Comic:Role of the Die
From CGWiki
| Role of the Die | |
|---|---|
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| Artist: | Roland 'Jim' Lowery |
| Writer: | Roland 'Jim' Lowery |
| Characters: | Jim, Jammer, Kat, Rabid, Dave, Mouse, Sage, and Herman |
| Updates: | Sporadic |
| Began: | October 14, 2003 |
| Ended: | Ongoing |
| Art style: | Traditional ink, computer color |
| Rating: | Web PG |
| Website | Website |
Role of the Die is a webcomic centered around the exploits of six role-playing gamers. Unlike many RPG-based comics, RotD does not have an over-arcing storyline. Instead, it generally sticks to a gag-a-day framework with the occasional three to four strip foray into the land of continuity. It also differs by focusing primarily on the players themselves, only having explicitly shown in-game events a handful of times.
Main Characters
| Jim North | The perennial frustrated GameMaster. Returns his players' idiotic tendencies with equal parts sarcasm and sadism. | 
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| Jammer | Jim's roommate, classmate, and co-worker. Permanently stuck in the 80's. | 
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| Kat Game | Ultra-violent girl gamer with claws, fangs, and a bad attitude. Owns a cute widdle attack kitty named Herman. | 
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| 'Rabid' Robert Smith | Scourge of NPCs everywhere. Chronic min-maxer, powergamer, and munchkin. | Photo Not Available |
| Dave Marsh | A well-meaning newbie. Confused at all times. Crazy hair. | Photo Not Available |
| Mouse Game | Kat's younger brother. Super-quiet high school geek. | Photo Not Available |
Setting
While RotD is primarily set in the present of a real world situation (Jim and Jammer work at a typical fast food restaurant, attend a typical local university, and live in an apartment with only modern conveniences available), several small oddities have appeared over the course of the strip. With elements like magically exploding heads, visits from Lucifer Morningstar, dice fairies, and two furry main characters, RotD tries to blur the line between fantasy and reality without actually crossing over.
While it has never been stated explicitly just where in the world the comic is taking place, several hints have been dropped here and there. Unfortunately, almost all of these hints have been contradictory in nature, though they all at least place it somewhere within the United States, most likely in the South or Mid-West. So far, the specific locations hinted at include Harrison, AR; Branson, MO; Kalamazoo, MI; and Louisiana.
A Brief History
Role of the Die was conceived in the back row of a stage show in Branson where its creator Roland 'Jim' Lowery worked. After tooling around with the idea of actually making it into a webcomic for about a year, he finally bit the bullet and started making strips. At first he posted the comics on a free website service called FreeWebs, but quickly took steps to move it to Keenspace, which was later renamed Comic Genesis.
The first year of RotD, despite a few minor hiccups, featured an amazing thing known as "regular updates" before falling into a state of complete disrepair. The schedule became sporadic at best, and no more than ten actual comics were produced in the second year.
To help combat this - and also so he could start work on a second comic - Roland handed the job of drawing RotD to his lovely and talented wife, Kat. Thanks to this bold and stunning move, regular updates and wine both flowed freely in the streets!
This only lasted so long, however, as Roland began to tire of the webcomic game entirely. Having run out of steam, he put both of his comics on indefinite hiatus and went on a little vacation wherein he didn't have to even think about webcomics if he didn't want to. After about half a year of this, however, he finally felt good enough to get back up on that horse. He took back the artistic reins of RotD, worked out a new and improved visual style for the strip, and began updating again. Though those updates remain sporadic (basically, a new strip going up whenever the heck Roland feels like it, generally once or twice a week), the comic is definitely back in action.
