D&D General How serious are your D&D games?

[Bill Zebub]

How many moments of levity are there in Lord of the Rings?

 

[Mad_Jack]

Mostly serious, in as much as after forty years of playing I'm mostly over playing in/running games where everyone's setting out to intentionally be a goofball or, gods forbid, coming into the game with a "here, hold my beer while I light a bag of holding full of dragon crap on fire" mentality...

There may be funny moments or jokes around the table between players, but the in-game stuff is generally mostly on the serious side, with an occasional bit of witty dialogue or light-hearted moment rather than outright comedy. In movie terms, the audience may occasionally be laughing at something, but the actors aren't playing the scenes for laughs (and most definitely aren't turning to wink at the camera).
Even the time when we waited until one of the big bads was in the outhouse and tied a rope around it so that they couldn't escape while we fought the rest of them was basically a tactical decision, rather than primarily being funny.

Personally, although I don't mind an occasional game of Dimwits & Dumbasses, if given a choice I'd generally be more likely to gravitate towards a really serious game that dealt with some serious issues and required making some hard in-character choices than one where it's a running gag to toss the dwarf and the bard plays a drum so he can hit rimshots while casting Vicious Mockery... If for no other reason than that kind of game is much harder to find.

 

[Minigiant]

I only run "Monty Python in a Game of Thrones universe"

 

[Clint_L]

I like it to be somewhat lighthearted, when appropriate, but not random or wacky. As long as the humour comes out of the situation and personalities involved, it's great. Occasionally you get players who are basically just trying to turn the game into a joke, and I don't like that.

Also, the level of seriousness correlates fairly strongly to whether a few beverages are being enjoyed or not.

 

[Maxperson]

The games I run are mostly serious, with some moments of levity.

 

[cbwjm]

My friends and I are there to have fun so we tend to keep things light hearted rather than keep a serious tone, I selected guardians if the galaxy, it probably sums up level of seriousness.

 

[J.Quondam]

I only run "Monty Python in a Game of Thrones universe"

Fun was sure to be had when the "Red Wedding" collided with "It's just a flesh wound!"

 

[Haplo781]

Fun was sure to be had when the "Red Wedding" collided with "It's just a flesh wound!"

Let's not bicker and argue about 'o killed 'o

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I voted Guardians of the Galaxy, but I’d say my preferred tone falls in between that and LotR.

I came here to say exactly this on my games' overall tone.

 

[Rabulias]

How many moments of levity are there in Lord of the Rings?

Here's a few off the top of my head:
"Nobody tosses a dwarf!"
Gimli and Legolas's "competition" counting orcs they have killed.
Merry telling Pippin "I don't think he knows about second breakfast, Pip."
Sam describing meals with "po-tay-toes" to Gollum and saying Gollum could not say no to them, but Gollum says "Oh yes we could."