May 21, 2013 Aw, crap. It's you guys!

[WearsHats]

Huh. He weaponized the Engine gears? I wonder what they do. And what they're made of. And stuff.

I do like the way he's still aware of tropes like "climactic final battles."

I wonder why Forgath is still stuck in mid-air like that. (The lines around him made me think he was falling, but it's clear he's still at the same height a few panels later.)

And the Kin sisters - are they looking at the engine, the treasure room, or what?

Permalink: http://www.goblinscomic.com/05212013/

[lingrem]

They'd be looking at his engine, because Forgath was directed so that he was facing Psimax. Also, they're in a room that isn't facing the treasure room as far as I know!

I am looking forward to seeing Forgath's face when he sees Kin is still alive!

[Veya]

I am so going to love PsiMax's face when he realizes he can't take the sword at all, no matter what...

[WearsHats]

I am so going to love PsiMax's face when he realizes he can't take the sword at all, no matter what...

Psimax, better than anyone, understands what Oblivious is. I'm not really sure what that implies. If he can get his hands on it, I'm not sure what he can do. Remember, its power is proportional to the level of understanding the wielder has of what it is...

They'd be looking at his engine, because Forgath was directed so that he was facing Psimax. Also, they're in a room that isn't facing the treasure room as far as I know!

Good point. Also, they've already seen and reacted to the treasure room.

[Krulle]

Yay. It's the cavalry (the spider being the rider, of course!)!

And I do not believe that PsiMax knows what that sword is. He might know about the sword in the chest, but not how Oblivious was created.
And Thunt more or less confirmed that nobody can steal Oblivious from Minmax.
I wouldn't be surprised if Oblivious cannot be handed to another character, as that character would not be able to move Oblivious through time.

But let us read on what the Kins with their superior intellect can do with a machine presenting all the variables of the MoM to them.
This IS what they've been searching for, after all.

BTW, this page shows that they are NOT facing the treasure room, but turned just before the treasure room into a gap in the wall into this hidden chamber of PsiMax. Sloppy work, not closing the entrance, PsiMax!

- Sesame, Close! -

[Reads_Forums]

I'm seeing a plot of psimax's "gears of war" being able to stop oblivious and MM generally getting his ass handed to him, until the kins manage to stop the engine (in the nick of time of course) and game over psimax. Final climactic battles only work if the hero makes a comeback when all seems lost.

Psimax might not be able to understand oblivious but like kin, he can observe it's properties and make inferences. A bit like quantum mechanics, no one knows "how it works" but we still are able to make useful predictions of it's behaviour.

[Rev Dezzi]

I'm pretty sure that there is a tweet from Thunt that indirectly addresses the fact that Oblivious cannot be stolen. When he was discussion the new game someone pointed out that Oblivious should not be able to be stolen.

Yup, on May 15 Thunt said:

"Huge thanks to the person who pointed out that characters should not be able to steal Oblivious from other characters! You're right!"

[BeanDip]

I don't have much to say about this update except that Onyx's spider is adorable

[Krulle]

Yup, on May 15 Thunt said:

"Huge thanks to the person who pointed out that characters should not be able to steal Oblivious from other characters! You're right!"

There, I linked the quote.
Although the talks there refer specifically to the Goblins Alternative Reality card game.
But it got there because of Oblivious' properties in the comic.

[friedkitty]

So he tries to grab oblivious, and gets hurt by MM. He panics, blinks back to the room, only to face 3(4)K who have figured out his engine and use it to further kick his ass.

[Changes_everything]

Thunt's art and storytelling are climaxing again. Awesome.

As to PsiMax getting his hands on Oblivion: I'm quite certain that there was a reason Thunt had Kin explain lengthily how the sword's power depends on the level of understanding it's properties, I have to agree with WearsHats it could be possible he can obtain it or make it lose it's power - although the latter would include the necessity to explain the sword's properties to it's wielder MinMax #156, which I must say is probably impossible. Might be funny to watch him try.

[Tofu]

So, I recall that ... the sword became MinMax156's after claiming it from the treasure chest with the keys that had eyes in them.

1) I wonder if those keys are still in that chest, and if they might work in the treasure room's locking mechanism?
2) claiming the treasure in the chest might link the armour wearer with the sword wielder
3) we still don't know what the colour of the armour does to the wearer? PsiMax may have that aspect completely understood.
4) So happy it was the KinTeam who passed the potion of healing to Kin156. I'll hope that she trades her tail for extra attributes like Psionics and Levitation (perpetual).
5) Forgath probably is reacting really really bad to the reverse 'little-man-syndrome'

[LooksAndSmiles]

Yeah I envision a goofy conversation rather than a climaxing battle. Nevertheless, the thick plottens.

[RedwoodElf]

So he tries to grab oblivious, and gets hurt by MM. He panics, blinks back to the room, only to face 3(4)K who have figured out his engine and use it to further kick his ass.

vouldn' dot be 3.5K?

Now, Now, Forgath...Doze hain't "GUYZ"...Hyu kan tell because dey hef boobies!

[Changes_everything]

Oh hey, and are those a Goblin's hands in panel 2?

[CelineSSauve]

I wonder why Forgath is still stuck in mid-air like that.

I was wondering that too. Also how his hands are still held behind him.

[FleesFromTrees]

Also Minmax's armour changes colour before he grabs the sword again.

Probably tries to insult Psimax using "purple" somewhere

[WastesTime]

Oh hey, and are those a Goblin's hands in panel 2?

You probably recall that in one of the realities Minmax travelled with One-Eye, because he lost Forgath.

[Pablo]

Hi!

I don't think Psimax will have any problem controlling Minmax, but obtaining and measuring "Oblivious" (how does one measure nothing?) will be a real challenge for him. If Minmax drops the sword it just disappears; if he reaches behind Psimax's head Psimax gets a splitting

I'm guessing that Psimax will spend so much time on Oblivious that Kin will have time to explain to Forgath what the Kinship is up to and then the five of them together will figure out how to wreck or even manipulate Psimax's Oblivion machine to confound Psimax and then find their own ways home - possibly even sending everyone in the entire MoM home.

My guess is that MinMax is the one who will finally bring Psimax down with a strong remote assist from the Kinship and Forgath.

Just my $0.02!

[kaeroku]

So, I recall that ... the sword became MinMax156's after claiming it from the treasure chest with the keys that had eyes in them.

1) I wonder if those keys are still in that chest, and if they might work in the treasure room's locking mechanism?
2) claiming the treasure in the chest might link the armour wearer with the sword wielder
3) we still don't know what the colour of the armour does to the wearer? PsiMax may have that aspect completely understood.
4) So happy it was the KinTeam who passed the potion of healing to Kin156. I'll hope that she trades her tail for extra attributes like Psionics and Levitation (perpetual).
5) Forgath probably is reacting really really bad to the reverse 'little-man-syndrome'

Re: 4)

I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way. Everyone's always talking about trading her tail, but the only reason MM was able to 'trade' for additional feats and abilities is because it happened at character creation. Events in-game that cause catastrophic trauma to a character (usually) doesn't result in a beneficial trade-off. It just happens.

Like, if you lose a leg in real life... sure, over time you may gain massive manual hand-strength and/or dexterity, but that as a result of training your body to use those hands more effectively to compensate for the loss of your leg. In essence, your additional hand-abilities would be your "levelup," not the result of losing the leg but the result of the experience you gained after the fact trying to function without it.

Still, Yuan-Ti have regenerative properties inherently, I suspect our Kin is not going to end up a cripple.

[Glemp]

Psimax, better than anyone, understands what Oblivious is. I'm not really sure what that implies. If he can get his hands on it, I'm not sure what he can do. Remember, its power is proportional to the level of understanding the wielder has of what it is...

Inversely proportional. The less you know about it, the more powerful it is, according to Kin at least.

[WearsHats]

Still, Yuan-Ti have regenerative properties inherently, I suspect our Kin is not going to end up a cripple.

Except, as has been pointed out, her collar suppresses her Yuan-Ti powers. It's not clear whether that would include regeneration.

Thunt is big on permanent consequences, particularly as resulting from battle. I don't think it will be as simple as Kin just regrowing her tail.

Inversely proportional. The less you know about it, the more powerful it is, according to Kin at least.

Yes. Thank you. That's what I meant.

[Glemp]

Incidentally, we now know that Fighter Kin is called Ruby. So, Sapphire, Ruby,...Onyx? Obsidian? I'm betting Onyx.

[Rev Dezzi]

Incidentally, we now know that Fighter Kin is called Ruby. So, Sapphire, Ruby,...Onyx? Obsidian? I'm betting Onyx.

Why not Jade? Too obvious?

And thanks for the link, I was remote and had a hard time trying to link it via smartphone.

[Krulle]

Incidentally, we now know that Fighter Kin is called Ruby. So, Sapphire, Ruby,...Onyx? Obsidian? I'm betting Onyx.

► Show Spoiler

Sapphire: http://www.goblinscomic.com/01252013/
The rest has not been called in the comics yet, so I do not know where the names came from.

I think THunt confirmed it on twitter. After the page that had Saphire's name, he asked if anybody could guess what the others names were. Somebody guessed Ruby and Onyx and THunt made some joke about having his mind read.

I searched for a blog post around the publishing date to see whether the names came from a blog post. There is non archived around that time.
And it was the time our shiny BlindFerret forum made it's final convulsion and died.

I missed the conversations on that specific update (likely because the forum was already down)....

Let me delve into the twitter archive....

Edited to add (or ETA as alledged common abbreviation):
Here's a tweet, to which THunt received an answer with the three names: https://twitter.com/Thunt_Goblins/statu ... 1966578688
In the conversation that follows comes the remark that THunt is impressed by the name guessing of the Goblinites.

Well, noone of all of us did guess Grinnorarcen.... ;)


The page itself seemingly got uploaded to the site.
So, on 26 January the site still worked, and thus likely the Blind Ferret forums too.

On 28 January the site was down:

Yep, it is Onyx. We already knew that.
Nothing to add to my previous post, except some bold tags to highlight what you should click to know the names of the Kingroup.

And Edit #6: No problem for the link. I'm happy if someone can provide me with links too. I know mobile devices are not made to do that. And you provided the date already, so finding was easy.