Clowns as villains
Thresher
First Post
hmmm, many many years ago, think it was the real early 90's a friend ran what was going to be a one-off game under 2E mostly just to get familiar with the rules. We where going to be in some sort of 'Champions of the gods' thing he'd contrived and our group was to take on some of the other gods champions and kick their arses.
Basically pick a god and you became his representative, any alignment, race, class, other crap...etc, etc.
DM wanted to learn the rules, players got a chance to get in touch with their inner munchkin, it was all fun really.
I was running short on character ideas, not an uncommon occourance for me, it usually takes me about 2-3 weeks to make one up with backstory and all so I didnt exactly have much time as I would have liked.
So here we go, everyones rolled up everything from githyanki to drow and other exotic critters and playing all the kewl classes and I rolled up with a level 5 human, fighter.
Pretty crap stats, pretty crap class back then and not a real hope when I told them he was only armed with a meat cleaver (gave it same stats as a broadsword), a clownsuit, two legs and a bad attitude.
Uncle Bunky was spawned
I had a 1D8 table next to him and every 60minutes I rolled a new alignment...
Somehow the SoB lived, crawling out of fights with 2-3hps left when all the others where ganked mercilously the lucky bastard managed to kill every MF that attacked us... though while we where prohibited from killing each other the odd cleaver to someones back once in awhile slipped out when he was being chaotic naughty.
He also had a psychopathic hatred for short people (anyone shorter than him) which led to a suicidal raid into a gnomish naptha factory with a lit torch and only lived through that one through dumb luck and a stupid amount of hit points. (But D&D is a bit like that.) Then all the gnomes where fed to the large dire sabretooth tiger he'd managed to befriend, and there was much rejoicing because that meant it was fed and wouldnt eat a random party member that day.
This sillyness went on for about half a dozen gaming sessions, everyone else was out of ideas to munch out on after dying about 20 times over and Greame threw in the towel because the bastard lived and just wouldnt die!
The horrible, evil clown just lived, fireballs, dragons, swarms of orcs, circus midgets and whatever else got thrown at him there would always be the mongrel (by this stage 9th level) fighter clown standing at the end of the game.
So, it still stands if a GM off's my character unfairly from that fatefull day onward.
He'll be back...
Basically pick a god and you became his representative, any alignment, race, class, other crap...etc, etc.
DM wanted to learn the rules, players got a chance to get in touch with their inner munchkin, it was all fun really.
I was running short on character ideas, not an uncommon occourance for me, it usually takes me about 2-3 weeks to make one up with backstory and all so I didnt exactly have much time as I would have liked.
So here we go, everyones rolled up everything from githyanki to drow and other exotic critters and playing all the kewl classes and I rolled up with a level 5 human, fighter.
Pretty crap stats, pretty crap class back then and not a real hope when I told them he was only armed with a meat cleaver (gave it same stats as a broadsword), a clownsuit, two legs and a bad attitude.
Uncle Bunky was spawned
I had a 1D8 table next to him and every 60minutes I rolled a new alignment...
Somehow the SoB lived, crawling out of fights with 2-3hps left when all the others where ganked mercilously the lucky bastard managed to kill every MF that attacked us... though while we where prohibited from killing each other the odd cleaver to someones back once in awhile slipped out when he was being chaotic naughty.
He also had a psychopathic hatred for short people (anyone shorter than him) which led to a suicidal raid into a gnomish naptha factory with a lit torch and only lived through that one through dumb luck and a stupid amount of hit points. (But D&D is a bit like that.) Then all the gnomes where fed to the large dire sabretooth tiger he'd managed to befriend, and there was much rejoicing because that meant it was fed and wouldnt eat a random party member that day.
This sillyness went on for about half a dozen gaming sessions, everyone else was out of ideas to munch out on after dying about 20 times over and Greame threw in the towel because the bastard lived and just wouldnt die!
The horrible, evil clown just lived, fireballs, dragons, swarms of orcs, circus midgets and whatever else got thrown at him there would always be the mongrel (by this stage 9th level) fighter clown standing at the end of the game.
So, it still stands if a GM off's my character unfairly from that fatefull day onward.
He'll be back...
BigFreekinGoblinoid
First Post
Djeta Thernadier
First Post
I'm in the process of creating a traveling carnival for another game (I'm not involved in it) and I never really thought about killer clowns...
but who knows...
they are pretty darn creepy.
but who knows...
they are pretty darn creepy.
Wombat
First Post
Hmm, my major use of clowns in a roleplaying game was in Over The Edge when Little Elbert and his Clown Liberation Front fought against the D'Aubainne government over rights for illegal clowns (sneaking in over the border everyday, but distinguished easily by the pasty skin, bright red noses, and size 48EEEE shoes...).
It led to a very weird and fun campaign
It led to a very weird and fun campaign
DaveStebbins
First Post
Years ago I wrote a scenario where a mage basically failed his sanity check and changed his name to Harlequin; wore the outfit and everything. Eventually tried to summon some sort of dark one and ended up buried beneath an elder sign.
When the PCs explored his castle, he was long gone, but in the main gathering room there was a life-size statue in a harlequin's outfit. It was actually a flesh golem. When touched, it jerked to life and began to perform a flopsy, rag-doll dance which lasted for several rounds. The players had decided it was just a harmless entertainment thing, so the look on their faces when it went berserk and started pounding the heck out of the PCs was priceless.
-Dave
[probably doesn't help, but it did bring back a cool memory]
When the PCs explored his castle, he was long gone, but in the main gathering room there was a life-size statue in a harlequin's outfit. It was actually a flesh golem. When touched, it jerked to life and began to perform a flopsy, rag-doll dance which lasted for several rounds. The players had decided it was just a harmless entertainment thing, so the look on their faces when it went berserk and started pounding the heck out of the PCs was priceless.
-Dave
[probably doesn't help, but it did bring back a cool memory]
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Stormfalcon
First Post
Hmmm...closest thing I've come to unleashing clowns on my players was to subject my Paranoia players to funbots years ago. Too bad I never really got the chance to use one of my more depraved ideas: sticking them with a variable fighterbot with a recycled funbot brain. At least not yet...I can't wait until Paranoia ME.
Stone Angel
First Post
I bought a source book called "villains" can't think of what company makes them *tired* but one of their npc's is named Rictus Killgrave a vampiric clown with a vampiric dire lion for a compainion. I bought the gauntfield scarecrow mini from reaper and painted a clown face on it. We had a good time the circus would go from town to town leave only the dead and vampire spawn in there wake and the group of pc's would hunt them down never knowing where they would wind up next.
