Running gags in the campaign

[Crothian]

I'm not sure if running gag is the right word as its not also a joke, but do people enjoy placing in something the players see time and time again and see what the players do? Like a begger with a certain odd shaped cloak that is seen from town to town to town. Or the one I'm currently using, the party is being followed by a raven.

Now, these could be foreshadowings to greater plot points or they can just be the DM having fun.

 

[StupidSmurf]

I'm not sure if running gag is the right word as its not also a joke, but do people enjoy placing in something the players see time and time again and see what the players do? Like a begger with a certain odd shaped cloak that is seen from town to town to town. Or the one I'm currently using, the party is being followed by a raven.

Now, these could be foreshadowings to greater plot points or they can just be the DM having fun.

As a matter of fact, I do. In our Forgotten Realms campaign, I have Desi Diamonduster, gnome paladin of Garl Glittergold, and his six companions. They all ride large dogs, and the group calls themselves The Dogriders (wow...that's a stretch, huh?). At some point, Desi invariably encounters just about every group of characters I've run in the Realms. They wander the land, helping out the good, thwarting the evil, and spreading their message of "Oh, do lighten up!" wherever they go.

 

[Ambrus]

In one campaign we had a running gag about a mysterious lich supposedly following the party just out of sight. There was no lich or anyone at all following us really but we just starting mentioning it as an exagerated expression of paranoia. The lich was supposedly the secret mastermind behind every bad thing that ever happened to our characters. We even starting putting a lich miniature on the table during combats, keeping him just out of sight aroud a corner or in a shadowy area. Each round somebody would move his miniature about, make undead groaning sounds, mumble something cryptic and/or chuckle maniacally when something bad happened to a PC. When an NPC would flee combat the lich would start chasing him to eat him once out of sight. Whenever we'd be discussing the plot or our plans somebody would chime in with: "But how does the lich fit in to all this?!?"

Silly really.

 

[Mystery Man]

Running Gags on Enworld like two whole months ago...

There's a ton in there.

 

[Crothian]

In one campaign we had a running gag about a mysterious lich supposedly following the party just out of sight. There was no lich or anyone at all following us really but we just starting mentioning it as an exagerated expression of paranoia. The lich was supposedly the secret mastermind behind every bad thing that ever happened to our characters. We even starting putting a lich miniature on the table during combats, keeping him just out of sight aroud a corner or in a shadowy area. Each round somebody would move his miniature about, make undead groaning sounds, mumble something cryptic and/or chuckle maniacally when something bad happened to a PC. When an NPC would flee combat the lich would start chasing him to eat him once out of sight. Whenever we'd be discussing the plot or our plans somebody would chime in with: "But how does the lich fit in to all this?!?"

Silly really.

That is funny. In a past campaign the party had a tower that followed them. In reality it was a magically shrinking portible tower that a group was using as a mobile base of operation. THe party though kept finding the marks of a tower having been in a field the previous night. So, we had images of a tower in disguise (mustache and glasses) sneaking through towns just ahead of the PCs. We had a lot of fin with that as well.

 

[the Jester]

Yeah, we loves a running gag.

 

[Falkus]

In my d20 Modern campaigns, whenever there's a timer counting down, the PCs will always escape or defuse it when it hits one second, even if there was two minutes left on the timer when they made the demolitions check. It's a movie convetion, the bomb always stops with one second left on the timer.

 

[ThirdWizard]

Every once in a while the PCs run into Bloudy the Gnomish Bard. Every time they run into him it seems like the bounty on his head has gotten a few thousand gp larger, and he's in deeper and deeper trouble. Last time they saw him, he was making his escape from a casino after being found cheating and betting with forged money notes. Next time I'm thinking in a prison somewhere begging them to let him out. One of the things that really gets under the PCs' collective skins is that he can never remember their names, always getting it almost right. He's a great guy.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I like them. Sometimes it just adds a touch of the familiar or reinforces the concept that this is a world that exists beyond the characters. And sometimes I can make my players very paranoid by using repeating elements .

 

[Ambrus]

So, we had images of a tower in disguise (mustache and glasses) sneaking through towns just ahead of the PCs. We had a lot of fin with that as well.

Heh. They also provide a good excuse for keeping the party from splitting up: "You want to scout ahead? By yourself?!? Are you crazy? The tower will get you!"

And sometimes I can make my players very paranoid by using repeating elements .

And sometimes players can make themselves paranoid for no reason by using them.