D&D 5E When to Go Full On Gonzo?

Zardnaar

Legend
Over the years I have generally run a low magic to medium level of magic in my games with races mostly being limited to AD&D ones and near humans (Tieflings, Aasimar, Genasi etc). Drow and Orcs are exotic races in my games.

In my current games things like 19th century rifles exist but they are mostly treated as magic items as you cannot buy them and they are quite rare. I have also referenced the "Day of a Thousand Suns" and leaning towards a nuclear war in the ancient past.

Every now and then I run something like a Spelljammer game. Now I am considering cranking the craziness up to 10 so if you want a flying Aaracokcra Sun Soul Monk with a six shooter or lazer pistol well now might be your chance. Its something I am leaning towards trialling out with a tribute to the Barrier Peaks or even just running expedition to the Barrier Peaks.

I have never run that adventure for PCs and have acquired it recently in hardcopy. One of my factions has access to rifles and spelljammrs and I am thinking of something like a moonbase with Void Dragons (Tome of Beasts 5E) lurking around or drawing on the old Sega Phantasy Star books and putting in items like Sunblades. A lost race of "pilots" may have access to short range Spelljammers or a technological equivalent.

Throw in Kaiju or Sandworms from Dune on said moon or elements of the old Sega Panzer Dragoon series or the 1980's Book of Wondrous Inventions (tanks, helicopters, ICBMs etc). The goal is to run to level 20 with level 14+ going full gonzo.

Anyone statted up Predators in 5E terms?

Is this something good to do as a once off? Pick your level of craziness from gunpowder weapons through to Warforged/Gearforged with bright blue hair and lazer guns,a moon base and possible Death Star Trench run on Dragonback.
 

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It certainly wouldn't hurt to do something gonzo like this as a one off. I don't see why it wouldn't have lasting potential as a campaign, but I would definitely test it out with a one off. The crazy stuff will always work if you build it around a theme and make an interesting game world. From reading a lot of your posts over the years, I get the impression that working in themes with complex worlds isn't an issue for you. You tend to build well thought out worlds. So going a little crazy with one should be a lot of fun for you and your group. Plus it's a good mental exercise to keep those creative juices flowing.

So throw in all those elements you talked about. You mentioned Phantasy Star (which made me love this post even more). That's a good place to start for some inspiration. Along with Dune and Kaiju, that puts in some fun elements. As crazy as it sounds, you may also want to take a look at some of the worlds in the old Hannah Barbara cartoons. Things like Thundarr the Barbarian, Galtar and the Golden Lance or The Pirates of Dark Water all have interesting and broken worlds, even if they are a bit corny by today's standards. Though I personally love a little corny every now and again.

Like I said, crazy works if there is a good reason behind the crazy. Pulling off something like this will be all about the world the PCs live in.
 

I think that if you're going full-gonzo, defining the level of gonzo in advance is important. Zaniness can be fun, but there needs to be some structure. Like, lasers and tanks are in but Cthulhu isn't going to show up. Or maybe he can. But either way, having some percentage of a plan in advance will help for consistent gonzo worldbuilding.

But I think what your players want is also important. Some folks get upset about sci-fi in their fantasy...even if that blending has been around since the beginning of the game.
 

I did it in the middle of a very long campaign when I was getting a little burnt out as DM. I needed to shake it up and try a new genre so I had the party investigate a portal and then they got transported to a post-apocalyptic Earth setting. They were in a wrecked military compound in a desert near some mountains. They got a chance to really explore the area, find interesting tech and then after 3 or 4 sessions (killer robots, long abandoned computer terminals and video screens, guns, jeeps, tanks, etc.), when I felt ready to go back to classic D&D, they found their way back. One of the PCs kept a pistol, which was limited in the old D&D world since there was no source of new ammunition, but she still liked having it as an artifact of her journey.
 
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Gonzo can be great as a side trek -- look at Dungeonland and Land Beyond the Magic Mirror for examples of it done well. Walling it off in a demi-plane or mirror universe allows you to include it as a distraction for the campaign but not have to deal with it forever.
 

Gonzo can be a blast. We've had fun with it from time to time.

Best advice though: make sure your players are on board. Some people hate​ genre mixing and mash-ups.
 

i feel i should point out: for this, you might find Dungeons: The Dragoning to be a better fit, system-wise. It is excellent at that kind of game.
 

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