Stormrunner
Explorer
I may have posted these in another thread (too many forums, not enough memory cells) but here goes:
Cthulhu-esque game set in 1940's. The party is chasing a shapeshifting BBEG and suspect it may be hiding among a herd of cows. Problem is how to examine the cows without running afoul of the shotgun-toting farmer. One player has the idea of posing as health inspectors trying to stem an outbreak of brucellosis.
Another player: "Brew-cell-whatsis?"
DM: "Brucellosis, it's a cattle disease, causes spontaneous, um..."
All the players, in unison, eagerly: "Combustion?"
DM (head in hands): "NO, you idiots ... abortion, spontaneous abortion, the cows lose their calves..."
Maybe you had to be there, but just the fact that all the players, simultaneously and without any prompting or planning, leapt to the same wrong conclusion, struck us as funny and "spontaneous combustion" became a running joke in the campaign.
Convention one-shot, AD&D homebrew, "bring your own character": I brought Stormrunner. Party is shipwrecked on an island with no equipment. Stormy is unfazed as she doesn't wear clothes or armor anyway, and her skill choices focus on wilderness survival with little or no equipment. Stumbling about the island looking for a way off, we encounter a rickety hut of driftwood and palm leaves, inhabited by what appears to be a stereotypical "old witch", pointy black hat, bubbling cauldron, and everything. One of the less-diplomatic party members ticks the witch off, and she casts a spell which summons a swarm of bees to attack a random party member. Stormy gets targeted, fails her save against the swarm's magical fear effect, and is Panicked, sent fleeing in a random direction. DM rolls the dice for direction (in the open) and starts laughing.
"The centauress gallops NW - straight into the witch's hut. BAM! centaur-shaped hole in the front wall. CLANG! She knocks over the cauldron. BAM! centaur-shaped hole in the back wall. CREEAK! The hut, minus two walls, folds up like a house of cards. "
By this point we were all laughing.
"The witch is like," (clutches hair with both hands) "AAIIEEEEE! My hut!"
Needless to say the witch was really pissed off now, and the party had a tough fight, with their main "tank" galloping off into the distance pursued by a swarm of bees.
Cthulhu-esque game set in 1940's. The party is chasing a shapeshifting BBEG and suspect it may be hiding among a herd of cows. Problem is how to examine the cows without running afoul of the shotgun-toting farmer. One player has the idea of posing as health inspectors trying to stem an outbreak of brucellosis.
Another player: "Brew-cell-whatsis?"
DM: "Brucellosis, it's a cattle disease, causes spontaneous, um..."
All the players, in unison, eagerly: "Combustion?"
DM (head in hands): "NO, you idiots ... abortion, spontaneous abortion, the cows lose their calves..."
Maybe you had to be there, but just the fact that all the players, simultaneously and without any prompting or planning, leapt to the same wrong conclusion, struck us as funny and "spontaneous combustion" became a running joke in the campaign.
Convention one-shot, AD&D homebrew, "bring your own character": I brought Stormrunner. Party is shipwrecked on an island with no equipment. Stormy is unfazed as she doesn't wear clothes or armor anyway, and her skill choices focus on wilderness survival with little or no equipment. Stumbling about the island looking for a way off, we encounter a rickety hut of driftwood and palm leaves, inhabited by what appears to be a stereotypical "old witch", pointy black hat, bubbling cauldron, and everything. One of the less-diplomatic party members ticks the witch off, and she casts a spell which summons a swarm of bees to attack a random party member. Stormy gets targeted, fails her save against the swarm's magical fear effect, and is Panicked, sent fleeing in a random direction. DM rolls the dice for direction (in the open) and starts laughing.
"The centauress gallops NW - straight into the witch's hut. BAM! centaur-shaped hole in the front wall. CLANG! She knocks over the cauldron. BAM! centaur-shaped hole in the back wall. CREEAK! The hut, minus two walls, folds up like a house of cards. "
By this point we were all laughing.
"The witch is like," (clutches hair with both hands) "AAIIEEEEE! My hut!"
Needless to say the witch was really pissed off now, and the party had a tough fight, with their main "tank" galloping off into the distance pursued by a swarm of bees.
