OOTS #352 - The Discussion Thread

[Bakta]

I liked the boobs part, but my favorite was the "two mississippi, three mississippi, four mississippi".

What kind of dwarf is Durkon??

Really!, one can understand he was stressed and all, but is that a reason to throw away a perfectly good cultural tradition?

He should be ashamed of himself

;D

[Antina]

B E S T S T R I P E V E R !!!

Couldn´t stop laughing for minutes!!

Soooo GREAT !!! :D


THANK YOU SO MUCH, MR. GIANT!!!

"Best of"-List:
* Great contrast from the "emptyness" of the first few panels to the punchline
* Look - boobs [...] always works
* catatonic gay dwarf
* weathercontrolcontrolweather- when Julia gets it (she was way to overconfident)
* the big picture of what the BIG flash of lightning alone is causing
*V´s smiling face!!! S/He KNOWS what Durkon is up to :-)
* The Druid telling it was 4 miles away and Durkons counting ...three Mississippi, four mississippi, NOW!!!

Didn´t see any of that coming!!!

Great picture of all the trees being shattered!

Durkons old fear of trees really payed out this time!

[Antina]

What kind of dwarf is Durkon??

Really!, one can understand he was stressed and all, but is that a reason to throw away a perfectly good cultural tradition?

He should be ashamed of himself

;D

It was NO countDOWN at all and the other strip referred clearly to NEW years eve.
sorry. ???

[Zeb The Troll]

It was NO countDOWN at all and the other strip referred clearly to NEW years eve.
sorry.

Au contraire. In the second panel of #316 Belkar specifically asks whether this is a New Year's tradition and Durkon says, "Na. Pretty much whene'er anyone counts."

Zeb

[Sir_Norbert]

It is 1 mississippi per mile....if it takes you 4 seconds to say the word "Mississippi" :)

You'd have to be talking extremely slowly
;)

[battleburn]

Au contraire. In the second panel of #316 Belkar specifically asks whether this is a New Year's tradition and Durkon says, "Na. Pretty much whene'er anyone counts."

Zeb

I agree and Durkon was absolutely doing a countdown. Doesn't matter that he was in fact counting up. He was counting the time it would take for the Boom to arrive. Therefore, countdown.

I've allways learned 3 seconds for a kilometer.
I mile is longer, so I'd say that 4 or 5 seconds should be around a Mile.
Since I think Julia is reacting almost directly to the flash, Durkon could only put the "one mississipi" in before that. So I still say that Durkon only counted 4 mississipies. Therefore about 1 mile.

[Xarian]

Wow... just goes to show you that you do NOT piss of a Dwarven Cleric of Thor! That was damn cool! Good work man!

[Delgarde]

Ok so the rules part of me admits yeah Weather Control probably can't do that. However the part of me that loves a good story says FREAKIN SWEET!!!!! And that part's a lot louder right now ;D

Yup. Sometimes, you've just got to say "Screw the rules - that's too cool not to work..."

[Loki_d20]

Well, hope no one find out it was Durkon that shattered all of the glass in a 4+ mile radius...

[Loki_d20]

I agree and Durkon was absolutely doing a countdown. Doesn't matter that he was in fact counting up. He was counting the time it would take for the Boom to arrive. Therefore, countdown.

I've allways learned 3 seconds for a kilometer.
I mile is longer, so I'd say that 4 or 5 seconds should be around a Mile.
Since I think Julia is reacting almost directly to the flash, Durkon could only put the "one mississipi" in before that. So I still say that Durkon only counted 4 mississipies. Therefore about 1 mile.

Completely different here. Always learned that saying '<#> mississippi' is equivalent to one mile. So, getting up to 4 mississippi means it's 4 miles away. This jives with the comment made by the gnome about the lightning hitting 4 miles away.

[Kanashimi]

Wow. #1, Durkon must have his ranks in concentration maxed to not falter at the idea of seeing boobs!

#2. I have always loved control weather, but raraley use it because of the long casting time. Go Durkon!

#3. great comic!

BOOM!

[Harliquinn]

Definitely one of my favorite strips!

[Harliquinn]

Yup. Sometimes, you've just got to say "Screw the rules - that's too cool not to work..."

It's actually kinda sorta within the rules. As a priest of Thor (Who is the God of Thunder), it is likely that Dur has either "Born of the Three Thunders" feat (Which causes lightning spells to do an equivalent amount of sonic damage) or some Lightning or Thunder Domain which does a similar thing. So in essence, it would be technically possible to do something like this within the rules. AND it was just freakin' cool!

[Sanctu]

@TreesOfDeath: Durkon's not gay, Julia just unfairly assumes he is, because he's not interested in her at all.

"Unfairly?" You make it sound like being gay is a bad thing.

Personally, I liked the window into her personality. I'm hoping we see some more of her.

[Kanashimi]

no, the unfair part I think is because he doesn't want to look at HER ta-tas, he must be gay. That's a little egocentric, but that's what we love about Julia. And again, he just has a whole lot of ranks in concentration.

[Goofy]

Completely different here. Always learned that saying '<#> mississippi' is equivalent to one mile. So, getting up to 4 mississippi means it's 4 miles away. This jives with the comment made by the gnome about the lightning hitting 4 miles away.

As has been said before: It's 1 mile per 5 seconds. This can be verified by simple math: 760 mph divided by 3600 seconds per mile yields 0.2 miles per second which in turn yields 1 mile per 5 seconds.

However, it's commonly taught that it's 1 mile per second in the US (though I think I was taught 1:4 or 1:5, but that was way too long ago to remember). Therefore, Rich was using the "common knowledge" of 1 mile per second in the comic strip.

[Sanctu]

Granted... I do agree, the assumption that our dwarf, holding a scroll and his holy symbol, concentrating on a spell, and assuming that he must be gay because he's not dropping everything to find her captivating... yeah, clearly she gets her grades through social interaction and not from her INT bonus. Or she's REAL low level (ie. inexperienced).

[Felinoid]

As has been said before: It's 1 mile per 5 seconds. This can be verified by simple math: 760 mph divided by 3600 seconds per mile yields 0.2 miles per second which in turn yields 1 mile per 5 seconds.

However, it's commonly taught that it's 1 mile per second in the US (though I think I was taught 1:4 or 1:5, but that was way too long ago to remember). Therefore, Rich was using the "common knowledge" of 1 mile per second in the comic strip.

Well, this is nitpicking, but I wouldn't say 'commonly taught'; if you pay attention in science class you'll hear 1:5. However the incorrect figure is bandied about a lot by regular people, passed down from parent to child, etc. Personally, I think it's appalling how far such misinformation has spread.

[Goofy]

Well, this is nitpicking, but I wouldn't say 'commonly taught'; if you pay attention in science class you'll hear 1:5. However the incorrect figure is bandied about a lot by regular people, passed down from parent to child, etc. Personally, I think it's appalling how far such misinformation has spread.

I meant commonly taught as in taught when I was in 3rd/4th grade, not physics class. In fact, in all the physics I've taken, not once have they suggested using speed of sound to calculate distance from lightning. Then again, we never discussed speed of sound too much in collge. Speed of light was much more interesting.

[Aliquid]

Completely different here. Always learned that saying '<#> mississippi' is equivalent to one mile.

Unfortunately the learning you were taught was wrong.

At sea level, the speed of sound is 761 miles per hour (check any encyclopedia for that). Divide that by 60 and then by 60, and you get 0.211 miles per second.

[Edit] It looks like a bunch of people already posted this response while I was typing this.... I should be more speedy [/Edit]

So it will take 4.74 seconds for sound to travel one mile not one missisippi (unless you say it slowly).

I also remember learning that one second was one mile when I was a kid.... I guess that's just an urban legend.

Anyway, this is assuming the speed of sound in our world, who knows what the speed is in the OOTS universe. There is no reason that it has to be the same.

[Aliquid]

Granted... I do agree, the assumption that our dwarf, holding a scroll and his holy symbol, concentrating on a spell, and assuming that he must be gay because he's not dropping everything to find her captivating... yeah, clearly she gets her grades through social interaction and not from her INT bonus. Or she's REAL low level (ie. inexperienced).

Actually, she could have a high INT, but a very low WIS.

Spot, sense motive... etc

[Kruul]

Always thought the full round VC of casting was more complicated but....
POWERGAMER!
:P

[Loki_d20]

As has been said before: It's 1 mile per 5 seconds. This can be verified by simple math: 760 mph divided by 3600 seconds per mile yields 0.2 miles per second which in turn yields 1 mile per 5 seconds.

However, it's commonly taught that it's 1 mile per second in the US (though I think I was taught 1:4 or 1:5, but that was way too long ago to remember). Therefore, Rich was using the "common knowledge" of 1 mile per second in the comic strip.

Speed of sound and science has nothing to do with it, which was pretty much my point. The comic even says four miles, so relating it with the typical scientific equation doesn't matter much, but relating it to the common, even if false, concept of mississippis is what's important.

I also wouldn't rely on an equation that doesn't take into account atmospheric conditions.

[Goofy]

Speed of sound and science has nothing to do with it, which was pretty much my point. The comic even says four miles, so relating it with the typical scientific equation doesn't matter much, but relating it to the common, even if false, concept of mississippis is what's important.

I also wouldn't rely on an equation that doesn't take into account atmospheric conditions.

I don't get why you would criticize my post, since I basically said exactly what you just did, except that I was showing why a lot of people are saying it's 1 mile per 5 seconds when others keep saying they learned a mile per second.

As for the equation not taking atmospheric conditions into account: Obviously I was using the simplest equation possible, using (not even the exact value of) the speed of sound as it's commonly reported in air at normal atmospheric conditions. I wasn't trying to teach fluid dynamics, just illustrating the derivation that about half of us have been using.

[GypsyThorn]

I don't get why you would criticize my post, since I basically said exactly what you just did, except that I was showing why a lot of people are saying it's 1 mile per 5 seconds when others keep saying they learned a mile per second.

As for the equation not taking atmospheric conditions into account: Obviously I was using the simplest equation possible, using (not even the exact value of) the speed of sound as it's commonly reported in air at normal atmospheric conditions. I wasn't trying to teach fluid dynamics, just illustrating the derivation that about half of us have been using.

Sound travels at the speed of plot.

[Loki_d20]

I don't get why you would criticize my post, since I basically said exactly what you just did, except that I was showing why a lot of people are saying it's 1 mile per 5 seconds when others keep saying they learned a mile per second.

Because your post was to inform me of scientific data, of which I did not bring up nor is it relevant to that of which I spoke. I did not need to be informed of the science of the subject as it relates to the real world. My interpretation was entirely based on the data provided by the comic.

While you may have come to the same conclusion that The Giant was using the false method of measurement commonly spread to children in the U.S.A., the majority of your post was aimed at correcting me of something of which did not need correction and which further took the conversation outside of the realm of the comic and into the realm of real world science and physics. An area in which I was not venturing.

[kerberos]

Granted... I do agree, the assumption that our dwarf, holding a scroll and his holy symbol, concentrating on a spell, and assuming that he must be gay because he's not dropping everything to find her captivating... yeah, clearly she gets her grades through social interaction and not from her INT bonus. Or she's REAL low level (ie. inexperienced).

Most likely she has the "hypnotic boobs" power, from the Slayer's guide to female gamers. Her expectation of breathless attention from any heterosexual male, is probably quite well founded.

[KeiranHalcyon]

The false one second/mile rule persists because it makes sense to laypeople who've never been told better, and because if they're wrong, usually nothing bad happens. Hikers & backpackers, however, are completely clear that 5 seconds/mile is closer to reality, and close enough to guage the distance to know when it's necessary to find cover. Additionally, atmospheric conditions will not affect the speed of sound enough to be of much consequence - certainly not enough to get the speed up to 1 mile/second.

That said, there are several possible explainations for the comic:

• The speed of sound is different in OOTSland. Certainly plausible, since V and others make a point of "telling the laws of physics to sit down and shut up" routinely.
• Leeky was wrong about the distance.
• Gnomish miles and/or OOTSland miles are shorter than real-world miles.
• It takes a much longer time to say "Miss'ssippi" in Durkon's accent than it does for a normal human.
• Rich flubbed. He's done it before. With the material he puts out being as funny as it is, I forgive him.

[battleburn]

Magic works because people believe it does. That's why in the modern times magic doesn't exist. The belief that it cannot be, exersised by bilions of people make it impossible. Then the logical step is to assume that magic works in methods thought to be right. Magic works with the four elements. Why, because people believed in four elements. In the modern day a lightning bolt would require extensive knowledge of static energy production, molecules, etc.
So when a magical lightning bolt strikes 4 miles away in a time where people believe its one mile a second. Then it is. Because its magical sound.
A normal lightning bolt would take about 5 times as long probably.

How about that for a theory?

-Battleburn

[kyrin]

The only thing that would have made that lightning panel more perfect would have been a huge transparent background of Thor, beer mug in one hand, hammer in the other, laughing his butt off.

I'd say that was the point in the gaming session when the DM just kinda stares at the player.

Player: "I'm casting Weather Control"
DM: (wrinkles brow) "Okay, what do you want to do?"
Player: "Create a huge lightning bolt, but concentrate all the thunder in a 10' radius, centered on Leaky."
DM: (agog) (sputter) "Allright, somebody get me a Player's Handbook. WITH Errata!"

Great stuff, Giant. Waiting with bated breath for the Damage Machine to get rolling, and the tide to fully turn.

JIM
aka kyrin