D&D General Comic Relief Villains

[Fauchard1520]

"Heroic fantasy" never entirely worked for me because PCs are almost universally goofballs.

That's the issue in a nutshell. It seems like you can either let them get it out of their system and then steer the campaign towards a more serious tone (see also slappy), or you can just join the fun and go the Xykon route. Weighing the pros and cons of the approaches is where I'm at right now.

 

[Blackrat]

Speaking of gungans, I had a gungan assassin/bounty hunter as an adversary in SW game once. He was very much the bumbling idiot that everyone expected him to be. Except when it came time to roll init. He gave the team a fight for their lives, dual wielding lightsaber-nunchucks and leaping around the battlefield

 

[R_J_K75]

Me and a friend were co-DMing a 2E game in the 90s where every so often we'd randomly insert an aged rock star into the game for comic relief. They'd be transported from earth and left momentarily dazed and confused, (no pun intended) by their surroundings. The two that come to mind specifically was Ronnie James Dio getting his head lopped off by a Natural 20, and the PCs putting Glen Frey in shackles and enslaving him making him tend the fields of their farm. The running joke for years was that Keith Richards was the Lich-God behind the entire multiverse.

 

[Richards]

I also recall I once used a "comic relief" villain in a Champions superhero adventure. It was a solo campaign - my son was playing an Iron Man type of armored superhero named Jetstar - and I had him fight a party clown (who made balloon animals) who had recently been struck by lightning and gained super speed as a result. Taking the supervillain name "Velocilaughter" he engaged in a reign of mischief, secure in the belief nobody was quick enough to stop him. Sure enough, when Jetstar first engaged him in battle he had his combat armor defaced by Velocilaughter with spray paint (a graphic image of male genitalia and some crude language) in a matter of mere seconds. Jetstar eventually lured Velocilaughter into the men's room of a downtown bar where the super-fast clown didn't have enough room to maneuver, thereby negating the effects of his superspeed and allowing Jetstar to take him down with a series of well-placed energy blasts.

Johnathan

 

[Eltab]

Sure enough, when Jetstar first engaged him in battle he had his combat armor defaced by Velocilaughter with spray paint (a graphic image of male genitalia and some crude language) in a matter of mere seconds. Jetstar eventually lured Velocilaughter into the men's room of a downtown bar where the super-fast clown didn't have enough room to maneuver, thereby negating the effects of his superspeed and allowing Jetstar to take him down with a series of well-placed energy blasts.

Did he give the villain a swirly after defeating him and before calling the cops?

 

[TarragonVix]

My campaigns were always serious so the one time I tried a funny villan, it paid off big time. I put the group though a tense, scary dungeon crawl featuring lots of deadly traps & undead. I scared the hell out of them. They met a ghoul who told the adventures his master was the most horrible necromancer in the realms. It told the group they will rather die than encounter him. When they met the necromancer, I didn't make him a stereotypical powerful evil mastermind. I made him an short, overweight, scared bumbling idiot. I played him WAY over the top with his megalomania and evil mustache twirling zeal. He declared in his high pitch & cracking voice "You will rue the day you crossed THE MIGHTY TANG!" The ghouls with him face palmed and said "help us! He's horrible." My group couldn't quit laughing. Yeah, it helps if you know me & that's not my usual thing. The best part was they didn't kill him. They captured & interrogated him then sent him to jail. I got to bring him back often for a while. He was a blast to play. Almost 20 years later, all my friend's can remember about my campaigns were how scary & tense I could make them. And The Mighty Tang!

 

[Fauchard1520]

Almost 20 years later, all my friend's can remember about my campaigns were how scary & tense I could make them. And The Mighty Tang!

I think the concept of dynamics is interesting here. You set a baseline and then break it for additional effect. That might be the key in making the comedy work: it's exceptional when it does come up, so it doesn't have a chance to become played-out.

 

[toucanbuzz]

Have you ever used a less-than-serious villain in a game? Did the tone shift work, or did you find yourself pining for more serious forms of villainy?

Sorta. I don't use comic relief for primary villains. It doesn't fit the tone. But, that doesn't mean that I won't spice things up. For example, in a recent adaptation of the classic "Savage Tide" campaign path, the lair of the leader of a gang had in it (pre-written in the adventure, kudos authors) her collection of spicy pirate romance novels (I made up some titles) and sexy lingerie. It added an additional layer, albeit somewhat goofy, to the campaign. But, it had a purpose, and I'm of the same mindset: use comical if it makes the world make more sense.

In her case, it did. The party was chasing the guild leader's lover, who had killed his family and stolen his inheritance with help of the gang. But why would this vicious gang leader tolerate this fop? Well, through the adventure, they come to find he "swept her off her feet," much in the nature of her books. Despite all her viciousness, she's got a soft spot for the character and he fit the mold. So, this "less than serious" material of finding her romance novels and sexy silk gowns ties into why things played out the way they did. And, in the end, this makes this bad guy even more despicable. He's not elite, he's not a skilled warrior or wizard. He's simply skilled at reading and manipulating people.

 

[Fauchard1520]

So, this "less than serious" material of finding her romance novels and sexy silk gowns ties into why things played out the way they did. And, in the end, this makes this bad guy even more despicable. He's not elite, he's not a skilled warrior or wizard. He's simply skilled at reading and manipulating people.

Well now you've got me curious. What became of the gang leader? Did her comic overtones make her a redeemable villain, or did she get tossed onto the dead bad guy pile with the rest of 'em?

 

[toucanbuzz]

Well now you've got me curious. What became of the gang leader? Did her comic overtones make her a redeemable villain, or did she get tossed onto the dead bad guy pile with the rest of 'em?

SPOILER FOR SAVAGE TIDE

Covid put our game on hold, but currently she's alive and out for revenge after the party wiped out her guild, took her books, and looted her treasury (returning most of it to the people from which she stole). They're on a months-long ship ride to the Isle of Dread, and she's covertly on the ship, trying to sabotage and kill them, which isn't easy when you're talking a tightly packed caravel, even with magic. The party knows someone is out to get them and assumes it's a passenger. Alas, her comic relief part is over, though I have no idea what will happen if they catch her (and it's likely only a matter of time).

Now that we mention the guild, the biggest laugh was finding the guild's kobold cook, whose name was "Churtle." One of my players immediately began laughing when the cowardly kobold said its name. Apparently, and I didn't know it at the time, "churtle" is a slang word for vomit. I presume the author had a clever sense of humor to slip that in there. That's the kind of subtle comic relief I look for.