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2020-11-03, 01:02 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
“Evil is evil. Lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I'm not a pious hermit, I haven't done only good in my life. But if I'm to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.”
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2020-11-03, 02:01 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Nov 2013
Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
Giving lesson in such a way that she can drop them after, she probably just finds it funny. Or probably what Keltest said it is still a dungeon trap even if a weird one. No idea why an angel is involved with it though.
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2020-11-03, 03:55 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
She said "because I'm still paying for a law that I broke a long time ago". So maybe she got stuck there as a punishment, or maybe she has a fine to pay and that's one of her jobs.
Originally Posted by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1955
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2020-11-03, 04:08 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
She's high; that potentially explains a lot.
Orth Plays: Currently Baldur's Gate II
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2020-11-17, 05:32 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
Update!
SpoilerDoes the N/N on the sword have any meaning?Originally Posted by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1955
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2020-11-17, 07:24 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
Well this just gets dumber and dumber.
SpoilerThis lunatic angel is REALLY dedicated to murdering these goblins. I dont think its going to go well if the rest were to try and pay a visit to get their bonuses and such. At first i was like, wait, hold up, did she just make him chief after declaring he was already chief? Then i went back and read that the old chief just marked him as the next one, not officially declared him to BE chief. So at least there isnt that for a plot hole."Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum Europae vincendarum"
Translation: "Sometimes I get this urge to conquer large parts of Europe."
"If you don't get those cameras out of my face, I'm gonna go 8.6 on the Richter scale with gastric emissions that'll clear this room."
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2020-11-17, 07:36 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2007
Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
SpoilerI do not know, if it is being dedicated or just very strict rules the angel needs to adhere to. She is there as punishment after all. Complains being part demon most likely does not generate any sympathy either even if this might be on an unconscious level. Still, you are right that after two consecutive times people cheated their way out of the trap, she might get particularly angry. We also know that Complains took her horn, so she will not be an exemplary ray of sunshine. Aside from that, I really liked her rant about needlessly pompous rituals and the "just say 'hi' like a regular goblin" bit particularly funny. Reminds me a bit of witches in the Discworld and their rather casual relations with the deities:
Most witches don’t believe in gods. They know that the gods exist, of course. They even deal with them occasionally. But they don’t believe in them. They know them too well. It would be like believing in the postman.
In a war it doesn't matter who's right, only who's left.
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2020-11-17, 08:54 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
EDIT: As it turned out, the cause wasn't Edge, but graphics card settings which impacted Edge, but not Firefox. So Edge was actually innocent.
Unrelated to the comic, but wow, Edge cannot handle images without creating lots of artifacts. I thought it was just with jpg, but even this PNG I created to demonstrate it shows them on my PC.
Spoiler: Screenshot Comparison FF vs Edge, old stripLast edited by Vinyadan; 2020-11-19 at 09:07 AM.
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2020-11-17, 08:19 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
Previous update was on October 30th, it is now November 17th.
Nineteen days since the last one. Still under 3 weeks!
That makes update number 14 of the speedy schedule!
We must be getting close to the point where Elli has earned enough money for the voice surgery she is doing the comics for. I think it was 20k to pay for everything, and we're over 18k now. One more update, maybe two, assuming no additional expenses. We'll see what happens to updates after the goal is reached. Personal guess is that we go back to maybe one every month or two. Clearly, she has no interest in doing updates for the sake of it, or she would have actually done it during the many, many, many, times she promised better updates over the past decade.
Okay, so current situation is that chief simultaneously negated Complain's empty goblin status, and selected him as chief. Then an angel made Complains chief.
Chief was made chief via the teller. She used her magic to determine who was the best chief, found out that Thaco would destroy the clan, so she selected Chief instead. Seems like the selection process and the act of becoming chief were simultaneous. Seems like it's supposed to be the teller that does this though, not the chief. Chiefs do not name their successors, because they are supposed to die before the decision gets made, not before. Plus, that they want, vs what is good for the clan, are not always the same thing.
Fumbles was selected by... deciding he wanted to be the teller. I guess it doesn't really matter whom the teller is? Anyone can make a teller but only a teller can normally make someone a chief. Might be the case that there is normally an apprentice teller, but there is no evidence of that.
To me, it's feeling like a case of, "it's the way it is so the story can happen". Chief may have had the authority to undo his decision to make Complains an empty goblin, but he shouldn't have been able to officially select Complains as chief, because chiefs could just always pick their children as the next chief then.
There is also the issue of it not just being up to goblins, it's also supposed to be a god matter. That's why the chief bonus was shared with both Chief and Thaco. It's pretty clear that chiefs are not supposed to just willy, nilly, decide the successor, so I don't agree with the story's line of reasoning.
Still don't like these question and answer sessions.
Last edited by tomaO2; 2020-11-17 at 08:36 PM.
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2020-11-19, 09:56 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2010
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
The way I see it going is, chief didnt name complains as chief, he rescinded the empty goblin status making him eligible. The ANGEL made him chief just now as a sort of "Eff you, I can do what i want as an actual representative of your god" Normally the teller would do that, but thats as a representative of the goblin god, so an angel doing it is just as valid.
"Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum Europae vincendarum"
Translation: "Sometimes I get this urge to conquer large parts of Europe."
"If you don't get those cameras out of my face, I'm gonna go 8.6 on the Richter scale with gastric emissions that'll clear this room."
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2020-11-19, 11:40 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
I'm wondering whether the Chief and the Teller only deal with the warcamp, and the actual clan village has its own authorities. Otherwise, our four heroes just* took an important decision for the whole clan. But maybe that's the norm, and the closest companions of the Chief and the Teller always wield all authority.
*in-comic time.Originally Posted by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1955
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2020-11-20, 12:56 AM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2007
Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
You know, I have to wonder why they don't just send Ears to meet the Angel, drop the axe off, and have her deliver it to the Gobgod.
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2020-11-20, 01:11 AM (ISO 8601)
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- May 2015
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
"If it lives it can be killed.
If it is dead it can be eaten."
Ronkong Coma "the way of the bookhunter" III Catacombium
(Walter Moers "Die Stadt der träumenden Bücher")
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2020-11-20, 01:12 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2010
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- Gobbotopia
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2020-11-20, 01:21 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2006
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
Or maybe it would get rod of a dumb story arc instead, so we can move on to something decent?
I'm not sold on the idea of some level 5s single handedly saving the world from a hell inspired apocalypse. I really think this is a quest that is way outside their level, and that there will be a bunch of cheats in order to pull this off, and there has already been a bit much of that already. These items and powers ups are a bit ridiculous.
This is supposed to be D&D, not shounen.Last edited by tomaO2; 2020-11-20 at 01:23 AM.
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2020-11-20, 02:31 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
i mean, do they really HAVE any goals outside get the axe to hell at this point? Return to the clan maybe? But then what? Defeat Kore i guess? But they're really more running then anything else.
Just because they're level 5 now doesn't mean they need to be in Hell tomorrow. The whole point of them taking adventurer levels was to grow stronger and be able to protect their village better. it'd make sense that this quest would take them on a journey that levels them up along the way. With possible "Cheats" as you put them, i could see them doing some actual hell-diving at like, level ten maybe? Still out of their league for the bigger fights, but survivable for the smaller more common stuff. It's not like they're trying to fight pit fiends and demon lords after all, they just need to get deep enough in to drop off the axe and get out. if that can get done quickly and quietly, they'd take it.Avy by Thormag
Spoiler
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2020-11-20, 08:14 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
To me its not really cheats as such, they get monty haul loot true, but so does every other group of adventurers. On top of that, they are dealing with some high lethality adventures, the drow squad has been eliminated like 2-3x till they gave up on respawning as something else, dies horribly got to watch his lizardman party member, err, die horribly, lets not even take into account his issues with losing an arm, I think twice. The gap already lost one party member who now gets to enjoy eternal torment, had one member get his mind shattered by torture before he came back to himself, another is literally turning into a demon, a third had to chop off his own freaking ears to use a magic item, etc etc etc. This setting is BRUTAL, so a few overgenerous magic items and reward levels seems a fair exchange for this tomb of horrors planet they live on.
"Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum Europae vincendarum"
Translation: "Sometimes I get this urge to conquer large parts of Europe."
"If you don't get those cameras out of my face, I'm gonna go 8.6 on the Richter scale with gastric emissions that'll clear this room."
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2020-11-20, 08:48 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jan 2011
Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
Don't know your name but bring the pain.
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2020-11-20, 09:44 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2010
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
Yeah but to be even more pedantic, the tomb of horrors was meant to murder everyone who played it and make them miserable. This is a setting where the goal is to be just as arbitrarily lethal, but they get great loot for managing to survive. :p In other words, a setting some players might actually LIKE as long as they dont get too attached to their characters. Crazy loot with absurd effects all homebrew that lets you do neat stuff if you are clever enough and in exchange you have to be really careful to avoid the latest method of killing you all the dm came up with.
As for the comic, one thing in still wondering is if this thing with the angel is all an act. So far she has "tested" two of the party members. They both "failed" the test but despite trying to kill them they come back stronger than when they started. Higher level, new gear, whatever. I know in a lot of fiction that deals with various types of heaven and hell where there is a balance involved where neither side can interfere too directly or else the other side will interfere more directly and then its armegeddon. So both sides cheat. They play games where their side "just happens" to benefit and they totally didnt break the rules, nudge nudge, wink win. So here we have an angel actually "trying" to kill these goblins, but they keep "escaping her clutches" and getting power ups which will help them survive their trip to hell. If she just descended from the skies and said, "Here is some loot, you all level up once or twice" that would break the rules about direct interference. But this? Hey, she TRIED to kill them! Just pure luck she failed! And hey! That one goblin totally cut off her horn! Sure that makes it a terrifying holy weapon against demons such as are found in hell, but thats a total coincidence!"Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum Europae vincendarum"
Translation: "Sometimes I get this urge to conquer large parts of Europe."
"If you don't get those cameras out of my face, I'm gonna go 8.6 on the Richter scale with gastric emissions that'll clear this room."
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2020-11-20, 09:46 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
Wait a sec, is "Free Chief from Kore's Prison" the same as "Free Fumbles from Goblinslayer's Prison", all over again?
Both characters left the party of their own volition, while deceiving the party (Chief alleged a shattered spine, Vorpal sneaked out during the night). Both put themselves in danger without reaching their objective (Chief's tortured screams lead the goblins back, Vorpal lost the doll to the Guards). Both find themselves helpless and tortured, and, in both cases, the GAP get to see and talk to the prisoner without being able to help, and Ears doesn't want to let go (the sewer scene in Brassmoon and Chief's soul).Originally Posted by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1955
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2020-11-20, 11:35 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
If Hell was introduced in a way like the gates were in OOTS, that would be fine and all. It would make for a perfectly good overarching quest. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure Hell is already spreading all around the world, if the segments with Forgath are anything to go by. Time is not in abundance. I don't believe they have the time to wait until level 7, much less level 10. The cheats let them beat CR levels that they shouldn't be able to win against, which lets them fight super strong monsters and level up at an absurdly fast pace. That, and a ton of things going just exactly right. Such as Vorpal getting a super big teller power up. Not even sure of the mechanics of that, but I'd imagine he now counts as a pretty strong caster.
Honestly, it all especially comes across as a cheat since no one else has really strong items. Kore doesn't have anything remotely comparable to Chief's spear of return, or Forgath's beard of invulnerability. Guy is supposed to be a combat pragmatist but doesn't even grab that spear and use it, after killing Chief. Goblin Slayer is another example of a person that has been stated to be a "high level adventurer" but doesn't have any good magical items. Magic items are supposedly all over the place but it seems pretty consistent that the only time a good item shows up it will be either destroyed, or end up as something for the GAP/Forgath, Kin, and Minmax, to eventually acquire.
What items did psion Minmax have? Guy went through the dungeon a thousand times, but didn't have a single high powered item? Meanwhile, Minmax gets a bunch of stuff from a single run through. The one group in the Maze of Many that was explicitly shown to have cool gear was that group with a bunch of rings, which were promptly taken by the adventurers. Powerful items are always there simply so the main characters can get them, not because everyone has access to them. I feel a disconnect with how items are gained by the protagonists vs the lack of them showing up anywhere else.
Last edited by tomaO2; 2020-11-20 at 09:14 PM.
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2020-11-21, 01:10 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
Kore probably doesn't like using weapons "Tainted" by "Evil beings", because then the items themselves would have that "Seed of evil" thing. he might even actively destroy them if he has the time.
Goblinslayer as far as we can tell, is maybe around level three to five, and he retired. Plus the dude had an infinite supply of any weapons he wanted thanks to that whole half-tree thing he had going on, i wouldn't be surprised if those were +1 by sheer nature of being generated via magical tree-growth. Any other items he collected he may have sold off to fund his retirement, again, he has infinite weapons at his literal fingertips. Why bother with that other stuff when he can have a bunch of money and power from them?Avy by Thormag
Spoiler
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2020-11-21, 02:24 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
I... think high leveled is considered 6-8. I feel like I remember this being mentioned in the past.
Man, how weird is that though? The GAP is soon going to be considered high level, after a week or two.Last edited by tomaO2; 2020-11-21 at 02:27 AM.
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2020-11-21, 06:47 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
We have seen an NPC with a powerful magical artifact (Saral Caine). Goblinslayer actually had enough magic weapons lying around to arm 500 crossbowmen, and a lot of property he could have bought with money from selling other items. In general, however, I think that it's not strange that the world bends over backwards for PCs, as it's the whole point of becoming one. Also, as one of the strips observed, Herbert is Monty Haul, albeit with limits (can't remember which page it is).
I don't think Kore can actually throw anything because of his armour, and he already has a ranged option. It would have made him more menacing if he had collected the spear, however.Originally Posted by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1955
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2020-11-21, 11:05 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
idk. when you're in a world of level 1/2 commoners, a 3rd level ranger might count as "high level". or at least be able to say he is.
When you're a dirt-farming peasant, someone who can make fire appear from his hands doesn't seem a whole lot different then someone who can conjure a wall of force around himself. they're both powerful magic-y people who can kill you with a thought. the idea that one is somehow stronger then the other probably doesn't cross your mind too often.Avy by Thormag
Spoiler
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2020-11-21, 12:12 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
Goblinslayer was also prone to self-aggrandisement, if the statue and his reaction to being laughed at mean anything. Plus, he needed to boast about himself to get his political program approved. His claim of having saved Brassmoon also might have been spurious, since the Goblins observe that Hawl solved the conflict between the orcs and the city (again, I can't remember when that happened...). However, we do have a minimum level for him, as he casts a spell (magic fang) that pegs him at the very least at level 4, if he has bonus spells granted by wisdom, otherwise at lvl 6 minimum.
Last edited by Vinyadan; 2020-11-21 at 12:13 PM.
Originally Posted by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1955
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2020-11-21, 12:16 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
oh it was level 4? is thought it was level 3 that he got that, my mistake.
level 4-6 would make sense as a "High level" claim thin this world i think.Last edited by Draconi Redfir; 2020-11-21 at 12:16 PM.
Avy by Thormag
Spoiler
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2020-11-21, 02:10 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2010
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- right behind you
Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
Considering all you have to do is just SAY you are now a class and you get those skills at level 1, its kind of an odd world. I know as a dirt grubbing farmer I would probably pick cleric or wizard or something as cantrips are handy as heck. Never have to hit 2, just go about your life with the occasional use of mending or whatever, maybe a first level heal spell as a just in case clause. Life would be incredibly easier that way. Save a burning hands spell if you have reason to fear bandit attacks or something and you can take them down fairly easily. (11 hp versus 3d6 to everything in range that fails its save, even half damage if they make the save brings them pretty close to death potentially)
"Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum Europae vincendarum"
Translation: "Sometimes I get this urge to conquer large parts of Europe."
"If you don't get those cameras out of my face, I'm gonna go 8.6 on the Richter scale with gastric emissions that'll clear this room."
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2020-11-21, 03:12 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2010
Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
But isn't part of the point if the farmer chooses this easier way, he also has an "adventure" no matter if he wants or not, e.g. with random encounters suited to his level? Plus we know in this world, there is no "suited to your level".
On the other hand, I don't think the random person who isn't an adventure goes through the mess we see because then I couldn't see there e.g. being a civilization.
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2020-11-21, 03:48 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2010
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Re: Goblins XVIII: Being yourself can be dangerous
Its possible I suppose that random stuff could just show up at his farm if he declares himself to be a wizard, but so far our only interaction with this declare yourself a class thing is with the GAP and the brief panel of the other monsters saying what class they want to be but we never hear from them again so no telling what happened there. Also, its not like being without class levels makes you safe in this setting, the death toll is pretty atrocious just from what we see.
Now I kinda want to see this explored. Declaring yourself a class works but few people do it because they know the law of the world is once you do your odds of death climb even higher than they do without class levels. Its kind of like a curse on reality here. I dont know if anyone has ever read the mercedes lackey 500 kingdoms series of books but the general gist is The Tradition is a magical power that pervades everything where if your life starts to resemble a classical fairy tale this force actually bends reality around you to make it happen. So if you are a young girl and your father dies after remarrying, you may find yourself living a cinderella life because your stepmother will start making you do the chores instead of HER daughters until you are basically the unpaid servant of the family. So on and so forth. This world is much the same. You can declare yourself a class and get the abilities instantly added on, but in exchange you are now an "adventurer" so quest hooks and random encounters are going to appear before you and good luck avoiding them."Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum Europae vincendarum"
Translation: "Sometimes I get this urge to conquer large parts of Europe."
"If you don't get those cameras out of my face, I'm gonna go 8.6 on the Richter scale with gastric emissions that'll clear this room."