RPG Comics

[Jim North]

I suggest checking out Role of the Die

Blast! I suppose this means I'm gonna have to start updating again, doesn't it?

Anywho, fo reals, my answer to making my RPG comic different from other RPG comics out there was to focus exclusively on the players rather than their characters. I still have yet to find another RPG webcomic quite like mine (even those that do focus on the players tend to do so only half the time), so I figure I've found myself a nice little niche.

Also, though I do, of course, do gamer humour, I try to keep it at a level where even those who aren't gamers can pick up on what's happening. And for those times where I think it might not be immediately apparent, I try to explain it in the accompanying newspost so the casual reader won't be completely confused. I also have a couple of sections on my site dedicated to helping non-gamers understand RPGs and RPG terms. One of my goals with RotD is, in fact, to help learn other folks 'bout the goodness of RPGs.

[Netpoet]

if you'd like my opinion, I *MUCH* prefer comics that take place in a sort of D&D-styling WORLD than I do the actual D&D comics. I much prefer comics that show me the view of the world from the character's eyes moreso than comics where they're arguing over which rule they've broken THIS time.

I do have a few exceptions to this rule, of course. I like Roll of the Die, Order of the Stick, Nodwick...

But my own comic is a good example of what I'm talking about. TTG is *NOT* actually based on any specific D&D session, contrary to popular belief. :p It's influenced by D&D, sure, but it's not true to form by any means. THAT is the type of comic that I, personally, prefer.

But overall? Write/draw what YOU want to see. What the rest of us want to see/read is rather moot point to this point. :p

>Net

[Komiyan]

Also, that characters in question are usually dear to their creators, and because they're attached to them a lot, these characters seem interesting to them. They often forget that the reader has totally different perspective.
To me, creating characters from scratch is a better option because then it's easier to present them from the scratch to reader too. In such case, the perspective a reader has is more similar to yours.

holding the flag for RPG-origin comics!

That's just poor writing, a mistake that can be made with either RPG characters or ones you thought up from scratch. Just cause a comic is based on a game doesn't mean that the artist doesn't know how to present and write characters.

Not that I'm reading any of this and thinking 'agh!' or anything.. >_>

[Fortunesfools]

On another side of the RPG Comic discussion.

Alejandro Melchor runs a CG-based comic called Nahast: Land of Strife that is a designed to be used with d20 rules (I believe that's Dungeons and Dragons, is it not?). In fact, I believe he even hosts an online game on the comic discussion forum that is designed as a pseudo-prequel to his story. I vaguely remember a discussion on the site tag-board a few years ago (it started back in November 2002) relating to the roll the protagonist got in relation to an attack. And I think he has talked about the characters and their classes in the past.

While running a comic in a fantasy world with some inspiration from RPGing isn't uncommon, his particular value-added parts to his webcomic always struck me as being fairly unique. That and it is based on ancient Mesoamerica and not the Middle Ages.

Anyway, just another corner of the CG world.

MJ Almon

[Jesslynstormheart]

I have a Fantasy style webcomic which is rather new. It started in late June so it's only developed a modest following. I'm getting maybe 30 to 50 unique visits a day without any heavy "marketing". Once the story has a chance to develop more I hope to gain more readers. I'm happy with how many I've got now. Ultimately, I'm doing this for myself. I'm making the kind of webcomic that I would want to read. If I like it then chances are that someone else will like it. My advice is do what you like and don't worry about what the majority of readers want. Unless you're doing it with the hopes of making money. Making substantial money doing this is a pipe dream. It's really a labor of love. If you don't love what you're doing you're going to lose interest.

I, personally, wish there were more good fantasy comics out there. If you want to talk about saturation, I think there is an overabundance of Video Game spoofs and Anime.


[/i]

[Fadri]

What's the line between "RPG-inspirated" comics and just "Fantasy" comics?

I'd never thought of my comic as a RPG comic, but, hey, my characters fight enemies and some of them are like final bosses, and all that stuff.

[Brockway]

Mine's not really based on a board game, since I still have yet to play any of them, but I have stolen "classes" from fanstasy stuff (white mage, warrior, gun mage, prestige.) Pretty much I've set up a world that uses a crapload of half assed rpg ideas.

[Biev]

I always thought that something that revolves around magic such as Harry Potter is considered fantastic, without having anything to do with RPGs. RPGs use elements from the fantasy genre but mainly revolve around battle, right? To me they're like a subcategory of the fantasy genre. Correct me if I'm wrong...?

[Fortunesfools]

I always thought that something that revolves around magic such as Harry Potter is considered fantastic, without having anything to do with RPGs. RPGs use elements from the fantasy genre but mainly revolve around battle, right? To me they're like a subcategory of the fantasy genre. Correct me if I'm wrong...?

I really don't know what the difference should be considered. I think an RPG comic might be one that makes, throughout it, references and stylistc choices resembing an RPG. One-stop shopping weapon stores, perhaps? Anyone with any insight into this?

When someone says a fantasy comic, I tend to think along the lines of 'elves, swords, sorcery, low-tech, and original worlds'. It is limited--and not exactly correct--but it is the knee-jerk reaction that I suspect many people would have at hearing 'a fantasy webcomic' without the benefit of more context. Tales of Pylea, for example, would strike me as a clear member of the fantasy genre. This first impulse reaction certainly resembles the traditional RPGs such as Dungeons and Dragons, but I would still hesitate to call most fantasy as part of an RPG genre.

I, personally, wish there were more good fantasy comics out there. If you want to talk about saturation, I think there is an overabundance of Video Game spoofs and Anime.

I was under the impression that the big three serial genres of webcomics were Modern relationship (often done in a manga style), Modern comedy (video game-related), and fantasy (serious and spoof). I'll grant you, I have no statistics to back up this impression. What do you mean by a good fantasy comic?

[McDuffies]

I really don't know what the difference should be considered. I think an RPG comic might be one that makes, throughout it, references and stylistc choices resembing an RPG. One-stop shopping weapon stores, perhaps? Anyone with any insight into this?

Yeha, sounds right to me. While in classic fantasy most of artists will tend to try and create their own world with it's specifics, in RPG-based, artists will tend to base in on one from RPG games. Also, these characters will do things that resemble gameplaying, like gathering the crowd, bying weapons and stuff, collecting points.

[Mo]

Personally, I don't play RPG games, I'm not into fantasy, and I think there are way way WAY too many comics in those genres out there. I read one fantasy comic infrequently because it's a good comic, but frankly, I much prefer comics in genres that aren't done to death and beyond. Most fantasy / RPG comics rely too much on the fact that most webcomic readers are geeks and gamers. If they don't suck completely, they will likely have readers and fans, but that doesn't neccessarily mean that they're doing a good job.

Even if the comic turns out funny and well-drawn and with some fresh new approaches to RPG / DnD, I won't care enough to get into it, and even if I did, I know I would MUCH prefer it to be a more original genre.

But I'm a minority, so don't listen to me!

[Dutch!]

We minorities should stick together...

[Phact0rri]

Anywho, fo reals, my answer to making my RPG comic different from other RPG comics out there was to focus exclusively on the players rather than their characters. I still have yet to find another RPG webcomic quite like mine (even those that do focus on the players tend to do so only half the time), so I figure I've found myself a nice little niche.

you mean other than knights of the Dinner Table?

[Komiyan]

I don't think it's very fair to skip out a comic just because of the genre. Yeah, some rely on nothing but gamer jokes, but some don't. I had someone say that if they knew my comic was based on D&D, they wouldn't have bothered reading it, but as it stands, they gave it a go and enjoyed it.
It's kinda like saying you hate all comics that have a 'here's me and my friends and we do crazy stuff!' vibe, then reading Reckless Youth and thinking 'well hey, this is pretty awesome actually'. You've gotta take each comic as it comes.

[Dutch!]

We all get people saying they won't read our work because they have a preconceived misconception about our content. I always find it amusing when they tell you that they won't give your comic ago because of blah blah blah yet will take the time to post something to you anyway.

[Kasaii]

There are two things to remember, which have more or less been said:

1) Choosing that genre has built-in advantages and pitfalls; if you are careful enough to avoid the pitfalls, go for it!

2) You should do what you want to do, more than what you think other people want to see. Trust me, continuing something just because you think other people want it is a road to failure.

[DJMayhem]

But I'm a minority, so don't listen to me!

I don't anyways.

I don't think it's very fair to skip out a comic just because of the genre. Yeah, some rely on nothing but gamer jokes, but some don't. I had someone say that if they knew my comic was based on D&D, they wouldn't have bothered reading it, but as it stands, they gave it a go and enjoyed it.
It's kinda like saying you hate all comics that have a 'here's me and my friends and we do crazy stuff!' vibe, then reading Reckless Youth and thinking 'well hey, this is pretty awesome actually'. You've gotta take each comic as it comes.

Point taken, but consider it this way- both you and claude have developed characters that have gone on to have a charm of their own, something that many comics simply use their friends for overused jokes and plot ideas. It's not so much as what they're based on, but what they can take off with it and bring something new to the table. Its too rare to see that happen nowadays. Yes, i have skipped over comics, simply because they don't bring anything new or different to the same, tired crap because it happens so often.

[Komiyan]

But how are you gonna know which ones are good and which are crap if you skip the lot?

[DJMayhem]

But how are you gonna know which ones are good and which are crap if you skip the lot?

first 25 pages.

[Mo]

I don't think it's very fair to skip out a comic just because of the genre.

I agree that it would be unfair to say that all comics in a specific genre are unoriginal and bad - because obviously, that is not the case. There are always exceptions. I am sure that among the thousands of RPG / fantasy comics, there are quite a few even I would enjoy for whatever reasons - great sense of humor, emphasis on character development, or something. All I'm saying is, I am not interested enough in the genre itself to take on me the effort to find those comics, so yes, in general, I skip RPG/fantasy webcomics. If I, however, accidentally stumble upon a comic in that genre that catches my interest , or a good friend links it to me and I happen to like it, fine. But I refuse to spend time on searching for it because... I don't have all that much time to waste.

Some may argue that I'm missing out on some good stuff, and that may be true... but the fact is, I'm happy with the comics I read at the moment, and if I were to make any additions to the list, I would go looking for those additions in genres that are more likely to interest me. (That is not to say that there isn't a lot of crap in any other webcomics genre too.)

It may sound harsh, but look at it this way: If you generally don't like country music, you don't browse the country music section of a record store just because there's a chance you will find one CD that is totally unlike all the other country music and hence is to your liking. Or, well... I wouldn't do that.