Right now I am playing in two games and they have distinctly different flavors as well as very literal implementations and interactions.
On one hand the S&W game is scaled down mechanics, simplified to be a throwback to the early days of gaming, when things were simple and dwarves were dwarves, well actually Fighting Men, but dwarves non the less. Our group meets every two weeks for 3 hours of raucous uproariously debased out of character, and sometimes in, commentary about anything and everything. Theres Beer, Chips, Snacks galore, the occasional Pizza or grilling! Its men being men in a 10 by 14 ft room.
On the other hand, Im playing a Pathfinder/Ptolus hybrid game that I joining in virtually via the powers of Skype!!! While the rest of the crew meets some 500 miles away at the DMs house replete with dungeon tiles and minis galore, I sit alone in my man cave, dice at the ready, Pathfinder book in hand, watching the game board from a camera perched high above. I can see the minis but none of the players. While Ive met most of them in RL its still a strange situation at times. They have a laptop set up so they can see me, yet I cant see any of them. it is weird at times.
A common motif is the raunchy jokes that float around. Its a bit bizarre. Is everyone's games like these? Prolapsed rectums and shit and fart jokes abound in both games. I'd like ot thnk I'm the common factor but I know thats not the case. Where does humor fall in your game? Is the DM chiming in or is he fighting against it? Gary Gygax was fairly notirious for his Punning at the game table. Is humor an intrinsic element to RPGs? Or is it a requisite for having a good time in meta game?
Which ever it is, it seems I am truly blessed to be in two such great gaming groups and Im looking forward to more fun in the future!
I think there's a certain amount of table humor at every table. How debased it gets depends on the comfort level of the players at the table and if your parents are listening in. When I ran a S&W game at the Tucson RPG meet-up none of the players played together before but that didn't stop the jokes being tossed around the table. The humor surrounded the aspects of the game or the PCs situations. Who knows, if everyone played for a number of sessions would it sink into the gutter?
ReplyDeleteA good portion of the game is sitting around with friends and having a good time while you kill things and take their stuff. Table humor at whatever level is as much a part of the game as character sheets and funny dice!
When you weren't at the table a couple of session ago Brian was there so he kept up the raunch in your absence. Though they did explore more than just 3 rooms!
I think it is always part of the fun. I can't think of a table top game that was so straight that there was no humor. Sure I have played some that don't quite get to our level but it was not as much fun. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'd want to play in a game that didn't have at least some level of humor. I like that our game has high levels of silliness, but everyone still takes the game seriously. By that I mean, people are engaged and emotionally involve with what is going on. That's right balance I think. And if it gets raunchy, well, what's wrong with a little raunchiness? Or in our case, ridiculous amounts of raunchiness.
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