O-Chul's mount

[Adun]

Will we get a chance to see his mount?

I don't think it is the standard horse, so what animal will it be?

My opinion: a bear (maybe polar?)

[KillingAScarab]

O-Chul would only need five levels of paladin to earn a special mount, but he hasn't even demonstrated a second daily use of smite evil (which would be gained at the same level). He had a lot of experience as a fighter (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0545.html), so it's probable he has more fighter levels than paladin levels. Given the dialogue (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0479.html) when Lien's was revealed, if O-Chul has a special mount I'm guessing it would not be useful while moving across a tundra, probably be useful for guard duty, and he didn't have it when he was escaping Azure City/Gobotopia or he would have been able to summon it (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0532.html). I expect there will be a twist in the choice of the mount, but nothing is standing out to me as a more likely candidate right now.

[Vinyadan]

O'Chul's mount is so powerful, he's actually riding it all the time (it's planet earth).

O'Chul's mount is so large, he can't summon it without obscuring the sun. Since he likes people, he lets it shine.

O'Chul is so cool, the only way for his mount to be as cool as he is is that his feet are his mount.

Or maybe he's a variant paladin. I seem to remember a variant paladin with a sword instead of a horse, but I don't remember how it worked. PHB2 maybe?

[martianmister]

I'm expecting Windstriker.

[KillingAScarab]

Or maybe he's a variant paladin. I seem to remember a variant paladin with a sword instead of a horse, but I don't remember how it worked. PHB2 maybe?Pathfinder paladins get to choose between applying enchantments to their weapon or getting a special mount for divine bond (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/paladin#TOC-Divine-Bond-Sp-). Although, if there is a paladin which rides an animated sword as a mount, I really hope it also has a scabbard. :smalleek:

[SaintRidley]

I'm going to go with "He doesn't have enough Paladin levels" for $500, Alex.

[Rogar Demonblud]

I'm still going with a blue roan. Humble, unassuming, tougher than 90% of the Monster Manual. Just like O-Chul.

[Jasdoif]

PHB2 has that alternate class feature where, instead of a special mount, a paladin deals triple smite damage if they smite evil on a charge attack. That's my guess.

[zimmerwald1915]

I'm going to go with "He doesn't have enough Paladin levels" for $500, Alex.
This is to concur with the above utterly reasonable assessment.

[Emanick]

Hinjo notes at one point that O-Chul gained levels during his imprisonment. If he wasn't a level 5 paladin at the time of the Azure City battle, I can easily see him either having reached level 5 recently, or reaching level 5 during the course of this book (or the next?). If that's the case, we may seem him gaining a mount for the first time, which will presumably be awesome.

[Olinser]

O'Chul clearly rides a rampaging rhino.

As such, unfortunately, a rhino mount is so far highly impractical for the locations O'Chul has been (and presumably they took his summoning ball while he was imprisoned).

[ericgrau]

He might not use it because it's behind in level and too weak to be of much use. Paladin mounts aren't the greatest even at full level. And if it dies he cannot get another for 30 days and gets a -1 to hit in the mean time. He'll probably use it some day for utility rather than combat. Maybe he would be riding it now if it weren't so cold.

[Onyavar]

Upon defeating the yrthak rider, O-Chul will level up, tame the beast and use it as his ride from then on.

[The gF]

He might not use it because it's behind in level and too weak to be of much use. Paladin mounts aren't the greatest even at full level. And if it dies he cannot get another for 30 days and gets a -1 to hit in the mean time. He'll probably use it some day for utility rather than combat. Maybe he would be riding it now if it weren't so cold.

His mount would not benefit from his Cloak of Endure Elements, so...

That said, I could see him choosing to gain the benefit of a favored divine weapon rather than a horse. O-Chul would ask no creature to carry him where he might walk.

[KorvinStarmast]

That said, I could see him choosing to gain the benefit of a favored divine weapon rather than a horse. O-Chul would ask no creature to carry him where he might walk. This. gF has captured the essence of O-Chul.
*Golf Clap*

[zql]

I was thinking about this the other day. I think he could have reach paladin level 5 or even more during the Azure City ocupation or during last book. My guess (and it's just that, a guess) is that he would choose a flying mount, given the chance he has to face Xykon.

A griffon, maybe? That's level 7 or 8, I think.

[Shining Wrath]

I'm going to go with "He does not yet have enough Paladin levels, and when he gets that fifth level, he will choose MitD, and the level of awesome will be so great that even Xykon will be impressed".

[KorvinStarmast]

I'm going to go with "He does not yet have enough Paladin levels, and when he gets that fifth level, he will choose MitD, and the level of awesome will be so great that even Xykon will be impressed". At the risk of working blue, I don't think that O-Chul would mount a man. I recall that he referred to MiTD as a good man (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0654.html).

[Shining Wrath]

At the risk of working blue, I don't think that O-Chul would mount a man. I recall that he referred to MiTD as a good man (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0654.html).

I believe the definition of "man" may be broader than "bipedal humanoid with exterior plumbing" in this instance.

[ti'esar]

I believe the definition of "man" may be broader than "bipedal humanoid with exterior plumbing" in this instance.

I think he means that since the MitD is a person, O-Chul wouldn't use him as a mount. I'm not sure I agree with that given the existence of dragon-riders in various D&D settings, but still.

[Snails]

PHB2 has that alternate class feature where, instead of a special mount, a paladin deals triple smite damage if they smite evil on a charge attack. That's my guess.

Very in character, and it gives a good having waving explanation on how he managed to take out Redcloak's eye with one shot.

[GreatWyrmGold]

I'm still going with a blue roan. Humble, unassuming, tougher than 90% of the Monster Manual. Just like O-Chul.
Being tougher than 90% of the Monster Manual isn't very impressive, especially if the other 10% is the covers.


Very in character, and it gives a good having waving explanation on how he managed to take out Redcloak's eye with one shot.
Eyes don't have many HP.


I don't see any reason to think O-Chul would have anything but a common horse as his mount. O-Chul is a pretty average guy, despite being a badass. In fact, part of what makes him such a big badass is that he's just a normal guy, without any serious magic or dragon blood or what-have-you.

[Ebon_Drake]

I'm expecting Windstriker.

That... that's an awesome idea! I don't know if it makes sense within the story or the rules, but I now want this to happen.

Maybe combine it with the "he doesn't/didn't have enough levels" theory to say that he now has got or will get enough paladin levels and somehow ends up getting Windstriker though whatever means mounts are allocated.

[Red XIV]

PHB2 has that alternate class feature where, instead of a special mount, a paladin deals triple smite damage if they smite evil on a charge attack. That's my guess.
That sounds like an excellent fit for O-Chul, smiting evil more effectively instead of giving himself the convenience of a mount.

[Mayrax]

A lion!
I like a rhino, too.

[PallentisLunam]

Upon defeating the yrthak rider, O-Chul will level up, tame the beast and use it as his ride from then on.

Sadly, paladin mounts don't work that way. It has to be a creature that lives on one of the upper planes and is summoned by the paladin.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Sadly, paladin mounts don't work that way. It has to be a creature that lives on one of the upper planes and is summoned by the paladin.
Do you really think its soul will still be on the material plane once O-Chul's done with it? :biggrin:

[PallentisLunam]

Do you really think its soul will still be on the material plane once O-Chul's done with it? :biggrin:

No, but yrthaks are neutral and paladin mounts specifically come from "celestial realms".

[ChillerInstinct]

PHB2 has that alternate class feature where, instead of a special mount, a paladin deals triple smite damage if they smite evil on a charge attack. That's my guess.




That said, I could see him choosing to gain the benefit of a favored divine weapon rather than a horse. O-Chul would ask no creature to carry him where he might walk.

Well, I know what my headcanon is.

Though, I don't think O-Chul would necessarily object to riding the MitD if push came to shove, especially since odds are that conversation would start with the MitD asking O-Chul to ride him, not the other way around (and since my choice of wording opens the door to it I'm going to preemptively state that I DID NOT MEAN the MitD would try to ride O-Chul, amusing as that might be). It's not really imposing when a sentient creature says "hop on", right?

It would be particularly interesting if the MitD turns out to be some sort of divine beast, at any rate. Might technically count.

[Seto]

At the risk of working blue, I don't think that O-Chul would mount a man. I recall that he referred to MiTD as a good man (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0654.html).

Yeah, but Paladins seem to treat their mounts with respect, pretty much as equals and fellow intelligent beings (see Miko with Windstriker), so I don't think that's an impossibility.


Though, I don't think O-Chul would necessarily object to riding the MitD if push came to shove, especially since odds are that conversation would start with the MitD asking O-Chul to ride him, not the other way around (and since my choice of wording opens the door to it I'm going to preemptively state that I DID NOT MEAN the MitD would try to ride O-Chul, amusing as that might be). It's not really imposing when a sentient creature says "hop on", right?
Also, that.
I don't think it would make sense for MitD to become O-Chul's actual mount, but if it happened as a one-time-deal (in the final series of confrontation for example), it would be pretty cool.

In all seriousness, I think that if O-Chul had a mount we'd have seen it by now.

[Vinyadan]

O-Chul would ask no creature to carry him where he might walk.

So... a flying mount?


He'll probably use it some day for utility rather than combat.

He may have asked it to stay behind and turn the millstone in a very poor village where all livestock had died due to calamity, until they had some animal again. Although he might have done it himself.

[KillingAScarab]

He may have asked it to stay behind and turn the millstone in a very poor village where all livestock had died due to calamity, until they had some animal again. Although he might have done it himself.Special mounts only stick around for an hourtwo hours per level in the paladin class, so that likely wouldn't be any more than fiveten hours. Then it would return to the celestial realm and he could summon it to himself the next day.

[Vinyadan]

Special mounts only stick around for an hour per level in the paladin class, so that likely wouldn't be any more than five hours. Then it would return to the celestial realm and he could summon it to himself the next day.

Wow, that's pretty bad. So a low level paladin needs to have a normal horse, if he wants to travel a bit. I thought it was more like "you can summon it x times per week, once it's there, it stays there, if you dismiss it, you have to wait x time before you can summon it again."

[KillingAScarab]

Wow, that's pretty bad. So a low level paladin needs to have a normal horse, if he wants to travel a bit. I thought it was more like "you can summon it x times per week, once it's there, it stays there, if you dismiss it, you have to wait x time before you can summon it again."I was slightly mistaken, the duration is actually two hours per level (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/paladin.htm#specialMount), not one. As for your suggestion, Pathfinder's divine bond (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/paladin#TOC-Divine-Bond-Sp-) works closer to that: the mount seems to stay indefinitely, but at higher levels a paladin can summon it additional times per day.

[littlebum2002]

Wow, that's pretty bad. So a low level paladin needs to have a normal horse, if he wants to travel a bit. I thought it was more like "you can summon it x times per week, once it's there, it stays there, if you dismiss it, you have to wait x time before you can summon it again."


I was slightly mistaken, the duration is actually two hours per level (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/paladin.htm#specialMount), not one. As for your suggestion, Pathfinder's divine bond (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/paladin#TOC-Divine-Bond-Sp-) works closer to that: the mount seems to stay indefinitely, but at higher levels a paladin can summon it additional times per day.

And 10 hours a day is a lot of riding time. Plus as soon as you reach level 8 you only basically have to dismiss him to go to sleep.

[BaronOfHell]

A slug or Miko.

[martianmister]

A slug or Miko.

Doesn't make any sense.

[ChillerInstinct]

Welp, today's comic settles this one. O-Chul, at least at present, does not have a mount.

Still holding out on him riding the MitD at some point, though. :P

[SaintRidley]

I'm going to go with "He doesn't have enough Paladin levels" for $500, Alex.

Ding ding ding, we have a winner.

[Markozeta]

On the other hand, best signature line ever.

[Onyavar]

That really makes me hope that the Giant is not reading all out silly or less silly posts here. That way lies madness.

[dtilque]

So the question should be changed to "What mount will he get when he does have enough levels?"

Personally, I'm going to go with Trigak. That's the answer to all such questions, except when the answer is Redcloak's niece. It's always one of those two.

[martianmister]

So the question should be changed to "What mount will he get when he does have enough levels?"

I'm expecting Windstriker. :miko:

[BaronOfHell]

So the question should be changed to "What mount will he get when he does have enough levels?"


Red Cloak's niece.

[skim172]

All good guesses, but wrong. O-Chul has enough levels to have a divine mount and he did choose a mount instead of some iffy magic-divine-sword-enchantment-whatever. It would be difficult for him to carry out the duties of the Sapphire Guard - which involve traveling to distant territories carrying out secret missions in the name of good - if he had neither the transportation nor the credentials that Level 5 Paladin would confer.

So yes, O-Chul indeed had a PokeballDivine Paladin Summoning Orb of his very own. HAD.

Unfortunately, some time back, O-Chul was accosted by two individuals sent from a mysterious organization with inexplicable goals, methods, and fashion sense, to steal O-Chul's paladin mount. And while O-Chul was prepared for trouble, he had not thought to make his preparations double, and so lost his PaladinBall to the pair and their talking pet cat.

O-Chul has not gotten a mount since, as he still searches for his beloved lost friend. This explains his connection with the MitD, who he recognizes a lost soul looking for a master - a master who wants to be the very best, like there never was. Except O-Chul's mount was clearly identifiable as a small burrowing lagamorphic mammal with a rounded body, short ears, and the ability to direct ambient electric currents in ways defying logic and science while speaking aloud its species name in a disturbingly human-like voice, and also it sometimes mutated rapidly into a different species entirely in a process that is almost exactly not like evolution.




And before you ask, NO, of course O-Chul was not involved in the illegal animal-fighting rings where preteens would beat wild animals near to death, then capture them, abuse them, and set them against other animals in the name of some sick self-aggrandizement and glorification. The Sapphire Guard was instrumental in shutting those "gyms"/slaughterhouses down. Even now, he devotes what little spare time he has to uncovering and arresting the rest of those twisted animal-torturing "trainers". He has solemnly sworn to track them down and, indeed, catch them all.

O-Chul's paladin mount was a rescue.

[Professor Gnoll]

All good guesses, but wrong. O-Chul has enough levels to have a divine mount and he did choose a mount instead of some iffy magic-divine-sword-enchantment-whatever. It would be difficult for him to carry out the duties of the Sapphire Guard - which involve traveling to distant territories carrying out secret missions in the name of good - if he had neither the transportation nor the credentials that Level 5 Paladin would confer.

So yes, O-Chul indeed had a PokeballDivine Paladin Summoning Orb of his very own. HAD.

Unfortunately, some time back, O-Chul was accosted by two individuals sent from a mysterious organization with inexplicable goals, methods, and fashion sense, to steal O-Chul's paladin mount. And while O-Chul was prepared for trouble, he had not thought to make his preparations double, and so lost his PaladinBall to the pair and their talking pet cat.

O-Chul has not gotten a mount since, as he still searches for his beloved lost friend. This explains his connection with the MitD, who he recognizes a lost soul looking for a master - a master who wants to be the very best, like there never was. Except O-Chul's mount was clearly identifiable as a small burrowing lagamorphic mammal with a rounded body, short ears, and the ability to direct ambient electric currents in ways defying logic and science while speaking aloud its species name in a disturbingly human-like voice, and also it sometimes mutated rapidly into a different species entirely in a process that is almost exactly not like evolution.




And before you ask, NO, of course O-Chul was not involved in the illegal animal-fighting rings where preteens would beat wild animals near to death, then capture them, abuse them, and set them against other animals in the name of some sick self-aggrandizement and glorification. The Sapphire Guard was instrumental in shutting those "gyms"/slaughterhouses down. Even now, he devotes what little spare time he has to uncovering and arresting the rest of those twisted animal-torturing "trainers". He has solemnly sworn to track them down and, indeed, catch them all.

O-Chul's paladin mount was a rescue.
"Tsukiko! Redcloak! Team Evil! Casting spells at the speed of light! Surrender now or prepare to fight!" "Monster-san! That's right!"

[ti'esar]

This is actually kind of scary. Is the Giant watching us this very moment? :smalleek:

[GreatWyrmGold]

Doesn't make any sense.
Which one?
I mean, which one makes less sense?


O-Chul's paladin mount was a rescue.
The rest of that silliness aside, I'm suddenly imagining that O-Chul hears about some poor celestial [animal] being abused by its master, and immediately selecting it as his Special Mount.
The question of who on a celestial plane would be abusing their pet is up in the air...

[Emanick]

The question of who on a celestial plane would be abusing their pet is up in the air...

Eugene, presumably.


All good guesses, but wrong. O-Chul has enough levels to have a divine mount and he did choose a mount instead of some iffy magic-divine-sword-enchantment-whatever. It would be difficult for him to carry out the duties of the Sapphire Guard - which involve traveling to distant territories carrying out secret missions in the name of good - if he had neither the transportation nor the credentials that Level 5 Paladin would confer.

So yes, O-Chul indeed had a PokeballDivine Paladin Summoning Orb of his very own. HAD.

Unfortunately, some time back, O-Chul was accosted by two individuals sent from a mysterious organization with inexplicable goals, methods, and fashion sense, to steal O-Chul's paladin mount. And while O-Chul was prepared for trouble, he had not thought to make his preparations double, and so lost his PaladinBall to the pair and their talking pet cat.

O-Chul has not gotten a mount since, as he still searches for his beloved lost friend. This explains his connection with the MitD, who he recognizes a lost soul looking for a master - a master who wants to be the very best, like there never was. Except O-Chul's mount was clearly identifiable as a small burrowing lagamorphic mammal with a rounded body, short ears, and the ability to direct ambient electric currents in ways defying logic and science while speaking aloud its species name in a disturbingly human-like voice, and also it sometimes mutated rapidly into a different species entirely in a process that is almost exactly not like evolution.




And before you ask, NO, of course O-Chul was not involved in the illegal animal-fighting rings where preteens would beat wild animals near to death, then capture them, abuse them, and set them against other animals in the name of some sick self-aggrandizement and glorification. The Sapphire Guard was instrumental in shutting those "gyms"/slaughterhouses down. Even now, he devotes what little spare time he has to uncovering and arresting the rest of those twisted animal-torturing "trainers". He has solemnly sworn to track them down and, indeed, catch them all.

O-Chul's paladin mount was a rescue.

This is glorious and amazing. I just tried to make it my signature, but sadly it was much too long. You should get some sort of medal for this post, though.