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2012-01-10, 03:32 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
The Summon Monster spells have a duration measured in rounds. Even at Redcloak's level, Summon Monster IX would last less than 2 minutes. I sincerely doubt the demons he has with him were brought in that way. The more likely options are the Planar Ally line of spells or Gate.
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"When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." -C.S. Lewis
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2012-01-10, 03:53 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
Cloiser might actually block a gate. It is not summoning but building a two-way portal from a place on this place to a place on another place. Yet, if cast from the inside, it might a) work or b) be unidirectional. We cannot know, it seems unlikely you can use gate from the outside (cast outside) to get in, that'd be a very unlikely oversight from Dorukan.
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2012-01-10, 04:15 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
Spoiler30 years? How do you figure? He died outside the dungeon of Dorukan, which Xykon took over ~2 years ago.
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2012-01-10, 04:17 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
Xykon is the caster of the cloister though, so he might have been able to give Redcloak a bypass command. One could argue that only specific spells with a given ritual can get through given comic 532, but I think its likely that Dorukan still put in a password for simplicity's sake.
As for Xykon getting said password, it might be set at casting. Or it was in the box of wheaties with the headbandPale Master avatar by myself.
10 points if you can tell what he has equipped
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2012-01-10, 04:27 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
Haley summoned Celia and there was no password.
The Giant says: Yes, I am aware TV Tropes exists as a website. ... No, I have never decided to do something in the comic because it was listed on TV Tropes. I don't use it as a checklist for ideas ... and I have never intentionally referenced it in any way.
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2012-01-10, 05:16 PM (ISO 8601)
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2012-01-10, 05:22 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
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2012-01-10, 05:24 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
Cloister is said to block "transportation magic" and "plane shifting". What it apparently doesn't block are summoning and calling spells. I'm of the opininon that the spell that brought Celia to her broken talisman was a calling spell, since she stayed on the plane and since she felt she could be killed on the mortal plane (instead of reappearing on the Plane of Air, as would be the case if she was killed while the subject of a summoning spell). Since Gate is a calling spell, if I'm right about Celia's talisman, it should work to call creatures into the Cloister from outside.
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2012-01-10, 06:00 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
Yes, I know. I was responding to the poster immediately above me, who had claimed that the Cloister spell might have been designed with an access password, allowing Redcloak to cast Gate. We know, because Haley summoned Celia, that no such password system was enacted. I have already stated that I believe Redcloak's other spell is probably Monster Summoning IX for precisely the reasons you mention here — we know summoning works; we don't know that Gates do.
Last edited by Fish; 2012-01-10 at 06:04 PM.
The Giant says: Yes, I am aware TV Tropes exists as a website. ... No, I have never decided to do something in the comic because it was listed on TV Tropes. I don't use it as a checklist for ideas ... and I have never intentionally referenced it in any way.
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2012-01-10, 06:19 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
It doesn't actually make any sense for summoning spells to work, but calling spells (like Gate) not to. The only summoning spells, the Summon Monster line, have ridiculously short durations, as I pointed out before. Redcloak would have to have known down to the minute when his targets would arrive for his demons to actually still be around when they showed up, because even if he could extend the spell (and for Summon Monster 9 he couldn't) it would barely last more than 3 minutes. The only summoning-style spells with longer durations are calling spells - the Planar Ally line, the Planar Binding line, and Gate.
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"When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." -C.S. Lewis
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2012-01-10, 06:48 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
Since we know that summoning spells do work, and that they are an exception, I don't know that there's anything I can say to that. Sensible or not, Dorukan built an exception into his Cloister which permitted summoning.
Whether Redcloak knew the targets would be arriving is another story; we have no evidence that he did (or didn't).Last edited by Fish; 2012-01-10 at 06:49 PM.
The Giant says: Yes, I am aware TV Tropes exists as a website. ... No, I have never decided to do something in the comic because it was listed on TV Tropes. I don't use it as a checklist for ideas ... and I have never intentionally referenced it in any way.
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2012-01-10, 06:56 PM (ISO 8601)
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2012-01-10, 07:12 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
Technically it doesn't make much sense for teleport spells to be prevented but other forms of extra-planar travel are allowed. For any teleport type blocking spells I've seen, blocking teleport is only a byproduct of blocking all extra-planar travel. Cloister seems to only block teleport and greater teleport specifically.
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2012-01-10, 07:19 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
They're a different category of spells. Teleport, Greater Teleport, Dimension Door, etc. are Conjuration (teleportation) spells. The Summon Monster line are Conjuration (summoning) spells. Planar Binding, Planar Ally, Gate, etc. are Conjuration (calling) spells. Of the three, Cloister is said to block Conjuration (teleportation) spells and to allow Conjuration (summoning) spells. No mention is made of Conjuration (calling) spells, but Celia's talisman seems to operate like a Conjuration (calling) spell, so I would hesitate to say calling spells are blocked.
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2012-01-10, 07:21 PM (ISO 8601)
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2012-01-10, 07:25 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
Strong evidence? No. Rather the opposite. There's not much wiggle room.
Interpretation of the summoning? Read 532 again. It specifically says all forms of travel and scrying were blocked ... except summoning. Not "many forms of travel," or "a few key methods, but not including calling." It says:
Teleportation, scrying, plane shifting, dimension doors, locating creatures, sending ethereal jaunts, you name it, it blocked it.
For some reason, Dorukan built a specific exception to summoning spells into the Cloister's effect. I still don't know why.Last edited by Fish; 2012-01-10 at 07:26 PM.
The Giant says: Yes, I am aware TV Tropes exists as a website. ... No, I have never decided to do something in the comic because it was listed on TV Tropes. I don't use it as a checklist for ideas ... and I have never intentionally referenced it in any way.
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2012-01-10, 07:54 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
Celia isn't necessarily expert enough to know the difference between summoning and calling. She's a lawyer and she was a sigil guardian and student before that. Plus she seems to get buy on natural instincts and senses where magic is concerned. She needn't have even one point in Spellcraft. She says her talisman works like a summoning spell when everything we know about it suggests it works more like a calling spell. She sticks around for weeks rather than a few rounds, for instance. Furthermore, the duration of Dorukan's "summoning" of Lirian would be too short for the kind of lovemaking suggested by the rosepetal bed.
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2012-01-10, 08:00 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
I understand that part, I'm just talking about spells that block teleport tend to be designed around blocking all extra-planar spells, which summons and callings are (at least I think summons fall under that as well).
I decided to look at epic spells to see how cloister might be made. Only seed I can see that fits is ward, and only way to keep the ward spellcraft DC realistic is by making it pick specific spells to block rather than blocking all spells (even then the DC would be unrealistic). So I guess it's possible cloister simply blocks teleport and greater teleport specifically, along with various divination spells. That doesn't explain why V's scrying wouldn't work (since it blocks specific spells in this case), but Rich has made it clear before that the story always comes before the rules.
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2012-01-10, 08:10 PM (ISO 8601)
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2012-01-10, 08:20 PM (ISO 8601)
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2012-01-10, 08:55 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
Pretty much this. Celia doesn't know the difference (and honestly, the two types have pretty similar effects).
And again, Summon Monster can't be used to get horned devils because they are too powerful. Summon Monster IX can only get the CR 11 barbed devil. Horned devils are CR 16. Now, being a stick figure comic, we don't know for sure that Redcloak's minions here are horned devils, but they fit the description and their most prominent feature is their horns, so I think it's the safest assumption. Add in the timing issues mentioned by others, and we can probably rule out Summon Monster as the method Redcloak used to get these guys.
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2012-01-10, 09:07 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
Yes - and what you're missing is that calling spells are functionally identical to summoning ones. The two do the same thing: summon extraplanar beings to this plane of existence. The distinction between them is a minor one of game rules, dealing primarily with what happens to the creature if it's killed while on the plane it was summoned summoned to (for "summoning" spells it isn't, it's instead sent back to its home plane, for "calling " spells it is) and a few other minutia (i.e. creatures summoned via a "summoning" spell cannot use any spells or spell-like abilities they have to summon more creatures, ones summoned via a "calling" spell can).
Most likely the exception encompasses both. Rich almost certainly doesn't follow the rules closely enough to note the distinction.
...and actually, reading Celia's statement about it again, it doesn't even need that exception. She says that "You could cast them [the spell Cloister blocks] within the area, or even from inside the field to outside, but anyone on the outside of the boundary would get nothing but busy signals and error messages." So within the Cloister, all of those things work just fine, you just can't use them from the outside going in. And since Redcloak is within the Cloister, that means he can use any kind of spells just fine, and it won't inhibit him in the least. Which actually means that the exception for summoning wasn't even needed to begin with, since Dorukon could cast whatever spells he wanted from within the Cloister to bring others to him just from the way the spell is designed to begin with. I guess Rich overdid it when he made explanations for how Celia's summoning talisman managed to work in spite of the Cloister effect.
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"When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." -C.S. Lewis
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2012-01-10, 09:56 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
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2012-01-10, 10:15 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
I'd like to add here that there already is a good reason why miracle might not exist in the OoTS universe. The Snarl. The whole idea was that existence was unmade because the gods fought too much and interfered with one another, tangling the threads of existence. The response was for the gods to evenly divide up existence and they make great efforts to prevent each other from interfering in their respective domains. Miracle, which is basically just a free pass for a god to intervene as directed by a cleric, could go directly against the celestial agreement not to interfere with other gods, and might be banned outright.
Obviously, that was rife speculation, but it's no unreasonable to suggest that the problems of celestial competition would keep miracle out of use.
I don't think calling spells and summoning spells are functionally identical. Yes, they both get something to you from elsewhere, but so do teleport and ethereal jaunt. I also don't think you could plane shift into a cloister. Summoning is a very short duration ongoing magical tie to the current plane, calling actually gets some other being physically present at your location.
Moreover, I do think Rich is well-informed enough of the rules to notice the difference. He might not care, but I'd rather give him credit and say that Celia is wrong/making an incomplete statement.
Also, I can't believe that summoning Lirian was really summoning. Even if Dorukan was leveled into the high 20s, 2-3 minutes is simply not enough time for the likely purposes that he brought Lirian into his dungeon. He almost surely needed a longer duration [calling] subschool spell.
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2012-01-10, 11:52 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
He said summoning, in multiple locations throughout the story, such as here and here. Rich has no reason to lie to the readers and call it summoning when he means something else; it would serve no narrative purpose to lie (ie, to have Celia be wrong). Or do you think this is all part of the Giant's elaborate plot to mislead you into guessing incorrectly what Redcloak's other 9th-level spells are?
I won't explain how, because I don't have to. Moreover, I can't — nobody can. Rich has explicitly said that he does not always follow the rules of D&D. If you're combing through spell lists looking at durations and casting times, you're wasting your time. It happened ... because Rich said it happened.
Otherwise ... always ... author speaks louder than rulebook.
Who cares about that? A airplane and a hang glider are functionally equivalent in that they get you places through the air, but they're not identical things.
Edit: Also functionally equivalent are Darkness and Obscuring Mist. Blocks all light, including infravision; 20% concealment. One is an evocation and the other a conjuration.
All of the objections so far are assuming facts not in evidence. Namely:
1. Rich didn't mean "summoning" when he said "summoning." You have to believe the author is a) wrong or b) misleading. Why not believe the author is c) right?
2. Redcloak has been there for a long time, waiting with these demons; therefore it can't be a summoning spell. We don't know how long he's been there, or whether he was waiting deliberately for their return, or when he cast his spell. Even supposing we knew all of that, then who says it can't be a summoning spell? The rulebook? See above: author speaks louder than rulebook.
3. The rulebooks contain information that is always relevant to the plot, because Rich always follows every rule to the letter. No, they don't, because no, he doesn't.
4. It can't be a spell because it's a horned demon. Says who? A kinda similar-looking stick figure? Maybe? Hardly authoritative.
Most likely the exception encompasses both. Rich almost certainly doesn't follow the rules closely enough to note the distinction.
So within the Cloister, all of those things work just fine, you just can't use them from the outside going in. And since Redcloak is within the Cloister, that means he can use any kind of spells just fine, and it won't inhibit him in the least. Which actually means that the exception for summoning wasn't even needed to begin with, since Dorukon could cast whatever spells he wanted from within the Cloister to bring others to him ...
Second: if Dorukan can cast spells from inside the Cloister to bring in allies, so can the bad guys. It's not a loophole he'd be likely to leave, is it? In fact, if calling spells are long-term spells to summon powerful extraplanar allies, and summoning spells are short-term, that's all the more reason to leave summons as the only exception.Last edited by Fish; 2012-01-11 at 12:05 AM.
The Giant says: Yes, I am aware TV Tropes exists as a website. ... No, I have never decided to do something in the comic because it was listed on TV Tropes. I don't use it as a checklist for ideas ... and I have never intentionally referenced it in any way.
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2012-01-11, 12:03 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
You're making a distinction that doesn't exist. The spell explicitly allows those inside of it to use any spell and have it work. Redcloak is on the inside, so if he casts a gate, it will work.
The only Summon Monster spell we've seen Redcloak use did last for a short time. The Mammoth disappeared shortly after he entered the city, when he confronted the city's High Priest. And that was an extended spell at that, lasting twice as long as normal.
Sure it is. The purpose of the spell was to keep the bad guys from entering the area to begin with - if they're in already, its purpose has failed. Besides, it's a loophole he explicitly left by the specified summoning exception.
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"When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." -C.S. Lewis
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2012-01-11, 12:08 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
Er, no. The purpose was to keep bad guys from entering the area magically. You can walk into and out of it with ease; Cloister was not designed to prevent all entry. Celia and her girlfriends left the Cloister all the time to go to Serfway.
With the loophole you describe, any bad guy could walk in and summon an extraplanar army.Last edited by Fish; 2012-01-11 at 12:12 AM.
The Giant says: Yes, I am aware TV Tropes exists as a website. ... No, I have never decided to do something in the comic because it was listed on TV Tropes. I don't use it as a checklist for ideas ... and I have never intentionally referenced it in any way.
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2012-01-11, 01:21 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
I just want to address this one point, although much of the remainder of your argument is valid. Summoning is a much more evocative term than calling. Moreover, calling has much broader meanings and would only be understood in context by people with a deep knowledge of the D&D rules. I'm not even sure that most regular players make the distinction between calling and summoning in the magic rules.
Even if Rich did mean calling, it would make sense to use the term summoning in order to make the comic clearer, more accessible to a lay audience, and easier to understand when read quickly.
Any bad guy could walk in and summon an extraplanar army. All spells cast inside the cloister already work, as has been noted a bunch of times. Presumably Dorukan figured that he had enough guards, other wards, and scrying spells that if someone tried to come in the front door he could stop them. Cloister is about preventing back door access, not defending an entire city on its own.
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2012-01-11, 01:54 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
Anarion's right on the money here.
More than half of the readers of OOTS do not play D&D at all, and half of those that do play only casually. The average reader does not know what "calling" means in the context of D&D, especially when the plot makes frequent use of the spell sending, which is a poorly-named method of "calling" another person up and talking to them, as you would on the phone. Thus, I don't use the word. I use "summoning" regardless of whether it was a summoning or calling spell, because it doesn't really matter.
As was pointed out, I don't always follow the rules...including the rules on what things are named.
Yes. This is true. It is not a perfect defense.
Summoning/calling spells work if cast within the Cloister. As pointed out by Zevox, any extradimensional travel spell cast from within the Cloister works normally just by the nature of the effect. Yes, that makes Celia's mention of Dorukan's specific exception somewhat redundant, but A.) that was a fairly complex bit of exposition and I wanted it to be certain that everyone understood that summoning could still happen, and B.) it provided me with a good punchline and a way to show that Lirian and Dorukan were cheating on their oaths. So I tolerated some redundancy.
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Also, as a general rule of thumb, no one should say the sentence, "There's no (or no other) possible narrative purpose for Rich to have done X!" until the story is completed. Because there's always a narrative purpose, you just haven't thought of what it is.
Sometimes, the narrative purpose is to set up something that won't happen for 200 strips. Sometimes, it's to enable a joke, or to make the narrative easier to understand for non-players. Sometimes, it's just to stop people from wondering why they didn't use a different spell. And sometimes, it's just a deliberate red herring because this is a serialized story that won't reach its ending for another few years and I don't want everyone to predict what's going to happen along the way. All of those (and more) are legitimate reasons to have a character say or do something, even if not all of them apply to your personal reading experience.Rich Burlew
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2012-01-11, 05:01 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: What's Redcloak's 2nd Level-9-Spell
Few years? Excellent. "Few" is more than a couple but less than several. It took about 9 years to do 825 comics. I'll call it an average of almost 100 comics a year. So that gives us, say, just under 500 more strips.
Interesting. I would have guessed a lot fewer than that. So it would seem that RC and the OOTS will probably be into epic levels by the time all is said and done.
"predicting what's going to happen along the way" is half the fun!
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