Are we on the cusp of a Tabletop Hollywood moment?

[Ryujin]

You do know that Cyberpunk Edgerunners is a thing?

Please see post #6

 

[RivetGeekWil]

Please see post #6

So...
The video game is based directly on the RPG.
The anime contains elements that were in my own games, 30 years ago (including Sandistevan implants).
It directly credits Mike Pondsmith.
So it's not like some loose adaptation that you have to squint to see the relationship.
How does this not count again?

 

[Ryujin]

So...
The video game is based directly on the RPG.
The anime contains elements that were in my own games, 30 years ago (including Sandistevan implants).
It directly credits Mike Pondsmith.
So it's not like some loose adaptation that you have to squint to see the relationship.
How does this not count again?

Because it came out of Japan and we're explicitly discussing Hollywood.

 

[MNblockhead]

•I love D&D, and there's plenty of lore to draw from, but I feel there are some mechanical changes which would need to be made to the game itself to gain a foothold among a wider audience. While there are currently changes being made, I don't believe they're going in the direction they need to. Additionally, the product has been prominent on the show Stranger Things for several years, but one of the only attempts to capitalize on that was a kinda meh boxed set. (I was surprised to find that the Rick & Morty box was a lot better.)

Yeah, I was surprised at how low the production values of the Stranger Things boxed set was. I felt rushed out as a cash grab. Also, I suppose they wanted to keep the price low enough for it to be an impulse buy at Target and Walmart. I don't mind cash grabs, they should have moved while the show was hot. Also, I don't mind it being lower quality in terms of print materials, etc., to make it affordable as an affordable kids toy. But they could have done so much more with the adventure. I just found it boring and uninspired. I know it is marketed at kids new to the game, but I've bought and ran a lot of D&D and other RPGs targeted at kids when my boys were younger: No Thank You Evil! (Monte Cook Games), Hero Kids (Hero Forge Games), various adventures from Playground Adventures (D&D 5th ed. and Hero Kids compatible). All of them do a much better job at introducing TTRPGs to younger players.

Even TSR did a better job at this in that the OD&D Box set that got me into the game came with decent instructions on how to run the game and Keep on the Borderlands was replayable. I think I played through the Caves of Chaos quite a few times, before I discovered that they were selling other modules and advanced rules.

The starter sets are good for older kids and adults to use as a quick jumping off point, but hardly feel like stand alone games.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Critical Role's Vox Machina animated series wasn't just a great Kickstarter success, it is a legitimately good show that has been picked up for additional seasons. The D&D movie appears to have potential to be really fun and be successful. Cavill, ousted from his Superman role and unhappy with The Witcher, chose Warhammer 40K as a follow up.

I wonder if we aren't on the cusp of a similar "takeover" of Hollywood by tabletop game properties as comics did 15 or so years ago (depending on what you count as the start of that).

Personally, I can't think of a more Netflix anime ready property than Shadowrun, or a more feature film ready property than Delta Green. Deadlands has premium streaming TV written all over it, and Eberron absolutely begs for a Clone Wars style and scale show.

Shadowrun?


tbh, when I saw this in the early 90's, my mind was blown

And I agree - definitely due for a streaming series.

I have to think someone out there actually already owns the rights - probably Paradox Interactive. Who owns the option - that's less clear. Would probably have to go through the fine print in Variety or Hollywood Reporter for past 35 years.

Other properties from Jordan Weismann that I would love to see in motion pictures:
Crimson Skies (market to fans of Man in a High Castle), Battletech (would be great as an Anime - talk about meta-recursive!), and Earthdawn.

I also would LOVE to see a Delta Green tv show in the vein of True Detective. Or my preferred DG setting, Fall of Delta Green.

Other ones I'd like to see: Blades in the Dark/Duskvol in the vein of Leverage; Apocalypse World in the vein of Walking Dead; Coyote and Crow; Castle Falkenstein; CONTINUUM!!!

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Blades in the Dark has been optioned for a television series. I'm not sure if it's actively in development right now.

Oh! Good to hear. Wonder if it will ever actually be released...

 

[Reynard]

I’ve followed comics for decades. I don’t remember anything like that. But you could be right. Have any sources that show Marvel folks talking about this?

Finally dug up an article.

 

[RivetGeekWil]

Because it came out of Japan and we're explicitly discussing Hollywood.

That's silly and short-sighted. "Hollywood moment" is an idiom. An aside from TV, the fact that Cyberpunk was adapted - faithfully - into a AAA video game is just as big of an accomplishment if not bigger. And then, on top of that, had a Netflix series based on it? That's not something to brush off.

 

[bloodtide]

No. The big problem is that Tabletop games don't have a "story".

Comics, like novels, are easy pickings for making a movie. You have tons of story to pick from. The first third of the Iron Man movie is the basic first Iron Man comic story, The other 2/3 of the movie is a re-imagining of another Iron Man story or two. And a lot of the 'work' of the story is done by Iron Mans huge back story.

Take Shadowrun....ok, there is no story, it's just a game. You can write something where some characters run through the shadows as part of some plot and tell a story. But is that a "Shadowrun" story then?

Even if you just name drop people and places from the game lore, is it a "game" movie then?

We have had several Board Game and Video Game movies over the years......most are not all that "true" to the game.

 

[Reynard]

No. The big problem is that Tabletop games don't have a "story".

Someone missed the 90s metaplot craze...