Tropes
For mutual amusement, this is a page to gather the various tropes encountered in this campaign. This is not criticism of anyone, it's just good fun, since as we all know, tropes are not bad.
- MST3KMantra: It IS a game. About magical wizards. So the…irregularities should be taken with this Mantra in mind.
- Human Popsicle: Both Tezcatlipoca and Denavi were put into time-stopped containers that effectively provided suspended animation. In her own way Lalitha Meddha did something similar, except by suppressing her life and passing the time being clinically dead and buried in her own tomb.
- Weirdness Magnet: In a sort of interlinked example, the Ananke, the Kalakin Engine (due to the alloy it's made of) and the cabal itself would seem to fit the bill, though whether the magnetism seen in the third example listed is solely caused by the proximity of the first two is hard to be sure of.
- Precursors: Atlanteans!. Though some would like to classify them as either idiots or dicks there's precious little evidence either way. Unless the disintegration ray on the speaker's podium really was made by one of them.
- Lost Technology: Atlantean Magic anyone? From man-made Artifacts to Astral temples to dragon bones to the creation permanent hallows, there's lots of awesome stuff we just can't accomplish now, and it's usually assumed to be Atlantean.
- And Man Grew Proud: Fall. Of. Atlantis. Heck, Mage is listed as one of the examples. On a less obvious note, the events relating to the Grigori and the Deluge may or may not fit here as well, depending on your point of view.
- Ragnarok Proofing: Most of the 'ancient atlantean' stuff, or even more recent things. The Sanctum, for instance, is potentially 20'000 years old, yet in perfect working condition.
- Sealed Evil In A Can: If the entire premise behind "The Condiments and the Prison of Lemuria", as well as the Gods of the Outer Void.
- Ancient Tradition: Xoran Fragment.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Why hello there, player characters….
- Ancient Astronauts and God Guise: Danavas, much? Thor, Shemyaza, etc.
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: While not 'prophecy' as such, the Ananke and its effects on the world would seem to fit many of the characteristics on this one.
- Atlantis. 'nuff said.
- Time Travel: Skadi moving her boyfriend a week forwards from the airport, which ensures that she and her friends get involved in the actions that cause them to awaken. Lathrop accidentally activates one of the wrenches while studying it and so temporarily (zing!) travels months back in time, meets with the cabal-to-be, and ends up changing the final events of the Lich War. Dorian and Hermes end up returning from the Glass House some 8 hours before they left, and so need to hang out at Dorian's place to avoid changing the events they remember happening. The Condiments being dragged from 1937 to 2009 when the wrench started shining uncontrollably. And so on, and so forth.
- Man In White: Low-Key, though his suit was usually subtly off-white or at least a shade of nicotine yellow. Only in his final appearance as Baron Fairweather was his white suit actually, well, pure white.
- Colour Coded For Your Convenience: Most notably in "The condiments and the treasure of the lost Stradivarius", where the goetic demons were iconically coloured depending on which sin they represented, such as Wrath being red and so on. Also noted in how the light given off by the Kalakin Engine's usage has a rather distinctive coloration, and how this was became a plot-point during the "Nobel from the future" hoax as well as alerting observant players to the link between that Artifact and Asgartha, which had teleportation-shrines with the same nimbus.
- Just For Pun: The ST often has problems restraining himself here, such as the notorious Clockroaches. A slightly more extreme instance would be in the "Prison of Lemuria" spinoff plot, where the characters need to pass three ancient tests to acquire the keys to escape the prison….which are small figurines of Lemurs. Given that the actual historical idea of a lost continent called ''Lemuria'' was concocted to explain the presence of Lemurs in two geographically separated locations rather indicates where the name comes from in the first place…
- Incredibly Lame Pun: The quotes page has no shortage of examples here, though "Let's hope it doesn't use blekk magic" is perhaps notable for causing the most mental pain in the audience at the time. Hermes' angry insistence that "We do not navigate by puns in this Cabal" might be seen as a rather sensible desire to avoid this trope altogether.
- Treasure Room: Drake's hoard it exactly this. As was the loot captured from raiding Tezcatlipoca's mansion in '37, and to a certain extent the chamber filled with tools, art and weapons in the ruins of new atlantis, except for the fact that they're made of iron rather than what is classically deemed "treasure".
page revision: 3, last edited: 12 Apr 2011 15:37