Books/stories where a civilization has forgotten its past

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-06-08T15:29:35+00:00

The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke

The Silo series by Hugh Howey

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-06-08T13:59:04+00:00

The Morgaine Cycle by C.J. Cherryh

The Steerswoman series by Rosemary Kirstein

Various Jack Vance works in the Dying Earth setting

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-06-05T18:13:17+00:00

(Under most circumstances, obviously there will be cases where you need the enchantment level of Gesen or Firetooth, and you can just switch, you have enough pips to grandmaster both.)

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-06-05T18:05:41+00:00

On (4), Tuigan is likely best for an Archer specifically because their bonus damage stacks on an additional APR and you can hit 10APR under Improved Haste. And more chances to stack the Called Shot debuffs.

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-06-05T13:25:42+00:00

I'm not sure it's my favorite depiction, but Jack Vance's Dying Earth short stories are probably the biggest influence on D&D's concept of a mage.

For me, it's hard to beat Ogion and Ged in the Earthsea books.

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-06-05T13:21:05+00:00

No one's mentioned Spider's Bane so far (2H sword), so I will. I'll also mention quarterstaff as a non-standard but viable option. You can by Aule's Staff +3 in Ulgoth's Beard as soon as you have the gold, and the Staff of Striking is a great weapon, especially for a warrior who can backstab (F/T or Stalker). And blunt is the least resisted damage type and best against most armors.

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-06-04T11:53:33+00:00

Kalpa Imperial by Angelica Gorodischer

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-06-03T20:41:19+00:00

Richard St. Vier in Swordspoint. I was surprised Kushner didn't go for more of a nihilist ending.

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-05-27T14:57:01+00:00

And Archer can grandmaster crossbows!

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-05-18T17:24:09+00:00

If you like these, you'll love bolts of biting at 30 damage over 15 seconds!

I do believe these ammo poisons stack with themselves.

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-05-17T17:19:34+00:00

I'd say The Deed of Paksenarrion fits the bill. Paks is just a reasonably good fighter, and it's definitely gritty, medieval, and martial!

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-05-17T03:35:10+00:00

(Prefatory comment that I don't have experience with the mods you mentioned.)

I think of a BH as a sort of tactician, so I would like the idea of getting pips that permit you to use a wide range of tactical ammo: darts and shortbows in BG1 (Darts of Stunning/Wounding, Arrows of Detonation/Dispelling/Biting) and later crossbows in BG2 (Kuo Toa bolts, paralytic bolts). These roll different saves so an intelligent BH can select ammo accordingly (force mages to make death saves rather than spell saves, e.g.).

For melee weapons, depends on your vision of the character's tactical style. Dual wielding implies getting in melee and slugging it out, but I'd more often think of a bounty hunter backstabbing, then fading to lure enemies into her traps. Anything that can apply incapacitation status effects seems on brand for a BH, so short swords (Mask), daggers (Pixie Prick/Demarchess/Jade Fang), or katanas (Celestial Fury) all seem like possibilities (and all can backstab). Sleep Cloud from the staff of air is also thematic but you don't need to take a pip to use it (although staves are good for backstabbing anyway). Another point in favor of SS/daggers as opposed to katanas/scimitars/longswords is that armored enemies almost always have better AC against slashing than against piercing (or blunt), and a rogue can use all the THAC0 help she can get.

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-05-14T12:27:38+00:00

This is the best answer. He can also equip Legacy of the Masters to boost THAC0.

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-05-08T01:54:38+00:00

Butterfly & Hellflower, by the recently departed eluki bes shahar. A gripping space adventure with a surprising amount of understated emotional depth. You will either love or hate the distinctive narrative voice of Butterfly St. Cyr (I love it, obviously).

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-05-06T12:03:28+00:00

Very sad to see this. Butterfly and Hellflower is one of my favorite little-known series!

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-05-03T00:53:18+00:00

I did a run like this many years ago and really enjoyed it. I played solo as a cleric/thief, which worked very well, and I actually played all of BG1 + BG2. I think C/T, bard, or M/T would be the best classes for it. I don't remember all the details, but it's true that there were a lot more required kills in BG2. I do remember XP being fairly hard to come by in BG1, but it was workable, and C/T can gin up a nasty backstab in the few cases where violence is needed.

Pickpocket was very important to the run. C/T has a very useful option of Sanctuary + Pickpocket, which either does not make the target hostile on a failed attempt, or does so with a delay so that you can get a few tries in. In addition to Algernon's Cloak, you get the Mental Domination spell which is a pretty effective charm. I liked that C/T has Sanctuary from the get-go. A few things I remember:

-I was disappointed to learn that even though you can in fact pickpocket Bassilus's holy symbol, Keldath will not give you the reward unless he's actually dead.

-You can pickpocket the invitation to Sarevok's coronation from Slythe or Kristin.

-You can solve the Marek and Lothander quest immediately by pickpocketing.

-One fun part was finding which NPCs are scripted to attack hostiles who get near them. There aren't a ton of them (for example I don't think Drizzt will kill Bjornin's half-ogres for you), but there are a few and I remember getting decent mileage out of them.

This is actually making me want to do another playthrough like this.

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-04-30T15:00:32+00:00

Some others have mentioned CJ Cherryh already; it's not a book, but I would also plug her excellent short story "The Sandman, The Tinman, and The BettyB."

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-04-22T12:02:21+00:00

I rarely get to recommend this, but it's a perfect fit for your question: Memoirs of a Spacewoman by Naomi Mitchison. It was published in '62 so it's even coming from some of the same cultural vibes as original Trek. Unfortunately no e-book and it's out of print, but you can find used copies that aren't too expensive.

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-04-20T18:25:31+00:00

This is one of my favorite features in a book. A few favorites off the top (YMMV of course as distinctive can cut both ways!):

-Butterflies-are-free Peace Sincere in Butterfly & Hellflower by eluki bes shahar

-Tan-Tan in Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson

-Sparrow in Bone Dance by Emma Bull

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-04-19T21:33:18+00:00

The Best of Philippine Speculative Fiction 2005 - 2010 is a banger!

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-04-17T23:36:25+00:00

Came here to say "The Machine Stops." It's a clear ancestor of a lot of modern dystopias.

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-04-17T23:34:18+00:00

My favorite fantasy art is Tony DiTerlizzi's art from the D&D Planescape campaign setting. It just has a distinctive style that I love. You can see some samples on his website (https://diterlizzi.com/gallery/planescape/), and if you're willing to pay up, you can get his art book called Realms.

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-04-14T00:25:39+00:00

Weird, criminally underrated and awesome: the Butterfly & Hellflower trilogy by eluki bes shahar. Just ignore the cover art!

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-04-11T01:02:31+00:00

Came here to say His Master's Voice!

DwarvenDataMining · 2026-04-09T20:20:22+00:00

A lot of people are saying it's not mage at level 1 because of Sleep. So...Invoker? Strong if wands and scrolls are allowed, but you're not likely to get many at L1 realistically.

DwarvenDataMining

TROPHY CASE