If I were the rest of the Order, I'd be pretty ticked off at Durkon for not helping in the unseen fight...he obviously did not help, otherwise he would have been chained up as well.
Things tend to not go well when your party cleric abstains from participating.
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No f**king way!!
I guess its just because they didnt have D backing them up.
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While I play my best when I'm a paladin, I don't think I could've taken a fighter, wizard, rogue, bard, and ranger/barbarian. Especially without using Smite Evil. I'd have the be several levels above them. Miko definately doesn't have that high of an AC if she's using two-weapon fighting, and now they're fighting in a clear environment. Either she got very lucky, or the order was extremely unlucky.
They didn't go down easily. Neither Miko nor her horse escaped unscathed.
And I couldn't help but notice how quickly Roy jumped on Haley's garbled, "You call it the..." *;)
(And for those keeping track, the rest of her conversation is: "Ten gold says she cries" and "Yeah!") Although there is an incorrect letter in the code.
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The only way I could POSSIBLY see this happening is if Durkon not only refused to fight Miko, but helped her as well...and really only one in a thousand. I don’t even see how she could take any TWO on her own.
She either has quite a few more levels then them or this is Rich's version of the DM just saying "you get beat down and drug along in chains".
Regardless, I don’t like the sudden switch in gears. Maybe it’s because I sympathize with them in being beaten by the DMs uber powerful NPC or maybe I just don’t like seeing the heroes I have come to know and love be beaten by an arrogant jerk and a turn-coat cleric.
Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards; they simply unveil them to the eyes of men. Silently and imperceptibly, as we wake or sleep, we grow strong or weak; and at last some crisis shows what we have become. -Brooke Foss Westcott
BWA HA HA! Say what you will about Miko; she's tough. Either that, or the DM is fudging some rolls.
Actually, this comic touches a lot on what I don't like about the way paladins are usually played. Seriously. Why does a paladin have to monitor the behavior of the rest of the group? Why can't he or she just attend to her own behavior, and try and set a good example for the rest?
Panel 5 is interesting - so you're saying it's not just a class thing, it's a class thing? :D Sorry. Couldn't resist.
Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards; they simply unveil them to the eyes of men. Silently and imperceptibly, as we wake or sleep, we grow strong or weak; and at last some crisis shows what we have become. -Brooke Foss Westcott
Come to think of it, it's a bit more plausible if she's heavily trained in mounted combat. A mount adds 3 more attacks per round. And if it's celestial (as I think Miko's mount it) it only makes things worse for their enemy. So five attacks from Miko, and three from Windstriker. She could probably take out any of the Order in a single round, given she rolls well. If I were her, I'd probably go for Haley first since she'd get extra damage from sneak attack and Miko's very much surrounded. Then for Belkar since his rage and jumping abilities are formidable. Then Roy: third because he's tougher than V and Elan in this situation, and because he's strongest with a sword, not a greatclub. Then V; with the high saves and evasion, V isn't much of a threat. Finally Elan.
EDIT: She blindfolded Haley since she's probably got some ranks in Escape Artist. Would YOU try to escape if you didn't know you were being watched? And Elan's trained to sing with a lute. Even if he tried, he wouldn't get very far trying to cast spells on Miko.
Come to think of it, it's a bit more plausible if she's heavily trained in mounted combat. A mount adds 3 more attacks per round. And if it's celestial (as I think Miko's mount it) it only makes things worse for their enemy. So five attacks from Miko, and three from Windstriker. She could probably take out any of the Order in a single round, given she rolls well. If I were her, I'd probably go for Haley first since she'd get extra damage from sneak attack and Miko's very much surrounded. Then for Belkar since his rage and jumping abilities are formidable. Then Roy: third because he's tougher than V and Elan in this situation, and because he's strongest with a sword, not a greatclub. Then V; with the high saves and evasion, V isn't much of a threat. Finally Elan.
You only put V above Elan? Heh, my target priority would go:
1. V
2. Smite Evil Belkar
3. Haley
4. Roy
5. Elan
My priority is always based on who can do the most damage. We saw V take out a Dragon on his own and Belkars jump attack. Haley gets her sneak attack. Roy will take a while and he cant do the damage of the others.
As for Elan...well...someone singing "beat beat beat beat beat the mean old cranky pants" would be annoying I suppose...
Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards; they simply unveil them to the eyes of men. Silently and imperceptibly, as we wake or sleep, we grow strong or weak; and at last some crisis shows what we have become. -Brooke Foss Westcott
A helpless dragon is hardly a threat. A wizard against a paladin with evasion is hardly a threat. And she might have had more tanglefoot bags.
This is gonna be one of those fights we never see. Like the bank robbery in Resevoir Dogs.
I'm pretty sure that this was the DM saying "She beats you up and puts you in chains.", hence Roys remark about the railroad plot.
On the bright side, perhaps this means that they'll get to lord shojo soon, since it's unlikely that there will be any significant events with all the main characters in chains.
-edit:
I don't think the blindfold is to prevent haley from knowing when she's observed. But I just looked up blinded and got:
Blinded: The character cannot see. He takes a –2 penalty to Armor Class, loses his Dexterity bonus to AC (if any), moves at half speed, and takes a –4 penalty on Search checks and on most Strength- and Dexterity-based skill checks. All checks and activities that rely on vision (such as reading and Spot checks) automatically fail. All opponents are considered to have total concealment (50% miss chance) to the blinded character. Characters who remain blinded for a long time grow accustomed to these drawbacks and can overcome some of them.
So, she's likely got at least a -4 penalty on her escape artist check, and it might be ruled that she'd automatically fail (although I don't think that escape artist is reliant on sight).
You only put V above Elan? Heh, my target priority would go:
1. V
2. Smite Evil Belkar
3. Haley
4. Roy
5. Elan
My priority is always based on who can do the most damage. We saw V take out a Dragon on his own and Belkars jump attack. Haley gets her sneak attack. Roy will take a while and he cant do the damage of the others.
As for Elan...well...someone singing "beat beat beat beat beat the mean old cranky pants" would be annoying I suppose...
True, but in their previous encounter, her saves were high enough that V's magic was pretty useless. Haley was the biggest threat to her in the previous battle, when she got in Sneak Attack Damage. So, I think she want Haley out of the picture as quickly as possible. Belkar probably came next, since, unlike Roy, he isn't laboring under less than optimal equipment. Of course, Roy has more hit points, and probably does more damage with that greatclub than Belkar could with his daggers. In either order, that leaves V and Elan. And all Elan can do is sing, poke people with his rapier, and create illusions of pretty girls or puppies.
I commented on Haley's blindfold earlier. Something else occurred to me: Miko wouldn't have kept the bag of treasure. 'tis a sad day for the Order of the Stick.
That was a great comic. I loved Miko getting angrier and angrier as the comic went on.
I love that Miko beat them and put them in chains. I'm on the fence of the hate her/love her, but I want to get to Lord Shojo and see what he'll do to the Order/Elan.
And Durkon's 'betrayl' doesn't surprise me. Durkon didn't look like he was agreeing with Roy when he went on his rant. And I say good for him. He stood up for his principles just like the rest of the Order stood up for their beliefs.
EDIT: Oh, and it didn't look like Durkon enjoyed watching the rest being put in chains. I'm still wondering if he helped Miko or just watched it all play out. I wonder...
The biggest question to me is: did Durkon HELP her? He said it again in this strip that he believes it was Thor's will that they go with her, and thus he would STRONGLY obey that belief. He believed it before with it just being IN the rain, and after the rain STOPS when he figures it out "correctly" would only push that belief further? Even though we know about the drunk Thor, he does NOT, and thus would believe it is absolutely necessary they go with Miko.
So did he help? At the least he didn't help the rest of the Order, but did he ACTIVELY help Miko? A ripe topic for speculation barring any additional information (that the Giant may or may not ever give).
And Elan just looks so SAD! But can't he break out of the imprisonment? He did it in the bandit camp. Now that doesn't mean that whatever he used there to break out of ropes would work against chains, but I'd be interested to know what would happen if he tried. Elan to the rescue again? (and I do say "again", as he did catch Nale by himself)
Well, if the OoTS had any sense, Elan, Haley, Roy and Belkar would have all grappled her at the same time. While she is a monk, shes got probably 2 levels of monk tops. If one of them managed to pin her, Haley could have gone crazy with the sneak attack damage with Miko's offhand weapon. Thats how I would have dealt with it, at any rate.
Edit: (Its clear she took Stunning Fist and not improved grapple at first level as well)
I don't think Durkon helped. For one thing, he wasn't beaten up, as Miko and everyone else who had been in the fight was. For another, if he had sided with Miko against the party, there doubtless would've been noteworthy dialogue and character development. He probably acted as he did in their last fight, and stood nuetrally by whilst awaiting the Will of Thor to prevail.
Although I'm not sure why he didn't heal all of them when the fight was done.
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I now officially hate Miko, she just reminds me too much of a DM's character from a D&D game I played a while ago. He seemed to be almost infinitely powerful and, while allied with our party, only helped us out when we were about to die. For instance, we were fighting a dragon and losing and the guy took it out with 1 arrow (he was an elf fighter with a bow) without even looking up from the runes he was reading. :P
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That was a really interesting comic. I would like to know how Miko (and Durkon?) managed to defeat the rest of them. Did anybody else noticed that for the first time that "The Order of the Stick" logo on top of the comic was grey, instead of it's usual black?
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Re: Order of the Stick: November II
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