What's the difference between an illithid and a plaintiff's IP lawyer? One is a Lawful Evil aberration with a penchant for thought control and the other is a squid-thingy.
Cast
Transcript
- Panel 1
The mind flayer continues to eat Roy's brains, "slurp slurp". Two men in suits enter from the left.
Roy: No, seriously, guys
Mr. Jones: Everybody freeze!
- Panel 2
Roy: Who the hell are you?
Phil Rodriguez: We're magical knights!
Mr. Jones: No, we're lawyers.
Belkar: Crap!
- Panel 3
Phil Rodriguez: The spoooooky wizard sent us!
Mr. Jones: Yeah, the spooky wizard who lives by the coast, if you get my drift.
- Panel 4
Phil Rodriguez: And we're on a quest to—
Mr. Jones: Phil we're not going to blend here. Just cut it out.
- Panel 5
Mr. Jones: My name is Mr. Jones and this is my colleague, Mr. Rodriguez. We're here to serve you with a Cease and Desist order.
Phil Rodriguez: A spoooooky Cease and Desist.
- Panel 6
Mr. Jones: That monster right there is Product Identity. It was Never released to the SRD, and your encounter with it constitutes a violation of my client's intellectual property.
- Panel 7
Roy: What, you mean the Mind Fla[cut off]
Roy's speech bubble is cut off by Mr. Jones' speech bubble.
Mr. Jones (interrupting): DON'T say it! It's trademarked.
- Panel 8
Lawyers leading the Mind Flayer off stage right
Mr. Jones: OK, buddy, you're coming with us.
Phil Rodriguez: To see the wizard!
Mr. Jones: Shut up. Phil.
- Panel 9
Mr. Jones pops back in
Mr. Jones: Oh, and Blondie: Try to keep your clothes on. Kids play this game.
- Panel 10
A Beholder appears stage right holding a book titled: "OOTS Script #33"
Beholder: So, uh... does this mean you're not going to need me?
Haley: We'll call you.
D&D Context
- The "spooky wizard who lives by the coast" is a reference to the Wizards of the Coast company, and the complex copyright issues concerning concepts names and beings among the RPG merchandise.
- Most D&D monsters are classic fantasy monsters, like dragons and chimeras, and therefore Wizards of the Coast would have a tough time claiming trademark on them. However, certain monsters like the Mind Flayer and Beholder (seen at the end of the comic) were created by D&D's writers and can be claimed by Wizards of the Coast.
- The SRD (System Reference Document) referred to by Mr. Jones is a set of role-playing mechanics released under an open game license by Wizards of the Coast. Many, but not all, of the D&D 3.5 mechanics were released in the SRD.
Trivia
- "To see the wizard" is a reference to a song from The Wizard of Oz
- This is the first appearance of the two lawyers.
- This is the final appearance of Squid Thingy the mind flayer.