Comedy Campaign

File: jeremy.jpg (61KB, 1264x1424px) Image search: [Google]

61KB, 1264x1424px

I played Jeremy the Neckbeard Wizard in a Savage Worlds drop-in campaign that we played if people had to skip out on our main campaign and we were missing a player. He had Obese and Ugly for hindrances, he was 31 years old virgin and was basically a fedora, hence how he gained his wizard powers. He was a necromancer and had a special feat that let him raise permanent zombies with a high enough spellcasting roll. He also has an acid blast spell he casts using his 2-liter bottle of Mountain Dew as a focus.

>>48679886
I think humor in a campaign works better if you just let it happen.

>>48680558
I think you're probably right. I mean, my players and I joke sometimes while we play, of course. I suppose what I should do is just give them more reign to do funny/silly shit IC, and have some oddball NPCs.

>>48680558

It's also okay for a campaign where you don't give much of a shit about plot and it's just a backup to screw around and make fun gimmick characters.

Comedy in a campaign can be either naturally occurring or intentionally done - either is legitimate, but intentionally implemented comedy is interesting to discuss. If a DM just tells jokes/makes up funny situations, it's just an interactive comedy routine rather than a "back and forth" of comedy. Therefore, the PCs must also participate in the joking process. A big part of improvisational comedy is the principle of "yes, and" in which you build up on a situation detail by detail - this is a tried and true way of creating a humorous situation on the spot. Also worth noting improv groups also "police internally" during their routines by making things up that a player might not be able to. For example, an inprov comedian can say "Oh look, a dragon!" and there's a dragon. A PC cannot generally do this while keeping the rules of the game intact. Therefore, a campaign built with the goal of humour is a balancing act between increased player agency (to allow and create comedy), and faith to the rules (To allow internally logical and consistent gameplay.) Cool stuff.

System helps too.

I've run a few very funny games in Maid RPG. It has a bad rep and there is some pervy stuff in it, but the system is at its best when you're using it for somewhat absurdist comedy, just rolling with all the bizarre and nonsensical situations your varied and somewhat insane cast stumbles into.

>>48679886
The problem is there will always be a contrarian, the guy who tries to be a lulzsorandom joker in a dark campaign, the guy who tries to be a grim edgelord in a lighthearted one

>>48679886
>>48679886
I don't know if it's preferable to go into a game intending it to be comedic.

As the GM, you can add comedic elements, or stuff that doesn't take itself seriously, or just general silliness. This can created a lighthearted setting and casual feel that is more encouraging for players to add their own comedy.

If you just sit them down and say "now look, this is going to be a funny campaign" then you run the risk of everyone trying too damn hard, and of having nothing grounding the game to give contrast.

You don't want an Alice in Wonderland situation.

Aim for something more like Discworld. Lots of hard, real, thought out fantasy, with like a veneer of fun and whimsy.

>>48680992
I'm playing in one campaign that's relatively serious and we have no comedy character at all, and another that's fairly serious and my character is kind of silly, but I know how to reign it in when the situation calls for it. Also, the grim edgelord in a lighthearted one sounds potentially pretty funny.
>>48681027
That's a good point. Thanks. I'll just say it's going to be more lighthearted and to have fun with it, without being like MOTHERFUCKER YOU BETTER MAKE ME LAUGH.

The risus rules are designed expressly to be funny.

File: dogcalc.gif (2MB, 370x319px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 370x319px

>>48679886
Shadowrun, in my group, always winds up having this very... Tarintino/Rodriguez feel to it. There's a lot of weird, tangentially related nattering bullshit conversations happening during the legwork stage, and then during the run itself everything always goes wrong in the most absurd way possible.

Half the time, the GM is actively trying to make it a straightforward run and this *still* happens. I think it's a natural consequence of a system where the players simply can't ever afford to fight fair and are so outclassed they leverage everything.

That said, sometimes it's entirely my groups' fault for being weird as hell. An example: the troll strips ass naked, paints himself grey, and perches on top of a three story house with statues on the roof for a few hours to watch the mark... then somehow despite having a shit ton of points in it, crit glitches his stealth check getting off the roof, and has it give out under his feet, landing him in the middle of a nice family dinner.
>mfw his response is to grab the bowl of mashed potatoes, stick his dick in it, and run out the front door yelling in Japanese