The Order Of The Stick: January

[GypsyThorn]

Happy New Year!

A happy and healthy year to all!

My new year resolution: Less analyzing and more enjoying! Or, at least enjoy the analyzing more!

A special New Year's shout-out to Rich: Thanks for all the work you've done with the strip! It brings me something to look forward to Monday mornings at work, and brightens up my Thursdays.

And with that...

It is my honor to formally bring you, in full living color:

THE ORDER OF THE STICK: JANUARY message board topic!!!

[Grey Watcher]

Well, I, for one, am excited that I can, in a mere two days, update from pre-preorder to preorder. :-)

[Master_of_Dragons]

Happy New Year!

Ein frohes neues Jahr! :D

Master of Dragons

[Adghar]

I haven't seen a new OotS since last year! :(

'Cause the Giant hasn't updated since last year!

[pumpkinetics]

May the new year of oots be as horribly, maddeningly, gut-wrenchingly hilarious as the last!

[Invariel]

New Year of OOTS!! Whee!

You know what really makes me laugh? Gortak's wearing a tie. :D

[madhatter66]

Keep those appetites slavering, coz we're gonna have a FULL WEEK of OOTS! Hoody-hoooo!

I can't wait to see Belkar in action with his new slavering barbarian-ness. I await with bated breath.

I'm also curious as to what the others are doing. You think Roy found a smithy to rebuild his sword? I think he should put Xykon's crown as the hiltguard. That'd look spiffy. :D

Anyone read the guest comic? Dwarven wizards... tee hee....

[L_Opoponax]

I just wonder what Belkar's necktie will look like...

"I leveled, and graduated from a wide plaid tie to a polka-dot bowtie!"

[pumpkinetics]

"To be true barbarian, tie must be tied in full windsor knot."
But none of the other barbarians have neckties!

[pumpkinetics]

Ooooh... Shiiny starmetal.

Probably the local term for adamantine.

I've just noticed- This is the first strip with (c)2005 down the bottom of course!

First strip for 2005. wow

[Shatteredtower]

sings

Star... metal! May sidequests all be cursed!
Off to the Wooden Forest, wonder who got there first?

[Invariel]

Wait... There are forests that aren't wooden?

[Shatteredtower]

Wait... There are forests that aren't wooden?

Petrified ones, sure. Besides, I was born in a province with communities called Harbour Harbour and No-Name Bay, so what's your point? ;)

[arche]

I love how he pokes fun at the fact a stranger tells him to go on a side quest :).

We have a nice running joke in my group about why adventurers even bother to adventure. They're always being told by people they don't know to fix problems that are too hard for anyone else to fix. Why not just stay in bed?

[Pharazon]

Ooh, me like Side-Quests. I'm currently tied up in an individual quest in one of my rp's, and it's a lot of fun.

"Everyone I asked told me you were the best blacksmith in town." Well, with that much free advertising, I don't think the other blacksmiths are getting too many customers ;D

And you gotta love the small details like the bird saying 'Don't worry, we all got away.'

Can't wait for the rest of the week!

Edit: Does this mean he has to enter the dangerous forest without a sword? Well, good luck...

[Ferret_Dragon]

Hmm... fyi, starmetal is a new "metal" introduced in a "splat book", a rules supplement for D&D. I like how this comic kinda lampoons that.

(As well as the other stuff which really got me chuckling)

[archon_huskie]

I was thinking of the old Conan the Barbarian cartoon where the Starmetal weapons can banish lizard men back into another dimension.

[enlight_bystand]

I'm betting that the sword doesn't actually need starmetal, it's just the smith needs some starmetal and thought Roy would be willing to pick it up...

[Tarlonniel]

Hmmm - so is Roy going off to this forest of doom alone? Will his fellow adventurers want to brave its perils? We shall see!

[eldersphinx]

I see that the Giant's browsed through the pages of Squenix the Great's Guide to Gamemastering. ;D

Just be glad he's not having to go to the Magic Forest. We've had enough trouble with WotC lawyers; the last thing OotS needs is a Disney lawsuit.

[Starbuck_II]

Starmetal will Roy become a Green Star Adept thingy(that new Prestige class where Starmetal is introduced?)

But yeah the old Conan Cartoon had Starmetal sword. He banished those outsiders with it.

[ShadowDragon8685]

I remember that cartoon...

Maybe weapons made of the stuff have the same kind of property as a Disruption weapon?

Outsiders struck must succeed a DC 16 Will Save or be banished back to their home plane?

(Remembering that a natural 1 is automatically a failed save, even if you have a +33. :) )

[The_Shadow]

Hmm... fyi, starmetal is a new "metal" introduced in a "splat book", a rules supplement for D&D. I like how this comic kinda lampoons that.

Pardon me while I proceed to date myself...

It goes back a lot further than that in D&D circles. The 1e DMG had rules for weapons made of "meteoric iron".

[Knight13]

It's great that the smith said that Durkon wouldn't know what the sword was made of because he's a cleric. Actually, I don't think there is a skill that's used to identify metals, Knowledge(metal) maybe? You'd think that just being a dwarf would be enough, this kind of stuff is practically instinctive to them.

On a side note, how did Xykon shatter the sword if it's made out of starmetal? Isn't that stuff virtually indestructible?

[SeanHeavyfoot]

Best not to dwell on it.

[The Giant]

On a side note, how did Xykon shatter the sword if it's made out of starmetal? Isn't that stuff virtually indestructible?

How indeed?? ;)

[Nim]

Either Xykon is a lich with some extra powers, or he knew the sword was of starmetal, and prepared specifically for the Order of the Stick.

Considering how much he claims not to know what he did to Roy in the past, I'm betting on the latter.

[madhatter66]

Xykon used this spiffy new spell called ray of plot device. ;D

[Starbuck_II]

Xykon used this spiffy new spell called ray of plot device. ;D
Improbed Shatter spell: Why shouldn't there be a stronger spell of shatter?
I'd say around 4th level. After all Shatter is only 1st level I think.

[Pvednes]

"Don't worry, we all got away!"
-Birds

ROFL

[SeanHeavyfoot]

What is that thing that the dwarven blacksmith is holding in his left hand? Perhaps some sort of metal ore... in which case Roy must have failed a spot check seeing as he made the comment of the blacksmith not having any metal.

[Grey Watcher]

What is that thing that the dwarven blacksmith is holding in his left hand? Perhaps some sort of metal ore... in which case Roy must have failed a spot check seeing as he made the comment of the blacksmith not having any metal.

I assumed that thing was a shard of the Greenhilt Family Blade.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

So, err, can we now without a doubt say that Belkar is Chaotic Evil? That bout cinched it for me. :-X

[ShadowDragon8685]

I'd bet money on it.

[The Giant]

Don't forget, there's an all-new OOTS every weekday. Vaarsuius is shopping as we speak...

[Aedan]

Don't forget, there's an all-new OOTS every weekday. Vaarsuius is shopping as we speak...

Love it!

I love the V gender reference in there. Personally, I beleive that V is a male, and I'll take the comment as the shopkeeper already being too stupid to tie their own shoes. Of course they'll hav problems about guessing V's gender!

[Cap_Hardman]

:oSHE?!? :o

They Called V "SHE!"

I am so confused... :P

[cherry]

They are just stupid...
V says "my conscience is now appeased"
... I wonder if it's because they decided to do a sale or because they think V is a girl

[Invariel]

It's because V did the best V could to convince them that they were losing money, and when they decided to do the "smart" thing and have a sale, V figured they were too far gone to be worth the trouble.

[Wanderer]

V... first rule. Unless you're lawful good AND a paladin or something, do NOT tell the shopkeepers when they deliberately cheat themselves. If you try too hard, they might actually take your advice. Just think for a second about what that means for any potions you need to buy...

And surely you all realize that The Giant threw in that gender reference solely to add heat and confusion to the gender debate. :P

[Circon]

My comment on Vaarsuvius' potion purchase:

"Groan of Greater Groanage".
(turns up regularly in our games)

And that's not a bird, it's a dreadful monster that got away!

[GeeVee]

V... first rule. Unless you're lawful good AND a paladin or something, do NOT tell the shopkeepers when they deliberately cheat themselves. If you try too hard, they might actually take your advice. Just think for a second about what that means for any potions you need to buy...

And surely you all realize that The Giant threw in that gender reference solely to add heat and confusion to the gender debate. :P

You must remember how suspectible V is to insults about his wizardry profession. V hates incompetent wizards, as proven by him scolding Elan.

[Cap_Hardman]

... Guys... u missed the point...

V IS A GIRL!!!

[RawBearNYC]

V... first rule. Unless you're lawful good AND a paladin or something, do NOT tell the shopkeepers when they deliberately cheat themselves. If you try too hard, they might actually take your advice. Just think for a second about what that means for any potions you need to buy...

And surely you all realize that The Giant threw in that gender reference solely to add heat and confusion to the gender debate. :P
I wonder if you actually know what "good" means. Taking advantage of simple shopkeepers because they're not bright enough to know better wouldn't be a "good" act in my game :P Vaarsuvius did the right thing, then, realizign that these people would be better off out of business, tried to help them along...RESPECT.

[Tarlonniel]

At last, undebateable in-strip contribution to the V gender debate! I love it :D

[The_Oz-Man]

... Guys... u missed the point...

V IS A GIRL!!!

From the FAQ...


Q: Is Vaarsuvius male or female?

A: I will never reveal the truth! Bwahaha! Keep in mind that while certain other characters might refer to V as being male or female, that simply reveals their perception—not the actual reality of the situation.

Sorry, but no. V remains a very V-ian V, neither M nor F, but merely V.

Perhaps we should start calling V a vemale?

[archon_huskie]

Let's keep the V is female, not V is male debate to the thread deicated to it.


Now the only way these two wizards can make it is if creating the potions in bulk or acquiring them in bulk costs less than making each potion individually. In that instance, the wizards are right and they are probablly raking in the money.

There are a few stores around here that can do that, but they reduce the cost of acquiring the goods through questionable, if not illegal means. And they don't pay their employees enough.

[madhatter66]

I think this comic held one simple purpose: to show that some people, however well-meaning, just shouldn't breed. :P

[Sundog]

The truly scary thing is, I've actually MET people who fell for the "make it up in volume" fallacy. They didn't stay in business long.

[hmoulding]

It's because V did the best V could to convince them that they were losing money, and when they decided to do the "smart" thing and have a sale, V figured they were too far gone to be worth the trouble.

Nah. V was trying to get them to drop their prices even further, knowing all along that s/he was dealing with complete morons. That last was just an ironic comment.

[Nim]

Actually, it's quite debatable. Haven't you yet noticed that those shopkeepers have about 2 total points of Intelligence between them? Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean that their Wisdom is average (because average-Wisdomed people can't figure out what gender V is), so they could be unusually perceptive. But I think then they would have noticed their profit going down.

[Caledonian]

I think it must be their Wisdom that's deficient. Even people who aren't that quick on the draw understand the concept of a profit margin -- there's a reason the Profession skill relies on Wisdom, not intelligence.

Plus, if their intelligences were truly that low, they would never have been able to become functional wizards in the first place.

Was there some kind of magical plague that sapped the Wisdom of people in this kingdom? They can't all have evil twins who smacked them in their soft, soft skulls during childhood.

[Caledonian]

And now that I think about it, it's ridiculous to apply economic thinking to magic item generation. There's really no economic reason a Potion of Mage Armor must always cost 25 GP to make. If the potion is ingredient-based, then there are surely ways to make it more efficiently.

This is precisely why I've always favored using craft rolls to add "value" to raw components, using that to make magical items instead of just spending a set amount of gold.

[yrro]

That is, of course, a big part of the joke. It makes very little sense for economics of scale to have no factor in the cost to make a potion. In game rules, there's no way you could ever brew a big vat of healing at once.

It's a wonder potion stores can stay in business. Weapons traders I can understand, since they get most of their money through the lack of a medieval ebay, and their guild monopoly allows no adventurer to ever get more than half worth for their plundered goods (with of course the lucky exception of those with a massive Bargain skill).

[Caledonian]

Incidentally, V should have used the word 'with' instead of 'on' in the fifth panel. If they lost more and more money on each sale, then their prices would have to keep dropping even lower the more they sold. The intended meaning seems to be that the total amount of money lost increases each time another potion is sold, and that equates to losing money with each sale.

[LeadPal]

Weapons traders I can understand, since they get most of their money through the lack of a medieval ebayActually, such a thing does exist. It is called Yebay.

[SeanHeavyfoot]

Perhaps Rich has inserted an inside joke-like meaning in this strip... after all, he just put his book up for sale. Maybe someone tried convincing him of something stupid like that.

[ShadowDragon8685]

And let's not factor the XP lost into the equation. While it is theoretically possible that you could make potions for no GP cost, if you acquire the components via question at no cost, as opposed to the generic "you go to the magical supplies mart and drop 25 GP," there's still lost XP to consider. That's a pretty hefty price to pay, and most wizards are gonna want money to make it up.


I would do what V did in the end, though. Give them an honest shot at economic theory, and if they screw it up - well, I'll just buy everything in the store. :)

[Maelflux]

Rofl!

Fantastic Monty Python tribute today Keith! It even forced me to make to register to salute you!

Thanks :)

[The Giant]

Who the hell is "Keith"?

[UnkemptArmada]

Also just registered an account. I'm an avid D&D player and DM, and love your comic, but this'un is just superb. I love "The Cheese Shop", one of my favorites, my acting buddies and I have a repertoire (sp?) of MP sketches, and that is one of our absolute favorites. Also liked the almost lead-in to "Spam". Bloody brilliant.

UA

[Maelflux]

Who the hell is "Keith"?

Argh! Well, that was a bloody elegant entrance for me to your boards :-[

Anyways, Keith would be "you", at 8am in the morning when I am browsing your comic as well as the Eberron boards (feat. Keith Baker), as well as supporting a customer while trying to write a post...

My sincere apologies, John.. er... Rich! :)

:-[

[Musrum]

browsing your comic as well as the Eberron boards (feat. Keith Baker), as well as supporting a customer while trying to write a post...


Who? Keith Baker: creative genius, winner of the WoTC setting search?

I'm sure The Giant wouldn't mind being mistaken for him at all...

I'm sure he is over it by now. ;)

[Musrum]

Re: economics. It is possible that the casters have cost reducing feats to save money, and are taping XP using something out of BoVD: so they are doing OK thank you very much...

Re: the Python comic. I got the ex-parrot but what was the cat+snake from?

[The Giant]

Anyways, Keith would be "you", at 8am in the morning when I am browsing your comic as well as the Eberron boards (feat. Keith Baker),

twitch





twitch





BAKERRRRRRRR!

[Bogotter]

Well done, Rich! Classic remake of the old cheese shop sketch. One of the funniest strips to date.

I have to say that really brought me back into the past as I fondly recalled the days where you first introduced me to that sketch.

Hilarious! I like your substitue "earspoon" instead of a certain cheese from Venezuela. ;)

Of course I also like the I'm a lumber jack parody in the incentives panel as well.

Well done. Kudos.

[BlackFurredBeast]

Return of the mighty Bohemean Earspoon!

So Rich has been reading "101 Uses for a Portable Hole" in an ancient Dragon Magazine :-)

Brilliant comic today, lovely!
And reminds me of a certain DM that did nearly the same to one of my characters, although with a magic item shoppe. He said "we have all kinds of magic items" on sale. I wanted to buy a Necklace Of Missiles for my fighter, but after some hilariously funny roleplaying I ended up with boots of striding and springing, because that's what the shop sold - boots of all kind, nothing else. *Grumble!*

[cerebus151]

Re: the Python comic. I got the ex-parrot but what was the cat+snake from?

The cat (I believe) is from "Ohhh... the cat's eaten it." (corresponding to "The termites got it.") and the snake is, of course, a Python.

Funniest. Strip. Evar.

[Invariel]

"I got a license for my pet dog Eric, and I got a license for my pet cat Eric."...

Two wonderful tributes to Monty Python today, one in the comic, and the other one in ... well, if I tell everyone that, they won't ... well, you know. And they've got to do the second to see the first, so... Right.

Thanks, Keit... Rich, for another wonderful laugh, before I go to sleep. :)

(Damned night shift.)

[Daveric]

"Not much of a polearm shop, is it?"

Thanks for a fine laugh this morning. :)

[Caledonian]

You just know that Giant's gotta write up the stats for a Bohemian Earspoon.

[Peldor]

Forget the earspoon, just give me a glaive-glaive-glaive-guisarme-glaive (of stuttering).

[Caledonian]

That sounds like a Swiss Army Polearm.

"Ya, see? This head's for taking down mounted knights, this one's for moving hay and manure, this one pulls the corks out of bottles, and this one's an apple peeler."

[edit] Anyone notice that Roy uses the word 'frelling' in this strip? I think Giant's a 'Scaper... :)

[GypsyThorn]

That sounds like a Swiss Army Polearm.

"Ya, see? This head's for taking down mounted knights, this one's for moving hay and manure, this one pulls the corks out of bottles, and this one's an apple peeler."


And don't forget the potfour....

[Rodrick_the_Red]

This is the best strip ever!! ;D

(Beating out naked Elan tumbling #26)

Loved the Python tribute!! Wonderful way of working in three sketches and a Farscape reference. 8)

Rich you have out done yourself.

(Bowing down before The Giant)

I'm not worthy!

[Airo]

Fortunately , Roy didn't take that blue hilt magic sword Elan had looted in Xykon's lair, or he would gain a darkside point by stabbing the storekeeper.
Oh sorry, too much Star Wars :)

[LordofOran]

Well none of us are worthy of him.

Great laugh, I got kicked out of the library cuz me and my friend was laughing too much.

[Circon]

Hey, good point, what did happen to that sword? It was certainly magical, being in that treasure hoard...

[Freeman333]

Forget the earspoon, just give me a glaive-glaive-glaive-guisarme-glaive (of stuttering).

That's it--the glaive-glaive-glaive-guisarme-glaive is now officially cannon in my game. If any of my players are reading, you can hereby purchase one of these items (if you can find someone selling it). Of course, the Gods only know what it does, but I'm sure I'll figure out something...

[Freeman333]

Oh, and while we're on the subject, what's up with the cat's rear end in panel 16? The cat comes, the cat leaves, the cat is gone...the cat's behind shows up for one panel...the cat is gone again, and returns a few panels later. Is the cat (who, previously, apparently had some comment on the topic of spaying ones' pets, thank you Bob Barker) taking a moment to give his opinion of the topic at hand, or is somebody just getting a little slap-happy on the copy/paste function? Eh??

[Drake_Dragonslayer]

Greatest comic in a long while. Took a while for it to register, but that's what comes from checking comics before coffee in a morning. :P

[Aidan305]

Classic ;D . I got the cheese shop reference straight away. Spotted the dead parrot, the python and of course the spam. This is now my top favourite.

[Starbuck_II]

This is the best strip ever!! ;D

(Beating out naked Elan tumbling #26)

Loved the Python tribute!! Wonderful way of working in three sketches and a Farscape reference. 8)

Rich you have out done yourself.

(Bowing down before The Giant)

I'm not worthy!

I missed the Farscape reference? Where was it?

[Caledonian]

Frelling.

[pumpkinetics]

Fascinating.

I never really saw Mr. Burlew as a Python fan.

"It's not 'pining', it's passed on!!!"

[Knight13]

for some reason I didn't like this strip much. Don't get me wrong, I like Monty Python. I've just heard that Cheese Shop skit so many times that by the time I read the second panel I knew exactly what the rest of the comic was going to be like. The only really funny part for me was in the last panel where Roy didn't have a weapon to kill the shopkeeper with. This is why I like Monks, you don't need weapons! ;D

[MacDude]

W00t! ;D ;D

Al together now!

Glaive, glaive, glaive, wonderful Glaive!!!

[Wanderer]

Well... for those of us who've never heard of this Cheese Shop thing you're all talking about, I'm afraid this one is kind of... weird. Bizarre, even. Not really funny, unfortunately, since I can't get the joke.

But that's fine. Rumor has it that some of the gaming stuff goes over other people's heads. It's not like the strip's being drawn just for me, or anything...

[McMouse]

Ever heard of Monty Python's Flying Circus? It's an old British comedy show, absolutely hilarious, and the Cheese Shop was one of their more famous skits. You should watch an episode or two, it's pure genius.

[Wanderer]

Watching it requires first HAVING it. The only Monty Python I've seen was Holy Grail.

Oh, and a piece of some skit called Kamikazi Highlanders, or something like that...

[McMouse]

Our local library has a bunch of episodes, thats where I watch mine. Often video stores have em for rent. *shrugs* Anyway, that's where the joke is from.

[Invariel]

Glaive-dy glaive-dy glaive... Glaive-de glaive, wonderful glaive-glaive...

As for the Cheese Shop, it's something you should check out, at the very least. I'm sure you can check online and find out which of their various compilations to find it on, and then rent it at your local movie rentie place thing. (Unl;ess they're completely out of movies, which would be ironic, wouldn't it?)

In faaaaact, you can find a fraction of the sketch, animated, and using the audio track from the record, here: http://www.daminator.com/older.htm

[Arian]

And googling on "Monty Python cheese shop" will instantly provide you with links to about a zillion transcriptions.

As will "Monty Python Spam", "Monty Python dead parrot" and "Monty Python Lumberjack Song", should you not be acquainted with any of those.

[Duskrider_Moogle]

Glaive-dy glaive-dy glaive... Glaive-de glaive, wonderful glaive-glaive...

As for the Cheese Shop, it's something you should check out, at the very least. I'm sure you can check online and find out which of their various compilations to find it on, and then rent it at your local movie rentie place thing. (Unl;ess they're completely out of movies, which would be ironic, wouldn't it?)

hahaha

[Caledonian]

The Kamikaze Highlands! I loved that skit!

And the one where the extraterrestrial blancmanges invaded Wimbleton and took over the whole of the Northlands. (The OOTS so needs to face an advanced blancmange.)

[Knight13]

what the heck's a blancmage?

[Circon]

Some sort of white pudding.

[Shatteredtower]

Ah, Monty Python -- there's nothing better for when you need a quick substitute for humour... ::)

[Arian]

Ha! Python IS funny!

The Goon Show, now that's just plain weird. Talk about humour only the British could appreciate...

[Paragon_Kobold]

Hello everybody! I just joined right now because I, too, had to tell Keith
how much I enjoy the comic...

In addition to the Python reference I seem to detect some references to
Steve Jacksons old 'Random Pole-arm Generation Table'. Am I right, or are they just both parodying Gary Gygax strange fascination with pole-arms?

[SeanHeavyfoot]

In the immortal words of the Giant himself...

"Who the hell is Keith"

<psst.... his name is Rich Burlew>

[Paragon_Kobold]

<psst.... his name is Rich Burlew>


No... I'm pretty sure it's Keith... :)

[SeanHeavyfoot]

We are talking about Order of the Stick, are we not?

Order of the Stick = Rich Burlew


Perhaps you are thinking of Keith Baker, the maker of Ebberon.

[Paragon_Kobold]

And why should we not tell Keith Baker how much we enjoy Order of the Stick?

Are you trying to keep it a secret or something?
>:(

[Arian]

Sean, either you're giving the pot another stir or you haven't read pp. 4-5 of this thread. :-)

- The former, I see. Right, carry on... :D

[pumpkinetics]

And Banjo's back!!!

So Thor's really Thor Junior?

"Awww... but I like puppets"

[Knight13]

YES, Banjo returns! Elan did the right thing, the Asgardean pantheon are a bunch of pansies! Not even in the same league as almighty Banjo.

Uh, Rich? When you say Church of Freya, do you mean the rat lady from Final Fantasy 9?


So Thor's really Thor Junior?

Actually Thor's dad is Odin, ruler of the Norse gods. That's who the old guy with the eyepatch is.

[Arian]

So Thor's really Thor Junior?


Not if that makes the other guy "Thor Senior". That's Odin.

- Snap, Knight13 :-)

[SeanHeavyfoot]

Sean, either you're giving the pot another stir or you haven't read pp. 4-5 of this thread.

- The former, I see. Right, carry on...

Right.. uhh, i was just reading it wrong. I see what he meant now.. oh and I haven't read pg 4 or 5... i don't I have anyways.

[Vik]

Tee hee ...
Just when my coworkers began to think I'm serious, the apperance of the Puppt Civil Liberties Union have me ROFL :-[

I guess all this OotS stuff is only here to discredit me, isn't it ? 8)

[Meagen]

Uh, Rich? When you say Church of Freya, do you mean the rat lady from Final Fantasy 9?

No, I think he means Freya. The God of Light, from the Norse pantheon.

Either that or the little gray guy who was a bit stubborn about fixing that one sun, but I doubt that's the case.

[Corvus]

No, Frey was the god of light in the Norse pantheon. Freya was his sister and was godess of love and fertility.

Actually, she was a bit more than that, but they tend to tone down that side of things nowdays.

[Muisje]

"But I like puppets."

Me too! Especially Banjo.
I had such a good laugh.

[Shatteredtower]

Ha! Python IS funny!

See, this is the circular logic I see every time Python comes up.

"Python's hilarious!"

"When?"

"Dead Parrot Sketch!"

"And why's that funny?"

"Because it's Python!"

"So when have they been funny?"

"Spam sketch!"

"And what makes that funny?"

"Because it's Python?"

"And what makes you find them so funny?"

"The Sargeant-Major sketch!"

"And it's funny because--?"

Seriously, that's usually as far as most people can explain it. It's like Pavlovian conditioning.

Don't get me wrong. There were a group of intelligent, clever gentlemen with more than a few good insights, but most of their collective work within the ensemble was dreck. Even SNL couldn't beat a joke to death as well as these folks.

Then again, SNL has never had a collection of fans willing to keep beating the joke to death for them more than twenty years later, either. ::)


The Goon Show, now that's just plain weird. Talk about humour only the British could appreciate...

Some of it's quite regional, I grant you, but it hardly takes British Citizenship to appreciate most of it. I once kept a room in stitches with a recitation of "The Treasure of Loch Lomond," back when I could still remember the words.

I've seen people laugh at the Dead Parrot sketch too, but it's always seemed mechanical to me.

"Ha-ha, it-is-the-Dead-Parrot-Sketch. How-it-never-fails-to-leave-me-rolling-in-the-aisle-even-after-the-hundredth-time-I-heard-it-ha-ha-ha."

I don't think I've ever known anyone to even chuckle at the Spam sketch. But since Python plays to most of Mr. Burlew's audience and it was a strip posted on his normal day off, I can't really grumble all that much about it, can I?

[arche]

I wanted to see a puppet lawsuit :).

Very funny Giant!

[Ashlock]

Odin the All-Father never looked so cool. And so approachable!

Good one, Rich. Well, they're all good ones. But they don't all get me to post. ;)

[Meagen]

Monty Python is quite amusing if you view it by itself. The humor is mostly based on surrealism: taking a normal situation and adding a bizzare twist to it. The distortion is augmented, most often by establishing a sort of internal logic in the scene and then applying further twists to it.

This surreal humor, however, is rooted in very accurate observation of human nature, and in particular the various foibles of the Brisitsh middle-class in the early-to-mid 20th century.

I do agree that Monty Python references are a tad overused. It's like the "pants" thing (where you take any written work and replace various nouns with the word "pants"): Side-splittingly hilarious the first twenty times or so, but really *really* dull afterwards.

It doesn't help that the bulk of Monty Python re-writes is based on only four or five sketches from the entire run of Flying Circus (and selected fragments of Holy Grail). There is no reasonable explanation for this other than a particular sort of herding instinct.

The tendency to "flog the dead parrot" is unfortunately quite prevalent in Internet culture, which by and large tends to be unable to just let a joke die. (See also: All Your Base, MY HED IZ PASTED ON YAY!, or any other meme/running joke of your choice.)

[Fire_Wolf]

Don't get me wrong. There were a group of intelligent, clever gentlemen with more than a few good insights, but most of their collective work within the ensemble was dreck. Even SNL couldn't beat a joke to death as well as these folks.
You have a point -- sometimes Python sketches are just plain over the top, or so bizzaire that they entirely miss the point of being funny and go strait into being disturbing. When The Meaning of Life wasn't making me feel sick, it was just plain irritating me.

On the other hand, when Python humour hits it's the funniest thing since sliced bread. The reason it's funny is because it takes real world scenarios and takes them out of any real world sensibility. The discord between expectation and the result are what makes it funny (like the Spainish Inquisition poking people with soft cushins), with a few clever lines and comical stupidity (like the range of descriptions of the Dead Parrot being dead, combined with the shopkeeper's insistance that it's not).

Mind you, my mum doesn't find Monty Python funny, and I can see why. Sometimes it's just TOO much. But it's not all UNfunny. :p

[hr]

Oh, and all hail BANJO!

[Invariel]

Could I interest you in some string? O: )

[GlordFunkelhand]

I'm just wondering why Thor is blonde? Despite what Marvel wants to tell you... Thor is a Readhead :)

[Fire_Wolf]

Regarding #136:

I wonder ... was the joke about "the irony is staggering, sir, yes" a pun to do with their being no iron? If so, the iron-y really is staggering.

[Caledonian]

I'm just wondering why Thor is blonde? Despite what Marvel wants to tell you... Thor is a Readhead :)


Blondes have more fun.

[Muisje]

Elan went through the trouble of dressing Banjo up for the pantheon. Seems he spend a lot of preparation on this idea of him. Too bad it didn't work out for them.

[Tarlonniel]

Aw man, he was so close! Now how will Banjo attain deityhood? :(

[Freeman333]

If enough of us believe...if enough of us put our faith in allmighty Banjo, God of Puppets...then Banjo will BE a god, even if He's not in any pantheon.

Banjo needs no puny pantheon; He is the Truth; He is the Light. He is the...uh...Puppet. With a banjo. And a pointy hat.

Have faith, brothers and sisters. Have faith.

[Nighthawk4]

All Hail the Mighty Banjo :D

[pumpkinetics]

In the beginning there was banjo, and there was none else. except elan Banjo has no need for other deities!

[Eslington]

Why shouldn't Thor be blonde? It's not as if this is the same Thor worshipped in the time of the vikings.

[Invariel]

Aw man, he was so close! Now how will Banjo attain deityhood? :(

Banjo already is a god. He just wanted to join the pantheon.

[Yellow]

Banjo's horns disappear in the last panel of him... ;D

*Vanishes in a puff of smoke*

~Drawkcab, the mistake ninja

[Knight13]

Never heard of Freya before, I guess my knowledge of Norse mythology isn't as complete as I thought it was.

[Master_of_Dragons]

Hi,


Banjo's horns disappear in the last panel of him... ;D

*Vanishes in a puff of smoke*

~Drawkcab, the mistake ninja

take a look at this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=comics;action=display;num=1103204803 ;start=), the last post on the page, the one from The Giant. That should explain everything (Well, at least as far as your post is concerned... ;)).

Master of Dragons

[arche]

Banjo already is a god. He just wanted to join the pantheon.
I wonder if they get a membership card for being in the pantheon.

[Starbuck_II]

I wonder if they get a membership card for being in the pantheon.
Of course you get all the best rates and discounts for things.

[cherry]

15% off in victoria's secret and nine west...
So sad... I remember those days when people believed in me... damnation...

[Paragon_Kobold]

Banjo's horns disappear in the last panel of him... ;D


I have always assumed that Elan uses Prestidigitation to make small alterations to Banjo between panels.

*Throws down smoke bomb and then runs away, coughing.*

[GlordFunkelhand]

Why shouldn't Thor be blonde? It's not as if this is the same Thor worshipped in the time of the vikings.
Thor from the Asgardian pantheon is red haired. Both the classic Thor and the Thor from "Deities and Demigods".
The only Thor who's blonde is the Marvel variant.

I mean Odin is displayed with all his common features (one eyed, Huginn and Muninn around him, and Gungnir in his hand).
Thor's red beard is one of his most important features, one of his names even is "the red".

[Muisje]

Isn’t it obvious? The Odin and Thor appearing in the comic aren’t the classic gods, but the OotS gods. ;)

And why not change your appearance once in a while? As a god you don’t want to be outdated.

(But I’m always curious about the classic gods and their looks.)

[Shatteredtower]

I'm just wondering why Thor is blonde? Despite what Marvel wants to tell you... Thor is a Readhead :)


"Verily, doth boys cry."

[Peldor]

Whoa. Today's placeholder is frightening indeed. It's like Keith has eaten a Cheshire cat. :'(

[Grey Watcher]

Say, is Odin the same deity called Wotan in Wagner's Ring of Nibeluung?

[JMFD]

I quite liked the "or seventeen, perhaps". The grin is trully scary though

[GeeVee]

Whoa. Today's placeholder is frightening indeed. It's like Keith has eaten a Cheshire cat. :'(

Okay, this is starting to get freaky. Let's get this straight.

RICH BURLEW IS THE MAKER OF OOTS! RICH BURLEW! NOT KEITH BAKER! RICH BURLEW GODDAMN IT!

[Hobot]

Okay, this is starting to get freaky. Let's get this straight.

RICH BURLEW IS THE MAKER OF OOTS! RICH BURLEW! NOT KEITH BAKER! RICH BURLEW GODDAMN IT!

I just sat down to catch up on the comments, and I have to say, this whole Keith thing is hilarious, intentional or not.

[GlordFunkelhand]

Say, is Odin the same deity called Wotan in Wagner's Ring of Nibeluung?

Yep. Wotan / Woden / Odin are the same.
Loge in Ring of the Nibelungs -> Loki.

Though Wagner took some freedoms on the Edda with regards to the story ;)

[Invariel]

Incidentally, ...

Wednesday = Wodin's Day
Thursday = Thor's Day.
Friday may have something to do with Freyja. But I can't be sure of that.

And, for anyone who's curious,
Monday = Moon Day, which is also what it is in French (lundi, where lune is moon).

But this does NOT mean that we get to play games on Thursday (jeudi).

[L_Opoponax]

I just sat down to catch up on the comments, and I have to say, this whole Keith thing is hilarious, intentional or not.

Oh great, now I want to see a stick-figure Keith Richards... but how would you get the creepy lips? :P

[Knight13]

How did all these people get the idea that this Keith person draws OOTS in the first place?

[bedbugsareyummy]

Incidentally, ...

Wednesday = Wodin's Day
Thursday = Thor's Day.
Friday may have something to do with Freyja. But I can't be sure of that.

And, for anyone who's curious,
Monday = Moon Day, which is also what it is in French (lundi, where lune is moon).

But this does NOT mean that we get to play games on Thursday (jeudi).


Sunday=Suns' day
And for people who don't know French, JEU from JEUDI means 'game'.

[Knight13]

SWEET, so now I can slack off on Thursdays and tell everyone that I'm justified because that's the meaning of the day. ;D

[bedbugsareyummy]

......Because it's Thor's Day?


Where's the comic? I need my fill of OotS......... :P

[Knight13]

didn't you just say that in French, Thursday is called games day or something like that?

WOO, the Muskrat 3000 is definitely going to be the next thing my fighter buys! Plus that hornet armor looks pretty handy as long as the hornets don't puncture my eardrums as well.

[bedbugsareyummy]

.....I have bad short-term memory -.-;;;
I want the bubble armor. Think of all the fun! :P

[Meagen]

It's so much better when Keith makes up his own jokes instead of re-using over-used material.

"Druids with pointy sticks"... heh. ^^

[Knight13]

what's up with this Keith thing anyway?

[Caledonian]

A new poster thought that Giant was the guy who won the D&D setting competition. The actual winner, who submitted Eberron, is named Keith. Giant came in I believe second place.

Now everyone's ribbing Giant about it... and if they keep it up, I think Giant's gonna break out some pointy sticks of his own.

[Sundog]

Friday is actually Frey's day, not Freya's. The Vikings had Freya's day as what we now have as Saturday (after the Roman god Saturn, oddly enough).

There's some question as to whether Tuesday came from the minor Norse pantheon god Tu (also spelt Tue) or the minor Celtic god/hero Twe (pronounced either Tue or Tau).

Getting back to the comic, I have to say, is everyone in this town crazy? First the Potion makers, then the weapon shoppe, now the armourer!

I just loved the fact that our favourite cleric was turning blue in the second panel in the bubble. I would guess whatever he was saying wasn't G-rated! An idea in need of significantly greater thought...

[Eslington]

I think the original poster just got them mixed up because he was browsing the Eberron board while making a post here.

To make it a true injoke, we'd need to see people on the Ask Keith Baker thread calling him Rich.

[Peldor]

Now everyone's ribbing Giant about it... and if they keep it up, I think Giant's gonna break out some pointy sticks of his own.
Yes, I've learned it's dangerous to poke fun at the forum admin. (The unmentionable things they can do to your avatar shall not be mentioned.) But I've also learned it's more fun to live dangerously! :D


And yes, wearing 17 cymbals does indeed beat working retail.

[bedbugsareyummy]

Getting back to the comic, I have to say, is everyone in this town crazy? First the Potion makers, then the weapon shoppe, now the armourer!

I just loved the fact that our favourite cleric was turning blue in the second panel in the bubble. I would guess whatever he was saying wasn't G-rated! An idea in need of significantly greater thought...
I bet the bubble was so airtight, even oxygen couldn't get in :P

[pumpkinetics]

I bet the bubble was so airtight, even oxygen couldn't get in

It was rather obviously airtight. Otherwise, Durkon wouldn't have turned so blue.

I wonder what a common dwarven swear word is? Probably something like "D'arvit" (A reference from Artemis fowl (http://www.artemisfowl.co.uk/bookzone_artemisfowl.php).)

[evileeyore]

Okay, this is starting to get freaky. Let's get this straight.

RICH BURLEW IS THE MAKER OF OOTS! RICH BURLEW! NOT KEITH BAKER! RICH BURLEW GODDAMN IT!

You know everytime someone calls him Keith Baker I just picture him fighting Evil across the universe armed only with his wits, a 13 1/2" scarf, and a sonic screwdriver.

Hah!

On a side note; Tom todays comic only rates a 6. No laughs were heard, but the cymbol encrusted muskrat was amusing.

But hey one bad day is okay, just don't make it a habit.

;)--EvilE

[Fire_Wolf]

What is cool about today's strip is that it features the first stick gnome ever. 138 strips and only one gnome!? Amazing.

[penguinscanfly81]

The downside involves Druids with Pointy Sticks.

This ones true. Im a member of DPS, and we dont enjoy seeing muskrats with cymbals. Tambourines are tolerable, but only 3 per Muskrat.

[Freeman333]

This ones true. Im a member of DPS, and we dont enjoy seeing muskrats with cymbals.

[overweening pedant] Wouldn't that be DwPS? You know, like Order of the Stick is OotS?
[/overweening pedant]

;)

[archon_huskie]

I demand the druid avatar be altered to have pointy sticks!

[Eslington]

What is cool about today's strip is that it features the first stick gnome ever. 138 strips and only one gnome!? Amazing.

Well, there are gnomes in the avatar list. Like the pistol wielding gnome pirate.

[The Giant]

What is cool about today's strip is that it features the first stick gnome ever. 138 strips and only one gnome!? Amazing.

Strip #49, last panel.

[ShadowDragon8685]

That is kind of the problem about using animals as creative trap disarmaments/absoloutly insane dungeon clearance items.

IE: driving herds of sheep ahead of you in the dungeon. Detects traps, monsters, and gelatinous cubes.


But then when you get out of the dungeon, the Circle of Seventeen (druids) all cast a Quickened Flamestrike/Flamestrike combo targeted at the dungeon entrance.

[Circon]

Friday is actually Frey's day, not Freya's. The Vikings had Freya's day as what we now have as Saturday (after the Roman god Saturn, oddly enough).

There's some question as to whether Tuesday came from the minor Norse pantheon god Tu (also spelt Tue) or the minor Celtic god/hero Twe (pronounced either Tue or Tau).
Atleast in Norwegian, Saturday (Lørdag) is from Bathing or Washing Day (Laugr-Dag.) Tuesday (Tirsdag) is quite clearly from Tyr's Dag.
(Tu? Never seen that spelling. Are we talking about the same god here?)



Oh, and ShadowDragon: Summon Monster I. If you summon a celestial dog to scout for traps, that's still a Lawful Good act.

[Knight13]

One of the worst dwarven swearwords is P'charnkov. Roughly translated it means: "Your feet will be cut off and buried several yards from your body so your ghost won't walk."

[Shatteredtower]

Strip #49, last panel.

Sure enough, a gnome. Thank you also for the reminder of why I could never get into trading card games.

[Fire_Wolf]

Strip #49, last panel.
Well gosh, now I feel silly. :-[

[MattB]

Friday is actually Frey's day, not Freya's. The Vikings had Freya's day as what we now have as Saturday (after the Roman god Saturn, oddly enough).

Friday is actually named after Odin's wife Frigg (also spelled Frigga, Frige, or Frija etc depending on language/dialect etc).

Frigg (an Aesir) is often confused with Freyja (a Vanir). Freyr, Freyja's brother, also adds to the confusion... as do all the variant spellings (Freyr/Frey, Freyja/Freya, Frigg/Frigga/Frija/Frige)

[Pharazon]

How exactly does one identify a stick-Gnome from a stick-Dwarf? They look quite alike to me...

I also wonder how you can train hornets to strike specific targets. But it sounds like a good idea, your own hornet-army.

Anyway, good comic. Facial expressions are, as always, well done.

[Gez]

Okay, this is starting to get freaky.

Yeah. People, stop confusing Rich Baker (http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?op=showcreator&creatorid=27) and Keith Burlew. Thanks.




And for people who don't know French, JEU from JEUDI means 'game'.

To be perfectly pedantic, jeudi is actually jupiter's day, but it's true that jeu means game.

Lundi = Luna Dies, latin for Moon's day.
Mardi = Mars Dies, same thing for Mars.
Mercredi = Mercuri Dies, Freddy Mercury's day
Jeudi = Jovis Dies, Bon Jovi's day
Vendredi = Veneris Dies, Venereal diseases' day
Samedi = Saturni Dies, Saturnism's day
Dimanche = Dies Domenicus, the Lord's day.

OK, not all the translations are exactly serious.

In German, you have:

Sonntag = Sun's day (die Sonn: the sun)
Montag = Moon's day (der Mond: the moon)
Germans, like Tolkien's elves, believe the Sun is feminine and the Moon is masculine.
Dienstag =Tyr's day (somehow, Tyr became Thin then Dien in German?)
Mittwoch = Literally "midweek"
Donnerstag = Donner's Tag, which can mean either Thunder Day or Thor's day, as you wish. (der Donner, the thunder)
Freitag = From one of those viking deities with a name starting with "fr". They're about three thousands of them, chose your favorite.
For Samstag, I'm not sure. I'd trace it back to the latin Saturne, like for French Samedi, which also features a 'm' instead of a 't' for whatever reason, but I've read it came from another latin word, Sabbaticum.

The Portugueses are the most rational of all. With the exception of Sabado (Sabbath, saturday) and Domingo (the Lord, Sunday), they just give numbers to days. So Monday is Segunda-Feira (second day, the first being Domingo), then you have Terça-Feira, Quarta-Feira, Quinta-Feira, and Sexta-Feira.


And to go back on the topic of the comic:

Argh! The Giant's world has been infected by the Dragonlance virus that turns gnomes into hare-brained tinkers!

[LordofOran]

How about chinese huh?

It's just one day, two day, threeday for monday, tuesday, and wednesday.

So it's Xing Qi Yi for monday, Xing Qi Er for tuesday, etc.

[Caledonian]

Jeudi is obviously the day the French set aside to honor the Jedi.

[evileeyore]

I also wonder how you can train hornets to strike specific targets. But it sounds like a good idea, your own hornet-army.


In one Fantasy Game two Mages who had Animal Control spells (My character and his Mentor) kept an apiary on the parties wagon. We enchanted it so the bees would only forage short distances and could always find their way back. We had ourselves an Intruder Bee Detection and Assault System and tasty Honey.

Had to Hibernate them when we travelled to the frigid North though. The Mentor was sooo dispondent (he liked his honey!).

[Gez]

Jeudi is obviously the day the French set aside to honor the Jedi.

He, when I was a kid, there were no school on wednesday afternoon. So children liked wednesday, and joked about how much they loathed the return of the jeudi.

But the pronounciation of jedi and jeudi (juh dee, without that short 'd' sound that's always at the start of english Js) are too different. In fact, jedi sounds somewhat like "jet d'ail" (throw of garlic), so it's mostly good to make jokes when a vampire strikes back.

[Sundog]

" Atleast in Norwegian, Saturday (Lørdag) is from Bathing or Washing Day (Laugr-Dag.) Tuesday (Tirsdag) is quite clearly from Tyr's Dag.
(Tu? Never seen that spelling. Are we talking about the same god here?)"

Yeah, we are, but via a rather tortured linguistic history. The name entered english via the Danelaw, at the same time as there was a strong Celtic influence from both Welsh and Bretogne - thus the confusion as to where exactly "tuesday" comes from.

As for the Frigga possibility for Friday, I hadn't heard that one before, but it makes as much sense as anything else.

Regarding Lordag (sorry, I have no idea how to get accents from this keyboard), I think you might find that Nowegian changed the name due to the influence of the Catholic Church. The Norse Pantheon was never strongly worshipped in England, so the use of the names of those gods wouldn't have bothered the church there, but in areas where the Pantheon was once strong they would have deliberately attempted to eliminate any reference to it - at least, that is the pattern elsewhere.

[Wanderer]

That is kind of the problem about using animals as creative trap disarmaments/absoloutly insane dungeon clearance items.

IE: driving herds of sheep ahead of you in the dungeon. Detects traps, monsters, and gelatinous cubes.


:o I never thought of that! What a brilliant use of sheep! I mean, we polymorphed a hydra into a sheep once, and then later when we ran into a room full of Beholders, we tossed the sheep in and slammed the door quickly... (man were those Beholders surprised!) But we never thought of using animals as some sort of early warning system. That's perfect!

[DrSpoon]

:o I never thought of that! What a brilliant use of sheep! I mean, we polymorphed a hydra into a sheep once, and then later when we ran into a room full of Beholders, we tossed the sheep in and slammed the door quickly... (man were those Beholders surprised!) But we never thought of using animals as some sort of early warning system. That's perfect!

Well you could do that but then there is also the possibility of any Druids and/or Rangers taking offense at this and doing nasty things to you with pointy objects

[Knight13]

that's why you make sure that there is no one within a 10-mile radius before doing it.

[L_Opoponax]

my ex would roll an orc head down the dungeon corridor ahead of him. That works well, unless the DM has enough intellect (read, 'more than a flea,') and rules that the traps aren't triggered by something that small... or dead, or low-to-the-ground, or whatever.

[Wanderer]

Hmm... we tend to use the "Throw a copper piece in/on/at it and see what happens!" approach. Although sometimes we prefer the "Hmm... (insert name here) isn't here tonight. Let's let his character go first." ;D

[Aidan305]

Hmm... we tend to use the "Throw a copper piece in/on/at it and see what happens!" approach. Although sometimes we prefer the "Hmm... (insert name here) isn't here tonight. Let's let his character go first." ;D
Always a favourite ;D

[Woolysock]

Thor from the Asgardian pantheon is red haired. Both the classic Thor and the Thor from "Deities and Demigods".
The only Thor who's blonde is the Marvel variant.

I mean Odin is displayed with all his common features (one eyed, Huginn and Muninn around him, and Gungnir in his hand).
Thor's red beard is one of his most important features, one of his names even is "the red".


Come on! What the hell kind of good are GODLY powers if you can't change your hair colour?? If Zeus can change into a bull to better impregnate women, then I think Thor can manage to change the colour of his hair.
I'm sure even gods like to go incognito once in a while.

[Caledonian]

The word 'absolutely' is misspelled. The 'e' and the 'l' were transposed.

Nice work parodying the justifications for arbitrary parties to stick together, Giant. Or is it a parody...?

[Ashlock]

Another excellent episode. I love the "popping" in of Roy's depiction.

[Aidan305]

True. And Haley must have rolled pretty low on her sense motive check to believe that story. I mean, even Elan found holes in it.

[Marller]

Haley threw a natural 1. ;D

[Sundog]

Not to mention, the fact she's probably relying on her near supernatural ability to get more than the rest of the party when it comes to treasure...

[Circon]

-your arbitrary rules, like "don't kill Elan."

LOL! ;D

[GypsyThorn]

I'm back on my kick that OOTS is a reflection of an actual group of gamers playing a group of characters. (...but I recognize that what we have here is indeed a group of stick figures and speech/thought balloons drawn on a piece of paper that will do anything Rich or Keith tells them to...) (...while at the same time it conceivably could be a group of characters running an artist, depending on how firmly rooted in reality I happened to be at any particular time.)

In any case, IF there were an actual group of gamers, what happened today was the players running Haley and Belkar role-playing their character's natural reluctance to go on the side-trip, but looking for any reason whatsoever to justify their character's decision to go with. (Only NPCs need to roll 1s on a Sense Motive. Players can have their characters decide to ignore whatever they want.) Hey, given a choice as a player between going on a questionable side-quest or sitting off to the side and playing "Pirates" for six hours, I'd find a reason to go gaming any time.

[Tarlonniel]

Right on, GypsyThorn. Hmmmm.... I wonder if Haley and Belkar will ever "realize" what it is their players did to them?

[Knight13]

Roy probably needed that natural 20 to beat Haley's Sense Motive. Most of you people don't seem to realize that Haley didn't need to roll a 1, Roy got a 20, as long as Haley didn't get a 20 as well Roy automatically wins.

[Narfink]

No, if Haley has any Sense Motive Ranks and any charisma modifier she probably beats Roy.

Skills do not automatically succeed on a natural roll of 20.

Additionally (from the SRD):

Opposed Checks
An opposed check is a check whose success or failure is determined by comparing the check result to another character’s check result. In an opposed check, the higher result succeeds, while the lower result fails. In case of a tie, the higher skill modifier wins. If these scores are the same, roll again to break the tie.

[Freeman333]

Haley didn't need to have rolled a 1 to have failed her Sense Motive, though it wouldn't have hurt. If Roy got a natural 20 with no ranks, and no Cha modifier (he seems like a good candidate for a 10 Cha if I've ever seen one), his score is 20. Assuming Haley is a 10th-level character (which is also reasonable, since the party is originally listed as being 7-9th level, and she's gained at least two levels in the course of the comic) then the most ranks she could have in Sense Motive is 13 (her level, 10, +3 for a class skill). If she has Skill Focus (Sense Motive) and Investigator (I think that's the one that gives you a +2 to Sense Motive, though I could be wrong), that's an additional +5, but I can't imagine Haley would spend her feats on a skill she uses that infrequently. Assuming a Wis bonus of +1 or +2, which again seems reasonable given her behavior (I imagine any stats she had +3 or +4 on would have been put into Dex or Cha, and very few characters have more than two stats with bonuses of +3 or higher), her Sense Motive check is probably between 13-17 at the most.

Thus, a roll of 1, 2 or 3 would likely have failed to beat Roy's 20, and while such a roll isn't enormously likely (three out of twenty, maybe a more mathematically inclined person could give us an actual statistical value for that) there's still a moderately decent chance that Roy could have beaten Haley with his bluff purely mathematically, and no other motivation was involved.

So, in short, I've made a bunch of completley unsupported assumptions and spent waaaaay too much time over-analyzing a statement meant to be taken as a joke, and not seriously, in the first place.

Do I love this strip, or what?

[DrDoom]

Hm, I'd think she has a +0 in Wis, as you need all other attributes more (ok, maybe on same level as ST). And I suppose she has a level of 10 at max, so I'd assume an 8 or 9, which puts her Sense Motive to 11-12.

Otoh, the "world" they are in could have just houseruled in critical Successess in Skill checks...


P.S.: There is always this "Speed of Plot"-thingie around....

[bedbugsareyummy]

Who woulda thunk that Roy would ever tell Elan not to be reasonable? ;D
This comic made my day after a bad day at school. ;)

[Freeman333]

Yeah, Elan's reasonability seems to have kind of an on/off switch; see strip #50: "Aw, those stories don't match up at all!" *Smack*

Maybe all the switch needs is a swift smack upside the head. Boy, Roy would love it if that were true, eh? "Crap! Need smart Elan!" *Smack* "Crap! Smart Elan is going to expose my flimsy deception!" *Smack* "Okay, this one is just for fun." *Smack*

Also: Haley seems to have a slightly better-than-average Wis, by my standard; she saw through the Linear Guild pretty quick (though that may have been pure Sense Motive, I guess) and she seems a hell of a lot more aware of herself and her surroundings than most of her compatriots. Of course, I guess that could just mean she's got 10 and everyone else (Durkon excepted) has below-average (though I could point out that Belkar was able to cast Cure Serious Wounds, a 3rd-level spell, after an Owl's Wisdom, putting his Wis no lower than 9, at least under 3.5 rules).

Did I say I'd spent too much time over-analyzing before? NOW I've spent too much time over-analyzing. And I'll do it again, mark my words.

[evileeyore]

No Haley suceeded her roll. But is going along with it, because A) she will be there for more looting, B) she can stay with Elan.

[Muisje]

B?
Are you suggesting a romance? ;)

[ShadowDragon8685]

No, I think he's flat-out accusing one of existing.

[Sebastian]

B?
Are you suggesting a romance? ;)



Well, duh !!! ::)

Just think what she did for Elan, she stole the cure potion from Belkar, she give him that rapier when his got broken and she didn't make him pay for either of them..

If it isn't love, I don't know what it is. ;D

[Muisje]

Good point. How could I have missed it? :-[
Perhaps I was too caught up with laughing at other OotS stuff.

[Pharazon]

I'll bet there really are King Giants in guarding that starmetal. And yet, saying that will cause it not to happen, so the bet is off.

And after what happened a couple of comics ago, I'm surprised Haley was convinced so easily... perhaps she was indeed looking for an excuse to come along, after all, every bit of gold would help getting her father out, and in a forest filled with creatures... what would be the odds of not making any profit at all?

[LordofOran]

Tru dat.

Don't kill Elan? Heh.

Belkar needs to grow wisdom based skills.

[Nim]

Belkar needs to grow wisdom, period.

[ShadowDragon8685]

I think when V gets to level 20ish, V's gonna use Wish to give Belkar a PERMANANT inherant bonus to Wisdom. Like it or not. :)

[Da_Barbarian]

If I were V, I'd turn Belkar into a rabbit or something like that.

[bedbugsareyummy]

Good point. How could I have missed it? :-[
Perhaps I was too caught up with laughing at other OotS stuff.



Also, in the comic with everyone waving for the 'end of the trade paperback' Elan and Haley were holding hands.....

Well, it looks like it is. At first I though their hands were overlapping but now I'm convinced :P

[Freeman333]

If I were V, I'd turn Belkar into a rabbit or something like that.

Which, in point of fact, might actually result in a Wis increase. Most rabbits I've met seem a little better-adjusted than our short hairy psycho friend...

...then again, the Giant is a Monty Python fan. Belkar + rabbit = "It's got teeth like-- ! And it jumps, like-- !"

[Da_Barbarian]

I like how everyone is so easily convinced.... its classic.

[Andorax]

Belkar needs to grow wisdom, period.

Noooo. We can't have Belkar grow wisdom, he'll cease being useful as a member of the party.

Don't forget what happened after he got that temporary wisdom boost:

http://www.giantitp.com/cgi-bin/GiantITP/ootscript?SK=58

[Blackdog]

Whether or not Belkar "grows wisdom", I think that character development is one of the most important aspects of any narrative, webcomics included. The revelation regarding Haley's father was especially interesting, in spite of its similarity to one of 8-bit Theater's sidequests. In fact, one of the most grating things about 8-bit Theater is that its complete lack of character development consigns its heroes to one-dimensional roles.

[Adghar]

I think when V gets to level 20ish, V's gonna use Wish to give Belkar a PERMANANT inherant bonus to Wisdom. Like it or not. :)

Absolutely not. Way too much XP for V to sacrifice.

[metaofantioch]

Hmm, I figured Haley gave in easily because if she goes on Roy's side quest, she has some leverage to get him to come on her sidequest. But then, I've never been very good with my Sense Motive in real life. :P

[Whoracle]

There's some question as to whether Tuesday came from the minor Norse pantheon god Tu (also spelt Tue) or the minor Celtic god/hero Twe (pronounced either Tue or Tau).

I don't know if this has already been solved, but judging by the fact that Tuesday is in german Dienstag, which is derivated from Dinstag which in turn comes from Odinstag (while "Tag" meaning "day", obviously...), I daresay it is pretty sure that Tuesday comes from Odin...

Greetz, Whor

[Pharazon]

Netherlands:

Monday: Maandag: Maan = Dutch for Moon.
Tuesday: Dinsdag: See the post above me, I don't think it's a coincidence... but still, having two following days named after the same God seems a little odd.
Wednesday: Woensdag: Wodan.
Thursday: Donderdag: Thor/Donar. Also, donder is Dutch for thunder.
Friday: Vrijdag: Any of the aforementioned Friday-gods is possible. Personally I used to think it was Freya, but don't take my word on it.
Saturday: Zaterdag: Saturn, probably.
Sunday: Zondag: Zon = Dutch for Sun.

[Eloco]

Thats one Hot dog, /snicker.

[Karma]

Maybe it's not a sausage dog, maybe it's a disguised Dire Weasel. Or at least, maybe Belkar can pass it off as one. ;D

[Tarlonniel]

Maybe it'll wrap its body around opponents' legs and trip them, so Belkar can stab their guts out more conveniently. ;D

[Sebastian]

Or he could use it as a reach weapon. :D

[Payne]

French (actually all mostly from vulgos latin the romans used)

Monday: Lundi = moon (lunis)
Tuesday: Mardi = Mars god of war (quite close/related to Odin and Thor)
Wednesday: Mercredi = Mercury
Thursday: Jeudi = Jupiter
Friday: Vendredi = Venus
Saturday: Samedi = Sabbat
Sunday: Dimanche = Dei dominicus (day of god)

The calender was changed when it went through the different period or roman to catholic rule.
But we can see even this language has common ground with english/germanic roots even though it is a roman(latin)-root language.

interesting

Now let's talk about Sanskrit!! ;D ::) :P

[Hagar]

Want to know more about the days of the week (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Days_of_the_week) ?

Sunday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday) gets its name from Sunne, the Saxon Sun god, or Sunna the Scandinavian Sun goddess.
Monday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monday) gets its name from the Mona, the Saxon Moon god.
The English and Scandinavian names for Tuesday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuesday) are derived from the Nordic god Tyr (in Old English, Tiw, Tew or Tiu Sweden:Tisdag, Denmark:Tirsdag, Finland:Tiistai).
Wednesday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wednesday) comes from the Old English wodnesdæg meaning "Woden's day". The astrological sign of the planet Mercury represents Wednesday, which was dies mercurii to the Romans. In English, this became Woden's Day, since the Roman god Mercury was identified with the Nordic god Woden in northern Europe.
Thursday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thursday) is derived from the name of the Norse/Germanic god Thor.
Friday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday) is derived from the goddess Frige of Germanic mythology.
Saturday (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday) is unique among the names of days, in that it is derived from the Roman god Saturn, while the other six names are derived from Saxon gods.

So far my free Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org) plug ;D

[Gez]

Or he could use it as a reach weapon. :D


That would be more Belkar-like.

Now, what would be fun would be for the dachshund to become Belkar's animal companion... Belkar would be forced to stick (heh) with it, since the critter would be too tough to get casually killed. And Belkar's description could become somewhat true...

[Wanderer]

Fear the riding Dachshund! ;D Look out, it'll gnaw your ankles off!

[Muisje]

The bane of all skeletons.

[Sundog]

If it's anything like the Dachshunds I know, it'll yap at the enemy until he goes mad, then lick him to death. Not really Belkar's style.
Have to admit, though, Belkar absolutely and totally deserved it.

Re: Dienstag, I think this is clearly a case of two completely different names being applied in otherwise related languages.

[GypsyThorn]

Once upon a time, in a land far away, lived a King and a Queen. They had a son, the Prince, who delighted them exceedingly. However exceptional he was in all other things, he was, unfortunately, exceptionally short. But the King and the Queen loved their son, and raised him to be proud and strong. Albeit short.

Being loving parents, the Royal Couple doted upon their son, giving him everything he ever wanted. However, when, like all the other young princes of the realm, the Prince wanted a horse, it just was not to be. No horse, no pony, no mule, neigh, not even a foal was small enough for the diminutive Prince. Unable to give the Prince a proper mount, they found for his equestrian pursuits a large, shaggy dog. (Only shaggy dogs were strong enough to carry the Prince. For whatever reason, in this far-off land, hairless dogs were just not right.) The Prince, in true Royal fashion, made the best of his unconventional mount, and rode in fine fashion, capering about on his canine companion.

But soon the the Prince was once again perturbed. It seemed the other young princes were being raised to the high level of knighthood, while he remained on the lower levels of squiredom. And so the King and Queen, after consulting with the Captain of the Royal Guard, granted the honor of knighthood to the young Prince, naming him, Sir Prince.

(...and on it goes for another twenty minutes until we reach the punchline....)

[Aidan305]

If it's anything like the Dachshunds I know, it'll yap at the enemy until he goes mad, then lick him to death. Not really Belkar's style.
Have to admit, though, Belkar absolutely and totally deserved it.
You know some very different dachunds to me.

[Invariel]

(...and on it goes for another twenty minutes until we reach the punchline....)

...

But... What is the punchline?
Or, if you would be so kind as to PM me the entire joke (if you don't mind typing it out...)

[Grey Watcher]

...

But... What is the punchline?
Or, if you would be so kind as to PM me the entire joke (if you don't mind typing it out...)

Why do I think it has something to do with him being formerly known as "prince"?

[Invariel]

It doesn't... It happens to be about him being knighted and riding a smelly mount around.

[Nighthawk4]

Can we have the punchline then please, Gypsy Thorn?

[TO_Incognito]

The only shaggy dog story punchline I've ever heard is "I wouldn't put a knight out on a dog like this." There is a small chance that that is where he is going with this.

[GypsyThorn]

The only shaggy dog story punchline I've ever heard is "I wouldn't put a knight out on a dog like this." There is a small chance that that is where he is going with this.


Actually, a very, very good chance, as it were. A classsic shaggy dog story. I thought this one was safe to talk about (e.g., changing a plot line by guessing it in advance) because the dog Belkar's riding on is definitely not shaggy.

[pumpkinetics]

Hey, The best bit about a Daschund is the extra space at the back!

Besides, Belkar wouldn't look right on a rottweiler, or Saint Bernard.

[evileeyore]

Cry havoc and let lose the Dachsunds of War!!

I laughed, I cried, it was a moment not soon forgotten...

[bedbugsareyummy]

He came, he saw, he rode on the daschund.


As long as we're mangling quotes :-/
Or was that a quote from somewhere?Sounds like it.

[L_Opoponax]

To the tune of "City of New Orleans":

Ridin' on a dachshund in a forest
My feet are nearly draggin' on the ground
My companions, they're ridin' great big horses
And I'm a little too close to that liquid comin' down...

[Adghar]

DOWN AT THE ENGLISH FAIR,
ONE EVENING IT WAS THERE,
I HEARD A SHOWMAN SHOUTING,
UNDERNEATH THE FLAIR.


I'VE GOT A LOVELY BUNCH OF DACH-UH-SUNDS,
THERE THEY ARE ALL STANDING IN A ROW.
BIG ONES, SMALL ONES, SOME AS BIG AS YOUR BODY,
GIVE THEM A PAT, A FLICK OF THE REINS,
THAT'S WHAT THE SHOWMAN SAID.

[bedbugsareyummy]

Ride, ride, ride, ride the great long daschund!

[Persephone]

He came, he saw, he rode on the daschund.


As long as we're mangling quotes :-/
Or was that a quote from somewhere?Sounds like it.

Spoken by Mark Antony in Shakespeare's "Julius Cæsar". Act iii. Sc. 1, line 298

In context:

http://www.bartleby.com/70/4031.html

Antony is addressing Caesar's bloody corpse:

O! pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers;
Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
That ever lived in the tide of times.
Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood;
Over thy wounds now do I prophesy,
Which like dumb mouths do ope their ruby lips,
To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue,
A curse shall light upon the limbs of men;
Domestic fury and fierce civil strife
Shall cumber all the parts of Italy;
Blood and destruction shall be so in use,
And dreadful objects so familiar,
That mothers shall but smile when they behold
Their infants quarter’d with the hands of war;
All pity chok’d with custom of fell deeds:
And Cæsar’s spirit, ranging for revenge,
With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with a monarch’s voice
Cry ‘Havoc!’ and let slip the dogs of war;
That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
With carrion men, groaning for burial.


I'm a Shakespeare fan . . . ;)



Persephone

[pumpkinetics]

If Roy's world is spinning, the Giant must be turning into a good artist, and the board must have reasonably social people!!!

(No offense to anyone)

[SumGuy]

Goat hearding?

Goat hearding?!

What kind of self respecting fighter...jeeze!

[Aidan305]

Yay. Go Elan.

[Kish]

It occurs to me that Elan might be a better bard if he hadn't spent quite so many skill points on cross-class skills.

It also occurs to me that since Belkar was able to ride his dog without trouble in #140, he might have at least one rank in Ride too--that, or it's so docile that it's easy to ride, the perfect mount for a certain kind of halfling, but exactly the opposite of what Belkar wanted.