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View Full Version : The beauty in a child's smile, the magnificence of a rainbow



Amiel
2010-04-06, 10:34 AM
What would be some uplifting, emotionally rewarding (in that you cry happy tears rather than ones filled with pain and ash), or otherwise joyous adventure ideas, plot hooks, campaign ideas, monsters?

Eldonauran
2010-04-06, 10:40 AM
I usually find that the best campaigns/adventure hooks that end with happiness always have some manner of tragic loss to them. IE, can't have your happy without your sad first.

endoperez
2010-04-06, 10:51 AM
I don't know, but I thought this would be another thread with Vorpal Tribble's monsters. Somehow, I don't think they would have been very uplifting. :smallbiggrin:

Keshay
2010-04-06, 10:53 AM
Finding out that Centauri had not died at all, but instead was in a hibernative state healing from his wounds.

Beowulf DW
2010-04-06, 10:57 AM
I usually find that the best campaigns/adventure hooks that end with happiness always have some manner of tragic loss to them. IE, can't have your happy without your sad first.

A gentle sadness makes happiness all the sweeter.

That was a bit more poetic than I meant it to be, but it's true. Including something slightly sad at the end makes happy endings more fulfilling.

Example: Lord of the Rings ends with the final parting of the Fellowship. Frodo and Gandalf leave forever, and the remaining members on Middle Earth live happily. They visit each other from time to time, but their Fellowship is never gathered altogether in one place ever again.

Everyone got their happy ending, and they remained friends, but they hardly ever saw one another again. It creates a wonderful mix of emotions.

Lycanthromancer
2010-04-06, 11:19 AM
A gentle sadness makes happiness all the sweeter.

That was a bit more poetic than I meant it to be, but it's true. Including something slightly sad at the end makes happy endings more fulfilling.

Example: Lord of the Rings ends with the final parting of the Fellowship. Frodo and Gandalf leave forever, and the remaining members on Middle Earth live happily. They visit each other from time to time, but their Fellowship is never gathered altogether in one place ever again.

Everyone got their happy ending, and they remained friends, but they hardly ever saw one another again. It creates a wonderful mix of emotions.I was just glad it was over. My bladder couldn't've taken another 10 minutes.

Though Gandalf had access to giant flying eagles and stuff. Why didn't they just fly to Mt. Doom and chuck in the Egg McGuffin One Ring?

Beowulf DW
2010-04-06, 11:22 AM
Though Gandalf had access to giant flying eagles and stuff. Why didn't they just fly to Mt. Doom and chuck in the Egg McGuffin One Ring?

Sauron would've noticed them and would have done something. Escaping Sauron's notice was a major part of the plot.

Coidzor
2010-04-06, 11:25 AM
Heh. I thought this thread would be about some kind of hideous magic or evil plot powered by something like that. Sort of a cross between Black Mage's Hadoken's power source and that episode of Venture Brothers where Dr. Venture makes a Lotus Eater Machine out of the heart of an abandoned child.

shadow_archmagi
2010-04-06, 11:27 AM
DM: "Okay, so, you're going to fight an Awakened Animated Rainbow."

Wizard: "I bet it attacks with seven different elements at once"

Rogue:"There had better be gold at the end of this"

Barbarian: "I bite it. How does it taste?"

Lycanthromancer
2010-04-06, 11:27 AM
Sauron would've noticed them and would have done something. Escaping Sauron's notice was a major part of the plot.What could he do? He was a giant flaming eye. Most of his minions were landbound, and by the time the flyers could get there the Ring would be toast.

Mmm...Egg McGuffin on Toast...

balistafreak
2010-04-06, 11:30 AM
The story of Noh. (http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Noh) (Warning: NSFW pictures if you expand the pictures at the bottom of the page. Bloody Rule 34, ruining my day.)

Put this situation in front of your PCs. If they take the little girl home with them, manly tears. :smallredface:

Kol Korran
2010-04-06, 11:40 AM
What could he do? He was a giant flaming eye. Most of his minions were landbound, and by the time the flyers could get there the Ring would be toast.

Mmm...Egg McGuffin on Toast...

well, this just begets How LOTR should have ended (http://www.howitshouldhaveended.com/videos?bcpid=51434042001&bclid=41247345001&bctid=40755981001) check out some of the others as well. the Star wars one is funny too.
[/derailing]

Kylarra
2010-04-06, 11:43 AM
It's probably bad that my first thought was of this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7423462) and Totally not-evil Bob's discount orphan smile farm...

Zombimode
2010-04-06, 12:03 PM
What could he do? He was a giant flaming eye. Most of his minions were landbound, and by the time the flyers could get there the Ring would be toast.


He f*ked up with Sarumans mind over a palantir. One could only imagine what he could do to Gandalf if he were about to enter Mordor clearly visible on a giant eagle.

Paulus
2010-04-06, 12:04 PM
Pixies. Save a village of pixies. or kittens.
OH! ...save a village of pixies who ride kittens.
NO WAIT! Save a village of pixies who ride UNICORN KITTENS!
NNEEEIIIGGHHHH PURR PURR!

Lord Vukodlak
2010-04-06, 12:51 PM
Here's an ending,

My cleric Christof and party had been trapped on an island locked outside of time, and finally managed to escape and return home.
Christof had been away from home for five years due to being trapped on the island and very much wanted to see his wife and children again.

So he invite the party to his some for a celebration, they passed the blackgate and strode past the massive obsidian walls of his home city.
[think Minis Trith mixed with mordor architecture]
Christof you see was lawful evil and served the god of tyranny which ruled over the entire city and shrouding lands.

He was greeted by a merchant whom Christof held no memory of.
"Lord Christof you've returned and you brought slaves!"
Still, it brought warm feelings to his dark heart to be welcomed home.
"Oh it is so good to see you, hows my wife been holding up"

"Very well my lord, she always knew you were alive, you have nine suitors in your courtyard trying to court her though"

"NINE suitors, wow that makes me feel kinda proud"

"There used to be more but your wife killed three or four already"

"That's my lover"

So Christof returned to his house and met with the suitors made some small talk before announcing that they leave this place at once
"Why should we!" they demanded so Christof stood up and removed his demon helm revealing his face.
"I am Lord Christof Romulad, lord of this manor, I have returned now flee this place or die!"
And flee they did, or would have if not for the spellsword an ally of Christof who blocked the exit with a wall of force and proceeded to slaughter them.
Truth be told Christof was being truthful if they had fled he'd have spared them.
The spellsword simply assumed Christof intended to kill them anyway but my cleric was to tired from the journey to correct him so he did nothing to stop the slaughter, even waved his on undead minions to join in.

After killing died down his wife emerged and they embraced and kissed. She then proceeded to beat him for making her worry so much and being gone for so long.

He played with his children including his youngest son, whom neither had ever seen before.

After the dinner party he bid his companions farewell. He said they'd always be welcome at his house, except for you. Pointing to the gravetouched ghoul spellsword.
Hey Christof may have been evil but he didn't want a Chaotic evil ghoul anywhere near his family.

*My reasoning for not using the eagles to transport the ring is, during the journey Sauron didn't know where the ring was If some eagles flew in to Mordor there would have been the the Nazugul on their serpents and hordes or archers waiting to shoot the eagles down.
He didn't have much in the way of an air force but he certainly had enough to intercept the eagles especially if some were always near

A flight of eagles flying from the city of the elves strait towards mordor would not escape his notice, and it still likely take weeks to get there.

Also if Saurumon was able to nearly blow them off the mountains on foot he certainly could have done something if they were flying.

Kallisti
2010-04-06, 01:19 PM
What could he do? He was a giant flaming eye.

"I'll help by giving dirty looks!"

Also, on topic this time, my recommendation would be to get an NPC they actually like and care about and have a villain do something to said NPC, like kidnap their children, or just anything that really hurts them emotionally. Then when the PCs win they get to be happy for Friend NPC.

Sliver
2010-04-06, 01:32 PM
An alcoholic unicorn that needs a new liver, ASAP, but the clerics won't give him because he won't stop drinking so he is, in desperation and hopelessness, drinks himself into oblivion. But wait! This unicorn got his horn stolen by stoner lepricons that smoke it. Or so he claims. Maybe it's just an awakened drunken horse!

The unicorn throws up rainbows and the kids love him (http://www.smbc-comics.com/comics/20100402.gif). It's happy!

Dr Bwaa
2010-04-06, 02:25 PM
I was just glad it was over. My bladder couldn't've taken another 10 minutes.

Amen to that.

On topic, I find that the moments that are the most touching for me are when someone goes out of his/her way to do something meaningful/important for someone else (often at personal expense, but not necessarily). It's a hard dynamic to hit in role-playing games usually--what you're asking for basically requires a game with all the players really invested in their characters. I have only ever played in one such game, I think, at least to the extent that I would consider to be necessary for those kinds of emotions.

Paulus
2010-04-06, 03:44 PM
A long story but I guess it's worth it.

I once played in a one shot Con party with a bunch of unknowns. One among them insisted on playing a Lawful good Paladin who went adventuring with our group into the tomb of horrors. Cue groans from all sides of the table. He was the only character in the party who never took any treasure, healed when he could, but never smote anything, never railed on the party to follow his code, and would allow them their own choices after he said his peace only once and never mentioned it again. Three times I saw him jump in front of those who had actually prejudged him as 'just an annoying paladin' and meta gamed pranks or voiced annoyance about things he was 'sure to do'. Each time it wasn't even necessary that he do so, because he had lower health than any of them, but he still protected the group from harm when he could. Because of this he came close to death more than anyone else, and would use his healing on others before himself, but never asked for thanks or anything in return, even though I felt some of the others should have- just because he was a healer didn't mean it was his job to heal them.

None the less we were set upon by a baddie we could not identify, (some kind of Lich wraith templates thingie,maybe house ruled) we thought it was just your average mid boss. We were caught off guard. He proved the most valuable character during the battle, even going so far as to blow through every thing he had and not in a 'abuse this trick of that trick' sort of way, but genuine disregard for what may come next. The Dm told us ominously that the bad guy was charging some kind of power for two rounds. Our casters flat out tried their best nukes but it didn't end there. The Paladin readied an action and passed it on a note to the DM, the DM asked him if he was sure, he said yes. So when the time came the lich thing moved in between the whole party and cast a specialized area disjunction spell. As all of us were about to pick our jaws up off the floor the DM then continued to say that the Paladin's ready action to 'leap before the blast' caused him to actually take the brunt of it and loose everything while most of the rest of us only lost a few other things we carried openly.

It was only after it was defeated that we learned it was the BBEG. Thankfully, there was treasure a plenty afterwars or I'm sure the DM would have been beaten, but the Paladin accepted none of it. The DM actually paused the game to make it clear to him he had used up all of his resources including armor and weapons being destroyed in the fight, they still had to get out of the tomb and hinted that there might be some surprises waiting for them on their way out. The Paladin shook his head and said his quest was complete, he had already failed. The Dm asked him what he was talking about and the Paladin refereed to the 'fluff' on his character sheet and a single item.

It turns out the Paladin had been carrying a dried flower his sister had given him when they were children. She had been the first character he ever played and previously died at the very end of this same adventure. He had been carrying the flower this entire time, protecting it even as he tried to protect everybody else, just so he could lay it at her 'grave' which was the end of the dungeon. But he wasn't mad at the Dm or anything about the disjunction, though I would have been utterly. The Dm actually looked angry for a moment and finally he just launched into this description of the Paladin looking down trodden but resolved to help his team back out of the tomb. Before he went though he kneeled to offer a prayer to his dead sister, upon doing so he saw a gleam of color beneath the dead body of the BBEG. Moving the body revealed it. A slightly beaten, but still growing strong, flower. The exact kind he had been carrying all this time. He also said a small shaft of light unnoticed until now rested on it's petals, explaining how it could have survived in this dank place. The Paladin looked at the DM somewhat speechless and simply smiled.

From there the rest of us made it out of the dungeon after insisting very strongly the Paladin take pieces of our own gear to cobble together a suit which could protect him. It made getting out harder, and there was a few close calls. But I'll never forget the feeling of fighting our way out of that dungeon. Sure it was nothing of grave importance to the world, no earth shattering revelation or mighty mystic spell, it wasn't even essential to the overall plot. But it was special to his story. From then on, whenever I go into a dungeon, discovered or not, I always, always make sure to have flowers in my items to lay at the end in honor of every character who came before and after mine and did not come back out.

Except I've never been to a D&D con, never played a one shot, and never met the Paladin. I made it all up just for this thread. Now. You tell me.
That lessen it's impact? If any.

The Glyphstone
2010-04-06, 03:48 PM
It's probably bad that my first thought was of this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7423462) and Totally not-evil Bob's discount orphan smile farm...

...So did I.:smallcool:

Fuzzie Fuzz
2010-04-06, 05:43 PM
A long story but I guess it's worth it.

I once played in a one shot Con party with a bunch of unknowns. One among them insisted on playing a Lawful good Paladin who went adventuring with our group into the tomb of horrors. Cue groans from all sides of the table. He was the only character in the party who never took any treasure, healed when he could, but never smote anything, never railed on the party to follow his code, and would allow them their own choices after he said his peace only once and never mentioned it again. Three times I saw him jump in front of those who had actually prejudged him as 'just an annoying paladin' and meta gamed pranks or voiced annoyance about things he was 'sure to do'. Each time it wasn't even necessary that he do so, because he had lower health than any of them, but he still protected the group from harm when he could. Because of this he came close to death more than anyone else, and would use his healing on others before himself, but never asked for thanks or anything in return, even though I felt some of the others should have- just because he was a healer didn't mean it was his job to heal them.

None the less we were set upon by a baddie we could not identify, (some kind of Lich wraith templates thingie,maybe house ruled) we thought it was just your average mid boss. We were caught off guard. He proved the most valuable character during the battle, even going so far as to blow through every thing he had and not in a 'abuse this trick of that trick' sort of way, but genuine disregard for what may come next. The Dm told us ominously that the bad guy was charging some kind of power for two rounds. Our casters flat out tried their best nukes but it didn't end there. The Paladin readied an action and passed it on a note to the DM, the DM asked him if he was sure, he said yes. So when the time came the lich thing moved in between the whole party and cast a specialized area disjunction spell. As all of us were about to pick our jaws up off the floor the DM then continued to say that the Paladin's ready action to 'leap before the blast' caused him to actually take the brunt of it and loose everything while most of the rest of us only lost a few other things we carried openly.

It was only after it was defeated that we learned it was the BBEG. Thankfully, there was treasure a plenty afterwars or I'm sure the DM would have been beaten, but the Paladin accepted none of it. The DM actually paused the game to make it clear to him he had used up all of his resources including armor and weapons being destroyed in the fight, they still had to get out of the tomb and hinted that there might be some surprises waiting for them on their way out. The Paladin shook his head and said his quest was complete, he had already failed. The Dm asked him what he was talking about and the Paladin refereed to the 'fluff' on his character sheet and a single item.

It turns out the Paladin had been carrying a dried flower his sister had given him when they were children. She had been the first character he ever played and previously died at the very end of this same adventure. He had been carrying the flower this entire time, protecting it even as he tried to protect everybody else, just so he could lay it at her 'grave' which was the end of the dungeon. But he wasn't mad at the Dm or anything about the disjunction, though I would have been utterly. The Dm actually looked angry for a moment and finally he just launched into this description of the Paladin looking down trodden but resolved to help his team back out of the tomb. Before he went though he kneeled to offer a prayer to his dead sister, upon doing so he saw a gleam of color beneath the dead body of the BBEG. Moving the body revealed it. A slightly beaten, but still growing strong, flower. The exact kind he had been carrying all this time. He also said a small shaft of light unnoticed until now rested on it's petals, explaining how it could have survived in this dank place. The Paladin looked at the DM somewhat speechless and simply smiled.

From there the rest of us made it out of the dungeon after insisting very strongly the Paladin take pieces of our own gear to cobble together a suit which could protect him. It made getting out harder, and there was a few close calls. But I'll never forget the feeling of fighting our way out of that dungeon. Sure it was nothing of grave importance to the world, no earth shattering revelation or mighty mystic spell, it wasn't even essential to the overall plot. But it was special to his story. From then on, whenever I go into a dungeon, discovered or not, I always, always make sure to have flowers in my items to lay at the end in honor of every character who came before and after mine and did not come back out.

Except I've never been to a D&D con, never played a one shot, and never met the Paladin. I made it all up just for this thread. Now. You tell me.
That lessen it's impact? If any.

...Oh my. Great story, man. Wow. Very impressed. And no, no it didn't. :smallsmile:

Thrawn183
2010-04-06, 05:58 PM
Sometimes it's all about how you have the NPC's of the world treat the PC's. I make it a point to show just how grateful the citizens of a city are when they are saved from brutal death on the end of a pointy stick.

Protecar
2010-04-06, 09:27 PM
...Oh my. Great story, man. Wow. Very impressed. And no, no it didn't. :smallsmile:

Seconded. Very powerful. What a punch! :smallsmile:

Rutskarn
2010-04-06, 09:38 PM
Mine's the campaign which started with butchering gnome noncombatants, and has progressed to inheriting a manor with a cellar full of naked, preserved corpses. I'm probably not the greatest authority on uplifting, happy-shiny adventures.

That said, the best way to uplift the players is to show them that they've done some tangible good. No nebulous "saving the realm" thing--if their actions are specifically responsible for, say, reuniting a father and child, that's enough.

Maybe a guy realizes he has a son, and that his son was growing up in a city that is now war-torn and off-limits. He begs the party to go to the city and rescue his (now adult) offspring so they can be reunited. The players succeed, and the father and child share a tearful embrace before the party is rewarded.

The Big Dice
2010-04-06, 09:57 PM
What could he do? He was a giant flaming eye. Most of his minions were landbound, and by the time the flyers could get there the Ring would be toast.

Mmm...Egg McGuffin on Toast...
[/derail]
Well, apart from the Fell Beasts that the Nazgul were riding after their horses got washed away at the Fords. If they'd flown right to Mordor from Rivendell, they'd have ran into all Nine of them. The only reason the Eagles were effective in the final battle was because they were unexpected.

Also, it was made clear in The Hobbit that the Eagles see being used simply as steeds as being way beneath their dignity.
[/derail]

Lycanthromancer
2010-04-06, 10:08 PM
[/derail]
Well, apart from the Fell Beasts that the Nazgul were riding after their horses got washed away at the Fords. If they'd flown right to Mordor from Rivendell, they'd have ran into all Nine of them. The only reason the Eagles were effective in the final battle was because they were unexpected.Indict them into the Spanish Inquisition. Nobody expects the...!

...Nah.

Really, it wouldn't have taken much to get all the eagles they could, send them off in random directions around Mordor and have them flying all over the place. One actually has Frodo and The Ring, which would set him down nearby before flying off with another member of The Fellowship (all the eagles would carry one or two people, so it's not obvious which is which).

Even better if there are other flyers to serve as distractions as well. Dozens, possibly hundreds, all serving as a distraction. Fill the air of Mordor with giant insects and dragons and bats and birds and fish, all too high to reach with bows and arrows. There are 9 ring-wraiths, and not nearly enough time to take them all out before The Ring is tossed into Mt. Doom.

Intelligent considerations ruin plots like this.


Also, it was made clear in The Hobbit that the Eagles see being used simply as steeds as being way beneath their dignity.
[/derail]If their pride is so huge that they'd rather let the world be destroyed, with them dead than give a couple of days of their time to help save it, they're siding with the enemy and must be destroyed.

Who wants poultry for supper?

The Big Dice
2010-04-06, 10:28 PM
Even better if there are other flyers to serve as distractions as well. Dozens, possibly hundreds, all serving as a distraction. Fill the air of Mordor with giant insects and dragons and bats and birds and fish, all too high to reach with bows and arrows. There are 9 ring-wraiths, and not nearly enough time to take them all out before The Ring is tossed into Mt. Doom.

Intelligent considerations ruin plots like this.

The Wraiths can smell the Ring, and the closer it gets to Mordor, the more it's power grows. And considering the only things that fly and are big enough to carry a rider are the Eagles and the Fell Beasts, it's not going to be hard to spot where to attack. Go for the ones with people on them. The Ringwraiths don't exist quite in the same world as most living things, they'd know where to attack. They only need to kill one Eagle for the Ring Bearer to plummet like a vampire sheep.

As for the Ring, it has to be thrown into the place where it was made, the Crack of Doom itself. Otherwise why not find a different volcano to lob the thing in? It's not as simple as just throw it into the firey volcano.

You're thinking like a D&D player who never has his DM say no, or ask how he plans to do something in the window of time there is to work with. Not like someone telling a story. Every day of delay is a day more that Sauron builds his forces. It's a day closer to Rohan falling and to Gondor being caught in a pincer. And with no Men, there's no Fourth Age.

DragoonWraith
2010-04-06, 11:19 PM
...I totally read that as "child's smite", and am somewhat disappointed...

krossbow
2010-04-06, 11:22 PM
To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their woman!

The Tygre
2010-04-06, 11:56 PM
*snip contrived Lord of the Rings discussion*


Hey, fellas'. You wanna' take your foreplay to the Media forum and quit derailing the thread? Just sayin'...

Primal Fury
2010-04-07, 10:11 AM
The story of Noh. (http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Noh) (Warning: NSFW pictures if you expand the pictures at the bottom of the page. Bloody Rule 34, ruining my day.)

Put this situation in front of your PCs. If they take the little girl home with them, manly tears. :smallredface:

That was the most adorable thing I've read in while. :smallsmile:

Oh great, now my soul's all full o'... rainbows and stuff. :smallfrown:
:biggrin: