After reading the thread, there's two things I don't understand. First, how can anyone choose a favorite line with the incredible number of killer lines in this strip? Pants color, spice girls, changed quickly, and so many more. It was an incredible strip. Which brings up the next point, if you didn't enjoy this, then perhaps humor isn't for you. 'Cause this was funny as anything I've seen in awhile. Great work Rich, thanks.
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:Belkar: I have an idea. It starts with "S" and ends with "litting their throats."
Elan's Bluff seems far fetched, but it wasn't the first thing he'd tried. Earlier he'd tried diplomacy, singing, illusions, the truth, crying, and everything else he could think of, and failed. He was due for a good roll, maybe even a natural 20.
I'm not sure if Elan is really getting smarter, or if he is just being forced to use his own mind since he doesn't have Roy to use as a mental crutch. Remember #75?
Oh man! I can't believe you and Vaarsuvius forgot to help Durkon!
What an Epic-level screw up.
Good job, you two.
Wait, us??? As I recall, all five of us were in the room, and NONE of us remembered to bring him along.
True. But the three of us are so consistently and staggeringly irresponsible that it is utterly unreasonable to expect us to have been paying any attention in the first place.
Damn straight.
That . . . is actually a very valid point. You're right. My bad.
Good times. Elan isn't expected to do any hard thinking, beyond thinking up rhymes and making the occasional bardic knowledge check. He's pretty, nice, and fun to be with, and other people are willing to do his thinking for him. He's a bimbo.
Now, possibly for the first time in his life, he is in a situation where the only people around are hostile to him. He is all alone, and nobody is comming to help. He has to rely on his own abilities. Trial by fire. That sort of thing tends to bring out the best in you, or destroy you. And Elan is too cute to be destroyed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by FlawedParadigm
I'd not have credited Thog with the intellect to know what a lover was.
Given his reaction to "pretty" girls, I don't think he does (unless he's gay). He's just repeating a song he heard, without needing to understand it. (Does anyone understand that song?) Nale and Sabine might call eachother "lover" . . . but Thog might think that means "really good friend".
Otherway round, Elan can appear to be smarter than he actually is.
He's a bard. He doesn't have to understand what he's saying, just that its the "right" thing to say.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Haeleth
Wait...Elan was useful in a situation?!?!?! Shame Roy wasn't there to see it...
He was brilliant in the Dirt Farmer sidequest in the Ogre Cave.
And Roy wasn't there to see it. Illusions that time too.
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Heh. This is one of those comics that you have to read over a few times just to catch all the jokes.
I loved the opening "Aw man! This NEVER works!" line. Priceless. Heh, and does it ever?
My favorite part though is "And then they punched a clown!" I fell out of my chair at that point.
Go Elan! I agree with others on Elan's motivation. He leaves it up to others to do the hard stuff; he's never really grown up. This situation has forced him to actually try and pull his weight and accomplish things for once. Elan's not stupid; he just doesn't need to try, and he likes it that way. He's a pure soul, he would like to believe in the best in everybody, and try to hope for the best as opposed to goign into situations planning for the worst and such.
God, I can't wait till tuesday; thog and Elan on a journey together is dream come true; though really, the way he manipulates thog is eerily like how Nale does it...
God, I can't wait till tuesday; thog and Elan on a journey together is dream come true; though really, the way he manipulates thog is eerily like how Nale does it...
oooh... good point.
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Spoiler
"i even tried singing spice girls songs if they didn't set me free." "getting paid to kill things: cornerstone of the world economy." "thog lift with knees, not back." "thor's duodenum!"
God, I can't wait till tuesday; thog and Elan on a journey together is dream come true; though really, the way he manipulates thog is eerily like how Nale does it...
Well, he and Nale ARE brothers. And I'm sure there's a bit of CG/LE cross-pollination. I find that the two are curiously similar at times.*
Although I have to confess that I'd be happier if the leprechaun suit was left unexplained, and we get to see some thrillin' heroics on Tuesday.
*pounds fist on table*
Thrillin' Heroics, consarn it!!
*The question as to which alignment I identify with more is left as an exercise for the reader.
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Wonderful, wonderful comic. Aside from all the gags, Elan's crying fit - and subsequent 'pull himself together' moment - really worked.
On the question of Elan's sudden increase in intelligence - remember comic #119:
'Roy, you may know strategies, and tactics, and basic math, and everyday common knowledge, but *I* know theatrics.'
The situation involved theatrics. (If turning an NPC into the Incredible Hulk isn't theatrics, what is?) Therefore, Elan gets a hefty Circumstance bonus.
Thog had a Natural 6 on his Berserk :P ...if he has any barbarian levels,
But I must say thats some sharp smooth talking from Elan, ... ok Thog isnt to bright and persuaing him would need like a 2+ on a D6 roll, but praises for Elan that he actally thought about it... neve knew he was good at mind games :P
"dose this mean I invested last level points in to intelect?" "no it just means you got a critical strike on your luck roll..."
ye, 119 was gret, but the part that cracked me up was Belkar and his Spot checks, Id buy a D60 or something :P
EDIT: correction Thog started with a lvl 1 barbarian then went 2 point in fighter: forgot >_>
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I'd just like to say that I find the lowermost lefthand panel quite disturbing .
One would almost think that Thog is well ... nvm.
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If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck... it might be Elan. They\'re about the same int range, but no self respecting duck would be caught dead with a kazoo
Lets see... asumming Thog has great rage from barbarian, and gets a +6 to strength... and as a half orc, something like 20-22 strength naturally at this point... ends up as about 26-28 with rage.
so, a +8-9 strength modifier, plus a +2 from Elan's song... He has something like a +10-11 to add to his strength check. Hmm, time to check the break DC's for metal bars to see what he had to roll.
Okay, in addition to what's already been stated, I loved how Thog's skin changed color during the transformation to the Incredible Thog. In the panel where Elan is singing "Bend, bend, bend, bend the prison cell bars" and Thog's clothes start to tear, Thog's skin color is slightly darker than in the panel before, Then in the next panel after the Hulk'ing is complete and he's wearing purple pants, his skin is much greener. Then, of course, followed by the two panel cool down where it changes back to plain ol' Thog green.
Much gasping and wheezing indeed. I laughed my tush off at this one.
Lets see... asumming Thog has great rage from barbarian, and gets a +6 to strength... and as a half orc, something like 20-22 strength naturally at this point... ends up as about 26-28 with rage.
so, a +8-9 strength modifier, plus a +2 from Elan's song... He has something like a +10-11 to add to his strength check. Hmm, time to check the break DC's for metal bars to see what he had to roll.
Is personaly say he could Bend teh bars so he could squeezn between them at moste with a +10-11 mod ( asuming Elan actually had a song up)... unless you count the Incredibel Thog shift as a Potion of greater str, then perhaps...
" Thog no good in fancy number thingies"
I stand corrected
__________________ "Trick question: Why do you have to be such a racist, logically restrained, selfrigethous ho'?"
According to the srd, you can bend or break iron bars by making a DC 24 Strengh check. Otherwise you'd have to beat a hardness of 10 for iron, which isn't a great option for most unarmed characters.
*starts singing*
Sometimes the world looks perfect,
Nothin' to rearrange.
Sometimes you just get a feelin'
like you need some kind of change.
No matter what the odds are this time,
Nothing's gonna stand in my way.
This flame in my heart,
and a long lost friend,
Gives every dark street a light at the end!
Standin' tall
On the wings of my dream!
Rise and fall
On the wings of my dream!
Rain and thunder, wind and haze
I'm bound for better days!
It's my life,
It's my dream,
Nothin's gonna stop me now.
*looks left and right*
Well...that was uncharacteristic of me. But it somehow seemed appropriate.
I heard onec, that way back at 1 edition, half-orcs has soem racial abylity that grounded there int dwon to 1 but boosted a mod of +7-8 str for 2 turns, but they attacked anythign at site a that point so nobody technically used it, seeing the casters usually died in the proces.
Maybe thats it?
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Absolutely incredible. I laughed my heart out, even though I missed a couple a jokes. (So..many...)
What exactly was the Baldur's Gate reference? I barely remember the game, I think Minsc was strong, stupid and carrying an animal on his shoulder (a squirrel, was it?)... So where's the pun??
My currently jailed bard/ranger will be causing hatred for iron bars tomorrow to his half-orc allies. But I'll be using kitties instead of clowns and pebbles instead of breadcrumbs.
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What I liked most about this strip was seeing bardic skills at work and actually USEFUL. It's amazing how much of a rarity that is.
And I'm not sure if Elan's any smarter, or if it's just that compared to everyone else in today's strip, he's smart. A little of both is my opinion.
I really think its just the second, I mean did anyone actually read what Elan said? The story he came up with were all really dumb. As a matter of fact Elan was more stupid then usual in this comic but he got lot of skill in bluff, 18 charisma and the people he was talking to were really dumb!
By the way, yes the way Elan manipulate Thog is exactly like the way Nale manipulate the OOTS. But they are twins brother after all. Nale is more intelligent and Evil but otherwise they really act like each other. And I'm pretty sure Wisdom is the dump stat of both of them.
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O-chul is not just a good paladin, hes THE paladin
Of course, now the question is, how does Elan save Haley? She's unarmed and unarmored, and they're outnumbered three to two (no way Thog or Sabine are gonna fight against Nale here). Could be a tough spot.
Hmmm...
Spoiler
Thog thinks that he's on an adventure with not-Nale to save Haley and Nale. From whom? Have we seen somebody on the scene of their arrival who is likely to show hostility to Haley and Nale...?
Well Elan could use Charm person on Thog just making him compleatly inactive in the fight... still both Haley and Elan aren't perty well equiped... still Elan has a rapier, and Nale has a plain knife (( obviously cos it was just gona be used in a supris attack to it practically auto hit and wounds)) so in overall combat Elan would have the upper hand, ... still sabina is a spell caster.... they beter get some bad ass Spell resistance Check rolls
or
Thog fails a Intelect check roll, and thinks Sabina wants to attack Nale and Haley (( seeing thats what Elan said ther gona do "save haley and Nale") and preocupies her, and Elan still ahs the upper hand seeing he has a sword class weapon, and Nale has a knife, and bards are more capeble with Rapiers
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Re: OOTS #387 - The Discussion Thread
Oh man! I can't believe you and Vaarsuvius forgot to help Durkon!
What an Epic-level screw up.
Good job, you two.
Wait, us??? As I recall, all five of us were in the room, and NONE of us remembered to bring him along.
"thog lift with knees, not back."
"thor's duodenum!"
" I think I just failed a Listen check..."
