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The Order of the Stick
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The Order of the Stick (OOTS) is a comedic webcomic that satirizes tabletop roleplaying games and medieval fantasy through the ongoing tale of the titular fellowship of heroes. The comic is written and illustrated by Rich Burlew, who creates the comic in a colorful stick figure style.
Taking place in a magical world that loosely operates by the rules of 3.5 edition Dungeons and Dragons, the comic follows the farcical exploits of six flawed adventurers as they strive to save the world from an evil lich.
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Encyclopedia
The Order of the Stick (OOTS) is a comedic webcomic that satirizes tabletop roleplaying games and medieval fantasy through the ongoing tale of the titular fellowship of heroes. The comic is written and illustrated by Rich Burlew, who creates the comic in a colorful stick figure style.
Taking place in a magical world that loosely operates by the rules of 3.5 edition Dungeons and Dragons, the comic follows the farcical exploits of six flawed adventurers as they strive to save the world from an evil lich. Much of the comic's humor stems from these characters either being aware of the game rules that affect their lives or having anachronistic knowledge of modern culture, which in turn is often used by the author to parody various aspects of roleplaying games and fantasy fiction. While primarily comedic in nature, The Order of the Stick features a continuing storyline serialized in one- to four-page episodes, with over 600 such episodes released so far.
The award-winning comic is both a critical and popular success, having received strong praise from reviewers in the comic and roleplaying press on the basis of its plotting and character development while maintaining a place as one of the most widely-read of all webcomics. Although it is principally distributed online at the website Giant in the Playground, five book collections have been published, including two print-only stories (On the Origin of PCs and Start of Darkness). An alternate version of the strip also appeared monthly in Dragon Magazine for 22 issues.
History
The Order of the Stick began its run on September 30, 2003 on what was (at the time) Rich Burlew's personal site for gaming articles. Initially, the strip was intended to feature no plot whatsoever—depicting an endless series of gags drawn from the D&D rules instead—but Burlew quickly changed his mind, laying down the earliest hints of a storyline as early as strip #13. The strip was originally produced simply to entertain those who arrived at the site for his articles, but it quickly became the most popular feature on the site (leading him to eventually abandon writing articles almost entirely).
There have been several upgrades to the comic's art style, which is created directly on a computer using the vector-based software Adobe Illustrator. In strip #103, the curved and crooked panel borders (which Burlew has since questioned how he could ever have thought were acceptable) are replaced with straight—though still slanted—black lines. After he sprained his wrist in 2005, Burlew used some of the time he took off from the comic to improve the character designs of the main cast, straightening their lines and adding tiny details like the runes stitched along the edge of Vaarsuvius' cloak. These changes were humorously acknowledged by the characters themselves when they premiered. Burlew also adjusted a number of the colors to reflect changes he had needed to make to the comics when they were first compiled for printing. The comic also features more frequent double- and even triple-page strips than in its early days, where longer strips were once reserved for special occasions (such as reaching #200). In addition to these permanent improvements to the art, there have been two variant art styles used, in both cases to distinguish the events of certain comics from those taking place in the story's present. Historical events relating to the plot have been portrayed in a hand-drawn crayon style both in the online comic and in Start of Darkness, while events in both the "prequel" print-exclusive stories have been shown in black-and-white.
The Order of the Stick has held several different update schedules through the years, beginning as a twice-weekly comic that debuted new strips on Mondays and Thursdays. When presales of the first OOTS compilation book allowed Burlew to make writing his full-time job, he increased the number to three-per-week. Currently, however, the comic updates on a random schedule due to the author's ongoing health concerns.
Dragon Magazine
On September 30, 2005, Burlew announced that The Order of the Stick would begin appearing in Dragon, the long-running official D&D magazine. The strip debuted in the December 2005 issue on the last page of the magazine. The following issue, OOTS appeared only in a four-panel strip in the magazine's interior, but by the February 2006 issue, it had returned to a full-page strip on the last page, a position it would hold until the magazine's cancellation in September 2007.
The Dragon version of OOTS featured the same main cast of six adventurers, but saw them adventuring in an unspecified underground location. None of the villains or supporting characters from the online strip appeared, with the sole exceptions of Mr. Jones and Mr. Rodriguez, who appeared together twice. Burlew has stated that the events of the Dragon strips take place in an alternate universe from the online strip, and events in one do not affect the other. This status quo was broken for the sake of a joke, however, when one character in the online strip referred to the July 2006 Dragon strip by claiming that he had told another character something "in one of the Dragon Magazine strips, so [he's] not even sure that's the same continuity!"
Characters
The comic's central protagonists, known collectively as "The Order of the Stick" or simply "The Order," are a party of adventurers who are questing to destroy an evil lich and save the world from his plan to conquer it. Though they have many allies, the official members of the Order of the Stick are:
- Roy Greenhilt (Human Fighter, Lawful Good): The Order's leader, Roy hired five other adventurers to assist him in fulfilling a Blood Oath from his dead father to defeat Xykon, thus creating the Order of the Stick. Roy is noted for his sense of personal responsibility, taking it as his duty to try to save the world simply because no one else will. He is a reversal of the common "dumb fighter" cliché, possessing an MBA (Masters of Battle Administration) from the fictional Fighter College. He fights with his ancestral two-handed greatsword. Roy is the main character of the comic, with much of the subplot of the second book devoted to his growth as a leader and a man. He was originally developed as the "straight man" for the other members of the Order, and is highly competent, in sharp contrast to several of his fellow party members.
- Durkon Thundershield (Dwarven Cleric of Thor, Lawful and non-Evil): Durkon is the healer of the party, and worked with Roy for several years before the founding of the "Order of the Stick." Durkon travels through human lands on the orders of the high priest of Thor, who has essentially exiled him as a result of a prophecy. In addition to his warhammer, shield, and heavy armor, he also employs divine magic granted by his patron god, with which he has used to call down lightningor grow to many times his normal three-foot height.
- Vaarsuvius (Elven Wizard, Non-evil): The Order's wizard, Vaarsuvius's gender is deliberately ambiguous, causing those s/he meets (and even his/her own teammates) to guess as to whether s/he is male or female. Vaarsuvius is noted for his/her unnecessarily verbose manner of expressing him/herself—to the point of interfering with his/her effectiveness—and is arrogant and condescending to those s/he considers beneath his/her intellectual level. S/he is motivated by the need to gain "ultimate arcane power" as an end unto itself, having left the tutelage of his/her master and become an adventurer solely to seek it out. S/he carries no visible weapons or armor, fighting instead with a wide variety of powerful magical effects, such as fireballs and lightning bolts.
- Haley Starshine (Human Rogue, "Chaotic Good-ish"): The Order's second-in-command, she is skilled in stealth and deception, often serving as a scout for the party. In many early strips she is portrayed as being highly materialistic. As a member of a Thieves' Guild before the beginning of the story, Haley learns that her father is being held ransom by a dictator in a foreign land, and she originally joined the Order to raise the money necessary to rescue him. She develops a romantic crush on fellow member Elan and later begins a relationship with him. Haley fights using a longbow.
- Elan (Human Bard/Dashing Swordsman, Chaotic Good): Elan is the happy-go-lucky, childlike bard of the Order. Early in the series he is frequently inept and oblivious to the motives of those around him, such as Haley's long-concealed attraction to him. Raised solely by his mother, Elan discovers early in the story that his absent warlord father raised his twin brother, Nale, to be an evil mastermind. Elan fights with a rapier, making puns while he fights, and is able to use illusion magic.
- Belkar Bitterleaf (Halfling Ranger/Barbarian, Chaotic Evil): Belkar is an erratic and casual killer driven by a variety of selfish impulses. While ostensibly the party's tracker, he is astoundingly bad at most of his class skills (including tracking). He joined the Order to escape justice from a deadly bar fight in which he knifed fifteen people, and the Order does not abandon him (despite his bloodthirsty tendencies) due to Roy's belief that he must keep the violent halfling under control. Belkar's loyalty to the Order fluctuates with his mood, though he never actually betrays them (despite frequently thinking about it). Belkar fights with two daggers.
The comic's central antagonists include:
- Xykon (Formerly-human Lich Sorcerer, unspecified Evil): The archvillain of the story, Xykon is engaged in a plot to conquer the world by controlling a world-destroying beast known as the Snarl. While he has a notoriously short attention span and requires near-constant amusement, he is capable of truly horrific acts of evil when it suits him. Xykon is overwhelmingly powerful, fighting with a variety of potent arcane magic, including meteor swarms, energy drains, and insanity runes.
- Redcloak (Goblin Cleric of the Dark One, Lawful Evil): Xykon's main ally, he is a high priest of his deity and commander of the goblinoids that serve as the lich's minions. He is motivated by concern for the goblin people and their poor lot in life, believing that harnessing the power of the Snarl will allow his god to bargain for a better place for all goblins. Unlike his boss, Redcloak is a patient planner and competent leader, and has shown an inclination for scientific thought. He fights with a variety of profane magic granted to him by the Dark One, including wounding spells and summoned monsters.
- The Monster in the Darkness: An enigmatic, childlike monster who was originally designated as Xykon's secret weapon. Redcloak and Right-eye rescued the Monster from a circus. Although The it is supposed to be the ultimate weapon at the disposal of the lich Xykon, he is terrified of practically everything, including the dark. Redcloak himself corrected Xykon on this matter by saying "Sir, he's about as scary as musty styrofoam".
- The Linear Guild: An adventuring party comprised of "evil opposites" to the Order, led by Elan's literal evil twin, Nale. While the Guild originally seeks a powerful magic artifact, its purpose turns solely toward defeating the Order after their first encounter with them. The Guild also includes Sabine, a seductive shape-changing fiend, and Thog, a dim-witted half-orc barbarian, as well as a rotating group of supporting members.
- Miko Miyazaki (Human Monk/Paladin, Lawful Good): Strongest warrior of the Sapphire Guard, Miko is dispatched to apprehend the Order at the request of her liege. She is characterized by her sanctimonious behavior and her willingness to judge those around her on moral grounds, which leads her into conflict with the Order despite the fact that they both oppose the forces of Evil. Miko believes herself to be special, chosen by her gods for greater things, and often justifies her actions by claiming to understand the will of the gods. She wields two Japanese swords simultaneously in battle, in addition to a variety of martial arts maneuvers and holy powers.
Plot synopsis
While the online version of The Order of the Stick unfolds continuously, the strips have been broken down into plot arcs for purposes of publishing them; the plot summary that follows breaks the story down into these arcs for clarity. The most recent strips, those which have yet to be compiled for print, have no title yet. Burlew notes in the commentary of War and XPs that the strips contained within that volume were the first to be plotted with publication in mind from the very beginning.
Dungeon Crawlin' Fools
The comic begins with the Order fighting goblins, a chimera, and other monsters on their way through the Dungeon of Dorukan. They are led by Roy Greenhilt on a quest to destroy the resident evil overlord, a lich sorcerer named Xykon. Roy is motivated by nightly visits from the ghost of his father, Eugene, from whom he receives a cryptic warning. They then briefly join forces with an adventuring party known as the Linear Guild, led by Nale (the evil twin of the Order's happy-go-lucky bard, Elan). The Guild eventually betrays the Order once their help is no longer needed, but the Order prevails in battle due to Roy's sudden understanding of his father's earlier prophecy. The Order goes on to battle Xykon near a mysterious gate. Xykon shatters Roy's ancestral sword to circumvent their strategy, but before he can release his ace-in-the-hole (a powerful monster shrouded in darkness), Roy flings him into a deadly mystic rune that protects the gate. Xykon's body is destroyed, but his disembodied soul is ferreted to safety by his lieutenant, the goblin cleric Redcloak. The book ends with Elan accidentally destroying the entire dungeon, including the gate, by activating another magic rune. The Order escapes to safety.
No Cure for the Paladin Blues
After a brief visit to a nearby village, the Order travel to Wooden Forest to retrieve rare "starmetal" to repair Roy's broken sword. After retrieving the metal along with treasure from a dragon's hoard, the team is attacked and arrested by the paladin Miko Miyazaki for the capital crime of destroying the magical gate that stood in the Dungeon of Dorukan. Roy persuades the party to comply with the arrest, and the group is led south to the paladin's home in Azure City. While stopping at an inn, the party loses the dragon's treasure in an explosion, the shock of which renders the party's rogue Haley unable to speak coherently.
In Azure City, the Order is made to stand trial for the destruction of the gate, which Miko's liege Lord Shojo informs them is one of five gates that reinforce the structure of the universe. Without them, a god-killing abomination known as the Snarl would escape and destroy all of creation. Meanwhile, the party's violent halfling ranger Belkar kills a prison guard and escapes from his cell, leading Miko on a chase around the castle. The Order is ultimately acquitted with the help of Celia, a sylph they had aided in the Dungeon of Dorukan, and an enraged Miko swears to bring them to justice. Later, Shojo explains that the entire trial was a sham (concocted with the aid of Eugene's ghost) to get the Order's assistance in defending the remaining Gates. Roy reluctantly agrees to defend the gates once he learns that his old foe Xykon has survived and is recruiting a massive army of hobgoblins to seize the remaining magical gates. Each member of the Order is given a boon by Lord Shojo as payment for their future aid: Roy's sword is repaired, and Belkar is released back into the Order's custody, although he receives a magical Mark of Justice to control his violent behavior.
War and XPs
The party celebrates New Year's Eve, during which time Roy begins a romantic relationship with Celia. The team then consults a nearby kobold oracle, but fails to learn of Xykon's approach. The Order makes a brief diversion to Cliffport to confront the Linear Guild, during which Haley recovers her speech when she confesses her love for Elan. The Order returns to Azure City to ask Lord Shojo for further directions. Miko, who does not know about the plan to find the gates but does know about Xykon's army, overhears the conversation and jumps to the conclusion that both are in league with Xykon. She strikes her master down, and is immediately stripped of her paladin status by her gods and imprisoned.
The following day, Xykon's hobgoblins attack the city, with the Order helping Shojo's heir Hinjo hold the city walls. Xykon attempts to circumvent the defenders and seize the castle that holds the gate, but Roy leaps up to the zombified dragon that Xykon is riding. The two duel once more, but Xykon overpowers Roy and sends him falling to his death. Xykon and Redcloak attempt to activate the gate hidden within the castle's throne room, and become locked in a losing battle with ghost-martyrs of the Sapphire Guard. Right before the villains are vanquished, Miko, having escaped from prison, destroys the gate in attempt to protect it. In the ensuing explosion, Miko is killed, and Xykon and Redcloak escape. The city falls to the hobgoblins. Haley and Belkar become separated from the party when they go to recover Roy's corpse, while the others sail away with Hinjo and the surviving Azurites.
Current storyline
Looking down from the Afterlife, Roy finds himself with his father, who cannot find rest until Xykon is gone. Roy is judged and found worthy of entrance to paradise, where he encounters his other dead relatives. He returns to his father's side when he learns that almost four months have passed, and looks down to see where his friends are (and why they have not raised him from the dead using clerical magic yet). He finds the Order still separated, with half the team assisting Hinjo, while the other half has formed an underground resistance movement in hobgoblin-occupied Azure City. When Haley accidentally summons Celia, the sylph convinces her to leave the city and begin looking for the other half of the party.
Haley, Celia and Belkar head to Cliffport, but Celia sneaks off into nearby Greysky City—against Haley's warnings. Celia finds a necromancer and, thinking he is offering to resurrect Roy, accidentally has him turn Roy into a bone golem. After Haley explains that she is a former member of this town's Thieves' Guild and has a bad history with them, the group goes into hiding in the safehouse of one of Haley's old friends, but he betrays them. In the ensuing battle, Belkar is healed of his Mark of Justice by a hired cleric, and Haley eventually defeats the leader of the Thieves' Guild.
In the meantime, Elan, Durkon, and Vaarsuvius have landed with Hinjo's fleet at an isolated island which is inhabited by orcs. They learn from a half-orc ninja named Therkla, who is attracted to Elan, that the nobleman Kubota and his imp adviser Qarr are planning to assassinate Hinjo. Therkla is later arrested for her part in the conspiracy, and Kubota kills her in order to pin the blame on her. As he is escaping, however, Elan captures him. Vaarsuvius ultimately kills Kubota, flying away from the ship shortly thereafter to search for Haley. On an island, s/he first encounters Qarr, then is attacked and defeated by the mother of the dragon who was guarding the starmetal. The dragon threatens to kill Vaarsuvius' own children, then teleports away. In an effort to save his/her children, Vaarsuvius rents out the souls of three evil wizards that will supplement his/her own arcane power from three demons.
Fictional world
The world the characters inhabit is similar to those depicted in Dungeons & Dragons, complete with functional magic and monsters. According to an introductory strip included in Dungeon Crawlin' Fools, the world operates under three sets of laws: Physics, Magic, and Gaming (specifically, paper-and-pencil roleplaying). Despite its ostensibly medieval nature, the OOTS world is rife with anachronisms, both social (such as college admissions standards for the Evil Ivy League) and technological (such as coffee makers). The characters make references to real-life individuals (Michael Jackson or Jessica Biel), fictional characters from other sources (Green Lantern and Firestorm), or pop culture in general. Sometimes, fictional characters (or explicit "third-rate knock-offs" thereof) from other fantasy works cross paths with the main characters, such as the halfling Frudu.
Geography
Three main areas of the world's geography have been mentioned: the Northern Lands, the Southern Lands, and the Western Continent. The Northern Lands resemble medieval Europe in setting, but with a wider variety of skin colors than was present in medieval Europe. For example, Roy Greenhilt and his family have dark brown skin, and are not referred to as coming from a different area or having a different cultural background to the characters with light skin. Other characters, such as the lawyer Phil Rodriguez, show a third (light brown) skin color. Non-human races which are often player characters in D&D, such as dwarves and gnomes, have both dark- and light-skinned members as well. The people of the Southern Lands are significantly different ethnically and culturally, with nations roughly analogous to real-world Asian cultures such as feudal Japan, China, and India. As the Western Continent has only been mentioned and not seen in the comic, it is unknown what its inhabitants might be like.
Afterlife
Like most of the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons, the Order of the Stick universe contains a verifiable afterlife: a series of planes to which dead souls are drawn. The afterlife in the OOTS world resembles the Great Wheel cosmology, with separate planes for the departed of each alignment. In order to enter the afterlife, however, a planar being must assess whether or not a soul has fulfilled the tenets of their alignment throughout their life.
The only afterlife plane that has been seen in the comic so far is the Lawful Good afterlife, which is a mountain with seven plateaus loosely based on Mount Celestia. The first plateau is dedicated to satisfying physical desires, such as for sex and food, while higher levels offer spiritual satisfaction and the seventh level, at the mountain's peak, holds “true perfect enlightenment.” Below the mountain is a demiplane of blue skies and clouds, where dead souls, archons, and gods from all of the Good-aligned planes can look down on the mortal world.
Commentary on role-playing games
Much of humor of The Order of the Stick is heavily based on roleplaying games (specifically, the Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition ruleset), with characters freely discussing experience points, skill sets, and random encounters. The characters know very well that they live in a world controlled by the rules of roleplaying games, but attempt to function normally within it, often with nonsensical results. Characters have been shown literally browsing through rulebooks for the D&D game to select a certain monster for use or to learn about a new class. Common techniques of players and Dungeon Masters alike are also spoofed, such as the weather of the campaign world changing to herald a dramatic encounter or a player who does not bother to complete the details of his character's backstory. Burlew's satirical humor also addresses many of the clichés of the fantasy genre as a whole, often by twisting them in new and different ways.
Burlew occasionally creates characters and situations specifically to highlight what he considers common problems and deficits among roleplayers. The controversial paladin Miko Miyazaki is one such character; Burlew has said that she represents the division among players of the game over whether or not one character should be allowed to "police" the remainder of an adventuring party. He also has referred to her as being "one of the WORST ways to play a paladin." Another example is the creation myth of the OOTS world, which shows a group of gods bickering over how to create the world—accidentally creating the world-devouring Snarl through their refusal to compromise. In the commentary for No Cure for the Paladin Blues, Burlew likens this story to the squabbles that might arise in a group of roleplayers, which threaten to destroy the fun that they have created together.
The comic occasionally also directly comments on current events in the roleplaying game industry by the inclusion of characters that represent the participants. In the last three comics to appear in Dragon, the OOTS members encounter a green dragon that serves as a self-identified allegorical figure for the magazine itself, who then proceeds to recount the magazine's long history complete with representations of its various publishers, including a wizard of the coast and Mr. Potato Head (the signature toy of Wizards of the Coast's corporate parent, Hasbro). In the final issue, the dragon escapes the wizard of the coast's lawyers by flying through a room featuring characters from many of the comics that have appeared in Dragon over the years, such as Wormy, Knights of the Dinner Table, and What's New with Phil & Dixie, before the OOTS characters directly thank the dragon for its long years of service. This theme was employed again when a character in the online strip voiced Burlew's eulogy to D&D co-creator Gary Gygax immediately after his death was announced. The memorial comic was widely cited among websites covering Gygax's death.
Reaction
Due to its reflection of the comical excess of gaming culture, The Order of the Stick has been hailed as "must' reading" for those who play roleplaying games and "the roleplaying comic to beat". Critics sometimes cite the insular nature of in-jokes regarding the D&D rules that crop up regularly (especially in the early part of the comic's run) as a barrier to new readers, noting that without a working knowledge of fantasy roleplaying games, much of the humor may fall flat. However, the comic is just as often seen as being accessible to casual readers without such gaming knowledge due to the strength of the main cast's portrayals and abundance of character-based humor. The comic has been praised for its "shrewd writing" and "increasingly intricate and cleverly scripted adventures", as well as its execution. One webcomic critic has called it, "One of the few very simplistically-drawn comics that can pull [off] an extensive storyline." Particular praise has been given to the scenes depicting the siege of Azure City, which has been called "a war worthy of Peter Jackson."
The comic's stick figure art has received more mixed reviews. Some critics praise its "surprisingly expressive art,", with PvP cartoonist Scott Kurtz adding that the comic would not be as funny or have as much heart if the characters were drawn in any other style. Others, however, denounce its simple geometric characters as "merely functional" or (as fellow webcomic creator Josh Lesnick put it) only "good for someone who isn't really an artist". Burlew has defended his art style several times in public statements, stating that it was developed to be clean and simple, and to help focus on the humor (rather than due to lack of proficiency at drawing). He has further pointed out that the primary goal of comic art is to communicate the actions of the characters, which his style does as well as any other. Burlew has also addressed similar criticisms of his art within the comic several times, either by contrasting his usual art with more realistic drawings or by simply putting self-deprecating dialogue regarding his style into the mouths of characters.
Surveys of webcomic site traffic held since May 2007 have consistently placed The Order of the Stick as one of the 10 most widely-read webcomics in existence. Thousands of the comic's readers participate in the comic's official forums daily, which feature discussion of The Order of the Stick and roleplaying games in general. Many participants are noted for adopting avatars drawn in emulation of Burlew's stick figure style, with some fans even creating additional "fancomics" in that style on the site's message board or their own sites.
Awards and recognition
The Order of the Stick received two nominations for Britain's 2008 Eagle Awards, for Favourite Web-Based Comic and Favourite Original Graphic Novel (for Start of Darkness). OOTS won the former category, but lost the latter one to Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier. In announcing the results on his site, Burlew claimed to be pleased that he didn't win the Favourite Original Graphic Novel category, saying, "I don't think I want to live in a world were a parody stick figure comic beats one of the comic industry's top writers." No Cure for the Paladin Blues, the comic's second print compilation, won a 2007 Gold ENnie award. OOTS has also been nominated for ten Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards, of which it has won five. It was named Best Long Form Comic in 2008, Best Gaming Comic and Best Long Form Comic in 2007, Best Fantasy Comic in 2006, and tied for Best Fantasy Comic in 2005.
The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in New York City included in its first webcomic-only exhibit, Infinite Canvas: The Art of Webcomics.
Publications
The Order of the Stick books are published by Giant in the Playground Games, a small press publishing company formed by OOTS creator Rich Burlew. The books are widely distributed to both online and brick-and-mortar retailers in the hobby game market, as well as to comic book direct retailers. All four books feature an introduction by the author, as well as a preface written in the voice of one of the characters from the strip. The compilation books also feature a number of pages of "bonus material", primarily additional strips inserted into various points in the story. The bonus material for Dungeon Crawlin' Fools, for example, includes an 9-page opening to the story that Burlew felt introduced the characters in a more organic way than the online comic's cast page.
In order of publication:
- The Order of the Stick: Dungeon Crawlin' Fools (2005) ISBN 978-0-9766580-0-3. Volume 1, strips 1-121, 120 pp. full color.
- The Order of the Stick: On the Origin of PCs (2005) ISBN 978-0-9766580-1-1. Print-exclusive prequel, "Volume 0", 72 pp. black-and-white.
- The Order of the Stick: No Cure for the Paladin Blues (2006) ISBN 978-0-9766580-3-8. Volume 2, strips 121a-300, 244 pp. full color.
- The Order of the Stick: Start of Darkness (2007) ISBN 978-0-9766580-4-7. Print-exclusive prequel, "Volume -1", 96 pp. black-and-white with color insert.
- The Order of the Stick: War And XPs (2008) ISBN 978-0-9766580-5-4. Volume 3, strips 302-484, 288 pp. full color.
Board game
In partnership with APE Games, Giant in the Playground released the first OOTS game, The Order of the Stick Adventure Game: The Dungeon of Dorukan. The game, which was released in September 2006, utilizes both cards and a board and has strong influences from games such as Talisman and Dungeon!, as well as the less known "Kings & Things".
The Dungeon of Dorukan is designed for 2-6 people, aged twelve and older. Each player controls one member of the OOTS team to explore the dungeon and hunt down Xykon. The player is able to train their chosen member with a variety of shtick cards. Each character provides a different gaming experience, but the players always have the ability to either aid or harm their team mates.
A second, stand-alone game, The Order of the Stick Adventure Game: The Linear Guild, is set to be released by APE Games in the Fall of 2008. Players will be able to take on the parts of Nale, Thog, Sabine, and other members of the Linear Guild in their own dungeon adventure, or they can combine the materials in the game with those from the Dungeon of Dorukan set for a massive Order of the Stick vs. Linear Guild head-to-head adventure.
Sources
Story Notes
External links
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