What if Roy had come with Durkon?

[Sunken Valley]

Durkon likes to put Honor before Reason. Roy is more compromising and often works to produce non-violent results. If he and Durkon had gone together, what would he have said? Malack gave Durkon 3 ideas to avoid conflict, all of which favoured Malack considerably. It would be reasonable for Durkon to make a counter offer. If Roy had been present would he have done so? Could Roy have stopped the blood shed?

I'm not talking combat by the way.

[snikrept]

Another what-if: what if Durkon had arrived just a couple rounds earlier, before Belkar and Malack rolled initiative? I suspect in the absence of the vampire reveal he'd be a lot more biased toward aiding Malack than Belkar

[Quild]

Durkon likes to put Honor before Reason. Roy is more compromising and often works to produce non-violent results. If he and Durkon had gone together, what would he have said? Malack gave Durkon 3 ideas to avoid conflict, all of which favoured Malack considerably. It would be reasonable for Durkon to make a counter offer. If Roy had been present would he have done so? Could Roy have stopped the blood shed?

I'm not talking combat by the way.

Not talking combat?
Malack's compromise are unacceptable. They don't favour Malack (well, they do since he doesn't want to contribute to this fight, but we're not sure they favour his team. Depends if Durkon would have recovered his "Holy word" spell and could summon devas), but there's no "U" in team!

With Roy being present, you'll have one side :
- Mass Death Ward (not knowing there's a backdoor)
- Sword specifically useful against undead
- 3 high level players (not knowing one is dominated. Not sure if an "owl's wisdom" would have made the difference)
- The opportunity to eliminate one opposite team member.

other side :
- A way to break the mass death ward
- One dominated "ally" (but you shouldn't count too much on that)

I think that it would have ended with a quick retreat from Malack.

[Chantelune]

Yeah, compromises content set aside, if Roy were there, there would be even less compromising. Durkon would still rebuke any attempt from Malack and Roy would stand by his side.

What would have change is the fight itself. Two on one with Roy's sword would have made mince meat of Malack. Well, I guess Durkon might have requested a duel, but Roy would have jumped in as soon as it seemed lost for Durkon.

[Red Lantern]

Roy's sword is supposed to be specially effective against undead, it might be nice to see it work.

[Winter]

Durkon's biggest problem was he did not have anything to really defeat Malack. He had few spells and that those were effective (Heal!) he used up.

In close combat, he was not able get past Malack's DR (good AND silver), Malack has fast healing to counter that damage that passes the DR, and Malack is much stronger than him.

Roy with his melee-build and his 5+ Sword of Undead Bane would have Power Attacked Malack-I-have-d12s-but-no-con-bonus into oblivion within two rounds.
From the rules, Roy's will save should not be that great, but I think here "personality" trumps rules, so Malack would not have been able to simply dominate Roy.

[Nephrahim]

Unless he manages to dominate Roy (Not sure how hard that would be, I know Roy has better saves then the average fighter, but not sure how good they are.) I'd see it changing the outcome to a draw.

They still can't kill Malack, but from Rich's comments, I doubt Malack would have even revealed the passcode if he was not sure he could win, which leaves him almost no way to attack.

[Chantelune]

Given Roy's sword does additionnal damages to undead, I can't see how it would have been a draw. Forcing Malack to flee back to his coffin, wherever that were, would have been a win for the order. Sure, they might not have finished Malack off, but doesn't change the fact that this would have put him off the fight for the rest of the dungeon, most likely.

[deworde]

See, I think Roy would have rescued Belkar, and backed off with Durkon. After all, he's learnt what happens when you try to solo an undead caster.

[Nephrahim]

Given Roy's sword does additionnal damages to undead, I can't see how it would have been a draw. Forcing Malack to flee back to his coffin, wherever that were, would have been a win for the order. Sure, they might not have finished Malack off, but doesn't change the fact that this would have put him off the fight for the rest of the dungeon, most likely.

But why would he has stood around and let them? Malack can assume a Gaseous Form and retreat whenever he wants. Not to mention he can fly even in his normal form, which means Roy can't hit him unless he's attacking.

I suppose if you count forcing him to retreat as a victory then yes, they would have won.

[Winter]

Malack being a level 11 cleric with d12s has 12 + 10 * 6,5 HPs. That's 72 HPs (I do not expect a massive racial bonus).

Roy has three attacks per round, assuming he hits two of them.
He has a str of 20ish (probably higher, due to his belt, but let us assume a bonus of +5).
A medium Greatsword does 2d6 damage, it is a +5 weapon. + from Str is 5, wielded two handed that is 7.
Let's assume Roy's sword is Bane(undead), which adds another 2d6 damage, being some sort of Plot-Artefact, it overcomes undead-DR.

We're looking at 4d6 + 13 damage per attack. 4d6 is 4 * 3,5 = 14. This is a total of 27 on average per attack, per round with two hits that is 54. Even without Durkon doing anything, Malack dies in one and a half rounds. If Malack manages to dodge one or two attacks, he dies in the third round.
If Roy crits or Power Attacks and hits, Malack dies even faster.

Point is: Durkon + Roy = Malack down.

[Nephrahim]

Malack being a level 11 cleric with d12s has 12 + 10 * 6,5 HPs. That's 72 HPs (I do not expect a massive racial bonus).

Roy has three attacks per round, assuming he hits two of them.
He has a str of 20ish (probably higher, due to his belt, but let us assume a bonus of +5).
A medium Greatsword does 2d6 damage, it is a +5 weapon. + from Str is 5, wielded two handed that is 7.
Let's assume Roy's sword is Bane(undead), which adds another 2d6 damage, being some sort of Plot-Artefact, it overcomes undead-DR.

We're looking at 4d6 + 13 damage per attack. 4d6 is 4 * 3,5 = 14. This is a total of 27 on average per attack, per round with two hits that is 54. Even without Durkon doing anything, Malack dies in one and a half rounds. If Malack manages to dodge one or two attacks, he dies in the third round.
If Roy crits or Power Attacks and hits, Malack dies even faster.

Point is: Durkon + Roy = Malack down.

But he only needs one round to assume gaseous form.

[Chantelune]

Well, Malack assumes gaseous form then what ? He just won't be able to do much to both Roy and Durkon who can then just grab Belkar and retreat for now, knowing they would fight him later. If Malack tried anything funny/offensive, he would get charged by Roy, if not getting an attack of opportunity.

Thing is : Roy being there would seriously impair Malack's ability to do anything but lurk around in gaseous form or risk getting kicked back to his coffin. Or he could keep trying to charm Roy and hope for a bad roll on his part.

[Nephrahim]

Nothing. Like I said, they could defiently force Malack to retreat, I would just consider that a draw, since he'd just float away to (Presumably) find Tarquin.

[luc258]

Some speculation:

I think we are soon going to find out something very close.
Tarquin and the order will soon have to deal with Xykon, who is on his way to this gate and that dude is ****ing scary.
Tarquin does not know exactly what the gate is for (or does he? Does Nale know and did he tell him, I don't remember exactly), but when/if he finds out he will oppose Xykon obviously and he will find out how badly outmatched he is by Xykon, too.
I think we will soon see the difference between lawful stubborn good and lawful a bit flexible for the greater good good.

[SowZ]

Malack being a level 11 cleric with d12s has 12 + 10 * 6,5 HPs. That's 72 HPs (I do not expect a massive racial bonus).

Roy has three attacks per round, assuming he hits two of them.
He has a str of 20ish (probably higher, due to his belt, but let us assume a bonus of +5).
A medium Greatsword does 2d6 damage, it is a +5 weapon. + from Str is 5, wielded two handed that is 7.
Let's assume Roy's sword is Bane(undead), which adds another 2d6 damage, being some sort of Plot-Artefact, it overcomes undead-DR.

We're looking at 4d6 + 13 damage per attack. 4d6 is 4 * 3,5 = 14. This is a total of 27 on average per attack, per round with two hits that is 54. Even without Durkon doing anything, Malack dies in one and a half rounds. If Malack manages to dodge one or two attacks, he dies in the third round.
If Roy crits or Power Attacks and hits, Malack dies even faster.

Point is: Durkon + Roy = Malack down.

Roy has at least 22 Str at this point. Plus, he has weapon specialization. So that's 31 damage an attack right there. Roy does Power Attack, so assume a -3 to hit is reasonable. That is enough to drop Malack in one round if two attacks hit. (Critting is not a possibility, btw.)

I don't think the giant would do that, though, since, "Roy charges Malack, Malack dies," would not be a very interesting spectacle.

[Feddlefew]

Malack being a level 11 cleric with d12s has 12 + 10 * 6,5 HPs. That's 72 HPs (I do not expect a massive racial bonus).

Roy has three attacks per round, assuming he hits two of them.
He has a str of 20ish (probably higher, due to his belt, but let us assume a bonus of +5).
A medium Greatsword does 2d6 damage, it is a +5 weapon. + from Str is 5, wielded two handed that is 7.
Let's assume Roy's sword is Bane(undead), which adds another 2d6 damage, being some sort of Plot-Artefact, it overcomes undead-DR.

We're looking at 4d6 + 13 damage per attack. 4d6 is 4 * 3,5 = 14. This is a total of 27 on average per attack, per round with two hits that is 54. Even without Durkon doing anything, Malack dies in one and a half rounds. If Malack manages to dodge one or two attacks, he dies in the third round.
If Roy crits or Power Attacks and hits, Malack dies even faster.

Point is: Durkon + Roy = Malack down.

You forgot to add in his racial hit dice:

If Malack is a lizardfolk, he has 13 HD (2 from being a lizardfolk), giving him ~85 HP.

If Malack is a Yuan-ti Half Blood with the snake-bodied mutation, he has 18 HD (7 for being Y-tHB) for ~122 HP

If Malack is a Yuan-Ti abomination (very unlikely), he has 20 HD (9 for being an abomination) for ~ 135 HP.

[WindStruck]

Ok, getting back to the non-combat part of the OP, I figure it would be fair that a more reasonable person might at least ask the following questions of Malack:

Why is he and Tarquin suddenly working with Nale?

Why are they even interested in the gate?

What did Nale tell them about it?

From there, I'm sure quite a few holes could be filled in on Malack's behalf, and I'd bet a fight could have been avoided.

[Winter]

You forgot to add in his racial hit dice:

Given that is all speculation, I did not add it in. But I don't see Malack to have a massive lot of racial HD as his level + the adjustment from Vampire brings him "near 20", which is where Tarquin is suspected as well. Given they adventured together, a somewhat equal level is to get expected. I doubt we are looking at significantly more than 90 HPs on him.

HPs do not seem to matter that much in this comic, many characters seem to have way more than they should (according to the rules) have to last as long as they are required to in fights.

[theNater]

Why is he and Tarquin suddenly working with Nale?
Because Nale has information they need if they are to control the Snarl.

Why are they even interested in the gate?
Because it can provide enough power that Nale believes it could cut a decade or more off of Tarquin's conquest plans.

What did Nale tell them about it?
Pretty much exactly what the Order knows, plus a claim that Xykon knows a ritual to control the Snarl.

From there, I'm sure quite a few holes could be filled in on Malack's behalf, and I'd bet a fight could have been avoided.
What holes do you think would be filled in, and how do you think filling them in would prevent a fight?

[dps]

What did Nale tell them about it?

Pretty much exactly what the Order knows, plus a claim that Xykon knows a ritual to control the Snarl.


Two points. First, while Nale knows pretty much everything about the Gates that Roy knows, we don't know exactly how much of the details he told Tarquin. (V has a bit of information that Roy doesn't know, but doesn't know what to make of it, which is why the elf didn't share it with Roy.)

Second, Nale told his dad that he knows someone who knows the Ritual, but he left out the fact that it's a cleric who is possibly the highest level cleric in the world, and an epic-level lich sorcerer who is probably the highest level character in the world, period. Actually, it's not clear that Nale even knows that the Ritual requires both a divine caster and an arcane caster, but the point is that Tarquin has no idea what he's going to be up against if/when Team Evil shows up.

[Umberhulk]

But why would he has stood around and let them? Malack can assume a Gaseous Form and retreat whenever he wants. Not to mention he can fly even in his normal form, which means Roy can't hit him unless he's attacking.

I feel safe assuming that Roy carries at least one potion of Fly these days.

[dps]

As far as the actual question raised in the OP is concerned, while it's true that Roy is probably more willing to compromise than Durkon is when it's practical, that's almost certainly outweighed by the fact that if Roy and Durkon had been facing Malack together, they would have been acting from a far stronger position and would have had less reason to try to reach a compromise.

And while it might have been reasonable to make a counterproposal, what could they have proposed that Malack could have delivered on? The Order isn't going to willingly leave the Gate in the hands of Nale and Tarquin, not with Xykon on the way, and the most Malack could have done was agree to try and talk Tarquin into withdrawing, and Malack doesn't even suggest that he would be able to do so.

[Olinser]

Two points. First, while Nale knows pretty much everything about the Gates that Roy knows, we don't know exactly how much of the details he told Tarquin. (V has a bit of information that Roy doesn't know, but doesn't know what to make of it, which is why the elf didn't share it with Roy.)

Second, Nale told his dad that he knows someone who knows the Ritual, but he left out the fact that it's a cleric who is possibly the highest level cleric in the world, and an epic-level lich sorcerer who is probably the highest level character in the world, period. Actually, it's not clear that Nale even knows that the Ritual requires both a divine caster and an arcane caster, but the point is that Tarquin has no idea what he's going to be up against if/when Team Evil shows up.

What makes you think he left it out? In the time they were off panel going to Windy Canyon, we have no idea what Nale may or may not have told Tarquin about Xykon, except that Nale told him that they know the ritual to control the Snarl.

Presumably, since Nale's bargaining chip is that he claims that Tarquin can't get the ritual from them without him, he's actually EXAGGERATED how dangerous Xykon and Redcloak are. After all, if he told them he knows who has the ritual, and they're just a random peasant somewhere, Tarquin will just torture the information out of him and chuck Nale to Malack's tender mercies.

If Nale told him the truth, that Xykon is, in fact, an epic-level lich sorcerer accompanied by a cleric that significantly out-levels his own cleric (and possibly the MITD - no telling whether Nale knows what it is or not), and who successfully conquered an entire city of paladins with an army to spare, given his pragmatism, Tarquin will be supremely reluctant to try and take Xykon in a fair fight, as long as Nale comes through on his end.

[TBFProgrammer]

The counter offer negotiation goes thusly:

"We know you want Nale dead, why are you working with him? Wait, he told you Xykon will let you have the gate, *share a good laugh*. Let's go kill Nale and then stop Xykon together, since letting him conquer everything doesn't help either group. Then we go our separate ways and the next time we see each other after that, all bets are off."

Evil* wins because good* is too stubbornly good*/lawful to exploit a weakness: evil* beings without strong emotional connections tend to be at odds with each other. (*assumes good and evil as valid concepts)

The enemy that is the enemy of my enemy is ripe for exploitation.


EDIT: I have to say, Roy is the wrong person to send for this offer to play out. Had Haley gone with him on the other hand...

[MarchiMcFly]

As far as the actual question raised in the OP is concerned, while it's true that Roy is probably more willing to compromise than Durkon is when it's practical, that's almost certainly outweighed by the fact that if Roy and Durkon had been facing Malack together, they would have been acting from a far stronger position and would have had less reason to try to reach a compromise.

And while it might have been reasonable to make a counterproposal, what could they have proposed that Malack could have delivered on? The Order isn't going to willingly leave the Gate in the hands of Nale and Tarquin, not with Xykon on the way, and the most Malack could have done was agree to try and talk Tarquin into withdrawing, and Malack doesn't even suggest that he would be able to do so.

I agree with the second part of the post, but I don't think that Roy would been more "reasonable" were he with Durkon...I mean, the "reasonable" offers Malacks gave to Durkon were basically the same Xykon gave to Roy, back to Azure City (go away because we are stronger), and R refeused them!
I think that in fact Roy basically share the same wiew of Durkon on a vast quantity of subjects.

[WindStruck]

Because Nale has information they need if they are to control the Snarl.

Because it can provide enough power that Nale believes it could cut a decade or more off of Tarquin's conquest plans.

Pretty much exactly what the Order knows, plus a claim that Xykon knows a ritual to control the Snarl.

What holes do you think would be filled in, and how do you think filling them in would prevent a fight?

#2 See that's the problem. Answer #2 is wrong. How exactly would Tarquin get power or something from a gate that merely covers up a rip in reality? There is no external power they can acquire. All they can really do is try to hold the world hostage against the snarl. Is Tarquin really the idiotic kind of supervillian that will threaten to destroy the entire world? No, he's not.

#3 I don't think Nale knows what the order knows. The order knows what Shojo told them (and Nale was absent then) and what they could infer from Xykon's plans. Nale could only know what Sabine told him (and what the IFCC told her) and what Xykon bothered to tell him. Thus, their information about the nature of the gates could be different. Even if it was the same, there is no doubt Nale embellished certain details and left out others to make his information seem so "useful". These things have already been explained.

If the cat was out of the bag, you could almost be certain Tarquin wouldn't want to have anything to do with these gates except maybe by helping destroy Xykon.

[Raineh Daze]

#2 See that's the problem. Answer #2 is wrong. How exactly would Tarquin get power or something from a gate that merely covers up a rip in reality? There is no external power they can acquire. All they can really do is try to hold the world hostage against the snarl. Is Tarquin really the idiotic kind of supervillian that will threaten to destroy the entire world? No, he's not.

Who would want to call his bluff?

[theNater]

The counter offer negotiation goes thusly:

"We know you want Nale dead, why are you working with him? Wait, he told you Xykon will let you have the gate...
No, he told us we can get the gate from Xykon, which Tarquin believes to be plausible.

Then we go our separate ways and the next time we see each other after that, all bets are off.
You realize that the "separate way" team Tarquin would go off in after Xykon was destroyed is directly to the gate, right? In fact, it would be to Tarquin's advantage to let the Order take the brunt of Xykon's assault and kill them while they're weak, and Roy would see that immediately.

#2 See that's the problem. Answer #2 is wrong. How exactly would Tarquin get power or something from a gate that merely covers up a rip in reality? There is no external power they can acquire. All they can really do is try to hold the world hostage against the snarl. Is Tarquin really the idiotic kind of supervillian that will threaten to destroy the entire world? No, he's not.
:nale::There's a ritual! A special ritual needed to control the Snarl! (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0821.html)

There's no need to threaten to destroy the world if you can control the Snarl.

#3 I don't think Nale knows what the order knows. The order knows what Shojo told them (and Nale was absent then) and what they could infer from Xykon's plans. Nale could only know what Sabine told him (and what the IFCC told her) and what Xykon bothered to tell him. Thus, their information about the nature of the gates could be different.
You have this exactly backwards. Nale knows the secret lore of the Sapphire Guard(again) (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0379.html). Then he tells Sabine, who immediately goes to report to the IFCC (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0380.html).

[mattie_p]

Vampire Durkon will tell the Linear Guild what the OotS knows.

[dps]

What makes you think he left it out? In the time they were off panel going to Windy Canyon, we have no idea what Nale may or may not have told Tarquin about Xykon, except that Nale told him that they know the ritual to control the Snarl.

Presumably, since Nale's bargaining chip is that he claims that Tarquin can't get the ritual from them without him, he's actually EXAGGERATED how dangerous Xykon and Redcloak are. After all, if he told them he knows who has the ritual, and they're just a random peasant somewhere, Tarquin will just torture the information out of him and chuck Nale to Malack's tender mercies.

If Nale told him the truth, that Xykon is, in fact, an epic-level lich sorcerer accompanied by a cleric that significantly out-levels his own cleric (and possibly the MITD - no telling whether Nale knows what it is or not), and who successfully conquered an entire city of paladins with an army to spare, given his pragmatism, Tarquin will be supremely reluctant to try and take Xykon in a fair fight, as long as Nale comes through on his end.

We see on-panel exactly what Nale tells his father, and his father accepts it and says that they have no choice but to keep Nale alive (for now) and then volunteers himself and Malack as replacements for the missings members of the Linear Guild. While technically Nale could have reveal more about Team Evil off-panel, there's no reason for Nale to offer any additional information--he'd want to hold that back in case they get to a point where he needs another bargaining chip.

[Xelbiuj]

If Roy went with Durkon the comic would more accurately mimic the actions of rational, experienced, and relatable individuals. :\

Roy literally just referenced not splitting the party 11 comics ago. He forget?

Crap, he better send Elan alone to bring them both back and if he doesn't show, "Haley, go find Belkar, Durkon and Elan, you have better trap finding so it makes more sense. I'll guard this door."

herpderp. /sigh

[Jay R]

Not talking combat?
Malack's compromise are unacceptable. They don't favour Malack (well, they do since he doesn't want to contribute to this fight, but we're not sure they favour his team.

Who do you think is "his team"? Nale? He's putting up with Nale against his will.

His only team member present is Tarquin.

[Silva Stormrage]

Who do you think is "his team"? Nale? He's putting up with Nale against his will.

His only team member present is Tarquin.

And Kilkil

[Feddlefew]

If Roy went with Durkon the comic would more accurately mimic the actions of rational, experienced, and relatable individuals. :\

Roy literally just referenced not splitting the party 11 comics ago. He forget?

Crap, he better send Elan alone to bring them both back and if he doesn't show, "Haley, go find Belkar, Durkon and Elan, you have better trap finding so it makes more sense. I'll guard this door."

herpderp. /sigh

I'm now wondering what would have happened if Elan had gone instead of Durkon....

[Cyllan]

I'm now wondering what would have happened if Elan had gone instead of Durkon....

Huh. Now I'm wondering that too. I mean, for Tarquin's sake Malack wouldn't have killed or turned Elan. And I doubt he would have dominated Elan either. So...Malack would have dropped the halfling and fled? And then I imagine Elan would have grabbed Belkar (if he had the presence of mind to after seeing Malack with his teeth in Belkar's head) and run back to the rest of the order screaming about how Malack's a vampire. That's the only conclusion to such an encounter that I can think of, anyway.

[rodneyAnonymous]

...and run back to the rest of the order screaming about how Malack's a vampire.

I'm not sure Elan would correctly identify Malack as a vampire.

[Red Lantern]

I feel safe assuming that Roy carries at least one potion of Fly these days.

Or a featherfall of some sort.

[Feddlefew]

I'm not sure Elan would correctly identify Malack as a vampire.

Yeah. I mean, some of us had a hard time figuring out if Malack was eating Belkar or drinking his blood.

[Cyllan]

I'm not sure Elan would correctly identify Malack as a vampire.

Then how do you think he would have interpreted that scene? As Malack trying to eat Belkar? Either way, Elan would have run back to the others and told them what he saw. In which case, Durkon could have probably deduced the vampirism thing. He would have trouble believing it, but he'd also have a lot of trouble refuting it. Of course, these are all guesses on my part. The Giant knows his characters and story much better than I ever could.

[theNater]

Huh. Now I'm wondering that too. I mean, for Tarquin's sake Malack wouldn't have killed or turned Elan. And I doubt he would have dominated Elan either.
Why wouldn't Malack dominate Elan? It's not permanent or anything.

[Cyllan]

Why wouldn't Malack dominate Elan? It's not permanent or anything.

I don't know. It just doesn't seem like what Malack would do in that situation. After all, it would make the "struggle between Tarquin and his son reach its natural end" (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0872.html) unable to happen. And since that struggle figures into Tarquin's plans and desires, Malack wouldn't interfere. Tarquin's supporting Malack's plans right? And he's kept his promises to Malack. So I imagine Malack would do everything he could not to interfere with Tarquin's plans.

[theNater]

I don't know. It just doesn't seem like what Malack would do in that situation. After all, it would make the "struggle between Tarquin and his son reach its natural end" (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0872.html) unable to happen. And since that struggle figures into Tarquin's plans and desires, Malack wouldn't interfere. Tarquin's supporting Malack's plans right? And he's kept his promises to Malack. So I imagine Malack would do everything he could not to interfere with Tarquin's plans.
Malack can end the domination at any time. He can just keep Elan under it for the minimum time to finish with Belkar and leave. Such an event wouldn't hinder Tarquin's struggle in any significant way.

[Cyllan]

Malack can end the domination at any time. He can just keep Elan under it for the minimum time to finish with Belkar and leave. Such an event wouldn't hinder Tarquin's struggle in any significant way.

Okay, that makes sense. But wouldn't the whole point of the domination be to prevent Elan from running back and telling everyone? ...Though what you're saying is basically what just happened in the comic except with Durkon and Belkar. In this scenario, it would be Belkar vamped and Elan running back to the order in a panic. Though I think Tarquin would take issue with Elan being Con and level drained (by Vampire Belkar). On the other hand, in this scenario Durkon would be on hand to restore Elan's constitution and levels. So it wouldn't be too much of an issue in that respect.

[theNater]

...Though what you're saying is basically what just happened in the comic except with Durkon and Belkar. In this scenario, it would be Belkar vamped and Elan running back to the order in a panic. Though I think Tarquin would take issue with Elan being Con and level drained (by Vampire Belkar). On the other hand, in this scenario Durkon would be on hand to restore Elan's constitution and levels. So it wouldn't be too much of an issue in that respect.
This, pretty much.

[Scrub]

If Roy went with Durkon the comic would more accurately mimic the actions of rational, experienced, and relatable individuals. :\

Roy literally just referenced not splitting the party 11 comics ago. He forget?

Crap, he better send Elan alone to bring them both back and if he doesn't show, "Haley, go find Belkar, Durkon and Elan, you have better trap finding so it makes more sense. I'll guard this door."

herpderp. /sigh

Belkar ran off with the summoned creature, WHILE Roy was still hoisting up Haley disarming the traps on the door.
Remember that Haley advised Roy against following immediately because "the tool was touching a meteor swarm rune".
Depending entirely on whether diffusing the traps could be interrupted (Probably not since each one is supposed to go off when another is disarmed according to Haley)or how long the action would take, sending the more sensible party member to retrieve Belkar was probably the right call.
He'd be capable of leaving only or doing other things once Haley didn't require the height advantage to disarm the traps anymore (starting from the top).

Sending Elan and Durkon would've left both Roy and Haley defenseless for the duration where Roy was needed to lift Haley and without his Bardic Song(Assuming Elan can provide a reasonable defense as a Bard/dashing swordsman while Roy is unavailable and that the Bardic Song provides necessary bonuses to make disarming the traps less risky as opposed to being a comical hinderance (Bluff, bluff, bluff the stupid Ogre)), while sending Elan would've left the two least reliable party members alone(Belkar + Elan).
They had probably assumed that they had triumphed over the Linear Guild for the moment anyway (at least forcing a retreat), so Durkon was likely there to provide immediate damage control if Belkar ran into traps, didn't succesfully slay the Hellhound or got wounded in the process.

[Chantelune]

Huh. Now I'm wondering that too. I mean, for Tarquin's sake Malack wouldn't have killed or turned Elan. And I doubt he would have dominated Elan either. So...Malack would have dropped the halfling and fled? And then I imagine Elan would have grabbed Belkar (if he had the presence of mind to after seeing Malack with his teeth in Belkar's head) and run back to the rest of the order screaming about how Malack's a vampire. That's the only conclusion to such an encounter that I can think of, anyway.

Why would Malack drop Belkar if facing Elan ? I think Malack has a better grasp of Elan's skill than Tarquin (who seems to think he's the leader of the OOTS and some military genius) and would probably now that Elan wouldn't be able to hurt him much. And without MDW, he could just let Elan stab him and heal the few points that pass his DR with both his fast healing and, if that's not enough, Belkar's blood.

Nah, if Elan was the one after Belkar, we would now have Belkula instead of Durkula and a panicked Elan running off after Roy, given Malack didn't charmed him in the meanwhile. Best way to protect Elan, after all, is having him on their side.

[Cyllan]

Why would Malack drop Belkar if facing Elan ? I think Malack has a better grasp of Elan's skill than Tarquin (who seems to think he's the leader of the OOTS and some military genius) and would probably now that Elan wouldn't be able to hurt him much. And without MDW, he could just let Elan stab him and heal the few points that pass his DR with both his fast healing and, if that's not enough, Belkar's blood.

Nah, if Elan was the one after Belkar, we would now have Belkula instead of Durkula and a panicked Elan running off after Roy, given Malack didn't charmed him in the meanwhile. Best way to protect Elan, after all, is having him on their side.

Yeah, I agree. I reached the conclusion with theNater's help that if it had been Elan instead of Durkon, Malack would have simply dominated him (and have used Hold Person, now that I think about it), finished draining Belkar, and left with Belkula. The same thing that just happened in the comic, in fact, except with Belkar vamped and Elan running back to the order to tell them what happened.
I imagine in this scenario that Malack wouldn't even feel it necessary to mention the encounter to Tarquin beyond "hey, look, I made a new child, so I'll stop complaining about it and you can get off my back about making a new one."

Though I prefer the way it went down in the comic. Sure, in this what if? scenario the OotS would be in better shape (since they'd still have their healer), but then we wouldn't get all this lovely development of Malack and Durkon. Nor would there be as much dramatic tension. And with the recent events in the comic there are so many exciting possibilities of where the comic will go.

[Snails]

It would be amazingly reckless to not retreat against Roy + Durkon.

Malack is tough to beat for any single character, but is easily beaten by two PCs with solid offense. Roy has excellent offense. Durkon has sufficient offensive spells to stand as a strong threat. Malack would not be safe in gaseous form -- he would still be vulnerable to many kinds of offensive spells.

It is unclear whether Malack could retreat to his coffin before destruction (probably not). If no, then he is dead. If yes, then Roy + Durkon just follow him. On one's home turf, turning gaseous is a great escape mechanism. On anyone else's turf it is a laughable escape route. Since Tarquin will not know that Malack needs rescuing, Malack would be pretty much screwed regardless.