The Order of the Stick

I wonder when this will come into play. Rich probably wouldn't include it if it didn't have any impact on the plot.

Gasp! Haley's bargaining prowess is such that it extends to the whole city! Quick, find a brothel!

A... Gnome brothel? Y-yeahh... only NO.

Yeah, everyone knows gnomes reproduce via division.

That annoying thing hovering around your head has kept you from making some huge mistakes you ingrate.

Before you criticize him, try remembering how many people you mass murdered before he started hovering around your head consistently.

.....It is a waste of a good zinger though. That's a shame.

^^^ What, you got something against short girls? :P

It's just a +1 effective caster level boost, so it'll probably have the same effect on the plot as any other time the characters upgrade gear. V will be marginally (5%) better at everything he does.

edited 10th Nov '14 11:05:09 AM by Clarste

Usually Rich doesn't bother showing the in-game effects of all the various magic items that the Order has accumulated. It is clutter, adding nothing useful to the narrative. This is a breather episode intended to show the Order outside the pressures of combat or urgent crisis; we got a similar one after they left the Dungeon of Dorukan, as you might recall.

Though we might see those Dimension Door boots come up later. I mean, V is not going to find a scroll of epic teleport or anything, so they'll probably have some money left over.

Yeah, I'm sure there was a Chekhov's Gun in this strip, and I can't see it being the stone.

Clearly, this gnome is trying to endear himself enough to become a recurring shopkeeper. That's where the real money is.

edited 10th Nov '14 2:22:00 PM by KnownUnknown

Is this the first helpful/not incompetent shopkeeper in OOTS?

Does the blacksmith who made Roy's sword into a +5 sword count? If so, then no, they were the first.

edited 10th Nov '14 8:02:46 PM by DamascaRamza

Well, she was helpful, at any rate.

I think the merchants Haley went to during the desert trip were fine too. They redyed her (lime green by default) boots to fit the armour she bought of them.

That was part of her bartering, though.

Maybe, but still - they were not incompetent nor hostile to the customer.

Honestly, I don't remember any merchants that were that bad since the first post-dungeon village visit.

The merchant selling potions for less than the cost of their reagents.

I think that was just an abysmal grasp of economics.

And therefore they were incompetent.

Yeah, that couple of potion sellers are incompetent, the blacksmith was Sabrine and the polearm shop was an asshole wasting Roy's time despite not having any polearms at all.

Was there any other merchant that was overly hostile or incompetent?

No, the other blacksmith was Sabine, who told him about the star metal. The one that reforged Roy's sword was just a normal blacksmith.

Yes I meant the blacksmith in the opening village. Which is where the polearm troll and potion idiots were in too, IIRC.

Potion idiot came after the group got back together. Polearm guy happened while Roy's sword was broken.

edited 11th Nov '14 6:47:17 AM by Arha

There was a blacksmith who was actually Sabine. The other blacksmith-y guy in the same town was the gnomish armormaker with his insane inventions. It seems like that town is full of assholes (the potion couple and the polearm guy were in the same town). This is the same town where once an adventurer appears, an apple starts to cost 1 platinum piece and even tumbleweed costs money.

Other shopkeepers / service providers seen in the comic were usually quite friendly or at least neutral. It's their job to be friendly to customers, after all. The one who threw out V for casting a spell had every right for it, as spellcasting was explicitly forbidden in that place.