D&D General What *is* D&D? (mild movie spoilers)

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This is why nobody likes the Gnome Tinkerers: REALLY bad at leaving written notes behind.

That's not fair.

They were skywriting their notes at the time, which is what led to the explosion and falling out of the sky.

 

[Minigiant]

The thing is.. isn't it a trope that the rich and powerful of a big city has acess to magic a core D,&D trope.

I mean the Leader of one of the top 5 metropolis in a D&D setting has access and connections to Archmage and high priests?

I live in New York City. In D&D NYC, little old me would expect Yankee Stadium to have magic platforms. And MSG too. With blinding enchantments to distract you from the Knicks stinking.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Especially considering a hot air balloon is just applying principles that were known by at least the 3rd century. It’s not like it depends on particularly advanced technology.

See Sky lantern - Wikipedia

Yeah, I was thinking about this, and its actually really surprising that the first recorded manned balloon flight was as late as 1783. The technology and materials are really simple. Especially in parts of the world where silk is available. But then military secrets have existed for a lot longer...

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Just like there are thousands of other "great movies" out there I won't see.

I try to see them if I have the opportunity. Just tonight, I was surprised by how good 3000 Years of Longing is.

They have no basis for comparison

Sure they do, there are lots of other fantasy movies.

It's sort of like if someone told me "Hey, there is this great football movie and you have to see it! You'll love it!". Ok, I'm a big football fan, so I check out the trailer online and... oops! it's SOCCER. So, European as opposed to American. They are both sports and have lots of fans, but my preference is for the American version of the game known as "football", while soccer really just isn't to my taste.

All the more reason to watch the movie - you might learn something about an unfamiliar sport.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Funny how the quest to get the Helm of Disjunction turned out to be completely pointless, since the treasure wasn't even in there. Reminded me of the Canto Bight sequence in the Last Jedi is a way, although it was certainly better done.

This has happened in one of my games. The players went on an a long quest in order to find a McGuffin to defeat the Big Bad, and when it came to the crunch blindsided me with a completely different solution and didn't use it. Of course they still got experience and loot.

But of course, there is the sequel they swear blind that they are definitely not setting up...

Spoiler: movie spoiler

What happened to the helm after Simon was captured? Presumably Sofina took it. And since she didn't have it in the final battle, she probably passed it on to her boss. We know the Cult of the Dragon where desperate to get their hands on it for some no doubt evil purpose...

 

[Ruin Explorer]

But then, so was Tolkien.

LotR? Absolutely. The Hobbit is a little more complicated. But Tolkien isn't at all the origin-point for the fantasy that spurred RPGs most - no major '80s FRPG really took after Tolkien particularly closely (rather stealing superficial but highly steal-able elements like the races, monsters or magic items), tone-wise. I'd argue even MERP didn't, though it was closer than some. In terms of tone and style, FRPGs and the adventures for them were consistently overall closer to S&S stuff than the "Extruded Fantasy Paste" Tolkien-derivative fantasy literature which which was popular at the time. DL was absolutely an outlier in the 1980s. Going into the 1990s, this hadn't really changed much, but by the early-mid '90s it certainly was beginning to.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I try to see them if I have the opportunity. Just tonight, I was surprised by how good 3000 Years of Longing is.

There is never enough time, is there....

Sure they do, there are lots of other fantasy movies.

It isn't the same thing as being familiar with the game system the movie is "based on" (so to say...).

All the more reason to watch the movie - you might learn something about an unfamiliar sport.

Not everyone in the world always wants to branch out and try new things. Most people like what they know and are comfortable with. I have enough demands on my time (in general anyway) doing the things I know I'm likely to enjoy to waste any time on something I won't.

Finally, any "flashy, high-magicy, silly (not "funny", but actually silly)" fantasy movie isn't going to appeal to me, which given the reviews and trailers, is pretty much what this "D&D" movie is. A plethora of animal-head peoples, renaissance-level tech, magic prevalent through the culture, etc. is NOT my D&D. Never has been, never will be.

For instance, IIRC one of the D&D setting cities had "Griffon Patrols" (Waterdeep? Maybe Greyhawk? I can't remember) flying through the skies. You would never encounter such a mundane use of magical and fantasical things in my D&D games. I don't want "commonplace" magic. I don't have a cleric in every town, etc. My city streets are not lit up by continual flame/light spells. Magic items are (and should be IMO) rare and unique. When I read about "common magic items" in Xanathar's I cringed.

Now, there are specific areas, etc. where magic might be more common, but in general those are few and far between. That is how I like my D&D. I am not "missing out" on anything by not seeing the movie, just as I am not missing out by not listening to music I don't like, or eating food I don't like, or doing anything else I don't like, and in fact I am saving some money.

So, if you want to engage, branch out, etc. into things you think you won't like, go nuts. But please respect that not everyone is like that, nor do they want to try to be like that. Call me "set in my ways" if you want, but that is just who I am. Cheers!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

All the more reason to watch the movie - you might learn something about an unfamiliar sport.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

In D&D NYC, little old me would expect Yankee Stadium to have magic platforms.

If Dimension 20 has taught me anything, it's that the six boroughs (that's right) are loaded with magic.

 

[Minigiant]

If Dimension 20 has taught me anything, it's that the six boroughs (that's right) are loaded with magic.

All I can say with getting into trouble is there totally are at least 6 boroughs.