High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Aerois Christmas Special w/ Matt Mercer (Part 2)

Episode Date: December 6, 2018

Ho ho ho! Welcome to the first Aerois Christmas Special with special guest: Matt Mercer! A bunch of goons led by a man with a german accent have raided the party, will the party escape and live free, or die hard?! This episode was filmed live as part of the Yogscast Jingle Jam 2018, a month long event of streams and fund raising for hundreds of charities! Head to https://bit.ly/2AHOj9I to get over $750 worth of games for just $35 and raise some money for charity! A massive thank you to Matt Mercer for joining us on this special episode! Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. Shop Best Buy's 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. Ho, ho, ho! Welcome to High Rollers, the Arois Christmas special. This episode was filmed as part of the Jingle Jam, a month-long event on twitch.tv forward slash yogscast

with just one focus, raising a whole lot of money for charity. Please tune in throughout the month of December or head to Humble Bundle to get $750 worth of games for just $35. All proceeds are going to charity. Last year, we raised over $5 million, and this year we hope to beat it. For new listeners High Rollers is a Dungeons and Dragons podcast set in the world of Erois recorded live every Sunday at 5 p.m GMT on twitch.tv forward slash High Rollers D&D. Today's episode is non-canon so if you want to share this with your friends they won't be spoiled

by the usual campaign. We are joined today by the legendary dungeon master of Critical Role Matt Mercer. Playing a joyous dwarf bard, he will join the regular party of me, Tom, playing Quill, the Arakokra bard slash cleric, Katie, who plays Aayla,

a wild elf barbarian, Rhiannon, who plays Sentry, a robotic guardian paladin, and Chris Trott, playing Lucius Virion Eluin Elenasto, the high elf sorcerer, as we all receive

an invitation to a party celebrating the Erois equivalent of Christmas, St. Mira's Day. Anyway, on to the episode. The team have been ambushed at the St. Mira's Day party by a bunch of goons led by a man with a German accent. Let's see if the party will live free or die hard. And we jump back into the action. As you're kind of nestled into this small kind of meeting room, the 23rd floor of the cherry song trading tower as you see this armed group of purple skinned well-armored well-armed uh warriors men and women

bust in and they start grabbing party goers from other rooms grabbing servants and throwing them and sort of into where you know the dance area is, which is just out of sight. And coming from that room, you can hear this voice, which is being magically enhanced, just kind of saying, like, ladies and gentlemen, please, we are not going to harm you as long as you cooperate. You will not be harmed.

We are merely here to take the Cherry Strong Trading Company's various valuables, and then we'll be leaving. What are we doing? Oh we doing now it's a party is this how it normally goes not at all no no this is a takeover

and I'm actually terrified that I'm going to wet myself in this fancy new suit and it cost you so much as well it cost me very

little but in the grand scheme of things yes I suppose it's worth something okay well Sentry needs her axe I need my

hammer yes now okay let's go get those things then I don't know Mears, I suppose it's worth something. Okay, well... Sentry needs her axe. I need my hammer. Yes. Now. Okay. Let's go get those things then. I don't know. You see Arvel and Glinda being kind of pulled out and taken along with the rest of the hostages as well.

I'll get Evangeline too for Arvel. Yeah, he has to leave that there as well. Danelle, how are you in combat? I've seen a couple of scufflers here and there, but you stay at the front, I stay at the back. I'm not going to stay at the front, I'm on burn. In a tuxedo. In a very nice tuxedo. That's where Aayla comes in and Sentry. Those are very much the front people and we're at the back doing the good stuff. So while you're having this conversation

you begin to hear a couple more of these guards are now beginning to search these further back room Okay, there's a stairwell you said that we were at there's a stairwell I'm gonna start moving towards the stairwell to go down to the Okay, that sounds like a stealth check because to move unseen to not alert these guards to your presence Not alert these guards to your presence. Uh-oh. That is 14. 14? Okay.

So Ayla kind of darts across from the small meeting room. You have to kind of leap across a corridor, kind of like run across a corridor and get into this stairwell. Will my boots of striding and bounding help me at all? I mean, you can use them as they deem, but I don't believe you are leaping, so... They said leaping across the room. She launches across the room. I launch myself!

You kind of quickly try and move. What about the rest of you? I'm going to follow on behind as fast as I can. Anybody who wants to follow Ayla has to make a stealth check. Yes, please. Oh, a stealth check. You can see these guards are beginning to search these other rooms, and if you make too much

noise, or if they catch a glimpse of you, they're going to see you. I've got 11. Did you roll with disadvantage? She's not wearing that. We're going to count Sentry's dress as her basic AC, because you've got your shield in, I'm not going to make you guys lower your AC, you just don't have your weapons right now.

I'll take 11. Okay. 10. 10? Do no. That's a 9. 9! 9! 9! I panicked and I didn't follow. Ten. Ten? Do no. That's a nine. Nine! Nine! Nine! I panicked and I didn't follow. So you watch as everybody kind of rushes across, like, into this hallway,

and you just see Quill, wine-eyed as a bird, like, looking around like, where's everyone gone? Quill, come on. Don't run across as well. Okay, well make it with disadvantage now, because as you're doing this, you can see these guards getting closer and closer. Okay, 13. 13. Okay, so

Quill kind of leaps across, but Sentry, you kind of make a loud, like your armoured dress kind of scrapes across the doorway as you're running, and Dunel probably i'm trying to think what is there something do now could probably you know maybe like a loot string accidentally kind of plucks as you're kind of like running pie gets caught on like a tassel i would say it's more of the outfit that i'm wearing the glaring face the design of it is just too it just draws the eye so um you're not sure if you've been spotted.

You kind of just hear a kind of like a, huh, like a noise. I knew you'd be there with a metal game. So yeah, you kind of hear a heart kind of noise as you, we maybe just see the door kind of like swing closed for the stairwell. So Aayla at the front begins leading you down this kind of squared stairwell that leads down.

The stairwell doesn't appear to go all the way down to the very bottom of this tower. It seems to only go down as far as the security checkpoint. But as you reach the stairwell, you begin to hear murmuring of voices. The door is closed. You can see it's a heavy wooden door. Can you hear that? Can everyone else hear that? Oh, sorry. Is that the door into the security checkpoint? Yes. Okay. Go on.

Can I put my ear to the door to see if I can hear something? Yeah, you can make a perception check. Yep, absolutely. Oh, that is a majestic two. You put your ear to the door. I'm panicky. I've not put in this sort of circumstance before. You see I'm in control. I, that is a majestic two. You put your ears... I'm panicky. I've not been in this sort of circumstance before.

She's having control. I don't know what's happening. You place your round dwarven ear to the door, and that's when Quill is like, so what are we doing? He's talking in your other ear, and you just call him. Can you hear him?

Can you hear him? I can't, I can't. They're still taking my door. I'm sorry. Anything, anything they're saying, can you hear anything? We all need to remain calm! So as Lucius says that in a very loud kind of panicked scream,

you hear what sounds like another door being opened on the other side and footsteps approaching the door you are currently at in the stairwell. Whose footsteps are those? And from this you hear a, fearless, I think somebody's behind this door. Is the spell still active? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The arcane lock should keep that door closed.

Whoever's behind there, we don't need to worry about them, alright? Look, I'm doing, I've got to get the security system. Just leave me, give me a second, okay? They're trying to break into the security system. I haven't. We need a second, okay? They're trying to break into the security system. I haven't. We need to dispel. Does anybody know dispel?

Dispel? I forgot, I didn't take that class. You didn't take the class? What do you mean class? There's a few classes on dispelling, and I thought, who needs to dispel when you can spell, you know what I mean? Well, before the session, I didn't ready it. Great.

Why are we breaking the fourth wall now? I'm not. You are. Am I? Yes. Are there classes in the regular wall now? I'm not. You are. Am I? Yes. Are there classes in the regular world? It's so strange.

Anyway. Okay. To break your fourth wall breaking. Uh-huh. So, um, yeah. I mean, you've not tried the lawyer. Yeah. I don't know. You guys can make an arcana. Anybody can make an arcana check to see if you know what that sort of spell does. I will absolutely do that. Do you know? I think this would be in your kind of repertoire.

Ooh, 21. Okay, 16. 16? 8. 8? So both Quill and Dunel, you both know the arcane lock spell is used by wizards, abjuration wizards specifically. It's used by abjuration wizards.

All right, calm it down, Birdman. I'm freaking out. You know that it basically locks um things like doorways uh windows anything that can be closed it shuts um it makes them harder to pick lock um but they can still be opened by magical means or dispelled um it just makes them harder to break into so breaking them down or picking the locks becomes harder um okay uh well vala why didn't you oh no, no, she's looking after Nova. Why did she drink so much?

I just kick the fuck out of the door. Sure, yeah. Straight athletics check. So you just try and shoulder barge this door. Oh, no! We're tipped from a 19. That's so annoying. So it's only a nine.

It's a nine. Man. It's almost like if you could think of something to say the power of I don't have it can I say the quote for her? yeah sure let her kick the door in first

so you spend the mclean that will go and you hear this kind of wood splintering smash as you kick the door off and behind it, the guy who was behind it, it's also thrown backwards. Good, excellent.

Like, he's thrown to the clear. And then... As he lands and turns his face around, I look at him and go, welcome to the party, pal. That's it, that's it, he's convinced it. Nice. So at that point, we're going to show the map.

So Ayla, you step in and then we'll have sort of everybody else kind of fill her in behind. So you can see the security checkpoint, there's a small fountain in the middle and you can see there are these three of these armoured, armed kind of brute thug looking guys. But behind the security desk where the dwarves were kind of checking you in to start with, you can see a dark skinskinned wizard with spectacles, short kind of cropped hair, and he's fiddling with like crystals and runes and that sort of thing. Is he?

It's just like, oh! Damn, that gots down! He's like, come on, deal with these guys! And that is going to be initiative. Here we go! I rolled like trash again! Woo! initiative So let's go first I don't think it's gonna be me or Ayla I

Also roll the two you did going to be me or Ayla. I also rolled a two. You did? I rolled a two. So I'm at six. What did you get? Unnatural 20. So just 20 total for Century. Yes. 20.

Ayla? Six. Quill? Four. Doonal? 23. 23. Lucius?

17. 17. And then for me, for my bad guys. Bad guys. Bad guys Bad guys So we've got a 19 For Thedas The wizard Oh and then another

A natural 20 For the mercenaries Oh High rolls today High roll Hooray We did it We put the name

However With such witty repertoire It could only be Dunel's go first. True. Rock and roll. So how many mercenaries are in the chamber? So looking in just right in front of Sentry, there is a collapsed doorway

under which one of these mercenaries is kind of pulling himself free. And then there are two more just behind him, one coming out of the armory door and then one in the corridor. And then at the very far end of the room, you can see the wizard. So if you can see on the screen, the wizard is down here and then there are three mercenaries here. These two guys

are still standing up. Yes. And then one is knocked to the floor. And to confirm, the wizard is on their side, it seems. It does seem that way, yes. He seems to be ordering them around. I'm going to turn to the wizard, just glancing at his face and be like, Oh, it's been a long time, my friend. And I'm going to cast Charm Person.

Okay. So to do that, you'll just need to move into the room a little bit. So I'll move you up next to Ayla. So I've got a lovely dwarf miniature with a drum, because that's the only thing I have. So, yeah. So you move in and you gesture to him and you cast charm personal, right? So what's your spell save DC for me,

Matthew Mercer? 13. No, you don't. No, I don't. I'm going to counterspell it. Oh, okay. So he kind of looks over and sees you beginning to weave

this kind of strands of magic in the words. He's like, ah, no, no, no, no, none of that. And he snaps his fingers and you feel the magic kind of fade out of the in the words. He's like, ah, no, no, no, no, none of that. And he snaps his fingers and you feel the magic kind of fade out of the air. And then he's like, hey, hey, hey, guys, the dwarfs are spellcaster, kill him, kill him.

And he's like pointing towards you. To which I respond, hey, it's about time for me to get to the backside once more. And I push the rest of the movement. Spend the rest of your movement going to the back of the line again. Yes, back out of the chamber. So you're currently in this little stairwell Along with Quill and Lucius, basically

Welcome back It's much safer here You tried your best So one of the mercenaries will get up And because he can't really get away from Aayla He will just pull out a small mace The other two are going to kind of Hunch down behind a fountain and

unslung these kind of long musket-like rifles as they're going to try and take gunshots at probably let's see. Yeah, I think Aayla and Century will be the first ones to take the hits. So the clothies get in there. So that's only an eight to hit

Century. No way. So the shield of Solvin rises up as the bullet pounces off. Aayla, 19 to hit you. Yeah, that'll hit. eight to hit Sentry. No way. So the shield of Solvin rises up as the bullet pounces off. Ayla, 19 to hit you. Yeah, that'll hit. That'll hit you. So this is a d10 plus two. So that's going to be three whopping points of damage. You just managed to kind of raise your hand as this bullet kind of scrapes past.

And then the one directly in front of you is going to try and use his mace to hit you as well. Four and 19. Now do it. Damn. Doing your job. That's going to be eight points of damage as this mace kind of slams into your side by knocking the wind out of you

as you reel backwards. She's not happy now. She's angry. So after them, Sentry. Hello. Hello. I haven't got my axe. No. I'm going to have to... So you can see the armory door is this one.

This open door here is into the armory. You're currently behind Ayla herself. But you can also use unarmed strikes. You should have unarmed strikes if you need to. Yeah, can I unarm strike this guy? So you step in. Step in.

If someone can move sentry in for me. Give him a bash with my shield, and then can I continue moving into the... Yeah, if you want to. You will provoke an opportunity attack as you leave his space. That's fine. So you can kind of punch him as you run past, basically.

So you sprint for the armory, throw a fist out, give me an attack roll, using your unarmed strike attack bonus. Oh, that's a two! That's probably not going to do it. Oh, thank you. Oh, bed using your unarmed strike attack bonus. Oh, that's a two! That's probably not going to do it. Oh, bad rolls! It's like a thing.

Oh, no. Yeah, that's not good. So you swing, but he kind of, like, ducks it, almost haphazardly, by accident, like, as he's kind of swinging for Aayla, the fist swings over him. He's like, and he swings to hit you as you run past, but that's only a seven to hit you. So it just clangs the metal plates of the dress,

as you just split past into the arm. Once you're inside, because you would have had five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30. And you can see in this corner, you can see your axe has been hung up. Nice. So you can continue sprinting for that next turn. Awesome.

After century, the wizard at the very far end hung up. Nice. So you can continue sprinting for that next turn. Awesome. After sentry, the wizard at the very far end will turn around and do do do he will return a bit of a favor. He kind of like peers around. He's like

hey you, hey little dwarf guy, I suggest you beat up one of your friends here, and he will cast Suggestion on you, so wisdom saving throw. Oh, no. Ooh, natural 18. Natural 18.

So you're kind of using, you know, you're an expert of charm and enchantment magic yourself. You just brush this. I have to note, I have to note it's at a minus one. Seven. It's a 17. 17? 17 still. That's still enough? Still a success. It's a 17. 17? 17 still.

That's still enough? Still a success. Still a success. Okay, good. So you managed to wave off the suggestion power as he's like, Ah! No!

They're my friends! They just bought me this nice outfit! I did spend lots of money. Speaking of Lucius, I'm going to walk in behind Elia. Elia? Spend lots of money. Speaking of Lucius. I'm going to walk in behind Aelia. Aelia? Aelia.

Loom behind Aelia. And cast Armour of Agathys on myself. Okay, first level? First level. Okay. So you watch as around his beautiful outfit, this kind of icy armour kind of erupts all around Lucius. I hope this doesn't ruin the fabric.

Is it up both sides or just the moon side? Oh, yeah. Both sides. Might be very well protected. So you just surround yourself in ice. So that's your action. Yes. So that's you.

Ayla. Okay. So I would know that my weapon is in here as well. Yeah, because I saw them put it in. So I'm going to just... I'm going to rage for one. So you watch as Aayla rages, you see lightning and storm cloud begin to coalesce around her forearms, around her neck as these coils of lightning begin arcing up and down her skin.

And I'm going to punch him in the face as I run past into the room. Are you going to punch him recklessly? Yeah. You know what? Sure. Love it. 20 to hit. 20 hits.

Okay, so it's just five damage, I think, for an unarmed strike. Plus you'll need to make a save for my lightning. So that is a 13. Ah, damn it! That is my DC. And it's a one point. Classic one. One point of damage.

Little zap. Little zap lightning for you. So you kind of sucker punch him in the stomach. He kind of lurches forward. And then you watch as this lightning kind of arcs all over his body as we get like a... It's like he's kind of dealing with the winded and the lightning overcoming his body. So I can get to like there.

Is that where you're 40 feet? Oh, wait. You're 40 feet from the winded. Yeah, so 35. So actually I can get like right into the wind. So yeah, so you actually get your hand on your hammer and then as a bonus action you can... Oh, no, bonus action was to rage.

So yeah, next time you can pick up your... So next time I can pick up my hammer pick up your pick up your hammer. Perfect. Quill. Okay. I'm going to throw a calm emotions into the mix again. And I can do it on that center guy and it hits all the bad dudes. Okay so

wisdom saving throw? Yeah charisma. Charisma saving throw against everybody and what's the DC? 13. Okay, so guard one, fail. Guard two, fail. Guard three, natural 20. Fail. And then the wizard, that is a, what was it, DC?

13? Yeah. 13. So is that a pass or a fail? It's a pass. But two of the guards suddenly go like, Hey, why are we fighting? And I'm like, oh, hey.

And he's kind of like, hey, you want to leave? We're not allowed. The boss said we can't. We're doing something. We're doing something. How about you just take a break? All right, man. Yeah, sounds good.

Okay, see you. Okay. And we go back up to the top with do now all right seeing the circumstance these two have been calmed emotion wise in the front two okay cool all right I think given the circumstances and the frustrations of it I'm gonna go ahead and all right so the major the major on that side angrily telling me to go ahead and, uh, all right. So the mage over on that side angrily telling me to go ahead and hit my friends makes me very unhappy, and I go, you know what, no, I'm not going to hit my friends, but you, you're going to go ahead and pay me that. How about that? I'm going to go ahead and cast Sleep in the far corner where that mage is. Okay, are you casting it at a high level or just at first?

I'm going to cast it at second level. Okay. So you get the extra d8 to try to sleep, yeah. I should have 2d8. Oh, is it 2d8? Come on, 3. 14...17... Come on. 20...

Come on, look. Ooh. 32. Oh! Oh no! Just so you watch as his eyes really heavily, like it was so close, honestly it was so close.

You watch as his eyes fly close, he's like I don't want to I don't want to Would you guys kill him already? And then he's just like Viles is going to kill us!

As he kind of turns back to his business but he kind of shakes his fist towards Danelle to the mercenaries will as as they're just like hey guys stop fighting they're gonna move over to this you know wall they just kind of sit down put their arm off that oh man Oh man we're beat And they're just like You guys shouldn't be here And they just kind of Disregard you The other one looks at them And is like

What are you guys doing And then he'll Get his rifle And he'll take aim At Dunel now After the orders of his boss After the mage And he will take a shot

With his thunderstone rifle For a 12 Does that hit Dunel That does not it's a 14 you leap out of the way as the bullet into the stone wall

next to you it's going to hit this crack of thunder I'm going to stay I'm stood right behind him and it hits you no so you kind of

dodge the side as the bullet impacts slightly behind you and then we go to Sentry can I get my axe? yes

so it takes you five feet of movement and then you grab your axe. So five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five and then you can get there

with about a thirty-foot movement. Awesome. Yeah, sounds good. So you're just going to start making your way towards the fun? Yeah, I'm going to

make my way towards the fun. Okay. If you can't attack you could always spend your action to dash if you wanted to. Get in his face. I could get right if you wanted to um get in his face

I could get right in his face get in his face do you want to go up to the guard can I get right can I get right in right in this guy this guy that guy

yeah get right in his face yeah you can in fact using dash you could probably like position yourself so you're like there

and then that way nice you can easily get to the wizard okay so that was centuries ago uh the wizard um he's like

oh, now she's got a weapon! And he will he will start stepping out and he will, no, in fact he's going to keep his cover, he's going to kind of hunch down point at you and four magical

orbs of force a magic missile is going to fly out bring it on so 44 plus 4 so 5 oh they definitely hit as well

10 14 points of damage nice as you kind of you feel these blasts of kind of blue magic just bam slam into your back from this wizard as he's kind of fill these blasts of kind of blue magic just slam into your back from this wizard

as he's kind of crouching behind this desk, desperately trying to seek cover. He's like, come on! Just gesturing to the rest of you. Nice. And then we go to Lucius. Okay. I'm going to go into here.

What's everybody Oh it's where the weapons are Now I see So you go into the armory Look around And it's like Got her hands on a hammer And is just about to leave

I'm going to peek out From this wall Okay And Melf's acid arrow This dude right here Okay great Take it away

Okay so that is a Spell attack Not far off from getting another one 17 plus 5 17 plus 5 is definitely going to hit Yeah 44 I've got 44 right here, Chris

Oh, thank you There you are Thank you for 44 Acid damage So that is a 4, 5 11 11 points to him You watch as this

guy kind of just melts away you just watch as like parts of him begin sloughing off you hear like a gurgled like I really need to

stop using that spell and then because it has a acid spell of over first level your dichromancy goes off so you can do um what is it that was

a second level spell second level spell plus charisma mod is plus three isn't it so five points of damage to who I'm going to do it to the wizard

to the wizard so you kind of pull off from one of the orange gems of your new outfit you pull off this kind of strand of magic and then

throw it into this kind of dart shape that hits the wizard he's like ah oh and he's like patting his arm out he's like oh

there's two spellcasters I don't want to do this! You've just killed my one guy! I'm so sorry! I'm trying to have a party. Ayla. Hi! Okay, I'm gonna grab my hammer as my bonus.

Now, I don't, would Ayla know that those guys are coming or not care? No. She wouldn't know. This is the thing. She wouldn't know. She was in the room. Because she wasn't in the room When that happened So Yeah She probably was going to

Amy are you going for the No This huge barbarian woman I wouldn't have heard it No I love it I love it This guy looks up And he's like

Hey So give me an attack Are you going reckless No just a regular attack Oh it's a natural one No So he's just swinging the hammer down So give me an attack. Are you going reckless? No, just a regular attack. Oh, it's a natural one! No! So it's just swinging the hammer down.

The guy just looks up at you and is like, what are you doing? And you're like, and then you pull the hammer back at the last minute and kind of having realised that this guy's under the effect of this spell. That kind of worked, yeah. There you go. You still have a bonus action.

Would you like to blast him with lightning? No, my bonus action was pick up my hammer. That was true, yeah. There you go. You still have a bonus action. Would you like to blast him with lightning? No, my bonus action was pick up my hammer. That was true. Yes, that was true. So you do that, you grab it, you run into the guy. Miss. Quill. Okay, can I put a hand up and have it sort of glow,

ready to do the guiding bolt, and aim it towards the wizard guy and say, look, look, your two guards, they're calmed. This one has been melted. Lucius! I know! It's a good idea if you just stand down now. Okay, so that's what you say.

And then you're going to, what, ready an action guiding bolt if he doesn't comply. Okay. All right. So we go to Dunel at the very top of the round. So you've heard Quill kind of issue this ultimatum, and you can see the wizard kind of crouch down by the desk, but right now you're not quite sure what he's going to do.

Right, right. Then I'm going to go ahead and hype man Quill and go like, yeah, that's right, small boy, duck down and be shy. Wait for what he's going to do, huh? And try to push his migraine across the chamber. No, wait, I'm trying to tell him to stop. Okay.

Yeah, I think make an intimidation check at this point. Like, it's kind of like you're hyping up the, like, you know. Yeah. That is actually not too bad. That is 16 plus 4, 20. 20. Okay, so you see this kind of flicker, like he's like looking at Quill, and you can see this kind of calculation going on in his head of like trying to weigh up the odds. And then you kind of say this flicker, like he's looking at Quill, and you can see this kind of calculation going on in his head

of trying to weigh up the odds. And then you kind of say this to him, and he's like... And he kind of panics. And Quill, you see the moment of panic where it doesn't look like he's going to surrender. He begins casting a spell. You don't know what spell. Bam!

Diving bolt. Level two as well. Okay, sure. So hit me with your best shot. Hit me with your best shot hit me with your best shot fire away fire away okay

fire away oh sorry you're late look Matt's the bard this time yeah that's true we've got to let Matt do the songs

oh just 12 12 to hit the wizard yeah with his cover the guiding bolt impacts on the desk in front of him as he kind of ducks down it's okayiding Bot impacts on the desk in front of him as he kind of ducks down.

It's okay, everyone has advantage on the desk now. So the Guiding Bot kind of slams in, you hear these wood things. You watch as the wizard turns completely invisible. Yeah, but I mean, I destroy the desk. Yeah, you destroy the desk. You hear a kind of... As he vanishes and you see the doors that lead to the magical platforms

open and you hear some sort of scurrying sound I can't quite sure where You just said I melted a man but you just evaporated him out of existence No, I hit the desk, I think he disappeared, he's out there somewhere Oh, right

The two mercenaries are currently calmed in motions. I think that because their friend's been attacked, they do get another saving throw, though. Oh, do they have saving throws on them? Their allies get attacked, I think they do. If the target is attacked or harmed by a spell or witnesses any of its friends, if he witnesses any of his friends being harmed...

Like being melted. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's definitely harmful. And what was the DC 13? Yeah. Okay, well, the first one still failed. The second that's definitely how it moves. And what was the DC 13? Yeah. Okay, well, the first one still failed. The second one did get

an actual 20. That's my bad. So the second one is like, you hurt Jimmy! He's going to go, yeah, five. Ayla, you will get an attack of opportunity.

Yay! As he comes, because he's like, you hurt Jimmy! And he comes right after you, so give me an attack of opportunity. Only a 13.

13 against these guys is a miss, unfortunately. Damn it! So you swing the hammer as he ducks under it. This dice could go away now. This is not my friend. Would he hit you on a 14, Lucius? Yes. Okay.

So you take seven points of bludgeoning damage, but then Armor of Agathys would go off right five of that Okay, he was the one that was slightly crushed by the door before and the ice explodes out from your armor of Agathys I'm sorry! OH MY GOD! And he falls down. I've killed two people! He asked for it. He wanted that. But I guess that guy didn't witness that. No, he didn't, because he was around the corner,

so he's like, where'd Bob go? No. Sentry. Poor Jimmy. So you, I would say, if you want to see where the wizard's gone... Can I use divine sense? Oh, yeah, sure. Normally you can detect, like, I would say,

because normally it's used to detect things like fiends and things like that and you get not necessarily that the that the wizard himself is a fiend but something about him or something he's carrying is fiend ish uh as like some sort of demonic influence and you can sense that he is in he's on one of these magical platforms um and he's you get the sense that he's by the control panel about to make it like go somewhere right um so you get the sense and that's just off this way basically i'm gonna follow him okay so you go 5 10 15 you easily get and you can basically with the divine sense i'll say you know exactly where he is cool what would you like to do um am i like right next to him? You think so, yeah. Cool. Can I... Spin. Just spin with the accent.

It's like, where are you? It's like a Bart and Lisa. I'm going to keep doing this. I'm going to keep kicking my legs. Can I just, like, call out, where are you? What are you trying to do? And then just be like, where is he? You kind of hear, like, a... Like, he's about to to say something then realises he should stay quiet

to be invisible you know where he is whack him battle axe attack sure 17 17 definitely hits this wizard do you want to spend a spell slot to do Divine Smite?

Yeah. Okay, so 2d8 and you can mark off a first level spell slot. Do you have another one? I've got two, yeah. Plus your normal battle axe damage as well. Oh, yeah. So it's 3d8 plus your battle axe damage. Which is d8 plus 4.

So 3d8 plus 4. Oh, that one's cocked. 12. So 3d8 plus 4. Oh, that was cocked. 12. I'll roll this one again. 14, 18. 18 points of damage. He annihilates him. So you hear this kind of whimpered...

He stays invisible, but you just feel your axe connect into soft wizardy flesh. And it comes away, and as the axe comes away, there's blood kind of smeared all down it. And he's just like... But yeah, you get the sense that he's in there and hurt. But yeah, he's in there at least. And in fact, on his turn, fearing that you're about to try and kill

him, he is going to... You kind of get the sense that he moves away from you and he kind of claps his hands and a thunderous wave of energy launches forward. I believe this is a strength saving throw for Thunderwave. Sounds right.

It's also really loud. It's really loud and I believe it can knock people back, which is why he's trying to do it. Thunderwave, so can you make a constitution saving throw, please? He is casting this at third level. Third level? Natural 20!

Oh, wow! So on a successful crate, you take half damage and you are not pushed, which is the most important thing She stays where she is You've rolled like twice I've had two natural 20s today Is that all you've rolled as well? I've rolled two natural 20s, one unnatural 20

Oh wow, you're so constituted right now So you would have taken 24 damage but that's half to 12 12 thunder damage And you kind of stand your ground as this thunderous energy kind of erupts from around you. And the wizard becomes visible once again as you're kind of stood next to him in this elevator. And he's just like... Just kidding!

Nice. Lucius. I love this dice I'm going to spend my entire term whimpering at what I've done you're just like

okay I can't believe I did this well that's your turn yep um Ayla yeah the wizard's

going to get it the wizard's going to get it what no yeah oh I'm sorry okay make an attack roll the wizard's going to get it

I'm going to attack right this thing. Okay. It's probably wise against the wizard. Because also, it can't hit. No. 24? So as you bring the hammer, he's like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. The hammer smushes him into paste.

Oh. Like, the amount of damage it's going to do. We want to know what they were doing. Bad shit. You watch as the hammer just comes away like a sticky mess.

Damn it, I just cleaned it. Century's nice outfit, a little bit blood spattered as this hammer just pulls away, as this body just collapses to the floor. We'll come out of it in a shit now.

A little zap is like this. Yeah. The guy, the guy did witness that. Passive. But he's like, yeah, I'm still really cool. He's pretending that he's still under the influence. Seeing that this seems to be the only reason that he has survived.

Hey you, what's your name? Ted. Ted. We're really sorry about what happened to Bob, Jimmy and the wizard guy Yep What's your plan? What's happening here? I don't know much I was hired by this guy, this tiefling guy

Called Vance He hired me He has some sort of big plan He said it was a big job that he needed mercenaries for The wizard knew more than I do. He's got like this rock that you can speak into it and Vons can speak to him.

Oh. Like maybe, I don't know. Wait. He also had some spell. He had some spell thing on him as well. Can I search the body? So Aayla rummages through the body. You find a couple of things.

You find one regular healing potion. Yay. But you also find a stone engraved with the symbol of a mouth, like a speaking mouth. And then the other thing you find is a very kind of evil-looking demonic scroll. It almost looks like a ritual text. And as you're holding the stone, you hear a, Theodos, what is happening down there?

Theodos? Can anybody happening down there? Theodos? Can anybody imitate a voice extremely well? I can certainly try. So he hands you the stone, Dunal. Yeah, everything's fine. I'm just getting all these magical locks situated and all's clear.

Okay, give me a deception check. Alright. Natural 15 actually, plus 7, so 22. 22. Jesus. I wasn't going to have to actually check the insight on this, but I think I am on this one. So you do this very convincing impression,

kind of maybe ensorcelled with a little bit of magic to kind of, you know, change the vocal tone and everything else. And so the rest of you, it sounds just like this wizard guy from the brief moment you've heard. But there is a long pause on the end of this stone. And then you hear a, I don't know who you are, but you are not Theodos. So who are you, Mr. Mysterious Party Crasher?

I then do a really, really good impression of Lucius. Try it. Tend to, sorry to have bothered this event, but I just found ourselves wanting to find our way out of the party, and I hand it back to Lucius. I don't know what I'm doing! That was amazing. I don't know who you think you are,

but you found yourself in quite a precarious little situation. I'm too sorry! I'm going to take the stone from Lucius and just like put it on the ground. I think we should just call it quits, go get Arvel maybe? Arvel, you know? Oh shoot! Hello? You see this guy trying to talk.

We need to know what they're doing. I'll pick up the stone. Okay. What's your name? Oh, it seems that It seems that we have A little disadvantage My name is Vans Vans!

Booby! Very good, I like it Well, we're down here And we've just taken out a couple of your guards Quite impressive, Mr. Party Crasher We also found a wizard He was tinkering quite a lot We've just taken out a couple of your guards. Quite impressive, Mr. Party Crasher. Hmm. We also found a wizard.

He was tinkering quite a lot. What was he trying to do exactly? Ah, well, his first job and most important one has already been accomplished. Tell me, Mr. Crasher, I'm assuming that you have some friends up here among the party. It would be an awful shame if something were to happen to them, wouldn't it?

No, yeah, yeah, no. I don't know anyone up there. I mean, yes, it would be bad if someone I knew was up there, but they're not up there. Deception check. As he's doing that, I'm just going to go in here and pick up Evangeline. Arvel's Crossbow. Arvel's Crossbow, yeah.

I'll roll with disadvantage for you. You don't have to, no. Okay, in that case I rolled a 19 19, okay Plus, what deception did you say? Yeah 21 21

I don't think that this is the type of event Where somebody who doesn't know anyone would be invited I might not know who But I'm sure if I start cutting throats sooner or later I will get to somebody that you do care about, Mr. Crasher Now, stay down there Be good, little boy And perhaps you might survive that you do care about, Mr. Crasher. Now, stay down there. Be good, little boy.

And perhaps you might survive. And then you just hear it go quiet. Okay. Right. And yeah, and Aayla still has this demonic-looking scroll. Anyone? Anyone? Yeah. Can I do an arcane check to see what that does?

Sure. Have a look? Yeah, sure. Have a look. Oh, no. That is a scroll. Wow. Look at it. It's scroll-like. It's folded up. I know exactly what that scroll is with my 20, unnatural 20. Yeah, okay. So you can tell that this is written in a fiendish language in abyssal um you don't know what it says because unless you read the language i don't um but you do know that it is a ritual text of

some kind it looks like this is the instruct maybe not the instructions but like the schematic for some sort of big ritual something that would require considerable amounts of magical power that would have an unusual effect. Like, this wouldn't just be like, oh, I'm going to cast a spell that any wizard can. This would do something very bizarre and strange. But what you do notice about the scroll is it doesn't appear to be the original copy. You think that this might have been like a transcription,

like somebody's made a copy of it. Okay. Wait, was the wizard writing something when we came in? The wizard was, yeah, he was tinkering with the security systems, primarily something which is concerned with, so Dunal or anybody who speaks Dwarvish. I actually do speak Dwarvish. There you go.

So it seems to be, he seems to have been playing with something on the 25th floor which reads ethereum device i would know ethereum from talking to yes ethereum is a metal which houses magical energy and can both enhance magical energy and a lot of times it's used for powering things like airships. It could also be used to power particularly powerful magical effects. Things like the magical effects in this building could be powered by it, for example. Things like the teleportation circle the guards told you about on the roof could also be using it as well. Oh, really? That information too.

Lucius and Quill. That is not good. Therium is very potent. No, I know. As you guys are talking. That crashed. Don't like it. Not a fan.

The magical platform that the wizard was on goes up. Okay, we should probably leave. And it would have been cool if we put someone on there and then wrote something on his body that said, now I have a thunderstorm rifle, ho, ho, ho. Do you want to do that retroactively? I want to do that retroactively. Retroactively quill, like using magical blood

you write on the wizard's top. Now I have a thunderstone rifle. Ho, ho, ho. We get a cinematic cut of the elevator arriving up on the party thing. A halfling woman looks over and screams

as we see the dead wizard's body. You see a purple tief uh with long curved horns in a sharp suit look over uh a large demonic looking almost like minotaur-esque man with a big heavy crossbow by his side looks over as well and he just goes up and reads now I have a thunderstone rifle. Ho, ho. Go down there, Karlag. Retrieve the scroll. And this big guy's just like, yes, Vance, climbs into the elevator,

and then we see it beginning to descend. So what would you guys like to do? Okay. There's more than one elevator. There is, but this one does not, there's only one which was on this floor. The other one was somewhere else. Quillio's so hard to read.

I would like to hide. Preferably behind what remains of the desk that was destroyed by the acid earlier. So you're going to make a stealth check? Sure. Can we see that coming back down already? Yeah, you can see the little lights beginning to light up. Bing!

Wait, what was your name? Ted? Garth? Ted? Uh-huh. How about you go through there, and you tell them that we're just not here? Okay. Does that sound like a good idea? Yeah.

Is that something you're going to do? He's lying. Is he lying? No. Because you know what happens when you lie. You can make an inside check. So do now make a stealth check for me. I did. It's a 16 plus 4, so 20.

20, okay. 10. A natural 20. You're pretty sure this guy's pretty terrifying, but you're not sure how much that will hold up if he's threatened by the other people. You know what will happen, though, if you're lying to us, because I will find you, and I'll just hold the warhammer,

a little bit of lightning crackles around it. You smash his head. Yep. Cool. Good to know. And he just looks at the elevator. I'm just going to walk back through. So you're going to hide in the armory? Into here.

Okay. Quill and sentry. I'm going to hide in the other room. So you go into what appears to be some sort of guard barracks? Yeah. Yeah, put them on the other side. I'll go in with Aayla and Lucius, and I'll look around with the rifle.

I don't know why I told them I have this. I can't use it. I've only got one hand. Okay, so as you guys close the doors, I need all of the rest of you, apart from Dunel, to make stealth checks. Okay. Ooh.

Twelve. Oh. Twenty-three. Nineteen. Finally. Fourteen. Fourteen. So what was yours, Century?

Twelve. You're the lowest. So appearing out of the elevator, you see this large bolstering form like curved demonic horns from Beauty and the Beast

the miniature is somewhat representative alright but you see this large like man with these curved horns long blonde hair carrying a modified

crossbow kind of steps in and he's flanked by two other guards Dunell you see this towering giant of a man

looks over the desk doesn't notice you as you're pressed up against the side and he looks around goes over to Ted you where are they

and he just looks up he's like I don't know they ran upstairs somewhere when they saw the elevator coming. Why are you alive? And then they let me go! And he just slams down my head. Ted! No! I said! This giant crossbow bolt just

splays out of his head. And then he's like, turns round, he's like, you two, go up. Find them. And then he begins making his way to the stairwell as these guys leave. And then he begins stomping his way upstairs.

We need to get out of here. The elevator platform, leaving nothing in the shaft, like just an empty shaft leading up. I'm not a big fan of Lolan parties. Let's just get out and go. Okay, right. Well, we need to go up into the main room.

Marvel's up there with everyone else. The big guy's just gone upstairs. Oh, hang on. I've got this card. It was a gift. I can use this spyglass card And I will name So I saw the room

They were gathering all the hostages in So I'll name that room And I can create an invisible orb That allows me to look through it Using your new conjurer card CCTV It hovers in the air for a second, flashes And yeah, you see this kind of

Spectral spyglass shimmer, and then your vision suddenly changes, and you can now see kind of like a security camera in Rainbow Six, kind of scanning around, black-eyed camera. You can see the hostage room, and you can see, like, they're all huddled together, and Arvel is, like, holding Glinda, this other dwarven woman, like, quite closely and, like, is obviously whispering something in her ear,

and you can see that there are about another 10, 12 of these guards plus this purple skinned tiefling who's speaking into one of the stones now with the spyglass you can actually hear sound as well. As though I was crying, yeah. So you overhear him like on the thing, he's like

Karlag, stop trying to find these people, lock them downstairs, shut the doors and bar them, prevent them getting upstairs. We can't have them reaching the Ethereum device. I don't want them disrupting the ritual. Yes. Alright, do that and then meet me on the roof. It's time to begin.

Okay, whatever they were planning, they're locking us down here so we can't interrupt their plan, but they're beginning. Whatever it is. Does that help? No. What? Where? They're all upstairs where they were gathering all the hostage. Vans? Was his name Vans?

Yes. Vans. He's upstairs with all the hostages. They're about to start the plan. They're going to lock us downstairs so we can't interrupt it. So we should go upstairs tonight. Is Arvel up there? Arvel's up there, yeah. He's cuddling up to the woman he met. You can still flick back to the sensor.

It lasts for an hour, so you can just choose to look at it as an action. Yep, he's still hugging her. When you flick in, you can see that now the guards are beginning to pick the hostages up and gesture them into the stairwell, and it seems to be leading them upstairs.

Oh, they're moving the hostages. They're moving the hostages upstairs. We need to go. We need to go up. What's upstairs? What's upstairs from where we were? That would be the Ethereum device room and then the roof. Okay.

Ethereum is bad. What are they doing with all the hostages up there? Well, we need to stop it. Whatever it is, it's somehow connected to that demonic scroll that you had. You can understand. They might be sacrificing them or something. We should really just interrupt this. Yeah.

Dunel, did you have something? I was going to say, as far as I understand, we have the elevator, which is inaccessible in regards to the gutter, and we have the stairway that we come in through, which currently has the big scary guy. Yeah. Yeah. But the elevators, magic elevators, the platforms have lifted up.

So imagine kind of like World of Warcraft, like you get these like metal kind of like barriers that kind of ascend that you stand on. But the shaft itself is still open and you can see the doorways as it goes up. Interesting. All right. I have an idea.

Does anybody have any rope? Any rope? Rope. Right. I think, yes. I think Carrot with his outfit. I'm sure that one of you will have something that substitutes as rope. If not, the armoury would probably be something.

Yeah, I guess everyone's equipment is in this room. Yeah. Yep, the armoury would have something. Looking at between Sentry and Isla, and sizing them up, which seems to be the most physically capable? I imagine that the Isla? I think they're quite literally...

We're literally the same. ...as equally strong as each other. So either one would be a good fit. Alrighty, but Isla seems to have a more aggressive demeanor. I like this guy. He knows. He knows. I'm going to go ahead and take out my

Dock Salute. Yes. And use my charge for the Fly spell. Yeah. To go ahead and cast it on Isla. Wow. Okay. So you've suddenly for yourself become weightless and you have this innate ability to fly. You know how to make yourself fly.

You can zoom around 60 feet as well. This is weird. Really weird but kind of awesome. Okay. So rope. I'm guessing you want me to go and pull you guys up? That's what I'm thinking. Maybe if you can go ahead and manage to get the next doorway up open and help us get back up and be the point person. Sure.

I'll do that. I'll go up to the shaft and start. Where are you going to go? To the Aetherium floor or the roof? Which one? Which one are we going to go to? Aetherium floor. I feel like that's where the bad things are. Quill, you heard that they're taking the hostages to the Aetherium room,

but Varnes, this leader, seems to be going to the roof. Where would you like to go? Where would you suggest that we go? It's up to me. My concern is... You know Ethereum more than I do. Is it more important to see that? No.

No. No. What? Amazing idea. No. No. No. What?

Amazing idea. My concern is if we start tinkering with the Aetherium, that's going to really annoy Vance, and he's going to start assassinating hostages or something. Do something reckless. We need to kill him, right? We don't have to kill anybody. I've killed two people already. I mean, I feel like he should die.

Why? You can't have a sequel to Dice Hard if he doesn't die. He's gotta die Right, it's predetermined So we either stop him on the roof Or we go to try and rescue the hostages What's on the roof? The teleportation chamber thing

Teleportation circle Seems to be where he was headed But he's sending the hostages to the floor below it To this Ethereum device I'm not actually sure we'll be able to get to the roof sending the hostages to the floor below it, to this Ethereum device. I'm not actually sure we'll be able to get to the roof. If the lift is on that floor, we won't be able to get past that. It goes all the way up to the roof.

But it would be blocking... No. It's like a little shelter. There's a shelter. Trust me, you can get to the roof. If you want to go to the roof, Tom Hazer, you can go to the roof. There might be some access passages, access tunnels, that we can crawl through. There you go. Nailed it. Let's assume the worst, and that they're bringing all the hostages to one place to use them as an energy source to do something terribly bad.

So if we tamper with this device so it doesn't work, I don't know. Let's do that. I just pissed myself. What? There it goes. I should have got it. Is that why you bought the spare. Is that why you buy spare outfits? Just in case? Yes, in case the worst happens.

Did you have something to add, Juno? I was just saying, perhaps if they're putting all the people somewhere, perhaps there's something to do with this device and this ritual thing. If it seems demonic in presence, maybe there's a sacrifice required and they're planning to do this anyway. Maybe seems demonic in presence. Maybe there's a sacrifice required and they're planning to do this anyway. I'm going there.

Ethereum chamber. Okay. Right? Let's go there. Let's do it. Okay, that's good. I'll go up and then tie the... Okay.

Find somewhere to tie the rope. Okay, so leaving Lucius in a puddle of piss, you fly up the elevator shaft thanks to the DOS loot. You fly up, you count the floors, and you reach the 24th, and you have to kind of stand in this kind of partial doorway, and with your

arms, you flex as you pull apart these kind of stone doors into their recesses, use the hammer to hold it open, and then you tie the rope and dangle it down for the rest. Everybody else will need to make athletics checks to climb it. Can I assist in any way by trying to pull them up or anything?

Sure. Which will give them advantage. Okay. Have I got advantage? No, you'd be rolling normal. You just roll once. Fifteen's enough so century climbs up. Roll again? Would I? He doesn't, mate.

You could fly down and get Quill last. You could fly down and carry him up, yeah. Okay, I'll carry him. Wee. Wee! Eight. Eight. Doonel, athletics?

That'd be a 13. 13. So Doonel climbs up, not as quick as Century, but manages to get up. Lucius is obviously struggling and doesn't make any... He's like, eh. I'm slipping on the rope because... It's because you peed yourself. Ayla flies down, picks up Quill,

flies Quill up to the top, but you are left with a kind of wet Lucius to deal with. I'm sorry. Can I try and get him to hold on to the rope and just pull the rest of the rope up from the top? Yeah. But doing so, Lucius has no control so he's constantly knocking into these

very dirty sides of the elevator shaft and the outfit gets torn and ripped. And as he emerges to the top, he's just like, just trousers and just a dirty vest. He's just left with this dirty vest as he reaches the top.

I look at him with a very sad face. Just attempt a presentation, and I'm like, this is the last class, my friend. I'm really sorry. Yeah. You managed to add some streaks of white. You bring, like, a little bit of whiteness back to the vest. But he's just left there like that.

And if you guys reach the Aetherium, if you guys can take your miniatures off. Opening the doors, there is a short corridor, and then it opens up into a large plaza. can see at the far end there is a curved wall with large glass windows that looks out into the c district below in the very center of the room um suspended above a glowing circle is a sphere of metal of pure aetherium from which various cables, lines, magical sigils draw away into the walls of the tower itself. You can also see that there are statues built onto raised platforms

on either side of the room, and gathered in the far end in the curved section are dozens of hostages. I'll add Valor can be Glinda for now. You can see that they've had their hands bound in front of them and their legs tied and they're kind of being positioned around this sphere and you can now see that the sphere

is slowly beginning to glow red and the circle around it is kind of almost like veins wrapping around the orb itself. These kind of black pulsating veins and you can almost feel that there's something in the air being

drawn away as you emerge from the top and you hear, you can see the big blonde demonic figure on one of these stones Are you in position Vance? We are beginning to we're beginning the ritual now.

The portal gate should be getting enough power to connect it to Avernus. Really? And then you hear a very good car lag. Make sure that you are out of there before the Aetherium sphere reaches full corruption. And then you watch as it begins to coalesce, as this red mist begins to drain the life out of everybody in the room. Wow. So let's roll some initiative.

Oh, no. Oh, I'm laughing. Natural 20. I wasted it on this. That's how natural 20s work. You can waste them. Century. 13.

Aayla. 24. Quill. 5. Doodle. 14. 14. Sentry 13 Aayla 24 Quill 5 Dunal 14 14 Lucius

18 Let's roll for Karlag, the Undying Oh good, he's got that His name is Hitodod Yeah, have you ever seen? Karl doesn't die in Die Hard That's true Wait, yes he does

Not until the very end, does he? Spoilers. I haven't seen it, Tom. Go on. Yes. If anybody hasn't seen Die Hard, spoilers. Okay. So you reach the top and Ayla, you got 24.

Yeah. Right. So you see this happen. And yeah, you begin to feel this necrotic life force beginning to drain life away. What would you like to do? You see four of those mercenaries. Yeah, do I see that it's coming, like the draining is happening from this

sphere itself. Yeah. Okay. I want to say to Lucius, because I know that he knows Ethereum. If I hit that, will it stop? Can I roll an intelligence check? Your family worked with Ethereum for years. No, so you probably think that if you could hit it hard enough to destroy it, yes.

But Ethereum is very, very tough. It's resistant to non-magical weapons. And judging by how it's charged with energy, anybody who hits it will probably get a backlash of energy back. You need to be a bit more precise with how you disable it. It would probably require arcana checks to be able to slowly disable the device itself. Don't hit it. You'll get hurt.

Hit the big guy. Got it. And I'm going to rage again. The lightning crackles up and down your arms once more. And I'm going to hit the big guy. Bam. So as you kind of charge in, this guy turns around. This big ugly face with blonde hair kind of framing it.

You, I'll kill you. And then you charge in with the hammer. Can I try and, as I'm running up to him, slide Evangeline across the floor to our door? Do you have it taped to your back? Yeah. Does that give me bonus points? Nah, if you've got on the claim, maybe.

But no, yeah, so you kind of like, Arvo, catch! And you throw it, and you see his little dwarf form. He's like, and he reaches out his arms. Amazing. So just roll a dex check for me.

Just roll a d20 plus your dex to start with. Oh, that was bad. Eight. Okay, so the crossbow, which we will indicate with this tiny d4, lands just a bit too short, and it lands next to the sphere, but you can see Arvel's, like, reaching

for it. Make your attacks against Karlag. Fifteen. Just hits it, nice. The hammer just connects with his breastplate armour. Okay. So that is a ten, nine pound, 15, 16 damage for the hammer. Can you make a dex say?

Can. I don't know, is it a con or is it dex? I think it's dex. It's dex and I got a 16. Dammit, so it takes half damage. It takes half again because it seems that the lightning is resistant to. Damn it!

Okay, well, I rolled a three. So it becomes a one and becomes a one again. Never more. So the lightning kind of just glances off him. He's like, pathetic. And he kind of... Just got your roll, though. He roars righteously. After Ayla, it is Lucius.

I'm going to do an arcane check on the, um, You will need to be next to it. You have to physically start disabling its actual enchantments itself. Quill, you need to go to the Aetherium device and assess what to do with it. There's a lot of guards around here, plus you know Aetherium.

I'll deal with them. Okay. Okay, and it's got 90 feet of range. Yeah, these guys are in range, right? Yeah, sure. Yeah Snilox snowball swarm Snilox snowball swarm. Excellent. What is this point right here? Okay, and everything in a five-foot radius of this sphere. Both of them Dexterity saving through please. That is a 2 and a 11. No, they both fail.

Excellent, so that is... So what we see is Lucius that pulls blue colour from the environment from his robes as this flurry of snowballs erupts from his sleeves and slams into these two fellas. That's 9 cold damage. Each?

Plus, that was a level two spell and then who are you doing that to you I'll do it to this guy to that guy that guy dies Wow so you kind of pull up more ice magic throw it into him and he just watches his body freezes up hippie kayak mother siesta very good wasted but good I love it Yippee kayak Yippee kayak I love it doodle alright I'm going to look

to to sensory and just kind of with a big wink and then I'll just say sentry mighty here a body of metal time to take the blade

and end with his fettle it wasn't really a word but I said that and he away once he abashed him and ruined his day yay very good

amazing beautiful so yeah so Dunel so that's bardic inspiration correct so you get a d6 and I'm going to

sentry looking like she's close to battle yeah ready to go in terms of initiative yes she goes straight after you. Alright, then I'm going to go ahead and say let's see if we can distract this

big mofo. I'm going to go ahead and try and snap to get his attention instead. Hey, hey, hey, hey, buddy. You missed it before. The best joke was when your friends were mounting. Your face was disturbing. I'm going to cast Tasha City Slaster at him. Okay.

What's that? Wisdom saving throw? It's a DC 13 wisdom. A five. Nice. Nice. And he just starts cackling with laughter. And that means he basically gets no action on his go, right?

Like he's no action. Yeah. Okay. Yep. Okay. Wow. So, Sentry is up next. Here we go. Okay. So, who are you going after?

I'm going to go after the big guy. Okay. Yes, please. I like the old guy. And I would like to, with my inspiration, use my Forge Guardian Flame Lance. Oh, okay. Oh, my God. Can I also use Driven to Purpose? Oh, okay. Oh my god. Can I also use Driven to Purpose?

Yeah, it's an attack roll because it's a saving throw for the Flame Lance, right? Yeah. So you wouldn't need to use either of them. Like, this will just be a deck saving throw on his behalf, which I'll give him disadvantage because he's so busy laughing. Cool. So you watch as Century runs up, stands in front of this

guy, and Dirll Matt for your purpose She brings up her kind of axe hand And from the wrist section These kind of metal plates slide aside And a wand emerges in kind of like This long sleek bracer And from it a beam of red fire Just erupts forward in this long line

Striking not just the big Demonic guy but the Aetherium sphere Behind it as well. As this beam just... So I rolled with disadvantage, he got a 7 on his dexterity saving throw, so he takes full damage.

3d10. One's on the floor. Take this one. That's 13 so far, 16. 16 points of damage. So you watch as that's 13 so far 16 16 points of damage so you watch as that's gonna be

on both right but I get a d6 do I get a d6 as well that's only to attack rolls okay add it to damage rolls okay but you watch as he's scarred

and still kind of laughing as this bean just like burns through part of his body and he's like just cackling the aetherium sphere you watch as sentry's beam hits it and you begin to see these kind of sparks

of necrotic energy as part of it begins melting and drooping from the heat of it. Still intact but clearly damaged. He does get to make a wisdom spinter with advantage against my spell though. Well, with advantage that is a 15. Okay, so he does get it.

So he's like... Okay, so that was your action sentry, your move. Anything as a bonus action? No, I'm good. Nope, okay. I think I'm good. So the mercenaries begin taking positions, and they're going to fire shots.

We'll fire at the three casters, so one for Quill, one for Lucius, one for Doonal. Okay. So... I'm saving it. Quill, nine to hit. Nope. Oh, so, yeah, it's only one attack. Uh, Lucius, a eight to hit.

No. God, I can't roll today. Um, and then Doonal, a natural one. So these guys, in a panic, are just like, they're kind of classic action movie thugs, right? Like, lots of noise, nothing actually hits the heroes as you guys duck for cover and dodge out of the way. Nice. But then

Karnak, the undying, he turns around and he will, he's going to make an attack roll with his giant, and you can see this giant crossbow has like a drum mag of bolts, and he's going to fire once at Aayla and once at Sentry.

So let's see. So Sentry, that is an 18 to hit. Aayla, that's a 19 to hit. Okay. This looks like it's going to be pretty painful. Oh, cool. Will I take half damage? You will.

Yeah. From this one. So that's going to be 11, 15 points of damage. You're slammed in the chest by these huge bolts. I'm out. You're unconscious? I'm down.

So Sentry falls to the floor unconscious. Oh, shit. And then you watch, he's going to spend his one legendary action which he gets for the whole combat. He kind of cocks the bottom

of the giant crossbow and you can see that kind of built into the drum mag, he fires it up into the air. This little alchemical grenade lands and hits lucius can you guys make dexterity saving throws please yes okay are we doing injury table we might do yeah 21 12 12 so you're going to take full damage quill you're taking half damage luus. Okay. So 10, 16. So eight for Lucius.

Oh, 16. That's a lot. And can you give me a constitution saving throw, please? Was that an injury? Oh, 10. Oh. Is it a 10 total? 10 total.

That's a success. Oh. That's not a lot of damage. I'm kind of disappointed. So you watch as Century falls down. This big joint like sticking out of her metal wooden construct frame This huge crossbow bolt This grenade goes off behind them

As he's just like And he pulls out the stone He's like Vance get down here Oh no Don't do that Please don't do that No Then it is Quill

With a magic missile Yes Can I If I was to target a particular thing No. Then it is Quill. With Magic Missile, if I was to target a particular thing, would that mean I'd make a ranged attack? No. On him, yes, because he has the chance to dodge it. The spear? No. I mean the guards. I kind of want to shoot the guns out of every guard.

For cool factor? Sure. Awesome. In that case, I gonna cast uh magic missile okay so don't worry about rolling the damage because you've got three missiles at level one right yeah so yeah at this point you're just like you throw your wing out these little bolts of light kind of flying out each one like watches their guns go flying through the air um as they sail past landing skittering around on the ground okay and, and while they're skittering, I'm going to skirt around the undying guy

and make it to the Ethereum core and attempt to start working on it. Okay, that'll be an action on your next turn. Okay. So, after Quill, Arvel crawls over, on his hands and feet, gets his hand on Evangeline, cocks it, like leaning on the floor. Nice. I rolled two 16s on both dice because I had this advantage but I got a 16 on both plus his normal bonus I think is like plus 7 so he hits. Sounds like he hits yeah. Doing another 11 points of damage as you watch as Karlak roars back as you know Arvo, your little dwarven friend is on the ground with his hand crossed bow

Trying to think like you've already used the yippee-ki-yippee sayasca line. I can't really say that one Yeah, something about glass But he got leans up and he kind of like gives you a thumbs up from the ground floor As he looks over but then at the end of the round like gives you a thumbs up from the ground floor as he looks over. But then at the end of the round, everybody in the room, hostages, bad guys, you guys,

everybody takes two necrotic damage. Century, that is an automatic death saving throw. So one death saving throw for Century. Everybody takes two necrotic damage. You can see several of the hostages kind of like wince and like, yeah, they kind of, as Dunel, they kind of wince and turn.

Do we need to stop that device? Immediately. Why would they build one of these in this place? I have no idea. This is horrible. 19. 19. Yeah, keep that because you'll roll that on your, not yet, but you will on your turn. Varn's is a, ooh.

Varn's, Bubby, Ayla. Okay, I'm going to shout to the other guys, getby, Ayla. Okay, I'm going to shout to the other guys, get sentry up now. Okay. And I'm going to... Don't worry, I've got it, I've got it. And I'm going to attack again the big guy.

Okay. Reckless? No, natural 20. Natural 20. Woo! Yeah, yeah, yeah. Big damage. So, yeah.

So, double the dice. Well, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70. 18 damage! So yeah, so double the dice. So, well, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 18 damage from the hammer. 18 damage. Jeez! Wham! Make a dex save. Seven.

Four damage for lightning! Half, half again. It's one. You watch as the hammer swings in and you actually hit the bolt that Arval had fired into his back and the bolt now slams through his chest and you watch him like I can't die here and you watch as his form turns into a black mist

and vanishes for a second okay not cool and it begins to float kind of disappears into the air you're not quite sure where why they call him the undying and then

is the mist form still still visible like is it the mist is kind of looming um it's kind of hovering in the air to reach over to get my vans miniature we are very close to the goal very close just before the end that'd be amazing um so you watch the air this black mist kind of hangs in the air in the building the room in a kind kind of flash of smoke appearing at the far edge of the room by the curved window. You see this well-dressed purple tiefling, rapier in one hand, thunderstorm pistol in the other, just kind of appears. Oh, how terrible. You seem to be trying to ruin my little ritual. Well, I'm afraid there is no hero riding off into the sunset this time. Well, this time it ends here.

And he seems to be leveraging his pistol towards all of you guys. Vance! As you look over. After Vance, because it's his action to teleport down, Lucius. Dunel, you've got century, right? I do, don't worry, I got it. Hello, Mr. Vance?

I've killed so many people. I don't want to add you to the list. If he so much as smirks or says anything to the contrary, I'm going to do Melf's Acid Arrow. Okay, perfect. So you kind of release the hostages. I'm afraid not. I'm afraid I need them to power the gateway to Avernus

so I can bring my demonic lord into this world. I don't know why I'm doing Gunnar's voice now. Matthew and Marcia. We just go together, right? It's a long story. Ladies and gentlemen, you need to get his voice. But yeah, he kind of, he doesn't,

you're not sure how it's going to go, but you put that. I'm readying the action. Dunel, your go. I'm going to step forward a bit and glance over and say my metallic goddess, it is not your time. So smooth.

Cast Healing Word on her for... Oh, nice. Seven points. So you are from zero to seven. Excellent. And then I look over towards our new tiefling friend and say,

I would be intimidated if we hadn't just made your friend run into a fart. So far, I'm not so good in your direction. I'm going to use vicious mockery on him. I figured that was a vicious mockery coming. Unfortunately, that is a 18 wisdom saving throw.

He's used to farting. Okay. Nice. It's just like ah the little joker I'm stuck in that voice he needs to be like Hans Gruber

ah the little joker dwarf I'm afraid that Karlak will be returning to us shortly and he gestures and you can see the mist is already

beginning to kind of descend and begin to coalesce oh no Sentry you are conscious half movement to stand up I'm going to cast

lay on hands on myself fall 20 please 20 points so you watch as a transformer the energy level is restored in the little gemstones in your eyes you get a little bit of the touch

kind of like you got the touch as it roars arise century amazing the silver goddess you arise up but that is your action you've still got 15 feet of movement if you'd like to move somewhere

I'd like to move on to one of the statue pillars please can I stand on one of those you can get as close to and then you can begin making your way up for sure the guards in a panic

their weapons now gone will just try and wail on sentry with two maces, but neither of them can get through your defenses with your shield. You're raising it up. One of them will rush towards Duno with a mace as well. I can't hit Matt to save my life. Eight to hit you. Do a little bolero dance to the side.

And then Karlag the Undying Of course he comes back The mist coalesces And reforms As long as my master lives I will not die Thank you for the exposition You are welcome

And he will take a shot at Quill who's near the sphere. Oh no. That is a 16 to hit. Oh no. How much damage? Hits. Yeah.

A lot. Oh. 17. I'm down. 21. Wait, what's the rules on just upright? a lot 17 I'm down 21 wait what's the rules I'm just upright no it's fine yeah you're fine

so you watch as he fires another one of these bolts and the toilet is dropped bleeding to the floor bam

nice quill that's an injury to go through that as well please constitution saving throw 11 plus that's fine and my death save 4 That's an injury to go through. That as well, please. Constitution saving throw. Are we slowly higher?

That's fine. Higher D is fine. And my death save. Four. That's one. One failure. One failure. You've got to do something quick

if you want to get through this alive. Ayla. Oh, yeah. The necrotic. Oh, yes. Sorry. At the end, Arvel will break some of his bonds. He will turn around and fire a

bolt at Vance. Nice. Misses, unfortunately. And then at the very end of the round everybody is going to take one necrotic damage, but it's enough for a death saving throw, Quill. It is.

It's one down. Ayla? I'm going to go over to Quill and put Healing Potion in his face. Okay, Healing Potion. Quill, you get seven, eight, nine hit points back. Damn, nine. Down the beak? Down the beak!

Oh, yeah, you prepared your action, didn't you? Yes, if he does anything. If he does anything. It's his go next, and yeah, he does look like he's going's gonna do something so give me with a mouse acid arrow. Oh, yeah 16 16 will just hit him. Oh, yeah, boy. Okay Well, well, you got a 40 please. Thank you. Yes. Don't forget it does damage on the round afterwards as well I mean you melted the first guy but nine points of acid damage plus That's a level two.

Five. Yep. So you do fuck to him as well? Him as well. So you watch as this acid splashes all over Vines and he kind of raises his hand up

and it kind of gets on his face and he staggers back a bit and he's looking at this thing. He's like, ah. And you can now see he's kind of pressed up against this curved wall

of looking after the city. And he's pressed up against it but he's like, ah up against this curved wall of looking after the city and he's pressed up against it but he's holding his face desperately looking around for who shot him and he will take a shot. I think he would have been aiming at I think, I'm trying to think who was

in his way. Probably Ayla actually. That is a 26 to hit you Ayla. That might hit. Yeah. Maybe. And you are not next to any of his allies, though, so he doesn't get sneak attack. So that's a 13 points of damage, half to six.

So as this bullet slams into your shoulder, you will not ruin my plans. I beg to differ. After his go Lucius it's your go again I'm going to go up to this device sorry Quill

okay can I do something yes understanding the way this works can I cast absorb elements on myself for lightning and hit it. Sure.

So that it triggers the lightning. I absorb the elements and then that goes back into it. Sure. Yeah. Okay. So remember, you only get resistance. Yes. And just for the sake of me, are you trying to hit this with like a spell

or are you trying to just like punch it? Considering my action is absorb elements. I'd say part of this is like you're like either smashing because your reaction is absorb elements. I'd say part of this is like you're either smashing, because your reaction is absorb elements. Yeah. Can I cantrip like a lightning lure on them? Sure. Just make an attack roll

for me. Okay. Just using a spell attack. Natural 20. Okay, so you watch as Lucius goes up and you kind of charge your fists with BONDS! BONDS! You slam your fists into it and you watch as it does erupt with

lightning energy. It seems to have stored up all this lightning energy into it. That's going to be numbers. So you'd normally be 17, but you half that, so you would take 8. And then you reflect that, so you would take... 13, no, sorry.

8. 8. And then you reflect that back into it as well, as you kind of channel the energy back into it, and you watch as the Aetherium orb vibrates. I don't know what I'm doing! This is a bad idea! The orb just hits the ground and just goes dull black,

and suddenly this necrotic energy is no longer like, and you're like left smoldering. My hair is just. And you hear just Varn's like, no! As he like raises the pistol towards you, slow, slow-mo. Lucius, after Lucius, we go to Doodle. All right, all right. So the ringed one is apparently, after Lucius, we go to Doodle. All right, all right. So the ringed one is apparently at least conscious.

At this point, the device is down, all in void. Let's make this interesting. Okay. Let's see. I will go ahead and use my action to use my Doss loot to cast invisibility. Okay. On Sensry. Okay. Oh! Uh-oh.

And just, as I finish like talking to loot real fast, like Yeah. I say, hey lovely, why don't you go give them a surprise? Oh, nice. Oh, with pleasure. Okay, yeah, Sentry. Fantastic. What would you like to do? Oh, nice. With pleasure. Okay. Yeah, sentry. Fantastic.

What would you like to do? I would like to move, so what, 30... Can I get this close to the big dude? Or as close to this guy? Do you want to go to Vance? Oh, Vance, yeah. Yeah, so you can get 30 to there, but then you could dash 510. You could get on him. Let's do that, yeah.

What are you trying to do? Do you just want to get in his face? Or do you want to try and shove him? What do you want to try and do? I want to get in his face like shove him what do you want to try and do i want to get in his face and then yeah thunderous might be on my next turn okay sure you know what because we're near the end one you make that thunderous might attack right it's cherry say that you got some sort of magical haste from the ethereum sphere it's really close six thousand six thousand,000. Now you can use your driven to purpose and your bardic inspiration. So roll the d20.

Lose all of it. Plus 2d6. Easily a hit. And then I'll make a strength saving throw for Vance. Natural 1. Genuinely. No way. Don't worry about the damage

because you watch as this invisible sentry you don't see anything until she's right in front of him he's kind of startled and his face goes wide with horror as she slams her shield into the front of him and this thunderous energy erupts blowing him backwards through the glass

you watch as he's just like nooooo genuine shock on his face genuine shock like through the glass. You watch as he's just like, No! Genuine shock on his face. Genuine shock, like, It's like you did it before he knew it was going to happen. As soon as you hear this kind of, well, you don't really hear a thump, but his body, essentially, you're looking out of this broken window

as you look down on him. Anything to say? Pressure. I don't know. You don't have to say anything. I'm not a court, can anyone give me a hint? I come up from behind and tap her on the shoulder and say, nine million tiefling terrorists in the world, and you had to kill the one

with lesser hit points than my sister. Woo! Happy trails, Vans. As he slams into the ground, as he dies, you watch as Karlag the Undying turns into mist. No! Nice. He dissipates.

And with the Aetherium device down, you can very easily overpower the remaining bad guys. You free the hostages. You watch as there's this moment where, as you're kind of freeing everybody, you see Arvel kind of cut the bonds on Glinda, and she just throws her arms around him,

and she just whispers something in his ear, and he just nods his head, puts his hat on her head, and you can see him kind of like carry her off to the side. Elias tries to talk to them or say something, and Glinda just punches him in the face. Yeah! Just to get that last reference in there. Because I know that movie really well.

And yeah, so you guys are left. Any closing things before we wrap this little adventure up? Anything as a... I thought she was trying to flirt with you, Junel. No, at the very least, I was playing a very subtle wingman for a friend. Wait, was this all planned? Yeah, absolutely. I'm not gonna

lie. I prefer my companions more, I don't know, armoured. Ooh. Very nice. See? Dunel, you are given a hefty sack of gold for your payment

in service to the Cherry Song Trading Company and your assistance in stopping this plot. Nice. You are given a hefty payment. The rest of you are given gold, more favors with this influential trading company in Goldthrone. And the party returns perhaps a little after a bit of time. People have had a bit of downtime. There is a small celebration with those who are not traumatized.

Anything else? Anybody else want to add anything? I mean, when we got outside the building, were there like a huge police force waiting outside? Well, that's so... No, because nobody actually told the police anything was going on. I did have it in my notes that if you guys did, the Dwarven Guard Officer, Kalton Powell, could come up and try to use sending to contact you.

Oh, the scroll of sending, yeah, of course. Aayla's just happy because she's like, I didn't have to dance, I got to fight people, I got to drink. We didn't dance. This is amazing. I owe you a dance at some point. Well, there can be a dance.

I can play some music and we can dance right now anyway Yeah, yeah Oh, we get some Yeah, we get some I put away my loot and pull out my lyre instead and start plucking a nice Nice Celebratory holiday song Would it be something like, you know, a traditional St. Mirrors Day song, like a festival song?

You know, all the weather outside is right, but the dungeon is so delightful. Something like that, you know, something calming and soothing. As we see, like, I like the kind of, the scene is like, we see Ayla drinking with a bunch of, like, other survivors, like, all just downing this alcoholic thing. Lucius gets his dance with, who would you try and dance with? I just start dancing and hope that everybody eventually takes their turn. I think that like

despite your kind of filthy attire, some very noble looking, you know, some like a noble looking fellow or noble looking lady comes up and is like oh yes, and starts dancing as we see like those two waltzing around. What do we see Tuxedo Quill doing? Tuxedo Burb.

I mean, can he dance? You can try. I'll try. Do you like the chicken? Like you're like, I don't know what land dancing is. You're just gonna flap your wings and like dance around a little bit.

Century, do you dance with anybody? Can I like pick Danelle up and like put it on my shoulder as he's playing? And then like Echo like pops out and like spins around as we're like swaying around and we see this last thing as like Sentry lifts Dunal up

like holding him as Echo spins around flashing different colours as we see like the scene fading away as Stone Garden drifts into night time and that is where

we're going to finish up this little Christmas adventure lovely let's do some things big shout out don't forget

check out humblebundle.com forward slash yogscast get the bundle it's $750 worth of games it goes to a

load of really awesome charities we're going to be streaming all throughout December the High Rollers crew will be back next week

we're going to be playing Honey Heist and Jason Statham's Vacation two very interesting RPGs we're going to be playing Honey Heist and Jason Statham's Vacation two very interesting RPGs we're going to be doing those so check those out and then we're going to be doing board games on the 16th

there's loads more Jingle Jam streams coming out a huge thank you to the amazing Matthew Mercer thank you so much it's an absolute pleasure to your all you are, it's delightful to DM for you once again, sir. I hope that that was fun and you got to enjoy a little bit of mad High Rollers stuff with us.

Bye, everybody. Bye. Hey, thanks for listening to this episode. Remember to check out the Jingle Jam throughout the month of December, all in the interest of raising as much money for charity as we can. Also, huge thanks to Matt Mercer for joining us on this adventure. We won't be back next week, but if you want more High Rollers, you can watch us live on twitch.tv forward slash yogscast on Sundays at 5pm GMT. We'll be playing some dumb games,

including Honey Heist and Jason Statham's Vacation on the 9th, and Family Board Games on the 16th. So join us for the jingle jam, help us raise as much money for charity as possible, and we'll see you in the new year for the return of Aroas.