Pits Perilous on Silliness & Seriousness

I liked this post over on Pits Perilous.

Did Sophistication Kill the Fun?

My short summary: No, but it did change it.

I never went that silly. We had nonsense, but only because 10 year olds don't make very good estimations of what's sensible and what's appropriate, even when they're learning by copying modules written by folks named Gygax, Kuntz, Schick, Moldvay, and so on.

This describes my games now pretty well:

" I won't denigrate serious games because mine is 85% serious. But the older I get (51 and counting), the more I appreciate the simple wonder of a fun-house dungeon stocked with the players in mind and built to provide them with a variety of challenging and absurd experiences. Hey, magic could always use a little nonsense."

My games are mostly serious, but no so much that fun nonsense doesn't show up. No casinos or laser turrets or monstrous hairdressers, but little jokes work their way into everything and outright silliness has a niche in the depths of the dungeon. Fun is the goal, and if some silliness makes for more fun, it gets some silliness. And where seriousness makes it better, it gets some seriousness. It's all about sitting around enjoying a game with my friends . . .