Fluff Check:: Looking for the best joke of all time

[silverwolfer]

So the basic idea, is a gnome who is looking for the best joke of all time, be they current or old, do you think that sort of storyline would fit a bard 1/ archivist 5/ Divine prankster 10 ?

[Gildedragon]

They have an inscription of the joke in a long lost language. The bard needs to learn the language to fully comprehend the joke?

[Axinian]

It indeed would be a good motivation, but it is a dangerous road you walk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gpjk_MaCGM). If the DM has seen that, abandon all hope.

[Thespianus]

It indeed would be a good motivation, but it is a dangerous road you walk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gpjk_MaCGM). If the DM has seen that, abandon all hope.

I've always seen Tasha's Hideous Laughter as a DnD version of that very clip. :)

Problem with the "Learn the Language as a Quest" is that Comprehend Languages is a 1st level spell. :(

But the quest for such a joke can indeed be great.

[TuggyNE]

Problem with the "Learn the Language as a Quest" is that Comprehend Languages is a 1st level spell. :(

As long as you rejigger it to "learn the cultural context that would make that ancient joke properly funny", it could work just fine; humor is one of the most elusive aspects of a culture.

[Slipperychicken]

The bard needs to learn the language to fully comprehend the joke?

He must travel to the ancient Mountain-Temple of Drop-Dead Comedy, and prove himself worthy of the joke to the monastic order which guard's its secrets (the Joke is their greatest treasure, and they will only impart it to the funniest and most worthy entertainers). If he decided to take the joke by force, it would not work -it is only funny when told by one trained in the ancient principles of Drop-Dead Comedy.


Of course, to drag this out: He needs to find the temple first, which will require some adventures through comedy clubs and perhaps the location of an old master to direct him to it. Then he needs to actually get to the temple (an adventure in itself), then prove himself worthy (which may require all manner of quests to complete).

[silverwolfer]

uhg haha, those are great guys/gals

[FreakyCheeseMan]

Just depends on the fluff of the "Comprehend languages" spell. There could be something about this particular language that puts it beyond the reaches of the spell.

[Psyren]

The joke is written in Truespeak; to learn the joke, the gnome must become a Truenamer 19. When he finally reads it, the joke turns out to be a cursed scroll that prevents the reader from ever learning Conjunctive Gate.

[Ravens_cry]

Just depends on the fluff of the "Comprehend languages" spell. There could be something about this particular language that puts it beyond the reaches of the spell.
Eh, I hate it when a DM (or video game) creates a barrier that ordinarily is easily circumvented, but makes it somehow a special case. It just smacks of a certain lack of creativity unless it can be really justified.

[FreakyCheeseMan]

Eh, I hate it when a DM (or video game) creates a barrier that ordinarily is easily circumvented, but makes it somehow a special case. It just smacks of a certain lack of creativity unless it can be really justified.

Well, in this case, justification wouldn't be that difficult - "Comprehend Languages" works on mundane languages. Obviously the greatest joke would be written in something deeper, something secret, the language of true names, the language the world was written in, the language in which Ao spoke his wedding vows to the Lady of Pain. It's not quite the same as "The joke is in... uh.. French. Yeah. And that spell totally doesn't work on French."

[Ravens_cry]

Well, in this case, justification wouldn't be that difficult - "Comprehend Languages" works on mundane languages. Obviously the greatest joke would be written in something deeper, something secret, the language of true names, the language the world was written in, the language in which Ao spoke his wedding vows to the Lady of Pain. It's not quite the same as "The joke is in... uh.. French. Yeah. And that spell totally doesn't work on French."
Well, perhaps, like I said, the right justification can work, but then, would the joke be all that funny to mortals? To some creatures, the best joke might be a riddle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphinx#Greek_traditions).

[Khatoblepas]

As long as you rejigger it to "learn the cultural context that would make that ancient joke properly funny", it could work just fine; humor is one of the most elusive aspects of a culture.

I'd say this, Comprehend Languages will allow you to understand the words of another language, but not the wider context (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darmok).

The text of Comprehend Languages says:

The ability to read does not necessarily impart insight into the material, merely its literal meaning.

Perhaps the best joke is written in a primal tongue that requires knowledge of the entire multiverse and all it's workings to "get".

Basically it's a cosmic inside joke, perhaps on the level of

"How many orcs does it take to identify an orc?

One to look closely (Take 10) and the other to serve as comparison. (Aid Another)"

Not very funny unless you word it right.

[FreakyCheeseMan]

Well, perhaps, like I said, the right justification can work, but then, would the joke be all that funny to mortals? To some creatures, the best joke might be a riddle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphinx#Greek_traditions).

There's a lot of comedic theory we could discuss - for my money, I would say that the greatest joke would be some intrinsic comedic fact about the universe, or possibly the distillation of a pattern found in lesser jokes. If you can understand it in the original language, you get the full force of the joke; no translation would ever communicate it perfectly, but if you understand the original, you could use it to create hundreds or thousands of lesser (but still potent) jokes in mundane languages.

[Thespianus]

As long as you rejigger it to "learn the cultural context that would make that ancient joke properly funny", it could work just fine; humor is one of the most elusive aspects of a culture.

Fair enough, but: "Man falls and gets embarrasingly hurt" is funny in 14000 different cultures worldwide. True Story.


(Ok, I might have rigged the numbers a bit, but still. Some stuff is just universal)


The joke is written in Truespeak; to learn the joke, the gnome must become a Truenamer 19. When he finally reads it, the joke turns out to be a cursed scroll that prevents the reader from ever learning Conjunctive Gate.

"A Truenamer walks into a bar." is funny in all DnD worlds.

Yes, that's the complete joke.

[Eloel]

It can also be a pun that only works if you know multiple languages.


The spell enables you to understand or read an unknown language
And as always, multiple castings do not stack. Too bad, now learn those languages. :smallsmile:

[Slipperychicken]

Eh, I hate it when a DM (or video game) creates a barrier that ordinarily is easily circumvented, but makes it somehow a special case. It just smacks of a certain lack of creativity unless it can be really justified.

Perhaps comprehend languages gives you engrish-esque translations; the basic meaning, without enough nuance for the joke to work.

[Gildedragon]

There is also precedent for this. The Scrolls of Uncertain Provenance are written in such a confusion of languages that language-understanding spells do not help translate them.
A similarly arcane language could be too complex for spells to decipher. It could be dependent on understanding the original context it was first uttered in, and the language could rely on all sorts of allusions. A translated version of the joke would be something like this:

Mother/Mentor/tea-cozy what/who is (in the sense similar to but distinct from being-as-continuous-repeated-action) that at (in an obscene sense) the-table/marital bed/main meal of the day?
The Carrot (possibly ginger)/Head Inquisitor!

[Telonius]

I've always wanted to spring this one on somebody for a killing joke.


A local duke's son was kidnapped, so he put a sign on the tavern door asking for adventurers to audition for the chance to be the team to rescue him. His assistant was a half-orc barbarian; he figured Thunk would be able to take anything a bunch of low-level adventurers could dish out.

The first group that came in was a man, his wife, and two children. The man opened by whipping out a scroll of Time Stop, then casting a half-dozen spells on the rest of his family. The wife took out some sort of staff, and half the tavern erupted in divine fire. The daughter drank a potion, ran up to Thunk and literally stole his pants while jabbing him in several vital areas with a rapier. Finally, the son took out some sort of martial scroll - one of those fancy things that the Warblades are always talking about, yelled out some ridiculous phrase, and knocked Thunk's head twelve feet away.

The duke was flabbergasted. "But I thought you'd never adventured before? How could you be so powerful?"

"It's all in the items," said the man.

"How in the nine hells could you afford it? What class are you, anyway?"

Then, lean in, and deliver the killing punch line so only the target can hear.


Aristocrats.

[FreakyCheeseMan]

I've always wanted to spring this one on somebody for a killing joke.



Then, lean in, and deliver the killing punch line so only the target can hear.



I really, really should have seen that coming.

[Gildedragon]

Got the punchline: Power Word Kill

[A_S]

The joke is written in Truespeak; to learn the joke, the gnome must become a Truenamer 19. When he finally reads it, the joke turns out to be a cursed scroll that prevents the reader from ever learning Conjunctive Gate.

Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

(I just felt this post didn't get the response it deserved earlier)

*edit* Re: Tongues and cultural context, this could be an excellent Douglas Adams-esque plot point. You learn the joke via magical language comprehension at, like, level 2, but it's something completely obtuse and you have to spend the rest of your career questing to figure out why it's so funny. Great opportunity for your DM to come up with an obscure punch line, and have possible (but, ultimately, invalid) lead-up jokes to that punch line be a running gag in the campaign.

I want to play this character now.