# Order of the Stick - Book 6 Discussion Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755 "2014-03-03T16:07:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 154
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/3061 "2016-09-15T16:12:14Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Assuming no metamagic, the fireball would be doing 10d6 damage. Frost giants, being cold creatures, would take half again that much. And Haley’s shots are each dealing 1d8 from the pointy stick, +5 from the magical enhancement on the bow, and 8d6 from it being a Sneak Attack. So we’re looking at a total damage of 23d6+1d8+5, or an average of 90 points. I’ve done an analysis [here](http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=21205575&postcount=350) which indicates that V cast a Maximised Fireball and that Haley is 17th level. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/3062 "2016-09-15T19:07:51Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Maybe its the second fireball V cast. The giants are undamaged in the first panel, so they haven’t taken one yet. There doesn’t seem to be any gap in time after that and before they’re KOed. The giants don’t seem to move except in how they’re holding their rocks. I’m going to say this is very unlikely. ETA: nice analysis on Haley’s level, Quartz. It’s nice when we can deduce the levels of the non-magic users. ---
**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 15, 2016, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/3063 "2016-09-15T21:08:49Z")
Eh, I’m not buying it. I don’t think the extra d6 really makes a significant difference in moving it from “implausible” to “plausible”. And that even assumes that the Fireball was maximized, and that no giant saved against it. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/3064 "2016-09-15T21:46:43Z")
Rule of Cool, people. (Heh – cool. Get it? Because frost giants.) ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2016, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/3065 "2016-09-15T22:07:50Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > ETA: nice analysis on Haley’s level, Quartz. It’s nice when we can deduce the levels of the non-magic users. An alternative explanation has been offered, so it’s not definitive. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/3066 "2016-09-16T02:09:41Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > An alternative explanation has been offered, so it’s not definitive. I haven’t looked at that, but I hope it’s not a bend-over-backwards-so-hard-your-head-goes-up-your-rear-type explanations. There seem to be a lot of those in that thread. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/3067 "2016-09-16T07:29:16Z")
My feeling is that Haley killed the frost giants because she’s a bad ass archer in a fantasy comic. Worrying about 3.5 dice roles isn’t worth it. At this point I think Rich is using the rulebook as a set of useful guidelines. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/3068 "2016-09-16T09:33:20Z")
Isn’t he in the record saying he didn’t want to be explicit about anyone’s level so as not to be bound strictly by the rules? Yeah, she killed them because it makes narrative sense for her to have done so. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/3069 "2016-09-16T18:02:25Z")
Yes, Burlew does not keep stat sheets for any of his characters. Nor does he feel obligated to follow the rules precisely, although he does follow them generally. But that doesn’t stop D&D geeks from trying to figure out those stats. Think of it as a game, similar to the Game played by A. Conan Doyle fans who try to reconcile all the discontinuities in the Sherlock Holmes books. ---
**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 16, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/3070 "2016-09-16T19:09:01Z")
Personally, I suspect that he does keep actual character sheets, and only says that for cover in case he decides to change something. If he is just playing it all by ear, then he’s clearly internalized the rules of D&D far more deeply than any of us readers, because he’s almost never caught in an inconsistency. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/3071 "2016-09-16T19:53:11Z")
Not like he’s going to carefully narrate the battle scene/round by scene/round. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/3072 "2016-09-16T21:05:27Z")
He’s been in and around the game for decades. He’s quite familiar with the rules. Wrote various stuff (not sure if third party or for the publishers), including inventing acid-breathing sharks, which he used in the strip. > [@Chimera](#): > > Not like he’s going to carefully narrate the battle scene/round by scene/round. He actually did that for the fight between the Order and Miko, the second one, not the initial encounter. Don’t remember where it is, but it’s somewhere on the GitP forum. ---
**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 16, 2016, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/3073 "2016-09-16T21:15:09Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Not like he’s going to carefully narrate the battle scene/round by scene/round. Notwithstanding dtilque’s point, it’s fair to allow for some of the fight occurring offscreen. Though I’ll admit that groups of fictional adversaries don’t typically go down in 2 strikes. I suppose the next step would be to invoke the binomial theorem. _Don’t do this._ ---
**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 17, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/3074 "2016-09-17T00:04:13Z")
No, we’d only do that in the Conan Doyle game. ---
**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 21, 2016, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/3075 "2016-09-21T16:10:36Z")
[1053 - Over The Edge.](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1053.html) ---
**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 21, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/3076 "2016-09-21T16:37:54Z")
Wait, is Roy actually concerned for Belkar’s safety? What happened to “run out the clock?” [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0666.html](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0666.html) ---
**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 21, 2016, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/3077 "2016-09-21T16:50:33Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Wait, is Roy actually concerned for Belkar’s safety? What happened to “run out the clock?” [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0666.html](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0666.html) Roy has learned a few things about Belkar AND himself since he was resurrected. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/3078 "2016-09-21T16:51:57Z")
The setup, which I’d forgotten about, but which was mentioned on the OOTS forums. (panel 7) [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1015.html](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1015.html) ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2016, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/3079 "2016-09-21T20:04:44Z")
Cool. Now we get to discuss single high-level tiny humanoid damage vs. frost giants. Don’t forget, gang, Belkar has that neat new weighted dagger. ---
**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 21, 2016, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/3080 "2016-09-21T21:35:02Z")
Hey, he’s a ranger. Don’t they do extra damage against giant races? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755.md?page=153) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755.md?page=155)