OOTS #876 - The Discussion Thread

[JackRackham]

Truly, this is the saddest thing ever. (This quote referred to another about how Durkon wouldn't be able to drink alcohol)

Meh. He's been in human lands for better than a decade without a decent ale. What's another unending undeath for a good dwarf?

[TRH]

Ummm.... Guys... Have you learned NOTHING from the Giant?
Expect the unexpected... If you're all guessing that he's gonna get vamped he's probably not


Especially after this
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0836.html
Elan has a plan that involves Durkon somehow... I highly doubt the Giant slapped that in without having a clear thought on what it is and that vamp Durkon would have a part in it...


I'm still betting on Durkon winning.

How? Good question. If Malack is grappling Durkon, doesn't that mean that he can't take any other action? Specifically, he can't attempt to dominate Belkar (requires standard action).

Durkon can easily dismiss the hold person over Belkar and have our not-so-friendly Ranger\Barbarian come to the rescue.

Plus there's the question of how does Malack's backdoor work? Does it dismiss the entire spell or just those in ear shot?)

No good; the domination effect can't be dispelled and lasts 1 day per level, so Belkar's still dominated right now. Besides, I'm pretty sure a vampire's gaze is also a free action, so he could probably use it even while grappling.

[snikrept]

Wouldn't Vampire Durkon be immune to Xykon's favorite attack, namely Energy Drain?

[NihhusHuotAliro]

No! Not Durkon!

O buddy Durkon, of the mighty beard

Your light is gone, it must be fear'd

from a world of almonds and nasty trees

and cajuns and ice cream and lovely threes

you were a constant, so stable and true

but now you're gone, we have no clue

our arboreal tormentors that haunt our dreams

and laugh at all our futile screams

sleep easier now that you are gone

Malack, Malack, what have you done

Oh Durkon, Durkon Thundershield

your memory shall never yield!

[Canisius]

No good; the domination effect can't be dispelled and lasts 1 day per level, so Belkar's still dominated right now. Besides, I'm pretty sure a vampire's gaze is also a free action, so he could probably use it even while grappling.

Thanks for clearing that up. I guess it's hello to Count Durkon.

[Toper]

This comic makes me so worried. As the thread says, .

I am also extremely glad we get more comics soon.

I can't imagine the comic with Durkon as an evil vampire, no matter how well it would fit with the Oracle's prophecy. The Order would be too, too different. And I don't know why Rich would do it; if this was a TV show it could be a stupid stunt for shock value, but here it wouldn't happen without a reason.

Of course, there could be reasons I don't know about. But for now I'm just going to hope and trust and maybe say a little prayer to Thor for Durkon's rescue and protection. OK, Thor? You listening? Thanks.

[SaintRidley]

Durkon can easily dismiss the hold person over Belkar and have our not-so-friendly Ranger\Barbarian come to the rescue.

Belkar is stuck under Malack's control for twelve days, per the caster level of a vampire's dominating gaze. He doesn't have to maintain eye contact to maintain the domination.

[Incom]

Guys I can't believe I missed this.

Durkon's gonna die, which we know from the Oracle. And go to the LG afterlife, presumably. (Maybe he'll get vamped and still be floating around physically, but let's say his soul goes to the mountain--either separately, or when his vampire body is destroyed.)

Now who else is in the LG afterlife that we know of. Roy's family.....

...and Roy's Archon.

Who we know was told to go work on some sort of plan, which we didn't get to hear about. And Roy knew that Durkon's death was imminent if they didn't stop Xykon at Girard's Gate.

Prediction: Roy's Archon's plan has something to do with posthumous Durkon.

[Sweet_Goddess]

There's been plenty of non-OGL stuff in the comic. Its presence has even been directly addressed.

Moreover, on a storytelling point of view, solving a climatic battle scene with a cheap gag like that just wouldn't work. IMO, at least.

Mr. Jones and Mr. Rodriguez ain't showing up to save the day here.

Z is a parody though, so he fulfills that stipulation... and isn't that how Z got dragged off in the first place? Solving a climatic battle with a cheap gag?

All Durkon has to do is get Malack to monologue some more and mention his race name. By explicitly identifying himself as one, he ceases to be ambiguous and being a race with a Vampire template isn't a parody of the race.

----------------------------------------------------

Also, maybe the backdoor isn't earshot, it is target? So he has to get each one individually... and since Durkon and Malack are in combat, technically they block LOS to one another and nearby opponents... you can't make ranged attacks out of melee, which includes gaze attacks, so Belkar can't be vampire gazed anymore...

Guys I can't believe I missed this.

Durkon's gonna die, which we know from the Oracle. And go to the LG afterlife, presumably. (Maybe he'll get vamped and still be floating around physically, but let's say his soul goes to the mountain--either separately, or when his vampire body is destroyed.)

Now who else is in the LG afterlife that we know of. Roy's family.....

...and Roy's Archon.

Who we know was told to go work on some sort of plan, which we didn't get to hear about. And Roy knew that Durkon's death was imminent if they didn't stop Xykon at Girard's Gate.

Prediction: Roy's Archon's plan has something to do with posthumous Durkon.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

You could be very right...

[AutomatedTeller]

I did not see that coming.

Am guessing that the cat saves the day. Dunno how, but it will.

Or V. V showing up would be very good right now.

[squidbreath]

Never create something you cannot destroy. I said it a long time ago and will say it a long after. Too many characters were destroyed by their own creation used against them, or simply escaping their control.

This is one of the most awesome comic I ever seen.

On the funny side: How long will it take to people to start shiping these two?

I'll have you know I started shipping it way earlier than this :P

[jere7my]

Huecuva... okay, this one could have been, except it was long ago forfeited, so it is open game content... available for public use.

The huecuva originates in South American mythology:

http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/s...deity=HUECUVUS

http://books.google.com/books?id=sR6...ecuvus&f=false

Eye of Fear and Flame... again, just a chain of words, which is not very distinctive and too easily accidentally used by anyone to be approved for a intellectual property

That, on the other hand, could certainly be trademarked. Remember that Superman is a trademarked name.

[HuntedWalrus]

Oh, no... Durkon... NO!

... I am actually tearing up at the thought of a stick figure dwarf possibly being turned into a stick figure vampire dwarf by a stick figure lizardesque humanoid in an online comic strip, which I read as a temporary esacpe from reality, which leads me to ask... just how bad is reality?!

[FujinAkari]

Z is a parody though, so he fulfills that stipulation... and isn't that how Z got dragged off in the first place? Solving a climatic battle with a cheap gag?

Yes, back when OOTS was gag-a-day and not story-focused.

[The Pilgrim]

So, this time the vampirization will be for real, or what?

[Nephrahim]

The huecuva originates in South American mythology:

http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/s...deity=HUECUVUS

http://books.google.com/books?id=sR6...ecuvus&f=false



That, on the other hand, could certainly be trademarked. Remember that Superman is a trademarked name.

I read this thinking it said helvetica. "Woah, that font was taken out of south America?! I had no idea!"

[Raineh Daze]

Oh, no... Durkon... NO!

... I am actually tearing up at the thought of a stick figure dwarf possibly being turned into a stick figure vampire dwarf by a stick figure lizardesque humanoid in an online comic strip, which I read as a temporary esacpe from reality, which leads me to ask... just how bad is reality?!

Well, hey, that was my response to Roy's discovery at his mother's house the other day, even though I was rereading it. Art style has no link with emotional content.

[mawexzon]

The huecuva originates in South American mythology:

http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/s...deity=HUECUVUS

http://books.google.com/books?id=sR6...ecuvus&f=false

Okay, this is strange, I am from Chile, And i had never heard of that legend.

[Greylond]

I think Belkar will save Durkon. Goes along with the theme of Belkar being the "Team Player" and saving his teammates.

[Canisius]

Guys I can't believe I missed this.

Durkon's gonna die, which we know from the Oracle. And go to the LG afterlife, presumably. (Maybe he'll get vamped and still be floating around physically, but let's say his soul goes to the mountain--either separately, or when his vampire body is destroyed.)

Now who else is in the LG afterlife that we know of. Roy's family.....

...and Roy's Archon.

Who we know was told to go work on some sort of plan, which we didn't get to hear about. And Roy knew that Durkon's death was imminent if they didn't stop Xykon at Girard's Gate.

Prediction: Roy's Archon's plan has something to do with posthumous Durkon.

Thanks for that - do you know the strip this happened in?

[Canisius]

I think Belkar will save Durkon. Goes along with the theme of Belkar being the "Team Player" and saving his teammates.

Read up a few comments. Domination is a pretty long-lived effect.

And yes, I'd guessed that, but barring some sort of "remove curse" type spell, it looks like he's under Malack's control for the foreseeable future.

[SaintRidley]

Okay, this is strange, I am from Chile, And i had never heard of that legend.

Not terribly unexpected. The tribe those links attribute the legend to numbers about 2500 people today.

[Shale]

When Roy was getting ready for his resurrection, he said to the archon, "you know what to do," or something like tthat.

[Porthos]

Z is a parody though, so he fulfills that stipulation... and isn't that how Z got dragged off in the first place? Solving a climatic battle with a cheap gag?

In strip number #65, yes. While there is still plenty of self-referential humor and anti-climatic scenes (in the truest sense of the word)3, I tend to think the comic has shifted a bit, story-telling wise since then.

....

At least for Super High Value Dramatic scenes.

Plus, as I said, there is plenty of non-OGL content in this strip that is being used in a non-pardoic way.

[NihhusHuotAliro]

[[quote/]]I read this thinking it said helvetica. "Woah, that font was taken out of south America?! I had no idea!"[[quote]]

Helvetica is a font from Switzerland, developed by Switzerlanders named Eduard Hoffman and Max Meidinger for the Haas'sche Schriftgiesserei company.

It is a wonderful font, with a proud history; which has now been replaced by the scoundrel almondy soapy parasite font Arial.

Arial pretends to be Helvetica, but it is not. It's like those Cowbirds that lay their eggs in the nests of Wrens, leaving the Wren parents to raise the Cowbird hatchling, which is much bigger than its Wren nestmates and so requires more food. It gets too big and accidentally pushes the real Wrens out of the nests, sometimes to their deaths if it is in a high tree or a high barn.

Arial is not intentionally evil, but it is a parasite, riding on the coattails of Helvetica, stealing its use (which, for fonts, serve as nutrients) from within.

So no, Helvetica is not from South America.

[Samalpetey]

No good; the domination effect can't be dispelled and lasts 1 day per level, so Belkar's still dominated right now. Besides, I'm pretty sure a vampire's gaze is also a free action, so he could probably use it even while grappling.

It isn't a free action, it's a standard action. Hence why he used the gaze, waited 3 rounds for durkon to do his stuff, then cast harm on himself.

[Kaulguard]

I think many people are forgetting the crucial spoiler hidden in secret message form in the Coloring Book:

Spoiler

Show

Thor to Durkon: I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WOULD DO, EITHER.

So, there's that.

[Needle]

Poor Durkon

There's so many speculation going on that I'm dazed, prefer to wait I guess x_x

[zero32483]

Now would be a perfect moment for Vaarsuvius to show up and redeem himself by saving two of his companions from the slavery of undeath! GO, V, GO!

[F.Harr]

Oh.....Crap. This is intense.

Hell-yeah it is.

O.K., now I can see how there is, ultimately, no compromise with Malack. You can't really compromise with a person who is going to depopulate an entire continent for the glory of his god. Unless he's going to do it by old age. You know, just claim that the people who die of heart failier etc. every year is to the glory of your god and spend the rest of the day suffeling the paperwork around.

Anyway, despite the short awkwardness of the composition (and to be honest, it's probably just me), damn, that's good drama.