Forgive me if this is the wrong forum for this question, but I feel this is the best place to ask.
Are tabletop gaming manuals and rule books a good tool for creating characters for an original book or story? Would they be a good tool for world building and creating magic systems? I have a few half formed, bare-bones ideas for a few characters and a potential world and I would like to find something that might help me flesh out my characters.
If those books would be a good tool, which set/game would be best?