OOTS #1298 - The Discussion Thread

[GreatWyrmGold]

Headcanon: Bloodfeast isn't trying to hurt Calder, he's just freaking out from being thrown and grabbing onto the most solid thing in front of him.

Wow wow wow, that last big panel has instantly become one of my all-time favorites. It's gorgeous and so, so epic.

I like the one before it better, but it [I]is/I] pretty fun when someone gets under Belkar's skin.

A dinosaur would be a negligible threat to an elder dragon.

You don't need to be a rogue to sneak attack.

While that is (legitimately) interesting to note as a sidebar, Dungeons and Dragons is definitely not one of my top sources for dinosaur accuracy to begin with... XD

Remember Tarquin's brontosaurus?

If that scene (or a facsimile) isn't the cover of this last book, it will be a great injustice.

I, um.
I think there might be a bigger conflict in the.
In the last book of the entire series.
Just a hunch.

It never ceases to bemuse me how much of the reaction threads for this comic are people picking apart the hypothetical game mechanics of each enemy and new character, as if they assume Rich is still meticulously following the 3.5 rules despite years of playing loose with them since the comic transitioned to being about the story more than making fun of weird D&D mechanics.

You're right, but overlooking a crucial piece of information:

Numbers are fun.

I call this section "At least I'm kinda using my biology degree".

Not enough limbs for a insect, too many limbs for a bird...
Maybe some kind of flying fish?

There's more to taxonomy than number of limbs, Kantaki.

These days, taxonomy is mostly cladistic. That is to say, birds are birds because they're all descended from a shared common ancestor whose descendants are all birds. But that doesn't work in a fantasy world young enough that a black dragon's family tree only includes a quarter of all black dragons.

If you count a dragon's wings as limbs (like the bat or pterosaur wings they are modelled after), it has six limbs, just like an insect...

Insect wings aren't limbs. There are a few theories on how insect wings derived, but none of them assume wings are homologous with legs (or any appendage that grows the same way, e.g. antennae or mouthparts).

So, giant flightless bird vs paleontological mistake caused by misidentification of ancient giant bird fossils?

All birds are dinosaurs, not all dinosaurs are birds. That's like calling a wolf a giant rodent.