D&D Aangvanced (Avatar: The Last Airbender Screencap Comic)

[eschmenk]

So can someone explain how you can be a "pro" at something like this?

I think it's the same way an app on a tablet can become a scifi AI villain. The players don't live in the same universe as we do. Things are different for them. Players can do things in that universe that actually make their dice get better rolls.

Some things you just go along with, rather than questioning it. For example, Micha just said, "It's just a fun dice trick. I don't want anyone abusing it," even though he used the "fun dice trick" to win a major tournament.

[DeadpanSal]

"I don't want anyone [but me!] abusing it."

"I'm Lawful Good! I'm above most rules!"

[JohanOfKitten]

This messed up world is more and more interesting!
People are having serious issues here.


About shuting down the campaign, I've some theories about the how and why.
In this world, it seems the tables and the campaigns are public. People have heard of this one, or of the masterbuilding of some players, or the evil manners of some DMs. It's like they're having all some kind of "public face" in the roleplaying sphere. Playing in your basement with some friends at a homebrew campaign of your own, with noone knowing about it doesn't seem to be a thing in this world.
Maybe the conventions are a way to "expose" campaigns, to show parties and gamers.

In this world, there seems to be some lawful behaviour toward universes and campaign settings. There's history behind, the DM has to respect it and its coherence.
We could almost believe there's some National Gamemaster Order, in which you should register to be seen as a good DM. This order has restrictions or lines of conduct.
In some weird metaphor, we can say the DMs in this world are some sorts of paladins of Roleplay. If they failed their code of conduct, they fall.

And that's where Mary Weers comes. She's some sort of self-proclaimed prophet or high-priestess. She claims the rules of the order for several faiths cults settings. With her editing company, she's buying settings, changing the rules as it pleased her. Therefore, the setting has to be her way. If someone is playing it differently, it's like some kind of heretic branch in a main religion. That people became rogue, avoided or despised. Even if someone is keeping up his own way, he will face difficulties at some point (If he play at a convention, people will point out that his feat is not RAW, or not canon. If a new player arrives at the table, he will argue that the magic system doesn't work like that for 2 editions now...)
When a setting is "unified" under Weer's command, players have 3 choices :
- Submit themselves to the new order and continue to play (in a Mary Weer's style )
- Stop playing this setting (therefore, we have tables shut down)
- Keep playing their way, to become outsiders and ignored.


Well, that's how I see the thing, vaguely. I may be wrong, but I least it make some sense in my head



Anyway, I'm eager to go back to LOK. But Manny is tickling my curiosity: what is there in North?
Maybe he needs to check behind the wall if some white collars walkers are coming to destroy gaming

[Kantaki]

So the RPG-community in this world is mostly lawful?
That doesn't sound like something I would enjoy.
Too chaotic.

But it could make sense.
Still sounds like they need a Rebellion. Who knows, maybe Manny will start it?
I'm pretty sure at least some groups would definitely join.*
Oh well, I guess we will have to wait and see.

But even if this is how it works I still can't see why it should stop people from playing.
(As I said: chaotic)
I mean unless the result of continuing your campaign after "loosing" it to Mrs. Weers is a that you are banned from any possible source of rulebooks and dice being unable to attend "official" games seems like a acceptable loss.

Okay, maybe Mrs. Weers is influential enough to enforce something like that (If a "banned" group aquires RPG-material through you you are banned too!), but again: Why should she? Why should she care what/how people play as long as they buy her stuff? And if she sells as much stuff as it seems they inevitably have too.

That would be like... whoever sells Monopoly forbidding people from buying their games because they use their own rules. Or play something else on the board. Like SimCity. Or Mario Kart.

As I said before: That would make her the queen in this crazy world.
Even taking the crossovers into account.

*Okay, I admit it, I want more crossovers.

Aunt Edith says:
Poor Allie... Having Mac as a DM should be interesting.
Oh well, I'm sure it will be fun.
For the readers at least...

[DeadpanSal]

Are the campaigns in this world all public? Maybe, maybe not. Manny's definitely is. He's talked about a forum and a podcast where he's posted recordings of everyone playing. And he seems to know how to visit specific tables. Maybe they're all on some kind of D20Facebook?

And Katanki is right. Rebellion! It's the only solution!

[JohanOfKitten]

Yeah ! Rebellion ! Anarchy !
Give back the freedom to the tables !







Saison 3 and 4 should be really interesting





Kantaki : you're right, it's an insane way to play, but I think it can be coherent, somehow.
I don't think every player is lawful and follow the rules edicted by Mary Weers.

And I don't think Mary Weers is banning people from buying RPG material. It's about public face, tournament and "professional" players.
As it seems in this world (and kinda confirm by Master of Aeon about the public face of the Avatar setting), RPg is a big thing and players aren't just a bunch of friends in their locality, but some public face in their domain. But to show what my views are, I'll start with our world :

Imagine RPG as sport*. If you have a ball and some friends, you can play football. You don't need a referee, or a soccer field, or a goal posts with proper dimensions. You just play with your friend. You twirk a bit the rules, to have fun with your friends, not bothering with the offside rule for example.
Let say you and your friends made up the street football.It became trendy and people play it as well, or watch videos online about it. Few years later, a sport federation acknowledges this as an official sport. Great ! Fame, success. Your sport is something big now. People will play it, accessories will be sold etc...
Damn, it's such a big thing that few years later, there's even the first international World Street Soccer Championships! But wait ? With your friend, you played it with 4 to 6 players in each team. It wasn't a big deal, you just adjust depending on how many you were. With your friends, you want to participate to the street soccer championship, but you're 6 and the official rules of the tournament is that it's for team of strictly 4 players.
And you had this awesome video on Youtube, where you use the sidewalk edge for a bounce effect to lure the goal, with a lot of likes : now, you're starting to have haters comment about how your move is not legal move and you should have given a penalty in true street soccer.

You can still play street football with your friends, but you don't fit legit competitions. If there's a competition in the holidaycamp you're in this summer, you have to follow the rules, or others players will start to complain. Sure, you can still go to a sport shop and buy soccer shoes and a ball, but continuing to claim your way of playing this sport is no longer doable (at least, not easily) and you won't be able to play as you like in competition : the rules aren't yours anymore.


If we go, instead of sport, take a look on Monopoly. Sure, you can play this boardgame as you like. You can gather your family and state an houserule about dealing with bankruptcy differently, because it's more fun for the one losing at the start of the game. It's nice, it's okay.
Now, you're in a party at college and people want to play the Monopoly. Good, that's your favorite boardgame ! The game starts, but you end up in bankruptcy and try to use your houserule, only to get a concert of yelling about cheating and not following the rules as stated in the game. You have to submit, or leave the game (with every one angry at you because leaving the game messed it up for the others).
Your town is organizing a "Games Fair". There are several boardgames, some RPG tables, medieval food. The town even makes some competitions, with small gains, to bring more people. Would you dare go to the Monopoly table, knowing that you won't be able to play it the way you always used to play it?


Now, back to RPG : even if it's a world of small tables of friends, each doing his things as he want, we already have somekind of generalisation on the way :
D&D has now the "Adventurers League". It's a way to create more table, around local stores or places, gathering people, DM and players, together. From what I know of it, you even can have your character going through the first scenario with a DM, then go to another table and keep going with this character. Nice, isn't it?
Well, from what I see, there other things. It's necessary to make it work as a whole community (I guess):
- Each player has an ID, used to record the session you played, the XP you gather, the loot you crave.
- The setting is Forgotten Realms. If an official book say something about a place, an event or so, deal with it: it's a statement of truth, it happened, period.
- The player guide states all the rules for the character creation. Starting level, points in caracteristics... fine. But also clarify which source book to use, and which one to forget about. It even go further, with statement like (and I quote) "NOTE: A character race that grants a fly speed at
1st level isn’t allowed for D&D Adventurers League play.". You can choose the alignement of your choice, but some are only if you accept to put your character in some factions.

Sure, when you start a campaign, the DM states some rules too. But here, we have some written in stone rules. People has to follow them to be part of the AL, no matter what the DM want or not.
Sure, it's not a totalitarism system, there's still some liberties to players and DMs, but we're on the way of what I think Mary Weers is doing.
Officialy, and for now, the player ID is use to subscribe to tables, keep track of the character's CV. But we can easily imagine how it could easily go further: As the DM or the Local AL organizer is allow to dismiss a "disruptive" player of a table (for now), why not keep track of this as well : we keep track of session done, so why not keeping track of session dismissed because of the disruptive player. All sudden, the player will have an "RPG criminal record" and the player will have difficulties to subscribe to other tables after that.

Maybe I'm a fatalist or a pessimist, but it's kinda already the case at some point:
The website Boardgamearena is a platform in which you can play online to (some) boardgames. It has an ELO ranking (like sports) for each game. But it has also another ranking: a disruptive player (quiting sessions when he's loosing, not playing in time, delaying the game etc...) as a bad personnal ranking. If you're creating a session for a game and someone arrive with a 62% ranking, with 6 games left in the last 30 games, you might want to take him out to let a player with better ranking come and play.

Still in the RPG in our actual world: gaming is not (yet) a thing you can live on, but the profile of "professional gamers" is emerging (like it was a decade or two for video games). Some groups are recording sessions on youtube, pod casts or on other live platforms. I guess they can make a bit of money of it, with publicity and all (donations, spin-off merchandises), as long as they have popularity. they're even invited (paid?) in convention. For example, we have Critical Role, Join the Party...
They won't necessarily make direct money of it, but the popularity is a huge part of their personal business. If one of them edits a book, a campaign guide, or play in a live show/movie, they will have a fanbase that give them support.

Imagine if they start to bend the rules and the game as they want. They start to play in an official setting, but distort it. A lot of people would care less and keep following them, but the internet is full of darkness and haters. People will start to bash them for using the setting or the rules wrongly. They could lose some fame, some fan. Imagine if some edition house start to make them lawsuits because they use copyright settings without permission or without respecting the framework ((That's a thing. In certain conditions, architects can sue the owner of a building for not following the purpose of the building or disregarding the artistic aspect of the building.))
When all your career is based on reputation, it can hurt a lot.



So, if Mary Weers is cold and tenacious, she's able to make so trouble, at least for convention and big tables.
It won't keep people to play as they want at home, but can be a mess nonetheless.

And with time, it can be harmful: imagine, if in a decade, Weers unify and standardize all the core books of games, what will happen?
For the old generation and people with the ancient books : not so much. They'll keep their ways.
But the new generation, the 15-20. They'll want to play, find RPG books in store. Nice! They read them, follow them, play with them... at the end, Weers will "win", because more and more gamers will palay it "her ways".
It's like in 1984 book. If you control the knowledge and make it work in your way, there'll be a time when people will grow and think that way.



Still, you're right Kantaki: a lot of gamers will "resist", continuing playing as they want. And the rebellion is on the rise


I'm eager too of more crossovers. It could be so much fun.





* : I'm not a specialist of street football, so some of my explanations might have mistakes about it, but the idea behind stands.

[Kantaki]

@JohanOfKitten:
As I said, to lawful for me.

And someone really has to explain to Mac why it is called a role playing game.
In simple terms. With short words. One or two syllables tops.

[JohanOfKitten]

@JohanOfKitten:
As I said, to lawful for me.

And someone really has to explain to Mac why it is called a role playing game.
In simple terms. With short words. One or two syllables tops.

Totally get it. It wouldn't be an issue for me either, just playing in my corner.



Poor players... Mackenzie is a terrible roleplayer

I really like the cabbage guy being Manny with his notes

[Kantaki]

It seems something went wrong with Lex' game.
Seems fishy.
I really hope Damien's mother isn't involved. That could get... ugly.
Best case she's going to publish a new game. Worst case ugly is a understatement.
The only question is would Mrs. Weers go against her own daughter to get her hands on a new game?
Oh who am I kidding. Of course she would.
The real question is how ruined the company of Damien's sister is.

But it seems Rube started a fight, I guess that should make at least Mac happy.

And I'm still amused by how exited Allie was about playing D&D.
At least until she saw who is the DM this time.
I mean it was already obvious that she was bluffing (badly) about the game being lame, but the contrast was still funny.

[Shogo]

Really wish Mac would get better. She's definitely someone who would kill my enthusiasm if I ever tried to get into tabletop rpg's, and she was what I had to work with as an intro to that kind of gaming.

[JohanOfKitten]

Shogo : I wish it too. I think (or hope I guess) that Rick (and the others, specially Allie) will help her to rediscover the roleplay and the fun through the campaign.

It seems something went wrong with Lex' game.
Seems fishy.
I really hope Damien's mother isn't involved. That could get... ugly.
Best case she's going to publish a new game. Worst case ugly is a understatement.
The only question is would Mrs. Weers go against her own daughter to get her hands on a new game?
Oh who am I kidding. Of course she would.
The real question is how ruined the company of Damien's sister is.

[Kantaki]

And someone really has to explain to Mac why it is called a role playing game.
In simple terms. With short words. One or two syllables tops.

Poor players... Mackenzie is a terrible roleplayer

I really like the cabbage guy being Manny with his notes

Really wish Mac would get better. She's definitely someone who would kill my enthusiasm if I ever tried to get into tabletop rpg's, and she was what I had to work with as an intro to that kind of gaming.

Still holds true.
That's all I have to say about today's comic.
Actually it's worse than what I expected.
That Mac can't even tell the difference between her character learning to drive and her learning the relevant rules is kinda sad.
I would have expected at least a "sure why not", assuming knowing she spend no time thinking about a backstory and stuff.

[DeadpanSal]

Korra Says: "I wonder how long it'll be before someone calls me up on speaking like this?"

And yet again, Comissar directly influences the comic.

[Comissar]

And yet again, Comissar directly influences the comic.

To be fair, that one was mostly a matter of time

[Kantaki]

I think the build Luke from Grandline 3.5 uses could go in a similar direction, assuming the comic ever gets that far.
Maybe not quite as extreme, but Luffy's various Gears definitely increase his fist's size by more than one category.

And now I kinda want to see a meeting between the GL3.5 guys and the D&D Aangvanced table. Just to see how it trainwrecks first, IC or OOC.

Seems I get my wish.

[Comissar]

Worth noting that, at this time, Mac is yet to talk in character as any of the NPC's while running this session. I forget if she's ever spoken in character when running a session previously.

[Freed]

I'm not 100% if this is actually super relevant to the comic, but we have our third Yaburu Muda winner now.

[DeadpanSal]

I wonder if Three Digit Torres can beat Micah's d-Infinity.

Also, I think Comissar's glitching out.

[Kantaki]

Sneaky Rick is sneaky.
At first I thought the lie was that he isn't at the university anymore, but considering he discusses it with Marty I guess my second thought is closer and he lied about having no time to dm to force Mac into the role.
I wonder if she can actually keep the no combat part going.
Who knows, it might be good for her roleplaying.

[eschmenk]

I wonder if she can actually keep the no combat part going.

Er, no. Rick gave Mac permission to have a combat on the previous page. He also told Mac to go easy on them, but it's Mac, after all.

[Kantaki]

Er, no. Rick gave Mac permission to have a combat on the previous page. He also told Mac to go easy on them, but it's Mac, after all.

How did I manage to miss that...

But I guess if Mac holds back it should be fine.
The players will be TPK'd thrice at worst.
No need to worry.
Now if she fails to restrain herself, then things will get interesting.

Aunt Edith says:
Yes Korra, going alone into the dark corridor, that's used by your enemies, without the party, is a great idea.
Not knowing Legend of Korra I expect this to end badly.
Just based on that being typical in situations like this and on Mac being DM.
Oh, and the fact that she's allowed to run one combat.
There's no way this won't end ugly.

[Freed]

I wonder if Three Digit Torres can beat Micah's d-Infinity.

Also, I think Comissar's glitching out.

That nickname for Sam is canon now.

[Kantaki]

And another Thing Mac has to learn. Holding back.
Unless this is her going easy on the players.
In that case:

That nickname for Sam is canon now.

Who?

[Freed]

And another Thing Mac has to learn. Holding back.
Unless this is her going easy on the players.
In that case:



Who?

The Third Muda winner, Sam Torres.

[Kantaki]

The Third Muda winner, Sam Torres.

That doesn't exactly help me.
A character from another comic?

[Freed]

Yeah, Sword Arts and Skill Points. I write it. There's a link at the bottom of my sig. Sorry I confused you.

[Kantaki]

Yeah, Sword Arts and Skill Points. I write it. There's a link at the bottom of my sig. Sorry I confused you.

Thanks.
Wait. That's the comic that has a (kinda) crossover with Grandline 3.5 right now, isn't it?
So it's your fault I have to read yet another webcomic?
Just kidding. Gonna give it look. The fun part will be drawing conclusions on the source material.

[DeadpanSal]

Yeah, Sword Arts and Skill Points. I write it. There's a link at the bottom of my sig. Sorry I confused you.

*gasp* I had no idea. You really should tell people when you're the author and not lurk like that!

[Kantaki]

In other news Mac and holding back isn't really a thing.
I hope Rick arrives before this gets ugly.

[JohanOfKitten]

In other news Mac and holding back isn't really a thing.
I hope Rick arrives before this gets ugly.

Damn right!
She's becoming really mean, specialy with Lex, and reminds me of Manny in the second book: right in the slippery slope of darkest DMing.