What tropes do you want to see more of in fantasy RPGs?

[steeldragons]

Apparent objective GOOD triumphing over apparent and objective EVIL.

GOOD guys who are GOOD guys. Villains who are BAD, knowingly EVIL, and NOT to be admired or emulated.

Protagonists who are HEROES with admirable qualities. NOT everyone being a misunderstood broody anti-hero, double-triple-quadruple crossing agents, or reformed villain with a heart of gold.

I want ETHICS to clearly mean something. MORES mean something. ALIGNMENTS mean something.

That's what I want to see.

 

[John Dallman]

Actually, I don't want tropes. I want things to be strange in fantasy games.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

Nothing wrong with tropes. Tropes are the building blocks of a story. No such thing as bad tropes, just tropes used badly.

Also, I seriously doubt it's possible to tell a story without tropes.

 

[Jd Smith1]

More innovation in setting and systems, and not just an endless river of splatbooks.

Scenarios that involve more than just kill, loot, kill, loot, puzzle room, boss fight, loot, reward.

And a decent Drow adventure series. They are wonderful villain race, but terribly under-used.

 

[AtomicPope]

Horror Comedy - Evil Dead, Army of Darkness, John Dies at the End, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, The Baby Sitter, Zombieland, et al.

Years ago a I was lucky enough to play in a zombie apocalypse horror comedy campaign, and it was awesome. The Palladium system really isn't horror comedy but the DM made it work. There's a lot of leeway for prop gags, situational comedy, one liners, and hilarious action. One of the funniest moments was when I failed a Horror Factor save, scream, and dropped my flashlight down the stairwell of the high rise. We struggled with a Zombie in the dark before stabbing it in the head and killing it. Then I asked, "Does anyone have a light source?" One of the players said, "I found this backpack full of candles." Then he proceeds to light a stick of dynamite in total darkness and we press onward. It changed the way I looked at RPGs forever.

Since then I've run several horror comedy adventures for D&D, NWoD, and Gamma World. From my experience Horror comedy works best for limited runs, a few sessions at most. Make up some rapid characters (Gamma World is great for this), or use pregen characters, and go from there. When the players aren't too invested in a character is makes for better, wilder situations that are easier to laugh at. That's really the weakness of the trope, the players can't take themselves too seriously.

 

[Bohandas]

*dwarves, gnomes, elves, and other playable creatures that are meaningfully non-human and are not just regular people who have funny ears, live somewhere mildly unusual, and seem vaguely ethnic


*less distinction between magic and non-magic. Magic is basically just things that are possible in the game world that aren't possible in the real world, and it's a little absurd that a character with no knowledge of the real world would make that distinction

 

[Bohandas]

...and drummers in a military formation who use sound and music to steer troop movement and demoralize enemies.

Is that what bards are supposed to be. I thought they were like the guy in a musical who sings the song that keeps the protagonist from giving up

 

[jdrakeh]

Old(er) heroes called out of retirement to raise their sword against evil one last time. It's one of my favorite tropes, to be honest. I really wish the King Conan movie would have happened.

 

[Aldarc]

Horror Comedy - Evil Dead, Army of Darkness, John Dies at the End, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, The Baby Sitter, Zombieland, et al.

Years ago a I was lucky enough to play in a zombie apocalypse horror comedy campaign, and it was awesome. The Palladium system really isn't horror comedy but the DM made it work. There's a lot of leeway for prop gags, situational comedy, one liners, and hilarious action. One of the funniest moments was when I failed a Horror Factor save, scream, and dropped my flashlight down the stairwell of the high rise. We struggled with a Zombie in the dark before stabbing it in the head and killing it. Then I asked, "Does anyone have a light source?" One of the players said, "I found this backpack full of candles." Then he proceeds to light a stick of dynamite in total darkness and we press onward. It changed the way I looked at RPGs forever.

Since then I've run several horror comedy adventures for D&D, NWoD, and Gamma World. From my experience Horror comedy works best for limited runs, a few sessions at most. Make up some rapid characters (Gamma World is great for this), or use pregen characters, and go from there. When the players aren't too invested in a character is makes for better, wilder situations that are easier to laugh at. That's really the weakness of the trope, the players can't take themselves too seriously.

Demon Hunters: A Comedy of Terrors

 

[Ixal]

Is that what bards are supposed to be. I thought they were like the guy in a musical who sings the song that keeps the protagonist from giving up

I do not know if that is what Gygax had in mind, they are the only "bards" (=People who sing and play in battle) that existed though.
Sure there were also instances where people sang before the battle to hype themselves up and demoralize the enemy, but that stopped when the battle started unlike the D&D bard who is supposed to sing and play during battle.