Sprig,
If you'll notice what I wrote above:
I suspect that the novels aren't that great, however.
You'll see that that I used the word 'suspect.' Â And, on the very next line, I note that I could be wrong--precisely because I've never read the books. Â However, if the characters are the same as they are in the movies, then they're just not very original. Â Now, they might have been original in Japan at the time they came out, but that was probably because most people over there hadn't read the same stories from America that the author was borrowing his characters from.
People read fantasy BECAUSE of the originality, Sprig. Â And, indeed, I think you could call me an expert on what makes good fantasy. Â I get paid large amounts to be an expert on what makes good fantasy. Â
Right now, a large part of what makes good fantasy is original worldbuilding. Â Lodoss didn't have that. Â If those books got released in the US right now, they probably wouldn't sell very well. Â I could be wrong--perhaps they're far better than I assume.
However, how much better might the stories have been if, instead of lifting characters from other places, the stories had been more original? Â
You don't have to be completely new to be original. Â But, come on. Â Grumpy dwarf? Â Mysterious elf? Â Youthful, untested--but earnest--human hero? Â Wise-cracking thief? Â You don't have to stretch very far to get away from these worn-out cliches. Â
(Note, Sprig. I'm trying hard not to rag on Lodoss too much, since I actually liked the mangas a lot--the second more than the first. I'm just trying to tell newer writers why they probably won't have much success trying to publish a story based on their RPG setting.)