Cinderhaunt: Epilogue
The first Karthun arc is over and this is an after-the-credits moment just for you, the audience. Who is Worldwalker Ka’Phane (KA-FANE) and what does he mean to Sam’s long-term plans? Time will tell.
Speaking of time, this is officially the longest running arc I have ever created for d20Monkey. It has been a fun and educational experience. I picked up new readers, I lost a few readers, and from what I am hearing/reading MOST of you like the long-form presentation. It’s an interesting format to have in my bag but I am not married to it by any means. Working on a 3-day a week schedule skews things a bit. That’s why you have so many full-page comics in this arc. If I kept it all to 3-4 panels, we’d be here until October. That’s not a bad thing, but even I have limits.
Basically what it comes down to is this: I will give an arc as many strips as I think it needs. It may seem like common sense to say that but believe me, more cartoonists working in story arcs like this ease into it. It can be a little scary. I was mainly a gag-a-day in the beginning just to establish the characters, with the plan to move into this but it can scare some folks away (it did).
Again, for those of you who offered encouragement and kind words about Karthun, thank you so much. It means a lot to me and you will definitely see more of Sam’s (my) world but for now, Monday brings something new and I hope to see you then.
Have a great weekend, guys.
Look forward to the next foray into Karthun. 🙂
Personally I’ve loved this arc, and now that’s finished you can bet I’ll be going back to the beginning so I can read it again as a complete story 🙂 Obviously it’s your comic and you can do what the hell you like with it, but I for one can’t wait for the return to Karthun!
This was a great arc! I can’t wait to see how Brett is going to react IRL since he’s been kind of hard about going by the rules of the past and changed positively.
I have a suggestion; why not offer us to take a survey on what kind of format we’d like? Or about how we feel the characters are doing? I don’t I’m spit balling an idea that you could offer over the next few comics to get an idea of what the general consensus is or something.
This issue was covered in the Twitter challenge episode of the web show Strip Search that Penny Arcade is doing. The basic gist is that artists should do what they want. Catering to the audience throttles the artists voice and strips suffer for that. Sites lose more readers than they keep by placating the outspoken minority.
I loved the Karthun arc. It is a really interesting world and all the characters were great in it. This has probably already been asked many times but have you given thought to doing a Kickstarter for a Karthun RPG sourcebook?
I had to comment for the first time just to support this concept. It think a kickstarter would be an awesome way to get such an interesting and unique world like Kathun out there, especially since, if the comments are anything to go by, people seem genuinely interested in playing in it
If you aren’t pissing someone off, you aren’t doing anything major.
I loved the arc and look forward to the next one.
Great arc!
I can’t be the only one who’d throw money at you for novels set in this world….
I too would spend hard-earned GP on a novel!
My hat’s off to you. This was, hands down, an epic thrill ride that had me checking EVERY MWF as soon as I was up.
If anything this arc solidifies you as a story teller as well as a humorist. To be able to build that world and step us through it is just remarkable. What I love is that even though we get to see a lot of Karthun, you always feels there’s so much more depth and subtext laying in wait.
I know it’s a ways off, but I can’t wait to be able to romp around Karthun with my PC.
Admittedly, I came for the gag-a-day sort of thing, but I think you handled this very well. Looking forward to more of this. 🙂 But please don’t forget us poor souls who still enjoy gag-a-day sorts of hijinx from time to time! 😉
This story arc has been absolutely fantastic to read. It also really is igniting the spark in me to pick a system (my last one was 4th Ed), write another story line and get some players at the table once more. I can’t wait until I finish college this year so I have free time to run again. These kinds of story lines are the reason why I love running games with my own stories.
The thing I’ve noticed with this arc was not only the story, but the incredible amount of attention given to the art style, especially in your panel layouts .. It’s been really gorgeous and consistent. You capture action/lighting really well. My first two years of school were dedicated to illustration, so I have a hard time not noticing/commenting on this kind of stuff when I really think it’s good.
The story arc itself has been pretty fantastic .. mostly in-character, but the parallel between the characters and the snarky commentary from the players has been pretty hilarious, too. I’m gonna sit down this weekend and read through all of it again. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this from every angle, basically. Keep being amazing, Patterson. \m/
I’d support such a Kickstarter, provided it was Pathfinder compatible. The most interesting part of Karthun, to me, is the Mage-Bound, and how that works.
I think this has been, along with the Dread story line, my favorite so far. Excellent job. The story telling, both inside and outside the adventure was fantastic!
I have to say, this arc was amazing. I would LOVE to see this printed in book format. I think it’s perfect for that.
I also feel like your artwork has grown, some of the panels in this arc have been AMAZING!
Thanks for the amazing story. I have really enjoyed it.
I haven’t commented during the arc, but I want to say that I really enjoyed it. I hope you do more long arcs in the future. So many webcomics seem to cut things short and leave the plot unfulfilled, this was a welcome change. I also love your setting and hope to see more of it soon.
This arc–and the others like it–is what I came to d20 Monkey for. Love the interaction of players around the table, the imagination that went into Karthun, everything. Didn’t miss the dick jokes at all.
Keep it up!
Of course you didn’t miss the dirk jokes; they didn’t go anywhere.
I had the same reaction as Sam; this was and is going to be awesome!
Also, yeah, kickstart something for the love of [insert deity of choice here]!
Krathun was a fantasy epic, grand in vision and scope, a world where only the daring and the brave thrive. But it was also a very funny, personal story where a bunch of friends over came their differences, and maybe grew a little closer. I’m still betting that Brett is in fact a pop-person though. I think I speak for the majority here that we hope to some day play in Krathun.
Loved it, more importantly, I really wish I could play in this setting/realm!
This arc has been amazing!! You’re drawing is fantastic, the characters are fantastic, and the story is fantastic. I look forward to many more arcs and stories in the future!
Well written and interesting, as always. =) Because these “off camera” moments are wasted without an audience, I prefer to “inflict” them on my players (or enjoy them when I’m a player =), and that’s why we play games like Fate that actively encourage “cut scenes” and “use of camera” as narrative tools to support the game.
I’ll chime in that I love the long form as well, but also appreciate the short ones in between. But I have to say the setting on this one makes it so interesting and probably why it worked so well for a long form.
Loved this arc. Have you thought about taking the whole thing and publishing it in a single volume?
Brian, it’s been awesome! I look forward to future arcs. Also, are we taking a page from The Doctor? 🙂
I really enjoyed the Karthun arc. I would gladly kickstart an attempt to produce a sourcebook for this setting.
I loved is arc, and I find the game world hire creating to be unique, nuanced, and fascinating. I for one can’t wait to see more.
game world /you’re/ creating… Stupid autocorrect.
Thanks for the Kathun arc as much as the cthulu one! Love the characters and the storylines.
https://d20monkey.com/comic/the-new-adventure-begins/
For all those who just reread this arc, this is where Karthun picks back up.
I like it. Longer arcs work really well for those of us who are just finding the site and reading through the archives.
Woo! Caffeine worldwalker! Has warp speed!
So i just found d20monkey like 2 days ago… And I’ve been powering through this thing from the beginning. I freaking LOVE Karthun, and this whole strip has reignited a my spark for gaming (D&D in particular) that will be dragging my wife and kids into this weekend kicking screaming.
Seriously, thank you
Damn! I want to game in Karthun!