Best Campaign Setting for a Movie?

[kpenguin]

What campaign setting would be best as the setting for a good D&D movie? Some thoughts covering what are currently the three big settings.


Greyhawk: While not really played that often unless you're in Living Greyhawk, it still is the basis for the generic D&D
Forgotten Realms: Embodies what fantasy is all about: Epic level characters who don't known what a multiclassing penalty means
Eberron: A fairly original and new setting that might help set the movie apart from other epic fantasy movies.


Other worthy mentions:

Dark Sun: Fun in the Sun!
Dragonlance: Epic storytelling. Some of the best novels could translate into some of the best movies
Ravenloft: Eh. Horror isn't what we're looking for in a D&D movie
Planescape: This could be interesting. The factions and the hopping through different worlds could be very cool

[Tallis]

Well, I learned to play with Greyhawk and I still love it, but for a movie I think I'd have to go with Eberron. It's the most originaland would stand out from other fantasy movies much more than the others.

[Attilargh]

Iron Kingdoms. It's got a big, ongoing metaplot that'll change the face of Immoren, it's got awesome characters, it's got a fantastically fantastic milieu, and it's got steamjacks.

Steamjacks. Six tonnes of soot-belching, coal-burning, magically guided vaguely humanoid steel. What's not to love?

Plus, Gun Mages.

[Eladrinstar]

Greyhawk: Needs a revamp
Dragonlance: No
Forgotten Realms: I'd like to see it. It has had quite a few books that were on the best seller list. They could get a studio easily. But most likely it would end up being about the Drow.
Eberron: Most likely to actually happen. And since unlike the other three it wouldn't be canon, it wouldn't tick off the fans as much.

[kpenguin]

Forgotten Realms: I'd like to see it. It has had quite a few books that were on the best seller list. They could get a studio easily. But most likely it would end up being about the Drow.


Like a Drizzt movie? That would be okay... but I'd really rather have Eberron.

[Neo]

yeah, something drow would probably make a more interesting concept, i would say rather keep a drizzt story as a serial, as he does seem to become more and more high and mighty as it progresses.

Something darker like the whole FR Artemis Entreri/Jarlaxle thing would probably work better.

[WhammeWhamme]

Planescape is what D&D brings to the table as a unique offering. Sorry, but the rest of the game is smiliar to other stuff that made it onto the big screen.

[Kurald Galain]

Actually, knowing Hollywood it wouldn't make much of a difference which setting it was in, since to laymen they're all "heroic fantasy with monsters" so H'wood would treat them the same. You'd end up with a more generic film than any setting, because there's only so much you can actually show of the background countries in a film before the exposition becomes boring.

Excepting Ravenloft, that's more in the horror film genre. But Ravenloft only really makes sense if you know of D&D already.

[Callix]

Eberron. Why do I even need to say it?
Mind-reading creepy guys: Check
Robot-ish dudes: Check
Guys who can change their appearance at will: Check.
High-grade stuff that can explode when sabotaged (rail, air, sea): Check.

Eberron even specifically states it was inspired as much by film noir, including that classic Blade Runner, as standard D&D. What other world allows duelling wizards on top of a speeding train? And there's no real canon to screw up, and as many plotlines as you care to exploit.

[Matthew]

Hmmn. The animated Dragonlance Movie is already on the way. Dungeons & Dragons 2 had some upside down Dark Elves being drained of blood for Damodar. I found that quite amusing.

[Lycurgus]

Hmmn. The animated Dragonlance Movie is already on the way. Dungeons & Dragons 2 had some upside down Dark Elves being drained of blood for Damodar. I found that quite amusing.

Yep, and quite a cast too.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0825245/

[Iron_Mouse]

While I love the idea of a Planescape movie, I also hope to never see one.

Because there is no way in Hell that they will NOT screw it up.

[skyclad]

SpellJammer :D

[kpenguin]

Actually, knowing Hollywood it wouldn't make much of a difference which setting it was in, since to laymen they're all "heroic fantasy with monsters" so H'wood would treat them the same. You'd end up with a more generic film than any setting, because there's only so much you can actually show of the background countries in a film before the exposition becomes boring.

Excepting Ravenloft, that's more in the horror film genre. But Ravenloft only really makes sense if you know of D&D already.

Not necessarily. Eberron, for instance, is definitely very different than the generic fantasy setting. Since most epic fantasy movies are set in the generic pseudo-European world, Dark Sun would also be different. FR as well, depending on the region you're in. Planescape would be different since alternate planes of existence are usually used in the background, rather than the actual focus of the setting.

[Morty]

Seriously, Eberron would look stupid in the movie. It's probably because Eberron looks stupid overall.
In case of other settings: unless it's some really non-standard setting, it doesn't really matter much. Movies aren't long enough to show details, so there wouldn't be much difference between FR and Greyhawk.

[Eladrinstar]

Seriously, Eberron would look stupid in the movie. It's probably because Eberron looks stupid overall.
In case of other settings: unless it's some really non-standard setting, it doesn't really matter much. Movies aren't long enough to show details, so there wouldn't be much difference between FR and Greyhawk.

Cynical much? :smallbiggrin:

[GoblinJTHM]

Seriously, Eberron would look stupid in the movie. It's probably because Eberron looks stupid overall.
In case of other settings: unless it's some really non-standard setting, it doesn't really matter much. Movies aren't long enough to show details, so there wouldn't be much difference between FR and Greyhawk.

just a lvl 62 wizard in a red robe and pointy hat :D

[Wraithy]

Like a Drizzt movie? That would be okay.

...........................no, no it wouldn't

[Morty]

just a lvl 62 wizard in a red robe and pointy hat :D

That would fit Greyhawk too. It's just he isn't there right now.

[Diggorian]

Jack Bauer voicing Raistlin ... sweet. :smallbiggrin:

I'd love to see a Darksun movie cause it would add something truely original to the genre (like the actual setting) and be quite doable effects wise.

Save Planescape and Spelljammer, the others would step on many LotR toes.

[CrazedGoblin]

...........................no, no it wouldn't

One Drow...One Destiny....Two Swords... hahaha

[LoopyZebra]

Personally, I'd like to see FR, but I'm biased. Also, like the Dune movie, I think a movie stuck in Ebberon would suffer from having too many differences from a 'traditional' setting; the exposition would be too long and the viewer would be bored or the exposition would be too short and the average viewer wouldn't know what's going on (("Robots? I thought this was fantasy, not Sci-Fi!")). Yet, WotC seems to be making moves to support Eberron, so I would guess that they would make it set in Eberron.

[Tallis]

Dark Sun could be good also. Post apocolyptic fantasy might actually get noticed. But of course it also wouldn't be representative of the majority of D&D players.

[Human Paragon 3]

What campaign setting was the (terrible) dungeons and dragons movie set in? Greyhawk?

[Diggorian]

What campaign setting was the (terrible) dungeons and dragons movie set in? Greyhawk?

Dont think so. No Greyhawk kingdom matches the name of the arcanocracy they used.


Dark Sun could be good also. Post apocolyptic fantasy might actually get noticed. But of course it also wouldn't be representative of the majority of D&D players.

That's true, Darksun is not typical. The most popular settings are gonna seem like LotR wannabe's though I think as Jackson's movies spoke to the heart of D&D (being based on the stories that influence Gygax).

[Ranis]

Alright, I'll be the first to say it: Kingdoms of Kalamar. I feel dirty now.

Seriously, KoK would make a good movie. Think about how complex they could make the plot.

[Nahal]

Meh. You could have an entire Eberron film in Sharn, and save a lot of exposition. Sell it to the Hollywood guys as "like Coruscant in Star Wars, only with wizards and magic instead of Jedi and fancy technology." Your airship docks and lightning rail terminals supply the explosions (along with your occasional fireball), and high-level casters are rare enough that the crowds will scatter if you have the obligatory wizard face-off in the streets.

FR would be interesting, but hard to make a film (for reasons already covered; a Drizzt movie would wipe its rear with the canon, and introducing dark elves (they're evil, except for THIS one) to the mainstream would probably be more trouble than it's worth.

IK could be done, due to it being all gritty and with the big robots and such. Plus you could use the Protectorate of Menoth for political humor. Get Hugh Jackman to play Lt. Caine (sic?) and you're set.

Edit: Or Johnny Depp. He does the brash/flamboyant crazy-person thing well

[Rob Knotts]

Dark Sun could be good also. Post apocolyptic fantasy might actually get noticed. But of course it also wouldn't be representative of the majority of D&D players.A Dark Sun movie would really be redundant, it's virtually based on a movie subgenre as it is. Conan-imitating "desert barbarian" movies like Beastmaster & Conan the Destroyer, and even the painfully-forgettable Ator, not to mention old sword/sandals fantasy like the italian Hercules movies or newer entries like Gladiator and 300.

As for other D&D settings, while there are a lot of things I don't like about Eberron, it would probably be the best suited for a movie that could be avoid be labeled as a copy of LotR or even Harry Potter.

[kpenguin]

The problem with Eberron would be trusting a Hollywood director to balance the sci-fi/steampunk elements that set it apart and the essential fantasy that makes it D&D.

[Sylian]

Dragonlance would probably be the best setting. You already have high quality books to base it on, so it shouldn't be hard to make a movie. Although there is one, there could be more.

[nagora]

The rise of Tharizdun and the destruction of Greyhawk would make a great trilogy of movies, but I doubt Hollywood would go for the downbeat ending.

[Attilargh]

IK could be done, due to it being all gritty and with the big robots and such. Plus you could use the Protectorate of Menoth for political humor. Get Hugh Jackman to play Lt. Caine (sic?) and you're set.

Edit: Or Johnny Depp. He does the brash/flamboyant crazy-person thing well
Captain. Caine's a captain nowadays. And he (http://www.privateerpress.com/WARMACHINE/gallery/default.php?level=picture&id=68) looks just like Bruce Campbell (http://www.imdb.com/gallery/granitz/1494/Events/1494/BruceCampb_Vespa_609182_400.jpg.html?hint=nm013225 7).

But Depp would make a great Gorman di Wulfe.

[Matthew]

What campaign setting was the (terrible) dungeons and dragons movie set in? Greyhawk?
As far as I recall, it was its own setting (somewhat thankfully). Dungeons & Dragons: The Elemental Might/Wrath of the Dragon King was set in that same world, but 100 years later. They could both have ben set in Oerth, as the world of Greyhawk is largely unmapped, but I would hope that I would never have to encounter Snails or Jimmy the Tea Boy there; bad enough that there's the possibility of running into one of them in Planescape. Saying that, it might be pretty cool to run into Richard O'Brian and his Crystal Maze... hmmn, that might make for a fun Planescape Adventure (Where's the Crystal?)

[Roog]

Iron Kingdoms or Spelljammer.

[Matthew]

The rise of Tharizdun and the destruction of Greyhawk would make a great trilogy of movies, but I doubt Hollywood would go for the downbeat ending.

This comment confused the hell out of me, until I realised it was referring to a prospective unwritten event (or so I would hope).

[Rauthaven]

My vote is also for Eberron, as long as they only use Wayne Reynolds artwork for the concepts. Then it'll at least look good. Remember that Beowulf movie starring Christopher Lambert? I'm pretty sure Brom did all the concepts for the outfits and whatnot in that movie. The costumes practically screamed it. I think an Eberron movie visually based on the art of Wayne Reynolds would go a long way even with a crummy script or no-name actors.