How much camp do you like in your games?

[Waldorf]

I would really hate myself if I took gaming too seriously, the entire notion of a bunch of dudes sitting around and pretending to be elves is inherently ludicrous. So camp it up!

Well said.

 

[Desdichado]

Yeah, well I never play elves.

 

[Mycanid]

I am not too much of a camp fan maself ... but every once in a while a tiny drop placed in the game at the right moment can do wonders. The type of pun where everyone groans, one player bangs his head on the table, another slaps his forehead, another winces in pain, another looks as if he has just swallowed a very sour lemon.... You know what I mean. BTW - this can come from either the DM or the players, and it is always better when it is out of the blue and unexpected ... and perhaps has very little to do with the main "drive" of the adventure at present. The type of thing where you go "wha?" and then carry on.

 

[Stormborn]

I would really hate myself if I took gaming too seriously, the entire notion of a bunch of dudes sitting around and pretending to be elves is inherently ludicrous. So camp it up!

See, I dont find RPGs any more inherently ridiculous than say a bunch of guys all sitting around in brightly colored shirts with numbers or stylized pictures of animals on them yelling and jumping up and down due to the actions of another similarly clad but far more athletic group of men throwing an odd shapped ball at each other, or a group of guys sitting around risking money based on the combination of small colored pieces of paper in their hands, or any of the other things that pass as popular adult passtimes. Most recreational activites for adults are ludicrous, RPGs are simply young enough, and marganilized enough, that we are told we have to be self conscious about it. I have often felt the same thing about most pop culture. Unless a movie based on the character is out if I were a t-shirt with a superhero logo on it I get looks and snarky comments, but if a scrawny 98 lb guy goes around with the jersy of a giant linebacker on or the morbidly obesse guy wears a baseball cap with a team logo on it no one says a thing. Its all the same, the only thing that differentiates them is their level of acceptance in the popular mind, not their inherent merits.

 

[green slime]

See, I dont find RPGs any more inherently ridiculous than say a bunch of guys all sitting around in brightly colored shirts with numbers or stylized pictures of animals on them yelling and jumping up and down due to the actions of another similarly clad but far more athletic group of men throwing an odd shapped ball at each other, or a group of guys sitting around risking money based on the combination of small colored pieces of paper in their hands, or any of the other things that pass as popular adult passtimes. Most recreational activites for adults are ludicrous, RPGs are simply young enough, and marganilized enough, that we are told we have to be self conscious about it. I have often felt the same thing about most pop culture. Unless a movie based on the character is out if I were a t-shirt with a superhero logo on it I get looks and snarky comments, but if a scrawny 98 lb guy goes around with the jersy of a giant linebacker on or the morbidly obesse guy wears a baseball cap with a team logo on it no one says a thing. Its all the same, the only thing that differentiates them is their level of acceptance in the popular mind, not their inherent merits.

What on Earth do inherent merits have to do with anything?

 

[SPoD]

OK, camp does not equal comedy or humor. Camp is a specific tone of comedy, one that treats its subject matter as inherently light and inconsequential by satirizing it. I'm not sure that (for example) OOTS even IS camp, because it never treats the act of roleplaying as a waste of time. It takes its plots and characters seriously, even while cracking jokes.

If you want camp, think the 60's Batman TV series. It wasn't actually even funny, but everything about it screamed, "The concept of superheroes is silly and unrealistic, and you would be a fool for taking it more seriously than we are." Compare that to Tim Burton's Batman, which had a lot of comedic bits, but presented them in the context of the superhero story in such a way that it didn't undercut the serious parts.

So do I have camp in my games? No.

Do I have comedy? Frequently.

 

[TheCrazyMuffinMan]

OK, camp does not equal comedy or humor. Camp is a specific tone of comedy, one that treats its subject matter as inherently light and inconsequential by satirizing it. I'm not sure that (for example) OOTS even IS camp, because it never treats the act of roleplaying as a waste of time. It takes its plots and characters seriously, even while cracking jokes.

If you want camp, think the 60's Batman TV series. It wasn't actually even funny, but everything about it screamed, "The concept of superheroes is silly and unrealistic, and you would be a fool for taking it more seriously than we are." Compare that to Tim Burton's Batman, which had a lot of comedic bits, but presented them in the context of the superhero story in such a way that it didn't undercut the serious parts.

So do I have camp in my games? No.

Do I have comedy? Frequently.

In that case, Camp == rare indeed in any of my campaigns that aren't meant to be parodies from the start. I lean more toward OOTS-style humor.

 

[Doug McCrae]

From www.dictionary.com:

something that provides sophisticated, knowing amusement, as by virtue of its being artlessly mannered or stylized, self-consciously artificial and extravagant, or teasingly ingenuous and sentimental.

Banality, vulgarity, or artificiality when deliberately affected or when appreciated for its humor.

Camp is popularity plus vulgarity plus innocence.

I'm still not sure what camp means in gaming terms. The vulgar elements I guess would be stuff like hawt lesbian drow chixxorz (apologies for the lapse into rpg.netese) and maybe some pervy old school elements like bare-nipple succubi and girdle of masculinity/femininity.

The banal would be the cliches - collect the coupons magic item quests, adventurers meeting in an inn.

 

[Mallus]

See, I dont find RPGs any more inherently ridiculous than say a bunch of guys all sitting around in brightly colored shirts with numbers or stylized pictures of animals on them yelling and jumping up and down due to the actions of another similarly clad but far more athletic group of men throwing an odd shapped ball at each other...

Fine. But a lot of other people do. It has something to do with the fact that we associate elaborate games of "let's pretend" with childhood.

Which is all rather besides the point I was thinking of. I don't find D&D ridiculous when compared to a love of sport or pinochle, I find it ridiculous when compared to what I've always assumed were its own source materials; ie the fantasy literature I've read since my youth.

D&D sports a thoroughly nutty iconic bestiary (beholders, anyone? gelatinous cubes?!), a magic system which makes wahoo plotting all but unavoidable after a few levels, and a reliance on the consumer-driver magical widget trade, where you have cut-rate King Arthur knock-offs selling the Golden Fleece for %50 of it's market value so they can buy Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake (I kid, barely...).

Mind you, for all that, it's still terrifically entertaining ridiculousness.

 

[roguerouge]

Again, camp is associated with subversive gay commentary on mass culture and gender and sexual identity. The question isn't whether your game is silly or ironic. It's whether you have your elf screaming that he looks FABULOUS!!! in his new noble's outfit.