Knights of the Dinner Table: Difference between revisions

* '''B.A. Felton''': The disgruntled [[Game Master]], always attempting to be one step ahead of the group and always winding up one step behind, due to either Brian's scheming or Bob and Dave's bumbling violence.

* '''Bob Herzog''': A seasoned gamer who believes that [[The Real Man|"monsters are there to be killed"]]. Often causes massive [[Off the Rails|plot derailments]] by slaying important characters in-game (or even his fellow teammates). His main character in B.A.'s campaign is '''Knuckles''', a dwarven thief who carries a crossbow.

* '''Brian Van Hoose''': The textbook definition of a [[Rules Lawyer]]. Frequently manipulates his less-intelligent allies into doing his bidding, and is able to cite obscure rules to wriggle his way out of just about any situation. When provoked, however, he can become violent, often flipping tables. His iconic characters are a series of wizards with the word "Lotus" in their names; most famously, '''Black Lotus''', better known as '''Teflon Billy''' for Brian's skills as a [[Karma Houdini]]. He was the original GM of the group until a [[Noodle Incident]] drove him into retirement.

* '''Sara Felton''': B.A.'s cousin. The only one at the table who [[The Roleplayer|actually role-plays]], and the [[Women Are Wiser|straight]] [[The Chick|woman]] of the group. She tends to play non-[[Stripperiffic]] female barbarian characters, such as '''Zayre''' and '''Thorina'''.

* [[Cattle Punk]]: Originally a roleplaying game by the creators of Hackmaster, and known for its lethality. The game still manages to fit all the definitions in the trope.

 

 

* [[Accidental Aiming Skills]]: Bob's dad displays these during his first (and only) game of ''Cattlepunk''.

** Then there was the time that Newt was in a position to have to bail the Black Hands out of jail and chose to bail out ex-con Crutch instead of Stevil.

* [[Comic Trio]] (plus One): Bob's the navigator with the half-baked schemes; Dave's the clueless driver; Sara's the Only Sane Woman who's ultimately powerless to do more than avoid ground zero; and Brian's the scheming backseat driver who either makes things worse or [[Xanatos Speed Chess|turns the disaster to his advantage]].

** Averted with Sara, who frequently plays new kinds of characters. Though usually she will hover around the "fighter with benefits" archetype due to party composition, with her iconic character being a [[Noble Savage]] ranger.

* [[Crazy Prepared]]: Brian.

* [[Cut and Paste Comic]]

* [[Dark Chick]]: Sara again, when she's playing for the forces of evil.

** Also Sheila, who suffers from [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder]]. To make things more interesting, she's dating short-fused Bob whom she once forced to eat grass until he threw up.

* [[Darker and Edgier]]: Newt's preference in characters tends towards dark mysterious assassins with tortured souls and troubled pasts.

* [[Drill Sergeant Nasty]]: Nitro

* [[Driving Stick]]: Weird Pete discovers that Gordo can't drive stick during a road trip to GaryCon when he wakes up to to find Gordo is still driving in first gear. By the end of the trip, Gordo has mastered driving stick (with the aid of Squirrely) and is ecstatic.

** A straighter example is Chad's girlfriend. She's a pacifist and plays her cleric that way (in fact she can't even heal the party from their injuries because that would enable their violence so she's just an observer.)

* [[Early Installment Weirdness]]: The Knights had much less distinctive personalities in the early episodes and you'd sometimes see the characters exhibiting traits you'd now associate with other characters. They were whatever was needed for the gag in that particular strip. The self contained format of the early strips is itself a form of early installment weirdness.

* [[Even the Rats Won't Touch It]]: The 'Limited Edition Haulin' Ass And Ammo "Meals Ready To Eat" Snack Pouches':

{{quote| '''Weird Pete''': I bought half a pallet of that crap two years ago... Didn't sell a single pack.. Squirrely wouldn't even touch 'em.}}

* [[Everything Trying to Kill You]]: The Knights assume this about BA's dungeons and his npc's. This partly justifies their [[Comedic Sociopathy]].

** More often actually the case when Weird Pete GMs (his whole campaign setting is made of this trope. Nobody has made it above 3rd level in that setting.)

* [[Fell Off the Back of A Truck]]: Anything that Switch tries to sell you.

* [[Flipping the Table|Flipping The Table]]: Brian does this when upset too much. Bob has done it upon occasion, too.

* [[Four One Nine Scam]]: One strip deals with the results of the Knights receiving a [[Four One Nine Scam]] email.

* [[Game Breaker]]: Brian himself counts, not to mention the many characters and schemes he cooks up.

* [[High Class Call Girl]]: Trish

* [[Hooker With a Heart of Gold]]: Trish

* [[Human Notepad]]: Brian carves his character's spells into the backs of Bob and Dave's characters so he could always have access to spells.

* [[Humiliation Conga]]: Rather than [[Rocks Fall Everyone Dies]], this is BA's preferred method of dealing out punishment. Of course, his players are usually the ones [[Too Dumb to Live|to hand him the knife]].

*** Don't forget "Dancing Queen" Newt. He & Stevil keep trying to one-up each other as revenge for the last one.

** The Knights did this to a rival group after Sara found out {{spoiler|her boyfriend dated her just to get her into his gaming group for extra points in a tournament}}. The humiliation conga the gang put them through on her behalf (complete with pictures) [[True Companions|proves they've accepted her as a Knight]].

* [[I Know Mortal Kombat]]: The storyline in which Bob unwittingly helps plan a successful warehouse burglary based on his gaming experience.

** They've done this on several occasions, especially Bob, employing his in game roleplaying experience in the real world, dealing with his dad by hiding and bluffing.

** In Issue 162:

{{quote| '''Brian:''' We have to find [BA's cat's] hoard [of dice] and we know from past history that this can be a challenge. So, for that I need your eyes and know how. ''I need a'' '''thief.'''}}

* [[I Resemble That Remark]]: Bob ranting about how he'd like to kill all those media pundits who claim gaming promotes violent behaviour.

* [[Jerkass]]: Every character has held the "Jerkass ball" at some point or another, with Bob, Stevil, and Pete being the most common. Brian often falls into this trope as well though less frequently in later issues.

* [[Neutral Female]]: Chad's Girlfriend's character. She plays a pacifist cleric that merely accompanies and observes the party without healing or fighting.

* [[The New Rock and Roll]]: Many times, in reference to the roleplaying game genre's long history of being accused of corrupting and/or mentally unbalancing its players. Characters have been arrested being mistaken for criminals (dicebags look like drug paraphenalia, plotting an ingame robbery in public gets taken out of context etc). A long running subplot is Bob's dad's disapproval of the game first requiring Bob to hide his gaming, then get a job, then get kicked out of the house.

* [[Noodle Incident]]: The unspecified incident that caused Brian to swear off ever GMing ''Hackmaster'' again.

* [[The Notable Numeral]]: The Untouchable Trio (plus one)

* [[Shoot the Shaggy Dog]]: The Knights go through one of the hardest dungeons ever, lose a favored NPC guide, and come out with the Lyre of Hound Slaying, trailing their vital organs...only for {{spoiler|Dave to get taken over by a magic sword and smash it.}}

** See also B.A.'s [[Shmuck Bait]] entry above. The story started with showing just how much time and care went into making that dungeon, only for those three fools to kill the whole party right off the bat on the ''waste disposal system''.

* [[Social Semi Circle]]

* [[Stay in The Kitchen]]: Bob has a very dim view of women playing RPGs (to say nothing of [[D Ming]] them), and was prone to being very condescending to Sara, particularly in the early days of her membership in the Knights. (Dave and Brain have also shown signs of this attitude, but to a much lesser extent.) Thanks to Sara's general skill, this view has been mostly overcome. (Or at least Bob has learned not to be so vocal about it. See [[Berserk Button]] above.)

** Finally inverted with Bob. He's so dedicated to game that he lost his job as a claims adjuster, got kicked out of his fathers house and now lives with his girlfriend while working at a game shop for surplus product. So he is frequently shown wearing an apron while she sits and reads the paper.

* [[Wax Museum Morgue]]: "The Stone Menagerie"

* [[We Win Because You Didn't]]: Brian wins a bet against Stevil this way.

** A more straight example comes when Brian is called out for exploiting Bob's addiction to tabletop gaming even when he's in a bad financial situation.

* [[Women Are Wiser]]: Sara throughout the series (though BA is not far behind her). Especially pronounced in Sheila's relationship with Bob.

* [[Worthy Opponent]]: Despite the combative relationship between players and DM, the Knights ultimately see B.A. as one of the few gamemasters who will push them to their limits without being unfair or tyrannical.