What is your favourite non-rpg gaming resource?

[Argent]

For a long time I was a gamer on a budget. So I didn't have access to every shiny new thing to come down the pipe from (then) TSR. Since this was in the era of the pretty-pretty box sets, that stung a little.

But I was still DMing and still needed to come up with interesting locations and settings for my players. Lamenting the fact that I couldn't afford new gaming material for like, the eleventy-billionth time, my eyes fell on a stack of magazines piled at the bottom of my shelf.

See, my mom had been getting me a subscription to National Geographic for several years at that point. And NG is, hands down, the best damn non-rpg sourcebook for RPGs ever. Every issue is full of maps, articles on different cultures, animals, and locations. It was no coincidence that the orc tribe in my setting was based very closely on the Mongols, which led to me crafting the Elven culture to more closely match the Chinese. It gave my world a bit of depth it might not otherwise would have. And NG mags were perfect for finding an NPC or a quick mini-setting; they came to occupy an honoured spot on my gaming shelf.

So how about everyone else? What non-rpg resource do you use with your role-playing?

[RealmsDM]

Plenty!

Comic books, movies, novels, history books/class, and I even ran a city based super adventure based on a fantasy style NYC (my home town)
Looking back on it now, it was kind of Ebberon. Magical subway-like tunnels, giant towers, a BIG golem in the city's port... shall I go on?

[starfalconkd]

Plenty!

Comic books, movies, novels, history books/class, and I even ran a city based super adventure based on a fantasy style NYC (my home town)
Looking back on it now, it was kind of Ebberon. Magical subway-like tunnels, giant towers, a BIG golem in the city's port... shall I go on?

Ditto, except for the really awesome sounding NY idea.

[Ed Zachary]

Our present Sunday night game is called "Emerald City"... influenced by real life events.

Since the DM will be deployed again in a few months, hopefully we can finish the story before then.

[Moritz]

Hang on, real life events? What are we talking about here? Did the DM fall down a rabbit hole and end up hanging out with the Dungeons and Dragons Cartoon Kids? Or was this some post Pink Floyd: The Wall hallucination?

[Ed Zachary]

Back when AD&D was the latest edition, a friend of mine played a Bard named Roger Waters.

[RealmsDM]

I remember my first PC ever... actually, the first few... they were all based on Voltron characters....

[Moritz]

Back when AD&D was the latest edition, a friend of mine played a Bard named Roger Waters.

Was he always singing about tearing down the wall, kaos, or how to hitch hike?

[Skunkape]

I've found that I'm using Wiki-pedia more and more. Sure, there is some room for error because of who can edit the information that, but I find that most of what I research there is usable for me. After all, most of the time when I'm GMing, I change things about the setting to suit my needs anyway.

Also in the past, I've used BabelFish to translate a particular word into a Spanish, German, Italian version and then played with the spelling of that word to get a new name for something. Lot of people & places in my world have gotten names that way! Oh and I've used a Latin to English translator on an educational website to do similar things.

So I guess you can wrap that all up into the Internet!

[nijineko]

religion and philosophy. and while we're at it, myths, fairy tales, tall tales, and the like are full of interesting ideas and view points.

a favorite is a great internet collection of "out of place artifacts" from around the world.

[tesral]

Everything that crosses my eyeballs.

[nijineko]

i'd be interested in your thoughts on that link then, tesral. ^^

[tesral]

i'd be interested in your thoughts on that link then, tesral. ^^

One it made noise, bad link. Two, any time you approach data with an agenda you will see the data as supporting your agenda. Three, any place on Earth is reachable form any place else with your feet or a paddle.

[nijineko]

heheheh. it makes noise? i'd forgotten. i seldom have the volume up high enough to hear it when i am browsing websites.

considering that the person has made an effort to support all the stories via scientific journals or newspapers, i thought it worth perusing. now, how real all that is, that's another story entirely.

but it is a good source of campaign ideas. ^^

[cplmac]

Everything that crosses my eyeballs.

Wouldn't it make it hard to read if your eyes are crossed?

Also, didn't your mother tell you to stop that or one day your face will freeze like that?