# 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:** 58
**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:** [May 15, 2009, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/1141 "2009-05-15T12:41:02Z")
I don’t think undead get negative HP. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2009, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/1142 "2009-05-15T12:50:14Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > V could convince…(crap, can’t evade the ambiguous gender here) Vself (ha!) I am totally using that. Vself. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2009, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/1143 "2009-05-15T14:42:05Z")
> [@Just\_Some\_Guy](#): > > I don’t think undead get negative HP. Well, huh. [They don’t.](http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Undead_Type) Not subject to Massive Damage, though. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/1144 "2009-05-15T15:28:45Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > So, I’m curious. Did this latest digression from “the plot moving forward” cause all the people who’ve been complaining about the sideplots of the past year+ to give up in disgust, or have they simply not realized that this bit with V means the Order is _once again_ broken, and _still_ will not be moving on to the next Gate? I dunno about whining, but I’d be annoyed if V died here and there, and we get another 100-odd strips about him being judged, seeing the light and Son Goku-ing in the afterlife until the rest of the Order finally gets hold of hir’s body and rezz hir, more powerful than before. Once for Roy was OK and fun, twice’d be boring. Also, the rule-monkey in me wonders how Xykon lifted that huge hunk of wall. Lastly, I just re-read the last comic and I just noticed Tsukiko’s Xykon doll. That’s adorable 🙂 ---
**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:** [May 15, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/1145 "2009-05-15T15:50:38Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Thog was a willing participant in Nale’s Cliffport killing spree. That’s evil enough for me. Yes, but maybe he was too dumb to realize he was doing a bad thing. (Thog is possibly my favorite OOTS character). ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/1146 "2009-05-15T16:39:45Z")
Does anyone know why they are “The Order of the Stick”? In the FAQ Rich says that the real world explanation is that they are stick figures, but that there was also an in character explanation, which is apparently in one of the books ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/1147 "2009-05-15T16:47:29Z")
Roy named them after a stick on the ground. It was better than all of Elan’s suggestions. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/1148 "2009-05-15T16:48:52Z")
> [@](#): > > Does anyone know why they are “The Order of the Stick”? In the FAQ Rich says that the real world explanation is that they are stick figures, but that there was also an in character explanation, which is apparently in one of the books It was explained in _On the Origin of PCs_. Roy had recruited a bunch of adventurers to confront Xykon. As they set out, Elan said they needed a team name. Various suggestions like the Sacred Order of the Tavern, the Cloudy Day Guild, and Handsome Halfling & Company were made. Roy said these were stupid ideas based on random objects and said _“You might as well call us the Stray Rock Guild because there’s a stray rock over there or the Order of the Stick because there’s a stick on the ground.”_ And of course everyone else missed the sarcasm and thought the Order of the Stick was a great name. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/1149 "2009-05-15T16:58:21Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Handsome Halfling & Company Gee…I wonder who came up with that one… ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/1150 "2009-05-15T17:23:41Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Gee…I wonder who came up with that one… Oddly enough, V. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/1151 "2009-05-15T18:09:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Nitpicking, but there were four original pantheons. The Gods of the East (Zeus and his crowd) were destroyed\*, along with the original Stickworld, by the Snarl. The three surviving pantheons subdued the Snarl and built Stickworld2.0. I was using “Stickworld” to mean the world in which the comic takes place, not the predecessor to that world that only lasted for 27 minutes. And Thog is smart enough to have class levels, and therefore also smart enough to have an alignment. He’s Chaotic Evil. An easily-suggestible Chaotic Evil, to be sure, and he might eventually turn good if he hung out with Elan more instead of Nale, but for the moment? Evil. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/1152 "2009-05-15T18:20:04Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > I dunno about whining, but I’d be annoyed if V died here and there, and we get another 100-odd strips about him being judged, seeing the light and Son Goku-ing in the afterlife until the rest of the Order finally gets hold of hir’s body and rezz hir, more powerful than before. > Once for Roy was OK and fun, twice’d be boring. A death is coming, though, unless Rich has another cheat planned. The Oracle said [“Belkar will draw his last breath–ever–before the end of the year.”](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0572.html) Now, the linked comic is a restatement of something he said [previously](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0329.html), before the side-trip to Cliffport where Nale did his switcheroo with Elan. Back then, of course, Kazumi wasn’t even married, and now she’s [very pregnant indeed](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0643.html). In fact, Kazumi was said to be [“eight weeks pregnant” four months after Hinjo and the gang left Azure City](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0501.html), and now she’s about to pop. So, even assuming that the Oracle made his prediction in January, it would seem that Belkar has perhaps two in-story months to live. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/1153 "2009-05-15T18:34:52Z")
Now, I’d be all for a side-story in which we explore the Abyss with Belkar. That’d be fun. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/1154 "2009-05-15T18:40:41Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Now, I’d be all for a side-story in which we explore the Abyss with Belkar. That’d be fun. Demogorgon doesn’t stand a chance. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/1155 "2009-05-15T19:09:15Z")
Speaking of…is there any canonical treatment of what the 666 (or whatever it is now) layers consist of? I can find tons of fanwank sites that include all kinds of :dubious: stuff, like a series of layers ruled by Gothmog. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/1156 "2009-05-15T19:19:36Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Speaking of…is there any canonical treatment of what the 666 (or whatever it is now) layers consist of? I can find tons of fanwank sites that include all kinds of :dubious: stuff, like a series of layers ruled by Gothmog. Canon now is that they’re actually infinite. There have been particular layers attributed to particular demon prince(sse)s, but I can’t remember them offhand. The big names in demons are still Demogorgon, Orcus, Frazz’urblu, Juiblex, Zuggtmoy, Baphomet, and Grazz’t, but the Abyss has evil gods scattered around, also. There are realms ruled by balor, but I think any official use of “Gothmog” would attract the gimlet eye of the Tolkien estate tout suite. Actually, let me rephrase…canon as of 3.5 and that edition’s “Manual of the Planes” is the above. I don’t have a single piece of 4th Ed. material in my possession, nor have I read any elsewhere, so I have no idea if they changed it. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/1157 "2009-05-15T19:34:23Z")
This may sound strange, but as fascinated with D&D as I used to be, I never really cared that much about actually playing. I can remember being a kid and seeing the original Monster Manual at a bookstore. I picked it up, and was immediately immersed in this enormous mythology about which I had no previous knowledge. I eventually obtained most of the hardbacks, and yes, I DM’ed and played, but still, the most interesting things to me were the mythological aspects of it…the artifacts and relics, the pantheons of gods, the monsters, the planes (and the mysteries thereof…what does the 381st layer of the Abyss actually look like?) I’m sure I’d get more enjoyment out of role playing these days, though. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/1158 "2009-05-15T19:40:32Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > This may sound strange, but as fascinated with D&D as I used to be, I never really cared that much about actually playing. I can remember being a kid and seeing the original Monster Manual at a bookstore. I picked it up, and was immediately immersed in this enormous mythology about which I had no previous knowledge. I eventually obtained most of the hardbacks, and yes, I DM’ed and played, but still, the most interesting things to me were the mythological aspects of it…the artifacts and relics, the pantheons of gods, the monsters, the planes (and the mysteries thereof…what does the 381st layer of the Abyss actually look like?) > > I’m sure I’d get more enjoyment out of role playing these days, though. I’m actually the same way. I can probably count the number of times I’ve actually played or DMed D&D or AD&D on two hands, but I was forever buying sourcebooks throughout the 80s and early-to-mid-90s because I liked READING them. I’m a semi-expert on Forgotten Realms pre-4th ed. I know the pre-Chaos-War Krynn like the back of my hand. I yearn to find all the Spelljammer materials in a yard sale somewhere for $5. I actually had all of the D&D sets (Basic, Expert, Master, Companion and Immortal) and most of the Known World Gazeteers. I’ve read probably 30 years worth of Dragon Magazine (in random order) and I’ve ordered mixed boxes (packing boxes) of back issues from eBay. I’m a source material whore. And I wish to GOD I still had all of them packed away somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/1159 "2009-05-15T21:40:49Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > A death is coming, though, unless Rich has another cheat planned. The Oracle said [“Belkar will draw his last breath–ever–before the end of the year.”](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0572.html) Hmm. Last breath doesn’t mean out of the picture. I could see a vampire Belkar or some such. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096/1160 "2009-05-15T21:47:00Z")
[You guys are not alone](http://stuffgeekslove.wordpress.com/2009/01/30/not-playing-dungeons-and-dragons/). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096.md?page=57) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-general-discussion-thread-open-spoilers-and-speculation/484096.md?page=59)