Nodwick is a comic strip created by Aaron Williams, based around the conventions of fantasy role-playing games, in particular Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). It debuted in Dragon magazine issue No. 246 (April 1998), first with short strips, and later receiving a second strip in Dungeon magazine, making fun of one of the adventures published in each issue. In Dragon No. 270 (April 2000), Nodwick was expanded to a two-page spread and replaced Knights of the Dinner Table as a full-page comic that served as a parody of D&D adventuring. It later became a single page strip, related to the issue's theme; later, the strip was removed from Dungeon, but still appeared in Dragon, now unrelated to the main theme of the issue, until Dragon ceased print publication late in 2007.
The titular character, Nodwick, is a henchman (as opposed to a hireling) in the employ of a typical D&D-style adventuring party. Nodwick is published in Dragon magazine and on Nodwick.com, along with a "sibling" comic, Full Frontal Nerdity. Nodwick and the adventurers he works with were given statistics for the 2nd edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) rules as part of the Giants in the Earth article in Dragon No. 270. A Nodwick card game is also available.
A bi-monthly comic book was published by the author, which ran for 36 issues before its cancellation. The strip has since become a back-up strip in Nodwick's more popular sister title PS238, although collections of the comic book are available as trade paperbacks.
A "reinvented" version of Nodwick and his adventuring group have also appeared in a City of Heroes based comic strip as the superhero team "Q-4orce."
Nodwick
Yeagar
Artax
Piffany
There's also an evil group who closely resembles the party, however, this group doesn't employ a henchman, except for their first appearance, when they tried to loot the Henchmen Cemetery.
The group was defeated by the party in two separate occasions before they turned to worshipping Baphuma'al, and their power has been raised by the evil god.
The party has also run into various characters from classic D&D adventures and novels, such as Raistlin Majere from Dragonlance, Elminster from the Forgotten Realms, and Count Strahd von Zarovich from Ravenloft, as well as the game's creators, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. They've also encountered characters who appear to be from other sources as well (a pageful of cameos including Xena and Harry Potter in one issue, Death from The Sandman appearing in another, Spider-Man being chased by an amorous Lolth in a comic strip in Dragon Magazine, etc.).
Other roleplaying comic strips: