PDA

View Full Version : Wizard pulling jokes



Gnaritas
2009-12-29, 05:59 AM
My next character will be a crazy old wizard.

Shortly after he joins the party he will be making his first joke. I will need the DM's assistance. I will create an illusion of some giant or so behind us.
I will use the skill trick "Conceal spellcasting" to prevent others from knowing it is me. Most likely i will "charge" the giant, poking it with my stick, to the amazement of the others, until either they realise or i cannot hold my laugh anymore (ic or ooc).

Every 5 sessions or so i will pull some joke, any other fun ideas?

sonofzeal
2009-12-29, 06:07 AM
This could get very old, very fast. Basically, you have to make it funny in character and even funnier out of character. Just because it would make characters laugh if they were actually seeing it, doesn't mean it'll make players laugh. And if players aren't laughing, chances are characters won't be either. Such is the nature of the game.

PhoenixRivers
2009-12-29, 06:13 AM
The best jokes for this archetype are the nonmagical ones.

Start with nonmagical bits. Think method comedy. Baseketballs, Three Stooges, that sorta thing. It lays a good foundation for "crazy old man".

From there, add in magical eccentricities. All your prestidigitations are to leave the air around you smelling like paprika. These shouldn't be quite a joke, persay, as much as something so bafflingly weird and without a direct point that it boggles the mind. This helps reinforce the above, and possibly adds a hint of eccentricity or senility.

Finally? Spells should be brutally powerful, or utility, no exceptions. On the occasions where you need to cut loose, you need to scare the people around you (think Yoda's fight scenes). Otherwise? Grease, Web, etc. Stuff that's useful, but nothing to write home about.

Solaris
2009-12-29, 06:18 AM
In short, Pun-Pun.

sonofzeal
2009-12-29, 06:21 AM
The best jokes for this archetype are the nonmagical ones.

Start with nonmagical bits. Think method comedy. Baseketballs, Three Stooges, that sorta thing. It lays a good foundation for "crazy old man".

From there, add in magical eccentricities. All your prestidigitations are to leave the air around you smelling like paprika. These shouldn't be quite a joke, persay, as much as something so bafflingly weird and without a direct point that it boggles the mind. This helps reinforce the above, and possibly adds a hint of eccentricity or senility.

Finally? Spells should be brutally powerful, or utility, no exceptions. On the occasions where you need to cut loose, you need to scare the people around you (think Yoda's fight scenes). Otherwise? Grease, Web, etc. Stuff that's useful, but nothing to write home about.
I like this, especially the last bit. Obscuring Mist, Hold Portal, and Forceful Great Thunderclap. That's a Will vs Stun, a Fort vs Deaf, a Ref vs Prone, and another Fort vs Prone AND Stunned. To everyone in an area.


The DM will hate you, but it'll be memorable. :smallbiggrin::smallbiggrin::smallbiggrin:

PhoenixRivers
2009-12-29, 06:22 AM
Actually, Dumbledore was the inspiration, with a dash of Elminster, and a gnome tinker I once played.

Gnaritas
2009-12-29, 07:20 AM
This could get very old, very fast. Basically, you have to make it funny in character and even funnier out of character. Just because it would make characters laugh if they were actually seeing it, doesn't mean it'll make players laugh. And if players aren't laughing, chances are characters won't be either. Such is the nature of the game.

I believe my partymembers will find it amusing out of character. In character most characters will not, but that is no issue, it is not mandatory that my character is liked for his jokes.
I will not be using the same joke again, that is why i need more jokes.
I will not be using them often, at least not any major jokes like my example.

I also believe the fact that i did a joke only once, will make other players think twice when they see a giant, which might lead to odd situations...and that in itself will contribute to how the characters view the crazy old wizard, which is the main point.

Caewil
2009-12-29, 07:27 AM
Use prestidigitation to turn everyone's clothing neon pink and declare the party to be the "cotton candy band".

Radar
2009-12-29, 08:16 AM
Use prestidigitation to turn everyone's clothing neon pink and declare the party to be the "cotton candy band".
And make everything taste like cotton candy or alternatively like chicken, because everything tastes like chicken, if you are hungry enough. This also leads to a particular use of Prestidigitation - conceal poisons in food/drinks (you can nullify their taste/smell/color).

You can use Ghost Sound, to sing a canon all by yourself or to wage a philosophical dispute with yourself.

There was a spell, that allowed to shape shadows. It might be used to make a mouse appear as a full scale troll from around a corner or in conjunction with Ghost Sound, to make one of PC's believe, his shadow is a separate senient.

sonofzeal
2009-12-29, 08:42 AM
I believe my partymembers will find it amusing out of character. In character most characters will not, but that is no issue, it is not mandatory that my character is liked for his jokes.
I will not be using the same joke again, that is why i need more jokes.
I will not be using them often, at least not any major jokes like my example.

I also believe the fact that i did a joke only once, will make other players think twice when they see a giant, which might lead to odd situations...and that in itself will contribute to how the characters view the crazy old wizard, which is the main point.
If you think the players will enjoy it, go right ahead! On some level, everyone's role at the table is to help entertain everyone else at the table for a few hours, and hopefully walk away feeling something was accomplished, too. If your group enjoys it, that's what counts.

Cyrion
2009-12-29, 11:59 AM
One of my characters once used a silent image of a pig with wings as a signal flare.

He also always tried to introduce the party cleric (Ursinia) thus:

"And this is My Sinia."

"Your Sinia?"

"Exactly!"

The DM played along with it a couple of times, and I almost got one of the PCs to fall for it, too."

Optimystik
2009-12-29, 12:14 PM
Actually, Dumbledore was the inspiration, with a dash of Elminster, and a gnome tinker I once played.

Sounds more like Fizban to me.

And this can be quite fun, done right, especially if your DM drops a real Giant behind you all at some point. :smallwink:

valadil
2009-12-29, 12:29 PM
I did something similar. The only difference was that instead of a giant, it was some awful demon thing. And for 2 weeks before the illusion, I'd cast similar Nightmare spells on the paladin in his sleep. Oh and instead of charging the illusion, the rest of the group was slaughtered by it, as the paladin had seen whenever he tried to sleep. The purpose of this? To prove that fear could cause even a paladin to soil his fullplate.