OOTS #427 - The Discussion Thread

[Elliot Kane]

I think that breach is gonna hold :)

Great use of magic there by V :)

[kpenguin]

Man, I gotta get Enlarge Person into my wizard's spellbook. Way to go V!

[Professor Tanhauser]

Wow, you'd think as useful as a 13 level wizard is, AC would have had one of their own, weren't all their wizards lower level? Or was the drunk who got et by the roc higher? Sure didn't act like it.

[Laman_Stahros]

May I point out that those are pikemen and therefore are probably using longspears. That means they had reach before the Mass Enlarge Person spell and now they really have reach. I love an intelligently played wizard.

[The Wanderer]

It looks like the super troops managed to get at least one of the higher leveled hobs on his spear...how high a level do you have to have to survive being impaled on a giant spear long enough to look surprised?

Not to mention that he had a goatee, a sure sign of being both high ranked and evil.

[Tach13]

If I ever go from playing a rogue to playing a wizard, I'm using V as my guide, lol. I expect the mass fireballing is holding until the hobgoblins appear to be breaking through and the need becomes greater. They aren't unlimited in number, and if V can use other spells first to hold the enemy off, more power to V.

[Professor Tanhauser]

Did someone say that enlarge person only doubled the target's height? I wonder if those potions V had them swig did something about that. (Like I say, I know nuzzink aabout der D unt D, I'm more into traveller.)

But I still love OotS for the wit and the fact it doesn't abuse anyone.

[Fishies]

Bigby's Helping Hand

No; Bigg's Helping Hand!

If he says Bigby he might get sued by Wizards.

[denelian]

i <3 V!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Solmage]

V for president!! :) :) :)

[Jannex]

So, about half a dozen other people have already come up with the "hob-kebab-lin" remark before me, which is to be expected. Awesome strip, though. It's always terribly amusing to see one of the OotS make somebody go, "...Oh." V FTW.

[Aerysil]

Enlarged with reach. Nasty.

Hobgob-kabob, anyone?

V should write a book on stronghold defense.

[Vonriel]

Bwahaha.. Kobold kebabs..

[Amotis]

V is pretty good at this war thing, isn't s/he?

[fractal]

Did someone say that enlarge person only doubled the target's height? I wonder if those potions V had them swig did something about that. (Like I say, I know nuzzink aabout der D unt D, I'm more into traveller.)

It does only double. It seems that The Giant is a bit generous with his size increases. This suggests that Thor's Might is probably just Righteous Might, and Durkon's extreme size increase was only artistic license.

[VariaVespasa]

I think you meant 13, since he only enchanted 13. FP!

Its certainly a strong indication of lvl 13, but its possible that he limited himself to 13 because that was the size of the breach so its not totally conclusive. Do we have any daily spell-use counts that would suggest anything else?

[Sturmjaeger]

Intelligent use of spells to hold the line. Well done, V!

[shaddy_24]

And we may know that V is at least 13th level, be he/she could be higher. Didn't V only purchase 13 Heroism potions, which is why he/she only selected 13 soldiers to buff.

No, s/he bought 27 of them, more than enough to cover the guards.

[Haruki-kun]

You know, it's moments like this one that make me remember just how smart V really is.

GO VAARSUVIUS!!!!!!!!

[TheRani]

First, how did Vaarsuvius forget Haste?? What an amazing mass-combat buff! Doesn't last so long, but it would more than double the power of all 13 soldiers, for a mere 3rd level spell!

Maybe V's waiting until next round to cast Mass Haste. Since the duration is only like 13 rounds or so, V would want to cast it last. You wouldn't want to Haste while the enemy is still far away, because you'd waste rounds waiting for the enemy to reach you.

[fractal]

Its certainly a strong indication of lvl 13, but its possible that he limited himself to 13 because that was the size of the breach so its not totally conclusive. Do we have any daily spell-use counts that would suggest anything else?

If you had extra targets for a buff spell, in a mass combat situation, wouldn't you be sure to cast them on someone? I think we can assume that V. is level 13 (which we believed already).

[Tordek]

In what strip did V buy potions?

[Crystall_Myr]

135 Potionomics

[Mewtroid]

V is awesome.

Male or female does not matter. V is awesomeness incarnate.

I guess it runs in the species.

[Grimoa]

Nice one!

But I still can't wait to find out about Xykon....

[okpokalypse]

but if Xykon IS with those goblins, then a quick dispel magic will make things uncomfortable for V and Co. Years of gaming have tought me never to depend to much on magic buffs.

If it's just a regular Dispel Magic, it's only got a 35% chance of dropping any effect from a CL 13 Caster. And since it'd have to be an area dispel, it can only Dispel 1 Spell per Target in the Area.

The odds of a Dispel Magic dropping any one Enlarge Person is about 15% considering two L6 Spells (Bear's, Bull's) and L4 Spell (Enlarge). By the Spells description, it affects higher-level spells first.

If it's a Greater Dispel Magic, the % of the Enlarge Dropping actually goes up, as the % chance of a L6 Spell being affected increases, keeping Enlarge Person buffered from the effects.

It's actually a brilliant strategy. As a Wizard (or any buffer), if you're ever stuck buffing large amounts of Melee'rs it always makes sense to have a few higher-level AoE Buffs to act as a Dispel Cushion for the Melee Buffs you don't want your allies to lose.

I do that myself with a Cleric PC of mine. I persist Righteous Wrath of the Faithful (L5: +3/+3 & Extra Attack) and Blessing of the Righteous (L4: +1d6 Holy Damage per Attack & Weapons are Good Aligned) as primary Melee Buffs. I also give a Heroes Feast (L6) before known large-scale battles to act as an Area Dispelling Buffer (as well as other moderate bonuses), and also do a Mass Spell Resistance (L7) right as the battle starts to be a dual Spell Blocker / Dispel Buffer.

Personally, I think Clerics are even better suited to this than Wizards are . I'd love to see what Durkon can do, other than the same old Thor's Might. If he's L13 as well, he could be ripping entire chunks of the Army apart with Holy Word, or Immobilizing it with a Control Weather. And he should very well kill the Lich in 2 shots with Bolt of Glory (L6 Spell: 13d12 Damage - No Save) x2.

[Eldritch_Ent]

Anyone else here wondering if V smacked some Metaspell feats on those spells when he was preparing for the day? (Especially ones that, say, improve duration?)

[Quixotic]

Kick. Ass.

[skinkatlarge]

If it's just a regular Dispel Magic, it's only got a 35% chance of dropping any effect from a CL 13 Caster. And since it'd have to be an area dispel, it can only Dispel 1 Spell per Target in the Area.

The odds of a Dispel Magic dropping any one Enlarge Person is about 15% considering two L6 Spells (Bear's, Bull's) and L4 Spell (Enlarge). By the Spells description, it affects higher-level spells first.

If it's a Greater Dispel Magic, the % of the Enlarge Dropping actually goes up, as the % chance of a L6 Spell being affected increases, keeping Enlarge Person buffered from the effects.

It's actually a brilliant strategy. As a Wizard (or any buffer), if you're ever stuck buffing large amounts of Melee'rs it always makes sense to have a few higher-level AoE Buffs to act as a Dispel Cushion for the Melee Buffs you don't want your allies to lose.

I do that myself with a Cleric PC of mine. I persist Righteous Wrath of the Faithful (L5: +3/+3 & Extra Attack) and Blessing of the Righteous (L4: +1d6 Holy Damage per Attack & Weapons are Good Aligned) as primary Melee Buffs. I also give a Heroes Feast (L6) before known large-scale battles to act as an Area Dispelling Buffer (as well as other moderate bonuses), and also do a Mass Spell Resistance (L7) right as the battle starts to be a dual Spell Blocker / Dispel Buffer.

Personally, I think Clerics are even better suited to this than Wizards are . I'd love to see what Durkon can do, other than the same old Thor's Might. If he's L13 as well, he could be ripping entire chunks of the Army apart with Holy Word, or Immobilizing it with a Control Weather. And he should very well kill the Lich in 2 shots with Bolt of Glory (L6 Spell: 13d12 Damage - No Save) x2.

Well, I'm pretty sure Durkon

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isn't going to take down Xykon in two rounds

, but I'm really interested in seeing what he does. I'm a little surprised there's no storm going already...

[Elftist]

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V is almost too awesome. I'm worried she's going to get killed. That would be the worst thing ever.