TheGamers is a film series produced by ''The Dead Gentlemen''. There are currently two films in the series: the 2002 short film TheGamers and the sequel [[TheGamers The Gamers: Dorkness Rising]]. A third film is currently in production, and included filming at the 2012 Gencon Indy event. This page is for tropes in all three films.

TheGamers follows a group of gamers playing a game (the name of the game is never actually mentioned, but it's ''DungeonsAndDragons'') as they are about to face the final villain in the campaign. The action switches between the players, who have to deal with things like an absent gamer, a girl in a nearby room who is trying to study, and dice rolls, and the characters, who have to deal with things like bandits, a dead party member, and whether or not they are unconscious.

Characters in the first movie include:
* The [[GameMaster GM]]: Who is trying to balance telling a good story with the antics of the players.
* Rogar: TheHero. A barbarian who can't hold his liquor or lift an iron grate, but can walk into a trapped room without getting killed.
* Nimble: TheLancer. A master thief who loves to do things just to see if he can.
* Newmoon: TheSmartGuy. An elf with unnaturally lucky dice.
* Ambrose/Magellan: TheHeart. [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Two bright young mages who look exactly alike and have similiar powers. Also, one doesn't show up until after the other dies.]]
* Mark the Red: TheBigGuy. A berserker who spends most of his time standing to one side staring off into space (because his player is absent) and the rest of the time kicking butt.
* The Shadow: [[RunningGag The Shadow? The Shadow! The Shadow]]. The BigBad. The main villain.
* The Bandit King: A minor villain working for the Shadow. TheDragon.
* The Princess: A [[DistressedDamsel damsel in distress]] that looks suspiciously like that girl down the hall.

In the feature-length second movie, ''The Gamers: Dorkness Rising'', a different group is trying to make their way through a campaign but they keep dying. They decide to run it over again and add some new blood, but the only person they can get to join is one player's ex-girlfriend. The campaign deals with a necromancer who is taking over the world...or so it seems at first. Unlike the first film, all of the players names are revealed, as well as the fact that the game they are playing is explicitly DungeonsAndDragons, since they had the consent of WizardsOfTheCoast to use their game.

Characters in the second movie include:
* Kevin Lodge/Sir Osric: The [[GameMaster DM]] of the campaign. He's trying to write a module based on the game, but is frustrated by his players' powergaming. His {{GMPC}}, Sir Osric, is a Paladin placed there solely to police the party. Flirts awkwardly with Joanna for much of the movie.
* Cass/Brother Silence: The {{Munchkin}}. He often gets into arguments with Lodge about Rules vs. Story. When told that this is a humans-only campaign with a European style, he creates an Elven Monk. Think [[BareFistedMonk kung-fu monk]].
* Gary/Luster: Gary's gameplay philosophy seems to be "if it moves, kill it," making him TheRealMan. He insists that his Sorceress character is ChaoticNeutral despite her tendency to kill peasants and he forgets that his character is female, leading to some humorous situations.
* Leo/Flynn: Leo usually plays fighters, but this time around he decided to play a bard. [[TemptingFate How different can it be?]] He finds out as he is constantly killed the first time he is attacked. Thank goodness for the Staff of Resurrection and back-up character sheets. On the plus side, he can totally seduce any woman he wants. And does. Probably would be TheLoonie if he didn't [[TheyKilledKenny die so much]].
* Joanna/Daphne: Cass's ex-girlfriend. The newbie and TheRoleplayer. She makes a fighter with no Strength bonus and 45 hit points at level nine (to clarify, this is easily less than half of the max, including Constitution bonuses, that a fighter should have). On the plus side, the [[WeakButSkilled combination of feats]] she took make her pretty BadAss. On the negative side, [[CripplingOverspecialization her unique build makes her less than incredible when they come across really tough enemies]] and, at least from the point of view of the other players, she insists on talking to [=NPCs=], thinking about the story, and doing things because that's what her character would do. Flirts with Lodge for most of the movie.
* Mort Agrippa: The first villain. Torturing him requires the characters to distract the Paladin.
* Drazuul: A death demon and TheDragon. [[spoiler:He makes Brother Silence his total slave because Cass rolled a 1.]]
* Nodwick: A henchman left over from the last game. He was apparently waiting for two months for the wiped-out party to return when the new party showed up. He is an {{Homage}} to the {{webcomic}} ''{{Nodwick}}''.
* Mort Kemnon: The BigBad[[spoiler:...or so it seems]]. He discovered the Mask of Death and plans to use it to overthrow the king.
* Hierophant: The leader of the Church of Therinn [[spoiler: and the final villain. He wishes to use the mask to achieve his own ends]].
* Mark: In a ContinuityNod, Mark from the first movie reappears a couple of times. He no longer roleplays following the TotalPartyKill with a twist that ended that movie.
* King Erasmus the Randomly-Biased: [[WhatsUpKingDude Sovereign king]] of the realm. Unusually acquiescent to random goings-on in his court.

Not to be confused with ''Film/{{Gamers}}'' , a film about a far more dysfunctional crew of players, or the Scottish film [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450269/ GamerZ]].

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!!These films provide examples of:
* AffectionateParody: So much.
* AffirmativeActionGirl: Parodied with Luster, a VainSorceress who is, fetishistically, played by a man.
* ArtifactOfDoom: the Book, the Mask of Death, [[spoiler: the Heart of Therinn]]
* BackStab: With a siege weapon!
* BadAss: "Blood, death and vengence!" ''[Slaughters bandits]''
* BareYourMidriff: Luster.
* BigDamnHeroes: Mark turns up in the first film just as the rest of the players are failing miserably.
* BilingualBonus: [[strike: Ambrose]] Magellan recites the phrase ''"Da mihi fermentum"'' while casting a spell. Translation (hidden in spoiler text for people who'd rather figure it out): [[spoiler: '''"Give me booze."''']]
* BlandNameProduct: Mountain Doom and Dr. Leper, among others.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: [[spoiler: The first movie ends with the characters breaking into the room and slaughtering their players. The second movie reveals at least one is NotQuiteDead, but severely traumatized by the event]].
** Could this be considered a GainaxEnding?
* CatsAreMean: Guenhwyvar bites an arm off Flynn's mini.
* ChainmailBikini: Cass creates a female fighter in "bikini mail" for Joanna to play. Joanna prefers the character ''she'' rolled up, thanks.
* CharacterAlignment: [[invoked]] Sir Osric is LawfulGood while Luster is ChaoticEvil, desperately trying to claim she's ChaoticNeutral.
* CharacterDevelopment: In the second movie, with [[TheRoleplayer Joanna's]] influence, the group as a whole makes a relatively subtle transition to really playing the module, following the plot, and having a better time for it.
* ChekhovsArmoury: "It's in the trunk!"
* ChekhovsGun: the [[CoolSword Sword of Ogre Decapitation]].
* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler:Guenhwyvar]].
* CombatPragmatist: At one point the party is ambushed by bandits and introduced to the bandit king, [[EvilGloating who begins to make a grandiose speech]]. Newmoon's immediate reaction is to shoot him in the neck.
* CreatorCameo: When "sneaking" into the Church of Therinn, the cleric Osric stops to apologize to ("Sorry, Bill") is Monte Cook, who wrote most of the core rulebooks for third edition D&D.
* CriticalFailure and...
* CriticalHit
* CrossPlayer, CrosscastRole: Luster is alternately acted by a female and a crossdressing male.
** Typically any swaps between the two actors are done with clever camera cuts, but the movie does lampshade the trope by having a single occurrence where the two actors tag-team swap as the camera continues to roll.
* DeadlyDodging: Nimble pulls this on two of the bandits.
* DeathIsCheap: Flynn, and his impressive use of backup characters.
--> '''Flynn''': There's 37 more of me, assholes!
* DeepImmersionGaming
* DumbMuscle: Rogar.
--> '''Rogar:''' "My intelligence is ''four''? '''[[LargeHam OUTRAGEOUS!!]]''' [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Gimme that pen."]]
* DungeonmastersGirlfriend: Possibly inverted in the second movie. Joanna starts out being the only player who treats Lodge's world seriously, which may be why he takes a liking to her. [[spoiler: This doesn't stop her character from nearly getting killed.]]
* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: MAKE WAY FOR THE BANDIT KING! ALL HAIL THE [[MisterBig BANDIT KING]]! HAIL! HAIL!
* EyeScream: Gary/Luster pours holy water into Drazuul's eye, causing his eyeball and part of his face to melt away.
* FailedASpotCheck: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]].
* FiveManBand: see above. Also, in the second movie:
** Joanna/Daphne - TheHero
** Lodge/Sir Osric - TheLancer
** Cass/Brother Silence - TheSmartGuy
** Gary/Luster - TokenEvilTeammate
** Leo/Flynn - PluckyComicRelief
* FunWithSubtitles: The DVD of ''Dorkness Rising'' has quite a few unusual choices for subtitles, including [[LeetLingo 1337 $p33k]], [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign Swedish Chef]], and [[ZeroesAndOnes binary]] (which [[CoolButInefficient takes up the entire screen]]). Also "d20," which references all the combat techniques and skill checks used in the game.
* GargleBlaster: The dwarven ale knocks Rogar out for an entire scene.
* GenderBender: Luster is constantly switching between female and male due to Gary forgetting and being reminded of her true gender.
* GentlemanThief: The Bandit King with AGlassOfChianti.
* GirlOnGirlIsHot: When Gary decides to hit on Joanna's character, she reminds him he's role playing a woman. That doesn't dissuade him.
* GroinAttack: "Called shot to the nuts!"
* HappyDance: Both the characters and the players in the first film after they defeat [[BigBad the Shadow]].
** Also, Daphne after she defeats a band of goblins mostly by herself.
--->Sing it! Give it to me! Give it up! Oh, you can't 'cause y'all ''dead''!
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Cass [[RulesLawyer makes a scene]] about not being allowed a saving throw which he can't win short of a natural twenty. He gets his way and [[CriticalFailure rolls a 1]].
** Same thing happens to Flynn:
-->'''Lodge''': Y-y-you can't backstab it! You can't *sneak-attack* an inanimate object!
-->'''Leo''': Why not? It's PRONE!
-->'''Lodge''': It doesn't have a discernible anatomy!
-->'''Leo''': It's got a SPINE! Doesn't it?
-->['''Leo''' rolls a [[CriticalFailure Natural 1]], causing '''Flynn''' to stab himself]
-->'''Leo''': [in shock] [[SpoonyBard Bards suck]].
-->'''Lodge''': That... was unprecedented, Leo.
* HyperspaceArsenal: During the fight against the zombie ninjas, Lodge had almost given up on getting the party to play out the battle the way he intended, and just lets the characters use whatever equipment they have. Brother Silence pulls out a '''[[MoreDakka shotgun]]''' from behind his back and goes to town.
** Gods can be imprisoned by encasing them in their own element. [[spoiler: [[BigBad The Hierophant]]]] uses this to trap [[spoiler: Therin.]]
** The players in the first movie [[spoiler: literally order their own deaths]]. [[RuleOfFunny somehow.]]
* IceCreamKoan: Every so often Brother Silence tries to come up with a wise-sounding phrase to fit the eastern monk his player is determined to play him as. Unfortunately for him, Cass lacks the linguistic skill to actually come up with anything profound. Highlighted at one point where, after saying something particularly stupid in one of these attempts[[note]]"He who stumbles around in darkness with a stick is blind. But he who... sticks out in darkness... is... fluorescent!"[[/note]], the screen cuts back to the players all staring at Cass, and Lodge finally saying "...Lose fifty experience."
** In the bloopers at the end, when Sir Osric is reciting more threats against the "Evildoer Outside"...
--->I shall spread the buttery justice of Therin over the toast of your iniquity!
--->The succulent jam of light shall sweeten the sourdough of your evil ways!
--->The creamer of light will dull the bitterness of your evil unholy coffee taste!
--->The spatula of purity shall scramble the eggs of your maleficence!
* InformedAttribute: Cass is supposedly a Munchkin, and yet he plays a monk, universally agreed to be the lowest-tier and most useless class in any edition of D&D, and proceeds to play Brother Silence with a distinct personality and a degree of actual characterization that exceeds any of the other characters including the supposed Role Player.
* InAndOutOfCharacter: The in-game action often pauses while the players are strategizing.
* InstantPlunderJustAddPirates: When Lodge and Joanna are playing Pizzajitsu (Pirates vs Ninjas), Joanna asks why there are pirates, and Lodge says that everything is cooler with them.
* ImpossibleThief: Nimble steals a guy's pants without him noticing... while the victim is sitting on a barstool.
* InsaneTrollLogic: Flynn maintains that he is able to sneak attack a book, despite it's lack of a discernible anatomy, due to the fact that it has a "spine." (Despite bards not being able to sneak attack in the first place.)
* InstantAwesomeJustAddNinja: "Oh, Monks you have a problem with. Ninjas are okay!"
* KavorkaMan: Flynn, to be kind, is not the kind of Bard women typically swoon for. Thank god for high seduction stats.
* LastNameBasis: Lodge.
--> '''Joanna''': Help me out here, Kevin.
--> '''Cass''': Kevin?
--> '''Gary''': Wait, your name is Kevin?
--> '''Leo''': You ''have'' a first name?
* LastSecondWordSwap: "Yeah, just like surfing the Internet for [[TheInternetIsForPorn por]]...litical commentary."
* LoopholeAbuse: Nimble convinces the GM to let him BackStab [[TheBrute a powerful enemy]] with, as the GM puts it "A fucking siege weapon!?"
* LyricalDissonance: Flynn sings a happy and soothing tune telling a panicked peasant to shut up or he'll let the sorceress murder him. And it ''works.''
-->'''Flynn''': (singing) Shut up, peasant, rest your head, or we'll let the sorceress kill your ass dead...
* MegaNeko: Guenhwyvar appears gigantic in the RPGMechanicsVerse when he jumps onto the table.
* MoralMyopia: Refusing to torture a prisoner is presented as an example of a paladin being StupidGood, even though he isn't the only LawfulGood character and Daphne otherwise strictly follows the alignment. Not only that, the reason was that it was ''dishonorable'', not any moral concern, and allowing it later is presented as character growth.
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: Mort Agrippa summons Ninja Zombies, or Zombie Ninjas, possibly Zinjas.
* NoodleIncident:
-->'''Newmoon's player:''' And that will totally make up for that orphanage we burned down!
** And, upon being told that fifteen regular gamestore customers have refused to play with the group:
--> '''Cass:''' What did I tell you? You make one 11-year-old cry and they stop bugging you.
* OhCrap: Drazuul's face epitomizes this trope once it becomes clear the paladin isn't going to stand up for him. Also Joanna, when, after a whispered consultation with Gary, Cass says, "Okay, let's roleplay through this."
* OneManArmy: Mark the Red ... when he's awake.
* OutsideTheBoxTactic: [[spoiler: Polymorphing The Shadow into an Ogre, because Rogar has a Sword of Ogre Decapitation.]]
* PositiveDiscrimination: In addition to being a more enthusiastic roleplayer, Joanna is able to come up with a killer combo in her first time playing. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in that said combo involves a GameBreaker feat that shouldn't even have been available in a basic handbook (i.e.: the one that adds her dexterity & intelligence modifiers to her crit range). Cass objects to [[StrawmanHasAPoint low hit points and defense for the party's]] [[StoneWall Tank]]. However, [[spoiler: in the first non-{{Mook}} battle where she isn't able to crit-kill all the low-level stuff on the field, she's knocked down to a handful of hit points in the first round. [[FridgeLogic It's not so much she out-MinMaxed the MinMaxer, it's that her play style better matches that of the GM.]] ]]
* ThePsychoRangers: In ''Dorkness Rising'', [[spoiler:Mort Kemnon defends himself with the undead bodies of the players' ''last'' party]].
* RandomNumberGod: played for comedy.
* [[spoiler:RageAgainstTheAuthor: An in-fiction example at the end of the first movie.]]
* RedshirtArmy: Leo's Bards. See SendInTheClones below.
* RefugeInAudacity: Nimble's typical modus operandi, from stealing a guy's pants in a bar just to see if he can, to hauling a freaking ''ballista'' into the same bar to backstab someone.
* {{Retcon}}: Nimble manages to retcon his own ''death''. '''Three times'''.
-->'''Nimble:''' "Did I say walk down the corridor? I meant ''sneak'' down the corridor."
-->'''Nimble:''' "Did I say ''sneak'' down the corridor? ...I ''crawl'' down the corridor. Inch by inch. Looking for traps."
-->'''Nimble:''' ''[To Rogar, the party tank]'' "OK, actually, you go first."
* RolePlayingGameVerse
* RulesLawyer: Cass. Newmoon's player to a lesser degree.
* SendInTheClones: Leo's bard dies quickly and often. Tired of losing levels every time he's resurrected, he asks Lodge if he can just replace his character with another when he dies. He then prepares 50 bards, sending in a new one every time the last one dies.
** Leading to an incident during a large battle where the party needs to seek cover from an exceptionally powerful enemy and Leo advises them to "hide behind the mound of dead bards." And it ''works''.
* ShirtlessScene: PlayedForLaughs with Cass. The fact that [[HoYay Gary]] is [[CrossesTheLineTwice dressed in black and thwacking him with a riding crop]] [[FetishFuel doesn't help matters]].
* ShoutOut: From the second movie:
** The words "LONG LIVE GYGAX" are inscribed on a cursed door, referencing the game's late creator.
** Lodge's cat is named [[ForgottenRealms Guenhwyvar]].
** Lodge announces that the group will be starting at [[MazesAndMonsters ninth level]]. (Possibly a coincidence, but with this many other shout-outs in the movie, probably not.)
** The ninjas vs. pirates scene was actually filmed in the offices of Wizards of the Coast, and several Wizards employees were given speaking roles, including Female Luster, as she's credited.
** Lodge's Webcomic/SluggyFreelance shirt.
** Brother Silence attempting to perform a [[StarWars Jedi mind trick]]: "There is ''plenty'' of room for us."
** When torturing the minion of the necromancer in the inn, Luster uses a [[StreetFighter Shoryuken]] on him, although s/he screams "Hadouken!"
** When told that a peasant is rummaging through their things, Gary screams, [[ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable "I WASTE HIM WITH MY CROSSBOW!"]]
** During the first battle, against the goblins, a remix of the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' boss battle theme can be heard, with the Victory Fanfare playing after the battle is over.
** When opening the chest toward the middle of the second movie, something resembling the ''Zelda'' small item sound is heard.
** When the Psionic Spirit Blade is retrieved from the chest, the music changes to a short tune similar to the Star Wars "Old Republic" theme.
** Most of the items from the chest in the second movie are from the card game Munchkin. Shown are the Kneepads of Allure, Spiked Codpiece, Chainsaw of Bloody Dismemberment, and the Unnatural Axe.
** Near the end of the movie, Cass is shown wearing a shirt that features Grimtooth, of the infamous [[DeathTrap Grimtooth's Traps]] series.
* SpannerInTheWorks: The tide of battle against Mort Kemnon is turned when [[spoiler:Lodge's cat jumps on the table -- which is briefly represented [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere in-universe and to scale]] -- and messes up the pieces.]]
* SpoonyBard: Lampshaded to hell and back of course. Ironically, the second movies Munchkin plays a monk, widely agreed to be the most underpowered and pointless class in Dungeons & Dragons.
* SquishyWizard: Ambrose.
* StupidGood: Lodge's {{GMPC}}, Sir Osric. The rest of the group has to blatantly lie that there is an evil act being committed somewhere off screen just to get this LawfulGood paladin to leave in order for the rest of them to torture a villain for information, of which normally he would not allow. Lampshaded by the third time this happens, Sir Osric is well aware of their antics, sighs to himself and half-heartedly leaves to "fight evil".
* StupidSacrifice: Joanna's [[spoiler: using the wish granted by Therin to resurrect Osric. She apparently forgot that DeathIsCheap and they already had a staff of resurrection that they could have raised him with just as easily.]]
** Not really. If you pay attention at the campfire scene after [[spoiler:they kill Mort Kemnon]], Lodge says that the Staff Of Resurrection is out of charges.
* TalkingIsAFreeAction: In the first movie the GM insists on allowing the bandit king to finish his speech before Newmoon can shoot him even tho it technically allows the moment of surprise to lapse.
* TapOnTheHead: If you need to be knocked out ''don't let the freakin' barbarian do it.''
-->'''Ambrose:''' 19 points... ''I'm DEAD!''\\
'''Rogar:''' Whoops...
* TheyKilledKenny: The Bard, full stop.
* ThirdPersonSeductress: Luster, based on Gary's HotTeacher. [[spoiler: he gets the idea to hit on Daphne, gets reminded he's playing a woman, and decides to continue hitting on her because GirlOnGirlIsHot.]]
* TooDumbToLive: "You... are going to ''sneak'' attack him... with a ''ballista''."
* TreacherousQuestgiver: [[spoiler:The Hierophant]] from the second movie. [[AnAesop Most of the players don't notice this]] because acting like {{Munchkin}}s has effectively rendered them GenreBlind.
* VillainousBreakdown: ''Technically'' not a villain, but [[spoiler: Cass had spent the entire campaign openly ridiculing and condescending to ex-girlfriend Joanna (Mid-argument, Gary breaks in to say "Why did you guys break up again?") namely for being a new gamer and [[MostGamersAreMale a woman]]. On top of this, his ex-girlfriend and GameMaster best friend openly and blatantly hit on each other. Cass's {{Jerkass}} tendencies reach the exploding point when Joanna's character earns a single unlimited wish. Instead of using it to obtain godhood or anything else that might benefit her and/or the party, she asks for Sir Osric to be resurrected. As the group's biggest {{Munchkin}}, this [[NoTrueScotsman goes against everything he stands for]]. Put off by Joanna and Lodge's sentimental [[TheRoleplayer story-before-achivement]] tendencies, Cass ends up [[RageQuit shouting at everyone and storming off]].]]
* YouLookFamiliar: Between the two movies:
** Nathan Rice as Newmoon and Lodge/Osric.
** Phil M. Price as Nimble and [[strike:nameless peasant]] Willem.
** Emily Olson as Princess and Therin.
** Matt Vancil as Hunk and Mitch.
* YouWannaGetSued: Brother Silence pulls a [[Franchise/StarWars lightsaber]] out of the weapon chest, but Lodge calls him out on it because it's not even the same ''genre'' as the game they're playing. Cass responds by saying that he doesn't see a lightsaber, because that would be copyright infringement. He pulled out a "Psionic Soul Blade". Lodge just rolls his eyes and lets him go with it.
* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: After defeating Mort Kemnon, Joanna realizes that it still isn't over -- partly due to some in-story hints, partly because they're still ''playing''.
** And in the first movie, she's in a ''really'' different castle: [[spoiler: the dorm where the game is happening.]]
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