Roy under a lot of Stress

[Rorrik]

Until now Roy has been really good at handling stress. He has never been in a situation where he broke down.

But here we see something different. Belkar shows up with news and the news is so bad that Roy flips on him. Roy goes berserk to the point of wanting to kill the little punk. He justifies it as thinking Durkon is in danger and Belkar is in the way, but the truth is, the news is bad enough to push him over the edge.

I thought this was beautiful. It was a side of Roy we have never seen before and suddenly, I identify with him more. Strong as he is, he reached a point today where the stress was enough to react with irrational anger. I wonder where we will see him go from here.

[RMS Oceanic]

It's not just stress, it's grief. I don't think we've seen Roy deal with a member of his team being downed like this. I mean, he thinks V might be dead, but they haven't found the body and he had being under attack to worry about. This news came in a relative lull in the battle and was verifiable.

[sam79]

Not just losing a member of the Order of the Stick; but his friend and companion for years before the Order even existed. Stress seems an understatement!

[Macros]

True, this is his best friend who died and was changed in a creature who oppose everything he believed in. And it is the first time the Order suffers a casualty under his leadership, to boot (well, not counting himself, obviously). The shock, denial and grief were expected.

[Rorrik]

Not just losing a member of the Order of the Stick; but his friend and companion for years before the Order even existed. Stress seems an understatement!

To me, the loss is when he finally accepts, the sad look at the end and Elan holding Haley. That frame brings tears to my eyes. The rage, though, seems to me to be a symptom of major stress brought on in denial of grief and fear. At least that's how it's been in my experience. The exchange between Roy and Belkar reminds me of exchanges between my little brother and I. When I'm stressed, sad and afraid are replaced by angry and accusatory. I think that's what happened to Roy.

You're right though, Durkon has been an anchor to Roy for years. I wonder where his grief will take him without that anchor.

[Acrux]

Not only that, but Durkon was the only member of the Order that Roy could really, truly count on for making a good decision in a given situation. He was a friend and counselor to Roy, and I wouldn't be surprised if the next story arc we see explores the effect of Durkon's (un)death on Roy's decision-making abilities.

[Rakoa]

Not only that, but Durkon was the only member of the Order that Roy could really, truly count on for making a good decision in a given situation. He was a friend and counselor to Roy, and I wouldn't be surprised if the next story arc we see explores the effect of Durkon's (un)death on Roy's decision-making abilities.

Exactly. Elan is (was?) too childish, Haley too greedy, Belker too evil, V too power hungry and also disconnected from the real world. Durkon was the only one Roy could count on.

[Carl]

Yeah Durkon was the stable one.

[The Fury]

Personally I thought that the whole bit with Roy flipping out must have been scary for Elan. Roy has always been a level-headed guy that Elan's always looked up to him and considered him a hero. Then he nearly goes too far and almost kills Belkar. I imagine that Elan liked to believe that to be something Roy would never do.

[allenw]

Yeah Durkon was the stable one.

I see what you did there. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0001.html)

[Carl]

I see what you did there. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0001.html)

Was hoping someone would spot that :smallsmile:.

[Lamech]

I think its more than just losing Durkon, there are also two other points.
1) Roy is the one who let him go look for Belkar. He needs to accept that he sent Durkon to his undeath.
2) Durkon decided it would have been more risky to get the rest of the Order to help. Roy needs to accept that there was nothing, he the high level adventurer, could have done to help his friend. He fights to help people. And against Malack he would have been worse than useless.

[thereaper]

Well, Roy wouldn't have been, but the rest of the group sure would have been.

[Lamech]

Well, Roy wouldn't have been, but the rest of the group sure would have been.

Roy actually probably doesn't have a great will save. Sure he has decent wisdom, but he's still a fighter. He probably still would have gotten dominated.

[thereaper]

He shouldn't have a good will save, being a fighter. Then again, he shouldn't be of any use at this level, either. Rich writes in such a way that the lower-tier classes function much better and the higher-tier ones are much less effective. Roy was specifically noted (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0874.html) to have a good will save, even if it wouldn't pan out that way in an actual game.

[Draz74]

I think there may have been some personal bias involved in Durkon's judgment of the others' Will saves. I think even with the author's making sure that non-casters aren't useless, Elan would have a higher Will save than Roy. But Durkon isn't great at metagaming math (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0034.html), and probably just thinks of Roy as being more strong-willed than Elan.


Exactly. Elan is (was?) too childish, Haley was too greedy, Belker too evil, V too power hungry and also disconnected from the real world. Durkon was the only one Roy could count on.

Fixed that for you. Roy's gradual development of trust for Haley (and her corresponding gradual worthiness of that trust) is, IMO, one of the deepest and most convincing character development arcs in the comic. Citations here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0666.html) and here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0773.html).

[Lamech]

I think there may have been some personal bias involved in Durkon's judgment of the others' Will saves. I think even with the author's making sure that non-casters aren't useless, Elan would have a higher Will save than Roy. But Durkon isn't great at metagaming math (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0034.html), and probably just thinks of Roy as being more strong-willed than Elan.
Roy might be a little better with his higher wisdom, but even Durkon still discarded the idea of just Roy. He did say "Nay" and that he couldn't risk any of them getting dominated.