The Order Of The Stick: December

[Baron]

For all your OOTS December mutterings.

Enjoy!

[Crimson_Eyes]

I love the way Elan goes "Wooot!" in #124 and Belkar goes "Hold that thought." - lol

[Pharazon]

December already? Time sure flies.

Poor rat. I don't like Belkar anymore. It's his just reward that he should not gain a level.

So, what level would they be now? Or has that question been over-asked already?

[DrDoom]

Well, they are still around lvl 7-9...

[RawBearNYC]

So, what level would they be now? Or has that question been over-asked already?

That question has been officially been answered here. But that doesn't stop people from guessing. Someone's bound to add up the various levellings in the strip and wonder why V can't cast 9th level spells yet, and be frustrated at the lack of logic involved, but they were warned.

[Callista]

Hmmm.... I wonder how Belkar missed out on XP?

I bet the DM stiffed his player on role-play XP... Belkar's character is so one-dimensional. Only V could really give him a run for his money when it comes to "short character descriptions", and V has come up with some cool strategies, like the Exploding Runes note. Belkar just stabs stuff.

I mean, Roy gets to talk to his dad... Haley and Elan start a relationship... Elan tries to put everyone's eyes out with his nudity... Haley saves everyone's butts by discovering Xykon's plans... and even Durkon ends up falling in tragic love with an evil cleric.

While all this character development is going on, what's Belkar doing? Stabbing everything in sight.

No wonder. His player is probably a consummate roll-player who couldn't care about anything but the XP...

[Nighthawk4]

Just a thought - is V's Excellent comment when he/she discovers the level gain a quote from C. Montgomery Burns or Gordon Brittas? ;)



For the rest of the World, Gordon Brittas is the Manager of the Whitbury Leisure Centre in The Brittas Empire - a comedy series in the UK. He was played by Chris Barrie - who also played the hologram Rimmer in Red Dwarf :)

I assume everybody knows who C. Montgomery Burns is :D

[Kashinn]

Since I don't know that British guy, I immediately thought of Mr. Burns - the look and the hands are also right, so my guess is that it's old Burnsy who's being referred to.
(Damn is that sentence as complicated as I think it is?)

[MonkWren]

Well, so far only two level-ups have been shown in the script, so really, the only thing we know is that OoTS is at least 3rd level. And any speculation is really worthless. They will remain whatever level is appropriate for the plot.

[Wanderer]

V can cast Cone of Cold. He's at least level 9.

Sorry. Shutting up now.

[Shatteredtower]

IF we were to speculate based on what we've seen V do, Everyone's Favourite Elf is now either 10th or 11th level.

(Note that I'm not holding the Giant to that. He'll play it as he sees fit and we'll like it just the same, I'm sure.)

I base this on three castings:

1. Cone of cold, which, as has been pointed out, requires a 9th level caster. Of course, it's been argued that the spell is weaker than fireball by many people, so for all we know, the Giant has made it a 3rd level spell.

2. Magic missile was cast during the Linear Guild duels, producing five missiles in strip #65, all of which were blocked by a shield spell. That requires at least a 9th level caster.

3. In the next panel of #65, V tries to use scorching ray, producing two rays. If V was 11th level or higher, three rays would have been produced.

Therefore, V's level at the time of the duel was either 9th or 10th level, and V has gone up a level since then.

But again, artistic license trumps the rulebooks here, which is very likely for the best.

[Grey Watcher]

No wonder. His player is probably a consummate roll-player who couldn't care about anything but the XP...

I suddenly had this strange notion that every time Belkar says "DAMN IT!" his player says at the exact same time for the exact same reason. Makes you wonder about these players. Whether maybe V's player left the "Gender" entry blank on purpose, if Haley is the only girl player (maybe V is being played by a gay guy?). Does Elan's player share his naivete or is he laughing derisively at his character's antics? Is Roy's player trying to have a serious, well-thought out adventure while the rest of his players are just unwinding after a week of classes or work or something?

[pumpkinetics]

Assuming everyone (except belkar) was at the same level, that means that V is currently at 10th level. (adding ever

This is due to the fact that at the previous level, haley gained extra sneak attack. (an odd leveled rogue ability)

[Knight13]

Hi, I just found this site yesterday and I just finished reading the archives. I have to say that this is one of the best webcomics I've ever read. For my first post, I have a few comments and questions.

First, why do so many people hate Belkar? He's one of my favorite characters! He has the most straightfoward approach to problems of any of the characters. He stabs them! Actually, would it really matter if he gained a level? He's a ranger with a really low wisdom stat. That means that the only thing he really has to look forward to is Greater Two-Weapon Fighting at 11th level. Finally, are his weapons short swords or daggers?

Next is V. Does anyone know what V's gender is? The posts I've seen so far suggest that no one does. I've sure that some other character has refered to V as "he" at least once. However, several other things suggest that V is a girl. Like when he/she shares a room with Kayla in #123. Come to think of it, I'm probably just reapeating what other people have said. Also, didn't V say that he/she has Wish when he/she was trying to get the 2.0 Fly off that Dark Elf? That's a 9th level spell.

I guess that's it for now.

[pumpkinetics]

V said he/she/it had it wish in her spellbook. He/She/It didn't neccesarily have the actual ability to cast it. Anyway, he/she/it may have just used that as a bargaining tool.

And nobody hates belkar. It's all your imagination.

_{Note to self: kill the belkar supporter.}

[metaofantioch]

I suddenly had this strange notion that every time Belkar says "DAMN IT!" his player says at the exact same time for the exact same reason. Makes you wonder about these players. Whether maybe V's player left the "Gender" entry blank on purpose, if Haley is the only girl player (maybe V is being played by a gay guy?). Does Elan's player share his naivete or is he laughing derisively at his character's antics? Is Roy's player trying to have a serious, well-thought out adventure while the rest of his players are just unwinding after a week of classes or work or something?

Ooh, now I want a comic that goes "behind the characters," so to speak. My guess for Elan's player is that he's far from naive, but just likes playing a slightly-off bard with some gender identity issues. I'd also guess that V's player is either a girl playing a guy, a guy playing a girl, or a complete power gamer who doesn't care about details like gender, and the whole "gender debate" is brought on by the other players.

[ShadowDragon8685]

Why dosen't Elan use any of his bard spells?

With Belkar's wisdom stat, and we can assume he never grew a Sense Motive, it should be easy to fool him with an illusion.

[Aidan305]

I'd also guess that V's player is either a girl playing a guy, a guy playing a girl, or a complete power gamer who doesn't care about details like gender, and the whole "gender debate" is brought on by the other players.

Considering what V is like when he/she/it is casting spells I'd be inclined to go with the third option. Either that or a REALLY good roleplayer.

[DrDoom]

Elans song was a ripbreaker this time! Weehee!

Oh, and @ Knight13:

It says in the FAQ, that although the other partymembers relate to V as "he", they have no idea if tghey are right and are just guessing. V himself shows no concern about his gender, so...

[Knight13]

I wish my DM would give me roleplaying XP. I always make up really long backgrounds for my characters. I could get something like 3 levels doing that.

I think V is played by a power gamer. He/she/it always goes on a power trip about his/her/its magic.

Lastly, why would a group of level 7-9 characters run from a bunch of goblins? My level 8 sorcerer can beat on goblins all day, or at least until he runs out of spells.

[bournie]

Firstly "Hahahahaha the Brittas Empire, I'd forgotten about that one"

Secondly:

IF we were to speculate based on what we've seen V do, Everyone's Favourite Elf is now either 10th or 11th level.

(Note that I'm not holding the Giant to that. He'll play it as he sees fit and we'll like it just the same, I'm sure.)

I base this on three castings:

1. Cone of cold, which, as has been pointed out, requires a 9th level caster. Of course, it's been argued that the spell is weaker than fireball by many people, so for all we know, the Giant has made it a 3rd level spell.

2. Magic missile was cast during the Linear Guild duels, producing five missiles in strip #65, all of which were blocked by a shield spell. That requires at least a 9th level caster.

3. In the next panel of #65, V tries to use scorching ray, producing two rays. If V was 11th level or higher, three rays would have been produced.

Therefore, V's level at the time of the duel was either 9th or 10th level, and V has gone up a level since then.

.

Cant be bothered looking up the speel slot levels, but to get 5 magic missiles couldn't v just maximise and be less than level 9?

[evileeyore]

Why dosen't Elan use any of his bard spells?

With Belkar's wisdom stat, and we can assume he never grew a Sense Motive, it should be easy to fool him with an illusion.

Because Elan only does illusions of puppies and chicks of the appropriate race.

I would fear for the puppies, and doubt Belkar would stop in his quest for XP to oggle a female halfling ranger.


Just my opinion--EvilE

[MattB]

Finally, are his weapons short swords or daggers?

per D&D 3.5 rules they are 'small' shortswords (we see them shrink in issue 1 when they migrate from 3E to 3.5E)

A small shortsword is equivalent to a medium dagger in terms of damage though

[GypsyThorn]

..._{Note to self: kill the belkar supporter.}

Hah! Even though you wrote that aside in _{small print}, we all heard you anyways!

But, please, reconsider. Belkar does a lot of the heavy lifiting for the group. He also needs to put a lot of leverage into his two-handed attacks. If we got rid of Belkar's supporter, the hafling would most probably get a hernia.

[Grey Watcher]

You know, for a minute, I figured that Belkar got the RP XP by accident. Oh well.

[Woolysock]

I wish my DM would give me roleplaying XP. I always make up really long backgrounds for my characters. I could get something like 3 levels doing that.

I think V is played by a power gamer. He/she/it always goes on a power trip about his/her/its magic.

Lastly, why would a group of level 7-9 characters run from a bunch of goblins? My level 8 sorcerer can beat on goblins all day, or at least until he runs out of spells.

You need to read the old Dragon article about Tucker's Kobolds. Any GM can kill you off easily with enough goblins or kobolds, and I suspect Rich is just the kind of GM who would. until he runs out of spells That's exactly right. When, not if, he runs out of spells, he's dead.

[Shatteredtower]

Cant be bothered looking up the speel slot levels, but to get 5 magic missiles couldn't v just maximise and be less than level 9?

No. The number of missiles is not a variable numeric effect. The damage they do is.

(Oh, the cries of horror we'd hear if you could do this with a maximized scorching ray 9th level, gaining the benefit of a third ray two levels early at the cost of a 5th level spell slot, as though up to 72 points of fire damage [or more, with the right combination] to a single target was game-breaking at 9th level.)

[Pharazon]

I remember my first AD&D session, a few months ago. We were meeting in AIM, and during the actual session, another player said something to my character, using my AIM username, instead of my character-name, Calaron.

I was like "Pharazon? Who is that? My name is Calaron!"

And blam, the DM gave me role-playing XP. To this day I'm still ahead of everybody else in XP (although that could also be explained by the fact that I'm one of the few of our group who doesn't dual-class).

I like role-playing XP...

[The Giant]

Belkar uses daggers ("small" daggers). You can tell because he's thrown them at people before, and short swords don't have a throwing range.

[Adghar]

If in fact they are "small", he would not be able to dual wield them like that. He is a hafling, so he's small, and any weapon that is the same size is you is 2-handed. Thus, the daggers are "tiny" daggers.