History VideoGame / RuneScape

''[=RuneScape=] 3'' and ''Old School'' (colloquially referred to as ''[=RS3=]'' and ''OSRS'' by players) are the two "main" versions of the game as they both receive regular updates and, thus, have their own dedicated playerbases.

[[caption-width-right:320:Join the World's largest free MMORPG game.[[note]]as recognized by Guinness World Records as the most popular free MMORPG.[[/note]] ]]

''[=RuneScape=] 3'' and ''Old School'' (colloquially referred to as ''RS3'' and ''OSRS'' by players) are the two "main" versions of the game as they both receive regular updates and, thus, their own dedicated playerbases.

The game was originally released in January 2001 in what would now be considered a very primitive form. The full world was ''much'' smaller, containing only a few small cities. There were only six quests, one server, and two developers. It gradually expanded until 2004, when the whole game was overhauled completely: such large changes were made to the game engine, the graphics, the basic game mechanics, and the content that the developers saw fit to call it "[=RuneScape=] 2" and retire the previous game as "[=RuneScape Classic=]". The Classic version is still playable today, although access is restricted to subscribing members. Then, in July of 2013, Jagex released Runescape 3, which added a new [=HTML5=] client with improved graphics[[note]]which fizzled due to browsers not adding [=HTML5=] support like Jagex had hoped[[/note]], as well as improved audio and a new, customizable interface and kicking off the first in a series of game-wide World Events. Jagex later rereleased Runescape 2, circa 2007, as Old School Runescape, with its own small dev team and player polled updates.

[[caption-width-right:320:Go ahead, player. Change your Fate.]]

It has a series of ExpandedUniverse novels: ''Betrayal at Falador'' (2008), ''Return to Canifis'' (2011) and ''Legacy of Blood'' (2012), all written by T.S. Church. It has also spawned three [[GaidenGame Gaiden Games]]: "Armies of Gielinor", a multiplayer TurnBasedTactics game set during the God Wars, released through Website/FunOrb, "Chronicle: [=RuneScape=] Legends" a CollectibleCardGame, and "[=RuneScape=] Idle Adventures", an IdleGame.

It has a series of ExpandedUniverse novels: ''Betrayal at Falador'' (2008), ''Return to Canifis'' (2011) and ''Legacy of Blood'' (2012), all written by T.S. Church. There's also a GaidenGame called "Armies of Gielinor", a multiplayer TurnBasedTactics game set during the God Wars, released through Website/FunOrb.

!!Tropes used in ''RuneScape'' include:

The game was originally released in January 2001 in what would now be considered a very primitive form. The full world was ''much'' smaller, containing only a few small cities. There were only six quests, one server, and two developers. It gradually expanded until 2004, when the whole game was overhauled completely: such large changes were made to the game engine, the graphics, the basic game mechanics, and the content that the developers saw fit to call it "[=RuneScape=] 2" and retire the previous game as "[=RuneScape Classic=]". The Classic version is still playable today, although access is restricted to subscribing members. Then, in July of 2013, Jagex released Runescape 3, which added a new [=HTML5=] client with improved graphics[[note]]which fizzled due to browsers not adding [=HTML5=] support like Jagex had hoped[[/note]], as well as improved audio and a new, customizable interface and kicking off the first in a series of game-wide World Events. Jagex later released Runescape 2, circa 2007, as Old School Runescape, with its own small dev team and player polled updates.

The game was originally released in January 2001 in what would now be considered a very primitive form. The full world was ''much'' smaller, containing only a few small cities. There were only six quests, one server, and two developers. It gradually expanded until 2004, when the whole game was overhauled completely: such large changes were made to the game engine, the graphics, the basic game mechanics, and the content that the developers saw fit to call it "[=RuneScape=] 2" and retire the previous game as "[=RuneScape Classic=]". The Classic version is still playable today, although access is restricted to subscribing members. Then, in July of 2013, Jagex released Runescape 3, which added a new [=HTML5=] client with improved graphics[[note]]which fizzled due to browsers not adding [=HTML5=] support like Jagex had hoped[[/note]], as well as improved audio and a new, customizable interface and kicking off the first in a series of game-wide World Events.

[[caption-width-right:320:This is not a dating site.]]

[[caption-width-right:320:"This is not a dating site."]]

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/RS_Logo_350_5905.png]]

The game was originally released in January 2001 in what would now be considered a very primitive form. The full world was ''much'' smaller, containing only a few small cities. There were only six quests, one server, and two developers. It gradually expanded until 2004, when the whole game was overhauled completely: such large changes were made to the game engine, the graphics, the basic game mechanics, and the content that the developers saw fit to call it "[=RuneScape=] 2" and retire the previous game as "[=RuneScape Classic=]". The Classic version is still playable today, although access is restricted to subscribing members. Then, in July of 2013, Jagex released Runescape 3, which added a new [=HTML5=] client with improved graphics (Which fizzled due to browsers not adding HTML5 support like jagex hoped), as well as improved audio and a new, customizable interface and kicking off a three-month event called the Battle of Lumbridge.

The game was originally released in January 2001 in what would now be considered a very primitive form. The full world was ''much'' smaller, containing only a few small cities. There were only six quests, one server, and two developers. It gradually expanded until 2004, when the whole game was overhauled completely: such large changes were made to the game engine, the graphics, the basic game mechanics, and the content that the developers saw fit to call it "[=RuneScape=] 2" and retire the previous game as "[=RuneScape Classic=]". The Classic version is still playable today, although access is restricted to subscribing members. Then, in July of 2013, Jagex released Runescape 3, which added a new [=HTML5=] client with improved graphics, as well as improved audio and a new, customizable interface and kicking off a three-month event called the Battle of Lumbridge.

It has a series of ExpandedUniverse novels: ''Betrayal at Falador'' (2008), ''Return to Canifis'' (2011) and ''Legacy of Blood'' (2012), all written by T.S. Church. There's also a GaidenGame called "Armies of Gielinor", a multiplayer TurnBasedTactics game set during the God Wars, released through FunOrb.

* RuneScape/{{Tropes A-G}}
* RuneScape/{{Tropes H-P}}
* RuneScape/{{Tropes Q-Z}}

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:A–G]]
* AbnormalAmmo:
** The fixed device, which shoots dyed toads.
** There are explosive squirrels called Chinchompas.
** Salamanders that act as flamethrowers can be used, which use swamp tar mixed with herbs as fuel.
** The Oddball Aura lets your Dwarven Multicannon shoot things like beer, squid, and brains.
** During the Rocking Out quest, part of your plan to escape the island prison you get sent to involves firing a seagull from an accordion that you've improvised into a makeshift air cannon.
* AbsoluteCleavage: Magic robes like the batwing display this when a female avatar wears them. [[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120724054552/runescape/images/f/fb/Batwing_robes_equipped_female.png]]
* AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: Under several cities, such as Varrock, Ardougne and Draynor village.
* AchievementsInIgnorance: The character TzHaar-Ga'al-Kot accidentally renders himself invisible with a miscast spell. The player can ask him what runes are used for the spell, only for him to comment that he doesn't use runes because he doesn't have pockets in which to store them. The player then calls him out on the impossibility of using magic without runes, at which point Kot states 'No one told TzHaar-Ga'al-Kot that.'
** During a quest, an old man named Oziach sends you to kill the legendary dragon Elvarg in exchange for the secrets of smithing Rune Platebodies. The player is successful, and learns the secret, but later finds out in dialogue with a different character that Oziach never expected you to succeed - he just gave you what he thought was an impossible task so you would go away.
* AcidTripDimension: The Cosmic Plane where starflowers grow, accessible through fairy rings. It looks like [[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101102061038/runescape/images/thumb/5/53/TheCosmicPlane.png/800px-TheCosmicPlane.png this.]]
* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: Most endgame items are thousands of times more expensive than their lower-level counterparts. Rings are a good example: a 2.7% range critical bonus will cost you [[http://services.runescape.com/m=itemdb_rs/Archers%27_ring/viewitem.ws?obj=6733 around a million coins]]. And if you think that's tough, wait until you see the price tag on a [[http://services.runescape.com/m=itemdb_rs/Divine_spirit_shield/viewitem.ws?obj=13740 spirit shield]]. On the other hand, the game has a real living, breathing, player-run, capitalist economy... so it's the community which isn't letting go of those rare items for a low price.
* AddressingThePlayer
* AdventurersClub: The Quest guilds: Champions' Guild, Heroes' Guild, and Legends' Guild.
* AerithAndBob: [[TeamPet Bob the Jagex Cat]], Bob's evil twin [[spoiler:also named Bob]], and Bob of Bob's Fabulous Axes all share a game with people called Zemouregal, Azzanadra and Zaros, although weirder names like those tend to pop up more with non-humans. Player characters' names can also have this effect.
* AirGuitar: An emote.
* AlasPoorVillain: At the end of "Song from the Depths", [[spoiler:you find the Siren who's been causing the trouble...and she turns out to be trapped inside the belly of the Queen Black Dragon, subject to a powerful illusion that's making her believe she's back home on her island. When you break the illusion, she's horrified. She's killed shortly after, and the player character has a brief moment of mourning]].
* AlcoholHic: Found in the dialogue of many an inebriated character.
* AllDesertsHaveCacti: The Kharidian Desert is indeed full of cacti.
* AllInARow: There's an option to "Follow" another player. A group of players can follow each other in a chain, resulting in this.
* AllNaturalGemPolish: Notably {{averted}}. You can find gems while mining, and if you do, they have to be cut with a chisel using the Crafting skill before they can be added to jewelry. Some gems can even be destroyed accidentally when you try to cut them.
* AllSwordsAreTheSame: In ''Classic'', all melee weapons have the exact same fighting animation: you just bash your opponent with it and that's that. The modern game has a wider variety of stances for different types of weapon, but there are still a limited number of animations for slashing, stabbing, or bludgeoning -- the stabbing animations for a bronze dagger are the same as the ones for a pair of gardening secateurs.
* AllTrollsAreDifferent:
** They're violent and warlike by nature, with thick, rocklike skin and low intelligence, and they're named after the first thing they try to eat (or, if they don't know what it's called, the sound it made), which leads to some unusual names like "My Arm".
*** "Dad"
*** ''"Cliff"''
** Mountain Trolls are able to change their bodies to [[AdaptiveAbility adapt to their surroundings]]. In Troll Invasion, they've shown the ability to [[SummonMagic summon monsters]] and cast magic by [[CannibalismSuperpower consuming the flesh]] of Summoners (druids) and Mages, respectively.
** Other than the most common mountain trolls, there are aquatic varieties of troll that sports fins and gills, as well as extra vicious ice trolls with thick fur.
* ALoadOfBull: Minotaurs appear both as a low-level enemy and as different summoning familiars.
* AlwaysABiggerFish: The [[spoiler:dragonkin]] to [[spoiler:Lucien]] in "Ritual of the Mahjarrat".
* AmnesiaLoop: A major plot point in the "Rise of the Red Axe" quest series. At the end of "Forgettable Tale of a Drunken Dwarf"[[note]]The name of the quest is a StealthPun[[/note]], [[spoiler:the PlayerCharacter stumbles upon the secret base of the Red Axe and learns about their plan to create an army of Chaos Dwarves to invade Keldagrim]]. However, thanks to [[spoiler:an ogre shaman working for the Red Axe]], instead of [[spoiler:making it back to Keldagrim to warn the Consortium]], [[spoiler:all your memory of the event is scrambled and you're left with an irresistible craving for beer and kebabs. After the resulting drinking party, the vital information has become slurred, drunken ramblings.]] In between quests, the same thing happens to Commander Veldaban, and the subsequent "Forgiveness of a Chaos Dwarf" quest revolves around re-discovering everything that was forgotten.
* AnAxeToGrind: In addition to regular battleaxes, hatchets and throwing axes, there's Dharok's Greataxe and Balmung.
* AncientArtifact: Recent quests have revealed that there are 12 Elder Artifacts, from which the gods [[TouchedByVorlons draw their power]] and will be a major plot element of future quests. Each artifact is a source of power, and has a certain function. Unfortunately, they also have a downside to using them. The known artifacts are:
** [[CoolSword The Elder Sword]]: capable of opening portals at whim. Currently broken in Guthix's resting place.
** [[MagicStaff The Staff]]: associated with the god Armadyl; Zamorak used it to kill Zaros and ascend to godhood, and now [[spoiler: Sliske has used it to kill Guthix]]. Armadyl stated that he could use it to create life from nonliving material.
** The Kiln: used to create the physical shell of the world. Since it utilizes the [[RockMonster Tok Haar]] to achieve this, it can defend itself with ease.
** [[ArtifactOfDoom The Stone of Jas]]: The source of all runes and a PhlebotinumBattery for the energy of the Elder Gods. Guthix used it to shape Gielenor and seed it with life. Using it if you are anyone other than Jas invokes a curse on the Dragonkin, enraging them and making them attack you. If you draw power from the stone as opposed to knowledge, they will gain an equivalent amount. Guthix, Sliske, V, and the player used it for knowledge, and so they aren't in immediate danger from the Dragonkin.
** [[CoolCrown The Crown]]: this has been in the possession of [[CrystalDragonJesus Saradomin]] for as long as anyone remembers. It can locate all artifacts, but any gods can also locate the wearer.
** The Horn: Guthix found it on Gielenor with the Staff and Stone. Quin, a seasinger from the Wushanko Isles, took over the Eastern Lands with its power, but was killed before she actually became a god. The monkey god Marimbo implies that he may have used this artifact to ascend.
** The Measure: The weakest of the artefacts and currently in the possession of the PlayerCharacter. It has the ability to measure [[LifeEnergy Anima]].
* AnchorsAway: The Barrelchest Anchor, which can be used as a weapon.
* AndIMustScream:
** Poor [[spoiler:Arrav]]; he was raised as a zombie by the very person he fought against. Said person also decided to keep him conscious, effectively forcing him to watch as his body fought his own people. [[spoiler:the Void Pest]] in A Void Dance, and [[spoiler:Akthanakos]] could be said to fit this role, since [[spoiler:he was betrayed and turned into a guardian of his own imprisonment]].
** Pentyn in Enakhra's Temple has been trapped there for thousands of years in solitary isolation and was constantly tortured by Enakhra. To make it worse, he's been immortalized and can't move anything below the shoulder, meaning he can never leave the place.
** [[spoiler:Apmeken had her voice, sight, and hearing taken away,]] and she was forced to sit back and wait as her monkeys slowly died off and the people of the desert turned against one another and killed each other without her guidance.
** The [=TzHaar=], whose bodies are composed of rock and magma/lava, apparently remain fully self-aware as they harden into solid obsidian upon "death." Obsidian which is then ''[[HumanResources broken up and made into TokKul, their currency]]''. In The Elder Kiln, [[spoiler:Ga'al-Xox is infused with the [=TokKul=] of a dead [=TzHaar=] champion, giving him all the memories of the dead champion. He reveals that turning into [=TokKul=] is crushing agony, unable to even think coherently through the pressure and the pain; Xox was nearly driven insane from being exposed to a few minutes of 'death']].
** Skaldrun: his identity and all memory of who he was was destroyed to make him a human library. He was then made immortal and frozen in a block of ice for several hundred years, fully aware of his surroundings.
** [[spoiler:Mother Mallum's host, Lucy]], in "Salt in the Wound". Stated to have been only a child when [[spoiler:the slug queen possessed her]] and forced to spend '''decades''' in a semi-conscious, waking nightmare of an existence [[spoiler:before finally being granted a proper death at the end of the quest]].
%% AndTheFandomRejoiced: This trope is on the YMMV subpage; please do not add it to the main page.
* AndYourRewardIsClothes: Reach level 99 in a skill? You get a cape. It has reasonable combat stats, yes, but still a fancy cape with a special emoticon. Finishing achievement diaries and quests, as well as many minigames/activities gets you pieces of clothing and armor. Much of it is unique or otherwise useful, but most of it is strictly cosmetic.
* AnimatedArmor:
** The best example is the Warriors' Guild, where you can have your suit of armor brought to life as part of a minigame. Animated suits of armor appear in other places, as well.
** Animated floating ''axes'' inhabit part of the dungeon just south of Taverley. In addition, the old Druidic Ritual quest involved going to the Cauldron of Thunder therein, which was guarded by a pair of suits of armour which came to life and attacked the player when they tried to pass by.
** Animated spades and pickaxes are also found in several dungeons. The pickaxes pack a surprising punch.
* AnotherDimension: Lots, but notably:
** Zanaris, a realm ruled by [[LandOfFaerie Fairies]]. The entire [[PortalNetwork Fairy Ring infrastructure]] uses faint energy that was left from Guthix closing the Portal of Life for the purpose of transport to other realms.
*** Zanaris has since been [[RetCon retconned]] into being Gielinor's moon.
** [[ApocalypseHow Yu'biusk]], the ancestral home of the goblin races, destroyed by Bandos long ago.
** The Spirit Realm, a series of [[PocketDimension smaller pocket dimensions]], with its only inhabitants terrorized by the Spirit Beast. The realm itself is a cross between DarkWorld, MirrorWorld, and SpiritWorld; doing one thing in this world affects the real world in the opposite way.
** [[BloodyBowelsOfHell The Abyss]], discovered when the ZMI had a teleportation accident and tried to replicate the effect, is used for fast Runecrafting altar travel. It is the dimension that connects all other dimensions.
** Then there is the Void, which is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a complete absense of anything]], which connects the ''abyss'' [[MindScrew to other planes, and parts of the Void is also created by a spirit beast tearing its way from the Spirit Realm to the real world]].
** Kethsi, a plane that was once a paradise but now a godforsaken wasteland after the residents [[spoiler:unwittingly enraged the Dragonkin]].
** The Runespan.
* AntiFrustrationFeatures:
** To avert FetchQuest, quests will often provide some required items like spades or pickaxes or gems in the nearby vicinity, saving you the trouble of trekking away to find one yourself.
** The Toolbelt provides you with pretty much every basic tool you'll need to do any skilling or quest task in the game, unless it is a very specific item needed for a quest. This saves players long treks or teleports back to the bank for a chisel. Even better, it holds everything without taking up an additional inventory space, which is a huge bonus in a game with only 28 spaces for non-equipment.
** Quest items for newer quests have been made more clear with a small icon next to the name of the item. Prior to this point, it was hard to tell what was actually a quest item, especially once the quest was over.
** Having trouble with the SlidingPuzzle in "Monkey Madness"? You can skip it by paying Glough a bribe.
** Sometimes if a puzzle is annoying there's usually a way to just bludgeon your way through.
** In player-owned ports, if you take too long locating the assassins in the Black Marketeer's random event, a hint arrow appears to point you in the right direction.
* AntiGrinding: To ensure that all clan members participate in the upkeep of the Clan Citadel there's a {{Cap}}; each individual player can only grind away at the resources until they hit the cap, after which it's impossible for them to continue.
* AntiVillain:
** The [[spoiler:Balance Elemental]], whom you must kill to access the [[spoiler:Stone of Jas]]. Which turns out to be a [[NiceJobBreakingItHero biiiig mistake]].
** The Easter 2011 event gave [[spoiler:The Queen Of Snow]] just a touch of this. After you help cut down an evil holly tree to obtain the Year, it quickly became apparent that what you've fetched for The Queen Of Sunshine wasn't real. [[spoiler:Turns out Snowie, one of the most endearing holiday characters in the game, stole the real one because spring is so foreign to her that she literally can't see anything beautiful in it; despite knowing spring has to come to maintain order, she wanted winter to go on a little longer because she's perfectly in tune with it -- but still felt mighty guilty about it.]]
** The Mahjarrat may be this, particularly the Zarosian variety. They were stolen from their home dimension and enslaved by a Jackal god, then freed by the Empty Lord (Zaros). They're generally nice. [[spoiler:Sliske still tries to turn you into a Barrows Brother, and kills one of your friends. The others seem to not mind if you kill him, but he is rather powerful, so they like having him as an ally.]]
** "Some Like It Cold" reveals that [[spoiler:the penguins in the Motherland are slaves and food to both the seals and polar bears, and the penguins on the iceberg were originally a group of penguins who just wanted to escape, even if Pescaling is now bent on taking over the world.]]
* AnthropomorphicPersonifications:
** The Queen of Snow and Queen of Sunrise are personifications of winter and spring respectively. The former once tried to make the world stay in winter because she cannot comprehend the beauty of spring.
** The 2011 Halloween event the simply packed with these. Death apparently joined up with Pestilence, War and Famine to form a clan, and held the event involving Beauty and Fame, and Peace was mentioned during the event as well.
* AnythingThatMoves: Ozan, who when quizzing Owen about his encounter with a supposed Icyene (essentially a gigantic, angelic human) asks "Was she hot?!". When told that not all Icyene are female, he replies "Well, was he hot?!"
* ApocalypseHow:
** There are many instances of it, including Class 0, Class 1 (sometime during the Fourth Age), and Class 2 (after the God Wars). Classes 3, 4 and 5 can be found in some of the realms, and X4 is subverted at the end of the Temple of Senntisten and Recipe for Disaster quests.
** Meta example: [=ClusterFlutterer=] (the so-called "bot nuke" of October 2011) was responsible for the deletion and banning of [[DepopulationBomb almost 40% of the player base]] over the course of a single weekend.
*** However, this was short-lived; see "Status Quo Is God" entry below.
* ApocalypticLog: You find one in the "Shades of Mort'ton" quest, where the writing gradually devolves into gibberish as the author slips into madness.
* AprilFoolsDay: There have been several.
** 2004 saw the long-awaited introduction of horses to ''RuneScape'' -- toy wooden horses, that is.
** In 2007, there was [[http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/Update:April_Fools a fake "Behind the Scenes" update]] announcing that every update that month would be heavily cabbage-based. [[http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/Update:Behind_the_Scenes_-_April_Fools! A similar "Behind the Scenes" prank]] was the April Fool in 2011, with a plethora of {Shout Out}}s.
** In 2009, all the cabbages came to life and started bouncing around.
** On other occasions, AprilFoolsDay heralded the fake release of new dragon items, including 2005's Dragon Plate (a toy spinning plate which you could spin and play with) and 2008's Dragon Kite (a toy kite that you can fly)[[note]]The ''real'' anticipated items were the Dragon Plate''body'' and the Dragon Kite''shield''[[/note]].
** In 2010, they announced a ''[=RuneScape=]'' theme park.
** For 2012, they proclaimed that "P-hats" would be dropped all around [=RuneScape=] for players to pick up for free. ("P-hat" traditionally refers to the ultra-rare party hats that are some of the most valuable items in the game.) True to their word, major cities were littered with Pea Hats: green peas that you can wear on your head.
** In 2014 they [[TrollingCreator Trolled]] players by announcing on the website that due to a technical error, a section of the forum that was not intended for players to see had become viewable and asked that players not look at it. If you actually fell for the prank you would probably think that Runescape was going to JumpTheShark with all the bad ideas they talked about adding to the game. They also changed the animation for throwing logs into a fire to look like you were throwing party hats into the fire.
* ArmCannon: The Barrelchest Mk II is equipped with a literal cannon on its left arm.
* In 2014 the animation for throwing logs into fire was changed to burning party hats and sailing skill (which was rumored to be added to the game in future) was added to skill interface. On the forums mock Jagex employee forums became visible due to "technical glitch"
* ArmorAndMagicDontMix: Wearing armor imposes a damage penalty on spells, to the point where most offensive magics are nearly or completely useless if you're wearing full platemail. However the penalty only applies to HitPoint damage: other spells work fine, and [[ReligionIsMagic prayers]] are completely unaffected.
* ArmorOfInvincibility: Torva, Pernix, and Virtus: the most powerful armor in the game, dropped only by one of the most difficult boss monsters in the game. They're tradable, but they'll set you back [[AdamSmithHatesYourGuts hundreds of millions of gold]].
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: 'But am I your enemy?' [[spoiler:When the player character asks a mind controlled Zanik this question, it gives her the conviction she needs to break Bandos' control]].
* ArtificialStupidity:
** None of the monsters can seem to figure out to just walk around the table from behind which the player is casting spells or shooting arrows at them. This was averted in later updates, as monsters from Dungeoneering will attempt to run or move around obstacles when they are attacked from a range. You can still pin an enemy into a corner with a little maneuvering, but at least the token effort is still there.
** This is lampshaded in a rematch with the Tree Spirit, where the text before the fight mentions there are no mushrooms to hide behind.
* AscendedGlitch:
** Certain members-only items of clothing were made available. It was discovered that some of those items ([[http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/Gloves_%28Canifis%29 the gloves]]) were actually usable on freeplay worlds (instead of being displayed as "member's objects" they were still wearable gloves). Because they could not be obtained on free worlds, some members would obtain them for low prices on their worlds and sell them to non-members for higher prices. They became a symbol of wealth on freeplay worlds, eventually forcing Jagex to keep it in.
** An extremely early example (2001 or so) would be the now taken-for-granted feature that makes items only visible to the player who dropped them for about a minute before being visible to everyone else. It was originally a bug, but after it was removed, public demand brought it back.
* AshFace: During the Recipe For Disaster quest, a goblin cook accidentally blows up his own cauldron and gets this.
* AsskickingEqualsAuthority:
** One quest lets you join the White Knights of Falador and be able to purchase their equipment. For the Master rank, you have to kill hundreds of black knights. And "Ritual of the Mahjarrat" lets you see Sir Tiffy in action, the old man is TOUGH.
** The Void Knights have this system. The better a fighter you are, the higher your rank.
** Ogres like this, the most powerful are the leaders.
** Sometimes justified in clans or minigames when individuals are chosen to be generals or other leaders just because they are the strongest and/or most skilled at the game.
* AsteroidsMonster: Tz-Keks split in two once you kill one.
* AttackReflector: One shield ability, aptly named reflect, does this for a few seconds.
* TheAtoner: Dr. Fenkenstrain after the Great Brain Robbery quest.
* AudienceShift: The demographic grew older with the game, resulting in quest storylines becoming more mature, deaths becoming more graphic, and the profanity filter becoming optional.
* AwesomeButTemporary: At the end of "While Guthix Sleeps", you get to use the Stone of Jas to boost all your stats to insane levels during a boss battle, but Lucien steals the Stone and the boost wears off as soon as the fight ends.
* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: [[spoiler:Veldaban in King of the Dwarves.]]
* AGodAmI: Every so often, one of the deities in RuneScape will make an appearance. It is generally made clear that they are, indeed, a god, or at least very, very, powerful.
** The quest called "Missing, Presumed Death" is made of this trope. After [[spoiler:Sliske]] gathers most of the other gods (along with the player) in [[spoiler:Armadyl's former fortress]], the various gods quibble amongst themselves as to the purpose of the assembly - supposedly it is to announce that [[spoiler:Sliske]] has become a god thanks to his recent activities. [[spoiler:He subverts it, however, by announcing that the real reason he kidnapped Death was to [[LetsYouAndHimFight start a free-for-all]] amongst the gods.]]
* AWizardDidIt:
-->People who have never met him have his image transferred into their minds by those that have by, erm, magic and wizards.
* BabaYaga: She's a major character in several quests and runs a magic shop. She lives on Lunar Isle in her chicken-legged hut.
* BadassBookworm: Lexicus Runewright in Dungeoneering. He summons books that hit you with all kinds of attacks, and some that explode that do an almost guaranteed 500 damage (back when 990 was the max HP a player could have, this was a BIG problem).
* BadBoss: Kal'Ger the Warmonger, who opens every battle with a cutscene in which he kills one of the lower-level Kal'Gerion demons.
* BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad: Subverted by Evil Dave, who tries to swap "bad" and "good" in his speeches, but ends up getting very confused.
* BadPowersGoodPeople: The Zarosian Mahjarrat, who, while not uniformly good, are generally on the player's side for right now. The Ancient magicks that Zarosians use are quite dark, including spells that freeze opponents solid, steal their health, and drain their prayer. The Zarosian prayers (called "curses") are much more offensive than the other prayer sets, and drain your opponent's strength to enhance your own.
* BadWithTheBone: The Dorgeshuun goblins are pacifists, but when they have to fight, they use weapons made out of bone, including a bone club (which is just a large, heavy bone).
* BagOfHolding:
** It is an adventure game with an inventory, after all. Also doubles as {{Hammerspace}} because you can hold large hammers, anchors, other weapons, and massive amounts of food and fish, all too huge to possibly keep within.
** There's bags of holding for rune essence that you can place within the bag of holding, as well as a coal bag and gem bag available as Dungeoneering rewards.
** The toolbelt enables you to store all kinds of tools without taking up inventory or bank space, while the money pouch keeps gold pieces safe even through death (though it becomes impossible to fill in the Wilderness).
* BagOfSpilling:
** All but one (up to five with the required level) of the hard-won items found in the dungeons of Daemonheim will disappear into Saradomin-only-knows-where once the dungeon is completed.
** You drop most of your items when you die.
* BaguetteBeatdown: The Sandwich Lady. Don't make her angry!
* BaldOfAwesome: Saradomin, the Wise Old Man, and Sir Tiffy Cashien. Optional for the player.
* BankRobbery: The Wise Old Man pulled one of these in Draynor Village. [[RefugeInAudacity He lives right across the street from the bank.]]
* BarrierChangeBoss:
** Dagannoth and Gelatinnoth Mothers. They change colors depending on the type of attack you need to use.
** Tormented demons, which change their protection prayer based on what you're hitting them with.
** Astea Frostweb and the Skeletal Trio, who change their protection prayers randomly.
** Some bosses invert this--the player puts up prayers to block attacks, and the bosses change their attacks to hit around them.
* BatmanGambit: The entire plot of "Hunt for Red Raktuber". [[spoiler:Pescaling Pax anticipates your every move, and by the end of the quest, you're teleblocked and left for dead on a deserted island]].
* BatOutOfHell: After a graphical update, now standard Vampires, angry Juvinates and Vyrewatch look like were-bats, the Vyrewatch having [[WingedHumanoid wings on their back]] and the other two having no wings to speak of.
* BeamOWar: Runescape 3 opened with one of these between Saradomin and Zamorak. Players could gather Divine Tears for either one, to help overpower the other (and earn loot).
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: In the lore, this is why General Viggora defected from Zaros to Zamorak. After being recruited into Zaros' armies, all the other races mocked him and humans in general, no matter what they accomplished. ''Except'' for Zamorak, who at the time was another general. After he [[CompensatingForSomething overbuilt his fortress]] until [[EpicFail it sank into the swamp he built it on]], he remembered Zamorak's silence while the others mocked him and joined him in his ([[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu successful]]) attempt at usurping Zaros.
* BedsheetGhost: {{Invoked}} in "Ghosts Ahoy", where you try to disguise yourself as a ghost by cutting holes in a bedsheet.
* BigBad: The Dragonkin. In the Ritual of the Mahjarrat quest, they returned out of hiding and [[CurbStompBattle showed their power by killing Lucien]], who, at the time, [[TheWorfEffect was the most powerful Mahjarrat]].
* BigDamnHeroes: Played straight when you are the hero (usually in quests), averted when a group of heroes try to save you from Lucien.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: There are more than 10 different types of giant spiders, Kalrag from the Underground Pass is the biggest attackable one. The Stronghold of Safety is packed with Giant Roaches. Giant Ants and Giant Wasps can be found in the Jade Vine maze on Karamja. There are Cave Bugs and Cave Crawlers underground. The largest insects however, are the Kalphites, which are like beetle-scorpion hybrids.
* BigNo: When the player is kidnapped to Evil Bob's island. "No... what? Nooooooooooooo!"
* BiggerOnTheInside: [[AnInteriorDesignerIsYou Everyone's Player Owned Houses]] and Balthazar Beauregard's Circus are these; the latter can move it's current location in a box, once a week.
* BilingualBonus:
** The Burthorpe Soldiers speak in Latin.
** Latin appears to be the official language of Zaros. The book that teaches you the Ancient Curses is written in Latin, the Zaros area in the God Wars dungeon has Latin inscriptions, and several prominent Zarosian characters and items have Latin names:
*** Torva, Pernix, and Virtus armor are Latin for "fierce", "nimble", and "valor" respectively.
*** Nex, the Zaros boss, is Latin for "violent death".
*** Nex's generals Cruor, Fumus, Glacies, and Umbra are "blood", "smoke", "ice", and "shadow".
** Daemonheim battle themes are also named Glacialis, Desolo, Adorno, Occulo, and Torqueo, translating to Glacial, Desolate, Adorned, Occult, and Twisted respectively.
** The song called [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo4vksdXXrk&feature=related Norse Code]] includes a high flute. Its first series of notes is actually "RUNESCAPE" in Morse Code.
* BittersweetEnding:
** At the end of the Blood Runs Deep quest, you manage to trap the Dagganoth Mother inside of the cavern and protect Rellekka, at the cost of [[spoiler:losing Prince Brand and Princess Astrid, who died fighting the Dagganoth Kings. It doesn't help that you married the one opposite to your gender only a few moments before.]]
** At the end of Ritual of the Mahjarrat, [[spoiler:Lucien is dead, the Staff of Armadyl has been broken and thus rendered unusable, and the Stone of Jas has been placed somewhere where it won't be abused again.]] Unfortunately, [[spoiler:Jhallan was used for the Ritual, effectively killing him, Idria was murdered by the dragonkin, a friend changed into a Barrows Brother, and the Dragonkin have wrecked Edgeville and intend to do the same to the rest of the world.]]
* BlackComedy: At the end of the 2011 Easter event, you have to carve an ice sculpture to show [[spoiler:the Queen of Snow]] why spring is a just as good a thing as winter. Out of the options of what to carve [[note]]Including a stag, the Easter Bunny bringing eggs and cute baby animals[[/note]], [[BreadEggsMilkSquick the one that sticks out the most is the last one:]] [[EvilLaugh "Cute baby animals... impaled on swords."]] [[spoiler:Choosing this choice works just as well as the others.]]
* BladderOfSteel: When the Fight Caves minigame was first released, there was no way to save your progress midway through the fight. The only way to beat [=TzTok-Jad=] and earn the fire cape was to buckle up and sit at your computer for over an hour fighting your way through all 60+ waves of enemies. This was later remedied, and you can now save your progress by logging out in between waves.
* BlessedWithSuck: Zanik. Chosen by the gods and raised from the dead to [[spoiler:become a brainwashed slave-general of the war-god Bandos]].
* BlingOfWar: Dragonstone armour: while the armour set is very fashionable and is the best hybrid armour available in free-to-play servers, it is very expensive and its stats aren't that good compared to other armour sets at its level.
* BloodKnight: Bandos is the "Big High War God" who teaches that fighting is the highest calling of all, and his followers are almost universally aggressive and love battle. He has specifically bred entire RACES for war.
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: According to Zaros, the Elder Gods do not create conscious life on purpose and barely even perceive it. They would [[spoiler:extinguish it without a second thought and have already done so countless times. Zaros also speculates that the Dragonkin were a race from a previous cycle that survived its destruction by hiding in the Abyss. They tried begging Jas for mercy, but ended up enslaved to her stone instead]].
* BondOneLiner: Mr. Mordaut and his cheese-related puns in the Gielinor Games, when you fail in the Cheese Roll.
* BonsaiForest: The soil quality in Gielinor clearly isn't the best out there. Some graphics updates made the trees more reasonably sized, but many are still pretty small. In some areas, like the swamps south of Lumbridge and in Morytania or otherwise the various high mountain ranges, this is actually justified, of course.
* BoogieKnights: The dancing knights in the Party Room.
* BoozeBasedBuff: Drinking certain types of beers will alter your stats, usually giving you a boost in one area and weakening you in another. Ordinary beer, for example, increases your Strength (attack power), but decreases your Attack (accuracy).
* BorderPatrol: Try to enter a dark area without a light source and little bugs will swarm all over you, draining your health.
* BoringButPractical: Pretty much all of the skills. Training skills usually consists of using it over and over and over again. But once you get it high enough, you'll be able to summon a Pack Yak with an inventory bigger than your own, or make the best healing items in the game, or even cheat death.
* BossBanter:
** [[spoiler:Nomad.]] Among others.
** One of the more humorous examples is found at the end of the "Lunar Diplomacy" quest where players have to fight a copy of themselves (simply called "Me"). "Stop hitting yourself!" indeed.
* BossRush: The Dominion Tower, where you re-fight quest bosses you've already beaten.
* BothSidesHaveAPoint: WordOfGod is that the Runescape gods all have different, conflicting worldviews, but all of them are valid.
* BottomlessBladder: Your character can eat all the food he or she wants, but never has to go to the bathroom. In fact, he/she has never seen a bathroom before, as [[LampshadeHanging a discussion with Ali the Barman reveals]].
* BraggingRightsReward: A lot of the rewards, though more so with LevelGrinding and minigame-type stuff than for quests. Typically overlaps with AndYourRewardIsClothes. More recently, quests award titles for those with higher than necessary levels.
* BreakableWeapons: All sorts of flavors:
** Some weapons gradually degrade until they break, and you can repair them back to 100% by paying a fee depending on how degraded they are. Barrows and Chaotic gear are good examples.
** PVP weapons such as Vesta's Longsword and Statius's Warhammer have a set lifespan: after a certain amount of time in combat, they crumble to dust. The same goes for "corrupt Dragon" equipment; it offers the stats of members-only Dragon equipment to non-members, but crumbles to dust after a set amount of time.
** Crystal equipment degrades in a fashion similar to Barrows and Chaotic, but as it degrades, it gradually decreases in power as well. When it's fully degraded, it reverts back to a crystal seed that can be shaped back into its more practical form for a fee.
** The Hand Cannon has a rather annoying variant: it has a random chance of blowing up in your face, dealing you damage and destroying itself completely. Ouch.
* BreakingTheFourthWall:
** In the Runescape 2011 Easter event, a squirrel named the 'Antipodean Squirrel', is angry about how the Easter event is Northern-Hemisphere-Centric, and about how it is Spring in the northern hemisphere and how it is autumn in the southern hemisphere and it's not fair to have no autumn event. One response is to tell him to stop breaking the fourth wall; he replies, 'Yeah, like you stay in character all the time!'
** Another example occurs when talking to the bartender in the Blue Moon Inn in Varrock. He states that Runescape is a computer game, but your character thinks that he is crazy.
** You break the fourth wall in a way talking to the priest in Lumbridge, when you say that you are not from this world.
* BreathWeapon:
** Dragons have a deadly firebreathing attack that sticks to you like napalm, dealing lots of damage unless you have a special anti-dragon shield. Wyverns, close relatives of dragons, have a powerful ice breath attack that can freeze you for massive damage and requires an elemental shield to defend against.
** "Dragon Breath" is a combat ability for the Magic skill, allowing you to spit out a cone of flame to damage enemies in front of you.
* BreedingCult: One of the guardians of Guthix, Ocellus, created The Order of Ascension, in an attempt to support Guthix's {{Naytheist}} philosophy. His first experiment was to create a race of highly independent humans, but the results were insolent and destructive. He eventually realized that worship was just a by-product of social order, so instead, he tried to close the gap between humans and the gods, using both breeding and magical augmentation.
* BribingYourWayToVictory: Buying Spins on the Squeal of Fortune, which can give cash rewards, valuable items, or EXP lamps, giving you a leg up on other players whichever way.
* BrickJoke: A pretty grim one. [[spoiler:After Sigmund uses a Ring of Life (an item which teleports the wearer to a spawn point when they're low on health) to escape death numerous times, Zanik finally ''cuts his hand off'' during The Chosen Commander to prevent him from leaving and kills him. After the quest is finished, if you go back to Lumbridge and talk to the Duke, he'll mention Sigmund's severed hand having teleported into the courtyard.]]
* BritishAccents:
** Most of the voice-acted characters have some form or other of British accent, since Jagex is, after all, based in the U.K.
** All imps speak in a thick Cockney PhoneticAccent, complete with rhyming slang like "dragon's belly" (for "smelly").
* UsefulNotes/BritishEnglish: The game being produced in Britain and owned by a British company many terms for things are the British terms and that can and does cause some confusion among American players unfamiliar with both the game and British terminology. Easy examples are a 'Spade' (commonly called a shovel in America) and Treasure Trail 'Biscuits' (what Americans would call cookies). An especially confusing example is in clue scrolls that tell you to search the first floor of a building. What Americans know as the first floor is called the ground floor in Britain, so American players didn't know that the clue was telling them to go upstairs. A stickied thread was made on the forum to clarify this.
* BrokenAesop:
** The "Tower of Life" quest. The moral of the whole story is that meddling with creation is wrong, and life should be treated with respect. Your reward for completing the quest is access to a minigame where you can create new mutant life-forms, kill them, and harvest their organs.
* BrokenBridge: See MissingSecret below.
* BrownNote: The Stalkers' natural language. A quote from an unknown mage:
--> "It calls itself Plane-freezer Lakhrahnaz in our language. I regret asking it to say it in its own, for the combination of audible and inaudible sounds from its many lipless mouths caused me a pounding headache and blood to cascade from my nose, [[KickTheDog which Lakhrahnaz then froze]]."
* BubbleGloopSwamp: Morytania, Lumbridge Swamp, Ullek ruins, Poison Waste, etc.
* BuildLikeAnEgyptian: There are four pyramids and one mastaba in the Kharidian desert.
* BulletTime: Seen in the Brimhaven agility dungeon when dodging the poison darts, as a ShoutOut to ''Film/TheMatrix''.
* CallOnMe: The "Path of Glouphrie" quest ends with the PlayerCharacter [[spoiler:stuck in a DeathTrap]]. As [[spoiler:you start to collapse from the poison gas]], you cry out mentally for help. Lo and behold, [[spoiler:the telepathic gnome Hazelmere from earlier in the quest hears you and teleports in to rescue you]] just in time.
* CannibalismSuperpower: Cthonian demons are able to absorb the essence, and by extension, the power and cunning, of those they consume.
* CanonDiscontinuity: The RomeoAndJuliet quest, which has been so thoroughly removed that most of the [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] involved in the quest no longer exist in the game. They even deleted letters about it from the old [[AllThereInTheManual Postbag from the Hedge]] archives.
* CaptainObvious: Most item examinations merely state "a(n) [insert item name here]".
* CaptureTheFlag: Castle Wars. Also available as part of the Clan Citadel's battlefield editor.
* CassandraTruth: The terrified Prison Pete rambles about some evil cat that appears out of nowhere and kidnaps people to a room with alive balloon animals with keys in them.
* CastFromHitPoints: The Lunar spell Energy Transfer, which restores a friend's adrenaline at the cost of your HitPoints. There's also a set of EmpathicHealer spells.
* CatchingSomeZs: A side-effect of a dream spell.
* CensoredForComedy: Though changes of late have made this more of a ScunthorpeProblem, since definite "cuss words" are permitted more often, but certain others are not. (Example: "Phone") Of course, this may have been resolved, also.
* CerebusSyndrome: The game has increasingly been said to exhibit this as Jagex has moved away from LighterAndSofter elements like the penguins' quest line and the wacky random events in favour of DarkerAndEdgier quest lines and [[CerebusRetcon remakes of or sequels to existing quests]]. This has proceeded to such an extent that "Bringing Home the Bacon" was specifically [[WordOfGod advertised by Jagex]] as being conceived as a more comedic quest -- and even ''it'' had the player aiding a character in all-but-explicitly [[ComedicSociopathy committing murder]] and [[FedToPigs concealing the evidence]].
* CessationOfExistence: Runescape's actual afterlife is [[OffScreenAfterlife vague but existent]], however this is implied to be the ''[[FateWorseThanDeath eventual]]'' fate of those whose souls are devoured by the Spirit Beast or Amascut, Goddess of Destruction. Fortunately, the former has been forced into the physical world where it can no longer do this. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, the quest revolving around it had you planning to ''destroy it'', as it had been feeding on the energy of the spirits of the deceased for ''years'' in order to build up enough power to claw its way into the physical world. That said, it wasn't a complete failure, because who knows how powerful it would have been if it had made its way over unhindered with ''all'' of the power it had consumed.]]
* ChainedToARailway: Zanik in Another Slice of H.A.M.. [[TheyPlottedAPerfectlyGoodWaste Done intentionally]] to complete Sigmund's persona as a DastardlyWhiplash.
* ChainOfDeals: [[BlatantLies One Small Favour]], and a shorter version in The Fremmenik Trials.
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In early quests and lore, Saradomin had a much more pleasant characterization and Zamorak and his followers were uniformly evil, effectively being the in-game equivalents to [[Literature/TheBible God and Satan]] respectively. In recent times, Jagex has put forward a ''lot'' of quests and lore that show Saradomin and his followers in a negative light, while [[RootingForTheEmpire playing up the positive aspects of Zamorak and his philosophies]].
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: With enough skill in combat, you can [[ArmorIsUseless punch through armor with your fists]], kill people unarmed, [[BarehandedBladeBlock and block weapons with your bare hands]]. [[UpToEleven And let's not get started with the Evolution of Combat]].
* ChekhovsGun:
** The [[spoiler:clock]] in "One Piercing Note" becomes important at the end.
** There's a particularly insane one in "Dragon Slayer" (released in 2001). Melzar the Mad's notes mention a dream he had about the "great Cabbage of Jas." This was, in fact, the very first hint at the game's MythArc, which paid off ''almost exactly ten '''years''' later'' in "Ritual of the Mahjarrat," and isn't done yet. The Oracle of Ice Mountain, released at the same time as the Quest, also mentions something about Jas and several other things that wouldn't really show up in the game for years to come.
* ChekhovsGunman:
** Baron von Hattenkrapper, whom you first met as [[spoiler:the seagull you fired out of a makeshift bellows]] in "Rocking Out", later becomes a significant character in the sequel, "A Clockwork Syringe", when he [[spoiler:teams up with you to destroy the barrelchest army by air-dropping cannonballs on them]].
** Denath is first seen summoning Delrith along with a few other dark wizards in ''Demon Slayer''. In ''Shadow Of The Storm'', he's revealed to be [[spoiler:Agrith-Naar, a demon roughly five times as powerful as Delrith was, easily 100 times more powerful when the player helped dismiss him back to his home dimension]].
* ChekhovsSkill: Usually enforced in quests where something in a former quest is something you will need to know how to do. Having the skill levels required before a quest is released may also count.
* TheChosenOne: Zanik, a cave goblin chosen by the gods for an unknown purpose. [[spoiler:She was chosen to become the Avatar of Bandos; essentially, a slave-general with no free will]].
* ChurchMilitant:
** Used to peaceful Saradominist priests and monks? Try visiting the God Wars Dungeon, where those priests are armed to the teeth.
** The Temple Knights, who are CombatPragmatist Knights with great magic knick-knacks, a huge information network and no qualms about doing whatever they think is necessary. Be glad they're on your side.
** The Missionary from Player Owned Ports ''tries'' to invoke this image, but his personality and approach to gaining followers in the East ends up backfiring when Zamorakians exploit his bad first impression.
* CirclingBirdies: Used when anyone is stunned.
* CityGuards: Which don't have a very long lifespan.
* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: The Runecrafting altars (or at least the Astral one) were created by making dolmens out of Rune Essence, and then by using a lot of focus from a lot of people, convincing ''the stone'' that it was something that it was not.
* ClothesMakeTheSuperman: Aside from combat skill levels, the attack and defense bonuses given by weapons and armor are a major factor in how well a player fares in combat. Some complete sets of armor also give additional increases to attack or defense alongside the normal bonuses.
* CluckingFunny: A random event had you being attacked by the greatest SuperVillain in all of Runescape ... the [[FeatheredFiend Evil Chicken]]. They [[LargeHam milked him for all he was worth]] too, with emotes like "Buk, buk, buk, [[EvilLaugh BWHAHAHAHA!]]" and the like.
* CobwebJungle: {{Enforced}} in the 2009 Halloween event. The rules of Halloween say that the Grim Reaper ''has'' to have cobwebs in his house, so it's the PlayerCharacter's job to negotiate with the Spider Queen (who lives in her own gigantic, over-the-top maze of cobwebs) to decorate Grim's mansion properly.
* CognizantLimbs:
** [[GiantSquid The Swamp Creature]] encountered during the Temple Trekking minigame is this. Poisoning one part effects all its limbs; however, you need to kill all 4 limbs and the head to continue.
** Tolna is the quest boss of A Soul's Bane, who has 3 heads. Poisoning any of his heads poisons the rest; killing all 3 of them transforms him back to normal.
** [[MagmaMan Har'Aken]], the final boss of the Fight Kiln, is submerged in magma and must have its tentacles damaged until it raises its head, giving you an opportunity to strike it before submerging again.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Player-owned port crew members are color-coded based on their stats. Blue clothes mean high seafaring; green, high morale; red, high combat.
* ColorCodedMultiplayer: Seen in minigames like Trouble Brewing, Castle Wars, Soul Wars, and so on. Red team and blue team are the standard (to correspond with Zamorak and Saradomin), although the Great Orb Project uses yellow and green instead.
* ColorCodedStones: There are blue sapphires, red rubies, green emeralds, white diamonds, and black onyx. But there are also quest-related gems that are different in color (blood diamond is red, smoke diamond is gray, shadow diamond is black, ice diamond is light gray). Lastly, jade, opal and diamond are in ridiculously similar color. [[http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/Template:Gems You can have a reference here]].
* ColossusClimb: Involved in the boss fight against Vorago. Players need to climb onto him to retrieve the pieces of the Maul of Omens, and the final blow is struck by leaping up to his head and embedding it in his face.
* ComboPlatterPowers: Sufficiently advanced players have abilities that include, but are not limited to: SuperStrength, SuperSpeed, super stamina, [[MadeOfIron super endurance]], control over [[BlowYouAway air]], [[MakingASplash water]], [[DishingOutDirt earth]], [[PlayingWithFire fire]], [[AnIcePerson ice]], [[BloodMagic blood]], [[CastingAShadow shadow]] and [[ShockAndAwe lightning]], {{telepathy}}, [[MindOverMatter telekinesis]], MassTeleportation, ResurrectiveImmortality, ImprobableAimingSkills, GreenThumb, and more.
* ComedicSociopathy: The player character is an expert.
* CommonplaceRare:
** An ordinary jug of wine is worth a small handful of gold if you're lucky. A ''half-full'' jug of wine is worth many ''millions'' of gp. This is because the ability to drink half a jug of wine was removed and wine jugs are now gulped down in one sip, so half-full wine jugs are no longer obtainable. Those that remain have become valuable collector's items.
** Partyhats are some of the most expensive items in the game. They're little crown-shaped hats made out of paper.
** Easter Eggs and Pumpkins are worth millions, and are still edible.
* ContinuingIsPainful:
** Dying makes you drop your items. Mitigated slightly with gravestones, so you only have to dash madly to where you died to get your stuff back.
** In Daemonheim, each death carries a large xp penalty.
* ControlRoomPuzzle
* ConvectionSchmonvection: But actually falling into lava doesn't do much damage, either. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] and [[HandWave Handwaved]] by a dwarf miner when questioned about it, in [[EternalEngine a huge lava reactor where you have to mine away cooled lava]]--
-->'''Lava Flow Miner Dwarf''': Logically, convection should make the air in this chamber hotter than an oven, and we'd all roast alive. But for some reason that doesn't happen!
* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: Traditional methods of torture aren't working on the [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot zombie pirate]] [[LosingYourHead decapitated head]] in "A Clockwork Syringe". It's time to bust out the dreaded Twiblik Night Special. After much ceremony, you open the box and reveal...[[spoiler:wigs, make-up, and women's clothing. O...kay?]] After being mercilessly [[spoiler:dressed up in wigs, eye shadow, and lipstick]], the distressed zombie finally tells you the location of the villains' secret island hideout.
* CoolChair: Thrones in Construction, such as skeleton thrones and demonic thrones.
* CoolHelmet: The Helm of Neitiznot and The Relic Helm, just to name a few.
* CorridorCubbyholeRun: The Rogue's Den maze had a section like this. There's also one in the "Icthlarin's Little Helper" quest.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: {{Subverted}} in "King of the Dwarves". The Consortium is accused of caring more about profits than the lives of their employees after [[spoiler:several miners die in a collapse while rescue workers are instructed to repair the equipment]]. But it turns out, as the frustrated Consortium members later explain to you, [[spoiler:if the equipment hadn't been repaired swiftly, it would have caused repercussions in the entire city's power supply, leading to even greater casualties]], and the Consortium was only [[spoiler:trying to control the greater damages]].
* CowardlyLion: Cyrisus, a fellow adventurer the player meets in Dream Mentor. He has maxed combat stats, despite being terribly afraid of fighting. He achieved his maxed stats by fighting nothing but 300 chickens a day for 30 years.
* CrazyPrepared: If you read the quest guide for "Love Story" and bring all of the required items needed to avoid banking in between parts, the Wise Old Man will note how it was [[LampshadeHanging rather convenient]] you had all the necessary items on you at hand the moment you two needed to create a device for that part of the quest.
* CripplingOverspecialization: The obsidian armour unlocked after the Brink of Extinction quest. It has awesome stats, and reduces damage from creatures in the [=TzHaar=] area. But if you use it anywhere else, you take triple damage.
* CriticalExistenceFailure
* CriticalFailure: There's usually some chance of horribly failing something; for example, you could formerly lose the head of your hatchet or pickaxe by apparently swinging it too hard ...and then losing the valuable head and having to buy it back from someone[[note]]This was a random event that has now been removed[[/note]]. You can also have some pretty silly accidents in Daemonheim:
--> "You have a hilarious accident with the hammer and chisel, destroying the block in the process."
* CrystalDragonJesus: Saradomin -- stained glass, monks, even church organs.
* CrystalPrison: The goal of the "Merlin's Crystal" quest is to rescue {{Merlin}}, who has been [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20091029205221/runescape/images/thumb/a/a8/Merlintrapped.png/180px-Merlintrapped.png trapped inside a crystal]] by [[ArthurianLegend Morgan le Faye]].
* CrystalSpiresAndTogas: Crystal saws, seeds, and bows. [[OurElvesAreBetter Made by elves, of course.]] And an enormous WALL around the (currently inaccessible) elven capital.
* CurbStompBattle:
** Guthix is implied to have [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome curb stomped all other gods]] at the end of the God Wars. Actually, this act ended the God Wars.
** [[spoiler:Lucien versus Hazelmere, Turael, Duradel, Mazchna, Ghommal, Sloane, Harrallak, and Cyrisus]] in "While Guthix Sleeps".
** Properly trained and equipped players can slaughter anything in their path, which can be a little awkward when you accidentally click on a man and crush his torso in one blow in the middle of a city.
** Some players leave very easy quests very late into their game career, ends up having battles like lvl34 Count Draynor vs Lvl128 N00b Destroyer.
** The above becomes very noticable in the [[BossRush Dominion Tower]], where you are given random selections of bosses to fight. If you're prepared to fight [[spoiler:Nomad]], but instead get the aformentioned Draynor, it's pretty obvious what the outcome will be...
* CutsceneDrop
* CutsceneIncompetence: In the updated Wolf Whistle quest, your character runs from a group of trolls carrying a man hostage, and then goes on a FetchQuest to turn the tables. If this quest is done when you are high level, [[CowardlyLion running away makes your character look like]] [[DontExplainTheJoke the new Cyrisus]].
* CuttingTheKnot: In "A Clockwork Syringe", you use all the stealth and cunning available to you to quietly sabotage the barrelchest factory by [[spoiler:smashing equipment with a [[AnchorsAway giant anchor]]]].
* CuttingOffTheBranches: The "Temple of Ikov" quest has you choose whether to protect the Staff of Armadyl or steal it and give it to the bad guy. When the developers made the sequel quest, "While Guthix Sleeps", they realized the plot sort of hinged on the bad guy having the staff, so everyone who chose to protect it received a note from the guardians that it had been stolen by somebody else.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Implied with the Black Knights (or, as they are formally known, the Kinshra), who have been known to perform nefarious deeds, but are also explained to be [[WrittenByTheWinners another political faction]]. Ditto with Red Wizards, who are claimed to be responsible of burning the First Wizard's Tower, even though other factions are just as much to blame.
* DarkerAndEdgier: As time went on, quests and storylines started getting heavier, with characters KilledOffForReal and such. 'One Piercing Note', for example, is a murder mystery where you end up seeing corpses covered in blood, corpses heavily mutilated and maimed, [[spoiler:you end up helplessly watching a woman die]], and the whole thing perpetrated by [[spoiler:an insane woman who would never have done it had she realised what she was doing.]]
* DarkReprise:
** Shadow Forger Ihlakhizan's theme is that to Born To Do This track.
** Temple of Tribes to the standard Goblin Village theme.
** Creature Cruelty to Magic Magic Magic.
** Demise of the Dorgeshuun to Dorgeshuun City.
** Barb Wire to Barbarianism.
** Return of Lucien to Temple Desecrated.
** Slug Poison to A New Menace, which is itself a dark reprise of The Mollusc Menace.
** Fight of the Dwarves to Land of the Dwarves.
* [[DealWithTheDevil Deal with the Mahjarrat]]: What caused the [[FateWorseThanDeath current state]] of the Barrow Brothers.
* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: In the Pest Control Minigame, death merely results in the player respawning at the entry lander of the Minigame, restoring their Life Points, Adrenaline, and Prayer at the mere cost of a bit of running to get back where they were. Similar things will happen if you die in any other "Safe" minigame, in which you keep all items on death.
* DeathTrap:
** You get caught in one at the end of "Path of Glouphrie". Thick, sticky tar pours out onto the floor to stop you from moving. An enchantment prevents you from teleporting. Then comes the poison gas. And of course, [[FromBadToWorse at this point, the magical laser attacks start firing at you]].
** Most of the Brimhaven Agility Arena has these, including spikes, rocks, poison darts and spinning blades of doom.
* DeathWorld:
** Ape Atoll, if you're a human. The monkeys are ''not'' friendly. If you stick to the tall grass, you can hide from their archers, but that won't save you from the poisonous snakes, spiders, and scorpions lurking in the weeds. You can create a talisman that will turn you into a monkey, but only if you travel through a lengthy, [[SpaceFillingPath spiraling]] cave full of zombies, traps (also poisonous), and falling rocks. It's not a good vacation spot.
** The abyssal plane, where everything is trying to kill you or impede you.
** The Gorak's Plane, which is filled with many (of the same) powerful creatures who just want to kill you.
** Also implied in the Mahjarrat's home plane, Freneskae.
* {{Defictionalization}}: Some food items, such as "crunchies" and "battas," were sold as real food during RuneFest, a fan event organized by Jagex.
* DegradedBoss: [=TokTz=]-Ket-Dill has it's own eponymous quest; however, you fight a number of them throughout The Elder Kiln as well.
* DeityOfHumanOrigin / AGodAmI:
** Zamorak used to be a Mahjarrat, but gained godly power when he betrayed and defeated Zaros prior to the God Wars.
** Guthix was a mortal Naragi, but gained his power when he slew the god Skargaroth, who had fallen on Guthix's home in the middle of a battle and killed his daughter Aagi.
** Saradomin [[WordOfGod was formerly human]], but the means of his ascension to godhood is unknown.
** WordOfGod is that, except for [[spoiler:Zaros]], and the Elder Gods such as Jas and Ful, ''all'' gods were mortal at one point. They are technically just mortals with absurd amounts of power.
* DemBones: There are plenty of animated skeletons in the game.
* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment:
** From Elemental Workshop III: Body body.
** When you leap onto a stepping stone near Tears of Guthix: "You leap across with a mighty leap!"
* DespairEventHorizon: After Guthix's death, his followers go in different directions. Some are encouraged and form the [[{{Naytheist}} Godless faction]] as per his last request, and some merely continue to follow his teachings the way they had been. But others fall into despair and lose their path, seeking to recreate him.
* DesperationAttack: Dharok the Wretched's armor set effect. Many a player has died with a sudden 700 damage to the face thanks to this.
* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: Aubury, the purveyor of the magic shop in Varrock, hands out freebies of the basic Wind and Mind Runes. The obvious scam is to take the freebies and sell them back to his shop, right?
-->The shopkeeper thanks you for returning the samples.
* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu:
** In "The Chosen Commander", Zanik and the PlayerCharacter punch out [[spoiler:The avatar of Bandos, god of war, although it helps that you have to disrupt its link with Bandos to be able to actually kill it. It has since been confirmed this boss is on the lowest tier of Godhood]].
** Especially appropriate in "Salt in the Wound", where the mind-controlling horror you defeat was directly inspired by the Creator/HPLovecraft.
** The [[spoiler:Slug Queen is killed by an average (although exceptionally skilled) woman by [[AbsurdlySharpBlade cutting a huge statue]] and having it fall on said queen.]]
* DisappearedDad: Bolrie, Golrana's father, in The Prisoner of Glouphrie. He's been locked up in a cell in Arposandra for centuries.
* DisconnectedSideArea: The island off the coast of Catherby. It looks like it's so close to the coastline that you could easily just swim to it, or even wade through the water to it. To get there, you have to travel across some mountains and then through a long and difficult underground dungeon. You can get back to Catherby with a [[GrapplingHookPistol Grappling Hook Crossbow]] -- but you can't get to the island from Catherby.
* DiscontinuityNod: The Romeo & Juliet quest no longer exists, but you can still ask the Apothecary to make the potion used to put Juliet in a coma.
* DivineRanks: There are seven "tiers" of godhood, which [[WordOfGod approximately measure]] how much raw power each god has in comparison with the others.
* DogStereotype
* DoppelgangerAttack: Combined with Doppelganger Spin in the fight against Nomad. Each of his clones is just as dangerous as the original...
* DoppelgangerSpin: ...but damaging a copy makes Nomad lose focus and forces him to dismiss it, and damaging the real one breaks the spell completely.
* DownerEnding:
** One Piercing Note. [[spoiler:Anna had gone completely insane, believing herself to be guided by St. Elspeth. The first victim was someone else, mistaken for Anna due to having her face slashed off and being dressed in her robes. In the end, three innocent lives have been lost to her madness, and if you decide to spare her, she throws herself off the tower anyway, believing the Icyene are coming to take her to Saradomin, leaving behind an Abbey on the verge of collapsing.]]
** The Tzhaar series ending starts off [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet]], but turns into a downer if you take the time to do some talking afterwords. [[spoiler:After finally finding the cause of why the Tzhaar are being born as the weaker, simple minded Ga'al and putting a stop to Tokhaar-hok's plans, you're forced to say goodbye to your friend Ga'al-Xox, as he [[DrivenToSuicide can no longer live with the pain of knowing how it feels to be trapped in tokkul.]] You get to watch a surprisingly poignant cutscene, followed by a ceremony celebrating your triumph over the Tokhaar, and then the quest ends, and you're left to believe that you've saved the Tzhaar. However, if you take the time to go back to Tokhaar-hok, he'll begin to tell you his side of the story, and it isn't a pleasant one. The Tzhaar gradually lose the memories of their past with each generation, and, seeing this, [[WellIntentionedExtremist Tokhaar-hok went out of his way to try to draw their attention to this problem]], and possibly get them to return to the sacred lava as they were destined to in order to save them. Unfortunately, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero a certain adventurer came along and choose to aid the stubborn Tzhaar instead, foiling his plans.]] Tokhaar-hok flat out tells you that the Tzhaar are now destined for extinction, and that unless they willingly choose to be absorbed into the sacred lava, there isn't much of anything anyone can do about it.]]
* DraggedOffToHell: An alternate home teleport animation available in Solomon's General Store has a fiery pit open beneath the player so that hands can grab them by the ankles and drag them down.
* TheDragon: The leader of the Kal'Gerion demons, Kal'Ger the Warmonger, is this to the Mahjarrat Bilrach.
* DragonHoard: Many dragon lairs are littered with piles of gold.
* DramaticWind: While holding a two-handed weapon.
* DressedToPlunder: All of the stock traits appear on various pirate [=NPCs=]: bandanas, tricorner hats, eyepatches, a hook-hand, a captain's hat with a skull-and-crossbones on it, etc. Most of them are also available as [[VirtualPaperDoll wearable equipment]], and there is a parrot...well, a zombie parrot ("ex-[[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus ex-parrot]]") available as a pet as a reward for a pirate-related quest.
* DrivenToSuicide: In one possible ending for the One Piercing Note quest, [[spoiler:Anna throws herself off of the abbey's clock tower to her death. That is, if she isn't kicked off by the player first]].
* DroppedABridgeOnHim:
** [[spoiler:Guthix's death at the end of ''The World Wakes'' at the hands of Sliske, a mortal Mahjarrat who just happened to have acquired the Staff of Armadyl (this after it was shattered by the Dragonkin).]]
** [[spoiler:Akrisae's death and enslavement as a Barrows Brother, also via Sliske. Doubles as a SenselessSacrifice in protecting the PlayerCharacter, who ''cannot truly die until destiny says so''.]]
* DropTheHammer: In addition of regular metal warhammers and mauls, there's the Torag's Hammer and the Maul of Omens.
* DualWielding: Most one-handed weapons have offhand equivalents that allow two weapons to be wielded at once. Doing so allows the player to attack with both weapons for increased damage, even mixing and matching combat styles (e.g. dual-wielding a sword and a crossbow), and enables special dual-wield abilities like Havoc and Frenzy.
* DudeWheresMyRespect?: Averted and played straight at different points. Average citizens never say thanks for averting the latest doom on the land, though. This was the Wise Old Man's motivation to ransack the Draynor Bank of its money, snatch up a Blue Partyhat, and attempt an assault on the Wizard's tower.
* DummiedOut: When the ability to poison weapons was removed from the game, poisoned weapons automatically had their poison removed, and weapon poison was turned into a new drinkable potion that applies poison to your attacks for a limited time. However, the old items weren't removed entirely--for some time after the update, poisoned arrows could still be received as drops from certain enemies, and baby trolls named after poisoned items retained the (p) tag at the end of their names.
* DungeonBypass: The Tarn's Lair dungeon is a convoluted maze filled with traps and aggressive zombies. If you solve the maze and fight your way to the end, you can challenge Tarn for XP and a power-up to your Salve Amulet to make it more effective against the undead. Defeating Tarn allows you to fight his pet Terror Dogs in the final chamber. Of course, you'd have to go through the whole maze again to get there, so, as a convenience to Terror Dog slayers, Jagex released the Slayer Ring, which can teleport you back to the final chamber. However, an unintended consequence of this teleport was that it worked even for players ''who had never completed the maze in the first place'', thus allowing savvy players to simply buy or make a Slayer Ring and waltz straight into the boss chamber, bypassing the entire dungeon.
* DyingCurse: Zaros, in the events described in the Ghostly Robes miniquest.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''Runescape Classic'' has many differences. See the trope page for a detailed explanation.
* EasterBunny: Played around with. In the 2009 Easter event, it turned out that the Easter Bunny was actually a rabbit [[ShapedLikeItself wearing a rabbit costume]].
* EldritchAbomination: Many. The Chaos Elemental is a textbook example. Other good examples are the monsters from Dream Mentor, the Muspah [[spoiler:(which are myths made real)]], the Spirit/Corporeal Beast, and the Stalkers (one of them fires an eyeball twice the size of you at your party as an attack).
* EldritchLocation:
** Daemonheim, an immense, random dungeon complex that came into existence out of nowhere, is filled with horrific extradimensional monsters (see EldritchAbomination), and has a 'taint' within that could irreparably damage the world should it escape.
** The Abyssal plane, where everything seems to have eyes or tentacles, or both.
** The Runespan, a maze of [[FloatingContinent floating islands]] filled with nodes and creatures of elemental energy.
* ElementalEmbodiment: There are plenty of elementals in Runescape: the regular fire/water/air/earth found in the Elemental Workshop, ice elementals found in Daemonheim and Chaos Elemental, a high-level boss in the Wilderness. The strongest elemental is however Balance Elemental, a quest boss fought during While Guthix Sleeps.
* ElementalCrafting
* EmoteAnimation
* EndlessGame
* EnemyScan: The monster examine spell.
* EnemySummoner: Quite a few monsters, such as Nechryael.
* EnergyBeings: Light Creatures and Killerwatts.
* EnergyBow: The Crystal and Zaryte bows.
* EnthrallingSiren: The AntiVillain of "Song from the Depths" is a Siren who sings the eponymous song.
* EpicFail: General Viggora wanted to prove to the world that humans could achieve greatness. So he built a massive fortress. That only caused the other races to nickname it "Viggora's Folly", so he kept adding on to it. Eventually, it sank into the swamp he built it on, which convinced him that the nickname was, in fact, accurate.
* EpicFlail:
** Verac's flail is a powerful weapon used by one of the Barrows Brothers. It has an effect when the armour is worn with it that allows it to occasionally ignore enemy defences.
** The Ivandis flail is basically an Ivandis rod with a silver sickle attached with a chain. It is completely impractical and unwieldy, but until you get [[KryptoniteFactor blisterwood weapons]], it's the only thing that can hurt Vyrewatch and Vyrelords.
** One of the signature heroes, The Raptor, wields a massive, heavy, spiked flail.
* EscortMission:
** The Temple Trekking/Burgh de Rott Ramble minigame involves protecting refugees on their journey from Burgh de Rott north to the safety of the temple at Paterdomus and escorting mercenary adventurers on the opposite route to battle evil. Should be noted as being different than other escort missions, as your companions can level up, some of them could probably do the trek themselves with sufficient leveling.
** Blood Runs Deep has the PlayerCharacter escort King Vargas through the Waterbirth Island dungeon. He's wounded and moves slower than walking speed, and the dungeon is filled with high-level aggressive monsters that pummel you with all attack styles, although [[FridgeLogic no explanation is given as to why you can't just teleport out]].
** {{Inverted}} in Within the Light, where Arianwyn escorts ''you'' through the Temple of Light, killing any shadows that attack you.
** PlayedForDrama with Zanik, according to [[http://www.runescape.com/kbase/guid/postbag_45 this]] [[AllThereInTheManual Postbag from the Hedge]].
---> ''"It's like... all the time we were adventuring together, it was all about you, you know? You were the hero, and I was the sidekick. I kept getting into trouble and you kept rescuing me. Even at the end, when we [[spoiler:defeated Bandos]], I got knocked out and you finished it alone. And in a way, I kind of resent that. I wish I'd done it myself. I don't want my whole life to be like that. I want to prove to myself that I can be an adventurer in my own right, be a hero, not just someone's sidekick, not even yours."''
* EvenEvilHasStandards: [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in the Cave Goblin quest series; Sigmund says ScrewThisImOuttaHere to his boss, Johannes, essentially because Johannes has ''too many'' standards.
* EveryProperLadyShouldCurtsy: The standard bow emote for girl players. Males can also use it by right clicking.
* EverythingsBetterWithPenguins: Someone at Jagex definitely likes penguins too much.
* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: {{Ninja}} monkeys, even.
* EverythingsBetterWithPlatypus: Pet platypode, even.
* EvilChef: The Culinaromancer from "Recipe for Disaster".
* EvilerThanThou: After seeing the horrible acts the demon Agrith-Naar is capable of in Shadow of the Storm, Evil Dave decides that it's too evil even for him.
* EvilVersusEvil: The Godless faction have shown up at both god battles in the Sixth Age, and have taken enthusiastically to describing the warfare as this.
* EvolvingWeapon:
** The Flail of Ivandis and weapons crafted from the branches of the Blisterwood tree gain power as you cremate Vyrewatch corpses.
** Silverlight: originally an iron sword blessed by Guthix, later becoming Darklight after imbibing the blood of the defeated Agrith Naar in "Shadow of the Storm".
** Excalibur and Ancient Staff can be upgraded to Enhanced versions with the completion of Hard Seers' Village Tasks and Elite Desert Tasks, respectively.
** Multiple weapons from the Squeal of Fortune, such as Starfury weapons and Shark Fists can be upgraded to a higher tier once you have the levels to wield the upgraded version.
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin:
** If you hold you mouse cursor over the achievements at the end of a Dungeoneering run, a small tooltip pops up, telling you what you need to do in order to get that achievement. The tooltip for "Most Deaths" reads, "Exactly what it says on the tin."
** One quest's MacGuffin is the "Idol of Many Heads". Examining the idol gives this text: "An idol. It has many heads."
** A lot of examine texts end up as this.
* ExactWords: In "Thok Your Block Off", Thok decides to spare "Boney Face" and mentions he'd kill him if he saw him again. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for Boney, that included going into a dead-end room and coming out again to see him walking about]].
* ExperienceBooster: Lots. [[http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/Experience#Boosts The Runescape Wiki has a list]].
* {{Expy}}: WordOfGod says Zanik is essentially [[Series/BattlestarGalacticaReimagined Starbuck]], and her voice is that of ReginaSpektor.
* ExtremeOmnivore: Trolls, who are usually even named after the first thing they tried to eat (or the sound that thing makes, in case they don't know what it is). Can be amusing as 'My Arm' to as foreboding as 'Cliff'.
* TheExtremistWasRight: During the [=TzHaar=] quest series, you find out that the reason the Ga'al are being born instead of proper [=TzHaar=] is because the [[spoiler:[=TokHaar=] have cut off the flow of sacred lava to the city, thus dooming the [=TzHaar=] to extinction]]. What a bunch of jerks, right? Well, it turns out [[spoiler:this would have happened anyway. When [=TzHaar=] are born, they don't inherit ''all'' of their memories, as you discover during the quest. What the [=TokHaar=] did was speed up the process of extinction in the [=TzHaar=], thus spurring them to take action. The [=TokHaar=] also wanted their former bretheren to return to the Elder Kiln as [=TokHaar=]]].
* EyeOfNewt
* FaceDesignShield: Dragonfire shield.
* FakeDifficulty: Mourning's End Part II is considered one of the hardest quests, involving a huge LightAndMirrorsPuzzle and multiple floors, and it's full of hard-hitting monsters. But even with all of this, someone at Jagex apparently thought that it still wasn't enough and decided to throw in an agility obstacle that is entirely based on luck with a high failure rate. Every time it's failed, the player falls down to the lower level and takes even more damage.
** [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] with Dungeoneering's [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Hard Mode"]] setting, which is a reward for completing the Daemonheim Elite task set. To wit:
*** Soloing a Dungeon automatically causes the first floor spawned to be large-sized. All subsequent floors are forced to medium-sized.
*** All doors, whether they are puzzle doors or skill doors, act as [[BeefGate Guardian Doors]].
*** All monster spawns do so at maximum possible combat level.
*** All skill doors have a base level requirement of 90. Out of a possible 99. [[note]]It is possible to boost skills to 99 and beyond via potions and portents of passage...[[/note]]
*** Teleportation out of the boss fight is disabled.
*** Food is harder to come by.
* FallingInLoveMontage: "Love Story" has one between Zenevivia and the Wise Old Man. Then they proceed to invade the Wizard's Tower and fail.
* FanFiction: The [[http://runescapefanfiction.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page Runescape Fanfiction Wiki]], consisting of mostly {{Crossover}}s. Runescape's own Stories forum also contains a lot of fanfiction.
* FantasticCasteSystem: The [=TzHaar=], who divide into four castes: one consists of hunters, one of guardians, one of scholars and mages, and one of workers and architects.
* FantasticRacism: H.A.M., oh so much. Humans are also considered little more than food to [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Vampyres]].
* FantasticSlurs: The Bandosian epithet for Armadylians is "Bird Lover".
* FantasyPantheon: Saradomin, Guthix, and Zamorak are the main gods. Armadyl, Bandos, and Zaros are more obscure. There's also the Menaphite pantheon of desert gods, the elves' crystal nature god Seren, and the monkeys of Ape Atoll worship a monkey god named Marimbo. As a joke, there's also a God of Cabbage named Brassica Prime.
* FateWorseThanDeath:
** Summer and her family, who were busy having their souls devoured by the Spirit Beast up until the point the player killed it.
** [[spoiler:Arrav]], who is now Zemouregal's undead slave and who has almost no control over himself, forced to slaughter the people he once protected. [[spoiler:Eventually does get some peace, but his wounds are too severe and when he has no more magic to sustain him, he dies.]]
** Becoming a Barrows Brother is also rather unpleasant, the originals becoming deathly ill, then dying, then having their spirits wrenched from wherever they were to fight again for their new master. Now you just get hit with an incorporeal maroon skull and die in horrible agony.
* FeatheredFiend: The Evil Chicken. There's also a giant Roc that attacks you in the "My Arm's Big Adventure" quest.
* FeatherFingers: Notably averted with the penguins. Ping and Pong are looking for musical instruments, but since they have no fingers, they can't play most instruments--you have to find them bongos and cowbells.
* FetchQuest: Occasionally PlayedWith:
** {{Exaggerated}} in [[ChainOfDeals One Small Favour]], in which you are asked something of the typical fetch quest, to get logs from a forester... who then asks you to get his axe sharpened at an axe store, and the owner asks you to ask a favor from a witch, who in turn asks something else of you, and so on. The quest ends up having you traverse almost the entire continent that the game takes place on.
** {{Lampshaded}} in Rune Mechanics, where the characters make disdainful remarks about fetch quests.
* FifteenPuzzle: Actually a twenty-four puzzle.
* FinalBossNewDimension: Several:
** The Culinaromancer can only be fought in his private dimension.
** The Spirit Beast in "Summer's End" is fought in its Spirit Realm.
** "Dream Mentor" has you enter the dream world to battle Cyrisus's inner demons.
* {{Fireballs}}: Several versions, ranging from little fire spits to huge inferno blasts.
** Dragons, at least the higher levelled ones, use these to attack the player on occasion. [[HesDeadJim It doesn't typically end well if said player isn't using some form of protection from them]].
** Demons, when they respawn, have a [[BuffySpeak fiery-explosion-y]] animation announcing their return from the dead.
** Also, the various fire-based Magic spells available to the player for combat take on this form.
* FirewoodResources
* FisherKing: The Fisher King from "Holy Grail".
* FishingForSole: Boots and gloves can be caught while fishing with a big net.
* FishingMinigame: In addition to fishing as a skill, there's also the Fish Flingers minigame, where you use trial and error to determine the correct hook, bait, and weight to catch different types of fish.
* FlunkyBoss: Quite a few instances:
** [=TzTok-Jad=] summons four healers when he reaches half his life. If you don't kill or distract the healers, they [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin heal him]].
** The pest queen from "The Void Stares Back" summons healers to restore her health and defilers to attack you and your NPC allies.
** Eruni from "Do No Evil" summons demons to attack you and draws on their power to make herself invincible.
** In Dungeoneering, [[AnIcePerson Astea Frostweb]] summons ice spiders. [[BadassBookworm Lexicus Runewright]] summons animated books.
** Bork summons Ork Legions.
* FloatingContinent: Clan Citadels. Avalani mentions that they're "bastions of Armadylian power from an era long lost to us".
* FlyingBooks: Found in Daemonheim as minions of the wizard [[MeaningfulName Lexicus Runewright.]]
* FoxChickenGrainPuzzle: In the Recruitment Drive quest.
* {{Freemium}}: Many skills, quests, and runes are only available to those who pay; actually, "many" would be the [[CaptainObvious understatement of the year]]. The free part of the game is probably less than 5% of the total game, and free players have severely limited options when it comes to training and bank space, and they get an update once in a blue moon. [[TropesAreNotBad On the upside]], Jagex is a lot better than most games. There's still a fair bit to do in the free game, and they've started doing a lot more free content than they used to. They also advertise free-to-play content as an entire free game, with the pay-to-play content as a [[ExpansionPack super expansion pack]].
* FrictionlessIce: "Myths of the White Lands" uses it for puzzles. It's also a stage hazard when fighting the Dungeoneering boss Plane-Freezer Lakhrahnaz and as a random room puzzle on Frozen floors.
* FriendlyWar: The king and queen of the neigboring island nations of Miscellania and Etceteria amuse themselves by constantly declaring war on each other. It's also a case of BelligerentSexualTension: [[spoiler:they eventually get married in "Blood Runs Deep"]].
* FunWithAcronyms: A few, including:
** The '''H'''umans '''A'''gainst '''M'''onsters association. (Their logo is a ham.)
** The Livid Vine, or "Lokar's Infernal Vine of Incredible Death"
** Ladies Of Lumbridge
** New Order Occult Bookists
* GameBreakingBug: Quite a few, although they're generally fixed within a day at most, and intentionally exploiting a bug usually earns you a permanent ban:
** One infamous bug allowed some players to kill other players outside of normal PvP zones. This led to the Falador Massacre, wherein hundreds of players were killed; many of them lost millions of coins' worth of items.
** When the Hand Cannon was first introduced, it was possible for multiple people to attack the same person in one-on-one PvP areas, resulting in instant death for that player.
** An update to the game engine made it possible to attack monsters without being attacked back, allowing lots of players to solo the Corporeal Beast (strongest monster in the game, had never been killed by a single person before up to that point) and other normally NintendoHard boss monsters.
** An update to the Dungeoneering skill briefly caused runecrafting to give 1,000 times as much experience as intended.
* GameOverMan: During the Halloween season, Death will make personal appearances to collect your soul whenever you die.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Often played straight.
* GargleBlaster: Anything labeled 'Rum'. Drinking it can have your character exclaim "My liver is melting!" and then [[NoodleIncident mysteriously wind up on Mos Le'Harmless]]. Normal 'Rum' just gets you a message in the game log stating "You try very hard not to die"
* GasMaskMooks: Mourners.
* GemstoneAssault: Crossbow bolts can be tipped with gems and then enchanted for varying special effects.
* GenderBender: The Makeover Mage magically changes his/her gender every minute or so. He/she will offer the same service to you for free. This gets lampshaded if you made the change between finishing "Throne of Miscellania" and starting "Royal Trouble."
* GenieInABottle: A random event. Seen also as a villain in the "Spirits of the Elid" quest.
* GeniusDitz: How much of each varies between quests, but overall this is how the PlayerCharacter is presented.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** "Jubbly" is British slang for "breast".
** During the quest Carnillean Rising, you tie up a teenage girl so an NPC can "rescue" her as part of his "quest." If you attempt to use a feather or abyssal whip on her while tied up, you get the message "Runescape isn't that sort of fantasy game."
* GetBackHereBoss: The giant mole. Fortunately, it has been altered to still target you after it burrows. This still doesn't make it simple to find, though.
* GetOnTheBoat: Want to visit Daemonheim? Take a boat from Al-Kharid or Taverley. Want to visit Karamja, the Void Knight Outpost, or Entrana? Take a boat from Port Sarim. (And to actually participate in the Void Knight activity you have to get on another boat.) Want to visit Braindeath Island, Dragontooth Island, or Mos Le'Harmless? Take a boat from Port Phasmatys. And so on.
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: Some of the boss fights are rather unexpected. For example, at the end of the "My Arm's Big Adventure" quest (where you have to teach agriculture to a troll), you're attacked out of nowhere by a giant roc who randomly happens to be nearby.
* GiantSpider: Several variations of giant spiders appear, the largest one being Kalgar in Underground Pass.
* GlobalCurrencyException: Tokkul in the Tz-haar caves, Trading sticks in Tai Bwo Wannai village, etc.
* GodMode: After [[spoiler:touching the Stone of Jas]] in "While Guthix Sleeps", all your stats are boosted to 255.
* GodsNeedPrayerBadly: It was once stated that depending on their domain, most of the gods gained strength from the prayers of their followers. This seems to have been {{Retcon}}ed with the revelation of the [[AncientArtifact Elder Artifacts]], which [[TouchedByVorlons bestow godhood on those who linger near them for long enough]].
* {{Golem}}: Clay golems, rock golems and golems made of rune essence called 'rune guardians' exist, but the knowledge to make clay and rock golems has been lost, while the ways of constructing Rune Guardians are rediscovered during the quest Rune Mechanics. There are also obsidian golem familiars and multiple types of golems that can be hired as crewmembers in Player-Owned Ports.
* GoldMakesEverythingShiny: Gilded armor is rune armor, but golden. You can also upgrade your dwarven multicannon to a golden version, which is functionally identical, but is definitely shinier.
** Averted due to an update, the golden multicannon now doubles its cannonball capacity.
* GottaKillEmAll:
** The "cute critters" in "The Eyes of Glouphrie". It turns out [[spoiler:they're secretly evil, and you have to find and kill them all]].
** A side quest involves killing many various creatures and getting their bones for an old man.
* GradualRegeneration: You have ordinary RegeneratingHealth (approximately 1 life points per 1000 max life points every six seconds). Additionaly, there are also items and prayers that can increase your health regeneration rate.
* [[GrapplingHookPistol Grappling Hook Crossbow]]
* GravityIsAHarshMistress: [[spoiler:In one possible ending to the One Piercing Note quest, Anna jumps off of the abbey's clock tower, believing that she has been redeemed and can fly with the Icyene. Unsurprisingly, she dies.]]
* GreatOffscreenWar: There's several, but by far the most prominent is the God Wars.
* GreenAesop: "Perils Of Ice Mountain"
* GreenEyedMonster: The ''Do No Evil'' boss Ayuni is a literal example. What this implies of [[spoiler:Amascut]] is unclear.
* GrimUpNorth: "The North" is referenced in several quests. Not to mention the Wilderness, formerly the most dangerous area in the game, and still pretty frightening. In the days when Runescape was ''entirely'' free, the instructions to reach the Wilderness were simply "go north".
* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: This is acknowledged during a cut-scene in the "Garden of Tranquillity" Quest, where a "veteran" guard explains to a new recruit that the life expectancy for a Falador guard is about 30 seconds. Right on cue, a high-levelled "player" comes and slaughters both of them.
* GuideDangIt: In order to read a bookcase near the Fight Cauldron, players must find a Ga'al known as [=TzHaar-Ga'al-Kot=], which requires them to donate [=TokKul=] to a coffer outside the Fight Cauldron, and then use a Ring of Visibility on a Ring of Stone while wearing an uncharged Tokkul-Zo with a seemingly arbitrary amount of obsidian shards in their inventory[[note]]The current [=RuneDate=] (shown in the Player-Owned Ports logbook) divided by 10.[[/note]]. None of this is even hinted at in game, and he was only found after 5 months thanks to hints from a Jagex Moderator.
* GunsAkimbo: Achieved by dual-wielding two crossbows. Wielding ranged weapons in both hands enables the "Unload" ability, which can deal massive damage against an unwary opponent.
* GunsInChurch: Averted with Entrana, where weapons and armour are banned. Played straight everywhere else.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:H–P]]
* HalfHumanHybrid:
** [[spoiler:Moia]], whose parents are [[spoiler:[[HumanMomNonhumanDad Lucien and an unknown woman]].]]
** Though the details are unclear, [[spoiler:Safalaan Hallow is the son of Queen Efaritay.]]
* {{Hammerspace}}: In addition to the typical BagOfHolding mechanics, lots of {{Emote Animation}}s involve pulling things out of {{Hammerspace}}. Many of the skillcape emotes are guilty of this; for example, the fletching emote has you pull a log, a knife, and a bowstring out of nowhere. The fishing emote produces not only a harpoon, but a small dock and a pond as well. And so on.
* HandCannon: Available as a weapon after "Forgiveness of a Chaos Dwarf".
* HarmlessFreezing:
** The God Wars dungeon and combatants inside seem to be perfectly fine after being frozen for thousands of years. Averted, however, with the Ancient Magicks freeze-you-in-an-ice-cube ice spells, which are some of the deadliest combat spells in the game.
** There's a handicap called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Randomly Freeze]] in the Dominion Tower. All it does is stops you from moving and stops you from attacking until you click on a target or you retaliate.
* HaveANiceDeath: Dungeoneering:
** "Crafting Calamity" -- Killed yourself with a chisel.
** "Spontaneous Combustion" -- Burnt yourself to death (due to a screwup with a firemaking door).
** "Fishing Folly" -- Died in a hilarious fishing accident. "You have a hilarious fishing accident that you would have told your grandchildren some day, had it not killed you."
* HealingPotion: Saradomin Brew, a yellow potion which will restore player's lifepoints, and is one of the few items that will boost lifepoints above their skill level defined maximum: however, it has the drawback of each successive dose lowering the player's combat stats slightly.
* HealingShiv: When you use elemental spells against elemental wizards at south of Falador with their respective elements.
* HealingSpring: The Oo'Glog spa pools can cure disease and poison and restore you to full health.
* HeelRealization: After the events of The Chosen Commander, Juna ended her friendship with Zanik because of religious reasons; Zanik defied her species' god. Juna was utterly devoted to her own god, Guthix, and considered this to be the correct way to behave. After the events of The World Wakes, Juna was reminded that this kind of blind devotion was one of the things Guthix went to great lengths to ''stop''. She now hopes to see Zanik again, and that she can be forgiven for the way she treated her.
* HeKnowsAboutTimedHits
* HellGate: The Pest Control minigame has players cooperate to destroy interdimensional portals that are vomiting out deadly alien invaders.
* {{Hellhound}}: A standard demonic foe. Special mention goes to Bouncer, General Khazard's particularly vicious pet Hellhound.
* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic: Many occasions, but lampshaded with the examine text of the dwarven officer in Goblin Flash Mobs.
* HeroOfAnotherStory:
** Several quests, such as Dream Mentor, have the PlayerCharacter team up with other NPC adventurers. After you part ways, they go off on their own adventures.
** The six characters the player encounters in Player Owned Ports, who each have their own adventures, with varying degrees of heroism, in the East. They eventually start working with each other, culminating in taking down a [[EnthrallingSiren Seasinger]] named Quin. Meanwhile, the PlayerCharacter stays behind to manage the Port and their travels, playing the BigGood.
* HeWhoMustNotBeNamed: [[spoiler:Zaros]].
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: The moral of the grandmaster quest "The Void Stares Back".
* HiddenElfVillage: Lletya.
* HighClassGlass: A [=TzHaar=] playing the role of a rich guy in a theatrical production wears a monocle for his costume.
* HintsAreForLosers: In Dungeoneering, you can enable Guide Mode, which highlights the rooms you need to go through to reach the end. It gives you a large XP penalty.
* HiveQueen: Oodles of them. You've got the Kalphite Queen, Penance Queen, Pest Queen, Jadinko Queen, Mother Mallum, and the most powerful of them all, [[spoiler:the almighty Queen Black Dragon]]. They're all huge disgusting bug things, too, with the exception of [[spoiler:the QBD, who is of course a dragon]] and the Jadinko Queen, who's actually a fairly attractive, graceful lizard person; she's the only one who's an ally, [[BeautyEqualsGoodness fittingly enough]].
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Both the Stone of Jas and Staff of Armadyl eventually come round to bite Lucien in the ass]].
* HolidayMode: Special events happen every Halloween, Christmas, and Easter and all give out appropriately-themed costumes, emotes, and items.
* HolyHandGrenade: Sacred mines.
* HomingBoulders: Quite frequently, in fact. Happens to most projectiles (including some literal boulders), apart from some special types. As for non-exceptions, they will hit you, even if you teleport away.
* HopelessWar:
** [[TheOrder Crux Eqal]] and the [[ChurchMilitant Guardians of Armadyl]]'s war against the Mahjarrat and their followers has so far been worse than fruitless. In the span of [[WhamEpisode two quests]], seven heroes [[CurbStompBattle lost their lives]] in battle against the Mahjarrat and one [[CameBackWrong became enslaved]] by them. To make matters much worse, [[spoiler:Guthix dies at the hands of Sliske in The World Wakes, demoralizing Crux Eqal even further and leaves Gielinor at the mercy of both the Dragonkin and the Mahjarrat]].
** In a meta example, the never-ending struggle against macros (or "bots"). Every time a "bot nuke" comes out, it temporarily has a [[DepopulationBomb drastic effect]], which then fades as soon as bot users shift to a different or newer technology. Many players speculate that Jagex's developers are outright unable (or worse, [[MoneyDearBoy unwilling]], as seen with how removal of unbalanced trade reduced botting to negligible levels for years) to ever get the upper hand against the epidemic.
* HornyVikings: The Fremennik.
* HorsemenOfTheApocalypse: Referenced in the Stronghold of Security dungeon, with its four levels: War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. The [[http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/Deathcon_II 2011 Deathcon II]] event reveals that they exist as characters as well.
* HPToOne:
** One of the Nomad's attacks hits your maximum life points minus one, so you must be at full HP (or higher) to survive.
** The Warped Gulega does it slightly differently, hitting your ''current'' life points minus one.
* HufflepuffHouse: This was Armadyl at first; while stated to have been a powerful god, very little was known about him or his exploits. The most his following amounted to were some bird people in a dungeon and a group of people guarding his Staff, [[spoiler: which isn't even ''his'' staff; it's a weapon made by the Elder Gods.]] In ''The World Wakes'', a quest all about gods and their followers, Armadyl's influence amounts to [[spoiler: Kree'Arra briefly distracting you near the beginning.]] The return of Armadyl himself quickly changed this.
* {{Hulkspeak}}: Goblins, trolls, ogres, Glod from "Grim Tales", etc.
* HumanCannonball:
** In "A Clockwork Syringe", firing yourself out of the cannon ''directly'' is too dangerous, so you weld a chain to the cannonball, attach a barrel to it, and ride in that instead!
** "Between a Rock" involves a dwarf firing you out of a cannon.
* HumanoidAbomination: The Mahjarrat, which look like skeletons in robes but are actually immensely powerful creatures from other dimensions. [[spoiler:This is an indication that they need to perform The Ritual again, as directly afterward they are much more fleshed out.]]
* HundredPercentCompletion:
** The premise of the Completionist cape and its Trimmed version.
** In the past, asking for a random objective after completing all possible random objectives would prompt the game to make fun of you, telling you to go outside instead.
* HurricaneOfPuns: Numerous instances, notably during the Hand in the Sand quest.
* HybridMonster:
** Make your own, courtesy of the Tower of Life!
** Hobgoblins, the result of Bandos breeding Orks and Goblins to produce strong but agile footsoldiers.
** Chaos Dwogres, the result of the Red Axe at creating Dwarf-like creatures who are genetically able to cast Magic, but with the natural strength of an Ogre.
* HyperactiveMetabolism
* ICantUseTheseThingsTogether: "Nothing interesting happens."
** This is actually [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in one of the Daemonheim tasks - you're required to use the [[spoiler:Ring of Kingship]] with a [[spoiler:fire]]. Doing so causes the game to [[spoiler:[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome shout out to Lord Of The Rings]]]] invoking this trope.
* AnIcePerson:
** Kamil.
** The Ice Queen and her soldiers.
** The Snow Queen
** [[NamesToRunAwayFrom/AncientDeadLanguages Glacies]]
* IdeaBulb: An emote.
* IgnoranceIsBliss: In "Devious Minds".
* IHaveManyNames: Senliten, as seen below.
---> ''Senliten, upon whom Tumeken shines and from whom his glory is reflected. Bearer of the vengeance of Amascut upon the unworthy, mistress of the Stern Judges. Queen of the desert lands and rightful heir to the glory and fertility of Elidinis. Daughter of the divinity through the royal blood of the deity. Reborn through Icthlarin into this realm as has been and will be.''
* ImmortalProcreationClause: The Dragonkin.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice:
** Zaros.
** And as of "Ritual of the Mahjarrat," [[spoiler:Lucien. With the same artifact that skewered Zaros, on top of that]].
* ImprobablePowerDiscrepancy: Apparently, giant ants are much more dangerous than barbarians wielding large axes, and blood-drained human prisoners are stronger than healthy human citizens.
* IncrediblyLamePun: This game has so many puns that it's often ridiculed. The Crawling Hand, for example:
--> ''I need to make some furniture, could you lend me a HAND?''
--> ''Haha. Very funny.''
* IndyPloy: {{Invoked}} to fight the mind-reading Vyrewatch. Because they can predict your next move by reading your mind, the solution to defeat them is to have no idea what your next move is going to be.
* InfantImmortality: Averted and played straight. There are no attackable human, elf or troll children, but players can freely slaughter gnome children (another of the civilised races in game), calves and baby dragons.
* InfinityPlusOneSword: Chaotic weapons are a very straight example. More powerful than their InfinityMinusOneSword equivalents in every area, but they can only be obtained by paying 200k dungeoneering tokens. That'll require ''dozens'' of hours of training, and once you obtain them, you'll need to spend wads of cash to repair them when they degrade after ten hours in combat.
* InfinityMinusOneSword:
** The abyssal whip was once considered the best all-purpose weapon in the game. With the introduction of Dungeoneering, chaotic weapons have higher stats in every area, but require a whopping 200k dungeoneering tokens (equivalent to about two million dungeoneering xp, or just over level 80) to obtain and have to be recharged with gold every few hours. The abyssal whip is tradable at a relatively affordable price and can be equipped as soon as you have the required level to wield it.
** The Crystal Bow, to the Zaryte Bow. The stronger model has slightly better stats, but it's many times more expensive and, where the Crystal Bow can be freely purchased after completion of a mid-level quest, the Zaryte Bow has a market price of tens of millions of coins and can only be obtained as a drop from one of the toughest boss monsters in the game.
* InsurmountableWaistHeightFence: The game is full of them.
* InstantDeathRadius: Several of the strongest boss monsters.
* InstantGravestone: Instant Gravestones (usually) protect your items when you die. Bigger and fancier ones can be purchased which hold your items for longer.
* InterfaceScrew: Part of the Runescape 3 update was the New Interface System, a fully customizable [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin interface system]] intended to allow players to view the parts of the HUD relevant to the parts of the game they wanted to play, and minimize unwanted clutter. Unfortunately, editing the interface itself can be confusing for some, and the default layout is different from the classic one.
* InterfaceSpoiler: [[spoiler:Akrisae]]'s Barrows Set is easily viewable on the Grand Exchange while searching for Barrows Armour, despite it not making too much sense for those who haven't done "Ritual of the Mahjarrat".
* AnInteriorDesignerIsYou: Courtesy of the construction skill.
* InterspeciesRomance:
** Many players' interpretation of their character's relationship with Zanik. The fact that her house has a double bed only adds to this. As does the player turning into a goblin during Land of the Goblins. Even Zanik ponders WhatCouldHaveBeen in one of her letters to the player.
---> '''Zanik''': And I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel something for you. Back when we were about to face Bandos, when we were standing by the portal about to go through, a part of me really wanted to grab you and kiss you. But I thought that was crazy, I'd just had an evil god inside my head and I thought I was going to die and I wasn't thinking straight and so in the end I didn't do anything. But now it seems maybe you wanted me to, and now I have to tell you I can't, and I'm sorry, and I have to try to explain.
** Also, Dororan and Gudrun from Gunnar's Ground.
** One way to interpret Bob and Neite, since Bob used to be human... although it's an unusual case, as Neite was once a human as well.
** The marriage of the King Black Dragon and the Kalphite Queen, to coincide with the real marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton. [[spoiler:This later turned out to be a marketing ploy by Diango.]]
* InvincibleVillain: Sliske the Mahjarrat is [[NighInvulnerable basically untouchable]], thanks to his unparalleled mastery of "[[CastingAShadow shadow magic]]" making him an unstoppable, unpredictable KarmaHoudini -- and that's before you add [[spoiler:the possibility of [[AGodAmI newfound godhood]]]] on top of it all.
* InvoluntaryCharityDonation: This is the plot of the "Let Them Eat Pie" quest. The peasants of the town are starving while the disgustingly fat rich glutton lives in luxury, so the PlayerCharacter poisons him with a disgusting pie made of rotten meat, steals from him while he's puking his guts out, and thus the citizens get their food.
* ItemCrafting
* ItMakesSenseInContext: One quest involves working with a gnome to commit terrorism for a group of secret government conspirators, which is done by infecting the people and livestock of an entire city with a virus by shooting dye-soaked toads at a farmer's flock of sheep. [[spoiler:The plague is a hoax.]]
* ItMayHelpYouOnYourQuest: In the Christmas 2010 event, where Santa Cl--er, [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial Thorvar Crittersmash]]--sent players into a Daemonheim dungeon he'd failed, giving them a bucket and telling them they'd know when to use it. After the third puzzle, that bucket became very useful because it was needed to [[spoiler:catch the heim crab that stole Santa's hat]].
* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Seen in "Meeting History".
* JerkassGods:
** Originally mostly averted, but as the game has gotten DarkerAndEdgier over time, dirty little secrets of the gods have gradually been coming to light. In general, many of the more "activist" gods like [[LightIsNotGood Saradomin]], [[SocialDarwinist Zamorak]] and [[BloodKnight Bandos]] seek power, military domination or general warfare at the expense of [[ApocalypseHow entire worlds and their populations]]. Even the more subtle or passive gods like [[StopWorshippingMe Guthix]], [[ManipulativeBastard Zaros]], [[HaveYouSeenMyGod Armadyl]] and [[ActualPacifist Seren]] have been guilty of abandoning their followers in times of need or leaving themselves wide open to betrayal by their own dubious allies.
** In particular, the Battle of Lumbridge was a massive tug-of-war between Saradomin and Zamorak. Neither one seemed particularly [[AMillionIsAStatistic concerned with the carnage they were causing Lumbridge and its citizens]], what with [[SceneryGorn levelling much of the area]], [[InferredHolocaust killing/displacing dozens of citizens]] and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking spreading panic across the continent]].
** Averted with [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys Apmeken]]. As a trickster god, you'd think she would be a huge jerk. But, she's also the goddess of friendship, so her jokes tend to be of the friendly variety.
* JokeItem: Several, especially the holiday items. Ironically, some of these are now the most valuable items in the game.
* JustifiedTutorial
* KangarooCourt: Botany Bay, where alleged botters are tried. The verdict is always guilty, and other players vote on the sentence of the botter.
* KarmaMeter: At least two quests let you choose which god to side with. Subverted in that whatever you choose has no real impact outside of those quests.
* KidHero: Dionysius/Wise Old Man started adventuring at the age of 15, and [[spoiler:Philipe Carnillean becomes one after Carnillean Rising.]]
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Duradel, Turael, Cyrisus, Sloane, Ghommal and Hazelmere]] during While Guthix Sleeps, [[spoiler:Sigmund]] in The Chosen Commander, and [[spoiler:Prince Brand and Princess Astrid]] in the Blood Runs Deep. In the Ritual of the Mahjarrat, [[spoiler: Idria, Akrisae, Jhallan and Lucien are killed]] and in The World Wakes, [[spoiler:Orlando Smith, Cres and Guthix are killed as well.]]
* KillItWithFire:
** Both Glacors and Ice Strykewyrms are [[ForMassiveDamage very weak against fire spells]].
** You fight Evil Trees by lighting fires underneath them to burn them down.
* KingArthur: Camelot is located just east of Seers' Village. King Arthur, Merlin, and the Knights of the Round Table can all be found there. Morgan le Faye lives in a tower to the south. A couple quests revolve around these guys, often referencing the ArthurianLegend.
* KleptomaniacHero: So much that there's even a thieving skill for it.
* KlingonPromotion / YouKillItYouBoughtIt: A blend of this is seen in how [[DeityOfHumanOrigin mortal beings]] have [[AGodAmI ascended to become gods]] -- a sufficiently daring or {{Badass}} being can [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu kill a god]] and [[TookALevelInBadass gain their power]] in the process. Both Guthix[[note]][[PapaWolf unintentionally]][[/note]] and Zamorak[[note]][[TheStarscream intentionally]][[/note]] utilized this method to attain godhood, and it is theorized that Sliske ''may'' have done so as well. Godly beings can also gain or lose part of their power by winning or losing in battle.
* KnightTemplar: Sigmund.
* KnockoutGas: The quest "The Great Brain Robbery" has a section where Harmony Island is covered in knockout gas. You have to wear a scuba-diving helmet or you'll be knocked unconscious.
* LargeAndInCharge: Kree'arra, K'ril Tsutsaroth, Nex and General Graardor are all very large, command the armies of their gods in God Wars Dungeon and are very powerful boss monsters. Inverted with Zilyana, who is just slightly taller than a human, but is just as lethal as the others.
* LargeHam:
** Yk'Lagor the [[MeaningfulName Thunderous]].
** Sigmund from the Cave Goblin series. It doesn't help he gets a hammy voice upgrade in the Dominion Tower.
* LastDitchMove: Nex uses the Wrath prayer upon death. Also, the Ring of Life will teleport a player who is critically wounded from battle, destroying itself in the process. Similarly, the Sign of Life item resurrects a player whose lifepoints have been reduced to zero with 25% health, also destroying itself in the process. Some conditions apply.
* LastOfHisKind:
** Thurgo is said to be the last of the Imcando dwarves[[spoiler:, although a second one, Ramarno is found later, and Thurgo claims more are alive as well.]]
** Commander Zilyana is the last of the [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Icyene]], winged humanoids that have been compared to angels. [[spoiler:However, Safalaan is later confirmed to be at least part icyene, and it later turned out that there are still plenty of Icyene left in their home realm.]]
** General Graardor is the last of the Ourgs, a race known for their [[DumbMuscle immense brute strength]].
** [[TheUnpronouncable K'ril Tsutsaroth]] is thought to be the last [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Elder-demon]].
** [[PlayingWithFire Char]] is the last Auspah, a race of fire-controlling humanoids.
** The unnamed Phoenix is the last of her kind when her brother Si'morgh is killed by a dragon. However, players get to hatch baby phoenixes out of hidden eggs.
** K'klik is the last known [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Fairy dragon]].
** Nex is the last of a race of [[PersonOfMassDestruction unbelievable power]], whatever that is...
** It is unclear whether the Dramen tree is the last of its kind of the only one of its kind.
** The White tree, however, is truly the last of its kind.
** Fyburglars tree is also likely to be the last of its kind.
** Enakhra is the last female Mahjarrat, a race that could have as few as 7 individuals depending on the player's choice.
** Hannibus is the last of [[DragonRider the dragon riders]] before he apparently died of old age in a cave in the midst of the godforsaken wasteland known as the Wilderness.
** Before his ascension to godhood, Guthix was the last of the Naragi, a race of peace-loving humanoids who were wiped out by a god war.
* LaughingMad: Blink.
* LeakedExperience: Taken to extremes in the Soul Wars minigame before it was updated. It allowed players to earn bonus experience in the slayer skill without doing any of the fighting in the game itself, up to the maximum level the skill allowed if one worked at it enough. This led to players who, with no combat experience whatsoever, ''are masters of a skill involving killing everything that moves.''
* {{Leitmotif}}:
** The goblins have one, the H.A.M. members have one, and many others have one, too.
** For areas, Daemonheim floors often have a single motif heard throughout most of the floors with the same theme.
* LethalLavaLand: The Karamja volcano, parts of the Wilderness, etc.
* LevelGrinding: The game is full of ways to do it, and it's the only way to really reach the higher levels. It's generally referred to as "training" by RuneScape players.
* LifeDrain: Several, including onyx-tipped bolts, Soul Split, the Guthan's armor set, the Vampyrism aura and scrimshaw, the Balanced Strike ability, and others.
* LifeEnergy: All magic is based on Anima. Philosophers usually refer to this as a "soul". Anima is generated by all life, though sentient life generates the most. The Elder Gods create worlds with the intention of generating and harvesting it.
* LightAndMirrorsPuzzle: One of the hardest quests has quite a sadistic version of this: COLOURED lights and mirrors, which is much worse than it sounds, all the while being attacked by shadow monsters. The sequel features one as well, though in a much smaller area and without monsters attacking you.
* LivingBattery: The various worlds throughout the Runescape universe were created to serve this function for the Elder Gods. Freneskae and Gielenor are the "perfect" worlds for generating Anima, though Zaros has discovered that imperfect worlds tend to spawn sentient life, which generate more Anima than anything the Elder Gods intentionally create.
* LoadBearingBoss: Bork.
* LoopholeAbuse: Entrana forbids bringing weapons and armor, but never anything about bringing the materials to the island to make them right there (handy if you're doing Lost City). Subverted in that if you're in possession of any such gear long enough, a monk will come to knock you out and send you back to Port Sarim.
* LordBritishPostulate: Before the release of the Ivandis Flail, Vyrewatch couldn't be killed. This didn't stop players from trying, and succeeding.
* LosingYourHead: A zombie pirate in "A Clockwork Syringe".
* LostForever: Holiday item rewards, but every holiday event gives you the emote rewards from previous events. Holiday items that can be traded such as the party hats are worth millions of coins as a result.
* LuckBasedMission:
** Stomp. Every time he gets down by a 1/3 of his health, the ceiling caves in, causing rocks to fall, as well as small lodestones that have to be used on larger ones to stop Stomp from healing that 1/3 of health you just took off. The problem? The rocks are impassible and can block off the large or small lodestones. This was eventually changed so that the rocks can be cleared out of the way.
** Dungeoneering has a puzzle where you have to sneak past a purple orb in a sort of turn-based puzzle, but your character can randomly 'stumble' which gives the purple orb a free move on you, making it nearly impossible to complete if this happens more than once.
*** Speaking of Dungeoneering, the elite Daemonheim task set reward "Hard Mode" requires that all skill doors have a base level 90 requirement to pass. If you happen to attempt this with skills below level 90, you're [[AIIsACrapshoot tossing the dice]] as to whether you'll even be able to complete the floor. See "Fake Difficulty" entry.
** In "Mourning's End Part 2", you have to cross a set of wall hand-holds with a ridiculously low success chance and a long run back when you fail. And you have to do this TWICE!
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: Shields are available to players, usable with one-handed melee weapons, crossbows, and wands. The abilities available to players using them usually revolve around reducing or [[AttackReflector reflecting]] damage, while higher level ones allow you to regain life, NoSell attacks, and even immediately come back to life.
* LukeIAmYourFather:
** {{Invoked}} in "Salt in the Wound". When a mind-controlled villager asks you to identify yourself in order to gain entry to Mother Mallum's lair, one of the options in the DialogueTree is "I AM YOUR FATHER!" (If you select it, she'll look at you funny and tell you to go away.)
** Bob the Cat tries it out if you speak with him while you have a cat with you. He and your cat will quote the ''StarWars'' scene, with Bob as Vader and your cat as Luke. It's just a joke, of course.
* LuckyRabbitsFoot: A strung rabbit foot (worn as a necklace) is an item that gives players a better chance of getting a bird's nest when cutting trees or ivy; it also grants a better chance of getting long and curved bones in combat.
* MacGuffinDeliveryService: You, usually during quests. Occasionally lampshaded.
* {{Magick}}
* MagicStaff: The basic weapon of a mage. Staves provide bonuses to magic, and some varieties also provide infinite quantities of elemental runes as well.
* MagicWand: The standard for one-handed magical weapons.
* ManEatingPlant: The stranger plant familiar.
* MarathonLevel: The Underground Pass, a long trek through a cave filled with monsters, traps, and puzzles. Bring lots of food, you ''will'' need it.
* MassMonsterSlaughterSidequest:
** Players who slay enough chompy birds with a special luring technique will be rewarded with [[AndYourRewardIsClothes fancy hats]].
** The Slayer skill is based around this. Slayer masters assign you to kill a certain number of a specific enemy type, gaining experience after each qualifying kill, and once you're done you'll have to get another assignment to keep training. Your reward for this is [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment the ability to kill even more monsters]].
* MaximumHPReduction: Some creatures could transmit "disease", which randomly decreases stats including constitution, which affects maximum life points. Barrelchest Mk II, a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot pirate zombie robot]] (ItMakesSenseInContext) directly drains constitution as part of its special attack. Instead of eating various food, this kind of damage could only be restored quickly with much more expensive super restore potions.
* MeaningfulName:
** The evil pirate Rabid Jack's ship is named ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albatross_%28metaphor%29 This Albatross]]''.
** From the "Fremennik Trials" quest: Swensen the Navigator's name is [[spoiler:the solution to his maze. Notice how his name contains only the letters N, S, E, and W--the four cardinal directions]].
* {{Microtransactions}}: Players can pay cash to buy additional spins on the Squeal of Fortune, which gives item and xp rewards.
* MidairBobbing: Seen with the pets from "The Firemaker's Curse".
* MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds: Many of the gods tend to be this. Saradomin and Tuska destroyed Guthix's homeworld, and the God wars of Runescape would have destroyed it without Guthix's intervention.
* MilestoneCelebration: Recipe for Disaster, RuneScape's 100th quest.
* MinecartMadness: At least one quest involves navigating a maze of minecart turnoffs.
* MinMaxing: Fairly common; characters who take this to its logical conclusion are known as "pures".
** Frequently, PvP-ers will level Attack and Strength disproportionately while leaving Defence ridiculously low or untouched, turning their character into a GlassCannon who can down more balanced characters of the same combat level. The introduction of HitPoints bonuses for all armour in 2012 made this strategy significantly riskier, since it simultaneously increased the penalties associated with this tactic (low-level armour now puts you at a much greater risk of being OneHitKO'd by other players) and reduced the corresponding advantages (other players with increased HP are harder to take down quickly, and players with shields now have access to abilities that can block your attacks).
** Skill pures also exist, whereby characters do not level combat skills at all while working one or more non-combat skills up to level 99. This can be a detriment, however, as many lucrative skilling areas are guarded by aggressive [=NPCs=] who can and ''will'' prey on low-levelled players who lack the sense to flee.
* MissingSecret: Acts as a form of GameplayAndStorySegregation in that many more cities and civilizations exist in the background than have actually been coded into the game. As a result, an absurd number of major cities and entire nations (most prominently Prifddidas, Menaphos, and [[spoiler:Arposandra]]) are in isolation, be it mythic or overtly enforced by snooty border guards who will tell you that the place is "closed to outsiders". If an update eventually rolls around that lets you in (as with Keldagrim or Meiyerditch), this becomes an example of BrokenBridge: you'll still have to do a quest to get in and the people inside will be fearful or distrustful of outsiders. And the city will ''still'' be full of places you can't access.
* {{Mithril}}: {{Downplayed}}. Mithril is stronger than steel, but still a rather low-level armour, at only 20 Defense to wear. In accordance with tradition, though, it weighs less than other metals.
* MixAndMatchWeapon:
** The Ivandis Flail, a combination flail/sickle/magical staff designed to battle Vyrewatch vampyres.
** The Devious Minds quest has players create a Bowsword, a bow made from a bent sword, for an NPC.
** What do you get when you cross a bow with a shield? You get a shieldbow, which shoots arrows ''and'' provides the defensive bonuses of a shield.
* MobileShrubbery: The penguin's disguises in Penguin Hide and Seek.
* TheMole: Many.
** [[spoiler:King Lathas and one entire elf faction]] in the Plague City to Mourning's Ends storyline.
** More obviously, Sigmund in the H.A.M. series, originally a sinister advisor to the Duke of Lumbridge.
** The "Stranger" in Canifis, who is really [[spoiler:Vanstrom Klause, a top lieutenant of the Vyrelords of Darkmeyer. He even manages to [[StupidityIsTheOnlyOption manipulate you]] into [[NiceJobBreakingItHero bringing the Myreque resistance movement to the brink of destruction]].]]
** [[spoiler:Wizard Ellaron]] in Rune Mysteries and Rune Memories. His aim is to bring about the destruction of the Wizard's Tower for [[spoiler:the alleged betrayal of his order most of a century earlier. In the meantime, he has lived and studied among his avowed enemies for decades while [[TheChessmaster manipulating]] [[BrokenPedestal his former apprentice]], Ariane, into becoming a conduit for the magical energies that would complete the conflagration]].
* MoneySink: The entire Construction and Summoning skills. Long overdue because of the billions high alchemy was bringing into the game.
* MoneySpider: Lots of enemies. Not really killed for gold, since nothing really drops a lot of gold. Rather, they are killed for items to be sold. A notable example of this trope played straight is the Grotworm; it drops exactly 5000 coins fairly frequently.
* MonsterIsAMommy: Rocs and dagannoths in their respective quests.
* {{Mordor}}: The Wilderness.
* MotiveRant: The killer delivers one at the end of "One Piercing Note".
* MultiArmedAndDangerous: All [=TzHaar=] and [=TokHaar=]. Four arms, three fingers. They even use a base twelve maths system. Not all of them use that many weapons, though.
* MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning: [[spoiler:The player may not want Guthix to die, and Sliske may have thought it was a victory for the forces of Zaros, but Guthix intended [[ThanatosGambit his death to work into the eventual plan]] of setting Gielinor free from "[[JerkassGods oppressor gods]]" once and for all]].
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast:
** The Dungeoneering bosses certainly have this. All of the Kal'Gerion generals (demons) and Stalkers (giant eyeballs) have very intimidating names:
*** From the Kal'Gerion Army: [[AnIcePerson To'Kash the Bloodchiller]], Har'Lakk the Riftsplitter, [[DropTheHammer Bal'lak the Pummeller]], [[LargeHam Yk'Lagor]] the [[NoIndoorVoice Thunderous]] and [[BadBoss Kal'Ger the Warmonger]].
*** Stalkers: How else would you react to names the likes of [[AnIcePerson Plane-freezer Lakhrahnaz]], Night-gazer Khighorahk, [[CastingAShadow Shadow-forger Ihlakhizan]], Flesh-spoiler Haasghenahk and World-gorger Shukarhazh?
** Lucien. Sure, he doesn't sound like much, but if you meet him, run. Then teleport. Then log out. Then leave your house. Then book a flight to Russia. [[OverlyLongGag Then sneak aboard a rocket to the moon.]]
** [[PersonOfMassDestruction Nex]]... a single syllable that causes even the gods themselves to quake in fear.
* NayTheist:
** The cave goblins. Considering their former god was both a BloodKnight and a {{Jerkass}}, it's hard to blame them.
** The Godless faction which arises after [[spoiler:the events of The World Wakes and the return of the gods]]. They reject the gods, both aggressive and pacifist alike, believing that mortals should be free to choose their own path, and seek to protect the innocent.
* NatureSpirit: One is found in God Wars Dungeon and the second is found in Mort Myre.
* Necromantic: Melzar the Mad.
* NeglectfulPrecursors: The Elder Gods left behind a variety of extremely powerful {{Ancient Artifact}}s and only took limited precautions to prevent them from being abused. Much worse, to the extent that they did take precautions, the security mechanism on the Stone of Jas is at ''least'' as dangerous as the potential for abuse.
* {{Nerf}}: Several combat features were heavily nerfed on the introduction of the new combat system.
** Ice spells used to [[TheDreaded inspire terror]] in any player that heard the [[MostWonderfulSound signature sound effect]] of the spell being cast. However, in the combat update, their freezing effect was severely reduced, and the new system even allowed players to escape and become immune to it. Nowadays, they don't even have the iconic ringing sound anymore.
** Prayers have also been hit by this. Originally, they blocked all incoming damage from [=NPCs=] of the corresponding type, and 40% of all player-dealt damage, which was invaluable in fighting many bosses. Now they deal a blanket 50% protection, offering only a slight improvement against players in exchange for utterly ruining them for combat against bosses.
* ANaziByAnyOtherName: The Vampyres. They rule a city named Meiyerditch, where humans are held as slaves and treated as food. The city is even referred in-game as a ghetto.
* [[NeverTrustATrailer Never Trust A Twitter]]: Every week Jagex releases a hint to the next update on Twitter. More often than not these hints provide no clues to the update whatsoever and make no sense until AFTER the update is released. The worst offender is the hint "Ruby Dragon" and the update was a thieving guild quest. There was no way the players were supposed to guess that based on the hint.
* NiceHat: The party hats. Their rare status makes them SeriousBusiness. The rarer ones are worth literally billions of coins, in a game where earning a million an hour is very fast.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The ends of Spirit of Summer and Enakhra's Lament. Certain parts of various other quests involve the player inadvertantly causing things to get worse before having to make them better. Some, unfortunately, are a result of [[StupidityIsTheOnlyOption stupidity being the only option]].
* NinjaPirateZombieRobot: There are zombie monkeys, ninja monkeys, zombie monks, ninja implings, zombie pirates, zombie pirate robots ("barrelchests"), etc.
* NobodyPoops: {{Lampshade}}d in the God Letters and the occasional NPC.
** April fools 2014 featured mock forums with Jagex mods discussing, among other things, inclusion of more types of tea in the game and with that "allowing your character to relieve themselves after consuming too much tea", it was suggested to use trees or revitalizing construction with player built commodes "ranging from holes in the ground through to gold-plated masterpieces"
* NoFourthWall:
** The barkeeper in the Blue Moon Inn in Varrock is aware that RuneScape is only a computer game and says as much if the player asks him for advice.
** In the 2011 Easter Event, the player explicitly tells a squirrel to stop breaking the fourth wall.
* NoHeroDiscount: Played straight most of the time. Occasionally {{averted}} when a quest reward gives you a discount--for example, after proving your merit as a sailor and defeating some pirates in Cabin Fever, you can charter ships at half price.
* NonHumanUndead: While human undead are the most common type of undead, undead versions of goblins, ogres and trolls are not unheard of, and an old trailer implies that undead dragons exist as well. There are revenant versions of over a dozen races as well.
* NonStandardGameOver: Near the end of ''Missing, Presumed Death'' [[spoiler:if you fail to release Death from his cage before Icthlarin's shield runs out Strisath will kill Icthlarin. You get the message "Icthlarin has died." in your chatbox before the screen fades to black and the sequence starts over]].
* NoodleIncident:
** Marion the bartender said that she lost her skill in archery after an incident involving a [[StuffBlowingUp Chinchompa]] named Fluffy and a butter churn. Also, there are these weird sea slugs called sluglings that you pick up to make rum. When asking Captain Braindeath why they call them sluglings, he responds that they call them sluglings because of "a long, complicated story involving three dead seagulls and a busted pipe". Why you even need slugs of any kind to make rum in the first place [[YouDoNotWantToKnow is a question better left unanswered]].
** The various misfortunes that befall the Varrock Museum's expedition barge.
* NoPronunciationGuide: Until the 21st of February, when they actually added a Pronunciation Guide. The fact that they bothered to make it in the first place should give you an idea of how many instances of this trope exist in the game, such as the "Mahjarrat"[[note]]MAH-jer-att[[/note]] race, or the city of "Ardougne"[[note]]arr-DOYN[[/note]].
* NothingButSkulls
* NothingIsTheSameAnymore: After "The World Wakes" [[spoiler:the Edicts of Guthix are broken and the gods can freely interfere on Gielinor. The player is a Guardian of Guthix with the power to defy the gods. And the world advances from Year 169 of the 5th Age into Year 1 of the 6th Age.]]
* NothingIsScarier: The Wilderness. Particularly the deeper areas where there's hardly anything, save for a few [=NPCs=], and you could be attacked by a powerful player-killer any moment. The [[HellIsThatNoise ambiance]] does ''not'' make anything better...
* NoticeThis:
** When the game wants to mark an object as important, a blinking yellow arrow will often appear above it. This is used to mark posts in the Brimhaven Agility Arena, to mark destinations in the tutorials, and so on.
** The pinball random event has glowing rings appear around the post you're supposed to tag.
* ObfuscatingStupidity:
** Traiborn, considering his role in Love Story, and the fact that one of RuneScape's legendary heroes has not yet robbed the Wizards' Tower because of him.
** Wizard Grayzag. He summons little imps as part of his wizarding career, but there's a lesser demon in the room next to him... and then the quest The Void Stares Back brings even more surprises. [[spoiler:Really. He accomplishes two things -- being [[BigBad behind the whole quest line]], and [[KilledOffForReal causing the real, irreversible death of an NPC.]]]]
* ObviousRulePatch:
** The restrictions on where you can place a cannon. This is {{lampshaded}} in a Postbag from the Hedge by Nulodion, claiming that he just felt as if he wasn't ''permitted'' to set up a cannon in dangerous areas.
** "You can't light a fire here."
** The Flash Powder Factory was patched to give a 50% reduction in points whenever you leave with more than 2 minutes left on the timer, to promote players to play through entire matches. Previously, players would leave the game early to get around DiminishingReturnsForBalance by starting a new round.
** The Dominion Sword can only be wielded two-handed, despite obviously being only a longsword, in order to fit in with the other two-handed magic and ranged dominion weapons.
* OffScreenAfterlife: There is at least one, if not many, but every ghost or otherwise dead character you encounter hasn't crossed over yet, and those who have come BackFromTheDead (such as Zanik and, well, you) [[DeathAmnesia have no memory of it]]. The Spirit Plane that you summon summoning beasts from appears to just be a plane full of ghostlike critters rather than an afterlife for dead critters. Zanik herself describes the time period when she's dead as... [[NothingIsScarier nothing.]] The moments before she was revived were the moments just before her death.
* OffWithHisHead:
** Done pretty nastily in the Dungeoneering dungeon. There are dinosaurs that you can kill for leather to make armour, and although it can be done through combat, it kind of destroys most of the hides you could have gotten. However, you can design a Hunter trap designed to get a lot more hides by invoking this trope when the dinosaur goes for the bait.
** Stomp. The entire boss fight is an attempt to destroy the portal that Stomp's head is sticking through. When this is achieved (after enduring a mountain of Fake Difficulty), the portal [[PortalCut acts like a guillotine]], separating Stomp's head from his body in a bloody, gruesome mess.
* OhCrap: Many moments. Sometimes by [=NPCs=] during quests and the like (Garden of Tranquility's guard scene), and often by players (usually when finding a new room in Dungeoneering).
* OlderIsBetter: Equipment originating from the Barrows brothers or the Third Age is usually much better than any of the armor made during the Fifth Age.
* TheOldGods: The Elder Gods.
* OldShame: RomeoAndJuliet, to the point where they edited a four-year-old letter (Issue 14 of Postbag From the Hedge, published December 2006) just to further erase the quest's existence.
* OminousPipeOrgan: Yk'Lagor's theme and several tracks in Morytania.
* OneGenderRace: All of the Elder Gods are considered female, though given their transcendent nature, gender distinction is effectively irrelevant.
* OneHandedZweihander: A mid-level slayer master Vannaka wields both a steel two-handed sword and Dragon square shield at the same time although not even players with maxed Strength can wield two-handed swords with a shield.
* OneSteveLimit: Parodied in some cases (an entire town where everyone is named Ali the Barman, Ali the Snakecharmer, etc.) and simply averted in others. Played straight with players' screennames.
* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass: Has an entire ''quest'' dedicated to this trope, including a chemistry puzzle loaded with chemistry-related in-jokes like nitrous oxide ([[spoiler:[[BigNo NO]]]]) and dihydrogen monoxide ([[spoiler:water]]).
* OnlyThePureOfHeart: The Wand of Resurrection is like this. However, it also involves some PureIsNotGood. If someone is pure good, they can use the wand to bring someone back to life. If someone is not pure good or evil, the wand will bring them back as a zombie, which will try to kill the one who brought them back. But if someone pure evil uses the wand, they can raise zombies as much as they want, and not worry about them disobeying.
* OracularHead: Postie Pete.
* OrcusOnHisThrone: Many villains. Literally with Nomad, whose CoolChair really does make him more powerful.
* OurAngelsAreDifferent: They're Icyene, such as Commander Zilyana.
* OurDemonsAreDifferent: Those in RuneScape originate from different planes and resemble red humanoids with big teeth and tails. Stronger ones have wings.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Created by a race known as dragonkin, which happen to look like [[TheDarkCrystal Skeksis]]. Also, as well as various types of [[ColourCodedForYourConvenience coloured dragons]], there are dragons made entirely of metal.
* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: The steampunk variety.
* OurGoblinsAreDifferent: The ordinary surface goblins have green skin. Their intelligence is as high as most humans', but the way they're raised, they usually never reach their full potential. There are also cave goblins which have pale green skin and large eyes and are far more intelligent than their surface-dwelling bretheren.
* OurGodsAreGreater:
** In the {{Retcon}}ed God Letters, the gods were transcendent beings who resided on a higher plane and held CompleteImmortality. They were {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s, the spirits of natural forces and [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly mortal belief]]. To see a god in its true form was enough to [[GoMadFromTheRevelation risk madness for the weak willed]], and stronger willed beings [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm would have to interpret them in a way their mind could cope with]].
** In current Runescape theology, the gods are divided into two categories, Younger Gods and Elder Gods.
*** Most of the gods are defined as "younger gods", which are more along the lines of {{Physical God}}s. Their domains are little more than their philosophies. Most of them were once mortal and [[TouchedByVorlons gained their powers by absorbing divine magic]], typically by killing an existing god or lingering around certain extremely powerful artefacts. Though very powerful, the younger gods ''can'' be killed, their bodies typically turning to stone. And since becoming a god forfeits all right to an afterlife, death generally causes CessationOfExistence.
*** The Elder Gods are not completely invulnerable, but do hold CompleteImmortality. They are {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of different aspects of time and are akin to {{Elemental Embodiment}}s. They have the power to [[CreatingLife create life]] and entire worlds, doing so with the intention of feeding off of the [[LifeEnergy Anima]] they generate. They are beyond mortals to the point that they [[CreatingLifeIsUnforeseen barely even perceive the existence of sentient life]], and thus [[BlueAndOrangeMorality have no problems]] with [[spoiler:destroying or enslaving it]].
* OurHomunculiAreDifferent
* OurLichesAreDifferent:
** "Skeleton Mages" are an attackable monster in a few places. There's also Iban, who was resurrected by a witch and has a phylactery in the form of a doll whose parts you have to gather and assemble in order to defeat him.
** Subverted with the Mahjarrat, who are powerful mages with skeletal faces and a penchant for necromancy... but are actually just a separate species whose default form happens [[HumanAliens to look like a human skeleton]].
* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Vampires may not even be undead, as far as anyone knows. Also, see Phantasy Spelling below.
* PaperThinDisguise: Both averted and played straight.
* PercentDamageAttack: Enchanted ruby bolts have a chance to take away 20% of target's health (with a few exceptions) at the cost of decimating player's health.
* PhantasySpelling: Vampires and vampyres ''both'' exist, but the two are fairly different. To be more specific, vampires are feral were-bats, while vampyres are more civilized, taking on a more human appearance the stronger they get. But that wouldn't stop either of them from chowing down on your neck, given the chance. An update changed standard vampires to also being spelled vampyre however, for unknown reasons.
* PhysicalGod:
** [[spoiler:The Mahjarrat, especially Lucien after he acquired two artefacts of the gods, both with immense power.]]
** The Mahjarrat who invented Dungeoneering [[spoiler:wants to bring Zamorak back into the physical world.]]
** The younger gods are basically extremely powerful, unaging mortals as opposed to transcendent beings.
** The PlayerCharacter briefly becomes this after [[spoiler:touching the Stone of Jas and being infused with a FRACTION of it's power.]]
* PimpedOutCape: Skillcapes, with their ornate trimmings and over-the-top shoulderpads.
* PinataEnemy: The Living Rock Patriarch, which gives 30% more experience than a normal enemy and drops a number of noted items such as Diamonds, Rune Ore, Blood and Mud Runes as a 100% drop, totaling little over 200k for one kill, though it takes a couple hours to respawn per world and is surrounded by other aggressive monsters inside a single combat area.
* {{Pirate}}: Loads of them, including a quest series based on them.
* PirateParrot
* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: Most of the pirates are this. They hang around in [[OutlawTown Mos'le'Harmless]], talk like pirates, and drink 'rum', but don't do much actual piracy. Of all the pirate captains the player meets, only one of them still has a ship. You only see him steal something from another ship once, and the other ship in question was also full of pirates. Rabid Jack is the exception--when he started acting like a ''real'' pirate, he brought the wrath of the law down so hard on the whole pirate community that the rest of them had to [[spoiler:organize themselves into an armada and hunt him down]]. Too bad he didn't stay dead...
* TravelingPipeBulge: Seen in the KGP Abduction home teleport animation when the player is sucked through the penguins' transport tube.
* PlagueDoctor: There is a set of quests set in West Ardougne collectively named the Plague City Quests that live this trope to a T. You learn to love Ye Olde Worlde hazmat suits.
* PlanetOfSteves: Pollnivneach, where everybody's name is Ali.
* PlantPerson: Ents, wood dryads and tree spirits.
* PlayerGeneratedEconomy: With the Grand Exchange, trading is much more organized and elaborate than most other [=MMORPGs=].
* PlotCoupon: You'll be collecting these a lot during quests.
* PlotInducedStupidity: Several quests involve you being quite gullible. Of course, you ''can'' not be gullible, but you [[StupidityIsTheOnlyOption can't finish the quest by not being gullible]].
* PlotlineDeath: Quest [=NPCs=] seem to suffer from these. Others, including players, will be perfectly fine, except during the quests which need you to die.
* PlotTailoredToTheParty: In the final scene of "Salt in the Wound", you need Ezekial's explosives expertise to break through damaged walls, Kennith's persuasive abilities to manipulate a mind-controlled villager, and Eva's strength and combat skill to hold off the guards and deal the finishing blow.
* PocketDimension:
** The Runecrafting Guild was created within the 'shadow' of the old Wizard's Tower.
** For the 2011 Christmas Event, a new Wizard's Tower was made for a Christmas Party in one. When asked about where exactly it is in relation to the original Wizard's Tower, the wizards will mention that [[MindScrew you need to know the alphabet above Z to understand]].
* PoisonedWeapons: Daggers, spears, and ammo for ranged weapons.
* PoorCommunicationKills: Part of how the old wizard's tower was destroyed. The Green wizard stole the Red apprentice's idea, and the Red wizard told his apprentice to keep quiet about it as punishment for helping a non-Red. The idea resulted in the need for a second plane to use, so the Red wizard bargained with a demon for use of the abyss. When all 8 wizards started the ritual, the Blue apprentice saw the demon's hand in the spell, causing the truth to come out. The Blue wizard refused to participate in a spell involving Red magic, and walked off in the middle of the ritual at a crucial moment, causing a massive explosion, the only survivors of which were the Blue and Red apprentices.
* PortTown: Several of them: Phasmatys, Port Sarim, Rellekka, etc.
* PortalCut: This is the fate of one of the boss creatures in Dungeoneering. The boss, simply called Stomp, is a large worm-like creature coming through a portal that calls down rocks during the fight. After the portal gets weakened several times, at the end of the fight the portal snaps shut, resulting in a surprisingly graphic death -- the wall where the portal was gets rather bloodstained, and the monster essentially thrashes itself to death.
* PosthumousCharacter: Tons of them.
* PostModernMagik: A rare example: the Lumbridge Cook's magic cooking range.
--> '''Cook''': It's called the Cook-o-Matic 25, and it uses a combination of state-of-the-art temperature regulation and magic.
* PostMortemOneLiner: Thok delivers one after each boss.
* PowerCrystal: Literal power crystals are found from Daemonheim and are used in puzzles, but the Four Diamonds of Azzanadra, lava crystals, and the crystals in Watchtower and Mourning's End Part 2 also count.
* PowerfulPick: Played with; while pickaxes are wieldable, they are much less effective than weapons made of the same grade of metal (or even a couple of levels below them). However, they're not worthless in combat, as they are still stronger than some weapons made of lesser metals. Some bosses even have armor that has to be broken with the pickaxe before you can damage them with normal weapons (although you can still hack away at them with your pickaxe if you wish).
* PowerTrio: Saradomin, god of order (superego), Zamorak, god of chaos (id), and Guthix, god of balance (ego).
* ProtagonistCenteredMorality[=/=]GameplayAndStorySegregation: There's no KarmaMeter in this game, so you could theoretically slaughter everyone attackable in a given city and still for all plot purposes be considered that city's greatest hero. The game pulls no punches in mocking this.
* PsychologicalTormentZone: Tolna's Rift.
* PublicDomainCharacter: King Arthur, Romeo and Juliet (gone), Robin Hood, etc.
* PunctuationShaker: Most of the demons have an apostrophe in their names.
* PunnyName: A RunningGag with the White Knights. They all have names like Sir Amik Varze (ceramic vase), Sir Tiffy Cashien (certification), Sir Tendeth (certain death; [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin guess what happens to him]]), Sir Vyvin (surviving), Sir Prysin (surprising), the list goes on and on. Apparently, it even extends to family members--Sir Tiffy Cashien's adopted daughter is named Eva (evocation). The only White Knight without a pun in their name is [[ExpandedUniverse Squire/Sir Theodore]].
* PurelyAestheticGender: Except during the Recruitment Drive quest, where the player must be female in order to beat one of the challenges, as you must fight a character that no ''[[NoManOfWomanBorn man]]'' can defeat. Males who have to pay for the switch get their money back and a free "makeover" voucher to make themselves male again.
* PurpleIsPowerful: Zaros.
* PuzzleBoss: The Gluttonous Behemoth, which will rapidly heal itself by feeding on a nearby carcass if its HP drops to half. [[spoiler:Put a player or a fire between the Behemoth and its food source.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Q–Z]]
* QuicksandSucks: Subverted in the "Diamond in the Rough" quest when you and Ozan find what appears to be quicksand. Ozan explains the correct way to escape from quicksand... only to find it isn't really quicksand when neither he nor you can move.
** In one of the Temple Trekking/Burgh de Rott minigame puzzles, the player is required to cross a bog using a stick to poke at the ground to determine where the firm bits are. Stepping elsewhere results in sinking and having to start over.
* TheQuisling: Gadderanks, a human who collects blood tithes for the vampires.
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: The cave goblins' questline runs on this trope. Justified somewhat in that the cave goblins' former god falls somewhere between BloodKnight and GodOfEvil, although all of the other gods take a PR drubbing as well.
* RainbowPimpGear:
** You can equip any combination of clothes you want. ANY. Keep in mind that the equipment in this game ranges from blue armor to magenta robes to mime costumes and everything in between.
** The Infinity mage robes play this trope very straight.
* RaisingTheSteaks: Zombie cows, skeleton cows, zombie chickens, zombie monkeys, skeleton monkeys, ghost monkeys, zombie parrots... subverted with corpse spiders, which are not undead spiders, but spider-shaped monsters made of human corpses.
* RandomDrop
** RareRandomDrop: The Draconic Visage from almost all dragons, the godswords from the God Wars Dungeon and many more.
* RandomlyGeneratedLevel: The premise of Daemonheim and the Dungeoneering skill.
* RealityWarper: Jagex moderators, within the game world. A few of their abilities:
** Teleport anywhere on the map instantly
** Be any combat level
** Have infinite lifepoints
** OneHitKO any monster
** Spawn infinite amounts of any item
** Float in midair
** Walk on lava
* RecurringRiff: Dungeoneering areas. Some other areas too.
* RecurringTraveller: Bob the cat, Elfinlocks.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:Ga'al Xox dies reopening the lava passages that will bring life back to the TzHaar City after killing an elder]] in "The Brink of Extinction".
* RedHerring:
** Subverted. A red herring is crucial to solving a puzzle in the Fremenik Trials quest. Then again, it also turns out to be a regular herring covered in some kind of dye. ZigZaggingTrope?
** The diary found during the Rune Memories quest is written in a way to deceive players [[spoiler:into thinking that Kelevan the Red Wizard Apprentice sabotaged the original transportation ritual to destroy the Old Wizards' Tower]]. However, it is actually [[spoiler:the diary of Ellaron, detailing his plans to destroy the ''current'' tower]].
* ReferenceOverdosed: Plenty of them everywhere.
* RelaxOVision: Parodied.
* ReligionIsMagic : Buffs come from prayers. And yes, they're called that. One adds deities to their pantheon to get new ones.
* RememberTheNewGuy: The "Signature Heroes" are this to any player who was around before they were introduced. It becomes particularly grating when they treat the player character as if they're new to the whole "adventuring" thing despite the player character often having been around before the signature heroes even existed.
* RepetitiveName: One of the vampyre names you can choose for yourself in "Branches of Darkmeyer" is Von van Von.
* ResetButton: [[spoiler:Unless you want the entire world to be rebuilt from scratch, do ''not'' break the Edicts of Guthix.]] The World Wakes revolves mostly around [[spoiler:the followers of other Gods working together to remove this Reset Button by ''killing'' Guthix. ''They succeed.'']]
* {{Retirony}}:
** [[spoiler:Turael]] mentions during While Guthix Sleeps that he may retire soon. [[spoiler:He dies during the quest.]]
** Examining one of The Forgotten Warrior's allies during Vengeance results in the message "She was about to retire."
* ReverseGrip: The Keris dagger.
* RoadRunnerPC: You can run. Most non-player characters cannot.
* RodentsOfUnusualSize: Giant rats. [[AlienLunch Big enough to get rat steaks from them]].
* RoomFullOfCrazy: A progressive example in Melzar's Maze, which has a number of cabinets that can be opened and searched. The first ones contain books, stacks of paper, and other mundane objects. As you progress, you start to uncover complete human skeletons, followed by ''stacks of loose bones'', each one carefully labeled with a number. The last two merely contains piles of dead rats. Notes found in nearby bookshelves indicate [[spoiler:Melzar was attempting to raise his countrymen from the dead, but was having trouble getting beyond ghosts and animated skeletons. The final record says he's selected two to try growing flesh on... one room before you encounter a pair of zombies.]]
* RuinsForRuinsSake: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zigzagged]] with Daemonheim. Many areas of it seem to have been designed to be lived in, such as barrack-like bedrooms, libraries, and dinner halls; the small fish ponds, lodestones, golem statues, and other puzzles in some rooms designed as a security system to keep the digger's enemies out.
** The Wilderness also has ruins abound. [[spoiler:But then again, given that it was once like the rest of the world, this makes perfect sense...]]
* RunningGag:
** There are several references to the short lifespan of guards.
** Cabbages. They have almighty power and are key points in a number of plotlines. They were also part of a few April Fool's Day updates, notably one where they all became quite lively and you met the God of Cabbages, Brassica Prime.
** It's been quite well established that penguins are evil communist masterminds.
** Heim Crabs are also developers' favorite target for running gags.
** Anything about skeletons and their eating habits examine texts.
** Horses being mythological creatures in the world of Runescape.
** Your character really doesn't like the navigator of the Lady Zay.
** Pirate Pete has a tendency to give concussions to those who travel with him. {{Flanderized}} during A Clockwork Syringe.
* RussianReversal: The examine text of the Spirit Jelly is "In Runescape, acid gets indigestion from YOU!"
* RustproofBlood: Present in some dungeons. Justified in the player owned house dungeon, where it's just red dye.
* SacrificialLamb:
** In ''In Search of the Myreque'', you're introduced to several of the resistance group against Morytania's vampires, and all of them are given backstories and motivations for joining the resistance. And then two of them are killed when the villain of the quest shows up.
** In ''Quiet Before the Swarm,'' you get introduced to eight of the Void Knights and a few other people at their outpost. You talk to all of them and learn some things about them. Six of them die shortly afterwards.
* SacrificialLion: In ''While Guthix Sleeps'', [=NPCs=] that the player has probably spent a lot of time with during previous quests, slayer tasks, and so forth are killed by the BigBad to let the player know just how serious this situation is.
* SadisticChoice: [[spoiler:Choosing between saving Korasi and saving Jessika in ''The Void Stares Back''.]]
* SandWorm: Strykewyrms, particularly the desert strykewyrm.
* SapientHouse: The Dominion Tower was once a young boy whose mind was sealed into the tower to escape his dying body.
* SavageWolves: Wolves appear as a common enemy, ranging from weak Adolescent White Wolves all the way to seasonal boss monsters [[AnIcePerson Hati]] and [[PlayingWithFire Skoll]]. There's even a wolf familiar.
* SayYourPrayers: And indeed, praying can often save your life in this game.
* ScaledUp: The Completionist cape emote briefly allows the player character to transform into a giant black dragon. (The [[SerialEscalation trimmed version of the cape]] transforms you into a golden dragon instead.)
* ScaryImpracticalArmour: Black Knight Captain armour: while intiminating, it doesn't offer any protection in combat what-so-ever and is purely cosmetic and used to infiltrate the Black Knights' Fortress.
* SceneryGorn: After a certain quest, [[spoiler:Edgeville]] gets utterly trashed by a savage attack by [[spoiler:The Dragonkin]]. It's functionally identical to before, but there are enormous scorch marks and lots of eternal (but non-spreading or damaging) fire everywhere.
* SchmuckBait:
** In "Let Them Eat Pie", you feed someone a rancid pie, then listen from downstairs. You hear him begin to be violently sick, then the game tells you the sound effects only get worse, and asks if you're sure you want to hear the rest. The sound effects really do only get worse.
** In Movario's base, there is a [[DistractedByTheShiny huge pile of gleaming treasure]]... with a trap that would hit you ForMassiveDamage. And if you investigate the treasure pile, the following message occurs:
---> "After a quick search, your suspicions are confirmed... It was too good to be true; [[AllThatGlitters it's just worthless fakery, placed here to sucker someone.]]"
* ScrewDestiny: Happens in The Chosen Commander.
* SealedBadassInACan: Azzanadra, the powerful mahjarrat who was sealed away in a pyramid by his enemies.
* SealedEvilInACan:
** This seems to have been the standard operating procedure for dealing with anything associated with [[spoiler:Zaros]], although technically speaking the "Evil" is [[WrittenByTheWinners in question]].
** Mother Mallum of the "Slug Menace" quest.
** Dungeoneering was created by [[spoiler:Bilrach, a Mahjarrat who wants to return Zamorak to the physical world.]]
* SecretTest: The Lady of the Lake secretly tests your generosity in the "Merlin's Crystal" quest by disguising herself as a beggar and asking you for food.
* SelectiveCondemnation: So prevalent that even LampshadeHanging is done to that.
* SelfImposedChallenge: Some players stay at combat level 4[[note]]4 is the lowest level; there is no level 1, 2 or 3[[/note]], and only level up non-combat skills like cooking.
* SenselessSacrifice:
** Many characters in While Guthix Sleeps.
** [[spoiler: Arkisae's sacrifice in Ritual of the Mahjarrat is unnecessary to say the least, given how the player can respawn as fate decrees that they will not die unless Death says so]].
* SenselessViolins: Before the boss battle of [[Long Title A Fairy Tale Part III - Battle at Ork's Rift]], the Fairy Godfather pull out a wand out of a violin case.
* SeparatedByACommonLanguage: Being developed in Britain and using British terms for items can and does confuse American players unfamiliar with the game and British terminlogy in general. Adding to some confusion, some "American" (or, rather, more easily recognizable internationally) symbols and terms are used, such as the American dollar sign symbol for banks on the minimap.
* SequelDifficultySpike:
** Recipe for Disaster, which at the time of its release was the game's longest and most difficult quest, is the sequel to Cook's Assistant, a ''tutorial'' quest.
** Demon Slayer and its sequel Shadow of the Storm. From an early-game freeplay quest where your biggest FetchQuest is 25 bones and your biggest fear of dying is accidentally aggroing a level 9 mage, to a long, desert-based quest with several puzzles and a level 100 boss capable of using protection prayers.
** Infamously in the Plague quest line, it goes from two easy (if rather long) quests to the Underground Pass, which is a very, very long trek through a monster-infested cave. Some people still consider Underground Pass to be one of the hardest quests in the game, and the quests afterwards (Regicide, Roving Elves, and the infamous Mourning's Ends) just get harder.
* SerialEscalation: With achievement capes. Which PimpedOutCape will you be wearing today?
## The original achievement cape was the ordinary blue cape, which, in ''[=RuneScape Classic=]'', was only available through the shop in the Champions' Guild, which required 33 quest points to enter. That was before capes could be dyed any color, so wearing a blue cape was proof that you'd done (at the time) almost all of the quests in the game.
## Of course, eventually the Legends' Guild was added to the game, and with it came the new, even more prestigious Cape of Legends, which could prove that you'd gained over 100 quest points to access the Legends' Guild.
## Then we got Skillcapes (requiring level 99 in one skill) and the Quest cape (all quests complete).
## Not enough? How about the Dungeoneering Master Cape, for level 120? (Dungeoneering is the only skill that maxes out at level 120 rather than 99. There is still a cape for Level 99 Dungeoneering.)
## Next up we have the ''Max'' cape, for ''all'' skills at level 99.
## But wait, there's more! The Completionist cape can be obtained after maxing out every skill, completing every quest, completing every miniquest, and completing every [[CosmeticAward task]].
## Thought we were done? Nope! If you want a ''trimmed'' Completionist cape, you also need to do [[http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/Completionist_cape#Requirements all of this]]. For perspective, the Castle Wars requirement alone takes nearly ''two thousand'' hours to achieve. ''Minimum''.
*** Thankfully, it's been reduced to "only" 760.8 hours, provided you win each and every match. Translated to days, that's nearly ''32 days of only playing Castle Wars''.
* SetBonus:
** Barrows armour is the most notable example, with each set having its own bonus.
** Penance armour gradually restores your prayer points if you wear the full set.
** Lumberjack clothing (and its equivalents for other skills) gives a small additional xp bonus for wearing the full set.
* ShapeShifting:
** Mahjarrats can change their forms to whatever they want, which ends badly for Jhallan in The Tale of the Muspah -- he has a nightmare while he hibernates and transforms into a Muspah, a mythical beast in Mahjarrat culture, which takes most of his strength.
** Various quests require the PlayerCharacter to turn into a goblin, a monkey, etc.
* SherlockScan: PlayedForLaughs in "What's Mine Is Yours".
-->'''Player:''' Boric, tell Doric why you sleep with a teddy.
-->'''Boric:''' What? How do you know about that?
-->'''Player:''' Elementary! You see, I noticed on your fingers not just the dirt that comes from working as a smith but also the fibres that could have only come from a teddy bear. The fact that they are visible means you must regularly sleep with it - and grip it quite tightly at that.
-->'''Doric:''' You still sleep with Terrence?
-->'''Boric:''' No...maybe...I don't wannae talk about it!
* ShiftingSandLand: The Kharidian desert.
* ShooOutTheClowns: With the advent of more effective means of finding and removing macros and bots, Jagex eventually resorted to discontinuing the various random events, coinciding with a more general [[CerebusSyndrome shift to greater seriousness]] in the game. This is downplayed, however, as the characters from the random events may still be found in appropriate locations in-game.
* ShootTheMessenger: Kal'Ger the Warmonger does it when he hears bad news.
* ShoutOut: So many, we had to split off a separate subpage. See ShoutOut.{{RuneScape}}.
* ShrugOfGod: Jagex deliberately left Zaros' alignment ambiguous for years.
* SignificantAnagram: Wahisietel is a mahjarrat who hasn't been seen in decades and is believed to be in hiding. Ali the Wise is a mysterious man who seems to be an expert on mahjarrat and is ''very'' interested in their goings-on. Jagex deliberately drew attention to this parallel by using the name as a word-scramble puzzle in a Chaos Elemental letter--some people solved it and got Ali the Wise, others solved it and got Wahisietel, and the fandom said, "Hey, wait a minute..."
* SimonSaysMinigame: Present during the 2010 Christmas event.
* SingleUseShield: Certain items, like Portent of Life and Phoenix Necklace can only be used once for their special effect before they crumble to dust.
* SinisterScimitar: Scimitars are a popular weapon type.
* SinisterScythe: A holiday item. An extremely rare golden one exists as well.
* SinkOrSwimMentor: Xenia. Though to her credit, it's worked both times so far:
** In the Blood Pact quest, you have to do all the fighting because she says she's injured. She was lying to see how well you did.
** In Carnillean Rising, she takes it a bit further by arranging for a powerful Wolf Matriarch to attack during the otherwise fake quest you've prepared for young Philipe. He does manage to kill it with your help, but he's still a teenage spoiled brat facing down a magically empowered [[MamaBear Mama Wolf]] several times the size of the player character.
* SkullForAHead: The Mahjarrat.
* SlippySlideyIceWorld: The cavern you explore during Myths of the White Lands and Trollweiss.
* SnakeOilSalesman: Lampshaded.
--> '''Musician''': "Did you know music has curative properties? Music stimulates the healing humours in your body, so they say."
--> '''Player''': "Who says that, then?"
--> '''Musician''': "I was told by a traveling medical practitioner, selling oil extracted from snakes. It's a commonly known fact, so he said."
* SoapOperaRapidAgingSyndrome: Kennith grows from about 10 to 21 or so in the 2 years between "Kennith's Concerns" and "Salt in the Wound", even though the in-game time hasn't changed. You can question Kennith about it, with the HandWave that "People grow up, right?"
* SomeDexterityRequired: In the early days of RuneScape, things including but not limited to mining, smithing, and woodcutting required much more clicking than they do nowadays.
* SoundOfNoDamage: If your enemy is hitting zeroes on you, there's a sound effect of stuff scraping off your armor (if you are wearing armor, that is).
* SpaceCompression: Cities, towns and other settlements take almost as much space as forests, even though largest cities have the size of a medium-sized village. It takes only less than half an hour for a player to walk from one end of the mainland to another. Yet the manual, NPC stories and historic tales might leave the impression of large cities and vast lands. Very notable example is Burgh De Rott. Vampyres think that town is deserted, but it's less than 100 meters from the capital of Morytania where town should clearly be seen, especially for the fact that flying vyrewatch approaches very close to the settlement.
* SpaceFillingPath: The Ourania Runecrafting Altar, the Ape Atoll tunnels, a road in Morytania, among others.
* SpikesOfDoom: Present in some of the locations like agility courses. They won't kill you instantly though.
* SpitefulAI: The Chaos Dwarf Battlefield is a prime example. Attacking any chaos dwarf causes all of them to become aggressive towards you, ignoring the Black Guard that are attacking them--getting shot at by 5-6 chaos dwarf hand cannoneers at once can kill you pretty quickly, unless you have the Protect from Missiles prayer/Deflect Missiles curse on, in which case, they'll walk all the way across the battlefield to start bashing you with their hand cannon instead of firing at the Black Guard. This can be abused to lure them to the back of the battlefield, where Black Guard berserkers will make quick work of them, and they do go back to their normal routine of engaging the Black Guard after some time has passed, though.
* StalkedByTheBell: In the Fight Pits, if players take too long to kill one another, volcanic creatures will show up to join the fight.
* TheStarscream:
** [[spoiler:Zamorak]] is a successful version of this to [[spoiler:Zaros]]. [[spoiler:Lucien]] doesn't fare too well.
** ''Branches of Darkmeyer'' reveals that [[spoiler:Vanescula Drakan serves as one to her brother Lord Drakan. She even kills her other brother Ranis during the quest.]]
* StatGrinding: Infamous for this. Both combat-related and non-combat skills are leveled up by gaining experience, either through [[{{Understatement}} repeatedly performing monotonous tasks]] or through rewards from completing quests. For scale, getting a single skill to [[{{Cap}} level 99]] requires the player to amass just over ''thirteen million experience points in that skill alone''. The sheer length of this grind makes achieving level 99 in one or more skills a highly-regarded mark of prestige among the player community; conversely, it is also [[CaptainObvious directly identifiable]] as the root cause of the game's never-ending [[ThePlague bot/macro epidemic]].
** Some players take this UpToEleven by raising skills to the outright experience cap of '''200 million points''' -- not for any additional levels beyond 99 (or 120 for Dungeoneering), but solely for the prestige and bragging rights.[[note]]For comparison, 200 million experience points in a single skill is enough to raise fifteen individual skills to level 99 in their own right.[[/note]]
* StealthPun:
** Players with high enough dungeoneering can raise a smaller version of a Stalker (floating eyeball monsters that live in Daemonheim) as a pet. Speaking with the pet yields a variety of creepy dialogues in which the sneakerpeeper sings songs confessing its eternal love for you and claims to [[{{Squick}} collect your hair, bellybutton lint, and dead skin to make hairbrushes, slippers, and hats]]. Well, that explains why they're called "Stalkers".
** At first glance, the quest "A Tail of Two Cats" might look like it's already met its one-pun-per-title quota. But if you look a little closer, you'll notice that it's suspiciously close to "[[ATaleOfTwoCities Kitties]]".
** When you wear a Monkey Cape, you've got a monkey on your back.
* StockFemurBone: It's strange how the majority of creatures seem to drop these kind of bones.
* StockLateralThinkingPuzzle: The ThreePlusFiveMakeFour puzzle, the FoxChickenGrainPuzzle, and many others.
* StupidityIsTheOnlyOption: Several of the quests.
** In the Priest in Peril quest, the player is forced to kill a magically enhanced dog guarding the well at the head of the River Salve, causing it to be tainted by dark mages and necessitating a corresponding cleanup effort.
** In the elf quest series, the player is forced to serve [[TheMole King Lathas]] for the first several quests; you eventually get to escape being a completely gullible moron, but not before ([[ShrugOfGod apparently]]) [[YouBastard killing his brother Tyras]].
** The Myreque quest series starts with the player leading Vanstrom Klause straight into the resistance fighters' hideout without a hint of suspicion or identity-checking.
** Bringing Home the Bacon, while mostly a fairly comedic quest, forces the player to poison a number of "bacon addicts" on Eli's orders before he proceeds to [[ToServeMan feed their remains to the pigs]].
* SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion: Bard Roberts' "The Great Brain Robbery" shanty ends with the lines "Mi-Gor tried to stop your heart's pace / Your foe's arm part anchor, part mace / Struck without delay / But him ye did slay / made him look a total...[beat]...moron."
* SummoningRitual:
** Some of the quests include this. "Shadow of the Storm", for example.
** Bilrach intends to do this to ''Zamorak''.
* SummonMagic: The Summoning skill, which was originally intended to be a part of the magic skill before being split off.
* SuperWeight: Gods are [[DivineRanks ranked on a series of "tiers"]] showing how generally powerful they are in relation to one another. Tier 7 quasi-gods[[note]]avatars and aspects of gods and demi-gods[[/note]] and high-level PlayerCharacters rate about a "3" (Super Weight), while at the other extreme, Tier 1 "Elder Gods"[[note]]Jas, Ful and the creator-god of Freneskae[[/note]] rate a "6" (Cosmic Weight) on the scale. Gods can rise or fall in their tiers by acquiring mystical energies or winning or losing in combat, and sufficiently {{badass}} (or lucky) mortals can [[AGodAmI attain godhood]] by [[KlingonPromotion defeating an existing god]] or [[TouchedByVorlons spending enough time around Elder Artifacts]].
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Whitezag to Grayzag.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial:
** During Nomad's Requiem, when you [[spoiler:fight Nomad]] he screams 'You can't hide from my wrath!' when he shoots of an attack which always does 750 damage. Guess what? He's lying.
** From the 2010 Christmas event:
---> '''Player:''' You look familiar. Have I seen you before?
---> '''SantaClaus:''' No! I am the mighty Fremennik, Thorvar Crittersmash! I do not know anything about this "Santa" you speak of!
---> '''Player:''' I didn't say anything about Santa.
---> '''SantaClaus:''' Oh, you didn't? Good, because he's not here, and I'm certainly not him.
** From "A Clockwork Syringe":
---> A parcel consisting of:\\
\\
1x large and totally inconspicuous crate assured to not contain anything dangerous at all\\
\\
Has been delivered to your player-owned house.
* SuspiciousVideoGameGenerosity: Funny how Nex seems to have a bank set up right before her chamber, isn't it?
* SwallowedWhole: [[spoiler:Jones]] in "Deadliest Catch". [[spoiler:[[TooSpicyForYogSothoth He gets better.]]]]
* SwampsAreEvil: Both averted and played straight. There's a swamp just south of the starting town that's populated by goblins and giant rats, but they won't attack you; in fact, several quests involve locations in this swamp itself, including one of the beginner quests in the starting town itself. Once you progress farther, though, you encounter the land of Morytania, which is arguably one big swamp full of werewolves, the Vyrewatch, and other restless dead, all out to kill you. Special mention goes to the Mort Myre, though, which is full not only of spooky pools and acid-spitting snails, but also Ghasts, which are intangible and sneak up behind you to spoil the food you're carrying. If, by chance, you don't have any food or a particular plot item, they'll instead spoil your own flesh (i.e., your hitpoints).
* SweepingAshes: Happens to [[spoiler:Hazelmere]] once. Fatally.
* SwissArmyTears: Any adventurer that drinks from the Tears of Guthix will improve in the area that he/she is weakest in, because Guthix is the god of balance.
* SwissArmyWeapon:
** The Sacred Clay weapons can transform between the three different combat styles, and the tools can transform between many useful tools like needles, fletching knives, hatchets, and butterfly nets.
** Memebers also have access to the Dwarven Army Axe, which combines the functions of a hatchet, pickaxe, needle, tinderbox and chisel into one item. While nowhere near as good as a specialty pick or hatchet, being able to cram five tool into one inventory slot is very useful when traversing dangerous areas of the world that need those sort of tools to get around.
* SuicideAttack: The Menaphite chief god Tumeken did this to the entire Mahjarrat race after they joined Zaros. They were reduced from 500 to a few dozen.
* TacticalRockPaperScissors: Melee beats Ranged beats Magic beats Melee.
** Prior to the Evolution of combat, ranged and magic armor had little to no negative effects on melee combat, and with the perceived over-poweredness of melee had some players complaining the combat triangle was skewed towards melee.
* TalkLikeAPirate: While some pirates mock players who speak in this manner, there are still a few who use this trope. There's even a book, in game, on pirate speak, explaining some of the terms.
* TakeThat: Some Jagex mods have shown that they don't like the recent turn towards microtransactions. Mod Ash had made a character say that she is "not [[TheScrappy some stupid goblin]] giving rewards for free", and when a player asks Mod Stu about finding a certain mysterious NPC:
-->'''Player''': Do the special conditions involve Solomon's General Store?
-->'''Mod Stu''': I'll answer that one for free: [[GoshDangItToHeck Heck]] no!
* TakeYourTime: Played straight, except for Shadow of the Storm (at a certain point, you'll take damage until you proceed).
* TapOnTheHead:
** Citizens of Pollnivneach can be easily knocked out with blackjacks. Bizarrely, attempting to knock someone out with your bare fist gives the same message as trying to use any weapon besides a blackjack: "You need to find a different weapon. You want to knock him out, not kill him." Apparently, bare fists are deadlier than wooden clubs.
** This is what happens to your character when you are transported or wish to go to places like Braindeath Island or "The Pit". Unfortunately, your character's GenreBlindness prevents them from catching on to the distraction tricks.
* TheTeamNormal: The HorsemenOfTheApocalypse wanted to start a clan called "The Horsemen", but War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death makes four...and [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration you need five founders to start a clan]]. So they grabbed a random guy who happened to be nearby, and that's why The Horsemen is led by War, Famine, Pestilence, Death, and [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers Frank]].
* TemporalParadox: Lampshaded in the Evil Dave part of "Recipe for Disaster", when you try to explain to Dave why you need to save him (he's in a time bubble).
* TeleportCloak: Several capes have teleports, notably the Ardougne cloak.
* TeleportInterdiction: There are all sorts of ways to block teleportation. The most obvious one is the "Teleblock" spell, which, when cast on another player, temporarily prevents them from teleporting. There's also some areas, notably the Wilderness, where teleportation is either limited or completely disabled.
* TerribleTrio: The Fairy Godfather, Slim Louise and Fat Rocco.
* TerseTalker: Ocellus Virius.
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: {{Lampshaded}} once when Jagex sold T-shirts with "Worst update ever" written on them in RealLife. [[invoked]]
* ThievesGuild: The Thieves' Guild in Lumbridge.
* ThisIsMyHuman:
** Bob the Cat has a pet human named Unferth. In the "A Tale of Two Cats" quest, Bob even asks the PlayerCharacter to look after Unferth while he's away.
** The [=TzRek=]-Jad pet feels this way about its owner, in a rather adorable fashion.
--->''"Human pet, scratch my ears now; I command you!"''
* ThisPageWillSelfDestruct: A dossier from the White Knights does this.
* TheThreeTrials: In the quest Demon Slayer, you have to complete the trials of Mind, Body and Faith to access the legendary sword Silverlight.
* ThrivingGhostTown: All over the place.
* TimeTravel: Courtesy of the Meeting History quest, notably with the player character introducing the [[StableTimeLoop concept of Herblore to the Humans in the 1st Age!]]. [[note]] in past B, Sara grew unhealthy due to coughing due to an life illness, by learning what she took in the current past, the character went back a few years to Past A; when Sarah was a Baby, by mixing the medicine and telling her father the recipe, she would be healthy in the new future, and her father; Rodger would remain sane from not hearing her constant cries, he will tell then you the story of the first humans arriving to Runescape, amongst other things you have influenced within the Past...[[/note]]
* TimeyWimeyBall: The World Wakes opens a gigantic can of worms as all of the involved, "previous" quests are not requirements to it. Also, all of those quests, and The World Wakes itself, are now considered part of Runescape's past. What this means is, all future content will assume the events of those quests have already happened, even for players who haven't completed them.
* TitleDrop: Quite commonly in quests.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Korasi and Jessika in the Void Knight quests.
* TooMuchInformation
* TooSpicyForYogSothoth: In "Deadliest Catch", Thalassus [[spoiler:spits Jones out after swallowing him whole]] when the PlayerCharacter [[spoiler:feeds it some karambwan.]]
* TornadoMove: Players may cast the spell "Storm of Armadyl" to conjure a tornado, which counts as a powerful air attack. There is also its weaker version "Divine Storm".
* TortureForFunAndInformation: When you torture a [[LosingYourHead severed zombie pirate head]] in "A Clockwork Syringe", your character appears to have a lot of fun figuring out [[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110328225817/runescape/images/d/da/Zombie_stress_level.png creative methods]].
* TotalEclipseOfThePlot: Sliske announces that he will hand the Stone of Jas to the being to kill the most gods when Gielinor's moon, Zanaris, blocks out the sun.
* TouchedByVorlons: There are two known ways for a mortal to ascend to godhood: Kill an existing god, or linger around artefacts created by the Elder Gods, thereby absorbing the magic they radiate.
* TrainingDummy: Lumbridge, Varrock, Burthorpe, and various other locations have training dummies for practicing combat. The Thieves' Guild has a pickpocket training dummy.
* TranquillizerDart: In the quest "A Clockwork Syringe", if you're spotted during a StealthBasedMission, a dart will be thrown at you, the screen will turn black, and you'll wake up unharmed in [[CardboardPrison an unguarded jail cell which can be easily escaped]].
* TrialAndErrorGameplay:
** Underground Pass has a rather sadistic version of this, where you have to guess which panels are safe for you to walk on, and which aren't. You take 150 damage for each wrong guess, and the path is different for each person. And you have to pass through at least once or twice more before unlocking the shortcut. Hope you remember the correct path.
** Dream Mentor has a similar version, except that you don't take damage when you fail.
** Dungeoneering has a similar puzzle where you have to guess the correct path through 3 rows of spikes, which deal 100-200 damage every time you hit them. Good thing the spikes have an Investigate option to help mitigate the problem.
* TriumphantReprise:
** "But We Can Fight" to "Zanik's Theme"
** "On The Up" to "Down and Out".
* TurnsRed: Some of the quest bosses; Nomad, for example.
* TwentyBearAsses: A few of the earlier quests. However, the developers realized how formulaic it was, and created a formula for making them. Hence--the Slayer skill.
* {{Uberwald}}: Morytania.
* UglyCute: Sneakerpeepers, {{in-universe}}. Their examine text is "Isn't it abhorable?"
* UltimateBlacksmith: Thurgo and Linza.
* UncommonTime: Rammernaut's and Dreadnaut's theme.
* UnderdogsNeverLose:
** Played straight by the PlayerCharacter, time and time again.
** Heavily averted for [[TheOrder Crux Eqal and the Guardians of Guthix]]. By the end of the Fifth Age they were already depleted by their HopelessWar against Lucien and the Dragonkin, ''[[TraumaCongaLine and then]]'' their patron deity, [[NatureSpirit Guthix]], was [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu murdered by Sliske]].
** Subverted by the [[ChurchMilitant Guardians of Armadyl]]. They took a severe beating fighting Lucien and the Dragonkin alongside Crux Eqal, but then Armadyl [[HesBack returned to Gielinor]] early in the Sixth Age and [[CurbStompBattle defeated Bandos decisively]] [[KillTheGod in mortal combat]].
** Played straight for the Godless faction. Despite generally being an ineffectual sideshow in both the Battle of Lumbridge and the duel between Armadyl and Bandos, they are said to be [[WeAreEverywhere constantly growing in numbers and support across Gielinor]] in their campaign to [[NayTheist kick the gods out of the world]].
** Played straight, also, by the Zarosian faction. Despite being nearly exterminated by [[EnemyMine the joint efforts of Saradominists and Zamorakians]], they have steadily regained [[CoDragons their most powerful champions]] and will soon be the subject of a grandmaster-level quest featuring [[spoiler:the return of Zaros]].
** Played straight -- albeit villainously -- by Sliske. Despite being ([[ShrugOfGod as far as we know]]) just a mortal Mahjarrat, he easily and regularly gets the better of the PlayerCharacter, numerous [[HeroOfAnotherStory Gielinorian heroes]], his [[HumanoidAbomination fellow Mahjarrat]], [[KillTheGod Guthix]], [[TheGrimReaper Death]], [[BiggerBad the Dragonkin]], and ''most of the major gods and their champions''.
* TheUnfought: [[spoiler:Mother Mallum, Lucien and Sliske]].
* UnidentifiedItems:
** The game used to have unidentified herbs which could only be identified with the proper Herblore level. This feature was patched away in 2007 because some players were abusing it in scams, offering the herbs in trades and claiming them to be more valuable than they really were.
** Nitroglycerin, a quest item, is labeled "Unidentified liquid" until you bring it to an archaeologist who can tell you what it is (and scream at you not to drop it).
* UnPerson: [[EnemyMine Both Saradominists and Zamorakians]] tried (some try to this day) to erase the knowledge of Zaros' existence from the face of Gielinor.
* UnstableEquilibrium: In the Agility Arena, one trap shoots poisoned darts at you that reduce your Agility skill. If you get hit by them, you're probably gonna keep getting hit.
* UpToEleven:
** According to Grim, when he harvested Zabeth Corvid, the musician was so drunk that he actually stumbled a few seconds into the future. Grim even calls it the "after-afterlife".
** More recently, new quests and bosses released by Jagex keep [[SerialEscalation trying to outdo the last one for challenge and difficulty]], in an attempt to satisfy the UnpleasableFanbase's constant clamouring for more and more end-level content. The result is less and less new content geared to be accessible to new or even mid-level players.
* UrbanSegregation: Varrock, Ardougne and Keldagrim. To some extent, Darkmeyer and Meiyerditch.
* UselessAccessory: Among the myriad of armor and weapons, several pieces of equipment offer no stat bonuses whatsoever, such as the Brass Necklace and Cyclopean Helmet, relegated to only serving cosmetic purposes.
* VaderBreath: Mi-Gor, who coughs when he speaks.
* VendorTrash: Lots of items. In fact, some minigames and aspects of the game have items specially designed for them.
* ViciousCycle: The Runescape universe revolves around the [[spoiler:life cycle of the Elder Gods. The Elder Gods start off by practising their skill at creating perfect worlds for generating [[LifeEnergy Anima]]. Eventually, Elder Gods are born from eggs on the final, perfect, world, and drink its Anima Mundi dry. All existing worlds save the perfect one end up destroyed and the cycle begins anew. The Elder Gods are largely oblivious to the existence of sentient life, and only those who hide in the Abyss ever survive. Zaros's main goal is to put an end to this cycle. To do so, he intends to ascend into Elder God status so that he can petition them on behalf of sentient life and open their eyes to its existence and value.]]
* VideoGameCaringPotential: Most of the player character's interactions with Zanik in the Dorgeshuun questline, especially in the last couple quests.
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential:
** With the Burthorpe/Taverley regional update came a new pet, the Baby Troll, which (like the rest of its race) gets its name from the first thing it eats or attempts to eat. [[YouBastard Yes, you can feed it a pet.]]
** The 2012 Easter event asked the player to aid either the Evil Chicken or the Chocatrice in breaking Easter eggs across the land and converting the chicks inside to either chocolate or drumsticks.
* VideoGameStealing: The Thieving skill.
* VigilanteExecution: Zanik in the beginning of "The Chosen Commander", after the Dorgeshuun elders allow a poisoner to live.
* VillainousRescue: At the end of 'Ritual of the Mahjarrat', [[spoiler:the ritual is carried out, and it magnifies Lucien's power so greatly that not even Azzanadra can harm him. [[CurbStompBattle Then the dragonkin arrive...]]]]
* VisibleSilence: Parodied in one quest.
* VulnerableCivilians: Depending on how powerful your character is, it can be easier to kill civilians than talking to them, since you have to right-click to talk to them, but the default left-click option is to attack.
* WarForFunAndProfit: Most of 'Royal Trouble'.
* WalkItOff: But you'll be doing that for a long while, directly proportionate to your max HitPoints.
* WallMaster: Wall beasts, seen only as giant hands that reach out of cracks in the walls to grab you.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: The Godless tend to wear very light clothing. Holstein wears almost nothing on his torso but a shoulder pad and a sash. Kara-Meir is even complete with a ChainmailBikini. WordOfGod says that their clothing is light to imply guerilla warfare. Brassica Prime and Marimbo make fun of Holstein's outfit, with Brassica treating him like a homeless person and Marimbo mockingly flirting with him.
* WarpWhistle: There's a huge variety of items and spells that can be used to teleport yourself to different places around the map.
* WeaksauceWeakness: According to [[AllThereInTheManual Postbag From The Hedge]], [=TzTok-Jad=] (enormous boss monster capable of killing players with one attack) is allergic to chickens.
* WeBuyAnything: General stores usually buy any tradeable items from you.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Humans Against Monsters.
* WhamEpisode:
** Grandmaster-level quests in general, but special mention goes to "While Guthix Sleeps", "Ritual of the Mahjarrat", and "The World Wakes".
*** The World Wakes has some wham that's hard to top. [[spoiler:Guthix [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu is dead]]. The gods are coming back. Sliske may be [[AGodAmI ascending as Zamorak once did]]. And the only thing standing between the world and the next god wars is [[TheChosenOne the player]], who has been granted the ability to resist the power of gods in Guthix's [[ThanatosGambit dying moments]].]]
** Some Master-level quests get this as well, particularly "The Temple at Senntisten" with [[spoiler:the return of Zaros]].
** Even the novice "Missing, Presumed Death" is quite whammy, where it's revealed that [[spoiler:Sliske has obtained the Stone of Jas, kidnapped Death and a Dragonkin, and is hosting a contest between the gods with the Stone of Jas as its prize.]]
* {{Whatevermancy}}:
** The Culinaromancer, a mage who draws his power from food.
** Lexicus Runewright, who is referred to as a Libaromancer (i.e., using books as his power) by another adventurer's ApocalypticLog. Also, hobgoblin geomancer.
** The Oneiromancer. Given the nature of her abilities, it would seem likely that her title [[JustifiedTrope fits best]] to the suffix -mancy.
** Wizard Mizgog, who mentions that he's working on Beadromancy during the 3rd Cryptic Clue Fest.
* WhatMeasureIsAMook: Used in the Vengeance! saga, to an extremely depressing effect.
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman:
* WhatTheHellHero: The player calls out Xenia after the quest 'The Blood Pact' when it's revealed that [[spoiler:Xenia was faking being injured and used the rescue mission to test the player, putting Ilona's life at stake in the process. The player is not amused.]]
* WhenTreesAttack:
** Ents (before they were discontinued), evil trees, undead trees, tree spirits in the Enchanted Valley, and the Jade Vine if left too long untrimmed. Ironically, the latter were almost driven to extinction because of the amount of slayer experience they give upon death.
* WhipItGood: The Abyssal whip, Abyssal Vine Whip and TzHaar Whip.
* WhoDares:
** Yk'Lagor the Thunderous: "YOU DARE STEAL MY POWER?"
** Kal'Ger the Warmonger : "[[YouHaveFailedMe YOU DARE FAIL ME?]]"
** This exchange from "Ritual of the Mahjarrat":
--->'''Lucien:''' "You dare mock the power of Lucien?"
--->'''{{beat}}'''
--->'''Sithaph:''' "[[BadassBoast We dare.]]"
** The Barrows brothers will all say "You dare disturb my rest?" before attacking you when you search their tombs.
* WhosLaughingNow: Referenced in the Mysterious Chronicles from Dungeoneering.
* WhoYouGonnaCall: "Big High War God!"
* WingedHumanoid: The Icyene, Vyrewatch, Aviantese, and [[spoiler:Dragonkin]].
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Solus Dellagar.
* WiseTree: The Spirit trees.
* WizardNeedsFoodBadly
* WolfpackBoss:
** The Dagannoth Kings, three powerful boss monsters who live in the same chamber and, between them, use all three combat styles.
** The Fairy Godfather and his three ork generals, Bre'egth, Shredflesh, and Gromblod, are fought as a group at the end of "Fairy Tale III -- Battle at Orks Rift".
* WombLevel: The final sequence of "Song from the Depths" has the PlayerCharacter [[spoiler:swallowed by the Queen Black Dragon, and subsequently escaping from a fleshy dungeon filled with acid pools and teeth]].
* WorldOfPun:
** [[AllThereInTheManual "Postbag from the Hedge"]] is often full of puns. An example from Postbag 45:
--> ''The Weird Old Man--you know, the one who's fascinated by the kalphites--once told me that 'All you need is love'. Well, I tried that for a week and let me tell you what happened: I got 173 complaints from postal customers, a few bodily dysfunctions that I didn't know I was capable of, and irate letters from my mum, asking why I've not been visiting her. So, what have I learned? Never listen to weird old men in the desert, especially if they are [[Music/TheBeatles beetle]] fans -- PP''
** Most of the Tasks have punny names. For example, a mining task is named "Take Your Pick". Another task requires killing a zombie in a sewer; its name is "Draaaaaiiiiiins..." And so on. Doubles as ReferenceOverdosed.
* WorthlessYellowRocks:
** Trolls discard some valuable stuff.
** Often seen literally in the in-game economy; gold ore and gold bars (among others) are not particularly valuable, usually being less expensive than ''iron bars''.
* WreckedWeapon: The Elder Sword, the Godsword, the Maul of Omens and the Staff of Armadyl temporarily between Ritual of the Mahjarrat and The World Wakes.
* WrittenByTheWinners:
** Take a look at the Siege of Falador. Basically caused because the White Knights drove out their rivals, the Kinshra (who were at that time important cofounders of Falador), thus splintering Falador and ticking the hell off the Black Knights. Why would they do this? Because the king was sick, thus giving the opportunity. But you ask any Saradominist, they'll tell you the Kinshra just 'relocated' and then attacked a year later, 'completely unprovoked'.
** The forces of Saradomin and Zamorak actually put aside their eternal rivalry for a concerted campaign to wipe all memory of Zaros off of the face of Gielinor, and the few who were allowed to remember spread propaganda that Zaros and his followers were the height of all evil. Contrary to this, the loyalist Zarosians that the player meets in-game are generally decent and honourable, particularly Azzanadra and Wahisietel.
* YetAnotherChristmasCarol: The 2009 [[HolidayMode Christmas Event]] had the players take the role of the ghosts trying to scare the Scrooge {{Expy}}.
* YetAnotherStupidDeath: It is REALLY not a good idea to try and unlock a door in Dungeoneering with low HP. And if you die due to an accident this way, you [[HaveANiceDeath get mocked for it in the end of the dungeon]].
* YouBastard: A humorous answer to a player's comment:
-->'''Balustan''': Don't we have blood on our hands. We are criminals. We stole stuff from museums, helped assassinate priests, have murdered countless lives and have no regard for the law. Nobody seems to care either...
-->'''Mod Stu''': Yes. Yes, you do, and yes you are. You're a bad person, Balustan.
* YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry: The angry giant Glod bellows the StockPhrase when you fight him in "Grim Tales". And indeed, he is very unlikable when he is angry.
* YourBrainWontBeMuchOfAMeal: In the "Thok Your Block Off" Fremennik Saga, a brain-eating zombie wanders towards [[DumbMuscle Thok]], pauses...then wanders away and starts eating a Forgotten Mage instead.
* YourMom: One of the insults you can use while interrogating a zombie pirate in "A Clockwork Syringe" is "Yo momma has enough chins for 99 ranged!"
* YourCostumeNeedsWork: Your character will try and tell two children, Amelia and Rory, that you are the hero in the Myreque quests. Rory insists that if that was the case, you would be taller, stronger, and [[Series/DoctorWho wear a bow tie]]. Telling him that you would never wear such a thing convinces him that you are definitely not the hero.
* YourMindMakesItReal: [[spoiler:West Ardougne's plague.]]
[[/folder]]

** [[ArtifactOfDoom The Stone of Jas]]: The source of all runes and a PhlebotinumBattery for the energy of the Elder Gods. Guthix used it to shape Gielenor and seed it with life. Using it if you are anyone other than Jas invokes a curse on the Dragonkin, enraging them and making them attack you. If you draw power from the stone as opposed to knowledge, they will gain an equivalent amount.

** The Horn: Guthix found it on Gielenor with the Staff and Stone, but not much else is known.

* YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry: The angry giant Glod bellows the StockPhrase when you fight him in "Grim Tales". And indeed, he is very unlikable when he is angry.

** The marriage of the King Black Dragon and the Kalphite Queen, to coincide with the real marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton. [[This later turned out to be a marketing ploy by Diango.]]

** In current Runescape theology, they are more along the lines of {{Physical God}}s. Their domains are little more than their philosophies. Most of them were once mortal and [[TouchedByVorlons gained their powers by absorbing divine magic]], typically by killing an existing god or lingering around certain extremely powerful artefacts. Though very powerful, the younger gods ''can'' be killed, their bodies typically turning to stone. And since becoming a god forfeits all right to an afterlife, death generally causes CessationOfExistence.

* StatusQuoIsGod: It is against the game rules to use a bot to play the game for you. However, in recent years [[ThePlague the problem of bot/macro use]] has [[SerialEscalation grown so out of control]] (notwithstanding the occasional [[DepopulationBomb "bot nuke"]]) that most players realize that Jagex's staff are either [[HopelessWar unable]] or [[MoneyDearBoy unwilling]] to deter it.[[note]]The reason why this trope applies to RuneScape is that because most players realize that there is practically ZERO incentive NOT to cheat their way to victory, and therefore do so with impunity.[[/note]]

* TacticalRockPaperScissors: Melee beats Ranged beats Magic beats Melee. In theory.
** Prior to the Evolution of combat, ranged and magic armor has little to no negative effects on melee combat, and with the perceived over-poweredness of melee has some players complaining the combat triangle is skewed towards melee.

** Dungeoneering has a similar puzzle where you have to guess the correct path through 3 rows of spikes, which deal 100-200 damage every time you hit them. Hope you weren't planning on using that food later...

* AncientArtifact: Recent quests have revealed that there are 12 Elder Artifacts, from which the gods draw their power and will be a major plot element of future quests. Each artifact is a source of power, and has a certain function. Unfortunately, they also have a downside to using them. The known artifacts are:

** [[ArtifactOfDoom The Stone of Jas]]: the source of all runes, Guthix used to seed the world with life. Using it if you are not a god makes the Dragonkin attack you, and they grow stronger the more you use it.