egscomics posts
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Who Is Ellen - 65 - HD
Moving on with NO CONSEQUENCES!- At egscomicsCommentaryDon't introduce a Non-Player Character unless you have their name, physical description, stats, full backstory, and favorite color ready to go.I'm mostly joking, but based on several games I've listened to, it might actually be a good idea to have a list of throwaway names in case someone suddenly gets really attached to a random NPC for whatever reason.(Assuming you're not better at names than I am. To the surprise of no one, I'm terrible with names.)
Who Is Ellen - 64 - HD
Rolling.- At egscomicsCommentaryAnd that's how the adventure ended.(Just kidding, but imagine if I was serious.)The next EGSNP will be next Tuesday due to Thanksgiving in the US.Roll To Do NothingI don't think I need an excuse for the third panel beyond "it's a silly comic."If I HAD to make an excuse for it, however, it would simply be that George had to roll to avoid getting hit. By that point, doing nothing wasn't actually an option for avoiding damage.I'm not sure what sort of roll one would make in any particular...
Who Is Ellen - 63 - HD
Dangerously silly.- At egscomicsCommentaryFor the record, yes, she totally would have made it down the stairs without any problems if she hadn't suggested rolling for it as a joke.TurkeysThis week is Thanksgiving week in the US, and I will be taking Friday and Saturday off from posting anything.Given that Thanksgiving is Thursday, one might wonder why I don't take Thursday off from EGSNP, and toss something up on Saturday.The answer is simple: I didn't want to wait that long to share what happens next.Critical FailI don't know h...
Who Is Ellen - 62 - HD
The first real danger.- At egscomicsCommentary- Excessively careful around stairs- "...after falling down some stairs" (next comic, George reaching "from our world" conclusion)The obvious nitpick here is "but they already went up the stairs!"Firstly, I suspect there's more danger of falling when going downstairs than up, as people are more prone to falling forward. Falling while going up the stairs could still go very badly, of course, but as far as I'm aware, there's more opportunity to recover safely.Second...
Who Is Ellen - 61 - HD
The stakes have never been higher.- At egscomicsCommentaryThis is basically how I would feel in this situation. Nothing would stop me from saving that chicken, and it would get awkward as heck if for some reason we failed.This is true in pretty much any roleplaying game, up to and including video games.In Fallout 4, there's a moment in which a kid's cat has gone outside the safety of an underground bunker. There are basically literal monsters outside, so I consider it one of the most important missions in the game to complete.All it inv...
Who Is Ellen - 60 - HD
But why, though?- At egscomicsCommentaryThat escalated quickly.That said, it's a fantasy setting with magic in which gods and demons are confirmed as real. Some form of this being a possible motive is always on the table.I guess it would also be on the table without those things, but let's not thing about how spooky scary the real world can be! Let us all escape to this magical land of fantasy within a magical land of fantasy, okay?Okay.
Who Is Ellen - 59 - HD
Magic investigation!- At egscomicsCommentaryTrue story: My first dance with a girl that I can remember was to The Chicken Dance in Junior High.There's nothing more to that story. I just think it's funny.The "spell level" of four wasn't chosen for any specific reason. I just wanted George to do something connected with him helping with the rules, so he not-so-subtly dropped a hint as to the specifics of how his ability works.The ARE spell levels in various games, however, and I'd be curious as to what sort of things "...
Who Is Ellen - 58 - HD
ACTING!- At egscomics(Sorry this was late. I set the date wrong)CommentaryTHERE we go. Nanase in-character was only delayed by one comic of detective Nanase.Still ConvincedNot that long ago, I would have found Rich and Larry sticking to their perception of Nanase as comically unrealistic.Nowadays, however, I'm just "yes. People totally do stuff like this. They have a preconceived conclusion, and it'll take a lot for them to see anything but confirmation for it."THIS IS WHY WE HAVE THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD, PEOPLE!Seriously, where a...
Who Is Ellen - 57 - HD
Failing to keep it twenty words or less.- At egscomicsCommentaryThat moment when the players have questions you SO do not have answers for.Oh hey, I think this counts as yet another way of showing everyone in this limited space. Neat.I was originally thinking we'd get to see Nanase's attempt at being in-character mode here with her asking the mayor's assistant if any guards were suspicious and/or missing. Instead, she's in freelance detective mode, and it was way more natural to just lean into that (much to Ellen's terror).S...
Unexpected Masculine to Feminine Survey
I'm thinking a minimum three-stage sequence in which someone with a masculine form unexpectedly winds up with a feminine form. This would either be a "Dan's Choice" or a poll at the end of the month (or both, doesn't have to be just one).With that in mind, who would you propose? The exact context would change depending on who, and potentially people's thoughts on them.Please look at other people's comments to see previous suggestions, "Like" any you agree with, and comment if you have your own thoughts on the...
Who Is Ellen - 56 - HD
Theories!- At egscomicsCommentaryHOW DARE.This is why you don't invite private investigators to play Clue.I'm not sure how many different methods I'm going to have to resort to in order to show everyone reacting and/or talking in a single comic before this is over. So far, we've had five full-sized panels, four tiny panels, and one panel with floating heads.I'm not sure what else I might resort to, but the safe bet is that there'll be a panel with everyone talking while in silhouette at some point.
Angel Devil Nanase
Blushing angel and devil Nanase!Most likely, they are blushing because they've only just now realized what they're wearing!That, or the conundrum Nanase is facing is an embarrassing one?It's a mysterious mystery.I'm often not sure what to put in backgrounds, so imagine my joy when I realized the background could actually be Nanase herself.
Who Is Ellen - 55 - HD
So. Much. EVIDENCE!- At egscomicsCommentary- Oh yeah, that whole theoryImagination Elliot was originally silent, but I wound up with enough negative space that I wanted SOMETHING there, so..."Movies!"Speaking of earlier plans, the whole eyes-closed aspect of Ellen's performance was a relatively late idea, and I originally planned to just have George react to Ellen's ability as a performer. I'm happier with this, as it convinces George that he has evidence that perfectly fits Elliot.
Who Is Ellen - 54 - HD
A fowl crime!- At egscomicsCommentaryI can already tell that this part of the storyline is going to involve a LOT of streamlining of what I initially write for Ellen.I didn't want Ellen to have full-on stage fright (or the RPG equivalent), as that's not really what her story here is about, and it would step on Nanase's toes (she called dibs, darn it!).It didn't feel right for Ellen to be immediately comfortable acting this out in front of everyone, however, and her doing this is what made sense to me.
End of Month Poll
Ashley in the tall curvy form from the flashback at the start of “Brother” (possibly with different clothes)!Assisting with frame of reference for scale will be Ashley’s friend, Liz!What exactly is the situation, however?(Can vote for more than one, and if I may be totally honest, I’m sort of rooting for all of them)
Who Is Ellen - 53 - HD
Precise planning.- At egscomicsCommentaryADVENTURE!I don't think of this as a mark against Ellen's game master skills. She's on the spot, focused on the characters, and basically had no time to come up with her own story.Granted, I highly doubt that was a chicken in the original adventure guidelines, so we'll see how this whole "minor substitution" thing goes.
Pre-Poll Poll
Firstly, I'm plotting to bring back Saturday Milestone Images November 5th starting with something devilishly angelic (devil and angel Nanase).Secondly, based on present Milestones, it looks like there's going to be one poll this month.I'm not going to complain about that for a second as any amount of support is incredibly generous and appreciated (and I have obvious catching up to do), but I do need to acknowledge it to explain why a single poll.THIRDLY, I'm thinking of one of these as the basis for the poll going up Sunday eve...
Who Is Ellen - 52 - HD
Adventure hooks!- At egscomicsCommentaryThe idea in the first panel is that the players go along with the adventure hook to a point, effectively starting an adventure, then they can do whatever.The "herding cats" version of this would be putting the hook out there, and the players potentially not even realizing it is a hook. The game master would set up the start of everything, potentially hint heavily at the mysterious hooded figure in the corner of the tavern, and then the players run outside, steal horses from the stable, and ride of...
Who Is Ellen - 51 - HD
The paladin's reason.- At egscomicsEDIT - Accidentally had "been" in panel three twice. It's not weird that I missed a typo, but missing this one in particular was weird because I was making an effort to get that dialogue balloon to look as good as possible, and somehow never noticed I could remove an entire word from it.CommentaryI'm mildly curious how many people reacted to "I roll to see if I believe you" with strong disapproval before reading the rest of the panel, because no, RPGs do not work that way with playe...
Who Is Ellen - 50 - HD
Up to you!- At egscomicsCommentaryThat heavenly aura soothingly emanating from Ellen in panel three, as though she herself were a goddess from the game giving Rich the paladin his mission, symbolizes how time consuming the comic shop background in that panel would have been on a deadline.In all seriousness, though, I do like having abstract backgrounds like that, particularly since they can be less busy than what might literally be behind them.
Who Is Ellen - 49 - HD
Really?- At egscomicsCommentaryIt felt natural to me for Rich's initial reaction to this revelation to be poor.Part of the inspiration for this was simply that I've listened to a lot of people's experiences playing roleplaying games, and one thing that has come up several times has been favoritism for players who the Game Master was either dating, or interested in dating.This favoritism could take the form of that player effectively being made the story's main protagonist. The plot revolves around them, the unique gear was creat...
Who Is Ellen - 48 - HD
Why He Is Even There- At egscomicsCommentaryWhen Rich first presented his question, several readers guessed he would be their parole officer.Which was a good guess, but I only think that would work at a game table if the parole officer player was good natured about it, and playing it for fun, and not to be intentionally challenging.In short, probably a bad idea with Rich.SidebarI wasn't sure whether to have Ellen tell Rich to this in private, and considered either using the excuse that this was going to be a single game, and/or Rich being g...
Who Is Ellen - 47 - HD
Party Formation- At egscomicsCommentaryGeorge effectively did Ellen a favor by not only pointing out that his character wouldn't found a party, but what their motivation for joining a party would be.Between Nanase being a baffled human in a strange world and Larry presumably being a bard in search of adventure, the initial forming of the party basically wrote itself.The only wildcard, then, was Rich the paladin, who simply showed up.Because REASONS.
Who Is Ellen - 46 - HD
CHALLENGE!- At egscomicsCommentary"How dare you call my sorceress lazy.""YOU said she was lazy!"My understanding is that, in most game sessions like this one, the party would just be tossed together in the middle of an adventure.Now, when I say "game sessions like this", I'm not talking about the RPG itself. I'm talking about a quick game of it that may or may not continue with the same group of players in the future.An example of this would be when weekly games are hosted at stores with volunteer / paid game mas...
Who Is Ellen - 45 - HD
A mysterious backstory- At egscomicsCommentaryEllen feels pretty good about what she came up with.In retrospect, I could've waited until this comic to comment on the whole "isekai" thing, and probably should have given that I think I was wrong about how many people would both immediately know about, and assume, that Nanase's character was from another world.Which shows how views about what is and isn't common knowledge can be extremely biased based on who you communicate with, and how that can still happen even when you'...
Who Is Ellen - 044 - HD
Wait a minute- At egscomicsCommentaryAll consistent with traditional rogues.They HATE stairs.Wait a minuteFor anyone who is unfamiliar with ninety-five percent of modern anime, the implication here is that Nanase's character isn't from the same world as the others, and wound up "reincarnated" in another world after an incident involving stairs.Reincarnated in quotes because the implication is she suddenly appeared there as an adult, and wasn't actually reborn, so the term is being used loosely.I don't consider this a mas...
Who Is Ellen - 43 - HD
All good!- At egscomicsCommentaryI decided it made sense for Ellen to revisit the name situation, and wrote what was essentially the third panel stretched out over three panels.It felt a little light on actual content, however, and we wound up with this instead. I also like showing more of Ellen's reaction to George and Larry's character choices.In Ellen's imagination, she's used her default FV5 beam. That beam usually results in a consistent height and figure on masculine targets, with originally feminine targets ending up with...
Who Is Ellen - 42 - HD
EDIT - OOPS! I marked this as $5 tier only for some reason?! I'm sorry about that! DEFINITELY not intended!Influential!- At egscomicsCommentaryI imagine there are many things people want to do, but are hesitant to do if someone else doesn't do it first.Charisma"Charisma doesn't HAVE to work that way, and there's several arguments to be had that it shouldn't, but sure, why not."A bit bold of Larry to ask like that, but Ellen's cool with it.I originally had Larry say his Charisma was eighteen, a number based on the...
Who Is Ellen - 41 - HD
Classy George.- At egscomicsCommentary"She collects monsters and makes them fight.""In a game?""...Sure."
September Poll #2
Ashley is with Ashley! Sort of.It's Ashley and Elliot, but Elliot is in a form identical to Ashley, except Elliot's dressed...Can vote for more than one
