OOTS #928 - The Discussion Thread

[The Giant]

New comic is up.

[Kymme]

What power even WAS that? :smalleek:

[Shale]

I am literally fighting not to laugh out loud in public at that one. Miron was foiled by overpreparation. I love it.

[Benthesquid]

Ouch. That looks like a nasty effect from Laurin- odd that it seems to be hitting Tarquin, but not affecting him in any way.

[AstralFire]

What power even WAS that? :smalleek:

Dunno, but it was satisfying to watch the order work like a well-oiled machine.

[Porthos]

....

Well, at least they got rid of one caster. :smalltongue:

[The Kind Knido]

Horrid Wilting!? HORRID WILTING!?

Miron is a NECROMANCER!?

[AutomatedTeller]

Essence of Tarquin there:

"How did you all get to such a high level without anyone teaching you your place?"

What was that power, though? Pretty brutal...

[Thomar_of_Uointer]

What power even WAS that? :smalleek:

Probably a mass stun effect. Looks like everybody failed their save. Tarqin is wearing a ring of mind shielding and is unaffected, of course.

[Gift Jeraff]

On one hand: a shame the torturous co-conspirer didn't die.
On the other hand: I bet on Laurin in the death pool thread before Miron entered the scene so it's all cool.

[Paseo H]

And the veil of practiced civility falls away.

[One Step Two]

I do hope that was an example of Roy's anti-spellcaster feat working, it was neat!

Good to see some on-the-ground action again.

[AstralFire]

My first thought on the power was Ultrablast, because it'd very like Tarquin to have Mettle, but I'm not sure if Belkar could survive that.

[Felyndiira]

Miron has contingencies!

A wizard optimizing his spell usage in OotS? This is madness!

[Yuki Akuma]

Ouch. That looks like a nasty effect from Laurin- odd that it seems to be hitting Tarquin, but not affecting him in any way.

How is that odd? When has Tarquin ever not made a saving throw?


Horrid Wilting!? HORRID WILTING!?

Miron is a NECROMANCER!?

Miron knows Horrid Wilting. That's all that implies.

[A Tad Insane]

1) Ah, turned based combat, the bane of equities everywhere
2) We NEED to know what that power was

[Klodin]

Laurin has a LOT of power points doesn't she? Think she's out yet?

[Weiser_Cain]

So does Tarkin get a free attack?

[Xelbiuj]

NIIICE

also, thanks for showing Belkar's face, no stupid IS HE DEAD? XX posts.

[Codyage]

Contingency, usually good for saving YOUR skin, but not your parties.

[Domino Quartz]

Oh dear. This will not end easily.
EDIT: By the way, what does V's line about Xykon feeling chilly mean?

[Benthesquid]

Also- any clue as to what V was talking about? Obviously "Focus on the caster," got through to Roy, but I'm missing what shared history she might be referencing there.

[CoffeeIncluded]

Ha! Though it looks like Belkar's going down too, so it's all evened out. Maybe.

What? Someone had to say it!

[AstralFire]

Miron has contingencies!

A wizard optimizing his spell usage in OotS? This is madness!

Contingency isn't munchkin level superoptimization, and it's almost improbable for any Wizard player to look at it and not say "this could come in handy."

I wouldn't be surprised if V has a contingency, even, that we just haven't seen. I mean, it IS his school.

[Kish]

Horrid Wilting!? HORRID WILTING!?

Miron is a NECROMANCER!?
Or a sorcerer, or a wizard without Necromancy barred...

Horrid Wilting is a very good AoE damage spell, especially when one's allies are mixed in with one's enemies.

[Stegyre]

Most intriguing, and leaving us ever hungry for more.

I wonder if Durkon was really affected.

[Pokonic]

Interesting. While Miron showing that he's a necromancer is neat, the fact that Laurin seems to be throwing around powerful effects like they are going out of style doesn't bode well.

[Porthos]

My first thought on the power was Ultrablast, because it'd very like Tarquin to have Mettle, but I'm not sure if Belkar could survive that.

My though as well. Especially with the grumble bit in the description.


Ultrablast
Telepathy [Mind-Affecting]
Level: Psion/wilder 7
Display: Auditory; see text
Manifesting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 15 ft.
Area: 15-ft.-radius spread centered on you
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will half
Power Resistance: Yes
Power Points: 13
You “grumble” psychically (which both psionic and nonpsionic creatures can detect), then release a horrid shriek from your subconscious that disrupts the brains of all enemies in the power’s area, dealing 13d6 points of damage to each enemy.

Augment
For every additional power point you spend, this power’s damage increases by 1d6 points.

Two problems with it:

A) It attacks enemies, and Tarquin is being targetted.

B) Belkar would be dead as a dodo if it is. :smalleek:

[Xelbiuj]

Oh dear. This will not end easily.
EDIT: By the way, what does V's line about Xykon feeling chilly mean?

Focus the caster. Cover him. Etc.

[Ionbound]

I suppose what V said might be a reference to hell freezing over. I don't know why that would be a code word other than hell freezing over when the Order actually works together in an optimal fashion.

[dmc91356]

And thus are several forum questions answered . . .

Nice strip. :smallbiggrin:

[Sunken Valley]

Odd place to end a comic.

[Torrasque]

NIIICE

also, thanks for showing Belkar's face, no stupid IS HE DEAD? XX posts.

You sure are feeling optimistic today :)

[Skeletor]

What power even WAS that? :smalleek:

I too would also like to know what power that was.

[Yuki Akuma]

Or a sorcerer, or a wizard without Necromancy barred...

...Or a Cleric with the Water domain...

Although I doubt that one.

[Pesimismrocks]

Did Durkula make his saving throw? He doesn't appear to e in pain, but rather shocked at Laurin's power

[Deliverance]

Horrid Wilting!? HORRID WILTING!?

Miron is a NECROMANCER!?
Or he's any other arcane caster, who likes Horrid Wilting because it is a very powerful direct damage spell that can affect as many target as the caster desires chosen at the discretion of the caster within a fairly large volume (60' distance between the two furthest apart), which allows you to use it without friendly fire.

Horrid Wilting is a wonderful spell for both barroom brawls and battles, and fully deserves its position as an 8th level spell.

[AstralFire]

Focus the caster. Cover him. Etc.

Miron wears a scarf. Xykon is usually their priority target. Xykon wears a scarf today.

[Ramien]

My big question: Was that Roy's new feat we saw actually being used on Miron?

[Arcas Corricol]

I quite like how Miron was ganked and then fled, got a bit weird when whats-her-face exploded into full battle psion mode and what appears to be me immobilized the whole OOTS

Another cool bit was how Tarquin made a this cannot be rant

[Porthos]

Laurin also has access to healing psionics. Maybe for only herself, but it's something to keep in mind.

[Klear]

Or a sorcerer, or a wizard without Necromancy barred...

Horrid Wilting is a very good AoE damage spell, especially when one's allies are mixed in with one's enemies.

...and, I suspect, in desert environment.

[Drake2009]

Hurray! New Comic!
.......That last scene was Awesome!!!!!!
So miron is out of the picture but the psion is using the big guns now.

[Lossoth]

I get the feeling that Durkula saved too. :smallbiggrin:

[Elhoim]

Oh dear. This will not end easily.
EDIT: By the way, what does V's line about Xykon feeling chilly mean?

The last gate is in the northern polar ice cap. Xykon is already there so...

EDIT:

Miron wears a scarf. Xykon is usually their priority target. Xykon wears a scarf today.

That's a better explanation :)

[AstralFire]

Did Durkula make his saving throw? He doesn't appear to e in pain, but rather shocked at Laurin's power

Well, if it IS Ultrablast, as it's the go-to non-elemental PBAoE for a psion, it doesn't affect undead.

[A Tad Insane]

Also- any clue as to what V was talking about? Obviously "Focus on the caster," got through to Roy, but I'm missing what shared history she might be referencing there.

"There's a spellcaster with a scarf we should focus on, you have a interrupt feat, and I want to say this all as a free action without tipping of the enemy to our plan"

[angry_bear]

Bring the heat to the caster? Put him on ice? Any of those work I guess?

Love that contingency kind of screwed up Team Tarquin...

[Demolator]

I suppose what V said might be a reference to hell freezing over. I don't know why that would be a code word other than hell freezing over when the Order actually works together in an optimal fashion.

Well, he IS near/at Kraagor's gate. I can't imagine he's all that warm. :smallwink:

[Doxkid]

What power even WAS that? :smalleek:

The power of an EPIC Air-guitar solo.

[Yuki Akuma]

Wait, did Roy use his anti-caster feat, there?

[Dandria]

Oh man, this is going to be great!

[Porthos]

Oh dear. This will not end easily.
EDIT: By the way, what does V's line about Xykon feeling chilly mean?

As other people have said, I'm sure it's just "Cover the Caster". Or, as AstralFire said, "Hey, the dude who could kill us all stone cold dead in one round like Xykon? He's the one in the battle wearing a scarf. GET HIM!!!!"

Notice it took a while for Belkar to grok what was going on while the rest picked up on it rather quickly.

[maximus]

I think Durkon is fine and will be the reason they still get out of this alive. Some fast movement and a couple good fang placements, and Laurin is ditching Tarquin.

[Bulldog Psion]

I see that Tarquin is growing steadily more delusional (first frame statements).

Horrid wilting -- interesting. And an escape via contingency.

I don't get V's code, either. Xykon is feeling chilly? What the heck? :smallconfused:

Edit: I see. Good thing I'm not Roy, since I would have stood there scratching my head until Miron wilted me. :smallbiggrin:

[HalfTangible]

Bring the heat to the caster? Put him on ice? Any of those work I guess?

Love that contingency kind of screwed up Team Tarquin...

I thought it was something like 'the guy with a scarf-' (chilly) '-is the biggest threat' (Xykon)

[Oko and Qailee]

YOU CAN DO IT GUYS!!

Cmoooon Roy!

[Porthos]

Well, if it IS Ultrablast, as it's the go-to non-elemental PBAoE for a psion, it doesn't affect undead.

It really does fit perfectly (unfortunately for Belkar). Though I wonder why it targetted Tarquin? :smallconfused: Maybe just the art representation?

Any other possibilities for a power?

[Codyage]

I wonder if Miron got sent back to the Kingdom of Tears. If he is there, could he grab Shoulder Pad Guy and bring him back with him?

[AstralFire]

I see that Tarquin is growing steadily more delusional (first frame statements).

Horrid wilting -- interesting. And an escape via contingency.

I don't get V's code, either. Xykon is feeling chilly? What the heck? :smallconfused:

Examine the attire of the casters present. Miron is dressed well for cold, and Vaarsuvius felt he was the priority target.

[Psyren]

UB would kill Belkar (and hell, possibly even Roy right now) so I doubt that's it. But whatever she's using I bet it's mind-affecting, so we need Durkon to run over and pound her into paste while everyone else dogpiles on Tarkie.

[Shale]

Nobody's showing any damage, so maybe it was Mental Disruption? (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/mentalDisruption.htm)

[Nimin]

I still don't get the "Xykon is feeling chilly" codeword though. :smallconfused: None of the explanations here convinced me, they seem just stretched to make it fit.

[jaybird]

It really does fit perfectly (unfortunately for Belkar). Though I wonder why it targetted Tarquin? :smallconfused: Maybe just the art representation?

Any other possibilities for a power?

Ultrablast is 15' spread, so anyone within range would get hit. Makes sense that Durkula's shocked by the power and not actually hurt - that's what sells it for me.

[RichardAK]

Aren't undead generally immune to mind-affecting effects? So it might be that Durkon didn't make his save, but rather that he didn't have to save at all.

[littlebum2002]

grrr, I thought they would take one of them out.


What does 'Xykon is feeling chilly today" mean?

EDIT: Oh, OK. Xykon="big threat". Gotcha.



Horrid Wilting!? HORRID WILTING!?

Miron is a NECROMANCER!?


Only if that means V is a Transmuter because she cast Feather Fall and Owl's wisdom

[stsasser]

I too would also like to know what power that was.

Shared Ice Cream Headache.

[Sky_Schemer]

Ultrablast is 15' spread, so anyone within range would get hit. Makes sense that Durkula's shocked by the power and not actually hurt - that's what sells it for me.

Or it could just be a plain Psionic Blast. Stuns everyone for 1 round unless they make a Will save. She has a high DC, so only Tarquin saves. I assume Durkula is immune, which may end up being bad news for her.

[NihhusHuotAliro]

Best update yet!

Now we really get to see a psion in action. I love the yellow lightning effectzapping the OOTSers.

Why is Tarquin unaffected? This banshee howl of mental energy, this blast of the mind, should be like a bomb going off or like a meteor hitting; but Tarquin is still smiling.

Don't tell me that Laurin can control who is hurt by that blast, right? There's got to be some drawback to a thing that can curbstomp Vaarsuvius and the entire rest of the OOTS. I mean, if this is what Psions are capable of doing, why do they not rule the world.

I mean, V has to be written out of almost every fight just to keep drama, and this curbstomps hir. SO awesome! So awesome!

Yeah, I'm not really thinking that Laurin is the non-fighting one of the group anymore, like I used to.

[AstralFire]

Nobody's showing any damage, so maybe it was Mental Disruption? (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/mentalDisruption.htm)

This seems like a reasonable choice, if we're still going with the assumption that Laurin's primarily built as defense and support (which is looking more and more likely - Energy Missile and Energy Push are powers I can't imagine skipping if you intend to be offensive at all).


Or it could just be a plain Psionic Blast. Stuns everyone for 1 round unless they make a Will save. She has a high DC, so only Tarquin saves. I assume Durkula is immune, which may end up being bad news for her.

Psionic blast is a caster cone, she hit 360. Don't think so.

[The Kind Knido]

Vaarsuvius's "code" could have just been a spelling mistake and the Giant meant for him to say "Miron"?

I thought it was just a response to Tarquin's lashing out about becoming a high level without someone putting you in his place because, after all, Xykon DID kill him

[Porthos]

Ultrablast is 15' spread, so anyone within range would get hit. Makes sense that Durkula's shocked by the power and not actually hurt - that's what sells it for me.

It says "enemies" in the power description though.

[Shining Wrath]

Uh, Laurin - I don't think your mind blast is going to work too well on the Vampire.


Traits

An undead creature possesses the following traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature’s entry).

... SNIP ...
Immunity to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects).
Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects.
Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, or energy drain. Immune to damage to its physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution), as well as to fatigue and exhaustion effects.

... SNIP ...

SRD

I doubt Miron can come back, since Laurin is the teleporter and he probably doesn't know where he was.

"Xyklon is feeling chilly" means "Attack the sorcerer"? I didn't get the code phrase too well, but the results were obvious.

Tarquin thinks he's about to coup-de-grace Roy, and I think instead Durkula is about to be a pain in his neck.

[Xelbiuj]

{SCRUBBED}

[Pesimismrocks]

I still don't get the "Xykon is feeling chilly" codeword though. :smallconfused: None of the explanations here convinced me, they seem just stretched to make it fit.

I just think its picking out a target without Tarquin knowing
Xykon=Sorcerer/Arcane Caster or possibly enemy
Chilly=Scarf

[The Giant]

I still don't get the "Xykon is feeling chilly" codeword though. :smallconfused: None of the explanations here convinced me, they seem just stretched to make it fit.

Well, they're right anyway. It's just as simple as, "The highest priority target is the guy with the scarf," said in such a way that Tarquin didn't understand that's what was being said. Belkar later reiterates in the vernacular this exact idea in his panel.

[Bandari]

Did Durkula make his saving throw? He doesn't appear to e in pain, but rather shocked at Laurin's power

And dear old dad's back is to him...

[Sky_Schemer]

grrr, I thought they would take one of them out.


What does 'Xykon is feeling chilly today" mean?

V is referring to Miron being a caster, who is wearing a cloak with a scarf around him as if he were "chilly". It's a simple code that Roy understands but TT would not immediately get (if at all).

[Bulldog Psion]

Ultrablast is 15' spread, so anyone within range would get hit. Makes sense that Durkula's shocked by the power and not actually hurt - that's what sells it for me.

The problem with that is, that Ultrablast would probably kill Belkar outright, even if he saved for half damage. Yet we see that he's still alive.

[Porthos]

Vaarsuvius's "code" could have just been a spelling mistake and the Giant meant for him to say "Miron"?

That'd be a hell of a spelling mistake. :smalltongue:

No, it was code. Notice how Belkar didn't understand what was going on at first. But once he saw Roy attacking, he got the point.

[Rastaban]

Or it could just be a plain Psionic Blast. Stuns everyone for 1 round unless they make a Will save. She has a high DC, so only Tarquin saves. I assume Durkula is immune, which may end up being bad news for her.

As someone pointed out earlier, T also has a ring that would protect him from the spell.

Also it makes sense to go for disabling, you don't want to kill the T's son in the process.

[Sky_Schemer]

Psionic blast is a caster cone, she hit 360. Don't think so.

Aha. Missed that in the description.

Stupid psionics. :smallyuk:

[t209]

So what kind of spell is that? Also did she just healed OOTS?

[Ramien]

"Xykon is feeling chilly" means exactly what Belkar said: "Pile on the scarf guy"

[Shale]

Blast is a cone, though.

[Shining Wrath]

Laurin has a LOT of power points doesn't she? Think she's out yet?

She used some unspecified amount on healing ...

[Pesimismrocks]

In other news, Roy is now lying prone and weaponless dangerously close to Tarquin

[Kish]

Tarquin continues to demonstrate he has the grownup version of all Nale's neuroses. He's not considering that maybe his son isn't the hero; he wants to know why all these SUPPORTING CHARACTERS think they dare humiliate HIM. Don't they know that when Han Solo fires at Darth Vader, Vader brushes it off, he doesn't fall on his behind and lose his helmet?

[Italian Hippy]

grrr, I thought they would take one of them out.


What does 'Xykon is feeling chilly today" mean?

"Beat the everloving crap out of the guy wearing a scarf, and keep in mind he's a caster like Xykon, so use your caster-killing maneuver."

Too bad V's to-hit isn't that good, otherwise... bye bye, Miron. I wouldn't have missed you.

Also, five thousand gold pieces says Durkon's unaffected by whatever Laurin did. Everybody but Tarquin and him are shown to be in pain, must be some kind of mental effect that doesn't hit undead. As for Tarquin, he's pretty much known for being always prepared, so I wouldn't rule out some kind of magical protection against area attacks by Laurin. For all we know, he might even be considering the idea of killing her if she "turns" somehow. Hell, we're talking about somebody who murdered his own son in cold blood not 20 minutes ago.

[The Giant]

Also did she just healed OOTS?

Whoops. Forgot Roy's wounds in the last panel. I'll fix that.

[Chatterbox]

How about nonlethal version of Concussion Blast? Tarquin is included to chain the effects to Durkon, Elan etc.

[AstralFire]

Aha. Missed that in the description.

Stupid psionics. :smallyuk:

Now you know how I feel when y'all are going on about Crushing Hands and such!

[Living Oxymoron]

If Miron can cast Horrid Wilting, that means the can't be a Factotum, so I now believe he is a Sorcerer or other arcane caster.

[littlebum2002]

Why did every person in this thread, myself included, miss Belkar explaining the "Xykon is chilly" code?


Also, I doubt the last scene is ultrablast. It does not look like a damage dealing power.


Also Also, I want to congratulate Rich for having a character's optimization lead to their neutralization.

[Shining Wrath]

I quite like how Miron was ganked and then fled, got a bit weird when whats-her-face exploded into full battle psion mode and what appears to be me immobilized the whole OOTS

Another cool bit was how Tarquin made a this cannot be rant

Not the WHOLE OOTS. There's somebody showing no signs of pain whatsoever just ... above ... Elan.

You think you're badass, Laurin? Here comes Durkula, immune to a largish percentage of what you've got.

[Kish]

I am disappointed by the lack of blood in the first blood here. Miron, you coward, don't you dare bail on Tarquin. Suck it up and DIE.

[Vedhin]

So, anyone else think the power is from 2nd edition like Wormhole? It doesn't seem to match with any powers I'm aware of.

[AstralFire]

Why did every person in this thread, myself included, miss Belkar explaining the "Xykon is chilly" code?


Also, I doubt the last scene is ultrablast. It does not look like a damage dealing power.

Several people got it. We were just explaining things more thoroughly. :P

[Morty]

More and more cracks appear in Tarquin's façade. He's back to being smug in the last panel, but in the first one, he's visibly frustrated with those ingrates who ruin his beautiful narrative structure.

Also, it's probably unintentional, but Miron's Contingency backfiring on him is a nice touch, given all those arguments about casters in OotS not being super-prepared enough.

[orrion]

I still don't get the "Xykon is feeling chilly" codeword though. :smallconfused: None of the explanations here convinced me, they seem just stretched to make it fit.

It stands to reason that they made a basic plan for when they run into Xykon. We can see Roy writing stuff down on the boat ride, and that is when Durkon suggests he can research a Mass version of Death Ward. Roy also had his new feat at that time.

Their plan is apparently for Roy to neutralize Xykon with his feat (as evidenced by the illusion they were trapped in).

V's statement is a suggestion that they employ a similar tactic against Miron. He specifies Miron by the chilly comment because Miron is wearing a scarf, and a scarf is usually worn to ward off cold.

[AstralFire]

So, anyone else think the power is from 2nd edition like Wormhole? It doesn't seem to match with any powers I'm aware of.

Mental Disruption seems like the best bet out of the 3.x powers, if the power ended up dealing no damage.

[SavageWombat]

The problem is that the expression on her face suggests Ultrablast. But you're right, Xd6 damage should kill Belkar and wound the others, and they look more stunned than anything.

Direct other suggestions to the Class and Level Geekery thread.

[Shining Wrath]

Wait, did Roy use his anti-caster feat, there?

Yes. Miron starts to cast, Roy hits him, and Miron fizzles (see the space between Miron's left foot and Roy's right foot).

So assuming Roy survives this :smallbiggrin: he now knows the feat works and has confidence in it.

[Benthesquid]

So, blow by blow, without much reference to D&D mechanics.

Panel One- Laurin heals, but not completely, V communicates a secret message to Roy. Tarquin begins charging at Roy with his dagger (evidently what he plans to use in this fight).

Panel Two- Roy moves forward, avoiding an attack from Tarquin.

Panel Three- Roy uses the technique he learned while dead to prevent Miron from summoning some horrid wilted spinach.

Panel Four- V attempts to disintegrate Miron, who manages to dodge out of the way, but is left prone. Roy blocks an attack from Tarquin's dagger.

Panel Five- Belkar stabs Miron twice while he's down.

Panel Six- Haley hits Miron in the back with four arrows as he attempts to regain his feet.

Panel Seven- Miron's begins to vanish from the field. Dialogue tells us that this is a result of a contingent spell triggered by him taking too much damage.

Panel Eight- Miron vanishes from the battlefield.

Panel Nine- Roy concludes that Miron has been eliminated as a threat, and moves to attack Laurin

Panel Ten- Laurin blasts the Order, and Tarquin, with some sort of Psionic attack. Haley is knocked backwards, and drops an arrow. V and Elan grab at their heads, but are facing away from the viewer, and so their full reactions cannot be seen. Roy is knocked prone, and loses his grip on his sword. Belkar may have been thrown forward by the effect, or may just have been interrupted in his tumbling and leaping about. Durkon seems unaffected, but looks concerned by this turn of events. Tarquin seems unaffected and unsurprised- he is evidently familiar with this ability of Laurin's. Blackwing and Mr. Scruffy are struck by the effect, but show no obvious reaction. Bloodthirst the Extreminator is not visible in this panel, but may have been struck by the tendril/ray extending off the bottom center of the panel to the right of Belkar, or the one extending off the left hand side of the panel between Belkar and Haley.

The art may also indicate that the effect traveled from V to Blackwing, and from Roy to Tarquin to Durkon, but this is not entirely clear.

[Finagle]

Everyone got to attack. Except Elan.

And the two familiars. Don't familiars get to attack too? Even a housecat helps when you're targeting a sorcerer with low hit points.

How do we know if it's Roy's anti-spellcaster feat in operation?

I thought Tarquin had a whip as secondary weapon. He gave that up in favor or some dagger? He had that anyway (I assume), even when he got the whip.

Mirion must be really attached to his scarf, to be wearing winter clothes out in the cloudless blazing daylight hours of the desert.

[jaybird]

Actually, and interestingly enough, look at the pose that the Order's arcane casters (AKA the ones with high Will) are in - standing their ground with their hands to their heads, while the Fighter, Rogue, and Ranger (low Will) are getting knocked off their feet, or as close as Haley can get.

What that probably says is that Tarquin and Durkon ignored whatever power that was outright, V and Elan saved for half or partial, and Roy, Haley, and Belkar blew their saves. On top of that, Belkar's alive when we know he's taken a ton of damage. In total, it's likely a Will partial, Mind-Affecting power that doesn't discriminate between targets.

[Crod]

Tarquin is amazing! That quote is just perfect. I can almost sympathize with the guy in his frustration.

[Harbinger]

Awesome strip. Well, we know now that Miron can cast Teleport, so he'll be back in a bit, probably fully healed and with Shoulder-Pad-Guy in tote. Honestly, I think Tarquin might die here. I didn't want to think it but this is quite the villianous breakdown, and such things usually lead to death. There's also the fact that there's a powerful vampire cleric standing right behind him.

[F.Harr]

Hey, Horace's feat worked! That's Fabulous! WOW!

Too bad about the psi thing, but glass half-full.

[Spoomeister]

I love, love, love V in this one. She was possibly more badass just in one little bit of tactical maneuvering and clever direction than in the entire return-to-the-OOTs sequence from a few comics ago.

I really like/fear V as Roy's tactical second-in-command. Or bench coach. Or whatever metaphor you like. Roy is being held together with momentum and scotch tape at the moment, so to see V not only bringing firepower but some quick thinking... wow.

And my goodness, just V and Roy by themselves are pretty formidable in combat, but add some tactical support from a flying Haley (who is just about an airborne human Legolas now) and they're even more impressive. And that's not counting Durkon (who is still strangely reserved from the fight; he should be a melee beast even without spells), a critically wounded Belkar and the occasionally useful Elan.

I can't wait for 929. There's so many different directions the story can take from here, I can't even speculate now. I do have to wonder if Laurin's Favor is going to show up in the very next update though...

[Shining Wrath]

Well, they're right anyway. It's just as simple as, "The highest priority target is the guy with the scarf," said in such a way that Tarquin didn't understand that's what was being said. Belkar later reiterates in the vernacular this exact idea in his panel.

Are you SURE? Checks poster ID. I suppose you might be. :smallbiggrin:

I thought it was a reference to a comic I haven't read yet. Too simple for my advanced mind.

[Snails]

Also, it's probably unintentional, but Miron's Contingency backfiring on him is a nice touch, given all those arguments about casters in OotS not being super-prepared enough.

I love that particular detail.

In every Spellcaster Superiority thread, Contingency used in this manner gets mentioned as "proof". And my answer to that one is the same as here: Relying on Contingency for escape is a great way to accidentally leave your friends to die.

If Miron had chosen a more pedestrian defense like Mirror Image or Blink or Displacement or Stoneskin, it could have kicked off early in the fight and Team Tarquin would still be nearly at full strength.

[The Zealot]

...Oh, this doesn't look good. :smalleek: Seems everyone was affected (Mr. Scruffy included!) save for perhaps Durkon.

Seems to me this dwarf needs to get his rear in gear, either physically fighting the two or offering his services as a vampire cleric in exchange for their lives (though I don't believe Tarquin would be too receptive of the offer at this point.) No matter what I hope he soon gets involved. They are rapidly running out of ways to pull out a win here... :smallfrown:

[Manji]

I still don't get the "Xykon is feeling chilly" codeword though. :smallconfused: None of the explanations here convinced me, they seem just stretched to make it fit.

I stick with the
Xykon=main target
Feeling chilly=uses scarf

on any other aspect makes sense, since undeads are immune to cold

[hobo386]

I'm glad Miron was smart enough to have a Contigency. Would've been sad to see him go down so easy.

Also, Action Economy at work.

[Benthesquid]

On closer examination, it definitely looks like Laurin's effect is chaining from target to target- I just spotted the link between Elan and Mr. Scruffy, having previously assumed that the latter was hit by one of the tendrils/rays that extended off panel.

[AstralFire]

...Oh, this doesn't look good. :smalleek: Seems everyone was affected (Mr. Scruffy included!) save for perhaps Durkon.

Seems to me this dwarf needs to get his rear in gear, either physically fighting the two or offering his services as a vampire cleric in exchange for their lives (though I don't believe Tarquin would be too receptive of the offer at this point.) No matter what I hope he soon gets involved. They are rapidly running out of ways to pull out a win here... :smallfrown:

I don't think so. At absolute worst, Laurin's taken Belkar and Roy out and Dagger Tarquin engages Vampire Buffed Durkon in melee. He won't go for Elan or Haley yet, and can't directly engage Vaarsuvius or Haley anyway. V/Haley/Elan is enough to force a psion-that's-not-playing-merry-havoc-with-action-economy into submission in a round or two.

[Yuki Akuma]

Everyone got to attack. Except Elan.

And the two familiars. Don't familiars get to attack too? Even a housecat helps when you're targeting a sorcerer with low hit points.

Mr. Scruffy is an animal companion - he's a pretty damn badass housecat.

But he's also nonsapient and can't understand cryptic battle plans.

[Shale]

He can slaughter first-level commoners and make lower-level spellcasters fail Concentrate checks, but other than that the Scruffster's best off staying out of fights.

[Manji]

Nobody's showing any damage, so maybe it was Mental Disruption? (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/mentalDisruption.htm)

I don't have an idea on what the spell may be, but it can't be that one, since it specifies she can define the targets, and it hits Tarquin, Mr. Scruffy, and I just hope it didn't hit Bloodfeast

[Shining Wrath]

Awesome strip. Well, we know now that Miron can cast Teleport, so he'll be back in a bit, probably fully healed and with Shoulder-Pad-Guy in tote. Honestly, I think Tarquin might die here. I didn't want to think it but this is quite the villianous breakdown, and such things usually lead to death. There's also the fact that there's a powerful vampire cleric standing right behind him.

Teleport, or Greater Teleport? Because he probably doesn't know where he was exactly after all those wormholes, so may not be able to come back. With Laurin in the TT party, did he burn a level 7 spell known of G. Teleport? If he's a sorcerer, that's one of 6 7th level spells out of many fine choices.

[davidbofinger]

Look at Hayley and Roy's eyes, compare with Belkar's eyes. I think Belkar might have made his save. Hey, even Belkar can natural 20 occasionally.

In which case it might be stabby time for Laurin. This will scare her because Laurin is low on hit points (had to abort her healing). Then Laurin casts disintegrate and Belkar doesn't die yet because that would be too easy.

Durkula would probably like to attack Laurin. But he may feel he has to engage Tarquin, who will otherwise slaughter a helpless Roy.

[Bit Fiend]

I still don't get the "Xykon is feeling chilly" codeword though. :smallconfused: None of the explanations here convinced me, they seem just stretched to make it fit.

It is rather complex, at least as far as mid-battle codes go:

1.) Roy trained his new feat to disrupt spellcasters, mainly Xykon.
2.) Miron is a spellcaster. V knows this and (probably correctly) assumes Roy doesn't yet.
3.) Miron's most obvious visual characteristic is his scarf - an item normally worn when feeling chilly.

So it all boils down to V essentially telling Roy: "The guy wearing a scarf is a spellcaster. Act as if he were Xykon in the situation you specifically trained for - namely, use your new anti-Xykon feat on him."

[Italian Hippy]

Really dumb piece of speculation, and I *will* be very surprised if I'm correct. It's so far-fetched that I won't even put it in Spoiler tags:

Laurin has been shown to probably (if we're following 3.5 rules) be a Nomad Psion. What if what she's doing is actually Time Regression (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/timeRegression.htm)? Tarquin's wicked smile might mean he knows what she's about to do.

[Dudu]

Loved how the OoTS party is working together. Tarquin despised them for too long, he'll soon understand why Elan is perfectly fine with working under Roy's leadership, and how that has nothing to do with being an unambitious underdog.

And for the ones who missed, the Giant clarified. V's message was a code, that Roy promptly got. And Belkar noticed soon after. He was, afterall, the highest priority target (I think he was also the most damaged, helping him becoming even a bigger target).

And Laurin rocked with her trick, ok, but that doesn't change my impression that it's a loosing battle for them. Specially after Miron's unwanted retreat.

[Shining Wrath]

Really dumb piece of speculation, and I *will* be very surprised if I'm correct. It's so far-fetched that I won't even put it in Spoiler tags:

Laurin has been shown to probably (if we're following 3.5 rules) be a Nomad Psion. What if what she's doing is actually Time Regression (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/timeRegression.htm)? Tarquin's wicked smile might mean he knows what she's about to do.

I don't see any reason to think Time Regression would cause pain and suffering in the OotS - and Durkon seems unaffected.

It's some sort of mind affecting attack, and Durkon is about to save the party - or not, if he's truly evil and decides to throw in his lot with Tarquin's team.

[Porthos]

Teleport, or Greater Teleport? Because he probably doesn't know where he was exactly after all those wormholes, so may not be able to come back. With Laurin in the TT party, did he burn a level 7 spell known of G. Teleport? If he's a sorcerer, that's one of 6 7th level spells out of many fine choices.

Contingency (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/contingency.htm) chains a spell 6th level or lower.

[Sky_Schemer]

And my answer to that one is the same as here: Relying on Contingency for escape is a great way to accidentally leave your friends to die.

If Miron had chosen a more pedestrian defense like Mirror Image or Blink or Displacement or Stoneskin, it could have kicked off early in the fight and Team Tarquin would still be nearly at full strength.

The assumption here, of course, is that when Miron woke up this morning he knew he was going to be off fighting a bunch of high-level characters with the rest of TT.

Contingency makes a lot of sense when you aren't expecting any trouble at all, but want to be prepared just in case.

[Dudu]

It is rather complex, at least as far as mid-battle codes go:

1.) Roy trained his new feat to disrupt spellcasters, mainly Xykon.
2.) Miron is a spellcaster. V knows this and (probably correctly) assumes Roy doesn't yet.
3.) Miron's most obvious visual characteristic is his scarf - an item normally worn when feeling chilly.

So it all boils down to V essentially telling Roy: "The guy wearing a scarf is a spellcaster. Act as if he were Xykon in the situation you specifically trained for - namely, use your new anti-Xykon feat on him."
It's a feat? I though it was more like trick.

I used it sometimes. Dunno how people call it, but I called counter casting. Which is readying an action so when the spellcaster start casting, you deal damage and he looses it. It's effective for classes that does lots of damages and has means to hit them easily, like mobility, reach and et cetera. Pretty sure it's a very old trick.

[Nimin]

Well, they're right anyway. It's just as simple as, "The highest priority target is the guy with the scarf," said in such a way that Tarquin didn't understand that's what was being said. Belkar later reiterates in the vernacular this exact idea in his panel.

Alright but I don't see how "Xykon is feeling chilly" would relay that message to someone. V could have just as well said "the magic wand breaks at midnight" or "zippity zappity zappy woo" if that's how it is, it just doesn't compute as a striking order.
If by "chilly" he meant an allusion to Miron's scarf, what does Xykon even compute?

Meh, I don't get it.

[Sky_Schemer]

If by "chilly" he meant an allusion to Miron's scarf, what does Xykon even compute?

Meh, I don't get it.

Xykon = spellcaster, Miron = spellcaster
Chilly = Miron is wearing a scarf

[Shale]

Alright but I don't see how "Xykon is feeling chilly" would relay that message to someone. V could have just as well said "the magic wand breaks at midnight" or "zippity zappity zappy woo" if that's how it is, it just doesn't compute as a striking order.
If by "chilly" he meant an allusion to Miron's scarf, what does Xykon even compute?

Meh, I don't get it.

Xykon is the target, to be taken out at all costs. Miron, who is wearing a scarf, might as well be Xykon right now, because they have to kill him (or force him to teleport, as it turns out) ASAP.

[Muenster Man]

Durkon hasn't done anything yet in this fight.

I wonder if that speaks to his character? Like, if he thought the Order had no chance at this fight, maybe he could act non-hostile and not be destroyed.

Maybe Durkon is more evil than Belkar! DUN DUN DUUUUNNNHHH! (:elan:)

[pennzqwu]

Woah. Is this the first time we ever had a nonthrall Durkula having a :smalleek: face?

[Chatterbox]

Actually, and interestingly enough, look at the pose that the Order's arcane casters (AKA the ones with high Will) are in - standing their ground with their hands to their heads, while the Fighter, Rogue, and Ranger (low Will) are getting knocked off their feet, or as close as Haley can get.

What that probably says is that Tarquin and Durkon ignored whatever power that was outright, V and Elan saved for half or partial, and Roy, Haley, and Belkar blew their saves. On top of that, Belkar's alive when we know he's taken a ton of damage. In total, it's likely a Will partial, Mind-Affecting power that doesn't discriminate between targets.

An interesting theory, which if true would rule out Mental Disruption, as it does not have a partial effect on saved Will roll.

[Snails]

Xykon is the target, to be taken out at all costs. Miron, who is wearing a scarf, might as well be Xykon right now, because they have to kill him (or force him to teleport, as it turns out) ASAP.

Right.

The more natural translation would be "Let's pretend the guy wearing the scarf is Xykon, shall we?"

V was sharp enough to notice Miron got zapped by a Yellow beam, which means he could potentially be killed in a single round. They did not kill him, but this result is good enough to be happy about.

[Nimin]

Xykon = spellcaster, Miron = spellcaster
Chilly = Miron is wearing a scarf

Xykon is the target, to be taken out at all costs. Miron, who is wearing a scarf, might as well be Xykon right now, because they have to kill him (or force him to teleport, as it turns out) ASAP.

Well that looks to me as far-fetched and stretchy as it goes, but I won't question the Giant's choosing of words in his own comic.

[Dudu]

Don't get what's all the speculation over V's code. The Giant said explicitly:


Well, they're right anyway. It's just as simple as, "The highest priority target is the guy with the scarf," said in such a way that Tarquin didn't understand that's what was being said. Belkar later reiterates in the vernacular this exact idea in his panel.

And yeah, Xykon probably stands for "caster", or perhaps even more specific "sorceror"

[Poppy Appletree]

First thought: Looks like Roy's feat doesn't work on psions. :smallsigh:

EDIT: Actually, I suppose my first-first thought was: Looks like Roy took a bunch of Attacks of Opportunity from Tarquin for moving through his threatened area.

EDIT2: Though, it looks like he already had those, but his wounds were portrayed inconsistently.

[Snails]

It's a feat? I though it was more like trick.

I used it sometimes. Dunno how people call it, but I called counter casting. Which is readying an action so when the spellcaster start casting, you deal damage and he looses it. It's effective for classes that does lots of damages and has means to hit them easily, like mobility, reach and et cetera. Pretty sure it's a very old trick.

Readied Action. Even a simple arrow is likely to disrupt a spell.

While it is not actually hard to do at the 3.x gaming table, we do not see apparent Readied Actions and only rarely see disrupted spells at all here in the OotSverse. Getting the details easily understood is just too fussy for this medium -- it can be done, but it would be annoying both to author and reader.

Regardless of the mechanics, we can now safely say that Roy's Schtick will be to get a lot of "lucky" disruptions of spells, many more than we are used to seeing.

I am quite certain that the Giant will avoid clarifying the mechanics. It is not really useful to go into detail. It is Roy's Schtick, an anti-caster trick for a man whose calling is to defeat a lich. What more do you need to know?

[AstralFire]

Well that looks to me as far-fetched and stretchy as it goes, but I won't question the Giant's choosing of words in his own comic.

I'll grant that it wasn't immediately intuitive from every angle, but that's why V chose that turn of phrase. I personally felt it was very clever and not at all stretch.

[mistformsquirrl]

I love how Roy just ducked Tarquin, not even bothering with him and heading straight for the wizard <,< Perfect.

[Porthos]

Well that looks to me as far-fetched and stretchy as it goes, but I won't question the Giant's choosing of words in his own comic.

Don't feel bad, Belkar didn't get it either. :smallwink:

All the code requires is for Roy and Vaarsuvius to think similarly. At least on a tactical level. And the comic has shown that time and time again, dating back to the Origin prequel. :smallsmile:

[Orm-Embar]

Guess I'll have to crack open the psionics pages and have a go at guessing what Laurin's dishing out.

Durkon still doesn't seem to be taking Team Tarquin at all seriously.

If the battle continues on the same arc, with fortunes swinging wildly back and forth like a WWE match, then Durkon might end up being the Order's savior when all seems lost. And that might be the beginning of some serious character development and exploration of what it means for Durkon, LG priest of Thor, to now be a vampire. At last!

Yay, figured out how to use spoilers for out on a limb speculation!

Anyway, thanks Giant. :smallbiggrin:

[The Troubadour]

(...)the occasionally useful Elan.

Bite your tongue, sir! Elan's upgraded to "useful" (instead of "occasionally useful") for a while now!

[tcrudisi]

I'm surprised that so many people are looking so deep into the code. It really is as simple as it looks. As soon as I read cold, I knew Miron was the target. And that's really all you needed to get from that.

I think the psionic assault was mostly a failure. I interpret the artwork to imply that only Roy and Haley failed their saves.

We can all agree that Roy and Haley definitely failed their saves, right? Well, note how they are getting knocked backwards and prone while dropping something. Belkar might be getting knocked prone, but he's not dropping anything. Durkon obviously didn't drop anything and looks to be mostly immune. V and Elan both grabbed their heads, but look otherwise unaffected, the sort of thing I expect from a passed save.

So I'm thinking that only Roy and Haley were affected. Maybe Belkar, but I doubt it.

Still, the psychic attack did manage to delay the assault for a round, so it was successful in that regards. I just think that it was supposed to be bigger than that, hence why I'm calling it a failure overall.

[karkus]

I keep on saying it, but I'll say it again; PSIONICS SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED IN THIS SYSTEM! :smallbiggrin:

On the positive side, however, Durkula might not have been affected by the power.

On the negative side, though, he would have to solo both Laurin and Tarquin... :smalleek:

[Knight.Anon]

The way the Tarquin is making his saves, he's either a god or he is cheating. Maybe he bought some "unnatural" twenties back in the day.

Also the sun is going down down down. Durkula is probably not willing to make any moves until he is no longer one dispel magic away from being obliterated. Too bad Durkula isn't Durkon.

[Sky_Schemer]

Awesome strip. Well, we know now that Miron can cast Teleport, so he'll be back in a bit, probably fully healed and with Shoulder-Pad-Guy in tote.

That assumes that he is either a sorcerer, or a wizard with more teleports prepared. Even if he was so lucky, he has to get healing and then return, which is 2 rounds at minimum if he has everything he needs right in front of him. This may be over in 2 rounds.

[e1_conquistador]

Best update yet!
...if this is what Psions are capable of doing, why do they not rule the world?

Exactly. There has never been a not terrible psionic system for Dungeons and Dragons. They're all ridiculously OP.

I sort of liked her character, but now I just want to see them cut her down hard. "Psionics in your campaign; Not Even Once."

[Breccia]

I am going to assume "hands held to temples" means "I made my saving throw." I base this purely on the two people who made the save being spellcasters while the three non-spellcaster look affected. Durkula is undead and immune to many psionic attacks.

Or yeah, Ice Cream Headache. Because I do that, too. Elan probably took Ice Cream Resistance when he was working with Thog purely for survival and V knows to eat it slowly. And I don't think vampires can eat ice cream.

[Kareasint]

I don't see any reason to think Time Regression would cause pain and suffering in the OotS - and Durkon seems unaffected.

It's some sort of mind affecting attack, and Durkon is about to save the party - or not, if he's truly evil and decides to throw in his lot with Tarquin's team.

Time Regression would have reset everyone to last round's positions also. Miron would still be there. I think Shale got it right initially. This is probably Mental Disruption augmented. Durkon would probably be immune as he is undead. Tarquin is excluded as a target.

[JSSheridan]

Thanks Giant!


Upgraded in the encyclopedia from "Harmless" to "Mostly harmless".

:)

Elan: Useful and mostly harmless, and yet spoony forever.

[Snails]

Bite your tongue, sir! Elan's upgraded to "useful" (instead of "occasionally useful") for a while now!

Upgraded in the encyclopedia from "Harmless" to "Mostly harmless".

:)

[AstralFire]

Bite your tongue, sir! Elan's upgraded to "useful" (instead of "occasionally useful") for a while now!

I suspect that even if Elan took out Redcloak in a duel while Roy and Durkon were hanging over a vat of sun-infused lava, people would only begrudgingly give him credit for that. I mean, to be fair, I dismiss 90% of what good Vaarsuvius does as mere coincidence. :smallbiggrin:

[Porthos]

Don't tell me that Laurin can control who is hurt by that blast, right? There's got to be some drawback to a thing that can curbstomp Vaarsuvius and the entire rest of the OOTS. I mean, if this is what Psions are capable of doing, why do they not rule the world.

People say the exact same thing about Wizards, Druids, and Priests all the time. :smalltongue:

[Fearabbit]

Argh, too many cliffhangers as of late! I can't wait for the next update!

This suspense is killing me. I feel like something huge is bound to happen soon. Tarquin's losing it and it's just the right time to teach him a lesson in humility, but every time the Order seems close to winning, Tarquin's party pulls a stunt like this one.

[Nimin]

Don't feel bad, Belkar didn't get it either. :smallwink:

All the code requires is for Roy and Vaarsuvius to think similarly. At least on a tactical level. And the comic has shown that time and time again, dating back to the Origin prequel. :smallsmile:

I'm not questioning the code's meaning nor it's usage, just its believability. V surely put a lot of faith in Roy guessing that farfetched riddle, and I'm pretty sure that basically none on this forum would had done the same had they not seen the immediate subsequent actions the Order did.

Speaking of which, why is Durkon doing nothing?

[Amphiox]

Regarding Roy's feat and V's coded message, I do not think V knows about the feat. Roy unveiled it in the phantasm as "this is something I want to try", ie suggesting his allies wouldn't know what he was doing and therefore indicating that he didn't tell any of them about it beforehand, and V wasn't in the phantasm.

So V's probably just saying "aggro the spellcaster", and not referring to any specific tactic or skill.

[Forikroder]

Regarding Roy's feat and V's coded message, I do not think V knows about the feat. Roy unveiled it in the phantasm as "this is something I want to try", ie suggesting his allies wouldn't know what he was doing and therefore indicating that he didn't tell any of them about it beforehand, and V wasn't in the phantasm.

So V's probably just saying "aggro the spellcaster", and not referring to any specific tactic or skill.

i figured it was a response to Tarquins "why has noone put you in your palce yet" since Xykon killed Roy

[Clistenes]

The way the Tarquin is making his saves, he's either a god or he is cheating. Maybe he bought some "unnatural" twenties back in the day.

He must have some item that grants him a +5 resistance bonus to all saves, another that grants a +5 luck bonus to all saves, another that grants a +5 sacred bonus to all saves, another that grants Evasion, a Cloak of Spell Resistance, a ring or Mind Shielding, and maybe a few more granting him permanent Freedom of Movement and Death Ward effects, immunity to Poison and Disease, and maybe Proof Against Transmutation Armor too.

If you have A LOT of money and resources, you can make yourself very difficult to take down.

[Manji]

Time Regression would have reset everyone to last round's positions also. Miron would still be there. I think Shale got it right initially. This is probably Mental Disruption augmented. Durkon would probably be immune as he is undead. Tarquin is excluded as a target.

I see glow on Tarquin's head, I think he's more in the: oh, I've sen her do this before, I know how it feels, and yes, made my save, let's stab Roy

[zimmerwald1915]

I'm not questioning the code's meaning nor it's usage, just its believability. V surely put a lot of faith in Roy guessing that obscure riddle, and I'm pretty sure that basically none on this forum would have had done the same had they not seen the immediate subsequent actions the Order did.
Yes, she did. Why shouldn't she? Ever since their first conversation, V has respected Roy's intelligence, he has led the Order well so far, and I'm told that she's willing to treat him as her confessor. I'd be more surprised if she didn't show trust in Roy.

[Knight.Anon]

I was kind of hoping that Tarquin had one of those magic belts that turn into a sword.

[Reddish Mage]

Bite your tongue, sir! Elan's upgraded to "useful" (instead of "occasionally useful") for a while now!

I thought Elan started off as "more a sort of an obstacle..."

[Vinsfeld]

The power of an EPIC Air-guitar solo.

And I thought I had been the only one to see an epic air-guitar solo. :smallbiggrin:

[Liliet]

I was late for the party on the previous strip, so I'm saying it now: Elan did something useful with a bard spell! Yay! Bard is the best class!

Also, Tarquin wondering how they to such a high level: best. line. ever.

And... my bet is on Belkar being alive in the next strip. There, I said it! Don't argue, I've placed my chip and will not change my decision!

[KoboldRevenge]

Oh, Mr Scruffy will you ever catch a break?

[StreamOfTheSky]

Ah, focus firing. The simplest, best tactic there is. And one Tarquin appears to be flummoxed by, even though he's been engaging in it (on at BEST the 3rd highest priority target in the OotS in terms of danger) this whole time.

Fancy that.

Also, judging by Miron's distress, I guess it's safe to assume he doesn't know/have prepared greater teleport to effortlessly return to the fight next round w/o error. And does the contingent teleport FINALLY end the claim, "he might be a druid!" ? Clearly a wiz or sorc, I'm going with sorc, and he probably got the contingency from a scroll. Possibly the rider teleportation spell, too.

EDIT: And I stand by my statements about Durkon being an emo self-centered jerk from the last strip, given that he did absolutely nothing this comic, even now that it is a melee and he has no real excuse to not go mix it up.

[Kish]

On the negative side, though, he would have to solo both Laurin and Tarquin... :smalleek:
On the positive side, an absolutely glorious way of illustrating that Durkon has had a slight moral realignment, without doing anything that would get him unanimously kicked out of the Order, would be:
Durkon kills Laurin outright. At least one or two other members of the Order wince, realizing he could easily have knocked her out without killing her.
Durkon pins Tarquin down.
Elan shouts, "Durkon! Don't kill him!"
Durkon says, "Let him come after us again? I dinnae think so, lad," and kills Elan's helpless father in cold (and unmoving, considering he's dead) blood right in front of him.

[otakuryoga]

"How did you all get to such a high level without anyone teaching you your place?"
just because YOU think your son should be the party leader doesnt make it so........

[AstralFire]

People say the exact same thing about Wizards, Druids, and Priests all the time. :smalltongue:

Not to mention, I think people are overreacting to gauge the strength of a power purely on the freeze-frame first reaction to its use.

Re: Concerns about the strength of psionics.

If you're trying to find support for any but the vaguest of game balance concerns in OotS, you're going to be led down a very poor road. Mr. Burlew does a fantastic job within the restraints of the system, but it doesn't take much system familiarity to realize how he deliberately hampers the builds of characters to suit the needs of the story.

The most obvious example: I don't know many evokers who banned conjuration. Even in 3.0, the school was a significant source of "magic artillery" spells, which is V's thing. Not saying that there's no in-story justification for V choosing to ban conjuration: just that its prime purpose was to weaken V.

[Nimin]

Yes, she did. Why shouldn't she? Ever since their first conversation, V has respected Roy's intelligence, he has led the Order well so far, and I'm told that she's willing to treat him as her confessor. I'd be more surprised if she didn't show trust in Roy.

When I spoke of trust I meant "I'm gonna throw some distantly related gibberish and hope he'll sort it out" rather than "I'm gonna throw a secret codework: clear for us, unknown to anyone else".
In retrospect, "faith" would have worked better.

[Breccia]

OK I'm not done, I have questions.

1) Why is Tarquin using the dagger? Even a good magic dagger feels like such a waste here. If his target really is Roy, I would have guessed he'd use the whip to try to disarm him. He probably knows by now that Roy doesn't have a backup weapon at all. Is he gambling that he can shave off Roy's remaining hit points that quickly?

2) What kind of brute spellcaster is Miron to take an arrow halfway up the shaft directly into the back of his skull? Damn! (yeah yeah I know artistic license, I just had to say that) Anyhow, if Miron can contingency-teleport, that implies he can regular-teleport to a spot he's seen before, such as, say, the battlefield. Think he'll use this as an excuse to stay gone, or will he be back in a few rounds with full hit points and five or six scrolls?

3) How badly does Laurin want that favor? She's a clothy seconds away from a five-way beatdown. "Screw this, damn-mansion whore!" suddenly leaps to mind.

4) Is that the sun in the last panel, or the moon? Is it possible Durkula hasn't attacked or used spells because he's been meditating for spells this whole time?

[Forikroder]

On the positive side, an absolutely glorious way of illustrating that Durkon has had a slight moral realignment, without doing anything that would get him unanimously kicked out of the Order, would be:
Durkon kills Laurin outright. At least one or two other members of the Order wince, realizing he could easily have knocked her out without killing her.
Durkon pins Tarquin down.
Elan shouts, "Durkon! Don't kill him!"
Durkon says, "Let him come after us again? I dinnae think so, lad," and kills Elan's helpless father in cold (and unmoving, considering he's dead) blood right in front of him.

im pretty sure noone would object if Durkon killed the crazy obsessed dude willing to expend large amounts of resources and willing to follow them long distances jsut to kill them

[HZ514]

Outstanding comic! Seeing (2/3 of) the OotS go full tactical assault mode on Miron was very satisfying. On top of that, Tarquin's ongoing descent into mindless rage in the first panel is just delicious to watch. And on top of that, Laurin's blast in the final panel looks and feels incredibly powerful.

Roy got to use his anti-caster feat for the first time in the real world (I believe)! For those who are unsure of or questioning that being the feat in action, you can tell it is Roy's new feat because the fizzle is exactly how it's depicted in the dream sequence when he uses it on Xykon.

Speaking of Xykon, I thought Vaarsuvius's code was perfectly clear. Roy took his anti-caster feat with the expressed purpose of disrupting Xykon's casting. Miron is the one whose casting needs to be disrupted. Miron wears a scarf. People wear scarves when it's chilly. Plus there's the whole thing where Belkar literally spells it out four panels later.

[zimmerwald1915]

In retrospect, "faith" would have worked better.
Not really. I'd argue that it makes more sense from an objective standpoint, and that it's more in character, for V to have faith in Roy at this point than for her not to.


4) Is that the sun in the last panel, or the moon? Is it possible Durkula hasn't attacked or used spells because he's been meditating for spells this whole time?
That's the sun. The moon tends to be shown with a bite taken out of it, precisely to differentiate it from the sun.

[Smolder]

On second reading, I finally noticed the conspicuously low-hanging sun in the last panel.

Could Plan A actually succeed?

[ithildur]

I'm surprised that so many people are looking so deep into the code. It really is as simple as it looks. As soon as I read cold, I knew Miron was the target. And that's really all you needed to get from that.



+1 seriously, hilarious how badly people are overthinking this and seem to be baffled. Pretty simple and straightforward, especially when Belkar explains it.

[Gusion]

Surprising to see Tarquin so... useless.

[DoctorIllithid]

Looks like my concern was misplaced- Miron was careful. Whew.

Laurin, though. Still be careful!

[Forikroder]

On second reading, I finally noticed the conspicuously low-hanging sun in the last panel.

Could Plan A actually succeed?

maybe Durkons lack of action is him preparing new spells

[AstralFire]

Not really. I'd argue that it makes more sense from an objective standpoint, and that it's more in character, for V to have faith in Roy at this point than for her not to.

Agreed.

I mean, really, Roy's executed relatively complex tactical moves on the fly multiple times. If I can deduce the "chilly" "scarf" connection while reading, then I don't see why Vaarsuvius shouldn't expect the teammate she's worked with for a long time to do so as well.

[jindra34]

I'm wondering if maybe Laurin used Empathic Transfer, Hostile (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/empathicTransferHostile.htm) in the last panel, given that she still needed to heal, it has a 'blind', self-centered area blast mode, and its damage potential while severe is still limited by what you have on you?

[Snails]

The most obvious example: I don't know many evokers who banned conjuration. Even in 3.0, the school was a significant source of "magic artillery" spells, which is V's thing. Not saying that there's no in-story justification for V choosing to ban conjuration: just that its prime purpose was to weaken V.

I would disagree such is the primary purpose. V focusing on Evocation is sufficient to slow hir down. Part of V's arc is to discover non-blunt means to be effective.

The real primary purpose IMHO is to get DDoor and Teleport out of the picture, because too many fun dilemmas could be solved with a scroll.

[HZ514]

On the positive side, an absolutely glorious way of illustrating that Durkon has had a slight moral realignment, without doing anything that would get him unanimously kicked out of the Order, would be:
Durkon kills Laurin outright. At least one or two other members of the Order wince, realizing he could easily have knocked her out without killing her.
Durkon pins Tarquin down.
Elan shouts, "Durkon! Don't kill him!"
Durkon says, "Let him come after us again? I dinnae think so, lad," and kills Elan's helpless father in cold (and unmoving, considering he's dead) blood right in front of him.

Truly, your hatred of Tarquin knows no bounds. But would you be alright with people referring to Tarquin's killer as "Durkula" forever afterward?

[Amphiox]

"Chilly" could also mean, regarding Miron, that he's taken a lot of damage and is vulnerable, and is therefore the most optimal target to pile on to.

As for Laurin "curb-stomping" V, I would want more visual evidence of that before being so melodramatic. V was undamaged, and was hit by a single spell, a spell which also hit Belkar and did not kill him (Belkar has the exact same expression on his face as Durkon), with only minimal visible effect on V as far as we know, since we can't see V's face, and incidentally, it hit Blackwing with NO visible effect.

Based on visual presentation alone, I would say that it is only certain that Roy and Haley took the full brunt of that attack. If there are saves to be made, then it is not unlikely that Belkar made his save too.

[Catbeller Mouse]

I'm gonna address an invisible elephant in the room.

Doesn't Durkon seem a little... detached from the overall emotional tone of the Order? He doesn't smile. Doesn't frown. Doesn't get angry, or afraid, or even worried. Not all that interested, really.

We can hope he's gonna un-can a bit of clumsy newbie Vampire Cleric whoopass unto Tarquin's rear end, but he doesn't seem to be all that worked up. Is he feeling the evil that he evinced on his release from thrall, so that he can't sympathize much with his living teammate?

Is Durkon gonna just grunt and walk away? Tune in next time, when we hear him say...

[Kish]

Surprising to see Tarquin so... useless.
He's use-impaired!

[Clistenes]

On the positive side, an absolutely glorious way of illustrating that Durkon has had a slight moral realignment, without doing anything that would get him unanimously kicked out of the Order, would be:
Durkon kills Laurin outright. At least one or two other members of the Order wince, realizing he could easily have knocked her out without killing her.
Durkon pins Tarquin down.
Elan shouts, "Durkon! Don't kill him!"
Durkon says, "Let him come after us again? I dinnae think so, lad," and kills Elan's helpless father in cold (and unmoving, considering he's dead) blood right in front of him.

A couple high-level vampires could be useful against Xykon, if Durkon can keep them under control :smalltongue: (probably not, Laurin's and Tarquin's combined HD should be more than twice that of Durkon's).

[AstralFire]

I would disagree such is the primary purpose. V focusing on Evocation is sufficient to slow hir down. Part of V's arc is to discover non-blunt means to be effective.

The real primary purpose IMHO is to get DDoor and Teleport out of the picture, because too many fun dilemmas could be solved with a scroll.

...That would be weakening V...

I was just explaining why, even before Conjuration was linked to teleportation, Conjuration wasn't a school I commonly saw being banned by anyone with an interest in blowing stuff up.

[Forikroder]

Truly, your hatred of Tarquin knows no bounds. But would you be alright with people referring to Tarquin's killer as "Durkula" forever afterward?

Tarquin has access to instantaneous long distance movement and an army the OoTS either have to kill him now or convince him hes wrong

guess which one everyone (but Elan) will think is easiest?

I'm gonna address an invisible elephant in the room.


Doesn't Durkon seem a little... detached from the overall emotional tone of the Order? He doesn't smile. Doesn't frown. Doesn't get angry, or afraid, or even worried. Not all that interested, really.

We can hope he's gonna un-can a bit of clumsy newbie Vampire Cleric whoopass unto Tarquin's rear end, but he doesn't seem to be all that worked up. Is he feeling the evil that he evinced on his release from thrall, so that he can't sympathize much with his living teammate?

Is Durkon gonna just grunt and walk away? Tune in next time, when we hear him say...

he didnt get effected by the attack so he didnt react thats all there is to it dont read so deep into it

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0909.html

as you can see he still has emotions

[Kish]

Truly, your hatred of Tarquin knows no bounds. But would you be alright with people referring to Tarquin's killer as "Durkula" forever afterward?
It'd still only last until Durkon got hungry.

(More seriously, no one has ever needed my approval to call Durkon you-know-what. Him killing Tarquin would not change that.)

[zimmerwald1915]

A couple high-level vampires could be useful against Xykon, if Durkon can keep them under control :smalltongue: (probably not, Laurin's and Tarquin's combined HD should be more than twice that of Durkon's).
Not to mention that Redcloak could probably pull the same trick on Durkon's thralls that he did on Tsukiko's wights (and could probably pull it off whether the rules say he can or not; I'm not going to bother checking to see if it's legal because Durkon getting thralls in the first place such a low-probability event).

[Bedinsis]

I first thought "Xykon is feeling chilly" meant "Xykon is at the next gate(up in the chilly north), we better finish this quickly."

[skim172]

On another note: Laurin is some kind of psionic god.

She's been by far the most effective combat member of Tarquin & Co. - even Tarquin has been more about cunning tricks and manipulation, whereas Laurin, despite having little opportunity to plan beforehand, is kicking brains and chewing gum.

[Astroturtle]

So, anyone else think the power is from 2nd edition like Wormhole? It doesn't seem to match with any powers I'm aware of.

Could be Microcosm. Could be Psychotic Break. Could be a power affected by a Psionic version of the the Sculpt Spell feat.

[StreamOfTheSky]

I love that particular detail.

In every Spellcaster Superiority thread, Contingency used in this manner gets mentioned as "proof". And my answer to that one is the same as here: Relying on Contingency for escape is a great way to accidentally leave your friends to die.

If Miron had chosen a more pedestrian defense like Mirror Image or Blink or Displacement or Stoneskin, it could have kicked off early in the fight and Team Tarquin would still be nearly at full strength.

I don't know why everyone keeps saying this is an example of his contingency "backfiring."

It allowed him to live to fight another day. Possibly port back in in a few rounds healed up and with help for all we know. The pounding he was taking, no matter what defensive spell he may have chosen instead, he'd have been dead in another round. It's actually straining credibility he tanked all the damage he has up to now; his con must be in the mid to high 20's if he's an arcanist.

[AstralFire]

Could be Microcosm. Could be Psychotic Break. Could be a power affected by a Psionic version of the the Sculpt Spell feat.

Sculpt Power was never updated for 3.5, and while I know the usual rule with 3.0 is that it's "forwards compatible," 3.0 and 3.5 Psionics are so resoundingly different that I don't think it counts in this case.

[Forikroder]

On another note: Laurin is some kind of psionic god.

She's been by far the most effective combat member of Tarquin & Co. - even Tarquin has been more about cunning tricks and manipulation, whereas Laurin, despite having little opportunity to plan beforehand, is kicking brains and chewing gum.

the spell wasnt even enough to take out Belkar, so far all shes been able to do is stun people and disentagrate a corpse (and the wormholes)

not that impressive

[Nimin]

Not really.
Yes really. Trust implies relying on someone while hope implies relying on something going the way you want it, which would fit my previous post's point better.


I'd argue that it makes more sense from an objective standpoint, and that it's more in character, for V to have faith in Roy at this point than for her not to.
I don't see how it'd be more in-character for a high-intelligent wizard such as V to rely more on hope and faith than of cunning and trusting someone else's intellectual prowess.

Anyway we're getting derailed here, I said what I wanted to.

[Joseph_Lavode]

Did... whatever that power is effect Durkon? He seems surprised by it but isn't reeling backwards like the others. Whatever it is it's thorough. It's even hitting Blackwing and poor Scruffy

Also love team player Belkar :smallbiggrin:

[The Pilgrim]

So, Roy's new feat works on arcane casters, but not on psionic powers. :smallamused:

[Astroturtle]

"Chilly" could also mean, regarding Miron, that he's taken a lot of damage and is vulnerable, and is therefore the most optimal target to pile on to.


I interpreted it as "The high priority caster(Xykon) needs to be covered/taken care of(is chilly)"

[AstralFire]

So, Roy's new feat works on arcane casters, but not on psionic powers. :smallamused:

Or he can only do it once a round, which seems a much more likely scenario to me.

[Lord Kamper]

Awesome strip, can't wait for the next one.
I want to see if it affected Durkon or not.:smallconfused:

[Knight.Anon]

I like Belkar's confused expression in panel 1.

I agree with the others that have Posted that Durkon is meditating. He probably has been ever since he got on the dinosaur. Dusk is happening or close enough.

[jidasfire]

Surprising to see Tarquin so... useless.

This got me thinking. See, if you look at it, Tarquin's thing has never been being the front-line warrior, which probably explains why his team has another one. He's a general, a strategist, so he probably focused on all defensive powers and contingencies, assuming that if nothing could touch him, he could nickel and dime his opponents to death, or have his underlings do it for him. And to be fair, Tarquin still doesn't look hurt at all in this fight. He is getting emotionally flustered, which is admittedly not contributing well to his performance, but Roy is a good balance of offense and defense, not to mention a formidable strategist in his own right. And once Laurin breaks out her big psionic guns, he goes back to his usual display of arrogant certainty of victory. One can only hope the fact that Durkon seems fine can contribute to saving the Order here, and further flustering Tarquin.

[zimmerwald1915]

Or he can only do it once a round, which seems a much more likely scenario to me.
Or Laurin was simply outside Roy's reach. He was still running toward her when she let loose.

[PirateMonk]

Did... whatever that power is effect Durkon? He seems surprised by it but isn't reeling backwards like the others.

He could be affected, he could just be worried. Given that the power is probably mind-affecting, the latter is more likely, but it's hard to be sure.

[Spoomeister]

On the positive side, an absolutely glorious way of illustrating that Durkon has had a slight moral realignment, without doing anything that would get him unanimously kicked out of the Order, would be:
Durkon kills Laurin outright. At least one or two other members of the Order wince, realizing he could easily have knocked her out without killing her.
Durkon pins Tarquin down.
Elan shouts, "Durkon! Don't kill him!"
Durkon says, "Let him come after us again? I dinnae think so, lad," and kills Elan's helpless father in cold (and unmoving, considering he's dead) blood right in front of him.

Dramatic, but highly unlikely, given that Tarquin was the one who taught Malack grappling moves that Malack used to pin Durkon and kill him originally.

[Commander672]

I'm actually surprised that Tarquin was surprised at Roy making a move on the spell-casters. Everyone knows you target the living WMDs first!

[Muenster Man]

I first thought "Xykon is feeling chilly" meant "Xykon is at the next gate(up in the chilly north), we better finish this quickly."

That's what I thought too at first. But the code explanation makes sense to me. I guess that's the point of codes: some people aren't going to get them :smallredface:

[Astroturtle]

Or Laurin was simply outside Roy's reach. He was still running toward her when she let loose.

Or he whiffed on his roll.

[Sloanzilla]

I really hope Miron does not teleport back later. I like the idea of Survivor OOTS here. Eliminations on both sides each round.

Great strip, but if Durkon doesn't do something soon, I'm going to find a way to manifest my foot into the comic and put it up his dwarfish, bloodsucking arse.

[Ramien]

Or he whiffed on his roll.

Then we would have seen a swing and miss, wouldn't we?

[punch_bunny]

Tarquin's got target lock again, smiling with Roy down and his sword out of hand. Getting impatient for Durkon to do something, especially with Tarquin's back turned to him - he may have gotten his free will back, but he's SO SLOW...

[jaymiechan]

On the positive side, an absolutely glorious way of illustrating that Durkon has had a slight moral realignment, without doing anything that would get him unanimously kicked out of the Order, would be:
Durkon kills Laurin outright. At least one or two other members of the Order wince, realizing he could easily have knocked her out without killing her.
Durkon pins Tarquin down.
Elan shouts, "Durkon! Don't kill him!"
Durkon says, "Let him come after us again? I dinnae think so, lad," and kills Elan's helpless father in cold (and unmoving, considering he's dead) blood right in front of him.

Didn't he do this already by snapping Z's neck and throwing his body down into where the Order was fighting?

[Forikroder]

Tarquin's got target lock again, smiling with Roy down and his sword out of hand. Getting impatient for Durkon to do something, especially with Tarquin's back turned to him - he may have gotten his free will back, but he's SO SLOW...
Elan hasnt acted either

[Clyner]

No! Mr. Scruffy! :smalleek:
the worst part of oots is waiting for the next strip :smallfrown:

[Knight.Anon]

In 3.5 it takes an hour for priests to recharge their spells. I don't think that they get partial credit for praying for 10 minutes or anything like that. So if Durkon is praying he's going to have to keep doing it for quite a while.

He may just be waiting for the sun to go down, so that his solar protection doesn't get dispelled.

Maybe they can trick Tarquin into talking for 55 minutes?

[Kish]

Dramatic, but highly unlikely, given that Tarquin was the one who taught Malack grappling moves that Malack used to pin Durkon and kill him originally.
I don't think it's going to happen, but "because Tarquin would out-grapple Vampire Durkon" isn't on my list of reason why it won't.

Didn't he do this already by snapping Z's neck and throwing his body down into where the Order was fighting?
Zz'dtri isn't anyone's father (that we know of), that wasn't in front of the rest of the Order, and no one in the Order cared enough to ask what happened to whatshisname the Drizzt-knockoff, due to the "not anyone's father" thing.

[eilandesq]

Teleport, or Greater Teleport? Because he probably doesn't know where he was exactly after all those wormholes, so may not be able to come back. With Laurin in the TT party, did he burn a level 7 spell known of G. Teleport? If he's a sorcerer, that's one of 6 7th level spells out of many fine choices.

This might be another tacit "things that can happen to highly prepared and optimized casters" lesson. Miron--in a party with a psion with effective transportation powers--may have economized by taking Teleport (great for getting to a known location within a reasonable radius) but not Greater Teleport (which will take you anywhere even if you're not familiar with the area, and for a lot further). As you point out, being a sorcerer would make it more likely that he might decide on such a choice (though as a wizard he might simply choose to not memorize Greater Teleport knowing that Laurin was around even if he knew the spell). Contingency won't work on 7th level spells, so that isn't a clue. Of course, if he's a wizard and has the spell he might have made a scroll of it, which would get him back to the battle quickly. I'd bet against that, though.

[Estelindis]

Why did every person in this thread, myself included, miss Belkar explaining the "Xykon is chilly" code?
*cough* I, ah, initially thought V was making a sarcastic reference to the fact that the party actually did not reach a high level without being put in their place, i.e. by Roy being killed and the party losing to Xykon at Azure City. Xykon was chilly because someone was talking about him, I reckoned, in the same way that people sometimes say your nose itches if someone has been talking about you behind your back. Yeah, it was a stretch... :smallredface:

[zimmerwald1915]

In 3.5 it takes an hour for priests to recharge their spells. I don't think that they get partial credit for praying for 10 minutes or anything like that.
Prepared spellcasters can prepare fewer than all of their slots, and doing so shortens their preparation time.


Preparing Divine Spells
Divine spellcasters prepare their spells in largely the same manner as wizards do...*

*Preparing Wizard Spells
Spell Preparation Time
...If she wants to prepare all her spells, the process takes 1 hour. Preparing some smaller portion of her daily capacity takes a proportionally smaller amount of time, but always at least 15 minutes, the minimum time required to achieve the proper mental state.

[fan4battle]

I couldn' read through all of the thread, but I noticed the sun is setting in the last panel. I think that's a hint that in a few strips Durkula will get his spells and turn the tide. :)

[Forikroder]

In 3.5 it takes an hour for priests to recharge their spells. I don't think that they get partial credit for praying for 10 minutes or anything like that. So if Durkon is praying he's going to have to keep doing it for quite a while.

He may just be waiting for the sun to go down, so that his solar protection doesn't get dispelled.

Maybe they can trick Tarquin into talking for 55 minutes?

when he got interrupted by scruffy he stopped prematurely by not preparing Cantrips so he could only prepare high level spells he needs immediately and join the fight sooner

[Sloanzilla]

If Durkon got all his spells back this instant, I still couldn't think of too many better options than "Grapple Laurin" - there are some, sure, but it is a darn good option

Though given the final scene, I suppose "keep Tarquin from killing Roy" might also be up there

[jindra34]

If Durkon got all his spells back this instant, I still couldn't think of too many better options than "Grapple Laurin" - there are some, sure, but it is a darn good option


Grappling Psionic characters is less effective than grappling other caster types. Sure you reduce their physical capabilities, but almost everything you have to worry about is purely mental by default, and the concentration check is a joke by this point.

[luagha]

Whatever power Laurin has, it's a lot like a Hold Person. If you fail your save you become immobile and helplessly available for a coup de grace. It can take a while to recover from as in the case of Haley, who only came to after Laurin cast several more wormholes chasing down the running Extreme-inator.

(I personally thought that another reason V suggested fleeing was that every round that passed gave Haley a chance to wake up and re-enter the fight as ranged icy DPS against two low-AC targets.)

If Laurin wants to push things and overspend, she makes it like a mass Hold Person. To which Durkon is predictably immune.

I'm hoping that Durkon does a little dwarf wrestling on her, draining levels and power points all the way.

[magwaaf]

Ouch. That looks like a nasty effect from Laurin- odd that it seems to be hitting Tarquin, but not affecting him in any way.

she's a psion. it's probably a version of something like a ring of mind shielding

[SSGW Priest]

Whoops. Forgot Roy's wounds in the last panel. I'll fix that.

This reminds me of the fifth panel in this. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0486.html)

[orrion]

If Durkon got all his spells back this instant, I still couldn't think of too many better options than "Grapple Laurin" - there are some, sure, but it is a darn good option

Though given the final scene, I suppose "keep Tarquin from killing Roy" might also be up there

"Heal" on Roy would be a good option. Followed by a Restoration on Belkar, which would at least erase the Con damage he's suffered.

[CrispyCriminal]

Grappling Psionic characters is less effective than grappling other caster types. Sure you reduce their physical capabilities, but almost everything you have to worry about is purely mental by default, and the concentration check is a joke by this point.

Considering he's undead, and immune to most of her psionic mental effects, she'd be almost as helpless as Tsukiko against her wights as they drained her dry.

[Gift Jeraff]

So I was comparing the sun in this strip to the sun in #906 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0906.html) and I came to the realization that Nale, Malack, Z, and Vampire Durkon have far better villainous fashion sense than Laurin and Miron. Qarr, too BECAUSE NOTHING IS MORE EVIL THAN NUDITY!!!

[Living Oxymoron]

I'm wondering if maybe Laurin used Empathic Transfer, Hostile (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/empathicTransferHostile.htm) in the last panel, given that she still needed to heal, it has a 'blind', self-centered area blast mode, and its damage potential while severe is still limited by what you have on you?

Interesting theory. Not to mention that a Telepath's skill list has more social skills than the other disciplines, like Nomad. These skills are a great help to anyone who intends to rule a continent through manipulation, so I think she is a Telepath.

[Anarion]

Well, that certainly played up the nova psion imagery. Almost literally. I wonder how spent Laurin is going to be after this, though. All those wormholes and healing, and now a big aoe effect of undetermined properties.

Also, did we get a preview of Roy's spell canceling feat, or was that just a well-timed charge?

[Osiris]

what does V's line about Xykon feeling chilly mean?
Xykon is heading north for Kraagor's gate.
I'm pretty sure that's what V meant

[Jay R]

Why did every person in this thread, myself included, miss Belkar explaining the "Xykon is chilly" code?

For the same reason everyone in a hospital is sick. That's why they were in the thread. People entered the thread to ask about it. Those of us who understood it didn't enter the thread then.


Mirion must be really attached to his scarf, to be wearing winter clothes out in the cloudless blazing daylight hours of the desert.

He's in a desert with high winds. He's wearing it for the same reason cowboys on a cattle drive wear bandannas over their mouths and noses - to keep out the dust.


I'm not questioning the code's meaning nor it's usage, just its believability. V surely put a lot of faith in Roy guessing that farfetched riddle, and I'm pretty sure that basically none on this forum would had done the same had they not seen the immediate subsequent actions the Order did.

The codes I use are based on tactical conversations I've had with those players, and observers aren't expected to understand them. That's the point of a code.

It wouldn't surprise me if Vaarsuvius and Roy have discussed plans for attacking "Xykon, or whoever is the biggest threat at the time" often enough that they started shortening it to "Xykon" awhile ago.


But would you be alright with people referring to Tarquin's killer as "Durkula" forever afterward?

I don't care what people call Durkon. I will call him by his name.

[Forikroder]

Well, that certainly played up the nova psion imagery. Almost literally. I wonder how spent Laurin is going to be after this, though. All those wormholes and healing, and now a big aoe effect of undetermined properties.

Also, did we get a preview of Roy's spell canceling feat, or was that just a well-timed charge?

considering mirons level i dont see why he wouldnt just always cast defensively so i imagine its the feat (unless theres something about defensive i dont know about)

[eilandesq]

Someone suggested ultrablast earlier--if it is, it's been augmented with a Widen Power psionic feat (since there's no way everyone hit by it is in a 15' radius, but 30' is plausible). This would be a separate confirmation of Laurin being at least 17th level, so as to be able to add Widen Power to a 7th level psionic power.

[Mutant Sheep]

I looked at the first two pages, so maybe more people said this, but am I one of the only 6 people who took the "chilly" remark as "Murderify the guy with the scarf"?:smallconfused: It is not a complicated thing, V just had to keep the meaning of the sentence secret from Good General Tarquinslos.:smalltongue:

[Zubzub]

I dont think Roy is using his feat there. I dont even think anyone is aware of his feat yet, he only mentions it vaguely when hes ressed, plus his granddad said he has to spend a lot of feats to get it, and I doubt he leveled a lot since. Its more likely Miron just blew his concentration when he got hit.

As for Laurin's aoe, I think its something like psionic equivalent of holy word, roy and haley seem to have failed their will saves, belkar seems caught unaware which id say is a failed save too, v and elan are just covering their ears, probably making saves since theyre high will classes. Durkon looks startled as if he just heard a loud psychic scream but has nothing to save for due to undead. Tarquin is being smug because of his saves, much like how rogues dont mind if you fireball their general direction or not.

[Gusion]

So Durkon still has his initiative.

Tarquin is in between Durkon and Laruin. Potentially Durkon could move around Tarquin... but dwarves were never known for their amazing movement rate.

So he will reach out and touch Tarquin. Give him a slap on the back of the head for two negative levels. No saves allowed. Of course, knowing Tarquin he has some protection against it... but it is still a logical action for Durkon

[Canisius]

Wow - things are happening!

Belkar looks so damn happy to be able to do some non-risky damage. Also, that little puff of dust as one of Haley's arrows goes all the way through Miron is either a nice artistic touch (everyone's dusty out there in the desert), or is that an expression of the cold effect of her bow?

[Forikroder]

I dont think Roy is using his feat there. I dont even think anyone is aware of his feat yet, he only mentions it vaguely when hes ressed, plus his granddad said he has to spend a lot of feats to get it, and I doubt he leveled a lot since. Its more likely Miron just blew his concentration when he got hit.

As for Laurin's aoe, I think its something like psionic equivalent of holy word, roy and haley seem to have failed their will saves, belkar seems caught unaware which id say is a failed save too, v and elan are just covering their ears, probably making saves since theyre high will classes. Durkon looks startled as if he just heard a loud psychic scream but has nothing to save for due to undead. Tarquin is being smug because of his saves, much like how rogues dont mind if you fireball their general direction or not.

he only has to spend one feat to learn it since he used it in dream world he almost certainly can use it in real world

[colanderman]

Laurin's spell can't do damage because Mr. Scruffy has plot armor.

At least we can hope‽

[King of Nowhere]

what i see, the order focusing individual enemies, starting from the casters too!
while I never complained about previous fights boiling down to duels between the various members, this is a much more realistic strategy, and also done with effectiveness. tarquin failed his role of tank there

[Jay R]

Wow - things are happening!

Belkar looks so damn happy to be able to do some non-risky damage. Also, that little puff of dust as one of Haley's arrows goes all the way through Miron is either a nice artistic touch (everyone's dusty out there in the desert), or is that an expression of the cold effect of her bow?

So you think he's feeling chilly today?

[Kish]

Laurin's spell can't do damage because Mr. Scruffy has plot armor.

At least we can hope‽
Based on the lack of immediate X's in Belkar's eyes, I doubt it's a straightforward high-damage attack.

Some psionic equivalent of Mass Hold Person or Power Word Stun, perhaps.