OOTS #1220 - The Discussion Thread

[The Giant]

New comic is up.

Also, not going to do a bunch of banners or posts for it but the Holiday Ornament is up, and they're having a 50% off (or more) sale on paper OOTS books at Ookoodook.

[Peelee]

OK, theory that they'll get to the Gate by bypassing the trap is looking for and more likely.

[vonBoomslang]

Yup, definitely some sort of dimensional swap-in-and-out going on. The fact team evil didn't mention this trap though, hm.

[Peelee]

Yup, definitely some sort of dimensional swap-in-and-out going on. The fact team evil didn't mention this trap though, hm.

Probably means they don't know about it. I don't they got any sort of light show like the Order did.

[Schroeswald]

It’s looking to me like the trap does something to the dungeon to make it harder to get to the Gate, meaning there’s a decent chance this leads to the gate.

[Rogan]

There are obviously also drawbacks!

I love this kind of humour!

[Yxylu]

Quippie’s back!

Plus a link for easy navigation.

1220 - Think so

[Worldsong]

Yup, definitely some sort of dimensional swap-in-and-out going on. The fact team evil didn't mention this trap though, hm.

Probably means they don't know about it. I don't they got any sort of light show like the Order did.

I'd say that Occam's Razor agrees.

I'd bet a lot of quatloos that if you don't disarm the trap like Haley did you won't even notice crossing it. It's not the kind of trap that detonates or betrays its presence.

Instead the difference in floor colours makes it extremely likely that if you manage to bypass this trap you're entering a different pathway than if you trigger the trap. Granted I doubt a high level rogue would leave it at that so they'll need to remain careful, but odds say that this is the first step you need to take to reach the Gate.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

‘Use your inside-head voice’, nice! I also enjoyed Blackwing’s monologue.

[Raven777]

Definitely looks like a portal's what's going on.

Portals do not even need to be flashy and noticeable, in a game engine you can make them utterly invisible.

[Coventry]

Belkar did not get to finish hiding their tracks. That will come back and bite them ...

[RMS Oceanic]

Looks like they just spawned an instance of the dungeon.

[HandofShadows]

"Minor" drawbacks. And a rat head? (No, not asking).

[deltamire]

Blackwing's soliloquy . . . the absolute nastiness of that rat head . . . Roy picking up Belkar like a misbehaving kitten . . . V changing and adapting from their past mistakes . . . the funky (Elan and I are on a far similar wavelength than I thought, because I was going to use that word to describe 'em before I remembered he used it) lineart around the telepathic speech bubbles . . . man, I love this silly little stick figure comic.

I concede that the portal theorists are probably right! Yis were on the right track, and I was not.

[WolvesbaneIII]

did they get blasted or teleported?

This looks cool.

[Windscion]

Definitely looks like a portal's what's going on.

Portals do not even need to be flashy and noticeable, in a game engine you can make them utterly invisible.

(re:video) OMG "Uphill both ways!" Excellent.

Uh oh ...

Belkar did not get to finish hiding their tracks. That will come back and bite them ...

Meh, it could just as easily fuel distrust and/or paranoia in TE, since they lack a rogue and are unlikely to see the purpose of the rat head.

Edit to add: Blackwing will be isolated from the Order. Now who will save the two-legs when they get in over their heads?

[danielxcutter]

Meh, it could just as easily fuel distrust and/or paranoia in TE, since they lack a rogue and are unlikely to see the purpose of the rat head.

Especially since by the time they get there, the 20 seconds would be up so they’d be somewhat unlikely to notice the effects of the trap being disarmed.

[Malloon]

Definitely looks like a portal's what's going on.

Portals do not even need to be flashy and noticeable, in a game engine you can make them utterly invisible.

Math is fun, isn't it? I've had a notion for 4D+ (Space) Creatures in my head for a while now, and a rendering engine could show what such a creature would look like in a 3D area, with pieces of the creature seemingly detached from the rest of it and pieces of it phasing in and out.


Regarding OotS, it does surely seem like the trap is an invisible portal. I had a lot of fun using those when creating Minecraft adventure maps, fitting rooms and corridors where they simply could not fit otherwise. I still have a Labyrinth of Crete-based map on the back burner that makes extensive use of that.

[Fnordius]

did they get blasted or teleported?

This looks cool.

A lack of damage marks on Haley and Roy despite flinching suggests the latter. Or that the room on the other side was swapped. Or simply that something "baked" the room on one side of the field.

[Morquard]

Ok, I admit I thought "disarming the trap leads them into a different part of the dungeon" was not going to work. But with the changed floor, that seems exactly whats going to happen.

[Hekko]

Watching them being all efficient and competent makes me feel really hyped up!

[Quild]

Seems unlikely to me that disarming the trap of "any door" leads to the right pass.

I mean, it means that anyone with a good enough rogue can find the right pass at first try? Not buying it.

[Elenna]

Fascinating. That definitely does seem like the dungeon was changed. Unfortunately, Blackwing is stuck on the other side of it. Fortunately, so is Team Evil.

Also LOL at "use your inside-head voice"

[Linneris]

Okay, by RAW, V couldn't have cast Telepathic Bond on that many creatures. We see seven other creatures affected beyond V: Roy, Durkon, Elan, Haley, Belkar, someone offscreen to Belkar's right (presumably Minrah), and Blackwing. By RAW, this would require V to be at least level 21.

[Ezekiel]

Okay, by RAW, V couldn't have cast Telepathic Bond on that many creatures. We see seven other creatures affected beyond V: Roy, Durkon, Elan, Haley, Belkar, someone offscreen to Belkar's right (presumably Minrah), and Blackwing. By RAW, this would require V to be at least level 21.

Maybe he skipped Belkar?

[2D8HP]

"You can count on me to be my most weepily melodramatic"

Done and Done (Raven after my own heart that one is)

[Hiro Quester]

Why would an evil team not have a rogue smart enough to bypass a trap? It would seem strange that this skill is the key to finding the gate.

Unless it requires a particular method of trap disabling, and Serini’s method of key- design and Hayley’s method of trap disabling just coincidentally match?

[Windscion]

Okay, by RAW, V couldn't have cast Telepathic Bond on that many creatures. We see seven other creatures affected beyond V: Roy, Durkon, Elan, Haley, Belkar, someone offscreen to Belkar's right (presumably Minrah), and Blackwing. By RAW, this would require V to be at least level 21.

Actually, Blackwing doesn't necessarily count. Are there not means to share spells with familiars automatically?

[Lorkas]

I'm looking forward to Redcloak discovering that Right-Eye is who he needed for this dungeon.

[deltamire]

Unfortunately, Blackwing is stuck on the other side of it.

That is a very good point, and I could definitely see it becoming a problem if not dealt with. Maybe Blackwing is going to be our eyes for seeing what happens to Team Evil, if the Order is currently shunted off to . . . wherever they are?

In 5E, a wizard's (or anyone with the find familiar spell) familiar can be summoned back to you as an action, and bringing it back when it's been killed takes a first level spell slot and ten minutes - what're the rules for 3.5? How much of a drain of resources would it take for V to re-summon Blackwing? They've done it instantly before, but how would the spell work if they're, say, in a different dimension?