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This is the thread for discussion of The Order of the Stick plot, characters, etc. We have a separate thread for discussing game rules and mechanics. Excessive rules discussions here may be thumped as off-topic.

OP edited to make this header - Fighteer

edited 18th Sep '17 1:08:08 PM by Fighteer

Will29 (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: Non-Canon
#53026: Apr 8th 2020 at 11:50:42 AM

[up] Yes, I think that's their point.

EDIT: dangit pagetopper

Edited by Will29 on Apr 8th 2020 at 3:53:10 PM

alekos23 Since: Mar, 2013
#53027: Apr 8th 2020 at 2:08:57 PM

Actually I thought the statue was looking at empty space so far, didn't notice it was where the Paladins were standing. smile

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#53028: Apr 9th 2020 at 5:04:45 AM

#1199: Helpful for Counting Though

Just like the team to get into an argument over how many party members (and hands) they have.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Yinyang107 from the True North (Decatroper) Relationship Status: Tongue-tied
#53029: Apr 9th 2020 at 7:44:58 AM

Huh, how long has the strip's title been on the page at the bottom?

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#53030: Apr 9th 2020 at 8:12:10 AM

That must be recent, since a common gripe has been that the title of the comic only appears in the sidebar while it's current, meaning you have to go to the archive to see it afterward.

Edited by Fighteer on Apr 9th 2020 at 11:12:19 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
crazysamaritan NaNo 4328 / 50,000 from Lupin III Since: Apr, 2010
NaNo 4328 / 50,000
#53031: Apr 9th 2020 at 8:12:57 AM

That's a real recent change, maybe two weeks at most. I first noticed it when I went to cite Oona's statement about keeping the ecology of the caverns intact.

Link to TRS threads in project mode here.
TheLovecraftian Since: Jul, 2017
#53032: Apr 9th 2020 at 8:35:05 AM

I think I saw it on the second strip, so it must have started with the first one on the new book.

Edited by TheLovecraftian on Apr 9th 2020 at 12:35:20 PM

Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#53033: Apr 9th 2020 at 9:19:20 AM

So considering 1200 is next and Durkon is contacting Lien and O-Chul does anyone else think next strip might reveal our mystery kidnappers?

HandsomeRob Leader of the Holey Brotherhood from The land of broken records Since: Jan, 2015
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
#53034: Apr 9th 2020 at 10:05:35 AM

Maybe, maybe not.

Rich doesn't really seem to do anniversary or milestone comics anymore.

One Strip! One Strip!
LMage Since: May, 2011
#53035: Apr 9th 2020 at 12:04:23 PM

I mean, he timed Hel Polls For Thee Pretty Perfectly.

Twiddler (On A Trope Odyssey)
#53036: Apr 9th 2020 at 4:10:00 PM

I like all the expressive eyebrows on this page.

HeraldAlberich from Ohio (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
#53037: Apr 9th 2020 at 9:05:32 PM

I think the titles showed up when he revamped the site a bit as part of the forum reset.

Edited by HeraldAlberich on Apr 9th 2020 at 12:08:39 PM

Jernaugh Since: Dec, 2009
#53038: Apr 10th 2020 at 2:39:35 AM

At the risk of making things a little too complicated, what if revealing the gate does require a sacrifice - but not necessarily a new one? Serini experienced personal loss linked to the gate (Kraagor) and would thus have her shortcut as discussed above, but anyone else trying to gain access would need to lose or have lost somebody (or maybe something) of personal value in pursuit of that goal.

Of course, this idea is refuted by the argument brought up earlier of requiring willing sacrifice being pretty damn evil in effect (if not in intention), and also by the structure of the gate's security. After all, meeting lots of monsters provides ample opportunity for a sufficiently motivated individual to sacrifice themselves, even in an Evil group. Besides, being unwilling to sacrifice for a goal or for people important to you doesn't seem to be a universally Evil trait in Rich's world, so I am personally quite ambivalent about this idea.

Kayeka (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#53039: Apr 10th 2020 at 2:50:40 AM

[up]Redcloak killed his brother in service of the plan. If that really were the key, I'd say he ticks the box.

FuzzyBoots from Outlying borough of Pittsburgh (there's a lot of Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
#53040: Apr 10th 2020 at 4:47:43 AM

[up][up] If it's not human sacrifice, it's basically spell components / cost of making magical items, which is a standard part of the world. Sacrifice a diamond in the process of resurrecting someone. Have 20,000 gold disappear as you make a magic item. In the world of D&D, it's assumed they're used (and consumed) in the process of doing the magic, but in the world of OOTS, I want to say they're just shown vanishing. So not evil.

TheLovecraftian Since: Jul, 2017
#53041: Apr 10th 2020 at 4:53:54 AM

Maybe not a sacrifice, but the memory of one?

I'm not up to speed on D&D artifacts, but's let's say... something that makes you forget an important memory, or that you can give a memory to in exchange for something else. Or maybe a creature, put there like some kind of metaphysical toll booth, where you give it the memory of something important of your own in exchange for passage.

I'm not sure it fits the story or Serini's character, but I started having the idea, it got away from me, and now it's there. I don't know if I got anywhere near anything, but I sure know it's going to make it into the story next time I run a D&D session.

DeMarquis (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#53042: Apr 10th 2020 at 6:18:42 AM

The gate is sitting right out there in the open. But it can only be seen by someone who has seen death.

I'm done trying to sound smart. "Clear" is the new smart.
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#53043: Apr 10th 2020 at 6:26:53 AM

If it's the memory of a sacrifice then maybe not only is this Belkar's final death, but it will happen in a sacrifice nobody realizes the significance of or be forced to forget about the nature of in order to get to the gate.

shigmiya64 Somebody get this freaking duck away from me! from a settlement that needs our help, General Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
Somebody get this freaking duck away from me!
#53044: Apr 10th 2020 at 7:07:52 AM

Maybe the gate is DLC and doesn’t come with the base purchase of Monster Canyon

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#53045: Apr 10th 2020 at 8:13:03 AM

Maybe the gate is DLC and doesn’t come with the base purchase of Monster Canyon

Yep. That's it. That's the one.

Speculation about the nature of the Gate can end, because this proposal wins forever. [lol]

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#53046: Apr 10th 2020 at 8:14:14 AM

The deceptive marketing involved is also perfectly in keeping with a Rogue's mindset.

Edited by sgamer82 on Apr 10th 2020 at 9:17:24 AM

TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#53047: Apr 10th 2020 at 8:18:29 AM

And the "sacrifice" is the sacrifice of your hard-earned dollars!

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#53048: Apr 10th 2020 at 8:21:18 AM

Oh geez, the dungeon is freemium?

Disgusted, but not surprised
HandsomeRob Leader of the Holey Brotherhood from The land of broken records Since: Jan, 2015
Leader of the Holey Brotherhood
#53049: Apr 10th 2020 at 8:22:32 AM

You could make it an ironic sacrifice.

Like, in order to reach it, you have to give up whatever goal requires you to reach the gate.

Redcloak has to give up on the plan, Xykon has to die permanently (when his actions are about not doing so).

So it deliberately puts them in a Morton's Fork where the thing they have to give up to get to the get is the same thing they want the gate for, making it impossible for them to reach.

Not sure what the order would need to give up though. Most of them are in it to save the world and they can't sacrifice the world in order to reach the gate because that would mean destroying the gate.

One Strip! One Strip!
fredhot16 Don't want to leave but cannot pretend from Baton Rogue, Louisiana. Since: Jan, 2015 Relationship Status: Too sexy for my shirt
Don't want to leave but cannot pretend
#53050: Apr 10th 2020 at 8:24:17 AM

Why are we talking about a sacrifice again?

Trans rights are human rights. TV Tropes is not a place for bigotry, cruelty, or dickishness, no matter who or their position.

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