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

[aurilee]

CANON.

Rube using capitalization and punctuation is his Azula voice. I think he'll get out of being all lowercase eventually.

But then will he start speaking like Azula? (which in my mind means sounding intimidating and angry all the time)

Also, Motormouth Rick sounds so fun, I think it calls for another Fun Jim session!

[eschmenk]

Rube using capitalization and punctuation is his Azula voice. I think he'll get out of being all lowercase eventually.

I don't think that's quite it. At the end of the Aang story, he seemed to drop capitalization when he was worried or unsure or uncomfortable, otherwise, he used capitalization. Being Azula didn't seem to have much to do with it, other than she was normally sure of herself or maybe he was comfortable being her. When he was nice and invited Rick over to explain Manny's childhood to Rick, Rube was using capitalization correctly, even though that was definitely not an Azula moment, for example. That seem to continue into the Danganronmpa story. (He used correct capitalization part of the time as Jack's alternate personality, for example.) Maybe the lack of capitalization is a sign that he's edging closer to not talking at all? [ADDED: See below]

But then will he start speaking like Azula? (which in my mind means sounding intimidating and angry all the time)

When he has a character to play? Maybe without one, he's uncomfortable?

ADDED: I'm not very familiar with autism, but perhaps because of his autism he has to make a conscious effort to say things with the proper inflection and tone of voice. Maybe the lack of capitalization is an indication that he's not doing that? Apparently, sometimes people with autism can speak in a very flat voice or unnatural sounding voice. The lack of capitalization would somewhat match that -- the words are there, but it's still not quite "right".

BTW, I just read the new Korra stuff, at least what's in my RSS feed. It looks very good so far!

[JohanOfKitten]

This table is like a weird religious sect and Allie doesn't see it yet : Because the table is dark and fouled by dice roll

It's nice to see their fear of Praxis, to the point that any dice roll app is a source of terror.


Rube is a nice munchkin here. 39 dice... He really wanted to win this game badly.
I don't quite understand Allie's "hmmm". Is she jealous of Rube because he was badass and she couldn't be that badass earlier, even with all her avatar's power? Or is this something else?

[moossabi]

Or is this something else?

Makorra/Rullie?

[Comissar]

So... This might not be the kindest thing to say, but I kinda feel like the table would be an all around happier place without Mac being there. I also feel like Mac would be happier not playing with this group. Their goals for what they want from games, and Mac's dynamic with everyone else, just really feels like they're being forced together. Mac's got this history of being really unpleasant to deal with, and has shown no interest in developing characters beyond their stats. This latest strip kinda drives that home for me with Mac's derisive 'Ms. Millenial' comment. She apparently has a low opinion of Allie, one that doesn't seem to have any foundation in reality that I can see (other than Allie having fun where she isn't, Mac can be quite spiteful at times), and Rick's made it pretty clear that Korra's gonna be the focus here. So, we've had Mac leave Katara behind (which, admittedly, we knew would happen simply because that's what happens in LoK), but also deliberately avoid introducing Asami, which all just makes me ask 'Why is she still here?'

[Urzamax]

@Comissar: Yes, the table probably would be a happier place without Mac. But...I don't think Mac would be happier without the table. We've never seen her away from the Gaang, true, but from the evidence given to us it seems to me like D&D is Mac's way of escaping her mundane, and possibly rather difficult, daily life. It also appears to me that Gaang might, frankly, be her only real friends.

You also have to remember that Allie is new to the table, and much younger than Mac and the others, yet she's claimed the starring role and, despite not listening to Mac's advice, is doing quite well in it so far. That is bound to cause some contention. I can also attest firsthand that having a new DM and using a new ruleset tends to shake things up, to put it mildly, and there's always an adjustment period included in that. Mac seems to be an extremely negative person, generally speaking, and she doesn't do well with change or with losing control. You know, no one ever asked her to DM the new Avatar saga, despite her previous long-standing position at the table. By our perspective, this is obviously a good thing, but someone in Mac's shoes would likely see it the other way.

I found Allie's use of the airbender stance compared to Mac's (and Rick's reaction compared to Manny's) to be a fine illustration of these changes. Mac used it simply to get her numbers up, without asking permission or advice, and was called a munchkin because of it (frankly, Mac teeters on the edge of Munchkin Land, but she didn't really fall into it until the bloodbending thing). Allie, on the other hand, gets the same mechanical benefits out of it, but her way of doing and the thought process which is seemingly behind it is very different. And Rick complimented her, but never did the same for Mac. I think Mac sees that, and resents it.
(Apologies if I'm rambling a bit. It's just past midnight here.)

[eschmenk]

I think that Mac is such a nerd that she's probably faced a lot of rejection, so now she pushes people away from her before they have a chance to hurt her. Since social interactions don't do her much good, she concentrates on developing her strengths, which means logic, programming, math. Still, that leaves her lonely, frustrated and unhappy, so she can be sullen and snippy. Either that, or she's just mean, but I don't really think she's just mean. The fact that she made Praxis shows us how lonely she is, I think.

I'd say her munchkin behavior goes beyond bloodbending. She was always the person who wanted to attack and loot an innocent village just because they could. I think the reason she rejects rollplaying is because it's the social aspect of the game, but social interactions tended to not work well for her in RL. What does work well for her is math and optimization, so that's what she emphasizes in the game.

[Urzamax]

HA! I hadn't thought that W&W's Harry would be our Fun Jim! Very clever.

[laserswords]

Very cool, I dig!! I hadn't seen this comic before, that's a goodun. :D

[Urzamax]

"If Manny could see this, he'd be very proud of you as a DM."
Compliment or Insult?

Edit: Apparently Rick's been leaning rather heavily on Mac for his combat NPC designs, based on how well these fellows are doing.

[eschmenk]

"If Manny could see this, he'd be very proud of you as a DM."
Compliment or Insult?

Shelby gets bored easily. She enjoyed the difficulty of the Manny's sessions and is enjoying this current development, so I think it was a compliment. I think Mac is the only person who is grumbling.

[Urzamax]

Speaking of Mac, it's starting to look like that she is to Shadowrun as Shelby is to D&D, albeit within the greater restrictions of the system.

[JohanOfKitten]

"It's big... it's really huge."

Rick and descriptions

Maybe he'lll get it better with time

[eschmenk]

*Must resist the temptation to go political*

[Shogo]

This is truly horrifying.

Interpret that as you will.

[Sapphire Guard]

Hmm. I love the equalist arc partly because they have some legitimate grievances, but now it seems unlikely they'll go that route. Awww.

[Urzamax]

Hmm. I love the equalist arc partly because they have some legitimate grievances, but now it seems unlikely they'll go that route. Awww.

Given that these PCs almost certainly wouldn't give a darn about the Equalist's legitimate grievances (with the possible exception of Allie), Rick's doing the most effective thing for them.

[DeadpanSal]

What, these are totally legitimate grievances! NPCs are player characters too!

[JohanOfKitten]

I hope some really big twist at the end of book 1, like "Amon is Mai's secret son, full of hatred for PCs for having been neglected by Zuko, fueled by his mother's old grievances about NPC consideration.
It could be fun

[Urzamax]

Ah, the good ol' "That wasn't supposed to happen" of your first few boss fights. And basically all the ones after that, too, of course. The hard ones are all OHKO's, and the easy ones are all TPKs.

[Shogo]

Well, Mac's not wrong about Asami being hot. Like, damn, Asami is and was distractingly hot, and Mako seriously screwed up when he managed to utterly bungle things with both Korra and Asami.

[Urzamax]

1: More of a love quadrangle, though I suppose Damien/Bolin doesn't know that yet.
2: I wonder if the module-movies (Ravenloft 3, etc) that Damien names are popular/considered standard fare within the universe, or if that's just what the table knows best.
If we take things to the logical extreme, given that all the many and various screencap comics riff on movies/TV Shows (which thus don't exist in-universe), and also the existence of people like Mary Weers and Shelby Brady as full-fledged gaming celebrities who can live off their name and exploits, suggests that TRPG stuff is an even bigger business than in real life, and possibly even a/the driving force in popular culture.
Thoughts? And of course, there's a big red Disclaimer here too: This might just be filtered through the medium by which we experience the world; that is, an RPG table with some seriously hardcore players who basically live and breath the game.

[JohanOfKitten]

Thoughts? And of course, there's a big red Disclaimer here too: This might just be filtered through the medium by which we experience the world; that is, an RPG table with some seriously hardcore players who basically live and breath the game.

I think it's more that : a filter, due to the whole comic revolving around the table of some hardcore gamers.

in some Allie's speechs, we can see that rpg is not trend (at least not more than in our world) and she dismissed Rick's first attempt to take her in the game, saying, and I quote
"What? No! Ugh, lame! Snoozeville!", "Gage me, like for real! Like totes to the nines for real!", "Super italics and blod on fleek no!", ... "No."
And lately, she's made some references to the fact she's lying to her classmates about the game and when she talked (in last update), that she was almost caught reading RPG module pdf, it may not be some teacher she was hiding it from.

[kreenlover]

Thoughts? And of course, there's a big red Disclaimer here too: This might just be filtered through the medium by which we experience the world; that is, an RPG table with some seriously hardcore players who basically live and breath the game.

I think it's more that : a filter, due to the whole comic revolving around the table of some hardcore gamers.

in some Allie's speechs, we can see that rpg is not trend (at least not more than in our world) and she dismissed Rick's first attempt to take her in the game, saying, and I quote
"What? No! Ugh, lame! Snoozeville!", "Gage me, like for real! Like totes to the nines for real!", "Super italics and blod on fleek no!", ... "No."
And lately, she's made some references to the fact she's lying to her classmates about the game and when she talked (in last update), that she was almost caught reading RPG module pdf, it may not be some teacher she was hiding it from.

I think we can probably also assume that it is bigger than in this world. We don't get D&D movies (or if we do, they are rare and bad, or supposed to scare us off D&D), there is this mysterious Enforcer stealing IPs, and we have Shelby and Manny able to just travel around doing RPG stuff, seemingly as their sources of income.

But yah, still not super huge or mainstream, based on Allie's comments. It could also be that Allie belongs to a subset of non-nerdy people, the way that nerdy people are themselves a subset in our world. A nerd, often (though not always) would be opposed to doing something like, say, American tackle Football, the same way that a jock will often (though not always) be opposed to RPGs.

[Randomguy]

1: More of a love quadrangle, though I suppose Damien/Bolin doesn't know that yet.

Quadrangle? I'd say there's at least a 60% chance that Allie and Rube develop some out of character romance subplot, moving it up to 4 characters and 4 players romantically entangled. So... N-Drangle? Unless the player ships mirror the in character ships, which seems likely, then it would be a quadrangle I guess.

I think we can probably also assume that it is bigger than in this world. We don't get D&D movies (or if we do, they are rare and bad, or supposed to scare us off D&D), there is this mysterious Enforcer stealing IPs, and we have Shelby and Manny able to just travel around doing RPG stuff, seemingly as their sources of income.

Based on the "big enough that people can travel around to conventions but not big enough to be mainstream" we could estimate that the tabletop rpg scene in the comic verse is about as big as the Magic the Gathering scene IRL.

[JohanOfKitten]

I think we can probably also assume that it is bigger than in this world. We don't get D&D movies (or if we do, they are rare and bad, or supposed to scare us off D&D), there is this mysterious Enforcer stealing IPs, and we have Shelby and Manny able to just travel around doing RPG stuff, seemingly as their sources of income.

Good point. There's never a mention of some part-job to keep up financialy during the trip. It may be just something aside and not develop on screen, but we can assume that they're able to live out of gaming.






On another subject, I seen some LOK gifs on tumblr lately and it make me think of an idea that popped in my mind when Lex remake Sokka and invent with Shelby the "Knowledge : Batman".
Lex kept shooting "Shelby, knowledge : Batman !" and she made his character do amazing stuff.

There's a nice parallel in LOK, with Varrick that keeps shooting "Zhu Li, do the thing !" and Zhu Li that follow (amazingly) the erratic train of thought of Varrick and do the right thing, and quite well.

Well, the Lexby dynamic have evolved since, but I hope there'll be some parallel when it will come in the comic.

[Shogo]

Well, that's certainly a, "Wait. What?", moment if there ever was one.

I'm just hitting back over and over again trying to find this shoutout in the tags. Then I can look at the comic with the shoutout and try to figure out what it means.

I'll also say that Mac already seems to be quite a bit better than she was with Katara. Even if her calling someone a ragamuffin is weird. Like, possessed by the restless spirit of somebody's grandma weird. An exorcism might be necessary. Just saying.

[DeadpanSal]

I hope some really big twist at the end of book 1, like "Amon is Mai's secret son, full of hatred for PCs for having been neglected by Zuko, fueled by his mother's old grievances about NPC consideration.
It could be fun

Yeah, that would make a lot of sense...

1: More of a love quadrangle, though I suppose Damien/Bolin doesn't know that yet.
2: I wonder if the module-movies (Ravenloft 3, etc) that Damien names are popular/considered standard fare within the universe, or if that's just what the table knows best.
If we take things to the logical extreme, given that all the many and various screencap comics riff on movies/TV Shows (which thus don't exist in-universe), and also the existence of people like Mary Weers and Shelby Brady as full-fledged gaming celebrities who can live off their name and exploits, suggests that TRPG stuff is an even bigger business than in real life, and possibly even a/the driving force in popular culture.
Thoughts? And of course, there's a big red Disclaimer here too: This might just be filtered through the medium by which we experience the world; that is, an RPG table with some seriously hardcore players who basically live and breath the game.

1. No one liked the love tetrahedron!
2. According to the TV Tropes page, all of the movies are modules and all of the modules are movies in this world. And Allie is really the only look we get of the outside world where D&D is still looked down on by the mainstream and she doesn't tell her cheerleader friends about the game. But I think Mary Weers might make the game into a bigger world event than it is in real life.

Well, that's certainly a, "Wait. What?", moment if there ever was one.

I'm just hitting back over and over again trying to find this shoutout in the tags. Then I can look at the comic with the shoutout and try to figure out what it means.

I'll also say that Mac already seems to be quite a bit better than she was with Katara. Even if her calling someone a ragamuffin is weird. Like, possessed by the restless spirit of somebody's grandma weird. An exorcism might be necessary. Just saying.

Nah, you haven't been given a shoutout before. But everyone on the forum gets one when they say something cool.

[JohanOfKitten]

Yeah, that would make a lot of sense...

I'va a twisted mind

[Urzamax]

Good, Shelby finally talked some sense into Lex. Maybe now he'll stop overreacting at the slightest provocation. I mean, dude, I get that you're worried about Allie, but she's already shown you how tough she is, and frankly that encounter was really quite reasonable for her skill level and Avatar powers. Challenging, yes, but if Rick really wanted to kill her, he could easily have dropped two from the ceiling on either side to attack her simultaneously, pulled Tarlock away or killed him off, and constantly cycled in backup. Maybe even get tricky with secret passages and such so they'd be coming out of the walls.

And also, yes, that is exactly how Shadowrun works, heh.