...and now a Dungeons & Dragons "TV" show?

[Mordar]

It seems the Entertainment One network will be putting a D&D serial out on the waves (electrons?).

Here's the link...not a lot of information, and it mostly just bashes the D&D movie.

1. So, which has the potential to be better in your opinion?
2. Which will be better?
3. Which are you more likely to like?
4. ...and lastly, what will Entertainment One bring to the screen?

For me, it's:

1) I believe the movie has the greatest potential, with the money to provide a visually pleasing experience with a good score and excellent effects. That, of course, means it can be the more disappointing of the two by a large margin.

2) The movie, but I expect that to be by comparison only. Even thought the name attached to the series is the writer from John Wick, I think we'll see something positioned to sell product more than tell a story, and that means it has to be youth-friendly. Not at all a bad thing in the right hands, but I sure don't trust those hands. We're going to get kid-ified.

3) While I would normally want to say the series, because the development of the characters over time could be a great thing to watch...and emulation of level progression without fourth wall breaking could be pretty cool...because of my answer to #2 I'm feeling it'll be the movie.

4) Stereotyped, branded characters completing an adventure path that will soon be on the store shelves featuring a nice slice of iconic monsters with a thin meta-plot (likely a traitor-mystery) provided to justify the time between the dungeon crawls, uncovering the villain as the pleasant, pretty Aunt of the local Lord/King/Duly-elected Mayor.

Your turn!
- M

[Anonymouswizard]

Same series, or are there two in the works?

I still want an Eberron Heist movie or a TV show leaning into the cyberpunk/pulp aspects of said setting. The one thing I will not watch is a standard fantasy plot in the Remembered Realms.

[Dire_Flumph]

Same series, or are there two in the works?

The first was just an intention to make a series, this is hiring someone to develop a pitch. So, probably the same thing, but either way so early in the process there isn't really much of anything to this. It could go any which way, or not get made at all.

[Hopeless]

Who knows?

Is Disney involved?

[Rogar Demonblud]

Wizards is owned by Hasbro who doesn't work with Disney, so almost certainly no.

[Dire_Flumph]

Wizards is owned by Hasbro who doesn't work with Disney, so almost certainly no.

Hasbro works with multiple Disney licenses including Star Wars, Marvel and the Disney Princess Line. They own Entertainment One which would be the one handling production, but distribution would likely mean a partnership with a larger studio. I don't see why Disney would be an instant no.

[Hopeless]

So let's assume shall we?

1) The Thundercats Roar where the person in charge hates the concept and acts to create something dreadful with some form of comedy involved that may or may not come across as such.

2) They try to do this seriously a sort of Arrow meets Super Girl style CW series?

That could work the erstwhile rich guy or girl ends up marooned and with help learns to fend for themselves until rescued.
Return home and their new state causes them to start trying to improve things at home but their public identity makes that hard to nigh on impossible so they assume an alternate identity to help where they can and eventually team up with others who also recognise the problem.
So Arrow (Ranger?) meets Flash (Sorceror/Wild Magic) who is investigating the murder of a family member as whoever is responsible is striking again (Reverse Flash/ Wizard/Transmuter) who is actually hunting Flash but doesn't realise they killed the wrong family member back then.
This leads to Firestorm (Red Dragonborn Fighter) and his fiance (White Dragonborn Cleric) who were unknowingly working for the villain along with (I can never remember his name! lets make him a Kalashtar Psion) who narrowly escapes being killed when he discovers the villain's identity.
This leads to them teaming up and thanks to Arrow the Reverse Flash is beaten, but the authorities are in on his scheme and he's merely sent outside the city ending up with Waller's Suicide Squad where its revealed he's a consultant for.

3) They try another animated series and literally throw anything that could stick but it will fail because even if they do the books it will never match what we'd expect as we could end up with a Chibdall in charge unless its Seth Green who at least will do it justice!

4) A Knightmare series where kids come on to the show to run through d&d scenarios?
You never know they're doing a Star Wars equivalent so it could work!

How about you?

[Antediluvian]

If they're anything like the D&D movies we've already gotten then they're going to be a gigantic junk yard fire and best avoided.

[GrayDeath]

If they're anything like the D&D movies we've already gotten then they're going to be a gigantic junk yard fire and best avoided.

In all likeliness, this.

But if they manage to avoid "Going for Epicness and failing epically", ergo do something downto earth, as abovementioned early Arrow and (urgh) Supergirl, while not good if you look at it from a DC Universe view (well, ok, Arrow works until they go for the world shaking plots, but CW Supergirl is....ugh), a series with say 7-10 episodes and each season focusdsding on a different team, CAN work well enough.

Keep the main Caster a Cleric (ideally one where the God(desses) main focus is protection, healing or Travel, add a Ranger and a Rogue, get the plucky destined Warrior Fighter, and you can have fun in level 2-4 areas.

This can provide many actors and Screenwriters with the chance to do fantasy stuff without there hanging huge amounts of money (GoT, Witcher, etc) on it, and keep the cost low.

it CAN work.

I just dont think it will.



Edit: And even then, an animated version would be much MUCH better.
Easier to solve the magic problem, can be fiotted to a certain theme easier, and one just needs to look at the Avatar and Dragon prince (and aside from too much "Cuteness focus" the SheRa revival) to see how you can produce 2quality entertainment AND make money doing so.

Sigh....

[Dargaron]

In all likeliness, this.

Keep the main Caster a Cleric (ideally one where the God(desses) main focus is protection, healing or Travel, add a Ranger and a Rogue, get the plucky destined Warrior Fighter, and you can have fun in level 2-4 areas.

My first instinct would be to make sure there's an arcane caster instead of a divine caster, both because there should be a local smart person to explain/analyze magic stuff and also to make it so that there isn't one character with a big sign over their head saying "take me out of the action whenever we want injury to matter." I know game mechanics probably won't be followed too strenuously, but a wizard has more "justification" for knowing about obscure magic stuff than a cleric.

[Mordar]

My first instinct would be to make sure there's an arcane caster instead of a divine caster, both because there should be a local smart person to explain/analyze magic stuff and also to make it so that there isn't one character with a big sign over their head saying "take me out of the action whenever we want injury to matter." I know game mechanics probably won't be followed too strenuously, but a wizard has more "justification" for knowing about obscure magic stuff than a cleric.

Plus avoiding Clerics avoids what, even in 2021, is likely to be a hot-button optics issue...

- M

[Rogar Demonblud]

Or they just take a step back to AD&D and not give the cleric the Healing sphere. You want healing done, you need to go to the appropriate temple (which just happens to resemble a hospital).

[Rydiro]

If they're anything like the D&D movies we've already gotten then they're going to be a gigantic junk yard fire and best avoided.

I think the one with jeremy irons is hamtastic. Makes for a good non-serious entertainment.

[warty goblin]

Plus avoiding Clerics avoids what, even in 2021, is likely to be a hot-button optics issue...

- M

Plus wizards are immediately legible in a way that clerics aren't. "I can cast fireballs until I'm tired" makes a lot more immediate sense than "I prayed for the ability to cure this much nonspecific damage to unspecified people in the next 24 hours, which is as much as my god will allow me to do because reasons."

Readily available magical healing is generally not great for stories that don't take place in-game anyway. It works fine in game because HP and damage are extremely abstract and visible to the players, along with available healing resources. The balance between incoming damage, healing and the action economy creates tension through the mechanics of the game. In a televised fight scene, you create tension through the cinematography, music, fight direction and so on. Done well this makes the fight feel immediate and engrossing, but all these things are specific in a way HP (by design) isn't. Boromir doesn't die at the end of Fellowship of the Ring because he runs out of HP, he dies because he's shot full of giant arrows. Add on tap magical healing, and you need to explain how much of every injury or threatened injury can be healed, and still somehow keep things tense.

[Scarlet Knight]

I think a TV series may be able to capture D&D better...the whole "wait until next week" feel, the way this weeks adventure may have nothing to do with last weeks.

I also think they can show clerics just fine. Use Gods like Thor or Apollo, and show the healing similar to magic with some first aid and glowing hands and people will accept it just fine.

Kind of like Radagast and the hedgehog.

[warty goblin]

I also think they can show clerics just fine. Use Gods like Thor or Apollo, and show the healing similar to magic with some first aid and glowing hands and people will accept it just fine.

Kind of like Radagast and the hedgehog.

I think its worth distinguishing between what we might call "get them to the hospital" healing and the essentially instant, anywhere and hassle free healing you get in the tabletop.

If you have to get the injured person to a specific location or person to fix them up, that can create tension and drama. They might not make it, or the location might be out of the way, or it might be hard to move them. The healing at that location can be magical as you want, but the injury still has relatively long lasting consequences, and therefore things like fights have meaningful stakes short of characters actually dying. Which most shows don't do all that often.

But if you have Bob the Cleric along, and Alice stops an arrow with her spleen, you get... all of six seconds of consequence. This kinda makes fights boring, since the only outcomes are total victory with no danger of anything lasting happening, Alice dies instantly due to overwhelming damage, or needing to explain why this particular injury is somehow different than the one last episode where healing did work.

I mean sure, you can probably make it work, but it just seems to add a lot of complication and potential for failure. And the payoff is what, getting a kick out of knowing that Bob is casting Cure Moderate Wounds? Seems like a case of missing the forest for the trees.

[tyckspoon]

Boromir doesn't die at the end of Fellowship of the Ring because he runs out of HP, he dies because he's shot full of giant arrows.

.. ok but this particular scene actually does work pretty well with 'Boromir ran out of HP'/the 'HP are meat points' school of interpretation. Dude takes 3 shots before he stops fighting, 2 of which are probably lethal if you treat them as realistic injuries, and continues fighting without apparent issues beyond a momentary Ow! That hurt! reaction shot until the third one. That third one clearly took him to or below 0/stacked too many wound penalties/made him fail his Toughness check to stay standing/whatever

(If you want to interpret it 'realistically', the first shot was high on the chest and was probably mostly muscle damage or ran into the ribcage - certainly painful, would likely cause long-term functionality issues, but not lethal or disabling in the middle of adrenaline high. Second was a gut shot, which will almost certainly kill him eventually, but again not going to disable him mid-combat. Third shot looked like center abdomen - possibly diaphragm or lung? This takes all the fight out of him, probably because he can no longer breath properly.)

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by warty goblin
But if you have Bob the Cleric along, and Alice stops an arrow with her spleen, you get... all of six seconds of consequence. This kinda makes fights boring, since the only outcomes are total victory with no danger of anything lasting happening, Alice dies instantly due to overwhelming damage, or needing to explain why this particular injury is somehow different than the one last episode where healing did work.

Not necessarily, since the cleric can only tend one person at a time, and he ends up more like a battlefield medic having to make decisions about triage while protecting his own safety. Keep in mind that there's likely to be more than one arrow in the air, and more than one injury; but if there's just one cleric, he may have some hard choices about who to heal and where to go next.

There's plenty of potential for tension and drama, just depends how you approach it.

[Rogar Demonblud]

True, but then you finish the combat and the cleric just goes round robin for a minute and everyone's good. You probably need to wrap the healing up in more of the paraphernalia of healing (potions, herbs, bandages, etc). Oh, and it's not instantaneous but goes more like Wolverine regenerating from his injuries.

[Hopeless]

Initially they won't have that much arcane or divine magic to back them up until they gain sufficient experience in the field.

So they could easily kill off characters until they're assumed to have gained sufficient experience as witnessed during the series.

Thus for example the Baron of Bottlequay sends a pair of adventurers really a tiefling guide with a gnome wizard "volunteered" for the mission of locating a wagon of guards and supplies sent to the hamlet of Treefoil.

Anyway episode one deals with a narration where the pair get their mission and ends with them encountering the evoker.

Second episode deals with them rescuing her and heading on and leads to them encountering the Cleric.

Third episode deals with them rescuing her from a pack of wolves and the clear evidence she is suffering from memory problems given her story and her behaviour suggests she shouldn't be left alone out here in her condition.

Fourth episode deals with them encountering the bandits and although the Cleric steps up trying to help it takes all four to defeat the bandits.

Fifth episode starts with the two captive bandits escaping and there's enough evidence to suggest the Cleric let them go as she shows clear distaste with what would be their eventual fate had they brought them in.
They arrive at Treefoil where they learn the Cleric has no tolerance for alcohol despite her warning them they help the dwarf coerce her into drinking two glasses of dwarf brandy and she passes out!
This episode ends with the guide and the dwarf watching outside as the fiend flies past with her undead guard following her on foot.

Sixth episode deals with them asking around the settlement and they eventually investigate an old abandoned cemetary and the ruined ziggurat temple beyond it.
This leads to them finding the means to open the secret door leading inside whats left of the interior and despite questioning the dangers lying within they proceed inside.

The Cleric turns the undead as the two mages retreat back up the stairs as the guide helps defend their retreat they all eventually emerge above and eventually take down the udnead guard with the Cleric finishing off the fiend with a guiding bolt after commenting about checking the fiend for a pulse...

Retrieving whatever treasure they can find along with the fiend's forked pike that the Cleric says she wants to give to the dwarf innkeeper they only spare her the time to cast a Ceremony to insure the undead don't rise at least for a week her explanation leaves them wondering why she bothered!

Episode 7 has their patron summon them back and despite the Cleric arguing their mission in Treefoil was far from over given they have no idea where the Fiend came from nor where the bandits lair is she is eventually persuaded to return with them as the Baron of Bottlequay sent a suitably sized force to replace them along with the message recalling them.

The Cleric establishes a shrine to her deity and claims she's actually Feyborn a claim they dispute until they witness her using her shrine for the first time using it to enter the Feywild specifically her Temple and return carrying supplies that clearly wasn't from anywhere near Treefoil.

Episode 8 picks up with them back at Bottlequay with the Cleric busy having built a shrine on the outskirts of the forest near the city is practicing her Herbalist profession as the others report back to the Baron who curious about their newcomers eventually approaches the Cleric asking her to help with a mission to the hamlet of Gimble thats suffering from a bad bout of pestilence.
He reveals he already sent a member of the Everlight faith but there's been no word and feels sending them would be a wise precaution.
The guide is still shaking his head at the naivety of the Cleric as all four set off by boat towards the Hamlet in the Swamp.

Thus ends season 1 I figure they should be able to do better than that!

Cast List:
Sanguine a Tiefling Swashbuckler and Guide the most worldly wise of the group

Alwyn the Gnome Transmuter atypical gnome wizard "volunteered" for this mission as the Wizard's Guild needed an excuse to avoid sending someone frankly with actual experience in the field. Actually friendly but introspective and quiet.

Pixie the Half Elven Evoker, a pyromaniac exactly how and why she ended up in the Forest of Doom has yet to be revealed but you can bet if the Forest could it would issue a formal complaint about that!

Vall the Herbalist, a Cleric worshipping a Celestial Archon in service to Sehanine Moonbow whose recovering from temporary amnesia the result of her being banished from her own world.

Bad Guys:
Fiend Summoner, unknown at this moment
Bandits, at least two escaped so there are probably more out there.

Other:
Baron of Bottlequay, manipulative and probably power hungry
The Wagon Guards, presumed all killed but who knows?

[GrayDeath]

I suggested the CLeric becuase:
A: It saves on the Special effect budget (a BIG popint)
B: It allows an ad hoc start with "God(dess) XY has prophecied abc"
C: can heal only one or 3 times a day at start, which helps but also explains power/world and setting more archetypical than "a Wizard", if you catch my drift
and
D: Because a cleric is also kind of a slightly worse fighter in early levels, so you dont NEED another Hunk of HP.

I am in no way shape or form expecting them to keep closer than vaguely to the actual mechanics, and hence would not suggest the group composition based on mechanics alone. ^^


Also, Is till think its going to be horrible unless they switch to animated AND get a really good plot AND likeable characters.