OOTS 652: No Respect for the Wicked

[Dark Dragon]

Xykon is always powerful, effective, and intelligent in the rare times when he actually becomes interested enough in the action to care about what is happening. The Xykon in the current strip is precisely the same character that you see here, here, and here, for example.

Not exactly, if we go along the rules...
Preventing O'Chul from destroying the gate with an ability that allows a save to avoid the effect is (for me as a player) extremely risky, especially if the target is a high-level paladin. The Force Cage or a Wall of Force would have been a better choice. However, I found the idea with that Symbol of Insanity good and a funny (and really effective) way to deal with many foes. But then Xykon follows with a power that purely relies on luck...hm.

But this is a comic with a really nice story, so, debating about rules is leading to nowhere. I'm simply not happy if something like obvious luck happens again and again to the same character, because it takes out a bit of the dramatic component and leaves the impression "Oh well, that guy got of it again easily because somehow he was perfectly prepared for this (strange) situation."

Rich has shown that unexepected changes are part of OotS, so let's wait and see...

 

[Miyaa]

I, too, am rooting for Xylon to put V back in her place.

In fact, I could see Rich allowing both sides to be on some sort of stalemate for a long while until both sides are ready for some sort of grand conclusion to be made. This is a case of one character not completely ready for the end game wanting to jump to the conclusion just because she's got all of this power and knows she's gotta use it before the clock reaches 0:00.

And I think V will become far more evil after this battle is over than Xylon could ever be. (Call it a hunch.)

 

[Bullgrit]

From the SRD, Energy Drain only works on living creatures--it seems like fiat to let it apply to the Soul Splices.

The energy drain isn't working on the spliced souls, it's working on V. All the spliced souls essentially do is give V their spell sheets, from which V casts their spells. So when V gets hit with the energy drain, he/she looses his/her top-level spells -- which are on the other two "spell sheets." There's been no effect on V's spell list because he/she has to loose the 10th, 9th, and 8th? level slots granted from the spliced souls before V starts loosing spell slots.

Bullgrit

 

[Akaiku]

V has made a rather egregious tactical error on the part of being a pc. You should ALWAYS be IMMUNE to negative energy/level drain/etc. This is even without considering that liches have really crazy amounts of it.

I'm sure V will, if still alive, have to hang out at a planer bazaar with a "WTB Soulfire robes" sign.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Yeah, this is another one of those strips that I don't like because story requirements have taken a backseat to plot logic. Effectively, V has to lose because otherwise the story would suck. We've also gotten foreshadowing of this via Roy, and of course the "deal with the devil" thing cannot work out positively or what kind of precedent would that set?

On the other hand, they've already set V up as being a being powerful enough to kill thousands of creatures from half a planet away and to take down an ancient dragon without batting an eye. Yes, 1/3 of his power apparently took off but he's still so over-the-top powerful that he could easily take down some low-level gods. But the BBEG of the story? Nope, sorry, he's completely out-classed - and for no other reason that "because the story demands it."

I think that part is pretty logical if you think about it in D&D terms.

High level spells change the game so much that a 10th level mage can kill an army of hundreds 1st level guys in a minute or less. But if he goes against just one single 10th level mage, he is in deep trouble and it basically becomes a 50:50 chance for him.

But we are not talking about 10th level mages. We are talking about epic level (20+) mages. Most black dragons are far away from being in that level range. All off-spring of one particular black dragon died, and that dragon might have been higher level as the original V, but certainly not too far into the epic level range and he was easily beaten by the V with soul splices. Since dragon CR is mostly based on age, this means all off-spring of the Black Dragon will be lower level and even more suspectible to Vs powers.

But Xykon is an epic level Sorcerer. And V tried to enter his lair, not attacking him on the open street or while busy killing some family. And it's not as if Xykon hasn't shown he was protecting his lair - that's why he had cast the Cloister spell, after all.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

Yeah, this is another one of those strips that I don't like because story requirements have taken a backseat to plot logic. Effectively, V has to lose because otherwise the story would suck. We've also gotten foreshadowing of this via Roy, and of course the "deal with the devil" thing cannot work out positively or what kind of precedent would that set?

On the other hand, they've already set V up as being a being powerful enough to kill thousands of creatures from half a planet away and to take down an ancient dragon without batting an eye. Yes, 1/3 of his power apparently took off but he's still so over-the-top powerful that he could easily take down some low-level gods. But the BBEG of the story? Nope, sorry, he's completely out-classed - and for no other reason that "because the story demands it."

This isn't the first plot hole in OOTS nor, I am sure, will it be the last. But I still enjoy the comic and enough really awesome things happen to more than make up for the dumb railroaded moments.

Again, I'm not seeing.

V's character flaw was that he overplanned everything. Once he did the soul splice, he grew a few MORE flaws.

V is hardly acting out of character. He's flush with power and thinks of himself as unbeatable, so he didn't bother planning anything - he thought he could just zap right into the tower, blast the lich, and be home in time for supper. The second that plan fell apart, he had no clue what to do. Again, keep in mind that he's essentially using someone else's spell sheet, not his own. V didn't plan much ahead because of his sheer arrogance. And unlike Xykon, V didn't get the experience for his epic levels the old fashioned way - he was just given it, and he's not entirely sure how to use it.

I agree that Xykon shouldn't win just because he's the BBEG, but likewise, V shouldn't win just because he was a party member. V is acting in the exact same manner that he's been acting for awhile now. Xykon is doing the same. I don't see a plot hole or any railroading here - this is a natural conclusion. If I had a player decide to just teleport to the BBEG and think they could just blast him, as DM, I wouldn't cheat, but I wouldn't need to. Things aren't that easy, and BBEGs aren't pants on head retarded. They understand that teleportation exists, and that you have to be ready for assassination attempts.

 

[Dark Dragon]

*shrug* Then why putting it up this way? Ok, V's arrogance and incompetence is shown again in a clear way...and that it may lead to her/his doom in the end. I didn't expect V to be victorious either, but that he/she would fail THAT easily despite an impressive arsenal of power I did not expect as well. Unless you use Xykon's luck (or whatever) bonus in your expectations...

 

[Lord Zardoz]

Reading some of the replies in this thread, I get the feeling that there are many people who are holding something like the following mindset.

- 'V has just sold his soul and gained access to the powers of several damned epic mages. With the kind of epic level spells V is throwing around, he has to be at least level X. If I had access to that kind of character in a D&D game, I could totally kill the hell out of Xykon. Obviously V is doing this wrong / the DM is cheating for story purposes'.

This line of thinking makes several assumptions, mostly about what Xykons actual power level is. It also makes assumptions about how much power V has at the moment. For all we know there might not have been a whole lot left in the tank for the 2 remaining splices after the Epic Teleports and what it had to use on the Black Dragon. On top of that, we do not know how powerful Xykon really is. We do not know if Xykon has leveled up since we last saw him.

But what I find most strange is this; I can admit that the practice of meta-gaming can enhance the level of enjoyment in a D&D game, especially for those who enjoy the tactical side of the game. I am really not at all sure how much enjoyment there is to be found from meta-gaming a Web Comic.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[jmucchiello]

Given the probable XP cost to develop Familicide, I assume that the three soul splices are not created equal and losing Haerta resulted in more than a 1/3rd reduction in power. Additionally Haerta was the necromancer and probably had access to more knowledge about liches and access to useful spells like undeath to death and more importantly... death ward.

 

[Filcher]

Chalk me up in the "hero who acts selfish and sells out to evil deserves to get his butt whooped" column. I'm delighting in seeing V get used as a door mat.

Keep the party together, stupid!