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  1. - Top - End - #1
    Troll in the Playground
     
    OrcBarbarianGuy

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    Default Angel (fiend, modron, slaadi) on my shoulder

    Seems like these little guys are real in Stickworld.

    https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0435.html

    https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0068.html


    They are able to be summoned by anyone (Belkar is not known to be a summoner) suffering a moral dilemma, but do not engage in combat and instead restrict themselves to persuasion of the summoner towards a certain course of action (not entirely unlikes lawyers in the Stickworld, come to think of it).

    I wonder if any game actually uses this sort of thing? I wonder if these very minor outsiders will somehow play a more active role in the comic’s last book?

    Light the lamp not the rat LIGHT THE LAMP NOT THE RAT!!!

  2. - Top - End - #2
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    KorvinStarmast's Avatar

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    Default Re: Angel (fiend, modron, slaadi) on my shoulder

    Quote Originally Posted by Particle_Man View Post
    I wonder if any game actually uses this sort of thing? I wonder if these very minor outsiders will somehow play a more active role in the comic’s last book?
    My warlock in D&D 5e has a familiar who is a celestial spirit. Wonder no longer.
    Avatar by linklele. How Teleport Works
    a. Malifice (paraphrased):
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    b. greenstone (paraphrased):
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    Gosh, 2D8HP, you are so very correct!
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  3. - Top - End - #3
    Pixie in the Playground
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    Default Re: Angel (fiend, modron, slaadi) on my shoulder

    Quote Originally Posted by Particle_Man View Post
    I wonder if any game actually uses this sort of thing? I wonder if these very minor outsiders will somehow play a more active role in the comic’s last book?
    I doubt they're any more relevant to the plot than Kronk's shoulder angel and shoulder devil in The Emperor's New Groove. Shoulder angels and shoulder devils go back a long ways, even in fiction that has no supernatural elements.

    That said, I remember it was an actual game mechanic in the first edition of Wraith: The Oblivion that each character had a shadow who represented the ugliest side of them, and whose purpose was to try and lure the character into becoming an agent of oblivion. Each character's shadow was supposed to be played by another player, who would chime in when appropriate.

    No idea how that worked out in practice.

  4. - Top - End - #4
    Troll in the Playground
     
    OrcBarbarianGuy

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    Default Re: Angel (fiend, modron, slaadi) on my shoulder

    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Demiurge View Post
    I doubt they're any more relevant to the plot than Kronk's shoulder angel and shoulder devil in The Emperor's New Groove.
    On the other hand, once there was an OOTS callback to sentient movie snacks of all things, so I wonder . . .

    Light the lamp not the rat LIGHT THE LAMP NOT THE RAT!!!

  5. - Top - End - #5
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    PirateGirl

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    Dec 2013

    Default Re: Angel (fiend, modron, slaadi) on my shoulder

    It's possible. Having those apparitions appear can be helpful to write an internal deliberation when a character doesn't have another character around to bounce their ideas off of. Or when it's unlikely that they'd want to actually let another character know what's going on in their head. It makes completely internal exposition much less boring.

    Belkar's shoulder devils were used to help explain a plot-critical action that was seemingly out-of-character on his part. If we didn't see them, and missed their related dialog, we likely would have had him take a seemingly suicidal action in order to save the life of someone that he didn't like. Also, it led to Belkar being outside the city, and that meant that he could wind up playing a bigger role in the war.

    But I think the characters this idea works best for in a plot-related-sense tend to be ones that don't bounce off of other characters well. Belkar used to be like that, hence the aforementioned shoulder devils scene. But he's grown past that now, with multiple other characters he would be fine talking things over with now.

    I consider it possible such a thing may come back as a gag, but I wouldn't expect it to lead to any crucial plot points. Well, unless the IFCC counts.
    I write a horror blog in my spare time.

  6. - Top - End - #6
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    KorvinStarmast's Avatar

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    Default Re: Angel (fiend, modron, slaadi) on my shoulder

    Quote Originally Posted by Particle_Man View Post
    On the other hand, once there was an OOTS callback to sentient movie snacks of all things, so I wonder . . .
    But not a steak cut in the shape of a trout.
    Avatar by linklele. How Teleport Works
    a. Malifice (paraphrased):
    Rulings are not 'House Rules.' Rulings are a DM doing what DMs are supposed to do.
    b. greenstone (paraphrased):
    Agency means that they {players} control their character's actions; you control the world's reactions to the character's actions.
    Gosh, 2D8HP, you are so very correct!
    Second known member of the Greyview Appreciation Society

  7. - Top - End - #7
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    Fyraltari's Avatar

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    Default Re: Angel (fiend, modron, slaadi) on my shoulder

    It wouldn't happen, but I kinda want Recloak to have a moral dilemma with RIght-Eye and Xykon as shoulder Outsiders. Or the Dark One.
    Last edited by Fyraltari; 2020-09-10 at 05:41 PM.
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  8. - Top - End - #8
    Dwarf in the Playground
     
    Goblin

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    Default Re: Angel (fiend, modron, slaadi) on my shoulder

    Hmm...Belkar's angel only appeared on one page...

    Will it be the ally for the first half of this book, to be terminated with Belkar's untimely death?
    A student by vocation, a D&Der by avocation (a wizard by evocation).

    Order of the Stick Trivia XXIII: 50% More Entertaining than Speculating About MitD!

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