OOTS #1299 - The Discussion Thread

[Ridureyu]

Wait... is someone accusing the cartoonist of breaking labor laws and influencing employers to break labor laws?

And sent him an email? And is taking "other steps" without a response to said email?

Because the characters didn't force Elan into a meeting where he would not have been able to contribute anyway, because that's not his skillset?

Do I have this right?

[Mordar]

There exists the possibility that a troll without regeneration would be more longlived. Regeneration possibly puts a lot of stress on the body and consumes ressources that would otherwise be spent on keeping the body going.

An interesting possibility. One could argue the damage caused by the stress could be regenerated, though, and the demand for additional sustenance should be significant in any event.

In fact, I recall some mass-media using that as a story by-product...the thing regenerating needed lots and lots of food to get better. Abominable, maybe?

Though I grant my original question was, at least in some regards, an editorial comment...I do find the topic very interesting.

So, would adding Troll-ish regeneration extend, shorten or have no impact on a halfling lifespan? Is it dependent on when the grafting occurred? Didn't some version(s) of (A)D&D Trolls also have a disease or poison effect from their claws?

- M

[Lumus]

that's kind of a draconian viewpoint, don't you think?

So you're saying this might be Calder's alt account?

[Space Sorceress]

I mean, honestly, looking back at the "meeting" strip, I felt like having the party's Bard befriend a powerful Be[REDACTED] and establish a rapport with them was a perfectly productive use of his time. Didn't think twice about it.

Also, as somebody who actually has an anxiety disorder, essentially crowding around someone and drilling them about their feelings regarding a meeting they've expressed implicit desire to not participate in... well, that sounds pretty stressful to me. Because then I'd be worried that I somehow expressed my OWN feelings wrong.

At its core, my own social anxiety disorder (absolutely NOT speaking for everyone) is ultimately predicated on a fear that I won't be accepted, and/or am misunderstanding social cues, somebody's feelings, etc. Elan, however, read the room and decided what he wanted to do. "Is this a meeting? It sounds like a meeting" does not 'unexpressed desire to attend a meeting' make. The Order accommodated his desire to go do something else, and in all honesty, playing with Sunny for a while really WAS basically a team-building exercise. You want the child with all the cool magic eyeballs to feel comfortable in your group, you know?

[KorvinStarmast]

Elan, however, read the room and decided what he wanted to do. "Is this a meeting? It sounds like a meeting" does not 'unexpressed desire to attend a meeting' make. The Order accommodated his desire to go do something else, and in all honesty, playing with Sunny for a while really WAS basically a team-building exercise. You want the child with all the cool magic eyeballs to feel comfortable in your group, you know?

Having been in, literally, thousands of meetings in my life (work related) I can utterly empathize with Elan's desire to skip a meeting.

[Somniloquist]

Are we done derailing? Back to the strip at hand, what's Sunny going to do next? Probably whatever Serini says, but what will that be?

Also, what would be the tactically best thing for Sunny to do, which is an entirely separate question?

[Space Sorceress]

Having been in, literally, thousands of meetings in my life (work related) I can utterly empathize with Elan's desire to skip a meeting.

Right? I feel like disliking meetings is pretty damned close to a universal human agreement.

LIKE HOW MUCH DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME SUCKS

Got it out of my system. Hmf

Also, what would be the tactically best thing for Sunny to do, which is an entirely separate question?

Given that maintaining the AMF seems like a pretty good idea, I feel like "doing absolutely nothing" is a perfectly valid option

Disclaimer: I am absolutely TERRIBLE at tactics.

[KorvinStarmast]

Right? I feel like disliking meetings is pretty damned close to a universal human agreement.

And yet people keep having meetings. Arrrrrrrrrrgghhhhhhhhhhh!

LIKE HOW MUCH DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME SUCKS

Don't get me started ...

[pendell]

Right? I feel like disliking meetings is pretty damned close to a universal human agreement.

LIKE HOW MUCH DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME SUCKS

Got it out of my system. Hmf

And yet we still flippin' do it every year. Everyone I know .. {scrubbed} .. they all HATE daylight savings time . And yet we're still doing it.

Sadly,

Brian P.

[Space Sorceress]

And yet we still flippin' do it every year. Everyone I know .. {scrub the post, scrub the quote} .. they all HATE daylight savings time . And yet we're still doing it.

Sadly,

Brian P.

I AM AT LEAST SEVERAL OF THESE THINGS AND I AGREE WITH YOUR SENTIMENT

[Heroic Lich]

Are we done derailing? Back to the strip at hand, what's Sunny going to do next? Probably whatever Serini says, but what will that be?

Also, what would be the tactically best thing for Sunny to do, which is an entirely separate question?

I think that barring Serini giving other orders, keeping here eye on Calder would be the best option. If Calder pops off any defensive spells things are gonna go from bad to worse. Even without magic the order probably has better options engaging in melee like this. It's not optimal but the group can't risk Calder casting anything dangerous. He's already cast two 9th level spells along with one 8th level spell. Calder's probably got tonnes of these to MESS up the group. Keeping the eye on him, between Bloodfeast, Roy, Belkar and Durkon the dragon might actually be done, provided he doesn't pull off any tricks. Maybe he'll throw one of them into Sunny to derail things since this is a weird amount of set-up for him to die right here.
Although an anticlimax might be the point.

[Taragorn]

And yet we still flippin' do it every year. Everyone I know .. {scrub the post, scrub the quote} .. they all HATE daylight savings time . And yet we're still doing it.

Sadly,

Brian P.

I love daylight savings. I don't want daylight at 4 am in the summer, and I love having it at 8:30 pm.

[Kantaki]

Wait... is someone accusing the cartoonist of breaking labor laws and influencing employers to break labor laws?

And sent him an email? And is taking "other steps" without a response to said email?

Because the characters didn't force Elan into a meeting where he would not have been able to contribute anyway, because that's not his skillset?

Do I have this right?

Could be satire?

Having been in, literally, thousands of meetings in my life (work related) I can utterly empathize with Elan's desire to skip a meeting.

I mean, they can be pretty great for a little nap?
On the other hand I wouldn't need one if it wasn't for the meeting, so still kinda a mixed bag at best.

[pendell]

I love daylight savings. I don't want daylight at 4 am in the summer, and I love having it at 8:30 pm.

It's not so much an issue now because I work from home, but I want it light as early as possible. First, because I have to drive on those roads. Second, because kids are standing outside at school bus stops waiting for busses. Darker mornings = drowsy drivers = Kids getting run over in the dark .

Not to mention, the older I get the more disruptive I find the time change. Pick a time and stick with it, I say.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Peelee]

(PS, thanks for the link to Rich's rant about how he tells his story. He's a bit wrong: you can be discriminated against for being color blind.

Imean, yeah, you can be refused a job for not being capable of doing the job. That's not discrimination, though.



Also, Daylight Saving (no s) Time is best time. Y'all can enjoy wallowing in darkness at 5 in afternoon if you want, but I'm all for year-round DST.

[Ridureyu]

Concerning "reasonable accommodation" vs "discrimination" for Elan in terms of the planning meeting:

Reasonable accommodation for Elan would be not requiring him to attend meetings where he would not want to contribute, nor could he realistically contribute. He has plenty of strengths and contributions to the party, but he is not strong in sitting down long beforehand and plotting out a course of action. His attention span does not allow that, and it would be unreasonable to try to fit him into that role. He's very good when told something just before a situation (especially concerning his attention span), and excellent at improvising ways to support the party when plans go awry. Therefore, Roy absolutely reasonably accommodates him - whether it's a "disability" or merely quirks of his personality, however we want to define this. Roy is playing to Elan's strengths instead of trying to force him into a role or archetype where he is not suited.

[Space Sorceress]

Also, Daylight Saving (no s) Time is best time. Y'all can enjoy wallowing in darkness at 5 in afternoon if you want, but I'm all for year-round DST.

Oh don't get me wrong, I really don't mind what time it is exactly as such. Just don't arbitrarily move clocks ahead or behind a whole hour on some random day and I'm all good. HMF

[JT]

Once again, Belkar demonstrates that he cares about his little friends - although I'm not sure Bloodfeast the Extreminator counts as little at this moment.

Nope. Definitely something non-"little" at this time. See https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0922.html

[gbaji]

Wouldn't you find demeaning if your boss or cult leader used "human" to refer to you? In my opinion all three are equally bad.

I'm not sure where "evil enemy red dragon who just met and dominated you like 2 minutes ago" transformed into "your boss or cult leader".

But as a broad concept? If I'm the only human in a group of other non-huiman people, and the person doesn't know my name, and it happens to be the most accurate descriptor someone could use to make sure I know I'm the one being addressed? No. Not at all.

And yet we still flippin' do it every year. Everyone I know ... they all HATE daylight savings time . And yet we're still doing it.

Because more people would be upset at the effects of not having daylight savings time than are upset by having it. Yeah. I know. Crazy, right? But... bear with me here.

Most people dislike the actual time change. And that's a reasonable thing. But it happens 2 days a year. Annoying, but brief relatively speaking.

Most people who dislike something about the actual time and the "daylight" elements of it, actually complain about "standard time" and not the actual "daylight savings time" period of the calendar. And that's what we just normally get in terms of hours of daylight per day. Nothing at all we can do about it (well, except shifting to "daylight savings all the time", which I've heard people talk about, but I suspect they would hate just as much if it were actually implemented, if not more). Case in point:

It's not so much an issue now because I work from home, but I want it light as early as possible. First, because I have to drive on those roads. Second, because kids are standing outside at school bus stops waiting for busses. Darker mornings = drowsy drivers = Kids getting run over in the dark .

That's "standard time". It would be that dark that early whether we had daylight savings time or not. Or, if we switched to DST all year round, it would get dark an hour earlier in the winter months, and you'd be complaining about driving home in the dark. Or your kids walking home from school in the dark. Or your kids doing afterschool activities in the dark, etc (I'll point out that the absurd solution number two I mention below would actually fix this. Of course, your kids would have to learn stuff 20% faster during the winter months, but it's all relative right?)

I suspect that the vast majority of people actually really do enjoy the fact that daylight extends longer into the evening during the summer months because of daylight savings time, rather than having sunrise occur at like 4:30 in the morning, and would actuallly dislike it if that were removed.

It's hard to say exactly, but I suspect that most people actually do prefer the effects of daylight savings. They just don't like the abrupt time change. And, given the time period, I just happened to be giving this some thought over the last couple days, and have come up with two "solutions":

1. Given that we live in an age with all our clocks being digital and whatnot, just have like "leap seconds" (or reverse) happen every day. We could seriously just adjust the clock skew a tiny bit each day, and none of us would really notice it. Computers don't have a problem with this, since they just count time from an arbitrary starting point anyway (in total seconds since epoc time). What you see on your clock is just the application of a timezone function to that base time. Could be easy enough to do this. Might be an issue having to constantly reset your oven(s) maybe (about the only clocks most people use that don't auto sync to some nntp source).

2. A slight(ly absurd) variation of the above. We actually change the duration of the length of time a second actually lasts at different times of the day througout the year. That way, night and day time are always the same length of time!. I mean, this might wreak a bit of havoc in just about everything, but it would certainly be... fun! (yeah, I may have been in a sillly delerium when I came up with this one). I haven't quite worked out the details in terms of latitudinal effects, but I'm sure we could make it work.

[Zancloufer]

So there appears to be a bit of an argument about Elan being under utilized because they didn't send him to dispel the Charm Spell on Sunny?

Two BIG problems with this;

1] Song of Freedom requires 1 minute (10 rounds) of UNINTERRUPTED casting where you have to remain within 30ft of the target. It's essentially useless in most combat situations.

2] Dispel Magic is a 3rd level spell that requires you make a check of 1d20+CL(up to 10) vs a DC of 11+CL of the spell you are trying to dispel. Since Cador can cast 8th level spells his CL is 15+ which means dispel magic has a 0-20% chance of success depending on Cador's final level.
Protection from evil is a 1st level spell with a 100% chance of working that also gives Sunny a +2 for his saves and AC vs Cador.

So yeah, not sure how taking the most tactically viable option, by a mile, is discrimination against Elan.
I mean it might be but discrimination has a fairly broad definition and you can technically discriminate based off someone's actual ability to complete a task.

[Alexandrite]

With how badly Calder is losing here I feel like he'll escape and become another threat the team needs to deal with. He was built up as someone the entire Scribble team had to work together to beat and he's pretty distinct as a character already, so it'd be weird if he just got written off after five pages.

[Elkad]

I made a take that explains my larger issue in post 55. But in general it’s good practice to shore up weaknesses not enhance others strengths. At least when you’re dealing with abjurations.

And that’s excluding whether ROY deserves to be leader.

This is D&D. Given the choice, you boost strengths to infallibility, not weaknesses to mediocrity.

Like this

[Elves]

Standard t-rex grappling or fighting an old+ red dragon doesn't work in the rules, but it's possible if the t-rex is advanced to Gargantuan size, which seems reasonable since it and the dragon look comparable in size. T-rexes can be advanced up to 54 HD

https://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/dinosaur.htm

[arimareiji]

Also, Daylight Saving (no s) Time is best time. Y'all can enjoy wallowing in darkness at 5 in afternoon if you want, but I'm all for year-round DST.

Just a wacky thought: Instead of redefining time and our position in orbit around the sun (to be more convenient to those who define our schedules), why can't those who define our schedules adjust them? (^_^)º

(/down with Daylight Shaving)

[Precure]

Always nice when a popular Webcomic promotes workplace discrimination

He's only metaphorically neurodivergent and a minor.

Hey Giant, looks like Calder has the wrong horn broken in this one.

I knew it! He's faking it!

[fuschiawarrior]

I'm not sure where "evil enemy red dragon who just met and dominated you like 2 minutes ago" transformed into "your boss or cult leader".

But as a broad concept? If I'm the only human in a group of other non-huiman people, and the person doesn't know my name, and it happens to be the most accurate descriptor someone could use to make sure I know I'm the one being addressed? No. Not at all.

I thought it was clear I was being tongue in cheek comparing him to a boss because as you pointed out Calder is obviously evil and dominated Sunny and however he calls them it's one of the least evil thing he did since his introduction even if callous.

It together with how Calder never bothered to learn Sunny's name, called them tool and breathed fire on the OotS for not being servile shows how Calder sees himself as above everyone ele and considers others as tools to achieve his goals. It's neat how strong his characterization is with so little screen time. Kudos to Rich.

[gbaji]

(/down with Daylight Shaving)

I'm totally on board with the idea of shaving where the sun dont shine.

[Peelee]

Just a wacky thought: Instead of redefining time and our position in orbit around the sun (to be more convenient to those who define our schedules), why can't those who define our schedules adjust them? (^_^)º

Imean, obviously that would work, but I'm going with what's possible.

[ziproot]

Fun fact: the US made Daylight Saving Time permanent in the 70s, and it was quickly repealed after people had to commute to work in the dark ({scrubbed}). A majority of US citizens want the changing back and forth to end, but they’re split on what to make permanent. I personally would prefer making Standard Time permanent, as studies show that humans never fully adapt to Daylight Saving Time.

As for what spell Minrah cast, that was protection from evil (panel 7).

[Provengreil]

Standard t-rex grappling or fighting an old+ red dragon doesn't work in the rules, but it's possible if the t-rex is advanced to Gargantuan size, which seems reasonable since it and the dragon look comparable in size. T-rexes can be advanced up to 54 HD

https://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/dinosaur.htm

There was also more than a little debate in the last few threads as to Calder's actual size category. It's quite possible he's not as large as his apparent age and spell levels suggest he could be, especially if he took the subtly implied mindbender levels and they do not count as monster HD, which would advance size. Also makes his breath weapon a little more survivable.

If that's in play, then a t-rex has much more of a chance than than the book stats imply.

But there's also another factor: Bloodfeast isn't wild. He was trained by the Empire of Blood and may well be carrying a nonstandard stat block for his creature type. He almost certainly has improved grab and a pretty good strength score, and it wouldn't change his size, but some of the other stuff in there might be different in a way that's helping him.