|
I'm trying to combine every gaming cliché in a "over-the-top" game.Current ones I have are:
Save kings daughter from dragon
PiratesÓbtain the sacred "macguffin"
GoblinsBlack guard terrorizing the country side
Zombie/vampie/werewolf army
So far the basic story is " king santa's daughter was kidnapped by the werewolf-goblin pirates ruled by a vampire red dragon who sails the seas in a solid gold war ship, and they need the black guards "macguffin" but have to fight his zombie army to get it".
This hypothetical campaign is ment to be tounge-in-cheek
TV tropes would be of great use here.
I hate to say it, but the truth is that D&D and Pathfinder are at their core nothing other than sets of rules to get fantasy cliches organized.
I'm trying to combine every gaming cliché in a "over-the-top" game.Current ones I have are:
Save kings daughter from dragon
PiratesÓbtain the sacred "macguffin"
GoblinsBlack guard terrorizing the country side
Zombie/vampie/werewolf armySo far the basic story is " king santa's daughter was kidnapped by the werewolf-goblin pirates ruled by a vampire red dragon who sails the seas in a solid gold war ship, and they need the black guards "macguffin" but have to fight his zombie army to get it".
This hypothetical campaign is meant to be tongue-in-cheek
The party meets in a bar/tavern/etc.
You will need a an evil outsider in the story somewhere.
My favorite: one of first quest for every 1st level party should involve killing really big rats in cellar.
Gah! The rats! It brings back memories of the early levels of every single computer RPG I've ever played, starting way back at Daggerfall. Even the most of the MMO's do that one...
You absolutely need a damsel in distress who turns out to be an evil rakshasa/outsider/werwolf/vampire who tags along after rescue and backstabs the party in a critical moment
we fell for that every! single! time!
And a must is to have the dragon in a room that it can only just fit in with only normal sized doors.
|
40' room, 2 doors, Orc standing guard over pie in the center.
Massive set of dungeon tunnels with limited (4-5) rooms of decent size, each holding a single type of monster with no food, waste areas, or fresh water.
Plucky comedy relief NPC who gets killed just before / during the giant climactic battle.
Overpowered DMPC who constantly sends the "real" PC's off on "errands" to save the world.
Absent minded, ancient, incredibly powerful wizard who is too lazy/mad/bored to actually do the quest.
An in-game argument between 2 NPC's (best if done in the Tavern the party starts at) regarding the merits of Arcane/Divine Magic, Casters vs. Melee Characters, and "Why the Monk Sucks"
Small, underage girls in all black, being all super serious about being "Monkey Grip Greatsword Wielding Ninjas"
A Half-Orc Barbarian named "Krunk" "Grog" or something similar who smashes all door/chests/barrels he sees.
Dungeons with Large (or Huge) sized enemies, and nothing but 5' doorways and hallways everywhere.
Party's rogue is Chaotic Evil and will rob from/betray the party whenever he can get away with it.
Elves are tree hugging hippies..
Dwarves are all gruff taciturn and carry big axes..
Orcs (or is that Orks) all speak wiv a cockney accent..ref Games Workshop.
Anyone under 4'0 tall is jovial, red cheeked and comedic. See halfling or more precise, "Hobbit".
Chief vampire is handsome, lives alone in a forgotten castle or tomb and has a dark cape with piercing red eyes. See Dracula.
A sword that glows golden like the sun with perfect timing. Does not glow in a thieve's guild surrounded by dozens of dagger wielding psychopaths.
A barbarian that wades into battle, screaming in rage with his massive axe and no shirt. And a horned helm. Chances are they would make this mistake only once.
A returning magical weapon. Likely a hammer or axe.
Paladin is handsome, dark haired, blue eyed with a jaw made of granite, carries a magical sword and travels miles upon miles in full armor on a warhorse in full barding.
An adventure in an abandoned dwarven mine.
Names with apostrophes or hyphens.
There are only fishing ships, ferries or pirate ships in a fantasy world. And the occasional cargo ship whose captain will put up a forceful haggle when characters need to travel somewhere but then relent despite the fact that the whole kingdom is being scoured for them. It's obvious fantasy captains choose to be nice over endangering their ship, livelihood, crew and safety.
Gah! The rats! It brings back memories of the early levels of every single computer RPG I've ever played, starting way back at Daggerfall. Even the most of the MMO's do that one...
Off-topic--This is why I loved Bards Tale for PS2. I laughed so hard at the huge fire-breathing rat that I died.
a Lair of evil humanoids (orcs, goblins, etc) where all have the same stats, the same weapons, the same catchphrase and use low quality weapons but have a treasure chest full of magic items that would have helped them in the fight but are never used
|
There are only fishing ships, ferries or pirate ships in a fantasy world. And the occasional cargo ship whose captain will put up a forceful haggle when characters need to travel somewhere but then relent despite the fact that the whole kingdom is being scoured for them. It's obvious fantasy captains choose to be nice over endangering their ship, livelihood, crew and safety.
I played in a game one time where we had to barter our way onto the ship to take us where we needed to go. Had to give up something that worth about a +1 weapon. By the time we got where we were going, the captain ended up giving every member of the party a magical item that was worth somewhere in the neightborhood of an item of +2 stat bonus. WTF??
On topic:
Evil twin of a key npc is the bbeg.
Player must be an only child whos parents were killed by (insert monster) and thats why they hate (insert monster).
Adding to the Macguffin thing, it must be in some ridiculously hard to get place or hard to remove it from where it is, in plain sight(such as the Holy Grail in Indiana Jones, or the Sword in the Stone)
Obviously they need to fight a dragon.
And orcs.
|
Orcs (or is that Orks) all speak wiv a cockney accent..ref Games Workshop.
This so makes me want to make a big orc bruiser who comes charging at the PCs and gives an 'Oy, guvnor!'
On topic: The princess being in the tower, the greedy dragons treasure horde, the evil advisor corrupting a monarch, or the hero following a white stag all have seen some use in modules and are certainly fantasy literature cliches.
I'm trying to combine every gaming cliché in a "over-the-top" game.
A dungeon, where the monsters stand around waiting for someone to kill them.
Gah! The rats! It brings back memories of the early levels of every single computer RPG I've ever played, starting way back at Daggerfall. Even the most of the MMO's do that one...
And Dragon Age: Origins did it on purpose just to make a comment on it as a trope.
As for game cliche.....watch any Shrek movie for ideas.
The King is a doddery kindly old soul who only want's the best for his people
The Queen is much younger, oozes sex appeal and is probably a witch though not necessarily an evil one.
A couple fantasy cliches:
The evil guy wants to destroy or rule the world.
The good country is usually ruled by a King while an evil country is usually ruled by an Emperor.
Elves are archers, Dwarf are axemen.
The good guys fight to the death against superior odds without fear or hesitation, evil creatures are always relying on superior numbers and are cowards who break and flee at the first sign of trouble.
Night/Dark=Evil, Day/Light=Good.
It's perfectly acceptable to be a violent, racist sociopath who slaughters creatures indiscriminately and steals their possessions, so long as the creatures you loot and kill are orcs or goblins, but those same orcs and goblins are seen as irredeemably evil because they rob and kill humans/elves/halflings/dwarves.
That reminds me: Some creatures, no matter how powerful or intelligent they are, are irredeemably evil from birth. Dragons, particularly, have their individual outlooks predetermined based on the color of their scales.
The desinherited prince who tries to gain his throne back (and has to defeat one of the villains). Make this one of the PCs.
An orc in a 10x10 feet room.
A room with a mirror of opposition.
The chest which turns out to be a mimic.
An ancient prophesy.
Evil sorcerer/necromancer.
Boy/man who would be king.
Dwarves, for some unknown reason, all have Scottish accents.
There's a chessboard trap in the dungeon
All the weak monsters disappear after a couple of weeks
Oh, and all clothing and armor for females, PC or otherwise, is supplied by a cross-dimensional branch of Frederick's of Hollywood.
They also make nice barbarian outfits for both genders.
The desert is inhabited by a race of robe-wearing fanatics who hate women, foreigners, fun.
PC's in a new game are introduced by waking to find themselves in a room weaponless, armorless, and without any memory of who they are.
Here's a couple more:
PCs have to fight mirror images of themselves at some point.
Every good NPC is played against type. The drow are good, the orcs are genius librarians, and every guard captain/bodybuilder/berserker/person in a visored helm is female. Even when it becomes apparent that this is a running theme, treat each new NPC introduction as if your players should be surprised and the role reversals are "edgy".
The gorgeous girl in town who takes a romantic interest in the PC is ALWAYS a succubus.
The PC warlock that is overpowered and laden with magic items (that he ganked with "detect magic" and Bluff in the first place), yet stays the hells away from combat (invisibly preferred) until almost everyone is dying :B
Hmmm...did it only have to be story-wise?
Ok. how about; the elf that is always snooty toward the other races and constantly talks about how old s/he is in comparison (yet is the same PC/NPC level equivilent).
Gah! The rats! It brings back memories of the early levels of every single computer RPG I've ever played, starting way back at Daggerfall. Even the most of the MMO's do that one...Off-topic--This is why I loved Bards Tale for PS2. I laughed so hard at the huge fire-breathing rat that I died.
Narrator: And the Bard looted the chest, stealing the Widows prized....wait a minute, did I read that properly? You're stealing from her?
On topic: All wizards wear monocles.
you guys are really forgetting some important things here!
a king being controlled by his evil counselor...
the PC's love interest is actually his sister!
Evil villian can only be defeated by specific weapon.
you have found powerful item A), now you must take it to place B) with only a small party, cause the armies are too busy.
one of the NPC's turns out to be a god in disguise.
there is a renegade member of a normally evil race who has sworn to be a champion of good against the evil that is his kin.
the person who starts them on the quest is secretly the BBEG using the party for his own gains.
LUKE I AM YOUR FATHER.
you guys are really forgetting some important things here!
a king being controlled by his evil counselor...
the PC's love interest is actually his sister!
Evil villian can only be defeated by specific weapon.you have found powerful item A), now you must take it to place B) with only a small party, cause the armies are too busy.
one of the NPC's turns out to be a god in disguise.
there is a renegade member of a normally evil race who has sworn to be a champion of good against the evil that is his kin.
the person who starts them on the quest is secretly the BBEG using the party for his own gains.
LUKE I AM YOUR FATHER.
*bows in reverence*
No, that's not true. THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!!
Names with apostrophes or hyphens.
Hi, my name is DungeonmasterCal and I'm an apostrophe/hyphenaholic.
"Hi, DungeonmasterCal!"
Dungeons that have no means of supporting the plethora of monsters inhabiting them; they obviously can't attack and feed on each other, only the occasional PC.
Treasure in said dungeons that other adventurers have been to yet not looted thoroughly.
Room with large statues that do not detect as magic yet they're stone golems.
As for the Bar/Inn beginning, mustn't forget the old bearded stranger who is probably the villain/god/one of the PC's long-lost father.
All black cats are the familiars of witches.
All gargantuan and colossal dragons must be in 10x10 rooms.
All female villains attempt to seduce the male PCs.
All male villains attempt to seduce the female PCs. (Can't have cries of unequal seduction times here.)
Black-robed people are always evil and worship demons.
And finally, NPCs of character classes must be overpowered to save the party's worthless butts at every opportunity.
PCs must answer 3 questions: First one (in mysterious voice) "what - ...is your name!?!"
The PCs must find an incredibly powerful magic item that has been broken into excatly 7 parts that have been scattered all over the place and been searched for for ages but only the PCs are finally able to stitch together all the evidence.
Some part of the adventure has to play on a demiplane of undead/night/shadow/whatnot.
There must be an impenetrable tomb/dungeon that only the PCs can figure out how to enter despite it having existed for millennium.
Beware of doorways that resemble open mouths.
The switch to deactivate a TPK trap is always on the far side.
Taking the plot device item always triggers a major fight/dungeon collapse or both.
The female NPC you pick up at the tavern and one of the male PCs falls for is always a runaway princess.
All dwarves look and sound like John Rhys-Davies.