Dice Shame - 1 | 'A Piece of Cake'

Episode Date: October 31, 2019

The Road to Nightstone seems fairly straight-forward however our heroes soon realize they may have a much more difficult road before them than they had originally imagined... Dice Shame is a podcast that welcomes its audience to the gaming table. There’s nothing quite like getting together with your close friends on game night, getting the snacks out, and rolling some dice together. Right now we’re playing through Storm King’s Thunder, an adventure for D&D 5th edition. Like the games we play at home, we try not to take ourselves too seriously. The show is entertaining, inclusive, and irreverent, while still taking the rules (somewhat) seriously. As for the eponymous Dice Shame? When the rolls get cold—well, you’ll have to tune in to find out! Episodes are released every Thursday at 1:20 am.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

That's not going to do it. They can take 10 more damage, please. There's so many goblins. There's about four. It's not my time yet. This isn't right. Kralath, make us save versus death. I mean, they're horse-sized wolves.

Doren, there is a warg that is snarling at you. I snarl back. Make a snarl check. Piercees through and pins its lower jaw to the stone floor. With a natural one. Oh my God. Hello and welcome to the first episode of Dice Shame. We are playing fifth edition, D&D, actual play of Storm King's Thunder, published by Wizards of the Coast.

Justin's really excited about it. My name is Joe Fallick, and I'll be jamming for. For your listening pleasure. I love D&D, and I'm going to be trying my utmost to keep the game exciting, and mostly by the books. What is dice shame? If you've ever played a tabletop RPG, you know the sinking feeling when your favorite D20 fails you at a critical moment.

What'd you roll? Three. Oh, my God, it's not as bad as one. Sometimes it feels like the dice will only roll ones. Well, we wanted to officially let our dice know that this will not be tolerated. rated. Bad dice pay the price. That's my new slogan. That's so good. That's so good. I mean, it's a thing. My co-host and I have been gaming and live streaming weekly for over five years as the Invictus stream. You can find all our videos at our YouTube channel. But in case you're not familiar with us, let's take a second to introduce ourselves. My name is Mr. Harlan Guthrie. I am a person. That's good. You know, I got role playing late in life. I love it. I'm new to D.N. relatively, but I've learned enough about the rules to enjoy it. I like stuff.

I'm drinking a beer, so that's as far as I'm going to get. Who are you playing? Tonight I am playing red-handed Robin, a tobacxy Ranger, who is naive to the world and excited to experience it and yet proficient in combat. He should be a fun character to play, and he's going to talk a little bit like Carrie Elwis, I think. Is that how Carrie Elis talks? I don't know, but in this world it is.

Cariolwis as a fox. Alex. Uh, I'm a level one, uh, human, uh, human insurance broker. My name is Alex. Harlan and I are brothers. And, uh, in real life. Oh. I'm going to play playing Doran Iron Fist, the middle-aged blacksmith and battle insurance

broker. Yeah, not insurance rights. I'll quote you. But, but, but, but, but, but, That's got to be an industry. Battle experienced dwarf from the deep of the Great Peak Mountains. Rob? Hi, I am Rob Diabald.

I'm a community and convention organizer for the Toronto Area Gamers and BreakoutCon here in Toronto. I'm a gamer for a long time. I'm an engineer in real life. I've been streaming with the Invictus Stream for a couple of campaigns. And today I'm playing Jack Page, the Wizard. from Waterdeep, also known as Lord Johannes Iveben-Page, Sion of the House of Wands. He's a mapmaker and cartographer, and general, rich intellectual, shirking his family duties of becoming a wizard and using Wands and stuff to, like, go off and play in the dirt.

That old yarn. You know how it goes when you can just, like, one day you're in the east of Tethier, and then you're on the border of Am, and then you're, you know, you just travel around. I know all those names. That's privilege right there. Right, like it's, anyways. Elf privilege. Half elf.

Thank you. And that's why... Half privilege. I mean, you're not even getting to the elf side. My mom from Silvery Moon, my God. Anyways. Justin, who are you? Hi, I'm Justin.

I am... I've been playing with the Invictus Stream since day one. And I am an audiobook narrator. Some fantasy sci-fi stuff. You might want to check out. That's not a... There'll be a QR code embedded in that logo. As you could probably tell, I'm an audiobook narrator.

It's a good voice. It's a voice. Hi, I'm Justin. Wow. It's always the closest. ASM or whatever it's called. The SMR. It's like ASL.

Awesome. Exactly. And he's my best friend. Yes, in real life and in the game, I'm going to be playing Krayloff. Kralov, the cleric, grave cleric, who served on the Knights of the Eternal Or. order, slaying the undead. Oh, those are the dark times. Those are the dark times. Yeah, I had a really rough time

wandering the mists alone after my crew died, my squad. And I made it to Feroon somehow. And I met this guy who kind of broke me out of my funk. I met red and I'm feeling a lot better about life and all that stuff. You make me feel a lot better too. Hopefully he can break me out of my funk

Strangers in a strange land You said cleric squad And I just imagine the like Chewis comic book With the power of the happy And you sort of introduced yourself Ish but I did

Who is you? I'm Joe Fallick I'm a scientist by day And sometimes by night Depending on the shift And I like DMing a lot I've been with the Invictus stream

for like three years, I think. And I'm really lucky to be sitting across the table from all of you today. I'm dating Harlan. What? That was not meant to be a drop. In game or out of game? I got my brother, my best friend, and my gal. And then Rob's here, too.

Rob's doing a great job. I like saying next to Rob. But there's always room in the best friend department. You know, I don't need to be the best friend. I'm happy to settle for just friends with everyone. There you go. Fraud. Frob.

That's my new one. Frobs. What is that? What's the art? Friend Rob. Oh, Frob. What Alex and I can be best friends? It's fine.

Remontos are us. Who's ready to play some mother effing D&D? D&D! And let's say, shame some dice. Yeah, P&P. Oh, that's a 17. Don't shame that. I'm not going to shame the 17.

I'm fine, too. Okay, okay, good. A noble has contacted you. Namely, she wrote to Jack, her long-standing friend and acquaintance about some issues that she's been having with Nightstone. Jack, you would know and perhaps you've told your companions that Nightstone is a settlement that's proximal to the Our Deep Forest. The closest large center is water deep, which is where you're from. It's about a 10-year-old settlement only. So I'm not sure if any of you have.

have been there probably not because it's a pretty small place and she has asked you for some help there is a longstanding in seemingly irreconcilable conflict with the elves that live in the our deep forest and lady velrosa nandar has asked for your help jack and for whoever you might like to bring along for assistance in mediating between the elves and the members of her community to resolve dispute. She said there was going to be a negotiator and that you guys would be assisting. And she begged you to come with haste. Is this something you've told us then, Jack? Yeah, I mean, I think, so I've never been to Nandar. I'm excited to, or to Knightstone. I've never, I met Lady Nandar at her keep when we were kids like 30 years ago.

Some sui. No, it was, it was a summer they had, they discovered this old, anyways, we don't need to get into it. It was an old wizard's tower, and I got to, like, explore it a little bit. It was, it was very neat, and I stayed the summer with them, and so, so Velrosa and I became close for about the same age, and it was just, you know, we've been writing letters and being friends ever since. Tragically, her husband passed away last year. Yes, you would know this actually was an altercation with the elves. She's been doing some really good community building in, in Nightstone, and trying to do the best. So it, it's, it's, I'm really actually excited to go and get a chance to catch up with her.

Well, if mediation's involved, I think we'd be perfect people to come. What do you say, Kraloff? I think it's a good idea. I'm ready to hit the road. You've always struck me as a peacemaker. Well, I mean, every single issue out there can be resolved. And all it takes is a little diplomacy. Yeah.

Maybe some running around, doing some quests, making life a little easier for folks. I don't think it's going to be a problem. Dancing? Dancing. Dancing helps. Sometimes. as long as you're not on a bar table. Well, you know.

Doran, you're a past warrior, but you agree with mediation. I tend to not negotiate. Doran, the name Nightstone rings a bell in the far reaches of your memory. You actually know someone who lives there, surprisingly, for such a small community. There is a dwarf innkeeper who resides in Nightstone by the name of Morak Urge. Someone who, I don't know, how are you familiar with them? Nightstone. I know an innkeeper there.

Norok Mulcgray, I think it was. I can't remember. You guys go away that. How did you meet him? Well, I can't remember his last name that well. We battled together in the first wars of this land. Did you kill him? No.

I think he might have some insight into this. If we go and visit him first, that would be a... Well, living there is a great start. Has he been there the whole ten years that it's been a place? I haven't talked to him in probably 50 years. but I do recall speaking to my cousin who ran into him about eight years ago in Nightstone, saying that he was running an inn there. I'm sure he would recognize me and take us in.

Maybe free room and board. Hmm. I wouldn't count on it. Maybe free chicken. Maybe. A beer? Possibly. Half a beer.

Yes. Oh, let's go. See, would you consider him a close friend? Is this close for dwarves? I'm just, I don't... Half a beer is pretty close. I don't have many close friends anymore. Understood.

But we knew each other. We've battled together. We've locked eyes on the battlefield. Oh, I know that exact rapport that you're talking about. I have a lot of respect for people that will bear arms at my side. Well, then tonight's stone. I say we're all in the same mood for adventure, and you know someone there. I would love to see you.

Crayloth and I will tag along for, why not? Funs? Fun. Maybe we can lock eyes. Maybe we'll lock eyes, yes. I'd be happy to have you joining us. And hopefully it doesn't ever come to combat, but it would be wonderful to be in combat with you. As I said, I don't negotiate, but I'm happy to help settle negotiations.

I know exactly what you mean. Kralov and I have been traveling together for a while, so you say don't come between us or anything. Nothing could come between us, my friend. I hope so. You want to hop on the shoulders this time? Yeah, all right, hop on. All right, let's do this. You've been traveling along the high road for days.

As evening approaches, you spot a wooden signpost next to a trail that heads north into the hills. Nailed to the post are three arrow-shaped signs. The two marked Water Deep and Daggerford follow the high road but point in opposite directions. The third, marked Nightstone, beckons you to follow the trail. If memory serves, Nightstone is roughly 10 miles up the trail. I'm no cartographer, that it was Nightstone we were trying to go it for, correct? Oh, no, it definitely is. I'm marking it up on the map here.

It says it should be about 10 kilometers of the road here, and we're at Nightstone. Oh, so not too much farther. Is it getting dark out? It's becoming early evening, we'll say. Maybe it's supper time. Your tummies tell you that it's time for nom-noms. My tummy is grumbly. I can feel it up there.

I have jerky. Does anyone want any? I pull some jerky out and hand it to you. Yep, feed me a piece. It's rabbit. I would love a piece. piece of meat. Well, Doran, of course, here you go. And I hopped down off Kralath's shoulders and walk over excitedly. I love the way you chew. It's tasty. Jack? I'll certainly try it. Where did it

come from? Some animal, I think rabbit, probably. It was a rabbit. I watched the whole thing. He's quite talented at cooking. Oh, you should watch this, and I pull my bow off my back and, like, super fast, fire an arrow at the nearest tree. Right? And I fire another arrow, and I'm going to try to split it. With a natural one! Stop! Oh my God! That's the first roll on the podcast.

You fucking bitch. All right. Your arrow flies off into the gathering darkness and you should... I just hold that pose for a moment. I don't know what that was supposed to be. No, that's what I wanted. I just wanted you to see. Just mark one arrow off on your quiver there, baby.

That's what I did. Wow, you fired those so fast. I thought. That was what I was going for. Yeah, sometimes it gets carried away. And I like sulk up the road a little bit. Do the tabaxi eat wood? I'm a little confused at what's going on here.

No, I just wanted to show things. See, Dorn, it's the part where I get that red shot a rabbit. And then now we have jerky. And I feel like something had to happen between the two. And that's the part I was really interested in. Yeah. There was really entirely missed in the explanation. I was trying to illustrate that he did cook it and he's quite good at cooking the rabbits.

I mean, he's good at shooting them, too, usually. I mean, listen, you saw me hit that tree. Everyone saw it. It was a perfect shot. Well, you didn't have to roll for that. No, but the first time, I mean, I hit it. The first time, yeah, you didn't. I mean, it's a rather large tree, but it was a tree nonetheless, and I hit it.

And if it was moving, you would have been impressed. So it's just 10 kilometers up the road here. Let's see. Yeah. Can't wait to see my friend Val Rosa. After following the trail for 10 kilometers, you hear the ringing of a bell. The sound grows louder as nightstone comes into view. A river flows around the settlement, forming a moat. The village itself is contained within a wooden palisade,

beyond which you see a windmill, a tall steeple, and the high-pitched roofs of several other buildings. Apart from the ringing of the bell, you detect no other activity in the village. The trail ends before a lower drawbridge that spans the moat. Beyond the drawbridge, two stone watchtowers flank and open. open gap in the palisade. South of the village and surrounded by the river moat is a cone-shaped, flat-topped hill on which stands a stone keep, enclosed by a wooden wall.

The keep which overlooks the village has partly collapsed. A wooden bridge that once connected the keep to the village is also partly collapsed. Can I rule perception? You certainly may. Just a general perception. I'm going to try again on this dice. That is a natural one. You're going to risk it?

That's one strike. It's got one strike. I don't have a rule for how many times. This is red dice white numbers. Yeah. No, his name is Chester. Is that a taxi name? Chester. This is Chester.

Chester the Dice. And if this dyes fails me again, he's dead. Dead. No, you know what? He's the first die roll. He goes in the box. Hand me the jar. Are you sure?

Yeah, you know what? He doesn't get a second. Goodbye. And I'll take a new one. Bye dice. Bye dice. Okay. Thank you, Justin.

Okay, that's not bad. 18 plus 4. 22. Okay Some eyes red Thank you What color your eyes? Red

Oh really? Yes That's spooky Gross So you're close to the keep The Mott of the Mott and Bailey Sounds like a comedy troupe Mott and Bailey

The outer walls of the keep Seem to be smooth tightly fitted stone You can see from your position That it would be pretty difficult to scale You, as a creature who has a climbing speed, would recognize this as a difficult activity. I have a climbing speed. That's right.

You also notice that one of the outside towers of the keep seems to have been demolished. Looks like they could use some repairs on that keep. Yeah, it looks like there's, who's been to this village before? You guys have been here before? It's only 10 years old, actually. It's fairly new, so I've never had a chance to come by. Oh, okay. You mentioned that, though.

Your friend, Velarosa's husband, he was killed by the elves, right? Dreslin, Lord Nandar, I'm sure you'd have heard of him as Lord Nandar. But, yeah, Dreslin sadly passed away a year or so ago. Does it look like signs of attack with the 22? Like, does it look like these have fallen from outside forces? It doesn't look like they're doing extensive renaos. I don't know. Maybe it was a 10-year-old village, but a thousand-year-old castle.

Great point. Thank you. I just wrote this natural 20 on a history check. Oh, boy. Yeah. So I'm a know-it-all, and I want to show off. So you know from your conversations, your written exchanges with Lady Nandar that Nightstone got its name from a massive chunk of rock that exists within the center of this village. She has told you about it because she knows that you are obsessed with archaeology.

I mean, it's my jam. And she has told you that this. this large chunk of stone has strange glyphs carved into it. This is something that has peaked your interest for some time. And, you know, it's one of the reasons that you're maybe pretty excited to come here. I mean, I do want to visit my friend. We've been friends for 30 years. But yeah, large stone covered in glyphs. I've been putting it off way too long. Yes. Additionally, you know that the nobles of House and Nandar have had a hunting lodge in the forest for about two centuries, but the elves that live there force them to abandon

it. And this keep, this mott and Bailey, is a relatively new endeavor by your friend and her family to create a more permanent establishment. And probably the reason that the elves attacked last year was, you know, they're not super happy that Water Davian nobles come here on hunting vacations. Doran, this might be really interesting to you. It's called Nightstone because there's this big stone carved with all these weird old carvings on it.

I can't wait to see it. So it's not just a clever name. Ancient stone certainly does peak my interest. Right? How cool is that? I'm a little bit concerned about the status of this place. It looks like it hasn't been upkept very well. And with the tensions that have been happening with the elves, I don't know, my mind is kind of racing.

Have the four of you just been steadily walking? the path toward the lower drawbridge? Yeah. Okay. It would seem to me that this keep, this stone building is far too new to be simply withering away. I would gather that this is destruction from war. I pull out my shield and mace. The ringing of the bell has been shepherding you toward this establishment.

It is constantly ringing. As you pull out your shield, There's just a moment of thought that, you know, I do want to believe that I'm going safely to my friend's house, but maybe I'll put the mage armor up for a couple of hours, just in case. Why not? You know, it's just... Spend that first level spell. Can't hurt to be too careful.

Yes, girl. And I will draw my bow because I everyone else is and I want to be included. Same here. I pull up my battle axe and I've got my shield at the ready. And I nudge Doran, are you getting ready? Because Kralath and Jack are getting ready? Doran just looks at you. I thought too.

As you approach the drawbridge, you can see a little ways into the center of town. You see a smattering of rocks, it looks like, littering the main square. You also see some large quadrupedal hairy creatures on the northeast side of the square. two of them they appear to be picking at the corpse of a dog they don't seem to have noticed you and the bell is sounding from your left so that's to the north continually can i do a perception check sure to see if i recognize what these yeah you would roll a nature check to see if you know what the creatures are a 14 what do you dwarf i see metal i see i see large hairy animals Well, I see that, too.

They are large in category in terms of you guys are medium creatures. This is a large. These are both large creatures. You have not seen them before in the flesh, but you have heard of orgs. These are sometimes used as mounts by... Orcs. And the like. Beasts.

Those are riding beasts of the enemy folk to dwarves. Sounds like it's time to dance. I ready my... Yeah. Can I... Now you can... Yeah, I'm gonna... I think I'll stealth up.

So the three of you stay on the drawbridge while Red stealths toward the wargs? Is there a position I can get on the other side of the drawbridge that's high? Can I scale something or climb something to get to a higher position? There are a good couple buildings here. Perfect. I think I would try to stealth forward and climb real quick. Yeah.

Okay. So Red, you stealth forward on... the drawbridge and you see there is a large temple to your left, which is the north of the map. Perfect. You also see a large building to the north in the center of town. This looks like it could be maybe the inn. There's some kind of stables and there are a number of farms littered throughout this mott. Is there any something high closest to the drawbridge that I can just

kind of scale quickly. I would say the temple definitely fits that bill being that it has a bell tower, the bell of which is continually ringing. So you could probably climb atop that building and get, we'll call it 40 feet in the air. I'll scale that quickly. Do you want me to roll stealth? Yes, I do. I roll with disadvantage. Yay. Yeah, because I have armor. Eleven. You make a break for it. As stealthily as you can, you run across the square towards, towards. That's how Red runs. So stout. That's probably why you have disadvantage. Well, what are you wearing? Red, what are you wearing? My cloak. Red is dressed in like a cloak that hides his cut ears, a story for another day.

But basically, he's wearing scale armor underneath that, and he has his bow drawn. His hands or feet are uncovered. The fast pace that you make across the square in order to arrive at the temple, before the wargs notice you, makes your armor clink and shuffle with every step you take. And as you get to the base of this building and start taking your first handholds, climbing up the side, both of the creatures turn and look at you and your companions on the drawbridge. Hello. Roll for initiative.

Da-da-da-da-da. Go. Fuck this. A fucking dice 20 to a 1. Can you imagine? It's pretty swinging. Is that a 1? It was a 1, it was a 20, and it was a 1.

But see, now I feel like we're averaging 10. I can't get rid of it yet. You don't have to. For the listeners at Home Harlan, just pushed the dice shame jar toward Rob, and he declined. 21. I got 11. And 10 for Doran. 10 for Doran.

The Exploring? So it works out to be a 3 for Jack. Would you like a separate initiative for my owl familiar? You can have your owl act on the same count. Kieran, my owl familiar is a, it's been a constant friend for since I learned magic. It was one of them. Yeah, well, I mean, ish. Came a little late to having a familiar.

It was a little bit. Just like puberty. You know, you wait for it. Everybody says it's going to happen in its own time. You're going to find the right spirit for you. And then it happens and you're just disappointed. And he's like, oh my goodness, where did this? Then you spend all afternoon.

at home with your owl like don't come in mom and dad you know you go on a vacation and you're alone in the woods for a little while and she breaks up with you you know and then suddenly there's this phase spirit come to you in the form of an owl and you become fast friends forever right that's how it happened

for me for sure why do birds suddenly up here Doran just stands there looking at you in awe of this owl red it's your turn You are about 10 feet up the side of a building. Yeah, I'm just going to scale it to the roof.

Okay, you do so. So I have a climb speed of 20 feet. How many feet is it to the roof? I said 30-40. We'll say you can get up there with your speed. Well, I have feline agility. So I'm going to use double my move in combat, which will give me a chance to attack in this round.

And then when I get to the top, I'm going to fire at the nearest war. There are two wargs, and they are both looking hungry, hungrily. Hungry like a war. Hungry like wargs. Cut through the ground. I'm going to fire down on top of you. Twelve to hit. You miss.

Arr! Sorry. Kralath, you are on the drawbridge. You see red climb the side of this temple, the bell ringing. I run forward. My armor clanking with my mace drawn and my shield out. I'm going to do a double move. Okay.

Right? Yeah, you dash. Let's do this. Doran, Doran, what do you do? Doran stands at the edge of the drawbridge. And with Jack standing behind him, he braces himself almost like a big iron door in front. There is no war going in or out. And certainly not going to be attacking my tall, lanky, half-elf friend here who's definitely

under-equipped for claws and teeth. A strong breeze could knock him over. Right. So I ready myself. In fact, I ready myself for potentially this warg either leaving or trying to attack me. Okay. With my axe. So you're going to ready an action essentially? Yes. If a warg comes within five feet of you, you're going to swing at it? Absolutely. Correct. Correct. Perfect. It's the warg's turns. War. Good God, y'all. Red is sort of like looking over his shoulder at Doran. excitedly expecting him to do something awesome.

Both wargs get within biting distance of Kraloth. One of them has an action left. The other one had to use movement as an action to get up to you. And the warg launches itself at you and its teeth sink only into your heavy armor. You shake it off. Jack, what happens? You see red fire ineffectually. You see these wargs close on your friend.

Yeah, I mean, there's a moment of quick telepathic communication with Kieran as the owl flies up to try and get a bird's eye view and just make sure two orgs are not alone. They did not do this. Find whatever else is out there and let me know about it. So I'd like Kieran takes the sky circles around Nightstone. What's his fly speed? Do you know off the top of your hand? So he circles around and he tells you that there are goblins here. Okay. Do you have a number? Can owls count? Absolutely. He says, I see as many as you. That's not the owl's voice. I see as many as you. That's the owl's voice.

I mean, if it was going to talk, and telepathically, it's much cooler. Jack, there's so many goblins. There's about four, about four goblins. It's like the secretary from Ghostbusters. Oh, Kieran, it's a good thing I love you. Yeah. Yeah, car, and he comes back. How old an owl says?

This owl's going, this owl car. This one does. Shut up. Telepathically. Pooh, car, poo-poo. So I'm going to reach into my, reach into my satchel, make sure I got that orb of mine, and I'm going to toll the dead on the first one. Ooh.

So it's just this big sonorous hum that starts in this orb and, like, thumps like a, like, you know, a pressure wave hitting, hitting your chest as it. it goes by until it gets to one of these wargs that has to make a save for me. Ooh, is that a cantrip? Yeah. I've never heard of this can trip before. Oh, it is from Xanthar's Guide to Everything. Beautiful.

Yeah. I have to make what kind of save? You need to make me a wisdom saving throw with DC 13. That's an eight. That's a eight. That's not doing it. I did a bad job. And now I get to roll a D12.

No, is it injured, is my question? No. Two necrotic damage. As this like big thump from it, this sound that echoes off its fur. like almost pulls some of its soul out with it. He lays his ears back along his skull and bears his teeth in a growl. Kind of lays his body low along the ground. Did I get a general direction of the goblins from Kieran?

You got a northeast and a southeast. Right. And I'll say mostly to Doran, four goblins, some northeast, some southeast, some southeast. Okay. Can I hear that? I'm going to shouting it. I'm not trying it to hide it. Perfect.

And Doran sort of as a side note kind of looks at you with impress. That's a word. Yeah. It is impressed with your ability to kind of what the hell just happened there. Magic. I felt like a wave goes through me. Red is your turn. I'm going to finish the works.

I'm going to fight. I'm going to attack the one that was already attacked. Okay. The one that had a sonorous tone. Correct. That's going to be a 16 hit. You hit. And that's going to be 11 damage piercing.

Ooh. You strike the warg between its shoulder blades. It whines in response, but seems to retain some of its health and vitality as it growls at you. Kralath, what happens next? Good hit, friend. and I'm going to swing my mace and try to bring it down on this one that red just hit. Okay.

Ooh, and that's not going to be enough. That is a eight to hit. No. Not enough. No, you are a little bit rattled from how big these creatures are and that there are two of them. Directly in front of you. Doran, what do you do?

With a speed of 25, can I make it up to these guys? If you double move, you're going to have to count it out. This is futile. He drops his axe, and he pulls out his crossbow and quickly loads it. Okay. Nine. Nope, you miss. Your bolt flies wide.

You're trying to not hit Kraloth, and the wargs are, it's just, it's too, you can't really get a clean shot. But question, does the bolt that flies off distract either of the wargs and make them aware of Maya? They definitely know that you're there. Already. You want to pull their attention? Kind of. You could try doing like an intimidation or something or a persuade. I don't know.

You need to do something like, I'm a delicious dwarf. That'd probably be in action. Oh, okay. It is the wargs turn. They are both going to try to chomp Kralov. Use some help on the front line. That's a miss with a nine and a hit with a 24. Oh, holy shisy.

Shise. You don't have very many hit points, do you? Not a ton. We're all level one. No one has a lot of hit points. 11 piercing damage. I'm down. Your cleric is down.

Oh, Kralath. Down on the ground. Oh, okay. Yep. Jack. Yeah. Seeing Kralath go down, not good for any of us. Because one warg is like shiny, happy, and the other one is still.

Yep. But it's sort of like psychically talk here. And, you know, give me an update on those goblins. I'm going to move closer. He's like, oh, they notice when you yelled for sure. Yeah. And Kieran does have keen hearing in sight and gets advantage on wisdom checks. So if you did want to roll if there was hidden things that we were trying to see.

Can he? No, he can't show you images because you're not seeing. No, I'm not trying to see through. I just, yeah, just to get a. He tells you that they've heard you, but they're not coming yet. Okay, perfect. That's all I need to know. and I'm going to pull out that orb again

and run my hands over it and toll the dead on the one that is hurting. Nice. So it can make me a wisdom saving throw again. 19. That'll do it. So it is now Red's turn. Red, you see your friend go down.

Red would be so upset. Kralov! No! And he'd like quickly fire another arrow directly at the creature. All right. No! That was a eight to hit. Freilov, make a death-saving throw. Oh, no.

Here we go. It's a two. That's one failure. You creep one step closer to death as you, your blood pools in the courtyard. Oh, no. D&D learning time, a dash. Is that the same as just moving? Twice.

So essentially you move and then you use your action to move again. Oh, I'm going to have to do that. It's the wargs turns, and you know what you have done is distracted them from definitely killing your friend entirely. Because I'm all up in the face. Get in there. As you'll come to learn, if you are down and making death saves, if you are attacked and damaged further, that auto counts as another failure. Which means if those wargs had tried to eat Kralath more, you would be dead. I would be dead.

Of course, it makes sense. Logical sense. But now they have a new target. So they're both going to attack you, Doran. Does a 18 hit? Okay, I have an 18. Okay, so one hits and one misses. Okay.

The one that hits deals eight piercing damage to you. Which brings me down to a seven. Eight minus 13. 13 minus eight? No. Five. Math. You're down to five?

Yeah. it's all right we got this don't you worry wow i mean they're horse-sized wolves i'm not surprised just picture that jack uh yeah jack is going to like take some steps towards the scene just because he doesn't love being out on the bridge alone this target but also doesn't want to get close to the horse-sized wolves so he'll sort of get cross half the distance and and run his hand over that sphere again, bringing this, this sonorous sound, trying to pull the soul out of this one that's been injured. So they could make me another save. Okay, that is a 12. That's not going to do it. They can take 10 more damage, please. Yes. Nice. It crouches back and whines and looks for

some exit maybe, looks over its shoulder and its tail drops between its legs and you see blood to start to run out of its mouth. Maybe it's Krayaloths, maybe it's Dorans, maybe it's its own. But it's still alive. And Kieran, those goblins, they're still in the same place? Yeah, they're, they're busy. What are they doing? Playing.

It looks like they're playing. With what? Pumpkins. Okay. Red? I'm going to attack the bleeding one. Okay. Again, and third time I'm going to miss.

Let's see. 16 to hit. That hits. That's eight damage. You kill it. Oh, amazing. And the war, the arrow pierces through the bottom jaw of the war, because it's like howling, opens its mouth upward, and the arrow pierces through and pins its lower jaw to the stone floor.

And I'm like, all right. And I lick my fingers or something. Ew. Not sexually. I get ready to knock another arrow, probably. Kralov, make a save versus death. All right, this is, come on, die. All right, that is an 11.

Now, am I adding my constitution here? No, no. This is a very special kind of saving through. You don't add anything to it. Legit. Okay, so 11. Okay, so that's one fail, one save. Okay.

Doran, what do you do? Doran. The warg beside you crumples in a heat as it is skewered by your friend's arrow. And of course, by this time, I've got my battle axe readied. in hand with my shield in the other hand. And I take a deadly swing at the beast in front of me with an eight. I don't think you've ever seen a warg before. There's so much bigger than you and you swing, but you miss.

It dances out of your way. And I'm going to take a bonus action and use my second wind. Okay. To bring my HP back up, which is a 1D10 plus 1. So 11. Amazing. Nicolously done.

It doesn't get better than that. Wow. Good job. It's the warg's turn. It's going to try to bite you with a 20. Oh, and that does hit. It's rolling well. God damn.

Obviously it hits critical. No, it's not a crit. Sorry, that was a dirty time. Oh, dirty 20. For 11 points of damage. Holy moly. Thank goodness. I just did that then because now I have two.

It's so worth it though. It grabs your arm and just shakes you. Just like that. Is that the sound that the work makes? No, that's me. It's got my fucking arm. Jack. This is, that's the sound Jack makes in response.

It's just drawn out of him. In the heat of the moment, he is not ready to see one of his friends down and the other one being torn apart by a wolf, the size of a horse. But he's going to do the same. He's going to ring this orb again, let that big sonorous hum, try and pull the life out of this one left living. And I failed. Perfect. This one had been injured before? No, this is a shiny, fresh and new work.

Well, it can take one whole point of damage. Aye. Dorian, are you okay? I'm doing all right The smell of singed fur mildly assaults your nostrils Does no one have any healing besides So what do we do?

I think I'm going to get up close And try and try and get ready to like drag Our friend out of the corpse out of the way So I'm just going to try and get get up there at least Without being in like Yeah take the long way around Keep door in between you know He said he was okay

I trust Doran's judgment. He's been in lots of fights. He's been way more fights than I have against goblins, I've been told. It's almost like a nice, strong hug. This war has got my arm. It's like a sharp cheddar, you know. How do you get a sharp hug?

It's almost like, exactly, a sharp cheddar. It's like a recognizable pain. It's not necessarily unenjoyable. I don't know what kind of cheese you guys eat. Now, how do I get stabilized? So someone can perform a medicine check on you. Okay. That's intelligence, isn't it?

No, it's wisdom. Wisdom. Wisdom. I could do it. Oh. And essentially, that's performing basic first aid. Right. And if they can do that successfully, they will stabilize you at zero hit points,

which just means that you're going to be able to stop making death saves. Beautiful. If they were clerics, they could cast spare the dying. Yes, which I can do as a bonus action You were the wrong person to run in It was my fault Well, I thought, yeah I wasn't, I thought you were

Yeah, this is what you get for loving red It's just a natural consequence It was kind of a, it was a meta thing Because I would have seen that he wasn't on the It's a right But it's the realities Red, it's your turn I'm going to scale down

I'm going to do like a slippy slide I'm going to get my nails in there and go Right down the side Okay, do And I'm going to use my feel on agility To move double my speed because I move zero the second round, it's reset. Yes.

And I'm going to run up to my best buddy Krayloth and like tears in my eyes. I'm going to try to do a medicine rule. Okay. I don't have advantage, unfortunately, which, you know, should have come probably because, you know, the things. So I'm just going to rule straight up. Are you trying to bargain for inspiration? I'm there definitely trying to help.

You're not alone on the like Krayloth is alone and bleeding on the ground and that's a concern. You would have to use your action. to take the help action. Do you want to, but can he do that on his turn? No. Okay. What if I readied an action

and I did help on my turn so that when he rolls, he could roll with advantage. You could definitely do that. I mean, you're plus one. Yeah, and I'm plus two. It's not that big of a difference. But advantage is reasonable.

Exactly. So I'm going to offer help instead. I'm going to walk over to Jack and say, Jack, please do whatever you can help. I'm going to like force your hands over the wound. Yeah, I think it's like, let's get them out of here a couple of feet, get him flat on the ground,

put some pressure on that. I hear that works. You know, It's just like a lot of team effort making the plan. Actually, I'm sorry. Are you next or is Doran next in initiative? It goes red Kraloth Doran warg, Jack. He literally just went.

But he does more damage. Yeah, there's no way he's going to die next. You and I can. So I'm going to use the help action on my turn. I'm going to help Jack to save my best. And let us hope that Doran's crafted armor holds up. Yeah. I mean, he's a badass.

Do you see that soldier? Krayloth make a save against death. 16. There you go. Okay, two successes. I might not need your help. Doran, you are up against one warg, mono a mono. So, I attack with a 20.

Dirty 20. Yeah, you hit. How much damage do you do? Eight points of damage. Nicely done. It's a battle axe, not a great axe. That's why it's one-handed. Take a good chop against this.

We're eating warg tonight. And it tries to bite you right back. 12, misses you. Nice. Jack. The tides are turning. Red, okay, hold them down, put pressure there. I'm going to try and stabilize it.

Kralath, you're going to be okay. I wrote 14 plus 1 is a 15. Yes, that'll do it. Yes. I'm going to erase this. Pralath, you're going to be okay. Does he open his eyes? No, he's still unconscious.

I see him moaning and I kiss him on the forehead. Just not dead. That's just a free action for sure. I hope so. Acts of affection are free. Come with me, buddy. You're coming back. You're not ready to leave us yet.

Redd, he's going to be okay, but we got to take care of that wolf, the size of a horse. This fuck is mine. It's your turn red. And I turn around and I draw my bow and I fire an arrow between that fucker's eyes. Get him. Do you want to move to a wolf? a position that's more 18.

18. I shift back. 18. 5 damage piercing. Okay, doke. Oh, take them down, take them down. Kralath, you are unconscious. What are you dreaming of? I remember a time when I was in the mists

when my entire party had died. And I'd completely lost the will to live. So I became very reckless. I would just run into a mob of zombies or skeletons and I would just hack and slash and there were times where I would be knocked out and I think for sure my time had come but for one reason or another I would always wake up so they're just these like flashes of mist and undead the groans limbs crawling towards you as you're trying to crawl away hands and feet like bleeding in the darkness I love that yes this one like creature with

like half its jaw hanging as I was getting closer and closer to death it was getting closer and then all of a sudden it vanishes into mist in the whole time you haven't been afraid at all because you've been there so many times this is like this is like your second home there's if it's you know it's interesting because I would think that it wouldn't bother me I I've been so prepared for death that it's just kind of you know something that I've expected but this is the first time that I've been close to death since I met Red. And so there's a part of me that's like, no, it's not my time yet. This isn't right.

You hear sort of distantly, I mean, unconscious, but you're still perceiving the world. You can hear, like, the clang of battle. Doran, there is a war that is still very much alive, like snarling at you. It's your turn. What do you do? I snarl back. Okay. Intimidate.

Intimidate. No, just fall. His mouth off. And I immediately attack. Yes. Again. Yes. With a 22.

Math. Doing eight points of damage. Wow. Get them. Get them. There's not much war left to him. You hear the long blade of my battle axe slice through another. It's a hairy sound.

Yeah. like chopping through a rotten log he snarls and launches himself at you with a 17 to hit and fails no he misses you Jack seeing that Kralath is is stabilized I sort of step to the other side to put myself between his body and the warg and I pull out my my orb and like hold it up high

and it's almost glowing a little bit with the life force it has absorbed already and just like warg die already ready, and I wanted to make another save. Okay. Three, not super wise. How do you feel about seven of damage? How do you feel about murdering a war? I love it. I love it a lot.

You did it! Yeah, like holding it up and just that whole rest of the life in this warg, right out the mouth and nose, you can almost see the spirit of this wolf pulled into the air and almost take form for a minute until it's sucked into this orb and destroyed. Yes, yes. And the warg collapses. part of its body sort of shrivels as it falls to the ground and as you stand the three of you

with Kralov lying on the cobblestones of this courtyard you notice that the bell has stopped ringing thanks for listening and a super special thanks to our patrons for making this possible you can support us too at our patron account the Invictus Stream. Don't forget to rate, review and follow us on all of our social media platforms

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