# 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:** 229
**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:** [July 30, 2018, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/4562 "2018-07-30T03:39:30Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > On an unrelated note, has Mr. Scruffy’s heterochromia and any significance it may have been discussed? Not that I’m aware of. Do you suspect Scruffy of being related to another eyes-different-colors character? Tsukiko’s polymorphed son maybe? ---
**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:** [July 30, 2018, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/4563 "2018-07-30T03:41:54Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > Not that I’m aware of. Do you suspect Scruffy of being related to another eyes-different-colors character? Tsukiko’s polymorphed son maybe? Wait, what? Where does it say Tsukiko had a son? ---
**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:** [July 30, 2018, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/4564 "2018-07-30T03:44:44Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Wait, what? Where does it say Tsukiko had a son? No place, but she also has two-color eyes. I’m just wondering where you’re going with the heterochromia. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2018, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/4565 "2018-07-30T04:03:25Z")
Okay, nevermind. I see now that you were suggesting Mr. Scruffy might be a son of Tsukiko who had been polymorphed. No, I’m not suggesting that. I’m wondering if his heterochromia is indicative of some heretofore-unknown powers/abilities/characteristics he might possess. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2018, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/4566 "2018-07-30T04:42:09Z")
I don’t think Scruffy is meant to have different coloured eyes. It’s just that whichever way he’s facing, the small eye looks brown because of the pixelation. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2018, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/4567 "2018-07-30T11:12:43Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > The lack of pain will be a sign that his alignment has changed from Evil to Neutral. This refers to Belkar’s alignment, of course, but an obvious way to prove - or at least show pretty good evidence for - Durkon’s reassertion of control will be that he no longer triggers the amulet. Belkar will need some talking down before a rigorous double-blind test can be conducted, of course. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2018, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/4568 "2018-07-30T13:20:44Z")
To do that, Belkar would need to give the amulet to Durkon. Those effects of Protection from Evil that actually protect against Evil specifically just do so via a small bonus to AC and saves, so you can only tell they’re there after a large number (hundreds, probably) of rolls. And unless you already know all of the relevant stats for a non-protected Belkar and Durkon, you’d need hundreds more for a control group, and an evil Durkon could just deliberately tank some in the control group to make it look the same. As for Mr. Scruffy, heterochromia is fairly common in cats, especially white ones. Even if it’s real and not just an artifact of the pixellation, it probably doesn’t mean anything. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2018, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/4569 "2018-07-30T13:33:47Z")
Is \*detect evil \*exclusively a paladin ability? Or can wizards/ clerics do it? ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2018, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/4570 "2018-07-30T13:39:48Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Is \*detect evil \*exclusively a paladin ability? Or can wizards/ clerics do it? First level Cleric spell. [Detect Evil :: d20srd.org](http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/detectEvil.htm) I remember a spell called Know Alignment, that I thought might have been a Wizard spell, but it’s not in the SRD. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2018, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/4571 "2018-07-30T16:12:11Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Actually, the prophecy said "He will bring death and destruction **to us all"** emphasis mine. So it _could_ be argued that the only way this prophecy could be fulfilled is with the destruction of the entire dwarf race, or at least the ones in this immediate area. Death and Destruction are likely Greg’s two domains. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2018, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/4572 "2018-07-30T16:16:06Z")
Easy peasy: Summon Monster 1. If Durkon can summon a celestial badger, he’s no longer evil. > [@Cleric Class Description](#): > > A cleric can’t cast spells of an alignment opposed to his own or his deity’s (if he has one). Spells associated with particular alignments are indicated by the chaos, evil, good, and law descriptors in their spell descriptions. > [@Summon Monster I](#): > > When you use a summoning spell to summon an air, chaotic, earth, evil, fire, good, lawful, or water creature, it is a spell of that type. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2018, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/4573 "2018-07-30T17:42:46Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Easy peasy: Summon Monster 1. If Durkon can summon a celestial badger, he’s no longer evil. Easier yet : just tell him to hit Belkar. If Belkar’s AC is boosted by his cloak clasp, Durkon’s still Evil :p. If not, Belkar’s probably getting a hammer to the face. It’s win-win ! ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2018, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/4574 "2018-07-31T03:50:19Z")
Speaking of the hammer, _is_ Durkon still carrying the hammer and shield? ---
**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:** [July 31, 2018, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/4575 "2018-07-31T03:55:36Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Easier yet : just tell him to hit Belkar. If Belkar’s AC is boosted by his cloak clasp, Durkon’s still Evil :p. If not, Belkar’s probably getting a hammer to the face. It’s win-win ! Too reliant on dice–er, authorial whim. The summon trick is definitive. ---
**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:** [July 31, 2018, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/4576 "2018-07-31T05:12:54Z")
Will Thor accept Durkon II? Will Durkon face limits on spell power? How soon will Hel figure out that she’s lost a cleric? ---
**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:** [July 31, 2018, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/4577 "2018-07-31T05:17:31Z")
Question: how do you kill a vampire and leave a corpse for a rez? So, I’ve seen on this thread and the OOTS forum that the slain vamps turn to gas and must get to their coffin within two hours. What happens if they can’t get back or don’t have a coffin? Does the gas just dissipate? Or does it turn back into a solid dead body? ---
**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:** [July 31, 2018, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/4578 "2018-07-31T05:46:24Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Question: how do you kill a vampire and leave a corpse for a rez? Stake it through the heart and behead it. Doing so will kill the vampire immediately without it being able to take gaseous form. Staking it through the heart paralyzes the vampire until the stake is removed and beheading it does the actual killing part. As a garnish, fill its mouth with holy wafers or pour holy water on it, etc. Apparently the paralysis from staking it also prevents it from changing forms, including into mist. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2018, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/4579 "2018-07-31T06:04:05Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Speaking of the hammer, _is_ Durkon still carrying the hammer and shield? Definitely not the shield, since that’s one of the few items that are shown being carried while not in their hands. I think the last time we saw the shield was [strip 1019](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1019.html), when Team Vamp teleported out of the Godsmoot. The next time we see him in [strip 1084](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1084.html), he’s switched to robes and doesn’t have the shield. Well, we do see the shield in internal images of Durkon and Durkula, but that’s I assume is the way they imagine themselves or something like that. The last time we saw the hammer was in [strip 878](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0878.html). I assume it was destroyed along with the pyramid, but it’s possible he picked it up and we don’t see it because he never wields it. I would hope that if Durkon gets rezzed, the shield and hammer are not rezzed with him. In other cases when characters have lost weapons, they get new and usually better ones as replacements. I expect that will happen for Durkon too. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2018, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/4580 "2018-07-31T06:25:51Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Stake it through the heart and behead it. Doing so will kill the vampire immediately without it being able to take gaseous form. Staking it through the heart paralyzes the vampire until the stake is removed and beheading it does the actual killing part. As a garnish, fill its mouth with holy wafers or pour holy water on it, etc. It looks like Belkar may have done that to Ponchula in the [latest strip](http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1130.html) (no garnish, though) and she turns to dust/mist. It’s hard to say for certain if that’s what he actually did. When he first stabs her in the back, it’s with a knife, but then the next panel showing that scene, he no longer has the stake in his other hand. So I guess we are to assume that he also put the stake through her back and into her heart. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2018, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755/4581 "2018-07-31T06:51:44Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Too reliant on dice–er, authorial whim. The summon trick is definitive. How is it reliant on dice ? Durkon’s player rolls his attack, Belkar asks the DM “is my AC x or x+2 (or was it 4 ? I don’t remember) ?” and then he knows. I will admit to the fact that this method is gamey as fuck, but it’s just as definitive as the badger thing without expending a spell slot/requiring the party to wait a day because who the hell prepares SM I ? Even at level 1 it’s a really bad spell outside of Polish mine detector utility [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755.md?page=228) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/order-of-the-stick-book-6-discussion-thread/682755.md?page=230)