D&D 5E Whimsy in your game?

[Remathilis]

I like it.

Personally I see only 3 personalities working in the Underdark

Dark and Spicy
Harsh and Sour
Sweet and Strong

Ironically, that is also the three ways I like my boneless wings.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I shall now allow my players to find a +10 wand of whimsy, with which to defeat the Nohumor Golem.

 

[Mistwell]

I shall now allow my players to find a +10 wand of whimsy, with which to defeat the Nohumor Golem.

The Nohumor Golem is immune to whimsy.

 

[S'mon]

Seems like a good idea. I hated the 4e torture-porn Underdark. Hopefully this is better.

 

[Sunseeker]

I think people are missing out on the fact that Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass weren't whimsical (in our lay usage) at all. These aren't designs based off the Disney movie. These are designs more accurately taken from things like American McGee's "Alice" and the original concept work. Of course it's fair to say that how we use "whimsical" now is not the complete use of the word. The original works fit the alternate definition of "whimsical" (synonyms: arbitrary, capricious, volatile, mercurial, none of which are positive traits) well and I think that the designs took well from that.

I think what we're seeing is largely a fair take on the original writing, appropriated for a PG-13 audience. It's not as dark as we've seen Alice-inspired work, but it's suitably warped.

 

[mflayermonk]

What is too much whimsy? For example, what if the mind flayer is really trying to sell you movie rights and licensing and not interested in fighting?
Illithid the flamethrower, kids love that one-last but not least, illithid the doll (or painted mini).

Demogorgon tries to get you to buy into his newest collectible card game. You are required to use guides in the Underdark called Pathfinders.
Zuggtmoy continually tells you about how innovative her first company was and asks you to call her "auntie". People in the Underdark collect small trinkets that transform from a drow to a spider or from a deep gnome to a bat. My Little Ixitxachtil offers a colorful world of tiny manta rays in vibrant colors. Graz'zt delivers books in 2 days of less with Graz'zt Prime. Jubilex constantly wants you to sign up to be a "Jubilex Insider". When you confront Fraz-Urb’luu, he mollifies your party by promising you digital tools. You leave satisfied but Fraz-Urb’luu never delivers.

 

[Louis Brenton]

I would think that a certain amount of whimsy is part of any rpg session. I've been playing for over 30 years, & I can't remember a single session ever that didn't end up erupting into hysterical laughter a half-dozen times or more, whether it was D&D, Teenagers from Outer Space, Star Wars, Ghostbusters, or Worlds of Darkness.

I love the idea of some dark whimsy in this next story line. The Underdark seems like perfect environment for people to be driven to various degrees of insanity. I keep picturing the Joker from the recent Dark Knight movies, who masterfully jumped back & forth over the line between flighty, amusing, disturbing, & menacing.

I think it will be marvelous.

 

[Lanefan]

I shall now allow my players to find a +10 wand of whimsy, with which to defeat the Nohumor Golem.

That's like a Wand of Wonder amped to 11, right?

Lan-"I want one"-efan

p.s. given as we have a sometimes-hotly-contested annual award 'round here for 'Most Humourous Incident' it should be pretty obvious where our crew stands on the whimsy front

 

[Lanefan]

To add to my previous post I give this, taken directly from the introduction to our house rules system and why it exists; it's the first part of the final paragraph.

And above all else, the game needed to be entertaining, both on the small scale and the large. Not so much a rules change as an ongoing philosophy, where there's been a choice past or present between a dull outcome and a whimsical or amusing one, whimsy has tended to win out somewhat more often than random chance would dictate. Wild magic, mis-aimed spells, weapons clanging into stone walls and breaking, characters of grandly-opposed alignments or ethics trying to operate in the same party (and occasionally killing each other; it's allowed) – all have been and are still facts of life in a Victoria Rules game…along, of course, with great heroism, swashbuckling derring-do, and the princely rewards that make the adventuring life worthwhile.

Lanefan

 

[Greg K]

This thread just confirmed what I have known for a long time- there are some people on these boards that might be cool, but I never want to game with them.