OOTS #953 - The Discussion Thread

[The Giant]

New comic is up.

[Starwulf]

Wow, kinda didn't see that one coming. There went my hopes that this might at least set off SOME suspicion in the rest of the OoTS members besides Belkar, but apparently not.

Still, I got a laugh with how non-emotive the evil Durkula was with his response after he used Control Weather: "What, it's on the standard spell list, Geez".

[Waar]

Nice control weather effects there.

[Arcon]

Wow, kinda didn't see that one coming.

Well half the forum saw it coming, perfectly logical for Durkula

[Domino Quartz]

Oh. Too bad.

[Starwulf]

Well half the forum saw it coming, perfectly logical for Durkula

I don't actually read the OoTS forum. Every once in a while I might, but it's been at least 2-3 months since I last read/participated in a thread outside of the comic thread, and even in the comic thread I generally just come in, leave my comment, and exit the thread. I dislike hearing everyone else's ideas, preferring to come up with my own ideas(wrong 90% of the time, but meh, what's the fun otherwise)

[Neoriceisgood]

I must admit I've never played D&D with a cleric involved.

Would there be an actual discernable difference between Durkon pleading Thor for weather help & standard weather control?

[cyberpunK]

I wonder if this actually will work

[Icedaemon]

While I did see the end coming roughly halfway through the buildup, I was hoping to see how casting a spell is dealt with 'internally'. Ah well. Still a good'un.

[slayerx]

Wow, kinda didn't see that one coming. There went my hopes that this might at least set off SOME suspicion in the rest of the OoTS members besides Belkar, but apparently not.

And didn't really see why it should have raised suspicions if he was no longer a cleric of Thor. Afterall he already admitted his vamperic status gave him an alignment shift towards evil AND that he was now geared towards negative energy instead of positive energy. Really the idea that he's no longer tight with the Lawful GOOD god of thunder should not be much of surprise to the order.

[Quild]

I wonder if this actually will work

Same thing, but I expect it to work since I totally expect vampire-Durkon to reach the dwarven lands.

[warmachine]

Funny, but it can't work. The spell is powered by Hel but lightening is Thor's domain, therefore Thor wins any divine contest to control the lightning.

[CrispyCriminal]

Ha, this vamp's got balls! Control weather to divert a divine omen, this'll either work or it'll just piss off Thor more.

Thor may be a bit of a buffoon, but he's definitely not the exemplar of a one trick pony.

[Ninjaman]

Smooth as *beep*.

[Edhelras]

Weird - to see Belkar as somehow the major champion of goodiness in the OOTS. No Wonder Blackwing feels his stomach turned upsidedown.... So strange....

[Querzis]

I very highly doubt you can just Control Weather a storm personally conjured by the God of Thunder. Honestly, I think this is just gonna piss off Thor more.

[Starwulf]

And didn't really see why it should have raised suspicions if he was no longer a cleric of Thor. Afterall he already admitted his vamperic status gave him an alignment shift towards evil AND that he was now geared towards negative energy instead of positive energy. Really the idea that he's no longer tight with the Lawful GOOD god of thunder should not be much of surprise to the order.

That is a very good point actually. Did Durkula ever specifically say that he no longer got his spells from Thor? I remember him telling at least Roy I believe, that he now had to pray at night time for his spells, but I can't recall if he said whether or not he still got them from Thor. Even if we realize that he likely wouldn't still pray to Thor due to the inherent alignment shift from dwarf to undead dwarf, the rest of the party doesn't have our "outsider" knowledge, and might still be under the impression that he still prays to Thor, so this could have set off some kind of suspicion, even if seems like a "Duh, of course he isn't with Thor anymore" to us.

[Quild]

Weird - to see Belkar as somehow the major champion of goodiness in the OOTS. No Wonder Blackwing feels his stomach turned upsidedown.... So strange....

Well, this has already been mentionned about Belkar, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.

[Cloud]

Heh, was waiting for the Control Weather spell, but even if he didn't have it prepared, seems like Roy would have understood Thor not listening to just prayers for help given what's happened, so I don't think this was ever going to be as successful as Durkon or Belkar were hoping for.

The smile from Roy is so unsettling though, he's going to feel awful if he finds out the truth about how being turned into a vampire works.

[VoxRationis]

It was to be expected that the matter couldn't be solved so quickly into the new book, but I personally find it improbable; Thor should have a much higher caster level for his control weather-type effect and would simply overpower anything the faux-Durkon could throw at the storm. Even the direct intervention of Hel, arguably, might not work, because the storm is Thor's domain specifically.

[DDRNick]

This should clear it right up.

[reaverb]

It was to be expected that the matter couldn't be solved so quickly into the new book, but I personally find it improbable; Thor should have a much higher caster level for his control weather-type effect and would simply overpower anything the faux-Durkon could throw at the storm.

I'm not convinced Thor is directly causing it. Yes it's his domain so Adad can't intervene, but that doesn't necessarily mean Thor is actively creating the storm.

[Edhelras]

I wonder if this actually will work

The spell description is here: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/controlWeather.htm

Actually, it seems its' somewhat limited what the spell can do, despite the powerful "Control"-word of the title. You cannot kinda remove one kind of unwanted weather; what you do is call forth one type of weather, as appropriate for the season (and what season is it now, in OOTS-verse?). Those weather types available all seems to be quite harsh; simple "Nice, calm weather" isn't on the list.

Also, the casting time is 10 minutes, and after that there's another 10 minutes until the weather change is finished. So that means at least 15, maybe 20 minutes more With difficult weather for the Mechane. Furthermore, Durkola needs to be able to go through 10 minutes of casting and concentration. Plenty of time for Thor to interrupt with another attack of lightning.

In all, I'm not certain Durkola will pull this through. The appropriate choice for a true cleric of Thor might be - not trying to conquer the god with magic, but simply appealing to your patron deity with a non-magical prayer. After all, we've seen before that deities in OOTS (as in DnD) aren't only there for dealing out spells, they're also deities in the more traditional concept. A high-level cleric of good standing with Thor should be able to appeal for protection against Thor's destructive lightning, even in a situation where lightning storms surrounded the cleric and his company.

[Don Ohnic]

I would not expect Durkula to get off the hook this easily. There will be more complications, probably immediately, in the next strip.

(leaning back, enjoying the show)

[Quild]

I'm not convinced Thor is directly causing it. Yes it's his domain so Adad can't intervene, but that doesn't necessarily mean Thor is actively creating the storm.

Thing is that the bolt just went around the lighning rod. There's a fair chance that this storm isn't entirely natural.

[Edhelras]

Nice control weather effects there.

But... we actually haven't seen the Control weather effect, yet..... The weather is unchanged, and will be for at least 10 minutes (the casting time), and then another 10 minutes before the new weather shows up.
But maybe it was meant kinda sarcastically? "Huh, nice control weather effect, dude...." But still - too early to tell. Depending on the season, we might expect all kinds of un-kind weather to arrive in 20 minutes or so (how many strips is that in OOTS-time? Might be expected around Comic # 1000 or something.....)

[Cynric]

Oh Roy. Truly denial is not just a river on a planet that may or may not exist in the OotS continuity.

[Timy]

I wonder if this actually will work

Exactly my thought...

Edit :

And actually, I don't think it will.

We have "proof" that it is Thor himself who made the storm :
- calm weather and then "storm of the year"
- the lighting that avoid the lighting rod entirely

And knowing that, a normal casting of control weather will NOT by-pass the will of a god ! (especially not Thor storm)

[HeeJay]

Really the idea that he's no longer tight with the Lawful GOOD god of thunder should not be much of surprise to the order.

Lawful? Really? If Thor is Lawful, then Xykon is Good.

Thor may be A-OK with Lawful followers, but he himself is anything but.

[Snowyowl]

The spell description is here: http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/controlWeather.htm

Actually, it seems its' somewhat limited what the spell can do, despite the powerful "Control"-word of the title. You cannot kinda remove one kind of unwanted weather; what you do is call forth one type of weather, as appropriate for the season (and what season is it now, in OOTS-verse?). Those weather types available all seems to be quite harsh; simple "Nice, calm weather" isn't on the list.

You can too remove one kind of unwanted weather. Look right at the bottom of the page:

Control weather can do away with atmospheric phenomena (naturally occurring or otherwise) as well as create them.

Exactly what Durkon's situation calls for.