History Literature / GuardiansOfTheFlame

* NoDeadBodyPoops: Averted. Walter notes that after a battle, the whole area smells, as people usually void their bowels at death.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: Big time. In the course of their quest to return to Earth, [[spoiler: two of the students are killed, two are raped (with one becoming catatonic), and all but one are captured by a slaver that they have to fight free of. And then they have to go back to resurrect one ... yes, that's right, just one ... of the fallen heroes and wake the catatonic one, with part of the price being Lou giving up magic, Karl agreeing to fight slavery for the rest of his life and Doria passing into the care of her clerical order for the forseeable future.]]

* AuthorExistenceFailure: Joel Rosenberg died of a heart attack on June 2, 2011, at the age of 57.

* AutomatonHorses: {{Subverted}}. Ahira expects the horses will be galloped when they're struggling with new terrain, to get accustomed. Karl (as his character's the only one who knows about horses) immediately shoots it down, pointing out the horses can be killed doing that.

* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Ahira, who pretty much follows the fantasy archetype [[spoiler: with the possible exception of his inability to swim, due to a racial density that is greater than humanity's]].

* MontyHaul: {{Averted}}. The GM tries to give the characters a big pile of magic items at the start to make the quest a piece of cake, but a panicky Lou accidentally blows them up with a Lightning spell.
** Not quite his fault, he'd been told at the gaming table to prepare one 'just in case' due to the shift in starting points, suffered a head injury when they were transposed and just let loose with the lightning bolt due to his confusion.

* PrimeDirective: Utterly averted-at least in the first four books, none of the main band even stops to think if it's ethically or morally justified to introduce huge changes into the sociopolitical culture of another world[[note]] Of course considering that this is ''slavery'', it would likely be practiced for many more centuries on absent intervention and they did make an effort to establish a better system...[[/note]]. For example by them introducing guns, which triggers an arms race and trying to end slavery by violent attacks on slaver caravans rather than waiting to see if it comes about naturally as society evolves past the need for or permitting slavery. Not to mention setting up their own ''kingdom'', forever changing the geopolitical makeup of the world. Possibly {{justified}} by the fact that Arthur Deighton/Arta Myrdhyn had already seriously interfered (including fighting a massive magical duel that laid waste to an entire valley) though it's not made clear whether he's an earth or local native.
* RapeAsDrama: [[spoiler: After being captured by slavers, Doria the cleric and Andy-Andy the novice wizard are gang-raped. Doria, who already had [[DefiledForever issues in her past]] goes catatonic; her treatment by the Healing Hand is the beginning of her truly accepting her clerical status. Andy-Andy, meanwhile, helps Karl and Co. get even over the long run.]]

* PrimeDirective: Utterly averted-at least in the first four books, none of the main band even stops to think if it's ethically or morally justified to introduce huge changes into the sociopolitical culture of another world[[note]] Of course considering that this is ''slavery'', it would likely be practiced for many more centuries on absent intervention and they did make an effort to establish a better system...[[/note]]. For example by introducing guns, which triggers an arms race and trying to end slavery by violent attacks on slaver caravans rather than waiting to see if it comes about naturally as society evolves past the need or allowing of slavery. Not to mention setting up their own ''kingdom'', forever changing the geopolitical makeup of the world. Possibly {{justified}} by the fact that Arthur Deighton/Arta Myrdhyn had already seriously interfered (including fighting a massive magical duel that laid waste to an entire valley) though it's not made clear whether he's an earth or world native.

* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: {{Averted}}. When Andy-Andy becomes pregnant, Karl (the father) gives his immediate support to whatever choice she makes, even saying he would perform a D&C himself, despite having no medical training (reasoning their healing potions will fix any damage). She ultimately decides against abortion, and they have a son, though it's made clear it would have been perfectly acceptable.

* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: {{Averted}}. When Andy-Andy becomes pregnant, Karl (the father) gives his immediate support to whatever choice she makes, even saying he would perform it himself, despite having no medical training (reasoning their healing potions will fix any damage). She ultimately decides against abortion, and they have a son, though it's made clear it would have been perfectly acceptable.

* {{Averted}}. When Andy-Andy becomes pregnant, Karl (the father) gives his immediate support to whatever choice she makes, even saying he would perform it himself, despite having no medical training (reasoning their healing potions will fix any damage). She ultimately decides against abortion, and they have a son, though it's made clear it would have been perfectly acceptable.

!!Tropes:

Some of the tropes encountered include:

* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: {{Demonstrated}} and subverted at a crucial moment in the Great Games of Pandathaway. [[spoiler: The sword misses completely, but distracts the other fighter long enough for his opponent to close with him and grapple instead.]]

* RapeAsBackstory: [[spoiler: After being captured by slavers, Doria the cleric and Andy-Andy the novice wizard are gang-raped. Doria, who already had [[DefiledForever issues in her past]] goes catatonic; her treatment by the Healing Hand is the beginning of her truly accepting her clerical status. Andy-Andy, meanwhile, helps Karl and Co. get even over the long run.]]

* AddictiveMagic: Stated explicitly to resemble cocaine addiction - a little bit every now and then is okay, but use too much and it's a steep, quick decline into obsession, madness, and bad hygiene. Demonstrated with [[spoiler:Andy-Andy]], who keeps to a slow, safe, gentle progression, until [[spoiler:Karl]] dies, at which point she takes a [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope flying leap off the slippery slope]]. [[spoiler:Subverted in the end - given the choice of sacrificing her sanity or ability to do magic for enough power for an epic spell, she chooses the latter. She does, however, display symptoms of catastrophic cold-turkey withdrawal afterward.]]

* BerserkButton: James/Ahira's feelings toward his handicap, condescending people, and the name "Jimmy" from anyone except Walter Slovotsky.

* FantasyGunControl: Subverted from the third book on, when engineering student Lou Riccetti works out how to recreate gunpowder weapons and give the fight for freedom a big edge. [[spoiler: It becomes an arms race, though, after the bad guys figure out a way to create a magical equivalent to gunpowder]].

* IChooseToStay: James Michael Finnigan, after getting the chance to leave his crippled body and become the dwarf warrior Ahira.

* TheMedic: Doria attempts to avert this trope -- she's sick of playing the healer, she wants to *do* something. She only agrees to play the cleric after winning the power to approve the others' characters, but gets conned into letting them all play who they want anyway.
* MontyHaul: Averted. The GM tries to give the characters a big pile of magic items at the start to make the quest a piece of cake, but a panicky Lou accidentally blows them up with a Lightning spell.

* PrimeDirective: Utterly averted - at least in the first four books, none of the main band even stops to think if it's ethically or morally justified to introduce huge changes into the sociopolitical culture of another world[[note]] of course considering that this is ''slavery'' that will probably be practiced for many more centuries absent intervention and they did make an effort to establish a better system...[[/note]]. For example by introducing guns which triggers an arms race and trying to end slavery by violent assualts on slaver caravans rather than waiting to see if it comes about naturally as society evolves past the need or allowing of slavery. Not to mention setting up their own ''kingdom'', forever changing geopolitical makeup of the world. Possibly justified by the fact that Arthur Deighton/Arta Myrdhyn had already seriously interfered (including fighting a massive magical duel that laid waste to an entire valley) though it's not made clear whether he's an earth or world native.

* SquishyWizard: Played straight in the first book: Lou's wizard, Aristobulus, is elderly and frail, and neither he nor the younger Andy-Andy have any weapons or weapon training. In later books, Andy-Andy breaks with the trope and begins learning some useful combat skills.
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Demonstrated and subverted at a crucial moment in the Great Games of Pandathaway. [[spoiler: The sword misses completely, but distracts the other fighter long enough for his opponent to close with him and grapple instead.]]

* YouFightLikeACow: Subverted. Early in the first book, Karl starts to make a quip after cutting off an opponent's hand ... only to get grabbed from behind by another combatant in mid-joke. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] as Karl thinks to himself "You stupid idiot. You know better than to chat while a fight's going on." Only the timely arrival of Ahira with a crossbow keeps him from getting his throat cut.

'''Guardians of the Flame''' is a fantasy series by Joel Rosenberg about a group of roleplaying college students who abruptly find themselves inside the world of their game, in the bodies of their characters. The first book, ''The Sleeping Dragon,'' depicts their attempt to return to Earth, and their later commitment to return. Theater student/[[TheBigGuy huge fighter]] Karl Cullinane vows to end slavery in his new home and persuades his friends to join the crusade. The remainder of the series follows his efforts, and later. those of his son Jason.

Karl's colleagues, at least at the start, are history student Jason Parker and football hero Walter Slovotsky (the party thieves), engineering student Lou Riccetti and English major Andrea "Andy-Andy" Andropolous (the party wizards), crippled computer science major James Michael Finnegan (AKA the dwarf warrior Ahira), and Doria Perlstein (the party cleric); the gamemaster is a philosophy professor at the university.

* AddictiveMagic: stated explicitly to resemble cocaine addiction - a little bit every now and then is okay, but use too much and it's a steep, quick decline into obsession, madness, and bad hygiene. Demonstrated with [[spoiler:Andy-Andy]], who keeps to a slow, safe, gentle progression, until [[spoiler:Karl]] dies, at which point she takes a [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope flying leap off the slippery slope]]. [[spoiler:Subverted in the end - given the choice of sacrificing her sanity or ability to do magic for enough power for an epic spell, she chooses the latter. She does, however, display symptoms of catastrophic cold-turkey withdrawal afterward.]]

* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: The liberation of Ellegon, an adolescent dragon who had been chained in a cesspit for 300 years, and the exultation he shows on his release.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Ahira the dwarf freeing his berserker rage by recalling his Earthly life as the quadraplegic James Michael Finnegan.

Guardians of the Flame is a fantasy series by Joel Rosenberg about a group of roleplaying college students who abruptly find themselves inside the world of their game, in the bodies of their characters. The first book, ''The Sleeping Dragon,'' depicts their attempt to return to Earth, and their later commitment to return. Theater student/[[TheBigGuy huge fighter]] Karl Cullinane vows to end slavery in his new home and persuades his friends to join the crusade. The remainder of the series follows his efforts, and later. those of his son Jason.

* PrimeDirective: Utterly averted - at least in the first four books, none of the main band even stops to think if it's ethically or morally justified to introduce huge changes into the sociopolitical culture of another world[[hottip:*: of course considering that this is ''slavery'' that will probably be practiced for many more centuries absent intervention and they did make an effort to establish a better system...]]. For example by introducing guns which triggers an arms race and trying to end slavery by violent assualts on slaver caravans rather than waiting to see if it comes about naturally as society evolves past the need or allowing of slavery. Not to mention setting up their own ''kingdom'', forever changing geopolitical makeup of the world. Possibly justified by the fact that Arthur Deighton/Arta Myrdhyn had already seriously interfered (including fighting a massive magical duel that laid waste to an entire valley) though it's not made clear whether he's an earth or world native.

* TheLibraryOfBabel: The Great Library of Pandathaway, which makes the similarly-named one of Alexandria look sick. However, actually finding anything there can be quite expensive, especially if the librarians take a dislike to you.

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