The OotS thread

[Bedlam]

That is a seriously evil dragon.

Poor V, however, I have a feeling this is going to lead V to supreme power.

Plus

Parent and Other Parent made me laugh, Rich isn't giving away V's Gender

[Serafina]

Well, V DID say "Disintegrate" four times - however, was it "the right being, at the right time, for wrong reasons"?
I dont think so - it was "the wrong being at the right time for right reasons" - V should have disintegratet the dragon, not the imp.

Btw, here is the strip with the prophecy.

[Sriad]

The dragon's remains are completely gone, the leftovers from the disintegration having dissolved into the swamp. You'd need True Resurrection, a 9th level spell, to fix that. Maybe there just aren't any 17th level NPC clerics in the game setting.

Redcloak is around that level, IIRC.

Besides, OOtS is not really a "low-power" world - we have at LEAST one epic character running around, and more than that (one dead epic wizard).

Yea, low power isn't the right term... I guess that would describe worlds like Song of Ice and Fire where common people will never see magic, and when it shows up witnesses are stunned or disbelieving. But OOtS from what we've seen isn't a high-power world with level 17+ casters available for any alignment or creature who needs a Miracle. (though I may be proven wrong as the party continues to level up.) We have evidence of 6 possibly epic characters (the Order of the Scribble were presumably ~20 when their campaign ended, and Dorukan developed at least one epic spell before he was killed by Xykon) but only two of them, both non-primary casters could possibly still be alive. Then there's Xykon himself, giving us 1 proven 17+ caster in the world and 2 possibly existent non-casters. Redcloak (POSSIBLY 17, but the Class and Level Geekery thread on the OOtS forums only proves he's 15+) and other religions' high priests might be high enough, but how many of them would be willing to help out an evil dragon? (and how many would have done enough adventuring to outlevel Redcloak?) Maybe there's a level 17 high priest of Loki or someone similar, but based on what we've directly observed, she'd have to go through Xykon to get a rez.

*Shrug*, my favorite option is still that she assumed "If I can't do it, it can't be done" and went straight to plotting revenge.

Well, V DID say "Disintegrate" four times - however, was it "the right being, at the right time, for wrong reasons"?
I dont think so - it was "the wrong being at the right time for right reasons" - V should have disintegratet the dragon, not the imp.

Btw, here is the strip with the prophecy.

Not this again...

I think it's much more likely that either the Dragon pulls off her revenge and the party goes Planar or V makes a deal with Qarr (or some bigger devil Qarr has connections with) to intervene, 4 words happening at some key point.

[Lord of the Abyss]

629 up.

Being of indistinguishable sex with white skin but black genes... did Rich just make a Michael Jackson crack?

Possibly. But someone on another forum said that it might be a joke about 4th edition elves having darker skin. Not being up on 4th edition I can't say.

[Lord of the Abyss]

And 630 is up.

[Bedlam]

Could V turn him/her self into an animal? The imp should be able to transport a small animal or reptile, could V turn into one get teleported to the dragon and keep fighting it?

I doubt the outcome would be much different from round one though.

[Crazedwraith]

Could V turn him/her self into an animal?

That would be pointless.

HEY! Listen to me! I can't DO that! I'm only capable of teleporting myself and 50 pounds of unliving material!

Bolding mine.

Animals are alive are they not?

[Raxmei]

The closest you could get is Polymorph Any Object (8th level spell) to turn into a small inanimate object. V has access to 7th level spells, but I don't recall seeing any 8th level.

[lance]

The closest you could get is Polymorph Any Object (8th level spell) to turn into a small inanimate object. V has access to 7th level spells, but I don't recall seeing any 8th level.

I think there is a statue spell that is a lower level. So if he can cast statue, then turn himself into a rat and then activate the statue ability.

[Raxmei]

I think there is a statue spell that is a lower level. So if he can cast statue, then turn himself into a rat and then activate the statue ability.

Yeah, that could work.
Just not today, since V's already used three 7th level spells today. By my count (and the dragon's) he's also run out of 6th level spells, having used all 4 on Disintegrate.

If V didn't have Conjuration barred a few teleports would help a lot.

[Lord of the Abyss]

631 up !

Whoa ! Welcome to the Dark Side.

[Praxis]

0.o
Are the 4 words coming in to play soon?

Also, V's kids are adopted, which means that even if we found out the gender of his/her mate, we wouldn't know V's gender, as he/she could be homosexual.

Well played, Rich, well played.

[Serafina]

Wow...they must expect some SERIOUSLY evil things from V.

But hey, another idea. Shouldnt "evil" have an interest in the Snarl? V is already involved into that, AND is powerfull enough to succeed.
But if thats the case, then "evil" must have other targets than Xykon. Either Xykon does not want to share, or evil wants to prevent the release of the Snarl. Which makes sense, after all, you can not get any more followers if they are all dead.

[Karza]

But hey, another idea. Shouldnt "evil" have an interest in the Snarl? V is already involved into that, AND is powerfull enough to succeed.
But if thats the case, then "evil" must have other targets than Xykon. Either Xykon does not want to share, or evil wants to prevent the release of the Snarl. Which makes sense, after all, you can not get any more followers if they are all dead.

Didn't Xykon specifically say he's not intending to blow up the world, he "just" wants to harness a gate to become insanely powerful and conquer the entire world?

[Bedlam]

Wow...they must expect some SERIOUSLY evil things from V.

But hey, another idea. Shouldnt "evil" have an interest in the Snarl? V is already involved into that, AND is powerfull enough to succeed.
But if thats the case, then "evil" must have other targets than Xykon. Either Xykon does not want to share, or evil wants to prevent the release of the Snarl. Which makes sense, after all, you can not get any more followers if they are all dead.

From what we've seen of devils in OOTS I dont think they're interested in complete distruction more temptation, control, and trading in souls thus they have nothing to gain by having the Snarl destroy everying including, possibly, the devils.

The proposal letter is sent to another dimension so we dont know for certain if the Snarl would destroy it or not but the return address is something like dimension 00001 so it seems if OOTS has an multiverse that the universe we're looking at is an important one and its removal might cause problems to the devils even if they dont get wiped out.

[Solauren]

Something like the Snarl loose would not be good, even in a multi-dimensional setting.

As for the quick return on V's application, consider this;

V is a rather power wizard. Such is a strong force for their alignment/faction no matter what.

Also, going by the terms the Imp used, we are dealing with the system for pacts and soul harvesting described in 'Tyrants of the Nine Hells'.

V's soul would be very valuable to the devils. V's arcane power would translate into divine power when V died and went to hell as a result of a pact. That's worth quite a bit to devils. Remembering, they also harvest potiental, and V is approaching epic levels. (Having to be at least 15th level, if not higher).

Giving V a massive power boost would be a very simple and low investiment for the devils, with massive possible long term benefits and pay-off.

And all it's gonna cost them would be a few magic items and maybe some XP.

Buyers market.

[Serafina]

But hey, another idea. Shouldnt "evil" have an interest in the Snarl? V is already involved into that, AND is powerfull enough to succeed.
But if thats the case, then "evil" must have other targets than Xykon. Either Xykon does not want to share, or evil wants to prevent the release of the Snarl. Which makes sense, after all, you can not get any more followers if they are all dead.

Didn't Xykon specifically say he's not intending to blow up the world, he "just" wants to harness a gate to become insanely powerful and conquer the entire world?

Um..yes, thats what i meant. He does not want to share the power by controlling the Snarl.

Of course, Redcloak does want to release the Snarl, and there is no small chance Xykon will fuck up and release the Snarl accidentially. Thus, its better to be safe than sorry and keep his bones away from the gates.

Vs power alone does not seem to be a good enough explanation - after all, the letter for V is kinda uniqe, there has to be an exeptional reason. And high-level casters are not that rare (Redloak, some unnamed high priest he dueled with, Xykon, the adventuring group creating the gates and propably many others).

Of course, that does not mean that my theory is right - there are a lot of other possible explanations.

[Ford Prefect]

You know, it's about time V got some actual character development, much like Belkar. Frankly, he/she was my least favourite character in the entire comic. Irritating, flat and, unlike Belkar, not amusing. Admittedly, he/she is still irritating and unlikable, and this piece of development is unlikely to change that at all.

[Lusankya]

I just figured that the reason that V was preapproved was because V was a PC. The evils can probably recognise that kind of thing, and all of the benefits that that entails - increased availability of plot points and a certain level of character shielding as well as the possibility of vague and unspecified goodies as a reward when the game ends.

Remember, this is a world where 'being a PC' gets you instant recognition.

[consequences]

Don't forget that Sabine also briefed her superiors on the whole Snarl situation. Which would include the adventurers currently actively searching for it. If they can corrupt V, then coerce him into betraying the OotS in their moment of triumph to take possession of a Gate, then they win(as long as they can scrounge up an epic divine caster, a requirement they may or may not know about).

Or depending on the long-term goals of the Demons/Devils in OotS verse, they may actually just want to maintain the status quo and stop Xykon, which is also something that they would further by assisting V. It's too early to tell, all we know is that making a deal with Vaar is only likely to benefit them in the longterm.

[Xess]

Number 632 is up.

[Alan Bolte]

"Good gods"
The puns! The puns... they hurt so bad. Aaargh.


Also, I'm familiar with Demons and Devils: I assume Devils are Diabolic, but what sort of creatures are Daemonic?

[Anguirus]

Also, I'm familiar with Demons and Devils: I assume Devils are Diabolic, but what sort of creatures are Daemonic?

Daemons are daemonic. They are the neutral evil fiends.

Of course, they were "yugoloths" in 3E, and in 4E they've been relegated to a type of demon.

[Lord of the Abyss]

In case anyone missed it :

LEe

NEro

CEdric

[The Grim Squeaker]

In case anyone missed it :

LEe

NEro

CEdric

I did actually, thanks for pointing that out

EDIT (Forgot what I meant to say):
The time stop effect to keep them/V from being rushed is odd, you'd think rushing someone to sign over his soul before the barbeque of his family would be an excellent negotiation tactic...
It might be that they want him to make a fully informed decision with consent for more than just the minimum needed to save his family, but for "ultimate power beyond his wildest imaginings tm", making it not an act of selfless sacrifice (which he might conceivably squeeze his soul out of), but a selfish act.
Which would guarantee the damnation of his soul