Wow, it’s 2007 again.
C’mon. I couldn’t possibly say “Rich’s rolls” and not do that. ;)
Back on the subject of the strip, I’m uncertain what’s going on with Belkar. He says “Protect V” and stops V from getting healed. I think he IS protecting V by keeping him/her down. Haley and the dominated cleric’s target moves on to Roy, who can tank the damage a lot better than V with 20 hitpoints from a healing spell.
Still, that seems like rather strategic thinking for Belkar, and isn’t he supposed to be dominated anyway? Is it possible to fake it?
Yeah, I didn’t really grok that remark. But Belkar hates being controlled. Perhaps he really is faking it, though simulating the visual swirly-eye conceit seems like a stretch, as does attacking the cleric.
Maybe it’s just a joke that the best way to tell Belkar to do something is tell him he can’t do it. Reverse hobbitology.
edit: AHH I found it! From previous comic:
Belkar’s gonna do what Belkar wants to do.
Depends on the actual spell; Charm Person can certainly be faked. Dominate Person, however, creates a telepathic link.
I think it’s Belkar’s way to make his actions compatible with the order he received from the vampire. I think that’s a “side-effect” of the nature of charm/dominate spells.
One amusing idea I read was having dominated Elan cast some cure spells on the vampires. He never really got that straight…
Free PIZZA. It’s why half the clubs on college campus exist.
So, dominated Elan is actually smarter than normal Elan?
There’s a strip a while back where Durkon shows vampire Durkon a memory of a fight involving Roy where the vampire draws the wrong conclusion and Durkon notes it. It’s supposed to be saying something about the vampire’s blind spots, but for the life of me I can’t seem to find it.
Edit: Here it is: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0963.html
The vampire doesn’t understand human emotions and motivations very well? He’s got to be setting up some sort of critical misunderstanding in this memory.
That’s going to have an effect on V isn’t it? (Been ages since I’ve D&Ded.)
Well, Rich’s rules are mostly based on D&D 3.5, and if a familiar dies in 3.5, the wizard loses a considerable amount of experience (halved if the wizard succeeds in a DC 15 Fortitude saving throw). So V might actually lose levels if that happens, which might have nasty consequences.
Or not. Rich actually works with house rules powered by the plot, so who knows what will actually happen. ;)
I’d be shocked, SHOCKED I SAY, if we lost such a great character.
Well, in 3.5, familiars can be resurrected (and without losing a Constitution point). So I guess we’ll have to wait and see. ;)
His beady little eyes aren’t Xs yet, there is still hope!
So, what does the familiar have tied to it’s leg? I went back a while and it’s been there for a year.
Bracelet with Orange Prism Ioun Stone: Blackwing stole this Ioun stone from Laurin Shattersmith during the caster fight with Vaarsuvius. He had it fashioned into a bracelet for his foot by a gnome artificer in Tinkertown. The item grants +1 effective caster level to all of V’s spells.