Erfworld
Erfworld was a story-driven fantasy/comedy webcomic and independently published graphic novel about a master strategy gamer summoned into and stuck inside a wargame running from December 2006 to its abrupt cancellation in October 2019.
Featuring then-current memes and pop culture references, the webcomic's publication schedule was intermittent at times as it grappled with artist exits and delivery issues. Erfworld was an early pioneer in crowdfunding, featuring the Toolbox, a Patreon-like funding mechanism that was created specifically for the comic and its site.
The first book, The Battle for Gobwin Knob was written by Rob Balder and illustrated by Jamie Noguchi. Erfworld was recognized as one of the top 10 graphic novels of 2007 by Time Magazine. The second book, Love is a Battlefield was illustrated by Xin Ye. Before his departure, David Hahn was the artist for much of the third book, Hamsterdance versus the Charlie Foxtrot, which will be completed by Xin Ye with colors and inks by Lauri Ahonen and Lillian Chen. A portion of the webcomic series has been animated, Ken-Burns-style, with voice-over work by Arthur Chu.
Erfworld follows a graphic novel format, with a new page added with each update. The setting is Erfworld, a fantasy world that adheres to the rules of a fictional turn-based strategy wargame. The narrative focuses on a complex story about warring factions within this world, but most installments also contain humor, puns, and side-gags about strategy-fantasy video games, role-playing games, and references to history or popular culture. The webcomic's distinctive visual style counters the theme of unending violence with a twee, kawaii artistic sensibility in which characters are drawn to look like dolls, or anime characters, or toys. Injuries draw no blood in Erfworld, and damage is cured overnight. That same charming aesthetic follows in its lisping use of letter changes in frequently used names, particularly replacing "r" with "w". The comic was originally started as an attempt to bring all of author Rob Balder's fantasy-related strips from his other comic, PartiallyClips, into the same universe and tell a story with them.
Erfworld's plot, setting, and characters are released under a Creative Commons Attribution, Noncommercial, ShareAlike license.
In May 2019, Balder announced that the comic would switch to 3D modeling: The stated goal of this change was to allow Rob himself to more easily create the images needed for the comic and hopefully return to a more rapid update schedule. In the same news post Rob explained that an undisclosed personal tragedy had occurred and, as a result, Erfworld would not be updating again "for the foreseeable future, possibly the rest of the year." This new event was dubbed Horrible Thing II. Nonetheless, updates did resume later in 2019.
On October 11, 2019 the website's front page was replaced with an announcement, signed by Rob and Linda Balder, which announced the permanent end to Erfworld as a webcomic as a result of a string of personal tragedies. The Erfworld updates previously published remain available in an . All former functionality of the site was restricted to users with "heartstrings" badges. A few days later, the original copy of Book 1 was taken down from the GiantITP website. The authors have not yet publicly revealed what spurred the decision to shut down the comic.
Recognition
Webcomics authors such as Howard Tayler of Schlock Mercenary and Mohammad "Hawk" Haque of Applegeeks have posted reviews and comments about Erfworld, and it has been cited on the webcomic site Fleen, by authors outside the webcomic field such as Time-Blog and Time author/journalist Lev Grossman in his articles "Webcomics are the New Blogs" and "Erfworld: It's a Boopin' Good Webcomic!" Grossman also listed Erfworld as one of the Top 10 Graphic Novels of 2007. The addition of Erfworld to GiantITP was noted in "First Watch," Dragon Magazine's monthly section on new developments in gaming and entertainment. Additionally, Erfworld was reviewed by Webcomic Overlook, receiving four stars out of five, and was profiled by NPR.Following on the success of the Order of the Stick Kickstarter project, in February 2012, author Rob Balder launched the Erfworld "Year of the Dwagon" Kickstarter, seeking funding for a motion comic project. The Kickstarter was extremely successful, resulting in funding of almost $85,000, making it the fourth-largest comics category Kickstarter project as of May 2012.
Plot synopsis
Erfworld's premise is that overlord Stanley the Plaid is conducting a military campaign to quest for the Arkentools - artifacts of ancient power left behind by the Titans who created the Erfworld. Stanley controls one of these tools, the Arkenhammer, but his quest for the others seems to have been costly and unsuccessful; the story opens as his final living warlord is killed in battle. Stanley's chief adviser, Wanda Firebaugh, convinces him to purchase a "Summon Perfect Warlord" spell as a final attempt to prevent defeat. The spell summons Earth gamer Parson Gotti into Erfworld, where he is to serve as chief warlord under Stanley.Meanwhile, Prince Ansom of Jetstone is leading a massive coalition toward Stanley's capital, Gobwin Knob, hoping to destroy Stanley's side forever. Ansom's coalition has many members, but most prominent in the story are Jetstone, the forces of Transylvito and Archons he has hired from Charlie, a powerful overlord and mercenary.
Early in the comic, one of Ansom's officers, Jillian Zamussels, flies on a scouting mission, but is captured by Stanley's forces and taken to Gobwin Knob. Wanda interrogates Jillian and, having gained magical or emotional control of her, releases her to become an unwitting double agent. During this time, Parson has been learning the battle mechanics of Erfworld and has planned an attack on Ansom's coalition. He sends a force of dwagons to make hit-and-run raids on the coalition's siege units, then draws Ansom into various traps as the coalition pursues the wounded dwagons. Jillian eventually locates the dwagons but is unwilling to attack because she is under Wanda's mind-control spell. Wanda's spell ultimately fails, however, and Jillian leads an attack that destroys the dwagons. Stanley is enraged about Parson and Wanda's unsuccessful plans and decides to take his last stand back into his own hands. He takes the surviving dwagons, then departs his capital to start his side afresh on the uninhabited site of another capital he sacked some years ago. Stanley's departure is a major turning point in the story, as these events leave Parson in sole command of the limited forces remaining at Gobwin Knob, which he must rally in a final stand against Ansom's much larger coalition.
Parson quickly puts some defensive plans into action. Parson contacts Charlie, and asks him to switch sides; Charlie declines but agrees to sit the fight out. Also, as Ansom's forces scout the mining tunnels under Gobwin Knob to find weak points, Parson orders Sizemore, Stanley's dirtamancer, to ignore all but the scouts closest to the city, but to strike those with overwhelming force. This ploy tricks Ansom into thinking he has found an unguarded route to the main city garrison.
Meanwhile, Ansom has dispatched a force of air units, led by Jillian, to hunt down Stanley. They eventually rendezvous with forces from Transylvito and head Stanley off at a narrow pass. When Stanley and his flight of dwagons arrive at this choke point, an intense fight ensues, leaving him with heavy losses. Stanley escapes under a veil cast by his foolamancer and heads back toward Gobwin knob.
While Stanley is still away, the final battle for Gobwin Knob begins in earnest. Ansom first sends a large force of Jetstone units into the tunnels beneath the city, which are all destroyed by hidden traps and forces. Wanda animates the fallen enemies into an army of uncroaked soldiers, which Parson uses to protect the outer walls of Gobwin Knob. Ansom fails to breach the well-protected outer walls until he re-enlists Charlie's help at a high cost. Once the wall is breached, Ansom pours his units into the city and does a Dance Dance Revolution-style dance led by Charlie's Archons, which gives his forces a massive bonus and leads them to victory.
Parson does not admit defeat though, and uses a perfidious false surrender offer as a ruse to assassinate Ansom. Parson's twoll lackey Bogroll tackles Ansom from the parapet and both fall to their deaths. Parson then collapses his own city, killing most coalition forces within the walls, but even this leaves too many enemy units alive. Parson retreats with the casters into the isolated portal room to plan the desperate final attack that will be the story's climax. Gobwin Knob is built atop an extinct volcano, so Parson orders the casters to make it erupt. The casters use magic to link the minds of Wanda the Croakamancer and Sizemore the Dirtmancer, so that with their combined skill they can uncroak the volcano.
Parson and the casters flee though a portal to escape the resulting eruption, and return to find a ruin. The coalition is erased and the terrain itself changed. Sizemore shows Parson that he has discovered a fortune in gemstones exposed by the volcano, while Wanda finds the Arkenpliers and attunes to them. With the power of the Arkenpliers, Wanda is able to permanently reanimate dead units to their original strength. She uses them to "decrypt" the late Prince Ansom and most of the other fallen coalition forces as powerful new allies.
The first book concludes as Parson asks Maggie, Gobwin Knob's thinkamancer, to what extent his actions are his own doing, and to what extent they were forced by magical loyalty. She tells Parson he is himself mostly responsible for the death and desolation around him. Parson appears to be both disgusted with the actions he had to take, and also empowered by learning that he has control over his own destiny. He walks away and speaks angrily to the "Erfworld". He ends his monologue by shouting "I won't be a gamepiece. I'm a Player. Fuck You!!", apparently breaking the Erfworld's "censorship", and throws his sword into the lava, where it melts.
In the aftermath of this battle, Gobwin Knob is rebuilt. Wanda and Ansom lead the decrypted army on a campaign to conquer the world and convert all to the belief that attunement to the Arkentools, not royal origin, is the true source of divinely ordained rule. Book Two begins as this army confronts the forces of Jetstone, after the off-screen destruction of their ally Unaroyal. The decrypted Ansom attempts to persuade his still-living brothers to accept Toolism. They refuse, and a battle breaks out in which Ansom's brother Ossomer is captured. Ansom then makes another attempt to persuade him, only to watch Wanda order Ossomer cut down so she can decrypt him. The army then marches on Jetstone's capital city with intent to take the city, which according to the rules of Erfworld ends the side and causes the remaining cities to become "neutral." Wanda and Parson agree that they almost certainly have the forces to win, but then Charlie uses the Arkendish to intervene in the battle by ending Stanley's turn.
Characters
Parson Gotti
Also known as Lord Hamster, Parson serves as Chief Warlord or warlord of the side Gobwin Knob throughout the story, and as its protagonist, whisked away from Earth to Erfworld at the beginning of the first book. His name is an anagram of "Protagonist".Prior to the story, Parson is depicted as having been the author of the webcomic . He spent months at a time designing strategy games for his own amusement as an escape from an unsatisfying job and life.
Parson questions whether Erfworld is real or just a coma dream of his, if his actions truly are his own and the ethics of his situation. Still, he chooses to tentatively accept the reality of the situation and the role he has been given. Parson is large by Erfworld standards, standing roughly twice as tall as Wanda Firebaugh. He does not conform to all the rules of the universe. Janis has said that he is a Hippiemancer; whether this is true or not is unknown.
Stanley the Tool
Overlord of the side "Gobwin Knob" and of the nearly lost Plaid tribe. Stanley serves as the superior of the protagonist throughout the story so far, with whom he is initially at odds.Originally known as Stanley the Plaid, he started off as a piker unit under King Saline IV and eventually rose to the position of warlord. During his service, he came to possess the Arkenhammer, a mysterious tool of divine origin, setting himself apart as a warlord, and later, ruler. King Saline IV later paid to have Stanley promoted to Heir Designate. Thus, when King Saline IV was killed in an attack while Stanley was away, Stanley and his side were not dissolved and retook the city.
At the time of the story, Lord Stanley is involved in an ongoing war in an effort to find the other Arkentools, believing it is the will of the Titans he control them. At the beginning of the first book, this war has reduced his realm from eleven cities to only Gobwin Knob itself. He had Wanda summon "the perfect warlord" in an attempt to win the battle for Gobwin Knob, which yielded Parson Gotti. In Stanley's first meeting with Parson, Parson convinced him that "tool" was a term of honor. Drawing a connection between this title and his search for the Arkentools, Stanley declared that he should henceforth be addressed as "Tool". Stanley objects strongly to being called a "bad guy," and considers himself to be divinely favored by the Titans. Stanley's underlings often suffer from his unchecked ego and limited patience, as well as his limited intelligence. His name is a play on Stanley Tools.
Wanda Firebaugh
Chief Croakamancer serving Lord Stanley, and a member of the lost Croatan tribe. Wanda is the second named character to appear in the first book. Her name is a play on "wand of fireball."She is a patient and skilled manager, though she is ruthless in battle and not above using seduction as a means of manipulating others. She is skilled at many types of magic, but has stated that only Croakamancy holds any interest for her. She has demonstrated some ability with Hat Magic, Dollamancy, and Thinkamancy. By the end of book one, she controls the Arkenpliers, an Arkentool that allows her to perform feats of croakamancy that are normally impossible, such as raising corpses to create lifelike intelligent "decrypted" units.
Prince Ansom
During the first book, Prince Ansom serves as Chief Warlord to King Slately of the Jetstone and the leader of the Royal Crown Coalition fighting against Stanley, and the primary antagonist. His name is a play on "handsome", while his initial outfit resembled the costume worn by Evel Knievel.He was a skilled leader, warrior, and tactician but lacked modesty and was prone to reckless behavior when his pride was at stake. His crest was a radish. He carried the Arkenpliers, though he was not attuned to them, and thus could not use their full abilities. He had a history of personally riding to Jillian's rescue, and Wanda believes he was in love with her. While he apparently looked down on those not of royal or noble houses—Vinny correctly guessed that he despised Stanley not so much for his attacks on other peoples as for the fact he came to rule by regicide—he did, according to Jillian, honestly believe in the concept of noblesse oblige, and as a result often put himself in unnecessary danger to protect his troops.
He was croaked by Bogroll and decrypted by Wanda at the end of the first book, and serves Gobwin Knob as Chief Warlord at the start of the second, prior to his capture.
Jillian Zamussels
A female barbarian and warlord, fighting for the army of Prince Ansom. She has been known to engage in combat even when directed to avoid it. She has an unrealistically oversized sword. Her personal relationship with Prince Ansom is initially unclear but evolves into a romance; she declined Ansom's invitation to join him in his tent, but later that night approached it, stopped, and walked away. Later, she professes her love for Ansom after breaking Wanda's spell, and it is implied that they sleep together when she spends a night on his flying carpet. She chats casually with Wanda after being tortured and interrogated by her, but later suddenly breaks down and collapses. It is revealed that Wanda is able to influence her feelings and thoughts. She has stated that she was originally the heir of the kingdom of Faq, an isolated and peaceful Utopian kingdom visually modeled after Japanese feudal society, and the daughter of King Banhammer, a philosopher-king who disliked his heir for her violent and aggressive ways. Her name is an approximation of "jillions of muscles." During the intermission between books 1 and 2, she restores Faq with herself as queen, with assistance from Transylvito.Sizemore Rockwell
A Dirtamancer in the army of Gobwin Knob and one of the few remaining members of the Plaid Tribe. In the beginning of the first book, he helped Parson learn how magic works in Erfworld.He is very curious and loves to study all types of magic, but is unskilled in any beyond his specialty, and knows little about military matters. When forced into combat as the battle reaches Gobwin Knob itself, he is very regretful about taking lives, but reluctantly accepts it as his duty to do so.
Bogroll
A one-eyed twoll who served as a guardsman in Gobwin Knob and lackey to Parson. He was loyal and typically good-natured, although a frequent target of the other guardsmen's pranks. Bogroll was croaked by Coalition forces, having sacrificed himself in a kamikaze attack on Ansom, and cannot be decrypted due to the grievous harm inflicted on his body. Bogroll was a character in the PartiallyClips strip, and is the only crossover between PartiallyClips and Erfworld. His name is a British English colloquialism for toilet paper.Vinny Doombats
A count of the Transylvito tribe who fights for the Royal Crown Coalition. Like other Transylvitans, Vinny has the appearance of a vampire, though sunlight apparently does not harm him. Vinny seems to be a close advisor and friend of Prince Ansom, to whom he has few qualms about speaking frankly. He has confronted Ansom with his opinion that Stanley's commoner origins, not his military aggressions against several coalition members, are at the root of Ansom's antipathy toward Stanley, while assuring Ansom that this issue would not affect his personal loyalty. As his name implies, he controls the coalition's bat scouting units. His name is a reference to Vinny Boombatz, a fictional character created by stand-up comedian Rodney Dangerfield.Maggie
A Thinkamancer in the employ of Gobwin Knob. She is very skilled in her specialty and amoral in its application. She can send thinkagrams and link multiple casters together to combine their powers. She controlled a link with the Foolamancer Jack Snipe and the Lookamancer Misty, then later a link with the Croakamancer Wanda and the Dirtmancer Sizemore. When she broke the first link, she protected herself from the backlash at the expense of the other two. Parson planned to punish her by explicitly ordering her to break the second link and protect Wanda and Sizemore. She would probably have died from the backlash while doing so, but Parson decided against it at the last moment. She bears a passing physical resemblance to Margaret Thatcher.Charlie
The Overlord of Charlescomm. Charlie has consistently remained offscreen, interacting with other characters via remote communication. The character of Charlie, his archons, and his penchant for mystery are likely drawn from the titular character of the 1970s television series Charlie's Angels. However, his Eyebook handle, CharlsNChrg, refers to the 80s TV show, Charles in Charge.Charlie was first contracted by Prince Ansom during the first book to supply a group of Archons to reinforce the expedition sent to rescue Jillian Zamussels. Later, after Ansom broke off the alliance in the expectation that Charlie would make a new alliance with Transylvito, Charlie instead took advantage of his release from his contract to begin dealing with Parson. Charlie shows no real commitment to either side, but does value his reputation as a mercenary who "stays bought".