11-30-2015, 05:20 AM
There are three books in particular I have in mind that translate well to RPGs. And they can all be found for free in pdf format.
Essai Sur La Nature Du Commerce En General by Richard Cantillon. The great thing about this book, it's the first full treatment of economic theory ever created. It was written before the industrial revolution, pre-dating Adam Smith, so it has clear applications to a middle ages fantasy world. The opening chapters almost feel like it's a fantasy RPG world builders guide. The book wasn't just the theoretical work of an academic. Cantillon was a banker who made a vast fortune speculating on John Law's Mississippi Company on the way up. And another vast fortune speculating on its demise. Perhaps most amazingly, is in the later chapters, it has some advanced theory on things such as trade cycles which hold up in modern times as superior to the macroeconomics taught in universities. Look for the 2010 translation, the one edited by Mark Thornton, as its aim was to preserve Cantillon's ideas more than his dated language.
The Secret of Selling Anything by Harry Browne. The first half of this book reads more like philosophy and debunks many of the sales myths that dominate the profession, fitting in the theme of transitioning from what's merely accepted theory to the way the real world actually works. This is complemented by the latter half which outlines his 5-step selling system, which is very similar to the one I generalized for use in RPGs as contests of social skills.
A Short History of Man by Hans-Hermann Hoppe. When I read this book, it reminded me a lot of the World of Greyhawk boxed set where it details the ancient migration patterns of the different human races. Although Hoppe's book is specifically about real Earth pre-history, he spells out the principles of human action that apply and his reasoning process rather than merely rattling off the facts. If the first thing you do is create a world map for your campaign, the next step should be following the patterns laid out in this book to help you plot out in broad strokes the outline of your world's prehistory so the way it is populated in the present is both consistent and varied.
As you may or may not have noticed, my particular focus is on the human element of RPGs. For historical artifacts, geographies, ancient mysteries, there are already an overwhelming number of easily accessible resources for that. For fantasy worlds, I also like quasi-conspiratorial stuff like the mystery of Frisland, hollow Earth theory, or Neal Adams' Growing Earth theory. (I should note, some actual geologists do agree that the evidence points to a growing Earth, but what makes Neal Adams' work so great is the quality of his animations are good for sparking the imagination to give you ideas for creating your own world maps.) But speaking specifically of human action, that brings me to a fourth book that may not translate to RPGs without a lot of effort, but nonetheless lays down some great philosophy that gives a lot of insight.
Human Action by Ludwig von Mises. This is the book where you really get deep into the means-ends relationship of human action. It holds a different view of what is meant by "rational action"--namely a broader view, so that unlike neo-classic view of what it means to be "rational", Misesian rationality is more applicable to the real world. One thing this book will definitely head off is arguments that begin when someone says "Your character wouldn't have done that. He would have done this instead." As human action is willed, not deterministic, there is no "correct" answer to what your character would do. Yet at the same time, human action is also not un-caused, so playing characters consistently does still have some meaning.
Essai Sur La Nature Du Commerce En General by Richard Cantillon. The great thing about this book, it's the first full treatment of economic theory ever created. It was written before the industrial revolution, pre-dating Adam Smith, so it has clear applications to a middle ages fantasy world. The opening chapters almost feel like it's a fantasy RPG world builders guide. The book wasn't just the theoretical work of an academic. Cantillon was a banker who made a vast fortune speculating on John Law's Mississippi Company on the way up. And another vast fortune speculating on its demise. Perhaps most amazingly, is in the later chapters, it has some advanced theory on things such as trade cycles which hold up in modern times as superior to the macroeconomics taught in universities. Look for the 2010 translation, the one edited by Mark Thornton, as its aim was to preserve Cantillon's ideas more than his dated language.
The Secret of Selling Anything by Harry Browne. The first half of this book reads more like philosophy and debunks many of the sales myths that dominate the profession, fitting in the theme of transitioning from what's merely accepted theory to the way the real world actually works. This is complemented by the latter half which outlines his 5-step selling system, which is very similar to the one I generalized for use in RPGs as contests of social skills.
A Short History of Man by Hans-Hermann Hoppe. When I read this book, it reminded me a lot of the World of Greyhawk boxed set where it details the ancient migration patterns of the different human races. Although Hoppe's book is specifically about real Earth pre-history, he spells out the principles of human action that apply and his reasoning process rather than merely rattling off the facts. If the first thing you do is create a world map for your campaign, the next step should be following the patterns laid out in this book to help you plot out in broad strokes the outline of your world's prehistory so the way it is populated in the present is both consistent and varied.
As you may or may not have noticed, my particular focus is on the human element of RPGs. For historical artifacts, geographies, ancient mysteries, there are already an overwhelming number of easily accessible resources for that. For fantasy worlds, I also like quasi-conspiratorial stuff like the mystery of Frisland, hollow Earth theory, or Neal Adams' Growing Earth theory. (I should note, some actual geologists do agree that the evidence points to a growing Earth, but what makes Neal Adams' work so great is the quality of his animations are good for sparking the imagination to give you ideas for creating your own world maps.) But speaking specifically of human action, that brings me to a fourth book that may not translate to RPGs without a lot of effort, but nonetheless lays down some great philosophy that gives a lot of insight.
Human Action by Ludwig von Mises. This is the book where you really get deep into the means-ends relationship of human action. It holds a different view of what is meant by "rational action"--namely a broader view, so that unlike neo-classic view of what it means to be "rational", Misesian rationality is more applicable to the real world. One thing this book will definitely head off is arguments that begin when someone says "Your character wouldn't have done that. He would have done this instead." As human action is willed, not deterministic, there is no "correct" answer to what your character would do. Yet at the same time, human action is also not un-caused, so playing characters consistently does still have some meaning.