I love Order of the stick but it have a problem, The Magic Energy

[Larkspur]

Easier for the readers, perhaps, but it'd probably be a heck of a liability in a fight.

Hard to know. It would show the enemy who cast your spell, but it would also show everyone in your party that they didn't need to block it. In a D&D game it wouldn't matter because things never get so chaotic you can't tell who cast what, but in a real battle it might be helpful. OotSworld is sort of halfway in between, so I'm not sure how that would go- can every character sense the origin of attacks in the same way they can sense the global clock, or do they just see what's attacking them that round without necessarily knowing its origin?

There could be other influences as well. Could it be that the Crimson Mantle alters the Dweomer of the goblins who wear it?

No. (Unless it, like, permanently stains your dweomer or something).

[The Vanishing Hitchhiker]

Hard to know. It would show the enemy who cast your spell, but it would also show everyone in your party that they didn't need to block it. In a D&D game it wouldn't matter because things never get so chaotic you can't tell who cast what, but in a real battle it might be helpful. OotSworld is sort of halfway in between, so I'm not sure how that would go- can every character sense the origin of attacks in the same way they can sense the global clock, or do they just see what's attacking them that round without necessarily knowing its origin?

Oh, probably not in a large brawl where it's hard to pay attention - but certainly, it'd probably be pretty easy to cotton on to what type of caster you are or magics you have (depending on what the colors indicate) quite quickly with a bit of observation.

[suszterpatt]

No. (Unless it, like, permanently stains your dweomer or something).

If Xykon's crown can pick up enough evil to make Roy and Durkon register as evil on a Detect Evil check days after it's removed from Xykon's vicinity, I don't see why the red cloak couldn't affect the color of the dweomer some hours after it's been taken off.

[Killer Angel]

Well, the main issue was resolved by the Giant himself, but I want to add something to this unrelated one:

We see grammatical errors not something like:

Lol, Elan has rapper, mgk swd, ROFLMAO. Hey gaiz, I has hmebrew class. Why nbdy crtqu, THX.*

*This hurt to write.

To be fair, grammatical errors are expected, while that other kind of typing is against the rules (under the "please don't").

[Snake-Aes]

If Xykon's crown can pick up enough evil to make Roy and Durkon register as evil on a Detect Evil check days after it's removed from Xykon's vicinity, I don't see why the red cloak couldn't affect the color of the dweomer some hours after it's been taken off.

Or even forever, given his cloak is an actual firsthand deity-made artifact.

[Knaight]

Exactly, and it is that other type that has firmly earned its please don't that is an indication that somebody just doesn't care. Lots of grammatical errors is probably a safe indication that English is a second language, at least as far s this forum is concerned, so putting that in a signature is pointless. Honest errors, which grammatical errors usually are, are typically forgiven around here. That horrible chat speak isn't.

[Larkspur]

If Xykon's crown can pick up enough evil to make Roy and Durkon register as evil on a Detect Evil check days after it's removed from Xykon's vicinity, I don't see why the red cloak couldn't affect the color of the dweomer some hours after it's been taken off.

Hm, we need a colored flashback to Reddy's mentor casting...

[The Vanishing Hitchhiker]

Or even forever, given his cloak is an actual firsthand deity-made artifact.

Bearer of the Crimson Mantle has a bit more meaning behind it than snazzy threads, yeah.

[Ricardo]

Tell me, have you read the comic goblins?

Thanks for ruining my completely productive day at work, so far. Now I have to read a NEW comic from Strip 1 all the way to the end and not go home until I have finished. If I get fired, it is YOUR fault. I have no time for people knocking on my office door for silly little things like work that needs to be done, tyvm - I have a comic to read dammit!

[the humanity]

in the Tortall books (Tamora Pierce), one of the most interesting personal things magic users had was their personal color- you couldn't really hide it from a special item one character had. the colors played in foreshadowing and when I figured out the colors in OOTS, I hoped it would become more important. it has yet to really become important.

[Larkspur]

in the Tortall books (Tamora Pierce), one of the most interesting personal things magic users had was their personal color- you couldn't really hide it from a special item one character had. the colors played in foreshadowing and when I figured out the colors in OOTS, I hoped it would become more important. it has yet to really become important.

Yeah, but if Alanna had had True Seeing she could have spotted Roger's Soul Splice directly. Redcloak essentially did the same thing she did without needing to refer to the dweomers, so it's really pretty redundant in this context. It just makes things look pretty.

[hamishspence]

Her stone is more like Detect Magic- with Roger having no magic in his own body- but being able to draw on Thom (who has both his and Roger's, fused together- hence the colour change).

Roger doesn't glow at all when looked at under normal circumstances after his "resurrection"- but Thom glows dried-blood red.

[Mystic Muse]

Thanks for ruining my completely productive day at work, so far. Now I have to read a NEW comic from Strip 1 all the way to the end and not go home until I have finished. If I get fired, it is YOUR fault. I have no time for people knocking on my office door for silly little things like work that needs to be done, tyvm - I have a comic to read dammit!

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that.

Although, I think Goblins might be considered Not safe for work. I could be wrong though.

[Gruffard]

Don't forget in D&D you need a spellcraft check to determine the energies the mage is gather is going to be a fireball, when its still forming its based off the caster. I forget where, but it even says that a wizard and a sorc who is in the same party who cast the same spell might use different chants and hand motions. Hence the Spellcraft check even for spells you know. If two people casting the same spell do it different, why would there arcane energies look the same?

[Francis Davey]

Don't forget in D&D you need a spellcraft check to determine the energies the mage is gather is going to be a fireball, when its still forming its based off the caster. I forget where, but it even says that a wizard and a sorc who is in the same party who cast the same spell might use different chants and hand motions. Hence the Spellcraft check even for spells you know. If two people casting the same spell do it different, why would there arcane energies look the same?

But we know that one way in which OOTS does depart from the D&D rules as written is that spellcasters will generally say the name of a spell when they cast it. There's several occasions where this happens (V's confrontation with Leaky Windstaff being a classic) usually adding to the dramatic or comic effect.

I rather like it as a mechanic and its something that a DM might chose to run in their campaign as a variant house-rule.

[Dr.Epic]

there is no standard colors they are sort of random ...

Xykon energy-Black
Zz'dtri-Green
Vaarsuvius-pink
Belkar White
Nale-yellow
etc ...

It looks to me like they're based on the personality of the caster.

[Optimystik]

Although, I think Goblins might be considered Not safe for work. I could be wrong though.

Depends on your office, really. Penny-Arcade seems to me frequently more violent and explicit. Both are fine at my office, though they block Cracked.

[GSFB]

Well, there would be a constant color of magic, but most monitors won't display octarine.

I can't believe it took 27 comments before someone went there...

[Mystic Muse]

Depends on your office, really. Penny-Arcade seems to me frequently more violent and explicit. Both are fine at my office, though they block Cracked.

Well, personally I can see why. Cracked for me is like TVtropes for other people*.


*Do not get on this site. You will be asking for that three hours of your life back.

[Nave Senrag]

Depends on your office, really. Penny-Arcade seems to me frequently more violent and explicit. Both are fine at my office, though they block Cracked.

.... BLASPHEMY!

*Do not get on this site. You will be asking for that three hours of your life back.

TV Tropes has stolen so many hours of my life that I had to get today's as a loan.

[The Vanishing Hitchhiker]

I can't believe it took 27 comments before someone went there...

: Octarine? What octarine?

/shot

I find Cracked more escapable than TV Tropes, at least. Less links per article.

[Dexam]

but the Soul sword still look like fire...

I assumed that the Soulknife had enough levels in the Pyrokineticist prestige class to get the Weapon Afire ability.

So if your question is "Is the colour for fire or for psychic energy?", the answer is "Both".

[Serpentine]

in the Tortall books (Tamora Pierce), one of the most interesting personal things magic users had was their personal color- you couldn't really hide it from a special item one character had. the colors played in foreshadowing and when I figured out the colors in OOTS, I hoped it would become more important. it has yet to really become important.

How come when you mention Tamora Pierce, yours gets commented on, but when I did it it was ignored?

[Optimystik]

I assumed that the Soulknife had enough levels in the Pyrokineticist prestige class to get the Weapon Afire ability.

So if your question is "Is the colour for fire or for psychic energy?", the answer is "Both".

Why does it have to be fire to be red? There isn't anything in the soulknife description that says the blades have to be a particular color. WotC makes them green a lot, but they have drawn it other ways officially as well.

Blue:

Spoiler

Show

Red:

Spoiler

Show

Red again:

Spoiler

Show

And the typical Green:

Spoiler

Show

[Ancalagon]

It's a lightsabre ripoff... and those come in all colours. So the colour of a lightsabre/energy blade/soulknife/fireweapon/whatever is no indication for alignment, type of spell, type of fire, or anything.

It's just a personal preference (if it's a game) of the player/DM.

[Morph Bark]

Plus, what's to say a soulknife's mindblade can't appear fiery?

[hamishspence]

This depiction of fire in strip:

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0563.html

shows a more dramatic colour contrast between the centre of the fire and its edges.

So the soulknife's blade doesn't look all that fiery anyway.

[Garwain]

It looks to me like they're based on the personality of the caster.

So Tsukiko has a spit personality? Meh.. that works for me.

[Jagos]

She's a Theurge. She has magic in both divine and arcane realms. More than likely her design shows that duality.

[Ancalagon]

I think it's also nice for the reader to see if she's casting divine or arcane right now...