Now will OoTS switch?

[Negflar2099]

I don't want to start any flamewars and I think I already know the answer to this question but here goes anyway. Now that the PHB2 has been released (with Bard, Barbarian, and Half-Orc inside) do you guys think the Giant will switch to 4e or stick with 3.5 as the basis for his world?

The reason I ask is the lack of those races and classes was one of the reasons he gave for not wanting to switch. Before you say anything yes I know that those weren't the only reasons he gave but he stated them as being pretty important.

Personally if you care to know, I don't think he's going to switch because it would damage his storyline too much but I admit I have mixed feelings. On the one hand I don't want to see his storyline go off on a tangent just because 4e came out. After all it hardly matters what the underlying rule set is. When he first announced he wasn't switching I was afraid his 3.x jokes would feel old or stale but they haven't. OoTS has been as funny as ever.

But here's the thing, he setup a number or rules that defined his world and one of those rules was that when a new edition of D&D comes out the world changes to match. I know he set that rule up back before he knew what he was going to do with the strip but I don't think that matters. If you're writing a vampire story and you setup that they can't cross running water you don't get to ignore that just because it gets in the way of your story later on. Once setup like that a rule of your world has to remain unchangeable or at the very least I think we need an explanation of why the world hasn't changed.

It wouldn't take more than a single strip to do it too. Some guy comes in to "sell" the gods on the latest edition and they refuse.

Look all I'm saying is that he defined the rule and he should stick with it or explain why (in comic) that the rule has changed.

What do you guys think? Will he switch? Will he ever have an in-strip reason for why he won't change? Does it matter?

 

[SabreCat]

Didn't the author say at some point that it's not really about D&D jokes anymore, but more about the story and characters themselves?

I could see a bit of humor getting squeezed out of an edition switch (Exalted: The Freedom Stone attempted as much just before it went belly-up), but if it doesn't serve to further the storyline etc., I can see there not being much reason to pay attention to the release of 4e at all.

 

[webrunner]

IIRC he said that OOTS has no official edition any more, and any 4E mechanics will be used if they serve the joke and/or plot

 

[Mikaze]

Honestly, I think he has more than enough on his plate to take care of without arbitrarily trying to change the physical laws of his setting for the sake of an edition switch.

 

[Vorput]

This is from http://www.giantitp.com/. Think it answers the OP's question.

5/20/2008

Those of you not currently involved in playing Dungeons & Dragons may or may not be aware that Wizards of the Coast is set to release a new version of the rules—the “Fourth Edition” rules—in less than a month. If the details of such things are of little interest to you, feel free to skip reading this overly verbose news post. You won’t miss much.

Ever since the announcement was made last August, I have gotten roughly 1.3 billion emails asking about whether The Order of the Stick will “convert” to the new system. It is a question I have deliberately avoided answering, much to the consternation of those who like to ask such questions. I will be answering it now: No.

But not in the way you might think. I’m not making some ideological stand about how the current 3.5 Edition is superior or any such thing. I’m simply saying that there will not be a conscious and visible change in the comic strip, wherein the characters convert to a new set of rules as they did in the very first strip. There are many reasons for this, not the least of which is that the purpose of the comic has shifted away from its original goal of simply poking fun at a game to an actual story, and it is that story on which I would like to focus.

Equally important is the fact that the new edition departs radically from prior versions of the game in terms of what classes and races are initially described. Whether or not this is good for the game isn’t really my concern; I’m more interested in the fact that converting would introduce dozens of unnecessary changes in my story. At the very least, I would need to devote many strips to showing off the ways that characters have been changed by the new rules, strips I would rather devote to advancing the story. This sort of thing isn’t as crucial a problem for a gaming group considering the new game, but when switching would force several of my main characters to significantly change their powers and abilities—and some wouldn’t even have their new abilities defined yet for at least another year!—it becomes less palatable. Again, though, to be crystal clear: This is not a condemnation of the new rules by me. I have not read them yet, having failed to get my hands on an advance copy some time ago. They may well be the finest fantasy roleplaying rules ever written. I wouldn’t know. What I DO know is that they are not suited to my needs as a storyteller at this time.

However, this does NOT mean that I will stop making jokes about the fact that the characters exist within a world that operates like a roleplaying game. Nor will I limit myself to either jokes about 3.5 Edition or 4th Edition. I’ll go where the humor takes me, and if that happens to create gross inconsistencies, then so be it. As an added benefit, I expect it will drive the fans who try to figure out exactly what is occurring in each strip from a strict D&D rules perspective absolutely nuts. If it really bothers anyone, simply imagine that the OOTS world follows someone’s homebrewed hybridization of 3.5 and 4th Editions, using bits and pieces from whichever ruleset they think works better.

Ultimately, as I alluded to in my first paragraph, many (maybe even most) of my readers are not actively involved in playing the current D&D game. Many were players of older editions in their youth who simply enjoy following a story that reminds them of their own past experiences. Others have no interest in roleplaying at all, and just like reading a comedic fantasy comic. My job as an author is not to reflect the current trends, but to deliver the most entertaining story, and I feel I can best do that by continuing on as I have been. Besides, the difference between those playing one version of the rules and another is not really that important in the final analysis. We all either play the same game, or at least appreciate it, and it is to that sense of unity between those who enjoy the hobby (and the genre that it inhabits) that I hope The Order of the Stick will continue to speak.

 

[Nahat Anoj]

Even if Burlew wanted to change to 4e only (he definitely doesn't), I think he's missed out on a lot of the gaming gags with an edition switch. Elan would still be around - he'd be statted up as a warlord (I would have loled if Elan shouted "I'm a warlord!"). The PCs would all have been pushed back to level one, because you "couldn't" do a direct conversion of PCs, etc. He even had a Spellplague style event (the coming of the Snarl) that would have perfectly explained it (with all the Spellplague humor). Now there's no point anymore - it just wouldn't be funny.

 

[DaveMage]

What do you guys think? Will he switch?

Well, 4E is quite a joke....





I kid! I kid!

(Jack99, put down the sword....)

 

[Rechan]

And despite this, there has been maybe like, two 4e jokes. It's all still talk of skill points and spell slots etc etc.

So while it's clear there is not OotS Sanctioned D&D Edition, the lion's share of the rules the OotS folks quote is 3e.

 

[Umbran]

So while it's clear there is not OotS Sanctioned D&D Edition, the lion's share of the rules the OotS folks quote is 3e.

When saying there's no sanctioned edition, he's not saying there's going to be a specific balance, you know. If the jokes he thinks of are mostly 3e, then that's what the jokes'll be.

 

[Vorput]

And despite this, there has been maybe like, two 4e jokes. It's all still talk of skill points and spell slots etc etc.

Have there? I haven't caught any 4e jokes. Anyone have links?