Are we on the cusp of a Tabletop Hollywood moment?

[bloodtide]

I am.not sure what distinction you are drawing here. Especially since you admitted you don't know about games. What do you think is different between these things?

I see a game very different from a novel, show or movie. A game is just something you play. The novel, show and movie have a story and all.

Like, ok, a game rulebook sits on a table. Someone 1000 miles away writes a fantasy story and sells it. So person number two comes in and puts the name of of the RPG on the cover. So, ok, now this randomly written novel is a "game novel".

I don't get the "lump everything together for no reason" myself.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

Someone missed the 90s metaplot craze...

Can you name one of the characters that stopped the High Lord of Earth (Torg). Can you say how they achieved it?

 

[Reynard]

Can you name one of the characters that stopped the High Lord of Earth (Torg). Can you say how they achieved it?

I didn't play Torg. What's your point?

 

[Reynard]

I see a game very different from a novel, show or movie. A game is just something you play. The novel, show and movie have a story and all.

Like, ok, a game rulebook sits on a table. Someone 1000 miles away writes a fantasy story and sells it. So person number two comes in and puts the name of of the RPG on the cover. So, ok, now this randomly written novel is a "game novel".

I don't get the "lump everything together for no reason" myself.

A game can have a story. Many have done so, not least the games that unseated AD&D in the 90s (Vampire and Magic, in case you're wondering). Especially in RPGs where word count was king,novel length metaplots ran through the supplements. And that's not even talking about the actual novels written for and from and to the game materials.

This idea that games as Intellectual Properties not having inherent stories is obviously and blatantly disingenuous. At our tables we might not want the story to be written before hand (and even that's obviously not true for all, given how common railroad adventures are even today). But even WotC presents its flagship D&D in the context of story when it presents itself to the world at large.

 

[MNblockhead]

There is plenty of story inspired by TTRPGs. Dragon Lance or a series based on Drizzt could both do well if given the Amazon/Netflix treatment.

The Ravenloft module could be made into an excellent miniseries.

A good team of writers could pick from a large number of iconic D&D modules and come up with good characters and write a compelling story based on the module setting.

Budgets have been blown on movies based on board games for gods sake. Clue, Battleship, Fooze Ball, Candy Land, etc. If there is enough name recognition and nostalgia, there is money to be made. D&D is really the only TTRPG with the name recognition to take full advantage of this, but if the D&D movie succeeds and spawns sequels and TV series, other properties are likely to be mined.

After D&D, I would love to see a series based on Paranoia. With the right mix of slap stick humor, dystopian dread, and weirdness it could make for a compelling series that feels fresh and timely. We don't have the cold war any more, but we have omnipresent connection to computers and a surveillance culture that makes 1984 feel quaint. True AI run amok would likely be far stranger than depicted in films like I Robot or Terminator and a Paranoia series would make for a fun way to explore this.

 

[Umbran]

Wait you don't know anything about RPGs?

Mod Note:
That's not what they said.

They said they are "not an expert". Do you wish to claim that anyone who is not an expert "doesn't know anything"? Because that claim would be patently false.

But, that is the claim you made. And then you continued on kind of condescendingly after that patently false claim.

Not a great look. You might want to think on that before continuing.

 

[trappedslider]

There is plenty of story inspired by TTRPGs. Dragon Lance or a series based on Drizzt could both do well if given the Amazon/Netflix treatment.

The Ravenloft module could be made into an excellent miniseries.

A good team of writers could pick from a large number of iconic D&D modules and come up with good characters and write a compelling story based on the module setting.

Tomb of Horrors would be fun to watch

After D&D, I would love to see a series based on Paranoia. With the right mix of slap stick humor, dystopian dread, and weirdness it could make for a compelling series that feels fresh and timely. We don't have the cold war any more, but we have omnipresent connection to computers and a surveillance culture that makes 1984 feel quaint. True AI run amok would likely be far stranger than depicted in films like I Robot or Terminator and a Paranoia series would make for a fun way to explore this.

Oh god, "how will the team kill each other this week?"

 

[Umbran]

I would guess that the built-in audience for a WoD game was bigger than that of the Stackhouse novels

You'd probably be wrong there - Sookie Stackhouse novels have sold over 30 million copies.

 

[Ryujin]

You'd probably be wrong there - Sookie Stackhouse novels have sold over 30 million copies.

Agreed. WoD makes the following claim:

"World of Darkness legacy consists of:

• Nearly 1,000 publications of the tabletop RPG series, with 10M+ units sold in 25+ countries and 9 languages"

Given that the "nearly 1,000 publications" relate to a single game system, that would limit their audience rather significantly. And that's making the assumption that the self-serving statement from their website is true.

 

[Reynard]

You'd probably be wrong there - Sookie Stackhouse novels have sold over 30 million copies.

I wonder how many were sold prior to True Blood.