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

[aurilee]

Patience! Shelby's still working up to asking Lex out properly.

And it will be so rewarding when it does.

On the flipside, the Aang-Katara relationship is hilarious. The idea of Katara having Aang in her inventory is oddly cute.

I also fully approve of "Mannyfestation"

[Comissar]

Oh, I just got that they're all printers

Got it quicker than I did, Rick...

[DeadpanSal]

I'm glad we're back up to three pages a day. It's nice to see Rube playing someone other than Azula. He seems happier doing that. Too bad there's no scenes of Haru defeating Azula, or we'd have a good ending to this comic right here.

And Praxis and his band of freedom fighters: Jet, Laser, 3D, Toner, and Dot Matrix. They're all printer names. That may be the worst joke in the world.

[aurilee]

Yeah, it was the Dot Matrix that tipped me off before.

Rube naturally made his previous character a total badass and in the process gives him a brand new ability he just made up. Plus someone to talk for him. Rube may have his issues, but he's good.

[eschmenk]

Rube naturally made his previous character a total badass and in the process gives him a brand new ability he just made up. Plus someone to talk for him. Rube may have his issues, but he's good.

My impression is that Rube is the smartest and most well-rounded person at the table.

I'm noticing again that it appears that Rube knows that Rube (not Azula) is the person who revised Tsuki's character and is roleplaying both Tsuki and his uncle. Rick, are you noticing that?

One thing that's jumping out at me from the screencaps is how obvious it is that Katara really likes Tsuki. I could easily imagine that Mac would try to add another guy to her inventory immediately after adding Aang and I'm sure that the mention of diamonds and gems and the fact that he apparently managed to steal so much that he has a huge reward on his head made him look really good in Mac's eyes , but I'm wondering how that played out in the cartoon. I don't remember. In the cartoon, Aang only hallucinated that he kissed Katara, but it was obvious that he was attracted to her, and here she was obviously attracted to Tsuki in front of Aang. A jealous avatar might be a bad thing, but I don't remember that happening. I guess I could do more re-watching. Come to think of it, although I don't remember any screencaps that would support it, I could image this a cruel way for Rube to manipulate and hurt Mac.

[DeadpanSal]

I'm not sure that the Katara/Aang relationship ties in to how Rick or Mac feel about each other. In fact, against all odds it seems like this is the first real example of Mac roleplaying. But Mac's relationship with Rube as he played Tsuki was more supportive and mentoring. If she has romantic feelings for him, she hasn't shown any. Mac doesn't seem to show many of her emotions, actually. Except anger.

Come to think of it, although I don't remember any screencaps that would support it, I could image this a cruel way for Rube to manipulate and hurt Mac.

When Rube comes against the party, he tends to go for the weakest person at the table to eliminate. First, that was driving Lex into a depression. Then he followed up by attacking his brother's character. He was supposed to go after Rick/Aang by killing Appa too, but refused. Going with the content that's coming in this invasion arc, I'm worried about who Rube might zero in on this time.

[eschmenk]

I'm not sure that the Katara/Aang relationship ties in to how Rick or Mac feel about each other. In fact, against all odds it seems like this is the first real example of Mac roleplaying. But Mac's relationship with Rube as he played Tsuki was more supportive and mentoring. If she has romantic feelings for him, she hasn't shown any. Mac doesn't seem to show many of her emotions, actually. Except anger.

Mac is incredibly greedy, at least when she plays. She's the one who keeps wanting to do something completely merciless or unethical for the sake of increasing her loot. (Think of the way Haley seemed to be in OOTS.) I think the way Mac feels about Rick is shown in the bottom half of this page. I don't think the way Katara seems to be acting with Tsuki now is any different than what just happened with Aang. I think that the way Tsuki's uncle described Tsuki was intended to explain / make a joke out of Katara's interest in him. Katara is just reflecting Mac's greed. She's a very material girl this time around. At least, that's how I read it.

That greed could leave Mac very vulnerable, of course. That's why I was wondering if there will be more to it than just explaining Katara's behavior toward Tsuki. On second thought, I'm rather doubting it, but I wouldn't want to underestimate Rube, so I don't really know.

[aurilee]

My impression is that Rube is the smartest and most well-rounded person at the table.

I'm noticing again that it appears that Rube knows that Rube (not Azula) is the person who revised Tsuki's character and is roleplaying both Tsuki and his uncle. Rick, are you noticing that?

For sure. If anything these last few strips have shown that Rick is coddling Rube and underestimating his emotional/mental stability. Damien seems to understand Rube a lot better.

[Comissar]

Rick, no...

I was wondering how the Azula scene would play out here, looks like Rick's unintentionally goading Rube into a poor mind set (up until now, Rube seems to have been enjoying himself with the invasion). Also makes me wonder how the fight at the end between Azula/Zuko will play out. Given it's Damien, not Rick, who'll be facing off against Rube there, I imagine it'll be either heavy roleplay (plus Mac's rollplay), or Damien just genuinely understanding Rube and helping him as a friend rather than trying to fix him.

Speaking of Damien, and I know I'm a few pages late commenting on it, it seems getting told there's no space for his roleplay is pushing him back into his shell (based on his shift back to the relatively emotionless white bubbles).

[eschmenk]

Rick, no...

I was wondering how the Azula scene would play out here, looks like Rick's unintentionally goading Rube into a poor mind set (up until now, Rube seems to have been enjoying himself with the invasion). Also makes me wonder how the fight at the end between Azula/Zuko will play out. Given it's Damien, not Rick, who'll be facing off against Rube there, I imagine it'll be either heavy roleplay (plus Mac's rollplay), or Damien just genuinely understanding Rube and helping him as a friend rather than trying to fix him.

Speaking of Damien, and I know I'm a few pages late commenting on it, it seems getting told there's no space for his roleplay is pushing him back into his shell (based on his shift back to the relatively emotionless white bubbles).

I'm not sure what you mean by "poor mindset," but I do think Rube is seeing some more confirmation that he'll need to teach Rick a lesson, at least. I don't think that your alternatives for the final battle with Azula are mutually exclusive. I think both are probably right. If Rube wants to roleplay, then treating him like a friend might mean just roleplaying with him and doing your best to defeat him, but in a non-patronizing way. BTW, speaking of commenting on something a few pages back, did you notice Mac's hilariously bad first attempt at roleplaying during her romantic scene with Rick? (Not that Rick did any better.) At least, I think that was an attempt at roleplaying...

Ooh, I think I may have just figured something out!

OK, it ties in with what you said about Damien and what I just said about Mac. I agree that Damien set aside his roleplaying for the day in order to cooperate with Rick's plan to "fix" Rube. That would explain the "One more day with a stiff upper lip. One more mask to wear" statement and the switch to a white background, as you mentioned. Rick's plan is going to fail, of course. So that's going to leave Damien having to convince everyone that what to do (for Rube, at least) is to roleplay and have fun with Rube and treat him like an equal, not what Rick thought. That could correspond to Zukko trying to rejoin the party at the west temple. (Zukko had to get them to trust him and let him join; Damien has to get them to trust what he says about Rube.) But Mac doesn't know how to roleplay. So the extra stuff between Katara and Zukko could be Damien helping Mac practice roleplaying. (That was a stumbling block for me -- I couldn't figure out how to work in the idea that it was primarily Katara who didn't want Zukko back.) I don't how to work in Zukko burning Troph's feet, though.

And going back to what you originally said, one argument for predicting that the ending would involve heavy roleplaying is how incredibly cheesy it would be if ultimately it was roleplaying that saved the day.

BTW, I'm happy to see some signs of Sokka being a "creative and competent tactician" (cast page). I'm glad to see Lex stop being the butt of too many jokes (IMO). I couldn't figure out how Shelby could be attracted to him. To be honest, the illiteracy jokes came across as being excessively cruel to me, so I'm glad to see something counteract that.

[aurilee]

I'm not sure what you mean by "poor mindset," but I do think Rube is seeing some more confirmation that he'll need to teach Rick a lesson, at least. I don't think that your alternatives for the final battle with Azula are mutually exclusive. I think both are probably right. If Rube wants to roleplay, then treating him like a friend might mean just roleplaying with him and doing your best to defeat him, but in a non-patronizing way. BTW, speaking of commenting on something a few pages back, did you notice Mac's hilariously bad first attempt at roleplaying during her romantic scene with Rick? (Not that Rick did any better.) At least, I think that was an attempt at roleplaying...

Ooh, I think I may have just figured something out!

OK, it ties in with what you said about Damien and what I just said about Mac. I agree that Damien set aside his roleplaying for the day in order to cooperate with Rick's plan to "fix" Rube. That would explain the "One more day with a stiff upper lip. One more mask to wear" statement and the switch to a white background, as you mentioned. Rick's plan is going to fail, of course. So that's going to leave Damien having to convince everyone that what to do (for Rube, at least) is to roleplay and have fun with Rube and treat him like an equal, not what Rick thought. That could correspond to Zukko trying to rejoin the party at the west temple. (Zukko had to get them to trust him and let him join; Damien has to get them to trust what he says about Rube.) But Mac doesn't know how to roleplay. So the extra stuff between Katara and Zukko could be Damien helping Mac practice roleplaying. (That was a stumbling block for me -- I couldn't figure out how to work in the idea that it was primarily Katara who didn't want Zukko back.) I don't how to work in Zukko burning Troph's feet, though.

And going back to what you originally said, one argument for predicting that the ending would involve heavy roleplaying is how incredibly cheesy it would be if ultimately it was roleplaying that saved the day.

BTW, I'm happy to see some signs of Sokka being a "creative and competent tactician" (cast page). I'm glad to see Lex stop being the butt of too many jokes (IMO). I couldn't figure out how Shelby could be attracted to him. To be honest, the illiteracy jokes came across as being excessively cruel to me, so I'm glad to see something counteract that.

Yeah, I definitely think Damien turning his roleplaying on and off will be a key factor here. Rube loves games after all, so the best way to reach him is by having fun. Good call on the Damien/Mac thing too, that could definitely be him trying to teach her about roleplaying.

And yeah, the "romance" scene was great. I also got a disproportionate amount of glee from Helsilli being the capital of Funland.

I think Shelby's attracted to Lex's innocence and light-heartedness. From what we've seen, a lot of seasoned "gamers" have been flirting with her for a while but she doesn't appreciate those who "bathe in Mountain Dew". Lex is different than most in that he respects her and looks to her for guidance but doesn't get into any overly macho shenanigans or chase her around. Lex reminds her of why she got into gaming in the first place: to have fun and make cool characters. He may not always be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he's sweet and he wants to improve himself.

[eschmenk]

I also got a disproportionate amount of glee from Helsilli being the capital of Funland.

Unfortunately, me being me, I automatically overthought it. It is a great pun, but I instantly started to think, "Wait, was that a reference I missed? Was Funland a campaign they played earlier? Or was it something something I should recognize?" I wish I wouldn't do that. It can make it hard to just enjoy things.

I think Shelby's attracted to Lex's innocence and light-heartedness. From what we've seen, a lot of seasoned "gamers" have been flirting with her for a while but she doesn't appreciate those who "bathe in Mountain Dew". Lex is different than most in that he respects her and looks to her for guidance but doesn't get into any overly macho shenanigans or chase her around. Lex reminds her of why she got into gaming in the first place: to have fun and make cool characters. He may not always be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he's sweet and he wants to improve himself.

That makes a lot of sense to me. Thanks. I figured I was reacting more strongly than most people would to the jokes about him being unable to read, but they were pretty distracting for me.

[aurilee]

That makes a lot of sense to me. Thanks. I figured I was reacting more strongly than most people would to the jokes about him being unable to read, but they were pretty distracting for me.

Yeah, the illiteracy jokes started as his friends just poking fun, but Mac and Manny started to take things a bit too far as time went on. That's partly why I like him and Shelby. She treats him with more respect than the other people at the table.

In regards to the latest comic...I totally *am* interested in Zuko's internal struggles, Manny. So let Damien do his thing!

EDIT: Another new strip has been posted and I'm so looking forward to some head-on collision between Rick and Damien regarding how to save Rube/Azula. Personally, I'm rooting for Damien.

[Comissar]

So... Damien's Rube and Manny's brother? Was this pointed to before?

[DeadpanSal]

Damien's probably just being dramatic. He's a Weers, which I think is kind of like being the son of an offshoot of the Gygaxes. He said he plays a session with his mom every year, and when Mac visited it was just her, the mom, Damien and his sister. I think that was Robin Hood. Rube and Manny are from the Ramirez family. I don't think much has been said about them yet, but if it raised Manny, it can't have been a good place to grow up.

And speaking of arrested development, Lex has made so many strides as a player and no one has really treated him any differently aside from Shelby. Mac is the worst of it, as she's probably spent her life looking down on him. He's by no means stupid, but I think just the contrast between him and Mac has festered into something that was just a joke between friends and instead gave him an inferiority complex.

[eschmenk]

Damien's probably just being dramatic...

I took it to be a yet another blending of the in-game and out-of-game elements. Azula and Zukko are siblings and Damien was talking about Azula and Rube simultaneously. It may be that he's getting so caught up with blending that everyone else is doing that he's loosing track of the distinction, too. I'm not sure who he was speaking to, some blend of his father and the evil part of Manny? Now Damien is giving me the impression that he's making a mistake similar to Rick's -- Damien doesn't seem to know that Rube is thinking for himself and Damien seems to have developed his own hero complex.

I have to agree with what Rube said: "Wow, there is so much going on right now..."

[aurilee]

I took it to be a yet another blending of the in-game and out-of-game elements. Azula and Zukko are siblings and Damien was talking about Azula and Rube simultaneously. It may be that he's getting so caught up with blending that everyone else is doing that he's loosing track of the distinction, too. I'm not sure who he was speaking to, some blend of his father and the evil part of Manny? Now Damien is giving me the impression that he's making a mistake similar to Rick's -- Damien doesn't seem to know that Rube is thinking for himself and Damien seems to have developed his own hero complex.

I have to agree with what Rube said: "Wow, there is so much going on right now..."

Damien's definitely confusing himself, but I don't think he has quite the same hero complex as Rick. I think he basically wants Rube to be able to explore different characters, and he thinks that by carrying on with Azula, Rube won't be able to flourish in his new-found freedom from Manny.

He's speaking to Zuko's father in that he's blaming him for how Azula turned out, and at the same time, he's blaming Manny for not letting Rube do his own thing/give him space.

But yeah, Rube's right in that there's a lot of layers in everything everyone is saying/doing right now. In a way Rube is the most straightforward. He just wants to play the game. Which makes him a good choice to call for the annihilation of discord.

EDIT:
From the latest strip...
Manny/Ozai: You sound just like Rick
Damien/Zuko: Good. At least someone does today.

OH YES DAMIEN!

So excited to see how that affects Rick...

[DeadpanSal]

Everything's getting darker and darker and everyone at the table is depressed or losing their way, and Damien's just like "This is fine."

[aurilee]

DAMIEN DAMIEN DAMIEN!

Alright, Zuko's in the party, the Gaang is going to regroup and Manny has decided to invoke Nazis.

Seems to be going well.

[Ronnoc]

Huzzah! I've been waiting for someone to use villatic properly for ages now, and if Manny is using it as a happy place it makes Rick shouting it at him make sense

[eschmenk]

Huzzah! I've been waiting for someone to use villatic properly for ages now, and if Manny is using it as a happy place it makes Rick shouting it at him make sense

Manny and Rick agreed ahead of time to use villatic as a code word that meant that Manny was getting carried away. The current page probably explains why it was chosen (by Manny?) as the code word.

Page 830:
Manny: I need you to let me know when I'm getting carried away.
Rick: Wokay. We'll work out a secret word. I'll say it if I think you're going all id again.

There wasn't any confirmation that villatic was chosen the secret word, but it seems pretty obvious that it was.

[aurilee]

I think watching Damien/Zuko rehearse is my new favourite hobby.

[eschmenk]

I think watching Damien/Zuko rehearse is my new favourite hobby.

I was imagining myself answering the door and finding him there trying to sell me insurance or something.

[Sapphire Guard]

Are there any out of character reasons to mistrust Damien like that? Sure, he didn't roll with Ricks plan, but that was an acknowledged bad plan, what's the problem?

Azula's breakdown is coming soon, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to tell Rube to GO HOME!, That's going to reinforce the idea that he's not considered an equal part of the crew.

[eschmenk]

Are there any out of character reasons to mistrust Damien like that? Sure, he didn't roll with Ricks plan, but that was an acknowledged bad plan, what's the problem?

I think it's what they say it is: He always wanted to play alone before, so why trust that he really wants to join the group now? Even if he thinks he wants to join now, will it last? It would be hard to believe that his personality changed that much. Additionally, although they didn't mention it, he turned on the group at the end of the previous book. Maybe he would do it again. At least, I think that's what they are thinking.

[DeadpanSal]

Azula's breakdown is coming soon, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to tell Rube to GO HOME!, That's going to reinforce the idea that he's not considered an equal part of the crew.

That's probably a sound judgement. Lex wanted to protect Rube by taking him or of a bad situation, but I think one of Rube's defining qualities is that he wants to play so much - and win - that he would have stayed in that session no matter how uncomfortable it became. Despite Lex's intent, all he did was show that Rube was different, not part of the group, and incapable of dealing with the situation himself. Rube needs to be folded into the party and accepted as he is.

[eschmenk]

That's probably a sound judgement. Lex wanted to protect Rube by taking him or of a bad situation, but I think one of Rube's defining qualities is that he wants to play so much - and win - that he would have stayed in that session no matter how uncomfortable it became. Despite Lex's intent, all he did was show that Rube was different, not part of the group, and incapable of dealing with the situation himself. Rube needs to be folded into the party and accepted as he is.

To be fair to Lex, by that point things had degenerated enough that Rube was making a bunch of snide comments about the players themselves rather than playing the game and he wasn't having fun anymore. Sometimes it's best to let people calm down if they are too upset. That said, I agree that sending him home as if he was the one at fault wasn't exactly ideal, either.

BTW, I suspect that there was a second reason for Lex to act the way he did. After Shelby was pissed at a snide comment Rube made about Lex, Rube started to dig at (or make up) something involving Shelby's dating or romantic history that upset Shelby. I think Lex may have overreacted in order to protect Shelby. Perhaps Lex is starting to fall for her, but hasn't realized it yet. I am curious about what Rube was getting at, though. Maybe Rube was just blaming Shelby for the fact that guys keep falling for her, but she won't date them, as if she were just a huge tease?

[Aetis]

I just started reading and it's pretty great so far.

Some of the characters say they "overcast" something by some amount. Where is that mechanic from?

[DeadpanSal]

I think it might be Shadowrun. There you could cast a spell as normal without risk, but really bring the thaums home with a gamble. Your spell becomes stronger, but you have to resist/soak up damage ranging from stun to lethal damage depending on how much of the hog you go. Here it doesn't seem to be as risky - you just might fail your implied concentration check and fail to produce any elements at all.

In other news, I just want to point out how happy I am to see Lex finish his arc. He starts out as dumb and unambitious, but then uses Sokka as a guide for how he wants to play. Sokka's always been creative and clever, and for the first time it seems like he and Sokka are on the same page. Roleplayer of the year, way to go.

[Shogo]

I wonder if Mac will ever say something that doesn't make my distaste for her grow?

I don't have any experience with tabletop games, but someone like her would turn me off on the whole experience very quickly.