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Comedy relief in games?
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<blockquote data-quote="delericho" data-source="post: 2417401" data-attributes="member: 22424"><p>I think most effective humour in D&D is likely to take the form of character-based comedy. Slapstick is very difficult to pull off when all you've got is your ability to describe scenes, and most wit requires you to be really quick on your feet, which is fairly rare. (However, if you're running a swashbuckler-style game, you might want to introduce some sort of "comedy fumbles" rules, probably to be used only when the PCs aren't in any real danger.)</p><p></p><p>It's important also to remember that there's a very fine line between not enough and too much when humour is concerned. The flaming rapier described, for instance, can be funny if mentioned once or twice, but will rapidly become extremely annoying if overdone.</p><p></p><p>Probably the best 'comedy' character I used was Meepo, the iconic kobold. I had actually lifted him out of the Sunless Citadel to play a slightly different role in my campaign. Little did I realise that the party were going to abduct the poor kobold, and adopt him as a kind of mascot/spear carrier/henchman.</p><p></p><p>Anyway, I really hammed up the character. Basically, he adopted the same mannerisms as Gollum in the films, but without the tormented angle (so he was funny rather than tragic). He spoke to himself, always referred to himself in third-person, and was generally pathetic. Until a few adventures had passed, when he started to get ideas, and began referring to himself as "Meepo the Mighty". Well, until that annoyed the barbarian... and then it was back to "poor, poor Meepo."</p><p></p><p>It did get old after a while. So, I pointed out to the group that they had essentially enslaved him, which wasn't really consistent with a Good alignment, so they let him go. In the middle of the next session, they were wiped out in a TPK. I guess he must have been a lucky talisman or something.</p><p></p><p>Meepo appeared again some months later, when the next group began to tie together the plot of the campaign, which brought them back to the area inhabited by the first group. There, they had to negotiate with a tribe of kobold warriors, the king of whom was a "mighty adventurer".</p><p></p><p>Ah, great days. My players still mention Meepo the Mighty fondly. I'm well pleased.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="delericho, post: 2417401, member: 22424"] I think most effective humour in D&D is likely to take the form of character-based comedy. Slapstick is very difficult to pull off when all you've got is your ability to describe scenes, and most wit requires you to be really quick on your feet, which is fairly rare. (However, if you're running a swashbuckler-style game, you might want to introduce some sort of "comedy fumbles" rules, probably to be used only when the PCs aren't in any real danger.) It's important also to remember that there's a very fine line between not enough and too much when humour is concerned. The flaming rapier described, for instance, can be funny if mentioned once or twice, but will rapidly become extremely annoying if overdone. Probably the best 'comedy' character I used was Meepo, the iconic kobold. I had actually lifted him out of the Sunless Citadel to play a slightly different role in my campaign. Little did I realise that the party were going to abduct the poor kobold, and adopt him as a kind of mascot/spear carrier/henchman. Anyway, I really hammed up the character. Basically, he adopted the same mannerisms as Gollum in the films, but without the tormented angle (so he was funny rather than tragic). He spoke to himself, always referred to himself in third-person, and was generally pathetic. Until a few adventures had passed, when he started to get ideas, and began referring to himself as "Meepo the Mighty". Well, until that annoyed the barbarian... and then it was back to "poor, poor Meepo." It did get old after a while. So, I pointed out to the group that they had essentially enslaved him, which wasn't really consistent with a Good alignment, so they let him go. In the middle of the next session, they were wiped out in a TPK. I guess he must have been a lucky talisman or something. Meepo appeared again some months later, when the next group began to tie together the plot of the campaign, which brought them back to the area inhabited by the first group. There, they had to negotiate with a tribe of kobold warriors, the king of whom was a "mighty adventurer". Ah, great days. My players still mention Meepo the Mighty fondly. I'm well pleased. [/QUOTE]
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