The (now reinstated) Bandit King fixes up his daughter's mess but runs into an unexpected problem.
Cast
- Roy Greenhilt ◀ ▶
- Haley Starshine ◀ ▶
- Durkon Thundershield ◀ ▶
- Vaarsuvius ◀ ▶
- Bandit Clan of Wooden Forest
Transcript
- Panel 1
Short-Haired Bandit Girl: All hail the new bandit king!!
Bandit King: Aha! I'm back in charge of my own bandit clan!
Casanova Bandit: I always wanted you to be our leader, sir.
Halfling Bandit: I never liked her anyway.
- Panel 2
Bandit King: First order of business is my daughter. She'll wake up in a few hours and be pissed.
Bandit King: I happen to know she's never taken the Still Spell or Silent Spell feats, so go ahead and tie her up. Gag her, too. It's a short-term solution, but it will work for now.
- Panel 3
The bandits carry off Samantha.
Bandit King: But don't hurt her! She's still my daughter. Be gentle.
- Panel 4
Elven Bandit: Sir, what about the intruders?
Bandit King: Take their stuff. Then, tie them and leave them in the deep woods. If they're lucky, the druids will find them before the dire weasels do.
- Panel 5
Eyepatched Bandit: Sir! We found this dwarf tied up at the edge of the camp.
Eyepatch Bandit: Some of the guards report that they saw the warrior in the blue armor carrying him.
- Panel 6
Bandit King: So the big guy took you prisoner, then? Well, and enemy of his might prove to be an ally of ours, now that we've defeated him.
Bandit King: Remove his gag.
Eyepatched Bandit: Yessir.
- Panel 7
Durkon: LOOK OUT BEHIND YE!
Bandit King: What?!? Where?!?
- Panel 8
Bandit King: All I see are a few trees.
Durkon: Exactly! I'll save ye!!
- Panel 9
Durkon: Thor's Lightning!
The lightning bolt hits the tree with a "KKRAACCKAKOOM!"
- Panel 10
The lightning-struck tree falls with a "Crrrrrreeeee!", landing on top of the Bandit King, "whumph!"
Durkon: Oops! Sorry!
- Panel 11
Short-Haired Bandit Girl: All hail the new bandit king!!
Durkon: Whuh?
Casanova Bandit: I always wanted you to be our leader, sir.
Halfling Bandit: I never liked him anyway.
D&D Context
- Thor's Lightning is not a spell in the game and is a fictional game feature. In most cases[1][2][3][4], it appears to just be a different name for Lightning Bolt or its higher-level counterpart Chain Lightning, since the lightning emanates from Durkon's hand or hammer. However, in this strip it seems to be a version of Call Lightning since the lightning comes down from the sky, although normally that spell would call more than one bolt over time. The only other similar time when the lightning is called down from the sky rather than emanating from Durkon is in the introduction strip in Dungeon Crawlin' Fools. There Durkon explicitly casts Call Lightning, rather than Thor's Lightning, even though the SRD lists the spell as only available to druids. It may be that Thor's Lightning is not entirely identical to either spell, and it is unclear if Call Lightning is a Domain spell for Durkon, or if its use in DCF was a mistake.
- Most spells require verbal (spoken) and somatic (hand motion) components. Spellcasters who are tied and gagged can't cast those spells unless they use the Still Spell or Silent Spell metamagic feats, which remove those requirements.
Trivia
- The three bandits in the first panel are standing in the exact same pose and say the exact same words as in the last panel.
- This is the final appearance of the Halfling Bandit. He first appeared in #151.
- This is the final appearance of Casanova Bandit. He first appeared in #161.
External Links
References
- ↑ Comic #215, "Taking Charge"
- ↑ Comic #810, "The Kind That Makes Friends Easily"
- ↑ Comic #873, "Spell Check"
- ↑ Comic #1019, "Withdrawn"