torpedopickle:

I want to talk about how Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves is an excellent use of meta humor applied seamlessly to a story without ever breaking immersion.

Mild spoilers. I’ll keep it vague so nothing will be spoiled if you choose to read on


This movie integrates many things that someone familiar with D&D would recognize from the narrative structure of a campaign.

There are some things in particular that demonstrate this particularly well

At one point, the party is joined temporarily by the character Xenk. But he really feels like he’d be an NPC party member controlled by the GM rather than a player. So when the other characters banter and quip, this character doesn’t really join in or get their jokes cuz he simply wouldn’t have the agency to. More examples of this would be how he’s much more capable than the others, but he doesn’t overshadow them. He provides aid if it’s desperately needed, and will sometimes bail rhe party out of situations they can’t manage on their own, just like how a GM should utilize an NPC companion. He even has a quote that perfectly reflects this. “I’ve given you the tools. Now you have to be the ones to use them”. There’s even a more direct joke about his NPC behavior. When he leaves the story, he walks off in a random direction, going straight forward, even stepping over obstacles and terrain unnecessarily. This all amounts to him feeling like a very clear GM controlled NPC, however he is presented in a way that still makes him feel entirely faithfull to his own world and does not break immersion

Other ways the movie plays around with the GM campaign structure would be the approach to backstory. The only time a character outright explains what their backstory is, in full, directly to us, is at the very start, to give context for the story going forward, as the character even puts it himself. Backstory later in the movie is told to us whenever it’s relevant. Characters will toss in another fact or two about themselves in situations where mentioning a past experience would fit in. Much like how players usually prefer to build their characters.

And one of my favorite instances of being meta about D&D campaign structures comes in the second act.

the characters are faced with a complex and dangerous obstacle. The GM’s stand in, xenk, explains the method of progressing through this obstacle correctly. But in true D&D fashion, the party immediately does it wrong and now the campaign has been derailed and the GM’s setup squandered. So now they straight up don’t have a way forward in the narrative. Logically, it should end there. But that’d be a shit campaign, so the GM would naturally bend the rules to get things back on track. So after the party fails the obstacle, one of them goes; “Hang on, that stick we’ve had with us the entire time isn’t a stick after all! It’s actually a magic staff that solves our EXACT predicament at this EXACT time”. That is such a clear cut meta joke about GM’s having to get things back on track cuz players are all chaotic evil. Is it a plot contrivance? Absolutely. One of the biggest ever. But it’s what D&D is built on


masala-and-thunderstorms:

I get where the “Edgin isn’t a bard, he’s a mastermind rogue!!” crowd is coming from. I really do.

But the thing about that: Mastermind rogues are sneaky. They’re intelligent. They’re dangerous. They theoretically make good plans.

Edgin isn’t good at any of that! He’s good at showmanship and persuasion (if his speech to Simon isn’t casting bardic inspiration, I don’t know what is.)

The most compelling explanation I’ve seen for him NOT being a bard is if he’s a paladin (with an entertainer background) who broke his oath.

That would explain the charisma, the lack of roguelike skills despite literally being a thief, AND the lack of magic (paladins who break their oath generally lose most of their abilities, since they were, y’know, tied to the oath.) And it adds a cool layer to his relationship with Xenk.

cpcposting:

Ok ok so 

Headcannon that Saffron’s family don’t really care about his curse but they’re always teasing him about his beard fhfhghghsuiwi 

“Your cursed son?”

“Yeah, y’should see his beard! Or lack thereof, haha.” 

“…….. that’s not what I meant.”

“Huh?”

“His… hand?” 

“OHHH THE HAND I FORGOT ABOUT THAT-” 


the-backwards-eel:

cursed-princess-club:

cpcposting:

cursed-princess-club:

image
image

loser leland vs W gigachad saffron’s dad

Saffron’s dad arguably the best dad we’ve seen so far lmaoaoao 

NOT TO MENTION SAFF’S DAD’S BEARD IS WAY COOLER THAN LELAND’S BEARD. man has ZERO excuses.

Saffrons dad = dilf (dad id like to fuck)

Leland = dilf (dad id like to fight)


johnandrasjaqobis:

now that the movie is out and people are watching it

part of Edgin’s half-hearted resentment toward Xenk is that Xenk represents exactly what Edgin expected to be when he joined the Harpers, feel free to discuss


solemnpancake:

While the idea of Xenk in Honour Among Thieves being a DMPC or an NPC is funny, I’m much more a fan of the idea that he’s actually a PC controlled by somebody else who played a full campaign with the same DM. Because meta textually, I can clearly imagine the conversation between the DM and Xenk’s player:

DM: “…So yeah I kinda fucked up the CR’s of the Underdark encounters but my current group is super excited and determined to head down there and since Xenk was already down there before…dude please help me, one session.”

Xenk’s Player: “I dunno, Xenk’s character arc felt pretty complete to me…”

DM: “Wait…The Red Wizards are the bad guys of this campaign too! You can finally settle the score with that asshole Dralas!”

Xenk’s Player: “…You sonnuvabitch, I’m in.”

DM: “YES! Oh also, Edgin’s-the Bard’s-backstory has him being a former Harper, so I have some ideas on how you could drive him nuts…”


youve-always-had-me-cas:

The thing about the D&D movie which is absolutely genius is that the game mechanics basically insulate them against any of the most frustratingly fun sucking movie criticisms. “But why were the guards looking the wrong way?” Failed their perception check. “Why did the spell stop RIGHT before they would have died” Dropped concentration. It gets to be dumb and fun anyone that TRIES to be the plot hole police gets ever increasingly obscure D&D rulebooks thrown down in front of them and called a fake nerd. There’s NOTHING those type of guys hate more than being a fake nerd. This movie is untouchable.


nerdomancer:

My favorite part of Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is that if you don’t play DnD, it’s a solid fantasy movie, but if you DO play DnD, you can feel in your soul the table talk that’s almost certainly happening over the events of the movie. Like…

“Are you guys sure you don’t want to take a perception check?”

“I said we jump out the window.”

or

“And he turns and walks directly northwards away from you guys.”

“The map shows a rock-”

“HE WALKS OVER THE ROCK.”

or

“Fuck it, I throw a potato.”

“Okay… roll for potato, I guess.”

“That was a 20.”

or

“I know we won, but I have bonus actions and I’m going to use them, damn it.


i-just-like-commenting:

crowcaws:

My favourite thing about the D&D movie is it never stops trying to be a D&D movie even down to the most minute, unsung details. There’s initiative order gags (I’ll go last!) there’s rolling a 1 gags (setting off the trap on the bridge by inexplicably just walking up to it) there’s stat gags (nobody had high enough Intelligence to be in danger from the Intellect Devourers). Almost every spell is identifiable, from Xenk using smite to Sofina whipping out Finger of Death. Simon’s character arc is about his self-confidence being tied to his mastery of magic because Charisma is the spellcasting stat for sorcerers. The era of movies based on games being afraid of their source material is over.

And the second best thing about it is that none of this makes it inaccessible to newbies who have never played the game, it works great as a pulp fantasy story, with a truly great mix of genuine character moments and humor. It takes the subject matter seriously but also embraces the absurdity of living in a world where a cat could fall down your chimney then turn into a young woman and walk out your front door.


pure-unadulterated-hubris:

Honour among thieves is good in ways that drive me a bit insane thinking about the state of modern fantasy in film/television.

Like, the scenes in the underdark were visible?!?! You know that in GoT or whatever other production that shit would be impossible to see because it’s the underdark or whatever. But like no!?! The place was conveyed to be underground and fucked up and I could hear everything?!!

Also, Edgin expresses complicated feelings like sadness and self loathing and he’s not belittles for it! The party sits on the rock with him and then he introspects and is framed as a positive male character who’s not the most physically capable in a fight!

Holga’s divorce, Simon’s arc, these things drive me fucking insane because there’s a lot of angsty shit in this film but it’s not a sad film! There is love and joy and happiness in this shitty found family who bicker and support each other. I just, need shit like this, I need Avengers Tower Fics of the party because I genuinely believe they care about each other and that feels like almost a rarity


locuas642:

I am happy to inform you that in Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, it is in fact CANON that the entire party has a LOW INT stat.


adhd-mode-activate:

Okay so I just saw the new Dungeons and Dragons movie

gotta say from the moment they went with the “let’s dive out the window onto the Aarakocra” plan even as the council was like “WE PARDONED YOU” I knew it would be great because that is the exact kind of stupidity a D&D party would get up to


in-search-of-an-exit:

The portal caravan scene was the most unapologetically D&D part of the movie imo

-the creative use of a magic item, not for it’s obvious and intended use

- each member of the party getting to do different parts from buying a painting to using wild shape

- the extreme convoluted nature of all the steps

- being extremely clever but still getting fucked up by bad execution(bad rolls)

-obvious holes in the plan like the guards clearly being able to see all of them working out just cause the other people are way to oblivious (when you get saved only cause an npc rolls a 5)


nightsmudge:

I just watched the new Dungeons and Dragons movie, and holy crap it really does feel like a group of players getting together to play a campaign (mild spoilers btw)


The Bard: The chaotic charismatic dumbass who ends up as the party leader

The Barbarian: Has a running gag that her character fucking loves potatoes just for lols

The Sorcerer: The player who has a history of constantly forgetting their abilities so the DM decided to work with this and gave them wild magic so they didn’t have to remember as many spell slots

The Druid: The player who everyone thinks is an innocent little cinnamon bun up until they end up landing the killing blow on the BBEG in the most brutal way possible

The Rogue: The player who had to leave the campaign but gave the DM the thumbs up to turn their character into an antagonist for the story 

The Paladin: The guest player who was only able to come in for a couple sessions. The DM let them play as a higher level character to make the experience fun for everyone


merricatcoded:

AUTISTIC PALADIN STEREOTYPE

DETECT EVIL LITERALLY SNIFFING THE AIR

THE FUCKING 5 QUESTIONS SCENE

THE DIALOGUE. THE MAKESHIFT ‘PLANS’

THE NEEDLESSLY COMPLICATED BRIDGE EXPLANATION OH MY GOD

im forgiving the ‘technical inaccuracies’ (can’t wildshape into an owlbear etc) because despite being a nerd i’m not an annoying nerd, movies don’t have to follow game mechanics to a t. what i’m not forgiving is the absolutely pathetic excuse for a ‘tiefling’ they made sophia lillis’ costume (dainty pasty white girl with cute neat little horns?? making a talking point of how she ‘doesn’t get along with humans’? why do you look just like one then???) because hollywood is too afraid to have women look physically threatening or too unconventional. but apart from that. the plot is everything i could have asked for. almost wish they’d made it more meta and we could have seen the players at the end but apart from that. googling the character sheets now