Rousing Speeches

[NekoJoker]

OOOOokk!

So i got really pumped up from this last two threads

Dramatic Music http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=179387

Songs For a Paladin http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=179156

so I am now searching for more inspirational stuff, let's see if we can get a thread about Rousing speeches and maybe some epic one-liners

I will start off by posting the "Band of Brothers" Speech from Henry the V

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDZVxbrW7Ow

I still remember the first time i was able to see this clip. It was a few years ago, my sister was preparint her thesis on the subject of Henry the V and this was a part of her research material

I will never forget the goosebumps.

Tell me about your experiences Either In-Character or Out-of-Character that have been about Rousing Speeches

[Grelna the Blue]

Not quite the same thing, but there was plenty of inspirational banter in The Magnificent Seven:

Chris: You forget one thing. We took a contract.
Vin: It's sure not the kind any court would enforce.
Chris: That's just the kind you've got to keep.


Chico: Villages like this they make up a song about every big thing that happens. Sing them for years.
Chris Adams: You think it's worth it?
Chico: Don't you?
Chris Adams: It's only a matter of knowing how to shoot a gun. Nothing big about that.
Chico: Hey. How can you talk like this? Your gun has got you everything you have. Isn't that true? Hmm? Well, isn't that true?
Vin: Yeah, sure. Everything. After awhile you can call bartenders and faro dealers by their first name - maybe two hundred of 'em! Rented rooms you live in - five hundred! Meals you eat in hash houses - a thousand! Home - none! Wife - none! Kids... none! Prospects - zero. Suppose I left anything out?
Chris Adams: Yeah. Places you're tied down to - none. People with a hold on you - none. Men you step aside for - none.
Lee: Insults swallowed - none. Enemies - none.
Chris Adams: No enemies?
Lee: Alive.
Chico: Well. This is the kind of arithmetic I like.
Chris Adams: Yeah. So did I at your age.
Part of a speech from an overly wordy mage of mine in the Forgotten Realms. She was attempting to convince her shaken party to continue on a quest to ransom a child from one BBEG to take on another BBEG, a shadow dracolich gathering an army of conquest.

If you are willing to risk death to save a child, how much risk are you willing to accept? One chance of death in twelve? Six in twelve? Eleven in twelve? Each person amongst us must answer that question for himself, or herself.

[snip]

But the real question is, if we do not face Malestrix, what will happen in this region when we leave? For myself, I care not the snap of my fingers for Vaasa. For all of me, Malestrix can have it, and is welcome to it. But that army outside is clearly not meant to take Vaasa, but to sweep out and conquer the North. I am not a northerner, but I apprenticed to Mulnan the Darkfire on the battlegrounds of Unther and I know better than any of you what war brings in its wake and what an undead army can do. I am no professional do-gooder and it is certain I will never travel the paladin’s road my brother walks or ever be eligible to do so, but doing nothing about this army and its general now I know it exists would weigh heavily against me when my turn for judgment comes, as it comes to us all in the end. Some evils are too great to ignore. For that reason alone, even if Nina had no daughter, I would elect to face this thing, so long as some of you stood by me. I could not, will not, shame myself or the traditions of my house by standing to one side and claiming incompetence or fear as an excuse for inaction. If the dracolich is defeated, that army out there will dissolve, unless another being equally powerful and skilled at controlling mixed forces of undead and giantkin steps immediately into the breach, and that seems unlikely. And in a matter such as this, I say that any chance of success whatsoever is an acceptable risk.

[Worlok]

This one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXMrC54QiNA) even comes as a song, but it's probably only applicable to Scotsmen... :smallbiggrin:

[J.Gellert]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4oFJH8hL90&feature=related

Not the best rousing speech, but surely among the top ones... :smalltongue:

[PanNarrans]

My character Chingon had a ridiculous Diplomacy bonus, with the proviso I was only allowed to use it if I'd actually written a good speech. Here's him convincing the leadership of a paladin-led nation currently at war with us to ally with us against the Atropal our party hated with a white hot passion.

Firstly I'd like to thank your nation for giving me this opportunity to talk. Realising that diplomacy is worthwhile is a promising first step in reconciling the differences between our two nations.

Your invasion has been founded on false premises. The first, that undead caused the destruction to your country. The second, that undead are evil. The third, that undead are unnatural.

I hear your cries of consternation; how can I say that undead did not cause the catastrophes that occured here?

The undead were merely a weapon; a catspaw of a common enemy who threatens the utter destruction of all we hold dear. I speak of this creature: the atropal.

*silent image*

This is no bogeyman to scare children. This is a creature of elder evil, forbidden from this plane of existence by the gods themselves. He controlled and manipulated the undead you created here, and by extension manipulates you now.

If you doubt this story, ask your clerics and ask your gods. They thought it best to keep this from you, but will not lie if questioned directly.

The atropal plans to have those avatars of the gods who dwell on this plane assassinated, to allow himself ingress to unleash death upon us all. One of his minions succeeded in slaying the avatar of the rooster, but we managed to revive it in time.

Even as I speak his forces wreak havoc all over the northern continent, slaying without restraint.

We need your help to combat this common enemy. Undead are no more unnatural than elementals, dragons or treants; they are merely the product of negative spin applied to the atomic elements of life. Even if they were unnatural, what is unnatural is not necessarily evil. Are your factories evil? Are your clothes?

I do not expect you to change your opinions of your most hated enemy overnight. I simply expect you to recognise the necessity of an alliance to protect our entire world against the threat that created and manipulated your hatred. Do not let this beast use you!

If you do not choose to end this pointless, unprovoked campaign of aggression, we will have to end it ourselves. We have the capacity to completely cripple your ability to wage war in one stroke, with what our strategists predict as a 95% likelihood of success. We have not used this capacity, because lives would be lost. We hope instead that you will join us as comrades in arms, to defend everything we love.

We need you. You need us. Does not cooperation triumph over hatred? Please, don't let your hatred destroy our world's last chance of salvation.

Thank you. *takes 10*

We also disliked the paladins. Those guys were jerks. But we REALLY hated the Atropal.

[senrath]

Well, it's more of a prayer than a speech, but I'm fond of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN-no1Ka7yU
Let's ignore the fact that it's a funeral prayer.

[true_shinken]

Best. Speech. Ever (http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechreturnoftheking.html).

[Ason]

Well, it's not from gaming exactly, but it does offer a list of great speeches...

A tradition with a group I run at my university is the annual Gingerbread House Battle of the Sexes, where the women and men compete to see which half of our fellowship can build the best dessert building, using the same exact supplies and amount of time. This year, as its organizer, I emailed out famous rousing speeches (altered to be about gingerbread houses) to both halves of the community to get them pumped up. Speeches that I stole from include:

William Wallace's speech from the Battle of Stirling in Braveheart "They may take our lives, but they can never take OUR FREEDOM!!"

The U.S. President's speech to the world in Independence Day "This day we celebrate our Independence Day!"

Aragorn's speech at the Battle of the Black Gate in Return of the King "[A day may come] when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight!" (bah! swordsaged on this one!)

Sam's speech to Frodo in The Two Towers "What are we holding onto, Sam? ...That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for."

Winston Churchill's various speeches from WWII "We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender" AND "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, This was their finest hour." AND "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." AND "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat... You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory. Victory at all costs..."


I had alumni emailing telling me that this was the most awesome Gingerbread Battle publicity they had ever seen- I was pretty pleased. Feel free to crib from these as well. There are also some great top 50 motivational speech lists with tons of YouTube videos floating around the internet if your google-fu is good enough.

[senrath]

Oh, and another one I remembered:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6wRkzCW5qI

[Fuzzie Fuzz]

I will start off by posting the "Band of Brothers" Speech from Henry the V

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDZVxbrW7Ow

Oh, man. When I first saw the thread title, this was immediately what I thought of. Bloody brilliant.

[Dr.Epic]

Aragorn's speech from the end of Return of the King.
King Leonidas's speech from 300.

[Grelna the Blue]

General Patton's "Speech to the Third Army (http://www.pattonhq.com/speech.html)" on June 5th, 1944, the eve of the Allied invasion of France, code-named "Overlord". Way too profanity-filled to post here and I doubt I'd have liked the guy, but rousing as hell.

[true_shinken]

Aragorn's speech from the end of Return of the King.
King Leonidas's speech from 300.

TONIGHT! WE DINE! IN HELL!

Leonidas was so badass he inspired people by telling them they would die. :smallcool:

[SuperFish]

Not for D&D, and it was mostly for PR reasons, but...

In a game of Adeptus Evangelion (Neon Genesis Evangelion modification of Dark Heresy), my character was reciting a speech to a large crowd after the first Angel attack. Being literally designed to be a hot blooded shonen mecha anime pilot, his speech went off the rails and turned into a completely cliche but utterly awesome declaration of "**** YEAH HUMANITY" and "**** YOU ANGELS".

Set to this song from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GopzpFJm4LQ)

I got a bunch of bonus experience for that.

[Aron Times]

Warlords in 4e can heal their allies through sheer inspiration (Inspiring Word).

[Gensh]

I can't remember anything I said in any of them specifically, but that one 4E game I played in, I attempted to resolve any conflict by spamming house-ruled luck dice on diplomacy, combined with actually giving the speech in question. I was a cleric of the (completely made up because the DM forgot to ask beforehand) god of atheism, and I actually ended the campaign by converting the high priestess of Vecna. "That was a good speech, but I'm not sure someone of your level could possibly-" "Diplomacy! *rolls fistful of dice* 57!" "You've got to stop stockpiling all those dice..."