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

[137beth]

By the way, we need to note that Z has Planar Binding on his spell list (Definitely not summoning as we have seen summoned monsters.)

Why can't it be summoning?

[SaintRidley]

Why can't it be summoning?

Well, the circle seems to be what Sarda's basing it on. Different visual effect, basically. Summons seem to just pop in, while creatures called (not summoned) by Planar Ally (which we know Durkon is using) appear to visualize with the circle. Planar Binding, which is also a calling and not summoning spell, might visualize similarly.

[Lvl45DM!]

The difference is more than S/Z. "Sied" versus "Sized".

And no, "magic aura" colors vary from caster to caster and rarely mean something. Can infer from Durkon's white to red that something about his spellcasting changed, but not from Durkon's red to Malack's black.

Oops
But I do recall all of the Azurite Clerics using blue. Even Tsukiko. Are there any deities who have been shown to have more than one colour? not that it really proves anything but it could be important i dunno

[Emanick]

Oops
But I do recall all of the Azurite Clerics using blue. Even Tsukiko. Are there any deities who have been shown to have more than one colour? not that it really proves anything but it could be important i dunno

I seem to remember the Giant saying something about the color of clerics' auras normally (though not always, IIRC) being associated with which god they worshipped. I think it was in one of the books, which I don't have in my dorm with me, not online.

Does anyone else remember this quote, or am I just making it up?

[thatSeniorGuy]

Ask and ye shall receive:

Every spellcaster has their own color; it is not based on their alignment or type of magic or anything. It is mostly a matter of choice or personality, though most clerics tend to clump into the same general color if they worship the same gods because they tend to choose the same colors and/or have similar personalities.

Elan has a similar color to the Azurite priests because it's not as if everyone in the North sits around going, "Gosh, we can't pick blue, because those people on another continent all picked blue!" Tsukiko uses the same color for her divine magic as the Azurite priests because they both worship the Twelve Gods, who are worshipped as a pantheon by all alignments in Azure City.

And as far as the girl in #730, I promise that whether she is using mind energy or fire does not affect the story in the slightest, and therefore it doesn't matter whether or not you can tell what it is.

[glissle]

Ask and ye shall receive:

I wonder if we should extend that to the purple-ness of the psionic examples we've seen, to make more room for the non-purply MitD possibly being psionic.

[SowZ]

Maybe we'll see the Atonement spell brought into play?

But Vampires do retain their spells, and Durkon did have Planar Ally prepared. So he has whatever magical energy he had left before dying.

How he gets his next batch of spells the next comic day, i.e., who he prays to, may be the greater question.

By the way, here is what the Giant has to say about the issue:

Is the Giant implying that Durkon is a non-theistic cleric here? If so, case closed, he's LE.

Yeah, the rules I quoted are PHBII. Is there any precedent for this rulebook in the comic? I didn't think of that. If PHBII is in use, pretty sure it's an open and shut case for LE as well.

I imagine most of us here personally accept that Durkon is LE, though maybe I'm wrong, but it is now a matter of proving it to the standards acceptable to the thread.

[Flame of Anor]

Silly American. Not everyone spells like you. I suppose you think its 'mommy' too

This is what I'm referring to.

prophesy, v.

Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈprɒfɪsʌɪ/ , U.S. /ˈprɑfəˌsaɪ/

1. intr.

a. To speak or write by, or as by, divine inspiration, or in the name of God or a god; to speak or act as a prophet.
b. To foretell or predict future events; to make a prediction or prophecy (of).

2. trans.

a. To predict or foretell, originally as an expression of the will or intent of God or a god. Also more generally: to utter or announce by divine inspiration.
b. To be an early indication of; to foreshadow, presage, prefigure, portend.

3. trans. Christian Church.

To interpret or expound the Bible; to speak out on scriptural or other religious matters, as an expression of divine inspiration.

[Lvl45DM!]

This is what I'm referring to.

Yes someone already pointed that out. My deepest apologies for the mockery. Its always embarrassing to correct someone and then find out how deeply deeply wrong i was

[MesiDoomstalker]

Durkon's new color is similar to Redcloaks actually. I highly doubt he worships The Dark One now, but maybe evidence (not conclusive) for LE?

[rodneyAnonymous]

Is there any evidence for Belkar's daggers being magic besides what the oracle said? Because I think that is ambiguous, "magical dagger repository" may have meant "magical repository for daggers", not "repository for magical daggers".

I realize it is very likely, but I don't think it's certain.

[Shale]

Durkon's new color is similar to Redcloaks actually. I highly doubt he worships The Dark One now, but maybe evidence (not conclusive) for LE?

Dweomer varies by personality (thus the change in color now that he's vamped), but not according to any fixed set of rules - there's no specific color or range of colors for Evil. So no evidence either way.

[Kish]

Is there any evidence for Belkar's daggers being magic besides what the oracle said? Because I think that is ambiguous, "magical dagger repository" may have meant "magical repository for daggers", not "repository for magical daggers".

I realize it is very likely, but I don't think it's certain.

Were the Oracle to claim, "I didn't mean his daggers are magical, just that I'm magical and he stuck them in me"...it would be at least as bad as his explanation for Miko's death being Belkar's fault.

Similarly, if he had said "orange dagger repository," the very clear implication would be that Belkar had somehow turned him orange.

[ghoul-n]

Belkar wouldn't go with unenchanted daggers because this would be either obviously uncool or too hardcore for him yet.

[rodneyAnonymous]

Similarly, if he had said "orange dagger repository," the very clear implication would be that Belkar had somehow turned him orange.

No, that is not clear.

[Shale]

All "turned me into his orange dagger repository" implies is that at least one of those characteristics was lacking until Belkar intervened. He could have been an orange hacksaw repository before, and it would still work, grammatically speaking. To draw on a completely different comic, the Marvel character Nova likes to say that when he got superpowers, he was turned into a "human rocket." That doesn't mean the powers turned him human.

(Editor hat off)

[Flame of Anor]

Yes someone already pointed that out. My deepest apologies for the mockery. Its always embarrassing to correct someone and then find out how deeply deeply wrong i was

No worries.

[Living Oxymoron]

Speaking of which, shouldn't Belkar have the following aliases: The Belkster, Death's Lil' Helper, and A Sexy Shoeless God of War?

I think you should consider this. At least the first ones, because I don't think "a sexy shoeless god of war" is an alias, since no one calls or called him with it.

That's a good point, Belkar is consistently talking about how everything smells and finding things by scent and so forth.

Not only that, because if we take into account the description of the special ability, we can see that it matches perfectly with the strips:

1- A creature with the scent ability can detect opponents by sense of smell, generally within 30 feet. If the opponent is upwind, the range is 60 feet. If it is downwind, the range is 15 feet. Strong scents, such as smoke or rotting garbage, can be detected at twice the ranges noted above. Overpowering scents, such as skunk musk or troglodyte stench, can be detected at three times these ranges.

And you can smell it from here?
We're downwind from the entire canyon.

(I think this scene is important because he uses the same term of the description)

2- A creature with the Track feat and the scent ability can follow tracks by smell, making a Wisdom check to find or follow a track. The typical DC for a fresh trail is 10. The DC increases or decreases depending on how strong the quarry’s odor is, the number of creatures, and the age of the trail. For each hour that the trail is cold, the DC increases by 2. The ability otherwise follows the rules for the Track feat. Creatures tracking by scent ignore the effects of surface conditions and poor visibility.

Hmmm. Buttermilk with a touch of chives. We're close.

(The bold part would explain how a terrible tracker manages to find Vaarsuvius in the Semi-Elemental Plane of Ranch Dressing)

3- Creatures with the scent ability can identify familiar odors just as humans do familiar sights.

How did you suddenly figure out it was me and not my brother?
You smell different.

4- False, powerful odors can easily mask other scents. The presence of such an odor completely spoils the ability to properly detect or identify creatures, and the base Survival DC to track becomes 20 rather than 10.

Ah... I've been wearing Elan's clothes for days, but upon bathing for my "date", my own scent must have reasserted itself.

(This is self-explanatory)

[Dark Matter]

Can we infer anything about Belkar's strength from this lead sheet?

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0281.html

[137beth]

Can we infer anything about Belkar's strength from this lead sheet?

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0281.html

No. It did not need to be very thick, so it could easily have been below the 58 pounds for light load if Belkar had the absolute minimum of 14 strength.

[Sr.medusa]

I was reeriding 811 and in panel 2 Malak drains a level of Nale, this says to us that his CL is 9 at least (he casts the dimension door later).

I don't know if this was discused before, but it means that he casts as a 9 lvl Sorcerer (you know, counting the posible prestige classes and all)

[Mike Havran]

I was reeriding 811 and in panel 2 Malak drains a level of Nale, this says to us that his CL is 9 at least (he casts the dimension door later).

I don't know if this was discused before, but it means that he casts as a 9 lvl Sorcerer (you know, counting the posible prestige classes and all)

He didn't need to lose two Sorcerer levels. He could lose two Fighter levels or so.

[Kish]

I was reeriding 811 and in panel 2 Malak drains a level of Nale

Harm is not a level-draining spell.

Nor does a vampire get to add his/her level draining to any time he touches, even to cast a touch-range spell. Malack would drain two levels if he used his slam attack, which is to say if his slam attack was his attack for that round.

The negative energy aura around Nale in that panel is Nale's hit points being reduced to 1 from the Harm spell, not him losing levels.

[Sr.medusa]

Oh, true, the last leveles, silly me. Nevermind, then,

[Kish]

Maybe we'll see the Atonement spell brought into play?

Thor bloody well better not expect the devoted cleric who died helplessly begging him, Thor, for aid, to "atone" for losing a fight to a vampire, is all I have to say.

[EmperorSarda]

Thor bloody well better not expect the devoted cleric who died helplessly begging him, Thor, for aid, to "atone" for losing a fight to a vampire, is all I have to say.

I dunno. Once Durkon gets his free will and personality back, whether Atonement is needed or not, it may not be simple to pray and get spells back from Thor.

[Dark Matter]

Thor bloody well better not expect the devoted cleric who died helplessly begging him, Thor, for aid, to "atone" for losing a fight to a vampire, is all I have to say.

Losing isn't the problem. Actually being a vampire is. And atone is basically a freebie if your "evil" acts were against your will.

...although *do* Clerics actually lose their status if they become Evil and then become Good again? I thought that was just Paladins?

[Dark Matter]

Pompey's level is pegged at 5 because of still silent animate rope.

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0342.html

This is probably incorrect since he was remarked to be of very low level. I'd think the easy way for him to deal with that rope is he cast it *before* Roy walked in, i.e. when Roy called out he cast it and used the animate part to tie himself up.

Or... could it have been a scroll?

[137beth]

Losing isn't the problem. Actually being a vampire is. And atone is basically a freebie if your "evil" acts were against your will.

...although *do* Clerics actually lose their status if they become Evil and then become Good again? I thought that was just Paladins?

There are no rules on how to atone. However, if your DM tells you that your god is angry because you turned into a vampire, get a new DM.

[zimmerwald1915]

Pompey's level is pegged at 5 because of still silent animate rope.

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0342.html

This is probably incorrect since he was remarked to be of very low level. I'd think the easy way for him to deal with that rope is he cast it *before* Roy walked in, i.e. when Roy called out he cast it and used the animate part to tie himself up.

Or... could it have been a scroll?

The Order were level 12, on the cusp of level 13, by the time of strip 342. Compared to that, level 5 is "very low level" indeed.