# Order of the Stick General Discussion Thread (Open Spoilers and Speculation) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 2, 2009, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096 "2009-02-02T07:39:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 42
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/821 "2009-04-29T11:59:29Z")
Wasn’t Chekhov’s gun a phaser? ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/822 "2009-04-29T12:02:51Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Wasn’t Chekhov’s gun a phaser? You’re thinking of Chekhov’s pun. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/823 "2009-04-29T12:06:01Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > You’re thinking of Chekhov’s pun. Okay, but if we start talking about Kirk’s dirk, I am LEAVING the conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/824 "2009-04-29T12:27:30Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Okay, but if we start talking about Kirk’s dirk, I am LEAVING the conversation. The good one or the evil one? ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/825 "2009-04-29T14:14:39Z")
I think maybe I’m becoming a little obsessed… I had a dream last night in which the major newspapers were celebrating the publication of the 250th strip. Then I tried to show some friend this thread, but they kept clicking on the wrong links. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/826 "2009-04-29T14:43:53Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Wasn’t Chekhov’s gun a phaser? No, that would be [Chekov’s gun](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ptitleurwof45r56ea?from=Main.ChekovsGun). (TV Tropes covers _everything_) ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/827 "2009-04-29T15:09:22Z")
> [@Just\_Some\_Guy](#): > > The good one or the evil one? Does it have a Brazilian wax, or not? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/828 "2009-04-29T15:21:20Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > Does it have a Brazilian wax, or not? Hang on, let jayjay check. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/829 "2009-04-29T15:23:15Z")
> [@Just\_Some\_Guy](#): > > Hang on, let jayjay check. Ewwww…even I stop short of checking out Bill Shatner’s bikini area… ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/830 "2009-04-29T15:27:13Z")
> [@Just\_Some\_Guy](#): > > The good one or the evil one? Kirk has two? That would explain a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/831 "2009-04-29T16:53:34Z")
> [@robertliguori](#): > > I would have called what Haley and Belkar pulled off against the Guild a coup. The flunkies _were the guild_; we’ve seen no evidence that if the party hadn’t accepted the truce, the Guild leadership wouldn’t have been decapitated. > > Again, it’s not a matter of great importance; the Guild have even less of a claim on being a legitimate form of government than adventurers do. I wouldn’t call it a coup, because they weren’t trying to take the guild over, just kill a significant number of its members. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/832 "2009-04-29T17:55:39Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I wouldn’t call it a coup, because they weren’t trying to take the guild over, just kill a significant number of its members. …and create a power vacuum. I don’t think you have to replace the government you destroyed in order to call it a coup. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/833 "2009-04-29T18:22:52Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > …and create a power vacuum. I don’t think you have to replace the government you destroyed in order to call it a coup. I’ve always understood a coup to be an attempt to seize power, not merely to remove a government. Could be wrong, though. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/834 "2009-04-29T18:59:31Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Chekov’s gun is also simular. But my understanding of a Chekhov’s gun is that it is an indication that something is going to happen in the latter part of the story. I believe the original phrase is sometimes stated as, “If you hang a gun on the wall during act one, the audience will expect it to be fired by act three.” It’s really nothing more than setting up a plot element in a very visible, undeniable way, which sets up an audience expectation. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/835 "2009-04-29T19:41:22Z")
> [@](#): > > First edition xp was for collecting gold and beating monsters only. Second took away the gold awards and had a small reference to story awards with no guidelines. Third edition finally added the challenge rating system where it gave GM’s a scale to work from. Then again, there was also a rule in 2nd edition (option, but then most 2nd edition rules were optional) that you didn’t necessarily get XP from combat, either. Warriors got XP from killing enemies, no matter how they did it, but not from anything else; priests got XP from monsters they defeated using spells or devotion to their deity, and also for solving any other problem they solved that way; rogues got XP from monsters they defeated through Backstab or trickery, and also for wealth looted, and mages got XP from monsters defeated or problems solved through spells or cunning. But a wizard who whacked a goblin to death with his staff wouldn’t get any XP for it. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/836 "2009-04-29T19:56:58Z")
> [@](#): > > I believe the original phrase is sometimes stated as, “If you hang a gun on the wall during act one, the audience will expect it to be fired by act three.” It’s really nothing more than setting up a plot element in a very visible, undeniable way, which sets up an audience expectation. I agree. It’s something that’s going to be used in the story at some later point. An example would be the Girdle of Masculinity/Feminity way back in [Strip #9](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0009.html). At that time it did nothing but you could guess it would later be the center of some event. In Crystal’s killing, on the other hand, the event has happened. So the revelation were waiting for is seeing the consequence of that event not the event itself. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/837 "2009-04-30T03:30:35Z")
[Announced: they will be killing Xykon in strip #654](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0649.html). ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/838 "2009-04-30T03:34:16Z")
Speaking of call backs to old strips… So incoming complication in 5-4-3-2… ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/839 "2009-04-30T03:49:49Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > [Announced: they will be killing Xykon in strip #654](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0649.html). Now _that’s_ what I call lampshading. Burlew’s making fun of the dreadfully slow pacing, or at least the perceived slow pacing readers have been grumbling about ever since the attack on Azure City. ETA: Ooh! Check out the cast page! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2009, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/840 "2009-04-30T04:04:27Z")
Check out the cast page. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096.md?page=41) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096.md?page=43)