Fluttershy: …And I have the Animal Empathy feat!
SFX: (ZOOM)
SFX: (BONK!)
Fluttershy: On top of that, my special talent is being a caretaker to natural creatures! That means I can communicate with all animals on a whole other level! Even my Cutie Mark is three butterflies!
Twilight Sparkle: Wait, Animal Empathy? You didn’t get yourself an animal companion?
Fluttershy: Oh, I couldn’t decide on just one…
Twilight Sparkle: (silence)
Hmm. This one doesn't really work that well, in my opinion. The images show her that she's suddenly enthusiastic because she spots Spike, much like in the cartoon. Except that wouldn't really happen in an roleplaying setting like this, would it? Also she's already kind of aware of Spike.
What the text conveys is that she's just so enthusiastic about her Animal Empathy skill and can't stop gushing about it, which does work, but it doesn't really mesh well with the images.
Yeah, and I also kind of believe she was just kind of staring down Twilight's RPer and suddenly remembered Spike as she came across it. So she was probably thinking ahead like she would get to talk to it and be herself a bit more...or something like that? You have a really, really good point though Anon.
>Oh no, I need to say things about my character
>Oh no, I need to roleplay
>Hey, I have animal empathy
>Hey, there's an animal
>I'll roleplay about animal empathy and then I won't be bad at the game anymore!
I like this idea, the idea that Twilight has been literally shoved into the background because she's being so enthusiastic with the DM about all her 'animal friends'.
Just got finished reading through your archives. *Sigh* Looks like I'll be adding another bookmark to my ever-growing "Webcomics" folder. Every time I think I have it under control, I find another good one. STOP MAKING QUALITY CONTENT, INTERNET!
But seriously, I like where this is going even if the current comic isn't as well paced as the rest. Keep it up!
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Looking at the essentials druid... animal companions use their own to-hit and you can attack with them at-will. The other at-will attacks still have their effects even if you miss. The dailies can buff other peoples' weapons. And animal empathy can be really powerful if the GM lets it.
So maybe the 14 wis/18 cha build isn't completely insane.
Yes, you are correct that animal companions have their own stats for attacking. And there are plenty of At-Wills that allow the animal companion to attack for you.
And adding to your comments, I also mentioned a few days ago that you can use feats and items to bolster your attacking ability as well as focusing on non-attack powers (like a buff to other peoples' weapons, as you have pointed out).
And since Fluttershy is not known to participate directly in confrontations, she should be fine with five other ponies that have combat ability.
Pretty sure the idea is that it suddenly hits her that she has to role-play, so Fluttershy suddenly dumps a lot of enthusiasm after her bout of shyness. That... Happens to a lot of newbies.
It looks to me like Fluttershy's player really invested a lot of her enthusiasm for her character into her Animal Empathy feat and animal care special talent, and she's just realised that there's a situation where she can apply that (i.e. Spike).
It's not at all an unusual behaviour for new and/or shy players. Consider the inexperienced Shadowrun or Cyberpunk player, for example, who just kind of lurks and only contributes peripherally to conversations, until the GM says "So you're going to break into your target's computer systems to get the information you need," and he's suddenly all "Oh, hey, my character's an awesome hacker! Okay, I'm using my rating 6 Spoof program to get the password for the first node, and I'll use my Disguise program if I run into any counterhacking agents on the way..."
I expect "Andrea" will gradually become more involved in other situations and conversations as she becomes more comfortable with the system, the setting and the other players. I think it's a good start for her.
No, I'm just using the cartoon's voice actors' first names to refer to the players of the characters. Much like the common assumption that the unnamed GM in Darths and Droids is called George.
To roleplayers that really get into the game, Out Of Character (OOC) banter breaks immersion. This is the same with readers and comics. As such, one can say that the author made this page of the comic spot on, what with the break in the mesh between the conversation and the images.
Also, who said the comic (or its author) needed defending? As far as I can tell, this page has gone over fairly well. There's valid criticism to be had, but that doesn't automatically make this page a failure - judging by many of the other comments, it mostly succeeded in conveying what it set out to convey.
In this situation, the best thing to do is say, "Lesson learned," and move on.
Pretty sure the idea is that it suddenly hits her that she has to role-play, so Fluttershy suddenly dumps a lot of enthusiasm after her bout of shyness. That... Happens to a lot of newbies.
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Sorry about the late comic, guys. The comic WAS, in fact, in the buffer, but it was set to the wrong time. Lesson learned!