The Order of the Stick

There is no such thing as foolproof for a talented fool. And if anything can be said of Elan....

How's that quote go- something like the perfect idiot-proofing never accounts for the perfect idiot?

edited 17th Aug '16 9:13:16 AM by Hodor2

Whenever you try to make something foolproof, along comes a bigger fool.

(At least, that's my preferred version of the saying.)

"Boris, I thought you said this plan was foolproof." "Foolproof yes, idiot-proof, no."

Now I'm pondering what the characters would do post conflict if they survived.

Roy is in too deep with his world saving obligation. I know he wants to dedicate time to his relationship and to being a role model, but there's probably so many other threats to the world that this comic doesn't even touch on that could keep him up all night.

I feel like Roy will be saving the world forever.

Elan and Haley are easy; they'd get to actually dedicate their full attention to their families and their personal happiness.

V, ugh. Well I suspect they're not going to make it, but if they did survive, having lost their family and their love of the arcane arts been soured I feel like they'd suffer a whole lot of depression without the world ending distraction to get them out of bed. But I'm sure their Raven would be motivated to get them out of that depression. I could see them eventually falling into obscurity with a small job or task to keep their mind busy.

If Durkon got resurrected he'd easily resume his cleric duties but do so in his homeland, untangelling what ever legacy his childhood has become.

Belkar is going to die, but if he did live, it would be prison. Even with him becoming a better person, without a word ending threat to keep the Oot S together and him useful he'd certainly have some outstanding arrest warrant turn up. (Even if a lot of nations he's created crimes in don't have the same government anymore)

In fact, post conflict there really does seem like there's nothing left for Belkar. I could see him pulling his original Miko stunt and dying just to spite who ever wants him in prison for the rest of his life.

I don't think he's ever expressed interest in this path, but I could see Roy ending up teaching at some kind of Fighter college/swordsmanship school and working to improve the reputation of his class by focusing on training people to be genius bruisers like himself.

Because of the whole Chaotic Good thing and Elan's love of drama, I think Haley and Elan's version of settling down would still involve a fair amount of adventuring/thieving.

Not sure about V's chances either, but I'd kind of like to see (maybe with a Distant Finale) V working to make amends both in his personal life and with black dragons/surviving family members of the Familicide. So yeah, I think if V survives, some kind of repentant obscurity is likely.

While Belkar is marked for death, if he wasn't, I guess the best ending for him would be an ambiguous death with the OOTS hearing vague reports later of a halfling and his cat committing acts of mayhem and gourmet cooking.

edited 17th Aug '16 1:28:16 PM by Hodor2

I can't see Haley and Elan retiring. They'd probably wander around having fun stealing things and adventuring.

Roy establishes a new prestige class that allows him to add his int as a modifier to his strength when wielding a weapon he's specialized in.

That just sounds like a new feat (or a tree of feats) rather than a whole new prestige class.

The Warrior Scholar. Or the Scholastic Warrior.

Bad Ass Bookworm.

Do it Rich! DO IT!!!

"I already felt that V has begun putting other before herself. Isn't that the point of not contesting the divorce? Sure, sure, that was family and doesn't get the full points or whatever..."

I don't follow the logic here at all. I can't imagine a more fundamentally morally neutral act than giving a spouse a divorce when they ask for one. You're neither redoubling your efforts to make your family a happy one, nor maliciously stringing out a legal battle in order to waste their money and make them suffer, you're just... shrugging your shoulders and signing.

V's specific reason seemed to me to be "I can't give my family the attention right now that contesting this divorce would require, so I have to reluctantly accept it and hope that when this is all over I can either fix things, or live with the consequences of my actions." It's good, in that it's the decent thing to do, but it's not exactly Good, in the sense of representing the first step on the path to redemption.

The first thing that popped into my head on reading "that's family so doesn't get full points" was that Chris Rock bit: "I take care of my kids!" "Whaddya want, a cookie!?"

Nah, just call it the MBA: Master of Battle Administration. Roy's degree from Fighter College.

Johnnye: Because she's putting the quest before her own happiness. She knows what she's doing now is too important to just give it up for a chance at reconciliation. She's also willingly going into danger to protect her family even when she won't be rewarded for it and doesn't have to go. V could have easily accepted that scroll, gone home and maybe patched things up and the Order couldn't and wouldn't have stopped her. She's not going to be rewarded for this. I doubt she'll get her family back after all this is over. She just willingly threw away her last chance because it's the right thing to do.

It's throwing away her own personal happiness for the sake of the entire world. Part of that is also wanting to save her family, but at this juncture, she's clearly thinking beyond just them.

It's a start, but there's a long way to go before it represents a permanent shift of alignment, assuming V is even trying for such.

There are few things more unashamedly Good than letting go of one's Neutral ambitions and desires for the sake of personally championing the cause of billions of people you will never know or meet.

From an alignment perspective, by refusing to contest the divorce, V was absolutely taking a step towards Good.

More to the point, the only reason V's marriage was even in danger in the first place was not because of the quest, but because of the horrific events that transpired. Not just because of the Black Dragon, but because of the terrifying creature that V had become, and because of the choices she made both in dealing with the dragon and with Inkyrius.

From a morality position, by refusing to contest the divorce, V acknowledges that this is a direct consequence of the terrible choices she made. She is accepting responsibility for her mistakes. As Soon Kim put it, she acknowledges that she could, in fact, be wrong and thus takes the first step towards true redemption.

In both cases, the act itself isn't that big of a thing, and it's only a step, not the complete process. But for V's character, putting others - especially those she's hurt - above herself is a huge change.

edited 18th Aug '16 7:21:52 AM by TobiasDrake

I currently consider V a good, but cripplingly depressed, person.

I see V as a person making an honest effort to be good. Being good can be cripplingly difficult, though...

OOTS #1049: An Uplifting Discussion

In which the characters take a mercifully brief digression into the interaction between magic and physics.

[Caution]<Falling Rocks><Falling Rocs>

The falling rocs are undoubtedly caused by them trying to catch falling rocks.

I love Roy taking a moment to go 'haha, fuck you magic physics are awesome'

Well, it's nice that that the laws of physics are being given something else to do rather than cry in a corner.