The Annotated Order of the Stick - A Companion Guide

[TheWombatOfDoom]

It's nice to record that somewhere, but at the same time, it's also kind of a spoiler for things people might like to discover on their own. I suggest using a spoiler labeled "Did you notice?" for such little gems. That's even more work for Wombat though... Consider it just a suggestion. That said, it should be possible to farm out some editing work to contributors like me (provided there's no implied urgency).

Instead, I'd be more inclined to state at the top -

Here be spoilers! This project contains spoilers, such as calling out details that might foreshadow later events, give away immediate plot points, or even just explain a reference you didn't yet know about. This is intentional, and as such, this project should be used as a resource for things you don't understand within the comic, not as a guide to read along with the comic if you are reading through for the first time.

[Gwynfrid]

Instead, I'd be more inclined to state at the top -

Here be spoilers! This project contains spoilers, such as calling out details that might foreshadow later events, give away immediate plot points, or even just explain a reference you didn't yet know about. This is intentional, and as such, this project should be used as a resource for things you don't understand within the comic, not as a guide to read along with the comic if you are reading through for the first time.

Not quite the same level of spoilers. Of course the guide will containt plot spoilers, that much is obvious and unavoidable. I find it unfortunate, however, that it also spoilers the little details that one might not have noticed even after two of three readings (such as the example of the cork and the pirate's hook). It's a minor quibble, though: Maybe not worth burdening the project too much.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Not quite the same level of spoilers. Of course the guide will containt plot spoilers, that much is obvious and unavoidable. I find it unfortunate, however, that it also spoilers the little details that one might not have noticed even after two of three readings (such as the example of the cork and the pirate's hook). It's a minor quibble, though: Maybe not worth burdening the project too much.

I could include Major and Minor as category levels of spoilers in the description.

Edit: I mean, it does say in the description -

This project is an effort to point out details the casual reader might overlook or not understand.

[Gwynfrid]

I'm not saying the description at the top is not accurate - it is. There's no fix necessary at that level. My suggestion for an improvement is for the content itself, and I now think it's probably too much work for its value.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

I'm not saying the description at the top is not accurate - it is. There's no fix necessary at that level. My suggestion for an improvement is for the content itself, and I now think it's probably too much work for its value.

Ah, got it. Yeah. I tend to agree. It might be nice to have categories or spoilers for certain things, but really, it becomes unwieldy for the reader, and hard to manage on my end. Plus, if I separated them, it might be harder for someone to find what they are looking for.

[Quild]

It's nice to record that somewhere, but at the same time, it's also kind of a spoiler for things people might like to discover on their own. I suggest using a spoiler labeled "Did you notice?" for such little gems. That's even more work for Wombat though... Consider it just a suggestion. That said, it should be possible to farm out some editing work to contributors like me (provided there's no implied urgency).

Well, that's how I saw the use of this kind of collection. You can search what you missed in a page.

If you put a "Did you notice" how do you treat fifth panel of #560 for example? (which is totally missing from this index)
SPOILER: Did you notice this panel was a reference to Batman (window/curtains/seat, ninja instead of bat, Therkla instead of Bruce).
But what if there is something else in this comic/panel? You'll get "spoiled" of two things while you only wanted to look at one?

I think whoever wants to play "Where's Waldo" with a page before reading this index can already do it and that there is no need of spoilers.


Also; something else that's missing: The acid-breathing shark in #541 do exist in some manual. Their creator is Rich Burlew, which makes roaches comments more fun.

[Ron Miel]

I'd suggest putting the annotations under 4 headings, like this:


Update 1234: The Louse Trap

Story Notes

• Panel 4 : "Do I have something on my face" Nale echoes Elan in strip 141, and Tarquin in strip 753
• Panel 12: Haley uses the ninja star she picked up in strip 1011

Cultural references

• The title is a parody of Agatha Christie's play The Mousetrap, which is in itself a reference to Hamlet.
• Panel 1 "This is a frightened city": another Monty Python reference

for non-gamers

• panel 8-11: V's spell works on Xykon, but not Redcloak because it only affects undead.

Did you notice...?

• The pommel on the barbarian's sword is a tiny model skull.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

I'd suggest putting the annotations under 4 headings, like this:


Update 1234: The Louse Trap

Story Notes

• Panel 4 : "Do I have something on my face" Nale echoes Elan in strip 141, and Tarquin in strip 753
• Panel 12: Haley uses the ninja star she picked up in strip 1011

Cultural references

• The title is a parody of Agatha Christie's play The Mousetrap, which is in itself a reference to Hamlet.
• Panel 1 "This is a frightened city": another Monty Python reference

for non-gamers

• panel 8-11: V's spell works on Xykon, but not Redcloak because it only affects undead.

Did you notice...?

• The pommel on the barbarian's sword is a tiny model skull.

I'm not sure that would be effective enough to be useful. But if more people are for it, I can attempt an implementation.

[Quild]

I had a look at 1-40 and here are some things that may or may not be worth adding:

Update 3:
Panel 3: Haley mentions lime green boots of speed, these are the ones she's wearing in a flashback in #608 and are mocked by Crystal and the ones that she get tanned and wears since #675.
(can also be added to these strips)

Update 5:
Panel 4: Haley mocks that Belkar finally got a spot check right, that's a change with #3!

Update 9 has no annotations yet, maybe it's worth mentionning that:
- The belt of gender changing is the one that comes back in #234
Panel 2/8: Here starts a running gag of betting 10 gold pieces between Haley and Roy. This bet is at least made in #187, #666 and #844.
(can also be added to these strips)

Update 15:
Panel 8: Eugene speak about Roy's "big sword". Roy grumbles that the proper name for the kind of weapon he has is "Greatsword".
Last panel: Eugene asks Roy to "Speak with Dead" once a while. That's purely a joke (from Rich to readers, not from Eugene) since the spell only allows to speak with a corpse that retains memory of what the person knew before death, but does not really allow to speak with the soul of the decesead.

Update 19:
Belkar actually has Evade since he's a ranger of ninth level. Oddly he'll only notice it in #469 (can also be added to this strip?).
Also, here starts a running gag of Elan using female illusions that never works. Well, kinda works in #66 thanks to V but doesn't in #387 and even Elan is aware that it never works. He then changes his illusions with V's help.
(also add?)

Update 31:
V certainly has higher intelligence than Roy, but Roy is here seen as a better choice because he also have decent wisdom (and charisma?)

Update 33:
These questions and the one in #121 were actually real questions from the forum and not made by Rich.

Update 38:
One of the red fake speech bubbles makes Roy say that he has a MBA. This is a reference to the fact that Roy hates the "Fighters are dumb" cliché and that he actually have a Master of Battle Administration (don't remember from where we know that) wich is a pun with the US diploma "Master of Business Administration"

[TheWombatOfDoom]

I had a look at 1-40 and here are some things that may or may not be worth adding:

Update 3:
Panel 3: Haley mentions lime green boots of speed, these are the ones she's wearing in a flashback in #608 and are mocked by Crystal and the ones that she get tanned and wears since #675.
(can also be added to these strips)

Update 5:
Panel 4: Haley mocks that Belkar finally got a spot check right, that's a change with #3!

Update 9 has no annotations yet, maybe it's worth mentionning that:
- The belt of gender changing is the one that comes back in #234
Panel 2/8: Here starts a running gag of betting 10 gold pieces between Haley and Roy. This bet is at least made in #187, #666 and #844.
(can also be added to these strips)

Update 15:
Panel 8: Eugene speak about Roy's "big sword". Roy grumbles that the proper name for the kind of weapon he has is "Greatsword".
Last panel: Eugene asks Roy to "Speak with Dead" once a while. That's purely a joke (from Rich to readers, not from Eugene) since the spell only allows to speak with a corpse that retains memory of what the person knew before death, but does not really allow to speak with the soul of the decesead.

Update 19:
Belkar actually has Evade since he's a ranger of ninth level. Oddly he'll only notice it in #469 (can also be added to this strip?).
Also, here starts a running gag of Elan using female illusions that never works. Well, kinda works in #66 thanks to V but doesn't in #387 and even Elan is aware that it never works. He then changes his illusions with V's help.
(also add?)

Update 31:
V certainly has higher intelligence than Roy, but Roy is here seen as a better choice because he also have decent wisdom (and charisma?)

Update 33:
These questions and the one in #121 were actually real questions from the forum and not made by Rich.

Update 38:
One of the red fake speech bubbles makes Roy say that he has a MBA. This is a reference to the fact that Roy hates the "Fighters are dumb" cliché and that he actually have a Master of Battle Administration (don't remember from where we know that) wich is a pun with the US diploma "Master of Business Administration"

A number of these suggestions are in the gag's/overflow section in the last post of the OP. Should I keep gags in their own section, or port them into the project proper? Or both?

[Gwynfrid]

A number of these suggestions are in the gag's/overflow section in the last post of the OP. Should I keep gags in their own section, or port them into the project proper? Or both?

Having separate sections is confusing. It can lead new contributors to propose redundant suggestions, I think that's what just happened here. Also, it makes things harder for users.

So I suggest merging that section with the project proper. Keeping both the main project and a copy in a running gags section is possible, but more work, as you need to ensure consistency between the two. Overall, I don't think a separate section adds enough value to justify the extra burden.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Having separate sections is confusing. It can lead new contributors to propose redundant suggestions, I think that's what just happened here. Also, it makes things harder for users.

So I suggest merging that section with the project proper. Keeping both the main project and a copy in a running gags section is possible, but more work, as you need to ensure consistency between the two. Overall, I don't think a separate section adds enough value to justify the extra burden.

I'll start porting them in when I get the chance. But I like having lists of all the gags on top of each other. I think originally that section was made as a place saver for when I added them to the actual group anyhow. I am now remembering some of the details that will need to be revamped. For instance, I did not reserve near enough posts for the OP. I suppose I'll just have to work with what I got, and at some point restart the thread so I can expand the OP.

[illyahr]

Update 38:
One of the red fake speech bubbles makes Roy say that he has a MBA. This is a reference to the fact that Roy hates the "Fighters are dumb" cliché and that he actually have a Master of Battle Administration (don't remember from where we know that) wich is a pun with the US diploma "Master of Business Administration"

This is actually spelled out in Rich's Order of the Stick board game. One of Roy's abilities is "Master of Battle Administration."

[Ron Miel]

Update 560 – In panel 1, they enter a hatch door which is a reference to the television show – LOST, in which the characters are on an island and find hatches. The logo further’s the reference. There is a smiley face in the logo on the panel. In panel 4, the sign on the wall reads - Greg Initiative, which is a reference to the sit-com Dharma and Greg, since in LOST it's the Dharma Initative. The station is referred to as The Smiley Face, furthering the LOST reference from the 1st panel. In the last panel, Cyclops on an island with the men dressed like greeks is a reference to Homer's - The Odyssey. You can see a greek-esque ship in faintly in the background. The title of this update is Meanwhile, his Teammate was in Rhodes. This is a reference to Cyclops’ Teammate – Colossus, and the Colossus of Rhodes.

One additional annotation to be added here. On LOST one of the principal characters is named Locke. He is obsessed with finding the meaning of the hatches. In the comic, Elan is wearing a costume that he stole from a Final Fantasy character who is also named Locke.

[Hardcore]

Update 614:
'die' should be spelt 'dye'.

The abbreviation 'emo' can be confusing too, and should be replaced.

Love this thread :-)

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Update 614:
'die' should be spelt 'dye'.

The abbreviation 'emo' can be confusing too, and should be replaced.

Love this thread :-)

Glad you like the thread! I'll have to make efforts to rejuvenate this thread!

[Hardcore]

Yeah, i have toyed with the idea of starting one like this. Good to see the i don't need to:-D

It would have been nice with a pdf version so that it could be printed.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Yeah, i have toyed with the idea of starting one like this. Good to see the i don't need to:-D

It would have been nice with a pdf version so that it could be printed.

I only do stuff on the forum, but you can take the annotation and print it. I'd suggest when it is "done" to do so, or you'll be using a lot of trees each change. Since you wanted to start one, read through and see if there's anything you'd add or modify!

[Hardcore]

Update 320: Bing Crosby's Got Nothing On Us
Bing Crosby starred in a series of "Road to..." comedy films in the 40's, including just "Road to Morocco".
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_to_...

[Gwynfrid]

It's great to see this thread come out of dormancy, as this is really a nice, if time-consuming, project.

I thought I'd put together a few more annotations to help along.

EDIT July 15:
- Reformatted to standard.
- Added a number of new annotations: 120-146.
- I folded the existing annotations in.

Spoiler

Show

Strip 91: Proof That I am Deeply Disturbed

• Panel 1: As a classic halfling, Belkar goes barefoot. Note that halflings are the same race as Tolkien's hobbits, but the D&D game calls them "halflings" for legal reasons.
• Panel 2: Vaarsuvius hints at the ability of D&D elves to sense the presence of secret doors. If doesn't seem to work here, though. In a classic dungeon exploration cliché, players will typically suspect the presence of some secret door every time they hit a dead end - and more often than not, there would be one.
• Panel 11: The Explosive Runes spell triggers an explosion whenever the runes are read.

Strip 94: The Path to Victory

• In typical D&D scenarios, every room the PCs may visit is given a name by the scenario's author. Sometimes a grandiloquent name could be given to a room even though it isn't particularly important. This strip spoofs this tendency by giving every place a ridiculous, descriptive name.

Strip 97: Evil Plans

• A lich is a powerful spellcaster that turned him or herself into an undead monstrosity through a death magic ritual.

Strip 98: Mmmmm...Tasty

• Panel 1: Since we didn't see the party for three strips, the corridor's ridiculous name (see strip #94) refers to that.
• Panel 6: The Trap Sense rogue class ability gives Haley an edge over her companions, when it comes to evading traps.
• Panel 7: Belkar spoofs one the most famous lines of US political debate history, "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy."
• Panel 8: In D&D, the Craft skills covers every possible item crafting activities, described as Craft(Carpentry), Craft(Weapons), etc. Even though alchemy is an important factor of its own in the game, it is listed just as one Craft subcategory.

Strip 102: Lowbrow is the Best Brow

• Panel 1: The cleric's Turn Undead ability can only be used a few times per day.
• Panel 2: The Great Cleave feat gives Roy another chance to attack, every time he kills a creature.

Strip 104: Dramatic Pre-Battle Speech

• Panel 9: In older editions of D&D, non-human PC races are grouped under the generic term "demihumans". More modern editions deal with humans as just another race among the others, so the term isn't used much anymore.

Strip 106: A Sure Bet

• Panel 9: Of course, Reverse Psychology isn't a real skill. Here, Redcloak is just expressing amazement at how easily Xykon fooled Roy in this strip.

Strip 107: Defense is for Losers

• Panel 3: In D&D, wizards have great power, but cannot wear armor, and have the least hit points of any class (one 4-sided die per level as a basis). This is why it is wise to have somebody play the role of bodyguard in the case of a large melee.
• Panel 13: D&D has many weird or illogical rules. One of the most famous is that elves are specifically immune to the ghoul's paralyzing touch power, while ghasts are creatures identical to ghouls in virtually every respect, save that elves aren't immune to the ghast's touch. So, V would not be able to distinguish between the two types of enemies, other than by being hit.

Strip 109: Tensions Rise

• Panel 3: Attacks of Opportunity are some of the more complex rules of D&D, and many players have complained about them. Here, Elan is avoiding such attacks by using the Tumble skill to get through the crowd of goblins without giving them a chance to strike him. He's surprised it worked as well as it did, so he guesses the goblins failed to understand the rules, letting him get away with it.

Strip 112: Shatter

• Panel 12: Xykon doesn't utter the name of the spell here, but the sound effect reveals that he uses the Shatter spell to destroy Roy's sword.

Strip 113: Memories, Like the Edges of My Sword

• Panel 1: Halet and Elan are under the effects of Xykon's Symbol of Pain spell, cast in strip 110, while Vaarsuvius is paralyzed from the ghast's touch in strip 107.
• Panel 2: Redcloak counters Durkon's Turn Undead power by using the evil cleric's opposite power, Bolster Undead, while Belkar just does the one thing he knows to do.
• Panel 7: We see Roy’s brother Eric’s first appearance, hiding behind their mother’s chair.

Strip 115: Dust in the Wind

• Panel 3: Lou Ferrigno is an American actor and bodybuilder, famous for his role as the Incredible Hulk.
• Panel 13: In D&D, characters gain Experience Points (XP) by killing enemies. The rule doesn't explicitly specify that enemies who surrender don't count, so Belkar indulges in his lust for murder just for the fun of it, and hopes for XP gain in the process.

Strip 116: Finding Stuff

• Panel 9: Indeed, the D&D rules include tables that describe what kind of treasure should be found, in proportion to the difficulty level of the encounter.
• Panel 12: D&D rules classify magic objects in three classes, minor, major, and the most powerful of all, magic artifacts.

Strip 117: Delayed Gratification

• Panel 6: Here, we hear about Xykon's phylactery for the first time. When a spellcaster uses a powerful magic ritual to becomes a lich (such as Xykon), he/she will hide his/her soul in a magic item called a phylactery. Later, we will see Xykon slowly recovering his body thanks to the phylactery's power.
• Panel 8: Xykon is making a baseball analogy, which will be obvious to North American readers, but maybe not to others.

Strip 119: Hollywood, Eat Your Heart Out

• Panel 11: Vin Diesel is an actor in major action movies.

Strip 120: The End of the Beginning

• Panel 2: This strip has one of the recurring appearances of the flumphs (see strip 55), D&D monsters that are famous for being fairly useless and weak - as evidenced here. There will be more situations in later strips to show that a flumph's main use is as a cushion in case of a fall.
• Panel 8: Xykon's sould survived in his phylactery, which Redcloak carries as a sacred clerical symbol.
• Panel 12: The mysterious character with the blue cloak is Miko, who will be revealed in strip 200.

Strip 121: The Return of Mail Call

• Panel 3: Indeed, the d12 (12-sided die) is by far the least used of the classic 6 types of dice required to play D&D: the d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20.
• Panel 4: The barbarian is the only class that uses a d12 to generate his hit points (1d12 per level). He's also the most likely to use the greataxe, the only commonly found weapon that deals 1d12 base damage.
• Panel 5: Per D&D rules, the barbarian is the only class that is illiterate at the time of character creation. Belkar seizes this opportunity to insult them with impunity.
• Panel 11: The left pirate is uncorking the bottle with a hook hand.
• Panel 12: Ninjas are great at hiding, and Belkar doesn't have the best Spot skill bonus.

Strip 122: Adventurers Are Coming! Adventurers Are Coming!

• This strip spoofs the typically high prices of common goods when adventurers must buy them; many players have argued that a realistically described world should have much lower prices for everyday goods to make any sense. In addition, the tendency of adventurers to take the NPC for granted is being mocked : Here, it is the NPCs taking advantage for a change.
• Panel 10: The girl selling apples has changed into skimpier clothes in preparation for the arrival of the Order of the Stick.

Strip 123: Double Your Entendre, Double Your Fun

• This strip is the source of many opinions as to Vaarsuvius' gender. A closer look at the text shows that the wizard doesn't actually reveal anything in that regard.

Strip 124: Ding!

• XPs are typically awarded the characters at the completion of a major adventure milestone. When enough XPs have been gained, the character goes up a level, much to the delight of the character's player as the character becomes more powerful. XPs are also awarded for defeating monsters. But, to stop players from abusing the system, a monster that poses no danger to the character (such as the rat here) doesn't provide any XP at all.

Strip 125: Free Experience

• D&D rules allow for awarding XPs not just for story goals and killing enemies, but for good roleplay. Having failed to gain a new level through defeating monsters, Belkar hypocritically exploits the rules with fake sorrow. It works (a real DM would never allow that - hopefully).

Strip 126: Multiclass Struggles

• Panel 1: Multiclassing is a way for character to have varied careers by mixing levels in more than one class.
• Panel 5: Elan is referring straight to the D&D rule book. In order to skip over tedious explanations of how exactly a character learns the basics of a new class, the Dungeon Master Guide recommends that any such learning can be assumed to occur outside of game sessions ("off-panel", in comic terms). Elan exploits this to claim a level in wizards without having actually studied anything.

Strip 129: Rock Solid Investment

• This strip spoofs a typical sequence of D&D gameplay: The division of the loot after victory. This can bring tensions between characters - and players. It isn't unusual that Rogues like Haley are the only ones with ranks in the Appraise skill, and therefore the only ones able to assess the value of each object. Unscrupulous characters can exploit this to swindle their companions. This is why the rogue's assessment isn't always trusted, a fact that Haley cleverly uses to trick the others here.

Strip 130: Itempalooza

• Panel 2: An Amulet of Natural Armor magically thickens the skin, giving a bonus to Armor Class.
• Panel 4: A Ring of Wizardry will allow V to memorize more spells.
• Panel 5: A Bag of Holding can store a huge amount of stuff, without actually increasing in weight.
• Panel 7: Boots of Elvenkind help their wearer reduce the noise they make when they move.

Strip 131: Money Makes the World Go Round

• This strip points to a part of the plot that will be uncovered much later. The name "Tyrinaria" will appear next in strip 758.

Strip 132: Kindred Spirits

• Panel 4: Among the barbarian's class features, the most important is Rage, which boosts Strength and Constitution temporarily. The barbarian also moves faster than most characters.
• Panel 5: The barbarian rolls 1d12 per level for hit points, the highest die of any class.

Strip 134: Craft (Plotline)

• Panel 7: Each character class gets a certain number of skill points per level, plus bonus points for high Intelligence. Clerics get a low base number to begin with, and nearly always prioritize other ability scores than Intelligence, typically leaving them with some of the lowest skill point counts in the game.
• Panel 12: A side quest, in D&D as well any tabletop or video roleplaying games, is a smaller portion of the adventure scenario, with little or no connection to the main plot.

Strip 135: Potionomics

• The real-world concept of economy of scale doesn't apply to magic in D&D. Making a potion always costs the same amount, no matter how many you make. Eve and Larry fail to grasp that basic fact, and are indeed headed to bankruptcy.

Strip 139: How to Keep the Party Together

• Panel 11: This is another spoof on the D&D rules, showing a completely unrealistic result when Roy cons the most shrewd character in the group with a childish lie. Roy is untrained in the Bluff skill, which means he didn't put any ranks in this skill. Fortunately for him, a roll of 20 on the skill check allows him to get away with it.

Strip 140: My Little Pony

• Panel 1: The official D&D rules allow characters to ride mounts without any ranks in the Ride skill. But, for the sake of realism, some DMs will rule that at least 1 rank is required for basic riding.
• Panel 9: Each class has "class skills", meaning those characters are suited to perform well in those skills. Other skills are called "cross-class skills" for this class: They're usable, but with stiff limitations.

Strip 143: Do-Over

• The strip spoofs a typical conversation between a D&D Dungeon Master and players. The DM, playing the monsters, declares a surprise round after rolling failed Spot checks for the characters. The players, voiced here by Haley and Roy, claim that the horses should get rolls, too. The DM, voiced by the monsters, reluctantly lets that pass, while complaining about this discussion slowing the game down. The whole thing turns out to be for nothing as the horses fail their checks too.
• Panel 11: Non-American readers might not recognize the call-out to the hugely popular Oprah Winfrey Show.

Strip 144: Pop Goes the Weasel

• As a class, the fighter knows how to do battle, but virtually nothing else. It's hard for a weaponless fighter to do anything useful. Leaving town without any weapon at all is a big mistake.

Strip 145: Mr(s). Wizard Explains It All

• Vaarsuvius is exposing a classic case of "meta-gaming", where the character acts in a seemingly illogical way, only because the player knows the dynamics of the game. A random encounter is a fight with monsters without any relation to the plot. Most DMs plan for few of them, so that the game doesn't fall into a string of pointless battles. Exploiting this, V uses spells without any thought of economy.
• Panel 11: "Knowing is half the battle" is the final line in episodes of the 1980s G.I. Joe animated TV series.

Strip 146: Role Reversal

• Panel 2: A typical D&D party will stop to rest, no matter the actual time of the day, whenever their resources are running low, especially spells, which can be renewed after a night of sleep. This brings the full party's power to every important fight, but causes a weird cycle of activity, sometimes known as the "5-minute adventuring day" because spells can get exhausted very quickly in a fight.
• Panel 7: The gag here is that Belkar, usually the most irresponsible and carefree party member, is totally correct in this instance.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Alright, everyone! So after several persons not only contributing through messages, but asking that I revitalize the project, I'm back from Hiatus! Which means we have all three of my projects are listed as active once again...I'm...hoping it sticks, but it wont without the help of you guys! Remember guys, refer to the format of the first 400 entries when submitting entries, as well as try and keep the wording as simple as possible. For example link to the source rather than quoting the source, etc. It definitely makes my job easier! So welcome back guys! Now to see what I need to catch up on....

[Gwynfrid]

[Slowly wakes from long slumber]

Hey there! Good to see you taking this up again. I just re-read my year-plus-old contribution, and found a couple of typos (including a bad one where I forgot the word "not"). Please give me a bit of time to fix it before you copy it into the top posts. I'll also adjust to your format template. I think I'll be able to do that over the week-end, and maybe add a couple new annotations.

... Also, if I may, two minor quibbles about the format:
- I'm not keen on the phrase "we see that..." It's repetitive, and doesn't add much. I'll go for a more direct descriptive style myself, if you don't mind.
- Why call the strip "updates"? It's an odd term, and longer than necessary. The archive page just call the strips them by their number without further ado. At most, a "#" marker would do. Just my $0.02.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

[Slowly wakes from long slumber]

Hey there! Good to see you taking this up again. I just re-read my year-plus-old contribution, and found a couple of typos (including a bad one where I forgot the word "not"). Please give me a bit of time to fix it before you copy it into the top posts. I'll also adjust to your format template. I think I'll be able to do that over the week-end, and maybe add a couple new annotations.

... Also, if I may, two minor quibbles about the format:
- I'm not keen on the phrase "we see that..." It's repetitive, and doesn't add much. I'll go for a more direct descriptive style myself, if you don't mind.
- Why call the strip "updates"? It's an odd term, and longer than necessary. The archive page just call the strips them by their number without further ado. At most, a "#" marker would do. Just my $0.02.

I have no idea why I called them updates originally. My Transcription calls them strips, so I assume I'll just make it that. I don't like the # format, it just seems less...professional? I know an odd term. Even if it would save me some characters. I'm also considering bumping this into a new forum thread just because this one is so old and outdated, and the OP is in dire need of expansion. I was hoping you would be back! I'll hold off on inputting your list. I've got a bunch to catch up on as well. If you can suggest what I can do to get rid of my "we see that"s in my posts, I'll be sure to edit them out. I appreciate your help as always!

Edit:
They were called updates? I don't know what you're talking about!

[Hardcore]

Comic 828 - Name of comic is an Allusion to the Sherlock Holmes novel "A study in scarlet".

[Gwynfrid]

A bunch of new annotations from 147 to 200.

Spoiler

Show

Strip 147: The Light at the End of the Tunnel

• Panel 1: The roaches make a Smurfs reference.
• Panel 2: Redcloak explains the nature of the phylactery, a powerful device that a lich uses to protect his spirit. As long as the phylactery exists, a lich can't be truly destroyed. This will become a critical plot point in strip 462 and later.
• Panel 5: "He shoots, he scores" is a classic catchphrase in hockey commentary.

Strip 148: Hobgoblins and You

• Panel 10: One might be led to believe that Xykon makes a reference to the TV series, Orange is the New Black. However, the strip was made several years before the TV show aired, or before the book it is based on was published. In fact, expressions such as "X is the new black", originating in the fashion industry, have been in existence since at least the 1980s.

Strip 149: Cultural Differences

• Panel 7: Redcloak murders the goblin with a powerful spell, Slay Living - the name explains it all.

Strip 150: A Comic as Lovely as a Tree

• Panel 1: "Local" with a number attached would be a typical name for a trade union group in the United States.
• Panel 8: Durkon tries to explain his irrational fear of trees with D&D battle statistics which are correct, and impressive, save for the fact that trees can't attack.
• Panel 11: Durkon makes a reference to the philosophical question, "if a tree falls alone in the forest, does it make a sound?"

Strip 155: Time is On My Side

• This strips spoofs a D&D trope: Wizards usually have familiars, but they don't come into play very often, since they are feeble for combat purposes. So, the wizard player typically remembers the familiar's existence only when it's needed, giving the impression of a disappearing act.

Strip 155: Time is On My Side

• Panel 9: Haley exhibits what happens in D&D games when there's downtime: The DM simply skips over the uninteresting hours of the day. The joke comes from the character understanding game table dynamics as real things happening in her own world.

Strip 158: The Economics of Banditry

• Panel 4: To maintain game balance, D&D rules have guidelines for the value of characters' gear (mostly, magical equipment enhancing their powers) depending on level. Only high-level character will have the most powerful and expensive magical equipment. Haley is broadly correct: Considering the prices of goods as listed in the rules, it would be difficult for bandits in large numbers to survive solely by preying on adventuring groups they can realistically beat.
• Panel 10: Haley has a typical player reaction, being dismissive of any but the most powerful non-player characters (NPC). Unwise, in this instance.

Strip 161: Captives

• Panel 1: Haley is referring to the paladin's iconic power to Smite Evil.

Strip 165: Hangin' Around

• Panel 10: Surprise would allow archer rogue to use Sneak Attack, making them much more dangerous to Roy.

Strip 166: Wolverine, Eat Your Heart Out

• Panel 2: By D&D rules, characters can perform a certain number of actions (one move action and one standard action) in a round of combat, plus any number of free actions, such as speaking. Around a game table, a round of combat (which is supposed to last 6 seconds) will often include long discussions between players, stretching the cridibility of this rule. The conversation between Haley, Roy and V is an example of this. In accordance to the rules, their enemies are left waiting during that time.

Strip 167: Don't Question the Color of the Bag

• Panel 1: The Rapid Shot feat allows the archer to fire an additional arrow in the same round, at the expense of accuracy.

Strip 168: Running on Empty

• Panel 7: The DC is the Difficulty Class of the spell's saving throw. Samantha is very powerful, and Haley's saving throw failed against her high DC.

Strip 169: The Enemy of My Enemy is a Tree

• Panel 2: The Silent Spell feat allows a cast to use a spell without uttering the magic incantations, while a Still Spell eschews the magic gestures. Without those feats, a tied up and gagged sorcerer is powerless.

Strip 170: He's Still a Dwarf at Heart

• Panel 10: "WWTD?" ("What Would Thor Do?") is a spoof on the Christian moral exhortation, "What Would Jesus Do?", often shortened to "WWJD?"

Strip 171: The Prisoner Dilemma

• Panel 2: The Sense Motive skill lets a character assess others' intentions and discern lies.
• Panel 10: Belkar refers to the 8th amendment of the US constitution.

Strip 172: Cure Moderate Hurt Feelings

• Panel 2: In D&D rules, characters abilities change when they age, as reflected in Age Category ranges.

Strip 173: It Is Always Exactly Where They Intend It to Be

• Panel 1: Elan is right: The horses were totally ignored and went off-panel ever since the bandit ambush in strip 151, and we never saw the Order dropping them off.
• Panel 1: This horse park is severely overpriced, considering that 5 silver (worth half a gold) will buy meals in a basic quality inn for a day.

Strip 174: Interlude of Dooooooom!

• Panel 5: The unfortunate Mr Real Blacksmith (see strip 142) recounts his ordeal at the hands of Nale and Thog, but coincidentally, his description applies to Elan and Roy.
• Panel 6: Miko is speaking with Gortok the Destroyer from the Barbarian Guild in strip 132. Miko is holding the same pamphlet that Belkar was given in strip 132.
• Panel 8: This is the weasel from strip 144.

Strip 175: Darn You to Hex

• Panel 2: In the early days of D&D, all maps were drawn on a hexagon pattern, reflecting the games origins in tactical wargames. In panel 6, V explains the technical advantages of that pattern over a more basic square pattern.
• Panel 9: This new monster is a hag, with magical powers to call hexes (or curses) on opponents.

Strip 176: Leaping Lizards

• Panel 2: Roy realizes the inherent disadvantage of the hex pattern: Straight runs are a lot harder to assess unless one is moving in one of the 6 hex directions.
• Panel 4: Belkar's use of the rage ability shows that he indeed took a level of barbarian.
• Panel 7: Roy quotes one of the most quirky rules of the game: It's possible to roll high enough on a long jump that the jump's distance is longer than what the character can move in one round. In that case, movement ends in the next round.
• Panel 10: This is the result of the hag's hex in panel 2.

Strip 177: Ch-ch-ch-changes

• Panel 12: Belkar tries and fails to resolve the mystery of Vaarsuvius's gender ambiguity.

Strip 178: The Early Bird Catches the Wizard

• Panel 1: Somatic components are the gestures necessary to cast the vast majority of spells. V finds only 3 exceptions in the spellbook.
• Panel 3: Generations of players have considered Hold Portal to be one of the least useful spells in the game.
• Panel 11: Blackwing fails to recognize his master, and will only realize his error in strip 714.

Strip 179: Liar, Liar

• Panel 14: Vaarsuvius quotes Emperor Palpatine in Return of the Jedi.

Strip 180: Falling for You

• Panel 1: Roy shuts down any discussion of the imaginary giants guarding the place.
• Panel 3: Like a wizard, a bard is an arcane caster (as opposed to clerics and druids who are divine casters). The bard is a much less powerful caster than the wizard, but of course there are other reasons for V to dismiss Elan's effectiveness. Nevertheless, Elan uses his Inspire Competence bardic ability.

Strip 181: Cursing the Darkness

• Panel 1: Elan uses his Inspire Competence bardic ability in a completely useless manner.
• Panel 3: The Spellcraft skill is used to identify magical effects.
• Panel 5: Magical darkness can be so deep that it foils the dwarf's darkvision ability.

Strip 182: Probability

• Panel 7: The dragon has a very high Will save bonus, but V is counting on the fact that a natural roll of 1 is always a failure.

Strip 186: Return of the Elf

• Panel 8: Problably because it is shocked by the Disintegrate spell and the end of the Suggestion effect, the dragon sings a classic nursery rhyme.

Strip 188: A Matter of Perspective

• Panel 5: This is a spoof on the magazine, Playboy.
• Panel 6: V will only fully understand the implications of this in strip 628.

Strip 189: Tied Up Nicely

• Panel 12: The Gather Information skill is a shortcut for finding out things the characters need to know, without going into the roleplaying of finding knowledgeable people and asking them for information. The cloaked character (Miko, who will be revealed in strip 200) isn't any good at diplomacy, as we can see here.

Strip 191: Dungeon Real Estate

• Panel 1: Rocky Road is a flavor of ice cream, popular in the USA.
• Panel 3: Xykon is referring the fact that any dungeon in a D&D scenario is always filled with monsters, often without any story connection.

Strip 192: Everything Sits Better on a Ritz

• Panel 4: Spell Resistance is an ability of many powerful monsters. As the name indicates, it makes them impervious to magic, depending on a die roll that can be difficult except for very high level casters.

Strip 194: You Light Up My Life

• Panel 2: The D&D Monster Manual has a great many more Evil than Good monsters, precisely for the reason Xykon points out.
• Panel 4: The Lantern Archons are quoting from DC Comic's Green Lantern. It's the oath that Hal Jordan, one of the incarnations of Green Lantern, commonly used to charge his ring.
• Panel 4: The "Kyle" the Demon Roach is talking about is Kyle Raynor, one of the other incarnations of the Green Lantern.
• Panel 8: Normally, characters get Experience Points (XP) for deafeating monsters, in whatever fashion. Usually, this means killing them, or making them flee. Here, the MITD's "method" is certainly novel.

Strip 195: Book Nook

• Panel 1: The dead silver dragon will be reanimated as a zombie dragon and reappear in strip 428.
• Panel 5: The Tome of Clear Thought is a very powerful magical item. Reading it will permanently raise the reader's Intelligence score. Xykon contrasts it with Dianetics, which isn't real science.

Strip 196: The Diary

• The events that Xykon and Redcloak are referring to are recounted in Start of Darkness.

Strip 198: The Great Kazoo

• Panel 5: A Bag of Holding can store a huge amount of stuff, without actually increasing in weight.
• Panel 11: The is a different Perform skill for every musical instrument or artistic performance type (Perform (Comedy), Perform (Dance), Perform (String Instruments), etc), and a number of different Knowledge skills covering different fields (Knowledge (Nature), Knowledge (Engineering), etc). Of course, the ones Roy mentions are jokes.

Strip 199: It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

• Panel 5: Chicken Little is a classic folk tale, also known as Henny Penny in the UK.
• Panel 7: Elan states that it only ever rains when someone tries to kill someone else, someone is revealed to be a traitor, or someone kisses someone for the first time. Strip 200 shows us that all three of Elan’s statements seem to happen.

Strip 200: The Confrontation
Elan says in strip 199 that only three things happen when it rains - someone tries to kill someone else, someone is revealed to be a traitor, or someone kisses someone for the first time. This strip shows all three of these predictions come true:

• In page 4, last panel; Miko tries to kill Roy.
• In page 2, panel 4; Durkon seems to be betraying the group.
• In page 3, panel 4; Haley kisses Elan on the cheek, which is the first time she kisses him.

Other notes:

• Page 1, panel 4: A tanglefoot bag is an alchemical preparation. The contents spill over the targeted creature, instantly hardening and hampering movement, including that necessary for spellcasting. Several of V's spells will fizzle in this fight.
• Page 2, panel 1: As a paladin, Miko has an intelligent mount, loyal to her.
• Page 2, panel 2: Grappling is a combat maneuver to restrain your opponents. Large creatures, such as a horse, have a bonus on the roll, while Small creatures such as the halfling Belkar have a penalty. The rules don't make a distinction for creatures having no hands, so the not-very-realistic tactic of getting a horse to grapple soemone is technically valid.
• Page 2, panel 9: Elan remarks that Miko took no damage from the fireball. Like Haley, Miko has the Evasion ability: If she makes her Reflex save, she takes no damage at all from such an attack, while other characters take half damge on a successful save. Evasion isn't a paladin ability, which means Miko has levels in another class.
• Page 3, panel 6: Belkar's Wild Empathy ability, from the ranger class, would allow him to befriend a normal animal, but not a magically bonded paladin mount such as Windstriker.
• Page 3, panel 11: Flanking is a tactic by which two can attack someone on either side. This provides a bonus to the attack roll, and opens the possibility of Sneak Attack for rogues.
• Page 4, panel 4: Miko uses Stunning Fist (or Kick), a monk ability. Haley is Stunned, and can't attack for one round.
• Page 4, panel 4: "I am Henry the 8th, I am" is a British music hall song
• Page 4, panel 11: Miko is using the Smite Evil paladin ability. It would do a lot of additional damage... If Roy's alignment were evil, which it isn't.

[Cizak]

Strip 148: Hobgoblins and You[*]Panel 10: Xykon makes a reference to the TV series, Orange is the New Black.

Eight years before it started airing?

[Gwynfrid]

Eight years before it started airing?

A valid objection

Discounting the possibility Rich could be a future psychic, the correct explanation has to be that "X is the new black" has been common for a much longer time. I edited accordingly.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Heads up folks I just reformatted all the current entries, and reorganized them into separate posts for each grouping of 100. I've also added an index on the first post to assist with navigation, and I'll be posting a link to each post within each post so its easier to flip from one to the next!

Eight years before it started airing?

While Orange is the New Black is a book as well, I would likely be changing that annotation to Orange is the new Green is a reference to the cliché known as "Snowclone" where a common etymology would be phrased in the form of "X is the new black".

[Gwynfrid]

While Orange is the New Black is a book as well, I would likely be changing that annotation to Orange is the new Green is a reference to the cliché known as "Snowclone" where a common etymology would be phrased in the form of "X is the new black".

Done. I did mention the book (it's also more recent than the strip) and the expression "is the new black". I didn't go as far as the "snowclone" idea, which is too meta for our purposes, imo.

[Ron Miel]

#117 Whatchootalkin' 'bout, Redcloak?
A catchphrase from the TV show Diffr'ent Strokes. Frequently said by Arnold (Gary Coleman)



#119 http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0119.html
Panel 1 - "Game over, man. Game over." Its a quote from Aliens.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsx2vdn7gpY


#127 http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0127.html
- Elan's staff is topped with a magic 8 ball
- V's breakfast is the vegetarian option.


#144 http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0144.html
"Hi-ho Silver" a quote from The Lone Ranger
"ye have chosen ... poorly" A quote from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.


#152 http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0152.html
Panel 3 is a reference to the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC where 300 Spartans defended against a much larger invasion force of Persians. The historian Herodotus writes that when Dienekes, a Spartan soldier, was informed that Persian arrows would be so numerous as "to block out the sun", he retorted, unconcerned: "So much the better...then we shall fight our battle in the shade."

The film 300 includes a version of the event. This strip pre-dates the film, therefore is not a reference to the film.

See also notes for strip#425.



#425 http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0425.html
"But I don't want to fight in the shade"
Another reference to the Battle of Thermopylae. See notes for strip#152 for details.