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AGC #314 Dang: So you got time off work for this? / Dan: Oh yeah, I booked like two weeks. I had tons of vacation time saved up anyway, they actually wanted me to use some of it, because if I build up much more they are going to run into some kind of government of labor code red tape or some crap. / Dang: You don't think they just wanted a break from you? / Dan: Oh, probably. But that's because they don't realize that while I'm away the whole place is going to explode. / [A beat frame of Dang looking both surprised and worried at that last comment.] / Dan: Figuratively speaking. I mean from a paperwork perspective. / Dang: Okay...cause, you know..."Nuclear Dan"... / Dan: Muhahahahaha. / Dang: Well I didn't really think that you'd...but... / Dan: I love that the thought even crossed your mind. Exploding the fire station...hahaha. / Dang: So you really think the place will fall apart without you? / Dan: Oh, they don't think so. They think that replacement parts and supplies just show up when you need them, that when somebody gets hurt you just talk to the geek and fill out one little form, and all the incident reports sort of file themselves. They probably think the electricity is free because we work for the municipality and that somebody will just call them when it's time to do inspections. / Dang: So after E3 you're going to come back and laugh at them for not knowing all the paperwork? / Dan: Absolutely. / Dan: Though now that I've said all that out loud, I'm starting to wonder if I'll return to find that the place HAS burned down and they probably blame me somehow. Great, now I'm all worried... / Dang: Haha, sounds like you do have a responsible side, Dan. You never seemed like the type to not-use your paid leave either. / Dan: Responsible my ass! More like paranoid delusional. If I weren't driving non-stop all the way to California, I'd call them at every stop to make sure they aren't screwing up my files. / Dang: We can't drive non-stop, we have to sleep at some point. / Dan: DAN NO SLEEP! That's what all the Diet Coke is for!
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=314
AGC #315 Dang [turning to take in the panorama of 2L bottles that fill the back seat]: That's a lot of Diet Coke... / Dan: I didn't want to run out. / Dang: They HAVE Coke in the States you know...We could stop anywhere and get more. / Dan: This way we don't have to stop. / Dang: Except to sleep, and possibly to switch places for a couple hours and give your arms a break. / Dan: If I drink all this I won't need to sleep, or switch places. My body will be fueled by caffeine and aspartame! / Dang: Dan, even if unlimited amounts of caffeine was a perfect protection against sleep, and even if aspartame could provide energy or nutrition of any kind, and even if you could haul this heap- / Dan: DANMOBILE! / Dang: Even if you could haul this heap of hybrid batteries and 20-year-old metal all across the United States without tearing out all the ligaments in your arms...we would STILL have to stop. / Dan: Why? / Dang: Because even without drinking 48x2 Litres of Diet Coke, we're going to need to use the washroom. / Dang: Please tell me you don't have a catheter... / Dan: What's a catheter? / Dang: Thank God. / Dan: God? / Dang: When I say God, what I really mean is mathematics, since that's what really runs the universe. / Dan: Whatever. DAMMIT! As if we're going to have to make stops... / Dang: Speaking of which, I'm a little worried they're going to stop us at the border when they see all those suspicious-looking rows of bottles.
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=315
AGC #316 [Dan and Dang reach a customs checkpoint.] / Guard: Passports please. / Dan: I don't have a passport, but I have my Ontario driver's license and my new photo health-card and some other junk. / Guard: Alright, that's good enough this time, but due to recent legislation, you will need a valid passport to cross the border in the future. / Dan: What? Since when? / Guard: Since next January, unless Congress delays it again. / Dan: Well that sucks...I don't want to pay for a freakin' passport and Dan doesn't way 6-to-8 weeks for ANYTHING! / Guard: Now do you have anything to declare? / Dan: Yes! I declare that needing a passport to cross the world's longest undefended border is going to suck! / Dang: He means medication, consumer goods, and stuff that might be taxed in the U.S. / Guard: Being a smartass only slows the process for you and the entire line behind you. / Dan: Well I didn't know what you meant! / Dang: We don't have anything like that, Officer. / Guard: What's all this in the back seat? / Dan: That's my stash of Coke. / Dang: DIET Coke! The soft drink. / Dan: Ya, Coke. It keeps me wired. / Guard: And you two are planning to drink all of this on your trip? / Dan: No, just me. Well, I guess he can have one bottle...if he asks nice. / Guard: You're lucky it ain't illegal to cross the border while being an idiot, Sunglasses. / Dang: It would be pointless trying to control that traffic since they come from both sides. / Guard: Yah, no kidding. Move along, move along. / Dan: Wait, did you just use the Jedi Mind Trick? / Guard: Move along, or else, sir. / Dan: Or else what? / Guard: There are a lot of names on our Watchlist. How much you wanna bet yours rhymes with one? / Dan [finally showing signs of concern]: We're going...
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=316
AGC #317 Dan: Yay! We're in the United States! / Dang: Yes we are. / Dan: The heartland of America! / Dang: Well, currently we're still in the North-East. I don't think it's what they call the "heartland." / Dan: Land of the Free! / Dang: Please stop spouting cliches... / Dan: We've crossed the border; we're really on our way now...so why don't I feel right? / Dang: Cause the rest of the guys didn't come? / Dan: Nah, screw 'em. / Dang: Ooo-kay. Are the highways confusing? / Dan: What? No! It's a big road...you follow the lines and the signs; what's to confuse? / Dang: I dunno, cloverleafs? / Dan: Dan cannot be defeated by a flower! / Dang: Is it a sense of malaise due to the higher religious intensity of the population? / Dan: Pfft, like I could feel that. / Dang: Are the drivers more aggressive? Or are you worried that if you piss one off, he might have a gun? / Dan: Well I wasn't but now I am... / Dang: Can you sense the deep divisions over the War and the broad dissatisfaction with the corporate and special-interest domination of the political system? / Dan: Not really. / Dang: Well can you try to describe how you feel uncomfortable? / Dan: My arms are kinda sore. / Dang: Dan! I told you that you wouldn't be able to drive this think all day without power steering! After three or four hours of course your arms hurt! / Dan: Also, I think I need to go...
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=317
AGC #318 [[Dang has convinced Dan to stop, at least for food.]] / Dan: Wow, a real American McDonalds. / Dang: There are McDonalds in Canada. Hell, there are McDonalds in the former Soviet Union...they are all exactly the same. / Dan: No they aren't...you can feel how American it is here. And they have like robot-urinals that flush themselves. / Dang: We have those in Canada too. / Dan: Maybe...but these ones have better...um...AI! / Dang: It's the same system. A motion sensor. It just flushes when you move away. / Dan: American ingenuity! / [A rather terrifying close-up of Dan's head.] / Dan: Wow, look how low the prices are! Everything's at least 20% cheaper here! / Dang: That's because the American dollar is worth about 20% more than the Canadian one. The prices are virtually the same. Stop acting like everything is different and better here. / Dan: Ooh! And Smiles are FREE! / Dang: *sigh* / Dan: Wow, everything tastes better here too...I love America! U-S-A! U-S-A! / Dang: ...right. / Dan: Seriously, I can't believe all you ordered is some fries. / Dang: I probably shouldn't have. They aren't actually that great, and yet every one I eat gives me a strong desire to have more. / Dan: Pfft...this is your chance to find out what a Real Beef Burger tastes like! / Dang: Okay, Dan, let me explain something. Food safety regulations in the US are not as tight as in Canada because the companies here spend literally billions lobbying both parties in the Congress and the Senate not to implement higher standards or to fund regulatory enforcement. When we get home, I'll lend you my copy of the book Fast Food Nation. / Dan: Dan has no time to read; Dan doesn't even have time to refer to himself in the first person. / Dang: Fine, then I'll rent us a copy of the movie Super Size Me (since I don't think the Fast Food Nation movie is out yet). The point is, they can put all kinds of things in food here that would be illegal in Canada. / Dan: See? SUPERIOR! Rare delicacies from around the world! The spoils of Empire! / Dang: More like bovine-growth-hormone in the dairy products. / Dan: Well, there isn't that much cheese in this burger. / Dang: That cheese isn't a dairy product. / Dan: Oh.
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=318
 
AGC #325 [[The Danmobile cruises down the road]] / [[3 Days and Several "Adventures" Later...]] / Dang: Is that the Hollywood Sign? / Nuclear Dan: I can't tell, my face still isn't working. / Dang: Your face isn't working? / Nuclear Dan: My thing with the nose and the eyes. at least it used to have eyes... / Dang: You probably wouldn't have gotten maced if you hadn't taken off your glasses. / Nuclear Dan: I had no choice; I was trying to have a staredown, but she wasn't GETTING IT because of my sunglasses. / Nuclear Dan: What do you mean, 'maced'? It was pepper spray... / Dang: That's what people call 'mace'. Like a 'can of mace' / Nuclear Dan: Wow, next time I make a fighter I am totally taking mace specialization. / Dang: When was the last time YOU made a fighter? / Nuclear Dan: That's not the point, it really stings! I'd get a mace for Rogayne, but I really wanted a flaming sword for him... Do they make flaming maces? / Dang: Well, you don't normally find one on the treasure-tables, but you can easily get one custom-made. Assuming your wizard wants to waste two-thousand gold on a melee weapon. Now which way's the conference center? / Nuclear Dan: How should I know? I've never been to L.A. / Dang: No, I mean open up the map and figure out which way the conference center is, I want to get a hotel within walking distance. / Nuclear Dan: I can't use the map because my face isn't working. Why do you want walking distance? We have the Danmobile... / Dang: I want a hotel within realistic walking-distance because driving in and out of paid parking is going to be a pain, and the traffic around here is such that a thirty minute walk could be a forty-minute drive. / Nuclear Dan: Not if we drive over them... / Dang: Over who? / Nuclear Dan: Drive over the people trying to make thirty-minute walks. / Dang: This is why people mace you.
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=325
AGC #328 [[Dan (in his heavy leather trenchcoat) and Dang are outdoors, walking down a busy taxi-filled street...]] / [Later, after checking into a hotel room in Los Angeles...] / Dan: Come on, walk faster! Eee-three-eee-three-eee-three... / Dang: It's too hot to walk that fast. I'm not sure how you are still alive in that coat. / Dan: Coats give PROTECTION from the elements. Including fire. / Dang: Well, as long as you are able to reject our reality and substitute your own, I guess you'll be fine. So, have you given any thought to how you're going to find your City of Heroes friends at the convention? / Dan: Well, you said you'd take over handling the NPCs, so just make some Gather Information checks. / Dang: And what am I supposed to ask people? "Hi, have you seen some friends of my friend here? He doesn't know their names, or what they look like, but he can describe their City of Heroes characters..." / Dan: Sounds good to me. / Dang: Er, ya... how about we go to the NCSoft City of Heroes booth first, then abandon the search as futile when we don't see them. / Dan: I'll find them! / Dang: How? / Dan: Because I'm the Leader, that's how! / Dang: Wow, look at that line... / [[Dan and Dang stand at the end of a long line of people (represented by multicoloured stick-figures) in front of the E3 convention center]] / Dang: I can't believe there are so many people, considering that you need an inside connection or something to get passes. / Heckler: Hey, you in the coat; it's freakin' 95 degrees out, what are you a moron? / Dan: Ninety-five my ass! If we were near the boiling point I think I would know it... / Dang: No, Dan, he means Fahrenheit. That would be about 35 degrees Celcius. And you really are going to get heatstroke or something in a huge, black leather trenchcoat. / Dan (to the Heckler): I'll take off my coat when HELL freezes over, but thanks for the advice, Jerk! / Heckler: Ya, that's brilliant! Take it off as soon as the weather is cold; good thinking! / [[Inside E3, Dan waves around his 2L Diet Coke bottle as they are overwhelmed by a panorama of huge colorful booths devoted to popular video game systems]] / Dan: Stupid NPCs... at least I'm hydrating. / Dang: I still can't believe you drink that stuff... ...woah. / Dan: Madre de Dios; the legends are true!
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=328
AGC #329 [[Assembled outside the Cryptic Studios booth at E3]] / Dang: Alright, here we are at the Cryptic booth... / Dan: The who in the what now? / Dang: Cryptic! The company that makes City of Heroes. / Dan: Oh right, I knew that. / Dang: As I was saying; here we are. But now that we're here I don't see how you expect to find... / [[A red Cowboy hat visible in the crowd]] / Dan: I think I see something... YO! CAPTAIN COWBOY? / Captain Cowboy{{Hans}}: Ya? / Dan: Captain cowboy? Sweet! You made it! / Hans: Nuclear Dan? Ya! Ist Nuclear Daan! Hello-hi! Mein name ist Hans Zigfried. / Dan: Dan Dillings; it's cool to meet you I-R-L. And you even found a red cowboy hat! Thar's awesome. So where'd you get you E3 pass? / Hans: Pass? Zuruck meiner Heimaten, ich bin ein verfasser fur double-you-double-you-double-you-dot-Zeitgeek-dot-Deutsche... ein internet tech-site. / Dan: What are you talking about? / Dang: He's speaking German. Something about a tech geek website. / [[Dan points from one to the other]] / Dan: I didn't know you spoke German! Or you! / Hans Sprechen zie Deutsches? / Dang: Nein, sorry. / Dan: Well, it's cool that you can speak German, but I only know English, Cowboy. / Hans: Englisch? Ich kenne etwas Englisch. Little bit Englisch. / Dan: This doesn't make any sense, we chat in City of Heroes all the time, and you never seemed to have any trouble... / Security{{Nerf Bat/Howard}}: Hey - you two! / Dan: Huh? What'd we do??? / Howard: Look a hell of a lot like your characters is what, Nuclear Dan! / Howard: ...Especially Captain Cowboy in that hat. Guys, I'm your main tank: Nerf Bat! / Dan: Nerf? Man, you're HUGE! / Dang: I cannot believe that you walked in here with no plan and found your MMO teammates without knowing anything about them at all. It boggles my mind... / Howard: That's cause Dan's the leader. / Dan: I'M THE LEADER!
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=329
AGC #330 [[In front of the Cryptic Studios: City of Heroes booth at E3]] / Howard: So, we have Nuclear Dan, Captain Cowboy and I'm Nerf Bat. Which one are you? Atomic Gestalt? Barcode? BFGundam? / Dang: No, actually... I'm afraid that I don't play CoH. I'm from Dan's IRL roleplaying group. / Howard: Howard King, please to meet you. / Dang: I'm called Dang, and likewise. / Howard: Dang? That's it? That's your name? / Dang: It's as good a name as any. / Dan: Man, I've been gaming with Dang for months now and as far as I know, that's it. But what about yours... / Howard: What about it? / Dan: Howard King? That sooooooo sounds like a comicbook hero's name. Is this like your secret identity? "Mild-mannered" security guard by day? / Howard: Heh, I wish man. I wish. Speaking of which, I'm on duty here, so I'm afraid I can't just sit around and talk. / Dan: D'oh, that sucks. / Hans: Hit eff, hit eff! / Dan: Hey, Cowboy's right... / Dang: You mean Hans. / Dan: Yeah, Hans. Hans is right: you've got to patrol, but it's not your fault if we "hit 'F' for Auto-Follow" and walk right behind you and say stuff. How about that, Nerf- I mean, Howard? / Howard: Hmmm, I don't really think that's appropriate. But unfortunately, I can't do anything if a few convention-goers happen to choose a route around the booths that happens to resemble my patrol... / Dan: Sweet! We'll try not to riot as we go. / Howard: So Hans doesn't speak any English? / Hans: Etwas Englisch. Little, little bit... / Howard: Damn, we've been teaming up with him almost since the start of City of Heroes. How'd we manage to slip that by us for so long? / Dan: I seriously don't know! He always made sense to me... Hell, he made more sense than Atomic Gestalt sometimes. / [[In front of Batman, Cylon and Boba Fett fan costumes]] / Hans: Ich screibe auf das Internet all Zeit... uh... Hans writes lot on internet. / Howard: Come to think of it, Cowboy always did use a lot of net-speak acronyms. / Dan: Speaking of Atomic Gestalt, he said he was coming too. But I guess he'll have to find us if he made it. the only way HE could look like his character would be to wear a full suit of medieval armor. / Howard: ...covered in circuitry. / Dang: And we had to be in the one place where that wouldn't stand out...
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=330
AGC #331 [[In front of the Nintendo booth at E3]] / Dan: you've been patrolling the floor, so you must know all the booths, eh Howard? / Howard: Well, I know what they all look like from my route, ya, but I haven't been inside many of them. / Dan: But you know alike all the sweet games they are showing off? / Howard: Well, ya I guess. / Dan: So... what sweet MMOs are coming out? / Hans: TBC FTW! / [[In front of a poster of the XBOX 360]] / Dan: TBC? what game is that? / Howard: Sounds like the "Burning Crusade", the upcoming expansion for World of Warcraft. / Dan: What? City of Heroes is WAY cooler than WoW! / Dang: Not from what I've heard... / Hans: Wow #1 l33t MMORPG / Howard: Let's see, new MMOs this year... there's Tabula Rasa, Lord of the Rings, Conan Online... / Dan: Obrien? / Howard: Barbarian. And then there's DWO / Dan: D-W-O? / Howard: Doctor Who Online. Licenced by the BBC and everything. / Dang [looking a little peeved]: Doctor Who? they made an MMO for that? / Dan: That is AWESOME! I HAVE to see their booth. Where is it? / Howard: It's down that way... you go ahead. I have to take a detour down PDA-lane, but I'll meet up with you in a few... / [[Outside the Playstation booth]] / Dang: I can't believe they would make a Massive Multiplayer Doctor Who game... / Hans: Doktor? What Doktor? / Dan: Doctor Who! / Hans: Is Who? / Dan: Exactly. / Hans: What? / Dan: No, Who! / Dang: Dan, I'm guessing the new show never became popular in German. Hell, I'm still trying to figure out how it became popular in English...
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=331
 
AGC #332 [[Next to a Cyberman and Dalek Statue at the Doctor Who Booth at E3]] / Dang: I can't believe it... / Dan: I know, isn't it insane? I TOTALLY want this game! I want to play a Time-Lord... no wait, better, a Dalek! / Hans: Doktor Who... ist sci-fi? / Dang: From Britain, yes. Really old, low-budget sci-fi, although they've tried to revive the series recently, and this must tie in to that. / [[An open TARDIS door beckons from the background of the Doctor Who booth]] / Booth Troll: [[seriously Dan calls him 'Nameless' in a later page]]: Welcome to the World of DWO: Doctor Who Online. / Dan: Where is it set? In the old series or the new one? / Booth Troll: Well, "when" is always the question where Time-Lords are involved, isn't it? The game takes place over the space-time continuum, but if you mean in Galifreyan time, DWO is set in the continuity of the "old" series, around the 4th Doctor. / Dan: Tom Baker? Sweet! He rocked. So do I start out with my own TARDIS, or do I have to earn it? / Hans: Tar-diz? / Dang: It's a time-machine. Well, space and time. It can basically take you wherever and whenever. / Booth Troll: Oh, well... you can't actually BE a Time-Lord. / Dan: WHAT? / Booth Troll: The Time-Lords have always had a strict non-interference policy... / Dang: Only AFTER the reign of Rassalon / Dan: The Doctor interferes the CRAP out of EVERYTHING, all the time! / Booth Troll: Er, right... but, I mean, the Doctor is a rogue Time-Lord. An outcast. While we can justify a handful, maybe even ten or twenty, we can't have a whole universe full of thousands of rogue Time-Lords. It wouldn't fit the continuity... plus, there'd be the balance issues. People are familiar with how many powers Time-Lords have, and if everyone was that powerful we'd never be able to make a good game out of it. / [[The open Tardis continues to beckon]] / Dan: That sucks. I guess it would still be cool to play as a Dalek though, or a Cyberman. / Booth Troll: Er, at this time the villain races aren't available for players. It was too hard to... / Dan: What? You have a Doctor Who game where I can't be a Time-Lord OR a Dalek? What the hell am I supposed to be? / Booth Troll: We have a wide array of humans and non-humans from different planets and earth time-periods. You can be anything from a Roman, to a... / Hans: Cowboy? / Booth Troll: Absolutely! / Dan: AAAAAARRRRRGHH!
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=332
AGC #333 [[Standing in front of a Doctor Who exhibit at E3]] / Howard: Hey, guys, how's the Doctor Who MMO? / Dan: Incomprehensible! / Howard: Oh? / Dan: Okay, Howard, what kind of character would you expect to make, for a Dr. Who game? / Howard: Well, I guess a Time-Lord. Preferably without the goofy giant collar/shoulder thing they wear on their home planet. / Dan: Okay, but say you couldn't be a Time-Lord for some reason? / Howard: No Time Lord? Hmmm, I guess I'd go with Cyberman... or maybe a Dalek. / Dan: SEE! SEE, you little booth-troll? Every single person who is interested in your game is going to want to play as a Time-Lord, or one of the bad-guys! / Booth Troll: Well, there are so many problems with implementing the villain races, and so many game-balance and continuity issues with- / Howard: Wait, are you serious? You mean we can't even play as Time-Lords? Then what DO we get to be... / Dan: You get to be a Tegan, or and Adric, or one of the other dumb-assed "companion"-type dudes that the Doctor took with him to do his laundry, and fall into traps and stuff. / [[Hans sneaks a peek into the Tardis display]] / Han: Tar-Diz? / Booth Troll1: We have humans and near-humans from many different time-periods and worlds, all with different aptitudes. / Howard: So how do we get between worlds and time-periods, without our own TARDIS? / Booth Troll: Each zone has an NPC Time-Lord - a rogue one, sortof like the Doctor - who can transport you where and when you need to go to solve problems and complete missions. / Howard: So these guys have nothing better to do than bus players around? That's so lame... / Dan: This is going to be the worst MMO ever! / Nobody will ever subscribe to it, or recommend it to friends. Come on guys, let's go find something cool. / Booth Troll2: What if he's right? / Booth Troll1: Doesn't matter - Star Wars Galaxies had all the same problems and WAY worse gameplay and IT still made money. / [Dang stares at the Davros Display]] / Dang Thinks: ...Stupid Davros mannequin... / [[Dang looks at the mannequin with an indecipherable expression]] / Dan [out of frame]: Dang? Where'd Dang go? He was here a minute ago...
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=333
AGC #334 [[Dang is still being distracted by the Davros mannequin at E3]] / Dang: Coming guys... / Dan: Where were you? / Dang: Sorry got distracted. You were saying? / Dan: We need to find something cool to wipe that crappy Doctor Who Online thing out of our heads. / Hans: Girls? Der booth-girls! / Howard: Yeah, this area is pretty popular... ...for some reason... / [[Outside the Hellsing booth with a tall "police-girl" booth babe down in front]] / Dan: BAH! Police-Girl from Hellsing? Her gun is literally TWICE that big in the manga! Are you telling me you couldn't manage to carry a full-sized replica, even though yours is only made of plastic and styrofoam? / Hellsing Booth-Babe: Look, buddy, I don't make the costume. They pay me, I wear what they want. / Dan: VAMPIRE! SUPER-STRENGTH! / [[In front of the Star Trek: Legacy MMO Booth]] / Dan: Klingons? What moron decided to spend money hiring an attractive model, then cover her face in Klingon makeup? / Howard: It does seem like a waste... / Klingon Booth-Babe: P'tahk! / Booth-Babe in background {{Atomic Gestalt/Vanessa}}: Hey, is that Nuclear Dan? / Dan: ...And the Major from Ghost in the Shell has black hair! BLACK! Why go to all the trouble of dressing up, and not even bother to dye your hair? / Vanessa: Hey, you recognized my costume! Now I feel less like a stripper... I think you're the first guy to look above my neckline. / Dan: Wait, did you call me Nuclear Dan? How do you know who I am?
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=334
AGC #335 [[Somewhere in the crowds of E3]] / Dan: How did you recognize me? Who are you? / Vanessa: Well your head looks just like your character, Nuclear Dan, and Captain Cowboy even found a real-life bright-red Cowboy Hat. You guys kind-of stand out in a crowd. / Hans: Howdy, pard-ner / Vanessa: And you must be Nerf Bat; you certainly have the build, you're working security like you said - and you even get a nightstick to beat people with. Nice! / Howard: Hey, you aren't wearing an E3 pass! / Vanessa: I'm a supergenius. I told you they couldn't keep me out. / Howard: You mean... YOU'RE Atomic Gestalt? / Vanessa: That's my character... on testserver, anyway. / Dan: WHAT? You are AG? But you don't look anything like your character! / Howard: But how did you get in? / Vanessa: Are you kidding? I dressed up like an awesome (and customarily undressed) anime character so I'd look like a "booth-girl". Actually, I think I put too much thought into it - I bet I could have just worn a bikini and they still would have let me through. / Dan: Wait, that's not really genius... that's just using your hott-ness! / Vanessa: Why, thank you. / Dang: But what would you have done if the guards HAD asked you for your entrance pass. Like they were supposed to? / Vanessa [miming patting herself down]: I was going to act like I was looking for it, pat myself down, then proclaim: "Oh man, I must have left them in my hotel room, in my panties." Then they would have let me in anyway. / Howard: Wow, you ARE a genius. / Dan: A evil-genius... / Vanessa [holding her hands to her forehead in a comic-book style psychic pose]: Now if THAT failed, I'd have no recourse but to Ghost-Hack their cyberbrains. / Dan: The Major has Black hair! Black! / Vanessa: Dan, you really do like Ghost In The Shell, huh?
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=335
AGC #336 [Dan and his other Flaming Quasars guildmates have finally all met up at E3 (and Dang's still here too). Vanessa is still in her 'Major' costume (from Ghost in the Shell)] / Dan: So YOU are Atomic Gestalt? / Vanessa/Atomic Gestalt: Yes Dan, I think we've already established that. / Dan: ...Vanessa. / Vanessa: So, Nerf Bat... / Howard/Nerf Bat: Howard... Howard King. And Captain Cowboy here is actually Hans. / Vanessa: And Nuclear Dan? / Howard: No, he's actually Dan. / Vanessa: Really? I always figured he meant 'Dan', in the martial arts sense. Like a 3rd-Dan Black-Belt. / Dan: No, but I'm going to pretend it was that from now on. / Vanessa: So Howard... are you going to arrest me or something? Give me the bum's rush? / Howard: Well, I can't see your E3-pass, so I have suspicions that you may have snuck in... I guess the best course is to observe you, and watch for any suspicious activity. / Vanessa: Aww, thanks Howard. You and your ice armor and beating-stick... you always did protect us... / Howard: I'm a tank. That's what tanks do. / Vanessa: Aren't you worried about getting fired though? / Howard: Nah, it's only like a one-week job anyway. / Howard: Plus if any other security guy figures out you aren't a legit booth-girl, if I kick you out then, I can probably still talk my way out of it. / Vanessa: Aww, you're sweet. How about you Hans? What's up? / Howard: Oh... Hans doesn't speak too much english. / Vanessa: Doesn't speak much english huh? / Hans/Captain Cowboy: Little... little english... / Vanessa: A little, huh? / Vanessa: I KNEW IT! All those times, you were like "Cowboy's as American as apple pie and street crime", or "it must have just been lag". I TOLD you all he was just faking it with netspeak! / Howard: I still don't understand how he fooled us for so long... / Hans: Hans ist... sorry... / Howard: Nah, don't be. You've been a good friend. / Vanessa: Ya, I'm not angry at you, Hans... I'm just giving it to these dorks because I was right and they were wrong.
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=336
 
AGC #337 [Dan and Vanessa at E3 (with Howard in the background)] / Vanessa: So you thought Atomic Gestalt was played by a guy? / Dan: Well sort of... actually, I thought he was gay. / Vanessa: Gay? Why? / Dan: He kept mentioning when he was going AFK to do his laundry... / Vanessa: So straight guys don't do laundry? / Dan: Well we do... but we don't mention it to our fellow superheroes. / Vanessa: So what would Nuclear Dan say if you were going AFK a half-hour to do laundry? / Dan: I'd say "I've been called away on urgent business" / Vanessa: Oh, that's believable. / Dan: Ya, well... / [Through the crowds of E3, Dan spots the 'arcade guys' at some computer tables] / Dan (pointing an accusing finger): YOU! / All Dan's friends: ? / Daishi in the background: Oh, great... / [We see the same event from the 'arcade guys' point of view, seconds later] / Dan in the background: YOU! / Funzo: Bakka! / Daishi (pointing): Dan-san is here, Oni. / Oni: I see. Daishi, please request a short delay before our next tournament match. / [Dan has pushed through to where the 'arcade guys' stand, all wearing matching light-grey uniforms] / Dan: What are YOU doing here? / Oni: Dan-san, we have been exceedingly polite in our past encounters, but we are busy now. / Dan: Busy, huh? Whatever you guys are playing, I'll whomp your ass at it! / Funzo: You aren't even enrolled in the tournament! / Dan: I don't even need to be signed-up to beat you at... what are we playing again? / Daishi (waving off-panel): Judge? Time-Out Please.
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=337
AGC #338 [Dan confronts the 'arcade guys' at E3] / Dan: Come on, enroll me in your tournament. I don't care what game, I'll smash you guys! / Oni: Unlikely, you have yet to achieve success in any game at all. / Vanessa: Hey Dan, what's going on? Who are these guys? / Dan: They're a bunch of dorks from the arcade back home. / Funzo (angry as usual): We are Pro Gamers! Your ridiculous insults show only your own ignorance. / [As Funzo turns, we see the name 'STANGAMES' is displayed across the backs of their uniforms] / Vanessa: Okay, next question: what the heck is "Stangames"? Is it anything like Cangames? The big gaming- / Dan: WHAT? STAN SENT YOU! / Oni: The proprietor of Stangames generously offered to sponsor our team for this tournament. / Dan: What's his diabolical plan! / Oni: His diabolical gaming-tournament-sponsorship plan? Would advertising be too obvious? / Daishi (returning): The judge has granted us five minutes... / Vanessa: Who's this Stan person? / Dan: He's my evil brother! / Vanessa (playing with her hair): You have an evil twin? / Dan: No, he's older... he doesn't look like me at all... / Vanessa: Aww... / Dan: Come on, don't tell me you guys are afraid to take me on! / Daishi: The tournament began long ago. Only the top-rated teams made it to the main event here at E3 - we defeated hundreds to be here. / Dan: Then I'll play you in an exhibition match! / Oni: Do you have a max-level character in World of Warcraft? / Dan: World of what? No... / Oni: Then you lose. / Funzo: Want a rematch?
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=338
AGC #339 [Dan faces off with the 'arcade guys' at E3, while Vanessa from his Flaming Quasars guild watches on] / Dan: World of Warcraft? How do you hold a tournament for an MMO? / Oni: It is an arena tournament, in honor of the expansion's new organized gladiatorial PVP** / Dan: We have PVP in City of Heroes! My buddy Nerf-Bat's ice-tank is invincible! / Oni: Yet no one will run tournaments for City of Heroes. If they did, it would be an unbalanced random mess. / Dan: I bet there's more skill in City of Heroes! / Vanessa (looking apprehensive): Um Dan... there really isn't... / Dan: What? / Vanessa: World of Warcraft actually has way more depth and balance than CoH. It also has more customization of everything except appearance, and a lot more content. / Dan: Huh? / Funzo: Yes, you should listen to the stripper. City of Heroes is a child's game. You would never make it in WoW. / [Howard, still working security at E3, is dragging Dan and Vanessa away] / Vanessa (angry): Stripper! / Daishi (spotting Howard/Nerf Bat): Ahh, here we go. Security? Sir? / Oni: Could you remove these two individuals from the tournament area? The next round is about to begin. / Howard (pretending not to know his friends): Please come with me sir, ma'am... / Dan (angry): Man, if I wasn't leader of my CoH supergroup, I would totally take this to your house and kick all your asses! / [Dan and Vanessa looking sincere] / Dan: I can't abandon you guys though... / Vanessa: Actually... I have a WoW account. / Dan: You do? / [All the Flaming Quasars at E3 stand together] / Hans/Captain Cowboy: Hans ist Troll Hunter. / Howard/Nerf Bat: Man, we all play WoW on the side. / Dan: What? / Howard: Sure. The only reason any of us still have CoH accounts is cause of our friends in your Supergroup. / Dan: Alright, that settles it! The Flaming Quasars are going to... um... / Vanessa/Atomic Gestalt (helpfully): Azeroth. / [Dan in his own emphasized banner] / Dan: The FLQ are going to Azeroth! / {{The asterisks in frame one refer to an author's note below, about the inconsistency of the timing of WoW expansions with the actual time when this storyline was published}}
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=339
AGC #340 - E3 Wrap-up [Howard watches Dan, Vanessa and Hans playing on computers] / Narrator: Dan played Halo 2 with his friends from the Flaming Quasars... / Vanessa: Cowboy; man the gun on my Warthog! / Hans: Warthog, kk np! / Dan: I cast Plasma Grenade, centered on myself! / [We see Dr. Stan's back, as he sits at a computer at his place] / Narrator: Funzo, Daishi and Oni were defeated before the semi-final round. However, the team which eliminated them went on to win the entire tournament. / [A dark image of Davros (creator of the Daleks) looms behind Dang] / Narrator: Dang continued to be haunted by visions of an all-too-familiar (to him) Dr. Who villain. / [Dan's head between several word-bubbles from out-of-panel speakers] / Narrator: And Dan finally got kicked out for somehow inciting a riot. / Dan: Well I think if your 360 lights on fire, that's probably divine punishment for supporting Microsoft. / Voice[out-of-frame]: Ya, stop supporting corporate fascists! / OtherVoice[out-of-frame]: Screw you! I love my X-Box! / [Dan is grinning as he runs from a cartoonish smoke-cloud at the side of the screen] / Voice[out-of-frame]: All for one, and one for Wii! / OtherVoice[out-of-frame]: I'm gonna get MASTER CHIEF on your ass! / Dan: Tee-hee-hee
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=340
AGC #431 [Dan and Dang are about to sit down with the others for D&D night] / Joe: Hey guys, welcome back. / Jill: Did you boys have fun at E3? / Dang: Ya, there was some pretty cool stuff there. / Dan: It was awesome! I got to meet my supergroup, and Nerf Bat was HUGE, and Captain Cowboy was German, and Atomic Gestalt was a girl, and... / Jill: As long as you had fun, I don't need your whole life's story. / Steele: Welcome back. / [Everyone is seated as normal, facing Steele expectantly] / Steele: Alright, if you're settled in now, I want to announce a big- Huh? / [Everyone's gaze is focused on a bottle of Diet Coke in front of Dang (prominently highlighted in the frame) / All-except-Dang: ! / Dang: Ya, I know... / Joe: Diet Coke? You? / Steele: When did you start drinking that, Dang? / Dang: On the way back to Canada I was low on cash, and Dan didn't want to stop anyway, so I ended up sharing his "supply". ...and after the first few bottles, it kindof stopped tasting like poison. / Dan: See? Dang has joined us! Now Joe's the only one we need to convert. / Dang: It's actually cheaper than bottled water in most places, plus it has caffeine. / Steele: I don't really care what people drink, I was just surprised at the change. / Joe: If you keep putting those chemicals in your system, you'll end up like a zombie or something... / Dang: Your warning would be more credible if you weren't the one with sunken eyes and sallow skin.
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=341
 
AGC #342 Steele: Anyway, I have a big announcement to make: we're going to change the game to 3.5 Edition. / Jill [agitated]: YOU say... What do we do about our characters? / Steele: I'll help you rebuild them as close as possible to the way they were. If necessary, I'm sure we can make some minor rules tweaks and compromises to retain their general capabilities and feel. / Joe [deep in thought already]: Hmm... / Dang: What about your campaign Steele? Your world? / Steele: I've been working for a while on this, and while you guys were gone I got almost done. Certainly, anywhere you're likely to go in the near future is ready, and the rest should be done very soon. / Joe: Well, on the downside, the newer rules are more balanced... but on the upside, new spells and abilities from other sources can be more easily integrated into a custom setting like Steele's campaign world. And that means I could mumble... [Joe trails off into unintelligible mumbling] / Steele: You could what? / Joe: I could mumble... [Joe trails off into unintelligible mumbling] / Steele: Jill, what do you think? / Jill: Well, it saddens me that my collection of 2.5 books will probably never again see the light of day... much like the previous editions... but the new system IS better in most ways. As long as we can keep Mercutio's arcane and divine casting abilities as close as possible to what they are now, I'm in favor of the new system. / Steele: Er, right... Mercutio's crazy castings... *SIGHS* / Steele: Dan, you've been awfully quiet... what do you think about upgrading to the new rules edition? / Dan: I dunno. / Dang: We did it once, remember the 'dwarf campaign'? / Steele: ...stupid dwarves... / Dan: I dunno... how well can I burn things with 3.5 spells and junk? / Joe: I know a way to get you an "at-will" fire ability. / Dan: LET'S DO IT!
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=342
AGC #343 [[The group is converting to 3.5.]] / Dan: So we all get to build new characters? / Steele: Well yes, if you really want to, but I'd prefer if you all rebuild your existing characters so we can continue the story, using the newer rules. / Jill: Oh, no, Mercutio's not going anywhere. I have plans for him, don't you worry. / Dan: Who cares! Infernus needs more firepower! Break out the new books! / {{Infernus is dead, and Dan should have said Ro-Gayne here.}} / Steele: Alright, I have one 3.5 Edition Players' Handbook, and I know Joe has one... / Joe: I do...but I didn't know about this, so I didn't bring it. I have all my 3.5 books memorized, but that still leaves three people sharing one book, unless Jill has it... / Jill: I don't have it...if I'd been warned I would have bought it. / Steele: D'oh, one book? This could go slow. Sorry guys, I didn't realize... / Jill (getting up from the table): Well I'm not sharing books with anyone. You boys get started, I'm going upstairs... / Dan: What's my new THAC0 as a Level 9 Wizard? / Joe: First: there's no THAC0, just Base Attack Bonus. Second: as a spellcaster, it's not that important. Third: you don't want to be a level 9 wizard... / Dan: I don't? / Joe: You want to go into the "Elemental Savant" Prestige Class. / Dan: Ya, well, first: I need to hit things. Second: what's a prestige class? Third: you suck, Joe. / [[Jill has returned bearing laptops and discs.]] / Jill: Alright, I burned a copy of my DVD full of 3.5 books. I will use one disk on my laptop, and you boys can fight over my old laptop with the other copy. / Dan: Wow, this is like 30 books in .pdf format...isn't that illegal? / Jill: It's justified in this case, since I'll probably purchase a third of them later this week. / Dang: A better question might be: who the heck keeps a spare laptop lying around? / Jill: Me! Just build your character, elf-boy. / Dan: This spare laptop has a bigger screen than my desktop.
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=343
AGC #344 Dan: So this Elemental Savant thing is like Rogaine's special fire-mage class, but you're saying I can't start as one? / Joe: Right, it's a Prestige Class from the 3.5 Complete Arcane book. / Dan: So I make like a multiclass Wizard? / Steele: In 3rd Edition, you have to think of levels a little differently. Whenever you get enough XP to level, you can gain a level of whatever you want, Wizard, Fighter, Cleric, etc... / Joe: Prestige Classes are the same, except they have prerequisites. In your case, you'll need about five Wizard levels, and you'll have to put enough points in your Knowledge[the Planes] skill, and spend one of your Feats on Energy Substitution. After that, you can take Elemental Savant levels. / (B) / Dang: It says here that he'll also need to know at least three spells with the same elemental descriptor... / Dan: FIRE! / Dang: Right, but it also requires the character to have made peaceful contact with a creature with an elemental subtype... / Dan: Peaceful MY ASS! Rogaine makes "peaceful contact" with NO-ONE! / Jill: We've noticed. / Joe: That's the beauty of it, Dan... starting at level 9, you can ignore roleplaying prereqs by just saying you "got it done earlier". / Dan: And what do I get in exchange for all this meta-whatever? / Joe: As an Elemental Savant (I'm assuming you'll choose "Fire" as your element)... / Dan: Your assumption seems plausible. / Joe: ...you'll gain Fire Resistance, some qualities of a Fire Elemental, and your fire spells will become harder to resist. Eventually, if you get all 10 levels of the Prestige Class, you actually become a Fire Elemental, while retaining all your powers. / Dan: Awesome! / Steele: Can we back the truck up a second here? / Steele: You can ignore some of those "RP-reqirements" when making a brand-new character starting at a higher level, but in the time we've played, Rogaine definitely didn't make peaceful contact with any elementals. / Dan: You said if we really want, we can make a new guy from scratch, though, right? / Joe: Which is better for the story of your campaign, Steele? If Rogaine stays very much like he was in 2.5 edition, or if Dan makes a brand new identical character who happens to have contacted an Azer or something? / Steele: *sigh*
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=344
AGC #345 Steele: So, you guys can build your new stats using the points system from the 3.5 DMG. I'll classify this as a Tougher campaign, so you get 28 build-points. / Joe: Twenty-eight... arg... so low... / Steele: It's not low, the standard suggested is 25 points. / Jill: Screw that; I rolled these stats when we started the campaign, with you as witness. I'm keeping them. / Dan: Ya, my stats are awesome! / Jill: Dan, if anyone should welcome a chance to rework their stats, it should be you... / Dan: Why? / Jill: You have 16 strength. / Dan: I know. / Jill: YOU'RE A WIZARD. / Steele: Guys... / Dang: What is it, Steel? / Steele: Nothing. You know, you're right. It doesn't make too much sense to change your stats, you've had them all this time. Even though Lothar and Ro-gayn have almost supernaturally bad charisma for humans, and Sylvani is an elf with 16 constitution, and Mercutio has four "high" stats. That's just who your guys are. But if you're keeping the stats, you can't take the stat increases that 3rd ed. and 3.5 characters get at levels 4 and 8. / Dang: Will we get stat increases going forward? / Steele: When you hit level 12? Sure. / Joe: Our current stats are better anyway... but what do we do about my 18/54 strength? / Steele: Oh ya, that weird percentile stuff from the old system. Tell you what, I'll count that as a 19. The odd number does you no good now, but when you do get your stat boost at level 12 you can make it an even 20. / Joe: Thank you, Steele, that's downright decent of you. / Steele: It's the least I can do, under the circumstances... / Joe: Under what circumstances? / Steele: Well, 3.5 doesn't really support all those bizarre "sectional armor enchantments" you got from Beholder magazine, or anything like them, so while I'm making an effort to convert most of the party's gear, I'm just going to refund your gold for those and make you buy new 3.5 edition items. / Joe: YOU SON OF A...
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=345
AGC #346 Dang: Joe can't keep that crazy armor? / Steele: It just doesn't fit with the way the rules work now. Like I said; I'm refunding his gold. / Dang: I just remember how... er, intense Joe got when he was having that armor enchanted. He put a lot of effort into designing that configuration. / Steele: Effort... it's just min-maxxing. He found a weird supplement, and picked a bunch of things off the list. He can't have been... that... attached... / Joe [in a state of shock]: I was going to be nice... / Joe [looking vengeful]: No mercy. Dang: You want to look up new priest Domains from the Complete Divine for better Domain Powers. And treat Turn Undead as all or nothing; either max it as hard as you can, or take a feat to use Turning attempts for something else. / Steele: Oh ya... we're going to use the variant where Turning Undead simply does damage. It's in, um... / Joe: Complete Divine, page 87. Dan: For your wizard levels you should specialize as an Evoker... / Dan: Well duh... / Joe: But you want to use the Focused Specialist class variant from Complete Mage, and trade your familiar for the Energy Affinity Evoker power from Unearthed Arcana. / Dan: What does... / Joe: Focused Specialist will give you more total castings by trading one of your normal spell slots of each level for two more evocation-only castings. And you don't care what Energy Affinity does... just pick "Fire". / Dan: FIRE! / Steele: Joe, are you okay? You can't do 'sectional enchantments' the way you used to, but you can still get around magic item slot limitations by using the Magic Item Compendium's rules for combining... / Joe: Also, write down the following feats, Dan: Empower Spell, Elemental Spellcasting (from the Planar Handbook), Metamagic School Focus and Fiery Burst (from Complete Mage), and Arcane Thesis (from PHB2). / Joe: Jill, you should- / Jill: DON'T even try; I know how to build a character. / Steele: Joe, why don't you build your own character instead of trying to minmax everybody else? / Joe: Mine's already done. In my head. He is the Alpha and the Omega. / Steele: *sighs*
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=346
 
AGC #347 Steele: Other than Joe's imaginary 3.5 version of Lothar, how are the rest of your conversions coming along? / Joe: Fine, fine, I'll write up Lothar 3.5. / Dang: I'm impressed by the amount of support there for archers in 3.5. In addition to the basic stuff, there are so many great new feats, like Woodland Archer, Crossbow Sniper, Improved Rapid Shot... plus great Divine buff spells all through the Spell Compendium: Divine Agility, Blessed Aim... / Steele: Well, I'm glad the bow-cleric build is still working out for Sylvani. / Dang: Oh, I'm not taking any of that stuff... Reserve Feats like Fiery Blast totally render that build obsolete for spellcasters. / Steele: ...I see... / Dan: Hey, you have Fiery Blast? I have Fiery Blast! What does Fiery Blast do? / Dang: As long as you have a Fire spell memorized, you gain an at-will spell-like ability to do a small area fire attack with a 30-foot range. We'll each have level 5 spells, so ours should do 5d6, reflex for half, as long as we don't use up our last level 5 fire spell. / Dan: Sweet, that's like half-a-fireball! I can burn things all day long, for free? / Dang: Yes, though I suspect Joe picked it for you more because of the +1 caster level on all your fire spells. / Steele: That doesn't sound very Divine, Dang... you're still a cleric right? / Dang: Of course... / Dang: ...as well as three levels each of Church Inquisitor and Radiant Servant of Pelor. There's no multiclassing penalty for Prestige Classes, right? / Joe: Nope. All you have to do is meet the prereqs. / Dang: Then I'm good. I'll be memorizing a Flame Strike to power my Fiery Burst, and which will do more damage more reliably than my old bow, and for only one feat. / Steele: Wait, did you say Pelor? The Sun-god? What happened to your Elf-deity, Elhonna? / Dang: Elhonna doesn't have good prestige-classes. Sylvani's deity-of-choice is being retconned, like Ro-gayne's peaceful contact with an elemental, and whatever reality warping Joe has in mind. / Steele: *Sigh* And what about you, Jill? How many retroactive changes are you making to Mercutio's history? / Jill: Bah! Unlike these wieners, I care about story. I went into the Mystic Theurge Prestige Class to keep Mercutio's powers as close as possible to what his old Loremaster class had. / Steele: Ah, yes. That sounds like a great choice... You take three levels of Wizard, three levels of Cleric, and from then on every Theurge level advances your spellcasting for both classes. So at level nine, you'd have as many spells as a level 6 Wizard AND a level 6 Cleric. / Jill: Right, except I didn't want to be gimped, so I found a way to get into Mystic Theurge earlier, meaning I actually cast as a level 8 Cleric. / Steele: What??? There's no way that's balanced! Let me see that...
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=347
AGC #348 Jill: It's very simple, Steele. To retain Mercutio's arcane and divine casting abilities, I went into the Mystic Theurge prestige class. / Steele: Which requires you to be able to cast second-level spells of both kinds... which means you need to be a level 3 or higher arcane caster and a level 3 or divine caster. / Jill: Or, I could take the Precotious Apprentice feat from the sidebar on page 181 of the Complete Arcane book. It lets a level 1 wizard learn a second-level spell, which they can cast only by making a d20 roll. That gave me my second-level arcane spell. Then I took my three cleric levels for the divine spellcasting and the skillpoints, and boom! Mystic Theurge. / Steele: That doesn't count! / Jill: The text of the feat specifically says "you must succeed on a DC 8 caster level check to cast this spell". Mystic Theurge prerequisites says "Able to cast 2nd-level divine spells and 2nd-level arcane spells". / Steele: That's not even remotely the spirit of the rules! And if we're being that technical, it says "arcane spellS", plural. Where's your internet computer, Jill? I'm going to check the forums... / Jill: Just steal the old laptop from Dan, it's all wireless. / Dan [who was using the laptop]: Hey! / Dan: Joe, I grabbed all those feats you told me to, and the one I needed for my Elemental Savant class, but that took up all my choices. / Joe: You can earn up to two more by taking Flaws from Unearthed Arcana. Just choose ones with penalties that don't affect you, and it's like two free feats. / Dang: That sounds overpowered. I'm surprised Steele's okay with it. / Joe: Sure; it's an official book, plus Steele doesn't notice anything you say when he's websurfing. / Steele [using the laptop now]: Uh-wha? / Steele: HA! It says right here, in the forums: Precotious Apprentice does NOT allow you to qualify for prestige classes like that. You have to take the levels and learn to cast the spells properly! / Jill: That may be the official rule, but there's an even more important rule. / Steele: Oh? Like common sense, that you shouldn't be able to skip two whole levels just by taking a feat? / Jill: No, the part where my approval of the new system was contingent on maintaining most of Mercutio's casting abilities. Considering that I don't have level four arcane spells yet, let alone ANY level five castings, you should count yourself lucky. / Joe: If history teaches us anything, it's best to let Jill win. / Steele: *bangs head repeatedly* / Dan [jerking the laptop away from Steele, thus saving it from repeated impacts]: "YOINK!"
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=348
AGC #349 Steele: How are we coming along? Almost done? / Joe: I'm done, I'll check over Dan's sheet. / Jill: I just need to pick some spells. / Dang: I guess I'm done. Even with two flaws I couldn't quite fit in Reactive Counterspell with all its prereqs. I have too many other must-have feats. / Joe: Dan, you need to pick your "barred" schools - the types of magic you are giving up for being Specialized. Because of the Focused Specialist mod, you need to lose three schools. / Dan: Bye-bye Divination... / Jill: You can't drop Divination. / Dan: Hey - just because YOU can't get up in the morning without casting a spell to see what the weather is doesn't mean I need to waste my time on info-spells. If I want to know the weather, I just open the door, and save my spells for killing. / Jill: Dan, I'm not advising you to keep divinations. I'm telling you that the rules describing Specialized wizards specifically forbid you from choosing Div as one of your barred schools. / Dan: Oh. / Steele: That reminds me, there's one important thing I forgot to mention... / Steele: Because the new system has much better rules for adjudicating illusions, we're going to try suspending the Treaty for a test period. / Jill: Is that so? / Steele: There's no longer a rule about choosing to "disbelieve" things - if you interract with the illusion, you get a saving throw to realize it is fake, and you get bonuses if there are any clues that it isn't real. / Dang: Don't worry, I have a power from my Church Inquisitor prestige class. I didn't think it would come up, but I automatically get a save whenever I see an illusion, whether I'm interacting with it or not. / Jill: Good man. / Joe: Dan, I recommend you drop Enchantment, Necromancy and Conjuration. / Dan: No way I'm dropping Conjuration - it has lots of fire spells! / Joe: Yes, but you're specialized in Evocation, which has more and better fire spells. You get so many Evocation bonuses you'll never use the Conjuration ones. / Dan: Forget it, I'm keeping that one. What about Abjuration? Can I dump Abjuration? / Dang: Then you can't Dispel. I suppose you could drop Illusion. / Dan: No way; it just got unbanned. If it used to be banned, it must be good. / Steele: As usual, I am appalled by your decisionmaking process.
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=349
AGC #350 Dan: I'm dropping Enchanting, Necro and Transmutation. / Joe: Transmutation! You can't drop Trans... that's one of the few schools with good non-damage spells that YOU would actually MEMORIZE! What about Haste and Fly! / Dan: Pfft, I read the new version of Haste... it doesn't even let me cast twice-per-turn. / Joe: PLUS THIRTY SPEED! EXTRA MELEE ATTACK! / Jill: Joe you're the only one who is ever going to swing a weapon, so Haste isn't that big for us anyway. Besides, Mercutio has it covered. / Joe: What about flight, Dan? You ALWAYS fly. / Dan: I'm keeping Conjuration, I'll just teleport everywhere instead. / [A few minutes later...] / Steele: These character sheets are mostly okay, but I'm surprised by some of this stuff. Now, aside from the fact that some of it is undoubtedly going to screw me and my campaign in unforeseen ways, I have a few questions. / Joe: If it's about how many feats we have... / Steele: I'm okay with using Flaws. And the Traits obviously, I think they're interesting... assuming anyone ever tries to roleplay them at all. / Joe: I don't think "Aggressive" is much of a stretch for Jill's character. / Steele: But I'll still need to okay your equipment conversions and new purchases. / Jill: And I can't wait to see you roleplay "Passionate" with Lothar. Sissy. / [An hour later...] / Steele: Joe, did you try to sell your Helm of Underwater Action for 57,000 gold? / Joe: That's what it's worth according to the 3.5 Edition Dungeon Master's Guide, on page 259. / Steele: And yet it's 24,000 on the table, AND also where it's relisted in the Magic Item Compendium. / Joe: But those are both just table-lists. The rule for when a table and specific text disagree is to always go by the text... / Steele: That may normally be the rule, but the Compendium was printed long after the DMG, with plenty of time to correct the error, if it was an error. / Steele: First, I'm not giving you more than twenty-four grand for it. / Joe: Arg... / Steele: And just as pre-emptive revenge for that and all the other inapropriate minmaxxing I'm expecting out of you, you're going to have to wait till you reach a large settlement to buy any new gear. / Joe: What??? You're the one who refused to convert my old armor! / Steele: Because of that, and because of the class changes, armor and weapon changes are fine, but no other new items. Now let's get playing.
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=350
AGC #351 Steele: Alright, it's been way too long... / Jill: Tell me about it. / Steele: When we left off, you guys had just rescued a band of human slaves from an ogre mine, and you had just defeated a Delver and a powerful Halfling... / Joe: A halfling 'recurring villain'... / Dan: He ain't 'recurring' no more! / Steele: I've noticed. Thanks for rubbing it in. / Dan: It's funny how you gave him all those potions and the scroll of Ethereal Jaunt, and his Hide-in-plain-Sight power and junk, and he still didn't get away. / Steele: Hilarious. / Dan: I mean, it's like he was genetically engineered to escape... / Steele: Very much like that. / Dan: He was like the Dr. Richard Kimble of halflings... / Steele: Dan, as Game Master I am empowered to do all kinds of bad things to you. / Dan: Shutting up, sir. / Steele: ...as I was saying, you were just escorting the free'd slaves Eastward to the nearest town on your way to the Sarnian Academy, where Mercutio's young 'friend' Lydia is to be educated. / Dan: Jill's still lugging around that NPC? Didn't she fall in a sink-hole or something? / Jill: NO! I've been keeping her safe. It's the least I can do since the death of her father. / Dang: Who you killed... then had it blamed on Dan's character, Ro-gayne... / Jill: Her father was a dick, and Ro-gayne had already committed a massacre. / Dan: That massacre was very therapeutic. / Dan: Speaking of which, it feels like I haven't incinerated anything in months, let's go. / Steele: 'Therapy' is an interesting way to put it. That's actually one last detail we need to straighten out before you guys kill anything. The other reason you guys were out and about was, of course, to remove the curse from Ro-gayne. / Dan: Ya, but that curse probably doesn't exist anymore, right? / Steele: Well... there are similar spells, but they are a lot different. / Dan: By which you mean you're cancelling the curse, right? / Steele: More like... updating it.
http://agc.deskslave.org/comic_viewer.html?goNumber=351
 

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