D&D 5E Using movie plots in campaigns

[CTurbo]

I bet a lot of fun could be had doing this. I've decided that the next time I DM, I'm going to use the plot of Dead Snow as an encounter. I don't know if any of you have seen or are familiar with this movie, but it is a 2009 Norwegian zombie movie set in a snowy mountain terrain. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1278340/?ref_=tt_rec_tt

I don't want to spoil the movie plot, but I think this would make an excellent encounter. I also think it would be a relatively easy encounter to set up unlike my other current movie idea.

My other idea is an encounter based from the Descent http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435625/?ref_=nv_sr_1

This movie takes place in a cave and I feel like it would be very difficult to plan/plot out and set up. Too much player prep would make it a cake walk so they would almost need to end up in the cave my accident with no way of escaping except for going in deeper.

Anyway, Has anybody ever successfully tried something like this? Any other good movie ideas that you can think of?

Note: the players would not have any idea that their characters would be playing out parts in a movie plot. They would have to figure it out. If they did, the solution would be apparent and the encounter would flop.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Anyway, Has anybody ever successfully tried something like this? Any other good movie ideas that you can think of?

All the time. Also lift from fairy tales and literature. D&D's not generally ideal for it, even in its most 'cinematic' edition. D&D has generally leaned heavily towards it's own de-facto genre conventions of treasure-hunting, exploration and monster-slaying (ie adventuring heroes, ie serial-home-invasion-robbery by 'murder hobos'), but you can still 'draw inspiration' from a movie, even in 5e. Maybe not so much the plot (which can be derailed by PC choices and system artifacts, and may not be worth deploying "DM force" to push back on track) or the character development (up to the players, really), but the setting and situation.

Note: the players would not have any idea that their characters would be playing out parts in a movie plot. They would have to figure it out. If they did, the solution would be apparent and the encounter would flop.

Figuring it out can be part of the fun! They can then 'play along' or they can go for a 'better' ending (for an often perplexing value of 'better').

 

[jayoungr]

I've had good luck using classic mystery movies as the basis for investigative campaigns. Just translate everything into fantasy terms. The Man Who Knew Too Much was the starting point for the first adventure I ever wrote on my own.

 

[marcelvdpol]

I based a campaign partly on star trek: deep space 9. Doppelgangers are the main threat, causing political tension between separate factions which erupted in open warfare. The players were tasked with finding the doppelgangers within the factions and stopping the tension from becoming open warfare.

I had some npc's lifted from star trek to fulfill important roles.

 

[iserith]

I wrote and ran a couple of James Bond-esque adventure for Eberron, starting with Gnomefinger, a scenario set in Trolanport. It included Auric Gnomefinger's bodyguard, an owlbear super-soldier in a tuxedo named Hootsworth, and Gnomefinger's treacherous lamia paramour Honey Rider. [MENTION=6701422]Plaguescarred[/MENTION] played in this one!

This adventure then led into another scenario called Goldenowl which involved exploring and ultimately shutting down Gnomefinger's hidden super-soldier and secret weapons lab before it provoked a war with Darguun, a nation of goblinoids.

I slated a third in the series called Olaruneraker which involved a trip to one of Eberron's moons, but never finished it as I got too busy with my main campaign.

 

[Luchador]

Back in the day, I ran a Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now campaign where Kurtz was in the Under Dark. It was a lot of fun and the Under Dark-- well, you can't get a better setting for Heart of Darkness!!!

 

[jasper]

Jackie Chan Adventures were a great plot source.

 

[Horwath]

I had some npc's lifted from star trek to fulfill important roles.

A spymaster tailor?

 

[Plaguescarred]

I wrote and ran a couple of James Bond-esque adventure for Eberron, starting with Gnomefinger, a scenario set in Trolanport. It included Auric Gnomefinger's bodyguard, an owlbear super-soldier in a tuxedo named Hootsworth, and Gnomefinger's treacherous lamia paramour Honey Rider. @Plaguescarred played in this one!

It was really fun i remember that i pushed an enemy off a bridge and jumped into a small elemental boat below and had it crashed to stop a gnome with a suitecase attached to his wrist that we were chasing from running away! #epicaction

 

[Corwin]

Our DM introduced xenomorphs. Yeah, the aliens from Aliens.

Yeah.