Shojo! No! *spoilers*

[Mr. Moon]

I know people have been talking about Miko's killing Shojo, but it's more focused around "What'll happen to Miko?"

But what'll happen to Shojo? I hope he gets resurected. I liked him. Or at lest a ghostly dialog.

Comments?

[Raistlin1040]

Ghostly dialog. Definantly

[Awesome Girl]

He could become best friends with Roy's dad. (And maybe finally shake his hand (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0292.html))

[Medieve]

Big spoiler warning I guess, but I suspect that even if they resurrect Shojo, he'll die of old age immediately after. Roy just admitted that Shojo was in his 80's and after hitting venerable at 70, you only have 2d20 years left. So taking the average of 20 years, Shojo, even if resurrected, likely only has 5-10 years left.

And after double checking aging rules, I have to say, taking a -6 to con must be devastating to your hit points. (Which explains how he was obliterated in one hit at level 14)

[dragongirl13]

I really hope Shojo gets resurrected. I thought he was a great character-very funny-and I'm glad Miko got punished for killing him and lost her paladin abilities. I do know that there is a cleric in the OotS who can cast Raise Dead about three times a day... and his name is Durkon Thundershield. And there are the Azure City clerics, but they're busy raising Wizard Guy.

[Angela Christine]

They may not Raise him (due to age and probable crimes) but I hope that they at least Speak with Dead or his ghost shows up or something, because Hinjo should have a talk with him.


Xykon and Redcloak will be arriving shortly. Zombie Shojo?

[Dectilon]

Random fact: Shojo means girl : )

[Trisk]

Theres no reason he WOULDN'T be ressurected at the moment. They're willing to revive some random NPC Mage why not the leader of the city?

[Yuki Akuma]

Random fact: Shojo means girl : )

Random fact: No it doesn't. You're looking for "Shoujo".

It's the difference between "Yuki" (snow) and "Yuuki" (valour, courage). It's important.

(Technically, 'girl' should be written as "Shojo" with a line above the first 'o', and 'courage' should be spelled as "Yuki" with a line above the 'u', but these transliterations are closer to how it's written in kana anyway.)

[SteveMB]

Theres no reason he WOULDN'T be ressurected at the moment. They're willing to revive some random NPC Mage why not the leader of the city?
With Xykon's army barrelling down on them, they may need the mage more seriously in the short run.

[Dectilon]

Acctually it's neither, since you can't really convert between to writing languages like that, but it's close enough to be funny methinks : )

[Applehat]

Methinks the ressurection would be used on Belkar.

[Frigga]

I sure like the old coot, he's been a great character. And I would like to state that I hate picking nits and whatever the Giant does with this plotline I will accept and enjoy unconditionally, because honestly, what's with people picking apart someone else's creative work? But that aside, if I state a preference it would be for Shojo to be left in peace. Death has so much more dignity if you're not dragged back a half dozen times... ressurection and speak with dead can be pretty anticlimactic if used too nonchalantly or regularly, even or especially in a setting where the ability to do these things is common.

Still, he is a likeable old bugger, and I of course wouldn't mind seeing him again.

[Yuki Akuma]

Acctually it's neither, since you can't really convert between to writing languages like that, but it's close enough to be funny methinks : )

...You can't transliterate now?

[Dectilon]

I meant "technically", not acctually : ) Sorry about that.

[Andiamo]

I want to see a lot of funny dialogue between Shojo and Roy's dad, as they watch everything going on below.

[SmartAlec]

They're both watching their respective heirs - no doubt they'll have plenty to say on how Hinjo and Roy handle things.

[DreadSpoon]

Personally, I hope he doesn't get resurrected.

Bringing the dead back to life is one of the most horrendous parts of the D&D universe. It makes a great many plots next to impossible to follow through on. "Roy died? Resurrect him! Haley died? Resurrect her! The king was assassinated? Resurrect him! My son got killed by bandits? Resurrect him! Spot got run over by a dung wagon? Resurrect him!"

Sure, sure, resurrection costs money. That doesn't really mean squat once you hit a particular level in D&D, or if you are a plot-based rich NPC, like Shojo.

If plot dictates that someone dies - like the case of one NPC, Miko, killing another, Shojo - then we shouldn't just be able to say, "we can just resurrect him."

At best, resurrection should require *serious* effort. Not just money, but a huge, dangerous, unique quest. Like travelling to Hades as in Greek mythology.

The other alternative I prefer, from a game mechanics perspective, is the concept of life credits. Every character has some set number of chances. Death expends a life credit, and a character can only be resurrected if he has at least one life credit remaining. All characters, NPC or PC, start with but one life credit. Powerful characters can gain more. For D&D, I'd say it should either be based on some number of levels of PC classes (a 10th level farmer should still only have one life credit, but a 10th level Sorcerer might have 2, maybe 3), or it should be a feat.

I really can't express my disgust at D&D world plotlines that involve any kind of death. Ed Greenwood had a Forgotten Realms book detailing the assassination of King Azoun, and it was truly pathetic at all the high-power unique artifact-like magic that was needed to kill the king and keep him dead. The entire idea of an "assassin" shouldn't exist in such a world, if killing somebody in power is that pointless.

I also can't stand logical loopholes. In a serious setting, we'd have one if Shojo was murdered but yet we couldn't let that good bit of plot stay still because obviously resurrection would be an option.

That said, the argument that the NPC wizard can be resurrected doesn't necessarily mean that Shojo can. Rich's world could have some kind of additional limiter on resurrection as presented above. Or resurrection just might not be feasible for standard D&D reasons (cost, access to high level spells, etc), and an exception is made for the wizard just because it made for some awesome jokes. Keep in mind that this *is* a humor-based comic, people. The fourth wall, game rules, and setting have all been pushed aside before many times when the opportunity for a joke presented itself.

[Orzel]

After Big X attacks there will be too many bodies to rez cheaply. Most big nation would have a halt on ressurection after big battles because no one is joing to pick and choose who stays dead and who cmes back.

Eugene and Shojo are probably betting on who kills Miko anyway.

[Frigga]

The other alternative I prefer, from a game mechanics perspective, is the concept of life credits. Every character has some set number of chances. Death expends a life credit, and a character can only be resurrected if he has at least one life credit remaining. All characters, NPC or PC, start with but one life credit. Powerful characters can gain more. For D&D, I'd say it should either be based on some number of levels of PC classes (a 10th level farmer should still only have one life credit, but a 10th level Sorcerer might have 2, maybe 3), or it should be a feat.

I love this idea. I've been using something like it to explain mortality in another setting where ressurection for player-characters is so ingrained into the setting it makes death completely uninteresting... World of Warcraft. Obviously it can't be widely enforced, but I brought it up and a few folks were intriged and have been counting their (only in-character) deaths ever since. It adds an interesting new dimension to death in a setting where readily available ressurection and "spirit healers" in every graveyard make death almost trivial.

Would be great to see in D&D...

[krossbow]

so... they are going to ressurect him... just to put him on trial?



remember, he was about to be hauled off to the magistrates. Simply because a criminal has an act committed against them wouldn't pardon their crimes.
________
VIDEOS PORNOS (http://www.****tube.com/)

[Lial Swiftlight]

Big spoiler warning I guess, but I suspect that even if they resurrect Shojo, he'll die of old age immediately after. Roy just admitted that Shojo was in his 80's and after hitting venerable at 70, you only have 2d20 years left. So taking the average of 20 years, Shojo, even if resurrected, likely only has 5-10 years left.

And after double checking aging rules, I have to say, taking a -6 to con must be devastating to your hit points. (Which explains how he was obliterated in one hit at level 14)Pssh, just bring a druid in and reincarnate him, instead. BAM! Instant young adult body. Sure, it could end up a kobold or goblin body, but that's a small price to pay.


On a more serious note, if Miko is captured and/or surrenders, they may force her to raise the funds for a ressurection as part of her atonement. Or, if Shojo's crimes of misleading his followers are bad enough, they may resurrect him so they can give him a proper trial.

[DeathQuaker]

Random fact: No it doesn't. You're looking for "Shoujo".

It's the difference between "Yuki" (snow) and "Yuuki" (valour, courage). It's important.


At least for English usage of the Japanese term, I've seen "shojo" (no accent or u) used as equivalent to "shoujo" or "shojo" with the line over the first o. And since we don't have the means to put lines over vowels using our keyboards, I can understand why this spelling is used (especially since English-speakers tend to take the "ou" romaji and pronounce it "ow" to rhyme with cow or oo to rhyme with shoe). This spelling while not the most linguistically accurate is the easiest to type and encourage close-to-correct pronunciation.

Not to mention there's a number of ways to romanize Japanese writing anyway, so one could legitimately argue that there is no one right way.

And if you do want to get technical, "shojo" with no accents or u means "virgin" so we can all have a chuckle still.

edit: Sorry, I actually did want to post something on topic:

My personal intuition is that Lord Shojo won't be resurrected. He's too old, or his soul won't want to be brought back even (remember, no Raise/Resurrect can be possible if the soul refuses to go). Storybuilding-wise, there's less drama if he IS resurrected--more chaos if he isn't, and plus we might get to see Hinjo go into action as a leader.

[Dausuul]

I will be amazed if they don't at least try to rez Shojo. I mean, come on, he's been accused of lying to the paladins but he hasn't been convicted of anything, and he's the friggin' LORD OF THE CITY. You don't leave the Lord of the City lying dead if you have the cash and the means to make it otherwise, no matter what he's been accused of or how old he is.

It would be like if Bill Clinton had been shot in the middle of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. He'd been impeached, he was nearing the end of his second term, but he'd still have had the Secret Service protecting him and the best medical care money could buy. He wouldn't just have gotten dumped off in the nearest emergency room.

Of course, his soul may decide not to come back; that's always a possibility.

And I totally agree on the stupidity of Resurrection. I don't allow it in my games except in REALLY unusual circumstances.