The Lighter Side

Last Saturday’s post wasn’t just a bit of silly fun.  It’s an example of something I might actually drop into my game on any given night.  Maybe that sounds strange — if you’ve been reading my blog, you know that I prefer heroic, cinematic games.  So how does a groaner like the Grape Jelly possibly fit in?

Surprisingly well.

Humor is a good way to enhance the feel of your game, in fact.  Some moderation is necessary — going all-humor, all-the-time tends to ruin the drama factor — but a little lightheartedness in the right places breaks the tension, aids the flow of the story, and helps create memorable experiences.  Puns, a little less so, but Dungeons & Dragons has a long tradition of them.  Consider the tarantella, a spider whose bite causes the afflicted to dance — and the sight of that dance may cause others to join in.  This blends an awful pun with folklore to create a nemesis for the party that’s silly from a metagame perspective yet still dangerous from an in-character standpoint.

Of course, there are entire game systems devoted to running a comedy game:  Toon, Paranoia, Teenagers from Outer Space, Munchkin, Kobolds Ate My Baby, just to name a few.  But humor can have even more impact in a “serious” game.  Epic fantasy is full of swashbuckling quipsters and sardonic cynics.  The superhero genre lends itself to over-the-top exaggeration and to outright parody almost naturally.  Has there ever been a science fiction story with intelligent robots or androids that hasn’t at least touched upon those robots’ struggles with the alien concept of humor?

How do you work that sort of humor into a game?

The complicated art of roleplaying...

Characters. If you’re a player, you should keep two things in mind when creating a funny character.  First, spontaneity and improvisation.  Comedy tends to be closely related to chaos — you need to be on the lookout for the chance to pull off the unexpected, whether that’s a witty comeback, a small prank on one of the other PCs, or a bizarre and complicated scheme.  Second, and probably even more important:  Don’t try to be funny all the time.  If everything is a joke to your character, you might start to grate on the other players’ nerves.  But if almost everything is a joke, but you also know when to get serious and can be relied upon to come through for your party in the clutch, then you’ve got character.  Spider-Man is an excellent role model here.

Narratives. If you’re running the game, on the other hand, the most important consideration is pacing.  You’ve probably heard that a joke loses its impact when it needs to be explained… or when it’s drawn out.  (This is not the same thing as a running joke, which is a good idea.)  Less widely known, however, is that there needs to be some space between jokes.  Take a look at a professional comedian’s set; you’ll see exposition — “setup” — before and often between jokes, although there will also be points when the comedian has hit his stride and delivers several jokes rapid-fire.  When you’re running a game, you won’t want just jokes; you’ll need the narrative in there.  Some slower moments keep the players from tiring and increase the impact of the next joke.  If the slow segments begin to drag, drop something into the scene that will cause excitement or conflict.

Oddities of the rules can be exploited for metagame humor.

Settings and scene dressing. If you want to encourage humor in a game, one way of doing it is to put things into your game that humor can arise from.  Incongruous elements or not-so-veiled references (the evil warlord has an eight-year-old advisor, because he’s read The List) are easy ways of adding a little humor.  Depending on your players, you may or may not be able to get away with outright metagame references.  Outright nonsense can be funny, too, but is best used sparingly, outside of humor-centered games.

NPCs. If you see a chance to feed a player a straight line, by all means, do so.  Hopefully the player will pounce.  Similarly, if a player feeds you one, take advantage of it.  Aside from that, you can create humorous NPCs fairly simply by either playing up cliches or by playing against type — the gruff and “barbaric” fighter who’s actually an avid student of history and a philosopher of battle, for instance.

Related posts:

1. (Super)Heroes are Made
2. Humor and Gaming Blog Carnival Roundup