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Speaking as a former standup comic, life is funny. The world is funny. When I sat down to write a comedy bit, I looked no further than the people around me and what they were looking at. Movies, pop culture, television commercials all the common denominators of a diverse society, served as the cornerstone of my act. The familiarity of the Pillsbury Doughboy and Winnie the Pooh characters united people from all walks of life, and through their cruel and unusual treatment at the hands of my imagination, delivered loud laughter.

In roleplaying, the goal is to create a virtual reality that has a shared culture with elements common to all who exist in this world. In Earthdawn (a prehistoric game setting featuring dwarves, trolls, etc.), there may not be a Pillsbury Doughboy, but there may be a fried dough stand in Barsaive's marketplace called Windling-On-A-Stick, where the proprietors have a running gag where a windling (imagine Tinkerbell crossed with the Artful Dodger) gets poked by the chef in the rear with a spoon and says, "I don't think I like Windling On a Stick." Barsaive's namegivers recount this quote over mugs of ale. Perhaps an elf in want of a lady's touch approaches a barmaid and says, "Pardon miss, I am leaving in the morning to face uncertain perils. Will you honor me by joining me in my room this evening?" The barmaid shoves the adventurer away with a broom. The adventurer then tries to salvage his dignity by jokingly boasting, "I don't think I like Windling On a Stick." The adventurer then goes on to face a horrible monster that impales him on a gargantuan tentacle. To boost his party's morale, the elf laughs and says to the monster, "I don't think I like Windling on a Stick."

That example sounds a lot like it was scripted for a lousy sitcom or low-brow movie, but it illustrates how common elements can serve as comedic devices. Granted, it is the player running the elf character who needs to be witty enough to use the Windling on a stick reference to create the comedic moments, but it is the responsibility of the Gamemaster to pepper the adventures with elements that provide a sense of the culture in the universe the gamers are roleplaying.

What is the pop culture of Middle Earth? The Star Wars universe? Paranoia has a running gag where the most famous star in all the Complex is Teela-O-MLY. Play a Paranoia adventure or two, and the characters are sure to end up watching an episode or attending a concert of Teela's. Her exploits will be discussed anywhere the PC's (Player Characters) go. There may not be much detail concerning Teela, but it is obvious she is a superstar, and the players make the parallels between Teela's role in Alpha Complex with the likes of Jessica Simpson or Angelina Jolie in our world. The Earthdawn PC's may not be buddies with the Windling-On-A-Stick proprietors, but the players will recognize a catch-phrase based marketing campaign and reference it the same way a Budweiser ad catchphrase is used.

Humor comes from shared experiences. A successful roleplaying game will feature multitudes of examples of the game universe's pop culture. This makes the game environment feel fleshed-out, lived-in and familiar. The humor will evidently follow if your PC's aren't too distracted eating Windling-on-a-Stick.

Learn more about this author, Garrett Crowe.
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