A week back, my boyfriend (the Dungeon Master) and our D&D adventuring party went to watch Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and it was truly an exhilarating experience!
Since I’m the lawful-neutral paladin in our campaign, I felt pretty excited when Xenk Yendar (Regé-Jean Page), the lawful-good paladin dungeon master player character (DMPC), appeared on the screen.
This was also the same moment I wondered, do the non-D&D players watching this movie with us feel the same excitement in such little things as I do?
The game, Dungeons & Dragons, is produced by Wizards of the Coast, which is owned by Hasbro. This fun and adventurous tabletop roleplaying game is perfect for creating new personalities and identities you can play without anyone judging you.
I am an ambivert soul, so when spending time with my introverted nerdy friends, I feel the most refreshed. I started to wonder if this movie appealed to non-players, helping them find a new comfort zone to experiment with and express their roleplaying fantasies.
Session Zero: About Honor Among Thieves
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is co-written and directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein. Both individuals are long-term D&D players, making this movie a stellar story-telling experience.
The story revolves around a band of adventurers comprised of:
- Edgin (Chris Pine), a bard with a thieving past
- Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), a no-bs barbarian
- Simon (Justice Smith), a charlatan Sorcerer and Edgin’s old friend
- Doric (Sophia Lillis), a tiefling druid with little to no trust in humans
Just like in real life, the party forms as Edgin, along with his best friend Helga and others, head out to retrieve an age-old lost relic that has the power to resurrect his beloved wife.
Edgin’s wife passed away after red wizards tracked him down and murdered his wife. Helga is now a co-parent to Kira, Edgin’s only young daughter.
The story spins in eccentric yet simple forms, as the party of two is soon joined by Simon and Doric, whose intentions match the others’. Together, they must defeat the red wizards, save their daughter, and vanquish evil from the land.
Session One: What Did Us Players Notice?
While watching, I realized some plot points only made sense to me because I play the game. Other watchers may not have realized that these plot points, or plot holes, existed since they haven’t played D&D before.
When Edgin and his adventuring team visit his old friend and fellow thief, Forge Fitzwilliam, in the city of Neverwinter, players familiar with D&D might remember that this is the name of a city found in the Forgotten Realms, a campaign setting.
Another example is when Simon, the sorcerer, discovers the true potential of the Hither Thither staff. The staff can create two linked portals within one mile of each other. DMs often give players tools that suddenly become incredibly useful when the players mess up, such as stepping on a bridge and collapsing it.
The adventurers also got stuck in a gelatinous cube and even escaped it unscathed. They must have rolled some perfect nat 20s to pull that stunt off.
We, for sure, did not miss out on the mention of the Emerald Enclave, a druid organization. I mean, Doric is an Enclave member and is a powerful druid, capable of shapeshifting into an owlbear!
Let’s also not forget the tyrannical Red Wizards, making out skin crawl with their heretic goals.
Lastly, let us address the Themberchaud in the room. According to co-director John Francis Daley, the fat red dragon is a part of D&D’s lore. That fat dragon wasn’t just a hilarious laugh but an actual piece of lore pulled right out of the Forgotten Realms.
Outside of Lore: D&D’s Open Letter to New/Non-Players
While we players were fangirling in the theater, I thought about the people who came to watch it going in blind, with absolutely no knowledge of D&D. Did they come out of curiosity for D&D? Are they here to learn about a new franchise? Was it just to see another action-adventure movie?
From my perspective, D&D was something only a handful of people knew about within the last decade. Not many discussed it openly, at least in my country. It was only in 2016 that I heard about it at a nearby board game shop.
Returning to the present, we now have a successful D&D movie that almost everyone was excited to watch. While the movie had the best lore for D&D enthusiasts, it had some heartwarming messages to welcome new players with open arms.
Honor Among Thieves helped to instill curiosity and creativity among new players. To see four adventurers embark on an untrodden path with nothing but regular weapons, low-level magic spells, charming words, and nothing more is such an adrenaline rush.
After watching the movie, new players will have better imaginative power with character designs, game settings, plans of action, and more.
New players saw how each character evolved their own personality over the course of the movie according to their own experiences.
Every character started with a personal reason to venture out, but by the film’s end, everyone took steps to prioritize their party’s safety.
- Edgin’s aim to resurrect his long-dead wife turned to resurrect his best friend, his daughter’s co-parent.
- Holga moves on from her failed marriage towards being a strong barbarian for her supportive group of friends.
- Simon goes from a clueless sorcerer with no faith in himself to fighting off his strongest opponent yet and becoming a powerful teammate.
- Doric changed her idea of humans and began trusting her human adventuring gang.
Each character overcomes their own withholdings to protect each other and work as a well-oiled team of fighters. The characters are easy to understand, and I could relate to each of them on a different level. I’m certain others did too!
The storytelling had me tearing up as the journey steadily got more and more emotional. Soon, I realized all of us were often crying, mostly laughing, getting angry, feeling confused, and clapping during the final heroic moment.
The movie’s plotline had the potential to make all of us feel very emotional during its two-hour and 14-minute run— player and non-player alike.
Non-players also got a hint of how character flaws add depth to each character’s personality. Edgin’s flawed, overtly positive, and idealistic character is the complete opposite of Xenk, the paladin’s calm, level-headed, do-good, honorable character.
After watching the movie, I could see that every character felt oddly relatable to me, as if we have seen these traits in our favorite film and TV stars.
They are similar to other pop culture shows like Friends, Parks and Recreations, or The Office. And a non-player might find these similarities a common ground.
For example, Simon stepping on the bridge was a clutz move that we have seen Michael Scott from The Office do so much so that it was his personality!
The general appeal towards non-player is positive, helping them garner interest to soon join the table and be a new band of adventurers!
And when fictional characters resonate with the viewers, you know they will soon check into buying their first-ever polyhedral dice sets.
The Takeaway
All in all, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves has stellar storytelling, lively humor, action-packed adventures, and positive, welcoming energy through and through.
It does enough not only to reel in new players but also to retain all of us regular tabletop RPG enthusiasts to enjoy more of these fantastic storytelling adventures.
Have you watched the movie yet? If not, check it out with your friends and let me know your thoughts about this film!