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Psion posted:I figure it's time for everyone to play the baseless prediction game: Nah, they'll successfully beat off the siege after Roy whups the Lords of Azure City into submission. My prediction for the battle is the death of Redcloak. Its time for a new henchman to rise.
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Feb 15, 2007 09:21
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The Werle posted:Nah, they'll successfully beat off the siege after Roy whups the Lords of Azure City into submission. Not Redcloak! I reckon the umbrella monster will finally fight somebody and die/get separated from Xyclon.
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Feb 15, 2007 10:30
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I predict that the battle will go badly for the defenders (they're still short a defensive tower and all the nobles are jumping ship). In dire straits, one of the Order (probably Elan again) will find a way to destroy the gate. Those parts of Azure City that aren't levelled in the resultant explosion will be raped thoroughly by Xykon's hordes. Xykon, having lost another gate, says "well gently caress, off to the next gate then". He leaves his hobgoblin horde to their looting and pillaging and trades up to the next challenge-rating minion race. Miko and the Linear Guild are freed in the battle. Miko sees the gate destroyed again, and just goes further off the deep end. She joins the Guild and goes Blackguard, and immediately starts struggling for dominance with Nale.
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Feb 15, 2007 20:48
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I really like Psion's prediction with Hinjo joining the team and being Miko's opposite, but if Miko joins the Linear Guild I can't see how she wouldn't become dominant. She's drat near magic-proof (or would be again once she gets Blackguard levels) and so can't be charmed into obedience barring Burlew just saying she is, I think she'd smash the Guild in a stand-up fight even with it being three-on-one, and I don't think she'd happily play subordinate because she's just not like that. And Miko being dominant isn't cool because you'd lose the megalomaniacal scheming.
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Feb 15, 2007 21:02
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My prediction:
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Feb 15, 2007 23:24
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SuperKlaus posted:I really like Psion's prediction with Hinjo joining the team and being Miko's opposite, but if Miko joins the Linear Guild I can't see how she wouldn't become dominant. She's drat near magic-proof (or would be again once she gets Blackguard levels) and so can't be charmed into obedience barring Burlew just saying she is, I think she'd smash the Guild in a stand-up fight even with it being three-on-one, and I don't think she'd happily play subordinate because she's just not like that. And Miko being dominant isn't cool because you'd lose the megalomaniacal scheming. Nale wouldn't need magic, he'd need a subtle psychological nudge, a bit of verbal manipulation, and a promise that her powers will be restored. It won't take much to convince her that she's smiting "evil" once she sees that the OOTS is taking more damamge from her attacks again. And she is prone to hopping to non-sensical conclusions. I'm not saying Nale can control her forever, just long enough for her to serve his purpose. He's evil, that's what he does.
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Feb 16, 2007 17:30
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I don't have the impression that Nale would get along well with Miko at any rate. Both have too big an ego and their moral alignments wouldn't mesh well either. From an authorial standpoint, the fallen paladin certainly deserves more than being one of Nale's sidekicks. For the battle, I expect some interesting betrayals that go beyond the city's noblemen turning on Hinjo. Of course it will be very close and right now I don't have the slightest hint where the story will go after this. Lafarga raises an interesting point though.
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Feb 16, 2007 20:49
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frankenfreak posted:I don't have the impression that Nale would get along well with Miko at any rate. Both have too big an ego and their moral alignments wouldn't mesh well either. From an authorial standpoint, the fallen paladin certainly deserves more than being one of Nale's sidekicks. No thinking man can be ruled, but Miko could be manipulated. Having a 1v1 evil v good story line would be boring. Nale and Miko being in opposition, but struggling to cooperate could make for a good story, particularly if Nale is written cleverly.
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Feb 16, 2007 21:03
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Lafarga posted:My prediction: I, uh, don't quite get it. You think Xykon is going to make an effort to retrieve his crown? You know Roy really made things worse this last strip. Stepping in and being a jerk to the nobleman may have cost the city his support and really the last thing Hinjo needs is the impression he's a weakling whose thugs keep him safe.
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Feb 16, 2007 21:57
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SuperKlaus posted:I, uh, don't quite get it. You think Xykon is going to make an effort to retrieve his crown? Roy's had that thing around his neck for hundreds of strips and I think it's been commented on once. At this point it's just part of his character design, like his boots. If I were doing the strip, that's how I would get ready to make everybody reading the comic go "oh crap, I forgot about that!" when this always-present but rarely-mentioned item becomes important. I have no idea how it's going to be important, but my bet is that it's going to turn out to be critical in some manner during this next sequence, and Roy's going to beat himself up for forgetting he had it.
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Feb 16, 2007 23:12
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The Werle posted:Nah, they'll successfully beat off the siege after Roy whups the Lords of Azure City into submission. I don't think so, only because there are 5 gates, and at this point 4 left, right? Using the exponential plot points to strip length calculator, 2 will fall, 3 will fall in a while, 4 will fall in a long-rear end time, and 5 will a long time after that, and then the end of the strip will get drawn out to infinity at that point. 
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Feb 17, 2007 00:46
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Lafarga posted:Roy's had that thing around his neck for hundreds of strips and I think it's been commented on once. At this point it's just part of his character design, like his boots. If I were doing the strip, that's how I would get ready to make everybody reading the comic go "oh crap, I forgot about that!" when this always-present but rarely-mentioned item becomes important.
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Feb 17, 2007 01:51
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SuperKlaus posted:You know Roy really made things worse this last strip. Stepping in and being a jerk to the nobleman may have cost the city his support and really the last thing Hinjo needs is the impression he's a weakling whose thugs keep him safe. I disagree, he's the new bodyguard, and well, when you step close to a newly crowned monarch and say something like that, in a culture with what is evidently widespread assassin use, that's nearly making an open threat. Roy was just reminding him not to get ahead of himself.
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Feb 17, 2007 02:37
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Did anybody else just completely assume that the crown amulet was Xykon's phylactery? 'Cause I sure did. It just seems perfectly correct that the PCs would end up accidentally carrying it around, but won't realize it until after they lose it somehow. I mean, it's so evil that it made anybody who wore it register as evil to a paladin, even when they're LG. Clearly it's bad mojo, and unless I miss my guess nobody's ever cast detect magic on it. (Could be wrong, too lazy to double-check.) I dunno, it just seems totally in keeping with the comic, and the repeating gag that the PCs routinely don't do things that are really just good ideas/common sense in the D&D setting (a DM lament that is, unfortunately, not unusual.) Hell, I've had PCs carry poo poo around for AGES without detecting it, despite the fact that it's clearly somehow special. Most common response, when they actually find out that it's some incredibly helpful magical item, is "Well, I forgot/just assumed it was cursed/a trick."
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Feb 17, 2007 02:46
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TheFuzzyLumpkin posted:Did anybody else just completely assume that the crown amulet was Xykon's phylactery? 'Cause I sure did. It just seems perfectly correct that the PCs would end up accidentally carrying it around, but won't realize it until after they lose it somehow. I thought the lich always regenerated near his phylachery?
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Feb 17, 2007 02:51
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Nothing about a location requirement in the 3.5 MM. It's one of those common PC conceptions that is totally untrue (and consequently really too much fun to abuse the hell out of.) I mean, would liches be so terrifying if you could negate their regeneration just by grabbing their remains and going a sufficient distance? The hell is the point of the phylactery, then, if you can functionally perma-kill them by running a sufficient distance? They're the D&D equivalent of Terminators - until the phylactery is gone, they ALWAYS come back, and usually with a hard-on for loving up the guys who temporarily killed them. Because the D&D world is a bit low-tech, it tends to be somewhat near the lich, along the lines of "within the same kingdom where the lich currently resides." But that's really just narrative convenience. TheFuzzyLumpkin fucked around with this message at 02:57 on Feb 17, 2007 |
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Feb 17, 2007 02:55
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TheFuzzyLumpkin posted:Nothing about a location requirement in the 3.5 MM. It's one of those common PC conceptions that is totally untrue (and consequently really too much fun to abuse the hell out of.) So he just regenerates at an arbitrary location (with an excess of human bones)?  edit: Man, I don't know where I got my information on this stuff (it's been seven or eight years since I read the core books) but I thought the Lich's remains weren't importiant, he can ''regenerate'' from unrelated tissue? CoolCab fucked around with this message at 02:59 on Feb 17, 2007 |
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Feb 17, 2007 02:56
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Generally he regenerates from wherever his remains happen to be. At least, that's the way I always rule it, since liches have a physical body. If they scatter the remains, I say it regenerates wherever the skull is left, but that's just a DM ruling and is totally arbitrary. If they really wreck the corpse (in an effort to somehow effect the 1d10 regeneration time), I will have the lich respawn within 2d20 miles of its phylactery, but again - that's just my ruling, since there's nothing in the RAW about it. Edit: I consider the Big Three the most important and very rarely use splatbooks since so much in them are horribly broken and I have the occasional problem with munchkins. I do allow that there may be some totally different rules about liches in the Book of Vile Darkness or the like; I'm just going by straight MM.
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Feb 17, 2007 02:59
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TheFuzzyLumpkin posted:Did anybody else just completely assume that the crown amulet was Xykon's phylactery? No, not really.
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Feb 17, 2007 03:00
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This is what I get for being too lazy to check the archives. Oh, well.
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Feb 17, 2007 03:01
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TheFuzzyLumpkin posted:Because the D&D world is a bit low-tech, it tends to be somewhat near the lich, along the lines of "within the same kingdom where the lich currently resides." But that's really just narrative convenience. I know nothing of the game, but if I had to guess I'd say they based the idea of the phylactery on Koschei the Immortal. An evil wizard from Russian folklore, he hid his soul "inside a needle, which is in an egg, which is in a duck, which is in a hare, which is in an iron chest, which is buried under a green oak tree, which is on the island of Buyan, in the ocean." As long as the needle is okay, he can regenerate.
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Feb 17, 2007 03:29
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HitTheTargets posted:I know nothing of the game, but if I had to guess I'd say they based the idea of the phylactery on Koschei the Immortal. An evil wizard from Russian folklore, he hid his soul "inside a needle, which is in an egg, which is in a duck, which is in a hare, which is in an iron chest, which is buried under a green oak tree, which is on the island of Buyan, in the ocean." As long as the needle is okay, he can regenerate. Why bother putting it in all of those animals if you're going to stick it in an iron chest and bury it 
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Feb 17, 2007 03:32
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Cowcaster posted:Why bother putting it in all of those animals if you're going to stick it in an iron chest and bury it
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Feb 17, 2007 03:35
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According to Van Richten's Guide to the Lich, which I've always though was one of the better fluff sources in d&d, a Lich can only possess a new body that is a corpse within 60 feet, and has remained within 60 feet for a single day. It kinda makes sense to include some kind of limitation, else every lich would do something along the lines of hiding it in a invisible magical box somewhere in the plane of void. But of course, as always, the DM can do what he wants. Edit: However, that's second edition canon to be fair. The IronMonkey fucked around with this message at 03:43 on Feb 17, 2007 |
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Feb 17, 2007 03:40
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Cowcaster posted:Why bother putting it in all of those animals if you're going to stick it in an iron chest and bury it 'Cause if you open the chest, the rabbit will run away. AND, if you happen to catch the bunny, and are heartless enough to hack it open, the duck will loving fly! Back before shotguns and Dick Cheneys, this was a big deal. I wonder if Roy and the gang even know Xykon has a phylactery. It didn't occur to them last time, but I don't recall them being too surprised to hear that he's back. You'd think the elf would know.
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Feb 17, 2007 03:54
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Cowcaster posted:Why bother putting it in all of those animals if you're going to stick it in an iron chest and bury it Next you're going to ask us why the Baba Yaga rides around on a giant mortar & pestle. I don't think you are properly into the spirit of Crazy Russian Magic People.
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Feb 17, 2007 06:22
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Lafarga posted:Roy's had that thing around his neck for hundreds of strips and I think it's been commented on once. At this point it's just part of his character design, like his boots. If I were doing the strip, that's how I would get ready to make everybody reading the comic go "oh crap, I forgot about that!" when this always-present but rarely-mentioned item becomes important. I don't think the crown has any importance whatsoever. Xykon doesn't give two shits about the Order, he knows they got in his way last time but he still considers them smalltime. He doesn't even remember Roy's name, much less have a hardon for killing him because Roy took his stupid hat. The Werle fucked around with this message at 08:37 on Feb 17, 2007 |
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Feb 17, 2007 06:57
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The Werle posted:I don't think the crown has any importance whatsoever. Xyclon doesn't give two shits about the Order, he knows they got in his way last time but he still considers them smalltime. He doesn't even remember Roy's name, much less have a hardon for killing him because Roy took his stupid hat. I don't think Xykon cares about the crown per se, or the Order, or Roy. But it's the Crown of the Lich King, and this is a D&D world. These sorts of things always have power because it's the how these worlds operate. The spiky-haired anime hero forgives his enemies; the mysterious stranger sweeps the sheltered housewife off her feet; the trophy the hero kept when he destroyed the monstrous evil turns out to be either 1) the secret to saving the world the next time or 2) the way that the evil returns. It's narrative causality, and I thank my stars that I am not a fictional character.
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Feb 17, 2007 07:40
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:insertsmiliehere: New Strip is Up! :insertsmiliehere:
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Feb 17, 2007 08:10
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Frudu, you must destroy the Ming!
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Feb 17, 2007 08:13
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Murky & Lurky live inside all our hearts 
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Feb 17, 2007 10:13
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Haha, that dwarf paladin is so screwed...
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Feb 17, 2007 19:49
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SuperKlaus posted:Haha, that dwarf paladin is so screwed... Magical items do get a save against a Rust Monster's attacks so if he's high level then he isn't necessarily out of luck. Though next time he should probably hire a Monk to handle this sort of situation.
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Feb 18, 2007 19:10
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Does the Monster Manual say anything about how and where lichs regenerate? It has been a while since I read it, but I do not recall it saying anything about possessing a corpse, and Xykon seemed to regenerate his bones out of thin air.
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Feb 18, 2007 19:23
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Vanadium posted:Does the Monster Manual say anything about how and where lichs regenerate? It has been a while since I read it, but I do not recall it saying anything about possessing a corpse, and Xykon seemed to regenerate his bones out of thin air. Redcloak had the corpse of a very small humanoid in his pocket, see. Seriously, though. From the 3.5E Monster Manual: "Unless its phylactery is located and destroyed, a lich reappears 1d10 days after its apparent death." That's it. No further details. I suppose the DM gets to be as boring or as innovative as he wants.
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Feb 18, 2007 21:24
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The Libris Mortis reprints that with a tad more information, making it clear that the lich regens near his phylactery. I always thought that just made sense, intuitively.
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Feb 18, 2007 23:09
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SuperKlaus posted:The Libris Mortis reprints that with a tad more information, making it clear that the lich regens near his phylactery. I always thought that just made sense, intuitively. I just figured it worked sorta like a vampire's, where they had to get their spirit back into their coffin to start regenerating, and to do that, the coffin had to be kept within a certain range due to the time limit.
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Feb 19, 2007 11:59
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Lafarga posted:Redcloak had the corpse of a very small humanoid in his pocket, see. It is not like Redcloak has any problems with turning humanoids into corpses really quick if necessary 
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Feb 19, 2007 16:10
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 New Strip Baby Oh Xykon, you'll never rule the world with this attitude. This reenforces my guess about Redcloak, he's getting awfully emotionally invested in this.
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Feb 20, 2007 06:09
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I love how fleshed out all the characters are in this. They're great. I wish the NPCs I encounter and create were this well thought through.
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Feb 20, 2007 06:23
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