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Elan (Order Of The Stick)
''The Order of the Stick'' (''OOTS'') is a comedic webcomic that satirizes tabletop role-playing games and medieval fantasy. The comic is written and drawn by Rich Burlew, who illustrates the comic in a stick figure style. Taking place in a magical world that loosely operates by the rules of the Editions of Dungeons & Dragons#Dungeons & Dragons v3.5, 3.5 edition of the role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''), the comic follows the sometimes farcical exploits of six adventurers as they strive to save the world from an evil Lich (Dungeons & Dragons), lich Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons), sorcerer. Much of the comic's humor stems from the characters' awareness of the game rules that affect their lives or from having anachronism, anachronistic knowledge of modern culture. This in turn is often used by the author to parody various aspects of role-playing games and fantasy fiction. While primarily comedic in nature, ''The Order of the Stick'' features a continuing storyline se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vector Graphics Editor
A vector graphic editor is a computer program that enables its users to create, compose and edit images with the use of mathematical and geometrical commands rather than individual pixels. This software is used in creating high-definition Vector graphics, vector graphic images that can be scaled indefinitely without losing their quality. The output is saved in vector graphic formats, such as Encapsulated PostScript, EPS, OpenDocument, ODG, or Scalable Vector Graphics, SVG. Vector editors versus bitmap editors Vector editors are often contrasted with bitmap graphics editor, bitmap editors, and their capabilities complement each other. Vector editors are often better for page layout, typography, logos, sharp-edged artistic illustrations (e.g. cartoons, clip art, complex geometric patterns), technical illustrations, diagramming and flow chart, flowcharting. Bitmap editors are more suitable for retouching, photo processing, photorealistic illustrations, collage, and illustrations dra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thor
Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves and trees, Physical strength, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, and fertility. Besides Old Norse , the deity occurs in Old English as , in Old Frisian as ', in Old Saxon as ', and in Old High German as , all ultimately stemming from the Proto-Germanic theonym , meaning 'Thunder'. Thor is a prominently mentioned god throughout the recorded history of the Germanic peoples, from the Roman Empire, Roman occupation of regions of , to the Germanic expansions of the Migration Period, to his high popularity during the Viking Age, when, in the face of the process of the Christianization of Scandinavia, emblems of his hammer, , were worn and Norse paganism, Norse pagan personal names containing the name of the god bear witness ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cleric (Dungeons & Dragons)
The cleric is one of the standard playable character class in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Clerics are versatile figures, both capable in combat and skilled in the use of divine magic, a form of theurgy or thaumaturgy. Clerics are powerful healers due to the large number of healing and curative magics available to them. With divinely-granted abilities over life or death, they are also able to repel or control undead creatures. Clerics also have specific 'domains' which usually align with the character's alignment and the god that cleric serves. Whether the cleric repels or controls undead is dependent on the cleric's alignment. It is the only class to be included in every edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' without a name change. Publication history ''Dungeons & Dragons'' The cleric character class first appeared in the original edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons''. In the original edition, the class is described as gaining "some of the advantages from bot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dwarf (Dungeons & Dragons)
A dwarf, in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy roleplaying game, is a humanoid race, one of the primary races available for player characters. The idea for the ''D&D'' dwarf comes from the dwarves of European mythologies and J. R. R. Tolkien's novel ''The Lord of the Rings'' (1954–1955), and has been used in ''D&D'' and its predecessor ''Chainmail'' since the early 1970s. Variations from the standard dwarf archetype of a short and stout demihuman are commonly called subraces, of which there are more than a dozen across many different rule sets and campaign settings. History The concept of the dwarf comes from Norse and Teutonic mythology. In particular, the dwarves in the Germanic story '' The Ring of the Nibelungen'' and the Brothers Grimm fairy tale "Rumpelstiltskin" have been called "ancestors" of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' dwarves. Along with giants, dwarves were one of the first types of non-humans to be introduced into the ''Chainmail'' game, the forebear of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rogue (Dungeons & Dragons)
The rogue, formerly known as the thief, is one of the standard playable character classes in most editions of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. A rogue is a versatile character, capable of sneaky combat and nimble tricks. The rogue is stealthy and dexterous, and in early editions was the only official base class from the '' Player's Handbook'' capable of finding and disarming traps and picking locks. The rogue is also able to use a "sneak attack" ("backstab" in previous editions) against enemies who are caught off-guard or taken by surprise, inflicting extra damage. Publication history Creative origins The abilities of the thief class were drawn from various archetypes from history and myth, but clear debts from modern fantasy literature can be traced to characters such as J.R.R. Tolkien's Bilbo Baggins, Fritz Leiber's The Gray Mouser, and Jack Vance's Cugel the Clever. In his article "Jack Vance and the D&D Game", Gary Gygax stresses the influence t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Straight Man
The straight man (or straight woman in the case of female characters), also known as a "comedic foil", is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically, the straight man is expected to maintain composure. The straight man is a foil, a contrasting character to the funny man. The direct contribution to the comedy a straight man provides typically comes in the form of a deadpan. A straight man with no direct comedic role has historically been known as a stooge. Typically, he is expected to feed the funny man lines that he can respond to for laughs (and is hence sometimes known as a feed), while seeking no acclamation for himself. History In vaudeville, effective straight men were much less common than comedians. The straight man's name usually appeared first and he usually received 60% of the take. This helped take the sting out of not being the laugh-getter and helped ensure the straig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cliché
A cliché ( or ; ) is a saying, idea, or element of an artistic work that has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning, novelty, or literal and figurative language, figurative or artistic power, even to the point of now being bland or uninteresting. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning, referring to an Phraseme#Clichés, expression imposed by conventionalized linguistic usage. The term, which is typically pejorative, is often used in modern culture for an action or idea that is expected or predictable, based on a prior event. Clichés may or may not be true. Some are stereotypes, but some are simply truisms and facts. Clichés often are employed for comedy, comedic effect, typically in fiction. Most phrases now considered clichéd originally were regarded as striking but have lost their force through overuse. The French poet Gérard de Nerval once said, "The first man who compared woman to a rose was a poet, the second, an imbecile." ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Counterstereotype
A counterstereotype is an idea or object that goes against a stereotype—a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment. Process Background Minority groups within society are often portrayed negatively within popular media. Through psychological processes such as priming, this reinforces consumers’ negative stereotypes toward those groups. Bombarding consumers with these stereotypes causes implicit attitudes - which occurs in the absence of conscious thought - to be negative towards those groups. This has a wide range of consequences, with the most profound effects being seen in exposure to the “negative” group in ambiguous situations. An example of this can be seen with the over-portrayal of African-Americans as criminals in American media: the psychological literature shows that through media reinforcement of a criminal stereotype, consumers of this ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fighter (Dungeons & Dragons)
The fighter is one of the standard playable character classes in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. A fighter is a versatile, weapons-oriented warrior who fights using skill, strategy and tactics. Fighter is a generic and broad class; individual fighters have diverse backgrounds and different styles. Bodyguards, adventurers, former soldiers, invading bandit kings, or master swordsmen are all fighters, yet they come from all walks of life and backgrounds and often find themselves on very different alignments, goals, and sides in a conflict. Publication history ''Dungeons & Dragons'' The "Fighting Man" was one of the three classes in the original ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game; the other two classes were Magic-User and Cleric. The paladin was introduced in '' Supplement I - Greyhawk'' (1975), as a subclass of Fighting Man. ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' 1st edition The fighter was one of the standard character classes available in the original '' Player's H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alignment (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game, alignment is a categorization of the ethical and moral perspective of player characters, non-player characters, and creatures. Most versions of the game feature a system in which players make two choices for characters. One is the character's views on "law" versus " chaos", the other on "good" versus "evil". The two axes, along with "neutral" in the middle, allow for nine alignments in combination. Later editions of ''D&D'' have shifted away from tying alignment to specific game mechanics; instead, alignment is used as a roleplaying guide and does not need to be rigidly adhered to by the player. According to Ian Livingstone, alignment is "often criticized as being arbitrary and unreal, but... it works if played well and provides a useful structural framework on which not only characters but governments and worlds can be moulded." History ''D&D'' co-creator Gary Gygax credited the inspiration for the alignment s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crayon
A crayon (or wax pastel) is a stick of pigmented wax used for writing or drawing. Wax crayons differ from pastels, in which the pigment is mixed with a dry binder (material), binder such as gum arabic, and from oil pastels, where the binder is a mixture of wax and oil. Crayons are available in a range of prices, and are easy to work with. They are less messy than most paints and markers, blunt (removing the risk of sharp points present when using a pencil or pen), typically non-toxic, and available in a wide variety of colors. These characteristics make them particularly good instruments for teaching small children to draw in addition to being used widely by student and professional artists. Composition In the modern English-speaking world, the term crayon is commonly associated with the standard wax crayon, such as those widely available for use by children. Such crayons are usually approximately in length and made mostly of paraffin wax. Paraffin wax is heated and cooled to a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
