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The Giant
2006-03-28, 07:21 PM
Friday's comic is finally up.

Watch the News page for the story a little later tonight. Bottom line, you'll still get the same number of OOTS strips this week, they'll just be compressed, timewise.

Dhavaer
2006-03-28, 07:24 PM
Hoorah for starmetal! That's great, and definately 'randomly positive'. :D

jeremy_dnd
2006-03-28, 07:24 PM
Awesome!

One plot thread might be over, but I love returning to old ones!

Beleriphon
2006-03-28, 07:25 PM
Huzzah! 25% increase to accuracy and damage, haha!

Unrepentant
2006-03-28, 07:29 PM
Huzzah! First Page! And Rich survived the jungles of Memphis!

Now I'm off to actually read the strip,

mckaskle
2006-03-28, 07:29 PM
I'm completely serious.

BEST COMIC EVER!

Really, I loved every panel in this one. Thanks, Rich.

Zaruthustran
2006-03-28, 07:30 PM
Awesome. Love the starmetal goodness.

This is one of those comics that makes me think about how much fun it'd be to play in one of The Giant's games. Not because I think he "hands out" +5 weapons, but because he's taken something we thought was minor (the puny starmetal) and made it into something really cool.

If you look beyond the humor, the OotS actually has a really cool plotline and interesting characters. That's the comic. Imagine what his campaigns are like! :)

Unrepentant
2006-03-28, 07:33 PM
Wow! I wonder what the secondary anti-undead effect actually is? Undead-Bane? Disruption?

All I know is, Roy will be sending "the DM" a nice christmas card this year.

RemoJr
2006-03-28, 07:33 PM
comic! where? i keep getting the 296.5 message. i know, it's going to prabably be a mintue before i can read it but this is torture. i know any second now it will be there (or at least i keep telling myself that).

edit: thanks for the help zaruth. Awesome comic. +5 great sword of undead bane. sweet. ;D

Renloth
2006-03-28, 07:34 PM
Heh, "You can just say "+5 Sword" here. We do stuff like that all the time..."

Nice to know the starmetal accually has some use. Anyone think he might get enhancements on it?

Great work Giant, I love the plot lines. :)

Zaruthustran
2006-03-28, 07:34 PM
comic! where? i keep getting the 296.5 message. i know, it's going to prabably be a mintue before i can read it but this is torture. i know any second now it will be there (or at least i keep telling myself that).

Do a hard refresh. On a PC, that's ctrl-shift-refresh.

TheJet31619
2006-03-28, 07:35 PM
Awesome comic! I think Roy will be able to deal with the deadly green glow.

Athanatos
2006-03-28, 07:35 PM
A +5? Dayumn, I'm surprised that Roy isn't more excited about it.

Nixie
2006-03-28, 07:36 PM
Bwahaha! Awesome Comic.... Can't wait until Origins (think the book will be done by then? ??? If not, i can wait until GenCon... ;D)

androgial
2006-03-28, 07:40 PM
sweet victory and yet again nale has his plan backfire on him keep it up rich

Capfalcon
2006-03-28, 07:41 PM
Wow.
Seriously, how could you be so mean as to give that sword such a horrible drawback. How will Roy ever survive? ::)

Woot first page.

Edit: GAH. I have been robbed of my first-pagedom by... half a minute

Gunslinger47
2006-03-28, 07:42 PM
Someone with 10 Strength would do around 70% more damage on average with a +5 Greatsword, as opposed to a normal one.

This bonus is somewhat less significant, but still welcome, for someone with 20 strength. In that case, the bonus would be 36% more damage.

spectralphoenix
2006-03-28, 07:52 PM
Of course, Roy has Weapon Specialization and probably Greater Weapon Specialization as well, so it won't be that much. I believe the +25% increase was over the swords old enchancement (presumably +4.) The swordsmith doesn't know Roy's combat statistics, after all.

Still, it's nothing to sneeze at.

Wonder if said Green Glow has a bad side effect that wasn't mentioned after Roy cut the swordsmith off?

garylian
2006-03-28, 07:53 PM
LOL, "In order to counteract this..."

Do you think Roy almost soiled his armor in his rush to say "no, no, it's ok!"

That's going to be some nice sword, there. If Miko ever comes back, she should be envious. A +5 weapon that warns of nearby undead? I would think there would be weapon bonuses vs undead, as well. Nearly a paladin's dream!

Great comic, Giant, and don't worry. We understand that not all of the U.S. is internet ready!

Gus
2006-03-28, 07:56 PM
the "+5" thing was definitely funny =) i guess i'm into 4th-wall-breakingness ^^

LostOne
2006-03-28, 08:04 PM
There is a small chance that the green light is actually a drawback somehow and we just didnt hear how because Roy stopped her from explaining. However, I could just be paraniod and Roy could have just found the perfect weapon against Xykon.

Great job, Giant! It is incredible that you are keeping to the three comics a week even after the convention that advertised internet access. :P

Bilbo27
2006-03-28, 08:04 PM
Great comic Giant--Awesome

But

Which dwarf was roy talking about?
The one from the Linear Guild?
What comic thread was it in?
Master comics, I am at your mercy

Ellimist
2006-03-28, 08:04 PM
[spoiler?]Could "deadly green glow" apply to the wielder as well? As in draining his lifeforce while he holds it?[/spoiler?]
Good comic anyway, especially the "+5 sword" :)

McBish
2006-03-28, 08:05 PM
Very happy to see a comic before wensday. Thanks Rich.

atomicmatt3
2006-03-28, 08:06 PM
Indeed. It was a very good comic. Worth the wait, and we'll be getting another tomarrow?

TPK_Jay
2006-03-28, 08:06 PM
Great Comic Giant... I wonder if Roy will ever find out why "that dwarf" lied to him. Hehe.

McHarty
2006-03-28, 08:08 PM
I can't wait to see what Eugene will think about this little inconvenient...

zimri
2006-03-28, 08:10 PM
Great comic Giant--Awesome

But

Which dwarf was roy talking about?
The one from the Linear Guild?
What comic thread was it in?
Master comics, I am at your mercy

Sabine from the linear guild was "transformed" (polymorphed, disquise selfed whatever) into a dwarf that sent roy on a quest to get starmetal to reforge the sword.

saraswati
2006-03-28, 08:10 PM
Great comic Giant--Awesome

But

Which dwarf was roy talking about?
The one from the Linear Guild?
What comic thread was it in?
Master comics, I am at your mercy


The "dwarf" smith who originally sent Roy on the sidequest for the starmetal, in episode ,ummm, let me check....

And who turned out to be Sabine in disguise.

Holy_Knight
2006-03-28, 08:10 PM
the "+5" thing was definitely funny =) i guess i'm into 4th-wall-breakingness ^^

Agreed, that's a wonderful line. :)

Also, this is a really nice change for Roy--most of his adventuring career has been defined by discovering an ever-increasing amount of negative unexpected truths. Even if he weren't getting an awesome powered up sword that will greatly aid in his specific mission, having a switch to string of unexpected positive revelations has got to put him on cloud 9. Of course, I suppose some sort of counterbalancing fallout is inevitable... but for now it's nice to see Roy having some good fortune.

Evik
2006-03-28, 08:10 PM
woo hoo
i wasent expectin a new one til wed yay!

Hmm a +5 greatsword with disrupt undead

Ill Take It!!!

soni
2006-03-28, 08:10 PM
"... you can just say +5 sword here. We do stuff like that all the time"


hahaha! Kick Roy off the RP servers!

Spence
2006-03-28, 08:12 PM
I believe the +25% increase was over the swords old enchancement (presumably +4.)

...I just figured it was because 5 is 25% of 20 in a d20 system...

Magus
2006-03-28, 08:14 PM
Thanks for posting early, Giant! Great comic!

If my command of math is serving me properly (and that is an if), then the Greenhilt sword was +4 before it was destroyed. That also explains why Roy wasn't more enthused. Yeah, +5 rocks and all that, but +4 isn't exactly something to sneeze at either.

The Giant
2006-03-28, 08:16 PM
Yeah, players I have played with usually try to metagame the plusses on swords by referring to their "precentage increase in accuracy" based on the idea that each +1 on a d20 roll was a 5% increase. So you'll get conversations like:

Bob: Girolous, tell me, how much better than a standard bow is your elven longbow?
Tim: Why, it is 15% better than a nonmagical one, Firion, why do you ask?
Bob: I wish to enchant it further with a spell that will increase its effectiveness to 20% greater accuracy.
Tim: Outstanding!
Bob (to the DM): I cast Greater Magic Weapon for +4 enhancement bonus on Girolous' bow.
DM: Grumble.

Gunslinger47
2006-03-28, 08:18 PM
...I just figured it was because 5 is 25% of 20 in a d20 system...

It's a fixed 25% hit-chance over non-masterwork weapons for all mid-range ACs. For example:

Someone with 10 strength and a +0 BaB has a 55% chance of hitting AC10. With a +5 Greatsword, he has an 80% chance, for a net increase of 25%.

The same person has a 5% chance of hitting AC20. With a +5 Greatsword, he has a 30% chance of hitting, again for a net increase of 25%.

Renmazuo
2006-03-28, 08:19 PM
I'm having a problem. I still see the "filler" comic. Probly need to refresh my cache? I didn't have to do this for any others.

Hmmm. That didn't help either. Could it be because I modified the time of the boards?

DeLurker
2006-03-28, 08:25 PM
Wait a second... a blade that conjures up the family ancestors is now going to have an anti-undead effect?

... and much fun ensues, I suspect.

Serina_Spellbinder
2006-03-28, 08:28 PM
ROTFL!!!

I loved the way the swordsmith was gushing over that little piece of starmetal. Nice callback to the starmetal quest. :)

infiniteviking
2006-03-28, 08:32 PM
LOL! Triumphant return of the Miniscule Nugget of Doom. And the swordsmith makes me grin. "I am a forger of swords, sir...." gotta love these single-minded craftsfolk.

For some reason I really like the color scheme in this one. Soothing, that's the word.

"..would weigh three hundred pounds..." wow, that stuff must be dense.

The 'harmful to the undead' bit made me think of Eugene first... but is he undead or what? Durkon evidently considers ghosts undead, but Eugene died and everything... the survival of a ghost after death isn't particularly unusual in a D&D setting, is it? At any rate, it'll give Xyklon something to worry about.

Great work, Giant! Hope you enjoyed Memphis.

Gunslinger47
2006-03-28, 08:35 PM
Wait a second... a blade that conjures up the family ancestors is now going to have an anti-undead effect?

... and much fun ensues, I suspect.
I ranted previously about how Roy's father just plain ol' "dead", not undead like the "ghosts (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/ghost.htm)" in the Monster Manual. If you're interested: [link (http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=comics;action=display;num=1142020613 ;start=60#64)] [link (http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=comics;action=display;num=1142020613 ;start=103#103)]

Umbral_Arcanist
2006-03-28, 08:37 PM
Wow, that was hilarious........ i knew that question would come up........

Xenon
2006-03-28, 08:37 PM
DEADLY green energy! hehehehe

yeah... i can imagine ways that can be a disadvantage. radioactive sword power! (oh well, its not like he can lose any hair from it...)

Starla
2006-03-28, 08:39 PM
:'( Where is the comic?

Krytha
2006-03-28, 08:40 PM
hoozah! More OotS to come! So if its deadly green energy does it... kill dead... dead-er? or if theyre undead, and its deadly does it cancel the un and make them dead? or does it make them double-dead? Stupid semantics.

Renmazuo
2006-03-28, 08:40 PM
:'( Where is the comic?

When looking at the filler comic, hit refresh. It will load it up. I had the same problem

mikoto
2006-03-28, 08:40 PM
the smith did say that the green glow is particularily harmful to undead, just a thought

metalphil
2006-03-28, 08:45 PM
Ah, very funny. I really quite liked the new one.

Skyserpent
2006-03-28, 08:50 PM
OH SNAP!

"Particularly"


2.With particular reference or emphasis; individually or specifically: “Everyone has a moment in history which belongs particularly to him” (John Knowles).

does that mean it ONLY works against undead?

Roy not knowing how to turn off that power is going to be trouble...
Oh snap! He can't hide!

Oznstuff
2006-03-28, 08:55 PM
Frodo - So does your sword glow when there are Orcs around too?
Roy - No, only when the DM needs to que the laugh track.

Joe_Schmoe
2006-03-28, 08:59 PM
Dang it, it still gives me the "The hotel is from the middle ages" message. Now I'll have to fix my computer issues. I can't take withdrawel like this! :P

Renmazuo
2006-03-28, 09:00 PM
Joe -Try do a refresh on the browser, if that doesn't work. Clear cache, and then do resfresh again. Worked for me.

Ravyn
2006-03-28, 09:01 PM
Try hitting Previous and then Next. Worked for me.

Jocko
2006-03-28, 09:03 PM
great comic giant..keep up the good work

you have unleashed the giggle box of +1 ultimate doom ;)

Darkspear
2006-03-28, 09:03 PM
There is a small chance that the green light is actually a drawback somehow and we just didnt hear how because Roy stopped her from explaining. However, I could just be paraniod and Roy could have just found the perfect weapon against Xykon.

I don't think so, since Roy stopped the smith while she was explaining how to counter the effect.

Zargon
2006-03-28, 09:07 PM
Starmetal ... Deadly Green Glow...
Yes... it is Kryptonite!
Is Xykon, Superman!?
(oh yeah, another great strip!!)

DragoonStar47
2006-03-28, 09:08 PM
Dude, Roy is really gonna need that side-effect. Awesome sword! ;D ;D

prometheusx
2006-03-28, 09:14 PM
That smith is awesome. This whole interaction was perfect with her totally straight delivery.

Great work, Rich. Well worth the wait.

rosebud
2006-03-28, 09:14 PM
Oh, what a Joy to get my comic fill for the day; I was beginning to rue Memphis. =) And, as with everyone else but the obligatory contrarions, I loved the star metal and weight comments. And it's a nice break to have (reasonably) nice things happen to the group for a change of pace.

I'm also looking happily towards the runup to #300 (http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/GiantITP/ootscript?SK=300). It looks like it'll be a fun one!

Random comments or realizations: I really love the closed-eye expressions. It's nice to see a woman blacksmith. (All the men he's encountered to date have been rather unhelpful. And, yes, I know it was really Sabine (http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/GiantITP/ootscript?SK=142) who was yanking his chain.) The story progression made me realize I'd happily buy an OOtS video console game. If you could play through as different characters, it would even have significant replay value. :D

One plot thread might be over, but I love returning to old ones!Old threads never end, they just become more tangled. :)

Joe_Schmoe
2006-03-28, 09:24 PM
Oh yes, don't worry. I've tried those. I'm off to restart my computer and hope. If not... well, the wrath unleashed upon my computer will be worse than Roy on Xykon. ;D

TinSoldier
2006-03-28, 09:28 PM
Agree with Rosebud above.

Rich, you are awesome. I really didn't expect a new comic until Wednesday but you came through for us today anyway. Thank you very much.

As usual, the comic is great! It confirmed a lot of theories that I had and then some.

Checking the MidSouthCon website, I see that David Weber was also an honored guest. Did you get a chance to meet him? He's one of my favorite authors.

I'm really sorry you had such a difficult time travelling between home and the convention and getting stuff right. I hope the con guest relations person really tears a strip off of the host hotel for you and all of us.

Not being as familiar with Macs, I thought they would have the same network connector as every other computer in the world -- RJ45.

PhoeKun
2006-03-28, 09:28 PM
Compressed strips... cool.

This is one of the first "laugh out loud" strips I've seen in a while. To be clear: I define laughing out loud as an outburst of laughter that lasts at least 15 seconds. I usually get a chuckle or two, but this one struck a chord with me.

Ah, beautiful.

Lightman
2006-03-28, 09:31 PM
Friday's comic is finally up.

Watch the News page for the story a little later tonight. Bottom line, you'll still get the same number of OOTS strips this week, they'll just be compressed, timewise.
It seems you found the 21st century, Giant. ;D

codemartin
2006-03-28, 09:39 PM
gaint I loved it.

Roy always getting cursed weapons now gets a +5 weapon that hurts the enemy he fears most. Duh duh its oots the soap opera. Anyway welcome back gaint you are of course a genuis.

Woot page 5

Joe_Schmoe
2006-03-28, 09:41 PM
Awesome, the restart was effective. Refresh, reload, enter-the-url did nothing on my comp. But manually killing the thing and bringing it back to life worked... >:(

Anway, awesome comic. This just keeps getting better :)

Swashbuckler
2006-03-28, 09:46 PM
FAN-freakin'-TASTIC!! ;D ;D

Yet another comic that made me laugh out loud!

... and ooooh ... green-glowin's! Xykon is DOOOOMED! :o

... another "side-effect":

Question ... what's dad gonna do around Roy in the future? Answer - not a darned thing! ;D

... AND!

Roy should now change his name from "Greenhilt" to "Greenglowin'swordoffreakin'Doom"!

The Giant
2006-03-28, 09:54 PM
Checking the MidSouthCon website, I see that David Weber was also an honored guest. Did you get a chance to meet him? He's one of my favorite authors.

No, I didn't really get the chance to talk to any of the other guests, except for those I was on panels with (and Mr. Weber was not among those). I will confess though that I haven't read any of his works, which made it better that I go out of my way to not talk to him, lest I have to admit that.


Not being as familiar with Macs, I thought they would have the same network connector as every other computer in the world -- RJ45.

My iBook has USB, FireWire, phone, and Ethernet ports. This was none of those, I don't know what it was. I fear PC hardware.

Renmazuo
2006-03-28, 10:00 PM
No, I didn't really get the chance to talk to any of the other guests, except for those I was on panels with (and Mr. Weber was not among those). I will confess though that I haven't read any of his works, which made it better that I go out of my way to not talk to him, lest I have to admit that.


My iBook has USB, FireWire, phone, and Ethernet ports. This was none of those, I don't know what it was. I fear PC hardware.

That doesn't make any sense. PC's only use Firewire,Ethernet,Phone, or USB as well. I'm sure on that because I do internet technical support for a major ISP. I've never dealt with anything else.

I don't know what they had there then, but no PC would be able to connect with it.

TinSoldier
2006-03-28, 10:08 PM
With regards to David Weber, I would suggest reading the Honor Harrington series, but that would probably take up a lot of your time. Great series, though. He has written some turkeys, I admit.


My iBook has USB, FireWire, phone, and Ethernet ports. This was none of those, I don't know what it was. I fear PC hardware.Ethernet should be RJ45. If the hotel had a different connector, then I don't know what was going on. It's, like, a standard. PC and MAC have the same connector for it as far as I know.

Thanks for the response.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail:
God:

Oh, don't grovel!
[singing stops]
One thing I can't stand, it's people groveling.

Winter_Wolf
2006-03-28, 10:14 PM
RJ 45 is an ethernet port. I think RJ 15 is a standard phone port.

Loved the strip. Amusing, and the story was good stuff.

Guess karma is giving Roy a little reward for putting up with all the hassles he's had before. Or setting him up for something even more unpleasant. :P

Kanashimi
2006-03-28, 10:17 PM
AWESWOME!!!

"you can just say +5 sword"

My husband and I rolled around laughing for a solid 5 minutes!

Thanks Rich
Rest up from the Con - 20 hour rides are a bear.

boolean
2006-03-28, 10:19 PM
About the only other possibility I can think of is a BNC connector.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BNC_connector

(I know Rich said ethernet already, but most laptops these days only have RJ45 for that.)

Jaxinator
2006-03-28, 10:23 PM
Awesome turn out! Heh almost shocking about the side effect of Roys referbished toy. Great stuff.

Can't wait 'til Wed for then next round.

servetus
2006-03-28, 10:25 PM
It's a fixed 25% hit-chance over non-masterwork weapons for all mid-range ACs. For example:

Someone with 10 strength and a +0 BaB has a 55% chance of hitting AC10. With a +5 Greatsword, he has an 80% chance, for a net increase of 25%.

The same person has a 5% chance of hitting AC20. With a +5 Greatsword, he has a 30% chance of hitting, again for a net increase of 25%.


This language, while tempting, is really not correct, as I stress to my economics students, and as I'd stress to the Giant's players described above. When the underlying construct being increased is itself a percentage, you need to distinguish between a percentage increase and a percentage point increase.

A percentage increase refers to the proportionate increase in the bonus. For a 25% increase to lead to a +5 bonus total, we can solve for the prior bonus using simple algebra:
1.25x = 5
x = 4

Hence the posts claiming Roy used to have a +4 weapon, which was how I read the strip before the Giant informed us that Roy wasn't using very precise mathematical language.

When speaking in percentage terms, there is nothing "fixed." Everything is proportionate. In your example, if I go from a 5% chance of hitting to a 30% chance, that would represent a 600% increase.

A 25 percentage point increase means that we simply add 25 percentage points to whatever the old probability was. If I used to need to roll a 10 to hit something, I had a 50% chance of hitting. Give me a plus five and now I need only a 5, giving me a 75% chance of hitting, or a 25 percentage point increase. This usage is apparently what Roy and the smith meant, but they misspoke.

I rather wish Vaarsuvius had been in the room to straighten them out; I identify with the elf, somehow....

Hurlbut
2006-03-28, 10:30 PM
Is that a lady swordsmith, if so, it's great to see a little bit more of gender equality :)

evileeyore
2006-03-28, 10:30 PM
Woot!

That is all.

n11
2006-03-28, 10:31 PM
This language, while tempting, is really not correct, as I stress to my economics students, and as I'd stress to the Giant's players described above. When the underlying construct being increased is itself a percentage, you need to distinguish between a percentage increase and a percentage point increase.

A percentage increase refers to the proportionate increase in the bonus. For a 25% increase to lead to a +5 bonus total, we can solve for the prior bonus using simple algebra:
1.25x = 5
x = 4

Hence the posts claiming Roy used to have a +4 weapon, which was how I read the strip before the Giant informed us that Roy wasn't using very precise mathematical language.

When speaking in percentage terms, there is nothing "fixed." Everything is proportionate. In your example, if I go from a 5% chance of hitting to a 30% chance, that would represent a 600% increase.

A 25 percentage point increase means that we simply add 25 percentage points to whatever the old probability was. If I used to need to roll a 10 to hit something, I had a 50% chance of hitting. Give me a plus five and now I need only a 5, giving me a 75% chance of hitting, or a 25 percentage point increase. This usage is apparently what Roy and the smith meant, but they misspoke.

I rather wish Vaarsuvius had been in the room to straighten them out; I identify with the elf, somehow....

Ah yes. Mathematics. My Favorite.

The problem with using the percentage increase is that it depends on the AC of what you are trying to hit. The only perspective that is independent of target AC (and thus the only one that could be intended in this context) is the percentage point increase, which was how I read the comic. So a 10% chance to hit increases to 35% and a 50% chance to hit increases to 75% with a plus +5 bonus.

And, better still, it was funny.

bosssmiley
2006-03-28, 10:32 PM
Worth the wait to see Roy inculcate awareness of the fourth wall into a samurai bladesmith. ;D

Welcome back to civilisation btw Giant

n11
2006-03-28, 10:39 PM
I just noticed the "oath" on one of the 12 god's body parts: "By Monkey's tail!"

Nice touch.

luilupino
2006-03-28, 10:40 PM
Come on guys, the role side quest wouldn't be for nothing. I'm glad Roy had some luck after all. But I'm still wondering about Elan's gift.
Great Strip, Giant !!!

5tephen
2006-03-28, 10:42 PM
BWAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAHHHHAAAHAHAAHHHHHHUUur gh...!

(That last bit was me collapsing on the floor from laughter.)

Rulesness.
Awesome.

See, kiddies: the Giant NEVER forgets, and there is a reason for everything.

TRUST in the GIANT.

servetus
2006-03-28, 10:43 PM
n11,

Without knowing the other modifiers and the target AC, you could still sensibly discuss a percentage increase in the modifiers of the sword itself (although you'd have trouble with any modifier to a +0 weapon!). But I agree that the most convenient unit to use here would be the percentage point. That's just not what Roy and the smith actually said.

Now, whether it would decrease the fun and slow down the reading feel of the comic to have the smith say "a 25 point increase" is another matter entirely!

Oh, and I love your avatar.

Reaver225
2006-03-28, 10:46 PM
Ahaha, by monkey's tail! Great one, Giant!

Also, the drawback probably DOES apply to thing other than undead (especially since the blacksmith said PARTICULARLY harmful... impliying the glow does damage to other stuff also)

I mean, if it only did extra damage to undead, it wouldn't be a drawback would it? If you're hitting something with your sword you'd want any extra damage you can deal...

The_Inquisitor
2006-03-28, 10:48 PM
Question: What gender is the swordsmith? I thought it was a girl, but my friend thinks its a guy.

redmind0
2006-03-28, 10:51 PM
Thats not http://www.crystalkeep.com/d20/rules/DnD3.5Index-Equipment.pdf's
description of Starmetel

Gunslinger47
2006-03-28, 10:53 PM
You need to distinguish between a percentage increase and a percentage point increase.
Yes, I was speaking specifically about an increase of 25 percentage points. I wasn't using strict mathematical language, but I did intentionally avoid the term "percent increase" in my post. To be more accurate:

A +5 Greatsword offers a hit-rate with a fixed percentage point increase of 25% over the hit-rate of a normal Greatsword when attacking mid-ranged ACs.

Where "mid-ranged ACs" are defined as all ACs that one would not require a natural X to miss, or a natural 20 to hit. Where X is equal to or less than the increase in question. In this case, +5.

So, if Roy has +18 to-hit with a mundane Greatsword, I define "mid-ranged ACs" for him to be from AC24 to AC37.


Question: What gender is the swordsmith? I thought it was a girl, but my friend thinks its a guy.
The same gender as V, obviously.

servetus
2006-03-28, 10:58 PM
Nice!



Yes, I was speaking specifically about an increase of 25 percentage points. I wasn't using strict mathematical language, but I did intentionally avoid the term "percent increase" in my post. To be more accurate:

A +5 Greatsword offers a hit-rate with a fixed percentage point increase of 25% over the hit-rate of a normal Greatsword when attacking mid-ranged ACs.

Where "mid-ranged ACs" are defined as all ACs that one would not require a natural X to miss, or a natural 20 to hit. Where X is equal to or less than the increase in question. In this case, +5.

The same gender as V, obviously.
:D :D

Hurlbut
2006-03-28, 10:59 PM
The same gender as V, obviously.
I say the swordsmith is a girl ;D

Adeptus
2006-03-28, 11:10 PM
Uh, guys. Check out what the Giant said a few pages back.

The "25% increase in accurasy" is just metagamesy way of saying "a +5 sword".

If one wants to read more into it, then I guess it could mean that the Greenhilt Sword wan't magical to start with. The World of the three pantheons doesn't seem to be as chock full of magical weapons as most D&D campaigns anyway. Isn't this just the second explicit mention of a magical weapon so far? (the previous one being the sword found in the dragon's hoard)

Jaxinator
2006-03-28, 11:20 PM
Let's just say the whole per cent thing falls into a very complicated area, bordering on quantum physics and 25% will always = a +5 sword in the OOTS universe.
I would like to what a sword made of nothig but starmetal would do. Lots of per cent signs I bet.


Can we call the sword smith Pat?

theKOT
2006-03-28, 11:22 PM
By Monkey's tail! That was some good stuff. I really enjoyed it. It's kinda funny to see gloves on someone with three fingers like that. And we get a double length one tommorow? I feel lucky. (http://www.christianrocklyrics.com/fiveironfrenzy/ifeellucky.php)

LoH
2006-03-28, 11:26 PM
"No, no... I'll manage to somehow struggle through."

And the GM takes a "useless" side quest and makes it a wonderful boon for poor Roy.

SumGuy
2006-03-28, 11:28 PM
I say the swordsmith is a girl ;D


::sigh:: First the token Elf spellcaster, then the blacksmith?! The OotSiverse is reaching new levels of gender ambiguity! :o

ref
2006-03-28, 11:36 PM
you can just say +5 sword. We do stuff like that all the time.

Awesome. And everything has a reason. Great!

rosebud
2006-03-28, 11:40 PM
About the only other possibility I can think of is a BNC connector.I'm sure they had normal connectors, but they removed or hid them beforehand in protest and fear of Rich's destruction (http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/GiantITP/ootscript?SK=250) of a hotel located in the middle of somewhere (http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/GiantITP/ootscript?SK=226). ;)

Kish
2006-03-28, 11:41 PM
I would like to what a sword made of nothig but starmetal would do. Lots of per cent signs I bet.

Being 300 pounds, it would do a great deal of damage to anyone who stubbornly attempted to wield it--hernia damage.

AtomicKitKat
2006-03-28, 11:43 PM
Great comic.

Ignore the coloured words below if you do not like calculating every little detail. :)

Quick bit of math before the arguments start.

Greatsword 2d6(2-12)
Strength 18(+4)
Weapon Spec.(+2)
Greater WS (+2)
Final result: 10-20 damage, for an average damage of 15. 25-50% increase in damage(33% on average)

Kaerou
2006-03-28, 11:44 PM
So Roy went from a MwK Greatsword straight to +5 undead bane! Awesomes! ^_^

Tawkis
2006-03-28, 11:47 PM
Welcome back to the 21st century. Great comic that was well worth the wait.

Jaxinator
2006-03-28, 11:50 PM
Being 300 pounds, it would do a great deal of damage to anyone who stubbornly attempted to wield it--hernia damage.

Step right up folks! Be the first in your neighborhood to own your very own 100% Starmetal Sword! act now and receive an emergency IcePack of Hernia Relief with your purchase.

theKOT
2006-03-28, 11:57 PM
Being 300 pounds, it would do a great deal of damage to anyone who stubbornly attempted to wield it--hernia damage.
Not if they were one of those ill-proportioned "World's strongest man" competitors. Those guys can literally pull a semi.

Kord
2006-03-29, 12:00 AM
Would starmetal then count as a special material that grants a weapon made out of it a +5 bonus?

HOLY CRAP! :o

That would be cool if that was really a special material. I would imagine the cost would be high though. It would be around a +6 bonus, 5 for the metal, 1 for the bane. (72,000)

Could you get an additional enhancement bonus on starmetal though? Or would it not stack?

n11
2006-03-29, 12:01 AM
Great comic.

Ignore the coloured words below if you do not like calculating every little detail. :)

Quick bit of math before the arguments start.

Greatsword 2d6(2-12)
Strength 18(+4)
Weapon Spec.(+2)
Greater WS (+2)
Final result: 10-20 damage, for an average damage of 15. 25-50% increase in damage(33% on average)

Don't forget the +5 for the sword itself.
And doesn't undead-bane grant additional damage?
Of course, if you take the starmetal as having "disruptive" power, then it might do an extra d6 or two damage to undead.

Holy_Knight
2006-03-29, 12:02 AM
I don't see how people are thinking that the swordsmith could be a guy. Her eyes are positioned at the female level rather than the male level on her head, she has her hair in a bun, and in several panels you can tell she has breasts.

ARMOURERERIC
2006-03-29, 12:06 AM
Why am I still getting "The Memphis Info Square" even after I hit refresh, do a shut down and reboot, manually change the strip number to 297. I still don't have the strip.

Eric

Dugray
2006-03-29, 12:07 AM
Star Metal does +2d6 to undead creatures if I'm not mistaken.

Jaxinator
2006-03-29, 12:10 AM
I don't see how people are thinking that the swordsmith could be a guy. Her eyes are positioned at the female level rather than the male level on her head, she has her hair in a bun, and in several panels you can tell she has breasts.


Nope...sorry, I don't see it. Imma stay with Pat.

Tyas
2006-03-29, 12:16 AM
Very nice Giant. Green glow is alright. Love the green glow.

A couple of comments on the internet fiascos... that don't help now at all but still...

a. wierd connecter? o. k. Must have been someting propietary. Ethernet pretty much uses only rj-45 nowadays. There's optical fiber connections, and the occasional thicknet (BNC) connector or AIU (15 pin D connector) but those are rare rare. wouldn't expect to see them in a hotel.

b. Next time you need internet in 'The South', look for a Krystal's restaurant. Most of their locations have open wireless, serve coffee, are open 24 hours. Too bad they don't serve food :-X

c. A lot of McDonalds have wireless too. If the one in my massive city of 3200 people has wireless, I'd imagine there is one in Memphis. They also serve Coffee but lack in the 'food' department.

Flak_Razorwill
2006-03-29, 12:16 AM
Booyah. Sounds like Roy's just turned his shotgun into a full on BFG.

Tyas
2006-03-29, 12:20 AM
Eric: If using interenet explorer, try the following:
click on tools, internet options, look for the button that says 'delete files' click on it, put the check in 'delete all offline content', click ok.
At this point things may freeze up for a bit. On slower machines I've seen this take upwards of half an hour, wait it out.

Also, if you are using some kind of 'accellerated internet' system, disable the accellerator when you go back to that page. (It should be in your system tray).

If that doesn't work... I'm at a loss. Sorry.

Blaznak
2006-03-29, 12:29 AM
Hooray! I like the idea of the weaponsmith who is upset the sword has a 'side effect' of damaging undead. Very funny.

Also, I like the fact the weaponsmith is TRYING to role-play in an 'real world' environment, when no one else is 'role-playing' game effects. Very funny.

LATER!

phlip
2006-03-29, 12:31 AM
The reason some people can't see the comic is that the filler comic was called oots0297.gif - presumably to make it easier on whoever uploaded it.

The new comic is also called oots0297.gif, replacing the filler.

The browser sees the page asking for oots0297.gif and thinks "oh, I've seen that before! I don't need to download it, it's already in the cache." and shows you the filler comic.

To whack your browser upside the head with a clue-by-four, hold Ctrl and click the Refresh button or press Ctrl+F5 in Internet Explorer. Hold Shift and click Reload or press Ctrl+R in Firefox.
If all else fails, clear the cache (Options->General->Temporary Internet Files in IE, Options->Privacy->Cache in Fx).


Talking about the comic... it seems Sabine's fears (http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/GiantITP/ootscript?SK=142) were well-founded...

Elephant
2006-03-29, 12:39 AM
BWAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAHHHHAAAHAHAAHHHHHHUUur gh...!

(That last bit was me collapsing on the floor from laughter.)

Rulesness.
Awesome.

See, kiddies: the Giant NEVER forgets, and there is a reason for everything.

TRUST in the GIANT.


Err, actually, *I'm* the one who never forgets. The Giant has a pretty good memory, but it's not quite pachydermic. ;)

tomaO2
2006-03-29, 12:41 AM
Hey Giant,
I'm a bit confused by the starmetal upgrade and is seems like others are too. Could you please explain exactly what has happened here?

Was Roy's swrod already enchanted? Several people seem to think that his sword was already a +4 sword. If that is true then is it a difference of +1 or is is a full +5 upgrade making it a +9 greatsword?

Or perhaps it had no bonus before now? So it went from a 0 to a +5? If that's the case what was the enchantment that it had before it broken. Elan indicated when he found an enchanted sword that Roy's broken one was enchanted too.

How good a weapon is it now? Since Roy uses his greatsword exclusively, this upgrade may be as good as it gets for Roy no matter how high a level he achieves. Will this sword be able to compete with other magical weapons that enemies will surely wield against him as he continues to advance in levels?

Also, if you feel generous, it would be really nice if you gave us exact stats on exactly what his sword will be like when reforged. I know you usually don't like getting into the nitty gritty as you find it confining for storytelling purposes but if you felt it was okay I and other's would be very interested. :)

Thank you for taking the time to reply, if you do.

BigT
2006-03-29, 12:44 AM
Oh man, must feel good to have things go well for a change, I hope that this triggers a shift over to the Linear Guild or maybe Xykon. It's been a while since we've seen what they're up to.

Jman8088
2006-03-29, 01:01 AM
Giant, you are truly a god
where do u find the time to do all of this for us?

Infinity_Biscuit
2006-03-29, 01:04 AM
As a side note:

If a steel greatsword weighs 8lb in DnD, and a starmetal version of the same weapon weighs 300lb, and (to be conservative) we consider the non-blade portions of the sword to have inconsequential weight, then starmetal has a density 300/8 = 37.5 times greater than that of steel. Since steel's density is 7850kg*m^-3 (http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/metal-alloys-densities-d_50.html), then starmetal's density is roughly 2.94*10^5 kg*m^-3.

This is 26.0 times greater than that of lead, 15.6 times that of uranium, 15.2 times that of gold, and 13.0 times that of iridium, which is the densest natural substance on Earth.

AtomicKitKat
2006-03-29, 01:08 AM
Don't forget the +5 for the sword itself.

I didn't. I'm counting 5 vs the original damage, hence the percentages given.


If a steel greatsword weighs 8lb in DnD, and a starmetal version of the same weapon weighs 300lb, and (to be conservative) we consider the non-blade portions of the sword to have inconsequential weight, then starmetal has a density 300/8 = 37.5 times greater than that of steel. Since steel's density is 7850kg*m^-3, then starmetal's density is roughly 2.94*10^5 kg*m^-3.

This is 26.0 times greater than that of lead, 15.6 times that of uranium, 15.2 times that of gold, and 13.0 times that of iridium, which is the densest natural substance on Earth.

Hmm. That ball of starmetal is approximately equal to a cube of sides of an inch(~2.5cm) each.

0.025*0.025*0.025=0.000015625 m3

Density of 2.94*10^5 kg per m3, so it's 4.59375 kg. That seems like quite a lot of weight to simply hold up in the palm of one's hand, even with exceptional strength. Especially with the great ease that he's demonstrated(He picked it up between thumb and one finger, as I recall).

The Giant
2006-03-29, 01:09 AM
The blacksmith is a woman. Just because she's not falling out of her clothes doesn't make her not female, folks. Check the face and breasts.


Hey Giant,
I'm a bit confused by the starmetal upgrade and is seems like others are too. Could you please explain exactly what has happened here?

Nope.

The details are simply not important. What is important is that Roy's sword now kicks more ass than it did before, and will be even better against undead. Everything else is unnecessary. I don't provide rules details on things that happen in OOTS because I don't believe it is relevant, and this time is no different. I humbly suggest you will be happier not worrying about it.

Vampire_Boy
2006-03-29, 01:11 AM
Excellent.

Just one question - why did the weaponsmith even offered to counter the undead-harmful green glow?

Aiani
2006-03-29, 01:15 AM
Woo hoo! I am happy for Roy getting his sword reforged and now with this extra good luck he should be really happy. So in the end Nale helped Roy out. ;D

Liquid
2006-03-29, 01:18 AM
This strip reminds me of the old strips (100 through 130). It's with less background, less dialogue and more randomly positive things :). Hooray :)

The Giant
2006-03-29, 01:22 AM
Just one question - why did the weaponsmith even offered to counter the undead-harmful green glow?

For all she knew, he was going to give the sword to his mummy.

PhoeKun
2006-03-29, 01:23 AM
That's... that's... ugh.

theKOT
2006-03-29, 01:26 AM
That's... that's...
PUN-ishingly bad?

AtomicKitKat
2006-03-29, 01:26 AM
For all she knew, he was going to give the sword to his mummy.



PUN-ishingly bad?

http://galactanet.com/comic/268.htm

WildBill
2006-03-29, 01:29 AM
As a side note:

If a steel greatsword weighs 8lb in DnD, and a starmetal version of the same weapon weighs 300lb, and (to be conservative) we consider the non-blade portions of the sword to have inconsequential weight, then starmetal has a density 300/8 = 37.5 times greater than that of steel. Since steel's density is 7850kg*m^-3 (http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/metal-alloys-densities-d_50.html), then starmetal's density is roughly 2.94*10^5 kg*m^-3.

This is 26.0 times greater than that of lead, 15.6 times that of uranium, 15.2 times that of gold, and 13.0 times that of iridium, which is the densest natural substance on Earth.
Maybe starmetal contains a tiny particle of dark matter. Or in OotS the atomic stability theory works. Or physical science doesn't work the same. Without checking the densities, I figured that starmetal was probably uranium or plutonium, and the green was actually radiation, that while very effective against undead, requires that the weilder and anyone in close proximity to have a heal spell cast on them everyday or suffer nasty radiation sickness penalties. Now they need the lead sheet for use as a sheath.

Buzzaro
2006-03-29, 01:32 AM
For all she knew, he was going to give the sword to his mummy.

/cough
/moan

that one should have been in the strip...

but GREEN is mean

you know what they say, once you go green you'll feel like a queen.

Mad_Raccoon
2006-03-29, 01:42 AM
For those complaining about the damage not going up by "25%" please note that the blacksmith says "with a corresponding enhancement to damage" which is to say that she understands that its a +5 but is attempting to say it in a way that doesn't break the 4th wall, which Roy then suggests is acceptable, so she goes with it.

My personal favorite part is the part where the blacksmith acknowledges understanding of atmospheric friction and therefore implies knowledge of outer space - definately an amusing break from fantasy genre.

Sorrowsong
2006-03-29, 02:39 AM
Mad_Racoon, The Giant explained what he meant on page 3 of this topic, i haven't read all the posts between your post and his, just wanted to point out that this has already been explained.

Mateo
2006-03-29, 03:00 AM
Hey Giant,
I'm a bit confused by the starmetal upgrade and is seems like others are too. Could you please explain exactly what has happened here?

Was Roy's swrod already enchanted? Several people seem to think that his sword was already a +4 sword. If that is true then is it a difference of +1 or is is a full +5 upgrade making it a +9 greatsword?

Or perhaps it had no bonus before now? So it went from a 0 to a +5? If that's the case what was the enchantment that it had before it broken. Elan indicated when he found an enchanted sword that Roy's broken one was enchanted too.

How good a weapon is it now? Since Roy uses his greatsword exclusively, this upgrade may be as good as it gets for Roy no matter how high a level he achieves. Will this sword be able to compete with other magical weapons that enemies will surely wield against him as he continues to advance in levels?

Also, if you feel generous, it would be really nice if you gave us exact stats on exactly what his sword will be like when reforged. I know you usually don't like getting into the nitty gritty as you find it confining for storytelling purposes but if you felt it was okay I and other's would be very interested. :)

Thank you for taking the time to reply, if you do.


As seen, the giant is probably right to have you not worry about it...but it should be noted that the spell shatter...which is what was used on Roy's sword... only works on non-magical objects. It was a normal sword...now it will be a +5 one.

(Players Handbook 3.5 pg 278)

edit: clearly suppose to be 278..but became a smile

Mateo
2006-03-29, 03:01 AM
For all she knew, he was going to give the sword to his mummy.


OUCH!

I think you hurt my spleen!

zimri
2006-03-29, 03:05 AM
My theory

It was a TNC connector, in the Hotel, with a LinkSys router

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threaded_Neill-Concelman_connector


Variations

Reverse polarity TNC
Reverse polarity TNC (RP-TNC) is a variation of the TNC specification which reverses the polarity of the interface, this is usually achieved by incorporating the female contacts normally found in jacks into the plug, and the male contacts normally found in plugs into the jack. RP-TNC connectors are widely used by Wi-Fi equipment manufacturers to comply with FCC regulations designed to prevent consumers from connecting aerials that might breach FCC regulations to WiFi devices. RP-TNC can also be abbreviated as RTN.

[edit]
Retail uses
Linksys, a manufacturer of consumer networking equipment, uses TNC connectors for several of its Wi-Fi certified routers, including the popular WRT54G. Linksys also sells addon antennas for its routers which use the connector.

Ragan
2006-03-29, 03:11 AM
LOVED the comic. Can't wait to see what good use Roy will find for his new sword. I'm just a *little* worried that he doesn't get to keep it. It just .. almost too good. you know?

Man I hope someting like that happens in the game I'm playing (getting a +6 weapon - sweet)

BTW: so TIRED of the 'W00t' posts. I mean people come ON. It happens every time there a new comic up. Any chance the Mod's would consider asking people to do a seperate 'w00t' thread where every page is 1st page so they can do these posts out of sight?

Efogoto
2006-03-29, 03:12 AM
Talking about the comic... it seems Sabine's fears (http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/GiantITP/ootscript?SK=142) were well-founded...

Sure, but Nale took a calculated risk to get the OotS out of his way while he recruited a new linear guild, and this he has successfully done. That it ends up biting him on the butt should be nothing new for Nale.

FreeloadingSausage
2006-03-29, 03:25 AM
Is it just me? (Though maybe someone else has already mentioned this) But does the Master Swordsmith not look a great deal like Lucy from the Peanuts comic strip?

Douglas
2006-03-29, 03:51 AM
Yeah, players I have played with usually try to metagame the plusses on swords by referring to their "precentage increase in accuracy" based on the idea that each +1 on a d20 roll was a 5% increase. So you'll get conversations like:

Bob: Girolous, tell me, how much better than a standard bow is your elven longbow?
Tim: Why, it is 15% better than a nonmagical one, Firion, why do you ask?
Bob: I wish to enchant it further with a spell that will increase its effectiveness to 20% greater accuracy.
Tim: Outstanding!
Bob (to the DM): I cast Greater Magic Weapon for +4 enhancement bonus on Girolous' bow.
DM: Grumble.

I, for one, find the idea that no one has noticed the quantized nature of weapon (and other) enhancements in character simply absurd. Surely someone tried to make a +1.5 weapon once and found that it couldn't be done. I agree that characters are unlikely to refer to the bonus numerically without metagaming, though that is one possible system that less imaginative crafters might come up with (Amulets of Health +2 would be called +1 IC, though), but it is entirely reasonable for the levels of power to be known and even named. Once, when another party member wanted to upgrade an Amulet of Natural Armor in one of my games, the DM had the NPC crafter ask if it was Apprentice, Journeyman, Adept, Wizard, or Archmage level.

Sign_of_Fourteen
2006-03-29, 03:55 AM
This is a probably a stupid question, and may have been asked before, but frankly I don't feel like wading through ten pages of 'great comic Rich!' to check.

Is the smith male or female? Looks pretty androgynous to me...

team56th
2006-03-29, 04:06 AM
+5 and additional damage against undead-Now Starmetal becomes worthy of OOTS's that long and hard side quest.

Albion
2006-03-29, 04:15 AM
(merry ol' chuckle) Wohoo. A strip of OOTS where things kinda go as they're supposed to - or nothing "annoying" comes up - or just the "basic" happenings with things going right are cool... or something. 8) Not feeling very strong on expressing myself right now I guess.

That was a satisfying way to kick off the day. Rhyming unintentional, am I becoming a bard?

Lots of strips this week, eh? Wonderful... greatness.

Oh, and as for the gender of the smith, I wasn't thinking of anything else than male all the way, but that might have to do with the profession and my apparent conservatism? And I guess when I don't see female features, my usual verdict is male...

OOPS, I just noticed that the Giant already replied that the blacksmith is female, so that's settled then!

phlip
2006-03-29, 04:32 AM
Is the smith male or female? Looks pretty androgynous to me...


The blacksmith is a woman. Just because she's not falling out of her clothes doesn't make her not female, folks. Check the face and breasts.
(bottom of page 8, btw)

Vampire_Boy
2006-03-29, 04:35 AM
For all she knew, he was going to give the sword to his mummy.

*whimpers and dies*

tee_kay_one
2006-03-29, 04:50 AM
did she say, most of the starmetal burns in the atmosphere? I guess she has taken "Astrophysics", as a hobby skill, hm? ;D

Cool comic, by the way. The "professional naivety" of the smith is really funny.

Sc00by
2006-03-29, 05:11 AM
Good old fashioned funny stand alone (ish) OotS comics ftw!

AND a tie in to previous events

AND Roy catches a break!

Great stuff!

"I think I'll manage to somehow struggle through" <-- needs a ROTFLMAO smiley

The smith is nothing but female, the sword was masterwork at best before. Not that either point matters, but some of you guys really do try to overcomplicate stuff ::)

battleburn
2006-03-29, 05:52 AM
Starmetal
Bypasses Damage Reduction as if it were Adamantine.
Does +1d6 damage to Extraplanar creature that are currently on the Material Plane.
[hr]
Xycon (or how do you spell it again??) is undead, but nog a extraplanar creature. His dad is. So I think this means Eugene is going to have another reason to be really pissed at Roy.

Sign_of_Fourteen
2006-03-29, 06:02 AM
Okay, thanks for clearing that up phlip. Though I have to wonder how you can tell by the face (it's a stick figure - not a lot of detail there), and as for the breasts, well, kind of, but it's rather muted so it could just be a broad-shouldered sort of person.

Well, now I know!

silvadel
2006-03-29, 06:06 AM
Of course this means no matter how angry roy gets with daddy, he cant hang the sword on the wall....

Unless Roy gets an artifact he is not likely to ever find a sword better than that one...

Truly a great sword...

Dhavaer
2006-03-29, 06:10 AM
In the first panel, the blacksmith says 'everday terrestrial steel'

somatic
2006-03-29, 06:51 AM
Awesome strip. This was classic OOTS. With the trial and everything, we haven't seen one of these for a while.

Huzzah and Kudos!

Zann
2006-03-29, 06:57 AM
Is it just me? (Though maybe someone else has already mentioned this) But does the Master Swordsmith not look a great deal like Lucy from the Peanuts comic strip?
A consipracy is imminent. ::)

Delgarde
2006-03-29, 07:03 AM
Starmetal
Bypasses Damage Reduction as if it were Adamantine.
Does +1d6 damage to Extraplanar creature that are currently on the Material Plane.
[hr]
Xycon (or how do you spell it again??) is undead, but nog a extraplanar creature. His dad is. So I think this means Eugene is going to have another reason to be really pissed at Roy.

Whatever source you got that from, you can probably forget it, since it's clear that's not what Rich has in mind. In his world, starmetal apparently affects undead, not outsiders.

Mechanically, what we have is probably a +5 undead-bane weapon, as others have suggested.

Agent_Oracle
2006-03-29, 08:04 AM
+25%, that implies his accuracy is allready at +20...

OoTS is set around 20th level characters?

Well, i allways knew they were higher level, but at 20th, even a bard is formidable...

lunar
2006-03-29, 08:10 AM
Is it just me? (Though maybe someone else has already mentioned this) But does the Master Swordsmith not look a great deal like Lucy from the Peanuts comic strip?

I agree, she doesn't.
Is it just me or does Roy not look a great deal like Malcolm X?

Vargtass
2006-03-29, 08:30 AM
As a side note:

If a steel greatsword weighs 8lb in DnD, and a starmetal version of the same weapon weighs 300lb, and (to be conservative) we consider the non-blade portions of the sword to have inconsequential weight, then starmetal has a density 300/8 = 37.5 times greater than that of steel. Since steel's density is 7850kg*m^-3 (http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/metal-alloys-densities-d_50.html), then starmetal's density is roughly 2.94*10^5 kg*m^-3.

This is 26.0 times greater than that of lead, 15.6 times that of uranium, 15.2 times that of gold, and 13.0 times that of iridium, which is the densest natural substance on Earth.

Also, don't forget osmium, allegedly (but not undisputedly) the densest natural element. It's up there with iridium.

Actually, I just thought of something. Maybe starmetal is the stuff stars are made of? You know, the kind of matter so dense that a teaspoon would weigh a ton or so (very dense star). Now, obviously this is mythical stuff, because that matter wouldn't be as dense if it was only a teaspoon of it, but hey - this is a fantasy setting, after all.

I just thought this would be a nice mix of astrophysics trivia and fantasy, much like the meteorite allusion in the strip.

Iruka
2006-03-29, 08:53 AM
+25%, that implies his accuracy is allready at +20...

No, it doesn't.



OoTS is set around 20th level characters?


"As a rule of thumb, I tend to think of them as being around 7th-9th level or so; powerful enough to have a bunch of different storytelling options, weak enough that I can justify them running away from anything I throw at them."
As stated by The Giant in the FAQ.

Gunslinger47
2006-03-29, 09:00 AM
Surely someone tried to make a +1.5 weapon once and found that it couldn't be done.
Yeah! Any why hasn't anyone ever noticed that you can never have less than have exactly a 5% chance of missing any target no matter how well trained you are?! And why does everyone have not less than exactly a 5% chance of hitting you no matter how much they suck? Why don't they realize the truth?!

Take the red pill!

...

NPC: What is the Icosahedron?

Kresalak
2006-03-29, 09:18 AM
Actually, I just thought of something. Maybe starmetal is the stuff stars are made of? You know, the kind of matter so dense that a teaspoon would weigh a ton or so (very dense star). Now, obviously this is mythical stuff, because that matter wouldn't be as dense if it was only a teaspoon of it, but hey - this is a fantasy setting, after all.
So Starmetal is dense, ultra-compacted neutrons that are held together only by neutron degeneracy pressure after the immense gravity of a colapsing star crushed it beyond the point of electron degeneracy pressure, but not enough to form a black hole?

The rest of this is copied from a research paper I wrote last year.

Neutron stars are one of the possible final stages of life for a star. They are the result of the supernova of a star who's core is 1.44 solar masses to 3 solar masses. A solar mass is equal to the mass of the star that our planet orbits around. A star of less then 1.44 solar masses (hearafter referred to as “S” is supported by electron degeneracy pressure, the force which prevents electrons from being pulled into the nucleus of the atom by the positive electric charge of the protons, or from floating away if the neutrons make the charge neutral. Past 1.44S electron degeneracy pressure (preventing 2 electrons from occupying the same space) is no longer strong enough to overcome the force of gravity, and the electrons are pulled into the protons, which then combine to make neutrons. This leaves the star as a mass of neutrons and some other particles which don't matter (It's a pun because they have very little mass. Laugh) very much. The star is then supported by neutron degeneracy pressure, which is that no two neutrons can occupy the same space. At 3S the gravity overcomes neutron degeneracy pressure and becomes a black hole.
The nucleus of an atom makes up more than 99% of its mass, but only 1/100,00th of its size. The rest of the atom's volume is the space where the electrons orbit the nucleus, making an atom mostly empty space filled with electrons moving so fast that they seem solid. A neutron star has compacted the electron cloud into neutrons, and leaving no empty space. A neutron star is therefor like an immense nucleus of neutrons and a few electrons and protons.

A neutron star is between 1.44 and 3S, but its radius is only 10-20km. This makes the neutron star incredibly dense, and the large mass and small density makes the escape velocity, the speed needed to escape the objects gravitational pull into infinity, is 100,000 km/s, or 1/3 the speed of light. Neutron stars have a small atmosphere, about 1-5 cm. On the crust of the star and in the atmosphere, there is not enough pressure, and nuclei can still exist. Roughly .5% of a neutron stars mass is electrons and protons, the rest being neutrons and neutrinos; hence the name “neuron star” Deeper down into the star you the gravitational pressure becomes too great for anything but neutrons to exist, and you find a neutron superfluid, a 'sea' of neutrons that has 0 viscosity. That means that if you held a cup of these neutrons and spun the cup, the liquid neutrons would not rotate with the cup. A superfluid would flow up the sides and out the top of any open container it was placed in. In a seemingly sealed container it could flow out of a microscopic hole. A superfluid can flow endlessly with absolutely no friction.
Were you to fall into a neutron star you would, from a starting velocity of 0, increase to a speed of 100,000 km/s before you impacted thea surface. When you did impact, you would hit with the force of roughly 100 megatons of TNT, or roughly 50,000 of the bombs that leveled Hiroshima at the end of WWII. The immense force is again due to F=MA, and even though your mass may be small, the acceleration would be 1/3 that of the speed of light, making the force incredibly strong.


And now you know!


Oh yeah, and I loved this comic. It seems thay Shojo's gift has saved Roy (6*6*2000=72,000)+(350+cost of two-handed starmetal weapon)=72,350+(Starmetal Cost) gold. Now that's a nice deal!

Maybe I should stop posting things in math class.

Alfryd
2006-03-29, 09:27 AM
Watch the News page for the story a little later tonight. Bottom line, you'll still get the same number of OOTS strips this week, they'll just be compressed, timewise.
Very good.
"It is likely that your sword will sometimes glow with a deadly green energy that is particularly harmful to undead. It will also cure cancer, do tax returns, and provide a +6 cha bonus versus all shapely women in a 40-foot radius."
Clearly, we're not done here.


The story progression made me realize I'd happily buy an OOtS video console game. If you could play through as different characters, it would even have significant replay value.
Hmm... I smell licensing.

My iBook has USB, FireWire, phone, and Ethernet ports. This was none of those, I don't know what it was. I fear PC hardware.
A fellow Mac user? Gosh. REPENT, UNBELIEVERS! FEAR STEVE! For lo, his wrath is like a cleansing flame, the bounty of his wisdom surpasses mortal ken, and his RDF may cause cause gold ingots to materialise in mid-air.


I don't provide rules details on things that happen in OOTS because I don't believe it is relevant, and this time is no different.
(Also, if you lay down the rules, you won't be free to break them later.)

I tend to think of them as being around 7th-9th level or so...
As stated by The Giant in the FAQ.
This is contradicted by things like Disintegrate from V. Accursed rules-related consistency!


Is it just me or does Roy not look a great deal like Malcolm X?
No, but for some reason I'm imagining the voice of Will Smith more and more.

Overlord Jack Chainer
2006-03-29, 09:29 AM
Roy has offically had a "goodgasm" as rich would put it bwahaha if i were roy i would have passed out and ironicly died but hey thats just my luck go roy!

fithi
2006-03-29, 09:40 AM
Sweet, Roy's sword is reforged to be better than it was. This is going to be great when he goes against Xykon again.

Yay for starmetal and +5 swords.

Baloo
2006-03-29, 09:56 AM
No, it doesn't.

"As a rule of thumb, I tend to think of them as being around 7th-9th level or so; powerful enough to have a bunch of different storytelling options, weak enough that I can justify them running away from anything I throw at them."
As stated by The Giant in the FAQ.
They've clearly leveled up a couple of times since then, as evidenced by V being able to cast Disintegrate and a 3-ray Scorching Ray (both requiring it to be 11th level at least).

phlip
2006-03-29, 09:58 AM
"As a rule of thumb, I tend to think of them as being around 7th-9th level or so; powerful enough to have a bunch of different storytelling options, weak enough that I can justify them running away from anything I throw at them."
As stated by The Giant in the FAQ.
That was a while ago, I think Rich has said on the forums since then that he considers them around 12th-level now (they've leveled up a couple of times during the strip, after all).



[...]the acceleration would be 1/3 that of the speed of light[...]
Skimmed through your post, saw that bit, and stopped. Strangely, the speed of light is a speed, not an accelleration. That's why it's called the speed of light. The accelleration of light is 0, unless it is under the affects of gravity... and even then things get confusing 'cause you start having to talk in terms of General Relativity (which I don't understand myself fully).
What you want is the energy of your impact, not the force, which is E=1/2mv^2, which is related to your speed. It would make more sense with the whole "energy (not force) of 100 megatons of TNT" bit, too.

Jus' sayin'.

Kresalak
2006-03-29, 10:09 AM
I probably meant to say that you would be accelerated to roughly 1/3 the speed of light. I suppose I could re-research this to find out exactly what I meant... but I think I'll just use what I just wrote.

Thanks for pointing it out!

Illsbane
2006-03-29, 10:21 AM
Ahh, good to see the comic's back. ^^ Heh. This installment's last panel actually made me cackle with glee. One question, which I hope hasn't been answered to death: is the weaponsmith a man or a woman? I think a woman, but of course the hairstyle may be deceptive ...

dagger
2006-03-29, 10:41 AM
comic! where? i keep getting the 296.5 message. i know, it's going to prabably be a mintue before i can read it but this is torture. i know any second now it will be there (or at least i keep telling myself that).

edit: thanks for the help zaruth. Awesome comic. +5 great sword of undead bane. sweet. ;D


If you use IE (and have broadband), go Tools-> Internet Options-> Settings -> Change it to Every Visit to the Page



solve all caching issues....................no need to ever hard refresh.....

Kanashimi
2006-03-29, 10:50 AM
So anybody else notice the green theme with Roy's sword? Does that mean he'll have to rename himself Greenhiltandblade?

:P

Sounds German to me!

Zeekar
2006-03-29, 11:01 AM
Why am I still getting "The Memphis Info Square" even after I hit refresh, do a shut down and reboot, manually change the strip number to 297. I still don't have the strip.

Eric


Changing the strip number doesn't help because the "Stuck in Memphis" image was posted *as* comic #297, with the same filename as the actual comic image. Which is why people are having trouble with cache issues. Just clear your image cache and you'll be good. Shift-control-refresh should do it...

Gleanerizer
2006-03-29, 11:05 AM
So anybody else notice the green theme with Roy's sword? Does that mean he'll have to rename himself Greenhiltandblade?

:P

Sounds German to me!
Green hilt and blade = Grüner Griff und Blatt

So, Grünergriffundblatt, I guess. At least, according to Babel Fish.

Edit: Speaking of which, what happened to the strip translation projects, anyway?

storybookknight
2006-03-29, 11:09 AM
The thing with 25% more accurate - each +1 to hit increases your chances to hit by another 5%.

Meaning Roy did all of his insane fighting and challenging Xykon originally with a completely normal masterwork greatsword. That's quite impressive.

Shinsei
2006-03-29, 11:10 AM
Hum, I didn't gio through all 17 pages or so yet so I don't know if anyone else picked this up, but, on the sword's green glow..

The smith said it was deadly and *particularly* harmful to undead; not *only* harmful to undead. :)

Zeekar
2006-03-29, 11:10 AM
Next time you need internet in 'The South', look for a Krystal's restaurant. Most of their locations have open wireless, serve coffee, are open 24 hours. Too bad they don't serve food :-X

Technicalities. Krystals (the burgers) are yummylicious. I must reluctantly concede both primacy and a wee bit of superiority to White Castle, but Krystals are a very reasonable facsimile. And they're at least as foodlike as McDonald's fare. :)

Iruka
2006-03-29, 11:21 AM
That was a while ago, I think Rich has said on the forums since then that he considers them around 12th-level now (they've leveled up a couple of times during the strip, after all).

hmmm, okay, me bad
but still not 20th level anyway



Green hilt and blade = Grüner Griff und Blatt

So, Grünergriffundblatt, I guess. At least, according to Babel Fish.

in this context, "Klinge" would better than "Blatt", I think
well, but there's no relavance to it, anyway, so...

Tarril_Wolfeye
2006-03-29, 11:25 AM
Green hilt and blade = Grüner Griff und Blatt

So, Grünergriffundblatt, I guess. At least, according to Babel Fish.

Edit: Speaking of which, what happened to the strip translation projects, anyway?
Almost right. Blatt is a blade of grass. You should use Klinge. And their gender is different.
GrünerGriffundGrüneKlinge it is then ;D

Zeekar
2006-03-29, 11:26 AM
The smith knowing about atmospheric burnup is nothing new or surprising in the OOTSverse. The characters have repeatedly shown awareness of physics beyond what you would expect in your typical "medieval" fantasy setting. I'd have to go through the strip archive to find online examples; the only one I recall offhand is from Origin, when Roy tells V exacty why he needs a spellcaster using algebraic coordinates and modern medical terminology, and specifying the temperature of a fireball spell - in Kelvin.

Clearly the OOTS live in a world in which the experts know as much about physics as the experts in our world. They have science, just not technology. Presumably, that's because they don't need it - they have magic instead.

Amalthea
2006-03-29, 11:34 AM
Nope...sorry, I don't see it. Imma stay with Pat.


She's also wearing a skirt. ::)

Iruka
2006-03-29, 11:35 AM
Almost right. Blatt is a blade of grass. You should use Klinge. And their gender is different.
GrünerGriffundGrüneKlinge it is then ;D
or you could even drop the "-e(r)"
Grüngriffundklinge
it would be used this way for a name

Gleanerizer
2006-03-29, 11:38 AM
or you could even drop the "-e(r)"
Grüngriffundklinge
it would be used this way for a name

Man, we are waaaaay on a tangent... but as long as you're here, why don't you finish the German strip translations? We're only up to #42. (http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/GiantITP/ootscript?lang=de) Get to work! ;)

jhpace1
2006-03-29, 11:50 AM
I'm surprised no one has done the math on the actual sword, just the hit chance. Here goes:

Greatsword 50gp
Masterwork 300gp
+4 32,000gp
For a total of 32,350gp for the Greenhilt legacy.

And now for the upgrade: (Adamantine is +3,000gp, BTW)

Disruption

A weapon of disruption is the bane of all undead. Any undead creature struck in combat must succeed on a DC 14 Will save or be destroyed. A weapon of disruption must be a bludgeoning weapon. (If you roll this property randomly for a piercing or slashing weapon, reroll.[Giant can ignore this for his world - inherent property of starmetal, after all.])

Strong conjuration; CL 14th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, heal; Price +2 bonus.

So a starmetal +5 greatsword of disruption would be
3,000gp plus an effective +7 weapon
3,000gp + 98,000gp + 50 + 300
101,350gp (approx.)

So I want to know where Roy's getting the 69,000gp to upgrade his +4 ordinary steel greatsword into a +7 special-metal greatsword. ;) And the fact that his weapon is now worth a small country's annual income...

ILOVEKAREN
2006-03-29, 12:01 PM
Is it just me? (Though maybe someone else has already mentioned this) But does the Master Swordsmith not look a great deal like Lucy from the Peanuts comic strip?

(Tried to make a Lucy joke here, but it would count as speculation, and I can't figure out how to do the spoiler thing.)

The Giant
2006-03-29, 12:04 PM
The Voice of Mod: Does everyone know WHY these threads get so long? Because no one READS them anymore, they just go to the last page and post, "I didn't read the whole thread, but here's a question that's been asked and answered four times already." Hey, folks: Stop it! Read to see if your question has been answered before posting it; you'll have to read the thread again anyway later if someone answers you. But it's getting ridiculous to see the same mini-conversations over and over in the same thread.

And again, the blacksmith is a woman, you need to clear your image cache to load the new comic, the "25%" only refers to d20 probability and not to some reflection of Roy's previous chance to hit or damage, the word "particularly" does imply that the energy could be harmful to creatures other than undead.

Infinity_Biscuit
2006-03-29, 12:16 PM
Also, don't forget osmium, allegedly (but not undisputedly) the densest natural element. It's up there with iridium.
Osmium's density is close enough to iridium's that the ratio would still be approximately 13:1.


Actually, I just thought of something. Maybe starmetal is the stuff stars are made of? You know, the kind of matter so dense that a teaspoon would weigh a ton or so (very dense star). Now, obviously this is mythical stuff, because that matter wouldn't be as dense if it was only a teaspoon of it, but hey - this is a fantasy setting, after all.

I just thought this would be a nice mix of astrophysics trivia and fantasy, much like the meteorite allusion in the strip.

I believe you're talking about degenerate matter, no? I highly doubt this is the case, since even white dwarf material has a density of 1.4*10^9 kg*m^-3, or about 5000 times that of starmetal. Neutronium is about one million times as dense as the white dwarf star, so that's even farther.

One thing to narrow this down is that the starmetal is to be alloyed with Roy's sword's steel. One can only alloy two metals, so starmetal has to actually be metal.

(To answer a probable rebuttal, metallic hydrogen is roughly 1/10 the density of iron, so that wouldn't work at all.)

I do believe you're on the right track in that this is simply a mythical substance. This is one of the few times where I believe a simple "it's magic!" is a valid conclusion.

Muscadine
2006-03-29, 12:20 PM
So I want to know where Roy's getting the 69,000gp

Roy isn't. As it said in the previous comic (#296), he's using his favor to have the sword repaired.

Baloo
2006-03-29, 12:30 PM
So I want to know where Roy's getting the 69,000gp to upgrade his +4 ordinary steel greatsword into a +7 special-metal greatsword. ;) And the fact that his weapon is now worth a small country's annual income...
Most of that cost should probably come from the starmetal - the smith didn't say anything about enchanting the sword, it just seemed like making it of starmetal-alloy would turn it into a +5 (undead-bane and/or disruption) greatsword. And Roy is supplying the starmetal himself.

Iruka
2006-03-29, 12:45 PM
Man, we are waaaaay on a tangent... but as long as you're here, why don't you finish the German strip translations? We're only up to #42. (http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/GiantITP/ootscript?lang=de) Get to work! ;)
could be fun ;)
where can I put it when finished?

Gleanerizer
2006-03-29, 12:52 PM
could be fun ;)
where can I put it when finished?
Actually, I was just kidding around. For some reason I find wisecracks and onomatopoeia in foreign languages amusing, and it'd be cool to have the strips translated ("klirr! zink!"). But it's probably a lot of work. The last 25 or so strips, in particular, I wouldn't wish the task of translating on anyone. But if you're serious, start a new thread.

Elurindel
2006-03-29, 12:53 PM
Hehe, one of your best comics yet. It's about time Roy got some serious new hardware. And the whole "+5" joke was great! ;D

Zeekar
2006-03-29, 01:00 PM
The Voice of Mod: Does everyone know WHY these threads get so long? Because no one READS them anymore, they just go to the last page and post.

Well, I think there's something of a feedback loop there. The strips are long because people don't read and therefore repost, but the reason people don't read is because the threads are so long...

But yeah, if you're going to ask a question, you should read the thread first to see if it's already been answered. It's only polite...


the word "particularly" does imply that the energy could be harmful to creatures other than undead.

Including, perhaps, the wielder of the sword? That would explain the blacksmith's attempt to provide Roy with a countermeasure...

Iruka
2006-03-29, 01:03 PM
Actually, I was just kidding around. For some reason I find wisecracks and onomatopoeia in foreign languages amusing, and it'd be cool to have the strips translated ("klirr! zink!"). But it's probably a lot of work. The last 25 or so strips, in particular, I wouldn't wish the task of translating on anyone. But if you're serious, start a new thread.
actually, German is not a foreign language for me ;)

Gleanerizer
2006-03-29, 01:20 PM
actually, German is not a foreign language for me ;)
Well, even taking that into account, the sheer volume of (awesome) writing in the strip will involve quite a bit of work on your part, even if the actual conversion of English to German in your head is second nature. But we digress. A lot. What's this thread about? Who am I? ;)

n11
2006-03-29, 01:36 PM
If you create a German cryptogram, does u get a different letter from ü? Or do you leave the dots over the new encoded letter? (So if y = u, you get ÿ)

I prefered the good old days when enchanting magic items required special ingredients that had to be quested for. (You want a ring of frost? So slay a white dragon and sculpt a ring from its tooth.) So under my house rules, a sword made of a magical metal (such as starmetal) would be trivial to enchant because the material is already aligned to accept certain types of magical energy.

The standardization of making magic items is one thing I don't like about 3rd edition, but I must admit it did fix a lot of other good stuff.

Brasswatchman
2006-03-29, 01:50 PM
Right around now, I imagine Roy's player is hugging the DM. Or at least jumping around a lot.

Zeekar
2006-03-29, 02:02 PM
If you create a German cryptogram, does u get a different letter from ü? Or do you leave the dots over the new encoded letter? (So if y = u, you get ÿ)

The umlauted vowels aren't considered separate letters; one doesn't recite them with the alphabet, for instance. I would assume that cryptograms would get typical all-caps/headline treatment: either ü would fall together with u and you would just have to rely on context to recognize which was which in the decrypted text (easy for a native speaker), or it would be replaced by the equivalent sequence ue. Changing the letter but leaving the diacritic would make the decryption too easy, since anything with the umlaut could only be one of five possible letters...

SabreGuy
2006-03-29, 02:05 PM
You know, when I read this comic, I actually did a little seat dance (sort of cabbage-patchy) and said, out loud, "Go Roy, it's your birfday!" lol

In our games, we never even think to not just say "plus 2" if that's the enhancement on a weapon. I guess it's a little weird, but the game never really gives you a good way to get around that. It'd be very hard to come up with some RP way to discuss that. Other than maybe "minor, light, medium, strong or massive magical enhancements on this weapon." Eh, you'd have to come up with some sort of naming convention, I think.

Maybe I'll try to work it in to my game tonight.

phlip
2006-03-29, 02:07 PM
If you create a German cryptogram, does u get a different letter from ü? Or do you leave the dots over the new encoded letter? (So if y = u, you get ÿ)
According to the almighty Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_alphabet), the umulauts are diacritics, not separate letters. So I imagine that ü would either be encoded the same as u, or as ue. ß would probably be encoded as if it were ss. Compare to something like Norwegian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_alphabet), where the extra symbols are considered separate letters, and would thus probably be encoded separately in a simple-substitution cipher.

This is all guesswork of course, they might do things completely differently in those countries... this is just using English methods on their alphabets. They might have their own common simple encryption methods.

n11
2006-03-29, 02:10 PM
The umlauted vowels aren't considered separate letters; one doesn't recite them with the alphabet, for instance. I would assume that cryptograms would get typical all-caps/headline treatment: either ü would fall together with u and you would just have to rely on context to recognize which was which in the decrypted text (easy for a native speaker), or it would be replaced by the equivalent sequence ue. Changing the letter but leaving the diacritic would make the decryption too easy, since anything with the umlaut could only be one of five possible letters...

I figured such, but my German Scrabble set has separate tiles for Ä, Ö, and Ü so I thought these might be considered unique letters, making for a 29-letter alphabet.

flamestrike
2006-03-29, 02:22 PM
The umlauted vowels aren't considered separate letters; one doesn't recite them with the alphabet, for instance. I would assume that cryptograms would get typical all-caps/headline treatment: either ü would fall together with u and you would just have to rely on context to recognize which was which in the decrypted text (easy for a native speaker), or it would be replaced by the equivalent sequence ue. Changing the letter but leaving the diacritic would make the decryption too easy, since anything with the umlaut could only be one of five possible letters...

Seems like the WWII-era Enigma Machine (http://www.mccullagh.org/image/10d-13/enigma-machine-top.html) works that way, FWIW...

Zeekar
2006-03-29, 02:35 PM
Seems like the WWII-era Enigma Machine (http://www.mccullagh.org/image/10d-13/enigma-machine-top.html) works that way, FWIW...


Well, yes, but that's real (if outmoded) encryption. Cryptograms use different conventions. For instance, back when they still encrypted things by character instead of by bit, they would eliminate all spaces and punctuation in the message. After all, cryptograms are supposed to be solvable. Enigma messages were supposed to be impossible to crack.
:)

Iruka
2006-03-29, 02:46 PM
I figured such, but my German Scrabble set has separate tiles for Ä, Ö, and Ü so I thought these might be considered unique letters, making for a 29-letter alphabet.

and ß, making for a 30-letter alphabet

KaosDevice
2006-03-29, 03:04 PM
Hmmm...I must live in a a weird part of the space/time continuum. I still can't get the comic to pull up, I'm still getting Rich's message. I cleared my cache, cntrl-shift-F5'd the woiks. Any other suggestions from the crew?

fwiffo
2006-03-29, 03:11 PM
Hmmm...I must live in a a weird part of the space/time continuum. I still can't get the comic to pull up, I'm still getting Rich's message. I cleared my cache, cntrl-shift-F5'd the woiks. Any other suggestions from the crew?

Whenever something like this happens to me (and it happens rarely when I just can't get the page to reload at all after clearing cache), I just load the page in a different browser. I use Firefox by default, so I pop into Opera or even the dreaded IE.

fwiffo
2006-03-29, 03:23 PM
Well, even taking that into account, the sheer volume of (awesome) writing in the strip will involve quite a bit of work on your part, even if the actual conversion of English to German in your head is second nature. But we digress. A lot. What's this thread about? Who am I? ;)

You really have to be able to write as well as the author to do a good translation. It is not just the issue of knowing both languages well - you have to have writing skills comparable to the material you are translating. It is very difficult to do it well, because you are limited by both the source material and target language.

That said, I've read some amazing translations. Stuff like English version of Lem's Cyberiad, for example, is written in such a way that I would swear is completely impossible to express in any other language. Yet it is a translation.

Hurlbut
2006-03-29, 03:24 PM
I'm surprised no one has done the math on the actual sword, just the hit chance. Here goes:

Greatsword 50gp
Masterwork 300gp
+4 32,000gp
For a total of 32,350gp for the Greenhilt legacy.
Actually before it was broken, it was just a simple Masterwork one, no ehnancement, special material or anything to it.

Dags
2006-03-29, 04:31 PM
Then how would it gain a 25% increase in accuracy and damage?
25%=1/4
25% of a +4 weapon is +1
4+1=5 (+5 weapon)
If it were talking about giving ROY a 25% increase to accuracy and damage, then Roy would have to be level 20 and have a +20 Str modifier.
+5 (weapon)/+20(BAB)=1/4=25%


Let's not forget the Undead-Bane quality being added through the Starmetal. +4 (32,350gp) jumps to a +6 (72,350gp). Quite the little gift from Shojo.

EDIT: I stand corrected by the Giant in another post. It was just a masterwork weapon before. He was refering to the D20 probability not to Roy's previous To Hit modifiers.

Midnight Son
2006-03-29, 04:55 PM
Wow! I zoned out about two sentences into Dags' post there.

On another topic, I just reread the comic for the fifth time. I'm still chuckling about the last panel.

n11
2006-03-29, 05:01 PM
Much of the cost of upgrading the weapon is covered in the cost of the material (starmetal). Based on the reaction of the swordsmith, that hunk might be worth 50000gp or more.

Might she keep a small percentage of the starmetal for herself as commission? Would she ask Roy's permission? Will any of this be relevant for the future of the comic? (probably not, but ya never know...)

enigma
2006-03-29, 05:01 PM
Wow, you are an awesome artists, Rich. I love the comic. Love the characters. And am so impressed with your dedication to a free online comic.

I *heart* Giant!

Enigma

KaosDevice
2006-03-29, 05:20 PM
Whenever something like this happens to me (and it happens rarely when I just can't get the page to reload at all after clearing cache), I just load the page in a different browser. I use Firefox by default, so I pop into Opera or even the dreaded IE.

Well, I don't think I am destined to see it. I still get the Mephis thing in Opera as well, even after cache clearing, etc.
:(

Gleanerizer
2006-03-29, 05:24 PM
Well, I don't think I am destined to see it. I still get the Mephis thing in Opera as well, even after cache clearing, etc.
:(


Try this. (http://www.giantitp.com/oots/oots0297.gif) Perhaps a direct image link would work? Just trying to help a fellow fan out...

Firewheels
2006-03-29, 05:30 PM
I humbly suggest you will be happier not worrying about it.

THIS, Giant, is just one more reason why you're an awesome storyteller.

You rock.

WNxArrakis
2006-03-29, 06:01 PM
One thing irks me though.. besides setting up for a good punchline, why would the forger consider the anti-undead effect a drawback? Undead in DnD are characteristically evil though exceptions occur, but if you make a weapon that does extra damage to undead, and you're STABBING the undead, you typically want the extra damage, no?

Arrakis

Kresalak
2006-03-29, 06:02 PM
Then how would it gain a 25% increase in accuracy and damage?
25%=1/4
25% of a +4 weapon is +1
4+1=5 (+5 weapon)
If it were talking about giving ROY a 25% increase to accuracy and damage, then Roy would have to be level 20 and have a +20 Str modifier.
+5 (weapon)/+20(BAB)=1/4=25%


Let's not forget the Undead-Bane quality being added through the Starmetal. +4 (32,350gp) jumps to a +6 (72,350gp). Quite the little gift from Shojo.

EDIT: I stand corrected by the Giant in another post. It was just a masterwork weapon before. He was refering to the D20 probability not to Roy's previous To Hit modifiers.
As Rich said, the 25% refers to a 5 point increase, since D&D uses the d20 system, and 5 is 25% of 20.

BURNhollywoodBURN
2006-03-29, 06:02 PM
I'm completely serious.

BEST COMIC EVER!

Really, I loved every panel in this one. Thanks, Rich.

Why does every one say that? It's so annoying how people say: OMG that's the best comic ever! and then next strip you say the same thing. IT ALWAYS HAPPENS!

Wrecan
2006-03-29, 06:06 PM
Maybe it's the glowy part of it that's a drawback. After all, if you're sneaking around a crypt of undead, you might not want a green glowy aura to give your location away.

The blacksmith doesn't know they'll be traveling with Durkon Noisemaker and Elan "I got a 4!" the Bard.

Eriol
2006-03-29, 06:12 PM
Maybe it's the glowy part of it that's a drawback. After all, if you're sneaking around a crypt of undead, you might not want a green glowy aura to give your location away.
Solution: buy a sheath for the weapon.

Does that have any penalties in D&D? Like "accessability to the weapon" or anything weird like that?

n11
2006-03-29, 06:23 PM
Why does every one say that? It's so annoying how people say: OMG that's the best comic ever! and then next strip you say the same thing. IT ALWAYS HAPPENS!

Just by random statistical analysis, about one in every 300 folks will find the most recent comic their favorite. With many thousands of message board readers, there will be several who find the current comic as their best, and these will be the more enthusiastic posters. You might notice that different posters make the comment each comic. (My favorite remains "I GOT A 4!!!", but everyone has their personal taste)



Solution: buy a sheath for the weapon.

Does that have any penalties in D&D? Like "accessability to the weapon" or anything weird like that?

Kind of hard to put a sheath on a six foot weapon unless you have a six foot arm with which to draw it. (Unless you dump the sheath on the ground each time you draw the weapon) Hopefully the weapon will come with an on/off switch.

KaosDevice
2006-03-29, 06:30 PM
Try this. (http://www.giantitp.com/oots/oots0297.gif) Perhaps a direct image link would work? Just trying to help a fellow fan out...

I appreciate it. But even that just brings up the Mephis notification for me in Opera and IE. Even after blasting cache, etc. I'm really frustrated it sounds like this was a rocking installment. :-/

n11
2006-03-29, 06:40 PM
Since the old image no longer exists on this server, you must have not blasted your entire cache. You could go fishing through your folders for cache files, even do a search for .jpg's and obliterate the offending item. It lives on your computer somewhere. (Unless you are accessing over a school network)

Adeptus
2006-03-29, 06:41 PM
As a side note:

If a steel greatsword weighs 8lb in DnD


It would, wouldn't it :(

But seriously, a 2-h sword is usually less than or around 2kg in weight. That is from 4 to 5 pounds. 8 pounds is just silly.

The difference may not sound like much, but try it for yourself if you get the chanse.

Here's a few links for those interested in real swords.

http://www.myarmoury.com/swor_cust_clay.html

http://www.myarmoury.com/review_alb_brescia.html

Gleanerizer
2006-03-29, 06:41 PM
I appreciate it. But even that just brings up the Mephis notification for me in Opera and IE. Even after blasting cache, etc. I'm really frustrated it sounds like this was a rocking installment. :-/

Check your instant messages (upper right hand corner of the bulletin board frame).

Tyas
2006-03-29, 06:42 PM
Kaos, do you perhaps have 'accelerated' internet? If so, try turning it off.

n11
2006-03-29, 06:45 PM
It would, wouldn't it :(

But seriously, a 2-h sword is usually less than or around 2kg in weight. That is from 4 to 5 pounds. 8 pounds is just silly.

The difference may not sound like much, but try it for yourself if you get the chanse.

Here's a few links for those interested in real swords.

http://www.myarmoury.com/swor_cust_clay.html

http://www.myarmoury.com/review_alb_brescia.html

In this world, all that matters is what is written here (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/weapons.html).

KaosDevice
2006-03-29, 06:55 PM
Finally got it. Thanks all, turned out my browser needed a smack upside the head (and selections in 'Options')

;)

Melnor
2006-03-29, 07:02 PM
Hey Giant!
THanks for explaining everything, and still keeping up with the comics!
That makes me happy ;D
Also, great plot exploition ;)

Gleanerizer
2006-03-29, 07:04 PM
Glad that worked out for you, Kaos. I'll go wipe my Photobucket now.

Hmmmmm...

I wonder if Roy is going to use all the starmetal? V wanted a piece of that action... (http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/GiantITP/ootscript?SK=139), and (s)he DID smoke that dragon pretty much singlehandedly... I'll keep speculation to myself... :-X

Dark_Stalion
2006-03-29, 07:10 PM
I think I've worked out the undead thing. Shouldn't an undead which is killed become a re-dead? or perhapse if you kill one it becomes de-dead, and therefore alive? is two negatives a positive? Am I repeating stuff that has been said 42000 times in as many different ways?

BTW I loved the comic, giant. funniest in a long while, though I still love mr. Scruffy. Lots of people have comenteed on how the starmettle quest has been neatly rounded off, so i just want to say thank you for continuity.

geez3r
2006-03-29, 07:12 PM
I would like to take this time to thank The Giant for his dedication to the comic, if I had a hat, it would most assuredly be off.

Now onto the comic:

I love how Roy poked fun at the obvious gaming references OOTS is well know for.

Secondly, a +5 Greatsword that kicks undead @$$.... AWESOME!

Roy and V suddenly got uber powerful (V getting all those high level spells for free and what not).

I predict many memorable battle scenes in the future, excellent work Giant.

WNxArrakis
2006-03-29, 07:17 PM
Again, One thing irks me though.. besides setting up for a good punchline, why would the forger consider the anti-undead effect a drawback? Undead in DnD are characteristically evil though exceptions occur, but if you make a weapon that does extra damage to undead, and you're STABBING the undead, you typically want the extra damage, no?

Arrakis

Oppolo
2006-03-29, 07:20 PM
WNxArrakis, read the topic :P http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=comics;action=display;num=1143588099 ;start=122#122

Umbral_Arcanist
2006-03-29, 07:21 PM
She did say it was occansional, meaning a random thing, not all the time or whenever Roy wishes. Dunno why it's a bad thing. i guess those with undead associates would not like that and it may indicate that it is made of starmetal to would be thieves

Winged One
2006-03-29, 07:31 PM
For all she knew, he was going to give the sword to his mummy.
Naturally, I was drinking a carbonated beverage when I read this post. ;D

AyuVince
2006-03-29, 07:46 PM
Hey there - long time reader, first time poster. Love your work, Giant.

Hmm.. I'm not familiar with the rules for the Green Star Adept prestige class.. do you need spellcaster levels as a prerequisite? It'd be funny if Roy took levels in this, became green (Roy angry! Roy smash!) and set out to search for more starmetal.

Finwe
2006-03-29, 07:49 PM
As a side note:

If a steel greatsword weighs 8lb in DnD, and a starmetal version of the same weapon weighs 300lb, and (to be conservative) we consider the non-blade portions of the sword to have inconsequential weight, then starmetal has a density 300/8 = 37.5 times greater than that of steel. Since steel's density is 7850kg*m^-3 (http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/metal-alloys-densities-d_50.html), then starmetal's density is roughly 2.94*10^5 kg*m^-3.

This is 26.0 times greater than that of lead, 15.6 times that of uranium, 15.2 times that of gold, and 13.0 times that of iridium, which is the densest natural substance on Earth.


In real life, a greatsword weights upwards of 40lbs, making the star metal's density about 58880kg*m^-3. That's still pretty hefty though - about 3X as dense as gold.

Nixie
2006-03-29, 07:58 PM
Hmmm. That is truly interesting. But we know Starmetal isn't natural, as proved by the Swordsmith...

"That would require all the Starmetal that fell to the earth, ever,"


So, we know Startmetal is ET (pathetic, i cant even spell Terrestrial... :-[Wait, is that how you spell it? ???)

Then again. 'Star'metal, kinda gives it away... lol... :)

all the anasis for naught. ;D

WNxArrakis
2006-03-29, 08:06 PM
WNxArrakis, read the topic :P http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=comics;action=display;num=1143588099 ;start=122#122


yeah, you caught me.. I read about 1-3 and then skipped to about 12 so that I could follow the conversion and add an interjectio. *casts time stop to run away*.

Arrakis

Kresalak
2006-03-29, 08:17 PM
In real life, a greatsword weights upwards of 40lbs, making the star metal's density about 58880kg*m^-3. That's still pretty hefty though - about 3X as dense as gold.
By "greatsword" do you mean "2x4 hunk of iron"?

Quoneiros
2006-03-29, 08:58 PM
Did anyone notice the swordsmith say "Sometimes glow with ..."

Perhaps the bane undead ability will randomly turn on and off.

Charity322
2006-03-29, 09:00 PM
I think I've figured out why the blacksmith looks slightly gender ambiguous. The sticky out part that represents her breasts stick out over the apron she's wearing.

If a woman wears a full length apron it usually covers the breast. May be why it looks a bit ambiguous, like a deformed shoulder.

Kalatash
2006-03-29, 09:04 PM
I wonder if Roy is going to use all the starmetal? V wanted a piece of that action... (http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/GiantITP/ootscript?SK=139), and (s)he DID smoke that dragon pretty much singlehandedly... I'll keep speculation to myself... :-X
My personal guess is that V thought that such a small quantity of starmetal couldn't make even ONE magic item [because V is a wizard, not a blacksmith], and since Roy 'needed' it to repair his sword, he should get it.

redmind0
2006-03-29, 09:11 PM
Starmetal
Bypasses Damage Reduction as if it were Adamantine.
Does +1d6 damage to Extraplanar creature that are currently on the Material Plane.
[hr]
Xycon (or how do you spell it again??) is undead, but nog a extraplanar creature. His dad is. So I think this means Eugene is going to have another reason to be really pissed at Roy.

Thank you! Finnaly.

taigen
2006-03-29, 09:12 PM
As to the thread-rangeing green glow discussion, well I am a bit of a proponant that (despite Giant's earlier punishment) if you break down the sentance grammar she mentioned its a 'deadly green glow' and its 'particularly harmfull to undead'. This doesn't mean its very good for anything other then undead.. like say.. the weilder... and well.. Roy had her skip any precautions... maybe Roy will get to take levels of Alienist soon... and skip all the pesky spellcasting requirements *eg* radiation is fun!

-Taigen

(btw I don't seriously believe Roy will become an alienist... and thus don't think this needs the whole spoiler bit... not really sure how the spoiler rules interact with tongue and cheek....)

redmind0
2006-03-29, 09:21 PM
The Voice of Mod: Does everyone know WHY these threads get so long? Because no one READS them anymore, they just go to the last page and post, "I didn't read the whole thread, but here's a question that's been asked and answered four times already."

Hey, I read the whole thing.

LurkerInPlayground
2006-03-29, 09:21 PM
Thats not http://www.crystalkeep.com/d20/rules/DnD3.5Index-Equipment.pdf's
description of Starmetel
Starmetalt has whatever properties are convenient for the story arc. It's magiccccc....Oooooo!

Finwe
2006-03-29, 09:24 PM
By "greatsword" do you mean "2x4 hunk of iron"?


Yeah, I was thinking about that and I realized that 40lbs is bogus. Maybe if we were talking 'bout a heavy warhammer, but not a greatsword.

WNxArrakis
2006-03-29, 09:33 PM
Yeah, I was thinking about that and I realized that 40lbs is bogus. Maybe if we were talking 'bout a heavy warhammer, but not a greatsword.


actually, historicalkly they are about 40 pounnds, They are the shieldbreakers of the army, and for duels. They were never meant for practical military use.

Arrakis

rebellioussong
2006-03-29, 09:54 PM
Of course as soon as the comic goes up my personal connection to the 21st century goes down

finally... amazing

mikoto
2006-03-29, 10:04 PM
And again, the blacksmith is a woman, you need to clear your image cache to load the new comic, the "25%" only refers to d20 probability and not to some reflection of Roy's previous chance to hit or damage, the word "particularly" does imply that the energy could be harmful to creatures other than undead.
So we just have to post multiple mini conversations to have the giant answer our questions

Kish
2006-03-29, 10:07 PM
::)

Or get annoyed and step on you, whichever he does first.

Kresalak
2006-03-29, 10:16 PM
actually, historicalkly they are about 40 pounnds, They are the shieldbreakers of the army, and for duels. They were never meant for practical military use.

Arrakis
If only I remembered my "Summon Vahenir" spell, and if it only worked outside the WotC boards.

However, greatswords were used in practical military use. 40 pounds is really fricken heavy! Even 8 is more then a useable sword could ever wiegh; ceremonial greatswords might approach 8, but normal ones would hover around 4-5.

Greatswords were used by the Germans to break past pikemen (these greatswords were known as zwiehanders, meaning, IIRC, 2 hands), since the force they could bring to bear would be enough to push the long but deadly pikes out of the way, making the pikemen vulnerable. A 40 pound sword would weigh more then some people's armor, and would be 100% unusable.

If you want, I'll see if I can contact Vahenir from the WotC message boards, since he knows far more then me on the subject.

Gleanerizer
2006-03-29, 11:01 PM
Hey, I read the whole thing.
And that post has made this thread longer. And this response has made it even longer.

*Giant's head explodes*

Mal_the_Mad
2006-03-29, 11:37 PM
it's not the length that matters as the redundancy, I hate to see the same Q&A over the same topics whenever a new page comes up the question gets asked and answered yet again.

this thread is one of those that had the blonde rinse repeat treatment.