Who thinks Lien would make an excellent member of the Order of the Stick?

[paladinofshojo]

What? She is a counterstereotype to the "good is dumb" trope, which would make her fit well with the "smart fighter", the "homocidal halfling", etc.

[kpenguin]

Counter-stereotype to the "good is dumb" trope?

Uh, how about we look at Durkon, Haley, and Roy? Even Elan has his moments with genre-savvyness.

If anything, the good characters are smarter than the Big Bad.

[dps]

I think maybe he means the stereotype of paladins as "lawful stupid".

[snoopy13a]

Roy already fills the role as LG meatshield (or at least used to :smalltongue: ). Plus, I don't think she'd mix well with the Belkster.

[Woof]

Any good person would make "an excellent member of the Order of the Stick"...

[drengnikrafe]

I think... that we don't need another paladin following the Order around. Do you remember the last time that happened??

[paladinofshojo]

I think... that we don't need another paladin following the Order around. Do you remember the last time that happened??



Lien is a counter stereotype to that "other" paladin:smallamused:

[Ron Miel]

What? She is a counterstereotype to the "good is dumb" trope, which would make her fit well with the "smart fighter", the "homocidal halfling", etc.

No. The Order is a ragtag band of misfits. Most of them have some sort of flaw making them unsuitable for any other team.
Elan - stupid
V - proud
Haley - greedy, robs her teammates, hiding a secret even from V
Belkar - homicidal

Lien would need to have some kind of similar flaw before she could join.

Now Celia is naive, inexperienced, and doesn't properly understand how the Human world works. She'd fit right in.

[David Argall]

Lien is also water based and tied to Azure City. So there seems to be no good reason to add her to the party.

You want people who will react with other party members in some silly manner. Celia has good potential there. Miko could have been fantastic. But just what sort of party gags can Lien offer us?

[RMS Oceanic]

Lien is also water based and tied to Azure City.

Well there's her flaw. Girard's gate is deep in the western continent, away from water sources. She'd be the Aquaman of the group! :smalltongue:

[Ron Miel]

Do Paladins only get one celestial mount, or are they allowed several? Hinjo saying that he chooses Argent (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0432.html)implies that he has several. Somaybe Lien also has a mount for land battles.

[RMS Oceanic]

You're allowed one mount at a time. You can dismiss your mount and take another, but it can be time consuming, so most paladins hold on to their.

[factotum]

Do Paladins only get one celestial mount, or are they allowed several? Hinjo saying that he chooses Argent (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0432.html)implies that he has several. Somaybe Lien also has a mount for land battles.

That's just a joke based around Pokemon--it doesn't mean paladins get more than one mount.

[Tempest Fennac]

In regards to flaws, don't forget that she was willing to get captured rather then retreat from those Orcs for some reason.

[Return of Lanky]

I think Lien would work pretty well in the OotS, even if it's not likely to happen. She's got a pretty serious amount of humor potential, yet takes her work seriously, and would add some combat potential to the group.

Might be assigned to the party by Hinjo in the wake of V's departure, perhaps.

[adibobo]

I think Lien would make a good order member but I don't think Rich is going to replace the order's members ow

[Neopolis]

In regards to flaws, don't forget that she was willing to get captured rather then retreat from those Orcs for some reason.
The "some reason" you mention is the fact that she's a paladin.

[Tempest Fennac]

Aren't other Paladins capable of retreating in the face of overwhelming odds, though? I know it took a while, but even Honjo could be persuaded to leave AC after it fell.

[Kurald Galain]

Any good person would make "an excellent member of the Order of the Stick"...

:miko:
Just sayin'

[Setra]

:miko:
Just sayin'
Any good good person.

[xelliea]

the order is breaking up so who knows
:miko:

[Woof]

:miko:
Just sayin'

Was thinking living people :P
That being said, who you'd add to OotS depends entirely on your personal definition of what an "excellent member" might be. Efficient in combat? Providing good opportunities for storytelling? Good alignment? /shrug

[Ron Miel]

No, Lien should remain in her current position, as a vassal to Lord Hinjo. And you know what that makes her, don't you ... :smallbiggrin:

[Kish]

The Order doesn't need new members, nor do I expect it to get new members...ever.

[Thanatos 51-50]

Are... Are you guys trying to kill off likeable characters? Wasn't there a thread on Therkla replaceing Belkar?

And what happened to everyone's favourite naive half-orc ninja?

[David Argall]

Aren't other Paladins capable of retreating in the face of overwhelming odds, though? I know it took a while, but even Honjo could be persuaded to leave AC after it fell.

Hinjo only retreated in the face of those overwhelming odds and on advice from several sources, and as soon as he had an excuse, he turned around and tried to attack, getting himself nearly killed, and endangering his ship and everything on it. It seems a standard of the strip that paladins are stupidly brave.

Now Miko would have made an excellent member of the OOTS. Her material almost writes itself.

Remember, we are talking OOTS. We don't want a bunch of smart angels. We want disfunctional idiots.

[Prowl]

What? She is a counterstereotype to the "good is dumb" trope, which would make her fit well with the "smart fighter", the "homocidal halfling", etc.

Except for the small detail of a paladin being able to fall through extended association with Belkar. Works for Belkar, not for the paladin.

Paladins in general are a bad class type to mesh with the strongly chaotic 'order' of the stick. Notice how they fell completely to pieces without Roy to hold them together, even the sub-groups can't get along with only 3 people in each.

[hamishspence]

Miko got around it by defining them as "prisoners" Funny sort of prisoners: unrestrained, armed.

I can see Lien having to work with Elan and Durkon for a while, for one reason or another, but not necessarily staying on full time. Being the "celia" of Elans group.

Hope she won't get as disliked as Celia seems to be.

[ref]

No, Lien should remain in her current position, as a vassal to Lord Hinjo. And you know what that makes her, don't you ... :smallbiggrin:

You mean her heir-maker? Hmm... I think [W&XP]Sangwaan was more interested in the position. Too bad she's dead... or is she? As Elan would say: Dun dun DUNNN

[Yoritomo Himeko]

Why do so many people want one of the paladins to join the OOTS? We've already done that with Miko. It's only going to be the same thing only not funny this time.

And didn't the Giant say in Dungeon of Durokan that he wasn't going to replace any of the original members with new ones?

Let's face it, OOTS is a lot better with dysfunctional adventurers than with normal ones.

[AceOfFools]

Look at the roles the characters play in the group dynamic.

Roy (and to a lesser extend Durkon) is the straight man. The only sane who asks the questions the audience needs asked. He's the one who seeks explanations. He's also the

V is the powerful and proud guy who is in the know. The elf explains the odd bits of arcana, and provides surprising insights (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0223.html).

Haley is the savy character whose comfortable working and seeing through the deceptions of the enemies (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0428.html). Also as noted in DCF, she plays an important role in keeping the group together; everyone on some level, likes Haley (none of this (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0085.html) asterix). Not to be confused with Roy's leader roll, as she doesn't motivate people the way Roy does.

Elan is the comic relief, keeping the tone light and fun.

Belkar is the loadstone. He brings humor, like Elan, but more importantly causes conflicts through which the rest of the cast develops and is expressed to us.

Durkon has an ill-defined role as the dependable guy. When things simply need to get done, we turn to Durkon.


Where into this picture would Lien fit? Well, should could take over Roy's roll, but having not earned V's, Haley's, and Elan's respect, (and Belkar's fear), she would fail as a leader.

While she works well as a side character (putting together the pieces others missed and forming a plan of attack). What she does is useful, but not a role that OotS needs filling long term.