OOTS #597 - The Discussion Thread

[Kinneus]

“Did you perhaps limit your affair with the NPC to oral pleasures? You know, out of respect for those missing in action?”

Ouch, V. I mean... ouch.
Seeing that sort of bitterness, that sort of crudeness, from V? It's rather shocking.
Good strip, as always, but that punchline doesn't quite sweep it under the rug for me. V scares me a little bit now, and not just because he can break apart my atoms with his brain.

[teratorn]

It could also be that he has a blind spot about V because s/he is a friend and (former?) ally.

Former? The order is already facing a fierce enemy, the leader is dead, one member is incapacitated and going to die soon. Are things going to get worse?

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So Kubota and therkla were just there to have V snap in front of Elan and doing something harsh? I liked Therkla, this sort of cheapens her story arc. Well, she was just a NPC but...

[Swashbuckler]

Go V! 'Bout time someone curtailed Elan's silly little bard games. He shoulda just blasted him ... saved himself the headache later on.

... but then if they're ever reunited with Haley, he'd have a lot of explaining to do.

Nevermind. *sighs* Elan must live ... for now.

[Kaytara]

Oh, just one other thing I wanted to say.

Only a true master of the art can make a freaking stick figure look so damn SCARY.

Well done indeed, Giant. ^^

[Samurai Jill]

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So Kubota and therkla were just there to have V snap in front of Elan and doing something harsh? I liked Therkla, this sort of cheapens her story arc. Well, she was just a NPC but...

I think T's contrived shallowness became pretty obvious once she refused resurrection in favour of sulking in the afterlife. Why? Because having her in the party afterwards would be inconvenient and anticlimactic, so we'll just have her crush translate to a deathwish. This despite A: SHE WILL BE EVEN MORE SEPARATED FROM ELAN IN THE AFTERLIFE, and, B: There must be a hundred different ways she could try to displace Elan's affections, starting with 'surreptitiously kill Haley' and working down from there. The fact none of this was considered makes it pretty clear she was a disposable scene-prop.

[Parlik]

Heh I guess this comic shows rather well why spellcasters need those X hours of sleep :D

[Nevitan]

I honestly thought the four words were about to come up.
maybe later.

And I hope we get to see V kill Elan,I also hope he doesn't stay dead long, I just want to see a powerful mage go crazy on the team from the inside.

[bue52]

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I think T's contrived shallowness became pretty obvious once she refused resurrection in favour of sulking in the afterlife. Why? Because having her in the party afterwards would be inconvenient and anticlimactic, so we'll just have her crush translate to a deathwish. This despite A: SHE WILL BE EVEN MORE SEPARATED FROM ELAN IN THE AFTERLIFE, and, B: There must be a hundred different ways she could try to displace Elan's affections, starting with 'surreptitiously kill Haley' and working down from there. The fact none of this was considered makes it pretty clear she was a disposable scene-prop.

Personally, I think its the whole, I can't live without him, but I do not want to force him to love deal that made her accept death in the end.

[Kaytara]

I am deeply sorry. ^^

[Laurentio II]

I am deeply sorry. ^^

Cerebus Syndrome? I found the last page quite amusing. Are you (plural) overacting?

[Edhelras]

This is what happens when you get a 1 on your Intimidate roll.

Maybe it's been mentioned above, but 1 on Intimidate isn't an automatic failure (only saving throws and attack rolls are automatic failure on a roll of 1). So if V has invested a lot of cross-class points in Intimitade, s/he could still be quite frigthening with a roll of 1.

[KIDS]

V is slipping into the Dark Side.... gods save us...

[Starknight]

Some really needs to rock V to sleep. Step one, get a big rock....

[Klose_the_Sith]

About the "Self Buddy"

Order of talking is 1. V 2. Belkar image 3. Elan

V says that Belkar was with them when they were moving towards their goals, so Belkars image is pleased with himself hence the "rock on self buddy"

[Marduk Prophet]

"Another" PC meaning that V would kill someone who is a PC like himself. Not that he's already killed one.

Oh, good. Then it wasn't just a "Gate? What gate?" moment for me. Phew.

[gloomanddoom]

Elan faked misunderstanding... which was clearly the best thing to do here as you don't want to get into an argument with V (well not anymore than he has).

[phoamslinger]

it's a shame that Elan really isn't that much smarter.

a more intelligent arguement (especially after V dropped into metagaming, naming Therkla an NPC) would have been to counter V's threat with the promise (post Elan's demise) of the appearance of a new replacement PC who would have brought in a laundry list of new hooks and plot twists (and derailed all of V's various current objectives).

[MythicFox]

There are only two possible openings. One where Elan attacks first, and one where Vaarsuvius does so.
If Vaarsuvius takes the first shot, it would kill Elan flat out. Disintegrate, Prismatic Spray, whatever, Elan's life is automatically forfeit.
Elan, romantic relationships aside, is a moral man. If he takes the first shot, it will not be a fatal one. However, Vaarsuvius' retaliation would be.
Quid quo pro.

This. Lots of this.

[Mauve Shirt]

Goddamnit, I'm really pissed at V now.

[DigoDragon]

Elan deserves the cookie for standing up against his own teammate like that. Especially when Rastlin V is going off the deep end.

[Ravens_cry]

Yeah. . .V is under a lot of stress, lately, but man, s/he is starting to creep me out. Now, now s/he is going beyond persnickety curmudgeon. Way beyond.

[CTrombley]

I think the problem between V and Elan, now as before, is that of attention span.

V and Elan are both dedicating there entire effort to the problems at hand. But their concept of "at hand" differ too much.

Elan is talking about Kubota and Threlka, his immediate environment. V is talking about a much larger situation. To V Elan is being wild and flighty, and to Elan V is being callous and distant.

I guess I'm just stating the obvious, but I like V and Elan and feel the need to defend their actions.

[docstrange]

We're seeing example after example of how poorly this party works together without Roy's leadership. If Roy is ever indeed going to have a //religiontropes.com/second_coming it will be interesting to see how he deals with Belkar and V.

[brilliantlight]

Speculation for #600:

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V will turn into a lich, eaither directly before or directly after he/she kills (either unintentionally or intentionally) some important character. He/she will then leave the party (the others will be pretty angry at him/her at the time) to pursure an independent career.

V would be farther away from obtaining "Ultimate Arcane Power" by become a lich and getting a +4 LA adjustment.

[SteveMB]

Former? The order is already facing a fierce enemy, the leader is dead, one member is incapacitated and going to die soon. Are things going to get worse?

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Well, I think it's a distinct possibility, perhaps even probability, if Vaarsuvius continues on this course -- s/he's totally obsessed and irrational to the point of being willing to threaten a teammate.

[Ted The Bug]

V needs to trance now. Really. Someone get her a pillow.
Also, cookies!

[Raz_Fox]

My two favorite OOTS members, verbally sparring.

Well, at least V's verbally sparring. The elf deserves a short, sharp shock so she shall stop sparring spitefully.

Really though, V needs to wake up and realize that there are more important things then winning. Is the risk of alienating all around you worth being right? Elan already knows the answer - V needs to listen.

[HOLEkevin]

"Have a cookie." Best line ever.

[spectralphoenix]

I don't think V is entirely in the wrong here, either. Consider V's point of view: You're literally working yourself sick trying to solve this problem. The other two guys mostly just sit twiddling their thumbs or run off on some wild sidequests with random NPCs. Every so often, they force you to get involved in some way, though you'd rather just keep working. If they can't help, then they at least shouldn't get in the way, right?
<snip>

I agree with this. V might be going a bit overboard, but his companions aren't exactly making this any easier.

Re: the Therkla comment, all V has seen was her tryst with Elan on the island. He hasn't been present for anything that might make her more than a bundle of experience and a quickie romantic subplot for Elan. I don't think anyone would have objected if he said something similar after the scene with Samantha (well, maybe Haley, but for entirely different reasons.)

[Nevrmore]

The punchline in this one was forced. There's no reason why Elan should have suddenly reverted into his idiot mode.