# Order of the Stick - Book 5 Discussion Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 31, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323 "2009-08-31T04:09:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 376
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/7502 "2013-09-26T05:09:46Z")
Well that settles if TowelFace is some sort of caster anyway. Edit: funny that this time the mounts were spared. Otherwise Blackwing’s joke doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/7503 "2013-09-26T05:16:19Z")
Tarquin addresses him as Miron in this strip, and presumably Jacinda is the catgirl-type we’ve seen in flashbacks. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/7504 "2013-09-26T05:24:39Z")
At least now I know that Towelface is a caster of some stripe (almost certainly arcane). Edit: Missed that **Squeegee** said the same here on the new page. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/7505 "2013-09-26T05:27:45Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > The spellcraft DCs make that a little difficult. Unless you have a whole college of magicians using Aid Another at +2 a pop. I’m fairly certain my favourite character could have done it as soon as she hit level 21 - it’s just a question of how long it would take her to recover. She’s a special case - it’s literally impossible for her to die from backlash damage, so as long as she doesn’t need to worry about being counterattacked before she wakes up there’s nothing stopping her from mitigating the Spellcraft DC by thousands of points - but it’s hard to imagine a superhumanly intelligent wizard _not_ having their own ways to game the system. That said, the Epic spellcasting rules are broken as hell. I would never use them in a game I was running - just be satisfied with 10th level spell slots and the like. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/7506 "2013-09-26T05:28:33Z")
> [@Strassia](#): > > And Familicide could depopulate nations of more randy beings than dragons. Even if you could only cast it once a day, how long would it take to depopulate Earth? Earth? One shot. Unlike the OOTS-verse, Earth (and more importantly for this issue the various species upon it) wasn’t created by the gods only thousands of years ago. Go far back enough and all life on Earth is related; which means that one Familicide would kill every human, animal, plant and bacterium on the planet. Go back far enough along a critter’s ancestral line on OOTS-world however and you’ll hit an original ancestor that was divinely created with no ancestor; Familicide stops there. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/7507 "2013-09-26T06:48:53Z")
Well I guess the escape route is revealed… Pteranodons! Also, I love the way Tarquin was casually dismissed by his team. Great strip. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/7508 "2013-09-26T09:46:47Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Well I guess the escape route is revealed… Pteranodons! Yeah, I can see that happening. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/7509 "2013-09-26T14:38:30Z")
It really is amusing how V can stay in the background, and every so often hop in, cast a spell, and be done with the encounter. I think the first time he did that was with the Baby Black Dragon guarding the starmetal, but it really turned heads. My worry here is that he’s burning a lot of high level spells, but he seems to have good reasons for all the ones he’s casting. The question for me will be if Tarquin decides to get involved himself, or follow his teammates advice and fall back. Interesting how the motivations for his teammates are radically different. Seems to mirror how the motivations of the Linear Guild did not match up with Nale’s views quite frequently. Like father, like son. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/7510 "2013-09-26T14:42:30Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Tarquin addresses him as Miron in this strip, and presumably Jacinda is the catgirl-type we’ve seen in flashbacks. “Miron” sounds like he should be my accountant. “TowelFace” sounds more threatening. > [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > It really is amusing how V can stay in the background, and every so often hop in, cast a spell, and be done with the encounter. I think the first time he did that was with the Baby Black Dragon guarding the starmetal, but it really turned heads. And we see how well THAT went… ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/7511 "2013-09-26T15:27:18Z")
“Oh, yeah. Wizard.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/7512 "2013-09-26T15:52:33Z")
> [@](#): > > “Miron” sounds like he should be my accountant. “TowelFace” sounds more threatening. Would you settle for “Dewshank”? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/7513 "2013-09-26T16:13:21Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > Well maybe not Tarquin yet, but ScarfFace and the MindHead chick are totally with my “call it off because ROI sucks” theory. What is ROI? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/7514 "2013-09-26T16:16:08Z")
Return on Investment. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/7515 "2013-09-26T16:18:18Z")
thanks ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/7516 "2013-09-26T16:18:23Z")
Ninja’ed by Miller, so I’ll explain: you figure that you “invest” soldiers to achieve an aim. The Return on the Investment of soldiers in this case appears to be motivating Tarquin’s surviving son to become a leader, something Tarquin considers a good return but is totally irrelevant to the other members of the group. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/7517 "2013-09-26T16:28:11Z")
Nice to see Tarquin getting brushed off by his team. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/7518 "2013-09-26T16:37:22Z")
Yeah, it’s a good example of the dynamics difference between a team of mostly-Good PCs and a team of mostly Neutral-to-Evil PCs. I don’t think there’s a single member of the OOTS (with the exception of Belkar) who would brush any of Roy’s plans off so casually due entirely to a lack of personal reward (although Haley would have to think about it), even the True Neutral V. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/7519 "2013-09-26T16:52:41Z")
Well, everyone disregarded Roy’s plan to abandon Elan to the bandits. And V was reluctant to rescue the dirt farmer. And Haley had to be tricked into the starmetal quest. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/7520 "2013-09-26T18:21:33Z")
Or compare the efforts the Order went through to bring Roy back from the dead to what happened when Nale got sent to jail - Pompey and Leeky just walked away without even bothering to tell Nale they were quitting the group. ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323/7521 "2013-09-26T20:11:44Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Earth? One shot. Unlike the OOTS-verse, Earth (and more importantly for this issue the various species upon it) wasn’t created by the gods only thousands of years ago. Go far back enough and all life on Earth is related; which means that one Familicide would kill every human, animal, plant and bacterium on the planet. Go back far enough along a critter’s ancestral line on OOTS-world however and you’ll hit an original ancestor that was divinely created with no ancestor; Familicide stops there. I guess it depends on how literally you read "shares **blood** -line. But definitely the whole vertibrate clade. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323.md?page=375) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-5-discussion-thread/508323.md?page=377)