OOTS #1175 - The Discussion Thread

[Resileaf]

To those people who were wondering if Logann not appearing in the crowd last strip meant something had happened to him, turns out it was because he needed to make a dramatic entrance.

[Fyraltari]

From SRD:

Thanks. So err, twenty feet a what?
Minute? Hour? How long is twenty feet even?

Also, she did actually die in battle sometime in the last 24 hours. It’s been a bad day.

Her host died, she hasn’t yet.

[D.One]

V can probably walk in, but if not he can probably do it from the window.

The orange barrier seems to be active, so no non dwarves inside yet.

[Squire Doodad]

You mean Sabine?
Cause I'm pretty sure she's all that's left.

And maybe Thog.
Maybe.

[Resileaf]

The orange barrier seems to be active, so no non dwarves inside yet.

Nope, orange barrier seems to be dead and gone.

[IntelectPaladin]

Is it just me, or has the Giant been on a welcome rapid-fire streak this month?
And yes, we're all hoping for Durkon to be freed. I seriously hope the vote's temporary limbo doesn't keep Durkon down,
but the Giant may have other ideas. Here's hoping.

[Fyraltari]

You mean Sabine?
Cause I'm pretty sure she's all that's left.

And the Thog of Schrödinger.

To those people who were wondering if Logann not appearing in the crowd last strip meant something had happened to him, turns out it was because he needed to make a dramatic entrance.

Squeaky is a bad/good influence on his friends’ kids.

[Aetius]

Unlikely. The Godsmoot truce would be meaningless if the High Priests could be attacked on the back journey.

I think we already established, that the rules are taken quite literally and not always hold as much meaning as they possibly could.

You could argue that it’s the Creeders who would be enforcing that rule

I'd rather not

but I think every High Priest is Wide enough to realize that breaking the truce would only result in a free-for-all as the Churches of Loki and Thor, Tyr and Fenrir, etc ‘settles’ their difference.

Probably that.

It makes a lot of sense that there's a mutual understanding that the peace of the godsmood must be kept beyond the actual set of rules.

But the current HPoH didn't travel to the site of the moot under the protection of the rules or practices of the godsmoot. She was created right there by pretty much disturbing this very peace. So dealing with her (and resurecting her host) wouldn't break the truce - it would restore it. Or at least that is what I would argue.

[Dion]

Thanks. So err, twenty feet a what?
Minute? Hour? How long is twenty feet even?.

I think it’s 20 feet per standard move action in a six second combat round. She can also move 40 feet in a combat round with a double move action.

I think dwarves only get 20 foot moves standard, so she’s not going to speed up demisted.

(Actually, demisted I think she can run with a full move, which allows up to 100 feet in six seconds, so she is possibly faster demisted. But I dont remember the rules, and I’m sure someone will correct me.)

And agree, we don’t really know how far she is from Hilgya. My guess is “not far”, but it’s just a guess.

[chy03001]

Did the Likeable Death Worm say "Persecuted"? Or was it another word?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Thanks. So err, twenty feet a what?
Minute? Hour? How long is twenty feet even?

Per round, which is 6 seconds long (10 rounds to a minute).

Can't help you with how long some dead king's feet were. Although I hear your dead king had bigger feet.

Grey Wolf

[Kantaki]

Thanks. So err, twenty feet a what?
Minute? Hour? How long is twenty feet even?

Per round. Which is about six seconds I think.
Also,1 foot ~ 30.5cm, meaning 20 feet ~ 6.1m.

Edit: Which means... roughly 3,66 km/h.
Kinda slow- I mean I walk faster than that and I'm definitely not fit enough to go adventuring.
So she probably turned back to be faster.

[Squire Doodad]

But the current HPoH didn't travel to the site of the moot under the protection of the rules or practices of the godsmoot. She was created right there by pretty much disturbing this very peace. So dealing with her (and resurecting her host) wouldn't break the truce - it would restore it. Or at least that is what I would argue.

It's probably bad business to have high priests beating each other up right after the Godsmoot.

Did the Likeable Death Worm say "Persecuted"? Or was it another word?

I think so.

[Jasdoif]

Thanks. So err, twenty feet a what?
Minute? Hour? How long is twenty feet even?

With a fly speed of 20 feet, she can move 20 feet with a move action. Assuming she's using both her actions to move, that's 40 feet in a round. A round is six seconds, so that's 400 feet in a minute...so 24,000 feet in an hour. (That comes out to 48,000 feet in two hours; or a bit under 9.1 miles in two hours; which fits with "It can travel up to nine miles in 2 hours" elsewhere in the entry).

Twenty feet is about 6.1 meters.

[hroþila]

More likely give up on the plan but not Hel, she needs all the magical power she can get right now.

She doesn't need Hel in particular, though, she could try to get her spells from other sources. But regardless, if Hel wants to use her for one last, desperate bid to win the bet, Curly won't have much of a choice if she wants to stay undead.

[Aetius]

I'm honestly worried that worm smoke is actually poisonous and detrimental to Belkar.

If it doesn't work fast it doesn't matter, since he already contracted a deadly disease.

To those people who were wondering if Logann not appearing in the crowd last strip meant something had happened to him, turns out it was because he needed to make a dramatic entrance.

Lately Elan has had to little panel-time. I almost forgot that narrative necessity is a law of nature.

[Fyraltari]

I think we already established, that the rules are taken quite literally and not always hold as much meaning as they possibly could.



I'd rather not



Probably that.

It makes a lot of sense that there's a mutual understanding that the peace of the godsmood must be kept beyond the actual set of rules.

But the current HPoH didn't travel to the site of the moot under the protection of the rules or practices of the godsmoot. She was created right there by pretty much disturbing this very peace. So dealing with her (and resurecting her host) wouldn't break the truce - it would restore it. Or at least that is what I would argue.

The rules can be loopholed like that because there is no arbiter and so the only reason anyone respects them is because not doing so would result in carnage. (And because the high priests refuse to go against their deity’s will). Finding an excuse to attack a fellow representative (especially on such flimsy ground as ‘she didn’t travel here’) would be like throwing a lit matchstick in a box of fireworks and hoping to not be harmed by the blast. Theoretically possible but incredibly stupid. Especially since roughly half of the attendance was willing to protect the vampires. What would any High Priest gain from her immediate death? If they are so afraid of Hel getting a church then they can call a Holy War on her as soon as business as usual begins again and before she’s had time to build a powerbase. She’s literally just the one lady.

[Schroeswald]

And maybe Thog.
Maybe.

Z probably still has an intact body, and even if Thog’s dead he probably has one too.

[Sniccups]

Thanks. So err, twenty feet a what?
Minute? Hour? How long is twenty feet even?

This has been answered already, but I should mention that normal walking speed is 30 feet in this system.

[Psychronia]

In Hel's defense, her business is death. And barring the occasional Raise Dead, death is usually pretty perpetual.

So I know there's still Curly, but can we declare Hel's plot officially foiled? There's not much Curly can do on her own, and while a vampire cleric in Dwarven lands can rebuild Hel's church more quickly than usual, it'll probably take long enough to be inconsequential for the Order's main quest.

They can come back to it, much like with Tarquin.

Actually, does Curly even need to keep following Hel's orders? I guess she'd have more reason than the usual vampire due to being a cleric, but she seems to value survival over success.

[Fyraltari]

Per round, which is 6 seconds long (10 rounds to a minute).

Can't help you with how long some dead king's feet were. Although I hear your dead king had bigger feet.

Grey Wolf

Thank you. I wish it was just the one king, though. Back before the metric system a foot’s length could vary from town to town. Must have made for some very uncomfortable walking.

Per round. Which is about six seconds I think.
Also,1 foot ~ 30.5cm, meaning 20 feet ~ 6.1m.

Edit: Which means... roughly 3,66 km/h.
Kinda slow- I mean I walk faster than that and I'm definitely not fit enough to go adventuring.
So she probably turned back to be faster.

With a fly speed of 20 feet, she can move 20 feet with a move action. Assuming she's using both her actions to move, that's 40 feet in a round. A round is six seconds, so that's 400 feet in a minute...so 24,000 feet in an hour. (That comes out to 48,000 feet in two hours; or a bit under 9.1 miles in two hours; which fits with "It can travel up to nine miles in 2 hours" elsewhere in the entry).

Twenty feet is about 6.1 meters.

So at max speed she can be as fast as a normal human taking two steps a second (a meter is roughly the length of a big step). Yeah, if Hilgya cared then she is behind her.

She doesn't need Hel in particular, though, she could try to get her spells from other sources. But regardless, if Hel wants to use her for one last, desperate bid to win the bet, Curly won't have much of a choice if she wants to stay undead.

I don’t think Hel could do anything to her besides taking her magic away until she prays to the concept of undeath or something at dusk.

[Ornithologist]

Lately Elan has had to little panel-time. I almost forgot that narrative necessity is a law of nature.

I have a feeling the next book will be mostly a more even screen time. Though each could get more time as follows:

Roy could get more as hits his quest being finished
Belkar could get more as part of his swan song before death
V could get more time by being stolen to the IFCC once or twice more
Durkon could should become a more active character, and more interactions because of character growth. Also he has a mission from his god to talk Redcloak into helping. Though I can see it being not as much because of how recent book 6 was.
Elan could get more as he is becoming increasingly competent in a fight.
Haley seems to have the least compelling reason to get more screen time than others. But I suppose she and Elan could have more romantic couple scenes together.

[Rogar Demonblud]

And even that doesn't work long, since she can just switch to worshiping, oh, carrion beetles. Or the philosophy of Planned Obsolescence. Or the negative energy plane itself. Bam, right back to fully functioning cleric, only issue may be trading out domains.

If she's smart and wants to continue the Hel-pocalypse, her best bet would be to disappear for a bit, murderize a few dwarves and use Create Greater Undead to make a bunch of wights to send out to assimilate the rest of Firmament. Bonus points if you get them while they're sleeping or something, because that'll be a dishonorable death.

[kittyabbygirl]

Do we know if the Frontarch is going to be relevant still? There are lots of vampires *not* in the dwarves homelands still...

[Aetius]

It's probably bad business to have high priests beating each other up right after the Godsmoot.

Sure.

But it's probably also bad business to have a high priest slaughter all the clerics of a neutral order during the godsmoot and turn every host and usher into a vampire without any form of repercussion. Might make it harder to find a host next time.

Finding an excuse to attack a fellow representative (especially on such flimsy ground as ‘she didn’t travel here’) would be like throwing a lit matchstick in a box of fireworks and hoping to not be harmed by the blast.

I'm pretty sure that matchstick was already thrown when the clerics of Hel started their little massacre.

Especially since roughly half of the attendance was willing to protect the vampires.

Yes, because their deities voted the same way as Hel. Not to keep the peace of the godsmoot.
If anything this scene shows that all the clerics were ready to ressort to carnage under these special circumstances - as long as it didn't violate official rules.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

So at max speed she can be as fast as a normal human taking two steps a second (a meter is roughly the length of a big step). Yeah, if Hilgya cared then she is behind her.

If she stayed in mist form. But she's not, she's transitioned to running, which is significantly faster (either 3x or 5x normal movement speed per round, IIRC), as long as there are no obstacles.

Not sure how long an undead can run for, though. I think I recall that living beings have to do constitution checks as they get tired from running, and undead don't have a constitution and are supposed to fail those checks automatically.

This would be easier if d20 srd wasn't blocked for me right now.

Grey Wolf

[Squire Doodad]

If she stayed in mist form. But she's not, she's transitioned to running, which is significantly faster (either 3x or 5x normal movement speed per round, IIRC), as long as there are no obstacles.

Not sure how long an undead can run for, though. I think I recall that living beings have to do constitution checks as they get tired from running, and undead don't have a constitution and are supposed to fail those checks automatically.

This would be easier if d20 srd wasn't blocked for me right now.

Grey Wolf

You can argue that the lack of constitution means that undead don't get tired until their bodies are phsyically unable to keep them moving, whereas humans and the like need to stop and catch a breath.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Let me help. This is the standard Run:

Run (×4)

Moving four times speed is a running pace for a character in light, medium, or no armor. It represents about 14 miles per hour for an unencumbered human, or 10 miles per hour for a human in chainmail.

And from the Overland Movement section:

Run

A character can’t run for an extended period of time.

Attempts to run and rest in cycles effectively work out to a hustle.

Which leads to:

Hustle

A character can hustle for 1 hour without a problem. Hustling for a second hour in between sleep cycles deals 1 point of nonlethal damage, and each additional hour deals twice the damage taken during the previous hour of hustling. A character who takes any nonlethal damage from hustling becomes fatigued.

A fatigued character can’t run or charge and takes a penalty of -2 to Strength and Dexterity. Eliminating the nonlethal damage also eliminates the fatigue.

Undead are immune to nonlethal damage, so a vampire can Hustle indefinitely.

[Jasdoif]

If she stayed in mist form. But she's not, she's transitioned to running, which is significantly faster (either 3x or 5x normal movement speed per round, IIRC), as long as there are no obstacles.

Since she doesn't appear to be wearing heavy armor (or armor at all, for that matter), nor carrying a bunch of stuff, she can run for 4x her movement speed in a round (5x if she has the Run feat for some reason).

---

Not sure how long an undead can run for, though.

A creature with no Constitution cannot tire and thus can run indefinitely without tiring (unless the creature’s description says it cannot run).

It's worth noting that gaseous form explicitly disallows running.

[Messenger]

If it doesn't work fast it doesn't matter, since he already contracted a deadly disease.

Makes me now wonder what are the odds that a spell like Remove Disease or similar gets cast for whatever reason between now and when the disease begins to manifest on Belkar, the rest of the Order, and the crew of the Mechane.

Although I have to remind myself that whatever the case, Belkar doesn't have long to live anyway.