Yea rilly. Now we don’t have to call him mini HR or HR’s humoculous or Ferris’s right arm. He’s in the game now. He always wanted to be in the game and he named himself Homon. Seems like the real HR is still in sepia town. I don’t fully understand is HR experiencing this vicariously or virtually or as reality? What a guy.
Looking at the map tactically, Bragg’s got the best positioning, with armed guys on his flanks, and 3 targets easily within reach. The gnomes, being an archer and a mage, appear to be in far more serious trouble.
The unprotected 5 O’clock is going to make things rough. I guess we’ll see…
I do think that the gnomes seem at greatest risk of being overwhelmed, though I think Astoria and especially Colonnus will shift right pretty quickly. You always protect your mages and your archers.
Basically what this all comes down to is what HR and Tom have planned.
Yes. Homon’s first named appearance, he was talking to Brother Tom. (The pages where he was created and sent into Arkherra come before he became Brother Homon, and aren’t tagged.)
I think that’s to indicate the cultist were using magic to blend into the shadows. Hence why they were able to sneak up on seasoned adventurers so easily.
In the context of the story, maybe we could say that Byron felt it important to preserve his dignity by first calling out the illusionists, and seeing how they take it.
I’m more curious from a gameplay perspective. How does one establish a PC having family and siblings? I know some RPGs have a ‘character’ page for a more roleplay aspect where you can list family or friends of backstory. Is this something you would put together in the CharGen screen? Kind of the ‘pick a backstory’ thing they have in Dragon Age?
I know it happens often in LARP games, and it would make sense that the Tube folk would have filled out character profiles and whatnot when applying for the VR project… but just wondering how you establish a PC in a video game has siblings.
I played on a Neverwinter Nights persistent world, which was on a scale at which the DM/admins could interact with the player community. After it had been running for long enough to develop a coherent community, the server got relaunched, and one of the DMs took the occasion to plan relationships among new characters the regular players had in mind. He polled us about what sort of characters we were thinking about, and then sent us each details on some other characters we knew: what our prior relationship was, and a few facts we knew about them. In retrospect, that must have been a significant amount of work, and of course a lot of plot hooks were lost. But, it did do a lot for roleplaying for months on that server.
I’ve seen similar things on MMORPGs, long ago, in which the devs would pick out some key roleplayers and involve them in gameworld events. There was always the problem of favoritism, but this sort of thing could work surprisingly well. A good roleplayer with a leading role in a group of roleplayers could amplify the effect of the event, and this would precipitate out through the roleplaying community through network effects.
I could see something like that having been part of the original intention with the Five.
I’m of the mind that in Arkerra, you don’t “make” a character. You pick an NPC who has their own life, their own background, and influence their actions into greatness. So it’s more like a WoW Tamagotchi than a muhmorpaguh per se.
Consider the non-Five PCs we know, and what they did before becoming adventuring heros:
Rachel – mook for an evil nun
E’merl – homeless busker
Bandit – petty thief
Penk – drum lackey
Scipio – depressed former badass
Fr’nj – squirrel whisperer
Exactly how much control the player has over their characters, we don’t know. We’re definitely not seeing the actual game chat though, because they never say things like “AFK guys 5 min phone,” yet Penk’s player (whom I can’t remember) mentioned that PMs are part of the game.
My assumption is that when you log off, your character just keeps doing their thing. So you never really know if someone you’re playing with is actually playing right now, or if it’s “just their character.” It would make an interesting mechanic in an actual game, honestly, although I can already see the offline-griefers lining up outside the door.
I’ve seen this mechanic on MU*’s, where all the PCS are pre-created by the staffers to have siblings, family, lovers, relationships, enemies, etc. You pick them up and they already come with plot hooks and histories. I’d be fascinated to see a MMORPG with something similar.
Woooo~
Is it a blanket? No, it’s a tarp!
They were a-hiding in the am-bushes.
They’re crawling out of the woodwork!
That mustache looks familiar…
Also, he’s calling himself Homon? Really?
Chapter 33, page 24.
You know you’re a true villain when you start using puns
Yea rilly. Now we don’t have to call him mini HR or HR’s humoculous or Ferris’s right arm. He’s in the game now. He always wanted to be in the game and he named himself Homon. Seems like the real HR is still in sepia town. I don’t fully understand is HR experiencing this vicariously or virtually or as reality? What a guy.
Well played, Brother Tom and HR’s Mini-Me. They were even smart enough to add age to the Bayen and Brayen illusions. Too bad they forgot the axes.
Looking at the map tactically, Bragg’s got the best positioning, with armed guys on his flanks, and 3 targets easily within reach. The gnomes, being an archer and a mage, appear to be in far more serious trouble.
The unprotected 5 O’clock is going to make things rough. I guess we’ll see…
Tobias is a battle mage seen capable of wielding a sword and going into melee in the story he is introduced.
(In fact he actually used magic to summon the sword.)
I do think that the gnomes seem at greatest risk of being overwhelmed, though I think Astoria and especially Colonnus will shift right pretty quickly. You always protect your mages and your archers.
Basically what this all comes down to is what HR and Tom have planned.
Hmmmm… HR cameo inside his own world!
We’ve already seen him in Arkerra though. Just click Brother Homon’s name tag on the top of the comments section. :)
Wait, wait..inside the computer?
Yes. Homon’s first named appearance, he was talking to Brother Tom. (The pages where he was created and sent into Arkherra come before he became Brother Homon, and aren’t tagged.)
Take cover behind the bacon tree.
Fools, it’s a ham bush!
….really wishing I hadn’t skipped breakfast this morning. :/
Stop egging them on!
…okay what comic is your avatar from, because somehow I missed the obvious Trollface on the first pass. Fits quite well with this comment tho.
Oh, uhm… looks like they’re about to start beefin’.
It’s a random Guilded Age gravatar. I’m sure someone else will point out which page it comes from.
The last stand of Admiral Annunziata.
Um, what is following the cultists? It looks like tentacles made up of shadow and that’s can’t be good.
Those are just the silhouettes of tree branches…..I think.
I think that’s to indicate the cultist were using magic to blend into the shadows. Hence why they were able to sneak up on seasoned adventurers so easily.
Pfff…no worries. Group of adventurers plus horde of cultists equals lots of experience points.
Oooh, I get what I want ? Then I’ll take one Bandit and some cookies, thank you ! :3
… partytime!
Perfect opportunity for a spot of caramelldansen.
You get rabies!
You get rabies!
And you get rabies!
Everybody gets rabies!
Im not sure why the phrase “Stab first, Ask questions second” didn’t apply. Would have made more sense.
Because storytelling. This way we get more expository info on Byron’s background. And it keeps two important villains alive (for now?).
In the context of the story, maybe we could say that Byron felt it important to preserve his dignity by first calling out the illusionists, and seeing how they take it.
I’m more curious from a gameplay perspective. How does one establish a PC having family and siblings? I know some RPGs have a ‘character’ page for a more roleplay aspect where you can list family or friends of backstory. Is this something you would put together in the CharGen screen? Kind of the ‘pick a backstory’ thing they have in Dragon Age?
I know it happens often in LARP games, and it would make sense that the Tube folk would have filled out character profiles and whatnot when applying for the VR project… but just wondering how you establish a PC in a video game has siblings.
Early Donation Backer – Pledged $10k.
And your soul. … and your body, to be tubed.
I played on a Neverwinter Nights persistent world, which was on a scale at which the DM/admins could interact with the player community. After it had been running for long enough to develop a coherent community, the server got relaunched, and one of the DMs took the occasion to plan relationships among new characters the regular players had in mind. He polled us about what sort of characters we were thinking about, and then sent us each details on some other characters we knew: what our prior relationship was, and a few facts we knew about them. In retrospect, that must have been a significant amount of work, and of course a lot of plot hooks were lost. But, it did do a lot for roleplaying for months on that server.
I’ve seen similar things on MMORPGs, long ago, in which the devs would pick out some key roleplayers and involve them in gameworld events. There was always the problem of favoritism, but this sort of thing could work surprisingly well. A good roleplayer with a leading role in a group of roleplayers could amplify the effect of the event, and this would precipitate out through the roleplaying community through network effects.
I could see something like that having been part of the original intention with the Five.
I’m of the mind that in Arkerra, you don’t “make” a character. You pick an NPC who has their own life, their own background, and influence their actions into greatness. So it’s more like a WoW Tamagotchi than a muhmorpaguh per se.
Consider the non-Five PCs we know, and what they did before becoming adventuring heros:
Rachel – mook for an evil nun
E’merl – homeless busker
Bandit – petty thief
Penk – drum lackey
Scipio – depressed former badass
Fr’nj – squirrel whisperer
Exactly how much control the player has over their characters, we don’t know. We’re definitely not seeing the actual game chat though, because they never say things like “AFK guys 5 min phone,” yet Penk’s player (whom I can’t remember) mentioned that PMs are part of the game.
My assumption is that when you log off, your character just keeps doing their thing. So you never really know if someone you’re playing with is actually playing right now, or if it’s “just their character.” It would make an interesting mechanic in an actual game, honestly, although I can already see the offline-griefers lining up outside the door.
Penk and Fr’Nj haven’t been confirmed to be PCs yet. There’s only been speculation that Xan is playing Penk.
I’ve seen this mechanic on MU*’s, where all the PCS are pre-created by the staffers to have siblings, family, lovers, relationships, enemies, etc. You pick them up and they already come with plot hooks and histories. I’d be fascinated to see a MMORPG with something similar.
Byrons Intimidation Attack is not very effective.
Should have used Cleave, really, he’s basically touching the lead cultists… could have ended the comic early right here.
Lol, even the cultist didn’t call Byron murdering his own brothers…
Hunh. That was a much simpler trap than I expected.
Or WAS IT
Kinda looks that way though, yeah.
Did Homon actually think that’d work, or is he just being a coy bastard again?