High Rollers DnD - Altheya: The Dragon Empire #5 | Blood and Fire (Part 2)

Episode Date: December 7, 2023

An event in the night causes a rift between Ophelia and Xantheus as the team travel towards Ashen Rest! Support the High Rollers on Patreon and get early access to Podcast episodes, vods and more: www.patreon.com/HighRollers Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound, TCT Adventures (Solasta: Crown of the Magisters) and Jolene Khor! Check out Jolene Khor and all her wonderful work on High Rollers on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1WX3ICiTmf4GpHwImnQMs6 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. Protect that lead. That's like 2FA on Kraken. A surefire way to keep what you already have safe and sound. Go to kraken.com and see what crypto can be. Not investment advice. Crypto trading involves risk of loss. See kraken.com slash legal slash ca dash pru dash disclaimer for info on Kraken's undertaking to register in Canada. Welcome back to part two of High Rollers. Althea, the Dragon Empire. You join us as our party have camped for the night. They have taken a moment's rest and respite

on their journey south towards the town of Ashen Rest, leaving Burnell. Supplies have been bought, a camp has been formed, and you guys have, there have been stories that have been told, a skeleton has been revealed. Be naked. And many other things. And yeah, this concludes, and that finishes our first day of the journey. Be naked. And many other things. And yeah, this concludes and that

finishes our first day of the journey. Hell yeah. You guys awake on the second day. It is clear and bright. You are currently in sort of spring season and so the weather is mild, not warm, but mild

and it is a fairly bright and clear day with not a cloud in the sky. Oh, lovely. And you guys begin making your way, just travelling. You continue the road south. Is there anything that you guys particularly, are there any conversations that you strike up or anything that you can think of roleplay-wise as we go?

Does Xanthius kick me in his sleep? What, am I sleeping next to you? Because I have a two-person tarp, right? I imagine Gruff would. Oh, I'm there, am I? Yeah, well, Gruff would offer it. He's seeing you. He doesn't think that you could probably put a tarp up.

I could put a tarp up. And then mine is flat on top of me, so there's nothing there. I mean, no insult to Daisy, but how hard can it be? A couple of sticks. Quite hard, Sir Theist. A bit of fabric. I'd like to see you try it, actually. I might tomorrow.

Okay, but if you can do it, then can you do mine too? Absolutely. I would love to share the tarp. It doesn't look like it's going to rain. Do you think it's going to rain? This is last night, by the way. Always good to be prepared. Okay. I promise I won't kick.

All right. Or thrash. You roll for it. Wars. I don't know. I've got no promises. I will say, during the night, I do need Tom to do one thing for me. What? Shit.

I need you... Make an unarmed attack. Right in the head. I have to bring up a specific page. Oh, you get a whole page. Yeah, I got a whole Google Doc. What do you do? I really messed up my boy, actually.

So, just consult my table. I can't wait. The Descent. That's the name of it. It begins. So, Tom Hazel. What do you need, puppy? I would like you to roll for me,

because I already did some of this, but I want you to have some say. Okay. Roll a d6 for me. Yes, am I adding anything, or just a straight up... Just a d6 and tell me the number. Big six. Big six, okay. I can't remember what I rolled last time. Oh, a d4 I rolled last time. Oh, that's fine. straight up... Just a D6 and tell me the number. Big six. Big six.

Okay. I can't remember what I rolled last time. Oh, a D4 I rolled last time. Oh, that's fine. Oh, it's a D4. I want to give you some choices in this. Oh. But you can't know what they are choices for.

Okay. You can't know the details. You can't know the details. Sounds like the illusion. The illusion of choice, no. I'm going to give you three body parts. Yeah.

I'm going to grow a new one. Eye. Hand. Body. Hand. Hand. I just bought some banging gloves

so hand please. Hand. You wake up kind of in the middle of the night. Gruff is asleep. Snoring. It's not a fitful snoring. It's not a nightmare, you don't wake up from that, but you feel, it's like something,

you almost feel like an itching in your hand. And this is the hand that you remember when you were coming back from the mine, there was like a strange discoloration of your fingertips. And you kind of noticed it, but only very faintly. And you feel that itching is spread throughout the fingers, and it kind of wakes you up. And when you look in the dim firelight,

you can see in the distance Bliss and Cade are on watch, but they're looking out, not into the camp. And in the dim firelight, you can see that your hand, the fingers, the clawed hand, your dragon, your draconic hand, the fingers have all turned black, and it's now spreading almost up to your wrist. And there are almost like lines,

like fissures of light and fire kind of burning through it. Okay. Underneath your fingernails. Your fingernails are there, but they are blackened and hardened like onyx, ridged like plates, and underneath there's almost the faint glow of fire underneath them. glow of fire underneath them and you get this sense that there is power here now you almost feel the heat in your palm and just with a kind of brief flash of a test that hand can conjure fire into it um you gain two spells you learn the produce flame cantrip.

Okay. And once a day, or as using a spell slot, you can cast burning hands. Ooh! Out of your palm. So not using a spell slot, sorry. Once per day, not using a spell slot, but then you can cast it again using spell slots

as if you knew the spell. And they're fire spells. Very good, very good. Also awful. I'm looking at my hand. I don't like this one bit. It is very noticeable. Like, if you are not wearing a glove, it will, like, anybody who sees your hand,

it does not look natural. I think, uh... I mean, when I first see this, like, I immediately then, like, hide away, look around the camp and see if anyone else is awake. Ophelia. Ooh! and immediately then hide away, look around the camp and see if anyone else is awake. Ophelia. No. Last night you were trying to sleep, trying to rest,

trying to go into that meditative trance-like state that you enter. But just that gnawing hunger. You've eaten. You know you can eat mortal food. You had some of Rowan's stew, but it didn't sate you. It sated your body in the way that you know your body still needs food and water. You still have that attachment to the mortal realm, but there's that other hunger that's just ever since that woman in the mines and you tasted it for the first time in so long,

it's just been gnawing at you. How awake is Ophelia at this point? I think she'd be awake, just looking up at Percival, looking at the blackness of the cloak, and her hands just kind of digging into her bedroll. Can you roll a perception check with advantage for me, please? 13. I'd say it's enough that you catch like a flicker of light as you were kind of that flame kind of emits

into your hands, Xanthius. Enough for you to catch your eye and you see Xanthius like holding his hand as flame erupts and you see that there's, it's black and discolored and then it quickly tucks it away and is now looking around, and you kind of flip back. Xanthius, can you make a perception check for me? I need to see if I even notice that she's awake, right?

Yeah. With advantage, or...? For you, this would not be advantage. No, she does rest. Well, you were creating light. I'm looking around very quickly. Ophelia got advantage because you created light in darkness. Yeah, yeah.

She's just laying there, and she can see in darkness as well anyway. What's this drive? Oh my god. I get a 18. That is enough. You catch Ophelia and your eyes meet in the darkness as Ophelia, Xanthia spots you looking in his direction. Ophelia just like quickly just like turns over,

like rolls over and just like pretends like he did like, like hoping he didn't see her. I mean, I saw you looking at me, right? Yeah. Just that, you know, like when you look at somebody and their eyes are almost glowing in the night because it's reflecting light, you catch that and you know that she saw you. I'd like to go over to ophelia please sure um ophelia i know you're awake

remember stage whispers folks stage whispers um folks. Stage whispers. Why are you still awake? Oh, just... The stew's made my stomach feel a bit strange. Why... What was that? What was... What was that light? Oh, the campfire.

No. I was standing in front of the campfire, I believe. No, it came from you. Oh, you've seen me casting spells, Ophelia. Then why did you hide it? Hide it? Why are you keeping secrets? Oh, I'm not keeping...

Ophelia, I'm not keeping secrets. I'm just having a restful night. There's a lot happening right now, and, you know, the last couple of nights we've been in the mines, there's a restful night. There's a lot happening right now, and you know, last couple of nights within the mines, there's a lot going on. I just needed a moment by myself in front of the campfire. Are you okay? I'm fine.

Tom. Yes. While you're having this conversation, I need you to make another choice. Because along with what you've gained, there is a cost. Yeah. I need you, I'm going to give you a choice,

because this is very much a role-playing thing. I want you to feel comfortable in the choice you have. But you have to gain a flaw. Paranoia, pride, greed, wrath, deceit, or righteousness. He really messed your boy up, didn't he? I really did.

He knew. He knew the consequences. I knew. Nobody can see it, but I'm sitting next to Tom and his leg has been bouncing like crazy. Yeah, I am. It's been a tick since this started. This is awful.

But I knew the cost when I made this boy. So what were they? Sorry, paranoia, greed. Paranoia. Pride. Pride. Greed. Wrath.

Deceit. Or righteousness. Now, this is like wrath, right? If I was to pick this. It's not like I am constantly just fury. Not to begin with. What the hell? We're just hanging out at Sweet Boy Club.

I'm cocooned. It's great. It's just because it's relevant to how maybe this interaction with Ophelia is going to go. Oh. It might influence your, because this is a role-playing thingphelia is going to go. Oh. It might influence your... Because this is a role-playing thing. This is going to be like a role-playing floor.

Yeah, yeah. It's up to you how much you lean into it for now. But as things continue and this floor may develop and grow stronger. Pride, maybe? I think would... I think that makes sense with your background, and I think I know, yeah. Your flaw then becomes you're very proud that you are,

and you can choose some sort of adjective about yourself, for example, graceful, attractive, talented, artistic, intelligent, or wise. You pick something that you are, you consider yourself, you are very proud of that thing, and you find you strongly dislike anyone who suggests otherwise. you pick something that you are, you consider yourself, you are very proud of that thing, and you find you strongly dislike anyone who suggests otherwise.

So you think about what that is, what you decide what that is, what that thing that you're gonna be proud of. You don't have to say it out loud, because I almost think that that's better than none of the, no one at the table knows about it. But just keep in mind that if anybody- And you're gonna say I'm bad at singing?

Could be like charismatic. You're already like this about your eyesight. Could be leadership. That's true. Your perception. Oh, I thought you meant because I'm wearing glasses. No! Not common.

You just did a random dunk on Tom Hazel specifically. I meant your perception stat. Yeah. No, but it needs to be something generic. It could be something like your leadership. You could be very proud that you are a capable leader. Yeah. No, but it needs to be something generic. It could be something like your leadership. You could be very proud that you are a capable leader. Yeah.

Something like that. But you don't have to decide right now, but have a think on what that's going to be. Sure, sure, sure, sure. And just note that as a flaw that you have gained through the effects that is currently taking place. How long have you been awake for, Ophelia? I don't know. What time is it?

I mean, I look up. It's been like hours after the sun went down. It's probably like 3, 4am. I mean, we've been here a few hours. I was asleep for maybe 3 or 4 already. I don't think I've slept. But, Xanthius I know we've not known each other for very long

but I need I need to know I can trust you oh you can trust me before we went into Blackrock Mine we were talking about trust and I need to know that we're all on the same page we're all going to the same place

whatever happens after that happens but we're all on the same page. We're all going to the same place. Yes. Whatever happens after that happens, but we're on the road. We're effectively strangers. I have something I need to do that's very important to me, and I would like to complete it. And I wish to assist in that regard. Did I have your back in the mines,

protecting you from those creatures when we got those criminals? Same as I had your back. And I expect you to have my back now. Do I have your word? You have my word. That I can trust you? You can trust me.

Don't tell the others. Tell them what? I don't say it in that accent. I don't actually say that at all. That was just a joke. I'm freaking the fuck out right now. Since we're talking about trust, I should probably tell you how I'm feeling, I suppose.

Yes, please. I'd like to know more about you. I can hear heartbeats, Xanthius. Oh, can you hear mine? It's very quick. I'm not going to give you, like, daredevil truth-telling ability, but, like, Xanthius is agitated, clearly. His heart is...

There's... There's something else to that beat. Can't place it, though. Something unnatural. I can hear you. Is that scaring you? No. Makes me hungry. I see. Well, I tried to procure you some blood before.

I know. Remember, with Caulif know. With Caliphras. I'm trying. Since I drank from Marion, I've... It's all I can think about. Where you're from, do they drink human blood there too? I'm not sure. I've heard that it's livestock.

My parents were livestock farmers and livestock traders and they made a name for themselves for the House of Blood by breeding and rearing animals specifically for that purpose. But that's as much as I know. Whether it came from anywhere else, I don't know. That's as much as I know. Whether it came from anywhere else, I don't know. And those that do drink human blood,

does this have a similar effect that you're feeling now? I don't know. Okay. Would you like me to keep this a secret? Yes. Good. Would you mind keeping one of mine? I can hear that you have one. Good.

Try to get some sleep, and I'll try to find some way to feed you. Sounds like it'll benefit all of us. Maybe not human, definitely not human. way to feed you. Sounds like it'll benefit all of us. Maybe not human, definitely not human. But it won't be the same. There'll always be that hunger, Xanthius. Hmm.

I'm gonna be honest, I don't know how to solve this for you. I'm not asking you to. I'm just talking about trust. That's just where I want to put my line in the sand, as it were. OK. What is going to happen to Marion, by the way? I don't know. Is she OK? I don't know. Is she okay? Uh, I don't know. I think for Ophelia there is one thing,

like you definitely know she can't become like you. Like that is a gift that has to be bestowed. Just biting and drinking won't do that. You would know that at least. She won't be like me. Okay, but we will recover, yes? Maybe. Maybe.

Well, let's hope so. But none of mine. Please. I'll try. Thank you. Because you said before, only if I ask. Has that changed? Yes. No, it hasn't. It has not changed. The last thing I want to do is... Well, not yours.

Mine? No. Good. Or anyone here. Are you looking at your camp when you say that? Yeah. Yeah, but not at the soldier's camp. Not at the soldier's camp.

I thought so. Nice. All right. Well, with that, if you guys want to just head back to bed, you can do it, unless there's anything else you want to say. Anything you want to tell me? You can tell me. I mean, I'll look around if anyone else is stirring at all.

We're having a conversation, of course. Ruin is in the middle. I'd say at this point everyone's deeply asleep. This is late at night. This is very specific, the reasons you both are awake. I need to trust you. And you can, but give me time. Okay. I know that I can trust in you. And you can, but give me time.

Okay. I know that I can trust in you. Good. I need that right now. I don't think everybody else trusts me. I do. Daisy's just scared of you. The skeleton thing is worrying, but... Oh yeah, is he still standing?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's the whole time. Percival is just holding this above like Xanthius and Ophelia. He is cloaked now though. Yeah, he is robed. He's not, yeah.

Free shirt, you know. Hanging out. He can listen, but he can't talk. Oh good. Good. Didn't want another thing to swear into secrecy.

But don't treat this like a pact. Don't treat this like we're working against the others. Oh, no. I know we're working together. I'll try and find some blood for you. It's OK. I'm not asking you to... You know, that's Percival work. That's not... It's OK. I will figure this out. And if I have trouble, I will just talk to you.

Just talk to me, and I'll talk to you. Good. Try to get some sleep. You too. Thank you. You guys make your way back, and while you drift off, I will leave up to you. Gruff, you dream.

Me? Yeah. Okay. You dream of home. Oh. You remember, you almost hear the waves crashing, hear the cries of the ice divers, that solitary, dark period just before dawn when you would set out.

You feel that rocking, gentle motion just lulling you. You dream of things out in the deep. You know that there are things always in the deep. They don't come for you. You dream of them, you know them to be there. They prey upon other boats out there and you just watch and listen. The dream is soft and gentle. You sleep peacefully. Do I see my birds?

You do. Always with you. Perched on the end of the boat on their little stands where they normally will be when resting. Just watching. But it's a peaceful dream. Rowan. you dream. What? What? Dream, you find yourself not yourself. You are watching the pebble swept by the lake, bouncing, singing, calling for its lost friend, pulled away by the thing.

You're just watching it thrown about the currents. You see trees and sights and sounds pass you in a flurry, but following this little pebble, your dream is also peaceful and passes without incident. Is it you dream? You dream of wheat fields, running through them. You're younger, but there's joy. And you hear Nim singing, but that song that has no words, that choral, that harmonious kind of chorus singing uh the chanting that has no words but it's just sound and it's joyous and you run

free and you sleep peacefully wake and you're all awake and the next day continues oh good morning oh what a lovely i don't do that Oh! Good morning. Oh, what a lovely... I don't do that. You travel for a day and you pass along the road. Nothing of particular interest seems to happen. One thing I do need to do is this is the second day.

I need to roll a d20. See what happens. Nothing of note. No. You guys make your way down the road, traveling with the soldiers, and again, you find a place to rest. You find a small copse of trees with a small hillock, and you set up the camp, much like you did before. Any changes? Do you just want to repeat what you did before, setting up the tarp, setting up a simple stew,

kind of going about your normal business. It's still light when you begin setting up the camp. Zaron and the others kind of mentioned that you should try and set the camp up before it gets dark. And so, you know, the sun's beginning to set, but you take a few hours to begin setting up the camp ready to settle in for nightfall proper. Probably going to try again.

Well, as you... Challenge me. One thing that does happen, actually, my apologies, Daisy. As you are on the road, Nim speaks to you whilst you are traveling. And Nim is like, little one,

there is something we must talk about. Do you think you will travel with these strangers for a while? They seem okay so far. Maybe. They do. You should always be careful. You don't know them. Some of them wield strange powers. And one courts the realms of death, which worries me. You're old enough now. Our bond has become quite strong. I think I should share some more of my power with you.

It's been a while, but I think you're ready for it. And I think you're going to need the tools. If you continue traveling with these people, I think you should be better equipped. You should always be prepared. Sure. I mean, yeah, I am scared of the Death Lady. And the shiny one's a bit weird. And people keep asking questions about him too. But the other two seem fine. They do, and we won't distrust them, but we should just be cautious. But you've learnt to fight a little, and you've learned to keep yourself hidden.

But there are other things. We've been bonded for many years now. The longer that we are bonded, the more I can share with you, and more of my memories return. And you begin to see in your mind mind not like a ritual or a spell but you begin to feel this growing power and you kind of almost see images of yourself and a light in your hands begins to form into a shape you begin to see almost like lines from your eyes projecting out from you faint lines that seem to reach out to your companions and you could connect with them if you wanted to but it's there as a choice when you are ready and you feel that Nim's knowledge

and her memories their memories are easier to access and things like that. Okay. Interesting. When you guys are making camp, I would like you all to make perception checks. Okay. You're really good at this. You're gonna fucking nail it. Hey, I nailed it last time.

Watch this. Nat 20. 16. 16? Nat 20. Oh wait, no, hold on. Perception check, right? Perception. 21. Uh, no. 20. 20. 30, 20. 20. 20.

I got 17. 17. Three! I'm very distracted. 10. 10. Anybody who got over 16, this side of the table. Yeah, this side of the table. The jumper side. The observers.

The look, look and observe squad. The three of you, the authoritor and the soldiers don't really notice this, but the three of you swear out in the woods. You're kind of by this small copse of woodland. There's a few hills and things around. in the woods like you're kind of by this like small copse of woodland there's like a few hills and things around you swear that very faintly just echoing you know on the wind you hear this kind of hideous giggling just briefly

Just briefly. And it echoes on the wind. Nope. Why did you do that? That's how I attracted Ted. That's my mate, Nicole. Yeah. Is... Is Xanthius laughing?

We look at Xanthius laughing? We look at Xanthius. What's Xanthius... Are you laughing? Excuse me, am I laughing? Yeah, yeah, yeah. No. No, did anyone say anything funny? But you heard that too?

Yes. Aye. What did you hear? Like a laugh. Hideous. It's sort of like the sergeant and the authoritarian kind of pause. Now all of you, now that it's been drawn attention to, and louder, maybe closer.

Can I see anything? Start looking around. It's like dusk. It's like getting dark. So you can still look around, but you can't see anything. You can see that Bliss is tending to the stew in the middle, like starting to cook the fish and things like that. They're like, what's going on? Like, turn around.

But yeah, again, closer now. Some sort of mischievous. The sergeant's like, looking around, he's like, I know that sound. Everyone get ready! He's pulling weapons sergeant's like looking around. He's like, I know that sound. Everyone get ready. He's pulling weapons. He's like, as you see, leaping up on top of the hillock,

you see these grotesque seven feet tall figures kind of emerging from the tree line, two with long bows. And you can see these hyena-like jackal heads as these bipedal humanoids appear. Points down and begins to draw the bow. Fresh meat! I call out as you see a pack of gnolls.

Gnolls! Okay. Oh, gnoll. Gnolls! Okay. Gnoll! Gnoll! Oh, gnoll! Oh, gnoll! Oh, gnoll! There's a gnoll.

And I've got a couple of NPC allies here as well. So it's us. Us and how many allies? Is it four? You've got four soldiers, and then the authoritor as well. We've got Daeron, Cayde, Bliss, and Guy, and the Authoritor. What's his name?

Daeron. There you go, boy! What a good boy! I'm a good boy. So whereabouts would you guys like to be placed? Just out of interest, before I stop putting more things on the bowl? Rowan would have been quite central handing out stews. So, it's like maybe a campfire. Probably near Rowan and Gruff if they're,

yeah, probably near-ish. Yeah. Cade over, Cade's like maybe like, let's help him with the stew a little bit over here. The Sarge is like moved over to where he heard the sound and is like looking that way. Ophelia, Gruff, Xanthius, we're about to see you guys. I think, yeah, looking towards the sound.

So yeah, probably there. Where are you? Yeah, I would have been probably helping to set up not just mine but Ophelia's bedroll as well with Percival. Perci! What did you say? Perci! Perci! If Xanthia, Percival, I'll be near Xan and Perci and I'll What did you say? I said Percy! Percy!

If Zan's near Percival, I'll be near Zan and Percy and I'll be looking towards the sound. Like over here? Yeah, sounds good. Alright. The two creatures. How many gnolls we talking? Oh, there's gonna to be a pack. There's going to be loads.

You only see two? Yeah. These are cool models, by the way. Yeah, look at these boys. They're awesome. They're huge. Huge! Um.

Oh, both got bows? No, what is that? Yeah, I think. Do you see more appearing from the tree line? Oh, boys. Oh, he's got a big old axe. Big axe. Oh, no. I like that, boy.

Do you like God of War swords? Can we make friends with them? You see two more emerging. You can see, like, these rusted hatchets and blades. Like, two of them have got these longbows. Two of them have, like, cleavers and rusted like woodsman's axes. And then one wielding like an axe, but it's almost like a staff as well,

like the top of it's carved and it has like a blade that's been attached to it with a leash with two hyenas, like these abyssal demonic looking hyenas. There's a bit of lore in this world. Gnolls are, they are a type of vault spawn so these are creatures that have escaped a proto-magic vault and once they get out

they very rapidly reproduce and spread and they can become these like terrorizing like forces that exist out in the wilds of the world or out in like in between settlements and civilization they are believed to have been of i don't know if any of you how many of you guys would know this but it's cool law so i'm

going to tell you anyway yeah whether or not your characters know this is up to you um gnolls are basically they are they were created by the proto magi and it's believed that they were created using demonic essence so they are demons but they were created here on alfea by the proto magi and kept in the vault and then when the proto magi were fighting with the gods and things like that they at nol's escaped and have now like spread out and manifested so these aren't like sentient like these aren't like goblins who are like sentient creatures with culture and things like that these are just pure demonic evil that have become mutated and transformed. These are evil monsters. There's no way

of redeeming them. They are just magically evil. They don't choose to be evil. They are just magically horrible monsters. These are almost literally vault spawn. They are vault spawn. Yes, they are a type of vault spawn. And with that, we are going to roll initiative.

Here we go. Boom. Okay. Here we go. Boom. Okay. Cool. Cool. Cool. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. rip. 2006, baby. That's when my brain turned off. Why do you know that? I don't know.

I'm going to Google it and see if that was right, because if it is, I'm going to shit my pants. From 2006? Yeah. What is the film Finding Nemo? Finding Nemo. I think it might be earlier than that. 2003.

Oh, I did three years ago. I nearly shit my pants. Sorry? What? Yeah. What? So if it was years. I nearly shit my pants. Sorry? What? Yeah. What? So if it was right, I'd shit my pants.

Right, I've got a lot of NPCs on this one. Daisy. Eight. Eight for Daisy. Xanthius. 15. 15 for Xanthius. 15.

Gruff. 14. 14 for Gruff. Rowan. 17. Thank you for quickly,. Rowan? 17. Thank you for quickly, I nearly fucked that up. For Rowan, 17. And then Ophelia?

Four. Four. Four. Four. Perfect. And then again, we will have Pussville. You can choose to give orders and he will act after your turn. Nice.

In Pussville. As a point, I am using Nolse from Matt Colville's book, Flea Mortals. I'm using the Flea Mortals version of Nolse. That sounds lovely and pleasant. Yes, they're lovely. But just a shout-out to my good friends James and Matt from MCDM because they've done it, and all the people that worked on it. But, yeah, I'm going to use their version of Nolse.

What's that name again? MCDM, Flea Mortals. It's an awesome book. I wrote some stuff for it. All right. In fact, actually, the first person to act in this, Sergeant Yarrow Guy, Yeah! He's like, right, Dukesmen, right, come on soldiers! And he's like calling out, he's like, everybody get ready, arms, you know, form a line! And he's gonna call out, um, and he's gonna use his action to basically command his troops.

Uh, when he... troops. Oh, everybody charging. Hey, if they're not scared of him, I'm not scared. They're going to form a defensive line, and all four of them are going to basically ready their spears and shields, and they're going to ready for a charge. So if anybody approaches within five feet, they're all going to make an opportunity attack against them. So it's like, form a line! Defensive formation! They all form up. That is going to be their turn. The hyenas are let off their leash and just immediately come charging towards the line of soldiers.

As they do so, they are going to make an attack. They're both going to target Daeron as they do so. The guys are all going to get their... So Bliss and Daeron will get their opportunity attacks, but these hyenas are going to get to act first. The first one is a bite. It's a sexful. The second one is... Oh, no, it's a group attack, so it is successful. Daeron takes a nasty bite as these two hyenas leap onto him

bite his arms and things like that but then the two of them Bliss and Daeron stab back and their spears these creatures are actually minions they just impale the two hyenas

and as they do they lash out and in their death throes they bite onto Daeron again and you see Daeron heavily injured now goes down with a bleeding

injury oh but the two hyenas are down or prone uh and he is uh like bleeding out basically oh okay you see him like as they these hyenas jump on him in their death like they're stabbed and in their death throes they're like um and as they are killed. Well, this opened up just pleasantly. Yeah. Do you know how we opened this episode and Mark was like, what do you guys want to go buy? And I went, potions?

I don't remember that. I don't remember that. Guess what I didn't buy. Well, we know the potions are expensive, right? I have some other bad news for you. They wouldn't have happened. When the hyenas, when the gnolls see these hyenas get

killed their blood kind of like sprays up into the air they let out this like cackling howl and you see these two marauders as a reaction immediately get to move as their allies are killed oh okay 20 25 like a blood craze. 10, 15, 25. And they are going to make bite attacks against Gruff. Oh, God damn. Both of them. A 12 to attack you. Does not hit.

This is using your base AC, because obviously you haven't had time to get anything up yet. The next one is a 23 to hit. Does not hit. That's going to be four points of piercing damage as their death frenzy lets them move up to 30 feet and then make a bite attack. And then that is...

So that is a lot of things happening at once. But the hyenas are dead. These minions, the defensive line just immediately impales them and they go down in a quick flurry. But after that, we go to Rowan. My apologies, Rowan. The archers go before you. These two archers on the top are gonna take shots

at Sergeant Cade, sorry, Cade and the sergeant with their longbows. The first one is going to hit the sergeant. The second one is a natural 20 against Cade. Cade, no! So Cade is immediately downed. He's bleeding out. Wow!

The sergeant, who is a bit tougher, is just gonna take a normal hit, but a bad hit. The sergeant is immediately bloodied as this arrow thuds into him. They're just normal guards, remember. These guys are just normal soldiers. But he's like, Cade! Jaren! And he's like, snaps the arrow, he doesn't pull it out but he snaps it off and he's like,

Get you for that, you demonic bastards! And he's kind of like revving himself up to attack, but that's the two archers go. Then we go to Rowan, sorry, my apologies, Rowan. Off you go. Rowan's gonna drop his... stew. Rowan's going to drop his stew. And he's going to get his loot out. And he will strum a note which resonates and creates a nice green energy beam that hits,

I guess it would have been Daeron first, that he noticed, so healing word on Daeron. Okay. It's a bonus action to begin. Yep. He will stand straight back up. I'm using simplified rules for these NPCs so they can take a certain amount of hits and any healing will get them up and stuff like that.

Cool. He just immediately stands up. I don't have to roll for that, really. Excellent. And then as my main action, I should probably do this. I will step up to Daisy being the closest. Hi. Right next to you.

I believe in you. Okay. Let us end this. Okay. And then touch a shoulder, grant you heroism, which allows you to be immune from being frightened. You gain temporary hit points equal to your spell cast ability modifier which is yours

plus your charisma plus three so three temporary HP you get that at the start of every turn so you get to top up the three HP as long as you've got concentration obviously yeah yeah yeah alright. So main action heroism, bonus action. Oh, wait. Bonus action, you cast a spell. Yeah, I did, didn't I? So you can't cast heroism. I'm just going to get my longsword ready and charge in.

Okay. Would you want to charge in with one spike, Gruff? And attack the gnaw on the furthest left. 20? Yep. Okay. 19. 20. 20 to hit? Hits?

Cleave's true. I'm going to do that two-handed if that's alright. Yeah, absolutely. You don't have another weapon? You would put your loot away. I drop the loot, yeah, by the campfire. You drop it? Yeah, I leave it by the campfire. So I can two-hand quickly. Four points of damage. Longsword sweeps in cuts and

Blast! Blast! Yes! Yes! Cool. Nice. Anything else on your turn, Rowan? That's it. All right, in that case, we then go to, sorry, there's a lot of initiatives here, I believe, Xanthius. I will nudge forward a little bit, tell Ophelia to protect Gruff and the guards, and I will go after the archers.

Okay. Where would you like to move to, by the way? Actually, I've got the range just to stay where I am. I don't move forward. I just yell it around Percival. And I'm going to cast Chaos Bolt, my beloved, on... Now, I've got Metamagics now. Yes. How are we ruling twin spell on Chaos Bolt? Do I roll the damage twice?

No, no, that's not how it works, because you have to make two separate attacks. So I see, but I would roll the damage. So you cast a spell once and then you get to make two attacks and if they both hit and they both do their effects or both make saving throws or whatever it is then the both goes off and they can both chain i'd say yeah it's a very good combo if it if you get the chain effect or otherwise it's you know it's no different to doing a twin chromatic or yeah yeah um so it's just two separate attacks. Two separate attacks. Nice. Fight's over, guys. Watch this.

So, A. A, which will be the one... We'll say it's this one with the actual pulling the bow and then the next one with its... Yes. So this one is 18 plus 4, 22. 22 hits. So I'll do the damage against this one first. Yes, please. First.

That is 2d8 plus 1d6. Doesn't chain. this is a nightmare um it is 8 15 damage uh i will make that can you choose or does it yeah you have to roll which is one of the d8s right uh yeah so i take the damage number and that dictates what the damage type is i can choose which one i'll do force for this one. 15 points of force damage. You watch as this bolt of energy flies out of Xanthius' hand, impacts into the gnoll's chest, nearly makes it fall off the head.

As it breaks its chest, you see ribs snap and everything else. It immediately bloodies it. Bloodies it. Very cool. And I'll go for number B. Yes. You can see that Null Archer is badly hurt by that, by the way. I like that. That is a 15 plus 4, 19.

It's 4, baby! Oh my god, it's an 8. Doesn't chain. Oh, does it? No, it's 8 and a 6. I need two of the same. Ah! The chain. Oh, does it... No, it's eight and a six.

I need two of the same. Ah. Eight and a six. I will make this poison damage, which is 18 poison damage. 18 points of poison damage. That's so powerful. You do see...

That's just a spell, by the way. The poison does not have as much of an effect against these creatures as you would like. They are resistant. So it's only going to take nine points of poison damage. But you can see that even though this creature is filthy, you can see its fur is all matted, it's covered with these kind of pustules, it still retches as this poisonous energy hits it.

And it kind of coughs up and spits up this phlegmy glue, heavily, badly hurt by this thing, bloodying it. Hell yeah, and that was using a sorcery point for what is it what is it one sorcery point for twin spell or is it two one because it's a level one one let me go away okay all right perfect um and uh that's me all righty goes to my chest so yeah you watch these two archers nearly felled by x Xantius's magic as he launches these out. Amazing stuff. Gruff, you're up next. I will cast Armor of Oak and Thorn and start armoring myself up. And then I'm just going to straight up attack the guy in front of me.

Okay. And that is a 15, 16, 17 to hit. 17 will hit, yeah. Iris is not shillelagh, so this is normal. No, unshillelaghed. So that is just a straight D6, which is two points of damage. Two points of damage. Is that to the one in front of you?

Yeah, the one with the helmet. Yep. So you kind of clunk in with your staff. Hit's weak. Muscles feast, feast on it. Cackling away to itself. Yeah, that's my go. Alrighty, so nothing else in your turn, Gruff?

No, that was my action bonus action. I'm not moving anywhere. Alrighty, Zarontekis, the authority. Let's go, big boy! Come on, come on, son. H hover up here um you see he's gonna lean round and he's gonna fire out a blast of uh magical fire as well uh firebolt um he's gonna cast that up towards the archers seeing that they're badly weakened he's gonna launch a firebolt out at them uh his unfortunately goes wide uh it's a bad roll for me uh the archer kind of in its weakened state like ducks down

the firebolt soars overhead um as a bonus action he will cast healing works he used a cantrip so bonus action healing word and he will get caved yeah good news yeah uh he kind of mutters an incantation like a prayer you almost hear him him like, Pyrrhus, help this one. Do not let him fall. And you see this energy, this flame almost ignites in Cade as he does so. The gnoll cackler, which is this guy back here. Oh, I love that.

He is going to... First thing he's going to use is his moment of brew oh actually no each enemy within 30 feet so he's going to move up behind like his line over here he's going to kind of dash seeing this defensive line here yeah he can hit all of you guys now. He let out this fiendish cackle. Each enemy that can hear him within 30 feet, which is going to be everybody,

must make a wisdom saving throw, please. Oh. Is it for frightening? It is for being frightened, so Daisy's currently immune. No, I'm not, because you didn't cast heroism. Oh, that's right. Good shout. Well done.

Wisdom saving throws, please. Failure. Pass the weapon. Roll saving throws, please. Failure! Pass me my... I rolled it too. Can I use a fate dice? You absolutely can. Before you roll, though. Yes. I haven't rolled yet. Alright. I'll be one of those boys.

Crucible. My fate is in the turlet. Ooh, I'll just add more to my lovely pile! Thank you. Okay. Oh my God, I didn't need it. But that's fine. Still succeed. That's fate. Them's the fate.

All right, so let's go around. So, Daisy. Two. Two. You are frightened, I'm afraid, of the cackler, the creature with the big axe. Just that one. Just that one.

But whilst it is within sight, you have disadvantage on attack rolls as long as you can see it and you can't move closer to him. So I have disadvantage on attack rolls to everyone? Yes can see it and you can't move closer to him. So I have disadvantage on attack rolls to everyone? Yes. Yeah, because you are just frightened in general. I got a 22.

Five on the face up. You succeed. You are not frightened by this beast. 22. 22. Gruff, you are not frightened by this creature. Rowan? Five.

You are frightened of the cackler. Yeah. And Ophelia. I got 10 and Percival got 14. Okay. Percival's actually immune. Percival cannot be frightened. Woo! Roen, you are frightened of the cackler, Ophelia. I got 10 and Percival got 14. Okay, Percival's actually immune. Percival cannot be frightened. Woo!

He's undead. He is the frightener. But unfortunately, you can be. There is something, some unnatural fear that kind of flows over you as this creature appears. The sergeant, Sergeant Yarrow, is frightened. Like the injury, he's like looking towards it, begins sweating, but the other soldiers,

bolstered by being healed and everything else, are just like, like they turned, they are not frightened. That is his full action. This time to use his fiendish cackle. The two marauders. The marauders are going to make their attacks against Rowan and Gruffydd.

So they're going to attack you with their weapons. their attacks against Rowan and Gruffeth. Um... Da-da-da-da-da-da... Uh... So they're gonna attack you with their weapons. Um, so a 17 to hit you, Rowan. Yep. And a 17 to hit you, Gruff. Exactly. All right, so they're gonna hit you with their, uh, rusty hatchets. Rusty.

Mm. That's gonna be nine points of damage to you, Gruff. I am going to... Uh, sorry, to you, Rowan. Uh, I'm gonna spend one of my fate dice to add a D6 to that damage for another five, so that's gonna be 14 total. But you do get one of your dice back.

Leave that to healing. Can you use it on healing? And then Gruff against you, that is gonna be three points of damage against you. That's my 10 HP. Yep, that is the Moral's Go, Daisy. If I went behind this tent here... You are not moving closer, so that would be fine.

If I could go to just the other edge of it, actually. Basically, I want to try and get myself in a position where I can not see him. Yeah, I mean, right now, I'd say that the tent is kind of one of the soldier's tents. It's blocking your sight to him. Is there any way that I can... No, I still need to hit the same people. I need to hit the...

You would be able to hit... Well, if you had a ranged attack, you could hit the archers without seeing him, but... I want to hit the one in front of Rowan, so it's not going to work. So I might have to just move back where I was, or... Yeah, and just have it with disadvantage. If I was in front of that... If I went behind that tent... There. So I went the wrong way if i go behind that can i block can i cover from him yeah see rowan i mean yeah you can i'd say that you can still just about like you are basically yeah blocking line of sight just like yeah not see

him yeah i'd say that they can do that, yeah. Okay. Can I, please, using what Nim has told me, that I just sort of kind of still learning, but can I form a blade in my hands out of energy? You see this blade of radiant light forms. It's a soldier's blade. This is the blade that a soldier, like almost like a gladius, but it has the right weight just enough for you to be able to throw with accuracy. Okay, so I'm gonna summon this glowing blade and throw it at the one that's attacking Rowan. Yeah, absolutely, make your attack. And I, uh, play. Ooh, so you summon your first radiant blade.

Uh, 23 to hit. 23 will hit. Just a little bit. And I will get sneak attack. You'll get sneak attack, yep. Because Rowan is. Yep. Nice. So it's... This will be radiant damage. 26 plus three, so one, so four on the attack, and then I get two.

Five additional for sneak attack. Another five for sneak attack. That creature is now bloodied as the blade flies in. As it thuds into its shoulder. And then I will summon as a bonus action a smaller dagger probably this looks like the one I dagger and then there's almost this sense that that first blade is one dim knows very well yeah this one is one you know very well so this second blade and you can throw that out just not quite

having that control over this new power, the blade disappears before it reaches the target. Not quite able to strike. Perfect, anything else, Daisy, on your turn? No, I'm done, I'm good. All right, in that case, we come to the last initiative, Ophelia. Yo, so bonus action command Percival

to get out of harm's way. It's a free action for you, just yeah. So I want to move in behind this tree, this tree's over on the western side. Yep. Lovely a free action for you. Yeah. So I want to move him behind this tree. These trees are on the western side. Yep. Lovely. Thank you very much. Yep.

And then I'd like to... I'm afraid, so... You just can't... So you can't move closer to this guy. No. And you have disadvantage on attack rolls.

Against him. Against anything. If he's in your main state. All right. I think I'll move up a little bit, so maybe five, ten feet. You cannot move closer to him, so you can only go like...

Towards sort of Gruff and Rowan, yeah, that way. Yep. And that will still give me ten foot of reach against the other guys. So if you go here, then yes, you are. Yeah, you can hit these two. Perfect. I would like to give that a go then, please.

Do you want a bonus action? I'd like to do a bonus action. Rage! In the name of the Great Father, your blood will spill where none shall feast. And then the whip activates. The glowing blood whip emerges. Nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen to hit.

Against Mordor, it just barely hits, yeah. Ooh! Nice. Look at the guy! Where'd you go? Oh, he's down there. I got him. There he is. A one. A re-roll, because it went on the floor.

It's dirty now. Six damage plus two, eight damage. Eight points. And I gain... Well, remember the six is already included, so you don't add the extra two again. So it's D4 plus... D4 plus two. Right, so four, and then you get the two from the raid, so it'd be six total.

Six, yep. Alrighty. But that's still enough, I believe... To activate the blood points. To add a blood point for your new subclass. Oh, yeah. So I get three blood points because I did one damage plus my proficiency. No, so you dealt damage to a creature for the first time, so you get one blood point. And then the other way you can gain blood points is when you take damage equal to a

certain amount. So as long as you have to just do a minimum amount of certain damage uh to gain blood points and you have to take a minimum amount of damage to earn blood points um you might want to either yeah keep a tally or a dice or something like that to keep track of your blood points but yes you watch as the whip kind of cracks across the creature's skin it splits this knoll'sred hide and this blood dark almost black you know blood streaks out and as it does you feel that power welling up in you

that strength almost like the grave father is telling you yes more more as you feel it empower you as you gain that first blood point amazing alrighty we go to the top of the round. The three soldiers are going to see

that Rowan just took a bad hit. Daeron is going to turn around. Bliss is going to move around because they're not frightened. They're going to move around and try and help Rowan because they can see that he's the most injured. Unfortunately, the sergeant

is going to kind of stagger back a little bit towards these trees, terrified. But looking at the archers, he's going to pull out like a crossbow and shakily try and take a frightened shot towards them. I'll do the sergeant first. He has disadvantage, which he's

going to miss, unfortunately. Like, his shaking hands causes him to fire off. You can see that maybe the injury he's suffered as well. But then the other three. So, Daeron strikes the one next to fire off. You can see that maybe the injury he suffered as well. But then the other three. So Daeron strikes the one next to Gruff. Cayde strikes the one next to Rowan. And Bliss also strikes. They all hit successfully.

So that is gonna be two points to that one. You can see that Filya, the one that you just whipped and the one that Gruff's facing, taking a moment, Daeron is like, die beast, and plunges his spear into its back. And you can see it's barely standing as he's pulling his spear free. The other one, which hasn't been injured as much, the one in front of Rowan, is going to take several hits from the two soldiers who jab it with their spears, like thrusting them in trying their best to

Get a strike on both kind of injuring it and impaling it with their spears After the soldiers the heinous are dead the little minions are gone the archers Badly injured they see Xanthius is this terrible threat and they are just gonna try and fire both at you Sensing this terrible threat my guy i'm doing this back at the moment you don't keep in mind you do not have major armor because you have not cast it yet that's yeah yeah that's that's totally fine yeah just as an f um however because i cast a use the sorcery point i do have a room you have a room yes uh well the first one unfortunately is going to be a 22 to hit. Oh, that just gets through, yeah.

The next one is going to be a 17 to hit. 17. Remind me, how much does shield give? Five. And what is my AC? Like 11? It will be 10 plus your dex modifier currently. 10 plus dex, five. Would make it 16.

It's not enough. Carry on. Carry on. From the first attack, you are going to take 10 points of piercing damage. Okay, that one I will use the rune on. Okay. To reduce it by d6. Let me know how much you reduce it by.

Three. All right, so you still take seven. Yes. Your speed is reduced by five feet, as it kind of is impaled into your leg seven. Your speed is reduced by five feet, as it kind of is impaled into your leg, as it does so. The next attack deals nine points of damage. Ooh. Okay.

Fizz, fizz, fizz. So your speed is currently reduced by 10 feet until you gain 10 points. Oh, per, okay. Damn, okay, that's smart. Yeah, yeah, they hit hard. No, I've already done it. Could've added some more damage to that.

Don't forget, you guys can spend your points as well, but I'm gonna spend mine briefly. So after those guys, the archers go rowing. Sorry, Marchess, when do we get to save against being frightened? It is... ...at the end of our turn? Save ends at end of turn. So yes, sorry, those of you who have had a turn, you may make a wisdom saving throw to get out of the frightened. My apologies. Natural 20! You are no longer frightened.

Probably not. I'm on a four. Probably not. Unfortunately not. Sergeant also rolls a natural 20. Woo! Nice. As I'm still currently frightened then, I'm going to recoil backward, which would invite attack of opportunity. Yeah, you sure?

Yep. Okay. Five feet back, they are both gonna get me to make this, because there's two next to you. Okay. The first one is gonna be a 23 to hit. Anything above 11. Yep, 11 plus. The next one is, yep be a 23 to hit. Anything above 11. Yeah, 11 plus.

The next one is, yep, they're both going to hit. Damn. Sorry, Trot. I'm going to do it this time. Use your dice. I'm going to add a d6. This is the second one I've used against you. They bite you.

They don't hit you with their hatchets. They actually sink their teeth into you. The first one is going to be nine points of damage. Oh. And then the second one, I can't hand these two, is going to be just four points of damage. I'm down. Shit.

Oh, god. They just, like, launch onto your body. As you go to move away, they just pounce on you, sinking their teeth in. That would be the end of my go. That would be the end of my That would be the end of your turn, yes. Unfortunately it would. Not frightened, no.

Xanthius. These archers gotta go but also the ones above Rowan. I am going to use a bonus action to spend a sorcery point to increase my runes by two. Okay. And I want to...

I can't really stand over Rowan's body, can I? You can to an extent, yeah. He's a big boy. But you can try and get in the way. Yeah, I don't want anything to take a strike against Rowan. Yeah. But before I do that, so I don't have disadvantage, I will cast

Scorching Ray. Ooh. Second level spell. I will do... So you get three beams, right? Yeah. I'll do two on the one

that I use poison on, so B. Yes. And one on the one that I hit pretty hard with the... He's badly hurt, yeah. Which is three individual attack rolls.

It is. So do the one. That's a six. Six, unfortunately misses. Iron up those dice now. Sure. That's what they're there for. They're meant to be spent.

That's true, that's true. Now I'll go for the... I'll see how this one goes against Poison Boy, the first of the two. That is at 11. These beams of fire flying over their head. Fate is suddenly on my side. I'm going to use one of these dice.

Sure. To hit for... Oh, good, I needed it. 12, 16. 16 hits. Jesus Christ. Which one is this against? The badly injured one. The not badly injured one, the one I needed it. 12, 16. 16 hits. Jesus Christ. Which one is this against? The badly injured one.

The not badly injured one, the one I used Poisoned on. Okay. Because I tried to hit him with two. 2d6. Oh, yeah, damage. Yes. I mean, he's going to kill himself in the fucking process. Yes.

This one already has. I'm bloodied and now trying to stand over Rowan to stop them from attacking him. That is, good God in heaven, have mercy ponce my soul. I must have sinned in a previous life to deserve such pain. Four damage. Four points of fire damage. You had a really bad time, Rowan. Grace has passed them. Not quite striking true. You deserve such pain. 4 damage. What points of fire damage? You had a really bad time rolling that.

Grace has passed them. Not quite striking true. I don't know, fire does more against them all. You didn't have the 1. It does not. It does not do more against them. Anything else on your turn, Xanthias? No, that is mine. I've got 2 runes now. I've done all I can. Tekkis is going to, having seen that these archers are so close to death,

is going to... It's going to move up closer towards them. It's going to pull, has like a throwing dagger in one hand, and then with the other is going to blast again with that Firebolt spell. And I am going to spend a Fate Dice to boost their roll. Because remember, these are not just adversarial. I can use them for NPCs to help you guys out

But I'm gonna treat them as a players if I was a player when I use it Well, that it's dead ice I will add to you guys. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's remember it's balancing it both ways. Yeah When you have allies like it makes sense, right? It is to the damage roll, though, not to the attack roll, remember. So that is gonna hit. So, d10. 10 plus five on the fake dice. This archer is annihilated as he is just like,

demon spawn! And just launches out this firebolt to kill this one, and then his throwing knife is still going to hit for six points of damage to the other one as well, heavily injuring that one as well. So he kind of flicks a knife up at the next one, heavily injuring it as he turns around, and it's just like, Sergeant, get back in the fight! We go from Tekis to Gruffydd.

Hello. Remind me of spellcasting. I can cast a spell and a cantrip. You can. So you can cast a spell. If you cast a spell as a bonus action, the only other spell you can cast that turn must be a cantrip.

Other way round. Can I cast a spell as an action and a bonus action cantrip? No. Well, no, yeah spell you can cast that turn must be a cantrip. Other way round. Can I cast a spell as an action and a bonus action cantrip? No. Well. No, yeah, you can. Oh, that's right, because there's not that many bonus action cantrip spells. So, yes, you can shillelagh and cast a main spell.

Yes, you can. You can't burn more than one spell slot a turn. It wasn't shillelagh I was thinking of casting. There's not many other bonus action spells. Well, there's a thing that you've added to my staff with the bird it's a separate thing it's not spell but to summon the bird is that a bonus action or is it it says you cast mage hand to it's um oh is mage hand it allows you to cast the mage hand cantrip as you know it as if you knew it yeah and then the next bit that would be an action yeah that would be an action yeah and then i can do bonus action stuff so i need to do an action

to something let's do separate things so you can cast you can use it as mage hand or you can do the other stuff how do i even just summon it though is that just it's just that's part of either casting mage hand or using the other stuff you don't need. You don't need to summon it and then do stuff with it. Okay, well, in which case, I'm going to reach down and cast Cure Wounds on Rowan. Okay. And that will heal you for 1d8. Seven plus, oh, God, Wisdom. You're a druid.

Plus three, ten points of healing. Nice. Better healer than I was. And you get your temporary hit pointsid. Plus three, ten points of healing. Nice. Better healing than I was. And you get your temporary hit points because Oakenthorne also triggers on healing. I'll do that in a second. And then bonus action, I'm going to prepare. So you'll hear a little whistle.

And Saren, the green outline of Saren appears. And I will use them to protect a creature within 30 foot of me. Ooh. And that creature is going to be Xanthius. Okay. Oh. So the green cormorant appears. And that lasts until the effect triggers, basically, I think it says.

Because I'm burning. Burning. So you watch as it kind of flies over and is now flying around you, Xanthius, overhead, protectively. Alright, Gruff, excellent turn. We then go to the soldiers have gone. Up you get, big boy. The cackler. This guy. I don't like that guy.

Oh, the frightening guy. With the battleaxe. He is going to... Mmm, so many tasty targets. You're down, but you've just been healed. Xantius is looking. You're bloodied, Red Xantius. You're quite hurt. He's pretty hurt.

Is bloodied less than half? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's going to come for you. He smells it in the air. I stink of it. He is going to use...

I stink. Reek of blood. Moment of brutality to cause... He's going to have one of Brutality to cause, he's going to have one of the marauders attack you, Gruff. The marauder takes 2d6 psychic damage. Oh, wait, so he causes? He causes his own body to take three points of psychic damage, but then his buddy gets

to make a free bite attack. That's really cool. I think that's still going to miss though, that's only a 10 to hit you. Tis but a scratch! And then the cackler himself is going to try and bite into Xanthius. That rolled from a nat 20 to a 2. So that is only a 6 to hit.

So yeah, tries to bite into you but does... It's a successful attack, so he has not successfully attacked. So the bird is still in play. The bird is still in play. Don't worry, I've got an eye on my bird. After the Cackle of the Moral, does they get their normal go? And so they're both going to attack Gruff at this point. In fact, actually, no, the one's going to turn around and try and bite Bliss.

With a hatchet. So against Gruff, that is going to be a 17. Exactly. So you take eight points of damage as it cuts into you with its hatchet. And the other one is going to turn around to Bliss and misses. She just nimbly dodges to the side. She's kind of got like a more slender rapier-like sword that she pulls out and is defending herself with.

That's the Marauders. We then go to Daisy. She's no longer frightened. I'm not scared of you. I'm going to step out from behind the tent and just do the same thing again, but to that, the one attacking Xan, yeah. The cackler.

The cackler. And try and... Just reminding me they're there. Just a selection option. And I will try and summon my Radiant Blade. 16 to hit. Will still hit, yeah, still hits that one. This one hasn't been hurt and doesn't look tougher, bigger and tougher than the others.

So... 6 damage... Six radiant damage. Last two. Eight. Eight more on top. So that would be 14 total. Yep. So again, that radiant blade cuts in.

And then I'll summon the dagger with the other hand. Sure. And try. Fail probably. Ten to hit. I should have Sure. And try. Fail, probably. Ten to hit. I should have used a fate dice. I almost did. Sadly, it misses.

Again, that second attack, just not quite used to it, dissipates just before it reaches. Anything else, Daisy, on your turn? Not for now, I'm good. All right. Ophelia. I would like to roll an attack against the... Let's have a look.

One of the boys in front of me. Sure. Nice. Can I have a fate dice, please, before I roll? Oh, yeah. You want to do it again? Thank you very much. Boost that boy for me.

Boost that boy for me. 18, 19. 19 hits. Sick, sick, sick, sick. I'm going to use my Crimson Fury and spend a blood point to add an extra d6 to my whip attack please mechanics that is eight on the d4 eight on the of eight totals four on the d4 four on the d6 plus

two plus another two for rage so four four four points ten ten, no, twelve. Twelve. Twelve points. That slays the Bloodfront of Gruff. I slayed a beast! You slayed a beast. Well, first of all, you dealt enough damage, so you gain another blood point, because that's the first time you dealt damage to a creature on your turn, so you get a blood point again. Even if you spend blood points to increase your damage, it self-fuels itself almost.

Yeah, but it's only gaining one, so it's every time. So the way the blood point system works is any time Ophelia attacks a creature for the first time, so it has to be, so if she gets multi-attack, she doesn't get blood points on the second attack. Right. But when she attacks a creature for the first time, if she deals a certain minimum amount of damage,

she gains a blood point. If she takes damage of a minimum amount on her, like for the first time, she also can gain a blood point that way. Okay. And blood points can be spent to other things. Your thing. Wiz save as well.

Yes, please, at the end of your turn. My wisdom's lost. One, so, yeah, nine. No, unfortunately, you're still right end. Okey-dokey. Did you roll with disadvantage on that attack? Okay, perfect, great. So that one is now slain.

When that one is slain, as a reaction, the gnolls are going to activate their death frenzy. The archer is going to leap down death frenzy um the archer is gonna leap down and charge tekis yeah the cackler is gonna turn on xanthius and gruff this guy is gonna turn on you and all three of them are gonna make bite attacks uh so xanthius natural one oh rough natural one oh uh poor xaron teclis uh is 18. It hits him. He's going to take a hit. Eh. Xanthius is like, yeah.

That's a big eh. Not too worried about that. I'll throw a five-ball at him. Oh, I missed it. Oh, whoops. With that, because we do have to cut the stream because we've got a lot of other stuff to do, we are going to have to end this part mid-battle, unfortunately.

Yeah. Oh. It's over. I did not even notice the time. No, we were wrappedattle, unfortunately. Yeah. It's awkward. I did not even notice the time. No, we were wrapped up in that. So thank you very much for joining us, but that is going to be the end of this episode of High Rolls. Episode 5 of Ulfea.

I have to come up with an episode name, but I will do that. Oh, no. No, it's not going to be that. It's not that. But yeah, thank you for joining us. Null, please have mercy on us. We will see you in the future for more Ulfea the Dragon Empire. Hell yeah.

Goodbye. Bye-bye.