Sure, but given his motivations are, ultimately, somewhat noble (or at least justifiable), I think a lot of people would like to see him evolve as a character into someone capable of accepting his sunk costs and admitting he was wrong. Especially if it means he still gets to achieve his ultimate goals – and Xykon does not.
Powers &8^]
“Redemption is a rare and special thing, after all. It is not for everyone.”
I think RC made the decision to reject Durkon. Which means fighting the Order. And wouldn’t it be easier to fight the Order if they were down their Cleric? Though I might have picked a spell targeting Reflex saves… Not sure if there’s one in the Divine arsenal.
Still, a 50 percent to 2/3 chance of smoking the guy outright, ain’t half bad in 3.5.
Redcloak buffs himself with it in 1039
The cockroaches are good for those kind of sotto voce observations about the plot. ‘More buffing occurs off panel…’ LOL
I just didn’t know which buffs were like putting on deodorant in the morning, and which were like pulling the brass knuckles out of your pocket. I need to play more NWN2… The buff Chronos mentions sounds awesome, and almost too low of a spell level for that kind of very long duration, useful magic.
At least this put a bug in RC’s ear about whether The Plan is the only plan for getting the goblins what they want. Shame Durkon didn’t get to the Graveyard of Worlds/cycles of destruction and rebirth, or that Gods sometimes don’t make through a cycle.
I haven’t checked, but doesn’t he use it on the fake phylactery too, way back when?
Maybe! I only knew the one because I had just read it earlier today. Was mainly confirming that, splat book or no, it was a valid spell in Stickworld 
Well, dang. If my previous post is right (Durkon without spells would have a +16, vs. a DC of 27), only superior resistance is an option, that’d give him +22, meaning he’d fail on a 1-4, or 20% of the time.
I’m liking my idea that Durkon fails on purpose, the equivalent of the paramour hiding in the closet when the husband comes home unexpectedly.
So much of this, even by RAW, has enough wiggle room that Burlew can have any outcome, and I’d be fine with it. We don’t even know what level, Con, or items Durkon has.
Nonetheless, Durkon making a Fort Save is a hell of a lot more likely on paper than the debacle that fight with Durkula and friends turned out to be. (Even if it meant an awesome scene for Soul-Durkon.) Never mind the Nightcrawler turning out to be a pushover.
The Nightcrawler that kept Roy, V, Haley, Belkar, and Elan occupied for most of the fight, you mean?
Powers &8^]
The Nightcrawler that reasonably should have killed one or two of them, never rmind mowing down a lot of Durkon’s extended family, had Burlew been playing it like most DMs. CR 18 critter, even if didn’t have time to really prep the battlefield or bring along any of its pets.
Yes, it’s a story, not a game, and at that point, I was thinking screw the game–it’s not like the Order are going to die here—let’s finish this story already and put the rules-lawyering Godsmoot and this airship as far in our rear view mirror as possible.
backup!
I can guarantee I didn’t expect the strip to turn out this way.
For those who are more D&D savvy than me: should Minrah really be able to even inconvenience Redcloak, or would an attack like hers really be brushed off like I might a gnat bite?
I’m not D&D savvy, but I noticed she’s wielding the Hammer of Thunderbolts. She’s not wearing the gaunlets, so it’s a +3 hammer and not a +5. But that combined with the +4 increase in strength from the Thor’s Might (Righteous Might) should make for a more effective strike.
Does it matter that Thor may be taking a personal interest in this interaction?
My read on it is that spellcasting next to an opponent gives the opponent a free attack of opportunity by 3.5e rules. If they hit, the caster needs to make a concentration save or else the spell fails. Minrah doesn’t need to significantly hurt Redcloak, even a “gnat bite” attack that connects is sufficient to force the concentration save. Which Redcloak failed, given the final panel.
I’ll leave it to others guessing the exact timeline of having Thor’s Might up, being invisible, etc to be there at the right time and place but the basic mechanics of interrupting the spell are sound.
I am hardly good at 3.5 combat, but it seems that Burlew is increasingly using the rules of D&D as only a rough guide to what actually happens in the strip. Which is a bit jarring, like reading a sonnet suddenly break out into a 12-bar Blues structure, but it’s his strip. So things like Implosion not working that way, how’d Minrah get there without being detected, how’d she cast Thor’s Might without being detected, (or at all, given her supposed character level), how are they going to get away (likely Wind Walk, despite the lengthy shape change transition time) et cetera: are all going to be hand waved away if Burlew needs to.
Sit back, and enjoy the story.
No argument there. I find the rules mechanics discussions interesting just because I like D&D but didn’t play 3.5e (skipped right from 1e to 5e) but I’m past worrying about “Well, that couldn’t have happened because…”
In fact, I first thought that Minrah being able to attack and interrupt Redcloak’s spell mid-cast was artistic license until I read the 3.5e rules on casting but I wasn’t going to let it bother me.
Yes to Gray_Ghost but to answer Jophiel:
Redcloak already had the spell cast, so there was no chance of stopping the casting of the spell. Having said that, it’s also a Concentration spell, so he will have to make a Concentration check due to taking damage. A Concentration check in 3.5 is its own skill, is CON based, and requires a DC of 10 + damage taken to succeed in order to keep the spell. Knowing Redcloak is 17th level, and it’s a class skill, I would be surprised to find he has less than a +20 on it. That’s just ranks, no CON bonus or other help to it.
What that mean is that, and I’m sure someone knows the numbers better than me, if Minrah inflicts ten points damage, Redcloak makes the Concentration check automatically, if Minrah inflicts twenty damage, Redcloak makes it half the time, and thirty damage means only 5% of the time. Then it comes down to damage. Duh.