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Dolash posted:I'd never considered who will actually live or die by the end of the story (OotS ending has always seemed a rather distant prospect). With Belkar and Durkon set to expire, and V not having the best chances of survival, who of Roy, Elan and Haley will make it out? Narratively it wouldn't be too unusual for Roy to bite it in order to defeat Xykon once and for all, so it might just be Elan and Haley who survive. I don't think we're all that close to the end. We're certainly more than halfway there, but events at this gate have to resolve (maybe the fiends will take over V here, maybe not) and then there's one more after this. I can imagine, however, the comic will finish with the destruction of Xykon; Redcloak's plans going entirely off the rails, because the rifts and the Snarl aren't completely understood; Durkon and Belkar having died (one heroically, one in an utterly stupid and anticlimactic way); Elan and Haley retiring from adventuring; and Roy putting together a new team (perhaps with V) and going off to investigate what he thinks is the hiding place of Xykon's phylactery. That extradimensional fortress provides a nice plausible way to have Roy continue having adventures while letting the readers know that the main story (the defeat of Xykon) is done. sfwarlock fucked around with this message at 02:34 on Feb 9, 2013 |
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Feb 9, 2013 01:09
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jng2058 posted:Elan gets a happy ending, per prophecy. While it might just be possible to see a definition of happy where Roy dies nobly, I can't see Elan being willing to lose Haley and still consider it a "happy ending." Therefore, I'm going with: A happy ending for Elan could also mean -him- dying, if it means he gets to save Haley, too. Since it's happy for him and not necessarily for others, I think that option's still on the table.
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Feb 9, 2013 01:17
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Niton posted:A happy ending for Elan could also mean -him- dying, if it means he gets to save Haley, too. Since it's happy for him and not necessarily for others, I think that option's still on the table. HmmMMmm.  Yeah, maybe. Rich is a sneaky son of a bitch, so I could see him pulling something like that. Still, I consider it of relatively small probability.
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Feb 9, 2013 01:21
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jng2058 posted:HmmMMmm. He specifically mentions this possibility in the books. It's one of the reasons he immediately followed Elan's prophecy with a scene of Durkon getting joyfully tearful at the news that he'll return to Dwarven lands after he dies; 'happy endings' are a matter of personal perspective.
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Feb 9, 2013 01:52
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Belkar could "die" by getting sucked into the snarl when it is inevitably destoryed at the end of this arc. He still wouldn't have any use for his IRA, he'd draw his last breath on this world, if the snarlverse sucks he wouldn't get much in the way of birthday cakes, etc. Then, if the whole order gets sucked in at the final arc they could meet up with him again.
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Feb 9, 2013 01:57
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DoctorTristan posted:He specifically mentions this possibility in the books. It's one of the reasons he immediately followed Elan's prophecy with a scene of Durkon getting joyfully tearful at the news that he'll return to Dwarven lands after he dies; 'happy endings' are a matter of personal perspective. If Elan dies though that would probably mean a scenario where nearly all the Order dies, and that feels like too much of a downer ending for this comic.
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Feb 9, 2013 02:08
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Ashcans posted:Mostly if Belkar does kick it in a final sense, I wonder if they would replace him in the party and with who. I could see Malack replacing him, for a little while at least. He really doesn't like Nale.
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Feb 9, 2013 02:11
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I wonder if they'd run into those two lizardman kidnappers again. They got an odd amount of character development for people who essentially didn't end up doing anything. Come to think of it, they'll probably have to wrap stuff up with Haley's dad too.
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Feb 9, 2013 02:19
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Trapezium Dave posted:I'll be surprised if either Elan or Haley die for good, but the phrasing of that prophecy as a happy ending specifically from Elan's point of view suggests some kind of twist that might be bittersweet for anyone who doesn't share Elan's view of the dramatic. Not sure if the "view of the dramatic" would really apply in determining what would be a happy ending from Elan's perspective. He's already ignored bardic traditions and seeking what's dramatically appropriate in the past for the sake of wanting a happy ending with Haley. http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0670.html
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Feb 9, 2013 04:23
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Belkar is going to regard the Blood War as his eternal reward for a life well-lived.
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Feb 9, 2013 04:52
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Pope Guilty posted:Belkar is going to regard the Blood War as his eternal reward for a life well-lived.
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Feb 9, 2013 05:46
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Considering Mortals can turn into Fiends in 3.5, and that most of the ultra-powerful fiends in the lore were originally mortal villains or psychotic evil adventurers, I'm betting the IFCC's plans might be undone by an upstart, diminutive demon who thinks that fighting in hell forever is way cooler then invading heaven.
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Feb 9, 2013 06:13
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Cliff Racer posted:Come to think of it, they'll probably have to wrap stuff up with Haley's dad too.
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Feb 9, 2013 09:48
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He could still show up there if that was the case. Ian & Co didn't have flying carpets or any other travel magic, so even with a head start it could take quite a while for them to reach the Gate.
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Feb 9, 2013 11:30
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Niton posted:A happy ending for Elan could also mean -him- dying, if it means he gets to save Haley, too. Since it's happy for him and not necessarily for others, I think that option's still on the table. Yes, I think this is a possibility as well - although to be a happy ending instead of acceptable one, it would also require that Elan saves her in the most dramatic fashion possible and probably kills his father and evil brother at the same go. Oh, and in general thwarting the plans of the evil forces, because what happiness would there be if you knew that Haley might get killed a few hours later by Xykon.
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Feb 9, 2013 11:41
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At the least, I think we can say that Elan or Haley are almost certain to survive, with both of them making it out together being pretty close behind as well. Also that Belkar's dying in some form or another. Beyond that, it's a lot of speculation really, though some guesses are better than others. Heck, we don't even know that Durkon's dying before the end of the adventure, just that it'll be before he goes home (though he is probably the best bet for person who's going to die apart from Belkar).
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Feb 9, 2013 19:36
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I can't believe that I just figured out Serini's gate is probably in the Dwarven Lands then.
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Feb 10, 2013 01:00
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It did double as a tomb for her dwarf buddy, after all.
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Feb 10, 2013 08:21
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ShadowCatboy posted:I can't believe that I just figured out Serini's gate is probably in the Dwarven Lands then. Roy outright says Kraagor's gate is up in the north when they visit the Oracle.
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Feb 10, 2013 08:43
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Say how about this for a fitting death for Belkar? He dies saving Mr Scruffy from something when they're alone somewhere together, so no one else sees or knows about it and his dying words are some sort of joke about how at least no one will ever know that he died performing a quasi-good act.
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Feb 10, 2013 23:35
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I like the idea of somebody doing a spell that targets alignments and Belkar not responding as an Evil character, and being really confused.
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Feb 11, 2013 03:57
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Pope Guilty posted:I like the idea of somebody doing a spell that targets alignments and Belkar not responding as an Evil character, and being really confused. Does 3.5 still have that rule where if you change alignment you need to earn double XP for the next level?
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Feb 11, 2013 04:26
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sfwarlock posted:Does 3.5 still have that rule where if you change alignment you need to earn double XP for the next level? That isn't a rule I ever heard of. Which means it was probably dropped in the transition from 2.0 to 3.0
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Feb 11, 2013 06:09
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sfwarlock posted:Does 3.5 still have that rule where if you change alignment you need to earn double XP for the next level?
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Feb 11, 2013 06:55
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ikanreed posted:That isn't a rule I ever heard of. Which means it was probably dropped in the transition from 2.0 to 3.0 1st ed DMG: "... the character concerned will lose one level of experience, dropping experience points to take him or her to the very beginning of the next lower level" 2nd ed DMG: "...the experience point cost to gain the next level (or levels in the case of multi-class characters) is doubled..." I'm not familiar enough with 3rd ed to look it up there (I haven't even read all the way through my copy of the 3.0 DMG.)
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Feb 11, 2013 20:20
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The only relevant stuff about changing alignment in 3.5 I can find is in the DMG, page 134.DMG 3.5 posted:Changing Alignment So yeah, as far as I can tell, there's no experience penalties for alignment changes. I might have missed something somewhere else, but that's all I could find looking it up in the index.
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Feb 11, 2013 20:47
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I'm having a lot of fun imagining say, a ranger having a shift in moral values and just twanging arrows left and right, completely unable to hit anything at all.
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Feb 12, 2013 01:11
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Elan's happy ending: His father ends up re-married to his mother and they adopt Roy, thus making Elan and Roy "for real" brothers. Roy gets to live with Elan and Haley and their brood of mini-Elans forever and ever and ever and ever...
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Feb 12, 2013 06:49
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TheAceOfLungs posted:Elan's happy ending: His father ends up re-married to his mother Tarquin's narrative mastery utilized for advertising, his managerial aptitude, and his willingness for more aggressive acquisitions and mergers, combined with his wife's proficiency with being a server, would end up with the family owning every bar, inn, pub, and tavern on the continent without anyone realizing it.
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Feb 12, 2013 08:44
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New strip. Belkar isn't moving anymore. 
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Feb 13, 2013 00:05
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Brannock posted:New strip. The best thing about OOTS is that I never quite know if he's going to be cliche or subversive. It's like he flips a coin when he comes to a plot point just to decide if it should go the "usual" route, or if the person in question is going to be genre-savvy.
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Feb 13, 2013 00:10
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So belkar is entitled to a new save every round, right? We've ever seen him make a will save successfully, but he expressly said he was raging. Malack doesn't seem like the kind to beat around the bush either. If he's going to kill Belkar, he'll pull a harm/quickened cause wounds next round.
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Feb 13, 2013 00:41
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Hmmm, I'm guessing that Belkar eats the Harm, then Mr. Scruffy takes the bullet for him on the Inflict Light Wounds, which in turn causes Belkar to Rage out and break the Hold Person.
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Feb 13, 2013 00:44
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ikanreed posted:So belkar is entitled to a new save every round, right? We've ever seen him make a will save successfully, but he expressly said he was raging. Malack doesn't seem like the kind to beat around the bush either. If he's going to kill Belkar, he'll pull a harm/quickened cause wounds next round. I'm thinking we might see Belkar ironically compelled into trap-finding duty, or some other highly unpleasant task Malack may need.
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Feb 13, 2013 00:47
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NihilCredo posted:Well for the same reason I think we can assume that if he wanted to kill Belkar he'd have used a save-or-die spell already (plenty of Will-based ones, too). If he could pull straight-up save-or-die, he would've done so on Nale. If you mean first round harm/cause, Belkar has a better touch AC and is better at spell disruption, fortitude saves, and melee combat than nale. The way it looks is that Malack had a readied action to hold person if Belkar did anything violent, recognizing a weakness for will saves. Just a guess though.
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Feb 13, 2013 00:57
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ikanreed posted:So belkar is entitled to a new save every round, right? We've ever seen him make a will save successfully, but he expressly said he was raging. Malack doesn't seem like the kind to beat around the bush either. If he's going to kill Belkar, he'll pull a harm/quickened cause wounds next round. or he kills Belkar and Mr Scruffy then walks off to find Tarquin after those two rounds
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Feb 13, 2013 02:27
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RickoniX posted:or he kills Belkar and Mr Scruffy then walks off to find Tarquin after those two rounds YOU SHUT YOUR FILTHY HOLE MISTER SCRUFFY WILL NEVER DIE
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Feb 13, 2013 02:38
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Malack is quite possibly an epic level cleric. He can totally wax Belkar right here.
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Feb 13, 2013 03:06
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I dunno, if he was epic level then Harm doesn't seem like the first spell he'd pull out against Nale. At the very least he'd break out an Implosion or something for that. I'd guess he's around level 15 or so.
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Feb 13, 2013 03:14
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Agreed. He's higher level than any member of the Order, but not yet Epic.
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Feb 13, 2013 03:16
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