Quote from IamSposta >> 

All the time.

Same thing here. Most of the time, I'm doing this subconsciously. However, I also often intentionally borrow from real life jokes, fantasy themes and tropes, and archetypes from books like Lord of the Rings.

The main problem being able to remember all the bits in order to use them.

Quote from SirTawmis >>

Question: As a DM (or Player) - do you take inspiration from anything (outside of the game source books) for your world (or your characters)?

 Do Princess Bride quotes count as “inspiration?” Because I’m hard pressed to make it through a session without saying/hearing one. 

Quote from Xalthu >>

Quote from SirTawmis >>

Question: As a DM (or Player) - do you take inspiration from anything (outside of the game source books) for your world (or your characters)?

 Do Princess Bride quotes count as “inspiration?” Because I’m hard pressed to make it through a session without saying/hearing one. 

Not if you are from Guilder.  

You know how they are over there.

All right - I should have been more clear with my Question. I should have added, "And if so, from where?" So that folks could discuss their various inspirations.

So I guess I will sub question that, since there seems to be an overwhelming yes - What is something that you drew inspiration from (either as a DM or player) - that seems, otherwise, unusual (as it's not fantasy based specifically)? So for example pulling from Tolkien, Elder Scrolls, etc., wouldn't be too unusual. However, perhaps pulling from Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter, while having "fantasy aspects" aren't "fantasy" settings, per se. So what are some unusual sources for some of your inspiration?

Quote from IamSposta >>

Question: How did you get into D&D?

 A few of us tried playing when we were 13 or 14. It was a train wreck. Nobody really knew what we were doing, nothing was prepared, our 13-14 year old DM was as unprepared as the rest of us, just a complete mess. But it was fun. And a couple of years later, when everyone had a better idea of what they were doing, we tried again. It went MUCH better that time. 

For me, it's a wonderful creative outlet. I've always liked writing and creating weird characters and the like, and this was/is a way to create one and then figure out how the Hell they fit into a world that I don't have total creative control over.

Quote from SirTawmis >>

All right - I should have been more clear with my Question. I should have added, "And if so, from where?" So that folks could discuss their various inspirations.

So I guess I will sub question that, since there seems to be an overwhelming yes - What is something that you drew inspiration from (either as a DM or player) - that seems, otherwise, unusual (as it's not fantasy based specifically)? So for example pulling from Tolkien, Elder Scrolls, etc., wouldn't be too unusual. However, perhaps pulling from Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter, while having "fantasy aspects" aren't "fantasy" settings, per se. So what are some unusual sources for some of your inspiration?

 
ok, so, the rules for creating the setting I finished today were: no sources published between 1920 and 1980. That grew out of the core goal of not using any of the influences cited in the 1e DMs Guide.

I then got a list of 200 items from all my players. And started bashing.

i *do* have Mortal Kombat. It is called the Dire Wars, and is part of the flow over from the war between the Shadow and the Nether (specifically the dimensions of Nightmares and Dreamscape), with the goal being to defeat the Cenobites in one on one mortal combat or they get to invade the world.

I have Horizon Zero Dawn: Rangers are influenced by Aloy, and there are dreadnaughts — constructs from the God’s War that are totally rip offs of all the stuff she fought. And that gives me a potential for Gundam…

I have magical girls and robot maids from anime. I have Gunslingers that blend King’s Roland with Gunnie Rose from Charlaine Harris. I have the cat ear and tail people from anime, lol.

outright stole the metal from the Elemental Assassin series to store mana — AND kit bashed it with Ancient Greece, lol. One of the Robot Maid people in a genderless one named Murderbot.

real world, I just troped Minoan Crete with Polynesia, and I shoved every single thing I could find into the Goblins to make them truly despicable. Or, more properly, I guess, deplorable.

Pretty sure something there fits, lol.

OH! I have captain Trips, the andromeda strain, the dang alien parasite from dreamcatcher.  All are diseases. 

my revision to magic is based on a combination of contemporary urban fantasy and anime.

Starblazers Comet Empire

Shadowrun Bug City

Question of the day: Do you have a good or simple recipe for an appetizer? 

Quote from Wysperra >>

Question of the day: Do you have a good or simple recipe for an appetizer? 

 
A cheeseboard is pretty easy to throw together and generally popular - a couple assorted cheeses, some fruit like apple slices and grapes, some crackers, and a sliced cured meat of some sort.  Everything is already effectively prepared, so all you really have to do is cut things up and put them out.

Quote from Wysperra >>

Question of the day: Do you have a good or simple recipe for an appetizer? 

1. Hard boil 1 dozen eggs. (If they’re just a little under, like “medium well” then so much the better.)
2. Let the eggs cool, halve them and extract the yolks into a bowl, reserving the whites.
3. To the yolks, mix in:
   • 2 1 Tbs of Dijon mustard
   • 1 Tbs of Mayonnaise (or sour cream)
   • 2 Tbs of finely minced onion
   • 1 tsp of finely chopped fresh parsley
   • ¼ tsp of ground hot Hungarian paprika (or cayenne)
   • Salt and pepper to taste
4. Return yolk mixture to the egg whites with a spoon or piping bag, sprinkle with paprika and serve.

Enjoy

Quote from Caerwyn_Glyndwr >>

Quote from Wysperra >>

Question of the day: Do you have a good or simple recipe for an appetizer? 

 
A cheeseboard is pretty easy to throw together and generally popular - a couple assorted cheeses, some fruit like apple slices and grapes, some crackers, and a sliced cured meat of some sort.  Everything is already effectively prepared, so all you really have to do is cut things up and put them out.

 
If you wanna be fancy shmancy, add some fig preserve and Marcona Almonds. And make one of the cheeses a spreadable cheese, refrigerate it so it’s really cold and easy to work with, form it into a log and roll it in dried cranberries, wrap in cling wrap and chill overnight. Then you can remove the cling and slice that and arrange it on your cheese board and it looks like you bought the thing if your knife cuts on everything else are good.

Quote from Wysperra >>

Question of the day: Do you have a good or simple recipe for an appetizer? 

Traditional: Deviled Eggs (extra fancy in California now), cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches.

Deviled Eggs: hard boil 2 eggs per person, Split them lengthwise gently remove the yolks, and even more gently wash the white and pat dry, laying them out on your serving plate.

In a bowl, combine the deviled eggs with mustard, mayonnaise, salt, pepper. Mix well into a thick paste, and pipe into the shells. Sprinkle with paprika.

Cucumber sandwiches.  peel, core and remove seeds from several large cucumbers. mince the hell out of them, like you were a barbarian that stubbed their toe and only had tiny knives. combine with softened cream cheese and a tiny bit of salt to make a spread.

Using soft bread, remove the crusts and coat with a 1/8th inch thick layer of the spread (piping is very useful here), and then cut into small sandwiches. Lay out on a serving tray, then store for an hour before hand to allow the cream cheese to firm up again.

Those are what came to my mind immediately (because they are traditional). Do you have a theme in mind or perhaps a more specific goal of what you want in an appetizer? 

For when we have game nights in person (which is always a big production because I only have one spare bed and it is a lot of people who cross state lines), i will often toss a bag of frozen meatballs into a pot with crushed tomatoes, seasonings, and a bit of stock to make a big old pot of meatballs one can eat with a toothpick (or, in my case, tiny forks, lol) from a pile sprinkled with cheese.

If I know I will be doing some smoking beforehand, I will do a bunch of very small make-your-own tacos, or I will set up taco filling and spend an afternoon making taquitos, but using egg roll wrappers and offering salsa, cheese, and so forth for dips.

LOL.

Deviled Eggs are always so popular, and if they weren't like 8 bucks a dozen here I would be making them more often. IamSposta's recipe is much more formal than mine (but I am the cook that says "eh, that looks good".

You could also do mini frybreads. Or buy the tortilla chip wounds and make individual tostadas.

I have recipes for everything -- I just need to know more about what I am doing, lol. During one game overnight I had 9 courses of nothing but "dumplings". 22 different kinds of dumplings, each course had to have 35 of the buggers because there were so many people, and I still ran out of food. Was easier doing the omelettes and waffles the next morning.

Quote from Wysperra >>

Question of the day: Do you have a good or simple recipe for an appetizer? 

If you want something in that limbo between "appy" and "meal", bagel pizzas are easy. Slice bagels in half or quarters, add cheese slices and whatever other toppings you like, pop in oven until melty and yummy

Quote from AEDorsay>>

LOL.

Deviled Eggs are always so popular, and if they weren't like 8 bucks a dozen here I would be making them more often. IamSposta's recipe is much more formal than mine (but I am the cook that says "eh, that looks good".

I used to be in the restaurant and catering industry for about 10 years before I switched carriers. 

Follow up question, are deviled eggs served at all levels of your game's Nine Hells or just particular levels?

Quote from SirTawmis >>

Question: As a DM (or Player) - do you take inspiration from anything (outside of the game source books) for your world (or your characters)?

 Absolutely!  My current campaign borrows elements from Dune, LotR, Elder Scrolls, and the SCP wiki...and if I'm being honest, both Discworld and Hitchhikers (I'm an innately silly person as a DM, and even my super serious moments get hung up with the absurd at times).

Quote from MidnightPlat >>

Follow up question, are deviled eggs served at all levels of your game's Nine Hells or just particular levels?

 Ahem... *cracks knuckles*

Deviled eggs are only served at formal occasions -- Debuts, Masquerades, Balls -- held on the upper three levels of the Dimension of Hell within the Infernal Plane, as lower orders of Devils should be far too busy striving to occupy the Mortal Realm known as The Bleak to get a leg up on those dang Demons from over in the Dimension of the Abyss.

Deviled eggs are a rare delicacy, as this rare that one can Devil roosters to lay them, and no one is foolish enough to try and take an egg from a Devil hen. That's just plain foolish. The roosters are much small, and they don't attempt to eat you when you collect.

Also, it is believed that the lower orders may be offended by the ingredients of Deviled Eggs.

I hope that helps. I asked Meritania of The Bleak -- a kind of off brand version of Dark Sun, now that I think about it -- for the info. 

Each Plane has four Dimensions, of which one is always a Mortal Realm -- and all of them are "Reflections/Shadows/Echoes" of the main one. Devils occupy roughly the same space as the Fey do, and Hell is that Plane's version of the Feywild.

Going beyond the Pale and crossing the Veil is always tiring.

Quote from SirTawmis >>

Question: As a DM (or Player) - do you take inspiration from anything (outside of the game source books) for your world (or your characters)?

Forgot this one.  Absolutely; but I've yet to find a way to put the classic SNL Olympia Deli "Cheeseburger, cheeseburger" sketch.  I think it's going to involve deviled eggs.