TITLE The Bastich By Hart
PANEL 1 (Bastich, Faith, Hacker-Lad and an unnamed male player with giant blond swooshing bangs are sitting around a table. Bastich, as a role-playing game master, is sitting behind an accordion-folded cardstock barrier to conceal his intricately-crafted materials) BASTICH: Alright... let's get started. This is my first try at G.M.'ing, so be kind. UNNAMED PLAYER: Ready when you are.
PANEL 2 (Bastich addresses the players) BASTICH: Okay, the three of you have just completed a very profitable campaign in the Eastern lands of var-Nersh. Your party now stands at the gate to the town of Cran D'lar.
PANEL 3 (Hacker-Lad, Faith and the Unnamed Player respond.) HACKER-LAD: Hmmm... how tall is the gate? Can we scale it? BASTICH: No. The gate is open. You may enter the town. FAITH: What town would leave its gates wide open? HACKER-LAD: Must be a trap.
PANEL 4 (Bastich raises his hands in the air as the players look on.) BASTICH: Listen, there's nothing wrong with the town. You may enter without risk. FAITH: We don't know that. HACKER-LAD: I cast a spell of disbelief to expose the truth behind this facade... UNNAMED PLAYER: I ready my +24 enchanted Trollsbane battleaxe...
PANEL 5 (Worms-eye view behind Bastich as he nearly falls out of his chair with rage and his accordion barrier flies off the table.) BASTICH: Do not argue with the G.M. The G.M. is GOD! (Faith is unmoved and the unnamed player proudly points to a line on his character sheet) FAITH: What are the hit points for a false deity, these days? UNNAMED PLAYER: My character answers only to the calling of the mighty Shinbar'Lak herself, pretender!
CREDITS (c) 1995 Joshua Adam Hart
Commentary
There are definite shades of Knights of the Dinner Table with this one. I guess I just wanted to do my version of the well-trod premise of RPG players revolting and thwarting the GM's intricate plans. I don't remember who the unnamed swoosh-haired player was supposed to be based on, if anyone.