OOTS #1178 - The Discussion Thread

[The Giant]

New comic is up.

[dmc91356]

Freedom! Love that bard song.

[Peelee]

Hippie bards are best bards. Especially with awesome backgrounds like that.

[LordSith]

I love the background of the freedom thing.

[Ruck]

Bahahah, Tenrin's admiration of Elan is the sort of thing I never would have thought of but which I totally needed. Finally someone truly appreciates what he brings to the team!

[ajp1011]

This was an excellent story line, but I have to be honest, I'm starting to miss Team Evil and the boys, looking forward to seeing what they're up to.

[Lord Torath]

So...I'm guessing this is the end of the round? Quick! To the OotS by Page count thread!

Love the bards' admiration of Elan!

Thanks, Rich!

[Ruck]

I love the background of the freedom thing.

Yeah, great contrast to Elan's stars-and-stripes country song.

[drazen]

I am not a D&D expert. Song of Freedom can reverse petrification? I guess it says it does what "break enchantment" does, and that has worked before in OOTS-world. For some reason I thought it specifically reversed only mind control, but I guess that's just one possibility.

Also, if Hilgya lost her domination when Durkon* was dusted, why did they need to free the councilors? Were they all dominated by Curly, the only surviving vampire? Is there some other vampire out there we don't know about?

[DrQuak]

Who'd have thunk that Elan would only get his due's from the dwarves?!

[Peelee]

Bahahah, Tenrin's admiration of Elan is the sort of thing I never would have thought of but which I totally needed. Finally someone truly appreciates what he brings to the team!

If you think that's something, just wait until Elevenrin's reaction!

[hamishspence]

Good to see Elan being appreciated.

[The Pilgrim]

Elan, the solution for all your punchline needs.

[Morquard]

Hehe, finally Elan gets some recognition around here!

[Malfarian]

Genuinely chuckling here at work, gotta keep it down.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Also, if Hilgya lost her domination when Durkon* was dusted, why did they need to free the councilors? Were they all dominated by Curly, the only surviving vampire? Is there some other vampire out there we don't know about?

Rules are fuzzy on what spell effects end when the caster is destroyed vs. what aren't, so it could be a legitimate inconsistency. It's also possible that when Durkon's personality took back control of the vampire body, he dismissed the Dominate effect as a free action at the same time dropped the Anti-Life Shell and let Belkar stab him.

[factotum]

So...I'm guessing this is the end of the round?

I doubt it. Presumably they moved back to the temple to make the next couple of winding-down strips work better, this strip doesn't feel like a good "end of book" strip to me.

[slayerx]

Bahahah, Tenrin's admiration of Elan is the sort of thing I never would have thought of but which I totally needed. Finally someone truly appreciates what he brings to the team!

Tenrin was Durkon's father. The bard is Thirden, aka Uncle Squeaky

[Doug Lampert]

I doubt it. Presumably they moved back to the temple to make the next couple of winding-down strips work better, this strip doesn't feel like a good "end of book" strip to me.

Yep, there's no reason in this strip for them to be back at the temple.

[Morquard]

I am not a D&D expert. Song of Freedom can reverse petrification? I guess it says it does what "break enchantment" does, and that has worked before in OOTS-world. For some reason I thought it specifically reversed only mind control, but I guess that's just one possibility.

I mean does it matter? It makes for a cool story and cool panel. They could just as well have had Minrah go and say "Oh look the temple had a scroll of Stone to Flesh, let me cast that on him" or V casting something like that. It was Durkon's time to get un-stoned, so he's getting unstoned.

[Sylian]

Bahahah, Tenrin's admiration of Elan is the sort of thing I never would have thought of but which I totally needed. Finally someone truly appreciates what he brings to the team!

It's pretty cool that Elan gets some respect. We may find him silly, but he's actually a high level heroic Bard. Belkar doesn't seem to like seeing Elan get praise though.

[Resileaf]

I doubt it. Presumably they moved back to the temple to make the next couple of winding-down strips work better, this strip doesn't feel like a good "end of book" strip to me.

We probably still have twenty-ish strips of concluding all the current plot, setting up the situation for the next book, and giving us an end-of-book twist.

[D.One]

I am not a D&D expert. Song of Freedom can reverse petrification? I guess it says it does what "break enchantment" does, and that has worked before in OOTS-world. For some reason I thought it specifically reversed only mind control, but I guess that's just one possibility.

Also, if Hilgya lost her domination when Durkon* was dusted, why did they need to free the councilors? Were they all dominated by Curly, the only surviving vampire? Is there some other vampire out there we don't know about?

About the Song of Freedom (Awesome scene!), it's said to be "equivalent to the break enchantment spell", and Break Enchantment is stated to "free victims from enchantments, transmutations, and curses". Petrification is a transmutation, so it makes sense break Enchantment (and thus Song of Freedom) would be able to undo it.

About Vampire Domination, there's no statement in RAW saying Domination expires with the death of the dominator (although the source of the commands ceases to exist, the victim might still be compelled to follow the last orders given for the rest of the duration). We can always assume the death of Durkon* and Ponchula in The Battle of Banquet Hall^TM was a trigger that allowed Hilgya another save.

[Calemyr]

I doubt it. Presumably they moved back to the temple to make the next couple of winding-down strips work better, this strip doesn't feel like a good "end of book" strip to me.

Yep. No cheesy joke, grins, or posing going on yet.

[Thecommander236]

I mean does it matter? It makes for a cool story and cool panel. They could just as well have had Minrah go and say "Oh look the temple had a scroll of Stone to Flesh, let me cast that on him" or V casting something like that. It was Durkon's time to get un-stoned, so he's getting unstoned.

Thus why Elan is a barbic genius.

[Garwain]

I figured they dragged Statue Durkon to the temple because of the blue barrier. I figured that if it counts for spells and supernatural abilities, then also for spell-like abilities, such as song of freedom. But no, it was merely to stage a better chapter break. But then I wonder how the rest of the council was freed. The background seems to suggest they were still in the meeting room?

[Resileaf]

I figured they dragged Statue Durkon to the temple because of the blue barrier. I figured that if it counts for spells and supernatural abilities, then also for spell-like abilities, such as song of freedom. But no, it was merely to stage a better chapter break. But then I wonder how the rest of the council was freed. The background seems to suggest they were still in the meeting room?

The barriers were gone the moment the meeting was adjourned.

[Psychronia]

Finally, Elan gets the respect for all the narrative weight he pulls around here.

Now I just want a few panels of Elan, Squeaky, and Jenna talking narrative.

[Ruck]

If you think that's something, just wait until Elevenrin's reaction!

Boooo. Especially since the opportunity was right there for you to point out I wrote Tenrin when I meant Thirden. (Which, come to think of it, leads to its own set of jokes about numerically named dwarves.)

[sillymel]

I figured they dragged Statue Durkon to the temple because of the blue barrier. I figured that if it counts for spells and supernatural abilities, then also for spell-like abilities, such as song of freedom. But no, it was merely to stage a better chapter break. But then I wonder how the rest of the council was freed. The background seems to suggest they were still in the meeting room?

The orange barrier is gone, so spells can be safely used now. The blue barrier only stops spell effects from going through it.