That episode where they went all D&D on us

[LucianoAr]

Bender goes crazy with D&D.




what other shows you know have special D&D/Rpg episodes?

[Benthesquid]

Community has done two- "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons," and "Advanced Advanced Dungeons and Dragons."

It wasn't a major focus, but in the final episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the night before a big climactic battle, a bunch of the characters sat down to a D&D game.

[Yora]

There's also a quick joke in an episode of Angel:
"Are you familiar with dungeons and dragons?"
"I've been in lots of dungeons, but I've never faced a dragon before."

[Red Fel]

"I've been in lots of dungeons, but I've never faced a dragon before."

And then came the finale...

[Beta Centauri]

Once they were researching monsters on Buffy and one of them realized that they were reading a D&D rulebook.

[Lord Torath]

The Big Bang Theory has several D&D-related episodes. There's one were they rescue Santa, and another where the girls get to join in, and one where Stewart plays. Possibly a few others. The rules they play by bear no resemblance to the actual rules that I could tell, other than rolling a d20.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Dexter's Laboratory had a really good one, it was called Dungeons & DeeDee IIRC, basically Dexter is a killer GM and things get weird when Dee Dee takes over as the master. Plus it has the best introduction for a Dragon Encounter EVER.

"You are walking through the Dungeon/Forest and... a Dragon appears!"


And?


"It is evil and wants to eat you"

[Beta Centauri]

Wizards of Waverly Place had an in-world version of D&D that they played in a few episodes.

[mephnick]

The rules they play by bear no resemblance to the actual rules that I could tell, other than rolling a d20.

You'd think the writers of nerdy shows like Community or BBT could at least watch a single gameplay podcast or something before putting D&D in their shows. Even Community made the hobby look stupid as heck.

[Beta Centauri]

You'd think the writers of nerdy shows like Community or BBT could at least watch a single gameplay podcast or something before putting D&D in their shows. Even Community made the hobby look stupid as heck.

The kind of RPG session I am used to seeing and hearing and reading about wouldn't make the hobby look any less stupid.

Those scenes were like absolutely everything else you see on TV: nuance and truth tossed aside in order to tell a particular story a particular way at a particular pace in a particular amount of time. You really wouldn't want it otherwise. If you do, then what you want is not TV, but real life.

[Grinner]

Bender goes crazy with D&D.

You might say he went on a D&D bender.

You'd think the writers of nerdy shows like Community or BBT could at least watch a single gameplay podcast or something before putting D&D in their shows. Even Community made the hobby look stupid as heck.

I thought they were awfully entertaining myself. They also convinced one of my friends that playing D&D is a good idea.

She's a bit of a Community junkie.

[mephnick]

I liked the Community episodes, but my friends were like "..do people really dress like black elves and talk in stupid voices..?"

"Not in my groups."

They did a better job making it looks like a casual hang-out in the second one though.

[Kami2awa]

Season 8 of Supernatural has the boys hunting real monsters in the midst of a LARP, on top of about a zillion other geeky references. And the writers generally seem to know what they're talking about. Wouldn't one issue with portraying a published RPG accurately be the risk of infringing someone's intellectual property rights? The Big Bang Theory presumably can't use beholders(TM) and mind flayers(TM) any more than anyone else can.

[Lord Torath]

Season 8 of Supernatural has the boys hunting real monsters in the midst of a LARP, on top of about a zillion other geeky references. And the writers generally seem to know what they're talking about. Wouldn't one issue with portraying a published RPG accurately be the risk of infringing someone's intellectual property rights? The Big Bang Theory presumably can't use beholders(TM) and mind flayers(TM) any more than anyone else can.

True, but they could probably get away with "I power-attack the ogre with my greatsword" rather than just "You roll a fifteen to hit! The ogre dies!" or "I'm going to drink a healing potion.... I get a 4." "You fail to drink the potion."

[cougon]

There was an episode of the BBC show "The IT Crowd" that wove RPGs and DnD directly into the story for the episode. The series is available on Netflix if you want to check it out.

[Eldan]

Not a show, but Harry Dresden (wizard) plays RPGs that are quite obviously D&D. He even complains that they do fireballs wrong. Though he prefers to play stupid barbarians.

His vampire brother also once played an NPC on a Vampire: the Masquerade LARP. That was then attacked by different vampires.

[the_david]

There's a scene in E.T. the extraterrestrial.

i have to say that this was one of the better representations of D&D that I've seen. (Not counting Youtube series.)

Mom: So how do you win this game?
Kid 1: You don't, it's like life. You can't win at life.
Kid 2: Money helps!

[Beta Centauri]

There's a scene in E.T. the extraterrestrial.

Good one!

The movie Cloak and Dagger features roleplaying at the beginning. In fact, the first scenes of the movie actually take place IN their game.

[Rakoa]

The Gamers: Dorkness Rising had one or two D&D scenes, if I recall.

[Benthesquid]

The Gamers: Dorkness Rising had one or two D&D scenes, if I recall.

So did the original (The Gamers). The third one had a single Pathfinder scene, repeatedly interrupted, but plenty of CCG scenes. The two miniseries were also RPG focused, although one was not!Cyberrun, and the other, Humans and Households, was a bunch of characters in a fantasy world playing a game set in our world.

[USS Sorceror]

Anyone recall Nick TMNT's Mazes and Mutants episode?

[Benthesquid]

I'll note on the Community episodes- they weren't how I'd ever play D&D, but given the set-up, with most of the players being ignorant of/uninterested in the rules, and Abed being a bit of a control freak, it didn't seem completely implausible that that's how it'd turn out.

[Pex]

The SyFy show Eureka claimed they were playing D&D in the last season, but for them it was a board game. It wasn't even the real life board game, just something they made up and used D&Dish words. It wasn't even pretending to be D&D but with a Eureka spin. It was supposed to be the actual game, but it was obvious the writers had no clue as to what it was. Wil Wheaton's character wasn't playing, but he was already a semi-regular. You'd think he could at least tell the writers how the game actually works. I know he is a GURPS fan, at least as a kid during his Star Trek days, but certainly he knows D&D.

[goto124]

and the other, Humans and Households, was a bunch of characters in a fantasy world playing a game set in our world.

Spoiler: random joke

Show

Side note, what do you call the social check that's used to 'avoid an argument'? Diplomancy?

[YossarianLives]

Humans and Households, was a bunch of characters in a fantasy world playing a game set in our world.

My group plays "Humans and Households". When I say that I mean our characters went on a epic adventure into the dungeon of the coastal wizards to find the fabled rulebook of Humans and Households. We take about 20 minutes off from our usual adventure to have our characters play a quick session. I didn't realize the idea had been conceived before now.

[TheSpartanMoose]

Homer once played Dungeons and Dragons for three hours. Then he was slain by an elf.

[Seto]

There's also a quick joke in an episode of Angel:
"Are you familiar with dungeons and dragons?"
"I've been in lots of dungeons, but I've never faced a dragon before."

Yeah, I've rewatched this episode with a friend (whom I'm currently walking through all Btvs and Ats seasons) a few days ago :P The dialogue actually goes like this :

Nabbit: "Are you familiar with Dungeons and Dragons?"
Angel: "Yeah. I've seen a few."
Wesley: "You mean the - ah, role playing game."
Angel looks up at Wesley: "Oh - game. - Right."
Nabbit: "Well, I used to play a lot in High School. You know, it was pretty cool. You get to be someone else for a while, a wizard, a warrior, you know, the whole world is magic, and fighting Troglodytes and romancing exotic - demon princesses and - you know, it's a rush!"
Cordelia: "Did someone find out you were a big nerd?"
Nabbit chuckling: "No that's - ah, that's actually public record. But - ah - some of us got *really* into it. Uh - specially the demon romance part. And then we heard about this place - where - the real... The guys were joking about getting some tail."

Bonus laughs for the fact that our very last session was clearing out Troglodyte caves !
And then Nabbit proceeds to come "hang out" with the team in a bright purple cape because "I was Dungeon Master tonight".

[the_david]

Vrienden voor het leven, a Dutch show. It seemed to be more of a boardgame, but at least it was hilarious to watch.

[Inevitability]

Not a show, but Harry Dresden (wizard) plays RPGs that are quite obviously D&D. He even complains that they do fireballs wrong. Though he prefers to play stupid barbarians.

Aaaaand I just found another reason to go read those books.

Vrienden voor het leven, a Dutch show. It seemed to be more of a boardgame, but at least it was hilarious to watch.

Surprisingly freaky new experiences, part one: reading a thread on an English forum and suddenly seeing something in your native language.

[captainswift]

There was an episode of Dharma and Greg that always bugged me with a D&D reference. The fathers of the main couple were arguing over something (money owed, I think), and Greg's father recommended playing poker or some other games to settle things, then Dharma's dad said they should settle it with Dungeons & Dragons. Which, you know, doesn't determine a winner, and I don't think that was meant to be the joke. I think the writers just tossed a name out.

A Saturday Night Live sketch about a phone sex network for nerds included references to Star Trek, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings that were all very accurate, but the D&D references were a bunch of nonsense.

But none of the poorly done D&D scenes I've ever seen bugs me as much as that card game they play on Big Bang Theory, which just involves taking turns setting cards on a pile while saying the card's name.