One Thousand Ways to Freak Out Your Players

[Harlock]

454. Flaming Shield. Sure it's +5 but you take damage every round you hold it.

 

[Femerus the Gnecro]

numba 455 - 457

455. have your players roll up their PC's with 4d6, but have them drop the highest die instead of the lowest.

456. make them choose classes and races first.

457. don't let them change the order of their stats once rolled

-Femerus

 

[clark411]

Place a spear and a helmet on a pedestal in a dungeon. Have the two be immovable, but detect as magic. Set up a magic trap that casts Power Word: Kill on whomever quotes Elmer with "Speaw and Magic Helmut!" or something to that effect.

note- best used when players never stop Out of game gabbering.

 

[HalfElfSorcerer]

Place a spear and a helmet on a pedestal in a dungeon. Have the two be immovable, but detect as magic. Set up a magic trap that casts Power Word: Kill on whomever quotes Elmer with "Speaw and Magic Helmut!" or something to that effect.

Reminds me of one I posted earlier. The thing is, that cartoon really, really, REALLY bugs me sometimes (no pun intended). But I digress.

459. Work a Monty Python sketch into EVERYTHING. For example, in one tavern, everything on the menu includes Spam. A party of vikings sits at a table, and once in a while breaks into song...
"Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam,
Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam,
Lovely Spaaaaam, wonderful spaaaaam!"

 

[Delemental]

460. Have the PCs attending a fancy dinner party hosted by a local noble. During dessert, pass everyone a note saying "you detect a subtle almond taste in your wine". (This works best with paranoid players who have enough real-world knowledge of poisons to know what an almond taste usually means). After getting their reactions (spitting out liquid, dumping glasses out on floor, whatever), have the local lord become furious with them for their horrendous manners and wasting his fine almond liqueur.

 

[clark411]

461.

Have your players come across an adventure hook that takes them to a village far away, where farmers are worshipping the Great Mother, thinking they are praying to Chauntea. Problems have arisen with the corn having eyestalks where the kernels should be, and where eye tomatoes are sputtering weak rays of frost at people trying to pick them.

462.

Introduce a Pygmalion Golem into the game. Whenever anyone doesn't believe its real, it drops dead for a few hours, then gets up, and acts as if nothing happened.

 

[Daebryn Bladestorm]

463.

Have the party be picked up by a magical vortex and deposited in a halfling village being terrorized by an evil sorceress and her army of flying goblins.

Inform them that the only way to defeat the sorceress is to seek out a certain great and powerful wizard for advice.

Make sure that at some point in the adventure you have the sorceress say "I'll get you my pretties, and your little dog to!"

 

[Ferret]

464.

Create Ken and barbie creatures based on ogres(Barbied be tall in real life.) When they die, crawl into the corner and Cry.

 

[HalfElfSorcerer]

465. Once d20 Supers comes out, re-create Inspector Gadget (it has to be possible). Check your TV listings for the show, watch an episode, and take notes. Re-create that episode in your game, with the party meeting Inspector Gadget, Penny, and Brain, and learning that an evil villian known as Dr. Claw is planning some nefarious scheme or another. If you're really twisted, give Penny supernaturally high Intelligence and Wisdom scores.

 

[clark411]

466.

If your players insist on playing Diablo-style, announce at the beginning of the game that you will be setting the difficulty to "Hell", "Nightmare", or what have you. Then pull out a d30 and say "All enemies will be using these for skill checks and attack rolls."