Most Obscure Reference You've Ever Worked Into a Game

[Mike W]

We've all done it. We went looking through our other "stuff" - Cds, books, comics, whatever, to try and find inspiration as either a player or GM. So what is the most obscure thing you've ever come up with.

As a GM, I'll plead to dredging up the Credit Card Soldiers from a Thor storyline. One storyline, lasted about 1-2 issues, and they were never heard from again. But they made for a good mystery for my players.

[Comic]

Possibly Reginald Scot's "Discoverie of Witchcraft", if by 'obscure' you're including only English language sources. 2 original copies survived the book burnings, so it's pretty rare. Used as a source for a witch-hunting organization and the hero who believed all witches were merely psychologically disturbed and in need of his protection.

Then again, I've also used Bertrand Russell's private correspondences, which was never published, so that's extremely obscure. Nice source for my mad science villains.

"The Handbook of Watch and Clock Repair" - more copies of the original print run of this, possibly the most perfectly written book of all time, survived, but it's sadly nearly unread. Great for gadgeteering references.

Wacousta -- the most unreadable book of all time -- so obscure, it's Canadian. Transposed the whole thing into the near future. Worked like a charm.

Beowulf.. in Old English, which at the time I could read with fair fluency. The players were not so fluent, and didn't much like every NPC only speaking the language.

The Heimskringla.. I can't actually read the thing, it's that obscure, at least to me. But at least only the NPCs who weren't saying anything crucial to the plot were given lines from it.

Oh, and there was the time I introduced the Anunga Runga into a campaign, with the PC's convinced it was either a Manual of Puissant Skill at Arms or a Libram of Gainful Conjuration.

Is that what you meant?

[Mike W]

Possibly Reginald Scot's "Discoverie of Witchcraft", if by 'obscure' you're including only English language sources. 2 original copies survived the book burnings, so it's pretty rare. Used as a source for a witch-hunting organization and the hero who believed all witches were merely psychologically disturbed and in need of his protection.

Then again, I've also used Bertrand Russell's private correspondences, which was never published, so that's extremely obscure. Nice source for my mad science villains.

"The Handbook of Watch and Clock Repair" - more copies of the original print run of this, possibly the most perfectly written book of all time, survived, but it's sadly nearly unread. Great for gadgeteering references.

Wacousta -- the most unreadable book of all time -- so obscure, it's Canadian. Transposed the whole thing into the near future. Worked like a charm.

Beowulf.. in Old English, which at the time I could read with fair fluency. The players were not so fluent, and didn't much like every NPC only speaking the language.

The Heimskringla.. I can't actually read the thing, it's that obscure, at least to me. But at least only the NPCs who weren't saying anything crucial to the plot were given lines from it.

Oh, and there was the time I introduced the Anunga Runga into a campaign, with the PC's convinced it was either a Manual of Puissant Skill at Arms or a Libram of Gainful Conjuration.

Is that what you meant?

Pretty much. Most gamers have enough exposure to traditional fantasy, sci fi, and comics that the obvious references are pretty easy to figure out(we know, for instance, when someone is doing a Wolverine type character or when someone seems to be standing in for Gandalf) but we also have less well known favorites that we make into PCs or NPCs and dredge up ideas out of the more obscure and esoteric bits of our experience just because we know that at least half the group will spot certain references.

[Thia Halmades]

I've worked in parts of The Descent of Inanna, and the staples such as The Iliad and the The Odyssey. Bits of Beowulf have shown up, but mainly, my inspiration will come from a single sentence, or a turn of phrase that for whatever reason catapults the rest of my imagination into doing new, weird things it hadn't done before.

[Superskrull]

I try to limit myself to primarily the superhero genre when making my weirdo references. Occasionally a movie or so might work it's way in.

Probably my most obscure superhero reference was from the movie Robot Ninja and I can't recommend avoiding this movie enough. Essentially, there's this comic book artist who freaks out after seeing a horrific act of gang violence and decides to have his buddy the amateur inventor build him a costume based on his character, the Robot Ninja. End result: artist wearing nightsight-granting mask and blades on each hand, whacked out of his brain on stolen painkillers and convinced he's become a butt-kicking cyborg before dying painfully killing gang members.

I take the seeds of this train wreck and drop it into my ongoing Champions game to see if I can teach a player to use restraint with his cosmic-empowered triggerhappy PC. I figure he'll realize how not really dangerous this guy is when he runs into him. Not one of my best ideas, as the PC freaks at the obvious "powerhouse" NPC and dumping his VPP into HA, kicks the blood clean out of this guy and leaves him spattered across the building across the street. :(

It went downhill from there as the character dumps his VPP into a transform intent on bringing the guy back to life. :eek:

Fine, I give up and turn him into a real buttkicker, earning the PC a new hunted. Obviously, not gonna work that way.

[Diamond Spear]

It wasn't me but a GM I was playing under in an Angel game put a copy of The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows in my character's Occult Library.

Rep for the first person who can tell me, WITHOUT USING THE WEB, what movie that book was in.

[Thia Halmades]

I'm guessing Labyrinth because that's what my instincts tell me -- but they could be totally wrong.

[Diamond Spear]

I'm guessing Labyrinth because that's what my instincts tell me -- but they could be totally wrong.

Sorry, not correct. Are you sure you’re not a Scarab maintenance technician? :eg:

[jtelson]

It wasn't me but a GM I was playing under in an Angel game put a copy of The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows in my character's Occult Library.

Rep for the first person who can tell me, WITHOUT USING THE WEB, what movie that book was in.

Is there a source other than the Depp picture? (The Ninth Gate) I can't remember the name of the book it was based on.

[Thia Halmades]

Sorry, not correct. Are you sure you’re not a Scarab maintenance technician? :eg:

*runs his thumb over the activation button on his Energy Blade*

Don't test me, son. I can still crack you in the back of the skull like a champ. :eg:

[Diamond Spear]

Is there a source other than the Depp picture? (The Ninth Gate) I can't remember the name of the book it was based on.

Is The Ninth Gate your answer?

[jtelson]

Not sure how obscure these are but two spring to mind

Homicide Detective; Inspector Hubbard
Parapalegic Villianess w/ Iced based armor; Mattie Silver

[jtelson]

Is The Ninth Gate your answer?

Yes

[Diamond Spear]

Yes

You have been repped.

[teh bunneh]

Supreme Serpent came up with the idea of using Big Wheel in our New Thunderbolts game. He's pretty dang obscure, if you ask me, since my Marvel-Trivia-Fu failed me on first mention. :D

[Supreme Serpent]

Supreme Serpent came up with the idea of using Big Wheel in our New Thunderbolts game. He's pretty dang obscure, if you ask me, since my Marvel-Trivia-Fu failed me on first mention. :D

I've always had a fondness for those types of contraptions, like the War Wheel from out of Blackhawk or the wacky things OMAC tended to run into. And Big Wheel vs. Stilt-Girl in an urban setting seemed to offer the opportunity for lots of fun and weird visuals. :D

[zaras]

So what is the most obscure thing you've ever come up with.


In D&D (put the stones down please):

Half-Giant Paladin called Maxwell, wielded a huge Silver Warhammer. Combats were intersperced with vocal sound effects 'Bang, Bang' everytime an evil-doer took a blow from it.

One of my GM's recently introduced a Wizard with a fairy familiar named 'Skreet'.

In Champs:

A team base came with a Butler called 'Jeeves'.

I plan to introduce an demonically inspired canine named Dog Sothoth the next chance i get :D

[proditor]

TORG game. The PCs are in Orrorsh, the land of all things pants-filling terrifying.

They're questioning a little boy who is picking his nose like he's trying to scratch his brain the whole time.

This goes on for like 5 minutes real time as I mime the boy's actions. As they wind down amid comments of "looking for gold" and "Scratch harder and it'll uncross your eyes", the little boy pulls out his finger, looks at it quizically for a moment and then extends it and its bounty toward the party.

"They mostly come out at night. Mostly."

Play resumed about 20 minutes later.

The reference wasn't all that obscure, but I'd argue that the setup qualified. ;)

[zaras]

One more to add:

Talking Cats. Always a favorite to squeeze into any game.

[GoldenAge]

In a sci-fi game we had a ring of adventurers brought together by unusual circumstances...

I named their ship... The Fallow

Get it? The Fallow ship of the Ring :ugly:

I almost got booed out of the room once the nimwits figured it out. :rofl:


Sooo... Tying their space adventure to the fantasy adventure of the Fellowship Of The Ring was pretty obscure. No?

[CrosshairCollie]

In D&D (put the stones down please):

Half-Giant Paladin called Maxwell, wielded a huge Silver Warhammer. Combats were intersperced with vocal sound effects 'Bang, Bang' everytime an evil-doer took a blow from it.

Maxwell Silverhammer was the name of the last Dwarf I played. I also slid in as many Beatles references in his dialogue as I could muster without going too anachronistic. For example, instead of saying 'regroup' he'd say 'Come Together' and the call for retreat was 'Get Back'. :)

As far as stuff I've actually stolen when running, I lifted the main villain from Power Rangers Wild Force and his general MO wholesale once; Master Org, who had the ability to infuse objects with hostile, corrupted demonic spirits and bring them to life as monsters.

[BoloOfEarth]

Mine isn't all that obscure, except apparently to me...

In one game, I created a supervillainess, Snafu, who threw glitter-filled balls and caused bad luck. One of the PC heroes (Hybrid) took a shining to her, eventually convinced her to mend her evil ways. She joined the hero team and fought at his side... then he started having bad luck. Eventually, he figured out that it was because of her, and they broke up.

It wasn't until months afterward that I realized that I had (unintentionally) copied Black Cat and her romance with Spiderman.

[T. K. Bertram]

Well, I did manage to work Steed and Mrs. Peel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Avengers_%28television%29) into a Vampire: The Masquerade campaign I ran in the mid-90s. However, I do stipulate that this only counts as an "obscure reference" because the majority of the players I had in the game (I was the unpaid house GM for a now defunct game shop at the time) hadn't even been conceived during the years when those characters had been on television. (And it was a couple of years before the truly godawful movie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Avengers_%28film%29) was released.):cool:

[yamamura]

It wasn't me but a GM I was playing under in an Angel game put a copy of The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows in my character's Occult Library.

Rep for the first person who can tell me, WITHOUT USING THE WEB, what movie that book was in.

The Ninth Gate unless it has already been guessed. Of course it has been guessed.

[Susano]

I once sent the PCs on a cross-dimensional romp. Along the way they ended up in my Kazei 5 setting (sort of a test run). I alluded to (or they outright encountered) the MI-66 Automatic Infantry Robot, Kei & Yuri of the Dirty Pair, Grimjack, the Puma Sisters, Battle Angel (I think), and some characters from "Area 88".

[jkwleisemann]

I worked in the stone head signposts from Ursula Vernon's "Digger" recently... before the players figured out to follow the waggling tongues, I had to give out serious Deduction and Intelligence rolls. ^^()

[MilkmanDan]

I once ran a Shadowrun game where the main villain was named Sylvia. As in the poet, Sylvia Plath. I named NPCs after a bunch of her poems (Ariel, Lazarus, Colossus, others). I was in grad school, getting an M.A in English. Nobody else was an English major, and, subsequently, not a single one of them caught a single reference to it. Which made the whole idea a complete waste of time.

[Darren Watts]

I read somewhere of a Vampire: The Masquerade player who designed a PC with the Negative Mental Trait: Obsessively Counts Everything Around Him and went several sessions before anybody noticed the reference. dw

[Susano]

I read somewhere of a Vampire: The Masquerade player who designed a PC with the Negative Mental Trait: Obsessively Counts Everything Around Him and went several sessions before anybody noticed the reference. dw

:D:D:D

Funny thing... you can back that up with folklore!

[st barbara]

One of the NPC's in my "Pulp Hero" game got her Librarians Degree at "U Tex Brownsville", supposedly one of the most haunted campuses in the U S.

[MilkmanDan]

I read somewhere of a Vampire: The Masquerade player who designed a PC with the Negative Mental Trait: Obsessively Counts Everything Around Him and went several sessions before anybody noticed the reference. dw

"One! One clueless gamer! Ha ha ha ha! Two! Two clueless gamers . . ."

[Jkeown]

The personal correspondence between Jung and Freud and how it was connected to a Nazi plot to steal atomic weapons from the future.

The Greek invention showed up as a colony administrator in another time travel game (and again in Gamma Hero) as "Archimedes Screw."

Bits of Richard Feynman's Autobiography.

Whole chapters of Ancestor's Tale by Richard Dawkins.

Things Adam Sessler has said on X-Play.

I could go on... but I won't.

[wrestlinggeek]

Being the biggest (if not only) wrestling fan in my group, I like to steal (er... I mean "borrow!") from that. I based one supervillain entirely on the MoD-Era Undertaker. I used the Rock's put-downs with a couple characters in different genres ("You guys come into our town and think you can terrorize the people!? Who the Hell do you think you are!?" GM starts to answer... "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO THE HELL YOU THINK YOU ARE!"). And I even based an eccentric billionaire villain on Vince McMahon. If I ever get to play again, I want to run a brick/martial artist based on Samoa Joe.

[JmOz]

Being the biggest (if not only) wrestling fan in my group, I like to steal (er... I mean "borrow!") from that. I based one supervillain entirely on the MoD-Era Undertaker. I used the Rock's put-downs with a couple characters in different genres ("You guys come into our town and think you can terrorize the people!? Who the Hell do you think you are!?" GM starts to answer... "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO THE HELL YOU THINK YOU ARE!"). And I even based an eccentric billionaire villain on Vince McMahon. If I ever get to play again, I want to run a brick/martial artist based on Samoa Joe.

This very week, when my Mississippi burning crew were stuck in a mall full of demon controled patrons stuck on Greedy, the toy of the year was "Turbo-Man"...no body got it

[Kenn]

From a Star Trek game I was in...

Ensign Aeth Nik, one of the large breasted relief helmsen that come in when the important (PC) helmsman gets called away. (Named for what some fans refer to as Ensign Ethnic when in fact she's buxom.)
Ensign Bak Xiam, a relief ops officer of Asian descent that come in when the important (PC) helmsman gets called away. (Named for what some fans refer to as Ensign Buxom when in fact he's ethnic.)
Ensign Reg Hurt, a security guard.

But my favourite was Norallah Tam, an unjoined Trill. She almost had gotten a symbiote named Nek though. And this went unnoticed in the group for months. What was this in reference to? I used my brother's name backwards (and my own for the sybiote's name).

[Comic]

For true obscurity, I've used gaming references in everyday life.

There's not much more obscure.

Well, that's not entirely true. Sometimes I use excerpts from the speeches of politicians in the prior election, when I'm talking to them during the current campaign. The complete blank look of "Never heard of that before, doesn't sound too credible, which of my opponents promised that?" that I usually get.. now, that's obscure.

[matrix3]

Well, that's not entirely true. Sometimes I use excerpts from the speeches of politicians in the prior election, when I'm talking to them during the current campaign. The complete blank look of "Never heard of that before, doesn't sound too credible, which of my opponents promised that?" that I usually get.. now, that's obscure.


Ooo, that's genius. Who've you pulled that on?

[Comic]

Ooo, that's genius. Who've you pulled that on?
In the tone of this thread, keeping in mind where I've lived, Canadian politicians.. Some of whom were actually quite nice people. But obscure.

Being, you know, Canadian. Where you can't get elected if you're too famous, too good-looking, or too rich. Because then there'd have to be something wrong with you, or you'd have moved to California.

[T. K. Bertram]

I did once play in a Call of Cthulhu game where the GM managed to work in the Antikythera mechanism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism) as a McGuffin. :cool:

[AmadanNaBriona]

Not my doing, but I remember playing a Morrow Project game where we ended up encountering other 20th century apocalypse survivors who'd apparently been saved by a mute boy named Artemis....

[lemming]

Not my doing, but I remember playing a Morrow Project game where we ended up encountering other 20th century apocalypse survivors who'd apparently been saved by a mute boy named Artemis....

I thought of doing that with a dimension hopping champions game.
"You drank the water? There is nothing we can do."

[Susano]

Hmm... I'm missing these references.

[lemming]

Planet P Project - Pink World

If I recall your musical tastes correctly, you might like it.

["V"]

At the climax of an old Amber campaign, during a major battle between the forces of good versu... who am I kidding, Amber versus Amber, the player characters had one huge advantage. Benedict (ultimate unstoppable warrior) was one NPC who was definitely on their side.

Naturally as evil GM I had to even the odds and leave the PCs to win the day, so I had the lead NPC sorceror on the other side, just before battle was joined, create an illusion of a feisty woman standing just in Benedict's peripheral vision and berating him in no uncertain terms.

He was actually distracted - something unthinkable - just as the sorceror's follow up attack spell struck him - and took him straight out of the fight, him collapsing with the word "Beatrice-" on his lips.

Now none of my players knew much Shakespeare and certainly didn't know that one of the great romances (IMHO) was between Beatrice and Benedick (ok so Shaxberd couldn't spell...) who was at the time just a young soldier... But it satisfied my sense of the obscure.

[Lucius]

Quetzlcoatl's secret ID was Ethan Matsudo.

If you don't know who that is, don't worry about it. A LOT of these references are going over my head too. Sounds fascinating, sounds evocative, but I have no clue....

Lucius Alexander

The palindromedary notes that what makes it really obscure is that the only thing Quetzalcoatl and the real Matsudo have in common are the name and being 3rd generation Japanese American.

[BoneDaddy]

I stink at naming characters, so most of my obscure references come in there. In a Star Hero adventure (campaign is too generous, sadly,) I had a character named Hanuman al-Sahhaf d'Estienne d'Orves, named after 1) a character in a David Zindell book, the Broken God, 2) Baghdad Bob, everybody's favorite pre-invasion baathist, and 3) the leader of the French Resistance in WWII.

Obscure? Maybe. I guess.

[Comic]

I did have a GM who used the names of exotic dancers, and names from Letters to Playboy/Penthouse, etc. as the names of NPCs.

Inappropriately.

Clerics, small children, parents, scientists (well, scientists are fair game), VIPER agents..

[Pariah]

I based a Champions adventure on the song 'Tomb 19' by Kansas. Once one of my players actually heard the song, he said, "Wow, you totally ripped that off!"

And the government liaison in one of my games was named McCarthy. Not obscure, but it made the players wonder whether they could really trust him or not. Which is precisely why I did it.

[Nekkidcarpenter]

I used the original playtesters list from the front of the Champions book for npc's. No one figured it out till I ran out and started reusing them and accidentally used a previously important name as a throwaway.

[mirage]

I ran my players through Megazone 23 once. :D

[Weldun]

Being the biggest (if not only) wrestling fan in my group, I like to steal (er... I mean "borrow!") from that. I based one supervillain entirely on the MoD-Era Undertaker. I used the Rock's put-downs with a couple characters in different genres ("You guys come into our town and think you can terrorize the people!? Who the Hell do you think you are!?" GM starts to answer... "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO THE HELL YOU THINK YOU ARE!"). And I even based an eccentric billionaire villain on Vince McMahon. If I ever get to play again, I want to run a brick/martial artist based on Samoa Joe.Now you've got me wanting to write up a rip-o...err, homage to the Bushwackers. The question would be, would Butch be Luke's follower, or the other way around?

[Basil]

I once played in a Deendee game where the whole setting and all the things we ran into were based on operas. Damned obscure to me at least.

[Lucius]

I based a Champions adventure on the song 'Tomb 19' by Kansas. Once one of my players actually heard the song, he said, "Wow, you totally ripped that off!"

And the government liaison in one of my games was named McCarthy. Not obscure, but it made the players wonder whether they could really trust him or not. Which is precisely why I did it.

Now that I've looked up the lyrics, I want to know the story behind it....

But it reminds Me that I've used Cat Stevens lyrics for inspiration - even to having them written on the walls of a tomb...

"The inscription reads:

'Dark and empty was the place to which I'd come
Cold and silent was the house my name was on
Nine rooms, and a tomb in every one
So dark and empty was the place to which I'd come.'

There is more, but it has been defaced, scratched out as if by something with claws....the paladin can make a roll on his KS: Own Religion now..."

Lucius Alexander

Opening up the palindromedary's saddle bags to go through the CD collection

[Pariah]

Now that I've looked up the lyrics, I want to know the story behind it....
Lord Mhoram played in that adventure. I'll let him give you the details. If he doesn't do so in the next couple of days, let me know and I'll post it.

[ScrewySquirrel]

I ran a dark ages campaign in D&D D20 where the PC Cleric converted a band of Orcs to Christianity. Turns out it was the villiage of Haps. (the converted Orcs became the Hapsburgs)

[Zane_Marlowe]

I ran a victorian game where the characters were recruited by Jack Sparks, who was the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes in Mark Frost's book "The List of Seven." In my game, it was Holmes' alter ego during the hiatus between his "death" at Reichenbach Falls and his later return. When I described him, I used the physical description Conan Doyle supplied in Holmes' introduction. Their base of operations was a freighter named "Reichenbach." None of the PC's had read Frost, but none of them got the Reichenbach reference either.

Later in that game, I shamelessly cribbed from Anna Kostova's book "The Historian" for historical places related to Dracula. I also got the floorplan to Bran Castle, and printed location maps from Google Earth for Istanbul, Alexandria (of Lighthouse fame), and the monastery where Dracula was ruputedly interred. (Of course, by that time the players had good reason to suspect the Count was long gone.)

[wrestlinggeek]

Now you've got me wanting to write up a rip-o...err, homage to the Bushwackers. The question would be, would Butch be Luke's follower, or the other way around?

Personally, I would make them both followers of a more powerful villain. Mercenaries in his employ. And, of course, their most devastating attack would be the head-battering ram.

[Blackwulf]

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Repair: I gave one of my players in game this book after the eighth time he tried to take his motorcycle into combat and wound up having it wrapped around his PC. No one in the group but one player who actually owned a copy knew what it was.

Doc Savage: 'nuff said.

[AmadanNaBriona]

I've had a few others come to mind...

My VtM character, an 8th gen 17th century pirate Brujah, had a recurring "uncle" show up, mostly in helpful fashions (I guess he approved of my tactics) by the name of Jack Straw (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Straw_(rebel_leader))
although, honestly such things are pretty stock in trade in the immortals genre.

one of the NPC tank commanders in my SH characters mercenary company had the callsign "Laser Wolf", a nod to his background as a religious dissident from the Eastern Alliance (A Fiddler on the Roof nod, for those that didn't get it)

One of the characters in the same campaign was named Sawyer Mot.
My commander was Caspian D'Artagnan.
Both names were deliberate references, a double in my case ;)

I recall a Stormbringer game that was largely based on some of Carlos Castaneda's writings

And I did a SH solo game that was essentially "Die Hard on an Asteroid", at a mining station. He never did pick up on where I was borrowing the plot from. :D

[mattingly]

Die Hard on an Asteroid
That sounds awesome.

[CrosshairCollie]

That sounds awesome.

Certainly better than Die Hard On A Hemmorhoid.

[lemming]

Certainly better than Die Hard On A Hemmorhoid.

Poor Elvis.

[Weldun]

Fairly recently, I did have several characters in my City on the Edge campaign enter astral space and have a talk with an Sorcerer who had followed his friend into a "heavenly realm" only to wander back into the timelessness of the astral. Yes, Alan Moore used him first, but I read the book in question between the two sessions that involved him. I had already decided to include him, and Moore's take is just to superb to pass up. With my own little twist, of course.;)

[Zeropoint]

In a fantasy Hero game, I threw in an NPC fire mage named Carla Gustav. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Gustav_recoilless_rifle)

[ParagonAlpha]

I read somewhere of a Vampire: The Masquerade player who designed a PC with the Negative Mental Trait: Obsessively Counts Everything Around Him and went several sessions before anybody noticed the reference. dw

Weird thing is I played in a VtM Live Action game at Eastern Michigan University with a guy who played this character.

Not sure if he's the one of "myth" but it was damn funny.


I also played in a Star Wars (WEG) Campaign were all the "Chapter" titles were the names of episodes from Babylon 5.

[GamePhil]

For a silly game, I had Frank Castle, the Punisher, involved. At one point he got hit by a skateboarder, who didn't apologize but just picked up and ran away. He looked after him and said, "Youngsters these days." Later, there was a group of respectable looking kids at the local high school (New Atlantis High) going around trying to get people interested in psychology, cornering them in hallways and doing dream analysese, and generally making, well, not exactly trouble.

Same game, Doctor Crom (our Dr. Doom character that was an Old School Villain, and would beat you down if you did not follow comic book tropes) gained the power of the Punisher (he's Doctor Doom, he has to steal powers) and formed a team, Pun-is-meant. Yes, so it was Crom and Pun-is-meant.

Within this group were Outrageous Fortune, a lucky Joker-type that somehow could use a sling and a bow at the same time. Foe Paw, a clumsy but powerful creature with a stomp attack. Low Humor, who was dour and lacked a sense of humor and could drain the vital energies from his foes.

Then there was the pair, Raz and Nik. Nik was a shape-changing monster that would do everything Raz said, but tended to go wild in combat. Raz primarily had an acerbic wit and would deliver biting insults to foes, insults that could criple them if they received enough (she actually had a totally Invisible Transform, at the +2 level, that turned people into depressed husks of their former selves, but it never actually came up). Near the end of battles, it was not uncommon for Doctor Crom to give the order, "Raz, call Nik off."

People got everything else. Nobody got that one.

[GamePhil]

I read somewhere of a Vampire: The Masquerade player who designed a PC with the Negative Mental Trait: Obsessively Counts Everything Around Him and went several sessions before anybody noticed the reference. dw

Isn't that one of the myths about vampires, though? Is that obscure among gamers (I think it likely to be in the general populace)? I only ask because I expect I'm missing a more obscure reference.

[Susano]

Isn't that one of the myths about vampires, though? Is that obscure among gamers (I think it likely to be in the general populace)? I only ask because I expect I'm missing a more obscure reference.

Yes, many vampire myths feature obsessive counting. However, most of the times it's seeds, nails, or pebbles. And I doubt they go around saying "1... 2... 3... peanut butter sandwiches!" *cue flash of light and crash of thunder*

[GamePhil]

Ah, duh, I figured I was missing something there. Thanks.

[matrix3]

<snip>
Then there was the pair, Raz and Nik. Nik was a shape-changing monster that would do everything Raz said, but tended to go wild in combat. Raz primarily had an acerbic wit and would deliver biting insults to foes, insults that could criple them if they received enough (she actually had a totally Invisible Transform, at the +2 level, that turned people into depressed husks of their former selves, but it never actually came up). Near the end of battles, it was not uncommon for Doctor Crom to give the order, "Raz, call Nik off."

People got everything else. Nobody got that one.

Um, I don't get that one.

[GamePhil]

Um, I don't get that one.

Yeah, no one ever does. *sigh* I was really proud of that one, too.

PMed you.

[CrosshairCollie]

Isn't that one of the myths about vampires, though? Is that obscure among gamers (I think it likely to be in the general populace)? I only ask because I expect I'm missing a more obscure reference.

I assumed it was a pure Sesame Street joke, myself.

[Susano]

Yeah, no one ever does. *sigh* I was really proud of that one, too.

PMed you.

It sounds like a Russian name... that's all I get.

[GamePhil]

It sounds like a Russian name... that's all I get.

Good start, that's more than most.

If I stump everyone, do I win? What do I get? Not that I expect such a thing.

[CrosshairCollie]

Good start, that's more than most.

If I stump everyone, do I win? What do I get? Not that I expect such a thing.

Knowing this board? A small repstorm. :)

[Agent 13]

Um, I don't get that one.

Raskolnikov is the main character in Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment.

[GamePhil]

Raskolnikov is the main character in Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment.

Excellent, thank you very much.

[GamePhil]

I assumed it was a pure Sesame Street joke, myself.

Yeah, what's really sad is that he told me about that once, and I understood then. Getting old.

[NestorDRod]

Well, the only one of any significance that I can recall actually got re-used in Susano's original Kazei 5 campaign.

The team's medtech was named Temple.

I'll wait here until someone gets it... :whistle:

[GamePhil]

Well, the only one of any significance that I can recall actually got re-used in Susano's original Kazei 5 campaign.

The team's medtech was named Temple.

I'll wait here until someone gets it... :whistle:

Benjamin Church, first Surgeon General of the Continental Army?

[CrosshairCollie]

Well, the only one of any significance that I can recall actually got re-used in Susano's original Kazei 5 campaign.

The team's medtech was named Temple.

I'll wait here until someone gets it... :whistle:

Church from Red vs. Blue?

[GamePhil]

Church from Red vs. Blue?

Well, is that really obscure, though?

Yes, yes it is.

[NestorDRod]

Nope, but you guys are on the right track. :)

It does require a thesaurus... ;)

[Agent 13]

Well, the only one of any significance that I can recall actually got re-used in Susano's original Kazei 5 campaign.

The team's medtech was named Temple.

I'll wait here until someone gets it... :whistle:

Star Trek's Nurse Chapel?

[Susano]

Star Trek's Nurse Chapel?

You sir, get the rep. Welcome to the Ascended.

[Susano]

Oh, and making Temple cry was as sure-fire way to win yourself a beat-down in the original game.

[NestorDRod]

Oh, and making Temple cry was as sure-fire way to win yourself a beat-down in the original game.

Hey, no fair!

Well then again, you're better at handing out the rep. ;)

And Jagger didn't make her cry. That's his story and he's sticking to it. :D

[GamePhil]

Star Trek's Nurse Chapel?

I thought we were going for obscure, here. Ah well.

Edit: Sorry, tired when I wrote that and it sounds testy. If the tone of voice could be conveyed by text it would sound better.

[Lucius]

I assumed it was a pure Sesame Street joke, myself.

The people behind Sesame Street are obviously hoping not just to help children learn to read (and count, etc.) but to instill in them a lifelong love of learning and reading. Even Big Bird and Kermit the Frog can't win them all...

I wonder if the Muppeteer behind "The Count" was aware of the folklore about vampires obsessively counting things...

Lucius Alexander

Four thousand one hundred fifty nine Palindromedary Taglines! BOOM! BwaHaHaHaHaHa!

[Susano]

I thought we were going for obscure, here. Ah well.

Edit: Sorry, tired when I wrote that and it sounds testy. If the tone of voice could be conveyed by text it would sound better.

*shrug* I don't plant obscure stuff into my games (much), and I doesn't seem any more obscure than someone in a Vampire Larp playing The Count from Sesame Street.

[GamePhil]

*shrug* I don't plant obscure stuff into my games (much), and I doesn't seem any more obscure than someone in a Vampire Larp playing The Count from Sesame Street.

No reason you should. But I had discounted her because it seemed too obvious. Sometimes things just get overthought. Like I said, oh, well.

[Basil]

Alongside "Crom and Pun-is-meant," it made my head hurt. :ugly:

Kudos for an excellent bit of word-play. :)



Edit: I see Agent 13 revealed all, all ready. :straight:

[CrosshairCollie]

The people behind Sesame Street are obviously hoping not just to help children learn to read (and count, etc.) but to instill in them a lifelong love of learning and reading. Even Big Bird and Kermit the Frog can't win them all...

Do I detect a rebuke?

[Opal]

My Champions campaign has a few obscure references. I pulled some names of special materials more obscure than the usual adamantium: Radium-X, trimagnesite.

I also used an obscure book for a bunch of wierd stuff -shiriwayak, uan-irek, ezraq, vellaqqa - including a whole campaing "Tales from the Dark Wheel." The rule of the Dark Wheele was, as one player put it, 'steal shamelessly.' But most of the references were not that obscure.

Every one of my campaigns has an evil organization called The Red Death, too. They don't always come up as major antagonists, but they're out there somewhere. It's not a direct Poe reference, and not obscure if you've been gaming a long time.

[AmadanNaBriona]

My Champions campaign has a few obscure references. I pulled some names of special materials more obscure than the usual adamantium: Radium-X, trimagnesite.

I also used an obscure book for a bunch of wierd stuff -shiriwayak, uan-irek, ezraq, vellaqqa - including a whole campaing "Tales from the Dark Wheel." The rule of the Dark Wheele was, as one player put it, 'steal shamelessly.' But most of the references were not that obscure.

Every one of my campaigns has an evil organization called The Red Death, too. They don't always come up as major antagonists, but they're out there somewhere. It's not a direct Poe reference, and not obscure if you've been gaming a long time.

On the topic of direct theft from uncommon sources, many versions of the Red Redemption from the Lone Sloane comics have shown up in various parts of my personal gaming multiverse.

[Richard Logue]

In Deadlands I use a lot of name references. In one story, the PCs rescued a muckraker named "Diamond" Neal Johnson.

In another campaign, the PCs were hired on as troubleshooters for the Tombstone Epitaph. they worked directly for an editor named Wolf Muldoon who had a partner named Denise Kelly. I called the campaign the E-Files.

This weekend I'm running Deadlands and they'll be going through a town where the mayor's name is Cameron James.

[Susano]

This weekend I'm running Deadlands and they'll be going through a town where the mayor's name is Cameron James.

Does he have a "bug" problem?

[Richard Logue]

Does he have a "bug" problem?

LoL... You guessed it! Also, he's "the mayor o' the town!" (He's gotta start somewhere...)

[Susano]

LoL... You guessed it! Also, he's "the mayor o' the town!" (He's gotta start somewhere...)

Hey, I don't care if he's the king of the world, all I want to know is 'where they are.'

[Worldmaker]

The players once were sent to investigate a series of mysterious deaths in a small town. They were met and given a tour by the mayor, whose name was Arthur Holmwood. They never got the reference.

[Susano]

Which is?

[Worldmaker]

The town was infested with vampires. Lord Arthur Holmwood is a character from Dracula. He's Lucy Westenra's fiancee, and is the one to drive a stake through her heart after she becomes a vampire.

[CrosshairCollie]

The players once were sent to investigate a series of mysterious deaths in a small town. They were met and given a tour by the mayor, whose name was Arthur Holmwood. They never got the reference.


Which is?


The town was infested with vampires. Lord Arthur Holmwood is a character from Dracula. He's Lucy Westenra's fiancee, and is the one to drive a stake through her heart after she becomes a vampire.

If Susano didn't get a reference, I don't feel bad.

[Susano]

If Susano didn't get a reference, I don't feel bad.

It's been years since I've read Dracula, and the only name I can recall reliably is Van Helsing.

[CrosshairCollie]

It's been years since I've read Dracula, and the only name I can recall reliably is Van Helsing.

I've never read Dracula, and the only name I can recall reliably is Van Helsing. :) Guess that one's just burned into the subconscious.

[Susano]

I'm working on a Star Hero scenario for introducing people to Hero titled "The Derelict." The subtitle is "The Return of the Eighth Passenger" and the company the salvage team is employed by is called "Cobb & Foss."

[Worldmaker]

It's been years since I've read Dracula, and the only name I can recall reliably is Van Helsing.


Which was part of the point. :)

[GamePhil]

I'm working on a Star Hero scenario for introducing people to Hero titled "The Derelict." The subtitle is "The Return of the Eight Passenger" and the company the salvage team is employed by is called "Cobb & Foss."

That's going to bug me until it's revealed. It sounds familiar, but I'm not putting the pieces together correctly.

[GamePhil]

Alongside "Crom and Pun-is-meant," it made my head hurt. :ugly:

Kudos for an excellent bit of word-play. :)


Spasíbo.

[zaras]

I've never read Dracula, and the only name I can recall reliably is Van Helsing. :) Guess that one's just burned into the subconscious.

Too many awfull rip offs on Stokers creation and the 'Kewl Vampyres!' blight affecting pop. culture can do that to a man.

There is a Giant in a pbem i play in that happens to be Green...and rather happier than those around it; it has yet to be ascertained is Sweetcorn is preferred. To make matter worse this giant is called Gamora. My Gm needs a slap :eg:

Chocolate factory owned by a man referred to only as 'William'; if this makes you think of that travesty of a film with Dep then reach for the memory-bleach (TM.).

Magic item: 'Boots of Fear'. Ill give you a clue- Podcast.

Anyone shoehorn wierd clones of politicians or Government figures into games?

Borak O'bmar (Alien Mentalist), Gordon Brawn (ex PM now a Superhero Brick with a hamfisted Scottish schtick :drink: ), Dereck Chain (ex. special forces type favouring the shotgun). Great potential for abuse.

Rural town called Innsmouth in a WFRP game. Funny how i can reliably count on certain players inventing reasons to NOT go there...which means ill have to postpone an encounter with a Bog Octapus.

[Susano]

That's going to bug me until it's revealed. It sounds familiar, but I'm not putting the pieces together correctly.

I quote IMDB:


Many of the non-English versions of the film's title translate as something similar to "Alien: The 8th Passenger".

Ron Cobb and Chris Foss were concept artists for the film.

Oh, and I'll be using Xenovores. :D

[GloryFox]

I tend to run games based on obscure historical references. For example I tied in the 1918 flu pandemic to all of my campaign players backgrounds. Even though all of the characters were born in 2035. Doing games based upon an obscure historical reference makes players think that actual history may have had an impact on characters in game history. This has the additional effect of players creating their own conspiracy theory's regarding their backgrounds and creating their own adventures.

Another Reference that has been driving the players nuts in the Superhero game I run is the 1908 Siberian explosion. This was a tie in for the 1918 flu Pandemic and the reason Super's exist in my game world today.

[GamePhil]

I quote IMDB:



Ron Cobb and Chris Foss were concept artists for the film.

Oh, and I'll be using Xenovores. :D

heh. Yeah, I'd read that bit about the movie. Had no idea about Cobb and Foss, though.

Thanks, now I can sleep.

[Gawain]

In a Fantasy Hero game I ran some years ago, the PC's guide to the haunted ruins was a very nervous scribe named Luther Heggs. The players didn't get it.:straight:

[GloryFox]

I once made a body of rubber stretching villain only known as J.J. (players thought it was jolly jumper at first) once the players discovered her real name only one person laughed about it. Her real name was Jenna Jameson.

The best details should always be left for the players to discover.

[Susano]

Shouldn't she have a body of silicone?

[Richard Logue]

Hey, I don't care if he's the king of the world, all I want to know is 'where they are.'

Well drop your socks and grab your... Peacemakers. I think they've been found. It's like they're havin' a town meeting or somethin.' They're crazy though. I think they're one can short of a six pack. Laundry day tomorrow, nothing clean.

[CrosshairCollie]

In a Fantasy Hero game I ran some years ago, the PC's guide to the haunted ruins was a very nervous scribe named Luther Heggs. The players didn't get it.:straight:

Me neither.

[Weldun]

The Ghost and Mr Chicken (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ghost_and_Mr._Chicken)

Luther Heggs was the name of Don Knotts' character.

[wrestlinggeek]

Well drop your socks and grab your... Peacemakers. I think they've been found. It's like they're havin' a town meeting or somethin.' They're crazy though. I think they're one can short of a six pack. Laundry day tomorrow, nothing clean.

Nothing clean, right.

[Kirby]

I haven't read through all of these, but here go four that I have done:

One PC was hunting a bond jumper named Gene. When she tracked him down, turned out he had a look-alike brother named Rod. Later, it was mentioned in passing that they were triplets: Gene, Rod, and Berry.

First big scenario in my online campaign had a V'han invasion. Various places around the world were under attack and there was a huge mothership in space launching shuttles for the attack. As GM, I try to nudge the players towards a local attack (the only one in the U.S.) at Stanley Air Force Base. They go after the mothership instead.

Most recently, the PCs are clueless about finding out who is chasing Witchcraft, despite DEMON agents attacking Homestead while three super villains are simultaneously attacking the mall for no apparent reason (the story is here) (http://www.herogames.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1524248&postcount=5332) so I give a "suggestion" from an NPC named Georgia Marshall. No one listens to her.

Finally, and this may be very obscure, but I title a post OIGMPD and using NPCs recap what's been happening and explain how the PCs can find their answers. They're oblivious until their "answers" leave the scene.

I call these obscure because no one ever picked up the reference until I pointed them out later.
If you still don't get it:
1. Gene Roddenberry (Star Trek, hellooo?)
2. Stan Lee
3. GM and yes, I did bold her name in the online game as well.
4. OIGMPD Obvious Inaccessible GM Plot Device

[Susano]

I haven't read through all of these, but here go four that I have done:

One PC was hunting a bond jumper named Gene. When she tracked him down, turned out he had a look-alike brother named Rod. Later, it was mentioned in passing that they were triplets: Gene, Rod, and Berry.

Heh, in the anime Cowboy Bebop, the bounty hunters pick up three guys named George, Herman, and Ruth.


You might know him better as "Babe" Ruth.

[Vondy]

I threw quotes, characters, and places from old silver screen pictures into my freedom patrol game on occassion. I also threw in references from obscure cult classics.

Sometimes these were fairly obvious, like a club named the "blue parrot," but I'm a big fan of old movies and my players missed a lot of them. One of my players got big into film noir and cult classics so he could riff on my reference.

For instance: The Mandoras Corporation was a front corporation for a disembodied psychic brain experimentone of my villains ran. Mandoras was the name of the country the mad nazi scientists were hiding out in the movie "they saved hitler's brain."

I've also been known to use song lyrics as dialog on occassion. Once, when the team was moving into position on a paramilitary night raid the support element radio'd them: "Big Ben, this is Rubber Duck," which is from the song Convoy.

I've also been known to throw in characters from novels on occassion. Sometimes I just used the name, sometimes I took the character whole cloth. One example: since the Freedom Patrol game was set in the 50's the group ran across Sid Hudgens Hush-Hush keeper of "inside dirt supreme" from LA Confidential when running down leads in hollywood.

[Egyptoid]

the last scenario I ran was based entirely on the movie HOT FUZZ.
There was a murder investigation, a secret group in the background,
and a garden club trophy on the line.

[Susano]

the last scenario I ran was based entirely on the movie HOT FUZZ.
There was a murder investigation, a secret group in the background,
and a garden club trophy on the line.

You could base a CoC scenario on Hot Fuzz and I swear no one would ever know.