Order of the Stick: How long will they put up with Miko?

[Sammael]

It's GOLD! It has NOT been destroyed!

Actually, going by D&D rules (which OotS plays off of), gold is an object like any other. And it has taken enough damage to be destroyed. There are no special damage rules for gold (or other metals) taking damage from fire (except that they take 1/2 damage, like almost all other objects).

 

[Wilphe]

It's not an exercise in "OMG it's a stupid asshat paladin" humour, there are already enough "stupid annoying paladin" stories out there. We've all got the idea, Rich knows his audience and will subvert the steretype of the "uptight paladin" at some point.

Remember what she did with the ogres:

What looked like a standard "I thwart the party's cunning plan by refusing to attack the ogres will they are asleep" gag,
turned out to be:
"My cunning plan is to attack them when are surronding me and nicely clustered for area effect spells"

 

[Sledge]

While something may be destroyed, in game terms that just means it's physical form has been disrupted. Similar to the line in Classic Battletech of "Destroyed vs really destroyed", the gold coins were destroyed. There is now just broken gold. A good craft check and you can make new coins. Now craft on the other hand is the real problem here. Should take a few decades to get the gold back in coin format.

 

[wedgeski]

Roy's my favourite character too, the classic PC mortar to all the other bricks in the party. The latest strip was a beautiful Roy moment (and check out Haley's reactions as he goes through the spiel - brilliant).

 

[wingsandsword]

Here is Miko summed up quickly:

"I am a Paladin from a land you've never heard of. For your evil crimes you committed outside my lord's jurisdiction you are sentenced to death. Oh wait, uh, apparently my infallable divine gifts are wrong, but you are still under arrest even though I have no actual legal powers here, but that doesn't matter because if you don't come with me to face capitol charges in a faraway kingdom I'll have to kill you. Oh, and as my prisoners you are effectively my slaves and I expect you all to obey my strict ascetic code of conduct and Paladin's code of behavior because anything less is immoral and decadent and thus evil. While we're at it, before we fight these Ogres we've got to stand around and wait for them to finish eating and get ready for the fight because it's dishonorable to do otherwise. Oh, and this inn you were staying in was destroyed by assassins, so it must obviously be your fault for not humbly sleeping in a ditch resting your head on pointy rocks and eating lichen like I suggested, and anything bad that happens to you is divine punishment, however your recent ordeal with a cursed magic item has made you marginally closer to my impossibly high moral standards, so, wanna date me now?"

As a PC she's a train wreck joining the party, as an NPC she's an incarnate railroad, as a DMPC she's every PC's worst nightmare of a DM ego trip character. She's a walking joke of every bad Paladin stereotype incarnate, with a side order of bad things that can happen to derail a campaign.

 

[Paragon Kobold]

Crothian, Belkar is a Ranger/Barbarian, and I am pretty sure that one of his favored enemies is "Humanoids (humans)." He couldn't outwit Miko, but I'm pretty sure that he could take her down in a straight fight.

AND, he has the dreaded Halfling Rage Jumping Attack!

 

[diaglo]

Who went after the OotS since they allowed people to believe they were royality. Just because they were assassins does not take away OotS guilt.

not to mention a few strips earlier when they decided to keep it a secret about what they were doing from Miko under Roy's orders.

 

[Henry]

I think personally that it's taking the strip a bit too seriously to be chastizing Miko. She is, as Herobizkit mentions, a parody, and meant to be enjoyed rather than railed against. I'm enjoying watching her both surprise them (as she did in the Ogre scene) and get her comeuppance (as in #250.) Maybe I'm sheltered, as I've never seen a paladin played this way. (I have, however, seen quite a few groups as self-centered as The Stick, and I'm enjoying their parody the same way.)

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

The greater good

Perhaps the destruction of the inn would not have happened if the OotS had not been posing as royalty, but had they not, the real King of Nowhere would probably been assasinated and a war started. Their doing something "evil" and selfish led to a greater good being done; something that "black and white" viewing paladins have trouble reconciling.

As for the future of Miko, I predict that the OotS continues on with her, but they slowly rub off on her a bit. Once they get back to her lands to stand trial, she will end up defending them...while pointing out their myriad flaws of course.

 

[Henry]

Perhaps the destruction of the inn would not have happened if the OotS had not been posing as royalty, but had they not, the real King of Nowhere would probably been assasinated and a war started.

I loved the little bitty scene in the first panel in #250 where the King of Nowhere & his entourage are looking at the burned-out inn in shock and horror.