The Gamers: Dorkness Rising is a feature-length film produced by Dead Gentlemen Productions, and focuses on a group of table-top role-playing gamers as their gamemaster attempts to shepherd them through a campaign that they've played through three times and have yet to actually finish. While the film is set in the same universe as and has a similar theme to its predecessor, The Gamers, it is not a direct sequel to the first film, as it focuses on a different group of players. Also, unlike its predecessor, this film dedicates a substantial portion of the film to the players themselves, and not their characters. It began filming in 2005 and was set for release in 2006, and was finally released at Gen Con in Indianapolis by Anthem Pictures on August 14, 2008. Paizo had an exclusive sales window for the 2008 Gen Con convention where the cast and crew of The Gamers: Dorkness Rising were signing copies at the Paizo booth.
Plot
The film opens with a live action scene of three Dungeons & Dragons characters facing the final villain. However, they are quickly killed and after blaming each other, the players (Cass, Leo, and Gary) blame the game master, Lodge, claiming he did not follow the rules and plotted against them. While Leo and Gary wish to play a different game the following week, Cass demands to play the same campaign again, even though they just played it and lost for the second time, to preserve his reputation that there is no game he cannot win. Lodge wishes to publish his campaign as an official Dungeons & Dragons game module, but he is having trouble writing it: he knows how he wants it to end, but his players never actually finish the module. Gary suggests that for the next game they bring in two more players, in order to have a more well-rounded party. Cass is able to recruit his ex-girlfriend Joanna, and quickly reveals why they split: Cass is overbearing and condescending, belittling Joanna's character design strategy (she chose several abilities that normally wouldn't be useful to her character). The group has otherwise acquired an unfavorable reputation, and Lodge is unable to find anyone else, despite asking fifteen regular gamers.
The campaign begins when the characters Luster (Gary), Flynn the Fine (Leo), and Daphne (Joanna) are summoned before King Erasmus the Randomly Biased. The evil necromancer Mort Kemnon has discovered an artifact known as the Mask of Death and wishes to use this to overthrow the kingdom. As they go on their way, where Luster kills a random NPC while Daphne attempts to roleplay, they are summoned before the Hierophant of the Grand Illuminated Holy Order of Therin who sends two members of his order to accompany the party, Brother Silence (Cass) and Sir Osric (Lodge) -- the latter of whom the other players (with the exception of Joanna) take an instant dislike to, as Lodge created Osric just to keep the story on track. On their way, the group runs into a large party of goblins. The group (and Cass in particular) are surprised and embarrassed when Joanna's allegedly 'poorly designed' character single-handedly defeats the entire goblin party; Leo's bard is killed three times, however, which becomes a running joke throughout the remainder of the film.
Resting at an inn near Westhaven, the group faces and defeats Mort Agrippa. They head out for Westhaven and decide to stop playing for the night. Lodge explains to Joanna the reasons why he keeps the other players on such a short leash: if he does not, they will kill, plunder, and impregnate the fantasy world. The following week, the players continue the campaign by facing Drazuul in the town of Westhaven. Due to his character's weak traits, Leo goes through multiple copies of the character until the players are able to cleverly defeat Drazuul by hiding behind "the mound of dead bards". Torturing Drazuul with holy water, they learn of Mort Kemnon's location.