Inspirational sources for the VI·VII·X game

This post is fully dedicated to the bibliography I left at the end of the VI·VII·X core rules. I find honest to quote all the marvelous works here and provide with some details about the reasons of the ‘influence’ they have in the game.

Let us start then:

‘Dungeons & Dragons’ (by D.Arneson and G.Gygax, any edition from the one of 1974 up to the Rules Cyclopedia): well there's not that much to add for D&D; it is the first, the most used and most known; the authors had a simple and genial idea (regardless to who in detail made what for the game); I’d also like to remember Dave Wesley, the man who provided with flint and tinder the two authors; there’s another detail worth to be mentioned about D&D: in some communities where I presented the game I was criticized by the fact that I made up a new RPG relying mainly on the knowledge of D&D or similar games… well, what I miss behind this thought is what would be the added value to know the largest possible number of RPGs: I love D&D and this model and I don’t feel the need to fill the gap with the thousands of RPGs available today. Btw, I have never said I only know and play D&D, I have played other RPGs… the great part are ‘classic’ and only few are ‘peculiar’…

‘Tiers Age’ (by J.P. ‘Usher’ Jaworski, 2000): …and this is one of those RPGs which I would consider ‘uncommon’! Or better, it is mainly not known by the greatest part of the RPGers. Let me say that it is one of the best way to transpose Tolkien in an RPG! Definitely fitting the atmosphere, the mood and the Tolkien’s essence. The author made a superb job in perfectly modelling RPG mechanics with the Middle Earth setting. I really enjoyed playing at Tiers Age and I still have memories of the great time we had while running our campaign (btw it was in Arthedain). The way this game manages the depth of the character’s background is simply perfect: for this reason I tried to apply a similar concept also in the VI·VII·X model… I am sure I have not got the same perfection, but at least I tried to (and I used the best for do that!). The only problem of this game is the language: as far as I know it was originally written in French and I had the luck to find a very well done translation in Italian (no English to my knowledge alas!). Last but not least: it is a free RPG! For anyone interested in it and I strongly recommend to try it at least once in your life, the links are: Tiers Age (in French) and Terza Era (in Italian)

‘The Book of the Imaginary Beings’ (by J.L.Borges, 1967): this small book, had not a direct influence on the core rules, however it helped me to rethink the way an RPG should set up the rules for a bestiary… instead of the ‘usual’ monster manual, where legendary beings are mixed with ordinary animals, the concept should move towards a more lore-oriented explanation and description… I have still everything written with pen on my notepad, but I wanted in any case to mention this great author and his book in the core rules as well.

‘The Abolition of Man’ (by C.S.Lewis, 1943): without any doubt, this is the most influential reading in my life… and I am not referring only to RPGs, games or hobbies. This small booklet should be really considered a ‘beacon’ in my existence. And, given this relevance, I tried to apply these contents also in VI·VII·X! The application can’t be seen in a clear way as C.S.Lewis touched very deep concepts: what I called in my previous posts ‘the underlying message’ within this game is fully attributable to this top notch book. If I were to recommend one reading only among all these entries, this is the one, definitely!

‘The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity’ (by C.Cipolla, 1976): …and this is the second best ever after C.S.Lewis masterwork! This essay (as a matter of fact this is one of the two essays of a book) is simply brilliant and crisp! Anyone who read it, can see in VI·VII·X its straight application: the Morality. The Cipolla's theory has been used to design Paths of Morality in the game.

‘Non-Cooperative Games’ (by J.F.Nash, 1951): like for the Cipolla's reference, in this reading there is another concept used in a straight way in the VI·VII·X game (for the character’s growth mechanics). Ideas which are great in their simplicity have always had an appeal on me: in this sense the ‘prisoner’s dilemma’ is one of those that deserved to be used. I read the Nash’s essay during my University studies and since that time (nearly 30 years ago!), it has always a special place in my mind.

‘Magic in the Middle Ages’ (by R.Kieckhefer, 1985): this book helped me to understand how magic was perceived in the Middle Ages, this helped me a lot in order to rethink a magic spellcasting system and to design a part of the setting (in particular for magic objects)… but this will be deployed in the setting!

‘The Book of Runes’ (by R.Blum, 1984): despite the fact that this book is more game-oriented than the previous entry, it also helped me to design the spellcasting system. I used it in order to find inspiration on the word-based spellcasting model.

‘Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings’ (by C.Duriez, 2001): well, the fact that a book about The Lord of the Ring is mentioned instead of the LotR book itself, that is weird, I admit that! The relevance of this book on my game is due to some explanations on the Tolkien’s world and approach to the reader. The author in this book provides a very interesting point of view which explains the features that made Tolkien’s masterpiece a success. There are no direct implications within the VI·VII·X core rules, the real impact is on the project as a whole. The most outstanding outcome is the book of the Cosmogony as a whole (which will be published once the setting is up and running!).

‘Lost Continents: the Atlantis Theme in History’ (by L.Sprague de Camp, 1954): this reference is a reference from a reference… d’ho! I should have referenced also the book I read which helped me to find this one. Nevertheless, there is still room to patch this lack! In a nutshell, while reading the very interesting ‘The Book of Legendary Lands’ by Umberto Eco, I found this book and felt the need to read it. This helped me to think how to laise the myth of the setting with the real world within the setting. There are no direct implications in the core rules, the overall project benefitted from this reading with the strongest impact in the setting and the Cosmogony.

‘Arcana Sapienza’ (by M.Pereira, 2001): this book could be considered a sibling of the book ‘Magic in the Middle Ages’; where in the later the topic is arcane magic and similar spells, in the Michela Pereira’s book the topic is alchemy. The reading helps a lot to understand the way this theme was considered in a world very close to the setting I wanted to design. The book is very interesting but to be honest, only half of it was useful to my purpose (the other part is about the late medieval history of alchemy like the XVII and XVIII centuries, a period which is out of the scope of the game but it is however extremely interesting).

‘The Neverending Story’ (by M.Ende, 1981): this reference is not only for the great story (and the underlying morale), the major influence of this book is coming from the brilliant idea of ‘a story in a story’… this has always intrigued me and it will be a feature in the setting, no further spoiler for the time being!

Any work by C.A.Smith, in particular the Averoigne cycle (1930-1948): no additional explanations for this giant of the fantasy literature; the Averoigne cycle is a top notch masterwork. Every idea I have about fantasy, it is likely coming from his stories, in particular those set in Averoigne.

Any artwork by G.Doré, in particular the cycle of Idylls of the King (1859-1885): if you have any sort of doubt about the presence of this entry in the list, then you have not even flipped through the VI·VII·X core rules. I won’t add any other comment if not just: please, read it!

The complete saga of Ultima (by R.Garriot, 1981-1999): this group of video games are an exception, they are worth to be mentioned here as they have inspired me in the concept of Morality in the game. Being this topic a pillar, as you have already read in several previous posts, then even this source of inspiration should have its place here. I hope everybody knows this wonderful series: it helped me to have great afternoons spent on my first Pentium PC… (and I stop here, leaving to the reader the remaining part of the picture!).