Gaming catchphrases, expressions, and idioms--what are yours?

[Tsyr]

We have a few...

1: You think it's a troglodite: Someone was trying to identify the footprints of a of a creature we were tracking, but they failed criticly... the DM told the character he was sure it was a troglodyte (It was a dire something or other... boar I think, but it's been a while)... every since then, "You think it's a troglodite" has been come or catch phrase for a critical failure... or anything else involving troglodite... for example, failing to read an old book: "You think it's a troglodite romance novel", or failing a listen check "You hear troglodites"

2: Lawful somethinghole: We used to have a player who, no matter what alignment he played, his characters were... well... yeah. We always called his character alignment the above... and it's sorta stayed with us, even though he moved away.

3: Whatever you do, do NOT defile the altar: We had a player who played with us a handful of times... she didn't work out... We were in a dungeon, hunting down a goblinoid cult... We found an altar to the goblins god... said god's avatar attacked us... We had almost defeated him, when the newbie, for no reason she was ever able to explain, called out "I defile the altar!"... TPK.

 

[Psion]

"You implode"
The ultimate death scenario. The character is completely gone. Nothing left to raise. Generally utilized as a threat to get an annoying player to shut-up or calm down.

Yeah... I use the somewhat tamer "you explode" in this situation... primarily as a flashback to Time Bandits where the uber powerful villain temporarily destroys minions he is annoyed at.

 

[Stormwynd]

I play a fighter/sorcerer (going for spellsword) in a campaign. He doesn't wear armor but frequently ends up in melee, so one spell had been his constant mainstay: "I cast shield."

Now when we enounter danger someone frequently says "Dalin casts shield".

It has even made it into a drinking game proposed by another player.
Rule #1: Take a drink whenever Dalin casts shield.

 

[Piratecat]

In Sagiro's campaign, we were on our third game when we killed a bunch of cultists. Out of nowhere, Tor (the fighter) announces, "I cut him open and suck all of the XP out of his XP gland." It now has become a tradition after killing monsters to look for the XP gland where all of its experience is stored.

When Dr. Rictus (Tim) joined my game, we were all astonished by his rules knowledge. Sagiro's and mine is pretty good, but Dr. Rictus just blows us away. This was brought poignantly home when someone had to turn undead and without even thinking about it Tim said "Page 139." He then had the good graces to look embarrassed, but it was too late. "Hey look!" someone said. "Push Tim's tummy and he spouts rules!" Now, every time someone needs to look up or recite a rule, we refer to it as "Pushing Tim's tummy." Even better, one of our players (Blackjack) has no idea what most of the obscure rules are, so he refers to himself as the "anti-tummy" and answers rules question with elaborately incorrect answers.

We have a number of in-game sayings. Rule One is "Never give the DM any ideas." Rule Two is "Don't gloat before striking." (This came from a PC who had an enemy trapped and helpless. He gave a little gloating speech and swung - and fumbled. The enemy grabbed his dropped weapon, did a little gloating speech of his own - and fumbled. Sad, really.)

 

[Glaurung]

"Suddenly, nothing happens"- a phrase often used by the DM when rolling encounter checks

"stanstone" -we had a DM named Stan for a while who always used stone in every building that was immune to any sort of physical or magical force. This nigh indestructible rock is referred to as stanstone

"there are no rocks in the forest" -we had a really vicious DM who gave us no breaks. I had a halfling slinger who ran out of slingstones while in the forest-this quote ensued and is used whenever the DM describes a patently ridiculous situation

"pink mist" -whenever an enemy or PC is so horribly slaughtered that nothing at all remains of him--as in the fighter pink-misted the orc.

 

[jollyninja]

a character of mine had been put in charge of the law enforcement of a city. of course the first thing he did was to make the party members special "constables" giving them the power to act as he would. the halfling rogue constantly refered to his job as "constabulating" or "constabulation" and it stuck. now every time we try to solve a mystery or aprehend a criminal, we are constabulating.

 

[Holy Bovine]

In Sagiro's campaign, we were on our third game when we killed a bunch of cultists. Out of nowhere, Tor (the fighter) announces, "I cut him open and suck all of the XP out of his XP gland." It now has become a tradition after killing monsters to look for the XP gland where all of its experience is stored.

*gasp* *wheeze* *choke*


Oh, god - XP gland!



breaks down in hystyerical fits of laughter


slluuuuuuurrrrrrrpppp!!!

 

[Teflon Billy]

When we rolled dice, and they landed askew (like halfway on a stack of paper, or sitting in a crack in the table) and we felt the number shown was unclear, the die was refered to as being "C0cked"

In recent years we have changed the gender of that term.

I'll leave it to you to decipher what term we use, but here is a hint: it still starts witht he same letter

My group rules

 

[Talath]

1. The Ass Mantle

In my group, we often say demented and very wrong things (like most groups I imagine). But when one of us says something really wrong, then that player gets the Ass Mantle, because he is a huge ass and deserves a special mantle to show he is an ass. The Ass Mantle has a special calling ability, so when you say something really stupid, just snap your fingers.

2. The Bashing Light

In my group, we have a tendency to make hilarious and twisted comments about people who aren't in the immediate area. If we keep insulting that person long enough, we say the bashing light is indeed on. The joke comes from airplanes with seatbelt lights.

3. Thats What She Said.

Sometimes one of us says something which can be taken the wrong way (for example, "take that out of your mouth") and then one of us will say in response, "Thats what she said".

4. Where's the Paladin? Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

Back in a Basic Set D&D game, I was running Keep on the Borderlands. The fighter and the paladin (custom class for the player) were fighting it, and well, the minotaur threw the paladin out of the cave. At the same exact moment, one of the players at the camp said out loud "Where's the Paladin?" Suddenly, he heard the paladin yelling as he was thrown out.

There is probably more, but I'm too lazy to think of them.

 

[Tewligan]

When we rolled dice, and they landed askew (like halfway on a stack of paper, or sitting in a crack in the table) and we felt the number shown was unclear, the die was refered to as being "C0cked"

In recent years we have changed the gender of that term.

I'll leave it to you to decipher what term we use, but here is a hint: it still starts witht he same letter

My group rules

Chickened?
(I know, I know...funny me.)

 

[Zappo]

Hm... we have those, but they are in Italian. Still...

...think about saying "Resurrectize" instead of "Resurrect".

Also, any direct damage spell is called a word which translates as "Shot", as in: "You have any shots left?"
Oh, and whenever my character has to describe an NPC, I always say (literally) "We're looking for someone made like this and that, have you seen him?"

Whenever we're in a situation where another PC is about to shoot/fireball/attack a mechanical or magical item, I often say "Don't do it, it may explode!", or "Stop, it will explode!" - this was developed because of a series of Cyberpunk games where we blew up countless cars, trucks, computers, and everything, everytime it took even minor damage. Like, I drive a truck through the desert, I fail my drive check, and bump into a sand dune; after a few minutes, the truck blows up in a big fireball. A car that was nearby subsequently blows up.

Another one is:
Player: "I enter the room with caution, care and attention".
DM: "You don't all fit into the room", or: "Ok, but Caution steps on a twig and gets noticed".

Whenever the situation is completely silent and we know something bad is about to happen, out Cyberpunk DM will make a windy noise, move his hand across the table, and say "A tumbleweed passes". Whether we are in a desert, in a city, or in a small hallway, it makes no difference.

Whenever the party is using excessive caution to explore something that I know is perfectly empty, the DM (me) often states "There is...", followed by something completely insane - like,
Player: "I enter the room, moving silently and hiding in shadows, very carefully".
DM: "It's an empty 3x3 room".
Player: "Empty? I look carefully around"
DM: "Actually, there are two liches, a beholder, a great wyrm red dragon and three pit fiends. You can tell the beholder has 15 sorcerer levels".
Or,
Player: "I open the chest".
DM: "It's empty, except for some dust".
Player: "I search for a false bottom". (rolls)
DM: "Nothing".
Player: "I search some more". (rolls)
DM: "Nothing".
Player: "I take 20 and search very well".
DM: "In fact, there is a secret compartment with a long sword +5 vorpal keen flaming, a full plate of invulnerability +4 in mithril, a billion GP, a ring of wishes and a small castle".
Or,
Player: "I read the evil wizard's spellbook"
DM: "Nothing interesting, it only has spells you alread know".
Player: "Nothing else?"
DM: "Yep"
Player: "I search it for hidden pages, and I pass it above a candle's flame for invisible ink"
DM: "You find it contains Mordenkainen's Disjunction, Meteor Storm, Imprisonment, three copies of Wish, Time Stop, and a custom-made first level spell which deals 12d8 damage with no save and can be cast as a free action".

Or, if the current enemy is clearly and utterly defeated and he knows it and his turn is coming:
DM: "He casts Haste, Time Stop, Meteor Storm, Horrid Wilting, Horrid Wilting, Time Stop, Horrid Wilting, Meteor Storm, Meteor Storm, Time Stop (he's got scrolls), Disintegrate, Disintegrate, Meteor Storm, Time Stop, Haste, Horrid Wilting, and a quad-empowered, maximized Magic Missile".
And, if a character (PC or not) has just been hit by something massive which dealt about ten times the HP he had, or a similar situation, I usually say, "...but you/he can still save for half". Like,
Player: "Chain Lightning on the kobolds. 75 damage".
DM: "Well, they can still save for half".
Or (variant),
DM: "Each wizard of the enclave casts Hold Person on you. There are 49 of them. You may still save against all, of course".

Sometimes I use them in combination:
"He casts Haste, Time Stop, [...], and three Fireballs, dealing 3612 damage to you. You can still save for half, though".

 

[Tewligan]

1. "To The Books!"
Called out in a dramatic "To the Batmobile!" voice when a rule is questioned and everyone simultaneously reaches for their books and races to be first with the answer.

2. The Pat Hat
Named after a former player who was notorious for doing stupid things that endangered himself and/or the party, the Pat Hat is a conical dunce-style hat made out of brown paper, festooned with stars and the words "Pat Hat." Doing something dangerously stupid during a game has been known to provoke other players into chanting "Pat Hat! Pat Hat!" until the offender puts on the hat, occasionally with a photograph to commemorate the wearing. I wear the Pat Hat more than I care to think about...

3. "No, I Don't"
When we played in college years ago, I got in the habit of saying "No, I don't" when the DM told me I took damage, had to make a saving throw, or anything else that meant pain was in my character's immediate future. The DM would automatically say "Yes, you do", I'd say okay, and we'd move on. One summer, a couple of us went to a small local con and played in a game together with a DM and some other players we didn't know. At one point, the DM told me I had to make a save vs. poison, to which I said "No, I don't." He gave me a baffled look, looked over my character sheet in search of some power or item he had forgotten about, and said in an uncertain voice "Yes, you do." "Oh, okay" I said, and on we went.

 

[zilch]

"You punch yourself in the eye"

This came from me (the DM) when my group was experimenting with critical miss house rules. The monk rolled a one.

[Edit]
Oh, and my signature came from when the party was in another plane, full of humanoid animals.

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

"Limestone or Granite?"

We had one player who was always really interested in the realism of the surroundings, and got really upset once because the baron who was hiring us to investigate a suddenly appearing swamp didn't know the primary geological composition of the surrounding area. Ever since, every time we see a rock, cave, or mountain, we ask the DM if it's limestone or granite (often in quite angry and aggressive tones).

"Nine and a half foot pole"

I was playing a halfling wizard with a bag of holding. I asked the DM if I could fit a ten foot pole in the bag. He said not only could it not fit in the bag, but a three foot halfling couldn't use a ten foot pole. I grumbled for a bit, but let the matter go. Later on, when we came to something that needed poking, I pulled out a nine and a half foot pole.

Every halfling since has always had a nine and a half foot pole as part of his gear.

"I'm attacking the darkness!"

Self-explanatory. Kudos to the Dead Alemen.

 

[Piratecat]

Kudos to the Dead Alemen.

The Dead Alewives, actually. An alewife is a type of freshwater herring.

Go figure.

I think their website is www.deadalewives.com.

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

The Dead Alewives, actually. An alewife is a type of freshwater herring.

Go figure.

I think their website is www.deadalewives.com.

I knew Alemen sounded wrong. Thanks.

 

[DM with a vengence]

"I walk up to the creature, look it in the eyes, and say, 'That's not very nice.'"
This came from when the party was fighting a basilisk, and the rogue decided that he just wanted to do something random.
BTW, does anybody know a good way to turn a statue back into a rogue.

 

[dcorbin]

Two sayings come to mind (these from the mid 80's):

"I am Carl Lewis", short for "I am Carl Lewis, fastest man alive" which basically meant that character was running for all he was worth.

and

"Toast". indicating the discharge of a fireball. "Those orcs are toast" (this one seem like it might be so common it's not worth mentioning, but I have, and you'll have to live with it )

 

[Richards]

My youngest son is currently running a 12th-level male human fighter that has managed to get himself killed once in every adventure he's been in so far. (It's not quite as bad as it seems; he was a replacement for a slain PC and was built at 9th or 10th level.) Anyway, he was swallowed by an advanced behir during our last gaming session and I was describing how much acid and grinding damage he'd be taking each round in the behir's gullet. He wasn't impressed - his comment was "Eh, I've been killed by worse."

That's going to be his new catch phrase.

Johnathan

 

[toberane]

We had a DM one time who couldn't stand those little one or two word hanging sentences people always throw out, like "So..." or "Anyway..."

Everytime someone used these he had the same comebacks. Let's see how many I can remember:

PC: "So..."
DM: "Peter Gabriel, 1984" (Peter Gabriel put out an album entitled "So" in 1984)

PC: "Anyway..."
DM: "Left."

PC: "Well..."
DM: "That's a very deep subject."

PC: "OK..."
DM: "Fifteenth and eleventh letters of the alphabet. What's your point?"

there were others, but I can't remember them right now.

If you were to use any of the above phrases in combination, so would the DM.

PC: "So, anyway..."
DM: "Peter Gabriel, 1984. Left."

You can imagine how annoying this got after gaming with the guy for a few years.