December 7, 2013: Fancy Moves

[jakesdad]

One continuity error I saw. In panel 3, Big Ears is starting his swing and has his right hand over his left on the shaft of his axe. In the next panel, his left hand is over his right. Also, the hands are both higher on the shaft. I suppose he could have released his left hand and grabbed higher up the shaft between the panels, but that seems counter-intuitive.

Honestly, I was expecting a scene change to Kin reacting to the cut that Minmax sustained in the previous comic.

We will see!

[Free Radical]

Should Forgath's Hold Person be particularly hard for Thaco to break because Forgath gets a bonus to his spellcasting from the staff?

Also, is Forgath throwing a spell at Big Ears in the third-last panel or is it just a coincidence that some of the streaks coming off Ears are in his IME (the three middle panels also have the backgrounds coloured in Forgath's IME).

[SGTdude]

I think those streaks are not streaks.

Check the previous comic and you see the sky colored something very close to Forgath's IME. In the comic you referenced, you can see the entrance to DMaw and it could be the mountains that are closest to the entrance but behind it as seen in the sixth frame here.

[Free Radical]

Sure, and the same can be seen in panel three of today's comic, but both that and the one you reference shade from light to dark. Possibly it and the three middle panels will look a bit different when the final colouring's on it though.

[Meridianson]

Aw crap! Here comes Kore! (2nd last panel)

Litterally the first thing i said when i saw that panel! I knew it was coming!

[Simon]

Aw crap! Here comes Kore! (2nd last panel)

Litterally the first thing i said when i saw that panel! I knew it was coming!

Ohhh.... poop. I hadn't seen him.
Well, someone's probably going to die

[currently_awake]

Kore is close enough to fire crossbows, and has clear shot at Fumbles.

He would be firing into melee. He probably doesn't care about the -4 to hit, but the chance of hitting friendlies is bad for paladins.
Given that his targets are busy he'll probably just close for melee himself.

[currently_awake]

Hold person is a duration spell(1 round per level=3 rounds, no concentration needed), but you get a save per round to get free.
I think Kore will take at least 2 rounds to get to them, so he's probably fine.

Oh crap, I also see Kore approaching.

He wants the axe more I think, so Big Ears is going to be his next target. I think he'll pass up Fumbles and Complains easily and head straight for Big Ears.

He wants the Axe, but he also just wants to kill the goblins. It's easier and probably more satisfying from his point of view to just shoot them all down and pick up the Axe after they're dead.

I'm surprised Forgath blocked that. Well, now that he knows the hammace is magical, Ears can do the 'phase Axe through outer defenses' thing. Assuming he seriously intends to kill Forgath.

Does Hold Person stay in effect even after the caster's been distracted in another round?

[currently_awake]

Forgath isn't a paladin, so he reads nothing from the axe.
It's unlikely Forgath has identified the axe, and he has no way to know what class big ears is.
Based on behavior Forgath apears to be neutral good or chaotic good (can't be a paladin).

Well isn't that interesting.

"Though the axe would become a mighty weapon for anyone who would wield it, only a paladin would be capable of wielding its true power, and only a paladin would know of the axe's history, purpose, and ability immediately on contact, corporeal or not"

So Forgath now knows that Big Ears is a paladin, that he's wielding a legendary paladin-only axe, and once Thaco escapes the bonds, likely that Thaco is a monk himself.

I don't think Forgath can bring himself to kill another Paladin. He's not Kore.

[thinkslogically]

I think we know that Forgath is neutral good because his summon animal is a badger There's a thread on character stats though that will say for sure.

[Kore]

Kore is close enough to fire crossbows, and has clear shot at Fumbles.

He would be firing into melee. He probably doesn't care about the -4 to hit, but the chance of hitting friendlies is bad for paladins.
Given that his targets are busy he'll probably just close for melee himself.

Fumbles was throwing spear before, appears to still be ranged distance from Minmax, unlike Complains. So would be logical first target unless Kore is obsessed with Axe.

[Kamos]

I think those streaks are not streaks.

Check the previous comic and you see the sky colored something very close to Forgath's IME. In the comic you referenced, you can see the entrance to DMaw and it could be the mountains that are closest to the entrance but behind it as seen in the sixth frame here.

Given the angle it's probably just the skyline. Matches the rest of the skyline in the most recent comic.

[crillitor]

I feel that the "magic armor stuff" toward the end that Big Ears did was to rid of whatever armor check penalty jumping/tumbling past Forgath would have occurred.

[Gryphonic]

Uh, guys. Forgath is a cleric, he has no idea what axe or Big Ears is. Big Ears can't exploit axe against Forgath like he did against Kore

Technically he could. He can choose for the Axe to pass through someone intangibly. I think when he killed Saral Caine - the Axe through the chest, not the beheading - that's exactly what he did. He didn't have room to make a full swing, so he pushed it through both of their bodies before materializing it inside of Saral Caine.

One continuity error I saw. In panel 3, Big Ears is starting his swing and has his right hand over his left on the shaft of his axe. In the next panel, his left hand is over his right. Also, the hands are both higher on the shaft. I suppose he could have released his left hand and grabbed higher up the shaft between the panels, but that seems counter-intuitive.

Good eye. What stood out to me is that he's holding the Axe too high up the shaft to put as much force behind it as he could. He should have at least one hand braced further down the haft for leverage.
In the third panel it was better. Perhaps the sudden stop against the hammace glove made his grip slip forward.

Fumbles was throwing spear before, appears to still be ranged distance from Minmax, unlike Complains.

That looked like more of a "bonk" than a proper throw. It's hard to tell from some perspectives, but from straight on a few pages ago the bridge looks only 3 yards across, Minmax was roughly centered, and Fumbles was almost beside Minmax when he threw.

The Axe phasing through Ears never ceases to look wonderfully wierd. Well done THunt.

ETA:

I feel that the "magic armor stuff" toward the end that Big Ears did was to rid of whatever armor check penalty jumping/tumbling past Forgath would have occurred.

That and he was missing the entire upper half since Kore shattered it. He's in combat again; time to fix that!

[PatchworkBBC]

Technically he could. He can choose for the Axe to pass through someone intangibly. I think when he killed Saral Caine - the Axe through the chest, not the beheading - that's exactly what he did. He didn't have room to make a full swing, so he pushed it through both of their bodies before materializing it inside of Saral Caine.

Is that what happened? I was just under the impression that he stabbed it through himself hard enough to stick into Saral's chest. Looking at the comic in question, the axe is in there pretty freakin' deep, but Saral is also trying to crush him to death, and may have accidentally shoved the axe into his own chest with all of his (considerable) strength, and to hell with the awful leverage that BE has to work with.

[Gryphonic]

Is that what happened? I was just under the impression that he stabbed it through himself hard enough to stick into Saral's chest. Looking at the comic in question, the axe is in there pretty freakin' deep, but Saral is also trying to crush him to death, and may have accidentally shoved the axe into his own chest with all of his (considerable) strength, and to hell with the awful leverage that BE has to work with.

That's how I understood it. The Axe was outside Saral Caine's arms. The quote from the Axe of Prissan page said "There is only one way for the Axe to be solid for a paladin and that were if he wished it so." I'm not sure how else Ears could have driven the axe-head in at that angle otherwise. That's a pretty nasty trick, but hey, he was being crushed to death.
I might be wrong, though; whatever the action was happened off-panel.

[sunphoenix]

HEY!!! I'm calling Boooooo-gus!

THACO was still in melee range with Forgath... casting a spell - Hold Person [by the way neat effect... love it!] should have provoked an Attack of Opportunity {AoO} for THACO!

[T-RexWithTourettes]

Heh, I think Big Ear's pose as his armor changes midair is meant to be a reference to Grem when he was launched into the air by Biscuit's axe
Awesome update!

[Liesmith]

Heh, I think Big Ear's pose as his armor changes midair is meant to be a reference to Grem when he was launched into the air by Biscuit's axe
Awesome update!

And then Grem shows up from the dungeon entrance and chucks a necrotic finger at Forgath, just to ruin everyone's day again.

[Bad At Jokes]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Big Ears having four fingers in the third panels.

[stevedj]

Technically he could. He can choose for the Axe to pass through someone intangibly. I think when he killed Saral Caine - the Axe through the chest, not the beheading - that's exactly what he did. He didn't have room to make a full swing, so he pushed it through both of their bodies before materializing it inside of Saral Caine.

Is that what happened? I was just under the impression that he stabbed it through himself hard enough to stick into Saral's chest. Looking at the comic in question, the axe is in there pretty freakin' deep, but Saral is also trying to crush him to death, and may have accidentally shoved the axe into his own chest with all of his (considerable) strength, and to hell with the awful leverage that BE has to work with.

I thought Saral wasn't a Paladin, and thus the Axe was always solid against him?

[willpell]

I had a great deal of difficulty figuring out what was going on in this update, and am still unclear on some things. Hopefully the shading will rectify this.

Cleric is never a match for a paladin.

Methinks you have not spent much time on optimization boards. Cleric is a Tier 1 class; it breaks the game in half. Paladin is a slightly glorified Fighter. The only way a fight between them can be even remotely fair, aside from an AntiMagic Field, is if the GM fudges very heavily for flavor reasons (or just to be a dick to the Cleric's player).

He would be firing into melee. He probably doesn't care about the -4 to hit, but the chance of hitting friendlies is bad for paladins.

I would be very surprised if Kore has any "friendlies", according either to himself or anyone else.

[I need a game of D&D so badly]

You might well be able to join my forum game here, "The Forest"....

[Gryphonic]

I thought Saral wasn't a Paladin, and thus the Axe was always solid against him?

I *think* a paladin wielder can choose when it is and isn't solid. But I'm not sure I've seen that for certain.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Big Ears having four fingers in the third panels.

...huh.

[vonpenguin]

I had a great deal of difficulty figuring out what was going on in this update, and am still unclear on some things. Hopefully the shading will rectify this.

Cleric is never a match for a paladin.

Methinks you have not spent much time on optimization boards. Cleric is a Tier 1 class; it breaks the game in half. Paladin is a slightly glorified Fighter. The only way a fight between them can be even remotely fair, aside from an AntiMagic Field, is if the GM fudges very heavily for flavor reasons (or just to be a dick to the Cleric's player).

But at level four Forgath probably hasn't had time to optimize to much. Not to mention his player is clearly a roleplayer not a rollplayer so he might not be super awesome. And Ears does have one advantage as well, he's probably still under the effects of Chief's bull's strength. It just didn't help against Kore because the axe can't hurt paladins unless they want it to.

[LooksAndSmiles]

If I had to name this thread, I would have given:

"By the time you see it..."