17 Dec 2013 - "Brother!"

[Gryphonic]

I find it intriguing that Kore shoots first. Questions may or may not come later. Hopefully we won't see his little pellets.

T-SHIRT TIME!

[Zigit]

Thaco: "Very cute, you two. Now help us get this stupid door open before we're all shot to death!
Wait, was he actually yelling for Minmax and Forgath to help? He's looking backward, but he's the rearmost of the GAP.

Looks to me as if he's looking back to see how much time they have till their impending doom... I really hope everyone teams up. Really though, what kind of a&*h*$+ puts a puzzle on the opening to the dungeon?

[RedwoodElf]

Thaco: "Very cute, you two. Now help us get this stupid door open before we're all shot to death!
Wait, was he actually yelling for Minmax and Forgath to help? He's looking backward, but he's the rearmost of the GAP.

Looks to me as if he's looking back to see how much time they have till their impending doom... I really hope everyone teams up. Really though, what kind of a&*h*$+ puts a puzzle on the opening to the dungeon?

That would be J.R.R. Tolkien.

[Gryphonic]

Well, said person might reasonably have expected that the dungeon was more dangerous that the immediate environment, and tried to put a minimum Int threshold on it to keep out total idiots. Of course, the one time the dungeon was safer on the inside...

ETA:

[Darkpool]

It was a REALLY bad idea for the GAP to leave Chief's spear behind. They'd be in a great position to unload massive damage on Kore while he's crossing the bridge.

[Liquidmark]

Thaco: "Very cute, you two. Now help us get this stupid door open before we're all shot to death!
Wait, was he actually yelling for Minmax and Forgath to help? He's looking backward, but he's the rearmost of the GAP.

Looks to me as if he's looking back to see how much time they have till their impending doom... I really hope everyone teams up. Really though, what kind of a&*h*$+ puts a puzzle on the opening to the dungeon?

Minmax solves the puzzle. Calling it now.

[AntMac]

I wish some one of you young people would make that last panel into a joke.

I am thinking MinMaxs' speech-bubble being re-written to read

"Brother . . . is my deodorant up to the task?"



YAY, MinMax and Forgarth and the Knobbly Gang are goin' cave-huntin' together !. Pursued all the way by a cursed Dwarf murderer, though, so, not yay too.

[CocoaNutCakery]

So we can say for certain that Kore doesn't care about hurting anyone now.
Well, he never seemed to care before, but he gave a reason that it was to kill evil people. He probably should have said "you two stood near goblins, so you are evil" before he attacked or something.

You might have noticed that Forgath and Minmax are in the way. Accidentally or not, they're between him and evil.

[Davis8488]

Preposterous, it has been clearly established that none other than Goblinslayer shall keep us safe!

I think Kore would agree that Dellyn Goblinslayer was obviously tainted by evil. Not only did he and his companion seem to gain power from monstrous abilities, but he also willfully kept monsters alive rather than stamp out the seeds of evil within them.

[St.Rider]

"No one can defeat Kore in a fight!" from Forgath looks pretty similar to "...not by the hand of a man will he fall." (Glorfindel's prophecy about the Witch-king of Angmar. Those of you who read/watched "Lord of the Rings" know how that played out in the end).
It's almost time to start a "1001 ways to kill Kenny Kore" thread.

[Glemp]

So we can say for certain that Kore doesn't care about hurting anyone now.
Well, he never seemed to care before, but he gave a reason that it was to kill evil people. He probably should have said "you two stood near goblins, so you are evil" before he attacked or something.

You might have noticed that Forgath and Minmax are in the way. Accidentally or not, they're between him and evil.

if it was just that then he wouldn't have told Minmax to run, but simply to get out of the way or get down. Or maybe we gave him some of our paranoia over the prophecy, I don't know.

[Changes_everything]

Alright gals, let's start deciphering that entrance riddle.

From what we can make out, my first guess is it's about building pairs - there's but one empty field, not counting the upper corners, which, I think, do not count.



Flower and tree,
keyhole and key,
sun and star (if the latter is not actually a pentagram...),
ring and hand,
rock and mountain,
I'm guessing the first symbol in row 3 is a symbol for fire or clouds, so it might go with the flash/lightning,
next are (rain)drops and hailstorm (or meteor storm, whatever you prefer).
Wild guess at line 2, it's blood (1st field), which would link to the sword.

Can't really make out what the rest should be, the field in row 5 column 5 is at least not empty, can't figure out what the "package" and what I nicknamed R2D2 are really supposed to be.
Well, things are partially blocked and not very detailed, but hey, what don't you do for early calls!

Makes sense so far?
BUT:
There is a total of 23 symbols (or space for them), and with an odd number there will always be one symbol not linked to any other.
Suggestions please...

[notimportant]

Alright gals, let's start deciphering that entrance riddle.

I think the "package" looks like a belt strap. It could go with the "ring", if that is a belt.
And if there are 23 symbols, there might be 11 pairs and you need to figure out what would pair up with the last image? Perhaps you need to touch the empty panel with an object that would fit?

[Changes_everything]

Well, no, there are 23 including the blank one... so if you match 11 pairs, you're left with the blank. But belt strap sounds very promising.

[WastesTime]

Now we can see it more clearly.

Flower, keyhole, sun
Small ember(?) or a drop of blood, sword, ring, eye, key
Large fire, triangle-shaped thingy, tree, glove, pentagram (?)
???, droplets, belt, mountain, empty space (probably to move those pieces around)
Lightning, ???, door, meteorites (?), ???

I really think that this black space is an empty space that enables the rearranging of the pieces.

It's probably something like this

[Quild]

Maybe the black square is not empty but a symbol for "Darkness".

But we would have 23 symbols. Maybe the only one that needs to be pressed is the one that doesn't go with anything else.

If the black square really means they have to move the panels (which I'm afraid is what need to be done), they're in trouble, man, that is so long to do!

[DragonStryk72]

Or you know, they could just stop him. Kore is already down points thanks to the GAP, and as was previously worked out, a 9th level paladin, meaning he has finite HP. Hand the Racist Axe to Forgath, use the culverts for cover til Kore closes, then move to flank. Forgath gets a whopping +8 per swing (enough to counter the tower shield's AC bonus), while Thaco, Complains, and Big Ears flank. You fight from the other side with Fumbles, Forgath, and Minmax. You have a healer on each side, and from that point, Kore's got nowhere to go, taking at least 8 attacks a rounds that are at +2 for flanking bonus, save for Forgath, who's sitting on a +10. Even if Fumbles just stands there, he's still helping the fight by providing flank. If no one else has this knowledge, Minmax does, because he's a minmaxer. If there's one thing he knows, it's how to stack a bunch of modifiers in a fight.

I don't get this "He can't be beaten in combat" thing, because he's not actually that good. He uses no real tactics, and just slogs through due to his AC. That's fine when you have backup with other party members, but at this point, he's not gonna be able to use the crossbows much longer, putting him into melee. If he attempts to attack with the crossbows while fighting in melee, he provokes an attack of opportunity for each instance of attack, so 2x8= He can be hit up to 16 times a round, without wasting any of the group's attacks for the round.

Failing all of that, they can just bum rush, overbear, and throw his stupid butt off the bridge. Without some other factor we are up to now unaware of, this fight should be Kore's ass.

[Zwums]

I don't get this "He can't be beaten in combat" thing, because he's not actually that good.

He just has that intense reputation and the tendency to inspire utter terror in his enemies. That's his real weapon I think. Even in a game with finite rules, I think a villain played up by a DM can be terrifying.

Yay history - A little mercenary group named the Ever Victorious Army would routinely rout and defeat Taiping rebel forces whose armies routinely had ten times the men. All the Ever Victorious army had was slightly higher tech weaponry and a reputation that inspired fear. An imperfect analogy, yes, but why else did I get a history degree, if not than to better understand Goblins?

[WastesTime]

I don't get this "He can't be beaten in combat" thing, because he's not actually that good. He uses no real tactics, and just slogs through due to his AC. That's fine when you have backup with other party members, but at this point, he's not gonna be able to use the crossbows much longer, putting him into melee. If he attempts to attack with the crossbows while fighting in melee, he provokes an attack of opportunity for each instance of attack, so 2x8= He can be hit up to 16 times a round, without wasting any of the group's attacks for the round.

He just has that intense reputation and the tendency to inspire utter terror in his enemies. That's his real weapon I think.

What particularly comes to mind is a historical example. A little mercenary group named the Ever Victorious Army would routinely rout and defeat Chinese rebel forces whose armies routinely had ten times the men. All the Ever Victorious army had was slightly higher tech weaponry and a reputation that inspired fear. An imperfect analogy, yes, but why else did I get a history degree, then to better understand Goblins?

The same thing happened in Poland with our cavalry, the Polish Hussars. Those guys were feared all across the eastern and central Europe and even beyond that. They won battles with impossible odds not in their favor. And why was that? Because they had reputation. Because there were stories of a wall of steel on horseback driving through enemy lines mercilessly just to retreat to take new spears and charge again. Sure, they had tactic, but the main reason for their victories were the relentless waves of charge. They also never backed away from the fight and kept their ranks intact. The same is with Kore - he advances no matter what. Even with rope fused to his throat, he shot bolts at Thaco & Co. His lack of fear, together with his determination to eradicate all evil and the legends surrounding him make him an unbeatable opponent.

On an unrelated note - does Kore eat or sleep? I'm not familiar with the D&D system but does he even have to pause for food or rest?

[Nerre]

I think they belong to each other in groups of 2 and 3, a bit like a shift puzzle and also a bit like a memory game where you have identical cards, but this time it is association cards which belong to the same theme, but not having same pictures.

sword and belt
dragon and mountain (hobbit refference?) - or fire and dragon, cause he spits it
key and keyhole and door
sun and star
thunder and rain in a storm
flower and tree are both plants
ring on a finger of the hand
triangle and circle (geometric base figures)

things like that.

Also a big thanks for zooming it larger and coloring it:

[Quild]

Kore is at least level 14 since he is able to cast Hoy Sword.

Ok, Forgath and MM were able to defeat the Goblinslayer while being level 2, but this is not the same deal.

[RedwoodElf]

Kore is at least level 14 since he is able to cast Hoy Sword.

Ok, Forgath and MM were able to defeat the Goblinslayer while being level 2, but this is not the same deal.

Wouldn't he be able to cast that at 13th if he had a high enough Charisma bonus? I'm not sure if that's one of the things they changed on Pathfinder, but on their chart, level 13 has a "0" for 4th level spells at level 13, meaning if his charisma is high enough to give a bonus to level 4 spells, he can cast that number per day.

[Quild]

That is one of the things they changed on Pathfinder.
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/paladin.htm

14th level is needed on 3.5

[spiderwrangler]

He just has that intense reputation and the tendency to inspire utter terror in his enemies. That's his real weapon I think.

His chief weapon is surprise... surprise and fear... fear and surprise.... His TWO weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... His THREE weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency... and an almost fanatical devotion to eradicating evil.... His FOUR... no... Amongst his weapons.... Amongst his weaponry...are such elements as fear, surprise....

On an unrelated note - does Kore eat or sleep? I'm not familiar with the D&D system but does he even have to pause for food or rest?

Ring of Sustenance: This ring continually provides its wearer with life-sustaining nourishment. The ring also refreshes the body and mind, so that its wearer needs only sleep 2 hours per day to gain the benefit of 8 hours of sleep. The ring must be worn for a full week before it begins to work. If it is removed, the owner must wear it for another week to reattune it to himself.

The Endurance feat allows sleeping in medium armor without becoming fatigued... I'm not aware of something that would negate that for heavy... so unless his armor is mithril, or he has some other enchantment preventing fatigue (or it's part of his 'curse'), he'd presumably have to take it off when he does rest.

I suppose this could add fuel to the 'Kore killed the village' speculation (though I still don't think that's the case), if he were able to steady march for 22 hours, sleep for 2, then hit the trail again.

[EatsAPeach]

I think that Kore, obsessed by Good and Evil, needs to be confronted by Kin, who actually knows what those things are. Kin is as purely Good as anyone in this game, maybe even more so than Dies Horribly. Kore might begin with "she's a monster" but that's really bogus from a Dwarf. She's been sinned against and she sensibly killed her rapist, which would be the duty of any Paladin. If she shows up minus the collar and ready to throw down, shouting "Leave ALL my friends alone," Kore would not survive a fight with her. He could not survive a fight in which he would be the obvious representative of Evil against Good's Avatar, fighting him to save helpless wounded people.
I think that the whole "Kore is unbeatable" thing may be nearly true; he will just pull out more and more magic as he runs out of bolts and breaks swords. Physical force isn't going to do it. Kore may be the prisoner of a curse, kept alive by duty; somehow he must be freed before he can be defeated.