“No fiction is meaningful if its lessons cannot be applied to the world that we, real actual humans, live in. If you are going to dismiss any themes or subtext present in any fantasy story as simply not applying to our world because that world has dragons and ours doesn’t, then you have largely missed the point of literature as a whole, and are likely rather poorer for it. Fantasy literature is ONLY worthwhile for what it can tell us about the real world; everything else is petty escapism.
So if I can make even one person think about how we treat people of other races (or religions, or creeds, or what have you) by using the analogy of Redcloak, then it will have been time well spent on my part.”
~ Rich Burlew [x]
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The start of your next turn. When you score a critical hit that deals slashing damage to a creature, you grievously wound it. Until the start of your next turn, the target has disadvantage on all attack rolls. Your presence in a scrap tends to elevate your comrades. You gain the following benefits:. You can use the Help action as a bonus. The Order of the Stick: Start of Darkness is the second all-new, print-exclusive volume in the popular Order of the Stick collection of comedic fantasy roleplaying game comics. The companion volume to our best-selling On the Origin of PCs, this book delves back into the past to explore the genesis of the Order of the Stick's archnemesis, Xykon the lich sorcerer. Learn how Xykon became a lich. Your one-stop-shop for all things board games, card games, and pop culture merchandise. Enjoy the latest and greatest selection of tabletop and card games, roleplaying games and supplies, and merchandise from your favorite movies, TV shows, sci-fi, fantasy, and anime series.
If you haven’t already, please read Start of Darkness, the “villains” prequel of The Order of the Stick. (If you haven’t read the Order of the Stick, well, here’s #1. Go on, I’ll wait until you reach #1189. And believe me you WILL reach it. Don’t start from the prequels, though.)
Start of Darkness is an unbelievably good book, and a more or less contained story. Burlew says about it: “Writing a story centered around your main antagonist is sort of difficult, because you risk “devillainifying” them. […] Xykon is completely and wholly unapologetically Evil, but more to the point, he’s kind of a dick. […] There are people in this world who are driven to evil because of what their life has forced them to endure; Xykon is not one of those. Redcloak might be, though.”
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Despite appearances, Redcloak is an amazingly rich and complex character. Considering he’s a fantasy villain (and in a stick figure comic that began as a spoof of D&D rules, no less), he’s simply unique. Start of Darkness explores his past, and details the circumstances that put him in an impossible spot, but doesn’t flinch away from the choices he made. Not coincidentally, it’s the story arc that Burlew is most proud of.
Redcloak is not the villain you should hate. His fall is a tragedy, and the world owes him a goddamn apology. He’s the villain you understand, and should be ready to forgive the instant he stops and turns around – if he ever does, which you suspect he won’t. But until that happens, he’s still the villain you have to oppose.
And more importantly, Redcloak (and more broadly, the place of goblins in the OotS universe) is the vehicle Burlew chose to tell us something about human beings. The analogy is far from perfect, but the story’s emotional impact and every thought it provokes resonates with the world we live in. And that’s why it matters. If it didn’t, why, it would be petty escapism.
You can buy the book here, or the PDF here.
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A certain goblin rogue that appears in Start of Darkness
Order Of The Stick Start Of Darkness Pdf Book
[originally posted by Rogue on tumblr]