I cannot deny it – I was one of those zany fan-boys that went to a midnight showing of the new TRON: Legacy last week!  And although I paid for my exuberance all through the next day – it was so much easier pulling an all-nighter back in my college days – I must admit that it was a real treat to attend the first showing of the sequel in a fully-packed theatre, with an audience that REALLY wanted to be there!

Consensual and whole-hearted participation is something that makes almost any group activity more fun, whether it is attending a movie, sports, work, or playing D&D.  And that’s an important consideration when playing a game like D&D, because you hope that all your Players are as devoted as an audience at a midnight movie show.

Wanting to be There

Recently, in one of my D&D campaigns, I found myself in the awkward position of having to ask a Player to step down out of the game.  It was not because they were disruptive or rude to the other Players, or because they cheated or anything negative like that.  It was simply that they did not engage themselves into my D&D game.

At first, I felt this was somewhat of a failing on my part as a Dungeon Master, but I tried several different methods to get the Player on board with my campaign.  Despite my efforts, the Player’s attendance dropped to 1 in 4 sessions, and even when they were present, they always were busy working on some other project.  Finally, I came to the realization that it was likely that my Player simply had too much going on outside the game to really be able to commit even a few hours to my D&D campaign.  While the Player in question might have enjoyed the interaction with their friends in my game, they could not unplug enough from other activities to get to the point where they were wanting to be there during a gaming session.

Despite the discomfort such a confrontation was sure to cause, overall I think it was best for my other Players, my campaign as a whole, and for the Player who dropped out, who can pursue their other activities without feeling bad about missing gaming sessions.

For those who have not seen it yet, the sequel to TRON was beyond visually stunning, which really is not surprising since it was shot in 3-D, and I personally happened to catch it on a local IMAX screen.  Obviously, TRON: Legacy has the advantage over the original film that can only come from having nearly 30 years of special effects and computer graphics wizardry behind it.  In almost every scene, whether in the “Real World” or on the “Grid”, the costumes, lighting, effects, and action sequences kept the audience engaged and occasionally gasping with excitement.

Blow the Audience Away

As Dungeon Masters, we have a tough job on our hands.  We have to create an experience for our Players – our audience – without the use of special effects, costumes, computer graphics, and a soundtrack.  Oh sure, we can add a few of those things from time to time – playing music in the background, making cool battle maps for our encounters, and buying some awesome minis – but we can never compete with what movies, television, and even computer games (such as MMORPGs) can offer our Players from a purely audio-visual perspective.

So as a DM, I think it is important to think even bigger when planning our campaigns to add that “wow”-factor back in at the gaming table.  So when planning that adventure, and working out the encounters, start thinking like a movie director, and consider how to make the scene more stunning and memorable for the Players.

Don’t be afraid of adding personalized dramatic elements into the game now and then – things like intermittent flashbacks for certain Characters, past romantic interests, and family tragedy can all bring a new dimension to an otherwise simple quest.  And, of course, adding simple and unexpected dramatic elements to encounters like floors crumbling away, ceilings collapsing, traps going off, and other sudden and dangerous occurrences can make a basic encounter with orcs seem anything but basic.

Without giving away too many spoilers for those who have not yet gone to see TRON: Legacy, I found myself mulling the movie over in my head for days after seeing it.  What I found really interesting about the story was how it mixed in classical literary and mythological references into what would be considered a purely science-fiction movie.  I found that I could not help but compare certain elements of the movie with Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and Milton’s Paradise Lost.  There was certainly something more like magic and less than mere science in how some of the main characters interacted with the environment of the Grid, and the story elements themselves drew upon mythic themes that one finds in classical literature – which of course, is what makes a classic a classic!

Steal from Literature

I think as Dungeon Masters, there is a drive in us to want to come up with a totally “original” idea for each and every adventure.  While certainly a lofty and noble goal, if we try to do that all the time, we are depriving ourselves of some great mythic and literary elements which can make our games even more memorable.

People respond favorably to mythic and classical literary references, even if they are deeply disguised as something else.  George Lucas pulled out all the stops in the original Star Wars movies, and drew upon all kinds of classic myths from Oedipus to Le Morte d’Arthur to make Episodes IV, V, and VI.  And Professor Tolkien drew heavily from Norse and Germanic mythology, as well as the legend of Beowulf, when he constructed Middle-Earth and penned the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.  There are dozens of other examples in popular television shows and movies, and there is no reason that, as DMs, we cannot do the same thing with our own campaigns.

There is nothing wrong with taking the kernel of a plot idea from a classic piece of literature, a myth or legend, or even a contemporary work of fiction, and disguising it in some heroic fantasy “window dressing” and making it a part of your campaign.  Chances are, if you do a good enough job with props and costumes, your Players will not even know they are taking part in a scene from Hamlet or witnessing the Fall of Troy, yet will find the experience utterly memorable as you reach them on that subconscious level where myths and legends seem to resonate inside us all.

If you have not realized it by now, I have given you not only some cheeky Dungeon Mastering advice, but also a light review of my take on the new TRON: Legacy – and if I haven’t made it clear until now – it was awesome!  It was a great story told around mind-blowing special effects, and definitely worth spending the extra few bucks on if you can see it on an IMAX screen.  But when you go and see it, don’t be surprised if the little DM inside the back of your mind starts thinking of ways to get your D&D Characters on light-cycles, or maybe sail across the Elemental Chaos on a light beam!

So until next blog… I wish you Happy Gaming!

Tags: D&D 4e, dungeon master tip, editorial, TRON

This entry was posted by Editor-in-Chief on Monday, December 20th, 2010 at 7:21 pm and is filed under Dungeonmasters' Insider, Tricks of the Trade. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.