Could I pull of a "To Serve Man" quest

[Dr.Epic]

Yep. Based off the famous Twilight Zone episode. Could I pull this off and not have the players be aware what I'm referencing. Yeah, it's a VERY well know and VERY famous episode. I won't say it's the most well know because people will respond I look out at the wing of the plane to which I'll say my glasses fell off, but I'm sure if you asked people to rank the most well known episodes of the Twilight Zone, this episode would probably fall in the top ten.

My question is because it's so famous could I get away using the concept of the episode and not have anyone notice (well, until they get the cook book). Basically I'd have a town that worships these giants or something and every so often they come down and choose a few people to ascend to a higher plane and thus they can never come back.

Thoughts?

[Kuma Kode]

Depends on if your players watched the Twilight Zone. Even if they did, they might not pick up on it if you play it subtley.

[Dr.Epic]

Depends on if your players watched the Twilight Zone. Even if they did, they might not pick up on it if you play it subtley.

Yeah, I'm thinking of a good race to pick to eat people. Obviously nothing good, but I can't pick something the players will recognize as evil. Outsider would be good. Maybe elementals.

[Tengu_temp]

Basically I'd have a town that worships these giants or something and every so often they come down and choose a few people to ascend to a higher plane and thus they can never come back.

When something like this happens, the players will always think that something nefarious is going on. Always. You want a real twist, make it turn out that they really ascend to a higher plane... Although the Simpsons already did something like that, too.

[hewhosaysfish]

When something like this happens, the players will always think that something nefarious is going on. Always. You want a real twist, make it turn out that they really ascend to a higher plane... Although the Simpsons already did something like that, too.

One option is to make the players suspect a different kind of nefarious.
For example, instead of saying that the people are taken away to ascend to a higher plane, say that they have been accorded the honour of serving theirour glorious masters; the players will naturally assume that this implies slavery, or at least drudgery.

[Altair_the_Vexed]

Yep. Based off the famous Twilight Zone episode. Could I pull this off and not have the players be aware what I'm referencing. Yeah, it's a VERY well know and VERY famous episode. I won't say it's the most well know because people will respond I look out at the wing of the plane to which I'll say my glasses fell off, but I'm sure if you asked people to rank the most well known episodes of the Twilight Zone, this episode would probably fall in the top ten.

My question is because it's so famous could I get away using the concept of the episode and not have anyone notice (well, until they get the cook book). Basically I'd have a town that worships these giants or something and every so often they come down and choose a few people to ascend to a higher plane and thus they can never come back.

Thoughts?

Well, I for one have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Not everyone watched TZ.

[Cartigan]

Run interference.
Some great evil is consuming the land. It's the PC's job to fight it. At some point therein, a third party offers its help where the third party is at least as powerful as the PCs and preferably more so. This will inevitably stem the tide of evil. Possibly have them "evacuate" innocents from battle zones.

Now the question here is - do you want the PCs to be swept up as captured or become suspicious of the interlopers?

If the former, have the third party invite them to join them in their stronghold for a celebration of the victory - hopefully the interference will keep their suspicion spread out on what is really going on - and when it is too late, have them captured and run that arc.

If the latter, have NPCs evacuated by the third party never return to their homes while NPCs that evacuate themselves or evacuated by other return or show up at keeps in safe areas and they plead to the PCs to find their loved ones. At which point they SHOULD go looking into where the people were evacuated to and why no one has heard from them again. If they investigate in the wrong place, it should be easy to manipulate their target.

Of course, they may already be investigating them from their original appearance which should make it a little easier though may derail the destruction of evil a little early.

[Noneoyabizzness]

see I wouldn't think "to serve man" I'd think "RENEW! RENEW!"

[Cartigan]

see I wouldn't think "to serve man" I'd think "RENEW! RENEW!"

"The enemy of my enemy is really a super evil jerkass" is not exactly an imaginary trope. That's like every single Guild Wars storyline.

[Master_Rahl22]

Maxim 29: The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy. No more. No less.
-The Seventy Maxims of Maximally Effective Mercenaries, Schlock Mercenary

On topic, I like your idea and think it would work out well if you make it seem like the chosen ones are going to be servants/slaves in the palaces of the outsiders/elementals/whatever.

[Telonius]

How familiar are your players with the Monster Manuals? Yak Folk make a decently good race to do it. The team discovers a perfect shangri-la up in the mountains...

[askandarion]

Honestly, it depends on their age. I wouldn't say people would know the TZ episode too well nowadays- except it was referenced in one of the Simpsons Halloween specials. As long as you aren't obvious about it (Yak folk could work if your players don't memorize the monster manuals), it should work. I think fey are particularly well-suited for this sort of storyline.

[Cartigan]

Honestly, it depends on their age. I wouldn't say people would know the TZ episode too well nowadays- except it was referenced in one of the Simpsons Halloween specials. As long as you aren't obvious about it (Yak folk could work if your players don't memorize the monster manuals), it should work. I think fey are particularly well-suited for this sort of storyline.

Sci-fi runs a TZ marathon at least once a year where To Serve Man is always played.

[askandarion]

Good on them, then, for continuing it! I don't know anyone who watches Sy-Fy anymore, thanks to the wonders of the internet. Tried getting my younger cousin into the original TZ and Outer Limits episodes, but he found them "boring". Loves modern sci-fi shows and movies, though, and can second-generation-quote tons of lines from old movies he picked up from Robot Chicken, Family Guy, and the Simpsons. I don't quite know how I feel about how often famous quotes are thrown around nowadays by people who never saw the movie or read the book that originated it.

I don't know Dr. Epic's crew, so I voiced my opinion on the general likelihood of the players catching onto it. If they're grognards who watched the original episodes or the replays, of course they'll recognize it. If not, or if they aren't interested in TZ, or enjoy fantasy but hate science fiction, then less so. It's possible they only know it as a meme, and so wouldn't quite catch on. Or they might know it as a trope, so he'd have to hide it a bit more. It depends on their ages and how plugged into pop culture they are. Or how often they watch Sy Fy. They'll certainly be suspicious of the situation regardless, I'd expect.

[nedz]

Good on them, then, for continuing it! I don't know anyone who watches Sy-Fy anymore, thanks to the wonders of the internet. Tried getting my younger cousin into the original TZ and Outer Limits episodes, but he found them "boring". Loves modern sci-fi shows and movies, though, and can second-generation-quote tons of lines from old movies he picked up from Robot Chicken, Family Guy, and the Simpsons. I don't quite know how I feel about how often famous quotes are thrown around nowadays by people who never saw the movie or read the book that originated it.

Reminds me of the first time I saw Casablanca. This movies full of cliche's I thought

I have seen all of the TZs, most of them twice. This one didn't stick in my memory; but then I never really rated them. They were only B shorts and B/W too - IMHO.

I don't know your players, would they get this if you ran it straight?

Fey would work, or some Kobald Sorcerors faking Solars perhaps ?
Gnomes would work with this too I guess ?

[navar100]

If they're not familiar with Twilight Zone they might be with V, the original or remake, which is pretty much the same thing. The original more so.