A Walking Wood Pile Shambling its Way Through the Dungeon
Sometimes in role-playing games like D&D funny moments arise when a newer player is surprised by one of the rules. Such a thing happened to some friends of mine years ago. I'll share the story as I've embellished it over the years.
"A gust of wind in the cave blows your torches out," the GM advised the players.
"It's okay," Phil said (I think his name was Phil), "I'll light two more."
Then another gust of wind blew out the torches. And again, Phil proffered two more.
Understand, BTW, that "A wind blows out your torches" is an old time-y trope in games like D&D. Back in the 1980s it was typical for adventures to be written specifically to foil players' preparations. The dungeon designer wanted the characters to have to face a challenge in the dark, generally because that was the one thing that made it hard, so they included something like a perpetual wind gust to exhaust the supply of torches the players equipped their characters with.
But Phil's supply was not exhausted. "I light two more torches," he said a third time.
The GM, suspicious, peered over the GM's screen. "Just how many torches do you have, Phil? Are these all written down on your character sheet?"
"Right here," Phil pointed to his equipment list. "When we were in town, I stocked up. The player's handbook says torches are 1/2 copper piece each, and I didn't want to make change for a gold, so I just bought 200."
"200 torches?!" the GM exclaimed. "They're, like, 18 inches long and weigh a pound each. You're like a walking wood pile shambling its way through the dungeon!"
"A gust of wind in the cave blows your torches out," the GM advised the players.
"It's okay," Phil said (I think his name was Phil), "I'll light two more."
Then another gust of wind blew out the torches. And again, Phil proffered two more.
Understand, BTW, that "A wind blows out your torches" is an old time-y trope in games like D&D. Back in the 1980s it was typical for adventures to be written specifically to foil players' preparations. The dungeon designer wanted the characters to have to face a challenge in the dark, generally because that was the one thing that made it hard, so they included something like a perpetual wind gust to exhaust the supply of torches the players equipped their characters with.
But Phil's supply was not exhausted. "I light two more torches," he said a third time.
The GM, suspicious, peered over the GM's screen. "Just how many torches do you have, Phil? Are these all written down on your character sheet?"
"Right here," Phil pointed to his equipment list. "When we were in town, I stocked up. The player's handbook says torches are 1/2 copper piece each, and I didn't want to make change for a gold, so I just bought 200."
"200 torches?!" the GM exclaimed. "They're, like, 18 inches long and weigh a pound each. You're like a walking wood pile shambling its way through the dungeon!"