Page 123 - Ghost of Villains Past

Referencing old NPCs or dungeon traps can be a great way to mess with players you’ve run with for a long time. If the players who know what you’re referencing will expect certain things from your copy-and-paste, you can subvert that and exploit their metagaming by changing it up.

Rainbow Dash: Argh… Okay, I know this is difficult for you to understand, but… You’re gonna fight SOMETIME. A little bunny’s not gonna help in battle!
Fluttershy: I-I know… but, um… Well… You see… I think the DM did… something with Angel to cover that…
DM: Let me put it this way: Do you remember Karrot from the campaign last summer?
Rainbow Dash: WHAT?!
Rarity: Good heavens! Of course we remember – I in particular loathed the little wretch.
Pinkie Pie: Story time! Tell us all about it!
Applejack: “Karrot” was an imp assassin the main bad guy kept sending after us. He was tiny, sneaky, arrogant… and he nearly wiped us three times.
DM: So yeah, I figure that Angel is about Karrot’s size, so…
Applejack: …so he’s that stabby jerk’s reincarnation?
DM: Hey, at least this little guy’s on YOUR side this time.
Rainbow Dash: I don’t know if I object to this LESS or MORE now.