490 – The Sandman Cometh

UPDATE – 6/19/14: Time has gotten away from me, folks, so even though I really really wanted to put up one more strip before I go on hiatus, I just don’t have the time, what with packing for the move and everything. I apologize for that. I will see you all on July 1st. Take […]

491 – Sore Thumb

Annnnnd the hiatus is over! Man, this move took FOREVER. You never realize just how much junk you have until you have to pack it all up and move it. Especially when you have twins, which means you have duplicates of darn near everything! Ugh. Anyway, thanks for your patience, folks. _ Strangely, paladins tend […]

492 – Deep Pockets

And now you know where the crew keeps all their gear… and the drawbacks of said. Jaine’s belt pouches are modified Bags of Holding with arcane reinforcement so that sharp objects (like Dhur’s axe or Jaine’s little-used rapier) won’t tear the bag and dump everything into the Astral Plane. Yes, I thought this through. Yes, […]

493 – Gerta Fenquick

I got the D&D Starter Set in the mail last Thursday. Here are my brief impressions: When they say “starter set,” do they mean it. Essentially, the rules are a booklet with the standard explanations of what a roleplaying game is, a rundown on the 6 statistics that make up a character, a combat section, […]

494 – A bunch of prime berks

Warning: the following contains a teensy bit of soul-baring. If that’s not your cup of tea, no problem and I’ll see you next week. For the rest of you, here we go… 1… 2… 3… Okay, full-on honesty time here, folks. As I’m sure some of you have noticed, I have been fighting creative burn-out […]

497 – Better Get Rey-Rey

And now, in a continuing service, an entry from the Encyclopedia Ardrisia. SKULLBALL On the Lower Planes, life is a grueling existence and usually very short. Unrelentingly harsh weather conditions, demonic adversaries and a distinct lack of decent take-out food are among the many things that can make a soul give in to despair. However, […]

498 – Vorp Redux

Yes, my go-to sound effect for trans-dimensional travel is VORP. ____ My copy of the new Player’s Handbook arrived the other day and I have to say, overall, it looks SOOOOOOO much easier to play than 4th Edition. The system itself seems solid and easy to play out of the box, which could not be […]

500 – Scrybl

And now, a special guest blog post from Kathy, Rob’s wife. As you may have noticed, this is Rob’s 500th strip.  As it happens, it’s also the 5-year anniversary of Meatshield.  Both are pretty significant accomplishments!  Rob has worked hard to make Meatshield what it is today.  He has developed likeable characters, engaging storylines, and […]

506 – Glory Days

Starting in roughly a week from now is NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. For those of you that have never heard of it before, National Novel Writing Month occurs during the month of November and the goal of it is to produce a 50,000 word novel by the end of the month. Mind you, nobody […]

509 – May I be Excused?

For that last panel, I had this scene from an otherwise forgettable Disney movie bouncing in my head. In The Emperor’s New Groove, a bunch of the villain’s thugs get alchemically transformed into animals. One turns into a cow and says, “Umm, excuse me, I’m a cow, can I go home?” Don’t know why that […]

511 – The Eye of Justice

For those of you in the U.S. who aren’t familiar with it, the cyclops prosecutor is wearing a barrister’s wig, common in the UK. Why did I put him in a barrister’s wig? I felt like it. 🙂 Anyway, a brief little bit about true names: in many cultures, there is the name that your […]

521 – Family Time, Orc Style

I love onomatopoeia. Hey, Glenn over at ComicMix.com has started up the Mix March Madness Webcomics Tournament and MeatShield is in it! There are over 300 webcomics particpating in this; if MeatShield manages to get into the Top 128, we could win this thing. Sure, it’d be like my alma mater, Cal-State Northridge defeating Michigan […]

524 – Was it her breath?

“But Rob,” I hear you think, “I’ve run paladins before that have gone to the Outer Planes and they didn’t attract any more attention than the attention they brought upon themselves. What gives?” Patience, Grasshopper. There is a reason 🙂 In other news, this is the first strip to be drawn, inked and colored 100% […]

527 – Name Calling

In the D&D games I used to play in back in high school, there was a standing rule that if you called a god’s name often enough on the Outer Planes, they could hear it and might show up to both a) tell you to shut up, and b) unleash their holy wrath upon you. […]

530 – Grundahr Ghall

And now, in a continuing service, an entry from the Encyclopedia Ardrisia… Grundahr Ghall At the Dawn of Time, when the various gods gathered together at the Grand Conference to determine who was going to do what in the world, one of their number distinguished himself not by his power or wisdom, but by his […]

531 – Rock Solid Butt

Yes, Dhoh just figured out that he’s dead. They’re half-orcs – Rhodes Scholars they ain’t. I just realized something: Dhur’s not really a half-orc. His dad is, and Dhur certainly self-identifies as one, but the other orcs we’ve seen (so far) have had skin tones ranging from green to taupe. Dhoh’s skin is just as […]

534 – Voerhal

I’m back. This past month has been the hardest I’ve ever gone through and I couldn’t have made it through without the support of my family, friends and my readers. From prayers and/or positive thoughts to the actual monetary donations to help pay for my father’s service, I am truly humbled by the love and […]

535 – Failed Spot Check

I’ve often seen Dhur as the kind of character made by someone who’s new to gaming and doesn’t understand how to allocate skills. DM: Are you absolutely sure you want to devote your last three skill points to Craft (needlepoint)? Player: I love needlepoint, yes! DM: Even though you’re going to be playing a Ranger […]

538 – Philo’s back!

This week’s blog post is a bit rambling; you have been warned. • I was re-reading “Of Dice and Men” by David Ewalt, which, if you haven’t read it, go and do so – it is a very accessible & enjoyable history of D&D. In the first chapter, he refers to the fact that D&D, […]

539 – Tuckus? Is that Elvish?

One quick bit of business: I recently decided that I need to alter one of the reward tiers for my Patreon campaign. Previously, if you contributed at the $5 level, you would gain access to the latest strip one day early. I decided that that is not sufficient. From now on, if you are contributing […]

545 – Sub-Zero Throwdown!

For Dhur, being drunk while fighting might actually be an asset? I’ve been trying to veer away from really revealing blog posts lately, as I think they might put some people off, especially newer readers. However, something happened recently that I feel the need to talk about. This isn’t a set-up for a joke. You […]

546 – Ice Zombies – Plural!

Exposition, thy name is Khalinor. I have a large gaming group. Most games I’ve been in have been large groups; my very first group consisted of 8 players (we named our PCs’ adventuring company “The Octagon.”) My current situation has me wrangling 7 players, which presents unique challenges. For anyone out there dealing with a […]

548 – Jaine’s Getting Serious

Fireball: The Great Equalizer. 🙂 Commissions are now open! If you would like a custom illustration by yours truly, now is the time to get your order in! Here’s how it’ll work: All commissions must be requested & paid for by 11/20/15, giving me enough time for production & shipping prior to the December holidays. […]

550 – It’s in the Cloud

Man, I hope her contract is up or her service provider is gonna be pissed. Wow! I wasn’t expecting the number of commission requests I got, but thank you! This will make this Christmas very nice indeed. 🙂 If you haven’t gotten your commission request in yet, drop me an email at rob(at)meatshield(dot)net and get […]

551 – Gelidek

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! As most longtime readers know, this has been a very rough year for me. The good news is that I am coming out the other end of it and that is due in no small part to the love and support of all of you, especially in the wake of my father’s […]

556 – Was that your stomach?

Howdy from North Texas! Hope you all had a great Christmas, if that’s your thing. I had a great holiday and received, among other things, a World of Warcraft DING button (which sounds like a toilet flushing, to be honest), a collection of the art of Tony diTerlizzi called Realms, and (wait for it)… Heward’s […]

557 – Special Delivery!

The holidays have come and gone and life is getting back to normal, or as normal as my life ever gets, at any rate.  We’re in the grips of 2016 now and as longtime readers know, 2015 really put me through the wringer. I’m glad to see its backside. Like everyone else I know, I’ve […]

558 – What’s on the menu?

You know how sometimes you might make a character in a RPG with a few skill points in an obscure skill, like Craft (Weaving) or Conversational Russian, just to see if the GM will incorporate that into the game somehow? You’re about to see that play out in the next strip. 😊 Something I’m trying […]

559 – Abelskiver

What the heck is Abelskiver? I invite you to click this link and peruse the Encyclopedia Ardrisia entry on the W’Shaa Monastery… That’s right folks, you aren’t hallucinating! This is a SECOND strip in one week! Woo-hoo! One of my goals this year is to get my publishing schedule back to twice a week and […]

565 – Double-Ick!

Not to be confused with The Doubleclicks, who are an awesome band and force of nature. 🙂 I imagine being a ghost bound to a plaque with two other guys, one a relative and the other a bore, might put a crimp in anyone’s love life. See you all on Tuesday! ~Rob

567 – Lowered Expectations

This all goes to show that investing points in a Craft skill (like, say, Craft: Cooking) can come in handy, folks. 🙂 As promised, here is my review of the new rules for the Mystic and Psionics in 5th edition D&D: Wizards of the Coast uses the Unearthed Arcana articles on their website to try […]

573 – A Kiss Goodbye

I guess this is what happens when you make an ice sculpture of someone (and then confess a longstanding crush). Believe it or not, it’s rather hard to draw people kissing, especially since it’s something I’d never drawn before. Y’see, it’s like there are two Robs in my head: Past Rob and Future Rob. Past […]

577 – Ice Ice Baby

Sorry about that subject heading, couldn’t resist. 🙂 I probably should have warned you all last week, but this week (the week of April 5th) is Spring Break for my girls, which means every time I’ve tried to be productive in some way, I’ve been interrupted by 11-year-olds wailing “Dad, we’re BORED!” Thus, this week […]

581 – Lisette

Forget Master Teo? How could you, when all ya gotta do is click here! 🙂 Running a bit behind this past week, hoping to get caught up soon. Thanks for your patience, folks.:) Take care, ~Rob

582 – Heroine Worship

To give you an idea how this is affecting Lisette, consider this: to monks of the W’Shaa, meeting the Three Lost Masters is a huge religious experience. Kind of like Elijah walking in the door to attend your Seder, or Elvis showing up at your barbeque. 🙂 Take care, ~Rob

583 – Passing the Divine Buck

And now, in a continuing service, an excerpt from the Encyclopedia Ardrisia… SHONDELLA Long after the Grand Conference, when the gods and goddesses of Ardris collaborated on the creation of the world, a new goddess simply appeared one day. There are many theories as to how Shondella arrived in Ardris, including but not limited to: […]

584 – Check yourself, Dhur

Look at it this way: if all your people were known for was overeating, running around barefoot, and hanging around with dodgy wizards, you’d be a tad defensive too. I’m a day late with this, but May 5th was and is a very important holiday in the history of the United States. I’m of course […]

586 – Vorp! Again!

Let’s hope Ch’p’s arm doesn’t get chopped off when the portal closes… or when Lisette gets a hold of a butcher’s knife. 🙂 You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to clean Ch’p up, but the storyline never seemed to give me a chance to work it in until now. His Naruto look-a-like […]

590 – Vague Rewards ‘R’ Us!

After all the crap that’s been thrown at our little band o’ heroes, I thought some rewards were in order. Oh, and yes, Dhur was functionally illiterate (once he has something read to him, he’ll remember it, but otherwise…) He will probably use this new gift to find out just how much he’s been overcharged […]