PC Gamer’s UK online editor Fraser Brown has a confession: his brain is full of silly anecdotes from tabletop roleplaying. In a new column, he opens the vault on some of the strangest moments he’s ever had around a game table, including a real earthquake that interrupted a session, a betrayal that ended with him eating a fellow player’s face, and a Call of Cthulhu campaign where he shot a player dead with an elephant gun.
Brown’s column, titled “What’s the weirdest thing that happened to you in a tabletop RPG?”, asks readers to share their own odd stories. His own tales range from mildly surreal to genuinely horrifying, and they offer a window into why tabletop gaming remains one of the most durable forms of social entertainment around.
The Earthquake in New Zealand
The story starts with a remote session hosted by a friend from New Zealand. Brown and his companions were exploring a homebrew setting: a fictional West African city with steampunk vibes. The session was proceeding normally until Brown noticed something strange on his friend’s screen.
His friend’s screen began to shake. Then objects started falling off the bookcase. Then the friend’s partner rushed down the stairs in a panic. It was an earthquake.
“We took a wee break to let nature finish having a fit, and then we got back to the game,” Brown recounts. The quake was minor, but it added a layer of genuine unpredictability to a night that was already full of fictional chaos.
Betrayal in Mothership
Brown’s second story involves a game of Mothership, hosted by Robin Valentine, who used to work as a senior editor at PC Gamer. In this session, Brown became infected with an alien virus, and the infection manifested through chilling DMs sent directly to him.
“The betrayal” is a story of paranoia and escalation. Brown tried to run back to the spaceship, only to be shot in the leg by a former colleague. His head popped off and grew tentacles. Then he ate the shooter’s face.
“Please don’t tell HR.”
The story is absurd, but it captures something essential about tabletop roleplay: the shared willingness to lean into the ridiculous.
The Taxi Driver Who Could Only Repeat Words
Brown’s third story comes from a Call of Cthulhu campaign, where he was driven mad after witnessing a ghost. The ghost was very spooky, according to Brown. His response was to shoot a fellow player with an elephant gun, effectively disintegrating them.
Then he fled the scene in a taxi. Unfortunately, he had developed echolalia, a speech disorder where a person repeats the last word or phrase spoken to them. He could only repeat what the taxi driver said.
“I feel more sympathy for the taxi driver than the guy I shot,” Brown admits.
Stories Too Sordid to Share
Brown says he has other stories that he would love to share, but they are not for public consumption. The column is a call to arms for the wider tabletop community: share your own weird moments.
He wants silly arguments, terrible GMs, and strange anecdotes. The invitation is open to anyone who plays TTRPGs, whether in person or remotely.
Why Tabletop Beats Videogames
Brown makes a case for the unique power of tabletop roleplay. CRPGs like Disco Elysium, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Esoteric Ebb get weird, but no video game can truly compare to the oddities that a good tabletop session can spit out.
Throw a bunch of flesh and blood humans around a table, and there’s a good chance chaos will ensue. That chaos is the point.
The Reader Response
The column invites readers to submit their own stories. Brown’s own tales are a starting point, but the request is for readers to contribute their own experiences.
The stories Brown tells are funny, disturbing, and occasionally uncomfortable. They also highlight the joy of playing with friends who are willing to commit fully to a game.
What This Says About Tabletop Gaming
Brown’s column is a reminder that tabletop roleplaying is not just a game. It is a social ritual that brings people together around a shared fiction. The weirdness is part of the appeal.
The earthquake story shows how reality can intrude on fantasy in a way that video games cannot replicate. Brown is asking readers to share their own moments of chaos, their own stories of terrible GMs, and their own silly arguments.
Brown’s own stories are a gift to the tabletop community. They are absurd, memorable, and slightly terrifying.
Source material: “What's the weirdest thing that happened to you in a tabletop RPG?,” PC Gamer.
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