Class and Level Geekery XIX - Nobody Cares about that Stuff Anymore

[Tubercular Ox]

I thought the takeaway from one of Rich's more recent comments was that he did not envision Tarquin as a swordsage.

It's complicated. Bottom line is that additional context came in after the buzzer. Here's me trying to be brief:

I find it particularly strange that you, Tubercular Ox, insists that Tarquin being a Swordsage is what Rich intended to portray.

Because Rich personally told you he had no awareness of that theory until you asked about it:

So, does this nix "Tarquin is a Swordsage"? Cuz that Ballista Throw and the constricting stance were nova hot.

OMG, it nixes the Blue Carbuncle, too. Unless that's an ordinary Carbuncle.

I honestly enjoy having had no awareness of either of these two theories.

EDIT: Wrecan is technically a Crusader so there's still some flexibility in each category anyway.

Yes, he told me he'd never heard of the blue carbuncle theory, and then in the very swag he came to the forum to post about, he had a picture of a blue carbuncle. (Zoom in a few times and look at the forehead gem)

By analogy, I think it's possible that Tarquin is a Swordsage and Rich would still tell me he's never heard of the theory before. To speculate, I wonder if he thinks only fans have theories and when he decides the carbuncle is blue, it's a fact, not a theory. To further speculate, it is not uncommon for authors to go into lockdown when the audience starts asking them questions about parts of the story that weren't meant to be obvious, which we have seen Rich do before, e.g. Greg as a nontheistic cleric.

Also, that EDIT: is fire.

And how would anyone know he is using it if he isn't actively constricting?

Maybe Rich could find some way to draw him as ready to constrict without actually constricting.

Maybe I should have asked this earlier, but is your definition for the term "constricting", Tubercular Ox?

Different from Peelee's, because even if Rich wants to use Peelee's definition, he has to use mine to draw it.

And if Rich doesn't want to use Peelee's definition, he still needs mine to draw it anyways.

And how on earth is he supposed to draw the difference between using my definition as a proxy for Peelee's definition, and using my definition on its own?

If someone told you that Roy was not hurt by Calder's breath in comic number #1296, you'd just say "hit points are imaginary, you can indeed decide Roy wasn't hurt"?

If the argument were about Calder's age, and you were arguing that he couldn't be more than Old because that doesn't look like 18d10 damage, I feel like it would more accurately reflect my frustration with the situation. Durkon is constricted, he's in pain, he even cries out at one point, but it's not enough damage for you because your eye is faithful to Rich's intent and I have to beg your permission for it to be seen any other way.

And, again, if I were just throwing Martial Study and Martial Stance as two random feats Malack could take to duplicate the situation, your frustration would be more understandable to me. But the context of it being a maneuver that Tarquin could teach him, that's easy to draw so that the audience has a chance of figuring it out, is very important to me. The puzzle cannot be too obtuse, Rich is just one guy.