Meta-Design in D&D

[prufock]

I often incorporate meta-humour and real-world D&D references into my setting designs. I'm wondering if others do the same. For instance:

- There is a tribe of notoriously deadly kobolds, lead by a Dragonwrought kobold demi-god named Tucker. They follow the almighty god of kobolds, Pun-Pun.

- There is a magic store called Bunko's Bargain Basement, run by the gnome Bunko. He sells both useful low-priced items as well as some less-than-useful items at very low cost (such as the Gloves of Argyle Striking and potions of Disguises Elf).

- There is another magic store called Shax's Sack Shack, which sells nothing but haversacks loaded down with random items.

[zephyrkinetic]

I have a penchant for having Plot-burdened NPCs explain backstories by referencing "a wizard did it."

I think I once had a gambling NPC who chucked d4s instead of caltrops to aid in his escape.

I have two recurring locations (which are apparently a chain because they appear in any city I need them in). One is the ritzy hotel where the rich folk gather. It's called the "High Faloot Inn." The other is the seedy, dimly-lit tavern where all the rogues and thieves (and Plot-burdened NPCs) hang out. It's called the "Sketch Pad." I have made reference to how each of them looks like all the others, similar to how a Taco Bell looks the same in Phoenix or in Atlanta. The smell, the smoke, the crust on the floor... these are all part of the corporate identity.

[NichG]

I ran a campaign once where Meta was the plot. It culminated with the PCs going to 'the real earth' and killing the GM, which was a little awkward to run :smallsmile:

This is one of those things which I think its useful to do once, just to see if you can make it not suck, and to see how the players react when the rabbit hole keeps on going. I wouldn't run a campaign like it again though (at least not with any of the same players) - once is enough, so its no longer 'clever'.

On the downside, the players keep on looking for hints that the world is meta in followup campaigns. On the upside, they pretty much had their fill, so there's a lot less in the way of awkward attempts to break the 4th wall.

[Crake]

I don't mind adding the occasional meta reference here and there in game, infact I design quite a few of my NPCs on meta references (because it's fun). But don't catch yourself in the act of putting meta references into plot related stuff. Forcing people to have out of character knowledge to solve or understand encounters really ruins the fun, unless you know for sure that the players will pick up on it instantly, or there are in character means of solving it.

[prufock]

I don't mind adding the occasional meta reference here and there in game, infact I design quite a few of my NPCs on meta references (because it's fun). But don't catch yourself in the act of putting meta references into plot related stuff. Forcing people to have out of character knowledge to solve or understand encounters really ruins the fun, unless you know for sure that the players will pick up on it instantly, or there are in character means of solving it.

I agree. I normally just use them for amusing little references.

[Oko and Qailee]

Bard's have Knowledge: Metagaming, it doesn't give you the answers, but it tells you what is most likely based on tropes. I know I do other things, but I can't remember off the top of my head as it's usually spur of the moment.

[Telonius]

I've included a whole bunch of them in a campaign I'm running, mostly in the background but occasionally breaking through to the main plot. A lot of them are tailored to the players. For example, half my group are fans of My Little Pony, so in the town they meet, there's a day spa called "Octavia's Rare Finds." Ye Olde Magick Shoppe is owned by a gnome named Jarya Sparklehands (who has a pseudodragon familiar). Outside the town there's an apple orchard owned by a woman named Jacqueline. The town bard's name is Diane. (It took them until "Jacqueline" to see what I'd done there. The whole table about died laughing when they did).

The players have already met a pair of Inevitables (a Quarut and a Varakhut) who arrived to the sound of the TARDIS whoosh.

Further along in the plot, the players will be flung into the future after disrupting a ceremony intended to summon the Lords of Baator to the material plane. The first person they'll meet will be a Samurai.

[Cicciograna]

My warforged are named after famous hardware and software brand. Last quest involved two named Asus and Adobe.

[georgie_leech]

Mandatory Link (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=221153) to the campaign most heavily based on another medium I've ever seen. It might be the very best that nothing else ever was.

[Ravens_cry]

I find this annoying to be honest. Alluding to something to evoke a certain emotional context, OK, sure, that's part of a craftsperson's tools, but referential humour gets old pretty fast for me. I'd rather have something funny happen that's funny in-universe than something that jerks me out of the moment with something only I know and would only confuse me in-character. A short, bald gnome who yells INCONCEIVABLE all the time or a Stephen Careers who owns an orchard that sells overpriced apple products and has penchant for black turtlenecks is just too much for me. I'll take inspiration where I can get it, but I'll try to work it into the fabric of the game, not simply as a (hopefully) one off joke.