The Gamers

The Gamers is a 2002 very-low-budget project, written and directed by Matt Vancil. It is an affectionate spoof of role play games, in particular Dungeons and Dragons, and often utilized as source of quotes in gamers groups. The sequel, The Gamers: Dorkness Rising was relased in 2002, and a probable second sequel, The Gamers: Pwned, is showed as project on the Epic Level Entertainmenthomepage.

The movie flips between following a group of gamers in a dorm, immersed in a role-playing game, and their characters (played by the same actors) as they journey through a world of fantasy and wonder to defeat a sort of swashbuckling ninja known as "The Shadow" (The shadow? The Shadow! THE SHADOW!!!) and rescue a princess. The latter is theoretically a heroic quest, but while the game master attempts to foster in a narrative, the players tend to be more interested in their character's tolerance for ale, whether there's anything in the rulebooks that forbids applying the sneak attack damage multiplier to ballistas, et cetera.

The movie both makes fun of gamer stereotypes and plays the discrepancy between an optimal RPG plot and the events of an actual RPG session for maximum absurdity. Characters attempting something dangerous freeze as dice clatter in the distance. The party thief pick the pockets of a bystander, then steals that bystander's pants-- not because he wants the pants in any way, but solely to see if his skill statistics allow it. When an unlucky dice roll causes the death of one character, the other players' characters mourn him for a moment, and then immediately start squabbling over the items he was carrying. Characters spring to action, then keel over as their players forget and are reminded that the characters are asleep, players argue and make snack runs, and their game is frequently interrupted by a girl (Emily Olson Quann, that also plays The Princess) from the same dorm who demands they keep quiet so that she can study.

Plot
One late night in a college dorm, four socially inept geeks immerse themselves in a fantasy world of their own creation. As their characters journey through forbidden kingdoms, ancient ruins, and the forsaken wilderness, the players attempt to solve a mysterious puzzle that could ultimately mean the difference between getting a life and death. Who is The Shadow? Where is The Princess hidden? Will any of them ever find a date? And how long do they have before their annoyed neighbors call the cops?

Themes
Playing absent Pc's: Since Chris Duppenthaler's PC (Mark the Red) is not participating for the third time in the role play game to go out with his girlfriend, and his character can't logically disappear from the adventure, is played passively by the Master: The warrior follow the group with total indifference, appearing and disappearing from scene to scene, foes walking around him (who is motionless) without attacking him, and in the end, when the group send the Pc/Npc against The Shadow in a futile try to take him down, he says his battlecry with cold and indifferent voice.

Randomness of the events: In role-playing, abilities of the characters are usually expressed in terms of a probability. So, a character, for example, who is basically a very strong person has better chances to make great physical efforts: the probability is then calculated using throws of the dice. In the movie, Nimble, who is a Master Thief, fails (three times) to discover and defuse a trap, and Rogar, a barbarian, can't unhinge a metal gate, while Newmoon, an Elf Ranger with very low Strenght, succeed in the same task.

Interest in the Game, not in the Plot: The Gamers have most of the interest in Xp, Magic Objects and other games goods, while their major concern should be the progress of the Plot, like the Game Master hopes.

Distribution
A Director's Cut of the movie is sold at http://paizo.com, which includes several short-films and Easter Eggs.