Old World Inspirations

When it comes to worldbuilding, it’s always good to have a distinctive style in mind and working towards staying true to this vision. In my experience there’s always a tendency to go down established paths and before you know it you find yourself with a generic world with two or three gimicks. For the Old World I have a very clear image of what the setting is supposed to look and feel like and what it seems and internal logic should be. The following is what I believe to be a pretty complete list of the books, movies, videogames, and RPGs that inspired the setting:

  • A Princess of Mars by Edgar Burroughs (1912)
  • Alien (1979)
  • Aliens (1986)
  • Apocalypse Now (1979)
  • Bound by Flame (2014)
  • Conan by Robert Howard 1932-1936)
  • Conan the Barbarian (1982)
  • Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
  • Dark Sun (1991)
  • God of War II (2007)
  • Halo 2 (2004)
  • Heavenly Sword (2007)
  • Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn (1992-1994)
  • Hellboy (1993 and ongoing)
  • Ghost in the Shell (1995)
  • Kane by Karl Wagner (1970-1985)
  • Knights of the Old Republic (2003)
  • Mass Effect 2 (2010)
  • Metal Gear Solid 3 (2004)
  • Morrowind (2002)
  • Planescape (1994)
  • Predator (1987)
  • Princess Mononoke (1997)
  • Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
  • Seirei no Moribito (2007)
  • Shadow of the Colossus (2005)
  • Soul Reaver (1999) and Soul Reaver 2 (2001)
  • Stargate (1994)
  • Super Metroid (1994)
  • The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
  • The Thing (1982)
  • Them! (1954)
  • Warcraft III (2002)
  • Yojimbo (1961)

There’s a couple of science-fiction movies and games on the list, but I think with almost all of them the technological elements are just window dressing. At their heart they are still about monsters and magical worlds.

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