Forum > Pen and Paper Roleplaying Games (RPGs) Discussion
"OH MY GOD! SO RANDOM!"
SHARK:
Greetings!
"OH MY GOD! SO RANDOM!"
I have experienced this as a player in a game group at my LGS. I must say, I've seen more than one girl player exclaim this very thing at the table, much to the giggling, approval, and applause of many.
Where the hell did this expression even come from? And, it doesn't just seem to be a social *expression*--but has somehow developed into being a particular mind-set and philosophy of gaming, either DMing, playing a character, and as a character-design mind-set. It seems to creep into many aspects of gaming with its influence.
What do you all think?
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK
Eric Diaz:
I was thinking of that expression just last week...
Seems to be a common expression in the last decade or so.
In the context of RPGs, maybe it points to an expectation that crazy, unexpected things are supposed to happen on a regular basis and that's what RPGs are about.
Which seems strange to me since in my games the most important part is player choice, and randomness is there to add some events that are not entirely unpredictable - i.e., you'll not usually find a random dragon in the woods unless you've heard some rumors about it.
Eric Diaz:
One example: in 5e, the wild magic sorcerer can summon flumphs and sheep by accident, while trying to cast a fireball, or something similar. It is my least favorite class - and I like random spells, but it should make some sense.
VisionStorm:
I could've sworn this (or some variant of it) started as an expression in hang out culture sometime around the late 90s or early 2Ks. I remember a friend of mine using some variation of "so random" decades ago, usually whenever recounting some over the top, crazy humorous event that happened, usually involving something someone did while drunk, or some random "character" who showed up unexpectedly while they were hanging out and it was memorable to them somehow—usually, more memorable to the people who experienced it (often while they were drunk or high or both) than to the people hearing about it later on. You had to have been there to really get how "oh, so random!" it was.
I often hear women use that expression as well when remarking about some crazy thing "que random!" ('How random" in Spanglish).
I could see certain occurrences that happen in play as being "Oh, so random!", like when someone does something unexpected that sets the rest of the group laughing with incredulity. But I'd rather that sort of spontaneous occurrence be the only time that "Oh, so random!" things happen, rather than it becoming a standard part of play or something that people purposefully incorporate into their characters, like they're trying (too hard) to be "wild" or funny.
Cathode Ray:
In the first half of the 00s, I heard it a lot. It went full-blast 2005 to 2007! Maybe has origins earlier than that, but probably not as common vernacular slang.... maybe just made as a "random " comment.
EDIT: By the way, the expression means, "That's unexpected," or, "That's a non-sequitur."
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