Cliche love thread

>BBEG's latest atrocity is so horrible, that even his supporters quietly lay down their weapons and surrender to the heroes
What are some tropes you love?

> Most virtuous of King's sons wins the throne from his brothers

PCs and longtime antagonist are forced to work together briefly due to a desperate situation

Everyone who has been helped by/owes a favor to the MC shows up to help at the final battle

>PC and longtime antagonist are seemingly forced to work together
>Suddenly, at the end, a betrayal! Why would he do that?
>Well, he is evil, after all, and the PCs are his enemy.

Black and White morality. I absolutely love it, consequences be damned. Always easy to get into when I'm going Paladin, fuck the DM's "Moral Dilemmas" I know what's right.
Also the 2 doors side by side

> long lost family members recognize each other
> proud mythical beings respect you enough to offer a ride on their backs

>2 doors side by side
>party spends 30 minutes debating which door to take
>both lead to the same room

>The heroes are massively outnumbered, tired and outgunned
>But they fight anyway
every time

> despite their sins and blood on their hands, heroes do the right thing
> heaven of a sort wait for them

"Drinks onna house fellas. There ain't no closing time. But you gotta leave your guns at the door."

Guy's have done a lot of evil, selfish stuff but end up seeking atonement and make the ultimate sacrifice.

This, but with both parties leaving each other to retreat in peace after. No betrayals, no cheap shots. They part as honored rivals rather than cutthroats.

Goddamnit Monaghan...

>The King is unironically the one of the most powerful warriors in his kingdom with few equals.
>Most of the time though his will and aura alone are enough to just inspire or demoralize most normal men.
>*Bonus* points if he's actually a really good and kind and chivalrous leader whom received the position by merit, but his authority has been constantly undermined by his council of advisers who simply know numbers and law better then him and 'actually' run the country.

GODS I WAS STRONG THEN

The "climactic duel". When one person goes toe-to-toe with the big bad, the time for negotiation is over.
I also like the subversion of the heroes using that as a chance to sneak buffs/debuffs into the fight to give them the advantage.
The classic "duel" is also really hard to fuck up in any setting/media where the answer isn't "give the big boss enough HP to deal with 4v1". And the lead-up is typically pretty great, even Journeyquest couldn't fuck it up granted it was back in S1
>"It's not a normal duel. This is a wizard's duel."
>"So what, you throw spells at eachother until one of you dies?"
>"No. Until I die."

> there was a coup d'état.
> the new leader is a tyrant.
> the prince/princess escaped with his/her life.
> then goes into hiding and learn the plea of the people.
> start a revolution to either regain the throne or start a democracy.

>Reoccuring bumbling rivals that are morally gray.
>They do the right thing in the end.

I literally can't watch that trope. Heroics sacrifices always make me cry.

>In his quest to defeat the BBEG, the pragmatic and determined friend of the heroes turns to increasingly ruthless and questionable actions to achieve his goal, only to realise in the end that he's become the bad guy.

Bonus points if one of the heroes agrees with his methods until one day something crosses the line and the resulting fight forces the realisation on the friend.

> Hero's plucky sidekick convinces the villain to believe in good again
> extra points if the former villain marries the sidekick after the story

>Hero and villain put aside their conflicts during time off, may go drinking or mini-golfing with each other
I would use the picture of that wolf and that shepard's hound that punched out of work to go get brewskies at the end of the day, but I do not have it.

Name one (1) thing that does it.

> Dragon Ball Z
> Kill La Kill
> IDW Transformer comic sans marriage part since bumblebee dies

>The bad guy makes a speech about "muh grey morality" and "not so different".
>The hero responds with a speech of why the bad guy is full of shit and kicks his ass anyways.

Misguided villain who's suffering from sunk cost fallacy. They're in too deep and there's no turning back now. Only success will assuage their guilt.

>one (1)

Don't do this.

Hopeless defenses that get saved in the eleventh hour by the timely arrive of allies that everyone thought were totally out of the question.

> BBEG is a racist or a zealot, but he's proud and virtuous in his racism, misogyny or zealotry.

I dislike the idea that everyone who holds an objectionable opinion is inherently weak. Even the most horrible belief can be a source of great strength.

I like this concept but problems of governance coming from a general incompetence with mediation or diplomacy.

Being a conqueror and being as statesman are two wholly unrelated skills and even with the best of intentions the king comes off as either stupid or cruel.

>BBEG

Ugh.

>the unnamed elite troops with a killer reputation are actually powerful and are a threat to the heroes and even the main villain and this NEVER stops being true, even if the villain summons an army of daemons they still hold their own

>the man behind the man was actually a trusted ally and someone you genuinely didn't expect

I always expect my "trusted" allies for this exact reason

Redemption is great. You should read Dark Moon by David Gemmell, user.

This but they fall in love

Fucking this

>we're not so different, you an I.

I know the line is cliche'd and overused, but I genuinely enjoy moments where the hero is forced to confront the parallels between them and the villain when they're done well.

The problem is that in recent memory it's become just a thing the villain says and the hero shouts "WE'RE NOTHING ALIKE!" and that's the end of the conversation with no thematic relevance.

Bobby B from GoT is a great example of this

ATLA did this best in The Blue Spirit.
>If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends too?

>weakest combatant in party immune to some OP debuff because they already suffer it constantly and worse than the debuff inflicts - depressed guy shrugs off despair spell, coward shrugs off fear spell, etc.

>in general, people being immune to emotional manipulation because they're already X emotion all the time

>The primary antagonist is more worried about the secondary antagonist than about the heroes

>the secondary antagonist was the only thing holding the primary antagonist back from becoming violently plot relevant

>fight gets more brutal and less refined as it drags on, culminating in a dirty slugfest where all finesse and technique is thrown out the window and two bloodied combatants are just beating the shit out of each other
>character with non-savage qualities (flamboyant/intellectual/calm) becomes an absolute savage in combat (not necessarily enraged) and relishes it/exhibits warrior's pride and honor you wouldn't expect
>no matter how abhorrent the villain and how much they despise the hero and vice-versa, they gain genuine respect and appreciation for each other during fighting

Doing this with my players and they haven't suspected a thing. Best feeling

...

>The BBEG sends a huge horde of enemies to take down the heroes
>The heroes can't fight them all and achieve [objective under time pressure] at the same time
>One of the heroes sacrifices himself, making a heroic last stand to buy his friends time
>For some convoluted reason he survives

>"Enough blood has been shed for one day."
>PCs and the antagonist part ways peacefully to fight another day.

I try to pull this one with my players but they are to bloodthirsty to let an enemy go even if its temporarily.

This. I loved using this one in a game I ran. Everyone was praying for their victory, and they appeared briefly in front of everyone to give encouraging words, even the ones who died. I also ripped off Final Fantasy IV and had the villain reduce everyone's HP and Str/Dex/Con to 1 before everyone's prayers restored them to full.

>In their greatest hour of need, one of the PC's sworn friends shows up with a huge army to repay a debt of honor they'd forgotten about

In their greatest hour of need, a former antagonist turns his reduced, but still considerable forces against a greater evil

I've done this with a former enemy. They defeated him, and later on he showed up not only to save them, but also to swear allegiance to them and their cause.

I like it when everything is fucked. The villain's plan has partially worked and there's doom and destruction and death everywhere and the villain challenges the hero to one last duel. A single contest of arms and skill because there's nothing else left for either of them. No-one cheats, the outcome doesn't matter anymore, the only purpose is to satisfy the honour of the two and to have the story finally end with the death of either the hero of the villain

why not, seems very clear.

>The evil monster is not really evil, just misunderstood and true to its nature

I feel you. Mine always see it coming from miles.

>tfw when this is something I had planned, and will have the players reinstate the old kings line on the throne

>We're not so different, you an I.
So many ways to play that, and somehow the most common ones are the worst.

>benign/clumsy character is actually a killing machine in disguise
or
>character wistfully walks to his doom to buy the other characters time

Reminds me of an old post from 2009, back during the days of constant edgyfag vs moralfag threads. I'm glad all that's over.

Now that I think about it, this is only of the only boards where 'moralfags' aren't instantly derided.

Beautiful.

out of curiosity, how could that situation be handled well?

>Confront some supposed moral dilemma
>Smite
>"B-But you'll fall!"
>"Good thing I'm not a paladin"
>Keep smiting
>Be RIGHTEOUS and AWESOME
>The masses turn on you because the DM is an asshole
>Don't care
>Keep smiting until the masses are afraid to look you in the eyes
>The masses tell stories about how you can peer directly into their souls and see their sins

How about having it come from the hero instead of the villain? Like a tragic, "there but for the grace of God" kind of sentiment.

Personally, I'd really like to see a villain that was outright heartbroken that the protagonist wasn't the one to carry on their ideals.

Y'know, something along the lines of, "God damnit, but for a few more men like you, all of this mess could have been avoided."

Alternately, the ending of Nikolai Dante comes to mind-- That conversation/game of russian roulette with Dmitri Romanov about the paths Nikolai will have to walk down, and Nikolai's subsequent reflection on where all of his companions wound up. That was a pretty good execution, too.

>Legendary group retired for a quiet civilian life
>Years later, a bigger evil plagues the land
>A newbie adventurer has to bring the group back together again
Bonus if they complain they're too old for this.

>Villain became a villain to avenge his family
>villain achieved his aim, carried out bloody rampage to kill the ones responsible for his family's death
>only then does the hero step up. Ready to avenge his family who were killed in the previous rampage, and has just massacred their way to get to have a chance at taking this guy down
>not so different after all

>Heroes preparing to go on a suicide mission
>Each one of them knows he's not coming back alive.
>Their exploit will never be written in any history book.
>No one will ever remember them in the future, or even know what they did.
>All of them are perfectly conscious of these facts

It is even better if only one member of the team survives the mission and we see him again, several decades later, as an old man, the only witness to what happened, the only one who knows the truth and who remembers his comrades-in-arms.

I had the opposite scenario happen.
>Climactic battle on the ship
>The Captain sets himself ablaze after a botched move and prepares to continue fighting
>The Party expresses concern and offer him snacks to make him feel better
>Captain cries his eyes out from the thoughtfulness of these stowaway kids
>PA system linked to his boss tells him to finish fighting the party
>Captain gives his boss his two week’s notice and heads for the escape pod

old bitter knight

>> Most virtuous of King's sons wins the throne from his brothers
>only to get murdered by asshole envious brother/sister who, then, claims the throne

Only villains do that

The whole "Old Soldiers" trope gets me every time. My grandfather was a soldier, and he would tell me stories about his service when I was a kid.

God I miss him

This but with the party and antagonist coming to an understanding, not allies but no longer enemies. then romance

Comrades turned enemies due to moral reasons, yet they still hold respect and admiration for each other. they only fight because the other goes against what they stand for.

>The child I saved is the first to vouche for my innocence/encourage me

That reminds me.
>Henchman says "screw this" and runs away rather than fight a losing battle

>Enemy begins overblown speech
>Minion rolls his eyes and begins the attack
My players loved that.

That sounds hilarious. I don't think I ever seen that in anything.

EDWARD LONGSHANKS DID NOTHING WRONG

This is never common enough

>The Scorpion and the Frog.scroll

Gimme examples

FLY, YOU FOOLS!

So to put this in context, there was a mercenary leader and his second-in-command sniper (who had a hunting rifle, which is pretty rare in-setting), and when the party leader failed an intimidation check, it went something like this.
>Leader works himself into a bluster
>"You fool! We are the greatest mercenaries that can be bought by gold, and I will not-"
>Sniper lines up a shot
>"Nah." *BANG*
And then things went down from there.

Characters discovering a dark family secret that can turn there world view on its head.

>villain joins the main party to fight off an even greater threat
>fighting someone who's even more comically evil than they are puts things in perspective and makes the villain realize what a douche they were
>they give up their life of evil

>one of the party's allies is actually a worse person/more of a villain than the main antagonist
>Party can't do anything about it

It always gives me way too many feels

>the church is actually righteous and out to help the people
>the inquisition genuinely tries their darndest to find out the truth and only punish the really dangerous people
>knights and nobles respect the code of chivalry and take good care of their subjects
>medieval doctors are competent and put all their knowledge to healing people
>necromancers/demon summoners/witches/whatnot are evil and greedy people

That anime where the devil works at MacDonald's

Reminds me of the quote by Ghengis Khan.

>Conquering the world from horseback is easy. It is getting off the horse and governing that is hard.

>Lawful-Evil character who fights for the side of good
>Lawful-Evil visier who does evil behind the good kings back to preserve the king/kingdom

>Minions that love and idolize their unabashedly evil master without being brainwashed or deluded

I do this quite often, especially if it's something like a mercenary, or a creature known for being cowardly. I've had folks beg for their lives, surrender, offer to turn cloak in exchange for their lives, the whole gamut.

One of my groups sometimes lets them go, though one of my players has a murderboner ten miles wide and always:
1) declares he's going to kill someone during a fight
2) Kills them afterwards if they were captured/surrendered.
At least he's consistent.

My other group just don't give two fucks - it's to the death with that lot.

blood god detected

If was actually something that was true, relevant, and shook the hero, rather than just "We're the same!" "NUH-UH!" *fight continues*

Or if it was something that made the villain angrier than the hero to realize, because "We're the same! Why won't the hero see that I'm right!?"

>My other group just don't give two fucks - it's to the death with that lot.

God I feel you, just yesterday:
>Party hired by local lord to stamp out a new and upcoming smuggling ring
>Go through a lot of shit, a long chase seeking clues for the location of the hideout.
>Eventually find the head of the ring
>He's alone in his chambers
>One player instantly goes to attack him
>Other players back him up
>Smuggler isn't even fighting back, begging for his life, promising them whatever they want, basically offering to spill the beans on the mastermind and kickstart the next quest
>No mercy shown, no quarter given

It's almost frightening how bloodthirsty some players can get.

Character from a group of race that is traditionally evil but seeks to do good.

I really should do a metal gear style guard conversation that the PCs listen to as they're stealthed where they talk about how great things have been since BBEG got in charge.

>caring robots, androids, or AI which struggle to express their full bevy of emotions to others
>bonus points if the robot's backstory has an extra helping of I'M SAD

Ran what was essentially freeform with a guy who made me love this trope. Came up with a character that was just unabashedly
>I'M SAD: THE ANIME ROBOT ADVENTURE
and somehow he made it great. Though it probably helped that, despite being a billion years old, made of nanomachines, and capable of killing off a small fleet by herself, she wasn't actually the strongest character in the party.

>gentle giant/hermit/old contruct who shuns civilization is called upon/forced to fight

>completely pacifist normally but when it's home is attacked it falls into a seething rage

Bastion from Overwatch is the best example recently