Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies: Difference between revisions

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** The comical D&D supplement ''Portable Hole Full of Beer'' actually includes monster stats for "The Dread Gazebo".

** As well as in the ''[[Order of the Stick]]'' board game, where you can accidentally land on the Gazebo and wake it up, if you're not careful.

* A [[media:Gongs.jpg|similar story]] was provided by a [[Fauxtivational Poster|demotivator]]: after a wizard forgot what a "gong" was and began hurling magic missiles at one (sample dialogue: "A sonic attack! Quick, everyone, cover your ears!"); the DM responds, "OK, while you're distracted the door sneaks up behind you and slits your throat."

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* Jason does this to Paige in one ''[[FoxTrot]]'' strip, purely to annoy her. After a week's worth of strips setting up the game, Jason causes the cave to collapse and kill the entire party after Paige's ''very first turn''.

{{quote|'''Jason''': Your bodies will remain undiscovered for...*roll roll roll*...82 centuries!}}

** This could also be a reference to the classical adventure "[[Tomb of Horrors]]" where yes, the very first door in the beginning paragraph has a collapsing trap that can kill you.

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* Years ago, TSR (then-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 express purpose of this was to clean up everybody's campaigns for Third Edition. Likewise the wonderfully named ''Die Vecna Die.''

* In the ''[[Call of Cthulhu]]'' boardgame ''[[Arkham Horror]]'', the players race to seal gates opening in the town of Arkham before a Great Old One (randomly decided at the start of the game) awakens and they have to fight it, which is difficult but (sometimes) possible to win. If the Great Old One threatening to awaken is Azathoth, however, the players ''[[The End of the World as We Know It|automatically and instantly lose]]'' if he awakens, as his first "attack" is to ''destroy the world''.

* In the ''[[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]]'' boardgame ''[[Arkham Horror]]'', the players race to seal gates opening in the town of Arkham before a Great Old One (randomly decided at the start of the game) awakens and they have to fight it, which is difficult but (sometimes) possible to win. If the Great Old One threatening to awaken is Azathoth, however, the players ''[[The End of the World as We Know It|automatically and instantly lose]]'' if he awakens, as his first "attack" is to ''destroy the world''.

* 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. Now, if only all their campaigns started that way...

** ''FATAL'' could probably actually work as a substitute for this.

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** This is also used in the "screen" terminal emulator. Try it next time you boot Slackware.

** [http://git.savannah.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=screen.git;a=blob;f=src/attacher.c#l609 Here it is in screen] - there's a whole pile of NetHack-inspired messages [http://git.savannah.gnu.org/gitweb/?p=screen.git;a=blob;f=src/nethack.c;h=585dc4376c68caec50fccd8c42da5422faf0dafb;hb=HEAD 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?

** In a straightforward example, attempting to exploit now fixed bugs (such as item duping) will result in the players death, for "trickery".

* This is the preferred method among MMOs for closing up beta test servers, though generally with a bit more variety than rocks. This can range from [[World of Warcraft|giant demon invasions]] to [[City of Heroes|UFO attacks]] to [[Guild Wars|legions of fire-wielding little girls]].

* In the ''[[Baldur's Gate]]'' games, the game immediately [[One-Hit Kill|One Hit Kills]] you if you attack any characters that are necessary to advance the plot. This is basically a way to prevent players from getting stuck if they kill someone who prevents them from advancing the plot.

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* 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.

** In an early strip, he threatens to strike everyone with 2d6 lightning damage when the players refuse to stop quoting Monty Python. It doesn't work, because Legolas sees the violence inherent in the system. The DM finally gives in and refers to him as a "Bloody peasant!"

** "Rocks fall, everyone dies" [[Memetic Mutation|has become]] GM shorthand for "stop whatever it is you're doing before I lose my last shred of patience and kill you all" over the years.

** Similarly, if a lone player/character is the cause of the problems, the GM may threaten him with "Purple Lightning from the Heavens" rather than doom everybody.

* Used as a response to... let's call it "criticism", of 4th edition D&D in [http://www.cad-comic.com/cad/20080609 this strip] of ''[[Ctrl+Alt+Del]]''.

{{quote|'''GM:''' An illithid appears and forces the cleric to tear out his own spine. The illithid then feasts on the cleric's brain. The cleric is dead. Forever. Rest of the party is fine.}}

* A ''[[Darths and Droids]]'' alternate strip in which the GM finally has enough of Qui-Gon's continual attempts to "cast [[Summon Bigger Fish]]". [http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0208.html Fish fall. Everyone dies].