High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: A Rogue's Gambit #2 | Meeting with Dandelion

Episode Date: September 14, 2018

Mamba's Mercenaries have a meeting with Dandelion but it seems like there are others looking for him as well! Thanks to Wizards of the Coast for making this possible, and thanks to Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms for sponsoring this series! Check out Idle Champions here - https://bit.ly/2MJSdYy - to earn us those valuable D6s... we need all the help we can get. All you need to do is play the game! We're playing the brand new Waterdeep: Dragon Heist module! More information here: https://bit.ly/2JdEX8M Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

pickaxe who's beetlejuice don't ever say that name beetlejuice i'm serious if you say that name three times really bad stuff is gonna happen beetlejuice beetlejuice the juice is loose on september 6th we doing this the this? The wait. Let's go, honey. Is over. Thank you all for coming to this very special occasion. I felt a little tingle. Ew. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, September 6th.

Your mom hates it when you leave six half full glasses on your nightstand. It's a good thing mom lives on the other side of the country. And it's an even better thing that you can get six IKEA 365 Plus glasses for just $9.99. So go ahead, you can afford to hoard because IKEA is priced for student life. Shop everything you need for back to school at IKEA today. Hello everyone and welcome to a new mini-series. For 11 weeks we're going to be playing the brand new Dragon Heist module, a high-stakes, high-reward adventure set in the city of Waterdeep. We've rolled up some interesting new characters who must rely on each other to conquer the challenges a Mission

Impossible-style campaign will throw at us. Also, this series is partnered with Idol Champions of the Forgotten Realms. Jump in, play the game, and earn us some D6s that we're using to supplement our ability checks and saving throws. And trust me, we're going to need all the help we can get, so please support us by playing Idle Champions. So to start with, Kim Richards is Boomer, a demolitions quote-unquote expert goblin who seems to love explosions a little bit too much. Katie Morrison plays Fleur Laverne, a silent but deadly tiefling gunslinger. Chris Trott controls Aqua Mumba, an old, um, I mean, veteran spy halfling who seems to have a whole lot of tricks up his sleeves. And I, Tom Hazel, am Bertam Terramax,

or Bertie for short, an ex-boxer goliath barbarian who may have taken one or two or three hundred too many hits to the head. Last time the party received their mission and made preparations to meet a mysterious contact named Dandelion. So, let's play the adventure. Let's play A Rogue's Gambit.

Welcome to Hyrule's A Rogue's Gambit. If you play Idle Champions whenever you complete a quest or you play in free play, you will earn points towards earning D6, which are put into a pool, which the players can choose to add to their D20 rolls of skill checks, attack rolls, that sort of thing. In compensation, I will be making many of the challenges very, very difficult. They'll be fighting high-level enemies than they would normally expect to. We've also come up with a fun rule, which users submitted last time, which was the last time we played, we had 20 of these dice left over, which they have now decided I get to use.

So, Idle Champions like that. Idle Champions like that idea quite a lot, so now I have 20 d6 to use. So, we have to try and burn as many as we can, but not so early that we run out. Not hours, we can't burn hours early. We have to make sure there's none left by the end of the episode. Yeah. But if you burn them all in the first 20 minutes, I'm going to have all my dice to use. So it's a little fun.

A little fun play around with it. Quick recap on what happened last week. We did a sort of pre-title sequence last week where the crew attempted to negotiate a hostage exchange with a bunch of Asmodeus cultists which was successful a little bit eventually a little bit madcap perhaps there were explosions and sleep spells and all sorts of things that went awry but yes many other things a man slowly being pressed into a wall to the point where it killed him.

But that was the pre-title sequence, setting up the kind of antics to expect. But the crew were given a mission by the Harpers. This mission is to meet with an agent in the city of Waterdeep, an agent who has recovered an artifact which could lead to a fortune of half a million gold coins, half a million gold dragons secured in the city when people don't seem to know where it is. The crew have been told that they are meeting with this agent, codenamed Dandelion, at a place called Trollskull Manor, an inn in a place called Trollskull Alley within the city of Waterdeep. And that deal, that meeting,

is taking place this evening at 10pm. I was just writing down a really important note. What was that note? Bertie bought a magical horse named Wendell. That is... So you were given some time to purchase some magical gear and equipment. And in using that time, Bertie decided he bought a horse called Grundle, which he's told is magical.

Well, he is. You fed it Norman. I fed it Nerman. Your two-headed worm. My two-headed worm. And it turns out it is actually magical. But not in the way that you thought. It doesn't need, well, I thought he didn't need to eat or poop, is why i put nerman in there but he does he doesn't need to doesn't mean

he can't it's true it doesn't mean he won't uh alongside this incredible purchase which was very well thought out and very relevant to what they're going to be doing uh boomer the goblin inventor explosives vigilante which is one of my own homebrew classes, purchased a magical enchantment on his baseball bat. Oh yeah! So it does poison damage. I've got a rusty baseball bat now. Fleur purchased a grapple hook launcher to be true Widowmaker Supreme. Widowmaker. Widowmaker.

She's also not gonna bother with an accent this week. Which, yeah, that's fine. Imagine I have a really nice French accent. I can't today. That's fine. The power of imagination. I mean, it can't be worse than my Australian accent. That's true. That's true.

But, well, basically, the equivalent of that is two times per day, equivalent to the spell of Misty Step. So you can teleport up to 30 feet. Oh, okay, two times a day. But you can go, like, upwards and stuff like that. Cool. So you basically have, like, a 30-foot grapple launcher that will propel you to a point within 30 feet, and you can use upwards and stuff like that. Cool. So you basically have a 30 foot grapple launcher that will propel you to a point within 30 feet

and you can use it twice per day before it needs to be recharged or reloaded or something. I can't even remember what Aquamamba bought. Turtlenecks! That's right, you ordered a series of turtlenecks. Oh, we did not remember this yesterday. A series of turtlenecks. Just that's it.

And that was it, I think. Embroidered. Embroidered turtlenecks. Just that's it. And that was it, I think. Embroidered. Embroidered turtlenecks. With the, what was it, Mamba's Mercenaries. Yes. Yes. Okay. I actually had a list of stuff and I fulfilled the list.

But he's annoyed that I bought a horse. I got a potion of speed as well. Potion of speed. You took it very literally. Yes. Well, yeah. You took his list of things very literally. You wanted a magic item and a potion.

You did. You got there. Yeah, I got there. Well, the first question I'll ask you is, do you do anything in the time leading up to 10pm when you're going to travel to this inn called Trollskull Manor in the city of Waterdeep to meet with Dandelion? Codename Dandelion.

I'm probably going to get very drunk at the bar. So you go straight to the... Our original meeting point. Oh, the Yawning Portal. The Yawning Portal, I'm going to go in there and get some early drinks in to take the edge off. How many drinks? Quite a lot. Okay.

Shall I roll for how many? On a D20. Well, let's see. First of all, the Yorling Portal is a very bustling tavern. It's very difficult to find a seat or get space at the bar because it is full of adventurers and mercenaries and all sorts

of rabble throughout it. Durnan, the barkeeper, these big sort of lamb chops that trail into a moustache. He's got like a real Victorian style handlebars into mutton chops. Wearing like a loose shirt with a rag, he's just quietly cleaning the desk, whilst a barmaid, a very kind of bright blonde, buxom barmaid is serving drinks to everybody.

And you can see that this tavern is full of all sorts of strange figures. There's a large, muscular, barbarian-looking man with purple face markings who appears to be clutching some sort of small rodent. There is a wizard in a very elaborate red uniform, barking orders and ordering around a very short, hairy-looking dwarf. There is a very fabulously well-dressed man with a hat with a large feather in it. Quite a large gut, but he carries himself very well. And he's covered with men and women hanging off his every word

as he's just buying drinks and surrounding himself with praise. Yes, all sorts of figures can be found in the yawning portal. I'm just going to barge through. Okay. I'm using my cane to hit shins and stamp on toes and stuff. Okay. Get out of the way, I'm walking here! Excuse me!

You get up to the bar and you see a very curious eyebrow raised from Durnan. Durnan! D-Durnan! Pick me up! He leans down. Pick me up! You don't accommodate to my folk very well! He points to a set of boxes that lead up to the bar with a sign for halflings and nobes.

You're kidding me, right? That's the best you got? He just points at it and drops. Look at my cane! Look at my cane! All you can see from his perspective is the tip of the cane. The tip of the cane. Just waggling.

It's made of gold! Pure gold! I think someone that owns a pure gold cane is just gonna get on some boxes with halfling scribbled carelessly on the side? He looks down and just says, if the halfling wants a drink, yeah. I think he wants- Terrible service!

Is that some sort of bulletin board where I can leave a rating? Cause it would be a one star! All I'm saying- He just smirks. Unbelievable. I'm gonna- I'm gonna start clamoring on the boxes. He like nods.

I'm gonna be cursing and mumbling. Moves over. What can I get you? Let me see... Something straight- There is a large board covered in the names of all different alcoholic beverages. Red Dragon Crush, Crush, Star Wine, all different of these fancy-sounding alcoholic names, all with different prices, but they're quite pricey.

Most of them here are ranging in the sort of two gold margins, which is very pricey for a tavern. I need a quick hit. I need something straight, hard, fast, just like me. You understand? He nods, goes over, pulls out a very dark-looking bottle engraved with moons and stars, pulls out a very thick-looking liqueur in a small shot glass, puts it down.

Hold on. Hold on. I got my own glass. I'm going to get the cane out and push a little butt on the side. No. And a flat disc comes out, right? I'm gonna get the cane out and push a little button on the side. No! And a flat disc comes out. Right.

That then pops up. He nods. Hi, Gene. He holds his hand out. It's five gold. Five gold? You said you wanted something strong. I'm looking at the board. Is it five gold?

Yeah, there's one on there which is just called, it's called Oni Breath, and it's five gold. What a rip. You better be good. Better knock my socks off. He just nods, takes the five gold, pours it into your cup, and then takes the bottle back, nods.

He seems to give a glance to a couple of assistants who kind of just hover around you. Yeah. Make it back. Well, just, yeah, you notice that there are some people around, but it's a very packed looking bar. Constitution. Constitution.

That's an 18 plus. Okay. Where's my basic stuff? I mean... 18. 18. You... My character is on D&D Beyond, so I didn't forget anything.

You feel this momentary kind of wash, like the strong aniseed-like taste as it goes down your throat, and you feel this intense burn as it goes down. As soon as it hits your stomach, your vision just blurs, you can barely keep your eyes open, whatever it is, it's hit you extremely hard. I'm an 18? You needed some dice! Poison!

I'll be poisoned! Someone's had to get me! I'm very popular! And then you just fall over and in fact the assistants that have been waiting, one catches you, drags you over to a corner where there are several other slumbering drunks and just kind of props you there. I remember weird stuff like, I thought I had a higher DC! And then that's it, you pass out. Anybody else doing anything before this meeting? Is this just after he fed the...

Probably. Yeah. Can I burst into the place? Into the yawning ball. And just go up to the bar and say, Hey, real important. Do you have anything that can make a horse that doesn't poop poop? Danon just shakes his head.

Doesn't say anything. No! And I'll charge back outside okay just charge out and I'll give someone else a turn for that she's really intrigued to see how far he's

going to go to bring back Nurn and I'm going to stand behind Grundle and just watch come on come on okay you just stand outside and just watch. Come on! Come on! Okay, you just stand outside, I'm guessing, the stable of the Yawning Pool where you have stored Grundle.

Yeah, sure. I mean, I guess I just walked him up to the front door. I guess he's just outside the front door. Yeah, and you just wait at this horse. I'm just going to stand there and watch him. Okay, Fleur and Boomer. Can I be arm-wrestling someone in the bar? Sure, yeah. Who do you pick wrestling someone in the bar? Sure.

Yeah. Who do you pick? There's no shortage of opponents. Burly-looking half-orcs. One man who looks like he might have some giant blood. Huge, tall, long, white hair, bluish-tinted skin. There is a lizard man. Literally a lizard man, literally a lizard man

in sort of hides and bone-like armour, sitting with a bunch of adventurous-looking folk. Is there anyone where, like, the crowd's thickest and there's, like, lots of people kind of watching? Yeah, probably the very large, very wealthy-looking man has got the biggest amount of people around him. This feathered, plumed hat,

you can see a kind of very elegant rapier by his side. And he's got an enormous crowd around him, but they don't appear to be, like, watching for arm wrestling. They're just enamored with him as he regales some story of some dungeon that he explored and some treasure that he located at some point. Okay. I'm going to go up to him.

Okay. Good night, mate. The gathered crowd looks for a moment, seemingly a little stunned by the appearance of a goblin, I'm so cute. and they kind of eye you momentarily, and this larger man looks around. What's this? A goblin! How wonderful! My goodness, how things have changed. Hello there, little creature.

Hello there. Gobby git. Fancy a wrestle? A wrestle? Yep. As in... You mean like some sort of grease-stub competition? Oh no, but bless you for noticing the grease on my face. It's from something I made an hour ago.

I mean an arm wrestle. Well, I'm afraid that I don't have any requirement to neither prove anything or to win any money. Nah, it's just a bit of fun, mate. Ah, well, a bit of fun I'm on a pose to, but not really for me. However, I know a few people... Minsk! Minsk! This goblin here is looking for someone to arm wrestle. And you hear a, uh, WHAT? Goblin? And this man who was holding a tiny little hamster kind of puts it in like a little pocket that has been purposely built into his armour. He comes up and he's like,

Goblins don't arm wrestle, goblins stab. Who are you? What are you doing? G'day, watcher. You're a big fella. I'm Boomer. You're a goblin. Who is talking? Not the stabbing. This is confused, Minsc. What species is talking? Not the stabbing This is confused Minsk What species is this?

He's human He's bald headed, completely bald headed But he has purple markings on his face A large great sword And yeah, just this tiny little hamster Sticking out of his pocket And he looks down at you very confused Not quite sure what to make of you

Minsk Minsk this goblin is obviously not your typical typical goblinoid type he's looking for someone to arm wrestle I think that you would prove quite the challenge Minsk looks down at you

I will break purely goblin that is not good look at the arm! I will crush! Oh, don't worry mate, I'll bounce! Come on, I'm bored! Alright, Minx will... Minx will wrestle tiny puny goblin. He kind of puts an arm down on the table and the crowd is all like, oh!

You see quite a few people are beginning to gather around. He's pretty big, isn't he? Oh yeah, he's massive and he's got massive arms. Okay. Um, I'm guessing a strength check? You will help, Minsc, yes? Give me your wisdom and courage. Use them idle champion's dice. Uh... Well, for those about to die, let let's do it so it's just a pure

strength check okay that's a lot of dice you just taken that he's got a lot of Let's roll mate! Oh he rolled 3 Very good I got 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 Plus 13 is 26 39 Plus 3 is 29 So you rolled 5d6. How many did you roll? Five. Oh my god, okay.

I rolled a 17 and this is Minsc. Oh, yeah. You put a hand around this, your tiny little goblin hand fits into his palm. He holds it and you're beginning to doubt if this was a very wise idea. No, Boomer has no doubt! Okay, so Boomer is very confident. You begin straining and you're like putting all the pressure you can. Yeah!

And he's just not budging. And then Mert, this larger fellow, is like, Minsk, he started! And he's like, oh! Boomer is thrown through, like, into a wall. You slam against the wall with a loud impact. Yeah, like, Minsst just taps his arm and he's just like,

I win! Thank you, boo! You just hear this laughing from my crater. It's a pained laughter. There's probably like a, you've probably bruised

some ribs. Oh, that was hilarious, mate! Get rid of those five. Oh my goodness. Um, yeah.

Good one! Good one! I always had you there! Boomer can definitely put down that he has now arm-wrestled the famous Minsk. The space pygmy Boo. Yeah, miniature space hamster Boo. So, you are all in the yawning portal. You wait for a long time, Bernie.

Waiting to see if Bertie, Bernie, waiting to see if Bertie, Bernie, whatever. It doesn't really matter anymore. I'm going to just sit on the rooftops. I'm going to have a little explore on the rooftops. Sit around. And then I'm going to come and sit back and see what's going on.

Can I try my grappling hook? Yeah, you can play around with it. Yeah, for sure. Not on Grondor? Yeah, you can play around with it, for sure. On Grondor? You can zoom around. Not on Grondor. No. Oh. So Fleur begins zipping around like Spider-Man around Waterdeep,

practicing the grappling hook. Bertie, you wait for a long time. No poop. But eventually a series of guards do come over, and they're wearing the kind of blue and silver uniform of the city watch. They make their way over and like, oh, what's all this then? You can't be having a horse out here

without being tied up, sir. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. No, no, he's not doing it. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. No, he's not pooping yet. What are you waiting for, sir? You can't have your animal Defecating on the streets of Waterdeep this needs to be this creature needs to be in a stable sir. It's okay I don't think he's gonna he doesn't poop. Oh, you're gonna take you need to take him to a stable

He's not gonna poop. What's the problem? You need to take him to a stable can't have just wild horses walking around He's not walking around. He's just standing here. Well, I'm waiting for him to put Norman out. One of the guards is like, this guy's a fucking idiot, Jim. I'm getting that, thank you, Bill. Hey, I can hear you. I'm very smart, thank you. You need to take your horse.

Horse. Else, you need to put him in a stable or actually go somewhere with him. You can't just have him out here in the street. I mean, he seems relatively... Yeah, I'm telling you that you are not allowed to do that in the city of Waterdeep. But I'm telling you, he's already stable.

Do you understand that I'm a member of the Watch? No, I do, but I don't understand. You're telling me he's stable. He's stable. Is that DM or up he? I'm going to ask you one more time, sir. All right. I'm being very polite.

You need to take your horse to a stable, a place where they keep horses. Oh, but I can take him back where I bought him. I don't care. You can't just have him out on the street. Alrighty, come on, Norman. No way. Oh no, you're Grendel, you ate Norman. Come on! I think Tom is losing it.

Where does Tom end and where do you begin? So you just take Grendel's reins and... Walk. Just walk off elsewhere. That's all you want. He's trying to clear a homeless man off the street. He just needed you to leave. See you.

As they move in. Lovely to meet you. Around the Yawning Portal, there are many antics that you can get up to, but the Yawning Portal is a district or two districts away from Trollscore Alley. Is there anything else you want to do? I guess you want to pass out It's time. I assume I passed out. How long am I passed out?

I mean, probably like, how long does, you know, like an hour? Okay. But you wake up, I mean, not passed out, you didn't even need to pass out, you were just incredibly drunk off this drink. Yeah, like this alcohol was incredibly strong. Ah, yep.

You wake up, slurred, you know. What time is it? Hungover It's early evening, it's probably like 7-8 o'clock by the time you've un-wrestled and drank and zipped around the rooftops and led the horse around I'm probably still wrestling I'm just like, yeah

After Minsk beats you quite a few younger adventurers come up and want to wrestle you Some of them you beat, after Minsc beats you, quite a few younger adventurers kind of come up and want to wrestle you, but, you know, some of them you beat, some of them beat you, like, it's, you know, but it becomes like a fun game of Arm-Wrestle the Goblin, and it becomes a bit of a spectacle of people just see it as this, ha ha, how quaint, ha ha, Arm-Wrestle the Goblin. And yeah, like, it seems that most of the people here are adventurers,

so they're not even that put off by the fact that you're a hideous creature that ate things. I'm adorable, love the work. That's subjective. No, you're a goblin. I'm cute. My mum says I'm cute. Other goblins think you're cute, maybe. My mum says I'm the best licker of the lot.

Probably. I miss my mum. So yeah. She doesn't have eyes. She's dead. She's there in bed. She feels my face. So what's the plan?

What time did we have to meet? 10 o'clock. 10pm. Okay, so we're almost. Yeah, and you've, you know, it's not far. It's maybe like, maybe a 30 minute walk over to Trollscoe Alley. I'm going to go out and get some fresh air. Get outside.

Okay. Walk off the cobwebs. Yeah, Waterdeep is a bustling city. It's full of... The people of Waterdeep are very varied. You notice when you're walking around that nobody here. The fashion is very unique. People are very expressive.

They wear what they want. You can see folks, you know, where there's no real... Doesn't it appear to be that gender identity is a big thing? Like people just wear what they want. So people just dress however they particularly feel like. There is a large, you know, variant in the races. Elves, humans, tieflings, dragonborn, dwarves. Everybody seems to be represented in the city.

It's very colourful. You can see that some sort of parade is being planned around the main street as well. Called the Festival of Wonder. That seems to be being planned out around the city. You can see that there are statues of automatons being built. You can see that there are little

stages being built, ready for performances that you notice around the city. I'm going to get out a tiny notebook and note all these things down as if it's important for planning purposes. And make my way to the actual meeting point. I like how Aquamanber is making these notes,

but Chris Trott is not. So therefore Aquamanber won't remember any of them. No. He's writing really scrawly, scratchy notes. I remember this. Hooray. He's also still drunk. Yeah, probably.

Tiring through the paper. Yeah. And then what? You want to head over to Trollskull and... I'm going to... I'm speaking out loud. Okay.

Let's get out the meeting point. Make sure nothing unsuspect is happening. Okay. So you're going to head over there? I'm going to be real stealthy about it, but drunk stealth.

Okay. So the rest of you, Aqualama just vanishes. None of you know where Aqualama's gone. Yeah Okay, so the rest of you, Aqualama just vanishes. None of you know where Aqualama's gone. Yeah, what are the rest of you doing? Can I imagine, like, I'm in the centre of a crowd

of people now, just laughing. Yeah, like, the town is very busy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, this is a lot of fun, mate, but do you know what I find even more fun? That's them entertainment barges, eh?

Just floating on the ships, on the water, having a party. It's great. Anyone know of any that's come into town? Yeah, the murr is just like, oh, yes, yes. There's been quite a lot of those going down, isn't there? Thanks to Kim, I've got a fucking switch for you. Don't worry. Yes, yes.

There's been a few that have docked in the ship. Some Luskan fellow has brought a few in. I believe it's called, I'm not quite sure of the actual ship's names, but folk have been calling it the Seamadon's Fair. Um, some fellow's brought in a trio of barges, all decked out for entertainment. Casinos, and dancers, performers. It's quite wonderful. I've been enjoying a few winnings of the old casino and

all the people around him are like, ha ha ha ha ha, Mert, you're so funny! Ha ha ha ha! Oh yes, I'm very funny, very witty! Is this the big decadent guy? Yes, the big decadent guy. Yeah. It's just like that.

I think you might have a bit of trouble, though. I mean, I'm not sure there'll be a very accommodating of a goblin, I'm afraid. The Yawning Portal, of course. People here are a bit more open-minded. But, yes, I'm not sure if the Sea Maiden's Sphere is really the best place for a goblin. Well, why not? Well, people, a lot of people here, well, a lot of people have family killed by goblins, you see.

It's adventurers, it's a common occurrence for us to go in and clear out goblin dens and meet your kind, but a lot of folk think that you eat babies and do all sorts of rancid things like that. That was me old fellas, and I don't associate with them anymore. I'm afraid that you'll find people are quite judgmental of monstrous goblins. I'm not monstrous, I'm a lovable skimp. Yes, and we all agree, don't we? Oh yes, Matt, yes, but some other folks you might struggle with.

But yes, if you do, by all means, head down to the Seamade's Fair. Not sure who's running it, some Luskan fellow. Haven't had the opportunity to meet him yet, but I've heard he's quite the gambler. Ah, well, maybe you can smuggle me in, mate. Dress me up like one of your friends here.

Oh, possibly, yes. I'm not planning on going there. I tell you what, Goblin, you ever fancy going down to the old Seamade's Fair, you come and find old Mert. I'm normally around here, deep in the port. Sounds like a date,

Mertie. Alright, sounds good. What's your name, goblin? Boomer! Ah, very good. Boomer! Boom, boom! And Boomer's just going to laugh at her. Yep. Everybody seems to be

in good spirits at that. He turns back to his adoring crowd, who he then begins regaling some tale about journeying into a place called Undermountain, recovering some sort of treasure. What was his name again? Mert. Mert. Mert.

You can make a straight-up intelligence check if you want to know a bit more about him. He's a semi-famous figure. Ten. You might have heard the name Mert. Generally referred to as Mert the Money Lender. Just a very wealthy ex-adventurer. That's probably all you would know.

Okay. What about Fleur Bertil? Have you gone all the way back? No, I think he'll circle round at some point. He just does a big leap. Yeah, you go first. No, I'm good. So are you guys just going to hang out at the unicorn?

I feel like she probably would have scouted the place, probably, maybe a little bit before Aquamamba. Maybe a bit better than Aquamamba? Maybe a bit better. She probably sat a bit further back looking through her scope at the alley for a bit better than Aquamumba. Maybe a bit better. She probably sat a bit further back, looking through her scope at the alley for a bit, on a rooftop, and then sees him drunkenly stumble. I note down that terrain is unstable. The whole alleyway seems to be under some sort of mystical spell.

Okay. Everything seems to move. How big am I in relation to the horse out of interest? I mean, you're pretty big, but a horse is large. You're like nearly seven foot, but a horse is a horse. Yeah. Okay, so I can still ride it. Yeah,

you can still ride it. I didn't think I was going to crush it. Yeah, no, no, no, you won't just crush it. No, no. Do you make your way over there, Bertie, or are you just wandering around lost and aimless? I think I'll just enter the bar where everyone else is with Grundle. Try and enter with... Well, so far, Boomer is still in the Yawning Portal. These two have gone off to the location that you know that you're meant to meet this guy later on.

Oh, right. Well, I mean, I'm not looking... I just assume they're still there. Okay, so you try and enter the yawning portal like yeah you are immediate first of all grundle won't fit through the door i mean okay he's a horse yeah but can i uh yes you have to like duck under um and as you try and pull ground the lid you just hear the bomb and this go the big lamb chops is like stop that not no horse well i was looking for a place to put him. They told me to put him somewhere. Stables. Oh, God!

Boomy! I miss my friend! You just hear a filler tapping on the back of your thigh. Alright, Bertie, mate? Yeah, I miss my friend, Boomy. I'm your friend, mate. Yeah, but you're not Nerman.

I mean, you had that thing for what a day? What, Nerman? Yeah. Oh yeah I guess but he was my friend. Yeah well... He dangled and stuff. That's what you get when you feed your friends to your other friends. Look, he was a menoenum!

He doesn't mean anything, he's not Tom Cruise. Oh Bertie, Bertie, Bertie, come on now! I don't know what my voice is doing, but... Stick with it. Just go with it. I've been thrown across the room too many times. Where's the other guys? You know, Amanda and the shooty ones. They're probably off at that bar, was it? The troll thing. Well, you know, the job we're on.

Got to meet the dandelion fellow about some stone. Will he care about the horse? Yeah, sure. Oh, God, I've got to put him somewhere. Come on, mate. Let's go wander over. You come with old Boomy here. Okay, Boomy, that's cool. If you want, I can ride the horse and then you can ride me.

That sounds like an excellent idea. That is the best bloody idea you've had all day. So you're riding the horse and then Boomer rides you. The horse probably wouldn't even notice the weight of a single goblin so it's not bothered. So for those of you that make your way over there, Trollskull Alley is a fairly worn down part of Waterdeep. I think I can flip this and show you guys. So the vague layout, unfortunately the audience won't be able to see this, but you guys can. So it's split into ramshackle buildings.

You can see that there are lots of businesses and various other trades houses, actual physical residences and things like that scattered around yeah um but it's generally pretty worn down it looks like a pretty pretty poor part of the city uh troll skull manor is right by the north entrance and it's mainly identifiable by the fact that it was probably once an old manor house it even has a small parapet with like a little corner buttress that looks out onto a kind of larger square right by the northern entrance to the alleyway itself. Around it, there are several other businesses.

One appears to be some sort of like herbalists or florists with like a rooftop greenhouse. There's also one building which just has a tiger's eye agency and it just has like a single cat's eye for its symbol um nearby uh outside the building there are some halfling entertainers um some people just going about their work uh just you know like artisans people doing like carpentry out in the main sort of like square but the actual inn itself appears to be fairly busy. A few people inside.

And yeah, it looks to be the largest building in this little region of the city itself. Scouting around. So the two of you who are scouting around, why don't you both make perception checks for me. And then based on your check, I will let you ask me some questions and then I will answer them depending on your check. So like, what are you looking for? Like, et cetera.

Should I use those dice? Eleven. Eleven. Yeah, don't forget you've got the dice pool that you can use. So, yeah. We'll start with Fleur. Fleur, what are you looking for

any figures that are sort of skulking around or some people who look like they might sort of be like

waiting either waiting or just like shifty eyes okay and you're doing and you're doing this before you're meant to meet this person

you're kind of scouting out beforehand right yeah okay so you look around, and generally from your view of the area, you don't think that there is anybody who appears to be shifty or waiting.

The musicians appear to be genuine. There's a bunch of halflings. Two of them are playing instruments, and two of them are doing some sort of acrobatic dance. They've got like a little cup, like a tin hat, where a little boy is sat collecting coins for the little troop.

You do see a noble woman enter the Tiger's Eye agency, but again, she just appears to be a regular noble woman. There's a shopkeeper working in the herbalists. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary. Aquamember, what are you looking for with your check?

I was looking for the same thing. Anyone shifty with a magnifying glass that comes out. Okay. It took me a few tries. Won't really help. A magnifying glass won't help you look. It's tiny, it's like a monocle. Right.

But it's a magnifying glass. It's meant for looking at things really close up, not scanning an area. Drunk. You're still using it? Okay. Looking for that, and also going around the Trollskull tavern. Okay. Escape points. Okay.

Basically, good points to, like, if things go south, are there any sewage plumbing that you can use? So, the Trollskull Manor is a fairly large inn, and you can tell that it's got plenty of rooms upstairs all of which have windows.

The windows aren't barred they've just got wooden shutters on them. There is a back door that leads into a rear part of the alleyway. Yeah, I mean plenty of exits

like you definitely wouldn't be trapped in that building if anything went down there'd be plenty of avenues to escape from. You could go upstairs climb out of the windows

you could get up onto the roof there's like a skylight that you could get up onto the roof or you can just leave through the back door or you can go through the main entrance

the alleyway itself again like Flo you don't really spot anybody acting suspicious looking at the opposite establishment on like the second like the top

top yeah no you don't spot nobody in wait nobody preparing you don't see everything's sort of blurry even in your drunken state it all seems Yeah, no, you don't spot anything Nobody in wait, nobody preparing You don't see Everything's so blurry Even in your drunken state

It all seems to be fairly square Square Okay Written down Kosher Inside the tavern Anybody who does head inside the tavern You notice that it is pretty busy

There is a large crowd. Most of the folks here look to be plainclothes, artisans, or labourers. But there's a few people that take your eye. Just kind of crowd around the bar or sat down at tables. Are you guys just going to wait inside? What's your plan for the next

night? Let's say it's 9 o'clock. You've got an hour before this guy arrives. What's the plan? So we're all here at nine? Sure. I will wait outside. There's a post outside the inn for you to tie horses to, and you can see that one horse has already been tied up to it. Okay, I'm going to spend ages looking at the other knot that the other guy did

and just try to replicate it. Right, well, that's an hour. That's Bertie's hour. Okay. I'm gonna like stay with him for ten minutes, get really bored and then just leave. Just leave. Bertie just looks like he is trying to copy a knot that he has seen. Over the top. Nope.

No. Boomer! What? What's he doing? Why is he got a horse? You told him yeah, you already met the horse. What a nerman? Yeah, where's the two of you? How many drinks have you had? Oh He stinks my five Least

Makes you more perceptive on these jobs? I feel like it brings me down to the level of other people, to give them a fighting chance. That's excellent. It's admirable, is it not honorable? I mean, usually you'd want to be on a higher level. Can you stand still? I'm trying my best. You're moving around so everybody's swaying.

The boomer just starts swaying. The boomer just starts sweating. The boomer just starts sweating. Shock constitutes 10. 13. Probably vomit at this point. Oh, touchdown! Out of the front of the tavern. It doesn't seem an uncommon occurrence.

Nobody actually seems to bat an eyelid at you throwing up. Puddles of vomit. Yeah, just like little, yeah, dry. It's pretty dry. It's like student night. Yeah, very much so. Oh, wait, do I say that? Probably.

That's a good idea! That's a good idea! And I'll put a finger in Gumball's mouth. No, no, no. Leave. Leave the whole... I'd say you managed to just withdraw your hand before he, like, chomps down on it.

Like, I don't know. Tries to bite your hand. I like chomps down on it like I don't know Why? He tries to bite your hand I think he very much does like to eat I think but the non eating and pooping was a lie Fine I've marked the meeting spot With puke? Right there Woah bonza

Who's accounts is a swick trap It's all orange A swick trap In case it's all part. A swick trap. In case it's all part of the plan. What on earth did you eat mate? I didn't eat anything. Moving.

That might be the problem. Husser, I keep forgetting how small I am. I'm very frail. Okay. I get very emotional when I drink. He's a very inspiring leader, isn't he? Yes. Gonna use bardic inspiration.

Okay. On who? Okay. Whoever speaks me first. On who? Sounds like Boomer. Boomer. Oh god, here we go.

I know it's only been a few hours of knowing each other, but I really feel this is gonna work out. And when you see your costume, it's gonna blow you away, not literally. Costumes? What costume? We have mercenary embroidered costumes on their way. That wasn't part of the contract?

No, it's a bonus, if anything. That's gonna cost you 10 gold extra. Cost me? I like that, yes, it's going to cost you for us to wear those. Why is it gonna cost you? I'm providing beautiful tur to cost you for us. Why is it going to cost you? I'm providing beautiful turtlenecks for everybody. Oh, turtlenecks on a goblin. Yeah. Yeah. Flammable, ain't they? I think they might be flammable. I did not request non-flammable material. Yeah, that's going to be

20 extra gold. Why am I paying? I don't understand. Because you want me to wear specialist equipment? I don't want you to wear it. It's a gift. It's a gift to my team. My team are trying to bring together cohesion. Can we wear them some other time, maybe? Like when you're not there? We have to wear them on the job. We're going to make a name for ourselves.

We're going to be the best mercenary troop that's ever lived. In Waterdeep and beyond. Okay. What's the embroidery? It's a... it's a... it's a snake. A blue snake. Huge. On the back and it's got Mambas mercenaries. Above and below. Beautiful. Beautiful. Blue is not my colour, sorry.

Blue is our colour. Blue is our colour. The Mambas. I thought you told me earlier, after you woke up after I knocked you out, that you never wanted to see me ever again after this job. I've reconsidered. Oh, bless you, kind sir. Bless you. You've got some skills. I'll give you that. Now prove me right.

Baric inspiration. Prove me right. Baric inspiration. Prove me right. It's yours for the next ten minutes. Oh my god. There is fifty minutes left before Thandelion comes to the tavern to meet you. I'll be honest,

Fleur, I'm not really a people person. I'm going to leave you to handle this. Bye! You think I am? No, no. We've got ten minutes. Where are you going? I'll just walk into the bar. You realise the time, yes?

Yeah, it's ten to ten. I know the time. I can look at the moon. It's ten past nine. Whoa! You see them? There they go! So, Aquamumber is left drunk outside or hungover outside

Boomer enters I'd like to scout out exits as well Same thing, same exits It's not hard to see them You also notice apart from the labourers and the general artisans,

there are four figures that take most of your interest when you walk in. There is a fire ganassi, a gold dragonborn, a burly halfling man with big mutton chops, probably has a smaller halfling boy on his shoulder, and then a very beautiful half-elf bard with flowing golden hair with flowers woven in it. Sweet. There's also the barman of Trollskull Manor

is a particularly scarred, nasty- looking half-orc. So anyone's sat at the bar? Yeah, the fire glassy and the halfling man are both at the bar. The dragonborn is sat down in a corner and then the half-elf bard is just kind of strumming a loop

singing a very soft song from a small bar stool in the corner i was just thinking given the amount of explosives on boomer he should probably not sit next to the fire I can see. That's a very good point. About like 40 minutes in Bertie, you get the knot and you've tied. Finally. And I'll tug it a couple of times just to make sure. Oh no. I mean, what's the opposite of a strength check?

I just can't take it. It just comes loose? Yeah. Oh, come on! Can I see him outside comes loose? Oh come on! Can I see him outside going, Oh come on! Can I go out and tie the horse? Sure. Immediately

you loop it round, you tie it through the reins and then just tie it. You don't know why Bertie had such a problem to start with. It's okay. I'm magical. You must be. I don't know how you did it. It's okay, I'm magical. You must be, I don't know how you did it. It's okay, come on. Just gesture him inside, like gently push him inside.

Are we bringing the aqua guy with us? No. I'm staring at the door, vacant, trembling. Fucking hell. Hey, hey, I'll wear your clothes. I don't want, You're not gonna fit oh I thought you bought new clothes. Oh, don't they yeah, I'll wear them. Hey, it sounds real cool. Thanks See, yeah, what were you doing point with the horse? I already said see you. Oh the horse. I was tying him up

Whose horse is that? That's my horse. It's grown. Don't remember to buy a horse Whose horse is that? That's my horse, it's Grendel, remember? Why did you buy a horse? Why are you broken already? Tom Hazel has broken me. No, hey, so you said- right, okay. So you told me to get something magical, I got a magic horse. Doesn't need to eat.

I'm gonna walk away. I'm walking away from you. In silence. You go into the table. God damn, oh my god, stupid time. It's not stupid, you told me to get- I'm mumbling under my breath. All you got was outfits! Yeah, yeah!

Whatever. Slam the door. Slam the door, which I just stop with my hand. And walk in behind him. With all of you now inside you see the same figures very worn down looking in you see the same figures

the stoic looking half-orc bartender and then the fire ganassi gold dragonborn the halfling man and the half-elf You've got about like 20 minutes at this point Can I have made friends with the half-elf bard? So what, you want to go up to them? Yeah, just like...

So she's in the middle of a performance. Do you wait until she's finished? Okay, so you wait until she's finished. There's a small kind of smattering of applause and she then puts it down and drinks like a glass of water as she's resting. Yeah, you can go up to them. What'd you say? That was gorgeous, darling. Thank you. Looks at you kind of That was gorgeous, darling. Thank you. Looks at you kind of like, ah, goblin.

Thank you. Yes. Can I see the look of panic in her eyes? It's not really panic, it's just like, what the fuck? That's a goblin. So, my name's Boomer, and I reach out hand, but then I look at it, oh, sorry.

And then I just start rubbing it really industriously on my clothes, just like, yeah, that's better, here you go. It just fell out of my hand. She pulls out a small handkerchief, places it over her own hand, and then very gingerly, like, a pleasure, Saville Sweetsong. Nice to meet you. That definitely is a sweet song you got there.

So I'm told, thank you. Say definitely is a sweet song you got there. So I'm told. Thank you. Say, this place is a bit gloomy. Do you know anything a bit more uplifting? Something you can really, like, you know, get singing behind? I mean, I... Quaffing songs. I don't have any drinking songs, if that's what you're looking for, but I have some more light-hearted melodies, yes.

Oh, I'd love to hear them. Of course. What are you doing in the city? I must admit, I've never seen one of your kind here before. Yeah, you probably heard that we eat babies, right? Something along those lines, yes. Look, it was just the one baby once, and then I left the clan, and I've never done it again. I'm a vegetarian, me.

Actually, no, that's a lie. I had sausages last night for dinner. Quite the story. Why are you here in Waterdeep? Shits and giggles in it. Okay. I'm a curious little person. I like to see the world. Blow bits of it up. Quite clearly. Well, this place is certainly somewhere to see sights of the world and she gestures to Fleur, Aquamumber and Bertie who are now entering.

There's no shortage of strange people that come to Trollskull Manor, I can assure you. Yes, would you like me to play something? It is customary to, if you have a request, for some coin. Do you know a wizard's staff has got a knob on the end? I'm afraid I don't. Shame. I can play something a bit more upbeat if you prefer but I'm afraid I don't know anything any rude songs. Aww I guess sweet thing like you. Fair enough. Awkwardly nods at the goblin flirting with her. It's like, hmm, yes, thank you.

I don't even know if he's flirting. He flirts with everyone. Sounds like he is. Here, play something happy. I'll give her a gold. Okay, yeah, and she's like, very well. She pulls out a lyre, plays a jaunty, fae-like, fairy tale-esque tune about a green knight, about a fae knight

riding through the woods and slaying beasts to rescue his love or something like that. There's no goblins in it, though. No goblins. He's not killing goblins. He's not. Probably kills a few giants, but no goblins. Yeah, she starts playing that,

and you can see that she's very, very expert at what she does. Very beautiful, in fact, the song. It echoes through the chamber. Seems to lift the mood slightly. What about the rest of you? Anybody else want to talk to everyone? Beautiful. Beautiful tune.

Isn't it, Bertie? You hear that? Yeah, it's pretty, yeah. God, it's angelic. Sounds exactly like the cold old structure of Tarrasque Took My Trousers. Yeah. It's way more beautiful. Yeah, no, it's definitely the same, yeah. You hear that tune? Yeah, yeah, man, you know. It sounds really quickly. Tarrasque Took My Trousers know you can't tie a knot

but you do know I do know I got a killer singing voice that's me Birdie Birdie sing along

okay um just trying to just trying to fit in well done what's happening wait do you

panic in a social environment I need to know can I panic What's happening? Wait, do you panic? In a social environment? I need to know. Can I panic? No, no, no. Now? I think you already have.

You want me to panic? No. I can panic. No. I'm going to hit him on the head with the go of my cane. Oh. He probably does nothing. He's a Goliath.

He's like, ugh. Stop it. Why? Stop what I'm doing. Calm down. Okay, okay. Wait. No raging. No raging. I'm not. I'm not. Goliath is like stop it why was the word oh yeah okay all right no raging I'm really keen to stay undercover undercoat yes the the fire gonna see at the bar who is hearing this conversation just turned around and you can see his head like Hades from Hercules is literally like a living flame eyebrows

He just turns around Looks you and it's just like just so you know Saying that you need to keep a long profile. I'm sure not to be saying out loud They say all the time. I'm a halfling. Whoa, come on. Watch out that stools on fire Is your friend well, He's a joker He's a good one I'll get some water or something So Bertie runs outside Bertie you are looking for a source of water yes?

Yeah sure Okay Fleur Anybody you want to talk to? Whereas Aquamumber is trying to now talk to this fire I'm going to push past Aquamumber Push him out of the way and go and talk to him? I'll push past. Whereas Aquamumba is trying to now talk to this fire. I'm going to push past Aquamumba, push him out of the way

and go and talk to the fire. Okay. So the Ganassi, yeah, he's just like, ah, what have we here? I'm going to throw him out.

Is that, are you with him? And he gestures to the door where Bertie's just gone running out. We've stumbled across each other

but I wouldn't say I was really with them. That's probably why. That one's drunk for one. That one, I don't know, honestly. Honestly, I don't think the gods know about that one. What brings you to Trelskal Alley? It's not normally the place many adventurers come.

Exploring the city. Never been here before, so thought we'd try a few different things. Bit of a dive crawl perhaps. That's the only explanation. Well, nice to meet you. My name is Avi. I'm the smith here in Trollskull Alley. Nice to meet you. And you come to this establishment often. You say it's a dive. Well... It's close to home. Me and my husband, we have a smith just here in the alley. When I finish at the forge, it is nice to wind down with a refreshing drink. I don't like traveling too far out into the other districts. It's quite elaborate and

it's quite the journey. He just can't meet me in the eye. Yes, my AVI my husband doesn't like me to run off too far. So I normally come here besides He gestures to the half-orc blogging here is this good company despite his looks blogging The half-orc like frowns a name is blogger the the fireagen! The fire ganassi smirks and is like, yes, this is Blagen Floon. You're pulling my tiny legs! The half-orc folds his arms.

He's like, you got a problem with that little man? Absolutely not, it's hilarious! Plagen! It's not that funny, what's your name? Just rolls, falls out the tongue, doesn't it? It's awful. What's your name? Aquamamba. What kind of a name is that? It's a that funny. What's your name? It just falls out the tongue, doesn't it? It's awful. What's your name? Aquamumba.

What kind of a name is that? It's a code name. Yeah, it sounds like a dumb name. If I had a dumb name... It'd be called Birdie. I suppose that's a pretty dumb name. It's quite a local joke. You don't really get it unless you know Bernie. Here he comes now!

I know, does he come in? Yeah, I'll come back. I have completely forgotten. Hey, I'm Bernie! I'm gonna... you don't come back. Okay, no I don't, I do come back. So, you rush out, when you rushed out, the rest of you continue having this conversation inside the tavern. Bernie, you run out and you're looking for water initially,

but you probably quickly forget that purpose. You notice, give me a perception roll. I'm going to take a couple of dice. Sure. 3d6 on this as well. Ooh. Tasty. 21.

21 plus perception 0 the 21 21, okay He's using his own dice, oh why is someone still thing he wants to be As less than 21 whatever but what you see is moving through the crowd you can see the halfling little band troop playing playing their instruments and things like that you can see that there's an old

woman out for a walk a couple of reading on hang on Oh yes, a couple of people carrying just some bundles of cloth and vegetables and things like that You notice coming in from the northern entrance of the alleyway You just happen to notice a halfling Sorry, a gnome

Very kind of hastily making his way towards the tavern You can see he's kind of got his hands in his pockets, or at least what you think, but you notice his hand is actually holding a dagger, just making it look like he's got his hands in his pockets. And he's kind of glancing behind him where three men are chasing after him. And you can see that they're kind of pushing their way

through the crowd, making their way towards the gnome. And at the last second, you notice the gnome glances back one last time, puts his hand in to reach for something, when suddenly there is an explosion. I need you to make a dexterity saving throw. Wow, okay. I'm going to take a couple more dice. Sure.

That's the roll. Nice, that's's the roll. Oh, wow. Nice. That's a tasty roll. That's a 23, 26. Dexterity saving throw, 26. Oh, I used some more dice. I'll put my dice away. Okay, I'm not going to use the

champion's dice because I want to get them confused with the ones I'm rolling. So I'll roll the normal damage on this. How did you get through? 26. Okay, so you're going to take half damage. Technically, you would have had advantage on it because of your dangerous...

Oh, no, you're only a first-level bard anyway. I'm not a bard. You're a barbarian. Barbarian. Yeah, yeah. So, let's see. Barbarians. Broop.

I'm trying to work out which way to do this. Ooh. Massive. Ooh. Mass. Cool. So you're going to take half of 28 is 14. So you take 14 fire damage. Well, can I, as a reaction, reduce damage dealt to me by 1d12 plus 4? Yes, you can. Bam.

Eight. So I take how much damage? plus 4. Yes, you can. Bam. Eight. So I take how much damage? So it was 14, so you take six. That's my stone endurance. But you're probably knocked back a little bit. Like, there is a loud explosion. In fact, actually, can you make another dex save for me, but with disadvantage? Oh, what?

There's another explosion? No. No, no no no no no! Yeah I mean can I use the things on this? He's magic though right? He doesn't poop! He doesn't eat! Can I use the extra d6 on this? Yes DM wants to kill the horsey.

Use as many of those dice as you like Tom Hazel. Three then. This will still take half. It's at disadvantage. There, it's still at disadvantage. Oh, that's bad. Five, ten, fourteen, seventeen. I rolled three d6.

Is that with disadvantage? Yeah. Let's say he is a riding horse. So how much did you get? 17. Yeah, he's a magic horse. So he's going to take half damage. Which is?

I mean, that was 14 when I did half damage. 14 damage. Oh, Brandon! Come on, I spent like 300 gold on this thing. The explosion erupts through the outside of the tabernacle square. You hear screams. People just collapse to the ground. You kind of come to, like your forearms

burn, scorch marks all over you, but relatively unharmed, managing to kind of throw yourself at the last second. But the first thing you see when you look up is the post where Grundle had been tied to. You just see these two collapsed, charred horse bodies.

What the hell? Give me a perception check just to see if you notice something else. I don't. Okay, so you are focused on Grundle, who is now a roasted horse. So like the end of the last episode, I'm just, Grundle! As you look over, the rest of you, you just hear this explosion. It probably blows out the glass in the actual tavern windows, as it just erupts from the

square in front of the tavern itself. Holy ravioli! That did not sound like one of mine, I'm just full disclosure. Most of the tavern's occupants just hit the deck, like, covering up their heads. Escape plan immediately! Can I jump over the bar and duck behind it with my rifle? Yeah, so you duck behind it, you pull out the rifle, the half-orc you can see is pulling out a greataxe from behind the bar as well

and is getting into a battle position behind the bar next to you. But you just see dust and debris fill through the outside of the tavern as it just begins to settle. You really don't hear any more screamings apart from, RUN, DOL! And there's just a horrid stench of smoke clearing through it. Boomer, being an expertise in explosions, would he be able to tell what kind of explosion it was?

I mean, you're still inside. Yeah, if you go outside and start looking around, sure, I'll let you make an investigate check. So I'm just going to, like, I imagine like he would have tried to pull Savile. Okay, the barge, yeah. Like just like cover her. Yeah, she just dives to the ground basically. You alright?

She just like nods. She's like, you can see that there's broken glass around her, but she doesn't appear to be injured in any way. Right. She just kind of like nods in shock. Yeah. Watch where you put your feet. And can I like nip out one of the windows?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You just hop over easily enough. You can get out into the main square. When you get out into the main square, you can see that, yeah, whatever this explosion was has caused considerable devastation. There's 11 bodies on the ground. Many of the buildings have had their windows blown out,

but no structural damage. It doesn't look like they're about to collapse or anything like that. There is fires, but it seems contained to things like sacks on the ground and crates. None of the buildings are on fire, so there's no immediate risk. The explosion seems to be centered on the square itself. It mainly just has caused physical casualties rather than any structural damage. Yeah, like, and so you want to try and work out what caused the explosion? Yeah, like... Sure, give me a

investigation check. I will take two dice. Sure. 17, so I rolled 10 on the 2d6s. 17, so that's 27 plus 5. Okay, yeah, so you spend a bit of time analysing the scene, and the first thing that comes to your attention is,

you're pretty sure that the explosion originated around a small gnome body, and a couple of other bodies just behind it, and it seems to have been a really small impact point, a small gnome body and a couple of other bodies just behind it. And it seems to have been a really small impact point that then expanded out very rapidly. And it was mainly fire. It's mainly an explosion of force and hot, intense fire. You can see that most of the bodies have been really badly burned, scorched, scarred.

The ground itself has been blackened with soot. But it originally started off as something very small and then exploded outwards. From the gnome or from bodies? All you can tell is that it... I would say that you can work out that neither the gnome or the figures behind it seemed to be aware of the explosion. Like, it caught them by surprise.

Their bodies had been thrown away, but where it landed, none of them would have seen it. It literally would have just erupted from behind them. And it's blown the bodies to the far end of the, far end of the thing. Can I tell if the gnome has, does he have like a lapel, like a brooch on it? Yeah, you can make another investigation,

but let me just check in what Aquaman, Bafamba floor and Bertie at this point want to do Bertie are you still just mourning over this body I mean I'm like looking around now and I guess I see busy boomer like off into moving into the main square yeah and I will chase after to see if I can figure out what that was as well okay yeah sure give me an investigation check. Okay. Bam, I'm gonna take 2d6 as well, because I'm an investigation boy.

Oh, wow. Wow! Natural 20! And a six and a five. Okay. And my investigation is minus two. So, 26, 31, 29. 29, okay.

So, first things first, do you recognise the gnome that's close to where Boomer's investigating was definitely the gnome you saw moving towards you that seemed suspicious? There are two figures behind him that have been burnt to a crisp. They're both wearing dark cloaks. Both of them had long swords

and hand crossbows and leather armour. And you notice that they both, on their wrist, they both have the tattoo of a winged black snake. Oh. Okay. Yeah. And, yeah, you... But the thing that you kind of remember

is you think there might have been three of them. When you first saw them before the explosion, there were three of the men chasing after the gnome, but there's only two bodies here that you can see that have been blown in the same direction as the gnome itself. Fleur, what are you doing? Can I go outside? How tall are the roofs around here? Probably no more than sort of 40 feet tops. 30 feet. You can probably... There's short buildings and then there's tall buildings.

The short buildings are about 20 feet tall and then the tall buildings are about 40 feet. I'm just returning my bardic inspiration dice. Yeah, the time's gone. That's gone. That's still far gone. Can I climb up onto one of the 20 foot high ones?

Yeah, do you wanna use your thing or do you just wanna climb up normally? Actually, I'll climb up onto one of the larger ones and use my- To get up to the tall one. Okay, so just give me enough for that exchange just to climb up the first one. Would you like to use any dice?

Three dice. We can't leave him with any. No. 24. Yeah. 24. Yeah, 24. Plus your normal skill, bonus. 26. 26.

Yeah, you easily kind of scramble up the building. There's no real decent footholds, but you manage to leap up, grab onto like a wall sconce, use that to hoist yourself up, and then grab onto some loose tiles, pull yourself up, and then you use the Gratinal that to hoist yourself up and then grab onto some loose tiles, pull yourself up, and then you use the gratinal launcher to pull yourself up onto the top rooftop. When you get up to the top, just make a perception check for me.

Do I? Yeah. Do it. Yellow. 21 on the dice. 27. 27. So you notice a couple of things. You notice that in the... There is a woman who was up in the botanist shop with a kind of second floor greenhouse.

And you can see the greenhouse has been destroyed and she's peering down on the square and you think that whoever she was must have had a good view of what happened from her position if she wasn't knocked out or hurt by the explosion. Whoever they were must have been, it looks like a woman from this distance but you're not quite sure, whoever they were must have had a good view on it. You can also spot that there is a very shocked looking woman who has just left the Tigers Eye Agency, who is pressed up against the door looking pale as a sheet, completely stunned. And then you can hear coming

from just off the way what sounds like a man's voice kind of asking what's going on or something like that. You can also hear the very faint distant whistle of the city watch, as in they're converging on this location. Aquamamba. Mamba mercenaries, assemble! Shits gone south, plan plan B escape are you still in the roll you're in the tavern yeah yeah I'm just getting into like my mode you say that full-on uh-huh halfling hungover mission possible mode okay I'm like you're sneaking around the ta. I'm doing my own routine of escape. To get what, out the back door?

Out the back door. Okay, so you kind of roll to the left, roll to the right, you sneak up. Checking my corners. And you make your way to the back exit, you kick it open, and you get back into the back alleyway, ready to escape.

Cool. There's nobody there. Seems like a clean getaway. Perfect. Boomer, so you were checking the gnome's body. So you flip him over. You begin rummaging around. And yeah, you do in fact see a lapel with a dandelion on the gnome's body.

There's also, you can tell that the gnome has something else on them as well. But you can see that people are beginning to now look around. They're like, you can see people coming out of their homes. What's going on? Who are you? And they're beginning to ask questions. Do you want to just try and take whatever he has easily? Or do you want to try and sneak it away?

I'd like to try and sneak it out. Okay, so that's going to be a sleight of hand check. Oh, not a stealth check. That's fine. That's fine. That's fine. You see a few people. You can see some of the residents like,

what's that goblin doing with that man's body? Oh, my God. We need it. Whatever it is, we need it. Wow. That's a lot of dice. That's a lot of dice. Sweet. That's a success, whatever that is, we need it. Wow, that's a lot of dice. Sweet.

That's a success, whatever that is. I don't know, I've had a lot of dice rumbling. Mine was so early. So six. 32. Yeah? Sure. 32, it's 32.

12, 13, 14. 14 plus 18 plus one more, so 33. Come on, I didn't know about the other one. So you notice that people's eyes are on you, and so you quickly rummage through this gnome's pockets. There's a couple of things you find. There's actually something you notice as well. You notice that there is seaweed clinging to his boots and a strong sewage smell coming from him, like he's been w waiting in a sewer recently.

And there is actual seaweed, like, you know, from the docks or the sea or somewhere like that. You grab two things. A wooden chip with a smiling mermaid. Also, a pouch with five 100 gold gemstones. Cool. And you, like like into your pouches into your pockets

and then you back off like as these people are like what are you doing Goblin? Get away from him! He killed that man! People are being dumb

and just like in shock blaming everybody. I know it's an explosion but this is an amateur's explosion. Mine is colour. I mean

wait I didn't do nothing. But yeah, you can see people are beginning to look around, asking themselves questions. You've maybe got like two minutes before the guards arrive. Is there anything else you want to do? Can I? I probably remember the people that were chasing the gnome.

And I feel like with my natural 20 on investigation, I have a moment of clarity. Like that explosion, something's clicked in my brain. Yeah. Can I see anyone in the crowd that's gathering around now, the third person that is not visible on the floor? Ooh, give me a... Give me a perception check. Cool, I'm taking three dice.

Uh, wow! Uh, 12, 14, plus 11. 25, minus perception. I always say minus for this guy. Uh, 25. 25. You glance around. There's no sign of that third figure here. But you can hear, um, that there is a man nearby shouting like,

Hey! W-w, where are you going? Kind of thing. Like he's kind of calling out as if somebody just run past him. The other thing you notice as well is that there appears to be, out of the halfling performers, the young boy had obviously stepped away long enough that he hadn't been caught in the explosion. And he's actually, it looks like he's pulling something out of a water barrel.

Like you see him pull out some sort of, you're not quite sure, it looks like a string of beads that he's, it's like he's looking around and he's pulling it out, looking at it curiously as if he's just found it. Okay, could I grab Boomer? And as I'm running towards the noise of the person who's like, hey, where are you going? I want to drop Boomer down next to the halfling guy. Okay.

It's like a 12-year-old halfling child. Boomer, I think this one did a good deal with this guy. I've got to go. See you. Okay. And then you're going to run off towards where you heard the man. Yes. Okay.

Flo, what are you doing? Sure. So the woman in the botanist shop, can I get to her easily? She's, like, peering over. You can probably, like, make your way on the roof and just shout over to her if you want, like, or you could climb down and then go into her shop

and make your way up towards... Before I get off the roof, do I see anyone from an above view on the streets? Because I heard the man asking what's going on Do I see anything you have to be another perception check? Natural 20 20 total. Yeah Okay, yeah, so um you glance, and there's obviously a lot of people either moving away or converging on.

Converging? Converging. They're converging on the scene, curious as to what's happening. They see this explosion, there's a diversion. Excellent. There's a couple of things. You can see a contingent of city guards

literally a minute away from this kind of area that are about to descend you can also see one of the griffin cavalry flying directly towards the square running away from the scene um there's one figure which catches your attention and it looks like he made his way and is running off towards a place called the north ward which is like a richer part of the city um the only reason that you take notice of him because there's a lot of people moving away, but he's constantly glancing back.

And when he does, you can see that the side of his face is all really badly burned, as if it's just been caught in a fire. And he kind of glances back, and then he disappears into the crowd heading towards this northward. Quite far away, he's had quite a lead. But you see that heading off.

Boomer, you are dropped in front of a small boy who's looking at you like, I didn't do nothing! Son! My friend over there says you did do something. I didn't do nothing! They're killing my family! Uh, oh.

Well, my family's dead! Ah! Jesus! We'll deal with that in a second. What's that in your hand? He, like, holds his hand. He's just like, No, it's just something I found.

It's mine. Where'd you find it? He, like, points at this barrel, which looks like it collects rainwater. Fell out of the sky. After all, my family died. The gods have given it to me. It's, it's, The gods have rewarded me.

Yeah, you don't think it's something responsible for an explosion? So it might explode and take you with it. His eyes kind of... And he holds it out, and you can see him holding it out, and it appears to be almost like a pearl necklace, but instead of pearls, they're orange beads. There's three of them left. There's, like, three orange beads left on this necklace.

He knows. Shut up. Yeah, would I recognise it as an explodey person? You can make an arcana check for me. I could, couldn't I? Sure could, pal. Screw it, I'm going to take one dice. Let's see how many there are. How many do we have left?

14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. 20. Oh, I mean, I'm ramping up the DCs in this one. You think it's a magic item, but you're not sure what it does. You think that it's probably magical. But it looks like there's beads missing from it. Yes, certainly.

Yeah, that definitely looks explodey, mate. How do you know you're a goblin? You don't know nothing. My name's Boomer. Look at me. My name's Martin Tegg. That's cute. But I'm an explosions expert,

and that is missing some explosions on it. You killed my family. You're the murderer. I did not kill your family. Murderer. I'm going to grab him. Okay. Can I just grab him and just be like,

listen to me, mate. I'm listening to you like shit. You're going to give that to me or I'm going to cut your ear off. That's intimidate with advantage. Oh, guess what boomer's proficient in. Yeah, screw it, why not? Okay, yep, three of those e-fixes. It's got a badge as well. Oh wow. Yeah, screw it, why not? Okay, yep. Three of those D6s. It's got a badge as well.

Wow! But the advantage wasn't great, yeah. One was an eight. But then I also rolled six, a six and a five. And then I've got six on intimidation. 31. Poor Martin Teg. I rolled quite well on him. I got like a nice 21, 25, but it's not enough.

You hear the sensation of water running and you can see just a stain spreading out over his britches as he just drops this necklace on the ground. And he's just on. My family's dead. Don't cut my hair off. I need that. Just starts crying.

And that's when you see the guards like literally pull in. And a woman is like, That goblin's going to kill that boy. I'm just going to pat him on the side. Good one, mate. Now, you ain't seen me, right? The guards are all like,

Stop blowing whistles, pulling out truncheons Like, get the goblin! He's clearly the one that killed them all! They come barrelling towards you I'm going to off-ski Can I use nimble escape? You can dash, yeah To run away

Yeah, you can use a bonus action to dash I can disengage and hide with it Oh, okay, so you want to try and... Yeah, give me a stealth check then Just hide behind the boy Kill the goblin! with it okay so you want to try yeah give me a stealth check then hi behind the boy kill the goblin clearly it's responsible racism

they're gonna kill me I'm a goblin and I just threatened a small child you've used so many oh my look at her pile of dice oh it's a good thing I did as well. It's a bad roll. It's a nat 1, but then I've got 6, 10,

14, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23. It does do math. I think with a nat 1, you pick up the kid and you throw him at the nearest car. He tries to grab the kid and then you're like, and you scramble off into the alleyways. You probably actually encounter Aquamanber,

who's sneaking his way through the back alleys, trying to make his escape, as you see Boomer, like, scoot through a tiny little gap in a fence, and he's like, You're the only one who's followed protocol I'm out, I'm like, where are you going? You can see Boomer's like, the protocol! I don't think I laid out the protocol to everybody Are you going to follow Boomer, Equalmember, or do you want to peek in to see

I'd like to think I'm definitely making little You're going to run along behind You're skipping a few stages of the protocol but good job where's everybody else hey are you shouting slow down Garland

Bertie and Fleur what do you guys so let's do Bertie because you wanted to speak to the lady didn't you so I chase after the sound of hey where you going? So you eventually

come you move through into the sort of north entrance to the alleyway and tucked onto the corner is like a carpenter's and you can see that there's

a human man outside a half elf sorry. He's kind of got like still got a saw in one hand and he's talking to a bunch of other kind of locals seemingly kind of got like still got a saw in one hand and he's talking to a bunch of other kind of locals seemingly kind of perplexed at something he's like is everything all right

you know what's going on uh no time to talk which one you saw where the guy went it's like what what what guy the guy the guy that we did with a guy would run away i saw a bloke with a burnt face yeah that guy where'd he go where'd he go he ran he went off down that street and he went north. That's perfect. I'm going to grab him, pick him up and run. Wait, what?

Find the direction. He killed Grondahl. Give me a strength check. I'm definitely taking some dice for this. Was the guy too far away in the crowd for me to like... He kind of was doing that. He was doing the classic spy movie thing

of like you saw him into the crowd and then he merged with the crowd. He is the crowd. 17. natural 20. oh this guy is a carpenter like he seems fairly built and as you go to pick him up he's like oh big man calm down i ain't going anywhere point the direction which way this way towards the north wall that's all i saw which way is north he points that way oh that's north okay see ya! And I'm running. Okay, you just chase off in that direction.

Yeah, and I suppose I'm just constantly dashing as well with my cutting actions. Yeah, yeah, okay, so you're just like, you're just... Like, just running after him. Well, what is your constitution score modifier? My constitution... my CONSECUTION? Consecu-quoi-quam? Er, it is... plus four. Plus four. Okay.

So you can basically, what we'll say is that over this, we'll do a chase in a second. We'll go through an actual chase sequence. Who wants that chase? Fleur,

what are you doing? I have to get on my chase rules. Do I see Bertie? Yeah, you would see Bertie bombing it towards where you've seen this bloke.

You've seen this guy. Are there rooftops the whole way along? Because it's quite like it's filled with buildings, right? Waterdeep is a metropolis. It's like jam-packed with buildings. You can absolutely jump across the rooftops. I'm going to rooftop it. Let me see if I can find my stuff.

You've made a pyramid from the amount of dice you've used. Look, I have a bunch of racists running after me. And I just threatened a small boy. You two are escaping the guards who have now descended on this square with things in hand. You've got this necklace, Kim. You can write down you have... Oh, you did pick it up.

...bead necklace. Yeah. Yeah, lucky. Well, I intimidated the crap out of that boy. You've got this necklace, Kim. You can write down you have... Oh, you did pick it up. Bead necklace. Yeah. Lucky. Well, I intimidated the crap out of that boy. You've got bead necklace. Magical bead necklace. Yes. So you've got that until... But you know that you'll need to get an identify spell to actually figure out exactly what it is. And I've also got stuff from... The Spy Chris Trotz OOC knowledge. And I've got

the stuff from Dandelion as well. Yes, you've got the gems and the token. There was definitely no sign of a stone on him. No. Given that we were told that he had the stone. Yes, very much so. You did not find the stone. You went through his pockets good and proper.

Right. Like a good little girl. Bertie, let us say the man had a considerable lead on you because you were distracted by Grundle and he managed to make off while other people were doing that. We're going to say that he has... I'm going to say he would have had two full turns of movement, so he's going to be 180 feet away from you,

because he can dash as well. He's double dashing as well. He can dash as well. So do I get any bonus from being able to dash as a bonus? So the way this is going to work is you're going to start at zero, he's going to start at 180 feet, and we're just going to go sequentially. You and at 180 feet, and we're just gonna go sequentially. You and Flo go, and then he's gonna go.

Okay. Okay, so, we'll start at the top of the round, which we'll just do, in fact, roll initiative for me. Just the two of you and my guy will roll initiative. Nice. Nice. Hey, what'd you get? Alright, so who's higher out of the two of you?

Me. So Fleur's, what else did you get Fleur? 18. So you got 18. I was ready to brag. So Fleur got 18, what'd you get Bertie? 17. Okay. So Fleur, so you're chasing after them on the rooftops.

Okay. So you give me... So you can move 30 feet. What can I get with my one level of rogue? Well, that gives you expertise in sneak attack. Damn it. So you don't get the dash, sadly. Okay.

So you can move 30 feet, and then you can dash for another 30 feet. But you're going to need to make athletics checks every time you move because you're jumping across rooftops. So we'll make it, once per turn you make an athletics check to keep yourself on the rooftops. How far away is he from me currently? 180 feet?

180 feet. We'll say it's the same distance from Bertie. So, but he's still not visible. Is he visible to me? I will say that he is visible, but he will have total cut. he'll have like three quarters cover Which means his AC is much higher and

He'll have bonuses to dexterity saving throws If you get closer than maybe not can I get 60 foot closer by doing a dash. So give me an athletics check to see if you stay up on top of the roofs. Natural 20. Natural 20, no problem. You just leap across,

leaping your way across the rooftops. You slide down one of them and then leap across to the next one. Don't worry, I'll fall flat on my face eventually. Okay, so that's 60 feet. So you are now 120. So can I get a better view on him from here? Yeah, he's still gonna have some cover though.

You'll make a shot? I'm gonna make a- You're gonna have to spend your action surge. Yeah, I'm gonna spend my action surge and I'm gonna spend a grit point to do a winging shot which is where I can attempt to topple a moving target. Okay great. Give me a sec Ro.

Okay. Whoopsies. Whoopsies. Oh god that's pretty trash though. The d6 are good though. So... 21. 20...

About that, yeah sure. 28 to hit. Yeah, that's gonna hit. So you do damage and then I'm guessing I get a saving throw. It's a... 120 feet. Yeah, with the rifle I think that's still within minimum range. It is. A strength saving throw. Okay I'm going to add my last 2d6 which is

going to be a 18. Damn it! Okay but you still take damage. So he still takes damage. Let's roll that out. Fine. Damn it. Oh well, that would have been really cool if it had helped him. Yeah, give me the damn arms. And you will have a plus one d6 for sneak attack on this. Because you are hitting him while he's unaware. Not really expecting to get sniped. You haven't used any dice. No. I'm looking at the belongingly. 25 damage. So, across the city of Waterdeep, you're perched up on one of these rooftops. You hear a...

as this sniper rifle bullet wings down. You see it hit the guy, grazing along his leg, causing a deep, bloody gash. He doesn't stumble to the ground. He just throws himself into an alleyway, kind of giving himself temporarily out of your line of sight But yeah, definitely causing a grievous wound to him and then that ends your turn Bertie

Okay, I'm going to double dash so you dash dash and then move so that's 90 feet Is that something I can do? Well you can go you can move Movement and then always your action to move to dash and then bonus action dash because of cunning action. Wow. So what's your movement speed? 30 feet? Uh, well... It's more than that, isn't it? It's 30, so I can get 90 feet.

So you go 90 feet, but that's your whole turn. That'd be my whole turn. So that means there'd be a 90 foot difference. I'd catch up. Basically. Well he cannot beat you, that depends on what he does. Yeah. At the top of the round,

let's roll for a complication on the ground chase. A complication, yes. So, as you're running... Axes start swinging. You chase him into an alleyway, and you can see that the alleyway cuts between several kind of poor-looking houses. He hasn't quite reached the posh district yet.

He's still running through this kind of this worn down part of the old city. And pouring out from a sewer grate, a swarm of rats come scurrying past. He's going to make a dex saving throw, which he passes. And he just leaps over them. Bertie, give me the same

thing, just to stay on course. I'll just use 1d6 for this one. Natural 20, with a 2 on top. I imagine that you don't really leap over it. I'll just use 1d6 for this one. Natural 20 with a 2 on top. You... I imagine that you don't really leap over it. Maybe you just boot loads of the rats out the way. I just run. Or you just stamp on them as they're just like... Meep meep!

Um, as they squeak past. Um, on his turn he is going to... Yeah, he's gonna do the same thing. He's going to... Uh, he's gonna move. He's gonna dash. He's only gonna go 60, but then he's gonna move he's gonna dash he's only gonna go 60 but then he's gonna attempt to hide amongst a crowd Fleur so perception check yeah you can see him trying to merge into several alleyways,

trying to crouch down and gain some cover and things like that, but you can still spot him easily enough. Can I move the maximum amount that I can move? So that would be 60 feet, but that's going to be an athletics check, please. 12. 12 on the athletics you go stumbling down you make it 30 feet

you use your movement as you're leaping across to the next building you just cut the jump short you end up hitting the side and then scrambling down you're going to take 8 points of damage as you hit a fire escape

and then land on the actual street below. And you only go 30 feet. I'm probably out for this race. Because I can't be as fast as you. Still shooting, aren't you? Yeah, shoot. But you are currently prone. She's got to reload the rifle.

And you are currently prone. Yes, I'm losing half movement. So you are 90 feet currently, and he is that amount. Bertie. Okay, I will... So how far away is he in this crowd? So he is about... He is 50 feet away from you, but you need to spot him first.

You need to give him a perception check. I will not do a perception check. I will run up to the crowd with the bonus action dash as well. Okay. And I'll just yell. Okay. So you want to try and disperse the crowd. You can't groan though!

And that will just be... Can I do like an intimidation or something? Yeah, sure, sure, sure. Just to get everyone to gather. Just a big hulking goliath running in. Absolutely. 2d6. Oh, no.

That's a 1 plus 6 plus 3. That is 10. Plus intimidation, 13. 13. This is water deep. You're like, you killed Grundle. A few people are like, who's Grundle? Should this guy be running around?

Maybe we should call the guards, but they don't seem intimidated at all. And you've got no eyes on this guy, you don't know where he is. Ugh, damn it. Okay. He is going to make a dash for it, so he- you see him break cover, and he just runs. He's gonna move, dash, dash again to go 90 more feet. Oh, you can do that as well, the double dash. Yeah, you only went 60 because you did the intimidate, so... But he only went 60 the time before that.

He kind of not narrowed it. So, you see him just make a dash for it, again, leaping down into one of the alleys. Let's roll for another complication. So, Fleur, are you going to attempt to pursue? You're currently prone, so it's half movement to stand up. Yep. Okay, are you going to attempt to pursue? You're currently prone so it's half movement to stand up. Yep. Probably.

Okay, so you go move half movement to stand up and then you're going to dash. Yep. So you're going to go 45 feet this turn. Okay. Bertie, when you start running, following him into the alleyway, a pack of wild dogs is fighting in the alleyway. Barking and fighting over some sort of bone. Yeah, you can either attempt to... You can either try to jump over them, which will be acrobatics,

or try and avoid them, like skirt past them, or you can just try and barrel through them. Is one of the complications two men carrying a pane of glass? We'll find out, won't we? Won't we, Kim? It's like, no, that wouldn't do. I will live for it if it is. Probably already written down, actually.

Which one is it, actually? Is it? Right, Con, make it a pane of glass. A large window or similar glass. Yes! The system works! So yeah, what do you want to do? You can either try and avoid them or you can just try and barrel through them. A large window or similar See yeah, you couldn't what you want to do you can either try and avoid them or you can just try and barrel through them So the other option was to jump over them We say that we just are you trying to like dodge around them jump over them or do you want to try and barrel through?

Them what do you want to do? How do you want to avoid these dogs? I mean, I'd like to always they're gonna slow you down and probably bite you as if as if they are a hurdle Just try and leap over that leap over the athletics job athletics These dogs didn't see me coming and I feel like you two have even used any of these d6 He's been drunk! I've not used any of them, I've used some but not on the same level as him It's because he keeps getting himself out of the situation like gonna go out the back door

Great leader great leader It's because he keeps getting himself out of the situation. Like, I'm going to go out the back door. Great leader. Great leader. 28. 28. You sail over these dogs without any things. And then you're just going to completely dash again. And then double dash. So I'm now right next to this guy.

You are not next to this guy. This guy had some movement. I thought he was 90 feet from me. He was 180 feet to start with, ahead of you. Yeah. But then he only did 60. You only did 60 last turn.

Yeah, to get up to him when he was in the crowd. I'm tracking it as the movement goes. Oh, I thought I was right next to him when he was in the crowd. No, no. Well, no, he was still ahead of you. No, he was still ahead of you.

Oh, that's why I found his first. Oh, okay, fine. So he is currently, I will tell you, that he is 330 feet from where he started, and you are 240 feet from where you started. So you have 60, you have 90 feet to catch up with him. Cool.

So you just dash after him. You can see him 90 feet ahead of you as he runs past. Three couples of people with panes of glass. Oh, no. He is gonna He's gonna attempt to hide from you again This time he ducks into a complex maze like corridor of alleyways

and he's gonna try and lose you in there Let's make a stealth attack He's gonna move 60 feet It's a perfect place to go So he moves 60 feet up and then he's gonna attempt to hide. And then at the top of the round, complication. Complication. Okay Fleur, what are you doing? Chasing after these guys?

Yes. Do I see him? Can I make a perception check and see if I see him? You can. He's considerably further ahead, but sure, make a perception check for me. How far ahead? So he is currently, you are 135 feet, he is at 390 feet. So he is 255? Away from me. Yeah, 255 feet away. We're near him! I'll just keep running.

Falling off that roof really crippled you there. I'll just keep running. Yeah, falling off that roof really crippled you there. I'll just keep running. You're just going to run? Okay. Yeah. So you can go, so you go up to 195. At the top of the round,

well, Bertie, as you're running after this guy, complication, a barrel of oil slips off a nearby wagon coating the ground. What would you like to do? Chase after him?

I think that you should just slide through it. Yeah, like, okay, give me an acrobatics check. Acrobatics? That's the worst one. There's only three dice left. There's only three dice left. Yeah, I know. You and Kim have used up. You've got 15 minutes to use them.

We're doers. That was pretty trash. How bad? Yeah, I know. You and Kim have used up all of your time. You've got 15 minutes to use it. We're doers. That was a free try. How bad? Six. You go to a slide, but the second your foot touches it, you're not used to this underground... And you just fall prone. So I keep sliding, right? I will say you can slide ten feet. Ten? The speed I was going. So I keep sliding, right? I will say you can slide 10 feet. 10?

The speed I was going. Well, so here's what happens. You slide 10 feet, you then fall prone. On your bum. So we'll put you at... So where are you? You are at now 250. But now you're prone,

you would have to spend half your movement to stand back up. So you need to spend 15 feet of movement. Okay. Okay. So I can still do 45, 75 feet of movement with my double dash as well. You do 65, 4 feet because you moved 10 feet

to start with. So you do 65 more feet. Cool. So you chase after him but you can see now he's running but he now has to he traverses this slippery

oil slick as well. After me? Because of the way the initiative working i'm doing the complication at the top of the round like i should really do it before he goes um but you see as he goes to you know the oil slicks in front of him he just kind of effortlessly glides over it keeping his balance and just seeing what he did make just did that i think he probably tried to i like to think that he tried to yeah you can see he is nearly on the edge of escaping from you. Like he's getting so far away that eventually he's just going to be able to vanish into a crowd. Fleur.

He's too far away from me. He's really far away from you, sadly. How far is he still? He's like 195 feet away from you at this point. Because he's a nippy boy. I'll just keep going on the off chance something goes wrong for me. Yeah, that's the smart thing to do

in case anything goes wrong. Okay. So you run 60, running across the ground. Bertie. So if I... Let me... This is a maze like uh narrow corridor of alleyways um so i can't even see him even if i it's like a twisting thing you're either it's like a maze of like there's all these different crates and barrels all over the place you either

have to try and sort of acro like kind of deftly move your way through them or try and navigate a path with your mind Navigate the alleyway. Right. Okay, so if I was to- In your mind palace. Oh god, that's the worst place to be. Basically, you can either make an acrobatics or an intelligence check to navigate this maze of alleys and objects. Okay, so if I- so I have to do that... I'll do that now. Basically, it will turn into difficult terrain if you fail. I see.

Which will slow you down. Well, I'll do the acrobatics. I'll take one more d6. Okay. There's only one left. 14, 16. Just enough, actually. Oh, okay. You kind of... you just don't try and navigate the maze

you just try and run through it and deftly manoeuvre your way through these barrels and crates to avoid slowing you down. And try to sting like a bee. Absolutely. So it doesn't slow you down so you're going to just completely dash off. So how far away is he from me? So from you, you are currently at

315. He is I think 85, no 75 currently at 315. He is, I think, 85. No, 75 feet away from you. So far. So. But so close. Oh, God, he's like 15 feet.

Just. So I'd have to use my movement, my bonus, and my. So you wouldn't be able to attack. Although, could I. I'd have 15 feet of movement left once I caught up to him. Well, no, you would, if you move

30 feet and then bonus action dash 30 feet, you'd have 15 he'd be 15 feet ahead of you. But then if I actioned another... You'd go 15 foot ahead of him, yeah. I'd be 15 feet in front of him. Yeah, you can try and go for an opportunity attack or something like that.

And you can see that he's just about to make his way out onto a huge, crowded plaza. Classic. We see the camera panning over all these people with their baby strollers and carriages and it's just full of tourists. He could blend in the second he reaches there. He's going to be gone.

I would like to move 30 feet. Right. You move 30 feet up. Bonus action 30 feet. So I'm now 15 feet away from him. And in that entire motion, I'd like to find just a big rock or something. Okay. One of the barrels that you passed.

Yeah, there you go. Once I get to the end of that, I just launch it. Okay, one of the barrels. Yeah, there you go. Once I get to the end of the barrel I just launch it. Okay to try and smash him with it. So there's gonna be two checks We're gonna make here. The first is a strength check to make sure that you know When you grab this barrel, you can actively pull it up and throw it Can you technically throw your hand? Oh, it's melted on Yeah, so give me a strength check. What a waste.

I won't use a d6 for this one. 15. 15. You pull it, but I'm going to say it's heavier than you expected, and you're going to have disadvantage now, and you're going to have to make a ranged attack roll. So this is just going to be d20 plus your dexterity. Right.

Well, I'll use the final d6 on this one. No. Oh, it's four plus my dexterity. Yeah. That's four. Four. So you hoist up this huge barrel. You're like Donkey Kong style,

but you pull your back a little bit. You weren't expecting it to be so heavy. You throw it. The guy glances behind him, kips up onto a wall, parkour Spider-Man style the barrel smashes down into the ground as he arches his back over it

he flips down lands on his feet kind of looks at you and you can see this half burned face he just kind of grimaces at you and then

dashes forward and as he reaches the crowd just go just melds in to the sea of faces pulls his foot up Assassin's Creed style Just go. Just melds into the sea of faces. Oh, man, we're so close! Pulls his foot up Assassin's Creed style.

He was right there, he smiled at me and everything. We cut back to Ankh-O-Mamba and Boomer. I've aged terribly! Christ, I was laughing! We cut back to you two. We got right where, right? As you hear, there is a desperate search of these officers now. And you can begin to hear more and more of them are approaching. The most alarming thing is the sound of wings as a... Can you both make stealth checks for me, please?

As you begin to hear a passing griffon cavalry rider that Fleor had spotted earlier doing a sweep above. Well. 21. Oh. 10. He's not with me? I think at the moment he's following you. Yeah, he's shouting at me, isn't he?

So we had a 10, did you say? And what did you get, Boomer? 21. 21, okay. So we hear the kind of of this griffin as it flies over. And you can see that at

night time, the rider actually has a magical lantern, which projects its beam and is passing the light over. And its spotlight just catches Aquamamba as Bruma is there, as they look down. And being a small figure, they don't quite see it. They're like, get him!

And they begin to descend down. Turn that off! Yeah, and I think we'll probably... Does that count as a hide? Can I hide? Well, you are hiding. That was a stealth check. So, they've seen Aquamamba. So, I guess, Boomer, what do you do? You can see this griffon is beginning to slowly descend down towards Aquamamba,

but it hasn't seemed to have spotted you yet. What do you do? Uh... Yeah, what do you do? Hmm. Hmm. I'm going to keep hiding. Yeah, what do you do? I'm going to keep hiding. Okay. Yeah.

So you just slink into the shadows and back away. You got a 21. Yeah, I guess like Aquaman, but make a perception check for me. Let's see if you spot Boomer leaving. Natural 20. So you do see Boomer just slink off and leave you to your fate what are you doing? why are you doing that?

Boomer did you cause that explosion? no I didn't shut up so Aquaman but they've not seen Boomer you can see on the back of this griffon, this huge, powerful beast, head of an eagle, body of a lion with feathery wings,

a man in half-plate armour levels a crossbow down at you. Whoa! One hand shining the light. Don't move, sir! Don't move! You're under arrest by the City Watch! That's really absurd. You are under arrest for fleeing the scene. Why?

We're going to question you about this explosion. You're coming with us. Don't try and move. You can question me, but... You wait the rest of the... Hekwamama! So you're going to try and run as well. Okay, so... How are you going to try and get away? Are you going to try and hide or are you just dashing?

You're just trying to run for it. I'm going to spend a ki point. To do my... To boost your running away. Yes. Okay. Flyer of blows, he's going to punch the man. Okay. Step of the wind. Step of the wind. Well, this man will get one shot off as he was ready in action to shoot you if you're trying to run. Disengage. Are you disengaging or are you step of the wind to dash?

I'm going to dash. There you go. So, that is a 23 to hit you. Yeah, just. I think that does it. So that's only three points of damage, however, as this crossbow just grazes you, as you're like, ha ha, I can remember!

And you've been running off. However, the griffon is in a quick pursuit. How do you want to try and lose them? I'm going to use my Step of the Wind to dash into an alleyway. Look for the closest sewer because that's my go-to. Okay. If I don't see one, I'm going to disguise self as a barrel. Okay.

Disguise self can't turn you into objects. Disguise self turns you into other human beings. Mind of illusion or silent image can make you look like. I will go up against a stack of crates and texture my skin as a wood crate. You can just get another person. Okay.

So roll a d20 on an even number. There is a sewer grate. That's a natural one. That's an even number, there is a sewer grate. That's an actual one. That's an odd number. There's no sewer grate. So you run in, so you're like, huh, back of a number. Active camouflage.

You can roll a stealth check. You don't get advantage, but you can roll a d6 on top of it. Thank you. I'm inspiring myself. 14 plus my stealth? Yes. 20.

Oh, wow. Wow, I heard a crap. So you watch the spotlight passes over the crates. You freeze. You know that if you just stand completely still, they'll never see you. Passes over you. You become the crate. The griffon cavalry rider continues on.

Aquamamba. And I guess that's where we'll finish things off this week. With the Griffin Cavalry Rider searching for Aquamamba, but Aquamamba, for now, having escaped. That's a great... That's a great point to end, I think, of a great mental image. So that's where we're going to end this week. For A Rogue's Gambit.

That's what we call this series, isn't it? You obviously said A Rogue's Gamb't it I don't know what I'm saying anymore this this game is gonna break me hey me again thanks once again for listening to this episode of a rogues

gambit let us know on Twitter at high rollers D&D what you think of the series so far and be sure to assist us in our adventures in idle champions of the forgotten realms you

can probably tell from that entire fiasco that we need all the help we can get so please just jump in play the game, it'll be great. A Rose Gambit will continue next Friday. We'll see you then.