I belive that Belkar cheats...

[Dracons]

I'm a firm beliver that Belkar cheats on his rolls when the other characters aren't there.

I mean think about, he even mentioned he knew there was a reason he kept them around when he single handly SPOTTED and KILLED the goblin ninja.

Then don't forget the fact that when he and the others are together, he tends to fail. Alot. But when he is by himself, he kicks so much butt. Such as Miko and him fight. A fight that /lasted/ what, twenty strips? (I say lasted because alot of the strips was telling the story on the sharn, but you can assume they are fighting during it) and then it was revealed he was holding back so she'd lose her powers. But when he was with the others, he got his butt beat, along with the others, rather quickly. Once because of the rain/horse, the next becase it was a plot train.

Now he's taking on the bulk of the army, and took out that thief/soldier solo.

So, do you think he rolls high when he is by himself, since the other characters wouldn't be paying as much attention to what he rolls?

[BardicLasher]

Belkar tends to roll high a lot, actually. Other than those spot checks, he's an effective combat monster (somehow more effective than Roy half the time) and manages to take out some foes very effectively. He's not the only PC like this, either. We se Roy at his best when he's soloing, and Elan and V as well do the most damage when they're doing it alone. It's just the nature of PCs to be more awesome when they're in the spotlight.

[The Extinguisher]

I don't think he can.

This isn't really a game, more of a world that is based on D&D. I just think it's impossible to cheat, as the physics wouldn't let him.

[SandroTheMaster]

Maybe....

Lone Wolf
You are good by your own, but others tend to pull you back.
Pre-Reqs: Track, Self-Suficient, BAB +6
Benefit: Whenever you are alone, it means, there is no ally close enough to give you assistance in any way, you receive a +4 in all rolls, including damage, however, wherever you are working with someone, an ally, a group, an army... you receive a -6 in all rolls.
Special: You can't take this feat if you don't have any ally to begin with, nor if your allies are seldon with you.
Special 2: It comes with a tendency to want to kill your allies sometimes...

[Kreistor]

Belkar has never lacked an ability to hurt things at any time in any place. He has one good stat: strength.

No, this isn't so surprising. Belkar has always been effective.

[SandroTheMaster]

Belkar has never lacked an ability to hurt things at any time in any place. He has one good stat: strength.

No, this isn't so surprising. Belkar has always been effective.

:durkon: Turn Undead!

:xykon: Bolster Undead!

:belkar: Stab Undead!

:smallwink:

[Demented]

Belkar has the dismemberment feat.
His attacks do an additional damage of X, where X is the current hitpoint total of whatever he is attacking. PCs and DMNPCs get a DC 10 fort save to take no damage.

[tis_tom]

Maybe....

Lone Wolf
You are good by your own, but others tend to pull you back.
Pre-Reqs: Track, Self-Suficient, BAB +6
Benefit: Whenever you are alone, it means, there is no ally close enough to give you assistance in any way, you receive a +4 in all rolls, including damage, however, wherever you are working with someone, an ally, a group, an army... you receive a -6 in all rolls.
Special: You can't take this feat if you don't have any ally to begin with, nor if your allies are seldon with you.
Special 2: It comes with a tendency to want to kill your allies sometimes...

It's a shame he's a ranger that -has- no ranks in survival/track :-\

[Lolzords]

Belkar tends to roll high a lot, actually. Other than those spot checks, he's an effective combat monster (somehow more effective than Roy half the time) and manages to take out some foes very effectively. He's not the only PC like this, either. We se Roy at his best when he's soloing, and Elan and V as well do the most damage when they're doing it alone. It's just the nature of PCs to be more awesome when they're in the spotlight.

That's true, when my ranger is off scouting on his own he does kick more ass then usual.

[Tor the Fallen]

I don't think he can.

This isn't really a game, more of a world that is based on D&D. I just think it's impossible to cheat, as the physics wouldn't let him.

Look at the old comics. They're entirely aware of their world's mechanics. They even updated from 3.0 to 3.5, and Belkar experience "weapon shrinkage." There's also the classic strip where Roy kills goblins by adding up multipliers he forgot while in combat. Then there's the part when they're at the bandit camp (or ogres?) and they go from squares to hexes. Belkar could be cheating, but I doubt it. Every character has a schtick, and they're good at it. V always has the right spell prepared, Roy can soak up damage, Belkar stabs, etc.

[BisectedBrioche]

All fictional protagonists are solar powered, as a result they become more effective when a spotlight is shining on them <_< >_>.

[Emperor Demonking]

It's a shame he's a ranger that -has- no ranks in survival/track :-\

He does have the track feat just no ranks in survival.

[Bearofbadnews]

While I accept other interpretations as equally (or more) likely, I have always seen the characters in OOTS as representing different roleplaying styles as if they were being controlled within a game by players in the real world. At the same time, paradoxically, they are frequently self-aware as characters within a game (or webcomic). Add to that the fact that their world is clearly as real to them as ours is to us, and you have a neat little triple-layered existence for our linearly-rendered protagonists.

So my take is that yes, Belkar's player seems likely to be cheating (if I have the gamer stereotype pegged correctly). But at least so far, there is no indication that Belkar is aware of any cheating (whether or not he is capable of it).

The way I see it, Belkar's player is a slaughter-happy munchkin-type, Roy's is the all-around gamer (often acting as leader in games), Haley's is a female gamer who enjoys the old-school thief schtick, Durkon's is another all around gamer but with less interest in leadership, and Vaarsuvius' is the consummate roleplayer (probably the archetype I fit best...).

However, despite starting out as these stereotypes, as the story has progressed, the characters have shown increasing levels of depth either through retconning and time invested roleplaying by the players or by the characters themselves within the game world.

[Drekkan]

Or it could be that a lot of the stuff he fails at is non-combat related and what he does in combat he does well...

Why because some characters are specced for combat. In my campaign it's mainly diplomacy and not a whole lot of fighting, but what fighting there is tends to be very lethal. I bit the bullet and became the meatshield. I sacrificed a lot to get very good at combat. As I waded through opponents some people thought 'how the heck did he do that'. I'm a fighter, I kill things, that's what I do.

I think the same is true of Belkar. He's sacrificed everything (including his survival), in order to boost his CC prowess.

[MinMax]

Look at the old comics. They're entirely aware of their world's mechanics. They even updated from 3.0 to 3.5, and Belkar experience "weapon shrinkage." There's also the classic strip where Roy kills goblins by adding up multipliers he forgot while in combat. Then there's the part when they're at the bandit camp (or ogres?) and they go from squares to hexes. Belkar could be cheating, but I doubt it. Every character has a schtick, and they're good at it. V always has the right spell prepared, Roy can soak up damage, Belkar stabs, etc.

V always has the right spell prepared?! But, what about Comic 345 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0345.html)?

[EvilElitest]

View belkar's rolls like the reverse ninja law
he is worst with more people
from,
EE

[The Extinguisher]

I'm not saying that they don't live in a D&D style world.

But I don't think there any players. This isn't a game, it's a world that is governed by D&D physics. The people of the world know how the world works and often make remarks about it. So I don't think it is physically possible for Belkar to cheat, just like it is physically impossible, in our world, to pass through solid objects.

[bluish_wolf]

I'm not saying that they don't live in a D&D style world.

But I don't think there any players. This isn't a game, it's a world that is governed by D&D physics. The people of the world know how the world works and often make remarks about it. So I don't think it is physically possible for Belkar to cheat, just like it is physically impossible, in our world, to pass through solid objects.

They wouldn't be PCs if they aren't any players, now would they?

[the_tick_rules]

if there was a way to cheat i'm sure he'd do it.

[Black of Night]

if there was a way to cheat i'm sure he'd do it.

I think that prettymuch summs it up. That, or "Speed of Plot".

Either way.... :smalltongue:

[Dectilon]

He has sacrificed half a marshmallow to the plastic roleplaying god! I'm not sure if there's just the one, or if any statue of its likeness works, but its real! That much is for certain.

(A friend kept a plastic statue of... something with him when he was roleplaying, and left little candy pieces in front of it. I've never seen anyone roll so many sixes ~~ And I've never seen anyone roll so many ones as the guy who questioned the power of the god ;)

[Orzel]

Belkar has Minion Slayer aka Favored Enemy: People Without Names

The less important you are, the more damage he deals.

[Closet_Skeleton]

Belkar has Minion Slayer aka Favored Enemy: People Without Names

The less important you are, the more damage he deals.

Well, he probably has Goblins (he's fought so many of them he'd have got the point) as well as Humans (implied but not confirmed here http://sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=467) and or Halflings (for his revenge). That might explain how he killed Grand Larceny Guy so easily.

[NinjaClarinet]

Belkar has Minion Slayer aka Favored Enemy: People Without Names

The less important you are, the more damage he deals.

QFT.


Winnar

[Roderick_BR]

He says he keeps the others around for 3 reasons:
1) Meat shields
2) Free healing
3) Other than fighting, he don't know how to do anything else, even ranger stuff. So he needs the others to do the "boring" stuff.

[SandroTheMaster]

I also believe that Belkar very probably has "Self-Suficient", except that he has no idea what this feat does, he does like to think that he is self-suficient somehow.