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  1. - Top - End - #1
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    Daemon

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    Default Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    In 847, Durkon says that he did not prepare Detect Magic. In 894, he casts Detect Magic. The answer to this conundrum is one of three things. One, Rich forgot something he wrote in a strip more than a year ago. Two, Vampire Durkon reprepared his spells (which spells certain doom for any who fight him). Or Three (the most likely theory), Durkon lied to Roy. Why did he lie?

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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Im thinking that A.) Vamp reset his spells. or B.) he rested. Or a extra spell from vamp?


    Im wayyyy to sleepy to look, but hey, it a start.

    edit: Post from 894 thread.

    We don't know how he was able to cast it. It may simply have been an error on Rich's part (it has happened before)
    Last edited by Ninja_Grand; 2013-06-19 at 03:34 AM.
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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Quote Originally Posted by Sunken Valley View Post
    Or Three (the most likely theory), Durkon lied to Roy. Why did he lie?
    I think it is the by far unlikeliest theory you presented. I think it would be only a small bit more realistic than the following:
    Anel and Lena showing up, and with the quadruplets united using their powers to show that Thog is Serini undercover trying to thwart Xykon's secret plan to make the world a better place.

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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Did the stat bonuses from the vampire template give Durkon more (empty?) spell slots?
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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Quote Originally Posted by ChristianSt View Post
    I think it is the by far unlikeliest theory you presented. I think it would be only a small bit more realistic than the following:
    Anel and Lena showing up, and with the quadruplets united using their powers to show that Thog is Serini undercover trying to thwart Xykon's secret plan to make the world a better place.
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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Quote Originally Posted by ChristianSt View Post
    I think it is the by far unlikeliest theory you presented. I think it would be only a small bit more realistic than the following:
    Anel and Lena showing up, and with the quadruplets united using their powers to show that Thog is Serini undercover trying to thwart Xykon's secret plan to make the world a better place.
    It was pretty clearly a joke...or at least I thought so.

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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Perhaps Elan asked him to keep a detect magic ready for his Plan. He said "I dinnae prepare that, V does", which might just as well mean: "I typically don't prepare that, but V does".
    And once again, Probability proves itself willing to sneak into a back alley and service Drama as would a copper-piece harlot.

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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    I can't tell if you're riffing on a certain somebody or genuinely wondering if the most honest character in the comic lied for no good reason. Friggin' Internet.

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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Quote Originally Posted by rodneyAnonymous View Post
    Did the stat bonuses from the vampire template give Durkon more (empty?) spell slots?
    Technically, yes. Vampires get +2 Wisdom, which would give Durkon at least one bonus spell slot (possibly more, depending on what his wisdom score was before). What level the new slot is doesn't matter, because Detect Magic is a cantrip anyway, and you can prepare a lower-level spell in a higher level slot.

    Of course, choosing to prepare Detect Magic in your new bonus 6th or 7th level spell slot might seem a little odd, but Durkon has always been terrible at spell selection.

    This, of course, is all assuming that the LG hasn't stopped to rest. We don't know exactly how long the Order was out of commission.

    Edit: And now that I look closer at the bonus spell slot table, at Wisdom 20-21, 22-23, and 24-25, you get an extra bonus 1st, 2nd, and 3rd spell, respectively. Given the situation, it would actually make a lot of sense to put Detect Magic into one of those.
    Last edited by thereaper; 2013-06-19 at 05:08 AM.
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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Considering Durkon just switched gods, yes, he got new spells for the day.
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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Quote Originally Posted by Sunken Valley View Post
    In 847, Durkon says that he did not prepare Detect Magic. In 894, he casts Detect Magic. The answer to this conundrum is one of three things. One, Rich forgot something he wrote in a strip more than a year ago. Two, Vampire Durkon reprepared his spells (which spells certain doom for any who fight him). Or Three (the most likely theory), Durkon lied to Roy. Why did he lie?
    Let me get this straight. There are three options:
    1. An artist who has always been a little loose with some details forgets a detail that wasn't important except to prevent a plot problem one year ago, after a particularly bad injury (for a professional artist) and receiving the most money he's ever received in his life, or
    2. A group that has used several hours to prepare for this encounter spends part of that time actually preparing for this encounter, or
    3. The most consistent honest and dutiful character the strip has seen told a useless lie just to avoid doing his duty when the fate of the world depends on success.

    And you think the most likely theory is the third one?

    I ... disagree.

  12. - Top - End - #12
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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Is the point of this thread to highlight the ridiculousness of that argument?
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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Possibility FOUR: Dusk fell while the Order were in the Lotus-Eater trap, and while Nale went ahead with the fiends and Z to search for traps, Durkon and Malack rested to recover spells. They both now have full spell slots.

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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Quote Originally Posted by Coat View Post
    Possibility FOUR: Dusk fell while the Order were in the Lotus-Eater trap, and while Nale went ahead with the fiends and Z to search for traps, Durkon and Malack rested to recover spells. They both now have full spell slots.
    For the sake of the Order, let's hope it's not that one.
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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Quote Originally Posted by Sunken Valley View Post
    In 847, Durkon says that he did not prepare Detect Magic. In 894, he casts Detect Magic. The answer to this conundrum is one of three things. One, Rich forgot something he wrote in a strip more than a year ago. Two, Vampire Durkon reprepared his spells (which spells certain doom for any who fight him). Or Three (the most likely theory), Durkon lied to Roy. Why did he lie?
    It's option 1. I forgot about that strip when I assigned which character would cast which divination spell. I tried to give Durkon the lowest-level spell specifically because he said in #875 that he had no spells above 4th level except for Thor's Might and Planar Ally. So he couldn't have had True Seeing, and Locate Object is not a cleric spell.

    In other words, I remembered the more plot-critical spell issue from three months ago rather than the throwaway line from a year ago.
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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    ...Dang. I have to admit I'd assumed it was deliberate.

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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Either getting turned let him pick new spells as if he had a full rest, or he had left a few low level slots empty that day and filled them during the time the Order was stuck in the illusion.

    Lying not necessary.

    Quote Originally Posted by rodneyAnonymous View Post
    Did the stat bonuses from the vampire template give Durkon more (empty?) spell slots?
    Possible. Detect Magic is 0th level, but you can put lower level spells in higher level slots, and a new bonus 1st level slot would do the trick.


    Edit - And Rich answered already. Whoops.
    Last edited by SaintRidley; 2013-06-19 at 02:18 PM.
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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Although I admire the Giant's honesty in admitting he overlooked that particular detail (which is understandable considering it wasn't all that important), I think the explanation about the extra spell slots due to the Wisdom bonus that comes from vampirism is a good Watsonian explanation of how Durkon was able to cast Detect Magic.
    Last edited by Eloi; 2013-06-19 at 02:18 PM.

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    Daemon

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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Quote Originally Posted by The Giant View Post
    It's option 1. I forgot about that strip when I assigned which character would cast which divination spell. I tried to give Durkon the lowest-level spell specifically because he said in #875 that he had no spells above 4th level except for Thor's Might and Planar Ally. So he couldn't have had True Seeing, and Locate Object is not a cleric spell.

    In other words, I remembered the more plot-critical spell issue from three months ago rather than the throwaway line from a year ago.
    I actually thought 1 was rather likely given the 14 1/2 month gap, but I know you pay attention to all sorts of little details so I wasn't sure. Might want to change it for the book, it's one of your 3 biggest errors (the other two being Fyron's Son and "He's no match for my two of my Ninja's alone"). Or maybe you don't.

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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    The fact that those are the three biggest errors in the comic (which I do not dispute) is super impressive, by the way.
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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Quote Originally Posted by Sunken Valley View Post
    it's one of your 3 biggest errors (the other two being Fyron's Son and "He's no match for my two of my Ninja's alone"). Or maybe you don't.
    No matter how many times you try to get an answer on Fyron's son, you'll never get one until the plot demands it. You should really stop trying.

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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Quote Originally Posted by Shale View Post
    The fact that those are the three biggest errors in the comic (which I do not dispute) is super impressive, by the way.
    Only continuity errors. Some of Rich's jokes could be considered bigger "errors": to comedy!

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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Quote Originally Posted by Silkspinner View Post
    Considering Durkon just switched gods, yes, he got new spells for the day.
    So instead of preparing spells, you can convert and get them instantaneously? We've been doing it wrong all those years. More joy in heaven for one convert than for a thousand righteous ones I guess.
    And once again, Probability proves itself willing to sneak into a back alley and service Drama as would a copper-piece harlot.

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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Quote Originally Posted by Sunken Valley View Post
    "He's no match for my two of my Ninja's alone").
    How is that a continuity error? It's obviously referring to the attack on Hinjo by two ninjas in 453.

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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Quote Originally Posted by ti'esar View Post
    How is that a continuity error? It's obviously referring to the attack on Hinjo by two ninjas in 453.
    It's a grammatical error. It should either be "my two ninjas" or "two of my ninjas," but they got combined.
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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Quote Originally Posted by Gift Jeraff View Post
    It's a grammatical error. It should either be "my two ninjas" or "two of my ninjas," but they got combined.
    Well, sure, but there's a fair number of those (at least in the online comic). It hardly qualifies as "one of [the Giant's] three biggest errors".

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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Quote Originally Posted by ti'esar View Post
    Well, sure, but there's a fair number of those (at least in the online comic). It hardly qualifies as "one of [the Giant's] three biggest errors".
    I agree, though I suppose it stands out as not really being a misspelling like usual.

    I'd say Gannji's foot here is the biggest error in the comic.
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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Well, I guess it's time to go nuts with the fanon. What if we say that vampires in OOTS can cast Detect Magic spontaneously? Or perhaps just vampires created from Malack's staff? Or maybe one of Malack's obscure spells allows casters to refresh unused low-level spell slots?

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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Quote Originally Posted by The Recreator View Post
    Well, I guess it's time to go nuts with the fanon. What if we say that vampires in OOTS can cast Detect Magic spontaneously? Or perhaps just vampires created from Malack's staff? Or maybe one of Malack's obscure spells allows casters to refresh unused low-level spell slots?
    Clearly Durkon is a prestige class, Cleric of Thor. He can cast Detect Magic when his constitution drops to 0. Also, as a lifetime feat, he can write a spell with the help of a mundane spellcaster.

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    Default Re: Mortal Durkon was a Big Liar!

    Quote Originally Posted by The Giant View Post
    In other words, I remembered the more plot-critical spell issue from three months ago rather than the throwaway line from a year ago.
    I appreciate your directness, but I'm still going to claim he got an extra spell when he became a vampire and insist that you've never made a mistake ever.

    (This humorously-intended post is meant to signify that I enjoy the comic.)

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