Campaigns you *don't* want to play in
- Thread starter francisca
- Start date
Well, I think you're all WRONG. 
There's fun silliness and then there's lame silliness...
Some of the most memorable campaigns I've been involved in have been unashamedly silly, but the silliness usually came from the players or the playing style, coupled with an on-the-fly DMing style...stupid antics with cursed magic items and peasants, holidays in the abyss, very badly botched attempts to infiltrate a castle without setting off an alarm, fireballs aimed at harmless woodland creatures etc. A bit of fun, you know? Hackmaster supports this style of play very well...
Overtly DM-introduced silliness tends to work less well...same goes for adventures, such as Castle Greyhawk (p-thhhh!!!), Old Man Katan's Dancing Singing Mushroom Band (which is actually a fun adventure, in spite of the silliness) and a million-and-one adventures involving fairies annoying the PCs. I assume that this is the kind of thing you lot are opposed to, which is fair enough...
But I've found that a lot of the most fun campaigns are (were?) played with a very silly tone indeed. In fact, I think AD&D played with tongue planted firmly in cheek is where the game truly shines.
Who's with me?
There's fun silliness and then there's lame silliness...
Some of the most memorable campaigns I've been involved in have been unashamedly silly, but the silliness usually came from the players or the playing style, coupled with an on-the-fly DMing style...stupid antics with cursed magic items and peasants, holidays in the abyss, very badly botched attempts to infiltrate a castle without setting off an alarm, fireballs aimed at harmless woodland creatures etc. A bit of fun, you know? Hackmaster supports this style of play very well...
Overtly DM-introduced silliness tends to work less well...same goes for adventures, such as Castle Greyhawk (p-thhhh!!!), Old Man Katan's Dancing Singing Mushroom Band (which is actually a fun adventure, in spite of the silliness) and a million-and-one adventures involving fairies annoying the PCs. I assume that this is the kind of thing you lot are opposed to, which is fair enough...
But I've found that a lot of the most fun campaigns are (were?) played with a very silly tone indeed. In fact, I think AD&D played with tongue planted firmly in cheek is where the game truly shines.
Who's with me?
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seasong
First Post
And yet, one of my most successful campaign settings involved just exactly that, fairies with extremist personalities and whimsical power messing with/annoying the PCs. It was popular enough that they forced me to run a second campaign arcrounser said:
.On the other hand, I wouldn't want to run that all the time.
Aeolius
Adventurer
campaign, I often find myself devising creatures which are somewhat less than serious; the hair trigger, migraine haddock, and quipper-snapper come to mind. I also have a race of diminutive humanoid sponges known as gorgonians and a demonic starfish race known simply as demonstars (Whoooooo.....lives in a pineapple under the sea?).
Should the campaign be run offline, instead of a message-based format, I suppose I would attempt to speak for the NPCs, in a manner which sounds aquatic - gargling or bubbling, perhaps (I'm working on my kuo-toan even now).
And yes, soon I will be running a chat-based games where the players assume the roles of forest animals. Just as I would discourage a players from naming a mermaid character Ariel, in my undersea game, I might also frown upon a raccoon named Rocky.
Should the campaign be run offline, instead of a message-based format, I suppose I would attempt to speak for the NPCs, in a manner which sounds aquatic - gargling or bubbling, perhaps (I'm working on my kuo-toan even now).
And yes, soon I will be running a chat-based games where the players assume the roles of forest animals. Just as I would discourage a players from naming a mermaid character Ariel, in my undersea game, I might also frown upon a raccoon named Rocky.
Arnwyn
First Post
Aw, heck, there's tons of games/campaigns I won't play. Pretty much, I'll *only* play D&D for the fantasy genre and Fuzion for a sci-fi game. I have no intention nor desire to learn a new set of rules outside of the two games I mentioned above. I won't play d20 Modern as the rules are poor and inappropriate for the sci-fi genre I play. No Vampire, etc, as the genre holds no interest for me. No BESM, as the rules are far too loosy-goosy for my tastes. I won't play Ravenloft, as an entire campaign designed around horror *cannot work* (learned that from experience). I won't play Dark Sun because I dislike the entire setting. I won't play FR because I DM it. And I certainly would not play LARP, as that's just too freaky-weird (for me, of course).
Flexor the Mighty!
18/100 Strength!
*D&D Settings I don't want to play in.
Forgotten Realms - I'm sick and tired of it. And any setting that has an NPC statted on the first page of the book should be shot through the shredder.
Savage Species inspired settings - No real interest in Mindflayer Paladin/Bards...
Not my cup o' tea.
Oriental Adventures - Never really liked Asian Fantasy games.
*Other games
Hero/Champions - Too much! Combat is too involved and I think it's just too much stuff for me to want to handle.
AD&D 2e - Never should have been made.
World of Darkness games - I lack the desire to roleplay angst.
D20 Call of Cthulhu - Don't really care for D20 in modern games. Other rulesets would work better IMO.
D20 Modern - See above, I'd use GURPS for anything I'd think about using this for.
Little Fears - I think this game is sick.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer - I hate the show and have no interest in running a game of hot & hip teens vs campy monsters.
Forgotten Realms - I'm sick and tired of it. And any setting that has an NPC statted on the first page of the book should be shot through the shredder.
Savage Species inspired settings - No real interest in Mindflayer Paladin/Bards...
Not my cup o' tea. Oriental Adventures - Never really liked Asian Fantasy games.
*Other games
Hero/Champions - Too much! Combat is too involved and I think it's just too much stuff for me to want to handle.
AD&D 2e - Never should have been made.
World of Darkness games - I lack the desire to roleplay angst.
D20 Call of Cthulhu - Don't really care for D20 in modern games. Other rulesets would work better IMO.
D20 Modern - See above, I'd use GURPS for anything I'd think about using this for.
Little Fears - I think this game is sick.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer - I hate the show and have no interest in running a game of hot & hip teens vs campy monsters.
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shadow
First Post
There's a number of settings and games that I try to avoid:
1. Grim/Gritty-Life is Cheap(tm) style games: I've played in some of these before and hated them. I want to play larger than life heroes not some average Joe. I prefer to have at least a chance of surviving, not being killed at the drop of the hat.
2. Angsty/Dark/"Woe is me" games: I game to have a good time and slack of a little. I don't game to feel depressed. Besides, I've had enough tragedy in my own life, I don't need to further it in a game.
3. Anti-Christian (or Jewish, Muslim, etc.) games: I don't mind pagan gods in campaign since it's a mythological world, but when certain games(Demon, Kult, etc.) start bashing on real life religious beliefs, I try to steer clear of them.
4.Forgotten Realms run by a Fanboy(or Fangirl): I don't mind the Realms; they can be good if done right. But if you have a fanboy running them, they can be a disaster (Look it's Drizzt Do'Urden!)
5. Ultra-heavy role-playing, but no action: Don't get me wrong, I love role playing interesting characters and a neat story, but I also like action, whether it be epic fights, or surviving deadly dungeons. I hate games in which players spend entire sessions negotiating with or talking to NPCs with no action going on.
1. Grim/Gritty-Life is Cheap(tm) style games: I've played in some of these before and hated them. I want to play larger than life heroes not some average Joe. I prefer to have at least a chance of surviving, not being killed at the drop of the hat.
2. Angsty/Dark/"Woe is me" games: I game to have a good time and slack of a little. I don't game to feel depressed. Besides, I've had enough tragedy in my own life, I don't need to further it in a game.
3. Anti-Christian (or Jewish, Muslim, etc.) games: I don't mind pagan gods in campaign since it's a mythological world, but when certain games(Demon, Kult, etc.) start bashing on real life religious beliefs, I try to steer clear of them.
4.Forgotten Realms run by a Fanboy(or Fangirl): I don't mind the Realms; they can be good if done right. But if you have a fanboy running them, they can be a disaster (Look it's Drizzt Do'Urden!)
5. Ultra-heavy role-playing, but no action: Don't get me wrong, I love role playing interesting characters and a neat story, but I also like action, whether it be epic fights, or surviving deadly dungeons. I hate games in which players spend entire sessions negotiating with or talking to NPCs with no action going on.
Darrin Drader
Explorer
Flexor the Mighty! said:
**GURPS!**
Oh, excuse me. That was rude.
Black Omega
First Post
rounser said:Well, I think you're all WRONG.
There's fun silliness and then there's lame silliness...
Some of the most memorable campaigns I've been involved in have been unashamedly silly, but the silliness usually came from the players or the playing style, coupled with an on-the-fly DMing style...stupid antics with cursed magic items and peasants, holidays in the abyss, very badly botched attempts to infiltrate a castle without setting off an alarm, fireballs aimed at harmless woodland creatures etc. A bit of fun, you know? Hackmaster supports this style of play very well...
Who's with me?
Not I. Sorry. Player induced antics can be fun. The savage herd of squirrels in my game is certainly remembered. But it works because it's the exception. I would certainly remember a campaign like you mention above, but it would be more in the sense of 'I never want to do that again.' But then again, I've never found a use for Hackmaster personally either.
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