D&D Memory Lane

[UniversalMonster]

I'm a 3e guy now, but I've been playing D&D in various editions since 1978. One story I was thinking about recently is a situation that happened recurrently throughout my junior high/high school period.

This happened at least 4 times with totally different groups and different players. The players woul arrive at some kind of dangerous portal- the classic was some kind of demonic looking archway carved with horrible figures and crackling with energy. Nearly every possible clue said "don't go in there", but you know, going in is going to be cause something weird to happen, and that's always funny.

Nearly every time the players would deliberate for a while about how to proceed, and eventually someone would say "I grab the magic-user's familiar and toss it in!"

Every tme I was floored by this, because it was totally different people each time. And the player that grabbed the familiar was never the wizard himself. It was usally the dwarf or the fighter.
One time, I remember the group had a gnome illusionist. The party leader grabbed HIM and threw him into a some kind of dimensional vortex.

Is this like.. some kind of tradition?

 

[Trainz]

Well...

1st Ed. AD&D:

My friend played a paladin and I played a Chaotic Neutral Grugach (Wild Elf) Thief.

We come to a room filled with water with a pipe on the opposite wall where the water comes from. The wizard dips his non-magical staff in the water, only to find that a foot was cleanly shaved off from the staff.

"Darn... did the water disintegrate the end of the staff, or is it actually a gate ?"

Paladin (to me):"Since you're good at climbing walls, go inspect the pipe where the water comes from"

Me:"Yes ? I will ? (pointing to his holy symbol) You told me earlier that your god protects you and is strong"

Paladin:"Absolutely"

Me:"Then you won't mind, of course, lending me your holy symbol, so that your god can protect me in this most hazardous task"

All other players looking at paladin.

Paladin: (Grim look)"........ no. Of course."

Paladin gives holy symbol to the thief. Hatred showing in his eyes.

Thief (me) wraps holy symbol around left arm, smiles, and start climbing the wall. I get to the other side and inspect the protuding tube. Nothing special, except for the weird water coming out of it.

Thief: (to Paladin at other side of the room with rest of party) "Let's see how strong your god really is" Holding the holy symbol by the chain, dips the medallion in the stream of water: holy symbol vanishes.

Paladin screams with rage unsheating his sword and rushes at thief; walks in water: Paladin vanishes.

Rest of party: dear-in-the-headlights look.

Thief (me) cocky grin at party, let go of the hand-holds, fall in water, vanishes.

We appeared in a room where a giant attacked us and we BARELY defeated him. Actually, the paladin was at negative HP's and I finished it. When he came to, I gave him back his holy symbol and grinned:"You where right. Your god IS strong."

One of the best RP moments I had.

Although we where very much opposed in our views, the Thief and the Paladin became quite the team, the Paladin chastising the Thief, the Thief making fun of his views, but always watching each-other's back when in a tough spot.

Memory lane indeed.

 

[Cedric]

Never had someone toss the familiar. We always had at least one player that couldn't resist and just jumps right on through.

That only resulted in a TPK once. And the GM realized he could never throw those kinds of traps at us, cause we would all die. Not being willing to abandon our friend to whatever fate awaited him on the other side.

Cedric

 

[Grazzt]

Never had someone toss the familiar. We always had at least one player that couldn't resist and just jumps right on through.

Cedric

Yep- this happened quite a bit in games I DMed or played in...particularly when Tomb of Horrors was still new and people didn't know about the "Great Green Devil Face" and the other doorways.

 

[Doppleganger]

Happened then, still happens now. After much deliberation and contemplation, one player in the group always ends up saying, "Aw, screw it, I'm going in!!". They never learn.

 

[UniversalMonster]

I *like* when they jump into danger. I think it's great, actually. I don't want to discourage it, but if I don't do anything uniquely horrifying to them, the whole idea of them jumping into a danger becomes less cool too.

I put a trap like that in one of my adventures last year- a portal where the first person to go through the portal would be polymorphed into a monster, silenced, and then forced to attack his teammates for a couple of rounds.

My players took one look at that portal and decided to figure out a way around it. They wouldn't touch it!

 

[Drawmack]

My players completely distrust mirrors.

Just because in one adventure all the mirrors were either scrying devices or portals to other dimensions. They won't even look into mirrrors anymore.

 

[aliensex]

Ah yes, I now have one player who will attack statues almost on sight. And now, after a fun Cloaker incident, has broadened his hatred to almost all inanimate objects

 

[Drawmack]

Ah yes, I now have one player who will attack statues almost on sight. And now, after a fun Cloaker incident, has broadened his hatred to almost all inanimate objects

This reminds me of a memory lane story:

DM: Walking through the redwood forest you come to a tree that has a hollowed out trunk.

Player: I look inside

DM: It looks like a temporary shelter, probably a rangers refuge from storms.

Player: I go in and look around.

DM: There is a pile of straw that could be used for a bed, a small beatup journal, an old kerosene lamp and a BRAND SPANKING NEW cloak.

Player: I grab the cloak

DM: You see this - holds up a picture of the cloaker from the MM.

 

[Henry]

The D&D tradition in our group is "Ah, Screw it."

This was started about 6 years ago by one of the players, whose PC was a wizard with Boots of Fire Resistance, and an unhealthy fixation with the Fireball spell. Any time the opposition seemed difficult, he would fry them with a Fireball spell - even in close quarters, back in the days when Fireballs would expand to fill equivalent space.

From then on, even today, any time a PC is about to unleash something that could mean the death of both foe and party, he or she yells, "Ah, Screw it." The rest know what this means, and accordingly flee.