The Order of the Stick

The loss of Malack is pretty devastating by itself. Tarquin needs someone to mind him and keep him grounded and now there's no one to do it.

I think Elan's Unspoken Plan was to invoke Julio Scoundrél, and I don't think he has another plan up his sleeve. He already defeated him when he destroyed his ego at the end of the last book. Yes, he still has his empire, but it's implied that we won't see it defeated, at least not in the main comic. Maybe we will in some bonus comic. Or not.

Elan: Now that we've saved the world, Roy, I can find a way to topple my father's empire in a suitably dramatic manner.

Scene cut to Tarkin in the ruins of the palace, which is on fire
Tarkin: How did everything go so horribly wrong? This is not my story!

Elan: Well, I'll get to that eventually. But first, I need to help Haley with the Thieves Guild.

edited 6th Mar '15 4:20:05 AM by FuzzyBoots

I think he's referring to the other unspoken plan, the one he gives to Haley's Dad on how to defeat Tarquin.

As for what it could be, my first idea was that it would somehow involve Sabine. Perhaps using her ability to shapeshift to pose as his next wife, and then springing a trap on him with all the others (Gannji, Enor, Ian, Geoff & Amun-Zora). I don't know how likely any of that is, though.

edited 6th Mar '15 4:20:14 AM by BaleFire

That hinges on Elan knowing that Sabine would co-operate. How much does Elan know about Sabine?

Is this just filler speculation while we wait for a new comic? The arc with Tarquin is over, done, kaput. Finished until the epilogue, if any.

At the risk of getting into yet another mechanics argument discussion, would T's Ring of True Seeing (how he spotted the invisibility spelled Nale) be able to see through any disguise Sabine could use?

I mean, he was already familiar with her at the start of that story arc, so being aware of and prepared for shapeshifter shenanigans (aside from the instructions given to his guards) wouldn't be an unreasonable precaution.

Yes, a ring of true seeing will allow the wearer to see the true form of any being that is polymorphed or shapeshifted.

But not disguised?

True seeing reveals magical and supernatural disguises and transformations, but it doesn't reveal physical disguises or let you spot creatures that are merely hiding. It defeats magical effects, not mundane ones.

edited 6th Mar '15 8:58:07 AM by Fighteer

Well, given the events of the Snarl's attack at the end of Blood Runs in the Family, we might not be finished with Tarquin's party, but we are absolutely finished with the Empire of Blood storyline. If we ever see any of them again, it will be to collaborate on the A plot rather than continuing progress on their B plot.

It's most natural to think of True Seeing as a very narrow form of dispelling magic. It pierces any and all magical effects that would otherwise prevent you from seeing the true form of something. However, that doesn't prevent someone from wearing a hat, because why would it? The "true form" of something doesn't require them to be naked with no make-up.

It doesn't give you magical insight or anything, it just pierces illusions and transformations.

edited 6th Mar '15 10:36:56 AM by Clarste

I think I know Elan's plan:Form a band. Counter propaganda programming. He is a Bard after all.

rock music is truly the most powerful magic of all

Why didn't Haley try using Crystal's dagger?

Didn't she lose it? I don't remember her ever getting that back...

Would a +5 dagger break through Crystal golem's DR if it wasn't adamantine?

There is no interchangeability between vulnerabilities, every DR is vulnerable to a specific thing and if that thing isn't "generic magical weapon" then any amount of plusses on it won't let you ignore the DR.

So it would only help by that adding +5 damage letting the rest of the attack go over the damage reduction. Although the biggest defense comes from the golem's immunity to Sneak Attacks - Haley's +8d6 stabs would've just laughed at DR 5 otherwise.

edited 8th Mar '15 3:07:23 AM by Adannor

But even with an adamantine weapon she would lose her sneak attack.

Yeah. Although given that Crystal is an equal to Haley's level rogue, sneak attacks wouldn't be in effect anyway.

Basically, what this boils down to is that Haley can't manage enough damage to reliably overcome Crystal's DR so she's trying to bypass it instead.

I was wondering. Does a DR of five meaning for something like 8d6 you lose five points of damage on each of those rolls and thus at best could only inflict eight damage, or does it calculate the total (8-48) and then subtract five points, leaving you with a lot more effective damage? Or am I getting how DR works entirely wrong?

The latter, I believe. A creature with DR 15 would subtract 15 damage from the final damage roll.

Incidentally, 15/bludgeoning and magic is Xykon's DR.

edited 8th Mar '15 1:25:52 PM by TobiasDrake

It's subtracted from the final damage of the attack, after adding up all the rolling components.

edited 8th Mar '15 1:28:38 PM by Adannor

So, 8D6 would easily overcome it, if only Haley could use them against her. Which she can't.