The Order of the Stick

Well, that would be one way for Belkar to die...

"Sorry about that. Would you believe that, even for an Epic-level rogue, there was a 5% chance that I'd rip him a new one coming out of hiding?"

You know that cyberpunk dystopias are common enough in fiction that not all references to them are Shadowrun, right? Also, not all of the worlds (maybe not even most) would have been based on RPG mechanics; that's just another of the ideas they went with.

Gives new meaning to the term "glory hole". Although now I want to see an Epic Rogue literally crawl up their own butt. For research purposes, I mean.

Are you really suggesting that Serini has been hiding up Belkar's ass this whole time? I don't know what to say about that.

Edited by Fighteer on Sep 13th 2018 at 1:51:59 PM

How about “that doesn’t seem very sanitary”.

Though in other fun skill checks, if you can somehow manage it, you can balance on clouds. And spot invisible inanimate objects.

It gives Ass Pull a new meaning...

I think there’s a decent argument to be made that RPG Mechanics 'Verse is one of the universal laws that even the gods themselves are bound by, that everyone just seems to instinctively understand. Evidence for this includes the shift to 3.5 in strip #1, V’s later reference to it as “the laws of the universe [being] revised,” and the fact that even when the Material Plane is destroyed and remade, the Outer Planes remain the same.

Edited by HeraldAlberich on Sep 13th 2018 at 3:07:30 PM

I don't think that's implied at all, if anything the gods are the ones who'd have rewritten the rules. But it does raise questions about the Outer Planes.

Bear in mind Thor does call it a "self-aware stick figure fantasy parody". The RPG Mechanics 'Verse part is a pretty central part of the concept, but he leaves it unstated.

Plus, we'd be back to the question I asked several pages ago — why are the gods so beholden to the rules about how their clerics level up, unless that's one aspect of the laws of the universe that they're unable to change when they make a new world.

It could just be they get to change the rules with each world, but once they're set they can't change them again until they make another one.

And sometimes they didn't think the full implications out, and so had to work around their own rules.

The idea is simply that breaking the rules willy-nilly is what leads to things like the Snarl, so failing to follow them is an existential threat. It doesn't matter what those rules ARE, as long as you stick by them and play nice.

I mean, think of it as the gods choosing to play a game of their own devising. You're beholden to the rules because you chose to be beholden when you started playing. Allowing everyone to cheat whenever they feel like it would almost immediately cause the game to break down and become unplayable. Maybe you could discuss tweaks to the rules between games, or even discuss ways to resolve ambiguities as they come up, but unilaterally changing rules midgame is an absolute no-no.

Edited by Clarste on Sep 13th 2018 at 2:28:13 AM

I suppose back when we thought there had only been two worlds, the fact that they dealt with a problem with the XP system by only making cosmetic tweaks seemed like they were working within a constrained system, but now we know they've tried millions of times it seems more plausible that they're being very conservative with how much they change with each new iteration.

So is the ultimate resolution of the conflict going to be “Why don’t we play something else?”

Whatever it is, I wonder how Thor find out about it, but the other gods didn't. Unless it's something they all know about, and he's just the only one willing to take the risk (or ask one of his followers to do so) of whatever it is.

Also possible: All the gods know about it (or all the "main" gods, for some definition of "main") and Thor is here because he's the first one with a worshiper who is currently dead and likely to be revived into a position to do something about this situation.

Or heck, maybe Durkon isn't even the first. I can't imagine there are many mortals placed in this highly relevant position — maybe they all get this speech.

That Thor called it "once in eternity opportunity" doesn't make me thing this gotten broached to anyone else.

The fact that this is a once-in-an-eternity scenario is a good reason to explain it to as many relevant mortals as possible.

Maybe Durkon will be the only one of those, sure.

It's just the phrasing is strange: you both point out how unlikely it is for any mortal to be in this situation, and say maybe they all get this chat, even though we have no reason to think anyone besides Durkon (being one of the main protagonists) would actually be in this position.

Edited by LSBK on Sep 13th 2018 at 7:43:18 AM

I still can't believe that the movie snacks joke came back. I totally forgot it was a thing.

A mortal who already knows about the Snarl, has died, is likely to be resurrected, and is part of a party strong enough and in the right position to do something about it? Unless there's a whole group of Heroes of Another Story we haven't heard a word about, the only other possibility is Roy when he was dead a few weeks ago, and his openness about not worshiping any gods probably disqualified him from such a chat.

This brings to mind how Odin set Durkon up to be vamped. He may have manipulated events to get Durkon killed at the right time precisely so Thor could have this little talk right now. (Edit: In fact, I'm going to say that's almost a certainty.)

Edited by HeraldAlberich on Sep 13th 2018 at 11:01:36 AM

Oh shhhhiiiiii—

You're absolutely right.

Also, the last few strips have been so interesting it actually slipped my mind that the last time we saw them, the entire rest of the Order was lying near-death on the floor of that cavern. (Sure, they've got a cleric on standby, but still.)

Edited by johnnye on Sep 13th 2018 at 5:37:23 PM

That sounds like a hell of a Gambit Roulette.

Not if you can see the future. Doesn't Odin have that power.

In the traditional myths, yes, but not sure if it's been specified in the comic

The entire reason Durkon was sent away in the first place?