From Duck Tales to D&D, Part 1

This is the first in a series I started not long ago – I’m hoping to pick them back up again here, but we’ll see!

Season 1, Espisode 1:
Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 1/5 – Don’t Give Up the Ship

This is the introduction of the series, as Donald Duck joins the Navy and sends Huey, Dewey, and Louie off to live with their uncle Scrooge McDuck. Meanwhile, a mysterious man named El Capitán busts the Beagle Boys out of jail in order for them to help him steal an awkward treasure map in Scrooge’s possession.

Duck Tales
The Beagle Boys meet El Capitan

Notorious Prisoners, Soon to be Villains

The inspiration to me in this episode is the idea of a villain (El Capitan) releasing other villains (The Beagle Boys) to do his dirty work. The “Boys” will be recurring villains throughout the series, so there are multiple levels of villainy at work. Even if the Beagle Boys are defeated, there is still El Capitan to deal with – unless he gets away and gets others to do more of his work.

In D&D, you can imagine the PC’s investigating how one or more notorious criminals were released from their prison, with clues leading towards the fact that they had help from the outside. In helping them escape, the criminals would be indebted to the one who released them. In fact, there could have been terms made before hand… a “I will get you out, but then you have to do something for me” kind of thing.

Another way to look at it is from the perspective of the players as the ones behind bars. Perhaps they are approached… they are thinking this will be a game about escaping… instead, they are offered a deal… they are released, but they need to work of the cost (whatever that cost is).

Giving a Clue

The boys (Huey, Dewey and Louie) find the map from the miniature ship, on the other side of which is a poster for a local theater. This reminded me of the movies, where the detective finds a phone number on a pack of matches… matches labeled from a local bar – thus giving them a place to start. Often times, giving your players clues can be a difficult balance between too much and too little information.

Providing a small clue that is connected to another small or larger clue can provide that extra tip needed to trigger an action. It could be an indecipherable line of text the PC’s need to figure out, etched into the hilt of an adamantine sword of whom there could only be one manufacturer.

That’s all I have for now…

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El Capitan: “You haven’t won the treasure yet McDuck… bewaaaaaaaare”

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