RPGs and "Bodily Functions"

[Bullgrit]

Is it a common, (spoken or unspoken), agreement between DMs and Players to leave peeing and pooping out of ambush plans?

In my 30 years of RPGing, I think it has only come up twice. Once, many years ago, in a Wild West genre game, the PCs planned and executed an ambush to capture a bad guy when he went to use the outhouse. I let it happen without comment because the action was to happen when the outlaw was on the way to the outhouse, not when he was in and using it.

Then about seven years ago, the PCs were coming up with ideas for an ambush, and one of the Players suggested they pull it off while the NPC was in the latrine. I interrupted this time and offered the agreement that if they avoided doing that to the NPCs, I'd keep the NPCs from doing it to their PCs. The Player who came up with the idea started to dismiss the agreement, but the other five Players argued him down and accepted the agreement.

Other than those two instances over 30 years of playing, it has been an unspoken agreement with all DMs and Players I've ever played with. How about you and your DMs and Players?

Bullgrit

 

[Wycen]

Well, I don't know if I can say it was an agreement, no matter spoken or unspoken. I don't think I've ever noticed if we tried capturing someone in this manner.

But we've used the act of peeing to search for secret doors, so based on that, well, I suppose it would not be off limits.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Usually in D&D it's handled the same way it's handled in books and movies.

Which is to say it isn't.

 

[Dice4Hire]

My group ignores this.

 

[Argyle King]

I'm curious to see if this leads to the "Should Players With Large Bladders Have An Advantage" thread.

 

[Stormonu]

I've had players mention this before, but like Bullgrit, the threat of "NPCs can do it too" has put this matter to rest. (Movie-wise, I've seen this done twice. Once in the animated movie Fire and Ice and in a 80's or 90's western movie whose name I can't remember - I think it may have been Unforgiven; the "good guys" shoot one of the bad guys in the chest point-blank with a shotgun while doing his business in an outhouse). In a non-serious fashion, it's also been done in Austin Powers.

I've also had one group of players who wanted to ambush an opponent while he was taking a bath (like in The Good, Bad and the Ugly). Unfortunately for the group, the party blew it's attempts to sneak in and alerted the guards. By the time they got to the enemy, he was dressed and ready for them.

A few years back, I had a force of orcs attacking a small town during the night. They happened to catch one PC's character whilst in the middle of a roll in the hay with a local barmaid.

But really, is any of this different than attacking a sleeping opponent? Personally, I wouldn't resent the PCs catching an individual while indisposed if it was a normal part of adventuring, but if they were to purposely attempt to catch an opponent this way, I might feel differently.

Also, I seem to recall one of the Ravenloft supplements dealing with a "brood queen" that dwells in the sewers below a Paris-like realm of terror. If I remember correctly, the entry encouraged attacking the PCs using a privy in the area. However, I can't seem to find the supplement I'm referring to (thought it was in Darklords or Book of Crypts, but alas, I can't locate it).

 

[S'mon]

I would go with whatever's in genre. The Outhouse Ambush is in genre for a grittier sort of Western - and was a good tactic IRL. You don't see it in any fantasy book or film I've ever read or seen, so it doesn't come up in my D&D games. I'd generally assume that the fantasy-world cultural norms are more Roman than Victorian, so people are happy to pee & poop in company, so they don't go off on their own to do so, so the monsters/PCs don't get to attack lone targets, they'd just get the regular surprise round.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

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Reported.

 

[Jon_Dahl]

This has only come up once and it wasn't a very pleasant experience.
We were playing free-form superhero-RPG and I was the GM. Players managed to fight themselves to the penthouse of a demon-infested skyscraper, where people were being held as prisoners.

So instead of just dramatically saving them and escaping back before the building collapsed, they started to study how the prisoners had lived. Where they were pooping and peeing, how did they get water... It was an action-packed adventure where time was extremely limited, but my players were more interesting in NPC-pooping then any heroic superhero-action.

After that I have spent lot of time to always design the pooping and eating patterns of NPCs whenever I design an adventure, and quite honestly I'm not that motivated anymore. I know that I either have to make poop-proof adventure or no adventure at all. That doesn't strike me as interesting.

 

[LurkAway]

Half a dozen posts and no toilet humor yet? I'm really sorry to say this, but I'm flushed with disappointment