OOTS #819 - The Discussion Thread

[McDouggal]

Tarquin is made of win. There is no other explanation. I want to see a fight between him/his army vs. Xykon/Xykon's army.

Not to see who would win, but to see who's superior.

[Jay R]

Tarquin is made of win. There is no other explanation. I want to see a fight between him/his army vs. Xykon/Xykon's army.

Not to see who would win, but to see who's superior.

This misses the point of how Tarquin operates. He doesn't have an army; he just leads one. One possible scenario is this:

Xykon's army fights the Empress's army. Xykon kills the Empress and the empire of Blood becomes Xykon's Empire of Fear. Soon, his general is Tarquin, and Redcloak never figures out how Malack got to be head priest. Xykon, thinking it's his own idea, sends Redcloak and the goblins to the Windy Valley. Redcloak is killed. The leaderless goblins are attacked by the old Empire of Tears (now the Empire of Surprise), and are saved by the new leaders of the old Empire of Sweat. Gratefully, they accept their place in that empire, now re-named the Empire of Ruthless Efficiency.

In a year or two, Hinjo's army comes in and attacks Xykon's...

[Gusion]

As I have stated before, it is more practical for evil people to surround themselves with (lawful) neutral ones, whose loyalty will not be easily overcome by sadism, ego or greed.

I agree with this completely - which is another reason I argue that Malack is actually a LN alignment.

[FlawedParadigm]

I really would rather Tarquin finally just went all George R. R. Martin on Nale.

Welcome to sighood. Hope you don't mind.

[Lynn]

This misses the point of how Tarquin operates. He doesn't have an army; he just leads one. One possible scenario is this:

Xykon's army fights the Empress's army. Xykon kills the Empress and the empire of Blood becomes Xykon's Empire of Fear. Soon, his general is Tarquin, and Redcloak never figures out how Malack got to be head priest.

I agree up to this point.

Soon, his general is Tarquin, and Redcloak never figures out how Malack got to be head priest.

Xykon is way to Chaotic, unpredictable and, worse of all, smart, for Tarquin to use as a figurehead. Tarquin would rather contact Elan and pull of an Enemy Mine to get rid of Xykon. Then he would disguise a random skeletal undead as Xykon. There is no better figurehead than one without free will.

[veti]

Excuse me? I'm pretty sure the rule limit to two magic rings had always been in place in 2nd edition already, and probably even in 1st.

Correct, that rule was in 1e AD&D.

Me, as an old-school Dungeon Master, I can tell you that if any player had tried such a stunt in my game, his character would probably have lost about 8 out of 10 fingers rather quick.

I'd just rule that at any given moment, any given ring has a 90% chance of not working. (80% really, but chuck in an extra 10% for showing off.) Easier to play.

Back to the comic: if Tarquin has known all along that the Order were together (which doesn't surprise me, they gave him enough clues), how does that affect our perception of his claim not to have known that Nale was infesting the place? He'd seen Thog, he should have seen Zz'dtri and probably Sabine if he's been using True Seeing on a regular basis.

Did he deliberately used the Order to flush Nale out? If so, what was his plan before they unexpectedly turned up on his doorstep?

[t209]

This misses the point of how Tarquin operates. He doesn't have an army; he just leads one. One possible scenario is this:

Xykon's army fights the Empress's army. Xykon kills the Empress and the empire of Blood becomes Xykon's Empire of Fear. Soon, his general is Tarquin, and Redcloak never figures out how Malack got to be head priest. Xykon, thinking it's his own idea, sends Redcloak and the goblins to the Windy Valley. Redcloak is killed. The leaderless goblins are attacked by the old Empire of Tears (now the Empire of Surprise), and are saved by the new leaders of the old Empire of Sweat. Gratefully, they accept their place in that empire, now re-named the Empire of Ruthless Efficiency.

In a year or two, Hinjo's army comes in and attacks Xykon's...

And Hinjo could be puppet leader for Tarquin or the elves since he needed them for military might unless he ally with possible tribes in southern continent (like Mongolian skyrim Nords).

[ORione]

Back to the comic: if Tarquin has known all along that the Order were together (which doesn't surprise me, they gave him enough clues), how does that affect our perception of his claim not to have known that Nale was infesting the place? He'd seen Thog, he should have seen Zz'dtri and probably Sabine if he's been using True Seeing on a regular basis.

Maybe he wasn't using True Seeing regularly. He could have been using different rings, then switched when they went into Infiltration Protocal.

[veti]

Maybe he wasn't using True Seeing regularly. He could have been using different rings, then switched when they went into Infiltration Protocal.

Of course that's possible. It's just that the RoTS opens up a new set of possibilities and probabilities that weren't (obviously, at least) on the table before.

[Belril Duskwalk]

I'd just rule that at any given moment, any given ring has a 90% chance of not working. (80% really, but chuck in an extra 10% for showing off.) Easier to play.

Which is actually lenient next to the rules that are written for AD&D. By the rules, if you wear more than 2 magic rings there is a 100% chance that none will work at every given moment.

Although I do recall a magic item or two that could be worn that could allow you to wear equip yet another magic ring and have all work at once.

[DaOldeWolf]

An amazing chapter. I loved the insight Tarquin gave about Nale just before the exposure. He really is always prepared.

[dtilque]

I agree up to this point.

Xykon is way to Chaotic, unpredictable and, worse of all, smart, for Tarquin to use as a figurehead.

Also, way too high level. Tarquin wants low level saps who won't put up too much of a fight when it's time to replace them with the next figurehead.

[Sith_Happens]

Also, way too high level. Tarquin wants low level saps who won't put up too much of a fight when it's time to replace them with the next figurehead.

And before anyone comments that the Empress doesn't fit this description, yes, she actually does. Based on the fact that she doesn't have any spells yet, she is at most a Very Young red dragon and therefore a CR 5. At this point even Elan could probably solo her. Although her larger-than-average qualities probably give her quite a bonus to her HP and crush damage...

[Freelancer Jack]

Truly chaotic evil men are not insane. they are cold, tactical, and brutal. they will fight their enemy with years of experience and with every resource available to them.

Nale has none of these. making him a poor villain.

His farther does. but he exercises restraint. I think he may be lawful evil. this makes him a lovable villain. lovable villains are the best. you hate them, but you understand why they do what they do.

[rbetieh]

Maybe he wasn't using True Seeing regularly. He could have been using different rings, then switched when they went into Infiltration Protocal.

Maybe he's using Fantasy Batmans fancy utili-ring which automatically equips the right ring on his other ring finger 1 round before he was going to need it?