OOTS #1283 - The Discussion Thread

[The Giant]

New comic is up.

[hamishspence]

Very heartwarming.

[RMS Oceanic]

Cute

Wonder if that dig at Soon will lead to the true story of the Breaking of the Scribble.

[RaveDave92084]

Did you see one of the newest party members become the pillow for that poor damaged beast?

Very heartwarming.

Shows how all in Serini's crew is on protecting the gate, including aid and comfort for other protectors.

Dave B.

[Tubercular Ox]

I like how Serini isn't magically pure hearted and had to have her eye opened.

[Clertar]

Good thing nobody on Team Xykon thought of resurrecting any of those dragonoids to interrogate them.

[Gnoman]

I like how Serini isn't magically pure hearted and had to have her eye opened.

More interesting is that she admits it.

[Peelee]

Good thing nobody on Team Xykon thought of resurrecting any of those dragonoids to interrogate them.

I'd imagine they can't conceive of seemingly random monsters to distract or delay adventurers as knowing the entire plan.

[Quild]

Good thing nobody on Team Xykon thought of resurrecting any of those dragonoids to interrogate them.

Monsters know they're participating to garding the Gate. But probably don't know about the Gauntlet thing.

[Fyraltari]

Ooh, that's nice.

[H_H_F_F]

Very cute. Also, like others, I really enjoyed that Serini had to go through life experiences in order to develop her current perspective.

[King of Nowhere]

I didn't consider that those monsters may be sapient. I am vaguely aware that most things in the monster manual have human-like or better intelligence scores, but in my games I refluff most of them as mindless beasts to avoid the moral implications. hard to run combat encounters otherwise.

[P. G. Macer]

I enjoyed the comic, obviously, but two moments really stuck out to me right away:

1. The first is that Minrah, the newest “conventional” part member, didn’t even hesitate to heal the surviving monster.

2. Baby (bud?) Sunny is adorable!

[Kranerian]

Huh, is there any precedent for beholders reproducing via budding like that?

[Tubercular Ox]

Very cute. Also, like others, I really enjoyed that Serini had to go through life experiences in order to develop her current perspective.

It's never too late for character development. Except maybe after you've left the story.

[SlashDash]

Wow, so the monsters are actually dead?
The way Oona described it, I assumed the monsters magically reset or something.
I guess not

Did you see one of the newest party members become the pillow for that poor damaged beast?

I didn't at first! Nice catch!

Good thing nobody on Team Xykon thought of resurrecting any of those dragonoids to interrogate them.

Or even more so - what if one of those monsters turns out to be a traitor?

[hroþila]

Not sure how I feel about Serini now, this kinda rubs me the wrong way for reasons I'm not sure I can articulate

[Shining Wrath]

Team Evil has been killing Serini's friends - or at least, employees whose names she knows.
I would think that would make Serini more than a little willing to kill Team Evil.

Also, Sunny was indeed a cute little bud.

[SlashDash]

Cute

Wonder if that dig at Soon will lead to the true story of the Breaking of the Scribble.

I don't think so. It's a dig on what we've already seen. The whole Saphire Guard kept everything under top secret and nobody knew what the heck they were doing. If they did, it's possible the outcome was totally different.

Heck, if Shojo hadn't kept everything so secret, it might not have gotten Miko to go berserk and kill him. Which might have lead to a slightly different outcome considering if she waited just 2 more minutes Soon might have killed Xykon and Redcloak.

[Tubercular Ox]

Huh, is there any precedent for beholders reproducing via budding like that?

Short answer: yes. How beholders breed has changed with every edition, and sometimes in the middle of an edition, I just can't remember which edition does spawning right now. It's, um... it's not 3.5.

Not sure how I feel about Serini now, this kinda rubs me the wrong way for reasons I'm not sure I can articulate

Serini knows that the bugbears hunt her volunteers and does nothing about the bugbear encampment. Does that help?

[gatemansgc]

Baby sunny so cute <3

[Fyraltari]

Minrah... I don't think Cure Light Wounds is going to cut it.

I don't think so. It's a dig on what we've already seen. The whole Saphire Guard kept everything under top secret and nobody knew what the heck they were doing. If they did, it's possible the outcome was totally different.

Heck, if Shojo hadn't kept everything so secret, it might not have gotten Miko to go berserk and kill him. Which might have lead to a slightly different outcome considering if she waited just 2 more minutes Soon might have killed Xykon and Redcloak.

No? The members of the Sapphire Guard all knew what they were defending, just like Serini's guardians.

[gatemansgc]

Serini knows that the bugbears hunt her volunteers and does nothing about the bugbear encampment. Does that help?

yeah that definitely does seem odd.

[Lumix19]

Huh, is there any precedent for beholders reproducing via budding like that?

I recall in 3.5 they vomited their offspring.

Supposedly in 5th they reproduce through "dream budding", where they dream into existence new beholders. Not sure if they typically produce full-formed beholders or "bud" in a similar fashion to how it's depicted here.

Presumably both.

[H_H_F_F]

Short answer: yes. How beholders breed has changed with every edition, and sometimes in the middle of an edition, I just can't remember which edition does spawning right now. It's, um... it's not 3.5.

Oh, we don't want to see 3.5 beholder reproduction. No thank you.

[Faldrath]

Need. Baby Sunny. Plushie.

[Frozenstep]

Serini knows that the bugbears hunt her volunteers and does nothing about the bugbear encampment. Does that help?

Oof, it really looks like it's that way. Hopefully there's an explanation that changes that next page...

[Jasdoif]

Good thing nobody on Team Xykon thought of resurrecting any of those dragonoids to interrogate them.

While this kind of thing has come up in the comic before, I'm pretty sure Xykon and friends retinue already know these creatures are here to guard the Gate.

Not sure how I feel about Serini now, this kinda rubs me the wrong way for reasons I'm not sure I can articulate

Sunny's happiness with Serini as current parent, knowing Serini killed his initial parent, is rather offputting. At the same time it kind of parallels the goblins' acceptance of the Dark One after Fenrir abandoned them; Sunny didn't have any more input than the goblins did, and this is how Sunny adapted to the situation.

[ZhonLord]

I didn't consider that those monsters may be sapient. I am vaguely aware that most things in the monster manual have human-like or better intelligence scores, but in my games I refluff most of them as mindless beasts to avoid the moral implications. hard to run combat encounters otherwise.

Except if that were the case, there'd be nothing stopping these monsters from LEAVING their respective corridors and wandering away. Any anti-monster rune circles like Dorukan used would also stop Sunny and potentially Serini herself.

[Frozenstep]

Except if that were the case, there'd be nothing stopping these monsters from LEAVING their respective corridors and wandering away. Any anti-monster rune circles like Dorukan used would also stop Sunny and potentially Serini herself.

Weren't they in stasis traps, though?