Best Roleplaying Truism

[Captain Obvious]

In most of the games we've been playing lately, we can't seem to finish a session without someone getting kicked in the groin, and a building being set on fire or blown up.

[Comic]

Yeah, I was in a game group like that, too, once.

But no one ever was seriously injured, and it was an ugly sofa, anyway.

Come to think of it, several gamers I know have had relationships like that.

[CrosshairCollie]

Fantasy Truism:

If your party finds itself on a boat, it will sink.

[input.jack]

Too smart...is dumb.

(Players can out-think themselves, coming up with (a) ludicrously overcomplicated plans for something simple, or (b) torpedoing every perfectly good plan they come up with, because of something that "might" happen).

[Hugh Neilson]

Too smart...is dumb.

(Players can out-think themselves, coming up with (a) ludicrously overcomplicated plans for something simple, or (b) torpedoing every perfectly good plan they come up with, because of something that "might" happen).

So true. Similar to this is players seizing on irrelevant data. If you put in throwaway background info, they will seek to derive meaning from it. I once watched a group discuss for at least half an hour the significance of multi-character codes labeling stops for the monorail on the villain's island HQ. The module mentioned there were such codes, but not what they were. I got to make them up on the spot. I think the discussion would never have ended if I hadn't finally told them that.

[Ghost Archer]

The odds of a friendly character being hit by War Eagle's plasma gun is directly proportional to the number of times War Eagle pulls the trigger.

[steamteck]

Too smart...is dumb.

(Players can out-think themselves, coming up with (a) ludicrously overcomplicated plans for something simple, or (b) torpedoing every perfectly good plan they come up with, because of something that "might" happen).

I've got one guy just like that in our group. the problem is then he comes up with plans with way more obvious holes in them ( "But what if one of the bad guys read this mornings newspaper")

[Curufea]

One-offs (or single session adventures) - aren't.

[Comic]

Players see their own characters as if drawn by Frank Miller and written by Allan Moore.

Other players see the same characters as if drawn by Byrne and written by Quesada.

Nonplayers see splotchy doodles tagged with misspelled graffiti by some guy skulking around their property late at night.

[Vondy]

The GM will insist challenges are relative to the characters abilities and will refuse to show you the NPC write ups.

When your character is killed, the GM will claim it was your own fault for doing something stunninglly stupid.

I let my players see the npc write ups after the fact ; often the PC outclassed them.

The other players generally agreed the action taken was stunningly stupid.

[Vondy]

The campaign you are blase about and forgot all the details of is the one your players consider legendary. Sometimes the opposite is true.

[Vondy]

Players will complain about GM PCs, and then go looking to recruit them when the adventure starts.

[Lord Mhoram]

Players see their own characters as if drawn by Frank Miller and written by Allan Moore.

If I get to the point that this is the way I see my characters, someone please shoot me.

Drawn by Brent Anderson, and written by Busiek or Geoff Johns.

[Curufea]

Mine are drawn by Drew Hayes and written by David Kemper

Hmm, I should start a new thread on this...

[AdamLeisemann]

"There is ALWAYS a Combat Monster in Every Group."

"When one player starts a fight, the other players MUST join at the behest of the fight-starter."

"'Gritty-Realism' always favors the Combat Monster because of his tactics, while Role Players are always the first killed because they can't fight."