Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous

[Morgaln]

The color on that tail is very different from the original olive green, so I'd say it's not really her tail as it was before.

[Laurentio III]

Isn't "I can totally see..." a declaration on itself?
To being able to totally see is not the same as being able to see.
So the door knows when you are consciously trying to make a complete statement? It's the most benevolent magic item so far!

[Traab]

Once this got settled down and confirmation that its actually doing this stuff instead of casting incredibly overpowered suggestion magic on them, the first thing id do is put my hand on turquoise and go "I will be able to carry this door with me wherever I want and make use of its powers in any location." An infinite unrestricted wish granting item like this is absurd and must be harvested.

[Laurentio III]

Once this got settled down and confirmation that its actually doing this stuff instead of casting incredibly overpowered suggestion magic on them, the first thing id do is put my hand on turquoise and go "I will be able to carry this door with me wherever I want and make use of its powers in any location." An infinite unrestricted wish granting item like this is absurd and must be harvested.

"The wish granting and or reality bending power of this item or of the source of this item is transfered to me in a way that allows me conscious, effortless, error-free control and total access, with the option of nullifing any effect at will."

[Steven]

Elli may be a lot of things but she is not the kind of GM or writer who is going to hand out unlimited wishes to her characters and not maim them horribly/kill their family and friends/torture them in some way as a cost.

This is going to either be limited in some way or it will cause suffering that offsets any gains.

Which means this is another boring trap room that doesn't change anything important in the story and shows off how hard it is for authors to write characters that are very much smarter or very much dumber than themselves in a believable way.


Random thought that just popped into my mind: MinMax's sword has great potential for a really great scene prior to MinMax dying:

Imagine a big fight where he is battling away and using the sword by letting go of it and pulling it out of thin air over and over. Suddenly, he lets it drop and instead of it being immediately grabbed by future MinMax it simply falls to the ground with a clang. He stares at it bewildered while Forgath or Kin realise what it means and try to warn him but he just ploughs ahead and is gradually dismembered by whatever creature just as he reaches out his hand to claim back his sword and finish the fight...

What? I hate MM as a character and enjoy thinking of how he's going to be removed from the comic. We all have our hobbies.

[Anonymouswizard]

Honestly? The simplest way to limit it would be to not tie the magic to anything we can see. There's nothing saying it can't be running off a magic or buried under the floor.

[137beth]

The time for the Goblins Animated Series was like ten years ago when the comic was still relevant. I'm not sure the game style or assumed race selection the comic is based on has been popular for at least a decade, let alone the game.

Like, I wouldn't be expecting Girl Genius to get a cartoon anymore, but the GURPS book actually did get made. But IIRC that happened because Steve Jackson is a fan of the comic, so I suppose we'd have to hope some executive likes Goblins?

Which, considering the comic just came out of a period of updating every 1-2 months, might be a tall order.

Isn't Girl Genius getting a video game?
Still agree a big studio funding an animated series for Goblins is unlikely.

[Traab]

I read a light novel once where the protagonist had just killed what amounts to a restrained god. He figured the chains used to keep it drained of energy would be REALLY handy killing off the rest of his kind so he dug them out of the wall. Turned out they lost all power once removed from the wall so they were useless to him. Im sure something like this would be the same, again, thats assuming this actually IS some omnipotent device capable of altering reality beyond that of wish spells. (I do NOT suggest casting wish and saying, "I want to be a god")

[Anonymouswizard]

Isn't Girl Genius getting a video game?
Still agree a big studio funding an animated series for Goblins is unlikely.

I have no clue. But Girl Genius is basically The Big Webcomic, so if it can't get a mainstream cartoon I'll be surprised if any webcomic can. If a GG computer game comes out I might play it, but everything is a bit wait and see.

Even if Goblins: Life Through Their Eyes: Please Donate to Eli's GoFundMe: The Series does get made I'm really not holding out any hope for decent quality animation.

[DaFlipp]

I have no clue. But Girl Genius is basically The Big Webcomic, so if it can't get a mainstream cartoon I'll be surprised if any webcomic can. If a GG computer game comes out I might play it, but everything is a bit wait and see.

Even if Goblins: Life Through Their Eyes: Please Donate to Eli's GoFundMe: The Series does get made I'm really not holding out any hope for decent quality animation.

We live in a world where Marry Me got made into a live-action rom-com starring Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson (presumably with the comic's screwball comedy toned waaaaaaaay down, unless the advertisements were *incredibly* misleading), so presumably anything can happen.

[Maryring]

Isn't Girl Genius getting a video game?
Still agree a big studio funding an animated series for Goblins is unlikely.

Yeah. I know the dev team. They're the same guys who made Teslagrad. The game actually looks kind of fun.

[archon_huskie]

We live in a world where Marry Me got made into a live-action rom-com starring Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson (presumably with the comic's screwball comedy toned waaaaaaaay down, unless the advertisements were *incredibly* misleading), so presumably anything can happen.

Which is weird to me because back when it was still being published, Bobby Crosby the author, seemed to be under the impression that his Zombie/Vampire story Last Blood was soon to be made into a summer blockbuster (It didn't). He also just did not accept any sort of criticism of his work back then so I'm surprised he was able to work with any studio to get Marry Me made into a film.

[Vinyadan]

New page.

https://www.goblinscomic.com/comic/page-17-2022

[Fyraltari]

Spoiler

Show

Well, let's hop no-one inside that thing ever figured out what their creator is like.

[Godskook]

Spoiler

Show

Well, let's hop no-one inside that thing ever figured out what their creator is like.

While their god comes from humble origins, he's a noble soul. Able to defy even his own prejudices. And he created them seeking their companionship. What I'm hoping is that they never find out or need to find out about the fickle nature of their existence, that if they're ever removed from this hallway, everything they know and love will vanish. Presumably Minmax saw to that in the non-moments "during" which he was a god.

[Dragonus45]

Even by Goblins standards this is getting a little surreal.

[Keltest]

Even by Goblins standards this is getting a little surreal.

I know Im ready to move beyond this door.

[Fyraltari]

the fickle nature of their existence, that if they're ever removed from this hallway, everything they know and love will vanish. Presumably Minmax saw to that in the non-moments "during" which he was a god.

I don't think that's how it works. Minmax created a whole universe. Given that his description of the space-time is of the eternalist kind (the future, present and past are all equally real and immutable, we just can't perceive the future) I think he's created that universe's entire history from beginning to end, and that's what they're looking at. So if this universe is destroyed, the people inside wouldn't notice anything because they wouldn't have existed in the first place. I think.

[Traab]

Yeah no, this is silly. I dont care if the effects are limited to the hallway, its still an absurd amount of power to be sealed into a magic freaking door. One that makes no sense as it so far surpasses rational thought as to get dumber the more you think about it. Whoever made this door has to have power surpassing godhood in which case, why are they wasting time making trick doors? Minmax spent like 10 seconds as a god and created a universe. This is the sort of obstacle id expect when trying to raid mt olympus or something, Actual reality altering deities crafting defenses made to stand up against those actually capable of fighting them. Not random dungeon #765378 in the hellscape world the GAP lives in thats beatable at level 5.

[Vinyadan]

I liked the page because it opened a whole new world. However, it doesn't have much to do with Goblins, which suggests I'm tired with it. But it would have been nice if Minmax had told Kin whether evil really is winning over the multiverse, and why, because, when she mentioned it, it struck me as something that would cause anguish in those who really believed it.

[Murk]

I liked the page because it opened a whole new world. However, it doesn't have much to do with Goblins, which suggests I'm tired with it. But it would have been nice if Minmax had told Kin whether evil really is winning over the multiverse, and why, because, when she mentioned it, it struck me as something that would cause anguish in those who really believed it.

Why? The bad guys are always winning in stories, aren't they? If the heroes are stronger than the villain it isn't a very exciting story. Usually, the villain is stronger so the heroes have to beat the odds (through love and perseverance and all that).

I do think the concept is just another "oh you know what would be a cool idea?" -idea, which seems to be what most of Goblins is made out of, so I don't want to overanalyse it. But it doesn't feel particularly wrong to me.

[Vinyadan]

Why? The bad guys are always winning in stories, aren't they? If the heroes are stronger than the villain it isn't a very exciting story. Usually, the villain is stronger so the heroes have to beat the odds (through love and perseverance and all that).

I do think the concept is just another "oh you know what would be a cool idea?" -idea, which seems to be what most of Goblins is made out of, so I don't want to overanalyse it. But it doesn't feel particularly wrong to me.

Your point of view seems to be as someone external from such a story, like a reader or a writer. What I meant is that Kin believing that the reality she lives in is one where evil wins would be depressing for her, and Minmax, as someone who cares about Kin, would try to explain.

[Anonymouswizard]

Whoever made this door has to have power surpassing godhood in which case, why are they wasting time making trick doors?

If there was a being that powerful I'd think very carefully before insulting their hobby.

[Willie the Duck]

Whoever made this door has to have power surpassing godhood in which case, why are they wasting time making trick doors? Minmax spent like 10 seconds as a god and created a universe. This is the sort of obstacle id expect when trying to raid mt olympus or something, Actual reality altering deities crafting defenses made to stand up against those actually capable of fighting them. Not random dungeon #765378 in the hellscape world the GAP lives in thats beatable at level 5.

The dungeons in the strip have pretty consistently been themed as deadly-but-challenging madcap funhouses for adventurers that don't make sense as to why they are there or why someone would have put the effort into making them (pretty much the dungeons we all made for our PCs as starting DMs -- before we worried about the whys -- and maybe after we stopped worrying about the whys). Whether it's good storytelling or not, something like this is certainly on-brand for the strip as it has been. Mind you, they clearly are about to poke around at the how and why of this in a way that didn't work in those D&D sessions of yore, but it's also on brand for the cast to hang lampshades on the absurdity of their world.

Mind you, this doesn't mean I expect this to be going anywhere especially great. It looks like they are going to explore the concept of this microverse full of beings whose sole purpose is to keep a petty god worshipped and comfortable. I think Futurama explored that with Bender flying through space for eternity and a civilization forming on his butt that thought he was god. Or maybe the XKCD where god is someone being punished to having all their creations have a futile existence. I think it would have been more interesting if they did something like Kin touching the wall and saying 'Kin has the capacity to (but not requirement of) loving MinMax in a manner the same as humans can love one another,' and seeing if anything changes (and exploring the ramifications therein). Or heck, on a simpler level, 'Kin has the capacity to remove her leash and collar without it blowing her head off,' removing them, and seeing if the ability only existing in the corridor does or doesn't mean that the resultant consequences only exist inside the corridor.

[Fyraltari]

I think the most important thing right now would be to change the colour of Minmax's armour before he makes another accidental wish.

[Anonymouswizard]

I think the most important thing right now would be to change the colour of Minmax's armour before he makes another accidental wish.

Honestly at this point he might as well state that he's the smartest person in the multiverse. Then maybe they'll solve this simple puzzle.

...

What happens if Minmax says 'my armour isn't white'?

[sihnfahl]

Or heck, on a simpler level, 'Kin has the capacity to remove her leash and collar without it blowing her head off,' removing them, and seeing if the ability only existing in the corridor does or doesn't mean that the resultant consequences only exist inside the corridor.

Or, even simpler: "Kin's collar is a completely normal, non-magical, non-cursed collar."

[Vinyadan]

That's a very good point. Do we know if the collar is still working?

[sihnfahl]

That's a very good point. Do we know if the collar is still working?

We do not, but considering the consequences for being wrong...

Sort of tells you where their minds are. "Whatever you say can come true..." and they completely overlook the explosive collar latched around her neck.

[Androgeus]

We do not, but considering the consequences for being wrong...

Sort of tells you where their minds are. "Whatever you say can come true..." and they completely overlook the explosive collar latched around her neck.

Well one of those people is Minmax and and the other has had to be dealing with Minmax since they figured out what the door does.