The Order of the Stick

The True Neutral plane, the Outlands, is an infinite flat disk with seventeen gate-towns along its "border". Each town exists around a gate to one of the other 16 outer planes.

So if you are somewhere between true neutral and lawful neutral, you may end up in the gate-town Automata, while a more purely true neutral soul will have a place somewhere else in the plane other than the towns.

Think So

Blackwing's thought speech was pretty funny.

Edited by jjjj2 on Nov 27th 2020 at 9:19:31 AM

You can only write so much in your forum signature. It's not fair that I want to write a piece of writing yet it will cut me off in the mid

Well then, the theory that the rune trap triggers dimensional shifting of the different mini-dungeons looks to be very on the nose.

Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)

Mmhmm. You may all apologize for doubting me.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Does that mean that if it turns out to be wrong after all, we get to laugh at you instead?

Disgusted, but not surprised

Yes.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Definitely teleporting/dungeon shifting shenanigans.

Wait, so is this them bypassing the effect of the trap, or triggering it

Does this mean they DON'T find the gate?

Also, I was expecting the effect of triggering it to not be so.... flashy.

Say to the others who did not follow through You're still our brothers, and we will fight for you

They didn't trigger it. Haley sabotaged the trap, causing it to go "fzzzt". That's my interpretation. Ordinarily it's meant to be completely undetectable.

Edited by Fighteer on Nov 27th 2020 at 10:59:47 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Hmm. This reads less like "the runes send you into a fake dungeon" and more like "bypassing the runes triggers something that sends you into the real dungeon".

Kind of a Distinction Without a Difference, but it explains why nobody noticed being teleported repeatedly.

Trouble Cube continues to be a general-purpose forum for those who desire such a thing.

Is a rat skull a common spell component?

Say to the others who did not follow through You're still our brothers, and we will fight for you

Ok. Lets see what happens now.

One Strip! One Strip!

I’m kinda expecting a big splash page for the next update, it just feels like exactly what comes next with all the build up.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran

Well the problem is that the dungeon-shifting theory explained how there could be a whole dungeon behind each one of the doors. If triggering the runes actually does nothing, that reopens that question.

Worldbuilding is fun, writing is a chore

Dungeons don't have to be huge complexes. Each of Kraagor's Tomb's dungeons could just be, like, a straight tube filled with monsters made up of various chambers. There aren't a lot of specific requirements for what constitutes a "dungeon".

Edited by TobiasDrake on Nov 27th 2020 at 9:04:36 AM

My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.

It may be that bypassing the runes triggers the teleportation. They are now in the dungeon with the portal. Blackwing not having followed them is going to be an important plot point. Team Evil is going to figure this out as well, somehow.

Oh, and I never doubted you, Fighteer. Well, not in this thread, anyway.

Blackwing not following them is mostly going to serve as a warning that Team Evil is closing in.

Also, V may have called it a drawback, but Blackwing’s Motor Mouth tendencies will actually be useful in a way. If he stops narrating to himself, V will know immediately that something is wrong.

I am Vengeance! I am the Night! I am... BAT-TROPER!

Hmm. So I feel comfortable saying that you get sent to a different place depending on whether or not you trigger the trap. I also feel comfortable saying that this is how dozens of different dungeons can co-exist side-by-side.

Which means that it is more likely the no-trap version is what's physically inside the cliff, whereas the yes-trap version is somewhere else. But then why is the floor a different colour in the no-trap version? Like surely that version should just be the natural colour of the local rock. Anything else would be an insane amount of effort of no obvious end. Is it just supposed that the no-trap version isn't as weathered? Because this place hasn't existed for long enough for me expect that be to be noticeable.

If bypassing the runes triggers the teleportation, then the floor is a different color because it is a different floor. You would want the floor to remain the same if the trap is triggered, because the whole point is that the victim doesn't know they have triggered anything.

The different color of floor definitely seems to indicate that bypassing the runes is what creates the portal or whatever to the Gate room. Which would imply that what's beyond the runes normally would be the dungeon you encounter whenever you enter a door.

The conclusion that seems most supported by the evidence is that the Order has now entered a different chamber than what exists physically beyond the door. It seems logistically weird that failing to trigger a trap would create an effect rather than triggering it, but it's the only thing that makes sense given the datapoint of the floor changing.

Haley has opened the path to what will almost certainly be the Gate, which can theoretically be accessed from any door but actually only by a high-level rogue. Rogue to notice the runes, high-level to bypass them, a feat that was clearly difficult even for Haley given that she requested some time to take 20 on it.

Edited by TobiasDrake on Nov 27th 2020 at 9:55:37 AM

My Tumblr. Currently liveblogging Haruhi Suzumiya and revisiting Danganronpa V3.

Basically I see three models here:

• 1. Team Evil is physically inside the cliff, and the Order is somewhere else
• 2. The Order is physically inside the cliff, and Team Evil is somewhere else
• 3. The trap doesn't control any portals, and actually just changes the colour of floor or something like that.

#3 is mostly included for the sake of completeness; I don't think any of us actually believe that's the case. So then:

• Pros of model #1:
  • The trap's effect is hard to detect
  • Doesn't require a portal with a indefinite duration
  • The different coloured floor is easier to explain
  • Explorers don't ask question about the cliff seemingly being bigger on the inside

• Pros of model #2:
  • Multiple dungeon complexes can be built without worrying about collapsing the cliff-face or bumping into each other. ^note  This was brought up as something weird about the set-up that demanded explanation; I highly doubt it's gonna be as simple as 'every door just leads to a long narrow hallway.
  • You can't cheat by jump directly from one door to the next.
  • The gate is in the same physical space as the coordinates it was said to exist at.
  • A less convoluted trap set-up means less opportunity for things to break down and go wrong

Edited by Gilphon on Nov 27th 2020 at 1:14:27 PM

Multidimensional stone — They can both be in the cliff.

Link to TRS threads in project mode here.

Does being dimensionally locked keep you from being teleported against your will? That seems like something that would break this kind of trap in two if you know it's there even if you can't see or disarm it.

I think they just painted the floor of the entrances to match the "fake" caves so you don't notice that you're being teleported.

Nice detail, Roy grabbing Belkar to ensure he gets across. Unless, of course, this means that Roy is going to just miss getting across so we can get some drama...