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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

Saya1 Werefox from Multiverse Since: Oct, 2011
Werefox
#20476: Jun 12th 2013 at 8:24:26 PM

[up]Red is level 17 and you need double the hit die. So no he could not control them.

You look happy, I can change that if you want.
Arha Since: Jan, 2010
#20477: Jun 12th 2013 at 8:38:08 PM

So I did remember that right then? That's what I thought.

Desertopa Not Actually Indie Since: Jan, 2001
Not Actually Indie
#20478: Jun 12th 2013 at 8:57:56 PM

Malack is about eleventh level

Aren't his hit dice a whole lot higher than that though? Or is that just a level adjustment thing which doesn't affect his actual number of hit dice?

edited 12th Jun '13 8:58:07 PM by Desertopa

...eventually, we will reach a maximum entropy state where nobody has their own socks or underwear, or knows who to ask to get them back.
Arha Since: Jan, 2010
#20479: Jun 12th 2013 at 9:22:08 PM

That's just level adjustment. I'm pretty sure that normally your hit dice is just another way of saying your level. Monsters usually don't have class levels, but they still need to affected by abilities and whatnot in a certain manner, so the term hit dice is used instead.

Or so I have surmised.

edited 12th Jun '13 9:23:24 PM by Arha

Saya1 Werefox from Multiverse Since: Oct, 2011
Werefox
#20480: Jun 12th 2013 at 10:42:10 PM

Malack has 3 extra hit die from being a lizard folk.

edited 12th Jun '13 10:42:28 PM by Saya1

You look happy, I can change that if you want.
Desertopa Not Actually Indie Since: Jan, 2001
Not Actually Indie
#20481: Jun 13th 2013 at 9:15:06 AM

I just looked it up, it seems vampires don't get extra hit dice, but they do get extra Turn Resistance, which also applies to abilities like Command Undead. You'd have to be way beyond the boundary of epic level to command Malack.

I've actually subbed in a session playing a cleric who could do it once, but that was just a completely absurd party. I had friends who were the kind of players who motivated Wizards of the Coast to stat out the gods so people could go beat them up.

edited 13th Jun '13 9:15:18 AM by Desertopa

...eventually, we will reach a maximum entropy state where nobody has their own socks or underwear, or knows who to ask to get them back.
johnnye Since: Jan, 2001
#20482: Jun 13th 2013 at 8:12:24 PM

Ooh ooh, got another one:

Malack: That wall — it's not real. It's some kind of trick.
Voice from behind wall: Illusion, Malack! A trick is something a whore does for money...

edited 13th Jun '13 8:13:13 PM by johnnye

vifetoile Since: Jan, 2001
#20484: Jun 14th 2013 at 2:08:27 PM

Can you direct the sending to a group? For example if they sent it to the Order instead of just Roy would they all be able to see it? — Kostya

I'm suddenly very curious about this. Because there's a person who, according to the Azurites' best knowledge, is a member of the Order, in the very same room with the sending, but this person has switched allegiances. It would also explain why the sending appears at first immediately visible to Haley, even though Roy is the leader.

Discar Since: Jun, 2009
#20485: Jun 14th 2013 at 3:37:03 PM

It's the rogue girl doing the Sending, though. She was Haley's number two for a while.

And to the best of my knowledge, you can't do a Sending to a group. That's never happened in the rest of the comic, anyway. The closest thing was when Belkar said "I suddenly have a strong desire to give your twenty-five words for idiot."

Writing a post-post apocalypse LitRPG on RR. Also fanfic stuff.
TotemicHero No longer a forum herald from the next level Since: Dec, 2009
No longer a forum herald
#20486: Jun 14th 2013 at 4:13:44 PM

That's not Niu sending to Haley though. That's a different (as of yet unnamed) character, presumably acting on Hinjo's orders.

Expergiscēre cras, medior quam hodie. (Awaken tomorrow, better than today.)
LogicDragon Somewhat Anomalous Since: Dec, 2011 Relationship Status: Get out of here, STALKER
Somewhat Anomalous
#20487: Jun 16th 2013 at 8:22:11 AM

So, assuming the Guild can hear the Sending and find the Order, what would happen if Xykon and Co. just so happened to teleport to that same room? Places of great magical energy can apparently disrupt teleportation, even if Girard didn't ward the Gate room against teleportation.

If the Guild does get to the Order, though, only Vaarsuvius could save them. Limited Wish for Restoration on Belkar and some buff spells, along with having Haley get V while Roy tries to use his feat on Malack, might just let the Order survive if not win.

edited 16th Jun '13 8:24:59 AM by LogicDragon

I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that.
johnnye Since: Jan, 2001
#20488: Jun 16th 2013 at 9:02:17 PM

From the faces in the panel, it looks like even the rest of the Order can't hear it. The Sender seems to be in the middle of speaking, and Haley looks like she'd just heard some really bad news, but everyone else is looking in the other direction.

OK, I might be reading too much into two facial expressions, but that's how I interpreted it. The Sender appeared, gave Haley the message, and she's still taking it in before she passes it on to the others.

Geoduck Bivalve from Pacific NW (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: What is this thing you call love?
Bivalve
#20489: Jun 16th 2013 at 9:27:55 PM

[up]I'm inclined to agree, though why Haley and only her would be the target of the sending is unknown.

The Mansion of E
ashnazg Since: Dec, 2009
#20490: Jun 16th 2013 at 10:10:22 PM

I kinda interpreted it as Haley being the first to notice the Sending. But what you mentioned is an interesting possibility.

petersohn from Earth, Solar System (Long Runner) Relationship Status: Hiding
#20491: Jun 16th 2013 at 11:24:31 PM

I don't know much about Dn D, but let's assume that Sending targets only one person (maybe the others notice once the sender starts speaking, or some other kind of artistic license). The sender in this case is an Azurite. If she were from the Resistance, she would have logically contacted Haley. This is unlikely because as far as we know, the only survivor of them is Niu, and it's not her. If she were from Hinjo though, she would have contacted Roy I guess. Maybe Niu sent to Hinjo and told him to contact Haley, which he did.

Edit: Or, she is sending to everyone, but only Haley notices yet.

edited 16th Jun '13 11:25:26 PM by petersohn

Fjón þvæ ég af mér fjanda minna rán og reiði ríkra manna.
hcobb Since: Jan, 2001
#20492: Jun 17th 2013 at 3:02:09 AM

wild mass guess Her dad's dead so she can drop the Well Intentioned Greedy Bitch template. (Hey, time to stop copying One Piece.) tongue

TheWanderer Student of Story from Somewhere in New England (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Student of Story
#20493: Jun 17th 2013 at 7:08:42 AM

I'm inclined to agree, though why Haley and only her would be the target of the sending is unknown

Because Haley used to be head of the Azure City Resistance and her personal Number Two was Niu. When Haley left and Thanh took over, Niu continued working under him, and was the only to survive in order to Bring News Back that the resistance was crushed, Redcloak had recovered the phylactery, etc.

In the last panel of this comic, we see that Niu was able to get a sending to the main Azure fleet informing them of what had happened in Azure City, (also note that there Hinjo seems to have been the only one receiving the sending, as his two red shirts seem surprised by his orders) so Hinjo would have turned around and then informed the Order, as he agreed to do here.

And while he could have contacted anyone, it does make sense that it would be the former head of one section of he Resistance that he would contact with news about the city, since she would best understand it and be able to respond to its ramifications.

| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#20494: Jun 17th 2013 at 7:45:25 AM

With all that vital context in mind, I assume that the Sending is informing Haley of the Resistance's destruction.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
KnownUnknown Since: Jan, 2001
#20495: Jun 17th 2013 at 4:34:57 PM

And possibly that Xykon has left the city, depending on how much information they could have.

Blueeyedrat Since: Oct, 2010
arimnaes Falls Up Since: Apr, 2009
tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Professional Forum Ninja
#20498: Jun 17th 2013 at 9:22:16 PM

[awesome]

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
Kostya (Unlucky Thirteen)
#20499: Jun 17th 2013 at 9:25:13 PM

Why do I get the feeling this is just an elaborate hoax.

arimnaes Falls Up Since: Apr, 2009
Falls Up
#20500: Jun 17th 2013 at 9:26:58 PM

I get that feeling too, if only because it would be awful for the story pacing if everyone had to leave and go find another dungeon.


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