Gods no. Making it an RPG mechanics setting would be a terrible idea. Just have someone suggest the wizard drop a fireball and they reply that they have to rest before they can cast a spell that powerful again. Do not have the characters openly aware of Vancian spellcasting or other RPG mechanics.
Then it is not D&D, but just another fantasy movie with the tag D&D slapped onto it.
Completely agree. There are going to be a lot of people familiar with D&D lore who will get a kick out of seeing Szass Tam or Neverwinter on screen, but you can go your entire TTRPG career without ever learning they exist if you play homebrew or certain modules. The canonical characters and established settings are not why most people play D&D - the game itself is why we love it. Throwing a bunch of Salvatore IP at a script doesn't make it a D&D movie - it just makes it yet another in a long line of (usually disappointing) fantasy novel adaptations.
I feel like I would be more excited about this movie if it was just called Forgotten Realms or something. It's clearly just going to be a story set in that universe, rather than a story about DnD, and pretending that a Forgotten Realms story is synonymous with DnD diminishes both.
EDIT: I will say that I liked how the survey had a section about how happy you'd be with certain concepts showing up in the movie, and one of those concepts is "the characters go to prison after doing a bad thing." It may be because I pictured them going to prison for doing something abysmally stupid, though - that would be the most DnD thing I can imagine.
Making meta information, like dice rolls or spellslots, part of the movie is a no go for me personally. This is behavior I don’t even like at the table. A spell caster can just say that they are out of power/ exhausted or whatever without stating meta game terms.
Or, they could go the opposite, and go full anime and shout out what they are doing as they do it “Diviiiiiiine Smite!!!” or “Actionnnn Suuuurge!!!” And “Bonus Action: Disengage!!!”
That would be kind of great. Probably for about 1 minute before it got boring and annoying. But for that one minute, magnificent.
The rather successful Vox Machina (sitting at a fairly high 8.4 on IMDB) show begs to differ; it isn’t even branded with D&D, but it’s very clearly a “D&D show”.
It has spells that are instantly recognisable from D&D, characters who play recognisable races and classes, and moments where the entire party just completely fails to do something like open a door, indicative of the streaks of bad dice roles, and monsters everyone recognises. Their show doesn’t do things like talk about action surges or spell slots or whatnot - nor do they need to.
Something like that - where it provides nods to actual gameplay, without explicitly referencing mechanical elements of rules - could work rather well, provided it is implemented with a degree of finesse.
Although wizard is my favorite class, Viscious Mockery is one of my favorite spells. From the survey, it seems like the bard might not be able to cast magic, and Viscious Mockery was not even mentioned at all.
While Fireball may be iconic to D&D players, I think Viscious Mockery is going to stand out more among the casual crowd and newcomers. Fire magic and stopping time are good to have in a D&D movie, but it is not going to make the movie stand out. I think dealing the final blow to a boss with a "Yo Mama" joke or some creative profanity is what sets D&D apart.
I was speaking writing euphemistically about “everyone’s favorite” spell. As you pointed out, it is one of the most, if not the most iconic spell in the game. Luckily for me, my favorite spell in D&D was among those listed.
The rather successful Vox Machina (sitting at a fairly high 8.4 on IMDB) show begs to differ; it isn’t even branded with D&D, but it’s very clearly a “D&D show”.
It has spells that are instantly recognisable from D&D, characters who play recognisable races and classes, and moments where the entire party just completely fails to do something like open a door, indicative of the streaks of bad dice roles, and monsters everyone recognises. Their show doesn’t do things like talk about action surges or spell slots or whatnot - nor do they need to.
Something like that - where it provides nods to actual gameplay, without explicitly referencing mechanical elements of rules - could work rather well, provided it is implemented with a degree of finesse.
LOL...you are suggesting a CR product has anything remotely to do with a real D&D game?
Well... they use classes and races that are pretty DnD specific, there are many uses of a renamed-but-recognizable Bigby's Hand spell, and they spend an extended period of time trying and failing to get through a single locked door up to and including taking damage because they failed so badly, which... DnD players are gonna understand, man.
Have you seen the question about other fantasy franchises? Tolkien, Witcher, Game of Thrones, Warcraft, but also God of War, League of Legends, Assasin's Creed and Elder Scrolls. Do you think they could be sounding out about potential licences? I guess a Warcraft 5Ed by WotC themself may be possible.
Have you seen the question about other fantasy franchises? Tolkien, Witcher, Game of Thrones, Warcraft, but also God of War, League of Legends, Assasin's Creed and Elder Scrolls. Do you think they could be sounding out about potential licences? I guess a Warcraft 5Ed by WotC themself may be possible.
Wizards has started releasing Magic: the Gathering products under their “Universes Beyond” banner - they have done some Walking Dead, Stranger Things, and Street Fighter products and will be releasing Lord of the Rings and Warhammer 40k Magic products in the future.
In a recent investor meeting, Hasbro noted that these Magic products have been really successful, and floated the possibility of using the “D&D system” as the basis for a similar set of releases for D&D. In the past, Hasbro has also floated the idea of using the D&D System to make spin-off games for some of their own other properties, like GI Joe, Transformers, of My Little Pony.
That said, they could also just be trying to use the survey to know what type of TV/Movie tone folks like (I couldn’t take the survey, so would have to know the specific question to be able to provide additional thoughts).
The rather successful Vox Machina (sitting at a fairly high 8.4 on IMDB) show begs to differ; it isn’t even branded with D&D, but it’s very clearly a “D&D show”.
It has spells that are instantly recognisable from D&D, characters who play recognisable races and classes, and moments where the entire party just completely fails to do something like open a door, indicative of the streaks of bad dice roles, and monsters everyone recognises. Their show doesn’t do things like talk about action surges or spell slots or whatnot - nor do they need to.
Something like that - where it provides nods to actual gameplay, without explicitly referencing mechanical elements of rules - could work rather well, provided it is implemented with a degree of finesse.
LOL...you are suggesting a CR product has anything remotely to do with a real D&D game?
Well... they use classes and races that are pretty DnD specific, there are many uses of a renamed-but-recognizable Bigby's Hand spell, and they spend an extended period of time trying and failing to get through a single locked door up to and including taking damage because they failed so badly, which... DnD players are gonna understand, man.
Legend of Vox Machina did a really good job of not just telling an interesting story, but telling that story in a way that was very recognizably D&D-ish
Then again, the people steering the ship had a lot of experience with both sides of that equation
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I have thought Hasbro wants D&D to be as Fortnite, the king of crossovers. They sell licenced version of board games, then..why not a TTRPG of Fortnite: Save the World d20 for example? 5Ed is not enough ready to find the right power balance if we add firearms or high-tech. Characters from "Street Fighters" can face "Overwatch", or fighters from "Mortal Kombat" can't face without firearms the monsters from "Doom". An universal d20 system for all genres: fantasy, horror, superheroes, space opera and being compatible is a serious challenge for the game designers.
A Star Wars d20 is totally possible, the things are different if you try to add elements from one to other game.
Firearms could be more easily balanced with a crossover IP simply because then all the weapons could be designed to be compatible with them from the getgo.
I think there's about a 50-50 chance it's been well done, honestly.
When they announced Chris Pine, I lost all hope. It will be a generic AAA movie that just check the same checkboxes as all those movies and that you forget after one week.
I have thought Hasbro wants D&D to be as Fortnite, the king of crossovers. They sell licenced version of board games, then..why not a TTRPG of Fortnite: Save the World d20 for example? 5Ed is not enough ready to find the right power balance if we add firearms or high-tech. Characters from "Street Fighters" can face "Overwatch", or fighters from "Mortal Kombat" can't face without firearms the monsters from "Doom". An universal d20 system for all genres: fantasy, horror, superheroes, space opera and being compatible is a serious challenge for the game designers.
A Star Wars d20 is totally possible, the things are different if you try to add elements from one to other game.
It sounds like you may not be aware that WotC has in fact significant experience using the mechanical basis of 3/3.5 for a number of genres, including a critically acclaimed rules set for Star Wars many TTRPG Star Wars fans still swear by over a decade after the license went elsewhere (it took them two tries but still, and the 3.0 based game wasn't necessarily "bad" it just wasn't as awesome as the 3.5 driving Saga edition). One of the things that happened when Hasbro acquired WotC is getting the D&D design studio to knock all that generic system basis stuff off and focus on Dungeons and Dragons (let 3rd parties try to push 5e's d20 mechanic into other directions under the SRD).
But this is a thread about an actual D&D movie and a survey likely trying to gauge how to sizzle the D&D fanbase into a hype machine. I was actually hoping we might see trailers around Memorial Day, but with this Survey I'm guessing July 4 weekend or whenever Thor comes out.
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Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
It is a survey about the movie, maybe they want feedback to produce the coolest and most interesting trailer, but I wanted to focus about possible clues about future marketing strategies.
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Completely agree. There are going to be a lot of people familiar with D&D lore who will get a kick out of seeing Szass Tam or Neverwinter on screen, but you can go your entire TTRPG career without ever learning they exist if you play homebrew or certain modules. The canonical characters and established settings are not why most people play D&D - the game itself is why we love it. Throwing a bunch of Salvatore IP at a script doesn't make it a D&D movie - it just makes it yet another in a long line of (usually disappointing) fantasy novel adaptations.
I feel like I would be more excited about this movie if it was just called Forgotten Realms or something. It's clearly just going to be a story set in that universe, rather than a story about DnD, and pretending that a Forgotten Realms story is synonymous with DnD diminishes both.
EDIT: I will say that I liked how the survey had a section about how happy you'd be with certain concepts showing up in the movie, and one of those concepts is "the characters go to prison after doing a bad thing." It may be because I pictured them going to prison for doing something abysmally stupid, though - that would be the most DnD thing I can imagine.
Or, they could go the opposite, and go full anime and shout out what they are doing as they do it “Diviiiiiiine Smite!!!” or “Actionnnn Suuuurge!!!” And “Bonus Action: Disengage!!!”
That would be kind of great. Probably for about 1 minute before it got boring and annoying. But for that one minute, magnificent.
The rather successful Vox Machina (sitting at a fairly high 8.4 on IMDB) show begs to differ; it isn’t even branded with D&D, but it’s very clearly a “D&D show”.
It has spells that are instantly recognisable from D&D, characters who play recognisable races and classes, and moments where the entire party just completely fails to do something like open a door, indicative of the streaks of bad dice roles, and monsters everyone recognises. Their show doesn’t do things like talk about action surges or spell slots or whatnot - nor do they need to.
Something like that - where it provides nods to actual gameplay, without explicitly referencing mechanical elements of rules - could work rather well, provided it is implemented with a degree of finesse.
I was
speakingwriting euphemistically about “everyone’s favorite” spell. As you pointed out, it is one of the most, if not the most iconic spell in the game. Luckily for me, my favorite spell in D&D was among those listed.Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
Well... they use classes and races that are pretty DnD specific, there are many uses of a renamed-but-recognizable Bigby's Hand spell, and they spend an extended period of time trying and failing to get through a single locked door up to and including taking damage because they failed so badly, which... DnD players are gonna understand, man.
Have you seen the question about other fantasy franchises? Tolkien, Witcher, Game of Thrones, Warcraft, but also God of War, League of Legends, Assasin's Creed and Elder Scrolls. Do you think they could be sounding out about potential licences? I guess a Warcraft 5Ed by WotC themself may be possible.
Wizards has started releasing Magic: the Gathering products under their “Universes Beyond” banner - they have done some Walking Dead, Stranger Things, and Street Fighter products and will be releasing Lord of the Rings and Warhammer 40k Magic products in the future.
In a recent investor meeting, Hasbro noted that these Magic products have been really successful, and floated the possibility of using the “D&D system” as the basis for a similar set of releases for D&D. In the past, Hasbro has also floated the idea of using the D&D System to make spin-off games for some of their own other properties, like GI Joe, Transformers, of My Little Pony.
That said, they could also just be trying to use the survey to know what type of TV/Movie tone folks like (I couldn’t take the survey, so would have to know the specific question to be able to provide additional thoughts).
Legend of Vox Machina did a really good job of not just telling an interesting story, but telling that story in a way that was very recognizably D&D-ish
Then again, the people steering the ship had a lot of experience with both sides of that equation
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
I have thought Hasbro wants D&D to be as Fortnite, the king of crossovers. They sell licenced version of board games, then..why not a TTRPG of Fortnite: Save the World d20 for example? 5Ed is not enough ready to find the right power balance if we add firearms or high-tech. Characters from "Street Fighters" can face "Overwatch", or fighters from "Mortal Kombat" can't face without firearms the monsters from "Doom". An universal d20 system for all genres: fantasy, horror, superheroes, space opera and being compatible is a serious challenge for the game designers.
A Star Wars d20 is totally possible, the things are different if you try to add elements from one to other game.
Firearms could be more easily balanced with a crossover IP simply because then all the weapons could be designed to be compatible with them from the getgo.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
When they announced Chris Pine, I lost all hope. It will be a generic AAA movie that just check the same checkboxes as all those movies and that you forget after one week.
It sounds like you may not be aware that WotC has in fact significant experience using the mechanical basis of 3/3.5 for a number of genres, including a critically acclaimed rules set for Star Wars many TTRPG Star Wars fans still swear by over a decade after the license went elsewhere (it took them two tries but still, and the 3.0 based game wasn't necessarily "bad" it just wasn't as awesome as the 3.5 driving Saga edition). One of the things that happened when Hasbro acquired WotC is getting the D&D design studio to knock all that generic system basis stuff off and focus on Dungeons and Dragons (let 3rd parties try to push 5e's d20 mechanic into other directions under the SRD).
But this is a thread about an actual D&D movie and a survey likely trying to gauge how to sizzle the D&D fanbase into a hype machine. I was actually hoping we might see trailers around Memorial Day, but with this Survey I'm guessing July 4 weekend or whenever Thor comes out.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
It is a survey about the movie, maybe they want feedback to produce the coolest and most interesting trailer, but I wanted to focus about possible clues about future marketing strategies.