Belkar will die in next 10 strips.

[homeosapiens]

Here we have impossible fight to win, and he needs to die soon. I guess he'll die in this fight and nobody will take time to ressurect him, because Team Evil is going to show up sooner than expected as well, maybe even midfight.

[Winter]

I'm not sure it'll be the next 10, but I'd take the bet for the next 20 (when Team Evil shows up).

[martianmister]

I think he's already dead. (8 percent? Enough for him. )

[Winter]

Too anti-climatic. Belkar will probably die in this arc, maybe even in this fight but he'll not go without his "big scene". Having him die off-screen in such a surprise-attack would be kindoff lame.

Like how all those characters died in that fight int the last Harry Potter book. We know what was the author's intention behind that but it's still somewhat lame.

[ThePhantasm]

The Linear Guild isn't awesome enough to kill Belkar, IMHO. It needs to be either Team Evil or V. He is, after all, one of the protagonists.

The LG is just the appetizer to the main course. And Tarquin, though he has a certain cool factor, is highly overrated on this board as a villain and I have no doubt he'll be squashed by Xykon.

[Gift Jeraff]

I'm going to say within 17 strips. Just a hunch.

[blackspeeker]

Tarquin, though he has a certain cool factor, is highly overrated on this board as a villain and I have no doubt he'll be squashed by Xykon.

I like to think that much like Ms. Starshine, Tarquin knows a fight his class (whatever it is) wasn't designed for.

[Rorrik]

If Belkar dies it will only be because of highly uncharacteristic risking of his own neck to fight off the entire Linear Guild, he'd take at least two down with him. I think we're looking at a slightly longer haul for the Belkster.

[Kish]

I think he's already dead. (8 percent? Enough for him. )

8% chance that any of the Order would die.

Something lower, for each individual member of the Order.

The chance that Belkar, specifically, would die is definitely less than the chance of Vaarsuvius specifically dying, and may well be less than the chance of Durkon or Elan specifically dying.

[OPM]

Actually, that just makes me expect that he would survive somehow. That said, I wouldn't put it past Rich to give some timeline like that to create suspense. But I'll only believe it when he says it. What I see happening is this:

Spoiler

Show

I think that Belkar dies by the hand of Darth V, but we haven't seen V taken over yet. I predict that the fiends take over V pretty soon to find the gate while keeping everyone else busy.

All this guilt will probably make V self-destructive and V will probably want to sacrifice themselves, but I figure on Durkon actually doing it. Hopefully that sets up some kind of redemption-quest plotline for V with the support of the rest of the Order to play out at the last gate. Or else V falls to the dark side entirely, joins the bad guys in trying to remake the world and usurping Xykon's place with the possibility of a last-minute face-heel turn at the last gate.

At least, those are the most epic ideas I can come up with. Rich probably has some nifty surprises for us, so it will be interesting to see.

[Crisis21]

Personally, I think Belkar's death is going to occur during some humongous snafu that rivals the Azure City war for sheer lethality potential.

I also predict that Durkon is going to die soon, possibly before Belkar. Remember that he has two prophecies on him. One that he will return home posthumously. The other

Spoiler

Show

that when he next returns home he will "bring death and destruction for us all". His home is in the northern lands, probably near Kraagor's gate and I imagine that the Order would return his body to the dwarves with Xykon or some other villain following right behind them.

[Umberhulk]

And we all know that Redcloak will kill Durkon.

[ThePhantasm]

And we all know that Redcloak will kill Durkon.

Wait. . . we do?

[Winter]

And we all know that Redcloak will kill Durkon.

I don't. I rather expect it to be Malack but I'm far from knowing that. A lot can (and will) happen until Durkon dies.

[fergo]

The Giant has said that he has plans for Durkon's characterisation, which I doubt will happen after he dies. On the other hand, if the Order are going to be heading to Kraagor's gate next...

I hope not, anyways . I like the dwarf, I don't want him to die yet .

As for Belkar... well, I'd be sad to see him go, too, but the signs seem to be pointing in the direction of him kicking the bucket pretty soon. Still, I doubt it'll be in the next ten strips--unless he dies right at the start of the upcoming fight, which would be a bit of a letdown.

[Winter]

The Giant has said that he has plans for Durkon's characterisation, which I doubt will happen after he dies. On the other hand, if the Order are going to be heading to Kraagor's gate next...

I wil happen after he dies. This here is Elan's story and I doubt Rich will add Durkon-stuff at the end of the arc where Team Evil, the LG (with Tarquin) and the Order meets, where we somehow have to resolve Ian Starshine and whatnot.
Adding Durkon to the mix would overload it all a tad.

Durkon Dies -> Order is out of cleric -> Story Arc at Girard's Gate ends -> The order travels to the dwarven lands (to the next gate), carrying Durkon's Body with them -> Durkon gets resurrected -> Stuff happens.

[vrellum]

I don't think the vitriolic blast could possibly kill an unwounded Belkar. However, the 8% number is almost surely wrong. V would almost certainly be killed by it. He is a wizard with either no con bonus or a con penalty. Either way he'd most likely hit -10 if he was in the AoE. So unless the flying kobold knew V wasn't there, he just made up the number (perhaps to appease Malak, perhaps because Rich didn't bother with the math). Elan too has a very good chance off dying. Haley might, don't remember if there is a save for the initial damage.

[Winter]

perhaps because Rich didn't bother with the math).

Very, very likely this.

[Howler Dagger]

I'm going to bet that Durkon dies sometime during the fight, causing Malack to turn against the Guild. The Order wins and Malack raises Durkon, and they go to the dwarven lands. Malack comes with them (perhaop fulfilling "bringing death and destruction with him" as Nergal is god of both) and they have a climatic battle in which Belkar dies.

[vrellum]

Very, very likely this.

I agree. The blast didn't kill anyone, that is all that matters, not the percentage.

[Kish]

The chances that Rich actually did math before having Kilkil say there was an 8% chance the Vitriolic Sphere had killed any of the Order are negligible to nonexistent.

However, it takes a lot to kill Vaarsuvius.

[Oscredwin]

Kilkil didn't know that much about the OotS. All she knows is that 8% is either an unbuffed wizard/bard failed his/her save, or that there was someone who was buffed but took damage earlier that day which hadn't been healed, and that person didn't have improved cover. Both are fairly unlikely.

[zimmerwald1915]

The chances that Rich actually did math before having Kilkil say there was an 8% chance the Vitriolic Sphere had killed any of the Order are negligible to nonexistent.

However, it takes a lot to kill Vaarsuvius.

Speaking of maths, the potential damage Vaarsuvius took during her fight with Xykon amounted to between 30 and 324 HP, and between 1 and 3 nonlethal. The breakdown looks like this:

Still Meteor Swarm: 24d6 fire, ref halves (12-144)
Masonry: 4d6 bludgeoning, as swinging block trap (4-24)
Falling Damage from Xykon dropping her: 2d6 bludgeoning (2-12)
Xykon's grapple: 1d3 nonlethal, as unarmed strike (1-3)
Meteor Swarm: 24d6 fire, ref halves (12-144)

This is all survivable with 32 HP, improbable though it might be that Xykon rollled 1s on all his damage dice and V made all her reflex saves.

[Kish]

I would be very surprised if it was possible for Vaarsuvius to make any of Xykon's reflex saves without a natural 20.

[t209]

I think Belkar will also bring V with him to hell.
Oracle said that Belkar will also cause the death of V (or it already happened as death of his sanity and morality).

[zimmerwald1915]

I would be very surprised if it was possible for Vaarsuvius to make any of Xykon's reflex saves without a natural 20.

As would I. At worst, Vaarsuvius had a +1 to her reflex save during that fight (at least 5 DEX + 4 from being a level 14 Wizard). Xykon, meanwhile, had a save DC of at least 28 for his ninth-level spells. Like I said, however, 32 HP was all that V needed to survive the best case scenario for her, where she made all her saves and Xykon rolled all 1s.

[vrellum]

V could have had some form of fire resistance. Given his access to epic level magic, the resistance might have been quite powerful. Notice he took almost no damage from the first meteor swarm.

Even after the supreme dispelling he could have had an item.

So I don't think that fight can really tell us much about how many hit points V has.

[zimmerwald1915]

V could have had some form of fire resistance. Given his access to epic level magic, the resistance might have been quite powerful. Notice he took almost no damage from the first meteor swarm.

Even after the supreme dispelling he could have had an item.

So I don't think that fight can really tell us much about how many hit points V has.

We were watching V throughout the Soul Splice. She did not cast any spells that would have protected her against fire damage (Fire Shield would have, if it had been chill shield, but as we saw when the ABD attacked, it was a warm shield). She did cast Protection from Spells, but that boosts saves (and could account for V having made her save against the first Meteor Swarm - it did not survive Superior Dispelling and would not have survived the end of the Soul Splice even if it had - even with her low reflex modifier), and does not confer energy resistance of any type. Nor has she ever made reference to an item that confers energy resistance, which would have had to have before the splice.

Remember that V has said she has a CON penalty. Her maximum natural HP during the Xykon fight was 42 (14d4-14). Her minimum needed to survive the fight was 38 (I lowballed it in my post above: she also survived the three Lightning Bolt traps which would have dealt 5d6 ref half - that is, as least 2 - damage each). Her maximum now, at level 15, is 45, and her minimum is 39.

[polipone]

I think Belkar will also bring V with him to hell.
Oracle said that Belkar will also cause the death of V (or it already happened as death of his sanity and morality).

Belkar has already killed the Oracle, so this particular prophecy has already been fulfilled. So it's not necessary, storywise, that he kills Vaarsuvius.

[Marlowe]

Remember that V has said she has a CON penalty. .

When was this? He said he had a strength penalty during the fire at the inn, and it's been implied a couple of times that his charisma isn't great. He made some comments about his class choice leaving him a little slender in the hit points during the fight in Xykon's throne room, but that's hit dice rather than Con.