OOTS #1179 - The Discussion Thread

[The Giant]

New comic is up.

[enh]

Most inventive bathing technique ever.

[Deuce]

Really stinks not having prestidigitation on the spell list, huh?

[Lord Torath]

Looks like Durkon & Crew are free to press on! Woo hoo!

Love the tree-slayers' mounts: Beaver and Woodpecker!

Thanks, Rich!


Really stinks not having prestidigitation on the spell list, huh?I see what you did there! :smallamused:

[Itrogash]

That's exactly how I imagined how Godsmoot is faring.
Nice Troll Slayers reference. I wonder if Tree Slayers are also dishonored and seek glorious death from their arboreal enemies.

[Starknight62040]

Love it. Create Water!

[Cicciograna]

The craftiness of the clerics is admirable. CREATE WATER! CREATE WATER! CREATE WATER!

Also, how brave or foolish or both do you have to be to play cards with the High Priest of Loki? I mean, I can see the HP of Freyr trying his luck, but I'd have assumed he was a better judge of risk-rewards :smallbiggrin:

Final remark: the Treeslayers are totes metal!

[Schroeswald]

The high priests are having fun.

[Peelee]

Normally the end panel joke isn't my favorite part, but dang if I don't love Shower Cleric.

[Mad Humanist]

That's exactly how I imagined how Godsmoot is faring.
Nice Troll Slayers reference. I wonder if Tree Slayers are also dishonored and seek glorious death from their arboreal enemies.

Thanks for clueing me in that I really do need to google "troll slayer".

I love the beaver and woodpecker mounts. This may go down as my favourite OOTS strip of all time.

[DougTheHead]

I love that the dwarves seem to have a special super-squad of soldiers whose duties are essentially identical to those of lumberjacks.

Also, new strategy: wait until the cleric of Fenrir dies of starvation, and the no votes carry the day.

[El'the Ellie]

Who is the red-eyed fanged person hanging in the back of the last panel?

[DougTheHead]

Who is the red-eyed fanged person hanging in the back of the last panel?

The new High Priest of Hell, whom Durkula appointed as his successor before teleporting out of the room.

[Peelee]

Who is the red-eyed fanged person hanging in the back of the last panel?

The high priest of Hel. I like to call her the Frontarch (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1017.html).

[warmachine]

A riding beaver and a riding woodpecker? The mounts of choice for the bezerk Treeslayer squad. No matter how far, how big, or how well guarded, the Treeslayer squad are prepared to sacrifice their lives to destroy their target. Every tree knows they're not safe.

[b_jonas]

Hahahahah! Heroes' Feast and Create Water indeed! They're all priests, so they can't cast comfortable spells like Mage's Magnificient Mansion.

And yes, I like the beaver too.

[EmperorSarda]

So why can't Elan just cast mending on the table?

[Resileaf]

Please tell me that the Treeslayers are a reference to Warhammer dwarf Slayers. There is nothing more metal than a dwarf Slayer, and that makes it even better if what they have to die fighting are trees.

[b_jonas]

So why can't Elan just cast mending on the table? It's too big. Only the more powerful Make Whole spell works on items that big. Was discussed in previous threads.

[Stabbey]

Ah ha ha... It kinda sucks to be those clerics. They're not really suffering, but they're certainly inconvenienced in an annoying way. And I guess their bodyguards are stuck there as well unable to get supplies or anything.

[Schroeswald]

Also, new strategy: wait until the cleric of Fenrir dies of starvation, and the no votes carry the day.
I see no flaws with this plan.

[Peelee]

So why can't Elan just cast mending on the table?

Might be too big. The "unbroken" part might mean "never broken," and not "repaired after being broken." The wards against non-dwarfs entering may be permanent. Take your pick.

[JT]

Hmmm... what is the FrontArch doing (going to do) for sustenance at the Godsmoot?

[Resileaf]

Hmmm... what is the FrontArch doing (going to do) for sustenance at the Godsmoot?

Unless someone there accepts to feed her blood, she'll eventually become blood-crazed and will attack another high priest or a bodyguard, giving an excuse for everyone else to dust her on the spot. (Or maybe Hel will give her some kinda blessing so she doesn't have to during the Godsmoot)

[ben-zayb]

Gotta respect the HPo Fenrir. Not sure I get the deal with the "limping elf" though. You'd think elves of all sort are all-natural organic food.

[Worldsong]

Treeslayers. I really should have seen that coming.


So why can't Elan just cast mending on the table?

A multitude of possible answers have been discussed in previous threads, and since apparantly they do need an actual new table it's safe to assume one of those answers is correct.

EDIT:


Unless someone there accepts to feed her blood, she'll eventually become blood-crazed and will attack another high priest or a bodyguard, giving an excuse for everyone else to dust her on the spot. (Or maybe Hel will give her some kinda blessing so she doesn't have to during the Godsmoot)

Given that the Godsmoot has high chances of being a gathering from various different creature types (as long as said creature type can be a Cleric) I'd guess they have some catchall rule that all high priests and guards must be accommodated for in terms of sustenance, so it might be obligatory for someone to donate blood for vampire clerics.

[NNescio]

Suddenly Warhammer.

[hroþila]

I feel bad for poor Miss Morningstar all alone with no friends back there.

Hmmm... what is the FrontArch doing (going to do) for sustenance at the Godsmoot?
It's not clear to what extent drinking blood in the OotS universe is a physiological *need* or just something they do to not feel like crap. But some of the Nay priests might volunteer their blood if they feel it's what their deities would want, I suppose.

[thorr-kan]

I needed that smirk. Good comic.

[Resileaf]

Gotta respect the HPo Fenrir. Not sure I get the deal with the "limping elf" though. You'd think elves of all sort are all-natural organic food.

It probably refers to most predators favoring young or infirm animals to hunt as prey.

[lcavalheiro]

Hmmm... what is the FrontArch doing (going to do) for sustenance at the Godsmoot?

Not drinking blood from anyone isn't enough?

[hamishspence]

Gotta respect the HPo Fenrir. Not sure I get the deal with the "limping elf" though. You'd think elves of all sort are all-natural organic food.

It's the "predators typically prey on the injured, weak, sick, young, etc" principle.

[anonynos]

Hmmm... what is the FrontArch doing (going to do) for sustenance at the Godsmoot?

Some combination of someone volunteering to give up some blood and Restoration and/or Lesser Restoration castings.

[danielxcutter]

Wow, it's been less than an hour since the new comic came up.

Sure hope they know enough about food to be able to make different things pop up, otherwise it's going to get old faaaaaast.

Also I see the High Priestess of Odin is referring to the representives by their deities.

[JumboWheat01]

Such absolutely mundane uses for divine-powered magic.

I love it.

[Onyavar]

Gotta respect the HPo Fenrir. Not sure I get the deal with the "limping elf" though. You'd think elves of all sort are all-natural organic food.

Beasts of prey usually target the limping members of the herd, the weak ones. It's both "natural selection" and "lion's laziness".

Edit:
Also, "elves are gazelles".
And I was ninjad.

[DougTheHead]

Sure hope they know enough about food to be able to make different things pop up, otherwise it's going to get old faaaaaast.


I feel like a roomful of clerics are unlikely to mind a few weeks of forced asceticism.

[Sylian]

Someone should make a Treeslayer prestige class.

[Garwain]

With some castings of Stone Shape, Create water and Control Water, we're not far off from a water themed amusement park.

[danielxcutter]

Someone should make a Treeslayer prestige class.

Naturally, one of the class features would be Favored Enemy(plants).

[lcavalheiro]

With some castings of Stone Shape, Create water and Control Water, we're not far off from a water themed amusement park.

Godsmoot Amusement Park, a good way to keep boredom at bay :-)

[Mad Humanist]

That's exactly how I imagined how Godsmoot is faring.
Nice Troll Slayers reference. I wonder if Tree Slayers are also dishonored and seek glorious death from their arboreal enemies.

And that's two new references to games. I have added them to my list (https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/242487/item/7161248#item7161248). Of course I used your quote because I would have had no idea without you.

[ben-zayb]

It probably refers to most predators favoring young or infirm animals to hunt as prey.

It's the "predators typically prey on the injured, weak, sick, young, etc" principle.
That makes sense, and I'm pretty sure elves already cover the "looking sick" part due to their poor CON stat.


I just realized that not only Prestidigitation would help "clean" their clothes, it would also help with the bland food. Poor clerics.

Lastly, living in the tropics, it never occured to me that Create Water could arguably conjure warm bath water instead of room temperature water, but my headcanon was that's what occured this chapter.

[Reboot]

I would have thought a bath would have been easier than a shower. Stone Shape to make the bath, some fire spells to heat it, and Purify Water so that you never need to drain it.

[danielxcutter]

I would have thought a bath would have been easier than a shower. Stone Shape to make the bath, some fire spells to heat it, and Purify Water so that you never need to drain it.

Yeah, but this is funnier.

[D.One]

I really don't know what I liked more, The Treeslayerstm or the Godsmoot arrangements :smallbiggrin:

Congrats, Giant.

[Gift Jeraff]

Hmmm... what is the FrontArch doing (going to do) for sustenance at the Godsmoot?

Probably getting blood donations from the high priests who chose to protect the vampire spawn earlier.

[The MunchKING]

Gotta respect the HPo Fenrir. Not sure I get the deal with the "limping elf" though. You'd think elves of all sort are all-natural organic food.

Limping just means he's picking of the already weak and injured ones rather than taking on a full power healthy adventurer type. Same reason he goes for children from the humans.


I feel like a roomful of clerics are unlikely to mind a few weeks of forced asceticism.

Depends on the tenants of the religion in question I suppose. Along with personality of the cleric.

[D.One]

I'm also amused by how much Shirra sounds like She-Ha :smallsmile:

[KorvinStarmast]

Depends on the tenants of the religion in question I suppose. Along with personality of the cleric. Tenets. :smallwink:

Love this strip. Giant, the feel for good OoTS jokes about D&D stuff, geek stuff, and for that matter sewing up loose plot points, was very well done. *tips cap*

1. Dwarven treeslayers mounted on a beaver and a woodpecker.
2. Shirra the Vampire Slayer - yes, that has a great ring to it :smallbiggrin:
3. Cleric Hotel services panel.
4. Hel's cleric moping in the corner - just like her deity
5. Fenrir's natural food / locovore approach - good one
6. The Shower.

To answer why a shower in stead of a bath? Besides using less water per cleaned personage, who wants to be second in the bathwater? Nobody. So, shower.

[Reboot]

I just realized that not only Prestidigitation would help "clean" their clothes, it would also help with the bland food. Poor clerics.

Heroes' Feast (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/heroesFeast.htm) doesn't sound so bland - the food is explictly described as "ambrosial"!



Depends on the tenants of the religion in question I suppose. Along with personality of the cleric.

Yeah. Not seeing Loki's teachings encouraging a spartan existence...



To answer why a shower in stead of a bath? Besides using less water per cleaned personage, who wants to be second in the bathwater? Nobody. So, shower.

That's what Purify Food And Drink (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/purifyFoodAndDrink.htm) is to be (mis)used for :p

[I prefer to think of the reason being a mass-dump of INT by the clerics]

[The MunchKING]

Tenets. :smallwink:

Spell check didn't like that one for me. Besides, is it funny to think of people renting their religion with a ongoing lease and rules about no pets and they have to mow their own lawns or what ever? Or is that just me? :smallbiggrin:


To answer why a shower in stead of a bath? Besides using less water per cleaned personage, who wants to be second in the bathwater? Nobody. So, shower.

Well that's what Purify Water is for.



Yeah. Not seeing Loki's teachings encouraging a spartan existence...

Fenir doesn't seem to be handling it well either...

[The Pilgrim]

I love the reference to the dwarven slayers. Riding fearsome woodchiping monsters. And some of them so ashamed of themselves than they have even shaved their beards!

[Schroeswald]

Also I see the High Priestess of Odin is referring to the representives by their deities.

It’s so Rich doesn’t have to name anyone and we can know that the High Priestess of Freya is level 11+.

[factotum]

Couldn't Fenrir's representative get someone to use a Summon Monster spell to get him something he could catch and eat?

[Debatra]

Couldn't Fenrir's representative get someone to use a Summon Monster spell to get him something he could catch and eat?

Summoned creatures disappear back to their home planes when they "die". A bigger spell like Lesser Planar Ally might conceivably work, but I don't see many creatures accepting being killed and eaten.

[Gift Jeraff]

Couldn't Fenrir's representative get someone to use a Summon Monster spell to get him something he could catch and eat?

Summoned monsters poof back to their home plane and reform when they "die."

[137beth]

Hats off to the people who predicted that the vote would not resolve right away. I was wrong about this one.

[dmc91356]

I love that it is the blind priest that is dangled over the presumably naked other priest and casting create water to be the shower. Must preserve modesty, I suppose. But a nice touch.

[Psyren]

Hmmm... what is the FrontArch doing (going to do) for sustenance at the Godsmoot?

I'm guessing an evil god who voted to destroy the world will volunteer to keep her fed. Best bet would be HPo-Thrym since in his patron's mind it might marginally increase his chances of getting in her pants shroud.

Interesting that she doesn't seem to be making friends though. If she has a lick of sense she should be thinking Plan B, or else she'll end up like all of Hel's past attempts at a high priest.

[Doug Lampert]

Really stinks not having prestidigitation on the spell list, huh?

I blame the High Priestess of Odin. She almost certainly has the magic domain and hence could have brought and used an item of Prestidigitation such as a very cheap wand.

[Essex]

I love that it is the blind priest that is dangled over the presumably naked other priest and casting create water to be the shower. Must preserve modesty, I suppose. But a nice touch.

I figure the priestess casting the Create Water spell and the one on the left are blindfolded for modesty's sake. Which makes me wonder if the older priestess on the right has white eyes because she's actually blind, or using magic to peep on the bather.

[HorizonWalker]

I figure the priestess casting the Create Water spell and the one on the left are blindfolded for modesty's sake. Which makes me wonder if the older priestess on the right has white eyes because she's actually blind, or using magic to peep on the bather.

She's the High Priestess of Hoder, who is blind, and as such all of his clergy is either blind or blindfolded while on duty.

[St Fan]

I am ashamed to say that, if I did catch the Warhammer reference, I didn't get the beaver and wood-chipper joke until reading this thread.

[Frozenstep]

The placement of the shower and the fact that the cloth is only blocking the view from one direction...and 2 people need to hold up the cloth...how inefficient. Funny, though.

[kiapet]

I am ashamed to say that, if I did catch the Warhammer reference, I didn't get the beaver and wood-chipper joke until reading this thread.

I also realized the beaver and woodpecker joke after reading the thread, after which I laughed pretty hard. Benefits of reading the forum!

[Fyraltari]

The treeslayers are awesome but that last panel is pure gold. I love how utterly unnecessary that shower contraption is and that some of the Clerics are bound to realize that (especially the wilder ones like Freya’s, Fenrir’s and especially Skadi’s) but are keeping mum, probably for funsies.

Edited after reading the thread : guys, am I the only one here who ever showered with a bucket?


I figure the priestess casting the Create Water spell and the one on the left are blindfolded for modesty's sake. Which makes me wonder if the older priestess on the right has white eyes because she's actually blind, or using magic to peep on the bather.
Hoder’s High Priestesd is as blind as her god. She is sometimes facing the wrong way on wide shots.

[DeTess]

Someone should make a Treeslayer prestige class.

Done (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?597584-Dwarven-Tree-Slayer-(just-for-fun-but-PEACH-anyway)&p=24136513#post24136513) :P andsomemoreletters

[Ornithologist]

It hard to tell without zooming in, the dwarf on the wood pecker is a lady. So I don't think anyone was shaving any beards.

[Grey Watcher]

I love how nobody, even those whose gods sided with Hel, wants to hang out with the High Priestess of Hel. Yeah, it's probably because she's an unholy mockery of life whose very existence is a blight upon the world and an insult to natural order of the multiverse and the right disposition of souls and the afterlife, but I like to imagine that it's a much more petty, mundane "It's your fault that we're stuck here in this glorified conference room for days on end, so you can't come play cards with us!"

[hroþila]

I just noticed that the high priestess of Odin is referring to other high priests by the names of their patron deities. Probably because she's reading from a schematic list, but hey, it's two fewer names that the Giant needs to introduce :smallbiggrin:

[Breccia]

Not sure which is my favorite: the bored vampire HPoH, or the Treeslayers.

I say they fight to the death for my amusement! *CLAP CLAP*

[CriticalFailure]

The High-Priest-of-Njord-Pinata is a nice touch. Given that both creating water and purifying water are orisons, my guess is it's 50-50 down to gnomish eccentricity or one of the priests thinking it was funny.

[Draconi Redfir]

Oof, poor clerics.

if this godsmoot goes on much longer, we may start to see an entire clerically-sustained ecology roaming around that room.

any longer then that, and some seccond-generation Godsmooters:smalltongue:

[Rogar Demonblud]

The HPoHel is standing back in the shadows because the sun's out and Durkula didn't bother researching the Protection From Sunlight abjuration. No wonder she wanted the Staff of Malack.

Yes, shower duty is being performed by the HPoNjord. Hoder's priestess has the white eyes Rich uses for blindness effects.

All those who voted against me on either "The Order leaves instead of hunting down the last vampire" or "The Council/Godsmoot runs past the end of the book" oh Rich another dollar in the next PWYW.

[Themrys]

The placement of the shower and the fact that the cloth is only blocking the view from one direction...and 2 people need to hold up the cloth...how inefficient. Funny, though.

This is probably one of the panels where they are aware they are in a webcomic.

(Or it's the fact that no one stands between the bathtub and the wall. Presumably there's enough clerics of good and honourable deities to keep everyone else in line.)

Very nice teamwork.

They're all blindfolded to give the showering woman privacy, by the way - the cleric of Njord does not wear a blindfold at other times, neither does the cleric of Hermod, and the cleric of Hodor is blind.

@ Fyraltari: The cleric of Skadi is the one currently enjoying a nice hot shower. Why would it be unnecessary? Because they could take baths? Some people prefer a shower. Or is there a spell that conjures a real shower?
Edit: Pouring a bucket of water over yourself isn't the same as a steady supply of water. Having someone else pour the bucket is a bit more comfortable, but it's not a proper shower.)

@Grey Watcher: The cleric of Fenrir would likely not have prejudices against undead aberrations, as they both prefer a similar diet, but he's one of the most annoyed at being stuck in there, so yes, it totally is petty.

[gatemansgc]

Yeah, but this is funnier.

rule of funny always wins!

[CriticalFailure]

Isn't the other woman Hermod's high priest or something?

[gatemansgc]

It hard to tell without zooming in, the dwarf on the wood pecker is a lady. So I don't think anyone was shaving any beards.

the giant has always drawn male dwarves with beards, so yeah definitely a lady.

[Leftour]

Also, new strategy: wait until the cleric of Fenrir dies of starvation, and the no votes carry the day.


It seems more likely that Fenrir gets killed by the other clerics for breaking the rules by eating Balder whole. That would still lead to stalemate.

[St Fan]

Any longer then that, and some seccond-generation Godsmooters:smalltongue:

I already ship the Priest of Balder and Priestess of Iounn (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1018.html).

[hroþila]

Isn't the other woman Hermod's high priest or something?
Yup (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1012.html).

The woman in the helmet is one of the bodyguards (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0998.html), so I'm glad they haven't forgotten about the poor devils. One of them is even allowed to play with the cool kids!

[Rogar Demonblud]

I was trying to identify the Go Fish party, and got as far as HPoLoki, HPoMani and HPoFreyr, but it wasn't until the third look that I recognized the fourth as one of the bodyguards. Given the red trim on her outfit I'm wondering if she's HPoLoki's.

[CriticalFailure]

I thought she was BGoSkadi

[Lheticus]

And hey, if playing cards gets too old, they can always strike up a game of Dungeons and Dragons. :smalltongue:

[Fyraltari]

Themrys, which do you think is more unpleasant:
A) Showering from a bucket
B) being tied up upside down from a rope for however long it takes your colleague to shower?

[Psychronia]

Tree-Slayers. Awesome. I wonder what the most comparable reputation is for us?
Dragon slayers? Witch Hunters?
Maybe Bomb Squad? There's not much that both gives us an innate dread and can't be killed-or rather, we stop being afraid and start being violent if it's killable.

[Morgana]

Note that the treeslayers are riding a beaver and a woodpecker

[Fish]

I thought vampires had to grapple to drink blood. Doesn’t a grapple count as an attack? Or can the target simply choose not to resist? If someone volunteers to donate blood, can they also volunteer not to press charges of assault, or could one of the other (non-assaulted) clerics object to the breach of rules on the victim’s behalf?

I guess we’ll find out.

[Reboot]

I thought vampires had to grapple to drink blood. Doesn’t a grapple count as an attack? Or can the target simply choose not to resist? If someone volunteers to donate blood, can they also volunteer not to press charges of assault, or could one of the other (non-assaulted) clerics object to the breach of rules on the victim’s behalf?

I guess we’ll find out.

We probably won't - I bet this panel is the last we see of the Godsmoot for years.

[bunsen_h]

Is there some enhanced version of Stone Shape that would let the clerics create something akin to a shower head?

Back In The Day, my DM let us do fine work with such spells if we were willing to expend a lot of time and concentration, and do a lot of practising.

[Schroeswald]

We probably won't - I bet this panel is the last we see of the Godsmoot for years.

Well we’ll probably figure it out when we see them in years then (presumably from Veldrina’s Sending).

[Hemoparty]

I have to wonder how many human children have wondered into that forest for the HPoFenrir to reach this level...

(Why yes, I do choose to assume they eat literally those two options and nothing else. :smallbiggrin: )

[Anitar]

I have to wonder how many human children have wondered into that forest for the HPoFenrir to reach this level...

(Why yes, I do choose to assume they eat literally those two options and nothing else. :smallbiggrin: )

I think children would stop giving XP well before that point.

[Hemoparty]

I think children would stop giving XP well before that point.
My focus is, admittedly, less on them leveling up and more on them not starving to death before reaching this level.

[Enero Irontoad]

The Treeslayers are hilarious, as are the High Priest of Fenrir and the High Priestess of Njord-as-shower. :smallbiggrin:

I bet the High Priestess of Skadi, Goddess of the Hunt, also objects to a conjured diet, on the grounds that she doesn't eat food that hasn't had a fair chance to defend itself or escape.

[Wizard_Lizard]

My focus is, admittedly, less on them leveling up and more on them not starving to death before reaching this level.

well, theres also elves?

[Tvtyrant]

This is the first comic in a while that had me actually laughing aloud. I feel for shower head cleric and organic cannibal cleric, such trying times.

[ShurikVch]

No matter how far, how big, or how well guarded, the Treeslayer squad are prepared to sacrifice their lives to destroy their target. Every tree knows they're not safe.I wonder: would they be able to slay Juubi (https://naruto.fandom.com/wiki/Ten-Tails)?

[grandpheonix]

I imagine there have been quests to kill the beast murduring all those children... PCs have died to the HPoF...

[King of Nowhere]

I wonder what will be the result of so many high clerics being forced to spend time together without being able to use violence. maybe a new era of peace will come out of this

[Schroeswald]

I wonder if the Westerners and Southerners are also stuck in their godsmoots, if so that might make the three highest level clerics who can do anything Redcloak, Hilgya and Durkon.

[Dion]

Umm... where are Hilgya and Kudzu?

[Schroeswald]

Umm... where are Hilgya and Kudzu?
The same place as Minrah, the rest of the Thundershields, and the rest of the Order, offscreen somewhere in dwarven lands.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Hilgya split a while ago. Either she reclaimed Kudzu, or Rogga is still babysitting.

[Fyraltari]

I wonder if the Westerners and Southerners are also stuck in their godsmoots, if so that might make the three highest level clerics who can do anything Redcloak, Hilgya and Durkon.

Veldrina and Wrecan are stuck too so yes. There is only one Godsmoot and nobody leaves ‘till they’re done.

[AutomatedTeller]

that was great. many jokes ;)

[RdMarquis]

I wonder what will be the result of so many high clerics being forced to spend time together without being able to use violence. maybe a new era of peace will come out of this

...I kind of hope that.

Also, I missed the giant beaver and woodpecker the first time I read this comic. Still hilarious, though.

[factotum]

Veldrina and Wrecan are stuck too so yes. There is only one Godsmoot and nobody leaves ‘till they’re done.

I don't see it that way. The votes at the Western and Southern godsmoots have already taken place--the whole reason Veldrina was present at this one was to present the results of the western moot. She probably can't leave until the final vote finishes, but that doesn't mean the entire Western moot has to stay in session also, since they don't have a hung vote like occurred here.

[thorr-kan]

Yeah, but this is funnier.


I would have thought a bath would have been easier than a shower. Stone Shape to make the bath, some fire spells to heat it, and Purify Water so that you never need to drain it.
Baths slosh, moving water. Moving water kills vampires. Therefor, baths are an anti-vampire weapon, violating the rules of the Godsmoot. QED.

[Riftwolf]

I wonder what will be the result of so many high clerics being forced to spend time together without being able to use violence. maybe a new era of peace will come out of this

A very utopian ideal. More likely a thousand petty grievances build up and each High Priest orders a holy crusade against everyone else.
except the High Priests of Baldr and Iounn, who'll be at it like knives

[Reboot]

Baths slosh, moving water. Moving water kills vampires. Therefor, baths are an anti-vampire weapon, violating the rules of the Godsmoot. QED.

LOL

(Let's remember, however, that "moving water" is the entire principle of a shower, but incidental to a bath :p )

[Fanatic-Templar]

Unless someone there accepts to feed her blood, she'll eventually become blood-crazed and will attack another high priest or a bodyguard, giving an excuse for everyone else to dust her on the spot. (Or maybe Hel will give her some kinda blessing so she doesn't have to during the Godsmoot)

Can you drink blood from a Summoned monster?

[CriticalFailure]

A very utopian ideal. More likely a thousand petty grievances build up and each High Priest orders a holy crusade against everyone else.
except the High Priests of Baldr and Iounn, who'll be at it like knives

The Crusade of the Withheld Three of Spades will cleanse Go Fish of Evil forevermore.

[Frozenstep]

This is probably one of the panels where they are aware they are in a webcomic.

I mean, sure, but at least stoneshape something to hold up the cloth. Just looking at them holding that cloth is making my arms tired.

[OctoberRaven]

This is why wizards are more popular than clerics. Mordekainen's Magnificent Mansion. Sleeping quarters for everyone with enough space for a mess and bathouse.

[Rogar Demonblud]

As an extra-dimensional space, it may violate the Godsmoot Quarantine Rules.

[aramis604]

I swear panel 4 is an ARK reference...

[Schroeswald]

The Crusade of the Withheld Three of Spades will cleanse Go Fish of Evil forevermore.
The High Priestess of Skadi's Hunt of Everyone Who Saw Her Butt.

[Yendor]

So all the high priests are conveniently written out of any possibility of helping the heroes.

Maybe V could break out Greater Animal Messenger and drop them a line. Then again, given the food situation, there might be a repeat of last time (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0563.html).

[Lord Torath]

I swear panel 4 is an ARK reference...Possibly, but more likely a reference to Troll Slayers in Warhammer. There's a link further back in the thread. Or just google "Dwarven Slayers Warhammer".

The long and short of it is that these dwarves have violated a taboo and are thus dishonored (at least in Warhammer, not sure about OotS-verse), and seek to redeem themselves by Death in Heroic Combat Against the Enemies of the DwarvesTM.

[Peelee]

I mean, sure, but at least stoneshape something to hold up the cloth. Just looking at them holding that cloth is making my arms tired.

You should cast Bull's Strength on yourself like they can, then. :smalltongue:

[Fyraltari]

Possibly, but more likely a reference to Troll Slayers in Warhammer. There's a link further back in the thread. Or just google "Dwarven Slayers Warhammer".

The long and short of it is that these dwarves have violated a taboo and are thus dishonored (at least in Warhammer, not sure about OotS-verse), and seek to redeem themselves by Death in Heroic Combat Against the Enemies of the DwarvesTM.

The hairstyle of the beaver-rider is a dead give-away.

[ti'esar]

Even given the obvious boredom, I can't believe three people were stupid enough to play cards with Loki's High Priest.

[Resileaf]

Even given the obvious boredom, I can't believe three people were stupid enough to play cards with Loki's High Priest.

If they're not playing with money, there won't be anything coming from it.

[RatElemental]

Wow, it's been less than an hour since the new comic came up.

Sure hope they know enough about food to be able to make different things pop up, otherwise it's going to get old faaaaaast.

Create food and water always makes bland gruel no matter how much you know about food. Hero's Feast sounds like it'd be pretty palatable from the spell description though.

[CriticalFailure]

The High Priestess of Skadi's Hunt of Everyone Who Saw Her Butt.

The Church of Mani's Holy Inquisition of the Ganked Snack Foods.

[understatement]

Man, the gods must be completely bemused by what the clerics prayed for.

[ratfox]

Most inventive bathing technique ever.
I'm laughing uncontrollably at the priest tied up upside down with a blindfold repeating "create water"...
But great idea using the blind priest to hold the curtain.

[Schroeswald]

The Church of Mani's Holy Inquisition of the Ganked Snack Foods.

The Njordian Flood of Whoever's Stupid Idea It Was To Hang My High Priestess Like A Piñata

[goodpeople25]

Any other cleric spells beside stone shape to make a bathtub? Stone Shape might need another step like wall of stone because of their location. (Possible side effects of the spells cast by the creed of stone, or maybe some of the priests don't want to wreck the place even more)

Also any thoughts about the HPoO referring to the other High Priests as their respective Deities?

[NobleCuriosity]

I realize it’s already been said, but I thought it was clever to have Hoder’s (blind) priest be one of the three shower-makers, and the only one that doesn’t need to wear a blindfold.

What I didn’t see mentioned is that, even though all three of the shower clerics are blindfolded, Skaadi’s high priestess STILL seems to have insisted on three women for the shower makers. I would dismiss it as chance, but there’s another woman walking up to request the next shower, and all 5 involved being female strongly suggests this is the “ladies’ room.”

Which means there is ANOTHER of these contraptions offscreen for the gentlemen! Who do you think got tied to the rope for that one?

[CriticalFailure]

The Njordian Flood of Whoever's Stupid Idea It Was To Hang My High Priestess Like A Piñata

Which fit in nicely with the Interdenominational Cleansing of Fenrir's High Priest Who Really Shouldn't Have to be Told to Wash at His Age.

[Riftwolf]

Also any thoughts about the HPoO referring to the other High Priests as their respective Deities?

It's possible High Priests don't always know each others given names; referring to them by abbreviated title is easier, and saying 'Freya' or 'Sunna' is quicker than High Priest/ess of X.
Also realised we had a cut back to Godsmoot but no sign of Throwing Axe Kilt Guy :( I miss him. Kilted Treeslayer just isn't the same...

[Fyraltari]

Which means there is ANOTHER of these contraptions offscreen for the gentlemen! Who do you think got tied to the rope for that one?

Thrym's guy.

[VaarsuviusFan#1]

Okay, so they have means of eating, clean water, and basic hygiene, but what about toilet accommodations? Only spell I can think of would be plane shift to some filthy level of the abyss.

[thorr-kan]

LOL

(Let's remember, however, that "moving water" is the entire principle of a shower, but incidental to a bath :p )
Oh, the shower's a concern. But it's just a cantrip. :)

Tubs? Stone Shaped tubs have too much coffin imagery. One filled with moving water would be a little too triggery for a creature that can recall one death within the last 24 hours.

[JumboWheat01]

Okay, so they have means of eating, clean water, and basic hygiene, but what about toilet accommodations? Only spell I can think of would be plane shift to some filthy level of the abyss.

And now we know why Lolth is so angry all the time.

[Fyraltari]

Okay, so they have means of eating, clean water, and basic hygiene, but what about toilet accommodations? Only spell I can think of would be plane shift to some filthy level of the abyss.

Stone Shape a bucket and empty it through the gallery's windows (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0997.html).
Buckets, the solution to all your basic hygiene issues

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Interesting indeed that the vampire with curly hair escaped. Hopefully that won't come back to bite anyone, but I suppose it could make an interesting side story for the adventures of Clan Thundershield. Also, have Hilgya and Kudzu also moved on out of the story?

I love everything about the Treeslayers (and props to the people who theorized you need an entirely new table). Also, I feel bad for the priests and bodyguards of the moot. Hopefully they'll be released soon enough, but I'm guessing this means we will indeed be moving into the next book quite soon.

[hamishspence]

Interesting indeed that the vampire with curly hair escaped. Hopefully that won't come back to bite anyone

Pun intended? :smallamused:

[Fyraltari]

Interesting indeed that the vampire with curly hair escaped. Hopefully that won't come back to bite anyone
She.

but I suppose it could make an interesting side story for the adventures of Clan Thundershield. Also, have Hilgya and Kudzu also moved on out of the story?
Hilgya was last seen (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1175.html) looking at the escaping vampire, so it's possible the two will interact in some way.
Still thinking that one vampire will escape and plague the Dwarven Lands with a long term vampiric infestation.
We haven't had any resolution on Kudzu's situation yet. No way Hilgya is gone right now. Now, that the immediate danger has passed settling that would be Durkon's first priority and, I supsect, the subject of the upcoming strip(s).

[Kantaki]

The HPoF is kinda cute with his „:smallfurious:grr, I'm such a vile monster I only eat helpless people, grr!:smallfurious:” thing.:smallbiggrin:

Almost like he's saying that stuff to fulfil his evil quota.

I mean yeah, he's probably serious, but unless he packed lunch he will have to compromise.:smallamused:

[RatElemental]

Okay, so they have means of eating, clean water, and basic hygiene, but what about toilet accommodations? Only spell I can think of would be plane shift to some filthy level of the abyss.

Conceivably casting purify water on it would turn all human waste into pure clean drinkable water. Not that I'd be lining up for a glass.


Hilgya was last seen (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1175.html) looking at the escaping vampire, so it's possible the two will interact in some way.


That happened a while ago so it'd have to be a flashback now.

[facw]

I think children would stop giving XP well before that point.

Hmm, The Giant gave us stats for babies (which I think also fairly apply to children), but didn't (purposefully I'd imagine) give any XP-related info:


Here are the stats you actually need for a hatchling dragon:

Movement: Gets away if you let it.
Saving Throws: Miraculously survives all accidents.
Armor Class: You hit.
Hit Points: Congratulations, Baby-Killer.
Special Qualities: I hope you can live with yourself.

Coincidentally, these are the same exact stats for every other species of baby.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=16153403&postcount=28

[Fyraltari]

Hmm, The Giant gave us stats for babies (which I think also fairly apply to children), but didn't (purposefully I'd image) give any XP-related info:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=16153403&postcount=28

Babies don't wander into the woods. The High Priest of Fenrir probably goes for kindergartners and older.

[Anitar]

What I didn’t see mentioned is that, even though all three of the shower clerics are blindfolded, Skaadi’s high priestess STILL seems to have insisted on three women for the shower makers. I would dismiss it as chance, but there’s another woman walking up to request the next shower, and all 5 involved being female strongly suggests this is the “ladies’ room.”

Which means there is ANOTHER of these contraptions offscreen for the gentlemen! Who do you think got tied to the rope for that one?

Given that the high priests of the demigods are mysteriously absent from this strip, that leaves only the high priests of Tyr, Heimdall, and Vafthrudnir (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0999.html) unaccounted for. Which isn't enough men to create the shower and have someone inside of it. Thus there must be some nameless bodyguards involved, and unfortunately rope duty probably falls to one of them.

[Schroeswald]

Babies don't wander into the woods. The High Priest of Fenrir probably goes for kindergartners and older.
Why would those stats apply any differently to kindergarteners and older? He has a problem with starting the (effectively) teenaged Black Dragons, so no XP would apply to all children.

Given that the high priests of the demigods are mysteriously absent from this strip, that leaves only the high priests of Tyr, Heimdall, and Vafthrudnir (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0999.html) unaccounted for. Which isn't enough men to create the shower and have someone inside of it. Thus there must be some nameless bodyguards involved, and unfortunately rope duty probably falls to one of them.
Hermod's priestess is holding the shower, and if Veldrina is still here so is Southern Pantheon representative, so for the males we'd also have Thrym, Dvalin, Bragi and Surtur, and then non-nameless Wrecan, Dvalin is the shortest male not in frame so I guess we can put him on rope duty.

[Squire Doodad]

...huh, I was right.

[Anitar]

Hermod's priestess is holding the shower, and if Veldrina is still here so is Southern Pantheon representative, so for the males we'd also have Thrym, Dvalin, Bragi and Surtur, and then non-nameless Wrecan, Dvalin is the shortest male not in frame so I guess we can put him on rope duty.

Fitting. "Your patron is the one putting us through all this mess, so you're stuck cleaning up after it!"

[CriticalFailure]

Do the more devoted or higher level priests of Hodor blind themselves? I assumed so but idk if that's the case.

[Mad Humanist]

Do the more devoted or higher level priests of Hodor blind themselves? I assumed so but idk if that's the case.

My personal headcanon is that going blind is a mark of favour from Hodor. So when it comes to promotion time the blindest gets promoted. Of course this could be abused and cases of abuse don't qualify.

[RdMarquis]

Hermod's priestess is holding the shower, and if Veldrina is still here so is Southern Pantheon representative, so for the males we'd also have Thrym, Dvalin, Bragi and Surtur, and then non-nameless Wrecan, Dvalin is the shortest male not in frame so I guess we can put him on rope duty.

Surtur's guy is big enough that he might not need a rope (pretty ironic to have a fire giant's priest casting Create Water, though). I'd say the same for the priest of Thrym, but he appears to be an old man with back problems.

[JumboWheat01]

Someone who would probably have the Fire Domain casting Create Water would probably give us a nice hot shower. Much better for cleaning.

[Schroeswald]

Someone who would probably have the Fire Domain casting Create Water would probably give us a nice hot shower. Much better for cleaning.

Certainly better than Thrym's priest with freezing water.

[Emanick]

Surtur's guy is big enough that he might not need a rope (pretty ironic to have a fire giant's priest casting Create Water, though). I'd say the same for the priest of Thrym, but he appears to be an old man with back problems.

He’s also a “half-breed” according to Hel, and thus a half-giant. Who knows what sorts of things that genetic mixture does to your spine as you age? :smalleek:

[Mandor]

I see no one has a Decanter of Endless Water. Still, props to them for adapting. Hopefully Created Water can be at proper temperatures for a shower.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

The giant woodpecker mount is hilarious. :smallbiggrin:

[TheNecrocomicon]

Create food and water always makes bland gruel no matter how much you know about food. Hero's Feast sounds like it'd be pretty palatable from the spell description though.

"Bland but nourishing", if I recall. I wonder though, if Fenrir's high priest finds the taste of freshly hunted and slain humanoids to be "ambrosial", is that what would be conjured for him under Heroes' Feast? Nothing in the spell description invalidates it from being used by and appealing to Evil-aligned casters and their allies.


Interesting indeed that the vampire with curly hair escaped. Hopefully that won't come back to bite anyone, but I suppose it could make an interesting side story for the adventures of Clan Thundershield. Also, have Hilgya and Kudzu also moved on out of the story?

I for one find it implausible that Hilgya did absolutely nothing to capture or destroy the vampire that she noticed wafting right by her in mist form. Maybe it'll be revealed that she caught or smoked her offscreen. Or maybe it's a mark of how little Loki actually wants to thwart Hel's plan for domination were it not for the opportunity to end the threat of the Snarl.

[CriticalFailure]

It would be pretty funny if Hilgya actually smoked the vampire but everyone ends up on guard against a vampire that doesn’t exist due to miscommunication.

[NobleCuriosity]

Hermod's priestess is holding the shower, and if Veldrina is still here so is Southern Pantheon representative, so for the males we'd also have Thrym, Dvalin, Bragi and Surtur, and then non-nameless Wrecan, Dvalin is the shortest male not in frame so I guess we can put him on rope duty.

I agree with Anitar—this is perfectly fitting. Dvalin’s high priest is going to be agonizing over what in the world is taking so long out there (since it blocks the priests from communicating with people outside the moot).

Come to think of it, the events this time really dented the Godsmoot logistics. They’re likely to be stuck there for weeks (when previously they’d waited at most days for Dvalin), and when they are done, the Creed of Stone will be gone and thus unable to demolish the magical pop up gothic cathedral. Plus so many religions are going to be missing their high priests.

[Squire Doodad]

It would be pretty funny if Hilgya actually smoked the vampire but everyone ends up on guard against a vampire that doesn’t exist due to miscommunication.

"Wait, so try to eat someone is enough to pay the fare to Smiteytown? Wow, you guys should have told me I was just worried I'd get in trouble for wiping out the wine cellar to get at the vampire with a Flame Strike."

[NerdyKris]

I for one find it implausible that Hilgya did absolutely nothing to capture or destroy the vampire that she noticed wafting right by her in mist form. Maybe it'll be revealed that she caught or smoked her offscreen. Or maybe it's a mark of how little Loki actually wants to thwart Hel's plan for domination were it not for the opportunity to end the threat of the Snarl.

Allowing a priest to escape and start a church of Hel would alleviate Hel's current condition by giving her worshipers. So there's a chance Loki instructed her to let the vampire escape. But it's not that implausible that she'd just let it go by. She's chaotic evil, she has no reason to go out of her way to kill a lone vampire who is fleeing and no longer a threat to the world.

[Squire Doodad]

Allowing a priest to escape and start a church of Hel would alleviate Hel's current condition by giving her worshipers. So there's a chance Loki instructed her to let the vampire escape. But it's not that implausible that she'd just let it go by. She's chaotic evil, she has no reason to go out of her way to kill a lone vampire who is fleeing and no longer a threat to the world.

And, more importantly, no longer a threat to her or Kudzu.

[Lord Torath]

Allowing a priest to escape and start a church of Hel would alleviate Hel's current condition by giving her worshipers. So there's a chance Loki instructed her to let the vampire escape. But it's not that implausible that she'd just let it go by. She's chaotic evil, she has no reason to go out of her way to kill a lone vampire who is fleeing and no longer a threat to the world.
And, more importantly, no longer a threat to her or Kudzu.On the other hand, "His scriptures teach us that lo, they are such gross, icky things (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1107.html)", so it's entirely plausible she'd try to kill it anyway. But such an event would probably not be resolved off-screen. So, yeah, Hilgya probably let it go.

[facw]

Allowing a priest to escape and start a church of Hel would alleviate Hel's current condition by giving her worshipers. So there's a chance Loki instructed her to let the vampire escape. But it's not that implausible that she'd just let it go by. She's chaotic evil, she has no reason to go out of her way to kill a lone vampire who is fleeing and no longer a threat to the world.
I still don't get why people think not having clerics is why she doesn't have any worshipers. She's had undead clerics before (though apparently never any powerful ones). Even without clerics, presumably there would be some people who would worship her, since she's a known god, and people worship for other reasons than clerical benefits in this life. However we know directly from Rich that:


No one worships Hel, as was mentioned here. That means literally not one single living person, ever.

Source: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18092785&postcount=29
(I'm assuming "ever" means in this world)

In any event, I take that to mean there's something beyond the lack of clerics driving her lack of worshipers. Indeed if you read the full post that came from The Giant is saying she can't have clerics among the living because she has no worshipers, and a cleric has to worship their deity. It seems like the lack of worshipers is baked into the rules of this world and causes the lack of living clerics, rather than the other way around (unless he's changed his mind about how it works since he wrote that).

[Particle_Man]

My personal headcanon is that going blind is a mark of favour from Hodor. So when it comes to promotion time the blindest gets promoted. Of course this could be abused and cases of abuse don't qualify.

If remove blindness wasn’t such a low level spell I would have reversed the causality and assumed that blind people are more likely to becomes priests of Hodor.

[Squire Doodad]

If remove blindness wasn’t such a low level spell I would have reversed the causality and assumed that blind people are more likely to becomes priests of Hodor.

On the other hand, being intentionally blind means that anyone who has been blessed by Hoder and is wielding a staff is now a kickass melee fighter, screw stat penalties! We have the "impossibly skilled blind kung fu master" trope for a reason, right?

[Thecommander236]

So why can't Elan just cast mending on the table?

Because then the vote will resolve. They don't want that. They want this to drag on until after the bad guys lose, not give Hel another chance at rigging the vote.

[Squire Doodad]

Because then the vote will resolve. They don't want that. They want this to drag on until after the bad guys lose, not give Hel another chance at rigging the vote.

Also, the dwarves want to look lawful plus "unbroken" semantics.

[t209]

Please tell me that the Treeslayers are a reference to Warhammer dwarf Slayers. There is nothing more metal than a dwarf Slayer, and that makes it even better if what they have to die fighting are trees.
Well; they are half-naked, wear mohawks, and dwarven.
Either a lucky coincidence or a reference.

[Peelee]

Allowing a priest to escape and start a church of Hel would alleviate Hel's current condition by giving her worshipers. So there's a chance Loki instructed her to let the vampire escape. But it's not that implausible that she'd just let it go by. She's chaotic evil, she has no reason to go out of her way to kill a lone vampire who is fleeing and no longer a threat to the world.

Hel still has another cleric, though. Presumably a higher-level one, at that. She's even featured in the current comic.

[mjasghar]

Also any thoughts about the HPoO referring to the other High Priests as their respective Deities?

It’s like with hereditary titles where the holder takes on the name of their title

[Squire Doodad]

It’s like with hereditary titles where the holder takes on the name of their title

Yeah, the King of Nowhere and the King of Anywhere have names, but if they are the only representatives of their nations and it is a moderately informal scenario (intentionally or otherwise, like this one) then calling them "Anywhere" and "Nowhere" would be acceptable.

[pwning doodes]

Magically conjured is pretty much the most artificial you can get.

[Rrmcklin]

Because then the vote will resolve. They don't want that. They want this to drag on until after the bad guys lose, not give Hel another chance at rigging the vote.

Resolving the situation as quickly as possible against Hel is favorable to stalling, so you're logic doesn't hold up.

[DapperWarlock]

Okay, loved the strip, as always, but I'm ALSO a complete dork, so...

sigh... I googled how much water a shower usually uses.

Evidently the average American shower uses 17.2 gallons, at a rate of 2.1 gallons per minute for about 8.2 minutes. (I admit I am very slow to get ready in the morning myself, so I definitely use more than that. There is certainly a wide margin for error there.)

The spell Create Water instantly creates 2 gallons of water per caster level. Given that it's never stated what level these high priests are, I can only theorize a window of between 13th and 18th level, assuming the Summon Proxy spell needed is between a 7th to 9th level spell and clerics of 19th or 20th level are extremely rare.

So with three castings of Create Water, the high priestess of Njord is currently dumping between 78 and 108 gallons of water in an 18-second span. Which I find extremely funny.

Now, this can easily be hand-waved away as "it's magic, it can work however the caster wants," so Njord's gnjome could easily just be trickling out three castings' worth of water over a much longer period of time. (Plus time spent bathing is probably more important than the volume of water overall--there's probably a threshold where the amount of water expelled at once becomes moot, so multiple castings would be necessary in any case.)

But I find it funnier to think Njord's priestess got one whiff of Skadi's and instantly decided to overdo it with the water.

But honestly it really doesn't matter, I only even care this much because I've actually pondered this exact use of Create Water in the recent past.

[Necris Omega]

Create Water seems very laborious...

Part of me is wondering if at some point there wasn't a scene involving conjured water elementals and hi-jinx.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Resolving the situation as quickly as possible against Hel is favorable to stalling, so you're logic doesn't hold up.

Given the votes already cast, it's quite possible that when they reconvene Hel wins if the issue is still on the table. The winning vote for her was cast at the same time the elder paused the meeting, and the rules say no backsies.

Better safe than sorry.

And mending won't do squat in any case, as the table weighs more than one pound.

[The_Weirdo]

I thought vampires had to grapple to drink blood. Doesn’t a grapple count as an attack? Or can the target simply choose not to resist? If someone volunteers to donate blood, can they also volunteer not to press charges of assault, or could one of the other (non-assaulted) clerics object to the breach of rules on the victim’s behalf?

I guess we’ll find out.

Summon Monster. Order it to be quiet. Drink the monster's blood. Dismiss the monster.


Allowing a priest to escape and start a church of Hel would alleviate Hel's current condition by giving her worshipers. So there's a chance Loki instructed her to let the vampire escape. But it's not that implausible that she'd just let it go by. She's chaotic evil, she has no reason to go out of her way to kill a lone vampire who is fleeing and no longer a threat to the world.

Even if we accept the claim that she's CE (though CN doesn't really have to care about the vampire either), Loki hates the undead. That said, it assumes she even understood that the mist was a vampire at the time - or that she'd be in a position to go after the vampire, who most likely went into hiding...

[Rollin]

Which fit in nicely with the Interdenominational Cleansing of Fenrir's High Priest Who Really Shouldn't Have to be Told to Wash at His Age.

The Church of Balder probably held off until after that to announce their Truth and Reconciliation Cake Social, because there was no point unless they could invite everyone.

[Sorator]

An idle thought: what are the chances that someone else becomes high priest (of any of these gods) while the current ones are stuck? What's involved in becoming/being a high priest? It's probably not purely the highest level cleric of the deity in question for most of them, but it's possible that at least one works that way, and that could get rather interesting if they're stuck in place gaining no XP long enough. We know the rules of the Godsmoot don't prohibit transferring the title of high priest, given what the "church" of Hel did, though it's possible they prevent it transferring to someone outside the Godsmoot structure...

Probably won't matter, though; it's more convenient plot-wise if they stay there until things elsewhere get resolved.

[Rogar Demonblud]

You become High Priest when the relevant god tells you you're the high priest.

[Anitar]

and the rules say no backsies.

The rules that gods employ to stop themselves from devolving into chaos and creating new mini-Snarls are not the same rules that a bunch of old dwarves are beholden to, even if the old dwarves are coming together specifically to give advice to one of said gods.

[Emanick]

You become High Priest when the relevant god tells you you're the high priest.

Was it Hel herself who made the Frontarch the new High Priest of Hel? Or was it the current high priest?

While I'm sure a church would obey its god's orders on the matter, it seems that at least some gods are just fine with their followers making their own decisions when it comes to leadership-transferral. (There's a scene in Start of Darkness that also suggests as much, though I won't go into it because I don't want to bother with spoilers.)

[Rrmcklin]

Was it Hel herself who made the Frontarch the new High Priest of Hel? Or was it the current high priest?

While I'm sure a church would obey its god's orders on the matter, it seems that at least some gods are just fine with their followers making their own decisions when it comes to leadership-transferral. (There's a scene in Start of Darkness that also suggests as much, though I won't go into it because I don't want to bother with spoilers.)

I mean, the "frontarch" situation was very clearly just so the real High Priest could go off and actually complete Hel's plan. She was never High Priest in any truly meaningful sense, and everyone knew it, they just couldn't call the vampires on it.

[Fyraltari]

Given the votes already cast, it's quite possible that when they reconvene Hel wins if the issue is still on the table. The winning vote for her was cast at the same time the elder paused the meeting, and the rules say no backsies.

The only thing that matters is wether Dvalin considers that vote cast or not. Since the table was broken before the vote was cast, Dvalin can simply rule that it was invalid. Not to mention that when the council reconvenes and that particular Elder vote ‘No’ who is going to argue that he shouldn’t be allowed to?

An idle thought: what are the chances that someone else becomes high priest (of any of these gods) while the current ones are stuck? What's involved in becoming/being a high priest? It's probably not purely the highest level cleric of the deity in question for most of them, but it's possible that at least one works that way, and that could get rather interesting if they're stuck in place gaining no XP long enough. We know the rules of the Godsmoot don't prohibit transferring the title of high priest, given what the "church" of Hel did, though it's possible they prevent it transferring to someone outside the Godsmoot structure...

Probably won't matter, though; it's more convenient plot-wise if they stay there until things elsewhere get resolved.
The churches (except Hel’s, obviously) most likely all have protocols that forbid changing High Priest while they are away on Godsmoot duty to avoid accidentally depriving their patron of their vote.

[Lupus Major]

Hmm, I'm not too active on the forums, but did I miss them taking some action regarding the poor dude who got transported to the Plane of Infinite Painful Slopes?

[Psyren]

Is there some enhanced version of Stone Shape that would let the clerics create something akin to a shower head?

No need - you can actually cast Create Water into the air and let it fall as a downpour/shower already.

But as stated, this is funnier.


Resolving the situation as quickly as possible against Hel is favorable to stalling, so you're logic doesn't hold up.

Except if the vote resolves against destroying the world, nothing stops them from holding another one not long after. To paraphrase Roy, "the day is only saved if we stop this vote AND there isn't another one."

[RatElemental]

The winning vote for her was cast at the same time the elder paused the meeting

If the vote was considered cast, the vote would have concluded and there'd have been no more need for a meeting.


and the rules say no backsies.

The rules of the godsmoot do, not necessarily the rules of the clanmoot. They can't be using the same rules because the godsmoot has no table.


And mending won't do squat in any case, as the table weighs more than one pound.

But make whole would, that's a moot point though.

[factotum]

Summon Monster. Order it to be quiet. Drink the monster's blood. Dismiss the monster.

If it was that simple Durkula would have been doing that on the Mechane rather than relying on the rest of the Order allowing him to take a sip now and again. Also, I suggested using Summon Monster for food earlier and was told that monsters just vamoose back to their home plane when they die or are dismissed--pretty sure that means any part of the monster goes back as well, so your meal suddenly vanishes.

[The_Weirdo]

If it was that simple Durkula would have been doing that on the Mechane rather than relying on the rest of the Order allowing him to take a sip now and again. Also, I suggested using Summon Monster for food earlier and was told that monsters just vamoose back to their home plane when they die or are dismissed--pretty sure that means any part of the monster goes back as well, so your meal suddenly vanishes.

After you've eaten it? Like, the blood vanishes from the stomach of the cleric? Weird.

Well... Maybe there are rats there?

[mjasghar]

It wasn’t 3 castings of create water due to it not taking that long
The Giant has a convention where he portrays long casting time spells by having the caster simply repeat the name of the spell (Roy’s return to life is the one I remember the best)
Usually this is emphasised for comic effect.

[greenfunkman]

Does this strip imply that the gods are effectively paralyzed until the vote is resolved? Could they now destroy the world in time if the Snarl got free?

[factotum]

Does this strip imply that the gods are effectively paralyzed until the vote is resolved? Could they now destroy the world in time if the Snarl got free?

Of course not. We've already seen Thor, Loki and Hel acting just fine while the vote is suspended, and if it came down to "destroy the world or die", it'll be destroyed regardless of the outstanding state of this vote.

[Malloon]

HAHAHAHA! Really glad I decided to make an account last strip, it allows me to comment on side-splitting posts like these. Funniest thing I've read all month.

[CriticalFailure]

It seemed implied that they already agreed to do something if the last gate falls/the snarl is getting out.

[Schroeswald]

Hmm, I'm not too active on the forums, but did I miss them taking some action regarding the poor dude who got transported to the Plane of Infinite Painful Slopes?
Durkon’s Cousin’s Brother-in-law’s Niece’s Fiancé hasn’t been saved, plane shift is a ninth level spell for clerics so Durkon can now save him (unless Sigdi picked Hilgya up and forced her to cast it, or Logann’s Sister is a level 13 sorcerer/wizard and for some reason only cast really low-level spells so far).

It wasn’t 3 castings of create water due to it not taking that long
The Giant has a convention where he portrays long casting time spells by having the caster simply repeat the name of the spell (Roy’s return to life is the one I remember the best)
Usually this is emphasised for comic effect.
But Create Water is a short casting time, one standard action so it was cast thrice.

[CriticalFailure]

Isn’t it a 5th level spell for clerics?

[Schroeswald]

Isn’t it a 5th level spell for clerics?

Yeah, I’m never gonna get used to the terms to describe levels and caster levels, plane shift is a fifth level spell so you’d need to be ninth level to cast it, and for sorcerers and wizards it’s a 7th level spell so you have to be 13th level.

[CriticalFailure]

yeah having spell levels be different from level levels was A Choice

[Peelee]

Yeah, I’m never gonna get used to the terms to describe levels and caster levels, plane shift is a fifth level spell so you’d need to be ninth level to cast it, and for sorcerers and wizards it’s a 7th level spell so you have to be 13th level.

14th for sorcs.

[Fish]

The created water doesn’t just vanish. What they need is the spell “create drain.” How many showers will it take before the Godsmoot is knee-deep in bathwater?

Or, yeah, make a basin and re-purify the same water after each bath. But this is funnier.

[Schroeswald]

14th for sorcs.

Of course it is, because why would caster levels be at all consistent if there is a way for them to be inconsistent?

[Dion]

I wonder if being a dwarven treeslayer is any more dangerous than being a human lumberjack, or if they’re roughly the same job.

[CriticalFailure]

Well, lumberjacks do have one of the higher rates of workplace mortality, sadly.

[Breccia]

Someone who would probably have the Fire Domain casting Create Water would probably give us a nice hot shower.

Wouldn't that be heresy?

[Algeh]

Someone who would probably have the Fire Domain casting Create Water would probably give us a nice hot shower. Much better for cleaning.


Wouldn't that be heresy?

Depends: is the person trying to take a shower on fire at the time?

[Peelee]

Of course it is, because why would caster levels be at all consistent if there is a way for them to be inconsistent?

Well that's at least easily explainable; sorcerers get cast spontaneously, which is a pretty big boon, so they get their spell levels upgraded at one level later. And have a hard cap on how many spells they can know. And don't get any bonus feats. And are fluffed as inferior to wizards despite being born with the innate ability to create what wizards have to study in order to replicate. And still need material components despite having the innate ability to cast magic.

So... Pathfinder Sorcerer, you say?:smallamused:

[Schroeswald]

Well that's at least easily explainable; sorcerers get cast spontaneously, which is a pretty big boon, so they get their spell levels upgraded at one level later. And have a hard cap on how many spells they can know. And don't get any bonus feats. And are fluffed as inferior to wizards despite being born with the innate ability to create what wizards have to study in order to replicate. And still need material components despite having the innate ability to cast magic.

So... Pathfinder Sorcerer, you say?:smallamused:
I feel like having a hard cap is enough to balance the spontaneous casting, the rest makes the class seem really poorly balanced (correct me if it turns out that doesn’t matter all that much and the other stuff matters a lot).

[137beth]

You become High Priest when the relevant god tells you you're the high priest.

What gives you that idea? At the Godsmoot we saw the original HPoH step down and appoint the new HPoH, without Hel saying anything about it.

[Riftwolf]

What gives you that idea? At the Godsmoot we saw the original HPoH step down and appoint the new HPoH, without Hel saying anything about it.

It could've been part of Hel's plan to give HPoH authority to redelegate the title, so her most useful clergy were free to leave.
Other clergies with more established rules will work differently, because they're not two weeks old and have needed frameworks to stop random adventuring clerics declaring themselves High Priests just because they got 6th level spells.

[CriticalFailure]

Well that's at least easily explainable; sorcerers get cast spontaneously, which is a pretty big boon, so they get their spell levels upgraded at one level later. And have a hard cap on how many spells they can know. And don't get any bonus feats. And are fluffed as inferior to wizards despite being born with the innate ability to create what wizards have to study in order to replicate. And still need material components despite having the innate ability to cast magic.

So... Pathfinder Sorcerer, you say?:smallamused:

I never got the trope that Sorcerers are seen are lesser than Wizards when they can cast from innate ability. I would've expected the opposite. I want to play a wizard who tries to pass themsellf off as a sorcerer.

[Particle_Man]

Given the votes already cast, it's quite possible that when they reconvene Hel wins if the issue is still on the table. The winning vote for her was cast at the same time the elder paused the meeting, and the rules say no backsies.

Better safe than sorry.

And mending won't do squat in any case, as the table weighs more than one pound.

I don't think the last elder's vote counts, as it was interrupted by the pause in the meeting. It wasn't a "Yes" yet, it was at best a "Y-". Which could be "Yeaaaano!"


Hmm, I'm not too active on the forums, but did I miss them taking some action regarding the poor dude who got transported to the Plane of Infinite Painful Slopes?

Perhaps Thad has a second chance at romance? :smallbiggrin:

[Talion]

I feel like having a hard cap is enough to balance the spontaneous casting, the rest makes the class seem really poorly balanced (correct me if it turns out that doesn’t matter all that much and the other stuff matters a lot).

The short hand version: 3.5/Pathfinder Sorcerers are considered a "Tier 2" class. This means they're almost as good as you can get, in any hypothetical setup. They share the Wizard's spell list and have full spell caster progression (to level 9 spells, and Epic, etc). And, like the Wizard, a Sorcerer only 'needs' a single stat (their Charisma) to be fully effective, with anything else being a negligible penalty or icing on the cake for bonuses.

However, a Wizard in the same editions are considered "Tier 1", mostly because of the aforementioned balance decisions by the game's creators. In theory, they're much more powerful than Sorcerers of the same effective optimization. In practice, this can range a bit wildly depending on campaign, play style, build, spells chosen and the availability of other spells, player experience, etc.

Ultimately, they fill the same role in a party (ie the Arcane Spellcaster) and, so long as they don't make a point of spoiling each other's fun (or the fun of the other party members) it may not matter much on a group by group basis.

For a more detailed explanation, you might want to look through the 3.5/Pathfinder section of the Roleplaying sub-forums here on the Playground.

[CriticalFailure]

Isn't the main difference that wizards can typically fill many different roles with proper planning, whereas sorcerers have flexibility in executing their role but is limited in what roles they can actually fill due to restrictions on spells known?

[Peelee]

I feel like having a hard cap is enough to balance the spontaneous casting, the rest makes the class seem really poorly balanced (correct me if it turns out that doesn’t matter all that much and the other stuff matters a lot).
Oh, I totally agree; the wizard is way more utilitarian, while the sorcerer is able to cast on the fly but from a significantly smaller pool, so that seems like a pretty good tradeoff. That said, I wouldn't completely discount also having the extra level required for a new spell level, because spontaneous casting is pretty powerful.

Oh, also, even though wizards and sorcerers mostly share the same spell list, there are a few spells that are wizard only. Which I can understand, wizards do intense study and research and can try to invent new things. There are zero core spells that are sorcerer only, though, which I don't understand; there's a case to be made that some things can't be learned, but nope, wizards get a seat at the table and sorcs get the scraps that fall off the plate.

I did like that 5e made metamagic a sorcerer-only thing; not that I think wizards shouldn't be able to, but it made a slightly clearer demarcation between the classes and gave extra flavor to the sorc, even if I think they still got the short end of the stick in 5e as well.

I never got the trope that Sorcerers are seen are lesser than Wizards when they can cast from innate ability. I would've expected the opposite. I want to play a wizard who tries to pass themself off as a sorcerer.
I actually played the opposite; I've done a Sorcerer who acted somewhat like a Wizard, spellbook and everything, under the idea that if he ever got captured, jailed, etc., that the opponents would believe that taking the spellbook and spell component pouch away would allow effective imprisonment. Also took Silent Spell and Still Spell feats, too; that was one paranoid caster, I tells ya.:smallwink:

[Rogar Demonblud]

What gives you that idea? At the Godsmoot we saw the original HPoH step down and appoint the new HPoH, without Hel saying anything about it.

Hel is cheating every chance she can. As Gontor said, prove otherwise.

The rest comes from a conversation we had back when the Godsmoot first popped up. Malack was High Priest of Nergal. How did his replacement suddenly know he'd been promoted, and in time for the Western session of the Godsmoot?

[Peelee]

Hel is cheating every chance she can. As Gontor said, prove otherwise.

The rest comes from a conversation we had back when the Godsmoot first popped up. Malack was High Priest of Nergal. How did his replacement suddenly know he'd been promoted, and in time for the Western session of the Godsmoot?

How sure are you that Nergal was represented at the Western session of the Godsmoot?:smallamused:

[Rogar Demonblud]

Since some silver dragon looking guy identified one of the clerics as wearing the Nergal uniform, pretty confident.

[Talion]

How sure are you that Nergal was represented at the Western session of the Godsmoot?:smallamused:

For that matter, how sure are we that Malak was Nergal's High Priest? He's been called "Minister Malak" a few times, once with a "Your Holiness", but I don't believe anyone specifically called him "High Priest" in any capacity.

[Peelee]

Since some silver dragon looking guy identified one of the clerics as wearing the Nergal uniform, pretty confident.

Ah, sounds like someone who was no idea what they're talking about.:smalltongue:

[Rogar Demonblud]

For that matter, how sure are we that Malak was Nergal's High Priest? He's been called "Minister Malak" a few times, once with a "Your Holiness", but I don't believe anyone specifically called him "High Priest" in any capacity.

Tarquin and Malack both referred to him with that term, and they'd be in a position to know.

[Ruck]

She.

"That" is valid assuming its antecedent is the escape and not the vampire.

Yes, I got here late enough that this is the only relevant comment I have. :smalltongue:

[Schroeswald]

Ah, sounds like someone who was no idea what they're talking about.:smalltongue:

Honestly I think that you had no clue the first time, because I don’t see anyone who looks like they have Nergal’s clerics uniforms.

[Fyraltari]

"That" is valid assuming its antecedent is the escape and not the vampire.

Yes, I got here late enough that this is the only relevant comment I have. :smalltongue:

But then my joke makes no sense! Escapes cannot bite people!

[Jasdoif]

Well that's at least easily explainable; sorcerers get cast spontaneously, which is a pretty big boon, so they get their spell levels upgraded at one level later. And have a hard cap on how many spells they can know. And don't get any bonus feats. And are fluffed as inferior to wizards despite being born with the innate ability to create what wizards have to study in order to replicate. And still need material components despite having the innate ability to cast magic.And have to spend more actions to apply metamagic when they cast, unlike wizards....And action economy is life-or-death (literally in some cases).

I wholly get that spontaneous casting was a new concept, and that assuming mostly damage-dealing spells means the delayed access isn't as big a deal since most damage spells were d6-per-caster-level anyway....But it goes overboard counteracting the value of flexibility, like two different people had different ideas of how to balance it and both were implemented. And this is before considering the number of "highly effective for its spell level because it only works in niche cases" spells, which a wizard can simply leave it in a spellbook and only prepare when they need it while a sorcerer has to weigh it against any other spell of that level. A sorcerer is pounded (maybe even kiloed!) by opportunity costs.

[Reboot]

I actually played the opposite; I've done a Sorcerer who acted somewhat like a Wizard, spellbook and everything, under the idea that if he ever got captured, jailed, etc., that the opponents would believe that taking the spellbook and spell component pouch away would allow effective imprisonment. Also took Silent Spell and Still Spell feats, too; that was one paranoid caster, I tells ya.:smallwink:

...wouldn't that also require Eschew Materials, because sorcs still need the material components?

[CriticalFailure]

I thought they got eschew materials as a class feature?

[Rogar Demonblud]

Another case that D&D's magic system is a kludge, frankly. It probably needs a ground up rebuild each edition, but changing that is a major sacred cow.

[Peelee]

Honestly I think that you had no clue the first time, because I don’t see anyone who looks like they have Nergal’s clerics uniforms.
I don't even remember commenting on that, frankly. And looking back, yeah, I only see one cloaky guy and it doesn't look black.

And have to spend more actions to apply metamagic when they cast, unlike wizards....And action economy is life-or-death (literally in some cases).
"What's Quicken Spell" - every 3.5 sorcerer ever.

...wouldn't that also require Eschew Materials, because sorcs still need the material components?
Yeah, for some reason I thought I'd said that.

I thought they got eschew materials as a class feature?
In Pathfinder, yes. D&D, no.

[CriticalFailure]

Oops I continue to not know D&D stuff.

Speaking of metamagic I want to try playing a wizard with the sacred geometry feat (idk if it's in d&d but PF has it) but I don't know if I can actually do mental math on that fast enough to keep the GM from making a grapple check to strangle me.

[Jasdoif]

...wouldn't that also require Eschew Materials, because sorcs still need the material components?Yeah, for some reason I thought I'd said that.And here I was ready to accept that you only chose spells without inexpensive material components, and used the feat slot for something else....

[Peelee]

And here I was ready to accept that you only chose spells without inexpensive material components, and used the feat slot for something else....

To be fair, I didn't spend a feat slot but convinced the DM to give it to me free. I think the argument had something along the lines of "they have innate magic, how innate is 'by the way you need to chuck a little bat poop around, you do NOT want to know how the first sorcerer figured that out!'"

[jwhouk]

Just as an aside: I suspect that we are back at the Godsmoot for one last reason, akin to what happened at the end of the last book:

Something big is about to happen. And it involves someone at the Godsmoot.

[Schroeswald]

Just as an aside: I suspect that we are back at the Godsmoot for one last reason, akin to what happened at the end of the last book:

Something big is about to happen. And it involves someone at the Godsmoot.

I doubt it, this seems much more like a cutaway panel.

[SlashDash]

Just as an aside: I suspect that we are back at the Godsmoot for one last reason, akin to what happened at the end of the last book:

Something big is about to happen. And it involves someone at the Godsmoot.

Disagree. We're at the Godsmoot to explain why the clerics don't rush to help Roy (or Stop him for the "YES" voters).


However, I will say the fact that everyone talk about how Curly isn't going to do anything meaningful means that she's going to do exactly that.


We'll see her doing something for the next book.
Still betting on her reaching out to Team Evil.

[CriticalFailure]

Why would she reach out to Team Evil?

[factotum]

Why would she reach out to Team Evil?

And why would Team Evil care if she did? Hel's aims do not align with theirs in any way.

[Peelee]

And why would Team Evil care if she did? Hel's aims do not align with theirs in any way.

Not to mention she's a speck of dust compared to them, power-wise

[CriticalFailure]

Not to mention she's a speck of dust compared to them, power-wise

And neither party has a reason to know the other exists.

[Rogar Demonblud]

So you all are saying the odds are a million to one?

[Petrocorus]

But then my joke makes no sense! Escapes cannot bite people!
Sorry, i think the double entendre was already in the original joke.



Something big is about to happen. And it involves someone at the Godsmoot.

Think so too. But maybe not something highly plot relevant, more like an epilogue.

I myself look forward to see Durkon utter the word "Regenerate".



We'll see her doing something for the next book.
Still betting on her reaching out to Team Evil.

Oh yeah, that could be Hel's plan C. Reaching for Team Evil and helping them so to force the hands of the other gods.

[Peelee]

So you all are saying the odds are a million to one?

I'd say more like 3,720 to 1.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Knew I should've included a link to the strip instead of hoping people wouldn't go to Star Wars.

[Peelee]

Knew I should've included a link to the strip instead of hoping people wouldn't go to Star Wars.

A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.

[Schroeswald]

A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.

It's been a whole <checks> three strips since we last derailed into Star Wars, we were overdue for it.

[Rogar Demonblud]

I thought our next derailment was Harry Potter, then supers, then Star Wars, and finally Pratchett?

[bunsen_h]

I myself look forward to see Durkon utter the word "Regenerate".

Hmm, yes, though he probably doesn't have that one ready yet. I don't see it as being a priority when he was preparing for battle, and he hasn't had a chance to do anything since the fight. "Ma, ye've done so much fer me an' ev'ryone else. Le' me do this fer you."

Since the "Heroes' Feast" has been mentioned, it'd be nice if Durkon set that up for everybody, including everyone on the Mechane. That would take care of the Sphinx Pox, perhaps without anyone even knowing that they'd been infected.

[Rogar Demonblud]

I wouldn't be surprised if Durkon had prepared Regeneration before the fight. That's a healing spell that's very useful in several circumstances and which you can't convert another spell into. And if he doesn't need it one place, well, Sigdi's right there.