Running jokes in your campaign

[MilkmanDan]

A post in the Ten Lamest Superheroes Ever thread listed a series of recurring humorous characters in someone's campaign, and it got me thinking--every extended campaign I've been involved in winds up having one or two recurring jokes that always get a laugh. In my old campaign, in most combats, somehow there would be a mime with a dancing bear, and the bear would get spooked, thereby horribly mauling the mime. Stupid, repetitive, yet always funny.

 

Any running jokes like that in everyone else's campaigns?

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

Well, in my old Fantasy HERO game, a running 'joke' of sorts was that any time the group travelled on a boat, it was GOING to sink, somehow.

[Blue]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

After running Champions Battlegrounds Scenario #2 this weekend ("Let's all go to the Maul"), I'm thinking that "Fly! FLY!" seems to have already caught on, courtesy of Foxbat.

[JmOz]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

The girl from Epeneme (sp)

 

They here it all the time, waiting in a waiting room, elevators, on an alien spaceship they heard a song that sounded "Just like". The mage had a megascale Teleport, F/X included waiting in a limbo like dimension that you could here the song playing on the wind.

 

Just constantly, had it on an alien ship, waiting rooms, a nurse appoligised for there musac machine being stuck on the song during one scenerio, etc...

[SSgt Baloo]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

The girl from Epeneme (sp)

 

"Yes? The bear in the helmet?"

 

"Would that be The Girl from Ipanema?"

 

Dingdingdingdingding!! "Yes! That's correct!"

 

In several of my campaigns, Foxbat (or his Golden Age analog Flying Squirrel) would occasionally break out of whatever "escape proof" asylum he'd been cooling his heels in and show up to "help" the heroes. In my campaigns, he really did believe he was in a comic book and acted accordingly. He wasn't on first-name terms with reality however. Usually, the first time he'd show up the players wouldn't realize the "new recruit" was a nutjob (I modeled his behavior on the title character of The Mask). When it inevitably came out that FB/FS was not merely eccentric but officially quite looney, the scenario quickly devolved into how to catch this guy without hurting him (or others) and turning him over to the proper custodians. Later scenarios might have him attacking the PCs as villains or trying to join again since he'd had electroshock therapy and didn't remember the last time.

[Barton]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

The Girl from Ipanema is a running joke in my Champions game. It always is the hold music or on musak machine. Chicago suburbs... must pay homage to Blues Brothers.

[Grimble]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

The AI in the PCs base kept asking and asking to have a robot body made for it. They finally relented and now the AI has a body built by a powerful technomancer...

 

Now, the PCs are all paranoid that it will go berzerk or be taken over by a villian. I have not played this down. I have no plans to have the robot go against them, but I love to have them notice it watching their practice sessions, or having it give them cryptic answers. That sort of thing.

 

More of a joke ON the players, but I love it.

 

 

Grimble

[proditor]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

Girl from Ipanema on all Hold/Wait muzak? Check.

A government official named "Pete Zumbrowski"? Check.

The theme from Desperado playing in the background whenever someone calls the Spanish borne local UNTIL Field leader? Check.

All the female PC's sighing whenever the team calls the local UNTIL field leader? Check.*

 

 

 

*You have to love it when your players feed these things.

[Grimble]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

I once had a Gadgeteer build Mind Control helmets that looked like baseball caps of the local team. After the first encounter with his controlled minions in the caps, the team was always ripping off peoples baseball caps to see if they had circuitry inside. This went on for a long time, since they did find the circuitrty...sometimes.

 

Grimble

[AliceTheOwl]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

In my Fantasy Hero game, someone pokes fun at the party leader's height at least every other game (or brings to mind the contrast her good friend, the 9-foot elf makes next to the under-five-feet-tall hero). Many of these have made it into QOTW.

 

Appropriating real-world terminology is also a running gag, because they're in an offshoot of the Champions Universe, and their world was brought into being thanks to a badly-implemented superpower. So the aforementioned elf, who can teleport, is sometimes dubbed "Air Ryllis" when they need her help getting from place to place quickly. When they talked about new spells the priest could learn, I mentioned he could learn to teleport, at which point they eagerly jumped onboard with the idea of taking "Air Danaecus" everywhere. Magical items doing the same thing as real-world technology get dubbed the name of the real-world technology, so we get faxes, phone calls, TV screens and sound dampeners.

 

Hmm. That's all I have off the top of my head . . .

[sinanju]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

The Murderous Man-Bear was in one of my early Champions games. He was bitten in the leg by a radioactive Kodiak Bear* and gained the size, strength, weaponry and furry coat of a Kodiak Bear. He also had a pegleg (he was bitten by a KODIAK BEAR, not a spider) which concealed a limited-use jumpjet (Superleap) and various weapons.

 

*A Soviet spy satellite containing radioactive fuel crashed in Canada way back in the 70s or 80s, so I figured....

 

The M_________ Man-Ape was another creation of mine who tends to turn up repeatedly. A moderately well-known B-List actor (think Bruce Campbell) turned into a gorilla-like, uh, man-ape with superhuman strength and toughness. Yeah, like that.

 

His gag is that you can fill in the blank with any adjective beginning with the letter M and imagine that as the title of the current issue of his comic book. Marauding, Merciful, Merciless, Magnificent, Maudlin, Multi-Orgasmic...whatever. I've never seen a gaming group yet who didn't find that game addictive.

[Susano]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

For a while, many supers games in my area featured "Hadji Taxi." "Hello, this is Hadji Taxi. How may I help you on life's journey?" They'd show up anywhere and would take you anywhere.

 

I also recall the running joke of "Ed Standford." Based off of a real person, Ed showed up in various games in various guises. Doctor, dictator, supervillain, you get the idea.

[TheQuestionMan]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

Top Five Running Jokes in our Campaign:

01. New Superheroes always arrive after the battle.

02. The newest member is always refered to by the heroes as Blitz's newest Sidekick.

03. Media Helicopters are viable targets.

04. Blitz is not allowed to take on the Cellphone.

05. If something goes wierd then the PCs have bypassed the GMs Plot.

 

 

 

[Campaign] Champions of Vancouver

http://herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32740

 

 

QM

[Blackjack]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

One of the campaigns I'm involved in (not MidGuard), having been running for over two decades, has a rich and extensive history. Some of it is very funny.

 

First, he have an homage to one of our long-retired heroes, MetalMan. Whenever someone references the origin of their character's powers, someone inevitably announces, in their best "movie trailer announcer" voice: "Trapped in a raging junkyard fire..."

 

Second, an inexperienced but enthusiastic GM decided to start a Champions campaign based in Australia. In the heroes' first adventure, we came to a bank vault door. After our team's brick made several attempts to break the door open, the GM told us that the door had 80 DEF (again, he was inexperienced). Thus, was introduced into the world the newest and greatest of supermetals (and punchlines): Australium!

 

Same campaign, next session, it is 2pm on a street in downtown Sydney. We are battling a band of supervillians, and our brick, desperate to hit a high-DCV opponent, asks the GM where the nearest car is for use as an AoE attack. The GM tells him there are no cars on the street - at all. Now, whenever the GM presents an improbable or possibly contrived situation, we refer to there being "no cars in Australia."

 

Finally, a character built solely around combat and with little "real world" abilities is referred to as a "wombat," and their combat abilities, especially their specialty, as their "pouch."

 

Blackjack

[JmOz]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

Another one:

 

Character took a mild Hunted from a newspaper (total points got was 10)

 

Anyways, I presented "headlines" at the beginning of each session, some were forshadowing, others were plot points, some were just world submersion

 

And then there was the Tattletale headlines, each and everyone was how Mystfire was guilty of SOMETHING, and they just got worse and worse (He has hitler's brain in a jar you know). That was about all I did with the disad, but each session they looked forward to see what Mystfire was being (Unjustly) blamed for this time...

[Stone]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

In our current DnD game, we have a not so intelligent half orc fighter named "Ront". In one session we were tracking down a cult in the sewers (don't ask) when we came to hidden room. We had a small encounter in the room and after that we searched it. We found a small hidden latch. Since it was dark in the room, we told the half-orc "You have dark vision, you look." So he carefully opened the latch to peer inside....and into the barrel of pistol...and yes he got shot in the eye. Since that point the running gag has been "You have dark vision, you go first" regardless of where we are at the time.

 

In a previous rolemaster game, a female PC played a hobbit thief (great comic relief) who had what could only be described as a strange affinity for animals...especially small woodland creatures. Somehow this took on a life of itself and whenever the PC fumbled a roll or was just totally lost on a problem, a racoon would appear and either laugh or point the way (yeah, I know..silly).

 

Same PC in Champions. She played a shrinking energy projectored. The GM had a mineral in the game called hyperium that emitted radation. The radiation and the effect it had on those w/powers varied by the color of the hyperium. During one session the shrinking PC got ahold of some hyperium that reversed her shrinking (she now grew). Ever since that session, the PC is constantly looking for more hyperium and we have to tell her to leave it alone. She also has a pych disad if she thinks someone has actually seen her when she is shrunk, she will blast them.

[Karmakaze]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

In an old Star Hero game, our lothario pilot decided he wanted to accept a dinner invitation from a lovely woman who was working for the corrupt corporation. We tried to explain why it could be a bad idea. Finally, one of the PCs snapped "Fine, you go meet your girlfriend at the Obvious Trap." We decided the Obvoius Trap was one of those themed chain restaurants. Now, whenever PCs meet up at a restaurant, it's at an Obvious Trap franchise. Except the one time it was a fancy restaurant, so they met at Le Peige Evident.

[Metaphysician]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

Hmm, well, in the Ancient Aberrant campaign I'm in, probably the biggest running "joke" is how regularly our characters end up wandering outside of time, despite not actually being powerful enough to really be able to travel time. Typically this is caused by letting certain party members try anything unusual without supervision. . .

[sinanju]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

I've mentioned this before, but...in my Expendables game (draftees exploring alien worlds to prove them safe for colonization), the dropship pilot was an alcoholic--unbeknownst to the other player characters. When he nearly killed them on the first trip planetside, they took it badly.

 

One PC beat him senseless. Then the PC doctor took the opportunity (while he was unconscious) to put him under anaesthesia and implant an artificial "wondergland" which could be remotely triggered to inject him with a dose of Sober Up! drug. In 30 seconds he'd be "so sober his teeth hurt."

 

After that, everytime they climbed into the dropship, he (the pilot) got zapped with the remote. And sometimes just because.

[Duke Bushido]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

Like most of you, our group has dozens and dozens of these things that have developed over the years, but for some reason I can only come up with two at the moment-- possibly because I'm on my way to bed, and the bulk of my mind has already made it....

 

One of these is "the pep rally." At some point in every story arc, usually after a really bad loss or just before the final showdown, one of the characters will give a big motivating speech to the rest of the team (this started in the 80s, I think by way of saying "see? See? I'm roleplaying! I deserve EP! But it's something of a tradition.).

 

Not too bad, and within the scope of almost every genre, so long as the characters are heroes.

 

The amusing part is that, from the moment it showed up, it ends with something to the effect of "a hero" or "a man" or "an extradimensional hyper-consciousness" or what-have-you "has to do what a 'x' has to do!"

 

As the players get into it and the characters rally, without fail one character announces "You're right! And we we've got to do it right now!"

 

then walks to the nearest restroom.

 

This occured as a player joke the first time, but it stuck with the original group, and today is still carried on by a group featuring no original member other than myself; half of them don't even know how it got started. But it happens almost every story arc.

 

the other is were-fish.

 

I posted a lengthy explanation of this before, and will spare you all now, but the short version is this:

 

I have very astute players, and they quickly learned that anything that gets mentioned-- TV, newspaper, even an NPC asking them a question-- is relevant to some part of the plot.

 

To foil this, I try to add in fluff and filler both to flesh out the world and to get them used to the idea that there is a world around them; much of what goes on it simply is what it is.

 

One such thing was a red-herring that culminated with discovering that their maintenance man was a werefish.

 

Funny thing was in light of all the genuine tidbits they recieved during that campaign, "werefish" is the one that stuck....

 

 

Go figure.

[lemming]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

I'm only thinking of a couple:

 

1) Robot Unions. So many future campaigns wound up having something like this happening. Though the best twist was the nanites worshipping their host as a god.

 

2) "I may be overconfident, but I'm not stupid!" Once uttered by a player as his character ran from a fight. (granted, he was about to be toasted, but it was a 20 pointer.)

It didn't matter what disads people had, whenever a tactical retreat was needed, that was the phrase.

[Squall]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

Though I've yet to use it in a Champions game (I have yet to GM Champions, in fact), my longest running tradition in GMing came from an on-line Shadowrun game I was running. Whenever the players got too bogged down in the details, nit-picking at stuff and dragging the game to a halt (taking weeks and weeks to overplan a scenario when everyone knows full well plans only work in Ocean's 11, for instance), or posting slowed down, quality of posts dipped, interest in a game waned... COMMANDO ATTACK.

 

Wherever they were, whatever they were in the middle of, a four-man team of commandos in urban camo would rappel into the room, blazing away with suppressed submachineguns. The commandos would invariably have some sort of hint on them (all using guns manufactured by the corporation I wanted them to target, all from an ethnic or metaracial group that would give away the behind-the-scenes threat, they'd have cyberware implanted that the team's decker might be able to crack and find out the name of who gave them their orders, etc)... but mostly it was just a way to keep them jumpy, inject some adrenaline into the game, stop the players from getting too comfortable.

 

No one really relaxes in movies like The Bourne Identity, Mission Impossible, etc. So whenever folks got too cozy, felt like their safehouse was really safe, or forgot what a hurry they were supposed to be in -- COMMANDO ATTACK.

 

And it can be ported over to any setting, really. Ninja Attack, Bandit Attack, Supervillain Henchman Attack, Combat Android Attack, etc, etc.

[Susano]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

Though I've yet to use it in a Champions game (I have yet to GM Champions' date=' in fact), my longest running tradition in GMing came from an on-line Shadowrun game I was running. Whenever the players got too bogged down in the details, nit-picking at stuff and dragging the game to a halt (taking weeks and weeks to overplan a scenario when everyone knows full well plans only work in Ocean's 11, for instance), or posting slowed down, quality of posts dipped, interest in a game waned... [i']COMMANDO ATTACK[/i].

 

Wherever they were, whatever they were in the middle of, a four-man team of commandos in urban camo would rappel into the room, blazing away with suppressed submachineguns. The commandos would invariably have some sort of hint on them (all using guns manufactured by the corporation I wanted them to target, all from an ethnic or metaracial group that would give away the behind-the-scenes threat, they'd have cyberware implanted that the team's decker might be able to crack and find out the name of who gave them their orders, etc)... but mostly it was just a way to keep them jumpy, inject some adrenaline into the game, stop the players from getting too comfortable.

 

No one really relaxes in movies like The Bourne Identity, Mission Impossible, etc. So whenever folks got too cozy, felt like their safehouse was really safe, or forgot what a hurry they were supposed to be in -- COMMANDO ATTACK.

 

And it can be ported over to any setting, really. Ninja Attack, Bandit Attack, Supervillain Henchman Attack, Combat Android Attack, etc, etc.

 

This stunt dates back to the 1930s. I think it was Mickey Spillane (creator of Mike Hammer) who stated (in effect) "When I don't know what to do next, I send in a guy with a gun."

[Ebon]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

"Aunt May's Discretion"

 

After several combats where someone went to way, way more than -30 STUN in the Marvel-based Champions game I was running, someone came up with this phrase.

 

Basically, you're so unconscious that you're past 'GM's Discretion'; not even the GM can give you permission to wake up. You have to call up Spider-Man's kindly old Aunt May to get permission. Kind soul that she is, she'll always give you permission. Being a fictional character, getting her on the phone is rather hard....

 

SMITH - An acronym: Six Months In The Hospital. Created after several Mob guys were taken to -15 BODY. Not dead.. but not walking around soon either.

[Markdoc]

Re: Running jokes in your campaign

 

The GM for this one is on the boards, so he might like to comment ...

 

We had this guy in the group who always liked to play something distinctive (no, not me - another guy ) so in one vauguely celtic-themed fantasy game he played a black guy from some far-off exotic country.

 

And whenever he met a group of new people, someone would inevitably say "Whoa, somebody really messed up their tatooing, didn't they?"

 

After a while the character perished (from annoyance, probably) but the phrase crawled over into my FH game where the players used it for anybody with distinctive features. Inevitably, then, they would run into people who, well, somebody had really messed up their tatooing

 

cheers, Mark