Post by Rob G on Feb 7, 2005 8:56:54 GMT -5
Over at Enwolrd there was a thread 1001 ways to freak out your players. I took out my favorite ones for you men to enjoy
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993. When the PCs arrive to game, let everyone sit down around the table. Then say, "okay, now everyone pass your character sheets and dice one place to the right."
994. When the PC to your left tries to pass his character sheet and dice to the PC at your right, stop him and say, "oh, no" - then take his character sheet and give the PC at your right the DM screen and all the trappings.
997. Set all the clock alarms in the house to go off at exactly the same time - preferably about an hour into the session. Jump up and scream, "trap! trap! You weren't fast enough!"
959) As the party travels through the forest, they come to a small (~1 foot wide) stream. A log serves as a crude bridge over the stream, and it's guarded by a bugbear who demands a toll. The players laugh, step over the stream, and move on
967:keep remarking every 4 minutes how you " can't get enough of that golden crisp."
2. At the beginning of one session, decide to disallow wizards, clerics, rogues and fighters because they are "broken."
8a. "Uhm... how many hit points do you have left?"
8b. "Uhm... how many hit points did you have left?"
14) Randomly say. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Nevermind, you'll cross that bridge when you reach it."
16) At an appropriately tense moment, roll a die, and scowl for a moment. In a solemn tone, ask the player for their character sheet. Hold it up, and rip it in half, slowly.
46. When one of your players spends almost all of their money on a powerful magic item, have it stolen from them before they can use it.
47) Ask the players to roll initiative for normal conversations with NPC's. This really throws them off, lol.
56. One I read here recently, talk about the dozen or so literary sources you used to make the adventure, when all you really did was copy out some monster manual stat blocks and put them in a town..
69. Convince the party to let an advanced pit fiend join them (using threats by the fiend if necessary). The pit fiend doesn't help them in combat. He just follows them and occasionally laughs evilly. Party becomes extremely paranoid.
77. Randomly rip off small sheets of paper out of your notebook, and write " " or "this note doesn't say anything" and give them to random players.
133. Announce you are sick of dice, and are going to use arbitrary rulings instead. Insist that the players are not allowed to do the same thing, because it hasn't been playtested and might be broken.
186: Have powerful NPC villains and adventuring allies begin wearing endorsed armor or equipment, much like a professional athlete
188: Have a high-level dwarven cleric NPC who blatantly abuses their high HP. "Oh, its just a 170 foot drop, nothing that I can't handle.
." 189: Have every villain, every orc, every demon, every single individual who they could ever slay and loot be carrying 50' of rope. Have absolutely no terrain that would call for it
211) A guy that walks around with a magic shell next to his ear, saying: Can you hear me now? *pause* Good
213- have a long grueling adventure culminate to the PCs finally meeting an old adversary from when they ere still lvl 1- and now that they are lvl 20- you would expect that he is too. He is dressed in magic with a badass sword and a halo (either holy or evil). He taunts the PCs and tells them that they have ruined his plans for the last time. when the PCs attack (either magic or arrow) he is immediately slain. Act grumpy and surprised- slam your books shut and say, "Game over- he's dead..."
219) Make your next arch villain wear elaborate outfits. Have his familiars and summoned creatures all wear the same outfit.
311) Crush a die with a sledgehammer when it gives you a bad roll as an "example" to the other dice.
313) Wear a cape.
321) Let some NPC fight with an insanely powerful item that anyone recognizes on sight and after the PCs defeat the NPC anounce to them that you didn't want to have such a powerful item in the campaign and change it to some minor and useless item.
329) Force them to show you where in the rules it says that a longsword does 1d8 points of damage and when they show you make repeated whining remarks about too powerful normal items and changing the rules
382). Get a clock that ticks, and record the ticking for as long as makes sense on a tape recorder. Play the ticking during your next session very loudly. Offer no explanation
421. Name NPC villians after family members of the players. Give massive experience penalties for failing to finish off a villian in combat.
423) Have the players create new charcters making up with clever backgrounds, unique combinations of prestige classes and feats, spell lists, items, personality quirks and extended manners of expression...take them all in, shuffle them, and deal them out randomly. Tell everyone that they have to play the new charcter just like the player who created them.
579) Never give a character a chance to shine with an action except if it's the big boss character who has a few levels more than the rest of the group.
580) Use no DC lower than 35 for things such as climbing stairs or hopping over a chair on the floor
602:Have every enemy the PCs have encountered in the past come up to them together, and offer them help, saying that they will need it
603. Describe the town's bakery in deep detail; the tastes of the rolls, the sweet smell of the sticky-buns. Offer no explaination for your intense description. Never use the bakery again
#628 - Using background music, After a mighty battle, when the evil uber-bad guy is nigh defeated stop the cool battle music. He cries out something about 'no, I can not fail, I must live!'
Then start the music again, only this time instead of battle music a little song whose refrain is 'Once more in the name of Love!"
635) "The first rule of our game sessions is no one talks about our game sessions..."
643. Refer to the Characters by there Players names in the campaign and refer to the players by there Characters names out of the game
658) When you roll a critical hit, moan with delight and scream: "Yes! Yes! Oh god YES!"
678. Go "Baldur's Gate" on them. Every time they try to leave town, or enter a dungeon, or go to the toilet, declare that "you must gather your party before venturing forth".
679-Ask a player to make a Will save. Regardless of the result, pass them a note reading "Act normally for now.”
682-During normal conversation with an NPC, ask the players what their Sense Motive score is. Roll some dice, and say "He seems sincere..."
705. Answer "You don't know" to every question you can get away with.
774: Scary phone-calls
Take a leaf out of Majestic and keep the game going even when you're not playing. How? Get someone the players don't know and get them to make threatening phonecalls at unusual hours. Give them a script if you like. *RING* *RING* "Hello? Hello? It's 2AM, who is this?" "I am Blacktor the Destroyer. You shall know my wrath, puny human. HAHAHA!" *CLICK* "... hello?" Give each player a call on a different night all through the week.
Next gaming session, introduce your new villain Blacktor the Destroyer, who you just created that morning. Deny all knowledge of the phonecalls
550) Eat continuously through out the entire session. End every line with "gotta bulk up"
-----------------------------------
993. When the PCs arrive to game, let everyone sit down around the table. Then say, "okay, now everyone pass your character sheets and dice one place to the right."
994. When the PC to your left tries to pass his character sheet and dice to the PC at your right, stop him and say, "oh, no" - then take his character sheet and give the PC at your right the DM screen and all the trappings.
997. Set all the clock alarms in the house to go off at exactly the same time - preferably about an hour into the session. Jump up and scream, "trap! trap! You weren't fast enough!"
959) As the party travels through the forest, they come to a small (~1 foot wide) stream. A log serves as a crude bridge over the stream, and it's guarded by a bugbear who demands a toll. The players laugh, step over the stream, and move on
967:keep remarking every 4 minutes how you " can't get enough of that golden crisp."
2. At the beginning of one session, decide to disallow wizards, clerics, rogues and fighters because they are "broken."
8a. "Uhm... how many hit points do you have left?"
8b. "Uhm... how many hit points did you have left?"
14) Randomly say. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Nevermind, you'll cross that bridge when you reach it."
16) At an appropriately tense moment, roll a die, and scowl for a moment. In a solemn tone, ask the player for their character sheet. Hold it up, and rip it in half, slowly.
46. When one of your players spends almost all of their money on a powerful magic item, have it stolen from them before they can use it.
47) Ask the players to roll initiative for normal conversations with NPC's. This really throws them off, lol.
56. One I read here recently, talk about the dozen or so literary sources you used to make the adventure, when all you really did was copy out some monster manual stat blocks and put them in a town..
69. Convince the party to let an advanced pit fiend join them (using threats by the fiend if necessary). The pit fiend doesn't help them in combat. He just follows them and occasionally laughs evilly. Party becomes extremely paranoid.
77. Randomly rip off small sheets of paper out of your notebook, and write " " or "this note doesn't say anything" and give them to random players.
133. Announce you are sick of dice, and are going to use arbitrary rulings instead. Insist that the players are not allowed to do the same thing, because it hasn't been playtested and might be broken.
186: Have powerful NPC villains and adventuring allies begin wearing endorsed armor or equipment, much like a professional athlete
188: Have a high-level dwarven cleric NPC who blatantly abuses their high HP. "Oh, its just a 170 foot drop, nothing that I can't handle.
." 189: Have every villain, every orc, every demon, every single individual who they could ever slay and loot be carrying 50' of rope. Have absolutely no terrain that would call for it
211) A guy that walks around with a magic shell next to his ear, saying: Can you hear me now? *pause* Good
213- have a long grueling adventure culminate to the PCs finally meeting an old adversary from when they ere still lvl 1- and now that they are lvl 20- you would expect that he is too. He is dressed in magic with a badass sword and a halo (either holy or evil). He taunts the PCs and tells them that they have ruined his plans for the last time. when the PCs attack (either magic or arrow) he is immediately slain. Act grumpy and surprised- slam your books shut and say, "Game over- he's dead..."
219) Make your next arch villain wear elaborate outfits. Have his familiars and summoned creatures all wear the same outfit.
311) Crush a die with a sledgehammer when it gives you a bad roll as an "example" to the other dice.
313) Wear a cape.
321) Let some NPC fight with an insanely powerful item that anyone recognizes on sight and after the PCs defeat the NPC anounce to them that you didn't want to have such a powerful item in the campaign and change it to some minor and useless item.
329) Force them to show you where in the rules it says that a longsword does 1d8 points of damage and when they show you make repeated whining remarks about too powerful normal items and changing the rules
382). Get a clock that ticks, and record the ticking for as long as makes sense on a tape recorder. Play the ticking during your next session very loudly. Offer no explanation
421. Name NPC villians after family members of the players. Give massive experience penalties for failing to finish off a villian in combat.
423) Have the players create new charcters making up with clever backgrounds, unique combinations of prestige classes and feats, spell lists, items, personality quirks and extended manners of expression...take them all in, shuffle them, and deal them out randomly. Tell everyone that they have to play the new charcter just like the player who created them.
579) Never give a character a chance to shine with an action except if it's the big boss character who has a few levels more than the rest of the group.
580) Use no DC lower than 35 for things such as climbing stairs or hopping over a chair on the floor
602:Have every enemy the PCs have encountered in the past come up to them together, and offer them help, saying that they will need it
603. Describe the town's bakery in deep detail; the tastes of the rolls, the sweet smell of the sticky-buns. Offer no explaination for your intense description. Never use the bakery again
#628 - Using background music, After a mighty battle, when the evil uber-bad guy is nigh defeated stop the cool battle music. He cries out something about 'no, I can not fail, I must live!'
Then start the music again, only this time instead of battle music a little song whose refrain is 'Once more in the name of Love!"
635) "The first rule of our game sessions is no one talks about our game sessions..."
643. Refer to the Characters by there Players names in the campaign and refer to the players by there Characters names out of the game
658) When you roll a critical hit, moan with delight and scream: "Yes! Yes! Oh god YES!"
678. Go "Baldur's Gate" on them. Every time they try to leave town, or enter a dungeon, or go to the toilet, declare that "you must gather your party before venturing forth".
679-Ask a player to make a Will save. Regardless of the result, pass them a note reading "Act normally for now.”
682-During normal conversation with an NPC, ask the players what their Sense Motive score is. Roll some dice, and say "He seems sincere..."
705. Answer "You don't know" to every question you can get away with.
774: Scary phone-calls
Take a leaf out of Majestic and keep the game going even when you're not playing. How? Get someone the players don't know and get them to make threatening phonecalls at unusual hours. Give them a script if you like. *RING* *RING* "Hello? Hello? It's 2AM, who is this?" "I am Blacktor the Destroyer. You shall know my wrath, puny human. HAHAHA!" *CLICK* "... hello?" Give each player a call on a different night all through the week.
Next gaming session, introduce your new villain Blacktor the Destroyer, who you just created that morning. Deny all knowledge of the phonecalls
550) Eat continuously through out the entire session. End every line with "gotta bulk up"
