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A Big Dark Yak posted:I always saw Durkon as more likely for that role (leading to his posthumous homecoming). Of course, thinking that's more likely probably makes it less likely and who the hell knows. I always took that as Durkon going to be zombified by Xykon and used to attack the dwarven lands when he goes for the final gate
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Mar 19, 2011 16:05
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Alchenar posted:1 more Gate after that. Which is obviously where the story ends. 1 gate in the north. Dwarves live in the north. Durkon's return home will destroy the dwarf kingdom. Durkon will return home posthumously. Xyklon likes to reanimate defeated foes. Betting anything Durkon gets killed and zombified, and then take part in the attack on the dwarves as Xyklon moves to the last gate.
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Nov 24, 2011 00:01
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I hope Rich is ok
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May 7, 2012 21:05
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my dad posted:Or, if Rich really wants to get dark, part of the endgame will include the Snarl destroying the world and the heroes finding a way to rebuild it. That way, Durkon will return to his homeland posthumously, that is, after the death of his homeland. No. Real dark would be he gets killed, Xykon makes him a zombie or something, and Durkon is part of the attack that destroys his homeland when they march the the final gate. Fulfills all the prophecies
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Jan 19, 2013 04:58
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Toussaint Louverture posted:They have to spit the lizard first, pretty sure Belkar is now biologically compelled to serve Malack. Didn't Nale try that on Belkar at some point, and Belkar is so warped that it ended up being utterly useless?
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Feb 19, 2013 03:53
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So now half the party is evil. That will make things... interesting Also, I'm hedging that Malak gives Durkon a greater degree of free will than would be expected since he is a friend (or "family), not a slave and Durkon kills Malak.
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Mar 3, 2013 19:43
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Colonel Cool posted:I think the Giant has specifically said V is true neutral. Originally? I could buy it. This strip is pretty heavy on the "V is now evil", as is this one my dad posted:What are the odds of Malack being a former Yuan-ti Holy Guardian?
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Mar 4, 2013 00:25
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jng2058 posted:Well, yeah, while she was on the power trip. But afterwards, she learned from her experience, and is trying to become a better person. That's intent. And just as in Roy's case, that clearly matters in the Oots-verse. Besides, evil people don't freak out when they learn they've killed dozens of people on accident. That's a large part of what makes them evil, the inability to appreciate or care about the suffering of others. For all her faults, Vaarsuvius does care. There'a pretty significant difference here though. The "trying" was about the means to an end while you are doing them, not how you acted after they were done. Roy was doing things for a good cause, though his methods often left much to be desired. Hence, you know, he was trying to be lawful good when he made those mistakes. That is not the case with V. V did things out of pride - too proud to admit the idea wasn't his own, too proud to let the even end with the death of the dragon, the freeing of O'chul being a side effect of a pride driven attack rather than the goal. And he chose an evil means to achieve them. He very much wasn't trying. Now he has changed since then, but that makes it a different case from the "trying" bit. This is more of a "Redemption is a rare and special thing, after all" case. Look at the 3 qualities of redemption Soon points out. V has admitted he is wrong, and shown remorse. Now he needs to atone for it. But redemption requires falling in the first place. ZearothK posted:I think it's more likely that Xykon kills Malack during the gate confrontation, freeing Durkon to accompany the Order and giving Tarquin a reason to get all his gang together to seek out the last gate for revenge and profit. Possible, but I don't think that will be it (or another character intervening), and here's why: Character growth requires a choice to be different.* The character has a pattern of behavior. That pattern of behavior leads to the character suffering in some fashion because of that behavior. Then the character must choose to be different to resolve it. Roy was headstrong. Because he is headstrong, he attacked Xyklon alone, and died. He learned he needs to out think his opponents rather than outfight, and has decided to follow that since Belkar was an indiscriminate killer who antagonized everyone out of spite. Because of that, he killed the Oracle, and was cursed. He learned the need to work as a team player and delay his gratification, and has decided to follow that since. V was driven by pride and ambition. Because of that, he lost his family and his soul. He learned the need for humility and patience, and has decided to follow that since etc. Anyway, look at the situation here: Durkon has always been very binary and literal about things, letting that drive his interactions with others. It is the same thing that lead to this confrontation - fight Malak right here, right now because he is a vampire, not because he is fantasy lizard Hitler who it would be better to fight in a situation where the odds better favor him. Now, he is being punished for it. It will require a decision and action on Durkon's part to change things to resolve this. * in good writing at least
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Mar 4, 2013 03:18
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or, you know, that.
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Mar 4, 2013 03:25
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Trapezium Dave posted:
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Mar 4, 2013 05:41
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Ursine Asylum posted:The most recent kobold seemed aware of what was going on while dominated. More interesting would be "How much would Durkon need to bribe Belkar to keep it under wraps"? You are assuming new vampire Durkon won't eat Belkar. Durkon will be thirsty and he has Belkar held there under his power
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Mar 4, 2013 14:14
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e X posted:But I'd say that Xykon, Tarquin, Redcloak and now Malak are outstanding in their characterization. The Giant really goes out of his way to explain why his villains act the way they do and as a result, we got some incredible unique, well developed antagonists. I once read somewhere, I think it was superhero related, that a good villain is more important to a story than a good hero, because your audience tends to identify with the hero by default, while you need to put some effort into selling the villain. This is definitely true for OotS. I don't dislike the Order, but what makes the story more than just your usual fantasy tropes parody comic are definitely the villains. If anyone is curious, Rich wrote an essay laying out his step by step process for creating amazing villains
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Mar 5, 2013 02:05
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MikeJF posted:For those saying Redcloak will never turn from the plan because he has nothing else, he does now; Gobbtopia is a major massive hope for his race. Sefer posted:I've jumped around the archives a bit in the last few days, and I realized I missed a running joke regarding Hobgoblins and gouda. I'd remembered the reference from the hypothetical Roy vampire, but there are a couple others:
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Mar 7, 2013 02:19
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re-read some of the archives today, and this entire book Durkon's extreme uptightness has been causing problems. His refusal to compromise on disobeyong unjust laws keeps Roy & Belkar locked up, it interfered with Haley's attempt at talking the information out of the authorities (and she flat out calls him on it at one point) and it was his driving motivation in picking an unnecessary fight. I mean, you can make the whole alignment argument that he had to be this way, but the point is his fatal flaw was really called out this book. Also, unrelated but "Everyone needs my kind of stability" is such a perfect villain line.
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Mar 10, 2013 00:19
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I like Mr scruffy moving between belkar and Roy to protect his master when threatened. It was the only joke in this one 
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Mar 13, 2013 13:28
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Call Now posted:Jesus, Roy's such a dick. Dudes in denial that his best friend was murdered. he can see the bite marks, he knows belkar is telling the truth, he just doesn't want to admit it. It is a completely plausible reaction for the character
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Mar 13, 2013 17:02
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Roland Jones posted:. Likewise, I am pretty sure that none of the Good heavens would approve of him wanting Belkar to die, even if he is/has been a terrible person.
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Mar 13, 2013 17:59
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Tarquen wanted to retreat all the way back to his castle, malack is going back to the main room looking for tarquen so they can go back to the castle as well. Linear guild is attempting to remove itself from play, rather than press on.
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Mar 26, 2013 15:56
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Slashrat posted:Nale's whole thing is that he wants so badly to be the big bad of the campaign that he perceives Elan and the rest of the order to be the protagonists of, and every confrontation between him and the order has happened because he forced it while the order would have preferred to just ignore him. Two different ways I could see this whole plot thread going is either Nale achieving his goal and eclipsing Xykon as the bigger threat by taking control of a gate, only to get forced into a (losing) confrontation with Xykon before the Order even gets to him, or else the Order finally deciding to take the initiative and seek out a confrontation with Nale at a time where he doesn't feel ready to deal with them. Both seem like suitably ironic ways for his goal to get twisted against him. eh, I'd say Nale's whole thing is Daddy Issues. Everything about him and his actions scream "earn Daddy's love". Tarquin praises the abilities of bards but says they are under-powered, so Nale makes sure he has those abilities without the label, hoping for Tarquin's approval. Tarquin couldn't hold on to power outright, so Nale tries to show he is good enough that he can rule from the front and get Tarquin's love and respect. Tarquin respects and listens to his teammates, so Nale betrays and tries to kill them all to get rid of anyone who detract's his father's attention from him. Tarquin loves Elan more, so Nale has to humiliate, destroy, and then kill Elan to prove he is better and deserves Tarquin's love. Hell, the whole mission in the pyramid, Nale was charging ahead recklessly (even compared to his past plans) to try and prove to his father he is a brilliant and skilled commander. A more likely resolution then, is Tarquin getting killed before Nale ever gets his approval, sending Nale off in a character tailspin now that he has lost his direction in life. At this point if I were to speculate, I'd say Malack and Durkula return to the main chamber to meet up with Tarquin, and find Xykon and crew there. Events lead to Xykon killing Malack, which frees Durkula, (who runs off) Tarquin tries to avenge his friend, gets killed, and leaving Nale pretty unmoored. Fried Chicken fucked around with this message at 00:55 on Mar 27, 2013 |
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Mar 26, 2013 22:55
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Noah posted:Would Tarquin really avenge Malack? He is evil and calculating, yes, but he also has real relationships with others and lets those relationships and emotions influence his actions and reactions. Him going "oh well, I'm evil so it is ok" would be a pretty big break from his established character to something much more one dimensional. He will do things out of pride, profit, to demonstrate authority, and to keep a more valuable ally, but all those incidents have had a pretty hefty emotional component to them as well. Even if you don't think "he killed my friend" is enough, "my competitor for power and a threat to my authority just killed my friend" should be.
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Mar 27, 2013 00:53
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Nystral posted:this also ignores the article on GITAP where he talks about two villains not being able to be turned against each other because they were childhood friends growing up. Except Tarquin and Malack are the friends here, not Tarquin and Xykon. If anything, the character development technique in that essay makes me think it is more likely that Tarquin would have an emotional reaction to Malack's (final) death, rather than blowing it off because he is evil. Though is there a spell that could destroy Malack outright, rather than banish him to his coffin?
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Mar 27, 2013 02:30
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What about like binding him in a soul prison gem or something?
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Mar 27, 2013 03:23
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greatn posted:Friendship is just another method of control for Tarquin. You shouldn't believe he actually cares about anyone. Which reduces him down to a one dimensional character. I really can't see rich going "hey I spent half the book doing character development, now to toss it in the trash!"
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Mar 27, 2013 17:09
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Spiderdrake posted:Hair color, misconstrued class affinity and Ian going somewhere relating to a familial tie never discussed and orchestrated by the thieves' guild to get the popular guy out of his home city? There is also Haley's comment back at the dinner with élan when she couldn't speak properly that she "wasn't exactly..." And the long theory is that the rest of that statement was supposed to be "human". So being part dragon...
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Apr 4, 2013 15:53
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Noah posted:
Under his beard? For the record I have no idea if Ian and Haley are draketooths or not. I'm just playing devil's advocate. To those objecting on the grounds of D&D mechanics though, plot and character development tops an unofficial ruleset every time. I fully expect Rich to ignore your rulebooks if it comes down to "the rules" or a good story he wants to tell.
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Apr 5, 2013 13:52
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The Rooster posted:So, we now have interesting questions about Durkon's religious affiliations. Yeah, I was hoping a grognard here would identify the fiend and could talk about what that means for the character, but apparently torture porn is a preferred topic
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Apr 10, 2013 05:11
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sebmojo posted:As usual, the best part of the GITP forums strip chat are Burlew's steely-eyed slapdowns. Christ, why does something this good have such lovely fans
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May 6, 2013 01:17
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72 new posts, something amazing must have happened! ... gently caress (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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May 29, 2013 22:50
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Danzou posted:There's two books after this one, so something stops Xykon from just teleporting on to Kraagor's Tomb. Or it doesn't and the books are them taking down Xykon despite him having the power. The ultimate power not being as ultimate as was originally thought is a common enough idea, and we already know there is something going on with the Snarl that doesn't fit what everyone has been told
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Jun 18, 2013 18:09
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I like that Redcloak got Roy right between the eyes. Good shot for someone without depth perception
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Jul 15, 2013 01:43
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Manyorcas posted:Similar to the Tarquin idea, was it ever specified what kind of sword Nale usually has? I think he stole one from a dead guard or something at one point and mentioned it was/wasn't what he preferred to use? It kind of looks like a greatsword in these early strips. I thought about that, but in the Azure City strips when he is escaping he mentions he usually carries a longsword. But hey, maybe he will have a greatsword for some reason
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Jul 20, 2013 06:15
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Call Now posted:Can't we ask SuperKlaus to update the OP? It's coming up on 500 pages, most other sub-forums have rules on not letting threads get this big because it generates issues with the software and moderating.
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Jul 20, 2013 22:41
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Cliff Racer posted:But but but look at all those pages (that you don't have to read through and most of us have not.) I still remain firmly in the no new thread camp. This same point came up last year when D&D kept having new election threads every week. Apparently something in the boards software means it doesn't handle large threads real well, even if you don't have people reading past pages.
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Jul 22, 2013 05:33
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Pyrolocutus posted:My question here - which I don't think has been brought up before - is "why didn't Malack have an enchanted item with continuous Protection from Daylight?" I haven't played DnD for a while, and I don't know what spell level it would be, but he seems to have access to a massive amount of resources with which to make one. It'd also be less vulnerable to dispel effects (barring something like a Disjunction). If he really wanted to, he could prepare both the spell and use the item in case someone disarmed him of the item (although I imagine "remove an amulet/ring from a vampire" is tricky at best). He did, it was the staff, as was explicitly stated in the comic
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Jul 31, 2013 15:01
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Regalingualius posted:Don't forget assuming Nale would be too stupid to realize what would happen as soon as their mission was done, and even if he did, assuming that Nale would be far too injured to face him in a head-on fight OR Nale would have to contend with Tarquin and his men if he waited to recover. He was able to grapple quite effectively against Durkon, remember?
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Jul 31, 2013 17:34
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nimby posted:People might start wondering where he got the spare 10k gold from. He wants to stay waaaaaay under the radar. He is a ranking government figure. That wouldn't be the issue. It's more he just moved on to the next notch in his bedpost.
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Aug 1, 2013 18:41
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Wolfsheim posted:He's had some good moments, like fighting that prick druid in that one modernized city, but yeah, he definitely fell by the wayside for awhile.
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Aug 3, 2013 05:57
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fool_of_sound posted:Staffs have limited charges; we've been over this. To keep the plot moving requires a solution to the issue of Durkon being in the sun. He has the staff. He has a book that lets him translate spells from Malack's religion to his. We've already done 11 strips on Durkon researching a spell. We've already done jokes about the spell research rules with V. Any combination of this will let it get waved away and let things proceed, just like getting the diamonds to rez Roy was. At most it will either be handled with him dealing with his god after this, or it will be a minor subplot like getting Roy's skeleton back. But it isn't going to be a dealbreaker.
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Aug 7, 2013 05:46
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Ho Lee poo poogreatn posted:Dimension door, low HP score, everybody's riding dinosaurs  As a child of the 80s, I get this reference and thank you for it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuWlk4xRVUI
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Aug 12, 2013 19:50
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Tarquin knows something more than what Nale knows - the ambassador from the Lizard people had to do an emergency briefing with him about something. That shoe hasn't dropped yet, but here he is with a sizable military force. I suspect the two are related.
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Aug 13, 2013 01:03
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