People realize that Xykon is the Joker right?

[Charles Phipps]

The bouncing ball could have been made in an alchemical lab with "Jump" effects and a superpowered symbol of insanity variant. It could have taken ten years and he'd STILL have done it because he's a guy who doesn't just want to KILL paladins.

He wants to do it in a humiliating, degrading, and silly manner.

[Callista]

Chaotic Evil. Not much news to me there.

[moleytov]

The Giant >> people predicting the fight outcome by D&D stats or how plot should progress

Chaotic Evil. Not much news to me there.
The Giant is a previously undetected alignment C PP (Chaotic Plot Progession)
good, neutral, evil? works for me. (although the suicide kinda took the whole thing too far.)

[Geilan]

It was an honor thing, based on the Japanese background of the entire city a a whole and the Paladins' obsession with honor.

[Callista]

Yeah. That kind of suicide is a logical thing to happen in an Oriental-Adventures style setting. It probably wouldn't be the sort of thing a European-style Paladin would do--the generic Paladin's response would probably be a suicidal charge at Xykon. But in Azure City, Paladins are so very much like samurai that they believe that some measure of honor can be regained through suicide.

Remember that Paladins don't get Spellcraft or Knowledge: Arcana, and the lone survivor of the melee, with no more than six seconds to think straight, might not have understood that she had been under a compulsion effect. Conversely, she might have understood that Xykon was messing with her mind, and killed herself to prevent him continuing to do so. In either case, the total dishonor of being forced to kill fellow paladins would have been enough to impel any samurai, sane or not, to suicide.

I don't think Rich went overboard. Close to it, yes; but not over the line. OotS has had PG-13 subject matter in the past... That it's tragic, and not at all humorous, might be a little jarring when we've come to expect humor; but there have been a lot of serious strips in the past, and another one shouldn't be unexpected.

[Timberboar]

That it's tragic, and not at all humorous, might be a little jarring when we've come to expect humor; but there have been a lot of serious strips in the past, and another one shouldn't be unexpected.

I dunno, I found it hilarious.

I mean, it's not like we're watching Faces of Death, here, people. It's a bunch of stick figures stabbing each other.

And while the Giant has a talent for making us sympathize with his characters, no such connection has been forged with the Sapphire Guard as a whole. I mean, we hadn't even seen most of those paladins until roughly 20 hours earlier.

Emotional attachment? Not likely.

Strip 448 didn't have a tenth the emotional impact as 443 did. It advanced the plot in an inventive and amusing way. The "line" is still a long, long way away.

Edit: Also, Callista, good job on the rules analysis.

[Charles Phipps]

Ultimately, my point is that the character is a sadistic prankster. Not unlike Batman's Joker.

It makes the final result all the more appealing.

[Poppatomus]

Ultimately, my point is that the character is a sadistic prankster. Not unlike Batman's Joker.

It makes the final result all the more appealing.

Strong point, hadn't made that connection.

[Geilan]

I'm waiting for the gas from the first movie that killed 'em with a smile.

[Charles Phipps]

They haven't made a Delayed Blast Cloudkill yet or he would have done it.

;-)

[Geilan]

That would be awesome.

-begins letter to WotC-

[Charles Phipps]

I think a lot of the backlash problem has resulted from people feeling appalled that Xykon slaughtered the guards in such a nightmarish way. A lot of them feel like they've only recently realized that Xykon is a bad guy and are disgusted with themselves for rooting for him.

Something similar to the Miko effect but a x1000 worse because well....Xykon is a monster.

[Wyborn]

Xykon's like Joker Jr. I mean, if he was like the Joker...

Well, anybody ever read The Killing Joke? Yeah.

[Geilan]

I find myself liking Xykon MORE though. He's a pillar of evilness that, as a DM, I want to show my players that the main villain truly is EVIL. If I could get a main villain to instill something like this within the players, then they know what they are really up against.

P.S. They only don't like him because he is more powerful than they. And cooler. And they wish they had thought to do that with a SoI.

[Charles Phipps]

Another option than the Joker or Master is that Xykon is an evil Groucho Marx.

[JohnnyPsycho]

Another option than the Joker or Master is that Xykon is an evil Groucho Marx.

So... that would make Redcloak "Chico" and the Monster in the Darkness "Harpo"?

[Charles Phipps]

yes, yes it would.