we've all had those moments when the DM is smiling wickedly the request for the iniative roll is said our dice await to tell us our fate for the combat round is going to begin. Do you charge in pledgeing the battle to your god? the halfing rouge spitting a biting quip about the emenys mother perhaps? or some inside joke about your characters battle style? My personal is "I WILL AVENGE YOU!" = i'm going to go the the back of the room and protect me while i'm using my bow and if you all die i'll try to ressurect you later!
SPOOOON!
A dwarf fighter of mine would recite this small prayer whenever he was about to enter an impossible battle:
"Life is like the sunshine in the sky,
but to each day night must fall.
Soon it will be my turn to die,
for from beyond I hear his call!"
Ultradan
I don't know about a 'battle cry', but my grey elf invoker once walked into a crowded bar and said, 'Stand aside, microbes!'
It sounds lame, but it had the table laughing at the time...
As a DM, I tend to recycle sound bites from PC games like Baldur's Gate and IWD I-II from time to time. Two favorites:
"Strike Boo, strike for justice!" (Minsc, BG)
"Here I come, and the Hells come with me!" (IWD2, male barbarian voice)
One of my players, an old fan of the Elric novels, runs a vile grey elf fighter-assassin. His battle cry is 'Blood and Souls for my lord Arioch!'
SPOOOON!
Curses Ultradan "SPOOON!" should have been mine.
Hail all to the TIC
"Chubs! Wake up you fat ass! & Fight!!'
A cry a paladin i played use to say to wake up his drunken dwarven barbarian friend when they where ambushed in thier sleep (Happened often in this campaign.
"Strike Boo, strike for justice!" (Minsc, BG)
Go for the eyes, Boo, go for the eyes!
It would depend on the character for me. As a DM, one that I used was:
"Fall down and worship me, or suffer eternal torment, where you shall pray every day for respite and long for your own death!"
As a player (female werebear gun bunny, in a GURPS campaign, Flaw: Gluttony):
"They broke my favorite potsticker stand." Turns to face the BBEG. Promptly pulls out two Pancor Jackhammers.
"You're going down."
One of my players favorites is: "Bring it on, little girly man."
One of my players favorites is: "Bring it on, little girly man."
And I just read that line with an austrian accent.
I've never had many battlecries, in all honesty, but I did get a great battle chant going at one point. Or, at least, my character did. We raided a goblin fortress in the middle of the night, and one of the goblins stumbled out holding a stuffed wolf under his arm, so my character started chanting (in Infernal, no less) "The wolf will be mine..." Had my original character, an Eberron Half-Elf, gotten a little higher level, her "Hook" would've been something to the effect of "Don't make me drop an airship on you."
To stone giants, from a Paladin of Hieroneous:
"That's FURYONDYIAN GOLD you're carrying! Yaahhhhh!"
From players over the years:
- Heinrich, a paladin of Torm, was fond of yelling "GREETINGS!" as he charged into battle (in a fairly deep, roughly jolly voice).
- 'Spoon' & 'Not in the Face' have surfaced occasionally ;)
- From a first time player who was led to believe all players needed a battle cry, "Monosyllabic is an inherrently funny word!" (playing a mage).
- From Gak, a 1/2 orc barbarian/fighter "First battle, then chicken wings!". Actually, the player may've been referring to what he himself was up to...but it stuck.
- In a choirboyish sing-song chant worthy of the Sistine Chapel, from a cleric of Lathander "Lathander will kick...your...heiny...".
Don't you just love it when something spontaneous makes your gaming group errupt in laughter? Good stuff.
C-
From a friend of mine:
"Orc!!! The other white meat!"
My favorite:
"Bree-Yark!"
"Strike Boo, strike for justice!" (Minsc, BG)Go for the eyes, Boo, go for the eyes!
*Rolling on the floor* I use Minsc and Boo as NPCs in my FR campaign! I love it!
My favorite battle cry: 'See this? This is my BOOM STICK!' (Ash Army of Darkness)
'Don't run! Don't Run!' (Loki, Dogma)
As Dm, my favorite is when the party thief blows their detect traps: 'Looks clear!' This one come from Pitch Black (Great movie) Johns asks Riddick how it looks up ahead.
Riddick: Looks clear.
Johns moves ahead and alost gets his head ripped off by a monster. Johns: I thought you said it was clear!
Riddick: I said it 'Looked clear.'
Johns: Well hows it look now?
Riddick shrugs: Looks clear.
SPOOOON!
I know that I should know this, but I can't place it? Help me out here?
"Utinni!"
mostly from the Jawas.
The other running gag I have is any cleric performing any healing magic always says, "Oh Lord, we beseech thee, amen! Amen. Crack tubes." from the Bruce sketch of Monty Python.
RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16
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"Remember Koom Valley!"
*Every society needs a cry like that, but only in a very few do they come out with the complete, unvarnished version, which is "Remember-The-Atrocity-Commited-Against-Us-Last-Time-That-Will-Excuse-The-A trocity-That-We're-About-To-Commit-Today! And So On! Hurrah!"
--Terry Pratchett
Thief of Time
Cleric of Pelor in a crowded bar that just erupted into a fight with a dozen vampiric werewolves and is about to greater turn undead...
"NO DOGS ALLOWED!!!"
Well, I thought it was funny...
Stolen from Icewind Dale:
"Well (sigh), looks like I'm going to have to go on a killing spree."
My favorite battlecry...
The dying screams from the first of my enemies to fall.
Unless I'm playing a mage. Then it's "FIREBALL!!!" ;)
Unless I'm playing a mage. Then it's "FIREBALL!!!" ;)
THIS IS MY FIREBALL. THERE ARE MANY LIKE IT, BUT THIS ONE IS MINE. MY FIREBALL IS MY BEST FRIEND. IT IS MY LIFE. I MUST MASTER IT AS I MASTER MY LIFE. MY FIREBALL, WITHOUT ME, IS USELESS. WITHOUT MY FIREBALL, I AM USELESS. - Lans, from the Wizards of the Coast forums.
One of many quotes I've saved that I've yoinked from elsewhere. This one is good too:
Typical Evoker: "I love the smell of Fireball in the morning."
"AAAhhh Beer, Babes and Battle!"- traditional dwarven war cry
"Me smash!!"- Smash 1/2 ogre fighter
"No witnessess!!"- Milo Tosscobble halfling rogue
"Surrender or Die!"- Kagon Paladin of St. Cuthbert as he swung his sword.
and my all time favorite
"Roll Initiative!!!"- traditional DM war cry
My wizard invented a spell that was basically a higher level version of Fireball which detonated not flames but broken glass, metal shards and spikes.
He call's it Dalfaeyons Exigent Ensanguined Extermination
While casting this (and hovering above the enemy) he would shout with a grin: "In a moment there will be enough peices of you to go to every layer of the abyss!"
"Surrender or Die!"- Kagon Paladin of St. Cuthbert as he swung his sword.
Good.
"Surrender AND Die!"*
Better. :-)
*yoinked from Jak II
Back when I was in college, I used to wait tables and carry heavy trays (there was an ongoing contest to see who could load the damn things up the most). To get people out of the way I used to yell:
BIG DOG COMING THROUGH!
I like the infantry, FOLLOW ME! as well, and Marvel comic's Thor, NOW FACE THE WRATH OF A WARRIOR BORN.
I pasted in the wikipaedia battle cry definition and examples I thought they were pretty cool.
DEFINITION
A battle cry is a yell or chant taken up in battle, usually by members of the same military unit. The content and nature of battle cries vary, depending on whether their intent is to threaten, invoke a family name or family lands, or call on God for assistance. These cries can serve many purposes, including inspiring those otherwise inclined to stay back, terrifying the enemy, promoting a sense of esprit de corps, as well as communicating to allies that they have support. During the Middle Ages, many cries appeared on standards and were adopted as mottoes, an example being the motto "Dieu et mon droit" ("God and my right") of the English kings. It is said that this was Edward III's rallying cry during the Battle of Crécy.
Examples of battle cries
Intimidating
The Rebel yell, a call taken up by troops fighting on the side of the Confederacy during the American Civil War.
The Vikings screamed and imitated animal sounds during battle to intimidate their enemies. One of their cries was "Ahoy!". Of course, this has since become a peaceful greeting used by sailors of many nations, but at the time it was considered to be extremely warlike.
Many Native Americans used animal sounds to frighten and communicate. Some Native American ethnic groups are famous for their ability to imitate these sounds.
The New Zealand rugby union team have a very famous war cry, called the haka which was originally used by the Maori. They used it before a battle. The All Blacks use it before each rugby international.
Religious
The Crusaders used the cry Denique coelum! ("Heaven at last!").
In Spain, during the Reconquista (718-1492 AD) and the conquest of America, they cried "Santiago", looking for holy protection from St. James, the patron saint of Spain.
The Normans' cry at the Battle of Hastings was "Dex Aie!" ("God aid us!"). This was last used by the Royal Guernsey Light Infantry during the First World War.
The Ottoman Turkish armies used to cry out "Allah! Allah! Allah!" when charging foes.
The late Roman and Byzantine empires used "Nobiscum Deus" ("God with us"), as their battle cry.
The Takbir, Allahu Akbar, meaning 'God is Great, was common in Muslim armies.
Miscellaneous
Tierra y Libertad! ("Land and Liberty") made popular by Mexican revolutionist, Emiliano Zapata
In Japan during World War II, the kamikaze pilots' battle cry was "Tora, Tora, Tora!", which means, "Tiger, Tiger, Tiger!" This was also the content of the radio signal which indicated that the Pearl Harbor attack had been a complete success in catching the enemy unawares.Banzai! (meaning "Ten thousand years") was also a common Japanese battle cry.
The various Gaelic-speaking peoples have a long tradition of employing battle cries. One of these cries is the origin of the English word slogan. Another, used by the Irish people is "Faugh a Ballaugh!" which simply means "Clear the way!".
The O'Neill family motto is "An Lamh Dearg Abú", in english "The Red Hand" the heraldic symbol of O'Neill and Ulster, followed by "Abú" which is phonetic and can only be translated at high volume.
The French knights of the Middle Ages' "Montjoie! St Denis!".
At the Battle of Hastings, Wace records that the housecarls of the Saxon army cried "Olicrosse!" and "Godamite!", while the fyrd cried "Ut! Ut! Ut!" ("Out! Out! Out!").
The modern Israeli battle cry, "Kadima!", translates literally as into English as "Let's go!".
The Red Army battle cry was "Oo-rah!" (thought to mean "Hurrah!" coming from the Turkish word for kill). Many nations use a battle cry or shout of acknowledgement that has a similar sound to this, although explanations can vary wildly. For example, the U.S. Army shouts "Hooah!", while the Argentine Navy shouts something that sounds like "Ua! Ua! Ua!". The Greek Army battle cry sounds like "Aera!", which translates into "Wind!".
A Finnish battle cry during WWII, since popularized by The Unknown Soldier, was "Tulta munille!" which loosely translates to "Fire at the balls!".
The War Cry is the official newspaper of The Salvation Army worldwide.
Fictional and virtual
The peoples of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth had several different battle cries throughout its history:
In The Lord of the Rings, a battle cry of Aragorn is "Elendil!" Elendil was the first High King of Gondor and Arnor in the beginning of the Third Age.
A traditional battle cry of the Dwarves and used by Gimli runs "Baruk Khazad! Khazad ai-menu!" (Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!) It is the only recorded example of Khuzdul, the Dwarf-language.
The battle cry of the Hobbits is "The Shire!" — the name of their land (although they were almost never were in battles). The Took warcry, used by Peregrin Took, is "A Took! A Took!"
A traditional battle cry of the Men of the North in the First Age, as told in Unfinished Tales, runs "Lacho calad! Drego morn!" (Flame, light! Flee, night!).
In World of Warcraft, the nonsensical battle cry "Leeroy Jenkins!" has become widespread after , originating in a comedic video clip,.
In StarCraft, The protoss zealot famously yells "My life for Aiur!" upon attack orders or creation, indicating its love for its home and for combat.
In Xena: Warrior Princess, Lucy Lawless based her war-cry on the ululation or wail often heard from Arab women. It is often spelt Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!, but it is pronounced A-le-le-le-le-le-le-le-le!
In the Redwall series by Brian Jacques the war cry Eulalia, which is supposedly based on an old Norse battle cry meaning "Victory!", is used by the badgers and hares associated with the mountain fortress of Salamandastron.
The Marvel Universe, The Thing of the Fantastic Four has a famous battlecry, "It's clobberin' time!"
I am the right hand of vengeance. I am death incarnate, and the last living thing that you're ever going to see. Nerull sent me.
From a Warlock with an insanely-high Intimidate roll to go with it.
Yes, shamelessly stolen from B5 :)
Jack
Unless I'm playing a mage. Then it's "FIREBALL!!!" ;)THIS IS MY FIREBALL. THERE ARE MANY LIKE IT, BUT THIS ONE IS MINE. MY FIREBALL IS MY BEST FRIEND. IT IS MY LIFE. I MUST MASTER IT AS I MASTER MY LIFE. MY FIREBALL, WITHOUT ME, IS USELESS. WITHOUT MY FIREBALL, I AM USELESS. - Lans, from the Wizards of the Coast forums.
OMG I tottally needed to hear that this morning I am seeing a warmage instrutor teaching the iniatie this chant.
"I'm supposed to shoot the spiney one right?"
"SIT DOWN!"
"I'm getting REALLY tired of this"
"Oh! COME ON I as having a great dream! Can't you jerks wait till sun-up to get yourselves killed!?"
"WITH MY BARE HANDS!"
"oh sweet gods I hope this works *sob*"........ moments later....... "SEE I TOLD you it would work!"
One of the few battlecries of mine that actually stuck was this one gnome cleric going "Now that looks interesting!"
A deadpan "You die." is nice too.
Oh, and "Youll never walk again!"
For historical battlecries, Finnish warriors in 30 Year War were commonly called Hakkapelites due to their battlecry "Hakkaa päälle!", roughly translated "Beat'em up!"
This wasn't a cry so much as a speech but it was still the prelude to an explosive fight.
"I'll have to admit you're sturdier than I'd expected. But then again I suppose you'd have to be to have lasted this long....... But all of that ends now. You've stood in the way of me and my plans long enough! I'm giving you one.....last......chance......to let us pass peaceably.
.........................
Fine then! Prepare for OBLIVION!
(My gnome sorcerer then precedes to magic missle the piss out of a door lock that the rouge couldn't pick open.)
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This wasn't a cry so much as a speech but it was still the prelude to an explosive fight.
"I'll have to admit you're sturdier than I'd expected. But then again I suppose you'd have to be to have lasted this long....... But all of that ends now. You've stood in the way of me and my plans long enough! I'm giving you one.....last......chance......to let us pass peaceably.
.........................
Fine then! Prepare for OBLIVION!
(My gnome sorcerer then precedes to magic missle the piss out of a door lock that the rouge couldn't pick open.)
Rogue not rouge. Rouge is a type of makeup and probably can't pick locks very well;)
FH
My first 3.0 character was a half-orc barbarian named Krunk. Krunk liked to smash things and yell out, "Krunk Smash!". We infiltrated an evil stronghold and were headed up to the second floor, Krunk leading the party. The first thing he sees in the hall is a desk with some scribe sitting behind it, flanked by a couple of gaurds. The scribe asked what Krunk was doing there. Krunk asked for help from his friends. They told him, "Negotiate with them." Krunk looked back at the man behind the desk, pulled out his greatsword and yelled, "KRUNK NEGOTIATE!!!" as he split the desk in half!
Rogue not rouge. Rouge is a type of makeup and probably can't pick locks very well;)
FH
Hmmmmm....... now that you mention it he always seems to fail all of his attacks, saves, and checks except for disguse.
lol Krunk sounds like someone The Koga would like to hang around..
As for his battle-cry..
No shirt.. NO SERVICE!!!
Stupid teenage girls always taking everything The Koga says out of context.. -_ -
"Alright, let's do this! LEEEEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY....."
"SOMETHING AWFUL DOT COM!"
"Hikari ni nareeeeeeee!"
(I guess some of these are a little obscure...)
This wasn't a cry so much as a speech but it was still the prelude to an explosive fight.
"I'll have to admit you're sturdier than I'd expected. But then again I suppose you'd have to be to have lasted this long....... But all of that ends now. You've stood in the way of me and my plans long enough! I'm giving you one.....last......chance......to let us pass peaceably.
.........................
Fine then! Prepare for OBLIVION!
(My gnome sorcerer then precedes to magic missle the piss out of a door lock that the rouge couldn't pick open.)
How do you have time for monologing during a fight? Hell my players won't even allow my villans to do it anymore without calling me on it and attacking them while they're talking. Of course they stopped giving me crap about it since they killed a bad guy during a monolog and missed a big piece of the information they needed to get.
"Alright, let's do this! LEEEEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOY....."
"SOMETHING AWFUL DOT COM!"
"Hikari ni nareeeeeeee!"
(I guess some of these are a little obscure...)
I saw a T shirt that said 'Save Leroy Jenkins ' on it, I laughed my self sick!
Kyr, thanks for looking up battle cries. I never knew the orgins of my personal battle cry. My personal battle cry for a weekend sport I play is a very loud and clear, "HOY!"
The Clan's battle cry for this sport would be as follows:
Clan Lord cries, "VICTORY!"
His followers, "For the Swarm!"
Our clan was named the SteelSwarm. The name actually unknown to anyone else on the field came from an old D&D joke, so it was great fun.
Other battle cries from some of my charaters:
Carol, human ice soc/rouge, "Feeze you bastard!"
Amerasu, half-fey bard-cleric, "I AM NOT GOING TO DIE A VIRGIN!" (Of which the enemy responded with, "Too late for that.")
Celiwyn, ranger elf "FROGS! FROGS, Die now little froggies!"
and
Alexia, human healer, "Who's next?" (I found a certain irony in that.)
Lynda, Torador Vampire (from a Larp), "I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now, if I where you I'd walk away."
Armored! Sharpened! ...and rarin to go!
What weekend sport?
When I was in the army we didn't really have a battle cry, the signal to start fighting was for he person in charge to start firing.
We did have platoon mottos.
Ours (in basic) was "Jane Fonda must Die!"
A common generic one when different groups assembled and instructors/presenters asked the class how we were, was to sound of with a load, "FIT TO FIGHT"
And any time a confirmation of understanding was requested, OO RAH, was a suitable response.
Another platoon motto I remember, that I liked was, IF YOU WANT TO BE A BEAR - BE A GRIZZLY.
Ah the army. Some of the best learning experiences of my life.
It wasn't all just goofy yelling.
"Go fo' Broke" which means give it all you got, is the motto for the 442 battalion, a group of Japanese Americans, mainly from Hawaii