WTF!RPG

You may remember Ilona Njis, who also had a previous WTF moment posted a few days ago regarding a malevolent red dragon…  Well, that wasn’t the end of that player’s WTF moments.  The player of Ilona was a writer, and a darned good one – which made him used to having the story go along his own way.  His mind concocts a thousand scenarios which he thinks would fit and mesh well into the story, and follows that thread in hopes that it will be a revelation of a major story plot.

Unfortunately in a sandbox RPG, that is not the case.  Things are already in place, and like the metaphorical SANDBOX (called sandbox gming by many) – all that remains is the player to enter and interact with the toys within.  It happened once, when what he thought was a friendly “malevolent” red dragon turned out to be a malevolent “malevolent” red dragon.

This next story involves the “magical” Toucan.

In one of Mawf’s campaigns, the player of Ilona, whom I’ll hid under the name Venus de’Milo – encountered a Toucan.  For those unfamiliar with what a Toucan is… It is a tropical bird, largely harmless – and is widely known for its colorful bill.  More info here.

Anyway, in truth, he did not encounter a Toucan.  The GM, Mawf, just introduced it as part of the setting’s fluff – to simulate that his character was in a tropical island.  However, his mind began to whirl with ideas… and he began to study this Toucan.  In fact, he spent nearly an hour studying its habits, where it flew, where it walked, what it did… everything.  The GM patiently described in detail what a normal mundane Toucan would do, hoping he would get the hint… that the bird was not magical at all, but a normal everyday Toucan. Alas, that did not happen.

Convinced that the Toucan was a magical being.  He took it into his protection… sometimes, protecting the “magic” Toucan with his very life.  Not wanting to break his delusion, the GM never told him it was just a normal mundane Toucan.

As the story progressed, the “magical” Toucan had become quite a major player in the storyline.  In fact, the overprotectiveness of his character to the bird had attracted the attention of an extraterrestrial being (in the form of a space-faring rat… yes, don’t explain why, it was another player character) – convinced of the bird’s special purpose.

The GM must have been screaming in his mind: ITS A NORMAL TOUCAN!   But the story continued.

The extraterrestrial, then snatched the bird away, placing another Toucan to take its place — so that the owner will not be alerted of its disappearance.  Now, the “magical” toucan, all in his hands, he began to unravel its mysteries by experiments.  Using the depths of his science, the rat found … absolutely nothing.

It was, after all, just a normal mundane Toucan. Disappointed and ashamed.  He descended into the earth again to return the “magical” Toucan to its owner.

But it doesnt end there either…

Now the owner is confused.  Two Toucans was with him… and he wonders… which was the “magical” Toucan… and which was not. The GM Mawf told me he wanted to go ahead and tell them: “OH WTF! Theyre BOTH NOT MAGICAL!”

But he didn’t, it was just too much fun.

♦♦♦♦

Mr. Nonsense notes:

This is another of the greatest WTF stories our group has ever experienced.  A testament at how a player’s imagination can indeed shape the storyline of the entire chronicle.  For having a totally mundane, unmagical Toucan hijack the entire storyline – I grant this story the Official Brand of WTF.