Order of the Aquilia - A Humourous Examination of a Campaign in Progress, By way of Comic

By open_sketchbook, in Dark Heresy

The Order of the Aquilia is basically a crossover between the famous DnD humour strip Order of the Stick and the Dark Heresy game I'm currently running with my friends. Only one of them has ever played an RPG before, and one of them is not terribly familiar with the Warhammer universe. They are all, in their own special way, insane.

I too, am learning quite a few new things. Humour comics are not my field, preferring drama and action to gag-a-day, so infusing a steady stream of jokes and humour into the comic is a difficult task, compounded by the fact that I must explain or properly present many of the in-jokes involved in a project where friends provide much of the humour.

Understand that these comics are embellishment of actual events, yet furthermore know that they are, for the most part, mostly true, as frightening as that seems. Also know how I run Dark Heresy, which is to say, fast and on the fly. Few things are planned in the long term, because players are wonderful at ruining the best laid plots, and enforcing them anyway can lead to railroading of the worst sort. Further know that, as I am introducing new players, I have begun with a short campaign that will feature extremely rapid leveling and lots of combat, as a way to ease them into game mechanics.

Cast of Characters!

Mitch.jpg
Guardsman Lupus, played by Mitch
Imperial World Guardsman
"Seriously, guys, we have **** to do."
Guardsman Lupus is a native of the harsh winter world of Fenris, homeworld of the Space Wolves chapter, and grew up in their shadow, quite close to the fang. He joined the PDF of his homeworld, but it is unknown how he came to be a member of the Order. He greatly desires wealth and power, possibly to make up for the fact that he was never able to join the Space Wolves. As a result, he is thrifty and will go out of his way to make a few thrones.
Weapon of Choice: Shotgun, lasgun

Alex.jpg
The Sniper, played by Alex
Void Born Sniper
"You figure mutants would learn to not have heads by now..."
No name, no past and no funny business, little is known of the Sniper but that one does not wish to fall into his sights. He speaks with a strange accent and has an unusual affinity with the Machine Cult. His plans mostly involve standing firmly behind his teammates, as far from danger as possible. It might be intelligence, or just plain common sense.
Weapon of Choice: Hunting Rifle, Long Knife
Sandro.jpg
MkPhail, played by Sandro
Hive World Adept
"BWAHAHA! Your faces belong to me!"
Work in the endless cubical farms of the Imperial administration is not for everyone. It certainly wasn't for MkPhail, as he demonstrated when he snapped, killed three of his cooworkers with a stapler, and beat his manager near to death with a data-slate. Saved from the hangman's noose by a mysterious benefactor, MkPhail is a man of shattered personality, alternating between homicidal rage, utter insanity and, on rare occasions, impressive intellect.
Weapon of Choice : Stub Revolver

NOTE THERE IS CURRENTLY AN ISSUE WITH THE FORUM LAYOUT CAUSING CROPPING OF THE COMICS. I'LL FIGURE SOMETHING OUT, THIS IS JUST TEMPORARY.

OOTA 001 - 5+ Never Looked So Good

OOTA001.jpg

OOTA 002 - Indenturement

OOTA002.jpg

OOTA 003 - Where'd you get those Peepers?

OOTA003.jpg

Order of the Aquilia Comic 004 - Planning to Phail

OOTA004.jpg

Order of the Aquilia Comic 005 - Encountered

OOTA005.jpg

Order of the Aquilia Comic 006 - The Eleven on the Critical Table

OOTA006.jpg

OOTA Comic 007 - Bust a Cap

OOTA007.jpg

OOTA Comic 008 - Plot Incontinence

OOTA008.jpg

OOTA Comic 009 - Through the Eyes of Madness

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OOTA Comic 010 - Characters, I Develop Them

OOTA010.jpg

Hmm, seems your comic is too wide to fit in the forum window, and FFG haven't provided a scroll bar.

The strips are cut off I think there is a width limmit? on Images... Hopefully this can be adressed as I enjoy your strip and want ot know what goes on in those far right panles.

Evilscary said:

Hmm, seems your comic is too wide to fit in the forum window, and FFG haven't provided a scroll bar.

That was not there when I posted! (I swear.)

The first eight strips were also on Dark Reign, any plans to add 9 & 10 there?

Nerd King said:

The first eight strips were also on Dark Reign, any plans to add 9 & 10 there?

Done!

Well, I just tell the browser to open the image directly on its own window.

Maybe you should post a link Sketchbook?

Great as always, and I see they look quite normal in the reply window, it would seem.

Just right click and choose "view image" (If on the pc)

You will be given a centered version of the pic with a white background. (It's actually moved to the left but the reason you do it is still the same)

Glad to see this strip up and a new one added!

Thanks, Sketch!

And to add to the chorus, right-click -> "view image" fixes the cropping issue quite nicely ;-)

Excellent work. Kudos. aplauso.gif

Nice, put a smile on my face :)

Nice comic! partido_risa.gif