The complete Dungeons & Dragons cartoon series came out on DVD a few months ago. In comparison to other fantasy cartoons of the '80s, it holds up well. There's an over-arching plot, some effort made at internal consistency, puzzles are overcome with clever (though narratively convenient) solutions, and episodes advance at a Goonies-like pace, eschewing setup, dialogue, and continuity in editing in order to cram in as many monsters and set pieces as possible. For children without access to InuYasha, its appeal is forgivable.
The series departs from the source material in many ways. Magic in particular is handled very differently than any version of the D&D game up to this point. Presto pulls spells from his hat, the evil Venger shoots magic energy from his palms, and Merlin recites words from a giant book and boils spell components in a cauldron. There are no clerics. At the beginning of the series, each character is given a magic item that requires no charges (they only need to be powered up in the Hall of Bones every 300 years) and has different functions depending on the situation. Enemies that can raise ancient temples out of the desert seem to possess no magic resistance or saving throws against these weapons. The 5-headed dragon god Tiamat (a recurring threat, the crocodile to Venger's Captain Hook) can be fooled by an invisibility cloak. Talk about NPCs not using their magic items and innate powers.
Wait a minute.
The characters in the D&D cartoon come into the fantasy world via magical roller coaster, resulting in several anachronisms NPCs hardly bat an eye at. Dungeon Master, the gnome who sends the characters on their quests, is a combination of a stereotypical DM (when he says "when in darkness, seek the light" he means one instance in particular, all the other times you're in darkness and see light be damned) and an Elminster deus ex machinae NPC who is powerful enough to disappear on a whim and hand out magic items as if it were Halloween in Waterdeep, but doesn't feel like stopping the bad guys himself. There's a mad rush from one combat encounter to the next. The one character who suggests a course of action contrary to what the rest of the party or the DM wants them to do is shouted down, either for metagaming, because no one else likes him, or because that's not the direction the story's "supposed" to go.
There are two possibilities here. One, this is the way the game is "supposed" to be played. Two, the D&D cartoon is so hardwired into peoples' brains that it's nearly impossible to find a group of players who want to do something else with the system.
(Author's note: This was written after watching only 3 1/2 episode of the complete Dungeons & Dragons cartoon. Oh, and "to be continued...")
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3 comments:
Yea, I seem to remember thinking that the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon unfolded in much the same way that my games of D&D did in Jr. High.
I also remember be embarrassed to admit that I liked the cartoon. But while campy it did have some perverse charm that I have never been able to put my finger on.
I always tried to rationalized away the shows many inconsistancies. For instance, I became comfortable with the idea that those were not merely magic weapons, but "Artifacts."
Notes Regarding Artifacts and Relics: Each artifact or relic is a singular thing of potent powers and possibly strange side effects as well. Regardless of how any of these items come into your campaign, only 1 of each may exist.
-- Pg. 155 DMG 1st edition.
Gotta love 1st edition's "you will play this way" mentality.
Anyway, I was never able to come to terms with how incompetent the protagonists are. It frustrated me to no end. But looking back now, I guess that the on screen counterparts have proven to be rather accurate analogues for my early games. I don't know if this is coincidence, or because of some damage that has been wrought on our collective gaming consciousness. It does seem to be there though, doesn't it?
Early games? As far as I can tell, this is still how D&D is played now. But I believe both Mr. Bile and myself will elaborate on this point in the near future, with varying amounts of vitriol--or as one might refer to it, "bile".
So this is off topic, But I received Opheliac by Emilie Autumn yesterday from Projekt. It's addictive in the worst way. I'm particularly partial to Shallot.
Ms. Autumn manages at least four distinct styles on the 2 CD set.
Now I find myself eying Laced/Unlaced, a another 2 CD set, this one all instrumental violin. Laced is acoustic, Unlaced is electric.
Damn, you narraptor. Damn you and knowing me musically too well.
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