There is no indication at all that Tarquin is particularly dependent on the weapon he pulled out of storage. Forikroder is just insisting on it for some reason.
Printable View
Nice strip! It's too bad there aren't any natives or some other type of mook guards running around the temple. Cause it would be really funny to see:
Guards angrily charging at Tarquin and company. :smallfurious:
Tarquin smirks and casually reaches for his magical doodad of annihilation. :smallamused:
Utter shock washes over Tarquin's face as he realizes he's lost it, then turns tail and runs! :smalleek:
Riding his dragon, with a panther co-pilot, off over a the woods, with a half-troll female and an elven male... Sheesh, everyone should know that.
Though that brings up some interesting bits of ideas...
Richard vs Xykon?
Elan vs Cale? (Nale vs Cale would be more poetic, but paragons of innocent goodness goes to Elan and Cale)
Sooba vs Mr. Scruffy?
Lord Hctib Elttil vs Qarr?
Tim vs Thog?
Bunny vs Banjo?
Pella vs Durkon?
Krunch vs Roy?
Captain Tah'vraay vs Julio Scoundrél?
Ray'd vs O-Chul?
Maikos and the Villagers vs the Wights, Zombies, and Mummies?
Chief Engineer Toyk vs Lord Shojo?
Dnah vs... okay, I can't think of anyone in OotS for a giant walking hand to fight
Opinions? other match ups?
The last obvious Star Wars references ended quite a while ago, so it isn't implausible for there to be an upcoming Indiana Jones reference. Add in the factor that this temple may still be heavily trapped in areas, and we could have a giant rolling boulder of doom coming our way soon. :smallbiggrin:
Ironically, the only evidence we have to go on is that Tarquin's backup weapon ISN'T an axe, which argues directly against Fonkroder's claim that Tarquin's feat tree centers around his axe.
While, sure, Tarquin may prefer axes, the fact that he carries other weapons rather than dozens of spare axes indicates that his build ISN'T axe dependant.
Richard would win by sake of him being able to sing. :smallamused:
Banjo can smite. Bunny just has blue cult people. Shojo has acid trips, and whathis-name general-son-badass guy (I haven't read LFG in a while, all right? :smallsigh:) or his dad vs. Tarquin would be fun though. Maybe.:smalltongue:
Looking For Group is the phrase used in World of Warcraft (and probably other MMOs) by someone searching for a group of players to do a dungeon run. It's also the name of an in-game chat channel used for the same purpose. And, as others have pointed out, it also served as inspiration for the title of the webcomic of the same name.
I might agree with Tarquin in questioning Roy's decision to hold Elan out of the conflict. IIRC Elan's more lightly armored than Roy and therefore can move faster. In general, this would've been helpful in rushing help to Durkon in the middle of the enemy party, and as things worked out, Elan may well have been able to poke at Z and disrupt the teleport.
D&D Question: Does Elan get XP for that battle? Is he mad because he didn't participate enough to get XP? I'd be mad too if that was the rule. He could have at least strummed his lute a couple times to buff Haley's archery a bit.
I am, definitely. I hear they are quite often used when a problem comes along. :)
More seriously, I am already aware of a few of the tricks which can be pulled off with a whip, but at least one of them tends to require spellcasting. I would love to see what Tarquin can do without any (known) spellcasting ability.
Yep, I don't know where he learned his French but I'd be asking for a refund.
What's ironic here is that the English word texture is one of these words that have been directly cribbed from French after the 1066 conquest. Texture in English is texture because, and only because, texture in French is texture.
[/off-topic]
That ointment label was pure gold. Nice work!!! :)
Indeed, he has an obvious reason to be using a greataxe that has nothing to do with him ever having taken a weapon-specific feat in his life: It's Thog's favored weapon, and he's posing as Thog.
Roy has a ton of feats devoted to a single weapon and he spent a period of the story completely weaponless because that weapon got broken. Tarquin has many backup weapons of different types, which suggests that he doesn't favor any particular weapon type, much less a single weapon.
Except for the things he points out in this strip: he didn't pack a backup axe, Zz'd'tri's deafness prevented him from teleporting to his chambers instead of the middle of the desert, and he can't heal Kilkil with what he brought. That's not really "just the right tools to solve everything," is it? What he had was a healing item and a lesser backup weapon, which seems like pretty standard kit.
Moreover, he's expecting Malack to head back to the "room with the corpses", which Malack didn't show any sign of doing, last time we saw him. He was trying to find a way around the steel door, which makes it likely that he's going to have to wander deeper into the pyramid before he learns that the rest of his team has fled (if he ever does). It's possible that Tarquin will find Malack waiting for him by the entrance, but that's not what Malack said he was going to do.
Storywise, I predict that Tarquin's small errors will have major repercussions. But we'll have to wait and see.
Pretty much this; now that we've seen the whip, that's what, like, four different weapons he's used in combat on-screen?
1: Sword and shield, when fighting Nale for the throne of the Empire of Blood
2: Dagger, when fighting Elan during the parade (and later wielding it against Nale briefly)
3: Greataxe, while posing as Thog during the battle in the pyramid
4: Whip, backup weapon for the greataxe
Who knows how many other weapons he's used over the years.
Tarquin's build, if it's optimized for any weapon, is probably for axes. He mentioned in http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0822.html that he was going to get his axe out of storage in panel 5. I do like the defensive combat thing, though -- it seems like he is very good at not taking damage. You can tell best in http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0851.html -- he seems to be focusing on disarming and haranguing his opponents rather than doing them any actual harm. This, however, could just be him holding back. It'll be harder to see until he's put into a situation that is actually dangerous to him.
Regarding the Zz'dtri smiling, it seems perfectly plausible to me. Imagine you're an outcast, living in a society that instinctively fears you and your kind. All of a sudden, you meet a person who not only knows your customs, and your sign language (is this even a thing it seems awfully goofy but w/e), but elects to triage you first instead of his own flesh and blood? That seems like it oughta endear him to the person in question awfully quick, no matter what Tarquin's actual intentions are.
I don't see any particular evidence that Tarquin's reliant on one specific weapon, but logic suggests that he is weakened by losing his axe, simply because a whip is less capable of doing serious damage than an axe, and an axe can be used to block other people's weapons while a whip cannot.
It's not a disaster for him, but it's a detriment.
Well, in any case, would it be fair to call Elan John Williams?:smallbiggrin:
It make senses that a person who has studied "how to defend against many obscure combat techniques" would also be somewhat proficient with a wide range of weapons. Spending a lot of time specializing in any one thing would seem to work against his desired versatility.
Guess who happens to have that very spell..... Could make for an interesting encounter, if they happen to meet again.
Tarquin with Waraxe (First Appearance of Tarquin albeit unnamed and helmeted, but still identified as their father)
Tarquin fights unarmed (2nd Appearance of Tarquin, still unnamed, but identified by rank)
Tarquin later in strips continued from 2nd Appearance, including both usage of the Wareaxe and the Sword and Shield combination
Tarquin many appearances later armed with stiletto/dagger and sharp wit
Tarquin with Throwing Dagger vs Nale
Tarquin with an Axe to grind with Roy
Tarquin deciding that when a problem comes along that you must whip it
There's evidence to the contrary - Tarquin has been portrayed with a sword and shield before, he fought Elan off with a dagger, it's implying that he can use a whip now, etc. That said, the whip is very different from the rest of these, and may well be a tool more than a real weapon.
If Tarquin's PRIMARY weapon build was the axe, why would it be IN STORAGE? This, to me, indicates he rarely uses the axe - but in formulating a plan to impersonate Thog and possibly take on Roy, he knew he would need to go into storage for the "really good" axe has been hanging on to.
My speculation is that Tarquin really is built for defensive fighting - it's how he's stayed alive all this time. The whip is a good defensive weapon - and that is why he has the whip with him - it is what he KNOWS he can use, if he has to, should he not be able to use the axe.
You know what? I could pile on with the host of people disagreeing with the one guy who said Tarq's offensive ability is critically impaired without his axe, but that would be boring.
We haven't seen Tarquin inflict serious damage with anything aside from his big freaking axe. With his dagger he just parried and disarmed, with his shield and sword we don't see him actually hitting anyone. It is possible that his build is centred around using a big freaking axe to inflict damage (notice how when he decided that he was rejoining the epic campaign fray, his first thought was to get his big freaking axe out of storage), but as a fairly inactive general, he finds it more practical to carry daggers, whips and other weapons he can utilise defensively while his big freaking army swarms in and finishes the job.
When was Tarq using his axe before inferring that his axe was in storage? #822
Oh great, kilkil is back with team evil now. The order of the stick can't even tie their shoes without it coming back around to bite them in thethe behind can they?
I'm guessing you mean the Linear Guild, and not Team Evil.
If that's the case... Kilkil never left it, he was only (momentarily) impaired.
However... I don't see where all the crying is coming from. Are you really that worried about underpowered cannon-fodder Kilkil? :smallconfused:
The drow sign language was a cool feature of the drow in earlier editions and in particular in RA Salvatore's novels.
It allowed quite precise, soundless, sight-dependent communication, and when coupled with the previous infravision that drow and other Underdark creatures possessed, it allowed drow ambushers to coordinate their attacks while operating in total darkness. Because their hands gave off heat - so the hand movements used in the sign-making could be seen.
I think this was a really cool concept, contributing to the terrifying powers of the malevolent drow. But I can see that it was a difficult game mechanic, which is why it's been focused less on in later editions (is it still in at all?) and why infravision was replaced by the more bland darkvision property.
I wonder if this really stems from making drow playable characters? If they had remained NPC monsters, perhaps the issues with the sign language and even the infravision wouldn't have been that disruptive to game mechanics? Anyway, I feel that the need for balance that comes from drow becoming PCs, has kind of ruined some of that horrible, nightmarish, unpredictable, overwhelming evilness that the drow signified before.
My first encounter with the drow was actually in Baldur's Gate II (except from the first appearance of Drizzt in BG1), which I think created a very strong feeling of boundless evil and danger. And I also remember well the first reaction of the surface dwellers when Drizzt first came to the surface world, in Salvatore's novels. The alien-ness and horror - that's what I think drow should represent in the D&D game - and I think having them as PCs goes contrary to that.
Long story short: a whip does less damage than an axe. The axe was Tarquin's first weapon of choice, while the whip... the third one.
This doesn't mean that Tarquin isn't no more dangerous, but certainly his approach will be different.
But he's also regretting for not having packed a spare axe. So, his backup weapon would have been another axe.
The emergency pouch is for unusual circumstances, and probably wasn't "upgraded" for the mission.
...but sure as hell, Tarquin knows some nasty whip-trick.
I always thought that his primary weapon was an axe, and he was skilled in a variety of back-up weapons.
Zzd'ti's smiley face just makes me want to smile too. He looks so happy!
Dictionaries happen to disagree with you.
Being a native speaker doesn't mean you know the entire vocabulary of a language.
You're partially right on this one,
But being a native allows you though to know whether a word is still in use or not. And as a fairly educated 39 yo french person, I can assure you I've never ever heard or read "tissure" in my life. And I can also assure you that french for texture is texture.
I also looked up that "tissure" word earlier today and I would probably say it's a very specific term used in very particular conditions/ or only used in a few rare jobs.
that's because you're using the wrong dictionary. Looking at an English to French dictionary will tell you that The French word for Texture is Texture
I'd wager that being an epic level warrior Tarquin will have a truckload of Feats (Spring Attack, Power Attack, Improved Grapple, Trip/ Sunder/ Disarm, Combat Reflexes) that will allow him some fancy tricks with a whip's reach and Rich's imagination :)
I'm a little rusty on D&D v3.5, so forgive me if I make a mistake here, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him make a lot of Attacks of Opportunity on V or D (more so since V doesn't seem to have that great a Concentration skill and will possibly fizzle should the two eventually meet), and possibly Halley while she's sniping the LG.
On the other hand, I just checked on the D20srd website, and AoO with whips is a big no no (you don't seem to threaten the area), so off goes my theory !
Back to Indiana Jones references then I suppose or the whip he'll be using stores a few nasty surprises
To each his own I guess, but after reading 100ish pages I got fed up with it. I couldn't draw even if my life depended on it, but I'm not trying to make a living out of it, but the guy(s) who draw LFG would really need to learn what perspectives mean...
It's just yet another badly drawn copy of several GOOD webcomics (OOTS, /gu..., Noddwick), set in a very WoW flavoured universe (you know: gaudy colours, huge weapons & armours, classes), some D&D (beholder), Everquest(LFG, hail jokes), Star Wars, a Song of Ice & Fire among others "very subtle, funny" references, filled with the most ridiculous heroic fantasy/ RPGs clichés you could find.
Move along, this is not the webcomics we're looking for.
I guess this comic guarantees that T is fighting Xykon at some point. If there's one thing I know it's that guys with whips are the natural enemy of the undead.
Elan is one of the twins separated at birth, whose father is the masked and armored warlord of the empress.
Adding this one other piece of data (last panel), I conclude that he is Leia.
Mmmmm, that doesn't mean it was his #1 weapon. It just meant that he needed to impersonate Thog, whose primary weapon is an axe. "My axe" can refer to any possession, like "my sword", "my whip", or "my bec-de-corbin". It doesn't necessarily mean that this particular axe is Tarquin's favored weapon.
It's too bad that Tarquin doesn't realize that Malack is trapped behind an iron door and therefore doesn't realize what's going on...:smallfrown:
I like the idea of the sign language. Regarding Infravision, that was just a cheesy pseudo-scientific explanation that created more questions than it answered. Things underground are all extremely close to the exact same temperature. Infravision does not explain why those Drow just do not fall into open pits all the time.
The drive to standardize Drow was well underway in the timeframe in 1e, and became ever greater over time. IMNSHO the underlying problem was the economic drive to pump out material for a popular concept, that resulted in a growing volume of depressingly unoriginal material. Playing Drow as PCs was just the end result of Drow that were already merely elves with an evil paintjob and a few magic tricks.
The original material for Drow in G3/D1-3/Q1 suggests that Drow worship many Demonlords -- it only so happens that the plot the PCs care about primarily concerns Lolth. In Deities & Demigods we see Correllian and Lolth given primacy over all elvish existence, which is contrary to the spirit of Gygax's original notes. Once we hit 2e, it all goes rapidly down hill...
Great Comic! Can't Wait For The Next One! Haha, And Now We Know Where Elan Was!!
Huh... Does anyone else feel like this comic just gave us a bit of a hint that Vaarsuvius(spelling?) is most likely a man? Or is it just me? I realize it isn't foolproof evidence, I will admit, but it does seem to indicate that either the father is incompetent in gender discrimination, or Vaarsuvius(spelling?) is breaking the usual gender-based policies that seem to be followed by characters in this comic, or Vaarsuvius is a male. Does anyone else know what I mean here?
First, you're spelling Vaarsuvius correctly.
Second, Tarquin is referring to the Linear Guild as "this evil adventuring party", and Vaarsuvius - despite some, including me, insisting before the Giant inscribed "Vaarsuvius is True Neutral" on tablets of sapphire alongside "Belkar is Chaotic Evil," "Durkon is Lawful Good," and "Tarquin is Lawful Evil" - that Vaarsuvius was some variety of evil, is not with the Linear Guild. By no stretch of the imagination is Tarquin referring to Vaarsuvius at any point in this strip.
Third, even if Tarquin was referring to Vaarsuvius, it wouldn't make a difference. Characters have applied gendered pronouns to Vaarsuvius before, reflecting nothing more than their own perceptions and biases, rather than the truth of the situation, whatever it might be. Tarquin might sometimes seem omniscient and omnipotent, but really, he isn't, and his opinion on this subject especially, which he has studied with much less care than, say, the art of mollifying a petulant dragon, is no more valid than any other character's.
1) Thanks for clarifying that my spelling was correct.
2) I realized in advance that nobody was referring to Vaarsuvius directly.
3) I was basing it off of the fact that everyone else matched the gender of their comparative opposite, so I assumed that since he had referred to in a way that clearly indicated that every member was a male now that Nale's focus was Banished for 24 hours, it made it seem likely that Vaarsuvius also matched the gender of the Drow there - male, unless the father was incorrect in his assumptions.
Sigh....
Ok then, so let's call it educated guesses. Does that suit you better ?
Considering Tarquin must have been adventuring for far longer than The OOTS have, seems to have been be very succesful at staying alive despite a lot of opposition, monsters, PCs, assassins, that he's been the ruler of an empire of doom for a long time, and that said OOTS members are around level 15 by the end of the latest book IIRC, I'd even bet he's to lvl 30 than lvl17.
Now considering everyone sees T as a very defensive NPC, what better class than fighter can provide him with the proper list of skills (guess who's got heaps of skill points to spend on Handle Animal to teach his mount handy tricks and Ride (dragon/ dinosaur/ horse) and feats ?
10 gp says he's got Infinite Deflection and/ or Exceptionnal Deflection,
25 pp says he's also got an impressive array of other offensive feats:
Combat Expertise (speculation again but he looks like a smart guy in my book just like Roy except he's been doing it for 30 more years),
The whole series of Improved <XXXX> feats to avoid causing AoO,
Deflect/ Snatch Arrows,
Dodge -> Whirlwind Attack,
Epic/ Greater Weapon Spec. (Great Axe),
Epic/ Greater Weapon Focus (Great Axe),
Improved critical (Great Axe),
Power Attack,
(Great) Cleave,
Dire Charge,
Overwhelming/ Devastating Critical (Great Axe),
Damage Reduction (with Epic Feats & armour ?) ?
Add in a huge stack of HPs to be able to toy with the OOTS on top of the pyramid for a few rounds without any major trouble even when Haley backstabs him, and there you go.
Don't let his fleeing and defensive fighting deceive you, he can single handedly kick the OOTs' butt any time he wants just like Xykon would, and he will do so when he's done playing with both his sons.
He's definitely not a Barbarian (not thick enough), nor Ranger, or Paladin (yeah right) so I guess Blackguard is also out of the way too. What's left ? Assassin ? Dwarven Defender ? Eldricht Knight ? Marshal ?
With such a high BAB, fighter is the only answer we have left IMO, but who am I to make such dumb asumptions ?
"Rabid fanboying leading said rabid fanboy to make up evidence to fit a preconceived notion" would suit just fine. :smallsmile:
Shojo's sixty or so years on the throne, dealing with precisely the sort of problems you mention (opposition, monsters, PCs, and especially assassins) were worth fourteen levels of an NPC class. Redcloak's four months of ruling a city and dealing with these threats, but also surviving an attack by an uber-wizard with an ECL so high that defeating the ABD didn't give her XP, got him one level in his preexisting PC class. Tarquin has put twenty years into his little scheme, so let's be generous and give him five levels for it, more than Shojo's fairly ruler-average tenure would suggest, but less than Redcloak's outlier of a tenure.Quote:
Considering Tarquin must have been adventuring for far longer than The OOTS have, seems to have been be very succesful at staying alive despite a lot of opposition, monsters, PCs, assassins, that he's been the ruler of an empire of doom for a long time, and that said OOTS members are around level 15 by the end of the latest book IIRC, I'd even bet he's to lvl 30 than lvl17.
Twenty years ago, when Tarquin came to the Western Continent, he was strong enough to conquer a kingdom and kill its king, but weak enough to get sent packing and literally, from what we're shown, running for his life, by a coalition of rival powers. He was also low-level enough that he and his party had to raid a dungeon for startup cash to fuel his scheme, rather than, say, simply selling a magic item or two that they owned. This sounds about commensurate with level 12. Incidentally, Tarquin compares his image of himself in his adventuring days to Roy, who is at least a level 12 fighter and is probably not more than level 15.
I think the disconnect we have here is that you severely overestimate the power needed to achieve what Tarquin has actually achieved. You don't need to be Epic to be awesome. You don't need to be Epic to be staggeringly competent. You don't need to be Epic to have crazy amounts of resources and, if you're a fighter anyway, crazy amounts of feats. Most people in OOTSworld, as illustrated by Celia, Evisceratus, Solt, etc. have very few levels in NPC classes. PC classes are the exception. As Qarr points out, reaching double digits in a PC class is a rare and special thing.Quote:
10 gp says he's got Infinite Deflection and/ or Exceptionnal Deflection,
25 pp says he's also got an impressive array of other offensive feats:
Combat Expertise (speculation again but he looks like a smart guy in my book just like Roy except he's been doing it for 30 more years),
The whole series of Improved <XXXX> feats to avoid causing AoO,
Deflect/ Snatch Arrows,
Dodge -> Whirlwind Attack,
Epic/ Greater Weapon Spec. (Great Axe),
Epic/ Greater Weapon Focus (Great Axe),
Improved critical (Great Axe),
Power Attack,
(Great) Cleave,
Dire Charge,
Overwhelming/ Devastating Critical (Great Axe),
Damage Reduction (with Epic Feats & armour ?) ?
Add in a huge stack of HPs to be able to toy with the OOTS on top of the pyramid for a few rounds without any major trouble even when Haley backstabs him, and there you go.
Don't let his fleeing and defensive fighting deceive you, he can single handedly kick the OOTs' butt any time he wants just like Xykon would, and he will do so when he's done playing with both his sons.
Of the feats you attribute to Tarquin, only Deflect Arrows, Snatch Arrows, and probably some of the improved combat maneuvers feats are necessary to explain his actual, observed feats. The rest? That's all out of your head, buddy. Sure, if he's level 30 he would have a lot of feats unaccounted for, and maybe some of them would be on your list. But if he's level 17 and a fighter he'd still have a lot of feats unaccounted for. Either way, there's no real reason except rabid fanboyism to believe that any of those feats you mention, besides those he's demonstrated, have made the cut.
Coda: I agree with you that he's probably a fighter. We disagree on his probable level. I don't think Tarquin needs to be Epic to make his exploits believable. I further believe that making him Epic would diminish Epicness as a quality. As far as we know, the only Epic characters in the setting have been the Order of the Scribble, the precursors whose actions set up the main plot, and Xykon, the Big Bad whose actions drive the main plot. Making Tarquin, a side-plot antagonist, Epic decouples Epicness from relevance to the arc of the story.
This.
If we take this assumption as granted, then Durkon is female.
Edit: Which I see a few people have already pointed this out.
While I have no intention of getting into an argument about the relative merits of webcomics (or any other works of fiction), I'm very confused as to how anything you say here invalidates the claim that "Looking For Group is a popular webcomic". I don't like it very much either, but that hardly equates to it being unpopular.