What I find interesting, in a relative sort of way, is after Roy got in a cheap shot early, neither side has managed to hit the other. Shouldn’t both meat shields have a high “to hit” and a low AC (especially considering the minimal armor both are not wearing)?
Or, is this just a plot thing where actually hitting each other would get in the way of exposition?
This isn’t full-out battle, at a guess. If you’ll notice, the balance of talking to actions is way off for fighting; at best, they’re taking Standard Actions due to how much they’re talking.
Or it’s just “cutscene battle”; not actually playing out according to the rules of D&D. But that’s uncommon for OOTS…
Sebmojo
3785
Yeah, I think Rich always has a rough idea of how the mechanics of each battle are playing out - even if it includes things like ‘nemesis levelling’.
Combat and hit points are so abstracted in D&D that he can do almost anything he wants with it until they really start to get hurt. Roy and Thog have tons of hit points, so they could be shedding them every panel without actually showing damage.
I’ve taken to handling the first half of a character’s hitpoints lost as close shaves, with maybe a flesh wound or scratch. D&D (well, Conan in my case) just works better that way.
Nominally this is roughly how 3rd edition suggests you to play, but in practice most gamers I’ve met don’t actually describe it that way, in part because it doesn’t match up with the magical healing game mechanics.
I bet Rich having Thog take a power attack right in the head but not even get scratched is his way of making a joke about this, and showing just how many hit points Thog apparently has.
Ephraim
3788
Ooh, that’s the stuff.
Things are moving along nicely now. I also see we’ve abandoned euphemisms for sex.
Sebmojo
3790
Fucking A. Huh is right.
Bet noone saw that coming (esp not Haley).
Nale/Elan/Tarquin DEATHMATCH INC
I figured something like that was coming, just a bit later when Elan is no longer under Tarquin’s protection. Seems a pretty weak time to jump them actually.
Plus, that wizard bet the farm on his Flesh to Stone spell (which he should have aimed at V anyway). What does he do if it doesn’t work, outnumber 3 to 1?
MikeJ
3792
Maybe zzzdrtszzdt isn’t actually outnumbered, dramatic license and all that.
I think they have the party outnumbered 3 to 2 (Nale and Sabine have got to be around, and Haley is stone).
Sebmojo
3794
Any bets on the dropped bag of holding becoming a plot point?
Probably! It was quite conspicuous.
Let’s see, I can find my +6 D&D nerd goggles around here somewhere…
Seems likely. They still have to worry about Durkon and his Lizard-cleric buddy (who are conspicuously absent), as well as Tarquin and the Palace Guards. And again, Stone to Flesh is great fun, but it has a solid chance of failing against someone of equal level even if they have weaker Fortitude saves. Lucky too that V only cast Fly, rather than some more potent magic.
Plus, this is D&D. The ambushers have to not only come out on top, but also make it away with the bodies or else they’ll just be raised. Presumably they plan to Teleport away, which again makes it unwise to lead off with the wizard so recklessly.
So yeah, I’d say this is a crappy plan. Hell, I give good odds Tarquin is even prepared, as he can make the same deductions as the OOtS and knew about Thog ahead of time.
Sebmojo
3797
Well it’s a Nale plan, so eventual crappiness of some kind is assured - but we can be sure that it’ll be verrrrry complex.
And yes, Tarquin is suspiciously casual about the whole thing, given his awesome skillz.
Well, to be fair, Tarquin may not know; he was assured by the party that Nale was dead, and may well have believed them.
Raife
3799
Cue six months of Haley getting bounced around as a statue and jokes like, “Elan was really taking her for granite.”
No chance it will last that long. Because of the speech impediment thing, I’m sure Rich won’t do anything to Haley that puts her out of action for more than a single story arc. After the current fight with the Linear Guild, she’ll be fine.
