OOTS #360 - The Discussion Thread

[The Giant]

New comic is up.

[Swashbuckler]

OOOOOUCH!!! :o

Nice decapitation ... but OUCH!! :P

[hyikim]

sweet comic!


w 0 0 t s e c o n d p o s t

[Fuzzy_Juan]

Ouch...poor chief...

[Thomar_of_Uointer]

Son of a kobold! Oh, right, YokYok's dead.

You're not making anyone happier, Giant. I get the feeling Nale's going to get away with this too.

[Tmabbbb]

Duhhh Duhhh DUNNNN!!!!


But, seriously, that was great. I'm actually a little bit glad that that chief is dead. I got tired of him. And I liked those other cops.

That was a good comic.

[Corp]

Chief! Noooo!!!!!! :o


Other than that very good comic ;D

[Dario]

Didn't see that coming. Things should get interesting.

[Jooky]

Nice comic. I was totally not expecting that ending. He was one of my favorite NPCs too.

[Snake-Aes]

Nale scares me sometimes o.o

[terrainmonkey]

so what, i'm a masterworked item now? priceless. that's great. laugh out loud funny for the first time in about a month. good stuff man. good stuff indeed.

[rashambo]

oooo rough one. I kinda liked the chief

[ref]

Wait! The chief isn't dead yet! no x in his eyes! ;D .-

[CockroachTeaParty]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

[revelation]I just noticed that Nale's sword is bigger than the police's. Does that mean he has a bastard sword? His behavior certainley warrants him that title.

[Lord Fullbladder, Master of Goblins]

My jaw has dropped. People in China have found my jaw sticking out of the ground.

I was completely not expecting this. Crud-monkey. Great Harry Howzer.

[Madmal]

i didn't knew Nale had a vorpal longsword...yikes

[dearsweetNumpsie]

Guess I'll go against the grain by saying that this wasn't one of my favourite comics. Don't get me wrong, I'm a die-hard OOTS fan. I simply found this one to be..... mediocre filler. It happens.

On another note, "I'm getting too old" not to.

[Aerysil1]

No! Not the chief! Nooooo!

...

... ... Noooooo!!!!

Er, how is Nale possibly advancing his plan at this point? I am truly confused. Part of me is glad he just did something so stupid.

[Erimore]

Doh!

Now who's going to keep the law in order? At least he doesn't have to worry about getting older. ;)

Poor Julia....not getting the normal attention. She actually has to live in Roy's shadow (for a few frames). Do I hear the "Wake Up Call"? Nahhhhhh....

Where did Nale get one of those new fangled super sharp blades? Somehow I don't think they have a feat "decap de cop" in the rule book.

[edited for typos...damn fingers]

[Scion_of_the_Light]

Not the police chief! NOOO!!!!

He was becoming one of my favorite characters...

*sigh*

[Count_de_Munni]

Go Nale! Go!
maybe not a TPK (Total Party Kill) yet.. but one step at a time!

BOOYAH!!!

[Erloas]

did someone apply the half-moron template to your base creature? thats just great
I'm disheartened to see the death of the Chief though, he was so very cool. Don't think "cure wounds" will fix that sort of thing.

[Hototo]

Noooooooooo!!!! I liked the chief... granted he started to get a little testy in this one. But still! *sigh.

Oooh! Did anyone else notice the fact that Nale's sword has a red hilt as opposed to Roy's Green one.

[Allandaros]

Mr. Burlew, your fighter/rogue/wizard specializing in enchantments just decapitated my favorite NPC.

<shatner>NAAAAAAAAALEEEEEEEEE!</shatner>

Seriously, I really did like the chief. This kinda hit me out of left field. Why didn't he go after the spearcarriers?!? WHY?!!!

[Dugray]

Why do I have a feeling Nale is gonna get away with this like he gets away with EVERYTHING.

[Deuce]

Not the Chief -NO!!!

Darn you Nale, darn you to Heck!!!!

[CommanderFalken]

Chief!!!!!!!!!! No! Why'd he have to die??????????????

Ah well... Plot advancement...

[Tawkis]

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

No fair the chief wasn't even wearing a red shirt....

nice comic though

[Laman_Stahros]

Well, the intelligence of the local police force just dropped 10 points. :o

Spoiler:

Who wants to take a bet that the moron who takes over will assume that Elan did this just because he looks like Nale?

[wombat31]

umm....wow i didn't see that coming. this should be interesting.

[TinSoldier]

Chief! Noooo!

Seriously, great comic and unexpected ending. I loved the jokes in the first five panels; after that, not so much until the surprise ending.

Lemme guess... Chief was one day from retirement ::) .

8/10

[Ronfar]

Quick! Someone go get Durkon a Raise Dead scroll! (And some diamonds!)

[Nu]

Of course Nale will get away with it, he wouldn't have done it without a plan in mind!

Semi-Possible-Spoiler: Keep in mind that few deaths in DnD have to be permanent, there's always necromancy and raise dead after all. You'd think his life insurance policy would cover resurrection costs as a police chief!

[H4w00dJ48l0m3]

Good strip

[musicnerd]

nooo, i loved that character :'(
i really loved the beginning of the strip though :-/

[El Jaspero, the Pirate King]

Clearly Nale has been working on his Rogue levels.

And yeah, poor Chief! I was getting to like him, too.

[N4L3]

WOOHOO


go Nale!

[bosssmiley]

You...you...gaaah! :o

Oh, and "half-moron template to your base creature" - priceles. ;D

[Platinum_Mongoose]

Good god, the Giant killed a beloved secondary character. He's like... like Joss Whedon or something.

Yes, I'm a Whedon nerd. How could you tell?

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

holy sh!t!

[The Extinguisher]

I have to say, the canvas joke was easily the best in the comic.

And, for Dramatic tension...

*places hand in sleeve*
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...
heave, pant
...OOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

[Josh_Kablack]

at first I thought that the rookie cop who just said "serious" was an homage to Homestar, but now I'm thinking that there's a running blonde joke throughout the stri, what with Elan and Nale and this week's rookie, I must go through the archives looking for other blonde characters

[Martok]

NOOOOOOOOOO!!

You can't kill the Chief; he's by far my favorite NPC!

Seriously, did not see that one coming....

[Felinoid]

>:( ... New suggestion for OotS merchandise: Nale voodoo doll. I think I might get a dozen of them because I'm not using any wimpy pin on that little...


On another note, "I'm getting too old" not to.

Perhaps he just got cut off mid-word.

[Darth_Cow]

It's been too long since someone Good actually died, but I *liked* the chief! :'(

[JepDeiod]

Haha

Nale got the chief pretty good on that one. Now lets see if Julia and the cops can take him out! :o

[VariaVespasa]

Well he IS the chief of police, so he may well warrant a raise dead after all this is over, so we may not have seen the last of him. Here's hoping, anyway.

[EmeraldFire]

Wow, I quite honestly did not see that coming at all...

[Alcino]

Considering Nale's level and expected wealth combined with his fighter feats, wizard buffs and sneak attack and the fact that the Chief might have been weakened fighting the summoned creatures, it's entirely probable that the Chief was sent way down to -10 with that single hit. The DM decided to have such a hit look really dramatic.

[Hyrael]

Noooooooo!

no, man! not the cheif! this is not happening man, this is not happening! No, nonononononono.

wow. that hit hard.

[Grey Watcher]

Wow. I haven't been this shocked since Samantha got rent in twain.

It's a nice touch, by the way, that you can see Nale's blade coming into panel in the second to last panel.

Also, I don't think this is an error on Nale's part. Nale's been seen by wtinesses as involved in the mass-murders, so I'm guessing that he's proverbially pouring salt in the wounds, by being seen killing someone important to the police force, which, assuming recent spoiler speculation is correct, plays right into his plan.

[fractal]

I'm hoping for a Raise Dead. Presumably a 6th level character, even an NPC, warrants one.

[EvilRoeSlade]

*sniff* Not the chief.

[Solara]

Noooooooo!

I was really starting to like that guy. :'(

Completely unexpected. Nale is a bastard, I hope he dies painfully. >:(

[RiderofStorms]

Wow! Awesome comic! Poor cheif, he actually was a good NPC! Of course that's why he had to die :P
And finnally get to find out whats happening with Elan and Nale! yay!!! A pitty it's a weekend cliffhanger though :P ;D

[Charity322]

Wah, I liked the chief. :( Nale just needed to take out the only member of the police force smart enough to catch him.

[Zeitgeist]

How very upsetting. I'd imagine he's not important enough to raise back, either ;_;

How could you do that? I liked him, not somebody I like to see decapitated :( :( :( Worst is that I couldn't see it coming at ALL.

[Liquid]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe this is the first time a non-evil NPC with a name gets killed in the strip.

[Bloodred]

I didnt know Nale could do that much damage in one strike... Wow.

[Skyserpent]

Wow... Nale did a real number on that cop...

Julia's out of spells and the other guys are Run-o-the-mill Warriors. Yeah, we'll need Roy + Crew for this one

[Hurlbut]

I dunnot if it is only me, but that CPPD woman has a *ahem* large chest. Especially compared to Julia. ???

[Wolfger]

Nice strip, and I actually think I see where Nale is going with all this too, (and what is in the bag he was carrying.)

Spoiler
All it would take to make Elan look like Nale is a fake beard and a change of clothes. What better way to get back at the OotS than get them to help incarcerate Elan for false crimes.

[Lurk]

*gasp!*
:o

first Belkar eating nachos from YokYok's head and now the Chief's head flying... the not-so-good guys seem to be getting a lot of action. at least it's bipartisan!

[Haarculaneaum]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo !

Edit: "sells it by the yard" was exceedingly of dry delightful wit, old chum.

[theKOT]

That was awesome!

The gag's were solid here, we got affirmation on the "Julia is an attention-whore" idea, and the end left me reeling. It was really unexpected and was well timed. Just when I was getting worried the fight might drag on too long-Bam! I felt like I was reading a second Nale stabs Elan (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0056.html) comic. A very solid 9/10

On a side note...
CHIEF! NO!!! He was just starting to have a developed schtick! Cut down in the prime of his comedic value! Why must the good die, um, not exactly young..... why must the good die?!

[Nashua]

Allowe me to second that sentiment. I certainly hope the City shells out the resources to have the Chief Ressurected...Ya know, that kind of thing always seems to happen "just a few days before retirement." Also, now we know the LG is SERIOUSLY bad!

[Lord Fullbladder, Master of Goblins]

If the good never died, there'd only be one hero throughout history. A single hero with a single face, rather than, as we truly have "The Hero with a Thousand Faces", as Pratchett puts it.

[theKOT]

If the good never died, there'd only be one hero throughout history. A single hero with a single face, rather than, as we truly have "The Hero with a Thousand Faces", as Pratchett puts it.
Come on man. Couldn't you see the sarcasm? Or did you see it and you just decided to be a stinker? Well, you succeeded. :P

[Flashlight_Fish]

I liked the "I'm getting too old for [this @#$!]" reference. It's such a cliche and it's always said in one form or another by an aging cop who's on his last hellish case (cf. Lethal Weapon). It was the Chief's perfect swan song. Aw. I liked him too.

[sakusha]

NOOOOOOO! CHIIIIIEEEEFF!!!
:'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
Nale's a big meanie head and needs to go away for a super-long time!!!
</end childish pouting>

Seriously, though, I've got Nale's number. Before he was just mean. That was cruel and ... thbbbt!

Since Chief is *dead* I can say this without it being a spoiler, but I'm going to make a guess that Chief's witty sarcasm-joke had run its course and, alas, it was time for him to go for fear of it draining the Giant's precious creative talents.

After all, how long does / did it take the script-writers to come up with (the good) stuff for Law & Order or CSI or Monk or House or ol' NYPD Blue?


I dunnot if it is only me, but that CPPD woman has a *ahem* large chest. Especially compared to Julia. ???

Yeah, I know. I noticed that the first time she was introduced and either 1) the Giant did it on purpose (very likely) or 2) it was an accident and the Giant hasn't fixed it yet (not very likely).

[Big_Robot]

Wow, nice swing Nale! ;)

[Lord Fullbladder, Master of Goblins]

Come on man. Couldn't you see the sarcasm? Or did you see it and you just decided to be a stinker? Well, you succeeded. :P

I try.

[Eternal-Darthness]

If he got resurrected wouldn't he still be "too old for this" though? And aren't reincarnations cheaper? Make sure his mind comes through the gap and ou'd give the chief a whole new lease on life.

Unless he wound up a kobold, in which case Belkar would hunt him.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Holy crap! Another NPC I probably shouldn't care about but do got summarily bisected (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0189.html).

Damn, that chief was cool though. What made it all the more jarring was that I'd just made the connection:

Chief + Cigars + Surliness.
Rookie + Oddly Competent + Orange Hair.

That bastard killed Vimes! Okay, not really, but he killed someone of Vimes's archetype!

[Antina]

"Let´s totally pay attention to you." - SO GREAT!!! LOFL

And the so nicely got "pissed" expression on Julias face when the senior interrupts.

Get their attention - Hey HEY - ok - so we´re just low-level NSCs... why bother - stike again, Mr. Giant!!!

"intimidate checks" - "sister-bonus" - GREAT, GREEAT, GREATER!!! :)

I´m so happy, that I wrote all of this panel by panel during the rearing... - otherwise I absolutely wouldn´t have been able to think "happy thoughts" at all

MY POOR CHIEF!!! +gaaaaaaaaaaah+ !!!! :'(

And HE is the ONLY one who KNOWS!!!

:'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

"Help - ... - cleric! CLEARIC! AHRGH - never mind - HIGH PRIEST!!!"

[Heloisa]

My jaw has dropped. People in China have found my jaw sticking out of the ground.

I was completely not expecting this. Crud-monkey. Great Harry Howzer.

You can say that again!!! :o

HOLYCRAP!

[Pheldagriff]

poor chief

die nale, just die and stay dead

[yuccadude]

Technically, since Elan was the one raised fatherless, he is an actual bastard, but Nale's actions do warrant his bastardosity...

[Krytha]

CHIIEEEFFFFF!!! GAME OVER, MAN! GAME OVER!

[Toric]

The female cop is right. The dwarf did and still does indeed own.

[Winged One]

Okay, we get it! Nale is EVIL! I know that you need to remind us occasionally that it's not only Joke Evil, but still, we liked the guy he killed... :(

[eof]

Rather surprising. And interesting, too.

Recently, I was wondering about Nale and the things "foreshadowed" in 298 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0298.html) and 347 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0347.html). Was Nale actually having a plan, or was he insane---killing people for fun, not being consciously aware that the murder scenes formed patterns pointing to where he had planned to fight tOotS? Now it looks like it was his intent to get the police to the scene, something I previously didn't think made much sense, but it seems like he was planning to kill Chief all along.

Setting up Elan to take the blame? Not impossible at all... although...

... minispoiler, I guess: 347 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0347.html) and today's strip (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0360.html) might contain some related tidbits.

[Nighthawk4]

Wow, I wasn't expecting anything like that. :o

Poor Chief.

Nice line about the canvas and the half-moron template. :D

[sbwilson]

Great googly-moogly!

I'm actually quite surprised Nale did not have his goatee shaved...

If the chief is actually resurrected, butts will be kicked!

[Liliedhe]

Damn, that chief was cool though. What made it all the more jarring was that I'd just made the connection:

Chief + Cigars + Surliness.
Rookie + Oddly Competent + Orange Hair.

That bastard killed Vimes! Okay, not really, but he killed someone of Vimes's archetype!

:o You're right... And having read 'Thud' only yesterday, I really don't appreciate that...

So allow me to join with a heartfelt: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! The Bastard!

Maybe we should create a "Let's collect money for the resurrection of the Chief"-Fund, if the City isn't willing to pay for this ;D

[CynicalIllusionist]

Damn, the chief was one of my fav npc's....if I was Roy, i'd bull rush over there and give Nale some serious starmetal damage. Whats annoying is that Nale will probably get off free due to some plan. Out of all the OOTS enemies, he's the one who never really gets hurt, at most he got some slight damage from Roy and Celia last time....I think a near death (or preferably painful,painful death) experience would sort him right out. Where's Belkar when you need him?

[SirGalrim]

:O No not the chief!!!! :'(

[battleburn]

I know it has been said before, but...
Why the Chief, not the chief!!!
Not him of all people.
I was reading it, wondering what would happen next and then out of the blue Shuthunk... My favourite NPC down the drain.
This is the first time I sat before the Computer, jaw dropped. And I stared for half a minute before I could do anything.
I even tried scrolling down in hope there was an extra comic explaining it wasn't all that bad ;_;
So Giant, this killing better be essential to the plot.

I am going to weep some more

-Battleburn

[shockeroo]

:o

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

CHIEF!

>:(

[Delgarde]

Technically, since Elan was the one raised fatherless, he is an actual bastard, but Nale's actions do warrant his bastardosity...

Actually, neither of them are technically bastards, since their parents were married - if you recall, they divorced on the basis of unreconcilable alignment differences. Having the parents separate afterwards doesn't make either of them illegitimate.

[Bryn]

Since when did Nale have a vorpal sword?

I certainly wasn't expecting that ending, anyway.

Ouch.

[Sesquedoodle]

You killed the Chief! No! :'(

He was cool... He reminded me of Sam Vimes. *sniff*

Aside from that, good comic.

[Dhavaer]

NOOO!

Poor chiefy. :'(

[Freelance Henchman]

DO NOT WAAANNNNTTTT!!!!

/poor Chief. He was a good guy :(

[Holy_Knight]

If the good never died, there'd only be one hero throughout history. A single hero with a single face, rather than, as we truly have "The Hero with a Thousand Faces", as Pratchett puts it.

Pratchett might have made reference to it, but it's not his invention. "The Hero Wth a Thousand Faces" is a work by Joseph Campbell.

As for the comic, like everyone else I was fairly shocked by the last panel. I'm excited to see where it's all going.

[faerwain]

:o :o Now what the Nazgul !? :o

Okay, Kudos to Giant for some reasons:

- some great lines
- keeping the speed of action
- getting me surprised (that's not so seldom) and shocked(that is seldom)!

- and, especially, the courage-at the moment we're all down in awe, but I can nearly hear the forming warcry at the boards ;)

But I have a problem with Nale: Whatever could be the reason for this? He did it right in front of OotS and the remaining police force..they are so gonna beat him...

SPOILER: I also had Wolfger's suspicion that this might really be Elan under disguise and maybe charmed..what do you think? But would Elan be able to do such damage ? Might the mysterious knapsack maybe carry diamonds and a resurrection scroll as a ransom to the police?

EDITEd cause I took some classes in Legasthenic

[Mithreander]

This is so not a Nale move. Needless to say, it caught me by complete surprise. For once I had though Nale and his gang trully had the upper hand, their plan had worked completely and utterly, the OOTS group had no ideas as to what had happened or where to go from here to help Elan... it was great. I was looking forward to what direction they would decide to go in.

Well, it's a different direction then I had thought this would be heading, and that is always a good thing.

Loooking forward to the next few comics, thanks Giant.

[Gri]

Spoiler

I think the reason for why nale did this is in the chief last line...(hehe before the "im getting to old for-"). He wants him dead so the police fall for whatever his plan is.

[Ellimist]

Why the chief?? WHY NOT MIKO?!?

*Bleh*, well I guess he wasn't plot centric enough :'(

[Dagoth]

I still can't believe the chief is dead! He was one of my favorite NPCs!!! The horror!

I sure hope someone kicks Nale's backside ASAP.

[Retales]

Thank god, he died. That moustache was outrageous ::)

[Max_Sinister]

Damn! Poor chief. Hope he gets resurrected.

[Mortecareus]

Interesting how Nale's backstabbing of the Chief has shown many people how evil he is, and re-ignited their hatred of him, especially as he did backstab Elan a while back... C'mon guys, he nearly killed his twin brother, murdering some NPC policeman is not out of his league.

Having said that, I am suprised by him not simply leaving with Elan and the more valua- er, less expendable members of his team while he had the chance. I guess he wanted to cut down the chances of the police being able to track him, so it'd have to be the OotS who came after him.

finally, allow me to join the chorus going "noooo... i liked that guy!"

[Grumpy_Frenchman]

Well, this has me sufficiently bummed to join the forum and say: "But.. I liked the Chief!".


Grrr. ;D

[AtomicKitKat]

Snerk. Half-moron template... What is that, like -6 to all mental stats?

Masterwork item. Medusa mirror. Funny through and through.

[Chaingun]

Well, I'll make a couple of fearless predictions.

1. Those of you who want the Chief raised are gonna be disappointed. The Giant hasn't had anyone raised since the strip started. Why should he? If death is a mere temporary inconvenience then the strip loses tension and drama.

2. Those of you who want to see the cops or the OOTS smite Nale are also gonna be disappointed. He's already got his escape planned out. He's a killer but not an insane killer; he's a very calculating man. (As calculating as one can be with Thog in his team, that is.) Expeditious Retreat, anyone?

[GKBeetle]

That seemed completely random. I thought Nale was trying to get away now that he had Elan. Why would he show up just to kill the chief of police? That was just weird.

[TheDRaconicLord]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

NOT THE CHIEF!! ANYONE BUT THE CHIEF!!

Probably my favorite NPC of all this comic...I was even starting to enjoy him as much as Belkar when it comes to humor...and what about the rookie...he lost his mentor and he's the only good cop on all the squad...:'(

I want Nale to burn in the 9 rings of HELL for all eternity...

[Sebastian]

Either Nale got an assassin level or this is a plot related event, else it is very improbable (or even impossible) that he could have killed the chief with a single hit, even with sneak attack.

It is probably too much hope that someone could spare 5000 gp in diamonds to raise the chief, uh? :(

[Fillbert]

NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the Chief!!!!!!!!!!

[Pet_Flumph]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

NOT THE CHIEF!! ANYONE BUT THE CHIEF!!

Probably my favorite NPC of all this comic...I was even starting to enjoy him as much as Belkar when it comes to humor...and what about the rookie...he lost his mentor and he's the only good cop on all the squad...:'(

I want Nale to burn in the 9 rings of HELL for all eternity...
I was going to say it less dramatically, but whatever.

Ditto.

(Still a good comic, though. "Sense of a medusa putting on make-up." :D)

[Solmage]

Nooooooooooo!! I liked the cop!! :P

spoiler question: Dominated Elan? Sadistic Nale?

[Grey Watcher]

I dunnot if it is only me, but that CPPD woman has a *ahem* large chest. Especially compared to Julia. ???

I think it's a fudge so that he could fit "CPPD" on her armor.... Does make her rather chesty, though.

As for Nale screwing up tactically, you have to remember he's already been seen PARTICIPATING in the killing sprees with Thog, not just supervising. As I said earlier, I think he's just pouring salt in the wound by being seen murdering someone near and dear to the police force. Nale may be paranoid, vengeful, and petty, but he's not stupid. He wouldn't pull something like this unless he had some kind of plan to get away afterwards.

[Marcus]

Nice one! Sure didn't see that one coming, and the element of surprise is a very effective one.

Oh, and I loved the medusa joke ;D

[Om]

As for Nale screwing up tactically, you have to remember he's already been seen PARTICIPATING in the killing sprees with Thog, not just supervising. As I said earlier, I think he's just pouring salt in the wound by being seen murdering someone near and dear to the police force. Nale may be paranoid, vengeful, and petty, but he's not stupid. He wouldn't pull something like this unless he had some kind of plan to get away afterwards.
Just being evil for kicks or killing because he can?

Its possible I suppose but it doesn't seem to fit with my perception of Nale. I'd expect this murder to serve some sort of purpose. After all, what's the point of having to plan another escape when you're already half way to Mexico?

Either way I'll not lose any sleep over the police chief. He was a funny cliche but a cliche nonetheless ;)

[Dawnstrider_Moogle]

:( Poor chief...he should have had a line like "only two weeks to retirement" or something, because all fictional cops die right before they can retire.

He was really awesome...maybe he can be raised, like the guard that Belkar killed?

[Evil_Pacifist]

Poor guy... Maybe they'll honor him by making salsa out of him.

[Rama_Lei]

Aw, I loved the cheif. Too bad.

[Hyrael]

I dunnot if it is only me, but that CPPD woman has a *ahem* large chest. Especially compared to Julia. ???
What? So she's very big chested. and?

julia's boobs arent that big: compare them to haley's. probably she just has very well-shaped ones that she knows how to show off, otherwise they wouldnt get her professors to pay attention to her.

Jeez, I cant bleeive Im talking about boobs at a time like this. I mean, Cheif is dead! I must be trying to avoid thinking about it. that was cheif, man! there better be a good reason for killing someone vimesesque. the cheif could have been a chance to show off that NPCs can be as competent as adventurers, or something.

Wow. I wonder who is eviler, nale or xykon? Ok, the lich has killed tons of poeple's loved ones in front of them, and he sacrifices minions the way I throw away kleenex, but somehow, I have the feeling that the people he killed were those he had a grudge with, or somehow angered him (they tried to stop his evil plans, that sort of thing). Xykon wouldnt stoop to murdering 1st level commoners and beloved police cheifs because his plan called for it, he'd stick to dueling with other powerful spellcasters. Nale on the other hand...well, I mean, look at the comic!

[StarWidget]

poor, poor chief... but it had to happen - the more vocal of the NPCs usually either joins for a bit, dies, or both.

And a funny strip, this one - keeps us on our toes. Sadly, a whole weekend lies ahead before we know what the heck Nale was thinking!

(Seems odd to kill the chief when he, likely, didn't pose a threat. I'm sure there was a reason, though. Perhaps for distraction?)

[Blood]

That caught me off guard, once again. Beautiful.

[lor_mike]

Wow, now thats what I call a plot twist. Never saw it coming.

And since the hes not on best favors with the mayor probly not gonna get the res either.

[Calsan]

Aaaw a important NPC decapitated what a waste. It was such a funny one aswell. Well random killing about. I love the rest of the comic tho ;D

[bexie]

What a nice little plot twist.

I wonder what Nale was thinking...

Doesn't really matter I guess, since he's evil and more than likely insane. ;D

[EmeraldRose]

Wow, my jaw actually dropped. It took a minute to sink in as I hadn't finished my first cup of coffee yet...
poor chief... :'(

What a look of glee of Nale's face...

[Crusher]

While Nale certainly has a weakness for the dramatic and isn't as smart as he'd like to think, he's not an idiot. This is too colossal a tactical mistake to have been an accident. Nale knows what he's doing and this is part of the plan.

So, what's the plan, then? Any chance the killer wasn't actually Nale, but was, in fact, a disguised and ensorceled Elan? Seems unlikely, but I can't think of another explanation. Maybe a drugged Elan is stashed nearby and the dumb low-level officers won't be able to tell the difference.

[Loki_d20]

I hope there's some darn closure soon. With how long this whole scendario is being played out and the majority of surprised followed up with even larger surprises, it's getting kind of long.

Unfortunately, my main issue is that Nale is making the OotS look fairly ignorant and stupid to boot throughout the whole scenario. I know it's common in respect to the DM always having all of the information and allowing his NPCs to use it as needed to foil the PCs, but when used in the comic and in this manner (length of time), it becomes fairly painful to read :(

At least not one single person here expected the beheading of the chief. Perhaps that's a jab at all the predictions made here on the forum, but I really liked the chief and all of the detective/buddy cop movie references.

[Fri]

holy apple pies...

that was... jawdropping... really

and the chief had become one of my favourite characters...

[Renegade Paladin]

CHIEF! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Anyway, has Nale been drinking stupid juice? He got Elan, and now he's exposing himself with the entire rest of the Order of the Stick and the other cops standing right there. He should be about three rounds from getting owned.

[Shatteredtower]

I don't know why everyone thinks the Chief is dead.

No, no, really, think: Nale just cut down a 6th level warrior with a single swing of the blade. Flat-footed allows the sneak attack, sure, but even with an average build and middle age, the Chief's averaging 27 hp. Assuming the blade does 12, Nale would probably need at least 11 rogue levels to cut the chief down to -10 hp, which leaves you wondering how many he had to spare for fighter and sorcerer.

So obviously he couldn't pussibly have killed the chief. No, what we've really seen is a clever use of major image. The Chief never made it to the crime scene in the first place! The observant among you should have noticed how he'd been kidnapped back at HQ, and how Nale has been cleverly manipulating police actions via his illusion spells, right up to the point of faking this beheading! No doubt illusory guards will even come up to haul the "corpse" away for a proper police funeral.

And isn't it obvious why he's doing this? It's so he'll be able to manipulate the chief's new successor, the redhead (who else -- it's not like they're going to select someone on the basis of some nonsense like seniority or the like), informing him secretly that his Chief is still alive, but that if the new chief doesn't do exactly as Nale tells him, that won't last long.

Come on, folks! It's staring you in the face! We're witnessing the prelude to the ransom of Red's Chief!

;)

[Loki_d20]

CHIEF! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Anyway, has Nale been drinking stupid juice? He got Elan, and now he's exposing himself with the entire rest of the Order of the Stick and the other cops standing right there. He should be about three rounds from getting owned. No, and for the exact reason you just stated, he's got Elan. Well, that is if Nale knew about how Haley felt about Elan, which may lead to her revealing in a major way how she feels about him.


So obviously he couldn't pussibly have killed the chief. No, what we've really seen is a clever use of major image. The Chief never made it to the crime scene in the first place! The observant among you should have noticed how he'd been kidnapped back at HQ, and how Nale has been cleverly manipulating police actions via his illusion spells, right up to the point of faking this beheading! No doubt illusory guards will even come up to haul the "corpse" away for a proper police funeral. I dunno. What are the chances that Nale has 6 levels in Sorcerer? :p

[Shatteredtower]

I dunno. What are the chances that Nale has 6 levels in Sorcerer? :p

A little smaller than the odds he's got a good modifer in his Use Magic Device skill and access to scrolls. ;)

[morbiczer]

Don't know whether this has been mentione yet, but if you look really close, you'll see that the Chief can't be dead.

His eyes aren't crosses!!!

:) :)

[The_Kobold_Hero]

Aww... Poor Chief... :'(

But now, evil has struck back!! AH HA HA HA!!

[although]

Come on, folks! It's staring you in the face! We're witnessing the prelude to the ransom of Red's Chief!
;)
Ugh. That was...awful. And kind of brilliant. And I never saw it coming. (And I just realized that I could equally well be talking about your pun or the last panel of the strip!)

[baltor85]

I'm getting the feeling that part of the "captured by Miko" storyline will repeat itself.\

Spoiler:


I'm guessing that either "a band of adventurers with a blonde" or "An evil blonde" will get blamed for this, and since Nale will probably disappear, that blonde will be Elan.

[Goofy]

I didn't want the Chief to die. He was an excellent NPC. One of those NPCs you want to recur, like Shojo, Hinjo and Mr. Scruffy.

[Minimiscience]

Nooooooooooo! You chopped his head off, damn you! Damn you, damn you all to Hell!

[Falkus]

1. Those of you who want the Chief raised are gonna be disappointed. The Giant hasn't had anyone raised since the strip started. Why should he? If death is a mere temporary inconvenience then the strip loses tension and drama.

Actually, you're sort of wrong aboout this. What exactly is Belkar's share of the treasure being used to pay for right now?

[Logos7]

I think it was the lack of X's in the eyes that made it that more poiignant.

I dont think a vorpal sword is out of the running for doing the killing as apposed to combo sneak attack/death attack or some such silliness. 72,000gp is a lot but not unimaginable for someone of these levels ( 12 ishes i thinks)

Logos

[imageek]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! He killed the chief.. DESTROY NALE DESTROY HIM

[xatm092]

Medusa checking its makeup lol

[Krytha]

haha Im getting too old for this - OHSHI- DANNY GLOVER!

[klinneivo]

I really felt that last panel didn't fit in with the order of the stick. Not only did I love thne chief as a character, but his beheading? That was gruesome. If he had to die, he should have been stabbed through the torso, like when Nale stabbed Elan way back in Xykons Lair.

[Kaerou]

So? I loved YikYik and YikYok and was grossed out by their deaths.. its a comic, dont take it too seriously.

Anyway, on to my post: Awesome comic.. pitty for the chief though! =(

[FuziSlipers]

*insert moment of silence for the Chief here*

[Imhotep]

My deepest sadness for chief's death is only matched by my unbound happiness that Nale finally did something stupid enough to get killed for..!

Or not. Shoot, the wait to see is killing me! Times like this make one wish for foresight.

[AyuVince]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe this is the first time a non-evil NPC with a name gets killed in the strip.

Wrong. Remember Fruit Pie the Sorcerer? Or Milk Dudes?

Anyway... R.I.P. Chief. At least the police will now have the OotSers' attention. And there's still Julia standing about six feet away from Nale. Roy won't allow her to be endangered by the LG again.

[Hallavast]

He one-shotted Sipowicz!!! UBER PWNAGE!!!!

[Sir_Norbert]

Actually, you're sort of wrong aboout this. What exactly is Belkar's share of the treasure being used to pay for right now?
We know what it's meant to be being used to pay for, but what it's actually being used to pay for is random adventurers killing random kobolds ;)

[Allandaros]

I just want to point out that 10 pages of people lamenting the Chief's death shows that the Giant's doing a good job at getting us to identify with and empathize with his characters.

Ahem.

NAAAAAAALLLEEEEEEE!!!

Thank you.

[the_tick_rules]

Odd choice for Nale. Showing up with the entire order of the stick and city guards nearby. Must be up to something.

[Rambi]

Chief? NOOOOOOOOOO great comic! OOOOO!!!

[BlueWizard]

Way to raise the villainy bar, Rich! ! ! ! ! !

I'd hate to see Nale get away, but he's so great as a lead-bad-guy!

[gregory_carslaw]

I think it's the look on Nales face that makes it horrific. It looks like he was filled with joy at the killing. It's not just a smile it's a full teethed grin, that's a severe level of depravity.

I do like the cigar falling from his mouth for the first time in ever though. Also the "medusa checking her makeup" joke. Priceless :D

[KaroLunel]

That is funny how people will use other people in games just to get bonuses on checks.
And half moron template, funny. I wonder if it's more powerful than the regular moron template (like with celestial and half celestial).

[Varian7]

Wow, I really didn't expect that. Poor Chief!

[Falkus]

I just hope that this storyline ends with Nale's death.

[KeiranHalcyon]

<shatner>NAAAAAAAAALEEEEEEEEE!</shatner>
<skywalker>NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!</skywalker>

[Sky_Schemer]

I really felt that last panel didn't fit in with the order of the stick.

The strip has a long history of beheadings and other gruesome deaths, dating all the way back to the coup de grace's of strip 11. Others have gotten into the act, too. Miko sliced Samantha in half, and sliced-and-diced one ogre into tiny pieces. There's also Thog and Nale's escape from prison, where Sabine stuck her arm through the chest of a guard.

The list goes on and on...

I'd say that last panel fits right in.

[DougTheHead]

Haha! Die, Chief, die! Accept the fate of all characters that play off of movie archetypes!

Although I will be a little frustrated if it turns out that Nale's plan was just to kill the chief of police. I'm hoping that gets tacked up to "act of (un)neccessary violence."

[Orzel]

The Chief?
Noooooo!

Someone get some diamonds and a Cleric.
Quick!
We need some smart mino non-villianr NPCs.

[mr.bob]

Woah, Nale's got a vorpal sword!

Is it that or do arch villians just get automatic decapitation vs weak NPCs?

[nougat]

Is it too far of a stretch to call that a "Cop de Grace"?


...someone should hit me for that one.

[TinSoldier]

*hits nougat*

;D I love puns!

[Samiam303]

You CANNOT BEAT a comic that ends with someone suddenly getting decapitated out of the blue. ;D

[Celisasu]

Belkar goes and murders the innocent and everyone goes "cool". Nale goes and murders the innocent and everyone goes "EGAD! HOW EVIL!".

Anyways I do wonder what his ultimate goal is. Nale while prone to making his plots somewhat overly complex, isn't actually a fool. So he probably has a reason for decapitating the chief in front of everyone. Well in addition to having fun doing it.

[Imhotep]

Still... that move was so Thog.

Well the good news is, maybe Nale will try to get away with it and V will use Evan's Spiked Tentacles of Forced Intrusion on him.

Revenge!

[imageek]

SPIKED TENTACLES OF FORCE INTRUSION.... YA GO V

[Vreejack]

I half-expected the chief to die the moment he mentioned the new smart guy. Note that this new person has not been seen, so I guessed that it was Nale himself, maybe, or simply someone we have not met. Since Giant has been hammering home the idea that everyone on the force is an idiot (except Chief and the new guy) then the new guy will likely take over.

I don't see it as being Nale, though. I think the chief would have caught on. Maybe his shape-changed gf? She already poses as a cop. Or maybe it is just someone Nale doesn't even know about. Anyway, the moment the Chief described the mental resources of the CPPD the scene was set for its figurative decapitation. The fact that it was performed literaly was a nice touch.

[battleburn]

Every comic the Chief has been in, the new guy, commonly known as 'The Rookie', was in too. The first time was in 339. You know the guy with the red hair...

And its the truth. He is the only one, next to the Chief of course that has shown any sign of common sense.

[FuziSlipers]

Belkar goes and murders the innocent and everyone goes "cool". Nale goes and murders the innocent and everyone goes "EGAD! HOW EVIL!".


Of course. We like Belkar! You never want to call the characters you like evil, just misunderstood (think Raistlin). Whereas bad guys doing the typical bad guy behaviors... evil.

If Belkar were in the Linear Guild, we wouldn't love him nearly so much. It is the fact that he is blatantly not well behaved, the bad boy of the group easily, that makes him interesting. Obviously we think there has to be a smidgeon of good, or else he wouldn't still be around.

Nale is behaving how he ought to, evilly, and we are reacting as a good audience should.. *clears throat and then mimicks* "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

[Chaingun]

I really don't think that's a drugged/ensorceled/mind controlled Elan. Elan would be more likely to decapitate himself with a longsword.

[hyikim]

I really don't think that's a drugged/ensorceled/mind controlled Elan. Elan would be more likely to decapitate himself with a longsword.


i doubt he even knows what decapitate means

[wowy319]

My theory is that Nale is going to pin the blame on Elan. I'm not sure how, but Nale did want his twin to suffer as much as possible before he dies. what better way to cause pain in someone who loves everyone and everything than to make him despised by an entire city?

[Alsadius]

NOOOO! COP-WITH-A-MOUSTACHE!!!!!

*ahem*

Sorry about that, I just tend to react that way when nifty characters die while setting a new zero-to-decapitation record.

[Flabbicus]

I half-expected the chief to die the moment he mentioned the new smart guy. Note that this new person has not been seen, so I guessed that it was Nale himself, maybe, or simply someone we have not met. Since Giant has been hammering home the idea that everyone on the force is an idiot (except Chief and the new guy) then the new guy will likely take over.

I don't see it as being Nale, though. I think the chief would have caught on. Maybe his shape-changed gf? She already poses as a cop. Or maybe it is just someone Nale doesn't even know about. Anyway, the moment the Chief described the mental resources of the CPPD the scene was set for its figurative decapitation. The fact that it was performed literaly was a nice touch.


He was talking about the rookie with the orange hair that kept helping him, not Nale.

[Krytha]

argh Julia! Attention whore! Why?

[TheLamentation]

I'm not going to read through 12 pages to find the first person that suggested that Elan did the killing, but that's what I suspect.

Why would Nale decapitate the police chief? He's not a threat, and doing so would expose Nale. The person that kills him near the Order of the Stick will promptly be attacked by them, and if Nale is alone, that battle won't go well for him.

But, if he forces Elan to do it with some spell and a fake goatee, and the Order of the Stick kills Elan... then he's gotten his revenge in a way far more effective than killing them outright.

[imageek]

I wonder if half-moron is an aqquired or inhereted template ;D

[Om]

With all the talk of the Chief's death… did anyone notice the similarities between the cheering cops (first panel) and the forum members? Their praise of Durkon rang very familiar ;)

[Duggan]

My first reaction was that Nale must be using the alternate critical tables, you know, the ones where if you confirm twice on a hit, you get additional effects like cracked ribs, decapitation, and the like. Our DM uses those in the current campaign I'm in, adds a whole new spice to the fights. Of course, the enemies we fight have those too, and there's a set of critical fumble tables for rolling a 1 which don't require confirms... In particular, the ranger in our party has accidentally killed at least one party member when rolling a critical fumble, something we remind her of every chance we can get.

Admittedly, adding in that kind of critical hit setup makes the world a more dangerous place. The DM has had to add in a low-level (5th, I think) resurrection spell (Nature's Breath is the nature-based one and I know there's a second clerical one) that costs very little but has to be cast within a round of death. He's also had to make rulings on what will or will not heal lost limbs. Basically, nature magic and a few high-level clerical spells will regenerate but most healing just seals the stump, which eliminates limb replacement outside of warforged and grafts, or maybe a Wish or the like.

Anyhow, rambling outside of the topic aside, I'm very much enjoying what Rick is doing here. You can tell how much he's made us care about these NPCs...

[Vaarsuvius_Prime]

Chief said he's chief before his head on pike in 356...

[Imhotep]

Nale probably wanted to mess with the police in the first place.

He did point them to where the fight was going to take place.
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0347.html

More or less. :-X

[Felinoid]

You CANNOT BEAT a comic that ends with someone suddenly getting decapitated out of the blue. ;D

Well, you can, but it doesn't work very well against paper unless the beating apparatus has some sort of protrusions to catch and tear at it. :P

[Krytha]

Well, you can, but it doesn't work very well against paper unless the beating apparatus has some sort of protrusions to catch and tear at it. :P

We need a new chief for the semantics police too

[Carrion_Humanoid]

Hehe, Smoking Kills

[Nightfall]

Nuts and fudge. I liked the Chief. :(

[Lord_Kimboat]

With all the speculation of why Nale killed the Chief I thought I would throw my own 2cp in. I have two theories which may both be true. First, he's trying to get Julia back. Keeping her was part of his plan which is why Pompey was guarding her.

Second, it was to get the OotS to follow him and maybe let someone rescue the druid. My guess is that he's got an escape plan which will make him difficult to follow.

I also have to say I liked the chief and hope V starts warming up those tenticles for Nale!

[Weiser_Cain]

Thus is the fate of low level NPC's

[Celisasu]

Oh, I never said I didn't like Belkar(he's actually my favorite). Just commenting on how he's done just as much(if not more) evil as Nale and how people are more shocked at Nale's actions.

I think that's really Nale and not Elan. If it was Elan it'd have been a rapier, not a longsword.

[Ishmayl]

Pulled a Joss Whedon and Jenny Calendar on us... good comic.

[skreweded]

masterwork item joke: funny

Decapitation: unexpected, interesting, and cool!

[Duggan]

Of course, the enemies we fight have those too, and there's a set of critical fumble tables for rolling a 1 which don't require confirms... In particular, the ranger in our party has accidentally killed at least one party member when rolling a critical fumble, something we remind her of every chance we can get.
And, of course, in today's gaming session, I got hit with the results of two critical fumbles in a single session. First, our half-orc kensai managed to fumble his strike, managing to hit the "roll two more times" entry in the table and then proceeding to hit "Trip and hit head during fall, unconscious for 1d4 rounds" and "Critical hit on nearest ally." That critical hit removed over half of my hitpoints (I was 3 short of having to fort save for massive damage) and sheared off one of my fingers. In the same fight, the ranger cited above critically fumbled her bow-shot, caromming a shot off of the half-orc for regular damage, and then critting me for a gut-shot that took me to prone. *wince* And in the fight right before that, a bad guy managed to take out an eye on the cleric. Those crit tables run both ways... thank goodness for that nature-based regeneration spell. Oh, and during the battle where I got critted twice by my team mates, our psionicist got critted by a spiked chain, giving him a primitive lobotomy of 1d6 int points and a dazed status for several rounds.

Anyhow, back to the comic, I think Nale is more or less rubbing it in that he and his group can literally get away with murder. The police (lowly NPCs that they are) obviously can't stop him and the OOtS are being kept busy shielding civilians and the like. My bet is on Julia being used as a distraction (damaged enough that the party needs to heal her, delayed magic curse, bomb on the back of her shirt that everyone's failed their spot checks for) and Belkar being in position to beat Nale, but being unable to due to his Mark. ^_^ Nothing like the dilemna of realizing that the reason your team failed to protect innocents is because you hobbled one of your fighters...

[Kaeri]

Didn't see that coming at all - wasn't expecting Nale to go direct for the police boss - guess he decided no-one was noticing him enough - doesn't look good for Elan then i'd guess,

[melekashiro]

I'll miss this chief... here some pearls of his:

[Sad backsound on]
The mayor is so anxious for us to close this case, you'd think he put max ranks into Ride (my ass) Skill

I Didn't claw my way up through six levels of warrior to be outsmarted by some lowlife serial killer

I have NEVER seen so many cops standing around doing nothing since that time the Donut Charriot was an hour late!

Did somebody apply the half-moron template to your base creature?

Get your low-level asses out there and canvans the neighborhood!

Don't be afraid to make a few Intimidate Checks, you're the law in this town. Take the sister, you might get a circunstance bonus on it.

I Swear, if weren't for the new kid, this whole squad would have the commom sense of a medusa checking her make-up.

Bon Voyage, chief... Bon Voyage!

[Zeb The Troll]

I'll miss this chief... here some pearls of his:
Interesting that for your memorial photo you chose the scene that has Nale's sword already on the downswing towards Chief's neck...

Zeb

[melekashiro]

Interesting that for your memorial photo you chose the scene that has Nale's sword already on the downswing towards Chief's neck...

>sninf< dont remind me that! I will fail my will check agains sorrow!

[Harliquinn]

Sorry worst comic ever for me. I liked the Chief and thought that was a huge disservice :(

[Imhotep]

Interesting that for your memorial photo you chose the scene that has Nale's sword already on the downswing towards Chief's neck...
Was going to say just that but you beat me to it.

Use another one of Chief's pics, you owe it to him! :'(

[Kanashimi]

wow. nothing like a beheading to get someone's attention.

[KeiranHalcyon]

@Duggan - while I agree that critical hit tables can add spice to combat, I do not like your group's version of critical fumbles (unless there's something I'm missing; see below). In order for critical fumbles to make sense, some sort of confirmation has to be put in that reduces the chance of an actual fumble the better your BAB is. Otherwise, if you get a fumble anytime you roll a natural 1, what happens is that as you gain more attacks per round due to BAB increase, your chance of getting a fumble on any given round actually increases, which is contrary to the notion that you get better at fighting as you level up.

[Omellette]

Think about this for a second...

Nale just executed a Level 6 Warrior with a single stroke.

Not to get all rules-y here, but that's 6d10, not including any Con bonuses and Bonus Feats (at least 4), or the extra 10 to put the Chief (*sniffles*) at -11.

IN. ONE. STROKE.

Even "taking 20", that's a ton of damage. What the heck sword does he have there (which looks suspiciously like Roy's, but with a red hilt)?!?

*...is stunned by that, even more so than the Chief getting splorched...*

[Snake-Aes]

Warrior is an NPC class (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/npcClasses/warrior.htm).
No Bonus feats.D8 hit die.
Would you say the Chief has more than 55~ years?

[devoss]

"We're not here for the druid chucklehead, we're here for a pair of serial killers"

Did I miss something? How does he know it's a pair? Or is the chief not as innocent as we've been led to believe?

[melekashiro]

Would you say the Chief has more than 55~ years?

oots0339 - He is a 32 years veteran at CPPD. He must be at least 46 (considering adulthood in medieval times were 14 and he ingressed immediately at CPPD), but probably 50... 52... maybe more.


"We're not here for the druid chucklehead, we're here for a pair of serial killers"

Did I miss something? How does he know it's a pair? Or is the chief not as innocent as we've been led to believe?

Read oots0339 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0339.html).

Bad boys, bad boys,
What you're gonna do?
What you're gonna do
When CHief comes for You?...

[the_tick_rules]

he knew it was a pair of people because the "forensics" report of the murdered bodies showed there was a +3 d12 and a +3 d8 weapon used in killing them. And reports of a suspicious human and half-orc were heard of. So he assumed these two were doing it with the above mentioned weapons.

pair of killers.
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0339.html

weapons report.
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0347.html

[Doug_Lampert]

Either Nale got an assassin level or this is a plot related event, else it is very improbable (or even impossible) that he could have killed the chief with a single hit, even with sneak attack.

It is probably too much hope that someone could spare 5000 gp in diamonds to raise the chief, uh? :(If he was actually decapitated it takes 10,000gp for a resurect since raise requires an intact body.

In any case the chief is a level 6 warrior, average HP are 27 (6d8, could be more, could be less, if the chief has aged his Con could well be down reducing this average to 21 or so).

Nale thus probably needs to inflict 37 HP or less for a clean single shot kill. He's about level 13 and a Ftr/Rog/Sor multiclass, so probably about 1d8+3d6+5+strength mod (+5 because he should have specialization and we know he has a +3 weapon).

It's barely possible that Nale could single-shot the chief even with the cheif undamaged and without a crit, if the chief was damaged or Nale critted a single shot kill becomes reasonably likely (say 16 strength buffed, that gives a 2d8+3d6+16 crit for 35.5 damage on average). Remember that the chief is quite possibly not worth any XP for Nale, they're not in the same league.

[Kakashi]

wow. the chief died. moving along..... i never did like the chief.

[Snake-Aes]

"Looks like I've picked the wrong week to quit sniffing pixie dust."

Fey, now with adicting components!

I'll miss the Chief :'(

[Adventurer]

The death of the Chief surprised me as well but I'm more surprised that almost everyone only mentioned that and not all those great jokes in the rest of the strip!

"Let's totally pay attention to you!"
"Half-moron template to your base creature"
"I know a place that sells the canvas by the yard"
"So what, I'm a masterwork item now?" (circumstance bonus reference)
"The common sense of a medusa checking her make-up"

Say what you will about the one last panel, but the other 9 as a group were among the most hillarious of all time! ;D

[EthanAlshire]

I like how everyone but Belkar's looking angrily at Leeky. Belkar seems rather 'meh.'

[Erimore]

I don't know...if I were the chief, I'd have .....
** spoiler **
some sort of contingency spell on me with a heal/resurrect/whatever

Also note that his eyes aren't x-ed over....
** end spoiler **

...my wife making me an apple pie for after work.

[Warbanner]

So far, all the spoilers have speculated that Nale is going to pin this on Elan (sorry for not spoiler blocking that myself, but at 11pm on Monday, it's not likely too many will even see this before the next strip is up...). And while I agree that the ' smart rookie' has to come into this somehow as well, I think people are giving Nale far less credit for deviousness than they should (remember, he's the opposite of Elan, and Elan's an idiot).

So, here's what I think: Nale did the killing, and will make his getaway. He's also magicked Elan into thinking that HE is Nale, and will leave him as a dupe to be caught. But wait, there's more! Nale will then pretend to be Elan, and let the OotS 'save' him, allowing him to infiltrate the OotS, and wreak havoc on them from within! After all, the alternative is to allow the OotS the opportunity to try and clear Elan; they wouldn't do that if they didn't KNOW it was Elan...

Now THAT'S a plot twist.

[Nightmarenny]

So am I only one here that knows that cutting someones head off isn't instant kill? He wont have those X for a few seconds.

[Kish]

I don't know...if I were the chief, I'd have .....
** spoiler **

...because every sixth-level warrior has access to Contingency, Heal, and Resurrect spells. ???

[wykaegis]

poor chief

[Lloyd]

...because every sixth-level warrior has access to Contingency, Heal, and Resurrect spells. Huh

Well, we don't know how big the town is, so there might be a cleric with access to the spells there. We also don't know the Cheif's background: he may have traveled and/or made friends with a cleric in the past.

I also think it's too soon to count the Cheif out, though.

[Warbanner]

Okay, can we count him out NOW?


P.S. Yay, I called it!