Nale shows us the elaborate workings of his inner mind.
Cast
- Elan (on a blueprint) ◀ ▶
- The Linear Guild
Transcript
- Panel 1
Pompey: Basically, it's just like being human, only instead of getting to choose a feat, we all get the same crappy skill and save bonuses. Oh, and instead of getting a ton of extra skill points, we get...low-light vision.
Sabine: No wonder you've turned to a life of crime.
thog: thog feels little man's pain. thog's racial abilities also below par.
- Panel 2
Nale: OK, Pompey, the rest of the new recruits are waiting at the inn. We'll head over there and get started.
Pompey: If you don't mind me asking, sir, on what sort of evil mission will we be embarking?
- Panel 3
Nale: As fate would have it, my almost-identical twin brother is a member of a team of goody-two-shoes adventurers that got lucky and defeated us.
Nale: We're going to hunt them down and kill them, painfully.
- Panel 4
Pompey: Well, I sure love killing, and painful killing is one of my five most favorite kinds of killing.
Sabine: Ha! Yeah, you're going to fit in just fine, kid.
- Panel 5
Pompey: So—how do you plan to defeat them?
Nale: Suffice to say that I have devised a plan that truly showcases my masterful tactical abilities...
- Panel 6
A blueprint is shown.
D&D Context
- Humans are generally considered one of the best races in the game because of their bonus Feat and extra skill points, which are replaced with things like the ability to see in low-light for half-elves. Half-orcs like Thog get advantages to strength but penalties to intelligence and charisma. They also get darkvision and advantages when multiclassing as a barbarian.
- Sabine's scissors in the blueprint are a callback to #62]. Sabine is a demon so her damage reduction is bypassed by cold iron weapons. Silver weapons bypass the damage reduction of devils, which doesn't matter to Sabine, but in that comic Haley couldn't remember which one affected her.
- Iron rations are a classic D&D food item from 1st edition AD&D, often taken into damp and dank dungeons that would cause standard rations to spoil within a day.
- Tumble is a skill that allows safely landing after a fall, among other uses.
Trivia
- Both the title and aspects of Nale's blueprint (such as Nale signing it as "Nale, Super Genius", and particularly the baited anvil trap and reference to Acme) refer to the Looney Tunes character Roadrunner, whose nemesis Wile E. Coyote always tries (and fails) to capture him using elaborate schemes and the use of ACME products. The title also makes reference to this; the only sound the Road Runner ever makes is "Meep Meep!"