Why is O'Chul ....[spoilers]

[TheRiov]

...still alive?

Miko should have been higher HP than O'Chul given that she was 'strongest paladin in the Saphire Guard' --she didnt lose that when she went grey.

O'Chul was point blank just as Miko was when the gate detonated.
O'Chul was paralyzed so could not avoid or apply evasion damage.
O'Chul plummeted from the top of the tower and was THROWN all the way outside the city. He presumably took at least as much damage as Roy did from falling--and I guarntee that the Meteor Swarm/Finger of Death that Roy Soaked was less overall damage than being blasted point blank from the gate exploding.

SO: Why is O'Chul still alive? (other than a character shield)

[Tredrick]

Well, for one thing, he was not bisected by a throne. For all we know the direct explosion did zero damage being entirely magical in nature.

[TheRiov]

Nah. it clearly did physical damage (Ie shattering the tower, knocking over several other towers, lighting the city on fire)

[Fred Fumblrol]

I think the only reason Miko was killed in the blast is because the throne itself cut her in two. Since O'Chul got blown toward the plain like he did, I expected Miko to get blown out into the sea, or possibly landing on Hinjos junk. She still lingered enough to talk to Soon, so the blast didn't kill her outright.

[Radar]

Who said he is still alive? Most probably paralysis spell is still working, so the difference is not that visible.

If he is alive, then it would be due to his higher level (and thus HP). Besides Miko was still concious, when she was cut in half, so she was not more then 10 HP below 0 (or something like that was in D&D - correct me if i'm wrong). This means that there was not much more needed, to survive the explosion.

[Spiryt]

Well it's one quite popular theory: (I supprot that theory):

He is not alive.

Everything in castle was destroyed, but explosion didn't shattered bodies too much ( As you said Miko was probably cut by throne, not ripped by explosion force).

Lich touch is permanent, although it is not clear if victim is still stiff after death. Assuming that yes, it is, O- Chul is now numb corpse, which can travel great distances trough air and easily hold scone in numb fingers.

[factotum]

But that would assume the paralysis also prevents his eyes turning to Xs to indicate he's dead, and there doesn't seem to be any conclusive evidence one way or the other about that.

[Lord_Kimboat]

Maybe the DM (Rich) is allowing the paralysis spell to act as armor and protecting him from harm as it keeps him stiff as a board (or even stiffer, since the throne was presumably made of boards)! Granted, I don't really buy it either but I've seen some pretty weird Dming decisions in my time.

[sikyon]

Nah. it clearly did physical damage (Ie shattering the tower, knocking over several other towers, lighting the city on fire)

I don't recall people having a break DC.

[Hranat]

Here we can see that the palace is about twice as high as the wall... and a typical Metropolis wall is about 40 feet high... If we would assume the sapphire lies at 100 feet high then O'Chul would have sustained 10d6 falling damage (there aren't many rules about being tossed away)

I think the Gate-explosion was a bit like Saurons death, a blast which destroyes most buildings within its radius, but only knocks down (or slings away) bystanders. In that case we could say O'Chul took say... 20d6 damage, which he could have survived...

EDIT: if Miko would have been killed by the explosion, her head would be lying off... the sapphire was closer to her head when she sundered it

[Fascisticide]

I think the reason he's still alive is because it's more fun this way

[SPoD]

...still alive?

Man, this question is just going to come up every time we see O-Chul from now on, isn't it? It's really not that complicated or impossible by the D&D rules*.

He probably has a significantly higher Constitution than Miko. He might have an Amulet of Health and put all of his stat boosts into Con, whereas Miko didn't. Even being a few levels lower, he would end up with many more hit points.

Or, he made his saving throw and Miko didn't. Contrary to popular belief, yes, you still get a Reflex save when you're paralyzed, you just have an effective Dexterity of 0 (for a -5 Dex penalty). If an inanimate object gets a Reflex save, so does a paralyzed person. But O-Chul has Divine Grace and Miko doesn't. Also, as the one who triggered the explosion, Miko may have been specifically disallowed a saving throw. Or she may have just rolled a 1 on her save.

Or. most likely, both. He has a higher Con, so even though he was flung further, he rolled high on his Reflex save and squeaked by, taking only, say, 119 points of damage out of his (say) 120 hp.

* Real world physics and "What I would rule if I was DM" don't matter at all here.

[Ancalagon]

The blast did 10d100 damage.

Miko rolled lots of 50s and is dead, O'Chul ten threes and is alive. The fall did some more 10d20, again ten threes. There you have your explanation. It is as good as any other explanation.

[Wrecan]

There can be lots of explanations.

O'Chul has rings of feather falling and fire resistance, and the explosion counts as fire damage.

O'Chul also has a multiclass or prestige class of some sort that protected him.

O'Chul is dead.

O'Chul had clerics cast lots of spells on him before the battle that saved him. Miko had no protective spells on her and did not have divine grace.

[Rhyeira]

Oh, please, not *again*... how many times has this been discussed here?

Just in case you really have not found any of the old threads:
We don't know yet if O'Chul is dead or alive and lots of people have come up with lots of arguments in favor of both of these two possibilities.

The funny thing here is:
It doesn't really matter anymore whether he is dead or alive as long as Haley and Belkar just drag him along... they can find out later and cast the appropriate spells in either case.

[OOTS_Rules.]

The DM accidentially rolled all ones on O'Chul's explosion rolls while Miko rolled the maximum possible damage.

[Mr. Dragon]

A wizard did that. Which, incidentally, partially accounts for the disappearance of

[Kurald Galain]

Because he's played by the DM's girlfriend.

[Blood]

As already mentioned, a Lich's paralyzing touch is permanent. When he died, he wouldn't have even been able to close his eyes or change the formation of his grip. So his eyes didn't close even though he's dead (or rather, in Rich's terms, they didn't change to X's), and his grip on his sword didn't change, so he could hold the scone just fine.

[nimby]

As already mentioned, a Lich's paralyzing touch is permanent. When he died, he wouldn't have even been able to close his eyes or change the formation of his grip. So his eyes didn't close even though he's dead (or rather, in Rich's terms, they didn't change to X's), and his grip on his sword didn't change, so he could hold the scone just fine.

SoD spoiler:

Spoiler

Show

SoD shows Xykon killing people with his paralyzing touch, giving them x's for eyes. Ugly's alive!

[Khosan]

Nah. it clearly did physical damage (Ie shattering the tower, knocking over several other towers, lighting the city on fire)

Just as a note. The explosion didn't set the city on fire, the city was on fire when Miko escaped from jail, which was before the gate exploded, so it's pretty safe to assume the hobbos did that.

[Sigbru]

He alive because he is not O-chul, the real O-chul was send to the future, falling in Xykon when he was about to free the Snarl. this O-chul is just a doll that they make in the future (to honor the world hero) that was send into the past and fell near
Its so simple

[Squark]

Nimby solved it once and for all.

[Strengfellow]

So O'Chuls first name is Jack eh?

[Querzis]

Miko didnt died because of the explosions, she died because she was cut in two half by the throne. O-chul simply didnt hit anything other then maybe some little rock, thats all. Beside falling damage is ridiculous in D&D, he can totally survive that and, since hes paralyzed, his body cant move no matter what so being tossed away shoudnt do much damage to him in the first place. Or he could be dead, but its still totally possible he survived no matter if we go by D&D rules or real world physics.

[Porthos]

SoD spoiler:

Spoiler

Show

SoD shows Xykon killing people with his paralyzing touch, giving them x's for eyes. Ugly's alive!

Awsome point, and one that I hadn't thought about!

That, as they say, settles that.

On a more general note:

Miko got bisected, O-Chul didn't.
Miko failed her save, O-Chul made his (Nat 20 FTW!!!).
O-Chul had the Power of the Plot to save him while Miko had a different function in the plot.

And, yes, according to the rules of DnD, it is quite easy for O-Chul to (barely) have survived. Really. No honest. DnD is just funny that way.

[Ertier]

1. O-Chull can, by the laws of plot and D&D physics, still be alive.

2. Miko had to die by the laws of plot physics.

3.DM has final say over the dice. (Give your thanks to the giant)

P.s. I WIN !!!!!

[MReav]

O-Chul wears a Ring of Feather Falling and used Lay on Hands as a readied action to offset the damage when the throne room blew.

[Jasdoif]

Or, he made his saving throw and Miko didn't. Contrary to popular belief, yes, you still get a Reflex save when you're paralyzed, you just have an effective Dexterity of 0 (for a -5 Dex penalty). If an inanimate object gets a Reflex save, so does a paralyzed person. But O-Chul has Divine Grace and Miko doesn't. Also, as the one who triggered the explosion, Miko may have been specifically disallowed a saving throw. Or she may have just rolled a 1 on her save.

For the record, an inanimate (and nonmagical) object only gets a Reflex save if it's attended.


Anyway, even if she made the save (and Evasion-ed it to no damage), she ended up inside the city. In order for the explosion to push O-Chul all the way to the MitD and yet allow Miko to land inside the city walls, she would have to have been blown upwards, and then come down. I'm pretty confident that hits the cap on falling damage distance, so that's 20d6 falling damage for her, plus at least another 20d6 for the throne falling on her. And 40d6 is a lot of damage.

[Guildorn Tanaleth]

As already mentioned, a Lich's paralyzing touch is permanent. When he died, he wouldn't have even been able to close his eyes or change the formation of his grip. So his eyes didn't close even though he's dead (or rather, in Rich's terms, they didn't change to X's), and his grip on his sword didn't change, so he could hold the scone just fine.

I'm pretty sure that a person's eyes stay open when they die, unless the mortician closes them.