OOTS #1154 - The Discussion Thread

[Ruck]

Soon's gate was in the air above Azure City (no, it wasn't actually physically within the sapphire). Likewise, Girard's gate was inside a big lead pillar with no access points. Physical access may not actually be necessary.

I literally mentioned Girard's Gate in my post. And considering the Azure City tower was built up around the gate, it sure seems like accessibility is a factor for some reason, else there's no reason to make it reachable by anybody. Basically, with all the resources the Scribblers had at their disposal, why wouldn't you just encase a gate in, I dunno, the thickest walls of multidimensional stone you can muster? I mean, I don't know much about the various strengths and weaknesses of D&D defense systems, but if the worry is that someone will seize the Gate for nefarious purposes, and accessing the Gate is necessary to seize it, why not make it inaccessible?

Uh, which strips are you referring to? Because I don't recall any of that stuff in the () actually being any of Roy's (or the Order's) doing?

And I don't recall Roy's plans in those not also involving him hitting hard with his big sword.

#858 - #862, I suspect. The entire sequence was planned by Roy

Yeah, I would've thought that was really obvious, and also very clearly the Order's doing and Roy's plan.

[zimmerwald1915]

Keltest, what's your evaluation of the idea of defending a gate with illusions when the person coming around to knockdown your door is a lich with the standard undead immunities where illusions are concerned? Because that's pretty darn foreseeable (also vampire and mummy raiders).

"Undead are only immune to patterns and phantasms while my clan also employs figments, glamers, and shadow magic, and these are about as effective against an undead as against any other foe of the same level. If your question is really 'how do my defenses fare against an arbitrarily powerful foe,' then you're just playing gotcha as you can always make the foe stronger, and I see no reason to humor you."

[eilandesq]

The out of the box Hammer of Thunderbolts/Gauntlets of Ogre Power/Belt of Giant Strength combo is pretty solid, but it's not as devastating as it was in AD&D (when it stacked a full +3 to hit/+6 to damage on top of Girdle bonuses that could be as high as +6 to hit/+12 to damage--though the fact that belt bonuses stack with base STR in 3X closed the gap somewhat). If the opponent was going to be mostly giants, it would be even more devastating than what Roy brought to bear against the Frost Giants in the pass. But against vampires, followed by Xykon, I'm not sure that it would be a huge boost for him compared to what his high level casting could do. On the other hand, the weapon was clearly intended for the temple of Thor to use--I wouldn't be surprised if it had some unique abilities in the hands of a high level cleric of Thor.

[MReav]

The out of the box Hammer of Thunderbolts/Gauntlets of Ogre Power/Belt of Giant Strength combo is pretty solid, but it's not as devastating as it was in AD&D (when it stacked a full +3 to hit/+6 to damage on top of Girdle bonuses that could be as high as +6 to hit/+12 to damage--though the fact that belt bonuses stack with base STR in 3X closed the gap somewhat). If the opponent was going to be mostly giants, it would be even more devastating than what Roy brought to bear against the Frost Giants in the pass. But against vampires, followed by Xykon, I'm not sure that it would be a huge boost for him compared to what his high level casting could do. On the other hand, the weapon was clearly intended for the temple of Thor to use--I wouldn't be surprised if it had some unique abilities in the hands of a high level cleric of Thor.

At the very least, it will deal solid damage to Xykon since it's 4d6 of magical, bludgeoning damage, meaning it ignores Xykon's damage reduction, which is more than what Roy can claim unless he knows how to Mordhau, and even then the starmetal is only in the blade, not the hilt.

[Peelee]

At the very least, it will deal solid damage to Xykon since it's 4d6 of magical, bludgeoning damage, meaning it ignores Xykon's damage reduction, which is more than what Roy can claim unless he knows how to Mordhau, and even then the starmetal is only in the blade, not the hilt.

Durkon can affect Xykon's HP. Roy can affect Xykon's action economy. Roy is still pretty dang powerful against Big X, if you want to look at it in mechanics.

[Keltest]

"Undead are only immune to patterns and phantasms while my clan also employs figments, glamers, and shadow magic, and these are about as effective against an undead as against any other foe of the same level. If your question is really 'how do my defenses fare against an arbitrarily powerful foe,' then you're just playing gotcha as you can always make the foe stronger, and I see no reason to humor you."

I would have also mentioned that there were however many dozens of people living there who would presumably also be able to adapt on the fly should somebody show up with, say, true sight, but basically this.

[happycrow]

It's not Mjölnir.

I will bet 5 gold on Hammer of Thunderbolts though.

Yeah, boiiiiiii. I was just thinking, Man, Rich went OLD-SKOOL on this one.....

[ijuinkun]

Post retracted because ninja'd upthread.

[Barachiel]

*sees the hammer come out*

*puts on Immigrant Song by Zeppelin*

[Peelee]

Ok, I give. Why are so many people talking about Led Zeppelin for this? I'm not really getting any reference to the lyrics or anything.

[Resileaf]

I guess because it's a good viking invasion song and stuff.

[zimmerwald1915]

Ok, I give. Why are so many people talking about Led Zeppelin for this? I'm not really getting any reference to the lyrics or anything.

I gather it's because it was used as a backing track in Thor: Ragnarok.

Take that with a grain of salt. I have not seen Thor: Ragnarok.

[Keltest]

I gather it's because it was used as a backing track in Thor: Ragnarok.

Take that with a grain of salt. I have not seen Thor: Ragnarok.

Having seen Thor: Ragnarok, yes. its used as the music for when Thor beats the crap out of some people with Mjolnir. And another time when he just shoots people with lightning.

[Peelee]

At this point I shouldn't be surprised to find out anything Thor-related will make MCU fan boys go "oh this has to relate back to MCU somehow!," and yet.

Thanks.

[Keltest]

At this point I shouldn't be surprised to find out anything Thor-related will make MCU fan boys go "oh this has to relate back to MCU somehow!," and yet.

Thanks.

Well, by Rich's own explanation, Thor and the north are mostly drawn on the comics and MCU (as opposed to the actual myths), so its not like the similarities are imagined.

[Ruck]

Ok, I give. Why are so many people talking about Led Zeppelin for this? I'm not really getting any reference to the lyrics or anything.

Well, "I come from the land of the ice and snow" is sort of a reference to where dwarfs live.

I gather it's because it was used as a backing track in Thor: Ragnarok.

Take that with a grain of salt. I have not seen Thor: Ragnarok.

For the record, I was pushing for "The Immigrant Song" to be used in an awesome battle scene before I saw Thor: Ragnarok (which was only like a month ago). Like Resileaf said, it's just a kick-ass tune for a viking-style battle scene.

[zimmerwald1915]

Well, by Rich's own explanation, Thor and the north are mostly drawn on the comics and MCU (as opposed to the actual myths), so its not like the similarities are imagined.

I'm pretty sure you interpolated the MCU into there whereas Mr. Burlew only mentioned the comics, but my memory is not perfect, so summon banana IX.

[Peelee]

I'm pretty sure you interpolated the MCU into there whereas Mr. Burlew only mentioned the comics, but my memory is not perfect, so summon banana IX.

Since you said what I wanted to before I could, I'll just cast Summon Proxy (Banana).

More to the point, everyone knows who Thor is, even if they haven't read D&D books for years. So I picked Thor because he had a big hammer and wore a hat with horns. That is all the internal logic I required when choosing, because I don't care about the things you apparently care about, like whether the alignment printed in the D&D book for Thor was 100% appropriate, or what the long-dead people who invented Thor portrayed him as. Those things are utterly irrelevent. I care more about the Marvel Comics version of Thor than I do about what is printed in Deities & Demigods.

In the OOTS world, Thor behaves exactly as I say he does, and no other way.

ETA:

Well, "I come from the land of the ice and snow" is sort of a reference to where dwarfs live.

All I'm saying is, when Leeky Windstaff debuted nobody said a word about Spinal Tap's Stonehenge, despite how there was a druid and we didn't know where he came from or what he was doing.

[jwhouk]

I have not yet met a forum argument that could not be improved by Monty Python.

This is very sig-worthy, but I'm not that much of a fan of the Pythons to take it.

[Rockphed]

Ok, I give. Why are so many people talking about Led Zeppelin for this? I'm not really getting any reference to the lyrics or anything.

The Immigrant Song has a line that includes "The Hammer of the Gods...", so it is apropos for scenes involving the use of divine hammers.

[Peelee]

The Immigrant Song has a line that includes "The Hammer of the Gods...", so it is apropos for scenes involving the use of divine hammers.

A lot of songs say a lot of things.

All I'm saying is, when Leeky Windstaff debuted nobody said a word about Spinal Tap's Stonehenge, despite how there was a druid and we didn't know where he came from or what he was doing.

[Jasdoif]

All I'm saying is, when Leeky Windstaff debuted nobody said a word about Spinal Tap's Stonehenge, despite how there was a druid and we didn't know where he came from or what he was doing.

That's probably because he didn't go to eleven.

[zimmerwald1915]

That's probably because he didn't go to eleven.

Druids get fire storm at level 13.

[Kish]

I thought what he was doing was pretty unambiguous.

[Jasdoif]

Druids get fire storm at level 13.

Exactly; he rescaled where "10" was, instead of going to eleven.

[Peelee]

I thought what he was doing was pretty unambiguous.

Oh how he casted, the little gnome of Cliffport municipal park.

[zimmerwald1915]

Exactly; he rescaled where "10" was, instead of going to eleven.

For $2,000.00, I'll build you one that goes to 14.

[Jasdoif]

Druids get fire storm at level 13.

Wait....If a druid casts fire storm on a drummer and no one notices, is it considered spontaneous combustion?

[Peelee]

Wait....If a druid casts fire storm on a drummer and no one notices, is it considered spontaneous combustion?

How many druids take the Subtle Spell metamagic feat?

[zimmerwald1915]

How many druids take the Subtle Spell metamagic feat?

There are druids who don't take the Subtle Spell metamagic feat?