May 21, 2013 Aw, crap. It's you guys!

[stevedj]

Ok, theory time! Is it possible that PsiMax put the machine on PAUSE while he goes and investigates MinMax and Oblivion?

[Fen]

20130521.jpg

Edit: Yes, you're right. Good catch!
The Glove reaching through the temporal opening/distortion does indeed shimmer blue.

I'm pretty sure the only reason his gauntlet has that purplish tinge is because the image is supposed to be like a hologram and thus semi-transparent. It's tinged purple because Psymax's shoulder/arm under it is purple and you can see it through Minmax's hand. He looks like he's in the middle of a fight, so unless Psymax is watching him just as he finishes off the last enemy, there'd be no reason for him to drop his sword and pick it up again after Psymax appears. I think Minmax is using the power to snatch the sword mid-fight and it's used in the panel to illustrate why Psymax is confused by it.

[Sessine]

*groan* "Precedent" = "it has happened before now". I think the word Tarol was looking for was "Precedence" = "it must happen first". They're related words, but they don't have exactly the same meaning and precedent is definitely the wrong word.

I too am interested in what will happen when Psion-Minmax tries to take that sword. And it looks like the Kins are able to figure out what the oblivion-engine is for. One wonders whether or not they have a chance of "fiddling with" it to give "our team" some advantage.

I agree that "precedence" would fit much better, yet "precedent" fits by definition too:
MirriamWebster:
going before in time, order, arrangement, or importance

► Show Spoiler

MirriamWebster:
1 : the act or fact of preceding (as in time)
2 : consideration based on order of importance : PRIORITY <your safety takes precedence>

Nope, Melkior's right.

► Show Spoiler

You can't just go by dictionary definitions; they can be misleading. The phrase "takes precedence" means "comes first," and is clearly what Psimax really said. He wouldn't get an easy word like that wrong.

The definition you quote for 'precedent" is not even the right part of speech. The word 'precedent' meaning 'going before' is an adjective, and is pronounced 'pree-CEE-dent'. The noun PRE-ce-dent is basically a legal term, referring to judgements in earlier court cases, though by analogy you can 'set a precedent' with any action that other people might later cite to justify doing something similar.

But that doesn't matter. Thunt will fix it, or he won't. If he doesn't I'll just edit in my head.* The important thing is, this is what gets Psimax away from his precious contraption just in time to let the Kins meddle with it without being 'splishked'.
--
* Edit to remedy confusion for future readers of the thread -- this minor slip has been fixed.

[YardMeat]

A yuan-ti has a regenerative process for when they have severe wounds and can enter a hibernation mode that can heal damaged organs and regrow lost limbs. While they are awake they can heal cuts and bruises in mere seconds and stab and blunt wounds in minutes.

It looks like that wiki page was written by an imbecile. Yuan-ti do not have any sort of healing in their Monster Manual stats. The entire ecology section looks like made up horse crap. None of that is reflected in any of the books I have access to. 6,000-10,000 year lifespans? Where did they get that from?

It looks like they might be pulling it from Serpent Kingdoms, but they haven't really cited any sources and it has clearly been flagged for lack of sources. Whether it is something from a random Forgotten Realms fluff book or some homebrew information that made its way into the wiki, there is no reason to believe it has anything to do with the THuntverse.

[lingrem]

20130521.jpg

Edit: Yes, you're right. Good catch!
The Glove reaching through the temporal opening/distortion does indeed shimmer blue.

I'm pretty sure the only reason his gauntlet has that purplish tinge is because the image is supposed to be like a hologram and thus semi-transparent. It's tinged purple because Psymax's shoulder/arm under it is purple and you can see it through Minmax's hand. He looks like he's in the middle of a fight, so unless Psymax is watching him just as he finishes off the last enemy, there'd be no reason for him to drop his sword and pick it up again after Psymax appears. I think Minmax is using the power to snatch the sword mid-fight and it's used in the panel to illustrate why Psymax is confused by it.

If that were the case, then Oblivious (which he's holding) would also look blue) For that matter, so would the "current" MinMax that's being seen in that same panel - and the red blood would look purple if it had a purple tint to it. It's definitely a blue gauntlet!

[Shadowslance]

Someone mentioned that Psimax is gathering "gears of war" I dont think so it looks to me like he made a shield out of the gears. We know that the next time the sword is drawn his armor is blue so I anticipate Psimax showing up and splisking everyone else on the tower when he gets to MM.

[T-RexWithTourettes]

I'm seeing a plot of psimax's "gears of war" being able to stop oblivious and MM generally getting his ass handed to him, until the kins manage to stop the engine (in the nick of time of course) and game over psimax. Final climactic battles only work if the hero makes a comeback when all seems lost.

Psimax might not be able to understand oblivious but like kin, he can observe it's properties and make inferences. A bit like quantum mechanics, no one knows "how it works" but we still are able to make useful predictions of it's behaviour.

Welllll, I was going to contribute my two cents, but someone nicked my purse
Anywho, I do love how apathetic Psimax is about being covered in Kin-juice. And I too am wondering why Forgath didn't fall, it seems almost unfair to be able to be multitasking so many things at once. Not that Psimax is even close to fair, of course.

Random thought, does anyone else ever imagine how much confusion someone who stopped reading Goblins for a year or so and then picked it back up, and looked at a panel with lots of Alternates (like this) one, would have? Poor potential guy.

[Marnath]

It looks like they might be pulling it from Serpent Kingdoms, but they haven't really cited any sources and it has clearly been flagged for lack of sources. Whether it is something from a random Forgotten Realms fluff book or some homebrew information that made its way into the wiki, there is no reason to believe it has anything to do with the THuntverse.

I tried fixing the article but someone went through and undid it all. Apparently they like mislabeled photos, grammatical errors and made up information on their wiki. Oh well.

Random thought, does anyone else ever imagine how much confusion someone who stopped reading Goblins for a year or so and then picked it back up, and looked at a panel with lots of Alternates (like this) one, would have? Poor potential guy.

A year or so ago would plunk you down roughly somewhere in along the healing potion river or the upside-down trees. So the alternates in the maze shouldn't be too hard to figure out.

[Liesmith]

Sapphire: "...are you two pondering what I'm pondering?"

Onyx: "Gee, I think so, Saffy...but where are we going to find a badger at this time of night?"

[Aquillion]

Oblivious does have a weakness, though: Its power is inversely proportionate to its wielder's understanding of it.

Therefore, if Psymax fully understands it, he can use Psionics to grant that understanding to Minmax, which might destroy or weaken it.

[SamWiser]

I don't think Minmax has the intelligence needed to understand it though, psion powers or not.

[Liesmith]

Oblivious does have a weakness, though: Its power is inversely proportionate to its wielder's understanding of it.

Therefore, if Psymax fully understands it, he can use Psionics to grant that understanding to Minmax, which might destroy or weaken it.

Psimax gave up his ability to control minds in exchange for increased intelligence. Unless I'm forgetting a page someplace, I don't think we've seen him influence anyone's mind directly, in any way.

[Calemor]

You know what's interesting...If there are infinite other realities, then no matter WHO enters the Maze of Many, one of them will eventually be a psion bent on obliviating the Maze of Many. If anyone has entered the Maze before, then they managed to stop this from happening, becase the Maze still exists. It must be possible to repair the oblivion holes somehow, perhaps by using Psymax's engine. I know, my logic is kind of far-fetched, but it makes sense to me!

[Sizemore Rockwell]

You know what's interesting...If there are infinite other realities, then no matter WHO enters the Maze of Many, one of them will eventually be a psion bent on obliviating the Maze of Many. If anyone has entered the Maze before, then they managed to stop this from happening, becase the Maze still exists. It must be possible to repair the oblivion holes somehow, perhaps by using Psymax's engine. I know, my logic is kind of far-fetched, but it makes sense to me!

Actually, I don't think it's far-fetched. I think there's a decent chance that someone (perhaps Psimax himself) will realize in-comic that Psimax's plan was doomed, or else it would have already happened.

Or it could be that instances of the Maze of Many do inevitably get oblivionated, but that the Sword simply replaces them, so that there is always a Maze of Many for new participants to find. It could even be that, contrary to Kin's explanation, it is possible for one or more teams to never, ever win and to only be cleared out from the Sword when a Psimax shows up and wipes out the whole Maze.

[SamWiser]

You know what's interesting...If there are infinite other realities, then no matter WHO enters the Maze of Many, one of them will eventually be a psion bent on obliviating the Maze of Many. If anyone has entered the Maze before, then they managed to stop this from happening, becase the Maze still exists. It must be possible to repair the oblivion holes somehow, perhaps by using Psymax's engine. I know, my logic is kind of far-fetched, but it makes sense to me!

Actually, I don't think it's far-fetched. I think there's a decent chance that someone (perhaps Psimax himself) will realize in-comic that Psimax's plan was doomed, or else it would have already happened.

Or it could be that instances of the Maze of Many do inevitably get oblivionated, but that the Sword simply replaces them, so that there is always a Maze of Many for new participants to find. It could even be that, contrary to Kin's explanation, it is possible for one or more teams to never, ever win and to only be cleared out from the Sword when a Psimax shows up and wipes out the whole Maze.

I think the MoM makes new pocket universes for each new person-group (we see the FMK one, but there would be another pocket universe for the GAP, for instance) so, while it is possible, it doesn't mean that Psimax is doomed to failure. Also, even if he does start to think that, he has come to far to quit now, and he doesn't seem to be the type of person to let a little thing like logic get in his way.

[binarytears]

Seeing as how people with massive superiority complexes are typically hypocrites as well, and Psymax _claims_ to be trying to save everyone from the torture of playing the MoM over and over, it wouldn't surprise me if PsyMax set up his calculating engine right next to the end-of-maze treasure & exit room, in order to _stop_ anyone from completing the maze. Maybe it's been thousands or even millions of Maze cycles since anyone actually escaped.

It was nice of the Kin-twins to give our Kin the mug of healing potion. Do you suppose they are good characters, rather than evil shits like the majority of MoM players?

PsyMax set up the new floaty gears just as he decided he wouldn't kill Forgath yet, but he would have to step out to the Tower Room for a bit. Chances are high that the floaty gears are what is holding Forgath in place where PsyMax left him, now that PsyMax is gone. Now if the twins or our Kin can find a floaty-glowey monkey wrench...

PsyMax doesn't have a clue about how Oblivious works. All he knows is that it's associated with some kind of "temporal and existential distortion." That's about as vague as could possibly be.
I can't wait till MinMax educates PsyMax on some of its surprise potential.

When PsyMax mentioned loathing 'final battles', but what must be done, he isn't talking about fighting MinMax. He's talking about taking on the entire population of the Tower Room. Not that it's going to be any kind of fair fight. He's just going to blow them all up, so he can chat with MinMax in peace. So maybe it goes like this:

PsyMax appears near MinMax. MinMax currently isn't holding Oblivious. PsyMax floats MinMax in the air, then blows up everyone else in the room.
MinMax: "You blew them all up! You bastard, I was winning!" [suit turns blue]
PsyMax: "Where's the sword?"
MinMax: "It just vanished, pruneface! It doesn't exist!"
PsyMax (who can't read minds) steps up to MinMax, intending to apply some persuasion torture. MinMax's hands are held behind him.
MinMax: <sniff> "You smell like... Kin. You're covered in... Arrrrgh!" He grabs Oblivious and stabs PsyMax through his own body. PsyMax dies, MinMax starts counting minus. Kin, Forgath and the Kin-sisters get the roof-mouth open and descend to a scene of carnage, 200 corpse splatters and just PsyMax and MinMax remaining. Just as MinMax hits minus 10 he sees that Kin now has very pretty legs, and there wasn't anything that could be used for a skirt.

Lets hope Thunt doesn't go full Romeo and Juliet on us like that.


Some alternatives: Despite that there's now no key to the treasure room, PsyMax is able to make holes in walls at will. Theoretically, MinMax should also be able to cut holes through walls using Oblivious. Or the Kin-twins might have a key from somewhere else. Or... there might be a new hole into the treasure room somewhere, due to oblivion holes.
It's definitely not a dead end.


Also... why is it that comic forum spell checkers never get dictionary updates for at least the comic character names?

[Krulle]

The spell checker is in your browser, not part of the forumsoftware.

[Jon Snow]

3) we still don't know what the colour of the armour does to the wearer? PsiMax may have that aspect completely understood.'

What if black was the colour that stopped telekinesis?

[Reads_Forums]

3) we still don't know what the colour of the armour does to the wearer? PsiMax may have that aspect completely understood.'

What if black was the colour that stopped telekinesis?

That would be terrible writing. Thunt hasn't established the armour has any additional properties based on the colour, to pull that kind of device "by pure chance the colour it was was exactly the colour which was needed to win".

It'd be the equivalent of Nell Trent finding a winning lottery ticket in the last chapter.

[Nerre]

I am so going to love PsiMax's face when he realizes he can't take the sword at all, no matter what...

Psimax, better than anyone, understands what Oblivious is. I'm not really sure what that implies. If he can get his hands on it, I'm not sure what he can do. Remember, its power is proportional to the level of understanding the wielder has of what it is...

Maybe he gets destroyed by it, cause he, unlike Minmax, understands Oblivion. I just don't hope the sword gets destroyed, such a cool weapon and Minmax really earned it and uses it very smart (especially for someone with int as a dump stat).

[Aspartame]

Melkior wrote:

I think the word Tarol was looking for was "Precedence"


A bit pedantic for someone who starts sentences with conjenctions, don't you think?

[JustRight]

Is there no limit to the number of "Splishks" PsiMax can perform in a certain time frame?

Just askin'

[DrinksTooMuchCoffee]

Is there no limit to the number of "Splishks" PsiMax can perform in a certain time frame?

He runs out when the script says he does.

[mnementh]

What is going on here? Am I THE ONLY ONE who realizes that this entire scenario is evolving into a "CLIMACTIC, FINAL BATTLE" (way to hang a lantern on it there, THunt ) between not Good vs Evil , but rather archetypal Smart vs Stupid ? And that, due to the fact that Oblivious is in fact powered by MinMax' inability to comprehend why it shouldn't work, we are all in fact going to be ROOTING FOR STUPID TO WIN ?!?!?

Now THAT is some good story there, guys. Best served hot off the grill with a cold beer and some scorched taters. YUMM!

As for the Precedent/Precedence argument - as used, "takes precedence" is correct. If instead, "must be precedent" were used, that would also be correct, but also would be "must be antecedent". The latter would probably be a better choice in that scenario, because the intended meaning is it's primary definition rather than a tertiary connotative value.


mnem
I'm still holding out for the "Power Of Love" to save the day.

[zennyrpg]

Here's my prediction for how kin gets her tail back. The only problem is its too straightforward. This comic always surprises me, so I doubt I've guessed anything correct.

1) The kins figure out the mechanics of the maze while psimax is gone
2) They make themselves a group and make sure they and FMK all remember this run
2) Psymax kills minmax and returns
3) By now, the kins are ready. They throw him into the winner circles so he's gone from the maze.
4) The maze resets. Kin is healed, but minmax lost his cool loot (unless they find a way to make him keep it, or perhaps the reset can't reset Oblivious)
5) The groups programmed the maze with traps doors so the 3kins and FMK get to the end effortlessly.
6) FMK leave and the Kins remain to farm xp.