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Getting to Know Each Other, August 2017


TaleSpinner
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On 8/7/2017 at 8:35 AM, TaleSpinner said:

August 7: What is your favorite dog breed?

Lesser Dog from Undertale.  Doesn't count?  Hm.

 

See, I'm not much of a dog person.  My normal reason is "I'm an introvert so I much prefer to deal with the world on my terms.  Dogs want to deal with the world on their terms."

 

I used to be afraid of dogs, especially after being almost attacked by a few. (One did actually put a hole in my shirt before his owner actually got him under control.)  I've been barked at incessantly by dogs.  (I used to deliver newspapers so I'd invariably bother some light-sleeping dogs.)

 

I had a dog once decide to befriend me and it followed me home.  Big dog.  Rather friendly but I just wanted none of it because big dogs are scary.  So after it followed me home and just laid down on my porch, I steeled myself, managed to read his tags, and walked him home.

 

My wife's parents had a miniature dachshund who I would play with.  He chased tennis balls so I'd throw them.  Not an overly excitable slobbery dog but still a little affectionate.  If my wife and I ever get a dog, we'd probably get a miniature dachshund.

 

8 hours ago, TaleSpinner said:

August 8: What does the Dungeons and Dragons movie (the one currently in pre-production, not that horrible Jeremy Irons paycheck)...ABSOLUTELY HAVE to have in it? (DocBedlam)

Good characters.  A good plot.  A quest.  A "dungeon" and a dragon, I suppose.

 

Sensibly dressed actresses.  (No chainmail bikinis or similar skimpy fantasy garb, please!)

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11 hours ago, TaleSpinner said:

August 8: What does the Dungeons and Dragons movie (the one currently in pre-production, not that horrible Jeremy Irons paycheck)...ABSOLUTELY HAVE to have in it? (DocBedlam)

 

I was going to answer this but the doc basically said it all.  In my opinion, the long term success of RPGs is down to story-telling - everyone loves a good story.  As such, the one thing that the D&D movie has to have is a decent story populated with characters that make sense and that you can connect with.

 

We can complain about the lore but I can almost guarantee that if the D&D movie has a good story with good characters, most people would be willing to either forgive or ignore the lore mis-steps.  Although to be honest, at that point, I would be expecting comments along the lines of "It's a good movie but it's not really a D&D movie."

 

8 hours ago, VitM said:

 

It probably has to have the gonzo, kitchen sink, hodge-podge approach to fantasy that makes up D&D, along with the sense that the world is built on the ruins of an advanced civilization similar to our own.  I mean, I don't know if it's possible for a movie to be both good and Dungeons & Dragons, as D&D is super weird, but you're not going to capture the feel of D&D with a low-stakes version of GoT or a derivative Tolkien knock-off.  

 

D&D is as much Thundarr the Barbarian, Xardoz, and the parts of Heavy Metal focused on Den and Taarna, as it is Robin Hood with pointy ears.

 

I'll disagree with this.  The thing with D&D is that it has so many different settings that makes it hard to pin down the "feel" of D&D.  A Castle Ravenloft campaign is going to feel very different from the "standard" Forgotten Realms campaign setting.  And this isn't even going into how your particular DM ran the game.

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You make a strong point, actually. A Ravenloft movie is going to feel like an old Hammer film with Christopher Lee. And an Eberron movie would... not feel much like D&D to those of us who were big into it with Greyhawk or Forgotten realms. 

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11 hours ago, TaleSpinner said:

August 8: What does the Dungeons and Dragons movie (the one currently in pre-production, not that horrible Jeremy Irons paycheck)...ABSOLUTELY HAVE to have in it? (DocBedlam)

 

An instant moratorium. How are you going to tell a good D&D story in 2 hours? Film makers need to stop trying to jam entire fantasy & sci-fi settings and stories into a 2 hour limit. It only worked for Lotr and the Hobbit because they broke it up into multiple films and they were each 15 hours long.  Trying to do a single D&D film is like trying to jam hundreds of hours worth of material into 2 hours.  There is reason why Game of Thrones works so well as a TV show. Spend the money on something else like a remake of Dune, I'd much rather see that. 

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Conan the Barbarian was a pretty decent D&D movie* in 2 hours. I don't think the time needs to be any longer to work. 

 

But Dune in 2 hours is an abomination. There's too much stuff that really needs to be included for it to work in that time frame (or anything close to it.) As evidence, I offer that horrible Sting vehicle.

 

IMO, the best sources for two-hour-ish movies are not novels, and especially not 400+ page novels, but rather novellas and novelettes, which are typically less ambitious in their scope.

 

* For a certain value of "pretty decent". It felt like any number of adventures I've seen, which shouldn't be surprising since the Conan books were a major influence on early D&D design, told a coherent story that kept the audience's attention throughout, and had a beginning, middle, and end. I don't recall anything that couldn't have happened in a D&D adventure, though there were no brand-name monsters strewn about.

 

Wait. That's a good thing. :B):

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38 minutes ago, Doug Sundseth said:

Conan the Barbarian was a pretty decent D&D movie* in 2 hours. I don't think the time needs to be any longer to work. 

 

But Dune in 2 hours is an abomination. There's too much stuff that really needs to be included for it to work in that time frame (or anything close to it.) As evidence, I offer that horrible Sting vehicle.

 

IMO, the best sources for two-hour-ish movies are not novels, and especially not 400+ page novels, but rather novellas and novelettes, which are typically less ambitious in their scope.

 

* For a certain value of "pretty decent". It felt like any number of adventures I've seen, which shouldn't be surprising since the Conan books were a major influence on early D&D design, told a coherent story that kept the audience's attention throughout, and had a beginning, middle, and end. I don't recall anything that couldn't have happened in a D&D adventure, though there were no brand-name monsters strewn about.

 

Wait. That's a good thing. :B):

 

I always admired the hell out of Aliens. We start with one person, introduce another, and finally plug in an entire ensemble cast, and due to REALLY good writing, dialogue, and acting, the Marines become characters, not cannon fodder, and I was genuinely shocked when they bumped off some that I didn't expect to eat it. This is an example of clever and creative character building and story telling, well within the limits of what most people will accept in a movie time frame.

Two hour Dune is insane. And Lord Of The Rings was well known enough that most people didn't EXPECT it to wrap up in the first movie's running time.

No, what we need is a very good first movie. And I can think of plenty of adventures that could be told in two hours, especially if you don't have to stop for an hour to fight a two minute combat....

 

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7 minutes ago, TaleSpinner said:

August 9: What should the Dungeons and Dragons movie TOTALLY NOT have in it, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES?  (DocBedlam)

Batman.

Pointless special effects just for special effects sake.

Various fantasy critters thrown into a scene with little or no thought, just to help make it a D&D movie. (Yes, I'm totally referencing the Beholder flunkies that were mentioned yesterday)

Michael Bay

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12 minutes ago, TaleSpinner said:

August 9: What should the Dungeons and Dragons movie TOTALLY NOT have in it, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES?  (DocBedlam)

 

The Title Dungeons and Dragons.

Just make a decent fantasy movie, don't pretend to cover a whole gaming universe with one movie.

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