Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves | First Time Watching! | Movie REACTION!

Chandra and Jordan reacting to Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves - First Time Watching! Leave a comment to let us know what you think! Subscribe and Like to support us!
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#dungeonsanddragons #firsttimewatching #moviereaction

[@lanzknecht8599]

When they jumped with Jornathan out of the window, one of the councilmen shouts: "But we approved your pardon!" 🤣

[@Mrryn]

That, and the graveyard scene, is when I knew the filmmakers were either D&D players or super tuned-in to how sessions with players tend to go. The Flight of Jarnathan reeks of "player didn't like his Charisma check and went with plan B, even though the DM lowered the DC thanks to his good story" 😂

[@lordmortarius538]

@@Mrryn That is EXACTLY what happened in the meta story of the campaign lol

[@adamskeans2515]

@@Mrryn for me it was the Hither-thither staff 'cause that was obviously the DM pulling something out of their ass to cover up the stupid actions of their players.

[@thomasdunn3118]

​@@Mrryn Not just the small moments, but when you step back and look at the large scale, it is there too. The way that the party keeps getting bigger and bigger hints about the Re Wizard plot: the red horn-shaped item that Sofina took from the Harper vault at the very start; the reveal that she is still working for Forge once he is "Regent" of Neverwinter; the reveal that she is a Red Wizard; the Paladin shows the party a book (with pictures!) that details the ritual of the Beckoning Death (and shows the red horn!); the Thayan assassins that pursue them to the Underdark; the discovery that Forge is preparing to skip town with the contents of the treasury. The DM obviously always intended Sofina to be the big villain of the piece, and always intended for Forge to just be a "hook" into the save-the-city-story. But the DM made the mistake of making Forge to memorable, too smarmy, too hate-able; meanwhile Sofina is too understated, she is deliberately flying under the radar to start with but even once she is unmasked, Forge steals every scene that they share. So the players JUST. DON'T. GET. IT. They fixate on Forge. They fixate on revenge. The fixate on the heist. They never even realise they are "supposed" to be saving the city until the very last moment when creepy red murder-fog is dscending on the stadium. That feels vey much like my own experiences with the game: the players (A) blunder through the adventure mostly on momentum without really understanding what is happening, and (B) get really hung up on something that the DM never realised would be so emotive.

[@jessc.994]

@@adamskeans2515I can just imagine the dm being like “Well crap. They didn’t even get to try the puzzle bridge. I worked so hard on putting that together too! I had a plan for if that went badly in the middle of it, but now…ok um, magic portal staff. Yup we’re going for it.”

[@mescad]

A fun cameo is the second party they see when the maze game begins. They are dressed like the six characters from the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon that many of us grew up watching in the 80s. We see them again in the maze, finding the axe in the chest.

[@ianburns1167]

Not only that, they got through the maze safe AND first

[@CandleLight129]

@@ianburns1167 Hopefully they weren't still in the cage below the observatory when the spell started 💀

[@ianburns1167]

@@CandleLight129 They we’re clearly the most competent people there and heard Edgin talking about how it was a trap. They certainly got out

[@Merilirem]

@@ianburns1167 Yeah they likely ran the moment things got chaotic.

[@WarGamerGirl]

@@CandleLight129 Probably Dungeon Master helped them lol.

[@masamune2984]

“Ok…fine…then…I pick up a potato 🥔, and throw it.” That’s the most D&D move EVER.

[@PaulGuy]

This movie is proof that tropes can be perfectly effective if taken seriously.

[@RealBLAlley]

Tropes and cliches exist because they work. As you said, they must be properly applied.

[@hafrankVT]

Out of all the things in this movie, I loved the Hither-Thither staff because the whole interaction felt like a DM scrambling to undo a player botching his fancy puzzle. "Whoops, I stepped on the bridge" turned into "uhhhh Yeah so that stick you had was ACTUALLY a very powerful item which will allow you to cross the gap"

[@Mugthraka]

and also the DM not having the forsight that this magic item, could help the party break the campaign later on.

[@CandleLight129]

As a battlefield control obsessed wizard, the moment the Hither-Thither staff appeared, my eyes lit up and my head snapped to the right where my DM was sitting. He didn't even have to look at me, he just said "NO"

[@p-forest]

You know that DM spent a week charting out the correct path and had it mapped out on graph paper or a spreadsheet

[@mathsalot8099]

That's why, as a DM, you always need a backup plan for when the dice screw you over. Setting up an obstacle with only one solution is a recipe for disaster!

[@Merilirem]

@@mathsalot8099 Which is why you give them a secret staff that can solve multiple problems before they screw up. Then they can find it when they do.

[@WolfHreda]

The fun thing about this moment is realizing who all is in this party: A Bard, a Sorcerer, a Druid, and a Barbarian. And their Paladin escort. Primary stats: Charisma, Charisma, Wisdom, Strength, Charisma. Not an intelligence character among them.

[@FenixNade]

well that's a little hurtful

[@tonydanatop4912]

@@FenixNade It’s true though in the more modern versions of the game intelligence is usually the dump stat cuz you usually only need one member who’s good at it (which I think they also forgot)

[@jamesraykenney]

And whoever was playing the barbarian being the actual intelligent on that came up with the plain to get in the vault! Along with the paladin's player(the DM) being able to rattle off how to get across the bridge... I have a feeling the barbarian's player normally plays a wizard, because everything that she suggests that the sorcerer do it something a wizard COULD do, if they had the proper spell memorized, and even sounds like she is sort of insulting the sorcerer for not knowing that they COULD do those things because they do not have to select their spells beforehand. And this is probably one of the first times whoever is playing the sorcerer has played... And I am still trying to figure out how he managed to play a sorcerer with no charisma, but suddenly gets it at the end... It almost feels like how in some game systems you can take a disadvantage(Like a -8 to charisma), but you can get rid of it at some time in the future, but you have to 'pay it off' in some way...

[@cthulhuwu_]

@@jamesraykenney Maybe he just wasn't proficient in any charisma skills or just rolled poorly. Sometimes it happens, but it makes rolling a nat 20 that much sweeter Edit: Actually he's probably proficient in deception or performance or both

[@Alliebutt]

@@tonydanatop4912 R/Woosh. He was making a joke calling out to the intellect devourer and how they didn't attack the group exactly because they didn't have an intelligence heavy class in their party. He wasn't saying it was hurtful to say they didn't have any intelligence, it was a direct quoted reference to earlier in the movie.

[@matthewcollins4157]

I love how the camera keeps switching back and forth between Holga and Elgin in the fight scene when they were about to get beheaded. You can tell that Elgin keeps failing his ability checks to get his hands unbound so he can join the fight until the very last round of combat.

[@mathsalot8099]

But, he uses his bonus actions to do Bardic Inspiration for Holga. "We got 'em now!"

[@algi1]

Fun fact: Xenk was originally meant to be Drizzt Do'Urden, which would've made it even funnier that everyone knows about him and thinks he's great.

[@stevenhenry9605]

This movie is so much better than I think anyone expected. The cemetery scene and the distraction illusion are two of the funniest things I've seen in years.

[@dahobdahob]

Wasting a Speak with Dead is practically a rite of passage

[@Mrryn]

​@@dahobdahobI would say so is overreacting to a die roll made and not waiting for the DM to speak. The Jarnathan scene being the big one and right from the start, can 100% see the player seeing the 14 rolled on the table after telling his story, hearing Jarnathan is entering the room, and just saying "fuck it" lol

[@sparemobius7430]

very underrated movie. They did a great job of catering to D&D players with the comedy, you can see where the players roll and stuff if you think about it, yet even without knowledge of D&D it is still a fun movie. One of my favorites of the year, I truly hope they give it a sequel, and get some traction in maybe making a whole D&D universe. There are tons of stories to be told, don't even have to follow the same characters, just keep that humor and make some good stories.

[@Mis7erSeven]

I expected that. When I saw the first trailer, I decided I had to watch this in cinema.

[@Heiryuu]

@@Mrrynalso just the name Jarnathan “So what did you say the name of the new council member is?” “Uh…. Johnat…. I mean Jarnathan! Yeah, Jarnathan.”

[@purcascade]

May the love for the Chonky Dragon live forever. ❤

[@hellomark1]

I always think abou the undead guys he ate, who have to live-die-repeat until he poops them out 😅

[@sparemobius7430]

@@hellomark1 I wonder if they would digest though? Surely if no body remains they would stay dead? If not, that has to be some really bad indigestion.

[@thedawd]

Themberchaud really is a darling chonk of a dragon.

[@michaelccozens]

@@sparemobius7430 LOL, this is getting into "what are the limits of Wolverine's regeneration?" territory; interesting, but ultimately probably unanswerable. Still fun, though! If the undead do regenerate about as fast as they can be digested, though, that might effectively give the dragon an eternal food supply, conveniently located in the existing digestive tract. Not a bad perk! Come to think of it, is that why the dragon is so chonky (the dragon might prefer "Rubenesque", and I, for one, am not about to argue)?

[@emanymton713]

He’s based on the DM’s Cat jumping on the table mid session and was immortalized in the source material.

[@Snapplemonkey]

I love the irony of knitting a pair of mitten as a present for someone who lives in a place called "Neverwinter."

[@mathsalot8099]

She didn't originally live in Neverwinter. They looked for her in a very snowy place and didn't know Forge had taken her to Neverwinter until they saw the flyer at the bar.

[@Alliebutt]

@@mathsalot8099 There was still some inherent irony in the situation. She wasn't where he was hoping she was, but the gift turned out to be 'useless' exactly because they ended up finding her in Neverwinter. That was in fact the joke Snapple was making.

[@mojoshivers]

My favorite Easter Egg is that the “other” party in the labyrinth is taken from the 80’s D&D Saturday Morning Cartoon. The costuming, the classes, and even ages is pretty spot-on for the main characters from that show. It was a very clever nod.

[@rhaedas9085]

Once you realize the paladin is a DM NPC to help the party get what they need to do the mission, all his actions and things he says makes sense. Also explains the look he gives Simon for ruining the bridge puzzle.

[@christopherkowalczyk4405]

The hither tither staff is also a dm dropping a clue or item so that the party will just get past the obstacle the dm thought would just be a fun thing to beat and not something that grounded the game to a halt. For the reactors I was the forever Rouge back in 3.5 days when the hit points were low and no one else wanted the class. Had fun playing them as unrepentant theives who just wanted adventure and the fold to celebrate when the party got back to town.

[@Mrryn]

This is a movie where you could easily see them doing cuts from the game world to the real world a la Princess Bride, and that moment would just be a 1 to 1 of paladin disapproving stare, cut to the DM with the same stare, then cut right back.

[@rhaedas9085]

@@Mrryn I'm glad they kept stuff solely in the game world, including not having an end scene at a table, but yes, I absolutely can see that in my mind. I think the writers realized that gamers would already be picturing it so it would be too forced.

[@michaelccozens]

@@rhaedas9085 You could definitely do a good medium-bending meta-commentary sort of thing like "The Never-ending Story" here, but I think you're right that it would have meant too much narrative time out of the game-world, and the writers clearly had a lot of in-world material they wanted to use and a story-arc that was already just the right amount of business for the time required. Interesting potential, though.

[@TarossBlackburn]

Also they gave the actor for Xenk instructions to just keep talking and make up stuff like he was allowed to have one long scene to himself and Simon was secretly instructed to interrupt him at a random moment.

[@RealBLAlley]

I am not the biggest fan of sword and sorcery movies and never played D&D, so I wasn't keen to watch this movie. I finally decided to when there was nothing else on and it instantly became one of my favorite movies. It's engaging and delightful and fun from start to finish, to the point I consider it a modern day classic like The Princess Bride.

[@joshlittrell8946]

It's set in the "Forgotten Realms" campaign world. Dates back to TSR's 2nd Edition era.

[@redjakOfficial]

And the world of all "Baldur's Gate" games and "Legend of Drizzt" novels.

[@filthycasual8187]

@@redjakOfficial Also Neverwinter Nights and Icewind Dale.

[@d.o.m.494]

I've been playing D&D with the same group since 1982. Our longest game went for 11 years.

[@SnarkyRogue]

I'm jealous. My longest running game is 3 years currently every other weekend and I feel like my players are starting to bail on me more and more. I wish I had a group that dedicated

[@d.o.m.494]

@SnarkyRogue After playing a LG cleric for 7 years I'm now playing a Necromancer. The paladin ain't happy but I'm LN. six months in on the new campaign and I'm loving it.

[@SnarkyRogue]

@@d.o.m.494 hell yeah man

[@vi11ageidi0t]

​@@d.o.m.494I tried to play a necromancer recently, but I just couldn't get on with the lack of necromancy available to a necromancer. I played him CN. Just because you're a necro, doesn't mean you have to be evil. I've since moved on to a moon druid.

[@SeanPS]

@@d.o.m.494 What is a Necromancer, if not just the latest of healers.

[@o0pinkdino0o]

The Easter egg of the old D&D cartoon characters still stuck in D&D land as adults really made my year. You guys should check that 80s cartoon out. There are a few episodes on KZbin.

[@thatHARVguy]

Plus the Renault Kwid car commercial for the other live action appearance.

[@fxzero666]

I watched that old cartoon when I was little in Moscow in the 90's

[@erikbailey2525]

I've been playing D&D since 2nd Edition, and I really loved the movie. A few things you may not have noticed: Themberchaud, or as my friends call him "chonky dragon" is a canonical dragon in Forgotten Realms lore. One of the other parties in the maze was a huge easter egg for older fans: they were the characters from the D&D cartoon in the 80s! And finally, you asked about characters. My first D&D character back in 2nd edition was a Half-Elf Magic User (wizard), and my most recent was in 5e, and he was a College of Swords Bard.

[@eschiedler]

The most notorious one-shot campaign of all-time is Gary Gygax's "Tomb of Horrors" for high-level characters. It was designed for a convention to "punish" cocky players who thought they were experts. But it can be won.

[@redjakOfficial]

Notorious meat grinder

[@TehFrenchy29]

Brought back as a still incredibly difficult and dangerous but significantly less arbitrary and actively trying to kill every player character Tomb of Annihilation in _5th Edition_. Where the original is explicitly and intentionally incredibly unfair the new one is "just" really hard, but is still really hard.

[@eschiedler]

@@TehFrenchy29 Thanks for the update! Enjoy!

[@powerpointpaladin6911]

KZbinr DM it All does a great history video of this module

[@nathanwood1561]

@@TehFrenchy29 They also updated it in the module Tales From the Yawning Portal.

[@user-pz4eh1di5t]

i can see why Chandra and Simone are friends. They both went nuts over the cute chunky dragon.

[@theaikidoka]

They have a similar energy for sure.

[@powerpointpaladin6911]

can we get a livestream of Maplenuts and Cinebinge playing D&D?

[@damian01061973]

Hells yes!​@powerpointpaladin6911

[@tileux]

That bit where the guy rescues the cat is an in-joke. If you look at any of the current books about "how to write a screenplay" each one will have a section about how to quickly make an audience like a character. The technique is called 'Save the cat". In other words, you put in a scene where a character saves a cat so that the audience loves that character. Obviously, the character is not supposed to literally save a cat - it can be any good deed - but because dungeons and dragons is meant to be cheesy, they literally put a scene where the outsider hero is found saving a cat.

[@TehFrenchy29]

It's also a tie-in joke with the shorthand for making an audience dislike a character, "kick the dog"; put a dog (ideally puppy) in there for the sole purpose of having the Bad Guy at some point kick the dog, because only a truly Evil person could ever do such a thing. The _John Wick_ directors have joked about how John goes on to kill so many people (and isn't exactly a saint himself) that they had the bad guy kill a puppy at the start because after that John could do pretty much anything and no audience would be bothered.

[@matthewcollins4157]

There is actually a book series on writing called "Save the Cat" by Blake Snyder as well.

[@masamune2984]

The “Save the cat” technique certainly didn’t work for the main character from “Forspoken” though😂 So it’s certainly not fool proof 🙂

[@Merilirem]

@@masamune2984 I mean, the problem with her wasn't that she was a bad person. Being a nice person hardly helps. She wasn't really the problem after all.

[@jeremyferrell9753]

Fun fact the part at the beach where zank is walking away the director yelled cut but he didn't hear it so he kept walking and walked over the rock

[@3DJapan]

This is so much better than the first Dungeons and Dragons movie from 2000. I loved the Saturday morning cartoon when I was a kid too.

[@Timeisaflat_O]

This was the most fun I had at the theater in years. It was literally just an auditorium full of D&D nerds drinking and laughing at all the inside jokes.

[@lordmortarius538]

"Jarnathan" is definitely an NPC name that a DM pulled out of his ass at the last second because he had to introduce a character and didn't have one ready. That and Xenk being a DM introduced NPC to A) keep the party on track and B) help move the story along, is just classic D&D I also love that Simon is a Sorcerer, whose primary casting stat is Charisma, and since he obviously has none, that's why he's such a bad Sorcerer :P. That and the Intellect Devourers ignoring EVERYONE since intellect is a dump stat for all of them was just chef's kiss lol. Themberchaud is a red dragon captured by the Duergar (deep dwarves) and used to fire their forges. They fed him huge amounts of food to make him too fat to escape :P If you liked this I HIGHLY recommend The Gamers: Dorkness Rising, another almost perfect D&D film.

[@kel5423]

The first time I played D&D was in 1979. Bunch of freshman year highschool nerds in a friends basement, with pizza and cola and an entire weekend to campaign. Golden times.

[@mathsalot8099]

Favorite Easter Eggs: 1. Edgin is always using Bard abilities even though it seems like he's doing nothing. "We got'em now" is classic Bardic Inspiration which gives a d8 to any attack roll, ability check, or saving throw performed by Holga. Or "Viscious Mockery" to harm the villains when he is sarcastic. 2. Simon is "at his strongest when he is at his weakest" as evidenced by a Reverse Gravity spell (7th Level) as a Wild Magic surge. Wild Magic Surges happen only when you roll a Nat 1 after attempting another spell. So he is literally casting a spell well beyond his ability (strongest) because he rolled a Nat 1 (weakest).

[@mathsalot8099]

3. Marlamin (Holga's Ex) lives in a village with the same layout/geography as the Starter kit's Phandelvin

[@mathsalot8099]

Note: These are not the ONLY Easter eggs I noticed, just my favorite. A lot of the more obvious ones were already shared in the comments.

[@ianburns1167]

Good point on Edgin. Suggestion to get into the High Sun Games rather than being executed.

[@BaldursPicketFence]

FUN FACT: Thumberchaud the overweight dragon was used to power the forge by the gray dwarves, and in order to make sure the dragon stayed to serve them, they paid him in treasure and fed slaves to him so he got really chubby.

[@johnbowersox738]

This movie has everything in spades. The drama is intense, action insane, and comedy hilarious. The actors embodied their roles which drew me into the movie.

[@SJOrr]

The Delian Tomb is a good one session one shot. Into the Border Kingdoms is another one. Both are great "beginner" adventures that you can play in one session.

[@Graelcase]

I second the Delian Tomb, an excellent one-shot to start with. It's free and there are many maps and resources that fans of it have made.

[@whoarocket]

One of the great compliments I have seen people give this movie is that it feels like you are watching a group of real people playing a D&D game.

[@phillipuhal3647]

This movie does such an amazing job at conveying the feeling of sitting around with friends, just making stuff up on the fly. You can tell the cat and crew love the game as well, Love this movie so much

[@joemacdonald6312]

Jordan has the most epic mustache that I've ever seen! Mine grows uneven and all over the place, I'm so envious!!!

[@michaelccozens]

It is truly Prussian-level glorious.

[@gregwochner4894]

One of my favourite traps as a DM is the reverse gravity pit trap, as the PCs pass a side corridor they trigger a reverse gravity spell and “fall” down the corridor taking 1d6 dmg per 10 feet of the fall unless they make a save, the best part is that you can modify it a dozen ways, put spikes on the wall at the end of the corridor or string multiple pit traps together so that when they hit the bottom of one it triggers the next. Enjoy!

[@BigGator5]

"We must never stop failing, because the minute we do, we've failed." Fun Fact: Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello makes a cameo during the Arena sequence. What Script Fact: Regé-Jean Page improvised the scene where Xenk steps right over the boulder, barely even breaking his stride. Chris Pine then improvised the resulting narration. Lost In Adaptation: Druid Doric (Sophia Lillis) repeatedly turns into an Owlbear, which appears to be her favorite form for fighting. According to the current official rules of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop game, a druid cannot turn into an Owlbear. A druid can in fact only turn into a Beast (and eventually an Elemental), but the Owlbear is classified among the "Monstrosities" and a druid character cannot take the shape of those particular creatures. Game Accurate Fact: The movie is set in the Forgotten Realms setting. All the spells used in the film, while largely unnamed, are all legitimate spells used in the Dungeons & Dragons. The overweight red dragon the party encounters in the Underdark is Themberchaud, a known powerful denizen of the Underdark. In an overhead shot as Edgin (Chris Pine) and Holga (Michelle Rodriguez) walk through town, you can see two rust monsters fighting over a scrap of metal, which serves as food for this species. The prison Edgin and Holga escape from is Revel's End. A prison built on a cliff-side overlooking the Sea of Moving Ice in the Frozenfar region of the North.

[@lordmortarius538]

I feel like Doric's ability to wildshape into an Owlbear was a player asking their DM that since she's a tiefling and has an abominable/monstrous heritage in her past that through extraordinary effort she'd be able to do it and the DM allowed it, which is definitely something I'd do for a player that comes up with a detailed backstory like that. The best DM's are the ones who know when to allow rules bending in order to prioritize fun. DM's that are rules lawyers make things much less fun :/ The point of playing is to have fun.

[@BigGator5]

For sure. DM's can bend the rules. I was only pointing out the official rule set. Go with God and Be Safe from Evil. 😎 👍

[@mathsalot8099]

If you look at Doric's official Stat Block on DnD Beyond, turning into an Owlbear is a separate, special ability she has, not one normally given to a Druid.

[@morrislary4576]

Deep-Dive geekery: 1) The prison at the beginning is Revel's End, a notorious prison in Icewind Dale. 2) They de-magic'd the bard - likely cause they didn't want to have too many casters mucking up the story, when most non-players couldn't tell the difference between a bard and a wizard casting spells. But that ironically led to the best-written bard ever, doing genuine bard-stuff of buffing and rallying party members and being the face and voice of the party. 3) Yeah, they played fast and loose with Wild Shape - she could have escaped the castle as a fly, but that would be less interesting visually than flitting through multiple forms. I don't hate it. 4) The intellect devourer joke was totally because all those classes usually treat intelligence as their dump stat, and I loved it. 5) Xenk is absolutely the competent NPC a DM has to bring in to get his dipshit party back on track. 6) The hither-thither staff is absolutely the McGuffin a DM has to introduce when his dipshit party hoses up his elaborately planned dungeon ("sigh - ok, that staff you found starts to let off a bluish glow ..."). 7) Love that the group from the old animated D&D series showed up in the High Sun Games. 8) Themberchaud the dragon is a real thing in the Forgotten Realms - he's famously so fat he can't fly and only breathes ignitable gas instead of actual fire. One of the early D&D writers came up with him when his fat cat jumped up on the table during a game. 9) Simon's ancestor is Elminster, about the most famous Wizard in D&D. Also, I love how they did attunement. 10) The Red Wizard's Blade, like some of the other key magic items in the movie, are original creations for the film but you can find 5e stats for them online. 11) Not actually geekery, but had to add that I both can't picture - and yet can't stop trying to picture - the whole barbarian woman / halfling man thing.

[@sdevouard]

The « That’s a little hurtful » quote in the Underdark with the Intellect Devourers is great because these monsters attack creatures with high Intelligence but all the classes of the party are based on high scores in Strength (Barbarian and Paladin), Wisdom (Druid) and Charisma (Bard, Paladin and Sorcerer). You can encounter Themberchaud the pudgy dragon if you play the « Out of the Abyss » campaign.

[@BrenGunR]

I was coming on to say the same thing! That's probably my favorite "in-joke" of the whole movie. They were saved by intelligence being their dump stat.

[@3Kings_Industries]

One of the funnest one-shots I participated in was a daily festival w/ the main event as a pig chase! The whole party. Plus additional townsfolk, chasing an oiled up pig in a mud pit!!! So much fun!

[@mathsalot8099]

Re: One Shots... Waterdeep Dragon Heist has a lot of smaller "vignettes" that are strung together in a story, and depending on what season you set the campaign, you have a different order. But my advice is to ignore the "season" and just read through which area and which villain you want to run. You have lots of options to creatively put together your own one-shot, and everything is low level (1-5), so perfect for beginners!

[@hadoken95]

One of my favorite movies, glad you're checking it out.

[@dachannien]

Supposedly, the BBEG fight at the end has a cadence of roughly 6 seconds, i.e., each character does something within a series of 6-second rounds. Never timed it myself, but it seems about right.

[@southron_d1349]

The 5e adventures on the Arcane Library are good one-shots. Each comes with ONLY what you need in order to run the adventure and it took me aback when I read them. If you like adding stuff to adventures, go crazy because there's plenty of space. Dragonborn Muppet? Oh, you mean a Kobold. 😆 I haven't been a player many times, but my first character was a Half-Elf Druid in 1e AD&D days. The most recent (about three years ago) was a Kenku Warlock. For the last 40 years, I've almost always been the DM.

[@CrazyLife2112]

One of my favorite moments in this movie is the six or so seconds when the action switches to turn based combat and everyone acts in sequence at the penultimate moment in the final boss fight. Such a cool nod to the source material.

[@RazbaqueDirge]

"A Wild Sheep Chase" is a good one-shot if you haven't done it up yet. Cheers.

[@BKPrice]

This is one of the few, if not the only movie where I was able to see the sacrifice at the end coming a mile away but it still hit me hard.

[@TheRealReTox]

Fun fact, the actress who plays Sofina the Red Wizard is Daisy Head, daughter of Anthony Stewart Head, also known as Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He's in a bunch of other stuff but that may be where he's best recognized.

[@snorpenbass4196]

The cat kid Xenk saves is a Tabaxi - a race of cat people. Xenk himself is literally a D&D meta trope - the Dungeon Master Non Player Character or "DMNPC". Basically (if done right) a character introduced to the party to help them out but not steal the spotlight entirely (which is why he walks away before the heist). As for Themberchaud the chonky dragon, there are indeed plushies available.

[@snorpenbass4196]

...also, the portrait they place the portal in is of Volo the Bard - a classic Forgotten Realms character who is a bit of a blowhard and narcissist (but he means well).

[@Merilirem]

I just like how he speaks with the fish, because he's an ancients paladin.

[@lupercal1984]

My favorite part is finding the Hither Thither staff. Such a Dungeon master move. You spend four hours planning a dungeon and one player ruins it after one bad decision or one roll of a 1 so you have to make something up on the fly to keep the campaign going. Classic D&D

[@dachannien]

And then your players abuse the hell out of the thing you gave them to get your story out of a jam :D

[@JsscRchlDrsy]

@@dachannien and that’s when you decide it has only so many charges.😊

[@Merilirem]

@@JsscRchlDrsy Decide ahead of time so you don't look like a jerk who just ruined the fun item. Always give magic items like that charges to begin with. Enough to be useful for awhile but make it clear this item will run out.

[@BumpyBaluga]

I love how the dragon in the Ever Dark is just a fat, clumsy kitty lol

[@mathsalot8099]

Legend has it, the dragon Thambechard was created when Gary's pet cat jumped up on the table where everyone was playing and refused to leave. 😂

[@CandleLight129]

@@mathsalot8099 I don't even care if that's true. It's now my permanent head cannon! Thank you

[@danifeatherby]

Seeing how much you both dig d&d and love how much like a real campaign this movie was, I would really love to see you react to seasons one and two of the legend of vox machina! It is literally a d&d campaign animated in the screen!

[@davidmason5163]

Love the British CID moustache, reminds me of my Dad! As a DnD player, loved the Easter eggs in this film.

[@dahobdahob]

There was a surprising amount of D&D in this D&D movie

[@johnpittsii7524]

Hope you two are having an great and awesome day ❤

[@SleepyDawdler]

one of my favorite dnd moments is the meta they used with the Intellect Devourer in the under dark scene, they hint that the party (a sorcerer, Barbarian, Bard, Paladin, and Druid) all did their ''Dump Stat'' on intelligent because all of them are not intelligence based classes

[@vridathegrimm]

Note the helmet was probably stored in leaded sand to prevent people from scrying its location given a war was fought over it it would make sense. Lead and specific materials (at least in older editions) make it hard to imposable to find an object (for instance in pathfinder there is a rogue talent that grants them immunity to scrying by sprinkling a little lead sand over their shoulder)

[@eschiedler]

I played the original D&D in the '70s and the first edition of Advanced D&D. The movie seems to be based on fifth edition. All of the original modules for adventures for first edition are amazing, and people still refer to them a lot and the types of characters available were quite different. The main two worlds were Greyhawk and Dragonlance, not the Forgotten Realms as today. However, roleplaying evolved a lot since then and there is space roleplaying with Star Frontiers and Traveller and play-your-own-roleplaying-adventure books and Middle-Earth roleplaying with the MERP system, etc etc etc etc. You'll never play it all, pick what suits you.

[@brom00]

A fun film. Another great movie in the same vain, where the film is both a parody of and homage to it's subject is Galaxy Quest.

[@steved1135]

Nice. I've been playing D&D since the early 80's and so, like many of my ilk, we were worried about this. I've never been so surprised. This movie is genius; fun for anyone who's not familiar with the game, yet packed full of 'inside' references and jokes for those of us who are. You two are so fun to watch.

[@neils123]

Just discovered your channel this week with your LoTR reactions, and saw this and had to watch. I've been playing and running D&D for over 30 years. I've got a long-term campaign going now that I'm running, which switched from in-person to online during the pandemic and just stayed that way, but when this movie came out last year we HAD to all go see it together. It was the first time we'd all been in the same room in years, and you can be certain we were cheering and laughing just overjoyed with how this movie came out. What a great homage to D&D, and a really fun film purely on its own. I'm sure someone else has mentioned this already by now in the comments, since this came out weeks ago, but you mentioned the other parties in the maze, and one of those parties was the D&D party from the 1980s "Dungeons & Dragons" Saturday morning cartoon. I grew up with that cartoon, so let me tell you seeing that on screen was a moment of absolute joy. Anyway, you guys are great, and glad you loved the movie!

[@user-lz6is3dn8t]

One of the groups in the Maze was characters from the 80’s Dungeons And Dragons cartoon! Was a awesome cameo

[@Senno82]

Jarnathan is actually an aarakocra race - which actually abhor confinement and are a free spirited people. So I thought that that was why Edgin was waiting for him, who would certainly be more likely to grant him freedom, but no, it was just to fly out the window - which is far simpler lol. Another cool fact - the lute that Edgin uses throughout the film actually has written on it spells that he would use, but only 2 you can actually see him use (Message and Disguise Self), as the others aren't visual (Charm Person, Suggestion and Friends). It is therefore possible he used those spells throughout the film as well, as they fit in with his character and the campaign, as Friends helps with persuading in conversation, something that he does constantly. If you are interested in the characters, they are actually available to use in a campaign, and if you actually watch over the film, they do follow all the standard rules of play and combat. As for a sequel, it's unlikely. The film was popular with critics and fans, but not with audiences, as it launched between John Wick 4 and Super Mario Bros. Movie, both of which were huge crowd pullers. And it was still during Covid, and with the poor original trilogy released earlier, audiences were more weary. Thankfully they pulled it off. There was talk about a series spin off, but it looks like that wont happen now.

[@7bestthings]

The Best Movie of 2023! Full of fun, adventure,, likable characters and great lines! Thanks for your entertaining reaction!

[@sithlordkaeyl21]

This is definitely a very good movie. It has so many Easter eggs for those of us that are very familiar with D&D, but it’s still an awesome movie for those that don’t really know anything about it.

[@phtevenj]

Fun Fact : 33:34 There used to be a cartoon of D&D in the 80s (you guys look young) and this group not only is dressed like them BUT is the original voice actors for the characters

[@1123Jester1123]

Oxventure did a campaign where all the characters had amnesia. Very fun.

[@mathsalot8099]

I love Oxventure!! The idea of scratch-off character sheets to reveal what your character can do well is a great idea!!

[@SuprousOxide]

I love the paladin being the DM's PC and overshadowing the other characters to the the point that he literally has them stand aside while he wins a fight single-handedly. Don't be that DM!

[@mikkosimonen]

I'm so glad you recognized Edgin's bardiness, I've seen a lot of people argue that he's some sort of rogue because he never casts spells, because I guess everything has to be exactly according to D&D stats. Also trying to argue that Doric (who also doesn't cast spells) is super high level because of how many times she wild shapes.

[@MikkosFree]

"Three Orcs and a Baby" is a great one shot for levels 5 to 7.

[@matasteme]

A lot of people mention the brick and using random things in the environment as weapons but I haven’t seen anyone yet make the connection to possibly the 3rd most barbarian feature in 5e (which ironically barbarians don’t naturally get access to): the tavern brawler feat… d4+strength unarmed attacks instead of 1+strength and, crucially, proficiency with improvised weapons like the random stuff that you find in the environment.

[@TarossBlackburn]

Nice thing about Simon; Charisma being a sorceror main stat is not just Good Looks or Likeability. Charisma is also used as the stat for self-confidence. The more confidence Simon has in himself, the better he gets at spellcasting.

[@user-jt1js5mr3f]

After Lord of the Rings and this, you should really watch The Legend of Vox Machina. It is an actual adaptation of Critical Role's first campaign, and it is truly one of the best adaptations of anything that I've ever seen. The humor is great, the heart is wonderful, the darkness is...dark. You would absolutely love it. You'll also snag a hoard of Critical Role fans for those reactions xD

[@Aegolius]

I second this. I was wondering if they'd watched any Critical Role yet because they'd really enjoy it (they missed the Fresh Cut Grass Easter Egg, but that isn't until Campaign 3).

[@descendfromgrace1]

Third!

[@bobbysamuels4684]

Bit of insider knowledge why the affects looks great is most of it was made physical and enhanced with CGI, and yes they made a baby tabaxi doll that moved around

[@PLAjcmdaddy]

This showed up in my recommends, great reaction. I'll have to check out the rest of your channel. Also, looking at the thumbnails, gotta say the mustache look is good.

[@HereBeDragonsYT]

Hey guys! I'm a professional DM. I mostly do long campaigns, but I have a couple of short games in my back pocket. I don't really do "one-shots". But 3-4 session quick stories. I have a Halloween themed one. A couple of Xmas ones. One with giants. One with lycanthropes. One with a wedding in Hell. Let me know if you are genuinely interested in any of that.

[@JaneXemylixa]

About the humor and characters: I loved how the characters represent not only a range of classes, but a range of player investment. From Edgin, who has the most backstory and development and thus spotlight, to Doric who's just there to act aloof and turn into cool animals. That's a subtle thing that I don't know how they pulled off so well. And the fact that Edgin and Xenk are literally the straight man to each other is an amazing dynamic. They're both like "wtf is this guy's deal" My headcanon is that Holga got an Inspiration point when her player came up with the portal heist, and used it up later to crit on her potato throw

[@manueldeabreu1980]

Upon multiple watchings and reading comments I realize how much I missed seeing it the first couple of times. If they do a sequel I hope it's as fun. I would love to see and expanded role for the Saturday Morning Cartoon characters. That cameo was awesome.

[@incogneato790]

Wizards of the Coast put our character sheets for the movie characters, and the details of the magic items so people could have them in their campaigns.

[@dougisballin1729]

Most underrated movie in years. Genuinely hoping the sales figures can help justify more sequels.

[@DavidNSweeney]

Sophina (Red Wizard person) is played by Daisy Head the daughter of Stewart Anthony Head who was Giles the Librarian in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The little guy who is Holga's eX is played by Bradley Cooper. On route to the Headsman's axe on an arch above are some rust monsters fighting each other. One of the opposing arena parties is a group from an 80's D&D cartoon show. Xenk is there to provide assistance for a weak party to travel through the Underdark after which his work is done. The fat dragon really needs a plushy version for sale. For today's style of movie it was not supported with enough money. The movie did manage to break even.

[@hellomark1]

Damn I had no idea that was Stewart Anthony Head's daughter, that's pretty exciting :) @Maplenutsreact you guys should give Buffy the Vampire Slayer a watch, either the movie and/or select episodes from each season. They're both completely different but the tv show is better!

[@OhThatRobin]

“If you have any recommendations for one-shots” Years ago I ran one by M.T. Black on the DMs Guild called The Secret of Skyhold Tower and that was a great success. (I heavily changed the story for my own group but the skeleton of that great adventure was still there)

[@alexandrep830]

the first spell that jonathan uses is a 7º level spell called "Reverse Gravity"

[@kryptonianguest1903]

I can't think of another recent film that I enjoyed as much as this one.

[@tjfkc]

Great movie, and great reaction! They really nailed the whole vibe of making a movie that really felt like playing D&D. Really hope we get a sequel or three with the same characters!

[@mandlecreed02]

It sorta reminded me of the first Guardians of the Galaxy film, but in the D&D setting. I bloody loved it.

[@wulfila99]

Lore Bard, Totem Barbarian, Wild Magic Sorcerer, (probably Land) Druid. With a party like that, fun and shenanigans are guaranteed.

[@michaelccozens]

Dragonborn Muppet? I can only picture Animal blowing-out the end of a drum solo with a kit-destroying "FUS-DO-RAAAAAAAWWWRR!!!!!". Coincidentally, I used to be a guard until I took an overhand-bowled 10-pin rock to the knee.

[@xKazeshi98x]

I've played as: - human cleric of corellon, reason being that she was raised in an elven community - half-elf ranger, nomadic trader extraordinaire (did not last long 💀) - air genasi sorcerer, I was trying to make a meme character that references Aqua from konosuba, but instead of water, it's air (this was for a one-shot) - human fighter (or paladin, but I'm not entirely sure), the campaign died before we got anywhere with the character :v There's technically one more, but I'd argue that we stripped down a bunch of the dnd mechanics for this campaign, so I dunno if she counts as a "dnd" character 😂

[@thepredatorgamer3989]

Illusions need concentration. The nat 1 was him getting his foot stuck. This caused him to lose his concentration

[@clementineshammer6808]

Another nod to game play, Simon became the character that holds everything...that one player that everyone gives their loot to...he got the harper book, the helm, and the staff....he also paid for everything

[@mathsalot8099]

Bag of Holding is a blessing and a curse! 😆

[@Moricant]

Most of the filming was done in Northern Ireland - they used some of the same locations and sets as Game of Thrones.

[@jessc.994]

1:15 My husband and I just played through Witches, Fae and Foes: Six One-Shot Adventures for 5e. It’s made for duet gaming (one DM, one player) but can also be used with a small group! My husband and I played through it together.

[@thepredatorgamer3989]

With the brains it wasn't a stealth check it was an intelligence check or save.

[@matthewdefilippo5700]

Themberchaud (fat dragon) has a plushie. FYI

[@JsscRchlDrsy]

The council did approve their pardon.

[@scottfield5849]

Hey guys! My friends and I have been playing D&D for a loooooong time (think - the 80s), and it's agreed that this is definitely the best movie made on the topic. A few fun points... - there isn't much vidro than I've seen, but before shooting began, they sat the group down for a session. Awesome! - the Druid is played by Sophia Lillis, who was one of the primary kids in the recent "IT" movies. So, you know, something for later. This was fun! Great job! 😄👍

[@mojoshivers]

My favorite idea for a sequel is to have the main cast come back but to have them play different characters with all new classes and backstories. It would really sell the idea that this is just a group of friends sitting around a table for a weekly game meetup. And the audience is simply watching a re-enactment of their actual sessions complete with failed rolls, out-of-the-box party decisions, and the DM just having to roll with the punches and away from his pre-planned storylines. Lol

[@dacsus]

Dude, this is about the chracters, not about people who play them. And no one normal project themselves to their characters.

[@TehFrenchy29]

@@dacsus Incorrect, incorrect, and extremely incorrect lmao; if you want me to show you a D&D player who gets invested in and projects themselves at least a little onto their characters I simply need to show you literally any D&D player ever.

[@dacsus]

@@TehFrenchy29 I played D&D (still AD&D) in the early 90's until 2001 or so. And it never occurred to me to think that the character was me. Because that's just nonsense. I was just playing the character. And none of us changed into our characters, each of us played each of our characters differently.

[@powerpointpaladin6911]

IMO, that is the only proper way to do it justice.

[@JsscRchlDrsy]

Actually, seeing them just as kids playing the game, and finishing a campaign at the end of the movie is quite clever.

[@christianslater2736]

woo you took the suggestion, cant wait to get a chance to see you guys react to this;) congrats on your pages popularity I knew you guys would build up quickly! Jordan, the best old school modules for dnd, are Temple of elemental evil and Ruins of Myth drannor. Really cool you guys did curse of strahd already) if your interested in this movies campagin type, its set in the forgotten realms with harpers, red wizards etc;)

[@oliviawilliams6204]

One of the adventuring party is the party of the Maze is the cast of the 80´s d&d cartoon

[@mrb2349]

This is the best fantasy rpg movie I've ever seen. And I've seen great movies from the 80s.

[@Shinlung66]

Great Reaction as always!!!! I love all the D & D based movies over the years and also the animated series! I played D & D for 30 years and would still be playing if I had a group of friends to play with! Best wishes and hope for Good gaming in your future!! 🙂❤