To me, the thing that feels the most like a real D&D game is that the name "Jarnathan" sounds exactly like a random on-the-spot name that the DM pulled out of nowhere for an NPC that they forgot to name.
for me it was the "Hither, Thither" staff, that was obviously the DM coming up with something on the fly to cover the fact that their players totally screwed up his plans.
DM: *explaining rules* “Oh, by the way, where are you all standing?” Player 4: “I’m standing just behind Xenk.” DM: “… Just behind Xenk?” Player 4: “Yeah?” DM: “Ok… Well, you hear a loud crashing sound as the bridge collapses under your left foot.” Players: !!! Player 4: “Sorry…” DM: “Do any of you have a rope?” Players: … DM: “Ach, ok, P4 give me a Knowledge (Arcana) check.” Player 4: “8” DM: “Ok, whatever, you notice that the walking stick, which you ask thought was just a walking stick, is actually a Hither Thither Staff!”
Thing is, the "walking stick" was already established to be an item that Holga took from the tower of a wizard years ago. She just didn't know that it was a magic item, as she is a barbarian without arcane knowledge. So the writers/DM had the freedom to make it a deus ex machina item that could do anything whatever was needed if the group screwed up.
A couple of specific Forgotten Realms lore notes: Tieflings aren't necessarily the result of infernal interbreeding -- anybody with a family member who has ever made a pact with a powerful infernal taints their bloodline with a kind of infernal power that can manifest, sometimes generations later, as a Tiefling. Doric is probably a tiefling because some great great grandparent made a midnight crossroads bargain and nobody knew until she came out with a tail. As you noticed during the Thay flashback, a lot of Red Wizards are undead. "Red Wizard" is a title formerly used by the powerful spellcasting ruling class of the Thayan mageocracy, but Szass Tam and his faction were liches and vampires, and since they took over, Red Wizards in Thay are undead. There are technically some Red Wizards who fled or were exiled before Tam took control, and apparently they sometimes pass down their title, but in general, Red Wizards like Sophina are liches.
@@Dare_to_Nerd If you haven't watched Campaign 3 of Critical Role, don't read on, spoiler alert. That's why Percy's daughter is a Teifling, because of his dealings with Orthax.
@@nathanreed1269 Thanks for the spoiler alert, I really appreciate it. 🙂 Huh, for some reason, I thought something happened to Zahra and Kashaw and they adopted their daughter. I admit, I didn't look up information on the girl after she appeared in Campaign 3. Thanks for the correction!
The halfling councilor is so enthusiastic about everything she says and I love it. OH, JARNATHAN! Also, Tieflings can spring from any set of parents who happen to have fiendish blood in their ancestry. One of Doric's great-grandparents could have banged a succubus, and three generations a tiefling popped out from a union of two humans. It doesn't even need to be blood related; being wounded by a devil's claws, or even just being in the presence of a demon can "pollute" someone's spirit so much they end up siring a tiefling child.
The, "She's throwing potatoes!" killed me! 😂 Yep, a few other commenters have told me about Tiefling heritage. I've learned a lot after watching this movie. 🙂
The joke with the Intellect Devourers is my favorite D&D in-joke. All of the characters in the movie are representing classes that typically use intelligence as a dump-stat, so none of them were characters with a high intelligence score.
@BrenGunR Only in groups that violate the true spirit of roleplaying by min-maxing stats. Real roleplayers don't min-max and therefore don't have "dump" stats.
@@HH-hd7nd I don't know if there is such a thing as "real players". The true spirit of role-playing is in coming together with friends to create a fun adventure. If the players want to min-max stats, and the dungeon master agrees, it could lead to some fun role-playing scenarios. For example, in Critical Role, Grog's player rolled extremely low for his intelligence stat, so he played up the 'loveable half-giant barbarian with zero book smarts' character. Someone with extremely low strength could be a "noodle armed" nerd. Or someone with low constitution could get plastered after half a shot of watered down ale. It just depends on what you want out of the game, and how you and the DM agree to adjust the mechanics.
Rolling low for a stat is something different from min-maxing. Most people don't roleplay low scores at all. They dump the intelligence score down to 7 (which is according to a comment Gary Gygax once made more or less equivalent to an IQ of 70) but still act as if their character is smart. They dump Charisma but still act as if every NPC would fall for them immediately. They dump wisdom but still act as if their character is the best councellor, giving sound advice. Even with the physical stats they do stuff like that. I've met so many players of wizards and other spellcasters who dump strength but still expect their characters to carry 100 kilograms of gold coins and stuff like that. If characters are actually rolled then yes, low scores can happen occasionally. But that is not the majority. The majority of D&D and Pathfinder players use point-buy, not rolling stats. And among these min-maxers are extremely common. Ever been to a con? Half of the fighters or barbarians you see there have dumped their mental stats to int 7, wis 8 and cha 7 - and not a single one of them roleplays that at all.
@@HH-hd7nd Oh screw off with your "Real Roleplayers" gatekeeping BS. All style of play are valid styles of play, and you sound like a miserable person to play with.
I love that him saying “red wizard’s blade” is the moment that Soffina is staring out the window. This movie was amazing. So many GREAT moments. I was laughing and cheering the whole way through and I lost it emotionally when Holga died. Also, the movie is super accessible to people with little to no knowledge of the source material. A lot of care was put into this movie and despite being almost 2 and a half hours and having a lot going on in it, it is really well paced. This is easily in my Top 10 favorite movies of all time.
It was truly well done. It didn't feel like over two hours (until I edited my reaction, lol). The characters were fantastic. If I had to nitpick about something, I would have liked to see Edgin have more Bard abilities.
I watched it with my wife. I was squeeing about all the callouts. Wife wasn't familiar with most of it, but still enjoyed it thoroughly. I also think it was BRILLIANTLY written, the pacing was sublime. Travel shots of impressive vistas were there... but didn't drag. The Holga death scene was pretty short, only a few minutes. But it drew from the entire preceding movie and packed a lot of emotion.
@@Dare_to_Nerd Late to the party, but apparently Edgin DID have a number of Bard abilities, they just weren't flashy like Simon's magic. According to his 'official' stat sheet, he had Bardic Inspiration (which he uses on Holga after seeing Marlamin via a song, but also repeatedly with Simon), Charm Person, and Friends (which is why the entire group turns hostile, albeit, not violent, towards him that night on the beach when there morale breaks and the spell fails).
The purpose of Xenk the Paladin who pulled the cat out of the fish was to be an overpowering one-shot rescue for the party where they would otherwise probably fail. When the owlbear beat on Safina for the last time it was done like Hulk pummelling Loki.
I didn't even notice the Avengers-like music! I can definitely see the similarities between the Hulk and owlbear scenes. Xenk definitely gave high-level DM character vibes.
The origin of Tieflings varies with the edition of the game. They might be using the version where you just need someone in the family tree to have gotten the demonic side. It then becomes just a chance for later offspring to be a Tiefling. Also, "Hither Thither" is just using old words to say "Here There". So, it's a "Here to There Staff".
I'm only really familiar with 5th edition, and even then, I haven't played a tiefling yet so I haven't looked closely at their background. I'm aware what hither and thither means, but they sounded so fun put together like that! 😆
@@Dare_to_Nerd In the german dubbing they called it a "Hüben Drüben Stab" wich is like the same like old english to you. I was bursting out for laughing.
There are a few spots i didnt notice the first time i watched it. One was the baby Rust Monsters near the beginning, and the Axebeaks when the Tiefling was being chased. Im surprised so many reactors didnt recognize the Mimics, because its the one monster they use in fantasy games all the time.
@@lachazaroony That surprised me too, but maybe they edited out their reactions to the mimics for whatever reason. I edited out my reaction to the Jurassic Park reference because, well, I barely reacted at all and it didn't seem worth it to keep it in. It's so cool they included more obscure creatures from the game! Loved the rust monsters. One thing I didn't notice first time watching: the colosseum is laid out in 5 by 5 foot squares. Just like a battle map!
Themberchaud the Dragon has been in Forgotten Realms for a long time. The red dragon was enslaved when young by some Duergar to power their forges. Most recently, he showed up in the campaign book Out of the Abyss, in the Duergar city.
"I'M surprised nobody is trying to befriend the displacer beast." EXACTLY! my party ran into displacer beasts and our druid immediately was reaching into her pack for raw meat for the "Pretty kitties"... we now have a side business breeding displacer beasts for people that want displacer beast pets.
@@Dare_to_Nerd Displacer Kittens are SOOOO cute! (Ever since I got into "Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic", I've wanted my characters to get their hands on a displacer kitten.
The look that Xenk gives Simon, you can feel the DM in it, the "Why are you like this?" look. Then he gives the party the portal staff because they have to get over there and now it's the only way.
Theres a great bloopers where when talking about Forge to Xenk she calls Forge an asshole instead and he says "Oh so you blame his sphincter for his corruption" and everyone cracks up. The ending credits are amazing and the song by Tame impala is great.
Lol, thanks! Apparently, I really messed up on the Tiefling lore, though. Several people have pointed out that a Tiefling doesn't have to be biologically descended from other Tieflings/fiends.
@@pdegan2814 Yes, they did. He's the person Simon sees when he puts on the helmet. I meant that people have mentioned Elminster is another character from the books. Elminster Aumar was someone I was unfamiliar with before this movie came out.
@@Dare_to_Nerd The person he sees isn't actually Elminster, it's just Simon but older, with symbols (the golden crescent moon on his front) and colors (red) associated with Elminster to symbolize him feeling unworthy of Elminster's legacy. Guess nobody told him the actual Elminster is white, so he made the assumption. Notice how the vision only ever said his surname is also Aumar, and he just gave a little "hmph" when Simon assumed he was his great-great grandfather.
9:20: I think it was supposed to be jarring to have Forge's face being unfurled between those two statues. He's kind of an interloper and a new development in this city. And he's also heavily into self-promotion, so I think everything with his face on it is meant to be cheesy and "modern" (like the hot air balloon).
At 9 minutes in, you are sharing your thoughts on how the banner with Forge's face on it looks out of place in the otherwise classic fantasy-looking surroundings. I wonder if the fact that the banners look out of place is the point. Lord Neverember wouldn't plaster his face across the city. Forge's rule is meant to seem egotistical and hasty. Well that's my theory anyway. I think that the producers did that on purpose to show Forge in the middle of a con.
Another commenter pointed this out too. While watching, I couldn't tell that it was on purpose, but I think this may be correct. The banners are jarring and out of place because Forge himself is out of place as the new, sudden Lord.
I thought it was amusing that shortly before the movie came out, Wizards released the OneD&D playtest doc for the new Druid, which changes up how wildshape works and DOES let them transform into something that at least resembles an Owlbear :) Seriously though, all the D&D players who got butthurt at her turning into an Owlbear can go pound sand, because it looked AWESOME.
House Rules can make allowances like that. I got the feeling Doric's player just loved Owlbears, especially considering it's her most consistent choice of shift. I mean, the Hither-Thither staff also seems like the kind of homebrew quick-fix the DM would come up with. Little details like that, being both rule bending, but not lore breaking, make it feel authentic. No D&D Game is pure, and that's part of the fun!
The Red Dragon is Themberchaud an Icon of the Forgotten Realms. He and a Duergar city have got a deal where provides the fire for their foundries and weaponmaking and he can pretty much can do what he wants amongst the Duergar, and gets fed A LOT.
Fun fact, a tiefling can be born from two human parents if there was a fiendish interaction somewhere in the family tree. Maybe their great great grandfather made a deal with a devil. Maybe an incubus or succubus had...interactions...with their grandma/grandpa. The possibilities are endless.
Anyone else get excited she referenced Fool's Gold? No? Just me then. I gasped the instant you referenced Gothi, it made me so happy! (Critical Role reference did too, but more people tend to know that one)
😁 I have to wonder if the creators put the potatoes in the movie as a little nod to Fools Gold. They seem very in tune with the D&D community, and even made a reference to Critical Role with FCG.
If John Francis Daly and Jonathan Goldstein are going to write and direct again, I'd definitely be down for a sequel. Unfortunately I think its unlikely we see one (although not entirely impossible). The film only took in a little over 200 million at the box office on a 150 million budget. Which means it probably lost money overall, because the reported budgets for films never include marketing costs. (Generally films don't start to make money until they about double their budget at the box office.) So my guess is it might be hard to convince a studio to take on a sequel. Although with the massive success of Baldur's Gate III, which includes plenty of gamers and streamers that have no experience with D&D, perhaps there's an opening there. It could be a catalyst for an even bigger rise in popularity for D&D, and thus might make studios more likely to be open to taking a chance on a sequel. So fingers crossed I guess.
Studios have never understood that you aren't going to get good box office attendance from a fan base that is famous for not going out much (although that has changed a little recently), but they will all buy the boxed set, be it VHS, DVD, or Blu Ray. Until streaming at least, although some will always prefer a physical copy. I think in the mean time I think Hasbro has gotten rid of the people responsible for making it too, since corporations suffer from the inability to see past the current quarter's profits. They could've kept churning these out to steady numbers, even changing the characters. Seems unlikely now though, which is a shame, I enjoyed this one.
Thank you so much! I would also like to do more D&D content, but I'm not sure what to do. I've seen the D&D movie from 2000, and it wasn't my favorite. I'm afraid I'll hate the second and third as well. Any suggestions are welcome.
@@Dare_to_Nerd I mean, I love your reaction content but if you went more in-depth with the nerd stuff like your channel name says I think would be really cool! You could make videos talking about anything really, not just D&D and just really nerd out about them! I love nerd focused content and you could really build a niche here on YT!
@@Simon_Reid Thanks! It's a good idea. I'll try to see what I can go more in depth on. Sometimes I feel like a 'jack of all trades, master of none'. I have a foot in a lot of fandoms and communities, but I don't feel like an expert, especially next to those with encyclopedic knowledge of the content. 😅
I love watching the review with you I've watched it with several other people They claimed to be dungeon and dragon players but they didn't even know what a displacer beast was or an owlbear was it was ridiculous I love that you had known so many things and you were right on everything.
46:40 I think the 'game explanation' for attuning to the item was that you needed a successful Charisma roll. This is something that Simon lacked with his low confidence, and thus, kept failing to attune. Let's say that a helmet as powerful as the Helm of Disjunction required a Charisma roll of 15 to succeed in attunement. However, failing the Charisma roll (whether due to Simon's self confidence, or an effect of the helm) would subtract 1 from future rolls for a day.
I was wondering about that, because his eyes glowed a little like the undead Thayans. So only a little of the Beckoning Death got in him, but he didn't breath enough to fully turn him? Interesting.
I personally think that Xenk is more of a "guest player" character, you know, someone who wants to join, but due to scheduling issues isn't going to be available for every session.
Has anyone ever told you that you have a CRAZY high bonus to Perception, Insight, and Investigation Checks? The way you pick up on foreshadowing, that's a +7 at minimum.
I am not a super-expert on tieflings and I might mix up systems (Pathfinder, DnD editions, house rules, whathaveyou) but I thought Infernal Heritage could be dormant for years and pop up randomly, tho usually more like Doric (basically human or elf but small details). To give birth to a tiefling with glowy green eyes, black skin and purple horns whatever you usually had to actually... fool around with a devil personally.
15:59 She most likely did. Tieflings (and Aasimar or the Genasi) are usually not born to a humanoid (not necessarily human) and outsider parent. The Outsider influence can date back many generations and still a child can turn out to be a tiefling, genasi or aasimar. It's actually rare that the immediate parent is an outsider because that usually leads to halfblood offspring, like Cambions or Aludemons, instead of a tiefling. 17:32 Naaah, she just has a really good AC. Not surprising considering that she's like level 16+ to have that many wildshapes and the forms she can take. Thay is just a country btw - most thayans are normal, ordinary people. The Red Wizards are the ruling caste of Thay. Most Thayans bear the mark of the Zulkier they belong to because they are basically slaves and possessions of the Zulkir.
Doric having a high AC makes sense. By Xenks description, I figured most Thayans were normal people. I didn't know they were like slaves, though. Thay sounds like a pretty horrible place, even if Szass Tams influence is only over a part of it.
@@Dare_to_Nerd There are definetly better places to live, however considering Thay to be a completely horrible place would be wrong. Slaves don't have a great life of course, but that doesn't mean all slaves are mistreated - they are valuable property after all. The common free folk of Thay live more or less the same lives than free folk elsewhere - they are farmers, craftsmen or merchants. The nobles and the red wizards - that's where political intrigue, espionage, assassinations and the like come into play.
Xenk was awesome and Regé-Jean Page did a fantastic job playing him. I loved the intellect devourers too. There were so many hilarious moments in this film!
There are a ton of other easter eggs in it that are not d&d related too. Simon the Sorcerer is an old game, with the main protagonist was an incompetent spell caster. Obviously, the mini Cooper reference too. I am sure there are more easter eggs I have missed.
Tis true. I was even thinking that Szass Tam was too powerful for them to go up against in a second movie. To me, it makes more sense for them to go on lesser quests first. Y'know, level up a bit.
If they are to make a sequel, I don't think they would have introduced such a big character as Szass Tam without using him again. The Red Wizards of Thay are a pretty big deal in Forgotten Realms.
@@Dare_to_Nerd If they had Xenk with them they would stand a much better chance. Who knows, they could also befriend a powerful cleric along the way. We haven't seen anyone from The Order of the Gauntlet yet, and Ed could always call in a favor from The Harpers.
@@jameskinstle6874 I'll willingly admit that I never got into the Forgotten Realms books back in the day. It's been decades since I last played a campaign (back when it was still TSR). So I'll have to take your word for it.
@@jameskinstle6874 Yeah, they may have to call in some allies to go up against Szass Tam and the Wizards of Thay. I feel like they could make a trilogy; with our heroes fighting another bad guy associated with Szass Tam in a second movie, and then finally facing him in a third movie.
@@donniesnyman2517 Oh my gods, yes! Death's probably too op for a player character; unless everyone is playing a high level, immortal or semi-immortal being. But he makes such a cool "villain". It's hard for me to choose a favorite character, because I love them for different reasons. Probably Perrito; he's too pure for this world! Death and Puss are close seconds. A campaign based around nursery rhymes is such a fun idea.
@@Dare_to_Nerd That is a great Idea. Yes death would make a great villain or NPC that keeps players on their toes and not murderhobo everyone. But the entire dark forest makes me thing of the feywild and how it changes depending on each player/character would be great story material plus each character/player having their own reasons for needing the wish. When I watch puss in boots 2 it felt like a dnd adventure. Each character amazing. Was perfect. Never get tired of watching it. I bet death saved and spared perrito and death knows who perrito is but perrito dont remember death
First time to your channel. Would have loved an intro from you in the video if you play the game. Based on your lingo, you seem familiar with the D&D world. Overall, a very cool movie - one of the best of 2023 so far.
Just curious, because I'm seeing a lot of these reaction videos from people who claim they were really excited for the movie. Like, did you guys intentionally not watch it in theaters just so you can make a reaction video to it? Because I don't know, I would hate to miss out on the theater experience with movies I'm excited about...
I did intentionally not watch it in theaters. I wish movies like this became available on streaming platforms before they stop showing it at theaters, because yeah, I would have loved to see this on the big screen.
@@Dare_to_Nerd Well, I just mentioned this as an example, it wasn't the biggest theater experience movie we've had recently at least, I was just curious about the whole content creator reaction thing and if that's keeping you guys from that experience in general. Right now the Spider-Man movie, Into the Spiderverse is actually a really great theater experience in my opinion. There were times where they really made use of the surround sound by having voices directly behind you and things like that.
Well, I can't speak for other content creators. I've seen a couple do reviews of the movie instead of reactions because they watched it in the theater. Others may react to a movie they haven't seen in a long time, or watch it with a partner who hasn't seen the movie. Just depends. I'm debating on whether to do a reaction to Across the Spiderverse. I feel like it would fit on the channel well, but I also think it would be a cool theater experience.
@@Dare_to_Nerd Yah, I don't know what to recommend. I would personally recommend you watch it in theaters, but at the same time I get that you need content for your channel and it would be a really good movie to react to as well because a lot of stuff happens in it...
I'm not a content creator but there are too many movies these days I want to see in theaters, and too little time and money. I'm skipping Across the Spiderverse as well despite being fairly excited for it and just waiting. I've already spent too much. Like this movie. I couldn't pass seeing it with my group, and buying the tie-in movie merch.
What actually broke Serafina's concentration on her animated dragon spell was when she fell off the top of the building and had to teleport rather than splat into the pavement.
Do you mean the Jurassic Park reference? I caught it, but wasn't sure at the time - it's been about 15 years since I've seen the movie - so I didn't include it in the final edit. I didn't feel like I had a big enough reaction to it.
To me, the thing that feels the most like a real D&D game is that the name "Jarnathan" sounds exactly like a random on-the-spot name that the DM pulled out of nowhere for an NPC that they forgot to name.
Lol, I can see that!
That's the players asking for a name and the DM going..."His name? Jar...na...than?" It immediately sticks and becomes every player's favorite NPC.😂
1000%
for me it was the "Hither, Thither" staff, that was obviously the DM coming up with something on the fly to cover the fact that their players totally screwed up his plans.
DM: *explaining rules* “Oh, by the way, where are you all standing?”
Player 4: “I’m standing just behind Xenk.”
DM: “… Just behind Xenk?”
Player 4: “Yeah?”
DM: “Ok… Well, you hear a loud crashing sound as the bridge collapses under your left foot.”
Players: !!!
Player 4: “Sorry…”
DM: “Do any of you have a rope?”
Players: …
DM: “Ach, ok, P4 give me a Knowledge (Arcana) check.”
Player 4: “8”
DM: “Ok, whatever, you notice that the walking stick, which you ask thought was just a walking stick, is actually a Hither Thither Staff!”
Lol! This movie was packed with moments where I could imagine the players and DM at the table just like this.
Player 4: I did good.
@@ImAlsoMerobiba 😂
YES!
Thing is, the "walking stick" was already established to be an item that Holga took from the tower of a wizard years ago. She just didn't know that it was a magic item, as she is a barbarian without arcane knowledge. So the writers/DM had the freedom to make it a deus ex machina item that could do anything whatever was needed if the group screwed up.
A couple of specific Forgotten Realms lore notes:
Tieflings aren't necessarily the result of infernal interbreeding -- anybody with a family member who has ever made a pact with a powerful infernal taints their bloodline with a kind of infernal power that can manifest, sometimes generations later, as a Tiefling. Doric is probably a tiefling because some great great grandparent made a midnight crossroads bargain and nobody knew until she came out with a tail.
As you noticed during the Thay flashback, a lot of Red Wizards are undead. "Red Wizard" is a title formerly used by the powerful spellcasting ruling class of the Thayan mageocracy, but Szass Tam and his faction were liches and vampires, and since they took over, Red Wizards in Thay are undead. There are technically some Red Wizards who fled or were exiled before Tam took control, and apparently they sometimes pass down their title, but in general, Red Wizards like Sophina are liches.
I see. Good to know!
@@Dare_to_Nerd If you haven't watched Campaign 3 of Critical Role, don't read on, spoiler alert.
That's why Percy's daughter is a Teifling, because of his dealings with Orthax.
@@nathanreed1269 Thanks for the spoiler alert, I really appreciate it. 🙂
Huh, for some reason, I thought something happened to Zahra and Kashaw and they adopted their daughter. I admit, I didn't look up information on the girl after she appeared in Campaign 3. Thanks for the correction!
The same is true for Genasi (elemental people). My Fire Genasi has human parents, but was born during a volcanic eruption.
The halfling councilor is so enthusiastic about everything she says and I love it.
OH, JARNATHAN!
Also, Tieflings can spring from any set of parents who happen to have fiendish blood in their ancestry. One of Doric's great-grandparents could have banged a succubus, and three generations a tiefling popped out from a union of two humans. It doesn't even need to be blood related; being wounded by a devil's claws, or even just being in the presence of a demon can "pollute" someone's spirit so much they end up siring a tiefling child.
The, "She's throwing potatoes!" killed me! 😂
Yep, a few other commenters have told me about Tiefling heritage. I've learned a lot after watching this movie. 🙂
The joke with the Intellect Devourers is my favorite D&D in-joke. All of the characters in the movie are representing classes that typically use intelligence as a dump-stat, so none of them were characters with a high intelligence score.
😂 Precisely!
@BrenGunR Only in groups that violate the true spirit of roleplaying by min-maxing stats. Real roleplayers don't min-max and therefore don't have "dump" stats.
@@HH-hd7nd I don't know if there is such a thing as "real players". The true spirit of role-playing is in coming together with friends to create a fun adventure. If the players want to min-max stats, and the dungeon master agrees, it could lead to some fun role-playing scenarios. For example, in Critical Role, Grog's player rolled extremely low for his intelligence stat, so he played up the 'loveable half-giant barbarian with zero book smarts' character. Someone with extremely low strength could be a "noodle armed" nerd. Or someone with low constitution could get plastered after half a shot of watered down ale. It just depends on what you want out of the game, and how you and the DM agree to adjust the mechanics.
Rolling low for a stat is something different from min-maxing.
Most people don't roleplay low scores at all. They dump the intelligence score down to 7 (which is according to a comment Gary Gygax once made more or less equivalent to an IQ of 70) but still act as if their character is smart. They dump Charisma but still act as if every NPC would fall for them immediately. They dump wisdom but still act as if their character is the best councellor, giving sound advice.
Even with the physical stats they do stuff like that. I've met so many players of wizards and other spellcasters who dump strength but still expect their characters to carry 100 kilograms of gold coins and stuff like that.
If characters are actually rolled then yes, low scores can happen occasionally. But that is not the majority. The majority of D&D and Pathfinder players use point-buy, not rolling stats. And among these min-maxers are extremely common. Ever been to a con? Half of the fighters or barbarians you see there have dumped their mental stats to int 7, wis 8 and cha 7 - and not a single one of them roleplays that at all.
@@HH-hd7nd Oh screw off with your "Real Roleplayers" gatekeeping BS. All style of play are valid styles of play, and you sound like a miserable person to play with.
One of the things I like is that they don't treat the game rules as physics. Which is absolutely the way to write it.
Agreed.
It's great to have a reaction video from someone with extensive D&D knowledge. You're the first to actually recognize the "mimic"
Thanks for watching!
Really?! That's surprising since so many people were excited to see the mimic in the trailer.
@@Dare_to_Nerd I'd heard others with the Mimic, you were first with gelatinous cube/jelly
And FCG, Vex/Vax, and Keyleth! I Love that you're a Critter!
@@danifeatherby Let chaos reign! 😁
I love that him saying “red wizard’s blade” is the moment that Soffina is staring out the window. This movie was amazing. So many GREAT moments. I was laughing and cheering the whole way through and I lost it emotionally when Holga died. Also, the movie is super accessible to people with little to no knowledge of the source material. A lot of care was put into this movie and despite being almost 2 and a half hours and having a lot going on in it, it is really well paced. This is easily in my Top 10 favorite movies of all time.
It was truly well done. It didn't feel like over two hours (until I edited my reaction, lol). The characters were fantastic. If I had to nitpick about something, I would have liked to see Edgin have more Bard abilities.
@@Dare_to_Nerd Agreed.
I watched it with my wife. I was squeeing about all the callouts. Wife wasn't familiar with most of it, but still enjoyed it thoroughly.
I also think it was BRILLIANTLY written, the pacing was sublime. Travel shots of impressive vistas were there... but didn't drag. The Holga death scene was pretty short, only a few minutes. But it drew from the entire preceding movie and packed a lot of emotion.
@@wtimmins Absolutely. I love that they made it so enjoyable for those who aren't familiar with D&D too.
@@Dare_to_Nerd
Late to the party, but apparently Edgin DID have a number of Bard abilities, they just weren't flashy like Simon's magic. According to his 'official' stat sheet, he had Bardic Inspiration (which he uses on Holga after seeing Marlamin via a song, but also repeatedly with Simon), Charm Person, and Friends (which is why the entire group turns hostile, albeit, not violent, towards him that night on the beach when there morale breaks and the spell fails).
The purpose of Xenk the Paladin who pulled the cat out of the fish was to be an overpowering
one-shot rescue for the party where they would otherwise probably fail.
When the owlbear beat on Safina for the last time
it was done like Hulk pummelling Loki.
I didn't even notice the Avengers-like music! I can definitely see the similarities between the Hulk and owlbear scenes.
Xenk definitely gave high-level DM character vibes.
The origin of Tieflings varies with the edition of the game. They might be using the version where you just need someone in the family tree to have gotten the demonic side. It then becomes just a chance for later offspring to be a Tiefling.
Also, "Hither Thither" is just using old words to say "Here There". So, it's a "Here to There Staff".
I'm only really familiar with 5th edition, and even then, I haven't played a tiefling yet so I haven't looked closely at their background.
I'm aware what hither and thither means, but they sounded so fun put together like that! 😆
@@Dare_to_Nerd In the german dubbing they called it a "Hüben Drüben Stab" wich is like the same like old english to you. I was bursting out for laughing.
@@Mandred85 Nice! It's awesome that they translated it into an older form of the language. And it still rhymes!
There are a few spots i didnt notice the first time i watched it. One was the baby Rust Monsters near the beginning, and the Axebeaks when the Tiefling was being chased. Im surprised so many reactors didnt recognize the Mimics, because its the one monster they use in fantasy games all the time.
@@lachazaroony That surprised me too, but maybe they edited out their reactions to the mimics for whatever reason. I edited out my reaction to the Jurassic Park reference because, well, I barely reacted at all and it didn't seem worth it to keep it in.
It's so cool they included more obscure creatures from the game! Loved the rust monsters.
One thing I didn't notice first time watching: the colosseum is laid out in 5 by 5 foot squares. Just like a battle map!
You figured out the plot with the horn faster than any other reactor I've seen, kudos for that! 😄
Thanks! I felt like a dummy for not figuring it out sooner.
Themberchaud the Dragon has been in Forgotten Realms for a long time. The red dragon was enslaved when young by some Duergar to power their forges. Most recently, he showed up in the campaign book Out of the Abyss, in the Duergar city.
"Oh! He's a halfling!" I think the preferred term is "Mini Cooper".
Lol! Seeing Bradley Cooper in mini was surprising...and adorable!
"I'M surprised nobody is trying to befriend the displacer beast."
EXACTLY! my party ran into displacer beasts and our druid immediately was reaching into her pack for raw meat for the "Pretty kitties"...
we now have a side business breeding displacer beasts for people that want displacer beast pets.
🤣 This one gets it!
@@Dare_to_Nerd Displacer Kittens are SOOOO cute! (Ever since I got into "Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic", I've wanted my characters to get their hands on a displacer kitten.
@@RedwoodTheElf 😻
Almost all tieflings are born to human parents. It just means an ancestor made a deal with a devil. Not even necessarily her parents.
Theory is that Xenk walked a straight line from the coastline to where he caught Forge.
😂 I love that!
If he'd needed to change direction, there would have been a sign.
The Harpers are the best-known "secret" society in the Forgotten Realm.
The look that Xenk gives Simon, you can feel the DM in it, the "Why are you like this?" look. Then he gives the party the portal staff because they have to get over there and now it's the only way.
I think we can communally agree that this is cannon.
They did take a few liberties but it was worth it for humour.
For sure!
Theres a great bloopers where when talking about Forge to Xenk she calls Forge an asshole instead and he says "Oh so you blame his sphincter for his corruption" and everyone cracks up.
The ending credits are amazing and the song by Tame impala is great.
Yes! I loved the bloopers, and the way Regé-Jean Page smoothly ran with any mistakes was amazing!
For someone who claimed to be not up on D&D lore you sure picked every monster, spell etc!
Fun reaction, loved the enthusiasm 😁😁
Lol, thanks! Apparently, I really messed up on the Tiefling lore, though. Several people have pointed out that a Tiefling doesn't have to be biologically descended from other Tieflings/fiends.
Simon's familt name being Aumar makes a strong case for his great granddaddy being Elminster Aumar, most powerful wizard alive in Faerun
Yep, I've heard a few people mention that. They really packed the lore into this movie!
Pretty sure they mention Elminster explicitly in the movie.
@@pdegan2814 Yes, they did. He's the person Simon sees when he puts on the helmet. I meant that people have mentioned Elminster is another character from the books. Elminster Aumar was someone I was unfamiliar with before this movie came out.
@@Dare_to_Nerd The person he sees isn't actually Elminster, it's just Simon but older, with symbols (the golden crescent moon on his front) and colors (red) associated with Elminster to symbolize him feeling unworthy of Elminster's legacy. Guess nobody told him the actual Elminster is white, so he made the assumption. Notice how the vision only ever said his surname is also Aumar, and he just gave a little "hmph" when Simon assumed he was his great-great grandfather.
His illusory ancestor also mentions that he's born into a family of wizards,
And that his magic has chosen him, but that he's not using it well.
9:20: I think it was supposed to be jarring to have Forge's face being unfurled between those two statues. He's kind of an interloper and a new development in this city. And he's also heavily into self-promotion, so I think everything with his face on it is meant to be cheesy and "modern" (like the hot air balloon).
They definitely succeeded there. I didn't catch on to the fact that it was intentionally jarring while watching the movie, but I think you're right.
Holga clearly has Thrown Weapon Proficiency: Potato.
😂
Eat your Potassium!
@@BramLastname Gothi would be proud.
@@Dare_to_Nerd The reference made me grin from ear to ear, Gothi was definitely proud of you
Holgas use of tavern brawler is so good
Absolutely
It aint just you, we all like that a bit for Michelle.
I used to paint my own figures when they were still lead, decades and decades ago. I love this movie so much!
This movie was soooo good. I can't believe it didn't do better at the box office.
Ditto!
It did did well but the companies expected more money .
At 9 minutes in, you are sharing your thoughts on how the banner with Forge's face on it looks out of place in the otherwise classic fantasy-looking surroundings. I wonder if the fact that the banners look out of place is the point.
Lord Neverember wouldn't plaster his face across the city. Forge's rule is meant to seem egotistical and hasty.
Well that's my theory anyway. I think that the producers did that on purpose to show Forge in the middle of a con.
Another commenter pointed this out too. While watching, I couldn't tell that it was on purpose, but I think this may be correct. The banners are jarring and out of place because Forge himself is out of place as the new, sudden Lord.
Awesome point. I thought that anachronisms are just part of the D&D experience. But I like this notion as well.
I thought it was amusing that shortly before the movie came out, Wizards released the OneD&D playtest doc for the new Druid, which changes up how wildshape works and DOES let them transform into something that at least resembles an Owlbear :) Seriously though, all the D&D players who got butthurt at her turning into an Owlbear can go pound sand, because it looked AWESOME.
It does look awesome.
Rule of cool trumps the book at any given table.
House Rules can make allowances like that. I got the feeling Doric's player just loved Owlbears, especially considering it's her most consistent choice of shift. I mean, the Hither-Thither staff also seems like the kind of homebrew quick-fix the DM would come up with. Little details like that, being both rule bending, but not lore breaking, make it feel authentic. No D&D Game is pure, and that's part of the fun!
@@Choalith_Ikanthe Agreed.
Honestly, this could work for a druid subclass,
They'd have to tweak surprisingly little.
The Red Dragon is Themberchaud an Icon of the Forgotten Realms. He and a Duergar city have got a deal where provides the fire for their foundries and weaponmaking and he can pretty much can do what he wants amongst the Duergar, and gets fed A LOT.
Fun fact, a tiefling can be born from two human parents if there was a fiendish interaction somewhere in the family tree. Maybe their great great grandfather made a deal with a devil. Maybe an incubus or succubus had...interactions...with their grandma/grandpa. The possibilities are endless.
Clearly, Mini Cooper has a type.
Lol! Apparently, Holga does too.
Anyone else get excited she referenced Fool's Gold? No? Just me then. I gasped the instant you referenced Gothi, it made me so happy! (Critical Role reference did too, but more people tend to know that one)
Fool's Gold is such a rollercoaster,
It's gotten so much bigger than anyone thought it would've.
Glad to see so many fellow fans! Gothi's my favorite. 😊
I love the little Fools Gold refence at 7:30.
😁 I have to wonder if the creators put the potatoes in the movie as a little nod to Fools Gold. They seem very in tune with the D&D community, and even made a reference to Critical Role with FCG.
If John Francis Daly and Jonathan Goldstein are going to write and direct again, I'd definitely be down for a sequel. Unfortunately I think its unlikely we see one (although not entirely impossible). The film only took in a little over 200 million at the box office on a 150 million budget. Which means it probably lost money overall, because the reported budgets for films never include marketing costs. (Generally films don't start to make money until they about double their budget at the box office.) So my guess is it might be hard to convince a studio to take on a sequel.
Although with the massive success of Baldur's Gate III, which includes plenty of gamers and streamers that have no experience with D&D, perhaps there's an opening there. It could be a catalyst for an even bigger rise in popularity for D&D, and thus might make studios more likely to be open to taking a chance on a sequel. So fingers crossed I guess.
Studios have never understood that you aren't going to get good box office attendance from a fan base that is famous for not going out much (although that has changed a little recently), but they will all buy the boxed set, be it VHS, DVD, or Blu Ray.
Until streaming at least, although some will always prefer a physical copy.
I think in the mean time I think Hasbro has gotten rid of the people responsible for making it too, since corporations suffer from the inability to see past the current quarter's profits.
They could've kept churning these out to steady numbers, even changing the characters.
Seems unlikely now though, which is a shame, I enjoyed this one.
17:25 Big Sky Theory. The bane of every AAA gunner throughout history.
I love what you're doing here! Definitely becoming your 636th subscriber! And I would love more D&D Content!
Thank you so much!
I would also like to do more D&D content, but I'm not sure what to do. I've seen the D&D movie from 2000, and it wasn't my favorite. I'm afraid I'll hate the second and third as well. Any suggestions are welcome.
@@Dare_to_Nerd I mean, I love your reaction content but if you went more in-depth with the nerd stuff like your channel name says I think would be really cool! You could make videos talking about anything really, not just D&D and just really nerd out about them! I love nerd focused content and you could really build a niche here on YT!
@@Simon_Reid Thanks! It's a good idea. I'll try to see what I can go more in depth on. Sometimes I feel like a 'jack of all trades, master of none'. I have a foot in a lot of fandoms and communities, but I don't feel like an expert, especially next to those with encyclopedic knowledge of the content. 😅
Pretty sure I've fallen in lub 😳
I love watching the review with you I've watched it with several other people They claimed to be dungeon and dragon players but they didn't even know what a displacer beast was or an owlbear was it was ridiculous I love that you had known so many things and you were right on everything.
Zank said polka blames forges mother for how he is then during his back story he brings up how stern his mother was
I've watched a ton of these reactions and I love seeing someone that catches a lot of the DnD stuff! It made it fresh all over again. Loved it!
Thank you! 😁 Glad you enjoyed it!
Imo Xenk is that one player that pops in for one session a year with an OP character.
46:40 I think the 'game explanation' for attuning to the item was that you needed a successful Charisma roll. This is something that Simon lacked with his low confidence, and thus, kept failing to attune. Let's say that a helmet as powerful as the Helm of Disjunction required a Charisma roll of 15 to succeed in attunement.
However, failing the Charisma roll (whether due to Simon's self confidence, or an effect of the helm) would subtract 1 from future rolls for a day.
Love that you got the fresh cut grass easyer egg and your references to Fool's Gold!
😁
The credits were fun to watch, too.
Glad you enjoyed the movie, I loved it.
Only this movie would turn throwing a potato into an epic slow motion scene - and make it work. :D
It was amazing! 😂
Well, you shouldn't stand in Xenk Yendar's way. He'd walk all over you if you stand in his very straight line 😅
Lol, I just imagined him, straight-faced, walking up someone's chest, on their head, and down their back, completely ignoring the laws of gravity! 😂
29:38 Actually, I think Xenk is a guest player who was in town to play with his old friends for a single session and then had to take off.
Awesome reaction to an awesome movie! Keep it up! New subscriber here! ❤
Thank you! 😄
You can bring back the dead with magic... it's called necromancy
Tis true, I just didn't think Simon had that ability at the time.
CritRole C1 Spoiler:
Percys daughter is born a Tiefling, despite her parents being Human & Half-Elf, because of the Deal he made in the 9-Hells
Yep, another commenter pointed that out. I appreciate the spoiler warning!
Kid Xenk didn't use any magic, he was changed by the curse partially affecting him and making him not quite undead.
I was wondering about that, because his eyes glowed a little like the undead Thayans. So only a little of the Beckoning Death got in him, but he didn't breath enough to fully turn him? Interesting.
I personally think that Xenk is more of a "guest player" character, you know, someone who wants to join, but due to scheduling issues isn't going to be available for every session.
It'd be a fun way to include someone with a busy schedule.
Has anyone ever told you that you have a CRAZY high bonus to Perception, Insight, and Investigation Checks? The way you pick up on foreshadowing, that's a +7 at minimum.
Wow, thank you! It doesn't always feel that way. Sometimes really obvious things go right over my head, and people let me know in the comments, lol. 😅
I am not a super-expert on tieflings and I might mix up systems (Pathfinder, DnD editions, house rules, whathaveyou) but I thought Infernal Heritage could be dormant for years and pop up randomly, tho usually more like Doric (basically human or elf but small details). To give birth to a tiefling with glowy green eyes, black skin and purple horns whatever you usually had to actually... fool around with a devil personally.
Yes, this was something I didn't know until after watching the movie.
15:59 She most likely did. Tieflings (and Aasimar or the Genasi) are usually not born to a humanoid (not necessarily human) and outsider parent. The Outsider influence can date back many generations and still a child can turn out to be a tiefling, genasi or aasimar.
It's actually rare that the immediate parent is an outsider because that usually leads to halfblood offspring, like Cambions or Aludemons, instead of a tiefling.
17:32 Naaah, she just has a really good AC. Not surprising considering that she's like level 16+ to have that many wildshapes and the forms she can take.
Thay is just a country btw - most thayans are normal, ordinary people. The Red Wizards are the ruling caste of Thay. Most Thayans bear the mark of the Zulkier they belong to because they are basically slaves and possessions of the Zulkir.
Doric having a high AC makes sense.
By Xenks description, I figured most Thayans were normal people. I didn't know they were like slaves, though. Thay sounds like a pretty horrible place, even if Szass Tams influence is only over a part of it.
@@Dare_to_Nerd There are definetly better places to live, however considering Thay to be a completely horrible place would be wrong. Slaves don't have a great life of course, but that doesn't mean all slaves are mistreated - they are valuable property after all.
The common free folk of Thay live more or less the same lives than free folk elsewhere - they are farmers, craftsmen or merchants.
The nobles and the red wizards - that's where political intrigue, espionage, assassinations and the like come into play.
I still say zink is my favorite. And the whole intellect devourer thing was Hilarious
Xenk was awesome and Regé-Jean Page did a fantastic job playing him. I loved the intellect devourers too. There were so many hilarious moments in this film!
Awesome film. Cinema audience loved it when I saw it.
Lord of the rings was wrote during the first World war and dungeons and dragons was created in 1974
There are a ton of other easter eggs in it that are not d&d related too.
Simon the Sorcerer is an old game, with the main protagonist was an incompetent spell caster.
Obviously, the mini Cooper reference too.
I am sure there are more easter eggs I have missed.
I didn't know about Simon the Sorcerer! I did catch the Jurassic Park reference when they were running from Themberchaud.
There's also no reason for any sequel to involve the same Big Bad. They could just do a series of lesser quests, too.
Tis true. I was even thinking that Szass Tam was too powerful for them to go up against in a second movie. To me, it makes more sense for them to go on lesser quests first. Y'know, level up a bit.
If they are to make a sequel, I don't think they would have introduced such a big character as Szass Tam without using him again. The Red Wizards of Thay are a pretty big deal in Forgotten Realms.
@@Dare_to_Nerd If they had Xenk with them they would stand a much better chance. Who knows, they could also befriend a powerful cleric along the way. We haven't seen anyone from The Order of the Gauntlet yet, and Ed could always call in a favor from The Harpers.
@@jameskinstle6874 I'll willingly admit that I never got into the Forgotten Realms books back in the day. It's been decades since I last played a campaign (back when it was still TSR). So I'll have to take your word for it.
@@jameskinstle6874 Yeah, they may have to call in some allies to go up against Szass Tam and the Wizards of Thay. I feel like they could make a trilogy; with our heroes fighting another bad guy associated with Szass Tam in a second movie, and then finally facing him in a third movie.
At the time of this comment, your last posted vid was 3 months ago. PLEASE tell me you aren't done. I only just found you.
No, just taking a little break. 😅 I have a few videos I'm editing now.
You should really watch puss in boots the last wish. Super awesome movie. Just dont watch spoilers before movie
I did! It's amazing! I kind of regret not doing a reaction to it.
@@Dare_to_Nerd then we wanna hear your thoughts on the characters and which one your fav. I think death would make an awesome dnd character🙈
@@donniesnyman2517 Oh my gods, yes! Death's probably too op for a player character; unless everyone is playing a high level, immortal or semi-immortal being. But he makes such a cool "villain". It's hard for me to choose a favorite character, because I love them for different reasons. Probably Perrito; he's too pure for this world! Death and Puss are close seconds. A campaign based around nursery rhymes is such a fun idea.
@@Dare_to_Nerd That is a great Idea. Yes death would make a great villain or NPC that keeps players on their toes and not murderhobo everyone. But the entire dark forest makes me thing of the feywild and how it changes depending on each player/character would be great story material plus each character/player having their own reasons for needing the wish. When I watch puss in boots 2 it felt like a dnd adventure. Each character amazing. Was perfect. Never get tired of watching it. I bet death saved and spared perrito and death knows who perrito is but perrito dont remember death
I think attuning was just that he wasn’t high enough level to use the item. He finally leveled up enough to use the helm!
That's a good interpretation.
hither-thither, or "here to there" if said a bit quickly.
Yep yep
Awesome!
First time to your channel. Would have loved an intro from you in the video if you play the game. Based on your lingo, you seem familiar with the D&D world.
Overall, a very cool movie - one of the best of 2023 so far.
Welcome and thanks for watching! An intro? You mean mentioning that I play?
@@Dare_to_Nerd Yes, mention your familiarity with this franchise. Casual player or hardcore or whatever.
@@brianng8350 Got it. Thanks for the advice! I'd say I'm a casual player. I'd like to play more, but scheduling conflicts get in the way.
Just curious, because I'm seeing a lot of these reaction videos from people who claim they were really excited for the movie. Like, did you guys intentionally not watch it in theaters just so you can make a reaction video to it? Because I don't know, I would hate to miss out on the theater experience with movies I'm excited about...
I did intentionally not watch it in theaters. I wish movies like this became available on streaming platforms before they stop showing it at theaters, because yeah, I would have loved to see this on the big screen.
@@Dare_to_Nerd Well, I just mentioned this as an example, it wasn't the biggest theater experience movie we've had recently at least, I was just curious about the whole content creator reaction thing and if that's keeping you guys from that experience in general. Right now the Spider-Man movie, Into the Spiderverse is actually a really great theater experience in my opinion. There were times where they really made use of the surround sound by having voices directly behind you and things like that.
Well, I can't speak for other content creators. I've seen a couple do reviews of the movie instead of reactions because they watched it in the theater. Others may react to a movie they haven't seen in a long time, or watch it with a partner who hasn't seen the movie. Just depends.
I'm debating on whether to do a reaction to Across the Spiderverse. I feel like it would fit on the channel well, but I also think it would be a cool theater experience.
@@Dare_to_Nerd Yah, I don't know what to recommend. I would personally recommend you watch it in theaters, but at the same time I get that you need content for your channel and it would be a really good movie to react to as well because a lot of stuff happens in it...
I'm not a content creator but there are too many movies these days I want to see in theaters, and too little time and money.
I'm skipping Across the Spiderverse as well despite being fairly excited for it and just waiting. I've already spent too much. Like this movie. I couldn't pass seeing it with my group, and buying the tie-in movie merch.
Dare to Nerd? Dare to Geek is the better name I think ;) Kidding of course.. I love your reaction!!
Lol, thank you! 😅
I see some Rwby love in the back :)
Of course! 😁 I'm finishing up my Vol 9 reaction right now!
Time stop only last a max of 30 seconds and is 9th level spell can't keep casting it
That's not a walking stick. It's an ex machina! I don't care. I still love this movie.
Oh, for sure! The way they used it was incredibly clever, though!
@@Dare_to_Nerd There are like, a hundred payoffs in this film.
What actually broke Serafina's concentration on her animated dragon spell was when she fell off the top of the building and had to teleport rather than splat into the pavement.
Did she teleport up there to avoid the owlbear, or was that a different spell? It had the same red mist effect.
@@Dare_to_Nerd I believe that she was using the spell "Misty Step," though I believe the red "bamf" of smoke accompanied many of her spells.
@@LeeCarlson I can see that.
🥔
Everyone always cuts out the BEST Easter Egg in the entire movie... and you call yourself a NERD??? SHAME!!! 😅
Do you mean the Jurassic Park reference? I caught it, but wasn't sure at the time - it's been about 15 years since I've seen the movie - so I didn't include it in the final edit. I didn't feel like I had a big enough reaction to it.
7:36 THE GOTHI REFRENCE
She threw a potato; I couldn't resist!
@@Dare_to_Nerd Im so happy that you are a fellow fan of fools gold