In his column, "The Dungeon Master Experience," D&D senior producer Chris Perkins explained the important role that humour plays in our favourite hobby.

"It makes for a refreshing change of pace to inject a bit of silliness now and then. [...] Humour is best used in small, judicious doses and in situations that work within the context of the encounter or scene.

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"You can punctuate a fairly serious campaign with humorous moments and interludes without ruining it."

I currently run two campaigns: Dungeons & Drogans, a light-hearted, humorous campaign that I upload to YouTube, and a serious, dark, gritty campaign. While the two campaigns are polar opposites, my serious campaign does have humorous moments -- and my humorous campaign has dark moments.

Contrast is a tool that, if used judiciously, will enhance the primary themes of your campaign. Ever notice how dark colors look darker when you put them next to white?

That said, it's easy to ruin a campaign with humour if you don't know how or when to apply it. You certainly don't want your Big Bad to turn into a joke, or for your players to stop taking the plot seriously.

In my serious campaign, I inject small doses of humour with minor NPCs and during times that the stakes aren't high -- generally as stress-release between quests. A merchant with a funny accent, a drunk tavern patron hitting on a PC, a villager with silly superstitions...

How do you inject humour into the campaigns you run or play in? Have you ever seen a campaign ruined by humour?