Zz'dtri has apparently cheesed out his spell resistance to munchkin levels, the better to act as V's nemesis. Thog hates his tusk being broken even more than Roy hates his sword being broken.
Cast
- Roy Greenhilt ◀ ▶
- Elan ◀ ▶
- Vaarsuvius ◀ ▶
- Blackwing ◀ ▶
- Tarquin ◀ ▶
- The Linear Guild
- The Empress of Blood (on banner) ◀ ▶
- A Soldier of the Empire of Blood
- A Crowd of Spectators
Transcript
- Panel 1, Page 1
Elan is running through the unfinished wing of the palace.
Nale (off-panel): Get back here!
Elan: Why do bad guys shout stuff like that anyway?
Elan: Has anyone ever actually gotten back there?
- Panel 2, Page 1
Elan comes to a sudden end of the floor.
Elan: WHOA!
Elan: Geez, Dad, couldn't you have made sure to build all the floors first, and then worry about the walls?
- Panel 3, Page 1
Elan: No time to whine about it, I need to find Durkon!
Elan: I just hope the others are OK...
Nale: HEY! Stop trying to change the scene right before we catch—
- Panel 4, Page 1
The scene changes to Vaarsuvius and Zz'dtri in the arcade beneath the arena stands.
Vaarsuvius: Prismatic Spray!
Zz'dtri: Spell Res—
Vaarsuvius: Yes, yes, spell resistance, I know!
- Panel 5, Page 1
Vaarsuvius: But how is your resistance so insurmountable? If we are of equal level, I should stand a fair chance of penetrating it.
Zz'dtri: Boosted.
Zz'dtri: Feats. Stuff.
- Panel 6, Page 1
Zz'dtri casts some kind of acid spell on Vaarsuvius.
Zz'dtri: To fight you.
Vaarsuvius: ARRRGH!!
- Panel 7, Page 1
Vaarsuvius: Very well, then I shall need to rely on those few spells available to me that bypass spell resistance.
Vaarsuvius: Forcecage!
- Panel 8, Page 1
Zz'dtri: Dimension—
Zz'dtrii Dimension Doors out of the Forcecage.
Zz'dtri: —Door.
Vaarsuvius: DAMNATIONS!
- Panel 9, Page 1
Tarquin's box in the arena.
Soldier: General, the elf that arrived with your son seems to be engaged in a wizard's duel with an unknown drow in the arena lobby.
Tarquin: Huh. Is my son or his girlfriend out there?
Soldier: No, sir.
- Panel 10, Page 1
Tarquin: Keep a safe distance and let them fight it out, then. No sense losing any more soldiers today.
Tarquin: I'll be along to help you arrest both of them once this match is over.
- Panel 11, Page 1
Tarquin's back in the foreground, he watches the scene on the arena floor between Roy and Thog.
Tarquin: I feel like it's just getting to the good part.
- Panel 1, Page 2
The scene changes to be down on the arena floor.
Thog: thog excited to be part of ultimate fight between opposites!
Roy: I am so sick of hearing about "evil opposites" from you people!
- Panel 2, Page 2
Roy: You're not my opposite, Thog! You're just different from me! Two things need to be almost the same except for one or two factors to be opposites!
Thog: uh... thog was talking about greatsword vs. greataxe.
Roy: They're not opposites either!!
- Panel 3, Page 2
Roy: You might as well say that Nale and I are opposites: Good leader, bad leader!
Thog swings his greataxe, but Roy dodges.
Thog: nale is good leader, right?
- Panel 4, Page 2
Roy: Or Sabine! She's an evil female, I'm a good male. Opposites!
Thog: good point, thog never thought of that.
Roy: NO! IT's not a good point!
Roy swings his greatsword; Thog parries, "clunk!"
- Panel 5, Page 2
Roy: You're nothing special, Thog! You're not my equal and opposite.
Roy: I've beaten plenty of cruel and stupid goons in my time, and I'll beat down many more when I'm done with you.
Roy: We have nothing in common!
Roy swings his sword repeatedly, with Thog on the defensive parrying with the haft of his axe, "clunk! clunk!"
- Panel 6, Page 2
Roy: NOTHING!
Roy smites Thog, breaking through the axe haft, "CRACK!!" and striking him in the face.
- Panel 7, Page 2
Roy: *whew* I'm glad that's over. Do the refs call it now?
Thog: talky-man broke thog's tusk.
Roy: What? What did you—
- Panel 8, Page 2
In a mighty fit of rage, Thog leaps up to his feet, rending his armor from his body and flinging Roy in the air away from him.
Thog: TALKY-MAN BROKE THOG'S TUSK!
D&D Context
- Prismatic Spray is a powerful 7th level spell with a variety of effects depending on what color hits the target.
- Feats are special abilities which can be chosen by the player when a character reaches certain levels. Zz'dtri claims to have taken some unspecified feats in order to specifically be able to combat Vaarsuvius, though its not clear which published feats would allow these amplified abilities, specifically the spell resistance.
- This is the first time Zz'dtri uses his Vitriolic Sphere spell. The spell is not in the publicly available SRD, having been released for D&D 3.5 edition in the 2004 Complete Arcane. It deals 1d4/level damage to a maximum of 15d4, with additional damage possible in the two following rounds.
- Forcecage is a 7th level spell which creates a barred or closed cube of force around a target.
- Dimension Door is a 4th level spell which allows teleportation over short distances.
Trivia
- Thog enters a state of rage at the end of this strip, during which time his skin is a deeper shade of green and his armor shreds leaving only his purple loin cloth. This is a parody of Marvel's "The Incredible Hulk".
- Thog's rage at having broken his tusk recalls the similar rage Roy felt in #114 when the Greenhilt Sword was broken.