Line #111 WebVideo/Tabletop


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tabletoplogo_1022.jpg]]
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3	''[=TableTop=]'' is a WebVideo series on Website/YouTube, which is essentially {{celebrity\|Edition}} {{tabletop gam\|es}}ing hosted by Creator/WilWheaton. It is part of the Creator/GeekAndSundry [=YouTube=] channel, and can be watched for free [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0Y9n5uBJuXxjSe6lJEHRZICCHym3e-aS here.]] It can also be seen on the terrestrial channel TBD.
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5	Each week, Wil and a number of other celebrity guests (ranging from well-known [=YouTube=] and television personalities to professional game designers) play a chosen tabletop game. These vary from competitive games like ''TabletopGame/SmallWorld'', co-operative games like ''TabletopGame/{{Pandemic}}'', and ActualPlay of {{Tabletop RPG}}s like ''TabletopGame/DragonAge''. The show itself is instruction-light, easing new viewers into the game rules and focusing more on the banter and camaraderie that comes from settling around a table and having good fun with friends. The winner of each episode in the first season was granted the Tabletop Trophy Of Awesome (and a bit of masking tape with their name on it). In the second season, the winner received a Certificate of Awesome. Meanwhile, the defeated licked their wounds on the Loser's Couch with the aid of some webshow-budget beverages.
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7	The second season of ''[=TableTop=]'' debuted on April 4th, 2013. For season three, the creators decided to go independent and started a [[https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/tabletop-season-3-with-wil-wheaton crowdfunding campaign at Indiegogo.com]]. The original target of $500,000 for a 15 episode season was more than doubled, bumping up the number of episodes to 20 and funding a spinoff with an ongoing RPG campaign, ''WebVideo/TitansgraveTheAshesOfValkana.'' Season three premiered on November 13, 2014, and season four began filming in April 2016.
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9	The show unfortunately appears to be defunct; according to [[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/wil-wheaton-geek-sundry-settle-lawsuit-1235084506/ an article]] on ''The Hollywood Reporter'' website, in 2019 Wil ended up suing Legendary (the network that bought ''Geek and Sundry'') for cutting him out of the profits of another web-series he hosted for them called ''WebVideo/TitansgraveTheAshesOfValkana.'' The two sides reached a confidential settlement and the suit was dismissed in early 2022, but it sounds unlikely they are going to be working together again any time soon. Additionally ''Geek and Sundry'' is reported to have ceased production on any new material.
10	----
11	!!''[=Table=]Top'' provides examples of the following tropes:
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13	* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: The Winners' Wall (Wall of Victory) and the Loser's Lounge (Loser's Couch).
14	** ''Gloom'' Also has a lot of alliteration.
15	* TheAce:
16	** Ryan Higa in Episode 3, who [[spoiler:wins ''all three games'', rolling a mathematically-improbable ten-brain streak in ''Zombie Dice'' and reading Freddie like a book in ''Get Bit'']].
17	** Bill Prady in the ''Elder Sign'' episode, who [[spoiler:basically carries the team in a (mostly) one-man war against He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named]].
18	** Troy Baker in ''Unspeakable Words,'' so much that his success was attributed to receiving help from {{Elder God}}s, as a result of his Cthulhu statue.
19	* AgentScully: In ''Elder Sign'', Wil denies that [[spoiler:invoking Hastur led to his run of terrible rolls.]] It doesn't stop him from invoking the RandomNumberGod.
20	* AllAnimeIsNaughtyTentacles:
21	** Invoked by Wil chastising Felicia Day in ''Elder Sign'': "You do not ''encourage'' the internet to create [=GIFs=] involving you and tentacles!"
22	** In the ''Tsuro of the Seas'' episode, Creator/KevinPereira mentions that his boat has Japanese schoolgirls and tentacle monsters and that there is censorship involved.
23	* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Alison Scagliotti in ''The Resistance'':
24	-->'''Alison:''' Everyone's turning to me. I think, because I'm wearing a hat, I'm untrustworthy.
25	* AlwaysSecondBest:
26	** In the first season, Wil comes second-place a ''lot'', taking home the Silver Medal Of Adequacy over five times. He pretty much never wins (except as part of a joint victory or because of a misplay that was completely independent of Wil's initiative). Unless you count Wil beating Creator/PhilLaMarr at Rock-Paper-Scissors on the Loser's Couch, after Wil lost worse at Wits & Wagers.
27	** In the second season, this gets {{lampshade\|Hanging}}d a lot, to the extent that there's a place on the Loser's Couch specifically reserved for Wil.
28	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Invoked in the introduction for ''Elder Sign'':
29	-->'''Wil:''' Once the Doom Tokens have been collected, the Great Old One wakes up and devours the world. But more importantly, we lose the game.
30	* AwesomenessByAnalysis: In ''The Resistance'', Ashley "[[WebVideo/TheLizzieBennetDiaries Lizzie Bennet]]" Clements deduces ([[CassandraTruth correctly]]) that [[spoiler:Alison Scagliotti]] is a spy through nothing more than ''pupil dilation''. Too bad no one believes her...
31	* BadassFamily: The TabletopGame/MiceAndMystics episode has the Wheaton family all playing together. [[spoiler:They win the game (well, the chapter at least)]].
32	* TheBadGuyWins:
33	** Whenever the group loses a team game that pits them against a Game Master or the game itself. For example, during the [[spoiler:''Pandemic'' and ''TabletopGame/ForbiddenIsland'']] episodes.
34	** In a non-team-game example, [[spoiler:''Fiasco'' ended in misery for all concerned (as per usual) when Bonnie's character revealed herself to be a brutal [[TheMafiya Mafiya]] boss who went on to frame, cripple and/or leave the other players for dead, being rewarded with the best possible ending at their expense]].
35	** In an example from a "team vs. team" game, [[spoiler:the spies in "The Resistance"]].
36	** [[spoiler:"Shadows over Camelot", with the added twist that the traitor is King Arthur, played by [[ButtMonkey Wil]]]].
37	** Yet again in [[spoiler:"Betrayal at House on the Hill", in another victory for Evil!Wil.]]
38	** Notch up another win for [[spoiler:Evil!Wil, who wins playing as Dracula in ''Fury of Dracula'']].
39	* BaitAndSwitchBoss: In ''Dragon Age'', the first enemies the party encounters are a group of bandits led by an Avar barbarian... all of whom are killed off by a Shriek Darkspawn.
40	* BaitAndSwitchComparison: ''Castle Panic'' -- "We attempt to hold off a seemingly endless onslaught of [[OurTrollsAreDifferent trolls]], intent on overrunning our defenses and ruining our day. [[{{Troll}} No, it is not]] ''Internet: The Board Game''."
41	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor:
42	** In the ''Tsuro of the Seas'' episode, Wil says that the tourists on his boat got great photos of a dragon ... after having been devoured by said dragon and dying immediately afterward.
43	** As part of the crowdfunding campaign for Season 3, they promised to do a ''TabletopGame/CardsAgainstHumanity'' episode.
44	--->'''Wil:''' You asked for it, so this is your fault.
45	* BerserkButton: In the blooper reel for ''Roll For It & Sushi Go'', John Ross Bowie calls out Jennifer Hale on her repeated use of the phrase "Sophie's choice", and though he's a lot quieter than in other cases of this trope, he's clearly not joking.
46	* BigBad:
47	** [[spoiler:Wil Wheaton]] becomes the traitor in ''TabletopGame/BetrayalAtHouseOnTheHill''. [[spoiler:He's]] also the BigBad of ''TabletopGame/ShadowsOverCamelot'', playing as [[spoiler:a [[FallenHero traitorous King Arthur]]]]. And again in Fury of Dracula as the eponymous vampire.
48	** Any cooperative game without a defector has the game itself as the default BigBad.
49	* BigEater: Creator/YuriLowenthal in the ''Castle Panic'' episode. Gets a CallBack in ''Kingdom Builder'' where he eats an absolutely ''massive'' plate of food over the course of the episode.
50	* BigNo:
51	** Delivered by Grant in the TabletopGame/SmallWorld episode when Jenna begins her final-round assault on his Ratmen.
52	** By Wil in ''Star Trek Catan''. Cut to Grant ''on the street outside'', hearing it and looking around in confusion.
53	** Clare at the end of ''Libertalia'', after [[spoiler:Wil's victory]].
54	* BlackAndNerdy: Andre the Black Nerd.
55	* BornLucky: Ryan wins all three games in the Zombie Dice, Get Bit, and Tsuro episode. Exaggerated in the Zombie Dice portion, when he gets almost every brain he needs in his first turn.
56	* BornUnlucky: Wil is a decent player but he suffers from some pretty appalling luck in games. Perhaps best displayed in the ''Stone Age'' episode, where, not only does Wil fail to roll what he needs at a few key points in the game, but whenever Jesse rolls on the "general store", he consistently rolls three high numbers and a 1, giving every player except Wil a boon of some kind. Wil quips that the dice seem to hate him even when he isn't the one rolling them.
57	* ButtMonkey: Kelly Hu in ''Qwirkle'', as she kept getting "Qwirkle-blocked". After making a big deal out of finally being about to make her first Qwirkle, she immediately gets Qwirkle-blocked again by Creator/MeredithSalenger.
58	* BreadEggsBreadedEggs: At one point in the "Tokaido" episode, J is faced with a choice between drawing a card to make a new friend, or making a donation to a local temple. He settles on the friend card, who makes a donation to the temple for him, causing him to declare "Friend or Temple? Friend at the temple!"
59	* BreakTheCutie: Laina in "Cards Against Humanity".
60	-->'''Laina:''' ''[after [[spoiler:Aisha]] has won and everyone leaves]'' I didn't... I didn't agree to this.
61	* {{Calvinball}}: Jordan Mechner compares ''TabletopGame/{{Fluxx}}'' with this, which Wil thinks is a perfect analogy.
62	* CanonDiscontinuity: Wil winning [[spoiler:Star Fluxx]] is generally ignored whenever his losing streak is brought up, as he was handed the victory through no agency of his own by [[spoiler:Jordan Mechner]] making a mistake.
63	* TheCassandra: This happens a ''lot'' in ''The Resistance'' due to the paranoia-inducing nature of the game. It can be hard to establish just who has genuinely deduced something and who is just throwing out accusations.
64	* CatchPhrase: "Play more games!"
65	* TheChessmaster: Bonnie Burton played one brilliantly during the ''Fiasco'' episode, manipulating the other three characters in the game to her own advantage, [[spoiler:eventually getting the best possible ending for her character at the expense of ''really bad'' endings for the other three]].
66	* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: By some strange twist of luck, Wil has an uncanny tendency to get the traitor's role in cooperative games with a defector. [[spoiler:And he almost always wins in them--way more often than he does in other game types.]]
67	* {{Cliffhanger}}: ''Misspent Youth'' ends with [[spoiler:the protagonists successfully fleeing the compound in a stolen car, only to find themselves at the perimeter wall of a city which they now need to sneak into]].
68	* CloudCuckoolander: Felicia comes across this way due to the hysterical roleplaying she does with Dr. Hannah.
69	-->'''Felicia:''' I really messed up when I made Dr. Hannah pick up ''People'' [Magazine], because he's much more a ''Popular Mechanics'' kind of guy.\
70	'''Wil:''' [[YouHaveGOTToBeKiddingMe Oh, come on!]]
71	* ComicSutra: In the ''Eldritch Horror'' game, Pat Rothfuss makes a "missionary position" joke about the Vatican Missionary, prompting Wil to speculate that the "Vatican Missionary" is actually an obscure and risque sexual position, similar to the "Jersey Turnpike" or the "Chicago Fire".
72	* {{Content Warning\|s}}: The show normally doesn't have one, but two episodes have merited them.
73	** Wil made a point to note at the start of the ''Cards Against Humanity'' episode that it would be outrageously offensive. At the end of the segment, as he walked off-camera he started reciting the SevenDirtyWords.
74	** At the beginning of the ''Fortune And Glory'' episode, Wil warned viewers about the appearance of ThoseWackyNazis. Even though it's taken almost verbatim from the rules book, a lot of the Website/YouTube comments complained about it.
75	* CosmicPlaything:
76	** Sandeep "[[TemptingFate I feel good about my chances]]" Parikh in the ''Munchkin'' episode, who gets such appalling card draws that [[spoiler:he gets stuck at Level 2 for the duration of the game]].
77	** Wil in ''Elder Sign'', whose dice rolls are so bad that he officially becomes TheLoad of the team and [[spoiler:is the only one to have his character die]].
78	** Wil, again, in ''Dragon Age'' after having utterly horrible dice luck so far, he announces he's walking towards a village another player jokingly suggests he "roll to see if you fall on your face" and he promptly rolls "1, 2, 3" on 3d6. Pretty much one of the lowest possible rolls.
79	** In ''Star Wars: X-Wing'', Wil's actually been rolling well all game, and it comes down to him to make the roll that would win his team the game. So, of course, he fails.
80	** The good guys in ''Betrayal at House on the Hill'' are an in-game example. [[spoiler:Especially Michael Swaim's priest character who is deliberately kept on the brink of death by a demon.]] They are also a meta example, with all the characters ([[spoiler:except Wil, for once]]) having terrible dice rolls after the 'Haunting' occurs.
81	* CouchGag: So many. Wil's query just before opening the gameplay, the stuff on the shelves behind the players (both of these game-specific), the text crossed out and replaced with "Tabletop Champion" on the Season 2 certificates, the picture on the "seal"...
82	* CreatorCameo:
83	** Steve Jackson created ''TabletopGame/{{Munchkin}}''. [[spoiler:Is it any wonder that he won?]]
84	** Chris Pramas, the designer of the ''Dragon Age'' RPG, served as the Game Master for the campaign.
85	** Ryan Macklin, one of the creators of the ''Fate Core'' system, serves as the GM in the ''Fate Core'' episode.
86	* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Jessica Merizan was stated in the Hare&Tortoise/Council of Verona episode to have a below-average [=IQ=]. [[spoiler:She's also the one who ultimately won in the end of the episode.]]
87	* DarkerAndEdgier: "Tabletop After Dark", which Wil has said will be a recurring event. First such episode was ''Cards Against Humanity''
88	* DarkHorseVictory:
89	** [[spoiler:Day[9] and Creator/ColinFerguson]], though you can see the latter coming.
90	** [[spoiler:Andy Hull]] in ''Tsuro of the Seas''. In the beginning it seemed like he would be the first to lose and there was confusion over whether he was still in the game due to a miscalculation.
91	* DeusAngstMachina: In ''Gloom'', since the point of the game is to make your characters as miserable as possible before killing them off.
92	* DidntThinkThisThrough: Jordan Mechner in ''Star Fluxx'', whose cunning schemes are waylaid by a basic lack of knowledge of the actual ''rules''. First, he attempts to claim victory on an expired Victory Condition. Second, he attempts to use the Holographic Projector to claim victory with two of Wil's Keepers, but misreads the instructions on the card (Holographic Projector only works on one Keeper at a time) and forgets that his (Jordan's) Creeper prevents him from winning anyway. [[spoiler:This mistake essentially hands Wil victory on a silver platter]].
93	* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Bill Prady nearly single-handedly won the game in the Elder Sign episode.
94	* TheDitz: Whether or not this is her actual personality Felicia certainly acts like one every time she guests. Some of the other players commented on it in the ''Munchkin'' episode where she seemed more focused on her outfits than the actual game, though it's said that she may have been [[ObfuscatingStupidity doing it intentionally]] in order to [[DistractedByTheSexy distract the other players.]]
95	* DownerEnding:
96	** The ''TabletopGame/BetrayalAtHouseOnTheHill'' episodes end with [[spoiler:Wil Wheaton's]] utter triumph, and the Hellgate opening.
97	** [[spoiler:The Dead of Winter episode ends with the game winning, and Wil having a strained relationship with the rest of the players due to being the traitor]]. The somber music during the credits drives the point home, not to mention the fact that Wil [[spoiler:doesn't say, [[CatchPhrase "Play more games!"]]]] at the end of the episode. He just walks away.
98	%%* DownToTheLastPlay: The ending of ''Formula D.''
99	* EnemyMine: Creator/JesseCox and Wil playing on the same team in ''Star Trek: Five Year Mission'' is treated as this, as Jesse, when he previously appeared on the ''Stone Age'' episode, had attempted to invoke a "Beatin' and Defeatin' Wil Wheaton" pact with the other players to makes sure Wil lost the game.
100	* EverythingsDeaderWithZombies:
101	** ''Zombie Dice'', ''Last Night on Earth'', and ''Dead of Winter''.
102	** In the interviews for ''Pandemic'', Wil mentions that naming the diseases is a common thing for both new and veteran players to do, and "one of them is ''always'' the zombie plague." Although this also ends up being the only disease they're able to completely eradicate.
103	* EvilIsHammy: [[spoiler:Wil, playing a traitorous King Arthur,]] seriously hams it up after revealing [[spoiler:himself]] in the Shadows Over Camelot episode.
104	* EvilRedhead: [[spoiler:Felicia and Alison]], both gingers, ended up betraying the team in ''The Resistance'' playthrough. Lampshaded by [[spoiler:Alison]] herself.
105	-->'''[[spoiler:Alison:]]''' Don't trust the redheads. We're all spies.
106	* ExiledToTheCouch: When Yuri Lowenthal (while on the ConfessionCam) compliments his wife Tara Platt on her gameplay and says that she was his favorite player, he jokingly says that if he had said anything else, she would have exiled him to the couch.
107	* ExtrinsicGoFirstRule: Wil often introduces inventive HouseRules to determine who goes first, such as when he let Greg Zeschuk go first in ''King of Tokyo'' on account of him having the most impressive beard of the four bearded guys at the table.
108	* FirstPlayerAdvantageMitigation: In the ''TabletopGame/{{Tokaido}}'' episode, the players [[HouseRules modify the existing rules]] so that the player going first has to give the player going last one coin. This result's in [[Creator/WilWheaton Wil's]] character, the StarvingArtist Hiroshige (who normally starts with 3 coins) having to pay [[Creator/JAugustRichards J's]] character, the wealthy samurai Kinko (who normally starts with 7), leading to quips about Kinko being the 1%.
109	* ForeignSoundingGibberish: Ryan's Hawaiian chant to repel sharks.
110	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
111	** An unintentional example: in the extended edition of ''TabletopGame/{{Pandemic}}'', Will shouts "''Pandemic'' wins!" when all of the player figures get knocked over on the board. Lo and behold, what happens at the end of the game?
112	** Another (possibly unintentional) example occurs during ''TabletopGame/{{Fiasco}}''. During Creator/JohnRogers's description of Club Glamorous, he describes the entrance as a "complete firetrap". Fast forward to the end of the episode...
113	** In ''TabletopGame/{{Eldritch Horror}}'', Wil says, "I don’t know how much I trust (Jessica Merizan's) character Diana. Every time there’s a reformed cultist in this game, they end up being a traitor, which is really weird because this game does not have a defector mechanic." [[spoiler:Guess who's responsible for killing off Patrick Rothfuss' character Norman?]]
114	* TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou: Wil repeatedly (and mockingly) said the name of He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named during the [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Elder Sign]] episode. He also becomes TheLoad, and [[spoiler:his character is the only one to die]].
115	* FriendToAllChildren: Wil is surprisingly chill playing with those kids in the ''Catan Jr.'' episode, no salt at all.
116	* FunnyBackgroundEvent:
117	** In the second season, when the Trophy of Awesome is retired to appear on the Winners' Wall, the name on the trophy changes to something relevant each episode.
118	** At one point in the ''Tokaido'' episode, Wil complains to the ConfessionCam about the other players ganging up on him. J August Richards walks behind him and starts doing exaggerated crying/sad violin mimes.
119	* AGoodNameForARockBand: A RunningGag in the ''TabletopGame/ChezGeek'' episode, specifically names for cover bands, mostly courtesy of guests Paul and Storm.
120	* {{Hammerspace}}: Wil pulls a plastic chainsaw out of the [[BuffySpeak "Mysterious Thing of Wonders"]] in the ''TabletopGame/LastNightOnEarth'' episode.
121	* TheHerosJourney: Andy's Hull's gameplay was compared to one in the ''Tsuro of the Seas'' episode.
122	* HilariousOuttakes: The Gag Reels, released the week between episodes.
123	* ImpactSilhouette: In his intro to ''Eldritch Horror'', Wil says that if he encountered an EldritchAbomination in real life he would run screaming through the nearest brick wall, leaving a neat Wil-shaped hole behind. An animation of the Owlbear demonstrates at the end of the intro.
124	* InsistentTerminology: The lavender cards in the ''Ticket to Ride: Europe'' episode.
125	* KingmakerScenario/[[spoiler:LaserGuidedKarma]]: In the final stretch of ''Fortune and Glory'', Felicia - who was hopelessly in last place - drew a card that allowed her to reduce the value of any artifact to 1. She could use it on Wil to give victory to Ryon. [[spoiler:She didn't, because of Ryon playing a nasty card on her during his very first play of the game, handing Wil the win.]]
126	* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Wil used to have this reputation. As the host, he is the person who teaches all the guests how to play, and the player whom everyone else sees as the favorite. And he never won. That is, until late into Season 2 when he actually did start winning.
127	* LamePunReaction:
128	** When Wil makes a 'fate of the world at stake' pun during the rules explanation for ''Fury of Dracula'', the video editor adds a sound effect of Dracula being staked through the heart.
129	** During the ''Eldritch Horror'' game, Pat Rothfuss remarks that a missionary who is well-placed to assist is in a missionary position. Wil gives him a disgusted look.
130	* LargeHam: Wil Wheaton. Bordering on ChewingTheScenery.
131	-->'''Wil:''' ''Not only did I win '''I ALSO DIDN'T LOSE!'''''
132	* LastSupperSteal: a version of the portrait with Wil in the central position hangs directly behind the Loser's Couch in season two.
133	* LifeOrLimbDecision: a variant occurs in ''Misspent Youth'', when [[spoiler:each of the protagonists allows their wristbands to cut off their right hands, in order to free themselves from the tracking devices the authority uses to control them.]]
134	* LighterAndSofter: ''Catan Jr.'', designed for kids and the players other than Wil were all nine.
135	* TheLoad:
136	** Wil during "Elder Sign". [[spoiler:Out of all the players, he was the only one who caused their character to die.]] This was {{lampshade\|Hanging}}d by Felicia and Wil during the game.
137	** Wil seems to fall into this a ''lot'' during team games due to his appallingly luck at rolling dice. In ''Castle Panic'' he admits that he was "a bit of an asshole" and that he should have followed the same tactic as everyone else: shut up and listen to Creator/TaraPlatt. In ''Star Wars: X-Wing'', it looks like Wil might finally manage to be on the winning team, but when the final roll comes down to him, he fails.
138	* TheLoonie: Chris Hardwick in the ''Dragon Age'' episode.
139	-->'''Chris Pramas:''' I think every group has a player like Chris [Hardwick] who is pretty much going to throw a little monkey wrench into your plans by deciding to say, "Put [[Series/HappyDays Fonzie]] into ''Franchise/DragonAge''".
140	* LoveTriangle: In "Fiasco" where Lily and Eddie are contenders for the same heart (Betty).
141	* MascotMook: Friendzy the Owlbear, debuting in the Lords of Waterdeep episode, and making cameos every so often.
142	** In Season 3, Friendzy has been repurposed, appearing and saying, "Well, actually..." whenever a Tabletop play-through accidentally deviates from the rules as written.
143	** In the Dragon Farkle episode from Season 4, Professor Owlbear explains the rules of the game throughout the show. The Professor is bald and talks in a nasal, high-pitched voice, so it's clear he's a separate character.
144	* MassOhCrap: During ''Ticket to Ride'', Anne Wheaton accidentally provokes one of these from everybody (including herself) when she [[spoiler: slams her fist down on the gaming table and scatters a whole boardful of train-pieces.]]
145	* MillionToOneChance: The probability of [[spoiler:Ryan rolling ten brains on his first turn in ''Zombie Dice'']] is near 0%[[note]]The video states that the [[Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy improbability approaches infinity]][[/note]]. Wil speculates that, in order to balance his luck out, somewhere in the universe a planet spontaneously collapsed into a black hole.
146	* MortonsFork: One of these becomes important late in the ''Shadows over Camelot'' episode: [[spoiler:Wil, as the traitor, creates a situation where there are 11 catapults on the board and each of the other players has 1 health each. Because the players must do something to advance evil on their turn, they can either take a wound and die, or play another catapult and lose Camelot to a siege. The players opt for a suicide pact, giving Wil the victory]].
147	* MultiPartEpisode: Some games have a first half and second half episode, particularly the Indie RPG episodes.
148	** ''Fiasco'' has three, including a bonus setup episode.
149	** Like ''Fiasco,'' ''Misspent Youth'' has two gameplay episodes and a setup episode.
150	* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: In the ''Last Night On Earth'' episode, the inventory of the zombie players is listed as, "## zombies on the board", followed by a subtitle: "and Dr. Hannah" (as Felica's surprisingly multi-faceted zombie often wasted his turn doing things other than looking for brains).
151	** In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E94751B3Kg4 this episode]], Felicia Day introduces the other players with "I have an amazing set of guests here again, and my brother."
152	* NoAnimalsWereHarmed: No [[RunningGag Owlbears]] were harmed in the ''Lords of Waterdeep'' game.
153	* NoSwastikas: Averted in ''Fortune and Glory'', since the game does use swastikas as markers for Nazi enemies. This is part of the reason for the disclaimer at the beginning of the episode. (See Our Lawyers Advised This Trope below.)
154	* NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught: In the ''Munchkin'' episode, [[spoiler:creator Steve Jackson incorrectly deducts -4 from his Combat Strength instead of -5 from Sandeep's Electric Radioactive Acid Potion. This leads to him winning that combat with a mere +1 advantage, ''and the game'']]. It's debated on whether this was a genuine error or a cunning ploy on his part, as [[JustifiedTrope the rules]] of ''Munchkin'' state that cheating is legal as long as you are not caught.
155	* NotSoAboveItAll: [[Creator/TheCynicalBrit TotalBiscuit]] maintains a calm persona for most of the ''King of Tokyo'' episode, but it drops briefly when he rolls 6 energy dice in a single turn:
156	-->'''[=TotalBiscuit=]:''' That was a fantas... I mean, that was entirely part of the plan.
157	* NotZilla: As Wil keeps reminding us in the ''TabletopGame/KingOfTokyo'' episode, Gigazaur is legally distinct from a certain other giant lizard that rampages through Tokyo.
158	* ObligatoryJoke:
159	** Wil's wheat and [[HehHehYouSaidX wood]] puns during ''TabletopGame/SettlersOfCatan''.
160	** The ''Steam Park'' episode, which requires players to clean up "dirt" or else they will lose points at the end of the game, features a lot of poop-related puns.
161	* OddNameOut: Some of the places created in the fantasy world of Once Upon a Time include 'Kahiman', 'Albuquerque' and 'Robot Town'.
162	* OffTheRails: in ''Last Night On Earth'', Creator/FeliciaDay's zombie "Dr. Hannah" allows her to become TheRoleplayer to absolutely ridiculous extents.
163	* OnceDoneNeverForgotten:
164	** In ''[[TabletopGame/TicketToRide Ticket to Ride: Europe]]'' episode, it's pretty obvious that Wil still hasn't forgotten how his wife [[spoiler:knocked all trains from the board in her first appearance]].
165	*** It comes up again in the ''Dread'' episode, where he describes how the random success/fail test is done by playing a turn of ''Jenga''[[note]]Not identified by name for legal reasons[[/note]] and notes that "This is a game where my wife wouldn't wanna be around this table," after Ivan van Norman almost jostles the table. Then they flashback to the infamous ''Ticket to Ride'' scene.
166	** Throughout the entire show, Wil does this to himself, insisting that he always loses about OnceAnEpisode come the second season, even when he ''does'' have some victories under his belt.
167	* OnceAnEpisode:
168	** Wil talks with the losers on the couch, then goes downstairs to talk to the winner, write the winner's name on a piece of tape taped to a trophy, award the trophy to the winner, then take the trophy back because they don't have the budget to give everyone a trophy they can keep -- [[BoobyPrize but they get to keep the piece of tape]]!
169	** Wil did the same routine at the live games at VidCon 2012, making this also a RunningGag.
170	** The trophy was retired for Season 2 and incorporated into the Wall of Victory, a display featuring all of the previous winners. [[spoiler:Even ''Pandemic.'']] It's been replaced by a "Certificate of Awesome" that Wil signs and gives to the winner... along with the piece of tape.
171	** The success of the Season 3 Kickstarter meant that the winners now get their own trophies to keep at the end, proudly engraved with their names... on the piece of tape.
172	** In Season 4, the production crew went on a garage sale[=/=]eBay shopping spree, buying cheap trophies and then covering the actual nameplates with the piece of tape. Wil makes a big deal of how the trophy is not a used trophy at all.
173	--->'''Wil:''' You may think that this is something called The Timothy Award, but it's not.
174	* TheOneGuy[=/=]TheSmurfettePrinciple: Episodes in which all of the guests are women or all but one of them are men.
175	* OneSteveLimit: Averted in the ''TabletopGame/BetrayalAtHouseOnTheHill'' episode, when Wil decides that a group of rampaging monsters are named Steve, Steve, Nigel, Bruce, and unpronounceable-by-humans-so-we-just-call-him-Steve.
176	* OrphanedPunchline: From the Loser's Couch segment of the ''Carcassonne'' episode: "...And it turns out that the box was filled with bees!"
177	* OurLawyersAdvisedThisTrope:
178	** The ''Fortune and Glory'' episode begins with a disclaimer that, since the game thematically takes place in the age of 1930's CliffHanger serials, the main enemies of the game are, naturally, [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany the Nazis]], and that usage of Nazi characters and iconography is historically and thematically appropriate, and shouldn't be taken as approving or condoning their actions.
179	** Every so often, a player might perform a bit from a copyrighted song as they're playing. They'll usually only get a few bars in before cutting to Wil going, "Stop! Copyright."
180	** In the Legendary episode, there is a legal disclaimer stating that the Marvel characters are simply part of the game, and Geek and Sundry neither endorses nor owns the rights to the characters depicted.
181	* PerkyGoth: Nika Harper's team of goth cheerleaders in ''Carcassonne''.
182	* ThePointsMeanNothing:
183	** Subverted in ''Say Anything'' when Wil randomly gives Jonah three points midgame. [[spoiler:Jonah ends up winning.]]
184	** PlayedStraight with the trophy in season one. The winner's name is written on a piece of tape affixed to the trophy and then torn off because they can't afford a new trophy for each winner on the show's budget.
185	* ThePowerOfRock: During the ''TabletopGame/DragonAge'' episode, Chris Hardwick decides that the "Rock" in the Rock Armor spell refers to this rather than stones--so he casts it with a MetalScream every time.
186	* PlotHole: This can sometimes happen due to the shows being edited for length. The most infamous example is in the ''Elder Sign'' episode: the players draw a Mythos Effect that causes all cases that require at least one Investigation die to require an additional Investigation die to solve. What is ''not'' shown is the turn when this Mythos Effect is replaced by a new one, leading to much confusion from viewers (and even accusations of ''cheating'') when cases were solved with the standard number of Investigation dice, most noticeable during [[spoiler:the game-winning case]].
187	* PopculturalOsmosisFailure: ''Catan Junior'', courtesy of the 9-year-olds Wil is playing with. "What's ''Franchise/StarTrek''?"
188	* PungeonMaster: Wil is fond of making puns. He frequently gets a LamePunReaction.
189	** In the ''Qwirkle'' episode, he mentioned that he would have made a pun about the title, if not for the fact that it was a made-up word.
190	* RageQuit: In one episode, Wil threatens to Rage Quit the show if he lost again.
191	* RandomNumberGod: Often invoked. In ''Elder Sign'', Wil claims that the dice are trying to kill him. [[spoiler:They succeed.]]
192	* ARareSentence: ''Harbour'' gives us "I am a nihilistic wolf shepherd! I have an anchor and nothing to lose!", which Wil thinks is probably his favorite sentence that's ever been uttered on Tabletop.
193	* RealMenHateSugar: Wil mentions in one episode that he hates sweet stuff.
194	* RecycledInSpace:
195	** ''Star Trek Catan'' is ''TabletopGame/SettlersOfCatan'' In Space! The rules explanation even recycled the one from the ''Settlers'' episode.
196	** ''Tsuro of the Seas'' is a more complicated version of ''Tsuro'', with the players controlling ships and the dragons being hazards for the players to avoid. Part of the rules explanation for ''Tsuro'' is recycled with Wil adding more explanation afterward.
197	** ''Ticket to Ride Europe'' is (wait for it) ''Ticket to Ride'', done on a map of Europe. Once more, the rules explanation for the first game was recycled. Anne Wheaton also appeared in both episodes.
198	* RunningGag:
199	** Many episodes in the first season had the losers [[DrowningMySorrows drowning their sorrows]] with bourbon, with elaborations involving the fact that they couldn't actually drown their sorrows because they weren't allowed to depict real alcohol use, so the "bourbon" was really an ersatz made of carbonated iced tea and tasted too horrible to actually drink.
200	** Ever since ''Lords of Waterdeep'', an owlbear has been showing up in each episode - whether it be peeking at cards or fainting from smelling panda-poop, it'll be there, somewhere.
201	** Several individual episodes have their own running gags, such as the AGoodNameForARockBand running gag in the "Chez Geek" episode, or the running gag in the "Dragon Age" episode about checking which way a door opens before attempting to break it down.
202	** ''Formula D'' had a number of running gags, from the multiple backstories on how Frogger got his nickname, all of the tragedies that Derek has endured, and of course a running pun-o-meter thanks to both Wil and Hannah Hart.
203	** Wil making fun of Felicia's "obsession with poop".
204	** Wil complaining about how often he loses, made funnier with the fact that he's managed to win a bit more in Season 2:
205	--->'''Wil:''' ''Lords of Vegas'' is a high stakes game with sometimes wild streaks of good fortune and soul-crushing defeat. Something I know a little bit about on Table Top.
206	** The ''Catan Junior'' episode has a running gag about the children being too young to remember the show that made Wil famous.
207	** The surprisingly well stocked tavern ''The Dick & Pickle''.
208	** During the ''Eldritch Horror'' game, Jess's frequent and suspiciously specific reminders that her character, a reformed cultist, is indeed reformed and no longer retains any sympathies with her erstwhile colleagues.
209	* SarcasticClapping: Wil and John do this in the ''TabletopGame/KingOfTokyo'' episode when Greg makes Craig re-roll an energy dice with psychic probe, and the re-rolled dice scores Craig 3 points instead.
210	* SayMyName: [[spoiler:Wil screams Felicia's surname]] ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'' style after a skillful game of bluffing in ''The Resistance''. Complete with AngryFistShake.
211	* ScreenShake: In ''Star Trek Catan'' Wil and fellow ''Franchise/StarTrek'' alum Jeri Ryan do a spontaneous demonstration of this.
212	* SelfDeprecation: In the [[spoiler:''Carcassonne'']] episode, Wil presents the Certificate of Awesome to (a cardboard cut-out of) himself and mentions that he was [[VictoryGloating kind of a dick]] on the Loser's Couch.
213	* ShapedLikeItself: From the Tokaido episode. [[https://youtu.be/pipFRzGYgdk?t=985 "Tofu is disgusting because it's tofu!"]]
214	* ShareTheMalePain: Even the female players in ''Epic Spell Wars'' grimace when Wil tells a story about accidentally punching himself in the nuts.
215	-->'''Emily:''' I felt bad for him, even though I don't have genitals like his.
216	* ShoutOut:
217	** "[[Series/{{Lost}} Today we will live together or die alone]] in ''Castle Panic''."
218	** ''Betrayal at the House on the Hill'' - [[Series/{{Firefly}} "Whose sudden yet inevitable betrayal will be cursed?"]]
219	** The intro to the ''Unspeakable Words'' outtake reel has a series of subtitles that start out apologizing for various intrusive noises in the location where the intro was filmed, then segues into the faulty-subtitles routine from ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''.
220	** Another ''Holy Grail'' reference in the intro of ''Shadows over Camelot'' - "Around the turn of the 6th century, so the legend tells us, King Arthur of Britain defended his country from Saxons and Picts, found the Holy Grail, defeated the Black Knight, ''and'' survived a most vicious French taunting."
221	** The ''TabletopGame/ForbiddenDesert'' episode, in which the players take the roles of airship crew and which guest stars Creator/AlanTudyk, includes several shout-outs to ''Series/{{Firefly}}''.
222	** The show credits end with "Filmed in Shadowramma. KeepCirculatingTheTapes" in reference to the classic end credits of Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000.
223	** Wil references Creator/EddieIzzard's "Cake or Death" routine during the rules explanation for ''Kingdom Builder''.
224	%%** To Music/TracyChapman in "Fury of Dracula - pt. 2".
225	* SpikingTheCamera: Felicia in the ''Elder Sign'' episode.
226	* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Wil saying that season 1's trophy wasn't an old cheerleading trophy purchased by one of the interns from eBay for five bucks. This becomes a running gag in Season 4, after the production crew bought a bunch of old trophies to repurpose for the show.
227	* {{Squee}}: In ''Shadows Over Camelot'', [[spoiler:from Wil, when he finally wins at last.]]
228	* StarvingArtist: Wil plays the artist character in the ''Tokaido'' episode, and due to poor luck makes very little money over the course of the game. On his last turn, he finds that he can't afford a meal at the inn, and lays his meeple down to represent his character starving to death.
229	* SuperPoweredEvilSide:
230	** A dis-proportionally large number of episodes involving games with a traitor mechanic will have Wil end up being the traitor, and he almost always wins when in this role. [[spoiler:He wins ''Shadows over Camelot'', ''Betrayal at House on the Hill'' and ''Fury of Dracula'' by playing the villain, and is only one item away from achieving victory as the traitor in ''Dead of Winter'' when the colony collapses.]]
231	** In ''Libertalia'', Wil has a sudden burst of good luck in the third round, which he attributes to "Evil-Wil-from-the-mirror-universe" playing for him.
232	* TakeThat:
233	** Wil takes quite a few shots at [[UsefulNotes/LasVegas Vegas]] and [[GamblersFallacy people who don't understand probability]] in his opening to the "Lords of Vegas" episode.
234	** From the explanation of the rules for ''Betrayal at House on the Hill'': "One member of the team is revealed to be a traitor who has lured us into the house to do unspeakable things to us... like make us watch ''Film/{{Ghost Rider\|2007}}''."
235	** In the rules explanation for "Misspent Youth", Wil mentions the 2016 presidential election in America as an example of a dystopian nightmare.
236	** In ''Fury of Dracula'' Wil asks Grant "What's Van Helsing doing, besides [[Film/VanHelsing starring in a terrible movie?]]"
237	* TemptingFate:
238	** In episode 3, Wil talks about how he likes ''Zombie Dice'' because nobody ever gets out to a huge lead. Cue [[spoiler:Ryan getting ten brains on the first turn!]] Furthermore, [[spoiler:Ryan actually wanted to stop at five brains but kept on rolling because Wil and the other players kept goading him into continuing with the belief that he'd eventually wipe out with three shotguns. Which, needless to say, didn't happen.]]
239	** For ''Elder Sign'' the team drew Hastur, which is also known as "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named." As a result, Wil made a point of saying Hastur's name over and over out of sheer defiance. [[spoiler:He kept getting horrible rolls and his character eventually died.]]
240	** Yuri also tended to do this during "Castle Panic", to disastrous results.
241	** Near the end of ''Shadows Over Camelot'', Wil tells everyone that he knows how this is going to end (because he always loses). [[spoiler:So, for once, he wins.]]
242	** In ''Flashpoint'', after Wil has an okay first turn:
243	--->'''Wil:''' The important thing is, I'm helping. I have not [[SoundEffectBleep f(bleep)ed]] us yet.\
244	''[Wil rolls to spread the fire, and causes a hazardous material explosion]''\
245	'''Wil:''' I just f(bleep)ed us.
246	** In ''Welcome To The Dungeon'' Hector has one strategy and it's to not die first. [[spoiler:He does.]]
247	** ''Fury of Dracula'' has several instances of this, including Ify insisting that he can't pull three Dracula cards from the bottom of the event deck in a row (he does), Wil hoping that Lord Godalming doesn't go to Sofia and expose Dracula's current location (he does), and [[spoiler:Ify ignoring the fact that a vampire is about to mature because the hunters have cornered Dracula in Spain (the maturing vampire earns Wil enough points to win the game before they find him)]].
248	** Towards the end of the ''Tokaido'' episode, Wil decides to use his turn to draw a "Make a friend" card and insists that no matter the outcome, this cannot be a bad move for him. The card he draws lets him complete a painting that he already completed earlier in the game, making it worthless.
249	* ThatCameOutWrong:
250	** In the ''Dixit'' episode, Wil comments on the fact that he and Leo are in joint last place behind the two female players:
251	--->'''Wil:''' Team Dudes! We're gonna suck together! ...Wait, no that doesn't sound right at all.
252	** A similar thing happens again in ''The Resistance'' when everyone starts suspecting Wil:
253	--->'''Alison:''' Where's the Wil I used to know?\
254	'''Wil:''' I don't know. He's seen some things.\
255	'''Alison:''' ''Like a red spy card?''\
256	'''Wil:''' No, no, no! Like he had to sit through a lot of tampon talk before the cameras rolled.
257	** In ''Tsuro of the Seas'', Kevin Pereira's response to his boat being eaten by a dragon:
258	-->'''Kevin:''' Once again, Pereira gets it in the rear! ...I'm gonna rephrase that... No... ...Aah, it's already done.
259	%%** Felicia Day is prone to this and Creator/KevinPereira got this once.
260	* ThisIsForEmphasisBitch: After the player playing the betrayer in Betrayal at House on the Hill reveals [[spoiler:his]] evil plan:
261	-->[[spoiler:'''Wil:''']] And I'm the traitor, bitches!
262	* TookALevelInBadass: [[spoiler:Wil is winning a lot more in the succeeding seasons than he did in Season 1]]
263	* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The trailer for ''Dread'', Part 2 managed to spoil most of the plot developments in that episode, ruining the tension that had developed in Part 1.
264	* TheVamp: In the TabletopGame/{{Fiasco}} episode, as John put it, Bonnie took WhatCouldHaveBeen an empty little club girl, and turn her into an [[TheSociopath Insane]], [[MagnificentBastard Machiavellian]], [[DepravedBisexual Omnisexual monster]].
265	* VerbalBackspace: Andy Hull after implying that ''Tabletop'' wasn't a "real show".
266	* VitriolicBestBuds: Generally, the contestants on the show are all friends of Wil. That said, he and Jesse have a SitcomArchNemesis kind of deal on camera, if the ''Star Trek: Five Year Mission'' episode is any indication.
267	* WitchWithACapitalB: Jesse Cox invokes this verbatim during the ''Stone Age'' episode, in regards to Nika Harper.
268	-->'''Jesse:''' I'm sure Nika thinks she's a wizard, but... I think she's more of a witch. With a B.
269	* ZergRush: Nika's strategy in ''Stone Age'' is compared to this, as she consistently uses the breeder to create more meeples for herself without developing agriculture or tool-making.
270	----
271	->''And until next time: '''Play more games!'''''

Context WebVideo / Tabletop