Highs and Lows

[Lvl45DM!]

What do you think are each characters highs and lows, the moments of greatest glory and most epic failure?
Focus on the PC's and Team Evil but anyone really
Roy: High is his smackdown of miko and the dialogue...pure Roy
Low: Rhino on the head..like...cmon!
Haley: High...hard to say most of her feats are on about the same level but id go with shooting the "one brother tells the truth the other lies"
Low: taken out by a goblin teenager...yeah she kicked his ass later but the fact that it happened at all...for shame!
D: High Control weather *white eyes* 'nuff said
Low: taking on a palm tree with a hammer...fail in so many ways
V: High PRISMATIC SPRAY *giant stone devil* just...wow!
Low: Lets attack Xykon at home where he has all his allies without summoning an army of doom and teleporting them?
Elan: High Surprisingly...Beatle puns! mix of dashing swordsman and bard skills...nice :)
Low: cant think of one...for Elan his lows are highs
Belkar: High solo adventure in Azure City...took him from a child who likes pulling wings off flies to a intelligent and powerful warrior...whos pure evil
Low: Getting outsmarted by the Oracle made of fail

Xykon: High: factor three 'nuff said
Low: You know this isnt as bad as i thought *BOOM*
RC: High: Disnitegrting Hinjo "This is MY city now"
Low: hmm cant think of one really
MitD: ESCAPE!
Low: this is hard cos hes like Elan..when hes awesome its great and when hes pathetic is even better
OH i know Hobgoblins "could someone protect us from the
MitD "just wish there was something i could do"

Miko: High: Kicking RC's ass...just what level IS she anyway?
closely follwed by snapping sabines neck
Low: Fallsville, population 1

[Berserk Monk]

Some lows I thought of:

Roy: He DIED!!!

Elan: He blew up a gate that helped protect the universe.

Red Cloak: SoD spoiler:

Didn't prepare any fire spells when they raided a forest protected by tree creatures.

Miko: Also blew up a gate protecting the universe.

[Tass]

Most of Redcloaks lows are in SoD.

Killing Right-eye and getting verbally "pwnd" by Xykon

Or maybe just setting up a demon roach motel trap.

[Cracklord]

Here are the high points of two characters:
Belkar
His immediate death
watching Haley expel him from the team.
The all to brief second where I thought Miko was going to kill him.
What the oracle did to him.

Durkon:
What would Thor do?
Tha' Tree's (first example)!
Where should we put your solid gold tankard full of beer?
Control Weather.

[Lvl45DM!]

ok while i get the fact that you hate belkar cracklord, doesnt mean that those are high points for his character

[Acero]

hmmmmmm. a low for Roy?
Death

[Lvl45DM!]

ok he was a 14th level fight going toe to toe with an epic level lich
him dying...not exactly embarrassing

[Iranon]

High Points:

Roy: Not sure actually.
Haley: Taking out a dozen hobgoblins with one arrow.
Durkon: Admonishing Julia, without another word about his previous feat.
Vaarsuvius: Apologising to Elanicalicus. Much as I like V's harsher side, that was sweet.
Elan: the Jailbreak. Goofy as always, but effective when he needs to be.
Belkar: The 'present' to the cleric of Loki. More disturbing than his own violence.

Xykon: Taking out the Sapphire Guard with a bouncy ball.
Redcloak: The change of heart regarding the Hobgoblins; the Cleric Duel.
MITD: Escape!
Tsukiko: Her maternal instincts regarding the wights. Awww...



Low points:

Roy: Leaving Elan to the bandits.
Haley: Murdering Crystal.
Durkon: Any scene that features his paranoia regarding trees.
Vaarsuvius: Squandering the power of the soul splices.
Elan: The fight with the invisible ogre. Too silly even for him.
Belkar: Falling for Haley's weak bluff when she nicked his healing potion.

Xykon: Losing his cool, on several occasions. To me, this makes him seem like a pathetic jerk and takes away from his scariness.
Redcloak: His entire current existence as Xykon's lackey.
MITD: Showing its impressive prowess... then suffering a paper cut.
Tsukiko: Not recognising 15d6 of whirling death maybe?

[petersohn]

RC low: "No more goblin!"

[The Odor]

Xykon: Losing his cool, on several occasions. To me, this makes him seem like a pathetic jerk and takes away from his scariness.


Hey thats funny. He is way more alive (unlive( what ever)) then most villans i have ever made and i have been a DM for seven years

[Berserk Monk]

Durkon:
What would Thor do?
Tha' Tree's (first example)!
Where should we put your solid gold tankard full of beer?
Control Weather.

The Control Weather was more a high point for Thor (how he defied the rules in D&D for the spell).

[npc revolution]

Belkar high: I AM A SEXY SHOELESS GOD OF WAR!
low: being completely useless (mark of justice) and then completely useless (cursed and insane)

[Fitzclowningham]

O-chul

High: Shark tank with acid and spikes.

Low: Paralyzing Touch from Xykon.

[Totally Guy]

For Roy's best moment I liked it when he threw the green hilt of his broken sword at the bandit's gallows saving the half the party.:smallwink:

Worst moments... hmmm... there was that psychic that could detect his ghostly presence. "He wants me to say his name. R... o..." "Is it Rover my dead dog?" "Yes it is!"

[Ancalagon]

MitD's low (utter failure) was "Taco Night".

[Sewblon]

ok he was a 14th level fight going toe to toe with an epic level lich
him dying...not exactly embarrassing Roy is the Order's best tactician, so it is pretty embarrassing that he failed to recognize a fight that he could not win. The Oracle outwitting Belkar wasn't a low for him, outwitting someone who can see the future is usually impossible, and it turned out that Belkar doing what he did was a forgone conclusion. Belkar's lows were when Windstriker pinned him, and when he lost that argument to Vaarsuvius, even though the latter should not have surprised anyone. Belkar's highs were his punchline in strip 12, :belkar: Look at all we go through because no one at TSR looked up "level" in the thesaurus. When he knocked Miko out with the led sheet. And his highest was when he got the Mark of Justice removed and (in his own way) grew as a character, that was my favorite part in the entire strip.

[Kaytara]

The Control Weather was more a high point for Thor (how he defied the rules in D&D for the spell).

Yeah, but his immediately preceding action of running away from the trees screaming like a little girl while deserting his post in battle (something he says one would be hanged for in the dwarven army, when he scolds Belkar) and leaving the squishy wizard to fend for himself is kind of a low point. :D

[rewinn]

The lowpoint of Xykon's existence has always been the Death of Barky.

After that, it's all been fun-and-games, except for the loss of the phylactery ... which he's pretty sure he can get back, by sacrificing enough hobbos to the Quest In The Sewer.

[Zordrath]

Xykon had an embarassing Low in SoD when he

was deemed unfit even for a lowly position of 'Head Lackey' to another villain by the Grand Evil Master and subsequently tried enacting his own evil scheme, only to fail miserably.

That, and his defeats at the hands of Roy and Soon, obviously. Apart from those two, Xykon's appeareances in the comic have so far been an asskicking string of villainous Highs :smallamused: Losing the phylactery might be considered a Low, but I think the vicious beating he gave spliced V, a definite High, somewhat compensates for it.

[Kaytara]

Losing the phylactery might be considered a Low, but I think the vicious beating he gave spliced V, a definite High, somewhat compensates for it.

That battle is an interesting example, I think, because it's made up of a HUGE high point and a TERRIBLE low point - a definite one, in my opinion, not just something that can be "considered". :P The contrast simulataneously enlightens us on what is important to Xykon's personality.

Why I consider the phylactery loss a definite low point, beyond the purely technical nature of having lost a valued possession? It's Xykon's emotional state. Before, he was calm, collected, cool, easy-going, and fully in control. He was playing with the puny prisoners, because he could afford to, because he's just that much in control.

Then, everything slips away when the tables turn. The paladin surprises him, then tricks him, he is humiliated when he starts to mock the paladin only to discover that HE deserves to be mocked, instead. He can't even stay to inflict pain, he is reduced to frantically launching off the tower to chase after some bird with a bauble like he's some munchkin adventurer on a freaking fetch quest. And then he's tricked again when the whole thing literally blows up in his face and loses him his bauble.

After that, it's made so obvious that he's slipping up that he's not even going to make good on his threats of slow, torturous deaths; he's just going to kill them both NOW, brutally and powerfully, to establish who is in control before anything else can go wrong. And then that goes wrong. :D

And the worst part? It wasn't an Epic-level incorporeal paladin that made him lose his cool, or an Epic-level druid, or an ancient dragon, or even an Epic-level wizard. It was a naked and half-dead human and a stupid mid-level wizard with hardly any spells and probably hit points in the single digits. Both of which he could have effortlessly killed at any time if he'd just stopped messing around with them, thinking himself impervious to anything they could do. Talk about burn. :D

[Zordrath]

Why I consider the phylactery loss a definite low point, beyond the purely technical nature of having lost a valued possession? It's Xykon's emotional state. Before, he was calm, collected, cool, easy-going, and fully in control. He was playing with the puny prisoners, because he could afford to, because he's just that much in control.
The possibility of losing one's very soul does have a tendency to induce a certain stress :smalltongue: I don't blame for Xykon for snapping upon seeing his phylactery on the way to utter oblivion, but you're right that even allowing the situation to turn from a complete victory to a desaster of such magnitude does take a royal amount of screw-ups. Xykon was technically utterly in control of the situation and vastly superior to each of his opponents (plus surrounded by his own minions), but decided to mess around instead of staying in control. Xykon's lecture about power nonwithstanding, he and V made very similiar mistakes and both paid for it. 'Burn' does seem to be an appropiate word, yes... So not something to be considered, but something definite, I have to concede (however grudgingly :P)


After that, it's made so obvious that he's slipping up that he's not even going to make good on his threats of slow, torturous deaths; he's just going to kill them both NOW, brutally and powerfully, to establish who is in control before anything else can go wrong. And then that goes wrong. :D
To be fair, it's hardly his fault that he didn't consider the MitD would just teleport his prisoners away. The only one who might have possibly known about this was Redcloak, and he was quite busy with his own Low at this point :smalltongue: I don't believe Xykon made any mistake at this point - he was going to end it quickly and definitely, like he should have done at the beginning, and was prevented by a force outside his and everyone else's control or knowledge. It would have taken a trip to Sunken Valley to predict that the MitD might suddenly start to matter :smallamused:

[LtKillroy]

V had a pretty low (and tedious) thing going with the whole "I'm insane" deal. A decent amount of character development, but boring and a low.

A great high (possibly of the entire comic) is Belkar killing most of the Thieves Guild by himself.

I really liked the turn Xykon took, his speech to V, going off on everyone who works for him, the whole bit. The hapless villain was starting to wear thin.

[Morquard]

Belkar High:
"Are you feeling OK? I'm really worried about you" (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0141.html)

[dps]

Some lows I thought of:

Elan: He blew up a gate that helped protect the universe.



I'd say not being able to save Therkla was his low point.

[krossbow]

Roy hitting the ground with that crunch was definitely his low point imo.
As for belkar, definitely when the oracle royally owned him.
For Elan, its a tie between him crying in prison or therkla dying.
V, definitely being curbstomped by xykon, or his own family disowning him.

[Axl_Rose]

High Points:

Roy: Not sure actually.
Haley: Taking out a dozen hobgoblins with one arrow.
Durkon: Admonishing Julia, without another word about his previous feat.
Vaarsuvius: Apologising to Elanicalicus. Much as I like V's harsher side, that was sweet.
Elan: the Jailbreak. Goofy as always, but effective when he needs to be.
Belkar: The 'present' to the cleric of Loki. More disturbing than his own violence.

Xykon: Taking out the Sapphire Guard with a bouncy ball.
Redcloak: The change of heart regarding the Hobgoblins; the Cleric Duel.
MITD: Escape!
Tsukiko: Her maternal instincts regarding the wights. Awww...



Low points:

Roy: Leaving Elan to the bandits.
Haley: Murdering Crystal.
Durkon: Any scene that features his paranoia regarding trees.
Vaarsuvius: Squandering the power of the soul splices.
Elan: The fight with the invisible ogre. Too silly even for him.
Belkar: Falling for Haley's weak bluff when she nicked his healing potion.

Xykon: Losing his cool, on several occasions. To me, this makes him seem like a pathetic jerk and takes away from his scariness.
Redcloak: His entire current existence as Xykon's lackey.
MITD: Showing its impressive prowess... then suffering a paper cut.
Tsukiko: Not recognising 15d6 of whirling death maybe?

I like this man's list. Pointing out Roy's low = leaving elan to the bandits is much more thoughtful than "ROY DEAD = LOWEST POINT. EL - OH - EL."

Not to take anything away from that last demographic.

[Berserk Monk]

ok he was a 14th level fight going toe to toe with an epic level lich
him dying...not exactly embarrassing

The fact he was dumb enough to leap onto a dragon and fight a lich that had at least seven levels on him.

[Dark Faun]

Shojo's high: playing the nobles wanting to murder him like a violin for so many years.

Shojo's low: helping Belkar. I know it might not be Shojo himself since it was a fever-induced dream, but I didn't like him teaching Belkar to keep on being a psycopathic murderer but pretend not to be to avoid getting what he deserved He suddenly seemed more Neutral than Good there. :smallannoyed:

[Maximum Zersk]

I'm sorry, I don't think I completely understand. Do you mean high and low as in "OMG THAT WUZ AWSUM" and "lol sux to b u", or do you mean high and low as in "Well-written, In-character, etc." and "Flat, out of character, and such."?

[Dark Faun]

I believe it's whichever you want to be.

[Bendigeidfran]

Thog's High: 386. Quite probably the most charismatic and impressive entry from a barbarian in the history of everything!

Unfortunatly, his lows are every battle he enters :smallfrown:

[fangthane]

I know several of these have already made other people's lists; that said, they bear repeating as "best-choice" mentions. :)

Roy: High - jumping to attack the epic lich, knowing he's got no more than a prayer, and having no reasonable expectation that anyone else even has that much chance of victory. Low - Almost leaving Elan behind.

Elan: High - The Beatles. Low - initial failure to keep Therkla's death in dramatic perspective. (imo he should have been in favour of her dying in such a poignant and dramatic way)

Haley: High - Double sneak attack on Trigak (and the latter's reaction thereto). Low - killing Crystal rather than merely stealing all her stuff and leaving

The Oracle: High - Convincing nearly everyone that Belkar's death is cast in stone when in fact he's played with that prediction in ways that'd make Nostradamus blush. Second-highest point: 3 seconds after his death at Belkar's hands. Low - 3 seconds before his death at Belkar's hands.

Thog: High - Crashing through a window wearing a leprechaun suit. Low - putting up with not-Nale whilst imprisoned.

Belkar: High - Playing Palpatine to the Cleric of Loki's Skywalker. Low - allowing a sylph to broker a peace treaty (on his behalf) in a city where killing sentient beings is not only socially acceptable but apparently the norm.

Xykon: High - last page of Start of Darkness. Low - At the risk of giving a spoiler that's untagged, here it is (because I can't remember the page number): coffee.

Left-Eye: High - Chlorine Elementals. Low - last page of Start of Darkness

O-Chul: High - surviving 20d6+ of damage (combined concussion and landing, likely to be significantly more), because of prodigious Con. Low - failing the save vs Xykon's touch, despite his prodigious Con.

V: High - Accepting that, however personally painful it may be, his commitment to saving the world has to come first, before the stability of his family. Low - the entire period of time he spent without trancing. (and, ironically, starting to look like a reject from a Jack Deth movie)