OOTS #850 - The Discussion Thread

[The Giant]

New comic is up.

[Chess Tyrant]

Oh, this is gonna be good... I wonder if Tarquin really plans to take on the whole Order in melee?

Edit: I wonder if Tarquin is capable of taking on the whole Order in melee, or if he's going to rely on Malack/Zz'dtri to deal most of the damage?

[Dumbledore lives]

Amazing pose in that last panel, I wonder what Tarquin is planning.

[Ur-Quan]

Tarquin going in magnificently, time for a good fight :D

[Echon]

I wonder if any of them will pay attention to be fact that "Thog" said 'magnificent'.

[Delusion]

The title alone had me laughing.

Awesome as ever.

[Welf]

They are fighting a major villain and end boss without planing it in advance 3 hours real time/0,5 seconds game time? They are so screwed. Tarquin is truly a master of character and player manipulation.

[Winter]

What a teaser. How does it go on?

[Marlowe]

"Dark Elfy armour"

Well, at least that conveniently explains why it's registering an illusion.

[Cavenskull]

With Elan in the fight, I wonder if there will be any unexpected action or inaction from Tarquin?

[Cicciograna]

Tarquin is awesome.

I wonder what enchantment does that axe he wields carry.

[Winter]

I wonder if any of them will pay attention to be fact that "Thog" said 'magnificent'.

I think the small letters indicate it was very, very silent and only to himself (DC 35+ on the listen check if you want rules).

[Dandria]

So, Thog apparently likes purple. I'll be damned, what a shocking twist! That actually explains a lot, doesn't it?

Also, I guess it's finally time to see what class Tarquin is and how does he plan to win against five high level adventurers. If that's what he wants, of course.

[it17]

Normally I would say that jumping into melee by yourself, while you have superior ranged attack capability, and while you have denied your opponent the ability to close distance with you, would be stupid; but that is assuming that "Not-Thog" want's to win. But "Not-Thog" doesn't care that much about winning or losing, but rather he cares about looking really cool. And it is by far more cool to jump into a 5V1 melee confrontation and fight it out then snipe them from a distance

[mirtexxan]

...magnificient...
(stroking a white cat on his lap)

[The Pilgrim]

Time for Tarquin to finally show us his fighting skills. It was about time he was involved on a real battle.

[Cavenskull]

So Thog apparently likes purple. I'll be damned, what a shocking twist!

Oddly enough though, looking back at the clothing store burglary, Thog didn't actually steal or mention purple clothes. And then there's that whole insistence on continuing to wear the Leprechaun outfit.

[Finagle]

I wonder if any of them will pay attention to be fact that "Thog" said 'magnificent'.

No, he said "Magnificent" using upper case and no bold letters. So, that was Tarquin's own voice, to himself.

A bit of the Blood Knight trope here. He's really relishing this. I suppose it's been quite a long while since Tarquin has been on a proper adventure and he's going to unveil his awesome fighting skills. What would a round-by-round look like with a high-level fighter vs. OOTS minus Vaarsuvius? The author did it for the Miko fight way back when. Or just a straight CR vs. CR comparison.

[Surfing HalfOrc]

Oddly enough though, looking back at the clothing store burglary, Thog didn't actually steal or mention purple clothes. And then there's that whole insistence on continuing to wear the Leprechaun outfit.

Well, it was mentioned that his pants turned purple when he Raged...

I'm sure Elan noticed, since it was dramatic!

EDIT: Can anyone make out the Runes on Tarquin's axe? Might not be enough to decrypt, or it might be a random word like "Slasher," but Rich loves to hide stuff. I remember Vaarsuvius' "This is not a Secret Message" secret message.

[ti'esar]

No, he said "Magnificent" using upper case and no bold letters. So, that was Tarquin's own voice, to himself.

That was the point - if anyone picked up on it, it could be a giveaway (not that I expect anyone did).

Anyway, next strip ought to be pretty good. I seriously doubt that Tarquin can take out the whole Order in melee, but with V gone I expect he can certainly hold his own for a few rounds (which might be another giveaway, actually, since Thog certainly couldn't).

[isoriveil]

Well, after their health has dropped somewhat due to application of two helpings of green solvent, not to mention the structural damage caused to their bodies by rapid descent from the levitating piece of fabric, I expect to witness in the nearest future two words: "Great Cleave".

[Cavenskull]

Well, it was mentioned that his pants turned purple when he Raged...

I'm sure Elan noticed, since it was dramatic!

Oh! You mean the clothing store that specializes in free sets of striped clothing!

[ti'esar]

Also, unrelated to the actual comic, it looks like that "last comic isn't updating" problem has cropped up again. Although the forums and archive show 850 as the newest comic, 849 still indicates that it is, and the "next" and "latest" buttons aren't working.

[ThomasMink]

Everyone's looking forward to seeing Tarquin's fighting skills. Honestly.. I'm more looking forward to seeing how exactly he's going to handle himself in battle against five opponents while impersonating Thog.

Will he continue to keep up the ruse for a round or two? Or has it already been a decent enough distraction in his mind?

Fun stuff ahead.

[ti'esar]

I think that speech he gave (and it was in-character, too!) suggests that Tarquin is genuinely attempting to create the idea that he has nothing to do with this latest Linear Guild attack. So no, the Thog thing is probably not just a distraction.

[ilcane87]

Why is everyone so surprised by this 5v1?
Miko did take on the Order (Vaarsuvius included) alone, twice, and won.

Tarquin is the new Miko in terms of relevance, so he's going to be comparatively stronger than the Order, nothing new here.

[Boogastreehouse]

You know, I think this is a critical moment; not because Tarquin in about to show us how awesome he is, but because he's about to show Roy how effective a thinking fighter can really be.

Roy is going to learn some new lessons from this fight, and that knowledge is going to save him in the battle with Xykon.

[oppyu]

The banjo returns! Elan and Belkar continue to have fun little exchanges as well.

[Man on Fire]

Somebody here is in for an unpleasant suprise.

[ref]

Magnificent indeed...