Critical Role - Desperloch | Age of Umbra Episode 1 Part 2
Episode Date: June 10, 2025Part 2 The Enduring, safe beneath the pyre fire of Desperloch, brace against the harsh realities of their world all while holding onto hope for a brighter future... DAGGERHEARTDaggerheart is OUT NOW...! Visit https://daggerheart.com to learn more. Purchase your copy at friendly local game stores, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other bookstores, or Critical Role shops:US: https://shop.critrole.comUK: https://shop.critrole.co.ukEU: https://shop.critrole.euAU: https://shop.critrole.com.auCA: https://canada.critrole.com AGE OF UMBRASmall communities hold fast against the darkness of a dying world in Age of Umbra, a dark, survival fantasy 8-part Daggerheart mini-series with Game Master Matthew Mercer and players Ashley Johnson, Laura Bailey, Liam O’Brien, Marisha Ray, Sam Riegel, Taliesin Jaffe, and Travis Willingham. Death lurks around every corner, but five characters of the small community of Desperloch must band together to fight for hope for their community, risking it all for those they love. BEACONCurious what happens when the camera turns off after an Age of Umbra episode? Watch the Cooldown episodes with the cast discussion after each episode, exclusively on Beacon! Start your 7-day free trial today at https://beacon.tv/join and get unparalleled access to the shows you love completely ad-free! You’ll receive NEW Beacon exclusive series, instant access to VODs & podcasts, live event pre-sales, merch discounts, & a private Discord. CREDITSKey Art & Character Art by Anthony Chong Jones | @robotpencilPlayer Miniatures by Hero ForgeSpecial thanks to Solar Simon DMMain Theme Song by Omar FadelSet Design by Shaun EllisSet Fabrication and Production Design by Noxweiler Berf Due to the improv nature of RPG content on our channels, some themes and situations that occur in-game may be difficult for some to handle. If hearing discussions of certain episodes or scenes become uncomfortable, we strongly suggest taking a break or skipping that particular episode.Your health and well-being is important to us and Psycom has a great list of international mental health resources, in case it’s useful: http://bit.ly/PsycomResources
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Hey there Critical Role podcast listeners.
We have a special new membership service at
beacon.tv where you can get early access to all new podcast episodes,
including Critical Role for the first time ever.
Beacon members also get things like event presales,
merch discounts, access to a private community discord,
and new exclusive series like Critical Role Cool Down,
where we riff after the show.
Think of it as our digital Critical Role land.
Head on over to beacon.tv to check it out for yourself
and start a seven-day free trial.
Thank you so, so much for your support,
for being a podcast listener,
and for being a part of our community. From unraveling our eccentric upbringings to embracing all the delightfully odd interests we still have today.
We're covering so many topics like antique toys, taxidermy, Japanese pop culture, and honestly, anything else we come up with.
Weird Kids is available exclusively on Beacon.
But good news! We're offering a one-month free trial on Beacon.tv so you can take a look before you become a member.
Just use the code WEIRDOES at Beacon.tv so you can take a look before you become a member. Just use the code weirdos at Beacon.tv to start the trial.
You can also find fellow weirdos by following the series on our at the weird kids pod Instagram
and using the hashtag weirdkids.
So to all the misfits, outcasts and weirdos out there, come take a seat at our table and
celebrate all things unconventional,
nostalgic, and wonderfully weird.
Welcome to Weird Kids.
New episodes release every Tuesday.
Hey there, Matthew Mercer here and you're listening to part two of this episode of Age
of Umbra, a dark tale and campaign setting from our recently released tabletop RPG Daggerheart
from Darrington Press.
If you haven't checked out part one yet,
pause this now and head over there first.
Otherwise, let's return to our adventurers
striving against the darkness in part two.
Welcome back.
So, your troop of makeshift Delvers sent on this rescue mission
to bring back the last seen, still living, vigil member, Valk Dravenmoor,
who exists somewhere left behind near the newly discovered gate
to the Firmament's Harrow.
You take the map that you had plucked
from the clutches of Arren to Reskelo,
and marks for you, which I did on there for you,
the path that was taken to where they had uncovered
where this entryway was.
There are blue dots among it, which are blue torches
that are left on the last mission, delving.
They will leave blue flame marks to remind them
where their last path was until they've been recovered.
So there are little blue flames along the way
that guide you to the last known expedition.
Mark, okay.
With this information, you trek outward into the jungle itself
towards the base of the Greif Cleft Mountains. Who is leading this journey?
I am!
Oh!
She has eight wings. She can do whatever she wants.
That's true.
I mean, I'm not, I have been out here before. I've been all over the place, actually.
You're so brave.
Really?
Yes.
I mean, I don't think of myself that way,
but I mean, I guess if other people do,
I'm not gonna say no to it.
I'm a little bit scared.
Oh.
Have you, I don't,
have you been, where are you from?
She is from the Old World.
Yes, I am from the Old World.
What does that mean?
She is a living relic.
Yes, I'm a living relic.
You have to give her her utmost care and respect.
I do, of course. I just don't know what that means, you know?
She's a living relic?
Yes, I'm a living relic.
Absolutely, living relic.
Is that, I just haven't encountered many of those.
Tell them, tell them of your reverence.
Yes, I...
I've encountered many of those. Tell them, tell them of your reverence.
They're rare.
Yes, I, I, I,
yes, this, this, this form was made to
praise and worship and
kneel before the old gods, and
that is what I was made for.
Which is why you're going first.
No, no, I get that.
It's just how did you come back to life?
Did you know that, did someone,
or were you always alive in there?
Like, were you a statue and like you're like,
oh, get me out of here, I can't, I can't talk.
Like for years and years and then somebody like animated you
or was the, is it a powerful wizard or a wish or a curse?
I guess we should all be honest then if we're gonna go out.
Really?
I just...
I found my way to this statue.
I was wandering for quite some time, and I found the statue, and it felt familiar, and I have
memories, I think, from the statue.
SAM and ASHLEY You were out of the statue? You found the statue? What were you at? I don't mean to
pry, it's just. No, it's strange for me as well, but I...
I believe that I died,
and I wandered for quite some time,
and then I found my way to this statue
after August found the statue and
cleaned it up, I guess, as much as he could and
it woke up and I was in it.
So you were dead? Does that mean you're like a
undead? you were dead? Does that mean you're like a...
undead?
Clearly not. I feel very, very much alive.
Very alive, certainly alive.
Yeah, I feel very much alive, and I am a friend.
Best not to make assumptions.
I'm not, I've just seen a lot of undead out there.
Does this look like undead to you?
I think it's also fair to say we don't really know.
Garrick takes in sort of lost creatures,
people without a lot of answers, and we're hoping to find some of those
answers out here, but I don't think Misty knows much more
than she's... Do I look like undead to you? No, no, no, no, no, no.
No, not at all. I mean, it's okay, I look like I'm dead to you? No, no, no, no, no. No, not at all.
I mean, it's okay, I know what I'm.
People see me and they get very nervous.
You're tall and imposing and powerful looking.
Powerful.
I'll see you in domain.
One last question, sorry.
No, don't be sorry, I will tell you.
This is out of my business, but.
Do you poop?
Oh, you know what, those are actually
very interesting questions.
I was actually curious too.
I feel like I would want to know the same.
I don't think so because I don't.
Do you eat?
Eat.
You don't pebble?
I don't pebble.
I mean, I could try, I guess, but you don't have to.
Thank you.
That was him.
Was that me? That was him.
Was that my ass?
I don't know if I have one,
and I start circling to try to.
Nothing I've ever seen back there, Misty.
No, thank you.
Was your name Misty in your previous life?
That was given to me by August.
Oh.
You needed something to call her,
and she was a mystery, and it sort of got shortened
on the way here.
You know, the old ones, the old clerics,
they used to use these statues to get divine messages
from the Veiled Gods.
If this is familiar to you,
perhaps you had a connection to the Veiled Gods.
Maybe I will.
Maybe, maybe, maybe, I have memories that I,
I don't feel like are my own,
and I feel like they are the statues, but I don't know.
But maybe we will find out.
You are a bastion of inspiration.
Thank you.
I will fight to defend you.
But Snix, you should know this information.
We don't, we're careful with it.
Please. We keep it close.
Yes, for sure.
People might misunderstand and desperate luck.
I will not hurt you.
Oh, thank you.
No, I understand.
Secrets are very important, very valuable.
Yours is safe with me.
And maybe at the end of all this, I, yours is safe with me.
And maybe at the end of all this,
I'll get to go home wherever that is.
Sure.
It's the hope.
Shall we adventure?
We shall.
I'm happy to lead us, but it's scary out here.
And so be ready to run, and in my experience,
once danger presents itself, it's better to scatter.
Just run away.
Just run away as fast as you can.
From each other?
Different directions.
Different directions. Yes.
Okay.
Someone may end up, the slowest may end up falling, SAM and TRAVIS and SAM and LAURA and SAM and SAM and SAM and
SAM and SAM and SAM and
SAM and SAM and
SAM and
SAM and
SAM and LAURA and SAM and LAURA laugh.
MARISHA and SAM and LAURA laugh.
Are we out of eye shot from the slag walls?
MATT and SAM and LAURA laugh.
I would like you to make an instinct roll for me, please.
TRAVIS and SAM and LAURA laugh.
Insight. Instinct?
MATT and SAM and LAURA laugh.
All right.
You've got this.
I sure do.
Everybody in Desperate Locks has been listening. Nine with hope?
Nine with hope.
Okay, so you can take a hope.
However,
I should have called this before,
you have to call it before the roll.
Experiences you call and pay for before the roll, yeah.
Then I'll remember that next time.
That's okay.
Are we out of eyeshot though, from people?
You get a hope.
Huh?
Yeah, you guys have been walking with this conversation,
but you've been meandering through the jungle
as it progresses.
And indeed, there is that sound of the local wildlife
strongly pushing through here in the midday greenery,
the choking canopy of the stretching jungle trees
that tangled and pulling into each other as vines
fall down and seem to sway with the occasional burst of wind,
or without wind, seem to almost move and twitch on their own
at the corner of your eye.
You turn in there still, but you continue to push onward.
For to stop and to slow is to leave yourself available
for whatever might be hunting or stalking you from behind.
Once we clear and we're into the forest line,
you all have probably noticed some clinking of heavy armor,
and Brixton sheds her tattered robes of the Pyr Keeper
and underneath it has full plate armor
that is a little rusted, definitely battle worn,
a little ill-fitting.
It was not made for her custom.
She kind of tucks and refashions her robes
kind of around her waist
and finally affixes a sword on her back.
MATT, SAM, and AABRIA, and this display amongst
the nerve-wracking reality that as a scout
and a messenger through the settlements.
You have a very clear and repeated path
between settlements to take, the safe route, the known route.
You've not gone to the vaults before
and nervously pushing ahead without noting,
a few times you get a little lost
and just keep it quietly to yourself.
Oh no.
It's this way, guys.
Occasionally you hear a low, brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Don't scatter out from one area. You could freak out and just, as they settle off in that space,
you also note that means they've made noise
and let your location known,
so you should also keep moving.
And it takes a little longer at the afternoon
than it should have until you come to the base
of the mountains themselves.
The whole process, taking a little bit of toll
on your mental health.
I need you to go ahead and mark a stress for me.
What's your experience, Fear coward, what is it?
I have an experience that would have helped us
if I had remembered to use it called well traveled.
And then there's one that's spineless coward.
But indeed here at the base of the Grief Cleft,
you can see, familiar to those who have been
to these vaults before, or, you know,
trapped to see their exterior,
at the base of the cliff,
there is a massive, pointed archway
where the entrance to the vaults have been
since before this area fell to ruin,
since back when the Veiled Gods still were present
on this world and their vision brought hope
and light and purpose.
This massive double-doored gateway itself,
the doors open and chained
to be a shaded step
into a sightless expanse.
You can see there are chairs and tables and a few tents around here did step into a sightless expanse.
You can see there are chairs and tables
and a few tents around here that currently are closed
and left alone for when various members of the scholars
go in to do their research, to search for
or excavate for memories, for reliquaries,
or shreds of the past and lost faith. excavate for memories, for reliquaries,
or shreds of the past and lost faith, the history of they still try and clamber in peace together,
or the Delver set up camp before they proper push
into the mountain.
But you still have time you gotta keep to,
an individual who might not be
able to last too long.
So you push on into the cavern itself.
And as the gentle gray of the midday light fades,
It really is so soothing.
you light your torches
and push into the dark
Valu'zal vault.
Hear the smell of old, still air.
The scent of flesh decaying long ago
sits faintly through each inhale.
You can smell rust, you can smell old water,
an earth only recently uncovered.
Who's leading with the map?
Before we get to the map, I'll share that
Velt Dravenmore is a Qatari in his 40s,
but he also has all sorts of trinkets.
He carries bones and tea leaves,
and he's a bit different from some of the other vigil
that I've talked with, because he still believes
the gods didn't leave, that they're still here,
and that there's evidence of them being here.
So we should keep our eyes out for anything
that might seem like little bits of worship
or something of his stuff.
That's a good idea.
Interesting.
I have the map here. If this is the correct entrance, we should see two torches lit
across from each other, shortly past the entrance.
You continue in through, maybe about 30 or 40 feet, stepping through, you can see the glimmer of blue beyond this slight right turn,
and it's at that moment you see the scale of where the map is,
and it is a little off.
What looks small and truncated on that map is far longer
and not quite a one-to-one for its hand-drawn purpose.
If you wish to use that map,
I would like for you to either make an instinct roll
or a knowledge roll.
The choice is yours.
I will do a knowledge roll.
Yeah, if you want, if you're lying.
I will spend a hope to help with this.
Is there any way, no, doesn't really make sense.
You're gonna roll for me?
Ooh, yeah, I'll take it.
Okay, that is going to be 11 plus five,
which is 16 plus one for my knowledge,
so 17 with hope.
17 with hope, go ahead and take that hope.
Pushing onward down the cavern,
using the map what you can to your torchlight
as you step across exposed, damp earth
onto uncovered stone step,
a cracked dais, and the surrounding rock
and fallen rubble eventually giving way to structure
to reinforced archways, some built recently,
some uncovered from long ago.
A patchwork of the old age and the new
trying to push deeper into this forgotten interior.
You feel fairly comfortable and following through,
but the sounds grow more and more still
the further in you go.
There is no wind, there is no air.
It is just quiet, and every shifting of armor, every fall of heavy boot scraping on stone,
echoes ever so faintly. Cool. Bats scatter out to one point, causing you to spook a bit.
You check the map.
You're feeling fairly confident.
We should reach a T-intersection not far
in which we will need to take a right.
You push in and you find where there are two
of these blue torches and indeed multiple tunnels
that fork off the different sections. You can see there's a central part of rock that rises up a bit two of these blue torches and indeed multiple tunnels that fork off the different sections.
You can see there's a central part of rock
that rises up a bit where one of the torches is fixed to.
You see signs of tables and chairs
and this area was utilized as a waypoint
for the Delvers or Scholars as they were coming through.
You can see there's red crystals glowing in the walls
to keep the area somewhat lit,
like a fixed tube with some sort of an iron pick.
And you look in here and
just turn right.
You step in and look around,
and the direction of where you would come from
and where you would sit seems to fade a little bit here.
Are there footprints on the ground?
Go ahead and make a knowledge roll for me.
Right.
Actually, knowledge or instinct on this one?
Knowledge. Yep.
Cocked. Cocked.
Oh, all right, that's 20 with hope.
20 with hope, very good.
Looking around, you can see that there are many signs
of bootscuffs and footfalls throughout this chamber.
The heavy dust and dirt that has fallen
either from the ceiling or from the progressive excavation.
This area looks like it was tunnels
that were between the various
sculpted and carved vault walkways.
So this was a built intersection
to try and connect disparate found portions of it.
So it's a little rougher here,
but you can see all manner of footsteps.
You can also see what looks like signs
of partially excavated bodies.
TALIESIN and SAM and MATT and TALIESIN have low light also, so I can really see.
MATT and MATT make a sound.
There are bits of bone, a skull emerging from a wall. It looks like figures that may have been
part of the vault when it originally collapsed, that have since become part of the surroundings.
One of them, you see the skull open its jaw, half agape.
You feel a flash of heat.
There's no wind.
There's no source of it beyond the torch
that you've set back behind,
but there is a warmth that seems to be omnipresent.
Something's weird.
Maybe we should just stay here for a second.
You glance and see this,
there's the red crystals that are in the wall flicker
and you look about and you see one that's those red crystals that are in the wall flicker, and you look about,
and you see one that's affixed to the ceiling above.
It dislodges, and falls.
A slight flame flicker on it, and it hits the ground,
spreads out, and you step back instinctually.
It's like an odd, viscous, crimson, gelatinous cluster
that shimmies as it comes to rest.
And you see just the gentlest lick of flame around it,
and that warmth becomes hot.
Sting, sting, sting where it is.
Yeah.
It's not moving.
Is it in our path?
It's in the room with you.
And there are other of these gem crystal situations?
There are multitudes of them affixed to the walls around.
Yeah, they're just like red crystals settling.
That one's not making any moves towards us.
It's just sort of bubbling on the ground.
She's sitting right there.
Shall we flick a pebble at it or something?
No, I think we just avoid it.
Leave it alone? Run.
I mean, just run.
That's my instinct here.
Have you encountered one of these before?
Have I encountered one of these before?
No.
I think our controlled pace is okay.
If this map is accurate,
we could double back and go the other direction
and still intersect onto the trail that we need to be.
As you're turned to the rest of them,
you feel the strong heat towards your back and glance over the skull that we need to be. As you're turned to the rest of them, you feel the strong heat towards your back
and glance over the skull that was protruding
from the side of the stone and earth.
You can see now that red jelly is pushing through
its sockets and out of its mouth.
I only just touched it.
And flames are flicking up the side of the bone
as it, and as it does, it pulls the bones with it out.
And you watch as it settles itself on the ground,
this odd mixture of partially burned and charred bone
now slightly swirled within the skull,
bobbing and floating.
I like Snick's idea, maybe we run.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, let's run. Running's good.
Running's great. This is very scary.
You go in which direction do you run?
Do we follow the map or do we go backwards?
Give me the map!
How many ways are there in front of us?
Two.
We're at a T-hunter's.
At a glance, four to five?
Four to five!
They are definitely moving towards us, right?
I'm gonna pick one.
One creature is standing up that we've seen.
I think I'm gonna give this thing a quick attack, maybe.
So I'm going to, as we back up,
I assume that we are backing up.
Yeah, yeah.
I'm going to pull out a foot and a half long needle
and just very gently tap right in the tear duct of my eye,
my larger eye.
What?
Just a little bit of water comes out
and then I'm just gonna fire it off
and turn it into an ice spike directly into this.
Go ahead and roll for me, please.
Disgusting and awesome.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's right.
Keep your tear ducts to yourself.
Cacked.
Oh, yay.
So I actually, that's nice, I can,
because this is a six, I can burn a stress
because I have that power.
Woohoo.
That's 16.
With? 16.
16 with, oh, thank you, hope.
Hmm, so I have to get hope.
Take that hope, and that is a success.
Go ahead and roll damage for that, please.
Thank you for that.
And damage for this thing is d6 plus my preview. Four points of damage.
Four points of damage, all righty.
August, I'm pretty sure everybody said we were going to run.
We are. It doesn't mean I can't do this.
So the ice spike shoots into it, and you watch it. The ice immediately turns to mist. The heat of
whatever this is begins to burn brightly, and the ice liquefies and steams out of it.
You pull that way, and you turn around in the direction where you were planning to flee, and
you watch as clusters of bones that have been reaching out of the wall.
The skeletons seem to clamber onto the ground and begin to reform.
I'll be right back.
ALL SHOUT OUT Map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map, map age of Umbra Map. SAM and TALIESIN and SAM and MARISHA and MATT and SAM and MARISHA and
Our Tomb. Oh, what the shit.
There are filled columns.
Wonderful minis brought to us by our friends at Hero Forge. So as you guys were moving in through
probably, let's say this direction here,
and the events were happening,
and this began to back up, back where you came in.
That was where you had turned,
and you were met with one of these assembled skeletons.
The rest of you,
as you would cast your ice spike,
whereabouts would you have been?
Probably...
I'll say the source of the impact that you fired at would be about here.
So I would have probably been... Where is Misty?
Misty is right here.
Misty, where would you have been?
I feel like I'm sort of taking up the rear.
Because I was sort of... That's great.
You'd probably be over there with these folks, and you would have turned around and go this way.
I would have been about right there, yeah.
I would probably be near Snicks.
All righty.
As we were both staring at a map.
The other blob that had dropped down is right there.
Oh boy, look at that thing! With the arms and the skulls coming out of the top!
There's two blobs over there and there's a skelly behind us.
Correct.
Oh boy.
We're fine, we're good.
What are you doing?
Oh boy. We're fried, we're good. What are you doing? I would warm it up. I'd take the halberd out from behind the cloak as the furs and leather sort of
move, and using familiar force, I'll whip it around my head once and take a one-two stride, and I'm
going to swing it right for the middle of that scale blobby's midsection.
Move up and heavy swing's that scale. Blobby's midsection. Heavy swing towards that one.
That is a 15 to hit.
15 hits.
With hope.
All righty.
And that is a one, d10 plus two, let's go.
Come here, come here.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
That's nine points of here, we got it.
That's nine points of damage, and I'll actually also burn one of my prayer dice
using my class feature to add three additional points
of damage if I can.
For a total of?
That's 12, 12 points of damage.
12 points of damage.
That is gonna be a severe wound to that one.
So that's three points damage.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
14 points of damage total.
Gotcha, that's great, that's severe damage, great.
So as you strike with the howard,
it burns and sizzles and you carve it in two pieces.
And it uses its reaction to split.
Oh!
So there's two blobbies?
There's now two smaller flaming blobs.
What did you do?
I made a mistake.
What did you do?
Mistakes were made.
Where there was one, there was not two. I made a friend.
Oh boy.
They immediately both retort against you. Both are taking strikes. First one is going to be a 20, not a natural 20, but a
20 to hit you.
TRAVIS and TRAVIS Yeah, hits for sure.
MATT And the second one is going to be a nine.
TRAVIS That is my evasion.
MATT All right, so both hit you. The first one strikes you.
SAM Why are you so slow? magic damage and become ignited. You are now on fire and will take damage each time you roll until
you manage to extinguish it with a finesse roll.
MARISHA and SAM and MARISHA. With a finesse roll.
MATT and SAM and MARISHA. Oh no, this is so bad. This is so bad. The other one does five points of magic damage to you as you begin to burn still.
I'm going to burn one of my armor slots to negate that last one and only take one hit point out of
the two.
You got it. All right, that finishes their reaction and their spotlight. Who's up next?
How tall is the ceiling here?
In here, it's about, let's say, ten feet at most.
It's not terribly high, except for at the top here,
it's about 15 or so feet with only a five-foot clearance.
So flying's a little iffy.
For now.
Anybody, or should I?
When August attacked with his ice spike,
it didn't split into two, right?
No.
So it's maybe when you just slash it?
You do melee.
Yeah.
When you do dope-ass shit to it?
Sure.
That's what splits it?
Yeah.
As I turn around and I look and I see,
see the undead, and I just say,
be at rest, oh cursed one!
And I charge forward and I'm gonna attack the skelly! Yes. The skeleton? Oh, cursed one! And I charge forward and I'm going to attack the Skelly!
MATT and SAM and MARISHA, laughing, say, Skelly!
MATT and SAM, laughing, say, Skelly!
MATT and SAM, laughing, say, Skelly!
MATT and SAM, laughing, say, Skelly!
MATT and SAM, laughing, say, Skelly!
MATT and SAM, laughing, say, Skelly!
MATT and SAM, laughing, say, Skelly!
MATT and SAM, laughing, say, Skelly!
MATT and SAM, laughing, say, Skelly!
MATT and SAM, laughing, say, Skelly!
MATT and SAM, laughing, say, Skelly!
MATT and SAM, laughing, say, Skelly!
MATT and SAM, laughing, say, Skelly!
MATT and SAM, laughing, say, Skelly!
MATT and SAM, laughing, say, Skelly!
MATT and SAM, laughing, say, Skelly!
MATT and SAM, laughing, say, Skelly! MATT and SAM, laughing, say, Skelly! MATT and SAM, laughing, say, Skelly! MATT and SAM, laughing screaming. It is bad! Seven with hope!
MATT and SAM and MARISHA screaming.
Seven with hope.
That is going to miss, but you take a hope.
So you swing wide, attempting to strike out
towards the skeleton.
You hit the side of its shoulder,
which the arm just breaks off and the bones shatter,
but it doesn't seem affected by the fact
that you just removed one of its arms. Its jaw hangs open, and it's going to rush towards you immediately. A skeleton
warrior is going to strike out at you. That's a five.
MARY, in the background, says, Miss, which is a miracle.
MATT, in the background, says, This is true.
MATT, in the background, says, Misses. I'm going to spend a fear.
MARY, in the background, says, I made it six.
MATT, in the background, says, That's true. That's amazing. I'm going to spend a fear. Six. That's true. That's amazing.
I'm going to spend a fear and spotlight this ooze.
It's going to come towards you,
the one that you had ice spiked,
rushing towards you, August.
It's going to attempt to strike out you
with its ignite action.
You're right.
Ooh, that's going to be a 20 again.
Wow.
To hit you.
That, you know, I'm...
Thinking of reducing. Yeah.
That's just a hit.
I'll just take it. I'll take it for now.
Okay. Five points of magic damage, and you also burst into flame.
Everybody's on fire!
You hear the clattering of bones as shifting around the corner on this side, awakened by the sound and
anger of your presence. Two other skeletons seem to reform and begin to shamble in your direction.
There's going to be a mess.
SAM and MARISHA and MATT and SAM and MARISHA and MATT and SAM and MARISHA and SAM and MARISHA and
and SAM and MARISHA and SAM and MARISHA and SAM and MARISHA and SAM and MARISHA and SAM and
and SAM and MARISHA and SAM and MARISHA and SAM and
and SAM and MARISHA and SAM and
and SAM and MARISHA and SAM and and SAM and MARISHA and SAM and and SAM and MARISHA and SAM and and SAM and MARISHA and SAM and and SAM and MARISHA and SAM and It was a good idea! It wasn't a bad idea. All right, I have an idea.
I would like to get in.
Is it running?
Well, it will help everyone run, I think.
May I stand where I'm in close range with everyone?
So if I move forward, I'll be standing.
There you are, close range, everybody.
Except for these skeletons here.
If you want to move within the skeletons as well,
you can move up here, and I think, yeah, that'll get you in close range of
both of them.
ASHLEY. Okay. I don't know this body well, but I know that it was made for music.
SAM and MATT. Oh! and was made for praise and worship, to worship.
And...
Take me to church.
To my rapture.
So I'm going to cast Enrapture.
Okay.
And I am going to sort of unfurl all eight of my wings.
And everyone starts to hear.
It sounds like music, but as the feathers
sort of slowly start to move,
it almost sounds like a wind instrument,
but also like chimes, but in my favorite key, B minor.
So it's a little sad.
Do you have a favorite key?
I do, I love it.
So it's, and it's like, as the feathers move,
there just is this beautiful entrancing music,
and I'm gonna try to get all of their attention.
Is it a single target,
or is it all targets within close range?
It is.
Fuck.
It's a single target.
Well, which of these targets would you like to focus on?
It says a target, and I thought it was a bunch of targets.
That's okay.
Okay, so then let's do, do we want, where do we wanna go?
Here?
Away.
Wherever it feels like there's an opening for us to go to,
I would like to sort of draw them away from an opening.
Do you wanna go down this hall?
Yeah.
That's not where we came from, correct?
No, we came from here.
We came from this one, so we're taking a left.
There's red, red, blue.
Red's over there, nothing over there.
According to the map, we should take a right,
but none of those seems to match.
We might've entered in a different area.
Because we want to go blue?
We don't know.
We don't know yet.
I mean, it seems like blue would be the choice.
Let's go with blue.
But how do we know which one it is?
Just get rid of a guy, and then we'll figure out where we're going at right after that.
Well, I'm just going to try to make space.
Gotcha.
So I'm going to do the music.
You're keeping space for this guy?
I'm just keeping space for him. You're keeping space for this guy?
I'm just keeping space for him.
Fair enough.
And which one are you focusing on?
I am focusing on...
There's one skeleton here.
Yeah, so if we're going...
Who's two is a skeleton skeleton?
If we're...
There's more skeletons deeper in.
If we're going this way,
I want to attract those ones
so that we can clear a path going that way.
Okay, so this skeleton here?
Yeah, let's go with that one.
Sure, all right, go ahead and roll.
Spell cast against the target.
Okay, okay, which one am I gonna do?
I'm gonna do this one.
I'm gonna do these two.
Are they gonna roll good?
I don't know.
Oh, they did.
Let's go.
So I rolled with hope, And that is a 20 total.
No, wait.
I am adding my,
22 with hope.
That's a success with hope.
Take that hope.
And what is the effect of your ability?
So they are
enraptured with me,
and they mark a stress.
Okay, good to know. All right, so, and they mark a stress. Okay, good to know.
All right, so. You can mark a stress.
That scaffold looks and focuses on you.
Once per rest, sorry, hold on a minute.
They become, while enraptured,
a target's attention is fixed on you,
narrowing their field of view
and drowning out any sound but your voice,
once per rest on a success, you can mark a stress
to force the enraptured target to mark of Stress as well. Let's do it.
MATT. Sure, Mark of Stress. It marked of Stress as well.
SAM and TALIESIN. All righty.
MARISHA. Matt, am I supposed to be adding my strength to my attacks?
MATT. Not unless you have an ability that lets you do it.
MARISHA. Okay.
MATT. There are some valid cards that let you do that.
MARISHA. Okay. It just says melee strength.
SAM and TALIESIN. Let me get this straight.
Strength is what you get on the attack roll.
You're trying to draw them closer to you?
They're just skeletons, much bigger than them.
Oh god. Can I spend my turn looking at the map and trying to figure out the way out of here?
Yes, you may. You can go ahead and make a knowledge or instinct roll to see where on the map you've been
and where you are currently hoping to go.
I will use an instinct roll,
and I'm gonna use my Ridgeborn ability, Steady.
You have advantage on rolls
to traverse dangerous environments.
Navigate harsh environments.
That would be this, right?
It's pretty harsh, bro.
Well, it's pretty harsh.
This is harsh, bro.
And to give myself a bonus,
I am gonna use my experience well traveled.
I've looked at maps, some of them better than others.
You're Ridgeborn, you're from the mountainous areas,
and this is actually in a mountain,
so this all checks out. Okay, okay.
So I've got all kinds of advantage
and all kinds of stuff going on here. Oh god.
SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and
and all kinds of stuff going on here. Oh god.
SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and
SAM and MATT and SAM and
SAM and MATT and SAM and
SAM and MARISHA and MATT and MARISHA and MATT and SAM and MARISHA and MATT and SAM and
and the rest of the cast.
SAM and MARISHA and MATT and SAM and
and the rest of the cast.
And now, the last two are going to be the ones that are going to be the ones that are going to be
the ones that are going to be the ones that are going to be the ones that are going to be the ones
that are going to be the ones that are going to be the ones that are going to be the ones that are
going to be the ones that are going to be the ones that are going to be the ones that are going to be
the ones that are going to be the ones that are going to be the ones that are going to be the ones
that are going to be the ones that are going to be the ones that are going to be the ones that are going
to be the ones that are going to be the ones that are going to be the ones that are going to be the ones that are going to be the ones that are going to be the ones that are going to be the ones you probably want to take that is the shortest distance marked on there is this path. Do it.
Where the blue flames are leading you.
It's the blue flames!
That's what I said!
I say in between, just being on Flambear, who's on the heaven? Oh god, he's still on fire!
Why are we such birds?
I try to flap to try to put his fire up.
You're breaking it once!
If you want to move over him,
Yeah, if you want to immediately go again
and then try to move over to put out his flame,
you can try it.
I can also throw an ice spike right next to,
right next to Travis.
That was just fear.
Is it your go, though?
It is, though.
So I'm just saying, I'm going to come to his back,
you can go ahead and try that if you want.
I'm going to wait. I It is, though. Okay. So I'm just saying, when it comes back, you can go ahead and try that if you want. I'm gonna wait, I'm gonna wait.
I'm gonna wait, I'm gonna wait.
I'm gonna wait.
Okay.
Well, on my end, the two tiny oozes
that have now been split from you
are going to shore up against you.
It's so hot!
It's gonna be a 14 to hit you.
Yes.
And a three to hit you.
Misses.
All right, so with that, you take two points
of magic damage as it flashes out at you.
And then I'm gonna go ahead and spend a fear on this end.
Two.
Two points of fear.
Two points of fear.
Not taken.
Yeah, I'm gonna say this skeleton is gonna go ahead
and move up towards you.
And it's gonna go ahead and take a swipe at you.
Misty me.
That's gonna be a 10 to hit you.
No, it does not.
It misses you?
It does.
It just goes wide on you.
Wait, that's my...
What's your evasion?
Evasion. 11.
Yeah, it just misses you. Okay, great.
So it swings wide and you see it coming,
you just step out of the way,
your wing bats it away and just goes completely off center
from its original strike course and just strikes out
and hits nothing to the left of you.
I'm gonna spend one more fear to let this one,
who isn't raptured by you, to rush up and jump on top
and attempt to strike at you with a rusty spear
that it's pulled out from the nearby walls.
I put my hands up.
It's going to be a three.
Oh!
So you just put your hands up,
and whether it be through divine prominence
of this stone body's original purpose
or through a clumsy-ass, barely summoned skeleton
from the nearby ruins,
it just does not find purchase
upon your body with its weapon,
and you are saved in the saved. You know, I'm
going to let that ride for now. You guys can take your actions.
I'm going to put an ice spike right next to Idle, and if there's time, just because I can actually
summon them and they actually don't have to be attacked. It's not just an attack spell, you can
just make these ice spikes.
So you're shooting him with an ice spike?
No, I'm putting one right next to him.
Oh, what?
Next to him.
So what it says is, ice spike,
make a spell cast roll to summon a large ice spike
with far range.
If you use it as a weapon, make a,
so assume that I'm not using it as a weapon,
I'm just putting ice that he can hopefully
hug to help.
MATT and TALIESIN and MATT make out.
I see what you're doing.
So go ahead and roll a spell cast roll for me.
That's a 24 with fear.
That is a success, and I'll take a fear.
Also, because you are also on fire,
as you're summoning this, the flames burn you
for two points of magic damage.
Oh, I'll spend an armor and lower that to one.
Two points. Well, two points of magic damage.
Oh, two points?
Yeah, I'll just take it, yeah.
So you take another hit point, all righty.
You conjure this ice spike and send it.
It's a heavy cast, too, this massive, elongated pike of
conjured, icicle death, more or less. Sticks it in the ground and jams about a foot into the earth
and an exposed stone to the ground next to you. You pull back, and there's about a foot and a half
of it still sticking out. That cold mist and air around you.
SAM and TALIESIN, in the background, gasp. SAM and TALIESIN and SAM and MATT and TALIESIN talking at the same time.
Well, the ice doesn't get rid of it. He still has to do something to get rid of it.
But that is there. What I'll do is I'll say, if you want to use a finesse roll to get rid of this,
or somebody does, in the proximity, it'll give you advantage because of the ice proximity.
LAURA and SAM and TALIESIN because of the ice proximity. Oh, let's do that. Can I, may I assist and help with trying to flap my wings?
Sure, if you'd like to, if you want to spend a hope to give him an extra.
Yes, I will spend a hope.
Well, here's the thing, he already has advantage because of the ice spike. So you can either
make the finesse roll yourself to put it out on him, or he already has advantage.
The advantage is a deceptive.
Correct.
Yep.
Okay.
Yeah, double ace, baby!
Look at that!
Stop it!
Boom!
Don't stop it! All right, so you gain a hope and you're stressed
if you had it.
The flames are put out and I'll say,
as you were flapping your wings
while holding the skeleton's attention,
it pulls up the icy mist around this icicle
as it begins to melt.
You draw it up and you reach down
and find the flames cast off your body.
Thank you. I'm gonna take another swing at this guy in front of me.
Go for it.
Come on, come on.
Okay, this is better.
Ten plus 14 with fear.
14 with fear, that does hit.
But that works.
And then I can roll 2d10 and take the highest.
Ooh, that is a ten, baby, so 13 damage to
this boy.
13 damage. That is going to be a severe wound. This skeleton is scattered into a cluster of
shattered bone pieces. You hear them sprinkle and bounce off the nearby stone walls from the sheer
volume of the impact. It's done.
MARISHA and MATT and MARISHA laugh.
I'm going to haul ass towards this blue torch that we're heading towards.
You can move close distance or you can move far distance and make an agility roll to see if you
can make the run. What would you want to do?
Let's make a roll. Why not?
Go ahead and roll an agility roll for me, please.
What's stopping me is if I trip and eat shit on
my balls. But let's see. This is so fun. Yeah, that's going to be a six total. A six total with
fear.
Six with fear. You go darting this way and immediately your shin hits that box on the side.
There's a crate set with pickaxes and excavating material.
You're like, ah!
Like immediately, your kneecap pops out
to the side a little bit.
You're like, oh!
Go ahead and mark a stress on that,
and you only make half the distance.
That's okay, that's fair.
I will take that extra fear.
As it comes back to me, the two oozes that are still on the
ground are...
TRAVIS and SAM and MARISHA and MATT and SAM and MATT and MARISHA and
Yep, and they will attempt to reignite you as they reach out. The ooze are still there, y'all, and
they're still very fire-centric. That's going to be eight to hit you.
Misses.
That misses your evasion?
It does.
Okay.
Evasion is nine.
Other one.
That's gonna be a four.
So they rolled absolute dog shit that round.
Run, run!
Can I?
But I will spend a fear immediately to spotlight this one
that's sitting behind where you are,
trying, looking at the map,
and you feel this heated growth behind you.
As it's gonna come at you,
four, that's gonna be a 16 to hit you.
Oh, my evasion is 13, that hits. That hits you. The edge's going to come at you, Fjord, that's going to be a 16 to hit you. SAM, GROG, and SAM, GROG, as they fight back.
SAM, GROG, and MATT, as they fight back.
That hits you. The edge of the map begins to burn from the fire on the side. You are also beginning
to burn as you are ignited and inflamed next to your fun spider companion, August, there. You do
take three points of magic damage from the flame.
SAM, GROG, and okay, that's not fun.
Ouch.
And I'm gonna spend another few.
No!
And I'm gonna spotlight this skeleton here
that's focused on you.
You've enraptured it and it is now entirely driven
to destroy this statue, this beautiful relic
of an age past that reminds it of a time
that maybe it was not as corrupt and pulled
from its dead space.
It has no conscious memory.
It is a skeleton raised by necrotic power.
It just wants to destroy you.
It is gonna come at you.
That is gonna be an 11 hit.
Just hits. That hits, okay.
So you take from this skeleton warrior
as it strikes out at you,
three points of physical damage.
Okay.
Rolling real bad on some of these damage rolls, which points of physical damage. Okay. Okay.
Rolling real bad on some of these damage rolls,
which is good for you.
Yep.
And I'm gonna hold the rest of my fear.
Who wants to go?
I would like to be put out.
If anyone wants to help with that,
I'm just gonna roll, what is it, it's that finesse roll?
It's a finesse roll, yes.
I'm gonna roll a finesse roll if anyone wants to help.
August is right here.
We're over there, both on fire.
Yep, within a slightly damaged ooze there
that you struck originally.
All right, here we go.
I'm gonna follow August with a Halberd strike.
Let's go.
That's a 15 with fear.
15 with fear, 15 is a success.
So you are no longer a flame.
However, as you finish, oh that was you, right.
Pass this right over to you then.
No!
You manage to pad out the fire,
and just as you finish that process of doing so, brother, you can move on your turn as well, if
you've wanted to on your turn.
TALIESIN and SAM and MATT and TALIESIN I was hoping to take flight.
SAM and TALIESIN Take flight? As in fly?
SAM and TALIESIN You're a spider who flies? So I kind of shift my coat a little bit and tap, and you see two moth wings come out of my back.
And if you're paying close attention,
someone has clearly surgically implanted
a living giant moth into my spinal cord,
which is a completely separate entity,
clearly with its own little mouth and head
that is just bound there.
It's very silenzable.
You're welcome.
That is so cool.
Does everybody have wings?
It's my only phobia, I hate you.
I will use that dice to imitate you as flying,
but you can get about that far,
and then as that turn ends, it comes to me.
As everyone's charging that way,
you have the map that's now slightly burning,
you have a burning ooze that is focused on you from behind
that I'm going to go ahead and activate
and come at you immediately.
That's going to be a 11 to hit.
My evasion is 13.
Oh, so it misses you entirely.
I'm running around with my hair on fire.
Ah!
It's crazy.
Brings it back to you guys, who wants to go?
I'm gonna take my halberd,
and because it's a very close weapon,
I'm going to activate Spirit Weapon, and it can fly from my hand to attack an adversary within close range and then return to me,
but I'm going to mark a stress and have it attack an additional target with the same attack roll and
try to hit both of those blobs that have been fucking giving me grief, man!
You got it, so go ahead and make that attack roll.
Hey, green giant.
That's 17 with fear.
17 with fear, that definitely hits.
So go ahead and roll damage.
Okay, d10 plus two, eight, ten.
Ten points of physical damage.
As you describe how you spin this halberd and chuck it
to slash through both and destroy both of these oozes.
I spin the halberd above my head again, but I open my palm and the staff starts to spin right on the
center and I'll throw it like I'm throwing a frisbee and you see it go and comes back around. I
catch it and spin it and then tuck it under my arm.
It strikes part of the outer edge of that pillar and as it impacts, holy sparks
screen off of it before you catch it
and stop the momentum in your hand.
Both of those flaming oozes
just dissipate onto the stonework
and vanish, the heat now absolves.
They can be cut, we gotta go!
And I'll take off running towards the blue lantern.
Full far run or just a part run?
I'll do the full far run on making a agility roll.
Making a agility check, please.
Badass, 12, 17 plus, 20, dirty 20, with hope.
With hope, so take that hope,
and you manage to go the full distance up to here.
Far range.
He's going distance.
You actually go a little further into there.
He's going for speed.
In the tunnel, heading that direction.
Awesome.
All alone!
All alone!
Finishing your go, since it's now come towards you
a secondary time and you've dodged out of the way,
it's going to see you flashing this light of this halberd
and destroying the other ooze.
It turns its attention just to see you vanish
around the corner and instead is going gonna lunge towards the closest target
in its sight, which is you, Brixton.
It's gonna go ahead and count at you for a 14 to hit.
That definitely hits.
All right, the flaming ooze comes into five points
of magic damage.
Okay. And you are ignited.
No! Can I use my armor to,
if I don't take any damage, do I not catch flame?
I'll say yeah.
Okay, I am going to use an armor point
to knock that down to no damage.
Then you are not ignited.
It strings out towards you,
and you just shrug off your long-collected relic armor.
You're quite literally almost like a chef
that can hold a cast iron pan.
You see me parry it with an open palm, which affects me none,
thanks to handling flame my whole life.
I'll allow that.
Parry your weapon. It affects me none.
It affects me none. And then, can I take, since I'm here and I'm fighting it, I'm going to go ahead
and I don't want to slice it but I do want to like take my great
sword and spin it around and almost use like the butt like the hilt of my sword to see if I can
just like bludgeon this thing.
Sure, go for it.
Almost like damping down the flame.
Roll the attack.
Okay, and then may I while using my sword, may I? I want to use one of my orderborn dedicated virtues, where I can have three sayings
or values that are instilled upon me, and once per rest, I don't know if it's short rest or long
rest, I can describe how I'm embodying one of these principles and use a d20 as my hope die. So
I would like to use the strongest steel
must first be tempered by the flame.
Oh!
Yeah!
Given the heated, literally heated exchange
that the source of fire has been amongst your friends,
you see flickering your eyes the deepest fire
of the Sacred Pire that keeps Desperlok safe and held.
And in that moment of inspiration, take your strike.
Amazing.
Hear me whisper it.
The sacred pyre.
The sacred.
Oh, that's amazing, I rolled a 19 on my hope die.
Whoa.
So that's gonna be 23 plus two to my strength,
so 25 total.
That definitely hits, go ahead and roll damage.
Murder.
Great, I will take that eight, nine, 10, 11 total.
11 total damage? 11 damage.
Damn.
That's gonna be a severe on that one.
All right, it is, you strike it with a buttery sword
and it quivers angrily.
You almost pull the flame from it for a moment,
almost like you're siphoning the essence
of the Sacred Pyre.
Maybe that shows to your imagination. It'll look cool in a minute. I'm going to use a fear for its
reaction to split into two ones. I'll use a secondary one here. It's a little bit smaller, but
they're both barely holding on at this point.
They split into two!
They're both like... But spotlight's still on you guys, so do you want to keep running?
SAM and TALIESIN and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and
and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and
and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and
and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and
and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and
and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and SAM and MATT and SAM and SAM and MATT and SAM and SAM and
and SAM and MATT and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and
and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and
and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and
and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and
and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and
and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and SAM and or is that just the shininess of the map? It's gasoline. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You are exploding.
No, I will also say that there are damp elements
of water and groundwater that's seeped through
and cause small puddles.
I'm gonna jam the map into one of those puddles
to try to put it out.
You put out the map without an issue.
And then try to stop and roll around.
And just splash. I'm not hiring while you're rolling around. So go ahead and make a Vanessa roll for me to see if you can put out the map without an issue. And then try to stop and roll around. And just splash.
I'm not firing while you're rolling around.
So go ahead and make a Vanessa roll for me
to see if you can put out the flame.
Okay, let's do it.
13 with hope.
13 with hope is not gonna succeed.
What?
It's not gonna succeed.
But I get a hope.
You get a hope, but you also take
three points of magic damage as the fire
continues to burn you as you're rolling on the ground.
Stop, drop, and roll.
Not working against us, it's not working against us!
SAM and MATT and SAM and SAM and MATT and SAM and SAM and
Do I still have movement or is that it for this turn?
I'll say you can move, but then the spell is going to come back.
Sure, I'm going to do what I do best
and I'm just going to run.
I'm going to run this way, though.
Okay, so you can get there.
That's that far.
Great. Away from danger, I hope.
All right. Now, spell adds back to me.
I'm going to go ahead and...
The other skeleton on the side here,
that's still up against you,
the other one is just missing in time.
It's going to try and come at you
with this gnarly-looking axe, Misty.
And that's going to be a 16 to hit.
Does that hit you?
Hits. All right, for that, Misty, and that's going to be a 16 to hit. Does that hit you?
All right, for that, Misty,
you take four points of physical damage.
The axe impacts on your forearms as you guard it.
I am your shield.
Oh. I'm near Misty.
You are.
Okay.
So you want to go ahead and step in and take that blow?
Yeah, emboldened by the flame,
and probably my imagination.
I can see my flaming hand. I'm just going to reach in front.
She must be protected. And just almost grab their axe.
Yeah, as the swing comes down, all of a sudden out of nowhere, Brixton's hand grabs the axe and
pulls it down onto her. You take four points of physical damage instead.
Oh no!
That's okay, I'm going to use an armor to negate that.
You got it.
All righty.
Thank you.
That was so kind.
You must be protected.
It is now back to your go.
Oh, thank you.
I'm actually finally gonna take that ice spike
and drop it next to the last one.
Ah!
Oh god.
Okay, go ahead and roll for spell time.
Making my way past the stress. Okay, go ahead and roll for spell time. Roll for spell now. That's two nines.
Dang, you guys are critting up a storm! This is wild. All right, so clear that stress and take
that hope, and that strikes immediately next to you. You will get advantage on your next attempt
to alleviate that flame. Do you want to stay put or do you want to move?
Well, is anybody in melee with me or no? you will get advantage on your next attempt to alleviate that flame. Do you wanna stay put or do you wanna move?
Well, is anybody in melee with me or no?
Currently, no.
You are then very close to that skeleton on the top.
I'm gonna start rolling down this way.
I'm not gonna go double speed
because I wanna be able to help out with combat.
But yeah, I'm still flying
and I'm just gonna keep an eye on everyone
because I'm gonna start trying to clear us.
I'll put you up here and keep an eye on things.
Perfection.
That'll work.
All righty, so with you there,
are you trying to put up?
I'm gonna try one more time to hug the ice spike
and see if it can help relieve my.
You have advantage because of the ice spike's proximity.
Great.
18, 19 with fear.
With fear, I'll take that.
Fear, but you are no longer engulfed in the ooze's flame.
I'm prodding my eye over and over again
with these bloody needles.
Thank you, Spider-Man.
Everyone gets one.
You can move right there.
That distance around the corner,
if you're still trying to approach from that point.
Coming back to me, this overall skeleton up top is going to try and, they're trying to carve away at this
statue that's drawn their attention, and either they continue to miss or somebody else keeps
getting in the way. Whatever necrotic force has pushed them to this semi-state of terrorizing
consciousness, they are driven to try and chisel away at you. The one on
top's going to strike at you. That's going to tend to hit you. That misses. I'm going to spend a
fear that I just got to have the other one strike at you. Same roll. I'm going to spend one more
fear.
SAM and MARISHA and MATT and LAURA and MARISHA and MATT and SAM and MARISHA and
Spin them up!
Because they've both been activated this turn, they don't have a lot, unless they can't activate them again,
this ooze is going to slip out the top
and is going to attempt to strike at you from behind.
That's a seven.
Say it.
Oh!
I'm going to leave it at that.
The old gods are on my side. You could just spin one more fear. I'm going to leave it at that. You could just spend one more fear.
I'm okay.
Is everybody out of the vicinity? Is Idle making his way down? Oh, he's already down there.
Yeah, most of the ones there. It's just Brickson and White.
You're right behind.
Brickson, Og, and Misty, the two of you, hold on to her at the moment.
All right. shall we run?
Let's run.
Okay, I'm gonna try to step down
and start trying to run towards the...
A full run or just through a close distance?
Just close distance.
Okay. Close the distance.
Okay, you wanna do anything else on your turn?
I don't think so.
If you wanna roll, if you wanna go to a far distance, you can make an agility check if you'd like to,, if you want to go to a far distance,
you can make an agility check if you'd like to,
to see if you can do it.
Up to you.
Sure. I love it.
Why not? Let's go.
Let's do it.
So you would be here.
Go ahead and roll an agility check.
Nothing to add, so, oh, well.
Nine with hope.
Nine with hope.
That's not gonna succeed, unfortunately.
I didn't think so.
The terrain here is a little more difficult, so you only get a close distance at the end. You get a hope, but that brings it back to me.
The two slimes that are still up there, the one skeleton that's focused on you at this point, I'm going to go ahead and do that.
This skeleton, it's going to take a chunk out of you.
Yeah, that's okay.
It wants to so badly. I'm going to go ahead and activate it, coming at you.
There we go, that's gonna be a 13 to hit.
That hits.
Okay, okay.
The skeleton hits you for three points of physical damage.
Hey, I'm gonna use.
And it feels vindicated.
It's like, pshh.
I'm gonna use an armor.
It's so exciting.
I'm gonna use an armor to get rid of it.
Arrrgh!
It feels dejected. Yes!
Yes!
Argh!
Hates, hates statues now.
And I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna leave it at that.
Questions, it's all present.
You said these oozes are barely hanging on?
Yeah, tiny little cloven oozes.
What do you wanna do?
I tell Misty, I'm right behind you.
Okay.
Ah!
I'm gonna swing at him and I'm gonna try,
I'm gonna pick one, I might do a whirlwind if it succeeds.
Let's go.
Please fucking work.
Okay, and an 11 to hit with hope?
That hits.
Okay! I'm going to Spin of Hope into a Whirlwind and hit everything within my range.
Wait, but you just got a hope.
Because you rolled with hope.
Oh, you're right, I rolled with hope.
I keep that.
Good looking.
You're welcome, girl.
All right, so how much damage? So that will be, icky.
Hopefully it's enough, though.
Five damage for both?
Five damage does one hit point to both of them.
As you carve through.
Yes!
Both of the oozes are splattered against the rocks,
their flames subsiding and vanishing.
Great, and now I follow after Misty.
Okay, are you going for a full far sprint?
You know, after I ate shit last time,
I'm gonna keep it calm and keep it smooth.
I'm feeling like a badass.
Yeah. Okay.
Since we're there, I'm gonna take my turn.
Well, no, do you wanna?
I'm running, yeah, do you wanna?
Yeah, do what you do.
I was just gonna throw an ice spike
at that very tall skeleton that's had some issues.
Let's go, roll a spell cast for me.
Yeah.
That's 14 with hope.
All right, take that hope, that's a success.
Go ahead and roll damage.
All right, ice spike is a d6.
That's a four. A four, that's gonna be two hit points, which is enough to shatter it.
Let's go.
That skeleton gets blown apart.
And now I'm flying back.
We'll say at this point, as you all begin to flee into here, the speed of the skeleton is not
quite enough to keep up. And as you begin to vanish down further, further down that path that you had noticed on the map. You can no longer
hear the skittering of bone, just the silence of the interior cave.
TRAVIS. Okay. Okay, so. Dripping goo that catches things on fire. Probably the worst thing we're
going to encounter in these caves.
SAM and MARISHA. Definitely. Yeah. Why would you say something like that?
That's it?
That's the scariest part?
No, no.
He's being sarcastic.
Yeah.
Oh.
Don't listen to Andy.
That human thing where the humor's implied but.
I understand, this is the same type of thing,
the lying is funny.
Yes.
Okay.
Yep.
Oh boy.
Brixton, you were very powerful back there.
My goodness, you're a warrior. A true warrior.
I thought that you just were a fire keeper.
Yes, you see, I've been tending to the flame for about 15 years now.
But the kid's maddening.
Doing the same thing day in, day out, year after year. I don't actually
know how much time I've spent at the top of that tower. But a handful of years ago, curiosity got
the best of me. So I made friends with a few of the Delvers and they let me sneak on by.
SAM and SAM and MARISHA and SAM and MARISHA sneak on by? Like to train with them?
No, just take walks.
Outside the wall.
Outside the wall and the vaults.
Wow.
I would do it off hours when everyone else was asleep and I would sometimes even pad my cot to make it look like I was still
there and not abandoning my post. One day, when I came through here, I started off small. 100 meters
at first, 200 meters, 300 meters. I was quite the coward when I first came down. But over time, I was more and more boldened.
The flame, it spoke to me.
The pyre.
And then I came across a body, a skeleton.
And it had this armor.
And I don't know, something inside it.
It was almost as if the skeleton's eyes
lit up with flame and it called to me,
and I knew this armor was meant for me.
This was to be my new calling.
This was my destiny.
Do I think so? This just happened right now.
What, what, what?
The skeleton in the armor.
Are you talking about what just happened?
No, no, no, this was not that long ago.
A handful of months at most.
I don't know.
So it happened twice.
This is the second set of skeletons on fire that,
oh, she said, why didn't she say when I was dead?
Dead guy.
Do I think she's telling us the entire truth
about how she got that armor?
If you want to make an instinct roll, and you can make.
I have advantage on detecting lies.
A presence roll.
A presence roll?
Sure.
This just seems like a weird coincidence,
is all I'm saying.
That one's kind of cocked. I know.
I'll say yours is a reaction roll,
so you don't get hope or fear on this one,
but it is a reaction roll.
Okay.
15 with hope.
Okay, I definitely did not roll that.
I rolled an 11.
Okay.
So you can take a hope,
and express what he senses about your presentation.
What she's saying, she believes at least. I don't know, maybe she's a little unhinged.
Maybe doing nothing but staring at fire for over a decade.
Maybe that body was still alive when the armor was on?
I don't know.
No!
I don't know.
She saw a dead man.
His eyes lit up in flame because she sees flame everywhere.
And I would say the armor does not look current.
Got it.
This is definitely armor from the Old World,
from the Knights of Yor, from the,
I don't know who these, you help me out here.
It's definitely, the insignia's on them
that you've kept mostly covered when you left Desperlok
themselves hold the banner image
of the old Amber Reach.
This was armor that adorned a decorated soldier
of the armies of the Old World,
and those that were given station
in the military beneath the God King.
Now take a closer look.
Please, I would love to know.
I don't know who the valiant person was who wore this,
but I just want to do them honor.
I just think you already have to wear these vestments.
It is not a station that I take lightly.
I'm just going to go up and trace each of the sigils
or anything that's on there.
To just try to see if they feel familiar to me.
You glance into it and you place your finger
across the beautiful metal tooling and design work
along the top of the breastplate
where it meets the clavicle.
I just trace it, it's so beautifully made.
As you do, your consciousness falls into a haze
and you hear suddenly this distant echo
of hundreds of shields clattering in together.
And you see from a window
an army moving.
Brightest day, the bluest of sky,
and soldiers off to some conquest.
A flash of a time forgotten,
a memory that's yours,
not yours.
You do remember this, but you do now.
Why, you pull back and you withdraw your fingers
from her breastplate.
Oh, I just saw visions of battle.
I just saw visions of battle. I think this is a very incredible piece that you're wearing.
I took great care to hide it from the scholars.
I know if they saw me with such a relic, they would surely remove it from my person.
But it's not for them. If they saw me with such a relic, they would surely remove it from my person.
But it's not his, it's not for them.
He was meant for me, he was meant for me.
To maybe bring back...
the valiant knights that once were.
Of course.
It's my destiny. Well, you definitely were impressive.
You fought with strength and
steadfast passion.
But we should really keep going, don't you think?
Yes, of course.
I mean, I figure we're walking talking.
This is a walk and talk.
Yes, a walk and talk.
Yeah.
Yeah.
While looking out for droplets of flaming.
Fair, fair.
Who is taking the current turn on the newly
analyzed map?
I can keep leading if you guys would like.
Instinct or knowledge, your choice.
Instinct, but do I get to keep using this advantage
on navigation through harsh environments, or no?
As your ability is rigged.
As a Ridgeborn.
I'd allow it, because this is a subterranean
mountainous region.
All right.
That is a 16 with hope.
Nice, all right, take that home.
You follow the map now that you've oriented yourselves,
and you see now where there was a bit of confusion
in the early analyzing of the placement
of where these various intersections were.
There was an earlier intersection that was missed in the shadow and had set you further ahead than you had anticipated,
but now that you've reoriented yourselves,
you follow the line as it was written
and follow the next blue torch.
And the next blue torch,
the stillness and quiet of these caverns
continuing until you curve around
one of the fresh excavations.
There was once a solid rock wall that's been recently broken out
and braced on all sides.
Here you can see there's gathered tools on each side
where the recent excavation team had broken through
and left what they didn't need to use at the time,
because when they broke through this wall,
it opened up into another chamber.
A still partially collapsed stone pathway, but as it opened up wider and curved upward, it
stepped into a larger area with a massive, beautiful sculpted gate. You come around the corner and just see it there, and you can see where the gate itself sits.
The smell of faint scent of burned flesh
still hanging in the air.
Any sign of blue torches in this room?
There are two blue torches, one set closest to you
up above part of the wall, and one further back
near where the gate is.
In a little bit of flicker of blue light there is,
you can see the shadowed shapes
of burnt corpses strewn across the ground,
as well as a large armored corpse
that looks to have been carved and set
along what was some sort of a battle here.
How many bodies do we spot?
You can see four bodies.
Four, that's the guys who died.
Do any of this look familiar to you?
Do I recognize any vigil armor on any of the corpses?
Do you guys enter towards the site?
Yeah. Okay. As you move in and clamber up the rock,
indeed you do begin to recognize
some of these visual members,
or at least the armor and the bits and pieces you've seen.
Their features are gone, their bodies are charred corpses,
as is standard for those who fall
under the corruption of the Umbra.
If a body is not destroyed within a period of time,
it will rise again.
So those who fell here were burned.
But there was also the massive armored fiend.
You heard Rascalo speak of a gate guardian
that they felt when they were here,
and you can see its body strewn out,
its limbs elongated, its cloaked hood,
a skeletal, from what bit you can see,
peeking out from underneath,
exaggerated in size, and its neck itself,
almost arched backward,
what little bit of the jaw you can see.
The hood that's over it adorned with a small crown
that almost has gold leaves sculpted through it.
Its large, wholly emblazoned shield on one arm
pressed out where its bony fingers are broken off
and now scattered a few feet from its hand.
A massive scythe-like hooked blade
that itself extends seven feet to one side, itself laying, partially jammed into the stone
off to the side.
A great fight took place here, definitely.
SAM and SAM and LAURA I'm going to go up to some of the fallen
vigil soldiers and just sort of collapse to my knees.
It's just so horrible that they would die like this
and I'm gonna be rifling through their pockets.
So, it's just, they're our brothers and sisters
and they just, just seeing if I can find anything
and try anything to take them.
Yeah, I'll say, make a finesse roll for me
if you don't mind. Okay, okay.
Did they also burn that guardian?
No. Or does that not need? And the guardian's the one that has the crown, right?
Correct, but no, it's the, those who are mortal and died,
those are the ones that need to be burned or destroyed.
20 with hope.
20 with hope, take that, hope.
Yes, in fact, you uncover on that body
an amber reach round shield that seems to have been
scavenged from the ruins.
It's a round shield.
As well as a small pouch.
This pouch is almost burned, but not to the point
where the interior of it was destroyed.
There is what's called an armor stitcher.
It is a series of metallic patches
and alchemical liquid that can be used
to set it over damaged armor to repair it rather rapidly.
Duck tape!
So cool!
Duck tape!
Universal Bondist!
Duck it!
Yep.
Yes.
Cool.
Duck tape.
Yeah, I'm gonna take these items and I realize that my pack is full. This is a weird time to do this,
August, but can I deliver your stuff to you now? I need the room.
TRAVIS, off-screen voice, and inaudible, say, what have you got there?
I've got some good stuff for you. You asked for me.
No, what have you got that you need to make room for? Oh, it's just junk. SAM and LAURA and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and I'm going to try and grab the pouch with the Prestidigitation. Okay.
So it's a sizable object.
Okay.
I will say, go ahead and make a finesse roll
against you rolling.
So excited.
Finesse?
A reaction roll of instinct.
This is for you to essentially try.
Do I get to add my instinct to this?
Yes, you do.
12 with hope. Oh, there's no hope.
Eight with hope.
So you pluck it and you watch as there's this tug
on the pouch that you had just acquired
and as it tries to pull away, you grasp it
and it pulls away.
You look over and see the look in August's eyes.
I'll take my stuff later.
Look, I'll show you what this is, all right?
I'd like to.
I'll show you what this is.
It's some sort of thing for fixing armor.
It seems pretty cool.
That's bloody brilliant.
Yeah, expensive.
Whoever has their armor damaged can use it.
Of course, if you had any armor, you could, too, but I don't think you know what that
is. You're a strong fighter. You're a spider moth.
I'm really not a strong fighter, but I don't need it. Just show what you got, that's all.
But I did have stuff for you from earlier, the stuff you requested. You wanted meat. I got you a
few ounces of pain beast meat.
All right, all right, that'll do.
You asked for some juniper berries. They're a little rotten, but here they are.
Okay, no, I'll take them. Thank you.
And reached into my pouch. You asked for some fabric. It's gray.
Later, later.
It's gray linen.
Don't need it right now.
I couldn't find a whole book on etiquette, but I did find this. It's a pamphlet about dress codes
for formal occasions.
That'll do, actually. Pamphlet about dress codes for formal occasions. I don't think, actually.
All right.
Pamphlet will fit in my bag.
While they're having this conversation,
and you're taking in the surroundings here,
you can see the massive double gate
that was noted by Rascallo and the team
where this fight took place,
that he believes to be the gate
that leads to the Firmament's Harrow.
The right-hand side of the gate is slightly pushed in. to the Firmament's Harrow.
The right-hand side of the gate is slightly pushed in.
Did you check the Guardian for anything?
Is that what you were checking?
I didn't check anybody.
I was mourning the loss of these fine, fine men.
Where did you get those items?
No, I didn't check that one.
You should go check that one. Go check it. Are there footprints leading into that door, by the way? SAM and LAURA and SAM and LAURA and SAM and
SAM and and wearing it and saying that we're that. That we're the guardian.
The guardian.
Like ha ha ha, this is a joke?
That's actually pretty funny.
It's not bad. I like that.
I do like that.
You are. Yes.
As you walk up to the gate where it's ajar,
you can see it's about two feet wide.
Where it is, there's a part of the gate,
part of the wooden frame of it,
where it looks like a small,
like a nail of some kind was driven into it,
where a hanging like a small, like a nail of some kind was driven into it, where a hanging trinket,
like a bone that's been tied with twine
and has carvings in it has been set there,
and there is a bloody handprint
that is pressed and smeared against it,
and indeed there is a trail of blood
from inside this room and beyond the gate.
It's a human hand size.
This is Velkx, though.
Remember I told you he has bones and all this stuff.
He was here.
It looks like reed tea leaves and whatnot.
Yes, all right.
And you're inspecting the body of the Guardian?
If that's what you guys would like me to do,
I'd be happy to, sure.
I'll go over and inspect the crown.
The crown's not too heavy for you.
The crown of, oh. The crown is not too heavy for you. Oh, the crown is not too heavy for me.
It is, but I'll go check it out.
Okay.
How big is the crown, did you say?
The Guardian's.
It's a little, it's like a human size, a little larger.
Like I said, the features are exaggerated,
but you go ahead and touch and grab the crown.
Preceditation just, oh shit.
Faster than you can expect, suddenly a massive, protection. Grab the crown. SAM and TALIESIN, and TRAVIS, and SAM, and TALIESIN, and Shit.
Faster than you can expect, suddenly a massive, gauntleted, bony skeletal hand with the fingers
reformed and the rest of you watch with lightning speed as the Guardian grabs onto your forearm and
begins to rise up from its broken space. I'm going to be right back here.
No!
Why won't you grab the crown?
Why would you do that?
That's so dumb!
Why would you ever do that?
What a dumb idea!
I'm going to need a little help setting this one down.
Oh god!
So just give me a second.
Oh boy.
Oh my gosh.
Oh boy. Ready.
Who has multiple armor slots down?
Me, but I can recover them.
Two down?
Two by five.
I can also give somebody a point.
Whoa, look at the gate!
That looks so cool.
Wow.
Wow.
Did that crush your fingers?
I'm getting cake.
So as you had walked up to the gate here,
and you all had been conversing
back around this space. What to do?
Over here.
Oh, that's the guardian?
No, the guardian I haven't placed yet.
Oh.
Oh my god.
Just right into the honeypot we did.
As it rises.
Oh god.
Upon the ground.
Oh, that's so sick.
Oh, he's all hunched over. Look at him. Oh, that's so sick! Oh, he's all hunched over.
Look at him.
You see a once holy warrior
who is tasked with preventing this gate
from breaching for those unworthy
of the monastery's great holy order itself,
over time, taken by the corruption of the Umbra and other powers that sink
deep into the roots of this mountain, leave it a mockery of its once holy self. As it's clasped onto
your wrist that snicks, it's going to make a sweeping strike. It's going to shift forward
slightly, and as part of its sweeping strike, I will spend a fear to do that, and it makes an
attack against every PC within very close range. It takes its massive scythe-like blade. That's going to be a 14 against both you and Misty.
SAM and MARISHA and MATT and SAM and MATT and MARISHA and
Hits.
Hits both of you?
Yeah.
All right. So both of you take...
Wait, what did you roll, sorry?
14.
14. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that hits.
That's going to be 11 points of physical damage on both of you. Whoosh! Who's rough? MATT and MARISHA and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and That was ten. 11? 11, sorry, 11. I'm near Misty, I am your shield. I'm gonna take it.
I'm gonna mark a stress and take it.
I am your shield.
All righty.
So you take that 11 points of physical damage.
Yes, I will reduce it by one.
That's what I do.
That's what I do.
Okay, wait, so I just take one?
You take no damage, because you take it.
I take no damage because you took it too.
I take it for you.
Okay, okay. Correct.
And I take one, because because you took it. I take it for you. Okay, okay.
And I take one because I'm reducing it.
I will go ahead and do my frontline tank ability
where I can spend three hope
to refill two armor slots.
All right, so you use your hope ability
to regain some armor slots?
Yeah.
You got it.
The gate guardian now, its head,
you can't even see its eyes.
Where the crown sets upon
its hood, the cloth blocks the top of its skull. You see the nose and the jaw itself hang open, and
the smell of decay emanates from it. This black shadow wafts off of it as it moves. What are you
going to do?
I'm going to reach back with the halberd, and as I swing it behind me, I thrust the staff forward
and I'm going to cast Bolt Beacon towards the guardian.
Let's go! Roll for your spell test.
I'll make a spellcasting roll against the target within far range. That is a 14, 15, 16, 16 with fear.
With fear, that is a success though.
All right.
I'll take that.
So I'll do D8 plus two magic using my proficiency.
That's 12 points of damage,
and the target becomes temporarily vulnerable
and glows brightly until his condition is cleared.
Magical damage, correct.
Magical, yes.
Okay, gotcha.
All of a sudden you blast it with this divine power
as it burns around it.
The shadow that was seeping off of it
suddenly gets scattered in the moment
and you watch as the cracks in its armor
are now glowing from the inside like they're molten,
giving you direction on where to strike for maximum impact.
Okay, so right now the next magical attack does what?
He is vulnerable temporarily.
So what does that mean to a magical attack, exactly?
It just means temporarily vulnerable.
Yes. Yes.
So vulnerable means attacks against him have advantage.
However, you roll with fear, which brings it to me.
Okay. Yes, and I just attack, I have d6.
So he's going to go ahead and leap in the air
with an unnatural speed,
almost like a Jack Skellington jump in the air.
And then land right behind all of you.
Spend that fear to do another sweeping strike
with its massive curved blade.
It's going to be coming at all three of you
within close range, which is going to be Misty, Brixton, and Snicks. That's going to be a 16 to hit.
SAM and MARISHA and MATT and SAM and MARISHA and MATT and SAM and
That's not me, though.
That's not me. He left me behind.
Sorry. That's Brixton, Misty, and Idle.
That hits.
That hits. That's nine points of physical damage to all three of you with one heavy strike.
Nine points of heavy damage?
Nine points of physical damage.
I'm going to use an armor.
Who needs armor, by the way?
I'll take it for now.
Does anybody need armor, by the way?
Does anybody need armor, by the way? I don't know. I don't know.
Does anybody need armor?
Not yet.
Okay.
It's back to you guys.
Who's doing what?
Anyone?
Anyone need armor?
Sure, everybody does.
Okay, good to know.
And you're?
You can repair armor at downtime,
but that allows you to do it.
No, I have some stuff.
If you get to downtime.
That's true.
I know.
You gotta survive first.
Stop it.
So I'm gonna try, I'm gonna let my wings out again, I'm gonna give my poor moth a little meat. All right. MATT and TALIESIN and SAM and MATT and TALIESIN talking at the same time. You've got to survive first. TALIESIN and SAM talking at the same time.
I'm going to let my wings out again. I'm going to give my poor moth a little meat.
And then we're going to take off again.
And I'm going to try and get within close range of this.
Yes, it does.
I'm trying to get in. How close is close range?
Close range is about there. Up here would be close range. Close range is about there. Is there another going to be up here?
Yeah, I'm going to pop up there, and I'm going to suddenly, a bunch of extra arms come out that
have been hiding in the back of my coat, make their way out, and we all pass this little needle around as it starts to
take some of my spider thread and make this little sigil as it goes, and then we cast it out, and I'm
doing arcane barrage as this fires at this jerk right over here. I don't roll for this.
Nope, it just goes out of my play.
So I assume that it still means that the condition
that he's talking about, about the next one
having advantage doesn't change.
Well does it say the next one has advantage?
Or it's vulnerable?
Travis. Travis.
Just temporarily vulnerable.
Right, temporarily vulnerable means
until I spend a fear to get rid of this.
Oh, well in that case, this doesn't have it,
so I'm gonna spend, let's see,
how much hope am I gonna put into this?
One, two, three, let's put four hope into this.
Whoa, what is, what?
That's a lot of your big spending.
That's 46.
46 magic damage.
As August just unleashes this massive barrage
of arcane energy that blasts through all these different
silken threads, riding along them like little magical cable cars.
That's so cool.
11 points of damage.
11 points of magical damage. That makes it a major wound. That's two hit points it marks on that
one. It gets impacted multiple times, bone splinters and armor dents in it and it
pulls back to this full backward arc, stays there for a second. Back up and is not looking up at you.
It's like hoods still covering its eyes. quick solo turn. I want to go Unstoppable, which is my class feature as a guardian. And then I guess
I'm going to whack at it. That's what I do. I'm going to whack it. Okay, here we go. Come on.
Wait, do I still, ooh, that's pretty good.
Do I still have advantage on this?
Is he still vulnerable?
He's still vulnerable.
I think it doesn't really matter at this point.
Yeah, that's fine.
So that's gonna be 10, 21, 23 to hit?
That hits. Okay.
And then that is going to be,
let me just make sure I'm doing everything correct here. Yeah.
Double sevens on my damage die, so that's going to be seven, eight, nine, ten, plus the one for my
unstoppable die, so that's 11 damage.
11 damage. You strike it heavily with your weapon, and as you impact, this glow from its holy buckler
seems to emanate for a second, and you hit,
and your weapon seems to meet resistance,
some sort of magical protection,
and your blade only does half damage.
Physical resistance from your strike.
So it only marks one hit point.
I have an idea on my back.
It's also, I'm going to spend a fear
to remove its vulnerability.
And then also as a reaction to that, spend a fear.
Okay.
To use its hallowed cry.
Oh, Jesus.
This silent beast now after the strike and impact
having taken physical damage from you,
looks up and goes,
Yeah!
And as it screams out,
two of the burned bodies begin to climb out, the bones pushing out of the burned
flesh and crawling towards you.
There is a half-open door. We could run and shut the door.
As these two dredged skeletons arrive from the bodies here and immediately activate.
We could run. arrives from the bodies here and immediately activate.
Good run.
They are, they, as part of their spotlight, shift forward and they're going to, this one's going to
go ahead and move up to here to you, Eidol, as the two of them, and they're going to make a group
attack.
Oh boy. To spend a fear on that.
SAM and TALIESIN and SAM and MARISHA and SAM and MATT and SAM and MARISHA and SAM and
We should do that, too.
Yeah, we can do some tag team attacks.
That's going to be 17 to hit you.
Yes, for sure.
So you take two points of physical damage from both of those dredges immediately.
I'm going to make it go away.
All righty.
And you rolled with hope or fear on yours.
I was with fear, thank you.
So we'll take that fear back.
And now he's going to shift.
No, he's going to hold onto this right here.
He's in a good position.
He's gonna spend a fear again
to make another sweeping strike against this crew.
That's gonna be a 19 on the die,
which for a umber touch creature is a crit.
Oh no.
So.
We know he's hitting him.
He's doing another sweeping strike against all three of you right there. Oh nosies. Wait, no, and he's hitting who? He's doing another sweeping strike
against all three of you right there.
Oh nosies.
Wait, oh, nevermind, I don't have enough hope for that.
Carry on.
You just spent poor hope.
Oh god.
Nevermind.
That's gonna be 16 points of physical damage
to Brixton, to Misty, and to Idle.
Yep.
Okay.
Hits.
Okay, well, I am unstoppable,
my damage thresholds are reduced down.
So I'm gonna spend one armor to take no damage from that.
Hasn't had damage yet.
Just hits.
No, I just did 16 points of physical damage
to all three of you.
Oh, I thought it was 16.
I understand I did too.
No, I rolled a natural 19.
Oh, that's right, that's what you were saying was a crit. For a number of you. Oh, I thought it was 16 to hit. I understand I did too. No, I rolled a natural 19.
Oh, that's right, that's what you were saying was a crit.
For a number touch creature.
So, shit.
Okay.
Oh, where's the thing I can do?
So that's severe, I gotta do an armor for that.
Yeah, yeah.
Okay.
So if I do one armor, that just takes you down to the next threshold.
It takes you down to major, yeah.
Fuck.
Woo hoo hoo Fuck. Okay.
We've got to get out of here! We've got to run to the door and maybe shut the door behind us.
You can use hope, right, to regain armor?
No, she has an ability to do that, specifically to that class. It's all good, good looking out,
though. But it is back to you guys. What do you want to do?
I'm going to run into the middle of this mess.
Oh Jesus, this is stupid.
We gotta go.
Yep, we gotta go.
Oh shit.
And I'm going to whip out my boomerang!
Let's go!
It's dirty, it's gross, it's rusty.
I'm going to just fucking chuck it at the big guy. Let's go. It's rusty. I'm gonna just fucking chuck it at the big guy.
Let's go. Roll an attack.
Okay. I'm gonna add a bunch of stuff to it. First, I'm gonna add my Wayfinder feature. I can mark a
stress to add an extra damage dice. I guess I should see if I hit it first, right?
Well, you add it before you roll.
Okay. So I'll do that. I'm marking a stress to double the damage dice.
All right.
I'm gonna roll to see if I hit.
Do you want help trying to hit?
I mean, yes, but you don't have very much hope to spend.
No, I don't, okay, I'll wait.
All right.
Please work.
17 to hit with fear.
MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and SAM and
MATT and SAM and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
MATT and SAM and
and SAM and
and SAM and
and SAM and
and SAM and
and SAM and
and SAM and
and SAM and
and SAM and
and SAM and
and SAM and
and SAM and
and SAM and
and SAM and
and SAM and
and SAM and
and SAM and
and SAM and
and SAM and
and SAM and
and SAM and
and SAM and
and
and three hope to hold them off. That will make my attack. The boomerang will hit him and then hit
both of the other guys.
Okay. Is it physical damage?
This is magic damage.
Okay.
This is magic damage.
He is not resistant to magic damage. That's 13 damage.
What did I say?
I think it was higher.
No, it was higher.
I'm sorry. It was...
Seven?
I think it was 17. 17. I No, it was higher. Sorry, sorry, it was... Seven, I think it was 17.
17, I'll take it.
Damn.
Yes, it was 17, because I rolled 15 plus two, yes.
How do you want to do this?
Yeah!
We got the Howdy Doody Doody!
We're the Boomerangs!
We're the Boomerangs.
We're the Boomerangs!
Does it kill all three of us?
Oh yeah.
That's the lamest shit I've ever heard.
You're so badass.
Oh my god.
We were discussing death moves over here.
Somebody's on the edge.
You have one hit point?
Yes.
Okay.
I run into the fray with my new friends,
shaking with fear,
unable to look at what I'm doing.
I cover my eyes and I throw the boomerang as hard as I can,
hoping that someone will see how cool this is, and the boomerang will clang, clang, clang all the way
around, and come right back into my hand.
Here's what's interesting. You throw it and it misses the Guardian. It spins around, destroys one of the
skeletons, destroys the other. You miss it on the return, and then it sticks into the shield of the
Guardian. The magical runes glow and then detonate, the shield exploding, and the boomerang
itself seems to strike into the ceiling. The guardian looks up as a rock, crushes with your
boomerang intact.
What the fuck?
It was amazing.
We gotta get out of here!
Wait, did you get the crown?
No, should I get the crown? I am on it! Leave it!
Okay, okay, okay, okay!
I'm gonna leave it!
Alright.
Wait, how much damage does your boomerang do?
It just did 17 damage because I doubled it and I did all sorts of, I used everything.
Okay, let's go!
I used everything.
Retrieve your boomerang.
The gate guardian is now scattered into multiple pieces.
It's blade is thrown off and stuck into the wall.
Yeah, we've seen that before.
His fingers were off, they came back on,
and fucked him up. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Okay, we like it.
As your group pushes through the door,
the blood smear of a previous figure
who had stepped through.
Grabbed a little bone on the thread.
The bone on the thread.
You're all, it takes a moment for you all
to pull this door closed.
Here in the thread, you're all, it takes a moment for you all to pull this door, it's closed.
Here in the darkness beyond, where the torchlight doesn't reach,
you ignite a torch to light the space.
And there is a staircase that just ascends,
a beautiful, smooth, marbled staircase
that climbs up.
And that's where we're going to finish this episode. ALL SHOUTING AND LAUGHING
SAM and MARISHA and SAM and MARISHA and
We're just trying to get milk!
Rocking the hog place!
We'll pick up there next time.
We're turning back, right? We're turning back!
No, we're going home.
We gotta get milk.
Just like ten more minutes! Yeah, it's gonna be so good.
Back is that way, you guys just went this way.
What?
No, no.
Just like you wanted.
We cool.
Wait, but the bone was on this door, right?
We were heading in the right direction?
Yeah, yeah, we're going the right way.
We're going the right way.
And the handspan.
I think we're going the right way.
We are getting the right way.
We're sure going the right way.
We should play for like 15 more minutes
before our next save, and then we can go to bed.
Before our next save. Just like save can go to bed. Before I get to sleep.
Safe point.
What was your level?
If you want to take a short rest at the top of the next session, we can go over that process when
we get there, because you all are a little wrecked right now. But we'll pick up from there next time.
Nevertheless, thank you so much for joining us on this first episode of Age of Umbra.
We'll pick up from there next time.
Once again, big thank you to our friends at Heroforge
for helping us create these awesome minis
for our player characters.
Big shout out for our Bisterium Games
for this awesome mini, and maybe more you'll see them fight
throughout the series as it progresses.
They have awesome sculpts.
But yeah, we'll see you all here shortly.
Is it Thursday yet?
All right!
And we finished up this episode.
Thanks for coming along on this wild journey with us.
If you liked the adventure, consider leaving a review
on your podcast platform of choice.
We're always looking for new critters to share our stories with,
and your review may help a new batch of Wayward Adventurers discover the show. See you next time!