D&D 5E Whimsy in your game?

[MechaPilot]

I have to say that, in general, I am not a big fan of whimsy unless it's a dark and twisted whimsy. Lighthearted whimsy just comes off as being too. . . I don't know what but it's just too much of it. It has always been my experience that the sense of humor of most players and their PCs provides enough counterpoints to darkness that any whimsy I intentionally include in the game should come across as creepy.

I generally feel this way as a player as well. Most players have a lighter sense of humor than I do, and they do a fine job of lightening a dark mood. One of my favorite moments as a player is when my 4e warlock who had been touched by the Far Realm was keeping watch while the rest of the group slept. She entirely neglected her watch to stare at the stars and dance to their song, which she claimed she could hear. She also saw the rapid eye movements of one of the sleeping PCs and straddled him, leaning in really low, in an attempt to read his dreams in the patterns of the movements. After he awoke, and woke the rest of the party, she mused that she might be able to see his dreams if she plucked out one of his eyes and gazed into the hole. They never let her take watch alone ever again, and they were right to do so.

 

[Jester David]

So, has everyone seen the trailer: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?467656-RAGE-OF-DEMONS-Has-A-Trailer!
It really emphasizes my thoughts.

The Underdark is a creepy place. It's dark, gloomy, damp, and alien. Adventurers are at a disadvantage there and the very nature of the region is inhospitable and maddening.
The inhabitants of the Underdark are evil and grim. The populace is slavers, cannibals, brain eaters, and worse. They cannot be reasoned with.
Demons are the physical embodiment of violence, rage, and corruption. They are literally evil and chaos made flesh. They are immortal and as old as the multiverse. Your adventurer is less than nothing to them.
While not every adventure or storyline should be grim or dark or grimdark, the storyline where the demon princes invade the Underdark seems pretty darn tailor made for bleak and unpleasant.

It's like how several neighborhoods in Detroit it petty scuzzy. And Cenobites are freaky. So setting a new Hellraiser movie in Detroit should be all kinds of dark.

"Whimsy" isn't my go-to word for that kind of story.

 

[graves3141]

Whimsy might work in the right place and in the right setting but I think it should be a primary theme throughout a planned adventure and not just throw bits of it in here and there. As many others have said, it's also hard to pull off right because people's senses of humor are so different. An Alice and Wonderland theme "might" be ok in a Planescape setting or maybe in a dedicated portion of a Planescape adventure but the Underdark doesn't seem at all like the place for it.

I also feel it's too early in the product cycle for this kind of experimentation by WotC. There were only two other APs before this one (neither one regarded by most people as a blockbuster) which were traditional in nature. We need more of that... more and better quality too. After that, WotC could maybe think about doing something whimsical, bizarre or different.

Honestly, if there were more product being put out on a regular basis, I wouldn't care too much about how Out of the Abyss is presented but things are so slow right now that if you don't like something, you've got to wait six months for something different and there's no guarantee you'll like the next one either.

 

[Mallus]

This thread reminds me it's time to dig out my old Jhonen V. comics. And watch Invader Zim.

 

[graves3141]

So setting a new Hellraiser movie in Detroit should be all kinds of dark.

Agreed. Also, just imagine the original Hellraiser movie with amusing, whimsical, Alice in Wonderland elements in it.

Would there have even been one sequel? No, and Clive Barker would be seen very differently today.

 

[Hussar]

I think the problem comes in that people define whimsy as childlike, innocent and funny. That's not what I think they're aiming for when they're talking about borrowing Alice in Wonderland whimsy. No, instead we're looking at Disney's Fantasia or the old Rackham illustrations.

D&D has a huge history with weird and whimsy. Erol Otus is one of my favourite D&D artists and always has been. Is anyone going to say that Otus illustrations don't belong in the Underdark?

Does anyone actually think this is going to be a comedy adventure?

 

[graves3141]

I think the problem comes in that people define whimsy as childlike, innocent and funny. That's not what I think they're aiming for when they're talking about borrowing Alice in Wonderland whimsy. No, instead we're looking at Disney's Fantasia or the old Rackham illustrations.

D&D has a huge history with weird and whimsy. Erol Otus is one of my favourite D&D artists and always has been. Is anyone going to say that Otus illustrations don't belong in the Underdark?

Does anyone actually think this is going to be a comedy adventure?

Weren't elements of whimsy added because the rest of the adventure was seen as too dark and depressing? That sounds like comedy relief.

 

[Jester David]

I think the problem comes in that people define whimsy as childlike, innocent and funny. That's not what I think they're aiming for when they're talking about borrowing Alice in Wonderland whimsy. No, instead we're looking at Disney's Fantasia or the old Rackham illustrations.

D&D has a huge history with weird and whimsy. Erol Otus is one of my favourite D&D artists and always has been. Is anyone going to say that Otus illustrations don't belong in the Underdark?

Does anyone actually think this is going to be a comedy adventure?

There is room for some subversive whimsy. The slight dash of comedy that makes the horror more terrifying because it comes from an unexpected source. The Pudding King could be an example of this. The silly "mad" svirfneblin that holds court among oozes. But that can be twisted when he does something horrific (cackling while dissolving someone in an ooze) and unleashes his minions at the players.
Topsy and Turvy, Sarith Zekarit, and Buppido can all be equally serious and surprisingly grim.

But... a chatty myconid named Stool with a quieter shuffling companion named Rumpadump is pretty darn silly. A D&D C3P0 and R2-D2. And then there's the Society of Brilliance.
It seems to be drifting into overt comedy there.

 

[I'm A Banana]

This thread reminds me it's time to dig out my old Jhonen V. comics. And watch Invader Zim.

I'll put on my adventuring hat.

But... a chatty myconid named Stool with a quieter shuffling companion named Rumpadump is pretty darn silly. A D&D C3P0 and R2-D2.

And we all know what a laffer that movie was! Entirely devoid of seriousness or drama or dark moments! SO GOOF!

 

[Uchawi]

All I can add is I played Dungeonland back in the day and it will never be on my top 10 experiences for D&D adventures. Expedition to Barrier Peaks was another adventure that played with a different concept of fantasy and sci-fi. It could also be considered an outlier versus the "standard" D&D expectation for a fantasy adventure. But it all boils down to what audience is any adventure written for? WOTC has their own metrics on who is buying the product or showing up in stores.

The biggest concern would be a whimsy railroad in regards to plot, versus just colorful NPCs with a dark storyline. You can make NPCs as evil or whimsical as you want.