Patton Oswalt is a long-time self-confirmed D&D player. Besides that, he jokes about comics, pop culture, and even Mesopotamian cuneiform script.
Mr. Oswalt in his native environment, approach with caution
Below are the three bits he did for the show Reno 911. Now the guy who is wearing the helmet and is shot by the arrow is my old buddy Jack Conway, who used to be a customer in a comic store I ran a long time ago. It's really funny to see Jack in these segments, and he assures me that Patton really knows his D&D. Enjoy!
At some point, a documentary film maker thought, "What sort of project should I do?" Somehow, defying all belief or logic, the answer was, "a bunch of nerds in costumes running around beating each other with boffers." Furthermore, and incredibly, that was the right answer. Andrew Neel & Luke Meyer have done an incredible job with Darkon.
Darkon is a brilliant documentary, managing to perfectly capture both the drama and excitement LARPers (Live Action Role Play) feel with the contrasting fear, revulsion, and judgement other may feel. The film explores a storyline that occurs within the game, where a small kingdom rebels against a large and imperialistic kingdom solely on principle alone, and the lives of some of the players including the two opposing leaders.
Darkon manages to put you inside the mindset of the players while, often simultaneously, showing you just how very nerdy the whole thing is. You get caught up in the drama of the brave little kingdom that opposes such an obviously crushing entity, and the drama of their individual lives. Kenyon Wells, a successful businessman who claims Darkon as the founding experience that brought him the confidence he needs to succeed. Rebecca Thormund, a former stripper who lives with her mother. Daniel Mcarthur, an overweight and incredibly awkward young man who has trouble fitting in even among the Darkon crew, who dreams of being accepted and finding the courage to talk to a girl.
The story is mainly, however, about Skip Lipman, the D&D playing house husband and dispossessed son of a mail-order game mogul who escapes into Darkon where he is the leader of his own kingdom. Skip is an immediately lovable loser, who cares about his wife and kids, dutifully cleans house, plays a lot of D&D, and occasionally stands up to tyrants. Skip discusses his life and how he came to his present circumstances, while engineering the resistance to the despotic Mordheim kingdom. Skip is a guy who doesn't know how to quit, and this fighting spirit shows on what are positively moving battle sequences.
Darkon is a D&D geek's movie, even if you've never even considered playing LARP. Darkon is heavily influenced by D&D, including a clan of treacherous dark elves and actual gold pieces. D&D in part of the parlance in the game, and figures into the character's personal lives as well. Skip, in particular, plays with his children and uses the miniatures to make battle plans for Darkon.
It's a worthy watch for people who don't play D&D, and for D&D players this movie is a must. Skip is now part of the lexicon, and Darkon now has a place in D&D culture. It's on the Netflix Instant watch, or you can use the links below.
Those who watch the San Antonio Spurs may already know of the magic that is Tim Duncan. The superstar Texas basketball player has been playing leader for his team for most of his 13 year career. This epic level player is large sized at a towering 6 ft. 11 inches and combines at-will jump shots with powerful immediate interrupt shot blocking to make opponents dominated (until end of Duncan's next turn.)
What many don't know, and the reason Duncan is being named Geek of the Week, is that this NBA striker is also a D&D fan and player. Duncan, nicknamed "Mr. Spock" in college, is a quiet intellectual who enjoys D&D and fantasy video games. He sports a tattoo of Merlin on his chest and a skeletal jester on his back.
Duncan also enjoys the Texas Renaissance Festival and sword and knife collecting. What is not known is what class he prefers, but I assume wizard from his tat. I'd love to have him in a session. I've got a spot at my table whenever you want Tim.
This useful action figure doubles as a giant miniature. I'm going to have to stat this up.
MTV Geek has reported on the top 10 RPG products for the last year. D&D made the list twice, or thrice, depending on how you look at it. You could make an argument for four times (quarice?) but I digress.
The retro-based D&D Red Box made number 1. MTV says, "If you haven’t played Dungeons & Dragons for 20 years, this is the product that is calling you back."
Furthermore, the D&D Dark Sun Campaign Setting made number five, and 4th ed based Gamma World made number 2. What an excellent year for Wizards! Sadly, I don't own any of these yet. Santa doesn't love me.
Ever since the days of Jethro Tull playing a flute and including Tolkien runes on their album covers, symphonic rock and D&D have had a place for each other. Bands make songs that include fantasy elements, and we play them during D&D sessions.
The queen of D&D symphonic rock has to be Nightwish. The Finnish band has a fantastic sound that combines classical and rock easily. My favorite two albums are Nightwish (below) and Century Child, both featuring Tarja, the former singer of the group who was dismissed publicly a few years ago.
If you haven't heard of Nightwish, it's time my friend. I changed my entire soundtrack for my last campaign with Nightwish as the inspiration
Russell Morrissey of ENWorld is a mad genius. Not only has he managed to create an empire out of D&D fandom, create his own publishing company, and find time to write rules. He also used Hexagrapher to make a map of the D&D geekdom. Each hex represents 1,000 members. The actual map is hotlinked, so you can click on something and go there. It's amusing and useful, as all things should be.
Britian's answer to Conan O'Brian, Jonathan Ross, has announced the top 100 games and toys of all time as selected by a survey. 1. Lego 2. Monopoly, and number three (drum roll please). . . .Dungeons and Dragons! What's more, we beat out Wii at fourth. Yahoo! Now, we need to work on an Academy Award for Best DM Performance.
