D&D General Which movie rating would you use to describe your D&D campaigns?

jgsugden · Nov 20, 2021

Rates R for violence and mature themes most of the time - however, I cater to the group I'm running.

Jfdlsjfd · Nov 20, 2021

I initially voted PG-13, because that's the feel of the overall campaign, but changed to R because of the weight of the violence (though it might not be that out of bound to the MPAA) and social violence and the general bleakness of describing commoners with 4 HP in a D&D world.

bedir than · Nov 20, 2021

A lot of people going R must find a way to get like 2-3 hours of excessive violence into a single gaming session.
I still haven't figured out how to feature that much combat

Crimson Longinus · Nov 20, 2021

bedir than said:
A lot of people going R must find a way to get like 2-3 hours of excessive violence into a single gaming session.
I still haven't figured out how to feature that much combat

I think you can earn R with quite a small amount of excessive violence. I voted R, but as I said, it is on border of that and PG-13. But as I don't actually need to try to maximise the potential viewers on the movie theatre, I can err on the safe side and vote on the stricter rating. Then you can't say you weren't warned!

Jfdlsjfd · Nov 20, 2021

bedir than said:
A lot of people going R must find a way to get like 2-3 hours of excessive violence into a single gaming session.
I still haven't figured out how to feature that much combat

I don't understand rating as weighted by the amount of something. I mean, there are monster that have the ability to swallow whole and inflict damage. You only need a single round.

G: The giant frog gobbles Bobbie. You loses 2 HP.
PG: The giant frog gobbles you. Despite not having teeth, the monster has a dangerous drool that creates burns. You loses 2 HP.
PG-13: The giant frog gobbles you. Everyone, you no longer see your friend, but you can hear screams from inside the stomach of the giant frogs. Bobbie, digestive acids are slowly dissolving your flesh. The pain is intolerable, like a thousand needles, and you hope help will come soon. You loses 2 HP.

R: Everyone, The giant frog gobbles Bobbie. Noone have ever survived such a fate for long. Even though there are stories of other fighters acting quickly enough to rip open the frog's belly, freeing their friend from dying, the acid is often very quick to act and the scarred husk of a person they could release was often lacking a limb, or eyes. Eyes are often the quickest part of the body to dissolve, unable to resist the potent acid of the beast's belly. Only the most potent magic can then save the victim, as often it is fully immersed in the digestive acids ; simply washing the survivor after the fact isn't enough to solve the slow melting of the lungs, if he wasn't lucky enough to hold his breath during the whole ordeal... one can't simply endure without a shriek. More often than not, death occurs by suffocation over the course of an agony over several days. Maybe if you're quick enough, you'll be able to give your friend a merciful death. (btw, turning to Bobbie's player, deduct 2HP).

R_J_K75 · Nov 20, 2021

Galandris said:
I don't understand rating as weighted by the amount of something. I mean, there are monster that have the ability to swallow whole and inflict damage. You only need a single round.

G: The giant frog gobbles Bobbie. You loses 2 HP.
PG: The giant frog gobbles you. Despite not having teeth, the monster has a dangerous drool that creates burns. You loses 2 HP.
PG-13: The giant frog gobbles you. Everyone, you no longer see your friend, but you can hear screams from inside the stomach of the giant frogs. Bobbie, digestive acids are slowly dissolving your flesh. The pain is intolerable, like a thousand needles, and you hope help will come soon. You loses 2 HP.

R: Everyone, The giant frog gobbles Bobbie. Noone have ever survived such a fate for long. Even though there are stories of other fighters acting quickly enough to rip open the frog's belly, freeing their friend from dying, the acid is often very quick to act and the scarred husk of a person they could release was often lacking a limb, or eyes. Eyes are often the quickest part of the body to dissolve, unable to resist the potent acid of the beast's belly. Only the most potent magic can then save the victim, as often it is fully immersed in the digestive acids ; simply washing the survivor after the fact isn't enough to solve the slow melting of the lungs, if he wasn't lucky enough to hold his breath during the whole ordeal... one can't simply endure without a shriek. More often than not, death occurs by suffocation over the course of an agony over several days. Maybe if you're quick enough, you'll be able to give your friend a merciful death. (btw, turning to Bobbie's player, deduct 2HP).

NC-17; I mercilessly murder Bobbie where he lays after he escapes the giant frog.

guachi · Nov 20, 2021

PG-13. The Indiana Jones vibe is what I'm looking for in a campaign.

I'd never run nor play in an R-rated or above campaign.

prabe · Nov 20, 2021

Aldarc said:
To best understand the US rating system, watch Freakazoid:

Always watch Freakazoid.

EzekielRaiden · Nov 20, 2021

I wish there were another rating between PG-13 and R, because I feel like that's really where my game falls.

The vast majority of the time, this is a relatively "bright" setting. The world is overall decent. Good people doing good things for others actually works. Showing mercy is effective, not rank foolishness. Outright blood-and-guts gore is rare, used judiciously to make a point or highlight an action. The good things of the world may be a little fragile, may be at risk, but they absolutely can be saved, if people stand up to do it--and that's what heroes are for. "For we who walk before may lead those who walk after." That's what heroes do: they blaze the trail, both to make it safe for others, and to be the guiding light of inspiration to others who will come after them.

There are, occasionally, sexual or adult themes. Slavery, while explicitly forbidden in both the city-folk and nomad-tribe cultures, is still perpetrated by horrible people. There are demons and members of the group sometimes swear a blue streak. That happens. Overall though...it's a pretty good place to live in, and that's part of what motivates the players to do something. They know that their actions protect those good things from being broken.

Whether you live in pitch darkness or glowing light is not relevant. What is relevant is whether you can see, know, experience the contrast between light and dark. Too many works of yesteryear were 40 kW searchlight brightness goodness 24/7, and people grew fatigued. These days, too many works are ichor-of-a-dead-god bleak and utter hopless grimdark 24/7, and people grow fatigued. I offer a world that is mostly bright but has its dark patches that are working to grow larger. The 4e default setting, "Points of Light," is the same thing from the opposite direction--there remain points of true, genuine light in a space that is rapidly growing dark, and those points require action if they are to survive and grow.

Or, in other terms, I run a "noblebright" game, as opposed to a "grimdark" game. But being noblebright doesn't mean having no conflict or having flawless paragons of perfect virtue who never do wrong. My players' characters are often quite flawed. But they choose to do the right things for the right reasons, and dare to believe that doing so matters for making the world stay a pretty good place to be.