Chainmail Bikini: The Tome of Stuff You Should Know

By Shamus Posted Tuesday Sep 11, 2007

Filed under: Projects 30 comments

The second installment of Chainmail Bikini is up. There were a few hiccups where the prev / next buttons didn’t work, and the RSS feed was deviously hidden, but it should be all fixed now. We’ll be posting comics Monday and Friday. We really wanted MWF, but alas art is somewhat harder to come by when you don’t have New Line Cinema and Peter Jackson working for you.

Also, Shawn comments on the launch and the future plans for the strip. He also addresses the main criticism about the strip, which is that it’s been done. This is true, although it hasn’t been done by us. The internet is a big place. I’m sure we’ll manage to squeeze in someplace.

And finally, I guess I should point out that there is indeed a gamer chick in the strip. I’d intended this to be a surprise, but some people reacted with such indignation to the all-male cast that I thought I should let everyone know before the rioting starts.

 


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30 thoughts on “Chainmail Bikini: The Tome of Stuff You Should Know

  1. Nick says:

    Arrives with pitchforks.

    “Rah! We demand …”

    *Reads post*

    “Oh, nevermind…”

    Ah, it’s sometimes dissappointing when the rioting is cut-off at the start. Then again, I’m sure your readers will find something else to riot about…

    Good luck on the comic! I’ll be keeping up with it.

  2. bloopy says:

    are you gonna continue linking to cb installments from here?. . . i ask because i, for one, would totally dig it if you did ‘cuz then 20-sided could continue being my one-stop shopping area for your blog and comic. . . plus i’d also be able to comment on the current comic without having to register in the forums. . .

  3. Henebry says:

    I really miss the blog-style comments space that trails down the page beneath each episode of DMotR. Yes, I know this issue has already been raised. But it occurs to me that, whereas most webcomics are posted as stand-alones with a forum, Shamus you always break the fourth wall by posting a comment to the reader beneath the comic. This invites talkback from your readersd. By contrast, the standard webcomic protocol (standalone comic with attached forum) invites fan-to-fan conversation. I miss the sense of responding to you.

  4. Taelus says:

    It looks like it’s going to be a good bit of fun Shamus. We shall watch your career with must interest :-)

  5. Dan says:

    Shamus,

    It is terrible form to head riots off at the pass. Without riots, Whale’s classic Frankenstein film would be instantly converted into an idyllic travelogue of a clumsy man and the people he accidentally killed.

  6. Ping says:

    As a girl gamer, I beg that the female character NOT be just somebody’s girlfriend. She can be somebody’s GF, just let her actually know how to game, too. *begs*

    (See, there’s still a riot in the offing.) :D

  7. Alex says:

    Just remember, Shamus: your readers own you. Trying to exercise free will? I’ll take a ruler to your fingers!

  8. Shamus says:

    Henebry: I miss it as well.

    Ping: Not to worry.

    Alex: You are a merciless taskmaster.

  9. arlani says:

    Ping,
    Do you really expect any of those guys to have girlfriends?!

  10. Marty says:

    There are girl who play RPGs? Where?!?

    Funnily enough, I never encountered a gal gamer until after I was out of college and was no longer playing RPGs (I’ve had a few stints since then where I’ve gamed a little — but mostly board games nowadays). I’d heard rumors of their existence, but never actually *seen* one in the wild.

  11. Nanja Kang says:

    Josh would have a g/f… I know a guy just like him in my group. He is 31 and his g/f is 26… keep that in mind Shamus, I know Josh is 20 but maybe an underage g/f would be hilarious!!! Maybe.

  12. Huckleberry says:

    There are two (2!) female gamers in our group, and only one of them is the girlfriend of the GM… (as far as I know, anyway)

  13. Ping says:

    Marty–Well, I started out gaming because one of my female friends introduced me to it. Since then, I’ve mostly been in games with at least one other female, if not more. Maybe we just hang together in packs, like how women always go to the bathroom together. ;D

  14. gedece says:

    My gaming group has 6 males and 3 females, among this there’s a married couple that played with us for more than a year before they begun dating.

  15. onosson says:

    Speaking of game systems AND female players:

    My wife is NOT a gamer, but I once tried to develop a system that she could get into. In this system, a deck of playing cards was used instead of dice. All stats were rated 1-10, with 3 or 4 being about average ability (plus, this meant that I could assign anything in the game an easy target number, making it very open-ended). You just drew a card to play against whatever stat, and face cards had special status (I forget the details, but I think Jacks were automatic loss, Kings automatic win, and Queens something else I can’t remember…) I think there were only 2 or 3 character stats, as well. Anyone else have any experience with “keep it simple stupid” game systems?

  16. BlckDv says:

    In my current table top group, we’ve got 2 women, and while both are in relationships with other gamers in the group, one has been gaming for over 10 years and it is the main social hobby she and her husband share. The other is my girlfriend; and we met at an RPG game.

    From my gaming experience, goth style games tend to have more female gamers, and live action games as well… combine the two and I’ve actively played in a Vampire LARP with men in the minority.

    Conversely; I’ve met a total of two women ever who play miniature wargames as a favored form of roleplay.

    I don’t play CCG games, but I’m told that a reasonable number of female gamers can be found there.

    To get to my point; taken as a whole, gaming hobbies may be stereotypically a male bastion; but within the hobby, you have various concentrations, just as in most pass times.

    To illustrate with an opposite example; Dance may be a stereotypical female stronghold; but I bet you see a lot more male breakdancers than male ballet dancers.

  17. MOM says:

    Are you going to add cmb or ftb to your home page @ shamusyoung.com?

  18. Rob says:

    Alot of people get their panties in a knot when someone does something similar to a work that’s already been done. GEEZ calm down. First of all, the new creators will DEFINITELY bring something refreshing to the environment. In your case Shamus, I think you bring a wit that the other comics that I’ve (only recently) read lack. Secondly, there are many people who haven’t searched all the recesses of the internet and so this may be their first exposure to webcomics of ANY kind. Finally, IT’S NOT THE SAME THING. I’ve followed most of the threads arguing that Chainmail Bikini is identical to this that or the other. I followed the links. I read the other strips (most of them) and so far I see that they are in the same genre but the content, style, humour and atmosphere are completely different. So Shamus, create onwards and show those naysayers where to stick it!

    On a side note all those message threads did point me towards some very interesting webcomics which I am now enjoying in addition to Chainmail Bikini.

  19. Seracka says:

    Half of my regular gaming group are female…and we sometimes have another group (different day) that only the DM is male. You always know what time of the month it is by how ruthless we all are! LOL

  20. Alex says:

    I should point out, Shamus, that I do admire your ability to have a unique voice. I’ll let you know when I find mine again.

  21. Kristin says:

    Dear god, please tell me we’re not getting a gamer chick for the sake of having a girl on the cast…

    I’d rather have an all-male group than a token character. Look at LotR: Arwen really didn’t improve the story by being a girl in the story. Eowyn did.

    ::riots::

    ::remembers that Shamus is in charge::

    ::continues rioting anyway just because rioting is fun::

    I’m a gamer chick. If there are any gamers of either gender within 100 miles of Fort Stockton, point them out to me! Please!

  22. Barron says:

    I’m going to have to agree with Kristin. It seems like pretty much EVERY form of nerd entertainment throws in a token girl. I also have never seen one in the wild, and adding a single token chick feels like either pandering to the politically correct crowd or fan service. At least make her ugly.

  23. Mrs T says:

    One interesting thing about being a gamer chick is that, unlike nearly ever other public event in the world, you don’t have to wait in line for the ladies room at a gamer convention.

  24. Shawn says:

    http://feartheboot.com/comic/images/gallery/ivy.jpg

    While I wouldn’t say Ivy’s ugly, she’s certainly been cursed by poor vision and a rampaging goth phase.

  25. Namfoodle says:

    I do know some gamer girls. You should fear the female Call of Cthulu GM. I also know a full-on gamer married couple with a kid who is now old enough to follow them around at cons. When I married a non-gamer, the woman told my bride “mixed marriages never work”. She was joking, but my wife still gives her a hard time for that wise-crack, since both couples have been married 10+ years.

    My non-gamer wife tolerates my gaming habit, mostly because I play with friends I’ve known for many years. But she still teases me about it a bit. She won’t let me be the Dungeon Master unless I promiss to use real whips and chains. She used to watch some Vampire LARP types do their thing in college, so her view of gaming is a bit warped. Frankly, I don’t think I have a high enough Dex to work all that equipment in a LARP home dungeon ;) Too much like trying to walk and chew gum at the same time.

  26. Marty says:

    Hmm… I’m imagining a bit of sexual tension between Marcus and Ivy with the twist that Marcus will either be A) completely unaware of or B) too angsty to act upon it.

    Ping: I’ve noticed that now as an adult. The gal gamers seem to travel in small packs, possibly for self-protection. :)

    I’m actually now seriously involved with a gal gamer… Though you might call her a gal-gamer lite. She likes rolling the dice and the mathy parts more than the actual role-playing.

    I knew she was a good’un when she saw the Dragonlance board game on my book shelf and got excited (Neither of us knew the other was a gamer up to that point — we met at an unrelated social activity).

  27. Janwynn says:

    Hah. I’ve been a gamer chick for so long that AD&D version 2 still seems pretty newfangled to me. In the first game I was in there were several other females, but in my current group (which has been gaming more or less continually since 1983)I’ve spent long stretches of time as the only one. I did eventually fix this problem by having a daughter and waiting patiently until she was old enough to join the game. :)

    I didn’t start out as a gamer’s girlfriend, although I did end up marrying a DM. I’d just always loved fantasy and play-acting, and found AD&D a great combination of the two.

    Jan

  28. Ravs says:

    Forgive my ignoranace, but what is an MWF?

    Ravs

  29. Shamus says:

    MWF = Monday, Wednesday, Friday

    OR

    My Widdle Fwiend

    It’s a matter of context, really.

  30. Author says:

    Has anyone figured how to bookmark the comic yet? The “home” link points to the current strip, so bookmarking that bookmarks a specific strip. My current solution is to bookmark http://www.feartheboot.com/comic/archive.aspx, which is empty but has a link to the current strip. A similar option is to bookmark Feartheboot itself which at present has a link to Chainmail Bikini at the top. This smells like some kind of IQ test which I’m failing.

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