What's your DM Gimmick?

[Shemeska]

Fiends. Primarily Yugoloths and Tanar'ri.

Extremely in-depth and longterm metaplots.

Inevitably there will be a mephit, imp, quasit or something similar that will be annoying as piss to the PCs, on a routine basis.

A campaign tone that is DARK.

There will be something perky and cute, or cute with childlike innocence to break the unrelenting gloom of the metaplot. This might be a Xaositect tiefling of questionable lucidity, or a faerie dragon, or a pseudodragon familiar. But the result is the same.

 

[dave_o]

Cinematic stuff. I love films so all my games have me describing scenes how they would be shot, that sort of thing. Not too much, just enough for a mental image.

Voices and postures. For almost all of my NPCs I do a voice and a certain posture, occasionally I'll get up and walk around as I talk to show their gait or their limp or whatever. There was a Bishop in a game that I ran recently that would cause dread in my PCs' hearts just when I'd start to sit a certain way. They knew he was coming.

But I guess since I never get to play one of my gimmicks is not playing ever.

EDIT: I remembered another gimmick of mine. At the end of all my sessions I have about fifteen minutes called "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" where we talk about what we liked and disliked about the session.

 

[Evilhalfling]

Its an evil halfling. {sigh} I was reading some of the others and naming yourself for and NPC is kind of...
I hope the evil halflings are not DMPCs but sometimes they linger on that boarder. Unlike most DMPCs they always come to bad ends. One was trapped in the body of a rat for 6 months, one was captured by dwarves while trying to sneak through the heaven of Dwarves. One was choaked to death by a priest of peace - pretending to be friendly and then stealing and defiling a dead companions body really annoys some people.

The best end came at the climax of a game, where the PCs offered to help the Evil halfling atone (for eating his friends) by making him a squire, until he could selflessly save one of their lives. He was a psionic nomad, and when one PC nearly sacrificed his life to close a far realm gate the halfling grabed him and teleported them both to saftey, thus allowing him to finally rest (he still starved to death, even after eating his friends.)

The orginal EH managed to piss off a city run by necromancers, agreed to meet with them to settle up, but he went alone. But not before he bilked half the party out of thier money and formed a plan to kill of the character of and ex-player (and take his stuff) That party was a little like the mob - there was only one way out.

The latest was a fearl halfling (a lot like a goblin) who offered himself as a street guide. He was even resonably competant at it, but the second time he lead them into an ambush and then ran away...
he actually survived - how odd.

 

[Crothian]

Smart little dragons that I use as NPCs and Naked and on Fire.

 

[Imperialus]

No matter who is DMing there is always a G' Had. The Hads are always a powerful and influential (usually noble) family who's name is the second half of a pun. They are xenophobic, religious fundamentalists/fanatics, self righteous, hypocritical, lawful to a fault, concervative, power hungry, and usually more than a little psycotic.

It began with a player character years ago, a Paladin named Gabrial of Had or G' Had (sound it out) who was played more like a jackbooted SS officer than a virtous example of good.

The first name always changes but it always starts with a G, Gabrial, Gerold, Gwen, Garag and Gryffandor (yes from Harry Potter) are just a few that have popped up. They are usually untouchable physically by the PC's due to their political influance and serve as a good nemisis for political intruige. They are usually either Paladins with a rather twisted code, Clerics or Aristocrats. Oh and they are always human.

They are also a prolific breed so unless the PC's manage to discredit or destroy the entire family (which has only happened once) there will always be another G'Had waiting on the wings to step into his predecessors shoes usually with a bone to pick with the PC's.

 

[Aikuchi]

I think all I have is this lonely old lady. Who's kinda nomadic. lives in the most rundown of conditi0ons, very friendly, small and says she's a soothsayer of sorts. She can also get you anything you might wish.

Unwary travellers and first time encounters from all my games have always met her at some point or another.
She always encountered by first timers in the city of Doors, Sigil.


And she always swindles them for a few coin of gold (in some cases more than a few), right under their noses with false promises and quick getaways. No one seems to bother chasing her or hunting her down. Even the evil party ... hmmm.

Of course much speculation arrives on her nature.

One of the theories: They think shes really the Lady of Pain and this is how she collects sigil entrance fees from first time visitors.

Her name: Madam Zorba.

 

[Terwox]

I generally had dream sequences bleed into reality and back and forth, but I've kind of quit doing that with my current world...

I generally have a succubus in there somewhere. Sepulchrave's Nehael was just too cool. I suppose I always have some sort of aspect of the void, generally embodied by Demogorgon, who is transdimensional and blahblah, but it's really quite rare.

Oh, and talking animals are almost always completely evil in my games. Except for rodents, those are benevolent! But if toads or cats are talking, it's to try and pull you into an ambush. My love for rodents stops me from being able to make rodents evil.

 

[Soel]

I tend to make some of my npcs voices sound like Pops Racer and other Speed Racer characters...

 

[The Edge]

'Furious' Jack Cobler 'The Orc Biter'. "I'm not a sodding halfling!!!"
A recurring character (well, twice so far but I plan to continue); jack is aggresive, grumpy, a heavy drinker, weilds a great axe and 3 ft tall. In a world full of halflings, gnomes and other short folk a human midget can expect to caUse some confusion; he looks just like a ugly halfing.

A certain business started offering 'Jack Insurence' to bars and taverns, but lost a lot of money since they didn't get the price right quick enough. His name comes from a ledgendary battle with a orc cieften where upon loseing his axe jack bit the highest place he could reach.

Jack wanders the land in his taty hide armour and mongolian style hat, big axe in hand ready to chase anyone who pisses him off. Altough admittedly a bit of a psyhco hes not a murderer, but wont hesitate to steal your lunch. A goblin player in my current game is actually going to some effort to annoy him; Jack, haveing nothing better to do followed them and tried to throw himself out of a tree at the PC but landed flat on his face, got up and walked the other way remarking "crap, wheres my cake*". The players love it, but their starting to get a bit to casual around him, since he is double their level and could cause some trouble if they push him too far.

(wheres my cake*) Filton cake is a unique beer in the way that it can be either drank or eaten. Incredibly strong, it can be bought in either soft or hard, soft being a bit like thick gravy, hard being more like a block of lard. Not totaly origional in fantasy, but i like it.

 

[Child of Hypnos]

My Tavern is 'The Goblins Welly'
my only other gimmick is the Fey'ri or half fiend child of the last PC i played.
Oh yeah, and a few fey of dark and twisted demeanor