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NP Comic for Thursday, Jan 5, 2023 Four more or less normal characters highlight the notion of beauty influencing charisma, in turn influencing persuasiveness. Rich, meanwhile, reacts to their discussion as he recovers from a lightning strike. He appears to get better. FWIW, I'm not on board with where the discussion is heading. Beauty is not the same thing as charisma. Some RPG, it might have been an edition of D&D, broke out physical beauty from charisma as comeliness. Granted, there are correlations. In the age of video accessibility, a good looking politician will tend to do better than one who is not. But it is hardly the whole story. Charisma has to do with credibility and trustworthiness. Self confidence is a big factor, as is competence and track record. Charisma is clearly tied to persuasiveness, but looks is a factor only, and not even the main one, otherwise Mitch McConnell would not be a leading republican, to pick an example. Ultimately, charisma means that you are willing to invest a level of your attention with the person who has it. In this sense, looks is more of an ice breaker than a deal maker, although it could also be a deciding factor if all other things are equal; a tie breaker. Hotness is not a good synonym for looks in this case, because it leans more toward sexual attractiveness rather than appears competent. It is of limited specific utility in persuading others if they do not thing they have a shot with the speaker, and the limits of the topics of persuasion are more immediate, but not really tied to a sense of leadership necessarily - although, they can be. What is most weird about this is that the framework of the comic is presenting a shallow view of looks as charisma as a major influence in how people interact, but, for the most part, they do not. You might appreciate how a server in a fast food facility looks, but if they can't get your order right, you are not going to give them a pass. The saying, 'Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes to the bone' highlights this; someone might look attractive, but when you get to know them, you quickly learn what they are really like and dislike them. Yet this view is not entirely with out merit. We are very visual, much of our interaction is based on visual cues. People project a demeanor through the expression on their face and how they carry themselves. (Blind people compensate and become more sensitive to other cues.) Your outward appearance has some correlation with the person inside. There is yet another side to this, 'Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder'. Not everyone will see 'looks' the same. All kinds of biases and prejudices play in as well, as can relationship. A person you like will seem to look better than someone you do not. Racism and ethnic bias comes into play. Not all persuasion is based on charisma. Neverwinter Nights, based on D&D 3, had a persuasion skill, but also listed an intimidation skill that accomplished pretty much the same thing. So, to me, the train of thought running through the last set of comics misses the mark; I'm not convinced it's even plausible that a skeptical mayor is influenced by a bard's opinion merely because she looks good. Indeed, if he is, that might be a red flag to be wary of a secondary agenda on his part. Why is he granting unwarranted credence to what she says? Larry and George are speaking in-character. It is unclear that Nanase is. Ellen apparently thinks so, too, because she is not speaking for a character, so she must be addressing Nanase. So Rich's reactions: with Larry, he's having a difficult time separating the character from the person, it's too personal; with George, who he does not know as well, he's calming down, better able to accept it, with Nanase and Ellen, he is calm and confused, they are messing with his world view. I have to admit, I'm not a fan of this direction for this comic sequence, but it made me think and in turn define some things that have seemed inconsistent for a long time.

NP Comic for Tuesday, Jan 3, 2023 Rich is struck by a lightning bolt. He will be missed. Did you know that the TSA will not allow you to carry a pick axe with you on a plane?

NP Comic for Saturday, Dec 31, 2022 "I've been working on the railroad, all the live long day ..." To be fair, it is supposed to be a quick game. It needs to stay on the rails.

NP Comic for Saturday, Dec 17, 2022 Nanase's smile in panel 2 is genuine, based on the circumstances, though it looks like a forced smile of someone covering up their displeasure, it looks too forced. I don't think we've ever seen her smile this broadly. That actually bodes well, it means she is not dwelling on her mom riding her about stuff, which seem to be the background of her psyche. She has a severe disconnect between her public face and what's going on inside; I think she barely lets Ellen in, to the best of her ability. Girl needs counseling. It will do her some good to get away from home; sadly, she will likely commute. Mom is watching out for her, mom wants her to do well, but they have a toxic relationship; mom is domineering, and fails to recognize, praise, and reward; withholds love and support. In all fairness, parenting is harder than it looks. Sadly, Bird Speech never happened.

NP Comic for Thursday, December 15, 2022 Larry yells "Bard Speech!", Ellen explains that he needs to explain what he wants to say. It would be funnier if he said "Bird Speech!".

NP Comic for Tuesday, December 6, 2022 Everyone is jumping aboard Larry's theory, but George knows that this is not what happened. What is George really doing? He does not seem like he would derail Ellen for kicks. Maybe wants to see how she handles the stress? Weird, and I eagerly await the follow-up. Nanase is applying her sleuthing skills to assist her leap to the wrong conclusion. She impressed Rich, although he doesn't know it.

NP Comic for Saturday, Dec 3, 2022 Well, that's solved. Time to pack up and go home. ... But, since the cleric was just for fixing the fall down the stairs, he's not involved at all. I guess "za?' means "Oh, my, this is taking an unexpected turn. I am sooo surprised.", because, face it, that never happens when running an RPG.

NP Comic for Thursday, Dec 1, 2022 Seems like the guard had a legitimate reason for being missing. The bard asking questions seems reasonable, not getting why it is a point of minor drama in the last panel. Kind of a, "OK ..." topic. George, who suggests it, stated early on that his character is lazy. But it does have an oddity, which in hindsight is carried over from previous comics; the character's names are not used. It's not, '<the character's name>' ', it's 'the bard'. Similarly, in previous comics, the players refer to each other by their player name. "Nanase fell down the stairs", "I turn to Nanase (and say ...)", "My mission is to find out more about your girlfriend?" (Rich refers to the player, not to the character) ... Because , just before that, Ellen said, "You've been tasked with learning more about Nanase" ; OK, George named his sorceress 'George', Larry's bard is refered to as 'Larry', in the same comic, Nanase's character is referred to as 'Nanase', ah, Ellen addresses this issue, and George officially names his sorceress 'George'; Rich's character has not been addressed; but in the September 24 NP comic, Ellen states that they will be using their real names for their characters. Guessing this was to avoid a layer of potential confusion from the story line, "Which one was <character name>?". It feels odd, but it does read easier. As Ellen says (paraphrase), "By the time you figure this out, we'll be done."

NP Comic for Tuesday, November 29, 2022 Your train has left the rails. Really, Larry should have probably figured out exactly why the cleric suddenly appeared.

NP Comic for Thursday, November 17, 2022 "We are saving that chicken" (for dinner tomorrow).

NP Comic for Thursday, November 10, 2022 Huh, Rich gives a genuine compliment, and Nanase struggles to respond. ... She's familiar with real magic, wonders how it relates to 'magic' in the game context. They think her response is spot on for a person with no clue. I guess it is.

NP Comic for Tuesday, November 8, 2022 Nanase is channeling Susan and Diane. Check for the guard that happens to be a rooster. She ran off with him, flew the coop!

Duplicate post, please delete

NP Comic for Tuesday, November 1, 2022 Chicken? Chicken? Chicken? Pfffft. Chicken! It's alive! Or at least was, recently, the current state of the chicken has yet to be determined. Frankly, if I wanted to hide a chicken, eating it would be a good option. The mayor, what with bribing judges and misusing public resources, is not exactly above board. This could be significant later. He's also not sharpest tool in the shed; 'security second to none' sounds rather extravagant for a 'prize winning chicken'. Also seems to jump to conclusions, albeit for RP railroad reasons; chickens disappear due to mortal men or animals all the time, security not withstanding. His world has rogues, who can get around security. His world also presumably has inside jobs. Also, individual feathers 'go missing' all the time. The chicken yard is littered with a few, always. They didn't grow there, they fell off of chickens. I like how Ellen uses their reaction, basically holds them accountable for casual remarks. Well, here's hoping they can rescue their plucky charge, and don't end up with egg on their faces.

NP Comic for Thursday, October 27, 2022 No one is that out of touch with role playing terms, are they? They are borrowed from other parts of our culture. 'Plot hook' existed long before D&D. Herding kittens isn't even particularly a role playing term, although it often applies. Working theory for my head canon, Nanase is just that sheltered by her mom.

NP Comic for Tuesday, October 25, 2022 Rich does not exactly flow with this. He comes across as mechanical. My impression is he is focused on 'winning the game'. I love George's reaction. The subtext I get is, "I don't care enough about what you're saying to have a real opinion about it."

Comic for Wednesday, October 19, 2022 What is this comic? EGS NP++? Is it canon in EGS NP? It's been so long, I don't remember ... (Checking the notes at the bottom, apparently Dan is having memory issues with his comic as well. Bunny Diane was an odd surprise until I clicked the link.) Really, not too much dust on the old comic stream. Many go into hiatus for months or years; some permanently, TBD. Not much to say about the comic, it's a set up recap, maybe highlighting an aspect of Diane, maybe introducing it. She has not really been secretive up to this point, mostly callously shallow and very analytical. She seems to have a fairly healthy level of disregard for convention; one extreme is stifling, the other is just wrong. She has shown on numerous occasions that she cares for others in spite of the callous persona. This 'secrets' thing seems new. Nanase, of all people, should recognize the need. perhaps she's overcompensating. Enough. It's just one recap comic; the purpose will be revealed shortly.

NP Comic for Saturday, October 15, 2022 Rich's expression seems to invite a face punch. Am I wrong? (Yes, you are; he's actually inviting Ellen to blast him with her beam.) Later ... "The dragon offers to trade the MacGuffin for the shiny new paladin." "Hell, yeah, it's a deal!" "Yeah, if you're sure, you want him." "Do you want us to shine him up for you?"

NP Comic for Tuesday, October 11, 2022 Polka Face!

NP Comic for Saturday, October 8, 2022 "Stop stairing at me, George! I hate that!" "I'm a human rouge. My face is red."

https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/wie-035 This must be some sort of magical ability Certainly no ordinary human could generate a glare like that I wonder if Tedd can make a wand for this? - - - - - On a side note, did anyone else have trouble reaching the 910CMX website early Saturday morning (US Eastern time)?

NP Comic for Thursday, September 22, 2022 Kittens do not herd well. Let's hope she packs a cattle prod.

NP Comic for Tuesday, September 20, 2022 A bit manipulative, but, meh, Rich needs some guidance, she did a good thing and helped him along.

NP Comic for Thursday, September 15, 2022 Hmm, his behavior is very un-Rich-like. He must still be seeing that authoritarian likeness. Panel 3, "Hey, Rich, my eyes are down here!" He's staring up at his illusion, or possibly the flying pony tail.

NP Comic for Thursday, September 8, 2022 Looks like Ellen has a plan.