Tastes Great! Less Filling!

[garrowolf]

A silly game of Cthulhu would be weird.

 

[Nifft]

Gandalf tricked some trolls into arguing, and the delay caused by the argument led to an escape.

Clearly, such tactics have no place in D&D.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Umbran]

So y'all read wanting a game "a little more serious" than reenacting a silly (and very funny) 80s beer commercial, as no humor at all, must be "serious business"?

Bullgrit, I don't think there's some commonly accepted gradation of silliness where reenacting an 80s beer commercial is specifically at one end of the scale.

The OP reads, to me, more like you're complaining that they went to any lengths to be silly at all, not that the 80s beer commercial was so outlandishly silly that it stuck in your craw.

To me, referring to a common cultural reference for a joke is only a minor silliness.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Gandalf tricked some trolls into arguing, and the delay caused by the argument led to an escape.

Clearly, such tactics have no place in D&D.

Cheers, -- N

Actually the "escape" was secondary to the complete pwnage of the argument getting the trolls turned to stone.

A great example of humor taking care of sewious bidness.

 

[Bullgrit]

The OP reads, to me, more like you're complaining that they went to any lengths to be silly at all, not that the 80s beer commercial was so outlandishly silly that it stuck in your craw.

Huh? You see a complaint in what I said? I was not complaining, or saying that the guy's anecdote was in any way bad. I didn't think it. I didn't write it.

You know, I get this kind of misunderstanding a lot around here. I wasn't complaining. I didn't even have a complaint or negative thought about the anecdote in my mind. In looking over the seven sentences of my post, I don't see anything that is in any way a complaint or negative about the anecdote. At most, I think it's a completely neutral post.

Yet you read those same seven sentences and took it as a complaint? And other people apparently read those same seven sentences and judged that I dislike any humor/silliness in my games, and want "serious business" only?

To me, referring to a common cultural reference for a joke is only a minor silliness.

I agree. *Referring* to a common cultural gag is minor silliness. But I would put *reenacting* a common cultural gag, in game, as more a little further down/up the scale of silliness. <shrug>

* * *

I've also been told an anecdote about someone writing explosive runes on a piece of paper, then folding it into an airplane and throwing it into a room full of bad guys.

* * *

This link has been posted before:
[D&D3.0] (Actual Play) X2: Château d’Amberville - RPGnet Forums
I would have loved to participate in this adventure. It sounds fantastically fun.

Bullgrit

 

[Umbran]

Huh? You see a complaint in what I said? I was not complaining, or saying that the guy's anecdote was in any way bad. I didn't think it. I didn't write it.

Okay, "complaining" is perhaps a poor choice of words. My bad, there.

However, there is a negative note - "I wasn't impressed, as I like my games a little more serious than that."

"I'm not impressed," is not typically a phrase used neutrally. It's more commonly used to denote a superior, negative tone - it assumes your being impressed is somehow important. By implication: You being impressed is good, therefore you not being impressed is weak or bad.

You know, I get this kind of misunderstanding a lot around here. I wasn't complaining. I didn't even have a complaint or negative thought about the anecdote in my mind.

I think there's a subtlety in presentation. Consider two different ways of getting at the same discussion:

"My buddy and I were talking about X. Do you like X? What do you think about X?"

"My buddy and I were talking about X. I don't like that sort of thing in my games. Do you tolerate that sort of thing?"

The first is neutral, as you give no opinion on it one way or another.

The second's not exactly what you said, but the difference is to clarify somewhat. In the second, the person has already noted their own position, and it is already set against X. That's going to frame the rest of the discussion - you draw your line in the sand, and others are dared to show where they sit relative to it.

Your phrasing fits the second's structure, rhetorically speaking. Lacking tone of voice, you can expect folks to react to the structure.

 

[Stormonu]

Gandalf tricked some trolls into arguing, and the delay caused by the argument led to an escape.

Clearly, such tactics have no place in D&D.

Cheers, -- N

In LotR, either in the Two Towers or Return of the King there's some point where an entire fortress of orcs/goblins kill one another over a shirt (or someone getting spooked by a shadow, I forget which), thereby allowing Samwise to "sneak in" and rescue Frodo. If that's not hilarity, I don't know what is.

 

[Hussar]

I do miss the "silly" stuff from older editions. Land Beyond the Magic Mirror is still one of my all time favourite modules. Never mind all the goofy cartoons in the 1e DMG.

I do remember Erik Mona (I think it was Erik Mona - have to check the issue) talking about humour in Dragon magazine some time back in an editorial. Every time they did an April Fools issue, sales plumeted. So, I can totally see why later D&D is a lot less goofy.

I do miss it though.

 

[Henry]

2) Supernatural: Mostly serious, and kind of dark. But once or twice a season, there's an episode with major comedic spin. The plot's still relevant to the characters, but the audience (and even the characters) get to laugh on occasion at some antics.

Only episode of Supernatural I ever watched was one where they were completely relaxed after finding out that the threat that episode wasn't supernatural, but a "garden-variety" hillbilly family of serial killers.

More important than just humor, is changer of pace. It's OK to have an all-serious session once in a while, or a session full of humor. The important thing is that too much of one mood makes the whole thing stale. It's why D&D had halfling PCs named after Pizza ovens, or had Metamorphosis Alpha Space Ships parked next to the Duchy of Geoff...

 

[Fifth Element]

To me it depends entirely on the tone of the particular campaign. I've played in and run some very serious campaigns, where this sort of thing would not be appropriate. But I've also played in and run some very light-hearted campaigns, where this stuff is welcomed and encouraged. And even in a serious game, used very occasionally this type of thing can bring some needed relief from the seriousness, just to let the players relax a little bit before refocusing on the game.