OOTS #808 - The Discussion Thread

[Neoseanster]

Hmm, spoiler tag. That's a good idea, it's a wall of text.

*goes to fix*

[Requiem_Jeer]

Ah, but remember Thog is Fatigued (Tireless rage is level 17), which gives him a -2 penalty to his strength. He could still probably take 20, and succeed, but that also means if Thog started with a 16 base strength (unlikely but possible) he needs to be level 16 to have the strength needed.

[Vectner]

That Was A W E S O M E!!!!!

[pendell]

Ah, but remember Thog is Fatigued (Tireless rage is level 17), which gives him a -2 penalty to his strength. He could still probably take 20, and succeed, but that also means if Thog started with a 16 base strength (unlikely but possible) he needs to be level 16 to have the strength needed.

But the 'buried' character takes nonlethal damage every round until unconscious, then lethal damage until dead.

So it is quite plausible that Thog will die here unless he is dug out in time. Were I Tarquin, I would make it a priority to have him rescued, the better to serve my people's gladiatorial entertainment needs.

Hmm, spoiler tag. That's a good idea, it's a wall of text.

*goes to fix*

You're going to fit in well here. I award you a cookie.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[CelestialMagpie]

Wonderful! I got such a great laugh from this comment. And I'm so happy for Roy!!

[theinsulabot]

Are we sure Roy has won? I mean, I want him to, but that scene is just BEGGING for one of those cool "thog's hand bursts out of the rubble" type images.

[AbuSpud]

Awesome!

Anybody else think Roy was breaking the Fourth Wall in the last panel?

[Wanda V'Orcus]

Three down, two to go...

Cheers, JohnH / Wanda

[SamBurke]

Ah, how I love thee Roy. Some genius moves!

Finally, the Order of the Stick becomes (semi) competent!

[Timberboar]

But the 'buried' character takes nonlethal damage every round until unconscious, then lethal damage until dead.

Every minute, actually. Which gives him roughly 10x as much time.

[Adicted To]

This is great, Elan's mom was right. Cross-class learning is the key to a rich and fulfilling life.

I mean, he is alive and with the job offert by Tarquin if Roy survives the arena match he could become rich

[Whiffet]

Were I Tarquin, I would make it a priority to have him rescued, the better to serve my people's gladiatorial entertainment needs.

Why do people keep saying things like this? I thought it was clear that Tarquin wanted Thog dead.

[Adicted To]

Three down, two to go...

Cheers, JohnH / Wanda

Maybe two, but we haven't seen Durkon's enemy.

Although it would be the ultimate anti-climax to not have an enemy for Durkon. Who knows, maybe the linear guild has budget problems

[Wanda V'Orcus]

Anybody else think Roy was breaking the Fourth Wall in the last panel?

In addition to the ceiling, yeah..



Cheers, JohnH / Wanda

[theinsulabot]

Why do people keep saying things like this? I thought it was clear that Tarquin wanted Thog dead.

I am going with it being wishful thinking, but you are quite right, Tarquin would certainly never save or Rez thog, as far as we know.

[Killer Angel]

The rage ended already.

Probably you're right, but aside from the long time passed, it's this stated somewhere? I don't recall it.

[Neoseanster]

Probably you're right, but aside from the long time passed, it's this stated somewhere? I don't recall it.

I think it was implied by Thog's shade of green becoming lighter again and his speech becoming smaller, at the start of the third page.

You're going to fit in well here. I award you a cookie.

Yay. *nom nom*

[thereaper]

Well played, Giant. Well played.

[Mojique]

A little bit overdone ... Rich Burlew goes Stan Lee.

[super dark33]

Thog:43-808

you will be missed.

not by me at least.

time for the green one to die!
if hes not dead then ill be angry.

[rewinn]

In addition to the ceiling, yeah..



Cheers, JohnH / Wanda

Just don't call that thing above Roy a "plot hole".

Although he plotted it well ...

[slayerx]

Why do people keep saying things like this? I thought it was clear that Tarquin wanted Thog dead.

True, but Thog IS a fan favorite. If Thog is too die tarquin would want done in an epic fashion to be seen by all... And while being buried and crushed by an entire section of the stadium is a more epic way to go than the way most fights go, the people may not have really SEEN him get buried... they saw the two crash through the floor and then a minute later saw that whole section collapse...

but then again, If Roy wants to see Tarquin make good on his promise to let Roy come work for him so that Roy can get close to him, then Roy will probably rise up triumphant from fallen stadium and get the standing ovation that will allow the crowd to to forget about Thog and cheer on Roy as the new champ... Hell the crowd might be so pleased that Tarquin won't mind all the money he will have to spend for all the damage's to his stadium.


So ya, in short, whether or not Tarquin lets Thog live or die depends on if the crowd is pleased with this as his end.

[Snails]

At any rate that's a tremendous lot of skill points spent on a fluff skill rather than core warrior specialty. But I guess that's because he's supposed to be a 'real person' rather than an ultra-optimized combat guy.

Why would Roy do that? Does he plan to become a civil engineer when he retires from adventuring?

A serious crunch answer would be that a PC could use his skill for:
* How to compromise a defensive fortification, with least effort
* How to design, improve, repair a defensive fortification
* When a structure was built
* What was likely behind a wall, as originally constructed
* Where the high priest's chambers is more likely to be, based on similar buildings for this god
* Where secret doors are more or less likely to be, thus cutting the tedious Search time down
* Design a charming appropriate-sized "bird house" for your air sylph SO

[Zerg Cookie]

Giant, you amazed me.
More than usually, I mean. Which is quite goddamn amazing.
Best strip in a while.

[Snails]

It was more a way of ensuring that Thog would hit him into the columns, rather than any of the other architectural features of the room. He throws out a taunt while standing in front of the desired target and then Thog hits that target. Having Thog's rage run out was fortuitous, but given Roy's early 'I choose me' comment I'd guess he was prepared to go through with the plan even if it ended up bringing the ceiling down on him as well. He'd certainly followed through masochistically without a specific plan up to that point.

I would guess that Thog has feats for causing massive damage to objects, 'cuz they are fun.

It is also likely that those visually impressive "toss Roy into the wall" attacks do non-lethal, so Roy was not necessarily going to die from them. And if many of those attacks were non-lethal than the healing potion was effectively doubled.

[silversaraph]

It's almost as if they have a combined 4% of O-chul's hitpoint total!

[Snails]

As to whether Thog will die from crushing or suffocation off-panel, ask Elan.

[ORione]

You get your Int-Mod (+4 for 18, only +1 for 12) + the fixed amount for your class (2 for fighters, 8 for rogues, the other classes can have 2, 4, 6, or 8) + 1 if you are human per level.

So Roy should get like 7 per level (which is not that much given a human bard gets like 6+Int+1; it's a lot for a fighter).

7 per level? As a fighter? Roy's smart, but he's not that smart.

Probably you're right, but aside from the long time passed, it's this stated somewhere? I don't recall it.

Third page, second through fourth panels.

I'm going to list the awesome things Roy does here.
1. Risks his life to save the civilians.
2. "I'm a big scary gladiator with permissive ideas about individual rights! BOO!"
3. The pillar destruction plan. So much.
4. "Stop talking." Ironic echo, anyone?
5. The last two panels.

This was completely worth the wait.

[One Skunk Todd]

For those rooting for Roy, don't forget to count the damage caused by the falling columns.(I think the person who calculated damage from the falling roof only counted the roof, not the columns, I could be wrong :) ).

On the other hand, those rooting for Thog, don't forget that large pieces of falling structure can often leaved voids in which it is possible to survive.

On the gripping hand, are we seeing a pattern developing of Roy's nemeses being destroyed by falling architecture? Sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the revelation of Thog's fate.

What now for Roy? Make a break for it now that he's out?

[MesiDoomstalker]

Three down, two to go...

Cheers, JohnH / Wanda

I may be failing basic arithmetic, but who's the third? We have Z and Thog down (at least thats what it seems). And as some one else pointed out, two for sure to go and a third is still possible.