cool rule for OOTS sending

[littlebum2002]

So far (I think) all the Sendings in the strip have been exactly 25 words.

It would be funny if, in the OITS-verse, Sendings had to be EXACTLY 25 words- no more, no less. That could set up a good joke of someone rattling on trying to meet the word minimum, as is done in forums.


SENDING FROM JULIO TO ELAN:

Get Bent, Elan. I'm not dying for you.

.... Wait, what's going on? Oh yeah, I forgot you need twenty five words. Peter Piper Picked a.....

[Bedinsis]

Check out this (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0337.html) page. As seen by Nale's last sending, they must indeed use exactly 25 words.

[allenw]

Check out this (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0337.html) page. As seen by Nale's last sending, they must indeed use exactly 25 words.

Nah, that's just Nale talking because he likes to talk (and running out of words again).

[ChristianSt]

Check out this (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0337.html) page. As seen by Nale's last sending, they must indeed use exactly 25 words.

That doesn't prove that he needed all 25 words to cast the spell.
He only realizes that he - for once - doesn't run out of space, and reminds himself that he can say more. (And naturally screws up again)

[littlebum2002]

Thanks for posting that. Made me smile. One of the best gag strips in the comic IMHO.

I like how the pile of scrolls at his feet gets larger after every sending. But the question is: why did he have so many? Obviously this wasn't the first time it ever happened to him.

[KillianHawkeye]

I like how the pile of scrolls at his feet gets larger after every sending. But the question is: why did he have so many? Obviously this wasn't the first time it ever happened to him.

Once you get past the mid-levels (and assuming you use scrolls at all), you probably have quite a few of any scroll that's worth having. There's no reason to only have one scroll of Sending when you could just as easily have a dozen.

That's kinda the point of putting spells onto scrolls in the first place.

[Ron Miel]

Once you get past the mid-levels (and assuming you use scrolls at all), you probably have quite a few of any scroll that's worth having. There's no reason to only have one scroll of Sending when you could just as easily have a dozen.

That's kinda the point of putting spells onto scrolls in the first place.


He sent Pompey to get as many Sending scrolls as possible.

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0258.html

[Muenster Man]

SENDING FROM JULIO TO ELAN:

Get Bent, Elan. I'm not dying for you.

.... Wait, what's going on? Oh yeah, I forgot you need twenty five words. Peter Piper Picked a.....

This made me laugh this morning. Probably a lot more than it should have. Thank you :smallsmile:

[KillianHawkeye]

He sent Pompey to get as many Sending scrolls as possible.

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0258.html

Uh, yes? :smallconfused:

Thank you for illustrating my point. Any character of Nale's level has the resources to buy a ton of scrolls pretty easily.

[Ron Miel]

If that was your point then it wasn't clearly stated. It looked to me like you thought that Nale would already have the scrolls.

[KillianHawkeye]

If that was your point then it wasn't clearly stated. It looked to me like you thought that Nale would already have the scrolls.

He would have if he had wanted to have them earlier. When and where is basically irrelevant. My point was that if you wanted to have scrolls of anything, you'll probably have several and not just one or two.

Sorry for being unclear.

[jogiff]

Wouldn't really be much of a limitation. Just say "butt" over and over again until you run out of words.

[Ceaon]

Sending would be a very cool if elaborate way to find out if a compound word should be spelled with or without a hyphen.

"Sorry to bother you dad, but my friend and I were discussing how a certain word was spelled. So, can I finish the word eye-"

Apparently, eye shadow is spelled without a hyphen.

[Bird]

Sending would be a very cool if elaborate way to find out if a compound word should be spelled with or without a hyphen.

"Sorry to bother you dad, but my friend and I were discussing how a certain word was spelled. So, can I finish the word eye-"

Apparently, eye shadow is spelled without a hyphen.
That's fantastic. I love the joke about the supernatural forces of the universe dithering over a matter of prescriptivist punctuation. On a broader level, the linguistic element of 'magic' has always intrigued me.

Take this Alan Moore quote:

The very language about magic seems to be talking as much about writing or art as it is about supernatural events. A grimmoir for example, the book of spells is simply a fancy way of saying grammar. Indeed, to cast a spell, is simply to spell, to manipulate words, to change people's consciousness.
[...]
In all of magic there is an incredibly large linguistic component. The Bardic tradition of magic would place a bard as being much higher and more fearsome than a magician. A magician might curse you. That might make your hands lay funny or you might have a child born with a club foot. If a Bard were to place not a curse upon you, but a satire, then that could destroy you. If it was a clever satire, it might not just destroy you in the eyes of your associates; it would destroy you in the eyes of your family. It would destroy you in your own eyes. And if it was a finely worded and clever satire that might survive and be remembered for decades, even centuries. Then years after you were dead people still might be reading it and laughing at you and your wretchedness and your absurdity. Writers and people who had command of words were respected and feared as people who manipulated magic.

[Ghost Nappa]

Playgrounders, I think the discussion of the twenty-five word limit of the Sending spell should in turn be limited to posts of exactly twenty-five words.

[ChristianSt]

I think the discussion of the twenty-five word limit of the Sending spell should in turn be limited to posts of exactly twenty-five words.

Seeing how your post contains either 24 words (counting 25 as one word) or 26 (counting 25 as two words) that is a bad example :smalltongue:

[veti]

Wouldn't really be much of a limitation. Just say "butt" over and over again until you run out of words.

Not much of a limitation, but fun. What if the caster forgets to pad? Whatever they say next, to anyone, gets added to their message.

[Ceaon]

Seeing how your post contains either 24 words (counting 25 as one word) or 26 (counting 25 as two words) that is a bad example :smalltongue:

Funny thing is, if you disregard the smiley and count numbers as a single word, your post is exactly 25 words long, so kudo's there.

[ChristianSt]

Since "don't" or other contractions are considered to be one word, I would say numbers are one word, too. And obviously smileys do not count. :smallwink:

[Ghost Nappa]

Seeing how your post contains either 24 words (counting 25 as one word) or 26 (counting 25 as two words) that is a bad example :smalltongue:

As a mathematician, I am
utterly and horribly dismayed with
my sub-par counting and editing
of five lines with five
words to create a joke.

I have since edited my
original post and now additionally
recommend that instead of limiting
ourselves to only posts of
twenty-five, multiples are also acceptable.

[ChristianSt]

As a math major, I am utterly and horribly dismayed with my sub-par counting and editing of five lines with five words to create a joke.

I have since edited my original post and now additionally recommend that instead of limiting ourselves to only posts of twenty-five, multiples are also acceptable.

I don't want to embarrass you, but 51 isn't a multiple of 25. But I'm running out of scrolls so don't except another post soon.

[Ghost Nappa]

I don't want to embarrass you, but 51 isn't a multiple of 25. But I'm running out of scrolls so don't except another post soon.

I need not be embarrassed for I have deliberately spelled out all instances of numbers because I consider there to be a difference between the-

-two usages of a number. The first is its spelling, the second is as numbers. One is used in mathematics, One is used in writing.

While it is true that there is a rule that numbers exceeding a certain value
are to instead be written in the number form, I-

-find it to be distasteful in a form where one is deliberately restricted by the
amount of words one is allowed to use at once.

It now strikes me that perhaps we will one day see Elan use the form of a Sending to construct poetry for his muse, Haley.

(It is a good thing we are not restricted by the cost of a Sending scroll or I might be in catastrophically large debt now.)

[Mordae]

In Azure City
Sending scrolls, though writ alike,
Do not work the same.

[Souhiro]

Well, one item I wanted to craft in one of my games was a Blackboard of Sending: You write whatever you want to write in a language you know, you read it loud, and it's SENT. Works like the spell, but can be used daily.

[Oko and Qailee]

This made me laugh this morning. Probably a lot more than it should have. Thank you :smallsmile:

TBH it is pretty funny.

[snikrept]

Sending's word limit is the same in any language, which is pretty wacky by itself. Also, it has no duration. Caster and recipient might invent a language between them that has no word boundaries in it, where whole sentences or paragraphs are single words. As long as both understand this new language, they might transmit whole volumes of text, after translation.

[Chadamantium]

What about doing sign language when Sending. Since Nale appeared to Roy and Durkon to Julio, all Sendings show the person casting. And if sign language doesn't count towards the 25 word limit, could they sign forever to the person they were Sending to. As long as they could both sign.

[Mith]

Or just have a sign hanging around your neck with what you want to say. Then just state "Read this sign." It's much more efficient.

[shamgar001]

In Azure City
Sending scrolls, though writ alike,
Do not work the same.

This was made of win.

Heh. Haiku-based sending spells sounds like something I should torment my players with.

[Kish]

Or just have a sign hanging around your neck with what you want to say. Then just state "Read this sign." It's much more efficient.
If you tried that, your image would probably blink out just after the reader had read the 22nd word of the sign.

[137beth]

An even better thing is to send to someone saying "I'm about to scry, let me <filler words>".
Then use a scroll of scrying, and cast message. There, two way communication for 9 minutes, no word limit.