If you take the joke part away from the character, what's left?
If you still have a functional PC who's capable of contributing something more than taking a hit that could have gone to a more useful party member, you're good.
If all the character is is the joke, don't do it. Playing a character that's functionally useless is likely to make the rest of the party resentful no matter how funny you are.
This. It's not a problem to, say, play a Warlock who thinks they're a cleric (I have such a character ready to roll next time I attend a oneshot), but playing a pacifist fighter or a druid who turns into a mouse and hides in every combat situation is going to make the party thing "why do we have this person in the game?", and they won't be referring to the character.
Don't get me wrong. The idea of a joke characters sound amazing from time to time. But what would someone do if they don't want you to play a joke character on a Serious or long term campaign?
I am not a fan. I dump a lot of time into DMing and coming up with things.
So an example... a co-worker was telling me about how he and his friends played D&D - but he wasn't a fan because his friend once shrunk himself and flew up the rump of an enemy, and he had wanted something more serious. I'd say, "As that DM I would start making that player make DC CON Saves or start suffocating, because there's no oxygen, and increase the DC every round and start taking 1d10 damage on any fail, half on successful saves."
So he was like, "Great!" We mustered up some other co-workers and arranged to play every Tuesday.
That guy shows up to the game, with a High Elf named Dick Poop. Not. Even. Kidding.
His friend he brought made a bard named Rex James.
The other players all had serious character.
The problem - the guy who brought Dick Poop actually played his wizard very well. It was just the name.
He and his friends would eventually drop (he got a new job, his friend left because his friend wasn't playing). And I got two new players.
Now, most recently, one of the players had a character perish so he brought in an artificer named Elon Dusk.
Sigh.
So there's people who love those "joke characters" - but for me, it kind of takes people out of the game if you're trying to have a serious game.
The final general category is playing the Fool—not merely playing a foolish character, but leaning into the centuries-old archetype so commonly seen in Shakespeare and other works of literature. This is a character who, when given a choice, will always make the questionable decision—who provides a “yeah, but what if we didn’t use common sense?” option to the game. Though it can be said that their personality itself is a singular, fundamental joke, the way that joke manifests will be different in different circumstances, so they feel like a string of related jokes all tied to the fundamental character. This can also be hard to pull off, and requires someone who can really sell the character and who knows how to operate the Fool in a manner that might look chaotic, but also helps advance the party rather than hinders them.
When I was in the SCA in Italy, I was the fool for the Kingdom. It is a natural for me - I have a wicked sense of humor and it is pretty fast to come out. I decided to play one in a D&D campaign and it went over well. I acted the fool in front of the party and the NPCs, but I was also very adept at swiping things, good with throwing knives, and very adept at getting the hell out of the way when it got real... Character went over well in the party, even when I stuck my foot in my mouth a few times with various members of the party.
Too many people use the joke character to make sure every session is about them and their character without understanding a funny joke isn't funny after the fifth telling of the joke.
Had a “new to the game, new to the group” player last year (still with us) who wasn’t into it at first and since we have a lot of stuff for backgrounds and there is a lot of role play, they sorta made a major joke character that was funny to them.
Their mom was unimpressed. The DM, me, was even less impressed, but I will let ya play a character as long as it was made by the rules we use. It was a lesson and the character went from being a meme style joke character to an in-joke to a tragic to a heroic figure over the course of probably 12 sessions. Everything grew out of the campaign, and I groused a bit but let it be, and played it straight. We weren’t using a fleshed out world like we will be, it was just a dungeon and a town.
Partof it was that they didn’t understand how seriously we all took it. And so when I started the world building for the next campaign, they not only contributed many ideas (some of which were used, like the Mortal Kombat bit) but they are hoping to make a character worthy of what they were elected to do as we laid out the rules for the next round of play testing: they are leading a group of all the younger players.
I ran a du named Rhthym and Blues, and that was just their nickname, but it was a joke The dumb half-ogre during the 1 e era. I have a fondness for taking stereotypes and really pushing n them, making them more than just a stereotype, and that was what ultimately happened to the character AND the player.
So it really depends on how you push in a lot of ways. The style of game, the personalities of the group, the degree to which you just straight face it. And as noted, they won’t survive if they are played straight.
Then they gotta do it all again.
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Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
I'm going to be really honest here (none of that societally-neutral standard crap).
-I HATE joke characters.-
(I refer to the players of joke characters as 'you' in this post. Out of convenience, not to direct it to the reader in any way, shape or form. ...unless you play a joke character. In which case. Jokes on you.)
1) ...It's extremely disrespectful to your fellow players who spent time aligning their characters to the story; and the storyteller who put hours into the campaign, while the joke character's player half asses his idea that came out of a brain fart (that they mistook for inspiration) in less than a second.
Even if it's a one shot, I have the decency and self respect to make a functionally capable, setting aligned character.
The only exception is if the storytellers says otherwise.
2) Your joke character isn't funny. At all.
Like every joke and comedian, if we know it's meant to be a joke - it is inherently unamusing. The term is called "Tryhard".
Every joke character I have come across is played by a tryhard who just wants attention. Admit it, meme-charscter players, you only play it because you desperately seek attention you will not be given otherwise.
Humour has to be natural, accidental, like a spelling mistake or a well timed quip. It has to show wit or bring relief. A joke character is just constantly asking "AM I FUNNY!?" in a loud, rapper's voice. It's more annoying than anything and trust me, it makes the player inherently look incapable.
3) Joke characters mask the player's inability to play an interactive, well thought out character.
The whole point of a d&d game is a two way street, interaction both ways, this includes character creation. Joke characters are often one sided, selfish in action and story ...in otherwords, they are really lame.
4) Know your audience.
Joke characters only belong in joke campaigns.
5) Know how to differentiate a "compulsory laugh" and a genuine laugh.
Every game I see a joke character at, they only recieve compulsory laughs out of politeness and just to nod at the attempt to be fuunny. The laughs are short, the eyes look away, no one wheezes for breath, no echoes of laughter extend after the initial phase. Any description of the character later is met with sheepish looks. NO ONE ENQUIRES ABOUT THE NAME OF THE CHARACTER NATURALLY, because no one cares, really (so a lot of these joke players have to scream their name every now and then ...again, lame.).
The only ones who get genuine laughs are the well-thought out, "serious" characters who then get remembered and get asked about.
5) If the game is a joke to you, you are the butt of the joke. So when shit happens to your character, don't expect anyone to genuinely care. Butts are afterall where the shit comes out from, so do expect a lot of it coming your way if you're playing with even a half decent DM.
It'll be their way of showing you the exit.
Simply put, leave. Don't come back till you have a character you put at least an ounce of effort actually trying to make a meaningful experience.
I have played one, and only one, though maybe the term "joke" character" did not apply.
Joe Average was a human, with all ability scores set at 10, built during the AD&D era. He was a cook; his weapon profficiencies were a large cleaver and a meat tenderizer mallet, and he did not wear armor.
Originally an experiment to see what an average character could survive and accomplish, Joe did surprisingly well. He survived and was eventually retired, when that play group broke up due to children and other family responsibilities among the players. I kinda wish that I still had his character sheet, so I could use him as a camp cook NPC.
When I feel my players just need to get it out of their system, I'll run WG7 Castle Greyhawk. What I'm presenting to them is just as silly and stupid as what they're bringing to the table. The jokes get old quick, so we can resume with the actual game.
Is that the one with a red slaad behind a curtain and somebody says he is French Slaad dressing?
Joe Average was a human, with all ability scores set at 10, built during the AD&D era. He was a cook; his weapon profficiencies were a large cleaver and a meat tenderizer mallet, and he did not wear armor.
Missed out on giving him a leather apron so +1 AC only to the front.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
This. It's not a problem to, say, play a Warlock who thinks they're a cleric (I have such a character ready to roll next time I attend a oneshot), but playing a pacifist fighter or a druid who turns into a mouse and hides in every combat situation is going to make the party thing "why do we have this person in the game?", and they won't be referring to the character.
Make your Artificer work with any other class with 174 Multiclassing Feats for your Artificer Multiclass Character!
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I am not a fan. I dump a lot of time into DMing and coming up with things.
So an example... a co-worker was telling me about how he and his friends played D&D - but he wasn't a fan because his friend once shrunk himself and flew up the rump of an enemy, and he had wanted something more serious. I'd say, "As that DM I would start making that player make DC CON Saves or start suffocating, because there's no oxygen, and increase the DC every round and start taking 1d10 damage on any fail, half on successful saves."
So he was like, "Great!" We mustered up some other co-workers and arranged to play every Tuesday.
That guy shows up to the game, with a High Elf named Dick Poop. Not. Even. Kidding.
His friend he brought made a bard named Rex James.
The other players all had serious character.
The problem - the guy who brought Dick Poop actually played his wizard very well. It was just the name.
He and his friends would eventually drop (he got a new job, his friend left because his friend wasn't playing). And I got two new players.
Now, most recently, one of the players had a character perish so he brought in an artificer named Elon Dusk.
Sigh.
So there's people who love those "joke characters" - but for me, it kind of takes people out of the game if you're trying to have a serious game.
Check out my publication on DMs Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/browse.php?author=Tawmis%20Logue
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Is everyone Elses time a joke to you? Thats how I feel about it.
When I was in the SCA in Italy, I was the fool for the Kingdom. It is a natural for me - I have a wicked sense of humor and it is pretty fast to come out. I decided to play one in a D&D campaign and it went over well. I acted the fool in front of the party and the NPCs, but I was also very adept at swiping things, good with throwing knives, and very adept at getting the hell out of the way when it got real... Character went over well in the party, even when I stuck my foot in my mouth a few times with various members of the party.
Too many people use the joke character to make sure every session is about them and their character without understanding a funny joke isn't funny after the fifth telling of the joke.
Had a “new to the game, new to the group” player last year (still with us) who wasn’t into it at first and since we have a lot of stuff for backgrounds and there is a lot of role play, they sorta made a major joke character that was funny to them.
Their mom was unimpressed. The DM, me, was even less impressed, but I will let ya play a character as long as it was made by the rules we use. It was a lesson and the character went from being a meme style joke character to an in-joke to a tragic to a heroic figure over the course of probably 12 sessions. Everything grew out of the campaign, and I groused a bit but let it be, and played it straight. We weren’t using a fleshed out world like we will be, it was just a dungeon and a town.
Partof it was that they didn’t understand how seriously we all took it. And so when I started the world building for the next campaign, they not only contributed many ideas (some of which were used, like the Mortal Kombat bit) but they are hoping to make a character worthy of what they were elected to do as we laid out the rules for the next round of play testing: they are leading a group of all the younger players.
I ran a du named Rhthym and Blues, and that was just their nickname, but it was a joke The dumb half-ogre during the 1 e era. I have a fondness for taking stereotypes and really pushing n them, making them more than just a stereotype, and that was what ultimately happened to the character AND the player.
So it really depends on how you push in a lot of ways. The style of game, the personalities of the group, the degree to which you just straight face it. And as noted, they won’t survive if they are played straight.
Then they gotta do it all again.
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
I'm going to be really honest here (none of that societally-neutral standard crap).
-I HATE joke characters.-
(I refer to the players of joke characters as 'you' in this post. Out of convenience, not to direct it to the reader in any way, shape or form. ...unless you play a joke character. In which case. Jokes on you.)
1) ...It's extremely disrespectful to your fellow players who spent time aligning their characters to the story; and the storyteller who put hours into the campaign, while the joke character's player half asses his idea that came out of a brain fart (that they mistook for inspiration) in less than a second.
Even if it's a one shot, I have the decency and self respect to make a functionally capable, setting aligned character.
The only exception is if the storytellers says otherwise.
2) Your joke character isn't funny. At all.
Like every joke and comedian, if we know it's meant to be a joke - it is inherently unamusing. The term is called "Tryhard".
Every joke character I have come across is played by a tryhard who just wants attention. Admit it, meme-charscter players, you only play it because you desperately seek attention you will not be given otherwise.
Humour has to be natural, accidental, like a spelling mistake or a well timed quip. It has to show wit or bring relief. A joke character is just constantly asking "AM I FUNNY!?" in a loud, rapper's voice. It's more annoying than anything and trust me, it makes the player inherently look incapable.
3) Joke characters mask the player's inability to play an interactive, well thought out character.
The whole point of a d&d game is a two way street, interaction both ways, this includes character creation. Joke characters are often one sided, selfish in action and story ...in otherwords, they are really lame.
4) Know your audience.
Joke characters only belong in joke campaigns.
5) Know how to differentiate a "compulsory laugh" and a genuine laugh.
Every game I see a joke character at, they only recieve compulsory laughs out of politeness and just to nod at the attempt to be fuunny. The laughs are short, the eyes look away, no one wheezes for breath, no echoes of laughter extend after the initial phase. Any description of the character later is met with sheepish looks. NO ONE ENQUIRES ABOUT THE NAME OF THE CHARACTER NATURALLY, because no one cares, really (so a lot of these joke players have to scream their name every now and then ...again, lame.).
The only ones who get genuine laughs are the well-thought out, "serious" characters who then get remembered and get asked about.
5) If the game is a joke to you, you are the butt of the joke. So when shit happens to your character, don't expect anyone to genuinely care. Butts are afterall where the shit comes out from, so do expect a lot of it coming your way if you're playing with even a half decent DM.
It'll be their way of showing you the exit.
Simply put, leave. Don't come back till you have a character you put at least an ounce of effort actually trying to make a meaningful experience.
I have played one, and only one, though maybe the term "joke" character" did not apply.
Joe Average was a human, with all ability scores set at 10, built during the AD&D era. He was a cook; his weapon profficiencies were a large cleaver and a meat tenderizer mallet, and he did not wear armor.
Originally an experiment to see what an average character could survive and accomplish, Joe did surprisingly well. He survived and was eventually retired, when that play group broke up due to children and other family responsibilities among the players. I kinda wish that I still had his character sheet, so I could use him as a camp cook NPC.
Is that the one with a red slaad behind a curtain and somebody says he is French Slaad dressing?
Missed out on giving him a leather apron so +1 AC only to the front.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale