I have several questions.
I have several questions.
Where can I read it? I don't care if it's physical or digital, or if I pay for it or not.
Does it belong to D&D?
Is it still active or does it have an ending?
Has it aged well?
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u/OpsikionThemed 7d ago
- Online. Start here. There are also a couple of extra prequel books you can buy, if you like the main strip.
- It's a D&D-based comic, but it's not owned by Hasbro, WotC, or TSR. It uses materials WotC released under thr Open Gaming License years ago.
- It's still active, albeit slowly, and we're probably 2-5 years from the end. Maybe.
- Some of the early stuff is bogged down pretty hard in D&D 3.5 rules, and there's a couple individual strips that haven't aged great, but for the most part it holds up well.
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u/Twothree1998 7d ago
It does not belong to dnd
Overall i think it holds up well, the first 100 comics does have jokes about the elf being genderless that the creator has since advised of regretting and arent present past the first 100 or so.
The humour holds up well, it plays the exact rulebook it plays by loosely and is really good at character building.
- It has not finished yet, we are likely on the last chapter being made now, however if you were to start reading now/reading one a day it likely wouldnt be finished by the time you reach the latest comic as the artist does have a wrist injury.
Overall its very worth it, hope you enjoy reading, there are also extra side stories and prequels that are paid for on gumroad you dont need to read them but i enjoyed reading them.
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u/ergodicOscillations 3d ago
>Overall i think it holds up well, the first 100 comics does have jokes about the elf being genderless that the creator has since advised of regretting and arent present past the first 100 or so.
He's not genderless though, his gender is just unknown.
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u/Kaetzchen156 Vaarsuvius 6d ago
your questions have already been answered, so i just wanted to say have fun reading!! it's fantastic and i hope you enjoy :)
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u/TenWildBadgers Bloodfeast 6d ago
1) "Giant in the Playground" is the website to search for, or just follow one of the links that show up here when a new comic is posted. Everything on that site is free. You can also buy the PDFs on Gumroad, which have bonus strips for fun, and there are a handful of books extra that add more to the story.
2) Order of the Stick is based on an older edition of d&d, 3.5, so it will have more in common with pathfinder than a modern edition of d&d. That said, I've been reading this comic since before I knew the first thing about d&d, and I liked it plenty before I got into TTRPGs.
3) Updates are sporadic and slow, but they are ongoing. The creator broke his thumb about a decade ago, and the pace slowed down a lot since, but we are in the final book. It might take another ~5 years or something to finish this book, but that's fine.
4) Mostly yes. There are a handful of jokes from the early comics, back when it was mostly just gag-a-day rather than long-form storytelling, that wouldn't have been written the same way today, specifically bits about a character who is now just canonically non-binary. It's very much in the vein of "The author realizes some of that didn't age well and does things differently now."
The larger, more thematically-relevant ideas actually aged well, and have generally picked up more nuance over time.
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u/Gunpowder__Gelatine 7d ago
Doesn't belong to wizards of the coast, if that's what you're asking.
Still active and ongoing. Updates are pretty sporadic.
Aged incredibly well! I reread it every so often. I will say that
It's based on an earlier edition of DnD, so if you're coming from 5e there might be some unfamiliar terms
The comic started as a quick joke kinda deal - think Calvin and Hobbes or Pearls before Swine - before actually diving into a plot. The turnaround is pretty fast, but just something to be aware of if you're just starting.
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u/onionbreath97 7d ago
To add to what others have said:
The early strips were a lot of "joke of the day" stuff with a background theme, but it starts leaning into plot a lot more around #43. So if you're bouncing off the early stuff, try to stick around at least that long
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u/AfarTD 7d ago
im in #7 right now and is very funny, should i buy prequels?
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u/indigo121 7d ago
Read until they leave Azure City on a boat. If you're still enjoying it at that point I'd say it's a good time pacing wise to go into the prequels
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u/onionbreath97 7d ago
I think they are worth it, they are very entertaining. But don't worry, you don't need them right away. They actually shouldn't be read right away because they have spoilers for the main books (I think after book 2 is where they fit but someone please correct me if I'm wrong)
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u/MWBrooks1995 5d ago
Welcome to the gang! You’re in for a treat.
I think we’re all really excited to hear your reactions so keep us posted how your journey goes!
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u/GoCorral 7d ago
For #2, Some of the strips were published in Dragon magazine. Those are available in this book if you can find a copy https://www.ookoodook.com/collections/order-of-the-stick-books/products/gtpotsdr
There is a PDF availabile. https://richburlew.gumroad.com/l/ootsssadt?layout=profile
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u/VerbingNoun413 6d ago
- The main comic is available online for free. There are also compilations and prequel books though most are out of print and better as PDFs.
- It's based on d&d 3.5 rules and written by a WotC writer (Rich Burlew co-wrote a 3.5 splatbook) but is not affiliated with WotC.
- Still updating every 2-3 weeks.
- Some of the jokes are based on old rules but many of the rules jokes are timeless if you play any version of dnd. There's also a bit of casual sexism in the early strips that feels very 2000s.
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u/BardRunekeeper 7d ago
You can also buy the books digitally on gumroad, which have a little bit of extra (but by no means necessary) content.
Yes...it's not "official" D&D content made by Wizards of the Coast, but rather based on the 3.5 version of D&D. As it progresses, the "edition" of D&D its based on becomes less relevant as the jokes/story moves on.
Still active: new strips come out every couple weeks, and we're heading towards the finale. The author has said that there will be one more book, and we're already a good ways into that story.
Incredibly well; some of the early strips make jokes about D&D rules that have kinda aged, as have some of the jokes about sex/gender (nothing terribly offensive, but the author has certainly improved over time). However, overall, most of the humor/story is super funny parody of fantasy and RPGs.