History Oots 660

[Miyaa]

I'm voting for Obligatory Sewer-Themed Labyrinth. Also, doesn't a lich have to be within a certain radius to his phylactery in order for him to regenerate?

[catsclaw227]

Originally Posted by Stalker0

I'm a big OOTS fan but I was disappointed on this one. We've had a lot of buildup for some time now, and we were due for a major happening. This just felt like a letdown to me.

Yea, me too. Here's to hoping they get to go back to some of their Dungeon Crawlin' Fools days.

[malraux]

Originally Posted by Miyaa

I'm voting for Obligatory Sewer-Themed Labyrinth. Also, doesn't a lich have to be within a certain radius to his phylactery in order for him to regenerate?

The SRD doesn't mention any such requirement.

[Dausuul]

That was... unexpected. Not bad, and I won't go so far as to call this strip "filler," but seriously, this arc is past due to wrap up. I want to see Roy get resurrected and the OotS reunited, damn it.

Originally Posted by StreamOfTheSky

Whee, Mary Sue wins again!

[rant]

I'm getting fairly sick of seeing this. Xykon is anything but a Mary Sue. Mary Sue would never be ignominiously defeated by a lowly fighter with a broken sword... or forced to endure a comically humiliating stretch of time as a partial skeleton in a little red wagon... or need to be saved by a hobgoblin rolling a lucky crit... or blunder recklessly into a trap and escape only through the intervention of a crazy ex-paladin... or need a lackey to provide tactical advice at a critical moment... or get blindsided by a half-naked paladin armed with a broken piece of metal... or get blown up by a measly 4th-level spell.

You seem to think that lucky breaks (of which he certainly gets more than his fair share) make Xykon a Mary Sue. But Mary Sue never survives by sheer luck. Mary Sue survives by being always perfect, always right, and always the best.

Complain about Diabolus Ex Machina if you like; Xykon's repeated lucky escapes are definitely edging into that territory. But Xykon is not and has never been a Mary Sue.

[/rant]

[ProfessorCirno]

I love this strip, not for the strip itself, but because of how people are seeing it.

Brian Clevinger once said that his favorite types of jokes in his webcomic are jokes played on the reader. This feels like a similar type of joke.

[LordVyreth]

Of course, there is a more morbid reason for people to hope that the strip reaches a logical conclusion at some set point in the relatively near future, and the comparisons to Wheel of Time are even more valid. Let's face it, an artist known for periodic bouts of (as far as I know) unknown medical problems is enough to make anyone nervous. Even ignoring that, though, there is a concern for the series to drag on past its natural length, much as what happened with the above-mentioned "Wheel," or something like the "X-Files." Notice how much critical and fan interest in "Lost" picked up when it had a clear-cut ending set up, as well.

[questing gm]

The raven saves!

[Urbannen]

No, the raven can't save - according to the spell description, anything that close to the runes when they go off doesn't get a save. Since it has Improved Evasion and was not helpless, it only took half damage. It if it had made its saving throw, it wouldn't have taken any damage at all.

The strip has been breath-takingly dramatic for several issues now, so this conclusion to the current drama is like a joke on the reader, as someone has pointed out. IF Xykon is destroyed, he will simply be reformed in some unknown parts. Since he doesn't breathe, under the sea is as good as place as any.

I guess now there is an inevitable showdown between Xykon and the MitD over the fate of O-Chul, or something like that. As I've said before, I think that V should have broken free from the Mass Charm Person spell before Xykon returns... He still has some lower-level spells left.

[Canis]

Originally Posted by Henrix

I do get angry when a book goes on for pages and pages without advancing the story, like a soap opera.

A good story told on 200 pages is not better if told on 1200 pages.

Absolutely. On the other hand, most epic stories of 1200 pages or so are actually the weaving together of 6 or so 200 page stories. Or, in many cases, one 400 page story and eight 100 page stories.

If the weaving is done well, only some of those stories need to be all that good for the 1200 pages to come off very well.

[Kid Charlemagne]

I like that when the phylactery hits the statue of Redcloak (wearing a statue version of the phylactery), it hits it in the eye that O'Chuul put out.

[dmccoy1693]

Originally Posted by Kid Charlemagne

I like that when the phylactery hits the statue of Redcloak (wearing a statue version of the phylactery), it hits it in the eye that O'Chuul put out.

*goes back and looks* dang, you're right. I hadn't noticed that the first time. I love little details like that.

[Andor]

Originally Posted by Grog

If you look closely, the phylactery looks like it's heading for the ocean. And Xykon is actually better off with it at the bottom of the ocean - since it's indestructible, nothing can happen to it down there, and his enemies will never find it. He should just leave it where it is.

Are you kidding? Sahuagin, Locanths, Mermen, Sea elves, Kuo-toa, Aboleths, Xixithcitilzitiititiit... Black Dragons, Green Dragons, Gold Dragons, Bronze Dragons, etc.

There are practically more intelligent species in a D&D ocean than there are on land! Any one of which can find a shiny and cause trouble with/to it.

[greatamericanfolkher]

I’m thinking that OotS is going to go under my “Wapsi Square policy” from now on. I’ll let it build up six months of comics and read them all at once. Not to say that I don’t enjoy a longform comic, but Rich is becoming the king of decompressed storytelling, and that’s the reason I stopped reading comic books in anything other than trade paperback form.

[Kamikaze Midget]

I thought it advanced the plot more than any "Roy in Heaven" or "Guys are trapped on an island" strips did.

Losing the phylactery is a big point for Xykon: He's been made more vulnerable. This is a major step in his eventual defeat, I'd wager.

Also:

Originally Posted by Bullgrit

This is a story about D&D. That fact should tell you exactly where the phylactery is going, without a doubt -- the dungeon.

Man, this is D&D. All three of those options scream "dungeon" to me, it's just a matter of if your dungeon is filled with sahagin and sharks, magitek golems, or wererats.

[Orius]

Originally Posted by Henrix

I do get angry when a book goes on for pages and pages without advancing the story, like a soap opera.

A good story told on 200 pages is not better if told on 1200 pages.

Originally Posted by Voadam

Depends. Wheel of Time ....

That's funny, the first thing that game to my mind when I read Henrix's post was WoT. I'm guessing he's not a fan.

But boy this one feels pretty anti-climatic. If V and O-Chul manage to get away, it'll be alright. I suppose O-Chul could get out and make contact with the resistance, who are probably in a good position right now to find the phylactery.

[Asmor]

Originally Posted by greatamericanfolkher

I’m thinking that OotS is going to go under my “Wapsi Square policy” from now on. I’ll let it build up six months of comics and read them all at once.

Six months worth of OotS comics sounds substantial until you realize it's roughly five comic strips.