FAQ
PLAYER’S GUIDE TO S.I.S.U.
Q. Who’s behind this?
A. The Player’s Guide is written by Tom Lynch and photographed by Ann Sundqvist. While the link is unofficial, the cast are drawn mostly from Lancaster University Role Playing Society.
Q. So what’s that actually mean?
A. In practice, it means that Tom puts the finished photographs together and dialogues them. The original storyline was dreamed up over some time and a lot of cups of tea. Ann does all the photography, because she’s much better at it than he is.
Q. How do you come up with an idea like this in the first place?
A. A webcomic about role playing games isn’t that unusual.
Q. But making it out of photos is a little rarer.
A. Not a question, but yeah, it is. (Barring the film-as-rpg comics, like DM of the Rings and Darths & Droids). However, we kind of suck at traditional art, and Ann’s photos are a lot of what triggered the project.
Q. Those don’t look like real weapons – what are they?
A. No, they don’t – they’re latex weapons built around a more solid core (hence the lack of stabbing motions). They get a lot of use in LARP communities in the UK.
Q. LARP?
A. Live Action Role Playing, where the downside of seeing a human pretending to be an orc is more than offset by the satisfaction of physically thwacking said orc. As with all roleplaying, there’s a lot more to it than combat; as with all roleplaying, the combat’s what people look at first.
Q. So why aren’t you using real weapons?
A. We chose instead to use real roleplayers.
Q. When does the comic update?
A. We run a weekly update schedule, with six pages per update. Updates take place on Wednesdays, at noon UK time.
Q. What game are you playing there?
A. S.I.S.U. It’s got a lot in common with the fantasy systems you and I probably played in our youth, but there are a few interesting differences.
Q. Such as?
A. Mostly whatever we need to be different for the purposes of the comic.
Q. OK. So what does S.I.S.U. stand for?
A. Excellence in gaming.
Q. Seriously.
A. Watch this space.