RPG/Movie Night

If your role-playing group hangs out anyway, there is a way to combine the gaming with movie night that I've founds quite pleasurable. It would seem to work most easily with licensed RPGs like James Bond 007 (above, the one I actually did this with), Doctor Who, etc., or else have a strong cinematic flavor like It Came From the Late Late Late Show or Hong Kong Action Theater. It can, however, still work with games that have movie analogues, which includes most genres, though perhaps not worlds very specific to games (whether than means Spelljammer or Jorune).

The trick is pretty simple. On one night of the week, you run the players through a scenario ripped from a movie. Later that week (it could conceivably be after the game, but anytime before you play again), show that movie to the group. If you did your job right, players will be hooting and hollering about THAT PERSON ON THE SCREEN, THAT'S ME! and I HANDLED IT BETTER! or THAT'S HOW YOU DO IT NITWIT! The players essentially transpose themselves into the action, and create stronger memories of the game by reliving it as a dramatization.

Obviously, there's the worry that players will have seen the movie already and glide through the scenario. I think the James Bond 007 game handles this very well. Most of its published adventure modules (gorgeous boxed affairs with plenty of handouts) are based on Bond books/films, stories we can't exactly call obscure (perhaps especially to people who have chosen to game in that world). So they change a few details, enough to keep things surprising. A villain's identity, just where a set piece might take place, an NPC's alliance... Not caring too much if it's familiar up front, but usually diverging more towards the climax. It of course also takes into account that while Bond's adventures are nearly solo scenarios, here they will be played with a small group of agents. And yet, movie night still works. In this case, players basically took turns being Bond. This one during the boat chase, that one doing the fisticuffs, a third wooing the girl.

Most games don't do this as overtly. The recent Doctor Who RPG sourcebooks for each Doctor describes each serial in adventure terms, what twists might be given to surprise players, or the natural sequels or prequels they might evoke. That's another take on it, in fact: You could end a scenario where a certain movie begins, then watch the follow-up (which might require too much railroading, arguably, but depends on the time frame), or your scenario might allude to what has gone before, something you only reveal to your players afterwards in front of the television. Here, you trade player identification with world depth - they invest their imagination in the greater story being told and how they fit in it.

Of course, you don't have to stay within licensed properties. If you're playing sword & sorcery, a western, superheroes, a military game, a samurai epic, space opera, horror investigators - whatever! - you could safely steal a plot wholesale from a movie in that genre. If the players call you out of the familiarity - which frequently happens ANYWAY - you can say it was all part of the movie night experiment! And maybe your players haven't seen Red Sonja or Ride the High Country or Crisis on Earth-2 or The Dirty Dozen or Three Samurai or Ice Pirates (sounds more like how my players sound that Star Wars) or The Conjuring. They'll be interested in how their imagination - and their strategy! - compares to the movie version AND they'll hopefully discover a cool movie. They might even learn enough about the genre's tropes to give a better and smarter performance next time around.

So... who's ready to admit to stealing ideas for their games AND show their work?