An RPG Reality Show

[Newman]

Basically, the show consists of a bunch of really good players (possibly professional actors... someone playing a bard could actually be an actual singer/musician, that sort of stuff... but never actual LARP) roleplaying a game, and being so good at it that the audience is captivated into the story. Not just the in-game story, but the story of how the players improvise around it, have interesting conflicts with each other and the GM, etc.

May include SMS voting for crucial decisions, to keep the audience interested in the mechanic details.

Casting is very very crucial obviously.

[One Tin Soldier]

Well, it's not a reality show, but Darths and Droids has that sort of premise.

[Silus]

I could see it being run like the Gamers movies.

[Lucid]

Something like these?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqXqK3ZlqWI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy8-NNlE80A

[Newman]

Well, it's not a reality show, but Darths and Droids has that sort of premise.

Actually that's exactly what I had in mind. Darths and Droids and DM of the Rings triggered this idea.

Something like these?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqXqK3ZlqWI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy8-NNlE80A

Yeah, but instead of pandering to the base, being directed at the general public. Doing for tabletop role-play games what Yugioh did for children's collectible card games.

[Tengu_temp]

That'd be a failure, and most likely boring. Watching other people play a tabletop game is never as fun as playing yourself. Furthermore, the audience for this would be miniscule, because there are few people in the mainstream audience who care about RPGs and even fewer who care about both RPGs and reality shows.

Darths and Droids is a webcomic. It has nothing to do with this idea.

[Newman]

That'd be a failure, and most likely boring. Watching other people play a tabletop game is never as fun as playing yourself. Furthermore, the audience for this would be miniscule, because there are few people in the mainstream audience who care about RPGs and even fewer who care about both RPGs and reality shows.

Darths and Droids is a webcomic. It has nothing to do with this idea.

Darths and Droids is a webcomic about a bunch of players having hilarious interactions between each other and the DM, while crafting a story that, while nonsensical in many ways, has a certain appeal. It has everything to do with this idea.

Again, let me cite to you such works as Yugioh and Duel Masters. They brought an entire generation into Trading Card Games. True, YGO and DM are scripted, and they incorporate supernatural elements, but the heart of the story is the suspense of sophisticated games played by extremely emotional characters for very high stakes. This can be recreated by live actors/players in a limited capacity. Pokemon and Harry Potter also caught their attention, and we can also thank the Panini stickers for familiarizing the kids with the format: the matter is, kids know about trading card games thanks to those shows.

Hence, the same effect could be achieved by a sufficiently engaging story built around an RPG. It would be like watching an improvised play, or listening to a storyteller. Whether this works and captivates people or not depends mostly on the quality of the acting and the scripting.

It doesn't matter if the general public don't know about the genre. The goal of the show would be to bring roleplaying to the eyes of the general public, by showing them an idealized, dramatic version of how it's done, by the best.

Seeing others play can easily be more fun than playing yourself, if they are good enough at it, and this holds true for any game. Such as football.

[Bastian Weaver]

Six words.
I Hit It With My Axe.
Now that was a cool show.

[Dr.Epic]

Why not just have a fantasy-based show then?

If the point of this is get drawn into their characters and the fantasy plot, then just do a regular show. The point of a reality show is showing normal people being themselves (at least that should be the point of a reality show). Not to mention you'd get taken out of what the characters do because of the mechanics of the game.

[SowZ]

It sounds a bit like making a shooter video game, (a game representing combat,) about painball, (itself a game representing combat.) It is one step more meta then, say, a sports vide game. The difference is that the show wouldn't be interactive. I think it may be a bit too much for most people in this respect. Even improvisational theater only appeals to a niche audience when it isn't comedy. And the addition of rules and dice that may seem arbitrary and boring to people unfamiliar with the idea might further turn people off.

It's a fun idea but one I doubt could become that mainstream. A TV show where one of the activites the characters commonly take part in, witht eh characters gaming personas being characters themselves and the plot of the game being one of the running sub-plots of the show, sounds like something that would have a better chance at bringing gaming to the general public. That is just my guess.

[Tengu_temp]

Darths and Droids is a webcomic about a bunch of players having hilarious interactions between each other and the DM, while crafting a story that, while nonsensical in many ways, has a certain appeal. It has everything to do with this idea.

It's a scripted story written by one guy. These players and DM are not really there, these sessions haven't happened. Watching real people actually play an RPG is completely different, and usually much less fun.

[Beleriphon]

It's a scripted story written by one guy. These players and DM are not really there, these sessions haven't happened. Watching real people actually play an RPG is completely different, and usually much less fun.

Unless you are Scott Kurtz, Jerry Holkins, Mike Krahulik and Wil Wheaton. Those guy's playing D&D are hilarious.

[Rorrik]

If you really want it to be a reality show and show the players, I think it would need to be animated and show large parts of the campaign from an IC point of view with only some portions viewing a few blokes around the table.

Alternately, they could be playing from a cursed source book or something and have part of their soul transferred into the characters (cursed character sheets?) and go about it almost Jumanji style where they have to finish the campaign to save their lives.

Honestly, I don't see it picking up steam as a reality show.

[Shyftir]

I'd watch a live video taped Actual Play, in fact there are a few out there. But for the most part the audience is marginal and very niche.

[Lord Tyger]

What if the game they were playing were itself based off of a reality show similar to Survivor, Big Brother, etc?

[SowZ]

What if the game they were playing were itself based off of a reality show similar to Survivor, Big Brother, etc?

What, like, if your character dies you're out?

[Lord Tyger]

What, like, if your character dies you're out?

Well, some lose condition that would be part of the game system.

[Newman]

What, like, if your character dies you're out?

That would be disastrous. Waaay too much power for the DM (and the dice!).

[The Glyphstone]

If your character dies, so do you? The Running Man, D&D Edition.

[Newman]

Hm... a postmodern concept where the game actually causes stories to happen in another plane... kinda like the Neverending story, expcept with roleplaying rather than reading...

Hm. The problem with making the PC become actual characters is that all the bickering with the DM and the metagaming sort of disappear. The stakes are just too high... There's also the topic of PC treating NPC like ****, which should come bite the players in the ass after a while...

So... how to justify the players caring about both the story and the game, but not in a way that completely wrecks either? I mean, if it's your actual life at stake rather than that of a PC, you might be a lot more cautious with how you behave. The gameplay changes completely. At best, Conan becomes Korgoth. At worst, Gandalf becomes Rincewind. Questing for cool items and meddling in high politics isn't so attractive anymore once your freaking life is on the line.

[Bosaxon]

I always pictured something like Celebrity Poker. You get some famous people, project a grid somewhere, let them play, and get some people to commentate.

[SowZ]

I always pictured something like Celebrity Poker. You get some famous people, project a grid somewhere, let them play, and get some people to commentate.

See, this is a player that likes to go with the old standby, high percentage attacks. Some people call him predictable, but his net win-loss ratio in CR appropriate encounters is very positive. Compare that to Paul the Barbarians offensive strategy, which usually involves a lot of BAB sacrifice for power attack. Sometimes calls that like end you up as a hero. Other times you look the fool.

Absolutely Bob. And, wait, oh! Did you see that critical? See, this is what Jyrax the halfing is known for.

I agree. And you see the party doing back on top again after Jyrax recovered from that last injury. I tell you, I wasn't alone in worrying if it was a career ender...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SouhxAZoTi4

[Machinekng]

Well, if they can make Starcraft entertaining to watch, they can make anything entertaining .

A standard dungeon crawl, in a way, would be an interesting premise for a reality show. If you beat the dragon at the end of the dungeon, you get the dragon's hoard in real life, a cash prize, to be split among the players. If you die, then, you're out, forcing the rest of the party to decide wether to raise you or not. If they don't, if they win, the get bigger chunks of the cash prize, but they then have a smaller chance of winning.

[Newman]

See, this is a player that likes to go with the old standby, high percentage attacks. Some people call him predictable, but his net win-loss ratio in CR appropriate encounters is very positive. Compare that to Paul the Barbarians offensive strategy, which usually involves a lot of BAB sacrifice for power attack. Sometimes calls that like end you up as a hero. Other times you look the fool.

Absolutely Bob. And, wait, oh! Did you see that critical? See, this is what Jyrax the halfing is known for.

I agree. And you see the party doing back on top again after Jyrax recovered from that last injury. I tell you, I wasn't alone in worrying if it was a career ender...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SouhxAZoTi4

Indeed, getting the innocent viewers up to date on the rules would involve lots and lots of exposition. Still, Yugioh proves that with the proper delivery, even the most outrageous munchkinning can be very entertaining to watch.

And the guys in that video are really too self-depreciating. Seriously.

[SowZ]

Indeed, getting the innocent viewers up to date on the rules would involve lots and lots of exposition. Still, Yugioh proves that with the proper delivery, even the most outrageous munchkinning can be very entertaining to watch.

And the guys in that video are really too self-depreciating. Seriously.

They take it to a ridiculous extreme on purpose. They are nerds, btw, and make fun of themselves alot, yeah. One of their running series is where you pick random monsters from the Monster Manual and do an impression. I could see where you think it goes too far, though.

[Newman]

Is it any wonder that I liked the Kick-Ass film much more than the Kick-Ass comic? (And by that I mean that I despise that comic with all of my soul). Anyone here who's familiar with both will get what I mean.