Think of all the imaginary worlds you have encountered in your reading of SF and Fantasy. Do any of them seem like they would make a good setting for a game, with or without the storyline that goes with them? Why?

Hehehe, basically, once you have been playing a bit of RolePlaying Games, *ANY* book you encounter can make a good setting for a scenario. All it takes is a good GameMaster.

I think the question to decide which book would make a cool game universe is usually : "was the universe that important in the book ?". There are some books where you can''t really feel anything more than what is needed for the scenario. A bit like in a Hollywood movie where the back of the buildings you see onscreen are empty. Some books just don''t have enough details to make an universe. And usually, the attempt at filling the gaps is a bit useless. Mmm, take the "Silence of the Lambs". It''s among my top three. The cool thing about it is the story, and the characters. In this cas I wouldn''t hesitate to take the characters and put them back into another context ... imagine that Lecter is a Vampire, and Clarice, well, a Vampire hunter ...
Quite curiously, most of my favorites movies/books are based on historical periods.
I think we have so many periods of History that can be used as background, and so little has been used ...
the 15th 16th century in Europe, the 16th in Japan, the 15th century and the discovery of America, the travels of Marco Polo, etc...
And I am only refering to the stuff that we European know about. but look at Manga for instance, and you''ll discover a whole different conception of some of the theme we classically use (Apple Seed comes to mind, Akira of course, and other classics)

So much material, and so little time

The imagery that most appeals to me in these settings are the ones that are transmuted from older, more archetypal settings. The *earlier* Star Wars movies were very good at this, the light-sabre is obviously a trinket of scifi, but archetypally it is the inhereted sword from the knight/samurai lineage.

I really like it when this is done well, because old archetypal images are there for a reason. Like it or not, swords are an archetypal symbol of power, and conviniently a phallic symbol also. It works really well in terms of psychology. I''ve never met a guy who didn''t think it would be cool to have a light sabre.

Original imagery is the writer''s most powerful tool against cliché. There''s nothing better to evoke personality and originality from your characters and setting than having a really great visual artists who constantly forces you to look at your own characters differently, without actually changing anything. I''m fortunate enough to have one of these...

Stephen Donaldson''s worlds from The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (it''s called the Land), from the Gap, and Mordant from The Mirror Of Her Dreams etc.
David & Leigh Eddings'' world in the Belgariad & Co.
Dave Duncan''s world in The Great Game.I''ll post later to explain why.

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One of my favorite SF environs that stands w/o story (but is much more awesome because of it) is Dan Simmon''s Worldweb. He lays it out in the excellently written Hyperion series.

Imagine a civilization so advanced that starships are becoming obsolete. People walk through singularity portals from world to world, and the ultra-rich even have houses connected by them with rooms on different planets!!! ("I''m going to Mars to make breakfast!")

Now imagine this universe after that technology collapses! Put as background parasitic AI intrigue, the mysterious destruction of Earth, and the re-emergence of a Catholic Church (!) packing a secret technology for resurrection, and you''ve got quite a strange setting.

To me, both the before and after impacts are *fascinating* and the post apocalyptic setting is my current game inspiration (w/o the Catholic Church, tho'' ).

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Just waiting for the mothership...

OK, I made some thinking, and here''s one I absolutely loved : the story of Alvin the Maker. by Orson Scott Card. Simply put, it''s based in the 17th century Americas, before the Independance war. The only twist to this historical setting, is the existance of Magic. Some people can see the future, some never got hurt because of some talisman, some know how to thread branches of trees to protect their house, etc. It just kick major ass. It''s the perfect example of how you can take something historical and make it damn interesting to play in.

To extend the example with my previous post. Take an interesting historical setting (is there a period of history that is boring ?), and simply make the beliefs of the people at that time be true. That is, when they used to believe in magic, just make magic exist... when they believed in unicorns and dragons, let there be dragons and unicorns roaming the depth of the forests e.g. Darklands, by Microprose, is based in the Dark ages Germany, with witches, dragons, fairy beings, and Saints that actually help you when you pray them ...