OOTS Kickstarter Bonus PDFs: The Discussion Thread *Unmarked spoilers*

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Originally Posted by Peelee

I'm confused. Is that referring to the last line, "It's as true today as it was when I started adventuring: 'when in doubt, set something on fire?'" The only thing set on fire were his old clothes. Or am I missing something?

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Yes, I believe that's it. Reread the last half-page or so of the PDF.

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Originally Posted by Peelee

I'm confused. Is that referring to the last line, "It's as true today as it was when I started adventuring: 'when in doubt, set something on fire?'" The only thing set on fire were his old clothes. Or am I missing something?

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How about the implicit threat to set the village on fire if Belkar's not paid off...

I think some people are interpreting the last page as Belkar burning down and looting the town once he realises the fire service is gone, and thus can't prevent it. I took it to mean that he extorted them out of all their money by threatening to burn the town down, in a kind of "Nice town you have here, shame if something were to happen to it" way.

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Originally Posted by oball

I think some people are interpreting the last page as Belkar burning down and looting the town once he realises the fire service is gone, and thus can't prevent it. I took it to mean that he extorted them out of all their money by threatening to burn the town down, in a kind of "Nice town you have here, shame if something were to happen to it" way.

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Ahhh. Therein lay my problem. I was taking it literally and thinking he actually did burn something, and skipped over the "nice town, shame if it were to burn down" threat. Thanks!

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Originally Posted by Peelee

Ahhh. Therein lay my problem. I was taking it literally and thinking he actually did burn something, and skipped over the "nice town, shame if it were to burn down" threat. Thanks!

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I actually thought he had burned down the whole village. I mean, it's just like him to do this.

I assume this is a canon story? I recall a line somewhere of the Giant potentially writing a kickstarter story with "Belkar being Belkar, continuity be darned".

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Originally Posted by Bedinsis

I assume this is a canon story? I recall a line somewhere of the Giant potentially writing a kickstarter story with "Belkar being Belkar, continuity be darned".

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Yes, it is.



I do have a question for Rich. I'm currently taking a graduate course on comics and will probably be taking a segment of Order of the Stick for my final paper later this semester. I'm wondering if I would be permitted to use this story as the focus of a scholarly paper (and by necessity reproduce it for my professor). Fully understandable if I'm not, as I'm debating and leaning slightly toward a portion of Start of Darkness.

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Originally Posted by Italian Hippy

Belkar is so tough he can CHEW METAL!

Seriously, though, it was an easy mistake to make. And they should be grateful! Belkar solved all their problems.

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He certainly solved the problem of the murderous vagrant at the end there. It wasn't cheap, but you pay for quality, right?

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Originally Posted by SaintRidley

Yes, it is.



I do have a question for Rich. I'm currently taking a graduate course on comics and will probably be taking a segment of Order of the Stick for my final paper later this semester. I'm wondering if I would be permitted to use this story as the focus of a scholarly paper (and by necessity reproduce it for my professor). Fully understandable if I'm not, as I'm debating and leaning slightly toward a portion of Start of Darkness.

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You might be best PMing him. More details on how you plan tI outline things couldn't hurt. Of course, he could just answer on here; PM is just the course of action I'd take were I inhibit shoes.

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Originally Posted by Peelee

You might be best PMing him. More details on how you plan tI outline things couldn't hurt. Of course, he could just answer on here; PM is just the course of action I'd take were I inhibit shoes.

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He might send Jones and Rodriguez, since the pdf is a limited access work at this time.

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Originally Posted by oball

I think some people are interpreting the last page as Belkar burning down and looting the town once he realises the fire service is gone, and thus can't prevent it. I took it to mean that he extorted them out of all their money by threatening to burn the town down, in a kind of "Nice town you have here, shame if something were to happen to it" way.

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I'm with you.

I knew something was wrong about the situation when the shopkeeper tossed the money at the police chief and fire warden. Normally, you would expect fighting over money between two thieves.

I'm not a native, so the station[e/a]ry joke was lost on me on first read-through. Thanks for pointing it out in this thread.

The peddler though... he sells bicycles... is this a reference to "black market" or "pedals"? Or am I missing something again?

Anyhow, great story. I thought I called the twist early. And I was STILL extremely surprised just HOW evilly twisted it was.
And I'm grateful that Belkar spared the town from burning. After robbing/extorting them, of course.

And the slavery really begs for another back(ers) story. I already see that there is a timeline in Belkars adventures
- leaving his home village
- slavery deals with Buggy Lou / being enslaved and killing his former comrades?
- Uncivic servitude
- jailed in Origins
- Online comics

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Originally Posted by Onyavar

I'm not a native, so the station[e/a]ry joke was lost on me on first read-through. Thanks for pointing it out in this thread.

The peddler though... he sells bicycles... is this a reference to "black market" or "pedals"? Or am I missing something again?

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Stationary means both "standing still" and "paper". So he calls it a stationary store, which Belkar takes to mean a store that is standing still. When he asks don't all stores stand still, the tailor replies "not the peddler".

A peddler is normally a wandering merchant, not a store. So someone selling from a cart, basically. But the joke is that he sells bicycles, which one rides by peddling. So it's a series of puns.

I took it as he extorted them... and then burned it down anyways. I mean, he's already known to be a fan of burning things even if it's not the best idea because it'd be funny. Remember the bandit camp way back when?

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Originally Posted by Advance Strat..

I took it as he extorted them... and then burned it down anyways. I mean, he's already known to be a fan of burning things even if it's not the best idea because it'd be funny. Remember the bandit camp way back when?

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So now the big, lingering question is, did that town actually get burned down or not?

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Originally Posted by Onyavar

And the slavery really begs for another back(ers) story. I already see that there is a timeline in Belkars adventures
- leaving his home village
- slavery deals with Buggy Lou / being enslaved and killing his former comrades?
- Uncivic servitude
- jailed in Origins
- Online comics

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Or maybe Belaker's period as a slaver comes after this story, as he has seen how the business model is succesful?

Belkar did not actually burn the town down. If he had, I would have shown smoking ruins or the like to make that clear.

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Originally Posted by The Giant

Belkar did not actually burn the town down. If he had, I would have shown smoking ruins or the like to make that clear.

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I'm pretty happy this is one of the things you decided to jump in on to clear up. I really wasn't liking the idea of Belkar extorting the townsfolk out of all the money in exchange for not killing them only to kill them anyway. Thanks!

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Originally Posted by The Giant

Belkar did not actually burn the town down. If he had, I would have shown smoking ruins or the like to make that clear.

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So, he really ISN'T evil? I knew it! (Joking, obviously)

That was great! And yeah, I don't really blame Belkar either, those two had it coming. :smalltongue:


One joke I didn't get:

"Does the gentleman like the style?"
"Sure, especially if she's good with her-"
"I meant the style of the clothing, sir."
"Oh!"

Does "style" have some other meaning I don't know?

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Originally Posted by Psyren

One joke I didn't get:

"Does the gentleman like the style?"
"Sure, especially if she's good with her-"
"I meant the style of the clothing, sir."
"Oh!"

Does "style" have some other meaning I don't know?

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See the previous frame. "Half and half" is prostitute lingo for half oral / half PIV.

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Originally Posted by jere7my

See the previous frame. "Half and half" is prostitute lingo for half oral / half PIV.

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Ha! I definitely didn't know that. I don't know why I thought he meant coffee creamer... spending too much time in the office I suppose :smallredface:

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Originally Posted by Psyren

Ha! I definitely didn't know that.

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Er, uh, I...I didn't either! Um.

Tank you Mr. Giant sir! May I have another?

Download just finished, so I'm off to reading about everyone's favorite (or least favorite) halfling.

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Originally Posted by jere7my

See the previous frame. "Half and half" is prostitute lingo for half oral / half PIV.

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I didn't get the joke either, until now.

And now it makes so much sense it hurts.

Iiked the story in general, but I only really started enjoying it after reading the big twist at the end. That was just brilliant.
Were the names "Brint" and "Shart" references to something? They seemed very odd to me.
Also, since people have been mentioning their favorite lines, mine would have to be from the deputy mayor, right after discussing why they call the giant acid-spewing bug an ankheg - "Sadly, that's not specific enough in this region" It's pretty subtle, but really implies how much life would suck for an average peasant in a D&D campaign.

I dunno about "Brint", but "Shart" references a symptom of intestinal distress, where flatulence (a fart) might come with an extra prize (****).

And Belkar's threat to the village reminds me of an episode of Oglaf, where a village tries to get out of paying a promised reward to Grier:

"The village is poor!"
"The village is flammable."

Should probably warn people that Oglaf in general and that strip in particular are NSFW.

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Originally Posted by jere7my

See the previous frame. "Half and half" is prostitute lingo for half oral / half PIV.

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I'd assumed that 'half and half' had some sort of sexual meaning; thanks for confirming my suspicion and providing a definition.

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Originally Posted by oball

Should probably warn people that Oglaf in general and that strip in particular are NSFW.

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But very funny, for those who don't mind large amounts of nudity and sex.

Oh, no doubt, Oglaf is fantastic. Just thought that anyone unfamiliar with it might appreciate being warned they were about to click through to a page full of cartoon dong. After all, kids read this comic.