I've got an idea. I'm gonna draw on my D&D experience.. and I think I'm gonna start on a book about Centaurs. It's not something that's done all the time.. and I think it might be kinda cool.
Good luck with this project. When you say D&D experience, how much of the elements of the game are going to carry over into your work? Obvious;y nothing that breaches copyrights unless it's a fan fiction, but just curious. (Yes, I used to play back in the day myself )
"Writing excuses" have made one or two podcasts of writing and roleplaying that might be worth listening to.
Centaurs are cool. Well... they will be when you publish this! I say go for it. As long as you don't use names or obvious gameplay mechanics, then it's fair game to write in a similar sort of world to one you might use in a D&D campaign, because it's a generic fantasy landscape and everyone can use a generic fantasy landscape. It's been pretty much fair game since Lord of the Rings came out. People just find this that or the other way to make it their own. Unless you write about Centaurs living in upmarket New York. That'd be hella cool.
One point to consider - why centaurs? If it's just because they have horse's bodies, make sure you keep it relevant to the plot or the characters will just end up reading like humans - the reader may very well forget they are centaurs at all. The question is - what is it about centaurs' characters that makes them unique? Elves are special in that way because, among other things, their immortality makes them arrogant and, because they get very bored, they are troublesome - it's not because they have pointy ears. Who really remembers they have pointy ears anyway? When have the ears ever been relevant to a plot?
Just never say the centaurs are out grazing in the field. I spent a thousand sleepless nights after reading that trying to figure out how, anatomically, that would work. I mean orchards, sure. Or a word besides 'grazing'...
My first experiences at world building came from years of DMing back when RPG still meant paper, dice, pizza, and Jolt. It was natural to transfer elements of the worlds that I had created to fiction when I started writing fantasy stuff. As has been said, just make sure that it is your own and you are fine. Most of the stuff in AD&D (Now I guess it is all just D&D again.) was ripped off by Gygax and the others from other sources anyway. (My copy of Deities and Demigods contains Melnibonean deities, Cthulu, Newhon--not terribly original of TSR. Now the later D&D books contain a lot more original stuff--the gods, a lot of monsters, places etc. are all property of WotC, most of the borrowed material has been eliminated.
And how can they have six extremities if they are mammals?! Centaurs can be interesting, though. They seem very proud and knowledgeable.
