History Webcomic / DMOfTheRings

** [[https://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=729 In the Halloween strip]] when trying to come up with a name for the group, one of the suggestions is [[Music/{{Helloween}} "The Seven Keepers of the Ring]].

* PerpetualPoverty: The party is really unlucky when it comes to looting. And really frustrated about it.

The comic doesn't really satirize ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' as much as it makes fun of the the way [[TabletopGames roleplaying]] sessions tend to go, especially the struggle between the GameMaster and players. It's been described as an overall example of how ''not'' to conduct a campaign in general.

''DM of the Rings'' uses screen captures of the films and places them in the format of a comic book. The comic never shows the faces of the players (although the short-lived original follow up, ''[[https://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?cat=14]]'' did). Instead, we see shots of the films as actions the players are taking.

''DM of the Rings'' uses screen captures of the films and places them in the format of a comic book. The comic never shows the faces of the players (although the short-lived original follow up, ''[https://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?cat=14]'' did). Instead, we see shots of the films as actions the players are taking.

''DM of the Rings'' uses screen captures of the films and places them in the format of a comic book. The comic never shows the faces of the players (although the short-lived original follow up, ''[[http://www.shawntionary.com/chainmailbikini/ Chainmail Bikini]]'' did). Instead, we see shots of the films as actions the players are taking.

[[quoteright:330:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dmoftheringssucketh.JPG]]

** It seems Aragorn has this problem with elves in general. When Haldir comes to Rohan's help, Aragron accuses him of being a Saruman's spy, calling Haldir "smouldering temptress" and "she-devil".

* AllohistoricalAllusion: Pippin's player asks if the group really wants to sit through an RPG made "for linguists or historians or whatever." Tolkien was a linguist and a historian whose hobby was inventing {{Con Lang}}s and writing a book series where those languages mapped to mythological peoples, such as elves and dwarves.

* FlatScare: {{Defied}} when Gimli is ([[{{Railroading}} said by the DM to be]]) gripped by fear from the threshold of the Paths of the Dead. He claims that a dark cave entrance really isn't that scary, and goes on to describe [[NightmareFuel in great detail]] an EldritchAbomination he encountered in a horror-themed campaign.

* GameBreaker: [[invoked]] Gandalf. So much so, the first idea the party has when first meeting the Balrog is to leave him behind to fight it alone. And he ''survives''!

** Legolas [[http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=1235 killing the Mûmak]] is presented entirely as a player suggestion for fighting, which is immediately shot down.

* TalkingIsAFreeAction: Subverted by Legolas, who manages to kill Wormtongue and Saruman while the latter was trying to make a speech.

* OnlySaneMan: The DM and to a lesser extent, Gimli. Gimli is usually the most successful in changing the campaign, due to the player's GenreSavvy nature after playing these types of games for 20 years.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: [[http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=1062 Strip LXXXIII]]. Is also a CrowningMomentOfAwesome for Gimli and elicits an OhCrap from Legolas.

* AutomatonHorses: [[http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=1273 Discussed]] when Aragorn argues with the DM over whether their horses were brought with them since Moria.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Aragorn wants to sleep with Éowyn. So the DM lets him... and then tells him to make a fortitude saving throw vs. disease.

* AccidentalMisnaming

-->'''DM:''' This isn't the end of the campaign. You just killed ''Saruman.''\\

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere

* GrapplingWithGrapplingRules: The blurb to [[http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=691 this comic]] shows that he was going to make a joke about the players being gung-ho to fight the Watcher, but ''terrified'' of having to figure out how to wade through the grappling system while fighting a creature with dozens of tentacles. Unfortunately, he couldn't make the joke pay off, and just skipped over the scene.

-->'''DM: This isn't the end of the campaign. You just killed ''Saruman.''\\

'''Legolas:''' I think Sauron was like a nickname.

* FlatScare: {{Defied}} when Gimli is gripped by the fear from the threshold of the paths of the dead. He claims that it really isn't that scary, and described his long adventures in what amounts to a Call of Cthulhu campaign - and that he'd only feel anxious should that thing show up.

'''Gimli:''' I wouldn't worry about it. He already agreed to let Gandalf in with his staff, so it doesn't matter if we're armed or not.

* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: [[http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=1189 Spoofed in strip CX.]] The defining characteristic of dwarves is that they are lawful. Well, the ''fourth'' defining characteristic, after low charisma, bearded women, and rampant alcoholism.