For some reason the evil clerics left without healing Xykon, so as far as we can tell, he may have as little as 1 HP remaining. Of course at least one of Xykon+Phylactery will survive.
My suspicion, given the bird’s poignant thoughts, is that the blast kills the bird, causing the phylactery to fall. Whether it hits the snarl before Xykon grabs it is anyone’s guess.
Not really. It’s low, even for a 3rd-level spell.
6d6 isn’t huge, but no attack roll + no save makes it so, esp. against an epic character decked in so much magical gear it’s not even funny anymore.
6d6 would average out to about 21 points of damage, maximum 36. It’s possible with as much punishment Xykon has taken, it might be enough to put a serious crimp in his day.
However, for dramatic reasons, I see very few ways that Xykon will be destroyed presuming that this is the end of the phylactery. It’s one or the other.
If the phylactery falls into the Snarl, then Xykon must proceed as if it were destroyed. It’s highly doubtful that he would be able to detect the phylactery on the other side, even if it survived. And if he dies, he’s going to be reconstituted within the phylactery, wherever it happens to be. That’s probably not a good option for him, if the phylactery is hanging out in Snarl world intact.
You guys don’t really think Rich is rolling dice, do you? The drama of the story requires that Xykon have few enough hit points that Explosive Runes will hurt him.
Of course he’s not rolling dice. But he is using the rules — quite flexibly, I must stress — to tell a realistic story. Analyzing the spell Rich has chosen gives us some insight into the range of possible outcomes, and “Xykon is seriously hurt by this” is within range.
You don’t really think that the three fiends discussing how Xykon couldn’t risk blasting Blackwing just a panel beforehand is meaningless foreshadowing, do you?
Xykon can’t risk blasting Blackwing or the amulet will fall into the rift. Xykon is about to blast Blackwing, courtesy of explosive runes.
Anyway, we’ve seen Xykon much more scuffed up with hatch-marks, back when Soon almost killed him. He’s still got hp left now.
Wait. Am I misunderstanding something? Vaarsuvius cast explosive runes, right?
Yes. Yes I did.
Yes, but it looks like Xykon has just triggered them.
Yeah, so I suppose in a manner of speaking, Xykon blasted Blackwing. OK, so what are the consequences? Does the phylactery get blown into the Snarl?
That’s where this seems to be heading.
Man, that is fantastic! That last panel alone should earn Rich some kind of award for epic-level storytelling. Any long time fan of OOTS would burst out laughing at that.
It just occurred to me that Xykon cast a paralysis spell on [del]O-Chul[/del] Mr. Stiffly.
We were wondering if the Monster in the Dark would intercede to protect O-Chul? Intercede, that is, without showing himself? I think I might have figured out how that works…
I’ve been missing the old, canny, working-within-own-limitations V for a while now. That’s the kind of smart move that a wizard should make, and I’m very amused to see the return of “Explosive Runes” as a plot device, not just a running gag. However, we are all assuming that it was Explosive Runes*; we don’t know that for sure.
I don’t think that will both kill Xykon and destroy the phylactery- as mentioned above, Xykon’s “Protection from Plot” will prevent it. But dropping the phylactery in the Snarl easily might eliminate the phylactery, and that would be a pretty substantial victory in itself.
Also, O-Chul’s a badass, as usual.
Rich is a competent storyteller. It is difficult to assume that he would use any other spell in such a way unless that spell had been previously identified for the reader. In other words, he wouldn’t use a payoff without a setup. No other spell has been set up, so it is the 99% most probable answer.
I agree- I’d bet the farm that it is “Explosive Runes”. But I’m just noting that we haven’t been explicitly shown in any way that it is, and V has (I’m not digging for a cite right now, because I’m on a laptop in a cafe) written something about “Explosive Runes” on something, allowed someone to read it, and then admitting that she was out of 3rd level spells for the day, or something to that effect.
Which would actually be pretty awesome; if Xykon panicked and allowed the phylactery to fall on the strength of V’s bluff. We do see V casting something on the phylactery in the first panel, though, so I assume that this isn’t the case.
I agree that it’s unlikely in the extreme, I’m just noting that nothing’s been made explicit.
No, he’s a goodass. Paladin, remember?
And in answer to Finagle’s questions, even if it was Redcloak that built the tower, destroying a holy symbol does not end any spells cast using it. And the object referenced in the second question has been seen after Roy blasted Xykon.
I just realized something – we don’t see V again after Xykon cast’s Mass Hold Person. Perhaps he made his save?
I successfully pulled off something like that many years ago when in a dungeon crawl. A caster had a Wand of Paralyzation and had zapped a few party members. He took a shot at me and I made my save, but I told the DM I was freezing in place anyway. When the caster walked past me he got the backstabbing of his life. Or death, as the case turned out to be.
Wonder if V might be pulling something similar.