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Jeivar
2009-01-12, 04:56 PM
I'm planning to goad my friends into a D&D campaign with a somewhat different flavor than usual: Playing it like a cliche-riddled computer RPG, for laughs. I'm going to start it out at an idyllic village, full of flowers and sunshine and happy children, where nothing bad ever happens (and you know what happens next), feature a masked evil overlord type who insists on launching into melodramatic speeches before battles, fallen PC's coming back to life after a battle ends, NPC's giving out rewards for menial quests, the PC's being the only competent people around who can save the day etc. etc.

Could you guys help me out with ideas? Point out illogical RPG cliches that can be exploited for fun and silliness?

BRC
2009-01-12, 04:58 PM
The problem with using Cliche's for laughs is that you need to differentiate yourself from someone who is just using the cliches.
Currently, if you do the above adventure as you have described it, the players wont think "HA, that wacky DM, subverting RPG cliches" they will think "That was cliche"

Draz74
2009-01-12, 05:16 PM
Make sure you keep a tight grip on the characters' personalities and backstories. For example, all of the characters must be orphans. Any dwarf characters must be extremely grumpy and usually drunk. Any elf characters must be drop-dead gorgeous. Any wizards must wear tall pointy hats.

Make sure there's a side quest to rescue a beautiful princess from a tower at some point. Bonus points if the tower is guarded by some kind of dragon.

Tacoma
2009-01-12, 05:17 PM
This (www.tvtropes.org).

(It needs to be at least 10 characters bleargh gabba gabba hey)

Tacoma
2009-01-12, 05:21 PM
Make sure you keep a tight grip on the characters' personalities and backstories. For example, all of the characters must be orphans. Any dwarf characters must be extremely grumpy and usually drunk. Any elf characters must be drop-dead gorgeous. Any wizards must wear tall pointy hats.

Make sure there's a side quest to rescue a beautiful princess from a tower at some point. Bonus points if the tower is guarded by some kind of dragon.

Furthermore, if the princess is evil and she's captured a good dragon that is such a common subversion of the trope that it almost counts as a new trope.

Females must be rogues and clerics, possibly wizards. The party leader must be a Fighter. Have everyone gain an elemental power later - the party leader gets Fire.

They all have evil twins.

In order to leave the idyllic valley where the town is, they have to ask the old man mayor for a key to the ancient tunnel through the mountains. But before he gives them the key he demands that they go into the sewers to rescue his missing cat.

Mando Knight
2009-01-12, 05:23 PM
This (www.tvtropes.org).

Specifically this (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TabletopGames) if you're going for RPG tropes.

Remember, Tropes Are Not Bad. (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TropesAreNotBad)

Morty
2009-01-12, 05:27 PM
Make sure all magic used by NPCs is as vaguely described as possible. Never mention any particular spells, they've simply "used their magics".
When describing the Big Bad and his/her forces, use words such as "evil", "wicked", "foul" or "cruel" at least once per sentence.

Dublock
2009-01-12, 05:32 PM
first quest must be to kill rats in a basement.

Tacoma
2009-01-12, 05:33 PM
The BBEG has to have a stupid weapon that's improbably sized.

This can mean he uses a tiny flaming scourge, or a giant katana. When there aren't any Asian cultures in your campaign. Yet there is sushi.

Dixieboy
2009-01-12, 05:42 PM
Make sure you keep a tight grip on the characters' personalities and backstories. For example, all of the characters must be orphans. Any dwarf characters must be extremely grumpy and usually drunk. Any elf characters must be drop-dead gorgeous. Any wizards must wear tall pointy hats.


Oh yes, and elves despite being fey must ask like the archetype for lawful neutral

Also have one of your characters (Preferably a human fighter) have some sort of ancestral sword, that or a an old rusty blade that later turns out to be the ultimate weapon of good

hamishspence
2009-01-12, 06:01 PM
if "Sunshine Happy Land" is very evil, and Masked Overlord is the well intentioned but a little extreme Good Guy, thats a very basic subversion.

But yes, plain cliches, even straight cliche subversions, get old fast.

Playing around with tropes which haven't yet reached cliche status, however, has a lot to recommend it.

Dublock
2009-01-12, 06:07 PM
thought of another, have a wise old man help out the party at times they really need it, but he never, never enters combat but yet comments on how the main characters fight.

Flickerdart
2009-01-12, 06:09 PM
You might want to take a look at the Undead Horse Tropes (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UndeadHorseTrope) (like a Dead Horse trope but still alive) or Omnipresent Tropes (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OmnipresentTropes) that are so common you never notice them anyways.

hiryuu
2009-01-12, 07:04 PM
They did this. They called it The Slayers. They even made a d20 supplement.

Kurald Galain
2009-01-12, 07:09 PM
Every NPC must speak precisely one sentence, and repeat that whenever asked anything.

Welcome to Corneria.

Altima
2009-01-12, 07:26 PM
Your party must be five members.

The leader, the lancer, the smart guy, the brute, and the chick.

They must also save the world. Even better if they have to stop a wizard from summoning some sort of world eating monster.

Also, they have to fight The Dragon before defeating the bad guy.

Alternatively, you can go uber subversive with a party of evil/good guys who have to save the world from good (being overrun with scenty flowers and snuggley bears). You must rescure the evil princess from the gold dragon in this scenario (bonus points if said evil princess is preggers with gold dragon spawn--nature versus nurture!)

Glyphic
2009-01-12, 07:44 PM
Make sure to have side quests or hidden treasures that are guarded by monsters that are ten times stronger than the final boss is.

Have save points; demand that PC's use a tent, cabin, or house when resting anywhere but an Inn.

Tacoma
2009-01-12, 07:45 PM
The BBEG has to be fought in various ever-more difficult forms. The final form is this huge nasty demon thing.

Canadian
2009-01-12, 07:54 PM
You need to have locked doors. When you get to them a cloud pops up that says you need the key. When you kill a beast it poofs in a puff of smoke and leaves behind a giant key that needs to be held with two hands or over your shoulder.

When you get to the locked door all you have to do is point the key at the door and it opens by itself and the key vanishes. Music plays and you go onto the next level.

Tacoma
2009-01-12, 08:09 PM
You need to have locked doors. When you get to them a cloud pops up that says you need the key. When you kill a beast it poofs in a puff of smoke and leaves behind a giant key that needs to be held with two hands or over your shoulder.

When you get to the locked door all you have to do is point the key at the door and it opens by itself and the key vanishes. Music plays and you go onto the next level.

Whenever the PCs find a magic item, whoever gets it has to hold it up above his head for the whole world to see!

*DOO DOO DOO!*

I'm gonna do that with a character sometime.

Agrippa
2009-01-12, 08:26 PM
Oh yes, and elves despite being fey must ask like the archetype for lawful neutral

Actually that's sterotypical Lawful Neutral. Archetypal Lawful Neutral would be Havelock Vetinari or Baron Klaus Wulfenbach.


Also have one of your characters (Preferably a human fighter) have some sort of ancestral sword, that or a an old rusty blade that later turns out to be the ultimate weapon of good

And if its still a rusty old sword that vaguely resembles a hacksaw?

Canadian
2009-01-12, 08:46 PM
Unimportant NPC's don't get to speak. They have text boxes instead. As the text boxes go by you hear a "charlie brown" style nonsense voice in the background.

Assassin89
2009-01-12, 08:54 PM
Wolves carry coins and rings for some weird reason

Canadian
2009-01-12, 08:56 PM
When you take damage you can get points back by picking up hearts. They can be cartoon style hearts. Or actual meaty, bloody, still beating hearts.

BRC
2009-01-12, 09:14 PM
All these cliche's are strictly enforced by a society led by epic-level bards. People found breaking the cliche get beaten up, if they do it again, they vanish and nobody hears of them again. Example
Player: Ow, that dragon was tough, my arm's broken and I've got third-degree burns over half my body. Ooh look! An Inn
*player sleeps at the in, wakes up unhealed*
Player: What a ripoff *shouts VIOLATION out the window*
A group of thugs show up and start beating up the innkeeper, who gives the player a free nights stay. The next night, a group of clerics sneak into the players room and heal him up.

Ivan Ooze
2009-01-12, 09:15 PM
Tales of Symphonia (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TalesOfSymphonia) is littered with RPG clichés. It may provide you with some inspiration.

Also, MacGuffins (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MacGuffin). Search for them, collect them, etc.

chiasaur11
2009-01-12, 09:16 PM
Wolves carry coins and rings for some weird reason

And Spoons. Don't forget spoons.

Canadian
2009-01-12, 09:21 PM
The end boss of each level has a glowing red dot (weak spot) that is momentarily exposed every few rounds when their armor opens (for no known reason) and the red dot flashes every time it is hit. More and more smoke and flames come out as the red dot is hit. In the end the boss explodes leaving some kind of prize.

Every time you kill a boos the GM gives you a summary of how many xp's coins and hearts you have. If you kill enough enemies you get an extra man.

Altima
2009-01-12, 09:39 PM
There must be only a few archetypes of villains. Goblins gently increase in power from the, uh, sick goblin to the goblin god. And they all look the same, apart from coloration.

Bats. There must always be bats. Possibly giant roaches as well.

There must always be someone competing with the party. This person/party usually meets with the party, skirmishes, then runs off. They occaisionally perform better than the PCs to acquire a semi-useful Macguffin. Shortly before the end of the game campaign, the two parties will fight and the rivals will be defeated to pass on the torch, symbolically, to their rivals.

There will always be an attractive (possibly scantily clad) female who is powerful, works for the BBEG, hands the party its butt on a regular basis, then gets betrayed by BBEG or something or seducedredeemed by the 'good guys' at which time she'll become completely useless, being little more than a cheerleader for the party.

The last PC to join the party must be a low level functionary of the BBEG. The party will fight this character, who will be incredibly difficult to defeat. Upon his or her defeat, he or she will join the part at level 1.

For a more modern feel, have every important NPC speak to the player/party in gender neutral terms.

monty
2009-01-12, 09:55 PM
And Spoons. Don't forget spoons.

But...but...there is no spoon!

Sorry, wrong genre.

Assassin89
2009-01-12, 10:03 PM
all bards are spoony

Weapons and shields can be found on animals for some reason

Flickerdart
2009-01-12, 10:10 PM
For a more modern feel, have every important NPC speak to the player/party in gender neutral terms.
Not only that, but never allude to their number, equipment (save for MacGuffins), class, level, appearance, race or any other variable. No names, either.

The Glyphstone
2009-01-12, 10:17 PM
Or, for variety, only have them refer to the PC's as race and level combinations. Human Fighter, Dwarf Paladin, Undead Necropolitan Warlock...

woodenbandman
2009-01-12, 10:49 PM
Send them after people, but have nobody answer the door, the door be unlocked, and the people inside act like there aren't perfect strangers in their house. Also, put treasure in peoples' houses, and let the PCs take it out of chests, and hide potions and other minutia in clocks, under books, on tables, in cabinets, and such.

Have random NPCs offer history when they're not asked and not wanted, and give everyone EXCEPT the Big Bad Evil Guys plot armor, I.E. they're not dead, they're only sleeping, or, better yet, they're immune to hits entirely.

Never surprise the PCs, or if you want to include a mechanic for them being surprised, there are only rear attack and pincer attack, and NEVER surrounding or ceiling/floor attacks.

Have all status conditions last until only after the battle is over, have a full night's rest at an inn heal all status conditions, have the cost of everything steadily increase as the game wears on, except of course if they decide to return to the beginning to save money on an inn. Roll random encounters every 5 seconds in real time, but assume that the PCs are "taking 10" to run away.

Have a variety of items that create minor magic effects such as fireballs or webs that are useable by everyone, have one charge, and are dropped by monsters.

Take great pains to describe guards of a city as looking EXACTLY alike, down to the 2 mm beards, the cigars, the dinged armor, but give them all different vocals and personalities. Also, have all shopkeepers, inkeepers, and travel agents be related, or, if possible, the same person.

Make whooshing sounds or generic sounding death rattles when an enemy dies, even if they have no discernable anatomy, and have a battle victory music that plays at the end for a few seconds. If at all possible, have battle music playing during the battle, and vary it up based on the difficulty of the fight.

Make sure to describe the monsters standing in place, and give all of them spring attack, pounce, and at-will hustle, along with maxed ranks in tumble. Give the same to the PCs.

Give a lot of monsters random weak SLAs such as cause fear and contagion. Just for giggles.

Most importantly: NEVER start agression as an NPC, unless you're clearly evil. Mooks are good, and BBEGs are evil, and that's IT. Never react to the PCs' attitudes unless you're in conversation with a major NPC or some equally dramatic event, such as a nuclear war or a celebrity pregnancy is imminent.

Bassikpoet
2009-01-12, 11:11 PM
Have every single important NPC be androgynous.

Altima
2009-01-12, 11:16 PM
Or, for variety, only have them refer to the PC's as race and level combinations. Human Fighter, Dwarf Paladin, Undead Necropolitan Warlock...

Or as titles. Knight-Captain. Soul Eater. Jeff, God of Biscuits. Lord of Stonelands Keep.

For bonus points, have a former 'hero' (called 'hero' of course) who played an important roll in history be alluded to. He (or she), of course, did all the work--expelling the BBEG, saving the world, etc--and then immediately left, allowing the ruler to take all the credit and pretty much writing the hero out of history.

Archpaladin Zousha
2009-01-12, 11:23 PM
Are you certain using cliches is a good idea? You could be accused of plagarism. And how do you expect your players to take the game seriously if it's riddled with cliches?

Berserk Monk
2009-01-12, 11:24 PM
"Get ye flask!"

You also might want to put in a Strider/Sheik-like character who appears every so often, aides the characters (maybe even guides them along to the next plot point) but then disappears to let the PCs do the work and you're never really sure if he's good or evil and he's hiding a huge secret about his identity.

GoodbyeSoberDay
2009-01-12, 11:36 PM
Make sure there's a side quest to rescue a beautiful princess from a tower at some point. Bonus points if the tower is guarded by some kind of dragon.Of course, the beautiful princess is in another tower...

Drascin
2009-01-13, 02:33 AM
Are you certain using cliches is a good idea? You could be accused of plagarism. And how do you expect your players to take the game seriously if it's riddled with cliches?

...the point is precisely that he doesn't want them to take it seriously. It's gonna be a humorous campaign, if I read the OP right. If they took it seriously, they'd be, in fact, missing the point. It'd be like playing a tolerant and kind character in Paranoia :smalltongue:

Kurald Galain
2009-01-13, 06:14 AM
Have all status conditions last until only after the battle is over, have a full night's rest at an inn heal all status conditions, have the cost of everything steadily increase as the game wears on,

Have a variety of items that create minor magic effects such as fireballs or webs that are useable by everyone, have one charge, and are dropped by monsters.

Give a lot of monsters random weak SLAs such as cause fear and contagion.

In other words, play 4E :smallbiggrin:

kamikasei
2009-01-13, 06:43 AM
You must visit some number of gods/fairies/spirits who will bestow various blessings upon you, but not otherwise do a damn thing about the BBEG or end of the world.

There's one guy somewhere with some task he needs performed that requires travelling all over the world and doing something mundane (e.g.: take a picture of every type of monster). He expects you to do this for him, even while the BBEG's armies raze cities around him, one of the major nations suffers a nuclear winter / Day of Mourning, and all firstborn children are stricken with a plague. He remains completely unperturbed and monomaniacally obsessed. Alternatively, he's doing whatever the task is himself, and keeps showing up in the craziest places ("how the hell did you get to this cave at the bottom of the ocean containing the Gates to the Hidden Temple of the Water Goddess before we did, dude?") whistling nonchalantly and offering to trade increasingly powerful items with the players.


Are you certain using cliches is a good idea? You could be accused of plagarism.

Well, you could equally be accused of plagiarism for eating breakfast, since neither are plagiarism and there's therefore not much point trying to avoid the accusation.

Jeivar
2009-01-13, 07:52 AM
Are you certain using cliches is a good idea? You could be accused of plagarism. And how do you expect your players to take the game seriously if it's riddled with cliches?

It's not meant to be taken seriously. It's mean to be silly and fun.

Mercenary Pen
2009-01-13, 09:14 AM
See the spoiler in my sig.

hewhosaysfish
2009-01-13, 09:34 AM
If you have time (lots of time) you may want to read ADVENTURERS! (http://www.adventurers-comic.com/d/0001.html), which mocks all the common JRPG tropes (and is also d*mn good).

Storm Bringer
2009-01-13, 10:16 AM
most important of all: Let The Players Know It's Not Serious.

Specifically, if they are aware that you're doing a cheesey computer RPG, then they can tailor their characters personalites to fit the mood I.e. the Barbarian talks like thog amd tries to slove everything with his fists, the thief calls himself a thief rather than rogue and spends all his time trying to steal things, etc. This sort of game needs the players to be in the right frame of mind, and they need to know that they need to be in that frame of mind.

failing that, have their progess artifically blocked by tempory but insurpassable Obstacles that cannot be got around and disappear when some completly unrelated event has occured (ie. "you cannot cross the mountians, for the road is closed by snowfall. No, you can't use your fire magics to burn a path though. why not kill some time saving that local bride stolen on her wedding night by goblins? I'm sure the road will be fixed by the time you've done that") that's a very computer game thing to do.

hamishspence
2009-01-13, 10:20 AM
I liked Diane Wynn-Jones's The Tough Guide to Fantasyland as a tongue-in-cheek cliche collection.

Morty
2009-01-13, 10:46 AM
The party must fight giant spiders at least once. If spiders are for some reason unavailable, spider-like creatures will also suffice.

Canadian
2009-01-13, 11:08 AM
The call is coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE!

Dogmantra
2009-01-13, 02:38 PM
Have one item in each dungeon, found about halfway through, that will be the key to solving all puzzles in the rest of the dungeon, then never used again until the BBEG battle.

Tacoma
2009-01-13, 04:26 PM
Weapons and shields can be found on animals for some reason

Playing off this, whenever they cut into a creature some money falls out of its wounds onto the ground. There is a maximum that each creature contains of course - they just don't carry it around in pouches.

Alternatively, when a creature dies it quickly dissolves in red mist and coins fall out.



Food heals you. All mountain springs are magical. Old men are always wise, or otherwise are completely insane. Every NPC is completely single-minded in its life pursuits, taking every opportunity to mention how perfection in "X" is noble and spiritual. Even when "X" is shoveling poop. Especially then.

chiasaur11
2009-01-13, 04:49 PM
Playing off this, whenever they cut into a creature some money falls out of its wounds onto the ground. There is a maximum that each creature contains of course - they just don't carry it around in pouches.

Alternatively, when a creature dies it quickly dissolves in red mist and coins fall out.



Food heals you. All mountain springs are magical. Old men are always wise, or otherwise are completely insane. Every NPC is completely single-minded in its life pursuits, taking every opportunity to mention how perfection in "X" is noble and spiritual. Even when "X" is shoveling poop. Especially then.

Wouldn't he have a vow of silence?

Canadian
2009-01-13, 05:31 PM
You can carry an unlimited inventory of everything no matter how much room or weight it would actually have in real life.

You also have one crappy missile weapon that never runs out of ammunition.

Hzurr
2009-01-13, 05:41 PM
Wouldn't he have a vow of silence?

I see what you did there.

*chuckles, goes off to play SBCG4AP*

TheCountAlucard
2009-01-13, 06:20 PM
You can carry an unlimited amount of different objects, no matter how much room or weight it would actually have in real life, but you can't have more than 99 of a single type of object.

Fixed it for ya. :smallbiggrin:

Draco Dracul
2009-01-13, 06:39 PM
There must be four lightly guarded objects (preferably spheres) that hold the world together, the removal of any one of them could cause countless disasters.

Whether or not recoving them is the primary quest, they should still be present in some fashion.

Assassin89
2009-01-13, 06:41 PM
Victory music sounds after every won encounter.

Sereg
2009-01-13, 11:41 PM
Whenever a PC looks at a creature/NPC/object/lever/etc. a sword/arrow/hand/question mark/etc. appears over it.

Some NPC's stand around doing nothing until you speak to them, whereupon they attack you.

Canadian
2009-01-14, 10:54 AM
When you finish the game it starts over except now it's harder than the last time.

Dogmantra
2009-01-14, 01:45 PM
As soon as the players run out of things to do, have them fork over some money, then tell them they've just bought the expansion pack.

Have at least one inexplicable glitch, that's completely game-breaking if abused.

Write the names of loads of people (including yourself) on a long piece of paper. Then when the campaign ends, start "rolling the credits"