D&D General Weird: Do you introduce weird elements in your campaigns?

[Marc_C]

A long time ago D&D add weird elements inserted into modules. Some modules were completely weird as with S3 Expedition to Barrier Peak in which the PC stumble onto an alien space ship. Some people refer to this as the Gonzo style. Cross genre inserts and adventures seems to have faded away from D&D. Do you introduce weird or gonzo elements in your campaigns?

 

[Yora]

I've always been a big reader of Hill Cantons and Against the Wicked City, but so far I've not found any opportunities to do some really funky stuff in my games.
I made a choice to liberally take from Morrowind, but that has had a pretty minor influence so far.

 

[aco175]

I tend to not include elements that are not at least related to what I think are considered traditional. There are no spaceships or lasers. There can be a sun sword that is like a lightsaber. There can be a flying ship, but not a airplane or spaceship. There are places where gravity works upside down and places where you grow or shrink. There is a lot of leeway by saying 'magic', but certain things stay out.

 

[Oofta]

I do some strange things, but nowadays it's all fantasy with a touch of magi-tech now and then. Long ago in an edition far, far away I may have had a mish-mash of a crashed Star Trek Enterprise that had been taken over by robotic invaders. Fortunately the PCs were able to transport ... umm ... teleport away after starting the self destruct sequence.

But since then? Weird outsiders, beings from other planes of existence, the occasional mirror-maze style environment because of chaotic magic. But no more Star Trek crossover with a Dr Who vibe.

 

[grimslade]

Someday I will get to run my Thundarr the Barbarian campaign with lasers, robots, sorcery and mutants. It is surprisingly easy to drop different levels of tech into a game when you stop worrying about making different mechanics for different weapons and technologies. Artificer works just as well using ‘forgotten tech’ instead of magic.

 

[R_J_K75]

I ran a game not long ago where the players were exploring a warehouse and put rusted out 57 Chevy on blocks underneath a tarp. No way they'd ever get to use it but I just threw in the for laughs and a WTF moment. Now if I was really on my game I'd have Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz from American Pickers try and buy it off the PC's.

 

[Mallus]

Define 'weird'.

 

[el-remmen]

I was just trying to make the #KeepDnDWeird hashtag a thing on Instagram while sharing photos/memories of the 1E Fiend Folio

 

[Stormonu]

I used to insert weird into my game, but now beyond a star spawn or such, haven’t done so in a while.

Did have an unintentional adventure map glitch in a game about a year ago that I played up a bit enough to make the players concerned that their characters were in a Matrix scenario, but eventually didn’t take it that far - a weird room in the dungeon just turned out to be a pocket dimension with a hidden teleportation circle that lead out.

 

[Tonguez]

You mean weird like magic spells, short bearded miners who excavate giant underground halls, tree dwelling paragons with pointy ears and gargantuan firebreathing flying lizards?