Campaign Comic - Power Rangers: Dice Force - P. A. Nolte

1/ Jason, Zack, Kimberly, Trini, and Billy are at the park in Angel Grove.  Zack or Jason should be carrying a football (of either variety) to emphasize that they're out being physically active, civic-minded teens.  They share laughter, unaware of what's about to happen.

Caption: Besieged by Putties!

Caption: Initiatives!

2/ Not so much a true panel as a narrow info box with five color-coded squares that shows the rolls of the characters.  Jason/Red (15), Billy/Blue (8), Trini/Yellow (14), Kimberly/Pink (20), and Zack/Black (17).

Caption: Natural or Modified?

Kimberly (Cap): ...Modified.

3/ The team tears through Putties, but a hundred feet away is Goldar.  He brandishes his enormous sword and spreads his wings like the giant, golden sphinx monster he is.  Trini is lifting one foot off of the chest of a Putty with a lot of goop still stuck to her shoe.

Caption: The simple Putties fall before you.  Job well done!  Only for their leader to announce himself...

Caption: Trini, you take 3 acid splash damage.

Trini: Aw, man...

Goldar: RANGERS!  Fear my true power!

Jason: It's MORPHIN time!

4/ The info box again.  Jason/Red (18), Billy/Blue (3), Trini/Yellow (14), Kimberly/Pink (16), and Zack/Black (12).

Billy (Cap): Dammit!

Kimberly (Cap): Language!

5/ Jason, Trini, Kimberly, and Zack are all suited up and running towards Goldar with their weapons at the ready.  Behind them, Billy has his hands in his pockets.  He idly scuffs the ground.  Stupid dice.

Zack: Should we call our Zords?

Caption: Give me another d20.

Billy: Ugh.

For the record, I like Billy, but if someone is going to get terrible rolls for comedy's sake, it ought to be the guy who would be the most useful, and Billy is unquestionably the MMPR MVP.

Campaign Comics: “Hairy Pots and the Chamber of Snake-Skins” by David Press.

Not super sure if I did this right, because I've never played a day of D&D and have no immediate plans to, so here goes...?

1.1: Just for clarification purposes our HARRY POTTER allegory is instead called HAIRY. He’ll have a shaved head and huge glasses with a BULLSEYE scar on his forehead—instead of the lightning bolt. Ron, or ROLAND, has brown hair and actually does have a rat-like face; and Hermione who will now be called HARRIET has straight strawberry-blondish hair and skin that is breaking out in a kaleidoscope of zits.

            For our purposes here let’s have the NARRATOR’S CAPTIONS framed in a yellow box with black bold font. I’m gonna call them an IBOX.

            In the first frame, it’ll be a screen cap from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets movie where Ron, Harry, and Hermione are standing in front of the column that will take them down to the Chamber of Secrets.

IBOX:                From Day 1 of their seventh grade year Hairy Pots, Roland Tibolt, and Harriet Mange didn’t know about the Chamber.

ROLAND:              Oh I don’t know about this, mates.

HARRIET:             Grow some nuts, Roland. It’s just a Transport Whirligig.

1.2: HARRIET jumps backward down the tube embedded in the sink. She’s turned around in such a way as to face up towards Hairy and Roland—she’s sticking her tongue out at them.

HAIRY:               Whirligig? That a technical term, Harriet?

HARRIET:             C’mon, scaredy cats.

1.3: Hairy PUSHES Roland down the tube.

HAIRY:               Hey!

1.4: Hairy flies through the air into the wide CHAMBER. ROLAND is pulling himself up off the floor and HARRIET has her wand raised—a bulb of light pulses and illuminates the chamber.

HAIRY:               AHHHH!

ROLAND:           GROSS!

1.5: Hairy has landed face down in the pit—it’s a miracle his glasses aren’t broken, but his face is COVERED in clear skin. I’m sorry if this makes you puke, but we can see scales in the skins.

HARRIET:          Well that was unexpected.

HAIRY:               What?

1.6: Roland and Harriet get Hairy up and they look down the hall.

HARRIET:        The chamber just leads to the school’s garbage pit.

IBOX:                Clearly today would not be a day of adventure for our heroes.

--END--

Campaign Comic - Star Wars: Force Multiplier - Perry Kent

Panel 1

The Millennium Falcon shoots at Darth Vader's ship. Darth Vader is currently tailing Luke Skywalker's X-Wing.

1. Han: Alright. I swoop in and shoot at Darth Vader.

2. GM (caption): Your 16 is enough to damage and send him spinning, but doesn't kill him.

Panel 2

Han Solo and Chewbacca sit in the Millennium Falcon's cockpit. Han talks excitedly into his headset.

3. Luke: Thanks Han. Too bad you're not as good a shot as me.

4. Han: Oh? I'd like to see you shoot better than that.

Panel 3

Luke with his eyes closed in the cockpit of his X-Wing. He's got a smile on his face.

5. Luke: Challenge accepted. I shoot at the Death Star exhaust port without my guidance computer.

6. GM (caption): You'll need a perfect roll for that to be successful.

7. CAPTION: *rolls*

8. GM (caption): Sor--

Panel 4

Luke's X-Wing pulls away from the Death Star.

9. Luke: Don't forget my “force ability” modifier.

10. GM (caption): Right. The Death Star reactor suffers a direct hit.

11. Luke: Woooooo hoo!

Panel 5

Luke's X-Wing and the Millennium Falcon fly away from the giant explosion that use to be the Death Star.

12. GM (caption): The Death Star explodes.

13. Han: Well, I'll be a son of a wookie.

14. Chewbacca: AAAAhhhhhhhggggg!

-END-

Campaign Comic - King of the Ring - Jonathan Morel

Admittedly, this whole thing was much harder than I anticipated, but this being Wrestlemania weekend, I got inspired by the 1998 King of the Ring match and asked myself: what if wrestling was an RPG? I hope this works.

(highlights can be seen )

Panel 1- (GM) Alright Mick, you are full health and are first on the initiative scale. Your nemesis is standing far away from you, on the other side of the cage surrounding the ring. The cage is five feet in front of you. What do you do?

Mick: I take a chair and my adventurer’s pack and throw it on top of the cage. Mankind then takes a double move and tries to climb the cage. I rolled a 15.

Mankind starts climbing the chain-linked cage.
Mark: What…?

Panel 2- (GM) Mark, Mankind is climbing the cage.

Mark: Darn. I shouldn’t have used all my spells in my entrance. The Undertaker climbs the cage as well. I’m taking 10 though.

The Undertaker slowly climbs the cage as well.

Panel 3- (GM) Both of you are standing on the cage. The terrain is difficult, so movement will be impeded. Mick, you are standing on the left side of the cage. There is a chair at your feet. Mark is groggy and standing on the other side, 15 feet away.

Mick- I pick up the chair and attack him. I have a proficiency bonus.

Marc- This is nuts…how?...sigh…fine…. but I fight back.

Panel 4- (GM) The two of you are fighting on the cage. You feel the weight of your bodies on the metal slowly giving way as the Undertaker is being hit repeatedly with the +1 Chairsword. Your characters, with an INT check, realize you should probably get off the…

Mick-…I grapple onto the Undertaker, when I realize he is about to throw me off.

Marc- No I’m not…

Mick- Yeah I’m pretty sure you are.

Panel 5- (GM) The Undertaker grapples Mankind and attempts to throw him off the roof. What is your Strength check?

Marc- I rolled a 5…

Mick- I rolled a 20 Dexterity check! I go first and am thrown off the cage!

(GM) That’s not how that works.

Jim (a third voice at the table)- I’ve delayed my turn, can I go now?

Panel 6- (GM) Hold on, Jim. Mick’s character has been thrown off the cage onto the announce table. He takes critical damage. Jim’s Charisma roll, with his bonus, allows him to act first.

Jim: “MA GAWD! THEY BROKE HIM IN HALF!”

(GM) Mick will need some healing after that brutal attack. Marc, what do you do?

Marc: but…but I barely…

Campaign Comic - CRANKed! - Grant McLaughlin

I spent a good while trying to figure out what piece of media I'd want to cover, and in the end, Jason Statham's Crank just felt right.  I've included some screen grabs along with panel descriptions to help you follow along.

1 - On Chev Chelios' TV.  Onscreen, Ricky Verona is talking angerly towards the camera.

CAPTION (GM): "You're groggy, and it's hard to concentrate, but you understand that you've been poisoned by Ricky Verona and have less than one hour to live.

2 - Close on Chev's face.  He wears that half-stunned / half-mad expression that Jason Statham does so well.

CAPTION (GM): What do you do?

CHEV: I smash the shit out of the TV.

3 - Chev picks up the TV and prepares to slam it into the ground.

CAPTION (GM): Wait, what?

CHEV: I take the TV and smash it to pieces.

4 - Chev gives a good kick to the TV's screen.

CAPTION (GM): And how does this help your being poisoned problem?

5 - Chev stands, looking at the broken TV.

CHEV: ...

6 - Chev kicks it again.

CAPTION (GM): ...right.

Campaign Comic - Wild Soldiers - MK Stangeland Jr.

(There was a brief period of time prior to starting my current webcomic where I seriously considered trying to do a campaign comic around Red vs Blue, of all things, using the Savage Worlds RPG system. I didn't get any comics made, though I did succeed in writing character descriptions, a basic outline for the first season, and a handful of scripts.)

VI. Red versus Blue

(6 Panels)

Panel 1: SARGE stands with GRIF and SIMMONS. CHURCH’s head overlaps.

CHURCH: Did I hear that right?

GM: I’m with Chris. What did you say?

SARGE: It is now my sworn mission to destroy the blues!

Panel 2: Combined panel featuring SARGE, CHURCH, and TUCKER.

GM: …

Panel 3: Panel of Sarge.

GM: You had better have a **** good explanation for this.

SARGE: You dare doubt me?

GM: Given the circumstances?

GM (2): Yes.

Panel 4: Panel of Reach with SARGE head overlapping.

SARGE: This campaign started out as part of a war that has lasted for years.

SARGE: One that I have been part of from the beginning.

Panel 5: Panel of The Covenant with SARGE head overlapping.

SARGE: Our foes, the Covenant, had a decidedly blue color scheme, if I recall your description of them correctly.

GM: Yes, I believe…

GM (2): …

GM (3): ****

GM (4): Please don’t tell me...

Panel 6: CHURCH and TUCKER with SARGE.

SARGE: Yes.

SARGE (2): My war veteran senses can conclude only one thing – our blue-painted neighbors are allied with the Covenant and must be destroyed!

(END PAGE)

Why Campaign Comic?

“What if [Popular Media Franchise X] didn’t exist as we know it, but was instead created from the ground up as part of a tabletop role-playing game?”

A Saga Begins, But Not As We Know It...

First, there was DM ofthe Rings, which imagined the concept as applied to The Lord of the Rings – a strangely natural question, given that LotR is effectively the godfather of tabletop role-playing as we know it. And it was good. Not without its flaws, and missing many of the elements that have become commonplace since, but still good.

Certainly good enough to spawn a successor – Darths & Droids, which refined and then applied the concept to Star Wars. And from there, a minor sub-genre of webcomic was born. They are, in effect, the webcomic version of the Abridged Series genre of web videos.

When done right, they’re a hilarious look at both tabletop role playing and popular culture – especially for those who are familiar with the franchise that’s being rewritten. It’s not, however, a concept to be undertaken lightly – I should know, I’ve done a one-off page myself, and it’s harder to pull off than it looks or sounds, even when you’re not trying do do a single page without concerns for any kind of continuity. Not only do you have to worry about the normal concerns of writing something entertaining, you also have to write to existing imagery in a way that makes sense.

On the bright side, at least when you’re only writing a script for one you don’t have to go to the other trouble of picking out just the right frame and then fitting it to your page as well.

But then, the one page I made was a lot larger than most of them tend to be.

As always, if you have any interest in trying your own hand at this weeks prompt, either taking it at face value or taking the ever popular route of playing with the prompt in some fun and unexpected way, feel free to post your own script in the comments section below!