A particularly clever dungeon master pulled off an amazing prank on his Dungeons and Dragons group with an elaborate Rick Roll. Though the prank took five months of careful preparation, the perfect execution made a truly memorable Dungeons and Dragons experience.
Redditor, roleplayer, and dungeon master Paintedredd was the mastermind behind this particular prank. In the post, they explain the context and setup for the hilarious Dungeons and Dragons prank, hints at its existence, and how it went down with their players.
The epic Dungeons and Dragons experience revolved around the players using an artifact called the Escape Cube. The item was created by a bard named Tecra Lisky and possessed by a dragon named Scrylaketi–both anagrams of Rick Astley. The dragon’s lair was likewise located on the Isle of Sawsong, which is a reference to SAW, or Stock Aitken Waterman, who produced the iconic Astley single. The cube itself had six demiplane layers, each with an associated command word: Up, Ewe, Give, Two, Going, Never. In order to escape the cube, the players had to repeat the command words in reverse order, freeing them from the relic in the process.
Apparently, Paintedredd’s table didn’t catch on to the Rick Roll meme at all until the very end, after which the Dungeons and Dragons players were appropriately infuriated. Though it was unlikely the players would have discovered the anagrammed names or other clues, not even the command words gave it away until the perfect moment. After five months of careful preparation, Paintedredd couldn’t have asked for a better delivery.
Paintedredd’s fellow Dungeons and Dragons players loved seeing the clever reveal of the ridiculous prank, with nearly 400 comments within a day of sharing the post on Reddit. Players were eager to applaud them for the expertly-done gaffe and were quick to share their own prank stories, both with Rick Astley’s infamous song and other pop culture references involving things like the Village People's YMCA, Shia LaBoeuf, and even Dunkin’ Donuts.
It is refreshing to see such levity from the Dungeons and Dragons community, especially considering the controversies surrounding Wizards of the Coast right now. A recently-leaked document showed its restrictive plans for third-party creators in One D&D, and Dungeons and Dragons players are not happy with what they’ve seen. Luckily, the TTRPG community is resilient. Regardless of what happens with Dungeons and Dragons, hilarious stories like Paintedredd’s will always be around, whether groups are playing One D&D or one of its competitors.
Dungeons and Dragons is available now. One D&D is in development.