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2020-09-24, 06:56 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2017
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2020-09-24, 07:27 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2012
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Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
You guys have convinced me. I misread 1189 as a betrayal - poison and tossed off a cliff. But yeah, they are being carried, by things big enough to manage Lien with one hand and her spear with the other, and both of O-chul's legs in one hand and his sword in the other.
Unless it's an invisible trio / quartet, and only one is speaking.
Or they have multiple hands.
Nonetheless, the Invisible Entities have flight, Greater Invisibility, and considerable strength.This ... is my signature finishing move!
"It's never good when you make a fiend cringe" - MadGrady
According to some online quiz, I'm a 6th level TN Wizard. They didn't give me full XP for all the monsters I've defeated while daydreaming.
http://easydamus.com/character.html
I am a Ranger Archetype: Gleaming Warden (thx to Ninja Prawn)
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2020-09-24, 08:44 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2019
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- Israel
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2020-09-24, 09:32 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2019
Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
Haven't read all the replies sorry, so this may be mentioned. I think we were supposed to think that they could fly with the hammer of Loki Sucks, like marvel films. So seeing them plummet was another joke that I for one found amusing. (even if it wasn't deliberate)
Great comic as always.
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2020-09-24, 11:27 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2017
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- France
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Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
I keep forgetting how durable these people are. Of course « just jump off the cliff » is a viable exit strategy!
Also props to Durkon for being the first one to lower Xykon’s HP this time around!
And he deserves every. Single. One. Of. Them.
Next you are going to tell me you wouldn’t put 30 X-Wings against a pace station with the firepower of 100 destroyers.
Superb dispelling!
No.
Xykon’s only a bro when hurting people makes you one.
Yup.
That’s not his back teeth, that’s his higher spine.
And by forever you mean a handful of years before he dies of a old age and goes to his actual designated afterlife? The Undying Lands are called that because the people who livee there are undying, not because going there makes you.
[QUOTE=pendell;24722992]You've got one contender to the throne who's a butcher[quote]
I’m guessing Joffrey?
another who sacrifices children in a fire
another who is raising dragons in order to "save" the kingdom by setting everyone in it on fire
It's not a terrible show or book set but it isn't a cheerful one. GRR Martin has no qualms about killing a beloved character in a brutal and short way, since that's the way real war is.
They depict a harsh world in a bad place, that’s for sure, but there are plenty of good people doing what’s right.
I believe that Martin’s main motivation for writing these books this way was being pissed at how romanticized/sanitized the past (especially the Middle-Ages) are, especially in fantasy.
Here's a jokey rap battle between Martin and Tolkien which really does describe the difference between the authors pretty wellForum Wisdom
Mage avatar by smutmulch & linklele.
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2020-09-24, 01:08 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2008
Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
Nyetski. The Undying Lands don't make you undying (for which, see Akallabeth). Bilbo gets to see the far side of the sea, but then he's going to die before very much longer. Frodo quite possibly lives long enough to see Sam arrive, but the reason why he went was to be eased of the pain he was repeatedly subjected to on account of the Morgul-knife, Shelob's sting, Gollum biting his finger off, and living on after the Ring was gone.
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2020-09-24, 01:56 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2019
Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
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2020-09-24, 02:00 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2013
Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
The half-dragon bounty hunter had the same 'accent' bubbles.
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2020-09-24, 02:35 PM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2015
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- Texas
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Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
Avatar by linklele. How Teleport Worksa. Malifice (paraphrased):
Rulings are not 'House Rules.' Rulings are a DM doing what DMs are supposed to do.
b. greenstone (paraphrased):
Agency means that they {players} control their character's actions; you control the world's reactions to the character's actions.
Second known member of the Greyview Appreciation Society
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2020-09-24, 02:49 PM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2018
Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
I (partially) agree.
The ring had an effect on all that possessed it that caused them to live far beyond their normal lifespan. This was not portrayed as something pleasant or beneficial. And between the destruction of the ring and the journey to Valinor, hopefully curse was somehow ameliorated.
But from my (admittedly limited) knowledge of Tolkien’s works, it seems somewhat unclear exactly what happened to Sam, Frodo, and Bilbo in the end. Tolkien himself probably didn’t always know 100% for sure.
At any rate, my main point was that the closest to self insertion in the books was Bilbo. Well, Beren and Luthien maybe. But really Bilbo.Last edited by Dion; 2020-09-24 at 02:50 PM.
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2020-09-24, 02:59 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2017
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- France
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Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
They grew old and they died. That’s what always happen in the end.Immortals nonwithstanding.
At any rate, my main point was that the closest to self insertion in the books was Bilbo. Well, Beren and Luthien maybe. But really Bilbo.Last edited by Fyraltari; 2020-09-24 at 02:59 PM.
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2020-09-24, 03:04 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2009
Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
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2020-09-24, 03:33 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2017
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2020-09-24, 03:50 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2009
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2020-09-24, 04:15 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2006
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- Raleigh NC
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Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
Honestly? If I had a choice? No. If I did, the target would be an abandoned asteroid station or similar rather than the One Rebel Base where the command is hiding out.
If I have time to pick and choose when and how I'm going to engage with starfighters, why not do it with several hundred or even several thousand? Or, heck, try that sequel trilogy trick where we ram it with a ship from hyperspace. :smallamused;
[quote]
[QUOTE=pendell;24722992]You've got one contender to the throne who's a butcherI’m guessing Joffrey?Spoiler
I'm going from the show, not the books, but Joffrey qualifies, and so do the Boltons, and so do the Ironborn. They of "we do not sow" -- those words meanings they live by plundering others, not by making anything themselves.
I believe that Martin’s main motivation for writing these books this way was being pissed at how romanticized/sanitized the past (especially the Middle-Ages) are, especially in fantasy.
Respectfully,
Brian P."Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is paid."
-Valery Legasov in Chernobyl
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2020-09-24, 04:17 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2018
Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
It was supposed to be a nod to the legends of sailing to the blessed isles which in itself might have been ancient memories of sailing to the Caribbean. It’s not impossible for such journeys to have taken place in prehistory
'Utúlie'n aurë! Aiya Eldalië ar Atanatári, utúlie'n aurë! “The day has come! Behold, people of the Eldar and Fathers of Men, the day has come!" And all those who heard his great voice echo in the hills answered, crying:'Auta i lómë!" The night is passing!"
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2020-09-24, 04:55 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2004
Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
OK, tanget on a tangent on a tangent, but I don't remember Aragorn doing anything outright magical. Superhuman, absolutely, but I always read him as more like Captain America than Superman. Can do things ordinary people can't, but it's a matter of doing the same things but better rather than doing things normal people can't even imitate (like flying or laser eyes).
Take the healing hands bit. I don't know why everyone parses that as a Paladin-esque Lay on Hands. It always read to me that he's just really, really good at herbalism and field medicine. (Like, Marty Stu good, which is a fair criticism.)
I can understand being frustrated with how good Aragorn is at everything, but I don't recall him crossing the line into overtly magical.
I also think part of what Tolkein was trying to do was play with the idea that, in more traditional mythology, Aragorn would be the hero, alongside the likes of Hercules or Lancelot or Gilgamesh. So it's a subversion that a pampered aristocrat from nowheresville and his gardener end up being the real heroes. But then everyone in the fantasy genre imitated Tolkein and what had been a deviation from the norm BECAME the norm itself and makes the choice look hacky I'm retrospect.
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2020-09-24, 05:24 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2009
Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
"He sat down on the ground, and taking the dagger-hilt laid it on his knees, and he sang over it a slow song in a strange tongue."
Either he's doing something pointlessly superstitious, or he's doing something magical.
Now, the limited perceptions of the Hobbit viewpoint don't get to see what's really going on there. But something is.
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2020-09-24, 05:45 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2015
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Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
Some people think that Chaotic Neutral is the alignment of the insane, but the enlightened know that Chaotic Neutral is the only alignment without illusions of sanity.
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2020-09-24, 05:47 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2015
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Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
Turning back to OOTS - anyone else think of this strip as the sequel to Go Team Cleric ?
Some people think that Chaotic Neutral is the alignment of the insane, but the enlightened know that Chaotic Neutral is the only alignment without illusions of sanity.
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2020-09-24, 05:58 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2019
Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
At first I disagreed with this but after poking around, I think this is one of the closest parallels. We've got a theme of evil extraplanars who have bright color text on black, and good extraplanars with black text on yellow. There's a chlorine elemental with black on green, black dragons with white on purple, and the Gods have dark grey on various colors depending on their pantheon.
The only other creature my cursory look identified that was 'light on dark' of the same color were the samurai ghosts, who are light blue on a darker blue. I'm going to stick with the ghost of dead Gods, but a dragon of some type is not out of the question.
ETA: There's also the air fairies and other neutral extraplanars that seem to be white on various colors.Last edited by Jaziggy; 2020-09-24 at 06:04 PM.
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2020-09-24, 05:59 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2013
Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
Don't forget not-Thad last book.
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2020-09-24, 06:00 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2018
Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
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2020-09-24, 06:53 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Sep 2014
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2020-09-24, 07:20 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Apr 2004
Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
I'd forgotten about that. Though it's still a little unclear if that's his personal mojo or something anyone could theoretically learn. Is the magic in him or in the music or language or something?
Darn soft magic systems and their ambiguity.
Also, weird what bits do and don't stick out in one's memory and which ones get completely forgotten. I guess he is a bit more magical than I remember.
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2020-09-24, 07:46 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2020
Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
Don't need Bluff if you've got ranks in Reverse Psychology.
Yeah, definitely carried given that their previous ledge is below them.
A terrible theory, given that it took 6 years between books four and five, except that book four was supposed to be the second half of book 3, so the real gap could be said to be 11 years.
No, Treebeard is meant to be C.S. Lewis. And Professor Digory from Narnia is meant to be Tolkien. The two were friends in real life and members of a literary club together called the Inklings.
Given that Tolkien was very Catholic, it's probably supposed to be some combination of both.Last edited by WanderingMist; 2020-09-24 at 07:48 PM.
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2020-09-24, 08:31 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2009
Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
"'Here I must put forth all such power and skill as is given to me,' he said. 'Would that Elrond were here, for he is the eldest of all our race, and has the greater power.'"
My understanding is that he's got the potential from his heritage, but still had to learn and practise to develop it.
There isn't a lot of obvious magic in LotR, but at Bilbo's party at the beginning, the Hobbit children were given Dwarf-made toys, some "obviously magical". Which implies that it isn't that big a deal to be creating a minor magical item.
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2020-09-24, 08:36 PM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2009
Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
Then there's the "Red Mage's Feather Fall": dropping a healing potion at the apex of your trajectory so it will smash against your broken body upon landing, thus healing your wounds.
You can't prove it wouldn't work.
I mean, you could - as in, you could provide a literal proof by working out the necessary physics formulas to indicate that it's not possible. But c'mon, Dungeon Master, do you really want to spend all your time doing the physics calculations, or should we just continue with our session?
(I really regret I never got the chance to actually try this myself in a tabletop session.)
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2020-09-24, 08:49 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2019
Re: OOTS #1215 - The Discussion Thread
I'm reading the Hobbit to my kids, and it's striking (and defies my recollection) how common lesser magic is. Gandalf is constantly casting little cantrips: tricks of light, magical smoke rings (Thorin also has this ability), etc. He also casts more 'real' spells than I remembered, although not nearly as often as a D&D spellcaster would. The sense I get is that magic is logarithmically difficult- a spellcaster can do little things without thought or effort, it requires a pretty desperate circumstance to be worth expending the effort for what we'd think of as 'adventuring magic' (Gandalf drops a potent fireball effect on the goblins, for example) and it requires extraordinary gifts to create effects that leave a lasting impact on the world, or use powerful magical items like the Palantir.
Much of a wizard's potency in LotR comes from centuries of careful accumulation of power and knowledge, rather than potent elemental effects.
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2020-09-24, 09:02 PM (ISO 8601)
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