Belkar acquires a couple of magical protective items, surprising himself while doing so.
Cast
- Belkar Bitterleaf ◀ ▶
- Mr. Scruffy ◀ ▶
- A Gnome Merchant
Transcript
- Panel 1
Gnomish Vendor: That looks great! I don’t know why you want to wear your new vest of resistance +3 under your shirt, but you can hardly tell.
Belkar: Don’t want to outdate all the merchandising overnight, know what I mean?
- Panel 2
Belkar: And this’ll definitely protect against anyone using magic mojo on me, right?
Gnomish Vendor: It will certainly reduce the chance that a spell works on you, but it’s not a guarantee.
- Panel 3
Belkar: Damn it! If I wanted to be a puppet for every fool with a charm spell, I’d wear a purple pointy hat and carry a stringed instrument!
- Panel 4
Gnomish Vendor: Actually…if it’s specifically charms you’re worried about, I may have just the thing.
Gnomish Vendor: Here, take this cloak clasp and rub it.
Belkar: OK, what is this supposed to—
- Panel 5
The clasp covers Belkar in a yellow burning aura.
Belkar: Aaaaahh!!!
Gnomish Vendor: What? What’s wrong?
Belkar: It hurts, that’s what’s wrong! Nnnnh—are you trying to kill me?!
- Panel 6
Gnomish Vendor: I don’t—I don’t know why it would do that! It’s just a simple Protection from Evil spell to block compulsion magic!
Gnomish Vendor: It shouldn’t be causing you any discomfort unless you yourself were—
- Panel 7
Mr. Scruffy grabs on to Belkar.
Belkar: Oh! Yeah, nnnnh, there. It’s, uh, it’s all better now.
Belkar: Nnnice and soothing. No pain at all.
Belkar: Yep.
- Panel 8
Gnomish Vendor: I’m very sorry about that, this one must be malfunctioning for some reason.
Belkar: Yeah…I’m sure that’s it.
Gnomish Vendor: I’ve got others in the back, I’ll just go get one.
- Panel 9
Belkar: No, wait—I, uh, I’ll take that “broken” one off your hands for half price.
Gnomish Vendor: Really? Oh, thank you! I was afraid I’d just have to mark it as a loss.
- Panel 10
Gnomish Vendor: You really are a sweetheart, helping me out like that. Those clasps cost thousands to make.
Gnomish Vendor: I don’t suppose you’d let me take you out to lunch to thank you?
- Panel 11
Beat. Belkar looks frightened.
- Panel 12
Cut to the street outside.
Belkar: Stop looking at me like that! I just didn’t think I should — I mean, bad enough I was—
Belkar: I don’t even like gnome food!
Belkar: That much!
D&D Context
- In D&D it is possible to buy a variety of magical items, including several forms of protection from magic and magical effects. The "+3" is applied to die rolls when casting spells on Belkar.
- In this strip Belkar acquires a couple of those items, obviously attempting to protect himself from the High Priest of Hel and, probably, Xykon and Redcloak as well. His previous experience with the Mark of Justice is certainly a strong motivator as well, not to mention being charmed by Nale in #383. As Belkar has low Wisdom and is a Ranger/Barbarian, both classes with naturally bad Will saves, Will is almost certainly his worst save by far, explaining his poor record against various enchantments in the series.
- A Vest of Resistance +3 to aid in saving throws against magical effects.
- A clasp of Protection from Evil provides +2 to armor class, and +2 to saving throws against evil creatures. In addition, it blocks any attempt to possess the creature or use mental control. This is critical for Belkar, who has been easily controlled by Malack and "Durkon" using their vampiric domination ability. Unfortunately, it also hurts him because his alignment is still within 'Evil'.
Trivia
- Belkar may be becoming a better person than even he suspected.
- In the third panel he refers to Banjo the Clown.
- This is the only appearance of the Gnome Merchant.