One Year Anniversary
Hail and well met, Guildies. Today (technically tomorrow) marks the one-year anniversary of Guilded Age. Six chapters, one guest week, and a year later, here we are: Guilding like no one’s ever Aged before.
So to celebrate, we’re going to hold a little Q & A! Ask us any question you want, and we’ll answer all the ones that won’t ruin future plot lines or incriminate our characters (T cannot go back to jail, trust me on this one). If you want to ask one of us a question specifically, just adress us proper.
And if you don’t feel like asking questions, you can submit your own Adventure Magazine Articles that we might find in this and other issues of Adventurers Illustrated.
Or make with the puns. Whatevs.
Thanks for being with us this long, and stick around. Chapter Seven begins on Monday, and I have it on good authority that it will be a hoot.
Discussion (286) ¬
So if you each were a fantasy role-playing character, what class and alignment would you be?
Like, as ourselves?
Neutral Good Bard, probably
Well, in high school I played a half elf rogue in D&D. However, I suspect this is more of a “which of these is most like you”? I guess I would have to go with a neutral bard.
Neutral good bard who frets about being too lawful neutral.
I guess it makes sense that people who tell stories for a living would be bards.
Congratulations on your one-year anniversary! I wish you all much continued success in your endeavor.
imma chaotic-good samurai.
Chaotic Neutral* Shadowdancer.
(Or Chaotic Evil, depending on my mood. Neutral is when I just want to kill people. Evil is when I want to “play” with them before I kill them.)
I was a human rogue in my campaign, I started out neutral good but then I shifted towards chaotic when I found a chaos diamond. Lucky me.
Lawful Good Ranger… substitute rifles and handguns for the bows and arrows. Or maybe just a fighter with tracking and survival skills. Though I do have a few hunting bows, too. If you prefer the D20 system,multiclass with a sage or Modern Smart Class. In a current campaign, I am playing a character loosely based on myself, a Smart/Tough multiclass. In real life, I’m a farm boy with a Masters who stupidly decided to wear a badge instead of making money.
Has Bandit Keynes ever modeled in the past? Because she’s certainly very good at it.
Bandit, like Bugs Bunny, is fearless in her pursuit of a ruse.
Dear Stabby,
I met this girl who seemed nice, and she didn’t know, but I cast Detect Alignment when I said I was going to the bathroom. She’s Chaotic Neutral! I’m Lawful Good, so this really worries me. I really like this girl! But my Guild and my parents will totally kick me out if I alignment change because I spend too much time with her.
-Pal A. Din, Esquire
You have the luxury of choosing between her and your alignment. Mixed-alignment relationships rarely end well. Yeah, sometimes Catwoman marries Batman, but that’s because SHE decides to change: you can’t decide for her.
Of course, the fact that you spied on her behind her back makes me wonder if you’re as Lawful Good as you think.
I guess this question would be for Erica, what would you say influenced your drawing style? Particularly how you’ve been drawing Guilded Age I guess? :BBB
I don’t know exactly how to answer that since one of the worst things you can do is to try to draw like another artist, but here is a list of artists who I’ve always thought are absolutely amazing and I can’t stop looking at: Carl Barks, Bruce Timm, Darwyn Cooke, Winsor McCay, Bill Pressing, Adam Warren, Will Eisner, Jeff Smith.
Take from that, what you will.
There are probably more, but I don’t know who they are at the moment.
Fun Fact : I have no idea who any of those people are.
Q&A? Looks more like T&A from here.
An, Bandit. Allowing us to fulfill our weirdest desires.
She’s just a little short.
She’s still good, she’s still good!
36x24x36. Centimeters, that is.
Take it from a six-footer–the short ones are cuter.
I agree, my fellow 6’0
Meh. I prefer Amazons…
Actually I pretty much fail to show interest in anyone who can’t beat me at both arm-wrestling and Othello.
If that fails, being able to get me in an arm-lock before I can get them in an arm-lock… and chess… will do.
Can’t it be both?
if its female, i look once.
whether or not i continue to look is another matter…
Mostly directed at you guys.
This your first web comic (if so, congrats on beating the odds and making it to your first anniversary), or are there other awesome archives to raid?
Are we going to see more Savasi, or is Gravedust it? Also, are the Savasi normal dwarves (culturally), or are they cliche turned on its ear like other ones in this comic?
Finally, opening chapter vintages? Cool or awesome?
T and I have previously collaborated as writers on http://www.sketchies-comic.com/
Unfortunately, it was a little too niche for any kind of Great Big Audience Grab, but it still holds a special place in our hearts. On top of that, it’s where T and I realized we had oodles of fun writing together, and here we are now.
Yes, you will see more Savasi. As far as what kind of dwarves they are, you’ll just have to wait and see!
Opening chapter vintages: Super Awesome-cool.
I just read through the whole of Sketchies, It was good, any chance of it ever coming back?
Maybe!
Phil and I both love Sketchies, though we’ve sometimes disagreed about how we’d bring it back, whether we should tie it off quickly or what. We do have four scripts for it that no reader has ever seen.
Whooa, Sketchies is you guys? I remember reading it regularly forever ago! Sorry to say I kept up with it for Sigala and had never heard of the two of you (or sadly even noticed there were two writers). When I lost all my bookmarks it was a name a couldn’t remember. I regret that I never noticed the other two names on that billing because this is now one of my favorite webcomics. I should have been watching those two writers more carefully?
There’s lots more from me that’s linked from http://www.tcampbell.net. Phil’s covered everything else.
I read Penny & Aggie, it’s very, very, VERY well done, kudos!
This is my first real webcomics, although I do post little personal one-shots on my sketch blog- failatlife.blogspot.com
Which are incredibly awesome, BTW. Your art is just great. I particularly love how you draw the female body, and I remember an image depicting a friend of yours facing a manticore -it was great, and the manticore itself was positively terrifying. You’ll forever have my never-ending admiration & greatest esteem, Ms. Henderson.
I’d totally hit it. Totally gnome-sexual.
But on a serious note, I’d love to hear about the characters themselves. Did any of them end up based, even partly, off of DnD characters yall have played before?
Not specifically. Byron is kind of based on the type of character my longest-time D&D/WoW/RP Buddy usually plays, as a loose tribute to all the good times we’ve had.
I based the design of Byron on my friend Nick. The character I played in high school was a redhead, but I think that the character description of Frigg that the guys gave me specified red hair. One guy thinks that she’s based on me, that is wrong- especially since the guys wrote the descriptions before I was part of the project and they hadn’t seen me with short, dyed hair yet.
By sheer cosmic coincidence, Byron bears a striking resemblance to my previously mentioned Buddy as well.
I thought of the characters in role-play terms when we first created them, but only in the general sense and even that didn’t last long. Now they’re more real to me than any character I or my friends ever played.
So….. are you opposed to fan creations pairing Payet/Byron, Syr’nj/Frigg, or Bandit/money/hat.
Will you explain people’s names for those of us (like me) who can’t understand the joke behind anyone’s name other than Syr’nj? Granted, reading people’s comments occasionally told me Payet Best is something off of … uh…. some dude in a band who left before the band became famous.
Any fan pairings are fine. Just send us links when you’re done.
Personally, I’m not opposed to any fan creations as long as they aren’t taking credit that doesn’t belong to them. However you want to enjoy our work is up to you, I say.
Not all of them are direct jokes or references, but the band you’re thinking of is this really obscure one called “The Beatles” that had a few singles a while back.
Wasn’t that George Harrison’s old band? Deep cuts, man.
No, that was just his practice band before The Traveling Wilburys.
The funny thing, of course, is that Pete Best still is rockin’ out. Released a CD in 2008. Suck it, beatles.
Yeah, beat that, John Lennon!
Byron the Berserker was inspired in part by Bob the Builder, and I like the irony that “Byron” is considered sort of a nerdy name today but is actually the name of a dark, troubled kind of hero. It suits Byron.
“Syr’Nj” is a pun on “syringe.”
Gravedust Deserthammer’s name is pretty obvious, I think, with “Grave” meaning both “serious” and “mortal remains.”
Frigg is named for a Norse goddess whose name is now a substitution for the F-word.
Bandit Keynes’s name was inspired by the Yu-Gi-Oh character “Bandit Keith” (who, unlike Keynes, was not an actual bandit) and John Maynard Keynes, one of the most influential economists of all time. The idea of an economically savvy thief amuses me.
Well dang, that bursts my bubble. I thought the Keynes reference was for Liet Keynes from the Dune books. Drat, not an ecologically savvy thief?
You can still pretend.
That was Liet-Kynes, not Keynes.
You know? The first time I saw her, that’s who I thought of.
Totally got the Bob the Builder thing from his catchphrase.
From what I recall of the comments at the time when it was mentioned, nobody else got it.
*Smug*
Did Bandit become a bandit because her name is Bandit, or is Bandit just a nickname that emphasizes how much she excels at banditry?
Does Gravedust prefer the nickname Gravy or Dusty?
Is “prefer” the new street slang for “hates less”?
I didn’t realize there was a difference with him.
Yes.
Bandit’s a name she uses when she wants to actually ANNOUNCE that she’s a thief, like when she applied for a job with the guys.
The funny thing about names is that you only know the names you’re given. A lot of faith is put into people being honest about their name overall.
For example… did you know that T isn’t T’s real name?
Is it D?
He kinda seems like a D. I think. I’m not really sure what it implies.
Yes. Also he hunts vampires.
geaaarngh. well, after ingesting this image, the obvious question is the character’s ages. byron’s pretty easy to peg, being human and all, but we don’t have any real frame of reference for other species.
They’re all legal adults by modern standards, if that’s what you’re worried about.
well, sure, but is sry’nj hundreds of years old? or just a sapling? is gravedust an elder or just a bearded young upstart?
Dwarves and Elves age differently from humans, but suffice it to say that Gravedust is old enough to yell kids off his lawn and Syr’Nj is young enough to not have to worry about wrinkles.
okay, so the question is being dodged…that’s cool.
but is it being dodged because it’s a concept that the comic’s gonna cover down the line? or because it’s just something that just hasn’t been defined?
Yes.
HAH. I JUST BROUGHT THIS TOPIC UP THE OTHER DAY. Yay for me. Phil, answer the man.
NO.
POOP.
POOP.
I don’t get why we’re taking the fifth on this one, but I won’t break up the united front.
POOP.
I’m not united on this one. I just don’t remember what the final figures were- except Frigg.
I just like being defiant.
Also that.
It seems so far that, for the most part, each race/species/whatever has only one kingdom each. Is this, in general, the case? Are humans, as Byron’s words to Gravedust indicate, an exception (this question assumes that the answer to the previous question is yes)? Do shit elves even have their own kingdom?
Humans have this disgusting habit of procreating endlessly and as such have populated numerous regions and flown countless flags. Their comparatively rapid reproduction cycles coupled with short lifespans allow them do basically whatever the hell they want.
The rest of them I’m keeping mum on, because I’m not sure we’re ready to reveal some of that information but, short answer, no: Shit Elves do not have their own kingdom.
Thank you. Both for answering my questions and for reminding me of “Bitches be so rich they can fund whatever they want.”
Do they have a patch of communal terrain with some form of government OTHER than a monarchy?
Now, wouldn’t shit elves have a cesspit, instead of a kingdom? “Welcome to the Great Loo, Capitol of the Glorious Cesspit of the Shit Elves.”
Ah, yes…the great kingdom of Shittopia. Where the primary source of employment is the pooper-scooper and where the phrase “bullshit!” is a salutory greeting rather than an exclamation of outrage.
Nice bod, but the face is all, “I’m gonna roll you for your wallet the instant your guard is down.” Kind of a turn-off?
To you, maybe!
I was thinking the exact same thing!
I would say it’s more “Yes look at the cleavage, so I can cut your purse!”
She’s a bad girl.
I wouldn’t go that far. She just knows what she wants.
Your purse, and your hat.
that is to say your “purse” and your “hat” nudge nudge
really! ‘purse’ and ‘hat’ as in, well, literally, your purse and hat.
sexy halfling is sexy
Purse? Fine.
Hat? Try it and pull back a stump.
simple solution, bring an empty wallet you don’t mind losing!
I’ve been wondering this from day one: why don’t any of the characters in this group use swords as their primary weapon? The overall absence of the ubiquitous long blade from this comic makes it stand out from its peers. Was eschewing the sword a design decision on your part, or pure coincidence? If it’s more than just happenstance, what was your primary motivation in so choosing?
Syr’Nj’s primary weapon is a short sword, but she rarely uses it because she is a healer first and a fighter last.
Otherwise… I, personally, hadn’t really thought about it until you mentioned it just now. I think we probably just deferred to weapons that were more interesting than swords in general, but not intentionally.
Sometimes it’s the little details like that which really set comics apart. I like that swords don’t show up very often on these pages. They are such a staple of the fantasy genre that they’ve become cliche. One of the best aspects of this comic is that it turns the cliche on its head. I applaud the choice, even if it was unintentional. :-)
Well then, thanks.
While I’m busy taking credit for things I didn’t do, you’re welcome for Dark Side of the Moon. Had a hell of a time recording that one I tell you.
How’d you sync it up to The Wizard of Oz?
Man I have no idea, it was a different time back then and I was kind of stone a lot.
I told you and I told you, stop hanging around with Medusae.
Congratulations on the anniversary!
WELL, that’s just due to a lack of funds. Some day when we get the kind of money we need, we’ll go back and put metal bikinis on everyone and add in lots of superfluous flowery text and everybody will have swords with guns attached. All digitally remastered to be more badass.
Will you also make a kid-friendly version, where all of the weapons are swapped for walkie-talkies?
PPPPFFFFT. DUH.
Maybe they can just add those bright orange plastic caps to the ends of all the weapons, and attach labels with HUGE warnings which read, “Caution: this weapon was manufactured in a facility that processes nuts” just to cover the whole allergy thing as well…two birds n’ all…
Is this what you had in mind? http://razoredgeknives.com/MikeAdamson-KnifeCollection-CutlassPistol-4-1018×400.jpg
I’ll be in my bunk…
Firefly reference!
Gold Star.
Cheers,
Cote
This…is probably a fetish…
Whoops. Link Broke. Here’s another, or just Google ‘cutlass pistol’. These really existed.
http://www.icollector.com/images/1618/17522/17522_1256_1_lg.jpg
Can’t add much to this one– I didn’t think about swords much either. Phil and I were playing some WoW when we conceived the series, and that game seems more axey to me. But that may just be me.
Haha, when we started working on this, and we agreed that we wanted MMO influences to be present, I made both of them sit down and play free trials of WoW so they’d have an idea.
They both ended up rolling hunters, which start with axes instead of swords.
On top of the fact that whenever these two hand me a character description it never says sword, swords are terribly inefficient when going up against armored individuals. Also, when I first started doing research (I have done so much research, even into what medieval ladies used as tampons) all of the scans and weaponry imagery from around the appropriate time periods from around the world that I grabbed were generally not swords. Oftentimes it was the other things that proved to be more interesting.
So, what did medieval ladies use as tampons?
… what? Just curious. And it could turn out to be useful, I write fantasy stories.
Also, kudos for doing your research, swords are indeed a bad choice against plate harness and not great if used on mail-armored enemies. Frigg’s mace is among the best weapons to bash people encased in iron alloys, for instance. Will you ever cease to amaze me, Erica Megami-sama?
Not all swords were useless against armoured opponents. For example, 15th century Europe saw the rise of longswords (wielded with 2 hands) and a specific way of wielding them against plate-wearing foes, called “half-swording”. Clearly a poleax or mace would be more effective, but you still got the job done with your carry-along all-purpose weapon (sword).
[/history buff alert]
yeah, a nice mace gets the job done better when plate is involved.
Give me a Spetum and a boot-knife or two and I’m happy as a pig in shit.
Here’s a question for all of you.
What, if any, other comics do you regularly read, and are not involved in?
I read: Hark A Vagrant, Scary Go Round, Gastrophobia, Oglaf, Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, Girls With Slingshots, Something Positive, String Theory, Love Me Nice, Wondermark, Riceboy, Gunnerkrigg Court, Cat and Girl, aaaaaand there are probably more. I just can’t remember right now because it is one thirty in the morning.
What Erica Said, plus:
– Manly Guys Doing Manly Things
– Dark Legacy
– Let’s Be Friends Again
– Shortpacked!
– Sam and Fuzzy
– Overcompensating
– Pictures for Sad Children
– Gunshow
And many, many more.
Manly Guys Doing Manly Things is Beautiful.
A+
I read a metric frig-ton of comics. The ones that I find myself really looking forward to right now, in no particular order, are
– Shortpacked
– Out There
– Octopus Pie
– Basic Instructions
– Bobwhite
– Questionable Content
– The Oatmeal
– Scenes From A Multiverse
– Starslip Crisis
– Sluggy Freelance (soon as we get past the filler)
– Something Positive (though I’ve got a semi-crossover going with Randy, so that might not be totally in the spirit of the question)
Also, in print: Life With Archie (shut up, Phil), Secret Six, Iron Man.
I want it on the record that I have absolutely no problems with Archie comics, and that T is totally normal for reading them at his age.
OH CRAP. Print comics. I’m really into Castle Waiting and Empowered. The next volumes of both come out this fall, BOTH ARE PRE-ORDERED. I was also religiously following Scott Pilgrim since volume one, but that’s done with. Everything else I’ve been reading is older. Except for maybe Darwyn Cooke’s Parker stuff- next one comes out in October. WHOOOO.
Print comics!
EVERYTHING DIES.
(just recently now also a webcomic)
… Would links be too much to ask?
I think between all three lists there were like… 10 I hadn’t read. That is kind of a big deal, in my grand mission to read pretty much ALL the webcomics.
Which real-life actors would you pick to portray each character in the movie version of Guilded Age? Who would you pick to play yourselves in The Making of Guilded Age
I have a question FOR YOU- Does this have to be current actors? Or can we pick people who are dead or who could have played them in their 20’s and 30’s but are now too old?
Let’s diversify. Pick whom you’d most like to play that character/yourself, regardless of whether that actor or actress is still alive. But, if your selection for any character is deceased, pick a living actor or actress to be understudy, so to speak.
Okay. I did this once, but it was literally A YEAR AGO. So let’s see how much I can remember, or just make up on the spot. Syr’nj- Sygourney Weaver circa Alien
Byron- Chris Pine
Frigg- Carrie from Mythbusters
Bandit- Hayden Panettiere
Gravedust- Edward James Olmos
Best- David Bowie circa Boys Keep Swinging (also acceptable- Cillian Murphy)
Ardaic- Gary Oldman
Kari’s too good-natured to play Frigg. You’d need someone who can pull off a solid “I hate the CRAP OUT OF EVERYTHING except KICKING EVERYTHING’S ASS”
Kinda like Francis (l4d), but in girl form.
Oh, this question! It seems to come up on any project I work on for more than a year. So… good timing, I guess.
I usually imagine them being played by unknowns. There are actors I follow but I don’t feel like I know the field well enough to find really good matches.
Also, actors can surprise you. I would never have guessed Robert Downey Jr. had Tony Stark in him when he was down to appearing in Ally McBeal.
Playing us in the Making Of?
I don’t know about Erica, but for me and T I would pick Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern, respectively. I feel like they already have our dynamic down pat.
Haha. More like Dan Fogler and Jay Baruchel, except Baruchel is too young to play T.
Here’s the important question!
If you guys are starting chapter 7 monday… HOW AM I GOING TO SEE FRIGG AND HER SEXY CRUSADER CORP CENTERFOLD!?
… the centerfold is Gravedust, isn’t it? That’s why we aren’t bothering.
We have to save something for Year Two.
O… okay. I’ve waited this long for Gravedust in a string thong. I can wait a year longer.
As someone who is a huge fan of pinup and erotic art, rest assured that inappropriate images of these people DO EXIST. Although you will probably never see them, at least not the ones that include nipples. Except for Byron, you’re allowed to see his nips.
Actually, I think it was for T’s birthday last year that I drew Syr’nj bathing in a pond.
This both comforts and depresses me.
So creator service is more explicit than fan service eh?
I just wish we could see the ladies of the comic in burlesque get-up.
O, Phil and Erica, Wise Ones, Creators of Guilded Age, hear my plea.
Will we get to see Syr’Nj in a swimsuit ? ^^
I had a long discussion with these guys about whether swimsuits would even EXIST in Arkerra. You may have to settle for naked.
Eh, Twiggy? :P
Who came up with the character Frigg, and was she always meant to be a foulmouthed lovely woman who just happens to refer to memes and things? She’s my absolute favorite. Invisibul catfuckery!
Which also leads to another question- are the readers supposed to dislike Best? I always got the intention we were supposed to think of him as a douche but I fucking love him and I always have (my love reached its peak when he confronted carnj!)
Final question! How the heck do 2-3 guys/girls manage to do so much diverse writing? Sick!
What could have possibly made you think he’s portrayed as a douche? Other than his “Become A Huge Douche!” achievement, I mean?
We all came to the same conclusion when we were figuring over the “tank” of our group: How come the big, dumb meathead character is never a girl? We just really wanted to see that.
I spend a small amount of time watching WWE with my roommate. The storytelling mechanics found within often revolve around two basic character concepts: the Face and the Heel. Faces are people who the audience cheers for, and Heels are people whose job it is to basically be the epitome of all that is booed at.
The important part about heels in the WWE, though, is even if they’re sneaky, dickish, and underhanded, they absolutely have the skills to back up their egos (otherwise they wouldn’t be allowed in the ring to begin with). And on top of that, just because a character is meant to be booed at, it doesn’t mean you have to dislike them.
So, the fact that there is such a mixed opinion about whether or not Best is likable means Mission Accomplished.
The writing ends up being really diverse because of three reasons:
1) T and I split duties on scriptwriting evenly down the middle (we each write half the script and then revise together).
2) T and I come from different schools of writing. T’s written comics for longer than I’ve been legally allowed to drive cars, and all my formal training comes from film school (with heavy comic influences).
3) Erica ends up contributing a fair bit to the writing process because whenever T and I can’t agree on something (a fairly common phenomenon), we use Erica as the tiebreaker. When the project started, we all agreed that we would observe and respect the rule of “2 vs 1.” Also, you’d be surprised how many elements of the pages were inserted by Erica that weren’t in the original script!
Adding to Phil’s comments above…
Phil came up with the idea of 4chan-speak and I enthusiastically ran with it, even though it meant learning some new slang.
I love almost every character I write for. Best is totally a douche, but I love him anyway. I understand why he is the way he is, and I know that there but for the grace of God go I.
[Just take “God” as figurative, if you prefer.]
Thanks for the replies, appreciate it! Best is an asshole but I’ve always had a thing for those type of characters.
i have been wondering, for a while, how to pronounce Frigg’s name?
is it pronounced like fridge?
or is it a hard ‘g’ sound?
I always thought of it was a hard g as in the more genteel version of the f-word.
Friggin’ friggers. Frigg.
I’m assuming that Frigg is inspired by the goddes of nordic mythology?
In nordic mythology, Frigg is the wife of Odin, and considered his equal with regards to knowledge of the fate of the world.
But to answer you question, I support doop doop’s interpretation of her name.
The G sound in her name is as hard as her armor.
If her name were “Fridge,” I wouldn’t be able to take her seriously.
“Fridge” is often a nickname given to football players and other tough guys in general, so it wouldn’t be out of place.
Yeah, but it’s usually to the really FAT ones. Frigg is a lot of things–fat is NOT one of them.
You would take William Perry seriously.
well, my original question was artfully dodged. i get another one, right?
Erica! you’re a professional artist. that’s what i wanna be. i’ve been doing a few little freelance gigs for local companies while i trundle through an unrelated university degree, but i’ve no idea if i could hold my own in the big scary world of freelance.
so my question is! how did you make that jump?
and my browser is misbehaving. i may have posted this question twice.
First of all, your first question was NOT artfully dodged. It was very poorly dodged.
Second-
I am not a freelance artist by trade, I have a day job because I prefer to have a day job. This way the stuff that I do to monetarily support the things I want to do fits within a certain time frame as opposed to taking on enough freelance to support yourself by spending all of your time doing it. Also, I would rather not spend half of my time LOOKING for little pieces of work here or there. I do take on the occasional freelance work, but only if I want to. Mostly, I would rather work on my own projects.
Anyway- there are three things that are key to making it in art whether it’s freelance or a full time gig- skill, perseverance and luck- definitely not in that order and oftentimes skill is interchangeable with networking.
In my personal experience, if everything you do is done at home, home becomes work. Then the things that you want to do no longer feel like fun because you’re doing them at work.
i dig you on the work/fun thing. i have a lot of trouble getting motivated- first for work, and then for personal projects.
thanks for the perspective.
oh, hey, and props on a day job AND three pages a week! that’s better than we see out of most webcomics.
I’m hoping for a gnome-filled orgy, with both sexes. I’m all about the maths, you see, and it’d be full of bipolynomials.
I like egregious posteriors and I cannot prevaricate.
Congrats on the year, and thanks for the hard work! I’ve loved every panel.
Thank you!
Yeah, seriously, the appreciation is what keeps us going.
Danke!
Aye, it’s been one hell of a first year … chock-a-block full of story and terrific art. I’d have to say, on a long, long list of comics I read, GA’s the one I most look forward to seeing on the M/W/F schedule. Sure, you’re down the list on my bookmarks a bit (as I found you a bit later than most of the rest), but I leave it down there near the bottom for the sweet, sweet anticipation. So, thank you for the quality, the quality and also the constant commitment to your schedule. You never disappoint!
So, question … when are you lot dropping this in dead tree format?
As soon as we’re done setting up the ____________ _______, the ___ ____ ______, and the _____.
_____________
____ you, pal.
Wow leave it to Bandit to plant bad thoughts in my head, undoubtedly a form of gnome inception. Must…leave…wallet. ANYHOW, was there any one character your team found more challenging to write than the others?
Gravedust, probably. He is the most mysterious of the bunch, and he’s the one whose dialogue we have to keep a reign on moreso than the others due to plot-reveal concerns.
The work shows, pages where he narrates are my favorite. Congratulations on one year, it’s been a blast thus far!
Thanks for reading! Tell your friends!
ABSOLUTELY Gravedust in the long run, though there was one point where we were having more trouble with Byron.
I LOVE byron’s Michael Weston-Speak.
So… Frigg’s last name. Was it picked at random, or is one of you an Opeth/Bloodbath fan? :-)
Let’s just say we wanted a last name that was sufficiently Metal enough for our favorite bruiser.
This one was all Phil.
@phil,
Will you come back and be the MC Hellfire to my DJ ThA lYgHt?
And @everyone,
It’s been a spectacular read thus far and I look forward to more plot unfolding. I’ve actually been inspired to start running D&D campaigns again thanks to you guys and this strip. Matzel tov!
Haha, I’m afraid I still don’t have the time available to commit to our glorious WoW-Hip Hop-Concept act.
Plus, y’know, I don’t play anymore.
Pfft, I’m barely playing right now – school and xbox 360 and workin’ out and whatnot. I just need an MC to mash beats and lyrical bricks with. Don’t forget about me completely, now that you’re all famous and whatnot ;-).
i was initially attracted to this comic for the art, which i consider stunning, but i stayed for the writing, which i consider to have a consistent quality that far surpasses much traditionally found self-published on the net, can you talk a bit about How the lot of you collaborate to produce such a smooth and beautiful final product?
Absolutely.
Here’s the basic process:
T and I (and usually Erica if she’s available) bump heads together to outline the plot in a chapter based mostly on what we’d like to see and what we think would make for some seriously entertaining times.
Then T and I divvy up the plot points into equally portioned chunks based on page count, and begin writing our individual sections. After that, we mercilessly tear each others hard work and labor to pieces and violently argue about punctuation and pronouns until Erica flips a coin so that we’ll just shut up already.
Then, Erica takes our scripts and uses some sort of unexplained devil-magic to make the eye-popping, jaw-dropping art you see every update.
devil-magic! i should have known.
great comic, definitely looking forward to your long and illustrious careers.
This is completely accurate.
Will Byron continue to shame the noble, foamy-mouthed bloodline of the Berserkers by refusing to indulge in violent, indiscriminate rage?
And happy anniversary! I’ve been reading since very near the start and it has been fantastic all the way. Here’s hoping for lots more to come.
You’re making an awful lot of assumptions about Byron and his bloodline there, Mr. Von Berserk!
Let’s just say that shit will seriously hit the fan by the end of 2010, one way or another.
You’ve clearly never seen Byron play mah-jongg.
Congratulations! I hope the visitor numbers are backing up the sheer amount of insane quality the comic has.
Is Guilded Age intended to run on forever, or will our heroes’ journey come to conclusion at one point?
Also, Erica, are you thinking of doing any other webcomics? Your art style is usually amazing (though I occasionally have issues with Syr’Nj’s face).
The visitor numbers definitely please us so far. But you can help us out by spreading the word!
I feel we can definitely say that Guilded Age has a for-real ending in its future.
I hope that’s far future, not near future. If the quality continues the way it does at the moment, rest assured that you have sold at least one Guilded Age – the collected chronicles – book.
Also, word has been spread to both of my social network followers. I think I’ll achieve a 50% conversion rate – that’s good, isn’t it?
What Phil said.
Frigg also occasionally has issues with Syr’Nj’s face.
LOL! ^__^
Sorry, this caught me by surprise.
No question here, just a thanks for making Gravedust the mage in the group. It’s nice to see someone breaking the standard Dwarven atrributes.
Thanks! Breaking standard attributes has been a priority for all of us– but especially for Phil, who was playing a lot of WoW when we started and was more (wearily) familiar with the archetypes/cliches.
Puns. Annoying or Entertaining? GO!
Ask your fellow readers.
How about ANNOYTERTAINING???
I think puns are quite punny
“BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”
okokok XD sorryX)
Congrats on the year and here’s to many more! Guilded Age is one of my favorite web comics. Love it.
:-)
Man this Q&A is as good as a regular comic! Congrats on the long run guys! I did have one question, which I think is one of the downfalls of alot of online comics: Pacing. You guys have kept us all enthralled so far, and after a years worth you’re still going strong. Is there a defiante conclusion mapped out for this comic or will it continue into the infinite future? Just curious :)
Keep it up, utterly fantastic combination of artistic mastery and clever writing.
As stated above, there is a definitive ending in store for GA.
Wether or not that’s soon or later is kind of up to you guys.
Later later later MUCH LATER!
Guilded Age, like Sketchies but unlike many of my other comics, has a pre-set chapter length of 24 pages, further divided into 4-page units which Phil and I divide between us. We’ll deviate from that length when we absolutely feel we have to (as we did in the last chapter), but I think that helps the pacing a lot.
What was your introduction to roleplaying ? First game, party place, any such details you want to add.
Also what caused the desire to work with comics? — that inspiration or spark or wow, if that makes sense. A person, or a particular comic series, or issue, or something else altogether.
This has been a great year of comic, an excellent writing and art combo. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to more. I’m definitely a fan of character driven series and this functions fantastically as such.
My first foray into Role Playing was during high school and a kid I kind of knew DM’d me a solo adventure just so I could get an idea. I was instantly hooked.
As far as comics, I’ve basically read more comics than anything else probably my entire life, so it seemed the right way to go!
The Boy Scouts did a little D&D when I was a teenager, and I tried to get some people to run Marvel Super Heroes with me, but I didn’t really get into it until sophomore year of college, when a bunch of my friends ran another superhero game.
My experiences have been fairly brief– unless I had a brilliant GM, I always ended up wanting to take over the story, which, ironically, helped me decide I was most cut out for fiction.
I’ve loved comics since I was a kid, and fell under Scott McCloud’s spell in college. It’s a medium I’ve found rewarding to work in ever since.
When I was a kid, my dad would write and run short campaigns of Call of Cthulhu for my friends and me on Halloween. That was my first foray in pen and papers. Then, in high school, I was part of the Adventurer’s Guild, which was the pen and paper RPG club. I was the only girl.
I’ve always been a fan of comics, and I’m glad that we’ve reached a point where people who don’t want to do the typical DC/Marvel thing can have an audience.
LOL
I just want to say, I love this comic. I can hardly believe it’s been a year. Keep up the good work and thank you for all you do.
Thanks for reading, man. Tell your friends!
First off–fantastic work this past year you guys. I’ve never commented here before, but rest assured knowing this is by and above one of the best comics (web-published or otherwise) I’ve had the pleasure of reading.
Now, onto my question. As a burgeoning writer, this question is directed to T specifically, but both of you in general: How do you do it? you’ve managed to make (what I imagine to be) a successful career writing amazing comics and stories. I’m simply curious as to how one starts such an endeavor–how one goes about getting their foot in the door, as it were.
Have you started writing yet?
If the answer is “No,” then start.
If the answer is “Yes,” then don’t ever stop.
That’s really the key to it. We live in a brave new world of media where literally anybody can publish something to the web and become a success with enough effort and networking. You get out of it what you put into it.
T, I’m sure, has some better and more specific answers for you.
I’d back up everything Phil said above.
Speaking generally: there is no “door.” That’s something that I took a long time to accept. I started writing professionally in ’98: until around ’06, I thought I would get to a certain point in my career and then I’d feel established and secure. These days, I think that writers should never lose that hunger: we should always be reaching for the next goal, the next thing we would like to do or achieve.
The world continues to change. Old opportunities dry up and new ones take their place. The best thing you can do as a creative person can do is keep your eyes open for what you feel should exist, that doesn’t yet.
Speaking specifically: the trickiest part of writing comics (if, like me, you don’t trust your own drawing abilities) is to find a good partner. Good partnerships need three things: communication, respect and reliability. I got my start doing unrelated four-page stories with different artists, which was 1) a good learning experience and 2) a very ACHIEVABLE goal for both me and my partners. Finishing those four pages each gave us something to feel good about and a little experience to use next time. Once I had done that for a while, I offered a page rate and did some tryouts for a more permanent partner. And after I’d gotten a regular series with a regular artist under my belt, I was capable of doing either a page rate or a percentage split for the next project. Good luck!
Lucky you for knowing reliable artists… (and also being friendly enough for them to stick around).
actually, can we have this question targetted at Erica too? i’d like to know how to make it as an artist.
Thank you!
You’ve kept me entertained for the last year, but I feel like I’ve known this comic much, much longer (yes, that’s a good thing). The characters are interesting, funny, like- and/or hateable, the writing is brilliant and the artwork is simply amazing. Aaaaand you’re getting my Extra-Special-Devoted-Fan-DoublePlus-Award because of the always-fun-to-read comments – you’ve got yourself some very … fascinating followers. :)
Keep on being awsome!
How did you three meet up with each other? (sorry for being super-personal)
I met Erica on the convention circuit– met her dad there, too (he’s had an interesting career of his own you may not know about). Phil and I were both in Washington, D.C. for a while and a group called “Washington Webtoonists” gave us the chance to bond.
When we first met I was like, “Holy fucking shit, you’re T Campbell!”
Now it’s like, “God fucking dammit… you’re T Campbell.”
I met T and Phil at Ubercon, but I don’t know if it was the same Ubercon. We became friends after an awesome Scrabble match where we allowed fake words if they were dirty. I wrote “cooter”.
T had approached me back then about working with him on a story (unless I’m mistaken, it was the graphic novel “Divalicious”) but I turned it down because I was still in school. Many years later (not that many, I’ve only been out of school for a short time) I saw T again at New England Webcomics Weekend and we traded information and said that there was something that he had that I could work on.
Also, I didn’t like Phil when I first met him. It’s okay, he knows. We’re totally buds now though.
OH, also, when I first met T I told him that I had, prior to meeting him, thought he was a lady.
Hi guys, thanks for the amazing work you do (for free I may add) and congrats on doing so well for an entire year.
Since you’ve started, I been hearing many comments in the, er, comments about how GA is a fictional role playing game and the cast are all played by fictional gamers. I know this is a trivial matter and a good answer would be “Does it even matter? A story told is a story told no matter the medium, enjoy it for what it is,” but it’s been bugging me. Is the Guilded Age an RPG, or just based off one?
In an unrelated note, AI articles:
Restless Spirit: “Is she cheating on me with my Astral Projection?
Learn about the the Latest Craze, Ether Imbibing!
The Top 10 most expensive Fortresses (and their weak points).
Central Monducks score against West Coastal Hogboars, 7-3. Obituaries to follow.
Codpieces: Are they more than a status symbol?
Fucking Magnets! How do they work?
I love all of these. Thank you for stepping up.
GA isn’t really based on ANY game system. I think people are just inclined to draw parallels to D&D. I know Dominic Deagan gets that a lot and it is definitely not game based.
Also, “does it really matter?” Either it’s an original work of fiction, or it’s a work of fiction based on another work of fiction that you never got to read. Doesn’t seem like much of a difference.
I know, I know, I know. The only real difference for me is the intent of the characters. You tend to choose to do braver things knowing that it’s only your character’s butt on the line.
Thanks for clearing that up though guys. I just felt that from the way everyone was talking they were on board with some privy knowledge and I’d missed the memo.
No weapons, no armor, no holds barred fist fight, Byron vs. Frigg.
Who wins?
The audience.
I feel like if I were to answer this one T and Phil would track me down and pummel me.
No weapons, no armor, no holds barred fist fight, T vs. Phil.
…Who wins?
xD
Hm. T is taller and has a longer reach, but Phil is from the mean streets.
You been workin’ out lately, Phil? I HAVE
Motherfucker I will end you.
They’re close enough in ability that it would turn on the specific circumstances of the fight.
This comic reminds me of so many of my D&D games…. which may or may not be a good thing, all things considered ^-^’ …. I’d take that alignment test Bandit’s selling there, but I always end up CN or NE….. wonder why…. : /
Congrats on a full year and hopefully many more… most of the comics I read have a tendency to die soon after I realize I love them T_T I’m jinxed, I swear.
You’ve doomed us all.
Thank you. Thank you so much for making such a great comic and more importantly, for putting my girl Keynes in a two piece and on the cover of a magazine I’d totally read. ^_^<3
I don't have a question, I have a request. Please, continue being as awesome as you guys have been for the past year and always remember to be happy :D
We’ll do exactly that, Silvermane. Tell all your friends about our comic!
Too rash: How to get along with the MIL (Perhaps too subtle unless you can phonetically connect it with a certain D&D monster. heh)
Getting to the bottom of the Bag of Holding
Which dungeon crawls are the best monty halls? An AI exclusive look!
Two-Patch Crappy Jack: The world’s greatest sea captain tells all!
Okay, that last one was totally a Rocko’s Modern Life reference. It’s like 3am in insomniac time, so I’m just being goofy.
I really just wanted to say thanks to all of you for a wonderful comic, congrats on a year and here’s hoping to many more! I’ve relived more of my old D&D days than I thought possible through this comic and loved every minute of it.
Especially recalling all the times I accidentially killed my party members because I insisted on playing an alcoholic dwarf with an intelligence of 3. They were pissed, but I completely blame them for it. They were the ones that let me hand-crank the elevator they were on down that mine shaft. If they didn’t want me to play “see if I can catch the handle” they should have let someone sober do it, damn it.
*cough*
Grats again! ^_^
HAH. I used to always play the drunk characters too.
You guys are tired of questions for all I know but I shall risk it.
1. How influenced are you (if at all) by reader reactions and preferences when determining the future course of the comic? Do peoples’ character preferences and desires for certain outcomes have bearing on the story elements you come up with or do you stick to your own (predetermined?) plan?
2. Any chance for a comeback of our favorite shit-elf P. Best? I know I shouldn’t be asking this but I’m hoping for a short inconclusive remark at least.
This is the first even web-comic I’ve stuck to and followed regularly so you guys are definitely doing something right. Whatever it is (weekly orgies?) keep it up.
*ever
1. The thing about GA that I can honestly say the readers influence is the execution of some details. All our plot points and characterizations stay the same, and sometimes we stick in extra things just because we know you guys would get a kick out of them.
Also sometimes we are given to more carefully consider how things can be represented on the page, because sometimes things can appear more confusing to you all than it does to us because we’re just privvy to more information.
2. Maybe!
(3.) I’m flattered, Captain.
Wow, not only a Bandit pin-up (if you make her any more gorgeous I might fall in love, Erica) but a Q&A session too! You guys are so awesome!
Anyways, it’s Saturday and I dunno if you’ll answer anything else, but first off:
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!
And secondarily: thank you, T, Phil, & Erica. I love this comic -the story’s incredible, the dialogues are witty, the art is absolutely amazing, the characters are real gems, the pacing is perfect, and it all mixes up beautifully. You guys are just great and deserve any and all fortunes this masterpiece will hopefully garner you.
Thanks!
P.S.: possible Adventurers Illustrated articles:
HellGate! His Royal Majesty the King caught with Succubus Escort!
No more wimpy, wussy wizards! Grow a pair -of Ioun Stones!
New season, new plume, new crest: the latest in helmet fashion!
UNBELIEVABLE! Arcane researchers confirm GOLEMS THINK!
Kobold protests continue -We’re Not Just Fireball Fodder!
The Archpriest pleads for war -Taste my highest level prayer, heretics!
Can you Feel the Magic? Multiclass in sorcerer in Three Easy Steps!
Thank you for reading, and be sure to tell all your friends about us! Word of mouth don’t spread itself!
Also, great AI articles! KEEP ‘EM COMING, EVERYONE.
Thanks, and since I think we already told all of our friends, we’ll have to go out and make some -new- friends, so they can read you too. Not a bad excuse for socializing!
OK. Noone’s asked this yet, so here we go:
Everyone seems to treat this as if it’s a gaming comic. The comments often make references to classes, skill checks, and the like. By and large, though, the comic itself doesn’t seem to hold to this. The closest we seem to come is either the chapter titles, which don’t seem like a valid place from which to pull the nature of reality, and Frigg’s tendency to speak as if she spent far too much time on the internet.
So, word of god: Is this a bunch of people sitting around a table (or on various computers, for sake of completeness)? Or are Byron and company real within the bounds of the story?
Whoa, man.
That’s way too deep for me to deal with sober.
Quick, someone get this man a [alcoholic beverage of preference] so he can answer the question!
Seriously though, pulling from the other time it was asked, I’d have to go with: “Who cares, we’ll find out, or be left to decide on our own.”
OK, so, just to be clear, you don’t know? Or you refuse to answer?
Why would we ever answer a question like that?
You silly billy.
A whole year already? Congratz guys, on 365 days of a truly awesome comic =)
While I’m here, I suppose I’ll do that Q and A thing that’s going on.
Is this comic based on any one game in particular, or is it a mish-mosh of all Dungeons and Dragons inspired fantasy games?
We look for inspiration everywhere. If we were taking all our cues from one game, I think people would know by now.
Actually, it’s more like 156 days since we only update 3 days a week. Also, don’t take that “only” lightly because if I had to draw and color this thing more than that I would have killed somebody by now.
This is more based on what the three of us would like to see taken OUT of fantasy rather than pulling FROM fantasy.
Dwarf Fortresses EXPLAINED.
Elder Demons; living large on a senior’s pension.
Looting; thrifty or theft?
Swords; how to get an edge on your opponent.
Sky Elves popularity poll.
Kosher Kobold Kooking Klass.
Lesser Daemons. Worth the trouble?
Minions- Quality or Quantity?
Trap Detection for low Int adventurers.
Are Dwarf Fortresses particularly confusing or is this more of a Better Homes and Gardens/Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous/Cribs bit?
It’s a reference to the game Dwarf Fortress, a very odd, convoluted and quirky game with a rather intense following.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwarf_Fortress
Think SimCity but about dwarves, in ascii and with micromanagement down to the very CATS and the HOBBIES of your citizens of your kingdom. it can get confusing.
And of course all the Dwarf Fortress players congegrate around one of the best webcomics out there. :)
well, i TRIED to play dwarf fortress. the ascii is confusing, and the custom tilesets are hard to make out details…and the control menus depress me. i think i’ll wait til someone like maxis makes a dumbed-down version for us saners.
Rock Paper Shotgun has a pretty solid tutorial. It does have a horrible interface, but that’s just part of the Fun.
After reading through… maybe 2/3 of this Q&A, I just realized WHO Erica’s father is.
Also answers why that chapter in SLAMM! had such familiar art!
IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW
ANYWAYS, that revalation aside! Been reading Guilded Age since Day 1. Easily my favorite fantasy comic, and within the top 5 all time favorites. I won’t reveal if it’s rank 2 to 5 or who the number 1 is… I need to maintain anonymity so Frigg can’t take down the other comic(s). :3
So, I’m aware the comic has a definitive end in mind. But did you have a basic length in mind when the project began? Like y’all sat down and went “Well it’s going to be 15 chapters long” and then things changed as ideas bloomed more and whatnot?
Also, did the comic intend to start as more of a gag reel then plot driven?
We do have a definitive length in mind. But depending on how much further success we’ll enjoy, that length could change (we are already remiss at how much stuff we want to do that we don’t have room for).
We’re all big fans of Character Dramadies in general, like FireFly for example. It’s just more fun to run the full gamut of genre options than just pick one, you know?
Oh dear. The stuff in that comic is so old. Blech.
I think I may have illustrated that one BEFORE high school. GROSS.
Other art in that comic- awesome. Fred Harper, Ben Fogletto? GENIUS.
*sigh*
1 year alredy? wow i simply cant belive it. there are no words to describe my love for this comic…. ok their probably are but im too buisy to find them XD
neway congrats, keep up the good work and stay loose.
You mean “First anniversary”. <grump>
Question : Do you guys still read the comments… 3 years or so later?
Sorry I’ve been digging my way through the archives lately and replying to stuff from years ago… but that is just how I roll.