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DM of the Rings CXV:
Misunderstandings Compound
Previous in DM of the Rings: DM of the Rings CXIV: The Book of Exalted Screwups | Next in DM of the Rings: DM of the Rings CXVI: But They Don’t Fit in My Backpack! |
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By their very nature, fantasy worlds are rich in fantastic visuals. This is hampered somewhat by the fact that there is no visual component to the classic tabletop game, which leads to odd conversations like the one above.
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Previous in DM of the Rings: DM of the Rings CXIV: The Book of Exalted Screwups | Next in DM of the Rings: DM of the Rings CXVI: But They Don’t Fit in My Backpack! |
111 COMMENTS? What are you people talking about?!?
I’m sure many people will notice: This strip touches on the same theme as the classic gazebo joke.
Fantastic. Simply fantastic.
“I hate this campaign” – nice to have that one return. I was beginning to miss it.
Funny thing is, EVREYBODY seems to hate this campaign (DM & players, and all have said so before, repeatedly), and yet, they keep playing… ?
Usually, there’s at least ONE person left who’s enjoying it, or the group starts playing something else.
I didn’t mean to imply that it’s not funny, mind you. I check this site multiple times a day for a reason.
rofl
Usually when the DM starts with “I hate this campaign.” its a good cue to start re-rolling cause everyone is about to die.
I loved panel 9. Gimli’s dialogue box is present, but he’s not. That cracked me up.
MINUS Tirith??!??!??!? LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Is there a Plus Tirith in some alternate universe to balance this out??? :)
Was intro’d to your comic this week. Brilliant! I was laughing so hard, the girl in the next room thought I was choking. Looking forward to the next comic and to any further series you choose to do. kepp up the hilarious work!
Long time reader, first time poster. Absolutley fantastic job and thank heavens I’ve learned (the hard way) not to drink my coffee when reading this site or today would have cost the company another keyboard….
Is there a Plus Tirith in some alternate universe to balance this out???
Plus Tirith faced Minus Tirith from the other side of the Anduin, until the Nazgul seized it and it became Minus Morgul. Duh.
This is why Tolkien drew a map.
Oh, and for Sartorius an appreciative
AAaaarrggghhhh!
(No, I realize they’re not actually headed for the castle AAaaaarrggghhhh!)
Why do you take the time to tell them how places are suposed to be called, they will renember places like this:
Rohan Horseland
Gondor Land of Aragorn
Minas Tirith White City
have Gmed this confused conversation many, many times…
Minus Tirith. I love it. Great job, Shamus.
What’s particulary funny is…the DM is wrong too! ‘Corsairs’ are the pirates themselves…you might say ‘corsairs’ when you really mean ‘corsair ships’ but it’s not a particular kind of sailing vessel. I’d never seen the “classic gazebo joke” but the same joke appeared in the “Knights Of the Dinner Table” game comic.
My favorite moment: “It doesn’t matter lad” from somewhere below the bottom edge of the window.
i love the look on aragorn’s face in pannel nine (i believe it’s nine…) where it looks like he wants to strike legolas down where he stands.
the whole comic was great, that was just my favorite part for some reason.
Shamus, did you purposely name this strip the same as your XXX strip? Misunderstandings Abound
3 Deoxy: “Funny thing is, EVREYBODY seems to hate this campaign (DM & players, and all have said so before, repeatedly), and yet, they keep playing… ?”
For an interesting write-up of the ‘love the ideal/hate the reality’ phemonenon, see the following:
http://www.jivemagazine.com/column.php?pid=3381
Alas, my husband and I have each had games where we stomp home after each session and rant about how bad it is.
And yet, we set forth for the next one full of hope, knowing how good it *could* be…
Oh, and good comic, Shamus. :)
Now I find myself trying to think of every “corsair” I can…
Vargr corsairs, The F4U Corsair, A-7 Corsair, the car (from Ford), and so on.
“What’s particulary funny is…the DM is wrong too! ‘Corsairs’ are the pirates”
Hence the “Don’t you mean galleons?”
Interesting little article over on GeekDad today about D&D – Wired’s Geekdad Blog
At some point, every player around the table thinks “I hate this campaign.”
Usually those moments come for players who are, for the moment, supporting the glory of someone else’s character. For the DM it comes when all the players question his authority en masse.
I love that phrase. Its DMotR’s “Whatchoo talkin’ ’bout, Willis?” Those things never get old! :)
Love Aragorn’s expression in the last panel.
Love it that now the DM is complaining that he “hates this campaign.”
And the panel with “It doesn’t matter, lad” coming from an out-of-sight-because-he’s-short Gimli— that’s just terrific.
And kudos to Purple Library Guy— “That’s why Tolkien drew a map.” HAHAHAHA!!!
No wonder I’ve started saving this comic and the comments for last each day.
I laughed harder at the DM’s “I hate this campaign” than I have at anything else. I’m getting the eye from my cube-neighbors. Also loved Gimli’s dialogue bubble pointing down to him off screen.
“…and the clueless again shall be king, and he shall take the clueless for his advisors. Now come the days of the king. May he get a clue.”
Aragorn’s expression in the last panel is _perfect_. Nice to hear the DM utter the catchphrase as well. Thanks!
Love it, Shamus! When I read Aragorn’s comments in the top panels, I immediately thought, “GAZEBO!” :-)
I like the subtle Pirates reference from the hot chick.
like others have said, i *love* the panel with gimli talking but not present! awesome!
You are doing an outstanding job! I have enjoyed the whole series so far and don’t want it to end even though it is obviously close to an end. I hope we get more great work in the future. Great strip by the way, the one with the skulls trap is still my favorite.
Not sure I’ve posted before, been reading a while. Great comic, I love it! I’ve had my own gazebo moment as a DM back in high school. The party opened a door onto a room with a chest on the ground on the far side. The room had a green poisonous gas in it as well, which I described as “You see a tint in the air of the room”. I don’t recall the exact dialog at this point, but the party thought it was a tent instead. They thought they had found a magic tent and rushed into the room to figure it out. They were astounded when I asked them to make a save vs poison. Pretty amusing, particularly since I didn’t understand their mistake until they asked whether the tent had attacked them or something.
I’m just impressed that Aragorn remembered the name ‘Gondor’ in the correct context.
hehe, confused conversations…
Player: So we going to kill this so and so wizard?
Dm: No that’s the good wizard from town.
Player: So why’s a good wizard trying to take over a dragon?
Dm: He’s not; the evil wizard so and so is trying to take over the celestial dragon.
Player: That’s not the same guy?
Other Player: Why would an evil guy want to take over an evil dragon? Wouldn’t they want to team up to kill us?
Dm: I hate this campaign.
‘Corsairs are Sailing ships’.
I…Think(I’m probably reaching) it’s a slight reference to EA’s The Battle for Middle Earth-’Corsair’ is used for the ships and the ground units.
Lol! Loved the irony of the DM complaining about his own campaign.
Whoa–I pulled up the comic and the first thing that caught my attention, before even getting to read any dialogue, was a dinasaur and that weird leopard-thing, and I was all huh??? So I actually read it and… it all made sense! Amazing!
(cleaning monitor of water after seeing Gimli’s “below the fold / under the camera” comment)
Yeah, I know … don’t drink while reading DMotR.
Just wanted to add another Corsair to Susano’s list (# 21). In the Robert Conrad TV series “Black Sheep Squadron (or Baa Baa Black Sheep if you prefer) from the 70′s, the pilots flew Corsairs in the Pacific Theater of World War II.
And Shamus, thank you so very much for taking away the ability of stalkers to make the first post … a brilliant solution!
Pimp!
KING OF THE KINGS!!!!!!!!
I haven’t laughed so hard in quite some time. This one was absolutely brilliant, particularly the part about Starcraft (where did you get that screenie? Battlestar Galactica) and the DM saying “I hate this campaign”.
Keep up the good work, Shamus!
Oh man that was sooo funny. I am going to miss this when its over.
So PLEASE Shamus, do Star Wars or I will get everyone who has laughed coffee, cocoa, water or whatever over their pc’s together and sue your ass for damages.
The DM saying “I hate this campaign”.
Brilliant and without peer. What a great laugh I got from that.
-A frustrated GM.
I thought corsairs were a type of airplane.
That’s pretty awesome… course, as soon as I read the first panel, I was waiting to see how long it’d take someone to bring up Starcraft. Glad you didn’t disappoint me on that one. ;)
Version of the “gazebo” joke that I originally heard (though I was led to believe this actually happened), was the “Portuguese” joke. The party was blocked from entering a castle by a Portuguese. They try talking to it, going around it, moving it aside, finally attacking it, all to no avail. Turs out the DM meant to say “Portcullis”.
While I don’t have a dictionary handy to make this irrefutable, the original meaning of the word “corsair” was “pirate”. A corsair could travel in a galleon, a frigate, a caravel, or even a dinghy — the title of the job (I use the term “job” loosely here) was ‘corsair’. It had nothing to do with whatever mode of transport he chose. Later on, though, the word was used for many vehicles. I believe it comes from the French.
OK, I went onto Wiktionary and got this. I hope you are all suitably edified while I go and mend my glasses with some masking tape.
corsair (plural corsairs)
Etymology
From French corsaire, from French lettre de course, alternative term for letter of marque.
A French privateer, especially from the port of St-Malo
A privateer or pirate in general
1840 “If I had been born a corsair or a pirate, a brigand, genteel highwayman or patriot — and they’re the same thing,” thought Mr. Tappertit, musing among the nine-pins, “I should have been all right. But to drag out a ignoble existence unbeknown to mankind in general — patience! I will be famous yet. — Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge, [Chapter 34.]
The ship of privateers or pirates, especially of French nationality
Turkish Corsair: A barbary pirate, or barbary pirate ship (from Algeria, which was nominally in the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire).
A nocturnal assassin bug of the genus Rasahus, found in the southern USA.
F4U Corsair: A World War II fighter aircraft.
He should have just called them pirates. I’m sure the players know what pirates are.
For those who are not familiar with the Gazebo story, you can find it at
http://www.dndadventure.com/html/articles/gaming_stories.html
As for corsair, it refers both to the ship and to the pirates. Courtesy Dictionary.com
American Heritage Dictionary – cor·sair (kôr’sâr’)
n.
1. A pirate, especially along the Barbary Coast.
2. A swift pirate ship, often operating with official sanction.
Similar definitions from other dictionaries.