TRW Strips #130 and 131
Added 2024-09-17 03:25:29 +0000 UTCMost of this comic was about players not taking the game seriously enough. But I think many DnD fans probably have a story about a game master who had the opposite problem and took the game too seriously.
It's an easy mistake to make, I'm sure. I imagine a lot of GMs fall into the trap of writing what ends up being more of a movie script than an interactive adventure. You get swept up in how cool it would be if this happened then that happened. But then the game starts and you're herding cats over here trying to make sure the story plays out "correctly." It sounds like a recipe for high blood pressure.
In any case, story complete! This ended up being about, I don't know, five times longer than I thought it would be when I started. But I had fun making it and I hope you had fun reading it. Next I think I might go back to Monday pin ups for awhile!
Comments
It's such an amazing sounding experience from the outside, but I just don't think I could pull it off. :P
Iokua
2024-09-20 05:14:45 +0000 UTCI apologize for that indeed but the finale being anticlimactic was sort of the point here. XD Not saying she'll never en up in a pin up if people are into girls with exposed skeletons! :O
Reinbach
2024-09-20 00:43:04 +0000 UTCFor sure. I agree that if the DM polices too hard it starts to feel a lot less like a "game" that's supposed to be "fun" and players tend to rebel.
Reinbach
2024-09-20 00:41:38 +0000 UTCThat's the plan for sure as soon as I can find a way to do it organically. :)
Reinbach
2024-09-20 00:40:37 +0000 UTCI think so too! :)
Reinbach
2024-09-20 00:39:53 +0000 UTCNice! If I use that I'll do my damndest to remember where I heard it and give you a shout out. :)
Reinbach
2024-09-20 00:39:30 +0000 UTCYes! XD
Reinbach
2024-09-20 00:38:21 +0000 UTCOkay that sounds worth a Google. XD
Reinbach
2024-09-20 00:38:13 +0000 UTCIt's not just you. This series was made with character assets from the studio strips, and apparently Millie was way lighter there for some reason. (Knowing me I probably monkeyed with her colors to fit the specific studio background better.) By the time I realized it there was no time to repaint her from scratch so I had to bite the bullet and endure her being a bit lighter than usual for this story. But she'll match her comic skin tone in her next strip appearance for sure.
Reinbach
2024-09-20 00:37:41 +0000 UTCAgreed. I only did DM'd once or twice myself and it was with a small group of like-minded friends. That's about all I could handle. XD
Reinbach
2024-09-20 00:33:11 +0000 UTCI have a friend who DMs and has one simple rule: if it seems like he's actively resisting your attempts to try and do a specific thing then you respect the campaign and do something else. He's a very reactive DM who usually only plans a handful of key points in his campaigns so it's typically pretty obvious when he is specifically trying his best to force his players to stop whatever it is that they're doing that is against his plans. I've seen him cripple or kill characters in response, once he lead us on a three week wild goose chase after a character who turned out to be completely unimportant to the plot simply because we ignored his attempts to get us back on track. DMing seems like it can be extremely rewarding, but I would never want to be a DM because I do not have the patience to herd cats, I would DM one campaign and it would probably end with me killing off everyone playing it out of frustration.
Iokua
2024-09-19 05:10:47 +0000 UTCOh god, the peasant railgun! Yet another entry in the long list of reasons why people who understand physics really shouldn't be playing D&D.
Squid Hills
2024-09-18 00:09:26 +0000 UTCAs a longtime DM, I can confidently say that Kal is us and we are Kal. Also, this strip highlights the problem with having your villain show up in person to taunt the heroes. Either the players are strong enough to take him now (and they inevitably do), or he is powerful enough to TPK them when they swing on him (which they inevitably will). Also also, is it just me, or is Millie looking a half dozen shades lighter here than in the main strip?
Squid Hills
2024-09-18 00:07:34 +0000 UTCHere's an idea. A day at Castlewood high, but told by Chloe who's staying home monitoring her cameras, peeping on everyone. Just a thought.
Slaughterbug
2024-09-17 21:50:56 +0000 UTCSometimes you gotta encourage the players to screw around, because when they start taking it seriously you wind up with them one-shotting bosses and creating peasant railguns
Daniel S
2024-09-17 21:49:34 +0000 UTCHey thanks! I'm doing pin ups for awhile after this but the stories will come back for sure. And as always I'm open to suggestions on who should get the focus on the next one! :)
Reinbach
2024-09-17 21:46:48 +0000 UTCAll's well that ends well. Can't wait to see the next short story you cook up for us. π
Slaughterbug
2024-09-17 15:28:21 +0000 UTCwrecked
Licorice Lain
2024-09-17 12:15:48 +0000 UTCI've run games for years, and would trade three perfectly executed plots for the experience of 131, panel 1. Fun and good memories with friends? Nothing better.
Daniel Schwartz
2024-09-17 07:20:09 +0000 UTCThat 4th panel on page 130 is one of the most wholesome things you've ever drawn. I hope we get to see this group interact in the main comic one day.
Angelo
2024-09-17 06:52:58 +0000 UTCI saw a post once about how DMs who let the players be a bit silly sometimes (while reining it in before it gets too far) can help build investment and engagement from the players, and that's why so many campaigns that start a bit silly end up with the most invested players. Meanwhile, the DMs that police too hard and too aggressively to be serious will make players annoyed, and they will show the precious story the same casual blasphemy that an orangutan shows God, which is why so many enforced serious games end up becoming Monty Python. Honestly though it helps for players and GM to agree on the tone beforehand.
Kyman201
2024-09-17 03:46:03 +0000 UTChaha this is my experience as a GM for sure- I mentioned about having a game derailed by a player wanting to go to the "Scene of the crime" and basically hijacked the entire party to do it. I ultimately think I'm too much of a control freak to be a proper GM (though some people told me I was good at it, as I was setting up new adventures and involving the characters' origin stories in plots). The way people don't respond the way I think tends to annoy me and then I start trying to have NPCs push them in ways that can feel passive-aggressive and shaming, lol. PS these are my tears that we didn't see NecroNady having sex in the comic q_q
ScuzzBucket
2024-09-17 03:30:17 +0000 UTC
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