OOTS #463 - The Discussion Thread

[The Giant]

New comic is up.

[Eitel]

Oh the insanity and the conundrums!

[chibibar]

eeeps!!! *geekgasm*

[malakim2099]

Wow!

Just... wow!

Damnit, MIKO HAS EVASION!!!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Edit to add: And O-Chul is a tough ol' paladin, that's for sure. Of course, having to clean the Imperial Litterbox (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0404.html) means that he can probably handle being Mrs. Nesbitt for MitD's Tea party. :smallamused:

[Feriluce]

Woo! O-Chul is still alive... for now.

[kirbsys]

Called it!!!

Damn quadruple ninjaed.

[EvilElitest]

Awsome

Now we know miko survies, if O-Chul is injured and can survive that blast, so can Miko
from,
EE

[Gandal]

They need better communication :smalltongue:
But MiTD is awesome. :smallbiggrin: Though much pity for him :smallfrown:

[CardinalFang]

Awww, I feel bad for O-Chul and Hinjo. If only they had cellphones or something in Azure City, they could reunite.

[Dalenthas]

Normally, I'm against this sort of thing, but....

OMG!!!

Well, I guess we (hopefully) can stop with the Miko threads.... considering we specifically see O'Chul survive and not Miko.

[Wolfie_1066]

MAD MIKO BAD BAD...and on another note...O-Chul= SUPER LAWL! :smallbiggrin: *puts a point down for the roatches on the comedy point list*

[SPoD]

Now we know miko survies, if O-Chul is injured and can survive that blast, so can Miko

Not necessarily; O-Chul still has Divine Grace, adding his Cha to his saving throws. He may have made a save that Miko missed. We won't know until we see Miko's body (alive or dead)

Plus, he looks like the type to have put his best stat in Constitution.

[Lemur]

Woo! O-Chul has the resiliance of a flumph.

[EntilZha]

Well, we know O-Chul is a crispy critter. Remains to be seen if Miko got blown away with the castle as well (I have my fingers crossed)

[Black Mage]

Wow, O-Chul survived the explosion and being launched...how far? That's alot of d6...

[plainsfox]

I honestly didn't expect the explosion. Poor O-Chul. I wonder if Xykon will think to give the order to have the Hobbos withdraw?

[shaddy_24]

Whoh. That was a pretty big explosion. I like how you can see Xykon and Redcloak making a fly for it just at the edge of the blast. I wonder if there was any way for Miko to survive that? She is level 16-ish, with pretty high hit points and she seemed to be at full when she broke the jewel.


And as a final thing, poor O'chul! I can't tell if he's dead though... stupid paralisis. I hope he survived, somehow. But I doubt it. So sad.

[Fawkes]

Wow.

Yay O-Chul!

[Haruspex]

What???!!!:smalleek: Are all the Snarl gates set up to explode upon destruction? Nobody will ever know what Miko did, then. Funny that O-Chul got the credit for the deed, and a seat at a tea party as his reward.

[David Demola]

Miko = Pwned By Lyf. And by massive explosion-type-thing.

~Dave

[Setra]

Awesome... Also funny.

Loved the first and last panels.

[MReav]

I'm wondering if, in the 7th panel, that should read "Assuming any" instead of "many"

Yep, O-Chul's still alive, because from the metagaming position of comic readers, he doesn't have Xs.

I'm guessing it's too much to hope for Azure City that the explosion would have killed all the Hobgoblins surrounding the castle.

[Call Me Siggy]

One comment. Based entirely on the facial expression of a certain Paladin...

O-CHUL IS NOT AMUSED.

[kpenguin]

Miko could be dead or alive. Miko has evasion, which would allow her to take no damage from reflex save inducing blasts like that if she makes the save. If not... ding-dong the witch is dead:smallwink:

[Tawkis]

Well I guess that settles that...
Miko probably found a way to survive, she is after all very much like a cockroach.

Very cool panel though, almost as cool as the Roy leaping at Xykon panel.

[Surfing HalfOrc]

Miko out for the count, and Belkar still has the hecuva's skull!

LIFE IS GOOD!!!

[Demented]

Congrulations, Miko! It's a... BOOM.

And O'chul lived! At least for a while.
The eagle has landed!

[CockroachTeaParty]

I liked how the explosion panel's sound effect was at the bottom. I imagined it first just to be a silent flash of light, followed by a rolling, enormous BANG!!!

Now, what of our beloved Miko? Hmm...

EDIT:


Oh my lord... There's a cockroach... at a TEA PARTY!!! AH HAHAHAHA!! MY TIME HAS COME! BLORG!!!

[kirbsys]

I was looking for an end to the Miko threads, now its gonna be tond of speculation about whether or not she's alive...

[SPoD]

I wonder if Xykon will think to give the order to have the Hobbos withdraw?

Why should he? He still controls the city thanks to his thousands of minions.

[MReav]

Miko out for the count, and Belkar still has the hecuva's skull!

LIFE IS GOOD!!!

Don't you mean Eye of Fear and Flame?

Hmmm... O-Chul must have forgotten to take off that Ring of Feather falling this morning (or deliberately wore it)

[Dalenthas]

<snip>

And as a final thing, poor O'chul! I can't tell if he's dead though... stupid paralisis. I hope he survived, somehow. But I doubt it. So sad.

His eyes aren't X's, so by the rules of the OotS-verse, he's alive. For now.


Of course, the rules of writing pretty much mean that if he survived that, he'll survive long enough to contribute more to the plot, rather than just being offed as soon as Xykon comes to pick up the MitD.

[Call Me Siggy]

Miko could be dead or alive. Miko has evasion, which would allow her to take no damage from reflex save inducing blasts like that if she makes the save. If not... ding-dong the witch is dead:smallwink:

I...think that blast could only be avoided by a Rogue far into epics. After all, Miko would dodge out of part of the all-encompassing Sphere of Blue Explosion Death, only to be hit by another part of it.

[Lady Hawke]

Miko did not survive? O Chul will have to 'splain what happened when the spell wears off? No, I guess a paladin non-ghost might be able to...

What were the requirements to be a Fallen Paladin, again? :smallconfused:

Lady Hawke

[Plactus]

I have to say it. I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but I have to say it.

Mother of mercy, is this the end of Miko?

[Krytha]

What an excellent panel. Just great.

[ref]

Hehe... go Miko! :)

[kpenguin]

I...think that blast could only be avoided by a Rogue far into epics. After all, Miko would dodge out of part of the all-encompassing Sphere of Blue Explosion Death, only to be hit by another part of it.

Doesn't matter. Any sort of blast like that would have a reflex save to avoid, even if the blast would be impossible to dodge. Even if the DC is uber high, Miko could still get a natural 20 and survive... without a scratch. If not...

:belkar: I sense a great disturbance... as if a thousand Miko threads cried out and were suddenly silenced...

[Bunny]

Wow! That huge panel of the explosion was amazing!

I assume O-chul was able to witness everything that happened, even though he was paralyzed. He does not look happy. When he is able to speak and move again, if he can get back to Hinjo and the Order, he'll have quite a story to tell!

And boy, I had to laugh at the Creature in the darkness playing with Mr. Dragon and a tea set.

Thanks Rich! This made my day!

Bunny

[Querzis]

Well at least the castle parts are probably goind to kill lots of hobgobelins when they land.

O-chul live! And he could do nothing as Miko destroyed the gate...if you can see when you are paralyzed, I bet he is going to be pretty pissed off when the spell end.

[IronMouse]

Wow


I guess that is why you don’t’ hack apart mystical gates.


Would Miko have even survived something like that? Something tells me we haven’t seen the last of her.

[Solara]

This is another one of those comics that takes my emotions on a rollercoaster ride. The first panel had me in awe, then the implications sunk in and obviously the castle blowing up is a Bad Thing, (to paraphrase Hinjo: I don't suppose there's any chance Miko died in that blast? :smallwink:) but regardless, the last couple of panels left me grinning. The MitD is as hilarious as ever, and I'm inordinately gleeful to find out that O'chul survived. I hadn't realized how attached I'd gotten to the guy!

I just hope there's someway for him to become de-paralyzed and rejoin the others to explain how the Gate was REALLY destroyed, but that might take some doing...I suppose the main thing to hope for right now is that the MitD is somehow able to protect him from Xykon.

Psst, those of you who know more about spells and crap than I do:

Since Xykon cast the paralysis can he undo it? If not, how CAN it be undone? I've seen some people say it's permanent but I don't know for sure...

Oh yes, and I think that pesky window finally got broken. :smalltongue:

[Ganurath]

I have to say it. I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but I have to say it.

Mother of mercy, is this the end of Miko?By the Dark One, I hope it is.

A lovely detonation, by the way. Judging by the lack of flames or lavafied stone, I'm going to guess that the blast was heatless... force damage? Lightning could fit the color, but that would bring the heat to start some fires, and wouldn't provide a forceful explanation for the vanished Ghost-Martyrs.

[Snipers_Promise]

I knew it would cause a huge explosion. Sniper:1, Sanity: 0. Miko is most likely alive, but in intense pain and aggony with shrapnel piercing her lungs and coughing up her own blood. Great comic.

[brian c]

Okay, so O-Chul does not have X eyes, but he's still paralyzed and hit the ground pretty hard, so possibly paralysis kept his eyes from X-ing out? And if O-chul got thrown that far, where the hell did Miko end up? Evasion can only count for so much, that was one MASSIVE explosion.

[Dausuul]

Why should he? He still controls the city thanks to his thousands of minions.

Yeah, but the city is currently on fire, the populace is dead or fled, the castle is a pile of rubble, and the Gate that was the whole point of going there in the first place just went nuclear.

We already know Xykon heads for Girard's Gate next. What we don't yet know is whether he'll take his army along. Given Redcloak's new attitude toward the troops, I'm guessing not, but we'll see.

Regarding O-Chul's paralysis:


Since Xykon cast the paralysis can he undo it? If not, how CAN it be undone? I've seen some people say it's permanent but I don't know for sure...

Any spell that removes curses will get rid of it, as will remove paralysis. Either Redcloak or Durkon could do it easily. It's "permanent" in that it won't wear off on its own, but it's not particularly hard to remove.

[mvp129]

Wow...


Bummer.


Do they get xp for completing a story arc or something? Maybe they should start spinning sad tales of how they were personally scarred from the horror of watching the explosion. Milk it baby. Milk it.

[MReav]

Hmm... did Lirian's Gate blow up in such a spectacular manner too?

[Haruspex]

If O-Chul survived, and Miko was previously the best warrior in the Sapphire Guard, then chances are that she made it too. She has evasion as well, so her chances are somewhat better. I think O-Chul was frowning before the explosion, but I'll have to check the strip to be sure.

EDIT: Both O-Chul and Miko were more or less the same distance from the throne, so maybe Miko was flung into the city?

[Lord Zentei]

I have to say it. I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but I have to say it.

Mother of mercy, is this the end of Miko?

Well, if it is, at least she went out with a suitably cinematic blast. :smallwink:

And at least the hobbos don't need to worry about capturing the castle anymore.


EDIT: oh, and MitD, Demon Roaches and O'Chul are made of win. Best tea party ever, indeed.

[johnnyriot999]

Two words:Bitch-unn! :smallbiggrin:

[Snipers_Promise]

Speaking of Nuclear Explosion, the shockwave of the explosion should deccemate the entrie city and the area around it.

[teratorn]

Ah I wanted to see Elan's cunning plan!

I guess O'chul is now also a fallen paladin! (I know bad pun, but it's the Elan effect).

The madness in the forum will continue. A few more hundreds of Miko threads are on their way.

[Gaelbert]

Haha! Those wacky Roaches. What are we going to do with them?

[Lord Zentei]

Speaking of Nuclear Explosion, the shockwave of the explosion should deccemate the entrie city and the area around it.

Ow, there you go killing catgirls.

And it isn't a nuclear explosion: it's a dimensional gate explosion. :smallwink:

[Nightmarenny]

I was looking for an end to the Miko threads, now its gonna be tond of speculation about whether or not she's alive...

I swear I'll "smite redundant forum-post)(not a threat just boasting) anyone who makes another after I make mine for that reason. She isn't that interesting guys. Why can't we get a thread about Elans cheese plan? Or speculating the price of land after the gate was destroyed?
Doesn't matter. Any sort of blast like that would have a reflex save to avoid, even if the blast would be impossible to dodge. Even if the DC is uber high, Miko could still get a natural 20 and survive... without a scratch. If not...

:belkar: I sense a great disturbance... as if a thousand Miko threads cried out and were suddenly silenced...


Skills don't have insta-success twenties.

[TroyXavier]

I agree that O-Chul might be dead and unable to close his eyes(therfore unable to X) due to the paralysis. Miko's most likely alive and planning on what to do next.

[Imrahil]

"MacGyver, there's only 5 seconds until that gate blows up!"

"Ok, I'll just need a few things. First..." - BOOM

Mr. Burlew, once again you do not disappoint.

[Lorde]

I am anxious for the next gate. Horray for travelling.

[Setra]

Ow, there you go killing catgirls.

And it isn't a nuclear explosion: it's a dimensional gate explosion. :smallwink:
I protect the catgirls.

Also, I keep classifying it as 'Sauronesque'.

[Solara]

Why should he? He still controls the city thanks to his thousands of minions.

Um, why shouldn't he? His whole reason for being in the city is now gone and it's time to aim for the next gate, with or without the hobgoblins.

[Nightmarenny]

I agree that O-Chul might be dead and unable to close his eyes(therfore unable to X) due to the paralysis. Miko's most likely alive and planning on what to do next.Thats not how it works. Closed eyes are just flat. Killing "X's" the eyes on its own. He's alive.

[Enlong]

*Ahem* Is this thing on? Okay...
...
O-chul is a fallen paladin!

*applause*

Thank you! I'll be here all week!

[Zhrec]

WOW!!! MITD have a tea party... it's so cute!!! :smallbiggrin:





Miko must dIE, suffer in pain and be hated by awry one!!!!!

[Ithekro]

If one assumes she lived, and thus was blow in the opposite direction, Miko would land either, in the sea, on one of the ships that is out to sea, or she'll land right on Hinjo's junk.

[Haruspex]

Skills don't have insta-success twenties.

But saves do.

[Solara]

...she'll land right on Hinjo's junk.

Hopefully this will lead to Treasure Type O and help restore her sanity.

...sorry, couldn't resist. :smallbiggrin:

[Gavin Sage]

I believe Miko is alive, but I strongly suspect she is no longer on the material plane as we know it. Unless you think waving a sword through a hole in creation should just blow you up.

(And how is Roy dead but O-chul alive? Or does being paralysed by a lich prevent you from being quite dead?)

[Setra]

*Ahem* Is this thing on? Okay...
...
O-chul is a fallen paladin!

*applause*

Thank you! I'll be here all week!
I actually chuckled at this.

[Emmerson Grant]

Well, there goes the chance of Soon explaining to the OOTS the location of Xykon's phylactery.

Nice blast, though.

[O.T.R]

If one assumes she lived, and thus was blow in the opposite direction, Miko would land either, in the sea, on one of the ships that is out to sea, or she'll land right on Hinjo's junk.

so by swimming, taking control of Hinjo's junk or by some other form of dramatic necessity she'll eventually reach the continent across the sea...where another gate lies, right?

[Haruspex]

I believe Miko is alive, but I strongly suspect she is no longer on the material plane as we know it. Unless you think waving a sword through a hole in creation should just blow you up.

(And how is Roy dead but O-chul alive? Or does being paralysed by a lich prevent you from being quite dead?)

Well, Roy was blasted pretty badly by Xykon's spells (possibly even more off-panel) and was in the area of a meteor swarm before falling.

[jmucchiello]

Wow, O-Chul survived the explosion and being launched...how far? That's alot of d6...By the rules, it's no more than 20d6. He should be able to take that no problem.

And size of the explosion doesn't negate the ability of evasion to totally avoid all damage.

[Atheist_Cleric]

Dammit, not only has Miko undoubtedly survived, but all the people who saw her smash the gate are dead, so she can escape blame for it!! Damn it, i wanted her to suffer, and now at most she'll take some minor damage from landing after the blast, which her evasion no doubt protected her from. And now O-chul, the second coolest paladin ever, has landed right where one of two things seem likely: 1. MITD eats him. 2. Xykon and Redcloak come in to get the troops out, see him, and kill him. AND Soon is no doubt gone for good, as he probably was bound to the throne room or the sapphire itself.

Man this is one depressing comic, sure Xykon didnt get the gate, but the overall result of this war is: Almost all paladins dead, Roy dead, a gate destroyed, the Linear Guild escaping, Xykon and Reddie almost being beaten but ruined by Miko, and Miko escaping AND survivng!

Nuts.

[Ithekro]

Originally Posted by Solara
...sorry, couldn't resist.

Good that was the hope. :smallwink:

[SPoD]

(And how is Roy dead but O-chul alive? Or does being paralysed by a lich prevent you from being quite dead?)

Yeah, Roy was sporting more than a few wounds before the Meteor Swarm or the fall. O-Chul was uninjured before the blast. If O-chul has even close to the same hit points as Roy, he could theoretically survive (unless that blast did more than the 24d6 of a Meteor Swarm).

[TRat]

So what the heck is the MITD? :mitd: and when do we get to see it/him/her? I thought it was going to be during this battle.

And yes, it was very rude of them not to invite him/her/it/they. Mr. Dragon alone could have tipped the battle I think.

[Commander Hayes]

1) O.O That...was one hell of an explosion.
2) How the hell did O-Chul and Miko survive that?!

[Setra]

1) O.O That...was one hell of an explosion.
2) How the hell did O-Chul and Miko survive that?!
A very high hit point total?

[David Argall]

O-chul lives. As noted, he lacks the Xs.

Miko, well, that is open to all sorts of possibilities. One: Belkar finds her dying in some dark part of the city. He heroically hauls her back to be healed. After all, he can't kill her if she dies a natural death.

But it looks like a whole bunch of hobs took it, and the rest will see their leaders in flight and will flee as well. So the city "wins". Time to start wrapping up this story block.

[Gavin Sage]

Well, Roy was blasted pretty badly by Xykon's spells (possibly even more off-panel) and was in the area of a meteor swarm before falling.

Versus what amounts to an artifact exploding and a mini-nuke?

I'm just going with it somehow being part of the odd way the paralysis works or something. (Since that was already odd since the rules call for "appearing as dead" or something like that, not "as a statue")

[jmucchiello]

(And how is Roy dead but O-chul alive? Or does being paralysed by a lich prevent you from being quite dead?)O-Chul was not struck by a three arrows and a meteor swarm before falling to his not death. In fact, this is the first damage O-Chul has taken.

[Lizardmen_are#1]

Damn, this sucks for pretty much everyone involved, and it still sucks looking at it from every perspective. Well at least the :mitd: is having a fun time, and O'chul LOOKS like he survived so thats a plus. HAHA DIE MIKO, from point blank i hope you were vaporized!

[Setra]

O-Chul was not struck by a three arrows and a meteor swarm before falling to his not death. In fact, this is the first damage O-Chul has taken.
Technically Roy was healed of the arrows.

Though not of the Finger's of Death.

[Bunny]

I have to say it. I'm pretty sure I know the answer, but I have to say it.

Mother of mercy, is this the end of Miko?

I predict that ...

Miko will encounter the scribble. If this does not kill her outright, it will certainly change her in some radical, random way. I hope I'm wrong. As self-centered as Miko is, and as horrible as her actions have been recently, I would not wish that fate on anyone. And if she does get scribbled, it is effectively the end of "Miko".

As little as I like Miko as a person, I love her as a character. The story always seems to get more exciting when Miko decides to act.

Bunny

[Porthos]

Setting aside everything else for a moment, that is one impressive first panel. :smallcool:

As for Miko.... Let me check the Magic 8-Ball.

Oh Magic 8-Ball, is Miko Miyazaki still alive?

<Porthos shakes the Magic 8-Ball>

Signs point to yes.

Well, there you have it folks. Miko is still alive. After all, the Magic 8-Ball is never wrong. :smalltongue:

[Meshakhad]

I would like to point out that I predicted some sort of doomsday spell would be on the gate.

[Fabio_MP]

this strip really BLASTed me :)

loved it, what we expected and much more... the particular of Xykon and Redcloak in the blast panel was awesome and all those goblins.....

poor MitD they don't let him devour nobody :( at least he got a decent tea!

[eilandesq]

This isn't a criticism of Soon's spirit per se, but it's a shame he didn't have the discipline to keep Xykon and Redcloak covered while he shouted his warning at Miko--that explosion would have certainly destroyed both of them and probably shattered the phylactery, too--meaning that at least the immediate threat to the other gates would be gone.

Ah well--even epic level deathless paladins aren't perfect. :smallbiggrin:

[Lorde]

The explosion was strong enough to level the castle walls, but not to pulverize the O-chul?

[see]

If O-Chul survived, and Miko was previously the best warrior in the Sapphire Guard, then chances are that she made it too. She has evasion as well, so her chances are somewhat better.
Yeah. I'm utterly amazed everyone else didn't immediately come to this conclusion.

EDIT: Especially since O-Chul, being paralyzed, had no Reflex saving throw available. :ENDEDIT


Well, there goes the chance of Soon explaining to the OOTS the location of Xykon's phylactery.
We don't know that. He's incorporeal, so it's quite possible the explosion only had a 50% chance to affect him at all. Then he'd likely have saves and hit points against the blast, and he wouldn't take any damage from hitting the ground afterward.

Or, of course, the magic form of the explosion could have utterly annihilated him without any chance of a save due to the interaction of the nature of the gates and the nature of his notundead-ness.

But we don't know.

[Naltyrr]

Not necessarily; O-Chul still has Divine Grace, adding his Cha to his saving throws. He may have made a save that Miko missed. We won't know until we see Miko's body (alive or dead)

Plus, he looks like the type to have put his best stat in Constitution.

agreed, Miko is one of those characters you can't call dead till you see the body with X eyes, and bind their soul forever from returning to the material plane.

personally I am hoping shes dead, but I don't put high odds on it :smallannoyed: she might (read I hope she did) take more damage because she actually hit the sapphire or any number of other ways she could have taken more damage than O'Chul

[TheBoneSplitter]

Best. Castle. Explosion. Ever!

[Gavin Sage]

Setting aside everything else for a moment, that is one impressive first panel. :smallcool:

The attention to detail is especially nice, you can see little clumps of human defenders left along with undead and hobgobs.

[Post]

Meh, would O-Chul have more Hitpoints than Miko? She's some 6 levels above him, but O-chul must have more Constitution than Miko and Hasn't had Monk D8s thrown in.

[Solara]

The explosion was strong enough to level the castle walls, but not to pulverize the O-chul?

The castle was for dramatic effect. People have hitpoints.

As for Soon, I figure he and the other ghosts disappeared the moment the sapphire was destroyed and they no longer had a gate to protect.

EDIT:
I absolutely, positively love the tea party scene! MitD is so child-like much of the time, and this is just one more reminder of that.

Agreed. And I hope we see more of Mr. Dragon. So cute! :smallbiggrin:

[CindyKay]

I absolutely, positively love the tea party scene! MitD is so child-like much of the time, and this is just one more reminder of that.

[Aerysil]

Holy schmuckers.

Okay, so O'Chul can't tell them how Miko totally screwed everything up after all. Which once again leaves us the audience as the only ones knowing the truth.

[Porthos]

The explosion was strong enough to level the castle walls, but not to pulverize the O-chul?

In DnD (esp 3rd edition) High Level Characters have far more hit points than mere stone walls. :smalltongue:

[Setra]

In DnD (esp 3rd edition) High Level Characters have far more hit points than mere stone walls. :smalltongue:
It's also possible, that due to the nature of the explosion, it did more damage to the walls than it did to the people.

[Nightmarenny]

Yeah. I'm utterly amazed everyone else didn't immediately come to this conclusion.

EDIT: Especially since O-Chul, being paralyzed, had no Reflex saving throw available. :ENDEDIT


We don't know that. He's incorporeal, so it's quite possible the explosion only had a 50% chance to affect him at all. Then he'd likely have saves and hit points against the blast, and he wouldn't take any damage from hitting the ground afterward.

Or, of course, the magic form of the explosion could have utterly annihilated him without any chance of a save due to the interaction of the nature of the gates and the nature of his notundead-ness.

But we don't know.I would imagine that Soon was summoned by somesort of blessed item. If that true.....

[GymGeekAus]

I'm a little confused why O'Chul's eyes aren't x's already.

In the MM3.5, it says that those paralyzed (ayep, permanently) by a lich's touch appear dead. In fact, it takes a DC 20 Spot check or a DC 15 Heal check to tell that they're alive.

Perhaps we, the readers, are amongst the few who know that he's still alive, and everyone else sees x's?

Anyway, even if one wanted to argue that 20d6 of explosion and 20d6 of falling damage wouldn't kill Miko or O'Chul, there's always the element of divine intervention.

And the MitD has a great place to keep O'Chul hidden from both Xykon and Redcloak if he wants to--itD.

[Quornix]

Looks like we know who broke the last window :smallbiggrin:

Excellent work, Giant!

[Setra]

Perhaps we, the readers, are amongst the few who know that he's still alive, and everyone else sees x's?
I speculated once, they needed the DC20 Spot/DC15 Heal checks to notice the lack of X's.

[asqwasqw]

Miko better die, that is all I have to say. I wonder what happened to soon's spirit...

[Mr_Saturn]

I hope Soon's spirit isn't binded to the gate. Hes awesomely strong! :smallamused:

And amazing explosion. That was cool.

[Grey Watcher]

Evidently a Ring of Feather Fall is standard issue among the Sapphire Guard. Miko and O-Chul can survive falls from great heights on top of other injuries (I don't hink O-Chul actually took damage fighting Xykon, but he couldn't even make a Reflex Save against that explosion, and when Miko got smacked around by the MitD, she went through a wall and had a horse land on her and only had to dust herself off), but poor Roy goes ker-splat!

[pendrake40]

First off, O-Chul was not damaged during the bouncing Symbol of Insanity ball fight, that and combined with his paladin saves he has the chance of surviving. Plus, game-technicalities aside, there is just the humour value of his falling out of the blasted sky like that :smallcool: .

Second, Miko, with not just evasion, but also the combined saves of both paladin (even minus Divine Grace bonus) and >monk<, would stand a far better chance of surviving than O-Chul. It will be interesting to see if she is still within the city to face the consequences of what she has done and see she again blames the Order of the Stick rather than take responsibility for her own choices and actions.

Third, Redcloak with his newfound respect for hobgoblin life, is as likely to be the one to withdraw Team Evil's army as much as Xykon is now that the gate is destroyed.

Fourth, I hope that deathless Soon is still around to offer explanations and guidance. Or at the very least, give Hinjo a boost and back-up to what will be a massive political backlash for the collateral destruction of the city.

As always, excellent writing for this epic tale and battle. Victory in any war carries a price, and this this case, it may be more "pyrrhic" than "storybook." All that remains now is the aftermath of this battle and wrap-ups.

I eagerly await the next chapter and race to Girard's Gate!

[MReav]

Evidently a Ring of Feather Fall is standard issue among the Sapphire Guard.

Or at least its higher level members.


Miko and O-Chul can survive falls from great heights on top of other injuries (I don't hink O-Chul actually took damage fighting Xykon, but he couldn't even make a Reflex Save against that explosion, and when Miko got smacked around by the MitD, she went through a wall and had a horse land on her and only had to dust herself off), but poor Roy goes ker-splat!

I think in all fairness, the horse probably also had such a ring (would explain how he also survived the fall, and why she wasn't so badly injured.

[Grey Watcher]

As little as I like Miko as a person, I love her as a character. The story always seems to get more exciting when Miko decides to act.


"Exciting" is hardly the word I would choose.

Sorry, that had to be said.

This was an interesting comic for me. On the one hand, I experienced some serious awe at the beautiful explosion splat page (my first thought was "wow, Miko screwed up big time didn't she?"), to actually laughing out loud at the MitD's surprise guest! All in all, a very satisfying entry. I laughed, I cried, I ate some ice cream. Good times.

[Ink]

Crap! My MIKO stock!

[malakim2099]

Holy schmuckers.

Okay, so O'Chul can't tell them how Miko totally screwed everything up after all. Which once again leaves us the audience as the only ones knowing the truth.

Well, he's still alive, so he could not only tell them about that...

O-Chul also knows where the phylactery is. :smallamused:

We'll have to see how quickly the hobgoblins withdraw... while they are definitely winning, their leaders are either retreating or dead, and the castle explosion probably took a lot of them out with falling walls and such. So if there's enough defending troops left for a good push to get them to withdraw...

Possible noble house troops, looking to steal the glory from Hinjo and the SG? A good push by them to drive out the disorganized hobgoblins could succeed... and be big political trouble for Hinjo. :smalleek:

[Geilan]

When they catch upwith O-chul:
Hinfo: O-Chul!
O-Chul: Who is that? I am MISSUS NESBITT! Bahahahahaha!

[Raistlin1040]

Loved the MitD. Teaparty=pure awesome.

[Ridureyu]

If Miko dies, the comic pretty much ends. Droves of Miko-fans will leave. Droves of Miko-haters will leave. What will be left?

[malakim2099]

When they catch upwith O-chul:
Hinfo: O-Chul!
O-Chul: Who is that? I am MISSUS NESBITT! Bahahahahaha!

You forgot: YOU SEE THE HAT?!? :smalltongue:

[Liliedhe]

I'm so happy O Chul still lives... I hope MitD doesn't play the villain just once and harms him...

I wouldn't bet on Miko's survival, nor on her death. Both has infinite story possibilities... To me, she redeemed herself last comic. Even if almost nobody will share that sentiment ;).

[Ganurath]

For those who wonder if Miko will stick around for her punishment: She'll probably expect praise for her service to the gods.

[Alacar Leoricar]

I sincerely hope this is the last I see of Miko.

Fat chance of that. :mad:

[Shadic]

O'Chul survived! Let's hope that he gets brought back somehow, eh?

I wonder if The Monster in the Darkness can cast spells... But it seems that he has a low wisdom score, so it is unlikely..

[isocum]

And now O-chul, the second coolest paladin ever, has landed right where one of two things seem likely: 1. MITD eats him. 2. Xykon and Redcloak come in to get the troops out, see him, and kill him.

Xykon would probably keep him alive as an decorative object, and do his evilness in front of him just for fun(he still aware of whats around isn't he).

[Fuzzy_Juan]

O'chul's real problem now is that the paralyzation is permanent and unless team evil heals him, or the MItD leaves him where he is, he has no chance in hell of ever getting healed until the OotS encounters Team Evil at Girrard's Gate...

Poor guy...wonder if he'll die of malnutrition/dehydration before then?

[Katroh]

Hey all. New around here, thought I'd toss in my 2 cp.

With O-Chul alive, and as noted in many previous posts, surviving despite paralysis and saves far below Miko's, I think we have to assume she's alive until proven otherwise. I for one believe that since she was not shown dying in the explosion, which would have further served to mark this as an end-of-storyline moment, she's out there somewhere.

Xykon will probably retreat, since he really has nothing to gain from sitting around a destroyed city, still with many of his enemies lurking about, with him and his phylactery-carrier in such an injured state. Without the gate, he will probably leave Azure City, and Hinjo and the others can rebuild.

Soon . . . based on the story, it seems as though the spirits of Soon and the other paladins were tied to the Gate, or at least the throne room. Niether of those presently exist, oo he's probably not coming back to the Material Plane, though possibly Roy and/or Roy's dad could have a chat with him in the afterlife.

With the battle effectively "won," in that Xykon really doesn't feel like fighting anymore, Roy can probably be revived.

O-Chul . . . Redcloak will probably want to finish him off, but Xykon seems like the type to find a permamently-paralyzed paladin highly amusing, so he'll probably just leave him like that to be used as a cloak-hanger or hat-rack or something. Or the MitD will dress him up and take him to more tea parties. Either way, hilarity ensues.

Also, awesome page. Perfect amount of epic battle, non-sequitur (Cheese salespeople?), evil, and PLOT. OOTS does not disappoint, but then again, it never does.

Did I say 2 cp? That ended up closer to gp. Sorry.

[Lumenadducere]

As much as I'd like it to be otherwise, I'm assuming Miko is not going to die from this, even though I think she very much deserves to.

[Quirinus_Obsidian]

Just saw the comic. Oh yah, Miko and Hinjo are totally dead. Well, in the world of DnD and high level clerics; not for too long.

[see]

Meh, would O-Chul have more Hitpoints than Miko? She's some 6 levels above him, but O-chul must have more Constitution than Miko and Hasn't had Monk D8s thrown in.

Assuming O-Chul's 10th level, while Miko's 16th with only two levels of monk (which may or may not be true), and that O-Chul's Con is a full 4 points higher than Miko's . . .

Miko would have, on average, 8+4.5+(5.5*14)+(X*16) hp, where X is Miko's Con bonus. O-Chul would have, on average, 10+(5.5*9)+(X*10)+(2*10) hit points, where X is Miko's Con bonus.

At Miko-Con 8-9, she averages 73.5 HP, while he averages 69.5 HP.

At Miko-Con 10-11, she averages 89.5 HP, while he averages 79.5 HP.

At Miko-Con 12-13, she averages 105.5 HP, while he averages 89.5 HP.

At Miko-Con 14-15, she averages 121.5 HP, while he averages 99.5 HP

At Miko-Con 16-17, she averages 136.5 HP, while he averages 109.5 HP

If you want Miko to have more levels of monk, subtract one HP per level of monk beyond 2 from her total. (So a Monk 8/Pal 8 Miko would subtract six HP). If the spread in scores you'd like is 6 instead of 4, add 10 HP to O-Chul's level.

These are averages based on a lot of assumptions, of course. But Miko probably has more HP than O-Chul.

[Jewel Thief]

I think O-chul should have just been obliterated in the explosion. But then, logically, Miko would have had to, too, and I'm pretty sure she's not dying anytime soon.

[Bakta]

One solid week of boring, that's a record. Even poor MitD fails to raise a smile, what's wrong with this strip?.

I can understand the story has to move on, and that fun has to be dispensed of for a bit. What I do not understand is why the last strips were so tedious, would it hurt the story-telling pace or something?.

On the plus side. Now this is done with, I'll expect one or two more unfunny strips then, hopefully, pace will resume again.

[/rant].

[SteveMB]

Awsome

Now we know miko survies, if O-Chul is injured and can survive that blast, so can Miko
However, from the perspective of the OotS, she's missing and possibly dead (though Elan, at least, would know the rule that if you didn't see a body, (s)he ain't dead).

In any case, I'm betting it'll be some time before we see her again. That will cheer some fans and disappoint others; I can take or leave any particular plot thread as long as the ones currently on center stage are interesting.

[Nightmarenny]

One solid week of boring, that's a record. Even poor MitD fails to raise a smile, what's wrong with this strip?.

I can understand the story has to move on, and that fun has to be dispensed of for a bit. What I do not understand is why the last strips were so tedious, would it hurt the story-telling pace or something?.

On the plus side. Now this is done with, I'll expect one or two more unfunny strips then, hopefully, pace will resume again.

[/rant].

Nothing you just didn't enjoy the humor that others did and apparantly don't care for the plot. [Scrubbed]

[Icewalker]

Ooooh nice explosion. I wonder if any other gates will do that?

[pendell]

Okay. I've thought about it, and this strip makes me angry.

Not that it isn't dramatic ... and the splash page is great ... but the fact that O-chul survived being right next to a dimensional gate when it went off. Given the visible damage to the castle would take many, many tons of high explosive to accomplish, this is something like standing IN the bomb bay of a B-52, loaded with 100 mk-82 bombs, and having them ALL explode next to you at once.

And you walk away with a few cuts and bruises.

Goodbye, suspension of disbelief. Aren't there massive damage rules in 3.5 or something?

And it's obvious why this was done ... it's to establish that if this guy survived, obviously another character who was higher level, has evasion, more hp, and NOT paralyzed, also survived.

Yes, folks, Miko is the stereotypical NPC played by the GM's girlfriend. The one that takes control of the story, who beats up on everyone and is pretty near untouchable.

I find it irritating.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[NeonRonin]

:eek: :eek: :eek:

MIKO, YOU IDIOT!!!!! :furious:

Okay... got that out of my system.

Anyway, as far as dynamic goes, that one is at the very LEAST in the Top Five. We all figured something big was gonna happen right after the Gate shattered, and boy did it ever. I'm not so sure Kubota's gonna want to go back to the city after seeing the castle getting tac-nuked.

So... where do we go from here? Xykon and Redcloak are fleeing, leaving the hobbo army without a supreme commander; O-chul is a paralyzed guest at the MitD's tea party; Vaarsuvius is lying low somewhere unless s/he got caught in the blast; Tsukiko either got caught in the blast or is in stealth mode, heading after Xykon and Redcloak; Miko is at the moment MIA(DOA is highly unlikely, even though I wish otherwise); Hinjo and the Order are still on the outer walls and need to switch over to Plan G.

Oh, and Roy's still dead.

Something else is gonna happen to push the balance one way or the other, and I can't wait to find out what that is. Good job, Rich.

[Nightmarenny]

Okay. I've thought about it, and this strip makes me angry.

Not that it isn't dramatic ... and the splash page is great ... but the fact that O-chul survived being right next to a dimensional gate when it went off. Given the visible damage to the castle would take many, many tons of high explosive to accomplish, this is something like standing IN the bomb bay of a B-52, loaded with 100 mk-82 bombs, and having them ALL explode next to you at once.

And you walk away with a few cuts and bruises.

Goodbye, suspension of disbelief. Aren't there massive damage rules in 3.5 or something?

And it's obvious why this was done ... it's to establish that if this guy survived, obviously another character who was higher level, has evasion, more hp, and NOT paralyzed, also survived.

Yes, folks, Miko is the stereotypical NPC played by the GM's girlfriend. The one that takes control of the story, who beats up on everyone and is pretty near untouchable.

I find it irritating.

Respectfully,

Brian P.
Because your redictulous. Miko is not a PC or NPC(beside their place in the world) she is an Antagonist in in the story. i.e. SHE BAD.

As for suspention of disbelief its already been established that High level character survive impossible damage, its been done to death.

[turtleant120]

What about Tsukio (or however you spell that)? I wonder if she is gonna be ok.:smallfrown:

[Kanthalion]

I really hope Miko is alive, if only because of all my MIKO stock. I guess right now she is a cat sealed in a metal box, eh?

[delguidance]

A fun climax to an intense week.

I hope Miko survives, but is all scarred to give an outer reflection of her inner evil. Her reappearance could be like the Joker in the original Batman movie.

It will be interesting to see where O-Chul, Roy, Tsukiko, and Hinjo end up after this battle. Thanks to the giant for entertaining me more than most of the movies I've seen so far this summer.

[DrivinAllNight]

Not that I don't like a good explosion, but i fear my stock prices will drop, but, at least I don't have much Miko left, even though she did live, since Mr B has pointed out before that she will be around to the end of the strip.
Great strip though, and now I will spend many hours wondering about the Cheese.

[Bunny]

another character who was higher level, has evasion, more hp, and NOT paralyzed, also survived.

Hey, don't forget: Redcloak and Xykon also survived.

Bunny

[David Argall]

Crap! My MIKO stock!

Well, I warned you there was danger in this stock and you should sell immediately. Take what comfort you can from the probability the stock will come back from it's predicted low of $1.
And subscribe to Argall Analysis for the latest stock tips. Only $$$ if you send a check now to -----------.

[factotum]

I'm with the guy who reckons Miko will end up in the sea, very much alive. It makes sense, considering she was on the opposite side of the throne from O-Chul and he's been thrown a considerable distance inland. (And it kind of explains why she had to nip round the back of the throne to take out the gate, rather than doing it immediately after picking up O-Chul's sword--the necessities of plot!).

I also think O-Chul will survive and get his paralysation removed, because he's the only witness to the events in the throne room, and I think everyone will need to know what happened there.

[Kgw]

Newbie here. You've been warned.

I still wonder why people care about "How can he survive?" "D&D rules don't allow bouncing balls!" and things like that. It's a comic, guys (and girls). The Giant bind, changes and add anything he feels right to make an awesome work like this.

O-Chu survived the same way that Willy E. Coyote does: because it's funny :D

Oh, and, another rant: Miko is nuts. No misguided, not obsessed. Nuts. Crazy. Mad... you know the names.

[Setra]

Newbie here. You've been warned.

I still wonder why people care about "How can he survive?" "D&D rules don't allow bouncing balls!" and things like that. It's a comic, guys (and girls). The Giant bind, changes and add anything he feels right to make an awesome work like this.

O-Chu survived the same way that Willy E. Coyote does: because it's funny :D

Oh, and, another rant: Miko is nuts. No misguided, not obsessed. Nuts. Crazy. Mad... you know the names.
Nicely said, and welcome to the forums.

[VariaVespasa]

What???!!!:smalleek: Are all the Snarl gates set up to explode upon destruction? Nobody will ever know what Miko did, then. Funny that O-Chul got the credit for the deed, and a seat at a tea party as his reward.

Well so far he's still alive, and he saw who did destroy the gate, so he can pass it on if he survives the rest of the day and manages to reunite with Hinjo et al.

[Nightmarenny]

[Scrubbed]

[Scrubbed]

"Man I hated this week. The jokes weren't funny to me and I'm not really interested in this part of the plot. I hope it goes to something I like next time."

Same message except you don't imply something universal about something subjective.
[Scrubbed]

[eilandesq]

Goodbye, suspension of disbelief. Aren't there massive damage rules in 3.5 or something?



To quote Redcloak and a pile of cleric dust:

"Made my save."

A high level (a good guess of O-Chul's level would probably be 10-13, in context) paladin can make the DC 15 massive damage save with his eyes closed and his veins full of black lotus extract. It already took one lousy save roll for him to be paralyzed in the first place--expecting an even worse one (probably requiring a natural 1) this time is rather unreasonable. Of course, the raw damage probably should have killed him (though Xykon and Redcloak survived the shockwave that shattered stone at the same distance in spite of being almost out of HP), but that's another argument.

[The_Hunting_Enemy]

Someone mentioned how they thought MiTD would have been revealed this battle, and my instant though was: 'How many comics ago was it first revealed?' personally, I think it will be revealed in the final battle, as like, a final boss sorta thing.

[Porthos]

And it's obvious why this was done ... it's to establish that if this guy survived, obviously another character who was higher level, has evasion, more hp, and NOT paralyzed, also survived.

Yes, folks, Miko is the stereotypical NPC played by the GM's girlfriend. The one that takes control of the story, who beats up on everyone and is pretty near untouchable.

I find it irritating.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Spoilers for No Cure for the Paladin Blues:

Actually, Rich has flat out stated that he does not like the type of Paladin that Miko is/was. In fact, he has written her in such a way so that he can mock/show-what-is-wrong with this type of character.

Rich isn't trying to make Miko sympathetic. Rich isn't trying to make Miko an Indestructible Mary Sue. Rich isn't trying to make this The Order of Miko. Rich is showing the logical outcome of a situation where there is a character who is blindly overconfident in their abilities and who suffers from some terrible personality traits (hubris being at the top of the list). And, of course, what would happen if they were playing around with Doomsday Weapons at the time.

In other words: You're supposed to feel irritated that Miko (probably) survived. :smalltongue:

Besides, in Third Edition, High Level Characters really can walk away from this sort of damage. Sometimes at least. :smallwink: (as we saw in Comic #374).

Still, there is an outside possibility that, since O-Chul was paralyzed, his eyes were frozen open. This might stop the "X's" from forming. So there is a chance that O-Chul (and therefore Miko) is dead. But, since there is still a lot of mileage to be gotten out of Miko's character, I tend to doubt it. :smallamused:

[Ronald_saveloy]

HOLY S**T!

Ok, if this wasn't D&D but "The Dark Eye"-RPG, I wouldn't be surprised to see O-Chul surviving the explosion. In this RPG, there's a spell called Paralysis, which not only paralyses the target but makes it invulnerable to physical damage too. With this spell cast on you, you would survive a drop of several thousand feet. But this is D&D so I'm not quite sure there is such a spell.

[Rincewind]

YES! miko is dead, the war is over, o-chul gets to drink tea...

[E-Rock]

I hope Miko survives, but is all scarred to give an outer reflection of her inner evil. Her reappearance could be like the Joker in the original Batman movie.


Oh! I like it. That would also give rise to the possibility that when Miko reappears in the story the OOTS won't even know it's her until she drops a load of her patented brand of delusional self-righteousness on them.

[Setra]

I want to see Miko return as the Agent of the Snarl.

It would be awesome.

[Grasilich]

Before I say this, I'd like to say I'm not one of those tools that threatens to stop reading this comic because of this or that. Those people blow.

But anyway, I can't say I've really liked the way the siege arch ended up going. By this point it almost seems like Rich was tired of it and just decided to cut it short with this Miko sequence. It seems that Miko is just the hook that the author uses to yank the plot where he wants it to go. And sure, that's fine, but it isn't exactly 5-star storytelling to have "the crazy chick that stabs things first and doesn't even ask questions later" control the direction of the plot. It'd be nice if some of those far-reaching world-altering decisions were in the hands of a member of the Order for once.

Miko has limits as a character. Really, what did this sequence change about her character? What did it add that we didn't already know after Shojo's murder? "Miko's being deluded and headstrong!" Yeah. We know she's like that. Does the entire story have to revolve around that?

But anyway, yeah, you may now return to your regularly scheduled Mikogasm.

[Kgw]

I want to see Miko return as the Agent of the Snarl.

It would be awesome.

In fact...
That's what I think, too. In the eyes of a demented woman who thinks the World is against her, the Snarl is a chance to re-done this "wrong" world.

[Fascisticide]

THE GODS SAVED O-CHUL! THE GODS SAVED O-CHUL! THE GODS SAVED O-CHUL!
This is a obviously a sign that they wanted Miko to destroy the gate! I dont know how it is a sign, but I'm sure miko could find a reason why.

[Setra]

In fact...
That's what I think, too. In the eyes of a demented woman who thinks the World is against her, the Snarl is a chance to re-done this "wrong" world.
Exactly.

I've actually had a situation in my mind. Of course this depends on if the Snarl is intelligent.

Miko: *destroys gem, sucked into Snarlverse*
Snarl: Hm.. hello young.. champion of the gods.
Miko: You.. are the snarl! Enemy of the gods! I will kill you!
Snarl: Do you.. really believe, an order of people who are allies to evil, would destroy that which is evil? I am no enemy of the gods, I am a god as well. Shunned by your cult, because I am truly good.
Miko: What of the Twelve Gods?
Snarl: They.. they never did care for you, they were on the side of the hated Order of the Stick, and the corrupt Shojo. I was the one who saved you from the castle, I was the one who let you see the truth.

Keep it going on like this til Miko cracks.. or something. I realize this is implausible, but if reworded it might work.

[dsavereide]

It'd be nice if some of those far-reaching world-altering decisions were in the hands of a member of the Order for once.


It felt just right for the crux of the battle to be decided while the OotS stood around arguing over what to do next. Catapult? Rejected. Cheese? Come on now. Their fearless leader is absent and without him, they aren't a real team. They need Roy afterall.

I like the irony, that not that long ago they themselves were ready to blow up the gate in a grand gesture to stop the enemy and the enemy prevented it. But now, when it's no longer neccessary, kaboom.

[dan4ster]

OMGWTFBBQ!

Wow! That was, Wow! I kinda figured that would happen, but not quite like...Wow! Serves Miko getting exploded for being such a conclusion jumper!! Although, she wasn't paying attention when Soon got the upper-hand...

At least now Roy can kill Xykon himself!

I hope O-Chul lives. That guy is hardcore!

[Emperor Ing]

Hehe, hes still paralyzed :smallbiggrin:

AND MIKO MIGHT BE DEAD :biggrin:

[Kgw]

Exactly.

I've actually had a situation in my mind. Of course this depends on if the Snarl is intelligent.

Keep it going on like this til Miko cracks.. or something. I realize this is implausible, but if reworded it might work.

Nice idea, but...
... to me, you don't need the Snarl being intelligent. After all, Miko took the worst choices even when people tell her not to. So the Snarl just got to destroy something she depises, hurt her enemies, thus "showing" she's right. What better messenger from the gods can she have? After all, as I said, she is mad. She already sees what she wants to see and hears what she want to hear.

[Shara_Littlebottom]

Wow what an amazing splash panel! Cool rest of the comic to.

Re O-Chul: he's paralyzed right? Including his eyes. So they couldn't become XX. He's still dead.

[Aotrs Commander]

I sadly don't think Miko is dead yet.

That would be too easy...


Miko is most likely alive, but in intense pain and aggony with shrapnel piercing her lungs and coughing up her own blood.

Dude, that's a lovely image.

[Darzil]

My thoughts, for what they are worth :

O-Chul is the only person (other than Miko) who knows everything that happens, so drama suggests that he'll survive, and meet up with the others later, after they've had the opportunities to make some wrong decisions based on their faulty guesses. Either that or he can be just left paralysed as a person to flip back to in a panel each time someone assumes something he knows to be false, for dramatic/humourous effect.

O-Chul is far less important if Miko is dead, as if she's dead, the way in which things happened is unimportant, they happened. If she isn't dead, then his information is more important (though he also knows about the Phylactery), so that suggests she is alive.

On the 'explosion' thing, a way of seeing it might be as a strong, irresistable push. Buildings resist such a push, so will be destroyed, as long as other things aren't trapped between the push and the building, they'll be thrown out, rather than destroyed. That might limit the damage to 20d6, which O-Chul can probably survive. Miko's survival and situation may be different, as it's a dimensional gateway, and she could maybe now be on either side.

Darzil

[Drascin]

I...think that blast could only be avoided by a Rogue far into epics. After all, Miko would dodge out of part of the all-encompassing Sphere of Blue Explosion Death, only to be hit by another part of it.

Sorry, Evasion doesn't work like that. A rogue can dodge a fireball in a 5x5 room and take no damage, and this is no different. Yeah, I know, makes no sense, but it's how rules go. Expect some joke about it when Miko reappears :smalltongue: .

[Lolzords]

Haha, I can imagine Miko standing there in the middle of the wreckage, doing a Haley.

:miko: *wink* Evasion!

[Lavidor]

loved it, what we expected and much more... the particular of Xykon and Redcloak in the blast panel was awesome and all those goblins.....



I'm imagining the low on HP Xykon dodging flying castle bits and going

:xykon: I'm a leaf on the wind... I'm a leaf on the wind

[tiroskassie]

I had to laugh at the lowering property value bit from Belkar.. He's good for a laugh even when things look really bad :) :belkar:

[Sesquedoodle]

I did NOT expect there to be an explosion. Okay, there was one when dorukan's gate went kablooie, but I thought that was because the gate was destroyed by Elan hitting the Castle Self-Destruct button.

That aside, that is one kick-butt splash panel.

[carais]

I didn't expect an explosion either, for exactly the same reason. But now it has happened the main question seems to be Miko's survival.

Which is totally not a question for me. It would be extremely atypical if an antagonist of Miko's class would simply be killed by something like a big boom. Whatever happens to her, it will have to be a) very obvious and b) most probably include the Order or at least Hinjo.

Even if we would have, like, seen her disintegrated by the blast I wouldn't have bet against a claim of her return from another plane where she was sent instead of being blown to tiny bits, in some god's mercy.

[dogmac]

Funny how tastes differ. I would NEVER have expected anyone to say the last weeks worth of comics were boring. I thought they have been just spectacular. Things happening left right and centre, and plenty of room for speculation. Brilliant work giant.

Miko, if she has been sent to another plane, I fully expect to have strips torn off her by that tiger, and returned.

Good thing you didn't use that catapult, eh, Belkar?

[WarriorTribble]

Scrubbed.Also scrubbed.

[Shatteredtower]

A couple of points:

Paralysis does not prevent O-Chul from getting to make a Reflex saving throw against the blast. He's just treated as having a Dexterity of 0 for the purpose of making the save. Only creatures with no Dexterity score (such as the shrieker) automatically fail their Reflex saves. Even so, that -5 penalty is probably higher than O-Chul's Charisma bonus (nice guy, but 20 Charisma?) and his base Reflex save is likely to be no higher than +4, and that's generously assuming he's 12th-14th level. Odds are it's lower.

Meanwhile, Miko has at least 2 monk levels, since she has evasion, giving her a +3 base on all saving throws. Assuming she was given those levels only to get the evasion benefit, then we can throw 12 paladin levels on top of that to put the base Reflex saving throw at +7. She no longer has divine grace, but it's likely that she's got a positive Dexterity modifier of at least +1, for a +8. The odds of her surviving weren't the best either -- 70% or 45% for a DC 15 or 20 Reflex save respectively. Still, there's a chance.

The walls, being unattended, nonmagical objects, do not get a saving throw. However, they do get hardness, ignoring the first 8 hp of damage done to them. If they were considered reinforced masonry, O'Chul was extraordinarily lucky, since the damage to the walls would have been at least 188 hp. Odds are that "the DM" simply went with the PHB value for stone and calculated their hp total as a straight 15 hp per inch of thickness.

Actually, no. Odds are that the DM looked at the situation, said, "To heck with it," ruled that the blast would destroy the castle, and had everyone left make a Reflex save against 20d6 hp of damage. Pass or fail, O'Chul would have survived the damage, and had an excellent chance to survive the Fortitude save against massive damage (assuming he's 10th level with 12 in both Charisma and Constitution, he'd have a 95% chance of passing the DC 15 save).

Of course, Miko was touching the gate at the time of the explosion, so as others have noted, hp damage might be the least of her worries. This might mean...

...she's about to become the New Baron Pineapple!

Somehow, though, I doubt it.

This was a very satisfying week, especially from the long-term view.

[Shhalahr Windrider]

Agreed. And I hope we see more of Mr. Dragon. So cute! :smallbiggrin:
Especially since he's a plush version of "THE Dragon"—come and partake of his 100% Official Content! :smallbiggrin:

[TheNovak]

Damn, I was absolutely positive the gate wouldn't explode. Guess Soon installed a fail-safe, too.

Well, considering my track record for predictions lately, I'm gonna make a really safe one: Miko lives :smalltongue:

[xatm092]

Wow, O-Chul survived the explosion and being launched...how far? That's alot of d6...

Vertical motion is independant of horizontal motion, so how far he got flung outtwards wouldn't affect his impact downwards. Do ifthe throne room was on the ground floor, then it could be that he didn't get catapulted that far upwards.:smallwink:

[Shatteredtower]

I'm imagining the low on HP Xykon dodging flying castle bits and going

:xykon: I'm a leaf on the wind... I'm a leaf on the windAs we all know, the leaf can't ride the wind until it's severed from the tree that sustains it.

Yes, Mr. Whedon apparently understands foreshadowing.

[Tussy the Druid]

Ok, Miko isn't dead until we see proof. She was at the same distance O-chul was from the gate, and she was admittedly the best paladin in the Guard (and is strong even when fallen, proven when fighting Hinjo).

And it seems odd that O-chul survived that. Maybe he wasn't arced so much as he was just sent flying horizontally. Would that count for less fall damage?

Cause my question was answered already. ^^

[RedScholarGypsy]

A few points:

Evasion: from the SRD: "As with a Reflex save for any creature, a character must have room to move in order to evade. A bound character or one squeezing through an area cannot use evasion." Since it took out the entire room, no room to evade, hence no evasion.

So What if she's dead? She doesn't have to be gone people. http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/ghost.htm
"Ghosts are the spectral remnants of intelligent beings who, for one reason or another, cannot rest easily in their graves." Hmmm, Miko doesn't have some unwavering need for vengence against a certain group of npc's, nahhhhh.....

O-chul okay, Given where Xykon and Redcloak were, I'm guessing 120ft up in the air based on height of towers. That's 4 rounds with overland flight. I'm saying Soon threw O-chul out the third window, and didn't do it fast enough hence burning. Or convinced Miko somehow to do it. There's like 5 rounds there before Boom, so who knows? Yes, I know Soon's incop, but it's one of his pally's, hence maybe an exception.

[Shatteredtower]

A few points:

Evasion: from the SRD: "As with a Reflex save for any creature, a character must have room to move in order to evade. A bound character or one squeezing through an area cannot use evasion." Since it took out the entire room, no room to evade, hence no evasion.Sorry, but your conclusion is incorrect. Evasion works even though you do not move from your space.

A person at the centre of a widened fireball, a 40 ft radius, still gets to apply the benefit of evasion or improved evasion.

Death isn't really that big a deal, though, as you say.

[RedScholarGypsy]

Sorry, but your conclusion is incorrect. Evasion works even though you do not move from your space.

A person at the centre of a widened fireball, a 40 ft radius, still gets to apply the benefit of evasion or improved evasion.

Death isn't really that big a deal, though, as you say.

Hmmm, while I disagree, here's another! :smalltongue:
"Rogues and monks cannot use evasion in medium or heavy armor. Some creatures with the evasion ability as an innate quality do not have this limitation." She looks like she's in Medium armor, therefore no evasion.

/wipes brow That was close! i almost had to admit I was wrong! Man that's an epic quest of Atonement for anyone with levels in Forum-poster :smallbiggrin:

Edit: Spell-check, grumble grumble.

[Adeptus]

Whoa! o.O

[Gygantar]

Meh, would O-Chul have more Hitpoints than Miko? She's some 6 levels above him, but O-chul must have more Constitution than Miko and Hasn't had Monk D8s thrown in.

How do you know O chull's level?

[Gygantar]

Miko better die, that is all I have to say.

Amen brother! :smallamused:

[Mojique]

Miko's first appearance was on page #120, shortly after the destruction of the gate in the Redmountain Hills.
It is assumed that she disappeares, when the second gate explodes. A story arc ends here.

Twist of fate: she hunted the OOTS, because they were responsible for the destruction of Dorukan's gate. And 343 pages later she becomes the destroyer of Soon's gate. :smallbiggrin:

[RedScholarGypsy]

Also, not to hog the forum, But where the speculation on the Scribble? Three out of Five Gates are GONE! That's a majority. Is the Scribble coming out? Has there been any effort to reseal the Elven Rift? Also, Nale never said which Gate he was heading to next. While the Desert Gate does seem more his style, You can never guess what the Giant does next.

[Shatteredtower]

Hmmm, while I disagree, here's another! :smalltongue: The problem people have with evading an explosion or energy effect while standing in the middle of it is understandable, but that is how the rule works (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0019.html).

Evasion won't work if you're passing through a space smaller than your own, such as when a Medium creature (5 ft space) tries to move through a space 2.5 ft wide (or less, if using the Escape Artist skill). But if you've got room to move anywhere within your full space, you've got room to evade.


"Rogues and monks cannot use evasion in medium or heavy armor. Some creatures with the evasion ability as an innate quality do not have this limitation." She looks like she's in Medium armor, therefore no evasion.

You mean the armor she's wearing here? (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0215.html) It's the same armor. Oh, sure, it's grey, not white, but it's still the same armor (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0407.html).

[Velazquez]

I am pretty curious about what will happen with Roy right now...:roy:

[Shatteredtower]

I am pretty curious about what will happen with Roy right now...:roy:Right now?

Vulture buffet.

[Gygantar]

I am pretty curious about what will happen with Roy right now...:roy:

Yeah I wish they would resurrect him! Is there a cleric survivor somewhere?

[Shatteredtower]

Yeah I wish they would resurrect him! Is there a cleric survivor somewhere?You mean Durkon?

[berrew]

Some of the things I loved about this:

1) The opening splash panel, well, splody-panel, rocked - especially the newly-created undead Azurites that swell the army.
2) Once again we are reminded that, sans Roy, the PCs become the Chaos of the Stick.
2a) Hinjo, as an NPC, cannot offer assistance on central, plot-driven tactics.
3) Miko is the Girl We Love to Hate
4) We all wish we could live in an AD&D world, where you can easily avoid death from an explosion that destroys a city block
5) The Law of Falling Plot-Centric Objects is still in full force!

[Runolfr]

And then there was a castle-shattering kaboom.

Didn't see that coming.

Must remember to knock a few more points of Miko's intelligence score.

[Shatteredtower]

2a) Hinjo, as an NPC, cannot offer assistance on central plot-driven tactics.One of the things that I find interesting about him is that this is the second time we've seen him go into "reverent mode". I wonder if we're going to see more of that.

[RedScholarGypsy]

Um, I was admitting I was wrong about the first part of the reflex rule. Hence the joking about atonement quest and such. Though I agree the rules are generous, hence this famous gag: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0019.html


You mean the armor she's wearing here? (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0215.html) It's the same armor. Oh, sure, it's grey, not white, but it's still the same armor (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0407.html).

Huh, I forgot about the fireball trick. I had just assumed she did a trick a la Ring of Jumping there, but I guess Evasion would make sense. I guess I just assumed that a Paladin of her level would have better armor than Chain Maile and screw the Dex bonus, but I guess with Enhancement bonuses and such it wouldn't be a problem. I guess that's twice I'm wrong.

Still, what's the DC on the explosion? Assume she's monk 4-5/palaidn 12-14, thats 8 + 4? dex = 12 + ave 10.5 (d20) = 22-3. I don't know if this works like a trap or not, so I'll make no assumptions.

I guess I really just want Miko dead, then Undead, so she's officially Evil, and Belkar can taunt her for being evil, and then she kills him.

Edit: One of these day's I'll post it right first time....

[Shatteredtower]

Still, what's the DC on the explosion? Assume she's monk 4-5/palaidn 12-14, thats 8 + 4? dex = 12 + ave 10.5 (d20) = 22-3. I don't know if this works like a trap or not, so I'll make no assumptions.Explosions like this appear to be one of those DM judgment calls. Such things often get a flat DC 15 or 20, or sometimes DC 10 + the challenge rating of the threat.


I guess I really just want Miko dead, then Undead, so she's officially Evil, and Belkar can taunt her for being evil, and then she kills him.Heh. Okay, then. There is justice in having her kill him, I'll admit.

Then again, the Coyote never got the Roadrunner...

[Daran]

Poor O-Chul!

Look, it's a bird!
No an airplane!
No, it's O-Chul! :biggrin:

[nimby]

I suppose that settles the question about how the third window will be broken.

Who had their money on Miko? She did cause the explosion, after all.

[theGec]

Wow!

Just... wow!

Damnit, MIKO HAS EVASION!!!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Edit to add: And O-Chul is a tough ol' paladin, that's for sure. Of course, having to clean the Imperial Litterbox (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0404.html) means that he can probably handle being Mrs. Nesbitt for MitD's Tea party. :smallamused:

I would think that there's only so much that evasion can do. I mean, one would think that you'd have quit a bit of difficulty dodging the equivalent of a Starcraft tactical nuke, right? Right!?!
Yet, I too have a feeling that she dodged it as well.

[Shatteredtower]

I would think that there's only so much that evasion can do. I mean, one would think that you'd have quit a bit of difficulty dodging the equivalent of a Starcraft tactical nuke, right? Right!?!
That would be decided entirely by the DC and the die roll. Even if you set the former over 9000, a result of 20 on the latter would still keep you out of trouble. :smallwink:

[Blood]

Woah. Awesome. :smalltongue:

[Ezlo]

That first panel has me very impressed. Superb job as always Giant! Although I'm sure you won't actually read my post.:smallfrown:

[Thagorn]

If O-chul survived the explosion then I hope Miko does too. It will be worth it just to watch her meet with Hinjo after Hinjo learns what happened. Better raise body-guard Roy first, who can she possibly blame this on?

Great comic, poor ignorant Hinjo

edit: That doesn't mean I don't want Miko to die in general... maybe they can resurrect her then have Hinjo yell at her

[Thrakkon]

Shadoobie?

[VMisery]

"Rogues and monks cannot use evasion in medium or heavy armor. Some creatures with the evasion ability as an innate quality do not have this limitation." She looks like she's in Medium armor, therefore no evasion.


If she's wearing mithril, a breastplate or full chain would be considered light armor, allowing evasion (as well as close to full dex bonus).

[jackal59]

Wow, Rich, nice artwork.

[Lukahatt]

Not only O-Chul and Miko were thrown away by the explosion.
The other 100 paladins that were dead probably were too.

Rain of dead paladins. That's gory.

[denelian]

"No Smoking Section"

!!!

*giggles*

[erewhon]

"Rogues and monks cannot use evasion in medium or heavy armor. Some creatures with the evasion ability as an innate quality do not have this limitation." She looks like she's in Medium armor, therefore no evasion.


If she's wearing mithril, a breastplate or full chain would be considered light armor, allowing evasion (as well as close to full dex bonus).

Corrrect. The mithril breastplate is close to the perfect armor. She is PLENTY high level to have one, and as a Paladin(formerly) would certainly have liked the shiny. :)

[Forevergrey]

Good lord, the arguements about hit points and reflex saves.

It's NOT straight D&D, its a comic about D&D.

The amount of damage all characters took in the explosion was plot d plot, with an average damage outcome of plot. Miho may or may not have taken massive plot damage and been forced to take a plot save, based on her plot statistic.

[delguidance]

"I am a leaf on the wind"

Ha ha ha! That was the best.

All serenity/firefly fans should check out

http://www.swartzer.com/writing/serenity2000.php

it is hilarious.

[Dazdya]

That first panel has me very impressed. Superb job as always Giant! Although I'm sure you won't actually read my post.:smallfrown:

You had me thinking there for a minute, about a script to sift the posts that were positive and read only those. Took me a full 5 minutes to decide it's probably not worth it, and another 5 to delete the probably.

[scwizard]

The blast was impressive, but so far people seem good at surviving it. I don't think Miko is dead.

[scwizard]

BTW just wanted to say that I called all of this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43523).

[Helgraf]

Yeah. I'm utterly amazed everyone else didn't immediately come to this conclusion.

EDIT: Especially since O-Chul, being paralyzed, had no Reflex saving throw available. :ENDEDIT

Actually, he still gets a Reflex save - he is just denied his Dex bonus and instead takes a -5 penalty for having an effective Dex of 0.

[Mad Scientist]

I LOVE the :mitd: having a tea party with a pet dragon and a :roach:!

So funny!

Poor O'chul though. Let's hope he's too groggy from the fall to realize he's at an EVIL tea party.

[Helgraf]

If Miko dies, the comic pretty much ends. Droves of Miko-fans will leave. Droves of Miko-haters will leave. What will be left?

Umm, yeah, somehow I doubt that is what would happen.

[Helgraf]

Okay. I've thought about it, and this strip makes me angry.

Not that it isn't dramatic ... and the splash page is great ... but the fact that O-chul survived being right next to a dimensional gate when it went off. Given the visible damage to the castle would take many, many tons of high explosive to accomplish, this is something like standing IN the bomb bay of a B-52, loaded with 100 mk-82 bombs, and having them ALL explode next to you at once.

And you walk away with a few cuts and bruises.

Goodbye, suspension of disbelief. Aren't there massive damage rules in 3.5 or something?

And it's obvious why this was done ... it's to establish that if this guy survived, obviously another character who was higher level, has evasion, more hp, and NOT paralyzed, also survived.

Yes, folks, Miko is the stereotypical NPC played by the GM's girlfriend. The one that takes control of the story, who beats up on everyone and is pretty near untouchable.

I find it irritating.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Umm, physics and D&D don't mix. High end explosions that do the kind of damage to crack castle walls routinely leave higher-level characters alive (in the low hp, mind, if they fail their saves) - but alive. It's all RAW.

And O'chul does still get a save - it's just his Dex mod is replaced with a -5 penalty for being motionless. Again - not physics, just D&D ruleset.

His survival was hardly impossible.

[the_tick_rules]

and we all know Miko survived. The MITD and roaches having a tea party, awesome.

[Helgraf]

That would be decided entirely by the DC and the die roll. Even if you set the former over 9000, a result of 20 on the latter would still keep you out of trouble. :smallwink:

Well, you see, a proper nuke would require two saves

A Reflex for the explosion (suitable for Evasion).

A Fortitude for the Radiation Die or be horribly sick and weakened (No Evasion).

So She could avoid the flat out fire/boom damage, but at best she'd be a weakened husk after the radiation belt hit.

[Fitzclowningham]

I hate to bring this up, but:

MitD likes to devour things. O-Chul landed at its tea party. Maybe he's not going to be a guest, but the main course.

Edit: Of course several people already mentioned this possibility on the "What's Next for O'Chul" thread. D'oh!

[Ronald_saveloy]

Look, it's a bird!
No an airplane!
No, it's O-Chul! :biggrin:

Priceless! :biggrin:

Personally, I don't belive that Miko won't appear once more. She could still have survived the explosion for theatrical reasons.

Maybe MitD and Lord Banjo should play together! http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0232.html

[Megalomaniac2]

Geez. That is, without a doubt, the best single panel this strip has had yet. I mean, wow.

On the bright side, with the castle destroyed and the city in flames, Kubota and the nobles are likely to say "screw that" and find somewhere else to cause trouble. They don't strike me as the types to settle for taking over a nation which doesn't have a suitably opulent throne for them.

However, even with the Gate gone there's no guarantee the army will withdraw. Redcloak wanted to destroy Azure City for personal reasons, not just for the Gate, and now there's nothing stopping him from finishing the job.

I feel sorry for MiTD. I was looking forward to seeing it knock more paladins through walls, but it didn't get to do jack in this battle.

[Steward]

So, how long does that paralyzing thing last? I'd hate to think that O-Chul would have to share a drink with the Monster in te Dark and the Demon Roaches for all eternity.

...

Oh, wait, that would be awesome.

But only if he could see what was going on.

[jindra34]

So, how long does that paralyzing thing last? I'd hate to think that O-Chul would have to share a drink with the Monster in te Dark and the Demon Roaches for all eternity.

...

Oh, wait, that would be awesome.

But only if he could see what was going on.

As said many a time this case of paralysis has no experation date...

[Luircin]

Am I the only one hoping that Hinjo becomes a PC now? After all, there's little left tying him to Azure City, especially if it's utterly overrun with hobbos.

Noble quest to gain the power to drive them out, anyone? Cliche, but the Giant has shown that he can take cliche and twist it about so that it's STILL fresh and exciting.

[Aerysil]

If this ends up in any way like I would do it, Miko probably got forced through a planar rift. I doubt she landed in the arms of the Snarl, though.

[fruityjanitor]

Why should he? He still controls the city thanks to his thousands of minions.

He doesn't care about the city. It's probably sanctified or something. Gross! (He said that in a recent strip).

Anyway, I wasn't expecting the gate to explode, but the explosion was pretty cool. I liked how the Order was in the middle of making a convoluted plan to break into the throne room. Heh.

Also, it looks like O-Chul survived (no Xs) and seeing as how Miko is both a higher level and more important to the plot, it is quite likely she survived as well.

I'm excited to see what everyone does next. That would be cool if Hinjo went adventuring with the Order (though I kind of doubt it - the city needs a good leader right now). Maybe the Order will go on a side quest to get Roy revived (giving Xykon enough time to find the gate and start performing the ceremony he needs to harness its power...)!

Edit: After reading all the speculation about Miko evading the blast, it would be funny if they found her soon, completely non-exploded and everyone freaks out and asks "How in the world did you survive that without a scratch on you?" Then she just replies, totally deadpan, "I used Evasion."

[remedyx]

I hope Miko lives through this. The reason, cause she really needs to die a proper death after knowning just how WRONG she has been. Dying that way just woundn't do her actions justice. And if nothing else she deserves some good old fashion justice.

[Yahoo_Serious]

Not surprising that O'Chul died; I mean, this is DnD (via OotS) physics we're talking about.

People get hit by swords and axes, and if they're of high level, it only leave little red marks.

The explosion could have vaporized the bodies of the low- to mid-level pallys, while still leaving O'Chul with all parts intact and ready to go with a simple Heal spell...

Now, are these events (or anything modeled on the concept of Hit Dice) even remotely possible in real life? Of course not. But is it possible in the DnD physics world of OotS? Yup.

The main question for me is: will even a castle-shattering explosion be enough to knock sense into the Miko's head? My thoughts? Don't bet on it...

[Sliverghost]

yaya :xykon: and :redcloak: surivved. not that i like them a whole lot but oots would not be the same without them.

[Deathslayer7]

i still cant believe a guy who is paralyzed and failed his reflex saving throw managed to survive the explosion and falling damage. He must have a lot of hitpoints. And if he survived then most likely Miko did too. She does have evasion so she would only take half damage if she saved.

[heretic]

It will make my day if Miko died in the blast.

[TheNovak]

i still cant believe a guy who is paralyzed and failed his reflex saving throw managed to survive the explosion and falling damage. He must have a lot of hitpoints. And if he survived then most likely Miko did too. She does have evasion so she would only take half damage if she saved.

Nope, even better. She'd take no damage whatsoever.

Still, here's hoping she got chucked into the ocean and doesn't have enough Strength or ranks in Swim to counterbalance the chain shirt...

[darkgolem]

Perhaps O-chul is wearing a ring of regeneration. I do not recall fire or acid around that gate explosion. Since this would mean that O-chul would not die, instead taking a hunk of non lethal damage, you could huck O-chul across half the continent and he would still be just the same -- paralyzed and alive.

Yes I note he is smoking. implying it is fire damage (which regeneration wouldn't help him with). You can smoke from cold (though in that case it's water not carbon), from electricity (again water not carbon), not just combustion. It could be a explosion of positive energy for that matter.

While on the subject, I also note he could survive the explosion save, but not the fall, except of course, he would take non lethal damage from the fall (using a ring of regeneration) and land as a living slightly smoking statue (as he did).

[factotum]

Perhaps O-chul is wearing a ring of regeneration. I do not recall fire or acid around that gate explosion. Since this would mean that O-chul would not die, instead taking a hunk of non lethal damage, you could huck O-chul across half the continent and he would still be just the same -- paralyzed and alive.


A Ring of Regeneration doesn't work that way--you're thinking of the Regeneration special ability that Trolls (amongst others) have. Ring of Regeneration just allows a living creature to heal somewhat faster than they otherwise would--it does not convert all damage to nonlethal damage.

[teratorn]

My take on Miko's ending:

Next strip we see her falling to the ground, praising evasion and the twelve gods. Then a huge chunk of the wall collapses on top of her giving her the nice (xx) look. And then she'll proceed to make Roy's afterlife miserable.

[Bunny]

Has there been any effort to reseal the Elven Rift?

I am a very bad person. When I read this, I pictured Belkar, with a roll of duct tape, sneaking up on a sleeping V.

The following is not a spoiler, but is rated "B" ("Belkar"):

I love V, but I have to admit, I'm not willing to predict which end end of him qualifies as the "elven rift".

Bunny

[Bunny]

Shadoobie?

Ayup. Shadoobie, shattered.

Bunny

[Czarzhan]

The interesting thing about world with active gods, undead, outer-planes beings, etc., is the lack of doubt regarding the afterlife. I mean, it's pretty explicitly defined: you do good in your gods' eyes, you get rewarded; you do things against your gods; you get punished. Now, that might not be true for everyone, your garden variety NPC farmer or even a PC thief who never gives much thought to the afterlife may fall the the whim of fate when his time comes, judged by a being he's never even heard of.

But for people who have garnered the attention of a pantheon, like priests and paladins, who have sworn to uphold the values of that god or group of gods, their standards of judgement are pretty well locked and spelled out. Given that, and what we know about the gates, I have the following observation:

For Miko's sake she better hope the snarl destroys her soul, considering the afterlife she's set up for herself.

[David Argall]

Am I the only one hoping that Hinjo becomes a PC now?
No, but why would you hope it? The OOTS are, one and all, incompetent children with massive flaws to them. This is why they are funny. Where are the flaws that would let you laugh at Hinjo? He is simply too level-headed and competent. As a party member he is so much dead weight. Being a nice guy does not begin to cut it. See Belkar for example.

By contrast, that is why Miko should join the party. She provides us conflict and story lines. So you hate her? You are supposed to hate her. She is there to be hated. Look around and you will notice that she gets beat up pretty regularly, and you can expect that to continue to happen.


After all, there's little left tying him to Azure City, especially if it's utterly overrun with hobbos.
Next strip or so should show the hobs in full retreat, due to panic or orders from the lich. Hinjo stays in the city. [Now it's possible the party will spend a hundred or so strips on the post seige city, showing the fighting for the throne afterwards, and the party will stay in the city to help Hinjo, but long term. Hinjo stays in the city and the party doesn't.]

[Lorde]

No, but why would you hope it? The OOTS are, one and all, incompetent children with massive flaws to them. This is why they are funny. Where are the flaws that would let you laugh at Hinjo? He is simply too level-headed and competent. As a party member he is so much dead weight. Being a nice guy does not begin to cut it. See Belkar for example.

By contrast, that is why Miko should join the party. She provides us conflict and story lines. So you hate her? You are supposed to hate her. She is there to be hated. Look around and you will notice that she gets beat up pretty regularly, and you can expect that to continue to happen.


Next strip or so should show the hobs in full retreat, due to panic or orders from the lich. Hinjo stays in the city. [Now it's possible the party will spend a hundred or so strips on the post seige city, showing the fighting for the throne afterwards, and the party will stay in the city to help Hinjo, but long term. Hinjo stays in the city and the party doesn't.]

Durkon and Roy to a lesser extent are pretty sane. Point is... now Roy is gone someone with common sense need to get the lead.

[Rat_Summoner]

Ding-dong the witch is (hopefully) dead!

Oh and I too protect the catgirls by keeping them in my Magical Garage of Catgirl Protection!

[David Argall]

Yes, folks, Miko is the stereotypical NPC played by the GM's girlfriend. The one that takes control of the story, who beats up on everyone and is pretty near untouchable.

The DM is supposed to treat his girlfriend's character like

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0265.html

and http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0270.html

and http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0281.html

and http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0285.html

and http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0407.html

and http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0409.html

and not expect to be sleeping alone?

[David Argall]

Durkon and Roy to a lesser extent are pretty sane. Point is... now Roy is gone someone with common sense need to get the lead.

Roy is the straightman, a very needed part of many comic routines. Durkon is a-probably the weakest character in the party precisely for being a bit more sane, and b-the cleric, and this is D&D. The party just has to have a cleric.
And replace Roy with Hinjo? Clearly inferior on story and character points. We have too much invested in Roy beating the lich to abandon that idea with the lich winning. And Roy has well developed interactions with the other PCs that make him superior too.
Roy is getting raised one way or another.

[happyturtle]

No, but why would you hope it? The OOTS are, one and all, incompetent children with massive flaws to them. This is why they are funny. Where are the flaws that would let you laugh at Hinjo? He is simply too level-headed and competent. As a party member he is so much dead weight. Being a nice guy does not begin to cut it. See Belkar for example.

By contrast, that is why Miko should join the party. She provides us conflict and story lines. So you hate her? You are supposed to hate her. She is there to be hated. Look around and you will notice that she gets beat up pretty regularly, and you can expect that to continue to happen.


Next strip or so should show the hobs in full retreat, due to panic or orders from the lich. Hinjo stays in the city. [Now it's possible the party will spend a hundred or so strips on the post seige city, showing the fighting for the throne afterwards, and the party will stay in the city to help Hinjo, but long term. Hinjo stays in the city and the party doesn't.]

Agreed. Hinjo *has* to stay behind. This is his city and his responsibility, and he can't just leave them in a destroyed city with a god killing abomination able to reach out of the sky and munch on them like pub snacks.

[pendell]

The DM is supposed to treat his girlfriend's character like

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0265.html

and http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0270.html

and http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0281.html

and http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0285.html

and http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0407.html

and http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0409.html

and not expect to be sleeping alone?

The relationship has it's ups and downs. :)

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[pendell]

My take on Miko's ending:

Next strip we see her falling to the ground, praising evasion and the twelve gods. Then a huge chunk of the wall collapses on top of her giving her the nice (xx) look. And then she'll proceed to make Roy's afterlife miserable.

I LIKE this spoiler. I like it a lot.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Hushdawg]

CRAP ON A STICK! I go out of the country for a month and you blow up a friggin' castle???

JEEZ!!!

After reading a month's worth of comics.. all I can say is...

JEEZ!!!!!
Rich, you are a remarkable storyteller.
You also have got to be an absolutely hellish DM.

Also,
The closing scene for book #3 has got to be coming up soon.
I can't imagine much more excitement! :D

[DetailBear]

Ninja'd.

I should really press refresh before posting.

[Kkreuzritter]

Enough jibba-jaba, it's time to start killing hobbos so Xykon can have his ship of corpses to sail across he ocean!