Tabletop Games/Heartwarming: Difference between revisions

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** A... Naturally twisted and arguable one comes from the depths of Chaos itself, the faction of [[Chaotic Evil]] and [[Complete Monster|CompleteMonsters]], the chief enemy of all sentient life. Those who know of Nurgle, the god of disease and decay, know that despite the intense pain he causes, he and his followers are known to be on a slightly disturbing level of [[Affably Evil]]. One instance stands out though. During the Fall of the Eldar, as gods were being snapped up left and right by [[The Hedonist|Slaanesh]], Nurgle happened to take notice of Isha, the goddess of life. With speed uncharacteristic of the God of Decay, he launched ''a war to save her in time.'' No other Chaos god has shown the capacity to actually rescue someone. Of course, the twisted part of having rescued and sequestered her in his gardens is that his way of [[When All You Have Is a Hammer|showing affection is decidedly... unpleasant]]. It goes back into fuzz, however, in that he lets her develop and give out cures for his diseases. That's right, he ''lets'' her thwart him. With no real motive beyond trying to be nice. Like I said, twisted

*** This troper, despite being a massive hypochondriac, still considers Nurgle his favorite god because he is genuinely a nice guy if you get past his... eccentricities. He only gives out diseases because he loves his followers. In fact, most wars or battles caused by him, are in fact caused by his princes.

*** Nurgle is outright stated to be a very fatherly and loving fellow. The only reason he's even considered evil is because he thinks illness and disease are literally what everyone wants, and that your suffering at said diseases are thank yous. If he knew that wasn't the case, he'd probably be quite the nice guy.

** Allow me to explain the Heartwarming Moments involving Space Marines for the uninitiated. Space Marines are 9 foot tall walking tanks who can spit acid, breath in almost any toxin known and punch holes through a man's chest. They are taken when they are early teens (or earlier!) from, usually, the worst civilizations in the galaxy, places where most men die before they hit puberty. They are brainwashed into remorseless killing machines, monsters taught that the lives of a million ordinary men aren't worth theirs, that they must survive and kill any and all aliens, mutants and heretics (even though by the standards the Imperium holds they basically are all 3 of these)... and yet 99% of them will still stand up, flip off any and all Imperial organisations that threaten the Imperial Guard.

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* Rudolph van Richten, [[Ravenloft]]'s greatest monster-hunter/expert, lost his only child when a tribe of Vistani gypsies sold his kidnapped boy Erasmus to a vampire. In grief-maddened vengeance, he destroyed the entire tribe, save one survivor who'd been away from camp. Decades later, Van Richten and the survivor meet face to face, and manage to set mutual recriminations aside, swearing forgiveness and friendship in a CMOH for the ages.

* [[This Troper]] played in a game where the Fighter was [[Neutral Good]]. That guy had a great moment. Just remember- he had feats that let him act normally below 0 hitpoints. The villain, after reducing him to -9 hitpoints, ignores him to attack the [[True Neutral]] Tiefling Wizard, who had a lot of chips on her shoulder about how much people hated her. The Tiefling will die if the Wizard doesn't bite it on the Fighter's turn. The ''Fighter'' will bite it if he doesn't take this turn to drink a potion. Truth is, he could totally have drank the potion on that turn and attacked the next- the Wizard was badly hurt and almost out of spells. What did the Fighter do? He told the Tiefling that she "deserved... to have someone care," and ''sacrificed himself to kill the Wizard, stabbing him through the guts with his last breath and dying as soon as he'd done it.'' The Tiefling went on a spiritual journey that culminated in her becoming Neutral Good, all sparked by this act of kindness.

* On the matter of D&D [[CMO Hs]], there is about one for every two items in the book Weapons Of Legacy.

** Bright Evening Star, a ring made out of [[The Power of Love]]

** Bullybasher's Gauntlets. "... [the hero] used much of his own wealth to finance a hospital for the poor, so poverty would never again make the difference between one of them living or dying." Priceless.

** Celdoriath's Clarion. Celdoriath was an Elven ranger who won the right to wed his king's daughter by sheer awesome.

** Coral Bite, a trident wielded by Ildashurn, a doppelganger who stole the form of an aquatic elf, Sajolveun, that he killed by mistake : "Feeling guilty, the doppelganger studied the elf's life from his underwater home, adopted Sajolveun's identity, and returned to the aquatic elves. Ildashurn did everything in his power to amend the mistake he had made. In so doing, however, he fell in love with the aquatic elves and became their hero. Even his legendary weapon had embraced him completely. When Ildashurn could no longer politely avoid the topic of marriage, he announced that he would be leaving to fulfill a personal quest, promising to take a wife upon his return. Privately, Ildashurn had no intention of returning. When he reached the surface and tried changing back into an air-breathing creature, the doppelganger discovered that he could not. He was no longer a shapechanger. Somehow, he had become an aquatic elf. Perhaps it was some strange effect of his trident's power, or perhaps it was the act of some benevolent deity. Ildashurn didn't care. He just smiled and dove back into the water."

** Divine Spark, a Holy Symbol used to unite all the religions against the enemies of life.

** ... and more. The paladin's ghost that lingers to finish the training of his apprentice, who turns and just smiles at him; at that, the spirit passes on. The other paladin soul, captured in an über-evil blade, that ends up redeeming it. The messenger who seeks the god of travel to give his successor abilities to match his own, so that he not be mocked for not living up to an impossible legacy. And so on and so forth.

* ''[[Promethean: The Created]]''. Even by [[New World of Darkness|World of Darkness]] standards, [[Crapsack World|it's depressing]]; you play as [[Frankenstein's Monster|revived corpses]], who [[Walking the Earth|travel the world]] desperately trying to [[Become a Real Boy|become human]], while [[Blessed with Suck|their powers]] [[Walking Wasteland|turn]] [[Hate Plague|the world]] [[The Woobie|against them]]. But the tone is ultimately ''optimistic''; players are encouraged to [[Earn Your Happy Ending|fight for a happy ending]]. A quote from the Refinement of Iron, who study [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|combat and strength]], on the Refinement of Gold, who try to emulate the humans that hate and fear them:

{{quote|Do what you need to do. [[The Power of Friendship|Nothing will harm you]], my brother.}}

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* The origin of the Monkey Clan in ''[[Legend of the Five Rings]]''. During a war against the Shadowlands, a samurai named Toku emerged as a hero. Emperor Toturi I asked Toku to serve as the Captain of the Imperial Guard... and he turned the offer down. The reason? He wasn't a samurai at all - his village was attacked, and he'd stolen the swords off a dead samurai's body to defend it. Then he headed out to join the battle, promising himself he'd make up for his crimes after it was over. The confession complete, he asked to be allowed to commit seppuku... and was refused. The emperor told Toku he'd done more to earn his rank than any of the born samurai in Rokugan, and offically made Toku a samurai, retroactive to the beginning of the war. Then he ordered Toku to be the head of the newly-formed Monkey Clan as well as Captain of the Guard. The Monkey Clan is quite possibly the most respected Minor Clan in Rokugan.

** To put this in clearer perspective, the Monkey Clan was given their lands from those of the notoriously underhanded Scorpion Clan, a clan that openly celebrates blackmail, poison, and [[Disproportionate Retribution]]. And they have sworn the last on any who touch the Monkey Clan. Best example of [[Morality Pet]] this troper's seen.

* This troper was once part of a [[Dungeons and Dragons]] group (The campaign has since ended.) The PCs were as thus: A Chaotic Neutral Half Elf Duskblade(This Troper), a Chaotic Evil Half-Orc king of hell barbarian thing (Don't ask, would take too long), and a lich. Our DM decided to mix two of his campaigns, so characters from the other campaign were there as well. The setting: End of the world is nigh, this troper and his group are going to enlist the power of some gods to help us out. We've gotten to the point where the leader of Hell itself said "Oh no, not you guys!" Anyway, we're decending into the bowels of this mountain where we can find a shrine we can use to summon an ancient warrior to help stop the big bad. On the way down, we all of sudden realize we're all silenced in every form. We can't communicate telepathically, we can't talk, we can't even hear ourselves breathe. From nowhere, the Orc, who has had a reputation of murdering entire towns without blinking, picks up the half elf and puts him on his shoulders. Why? The Half Orc's player looked at troper and said "In all that we've been through, you've been my only friend. You stayed when no one in there right mind would. Why is that? I don't care, I'm not letting you go." It was at this point, that this troper realized just how strong the relationships grew between these two characters, and just how far they'd go for eachother.

* One of the latest errata for [[Exalted]] manages to give one to the ''[[Omnicidal Maniac|Abyssals]]'', believe it or not:

{{quote|The [[Reincarnation Romance|mystical ties that bind]] Lunar Exalted to their Solar mates offer Abyssal Exalted a [[Love Redeems|tiny sliver of hope]]. Resonance is never gained from sins of life directly associated with the appropriate Lunar. If the deathknight's mate [[That Man Is Dead|calls her by her forsaken name]], she may answer to it. She can protect her mate from harm and [[Even Evil Has Loved Ones|love her with a positive Intimacy]]. The two can even have children together safely, for all that the Neverborn impotently roar in fury. If the Abyssal actually does hold a positive Intimacy for her mate, [[The Power of Love|the protection goes even farther, shielding her from sins of death so long as her actions are in direct support or defense of the Lunar]]. Thus, an Abyssal with no positive Intimacy could safely protect her mate from demons, but not a horde of specters [[Magic A Is Magic A|(since the sin of death for opposing creatures of death still applies even though defending the specific life is permitted)]]. [[Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right|With a positive Intimacy, the deathknight can safely ignore her Liege's command to murder her mate and can even fight the Deathlord in defense of that one precious life.]]}}

* ''[[FATAL]]'' has the Flute of Felicity, aka "What The Hell Is A Flute That Makes People Happy Doing In A Piece Of Shit World Like FATAL"? (On the forum thread, at least two tropers attempted to "rescue" the Flute of Felicity from the tainted mires of its source material.)

* This troper was running a game of [[Maid RPG]] in which the PCs were heading into town to meet an emissary from [[Girl Genius|Castle Wulfenbach]] to the minor noble they all worked for. This being the [[Girl Genius]] universe we're talking about, they encountered a fifteen-foot-tall rogue clank that proceeded to chase them through the woods between the mansion and the airship port. The group, being [[Ragtag Bunch of Misfits|what they are]], started speeding through the forest, throwing everything they could at it: bullets, dictionaries, random pieces of the car they were all riding in. When they had reached the end of the forest, they managed to disable its legs enough to be able to escape. Its last act before it was out of sight was to shout "HUUUUUUUUG!" The players immediately went "awww..." The party turned the car around, drove back, and proceeded to repair the clank's legs and let it hug them all in apology. This clank (named the Hug-Bot by the players) then followed them around for the rest of the campaign, giving random people and objects (including the mansion the group worked in) hugs.

* This troper is currently involved in a psychic campaign, playing a borderline-amoral [[Heroic Sociopath]] jumper, with a [[Knife Nut|love of knives]]. Everything he's said to the party has amounted to "Whatever, as long as I get paid." Recently, his teleportation malfunctioned, leaving him unarmed and badly wounded in a room with another jumper, an armed guard, and a ticking bomb. Rather than teleport herself out, she sends my character back to base, hoping the display of affection would make him a better person. She dies in the explosion, cue his [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|retaliation]].

* Neverwinter Nights persistant world... but it's faithful to DnD, so it mostly applies here: My character, Nashanee, is a Tiefling (a part fiend) came to the City of Sharressia because she really couldn't fit in anywhere else, being hated for her fiendish heritage. After several months, and a few relationships ranging from the casual to the heartbreaking, she finally gets into one that is going ''very'' well with a Half-Dragon woman named Kalia. After a while, they get serious with eachother, and in a moment that is this trope in and of itself they essentially propose to one another (though they can't marry). Later, while performing... *ahem* activities in the temple, with Nash sitting on the Alter, Kalia kneels to Nashanee, and when inquired as too why, responds, "Because you're supposed to kneel before the Divine, and that is what you are." To anyone else, it might have been [[Narm Charm|pleasantly corny]], but spoken to a quarter fiend who had spent her life suffering because of how she decidedly ''wasn't'' divine, it was a truly touching thing to say.

* In [[GURPS]] [[Traveller]] ''Sword Worlds'', there is a CMOH in the side notes. A Sword World soldier is slogging home after the Fifth Frontier War. When he arrives he sees his home is in ruins, but there is his wife gallantly putting the pieces of their home together. They great each other and the next day get back to work rebuilding their lives and proving that their spirits are unbreakable. Later the soldier meets his brother who wishes to go on an expedition to the back of beyond to escape the encroachments of the Imperium. The soldier then says that he wishes his brother good luck but for himself, his home is right where it is and [[~~Theres~~ No Place Like Home]].

* In [[GURPS]] [[Traveller]] ''Sword Worlds'', there is a CMOH in the side notes. A Sword World soldier is slogging home after the Fifth Frontier War. When he arrives he sees his home is in ruins, but there is his wife gallantly putting the pieces of their home together. They great each other and the next day get back to work rebuilding their lives and proving that their spirits are unbreakable. Later the soldier meets his brother who wishes to go on an expedition to the back of beyond to escape the encroachments of the Imperium. The soldier then says that he wishes his brother good luck but for himself, his home is right where it is and [[There's No Place Like Home]].

* This Troper played a truly fantastic game of [[Scion]] that once featured a God-Scion of [[Japanese Mythology|Amaterasu]] attempting to rally the people of Japan to help her mother who was currently suffering a [[Heroic BSOD]] courtesy of [[Complete Monster|Mikaboshi]] as a means to drive her past the [[Despair Event Horizon]] by blocking out the sun and planting gloomy thoughts in the people of Japan. Additionally, he constantly [[Mind Rape|mind-raped]] her with images of her children suffering caused by her decisions. Through creative use of The Way and The Wyrd (courtesy of her bandmates) her player delivered a [[Rousing Speech]] to everyone of Japanese ancestry in the world. She even cued up [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRx9gnY0Mp0 this] to help her stunt.

{{quote|'''Scion of Amaterasu''': "People of Japan...please hear me. I know n-none of you know who I am but I'm here today on behalf of my mother. No doubt you've all felt the cloying grip of despair and confusion in the past weeks and some of you have even taken to the shrines of the various gods to lodge your complaints. You have all sacrificed and suffered only to be rewarded with silence. Today, I aim to break that silence but I cannot do it without your help; with your prayers. }}

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'''Storyteller''': A sense of heartwarming coursed through the blood of Japanese people everywhere. Old men in Kyoto, children in Osaka, Japanese-American teenagers in New York, all felt a stirring of pride warm their hearts. The enchanted melancholy lifted and they spoke the words that their freed hearts commanded them to say. On the High Plain of Heaven, two words were heard by every god and goddess. The shadows that clung to the mountains and castles dispelled in the light of the rising sun. And in the gloom of her cave, Amaterasu lifted her heavy head in tearful, joyous disbelief as millions of her children called out to her with two simple words...two words she hadn't heard in a very long time. <br />

'''[[Japanese Honorifics|"Okaa-sama!"]]''' }}

** Hands down, the best example of stunting I've ever been witness to.

* One major antagonist in our game of Scion was a Scion of Loki, a teen runaway and con artist with a bit of a thing for our heroine. She was also a complete and utter [[Daddy's Girl]], with a far better relationship with Loki than any of the PCs had with their divine parents. The relationship didn't show up much, but when it did it was pretty much always one of these.

* this troper was playing a game of werewolf where he was pretty much disliked for being a pacifist. After he died giving one of his fellows a shot at killing a demon one of the other players insisted on burying his body on a mountain as I had once mention in character that he had never seen mountains in person. This player was quite moved