High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois | #36 - Goblins and Guardians (Part 1)

Episode Date: June 10, 2019

Teaming up with a gun-toting Goblin the team try to navigate the Midwife's Forge! Support the High Rollers and get early access to podcast episodes (and more) on our Patreon: www.patreon.com/HighRol...lers Thanks to our sponsors D&D Beyond and NordVPN! NordVPN allow you to browse securely and protect your data online! Get three years and an extra month free for 75% off with the code HRDND here: www.nordvpn.com/hrdnd D&D Beyond is the official digital toolset for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. Create your FREE account now and start digitising your campaigns here: www.dndbeyond.com/ Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Pickaxe. app for details shop best buys ultimate smartphone sale today get a best buy gift card of up to 200 on select phone activations with major carriers visit your nearest best buy store today terms and conditions apply hello everyone welcome back to high rollers a dungeons and dragons podcast in the world of eroes run by dungeon mastergeon Master Mark Scholloch-Humes, with me, Tom, playing Piri Adara, the Fire Ganassi Monk. I am Chris Trott. I'm playing Lucius Viren, Elowin Elanastro, and I am a High Elf Sorcerer. I am Rhiannon. I am playing Oriah, the Rogue Ranger Orc. Hi, I'm Katie. I'm playing Ayla, a Wild Elf Barbarian. And I'm Kim. I'm playing Nova, who is an Air Ganassi, and she is a He hexblade warlock. Thanks to our regular sponsor, D&D Beyond, the official Dungeons & Dragons toolset,
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Starting point is 00:01:28 to get 75% off a three-year plan with an extra month free. You can check out both sponsors with the links in the episode description. Do you, dear podcast listener, want to support the High Rollers podcast and make it bigger and better than before? Well, we have just launched
Starting point is 00:01:41 the brand new High Rollers Patreon page. For just $5 a month, you'll get access to a load of different perks, including, most importantly for you guys, access to Thursday's podcast on Monday. We're also planning on releasing some snazzy goodies onto the Patreon as well, including custom stat blocks for our homebrewed world and other secret things. You can head to www.patreon.com slash high rollers to support us and help make the High Rollers podcast a better place for everyone involved anyway on to the episode teaming up with a gun-toting goblin the party
Starting point is 00:02:09 navigate the treacherous forge Welcome back to Erois. A brief recap on what has happened last time. Our party of adventurers, still unnamed, have made their way to a place called the Midwife's Forge. Having trekked through the Stormwall Mountains, the party have encountered numerous dangers en route and began to discover small mysteries about the strange growing storms that erupt from the valley beyond.
Starting point is 00:02:59 Having encountered, crossed a river, sorry. Having crossed a river, eventually. Having encountered. It pretty much was an encounter with a river. Sorry. Having crossed a river eventually. Having encountered a river. It pretty much was an encounter with a river. That river was OP. Mother nature. I got across immediately. Having passed that, the party encountered a
Starting point is 00:03:15 strange creature within a rocky valley which nearly caused disaster for one Piri, a Fyganasi that had temporarily joined forces with the team. By passing that, you made your way into a forest of sorts of crystal pillars, where clever use of tactics and
Starting point is 00:03:32 Oriya's knowledge of monsters helped to avoid a basilisk. And then you eventually made your way to a covered valley of sorts, a gorge almost, where at the far end, a large statue of the dwarven goddess velena marked the entrance to the midwife's forge however it was occupied by a series of goblins
Starting point is 00:03:55 strange tribal crazed goblins being led by a figure who calls himself vezik who did reveal a little bit of information and has made a temporary bargain, or at least the beginnings of one, with the party to explore the Midwife's Forge and in exchange she will give you knowledge on how to restart it or how to basically activate the forge
Starting point is 00:04:18 itself. And that is where we're going to be here today. Before we properly start playing, I have a new house rule that I'm going to be testing out for a couple of weeks. Okay. Tom gave me the fine... This is called the Have Fun Coin.
Starting point is 00:04:31 Yeah. And the idea is we've had some pretty disastrous bad luck over the last couple of episodes. And it's not been fun and it's caused stress. I don't know. Four natural ones on initiative.
Starting point is 00:04:42 Pretty bad. That's pretty bad. The idea is if you fail or miss an attack roll, or basically if you fail a dice roll three times in a row, I will give you inspiration, which is marked by the insiperation coin from D&D Beyond. No joke. That is what's printed on there.
Starting point is 00:05:01 Dyslexic me was staring at that for ages going, is that just me? Insiporation coin. Yeah. So I will give you this. If you fail three dice rolls in a roll, you'll get inspiration. Remember, with inspiration,
Starting point is 00:05:12 you have to spend it before you roll. You can't roll and then go, I'm going to spend it and get another roll. Okay. You have to basically go like, before I make this attack, I'm going to spend my inspiration and I get advantage.
Starting point is 00:05:21 Yeah. It's just a... You can't gain inspiration if you already have inspiration. Okay. So if you get the coin, you can't get another one even if you fuck up loads more times and also we're going to test it we're going to test it this is a complete test something that we'll get rid of yeah or we might change it or we might you know find a different way that it works but the idea is that failing in dnd is okay that's part of the game when you have a night of nothing but ones and twos and threes,
Starting point is 00:05:45 it can be frustrating. This is a little, like, hopefully this will change things around and let you do something cool. That might happen. It could happen. Let's see. That's pretty much where we start things up.
Starting point is 00:06:01 Scaldi is currently still outside of the actual mineshaft on Scorb, your clack mount that you purchased and has been traveling with you. The rest of you are making your way inside the mineshaft, I believe, and the bodies are currently in the wagon. You look around you and you can see that this kind of this rock stone wall has been carved away and a very ramshackle tunnel has been dug with very loose scaffolding made from what trees and woods can be scavenged from the area inside you can see about a dozen tiny yellow goblin eyes working in the darkness they appear to be work like repairing pickes, digging away at widening
Starting point is 00:06:46 another shaft that leads out from this room. Some of them also appear to be carrying various objects. A very rough table has been constructed in the middle of it with various diagrams and writings kind of scrawled out, and Vezic is currently looking over those. Most of the goblins don't seem to pay you much mind, but there is one in particular. It was the one that, as you approached, basically started bowing down to worship Scorb and Scaldi. This one goblin is following all of the five of you,
Starting point is 00:07:18 and it's kind of, like, dancing behind you. Ha! Ha! And it, like, looks at you all. So is this tunnel, like full size we're not like crouching to get through it you're kind of crouching to kind of make your way through the tunnel but then the larger chasms it looks like this it might have once been a room that's been dug out and then kind of excavated a little bit um it looks like a part of a larger complex perhaps some sort of like you know waiting room or a storage room or something hmm and we haven't been traveling for super long no
Starting point is 00:07:48 okay it's literally within like a cut like five ten minutes of from the front of it my wingies are scraping against the cavern walls yes my hat my feather is a bit tight I think that's the least of your problems. I mean, once we get into this place, there's gonna be waves of this thing. Ha! That thing. Ha ha ha!
Starting point is 00:08:14 Flocking our exit. I've learned from my family. He's looking at me! He's looking at me. I will cut that off if you touch me. I swear to God. Yeah God and then he just runs away and then he like you he like looks back it's not that's not word this in my vocabulary ah and you see visit kind of looks over like what's going on he's
Starting point is 00:08:38 prodding me wait which one I don't know. The really exciting one. The dancing one. Ah. Smeek, get back to work. Smeek. Smeek, back to work. That's a very cute name. Yeah. What does Smeek normally do? Is he like a greeter?
Starting point is 00:08:57 Smeek is one of the stranger ones. He's had the madness for quite some time. His mind has become quite deranged. I mainly use him for manual labor. I've sent him into the forge a couple of times, but he refused to be killed. He refused to be killed? Yes, he was stabbed and survived. Sometimes that happens with the creatures.
Starting point is 00:09:18 They are my kind are quite robust. So was it like a stab to the leg, or was it actually like a fatal stab? I believe that he was pierced by one of the animated bow's arrows. Hmm. Oh, sounds fatal to me. Animated bow's? And uh, madness? What madness? Oh, these most of my kind. The goblins that live in the storm wall closest to the valley. They've been slowly, their minds falling apart.
Starting point is 00:09:48 Obviously, a goblin of my intellect has kept it intact. Certainly not mad. But the others, they're more simple than I am. They've slowly begun to unwind, you see. Useful for my purposes. Did you know Smeek before the madness? No. What do you...
Starting point is 00:10:08 Are you implying that all goblins know each other? No, because you've been working together. No, no. I found most of these... Most of these cretins scavenging, looting, eating their own filth. Nice. I've put them to more, better uses. This will simply be the beginnings of an empire.
Starting point is 00:10:27 Make do with what tools you have, as I am often told by my ancestors. I wouldn't call people tools. He, like, gestures to the goblins, like, do you really see these cretins as anything more than a tool? Look at this, look at them. And they are, like, pretty dim-witted. They're, like, scratching their butts, like, picking their nose. Like, they're holding pickaxes and, this. Look at them. They are pretty dim-witted. They're scratching their butts, picking their nose. They're holding
Starting point is 00:10:48 pickaxes and licking them. They look savage. They've lost their minds, most of them. One of them is just sat on the floor looking down at the ground. Thanks for that. That's what he's doing accurate representation of mark's day sneak is particularly scarred out of all the goblins they all are pretty scarred some of them have these um patterns where it looks like they've been struck by lightning and it's kind of gone
Starting point is 00:11:20 down their body and they've survived uh these kind of like scarred, like beautiful spider web patterns along their kind of orangey greenish skin. Smeak looks particularly scarred. He has, looks like he's had like deep cuts in him at one point. An arrow has been stuck into his chest that has been healed over. He has like, his back is just covered in this scarred pattern, this lightning scar pattern. But he just looks over with these kind of manic, rotten brown teeth and a big grin. And he comes over and he's holding what appears to be like a broken bracer.
Starting point is 00:11:52 And he's like... How very kind. Thank you. Lovely. He's a good host. He's very good with people. Sorry? Yeah. He's pointing at me again.
Starting point is 00:12:15 I don't speak goblin. Sorry, but he knows what he's saying because he's pointing at me and it's kind of weird. He's babbling nonsense, speaking about you being part of the storm and you all here to bring him his, uh... His, uh... I'm trying to think of the word in common.
Starting point is 00:12:33 Glorious death. Most of these goblins believe that if they're killed by the storm, they will return as more powerful creatures. Nonsense. Right. He seems quite powerful already, considering what he's survived. He's quite powerful already, considering what he survived. He's just stubborn.
Starting point is 00:12:48 Stubborn? Stubborn! We just talked to the goblins for an entire three hours. Can we be goblins? I mean, I wouldn't think of them as totally useless. We've seen them when they
Starting point is 00:13:04 are organized, at least. Well, that's very true. Well! He's picking his nose again, but I mean, don't eat it. Oh, no, he ate it. But they're loyal at least, right, Vezic? Vezic? Well, I suppose, yes. They are loyal to a sense. It's more that they're driven by brave base instincts.
Starting point is 00:13:27 They see me as more powerful, so they follow me. I help them provide food. Normally, these creatures wouldn't survive without some sort of alpha to lead them. Good to know. But anyway, I've begun preparing my notes about the forge and what's ahead. Now is our agreement still in place? You will deal with the forge and the guardian,
Starting point is 00:13:46 and in return we shall share its properties, yes? Yes, but we're using it first. Yes, I believe that was part of the agreement. You have a friend, your guardian, that you wish to bring back, yes? Well, and the quill as well, if that works. Oh, and my watch. That's up and interesting. Well, I mean, that's why I'm here. I will allow you to have one use of it first, and then we will discuss what needs to be done. We'll need to see how much power is left after your guardian friend has returned.
Starting point is 00:14:15 Right. Okay. Sounds good. Do you, uh, know what sort of stuff we're facing? I do. I've had several of the goblins and even myself I've attempted to make my way through the forge a couple of times but I've been thwarted every time. But still, it seems that my particular area of expertise is not one that is, well, I need people of more brawn stature for several matters. First of all there is an antechamber. The antechamber is a collapsed floor. There is rubble which can be climbed up to reach the second area
Starting point is 00:14:52 which leads into the main forge itself. The difficulty is that there are a number of weapons that have been animated. They were likely once part of the forge's defence system. These storms, the black lightning, it's corrupted them somehow. They're extremely aggressive. My goblins have tried to fight them, but they are potent. I've snuck past them, but I only did that because I was operating alone.
Starting point is 00:15:18 Do you know what kind of weapons they are? I believe that there is a sword, a mace, at least one bow, an axe perhaps. They seem to be remnants, old creations of Elena's that have now become animated through magic. Okay. What do you know about the corrupted storm? We saw a bit of it on the way here. Disintegrating things, turning it into black soot.
Starting point is 00:15:43 Yeah, certainly not a normal storm, magical in nature. There were, my ancestors told me that it was something connected to a weapon, something that they were sent to this area to do, but most of them, they were acting on information passed down by their forefathers and their forefathers. It's become blurred,
Starting point is 00:16:07 distorted over time. It was something involving a nightmare and a dragon. Now that that magic is out of control, it is beginning to affect other things, particularly magical technology. Whatever it is, it is connected to Starbane and Calus. Okie dokie. Some sort of weapon he designed or something.
Starting point is 00:16:34 Nova, do you think that this guardian, I don't know, maybe if we spoke to them about sentry? What kind of guardian is it? It's not a guardian like your friend. It is more of a construct, a golem, we would call them. It is made of stone, appears to be in the shape of a very large dwarven woman wielding tools, I believe to be an element of the goddess, the one that the forge is connected to. Felina.
Starting point is 00:17:03 Yes, that one. Strange, erosive nonsense. But it is, I mean, you cannot reason with it. It seems to be quite mad. It crackles with the same black energy as the animated weapons. I believe it has also been corrupted by the storm. But I suspect if the forge can be restarted, it may fix it.
Starting point is 00:17:26 I say may, I'm not sure. And how would you start the forge? There's a process to it. Are any of you familiar with magical technology or arcane magic of that sort? Not technology, no. This stuff baffles me. But yes, arcane.
Starting point is 00:17:44 Perhaps that's something to work with. What about you? You seem to be a scholarly sort. Is this of your interest? Are you knowledgeable of magical technology? Have you dealt with anything like this before? In Nova's head, she's just thinking the word Brookstone, Brookstone,
Starting point is 00:18:02 Brookstone, Brookstone. That's fine. No? Useless. Well, I will run you through it in layman's terms as best I can. It is a four-part process to reinstate the forge. This is certainly how it would have worked
Starting point is 00:18:19 with my ancestor's technology anyway. I assume it to be very similar. First of all, the forge will need to be cleansed of magical effects. Normally this type of technology does not react well if there are existing magical effects in place. If it is similar to Starbane's technology, there will be a system to purge the room
Starting point is 00:18:39 of any magical effects ongoing. This will normally be activated through a main console. I believe this to be at the far end of the room. Would this also affect us with our magical abilities? It should. It will perhaps dispel any active magics that you have on you. Once you have done that, once the room the forge has been cleansed, you will then need to reset it. This is a manual process, there should be some sort of manual override near the entrance. This will actually force
Starting point is 00:19:09 the chamber that surrounds the forge to reopen. It's currently protected by a defensive barrier. Once you do this, you'll need somebody strong, it needs to be physically manually moved back into place, and this is an ancient technology, and it will likely be stiff, that's rusted. Then you will need to find a brand new power source. I don't know what you intend to use, but your Ganassi friend mentioned you may have something. The forge itself, once you've opened it up, there will be a compartment
Starting point is 00:19:40 of which a new power source can be inserted. You will need to be very careful and ensure the power source is securely placed within the forge itself, in its core chamber. From this, there's one last step, dual activation. The manual override and the main command console must be activated at the exact same time, so require two of you. One stationed at one point and another at another. Simple key turn. It should be simple enough. Uh, how quickly do we need to do, like, all of these steps? As long as they are done in order, it should be fine.
Starting point is 00:20:17 The difficulty will be the Guardian itself, the Protector. It's crackling with this same black energy, and I'm not sure how that will interfere with the systems if it gets too close to them. Yeah, you said that one couldn't be killed? I don't believe so. My goblins, I've tried a number of experiments with it. I've had the goblins hurl javelins, sling stones at it from a distance. Whatever damage we cause is repaired within minutes. It seems to completely regenerate itself through the powers of this place. If we do this reset and it dispels the area, would it also dispel the Guardian? It does not appear to, I don't believe so.
Starting point is 00:20:58 Its power is coming from this corrupted lightning. And that is unaffected by the forge. And that is unaffected by, it seems to me, the forge. But I believe the construct is using the black lightning as a power source. If it can revert to its original power source, the forge itself, well, my theory is that that should mean that it no longer requires the black lightning and it should dispel it itself. Okay. It's like a clinging to oxygen.
Starting point is 00:21:27 You would take any source you could find if you were suffocating, but if you can return to fresh air, you would. Does that make sense to your layman minds? Yeah. Thank you, Sid. My McDonald's is here. Sid the Goblin has arrived.
Starting point is 00:21:41 Thank you, Sid. I just like that he put on screen, getting the nugs. Getting to nugs. Getting to n Sid. I just like that he put on screen getting the nugs. Getting the nugs. Getting ten nugs. Ten nugs. Do excuse me, my food was meant to arrive
Starting point is 00:21:51 much earlier, but Deliveroo fucked me over. The name of this goblin that just came over with this small bag. Ah, yes, thank you, Sidrick.
Starting point is 00:22:03 You have brought me my rations. Well, it sounds to me like we need to distract said guardian while other people do the stages of which to reset the forge. Yeah, I mean, if we need strength to pull open the forge, then I guess that's over. No, no, no. That's Aelis. No, no, no. That's Aelis. Honestly, that would be amusing though.
Starting point is 00:22:29 Does anyone care for some fried potato? No thanks, actually. Okay. We'll pass them down. Be careful, they might be poisoned or spat on or something. Okay. God. Mmm, tastes like snot.
Starting point is 00:22:41 Yeah. Goblin. I'll put a war log on a couple. Mmm. McG snot. Yeah. Goblin. I'll put a war log on the goblins. M'gobolds. Mmm. You want them back, M'g? No. I'm okay, thank you.
Starting point is 00:22:52 Derek, would you be able to help us? Or at least would your goblin army be able to help us? I have no intention of putting myself at risk, but yes, you may have the goblins. If you need them to require you to do something, fine. So what's your end of the deal? I'm helping you activate the forge. Bye. He has just told us everything.
Starting point is 00:23:11 Yes. That we did not know. Well, I know. Sure, but we're doing all the risk. Yes. Can you imagine if you went into that room and everything had step-by-step instructions? True. Life would be easier.
Starting point is 00:23:23 But your goblins could perhaps be a distraction. Yes. For the weapons. Especially this one, the smeek. He's very distracting. He's also very resilient,
Starting point is 00:23:33 so he's probably going to live anyway. Okay. Does he understand what we're saying? He has no idea. Nope. Okay.
Starting point is 00:23:42 Can you communicate with him in goblin? Yes, of course Can you tell him to help us distract the Guardian? No, you just want the one Goblin Well, he'll be the leader of the Goblins You tell me what you want
Starting point is 00:23:57 them to do and I will ensure that they do it Can we have a discussion on strategics while you have your food? Yes, yes, yes Be gone! Hurry up! We want to get the forge activated as soon as possible Can we have a discussion on strategics while you have your food? Yes, yes, yes. Great. Be gone.
Starting point is 00:24:07 Hurry up. We want to get the forge activated as soon as possible. Yes, we want to do it. On him, on all the instructions, he's like, can I roll an insight? Oh, cool. Natural 20. So we're 19. That minus one wisdom. It's still not 20.
Starting point is 00:24:24 You watch this guy. Goblin. He's a gob 20. You watch this guy. Goblin. He's goblin. He's very knowledgeable. Clearly, the fact that he has this strange weapon, this cannon with this backpack with arcane energy in it, he clearly knows magical technology. And he certainly believes what he's saying.
Starting point is 00:24:41 Like, you don't get any idea that he's hiding any information from you about the process but you're not the fact that he is he's very dismissive of the other goblins and he's basically making you do the work you're not sure you can trust the guy in his general intentions but what he's told you you kind of think that he's he told you what he knows the process yeah he's told you an accurate knows. The process. Yeah. He's told you an accurate process. But he might blackmail a double starburst. Maybe. You don't know. But you certainly... He seems to not really have
Starting point is 00:25:13 any interest in caring about even his own people's lives. Yeah, so he definitely doesn't. You get the impression he's very selfish. Yeah. Okay. Goblin meat shields. Yes, that's very much How he treats them And that's very much
Starting point is 00:25:29 How he's treating us Yep He is Oh yeah I thought He was lovely But we Smeaky's like At like Ayla's leg
Starting point is 00:25:37 Like Like a little puppy Just like looking At the rest of you This needs This needs to stop I think he likes you Yeah it's
Starting point is 00:25:43 I was gonna like Give him a little zap With his leg But I think he likes you. I was gonna like give him a little zap, but I think he'd like that. He goes over to Lucius. Here we go! Get a little piece of dried ration fruit. Ready? Ready? Ready? Go get the snacky!
Starting point is 00:25:59 He looks behind it. Looks back at me. Aww. I'm gonna go get it. Go get it! He looks behind it, looks back at me. Aww. What a good kid. Go get it. He's pointing at your glittery skin. Yes, beautiful, radiant, luxurious.
Starting point is 00:26:16 I think he wants to eat you. You don't want to eat me, do you? I have no idea what he's saying, but I hope it's something good. Yeah. Back on course. Goblin meat shields. Goblin meat shields, team meat shield. I don't think he's lying to us.
Starting point is 00:26:37 I think he knows the process, but his process could be wrong. But he's definitely in it for himself. I don't think he'll Brookstone us. I mean, we're going first, so we at least get what we want out of it, or at least you guys get what you want out of it. Well, that's it. Yeah, but we do want other things. Like, we don't just have one use for this.
Starting point is 00:26:55 We want to see what this forge can do. We've got Quill, we've got your watch. I wouldn't mind trying to see if I can get this lightning rod thing to... Anyway. Also, he's planning evil things so we don't really want him to be able to do that. Yeah, he does want to take over this part of the world.
Starting point is 00:27:13 He does want to create an empire. It's only with slaves and force. And also, that's an after-the-forge situation. So, he's dealing with goblins that are dimwitted, right? This is the problem that he's facing. He needs intelligent warriors. It seems like Smeagol is quite a capable fighter, right? He can withstand a lot. Stubborn. But it seems like he's unable to rally them to
Starting point is 00:27:41 do these stages inside the forge. So... He could at least get one of them to do the other step to twist the key. That's very simple. Not if it needs to be done at the exact same time. Yeah, but it leads me to believe that he is... I just realised I need to get your miniatures, so I'm going to go get those. Keep talking. He's getting our miniatures.
Starting point is 00:28:03 So what I believe is... Quick, while he's out of the room, revolt! Revolt! Read his notes! Read his notes! Eat the McDonalds! He was like...
Starting point is 00:28:13 Eat the McDonalds! What I think is... Okay, they're just here because he doesn't want them, so they just live here now. Sure. He doesn't want to go in this room. I think he's letting us know that the Guardian's fine.
Starting point is 00:28:27 It's, you know, you're going to deal with it. But I think the threat is much higher than he's letting on. Oh, yeah. No, I got that straight away. Oh, you did? Yeah, no. Oh, you're so intelligent. Yeah, he's using us.
Starting point is 00:28:37 I don't want to be hit by this weird black lightning that we saw disintegrate rocks. No, it's terrifying. He's downplaying something else that's happening in there. I think he very much wants to just use this so if it fails, we die and he's still alive. And he can figure out what we did wrong. I think he wants us to succeed resetting the forge. That much is clear.
Starting point is 00:29:00 So he needs us alive for that amount of time. Exactly. But he still needs a power source. He does. Which we are providing. I guess we can take it out if we want to. So if he tries to revolt... Why can't his weaponry provide the power?
Starting point is 00:29:17 I don't know how much power it needs. It would need a lot. It looks quite powerful. No, it would need a lot. Cool. Because if his weapon is Starbane technology, then you would think Tiangong could power it. But I don't think Tiangong could.
Starting point is 00:29:34 Not in this form, anyway. Yeah, maybe with more fragments put together. But it also does absorb that power. But what power source have we got? That's, we have one. It's the need to know bases, Piri. All right, I mean. I'm just going to lean to Lucius and go,
Starting point is 00:29:55 Rook stoned while looking dead at Piri. There's a lot of big pointy green ears. What? Goblins, there's lots of goblins. Oh, right, okay, yeah. I I mean tell me when we're in there alone right I mean well you'll see it same team right you don't need to it's we got a power source okay sure you don't need to know that we got it from starving yeah you said that before actually that name hmm when you were talking a quill and I did say I should ask you about this I can find a good time to it's not a good time there's a lot of goblins all right I'll ask about it next time there's a good time there's
Starting point is 00:30:33 never a good time anyway right look I think we need to do this we need to go in that look this all we cannot trust him as much as we want but the fact is we need to get sentry back and this is the only way to do it. Yes, but how many of them can we use as literal meat shields to absorb damage while we figure this out? Wait. Can we just... I'm having a thinky. Oh god.
Starting point is 00:30:56 Another one. Yes, I'm sorry. What if we bring all these goblins in as meat shields and they turn on us because their leader tells them to. Well, he's saying we're trapped in this room with goblins that are then fighting us as well as the guardian. It could go really south. They're pretty dumb, though. We could easily convince them not to, I suppose. Yeah, I mean, this one thinks... What was he saying about alpha and leadership? I mean, this one thinks... To be fair, I think that I could... He's pointing at me again If I was to
Starting point is 00:31:25 If I was to do some Lightning-y things Then I think that genuinely He would probably worship me Why don't you try it Smink is like looking up Crackle some lightning He's like he understands
Starting point is 00:31:35 But he doesn't He's like Is he just like Can I just give him A little zap You give him a little zap Yeah So will you just like
Starting point is 00:31:43 Buzz in with like You channel a little bit of rage to make your hands crackle? You do this. You watch as like he yelps and like his hair just goes like, and like stands up and he like stuns and then looks at you. And then he gets on his knees. Well, you just founded a religion. There you go
Starting point is 00:32:05 Queen of the goblins Queen of the goblins Queen of the goblins I think he wants you to kill him Any of the other ones? Via lightning He puts his head to the ground Any of the other ones react to that at all?
Starting point is 00:32:22 I could make him shut up So easy, it was this easy It just happened I zapped him and I told him to shush and now he's gone quiet It's great, peace None of the goblins seem interested though They're all just busy doing other work But maybe
Starting point is 00:32:38 The smith could be a leader of the goblins I think we'll be fine up to the point That we put the power source in To the console Because he needs a power source into the console. Because he needs a power source, right? So he won't kill us before he finds out what it is. He could kill us and take the power source.
Starting point is 00:32:58 We just need help distracting things so that we don't get as hurt. He said we need to keep the Guardian away from the consoles, right? So if we could use the goblins to just... Distract it while it away yeah and worse comes to worse send at mm-hmm huh never mind okay I'm just not gonna say I like but yeah either way Ayla I think you should be at the door by the manual override nope wait is that the one where she has to pull it open yeah part two the one where he said someone really strong too yeah that makes sense that's all i got i guess maybe i should be at step one which is the console where you have to cleanse the forge or whatever i honestly wasn't listening
Starting point is 00:33:44 to the rest of it until he said someone strong needs to pull so i got that one i believe that's stage three that's stage two stage one stage one was initiate the cleanse protocol but it's probably good we all go there anyway because that's where we're going to face the guardian for the first time just to clarify was the power source but the same console as the cleanse bit? Didn't say. Didn't say. Didn't fucking say, did he?
Starting point is 00:34:08 And you don't know the room layout, you don't know how this connects to the antechamber, you don't know at this point. I think beyond pressing the two buttons at the same time, we've got a lot of time. We could just peek in there. We just need to do it in the right order. There's going to be a guardian running around and hitting us. We need to set certain people on the guardian solely to keep away from everybody else doing the process.
Starting point is 00:34:36 If I'm honest, I'd like to stay away from the guardian, and if I can look at resetting this forge, I'd like to do that. If I'm honest, I'm up for a big scrap, and I love going close to really powerful, corrupted lightning things, so... No, I'm terrified. It's gonna be teamwork, guys. Nobody's gonna get to stay away from this thing. We're all gonna have to work together.
Starting point is 00:34:56 Oh, God, who have I become? Leader! You hear, like, a tiny, like, from his position on the ground you just hear like And he puts his head to the ground Can we keep him? Either way it sounds like we've got other rooms to get through first So there's apparently a whacking to do
Starting point is 00:35:18 I'm just going to clarify something With the goblin dude Farrakh Are you done mumbling to each other? Have you done with your food? Yes. Bezic, even. Okay.
Starting point is 00:35:30 Bezic, I've got two questions for you. The console that does the manual over... The purge, sorry. The kind of magical purging in step one. Mm-hmm. Is that the same console that you put the power source in? No, of course. Sort of expected layman's note to understand
Starting point is 00:35:46 The console of where the cleansing activation is done Is at the far end of the room It is the main console that would have once been used by the attendants of the forge The way you need to insert the power is into the forge itself Which is at the centre of the room And is currently, until the manual override is reset, is protected by a series of walled stone chambers. Okay. You will understand when you see it.
Starting point is 00:36:13 He's so smart, and he says such big wordies. Wordies, my goodness. And they call my people the Simpletons. What language? He's playing on his ego. Yes, yes. There's a... Yes, ego. Feed my? Keep playing on his ego. Mm-hmm. Okay. Yes, yes. There's a...
Starting point is 00:36:28 Yes, ego. Feed my ego. Oh, he heard. What language are all the consoles in? Common, I believe. Your language. Oh. It was intended.
Starting point is 00:36:39 It was built for your people. Not your people, but... Orvish or something. Their people, I suppose. And this one's people. Erosians, people from your planet. Not your planet, but their planet. You know what I mean.
Starting point is 00:36:53 I know what you mean. So smart. He's so smart. So, shall we just dive in, protecting over as much as possible. We somehow need to get sentry onto the forge. Where do we actually put sentry? No, that will be after.
Starting point is 00:37:06 After the activation? We need to do all of this to deactivate the party. We can't put sentry anywhere near this until it's safe. We're resetting the forge, and then it'll be powered on, and then we can do the... Don't look at me, Thomas! Are you sure? I think step one is resetting. This is to use the thing,? What's the dual activation? We're putting the mic to reset it. Did you really bring this one with you? I can't believe it. He tagged along Yeah, he fell out of the sky Probably fell onto his head. Step four is literally activate the forge. It's to activate the- you don't understand how the forge works
Starting point is 00:37:40 Ganassi. The forge is a magical platform itself. To activate it is to reignite all of its systems. You can then bring your guardian friend in. We take bad magic out from bad guardian, pump with good magic, so it stops hitting us. Once the forge is activated, you
Starting point is 00:37:59 can use it. You don't need to do this every time. Can you imagine that every time they wish to use the forge, they had to go through these steps? Gah! What do you mean can you imagine? You said we have to get rid of all the spells that are in there if we use it for One thing that's one spell then we have to cleanse all the spells. I don't think that's a dumb- this is Tom arguing To clarify, no, this is me Tom the player. This is Tom and Piri we have become one Geez I get it To clarify, no, this is me, Tom, the player. This is Tom and Piri. We have become one. Oh, jeez.
Starting point is 00:38:26 I get it. Ayla gets it. Why are you not... Forge full of bad magic. Bad magic must go. Piri's hair starts blazing red. It just doesn't make sense. Just work with us here.
Starting point is 00:38:44 I'm working. This doesn't make sense. Just work with us here. I'm working. Just silently seize in the corner. About six goblins kind of appear holding shovels, pitchforks.
Starting point is 00:38:57 They have armor in the shape of like old pots that they've kind of like put on their heads or like scraps of armor attached to animal hides. Like they look pretty pitiful. And Vezic is like, Vos vak danambala, voring dalas.
Starting point is 00:39:14 He points at Aayla and he points at Nova. Doring danambala dalas. Tell them what you need them to do and they'll do it. Shield us from danger. Distract anything bad. Distract the guard. Keep the guardian away from us. Keep the guardian away from the controls.
Starting point is 00:39:38 All right. They'll lead you to the first anti-chamber. Are you going to watch and make sure? I will be coming from the rear, yes.chamber. Are you going to watch and make sure everything's... I will be coming from the rear, yes. I will watch. Can you shoot the cannon? Are you gonna help us? I could. This device, and he packs the cannon, is not perhaps regarded for its accuracy.
Starting point is 00:39:58 I cannot promise that you will not be injured in any attempts for me to help. And you could damage the forge doing that. I could, which is why I have not been... Could you use an alternate weapon? No. Why? This is my weapon. Could you use a different weapon?
Starting point is 00:40:13 Yes. Well, I can't. I'm not some meat-headed warrior. This takes considerable skill and has incredible magical effects. And skillful you are. I'm just going to build that up and use it. Could we take a short rest before we go into this situation?
Starting point is 00:40:30 I mean, the whole conversation, this has probably taken like an hour with him eating and stuff, so yeah, you can absolutely have a short rest. Cool, alright. You can spend a short rest now. I will do that. One thing you do notice as you kind of look over the room is that Smeek is still where Ayla told him to be quiet. And he as you look kind of look over the room is that smeek is still
Starting point is 00:40:45 where ayla told him to like be quiet and he's still just like in the middle of the room with his head down and you can see his legs beginning to tremble from the awkward position it's like um ayla i'm gonna point at smeek oh smeek he like tries to turn his head but he's like still trying to keep in the same light get up he stands up he does understand speak heel he like hill yeah he like walks away they didn't understand they probably understand very very basic it's his name he like looks up at you lucius sit why
Starting point is 00:41:22 Lucius, sit. Why? Can I get up? No, no, what's happening? Yes, you can come. Thank you. So what's the plan? You guys just want to head on? Let's do it. Alright. In that case, clear some space. It's map time. Map time. Map maker, map maker. Okay, so this was the map you had planned
Starting point is 00:41:42 last time, right? Oooh. Didn't I make you do that as Cam as well? Okay, so this was the map we had planned last time, right? Oh! Didn't I make you do that as Cam as well? Yeah, I'm pretty sure you did. Where should I put the people? Probably. Put them all around. Just had a weird deja vu.
Starting point is 00:41:54 Yeah, you can have them slightly off the map as I describe what is going to happen. Okie dokie. Okie dokie. Here we go. Okie dokie, here we go-sy. You're a Rubico. I'm going to give you a bunch of goblins. Here we go. Okey-dokey, here we go, see? Here we go.
Starting point is 00:42:09 I'm going to give you a bunch of goblins. One, two, three, four, five, six. Here are your six normal goblins. Six goblins, cool. Here is Smeek. You can have Smeek. Rather than having to worry about individual stats for these goblins, I will tell you now. Each goblin has seven hit points.
Starting point is 00:42:32 Right. They have a plus three for any attacks. And they do 1d6 damage. That's it. Okay. Any stats, if they have to make Any sort of skill check They just roll a d20 And they just get
Starting point is 00:42:49 Whatever I roll on the d20 They have like No bonuses Okay They move at 25 feet So like normal Kind of like
Starting point is 00:42:55 Standard movement But they are pretty Garbage What was it Seven hit points They've got seven hit points Plus 320 attacks They make
Starting point is 00:43:04 And they do d6 damage Do we get inspiration For each goblin we kill No Okay What was it? Seven hit points. They've got seven hit points, plus three to any attacks they make, and they do D6 damage. Do we get inspiration for each goblin we kill? No. Okay. Don't kill the goblins. It's worth asking, isn't it? Don't kill the goblins.
Starting point is 00:43:16 Sid is just sorting up, setting up a cam. I could move the map if it helps as well. That's fine. Is that okay? Yeah. All right. Cool.
Starting point is 00:43:21 Okay. So you begin making your way down through a very dark, most of you, anybody who is taller than I would say like 5'3", which I think is most of you, you're hunching, you're crouching. At some point you have to crawl because the tunnels are so small that have been dug. It's not like real life anymore. But as you begin making your way into what is clearly worked stone, beautifully worked stone, every floor tile is engraved with visages of the gods, with images of Erois, with landscapes.
Starting point is 00:43:59 Like every piece of stone that you see worked stone that hasn't been collapsed or broken or ruined, is a work of art. And eventually it leads you into a kind of worn, this looks like a much more natural cavern. And you can see beyond that there is a room that has been partially collapsed. This is in the dim light. Those of you with dark vision are seeing this and that's about it. Anybody who doesn't have dark vision, you're blinded. Those of you with dark vision can see that there are a number of broken columns. You can see what about 10 feet up there is a sort of platformed area, which appears to lead into other rooms and things like that. But the floor down here, it looks like maybe it was once a storage basement. There were stairs once, but they've long since crumbled. There is no lights, apart from maybe an ever so faint glow
Starting point is 00:44:48 coming from bobbing sources that are just moving around the room. Right. In the end of the corridor. So, yeah, so basically I'm going to need a marching order. So place yourselves in a marching order of who's in the front, who's behind, et cetera. Let's see if the, who's behind, etc. Don't shit the goblins up front. Yeah, you can send the goblins in.
Starting point is 00:45:11 Maybe not all of them. Don't we want to reserve them for the guardian? This is the room before the forge, right? Yeah, they don't. I guess they don't in the way as well. Anti-chamber. Two or three? Two is good. I'll go. I guess they don't in the way as well. Anti-chamber. Weapons. Two or three? Two. Two's good, yeah. I'll go. So two goblins in front with Ayla. I mean, Ayla's always front line, that's just easy.
Starting point is 00:45:33 Yeah. You want to go? Yeah, I'll go next. I'll go next to Uriah. Nice. Is that you? And then Nova, Lucius, and then five gobos. I'd say three gobos up front.
Starting point is 00:45:48 Five at the back, yeah. The goblins will always have an initiative of ten, by the way, because there's so many of them and you kind of have to command them. They can't be that quick, but they're not that slow. They seem quite agile and quite quick. Cool. Cool. Okay.
Starting point is 00:46:08 Fair enough. I'm just prepping myself for a bunch of stuff here. The stench is unbearable with these What are the room or the goblin? The creatures. Oh right. So yeah, you see the room before you but you don't see anything else. I think you've got darkvision
Starting point is 00:46:24 don't you Ayla? Yep. Sure enough sure now so yeah the goblins seem to completely be at home in the darkness they have no light sources that they carry they're just like and they kind of tug and bring you the correct way does anybody need extra light do I give up one oh yeah you can choose to, I believe. I'll do the cantrip produce flame then. So this orange fiery glow illuminates, and you can now see these kind of rough stone walls. Like I said, this looks like it was maybe once just a really rough basement that was carved out.
Starting point is 00:46:58 And you see the shadows begin dancing and flickering between these broken columns. And you can see that there, maybe you can see the faint outline of some weapons dancing and flickering between these broken columns. And you can see that there, there's like, maybe you can see the faint outline of some weapons just laying on the ground. You know ritual spells? This is going to sound so dumb. Does it take a spell slot to cast them?
Starting point is 00:47:22 You can cast ritual spells normally. You can't though, because it's from your Book of Shadows, right? If you're doing a ritual spell from your Book of Shadows. Yeah, from the... So for you, you can never cast them with a spell slot. Instead, ritual spells take an extra ten minutes on top of however long they normally take to cast. Okay.
Starting point is 00:47:39 So if it's like an action, it takes ten minutes to cast that spell. So no spell slot. But you don't cost a spell slot. Okay. Well, that would be very you don't cost a spell slot. Okay. Well, that would be very, very, very long. Yeah. But things like clerics and wizards can choose to either cast them as a ritual
Starting point is 00:47:52 or cast them instantaneously with a spell slot. You can only cast your ritual spells as rituals. Yeah. That's like a thing with the Book of Shadows. Didn't realize that. I'm presuming we're up against magical weapons here, similar to maybe what we saw at the Night Eyes. Maybe.
Starting point is 00:48:11 Probably. I assume it's always worse than we think. Okay. Shall I cast Detect Magic and see if I can figure out, because magic. Yes. The goblins at this point are like tugging Aayla, like, come on, they're kind of like,
Starting point is 00:48:24 they're pointing in the room like... I mean they said there were going to be magic spells in there, magic weapons, I mean... They said that there were, yeah, the lightning, but if there's some way that... It's either going to be the same as the Guardian in that until we reactivate the Forges they're not going to stop, or there's some source in here that's powering them and maybe we can stop it that way do you know how to get rid of them me no geez no I mean just if we is it like just a hit and a lot sort of situation or I'm just saying if I cast a time I think I can at least pinpoint where they are so we're not surprised they just baseball you weapons no they're not glowing and
Starting point is 00:49:04 in fact there are multiple weapons in the room. It looks like this room was maybe a storage or something, and there's just like loads of weapons scattered over the floor. There's little... I'm turning around. There's little goblins. Are you ready to fight? Yes? And they start raising their pickaxes and they start to get really worked up.
Starting point is 00:49:25 We're gonna try our best to keep you all alive, okay? We're gonna all rally together and do this. They just look confused. They're just looking at each other. Gonna create some dancing lights. Oooh, yes. And they're trying to jump and grab it. No, don't do that. One's like holding his hands up because he touched it, and the others are like...
Starting point is 00:49:48 Okay, well, I can guide them towards fight. Could you just guide them into the room, and then we'll see which ones are the weapons? Let's not use them as fodder. That's what we're literally using them for in the Guardian Room. Let's not forget that... Yeah, but we do want them to get to that point. While this conversation's going on,
Starting point is 00:50:06 I'm going to cast Detect Magic. It'll take ten minutes. Because it's ten minutes to do. Okay, so that conversation is like a couple of minutes. Yeah, so I imagine while they're doing it, I'm going to hold up Tiangong and I guess maybe draw some runes in the air. And then kind of the final act is to pass it across my eyes so I can sort of, I guess, see. Okay, so you're doing
Starting point is 00:50:26 that. Is anybody else doing anything else? The goblins are pretty agitated. Can I tell them? Let's roll. Two. One. What are you going to tell them? Just be quiet and sit. So, make a persuasion with disadvantage,
Starting point is 00:50:41 because they don't understand you, but you're like, you don't know if Smeak understands you he seemed to like follow your your physical directions But it's still there's lost in translation going on. So make a persuasion check with disadvantage So I guess that this is this is your a was like shush Quiet shut up. And then you grab one and you start throwing it and he's like, and that just seems to get them more like,
Starting point is 00:51:10 and they start getting really excited and they're babbling and they're making noises. Can I zap another one? Yeah, you zap one and that one like looks up like, he like, he like follows your hand and like looks. Sit. He like looks down, he gets on. Sit. He like looks down. He gets on the ground. He's not sitting, but he's like on the ground.
Starting point is 00:51:28 Like he's put his head down. Stay. Yeah, he stays. Yeah, yeah. The others are kind of like looking at him and like looking at you now. They're being quiet, but they're not like sat down, but they're looking at you like. And like every time you zap one, there's like a jolt of what looks like they're happy.
Starting point is 00:51:48 Like they're clearly in pain, but they're like... Yay! And they slap their arms and stuff. At least they're just kind of quiet. Yeah, they've quieted down. So if you think they probably would have run in the room if you hadn't done something. Nova, you complete your spell
Starting point is 00:52:03 at the end of this shenanigans. And you cast detect magic. What's the range on detect magic? 30 foot. You can see 30 foot around you. So from where you are back in the corridor, you see the magical weapons of your party, but nothing else. Okay, I'll probably move up to the front of the group, so where
Starting point is 00:52:19 the gobos are. So you kind of go up here? Yeah. And you're going to look in the room here yeah? Yes. This is fur. So this is my ruse of placing them in the wrong place. Oh he placed them in the room but they were in the wrong place. Oh my god. So those four weapons you can see a bow, a mace, a sword and an axe definitely have lingering magic. But they don't activate. So I'll relay this and I'll kind of point
Starting point is 00:52:49 in the vague direction of where they are. I'll describe that they're a bow, a sword. Yeah, once you describe them, then the whole party knows where they are. Just to point them out from the piles of weapons around here. Okay. So can you see how they'd activate? Is it just we get close to them sort of thing? I imagine it's probably proximity. Okay. There can you see how they'd activate? Is it just we get close to them sort of thing or?
Starting point is 00:53:05 I imagine it's probably proximity. Okay, there's no traps or anything? I look around. I mean, the detect magic didn't pick up any medical traps. I mean, I can't see any magical traps. Don't know for physical traps. I guess that's the only way they'd activate.
Starting point is 00:53:19 Magic traps, I mean. We could try and hit them from range. Yes, that'd be good. The bird would hit us them from range. Yes. That'd be good. The bird would hit us back with range. That's true, but then at least there's only one to worry about. I mean, it's a tight corridor. Let's try and bring that one in
Starting point is 00:53:34 like a bottleneck. The first one. Okay. Well, I know we're at the front. Want to zap one of them? Not zap. Shoot it. Everybody ready? Yes, let's go. Sure.
Starting point is 00:53:47 Let me do some leg stretches. You can take a surprise round over. Um... Just make an attack as you need. You have advantage. If it's an attack roll related ability. If it's a saving throw then it's just saving throw. I guess I'll do a good old Eldritch Hue Blasting. Okay, sure. You have advantage. Are you gonna target the same weapon or are you gonna try and shoot two beams at different ones? So I'll do a good old Eldritch who blasts you. Okay, sure. You have advantage.
Starting point is 00:54:06 Are you going to target the same weapon or are you going to try and shoot two beams at different ones? I'm going to go for the same one, so the one that's nearest to us, the slimy sword. But then when I do it, can I then get back? You have a whole surprise round, yeah. So I'd like to get back, so I'm behind all the columns and stuff. So... ha! Natural one on one and a 16 on the other.
Starting point is 00:54:30 But that's, yeah, so one beam. Yeah, that's one beam, because you have advantage on both beams. So 16 plus seven is 21. Yep, hits. And then I'll just do the other roll. Because you have advantage, so roll on both. 14 plus seven, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, hits. The first beam hits. Do the other roll. Yep. Because you have advantage, so roll on both. 14 plus 7, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21.
Starting point is 00:54:50 Yep, hits. Yep, both beams hit. This is force damage you're dealing, isn't it? Yes. Very good. Very good. Seven on one and nine on the other. Damn. Seven and and 9 so 16 So you As you turn and start running You hear this hum
Starting point is 00:55:14 This kind of And this crackle of like lightning As these Four weapons suddenly rise up into the air And you can see lightning begins crackling up And down them Black lightning as crackling up and down them. They emit these black lightning as they emanate and glow. And then they come to life.
Starting point is 00:55:30 Roll initiative, everybody. Nice. Kind of hoping all of them weren't going to... Two. So, Ayla? Fifteen. Piri? Eleven.
Starting point is 00:55:42 Nova? Five. Lucius? Five. Oriah. 11. Nova. 5. Lucius. 5. Oriah. 11. Okay. Keep track of like really bad rolls as well.
Starting point is 00:55:52 Things like initiative it obviously won't count on, but it's things like failed attacks, failed skill checks and stuff. Okay. So at the top of the round, I believe, is the weapons themselves actually. Nice. So one is the... So two is the range weapon. Oh they're all coming. Yeah they all activated. Yeah. So the bow floats into place, and you can see that it kind of just creates kind of semi-physical arrows that it just constantly spawns.
Starting point is 00:56:31 Sweet. The bow just kind of crackles with a string of lightning, and a flurry of arrows launches out in a 15-foot cone, which will strike three goblins plus Aayla. So I need you to make a dexterity saving throw. I will make it for strike three goblins plus Ayla. So I need you to make a dexterity saving throw. I will make it for the three goblins. Oh, that's not good. Nine.
Starting point is 00:56:57 Nine. I'm worried about all the goblins. Yeah, they're very gone. This does quite a bit of damage. Does it? I don't know. Might do. I'm resistant to lightning damage, no!
Starting point is 00:57:08 Okay, there's no lightning damage. These arrows seem to just kind of hit you with a piercing force. It's 23 points of damage. Two of the goblins save, which means they take half, which means they take 11. Three goblins... Awww! Quack, quack, quack!
Starting point is 00:57:22 Oh, we are bad. That's a lot of damage for one hit. We're bad people. Yeah, it seems to that once it kind of launches this flurry of missiles, the lightning seems to fade for a second. And then it will just take five foot to jump back. I was hoping it was lightning damage. That was a good opener.
Starting point is 00:57:43 Rock and roll! Three dead, four left, including Skree or whatever he's called. What's he called? Smeek. Smeek. Smeek-a-meek. Smeek. Don't try and hit me, Smeek.
Starting point is 00:57:54 Don't try and hit me. What have all the weapons done? Oh, they've just surrounded the entrance. They move, but then they are going to... Yeah, they just hover in place. There's a gap here, yeah. Yes, there is a gap here and then there is also like a crawl hole just on the side. For a small creature, easy. Like a small creature can just run underneath it so the goblins
Starting point is 00:58:14 can run through it, but for you guys you would need to physically crawl so you move at half speed through it. So it's basically difficult terrain. After the goblins is Aayla is actually the one that first wants to go. Guess I'm going in. Sure. Please don't leave me alone. I'm gonna hit the bow. Okay sure. I'm gonna rage at first though. Okay so as you're running you watch as the lightning gets crackling up and down Aayla's leg kind of starting from the floor up her legs into her arms as they tense with muscle as she watches the as the lightning begins crackling up and down Ayla's leg, kind of starting from the floor, up her legs into her arms as they tense with muscle,
Starting point is 00:58:48 as she watches the fury in her eyes as the hammer comes out. Damn. Are you attacking recklessly? Yeah. No. Okay, no. But I should have.
Starting point is 00:58:59 Two attacks? I should have probably because it's not very good. 15 to hit on one. So that one misses. The bow, it seems, is extremely agile and spins out of the way as you swing the hammer. 17 on the other. That one's going to miss as well.
Starting point is 00:59:17 Dammit! Okay, well, lightning zap. Yep, lightning zap. Dexterity saving through. That is a 23. So half damage is one. Yay! El Clasico. You swing. And then the Lightning Blast launches up into the bow. Seems to disrupt it, but doesn't seem to have too much
Starting point is 00:59:38 of an effect. Piri or Uriah, you're both at the same initiative. I've got plus three dex. Plus three dex. Plus six. Is that your saving throw I've got plus three dex, or six? Plus three dex. Plus six. Plus six? Is that your saving throw? What's your main dex one? Oh, my main dex is three. Three, so you're both the same.
Starting point is 00:59:52 So choose, you guys just choose. No, after you. We spend an entire turn. Sure. Please do not. I'll go. Okay, all right, I'll mark a Raya as the first out of the two of you.
Starting point is 01:00:04 Okay. I'll go pro Okay. All right. I'll mark a wire as the first out of the two of you. Okay. I'll bump right to it. I will. I'm going to move up. Sorry. A little bit. I'm going to use my shield and cast Guiding Bolt on the bow.
Starting point is 01:00:18 Okay. That is 4d6 radiant damage. Do I get a saving throw or is it an attack roll first? I think it is an attack roll first. Attack roll first. Do you ever still have a charge on that? This will be the last one. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14.
Starting point is 01:00:35 On the bow? Yeah. Spins out of the way as this Guinan bolt smashes the ceiling. You can see that the bow, because it seems to be made of lighter materials, is very, very agile. The other weapons don't seem as quick. Dexterous bow! Very dexterous bow. So that's your action. Any bonus action?
Starting point is 01:00:51 Uh... Piri. Nova and Lucius, you'll be going after... the goblins will be going after Piri, so you two think about what you want to do. Um, can I... 5, 10, 15, 20, 25. If I went here, could I go right through it to get, so they don't have the attack of opportunity? I'm still within the frame there. Yeah, you're still within reach range,
Starting point is 01:01:15 so you're not provoked. So I get past the axe and the, is that a mace? Yes. And I will do a flurry of boys against. Key point. Key point. Key point. Four on arm strikes. One, two, three, four.
Starting point is 01:01:31 Go for it. Six, six. So you're going to have Nova go, yeah? Okay. Against the mace. Yep, against the mace. Six, 12 is the lowest. So 12 misses.
Starting point is 01:01:44 Another 12, then 18. Hits. And then 25. Hits. Okay, so two hits. Cool. So you launch with these flurry of flaming fists. Wham, wham, wham, wham, wham.
Starting point is 01:01:56 Uh, four, eight, and a six, so 14 damage. 14 points of damage. Your hands, like, impact against the mace itself, kind of punching against it, and your training absorbs, you know, you don't feel the pain as your hands are smashing into the metal. And you can feel the parts of it begin splintering, like the wooden
Starting point is 01:02:16 shaft begins breaking ever so slightly. Whatever magic is holding them together seems to be disrupted. Cool, and then after that, I'd like to spend a bonus action to do burning hands. Well, that was your bonus action, it's flurry. Oh, is it'd like to spend a bonus action to do burning hands. Well that was your bonus action is flurry. Oh is it? Flurry is a bonus action. Damn it! Damn it I'll do that next time. Yep. Cool. Ah that's alright. Okay so after Piri the goblins. Your remaining four goblins while including Smeek will go... we'll say like five, ten. They basically charge in.
Starting point is 01:02:46 Go goblins! Smeek will stand next to Ayla. The other goblins will just charge in. One of them will throw his pickaxe at the bow. For a total of twelve, it misses. One of them, Smeek, will attack the bow as well. Smeek actually gets a nineteen, which is a hit. Wow. Damn, Smeek.
Starting point is 01:03:04 For five points of damage. Yeah, sure. And then the other remaining one will go for the mace, getting a 9, which is a miss. So the goblins just charge in, swing, swing, swing, swing, swing. Nothing seems to happen, and one of them now has no weapon. He's like, just got his fists.
Starting point is 01:03:20 He threw his pickaxe. After the goblins, Nova. So the lightning grapple that I have, could I try and get the sword? And I don't want to pull it through that hole, but jam it in the hole? You can try. Sure.
Starting point is 01:03:36 You can try that. So it's... As an action, the creature can fire this weapon as an attack with a range of 15 feet. So what role do I make? So it would be just with your dex modifier, because you're not technically proficient fire this weapon as an attack with a range of 15 feet so what role do i make so it would be uh just with your dex modifier because you're not technically proficient with this weapon so that's a plus three yeah so you just plus three between plus three that'll be a seven plus three with a ten it's a ten so you try and aim it and fire through this tiny hole
Starting point is 01:04:00 but the lightning grapple just embeds into the stone and the charge just tiny hole but the lightning grapple just embeds into the stone and the charge just down the line and then it retracts. I thought you said she pulled herself through the... Break the neck. Bonus action? Move? I'll move like... You need to move so you can have line of sight.
Starting point is 01:04:22 I just want to see what the range is. You could be here because it's like 15 feet. Yeah 15. You need to you can have line of sight. I just want to see what the range is. You could be here because it's like 15 feet. Yeah, 15. Actually, you need to be here for line of sight. Yeah. Okay, so you've got a line there. Lucius? I just don't want to be in a line.
Starting point is 01:04:32 I'm going to go up to this, crouch down to see through. So you're in that space at the moment. Yeah, looking through after the whole chain. Kind of like in between here at the moment. Can I peek through and cast through with a hand you you'd have to be where you are so you're basically like in the hole half sticking out of the hole sweet bonus action i'm going to send my dancing lights into the room and spread them out so that the light source yeah fills the room with light source yep and then i'm
Starting point is 01:05:00 gonna cast chromatic orbit at level one. Okay. Sorcery points, two points to twin it. Okay. And then. So you get to do two targets now. I'm gonna do these two targets. The sword and the axe. Great, make your attack rolls.
Starting point is 01:05:14 That's a natural 20. Oh wow! First one, second target. So this will be against the axe. What, how is that? How is that even possible? Missed it entirely. That's a 15 plus, I believe it's a seven, yeah.
Starting point is 01:05:24 Hits, so roll the natural 20 first, double the dice. Okay. Nice. Matching ball with level 1 is 3d8. Nice. Hefty, hefty. This is what Lucius is supposed to do. I like the supposed to in that.
Starting point is 01:05:38 He has very bad luck as well with his spell attacks. Well, you just roll those three. Yeah. Six, six and a three. 15 points three fifteen points double because it's a crit 30 points points of damage to the sword right it's twinned So yeah, and then now you roll damage to the second one. So you roll separate damage. Yeah So the sword nine points of damage to the axe and it was what kind of damage? What kind of damage to you cold so you then you get one dichro mancy
Starting point is 01:06:04 So who do you want to hit with that we have reduced dichro mancy to 30 feet i went through and i'm gonna hit the close before within the so that would be the axe yeah and then that would be charisma's plus four right now so level plus charisma so five points so five points of damage so you watch as these two kind of spinning orbs of frost launch out from Lucius's hands. As one hits the sword, it covers the sword in a thick, riny, ice-like coating that causes it to just drop and smash. And you watch as parts of the sword fall apart as he does so.
Starting point is 01:06:38 The axe manages to slightly avoid it, but still has a part of its heart covered in in ice as well and it kind of spins out of Control and then Lucius looks over pulls like a section of like color like pulling blue from his clothing and then Throw it out as another icicle hits into the axis side. So what's the damage of Diker and see sorry Diker NC is the level of the spell plus his charisma level of the spell. Okay, I got the crown right now My charisma one fires plus four. Yeah, cool. cool no i thought you said it was level plus charisma it's the level of the spell yeah yeah so ayla you're gonna get an attack opportunity as is smeek oh the bow is running yep well it's a bow flying two legs bowing smeek misses 25 25 hits
Starting point is 01:07:32 Smeek misses. 25. 25 hits. 12 damage. 12 damage to the bow. Nice. That will break your streak for the fun time coin. The bow is gonna jump back. I will see if it's rapid-fire recharges. In fact somebody else can roll this so we know it's fair. Rhi, roll a d6 for me. Ba-ba-ba-ba! Six! Yay! It recharges. It recharges. Rhi! Oh.
Starting point is 01:07:49 Oh. Oh, you rolled. Always wear it count. Yay! Yay! Bless you, Rhi. Bless you. Bless you.
Starting point is 01:07:58 I was so excited about that as well. Woo! Six. Woo! We're dead! Wait. I failed three things in a row, by the way. Two attacks and a saving throw.
Starting point is 01:08:08 Did you? Yeah. When did you fail the saving throw? When you told me to make a saving throw. Oh, that's right. You can have the Funtime coin. Funtime coin! Inspiration.
Starting point is 01:08:16 Inspiration. Your coin of inspiration. It is going to do its rapid fire thing again. This time to Ayla, Smeek, and the goblin behind them. Cool. Sorry. Thanks, thanks, Rhi. Dexterity saving throw.
Starting point is 01:08:29 Smeek's no more special than- Smeek! That's a fail. I should've used my freaking coin. Smeek succeeds. As does the other goblin, but now I have to roll damage. Yeah, because half of a lot is, he's only got seven health. Wait, what kind of damage is this? Piercing. Okay, because half of a lot is... I've only got seven health. Wait, what kind of damage is this? Piercing.
Starting point is 01:08:48 Okay, so half. Yeah, it's half for you. So it'd be 22 points of damage, half for you for 11. Smeek and the goblins are dead. Oh! Smeek! Wow, didn't even make it past the first round.
Starting point is 01:09:03 I will leave Smeek there in case anybody wants to use Spare the Dying on him. Just in case. Oh yeah! That's okay, the cavern's filled with goblins. This is just fixed. We can just get more, right? Yeah. And then...
Starting point is 01:09:19 We're really good with this one. Oriah, the mace is going to come for you, and then Piri, the axe, is going to turn on you. Okie dokie. They don't get their charged attack, however, because they did not think we got a healer, right? Piri, 24 to hit. No. Araya, 21 to hit.
Starting point is 01:09:36 Yep. So, Piri, you're going to take 14 points of slashing damage. Okie dokie. Araya, you take 12 points of bludgeoning damage. Cool beans. Ow. Wham! These kind of animated weapons slam into you with an incredible force. Wait, do I not get an attack of opportunity on the mace?
Starting point is 01:09:51 Yes, you would. You'd get an attack of opportunity. Sweet! That was not... No? It goes. It's a three. Oh, you rolled a three. Yeah, I rolled a three plus. Nine.
Starting point is 01:10:02 Yeah, say it for the stats. I rolled nine. Ay, yeah. Nine. Yeah, say it for the stats. I rolled nine. Ayla. Oh. Um... Gonna hit the mace. Mace behind you. Yep.
Starting point is 01:10:14 Twice. 22 to hit. Hits. Yep. And... 15 to hit. Hits. Both hit. Yayits. Both hit. Yay.
Starting point is 01:10:26 Dexterity. Mace isn't quite as quick as the bow. 14 on its dex save. I think that just makes it. To be honest, your weapon damage is going to kill this thing, I think. 10, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24. That's both hits Oh my god And a zap
Starting point is 01:10:47 It's on one hit And And a zap There's the lightning Half of five Half of five It destroys it with a lightning blast So you smash this maze twice
Starting point is 01:10:57 And you watch as like the metal You know Fronds of it basically snap off It's still hovering Like wavering in the air after two of these hammer blows. And then you just reach up with a hand and you watch as its haft of wood
Starting point is 01:11:10 just explodes into splinters as it drops to the ground. Can I move? Yeah, absolutely. So you're moving up to the axe. Wait, what goblins are still alive? Huh? The axe and the bow. No, the goblins. Oh, there's like two goblins are still alive? Huh? There's two.
Starting point is 01:11:25 The axe and the bow. No, the goblins. There are two left. Oh, there's like two goblins left. Man, we really messed this one up. Cool. Is that the end of your go, Rayla? I believe it's Oriah next.
Starting point is 01:11:41 And then Piri, you are for Oriah's thing, but what do you want to do? Actually, can I? Wait, how much much they move? Wait, I'm gonna go Can I go you can go over a couple of yes, it's difficult terrain so double extra Can I go here and just duck down and get some cover against this bow? Oh like in the corner of the room Okay, yeah fucking me up. Yeah, you kind of like like crouch down behind like this half wooden column, this broken column. Araya. Cool. I'm gonna
Starting point is 01:12:07 move uh, yeah, like this way. That was your last charge for guiding bolt by the day, for the day. Okay, cool. So you can't use that again. So I'm gonna move here. Yep, behind me. Yeah, like that. Or maybe like there a little bit. Yep. I think. Yes.
Starting point is 01:12:23 Cool. And then I'm gonna use my longbow and go for this boy. OK. So you kind of like put the shield away, pull out the bow. It's bow versus bow. Bow versus bow. Bow versus bow. It's the battle we've been waiting for. It's 12.
Starting point is 01:12:35 It's your mission. Just thunk into the stone walls behind it as the bow nimbly dodges out of the way. It shoots an arrow at your arrow. Period. Right. Robin hoods it. The one next to me with the ice on it. I mean, if you superheat something that's really cold,
Starting point is 01:12:51 that's more damage, right? Let's find out. Okay, because I've still got my produced flame, so I'm just going to push that into the axe as a bonus action. Sure. Produced flame as a wet, as an attack, as an attack, as an action. Yeah. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:13:08 Yeah, it is. But we can make it flavoury. You can punch with the Produce Flame in your hands. That's what I did last time. I still got it, but I'm still going to do that anyway. Sure. Because I can't... Can I, with, like, Flurry of Blows,
Starting point is 01:13:21 can I attack multiple different things? Yeah. You can move in between attacks if it's four so you could like punch the axe a couple of times and then if you destroy it you could then run up to the bow and try and punch that so flurry of blows it isn't like something i do in one burst i could do like two of them extra attacks but you can move in between your attack okay in that case it's like a cool thing that monks can do like you could run up punch a goblin then run up punch another goblin run up, punch another goblin,
Starting point is 01:13:45 then run and punch another goblin, as long as you've got the movement to do it. And it's wavering, is it, this axe? I mean, it looks pretty badly injured, yeah. All right, injured. It's bleeding. All right, I'll do a flurry of blows. I'm going to punch it once.
Starting point is 01:13:59 And that's your bonus action to flurry as well. 11. It misses. It deflects. It kind of parries you. 21? Hits. Okay, so I'll do the damage with that one. Okay. And see if you destroy it first.
Starting point is 01:14:12 Four damage. Nope. Still standing, still hovering, I guess. Third attack. Yep. 17 plus six, 23. Yep. Eight damage.
Starting point is 01:14:28 Still, still, still hovering. You're kind of punching it. Your fists are kind of being deflected off its wide axe blades. I was hoping to be able to do stuff with this bow afterwards. 12, 18. Hits. And then four damage. Still hovering. Smacking it around, it just kind of bobs and weaves with you but doesn't actually fall god damn it and with my movement I'm gonna
Starting point is 01:14:51 move to the other side of the axe so I'm further away from the rest of the group when the bow decides to go cool the two goblins will now turn yeah come on Come on goblin boys. They both miss. Four and a two. Oh man. Nova. Okay, this is probably not going to work, but can I cast Dispel Magic on the bow? I don't know how to do it. So what you're going to do is you're going to roll a d20 and then you're going to add your Charisma modifier. Because I'm a bit confused by the wording of this. Actually no, what's your normal spell save dc it's actually written into the monster third
Starting point is 01:15:28 level lower immediately no what's your spell save dc i know how the spell works 15 it's got a separate effect on these creatures what was it 15 15 and it's a constitution 15 it fails you watch as the bow just falls to the ground like the magic goes away from it. It just punk all the lightning as well. Yep. Oh, wow Yep Make me an arcana check and clapping from inside this tiny hole You're like those kids that get stuck in like the tunnels like the half tunnel you're like halfway through it Oh, yeah, I just realized I just backed up to this hole. I might have stood on your fingers a little bit.
Starting point is 01:16:08 11. Yeah. You destroyed it. Can I shout and be like, I don't know if that's it gone forever. You're pretty sure you've got it. I'm still not confident about that. For me, I gave it.
Starting point is 01:16:24 Nova's not very sure of herself. Lucius. Which Nova would like to move, or bonus action? Can I just move so I'm just... We're gonna take the break when we finish this combat, basically. Ah, I feel like I've done this whole thing once coming into the room.
Starting point is 01:16:39 Tucked, there. They do, well, she, because she, this spell magic, she can clean up. I'm a long distance boy. Yeah, I think she can see a bow from there anyway. Lucius'm a long distance boy yeah I'm going to see what Nova attempted with the whole pulling through the whole thing so I'm gonna back out the hole and look okay yeah yep do I need to make it now so I make you save me three what do I I am doing, it's a strength saving throw, please. Okay.
Starting point is 01:17:05 It's pretty strong. 23. Failed, no. So you, the lightning little latch is on and you're like, I've got you now, axe! You go to pull it, but it just yanks. You almost get pulled through it. You have to like, you kind of let go of the spell
Starting point is 01:17:18 as you're almost pulled through into the wall. This thing's very strong. Whatever magic is animating it is keeping it very, very strong. Okay magic is animating it is keeping it very very strong. Okay, at the top of the round, the axe still remains. It will go for Piri. Better not. 23. Nah.
Starting point is 01:17:36 And take 6 points of slashing damage. This axe slams into you. The bow does nothing, it seemingly is destroyed. Ayla? Seemingly? Yeah, I'm gonna destroyed. Ayla. Seemingly. Yeah, I'm gonna go for the axe. Okay, so you. Two. Charge. You're not trusted. Natural 20 on one.
Starting point is 01:17:54 Nice. Is this a reckless or is this normal? That's normal. With your fucking crits, it's dead. You can roll it. Let me roll! Roll it for stats. Stats wants to know Wait so You double the dice
Starting point is 01:18:09 So 8, 9, 10, 1, 2, 3 14 See that's not bad 14 points of damage from the crit 14 And then the second attack Was a miss probably What was it?
Starting point is 01:18:19 12 Yeah that was a miss But lightning damage I rolled a 11. That's a fail. It certainly takes one damage there. So it took 15 points of damage, which is enough to kill it.
Starting point is 01:18:32 Yay! There you go, Stats. Destroyed. Bam. And with that, we'll take our break. Patreon.com slash High Rollers. We'll see you in five minutes. We'll be back.
Starting point is 01:18:41 Hey, everyone. Thanks for listening to this episode. Remember to check out both D&D Beyond and NordVPN with the links in the episode description. You can also support the podcast on our Patreon page, patreon.com slash highrollers, and we'll see you on Thursday for part two of this episode where we enter the final room
Starting point is 01:18:55 and attempt to restart the Midwife's Forge. We'll see you then. Thank you.

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