DMs taking the piss out of own game

[hong]

This may or may not come as a surprise to people, but I'll put it out there anyway.

My Britannia 3E game has been going for about a year now, and I think it's going okay. The players seem to be having fun, and the world is taking shape nicely, based on what they've been doing. That said, a lot of the time I find I can't take my own game very seriously. I'll think up a perfectly good name for an NPC, and then seconds later, I'll find a way to make it sound absurd. Or I'll have a very straightforward plot in mind for what the PCs are supposed to do, and then I start taking the piss out of it.

I don't make fun of the PCs themselves. That's a line I don't intend to cross. But overall, my game often tends toward the sillier side of the spectrum, even though I don't intend it to.

Does anyone else have this problem?

 

[I'm A Banana]

Yeah, but I embrace it. I mean, if the PC's are willing to make gnomish frenzied berserkers and sorcerers with familiars more intelligent than they, the tone of the game is already kind of set lighthearted. Even in a more 'serious' game, some lightheartedness occurs (a mask-wearing orc of eternal ugly is one of 'em.)

And in the campaign I'm not DMing, we have a robotic donkey with laser eyes. In Ravenloft.

I mean, it's a game. If I want to tell a truly moving story, I'll get one of my shorts published.

 

[astralpwka]

All of my players realize that much of the game is going to be silly when I'm behind the DM board, even though my game is always written serious. But the group is relatively goofy anyway, so I don't think its all my fault.

 

[Silver Moon]

All of my players realize that much of the game is going to be silly when I'm behind the DM board, even though my game is always written serious. But the group is relatively goofy anyway, so I don't think its all my fault.

Ditto. Readers of my "Story Hour" already know that the plot of the module is only something used to link the jokes.

 

[Wycen]

I don't regularly put silly stuff in my games, however there is a player in our group who enjoys the lighter side of adventuring, particularly in the name department.

So long as everyone is having fun, it shouldn't be something to worry about.

 

[ciaran00]

I really dislike silliness in D&D games... I'd rather watch a sitcom. Although, you get a bunch of fellas together who're keen on relaxing by pretending to be different people who mostly tend to slaughter random strangers for items and "XPs", you're bound to get a BIT silly

ciaran

 

[hunter1828]

We joke, but not in character. The game itself isn't silly and I don't tolerate it in my game. But we joke a lot during breaks and such and it helps to ease the tension of some combat situations or tough political situations.

hunter1828

 

[hong]

I really dislike silliness in D&D games... I'd rather watch a sitcom. Although, you get a bunch of fellas together who're keen on relaxing by pretending to be different people who mostly tend to slaughter random strangers for items and "XPs", you're bound to get a BIT silly

I think I'm pretty much the same. The underlying elements of the campaign are as straight as can be: a group of adventurers who seek out and destroy evil, lots of horrible monsters who do nasty stuff, and a set of virtues as the guiding light. But in actual play, we end up making jokes about nearly everything, with me probably making more jokes than anyone else.

Which isn't _bad_, mind you; we still have a lot of fun. Usually, we also know when to stop joking around and start being serious. This tends to occur when someone is down to 10 hit points out of 100.

I don't think I could hack a purposefully silly campaign, though. That strikes me as the same as waving a "LAUGH NOW" sign or playing a laugh track and expecting that to be funny. Spontaneity is the thing.

 

[Skade]

My games have always been oppressivly serious in plot, so the characters tend to try and make jokes whenever possible. It's like a really badly done Buffy knockoff sometimes. I think its necessary for some of the tension I try and build into my games.

Now, as a player, I have a hard time playing in an evil campaign without it somehow becoming an English Crime Movie, ala Snatch or Lock, Stock and 2 Smoking Barrells. My evil characters always have thick English or Irish accents, a little dumb, and have really bad luck. It's usually pretty funny.

 

[Ranes]

Absurdity writ large is a turn-off for myself and my players but having a good laugh is great when it happens. As you say, spontaneity is a key factor. I don't mind my players making jokes, because they're witty enough to make good ones and they don't do it to the point that the game is forgotten. As a DM, I like to present the players with a fairly straight world but I'll play NPCs and monsters for laughs, from time to time. My favourite indulgence though is to describe action and events in language that ought to be cordoned off with chevroned tape and surrounded by people in white coats. This often helps frustrated players accept the most unlikely turn of events, especially if the dice have been consistently bucking probability.