Is Empire of Izmer the POL? - thread necro

[hopeless]

Is there any truth that the Empire of Izmer is to be the setting for this Points of Light generic campaign WOTC is setting up?

Will we finally find out what they had originally planned before their interference insured the first movie plummetted (well ok Marlan Wayans had more to do with that even if Jeremy Irons did ham it up he at least couldn't lower himself down to MW's level).

Perhaps we might have the return of Lux after all most blokes would love that and most girls would like to see someone who makes the male adventurers look bad!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

No way.

They had a bunch of Izmer products lined up (and presumably close to release) when the first movie bombed so hard. (Which was a shame, since the Web previews of the setting were pretty well done.) Those products have never seen the light of day, and soon thereafter, they made it tricky to even find the files on their site. (Although they left most of them up.)

Izmer isn't a POL setting anyway. It's high fantasy.

 

[Masquerade]

Is there any truth that the Empire of Izmer is to be the setting for this Points of Light generic campaign WOTC is setting up?

Where did you hear that? First I've heard of this rumor.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

... Y'know, I never even saw any of the Izmer stuff on the Wizards website.

Does anybody have some links? It would be amusing to see.

I think Izmer was a HORRIBLE setting for the movie. And the movie itself was so amazingly bad I had a minor schism after watching it. I sat there laughing for 10 minutes and couldn't stop.

Though, because of that, I count it among the best comedies of that year. But you have to watch it to the end to really get the joke.

The setting itself was dreadful, though. I'm surprised that they were actually working on anything to release for that. It just doesn't mesh with the core game enough to translate well. This I've got to see.

--fje

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I think Izmer was a HORRIBLE setting for the movie.

How so? It wasn't any sillier than Waterdeep or Ansalon. In fact, it seemed to have plundered quite a bit from both.

This is the only movie page I can find remaining at the official site: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=movie/mx20001215b

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

Mostly because of the implied oddities in social strata and magical staples that departed from the core assumptions of the game.

The D&D Movie would have been most likely best served with either the Points of Light type setting (which is not a new concept, but is a new concept ... I.E. a non-defined setting in which Here Be Dragons is a real warning and not a whole lot is otherwise defined or known) or something like Greyhawk ... which has enough tidbits to be "Oh, WOW!" for the old guard while being fundamentally Bog Standard D&D for presentational purposes.

With the ruling wizard caste and the big magical city and the Dragons Aren't Intelligent ... Beholders are eye-laden guard-creatures ... etc. There wasn't much that made it Dungeons and Dragons. It was "A Fantasy Movie". IIRC, the second movie (still in Izmer) then either introduced or re-upped that the setting had no standardized Clerics (though they had a Cleric).

I would hazard to suggest that a "good" D&D movie would have presented a group with the Usual Suspects of a defined Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, and Cleric. The setting would have included a pantheonistic religious background, cabbalistic wizards in towers, and noble woodland elves (as opposed to the short tribal elves that seemed an entirely different racial stock from their leadership). The Theives' Guild bit was spot-on.

The second movie, for all its lacking, did a better job in many respects. The Ring of the Ram, a Cleric, etc. It had many more call-outs to D&D than the first movie, which seemed largely to be A Fantasy Movie with no real setting ties that yelled D&D.

--fje

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I would hazard to suggest that a "good" D&D movie would have presented a group with the Usual Suspects of a defined Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, and Cleric. The setting would have included a pantheonistic religious background, cabbalistic wizards in towers, and noble woodland elves (as opposed to the short tribal elves that seemed an entirely different racial stock from their leadership). The Theives' Guild bit was spot-on.

I absolutely agree.

What I'd really want from a D&D movie, though, is them coming up with a great plot, instead of fan service: "OK, we need something from the Monster Manual. Oh, a beholder would be cool!"

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

Oh, I mean, the movie had issues from top to bottom, really.

Even had it been something as simple as pulling an M.Night Shamalyan switcheroo on the tried-and-true Goblin Infestation or something. A simple 1st level adventure would have made for a good storyline.

Open with plot-hooks. The Cleric is the youngest son of A Local Farmer returned home for a visit, and his younger sister is The Beautiful Maiden. The Rogue is the brash and braggarty No Good Kid that is in love with The Beautiful Maiden but doesn't admit it. He becomes our main character, perhaps. The Fighter is The Mysterious Veteran who has returned home from a war to find his wife moved off with his best friend, and has taken to drinking his troubles away in the bar. The Wizard is a childhood friend of The Rogue, and he's the apprentice of the Old Wizard in the tower at the edge of town.

Cue some otherwise major kingdom event that creates a reason for people to be active, and calls The Old Wizard away. Then Goblins Invade! and The Beautiful Maiden is kidnapped and taken to The Abandoned Dwarven Mine. The Rogue enlists the aid of his friend The Wizard, near the bar. As part of Goblins Invade, they are jumped by some Goblins and the Fighter comes and rescues them, but then needs rescuing himself as more Goblins arrive. The Fighter is wounded in the fight and The Cleric arrives to heal him and entreat them to help find his sister (though we were headed that way anyway).

Cue a little dungeon crawl, a minor magical item or two, a tomb with a magic sword.

Then we find out that the goblins are mercenaries hired by the The Local Farmer who didn't pay the goblins for the assassination of the Mayor or some good twisty ending.

Boom.

D&D Movie.

--fje

 

[Mouseferatu]

Ahem.

Izmer is not the PoL. It may, however, have been the PoS.







(Because someone had to make the joke... )

 

[frankthedm]

Izmer felt kind of close to BD&D Glantri.

The movie was a PoS, Izmer itself was an alright set up for a high end Kingdom of Magic.

Had they never left the city, and just explored it's under sewers, the movie would have been far better.