New Order of the Stick Strip Up


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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens Subscriber
Orthos wrote:
Well, it IS set in 3.5 rather than Pathfinder.

Nothing wrong with this, by the way. Rich hasn't done a lot of gnome references. The last one I recall (here), he showed us a gnome in the more traditional jolly, pointed cap sort of way - i.e. a more classic gnome archetype.

It's all good. I'm even more amused by the strip title "Needs more Gears Though", which clearly indicated Rich is poking fun of the "tinker-gnome" type as much using to match the genre.


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Alex Martin wrote:
Orthos wrote:
Well, it IS set in 3.5 rather than Pathfinder.

Nothing wrong with this, by the way. Rich hasn't done a lot of gnome references. The last one I recall (here), he showed us a gnome in the more traditional jolly, pointed cap sort of way - i.e. a more classic gnome archetype.

It's all good. I'm even more amused by the strip title "Needs more Gears Though", which clearly indicated Rich is poking fun of the "tinker-gnome" type as much using to match the genre.

Which is pretty par for the course for OOTS.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

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The steampunkification of gnomes is the least of the crimes of the Dragonlance novels.

*cough* kender *cough*

"You know the problem with halfings? Bilbo, Samwise, Merry and Pippin* made them seem heroic despite their childlike size and appearance. What we really need is something that's like a halfing, but more annoying than an 8 year old with ADD and red bull for blood. Something so awful that everyone else at the table will hate the character, but that people will nonetheless defend as only needing to be played correctly."

"Okay, but is one comic-relief race really enough? What about dwarves - everyone thinks they're stoic and honorable. Let's have a race of dwarves that live in trash heaps, are stupider than goblins, and compete with the kender for being our most annoying creation."

"Brilliant. Can we do anything to ruin gnomes? I really don't understand why all these races that are the size of children shouldn't be more like children."

"Hmmm...well, we were going to make the elves like Santa's elves, but what if we turned up the craziness..."

"Don't forget the annoyingness!"

"...and the annoyingness and make those gnomes instead."

"Best. Fantasy. Series. Ever."

*Frodo intentionally omitted.


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Sebastian wrote:

*cough* kender *cough*

Still takes a back seat to a race of hygiene deficient, mentally handicapped dwarves.

I blame Dragonlance for most of the current hostility against all short races.


Shadowborn wrote:
I blame Dragonlance for most of the current hostility against all short races.

Pretty much this in a nutshell.

Dark Archive Bella Sara Charter Superscriber

Shadowborn wrote:
Sebastian wrote:

*cough* kender *cough*

Still takes a back seat to a race of hygiene deficient, mentally handicapped dwarves.

I blame Dragonlance for most of the current hostility against all short races.

I give the nod to kender because they seem to be more popular, but I am more than willing to hate on gully dwarves alongside you.


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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens Subscriber
Sebastian wrote:
The steampunkification of gnomes is the least of the crimes of the Dragonlance novels.

Again, can't disagree with you. Despite it's popularity at the time, there's lot about DL that even back then I didn't get or like.

There is a great series of blogs on Grognardia (a couple of which I will point to here and here, but there are more) by James Maliszewsky about the impact of Dragonlance and the Hickman's on D&D and fantasy tropes. He goes to so far as to call it the Hickman Revolution of D&D gameplay, and lot of it is broad analysis, but insightful (I find the Scrappy-Doo analogy quite amusing). While he doesn't talk about the question of the redoing of the races (dwarves, kender, etc.), you can tell that is clearly part of his issues with Dragonlance (as he mentions doing away with both tinker gnomes and kender in this article.)

Getting off the OOTS thread for a bit. I apologize and don't want to turn this into Dragonlance discussion.

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16

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The fifth book is now available for pre-order! :-D

Also, there's a new calendar for 2015.

Also also, there's a new strip, #965: The Bargain Hunter


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Oooo, waffles!

Silver Crusade

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"Magic makes sense. What she does defies the natural order." LOL

The real question is why she didn't go in first.

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

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Fromper wrote:

"Magic makes sense. What she does defies the natural order." LOL

The real question is why she didn't go in first.

Because she was not captain.


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I wonder if she Bluffed, Intimidated, negotiated, used her contacts, or just paid the difference from some hidden cash stash...

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

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Drejk wrote:
I wonder if she Bluffed, Intimidated, negotiated, used her contacts, or just paid the difference from some hidden cash stash...

Actually, given that she no longer NEEDS the gold she has been hording, she may have just paid the difference.


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Lord Fyre wrote:
Drejk wrote:
I wonder if she Bluffed, Intimidated, negotiated, used her contacts, or just paid the difference from some hidden cash stash...
Actually, given that she no longer NEEDS the gold she has been hording, she may have just paid the difference.

Yeah, that's what I thought when I said about paying from hidden stash... Still, old habits die slowly, so maybe she found another way around.

Or, she could give financial advice to the mechanic worth the difference.


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Drejk wrote:
I wonder if she Bluffed, Intimidated, negotiated, used her contacts, or just paid the difference from some hidden cash stash...

What, no Diplomacy? Regardless of the specific skill, it certainly looked like a DC 12 with a +30 on the roll.


Why is Durkon in such a hurry? He is THAT concerned about destroying the Dwarves?


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Because every moment of keeping up the charade is a risk.


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Sissyl wrote:
Because every moment of keeping up the charade is a risk.

And it may be even worse during downtime, since there is less to distract the group from noticing what he really is.


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See also:

High Priest of Hel wrote:
They have procured faster transportation, as well. I am confident I will arrive in the North in time to carry out your orders.

Aside from the risk of being exposed, it seems like Hel is concerned about getting whatever it is she wants done quickly.


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137ben wrote:
See also:
High Priest of Hel wrote:
They have procured faster transportation, as well. I am confident I will arrive in the North in time to carry out your orders.
Aside from the risk of being exposed, it seems like Hel is concerned about getting whatever it is she wants done quickly.

I'd forgotten about that. There may be a time limit on her plans.


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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens Subscriber

The whole thing does get more curious as to what the "plans" are. It also seems like Rich will be bringing this back to something that was mentioned "Origins of the PCs" book so long ago now where it concerns Durkon.


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New strip!

Stuff is happening!


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Nice product placement.


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Best product placement.

Silver Crusade

What's Durkula's angle with the Resurrection bit? He's obviously going out of his way to convince Roy, but how is he planning to avoid actually being resurrected?

Does he just happen to know there won't be a cleric in town high enough level to do it, or that they won't be able to afford it because of the airship repair bill? Given the proximity to dwarven lands, I'm guessing maybe Durkon passed through this city before he met Roy, so Durkula knows there isn't a high enough level cleric around, but that's just a guess.


Fromper wrote:

What's Durkula's angle with the Resurrection bit? He's obviously going out of his way to convince Roy, but how is he planning to avoid actually being resurrected?

Does he just happen to know there won't be a cleric in town high enough level to do it, or that they won't be able to afford it because of the airship repair bill? Given the proximity to dwarven lands, I'm guessing maybe Durkon passed through this city before he met Roy, so Durkula knows there isn't a high enough level cleric around, but that's just a guess.

I think it's just an excuse to go to the temple ward. I doubt he's even going to attempt to go into one of the good aligned temples.


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I presumed the angle was for, by some scheme and twist of magic, the soul currently steering Durkon's body to be the one resurrected rather than Durkon himself. That'd certainly put an end to the inner struggle and, I suspect, evict Durkon from his body leaving Hel's minion powered up and in full control.

Silver Crusade

Tiny Coffee Golem wrote:
Fromper wrote:

What's Durkula's angle with the Resurrection bit? He's obviously going out of his way to convince Roy, but how is he planning to avoid actually being resurrected?

Does he just happen to know there won't be a cleric in town high enough level to do it, or that they won't be able to afford it because of the airship repair bill? Given the proximity to dwarven lands, I'm guessing maybe Durkon passed through this city before he met Roy, so Durkula knows there isn't a high enough level cleric around, but that's just a guess.

I think it's just an excuse to go to the temple ward. I doubt he's even going to attempt to go into one of the good aligned temples.

If he were going alone, that might work, but it seemed like Roy (and possibly Belkar) might be going with him.


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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens Subscriber
Dal Selpher wrote:
I presumed the angle was for, by some scheme and twist of magic, the soul currently steering Durkon's body to be the one resurrected rather than Durkon himself.

Yea - interesting thought. I'm wondering about this to. The whole thing seems like either a scam attempt at a good front or there's some twist to Belkar's condition and Hel's plan that might be helped by it.

On a different thought - and I know it is up for guessing - but did that first part about finding a stray merchant near the end of the quest (that only sells basic potions)and flying around doing side quests first just come off as a joke about RPG games (Mass Effect/Dragonage come to mind) and how they are setup? That's the way I chuckled about it as a small dig.


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I think it was a riff on pretty much every RPG out there. I know a handful of the Final Fantasy games have a random merchant tucked away just before critical plot locations.

That was also what Bandana's crack about "no you can't go do sidequests" was about - a great many RPGs, especially JRPGs like Final Fantasy, given you basically unlimited time between Major Plot Point #XYZ and Climactic Final Battle to fly around in your airship or otherwise wander the world, doing a bunch of non- or only tangentially-plot-related quests in order to bulk up for the final dungeon/final boss.

Silver Crusade

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New update: Craft Wondrous Bauble

Best zinger V's ever gotten on Blackwing. Luckily, Blackwing was too distracted to notice.

Lot of good little details on this one. Love the hat stores in the first panel, and the fact that the gnome's standing on an elevated platform, which is why he's almost V's height.

Liberty's Edge

I think the "as long as you stay close enough" bit is going to come back and haunt them in the future.

If V is tired of Blackwing, why not just get rid of it and get a new familiar ?

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

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The black raven wrote:

I think the "as long as you stay close enough" bit is going to come back and haunt them in the future.

If V is tired of Blackwing, why not just get rid of it and get a new familiar ?

Because Blackwing is too funny!


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Mechanically in DnD, it's fine to get a new familiar, but in terms of flavor, familiars are for life. I hesitate to use the word "historically" but in fantasy literature, a familiar is generally permanent unless some tragic accident occurs.

Even though OotS consistently finds punchlines in quirks of the ruleset, Blackwing has evolved beyond a mechanic to a more traditional familiar.


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New strip

Taupe, taupe, taupe!

Silver Crusade

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Dun dun DUN!!!

So we're starting to see Durkula's angle in visiting the temples. I'm sure we'll see soon what it is he's really after.


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Also, note that at least one of the clerics had some knowledge of vampirism... How high one has to roll on Knowledge [religion] check to know that fact, though?


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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens Subscriber

They're very tasty wafers. LOL!

RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32

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'Griege'. Heh.


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Drejk wrote:
Also, note that at least one of the clerics had some knowledge of vampirism... How high one has to roll on Knowledge [religion] check to know that fact, though?

The author commented on this yesterday:

Quote:
My intended implication was that even among the clerics, this was not common knowledge; only 1 out of 4 knew. Maybe that one had Skill Focus (Knowledge (Religion)) or something.

Liberty's Edge

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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

But not a high enough Will save to resist the charm, though.

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

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Roy wrote:
I never really thought about how much prejudice there is against the undead before ...
Durkula wrote:
Aye, aye. I blame the educational system.

Liberty's Edge

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John Woodford wrote:
But not a high enough Will save to resist the charm, though.

That's the problem for any wanna-be Mystic Theurge I guess : better INT than your Cleric fellows, but lesser WIS ;-)

Silver Crusade

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Looks like Belkar's still evil... but maybe starting to grow a conscience.


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"I don't even like gnome food!"

Spoiler:
That much!


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Belkar:
Not only rejected a free food, and we know that Belkar is a sort of gourmet expert of the party... But also rejected spending time with a cutie gnome artificer.

Mr Scruffy has bad-bad influence on Belkar...


Drejk wrote:
** spoiler omitted **

Double negative.

Silver Crusade

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So what do you think Belkar will do with that Protection from Evil clasp? Slap it on the vampire? Or sell it to someone else in the party and claim he intentionally picked it up just for them?


Fromper wrote:
So what do you think Belkar will do with that Protection from Evil clasp? Slap it on the vampire? Or sell it to someone else in the party and claim he intentionally picked it up just for them?

I'm guessing that in a pinch, during the end fight against Xykon, Belkar will give the clasp to Roy, Haley, Elan, or V in a sacrificial act to save their lives. But we'll see. I'm also guessing that this is the last we will see of the clasp for a long time.

Liberty's Edge

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I don't think the clasp is meant to be used against Xykon. A few hp of damage <<<< going swirly eyed and jumping off the edge of the air ship (or something worse).

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