OotS #462

[Kahuna Burger]

I'm wondering how did Miko learn about the importance of the throne's sapphire. The gods surely didn't tell her. When Hinjo or Shojo and Roy discussed it she wasn't present, or was unconscious. The Linear guild surely hasn't told her. Deducing it's important because of the paralized paladin's position is a bit of a stretch of the imagination: it's just a sapphire in sapphire land.

Perhaps it was the Snarl?

She was the highest leveled memer of a group whose entire purpose was to defend the gate, I'm pretty sure they know where it is.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

The events in this panel makes the entire story arc meaningless.

The heroes didn't resolve the action. That's a huge 'no no' in stories of any sort, whether literature or gaming. The PC's were made to stand by and watch the issue be resolved by NPCs. The PC's contribution has been negligible. Ultimately, the whole battle out there (that they lost) is meaningless, and was rendered even more meaningless.

This was not good DMing by any stretch. Most players I know would go into rebellion by this point because they got railroaded and they'd been gaming for a couple dozen sessions only have to have thier oppurtunity to be the hero snatched from them by my uber-NPCs (Soon, Miko, etc.). This wasn't even RBDMing. RBDMing would be Miko kills Soon, becomes an anti-paladin, Xykon gains direct control of the snarl via his rituals, allowing him to begin remaking the whole world in his Dark undead image, but now power mad goes to gain control of another (larger) gate in order to gain even more power leaving his new minion Miko in charge of protecting the sapphire (irony, no?), and the Order of the Stick is forced to fight thier way through Miko's undead forces in order to destroy the gem themselves, organize the citizens (many of whom are traitorously swearing loyalty to Miko) to kick the hobgoblins out of the city, and then after managing that go chasing Xykon (who already has a huge headstart) to the next gate before he can successfully gain over-God like powers.

The story did not get more complicated. The story was vastly simplified by this turn of events. Miko hit the reset button. Miko flipped the power switch. Back to page 1, with no character advancement on anyone's part (not even Miko's).

Compare this to the story arc when the last gate was destroyed. Still a draw, but its the PC's and not the NPC's who resolve the action. It's the PC's who shoulder the blame. Even, "Red fires true when the goat turns" showed alot more planning. It was a resolution. It was a climax. This isn't. This is a fizzle.

I don't agree this was fizzle, but I have a feeling some of your issues may become the focus of a few future panels when some members of the OotS decide they shouldn't bother continuing since the uber-NPCs will take care of everything anyway.

 

[Someone]

No, nobody except those present in the trial (since Shojo had to do all the exposition), the linear guild and Sabine's bosses know about the gates.

 

[freyar]

Hard to know what to make of this one. Is it really so bad to destroy a gate? Has destroying the one in Dorukon's dungeon really done anything big? (Besides going "BOOM"?) Well, I guess Azure City will have quite a bit more damage now, huh?

Not sure if Miko is really acting chaotic, but destroying a gate is what the OotS was originally charged with doing... She definitely seems to be having some problems.

I have to say, what with all the attention paid to the OotS and getting them into the throne room, I'm a little surprised that Soon was able to handle Xykon and Redcloak that handily in the end. Did anyone else notice that his sword left an exit would in Xykon's head? Must be ghost-touch.

 

[Prince of Happiness]

Wow. That was a waste of 30 seconds of my life.

 

[kenobi65]

Did anyone else notice that his sword left an exit would in Xykon's head? Must be ghost-touch.

That's some "touch".

 

[Kahuna Burger]

No, nobody except those present in the trial (since Shojo had to do all the exposition), the linear guild and Sabine's bosses know about the gates.

Disagree, it is described as the Secret Lore of the Saphire Guard, not the Secret Lore of Me Personally, and in the scene where Shojo first sends Miko after the Order, he references the destruction of the other gate specificly (the Redmountain Gate has been destroyed) and Miko tells them before the trial that the charge related to destroying the magical gate. It makes more sense to me to assume that Miko knows what the gate is and where it is.

 

[PapersAndPaychecks]

I enjoyed that!

It's nice that Rich keeps blurring the lines between "PC" and "NPC", and doesn't insist that the same groups of special snowflakes always have to be involved in every single climactic scene. Stops it getting stale.

 

[Ry]

Wow. That was a waste of 30 seconds of my life.

This is a comic strip we're talking about here. The 30 seconds is deliberately wasted

 

[Prince of Happiness]

Are you sure you're the prince of happiness?

Happiness n. - A pleasurable sensation derived from observing the misery of others. - Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary