Zz'dtri's motivations

[Mentol]

Hi, everyone

Maybe this is already discussed in another thread or solved in a book (if so, please don't spoil it, buying the books is still in my "to do" list) :smallbiggrin:

It came when I read Sabine saying "dont trust any of them". First I thought: "of course, dont trust Tarquin or Malack" and then I thought "Why not zz'dtri? He has been with Nale all this time".

Then the question arised: WHY has Zz'drti sticked to Nale all this time?? Why is he loyal to him? Every other character on this comic, including in the LG has a well-defined motivation, which can be "evil love", reveange, plain stupidity, a command from her god or recently, bulding a strong central goverment.

And, why does he "hate" V? They didnn't know each other before they met in Dorukan's dungeon, and yet he has designed his whole build to counter V. I guess the reasons for that are just plot and fun, but it still annoys me a bit...

Any ideas?

[Finagle]

The Linear Guild is practically synonymous with taking disproportionate revenge over quasi-imagined slights! (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0257.html)

Case closed.

[theinsulabot]

his motivation is essentially stay quiet and hope people don't notice how one dimensional an antagonist, especially for a personal foe, you really are

[Winter]

Why does any adventurer group stick together? For xp and wealth, which result in power.

The dark elf might have other motivations but the two above alone are sufficient.

[Toy Killer]

funny, I always figured that he was just a typical drow and hated 'high' elves, for his personal hate against V, but the tailoring his spell list was encouraged by Nale. Not because of Zz' feelings against V, but because quadratic wizards/linear warriors thing. Z was the only one that could possibly go toe to toe with a V and win.

[Kish]

Zz'dtri could be completely trustworthy, and Sabine could still advise Nale not to trust him, either because Sabine doesn't believe anyone is trustworthy, or because she does believe Zz'dtri's loyalty to Nale is absolute and she wants him dependent on only her.

[theNater]

Zz'dtri can't be trusted because he's currently taking advice from Qarr, who certainly does not have Nale's best interests at heart.

As for the rest of your questions, they can be reasonably answered by simple racism. If we assume Zz'dtri hates Vaarsuvius because the latter is an elf, then it gives a reason for Zz'dtri to be on Nale's team(an opportunity to kill an elf). And once you start working with someone, it's generally easier to keep working with them than to find another team. Also, elves are encouraged by the game to become wizards, thus someone who hates elves has reason to want an anti-wizard build. Vaarsuvius is not a particularly unusual wizard, and so would be countered by such a build.

While it's not clear that this is Zz'dtri's motive, the historical animosity between drow and elves makes it plausible enough to use as a working theory, unless we get some information which contradicts it.

[Lord Ensifer]

Well, the Linear Guild was originally set up so that each pair would automatically hate each other (with the possible exception of Nale/Elan). Zz'dtri hates V because of the Dark/High elf thing, and because V is an evoker, where Z is a transmuter. Plus V was responsible for a team of lawyers kidnapping Zz'dtri, which is enough of a quasi-imagined slight for the linear guild. I don't think there's really anything deeper going on.

[Gift Jeraff]

He's a covert agent for the ninth side, duh.

[KillianHawkeye]

Zz'dtri hates V because of the Dark/High elf thing, and because V is an evoker, where Z is a transmuter.

Since when have evokers and transmuters had any negative feelings between them? That seems kinda random to me.... :smallconfused:

[zimmerwald1915]

Since when have evokers and transmuters had any negative feelings between them? That seems kinda random to me.... :smallconfused:
The answer's in the commentary to Dungeon Crawling Fools. Spoilered in case anyone cares:

"There's also a hidden shout out to my long-time players in Zz'dtri. In my home campaign world, Red Magic and Green Magic are opposed to one another, and V (with his/her red robes and preference for Evocation magic) is clearly a Red Wizard. That means Zz'dtri needed to be a Green Wizard, and so never uses direct-damage spells the way V does, preferring Transmutations."
-The Giant

[JCAll]

I'm going to guess it's because when the Lawyers dragged him away, Z lost his kickass swords, and the dungeon exploded before he could go back and get them.

[oppyu]

I'm guessing that back in the dungeon, Zz'dtri was just your average anti-wizard wizard who was told to prepare spells appropriate for an encounter with another wizard. However, once V had him dragged away, the Lawyers tred to exterminate Zz'dtri from the Burlewverse for copyright infringement, which kind of upset him and motivated him to dedicate the rest of his life to killing Vaarsuvius and those lawyers.

[Lord Ensifer]

Since when have evokers and transmuters had any negative feelings between them? That seems kinda random to me.... :smallconfused:

It's not anything big, but (in addition to the red/green thing, which I was referencing without having the book in front of me) there's the tension because their methods are so different--kind of like Roy hating Thog because he's a dumb fighter where Roy likes to use tactics. Not a huge thing, but given the dark/light elf issue and the fact that they're automatically set up as enemies, it's another thing that would rub Z the wrong way.

[jidasfire]

I always had the impression that Zz'dtri hated Vaarsuvius as a result of their last fight. Z had V pretty much over a barrel until V won through luck. Given that Z was not inclined to like V to begin with (high elf, invoker), losing to him/her in a less than fair fight probably drove Z over the edge, devoting his life and build to revenge, just like a good little Linear Guilder.

[Starbuck_II]

Speaking of Zz'dtri.
What spell did he cast with his scimitars:
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0065.html

[Emperordaniel]

Speaking of Zz'dtri.
What spell did he cast with his scimitars:
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0065.html

Most likely a personalized Lightning Bolt or some similar spell. The rules do allow for spells to be personalized to certain extents, after all.

[KillianHawkeye]

Class and Level Geekery thread lists it as "unspecified lightning spell."

[Smolder]

Class and Level Geekery thread lists it as "unspecified lightning spell."

I thought it was a property of the scimitars, that they can be used to cast a lightning spell of some kind. Without the scimitars, I doubt we'll see him cast it again.

Edit: Nvm, I see it, zimm. It's the one spell he casts in that fight without naming it aloud. Z's been described as more of a Transmuter than an Evoker, so lightning seems out of character. It would have been a convenient excuse if it was an item effect, but alas no.

[zimmerwald1915]

But we already did see him cast it again, the last time he fought V.

[Gift Jeraff]

Looking back at the Linear Guild's first appearance, Zz'dtri has always been portrayed as a petty, sadistic bastard. He gets a kick out of frustrating V about the Fly spell. Then when they fight, he doesn't start attacking until V realizes that s/he is utterly screwed. In the battle at the coliseum, Z casts about half as many spells as V, pretends to get hurt just to mess with V, and intended on sending V to the Demiplane of Extemely Painful Torture.

He also seems to prefer petrifying people instead of killing them. I'd say he's just big on making people suffer, and scaled up the level of suffering he wanted to cause to V after being s/he forced him into a legal battle with the Spooky Wizard.