OOTS #357 - The Discussion Thread

[The Giant]

New comic is finally up.

Sorry about the technical difficulties; I'm once again the victim of my own regularity. I was unable to access the server to post the comic until now, even though it was done at 11:30. RawBear is looking into adjusting the server so this doesn't happen again.

[The Demented One]

Hehe. That was a good one. I'm respecting Belkar more and more.

[Thomar_of_Uointer]

Nearly a first post.

Ahh, you've gotta love the adventurer economy. Wow, Belkar's really thinking outside the box here.

[Liquid]

Great comic - first post - what a great beginning of a day :)

EDIT: OMG while I was typing two people beat me to it :o

[aryeh88]

wow, that's amazing. i never thought Belkar could be that smart.

Edit: first page!

[Dire_Weasel]

I don't know if I've ever seen Belkar do anything nearly that smart.

Also, first page!

[OmegaDonut]

Thank you, Belkar, for making my day!

EDIT: Also interesting to note just how neat Belkar's writing is, even while he's running from a kobold!

[mmm_grape_juice]

so he finally found a way around the mark of justice

[Xilehxt]

Ingenius! Go belkar. That was really clever of him to think of that. Normally players just try to kill enemis by them selves.

First page? I guess I'm lucky some days.

[Brianish]

Glorious.

[Nightmarenny]

Belkar was always clever just short-sighted. Thats where his weakness lie's.

[Sleed]

Ohh shi-
lol :D

nice one

first time first page btw.

[The_Bug]

Heh, glad to see a resolution for Belkar and Yokyok. I was wondering. (First Page!)

[SixOfSpades]

Yay Belkar obeying the spirit of the law!

Too bad he'll never get his beer, though.

[Zzarchov]

Aw, the tavern :P

You'd think there would be CHEAPER places for impoverished heroes to seek adventure, like town hall?

[ZMAKER]

I've been lurking around here for months Giant and I have to say you've got an amazing thing going here with OOTS!

This ish?

Very, VERY Funny!
(Not to mention clever...go Belkar!)
;D

Kudos Giant -- and continued success with this series.

[Nobody1225]

He managed to write all that, that neatly, while running?

Wow. He must have truly remarkable dexterity....

But it takes more than good penmanship to win my respect!

[Sky_Schemer]

Ha! I loved it! Fabulous gag there at the end.

It's nice to see Belkar outsmarting his enemies. I wonder if he raised his Int when he leveled? ;)

[Fuu]

A I was doping to see this. This one really probes that there’s more than a way to enjoy destroying your enemies. Belkar find the way to see the Kobold’s blood and don’t mess with the curse all in a little piece of paper!!

[Aerysil1]

Yay for more DnD parody!

Brings back memories of poor little, uh, Blackwing, or whatever its name is: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0154.html

And what's with Mr. Green Tattoo wizard? Hold him still while I translate his face.

I was actually kinda hoping that Durkon's intervention would free up V to save Belkar, who would save Haley, etc. Oh well, so much for predictions.

[Skyserpent]

Aww... I liked Inigo Mon-... erm... Yokyok

[Winged One]

Adventurers hiring adventurers...that is hilarious and these are the only possible circumstances under which it could happen. ;D

[spectralphoenix]

"More plot-critical characters than you have tried and failed"

Genius.

[Felinoid]

Ah, the joys of playing a humanoid instead of a demi-human. I remember it well... ;D

[Blackeagle]

I love all the OOtS strips, but I have to say that this is one of the funniest. Literally laugh out loud funny.

Belkar: evil, yet ingenious.

[Tomada]

months without posting...


This one just deserved my respect, and more.

congrats

[wombat31]

Great comic giant, but i think i see where this is heading but i won't say until i can figure out how to put spoiler tags on something

[Nu]

"More plot-critical characters than you have tried and failed"

Sweet.

[Xenon]

hurt yourself laughing funny!
especialy cause its true ;)

[Mordeus_Dire]

So typical of d&d towns.
Halfling must = Good
Kobold must = Evil
I've had that trouble with my kobold sorcerer character.

Mind you, I like the way the noble (Probably LG) kobold is taking on the CE Belkar.

[CynicalIllusionist]

Very nice, great comic. I think any doubts about Belkars intelligence are quelled, he not only pulled that off but also correctly identified the purpose of the giant control weather lightning bolt.

Oh yeah, has Bekar ever referred to the others as being "my side"? It seems a it unusual for him, what with the sociopathic murderer thing.

[SumGuy]

Cue the Lawyers with a racial discrimination suit in 5...4...3...

[OzymandiasVolt]

It's always the tavern, isn't it? ;)

[TinSoldier]

This comic was okay. Nothing in particular stands out except for Belkar using the tried and true tavern to hire adventurers.

It would have been better had he gone into the tavern and become the "mysterious dark stranger" to hire adventurers, but he was pressed for time and the strip is pressed for number of panels.

Rating: 5/10.

[Skyserpent]

This comic was okay. Nothing in particular stands out except for Belkar using the tried and true tavern to hire adventurers.

It would have been better had he gone into the tavern and become the "mysterious dark stranger" to hire adventurers, but he was pressed for time and the strip is pressed for number of panels.

Rating: 5/10.


that's a 50%...

that's a "Failing" grade! Come on, it was at least a 75-80%

[zimri]

So who gets the xp for that ? The person that kills yok yok or belkar for finding a clever way to overcome his challenge ?

[TinSoldier]

that's a 50%...

that's a "Failing" grade! Come on, it was at least a 75-80%No no no! 5/10 for OotS is still better than 8/10 for most webcomics! (Except Goblins).

It means average. If I didn't like the strip I would have rated it 2 or 3. Of all of the OotS comics I can think of, only one would rate a 3. I can't think of any that would go below that.

Average for OotS is still very good indeed.


(Not average for OotS overall which would probably be 6.5 out of 10, but then again I was never very good at statistics.)

[sbwilson]

Heh

Love the rumbling before the tavern door flies open. I have a perfect mental image (sound?) of that...and it is still making me smile. ;D

[Skyserpent]

I agree... that last panel was quite... Rumbleworthy.

[LesserHellspawn]

Belkar was always clever just short-sighted. Thats where his weakness lie's.
And that'll get him into trouble again shortly I guess. I doubt that he is able to actually pay up ;D

[yuccadude]

first and foremost, where did the tape come from?

[Elurindel]

Excelent comic, truly some of your best stuff. We see Belkar cause horrible death without lifting a finger. Does this mean he's committed a Lawful act? :o (I was never sure how one commits an act of Law specifically, rather than just following the law). But seriously, great job, Belkar. May your resourcefulness never know bounds ;D


Very nice, great comic. I think any doubts about Belkars intelligence are quelled, he not only pulled that off but also correctly identified the purpose of the giant control weather lightning bolt.



Belkar seems to me as the sort that would, if he could, leave if there was something in it for him, but at that moment in time, it's in his best interests toconsider the OOTS as his side.

[TheFallenOne]

Now there should be no more doubt about Belkars good intelligence

I wonder if he gets XP fot this solution

[Martok]

I agree... that last panel was quite... Rumbleworthy.
LOL! You took the words right out of my mouth. :D

This is definitely one of my favorite Belkar strips thus far. Good to see him actually use his noggen for once. I'm guessing it will probably be some time before it happens again. ;)

[LordOfNarf]

That was a grat comic of belkar actually exrcising his brains, since we all know that he has them. Also a LG LG member finnaly worked ;D. And I loved the "More plot critical cahrtachets have tried and failed: Line.

[Rusty]

How do they know about the note? It's on the outside and not in the window so they couldn't possible see it...Or was that part of the joke?

[drunkmonk]

Belkar is like Nixon.

Intelligent yes.

Wise no.

DM

PS - I like belkar and nixon.

[Ronald_saveloy]

Just a thought: Has Belkar any money at all to pay the adventurers? Otherwise, they probably would kill for XP again - namely himself.

[tis_tom]

Belkar's an absolute genius!

I have so much respect for that halfling!

[Nikolai_II]

first and foremost, where did the tape come from?

It came from the cat.

http://www.scalzi.com/whatever/004457.html

[bosssmiley]

Magnificent conniving b*st*rdry on the part of Belkar, and a subtle dig at the mechanics of classic adventuring by the Giant. Almost sorry to see the vengeful little kobold go though. :-/

[Calsan]

Belkar rules the pen!

[Piedmon_Sama]

PAGE FOUR, biznatch!

Call it a hunch, but I don't think we'll be seeing more of Yok-Yok anytime soon....

[Albion]

That was really neat & inventive. Good one ;D Lovely last panel.
Belkar does know something and makes good use of it(his duel with Miko) - and every adventurer, especially with some experience, must know how a tavern works, no matter how stupid or short-sighted or whatever! ::) Right? So why doesn't Yokyok, well he wasn't paying attention and he seems quite gullible and easy to fool - more so than the street-smart Belkar, even though he's not a rocket scientist. 8)


How do they know about the note? It's on the outside and not in the window so they couldn't possible see it...Or was that part of the joke?

Yah, well that's just pretty much how taverns are supposed to work - that's all we often see anyway :) Doesn't make much sense in the comic, but it's portrayed like in a(n old) game or w/e.

[The Doctor]

Hmm. If Belkar is CE in a mostly Good party, is Yokyok LG in a mostly evil party?

Hmm. A kobold paladin...

[Delgarde]

Alas poor Yokyok... much as I'd hate to see Belkar killed, I was hoping his opponent would survive their clash...

[Delgarde]

Hmm. A kobold paladin...

I don't think that's what Yokyok was, but it'd certainly be an interesting concept...

[orcmonk89]

LOL well done that Halfling.

EDIT: Oh, and I think he was most likely a swashbuckler, by his choice of clothes and weapon.

[Solmage]

I feel sorry for the poor kob who wasn't evil (akin to inigo I wager). But that was brilliant.

And I guess Belkar now has a new pair of boots! :D

[The Doctor]

Well, yokyok isn't dead yet. He could still escape.

[Sir_Norbert]

I don't remember the last one that made me laugh nearly as much as that one did, though I wouldn't quite rate it as one of the "classics". 9/10

[woc33]

Just a thought: Has Belkar any money at all to pay the adventurers? Otherwise, they probably would kill for XP again - namely himself.

actually, he did write "per kobold head".
it actually pays for him, 250gp for a sadistic show where everyone tries to make him scream louder than the others, eventually killing him in a very unpleasant way.

[jelmore]

Does this mean he's committed a Lawful act? :o (I was never sure how one commits an act of Law specifically, rather than just following the law).

Jason Nelson-Brown tackles that question in his Save My Game column at the WotC website:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sg/20050325a

ObOOTSPraise: This strip was hilarious. It's worrying to think that the Mark of Justice may be forcing Belkar to be even more thoughtful and calculating than he normally is -- Roy may end up with more than he bargained for, if the MoJ is ever lifted...

[Adeptus]

WTG Belkar!

Quick thinking there.

[ibitak84]

Aww, man, that was mean. Sure, funny, but not that funny (because it was mean). It was very pirate-y, but just lacked the style evil acts of a proper villain (like Xykon, or Darth Vader) have.

[Pheldagriff]

the penis mightier than the sword

[Sebastian]

IMHO of all the OotS strip that is certainly the worst.

Oh, well, 1 in 357 is not a bad record.

Edit, a way to make this funny wouldb eif in the next comic we see that yokyok defeated all those adventurers without breaking a sweat. After all they must be very low level adventurers or they would have gone to the park where adventure (and xp) is. And beside who if not a low level adventurer would answer to a quest ad about kobolds

[Alfryd]

New comic is finally up.
Yok-yok LG. I knew it.

Ahh, you've gotta love the adventurer economy.
'Course, that makes no sense.

[carabaldo]

Excelent comic, truly some of your best stuff. We see Belkar cause horrible death without lifting a finger. Does this mean he's committed a Lawful act?

Being lawful doesn't mean being good. Nazis were extremely lawful. And they caused a lot of horrible deaths. BUT kept neat files about it.

Poor Yokyok indeed, I hope he survives, although it's hard to be a kobold and staying alive in a D&D world, with all those good aligned people striving to kill you just for the fact that since you are a kobold you ought to be evil.
I remember making some fuss in a forum about d&d when I read that a master allowed his players to make a "Kobold farm", where Kobolds were breeded and raised in order to be killed by adventurers for xp.
Without any hint of parody in it! :-/

[Krytha]

aaahahahhahaha!! Belkar needs to die, but at least he's quick on his feet!

ok no more running puns

[H4w00dJ48l0m3]

Excellent comic. The funniest one in quite a while. I had not laughed that much since the last time I read the early strips.

BTW Belkar Fn RULZ!!!!!!!! ;D

[charik]

If I ever question Belkar's INT, please be sure to remind me of this comic. :D

[BunBunBot]

So who gets the xp for that ? The person that kills yok yok or belkar for finding a clever way to overcome his challenge ?

If I were DM, I would say both. Ever since 2 Ed., you can gain XP for "defeating" an opponent -- not necessarily killing it.

But, Belkar using his brain to find an innovative solution? What does this do to Varsuuvius's theory?


I remember making some fuss in a forum about d&d when I read that a master allowed his players to make a "Kobold farm", where Kobolds were breeded and raised in order to be killed by adventurers for xp.
Without any hint of parody in it! :-/

A friend of mine came up with a similar idea: an XP-o-matic. The idea was that you pulled a lever to drop an anvil on a zombie's head, killing it and gaining 15-20 XP, or whatever the exact number is. Then somebody would cast Animate Dead, so you could do it again. This was one example (back in 1st Ed. days) of why we stopped playing AD&D and took up other RPGs. (Another example was that it seemed ludicrous that a 1st-level Fighter only had a 50% chance of hitting a completely unarmed and defenseless mage, given a whole sixty seconds to try, who couldn't dodge because he was busy in complete concentration on spell-casting.)

[Retales]

Brilliance! Belkar is definietly my favourite character :D

[Tawkis]

I love it, Belkar proves both his intelligence and lack of forethought.... again.

[rellyjean]

Ahahahahaha, WIN! This was awesome. :D

Go Belkar! Let's hope he's got some cash handy. Heh.

Am I the only one who's dying to know what Haley's up to?

[Tussy the Druid]

hehe i thought that was pretty funny. Quick thinking on Belkar.

[carabaldo]

A friend of mine came up with a similar idea: an XP-o-matic. The idea was that you pulled a lever to drop an anvil on a zombie's head, killing it and gaining 15-20 XP,

At least it was a zombie. Just desacration of a corpse. Not a slaughterhouse of sentients beings ;)

[Serina_Spellbinder]

ROTFLMAO!!!

Belkar survives by appealing to adventurers' lowest common denominator--cold, hard cheddar. :D

[Serina_Spellbinder]

Ahahahahaha, WIN! This was awesome. :D

Go Belkar! Let's hope he's got some cash handy. Heh.

Am I the only one who's dying to know what Haley's up to?

Nope, I, too am curious to see how she's getting along with Kitty Hawk (wa-wa-wa-waaaaaaa). :P

[Cybella]

I never saw that one coming. I dont usually post gratuitously about how hard a new comic made me laugh. But that one I laughed so loud I woke up a house guest ::)

*cheers!*

[Ironers]

Brilliant move by Belkar.

But I also hope the kolbold survives, he has too much personality now just to be a red shirt.

[Swashbuckler]

"An extra 50 gold to the one who makes him scream the loudest!"

True Belkar! :D This is another comic that was laugh-out-loud funny. Now, I cannot wait to see how the rest of the Order fairs against their other nemeses.

[Noneoyabizzness]

friggin brilliance.

goes to show horrible wisdom scores donot eliminate moments of brilliance

[Renegade Paladin]

There is only one word for that. Owned. 8)

[Kaerou]

YokYok :'(

He needs to take Belkars place on the OotS team, he can swap places with Belkar for the linear guild D:

I hope it happens >.>

[Snake-Aes]

I would like to see yokyok a few more times, but for now that's enough :p

Belkar is a genius!

[EmeraldRose]

Ah...there's always a way around the lawful aspect for the resourceful chaotic player ;D

what a great resolution!!

[Ironfist Orc]

Not a substantive comment, but I feel compelled ...

Fantastic way for Belkar to get around the MoJ, outside the box thinking indeed.

The fact that the adventurers can read a note on the outside of the tavern door is mitigated by the fact that the kobold knows he's in trouble, even though the note is on the outside of the tavern door.

[killfxx]

An extra 50 gp to the one who makes him scream the loudest!- There is a t-shirt I would buy.

[sun_tzu]

Great comic.
Like someone said back during the fight between Belkar and Miko...As dumb as Belkar can be most of the time, he's a genius at hurting people.

[baltor85]

I agree. Heh. I liked the mage with the dragon tatooed on his face. I wonder how they saw the sign though?

[ElfLad]

You know, Yokyok's pretty much the only villain in the comic who could conceivably team up with Miko. And he knows that Belkar isn't in a jail cell.

[Elftist]

How do they know about the note? It's on the outside and not in the window so they couldn't possible see it...Or was that part of the joke?

I'm surprised there hasn't been more discussion on this topic.

Perhaps the Giant is thinking in terms of how a tavern works. Any time I've played, all postings in a tavern are immediately brought to the players' attention with very little explanation as to where it is and no effort on the players' parts, so the DM can get the real adventure going. Maybe all of these characters have similar DM's.

[Hydro]

I think that's the idea Elftist.

This was a very funny comic.

It was also one of those which, I think, would have been funnier without the punchline. But still very funny.

Perhaps Belkar should invest in some unholy or anarchic knives? He seems to get in trouble with the goodguys a lot.


On an unrelated note,


the penis mightier than the sword

You should fire your space key.

[Swashbuckler]

It brings to mind the old adage:

"If a quest note is tacked to a tavern door in a city, does it make a sound?"

... er ...

Okay, maybe not. However, the principle is sound. As long as the note was tacked to the tavern/inn door, it thereby stands to reason that adventurers automatically have read it, whether they entered said tavern/inn before or after the note was posted. ;D That's my logic and I'm sticking to it. Yay, gaming!

[theKOT]

Nicely done. I enjoyed the mode of exposition here, and the joke. But most importantly.... This comic made a vague
reference to Miko! All my wishes and dreams are now fufilled! Ok, not really, but it was nice to see her mentioned. What fourth wall? 7/10

[TheDRaconicLord]

I agree. Heh. I liked the mage with the dragon tatooed on his face. I wonder how they saw the sign though?

Probably all the adventurers got a Pop Up message saying "You got a New Quest!" and explaining the new quests followed by a DING sound.

Anyway, this one was amazing. I was curious to see how Belkar would kick the poor kobold's behind, but I never imagined this ;D

Berlkar...always amazing! ;D

[the_tick_rules]

Belkar may have a sub-standard wisdom stat, but his intelligence is not to be trifled with. I knew he would think of something. My personal theory was he'd lead him out of town limits or somehwhere the marks rules wouldn't apply then kill him, but what he did is devious and ingenious none the less.

[Antina]

THIS WAS SOOO GREAT !!!

Two thumbs up!

Note on tavern door - marvelous - unbeatable!!!

PCs WILL come running as if they were "notified of replies" ;-)

[inanimate_DM]

thank you giant, for making me laugh through my cold.

[Corp]

May a wizard got pissed drunk and cast some kind of spell on the door allowing people to read notes that are placed anywhere on the door, no matter where the note is or where the person in the bar is (after all they were all running out the bar). ;)

[GKBeetle]

Aw, I feel bad for Yokyok.

[ElfLad]

Hey, is it just me, or does the wizard's tatto look vaguely like...


TROGDOOOOOR!!!!!!!

Also, look at panel 7: "This is to what the cold-blooded killer of my father Yikyik has been reduced?"

Way to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition. Definitely lawful.

[Heloisa]

Amazing what a curse can do to an individual!

Go Belkster! \o/ :D

[Blaznak]

Oh... Ho HO HOhhahaahaaeheheeeheee heee ...
snort... heh.

Ok, I thought this strip was pretty funny. Belkar is SO well defined as a character, its wonderful. This is a landmark episode, in my mind...

LATER

[Hydro]

That is most definitely a Trogdor tatoo on mage guy's face. Maybe he's adragonfire adept of The Burninator?

Hey, what's with that head in the lower left corner of the last pannel? Anyone else see it?

Just a random pedestrian watching the carnage, perhaps?

[ILOVEKAREN]

I don't see Yok Yok as being LG so much.

Yik Yik's death wasn't murder, it resulted from Yik Yik and his friends trying to kill Belkar and his friends. So Yok Yok's blather about "righteous retribution" is either delusional or self-serving. If he wants revenge, fine, but that's not a lawful attitude.

And his "ends justifies the means" attitude in teaming up and helping a group he knows to be evil in order to further his own revenge doesn't seem very *good* to me.

[Hydro]

He talks in the stereotypical selfrighteous, LG posterboy manner.

Given the context, that counts more than an actual fair dissection of his motives and methods, no?

[Thez]

Wow - what a twist :)
Evil characters should be required to have high Int like Belkar - makes for funny in-combat-tease-lines and stuff like this :)

Probably the best strip yet - lol

[fithi]

*spittake*

Great, I need a new keyboard, Giant!

Brilliant way to work around the MoJ. *snicker*

[Dabble]

Classic, just classic.

Loved it, keep up the good work!

;D

[silvadel]

I wonder if he will get one of his wishes fulfilled and that imprompto note cause a paladin (who forgets to try detect evil) to fall.

And the mage with the tatt looks like a runethane to me... Maybe arcana evolved is in the giants repetoir.

[sakusha]

I NEVER saw that coming! That was simply MAGNIFICENT! ;D I didn't even notice the rumblerumbleRUMBLE ^^

And I too would love a t-shirt with "More plot-critical characters than you have tried and failed." *coughmikocough*

[Allandaros]

Awww, I feel really bad now.

I liked Yokyok! :'(

[Jefepato]

If Yokyok is really LG, he must not be very bright. Yikyik's death was probably the most justified killing Belkar's ever committed.

[TinSoldier]

Nicely done. I enjoyed the mode of exposition here, and the joke. But most importantly.... This comic made a vague
reference to Miko! All my wishes and dreams are now fufilled! Ok, not really, but it was nice to see her mentioned. What fourth wall? 7/10The oblique reference to Miko (and other plot-critical characters such as Trigak (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0021.html)) maybe should have made me increase my rating.

But... No. Still it was probably the best line of the strip.

[Renegade Paladin]

He talks in the stereotypical selfrighteous, LG posterboy manner.

Given the context, that counts more than an actual fair dissection of his motives and methods, no?
If he's supposed to be lawful good, he sucks at it. Teaming up with the Linear Guild to take revenge for a self-defense killing? I'm sorry, he's chaotic good at best, more likely lawful neutral.

[Kriel]

This once again proves my personal theory that Belkar is an idiot when it comes to common sense, but a true genius when it comes to being evil.

[Nu]

This once again proves my personal theory that Belkar is an idiot when it comes to common sense, but a true genius when it comes to being evil.

I'm not really sure how Belkar's actions here qualify as "evil," he's just hiring a few adventurers for protection against an assassin who's trying to kill him. Far more noble characters have done worse :P

[Rambi]

The way Belkar did that was so funny! That has to be one of the most unique ways to kill someone I've ever seen.

[Morchaint]

THATS HILARIOUS!. great comic as usual.


btw. did anyone notice and like my new avatar/sig?

[Orzel]

That was funny.

At least 3 of my character have perfromed this trick before. Except I chose to run into the tavern and scream the message. It's helpful when you anger the DM by losing/killing plot devices. Mean DMs tend to populate the tavern with level 1 fighters, rogues, and monks though.

[Laman_Stahros]

I'm not really sure how Belkar's actions here qualify as "evil," he's just hiring a few adventurers for protection against an assassin who's trying to kill him. Far more noble characters have done worse :P
That is exactly what makes it so evil. ;D It's legal!

[Tobimaro]

Hmm. If Belkar is CE in a mostly Good party, is Yokyok LG in a mostly evil party?

Hmm. A kobold paladin...

We actually had a good Kobold appear in a Verbobonc module for the Living Greyhawk campaign. Actually it was a potential reward for said module, that you could recruit a Lawful Good kobold as a cohort. He could either be a paladin or a cleric.

Anyways, about this comic. I too liked Belkar's quick thinking to get Yokyok off his tail without having to deal lethal damage in town. And the plot device of hiring adventurers in a tavern has been done to death in D&D games. So Rich took a Looney Tunes twist to this plot device. ;D

[Shara_Littlebottom]

May a wizard got pissed drunk and cast some kind of spell on the door allowing people to read notes that are placed anywhere on the door, no matter where the note is or where the person in the bar is (after all they were all running out the bar). ;)


I like your theory. Unless the Giant gives a better one next strip, I'm going with what you said. :-D

I liked how the dialogue covered the Tavern sign until panel nine.

[battleburn]

Everybody knows adventurers can smell the promise of gold/exp. It's a supernatural ability that comes with the job.

I thought it was really funny, but a bit strange, how a one comic joke can switch an entire plotline.

-battleburn

[Sebastian]

If he's supposed to be lawful good, he sucks at it. Teaming up with the Linear Guild to take revenge for a self-defense killing? I'm sorry, he's chaotic good at best, more likely lawful neutral.
This only if you assume that Nale told him the truth about how his fater died, and what are the chances of that?

[JessmanCA]

Best line had to be "I need the XP"

Lol, it's one kobold

[Sebastian]

I'm not really sure how Belkar's actions here qualify as "evil," he's just hiring a few adventurers for protection against an assassin who's trying to kill him. Far more noble characters have done worse :P
it is like if Sauron hire adventurers to retrieve a ring (that belong to him) from an hobbit or at least to stop him from destroy it, how that is evil?

[Krytha]

it is like if Sauron hire adventurers to retrieve a ring (that belong to him) from an hobbit or at least to stop him from destroy it, how that is evil?

1 ring stolen by hobbit thief. Reward: Entire continent if brought back with hobbit alive, half continent if brought back with hobbit dead.

Of course, Sauron would never get the ring back because whoever got it would suddenly want to keep it.

[Pvednes]

Hahah!

Cunning halfling.

[LurkerBeneath]

Some sort of handwritten note tacked -
Scotch®-taped, actually...
I wonder what Vaarsuvius would think of that?
-LB

[Querzis]

This only if you assume that Nale told him the truth about how his fater died, and what are the chances of that?

Sure but even if Nale probably didnt told him the truth about is father death, he is not acting like a Lawfull guy to me, most of is action are chaotic. I think he is chaotic good or chaotic neutral and but he talk with a lawfull vocabulary (its not like your vocabulary prove anything about your personnality). Beside, the simple fact that he dont seem to be evil even if its father and probably most of the other kobold he saw in his life were evil make me think he is chaotic.

[fangthane]

1. I very much doubt Yok-yok is good. A lawful good character with any inkling of the LG's nature (and the evil Sabine's a pretty good hint even if the obviously-amoral Thog weren't) would do his utmost to avoid dealing with them. That relegates things to either chaos or neutrality; I tend to think he's probably LN and working with the Linears as an expedient means to a righteous (in his view) end.
2. Love the joke on the adventuring economy. I hadn't thought of it but here we see that I WAS RIGHT!!!! - along with a bunch of others. Belkar was indeed thinking about ways to avoid the mark's effects, and due to the semantics of the way it was worded, he's able to cause lethal damage to be dealt but just not deal it himself. Beautiful.
3. Best line? It's not the Miko/anyone else who's tried to kill Belkar line. It's Panel 6.
HA!
Ha?
HA!
Sometimes monosyllables say more than any larger word could. I have to admit though, his impeccable grammar did make me feel somewhat sorry that he's likely to die or be arrested for mass murder soon.

The tattoo is definitely not Trogdor. It'd need an S and another more different S and some consummate v's.

Krytha: I suspect that's probably why Sauron didn't just make it an open job posting, and instead sent quality personnel he knew he could trust implicitly. :)

[gregory_carslaw]

Wait, if it's automatically assumed that anything posted on the outside of a tavern is read by everyone who's currently in that tavern, what happens if V passes the tavern next and leaves a note saying "explosive runes"?

An observation about these boards: when stating an origional idea people just get on with it, but when stating something that's either spectacularly self-evident or widely believed the prefix "my personal theory..." gets used a lot. It sounds rather daft "my personal theory is that Roy is a human fighter"

I gotta stop with the discource analysis. It's doing funny things to my head.

[bexie]

Go Belkar, he found out a way to kill Yokyok without actually touching him.

HA!
ha?
HA!

Ah, sweet little Halfling...I've got much more repect for him now. :)

[Ramza00]

I LOVE Belkar ;D

[Faryn]

I can only say



Goooooooooooo Belkar, halfing of pwn!

Awesomeness!

[Bilbo27]

This one was cute. Belkar can come up with some real winners, and he foils his charm/amulet/thingy once again.

[Blaznak]

Hey! Aren't they guys pouring out of the tavern just the avatars you can use on this forum? I'm pretty sure the wizard is from there, as is the dwarf... Hmmm...

Later!

[Kesnit]

Best line had to be "I need the XP"

Lol, it's one kobold

Yeah, but if the character is LVL 1, even a kobold is good XP

[Shea Landford]

LOLZ!
TOTALLY ROFLMAO!
Thats all I can say.

[teratorn]

It's just me or the only true moron in this story is Roy? (Elan is on a league of his own).

I didn't like this one. I had my hopes high on someone finally killing the obnoxious evil halfling.

[battleburn]

Wait, if it's automatically assumed that anything posted on the outside of a tavern is read by everyone who's currently in that tavern, what happens if V passes the tavern next and leaves a note saying "explosive runes"?

An observation about these boards: when stating an origional idea people just get on with it, but when stating something that's either spectacularly self-evident or widely believed the prefix "my personal theory..." gets used a lot. It sounds rather daft "my personal theory is that Roy is a human fighter"

I gotta stop with the discource analysis. It's doing funny things to my head.

I didn't say everything posted on the outside is read on the inside. (Assuming this is a reaction to my previous post.) Adventurers just have a nose for opportunities to make money or get XP. The fact that they all set out from the tavern is that that is the place they all keep waiting.

[faerwain]

I wonder what Vaarsuvius would think of that?
-LB

Am I the first one to notice that Belkar actually somehow copied the strategy of V fighting against Zz'dtri?

I think Belkar is going to be really mad when he learns he's killing "Ears-Style" ;D




btw. did anyone notice and like my new avatar/sig?


Yep, especially as it reminds me of Wacken open air ;)

[Galad]

Nicely done. I enjoyed the mode of exposition here, and the joke. But most importantly.... This comic made a vague
reference to Miko! All my wishes and dreams are now fufilled! Ok, not really, but it was nice to see her mentioned. What fourth wall? 7/10

Why would anyone want to see or hear about Miko in this comic ever again? Well okay perhaps if Belkar gets to kill her.

Anyway great comic, Belkar is quite intelligent after all. I wonder if the plan is going to backfire in the end though.

[chibibar]

Wait, if it's automatically assumed that anything posted on the outside of a tavern is read by everyone who's currently in that tavern, what happens if V passes the tavern next and leaves a note saying "explosive runes"?

An observation about these boards: when stating an origional idea people just get on with it, but when stating something that's either spectacularly self-evident or widely believed the prefix "my personal theory..." gets used a lot. It sounds rather daft "my personal theory is that Roy is a human fighter"

I gotta stop with the discource analysis. It's doing funny things to my head.

well.. think of it like a "console RPG type game" when a "new mission" appears.. some games players just know there is a new mission available, some game the mission "auto popup" in your "quest" and some need to talk to NPC..

That is how I look at it...

also a Tavern is a good place to hire adventure it seems... almost a lot of adventure starts at a tavern :)

on a different note: Belkar does have seem to have good stats except in Wisdom. He is very short sighted with a bad memory to boot.... but other than that.. he is good fighter.. and probably with the two shortcoming really prevent him to do real damage in the long run.

[Ironfist Orc]

Posted by: LurkerBeneath

Scotch®-taped, actually...
I wonder what Vaarsuvius would think of that?
-LB

Well, since V has already commented upon CliffPort's "inconsistent architectural motifs," (#344,) I'd guess V would chalk it up to CP's unique traits. (Wait 'til V sees all of the related CPPD stuff...)

[taraxia]

What would be *really* hilarious is if Yokyoik manages to kill his way through this sea of low-level adventurers (how powerful could they possibly be if a kobold hunt is a valuable quest for them?), gains a level, and comes back as Belkar's recurring antagonist.

[taraxia]

1. I very much doubt Yok-yok is good. A lawful good character with any inkling of the LG's nature (and the evil Sabine's a pretty good hint even if the obviously-amoral Thog weren't) would do his utmost to avoid dealing with them. That relegates things to either chaos or neutrality; I tend to think he's probably LN and working with the Linears as an expedient means to a righteous (in his view) end.

I mean, he's not really dealing with them very much. Yes, taking Belkar out of the equation helps the LG, but arguably in the long run it helps the *world* more.

You've never played a Good PC who's been hired by an Evil force to take out another Evil force and allowed yourself to be duped because you had to? You haven't been playing enough "intrigue" campaigns, then.

[taraxia]

And his "ends justifies the means" attitude in teaming up and helping a group he knows to be evil in order to further his own revenge doesn't seem very *good* to me.

Did you think Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride was good? Because that was more or less exactly what he did. (Nale = Vizzini.)

And, in general, if y'all are surprised at the idea that an otherwise good child could be so irrationaly devoted to his probably evil father that he'd overlook the reasons his father had to be killed and seek irrational revenge on his killers anyway, you don't watch enough thriller movies.

[Soul_Selim]

He was a good father though. :P

Can't wait for the next comic.

[fractal]

He was a good father though. :P
I guess Yok-Yok must never have "provoked" him.

[Nekkira]

Loved this comic! Thanks Giant!

[rellyjean]

I guess I assumed the note-outside-the-tavern wasn't playing with D&D so much as a standard comedy gag - the posting is something that's so much in demand that you don't need anyone to read it; just putting it up there causes a mob to come running.

Re: alignments: Yok-Yok might not have known his father to know that Yik-Yik was Chaotic Evil. How quickly do kobolds mature? He might have been very young when Yik-Yik died. And if not, his parents might have been estranged like Elan's are, only with his mother painting his father as a noble, Good fighter. Also, typing "Yok-Yok" and "Yik-Yik" repeatedly starts to feel kinda weird. :)

Anyway, I think Y-Y 2.0 is Lawful Good, and I think it's an interesting twist, and I'll be a bit sad if this is the last we see of him. But as others have pointed out, he's not down for the count yet. If Belkar dashes off to avoid paying the mob, we may not know Y's fate for sure until the Linear Guild shows up again.

Maybe next time, they'll have Yak-Yak, a Chaotic Neutral bard? ;)

[Warbanner]

Also, look at panel 7: "This is to what the cold-blooded killer of my father Yikyik has been reduced?"

Way to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition. Definitely lawful.

Can't believe it took 7 pages before someone commented on this. I agree, it's a great mangling of a sentence in order to prevent a prepositional ending. First time I read it I thought there was a typo, and had to go back and re-read it to find the "to".

As someone who tries never to end a sentence in a preposition, I was very impressed. I don't think I could've made that sentence, certainly not while chasing down my father's killer.

[Zedd]

Not ending a sentence with a preposition is so easy even I could do it if I wanted to.

[Warbanner]

But only if you knew where your head was at.

[The_unhapy_palidin]

Go belkar! I love when adventures improvize I once took a feet just so I could through horse shoes and bricks at enemys.

[Max_Sinister]

Of course I could be wrong, but I had to think too that Yokyok was good. (He could have been lying, of course.) Evil Opposite thing. (Hm, what's the evil opposite of an evil char? Does that make any sense?)

[Vargtass]

Can't believe it took 7 pages before someone commented on this. I agree, it's a great mangling of a sentence in order to prevent a prepositional ending. First time I read it I thought there was a typo, and had to go back and re-read it to find the "to".

As someone who tries never to end a sentence in a preposition, I was very impressed. I don't think I could've made that sentence, certainly not while chasing down my father's killer.

That's the kind of language up with I will never stand... :)

[Warbanner]

That's the kind of language up with I will never stand... :)


you mean "up with which I will never put".

In Aliens 4, the best (only decent?) line was of this sort. It was "I'm someone with whom you don't want to f$¢k."

[Warbanner]

Go belkar! I love when adventures improvize I once took a feet just so I could through horse shoes and bricks at enemys.

Dude, I can understand taking feet to throw horseshoes, but who wears bricks on their feet?

And how could you take the feet of anyone tough enough to do so?

[Jades]

I know I'm late, but I just wanted to say that placing bounties on enemies heads ROCKS! A few weeks back, my Shadowrn character did this, and boy was his father surprised.

"Eugene, I'm very dissapointed with you, spreading such rumors."

"Oh. Well, I expect you'll be much more dissapointed with me when you find out what else I have done."

"Dammit Eugene! What did you do?"

*three shadowrunning teams break into the room to kill daddy-dearest*

"This."