Fairy tales and folk lore provide great inspiration for Dungeons & Dragons. Most fantasy fiction borrows from what has come before it in some shape or form. It is only the rare work that is truly unique that redefines our expectations. When creating your adventures borrowing from fairy tales is a way to take something old and familiar, twist it, and use it against your players.
Movies and television are great for portraying fantastic locations. I can still recall the sense of wonder I first felt when I saw the Argonath while watching The Fellowship of the Ring. With equal wonder I recall the first time I saw Naboo and the massive waterfall that cascaded away from the city. These two scenes fill me with wonder and a sense of adventure. Of course movies and television have the advantage of being primarily visual mediums. As a DM we use words more than visuals, this doesn’t mean we are limited in what locations we portray to our players. We are merely limited by our imaginations.
This is the second in a series that focuses on the Adventure Builder Workshop held at GenCon this past August. The first in the series focused on the villain, today we turn our attention to locations.