Pair O’ Dice Games

The release of Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition is right around the corner and if you have been paying attention at all you’ll know I am pretty excited about it. When I first heard about it I shrugged it off but then curiosity got the better of me and I did some research and posted the results of that research. Since that time I have been reading the Wizards posts and poking around for opinions from people with advanced copies while I eagerly await the arrival of my copies of the books.

The opinions about the new edition seem to be fairly split, with an edge given to positive impressions. While there are many different complaints (no gnomes, no half-orcs, no sorcerers, multi-class changes, alignment changes, etc.) the most amusing complaint I have seen is “3.5 is fine, don’t let Wizards trick you into spending more money!”

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Pen and paper RPGs have always had a strong relationship with movies. Play in some games (and with some gamemasters) tends to embody a heightened cinematic style. Most role playing games are influenced by at least a few cult movies, and some even state their influences openly. Then of course players often draw heavily on characters in books and movies for their own in-game persona, or when visualizing specific scenes.

One of the best uses of these rpg-to-movie tie-ins is to quickly communicate the style of a game to a new, or prospective, player. Relating a game to movies that share its themes can give the player an instant feel for what the world can be like, and immediately conjure images of cool characters and scenes that they will enjoy reenacting or using for inspiration.

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