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

[The Giant]

This is a general discussion thread for all of the Kickstarter bonus PDF stories that will be coming to the inboxes of people who backed the pledge drive. The first such story, "Uncivil Servant," is available for download now through the Kickstarter update page (but only if you're logged in as a backer).

Some rules for this thread:

• Since the point is to discuss these stories, there's no need to mark spoilers for them in this thread. Go ahead and talk about them.
• On the other hand, please don't outline the entire plot here. I don't want reading this thread to be a workable substitute for reading them.
• Please don't start a second thread for discussing these; we'll just end up merging them.
• These stories will be available in print someday for everyone else who didn't back, so if you don't have them now and you think you're likely to buy the book in which they appear...don't read any further!
• When posting around the rest of the forum, I strongly recommend spoilering (and marking WHY you're spoilering) any reference to these stories. That'll be more an issue with the plot-heavy ones like O-Chul's story than this first Belkar one, but I thought I'd mention it now.
• Discussion of the Kickstarter itself and the progress being made on future stories should stay on the existing Kickstarter thread. This is for talking about the stories themselves after they've been released.

I think that's about it. I'll keep a list of what stories have been released here, so that people can see if they've missed one.

RELEASED PDF STORIES:

• Uncivil Servant, starring Belkar Bitterlead (2/21/13)
• StickTales: Haleo and Julelan (8/15/13)

[ThePhantasm]

I loved the Belkar story. I totally did not see the twist coming.

[RMS Oceanic]

I can't really blame Belkar for making that mistake.

[Aurorax]

Oh man.. I thought I saw it coming, and thought that it was a trite story, but wrong again. Beautifully done.

[Coventry]

Nicely tied in with Belkar's running gags.

Bravo!

Although I was left with a question from the back story for this back story. He was a slave?!?

[Beacon of Chaos]

Magnificent! Did not see the ending coming at all. XD

Coventry's right, now there are even more questions about his back story. There are so many slavers in D&D, after all; how are we to know which ones he killed?

[RMS Oceanic]

Nicely tied in with Belkar's running gags.

Bravo!

Although I was left with a question from the back story for this back story. He was a slave?!?

I'm assuming he was enslaved by the guy who knows a guy. Or possibly a guy that guy knows.

[ThePhantasm]

Although I was left with a question from the back story for this back story. He was a slave?!?

I wonder if that's how he knew Buggy Lou.

[Mauve Shirt]

Heh. 49th shade of grey is tied up. I c wat u did thar.

[AdInfinitum]

At first, I thought the twist didn't follow, but yeah, it all matches up, with the house not burning down and... Wow. That was almost as scarring as the normal comic right now.

[MaximKat]

Wow, the twist was totally unexpected. I liked the joke about bloody deathmatch being redundant on the first go, but the next panel takes a whole new sense if you know what's going on.

Nice 4th wall breakage there about venture capitalists. Is "Ali S" supposed to be "alias"?

Anyone else thinks that baker's wife looks like Haley?

[Coventry]

I think it is much more than that.

The current story line in the strip strongly implies that Belkar is about to be enslaved. Again.

And we know (in vague terms) what happened to the slavers the last time that took place.

[Dwy]

I came here to check if there was a new OOTS comic up, but ended up with 12 pages :D

It's a good one too, and adds a little fun to the character, without going as far as actually making him likable.

[Kaulguard]

Yeah, me too! Went to see what was up with the sexy shoeless God of War, and got 12 pages worth! Woot! Great short, Giant, way to tide me over!

[rgrekejin]

Well. That was not a twist I foresaw... although I do wonder where all those rags-to-riches stories were coming from

[MythicFox]

I loved the story. Although one of my first thoughts was "Even if this was Belkar's entire backstory, it's still more complex than some backstories I've gotten at my table."

[oppyu]

Tehe, pretty good. Anyone who doesn't have access to this story should be ashamed and disappointed. ASHAMED AND DISAPPOINTED!

[Glich]

great story thx now get to work on the others /cracks_whip


PS the 49 shades of gray had me giggling keep it up..

[Peelee]

I knew there was something off about the shakedown, I just couldn't quite put my finger on it. When the mayor reacted with disgust, I simply thought they were the overseers of the whole racket, and that's where the bounty money came from. Great twist, and I love how their dialogue reads through completely differently on a second read-through.

[Morty]

Belkar's prequel story, wherein some townsfolk discover the problems inherent in relying on armed vagrants to solve their problems.

[fergo]

Downloading as I speak... I literally cannot wait . Thank you Giant, you are a true gentleman!

[asphias]

lovely story!

Rich, should OOTS ever finish and you don't have any idea yet what to do next, then just release a new belkar story every week. the adventures of this clueless cook are certainly awesome enough for its own spinoff-comic!

[The Giant]

IAs the other PDFs are also prequels, I'll assume they'll be B&W as well, but I want to check and make sure due to the teaser poster when the kick starter was announced - will the O-Chul PDF be black and white, or full color?

O-Chul will be in "bluescale," or monochrome blue. Think black-and-white, but with shades of blue instead of shades of grey. Therkla's story will probably be the same way, since she's from Azure City too. If you want to see what it looks like, check out the cover image I used for O-Chul's story during the Kickstarter.

The other prequel stories (C.P.P.D and Sir Francois & the Dragon), the StickTales (Haleo and Julelan), and Julio Scoundrél will be in black-and-white, to match the existing stories of the same group from Snips, Snails, and Dragon Tales. Dim Sun will be in full color.

[fergo]

Thoughts:

• Pah, silly halfling. Everyone knows cask is superior to keg.
• Is... is that the Giant's hand? Is this the first ever in-comic appearence of Rich?
• That guy looks weird wearing a helmet.

[nogall]

Thoughts:

• Is... is that the Giant's hand? Is this the first ever in-comic appearence of Rich?

either this is his left hand, or better yet his thumb is really better!

[Prospero7]

Great story Giant! Thank you!

[Italian Hippy]

RELEASED PDF STORIES:

• Uncivil Servant, starring Belkar Bitterlead (2/21/13)

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.

[Starwaster]

I haven't enjoyed a story like this since Groo went out of print.

[fergo]

At first, I thought the twist didn't follow, but yeah, it all matches up, with the house not burning down and... Wow. That was almost as scarring as the normal comic right now.

Wow, I never even thought about that . This may well be the last time we ever see Belkar as, well, Belkar.

Anyone else thinks that baker's wife looks like Haley?

Yeah, I actually thought it was her and that the story was taking a completely unexpected direction...

[Pantler]

Loved it. Belkar rocks.