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rantmo posted:Even though the discussion on it has started What's the line the evil creature under the umbrella refers to about? I don't get it at all  Edit: Thanks Shelper. tsob fucked around with this message at 20:57 on May 4, 2007 |
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May 4, 2007 20:46
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| # ? May 14, 2024 03:30 |
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Umbrella guy still thinks the Death Knight and the other foul creatures in Xykon disguise were his brothers.
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May 4, 2007 20:48
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Kahrytes posted:Xykon is awesome. Makes perfect sense so far. It's like a game of Warlords III.
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May 4, 2007 20:52
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This new strip worries me. Basically, it's such an obvious set up for Xykon to whip out something to totally destroy them all in one fell swoop that I'll feel cheated if that's what happens. I second happy elf's concerns. Please don't let this mark the time when OOTS begins to suck. And oh god, please don't let it be a wish spell that lets Xykon beat them. That would be stupid beyond words.
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May 4, 2007 21:36
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clockworkjoe posted:This new strip worries me. Basically, it's such an obvious set up for Xykon to whip out something to totally destroy them all in one fell swoop that I'll feel cheated if that's what happens. I second happy elf's concerns. Please don't let this mark the time when OOTS begins to suck. How about Time Stop?
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May 4, 2007 21:49
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I'm thinking Rich is planning on it being a hard fight for him and showcase his abilities. Too many people are thinking of the BBEG as an incompetent gently caress up; this will either remove that idea or totally confirm it. Either way the next comic is supposedly a double length so there's going to be more to it than a one spell victory.
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May 4, 2007 21:55
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greatn posted:How about Time Stop? Almost as bad. time stop, meteor swarm x 4 then finish it off with some save or die spells.
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May 4, 2007 22:06
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clockworkjoe posted:Almost as bad. time stop, meteor swarm x 4 then finish it off with some save or die spells. If you wanna be a real bitch: Time Stop > Mordenkainen's Disjunction > Delayed Blast Fireball x3 > Prismatic Spray > Horrid Wilting Pulling this off on a regular basis is a sure sign it's time to retire that character. It's cheese-O-rific! Edit: This would also assume a person who could cast at least 2 9th level spells a day. (3 For Xykon, since he Meteor Swarmed Roy....I doubt he's that high in level.) BAWRLIN fucked around with this message at 22:25 on May 4, 2007 |
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May 4, 2007 22:22
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Also, no Lich should be unconcerned by the sheer amount of paladin in that room. (Quote still does not equal Edit.)
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May 4, 2007 22:27
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The IronMonkey posted:Makes perfect sense so far. It's like a game of Warlords III. Basically, he's going to be using the dwagons to kill Ansom's siege in a way that makes the dwagons pretty much immune to attack. The only way Ansom can counter it is his own fliers and (if they're within range of the forest where Parson's basing his dwagons out of) Woodsy Elves. Neither group is likely to stand up well to a full-on dwagon assault, and thanks to the way Parson's set this up it's going to be near impossible to kill any dwagons that retreat after killing siege.
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May 4, 2007 22:57
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BAWRLIN posted:Edit: This would also assume a person who could cast at least 2 9th level spells a day. (3 For Xykon, since he Meteor Swarmed Roy....I doubt he's that high in level.) At 18th level, when you can first cast 9th level spells, you get a base of 3 9th level spells per day. That's not counting bonus spells for high stats.
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May 4, 2007 23:45
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ConfusedUs posted:At 18th level, when you can first cast 9th level spells, you get a base of 3 9th level spells per day. That's not counting bonus spells for high stats. I would call you a nerd for knowing that, but I dusted off my copy of 3rd edition PHB and double checked your facts. And while a lvl 18 Sorcerer does get 3 level 9 spells per day, he only knows one level 9 spell. Ha! And now I feel very nerdy...
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May 5, 2007 01:06
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clockworkjoe posted:Almost as bad. time stop, meteor swarm x 4 then finish it off with some save or die spells. How about timestop, fly in and grab the portal gem from the throne, and then fly out? Remember, his objective isn't to defeat his enemies, it's to gently caress with the dimentional thingy.
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May 5, 2007 03:21
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Schwarzwald posted:How about timestop, fly in and grab the portal gem from the throne, and then fly out? I can't see him NOT loving with the paladins once he's seen that. He might time stop, grab the gem and then start killing people, though.
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May 5, 2007 03:22
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Schwarzwald posted:How about timestop, fly in and grab the portal gem from the throne, and then fly out? Grabbing the gem would do no good though, because he needs to stay in the room to use the portal. That's why Redcloak is upset that he's rushing into things.
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May 5, 2007 03:28
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Vomax posted:I can't see him NOT loving with the paladins once he's seen that. He might time stop, grab the gem and then start killing people, though.  New Comic! Well, that was certainly inventive.
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May 5, 2007 04:17
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Yeroc2 posted:
I love Xykon. I also cannot wait for "Start of Darkness" to arrive.
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May 5, 2007 04:17
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Xykon has the stongest power of all, the power of imagination.
Schwarzwald fucked around with this message at 04:35 on May 5, 2007 |
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May 5, 2007 04:30
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Wow, that was certainly unexpected. My love and respect for Xykon as a villian just grows and grows. He keeps topping himself 
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May 5, 2007 04:31
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Reading the OOTS forum thread in regards to this one. So much bitching about the rules. Xykon you magnificent bastard.
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May 5, 2007 05:35
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farraday posted:Xykon you magnificent bastard. Seconding this. Sweet zombie Buddha that was twisted. Xykon is the greatest badguy in the history of badguys.
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May 5, 2007 05:36
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It's great that such a plan would work, too. Because liches are immune to mind-affecting stuff, right? And you have to make a new save against Symbol of Insanity whenever you enter its radius even if you succeeded before? The way that thing was zipping around means that most of the paladins probably got exposed like three or four times, so even their Cha-based bonus to saves wouldn't save them. Plus most of them are probably like level eight.
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May 5, 2007 05:39
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Having sat down and read the entire series start to finish, I am pissed that I didn't know about this comic before. This is really good stuff, both for comedy and for plot.
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May 5, 2007 05:46
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Ugh. This was a pretty crappy cop out because insanity isn't that powerful and all the paladins would have gotten a will save, which many should have made. I'm irritated with it because it was telegraphed so obviously.
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May 5, 2007 06:01
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clockworkjoe posted:Ugh. This was a pretty crappy cop out because insanity isn't that powerful and all the paladins would have gotten a will save, which many should have made. I'm irritated with it because it was telegraphed so obviously.
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May 5, 2007 06:16
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Man. Xykon's a dick. It's getting to the point where I hope he loses, not because he's the bad guy, but just because I don't like him. (As a person, note, not as a character. He's an awesome character.)
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May 5, 2007 06:20
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NorgLyle posted:I'm just happy that the paladins are all dead. All that remains now is for Xyke to do whatever he's going to do with the gate and then raze the stupid Azure City to the ground and we'll finally be done with this shithole of a sidequest. I'm so sick of pretty much everything about this part of the plot. Isn't this like, the MAIN quest?? and recall, it takes 'weeks' for Xykon to do whatever he wants. We're not really done here by a long shot.
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May 5, 2007 06:42
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NorgLyle posted:I'm just happy that the paladins are all dead. All that remains now is for Xyke to do whatever he's going to do with the gate and then raze the stupid Azure City to the ground and we'll finally be done with this shithole of a sidequest. I'm so sick of pretty much everything about this part of the plot. Sidequest? This is the main plot bub. I do agree on getting this part over with though. Okay, Xykon won and Roy's dead. Let's do something fun now.
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May 5, 2007 06:42
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clockworkjoe posted:This new strip worries me. Basically, it's such an obvious set up for Xykon to whip out something to totally destroy them all in one fell swoop that I'll feel cheated if that's what happens. I second happy elf's concerns. Please don't let this mark the time when OOTS begins to suck. Sure it sucked, I mean it was an interesting idea it's still the same old "Paladins/knights/special forces guys get their rear end kicked by the villain/monster" cliche, these guys may as well be the knights of solamnia for all the resistace they put up against the plot. Also the spell doesn't work like anything like that, it cannot be used on offence, or placed on a weapon, or anything of the sort. Yeah yeah I know, big deal stupid rules lol, but he may as well have cast summon voltron. But all that aside, what i'm saying is that that doesn't mean the webcomic is going to start sucking, because this guy is a good writer and even if he writes something that's kinda lame, he's still a good writer afterwards. People are used to webcomics going like this, if we consider them from page to page: "ok - ok - cool - ok - ok i guess - kinda lame - BLUHHH DUHHH SIX YEAR LOVE TRIANGLE SUBPLOT WITH AN ANIME ROBOT" Wheras a good writer it's more like this, as they work their way through different ideas and plot: "good - cool - good - cool - good - ok that didn't work for me - good - what - good - cool" This didn't work for me and I think his take on paladins is a bit of a let-down considering his approach to a lot of game concepts, wich tend to be pretty fresh. But there's no way i'm holding it against him because it's just one scene and it doesn't drat him like it would a 'different' kind of writer. He's got more credibility than that. Efreet saiid fucked around with this message at 10:23 on May 5, 2007 |
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May 5, 2007 10:09
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what I like is that if those few paladins hadn't turned around and noticed the hysteria behind them they could have just kept beating on Xykon outside of the ball's influence and sent his careless rear end back to Redcloak. I love the whole "whatever, I'm a badass lich I'll win no matter what stupid things I do" aspect of Xykon's character but even I'll admit that up until this point when he almost got his rear end handed to him again that it was starting to get overdone.
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May 5, 2007 10:45
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Efreet saiid posted:My point is that this isn't the point where it "begins to suck". I agree, pretty much. I thought it was great the way the first paladin introduced is a stereotypically portrayed psychotic, justice-obsessed nut and then he flips it around and shows that all the other paladins think she's whacked out too. But now they're just cannon-fodder? Weak. I knew Xykon wouldn't be defeated, but to have him dispatch them almost effortlessly was a bit too deus-ex machina and bucks the rules entirely. Still, it was funny to see the last one alive kill herself in shame, and as elfy guy above me stated, its not like their haven't been low points in the comic before, but they are scant periods on a gradually-rising line of good and funny writing.
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May 5, 2007 11:01
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Wolfsheim posted:I agree, pretty much. I thought it was great the way the first paladin introduced is a stereotypically portrayed psychotic, justice-obsessed nut and then he flips it around and shows that all the other paladins think she's whacked out too. But now they're just cannon-fodder? Weak. I knew Xykon wouldn't be defeated, but to have him dispatch them almost effortlessly was a bit too deus-ex machina and bucks the rules entirely. I think the reason I don't mind any of this is because it's making it clear just how powerful Xykon is. He mentioned this on the dragon - he's seven levels or more higher than Roy. Isn't Roy supposed to be nearing level 10 by now? Xykon could very well be double his level. That's not "epic fight". That's not "final boss". That's "total party wipe". They're quite possibly going up against a level 20 epic lich. On top of that, I seem to remember that Miko was one of the best paladin warriors, and that left her only a level or two above the rest of the party (people seem to believe Miko won through a combination of good luck and DM's Plotline, as well as being somewhat more powerful than the OotS - but it wasn't an obvious overwhelming victory.) So, if that's the case, what's the average level of the fortress guard? Five? Three? Less? They're having trouble with the same set of hobgoblins that Belkar doesn't get XP for. I wouldn't be surprised if the OotS could put up a good fight against the entire guard of Azure City, but the entire OotS together wouldn't be able to do more than mildly entertain Xykon. Xykon is that powerful. Xykon is going to win this fight. Xykon probably could have won this fight singlehandedly. That's why he never really cared - because he knew it wasn't going to be a fight worth worrying about. I bet he only keeps lackeys around so he doesn't have to bother with lots of low-level adventurers trying to kill him. I suspect a good number of Xykon's suggestions in that above-linked strip are going to come true.
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May 5, 2007 12:45
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How the heck could anyone read that and think low point? That was so perfect. Plus if Xykon didn't wipe out the guards using a bunch of tricksy spells and just stormed the castle with his army the same people would be complaining about how a high level spell-caster wouldn't use traditional tactics and could wipe out all the Paladins by himself if he used spell X then spell Y etc
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May 5, 2007 12:56
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ZorbaTHut posted:On top of that, I seem to remember that Miko was one of the best paladin warriors, and that left her only a level or two above the rest of the party (people seem to believe Miko won through a combination of good luck and DM's Plotline, as well as being somewhat more powerful than the OotS - but it wasn't an obvious overwhelming victory.) So, if that's the case, what's the average level of the fortress guard? Five? Three? Less? They're having trouble with the same set of hobgoblins that Belkar doesn't get XP for. Seriously. Xykon is a level 20ish lich sorcerer. The highest level paladin in that swarm of holy guys was probably, like, level ten or less - we know Miko was their strongest and she's out, and Hinjo, probably the second strongest, is out on the walls! "Realistically", Xykon could've just cast Wail of the Banshee or something similar and destroyed them all in seconds. Sure, they get to add their Charisma to their saves, but quite frankly plus two or three to your fort save will not give you the ability to survive a ninth-level spell cast by an epic or near-epic lich who's probably specialized in that spell's school. Xykon had this in the bag from the start - it was just a matter of him finishing the fight in a straightforward way or a cool way. Complaining about it being "cliched" when a really powerful guy defeats a bunch of weak-to-average guys is silly. You may as well complain about Roy's death being cliched because how many times has the hero died dramatically, huh, guys? Or maybe the entire battle, because wowee, big seige where the good guys are outnumbered, never seen that before 
Ferrinus fucked around with this message at 13:27 on May 5, 2007 |
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May 5, 2007 13:24
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Holy cow he is such a jerk. That poor paladin in the last panel is killing herself. 
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May 5, 2007 13:30
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Vomax posted:Holy cow he is such a jerk. That poor paladin in the last panel is killing herself. As she says, "What have I done??" It's not Xykon's fault she failed her Will save. And of course, she probably had some inner aggression that she was just waiting to unleash against that one-eyed guy for spurning her, and that blue-haired chick who keeps talking behind her back... 
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May 5, 2007 16:18
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ZorbaTHut posted:He mentioned this on the dragon - he's seven levels or more higher than Roy. Isn't Roy supposed to be nearing level 10 by now? The Order is in the low teen levels, somewhere around 13 if I remember right, so yeah, Roy and the rest of the everyone else are seriously, seriously out-classed at the moment.
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May 5, 2007 16:38
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I feel sorry for the paladin committing seppuku. ZorbaTHut posted:He mentioned this on the dragon - he's seven levels or more higher than Roy. Isn't Roy supposed to be nearing level 10 by now? While the strip has never sat down and deliberately stated what level the characters are, it's generally agreed that the members of the Order are all around 13th level by now, because they're all about the same level and V can cast multiple 6th-level spells in a single day.
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May 5, 2007 16:40
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rantmo posted:The Order is in the low teen levels, somewhere around 13 if I remember right, so yeah, Roy and the rest of the everyone else are seriously, seriously out-classed at the moment. Okay, I guess I underestimated the Order's levels a bit. But that makes it even more certain that Xykon is level 20, and has all rights to be stomping around the fortress annihilating things effortlessly. Or higher. Isn't there a D&D supplement or two that includes rules for up to level 40? 
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May 5, 2007 17:17
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ZorbaTHut posted:Okay, I guess I underestimated the Order's levels a bit. But that makes it even more certain that Xykon is level 20, and has all rights to be stomping around the fortress annihilating things effortlessly. The Epic Level Handbook was one of the most broken books WotC ever released and I really hope Burlew doesn't start including Epic stuff in OotS.
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May 5, 2007 17:20
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