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I'd like to think that after Haley and Belkar aced half the Thieves' Guild and Bozzok became obsessed with tracking down the person who definitely could kill him again, somebody with some sense probably started coming up for a contingency plan for when he finally did get himself killed. Probably that halfling with the soul patch, he's got a good head on his shoulders. He could probably set up a new figurehead for the guild. Aside from that, there's also the fact that he died while away on a business trip. He left somebody in charge while he was gone, and they have a good amount of time to put together some organized succession plan while he's indefinitely away on business. I like poking around the archives and finding things that I forgot, like the the gnome mom and pop weapon shop or Vaarsuvius being utterly impotent between committing genocide and getting beaten down by Xykon. Ghost Roy even met V's subcontractors!
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Nov 29, 2020 18:50
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Gwyneth Palpate posted:That halfling second-in-command sorta guy looked pretty savvy. I bet he had a contingency plan for this. That would be "Hank". I mean, he does say that it took a year for Bozzok to consolidate power. The Thieves guild isn't the only group in town. The others find out Bozzok is dead, they gonna start try to move in, push the boundaries. Take advantage of the situation. Even if Hank does have a plan, still gonna be alot of chaos. Not really something that will likely ever come back up in story, but I do like how it feels like a living world. Their actions have consequences.
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Nov 29, 2020 18:50
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Well, maybe. Thing is, once Bozzak had himself an (almost) indestructible Crystal Golem, I tend to think that he'd use her to wipe out all the significant opposition in Greysky before he went after Haley. So I think it likely that Hank's running Greysky pretty much unopposed.
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Nov 29, 2020 19:27
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jng2058 posted:Well, maybe. Thing is, once Bozzak had himself an (almost) indestructible Crystal Golem, I tend to think that he'd use her to wipe out all the significant opposition in Greysky before he went after Haley. So I think it likely that Hank's running Greysky pretty much unopposed. Bozzok isn't as clever as he (and you) thinks he was. Haley embarrassed him greatly. He wasn't going to sit around on that. PLUS, this whole endeavor? Completely Bozzoks own thing. Hank and the others would not have backed him up on this. They had no reason to do so, AND the money Bozzok spent on this, was meant to have raised all the guild members. Putting the guild in a position of severely tanking their capital, or breaking the contract with Haley. PLUS Crystal is (even more) deranged, and her hatred of Haley is the only focus she has.
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Nov 29, 2020 20:01
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Johnny Aztec posted:Bozzok isn't as clever as he (and you) thinks he was. Haley embarrassed him greatly. He wasn't going to sit around on that. Yeah letting half your workforce stay dead (effectively letting the other half know you would have let them stay dead) seems like a bad move for the long term health of the organization. Letting Haley leave made him look bad, but it probably wouldn't have cost him half the guild. Instability makes an opportunity for a rival to form a new guild or take over. And since most of his "soldiers" are dead he'd have to try to fight the new order by himself.
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Nov 29, 2020 20:39
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Once Bozzak left, someone with a bit of sense and a decent nest egg (like, a member who had been embezzling guild funds for years) could point out to the surviving members that Bozzak would definitely have left them for dead, and start paying to raise the other half. It wouldn't be quite that clean, but someone like Hank could definitely oust the old boss while he's out.
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Nov 29, 2020 20:48
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Man, I'm really going to miss Belkar when he's gone. Especially after his character arc, he's legitimately very entertaining.
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Nov 30, 2020 00:02
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Cup Runneth Over posted:Man, I'm really going to miss Belkar when he's gone. Especially after his character arc, he's legitimately very entertaining. Belkar and Durkon are some of the best and most developed characters in the webcomic right now, which is kinda hilarious, considering the state they were for the most of the OoTS run.
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Nov 30, 2020 00:11
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On a similar note, the combat scenes in the past two books have been fantastic and I'm looking forward to more fighting in the current book.
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Nov 30, 2020 00:42
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Also, pretty sure V is level 17, since their Forcecage lasts thirty-four hours. But maybe they got energy drained or something.
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Nov 30, 2020 00:45
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Cup Runneth Over posted:Also, pretty sure V is level 17, since their Forcecage lasts thirty-four hours. Someone already noted the +1 caster level shiny bauble held by v's familiar
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Nov 30, 2020 00:52
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ikanreed posted:Someone already noted the +1 caster level shiny bauble held by v's familiar O rite, I thought it was funny that Rich had to keep drawing it in the hundreds of subsequent comics. e: though I guess the familiar doesn't appear that often
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Nov 30, 2020 00:54
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SKULL.GIF posted:On a similar note, the combat scenes in the past two books have been fantastic and I'm looking forward to more fighting in the current book. There are so many potential fights upcoming and they’re all going to rule
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Nov 30, 2020 01:03
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My parents got me Blood Runs in the Family for my birthday. God drat these books get thick. 
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Nov 30, 2020 01:37
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Cup Runneth Over posted:O rite, I thought it was funny that Rich had to keep drawing it in the hundreds of subsequent comics. His name is Blackwing
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Nov 30, 2020 05:33
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Lt. Lizard posted:Belkar and Durkon are some of the best and most developed characters in the webcomic right now, which is kinda hilarious, considering the state they were for the most of the OoTS run. I completely forgot about Haley's character arc prior to the above discussion, and even now I can only vaguely remember bits of it involving Elan and her dad. Belkar and Durkon's arcs these past couple books definitely read like "with age comes wisdom" inspired stories compared to what was being talked about prior to Blood Runs in the Family. Kind of like the difference between Dad of Boy Kratos and original trilogy Kratos.
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Nov 30, 2020 09:17
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Lt. Lizard posted:Belkar and Durkon are some of the best and most developed characters in the webcomic right now, which is kinda hilarious, considering the state they were for the most of the OoTS run. By contrast, Durkon and Belkar's arcs have been a much slower burn. Durkon's had a climactic moment of personal apotheosis, and Belkar is fast approaching one as well. The moment of his redemption is absolutely going to have a huge impact on the way the final act develops and resolves.
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Nov 30, 2020 09:37
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We are absolutely gonna cry, gently caress you rich
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Nov 30, 2020 09:42
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Looking back, I also find it beautifully ironic and a storytelling masterstroke that Miko, who rejected every possible opportunity for introspection or redemption, had Belkar as a nemesis, given his eventual character development. Edit:  And here’s me from eight years ago being as wrong as humanly possible. PMush Perfect posted:Belkar's is going to have all the same problems that the fourth Pirates movie did. People may love the character, but he can't hold a plot down on his own. girl dick energy fucked around with this message at 10:36 on Nov 30, 2020 |
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Nov 30, 2020 09:48
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Zulily Zoetrope posted:Where is that rat skull from? I vaguely recall it coming up in an earlier strip, where nobody wanted it and it was left unclear where it wound up, but have no idea when or where it would have happened. You will have to wait until the prequel side story to know how Han, I mean Haley, got that rat skull.
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Nov 30, 2020 16:47
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My personal theory I've been sitting on for a while with Belkar is that he's going to sacrifice himself to save Redcloak. It would tie up his arc nicely of him saving someone who seems evil to the party, like how Durkon sacrificed himself for Belkar, it would give Redcloak a perfect moment to step back from the cliff and switch sides, and it would even be a big moment for Roy's character- not only is it Belkar doing something selfless and trying to be helpful, but it's a PC sacrificing themselves for an NPC. It woudl ultimately make sense, too- if there's a situation where the only way Redcloak lives is Belkar dying to save him, only one of those people is holding the 9th level spell slot that can save reality.
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Nov 30, 2020 17:16
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Redcloak is too far gone to change sides just because some no-name halfling saves him from something. As it stands now, anyway.
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Nov 30, 2020 17:58
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The thing about Haley's development is that at the start of the journey, she was one of the most put-together people in the party (with an additional layer of hiding everything that could possibly be a weakness) so now that she's got all of her issues resolved and no longer has to put up a front at all, it doesn't really outwardly seem like she's moved that far. I doubt Roy has noticed much of a difference, and Durkon certainly hasn't. For Elan, most of his arc has involved figuring out how to not change that much as a person and just be himself in a context where he's useful instead of just annoying. He's still not the sort of competent partymember that Roy was desperate for in the early days, but he's shown his usefulness in his own way. He's the comic relief instead of the central main character like his father wants for him, but he still has valuable contributions. I think his one biggest moment of development was when Nale forced him to be solo and he had some time where he had to rely on himself and learned his prestige class to recontextualize his goofiness, and from there on he maintained a steady course while the others grew to accept him more for what he was.
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Nov 30, 2020 18:14
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The real character development is less about each member's individual changes and more about the Order learning to function as a team rather than a loosely affiliated group of adventurers. That has involved growth on the part of some members, but some of that's also orthogonal to the group's development.
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Nov 30, 2020 18:38
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THE BAR posted:Redcloak is too far gone to change sides just because some no-name halfling saves him from something. As it stands now, anyway. I mean, it wouldn't be the first time some random person he didn't care about and whose name he didn't even know sacrificed their life to save his and sparked an epiphany that led to character growth.
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Nov 30, 2020 18:57
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Reading through the comic some more, and so many of the big fights have the bulk of the big character parts being done by people outside of the party, like the airship crew or the big mass of Durkon's extended family showing the best of dwarvenkind. I feel like if Rich decides to make another project after Order of the Stick, he's got what it takes to do it. Now that literally everyone else is gone, there's nobody else to spice up the battles, and Durkon's match with Redcloak was downright speedy since none of them were willing to reassess their feelings. Roy has kinda reached a point in his character development where he knows he personally doesn't have everything it takes to do everything that needs to be done, and on top of that, he can't even fully control the party, he can only facilitate it the best he can, so he's gotten pretty humble practically to the point of melancholy. I think he's still not emotionally over the fact that Durkon turned on him. It was also Julia's idea that made him reject Durkon, which I don't know if Redcloak might be more willing to deal if he could be eased into the concept of negotiation or if Redcloak would've just used it to set a trap. Roy's maybe accepting too much advice now in lieu of his own personal judgement and feelings. Also, I don't know if we're going to see anybody more ascend to godhood to try to create a new quiddity, but the gods are definitely going to come into play again, and one of them has already declared that he's going to betray everything if Durkon fails. Not good. I wonder if the dragon goddess's plan for the Dark One is to hide him in a hole just to hide him in a hole so that she can use his power to make her parts in the next world be more powerful than any other god's. Still no idea when we'll see yarn winding yarn.
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Dec 1, 2020 05:11
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Durkon still has one Sending left -- he was going to use it for Redcloak, but instead decided to go to him directly. That spell's going to be important at some point.
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Dec 1, 2020 05:29
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W.T. Fits posted:I mean, it wouldn't be the first time some random person he didn't care about and whose name he didn't even know sacrificed their life to save his and sparked an epiphany that led to character growth. I guess, but pulling the same character development twice doesn't feel like Rich's deal. SKULL.GIF posted:Durkon still has one Sending left -- he was going to use it for Redcloak, but instead decided to go to him directly. That spell's going to be important at some point. He's gonna use it to call Ma, like that guy on Who Wants to be a Millionaire that used his phone lifeline thingie to call his father and tell him he won.
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Dec 1, 2020 12:16
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THE BAR posted:I guess, but pulling the same character development twice doesn't feel like Rich's deal. Echoing something to ease someone into a revelation isn't reusing the same, it's building on it. When Redcloak was saved by a hobgoblin, it reminded him that hobgoblins are people too with the same drives and ability for self-sacrifice as goblins. If a halfing had been the one to do it first, he'd dismiss it, but with the echo of his realization about hobgoblins, he might be willing to extrapolate one step further out. It's like how Durkon has sacrificed himself more than once, it's not reusing the idea of sacrifice, it's contextualizing Durkon's actions. If turning himself to stone to stop the council had been the first time Durkon sacrificed himself, we might have thought he only did it because he knew someone would break the enchantment on him. But since we've already seen him sacrifice his life for Belkar, we know that he genuinely was just willing to sacrifice himself to save the day. Or even 1218- that's not the first time Roy has taken Elan's advice, but the fact that he's doing it again shows that it wasn't a one-off desperation play before and that he really does consider Elan's talents now.
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Dec 1, 2020 17:45
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New page Redcloak is thinking emoji.
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Dec 4, 2020 14:23
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And Xykon is learning the merits and benefits of being a murder hobo. You'd think he'd know already, but I guess there's some nuance to it that you can only normally get in a good-aligned party or something.
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Dec 4, 2020 14:35
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Welp, yup, Redcloak is onto it
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Dec 4, 2020 14:54
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Oh, this is going to be bad. The Evil Quad are going to pop the Order's door, trigger the trap, and everybody is going to realize what's going on.
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Dec 4, 2020 14:54
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Yeah, I've got my money on them opening the door and not seeing the party despite seemingly being three feet away due to whatever the hell the trap is
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Dec 4, 2020 14:59
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The Chad Jihad posted:Yeah, I've got my money on them opening the door and not seeing the party despite seemingly being three feet away due to whatever the hell the trap is So kinda an inverse of the Girard illusion? Instead of them thinking they were there, but they weren't, they're actually there, but they don't know it.
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Dec 4, 2020 15:10
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The Chad Jihad posted:Yeah, I've got my money on them opening the door and not seeing the party despite seemingly being three feet away due to whatever the hell the trap is That's my bet as well. Maybe some new monsters will be in there.
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Dec 4, 2020 15:26
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The Chad Jihad posted:Yeah, I've got my money on them opening the door and not seeing the party despite seemingly being three feet away due to whatever the hell the trap is Thats what my guess is going to be too.
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Dec 4, 2020 15:45
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I think that scorch mark is going to be significant, due to the possibility of the part of the green room that was "replaced" not having it, leaving half of a scorch mark there for Team Evil to discover and be confused by.
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Dec 4, 2020 15:51
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I think you guys are getting ahead of yourselves. Remember that the other thing "going on" with the caves is that the MitD has been marking doors as searched when they haven't been. If it were just "they're figuring out the nature of the trap", there wouldn't be the question of whether the monsters are coming back faster than usual. Redcloak is glomming on to the idea that the marking system isn't working, or is being sabotaged. My prediction is that this is going to be the distraction to keep them from confronting the party - Team Evil is going to break away to figure out what's going on, and maybe start a confrontation with MitD, and the OotS will be free to explore the dungeon.
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Dec 4, 2020 18:58
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skeleton warrior posted:I think you guys are getting ahead of yourselves. Remember that the other thing "going on" with the caves is that the MitD has been marking doors as searched when they haven't been. They might not think that the MitD is responsible, but blame the Order; after all, Durkon and Minrah did lead them to that door. If that's the conclusion Redcloak comes to, it might be even harder to get him to cooperate, since it's now been "proven" to him that the OotS is engaging in subterfuge against him. Dwarves distract him, sneaky party members engage in sabotage, and even if the monsters that the bad guys were led into don't manage to take them out Team Evil now can't trust the markings they made before. Obviously that's not actually what's happening and has some holes if you think about it, but it seems like a conclusion that Redcloak's biases could easily lead him to. Roland Jones fucked around with this message at 00:18 on Dec 5, 2020 |
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Dec 4, 2020 20:02
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