What ifStar Wars as we know it didn't exist, but instead the plot of the movies was being made up on the spot by players of a Tabletop Game?Well, for one, the results might actually make a lot more sense, from an out-of-story point of view...Darths & Droids, is a webcomic created by The Comic Irregulars (David Morgan-Mar and seven of his friends from work), following the footsteps of DM of the Rings(found here), which used a similar premise for The Lord of the Rings. However, while DOTR featured a railroading GM herding a bunch of bored Munchkin players with an iron fist, Darths & Droids has a more tolerant GM, who's willing to let the players get Off the Rails and contribute to the development of the setting, if that's what it takes to have a fun and interesting game. Indeed, the very plot of Star Wars, with all its inconsistencies and bizarre leaps of logic, comes along because the players constantly force the GM to improvise. *
It's interesting to note, of course, that this is perhaps more appropriate for this comic rather than DM of the Rings since The Lord of the Rings is recognized for the coherence and quality of its plot (eagles perhaps excepted), whereas Star Wars, particularly the prequel trilogy... isn't.
And that's not all; the Irregulars seem to be taking perverse pleasure in actually changing things from how they happen in the movies as much as they can while still being constrained by actual screencaps. This ranges from the ultimately minor "Lost Orb" side-quest, all the way to Darth Maul being a hired bounty hunter who's, at worst, Chaotic Neutral. Even Palpatine seems like a good guy.In between Star Wars games, the players take part in other games, including one between episodes I and II that bears a strong resemblance to The Princess Bride, and another between episodes II and III that seems to have been a mix of Van Helsing and Twilight. On a related note, Episode IV begins In Medias Res, with the unseen gameplay sessions involving Star Wars Expanded Universe materials such as Dark Forces.In the blurb for each comic, there are often links to This Very Wiki, and there are even comics named after tropes, as well.The comic is being translated into a variety of languages, including: German, French and others. Notably, some of the translations are pure Gag Dub, including: Pirate, poetry, Zero Wing-esque mangled English and tlhIngan Hol, (Klingon). Nearly all strips from Episode I appear in German.The players from the original 3 movies correspond to the five basic RPG Player Archetypes, although Morgan-Mar claims it was unintentional.
He's also pursuing a master's degree in geophysics. In Pete's words, he relaxes by doing things that let him turn his brain off
. So far in Episode IV, his characters (including Captain Antilles, the only one the audience has witnessed) have wound up being Mauve Shirts; his (presumably) permanent character remains to be seen.
The Brain: Ben, playing Obi-Wan Kenobi. He prefers to think rationally before acting, comes up with sane plans, but is quick to resort to fast-talking the GM if nothing else works. Also points out the unlikelihood of situations they run into. At some point since Episode III he stopped coming to game sessions, but he eventually returns for Episode IV.
The Loonie: Sally, playing Jar Jar Binks in Episode 1. By the time the Episode 2 campaign started, she decided Jar Jar was stupid, and bounced around several characters before mainly settling on C-3PO and Yoda. She's Ben's kid sister, who he once brought to a game session when their parents weren't home. Many of the wacky elements of the setting, such as the Gungans (including her own character), Toydarians, and an elected 14-year-old queen, are products of her wild imagination; the GM seems to have largely left the task of designing settings and alien races to her, in acknowledgment of the fact that she is more creative with such things than he is. Sally is also pure awesome in a can, given that she was able to accomplish the flat-out impossible feat of making Jar Jar Binks likable.
The Munchkin: Pete, playing R2-D2. He joined after Jim told him about the game and designed his character in advance using Min-Maxing, resulting in a verbally-challenged non-humanoid robot with insane mechanic skills. For a short time, he filled in for the GM "due to some family emergency or whatever". His style of doing this seems to be...different. He has something of a soft spot for Sally, which makes a lot more sense once she sticks with C-3PO for Episode IV.
The Thespian: Annie, initially playing Shmi Skywalker but soon switched to Anakin rather than shoehorning Shmi into the adventuring party. As of Episode IV, she's Leia. Ben told her about the game in drama class. Her unfamiliarity with typical RPG player behavior results in amusing misunderstandings, such as her mistaking Qui-Gon for a robber when he attempts to search Shmi's house for loot. Her roleplaying tends to be filled with Hidden Depths and moral ambiguity, which sometimes screws with the more straightforward mindset of the other players. As a joke, plays what is considered to be the worst acted character from the prequel trilogy.
The Sixth Ranger: Corey, joining the group in Episode IV and playing "Adam Lars"/Luke Amidala (Luke Skywalker). He's Pete's nephew, being just a little older than Sally. He got interested in the group after hearing Pete talk about it, but was stunned to find it wasn't an RPG video game.
Pete: You've been practising that sentence, haven't you? GM: Definitely.
Also, the title of this and all the other one-shot comics mentioned under Alternate History.
Affably Amoral: The clone troopers. To a man, they are friendly, helpful, and enthusiastic about their jobs — to the point that when it comes time to execute Order 66, they are both surprisingly eager to do the deed (a fact Palpatine comments on), and unfailingly complimentary and sympathetic to the Jedi they're gunning down.
All Girls Like Ponies: Sally enthusiastically declares that Jar-Jar "has a face like a pony!" and later decides that Gungans all ride on dinosaur ponies.
In strip 24 they said they "had to resist very strongly the urge for Sally to say that Otoh Gunga was full of ponies", saying that "at some point in this wonderful fantasy world Sally is building, the GM has to step in with something that requires more response than the players just marvelling at stuff.
All Planets Are Earth-Like: Firstly spoofed, and then actively averted by the GM in response, resulting in the production of a Single-Biome Planet. The GM was trying to get them back on the damn rails so they'd go to Coruscant, not stop off on a planet he hadn't thought up yet.
Jar Jar: Dis meaning war, wesa needs to have a stronger leader! Mesa suggests Chancellor Palpatine gets emergency powers! Palpatine: What?!
Especially in the case of Palpatine, when he saves Obi-Wan Kenobi. They turn the whole reasoning behind the eventual start of the Jedi/Empire conflict upside down; instead of Palpatine slowly corrupting Anakin until he's prepared to attack Windu in Palpatine's defense, it's Anakin playing both sides, eventually convincing Windu that Palpatine is a sleeper agent before showing up when they fight and attacking Windu ostensibly to defend Palpatine against his unjustified attack. They even manage to make Palpatine's killing of Windu into a fairly awesome moment for Palpatine.
Alternate History: In this world Star Wars was never made, producing a few cultural changes, the biggest of which is that there was no upsurge of interest in science-fiction in Hollywood during the 70s and 80s resulting in Star Trek remaining an obscure 60s show instead of the massive movie and TV franchise it is in our world. Then there are alternate histories within alternate histories within alternate histories within still more alternate histories in the other fictional comics that exist in the world of Darths & Droids and worlds within the worlds (full list)
Anti-Hero: Weirdly enough, Palpatine so far. Throughout most of the series he's been portrayed as a Reasonable Authority Figure and even saves Obi Wan during the escape from Grevious' ship, but it turns out the Peace Moon really was a weapon. Though he only made the plans to act as a deterrent, like MAD in the Cold War.
Darth Maul and Jango Fett are private detectives. They're really only antagonists because the players screwed up, which is repeatedly lampshaded in The Rant.
Palpatine is slipping into this role as he's increasingly manipulated into shooting dogs that may or not need shooting.
Apocalypse How: In a Class 4 example, how did Mustafar become a molten volcanic planet? It was originally Naboo. The Trade Federation took over the planet and moved it into the orbit of a nearby gas giant, causing increased tidal activity and, in turn, volcanic activity, all so they can smelt it and build the Peace Moon. However, ultimately it turned out that most of the population survived, Theed was protected by a force field, and the planet itself was liberated offscreen by Jar Jar who then moved it back to its original orbit.
Arc Fatigue: Kind of. While catching up on the plot during his in-universe two-year absence, Ben comments "Is this the Peace Moon plans? Still?" (Pete: "But the real ones this time!")
Arc Welding: Welded by the strip's writers. In the Gamemaster's campaign:
General Grevious is Chancellor Valorum gone completely mad. Though he was loony even in his Chancellor days.
Obi-Wan: Let's see. You stole the plans for a symbol of peace. You're allied with (a) a known megalomaniacal warlord and (b) a criminal sociopath. You have not one, but two, armies at your disposal. You've captured me — unfairly — and are holding me with no means of escape. And you're monologuing. Count Dookû:Iam monologuing?!
Mace Windu:Nute Gunray is behind everything... the Jedi Archives, the clone army, my apartment block....
Ascended Extra: Anakin started as a random kid made up on the fly when the players went off the rails, the GM had not even thought up a name for him. Later, Annie took over the character for herself.
Ascended Meme: The question whether or not Annie was pregnant during the campaign corresponding to Revenge of the Sith was a topic of a hot debates on the Irregular Webcomic forum, and ultimately it was referenced in the comic itself.
Author Filibuster: On everything from annoyances in gaming to the evils of capitalism. Most of it is thankfully confined to the author rants, but it slips through occasionally in dialog. Of course, it could be the player's thoughts filibustering through as the character they're playing.
Avenging the Villain: Jango Fett's reason for opposing the PC's, though the person he is trying to avenge, Darth Maul, wasn't exactly evil.
Awesome, but Impractical: When going through Luke's character sheet, "Survival: Snow" is one of his skills, along with "Survival: Desert", "Survival: Forest", and "Survival: Swamp". Leia's player questions how a character who spent his whole life in the desert ever learned to survive in a snowy climate, not to mention that he doesn't need it. *
Beard of Evil: Spoofed. Jim immediately assumes Sio Bibble Bubble is evil just because he has a goatee. Jim's suspicion of the GM pulling this trope continues into the second game, and has expanded to include Senator Organa, of all people, in this strip.
Qui-Gon: Fine. But we're not taking Bubble. That goatee is a death sentence. Obi-Wan: Uh... don't you have a— Qui-Gon: No. Obi-Wan: Can I see your character sheet for a— Qui-Gon: You may not.
Made even more hilarious when the GM's notes for the Princess Bride campaign had a side note about Count Rugen:
Has a goatee! Should be fun when others don't believe Jim that he's evil.
When Darth Vader first appears in a campaign corresponding to A New Hope Jim isn't sure whether he is evil or not because he can't see whether he has a goatee.
When Ben finally shows up, Jim comments "Cool beard."
Jim does this after he's pushed out of the gunship into the desert as part of Ben and Annie's plans to protect the Senator from harm.
Boba Fett does this after Jango tells him that Obi Wan killed his father, Darth Maul.
Sally's reaction upon learning that all of the dinosaur ponies are gone.
Anakin's reaction to being told that Palpatine now controls him, rather than vice versa.
Bizarre and Improbable Ballistics: Subverted; Qui-Gon cannot use blasters to shoot other blaster shots out of the air. Please note that this actually happens in Coruscant Nights, one of the Star Wars novel series.
When the group returns to the Gungans and the bongo is mentioned to a new player, Jim calls it a fishing lure. Remember the fish?
During the senate scene in Phantom Menace, Chancellor Valorum complains about the frailty of organic bodies and says he wants to set up a committee to investigate turning people into cyborgs. At the time, it looks like one of many oneoff statements from a bored Cloudcuckoolander politician. But guess who General Grievous turns out to be.
In strip #633, Jim suggests that Annie role up a pirate as her new character. Guess what Jim thought of making his newcharacter after the death of Qui-Gon in strip #198...
Which of course is probably a setup for Jim playing a certain "Pirate" in the Fourth episode...
But He Sounds Handsome: Yoda (the character Sally mostly settles on playing) regularly talks about how smart and competent Jar-Jar (Sally's original character) is. Also, Jim has nothing but praise for his characters bothin- and out of character.
Call a Smeerp a "Rabbit": Since this is an universe where Star Wars is just a tabletop campaign, the weapons only have normal names with, as Jim puts it, "techy words in front"; hence, lightsabers are only referred to as Laser Swords.
If you start from here you can see that Anakin went through every single step of the journey to the dark side. There are not enough Roleplaying XP points in the world.
A more humorous one shows up in episode 720: Chocolatedice!
Calvinball: The rules of the system are very unclear, but this is intentional, as they've said that they're not using any established system. Based on analysis from several strips, it appears to combine the following aspects:
The basic d20 mechanic from any d20 system (d20 + modifier versus target number to beat).
A Merit/Flaw system (Pete's Short and Mute flaws for extra skill points).
A reputation system, probably similar to the Wizards of the Coast Star Wars d20 system. For instance, Pete got a Periscope for -2 to Reputation.
Force Powers and other skills, including combat skills (Parry), appear to need investment with skill points, and it operates like any standard d20 mechanic (see above).
Card-Carrying Villain: Most of the villains from the films are actually anti-villains or even anti-heroes. In Episode III, however, this trope is played horribly straight by General Grievous.
Celebrity Paradox: Explicitly acknowledged, and lampshaded the heck out of it; one annotation goes further on to imagine this hypothetical world without Star Wars, even including a strip, cast page, FAQ and episode list from a fake Harry Potter equivalent of the comic). Taken a level further when we learn that in the hypothetical world of the Harry Potter comic, the equivalent is a comic based on The Sound of Music. That world in turn is shown to have its comic equivalent be based on the first X-Men movie, and more.
Chekhov's Gag: In Darth Maul's Flashback, we see a droid on the trade federation star ship asking the hologram Palpatine if he wants a drink, which looks like a gag. In Jango Fett's flashback, it's revealed that that was actually Jango giving a code phrase to Maul.
Chekhov's Gun: The morale bonus Pete gives because watching R2 fly is just that cool. It later comes back to throw a wrench in his Killer GMing.
The reason why the Senate boxes are shaped like Frisbees.
The butler droid on the Trade Federation ship, who is actually Jango Fett in disguise. He is Darth Maul's partner.
One-Scene Wonder Chancellor Valorum, who later reappears as General Grievous.
Chekhov's Skill: The impossibly awkward scene where Anakin gets thrown off the shaak on Naboo was him practicing his Riding skill. It comes in handy in the arena on Geonosis.
Luke's counterpart "Adam Lars" has survival skills for all sorts of terrain on his character sheet - even snow, which is noted as implausible on a desert planet. Luke visits planets with each of those terrains in the movies. Even better, they may have even been set up as such in-universe by the GM - Corey obviously isn't acquainted enough with roleplaying to set up his own character sheet, so the GM may have given him things planned to be useful down the road and justified it with Adam being raised by Crazy Survivalists.
Chancellor Valorum combines this with President Evil. Kneel before Valorum! As General Grievous, he's (mostly) lost this trait and seems much more competent. And angry.
Composite Character: Some things from the movies get merged in this telling: Chancellor Valorum and General Grievous, Naboo, Mustafar, and possibly Alderaan. A lesser version is at the beginning of Episode IV, where random Rebel Troopers are used to represent Captain Antilles until the scene where the real Antilles appears, getting throttled by Vader.
Cranial Processing Unit: Mentioned with reference to how strange it is that C3PO still works when his head is grafted onto a battledroid.
Crazy Survivalists: Beru and Owen in the campaign corresponding to A New Hope.
Critical Failure: Jim, twice in a row, with the second supposedly having 1 rolls pre-rolled out. This convinces Jim to just let his character pass, so he can roll up a ninja character (the GM vetoes that).
Cross Player: Sally (as several characters), Annie (as Anakin), and formerly Jim (as Padmé). In other words, exactly half the cast. Take into the account that Pete's character doesn't really have a gender, and we're left with exactly one player who has a character that was consistently the same sex as he is. Averted so far with the roles they play in the original trilogy.
Cultural Translation: Frequently a necessity when the fans translate the comics into various languages.
Dangerously Genre Savvy: Gunnery Captain Bolvan knows that just because an escape pod doesn't have any life forms in it doesn't mean it shouldn't be shot down. Too bad for him that Pete disabled guns before leaving.
Different World, Different Movies: The Rant to comic #50. Star Wars doesn't exist in the players' universe, because the comic wouldn't make sense if it did. So various other Star Wars-influenced things are also different, including Darths and Droids itself, which has become Wands and Warts, a Harry Potter comic. There's a link to a mockup of a Wands and Warts page, with a similar rant at the bottom, except that it links to a comic based on The Sound of Music (Notes And Nazis), and so on and so on.
Interestingly, in one of these alternate realities Star Wars movies (or at least The Phantom Menace) do exist (according to The Rant).
Dramatic Irony: In-universe and out; because of Ben's commitment to the line between in-character and out-of-character actions and knowledge, he and the audience know that Anakin would have left Obi-Wan to die, but Obi-Wan does not. Ben doesn't hold it against Annie because it's in-character for Anakin, but notes that there might be trouble in-game if Obi-Wan found out.
Drinking Game: Pete is playing one; drink every time a cliché shows up! invoked
Easily Angered Shopkeeper: Referenced in the case of Watto, although Ben pays enough attention to acknowledge that stealing from a shopkeeper would go against character anyway.
Everyone Calls Him Barkeep: The GM is always referred to as such, even though at least Jim and Ben presumably know his name.
None of the players address the GM by name. Pete claims the job before Annie says the name on. Later, Pete just doesn't include him in the apology for arriving late.
Everyone Knows Morse: In this strip, Ben attempts to communicate with Jango by firing shots in Morse Code. Of course, his ship is unarmed.
Evil Chancellor: Subverted; Jim's suspicions of Sio Bibble have no basis in fact or reality. Also, Chancellor Palpatine (possibly.)
Flanderization: Ric Olié was already a Captain Obvious in the movie, but the comic deliberately took it even further — although it tries not to draw attention.
The relationships between the players, reflected in-game by their characters, is slowly fracturing in much the same way as the original Star Wars characters did. And Revenge of the Sith didn't exactly end well.
Pete goes on an extended rant as he demands something more science-fictiony, such as space dreadnoughts bristling with atomic missiles. Then at the end of Episode 2, Pete suggests "a massive battle involving space dreadnoughts bristling with atomic missiles" (Annie: "As long as we're the ones with the dreadnoughts") and the GM takes notes. Remember how the Episode 3 movie started?
If the comic will last long enough to cover the events of Return of the Jedi, then you may consider this dialog to be a foreshadowing:
Palpatine: And who shall judge who is wicked? Who else is to die? Anakin: Anyone who disagrees with me, for starters. Palpatine: I disagreed with you just now, Anakin. Anakin:Well obviously not you, Chancellor.
And another one, again if the comic lasts long enough to cover Jedi:
Palpatine: This is fun; perhaps I should install a huge bottomless pit in my quarters for no apparent reason.
This speech by Valorum pretty much flat out tells you what his eventual fate will be, but you'd never realise it the first time through.
And then comes a piece of dialogue from Anakin/Annie about Padme/Jim. Considering how much development Annie plans out for her character and how involved she gets into them, this could be both, either, or neither foreshadowing or in-character anxiety.
Anakin (describing an in-character dream): You die in childbirth.
Grievous to Kenobi: "I see your future. Divorced from your flesh, your moth-robes fall empty."
One of R2-D2's flaws to support Pete's Min-Maxing is Tastes Good To Dragons. The DM says he can keep them. Know what'll happen to R2 in the Dagobah swamp?
In episode 186 Palpatine orders Maul to team up with the Jedi:
Maul: I work alone. Palpatine: That's not what it says on your card.
In episode 283 we learn about his partner.
In episode 30 Sally asks if she can be a Jedi. The GM and Ben say no. Eventually she plays both Windu and then Yoda (as well as the librarian).
The notes for this strip has a table for losing parts of your body, including both legs and the left arm. Guess what happens to Anakin at the end of Revenge of the Sith.
The comic rationalizes the films' various errors as the players doing stupid things and going Off the Rails and the GM throwing up his hands and saying "Fine! Whatever! We'll just go with that.''
Funetik Aksent: Many NPCs, but Dookû has the silliest one. Tarkin is given one in Episode IV.
Gambler's Fallacy: Pete is a firm subscriber to this due to his steadfast belief that dice have memories, can be "cursed" or "blessed", and can have the 1s prerolled out of them.
Gasp: Collective ones from the Geonosians and the Republic Senate so far.
Gender Swap: It's more for pronoun purposes, but in Darths & Droids, C-3PO is referred to as female.
Genius Ditz: Jim is a real ditz in RPG, genius otherwise. See here to see him put the GM in his place when the GM uses the word "vergence" wrong, because he's doing Ph.D in geophysics. And later, he even works out the insane conditions that would make a planet like Naboo physically possible to patch up George Lucas' the GM's overlooking basic physics in the earlier strips. But lest we forget the second half of this trope:
R2-D2: It's tough holding a grudge against someone who doesn't even notice.
Genre Savvy: All the players — except Sally and Annie, at least in the first movie.
GMPC: Temporary example with R2-D2, when the regular GM has a family emergency and lets Pete fill in because he has the most GM experience.
Gone Horribly Right: So Anakin you want to corrupt Palpatine and become the power behind the throne? Sure, why not. Just be certain that you've not corrupted him enough to consider you a loose cannon and turn you into a cyborg so he can control you. Oops.
The fantasy game Jim, Ben, and Pete played between episodes one and two was The Princess Bride. Pete was Vizzini, Ben and Jim were Inigo Montoya and Fezzik. He has reason to be angry.
Annie's game is heavily implied to be a mix of Van Helsing and Twilight, with a bit of Take That against the source materials to boot.
Jim: And that stuff about Pete being the Archangel Gabriel, where did that come from? Annie: Yeah by that stage I was just making up the stupidest things I could think of. ... Jim: They were vampires! You can't make vampires good! They're evil, they have to be killed, that's all there is to it! [...] And vampires do not sparkle in the daylight!!
Honor Before Reason: Sally challenges Dookû to a contest of lifting things with the Force as a way of capturing him without needing to risk killing him, relying on the idea that Dookû will be honourable to agree to it.
Yoda: I don't want to kill you. Settle this with a Force Arm-Wrestle we will! Dookû: A... what? Yoda: Whoever lifts the biggest thing wins! Dookû: Zis is ridiculous. Raise your sword. Yoda: But this is how honourable Jedi settle things. Are you honourable? Dookû: Ah begin to regret zat Ah am...
Also the reason (in this universe) for the reason for the lightsaber duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan. The rest of the party is going evil (except Sally), but Ben refuses.
Ben: I wrote "Good" on my character sheet and I jolly well meant it! Unlike some people!
I Did What I Had to Do: Anakin in Episode 108, after deliberately destroying Sebulba's pod (and possibly Sebulba).
I Have the High Ground: Done with Ben and Darth Maul, with quotes taken directly from Revenge of the Sithhere.
Of course, also done in the usual place, final battle between Anikin and Obi-Wan in Revenge of the Sith. This time, the Higher Ground tactic gives Ben explicit battle modifier advantages.
Anakin: Can I have your (Obi-Wan's) laser sword if this ends badly? Try to toss it as you hit the lava.
Idiot Ball: A lot of the problems in the game could have been solved by someone going, "Jim, would you just shut up and listen for ten seconds in a row?"
In Medias Res: The players' Episode IV campaign starts three sessions before we start seeing it - and Jim has had a character die in each one.
Insane Troll Logic: The solutions to the challenges Pete set during his brief tenure filling in for the GM. Usually, as well as being completely out there, the players had to make punishingly precise rolls to actually succeed (as it stood, they managed to survive without figuring out Pete's solutions, on blind luck alone).
Also, there are several lines of dialogue taken straight from the movies- with Character A saying Character B's lines, and Character B saying Character A's lines.
It Will Never Catch On: Sort of, when Padmé asks how she's supposed to get information from Anakin:
Jerkass: Pete's stat-obsessed, railroading, and killer GM attitude is quickly turning him into this. And he can't even understand why the other players are starting to hate him. He does apologize afterward, and admits he genuinely enjoys playing with the team.
Killer Game Master: Pete, as substitute GM, is the one who comes up with the droid factory scene from Attack of the Clones. He even laughs at Annie when she initially fails a roll.
Made even more evident when the original GM shows up and takes a look at the place, saying "Wow, I don't think anyone can get through this," making Annie and Jim's passage through the factory SHEER LUCK — for instance, the chance of Anakin getting through those blades was approximately 0.5% (admittedly, before Anakin increased his chances with Force Abilities).
The Rant usually includes tongue-in-cheek advice for D Ms for running a fun campaign - often at the expense of the players.
Level Grinding: R2-D2 just wants to kill another hundred droids in order to get Enhanced Environmental Sealing before infiltrating the Trade Federation HQ.
Luck Manipulation Mechanic: There is a mention of the "Fate Manipulation Re-roll" Jedi power. Anakin used a Fate Manipulation re-roll during Pete's factory sequence.
Marty Stu: In-Universe, R2-D2, Pete's character, during Pete's run as the temporary GM. Pete constructs the entire factory scene in Episode II, making it particularly dangerous to the other PCs, for the sole purpose of having R2 fly in and save the day. This is made most obvious in this strip.
"Are you calling me <something undesirable>?" "Are you?" "Are you?" "Maybe."
Lampshaded a second later. "It also causes deja vu."
Meaningful Name: Ben, Annie, and (until he takes over Padmé) Jim. In-universe, Annie's case is a coincidence because the GM named Anakin before she came aboard.
Mondegreen: In-Universe — as a Running Gag, Jim keeps making mincemeat out of the GM's phrasings. "To Naboo soil" becomes "Tuna booze oil".
Mood Dissonance: The frequently stark contrast between what's happening in the game and what the characters are talking about outside the game. Taken to extremes here.
Most Gamers Are Male: There are two girls out of five (later six) players, which is still a higher percentage than normal. Both Sally and Annie come to the campaign as newbies and Pete, at first clearly think most gamers should be male.
Made funnier when you realize that Pete might be a Troper.
It might just be a Monty Python reference, though.
My Name Is Not Durwood: About half the time Jim says anything, he gets its name wrong. Sio Bibble is "Bubble", Jedi knights are "Cheddar monks", Sebulba is "Sir Bulbar", etc.
Taken to absurd lengths when Jim gets to name Padmé's entire family, then says the wrong names later.
Mythology Gag: There are a few scattered references to the Star Wars Expanded Universe, specially in Episode IV (prior gameplay sessions include the opening level of Dark Forces - though Jim!Katarn apparently did a Heroic Sacrifice - and Jim also mentions the incident on which the plans were retransmitted to Leia aboard the Tantive IV).
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In order to win the pod race, Jim (still playing Qui Gon Jin) injects Anakin with his blood giving him midi-chlorians and thus force abilities. That's right. To rig a race, Jim creates Darth Vader. He is also responsible for arming the Tusken Raiders and, as Padmé, may end up creating the Rebellion.
"No. Just... No" Reaction: Windu's response about whether bringing balance to the force, in a galaxy currently void of the Sith, would be a good thing.
Noodle Implements: Pete's custom die. It's dropped from an apparatus Pete brings in a briefcase with him to each session, and can only be rolled once because it bursts into flames afterwards.
Judging from the sound effects, the die may or may not be made of firecrackers that are set off by a computer with a booming voice inside it.
Noodle Incident: The Sashimi Incident. Each Episode also involves a Noodle Incident that happened in the interrim since the last campaign, which eventually gets explained over the course of the Episode:
Episode II: Pete's mad about something that happened in a low-fantasy campaign. It was The Princess Bride, and Pete was Vizzini; meaning his character was poisoned and the other players left him for dead.
Episode IV: Ben walked out of his life two years ago to do some soul-searching due to his arguments with Sally during the previous campaign; we're not sure what he did during that time. Also, there were three prior gameplay sessions where Jim's character died each time; one of which that resulted in him not being allowed to have a laser sword anymore.
Obviously Evil: Spoofed in Darth Vader's introduction. The GM describes the imposing figure and especially how much black he's wearing, but Pete and Jim still aren't sure.
The wacky plotting of the prequel trilogy is "explained" as the PCs wreaking havoc upon the GM's original story.
This comic references a campaign Annie ran between Episodes 2 and 3 which went off the rails when the guys decided to attack the vampire and werewolf NPCs who Annie insists were friendly. At that point she said "what the hell" and ran with it.
Omake: The aforementioned bonus "alternate universe" comics.
Our Monsters Are Different: In Annie's supernatural campaign between Episodes 2 and 3. The other players didn't appreciate how she wound up messing with their expectations.
Annie: For the last time, you weren't supposed to kill those NPCs. Pete: They were vampires and werewolves! What else do you do with them?
The "X leads to Y" gag in 137, which becomes relevant to the plot later (see Call Back).
P-T
Painting the Fourth Wall: Whenever an action scene occurs, the borders become angular and irregular, giving a sense that something frantic is happening.
This one does a pretty good job of reflecting the sense that while there is a pattern, the characters are having trouble following it, much like the reader may have difficulty with the page layout.
And when Pete becomes a temporary GM, resulting in the entire droid factory sequence, the titles for strips 333 to 353 switch from short and punny to extremely long and formal, reflecting the change in GMing style and mood. At least a few of them double as attempted defenses of the contrived Ass Pulls Pete was pulling to try and kill everyone else and make R2-D2 seem cooler. invoked
The GM's descriptions of the surroundings were initially written into the comic, but eventually the writers settled on a convention where they'll occasionally just show the scenery and have you assume that the GM (or Sally) is describing it. It works surprisingly well. (See Take Our Word for It below.)
Annie: Wow, I almost regret leaving the translator off for that.
Pass the Popcorn: Pete's reaction when Jim and Annie decide to discuss their relationship.
Pimped Out Dress: Mentioned in the context of what armor class they have, their street value, and thinking they are laundry for the trade federation armada to wash.
The regular DM is fairly good at avoiding this, though his reactions to the PC's decisions make it very obvious when they veer off the path he had hoped they would follow... which is more often than not.
GM: Can I see your skill level in Not Taking a Hint? I think you must be cheating.
The Rashomon: Punned in the title of a strip where Jim recounts his own version of events that the GM has already plotted out, wildly contradicting the GM's version.
"Real Life" Writes the Plot: At the start of Revelation of the Sith, Annie is having relationship issues with Jim, which seems to be influencing the way she plays Anakin. Of course, since this is Annie, she has managed to stay completely in-character.
Romantic Plot Tumor: In-Universe — the impossibly awkward love story between Anakin and Padmé in the films is replaced by an impossibly awkward relationship between Annie and Jim, which spills over into their characters.
Rousing Speech: Sally seems to specialize in these: one with Jar Jar, and one with Yoda.
Palpatine finishes his address to the Senate with a rousing speech in episode 591
Summon Bigger Fish. A variation involves Jim deciding to cast Summon Bigger Fish, the GM giving some semi-logical reason for why he shouldn't do it, and Ben yelling "That's your reason for not letting him do that?"
A minor one involves the various ways the "Peace Moon" could be used for an attack.
Annie's dialog occasionally is made up of lines and lyrics from theater productions. She recites part of "At the End of the Day" from Les Misérables line for line as part of Anakin's lines.
In the non-canon extra strip where Qui-Gon actually does Summon a Bigger Fish (and crushes Padmé with it), a bowl of petunias lands a moment after the fish.
A strip featuring Cockney-esque salesmen droids insistently selling services the players neither want nor need is titled "Cuttin' Me Own Throat".
Sliding Scale of Silliness Versus Seriousness: As great as this webcomic is, it tends to go back and forth a lot on whether it's making fun of the Star Wars movies, or it's showcasing the strained friendships of a group of roleplayers who blur the line between fantasy and reality.
Sociopathic Hero: Whichever side was in the right, during the campaigns corresponding to the prequel trilogy the most consistently vicious character was almost certainly Annie's Anakin. As the plot moved forward he was slipping gradually intoMagnificent Bastard territory.
Sure, Let's Go with That: Jim, as Padmé, puts a hairpin in his mouth in-character. When Ben applauds his idea to pick the lock, Jim notes that's a better idea than his (which was faking a medical emergency, of course).
Sure, Why Not?: Half the plot is based on this, thanks to the GM's free hand with his players' inventions. It's used verbatim when Qui-Gon comes up with a patently ridiculous explanation of the Force involving midi-chlorians, and when Sally invents, off the top of her head, The Dark Side. Conversely, it's used by Jim when the other players assume Padmé is pregnant after some very vague roleplaying.
Many descriptions of creatures (mainly from Sally) and terrain (from Jim, who's a geologist) also happen this way.
Jim: Large ring objects imply a very young planet. Barren, with rugged topography. And volcanoes! GM: O-kay... *scribble scribble*
"I vow never to hurt you. Ever. I won't be jealous, or arrogant, or manipulative towards you." That's going to turn out well.
Also, Pete:
R2-D2: I'd be half-way to taking over the Republic by now: I'd add a backdoor control mechanism, outsource production to three independent contractors on Kamino, ensure the Senate are distracted by some meaningless invasion somewhere, and cover my tracks with fake blueprints. beat R2-D2: What?
And from Jim:
Padmé: Yes. I will help you bring Anakin to justice. After all, you are the only thing standing between Anakin and complete domination of the galaxy. On his own, obviously, without me faithfully by his side. Seeing as I'm Good. Obi-Wan: Indeed. Padmé: I'll just go and talk to him in advance and make sure he's not ready for you.
Take That: Many, directed at the original films, especially when the GM suggests that Annie take over the role of Anakin when he enters the pod race:
Annie: Um, okay... Let me just get into the right mindset. Qui-Gon/Jim: With my mini-chlorines in your blood, you can't lose. Anakin/Annie: Yippeee! Annie: Sorry, wait. That line doesn't work at all for this character.
Take Our Word for It: When the GM is describing the Coruscant Sunset, we are treated to the picture, but we don't hear the words. Similarly, we never read the words Sally uses to describe the clone factory, just the pictures of it. But it's apparently enough to really impress Ben and the GM.
Pete's 'perfect' die, which is rolled by Annie against Ben in Revenge of the Sith. We can't see it, but it must be carried in a special case, it must be rolled on a steel tray while everyone watching wears safety goggles, and is too dangerous to roll indoors (apparently because it bursts into flames).
That Mysterious Thing: Pete's die for special occasions is this from audience's perspective. We don't know how exactly it looks like, but judging by the other players' reactions it's... unusual.
They Killed Kenny: This has been happening to Jim's characters. First Qui-Gon, then Padmé (though she was able to last a full two campaigns before passing). In Episode IV so far he's gone four-for-four, including Kyle Katarn and Captain Antilles. And they're setting up five-for-five, if his plans to roll up a guy named "Greedo" are any indication...
This Means War!: Sally of all people says this when Palpatine first force lightnings Yoda (her character).
Padmé: (To Obi-Wan) Did you throw away a perfectly good blaster?
Time Skip: Attack of the Clones takes place after two years of "real time". There's another two-year time skip between episodes II and III, and presumably there will be more two-year time skips between the other episodes.
Too Many Halves: In this strip, Jim improvisationally describes Wookiees as being "kind of half-ape, half-dog, half-yeti hybrids." Pete notes that this makes them one-and-a-half times as big as you'd expect.
True Companions: For all their bickering, it's clear that the GM and players really do love gaming together.
Turn In Your Badge: While the actual phrase doesn't occur, the Jedi Council suspends Ben and Annie.
Unresolved Sexual Tension: The UST between Annie/Anakin and Jim/Padmé is the webcomic's version of the unbelievably awkward dialog between the characters in the movies.
Waxing Lyrical: When Padme and Anakin are on their way to their fate in the arena in 0358, they start slipping into a mix of "Singing A Song For Angry Men" from Les Misérables and Peter Gabriel's "Don't Give Up". The GM is suitably confused:
Anakin: Do we hear the people sing? Padmé: Is it the song of angry bugs?
Webcomic Time: Every session takes approximately 25 strips, which equates to six weeks of real time for one week of story time, not counting the Time Skip between episodes. This isn't a hard-and-fast rule, however; the first session took only 17 strips, and the session breaks are not always made explicit in the strip.
We Can Rule Together: Darth Maul tries this to Obi-Wan. It might have worked if he hadn't just killed Qui-Gon.
We Could Have Avoided All This: During his duel with Yoda, Palpatine points out that if the Jedi had some ethical concerns with his leadership they could have just talked to him about it. And apparently Sally ended up agreeing with him, as she decided to sort everything out with him after saving Obi-Wan.
The players get an out-of-game one: "I brought presents." Not so much the line itself, but that it's spoken by Ben, who just showed up unannounced after going walkabout for a couple years.
What Do You Mean, It's Not Awesome?: Pete at least appears to see rolling his special custom die as the mostepic thing in the history of gaming. He even asked Sally to film the roll because he was too excited to hold the camera steady.
Women Are Wiser: Annie spends most of her time rather closer to Terra Firma than the rest of the group. It's later revealed that outside of the group, she's not quite as reasonable and completely together as it might seem. The fact that Ben is slightly more reliable than she is, both in character and out, helps balance it out as well.
Xanatos Gambit: Annie's grand scheme in Episode III is to play the Jedi Council, Palpatine, and Ben/ObiWan against each other, making each of them think the other is Sith, with the ultimate goal of standing atop the resulting chaos and gaining complete control of the galaxy as the Man Behind the Man. Jim and Pete are left slack-jawed in admiration. The gambit ultimately fails when Palpatine takes the Left for Dead Anakin and sticks him in a robot body designed to place him under Palpatine's control.
, is a webcomic created by The Comic Irregulars (David Morgan-Mar and seven of his friends from work), following the footsteps of DM of the Rings (found here)
1 reviews 