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Over the past half decade we’ll say, Dungeons & Dragons has been a mass resurgence in the public zeitgeist. Part of this can clearly be attributed to the success of Netflix’s Stranger Things re-familiarizing the masses with the game and having the main monster christened the Demogorgon. But we can also look to the success of Critical Role with its absolutely star studded cast, Wizards of the Coast’s own efforts to revitalize game culminating in retools of D&D 5e and the Dungeons & Dragons movie, the global pandemic having many groups looking for some sort of digital interaction that could be easily conducted over video calls, and even to the super recent Baldur’s Gate III.
And I’m not here to talk about any of these in the slightest. I’m here to bring attention to my personal favorite D&D inspired piece of media. With all of this talk about fantasy tropes and role-playing conventions, it’s due time that I discuss one of the longest running 3.5e campaign I’ve had the pleasure of following for many, many years: The Order of the Stick.
With the first pages posted way back in September 2003, Rich Burlew’s Order of the Stick is one of the longest running webcomics. It was released the same year alongside Ryan North’s Dinosaur Comics and Jeph Jacques’s Questionable Content. It has received various accolades over the years in webcomics spaces during its first years of online publication and also was featured in NYC’s Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art demonstrating unique uses of the infinite canvas (a concept I remain obsessed with). At one point in 2012, it even held the distinction of raising over 1.2 million dollars on Kickstarter for the reprinting of one of its volumes, the highest funding of any creative project at that time. The fanbase is clearly dedicated, but as with any long running piece of media, getting newer additions is a task as the comic has over 1200 strips and the narrative structure means that to fully appreciate the grand scope of the world Burlew has created, you kind of have to start from the very beginning.
However, if you do undertake the endeavor, you are rewarded with one of the most compelling fantasy epics of the ages. The Order of the Stick revolves around the many adventures of the titular group of characters banded together in the vague common goal of defeating the evil Lich Xkyon. You have your stalwart Fighter frontman, Dwarven cleric second in command, know-it-all wizard, lovable rogue, comic-relief bard, and token not-exactly evil but not exactly good ranger. And right off the bat, the first strip has the characters break (or maybe gently bend) the fourth wall as their stick figure adornments get cosmetic adjustments as their gear gets updated to meet 3.5e standards. And perhaps, a nontrivial part of my love for this comic does stem from the fact that 3.5 was the first D&D system I personally ever played, and I have never really converted to thinking in a 5e mindset even after a decade of it.
Order of the Sticks or “OotS” has not been updated on any sort of regular schedule. There have been many hiatuses in the past, and new strips are posted with no regular frequencies even as we enter the final saga. That being said, I view this more of an advantage to newer readers to get onboarding without fear of not being caught up before the story reaches its denouement. The comic features various in-jokes about various tabletop role-playing game mechanics, constantly making references to spell slots, bonus attacks, and the ilk, but never feels so impenetrable to get to the true heart of the story with the characters and narrative. At the risk of providing some spoilers, what starts out as a stock ‘stop the bad guy’ story quickly evolves into a far spanning narrative that sees the group go off to a wide range of beautiful set pieces, all being rendered in a stick figure format. You can’t really argue with how Burlew is able to craft works of art with this unique style.
Roy Greenhilt, one of the central protagonists of the story, bucks the tradition of dumb fighter by having a respectable Intelligence and Wisdom score, and proves to be the only one effective at corralling the lovable bunch of misfits. Elan, the bard, makes great use of the contemporary meta-aware of bard, whose use of storytelling trope and multiclassing make some of the best bits of the comic. Vaarsuvius, the wizard, has one of the most compelling ‘deals with the devil’ arcs I’ve read and is also a proto-example of good non-binary representation. Belkar, the ranger, is a fantastic deconstruction of the murder, and Durkon Thundershield has one of the best dramatic speeches in all of webcomics and also did the Picard Season 3 finale better than Picard Season 3.
All of this comes from a deep-seated love of tabletop games. It comes from an intimate understanding of the joys and difficulties of game mechanics and a willingness to build a world that operates around these rules. It challenges the notions of the traditional alignment grid, debating the ideas of greater goods and lesser evils. It has fun showing a world where different pantheons coexist peacefully and not so-peacefully, and at the very core of the story is this deep examination of collaboration that is at the center of any good tabletop adventure.
I’ve followed this webcomic for about fifteen years of its twenty-year run (that’s a year for every side on your standard icosahedron, a fact I’m including here just so I can type out icosahedron). Through its infrequent updates, it remains one of my favorite stories, and I’ll advocate for its visibility in the modern era of D&D day after day. It’s a webcomic that embraces the format in novel ways and leverages art styles to tell a thrilling complex tale. It’s a story that has evolved from its roots of a D&D inspired world to become its own entity in its own right, uses a similar language to remark upon the very nature of games.
If you’re a fan of Dungeons & Dragons, you should be adding this to your reading list. If you’re a fan of fantasy stories, you should be adding this to your reading list. If you’re curious about the ways in which webcomics can tell a story that print can’t, I’ve already added several of the strips that do so here, but you’re surely be able to find more examples if you add it to your reading. The Order of the Stick is roughly two years out from completion by the author’s own estimations, so I really do implore you to join the fandom on this wild ride through the land of a continent divided: somewhat neatly into regions roughly corresponding to cardinal directions. Join the band of stick figure adventurers who got their name from a random stick on the ground as a bit they committed too hard to tries to stop the end of everything. You won’t regret it.
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The post Celebrating Twenty Years of ‘Order of the Stick’ appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
Over the past half decade we’ll say, Dungeons & Dragons has been a mass resurgence in the public zeitgeist. Part of this can clearly be attributed to the success of Netflix’s Stranger Things re-familiarizing the masses with the game and having the main monster christened the Demogorgon. But we can also look to the success of Critical Role with its absolutely star studded cast, Wizards of the Coast’s own efforts to revitalize game culminating in retools of D&D 5e and the Dungeons & Dragons movie, the global pandemic having many groups looking for some sort of digital interaction that could be easily conducted over video calls, and even to the super recent Baldur’s Gate III.
And I’m not here to talk about any of these in the slightest. I’m here to bring attention to my personal favorite D&D inspired piece of media. With all of this talk about fantasy tropes and role-playing conventions, it’s due time that I discuss one of the longest running 3.5e campaign I’ve had the pleasure of following for many, many years: The Order of the Stick.
With the first pages posted way back in September 2003, Rich Burlew’s Order of the Stick is one of the longest running webcomics. It was released the same year alongside Ryan North’s Dinosaur Comics and Jeph Jacques’s Questionable Content. It has received various accolades over the years in webcomics spaces during its first years of online publication and also was featured in NYC’s Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art demonstrating unique uses of the infinite canvas (a concept I remain obsessed with). At one point in 2012, it even held the distinction of raising over 1.2 million dollars on Kickstarter for the reprinting of one of its volumes, the highest funding of any creative project at that time. The fanbase is clearly dedicated, but as with any long running piece of media, getting newer additions is a task as the comic has over 1200 strips and the narrative structure means that to fully appreciate the grand scope of the world Burlew has created, you kind of have to start from the very beginning.
However, if you do undertake the endeavor, you are rewarded with one of the most compelling fantasy epics of the ages. The Order of the Stick revolves around the many adventures of the titular group of characters banded together in the vague common goal of defeating the evil Lich Xkyon. You have your stalwart Fighter frontman, Dwarven cleric second in command, know-it-all wizard, lovable rogue, comic-relief bard, and token not-exactly evil but not exactly good ranger. And right off the bat, the first strip has the characters break (or maybe gently bend) the fourth wall as their stick figure adornments get cosmetic adjustments as their gear gets updated to meet 3.5e standards. And perhaps, a nontrivial part of my love for this comic does stem from the fact that 3.5 was the first D&D system I personally ever played, and I have never really converted to thinking in a 5e mindset even after a decade of it.
Order of the Sticks or “OotS” has not been updated on any sort of regular schedule. There have been many hiatuses in the past, and new strips are posted with no regular frequencies even as we enter the final saga. That being said, I view this more of an advantage to newer readers to get onboarding without fear of not being caught up before the story reaches its denouement. The comic features various in-jokes about various tabletop role-playing game mechanics, constantly making references to spell slots, bonus attacks, and the ilk, but never feels so impenetrable to get to the true heart of the story with the characters and narrative. At the risk of providing some spoilers, what starts out as a stock ‘stop the bad guy’ story quickly evolves into a far spanning narrative that sees the group go off to a wide range of beautiful set pieces, all being rendered in a stick figure format. You can’t really argue with how Burlew is able to craft works of art with this unique style.
Roy Greenhilt, one of the central protagonists of the story, bucks the tradition of dumb fighter by having a respectable Intelligence and Wisdom score, and proves to be the only one effective at corralling the lovable bunch of misfits. Elan, the bard, makes great use of the contemporary meta-aware of bard, whose use of storytelling trope and multiclassing make some of the best bits of the comic. Vaarsuvius, the wizard, has one of the most compelling ‘deals with the devil’ arcs I’ve read and is also a proto-example of good non-binary representation. Belkar, the ranger, is a fantastic deconstruction of the murder, and Durkon Thundershield has one of the best dramatic speeches in all of webcomics and also did the Picard Season 3 finale better than Picard Season 3.
All of this comes from a deep-seated love of tabletop games. It comes from an intimate understanding of the joys and difficulties of game mechanics and a willingness to build a world that operates around these rules. It challenges the notions of the traditional alignment grid, debating the ideas of greater goods and lesser evils. It has fun showing a world where different pantheons coexist peacefully and not so-peacefully, and at the very core of the story is this deep examination of collaboration that is at the center of any good tabletop adventure.
I’ve followed this webcomic for about fifteen years of its twenty-year run (that’s a year for every side on your standard icosahedron, a fact I’m including here just so I can type out icosahedron). Through its infrequent updates, it remains one of my favorite stories, and I’ll advocate for its visibility in the modern era of D&D day after day. It’s a webcomic that embraces the format in novel ways and leverages art styles to tell a thrilling complex tale. It’s a story that has evolved from its roots of a D&D inspired world to become its own entity in its own right, uses a similar language to remark upon the very nature of games.
If you’re a fan of Dungeons & Dragons, you should be adding this to your reading list. If you’re a fan of fantasy stories, you should be adding this to your reading list. If you’re curious about the ways in which webcomics can tell a story that print can’t, I’ve already added several of the strips that do so here, but you’re surely be able to find more examples if you add it to your reading. The Order of the Stick is roughly two years out from completion by the author’s own estimations, so I really do implore you to join the fandom on this wild ride through the land of a continent divided: somewhat neatly into regions roughly corresponding to cardinal directions. Join the band of stick figure adventurers who got their name from a random stick on the ground as a bit they committed too hard to tries to stop the end of everything. You won’t regret it.
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The post Celebrating Twenty Years of ‘Order of the Stick’ appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
The Wheel of Time season two put to rest the notion that Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn, fought the Dark One at the Eye of the World. Under the surface, Rand and Moiraine seemed to suspect it couldn’t have been that easy. Indeed, it was not. Moiraine used the poem she obtained from Bayle Domon to determine that the broken cuendillar was part of the seal imprisoning Ishamael. Ishamael is a Forsaken—the most powerful one—and the Dark One’s lieutenant. This isn’t the first time the TV series has mentioned the Forsaken, but who are the Forsaken and why are they bad news? Here’s context with minimal spoilers from the books.
What Are the Forsaken in The Wheel of Time?
The Forsaken were channelers—most of them Aes Sedai—once. They sold their souls to the Dark One for eternal life, swearing allegiance to him. Also known as the Chosen, this group of 13 channelers served the Shadow in the War of the Shadow. That war was the beginning of the Age of Legends’ downhill slide into its end. Though many Forsaken led the Shadow’s armies, these 13 carry the title because they were the ones imprisoned with the Dark One. The last Dragon, Lews Therin Telamon, was responsible for trapping them. The Forsaken’s deeds during the war were so evil that they are remembered for them thousands of years later in the Third Age when The Wheel of Time takes place. Moiraine says the Forsaken are so dangerous, that if all of them escape their prisons, the side of Light has no hope of winning the Last Battle.
In The Wheel of Time, some don’t even think the Forsaken existed. They think of them only as bedtime stories meant to frighten children. Those who know the Forsaken are real believe they are safely sealed in their prisons, unable to inflict harm. Ishamael’s appearance in the world and the broken cuendillar prove those seals are no longer reliable barriers.
Who Are the Forsaken?
The 13 Forsaken are: Demandred, Ishamael, Lanfear, Mesaana, Semirhage, Balthamel, Aginor, Asmodean, Rahvin, Sammael, Be’lal, Graendal, and Moghedien.
As you can imagine, a group of ultra-powerful and ultra-ambitious evil-doers do a lot of jockeying for rank. They ultimately serve the Dark One and do whatever they can to accomplish the most in his name. Selfish and focused, they regularly betray and outmaneuver each other. They form precarious, untrustworthy alliances with each other and whoever they think will help them.
Which Forsaken Have We Met in The Wheel of Time TV Series?
We have met two Forsaken so far in The Wheel of Time TV series.
Ishamael
Rand believed him to be the Dark One, but now we know that is not true. Ishamael mentioned it at the beginning of the first episode when he told the little girl who he was. And now we know Ishamael is working with the Seanchan, one of whom was at his earlier Darkfriend meet-up, which cannot lead to good things. As we mentioned, Ishamael is the most powerful of the Forsaken. He broke Moiraine’s connection with the One Power with a flick of his wrist.
Lanfear
Surprise, Selene is actually Lanfear. The broken cuendillar Master Domon brought Moiraine was from outside Cairhien, where Selene has been running an inn and hooking up with Rand. Ishamael uttered a dark poem and broke the seal on Lanfear’s prison. In the Old Tongue, her name means “daughter of the night.” Lanfear goes by that name. She is stronger than almost all other female channelers, though not as powerful as Ishamael. Moiraine calls Lanfear the most dangerous of the Forsaken. She’s known for her casual cruelty and her mastery of the World of Dreams, or Tel’Aran’Rhiod. That connects to her Daughter of the Night nickname.
Can You Kill a Forsaken?
As we learned in The Wheel of Time‘s fourth episode, killing a Forsaken by traditional means does not necessarily stop them. Lanfear is far from gone. She healed her sliced neck within minutes, or the Dark One resurrected her. It seems the TV series may be handling Forsaken deaths differently than the books, but in those stories, one can kill a Forsaken. It is not easy and usually requires a dangerous weave of the One Power, but it can be done.
We may not see all 13 Forsaken from the books. The Wheel of Time TV series is an adaptation of many thousands of pages, first of all. Also, some of the Forsaken are more interesting (more terrible?) than others. Plus, we saw in season one that the Warder Stepin had statues of the Forsaken. The idea is you make offerings to them to ward off the Forsaken. Stepin had eight statues displayed, which may mean that’s all the Forsaken we’ll see in the TV series.
However, Lanfear mentioned some of other Forsaken while talking to Ishamael, so they seem like safe bets. She named Moghedien, Graendal, and “the boys.”
Originally published on September 1, 2023.
The post Who Are THE WHEEL OF TIME’s the Forsaken? appeared first on Nerdist.