OOTS #1069 - The Discussion Thread

[Chei]

In Panel 3, does anyone know what she meant about living and dying, and also about what Roy said about another couple of days? I'm afraid I don't know what they're talking about

Roy and Co. are trying to prevent the gods from voting to destroy the world. The tiebreaker vote concludes in about 2 days. Durkula is trying to rig the election.
She thinks she'll live because she's going to kill him (which is also why he will die), but he knows she will actually die with everyone else.

[Auburn Bright]

Elan's concentrating face is great! I don't think we've ever seen him look quite so strained before.

I also don't think I've ever found him as relatable as I do right now.

[MadPooka]

Roy and Co. are trying to prevent the gods from voting to destroy the world. The tiebreaker vote concludes in about 2 days. Durkula is trying to rig the election.
She thinks she'll live because she's going to kill him (which is also why he will die), but he knows she will actually die with everyone else.

OOOH! Right of course, it all makes sense now. haha how did I forget about that?

[GreatWyrmGold]

Why do I have the feeling that Elan is poking some fun at readers who try to read too much into the comic's "SFX" and how they translate into game mechanics?

Looks like the verdict is... Stunned!

Also prone.

It must be turned into a smiley. The Gods demand it!

...
You know, if my laptop wasn't in the shop, I'd probably make that.

OOOH! Right of course, it all makes sense now. haha how did I forget about that?

I don't know. I mean, she was literally trying to kill her that panel.
Oh, did you mean the world-destroying thing? It's been out of focus for the past couple dozen strips or so.

[Basement Cat]

I'm guessing that it took Elan 11 attempts to cast mending once but not that he burnt through 11 spell slots to do so.

If Roy could transition to 5th ed. Eldritch Knight then at 3rd level he could summon his sword at will.

...crickets...

Oh, for goodness sake, Roy: Get a spear or throwing ax or something!

[St Fan]

-Staggered: You have taken nonlethal damage equal to your remaining HP. You can take a move action or a standard action, but not both. Yeah, this one is very niche.

There's also a feat, "Staggering Strike", that can inflict the Staggered condition following a sneak attack.

[nyjastul69]

is that a rules joke at the end? it seems to be a combination of rules joke and the artwork joke.

Yes, it's both a rules and artwork joke. Swoopy stars being a reference to the stunned, staggered, dazed and dazzled conditions. Those are all conditions that can affect a character's ability to take actions in D&D. Those conditions, artistically, are represented by the swoopy stars.

I believe the swirly eye reference is to conditions that affect one's mental well being. Conditions such as confused or fascinated are examples of these. I also think Rich uses swirly eyes to represent certain spell effects that aren't conditions, such as charmed or dominated.

Here is a link tothe conditions listed in the SRD if you want to see the mechanical effects of the conditions Elan cited.

[Ruslan]

Turns out it was much easier than expected to get a replacement weapon ... and it did a lot less good than expected.

[nyjastul69]

Turns out it was much easier than expected to get a replacement weapon ... and it did a lot less good than expected.

What did you expect? Did you expect something different? 😉

[Unoriginal]

First place goes to the Sexy Shoeless God of War for having the most epic of D&D creeds to live by.

The battle prowesses of the Halfling are pretty much entirely artistic licences, though.

I mean, Small Daggers, negative modifier to WIS, Barbarian class features he could not really benefit from?


If DnD rules were to be applied, I'd say that Lord Sojo had a decent chance against Beklar.

[Ron Miel]

Speculation on how Elan can save Roy:

Maybe he could ...

Spoiler

Show

... cast an illusion of a bag over her head, so she thinks she can't see.

Do illusions work like that?

[Kish]

Why would Belkar not benefit from his barbarian class features?

[GreatWyrmGold]

There's also a feat, "Staggering Strike", that can inflict the Staggered condition following a sneak attack.

...How does that work, exactly?

Speculation on how Elan can save Roy:

Maybe he could ...

Spoiler

Show

... cast an illusion of a bag over her head, so she thinks she can't see.

Do illusions work like that?

Something like that could work. After all, illusions block one's vision of things behind them. It would need to be an illusion which can move with the giant's head, though, or it's not going to work for long.

[ishnar]

Only 11 tries! Woo! Roy will be so proud!

Also, wow, Andy somehow managed to not screw this one up :)

11 tries. Elan is probably low on spells now.

[Chei]

The battle prowesses of the Halfling are pretty much entirely artistic licences, though.

I mean, Small Daggers, negative modifier to WIS, Barbarian class features he could not really benefit from?


If DnD rules were to be applied, I'd say that Lord Sojo had a decent chance against Beklar.

This reminds me. Tarquin's dagger was a Medium dagger, so is Belkar now wielding it as a short sword? I mean it's a 1d4, not much higher than his 1d3 previously, but it's not like the thing can resize.

[Markozeta]

Priceless

It must be turned into a smiley. The Gods demand it!

I love this idea.

[Jasdoif]

This reminds me. Tarquin's dagger was a Medium dagger, so is Belkar now wielding it as a short sword?

He's wielding it as a Medium dagger, because it's a Medium dagger.

Because it's Medium and he uses Small weapons, it's a one-handed weapon for him instead of a light weapon and he has a -2 penalty on the attack roll because of the size difference; but otherwise it's not particularly different from any other weapon he could wield.

[Unoriginal]

This reminds me. Tarquin's dagger was a Medium dagger, so is Belkar now wielding it as a short sword? I mean it's a 1d4, not much higher than his 1d3 previously, but it's not like the thing can resize.

It's a small short sword, I suppose, but some DMs say that magic weapons and armor re-size for the users.

[nyjastul69]

This reminds me. Tarquin's dagger was a Medium dagger, so is Belkar now wielding it as a short sword? I mean it's a 1d4, not much higher than his 1d3 previously, but it's not like the thing can resize.

No, I believe that per the rules he is a small creature using a medium dagger, he takes a -2 to his attack rolls for using an inappropriately sized weapon. The damage is unaffected.

[Chei]

He's wielding it as a Medium dagger, because it's a Medium dagger.

Because it's Medium and he uses Small weapons, it's a one-handed weapon for him instead of a light weapon and he has a -2 penalty on the attack roll because of the size difference; but otherwise it's not particularly different from any other weapon he could wield.

Interesting, okay. I mean, I guess the +5 is easily making up for the deficit, given that the geeks determined his off-hand was a +2 before. Now he's wielding +5/+4 if I'm not mistaken?

[8BitNinja]

Nice comic, looks like Elan finally became slightly proficient in concentration

[hroþila]

Of course the cutlass didn't help. Roy tried to wield it like a longsword

[ChillerInstinct]

So the helium leak is patched, which is good. Which makes me wonder, can the Mechane conjure more from the Elemental Plane of Air and slowly regain lift? Having lost as much as it has, it would take time to get enough to clear the pass, but perhaps the Mechane won't crash, it'll just be forced to anchor until the balloon's filled up, providing time for the mutiny subplot while still leaving the Mechane in the game.

[danielxcutter]

Not really, the cutlass is still right there next to him on the deck before it cuts back to Elan. And presumably Elan is about to descend back to the deck and help Roy duel the remaining frost giant fighter/barbarian/etc. ... hey, maybe Elan will end up dual-wielding the cutlass and his Chaos Sabre? That would be badass.

...You know, that would be cool, and not just because of the dual-wielding thing. Have you noticed that the members of the Order of the Scribble and the Order of the Stick have had quite a few parallels/foils for each other? Elan would make a great foil to Girard if that happened.

On the other hand, I doubt that Elan has TWF, or proficiency with a cutlass for that matter.

[Peelee]

Nice comic, looks like Elan finally became slightly proficient in concentration

You mean he passed the check (assuming a check was even necessary at the time).

[ChillerInstinct]

...You know, that would be cool, and not just because of the dual-wielding thing. Have you noticed that the members of the Order of the Scribble and the Order of the Stick have had quite a few parallels/foils for each other? Elan would make a great foil to Girard if that happened.

On the other hand, I doubt that Elan has TWF, or proficiency with a cutlass for that matter.

Alas, Dashing Swordsman only works with rapiers, if my possibly overly literal interpretation of Julio's wording is correct. So it'd be a liability in a fight, sadly.

[Keltest]

Priceless

I take back everything bad ive said about this arc. It was worth it for that face.

[nocoolnamejim]

This is like the first time you see your kid using the toilet like a big boy.

"Daddy is so VERY, VERY happy and proud with you Elan!"

[nocoolnamejim]

I take back everything bad ive said about this arc. It was worth it for that face.

ALSO a relevant example of seeing your kid using the toilet like a big boy for the first time.

[danielxcutter]

Alas, Dashing Swordsman only works with rapiers, if my possibly overly literal interpretation of Julio's wording is correct. So it'd be a liability in a fight, sadly.

I wonder what that cutlass counts as. There are stats for a cutlass, but it's non-core(think it was in Stormwrack or something?).

And you're probably right either way.