Topic: WCDT strips 3726-3730 (April 23th-27th 2018) (Read 37731 times)

Gyrre · « **on:** 22 Apr 2018, 02:33 »

I wasn't 100% on everyone's classes, so take the /s as either meaning they're multiclassing or as a choice between the two.

I wasn't sure whether Elliot or O'Malley would make more sense as dragonborn or goliath. Elliot has the build for either, while O'Malley has the personality.

BTW Melon was hard to pin down a race for, so I went with a combo of the 3 races I had narrowed it down to.

If anyone has better race/class/background assignments for any of these characters, please post them. I'm making the poll so that people can change their votes for that very reason.

Bollthorn · « **Reply #1 on:** 22 Apr 2018, 04:00 »

Love how everyone has almost identical picks. But then a tank and healer are a must in any RPG group

WoaLG · « **Reply #2 on:** 22 Apr 2018, 04:59 »

Quote from: Bollthorn on 22 Apr 2018, 04:00

Love how everyone has almost identical picks. But then a tank and healer are a must in any RPG group

A typical 4 member adventure party has:
2 Frontline fighters (typically a fighter or barbarian and a rogue)
1 Magic user (Wizard, warlock, or sorcerer)
1 Healer (Usually cleric, occasionally a bard)

Break those ratios at your own peril.

Gyrre · « **Reply #3 on:** 22 Apr 2018, 07:51 »

What if you had a party entirely consisting of bards and/or bard multi-classes (i.e. bard-barian)?

zisraelsen · « **Reply #4 on:** 22 Apr 2018, 08:26 »

You get a great party, but not the adventuring kind.

Zebediah · « **Reply #5 on:** 22 Apr 2018, 08:55 »

Yeah, that’s not an adventuring party. That’s a band.

BenRG · « **Reply #6 on:** 22 Apr 2018, 12:55 »

Based on a preview image posted on Jeph's Twitter feed, I've got the feeling that this week, we're going to have a well-meaning Clinton helping Roko bring her shopping back to her apartment. Whilst she frets about what (if anything) she's going to say or do, Melon entertains herself by shooting bread-related innuendos at an entirely-uncomprehending Clinton (with Roko hissing at her to shut up).

The likelihood of anything happening between Roko and Clinton is low but I do think that there is a small possibility that they'll end up going on one date due to something Roko blurts out in an attempt to shut up Melon.

Gyrre · « **Reply #7 on:** 22 Apr 2018, 16:31 »

Just remembered the other class I had thought of for Roko!

I've got to be honest, now I'm trying to figure out just what mongrelfolk Melon would look like.

Shjade · « **Reply #8 on:** 22 Apr 2018, 18:43 »

Wow Bubbles going ALL IN on that one ◕.◕

awgiedawgie · « **Reply #9 on:** 22 Apr 2018, 21:03 »

That's our Emily... Never at a loss for new and exciting ways to seem weird to outsiders. Personally, I think it's quite attractive that there isn't any subject that she wouldn't be enthusiastic about studying. She just loves to learn.

OldGoat · « **Reply #10 on:** 22 Apr 2018, 22:55 »

Clearly, non-gamers are at a serious disadvantage. (The last time I played D&D seriously was in 1975. I don't think it was even popular enough to be Satanic yet.)

shanejayell · « **Reply #11 on:** 22 Apr 2018, 23:07 »

I KNEW they were gonna jump away from Faye/Bubbles to something else...

awgiedawgie · « **Reply #12 on:** 22 Apr 2018, 23:21 »

Quote from: OldGoat on 22 Apr 2018, 22:55

Clearly, non-gamers are at a serious disadvantage. (The last time I played D&D seriously was in 1975. I don't think it was even popular enough to be Satanic yet.)

I kinda had to ignore the poll. I've never played an RPG in my life, so it's all gibberish to me. My brother played D&D in the '70s, but it never interested me.

I guess I could just pick my favourite QC characters, and ignore the RPG bits. And I'd throw in O'Malley, simply because I love the version of the Skyrim theme sung by Leah.

BenRG · « **Reply #13 on:** 22 Apr 2018, 23:23 »

To me, the strip title today has a dual meaning for Emily. Just because she wanders through UMass with no real destination in mind on some days doesn't mean that she's necessarily 'lost'.

However, on a deeper level, she's also not 'lost' in her journey through life. She's quite happy and fulfilled in how her life is going and following a seemingly-random meandering path through the world. As she ranted to Clinton once, she's quite happy being the way she is; she isn't lost or too weird to know what's wrong with her lifestyle. 'Weird all the way down' is how she puts it but I think of it as 'following her own drummer'.

That said, I suspect that, if pressed, she could give a long list of strange things she's done that she appends with 'I won't do that again.'

gopher · « **Reply #14 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 00:59 »

With the floof, glasses, plugs and septum piercing, Claire's relatively little head looks so busy.

BenRG · « **Reply #15 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 01:22 »

Yeah, I think that Claire, especially during her immediate pre-transition period and during transition, was a bit of a shut-in for understandable reasons. One of the things that has been characteristic of her since she's started getting closer to Marten and others is that she's had the self-confidence to start coming out of her shell and expressing her personality in her appearance.

She's strongly a cyberpunk fangirl so lots of body mods is to be expected but she'll still limit herself because she probably feels that a qualified librarian needs to be able to pass as 'respectable' and conventional.

awgiedawgie · « **Reply #16 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 01:49 »

Quote from: BenRG on 22 Apr 2018, 23:23

To me, the strip title today has a dual meaning for Emily. Just because she wanders through UMass with no real destination in mind on some days doesn't mean that she's necessarily 'lost'.

However, on a deeper level, she's also not 'lost' in her journey through life. She's quite happy and fulfilled in how her life is going and following a seemingly-random meandering path through the world. As she ranted to Clinton once, she's quite happy being the way she is; she isn't lost or too weird to know what's wrong with her lifestyle. 'Weird all the way down' is how she puts it but I think of it as 'following her own drummer'.

That said, I suspect that, if pressed, she could give a long list of strange things she's done that she appends with 'I won't do that again.'

The line "Not all those who wander are lost" has been around for decades, but the ideology within it has been around for centuries. Emily personifies it extremely well. If the whole purpose of your journey is to wander, then you cannot possibly get lost. One of the easiest ways to discover new things is to stumble upon them.

As for her probable list of things she wouldn't do again, well, there's a saying for that too: "Life is trial and error. Mostly error. Lots of error."

Bollthorn · « **Reply #17 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 01:50 »

Quote from: Gyrre on 22 Apr 2018, 07:51

What if you had a party entirely consisting of bards and/or bard multi-classes (i.e. bard-barian)?

I'm so tempted to suggest this to one of my RPG groups. An entire party of Bards, and we'd call ourselves the Tenacious Defenders.

"We have the power... to MOVE you..."

JoeCovenant · « **Reply #18 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 02:25 »

Quote from: Bollthorn on 23 Apr 2018, 01:50

Quote from: Gyrre on 22 Apr 2018, 07:51
What if you had a party entirely consisting of bards and/or bard multi-classes (i.e. bard-barian)?

I'm so tempted to suggest this to one of my RPG groups. An entire party of Bards, and we'd call ourselves the Tenacious Defenders.

"We have the power... to MOVE you..."

In a LARP I do (Disclosure.. haven't been for a couple of years) Bards have some of the most powerful magic in the system.
If you are going up against a high level Bard, you'd best pray he has no immunity to "Silence"... which, of course, is never the case.

Gyrre · « **Reply #19 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 03:13 »

Quote from: OldGoat on 22 Apr 2018, 22:55

Clearly, non-gamers are at a serious disadvantage. (The last time I played D&D seriously was in 1975. I don't think it was even popular enough to be Satanic yet.)

I've only just recently started playing myself.
Though, I have been watching a few streams. Namely; Highrollers (#rollonsunday), Critical Role season 2, and Dice Camera Action.

Milayna · « **Reply #20 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 06:18 »

Never played D&D so I went with what I thought would be maximum shenanigans: Roko, Renee, O'Malley, and Emily.

Y · « **Reply #21 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 09:50 »

Usually when I got lost in university I end up in some kind of nuclear facility/power plant. The other time it was a blood donation event instead of the pool. I also once stayed in late doing group work and got locked in, though successfully escaped university using a different route (good thing I noticed the stairs were missing).

Neko_Ali · « **Reply #22 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 10:06 »

Quote from: Gyrre on 23 Apr 2018, 03:13

Quote from: OldGoat on 22 Apr 2018, 22:55
Clearly, non-gamers are at a serious disadvantage. (The last time I played D&D seriously was in 1975. I don't think it was even popular enough to be Satanic yet.)
I've only just recently started playing myself.
Though, I have been watching a few streams. Namely; Highrollers (#rollonsunday), Critical Role season 2, and Dice Camera Action.

I've been playing RPGs since the early 80s. I started with the orginal Red Box D&D and Advanced D&D through some friends in middle school. I've let my RPG playing lapse over years more in favor of computer games... A lot of single player RPGs and MMOs. But I've recently started watching Critical Role season 2 and it's kick started my desire to play again. Jester and her antics give me life.

It all started because I follow Matt Mercer on Twitter thanks to his voice acting for Blizzard games, especially Overwatch. Because of that I kept seeing fan art and such for the characters in his Critical Role games... Now I want to play again. My room mate is in a couple of weekly games, though they are on break right now. I couldn't go because of my work schedule, but once they pick up again I'll have to try and make some time.

awgiedawgie · « **Reply #23 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 12:17 »

Quote from: Milayna on 23 Apr 2018, 06:18

Never played D&D so I went with what I thought would be maximum shenanigans: Roko, Renee, O'Malley, and Emily.

I would have picked Melon over Renee, but yeah... it's interesting how some of my favourite people seem to have incredible potential for chaos (and two of them are cops!).

Roborat · « **Reply #24 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 12:31 »

Quote from: Milayna on 23 Apr 2018, 06:18

Never played D&D so I went with what I thought would be maximum shenanigans: Roko, Renee, O'Malley, and Emily.

If in doubt, maximum shenanigans is always a good route to go. And since we are talking bards, I play one in FF14. I just recently ran a dungeon with another bard in the party, which is pretty rare. Took forever to take the bosses down.

Thrudd · « **Reply #25 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 13:41 »

When going Bard you have a choice of just how to set them up

First a party is made up of these archetypes though there is room for variance but missing one ability could be a liability at times.
- Tank is front line in your face bad guy spanker
- Ranged - this is the one who can hit things at range - either a Ranger with a Bow or a warrior with an arquebus or a spell slinger
- Blaster - this is usually the big flashy area effect ouchie delivery system
- Support that will buff, enhance, heal or just have the secondary skills to get the party through non combat events
Some character builds can do two jobs reasonably well but you quickly run into the action economy limits in that you can only do so much at any given moment.

- most party bard builds are support and a set of 4 or 5 support characters is what has everyone whinging at

- Power Builds using the Pathfinder rules sets can build Bards that can fill one or more rolls quite handily
- First edition Bards were almost one character parties having to first start as a fighter type then change to a rogue type before entering a Bard college though the magic was Druidic
- Bard's Tale bards kicked everything's ass and were what first ed was based on - Fighter then scout then spell caster THEN BARD - do that in any modern game and they will call you a munchkin at best XD

If anyone is comming to Origins - look me up at the Fellowship Tables

Neko_Ali · « **Reply #26 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 14:26 »

In current editions of D&D bards are more like rogues with a little bit of wizard and cleric magic. Very much a support character. While it would be possible to run an all bard party it would probably be a very specific campaign. Which might well be fun. But trying to run through an adventure designed for a balanced party they'd probably have a hard time of it. They can do a lot of things, but they are a master of none after all.

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #27 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 16:21 »

Quote from: JoeCovenant on 23 Apr 2018, 02:25

Quote from: Bollthorn on 23 Apr 2018, 01:50
Quote from: Gyrre on 22 Apr 2018, 07:51
What if you had a party entirely consisting of bards and/or bard multi-classes (i.e. bard-barian)?

I'm so tempted to suggest this to one of my RPG groups. An entire party of Bards, and we'd call ourselves the Tenacious Defenders.

"We have the power... to MOVE you..."

In a LARP I do (Disclosure.. haven't been for a couple of years) Bards have some of the most powerful magic in the system.
If you are going up against a high level Bard, you'd best pray he has no immunity to "Silence"... which, of course, is never the case.

Irish proverb which I am probably misquoting:
"Three things make a wise man walk wide: the hosts of Connaught arrayed for battle, the lying tongue of a false woman, and the wrath of a bard".

Gyrre · « **Reply #28 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 17:34 »

Quote from: Neko_Ali on 23 Apr 2018, 14:26

In current editions of D&D bards are more like rogues with a little bit of wizard and cleric magic. Very much a support character. While it would be possible to run an all bard party it would probably be a very specific campaign. Which might well be fun. But trying to run through an adventure designed for a balanced party they'd probably have a hard time of it. They can do a lot of things, but they are a master of none after all.

Speaking of rogues, my current character is of the arcane trickster variety. Only 2 of his spells are really meant specifically for combat (shocking grasp & sleep) everything else is more for role playing (disguise self, mage hand, minor illusion, charm person, & fog cloud).

Anyways, today's comic niicely demonstrates why I chose Tabaxi for Emily.

jwhouk · « **Reply #29 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 17:44 »

Quote from: Is it cold in here? on 23 Apr 2018, 16:21

Irish proverb which I am probably misquoting:
"Three things make a wise man walk wide: the hosts of Connaught arrayed for battle, the lying tongue of a false woman, and the wrath of a bard".

Extra bonus points if that bard is a female with the surname "Swift".

SotFX · « **Reply #30 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 19:13 »

Only major gripe is that more raptors aren't that dumb...a lot of them are rather infamous for being problems due to their tendency to mess with locks and handles. And then you have the corvids who are a whole lot worse due to being escape artists who sometimes open other doors as well.

DaiJB · « **Reply #31 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 19:42 »

Quote from: awgiedawgie on 23 Apr 2018, 01:49

Quote from: BenRG on 22 Apr 2018, 23:23
To me, the strip title today has a dual meaning for Emily. Just because she wanders through UMass with no real destination in mind on some days doesn't mean that she's necessarily 'lost'.

However, on a deeper level, she's also not 'lost' in her journey through life. She's quite happy and fulfilled in how her life is going and following a seemingly-random meandering path through the world. As she ranted to Clinton once, she's quite happy being the way she is; she isn't lost or too weird to know what's wrong with her lifestyle. 'Weird all the way down' is how she puts it but I think of it as 'following her own drummer'.

That said, I suspect that, if pressed, she could give a long list of strange things she's done that she appends with 'I won't do that again.'
The line "Not all those who wander are lost" has been around for decades, but the ideology within it has been around for centuries. Emily personifies it extremely well. If the whole purpose of your journey is to wander, then you cannot possibly get lost. One of the easiest ways to discover new things is to stumble upon them.

As for her probable list of things she wouldn't do again, well, there's a saying for that too: "Life is trial and error. Mostly error. Lots of error."

That's like Ms Frizzle's (The Magic School Bus) catch-phrase:
"Take chances, make mistakes and get messy!"
Really, that is the essence of scientific inquiry; there haven't been any real
breakthroughs where the researchers weren't willing to make fools of themselves

If anyone in the QC cast is a scientist, it's Emily - she lives that philosophy!

awgiedawgie · « **Reply #32 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 19:48 »

I shudder to think what havoc Pintsize could wreak if he had a humanoid body.

Neko_Ali · « **Reply #33 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 20:11 »

Actually as he pointed out, the reason he gets away with so much is in his appearance. It's inherent bias in humanity, the younger someone looks the more likely they can get away with bad behavior. Add to the fact that in many ways Pintsize and others with similar chassis look somewhat like toys means people are going to overlook them, for good and bad.

Gyrre · « **Reply #34 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 21:03 »

Quote from: SotFX on 23 Apr 2018, 19:13

Only major gripe is that more raptors aren't that dumb...a lot of them are rather infamous for being problems due to their tendency to mess with locks and handles. And then you have the corvids who are a whole lot worse due to being escape artists who sometimes open other doors as well.

I thought owls were the only birds of prey that were particularly dim.

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #35 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 21:34 »

Arrested development or lifestyle choice? The others who have graduated to humanoid bodies have welcomed the abilities and responsibilities that came with them.

hedgie · « **Reply #36 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 21:35 »

Quote from: Thrudd on 23 Apr 2018, 13:41

Some character builds can do two jobs reasonably well but you quickly run into the action economy limits in that you can only do so much at any given moment.

I'm running headlong into that bit with my witch in my friend's Pathfinder game. She's the only one in the party with nukes, but during the mass-combat, she had to take a few breaks from blasting things to heal the rogue (she's also one of the group healers).

Dizrupt · « **Reply #37 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 21:41 »

Quote from: SotFX on 23 Apr 2018, 19:13

Only major gripe is that more raptors aren't that dumb...a lot of them are rather infamous for being problems due to their tendency to mess with locks and handles.

I can't be the only one who pictured Jurassic Park when reading this can I?

brasca · « **Reply #38 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 22:25 »

And we get Marten back for today's strip so I hope that's enough to stop all the griping about how we never see the main characters anymore.

Perhaps in robot years Pintsize is the right age to be a curmudgeon. He seems like one of the earliest AIs.

awgiedawgie · « **Reply #39 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 23:11 »

Quote from: Neko_Ali on 23 Apr 2018, 20:11

Actually as he pointed out, the reason he gets away with so much is in his appearance. It's inherent bias in humanity, the younger someone looks the more likely they can get away with bad behavior. Add to the fact that in many ways Pintsize and others with similar chassis look somewhat like toys means people are going to overlook them, for good and bad.

All fine points. But not all humanoid chassis look adult. Momo and Winslow, for example, both look pretty young. And as Claire pointed out, even making him 6 inches taller would be a problem. I'm just saying, if he were given the greater physical dexterity of a humanoid chassis, the temptation for Pintsize to try to use it to get into more trouble would be staggering.

BenRG · « **Reply #40 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 23:22 »

Leave it to Pintsize to find the positives in being old: spoiling everyone else's fun by being the guy always complaining about it. Naturally, he doesn't really care; he's just doing it because it's annoying and because it makes him the centre of attention.

Quote from: Is it cold in here? on 23 Apr 2018, 21:34

Arrested development or lifestyle choice? The others who have graduated to humanoid bodies have welcomed the abilities and responsibilities that came with them.

I think that Pintsize genuinely prefers to be a very impressionist-looking self-mobile sentient desktop PC system unit. Half of what he does wouldn't be so funny or so disturbingly weird if he had an even sort-of-humanoid chassis. In any case, all of Pintsize's fantasies seem to suggest that his dream chassis is a battlemech of some sort.

awgiedawgie · « **Reply #41 on:** 23 Apr 2018, 23:45 »

Quote from: BenRG on 23 Apr 2018, 23:22

In any case, all of Pintsize's fantasies seem to suggest that his dream chassis is a battlemech of some sort.

Either that, or possibly a porn star.

freeman · « **Reply #42 on:** 24 Apr 2018, 01:52 »

T-shirt idea:

I used to be
TEH
protagonist

JoeCovenant · « **Reply #43 on:** 24 Apr 2018, 02:06 »

QC goes OLD SKOOL!

(and there was great rejoicing!)

badbum61 · « **Reply #44 on:** 24 Apr 2018, 02:47 »

Who's that unfamiliar dude in today's strip? Have we encountered him before?

</sarcasm>

Zebediah · « **Reply #45 on:** 24 Apr 2018, 05:07 »

I think he might have been in a few comics back in the really early days of QC.

shanejayell · « **Reply #46 on:** 24 Apr 2018, 06:59 »

Nice to see Matren back, and Pintsize.

SotFX · « **Reply #47 on:** 24 Apr 2018, 08:04 »

Quote from: Gyrre on 23 Apr 2018, 21:03

Quote from: SotFX on 23 Apr 2018, 19:13
Only major gripe is that more raptors aren't that dumb...a lot of them are rather infamous for being problems due to their tendency to mess with locks and handles. And then you have the corvids who are a whole lot worse due to being escape artists who sometimes open other doors as well.
I thought owls were the only birds of prey that were particularly dim.

With Owls it depends upon the particular owl and the species. There's a lot of issues in keeping them contained, even when they're injured.

Quote from: Dizrupt on 23 Apr 2018, 21:41

Quote from: SotFX on 23 Apr 2018, 19:13
Only major gripe is that more raptors aren't that dumb...a lot of them are rather infamous for being problems due to their tendency to mess with locks and handles.
I can't be the only one who pictured Jurassic Park when reading this can I?

There's a reason why JP velociraptors were treated the way they were, though a lot more intelligent than they should be.

Thrudd · « **Reply #48 on:** 24 Apr 2018, 08:52 »

Fortunately no Velociraptors were involved in the making of tadays strip.

I don't think any raptor can be house trained .... so much poop

As it comes to avian intelligence I would surreptitiously point to the Corvids.
Crow Raven Mànàka'has Morrighan Huginn and Muinnin as well as the Tengu of eastern fame are all infamous for their creative instigation of chaos yet also sharp wit and helpful demeanor..

BenRG · « **Reply #49 on:** 24 Apr 2018, 08:55 »

Quote from: Thrudd on 24 Apr 2018, 08:52

I don't think any raptor can be house trained .... so much poop

Not 'house trained'. However, they do bond with handlers and typically can work very well with humans. On this fact is based the ancient sport of falconry. Nonetheless, they are predators and chock full of the requisite instincts. That makes them as dangerous to be around as dogs and cats for the unwary or those who are not willing to invest the time in the appropriate training.

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Poll

Pick your party

Author Topic: WCDT strips 3726-3730 (April 23th-27th 2018) (Read 37731 times)