April 28, 2015: An Adventurer Thing That Works

[spiderwrangler]

Actually, was it ever discussed what disorder Fumbles had? PTSD comes to mind first, but it usually means painful flashbacks, anxiety and rejection of the traumatic memories. Fumbles on the other hand had apathy, verbal communications block and something resembling autism...

We've certainly seen the flashback and the like in other victims of GS (Thaco, Kin), though I can't recall if we've seen that from Fumble's perspective. Autism is a pretty broad spectrum and isn't something you 'get', so I don't think that's the most apt comparison here.

[Aegis J Hyena]

I'm pretty sure Fumbles has PTSD in some flavor. When Kore was torturing Chief, he snapped out of it, remembering his own memories and what Dellyn did to him. Apathy and verbal blocks are just icing on his "disorders" for now (although if this keeps up I do think he'll bounce back).

[Kamos]

Spliying, it's not just for Dwarves anymore.

[SamWiser]

Awesome page! I love the return of Splying. One of the best things to come out of this comic, imo.

[Zathyr]

Actually, was it ever discussed what disorder Fumbles had? PTSD comes to mind first, but it usually means painful flashbacks, anxiety and rejection of the traumatic memories. Fumbles on the other hand had apathy, verbal communications block and something resembling autism...

It's been discussed a bit, but it's a fictional character and the author isn't a psychiatrist. My impression's that it was more of a mild catatonic state, probably linked with PTSD.

[Synch]

I'm really struggling with the constant switch between sadness / despair and light-hearted humour. We go from Korgath in a battle for his life to making jokes with Bowst in a matter of 2-3 pages, and from the goblins nearly killing each other and Minmax's utter despair at being alone and unable to help Korgath, to reaching out to a depressed Fumbles, to singing a teapot song. I do enjoy Thunt's sense of humour, but are these really the places for jokes? Maybe they all just excel at moving on quickly, or seeing the humour in things. I'd struggle.

[SpeaksManyLanguages]

I'm pretty sure Fumbles has PTSD in some flavor. When Kore was torturing Chief, he snapped out of it, remembering his own memories and what Dellyn did to him.

Well, PTSD flashbacks work the opposite way. And i mean flashback as a medical term. They are terrifying and convulsing. The person is experiencing the trauma again and as it ends, struggles to understand what was just happenning to him and to assess h_is real surroundings. Fumbles snapping out of his mental lockdown to run back yelling "Senor Vorpal" was very unlike that. It felt more like he had an ongoing worldview crisis ever since he stabbed the elven girl, was never able to reach catharsis and then GS broke his id completely.

It's really interesting to hear what he'll have to say, when he'll be ready to talk about this.

It's been discussed a bit, but it's a fictional character and the author isn't a psychiatrist.

Good point. Although I'm not able not to think about any work of fiction without applying real-life knowledge and trying to theorycraft it into believable explanations ._.

I'm really struggling with the constant switch between sadness / despair and light-hearted humour. We go from Korgath in a battle for his life to making jokes with Bowst in a matter of 2-3 pages, and from the goblins nearly killing each other and Minmax's utter despair at being alone and unable to help Korgath, to reaching out to a depressed Fumbles, to singing a teapot song. I do enjoy Thunt's sense of humour, but are these really the places for jokes? Maybe they all just excel at moving on quickly, or seeing the humour in things. I'd struggle.

I would indeed like it if the pages were broken down into multiples, to get to this point a bit more gradually, yeah. The recent pages were super-giant on the framecount and how much was squeezed in. Just doing it slower would feel a tiny bit better.

[Basement Cat]

This reminds me of the old military saying: "If it's stupid and it works---it ain't stupid."

I'm getting a Minmax + Fumbles partnership vibe here. Minmax is stupid compared to the much smarter other goblins. Minmax and Fumbles have the potential to work together as a pair of karma-armored idiots after all the heavy stuff they've both been through.

Biggest plus about this strip: FUMBLES SPOKE!!!

P.S. What's "splying", folks?

[Zathyr]

Sessine linked to the page where spliying was first introduced.

Spliying always seems to get the same reaction from first-time viewers...

[locastan]

Out of curiosity: Why do you guys think has the weird symbol in the room stopped changing color due to (assuming) ppls. IME?

Also what were the speculations about said symbol in the former threads? It seems to depict some dimensional overlap as circles (might be linked to the fused faces in the walls) and the two white squiggles might indicate exits...if so, I think the group is facing some cul-de-sac.

[Krulle]

The colour changing came with the shading, so it may come once the page is updated.
see e.g. this page: unshaded; semi-shaded; finished

[JustRight]

I'm pretty sure Fumbles has PTSD in some flavor. When Kore was torturing Chief, he snapped out of it, remembering his own memories and what Dellyn did to him. Apathy and verbal blocks are just icing on his "disorders" for now (although if this keeps up I do think he'll bounce back).

I think THunt is keeping the right pacing of Fumbles recovery, aided by MinMax's gruff assistance. Feels good.

[RocketScientist]

The characters themselves aren't making jokes. Thunt is trying to lighten the mood for the rest of us. Which may or may not be your thing. Some people don't want the mood lightened; other people get upset when the comic goes too dark.

[Wolfie]

I think part of it is that the characters in the comic are acting like characters from a D&D campaign. It's hard to stay "in character" and always reacting to the gravity of the situation when the person playing the character isn't actually in the situation that their PC's are.

I read the comics and laugh because they play out exactly like some sessions I've been in. It's super dark and there's lots of blood and gore and everyone is dying and then someone cracks a joke and the gravitas is gone. It's D&D... roll with it.

[TalksTooMuch]

I think part of it is that the characters in the comic are acting like characters from a D&D campaign. It's hard to stay "in character" and always reacting to the gravity of the situation when the person playing the character isn't actually in the situation that their PC's are.

I read the comics and laugh because they play out exactly like some sessions I've been in. It's super dark and there's lots of blood and gore and everyone is dying and then someone cracks a joke and the gravitas is gone. It's D&D... roll with it.

This. I tend to game with people who are very dramatic roleplayers and incredible nerds on top of it. There have been times where half the group has been on the edge of their seats, or on the brink of tears, or so furious they have abandoned tactics completely and are set to charge the main baddie, then somebody tosses out a Ghostbusters quote and the whole table just dies laughing. I can see where it can be problematic from a reader point-of-view, but as a comic that drops the fourth wall on a gaming world, these odd jolts of humor just make it for me. I love it.

I also love that "spliying" deliberately brings up one of Minmax's weak points, and that it's happened now more than once. Who says giving up your ability to rhyme on purpose doesn't have roleplaying drawbacks?

[Davis8488]

This is a little pedantic, but I believe Minmax's second line should begin " 'Cause finding..." as he means because, rather than cause.

[Synch]

The characters themselves aren't making jokes.

Sure they are. Forgath just shared a gag with Idle at Bowsts expense by replacing the word four with two. Relatively soon after almost dying.

[Arch Lich Burns]

There are many ways to deal with stress. His is with laughter. it is better than to break down.

[Zathyr]

Shaded page is up, btw. The color changes in the room are indeed still in effect.

And apparently Complains' IME is a lighter purple than Minmax's. I don't remember if I noticed that before.

[SpeaksManyLanguages]

And apparently Complains' IME is a lighter purple than Minmax's. I don't remember if I noticed that before.

Haha, i've noted this long ago. They are both purple, but different shades.

[mist42nz]

OMG, how long did it take you do that page - with laugh breaks included?
It's hysterical - hold my face cause its leaking funny. wtf...


ps tempts fate vs the dungeon of foot-beginnings because it's endless, loopy and you know it has to be done...

[RocketScientist]

The characters themselves aren't making jokes.

Sure they are. Forgath just shared a gag with Idle at Bowsts expense by replacing the word four with two. Relatively soon after almost dying.

Ok, I forgot that. Guess I just don't notice.

[Krulle]

That just shows Forgath is a player-played character who can shrug off a near-death, as the player was actually never in peril, only his character. And those can be re-created.

For the Goblins it might be different. They changed from "Goblin" to at least "NPC-Goblin with levels"... They die, it's over as the player who plays them is not a separate entity....

[BuildsLegos]

That's HER character to you, pal.

And I'm still of the belief that the Goblins are just really good role-players who were given these characters after the warcamp fiasco.

[Krulle]

Dang. I was thinking of the female player while writing the post, yet the "his" slipped through. Damn me.