OOTS #1109 - The Discussion Thread

[Lheticus]

25! 25 words! Ah ah ah ah ah ah!

DANGIT! You already thought of that!

[Shining Wrath]

I don't think Durkula's sending will be able to discern Hilgya and the scrying bowl - at least, I hope not. And it's nice to know about the symbol of death; I'm sure that V can think of a way to neutralize that. I just hope the baby doesn't look at it; that would be rather grim.

I note that it's anarchic water, confirming that Hilgya (and presumably Loki) is more chaotic than evil. Or at least wants to present themselves as such to the Order.

[eilandesq]

It's going to be a sad moment if Durkula manages to use Sending far, far more efficiently than Durkon himself did even allowing for villain gloating. Just another gut punch for poor trapped Durkon. :-(

[Doug Lampert]

Greater Scrying makes Hilgya level 13+, so powerful enough to make a real difference.

Which means her turning check should have killed vampire spawn.

[DaOldeWolf]

I wonder what spell Durkon casted. A shame V didnt see what was going on. Definitely foreshadowing for things to come.

[eilandesq]

Activating it with a >150 HP and waiting would work, wouldn't it? I mean, it'd be suicide in the current circumstances, but theoretically, it would, right?

GW

No:



The symbol of death affects the closest creatures first, skipping creatures with too many hit points to affect.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/symbolOfDeath.htm

[Goremplotz]

V is referring to Elan only as "the bard". That betrays surprisingly little respect, or does it?

[Shining Wrath]

One way to take out the Symbol of Death; send in a volunteer who dies to trigger it, and then promise to resurrect them afterward, if possible.

[arimareiji]

Looks like Durkula is channeling his inner Xykon.

Not true - he remembered Roy's name. (^_~)

[Darth Paul]

Tracking is a lot harder without a trail of corpses...

This explains a LOT about Belkar's wilderness survival skills.

And then the villain shows up to begin the ritual taunting, right on cue.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

No:



The symbol of death affects the closest creatures first, skipping creatures with too many hit points to affect.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/symbolOfDeath.htm

Again: the 150 hp guy is alone (anyone else stays 60 feet away, or something). If the symbol has no targets, it remains active, for 10 minutes, then ends its effects. Therefore, if 150HP guy activates it alone, that disarms the thing.

GW

[eilandesq]

Greater Scrying makes Hilgya level 13+, so powerful enough to make a real difference.

Which means her turning check should have killed vampire spawn.

Also:

--Durkula doesn't know she's there, and has planned for a party without a medium to high level cleric (the escaped vampires know that *a* cleric helped drive them off, but no specifics as to power level, and Durkula would have no real reason to know that Durkon knew her);
--Durkula can't see anyone but Roy per how Sending works, and will therefore not get a clue that way;
--Durkula is in a sealed room behind stone walls and a heavy door, so even if Hilgya reacts angrily that shouldn't give it away;
--Durkula won't even know who Hilgya is or that she slept with Durkon unless he happened to look at the specific memories involving her, which seems unlikely (but not impossible).

[Shining Wrath]

Greater Scrying is level 7 for clerics, so Hilgya is at least level 13. That would make her almost a match for Durkon, if not for Durkula. The Crystal-Haley nemesis rules are in effect; Hilgya must have kept up with Durkon prior to his vampirization even while pregnant.

Of course, she might be level 20. Unlikely that she's higher level than Durkon was, but it cannot be ruled out.

[brian 333]

Guys, the symbol is a McGuffin.

It has no magic properties. As I said earlier, Durkula will only be seen when and where he wants to be, so he has staged a monumental distraction to prevent the disruption of his plan. The OoTS should stay on target, which is saving the council, rather than waste their time chasing Durkon around Dwarftown.

A question of an OOC nature: How many vampires can D raise with his speedy vampire spell? How many castings at what spell level? There are a crapload of vampires created in a short amount of time, thus depleting Durkula's spells per day by that much. Add a Symbol spell and that's another empty slot until tomorrow.

Given this, it is apparent D is using the magic of his minions to deplete the resources of The OoTS. So, as long as they are waiting for him in the dining hall, it makes sense to not go there and let them succeed. They won't be going anywhere while waiting for the trap to spring, so don't spring it and force them to stay put and do nothing.

Instead, I'd send Paladin Girl to warn the kingdom to stay out of the way, then march on the council chambers and set traps for the spell-depleted Durkula.

Another issue occurred to me a while back, which is that upon vampirization the clan chiefs will cease to be the clan chiefs, instead becoming their vampire negative energy spirit. Simply vamping the council will result in a requirement for their subordinates to assume command, gather, and vote. So vamping the council is a waste of time. Hel needs to break the deadlock, which means forcing the still living council to vote to destroy the world and subject all dwarven souls still alive to her dominion.

Gah! Rich, you give me headaches! But I love your comic for that. I can't wait for the next page! (We'll, history shows I can, and will.)

[Lord Torath]

I wonder what spell Durkon casted. A shame V didnt see what was going on. Definitely foreshadowing for things to come.

Pretty sure it was "Sending"

Another issue occurred to me a while back, which is that upon vampirization the clan chiefs will cease to be the clan chiefs, instead becoming their vampire negative energy spirit. Simply vamping the council will result in a requirement for their subordinates to assume command, gather, and vote. So vamping the council is a waste of time. Hel needs to break the deadlock, which means forcing the still living council to vote to destroy the world and subject all dwarven souls still alive to her dominion.

I think the plan is to use Vampiric Domination to make the council chiefs vote for World Destruction.

[KorvinStarmast]

This explains a LOT about Belkar's wilderness survival skills.

As to his animal handling skills and Bloodfeast, my scan of the SRD finds that if Bloodfeast is a T Rex, he's got too many HP to trigger the symbol (as the usual amounts is 180). I thought he was a allosaurus, but I did not find that dinosaur type in the SRD.

[eilandesq]

Again: the 150 hp guy is alone (anyone else stays 60 feet away, or something). If the symbol has no targets, it remains active, for 10 minutes, then ends its effects. Therefore, if 150HP guy activates it alone, that disarms the thing.

GW

If Roy doesn't leave the room after triggering it, he will be attacked by every vampire in that room, and if he even momentarily goes below 150 HP from negative levels or spell damage the symbol will attack him. If he does leave the room, Durkula is free to do all of the things that a level 15+ caster is capable of without interference. This is unlikely to be helpful to Team Good.

[arimareiji]

Another issue occurred to me a while back, which is that upon vampirization the clan chiefs will cease to be the clan chiefs, instead becoming their vampire negative energy spirit.

Didn't Jerkon already tell Roy the plan was to dominate them? Not that he's obliged to be truthful, but it makes more sense.

Edit: Argh, ninjaed. I don't type nearly fast enough.

[Lord Torath]

None of these vampires have coffins, yet right? Not even Durkon*/Greg/Durkula? So luring them all to the center of the room (with an Elan-provided illusion of Roy, V, and Belkar) then pelting them with a Greater Dispel Magic, Quickened Fireball, and Flamestrike could wipe out many of the Spawn, and possibly even some of the higher-level Vamps - permanently.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

If Roy doesn't leave the room after triggering it, he will be attacked by every vampire in that room, and if he even momentarily goes below 150 HP from negative levels or spell damage the symbol will attack him. If he does leave the room, Durkula is free to do all of the things that a level 15+ caster is capable of without interference. This is unlikely to be helpful to Team Good.

Again: I already said i'd be suicide in these circumstances. The question was if it is theoretically doable, not if it will work specifically here.

GW

[dmc91356]

My D&D days are long behind me, but are vampires immune to illusions or will some sort of illusion plan actually have a chance of succeeding?

[Keltest]

My D&D days are long behind me, but are vampires immune to illusions or will some sort of illusion plan actually have a chance of succeeding?

As undead, they are immune to all forms of mind-affecting magic, which includes most illusions. I think there are a small number in some obscure sourcebooks that are not mind-affecting, but those are unlikely to be available to the Order.

[brian 333]

Pretty sure it was "Sending"

I think the plan is to use Vampiric Domination to make the council chiefs vote for World Destruction.

And thus you encounter the exact same issue. The votes won't be made by the chiefs but by the dominator with the chiefs as unwilling observers.

[AutomatedTeller]

Is this the first time the party has actually tried to learn something about an encounter before just barging in?

Not much in the way of jokes, but not every comic has to be awesomely funny. And "Hello, Roy" was well placed ;)

[are]

I notice Belkar is conspicuously absent from the list of possible targets of Symbol of Death.

Dramatic sacrifice imminent?

[brian 333]

Pretty sure it was "Sending"

I think the plan is to use Vampiric Domination to make the council chiefs vote for World Destruction.

And thus you encounter the exact same issue. The votes won't be made by the chiefs but by the dominator with the chiefs as unwilling observers.

[137beth]

Looks like HPoH is the new Nale

[Keltest]

I notice Belkar is conspicuously absent from the list of possible targets of Symbol of Death.

Dramatic sacrifice imminent?

As a ranger/barbarian, he likely has enough hit points to not be threatened by the Symbol. He could potentially also have enough of a fortitude save to not be affected at all.

[Thaumic]

I wonder what spell Durkon casted. A shame V didnt see what was going on. Definitely foreshadowing for things to come.

I think the spell was supposed to be the Sending, considering the timing.

[Stabbey]

Hmmm... I'm not sure exactly what the pun in the title "Spy Bowl" is.

Also I got my calendar today, hooray! And... "wight whale"? *groan*