Friendship is Dragons
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Page 1015 - Called Shot
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Accurate Rage Backstab, I love that name! Also literally getting his but kicked is just plain fun.
4E is the best game for calling your attacks :)
Wish there was a BESM version for 4th instead of 3rd...
Wish there was a BESM version for 4th instead of 3rd...
The best butt kicking I've ever read about was the one administered by Commissar Ciaphas Cain to Chaos Warmaster Varan: "Commissar Donal sends his regards."
Elusive is gonna be a gelding by the time this arc is over...
Bonus XP for making sure he can't be un-gelded! (Because I imagine they have some sort of magic for that.)
He's going to have a twitch and a mysterious tendency to shield his groin constantly, at the very least.
No silver or magic weapons.
Party level 7th.
Driders invisible.
Melee only.
Final destination.
The insult to injury for barely surviving against a TPK was that the only magic item we got out of it was a used wand of magic missile (25 charges, caster level 3).
We were on a flying ship made of stone (as one tends to be). We'd started flying because pirates were attacking our vessel, and much to our dismay the pirate ship took to the air as well.
I was playing a 2E Gentleman Adventurer (or whatever it was called) and was sniping from the deck with a rifle. The other ship started ramming us along the broadside, pirates jumping on to board. One of our party members decided to swing over to the other ship on a rope but managed to take a crossbow bolt to the leg mid-swing... and then landed hard on the leg. Another party member barely avoided being caught between the two ships as he dangled by a rope.
The leader of the pirate ship was shielded from spells and projectiles, so the only way to take him on was in melee. We were having trouble getting to him, so the rest of the party drew the attention of the pirates and I jumped from our ship to theirs (making the DM kind of nervous) and fought my way through the crew that wasn't trying to board our ship.
The party and our ship's crew finally managed to do enough damage to the pirate ship that it started losing altitude... right around the time I got to the enemy boss. It was frustrating, because I had to decide between retreating back to our ship or going down with their ship to try and take the guy out. Barely made it back in time to grab a rope, and found out we had taken damage from the pirate battle and lost several crew members.
The enemy boss survived his ship going down without a scratch, and we made a really powerful enemy that day.
I was playing a 2E Gentleman Adventurer (or whatever it was called) and was sniping from the deck with a rifle. The other ship started ramming us along the broadside, pirates jumping on to board. One of our party members decided to swing over to the other ship on a rope but managed to take a crossbow bolt to the leg mid-swing... and then landed hard on the leg. Another party member barely avoided being caught between the two ships as he dangled by a rope.
The leader of the pirate ship was shielded from spells and projectiles, so the only way to take him on was in melee. We were having trouble getting to him, so the rest of the party drew the attention of the pirates and I jumped from our ship to theirs (making the DM kind of nervous) and fought my way through the crew that wasn't trying to board our ship.
The party and our ship's crew finally managed to do enough damage to the pirate ship that it started losing altitude... right around the time I got to the enemy boss. It was frustrating, because I had to decide between retreating back to our ship or going down with their ship to try and take the guy out. Barely made it back in time to grab a rope, and found out we had taken damage from the pirate battle and lost several crew members.
The enemy boss survived his ship going down without a scratch, and we made a really powerful enemy that day.
The most difficult that my group has had so far wasn't that hard on her own. She was an evil cleric with a bearded devil for a bodyguard and about a dozen underlings. Nothing we couldn't handle if we had faced them all in the areas where we found them, but thanks to the cultists picking up on our presence (due to me accidentally botching stealth) some of them slipped past us and as a result we ended up facing nearly the entire cult all at once.
Oh, and because the group consists of a Constable, a Brawler, a Warpriest and an Oracle, our party doesn't really have anything in the way of AoE damage.
Oh, and on top of THAT, the boss cleric hit us with Confusion.
Add some really bad early rolls to that, and it could have very easily led to a TPK, and my constable nearly died to the bearded devil. Fortunately, the brawler was able to keep a good portion of the rank-and-file mooks busy and our oracle healed my constable up enough for her to get a lucky roll and shank the devil with a mithral sword while prone. That was about when we started to pull things back from the brink of nearly certain death.
Oh, and because the group consists of a Constable, a Brawler, a Warpriest and an Oracle, our party doesn't really have anything in the way of AoE damage.
Oh, and on top of THAT, the boss cleric hit us with Confusion.
Add some really bad early rolls to that, and it could have very easily led to a TPK, and my constable nearly died to the bearded devil. Fortunately, the brawler was able to keep a good portion of the rank-and-file mooks busy and our oracle healed my constable up enough for her to get a lucky roll and shank the devil with a mithral sword while prone. That was about when we started to pull things back from the brink of nearly certain death.
I also have a story about the fight we're currently in. I don't know if I'd say it's the hardest boss fight yet, but it was definitely the most effective at nullifying party members before the fight even started.
Same campaign as before, we're currently on a mission to help a village of sea elves who are being terrorized by an aboleth necromancer. So we take what preparations we can to fight underwater and we've already knocked out one of the elf warriors who'd been mind-controlled into trying to keep anyone from interfering, so we make sure our warpriest has a communal Protection From Evil ready to shield our own minds when we get close.
So we get down to the bottom of a pit in the ocean and fight off some draugr when the ghost of a sea elf druid appears before us, telling us that there's a way to seal off the necromantic energies that have been poisoning the village above if we bring back the village leader.
Naturally, my constable does a Sense Motive check and it's a pretty good roll. The DM tells me that she seems legit.
Then I get a PM saying "You have been dominated."
Now, my character is an ex-cop who tends to take a take-charge attitude with the rest of the group (though I do try to keep from being too overbearing about it) and has a history of making snap decisions based on good Sense Motive rolls. So when I'm told that she's going to believe that it's a good idea to bring the village leader back to "complete the ritual", I Rarity this sucker and roleplay the hell out of it.
I try not to just blatantly give it away that she's being controlled, but at the same time play it just a little off. Being a little too trusting of strange apparitions and getting a bit more agitated than she normally would when the others express doubt.
The thing of it is, it actually works. Because of her personality and history, she's positioned herself as sort of the de facto leader of the group, and the other players tend to be willing to follow her lead.
So we head up, talk the village elder and one of her rangers into coming with us, and then head back down. As soon as we're at the bottom, BOOM. The aboleth mind-whammies the warpriest, the elder and the elf ranger, putting all of them and me into a helpless state.
To be continued.
Same campaign as before, we're currently on a mission to help a village of sea elves who are being terrorized by an aboleth necromancer. So we take what preparations we can to fight underwater and we've already knocked out one of the elf warriors who'd been mind-controlled into trying to keep anyone from interfering, so we make sure our warpriest has a communal Protection From Evil ready to shield our own minds when we get close.
So we get down to the bottom of a pit in the ocean and fight off some draugr when the ghost of a sea elf druid appears before us, telling us that there's a way to seal off the necromantic energies that have been poisoning the village above if we bring back the village leader.
Naturally, my constable does a Sense Motive check and it's a pretty good roll. The DM tells me that she seems legit.
Then I get a PM saying "You have been dominated."
Now, my character is an ex-cop who tends to take a take-charge attitude with the rest of the group (though I do try to keep from being too overbearing about it) and has a history of making snap decisions based on good Sense Motive rolls. So when I'm told that she's going to believe that it's a good idea to bring the village leader back to "complete the ritual", I Rarity this sucker and roleplay the hell out of it.
I try not to just blatantly give it away that she's being controlled, but at the same time play it just a little off. Being a little too trusting of strange apparitions and getting a bit more agitated than she normally would when the others express doubt.
The thing of it is, it actually works. Because of her personality and history, she's positioned herself as sort of the de facto leader of the group, and the other players tend to be willing to follow her lead.
So we head up, talk the village elder and one of her rangers into coming with us, and then head back down. As soon as we're at the bottom, BOOM. The aboleth mind-whammies the warpriest, the elder and the elf ranger, putting all of them and me into a helpless state.
To be continued.
Full-res shots here.
Speaking as the one who stands to benefit from the art being on display, just keep going with the funny :) For one thing, the text boxes help hide the unvarying scenery :p
Speaking as the one who stands to benefit from the art being on display, just keep going with the funny :) For one thing, the text boxes help hide the unvarying scenery :p
There are ways that I could have varied the scenery a bit more without changing the venue. But set design is hard and I don't like doing it.
I thought the usual order should be script->storyboarding->paneling + art?
I don't know about other comic artists, but my process usually involves a compelling image lodging itself in my imagination and then I have to find a way to make the script work so that I can use it. (For instance, the Mane Six wouldn't have been in Star Mares at all if I hadn't gotten "Help me, Twilight Sparkle, you're my only hope" stuck in my head.)
This comic got 120% cooler.
Thanks to you two, I envision a succesful comic series, exceptionally so
Thanks to you two, I envision a succesful comic series, exceptionally so
I think, after the brawl with Elusive wraps up, Friendship is Dragons will go back to adapting the actual episodes into a D&D campaign.
...This page is hysterical!
I read it in the break room at work, and had to try VERY hard to NOT laugh at the top of my lungs at the last panel.
Bravo!
I read it in the break room at work, and had to try VERY hard to NOT laugh at the top of my lungs at the last panel.
Bravo!
I'm curious what the tactical positives to the Enhanced Allure thing are. I could see it being useful for pulling squishy members like Twilight, Fluttershy or Rarity closer for nasty short ranged combat. Pulling in Dash though seems like a mistake, moving the barbarian to you.
For what it's worth, MY reasoning for it (within the narrative of the fake episode) was mostly the evil guy thinking that he could seduce the token evil party member into joining his side. Failing, of course, to take into account that evil and chaotic evil are not the same thing.
It makes sense to me! Especially considering that Elusive is in a rage right now, possibly in denial, thinks he's in control when he's lost control quite severely, and might also be more than just paranoid because of the Alicorn Amulet.
Also, I suspect that one term of Elusive/Blueblood's imprisonment will be a solid iron codpiece... just in case, to protect what's left of his manhood.
Also, I suspect that one term of Elusive/Blueblood's imprisonment will be a solid iron codpiece... just in case, to protect what's left of his manhood.
Actually, given horse anatomy, and the differences from ponies being essentially horse chibis in FiM...
Elusive should be singing soprano right now, asking for an icepack, and preferably the pony equivalent of a cast iron codpiece/jock strap.
Elusive should be singing soprano right now, asking for an icepack, and preferably the pony equivalent of a cast iron codpiece/jock strap.
Since we're working kinda backwards or snakelike through the usual comic collaborative workflow (storyboarding -> art -> paneling + script, instead of storyboarding -> script -> paneling + art), I find myself wanting to mince my words to make sure most of this unique art remains on display. Moreso than when using the show screencaps, since the show is popular and readily available.
And here's the second half of the latest Tale from New Dunhaven!
Session 13-2 - The Motherland Job, Part 2: Libsyn YouTube