#29

At the risk of getting political, we at Roommates! stand in solidarity with the students at UC Davis. Regardless of what they were protesting, the use of violence against peaceful protesters must never be condoned. Not in California, not in New York, not in Egypt, nor anywhere else.

Anyhow, on to Skyrim

While playing the other day, I was contracted to kill a woman at her wedding. Usually I'm a pretty stealthy character, but I was to kill her in public, and there was no way I could remain undetected at my current level. So I shot her in the neck, paid my 1000 gold, and went on my merry way, with nary another word from any NPC's. From a gameplay perspective, it makes sense not to punish a player too much for murder. Murders may well happen by accident, and a more realistic punishment basically sullies the game and deters players from acting how they otherwise would. But Skyrim is so incredibly immersive that such a lack of fucks given by the NPC's is pretty surprising. We decided to explore the hypothetical in today's strip, with a nod to current events.

That said, if the above is my biggest criticism with the game, they are obviously doing pretty much everything right.

#28

FOX Nation. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. The ability of the user base to immediately politicize literally anything is astounding. Go click on any story, and just scroll down to the comments. I just can't look away; it's like a train wreck. Look, I don't care what your political beliefs are, but if your first response to a natural disaster is A) "Yay! God hates [insert policy]," or B) "I wish the opposition leader was there so he could have died," you suck. Plain and simple. And I want to emphasize that we didn't cherry pick the worst quotes. We picked the ones that were short enough to fit in the strip, but we had plenty of options from one story on the earthquake. Oh, and they think The Onion is real. So there's that too.

That said, I'm really glad it wasn't a worse quake. I was stressed for a couple hours until I heard back from all my friends and family in the area. It's just one of those things where you know it's probably fine, but you can't stop the nightmare scenarios running through your head. The longer it takes to hear from someone, the more you convince yourself that something happened.

#27

So Jared and I were having a discussion the other day. Basically we are scared shitless of the fact that we are actual adults now, with real jobs and real responsibilities. I'm getting an intern, for God's sake. Unpaid. I'm told that this is the best kind. Jared edits videos of famous actresses (I should point out that someone is actually paying him to do this, he's not just because he is a creep). But being an adult presents some problems.

Basically as a kid, one sees adulthood as a discrete condition, an increase in status with clearly definable perks. Adults can drive, have jobs, and know the answer to all problems. And they certainly don't read comic books. Becoming an adult was supposed to be like leveling up, but it's not. The fact is, growing up doesn't change who you are. Our friends at Craked have realized this as well. The truth is more difficult. As it turns out, when you grow up, you don't become a different person. In a lot of cases, you still like and do many of the same things, and you make life up as you go. I think the secret is coming to terms with the fact that everyone else is too.

#26

Also, he must use an encyclopedia of all monsters to accomplish his quest. We're not even making this up. I haven't read it, I'll admit, but from my attempts at WOTC's most recent Dark Sun series, my hopes aren't that high. I mean, I know it's a kid's book, but Monster Slayer seems like kind of a lazy title. I'm going on vacation next week, so I'm going to give it a shot, at least. I'll let you know, if I can manage to pry myself away from A Dance with Dragons, which came out today (finally!)

Also, the artist would like to add the following:

• BERSERK
• This comic was brought to you by Berserk
• A fucked up comic for a fucked up mind
• I would like to formally apologize to Miura for today's comic.

So, there's that, too.

#25

Everyone loves the party healer. They rescue players from the brink, that cherished characters
may fight another day. Players invest hours into their characters, and when they die, it is a huge loss.

Most of the time. Sometimes players recognize that they've screwed up their build, or that the party requires a different skill set, or that they are merely bored and want to do something else. At that point, the healer is the enemy.

In a game like 4th Ed D&D, there are roles that are necessary for the success of the party. A party needs a tank and a healer, at least (in my experience). To lose one is to lose the functional ability of the party as a whole.

So, on some level, you have to wonder about the clerics motivations when he heals you. Does he really want your character back? Does he value the tactical options that your character brings? Or does he just want a fighter in front to take the hits instead of him? After all, he loves his cleric as much as you love your proposed rogue.

#24

One of the more amusing peculiarities in both Dragon Age games is how no one reacts to a group of warriors, covered head to toe in clearly fresh blood, when they walk into a shop. It's an entirely different mentality than one would expect. I mean, I suppose it's a cultural difference stemming from the fact that in the Dragon Age universe, the average house cat contains enough blood to repaint the Sistine Chapel. Maybe dripping in fresh blood is the height of fashion on Thedas, but part of me is still kind of upset that I don't receive an intimidation bonus for using blood as warpaint. Next time I'll be sure to make an entrails necklace and see if that helps.

In other news, Jared now has a tablet, which explains the slight change in the art style and why we can haz color. He felt it necessary to inform me of this by way of a drunken, poorly drawn email reading "Guess who got a tablet?" I guessed Jared. I was right. He also wished me to apologize for the lateness and explain that he sucks at photoshop, as well as give a shout out to his friend Chris in New York for help with this weeks comic.

#23

I'm very big into preparing for undeath. I've got the training for virtually any type of transformation in that capacity, and this comic is only one example. Take zombies for incidence. My love of zombie narratives has given me excessive insight on how to be an ineffective zombie, an important bit of insight for anyone that wants to improve the odds for human survivors. It's in this vein that I continue to not exercise. I figure that the more my muscles atrophy in life, the slower and weaker I'll be as a zombie. Let's face it, statistically I'm unlikely to survive a zombie apocalypse. Really, we all are, because it's an effing apocalypse. Why not do your part to make it easier on those of us that are lucky and skilled enough to make it?