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]] when the [[Game Master]] gets utterly fed up with the players: he kills them ''all'' spectacularly.

This is what happens in [[Role-Playing Game|role playing games]] when the [[Game Master]] gets utterly fed up with the players: he kills them ''all'' spectacularly.

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]]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''.

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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 [[PC]]s to keep their players in line.

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 & Dragons]] Dungeon Masters' Guide even suggested using "blue bolts from the heavens" and "ethereal mummies" on [[PC]]s to keep their players in line.

The webcomic [[Something Positive]] is generally credited with bringing the phrase to the public conciousness in [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 Of 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."

The webcomic [[Something*Positive]] is generally credited with bringing the phrase to the public conciousness in [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 Of 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] [[~~Youtube~~ Poop]].

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] [[YouTube Poop]].

'''NOTE: This is not just a trope for everyone in a story dying. That is [[Kill'Em All]].'''

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== [[Literature]] ==

* 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]].}}

* 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 & 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]].}}

* Robert Fulghum describes telling a story to his children. He thought he had finished conclusively and the kids were asleep, only to hear them ask for "the rest of the story." He would resort to apocalypse. "Suddenly a comet hit the earth and blew everything to pieces." A moment of silence, and someone would ask "What happened to the pieces?"

* 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.

* 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 & 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.

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== [[Web Comics]] ==

* 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]]. [http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp05032002.shtml She had it coming].

* 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]]. [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.

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* In ''[[Avatar Adventures]]'', the first time the gang decided to restart the RP they ended the current one by having everyone killed by a god of reality in one strike.

* ''[[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.

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

** The advantage of the necropolis over rocks is that if the character(s) somehow survive the falling damage from the necropolis, then they have to survive the zombies inside, then the lich lord...

* [[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.

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[[Category:Ending Tropes]]

[[Category:Tabletop Game Tropes]]

[[Category:~~Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies~~]]

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