History Webcomic / TheOrderOfTheStick

The main cast consists of Roy Greenhilt, the fighter, leader, and OnlySaneMan; Haley Starshine, a [[GoldFever treasure-loving]] ActionGirl rogue; Vaarsuvius, a [[InsufferableGenius condescending]] [[SquishyWizard elf wizard]] whose [[AmbiguousGender unknown gender]] is a RunningGag; Durkon Thundershield, a [[StraightMan strait-laced]] [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarf]] cleric of Thor; Elan, a [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} happy-go-lucky]] and [[TheFool none-too-bright]] [[SpoonyBard bard]] with a [[GenreSavvy flair for]] [[LargeHam the dramatic]]; and Belkar Bitterleaf, a [[HairTriggerTemper hot-headed]] halfling ranger/barbarian [[HeroicComedicSociopath who kills and/or threatens people at the slightest provocation]].

Of course, even with all that going on, it's still [[DistractingDisambiguation covered with plenty of humor.]] Also notable is the fact that ''all'' of the main characters and quite a few of the minor characters are extremely GenreSavvy, not just about ''D&D'' rules and gameplay but general storytelling tropes as well. This tends to lead to a ''lot'' of LampshadeHanging (including, at one point, [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0546.html lampshading the act of lampshading]] -- with a literal lampshade).[[hottip:*:However, it is not a ShoutOut to this site. Rich Burlew wasn't even aware TV Tropes existed until that comic.]]

''[[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots.html The Order of the Stick]]'' is a StickFigureComic by Rich Burlew set in a world based on ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 3.5 Edition rules (an original world, rather than an established setting) centering around the adventures of the eponymous party. The comic is well-loved for its complicated plot (with storylines planned ''years'' in advance by Burlew), its well-executed MoodWhiplash moments, and its own brand of humor, often relying on sarcastic pop culture references.

Of course, even with all that going on, it's still [[DistractingDisambiguation covered with plenty of humor.]] Also notable is the fact that ''all'' of the main characters and quite a few of the minor characters are extremely GenreSavvy, not just about ''D&D'' rules and gameplay but general storytelling tropes as well. This tends to lead to a ''lot'' of LampshadeHanging (including, at one point, [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0546.html lampshading the act of lampshading - with a literal lampshade]]).[[hottip:*:However, it is not a ShoutOut to this site. Rich Burlew wasn't even aware TV Tropes existed until that comic.]]

* ''Dungeon Crawlin Fools'' (1-121)

The physical volumes of the main comic also contain extra sideplots and gag-strips as incentive for readers to buy them. They're even [[NoFourthWall referenced in the comic]] when a character will say something like, "I wonder if we could get the scene of us [[spoiler: rescuing Roy's corpse]] added in as bonus content to the next book?".

* ''On the Origin of [=PCs=]'' (a prequel to ''Don't Split the Party'' which focuses on how Roy and Durkon founded the Order of the Stick)

Has multiple [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStick character sheets]]. [[DungeonsAndDragons Fittingly]].

%% If you have more to add to this, take it to the trope page.

Has a [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStick character sheet]]. [[DungeonsAndDragons Fittingly]].

* An as-yet-unnamed book which will likely contain [[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/599092525/the-order-of-the-stick-reprint-drive material from a successful Kickstarter drive]]. The book will probably be [[BonusMaterial a collection stories about minor but popular characters and a couple of non-canon stories involving the main characters]].

* An as-yet-unnamed book which will likely contain [[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/599092525/the-order-of-the-stick-reprint-drive material from a successful Kickstarter drive]]. The book will probably be a collection stories about minor but popular characters.

* An as-yet-unnamed book which will likely contain [[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/599092525/the-order-of-the-stick-reprint-drive material from a successful Kickstarter drive]].

Has a [[Characters/TheOrderOfTheStick character sheet]]. Fittingly.

The print-only books are not necessary for following the main plot of the comic. In fact, it's usually lampshaded whenever material from a print-only book is recapped (sometimes with a character [[ProductPlacement reading an actual copy of the book]] just to make sure they got everything).

''The Order of the Stick'' was one of the original reasons for the "[[http://www.giantitp.com Giant in the Playground]]" gaming site, which also hosted the first volume of ''{{Webcomic/Erfworld}}''. The [=GitP=] forums are almost an unofficial troper forum, thanks in part to the webcomic's [[TroperCriticalMass distinct appeal to tropers]]. Rich has gone on the record to state that he never intentionally invokes tropes, and he is [[FanDumb really annoyed by fans who claim that he's intentionally playing tropes straight from TVTropes]].

''The Order of the Stick'' was one of the original reasons for the "[[http://www.giantitp.com Giant in the Playground]]" gaming site, which also hosted the first volume of ''{{Webcomic/Erfworld}}''. The [=GitP=] forums are almost an unofficial troper forum, thanks in part to the webcomic's [[TroperCriticalMass distinct appeal to tropers]].

The print-only books are not necessary for following the main plot of the comic. In fact, there's a lampshade whenever material from a print-only book is recapped (sometimes with a character reading an actual copy of the book just to make sure they got everything).

* ''War and XPs'' (302-484)

In addition to the strips found online, the comic has extra-content in the form of two prequels books (''On the Origin of [=PCs=]'' and ''Start of Darkness''), which detail the backstory of the characters, but aren't required in order to understand the main storyline. The final twenty-two issues of ''Dragon'' (the official ''D&D'' magazine) each featured an exclusive gag-based ''[=OotS=]'' strip, which were collected in another book (''Snips, Snails and Dragon Tales''), alongside about eighty pages of other humorous fluff. The physical volumes of the main comic also contain extra sideplots and gag-strips as incentive for readers to buy them.

Of course, even with all that going on, it's still [[DistractingDisambiguation covered with plenty of humor.]] Also notable is the fact that ''all'' of the main characters and quite a few of the minor characters are extremely GenreSavvy, not just about ''D&D'' rules and gameplay but general storytelling tropes as well. This tends to lead to a ''lot'' of LampshadeHanging (including, at one point, [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0546.html lampshading the act of lampshading]]).[[hottip:*:However, it is not a ShoutOut to this site. Rich Burlew wasn't even aware TV Tropes existed until that comic.]]

'''Durkon Thundershield:''' As I recall, ye called me "[[GoodIsNotNice surly and unpleasant]]" shortly after ye met me. [...] Maybe all these folks need is [[The Hero a good strong leader like ye]] [[TeamDad ta whip 'em into shape]].

'''Durkon Thundershield:''' As I recall, ye called me "[[GoodIsNotNice surly and unpleasant]]" shortly after ye met me. [...] Maybe all these folks need is a good strong leader like ye ta whip 'em into shape.

->'''Roy Greenhilt:''' The rogue is [[TheLancer ambitious]] and {{greed}}y, the ranger [[TokenEvilTeammate is]] [[CompleteMonster a]] [[HeroicComedicSociopath complete]] [[BloodKnight psychopath]], the wizard is [[StuffBlowingUp trigger-happy]] [[InsufferableGenius and never]] [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness stops talking]], and [[SpoonyBard the bard]] is [[{{CloudcuckooLander}} as dumb as]] [[TheFool a box of moldy carrots]]!\\

->'''Roy Greenhilt:''' The rogue is [[TheLancer ambitious]] and {{greed}}y, the ranger [[TokenEvilTeammate is a]] [[HeroicComedicSociopath complete]] [[BloodKnight psychopath]], the wizard is [[StuffBlowingUp trigger-happy]] [[InsufferableGenius and never]] [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness stops talking]], and [[SpoonyBard the bard]] is [[{{CloudcuckooLander}} as dumb as]] [[TheFool a box of moldy carrots]]!\\

->'''Roy Greenhilt:''' The rogue is [[TheLancer ambitious]] and {{greed}}y, the ranger [[TokenEvilTeammate is a]] [[HeroicSociopath complete]] [[BloodKnight psychopath]], the wizard is [[StuffBlowingUp trigger-happy]] [[InsufferableGenius and never]] [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness stops talking]], and [[SpoonyBard the bard]] is [[{{CloudcuckooLander}} as dumb as]] [[TheFool a box of moldy carrots]]!\\

In addition to the strips found online, the comic has extra-content in the form of two prequels books (''On the Origin of the [=PCs=]'' and ''Start of Darkness''), which detail the backstory of the characters, but aren't required in order to understand the main storyline. The final twenty-two issues of ''Dragon'' (the official ''D&D'' magazine) each featured an exclusive gag-based ''[=OotS=]'' strip, which were collected in another book (''Snips, Snails and Dragon Tales''), alongside about eighty pages of other humorous fluff. The physical volumes of the main comic also contain extra sideplots and gag-strips as incentive for readers to buy them.

The main cast consists of Roy Greenhilt, the fighter, leader, and OnlySaneMan; Haley Starshine, a [[GoldFever treasure-loving]] ActionGirl rogue; Vaarsuvius, a [[InsufferableGenius condescending]] [[SquishyWizard elf wizard]] whose [[AmbiguousGender unknown gender]] is a RunningGag; Durkon Thundershield, a [[StraightMan strait-laced]] [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarf]] cleric of Thor; Elan, a [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} happy-go-lucky]] and [[TheFool none-too-bright]] [[SpoonyBard bard]] with a [[GenreSavvy flair for]] [[LargeHam the dramatic]]; and Belkar Bitterleaf, a [[HairTriggerTemper hot-headed]] halfling ranger/barbarian [[SociopathicComedicHero
who kills and/or threatens people at the slightest provocation]].

The main cast consists of Roy Greenhilt, the fighter, leader, and OnlySaneMan; Haley Starshine, a [[GoldFever treasure-loving]] ActionGirl rogue; Vaarsuvius, a [[InsufferableGenius condescending]] [[SquishyWizard elf wizard]] whose [[AmbiguousGender unknown gender]] is a RunningGag; Durkon Thundershield, a [[StraightMan strait-laced]] [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarf]] cleric of Thor; Elan, a [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} happy-go-lucky]] and [[TheFool none-too-bright]] [[SpoonyBard bard]] with a [[GenreSavvy flair for]] [[LargeHam the dramatic]]; and Belkar Bitterleaf, a [[HairTriggerTemper hot-headed]] halfling ranger/barbarian [[SociopathicHero who kills and/or threatens people at the slightest provocation]].

The main cast consists of Roy Greenhilt, the fighter, leader, and OnlySaneMan; Haley Starshine, a [[GoldFever treasure-loving]] ActionGirl rogue; Vaarsuvius, a [[InsufferableGenius condescending]] [[SquishyWizard elf wizard]] whose [[AmbiguousGender unknown gender]] is a RunningGag; Durkon Thundershield, a [[StraightMan strait-laced]] [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarf]] cleric of Thor; Elan, a [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} happy-go-lucky]] and [[TheFool none-too-bright]] [[SpoonyBard bard]] with a [[GenreSavvy flair for]] [[LargeHam the dramatic]]; and Belkar Bitterleaf, a [[HairTriggerTemper hot-headed]] halfling ranger/barbarian [[HeroicSociopath who kills and/or threatens people at the slightest provocation]].

The comic started off as a gag-a-day strip, often mocking ''D&D'' rules, but things quickly took [[CerebusSyndrome a turn for the dramatic]]: their journey to defeat the evil Xykon entangled them in the lich's plot to harness the power of The Snarl, a [[EldritchAbomination sinister reality-eating]] [[NegativeSpaceWedgie ...thing formed at the dawn of creation]] from literal tangles in the fabric of reality. Along the way, they butted heads with [[{{Mooks}} hordes of monsters]], plot complications, [[KnightTemplar an overzealous paladin]] or two, and the Linear Guild, a group of {{Evil Counterpart}}s led by Elan's EvilTwin brother, [[SdrawkcabName Nale]].

''The Order of the Stick'' was one of the original reasons for the "[[http://www.giantitp.com Giant in the Playground]]" gaming site, which also hosted the first volume of ''{{Erfworld}}''. The [=GitP=] forums are almost an unofficial troper forum, thanks in part to the webcomic's [[TroperCriticalMass distinct appeal to tropers]].

->'''Roy Greenhilt:''' The rogue is [[TheLancer ambitious]] and [[{{Greed}} greedy]], the ranger [[TokenEvilTeammate is a]] [[HeroicSociopath complete]] [[BloodKnight psychopath]], the wizard is [[StuffBlowingUp trigger-happy]] [[InsufferableGenius and never]] [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness stops talking]], and [[SpoonyBard the bard]] is [[{{CloudcuckooLander}} as dumb as]] [[TheFool a box of moldy carrots]]!\\

* [[OrderOfTheStickTropesAToL Tropes A to L]]
* [[OrderOfTheStickTropesMToZ Tropes M to Z]]

Has a [[Characters/OrderOfTheStick character sheet]]. Fittingly.

[[redirect:Webcomic/OrderOfTheStick]]