OOTS #1201 - The Discussion Thread

[Lkctgo]

Actually, Roy knows that he will be safe if he survives. Given that Durkon/V/Haley probably have some means of contacting people (at the very least I assume V has a scroll and Haley has a wand and can imitate spells as a rogue), and Elan cast probably cast through a scroll/wand in a pinch, Roy is purely only screwing over Belkar. If Belkar is the last remaining survivor (or somehow all the casters die and the scrolls/wands are destroyed), he is the only one who cannot cast the sending spell (unless the sending is paired with other wisdom increasing items - a scroll of owl's wisdom can't even help him in this case).

[bunsen_h]

BTW, anyone else wondering if Julia meeting Bandana to arrange the pickup results in her taking up a career of airship wizard after graduation?

Hmm. Bandana did raise the prospect of hiring a full-time ship's wizard.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

I like that idea. Julia seems a decent fit both personality wise and in terms of level, at least at this point. And if Bandana is to live up to Julio's legacy she could use a sort of PC companion to sort of adventure and level up with.

[NihhusHuotAliro]

Why does the thread say 1202 when the comic says 1201?

[hamishspence]

Why does the thread say 1202 when the comic says 1201?

The Giant fumbled it?

Hopefully when the next one comes out, it will have the correct number and The Giant will edit the title of this one.

[NihhusHuotAliro]

The Giant fumbled it?

Hopefully when the next one comes out, it will have the correct number and The Giant will edit the title of this one.

I say it ought to be left as it is, to remind us that The Giant is flawed.

FOR SHAME, GIANT, FOR SHAME!

[Mic_128]

I say it ought to be left as it is, to remind us that The Giant is flawed.

FOR SHAME, GIANT, FOR SHAME!

Expect a bajillion replies asking "Why is there two threads #1202?"

[Schroeswald]

Expect a bajillion replies asking "Why is there two threads #1202?"

And even more probably will have no clue which one is the real one if they both end up pinned, including us super active people who do sort of know why.

[JumboWheat01]

The Giant fumbled it?

Hopefully when the next one comes out, it will have the correct number and The Giant will edit the title of this one.

Clearly the next discussion thread should be #1201.

[bunsen_h]

I say it ought to be left as it is, to remind us that The Giant is flawed.

As fumble outcomes go, this one is relatively benign. No hit point loss, no harm worse than Mass Lesser Confusion (EDIT: save vs. higher of INT and TL/DR), no long-term effect that can't be fixed with a Mass Copyedit I.

[Fyraltari]

The Giant fumbled it?

Hopefully when the next one comes out, it will have the correct number and The Giant will edit the title of this one.

Clearly the next discussion thread should be #1201.

That's what I genuinely hope for. It'd confuse the hell out of the discussion index thread.

[hamishspence]

That's what I genuinely hope for. It'd confuse the hell out of the discussion index thread.

I've put this one in as #1201, regardless of what's in the title.

[mjasghar]

Next will be 1202a
And after the saga is finished we will have a special Kickstarter for 1201 which will reveal some secret adventures of a sidekick character that is alluded to in the main strip.

[Mox]

Next will be 1202a
And after the saga is finished we will have a special Kickstarter for 1201 which will reveal some secret adventures of a sidekick character that is alluded to in the main strip.

The potion merchant, obviously

[Gnoman]

Unless they don't. It's rather ambiguous, as the wording could support a single 9th-level slot being sufficient for sealing all the rifts.

1142 mentions that they'd have to keep "spot-welding" new rifts with four-color patches. That seems pretty unambiguous that one casting won't do it.

[Jasdoif]

There are a lot of possible scenarios in which the Order defeats Team Evil but Redcloak dies, either as a result of a betrayal or because he gets killed in the crossfire, in an area-of-effect spell or simply out of desperate self-defense. Those scenarios are certainly suboptimal, but they're not necessarily a "loss" (I suppose you could argue that it's a loss for the planet, but in that situation, the Order could always try and find another goblinoid cleric to team up with and level him or her up to 17 - heck, that might be easier than convincing Redcloak to help anyway). In any case, in this hypothetical scenario, where Redcloak dies and the Order wins, but loses all of their spellcasters, the survivors still need to find a way out of the polar region.

If the order beats Team Evil but fails to recruit Redcloak, they haven't won.

What if Redcloak dies after as a side effect of sealing the rift? (Besides being an obvious Kraagor parallel)

Plus, they would still need purple Quiddity to seal the other rifts.

Unless they don't. It's rather ambiguous, as the wording could support a single 9th-level slot being sufficient for sealing all the rifts.

1142 mentions that they'd have to keep "spot-welding" new rifts with four-color patches.

Somehow, I don't think whether or not Redcloak will be personally available in a few thousand years is going to be the major factor there.

[Peelee]

Somehow, I don't think whether or not Redcloak will be personally available in a few thousand years is going to be the major factor there.

I see you underestimate the Crimson Mantle!

[Jasdoif]

I see you underestimate the Crimson Mantle!

Spoiler: Start of Darkness

Show

This particular strain branch of outlandish speculation is predicated on Redcloak dying after contributing a 9th-level slot towards sealing the rift(s), and I don't recall the Crimson Mantle helping Redcloak's predecessor in a relevant capacity after he died.

[Gnoman]

Somehow, I don't think whether or not Redcloak will be personally available in a few thousand years is going to be the major factor there.

Patching the rifts would end the current crisis while taking the Dark One's gun away. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to expect that the next step would be to bring the Dark One in fairly, counting on the fact that it doesn't require overwheling force to get respect to get him on board long term.

[ebarde]

Wait, in how many comics has the merchant appeared in again lol

[Jasdoif]

Patching the rifts would end the current crisis while taking the Dark One's gun away. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to expect that the next step would be to bring the Dark One in fairly, counting on the fact that it doesn't require overwheling force to get respect to get him on board long term.

Yes, failing to end the current crisis would kind of obviate how Redcloak being dead might impact Roy's ability to have Bandana contacted to pick up Roy/Haley/Belkar in the event all the Order of the Stick's sending-capable casters were also dead.

But more seriously (a trivial bar to pass), of course it takes the Dark One's gun away; getting other gods onboard with Thor's plan would be much more of a challenge otherwise. The far more interesting questions center around whether Redcloak and the Dark One are both willing to relinquish it. Are they willing to accept what the gods are willing to offer? Would they trust claims of equal treatment? Is "equality" even what they want after all this time?

[Quizatzhaderac]

New (false) theory :
Everyone exept Belkar dies in the fight; Belkar tries to return on foot (since he doesn't know about Roy backup plan) and dies in a snowstorm. The Mechane comes back, everyone is resurected exept Belkar since they can't find his body

Since Belkar is such a bad tracker, he manages to wander northwards.

As there is nothing north of the north pole, that puts him in the astral plane, a place without breathing or cake.

Along with buckets of hit points and high level saves. The Order could probably walk out without serious issue as long as they have water to drink.

Plenty of water there.

[gatemansgc]

Clearly the next discussion thread should be #1201.

that would be so freaking awesome, and become a meme around the forums.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Plenty of water there.

RL survival tip: if lost in snow, eating snow to get water will kill you due to dropping your body temperature - it needs to be melted first, and melted using a source of heat other than your body.

This tip probably doesn't apply to D&D PCs, though, so I'm sure the OOtS would be fine.

Grey Wolf

[bunsen_h]

RL survival tip: if lost in snow, eating snow to get water will kill you due to dropping your body temperature - it needs to be melted first, and melted using a source of heat other than your body.

<*eye roll*> That's why you keep a flask of booze with you, to warm you up and to dissolve the snow in.

[RL: DO NOT DO THIS. Drinking alcohol "warms" you by bumping up your peripheral circulation, leading to faster body heat loss in a cold environment. And yes, alcohol will dissolve frozen water, but the solution gets very cold. It's a situation not unlike mixing salt and ice to produce cooling.]

[Fyraltari]

RL survival tip: if lost in snow, eating snow to get water will kill you due to dropping your body temperature - it needs to be melted first, and melted using a source of heat other than your body.

This tip probably doesn't apply to D&D PCs, though, so I'm sure the OOtS would be fine.

Grey Wolf

Clearly, you need to use somebody else's body to warm it!

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Clearly, you need to use somebody else's body to warm it!

"In case of cabin depressurization, please place the oxygen mask on yourself before helping children or adults acting like children. If you are travelling with more than one of those, please take a moment now to chose who you like best, and work your way down from there"

Grey Wolf

[jwhouk]

Alcohol does have a lower freezing temperature than water, yes, but eventually everything freezes.

[mjasghar]

{Scrubbed}

[bunsen_h]

Alcohol does have a lower freezing temperature than water, yes, but eventually everything freezes.

Yes, but I'm not following what point you're making by that in this context.

I'm reminded of a bit of nonsense in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Sleeping Dogs", in which a shuttle pod experienced turbulence while flying through a liquid-helium layer in a planet's atmosphere. Broadly speaking, if you have liquid helium, you don't have an atmosphere... at least, not a gaseous one involving more than small amounts of anything other than more helium. Everything else liquefies or freezes first.