Tag: dragons
‘Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ directors explain why Edgin doesn’t cast any bard spells
As someone who’s currently playing a bard in a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, one of the biggest questions I had while watching Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was “Why isn’t Edgin using any magic?”
With his lute and his smooth-talking ways, Edgin (Chris Pine) is the bard of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves‘ adventuring party. By game standards, this means he’s a full caster. Bards can cast iconic spells like Vicious Mockery, as well as magically inspire fellow players with Bardic Inspiration. But while Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves brings several classic game spells to life, such as Speak With Dead, it leaves many others — including those associated with bards — behind.
The limited magic use also extends to druid Doric (Sophia Lillis), who frequently shapeshifts using Wild Shape but otherwise doesn’t cast spells. Really, the main caster of the party is sorcerer Simon (Justice Smith), who has his own journey of self-discovery related to magic use.
Given that Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves features several casting classes who never cast spells, I asked directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley how they chose which aspects of certain classes to bring to life in the film, especially when it came to magic.
“It was primarily dictated by the story,” Goldstein said in a Zoom interview. “Magic is so powerful and can solve so many problems that we decided we really wanted to limit it to certain characters, because then it forces them to find other ways through.”
Adding to that idea of problem-solving is the fact that Dungeons & Dragons spells aren’t always a surefire way to get out of a jam. In the film, Simon complains about how everyone believes that magic is an easy fix to every solution. As the sorceror points out repeatedly (and as the film shows), magic has its limits.
“That’s baked into Dungeons & Dragons, that limitation,” added Goldstein. “The game would be too easy if you could just cast a spell for everything.”
However, just because we don’t see Edgin directly casting anything doesn’t mean he doesn’t have special abilities of his own.
“We also liked the idea that Edgin’s only real magical power was being able to convince people to carry out his ridiculous plans,” said Daley. “And the fact that he’s able to charm people and get people on board is a little bit less obvious of a power, but certainly something that makes him stand out in the group.”
Hey, that high Charisma modifier always comes in handy!
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is now in theaters.
‘Dungeons & Dragons’ takes its game to the movie theaters
Preorder Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Steelbook Edition At Best Buy
Dungeon & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves premiered in theaters this week, but preorders for the upcoming Blu-ray version are already cropping up, and you can pre-purchase a special $40 steelbook edition from Best Buy right now.
This version includes a 4K Blu-ray disc and digital download copy of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Theives. The limited-edition steelbook case features unique artwork of the classic D&D logo and silhohuettes of the main party members from the movie.
Preorders for the standard edition 4K HD Blu-ray ($34) and regular Blu-ray release ($28) are also available at Best Buy. These formats also include a digital download code for the movie just like the steelbook version, but they feature the theatrical art on the cover.
Eight classic Dungeons & Dragons games have arrived on GOG and Steam
SNEG has released eight Dungeons & Dragons games to GOG and Steam. These are many of the first D&D video games, some of which are finally available for the first time in over 25 years.
The offerings are Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace, Fantasy Empires, DragonStrike, DeathKeep, Heroes of the Lance, Dragons of Flame, War of the Lance, and Shadow Sorcerer.
All are available through the Silver Box Classics bundle, and each contains digital bonus materials from their original releases, such as manuals, rulebooks, and clue books.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves review: You’ll love these Dragons, says BRIAN VINER
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ ending, explained
How Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Makes D&D Easy To Understand For Newbies
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is in theaters March 31, and the big-screen epic tale has, thus far, been met with very positive reviews. Over at GameSpot sister site Metacritic, the movie is sitting pretty with a score of 71 and that had to be thanks, in some small part, to the fact that this is a film that is approachable for everyone, whether you’ve mounted your own D&D campaign or not.
When it comes to a property with such deep lore over several decades, properly capturing it in a way that appeals to longtime fans is daunting. However, according to the film’s writers and directors, Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, that wasn’t even the hard part. Instead, it was finding a way of explaining everything to people with no knowledge of D&D that was the real hurdle.
“[That was the] bigger challenge even than appealing to the fans, because we knew we had the material with the lore and the 50 years of history behind us to really give players of the game something that they will appreciate,” Daly explained to GameSpot. “The bigger challenge was to give something to the people who have absolutely nothing to do with Dungeons & Dragons–or know nothing about it–a movie that they will also enjoy. And what I would say is, you know, we were very authentic. Everything–every spell that you see–is accurate, is true-to-life authentic. All of our creatures, or monsters or environments are all part of the lore. But again, you do not have to know anything about that for it to work.”
Minecraft meets Dungeons and Dragons in huge new DLC campaign
Ever wondered what Dungeons and Dragons would look like in Minecraft? Well, Wizards of the Coast has answered your question with an all-new DnD collab that will let you celebrate Honor Among Thieves’ release in the sandbox game.
MORE FROM PCGAMESN: Minecraft seeds, Minecraft skins, Minecraft mods
Minecraft is getting an ambitious Dungeons & Dragons crossover
Just in time for the upcoming film, Mojang announced that Minecraft is getting an ambitious Dungeons & Dragons crossover. Like any D&D campaign, the crossover begins around a blocky table with an open pizza box, and then it escalates into a roughly ten-hour, action-RPG take on Minecraft as you trek through the classic tabletop’s fantasy world.