'd be a really good author to cite overall.

Oh, and by the way.. The fact that the main character is named Angharad is purely coincidental.

That one sounds good, Lance (actually, they all do). Angharad is a Welsh name, which is where I took it. I'm a linguist by trade, and speak Polish and Russian well, and have studied (or am studying) Hebrew, Welsh, French (though that's my weakest), Quenya, Albanian, Latin, and probably some more but I always forget. My wife speaks Polish, Albanian, German, and Itallian...most of the place names in Weyrth come from The appropriate earth-language and actually have meanings. Others are modified names from those languages.

Jake

here are some books about real world times that might be useful to tros players:

"the civilization of the middle ages" by norman f. cantor

"knights" by andrea hopkins

"chivalry and violence in medieval europe" by richard w. kaeuper

"secrets of the samurai" by oscar ratti and adele westbrook

"samurai warriors" by david miller

"ancient civilizations" by the sampson low visual world library

and if your looking for more fantasy-type books:

"the epic of gilgamesh" i have the andrew george translation

"beowulf" i have the seamus heaney translation

"the iliad and the odyssey" by homer

"parsival or a knight's tale" by richard monaco (i have only read the first book in the trilogy, but i loved it very much)

"the writer's complete fantasy reference" by various authors, introduction by terry brooks

some movies:

"excalibur" directed by john boorman

music that would go well with dark ages and fantasy settings:

"carmina burana" by carl orff (especially "o fortuna")

"celtic moon" no artist is given, exept nature quest, but i dont know if thats the artist or company. i thinks its the company

"born of the night" by midnight syndicate. actually, any of their stuff is good if your doing some horror related gaming

thats about it for now. hope that was helpful!

"Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel" by Joseph & Frances Gies.

It discusses specific scientific and technical inventions made during the middle ages.  I don't remember if it goes into the business/social advances.

-Jeff

I would like to add two series that have a similar flavor to Riddle of Steel.  Both are gritty (combat is very dangerous), both have an interesting moral component to their storyline, and magic is feared.

Glen Cook's The Black Company series (Black Company, Shadow's Linger, White Rose)

Steve Erikson's Malazan's Empire series (available in the UK) (Garden's of the Moon, Deadhouse Gates, Memories of Ice)

I am almost reluctant to add these series to the fray; my only worry is my players will read this thread and spoil some of the fun!   These books are very good and should give GM's a lot of very good ideas. I am working on putting together a campaign based on the flavor and settings in these series - I think it will be top-notch.


Steve Danielson