>watch a cool movie
>immediately start thinking of all the ways you could work ideas from it into a campaign
Am I the only one that does this or what?
I do this all the time. I stole the idea behind the island from Lost for my Pathfinder campaign. They took control of it and were able to use it to travel around the world. Huge success.
>>46582605
There are GMs who don't do this?
You haven't noticed the deluge of "how to play/stat" threads we get around here every time there's a new Hollywood SciFi/fantasy blockbuster out?
>>46582605
Consider how many threads we get which are basically JUST SAW X HOW DOES I GAME IT, obviously not.
My campaign is nothing but stitched together ideas ripped from movies and video games.
Players dig the fuck out of it, though, so I'm clearly doing something right.
I do this. It's the worst with martial arts movies. I run and play Legends of the Wulin more than any other system, so whenever I'm watching a new Wuxia flick I'm mentally statting each fighter and guess their dicerolls and actions in each combat 'round'. It is useful though, I've designed a few cool Kung-fu styles for the game based off stuff in films.
>>46582605
I used to go to a couple of dollar-store bookstores in my area and load up on travel guides, fairy tale collections and cheap history stuff to use in my games.
I actually managed to USE some of the stuff a couple of times.
>>46582605
You now understand how inspiration works. It may feel like you're ripping someone off, but at some point or another everyone has already ripped everyone off. I think there was even this guy who said that in all of human history, only seven original stories were ever written and all other stories are variations on those seven.
You're not the only one doing this, humanity has been doing exactly that for centuries. What separates the copycats from the innovaters is not whether or not they take inspiration from others, but whether they can add their own unique ingredient to that inspiration.
>>46582605
>Am I the only one
NO. Never. Never in the history of the human race has the answer to this question ever been "yes".
>>46582605
That is super normal, you NORMIE.
But seriously, I just watched "The Cave" the other day, liked the monster, and thought how to make an underground/rocky terrain apex predator out of a bat.
It ended up spider-like due to convergent evolution.
All art is theft
>>46587809
Even if that ingredient is also stolen from something else. To stretch the cooking metaphor; all ingredients exist, but proportion and preparation are what defines creativity.
Actually, that's a lot like real cooking. It's rare that new ingredients are truly invented, but we read cook books and have food pages in our feeds with delicious recipes and we take inspiration from other cooking styles, traditions, and cultures based on our taste.
All food has been invented, but don't let that stop you from going out for ice cream or baking a cake or something. The trick is moderation and expanding the breadth of your culinary experience.
>>46582605
>>46587809
>>46588175
>>46588128
>>46584456
>>46582640
https://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/08/07/allergy-to-originality-drew-christie/
>>46582605
Not too many movies of the sort that interests me. Historical documentaries and seminars tend to be more inspiring.
>>46582605
I play a lot of modern and it happens to me when watching documentaries.
Latest instance: Vice - Floating Armories
Commercial ships in the Gulf of Aden rendezvous with ships where private security personnel armed with military gear are taken aboard for the passage. They open precise fire on harassing boats and discourage most piracy attempts. Tolerated by the government of Djibouti they operate beyond traditional interpretations of law.
>>46582605
but of course
>just finished Master and Commander
>wondering why all healing has to be magical and how field surgeon classes could be made playable
>mentally storing Bard/Fighter Captain with ruthless and determined demeanor who nonetheless earns his crew's loyalty by knowing how to party
>>46582605
My DM doesn't :(
no you are not, hell I do it with stuff I hate but like elements of.
like mark miller's wanted, I hate the comic but I think it would be cool to put a group up against the fraternity.
>>46590647
Inspiration can come from all sources, not simply those which we like. You can hate something but find elements of it compelling or interesting, or even take inspiration from the parts you didn't like.
After watching the third hobbit film I made a flying bear Druid in a super hero system.
I'll toss sci-fi stuff into fantasy and vice versa. Currently designing the Didact from Halo 4 as the elf king in one of my worlds.
I'm planning a campaign that incorporates all the half-baked ideas that I can't turn into a full-length campaign.
The players are quantum-leaping Sentai heroes, traveling through a Last Action Hero type world, a robot-worker dystopia, an alternate post-ww2 world, a sci-fi future controlled by the Priests of Syrinx, defeat an orbital super-weapon, and a de-powering return to their real world.
>>46582605
Brother I do that with almost any media.
>Movies
>TV
>Music
>Video Games
>YouTube
I try not too but some things just speak too me.
I just got out of 10 Cloverfield Lane. Now I'm pondering how to run a tabletop game with that closed of a circle to work in. No NPCs, just interplayer conflict and environmental factors.
Think it's doable?
