OOTS #1298 - The Discussion Thread

[Errorname]

If I may digress, the standard 3.5 Allosaurus is actually rather oversized. An IRL Allosaurus fragilis, the most common species, is closer to Large on average. There is a Huge variety, but it is typically classified as a separate species, Allosaurus maximus or even a separate genus, Saurophaganax.

I think the consensus leans towards Saurophaganax being it's own distinct genus?

They haven't always been epic though, so do we know if they were already maxed-out at the time they fought Calder? It could have been a long time before the whole rifts/gates/dungeons plotline, no?

We don't, and in fact given what the timeline appears to be I'd be shocked if they were. I would assume they didn't reach epic level until near the end or possibly after their adventures, and it'd be kind of weird if after their big "we are never talking to each other again" fight they all teamed up to take on some dragon cult.

[fuschiawarrior]

Why people are worried about Roy's sword being enough to kill Bloodfeast? Another dinosaur's horns didn't kill him why would a sword do it?

[Liquor Box]

The Order of The Stick is not Epic.


The Order Of The Scribble was, and Serini explicitly states they needed the whole team to take him down - meaning that he put up a serious fight against an epic-level party.

I missed this before.

What Serini actually said was that they needed their whole team to take his operation down. I assumed that might have included some monsters (or enslaved minions), making it more challenging that fighting Calder alone.

Is that not how you interpreted it. If Calder (by himself) was a challenge the the Scribble, and the Order is able to beat him here, do you think that suggests the Order and Scribble are not far apart in terms of power?

They haven't always been epic though, so do we know if they were already maxed-out at the time they fought Calder? It could have been a long time before the whole rifts/gates/dungeons plotline, no?

Also possible

[Mic_128]

Calder could have eaten the pointy-eared monkey. I am impressed by his restraint.

Pretty sure it's because he is (was?) confident he can win and then dominate them, and who wouldn't want a wizard on your side when you're rebuilding a cult?

[Daisho]

Forgive me if someone spotted this a couple of pages ago, but I just noticed an interesting little detail from earlier: Sunny has drawn a picture of Calder (as shown in the second panel of page 1257) and so presumably knows him, or at least of him. That could make for an interesting bit of dialogue when the domination is broken.

[Peelee]

Forgive me if someone spotted this a couple of pages ago, but I just noticed an interesting little detail from earlier: Sunny has drawn a picture of Calder (as shown in the second panel of page 1257) and so presumably knows him, or at least of him. That could make for an interesting bit of dialogue when the domination is broken.

Could easily have just drawn a picture about a story Serini told them.

[Duncun]

Best comic EVER!!!

[Aedilred]

Best strip in ages.

I also like Calder's comment about the order "already resorting to throwing harmless animals" as if the approach Roy took way back in #144 and #167 is something that eventually happens to him in all his fights.

[Daisho]

Could easily have just drawn a picture about a story Serini told them.

presumably knows him, or at least of him

Anyway...

Best strip in ages.

I also like Calder's comment about the order "already resorting to throwing harmless animals" as if the approach Roy took way back in #144 and #167 is something that eventually happens to him in all his fights.

Agreed on both counts. Clearly biological warfare has a different vibe in this particular sphere.

[Peelee]

Anyway...

Yes, i noticed. Doesn't necessarily mean that Sunny knows anything about Calder other than "red dragon the Scribblers defeated".

[Liquor Box]

Yes, i noticed. Doesn't necessarily mean that Sunny knows anything about Calder other than "red dragon the Scribblers defeated".

And the detail that his right horn is broken

[urbanwolf]

Chef kiss comic

But Belkars play to ground him might not work.
Dragons can carry an insane amount of weight and keep flying
with a Str of 33 and huge size even a Mature adult red light load would be 3200lbs
and if he is ancient that's str 39 plus gargantuan for a light load of 14,912lbs
and a huge Allosaurus is "only" 2 to 4 tons with I think is 4000 to 16000lbs
so it could go either way

Edit,
I am wrong Dragons can carry more, they have 4 legs
4800 light load for a mature adult
and 22,368 for an ancient

[Forealms]

If I had a nickel for every time V fell after losing their flight spell in an anti-magic field while fighting a powerful dragon, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice.

[JustinKase]

If that scene (or a facsimile) isn't the cover of this last book, it will be a great injustice.

[stevecharb]

If this isn't the coolest panel in OOTS, what is?
My other nominations would be "Sapphire Guard, attack!" and "Sexy Shoeless God of War"

[urbanwolf]

If this isn't the coolest panel in OOTS, what is?
My other nominations would be "Sapphire Guard, attack!" and "Sexy Shoeless God of War"

I would vote for "take 'em all!"

[Peelee]

If this isn't the coolest panel in OOTS, what is?
My other nominations would be "Sapphire Guard, attack!" and "Sexy Shoeless God of War"

Final panel here.

[bunsen_h]

Chef kiss comic

But Belkars play to ground him might not work.
Dragons can carry an insane amount of weight and keep flying
with a Str of 33 and huge size even a Mature adult red light load would be 3200lbs
and if he is ancient that's str 39 plus gargantuan for a light load of 14,912lbs
and a huge Allosaurus is "only" 2 to 4 tons with I think is 4000 to 16000lbs
so it could go either way

Edit,
I am wrong Dragons can carry more, they have 4 legs
4800 light load for a mature adult
and 22,368 for an ancient

Those numbers seem to be consistent with the normal carrying capacities for creatures on the ground. I don't see where that connects with what they can carry while flying..?
(Airspeed velocity of an unladen dragon, yada yada.)

[Jay R]

That's not an allosaurus, it's a small harmless glrkt.

What Belkar threw was a small harmless glrkt. But what bit Calder was an allosaurus.

[By the way, does anybody know where I can find the stat block for a glrkt?]

So, if Rich agrees with Elan, then why did he have Belkar blow it back in 1239? And if he doesn't agree with Elan, why did Elan blow it?

: That's the problem with hybrid genres like action-comedy. Sometimes where you're expecting one, you get the other.

Am I the only one who was reminded of the ending of Jurassic Park?

Very similar, except that the thing that fluttered down on the victorious dinosaur was a banner that said, "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth", rather than a dragon.

The sword in Calder's left hand makes me a little nervous. Anyone else feel like the placement of the arm in the big panel (with Roy's sword hidden out of view) makes it look like Bloodfeast just took a greatsword to the heart? The dino's expression looks awfully surprised..

What would be the point? It wouldn't improve Calder's attack one bit.

A medium greatsword in an anti-magic field does 2d6. But a huge (or bigger) dragon claw does 2d6 or more. And Calder is proficient with the claw.

Storywise, Bloodfeast is one more loose end tied up. We still have , by my reckoning:

-- Belkar's death
-- The Three Fiends
-- The MITD's identity

to go, and then we can wrap this up for good!

Don't forget Checkov's Doily. That was mentioned for a reason.

[gellerche]

The question, of course, is does Belkar get the XP for the kill or does Bloodfeast?

[Ruck]

If that scene (or a facsimile) isn't the cover of this last book, it will be a great injustice.

The covers have typically not been actual scenes from the book, but something representative of the overall story and setting of the book.

And considering that in the scope of the greater story this is going to end up being a relatively minor encounter, I doubt it will be represented.

I guess what I'm saying is, prepare for great injustice.

(Aside, I was looking at the covers again, and I really enjoy the Utterly Dwarfed cover for how appropriate everyone's reactions are to Belkar trying to tell them the vampire isn't Durkon. Roy is actively ignoring him, Vaarsuvius is curious enough to listen, Haley is annoyed by him, and Elan isn't paying attention and is looking at clouds instead.)

[arimareiji]

Per RAW, Bloodfeast can't go up more than one level at a time, though.

So… Bloodfeast has to go train before getting any more XP?

"He ran into my knife" was where my thoughts were going.

Could be even worse if Bloodfeast drops off with the sword inside him, falls out of the anti-magic cone, and then shrinks back to being a lizard with the blade still in him.

Definitely something my D&D party would wind up experiencing!

All my sympathies on your DM. Dang.

I think Bloodfeast is safe, though. If the Giant has that many levels in Evil DM Storyteller, the low-hanging fruit would be to have Calder make Sunny use an instant-kill ray on his mom.

[Peelee]

Per RAW, Bloodfeast can't go up more than one level at a time, though.

Sure, but let's remember why Shelby died.

[arimareiji]

Sure, but let's remember why Shelby died.

Ummm… terminal plotline type I diabetes?

Spoiler: link which identifies the old movie I'm referencing

Show

For anyone who's confused about the Shelby I'm probably-incorrectly surmising: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098384/

_{Edit: Explanatory link}

[Alex Warlorn]

Eiher Belkar has invested in Wisdom or Intelligence somewhere, or he rolled a natural 20... That was a truly epic move. It won't take down the dragon. But it will BRING down the dragon and this just because a fight the Order of the Stick can win.

Hopefully V isn't suffering too much PTSD from this.

[Menas]

Also, I don't remember D&D 3.5 allosauri having a "bite and keep on biting without making attack rolls" feature, but that doesn't mean Bloodfeast the Extreminator can't do it with Belkar's coaching.

It's an attack characteristic unique to Bloodfeast called 'Lockjaw'. Additional 10D6 every round. Also prevents creature being attacked with it from speaking, casting, or concentrating ;).

[SlashDash]

How many BETTER second level spells for a melee cleric thinking he might fight a caster and of high enough level to have mass buffs are there?

Durkon may well have several silences prepared.

For start, we just saw him cast Bear's endurance.
For another, we've learned that he always memorizes several sending spells to contact his mom.

I'll leave it to the geek thread to see how many slots he has left

[Mic_128]

Chef kiss comic

But Belkars play to ground him might not work.
Dragons can carry an insane amount of weight and keep flying

At the same, the unexpected weight is still going to cause them to drop down until they can compensate for the weight, at which point he'll be near to/on the ground

[danielxcutter]

I still think the AMF gives Calder an edge though. Magic gear and buffs are ridiculously important in the edition the comic’s based on, but Calder’s melee capacity doesn’t rely on those at all.

[Tzardok]

I still think the AMF gives Calder an edge though. Magic gear and buffs are ridiculously important in the edition the comic’s based on, but Calder’s melee capacity doesn’t rely on those at all.

The AMF certainly makes him more vulnerable. His DR is supernatural and so is disabled.