The Goblins Fan Forum

Zathyr wrote:Adventurers would really benefit from GPS and google maps.

Divination spells can do a little of that stuff, but it's a big point in most settings that magic follows its own contrary whims and incredibly arcane (as in mysterious and incomprehensible) rules, so it can't be used reliably as technology can, which is pretty much the entire selling point of technology.

(Also, there can be njustice, which is exactly in between. Like eating a sandwich, it is neither just nor unjust.)

Did you have the right to eat that sandwich? Did you earn it fair and square through the sweat of your proverbial brow, or did someone else suffer under an inequitable social system so that you could sit on your fat ass eating sandwiches all day while they content themselves with stale bread?

Yeah I was thinking some scrying or clairvoyance perhaps with a good survival and/or knowledge (geography) could be close. Shame the OOTS just lost their best diviner. And dangit V, get back with the others!

As for the sandwich: it was a hypothetical sandwich, so no to both.

Then it is hypothetically either just or unjust, but we cannot know which.

New OOTS up. I think the drow was refering to Nale's dad and Kilkil. And I think them leaving, while undoubtably off to do evil, will lead to Nale's defeat.

I like the Varsuvius plotline. It seems to bring out a human side to the elf.

V is defeating himherself. You can't change the past, and V even has a future payment(s) due, so all heshe can do is start helping the party now in the present. Confess first if that helps.

Maybe it is because the Count Durkula subplot took awhile, but I'm tired of V sobbing. Yes, I know in realtime it has not been very long. In war, it is often said you can cry latter after the work is done.

I'm tired of him sobbing, too. You don't get to quit to go have feels when your friends are in danger.

In his/her defense I don't think she knows. She knows that the linear guild is upon them yes, but that is something that the rest of the party could normally handle. She doesn't know that Durkon is dead and Belkar is almost there too. I agree, she should come to help them, but she might be thinking that the rest of them have it handled.

And you're not supposed to cry when you're Evil anyway!

SamWiser wrote:In his/her defense I don't think she knows. She knows that the linear guild is upon them yes, but that is something that the rest of the party could normally handle. She doesn't know that Durkon is dead and Belkar is almost there too. I agree, she should come to help them, but she might be thinking that the rest of them have it handled.

A trapped pyramid in the desert run by generations of spellcasters trying to protect a Gate. V knows all of that. How can V NOT think the party just might need himher to deal with that? It is a dungeon crawl all by itself. You don't just abondon the party, taking away their main arcane strength, when the fate of the world is on the line, and say in effect "Meh, I'm sure they can handle it while I mope." Hell, V is ignoreing hisher own wounds just to spend more time alone with herhis sorrow and 'shame'.

I'm lazy, and sorrowfull. But I neither have reality shaping powers at my daily disposal nor do I have a party of friends I've been working with for some time to save the world nearby either. So, V should suck it up and show up. To do less is self indulgent to the point of bordering on evil, again.

Nale: "I'm already leader of this team."
Tarquin: "Oh, right. Well, even more so then."
Priceless.

Also interesting to see that Nale has apparently reversed his stance on the desireability of an Evil Opposites theme. I'm a little confused as to why he says he has "four" spellcasters under his command. Is he counting himself? Or the absent Imp? Or is this a sneaky hint about Kilkil (even though he's not coming with Nale)? Or did the Giant just make a typo?

Anyone know what kinds of fiends have been summoned? I thought the one on the right was a Chuul at first. Ooh, and Durkula has a red "I.M.E.", that's neat to know. I guess this answers the question about whether he retained spellcasting abilities upon death.

ThroughTheWell wrote:So, V should suck it up and show up. To do less is self indulgent to the point of bordering on evil, again.

Yeah, I'm not feeling the "if you're Good, you must suck it up and do your duty to your friends" concept. That might be Lawful, but not Good. Good is about compassion and moral responsibility (as opposed to the kind of responsibility which involves duty). Remorse and sorrow are totally fitting with however much Good Vaarsuvius still contains. Certainly it would be pragmatically useful if he bucked up and helped the Order instead of fixating on his own pain, but valuing pragmatism over sentimentality is really more of an Evil trait anyway, or at least the kind you expect from mobsters and assassins and necromancers and other typically-nongood sorts.

The four casters would be Nale, the drow wizard, Durkon and Malack.

Also, I feel that you disproved your own point. Good is about compassion and moral responsibility. Yes, mourning would be a part of that, but so would not letting other people die. Based on her previous actions, it is obvious that she has placed the safety of the group (at least Haley) and the mission to defeat Xykon very high on her list of responsibilities. As of right now, the only threat was the linear guild. Based on past interactions with them it is logical that she might think that the order can handle them without her. I'm pretty sure that Belkar (or at least one of them) was out of the previous fight with them at the palace, so there is a precedent of them defeating the guild while one member short. So, she is fine as of right now, as she has no way of knowing that it is going badly. But the guild won't last forever. If she keeps sobbing underground then it will be as if she abandoned the order to fight Xykon without her. That is completely out of character for her, and would probably push her past the evil mark, which she is trying desperately to avoid. She does need to buck up and deal with it, at least until the battle is over. If she doesn't then she is leaving the rest of them to die at the hands of Xykon, and that seems like an evil act to me.

I get the impression V isn't thinking that the rest of the team is fine without their wizard. V's probably thinking they're better off without someone who carelessly commits mass genocide.

I've never committed mass genocide myself, so it's hard to relate. I ran over a turtle once like 20 years ago and I still feel bad about it. I could've avoided it, too. I just didn't realize it was a turtle until after I hit it. If that turtle were a vast array of families all over the world? Yeah, paralyzed with guilt sounds reasonable. Actually nauseated is probably more likely.

I was thinking it's good to go back for your friends, and assumed that was why V wasn't doing it. V's always seemed neutral to me (except for when he was evil).

New OOTS up. V has a conversation or 2.

"Just can't put my feather on it." Priceless.

V really is smart. I like how the imp normally messes up, even though all he tries to do is evil. I suppose he has one big victory, but it normally ends like this.

I think it is quite talented of Rich to be able to write V smartly deducing things. I also like how V deduced the way to defeat the Drow back in the city. That was a good fight.

I'm glad V finally got off his butt and thought to help his friends.

Looks like the site has been down for about a day and a half. The Giant mentioned a DDOS attack. Anyone hear anything new, please let the rest of us know.

So that explains why I can't enter it. Thanks TTW.

I don't get why on earth anyone would DDOS a webcomic. What's the potential benefit to doing this? You're not Taking On The Man, you're just annoying fellow nerds.

The tragedy here is that as soon as the server is not overloaded with a DDOS, it'll be overloaded with fans eager to get their long-denied fix.

Well there's a temporary site up while the site proper's getting fixed it seems. New comic though.
I wonder if this DDOS attack is connected at all to the problems Blind Ferret had.

Temporary site is amusing.

He really has a thing for last panel arrivals.

On the other hand, it could be another illusion. Those runes could have been some sort of your-worst-fears-realized thing, and Team Evil arriving would be pretty much the worst thing that could happen now.