The Gamers: Dorkness Rising
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The Gamers: Dorkness Rising |
| Original title | The Gamers: Dorkness Rising |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2008 |
| length | 105 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Matthew R. Vancil |
| script | Matthew R. Vancil |
| production | Ben Dobyns Cindi Rice John Frank Rosenblum Don Early Leticia Y. Lopez Jeff Madsen Ken Bolding Michael S. Bottorff |
| music | David Wolbrecht, Steve Wolbrecht Ben Dobyns |
| camera | Dan Gomez |
| cut | Ben Dobyns |
| occupation | |
| |
The Gamers: Dorkness Rising is a feature film by Dead Gentlemen Productions and is the successor to The Gamers . It is about a group of role players who try again and again to master the same adventure. Although the film is set in the same universe as its predecessor and deals with a similar topic as The Gamers , it is still not a direct sequel, because it focuses on other players as well as other characters. However, there are clear references to the predecessor. Furthermore, the film deals more with the real life of the players and less that of their characters, which also sets it apart from its predecessor.
Filming began in 2005 and the release was originally scheduled for 2006, which was delayed until GenCon in Indianapolis on August 14, 2008. At times, the completion of the film was completely on the brink, because the financial means for the post-production were not available in sufficient quantities and had to be laboriously collected through donations.
In August 2013, the third part of the series appeared under the title The Gamers: Hands of Fate . The topic is expanded to include trading card games .
action
Kevin Lodge has long wanted to publish his self-written adventure “The Mask of Death” as an official module. It's just a shame that his role-playing round doesn't manage to end the adventure without all of the player characters dying in the process. Lodge suffers from a kind of writer's block , because although he knows how the story should end, he is unable to put the plot on paper without having played it first.
The heroes have to go on an adventure in search of the mask of death, which is in the possession of the evil necromancer Mort Kemnon. With skin and hair Powergamer as they are in the book, the players Gary, Leo and Cass have their own plans and leave the framework envisaged by Lodge again and again, so that the adventure has already ended twice with the death of the entire group. They blame Lodge for that, because he doesn't always stick to the rules, especially when the rules get in the way of his story.
While Gary and Leo would rather try a different adventure next time, Cass insists on replaying the same adventure. His reputation as a player who has never had to surrender to an adventure module is ultimately at stake. In order to improve their chances, the group decides to recruit two more players. In fact, Cass gets his ex-girlfriend, Joanna, to play along, but a fifth player cannot be found as the group appears to have a "reputation". So in the end Lodge creates a game leader character who on the one hand strengthens the group, but on the other hand also serves as a tool to keep the events within the intended framework.
With Joanna at the table, who is completely inexperienced in role-playing, the group finally sets out to face Mort Kemnon again. And this time around, the story unfolds in a completely different way, and the players get to know a completely new way of role-playing.
Characters
- Kevin Lodge / Sir Osric (Nathan Rice) - The game master and leader of the quest. Lodge believes the story is more important than the rules, which often leads to controversy with his players, especially Cass.
- Joanna / Daphne (Carol Roscoe) - The new player who values a believable character rather than level climbing. At first she is not taken seriously by the other players because, unlike them, she did not create a Munchkin character. The figure of Joanna serves to emphasize the perspective of the non-role-player on sometimes absurd rules and customs in the film.
- Cass / Brother Silence (Brian Lewis) - Joanna's ex-boyfriend and arrogant rule fetishist who plays a monk. He prefers the hack and slash variant of the role-playing game.
- Leo / Flynn the Fine (Scott C. Brown) - The hapless gamer who plays a lustful bard who dies in combat 27 times during the film. Leo himself is the owner of the local role-playing game store, where the game group meets regularly.
- Gary Wombah / Luster (Christian Doyle, Jennifer Page) - A male gamer who plays a powerful sorceress who constantly kills non-gamer characters and messes with the gender of his role. Jennifer Page plays the female chandelier and Gary's math teacher on which the character is based.
- Therin (Emily Olsen) - The goddess of light.
- Mort Agrippa (Don Early) - The first villain, governor of the village where the group wants to stay overnight.
- Drazuul (Tallis Moore) - A death demon who rules the village of Westhaven.
- Mort Kemnon (Geoff Gibbs) - The arch villain , a necromancer who found the mask of death and plans to overthrow the king.
- The High Priest (Ed Gibbs) - The boss who wants to use the mask to revive Therin's light.
- Mark (Chris Duppenthaler) - survivor of The Gamers . Has two cameos and panics at the mention of The Shadow . Mark is the only character from The Gamers to appear again in the sequel.
style
Unlike The Gamers , various game publishers were involved in the production of Dorkness Rising , which made it possible to use real game products in the film. While the game system was unknown in the first film, it is made clear here that the group is playing version 3.5 of Dungeons & Dragons . The Adventure Mask of Death itself was published as a limited edition by Goodman Games . Quotes from Knights of the Dinner Table are also attached.
In one scene, Lodge is playing a board game with Joanna , with ninjas playing pizza delivery men . This is seen as a tribute to Ninja Burger which, like Munchkin, is a card game by Steve Jackson Games . Ninjas are also played there and they deliver hamburgers and other fast food products. The card game Munchkin itself is being played by Leo, Cass, Gary and Lodge when Joanna joins the game on the first night of the game. Furthermore, some of the equipment from Nodwick's chest is Munchkin acquisitions (unnatural ax, knee pads of lure).
But there are also some references to The Gamers . The most striking should be the integration of the character Mark, who no longer plays role-playing games because of "the incident", and who panics at the mention of the main villain "The Shadow" - from the first part - in which the theme song from The Gamers also sounds device. There are also some direct quotes from the first film.
Trivia
As in the first film, Dorkness Rising picks up on many of the quirks and idiosyncrasies of the role play. Examples are:
- Interaction between characters: There are some references to stereotypical occurrences.
- Rules vs. Story: Cass argues heavily with Lodge about compliance and whether it is preferable to the course of the story.
- Freedom of the players vs. Railroading : In order to finally play through the module, Lodge creates the paladin Sir Osric who is supposed to accompany and strengthen the group, but Lodge primarily serves as a "policeman" to keep the player characters on a "short leash" and to control the game to be able to direct the direction intended by him. Lodge justifies this to Joanna by saying that the players would run amok in his world if he didn't keep them under control. The players, on the other hand, feel that the paladin has been tampered with right from the start and do everything possible to keep its influence on their actions low. On Joanna's advice, Lodge lets the leash loose on the second night of the game and realizes that the story that unfolds in this way can even surprise him in the end.
- Alignment Conflict: There are some conflicts based on the characters' alignments; so Daphne and Osric want to talk to random encounters, while the rest of the group would rather kill them because of the experience points.
- Critical failures ( fumbles ) and successes: In The Gamers, a player rolls a 20 at an important point, which means an automatic success. In Dorkness Rising, on the other hand, there are two situations where a roll of 1 means an automatic failure. For example, Cass tries to protect his character from the death demon's spell with a 20, but rolls a 1, which instantly gives him full control of the character. Leo also rolls a 1 at another point when he tries to "stab" his character Flynn the book Mort Kemnons. As a result of this mistake, Flynn accidentally stabs himself with his dagger.
- Differentiation between player and character knowledge: Since the players have already played the adventure, they know exactly what to do. Your characters, however, cannot have this information, as the game master and Joanna point out loudly. In the dungeon they meet Nodwick, the abandoned hireling of the old group, and greet him by name, although they don't know him at all.
- Male players with female characters: Gary plays the scantily clad sorceress Luster, who is based on his math teacher, with whom he is secretly in love. In the game he constantly falls out of the role when he z. B. tries to seduce female characters or NPCs and must often be reminded by his fellow players or the GM that his character is a woman.
- Redshirt characters (Grogs): Leo plays a bard who is unable to participate effectively in battles throughout the adventure, as he is killed by the first attack (mostly due to bad luck or other coincidences). In order not to become too weak, he asks Lodge on the second evening of the game to be allowed to jump into the game with a new bard if the character dies. Flynn then carried out a series of kamikaze attacks in Westhaven, causing his bodies to pile up and the other characters to find cover behind them. On the other hand, Joanna's character Daphne was rated too weak by the other players due to her poor constitution and strength and ridiculed until she proves to be extremely effective through special skills in the first fight and almost single-handedly kills a horde of goblins.
- Game Master Characters and the Paladins' Code of Honor: Lodge sends an NPC paladin out with the group because he has failed to organize a fifth player, even though he has asked 15 potential players. Whenever the players plan something that contradicts his code of honor, such as torturing a prisoner, they distract him for so long that he does not notice what is happening.
- Pointing to Gary Gygax : In the opening scene in which Mort Kemnon's hiding place is entered, the group reaches a locked door with a plaque with the words "LONG LIVE GYGAX" on it.
Some of the actors from The Gamers also play in Dorkness Rising, but impersonate other characters (except for Chris Duppenthaler in the role of Mark).
- Kevin Lodge is played by Nathan Rice , who embodies the elf Newmoon and his players in the first part.
- Phil M. Price , in the first part Nimble the villain or his player, has a brief appearance as Willom, NPC and citizen of Westhaven.
- Emily Olson , who plays Paula, a student annoyed by gamers in the first part, is there as the goddess Therin in the second part.
Web links
- official page
- The Gamers: Dorkness Rising in the Internet Movie Database (English)