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June 19, 2014 5:08 AM Subscribe
NO SUCH WORLD SHOULD EVER EXIST!
Tell me about it, bud.
posted by nushustu at 5:37 AM on June 19, 2014 [8 favorites]
Tell me about it, bud.
posted by nushustu at 5:37 AM on June 19, 2014 [8 favorites]
This was a throwaway joke in Alan Moore and Zander Cannon's Smax (a Top 10 spinoff).
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:45 AM on June 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:45 AM on June 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
i like their dice.
posted by fuzzypantalones at 5:50 AM on June 19, 2014
posted by fuzzypantalones at 5:50 AM on June 19, 2014
Didn't Phil Foglio have a Dragon cartoon with the same joke?
posted by octothorpe at 5:58 AM on June 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by octothorpe at 5:58 AM on June 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
It was also a throwaway joke in Top Ten! in a world where everyone has a superpower the most popular comic books are about Doctors and Lawyers.
posted by The Whelk at 6:00 AM on June 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 6:00 AM on June 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
in a world where everyone has a superpower the most popular comic books are about Doctors and Lawyers.
"This is Mr. F. G. Superman . . . "
posted by Herodios at 6:07 AM on June 19, 2014
"This is Mr. F. G. Superman . . . "
posted by Herodios at 6:07 AM on June 19, 2014
Didn't Phil Foglio have a Dragon cartoon with the same joke?
Yeah, I definitely remember a gag about that, although in my memory it was a Joseph Pillsbury single panel in Dragonmirth.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:17 AM on June 19, 2014
Yeah, I definitely remember a gag about that, although in my memory it was a Joseph Pillsbury single panel in Dragonmirth.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:17 AM on June 19, 2014
It was a gag in the first edition Dungeon Masters Guide known as Papers and Paychecks.
posted by graymouser at 6:20 AM on June 19, 2014 [7 favorites]
posted by graymouser at 6:20 AM on June 19, 2014 [7 favorites]
Thanks, graymouser. It does look kind of Pillsbury-ish, but this site says the artist was Will McLean.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:26 AM on June 19, 2014
posted by Chrysostom at 6:26 AM on June 19, 2014
Fantasy characters (whose own world is a mundane environment of mostly hard work) playing an RPG of a fantasy world (which resembles ours, or some other fictional-to-them world) is an easy joke on its own. But it's a large enough concept to be a setting for a never-ending series of metajokes.
tl;dr: It's a cheap gag with legs. It can go where you point it.
Metafilter's own cortex does the LARP Trek comic, which leverages this premise within the Star Trek franchise.
posted by ardgedee at 7:06 AM on June 19, 2014
tl;dr: It's a cheap gag with legs. It can go where you point it.
Metafilter's own cortex does the LARP Trek comic, which leverages this premise within the Star Trek franchise.
posted by ardgedee at 7:06 AM on June 19, 2014
Not the first time this month I've wanted to link to Neil Gaiman's "Forbidden Brides of the Faceless Slaves in the Secret House of the Night of Dread Desire"... but this time I actually found a semi-legitimate on-line copy.
posted by Zed at 7:08 AM on June 19, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by Zed at 7:08 AM on June 19, 2014 [4 favorites]
When every solution looks like a hammer, you should consider taking up carpentry.
posted by Zed at 7:23 AM on June 19, 2014
posted by Zed at 7:23 AM on June 19, 2014
why can't we solve more work problems with hammers?
I shall undertake a quest to find out!
posted by nubs at 7:24 AM on June 19, 2014
I shall undertake a quest to find out!
posted by nubs at 7:24 AM on June 19, 2014
I feel a real kinship with The Knight here, why CAN'T we go on more quests? All of this sitting and talking! Aggggh
posted by The Whelk at 7:24 AM on June 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 7:24 AM on June 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
I can't answer that right now; I have to go make a saving throw against tedium as I compile my year end reports for the fiscal year ending March 31 2014.
posted by nubs at 9:02 AM on June 19, 2014
posted by nubs at 9:02 AM on June 19, 2014
Saving throw failed. Spend 2d10 minutes goofing off on the internet.
posted by nubs at 9:04 AM on June 19, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by nubs at 9:04 AM on June 19, 2014 [5 favorites]
This system is too dice heavy and relies on luck alone, not skill. There is no room for creativity or using your imagination to overcome obstacles. The classes are arbitrary and the board member class clearly unbalances the game, especially when paired with the trust fund background. 1 dragon fewmet out of 5.
posted by Hactar at 9:07 AM on June 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Hactar at 9:07 AM on June 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
Hactar: I find the race and class restrictions suuuuuper arbitrary and annoying.
posted by cthuljew at 9:27 AM on June 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by cthuljew at 9:27 AM on June 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
Can I play the character "Boss' Nephew"? Oh, he's one of the monsters? Never mind.
posted by benito.strauss at 10:52 AM on June 19, 2014
posted by benito.strauss at 10:52 AM on June 19, 2014
Prior art: the cartoon in 1ed AD&D DMG (I think, maybe Players') with the Mages and Fighters sitting around playing "Advanced Accountants & Advaocates" or something...
posted by freebird at 11:48 AM on June 19, 2014
posted by freebird at 11:48 AM on June 19, 2014
Found it! (and made my Save Vs. Comment-Editing):
"Papers and Paychecks"
posted by freebird at 11:51 AM on June 19, 2014
"Papers and Paychecks"
posted by freebird at 11:51 AM on June 19, 2014
Going back to the early 90s ... some friends were in a comedy troupe called the Van Gogh-Goghs and they had a skit called Suits and Salaries (audio, not great quality). I love when the barbarian shows up at the gaming session:
"Sorry I'm late. I ran into 10 doppelgangers on the way over ... I've been hacking and hacking for hours! They all shape-shifted to the form of me - I'm not really sure I'm the one that survived."
These guys also did the Dr. Pepper clone tasting thing before it was cool.
posted by freecellwizard at 5:52 PM on June 19, 2014
"Sorry I'm late. I ran into 10 doppelgangers on the way over ... I've been hacking and hacking for hours! They all shape-shifted to the form of me - I'm not really sure I'm the one that survived."
These guys also did the Dr. Pepper clone tasting thing before it was cool.
posted by freecellwizard at 5:52 PM on June 19, 2014
Oh god, I want out of our reality SO VERY BAD.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:34 PM on June 19, 2014
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:34 PM on June 19, 2014
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posted by kisch mokusch at 5:31 AM on June 19, 2014 [1 favorite]