OOTS #584 - The Discussion Thread

[The Giant]

New comic is up.

[Lira]

Holy...

That's not good.

[ThePhantom]

V looks like a zombie and they have a huge demon on their hands. Things are not looking good.

[hamishspence]

Well, looks like Therkla's loyalty to Kubota is surprisingly high.

[Occasional Sage]

"Good, not dumb" needs to be a phrase used more often.

Also, V's cynicism needs to communicate more with V's foresight.

[Great Dane]

V's ending quote is the funniest line I've read in a long time. Actual good-quality wit delivered through metaphor, not some cheesy one-liner (which normally ends up making me smile anyway, FYI).

[Gopher]

Wow V looks awful.

Good to know the Order can still count on Elan's knowledge of genre conventions.

[Fitzclowningham]

At least we know Therkla's Lawful now.

Oh, and yikes!

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Hope V still has a Dismissal scroll left...

[Spiryt]

Haha, nice. That's the plot twist!

However overally, there is a bit too much "talking heads" here.

Vaarsuvius looks really bad

[Mauve Shirt]

Oh damn! Elan wins again with his knowledge of dramatic conventions!
I love V's punchline.

[Sneak]

Well, looks like Therkla's loyalty to Kubota is surprisingly high.

Well, he did take her in and act as a mentor to her. It's only to be expected.

V, however, looks terrible. S/he seems to be getting progressively worse...

[AlterForm]

Oh, probability. How we love you.

[hamishspence]

last time I saw features like that was in

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SOD. Xykon's face, covered with cracks, just before Lich transformation. Howeevr V seems to have been deteriorating much more slowly.

[pasko77]

Terry pratchett's law of probability at workt here :)

[Mythlor]

Sweet, oh how the dice have turned on many an adventuring party to make it a short campaign. Brings up good memories... for myself the Dungeon Master, not for the PCs.

Rich, excellent work!

[teratorn]

Ok, they'll need ninja-girl to take care of that...

[Diddgery]

So Lien is good, and also not dumb. That's nice! I'm rather worried about V's current state, though.

I have a feeling this is going to end.. awesomely. Had a feeling that there'd be a big fight sometime soon, and this definitely falls into the category of "big fight."

Nice lampshade hanging on the "one-in-a-million" thing.

[hamishspence]

Loyalty to someone even when its obviously putting you at a major disadvantage is, I think, more associated with LE than CE (although exceptions may exist)

[UglyPanda]

Dwarven Ice-T...awesome.

[Belkar Rocks]

Dang, V is starting to look bad! Poor guygal. I hope they make contact soon just so V can get some rest.

[Lord_Butters_I]

Hmm, and how are they going to kill a balor? I predict a lot of running and possably a "you shall not pass" line from V.

[Jokerz]

I don't think that even Therkala can help them with that... Sail away and hope that it can't swim? I also love the discreet little *Pop!* noise. I would think that the air displacement would be more of a bang, but the pop made me giggle a bit... good one, Giant.

[Kyeudo]

I suspect someone introduced the Giant to TvTropes.

[Rumex]

Terry pratchett's law of probability at workt here :)

Million-to-one chances crop up nine times out of ten. :)

Figures that V would stand around talking rather than taking action. That elven/wizardly arrogance can be a problem, sometimes.

[Lord_Butters_I]

I suspect someone introduced the Giant to TvTropes.

...Anyone who's spent more than 5 minutes on this board has been linked to that site a minimum of 83 times.

[SteveMB]

Moral: When your opponent is in a summoning trance, interrupt first and worry about whether it was really necessary later.

[Belkar Rocks]

Moral: When your opponent is in a summoning trance, interrupt first and worry about whether it was really necessary later.

Word.

Man, if only Belkar had been there. If anybody personifies stab first, think about it later ...

[SlightlyEvil]

It's the little things that make this comic awesome. Like the little *pop* in the panel where the gigantic devil is summoned. Also, I'm surprised at Therkla's reaction (i.e. refusing to testify against Kubota), but frankly it's far more realistic than the hundreds of "sympathetic villain abandons own side at the drop of a hat" plots that have come before in other works. V's line at the end is just awesome.

As stated by others, my first reaction after finishing a new strip is to go over to TvTropes and add an example or two from the strip.

[hamishspence]

In addition to Sabine being Not a Normal Succubus, Qaar is Not a Normal Imp either. Last I checked, imps couldn't summon balors.

While rules always get chucked if they conflict with Funny, might Qaar be a Imp Wizard? Imp, for fairly low LA, Wizard for summoning. Or, maybe, a powerful fiend disguised as an imp. Normally it needs Gate to Call Balors, and Qaar was described as Summoning rather than calling (SoD showed us what Gate looked like)
However, OOTS sometimes blurs Summoning/Calling distinctions.

So, maybe Qaar is simply a Unique Imp, I'm not sure.

[Jeivar]

Eep . . .

. . . though on the bright side, winning this fight just might give Vaarsuvius that last boost needed.

I wonder where Therkla's story will go after this point. I seriously doubt she'll just drop off the stage, but what are the options, beside her sitting in a brig for the rest of the voyage? Slipping away during the fight and going back to Kubota? Strike out on her own, to return in some capacity later on?

I gotta say, subplot about side characters tend to really draw me in, since they're much more likely to be killed off than main characters.

PS: Elan's line on the first panel is my new favorite!