Coming out in just over two months Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is about to get another wave of hype. Today was the release of trailer two. In it we see more of the soon-to-be-famous rather than infamous adventuring party supporting each other while also taking shots at each other. It’s a typical dynamic in the game.
Rolling the dice as teen playing D&D in jersey city, I never thought I’d be a Barbarian in full on feature film adventure✨😜. So cool hope you like it🙃 https://t.co/UHlmhM5Bdb
Some day we’ll find out more about Rodriguez’ youth D&D game, but not today.
One of D&D’s consistent themes is found family.
“This film is about found family,” Daley said. “Despite obvious differences, what keeps them together is this desire to fix something that’s much bigger than themselves. And then, what ultimately keeps them together is this newfound affinity that they end up having for one another.”
When characters, or real people, undergo the stresses of surviving dragon attacks they bond in ways that go far beyond friendship. If Honor Among Thieves can pull that off, and the trailers lean that way (as do the actors’ histories in other movies) it will justify me seeing it three or so times on opening weekend March 31, 2023.
From Ars Technica we learn that Critical Role performers are part of the movie.
Local tech website Geekwire has access to Wizards of the Coast, because they too are local. So sometimes, Geekwire dips into the world of tabletop gaming, the business. Much of the conversation between Cynthia Williams, Wizards of the Coast President, and Thomas Wilde is dedicated to big picture stuff. Now, I’m fascinated by that, but many of my readers just want to play Dungeons & Dragons.
Williams has some thoughts that are important for players and potential players of the game that aren’t interested in business news.
Yes, the word race is gone. But its replacement isn’t confirmed.
I think it’s important to remember that One D&D(a new publishing initiative) is at the point of playtest. I don’t think that we have finalized that the word will be “species.” It’s a word being tested.
Where D&D in the 80s was much more about escapism and simulation, modern D&D is about story and diversity, the amplification of teamwork.
Our games teach that diversity is a strength. D&D in particular will teach you that together, you can overcome tasks, challenges, or an adventure that you wouldn’t have been able to on your own.
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I love the stories of people playing Dungeons & Dragons and being able to express who they are in that game, which leads them to being able to express who they are in their real life. We’re very much cultivating that level of diversity as we’re inviting players in.
There’s a push about the upcoming movie and mention of the next big video game release after Baldur’s Gate, too. Wizards owns six video game studios now.
It’s interesting to see that Magic grew to a billion dollar brand even as it has issues with the fanbase. There’s also more evidence that the D&D side is hoping to hit that number, but through a different path that isn’t about microtransactions or a flood of book releases — instead D&D has a movie, a TV show and multiple video games to get to that number.
In a departure from most genre movie rollouts, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves second trailer isn’t a new tease of action in the movie. Almost every scene is from the first trailer, with some small expansion. The latest version shows cast interviews. That cast clearly gets what makes D&D, D&D — heroes journeys, a group that works together and monsters.
To quote Edgin, Chris Pine’s character, “I’ve got a good feeling about this.”
Previously some of the cast spoke about their history with the game. Those that hadn’t played until joining the project have either been coached up into what fans expect or learned to love it on their own.
Much of what happens in these two trailers are things that happen at the table of the RPG. Discussions about what to do with treasure, how to acquire it, going to the bar to make plans. That’s typical Dungeons and Dragons.
Daley and Goldstein, both players of the game, seem to have taken a serious approach to the non-serious topic. They capture the fun of the game with care and attention, because like their core audience they love it too.
Each bit of video that Paramount, eOne and Hasbro put out about this heist movie make it seem better than the last. The hype seems to be building. Part of the promotional push includes sending cast to comic cons outside of the English-speaking world. Their latest appearance was in Brazil.
“I think buyers will still want Dungeons & Dragons because the brand is important, the script is good, and Rawson Marshall Thurber is an exciting piece of talent,” one person said.
Dungeons and Dragons is more popular than ever. That is undeniable. The game has grown and become a side channel to the mainstream, with its influence everywhere. But it is about to get a lot more popular. Tens of millions are going to watch Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
That’s going to attract a lot more neophytes to the game.
From Chris Pine saying every high school should have a D&D club to mainstream local soccer fundraisers like YachtCon playing the game (we’ll do something this year too) the game is spreading faster than ever before. After a season of not-really-D&D Stranger Things dipped back in with the Hellfire Club. Season five, the final will also be D&D themed.
There’s also D&D adjacent properties like Wheel of Time (season 2 of Origins is out in August and season 3 is already happening) and Rings of Power (season 1 in Fall). Witcher keeps going strong. Vox Machina got a season 2 and probably will get a third. List goes on, and on.
There’s no better time for fantasy TV and movies — none.
As experienced players and DM’s it is our responsibility and duty to welcome these new players to the game. One way to do that is through the classic Starter Set, the Stranger Things boxed set, the Essentials Kit, the new Dragons of Stormwreck Isle, Spelljammer Academy, etc, etc.
But you also have your home games with elaborate and thought-out original plots. These games are the most common way to play D&D, a majority do not play in the official worlds. There’s a danger in welcoming people to the game the first time in an original world. Those campaigns can have a lot of custom rules.
When the Lorebook Hunters first started in the World of the Everflow there were more than four pages of custom rules, heavily tweaking the game. Now there are just four sentences of rules not taken from the books – all able to integrate with DnDBeyond, excepting the custom subclasses. Players new to the game can create a character in 30-60 minutes rather than hours.
That helps first-time players pick up the game. There’s plenty of support online for the official rules — blogs, video, podcasts, social media. There’s only your table as a place to learn about custom rules. That can be intimidating. Plus they need to pick up custom lore. Another barrier to play.
Reducing both of those weights helps a first-time player become a perpetual player and eventual Dungeon Master.
Tips for types of rules to add
Optional rules from the Dungeon Master’s Guide — they’re already official, in a book for others to read.
Rules that enable your story — the World of the Everflow has a key question as to why we love pets. It wouldn’t be the same without the bonus feat of Bonded Companion.
Changes that empower cinematic flavor — since many people new to the game will come from watching film give them that vibe.
Tweaks that don’t require technical knowledge — asking a first time player to learn a VTT rather than just video or theater of the mind can reduce their interest.
At the same point, if you have a massive world already, don’t retro those rules. Find ways for your table to welcome new people into your complex lore and ruleset. Use session zeroes frequently, both one-on-one and with the group. Tell a new player why you have those rules. House rules that help tell the communal storytelling are always better than house rules that add complexity, at least for the modern gamer coming at D&D as a storytelling game that empowers group tales of action and adventure.
Most of all, enjoy the new players and their new stories. They’re going to add to your table coming up with ideas and concepts you’ve never seen before. If you are doing it right you’ll have a more diverse group, telling more diverse tales — and you’ll be stronger both in real life and in the game.
There’s a lot of reasons to be worried that the next D&D movie wouldn’t be good. The last few were not. Fantasy as a genre struggles to have blockbusters. There were also reasons to think it would be good. John Francis Daley and Jonathon Goldstein (co-directors, co-writers) have great experiences making good movies. They are both Dungeons & Dragons nerds. Daley is a credited writer on Rime of the Frostmaiden. The actors are what a big budget film needs. ILM did the effects. The location shots were where you want medieval fantasy to be shot (England and Czechia are the current leaders).
But lots of people were cautious.
Today’s trailer was as good as you can expect from any massive movie.
The party, or cohort of actors, have a vibe. It’s strong. They enjoy each other. All of them but Hugh Grant speak about their new (Pine, Jean-Page) or old (Lillis, Rodriguez, Daley, Goldstein) love of the game. Chris Pine said that every group of actors should always play the game.
Rege Jean-Page said that every high school should have a D&D club. That’s when Sophia Lillis and Michelle Rodriguez both played.
That’s when I started.
I’m not worried about this movie. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves looks to be a fun romp by a diverse group that conquer evil together while getting into more trouble with each bit of success.
And there’s an owlbear and a gelatinous cube and two dragons, and bad planning — that’s D&D.
You know what else is D&D? A group with different skills, different pasts, different presents, different races, genders, everything — then they bond together towards a common goal and the sum of their parts is stronger. Because as Jeremy Crawford once said “a diverse group is a strong group.”
