D&D General Common gaming clichés (and how to subvert them)

[guachi]

An NPC that isn't cagey or quirky, answers their questions without prevarication, and is actually helpful to the PCs.

The players will be sure to think something is up.

In a campaign aborted because people moved I had it begin in an inn the PCs were staying at in the Foreign Quarter. The person who approached was neither hooded nor mysterious. He also offered no money to hire them for an assignment. He answered all of their questions as best he could. It was a basic "find this missing person" (an uncle wanting to find his missing nephew).

The PCs were all suspicious.

 

[iserith]

Instead of washing up on the shore of a fantastical island full of dangerous natives and monsters, your captain and crew are competent sailors and the weather is good so you make it to your destination safely.

 

[payn]

Cliche: You storm a castle trying to save the princess only to be told apologetically that she is in another Keep!

Subvert: The PCs find the princess almost immediately, but thent he trap is sprung. The door seals and floor falls out from under them. They must now escape the dungeon with a near helpless princess in tow!

 

[Alzrius]

Cliche: Your party raids a dungeon.

Subvert: Your party is hired to protect a dungeon from raiders who'll soon arrive.

 

[Lanefan]

Instead of washing up on the shore of a fantastical island full of dangerous natives and monsters, your captain and crew are competent sailors and the weather is good so you make it to your destination safely.

If the PCs bother to hire a captain and crew in the first place, safe arrival is usually the result.

If they cheap out and try to sail the boat themselves (a frequent occurrence) then that monster-filled fantastic island is just a bad roll away...

 

[Ath-kethin]

The whole meet-in-a-tavern cliche is so ingrained that I was literally on my second draft of an introductory adventure I wrote before I recognized that I used it (the cliche).

But I have no real problem with it. As other mentioned, it's a public place; when I play D&D with strangers we always meet in a public place, especially for the first few sessions. Strangers meeting in a public place just makes sense.

The one trope that really rubs me the wrong way is commoners being fine with/unimpressed by magic. In the real world, people who can add quickly in their heads are viewed with amazement and reverence; could you imagine the awe with which an actual miracle-worker would be held? Someone who can alter reality with bat poop and rocks and funny words? Who in the world would trust that person? Especially if they were known to use enchantment magic.

Unfortunately, subverting that trope makes life very challenging for some PCs and their players. But so it goes.

 

[R_J_K75]

The whole meet-in-a-tavern cliche is so ingrained that I was literally on my second draft of an introductory adventure I wrote before I recognized that I used it (the cliche).

I was doing some prep for a 1st level session this Friday and because as you said its so ingrained, I just took for granted that the adventure would start in a tavern and moved right on to the next scene. I think its almost expected at this point.

 

[R_J_K75]

If the PCs bother to hire a captain and crew in the first place, safe arrival is usually the result.

I usually build in some chance for mishap no matter how seasoned the crew is. Otherwise how would I use the "you wash up on an uncharted desert isle" cliche? But seriously, unless the plot calls for safe passage, nothings a given.

 

[Quickleaf]

Cliche: The PCs have captured a foe and are interrogating them. The interrogation escalates to bloody violence that leaves everyone feeling squicky. Unless it's a kobold or goblin, in which case it's recruited as a mascot/sidekick.

Subversion: The real villain speaks through the captive's mouth via magic, offering a chance to converse with the villain without violence, and casting doubt on how culpable the captive was to begin with.

 

[Flamestrike]

I've been tempted to set up a campaign where the tropes of DnD are just the expected norm.

Everyone is terrified of LG Paladins because they're genocidal monsters, adventures can be found in the popular circular 'Murderhobos of Fortune', adventurers are treated with extreme prejudice etc