History BeyondTheImpossible / TabletopGame

Events in tabletop games that are not possible. '''Only add examples that fit the definition'''.

* ''{{TabletopGame/Exalted}}'':
** Killing the [[OurTitansAreDifferent Primordials]] was so damn impossible that it created the [[EldritchAbomination Neverborn]] and TheUnderworld as a result.
** Merela strangled one of them to death with her bare hands. Primordials ''don't need to breathe''.
** Thousand-Faceted Nelumbo wants to master Sidereal martial arts. She knows this is supposed to be impossible, canon says it's impossible and the default assumption is that she will fail. On the other hand, Exalted are known for doing the impossible.
** Two subversions: All Abyssal Exalted ''know'' they can be redeemed, just not how ([=GMs=] are encouraged to make it up and make it ''hard''). Also, it is impossible to reach Malfeas (Hell...ish) in less than 5 days. There is a charm allowing a Solar to punch somebody straight through the sky and immediately into Malfeas...where the person lies in stasis for the five days it takes to get to Malfeas, because ''time itself'' needs five days to catch up.
** This is how Solars Exalt. A mortal realizes a task is impossible, then does it anyway. Other Exalted have elements of this in their own Exaltations (Lunars have to reach the DespairEventHorizon and [[{{Determinator}} keep going anyway]]), but Solars are the most explicit.
** An example similar to the [[OurTitansAreDifferent Primordials]] occurs in ''Return of the Scarlet Empress.'' [[spoiler: The book explicitly states that [[BigGood The Unconquered Sun]] cannot be killed, then immediately goes into detail about how such a thing might happen (including through the actions of a group of VillainProtagonist player characters) and what the repercussions would be.]]
** It's stated in the Alchemicals book that the Exalted can't create Alchemicals - that's a right reserved for specially-chosen ''mortals''. It then mentions that "mere impossibility has never stopped the Exalted."
* Ryld Argith of ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' has a (otherwise normal) AbsurdlySharpBlade that can cut through enchantments!
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'':
** Due to missing out on the mass [[MindRape Mind Rape]] inflicted by the [[EldritchAbomination Nightbringer]] on the galaxy at large, the Orks alone are a sentient race entirely free from the fear of their own mortality. They do not fear death at all, and indeed rush heedlessly towards it and love every second, but they '''still fear Commissar Yarrick!'''
** The 6th edition Chaos Space Marine codex mentions that Warp Talons have blades so sharp that ''they can slice the very fabric of reality itself''.
** In the RPG adaptation, ''TabletopGame/DarkHeresy'', permanently expending a Fate Point will allow your character to survive ''anything'' -- any one attack or situation that could prove fatal, doesn't (although just barely). For instance, a character may spend a point to downgrade a lethal lascannon shot to "merely" dealing tons of damage and knocking them out. The rulebook mentions that this can apply to any situation where one might die, no matter how outlandish, and [[DeadpanSnarker conversationally suggests]] that it might require a bit of odd justification to avoid dying ''on a ship that [[CriticalExistenceFailure explodes]] while in [[HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace Warp transit]]''.
** In another RPG adaptation, ''TabletopGame/RogueTrader'', There is a note from an explorer who landed on a death world and had crew eaten by a rock. Not a creature: a plain, unassuming rock.
** So we all know the Warp, right? Realm of the gods, heaven and hell combined if heaven was an even worse hell. HyperspaceIsScary personified. The sum total of every emotion, thought and soul of every living being that has ever existed. The Warp, despite being most of the reason this is a CrapsackWorld, is a vital part of nearly every sentient species in the galaxy. None of the empires could have existed without it. And then, the Tyranids come along, an alien hive who's subconscious buzzing is to loud that it ''drowns out the Warp!''
* ''TabletopGame/{{Munchkin}}'':
** Two of the cards that can be played to make combat difficult are [[LastOfHisKind Last of Its Race]] and And Its Clone. They can both be played on the same monster. [[note]] There's also Mate and Brood, both of which would be rather illogical to play on a monster that had been made Last Of Its Race. Munchkin Cthulhu also adds "...and its Spawn." Or Last Of Its Race and [[LukeIAmYourFather Is Your Father]]...Or just Is Your Father, period, given some of the monsters you can throw it on. Like a ''comfy chair''. Or the card "3,872 Orcs". All of them are your father.[[/note]]
** "Cheat With Both Hands" (the seventh expansion for the main game) is this trope in card game form. Along with the titular card (which lets you cheat for two items), there are cards which provide extra or even unlimited Races and Classes.
** The card called "Cheat" allows you to disregard all restrictions when attached to an item card. Depending on how loosely your group interprets the rules, this may lead to physically impossible things (such as [[Manga/OnePiece wielding more weapons than you have hands]]).
* ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'': The Immunity power allows a character to NoSell anything if they have enough points. You can even NoSell the DM [[JustifiedTrope If the DM has granted the player a hero point.]] Considering [[RuleZero The DM is always right]] this breaks internal logic in a weird kind of way.
* The ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' edition of ''TabletopGame/{{Chrononauts}}'', except that there is one Ripplepoint early on that gets changed by ''future'' events. The way it's supposed to work is the other way around.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Scion}}'': Many, many years ago, Odin managed to kill Ymir. ''Odin killed the very concept of coldness.'' The universe freaked out so hard it caused the great flood in a desperate attempt to do a reset on that fatal error.
* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', permanents with the ability "Indestructible" should be indestructible. For the most part this is true, as lethal damage and spells or effects that say "destroy" don't work, but there are still several ways to get rid of them anyway. Like reducing their toughness to zero so they self-destruct, or exiling them, or returning them to the hand or library.
* This is the point of the "Cosmic" enhancement in ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}''. It's a general-purpose enhancement that allows powers to ignore limits that would otherwise be absolute. For example, Cosmic DamageReduction might be able to ignore armor divisors.
* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
** ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' has egarus, a virulent fungus from the Abyss that infected a Prime world and ran rampant. The natives couldn't destroy it, but kicked it into the Quasiplane of Vacuum... where it adapted to use nothingness as a food source.
** The 3[[superscript:rd]]-Edition ''TabletopGame/EpicLevelHandbook'' lets players use mundane skills in impossible ways. A character can train to wiggle through a completely impenetrable Wall of Force, read someone's mind by studying their face, stand on clouds, and so on. These are described as ''extraordinary'' abilities, meaning no supernatural power is involved -- the character is just that good.
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** So we all know the Warp, right? Realm of the gods, heaven and hell combined if heaven was an even worse hell. HyperspaceIsScary personified. The sum total of every emotion, thought and soul of every living being that has ever existed. The war, despite being most of the reason this is a CrapsackWorld, is a vital part of nearly every sentient species in the galaxy. None of the empires could have existed without it. And then, the Tyranids come along, an alien hive who's subconscious buzzing is to loud that it ''drowns out the Warp!''

** Two of the cards that can be played to make combat difficult are [[LastOfHisKind Last of Its Race]] and And Its Clone. They can both be played on the same monster. [[note]] There's also Mate and Brood, both of which would be rather illogical to play on a monster that had been made Last Of Its Race. Munchkin Cthulhu also adds "...and its Spawn." Or Last Of Its Race and [[LukeIAmYourFather Is Your Father]]... Or just Is Your Father, period, given some of the monsters you can throw it on. Like a ''comfy chair''. Or the card "3,872 Orcs". All of them are your father. [[/note]]

* ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'': The Immunity power allows a character to NoSell anything if they have enough points. You can even No Sell the DM [[JustifiedTrope If the DM has granted the player a hero point.]] Considering [[RuleZero The DM is always right]] this breaks internal logic in a weird kind of way.

* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', permanents with the ability "Indestructible" should be indestructible. For the most part this is true, as lethal damage and spells or effects that say "destroy" don't work, but there are still several ways to get rid of them anyway.

** Thousand Faceted Nelumbo wants to master Sidereal martial arts. She knows this is supposed to be impossible, canon says it's impossible and the default assumption is that she will fail. On the other hand, Exalted are known for doing the impossible.

* This is the point of the "Cosmic" enhancement in ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}. It's a general-purpose enhancement that allows powers to ignore limits that would otherwise be absolute. For example, Cosmic DamageReduction might be able to ignore armor divisors.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' has egarus, a virulent fungus from the Abyss that infected a Prime world and ran rampant. The natives couldn't destroy it, but kicked it into the Quasiplane of Vacuum... where it adapted to use ''nothingness'' as a food source.

* The ''TabletopGame/EpicLevelHandbook'' for 3[[superscript:rd]]-Edition ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' lets players use mundane skills in impossible ways. A character can train to walk through a [[PureEnergy Wall of Force]], which is completely impenetrable and completely immune to physical force; can read someone's mind by studying their face; and can stand on clouds. These are described as ''extraordinary'' abilities, meaning no supernatural power is involved -- the character is just that good.

** Two of the cards that can be played to make combat difficult are [[LastOfHisKind Last of Its Race]] and And Its Clone. They can both be played on the same monster. [[note]] There's also Mate and Brood, both of which would be rather illogical to play on a monster that had been made Last Of Its Race. Munchkin Cthulhu also adds "...and its Spawn." Or Last Of Its Race and [[LukeIAmYourFather Is Your Father]]... Or just Is Your Father, period, given some of the monsters you can throw it on. Like a ''comfy chair''. Or the aforementioned 3,872 Orcs. All of them are your father. [[/note]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Planescape}}'' features razorvine, growing mostly on [[{{Hell}} Lower Planes]], but eagerly acclimatizing anywhere. Its stem is a living razor wire, growing twisted and under tension and thus lashing around if cut. Some try to use it as a security measure, but it's a virulent weed and hard to eradicate. In some places, any sod barmy enough to bring in any plant cuttings can be summarily executed. Egarus is a fungus from Abyss which was accidentally introduced on a Prime world, and after discovering that it grows everywhere and they can't even KillItWithFire. Natives managed to kick it out to the Quasiplane of Vacuum... '''and it survives there'''.

** Two notable subversions: All Abyssal Exalted ''know'' they can be redeemed, just not how ([=GMs=] are encouraged to make it up and make it ''hard''). Also, it is impossible to reach Malfeas (Hell...ish) in less than 5 days. There is a charm allowing a Solar to punch somebody straight through the sky and immediately into Malfeas...where the person lies in stasis for the five days it takes to get to Malfeas, because ''time itself'' needs five days to catch up.

** An example similar to the [[OurTitansAreDifferent Primordials]] above occurs in ''Return of the Scarlet Empress.'' [[spoiler: The book explicitly states that [[BigGood The Unconquered Sun]] cannot be killed, then immediately goes into detail about how such a thing might happen (including through the actions of a group of VillainProtagonist player characters) and what the repercussions would be.]]

* The Immunity power in ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'' allows a character to NoSell anything if they have enough points. You can even No Sell the DM [[JustifiedTrope If the DM has granted the player a hero point.]] Considering [[RuleZero The DM is always right]] this breaks internal logic in a weird kind of way.