Order of the Stick Book Tournament 2: No Cure for Voting Blues (Matches 3 and 4)

[137beth]

Greetings to all people of the Playground, and welcome to
The Ultimate Order of the Stick Book Tournament II!


Back in 2014, I ran (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?339639-The-Ultimate-Order-of-the-Stick-Book-Tournament-Round-1) a series of polls to determine the forum's favorite OOTS book. Start of Darkness won that tournament (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?362708-The-Ultimate-Order-of-the-Stick-Book-Tournament-THE-FINALS!), defeating Blood Runs in the Family by one vote. Since that time, the number of available books has increased, and the readership has had more time to reflect on earlier stories in light of more recent events. Hence, I felt it was time for another tournament. Without further ado, I present

The Contestants

Dungeon Crawling Fools
On the Origins of the PCs
The Start of Darkness
No Cure for Paladin Blues
War and XP
Don't Split the Party
Snips, Snails and Dragon Tails
Blood Runs in the Family
Haleo & Julelan + Uncivel Servant
Good Deeds Gone Unpunished
Utterly Dwarfed

Even though Book 6 has yet to be released, I believe we have seen enough of it from the online strips for it to be fairly included. Also, I have grouped together the two stories which are currently digital-only. The 11 contestants will compete in a double elimination tournament, with your votes deciding who wins each match. The winner of the entire tournament will be crowned Grand Champion of the Stick!

Due to the fact that there are more than 8 but fewer than 16 contestants, five books will get a free pass on the first round. The contestants were seeded randomly. You can see the entire tournament bracket on Challonge (https://challonge.com/9vr5zli0).

Vote once in each match by posting your vote in this thread. The voting for these matches will close Monday December 16, at which time I will post the next two matches. I will vote only in the case where a tie-breaking vote is needed.

The Current Matches
Match 3: Haleo & Julelan + Uncivel Servant vs On the Origins of the PCs

Match 4: Good Deeds Gone Unpunished vs Snips, Snails and Dragon Tails

[LadyEowyn]

Haven’t read either of the books in Match 3.

In Match 4, voting for Good Deeds Gone Unpunished, a very strong contender for my favourite OOTS book of all. How the Paladin Got His Scar is probably the best thing Rich has written.

[137beth]

Since I forgot to respond to this question in the previous thread:


By the way, what’s the rationale for the way the bracket is set up (the matchups, and which books were selected to get a bye through the first round)?

It was decided at random. I knew how the tournament needed to be structured (e.g. how many books would get a bye in the first round) just from the fact that it was double elimination and there were 11 books. I used random.org to sort the 11 books into their initial slots.

[Ruck]

Going On the Origin of PCs here (close) and Good Deeds Gone Unpunished (not close).

[CriticalFailure]

On The Order of PCs and Good Deeds Gone Unpunished because those are the ones I’ve read.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

So, I don’t exactly have strong feelings on the first matchup; both of these rank pretty low down to me and either will lose to W&XPs. So, I think I’ll go with Haleo & Julelan + Uncivil Servant, mostly because I find them combined a little funnier than OtOotPCs (which is, admittedly, infinitely more relevant to the plot).

For Match 4, it’s easily Good Deeds Gone Unpunished. Don’t get me wrong, I think SSDT is quite funny, but the shorts in GDGU are quite good and HtPGHS is easily one of the best things Rich has written.

[Gift Jeraff]

Haleo & Julelan
Snips, Snails and Dragon Tails

[Gluteus_Maximus]

While Haleo and Julelan and Uncivil Servant aren't especially the best books, or do they possess the storytelling of the main tale, they're really funny. OtOOPCs on the other hand? The storytelling is content that will be covered and explained cohesively in the main story, and the jokes are trapped in the era of the comic being just a d&d satire comic. HJaUS gets my vote.

I haven't read the first one, but this is close all the same. SSDT is... Fun, to say the least. A whole bunch of stories, a few which I didn't get when I read them, and the dreaded fourth dimension. But just from what I've heard, and because my pity vote to SSDT won't mean anything, GDGU gets my vote.

[Vulkos]

Match 1:
On the Origins of the PCs.
The short ones are good stories, but hardly compare.

Match 2:
Good Deeds gone Unpunished, because it is just great.

[Toad]

Good Deeds Gone Unpunished is legendary and deserves all the votes.

The other one is harder to decide and uh... I really don't know. I guess I'll side with On the Origins of PCs.

[Ornithologist]

So, lets go

On the Origins of the PCs for match 3

and Good Deeds gone unpunished for match 4.

in the words of Thrym, My reasons are my own. (But seriously, Good Deeds gone unpunished is likely to be the crowning champ. I don't know anyone who didn't like it. The other match was tough, and I like both all three of them. I think OtOofPCs fits in better with latter books rather than early books, and I give it to people who I know would have to slog through book 1 and two without help.)

[KorvinStarmast]

Match 3: Haleo & Julelan + Uncivel Servant vs On the Origins of the PCs

Match 4: Good Deeds Gone Unpunished vs Snips, Snails and Dragon Tails
On the Origins of the PCs (While I like Uncivil Servant, H&J didn't quite cut it)
Good Deeds Gon Unpunished (SS&DT's only redeeming value is the 3.5e vs 4e OoTS battle)

Note: the first time I encountered OoTS ever was in Dragon Magazine. I had never encountered it on line. (I tended toward PvP and Penny Arcade if I even looked at a web comic).

I hated it. I had not picked up a dragon in some years.
For Dragon comics, I was used to Wormy and Fineous and Snarfquest and Phil&Dixie.
OoTS to my eye simply did not fit.

Some years later, I tripped over the OoTS comic in the polearm shop.
I love me some monty python.
So I gave OoTS another look, starting from strip 1.

No hate, and a lot of laughs.

SS&DT I own in a physical copy, the rest in electronic form. I stil find the dragon era strips to lack that certain something ... but props to Rich for being chosen by WoTC to feature his strip in their house D&D mag. Well done.

[drazen]

On the Origin of PCs
Good Deeds Gone Unpunished

I'm a unique individual in my voting, just like (almost) everyone else in the thread. I suspect these two will run away with this round.

[knag]

Hj+uc
ssdt

[Peelee]

Haleo & Julelan + Uncivil Servant - I don't really care for Haleo & Julelan (I greatly dislike that play), but Uncivil Servant makes up for it and then some. Enough even to make me vote for it over Origin of PCs.

Good Deeds Gone Unpunished - As others have said, no contest. I actually think this one will be the ultimate winner; I certainly know I'm going to be voting for it over everything else.

Some years later, I tripped over the OoTS comic in the polearm shop.
I love me some monty python.
So I gave OoTS another look, starting from strip 1.

No hate, and a lot of laughs.

That's the exact strip that got me into it too! Except I hadn't seen a lot of Monty Python, so I didn't get the reference, so I assume that just goes to show how great a skit it was.

[rgrekejin]

On the Origins of PCs gets my vote. Note that the title is not "On the Origins of the PCs" as that kills the sound-alike joke. So much good stuff here - Distant Inferno, metal concert diplomacy, and my favorite part of early OotS, copious jokes about the intricacies of 3rd edition D&D rules.

Snips, Snails and Dragon Tails You know, it's the weirdest thing. I know I own a copy of Good Deeds Gone Unpunished. I know I've read it several times. As I sit here deciding which book to vote for, I can't for the life of me recall a single thing about it. At the very least, the Snail of a Thousand Templates was memorable.

[Joerg]

Haleo & Julelan
GDGU

[ByzantiumBhuka]

I'll vote for Haleo and Julelan/Uncivil Servant and Good Deeds Gone Unpunished. They're the only two I've read on this list, but the Belkar and O-Chul stories are, as others have said, unparalleled.


That's the exact strip that got me into it too! Except I hadn't seen a lot of Monty Python, so I didn't get the reference, so I assume that just goes to show how great a skit it was.

Well. What a coincidence-- that was the first strip I saw as well! That wouldn't by any chance be due to Wikipedia's reference to the comic in their article on the Cheese Shop sketch?

[Peelee]

Well. What a coincidence-- that was the first strip I saw as well! That wouldn't by any chance be due to Wikipedia's reference to the comic in their article on the Cheese Shop sketch?

StumbleUpon, way back when. The strip amused me, I looked at the next one or two, realized it was a storyline comic, and binges. That was when 804 was the current strip. Oh, time...

[Ruck]

That's the exact strip that got me into it too! Except I hadn't seen a lot of Monty Python, so I didn't get the reference, so I assume that just goes to show how great a skit it was.

Heh, funnily enough, and befitting an ex-poker player, the strip that first got me into OOTS was #428 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0428.html), where Haley figures out Xykon and Redcloak's shell game. It certainly helped that we were in the middle of a big battle and that promised action, but it was also me reading how she figures it out that made me think, "Hey, if this guy can write characters this intelligent and savvy, he might be worth reading. I should see where this is going."

[Schroeswald]

Heh, funnily enough, and befitting an ex-poker player, the strip that first got me into OOTS was #428 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0428.html), where Haley figures out Xykon and Redcloak's shell game. It certainly helped that we were in the middle of a big battle and that promised action, but it was also me reading how she figures it out that made me think, "Hey, if this guy can write characters this intelligent and savvy, he might be worth reading. I should see where this is going."

My first was #406 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0406.html), though I don't think I clicked the link back to the start of the comic for a few weeks afterwards.

[rgrekejin]

Heh, funnily enough, and befitting an ex-poker player, the strip that first got me into OOTS was #428 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0428.html), where Haley figures out Xykon and Redcloak's shell game. It certainly helped that we were in the middle of a big battle and that promised action, but it was also me reading how she figures it out that made me think, "Hey, if this guy can write characters this intelligent and savvy, he might be worth reading. I should see where this is going."

Heh, nice. The current strip when I started reading was #400 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0400.html), which I found amusing in retrospect given that I was introduced to the comic by my then-girlfriend.

[Ruck]

Heh, nice. The current strip when I started reading was #400 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0400.html), which I found amusing in retrospect given that I was introduced to the comic by my then-girlfriend.
Yeah, that's a pretty funny (I hope) epilogue to that discovery.


My first was #406 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0406.html), though I don't think I clicked the link back to the start of the comic for a few weeks afterwards.

I didn't either for a few days; then I started simultaneously reading from where I already was and from #1 until I caught back up. I don't really think that's the recommended way to do it, but that was a bit over four years ago and I've read the whole thing many times since.

[ElderSage]

Hmmm, I'm going to vote Good Deeds Gone Unpunished for Match 4.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

I believe I was first introduced to the comic through TVTropes, although the first full strip I read was #1. That was around #918, if I remember correctly. Things have changed a bit since then!

[Procyonpi]

Don't really have a strong opinion for match 3, but gonna go with SSaDT for match 4

[HorizonWalker]

I'm gonna go with:

3) No vote.
4) Good Deeds Gone Unpunished.

How The Paladin Got His Scar is an important and really good story, sure, but I think we're missing out when we only talk about that one. The story with Kazumi and Daigo and the ghost was great, too, I thought.

[Peelee]

How The Paladin Got His Scar is an important and really good story, sure, but I think we're missing out when we only talk about that one.

I'll second this. Kitty Story was super fun, and Lein's made me want more teenage Lein stories.

[DLcygnet]

Match 3: Haleo & Julelan + Uncivil Servant. Almost voted the other way, since I think Origin of PCs will hold its own better in later matches. But the storytelling and character representation in the former is so great!

Match 4: Good Deeds Gone Unpunished. No contest. Just read it based on all these lovely recommendations. Also, Paladins have TERRIBLE appraisal checks. OMG.

[137beth]

Whoops, looks like I forgot to update this two days ago. It's just as well, since the next match was going to have a longer voting period anyways.

The results for these matches are:
Match 3: Haleo & Julelan + Uncivil Servant vs On the Origins of the PCs (8-8)

Match 4: Good Deeds Gone Unpunished vs Snips, Snails and Dragon Tails (16-4)

Match 3 ended in a tie, so I am breaking the tie in favor of OtOotPCs.

The next two matches are up in a new thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?605007-Ultimate-OOTS-book-tournament-2-Matches-5-and-6).

[Sylian]

I missed voting, but I probably would have voted for On the Origins of PCs and definitely Good Deeds Gone Unpunished, so I guess I got what I wanted despite missing the vote, heh.