Order of the Stick - Book 6 Discussion Thread

There’s still three vampires around there and going out of the blue barrier removes the restriction on attacking. So anyone out there may find themselves in combat.

BTW, the female vampire did the mist-form thing in panel 11 (first panel of the second page). It’s real easy to miss that. Don’t know where that third guy is.

I wonder if that would work to unpetrify, too.

I bet it would unpetrify. Why not?

Dispel Magic doesn’t work on instant effects (like Flesh to Stone). You need a more specialized spell like Break Enchantment or Stone to Flesh to undo it.

Some people in the other forum think the blue barrier is down because of the suspension of the meeting. They point out that you can’t see the blue around the doorway in panel 18 (4th to last), while you can in panel 11 (first in second page). There’s also some changes in coloring of some characters (the blue barrier puts a blue sheen on everything in the room). So they’re wondering why Durkon is still petrified.

Don’t think this is correct. The reason you can’t see the barrier in panel 18 is that only the left side of the doorway is visible and the actual edge is blocked by a column. The difference in coloring is because the sheen is heavier for things (including people) in the background. The comparison needs to be made between two foreground or two background views of the same person. The comparisons they made were between a background image and foreground image.

At this point, the good guys seriously outgun the vampires, and the vampires are protected only by the rules. If going outside of the barriers means combat, it’s a combat the vampires will lose.

Plus, the council was in the way of a direct hammer throw. He might not have been able to directly hit it without hurting them.

Are you sure?

1174: Fun For the Whole Family

Good for Minrah. She got the other guy, who apparently is unconscious. How does that happen to a vampire? And how do they keep the vampires from mist-forming?

Plot, I guess. Nothing in the rules would prohibit it.

As for the other vampire, I guess maybe you could knock him low enough that he’s not “dead” but also hasn’t regenerated back to being awake yet? Maybe? Ok, more dramatic effect.

From the rules:

I guess I’ll have to allow it then!

The only panel where we see the face of Minrah’s vampire is when he’s in the light. Maybe he’s conscious, and just closing his eyes against the bright light.

But then you’d think he would have mist-formed some time before being tossed into the light. OK plot is the answer, but that’s not very satisfying.

Heh, “I’ll motion to censure”. Good one.

Yeah, the previously linked rules state that a vampire at 0hp automatically becomes gaseous so I guess there’s no such thing as an unconscious vampire and a conscious one probably wouldn’t let himself get dragged around.

Maybe a spell that restricts movement, or something that locked it into its corporeal form?

I was just reminded (by reading the thread at the other board) that the no-name vampire who Minrah tossed into the light is actually a she. For some reason, I’ve been thinking of her as a he, even though I knew her gender at one point.

Anyway, that leaves two vampiresses left: Curly, who misted out last strip, and the Frontarchess. I doubt if the Frontarchess will be involved in the strip going forward, so there’s only one the Order and Family have to worry about. I hope they manage to nail her, since I’d hate to see the Dwarven community plagued by vampires in the future.

It’s mostly plot, but maybe she just didn’t think of it. Back in my playing days I had more than one character die followed by the DM saying “why didn’t you <insert obvious choice here>”.

But there’s no players in the Stickverse. And the author certainly knows about the possibility.

The last time we saw either Minrah or No-name was in strip 1167 when they were facing off/arguing. So we’re supposed to conclude that Minrah managed to win that battle all on her own. It’s just that normally a vampire that loses does an involuntary mist-form, not become unconscious. But that’s not dramatic enough. So really the answer is “drama” rather than “plot”.

There is the spell Halt Undead, which paralyzes an undead critter. Two problems:

  1. It’s a wizard/sorcerer spell. Is there any wizard/sorcerer handy who might have that spell?
  2. The effect ends if the undead is attacked. Grappling someone requires an attack roll.

Other than that, I got nothin.