Class and Level Geekery IX: the thread levels up again!

[SavageWombat]

I still want to know what happened to the rest of Durkon's 5th level spells.

[zimmerwald1915]

I still want to know what happened to the rest of Durkon's 5th level spells.

I'd surmise they went towards healing Belkar and Elan offpanel after their retreat from Malack's flame strike.

[Emmit Svenson]

Where I get lost is in the "how many level 7 spells Durkon has cast". Some people say he has cast too many, others seem to explain it with a combination of domain and other stuff, maybe with high WIS, and another faction seem to insist that he must have used a level 8 slot for a level 7 spell. I don't know who is right, who is wrong, and who has accepted someone else's explanation.

Let me try to clear things up.

A wisdom of 24 seems entirely reasonable for a 14th level cleric. +3 to a caster’s primary stat from levelling is a no-brainer, and the only reason not to have an item that adds +4 to your primary casting stat by then is if you have one that adds +6.

2 7th-level spell slots at level 14, plus one bonus from wisdom 24+, plus a domain spell, neatly covers the two Resurrections, one Malack’s Dismissable Death Ward, and Holy Word (a Good domain spell) that Durkon seems to have at his disposal during the search for Girard’s Gate.

[Peelee]

the only reason not to have an item that adds +4 to your primary casting stat by then is if you have one that adds +6.

That entails assuming he has an item that has not been shown. Isn't that off-limits for the purposes of this thread?

[SavageWombat]

How's this for an alternate explanation that doesn't assume a 24 WIS -

He said he had diamond dust for one more Rez. He didn't say he had it prepared at that time. Maybe he keeps an open slot or two at times, to adjust for circumstances, and was able to prepare another Rez if needed, but Roy chose otherwise. Since it wasn't necessary, he prepped the MDW instead.

It's weak, but not counter-indicated.

[KillingAScarab]

That entails assuming he has an item that has not been shown. Isn't that off-limits for the purposes of this thread?

When I pointed out the "deflect" text in the 6th panel of Fun While it Lasted, we had never seen a ring which explicitly gives this bonus, yet a ring of protection became the currently listed source. Perhaps deflection is a special case, perhaps not.

How's this for an alternate explanation that doesn't assume a 24 WIS -

He said he had diamond dust for one more Rez. He didn't say he had it prepared at that time. Maybe he keeps an open slot or two at times, to adjust for circumstances, and was able to prepare another Rez if needed, but Roy chose otherwise. Since it wasn't necessary, he prepped the MDW instead.

It's weak, but not counter-indicated.

An open slot might explain Durkon's choice of words when he is discussing the plan to use planar ally. "If we hold it 'til dawn, I can cast it five or six times inna row." I have lost track of the current time of day since they were last outside, but I still have the impression that not enough time has passed for the present hour to be the reason why he might cast it fewer times. He would have only needed to meditate for fifteen minutes to fill the slot with the spell before he began. Also, an empty slot would not have been able to be converted into a healing spell while fighting Malack.

However, why is dawn important? Is that when Durkon normally prepares spells? If the warlock's comment is to be taken more seriously, it may have been. He would need an hour of meditating if he didn't save anything which was already prepared in his spell slots.

[Kish]

That entails assuming he has an item that has not been shown. Isn't that off-limits for the purposes of this thread?

Could one of the thread curators please edit a list of the current thread rules into the first or second post?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Could one of the thread curators please edit a list of the current thread rules into the first or second post?

Especially a mechanism to establish consensus, I think.

GW

[Draz74]

That entails assuming he has an item that has not been shown. Isn't that off-limits for the purposes of this thread?

I think it used to be, until strips like 607 established that the Order has magic items that were never previously established as such. Things that have been there all along, and their magic-ness just never came up.

[Douglas]

I think we can reasonably assume that the Order has numerical bonus-granting magic items appropriate for their level without needing them to be shown. That kind of thing is built into the basic math of the game. It's the special effect and, especially, manually activated magic items that shouldn't be assumed without solid evidence.

[SinsI]

I think we can reasonably assume that the Order has numerical bonus-granting magic items appropriate for their level without needing them to be shown. That kind of thing is built into the basic math of the game. It's the special effect and, especially, manually activated magic items that shouldn't be assumed without solid evidence.

I don't think so. Extra spell slots can be obtained by:
- preparing spells in a higher level slot (thus being higher level)
- having items that grant bonus to spellcasting stat
- having items that grant extra spell slots/restore spell slots
- casting spells from scrolls/ using magic items that duplicate them

All the choices are equally possible, so we can't choose any single one.

[Coldwind]

Don't we know Belkar's DEX score in some earlier strips? I recall him stabbing MitD for several times, if that counts for some reason.

Also Durkon has drained him 3 times, Malack drained him 1 time only, can't we predict his CON score also?

[Kish]

I pray the thread curators are not going to get on board with "three slurp noises means Durkon drained Belkar's blood for exactly three rounds."

[SinsI]

I pray the thread curators are not going to get on board with "three slurp noises means Durkon drained Belkar's blood for exactly three rounds."

I'd go with "drained him for _at least_ three rounds". So Belkar's minimum Constitution is 5.

[SavageWombat]

I'd go with "drained him for _at least_ three rounds". So Belkar's minimum Constitution is 5.

With eight levels drained, I'd rather it went to "drained to exactly 1 HP left" considering how far down he started.

[Dark Matter]

I think Belkar's strength is exactly 17.

In "Strips" he wasn't able to carry something that was "at least 200 pounds", and they mentioned it was because he was small and thus at 3/4ths.

With a 17 strength, his max load is 195. Any higher and he'd be able to lift more than 200 pounds.

This was really significant since it was obvious everyone was actually doing the math to see what he could and couldn't lift.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/carryingCapacity.htm

EDIT: And from the picture, a lump of metal bigger than Roy is going to weigh far more than 200 lbs, so they weren't talking about how much he was holding, but rather how much he could lift.

[Chantelune]

Also Durkon has drained him 3 times, Malack drained him 1 time only, can't we predict his CON score also?

We saw Malack drain Belkar once, but the MDW came the strip after and there was no indication on how much time passed beetween the two. He could have drained him a few more rounds before Durkon's intervention, but wasn't shown because having another pannel showing Malack quietly draining Belkar before Durkon casting in would be both tedious and a "waste" of a pannel.

[Rig]

Since i don't have the time to skim for it, whats the estimate of Vaarsuvius's level, given the familicide incident? Any idea how that even corresponds to her normal level?

[Chantelune]

Familicide is irrelevant has she was soul spliced at the time. The spell wasn't her to begin with and doesn't provide any data regarding her level. And you don't need to read all of the thread for her estimated level, just the first post.

[Rig]

Thank you. On the other hand, they did make issue of dealing sufficient damage. One in 5 black dragons, not counting their descendant's, sounds like it to me.

[Kish]

On the other hand, they did make issue of dealing sufficient damage.

Please rephrase this sentence to include...actors, for one thing.

[Rig]

I need more detail. The cauldron of comprehensive metaphor yet bubbles.

[skaddix]

Familicide is irrelevant has she was soul spliced at the time. The spell wasn't her to begin with and doesn't provide any data regarding her level. And you don't need to read all of the thread for her estimated level, just the first post.

Agreed she had 3 Epics spliced so V's level was probably near 100.

[rgrekejin]

...this has probably been discussed before, but in the "Supercollider Web-Comic Mash-Up", V has "Summon Plot Hole". I know that Supercollider is almost certainly not canon, but then again, neither are the Dragon magazine comics, and those are used to determine possessions, so...

[Quantum Glass]

Silly question, but does roleplaying grant XP by OOTS rules? I remember Belkar once leveling up after making up some backstory near the start of the comic, but since it didn't really impact the plot at all (He was just a few points behind everyone else), I figured it might have just been a gag.

Spoiler

Show

I ask because I recently had the realization that both Tarquin and Xykon have put a lot of effort into acting like stereotypical, hammy villains. And that, given their personalities, they probably have a good reason for it.

[zimmerwald1915]

Silly question, but does roleplaying grant XP by OOTS rules?

Yes it does, but there is no reasonable way to tell how much XP a given act of roleplaying might grant.

[Flame of Anor]

...this has probably been discussed before, but in the "Supercollider Web-Comic Mash-Up", V has "Summon Plot Hole". I know that Supercollider is almost certainly not canon, but then again, neither are the Dragon magazine comics, and those are used to determine possessions, so...

Could you link to this? I've never seen it.

[rgrekejin]

Could you link to this? I've never seen it.

This is the best I can do. Sorry, it's a print-only thing.

[137beth]

Thank you. On the other hand, they did make issue of dealing sufficient damage. One in 5 black dragons, not counting their descendant's, sounds like it to me.

Huh?

I need more detail. The cauldron of comprehensive metaphor yet bubbles.

Huh?

Did...did you actually decide what you mean? Or are you just trying to write something cryptic with no actual meaning behind it
Either way you succeeded in confusing everyone

[Flame of Anor]

This is the best I can do. Sorry, it's a print-only thing.

Aw man, that's frustrating.

Either way you succeeded in confusing everyone

Indeed.