I was wondering why she’s tooling around in a cloak way too big for her, but of course it must be a magic item.
Funny strip. Half-Troll was not what I was expecting. Weird that Xykon didn’t make sure she was dead, and he is somewhat genre-savvy—as the MITD so deliciously exploited at the remnants of Girard’s Tomb—but Xykon also isn’t very thorough if you haven’t pissed him off.
It occurs to me that, although Rich Burlew has spent the majority of his life making creative works based on the Dungeons and Dragons game, that he really doesn’t like most of the basic assumptions in the game. At all. Nor most of the ways people play the game. It’s just been something that’s become more apparent to me with the prior book, and this one. Just a feeling that satire morphed into contempt.
I do wonder what Serini’s goals are here. As well as how the Paladins will enlist Serini to their side, or at least get them to let her go.
I don’t get that from the comic at all. Is there anything specific you can point to that gives you that impression?
I suspect that it’s a reference to the “intelligent monsters are people too, not just XP on legs” issue that comes up every so often (most notably as the root cause of Redcloak’s grievance).
That may not be in line with old-school D&D, but it’s very much how many people play the game today. See this recent thread. Rich, if anything, was ahead of his time.
Still no hint as to who Orange Voice is, though.
Does anyone remember what the “3/8th-ling” callback is ? I remember Elan and Belkar doing this. Elan: “I must be part halfling!”, Belkar: “you’re not even cool enough to be a 5/8th-ling” (which made no sense since 5/8ths is > half, but hey, Belkar’s gotta Belkar). I thought it was when they were in the Girard pyramid, but went looking and nope.
I would assume from Belkar’s point of view being a halfling is the ideal size that any being could attain. So humans are twice as big as the ideal size and would benefit from shrinking. Somebody who was five eighths the size of a human would still not be the ideal size but they would be better than being human sized.
He wasn’t always there. This old strip now looks surprising.
Elan : Oh man, I can smell it! I must be part halfling!
Elan : Maybe I’m a half-halfling. Or a five-eighthling!
Belkar : Bah! You’re not cool enough to even be a nine-tenthling.
Yup, that was it. Thanks!!
Not at all. it was hilarious.
hmmmm.
She’s not wrong. There’s a reason first edition Paladins got the reputation of being Lawful-Stupid.
I’m not sure I disagree with them, myself. Destroying the gates rather than letting Xykon take them may be the right thing to do.
I think there’s a difference between destroying a gate to deny it to Xykon, when there are still a couple left, and destroying the very last gate.
True, but I don’t think these two would do it.
It seems like Serini knows what happened at Azure City as far as the destruction of that gate. How could she? The Azure City throne room had scrying blocked.
Was it really secret? Xykon or Redcloak talks about what happened, goblins overhear, spies overhear from goblins?
(“Was it really secret” is an actual question. I don’t remember it being all hush hush but might be forgetting)