Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''"Just for that, your entire party falls into [[Hell]]. Roll to see how painfully you die."''|'''Comic Book Guy''', ''[[The Simpsons]]''}}

This is what happens in [[Role -Playing Game|role playing games]]s when the [[Game Master]] gets utterly fed up with the players: he kills them ''all'' spectacularly.<ref>Well, he might want to, but he'll more likely kill their ''characters'' spectacularly.</ref>

Precisely what drives a GM to this extreme varies. Perhaps somebody was a [[Rules Lawyer]] once too often. Perhaps the gaming group mocked his plotting skills a bit too much. The players might have spent all their time going [[Off the Rails|everywhere but where the plot wants them to]]. Maybe the group consisted entirely of [[Munchkin|Munchkins]]s. Maybe they didn't like that [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|"totally awesome"]] [[GMPC]] as much as the GM did and tried to kill him in his sleep. Or maybe the players are just [[Too Dumb to Live]]. Or maybe, just maybe, the GM is a [[Killer Game Master|sadistic bastard]] who's determined to see the players fail ''at any cost''.

Regardless of the cause, if the GM goes as far as '''Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies''', [[Jumping the Shark|the campaign has failed]] on a [[Epic Fail|grand scale]]. Maybe it's time to stop the metagaming, time to let somebody else GM, or just to find a new gaming group altogether.

A lesser form of this trope can target just one particularly annoying player, [[Bolt of Divine Retribution|often with a bolt of lightning]]. Since the GM is the local god, this works even if the target character is underground, in a Faraday cage and wearing a static discharge bracelet. Merely threatening players with lightning can also be effective in controlling players. The first edition Advanced [[Dungeons and& Dragons]] Dungeon Masters' Guide even suggested using "blue bolts from the heavens" and "ethereal mummies" on [[PCPlayer Character|PCsPC]]s to keep their players in line.

The webcomicweb comic [[Something *Positive]] is generally credited with bringing the phrase to the public conciousnessconsciousness in [https://web.archive.org/web/20131018031908/http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp05032002.shtml this strip]. The underlying concept is rather [[Older Than They Think|older]], having been seen in the extremely deadly AD&D adventure ''[[Tomb Ofof Horrors]]'' in 1975 (and quite likely used by individual DMs even before that). This ending is a [[Tabletop Games]] form of [[Shoot the Shaggy Dog]], or [[Kill'Em All]] when premeditated. A subtrope of [[Total Party Kill]]. When the players decide to detonate the game instead of the GM, it's [[Off the Rails]]. A nigh-unbeatable [[Beef Gate]] used this way is sometimes referred to as a "Grudge Monster" or "Grudge NPC."

Usually the direct inverse of "Dice fall, everyone rocks." Not to be confused with [[Big Rock Ending]]. Or [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMaCq-ocCGc this] [[YoutubeYouTube Poop]].

{{examplesdeathtrope}}

* B.A. from ''[[Knights of the Dinner Table]]'' finds himself forced to do this to his players constantly, just to keep them in line -- twoline—two are dedicated [[Hack and Slash]] types, another is a [[Rules Lawyer]]. (All the same, this may be only an outgrowth of his philosophy that the players and the GM are inherently enemies).

* Used as a plot point in ''[[Bimbos of the Death Sun]]'', where the main character, a guest of honor at a sci-fi convention, goes [[Killer Game Master]] with a rigged ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]'' game to expose the murderer of the other author/guest of honor. {{spoiler|He kills off the dead author's most famous character in a humiliating fashion, enraging said character's biggest fan into confessing to the murder, [[It Makes Sense in Context|done to "save" the hero from being killed off by his creator]].}}

* In the children's-book series ''[[Diary of a Wimpy Kid]]'' the mother of the protagonist, Gregory, forces his big brother Roderick to play ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]'' with Gregory.(Long story) Gregory is prepared for the worst game-session of all time, when Roderick, who happens to be player AND GM in this session, just decides that all the adventurers fall into a hole filled with dynamite and die in the very first turn. Gregory is relieved.

== [[Live -Action TV]] ==

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130603204410/http://albruno3.com/ Ab3]'s "[[Binder of Shame]]" includes an anecdote entitled "The Day I Killed The Entire Party Before The First Combat Encounter", involving an incident with a character's motorcycle.

* [[Steve Jackson Games]]'s ''[[Toon (game)|Toon]]'' actually has a table of 'Apocalyptic Big Finishes' in the back of the ''Toon Ace Catalog'' sourcebook, for when the characters don't quite make it to the end and you need a quick way to end things. Of course, no-one dies, but the principle's the same.

** Steve Jackson Games's ''[[Munchkin (game)|Munchkin]]'' card game features a card that's actually called [[Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies]]. It can cause [[Total Party Kill|every player in the game to be killed]] if played at the right time.

* Years ago, TSR (then-the original owner of D&D) published ''The Apocalypse Stone'', a module ''deliberately designed for DMs that want to do this.'' In it, the players steal a [[MacGuffin]] that triggers the end of the world. They can undertake quests to prove they are worthy to [[Heroic Sacrifice|die heroically]], but in the canonical ending, can't really do anything to prevent the world from imploding. However, the book included several cop-out scenarios to save things at the last minute in case the DM gets cold feet (or is being threatened with death himself...)

* The magnificently awful (except without the "magnificent") tabletop RPG ''[[FATAL]]'' has for the highest level caster <s>class</s> ''job'' the spell F.A.T.A.L., which kills everything on whichever horrible planet the game is set... obviously including the caster and his fellow party members. NowAlso, ifit's onlypossible allfor theirthis campaignsto startedhappen thatby way..accident.

* This is the typical ending of many ''[[Paranoia (game)|Paranoia]]'' missions where the players have somehow managed against all odds to squeak through with some of their backup clones intact. Actually, speaking of those clones, sometimes this is how the mission ''starts''.

** [https://web.archive.org/web/20160409212308/http://git.savannah.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=screen.git;a=blob;f=src/attacher%3Ba%3Dblob%3Bf%3Dsrc%2Fattacher.c#l609 Here it is in screen] - there's a whole pile of NetHack-inspired messages [https://web.archive.org/web/20101202064958/http://git.savannah.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=screen.git;a=blob;f=src/nethack%3Ba%3Dblob%3Bf%3Dsrc%2Fnethack.c;h=585dc4376c68caec50fccd8c42da5422faf0dafb;hb=HEAD%3Bh%3D585dc4376c68caec50fccd8c42da5422faf0dafb%3Bhb%3DHEAD here], but the dungeon collapsing one is used even if the rest are not enabled. [http://nethackwiki.com/wiki/End.c#line271 And here it is in NetHack.] Isn't open source great?

* A wonderful ''[[Something *Positive]]'' strip that illustrates a proper usage of the idea, and is widely [[Older Than They Think|believed to be]] the [[Trope Namer]]. [https://web.archive.org/web/20131018031908/http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp05032002.shtml She had it coming].

* In the ''[[VG Cats]]'' comic [http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=110 Skittles], a game-mastering Aeris performs what could be considered justifiable [[Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies]].

* The [[Game Master|Dungeon Master]] decides that [[Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies]] in [http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=1165 this strip] of ''The DM of the Rings''. He apparently changes his mind though, as they're all fine in the next page.

* [[Invoked Trope|Invoked]] by name by [[Significant Anagram|Parson Gotti]] of ''[[Erfworld]]'' in [http://wwwarchives.giantitperfworld.com/comicsBook+1/erf0149.html149 this page] and the pages preceding it. {{spoiler|He wins a game that he has deduced to be basically [[Unwinnable Training Simulation|unwinnable]] by [[Unusual Euphemism|uncroaking]] an extinct volcano causing... well, you know the rest.}}

* Tony from ''[[Real Life Comics]]'' does this quite a bit when [[D Ming]]DMing. His favorite is [http://www.reallifecomics.com/archive/000731.html "A dragon eats you."]

* ''[[Penny Arcade]]'''s Tycho firmly believes that this is the final goal of ''all'' [[Game Master|GMs]]. [http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/12/02 Observe his prowess at it here.]

== [[Web OriginalsOriginal]] ==

* ''[[Loading Ready Run]]'' {{'}}s ''[[Desert Bus for Hope]]'' 4: A New Hope. After raising $1,000 for the specific purpose, viewers were treated to Jer Petter's Temple of the Lava Bears. For an indicator of just how this went, [[Wil Wheaton]] personally called in and [[Crowning Moment of Funny|advised any remaining party members to cast "Don't be a Dick" on the GM]]

* In the French audio webseries ''[[Reflets D Acide|Reflets d'Acide]]'', one character has a nightmare of the GM punishing him with the French equivalent, the falling necropolis.

* ''[[Darwin's Soldiers]]'' features a mild version of this the end of the second RP when {{spoiler|Crimson Base levels Pelvanida with a massive airstrike}}. [[Word of God]] states this was done because the GM wanted the RP to end and it was starting to drag on.