New Order of the Stick Strip Up

[137ben]

Haley is canonically bisexual!

[Fromper]

Apparently, she still has some dexterity.

[havoc xiii]

Elan was left yes? Hopefully she is by herself....

[Lord Fyre]

Fromper wrote:

Apparently, she still has some dexterity.

The moral of this story: Don't use the Multi-Shot feat with a limited resource. (Also, at this tier, why does she only carry 3 adamantine arrows.)

[Itchy]

havoc xiii wrote:

Elan was left yes? Hopefully she is by herself....

We know that Crystal is not alone. We saw Bozzok's eyes just before she appeared.

At least, I assume that it was Bozzok...

[Alex Martin]

Itchy wrote:

We saw Bozzok's eyes just before she appeared.

Speaking of Bozzok, new comic is up and situation explained after a fashion.

[ulgulanoth]

hehe

[Drejk]

Spoiler:

I think that Bozzok might not be happy when he'll discover that Haley is not alone... I doubt that golem Crystal will be a challenge to the whole party, at least not without outside interference. It might lead to a great 'oh, crap" moment on Bozzok part.

[Dragonchess Player]

"Reframing the narrative..."

Heh.

[The black raven]

It does happen in companies, administrations and politics all the time :-))

And RPGs too of course "He jumped on my lightsaber, I swear."

[Itchy]

I think Crystal got SMARTER when she was turned into a variant flesh golem.

[Drejk]

Itchy wrote:

I think Crystal got SMARTER when she was turned into a variant flesh golem.

After they spent almost a ton of gold on doing that (assuming 50 gp is a pound of gold, with modest rounding of 2 pounds being 1 kg, 100,000 gp is a ton of gold) mere 36 grands for +6 enhancement bonus to Int is nothing... Or it could be awaken construct which I think was somewhere in 3.5. A 3d6 roll for Int gave Crystal-golem a decent chance of improvement over her innate mental faculties.

[Shadowborn]

Are gnomes stupid in this world? Most people would run away from the angry monster rampaging through town, not just stand around waiting for it to punch their blood out of their bodies.

[Drejk]

They might be too scarred to react. Also, probably they are too slow to run away in time or it was a surprise round for them.

[Ross Byers]

Drejk wrote:

(assuming 50 gp is a pound of gold, with modest rounding of 2 pounds being 1 kg, 100,000 gp is a ton of gold)

An English ton is exactly 2,000 lbs. No rounding required. (Take that, metric system!)

[The black raven]

Actually they do run after Crystal kills some of them. My guess is that this city is pretty cosmopolitan and that its inhabitants are used to weird sights. They do not automatically equate strange with dangerous.

Also, if people fled when confronted with awakened flesh golems and stranger things, most PC parties I know would be VERY hard pressed to engage in trade, or even RP opportunities ;-)

[Shadowborn]

I get being used to weird sights. I don't get standing around within arm's reach as an angry, obviously violent golem chases after someone threatening to kill them.

[TriOmegaZero]

Threatening to kill someone else doesn't equate to killing anyone in reach for the most part. And who is to say they can understand her?

[Shadowborn]

If they can't understand the yelling and screaming, then all the more reason to get out of the way.

[TriOmegaZero]

Note that they weren't actually IN the way either.

[Dragonchess Player]

Good choice...

(The tropics, that is.)

[Rathendar]

Dragonchess Player wrote:

Good choice...

(The tropics, that is.)

For whatever reason, this is one of my favorite strip updates in a long time. I was amused to no end.

[The black raven]

Maybe that's what Rich felt when the KS happened ;-)

[Alex Martin]

Dragonchess Player wrote:

Good choice...

The definition of "shut up and take my money!"

[Drejk]

- Very good, that will be...
- Money!

[Lord Fyre]

Drejk wrote:

- Very good, that will be...

- Money!

Haley is right though, dead people have problems spending money.

[Alex Martin]

Drejk wrote:

- Very good, that will be...

- Money!

I am liking this comic for pointing out something that was brought up in another thread about players behavior in-game. Unless your GM has overinflated the game-world economy, most adventurers have hauled in more money than the average shopkeep or bartender will see in his lifetime.

So yeah, throwing a bag of coins for a couple of discarded adamantine weapons must have felt like winning the lottery.

[strayshift]

Like the way the gnomes attitude to the shop changes too. Retiring to the tropics it is.

[The black raven]

Good thing for us that Rich did NOT retire to the tropics :-)

[The black raven]

New one

Gnomeland Security, right :-))

[Orthos]

"Oops."

[Shadowborn]

Never assign the rookie to the big gun.

[Alex Martin]

New strip up.

Today's theme is apparently: "I focus on the pain-The only thing that's real."

That and, in Rich's world, "Never bring lighting anywhere near a golem - they become indestructible."

[Cylyria]

I don't know what to make of this strip anymore. It seems that every time the story seems to be moving along something like this happens and we spend 30 strips on it. I suppose it would be better if he posted a bit more often.

[Ross Byers]

Alex Martin wrote:

That and, in Rich's world, "Never bring lighting anywhere near a golem - they become indestructible."

Haste and a ton of bonus hit points are a potent buff.

[MannyGoblin]

I agree with Cylyria, way to much padding so there ends up with another book to sell.

[137ben]

Early on, OOTS had a biweekly update schedule, and was written to be enjoyed as a series of one-off jokes. Eventually, it transitioned to continuous story and character development, and an irregular update schedule.
As a side effect, the optimal way to read OOTS is no longer one strip at a time. When the strips from the previous book were coming out online, a lot of people (me included) felt the pacing was somewhat choppy and slow. But try reading straight through it in the book compilation. Or, if you can't afford/don't want the book, try rereading the online portion of the fourth or fifth books straight through. The pacing, in my opinion, is near perfect. OOTS becomes significantly better when it is read as a series of graphic novels/comic books than as a webcomic.
The drawback is that if you only read each strip as it comes out, you don't get the full experience. Try rereading your favorite novel...but only one page at a time. Chances are, it will seem to drag a lot, and won't be as enjoyable as reading straight through.
Conversely, upon rereading Dungeon Crawling Fools and the first half of NCfPB, they don't hold up as well compared to the later portion of the comics. There are several parts which seem to move too quickly, because the author wanted to keep things moving for the audience who could only read two new strips per week. There are also several strips which seem like 'filler' pages that he wrote just to meet a self-imposed regular update schedule. They may have been funny at the time, but they don't hold up now, which is a shame both for long-time readers who still enjoy the series and for introducing newer OOTS readers who may be turned off by the inferior first two books.
It would not surprise me if, after completing OOTS, Rich switched to writing fiction in another format to better suit his writing style.
My point is, it may feel like pieces of the plot are moving slowly, but it's been that way for close to half the strip now. Each time, the arcs which seem to drag in the present are among the best in review.
And yes, you are free to dismiss everything I say as the words of a fanboy defending their favorite comic:)

If the pace really bothers you, I recommend waiting a few months without reading the new strips, and then catching up all at once. Some things are best enjoyed in small doses, but OOTS isn't one of those things. Read it in bigger chunks, and it gets better (except for the first book, anyways).

[Itchy]

137ben wrote:

If the pace really bothers you, I recommend waiting a few months without reading the new strips, and then catching up all at once. Some things are best enjoyed in small doses, but OOTS isn't one of those things. Read it in bigger chunks, and it gets better (except for the first book, anyways).

I agree. I took a hiatus around the middle of Blood Runs in the Family and started rereading from the beginning. Taking the story as a whole really improves it, though the Azure City stuff starts to drag for a bit.

[The black raven]

Alex Martin wrote:

New strip up.

Today's theme is apparently: "I focus on the pain-The only thing that's real."

That and, in Rich's world, "Never bring lighting anywhere near a golem - they become indestructible."

Actually, it did make me think of that other scene :

- Doctor Banner, now might be a good time for you to get angry.
- That's my secret, Captain: I'm always angry

[Dragonchess Player]

That's the problem with flesh golems... Control.

[Tacticslion]

Hm. Niiiice.

[Hitdice]

As I have opined before on this very thread, Haley has obviously maxed her Diplomacy. Like, obviously!!1!

[strayshift]

"I shot you in the face, Bozzok stabbed you in the back."

Almost poetic.

[Drejk]

Crystal seems to really got smarter because of this...

[Tacticslion]

Drejk wrote:

Crystal seems to really got smarter because of this...

She rolled 3d6 to regain sentience. She just rolled higher this time. :)

[Alex Martin]

The lime green boots make a reappearance! Cute nod there with the clicking of the heels.

[baron arem heshvaun]

My Gold on the Necromancer dying again.

[Fromper]

baron arem heshvaun wrote:

My Gold on the Necromancer dying again.

Is he actually a necromancer? He makes golems, not undead.

[Ross Byers]

Fromper wrote:

baron arem heshvaun wrote:

My Gold on the Necromancer dying again.

Is he actually a necromancer? He makes golems, not undead.

Flesh golems require a lot of necromancy. I'd have to assume bone golems do too.

[The black raven]

Two thoughts :

1) Though Bozzok seems to end up in a bad place, I think he is smart enough to have invested in a Golembane Scarab.

2) With all this golem-ruckus, we have all overly focussed on Haley and conveniently forgotten about Durkula. I am betting on vampire action in the coming weeks.

Still wondering who Haley's mother is. Did we have some info on this that I missed ?