OOTS #872 - The Discussion Thread

[The Giant]

New comic is up.

[Peelee]

And Malack continues to be my favorite character this arc. Possibly the whole strip.

[Samalpetey]

Okay, this was a dang nice comic. Why couldn't Durkon be more compromising?

[Tathum]

Holy crap!

I'm on the first page! And good stuff! Is this the ned of Zombie Shakespeare?

Err, I mean beginning of Vampire Durkon?

[CoffeeIncluded]

Goddammit, Durkon. And here I thought Belkar would die first. Though Hold Person's wearing off at some point.

[TKoTD]

Wow, I think this show which cleric has the highest wisdom.

[Eldest]

Okay, this was a dang nice comic. Why couldn't Durkon be more compromising?

It is kinda sad. I'm curious what spell/vampire ability he's trying to use, though; the Mass Death Ward would protect from most direct attacks I can think of.

[Anarion]

This is looking really tense.

I'm a bit sad they didn't work it out amicably though. I bet there was a reasonable negotiated solution if Durkon had been more undead tolerant.

[Raineh Daze]

... Durkon is supposed to have a high wisdom score, and yet he pushes the vampire into an idealogical corner.

It is kinda sad. I'm curious what spell/vampire ability he's trying to use, though; the Mass Death Ward would protect from most direct attacks I can think of.

It might just be that all his spells get the creepy dark glow.

[Barsoom]

Holy crap!

I'm on the first page! And good stuff! Is this the ned of Zombie Shakespeare?

Err, I mean beginning of Vampire Durkon?

Durkon has [Mass] Death Ward up. Malak can't level-drain him or Con-drain him. Although admittedly he can still kill him.

[Paseo H]

Well, this just makes the whole debate vis a vis Malack's alignment more complicated.

[ThePhantasm]

Awesome. Battle of the clerics, commence!

[tcrudisi]

Jeez. Just because someone is wise doesn't mean they can't get angry. Malack is everything that Durkon fights against. Yes, this was doomed to happen.

However, I am annoyed that once again the Order finds themselves in a fight because of a lack of communication. If Durkon explains why they are here, rather than saying he cannot let them take the spot, then I believe a compromise could have been made.

Oh well.

[Traab]

Thats the problem with being "Good" There is less room for compromise when the other party is "Evil" Also, wow, these updates are coming closer together, hows the hand doing?

[Da'Shain]

Well, for once I check pretty much immediately when the new comic goes up. Serendipitous. I think that's what that means. W/e.

Anyway, this comic is very sad to me. Even if he does ping as Evil on the ol' magedar, his behavior thus far is such that I see no reason he and Durkon could not be friends, aside from the whole "on opposing sides" thing, and ... Durkon's prejudice, let's be frank. Now, it might be a prejudice that is entirely backed up by Durkon's previous experiences with undead (almost certainly true in-comic; I can't remember a non-evil acting undead off the top of my head here), but it's still sad to see him seemingly entirely unwilling to look at Malack's actual character apart from the lizgreaper's character sheet.

Then again, he does have a legitimate point; if they both continue to support their leaders' interests, there isn't really a compromise here. Still, I would've liked to keep Malack around as another relatively well fleshed out neutral character. Ah well.

EDIT: Also, not sure if it's supposed to be part of Durkon's accent, but in panel 1, his "I am ta keep 'im tha way"; I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be "aim" and it doesn't seem like his normal accent, so I figured I'd point it out in case it was an error.

[Raineh Daze]

But high wisdom is meant to help with this sort of thing.

Hang on, in the last panel... either Malack's gone for a standing jump, or he has no connection to gravity.

[Samalpetey]

It is kinda sad. I'm curious what spell/vampire ability he's trying to use, though; the Mass Death Ward would protect from most direct attacks I can think of.

I think he might just have stopped suppressing his vampiric appearance (I.e red eyes), to focus on the fight.

[Winter]

Nice. Poor Durkon. Finally finds some friends and it turns out he is incompatible with his values.

[Psyren]

That Death Ward is going to be a real pain for Malack unless he dispels it. It blocks Harm too. But one Heal will seriously rock his socks.

Okay, this was a dang nice comic. Why couldn't Durkon be more compromising?

Something something fate of the world hangs in the balance blah.

[Fitzclowningham]

I can't believe Durkon wasn't ready to fight. It was his inevitable conclusion!

[Eldest]

I think he might just have stopped suppressing his vampiric appearance (I.e red eyes), to focus on the fight.

I actually meant the spell he's casting (black aura around his hands), although like somebody else said, it could be that's just all his spells' color.

[GnomeGninjas]

I'm surprised to say it but I hope Malack wins.

[Peelee]

But high wisdom is meant to help with this sort of thing.

Hang on, in the last panel... either Malack's gone for a standing jump, or he has no connection to gravity.

Did the "does Malack have legs" issue ever get resolved? I was also thinking something similar in that panel....

[Skeletor]

The worst part of it is, Vampires can only drink blood, and not any sort of ale. It would suck to be dwarf vampire.

[Barsoom]

It is kinda sad. I'm curious what spell/vampire ability he's trying to use, though; the Mass Death Ward would protect from most direct attacks I can think of.

If he's using the Harm/Cause Moderate Wounds one-two punch, Durkon is unlikely to survive.

[MeanMrsMustard]

Durkon. Stop making me sad.

[SaintRidley]

Well, that escalated quickly.

[snikrept]

Surprised Durkon didn't try to turn him. He's pretty trigger happy with that ability when it comes to undead.

Also: at the ever-dwindling possibility of Malack ever joining the OOTS. IMO Malack is the best character in the comic to date.

[Psyren]

I'm surprised to say it but I hope Malack wins.

I don't; Durkon's right. Malack is doing nothing but propping up Tarquin's jerkass tyranny.

Hell, they don't even know WHY they're going after the Gates. Or what they'll do when they get one, at least until Xykon scrapes the lot of them off his tarsals.

[ThePhantasm]

By the way, I know this strip in particular is fairly dramatic and all, but I was still laughing all the way through. Durkon's exasperation was pretty hilarious to me, and then his expression when he said "Aye. 'Fraid so." But maybe I have a weird sense of humor.

Also, I have to say... over time Durkon has increasingly become my favorite character, and I'm hoping he isn't about the bite the dust anytime soon. I'm waaay more anxious about his death prophecy than Belkar's.