RPG Clichés

[Venko]

Hey guys,

I've been thinking about RPGs a lot recently, how they could be improved and how they should be changed. The thing is that once you have been playing them for a few years it starts to become a bit hard to think "out of the box". That's where you come in. I want your help to cover all of the RPG clichés and produce them into a list.

An example of a definite cliché is the medieval setting that the majority of RPGs seem to have.

Cheers,

Venko

 

[Duke_Jay]

An example of a definite cliché is the medieval setting that the majority of RPGs seem to have.

That is why i like Mass Effect.
Another cliché is that almost every RPG has a: Melee Class, a Mage Class, and a Ranged/Suporting Class.

 

[Jax]

If there's a rumor, it's always true.

 

[Shinji]

Dark Troubled hero turned good

(just finished FFIV...again...)

 

[Taras]

There's always a Sucka Emcee who raps like old Sugarhill Gang style and his rhymes don't connect and he talks trash about the hero. But when you go to install a dent in his forehead, the law gonna try to tell you that you're the bad guy here.

 

[FAST6191]

I ranted a while back in the prelaunch ASH discussion thread for some reason:
http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=55230

 

[Deleted member 110780]

Falling Rule
An RPG character can fall any distance onto anything without suffering anything worse than brief unconsciousness. In fact, falling a huge distance is an excellent cure for otherwise fatal wounds -- anyone who you see shot, stabbed, or mangled and then tossed off a cliff is guaranteed to return later in the game with barely a scratch.
http://project-apollo.net/text/rpg.html

 

[xcalibur]

Falling Rule
An RPG character can fall any distance onto anything without suffering anything worse than brief unconsciousness. In fact, falling a huge distance is an excellent cure for otherwise fatal wounds -- anyone who you see shot, stabbed, or mangled and then tossed off a cliff is guaranteed to return later in the game with barely a scratch.
http://project-apollo.net/text/rpg.html

 

[GameDragon]

1. The Hero's home/village is burned down or destroyed, he or she must journey to find the perpetrator.

2. The Hero must find a legendary weapon to defeat the enemy after losing to them in battle.

 

[scubersteve]

There is always some singer or dancer that will piss the shit out of you if you talk to them by accident, and can't instantly end the conversation. This character is usually an NPC.

 

[Shinji]

I got another one.

Deep inside a cave that has not been explored you'll find a treasure chest with a potion. =X

 

[Venko]

Thanks to everyone that's replied so far

Especially FAST6191 and Dio. I read through everything FAST6191 posted in the other topic and the list Dio linked me to proves especially useful.

 

[DarthYoshi]

Falling Rule
An RPG character can fall any distance onto anything without suffering anything worse than brief unconsciousness. In fact, falling a huge distance is an excellent cure for otherwise fatal wounds -- anyone who you see shot, stabbed, or mangled and then tossed off a cliff is guaranteed to return later in the game with barely a scratch.
http://project-apollo.net/text/rpg.html

Good stuff dude! Thanks for the link.

 

[Veho]

RPG World is a must-read if you're talking "conventions of the RPG genre". It deals with (makes fun of) all the clichés of RPG games, from the character stereotypes to battle conventions to predictable storyline to cutscenes and scripted battles. Funny.

 

[usmagen]

teh fate of the world in the hands of some bunch of annoying teens in search of a crystal

 

[Cermage]

one of the main characters is a brother/sister/daughter/son to the "badguy" of the game.

 

[Hitto]

It doesn't matter if you went to the most technologiacally advanced city of the world, in the next village you visit, they'll sell better armor and weapons.

 

[FAST6191]

You are a master (delete as appropriate) ninja/monk/swordsman/mage.
Quite literally right outside your place of training (or even in the basement) there are monsters, whose entire reason for existence is to kill you or die trying, which if you can manage to kill 40 or so (which would take about 2 hours at most) of those you become far stronger.

Why then under the training of another master (delete as appropriate) ninja/monk/swordsman/mage did you not do this during the years it took to get to the point you are at?

 

[Hooya]

At some point there will be another planet, undiscovered underworld, parallel universe or similar. You will first arrive here by accident and find out that you need to traverse between the "real" world and this one in order to accomplish your goal. The bad guys probably want to try to take control of this alternate world for some nefarious goals, probably to enslave the population of said alternate world.

 

[Deleted member 110780]

If it's shiny/glowing with light, you must take/touch it. If there are ancient statues of a mythical age in your local museum, you will encounter their real versions later in the game.