Arkhandus
First Post
Hussar said:
Hmmm....
Pervasive magic? Check.
The party should be fairly obviously using magical gear; the fighter's sword bursts into flames that don't harm him, the wizard pulls out a scroll and reads a mighty spell off of it (the scroll disintegrating into ash or something afterward), the rogue puts on unusual slippers (or a web-themed cloak...) and starts walking on walls and ceilings as he/she goes scouting, and the cleric's armor repulses wraiths or shadows that try striking it (ghost touch armor, shining or glowing for a second just for visual effect when stricken by the incorporeal foes), or whatnot. And of course, a few iconic items like bags of holding, ioun stones (maybe), magic staves, bracers of armor, or the like should be included.
The four traditional D&D classes should be represented, for sure; fighter, rogue, cleric, and wizard. Probably another 1-4 notable characters of varying importance (1 or 2 might just join in briefly for a particular portion of the quest, or just show up now and then to give advice/directions/divinations/comedic relief/whatever). Stuff like a bard, druid, barbarian, or monk (the movie should at least give a nod to the fact that D&D is not truly eurocentric medieval fiction, but actually psuedo-middle ages heroic fantasy).
The audience doesn't have to know that the wizard and cleric aren't just pulling off magic tricks at random, aside from a possible brief mention at some point along the lines of "I don't have the right spell to handle this right now!" The wizard should just be shown to be carrying his book of magic, reading it at times (like at the beginning of a scene where the party's just about to break camp and head out, and the wizard finishes studying part of his/her book then puts it away and follows the group, maybe with his/her eyes glowing a bit while he's studying it, just to give the impression that there's something more going on than just a guy reading a book). The cleric should at least be shown rising after a kneeling meditation or something at dawn, and actually do some healing and other magic-stuff during the movie (really, it doesn't even have to be a cleric with a patron deity; only certain settings require clerics to derive their power from a particular divine patron, like the Forgotten Realms).
Use of an official D&D setting? Maybe check, maybe not.
Either Oerth or Planescape would be cool, but FR, DS, DL, and other such settings have their own little problems and complications when it comes to using them for a movie. Greyhawk/Oerth is, comparatively speaking, an open canvas/blank slate and not so restrictive in some regards (frex, IIRC Greyhawk doesn't require all clerics to kowtow to deities, right?), and there's definitely space for a new region to be introduced somewhere on Oerth without mucking around in Iuz's backyard or anything like that (if desired, anyway).
As long as it represents the core of D&D well enough (unlike the cr**tacular 2 D&D movies put out so far by that person, whoever it was, who thought to use his/her own cr**tacular homebrew setting that doesn't fit), I wouldn't care if it's a barebones homebrew setting that just represents core D&D.
Use of core races? Check.
As a D&D movie it should at least nominally acknowledge that humans aren't alone in a D&D world, and aren't the only important people around. The party might include a half-orc or a half-elf, and probably a gnome or a 3E halfling (not the older D&D hobbit-ripoffs; D&D draws on a lot of different source material but at least in time they get D&D-ized).
Antagonists should at least include some orcish warbands or goblin hordes, and at least a few of those orcs or goblins should be shown to have actual skill in combat or magic-use (like a mid-level orcish barbarian as the leader, or a few lower-mid-level goblin rogues swarming around the party's fighter and jabbing at his vitals and such, to be driven off by the fighter's whirlwind attack or something and the fighter himself saved from crippling injury by the cleric's healing).
At least one chromatic dragon should be present as a major antagonist (and, perhaps, one metallic dragon present at some point as an advisor/helper/whatever, or guardian of an important McGuffin that the protagonists must negotiate for, rather than fight the noble metallic dragon). Not a whole horde of dragons like in the first actual D&D movie (ugh!).
Humans should still be among the main antagonists, though, just not necessarily the majority of antagonists (there might be a human mastermind behind it all, or a human lieutenant under the draconic or lichy or fiendish mastermind).
Suspension of disbelief? There should at least be some.
The characters should be believeable as inhabitants of the fantasy world; they shouldn't have to explain or name everything for each other (the audience doesn't have to know that the spell just cast was technically a Flame Strike in D&D terms, or that the rampaging green-skinned creature that keeps regenerating from normal attacks is in fact a Troll, or that green dragons are evil while brass dragons are good, or that the cleric serves such-and-such faith/philosophy/whatever, or that the fighter's sword is known in D&D parliance as a Flame Tongue, or whatever).
In terms of plot/flow?
I agree with Tal Rasha's general idea (despite being irked by his injustice to FF7's protagonist
). A D&D movie should be about heroic action first and foremost, with an emphasis on the team of protagonists. Their should definitely be a story and a quest involved (not necessarily 'save the world', but probably more like 'save the kingdom' or 'stop the dragon'). Maybe a short side-quest along the way.But the emphasis should primarily be on seeing the heroes in action, probably with some minor side-plots, mystery, and/or romance along the way (much as some of it may annoy some of us, it deserves to be an entertaining movie for more than just the kick-in-the-door crowd). One of the side-plots may be a bit of investigatory stuff involving the party's rogue and one or more of the secondary protagonists.
. But perhaps something like a custom setting, with an appearance by an aasimar (or some such) that helps the characters get thorugh a rough spot. He leaves through a portal, leaving the main characters impressed and wondering about the other planes. That, I think, could be made into a cool scene.
