The Unwritten Rules of RPG's

[Jon_Dahl]

It's a bit tongue in the cheek, but what are the certain things that (almost) always apply to our games - both on- and off-game. It's not about whining and pointing the finger, but more a chance to self-reflect and find the patterns that are repeated over and over again.

I'll start:

• Names are unique. There’s only one Frodo and one Conan. In Fantasy there are no Johns or Mohammeds.
• Female players almost always make slender or underweight PC’s. No matter how creative a lady is, imagining a tall strong human male barbarian weighting over 90 kg is just… hard, real hard for her. Arnie as Conan and at 110 kg, anyone?
• Adventuring is always for a band of strangers. There are no Earp brothers or any room for family business in RPGs.

 

[jonesy]

Huh, none of those apply to our group. The women are already slender, so they tend to build heavier PC's. Two of our group almost always make PC's who are family to each other. And we even had a campaign where three of the PC's were called Robert. Bob, Rob and OB.

How about:
- The first person the party meets will turn out to be plot critical (though not necessarily the main plot).
- The elves always argue with the dwarves.
- When you run out of snacks the plot turns serious.
- The talking sword will get you in trouble.
- 1-5 orcs = plot related. 5+ orcs = there to fight.

 

[El Mahdi]

- Where there's an Orc, there's usually a pie...

 

[TarionzCousin]

- The talking sword will get you in trouble.

Heh. I got one player to listen to his talking dagger last session and it convinced him to put on the belt of change gender.

 

[ExploderWizard]

Heh. I got one player to listen to his talking dagger last session and it convinced him to put on the belt of change gender.

Well?

Afterwards did the dagger think she was hot?

He must of found a mythical intelligent +3 dagger (+5 for hot chicks)

 

[Twichyboy]

The Dwarven Miners Guild is the most accident prone organization in the world,

 

[Raven Crowking]

Well?

Afterwards did the dagger think she was hot?

He must of found a mythical intelligent +3 dagger (+5 for hot chicks)

Let me guess....Strangely enough, the dagger became magically enlarged, and is now a short sword.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Names are unique. There’s only one Frodo and one Conan. In Fantasy there are no Johns or Mohammed’s.

I had a thread a long time ago about the fantasy equivalent of "Joe."

Adventuring is always for a band of strangers. There are no Earp brothers or any room for family business in RPG's.

I hear ya- I've been part of a few family/buddy/employee exceptions, though.

1. Identical twin sisters who were both "barbarian witches"
2. Bear, the hired muscle of the party thief (his story has been told here many times)
3. A 5'9" 330lb dwarf and a dwarf giant- only 7'2" tall- who met, bonded, and called themselves the "Dwarf Giant" brothers

Each was a blast- the trick is finding a theme to link 2 PCs that two players actually want to play together.

I'm still waiting to find someone to play a Half-Orc and Half-Elf pair of siblings (same Mom- she was a "pro").

 

[jonesy]

I'm still waiting to find someone to play a Half-Orc and Half-Elf pair of siblings (same Mom- she was a "pro").

My mind, it lies blown. It lies a lot. Lazy thing. What was I on about?

Oh, right. That's brill. Totally yoinked.

 

[francisca]

Keep your hands off my dice.