How would you remake the D&D cartoon?

[Kaodi]

An observation: Since the best way to make a profitable television show is through selling related merchandise, a D&D cartoon would absolutely have to be either Forgotten Realms or Eberron, the only two settings for which there is support. Anything else would make poor business sense.

If you really have to have " Earthlings " , Forgotten Realms can do that, but add me to the list of people who think it would be a horrible idea. If your writing staff sucks so badly that they can't get people into the show without resorting to that particular worn out trick, then you might as well not bother with starting production.

Out of Forgotten Realms and Eberron, Eberron seems the obvious choice. However, if you can make a convincing counterargument for FR, by all means go ahead. In Eberron, the players are meant to be the heroes, and there is actually room for the main characters in a series to become the most competent at what they do. Religions are far less numerous, and far less involved in a characters day to day life. You could pretty much gloss over them entirely if one of the characters had abilities like the Healer from the Miniatures Handbook. There are plenty of evil threats to combat, but it is also a good setting for an anti-hero or a sympathetic villain.

For characters, go nuts, the sky is the limit. If you want to be brave, have the leader/main main character be female. If you're really brave, have no purely human characters, but make each of them " human " through characterization. Just because you have somewhat pointy ears and you look 25 at 40, doesn't mean you don't have the exact same problems as everyone else.

Don't bother " remaking " the old D&D cartoon. Make a NEW D&D cartoon.

 

[ssampier]

I think an episodic Greyhawk based on a epic series would be great.

The better question, though, is that do kids have cartoon shows anymore?

A personality like that, and it's his lack of a weapon you find annoying?

I love what Wikipedia reveals about the character:

Ah, the 1980s: The parents groups' merciless reign of terror and stupidity.

We are the Buddy Bears, we always get along.

 

[davou]

I think that one of the quickest and easyest ways would be to just forgo the series and drop a really good novel into a movie... Sure the other movies didnt do so well, but the formula is pretty clear now, just gotta make things epic.

I'd probably do the same for a series... THe rod of seven parts could probably be stretched pretty far.

 

[Shining Dragon]

More cleavage.

 

[Sound of Azure]

More cleavage.

More doesn't mean better. I'd rather quality of quantity any day.

I want great cleavage!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'd

1) make use of the Iconics, including the ones who pop up in non-PHB sources. It makes it much easier for tie-ins & marketing.

2) use high-quality animation, possibly rotoscoping or something like the Final Fantasy movie. That said, I'd make the armor & equipment a little more realistic, and would especially avoid sexy-armor and S&M costume stereotypes except, possibly, on the villains. A Roman Catholic priest once told me, "Remember, Satan was an Angel. Satan isn't a horned, hideous being. Satan is beautiful. If he wasn't, how could He tempt us away from God?" The same logic applies here- sexy, charming villains make for good TV.

3) have scripting done by a carefully selected group of professional (Hollywood) writers, gamers & at least one genre-fiction writer (veteran or newcomer- quality is the key). The latter 2 groups provide the quality of script- classic tropes, iconic items (that Rod of 7 Parts idea is a good one), and cliches that need to be avoided, etc.- that would appeal to the gamer and gamer wannabes, the former would pare things down into a 30 minute, tv-freindly format. Humor and drama should be balanced.

4) aim for the 18-25 age group, not teens, for more leeway in the scripts for mature themes. In that target group, you could have a script at some point in which its conceivable that a main character gets killed or becomes crippled. This could reduce the character to a lesser role while he's in recovery, or radically change the character if he somehow comes back from the dead.

5) try to keep the on-screen action within the constraints of the game, but without using game lingo if avoiding it is possible. You wouldn't have a character call something "Power Attack"- its the "Falling Anvil Blow" taught by his instructor. Ditto a spell like Magic Missile...it would become the "Homing Bolts of Ankhnazar."

6) make sure Dungeon Master (if he even exists) would have an actual goal in mind that he actually tells the characters about (eventually) if he's good (like Charlie of Charlie's Angels)...and manipulates them towards if he's not (like JR Ewing of Dallas).

7) Get celebrities known to play the game (Wil Wheaton, Vin Diesel- I'm looking at you) to do some of the voice acting- not neccessarily as main characters- villains, guest stars & recurring supporting cast would be sufficient. If nothing else, that gets you some freebie publicity on shows like Entertainment Tonight. If the show does well, it could become a show celebrities simply want to do, like Miami Vice, The Simpsons, or Monk. That in and of itself will help drive a show to higher levels of popularity, and could even help break that stigma the game still has in the USA.

8) Market the hell out of it. Anything that shows up in the show- spell, weapon, monster, or even choice NPCs- that isn't already part of the game gets released as a toy, DDM set, or splatbook with game stats. A good softcover Dungeons & Dragons: the Series, Season 1 could be a hot property. Ditto a video game, be it a little arcade-style freebie download or a $50 cartridge.

 

[kinem]

"Kids from Earth" would be a total travesty. It's dumb; it has nothing at all to do with mainstream D&D; it's a tired old idea that has already been done; it would attract negative press; it would not explore non-humans; it would turn off mature viewers.

The best thing would be a show based in an existing campaign world, such as Eberron. Characters should be natives and stories should work on multiple levels as in Avatar.

Also, it should be compatible with the D&D rules, so a wizard might cast a magic missile spell but certainly could not just zap people. A warlock could just zap people, but most of the characters should be core classes. Without that, it would just be another fantasy cartoon.

And definately, most importantly, there should be no character called "Dungeon Master".

 

[takasi]

I'm just happy we're getting a Dragonlance cartoon. I hope it's successful and we see sequels.

 

[Milagroso]

I would take the short stories I have written and the two + novels I've been working on and have them shot as live action TV shows. Eat your heart out SciFi channel.

No one would announce their spells or feats while casting/performing them.

And there would be no campy little Yoda wannabe running around calling himself the Dungeon Master.

 

[Kaodi]

I've never minded characters yelling out the names of their attacks. I mean, really, is it any different than a wizard in D&D shouting the same gibberish when he casts fireball or magic missile? If you've ever seen Zatch Bell!, the human partner shouts the name of the spells to activate them, like " Bowzekayga! " and " Zakare! " , which except for the context, serves the exact same purpose (for the viewer) as any other character yelling their attacks name in English. It's no different than the verbal component of a spell.

Eberron has small teams of iconics in the ECS. The Rod of Seven Parts type artifact is the way to go for a McGuffin, though I think that unless they were actually doing Greyhawk, it would be better to make a new multi-pieced artifact, or set of artifacts.