History TooDumbToLive / TabletopGames

* ''Racial Holy War''. The "holy white warriors" you roleplay are, put bluntly, so dumb they can be wielding an assault rifle and ''still'' be chased off by a horde of Jewish babies and grandmothers. They'll also accept bribes not to fight in the middle of combat. It gets to the point that people sometimes wonder if it isn't actually a StealthParody.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'' is actually at its most fun when the entire party is exhibiting this trope. That's why clones come in six-packs, after all. One of the rules the GM is encouraged to operate upon is "once someone declares their character's actions for the next turn, that's what they're doing, no backsies" ... ''unless'' the changed course of action would be funnier ("Shoot, Vody-O-DOE is setting off a solar grenade? Forget diving for cover; I'm gonna strip off my jumpsuit and get a tan").

** In the backstory of [[EldritchAbomination Pandorym]] from the Elder Evils sourcebook, it was summoned by a group of wizards who wanted to ''threaten the gods!'' The gods merely waited for the wizards to safely imprison Pandorym, the smote them from existence, and called it a day. A similar thing happened with the Vashar, the first version of humanity, who decided to attack his creators as soon as he was born. The gods just smote him and went to work on attempt #2.

* ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness:'' Since a straightforward PsychicAssistedSuicide using mind control (be it mental powers or [[TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression mind control devices]]) is impossible, due to human survival instincts being far too strong to allow it, this is a common and even suggested workaround. Telling your victim to disobey a bunch of cops and try to take their guns, go play with the lion in a zoo or flip off a dangerous supernatural creature is fair game when it comes to getting them killed.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'' there are aliens called the Arkhon, a race of (not proud) warriors. One particular clan has lost favor, and decides to redeem themselves by invading Earth. The reasoning behind this is that the Arkhons had attempted an invasion on Earth a few thousand years ago, and had gotten utterly routed by the magic of the Nazcan Empire. Basically, the plan was to go to a planet that had proven itself to be more than a match for them when said race thought bronze was the height of technology, and has presumably been advancing steadily ever since then, and try and take it over. Even ignoring the fact that the Arkhons didn't know about the [[CrapsackWorld insanity]] that had happening on Earth over the last few hundred years, the Arkhons were more or less committing very elaborate suicide. You'd think they would have stopped and reassessed their plans when they lost a third of their fleet en route, and then lost another quarter of their ships when the orbital community attacked them.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'': One sourcebook has a story about a small-time crook deciding he's going to attempt a BallisticDiscount in a gun store. One where the store owner interacts with the customers from behind bulletproof glass. And has a bunch of signs warning customers not to start any trouble. After the automated defenses are through the owner [[NotEnoughToBury cleans up the remains with a sponge]].

** Declaring a constant war on the most powerful mages in the world, and the most skilled warriors (Elves, even if they are dying out), the most numerous enemies (Orcs), the most high tech (Skaven), the toughest soldiers (Chaos) probably do not help the dwarves chance of lasting longer than a few years.
*** The Dwarven Slayers (Troll Slayers, Giant Slayers and Dragon Slayers in order of least to most badass) take this trope to up to eleven. Justified since they're {{Death Seeker}}s. Daemon Slayers technically count, but they are too good to actually die easily.

** Bretonnian Knights Errant. Those HotBlood young knights are impetuous -- i.e. they will spontaneously attack any enemy at reach unless they pass the Leadership check, and they are Immune to Psychology on the turn they charge. The usual result is a SuicideAttack. This tendency acts also as a kind of a Darwinist natural selection -- those Knights Errants who survive, are to become the new Knights of the Realm.

** The Elves got their moments too. Wanna know why the War of the Beard is called that? Meet Caledor II the Warrior, the Phoenix King at the time of that war. Long story short, Dark Elves disguised as High Elves attacked a Dwarf caravan. Gotrek, the Dwarven High King, demanded explanation and recompense. Caledor replied [[{{Arrogance}} that he would only answer to pleas, not to demands, and sent the Dwarf emissaries away with nothing]]. This would probably be enough for the Dwarves to start a war, but Gotrek sent the emissaries again. This time the emissaries refused to return with nothing saying they'd rather have their beards shaved off (a GRAND insult for a dwarf). Caledor did just that. And so began a war that ended with both races on the verge of annihilation, Caledor dead, and the prized Phoenix Crown in the hands of the dwarves. There are differences in this story between elves and dwarves but both agree that Caledor, rather than being called Caledor the Warrior, should be called Caledor the Idiot.

** Being Too Dumb to Live is epidemic almost to the point of an actual infectious disease. The Imperium is the most common offender (having among other things ignorance and blind fanaticism to government policy might be a reason for that) but by far the worst are any and all servants of Chaos, a faction that performs regular human sacrifices for anything more complicated than boiling water and is engaged in a perpetual EnemyCivilWar due to being, well, ''{{Chao|ticEvil}}s'', yet they still have a constant stream of followers willing to embrace madness and slaughter for the miniscule probability of achieving the "honour" of daemonic possession.

** There's a good reason why the phrases "You can certainly try!" and variations of "Are you sure?" are a [[Memes/DungeonsAndDragons meme]] amongst Dungeon Masters. Basically any DM can share a story about a player getting themselves killed through this, whether it was [[SuperDrowningSkills forgetting to take their plate armour off before trying to swim]], [[DoNotTauntCthulhu provoking something that was clearly not a level-appropriate challenge]], to [[EarthShatteringKaboom combining Eschew Materials and Major Creation to summon anti-matter]].

** In general, voluntarily going out of your way to worship evil gods and godlike beings in [=D&D=] is enough to qualify you for a Darwin Award unless you're [[OmnicidalManiac the sort of lunatic who's genuinely OK with the horrible consequences you'll be bringing down on yourself and everyone around you]]. The setting has such a vast and diverse pantheon of powerful, welcoming higher beings that there's very little reason to sign up with the ones who [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans exist to make the world worse]], [[BadBoss have zero tolerance for failure]], and like to encourage ChronicBackstabbingDisorder among their worshippers so that they'll climb over piles of their comrades' corpses for their god's approval. There's a reason that every evil civilisation is a complete dysfunctional mess, and it's because their patron deities can only keep a steady supply of semi-willing worshippers by [[PoisonAndCureGambit forcing them to rely on regular divine intervention to stave off complete societal collapse]].

* In general, voluntarily going out of your way to worship evil gods and godlike beings in [=D&D=] is enough to qualify you for a Darwin Award unless you're [[OmnicidalManiac the sort of lunatic who's genuinely OK with the horrible consequences you'll be bringing down on yourself and everyone around you]]. The setting has such a vast and diverse pantheon of powerful, welcoming higher beings that there's very little reason to sign up with the ones who [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans exist to make the world worse]], [[BadBoss have zero tolerance for failure]], and like to encourage ChronicBackstabbingDisorder among their worshippers so that they'll climb over piles of their comrades' corpses for their god's approval. There's a reason that every evil civilisation is a complete dysfunctional mess, and it's because their patron deities can only keep a steady supply of semi-willing worshippers by [[PoisonAndCureGambit forcing them to rely on regular divine intervention to stave off complete societal collapse]].

** Generally anyone who sells their soul: a boost, albeit a very large one, in one's abilities does not justify becoming a monster. Also note the parents who give their mutant children to Beastmen in ''Warhammer Fantasy''; yes it is understandable as the child would be killed otherwise, but it is stupid because these children have a habit of coming back with beastmen during a raid, then killing and feasting upon their own parents.

* ''Racial Holy War''. The "holy white warriors" you roleplay are, put bluntly, so dumb they can be wielding an assault rifle and ''still'' be chased off by a horde of Jewish babies and grandmothers.
** They'll also accept bribes not to fight in the middle of combat. It gets to the point that people sometimes wonder if it isn't actually a StealthParody.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}''
** Generally anyone who sells their soul: a boost, albeit a very large one, in one's abilities does not justify becoming a monster. Also note the parents who give their mutant children to Beastmen in ''Warhammer Fantasy'', yes it is understandable as the child would be killed otherwise, but it is stupid because these children have a habit of coming back with beastmen during a raid, then killing and feasting upon their own parents.

*** The Dwarven Slayers (Troll Slayers, Giant Slayers and Dragon Slayers in order of least to most badass) take this trope to up to eleven. Justified since they're [[DeathSeeker Death Seekers]]. Daemon Slayers technically count, but they are too good to actually die easily.

** The absolutely [[AxCrazy mad]] vampire Konrad von Carstein, although it is probably more of an example of being Too ''Insane'' to Live. This is the kind of guy who convicts his own mother for the crime of giving birth to him without his own permission. Probably his crowning example was executing the necromancers [[KeystoneArmy who were keeping his army raised]] in the middle of a battle. Thirty seconds later, he was the only undead being left on the battlefield and was promptly overpowered and [[OffWithHisHead beheaded]] by the enemy commanders.

** Snotlings are not only stupid enough to make [[Main/OurOrcsAreDifferent Orcs]] look like [[Main/GentlemanAndAScholar warrior scholars]], they also tend to imitate the behaviour of other units nearby. If they for example see veteran Black Orcs charging a giant monster, they will happily do so as well, despite their small size and feeble combat skills. No wonder other greenskins think of them primarily as emergency rations.
** The Elves got their moments too. Wanna know why the War of the Beard is called that? Meet Caledor II the Warrior, the Phoenix King at the time of that war. Long story short, Dark Elves disguised as High Elves attacked a Dwarf caravan. Gotrek, the Dwarven High King, demanded explanation and recompense. Caledor replied [[{{Arrogance}} that he would only answer to pleas, not to demands, and sent the Dwarf emissaries away with nothing]]. This would propably be enough for the Dwarves to start a war, but Gotrek sent the emisaries again. This time the emisaries refused to return with nothing saying they'd rather have their beards shaved off (a GRAND insult for a dwarf). Caledor did just that. And so began a war that ended with both races on the verge of annihilation, Caledor dead, and the prized Phoenix Crown in the hands of the dwarves. There are differences in this story between elves and dwarves but both agree that Caledor, rather than being called Caledor the Warrior, should be called Caledor the Idiot.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'':

** While we're on the subject of the Imperium, the Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer. Whoever wrote it seems to have been a lobotomized imbecile with no military, tactical, or mechanical experience whatsoever, assigning hymns to everything such as loading a lasgun or autopistol and throwing a grenade which we all know is bullshit (and the Litany of Stealth, to be recited as you approach the enemy), encourages Leeroy Jenkins tactics, tells soldiers they will die horribly, gives disturbingly awful background information on enemies, giving gems such as: "Ork weapons are extremely crude and prone to misfires or jamming." [[note]] Maybe true for the shootas and any other ranged weapons, but as the [[Literature/CiaphasCain HERO OF THE IMPERIUM]] points out, they're effective as the average bolter. And I did see an axe misfire [[NoodleIncident once]], but it really wasn't all that likely. Impossible under any circumstances, really.[[/note]] "Tyranid weapons are formed of living tissues,[[note]]True.[[/note]] they often fall apart." [[note]]''Not'' true without some major application of firepower.[[/note]] "Eldar technology is antiquated,[[note]]Technically, true.[[/note]] Eldar craftsmanship is inferior to our own."[[note]]Haha, no.[[/note]] "Beware the tau -- they'll sacrifice your babies to their gods!"[[note]]Nyet -- Tau are {{Flat Earth Atheist}}s to the point of ScaryDogmaticAliens.[[/note]] It also says Tau are frightened by fire. And water. And thunder. And unnerved by hairy people [[note]] Were that true, the Imperium could just send in the Space Wolves and maybe some Valhallans.[[/note]] [[BlatantLies They are also derived from bovines and chew cud and have udders. They have terrible eyesight so that their hearing overcompensates, allowing you to scare them off with loud shouting. And those guns they're carrying require sustained streams to injure a healthy, armored human]][[note]]bullshit, bullshit, and groxshit. First one is racist. Second is half-true. The tau have worse eyesight and more sensitive hearing than most other races, but they compensate for the first with hard training and extremely good targeting aids, and the second is only really relevant when it comes to noise on the level of sonic weapons, and they do a number on anyone. Third is lethal groxshit-Tau guns are some of the most powerful in the game, being very capable of knocking over a SpaceMarine.[[/note]] Then, somewhere else in there, it says that Imperial soldiers have the best armor and weapons, which will oneshot anything and protect from anything[[note]] So a glorified t-shirt and flashlight is a better choice than power armor, a [[ChainsawGood chainsaw]] and bolter? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCh0BXdVtmE Ah had no idea...]][[/note]]. What's dumber than that book? A guardsman that takes it seriously.
*** There is no litanny of stealth, so it is just another way to say: shut up. And shanties are old and usefull.

*** Plus, in terms of what's available to most humans the guardsmen's equipment really is very good. A few of the "misinformation" points are also jokes about the setting's StoryAndGameplaySegregation; for instance, the bizarre claim that for all their apparent muscle Orks are no stronger than a human ''actually holds up'' on the tabletop rules[[note]]To be specific, both normal Orks and Space Marines have a strength of 4, while most normal humans have 3, which isn't that far off when the maximum is 10. Humans also have a ballistic skill of 3, Space Marines have 4 and most Orks have 2 (mainly because Orks are too lazy to actually aim, instead prefering to fire wildly into the air as that's more fun)[[/note]].

** Then you have Orks, who suffer the opposite -- Too Dumb To Die. They are so dumb that their ''technology'' is actually the result of their belief in ignorant ideas actually creates a Psyker Field around them, making reality bend to their will. That's right, their "tek" works in part because ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve.

** There was an incident where a Tau world was under attack by a Tyranid splinter fleet. [[RobotWar Necron]] warships appeared and proceeded to slaughter every living thing before descending to the planet. The overjoyed Tau sent a big delegation including their Ethereal to meet the Necrons, [[RunningGag who proceeded to slaughter every living thing]] before leaving.
*** Funny enough it was a few days into the celebration.
** The Tau are well in the running for worst offenders-and considering they have the entire Imperium to deal with in this competition, that's ''really'' saying something. It doesn't help that they have a ''massive'' case of WrongGenreSavvy, given that Tau are the most idealistic and peaceful guys in the setting ([[AlternateCharacterInterpretation depending on what you think]], though [[CrapsackWorld it isn't saying much]]) and are more likely to ask you "Join or we'll shoot!" than just skipping straight to NoKillLikeOverkill with {{BFG}}s and {{Hand Cannon}}s that leave red mist behind. They happily ally with anyone, have actual diplomats, and generally try to encourage peace rather than shooting. [[WrongGenreSavvy They are unfortunately in the wrong world to try this.]] Say what you will about the Imperium's faults ([[CrapsackWorld ...holy shit we'd be awhile if you did that. Don't, please just don't.]]) but at least they know who not to make deals with. But one of the most specific trait of theirs is that they are [[FlatEarthAtheist Flat Earth Atheists]] despite the fact that they live in a galaxy that is under permanent invasion by '''DAEMONS'''. They just regard them as yet another annoying absolutely material beings. (Granted, this bit is at least justified since they are basically soulless (thus having no possible connection to immaterium) and one Tau who actually comprehended that Humans had things called souls, warps existed and Humans and Eldar had strong connection to warp [[GoMadFromTheRevelation got lobotomized]].)

** In a setting where ruthlessness is a virtue and mercy to an enemy is often the height of stupidity, the Old Ones may prove to be the biggest bunch of morons around. They had defeated the entire species of both the Necrontyr and the C'tann and could have ended them permanently. However instead of doing the smart thing in 40k, such as dumping them body and soul into the Warp, nuking their planets out of existence, or enslaving them with their godlike mind powers, what do the Old Ones do. They leave both enemies alone. This allowed the Necrontyr to eventually contact the C'tann and supercharge them with the sacrifice of their life-force while the Necrontyr have their consciousnesses placed in near-indestructible robotic bodies. Neither of them make the mistake of taking mercy on Old Ones and wipe them out by constant bombardment of supernovas and black holes.
** The Necrontyr and C'tan made their share of mind-numbingly stupid mistakes as well and paid for them in spades.

** Theres another story, similar of that above: One race encountered prior to the Heresy by the Imperium had abandoned all-out warfare in favor of battles in specialized arenas. When the Imperium dropped by, they found the aliens armored up, weapons in hand... aligned neatly in the arenas and looking up at the ships in orbit waiting for the humans to land and fight them. [[DeathFromAbove The Imperials just bombed them out of existence]].

*** In some tellings, the killings only stop when one of the party notices the head [[CriticalResearchFailure has both eyes.]]

*** The Dwarven Slayers (Troll Slayers, Giant Slayers and Dragon Slayers in order of least to most badass) take this trope to UpToEleven. Justified since they're [[DeathSeeker Death Seekers]]. Daemon Slayers technically count, but they are too good to actually die easily.

** Clan Ice Hellion historically had a bad habit of rushing into situations without thinking. This resulted in them being one of the weakest of the Clans and they were derided by their fellows as "Clan Tantrum". However they only truly hit this trope when they tried to invade the Inner Sphere on their own; something that ''seven'' vastly superior Clans had (at best) limited success with. They were promptly ripped apart before they even reached the Inner Sphere as they ran straight into the Occupation Zone of the much stronger Jade Falcon and while fighting them decided [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder it was a good time to double-cross their temporary allies]], Clan Hell's Horses. This ended with them getting [[CurbStompBattle utterly trounced]] in a brutal war on two fronts, with the few survivors being forced to join another Clan in order to avoid being [[KillThemAll completely killed off]].

** The Tau are well in the running for worst offenders-and considering they have the entire Imperium to deal with in this competition, that's ''really'' saying something. It doesn't help that they have a ''massive'' case of WrongGenreSavvy, given that Tau are the most idealistic and peaceful guys in the setting ([[AlternateCharacterInterpretation depending on what you think]], though [[CrapsackWorld it isn't saying much]]) and are more likely to ask you "Join or we'll shoot!" than just skipping straight to NoKillLikeOverkill with {{BFG}}s and {{Hand Cannon}}s that leave red mist behind. They happily ally with anyone, have actual diplomats, and generally try to encourage peace rather than shooting. [[WrongGenreSavvy They are unfortunately in the wrong world to try this.]] Say what you will about the Imperium's faults ([[CrapsackWorld ...holy shit we'd be awhile if you did that. Don't, please just don't.]]) but at least they know who not to make deals with. But one of the most specific trait of theirs is that they are [[FlatEarthAtheist Flat Earth Atheists]] despite the fact that they live in a galaxy that is under permanent invasion by '''DAEMONS'''. They just regard them as yet another annoying absolutely material beings. (Granted, this bit is at least justified since they are basically soulless (thus having no possible connection to immaterium) and one Tau who actually comprehended that Humans had things called souls, warps existed and Humans and Eldar had strong connection to warp [[GoMadFromTheRevelation became a lobotomized retard]].)

** Clan Smoke Jaguar, [[KlingonScientistsGetNoRespect with their over-emphasis on the Warrior caste and completely ignorant eschewal of their Scientist, Technician, Worker, and Merchant castes]], also qualifies. They decided that as warriors, they have no need for common necessities like basic logistics and producing their own wares for both their civilian and military castes, and chose to raid other people's territories for their resources. This way of thinking resulted in the most fatalistic depiction of CripplingOverspecialization ever and it cost them big time when they participated in the Invasion of the Inner Sphere. Additionally, their personnel suffered from poor discipline and lack of charisma and their way of settling conflicts with others is to go head on berserk charges towards their opponents with little to no heed of tactical or strategical planning whatsoever, similar to their Ice Hellion counterparts. All this came to a head when the Jaguars thought it was permissible to lay [=WMDs=] and OrbitalBombardment of certain strongholds they came across, eventually leading to the Turtle Bay Massacre. [[GodzillaThreshold Not only did this drew the collective ire of just about every Inner Sphere faction who were busy fending off the Clans]], but the other Clans thought it was [[EvenEvilHasStandards too much of a line to cross]] and effectively cut off all support for the Jaguars. Eventually the Jaguars were [[KilledOffForReal annihilated for good]] several years later by a combined Inner Sphere and mercenary unit assault while the other Clans stood by and did nothing.

** The Elves got their moments too. Wanna know why the War of the Beard is called that? Meet Caledor II the Warrior, the Phoenix King at the time of that war. Long story short, Dark Elves disguised as High Elves attacked a Dwarf caravan. Gotrek, the Dwarven High King, demanded explanation and recompense. Caledor replied [[{{Arrogance}} that he would only answer to pleas, not to demands, and sent the Dwarf emissaries away with nothing]]. This would propably be enough for the Dwarves to start a war, but Gotrek sent the emisaries again. This time the emisaries refused to return with nothing saying they'd rather have their beards shaved off (a GRAND insult for a dwarf). Caledor [[WhatAnIdiot did just that]]. And so began a war that ended with both races on the verge of annihilation, Caledor dead, and the prized Phoenix Crown in the hands of the dwarves. There are differences in this story between elves and dwarves but both agree that Caledor, rather than being called Caledor the Warrior, should be called Caledor the Idiot.

*** Anton Marik decided he was going to [[BullyingADragon force Wolf's Dragoons, an elite fighting force that boasted five regiments and was the only thing at that time standing between Anton and total defeat to become his household troops.]] He did this by holding a number of noncombatant dependents [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Jamie Wolf's brother and second-in-command, Joshua]] hostage. When Wolf told him essentially to get bent and release the hostages unharmed, Anton had them executed. [[BerserkButton It goes over about as well as you'd expect.]] Among the dead are [[PapaWolf Jamie Wolf's wife and two daughters]] [[note]]The only saving grace was that Jamie's son, MacKenzie, was in the Federated Suns for treatment of an ailment and well out of harm's way at the time[[/note]]. [[FromBadToWorse Even worse]], Joshua was the lover of [[SociopathicSoldier Natasha Kerensky]], who would become [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the Black Widow]] precisely because of the murder, and would tear Anton's fortress apart, brick by brick, literally dropping the roof on him, in revenge for Joshua's killing.

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** Bretonnian Knights Errant. Those HotBlood young knights are impetuous - i.e. they will spontaneously attack any enemy at reach unless they pass the Leadership check, and they are Immune to Psychology on the turn they charge. The usual result is a SuicideAttack. This tendency acts also as a kind of a Darwinist natural selection - those Knights Errants who survive, are to become the new Knights of the Realm.

** While we're on the subject of the Imperium, the Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer. Whoever wrote it seems to have been a lobotomized imbecile with no military, tactical, or mechanical experience whatsoever, assigning hymns to everything such as loading a lasgun or autopistol and throwing a grenade which we all know is bullshit (and the Litany of Stealth, to be recited as you approach the enemy), encourages Leeroy Jenkins tactics, tells soldiers they will die horribly, gives disturbingly awful background information on enemies, giving gems such as: "Ork weapons are extremely crude and prone to misfires or jamming." [[note]] Maybe true for the shootas and any other ranged weapons, but as the [[Literature/CiaphasCain HERO OF THE IMPERIUM]] points out, they're effective as the average bolter. And I did see an axe misfire [[NoodleIncident once]], but it really wasn't all that likely. Impossible under any circumstances, really.[[/note]] "Tyranid weapons are formed of living tissues,[[note]]True.[[/note]] they often fall apart." [[note]]''Not'' true without some major application of firepower.[[/note]] "Eldar technology is antiquated,[[note]]Technically, true.[[/note]] Eldar craftsmanship is inferior to our own."[[note]]Haha, no.[[/note]] "Beware the tau - they'll sacrifice your babies to their gods!"[[note]]Nyet--Tau are {{Flat Earth Atheist}}s to the point of ScaryDogmaticAliens.[[/note]] It also says Tau are frightened by fire. And water. And thunder. And unnerved by hairy people [[note]] Were that true, the Imperium could just send in the Space Wolves and maybe some Valhallans.[[/note]] [[BlatantLies They are also derived from bovines and chew cud and have udders. They have terrible eyesight so that their hearing overcompensates, allowing you to scare them off with loud shouting. And those guns they're carrying require sustained streams to injure a healthy, armored human]][[note]]bullshit, bullshit, and groxshit. First one is racist. Second is half-true. The tau have worse eyesight and more sensitive hearing than most other races, but they compensate for the first with hard training and extremely good targeting aids, and the second is only really relevant when it comes to noise on the level of sonic weapons, and they do a number on anyone. Third is lethal groxshit-Tau guns are some of the most powerful in the game, being very capable of knocking over a SpaceMarine.[[/note]] Then, somewhere else in there, it says that Imperial soldiers have the best armor and weapons, which will oneshot anything and protect from anything[[note]] So a glorified t-shirt and flashlight is a better choice than power armor, a [[ChainsawGood chainsaw]] and bolter? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCh0BXdVtmE Ah had no idea...]][[/note]]. What's dumber than that book? A guardsman that takes it seriously.

** Then you have Orks, who suffer the opposite--Too Dumb To Die. They are so dumb that their ''technology'' is actually the result of their belief in ignorant ideas actually creates a Psyker Field around them, making reality bend to their will. That's right, their "tek" works in part because ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve.
*** Although the Orks are more than capable of falling straight into this trope when they want to, especially when they are guarding things - the go-to response of Ork sentries is usually "charge at enemy firing weapon", rather than, say "raise alarm". Gunfire and noise are generally unremarkable in an Ork camp, so the Orks are usually rather easy to sneak up on, especially if their enemies are competent. It is also common for Ork armies to fall apart because a campfire brawl escalates into a massive civil war in the space of fifteen minutes, which usually ends with the Orks' enemies [[PassThePopcorn sitting back, watching the fireworks]], then carpet bombing the survivors once the Orks' AA gunners are dead.

** In the Heralds of Ruin rules for ''[[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000KillTeam Kill Team]]'', the Grot Rebels list has upgrades that cause them to take fewer Rout checks because the grots are too dumb to realise they should be taking them - Bad Counting Skills causes them to be more confident because they think they have more troops than they do, and Poor Battlefield Awareness means they pass a rout test for free because they haven't figured out they're losing. These can both lead to more Gretchin dying horribly than would be the case if they simply legged it upon losing half their number like everybody else.

* Having your intelligence drop to 0 in certain {{RPG}}s will render you literally Too Dumb to Live and lead to immediate character death. Presumably your character forgets how to breathe. Others just put you in a persistent vegetative state.
* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' ''Fallen Empires'', the entire continent of Sarpadia was lost because the Order of the Ebon Hand and the Elves were idiots.
** The Order of the Ebon Hand created a slave race called the Thrulls that bred at a rapid pace. Then they started creating intelligent Thrulls capable of using magic so they could assist the Order with experiments. Thrulls who were smart enough to think "Hey, being a slave sucks." The Thrulls, led by this new breed, wiped out the Order.
** The Elves bred an aggressive fungoid species called the Thallids as a food source (using the same magic the Order used to create Thrulls). This worked fine for a while, until the Thallids showed signs of rudimentary intelligence. The Elves were reluctant to wipe out their most reliable food source even when they started brandishing weapons. While the Elves argued over whether they should destroy the Thallids, the Thallids overran them.
** The end result is that Sarpadia in the present day is crawling with Thrulls and Thallids.
** Unrelated to the above, Goblins take this role in most worlds. Goblin minelayers, for example, have [[ExplosiveStupidity a fifty-fifty chance of blowing themselves up]].
* ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'' is actually at its most fun when the entire party is exhibiting this trope. That's why clones come in six-packs, after all. One of the rules the GM is encouraged to operate upon is "once someone declares their character's actions for the next turn, that's what they're doing, no backsies" ... ''unless'' the changed course of action would be funnier ("Shoot, Vody-O-DOE is setting off a solar grenade? Forget diving for cover; I'm gonna strip off my jumpsuit and get a tan").
* ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness:'' Since a straightforward PsychicAssistedSuicide using mind control (be it mental powers or [[TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression mind control devices]]) is impossible, due to human survival instincts being far too strong to allow it, this is a common and even suggested workaround. Telling your victim to disobey a bunch of cops and try to take their guns, go play with the lion in a zoo or flip off a dangerous supernatural creature is fair game when it comes to getting them killed.

*** Victor Steiner Davion, to help keep House Marik in the Clan War as an arms supplier, offers the cream of the Federated Commonwealth's research hospitals, the New Avalon Institute of Science, to treat Captain General Thomas Marik's son Joshua, then extremely ill with leukemia. [[RealityEnsues Despite the best good-faith efforts at NAIS, Joshua succumbs to his leukemia]]. Victor, afraid that the news of the death will sour relations with Marik's Free Worlds League, decides to lie about it and sends a double to House Marik. [[BerserkButton It goes over about as well as you'd expect as soon as the flimsy lie disintegrates.]] Relations with House Marik aren't just soured, they completely rupture, allowing House Liao [[note]]who lost badly in a CurbStompBattle known as the Fourth Succession War to the Federated Commonwealth and is spoiling for a rematch[[/note]] to propose an alliance to take back worlds lost by both nations 20 years earlier. [[HumiliationConga They win easily, severing the Commonwealth into to two nations again, making it just that much easier for the civil war to erupt that would completely destroy the Commonwealth before ten years had passed.]] Next time, Vic, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero just tell the malfing truth!]]

*** The Dwarven Slayers (Troll Slayers and Giant Slayers) take this trope to UpToEleven. Justified since they're [[DeathSeeker Death Seekers]].

** In the backstory of [[EldritchAbomination Pandorym]] from the Elder Evils sourcebook, it was summoned by a group of wizards who wanted to ''threaten the gods!''. The gods merely waited for the wizards to safely imprison Pandorym, the smote them from existence, and called it a day. A similar thing happened with the Vashar, the first sketch of humanity, who decided to attack his creators as soon as he was born. The gods obviously just smote him and went to work on sketch #2.

** Theres another story, similar of that above: One race encountered prior to the Heresy by Humans had abandoned all-out warfare in favor of battles in specialized arenas. When the Imperium dropped by, they found the aliens armored up, weapons in hand... aligned neatly in the arenas and looking up at the ships in orbit waiting for the humans to land and fight them. [[DeathFromAbove Humans just bombed them out of existence]].

** The absolutely [[AxCrazy mad]] vampire Konrad von Carstein, although it is probably more of an example of being Too ''Insane'' to Live. This is the kind of guy who convicts his own mother for the crime of giving birth to him without his own permission.

*** Anton Marik decided he was going to [[BullyingADragon force Wolf's Dragoons, an elite fighting force that boasted five regiments and was the only thing at that time standing between Anton and total defeat to become his household troops.]] He did this by holding a number of noncombatant dependents [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Jamie Wolf's brother and second-in-command, Joshua]] hostage. When Wolf told him essentially to get bent and release the hostages unharmed, Anton had them executed. [[BerserkButton It goes over about as well as you'd expect.]] Among the dead are [[PapaWolf Jamie Wolf's wife and two daughters]] [[note]]The only saving grace was that Jamie's son, MacKenzie, was in the Federated Suns for treatment of an ailment and well out of harm's way at the time[[/note]]. [[FromBadToWorse Even worse]], Joshua was the lover of [[SociopathicSoldier]] Natasha Kerensky, who would become [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the Black Widow]] precisely because of the murder, and would tear Anton's fortress apart, brick by brick, literally dropping the roof on him, in revenge for Joshua's killing.

** There's a good reason why the phrases "You can certainly try!" and variations of "Are you sure?" are a [[Memes/DungeonsAndDragons meme]] amongst Dungeon Masters. Basically any DM can share a story about a player getting themselves killed through this, whether it was [[SuperDrowningSkills forgetting to take their plate armour off before trying to swim]] to [[EarthShatteringKaboom combining Eschew Materials and Major Creation to summon anti-matter]].

** In the backstory of [[EldritchAbomination Pandorym]] from the Elder Evils sourcebook, it was summoned by a group of wizards who wanted to ''threaten the gods!''. The gods merely waited for the wizards to safely imprison Pandorym, the smote them from existence, and called it a day.

** Unsurprisingly for a world where gods are very definitely real, there are a lot of people who have tried to threaten, kill and/or usurp them. The gods are, of course, ''gods'', and those stories usually end up with them smiting whoever the offender was, and going about their day.