September 9th, 2013: What a Pity.

[Reiiama]

Of note: Does anyone notice the white-skinned Kin shares Minmax's habit of combining words that we saw earlier in the Maze?

Bag of Moulding = Bag of Mini-holding

...can't find the section in the comic where Minmax is making up words.

[Drevvy]

Of note: Does anyone notice the white-skinned Kin shares Minmax's habit of combining words that we saw earlier in the Maze?

Bag of Moulding = Bag of Mini-holding

...can't find the section in the comic where Minmax is making up words.

It's before they entered the maze.

[normzone]

Take everything in the dungeon? My characters have been burdened with chairs and carpets...We got fair value at resale, but it was a pain to lug it all...

[Unlucky-for-Some]

Take everything in the dungeon? My characters have been burdened with chairs and carpets...We got fair value at resale, but it was a pain to lug it all...

LOL - I've had the same thing ... parties in my games exit the dungeon/villain's castle with carpets and drapes rolled up in the back of a cart along with anything that wasn't nailed down and many things that were nailed down but could be prised up

[T-RexWithTourettes]

HA! I'd always seen those keys, I recognized them but didn't know what to think of them. God this comic has so much Chekov's Gun (although this isn't really a very accurate example, I don't really know what else I'd call it). I love it.

[Strawberrycocoa]

Maybe they could even recrit more Kins to the group? What about Psimax's Kin, the one he murdered a few hundred thousand times. She'd probably LOVE to join.

[Zwums]

Have at thee, supporters of the invisi-key theory! Hah!

Anyway, I notice that the adorable spider is back with Onyx. Which makes me sad cause I really really really want him to join our FMK.

[DuIstalri]

I just had a horrible though - what if Sapphire adds Kin to their party without her knowledge or permission? She would get left behind in the maze, and it would be impossible for her to reunite with Minmax, as 'Reality 156' would be replaced with an entirely different reality 156, severing all ties between our characters world and the Maze of Many.

[Gurkenglas]

So. 3K are going to die on their next runthrough, making the manual reset fail and effectively killing all teams that haven't run through the maze yet (half of infinitely many).

[AntMac]

I laughed way too hard at the joke at the end.

Me too, it was great, like a visit from the Endorphin Fairy. I loved the looks on their faces.

[Krulle]

Of note: Does anyone notice the white-skinned Kin shares Minmax's habit of combining words that we saw earlier in the Maze?

Bag of Moulding = Bag of Mini-holding

...can't find the section in the comic where Minmax is making up words.

http://www.goblinscomic.com/01282011/


The archive chapter is even named "The Same". Easy to find.

[Happy Demon]

I think the whole reconstruction IME color acts as a sort of placeholder in the maze, the shape and function of the reconstructed tissue remains the same but the material doesn't.
So i think when they exit, the reconstructed body parts will end up as the same material as it was when they entered, and as such, the same color.

Then again, I could be wrong.

[Dendr]

Did the chest disappear into an oblivion hole...?.

No, they just don't want to admit they found four of those keys and left them behind

Waaait a minute. Even if they had picked the keys up, where would they put them? In Minmax's backpack. And where's that backpack? Sorry, what backpack? He's never borne any.

Thus, they haven't taken such keys. Ever.

[Besbin]

But... When the three kins reset the maze, Psimax will be back, right? And he'll be just as powerful as usual meaning he can destroy them as easily as anything (unless they manage to hit him with the number 38...but he remembers they know that too). And they might not have access to the psionic gear after the reset, assuming the wall with the hole gets reset also (they could break it back down, but would still need to get vary far in the maze to do so)...and if they could, chances are Psimax would get there faster anyway and recalibrate the gears putting them back to square one. The thing they would need to do, and they would have to do it BEFORE the reset, is to do the work necessary to set Psimax' vulnerability number to 1, so that he will get snuffed out real early in every new run (poor Psimax ). On the plus side, there will now be the option to, at any time, drop three epic level kins into the mix in case some mega badass in "our" reality needs to get Ender's gamed

[RidcullyJack]

Did the chest disappear into an oblivion hole...?.

No, they just don't want to admit they found four of those keys and left them behind

Waaait a minute. Even if they had picked the keys up, where would they put them? In Minmax's backpack. And where's that backpack? Sorry, what backpack? He's never borne any.

Thus, they haven't taken such keys. Ever.

They might not have kept the keys in their backpack though. Backpacks are for heavy things like maces and rope.

[Krulle]

For completeness:
Original of the flashback panels: panels 2 and 6 of this page.

The three kins mention leveling up which implies they have taken class levels. think about that one.

Good catch, jimenez the third. I saw ti too, but it did not spring up as something which should be commented.
Now, this might mean that in all likeliness, our Kin has levels and classes too... That might put an end to the discussion whether or not our Kin is a NPC.
But why would a player have his character being imprisoned without abandoning his character?
Or has Kin been assigned to a latecomer to Herberts group?

[Kerig]

But... When the three kins reset the maze, Psimax will be back, right? And he'll be just as powerful as usual meaning he can destroy them as easily as anything (unless they manage to hit him with the number 38...but he remembers they know that too). And they might not have access to the psionic gear after the reset, assuming the wall with the hole gets reset also (they could break it back down, but would still need to get vary far in the maze to do so)...and if they could, chances are Psimax would get there faster anyway and recalibrate the gears putting them back to square one. The thing they would need to do, and they would have to do it BEFORE the reset, is to do the work necessary to set Psimax' vulnerability number to 1, so that he will get snuffed out real early in every new run (poor Psimax ). On the plus side, there will now be the option to, at any time, drop three epic level kins into the mix in case some mega badass in "our" reality needs to get Ender's gamed

Actually, I believe when we first met PsyMax, he intimated that he had destroyed his counter and killed his companions, freeing him from the MoM reset.

EDIT: Looks like I was wrong. Destroying the counter allowed him to remember but didn't free him from the reset. My new theory is that blue Kin will simply remove him from the MoM using the gears (a very literal Deus ex Machina)

[willpell]

But... When the three kins reset the maze, Psimax will be back, right?

My new theory is that blue Kin will simply remove him from the MoM using the gears (a very literal Deus ex Machina)

Sapphire's Altsplanation reveals that she forgets anyone who dies. Thusly, she doesn't know Psimax exists anymore, and is not accounting for him in her calculations. It was rather stupid of Onyx to leave her in charge of the machine, but maybe Onyx is busy mooning over Ruby and isn't using her Intelligence. Things are going to go south for the 3-Kin Band after the reset, but fortunately "our" FMK should be well out of it by then.

[stevedj]

How did Onyx know which key was needed? The three Kins never made it to the tower room, did they? So they never read the riddle indicating which key. Now, she said that "These keys..." which, based on the flashback we saw, would suggest all sorts of keys (not just the key with the eye) are throughout the maze.

And our FMK doesn't know which of the three keys was correct either.

It just feels a little odd here -- I'd have expected Onyx to pull out a 'wrong' key, or several different keys - then we'd possibly have a little comedy as they try to find the correct one for the door.

But... When the three kins reset the maze, Psimax will be back, right?

My new theory is that blue Kin will simply remove him from the MoM using the gears (a very literal Deus ex Machina)

Sapphire's Altsplanation reveals that she forgets anyone who dies. Thusly, she doesn't know Psimax exists anymore, and is not accounting for him in her calculations. It was rather stupid of Onyx to leave her in charge of the machine, but maybe Onyx is busy mooning over Ruby and isn't using her Intelligence. Things are going to go south for the 3-Kin Band after the reset, but fortunately "our" FMK should be well out of it by then.

I'm hoping our Forgath is smart enough to ask her about PsiMax -- and seeing her reaction "...who???"

[Krulle]

We don't need to consider PsiMax.
Whatever happens to PsiMax happens in a reality which will not be part of our FMK's one anymore, once our FMK have been declared winners. They will leave, and the storyline will follow FMK, GAP, Dies and Fox, ..., but not the Kinship or PsiMax anymore.
That part is over. Nearly.

It will leave a lot of room for guesses and interpretations and fanfic (Wears, an idea for your monthly Fanfic here).
Maybe even for fillers, should THunt need more of them (Christmas is coming soon).

[Miryafa]

I can't figure this out: what does "switched the maze reset from automatic to manual" mean? Is it supposed to mean that even though the parties will continue to reset, the maze will not, so that all the same doors will be shut/open from last time? Does it mean they can decide which parties reset (and deny Psimax from doing so)?

The three kins mention leveling up which implies they have taken class levels. think about that one.

Well, it was obvious Onyx had taken levels in Wizard or Sorcerer, because Adepts and whatever race they are don't get Magic Missile.

But what about Psimax? he is still an issue, and I wonder if Ruby agrees with giving them the pity win. Also what if they die during one of their runs, would that stop the maze from resetting trapping all realities within it forever?

Agreed about Psimax. Ruby likely doesn't care about the pity win, because she's more interested in making a group of only Kins, and that goal is essentially met with Sapphire's changes.

How did Onyx know which key was needed? The three Kins never made it to the tower room, did they? So they never read the riddle indicating which key. Now, she said that "These keys..." which, based on the flashback we saw, would suggest all sorts of keys (not just the key with the eye) are throughout the maze.

I'm hoping our Forgath is smart enough to ask her about PsiMax -- and seeing her reaction "...who???"

I hope someone asks about Psimax too, because that seems like a loose thread right now.

As for they keys, apparently Onyx read a hint somewhere, and, well, they're really smart. Possibly the hint in the other room was a duplicate/a trick/just for that room.

But... When the three kins reset the maze, Psimax will be back, right? And he'll be just as powerful as usual meaning he can destroy them as easily as anything (unless they manage to hit him with the number 38...but he remembers they know that too). And they might not have access to the psionic gear after the reset, assuming the wall with the hole gets reset also (they could break it back down, but would still need to get vary far in the maze to do so)...and if they could, chances are Psimax would get there faster anyway and recalibrate the gears putting them back to square one. The thing they would need to do, and they would have to do it BEFORE the reset, is to do the work necessary to set Psimax' vulnerability number to 1, so that he will get snuffed out real early in every new run (poor Psimax ). On the plus side, there will now be the option to, at any time, drop three epic level kins into the mix in case some mega badass in "our" reality needs to get Ender's gamed

That wouldn't work, since reality 1 changes every time. And keep in mind that Psimax is a psion, which is a class that is nigh-impossible to defeat when built right (Thunt's in-universe houserules excepted). Especially when he's 6-10 levels higher than everyone else. And you're right - he can just dimdoor to his personal control room, whereas I suspect the Kin party climbed through the same hole that FMK used.

We don't need to consider PsiMax.
Whatever happens to PsiMax happens in a reality which will not be part of our FMK's one anymore, once our FMK have been declared winners. They will leave, and the storyline will follow FMK, GAP, Dies and Fox, ..., but not the Kinship or PsiMax anymore.
That part is over. Nearly.

It will leave a lot of room for guesses and interpretations and fanfic (Wears, an idea for your monthly Fanfic here).
Maybe even for fillers, should THunt need more of them (Christmas is coming soon).

Whatever his actual level, Psimax is probably high enough level to manifest (the word psions use) Psionic Planeshift, and go to FMK's reality, possibly seeking revenge.* He might not (as he has better things to do), but you never know. Or he might collapse the maze and erase all the Kins, etc. Who knows? The important thing is that AFAICT, until they toss his body in an oblivion hole, he's not finished.

*Although it would be funny to see him take out Kore, since he seems to use powers with an impossibly high Fort Save or No Save.

[friedkitty]

I think it will have to do with the manual reset. They can either pick and choose who resets, effectively banishing Psimax, or they can control WHEN the maze resets, allowing them to be waiting in Psimax's entry room for him and killing him as soon as he appears. (resetting his number first to something relating to themselves.) The only catch to this is Sapphire's amnesia problem.

[RedwoodElf]

With any luck, the Kins (other than sapphire) will realise that something needs to be done about psimax before they reset the maze. Preferably, they'll repair his counter so he will at least forget THEM and won't know his vulnerability setting has been tampered with unless he actually thinks to check.

[ChuckNorris]

So. 3K are going to die on their next runthrough, making the manual reset fail and effectively killing all teams that haven't run through the maze yet (half of infinitely many).

I doubt this'll be brought up in-comic, but yeah, it's pretty nasty. I really don't see why the group did that

[Zambee]

So. 3K are going to die on their next runthrough, making the manual reset fail and effectively killing all teams that haven't run through the maze yet (half of infinitely many).

I wouldn't have thought so.
Now that the maze reset is on manual, they won't need to die. They will just configure the gears to that the maze will reset when they tell it to without them having to die. They might even be able to determine where they respawn with their memories. They could have the maze spawn them in the gear room when the entire maze resets, and teleport themselves to various rooms within the maze to do combat and gather loot and teleport back, much like Psimax was doing when he teleported. They would also have to do something about Psimax to prevent him from gaining access to the gears.
I think it's possible that the Kins have a higher intelligence score than Psimax, or have the potential due to their naturally hight racial Int scores. So it shouldn't be difficult for them to figure it all out. Tey may also use the maze/gears to remove their collars without triggering the cursed explosion.