Webcomic / The Way of the Metagamer

The Way of the Metagamer is a Stick-Figure Comic in a similar art style to The Order of the Stick.

Originally envisioned as a Dungeons & Dragons tutorial, in somewhat-humourous-webcomic form, the comic developed a plot involving attempts to prevent evil from beyond the universe from entering said universe through playing Dungeons & Dragons. This works as follows: playing Dungeons & Dragons strengthens a defensive barrier around the universe. Since it's popular among young nerds, it gets played a lot by said young nerds, helping to protect the universe. However, some evil, already within the universe, utilises spells from DnD to create DnD Fourth Edition, which weakens and destroys the barrier. In response, Gary Gygax creates the "Book of DnD", a magical artifact with the power to fight back against Fourth Edition. Unfortunately, the evil, discovering the Book, attempts to obtain it for unlimited power. Gary retaliates by sealing all the magical power within the Book, but ends up sealing the evil in with it. And the raw magical energy kills him. The plot got pretty complicated, huh?

Unfortunately for the future of the universe, the Book of DnD ends up being sold on eBay - purchased by a main character by the name of Bob. As soon as Bob reads the Book, he is transported inside it, to discover the Book contains a fully-running game of DnD. He then gets fed up with the comic, and decides to leave. However, he finds he can't, and soon meets his friend Fred and a resident named Jane. They go to a town, and then to a castle, where they meet, believe it or not, Trope-tan and defeat Captain Obvious. And with the help of Plot Holes, they get to the Satellite of Love where time travel happens and that's when it gets sort of complicated.

---

The Way of the Metagamer provides examples of:

• Aerith and Bob: Most of the characters have normal names - the heroes are named "Bob", "Fred", and "Jane". Then we throw in "Xavius" and "Trope-tan".
• All in a Row: The party spends a ridiculous amount of time walking in single file.
• All There in the Manual:
  • The Tower of Dread is only named as such in the table of contents.
  • Several characters are only named in the comic transcripts, never in the actual comic.
• Alt Text: With an actual presenter reading it, who interacts with the Author Avatar and other characters repeatedly.

• Art Evolution: As with any comic, to be expected. Subverted, however, during time-travel storylines: characters and locales from the past use the poorer art appropriate to their epoch, despite the author's improved artistic ability.
• Artifact Title: Word of God is that the main characters were originally going to take levels in the Metagamer class which would be invented for the purposes of the comic. However, the comic's focus has since moved from RPG Mechanics 'Verse to No Fourth Wall, and the Metagamer class was never actually introduced.

• Author Filibuster: Ranting about Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition.
• Behind the Black: Averted here in order to allow the characters to mock the audience. Usually played straight.
• Better than a Bare Bulb: Lampshade Hanging even directly references the tropes on This Very Wiki!

• Calling Your Attacks: As with Order of the Stick, when a spell is cast, its name is shouted - or said in a dramatic tone of voice. And all sneak attacks must be punctuated by shouting "SNEAK ATTACK!"
  • Also, Falcon PUNCH!
  • Also also, the author shouts out what he's doing when he does stuff.
  • Also also also, when yelling "SNEAK ATTACK!" it is not actually necessary to hit anyone in order to injure them.
• Captain Obvious: And how! First appears in this comic, but really becomes important here.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Captain Obvious has a goatee specifically to demonstrate his evilness.
  • The yellow, evil goatee is yellow and evil.
• Catchphrase: "I have a cape which is red and says CO on it!"
• Characterisation Tags: Applied extensively during the time travel arc, usually "past!" or "future!".
• Cliffhanger: Lampshaded repeatedly. Here, for example.
• Context-Sensitive Button: The explicit power of the Rod of Versatility.
• Convection, Schmonvection: Lampshaded, then "justified" with the MST3K Mantra.

• Delayed Ripple Effect: Changes to the timeline move forward at approximately the same rate as new pages are produced.
• Deliberately Monochrome: Greyzones are monochrome for reasons of plot. Also, The Way Of The Metagamer 2: In Name Only is "monochrome for dramatic purposes", although with the occasional Splash of Color.
• Department of Redundancy Department: Captain Obvious usually repeats any given fact at least twice.

• Enhance Button: Joel Robinson invents a justified one here.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Every character of In Name Only is named "The -Occupation-". Including "The Victim".
• Everything Sensor: Trope-tan has one in her GBA.
• Evil Laugh: Lampshaded (also a Firefly Shout-Out) by Captain Obvious.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Townwithanequipmentstoreaplacewithmapsandatavernofcourse.
• Fake Crossover: With Mystery Science Theater 3000.
• Fang Thpeak: Trope-tan thometimeth getth a lithp, due to her Cute Little Fang. However, she's done a lot of vocal training and thus only lisps when she's distracted by something.
• Fictional Document: The sequel, The Way Of The Metagamer 2: In Name Only.
• Filler Strips: One of these, ironically, took more time to create than the actual comic it was filling in for.

• Flowery Elizabethan English: Anyone from the past. As with the Future Badass rule, it doesn't matter how far from the past one is.
• Fourth-Wall Mail Slot: Page 249 features reader questions from the comment section of the previous comic being answered since it seems there is no way to continue the plot.

• Fun with Acronyms: The GIGAHERTZ and the CFVDEWTOD.
• Future Badass: Parodied. Everyone from the future is badass. No matter how far that future is. Even characters from five minutes in the future are incredibly badass.
• Gilligan Cut: "We're not going to the tavern."
• Glasses Pull: The Detective of In Name Only.

• I Lied: Quoted here.
• Impossible Thief: The Detective in The Way Of The Metagamer 2: In Name Only.

• Infinite Canvas: Although the comics are all approximately the same size (except for double-length specials), characters, speech bubbles, and shoes often breach the borders of the panels. And then there's this comic, in which the characters climb behind the panels.
• In Name Only: The Way Of The Metagamer 2: In Name Only, starring The Detective and The Watson.
• Insurmountable Waist-High Fence: Parodied here.

• Justifying Edit: Parodied here.
• Let Me Get This Straight...: Lampshaded here.
  • And again here, along with about 12 panels worth of getting it straight. The actual line is used, too.
  • This becomes a sort of Running Gag, with several conversations lampshading it. For example:
  Trope-tan: So, you spent an entire chapter trying to escape from this comic, to no avail?
  Bob: Yes, that is exactly what I just said, except rephrased as a question.
• Loads and Loads of Loading: Simple Mode takes a long time to load.

• Magical Computer: The DnD within the Book actually runs on an "XLPQ-732 Dungeon Master" - a computer powerful enough to run Dungeons & Dragons fully. Although it does have the occasional BSOD.
• Major Injury Underreaction: Xavius gets shot through the head. With a laser.
  Xavius: Ow.
• Medium Awareness: The characters can read each other's speech bubbles.

• Mr. Exposition: Gary's major role is to explain the entire plot.

• MST3K Mantra: In-Universe. Specifically cited here. Appears once more during the MST3K crossover.
• MST: Of itself, during the Fake Crossover.

• No Name Given: Jane doesn't actually have a name; "Jane" is merely her desired pseudonym.
• Noodle Implements: You don't want to know what they do with the protractor.
• Odd-Shaped Panel: This comic has a particularly notable example.
• Oh, My Gods!: "Gorramit" and "Oh my Haruhi".
• Overly Long Name: Townwithanequipmentstoreaplacewithmapsandatavernofcourse.
• Plot Hole: Literally.
• Power Floats and Power Glows: Everything with any degree of magical power. Especially the Colour Drops.

• Red Shirt: Destruction! He's even wearing a literal red shirt.
  • After the Reset Button hits, that guy dies. Again.
  • This comic reveals that his actual name is The Red Shirt. Also, he dies again.
• Reset Button: You need one if your comic throws up a BSOD.

• Schizo Tech: There are skyscrapers in the Medieval towns. With elevators.
• Scoring Points: "Awesome Points" are occasionally handed out to both characters and readers. They don't do anything. Yet.
  • Pinball Scoring: The lowest possible value of Awesome Points is 100.

• Self-Deprecation: Full of it, particularly during the MSTing.
• Shout-Out:
  • To Metroid, Ace Attorney, Gears of War and more.
  • Reaching Trope Overdosed on TV Tropes is the author's stated goal, as seen here.
• Spell My Name with a "The": Every single character of In Name Only.
• Spirit Advisor: Gary Gygax.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: Bob at one point in the MSTing.
  Bob: I was definitely pointing out how Jane having all those spells prepared made no sense. And I certainly wasn't cursing at her like a complete idiot. Definitely. Yeah.

• Take That!: Ouch for The Twilight Saga.
• Talking Is a Free Action: Lampshaded here.
• Technobabble: Technobabble Box™. Technobabble has been provided by nearly everybody: the Author, Trope-tan, Joel...
• Theme Naming: "Titular", "Ebony Nauss".
• Theory of Narrative Causality: As the comments here explain, narrativium is a major element - high concentrations of narrativium produce raw plot energy, rendering certain areas more plot-relevant than others. The Plot Hole is dangerous because it takes away narrativium.

• Time Skip: Fast Forward! The Time Skip was only 22 comics in length, though.

• Timey-Wimey Ball: The only real way to explain the events of the time travel arc. The chapter's called "Wibbly Wobbly, Timey Wimey" for a reason.
• Tomato in the Mirror: Parodied in In Name Only.
  The Wise Wizard Guy: You, Detective... you are a tomato.
  The Detective: Yeah, I know.
  The Wise Wizard Guy: ... no "oh God, what have I become"?
  The Detective: Nope.
• Trade Snark: As noted above, Technobabble Box™. Other trademarked boxes include the "Exposition Box™" and the "Inventory Box™".
• Trailers Always Spoil: The second trailer for In Name Only is intentionally filled with spoilers.
• Tricked Out Time: Invoked.
• Trust Password: Trope-tan uses one of these in a way.
  Trope-tan: Greetings, past/future!Trope-tan. Shall we collate our information now?
  past/future!Trope-tan: Indeed, present!Trope-tan. We shall.
• Unobtanium, which is actually fits Minovsky Physics.

• Unsound Effect: Temporarycollapse!
• Verbal Tic: Several.
  • Trope-tan uses "desu" and "nyoro" frequently.
  • Past!characters use "forsooth", "alack", and "alas".
• Wall of Text: Practically a necessity for Captain Obvious. Walls of text are often specifically denoted - rectangular speech bubbles are used, labeled with a message such as "Technobabble Box" or "Exposition Box".
• The Web Always Existed: Bob's iPhone still works in the Medieval world of D&D. Technically justified, since the Book exists in the present day.
• Welcome To Corneria Townwithanequipmentstoreaplacewithmapsandatavernofcourse.
• What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Bob's power, which is "failing at building demolition".

• Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe:
  • Parodied, as every store is named "Ye Olde X". Fred speaks like this for about one panel of one comic.
  • Anyone from the past invokes this, along with Flowery Elizabethan English.
• You Already Changed the Past: Gorramit, predestination.

---