Oryan77
Adventurer
As a DM, have you ever completely stolen a scenario and used it in your game as if it was your own idea? Or have you had a DM do that in a campaign you played in? If so, what was the scenario?
As a player, do you mind when a DM does this?
I'm talking about intentionally using a scenario that you saw in a movie, book, etc etc and ran it in the game. And I mean, completely imitating the scenario rather than using it as inspiration for your own ideas.
In one campaign I joined, my PC was presented with a playful wyrmling with a sense of humor. My PC was a wicked looking Tiefling Rogue (the much better original Planescape version that can have any physical characteristic you can think of). He was kind of a prick with a chip on his shoulder, so it was odd that out of the group, he was the one that the wyrmling became attached to.
But I rolled with it and still thought it was an interesting scenario. I even changed the way I was roleplaying my PC so the relationship with the wyrmling made more sense. The game only lasted about a month and I never heard from the DM again.
Then about a year later, my wife (gf at that time) popped in a VHS of the movie Mulan. I had never seen it before, and when this comedy relief wyrmling named Mushu appeared in the movie, I thought to myself, "Mushu? That was the same name as the wyrmling in the D&D game I played." And as I watched the movie, I even saw the character do/say similar things that the NPC did in the game. I realized the DM used this character in his game as if it was his own creation. The memory of that campaign became amazingly lame to me after that revelation. I lost a lot of respect for that DM.
I never considered doing this before because I would have felt a little ashamed of myself. I know it is extremely difficult to be original with anything, but to totally rip off an idea is just very lame to me. I don't want to play in a recreation of some TV show or movie. Especially when I'm approaching the game from a more serious attitude and the DM is using some goofy scenario he stole from a source because he thought it would be funny to recreate it in game. I don't mind playing a goofy game, but I prefer to know beforehand that this campaign isn't to be taken seriously. If I go into it knowing that the DM was recreating a scenario, I could probably let it slide. But I would still feel cheated if the DM tried to pass this stuff off as his own creation. That seems like something a child would do.
As a player, do you mind when a DM does this?
I'm talking about intentionally using a scenario that you saw in a movie, book, etc etc and ran it in the game. And I mean, completely imitating the scenario rather than using it as inspiration for your own ideas.
In one campaign I joined, my PC was presented with a playful wyrmling with a sense of humor. My PC was a wicked looking Tiefling Rogue (the much better original Planescape version that can have any physical characteristic you can think of). He was kind of a prick with a chip on his shoulder, so it was odd that out of the group, he was the one that the wyrmling became attached to.
But I rolled with it and still thought it was an interesting scenario. I even changed the way I was roleplaying my PC so the relationship with the wyrmling made more sense. The game only lasted about a month and I never heard from the DM again.
Then about a year later, my wife (gf at that time) popped in a VHS of the movie Mulan. I had never seen it before, and when this comedy relief wyrmling named Mushu appeared in the movie, I thought to myself, "Mushu? That was the same name as the wyrmling in the D&D game I played." And as I watched the movie, I even saw the character do/say similar things that the NPC did in the game. I realized the DM used this character in his game as if it was his own creation. The memory of that campaign became amazingly lame to me after that revelation. I lost a lot of respect for that DM.
I never considered doing this before because I would have felt a little ashamed of myself. I know it is extremely difficult to be original with anything, but to totally rip off an idea is just very lame to me. I don't want to play in a recreation of some TV show or movie. Especially when I'm approaching the game from a more serious attitude and the DM is using some goofy scenario he stole from a source because he thought it would be funny to recreate it in game. I don't mind playing a goofy game, but I prefer to know beforehand that this campaign isn't to be taken seriously. If I go into it knowing that the DM was recreating a scenario, I could probably let it slide. But I would still feel cheated if the DM tried to pass this stuff off as his own creation. That seems like something a child would do.
