The OotS Thread II

[Crazedwraith]

859 is up

And the order is opening up a can o whoopass while Tarquin snarks.

[Serafina]

You know, Holy Word won't actually necessarily do that much to most of the Linear Guild.
However, it WILL deafen them (especially since Durkon most likely has the Good-domain, so his Holy Word is at +1 Caster Level.) Which is utterly tactically devastating, because now they don't have any way to communicate properly or hear the Order attacking.

And of course it should banish Sabine, which takes one of the more dangerous members of the Linear Guild out of the fight in round 1. Very very good tactic.

[Mr Bean]

To be exact it gets better than that since Durkon used Holy Word with his +1 meaning everyone his level +1 or lower are Deafened, those his current level (because of the +1) are blinded and deaf. And the lacky who tagged along is blind, deaf and paralyzed. Sabine might be banished (She gets a save at a penalty) but with their Cleric and imp on the other side of the iron door that means they are blind and deaf in a room full of traps with a hostile cleric in melee range.

[Serafina]

We also have to figure in that at least two of them (the Drow, Sabine and likely the flying Kobold) have level adjustments - so even if they are at the same level as the Order, they'll have less hitpoints, thus making them far more vulnerable to Holy Word.

Drizz'ti should have at least a -3 disadvantage - Durkons Level +1 vs. his level -2. If Durkon can pile on another two caster levels (not that unreasonable) he has just paralyzed the Guilds Wizard as well - which leaves the guild with Nale (not a serious threat) and Tarquin.

[Solauren]

Now cast Darkness and get the hell out of there! Make them blind and deaft and blast them with ranged weapons.....

[PainRack]

How did Durkon overcome his stealth disadvantage?Did he use passwall and then cast Holy Word in the cloud midst or???

[AniThyng]

How did Durkon overcome his stealth disadvantage?Did he use passwall and then cast Holy Word in the cloud midst or???

The order already had that spot marked for the ambush, DUrkon used Meld Into Stone and waited.

[Ahriman238]

So far, a very competent ambush. They've separated the Divine caster from the others, including the undead, obscured their vision and had Durkon unleash a Holy Word. Plus they're exploiting the traps. And the Order's melee fighters haven't even come into play yet. My one objection is unless Haley has an appropriate magical item the smokescreen will pretty much take her out of the fight too.

Tarquin seemed a lot less (if at all) affected by the Holy Word, I'd guess he's a higher level than Durkon. Is it my imagination or does Tarquin's deference to Nale seem a lot more mocking and malicious than previously?

[The Yosemite Bear]

hayley learned advanced hearing with the Reds organization I guess....

[Esquire]

Tarquin seemed a lot less (if at all) affected by the Holy Word, I'd guess he's a higher level than Durkon. Is it my imagination or does Tarquin's deference to Nale seem a lot more mocking and malicious than previously?

Mocking and malicious yes. Moreso than previously? I dunno, I was always getting that sort of a vibe from Tarquin.

[Solauren]

Tarquin seemed a lot less (if at all) affected by the Holy Word, I'd guess he's a higher level than Durkon.

Possiblity: Tarquin is actually LAWFUL NEUTRAL

Wouldn't that be a bit of a surprise?

[LadyTevar]

No, any bonus Tarquin has will be solely because of his level. He is LE, through and through

[Rogue 9]

Tarquin seemed a lot less (if at all) affected by the Holy Word, I'd guess he's a higher level than Durkon.

Possiblity: Tarquin is actually LAWFUL NEUTRAL

Wouldn't that be a bit of a surprise?

If he were, it wouldn't make a difference. Holy word fucks you if you're non-good. Neutrality gets hit just as hard. But holy word also does nothing to creatures with more hit dice/levels than the caster.

[Bright]

Hey, from the impression I'm getting, Holy might have been damn useful against Xykon later on. But I suppose that's the point? The Order exhausts itself against the Linear Guild, allowing Xykon to swoop in and take the victory once again?

[Zanfib]

I don't think that Holy would be effective against Xykon. He is a much higher level than Durkon.

[Serafina]

Yep.
Holy has zero effect against creatures whose HD is higher than the casters caster level.
If the HD equals the CL, then they are deafened.
If the HD is lower than the CL, they are deafened and blinded.
If the HD is five lower than the CL, they are deafened, blinded and paralyzed
And if the HD is ten lower than the CL, they are deafened, blinded, paralyzed - and killed.

Now Holy Word has an effect on outsiders - it banishes them - but no extra effect on undead. So yeah, it's utterly useless against Xykon, and really best for clearing large numbers of weaker creatures. Well, unless you raise your caster level a lot, but Durkons caster level is probably just one higher than his level (due to his good-domain, which adds +1 CL for good spells), because there just isn't a lot of character optimization in the OotS-verse.

[The Yosemite Bear]

yes, though he serves Thor so that probably gives him a voice of Thunder when casting Holy Word....

[Rogue 9]

Hey, from the impression I'm getting, Holy might have been damn useful against Xykon later on. But I suppose that's the point? The Order exhausts itself against the Linear Guild, allowing Xykon to swoop in and take the victory once again?

It would not have been. Both Xykon and Redcloak are higher level than the Order of the Stick, which means that particular spell would have zero effect on them.

[lance]

Not necessarily, there are ways to raise your caster level above your character level.

[Serafina]

Not necessarily, there are ways to raise your caster level above your character level.

Yes, but most require optimization at a level that's just not found in OotS. Durkon has most likely HD+1 CL, maybe a 2-3 more from a magic item (and that is already unlikely). That's about it - if he had serious CL optimization everyone in the Linear Guild would be dead now.

[lance]

Not necessarily, there are ways to raise your caster level above your character level.

Yes, but most require optimization at a level that's just not found in OotS. Durkon has most likely HD+1 CL, maybe a 2-3 more from a magic item (and that is already unlikely). That's about it - if he had serious CL optimization everyone in the Linear Guild would be dead now.

I think +4 would put him very close to where holy word would affect those characters.

[Ellindsey]

Depending on how non-human level adjustment affects the spell, Sabine has a good chance of having been banished for at least 24 hours. That takes one of the Linear Guild's more powerful members out of the fight. It's nice to see the Order actually be smart and effective for once.

[Serafina]

It goes straight by hit dice, and since level-adjustment means that you have less hit dice - because you first take your racial hitdice, then add your class levels and then add your LA, which means that no matter how many racial HD and what LA you have, you'll loose HD (well unless your LA is zero).

[Simon_Jester]

Hm.

If Sabine makes her Will save, the Holy Word is simply an effective way to open an ambush. If she doesn't, it's a devastating opening attack- one round to one-shot one member of their party, and weaken several others.

Now, we've already established that Tarquin's a match for the combined efforts of the Order's heavy hitters- they were putting damage on him, but he was giving about as good as he'd got for a few rounds of combat. That suggests that he's higher level and probably well optimized (at least for the environment he normally fights in, which doesn't mean being optimized to fight other optimized characters). Tarquin's the kind of guy who'd have an optimized build, really; he's painfully genre savvy.

[Ted C]

Tarquin seemed a lot less (if at all) affected by the Holy Word, I'd guess he's a higher level than Durkon.

Possiblity: Tarquin is actually LAWFUL NEUTRAL

Wouldn't that be a bit of a surprise?

Tarquin is NOT Lawful Neutral, or have you forgotten OOTS #759?