To Roy's delight Celia seems to like some combat rules...
Cast
Transcript
- Panel 1
Celia (off-panel): Ha, see? I knew you'd clean up well.
- Panel 2
Roy: Cool, I was beginning to think—
Roy: Whoa.
- Panel 3
Celia twirls, "twirl!"
Celia: Do you like it?
Roy: Celia, I think your dress is forcing a Will saving throw.
- Panel 4
Celia: Oh? To avoid being Charmed?
Roy: To avoid being Feebleminded.
Celia: Ha ha ha!
- Panel 5
Celia: Well thank you, I spend so many days wearing a suit now, it feels good to be able to dress like a women once in a while.
- Panel 6
Celia: Say what you will about Dorukan as an employer, but at least he had a lax dress code.
Celia: Also, very good life insurance, though in retrospect that maybe should have been a warning sign.
- Panel 7
Roy: So I have to say, your dinner invitation took me completely by surprise.
Celia: Oh really? Failed your Spot check against my cunning ambush, did we?
- Panel 8
Celia: Does that mean I get a partial action at the start of the date while you're still flatfooted?
Roy: Absolutely.
- Panel 9
Celia: Well, in that case...
Celia: I initiate a Grapple attempt!
- Panel 10
Roy: Oh no! I appear to have rolled a natural "1" on my Grapple check!
Celia: Ha ha ha!
- Panel 11
Roy: Looks like this could be the end for our hero, folks!
Celia: You better be careful about those Grapple checks, Roy...
- Panel 12
Celia: Fail enough of them and you may end up Pinned...
D&D Context
- Saving Throws are made to resist various combat effects. Will saving throws resist mental effects, and are governed by the Wisdom ability score.
- Charm and Feeblemind are spells that cause the victim to either believe the caster to be a trusted friend or to be reduced the mental capacity of a rather bright clam. These effects can also be caused by other things besides spells, such as the natural powers of monsters.
- A character that catches another by surprise at the beginning of combat gets to act first in the surprise round with a partial action. A Spot check may be required to avoid surprise.
- Flatfooted means a character's defense is worse because they are not ready to react to danger. Characters begin combat flatfooted until they take an action.
- Grapple is a combat maneuver that allows a character to wrestle another character. Failing at two Grapple checks allows a character to pin another.
- The title of the strip is a play on "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons." AD&D was the name of D&D during the 1st and 2nd editions, to distinguish it from the simpler rules of original D&D (0th edition). Starting with the 3rd edition, the "A" was dropped and subsequent editions have been simply called D&D, despite being numbered from the beginning of AD&D rather than D&D. Hence the existence of a "0th edition".