Order of the stick

[Thatwackyned]

How come no one has tryed to move OOTS over to 4th yet?

 

[Nytmare]

It's been a while, but if I remember correctly, Senor Burlew thought that the jokes about switching from 3rd Edition to 3.5 were a mistake, and that he was just going to pass on making jokes about a jump from 3.5 to 4th.

It's hard to believe, but he somehow managed to end up with a portion of his fan base who just aren't D&D players. Jokes about switching to 4th Ed would mean that they need to understand not only the game, but be familiar with the rules of both 4th Edition, and 3.5.

I do have a magnet from Gencon however (circa whatever year 4th Edition was coming out) and it featured Elan eating an ice cream sundae marveling that the new edition "still doesn't have rules for tummy aches."

 

[Camelot]

I like that it hasn't changed over. The world takes place in 3rd edition, and was updated to 3.5 because it was still 3rd edition. 4th edition is something so different, not only with the mechanics but with the flavor as well, that it would create a whole different world if it was switched over.

If someone wants to make a similarly humored comic based on 4th edition, from scratch, I would totally read that.

 

[Thatwackyned]

I see where I didn't communicate well. Has anyone, just for fun, created the OOTS in 4E?

 

[Camelot]

Y'know, I'd like to write a 4e D&D webcomic. Unfortunately, I cannot draw. Any artists or other writers out there who want to collaborate on this project?

 

[malcolm_n]

Do you mean as characters? I will admit (don't hurt me) that I haven't actually read OotS, so I'm not familiar with them. Were there 3e versions of them as playable characters?

 

[Camelot]

The world of OotS is a massive D&D campaign world. The main characters are your typical adventurers (so yes, player characters, though their stats are never fully disclosed), and they discuss game mechanics as players typically would. However, there are no "players" who are controlling them, nor a DM guiding them through the story; they are their own entities. That's the path I would like to take with this project.

 

[Plane Sailing]

It's been a while, but if I remember correctly, Senor Burlew thought that the jokes about switching from 3rd Edition to 3.5 were a mistake,

I don't think you are remembering correctly, I'm afraid!

Considering that OOTS #1 actually starts with 3.5e conversion jokes!

Giant In the Playground Games

 

[Nytmare]

Found it!

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.

[EDIT] Ooooh! I found this too!

http://www.giantitp.com/Images/ElanMagnet.gif