Results 181 to 210 of 224
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2024-05-04, 10:47 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2011
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
I acknowledge the possibility, but I don't want it to be so!
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2024-05-05, 09:13 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2020
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
This is the singular random encounter they have before getting to the story relevant battle as dictated by the laws of drama and probability.
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2024-05-06, 12:37 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2015
- Location
- Texas
- Gender
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
Random? I don't think so. Calder is placed in a particular zone of the dungeon deliberately by Serini, or by Serini and other Scribblers. Calder is kept in that place via some powerful magic. The Order intended to bypass it, but based on an error made, either by Sunny or by Serini insofar as prison design or prison maintenance goes, an encounter was triggered.
The trigger was an error by the party. If we look at dungeon design and encounter design, this is a location-based encounter rather than a random encounter.Last edited by KorvinStarmast; 2024-05-06 at 12:38 PM.
Avatar by linklele. How Teleport Worksa. Malifice (paraphrased):
Rulings are not 'House Rules.' Rulings are a DM doing what DMs are supposed to do.
b. greenstone (paraphrased):
Agency means that they {players} control their character's actions; you control the world's reactions to the character's actions.
Second known member of the Greyview Appreciation Society
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2024-05-07, 06:32 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Oct 2010
- Gender
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
Less error and more unfortunate circumstance; I'm guessing the route Serini intended to take would have given Calder's chamber a wider berth - which also explains how he never got his eyes/talons on Sunny until now despite Sunny accompanying her on her inspections previously.
Plague Doctor by Crimmy
Ext. Sig (Handbooks/Creations)
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2024-05-07, 06:54 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2015
- Location
- Texas
- Gender
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
Not sure how familiar the OP is with corporate America, but the battle with Calder is the ultimate team building exercise for the Order of the Stick.
It's like an Off Site, except it's an On Site.Avatar by linklele. How Teleport Worksa. Malifice (paraphrased):
Rulings are not 'House Rules.' Rulings are a DM doing what DMs are supposed to do.
b. greenstone (paraphrased):
Agency means that they {players} control their character's actions; you control the world's reactions to the character's actions.
Second known member of the Greyview Appreciation Society
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2024-05-07, 11:33 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2011
- Location
- Mexico
- Gender
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
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2024-05-08, 03:35 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2016
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
So, several people have mentioned two of the main points that I considered(those being Calder becomes no longer an obstacle to Team Evil, and Calder wastes party resources/potentially gives levels-- which is worth remembering --), and some have brushed a sub-point(the Scribble's history-- Sunny knew enough about Calder, to draw him).
But three other thoughts occur to me, one touched upon in many ways, but not quite the one I'm thinking of, the others, unless I missed something(plausible), sort of missed:
One of them is a specific resource being used: Time. OotS assume they have days, plural before TE gets to the final dungeon, and therefore them. The entity Redcloak summoned assumes half that(possibly lessened if they already finished the last few dungeons they'd need to hit. OotS' plan involves beating TE to their destination and setting up an ambush. Last time they wanted to do so(not to Xykon, because Planar Allies wouldn't work on him, but still), they needed time to set up. If they again need time to set up, then that might take a day or more. A little problem if they have two days, not a problem if they have more, except now the current one might be burnt on recovery(and some may end out entirely out of the fight, Sunny was hit pretty hard), and the second might be too little, too late.
The second is the Paladins. Right now, they are in the water below. The party is burning spell slots. Mimi could easily die. Walls could crumble. Essentially, a situation could resolve such that the paladins(who have the most unused resources) are again split from the group, forced to take the passage the team opened(actually, the open passage could also be an issue), temporarily removing them from the narrative, because means for easily recovering them are lost. It could also create a schism, because Serini intentionally abandoned them.
The third, well, as I said, has been touched on in many ways/by many:
I don't think either Bloodfeast or Belkar are going to die yet.
However, Bloodfeast living creates issues of its own. Getting Bloodfeast around will be difficult at this size and liable to set off all kinds of traps. However, unringing the "Baleful Polymorph removal" bell likely isn't an option. V probably cannot afford to waste the spell slot, and that's assuming V can even cast the spell. So unless someone has an item to cast that or a similar spell, Bloodfeast is likely making any last stand being made here. This puts Belkar in the unfortunate position of having to pick his charge or his party. Considering his development, I could see a few ways that the events that follow might kill him, tying things up in a "narratively satifying" way, without introducing a one-off villain just to kill him or his pet.
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2024-05-14, 05:13 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2022
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
I thought we only ever had one random encounter per trip! There was a chalkboard and everything!
Bloodfeast is probably the most difficult resource to bring to bear against Team Evil. So its the smart move for the rest of the party to preserve themselves for the big fight by letting Bloodfeast take the brunt, even if its the death of him.
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2024-05-20, 09:02 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2017
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
The two main story reasons for Calder I could think of were a) someone who could spill the beans on Serini and b) an encounter which could show us the effects of touching the threads rather than just telling us.
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2024-05-20, 07:19 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2004
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
Orth Plays: Currently Baldur's Gate II
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2024-05-21, 06:19 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2019
- Gender
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
I doubt Roy and Haley care much about the dino.
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2024-05-21, 07:31 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2016
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
There is "caring about someone", and there is "letting someone get killed because it's convenient". Those are different.
Roy shows concern about Blackwing's safety. Even though the bird shows a level of sentience above the dino's, I think it indicates the days of Roy pushing an "team member" under the bus are past us.
As for Haley, I don't remember "sacrificing an ally" being one of her (many) flaws. She cares about friendly individuals. I could forget something, though.
It doesn't mean they would sacrifice the mission to save the dino. But "let's have the dino facetank the dragon and get killed, he's useless after that anyway!" feels out of character for most of the party. Except maybe V, but he's actually helping Bloodfeast right now.Last edited by Kardwill; 2024-05-21 at 07:36 AM.
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2024-05-21, 09:04 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2019
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Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
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2024-05-21, 11:35 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2016
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
That was really not the same exact scenario, though.
Escaping a desperate situation, trusting the ally who volunteered to stay behind will be able to get out once you're safe, is not the same as deliberately using another ally as an damage sponge just to secure a better victory.
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2024-05-21, 10:20 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2016
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
Trusting a high level, experienced adventurer, who has foiled Tarquin repeatedly, who is at full health, who willingly "sacrificed" himself to delay a foe, to allow them, the injured lower level members to recuperate before escaping together(because no, they weren't acting under the assumption he would die), is not the same as throwing a pet with no class levels to the wolves(the wolves being people who likely could kill both Julio and Tarquin together).
Roy had a whole thing about abandoning a teammate in need(Elan, who he was a lot less chill with than Bloodfeast(he talks pretty nicely to Bloodfeast for "not caring much")) and then growing as a person from it, as well as the thing about feeling responsible for the death of an innocent(his brother, Durkon), regardless of his ability to do anything about it.
Haley... Eh. Old Haley might have been okay with that. Might. Current Haley though? Well, she may not be super attached to Bloodfeast, but she does care about her whole team. I doubt she'd be so callous as to do so. Jokingly suggest? Yes. Actually go through with it? Not willingly.Last edited by dxm2000; 2024-05-21 at 10:21 PM.
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2024-05-21, 10:50 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2015
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2024-05-22, 05:13 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2004
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
Orth Plays: Currently Baldur's Gate II
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2024-05-22, 05:22 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2015
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2024-05-22, 09:20 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2019
- Gender
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2024-05-22, 10:00 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2015
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2024-05-22, 10:51 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2016
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
Who did? Haley, who has her hands full with her boyfriend? Elan, who has his hands full buffing busy buffing the ally who's stalling their enemy? Durkon, who's too small(and also secretly their vampire enemy, so doesn't count). V who's got their hands full With Belkar and magic hands full with Roy? Belkar who's unconscious, but immediately reminds them to grab Bloodfeast upon waking?
'Bout the only one who could reasonably be claimed to have the hands to carry Bloodfeast, and therefore "abandoned him" is Roy, who only had one hand full with the cat, but had ordered his flight capable party members to pick up those who can't fly, and may've missed Bloodfeast, or assumed someone else had it handled (or forgotten, because at that point Bloodfeast had been around for 10 pages, during half of which Roy was dazed or distracted/fighting for his life) and the bird, who ultimately picked him up.
...Also, this still isn't "They played this exact scenario before."
If the dino had been left behind as a lizard there, odds of if immediately(or even in the near-immediate future) dying were infinitesimal compared to being abandoned to Calder or Xykon. Odds are Tarquin would not have cared about it, or at worse tried to have it un-polymorphed and put back in the army. Most likely, if anything killed it, it'd be wildlife, or regular desert dangers. If abandoned to, say Calder, in his current form, odds are Bloodfeast's getting mind-whammied or straight up killed(most likely).
Additionally, there's over 300 pages of party association difference now. Additionally, additionally, Roy has recently made a mission statement about "not sending someone's kid to die on purpose", in reference to Sunny, but I cannot imagine that that is limited to "family of party members". Roy's been shown, if belatedly sometimes, to worry about V's familiar, to not want him to risk dying. Why would V's familiar get that care, but not Belkar's pet?Last edited by dxm2000; 2024-05-22 at 10:51 PM.
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2024-05-22, 11:22 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2015
- Gender
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2024-05-22, 11:27 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2009
- Location
- Birmingham, AL
- Gender
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
My best guess is that before Belkar said anything, nobody else thought to grab him.
Of course, that requires one to ignore that the dino was only friendly to the Order for a minute or two by that point, and had tried to eat them immediately prior to that. So, ya know, context regarding the relationship between Bloodfeast and the Order at that time and now.Cuthalion's art is the prettiest art of all the art. Like my avatar.
Number of times Roland St. Jude has sworn revenge upon me: 1
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2024-05-23, 04:35 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2019
- Gender
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
Point of discussion was whether Roy and Haley care or don't care about the dino, and I bring a comic that shows their lack of care about it. Someone claimed that they wouldn't abandon it to save themselves, and I bring a comic that exact scenario happened. Unless someone bring a proof of Roy and/or Haley shows care about the wellbeing of the dino, I see this as case closed.
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2024-05-23, 07:32 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2016
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
False. You brought up a comic, 10 pages after they could be said to first have gotten to even know Bloodfeast, where they don't personally save him.
You claim they are abandoning him to save themselves, but what they are really doing is saving someone else(Haley is, again, saving Elan, her boyfriend, who she deeply loves-- what, should she have abandoned Elan to run over and personally pick up Bloodfeast? --and Roy is saving Mr. Scruffy, while being picked up by a magic hand(depending on the order of events he might've barely had time to grab Mr. Scruffy, after instructing-- again, you're ignoring this --his party's flying members to help anyone who can't fly). By your logic, Roy also abandoned Elan and Belkar because he didn't personally pick them up, someone else did, or Durkon, who he had no reason to assume could fly(but clearly that resolved between panels). You are attributing motives to characters that are neither explicit or implicit.
The worse you could actually logically accuse them of is being forgetful(which you might have a decent argument for), or assuming one of the half dozen flight capable members had it in hand.
As for caring about the wellbeing of Bloodfeast? How about this? Roy treats the creature with respect. Explicitly does not engage with him in a way he believes will make him uncomfortable/unhappy and speaks to him about Belkar, who Bloodfeast cares about. Roy recognises Bloodfeast's priorities and cares to address them. And again, Roy desires not to sacrifice others because it's convenient to him. That may've been a flaw of his once, but he got better(and it was never shown to be a flaw of Haley(who feels bad when people are hurt because of her)'s).Last edited by dxm2000; 2024-05-23 at 07:34 AM.
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2024-05-23, 04:32 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2019
- Gender
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
Eh, I don't think so. Roy is just playing mind games with his "little sister" there.
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2024-05-23, 05:16 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2016
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
By... telling Bloodfeast that he won't pet him and that Belkar's inside? That's a reach. A very big reach. He could've just ignored him, and said "Hello, sister.", if that was all he wanted to do.
Also, fun how you seem to think so ill of a lawful good person who is trying to be both lawful and good(in spirit, not name). Like you think people like him only pretend to be decent.
I mean, I don't know about you, but, to create a real-world equivalent, if someone was being chased by a killer wearing plate, waving around a sword and threw the dog of the neighbour they don't like at the killer to distract them so they can flee, whether or not that dog lives and/or hurts the killer, the person throwing it is neither good, nor lawful, by any measure I want to consider. Yet you seem to think Roy(or Haley, also Good) capable of that.
It doesn't matter if you "care" about the owner or not, those are not the actions of a good person(In fact, those are the actions of someone like the old Belkar. Hmmm.)
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2024-05-23, 05:24 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2004
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
Well, we can agree that the case is closed, anyway.
Orth Plays: Currently Baldur's Gate II
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2024-05-23, 06:12 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2019
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Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
Roy didn't have a problem with throwing animals to dangerous targets before. Remember how he treated the animals from his bag of tricks? Miko surely do.
Last edited by Precure; 2024-05-23 at 06:18 PM.
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2024-05-23, 06:50 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2017
Re: So, what is the pont of the battle with Calder?
I mean, a better example might've been when they sent the Anarchic giraffes and BoT critters into the Symbol of Death. The exact details about summoned creatures and whether they're real beings or magical constructs varies, though, so I don't know what the critters count as. I think the answer depends on whether it's a joke or not.