Pirates Trilogy, Quintessential Campaign?

[Tor the Fallen]

Did any of you who watched the pirate movies feel like it was like an animated version of a roleplaying game?

All the protagonists wore suits of plot armor so thick that most of their actions were done without any weight. "Hey guys, this is a CR equivalent encounter, we can totally take it." "Come on, my sleight of hand is like +30. I don't even have to roll to see if I can get the key out from beneath the illithid cephalahead."

Note how only the NPCs were never bothered by gruesome sea monsters. "Wow, these sailors quaking in fear must have lost a bunch of sanity. Good thing we're not playing CoC!" There was ye olde magic shop and even a discussion of the etymology and pronunciation of a mythic beast (the Kraken)! How many times have you argued about pronunciation or how fantasy has really changed the original context of monsters in the MM?

Anyway, I thought they were great movies, but they had a really bizarre D&D feel. Or maybe I've just been gaming too much....

[FdL]

Anyway, I thought they were great movies, but they had a really bizarre D&D feel. Or maybe I've just been gaming too much....

That's my guess ;)

What is true is that these little movies probably had a major impact on many roleplaying groups...Come on, who hasn't been involved in a cool seafaring adventure inspired by them?

[Icewalker]

Well, it half-inspired the sea-based campaign world I'm working on. The other half was the Hornblower books.

Yeah, so many things in the movies just kind of leap out as dnd moments.

[Gaelbert]

I never really thought of the series that way, but it did inspire me to start working on a seafaring campaign. I picked up the Complete Adventurer so I have access to the Dread Pirate prestige class. Any other good pirate classes out there?

[FdL]

See? Pirates are cool again, thanks to these movies. They do the renewal thing every few years. I guess that Errol Flynn is not hip anymore to today's youth. One Piece is responsible too (or is it older than the movies? maybe that's the true origin of the current pirate fad)

Anyway, behold the mighty power of the mass media. The power to capture the attention of millions of minds and focus their sight into a single concept.

[Lucky]

Yeah, I noticed similar things myself, but I would have to say it was because I game too much and it was just a freaking cool movie.
Come on, who hasn't been involved in a cool seafaring adventure inspired by them?As of yet, no. But I guarantee you it's in the works for my next campaign. :smallwink:


I picked up the Complete Adventurer so I have access to the Dread Pirate prestige class. Any other good pirate classes out there?Mongoose put out a "Power Class" series, which was simply a bunch of little booklets that contained one class, and nothing else. A Pirate class was included in that series.
Ignoring that however, being a pirate is less of a class, and more of just a profession that plenty of classes can pull off. Rogues, fighters, sorcerers and countless other classes could easily be pirates.

[FdL]

Yeah, come on. A pirate is a dude on a ship. End of the story.

[kpenguin]

Yeah, come on. A pirate is a dude on a ship. End of the story.

Nope, a sailor is a dude on a ship. A pirate is a raidin', rapin', pillagin', murderin' dude on a ship.

[FdL]

Nope, a sailor is a dude on a ship. A pirate is a raidin', rapin', pillagin', murderin' dude on a ship.

Got it :) But meh, it's just a current fad...I don't know how many of you would think pirates are cool without the movies and all...

[Revlid]

I've always loved pirates...

At the end of Dead Man's Chest, I found myself idly wondering where Tia Dalma got enough diamonds to cast Resurrect. :smallbiggrin:

[Tyrant]

Got it :) But meh, it's just a current fad...I don't know how many of you would think pirates are cool without the movies and all...

Pirates are always cool. Depp and company have just helped bring the message to a new generation. Now all we need is the inevitable cool ninja trilogy (without closing in on Three Ninjas or TMNT territory) to complete the circle. Perhaps a 4th pirates movie can feature further exploits in the East where they must deal with ninjas. Perhaps even going so far as to face ninja pirates (or is that pirates ninjas?). Then we can all witness the highest grossing movie ever. Or so I would think reading things online anyway.

[FdL]

The thing is ninjas already have their own genres where they abound. I mean, even without Naruto, there's plenty anime and martial arts movies, video games etc. based on ninjas.
Pirates are mostly a movie phenomenon (at least historically).

[Tyrant]

The thing is ninjas already have their own genres where they abound. I mean, even without Naruto, there's plenty anime and martial arts movies, video games etc. based on ninjas.
Pirates are mostly a movie phenomenon (at least historically).

But, where does the western interest in ninjas ultimately come from? Martial arts movies of the 70s (and 60s I would imagine). Pirates only seem to flourish in movies because they really only work in period settings and so are somewhat limited by what you can do storywise with them. Most of the interest is the whole package. Wooden ships, period clothes and speech, cutlass and powder based weapons. You can't put that in to a modern timeframe. The Black Pearl isn't a huge threat to the USS Indianapolis. Ninjas, on the other hand, are stealth assasins who wear black and are masters of killing everything in their path. They can be quite easily worked into modern settings and as such have a greater diversity of storylines and media. But it doesn't change the fact that both are ultimately popular in the west because of older movies.

[Tor the Fallen]

Don't you kids read any more?
Robinson Crusoe?
Treasure Island?

[Lemur]

Actually, I regularly make comparisons between D&D and practically any action/adventure series or movie that I see. Yes, RPGs have eroded my mind that much. It's amusing to imagine the characters as being controlled by players and the situations they get in as events unfolding in a campaign.

[doliemaster]

But, where does the western interest in ninjas ultimately come from? Martial arts movies of the 70s (and 60s I would imagine). Ninjas, on the other hand, are stealth assasins who wear black and are masters of killing everything in their path.


Just saying this is why I HATE Naruto, bloody kiddified Ninjas in my eyes. Personally I liked samuri's the most, but pirates are always cool, while Ninjas were Ok in my eyes but always the weakest of the three in an allout war, which happens in my mind, alot, and looks AWSOME.

[MaxKaladin]

Another D&D similarity I noticed is that the 2nd movie is basically about the hunt for a lich's phylactery. The mechanics aren't exactly the same (destroying the heart kills Jones but destroying a lich's phylactery only prevents it from regenerating) but otherwise it seems pretty similar.

I suppose that makes Davy Jones an illithilich.

My group also feels that the "Mummy" moves from a few years back are basically someone's campaign.

[FdL]

Another D&D similarity I noticed is that the 2nd movie is basically about the hunt for a lich's phylactery. The mechanics aren't exactly the same (destroying the heart kills Jones but destroying a lich's phylactery only prevents it from regenerating) but otherwise it seems pretty similar.

I suppose that makes Davy Jones an illithilich.


Please no spoilers or something. Weird as it may sound I haven't seen the second or third movies yet.

[doliemaster]

Um, I forgot to say this, but FDL it is in a spoiler tag-
When I first saw Davy Jones my mind whent-The great Cthulu has arisen or the writer knew who Lovecraft was:smallbiggrin:

[FdL]

Um, I forgot to say this, but FDL it is in a spoiler tag-


Thanks! ^^

On a related note, I just found out that when you quote a section of text containing a spoiler tag, guess what, it appears de-spoiled when you're editing your message :D LOL
Ah, whatever, I'll have to rent the frickin' thing some day. :p

[Tor the Fallen]

Actually, I regularly make comparisons between D&D and practically any action/adventure series or movie that I see. Yes, RPGs have eroded my mind that much. It's amusing to imagine the characters as being controlled by players and the situations they get in as events unfolding in a campaign.

Some movies are so 'movie' anyway, where the director knows that the viewer knows that he's watching a movie, there's less attempt to hide the fourth wall. This leads to the obviousness that there is an actor, portraying a character, being controlled by offscreen sources.

[Aereshaa_the_2nd]

I think that the pirates movies could certainly be stat'ed.

[MaxKaladin]

Sorry FDL. I figured the 2nd movie was safe to talk about.