Dungeons & Dragons is a recreation designed to create the phantasm that you just’ve entered one other world. Epic fantasy novels closely impressed the creators of D&D, and the tabletop role-playing recreation’s connection to fantasy literature has solely grown stronger with age.

Each the Participant’s Handbook and the Dungeon Masters Information encourage gamers and DMs to hit their native library earlier than they get to work designing their subsequent character or crafting their celebration’s subsequent journey. I’ve been taking part in D&D on each side of the DM display screen for years, and I can safely affirm that the ten standalone books and sequence listed beneath helped me create a few of my favourite characters and campaigns.

10. The Dresden Information by Jim Butcher

Among the greatest D&D campaigns I’ve been in revolved round fixing mind-bending mysteries with a magical twist. In case your newest marketing campaign is a noir-influenced fantasy whodunnit that’s piqued your curiosity within the thriller style, it’s best to take a look at The Dresden Information.

Jim Butcher’s long-running city fantasy sequence follows the adventures of the titular sorcerous detective, who dedicates his eternally imperiled life to fixing outlandish capers tied to Chicago’s hidden magical underworld. In the event you’re available in the market for some thrilling noir tales that occur to function the odd vampire or demon, The Dresden Information is for you.

9. The Cthulhu Mythos by H.P. Lovecraft and August Derluth

A lot of D&D‘s most iconic monsters, together with the multi-eyed, beam-spewing Beholder, are beings from the Far Realm, a airplane of pure cosmic chaos the place the road between actuality and phantasm turns into illegible. I’ve been in quite a lot of D&D video games the place the Far Realm’s innate madness slithered its means into the combination, and this refreshing dose of existential dread wouldn’t t have been potential with out the Cthulu Mythos.

H.P. Lovecraft’s tales a few pantheon of incomprehensible extraterrestrial gods lurking within the shadows of the universe pioneered the cosmic horror style, and D&D gamers wish to add a little bit of eldritch spice to their newest character or marketing campaign will discover loads of inspiration in them. Be warned: Lovecraft was, to place it bluntly, racist, and his uncensored work will make most readers uncomfortable.

8. The Lord of the Rings by J.R. Tolkien

It could be heresy to not put The Lord of the Rings on this listing. J.R.R. Tolkien’s well-known literary cycle was D&D‘s largest inspiration, to the purpose the place there have been authorized disputes surrounding the early utilization of phrases like orc, elf, dwarf, and dragon.

Some D&D followers is perhaps shocked to see The Lord of the Rings ranked so low. I’d nonetheless suggest Tolkien’s iconic trilogy to any D&D participant who hasn’t learn them, particularly in the event that they began taking part in a marketing campaign set throughout the Forgotten Realms. Nevertheless, D&D grew out of Center Earth’s shadow way back, and saying that Lord of the Rings is “the” sequence for D&D followers feels a bit regressive, particularly since many fashionable D&D settings exit of their strategy to buck the tropes Tolkien established.

7. Malazan Ebook of the Fallen by Steven Erikson

Among the best components of a D&D marketing campaign is constructing the world the place the story will play out, particularly if the group’s DM is prepared to let the opposite gamers in on the world-building course of. In the event you and anybody else at your desk are kicking across the thought of beginning a brand new marketing campaign set at a a lot later or earlier level in your world’s historical past, Malazan Ebook of the Fallen provides you with some nice concepts.

The Malazan sequence is a masterclass in fantasy world-building that follows the rise of the titular empire over millennia. With a solid consisting of immortal mages and dynasties with lineages stretching again centuries, Malazan is ideal for gamers and DMs who need to discover how the passage of time can change a personality, a civilization, or perhaps a world’s innate magic.

6. Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

Any skilled D&D can attest that the Rogue is likely one of the funniest courses to play. Loads of fantasy novels star nimble-fingered sneaks preferring to creep via the shadows whereas the soldiers and the mages hog the highlight, however few will really feel extra acquainted to D&D gamers than Mistborn.

Brandon Sanderson’s seminal fantasy sequence unfolds on the planet of Scadriel, the place ash by no means stops falling from the sky, an oppressive empire guidelines many of the world, and the one hope of defeating the fallen hero of prophecy lies in a younger thief named Vin. Vin is basically an Arcane Trickster Rogue, and her quest to overthrow the Closing Empire with magic and subterfuge is stuffed with enjoyable twists on established fantasy tropes that may go away D&D followers in awe.

5. The Ebook of the New Solar by Gene Wolf

One in every of D&D‘s most “peculiar” settings is Darkish Solar, a grim realm the place magic is inherently poisonous and a gang of vicious Sorcerer Kings rule the whole lot underneath the pink, dying solar. On account of some problematic components of its world-building, Darkish Solar has not obtained an official setting guide for some time, however anybody who enjoys it’ll discover a appropriate substitute in The Ebook of the New Solar sequence.

Set on a far-future model of Earth the place society has regressed to feudalism, The Ebook of the New Solar is a haunting parable that follows a disgraced torturer’s transformation right into a messianic determine who holds the important thing to the world’s future. Visions of the long run and mysterious magics abound on this sequence, and anybody who’s skilled the world of Darkish Solar will really feel proper at residence studying this.

4. A Tune of Ice and Hearth by George R.R. Martin

I’m a type of D&D gamers who like to lose themselves of their character, and I’ll all the time choose a marketing campaign that offers me the advanced problem of navigating interpersonal relationships over ones that target dungeon-crawling or fight. In the event you’re additionally a type of gamers, I can’t consider a fantasy sequence you’ll like greater than A Tune of Ice and Fire.

George R.R. Martin’s iconic world runs on dynastic politics, not magic or prophecies, and its dedication to subverting and reimagining established fantasy tropes signifies that not one of the characters you come to care about are protected. Any fan of D&D and different character-driven TTRPGs will love A Tune of Ice and Hearth.

3. Wings of Hearth by Tui. T Sutherland

If the title didn’t tip you off, dragons are an necessary a part of D&D, and there are all kinds of them throughout the sport’s many dietary supplements and setting books. A few of my favourite (and most traumatic) D&D recollections are tied to dragons, and the one fantasy guide that comes near difficult D&D’s draconic range is Tui T. Sutherland’s Wings of Hearth sequence.

The world of Wings of Hearth has a dragon for nearly each factor, and gamers who’ve run a Dragonblood Sorcerer will really feel greater than a bit of validated studying the sequence.

2. The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks

One of many DMs in my native D&D group has weaponized the artwork of the “mid-campaign twist.” Each recreation he runs shifts pitch on the midway mark, re-contextualizing the whole lot we’ve accomplished up till that time in stunning and thrilling methods. Terry Brooks Shannara sequence does one thing very related, and D&D followers who know what it’s like to observe the world you’ve adventured via flip the wrong way up will really feel a little bit of nostalgia studying it.

On the onset, the Shannara books really feel like a near-complete rip-off of Tolkien, with elves, younger naive warriors, and magical MacGuffins designed to kill evil overlords. Nevertheless, because the books progress, stunning secrets and techniques concerning the world of Shannara are unmasked, and readers are left to grapple with the data that this world may not be as fantastical because it appeared at first look.

1. Discworld by Terry Pratchett

What’s D&D, if not the right mix of fantasy? The sport provides you all of the instruments you’d ever want to fit each fantastical creature and type of magic into your marketing campaign setting; the one limits that exist are these in your creativeness. Because of this, I consider that no fantasy guide embodies the spirit of D & D greater than Discworld.

The flat realm of Discworld is a wonderous patchwork woven along with components pulled from nearly each mythology, faith, and folklore custom on the planet. Wizards, demons, gods, and Dying himself exist harmoniously as a part of a magical ecosystem the place nothing feels misplaced. As humorous as it’s profound, Discworld is the right fantasy sequence for D&D followers.