Saturday, October 22, 2016

The Gamers: Dorkness Rising

Yes, The Gamers was sufficiently successful to spawn a sequel. Dorkness Rising opens with Rennard the Rogue, Turk the Fighter, Fastidian the Cleric, and Nodwick the pack animal... er... henchman trekking through a dungeon and doing battle with zombies. Before the heroes move on, they leave Nodwick to stay with the treasure chest until they return. Soon after, they meet the great villain, Mort Kemnon, Avatar to the God of Death. Fastidian calls upon his goddess but finds he is cut off from her; his clerical powers are gone. In short order the party is wiped out.

Cass (Brian Lewis) curses at the death of his character, Rennard. Gary (Christian Doyle) and Leo (Scott C. Brown) are less upset and talk about trying something different next week. Cass refuses. He wants to run the adventure again, much to Lodge's (the DM) surprise. He is angry that the DM essentially gelded the party cleric. "That can't happen in the rules!"

"Story trumps rules," the DM replies. Oh, that is awesome! These are some gamers!

Anyway, the group decides to try the adventure again though they want more players to round out the party. Cass manages to get his ex-girlfriend, Joanna (Carol Roscoe), to play. He then complains that she has created a 9th level fighter with 45 hit points. "45 hit points?!" He is even more astounded that she has no strength bonus, no constitution bonus, and put her best scores in intelligence, dexterity, and charisma! "Charisma?" To talk their way out of fights, she explained. The reactions at the table are great. Gary opts to play Luster (Jennifer Page), a chaotic neutral (read evil) sorceress who is hot. Leo, who has always played fighters, decides to go with a bard named Flynn. The bard is uproariously funny in the adventure, strumming his lute while the other characters fight. Cass, ever the thorn in the DM's side, brings Brother Silence the monk, a class the DM had specifically forbidden for not fitting his setting.

"It's in the core rules. I should be able to play it." Oh, how many times have I heard such things?

The DM acquiesces with a sigh. Lastly, Sir Osric (Nathan Rice) the NPC Paladin is added to the group since no other players volunteered to game with this bunch. Sir Osric elicits groans from the men, who see him as a babysitter, but a smile from Joanna. And so the campaign begins.

As with the previous Gamers, there are frequent gaming references both in and out of game. All the other players have already done this campaign and know where to go but Joanna doesn't. This sparks the Player Knowledge vs. Character Knowledge debate; I love that one. The fumbled will save is awesome. That the bard seduces every female he encounters is hilarious, especially in the throne room. Of course, Gary playing a female is hilarious since he frequently forgets his character is female and even tries to seduce Joanna. When she reminds him, he suggests some girl on girl action. Also awesome was when Luster used animate dead on the chicken they were roasting for dinner. Gamers!

The production values are surprisingly good and the acting far exceeds expectations. As a Dead Gentlemen Production, many of the actors are familiar. Gary/Luster plays Perf the Yellow Wizard in JourneyQuest. The DM/Sir Osric played Newmoon the Elf in The Gamers and the gargoyles in JourneyQuest. Cass/Brother Silence plays Carrow the Cleric in Journey Quest. Paula the angry coed from The Gamers appears as the Goddess Theron here.

Like Gamers and JourneyQuest, this is posted on YouTube. I liked it so much that I bought the DVD. Totally worth it. Highly recommended.

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