The Return of Loaded Dice!

[t_catt11]

Not to be a bump monkey, but our newest strip is up, and while it's technically filler, I think it came out very cool. If you don't mind, please let me know what you think.

[Tydude]

I like the evil glasses.

[t_catt11]

Have I mentioned that my artist rocks?

[Agi Hammerthief]

Have I mentioned that my artist rocks?

artistically we can see that.

is there a chance that the fillers will be sorted to their own tread later?

I'm giving the comic about 6 months before I'll catch up with the story and the fillers are sort of disrupting the flow

[t_catt11]

Well, odds are very good that we'll be going to a schedule of one "real" update per week with one filler as the second - though the plan is for those fillers to be like the last one (i.e. done by OUR artst).

I have tried to clearly mark the fillers in the archives, but I am open to other suggestions on how to better organize things.

Also, a note - today's strip gives us the new artist's first look at the big bad guy.

[Agi Hammerthief]

I have tried to clearly mark the fillers in the archives, but I am open to other suggestions on how to better organize things.

how much trouble would it be to link the "next" buttons of the fillers to point to the next filler and the ones of the regular comic to point to the next regular comic?

that way the reader can follow the either story or the fillers by hitting the "next" button.

thematically the fillers are pretty much their own comic
a bit like WHAT'S NEW with Phil & Dixie from Studio Foglio

[t_catt11]

That's not a horrible idea. Some of our old strips (the holidays ones, specifically) should really e considered to be fillers, too... but that would mean I'd need to re-number the old ones.

[Glass Mouse]

Heh. I think Brad may be my favorite character. He's so delightfully stupid
(his body language in the most recent page is excellent as well).

[t_catt11]

LOL, thanks, Glass Mouse. The real life Brad is much the same way - a hack and slash, charge everything, damn the torpedoes kind of guy... who tends to get upset when his character suffer from his actions. That being said, I love the guy, so Brad is fun to write.

And wow... Lyra brings him (and al of them) to life with her art!

[Tydude]

I'm guessing Aranion dies while doing something to weaken the Big Bad. Then the rest come and beat the BBG. That's just my guess.

[Glass Mouse]

LOL, thanks, Glass Mouse. The real life Brad is much the same way - a hack and slash, charge everything, damn the torpedoes kind of guy... who tends to get upset when his character suffer from his actions. That being said, I love the guy, so Brad is fun to write.

And wow... Lyra brings him (and al of them) to life with her art!

So you modelled the characters after rl players? This simply begs the question... who are you?

I'm gonna guess "the GM"


Edit:

I'm guessing Aranion dies while doing something to weaken the Big Bad. Then the rest come and beat the BBG. That's just my guess.

Or he's gonna die while learning something important. In the upcoming battle, Amy and Rich will near-die because they refuse to use OoC knowledge. Ray and Tim will, in the last minute, metagame their way to succes!
Too specific? Ah well

[t_catt11]

Tydude: you'll just have to read along to see.

Glass Mouse: you are correct, the GM is based somewhat on myself.

I've stated this what seems to be a undred times in different areas, but please indulge me here - the character in the comic are not meant to actually *be* any of the real people they are based off of. They are comic caricatures of those people. That being said, RL gaming has given a lot of fuel for the comic.

[Glass Mouse]

Tydude: you'll just have to read along to see.

Glass Mouse: you are correct, the GM is based somewhat on myself.

I've stated this what seems to be a undred times in different areas, but please indulge me here - the character in the comic are not meant to actually *be* any of the real people they are based off of. They are comic caricatures of those people. That being said, RL gaming has given a lot of fuel for the comic.

Ah, I guessed that much - hence my coice of words, "modelled after"

I think it's great that you can give your "own" character a slice of humble pie from time to time. I see the author avatar Mary Sues so often that it's honestly quite refreshing to see the opposite. Also, it puts "Do I Have to Say It?" in an even better light

[t_catt11]

Wow, Glass Mouse - it is immensely gratifying to see all of your positive comments!

I also hate it when comic authors "Mary Sue" themselves. Then again, perhaps myinsistence that these characters are only "based on" real people helps make it easier for me to make fun of my "alter ego".

Gee, that's a lot of quotation marks above!

[t_catt11]

A huge "thank you" to Glass Mouse, who sent me an unsolicited guest comic - which is now up and live for Loaded Dice.

Thanks a million!

[Glass Mouse]

Oh boy, it's up!

You're more than welcome, Olan. Having fun and then getting a whole million thanks is definitely not the worst in this world

[t_catt11]

Well, new comic is up. Trying something different today - letting the art tell the story, forgoing my typical "wall 'o text".

What do you think?

[Tydude]

The art is very good yet again. Especially the last panel, that looks awesome. However, I think that having no text at all makes it feel like it's missing something. Though I don't want a wall of text; a balance is always the best. Still, I liked it.

[t_catt11]

Thanks for the comment, Tydude. I rather doubt we'll have many strips with no text at all, but it's a technique I might use again for a dramatic fight scene.

[Tydude]

Even something like sound effects would count as text. (Even though I don't think you use sound effects, but I'm just throwing it out there) I think something like having Aranion gasp for breath as he gets frozen would be good. Of course, I'm no comic expert, it's just my opinion. You did a no text comic once before, right?

[t_catt11]

Yep, we did one once before. Technically, we did include two sound effects this time. :P

But again, your input is much appreciated!

[Gray Mage]

This last comic was very good, but for some reason the BBEG's face on the last panel bugs me. I think it looks like a broken construct instead of a zombie. Outside that the art is simply excellent.

[t_catt11]

Well, to be precise, the big bad guy is not a zombie; he's a unique type of undead.

But I appreciate the feedback!

[Gray Mage]

Well, to be precise, the big bad guy is not a zombie; he's a unique type of undead.

But I appreciate the feedback!

Yes, I know. I've read the module you're basing this beginning on (I've in fact played it in my group too, it's really good and I saw it thanks to your comic). It's just that the last angle seems weird to me (and the fact that the sound effect was a *clang* didn't help much in that impression), the others are good though.

[Tydude]

Whoops, there already is sound effects. Somehow I didn't even notice them. (Or I forgot they were there) That will teach me to do my research before posting.

[t_catt11]

Boo no me. I didn't care for the "clang" myself, but the text has been moved down to the art layer itself by the time the comic came into my hands, and I didn't want to worry about affecting the drawing, so I let the "clang" be.

[t_catt11]

Today's strip is an attempt at something new - namely, I did the coloring myself. What do you think?

[Glass Mouse]

All right, I'll bite

I really like the strip! You should let Lyra write some more; I love her manic expressions, and the evil Olan.

The colours are fine. I'd have picked a less saturated colour for the jeans, but maybe that's just me. You also need to stay within the panel frame - there's a few times where the colour doesn't fit (first and third panel, respectively).
The more "organic colours" (skin, hair, eyes - oh, and Lyra's clothes) are fine, though.

[t_catt11]

Thanks for the reply, Glass Mouse.

I received the line art for my frist "real" strip last night, and am in awe of the coloring that Lyra normally does. I am not going to attempt to copy her style; I'm using her same base colors, then applying shadow and highlights as best I can (with my non-arty brain). We'll see how it goes, and I'll continue to learn.

The good news is that Lyra says that, with me taking the coloring off of her (save backgrounds and special effects... she wants to keep these), that she should finally be able to get back to two strips per week. Woot!

Also, I agree - I love her "over the top" expressions and such.

[t_catt11]

Okay, I have finally posted the first full comic with me handling the coloring. What do you think?

Please realize that I'm a total nephyte at this, so be gentle.