The Feel of the DF: Witticisms

[bibliophile20]

When I'm in the gamemaster mode, half of what I do is rules adjudication, half is improv theater, and a quarter is stand up comedy.  Part of this is my own persona--I'm an incorrigible punster--and part of this is me trying to be faithful to the feel of the books, given Harry's sense of humor.  However, no offense to my group, but they're not used to trying to throw off bon motts and assorted one liners, leaving me to pick up some of the slack (which I do--with gusto).  But the feel of the world feels somewhat off without the occasional outbreak of witty banter.

This got me thinking: Dresden himself is an Epic Wiseass (says so right on his sheet), and that humor greatly colors the novels.  But that's a character trait, not necessarily a setting trait. 

So... the point of this is as such: who has games with wiseasses and who doesn't?  And for those of us whose groups are a little more serious, does it affect the feel of the world tremendously?

And, on a side note, I will occasionally throw in bits of humor to see if anyone notices.  The WCV compound they infiltrated last scenario had a bunch of fun "No Trespassing" signs; personal favorite being "Trespassers Will Be Violated"; nobody noticed that one.  Anyone got any good bits of wit they'd like to share?

[bitterpill]

We had a psychotic scion of Ares in our party of Lawful Good types who when the rest of the party were having a circular conversation with a member of the Knights Templar (telling the party they could do nothing as she was protected by the accords) snuck up behind her and knocked her out muttering the line “boring conversation anyway”.    

[bobjob]

half of what I do is rules adjudication, half is improv theater, and a quarter is stand up comedy

Man, you must be an awesome GM giving 125% for your games!

[bibliophile20]

Man, you must be an awesome GM giving 125% for your games!

Trust me, most weeks, it feels like it!    Not that I don't love every minute of it, but somehow our four-hour sessions have turned into six- and eight-hour sessions!

[Moriden]

I prefer a dry dark wit personally, most of my dresden games are from the perspective of what would be a villain in any other game so my accounting is bound to be abnormal.

[Katarn]

“boring conversation anyway”.    

Win.

I'm only in my first full PbP right now (first one fell through in a day and a half), but we're not very witty.  I'm playing a middle-aged Terramancer, so he's not big on humor necessarily.  When some more dialogue comes in I'm planning to sneak dry humor in (he wouldn't be punny).  References are a must (especially obscure ones, this guy was in his teens in the 70s).

[Ophidimancer]

While I don't have a record of it, my game is set in high school and a few of my players are Buffy the Vampire Slayer fans, so I ended up with a group that's very Genre Savvy* as well as trading a lot of snarky banter.

* Every new student is automatically suspected to be supernatural of some sort, doubly so if she's a girl and the horndog of the group likes her.  they even have a formula for it.

[newtinmpls]

I have one player that is a scholar/mage/historian that was trapped in the nevernever for quite a long time, so he appears in his late 20's but was born in victorian times. Conversation with the martial artist about fighting, and he says something along the lines of "I was taught to fight" in this lovely semi-pompous way, and the PC actually stands up into this steryotypical high-class, fists-up-in-a-totally-unworkable-way and says "I was trained as a pugilist" (the character has no combat skills so it would default to 0) cracked everyone up.

Dian

[bibliophile20]

I have one player that is a scholar/mage/historian that was trapped in the nevernever for quite a long time, so he appears in his late 20's but was born in victorian times. Conversation with the martial artist about fighting, and he says something along the lines of "I was taught to fight" in this lovely semi-pompous way, and the PC actually stands up into this steryotypical high-class, fists-up-in-a-totally-unworkable-way and says "I was trained as a pugilist" (the character has no combat skills so it would default to 0) cracked everyone up.

Dian

Nice.

[Drachasor]

I have one player that is a scholar/mage/historian that was trapped in the nevernever for quite a long time, so he appears in his late 20's but was born in victorian times. Conversation with the martial artist about fighting, and he says something along the lines of "I was taught to fight" in this lovely semi-pompous way, and the PC actually stands up into this steryotypical high-class, fists-up-in-a-totally-unworkable-way and says "I was trained as a pugilist" (the character has no combat skills so it would default to 0) cracked everyone up.

Dian

Hmm,  I think that perhaps only works since Europe lost a lot of their hand-to-hand and related martial traditions with the advent of guns (though I wonder if anyone on here knows much about how that sort of thing was going in Victorian times).  The Far East didn't have that issue so much, since guns came in with foreigners relatively recently and related issues.

[Shecky]

Hmm,  I think that perhaps only works since Europe lost a lot of their hand-to-hand and related martial traditions with the advent of guns (though I wonder if anyone on here knows much about how that sort of thing was going in Victorian times).  The Far East didn't have that issue so much, since guns came in with foreigners relatively recently and related issues.

About the only unarmed-martial-arts kind of thing that made it through that period and survived to our times is la savate, and even that is barely still present.

[Warpmind]

About the only unarmed-martial-arts kind of thing that made it through that period and survived to our times is la savate, and even that is barely still present.

...The Marquess of Queensberry rolls in his grave, weeping.

In addition, while also barely present, Bartitsu has also survived from the Victorian era, though mostly dormant in the 20th century, the style exists, having found an upswing this past decade.

[UmbraLux]

...since Europe lost a lot of their hand-to-hand and related martial traditions...

Err, what?  Wrestling has been around for a long time.  Boxing is another, though it has degenerated over the last hundred years or so.  However there are option beyond the obvious ones.  Irish stick fighting.  A variety of folk wrestling styles.  Even the quarterstaff made it through to the 19th and 20th centuries.

[Drachasor]

Err, what?  Wrestling has been around for a long time.  Boxing is another, though it has degenerated over the last hundred years or so.  However there are option beyond the obvious ones.  Irish stick fighting.  A variety of folk wrestling styles.  Even the quarterstaff made it through to the 19th and 20th centuries.

Yes, but there were martial arts that Knights and such were trained in.  Heck, we don't even have very good records overall of the fighting styles with swords and other weapons.  A LOT was lost even if some survives, especially compared to the Far East as best I understand it.

[bitterpill]

One of the PC in a game I was in subverted a tradition scenario; the villain had been defeated after causing much death and destruction and when brought to a final showdown the villain was willing to submit to the party in exchange for his life. So the Villain was holding up his hands with the tradition put me in irons gesturer and the PC marches on him menacingly, the villain says "you can't kill a man in cold blood"  to which the PC replies "I am sorry I failed my course on applied ethics" and cut the villain down.