Elan puts his theory about Armor Check Penalty into practice.
Cast
Transcript
- Panel 1
Roy: Stay in the back, Sir Clanksalot. Maybe we can actually earn some XP today.
- Panel 2
Elan: Wow, Durkon. You really do make a lot of noise.
Durkon: I cannae help it, laddie. It's me armor.
Durkon's armor rattles as he walks, "clank! clank! clank! clank!"
- Panel 3
Durkon: It's called the Armor Check Penaltae, and it be sinkin' me Move Silently check into da nether regions.
- Panel 4
Durkon: See far yerself.
Inset close-up of the care label on Durkon's armor:
Full Plate Armor
Size M
AC Bonus +8
Armor Check -6
See reverse for care instructions.
- Panel 5
Elan: Wow.
Durkon: B'since I need me armor ta protect me, I mus' live with et.
- Panel 6
Elan: You know, ever since I got this chain shirt, I haven't been as good at hiding.
Durkon: Aye, it's the same thing.
- Panel 7
Durkon: It's jus' simple fact aboot armor: The less you wear, the harder it be for them ta see ya.
Durkon's armor rattles, "clank! clank! clank! clank!"
- Panel 8
Elan: The less I wear...
Elan: ...the harder I am to see.
- Panel 9
A candle materializes above Elan's head, "Idea!"
- Panel 10
Elan streaks naked through the panel holding his lute and cloak. His groin area is pixelated. Vaarsuvius covers his or her eyes.
Elan: Wooooo! I'm invisible!! You can't see me!
Roy: How I wish that were true.
Belkar: Please cast Blindness on me.
D&D Context
- The actual stats for plate armor in the game appear on Durkon's tag in this strip. "AC" stands for "Armor Class." Armor adds a bonus to your character's Armor Class, which increases how high an opposing attack roll must be to successfully hit the character.
- Armor Check Penalty is a game mechanic which models how hard it is to swim, climb, jump, move silently, etc. in heavy equipment or armor by applying a penalty to your skill roll for those skills.
- Blindness/Deafness is a 3rd level cleric spell that causes a target that fails a Fortitude save to become blinded or deafened, at the user's choice.
Trivia
- The candle materializing above Elan's head is a parody of Idea Bulb, a traditional joke of light bulbs appearing above cartoon characters' heads when they have an idea.
- It is the first appearance of Elan's belief that nudity renders him invisible. It will be a recurring gag in following comics.