D&D 5E Whimsy in your game?

[AverageCitizen]

I'm not sure how a D&D adventure could include a monster called a Black Pudding and it not be whimsical. That's only one step removed from the dread Were-Haggis.

I don't use all of the monsters because I consider some to be too gamey.

I don't mind a little whimsy, especially in a game where Fey and their unseelie counterparts are a major presence. What I don't like is a game that is a spoof of itself. I have seen someone on the board write that no one can take D&D stories seriously and that it is only enjoyed as a "lovable goof", but I disagree. I don't mind that some people play it like a long-running Monty Python spoof, but I don't like doing that.

 

[was]

...Whimsical humor in a campaign can be a difficult call because it is such a personally subjective issue. What one player finds to be wonderfully whimsical, another finds to be a ridiculous waste of time. IMO, successfully adding such humor into adventures requires a DM who really knows his/her players.

 

[delericho]

I don't mind a little whimsy, especially in a game where Fey and their unseelie counterparts are a major presence. What I don't like is a game that is a spoof of itself.

Given that the book isn't out yet, surely it's too soon to decide whether OotA is doing that or not?

I have seen someone on the board write that no one can take D&D stories seriously and that it is only enjoyed as a "lovable goof", but I disagree.

Indeed. I'm with you on that one - playstyle is at the discretion of the group.

I don't mind that some people play it like a long-running Monty Python spoof, but I don't like doing that.

Fair enough. Here's another question, though: even if OotA does turn out to be nothing but a spoof of itself, does that really matter? It's still only one book, and an optional one at that. Six months down the line, we'll be complaining about something else entirely.

 

[Toriel]

Nothing says you can't be dark and whimsical.

The Joker is a monster clown but he's still both a monster and a clown. He still is using gags and comedy, it's just lethal. And he'll shoot you in the face for messing up the joke. Or not.
The solution to the Riddler's riddle still has a deadly bomb attached to it.
A Pudding King makes total sense down there to mr. Especially if he's willing to sic the oozes on people on a.. whim.

But that's just me. I like my monsters illogical. It validates their strange behavior without handwaving.

I totally agree with this. There is stuff like meepo and silly goblins I personally don't care for, but whimsy on an Arkham Asylum level I can get into. The arrival of demon lords does not only bring about ultimate evil but also utter murderous madness.

 

[Inconnunom]

Nothing says you can't be dark and whimsical.

The Joker is a monster clown but he's still both a monster and a clown. He still is using gags and comedy, it's just lethal. And he'll shoot you in the face for messing up the joke. Or not.
The solution to the Riddler's riddle still has a deadly bomb attached to it.
A Pudding King makes total sense down there to mr. Especially if he's willing to sic the oozes on people on a.. whim.

But that's just me. I like my monsters illogical. It validates their strange behavior without handwaving.

I third this.

Another example:
Peter Pan is Whimsical. Peter Pan the original story had darker tones (the kids "disappeared" when they grew up). The Child Thief takes whimsy and darkness to the next level, its horrifyingly good.

 

[halfling rogue]

"Make it dark, make it grim, make it tough, but then, for the love of God, tell a joke" - Joss Whedon

That's what I'm seeing with this adventure

 

[Mallus]

Edward Gorey illustrations. Willy Wonka (pastel-y on the outside, creepily dark & satiric inside). A great many of the classic fairy tales. Everything Tim Burton ever made, possible including 'his breakfast'.

"Dark and whimsical" has long, storied history before funny mind-flayers come onto the scene.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

Maybe the guys writing it thought they were writing for 4th edition Hackmaster? In HM4 I could totally see this...it's expected. (mind you, when we play HM4 we pretty much tone down or strip out 80% of the whimsy/parody/silliness, "naturally").

But when we're playing a game that isn't based on "whimsical fantasy" or "silly names" (aka, D&D), trying to 'force' it into a game session never works well. It's the difference between "Hey, guess what happened to me today? [proceeds to tell story that ends up with a funny and unexpected outcome that nobody saw comming]", and "Hey, guess what happened to me today? Oh, at the end will be a funny joke about pumpernickle bread. Right, so...". I find "whimsical/silly/funny" things placed in an adventure module too many times to be definitively in the latter. With my group, after the first one or two "silly" things, my group would be very trigger happy...killing or attempting to kill anything and anybody, friend or foe, that they caught of whiff of silliness. So, as long as all the "whimsical/silly" aspects can be killed without 'wrecking' the adventure or killing the PC's off....bring hither yon tomfoolery! But if the players are expected to take a big blue CR 20 "plush golem" that only wants to be paid in cookies as a serious ally....well, TPK. Then the book goes on the shelf and everyone in my groups remembers it as one of the stupidest adventures ever written. I doubt that is what they would be going for...

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Kramodlog]

I would have said a little whimsy here and there is that option was available.

 

[AverageCitizen]

Given that the book isn't out yet, surely it's too soon to decide whether OotA is doing that or not?

Fair enough. Here's another question, though: even if OotA does turn out to be nothing but a spoof of itself, does that really matter? It's still only one book, and an optional one at that. Six months down the line, we'll be complaining about something else entirely.

To be clear, I am super interested in this storyline because of the whimsy (and the art style). I don't even like APs and I think I am gonna get this one.