2-132 | 'Raise the Bar'

2-132 | 'Raise the Bar'

Released Thursday, 6th March 2025
Good episode? Give it some love!
2-132 | 'Raise the Bar'

2-132 | 'Raise the Bar'

2-132 | 'Raise the Bar'

2-132 | 'Raise the Bar'

Thursday, 6th March 2025
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Episode Transcript

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by visiting go.acast.com slash ads. I

0:45

saw her come out the exit way and... Are

0:47

you drunk already? That's just fun. It's

0:49

a good clean fun. You know, and I thought

0:51

it was kind of creepy that we followed her

0:53

here. Don't worry about it. Call it even

0:56

Stevens. It is lucky then that I met you

0:58

here. I know you don't like an unfair fight.

1:00

Sorry buddy, time to change the tune. What a

1:02

jerk! Oh beautiful. Well struck. I mean, I don't

1:05

know how to... how to put this together in

1:07

my brain. This is just... A wolf, a wolf,

1:09

an iron fist armor. A foxman with

1:11

a foxman with a bow. I don't

1:15

suppose

1:17

you would

1:19

be Red's

1:22

Rovers, would

1:25

you? Hey.

1:27

Well, how

1:30

did you

1:33

know that?

1:35

MVP this week is Tim

1:37

Woods. Tim is the author

1:39

of the incredible Green Night

1:41

RPG. We played it on

1:43

the Invictus live stream and

1:45

it was released and it

1:47

was one of my personal

1:49

stand-out role-playing experiences of my

1:51

entire life. Tim is also

1:53

the author of Random Tables

1:55

Cities Cities and Towns, a

1:57

game master's companion for generating

1:59

unique settlements, which I've been

2:01

using as a late and

2:03

it's been giving all the

2:05

flavor. Besides all of that,

2:07

Tim is a lovely person

2:09

and well worth this shout-out.

2:12

Thanks so much Tim. You

2:14

are this week's MVP. All

2:16

right, shall we do this?

2:18

Yeah, let's do it. Yeah!

2:20

As the heavens open up

2:22

all around you, people are

2:24

scurrying for cover to the

2:26

nearby taverns and restaurants. Did

2:28

you see where she went,

2:30

Doran? Hmm. Who? The person

2:32

you just said you wanted

2:34

to follow? Oh, right. Yeah,

2:36

no, I didn't. Tamiele. I

2:38

saw her come out of

2:40

the exit, weighing. Are you

2:42

drunk already? Doran stands there

2:44

finishing his wineskin and looks

2:46

around. at the crowd that's

2:48

leaving. She was pretty tall.

2:50

She probably has a wide

2:52

gate. Red will roll tracking.

2:54

Yeah, oh nice. whim mimics

2:56

like short hair on the

2:58

sides and like long ponytail.

3:00

Yeah, it doesn't help as

3:02

much with tracking whim, but

3:04

I'll add it to the

3:06

mix. What are you hoping

3:08

that she like, like leaves

3:10

a trail of emeralds? Like

3:12

a scent or something? Oh.

3:14

Oh, darling. It is raining.

3:17

Uh-huh. And I am an

3:19

expert tracker. She did have

3:21

those special shoes. Yeah. Yeah.

3:23

I know. I know how

3:25

they were worn. Roll survival.

3:27

I just did. What did

3:29

you get? Eleven. You didn't

3:31

know your show. But I

3:33

roll with advantage. Uh-huh. That's

3:35

way better. Twenty-four. Oh. All

3:37

right. These footprints that you're

3:39

almost positive belong to Tamil.

3:41

Lead back to the tavern

3:43

the harvest room. Oh, I'm

3:45

24 positive My mistake you

3:47

guys are looking at the

3:49

footprints in the mud and

3:51

whim is like Making a

3:53

footprint and checking what her

3:55

footprint looks like beside the

3:57

other footprint She's making like

3:59

that bird doing that bird

4:01

thing Three, and then two,

4:03

that kids always do in

4:05

the snow, she's doing that.

4:07

That's just fun, that's a

4:09

good clean fun. Come on,

4:11

darn. And red leads them

4:13

off to the harvest room.

4:15

You make your way back

4:17

to the tavern that you

4:19

had visited before, the harvest

4:21

room. It's less cozy now

4:24

that it's dark outside, and

4:26

the tavern is a lot

4:28

more full of people. There's

4:30

like, puddles from people. coming

4:32

in wet from outside, like

4:34

folks shaking themselves off in

4:36

the entryway. And you recognize

4:38

Matild behind the bar. She's

4:40

got another person working with

4:42

her now that the bar

4:44

is more than half full

4:46

and they are sling and

4:48

drinks around. Red is definitely

4:50

one of those patrons that

4:52

enters and shakes. Yeah, is

4:54

Tamil in here? Yeah, Tamil,

4:56

where are you? Tamil is

4:58

sitting at the bar. Yeah,

5:00

she's sitting there at the

5:02

bar, Doran. That's right. And

5:04

Red walks over. Whim follows

5:06

you in. Hey, Tamil, funny

5:08

we meeting you here. Ha-ha.

5:10

Ah, you again. Yes, well,

5:12

you know, my friend Doran

5:14

here was quite impressed with

5:16

your prowess at the, um,

5:18

that's right. Al-hemore? My, my

5:20

prowess at, yelling? Well, I

5:22

think we all know it's

5:24

a little more than yelling.

5:26

You didn't want to see

5:29

the little guy go under

5:31

without a fair fight, and...

5:33

Well hell, that speaks to

5:35

our cause and our vibe

5:37

in general. I was very

5:39

impressed again by your demeanor

5:41

in the in the stadium

5:43

there. Matild comes over and

5:45

she she tries to take

5:47

your order and then she

5:49

looks at you Tamil and

5:51

she shakes her head and

5:53

she goes, no more emeralds.

5:55

I don't, the gem exchanger

5:57

in town. Please, do you

5:59

have silver? I do have

6:01

a little for this drink

6:03

anyway. Hey, drinks on us!"

6:05

Red reaches his pocket and

6:07

pulls out a silver and

6:09

slaps down. Don't worry about

6:11

it. Call it even Stevens.

6:13

That's funny, you pay with

6:15

emeralds, too. The person we

6:17

were looking for that Matilda

6:19

also pays with emeralds. There

6:21

must be a few of

6:23

them going around, eh? Matild?

6:25

Matild just looks at you

6:27

with this blank expression. Why

6:29

are you looking at? Would

6:31

you like an ale? Well,

6:34

two ails and a root

6:36

beer, please. And Red puts

6:38

down the money. Sort of

6:40

puts two and two together,

6:42

surprisingly quicker than red, and

6:44

steps forward. Well, it seems

6:46

like, uh, you are the

6:48

person we were looking for

6:50

after all. I could be.

6:52

No, Doran. The person we

6:54

were looking for came in

6:56

here talking about the ordinating

6:58

and giants and all that

7:00

kind of stuff. Tamil, we

7:02

met at the fight arena,

7:04

you goofball. Tamil turns in

7:06

her stool. You have her

7:08

full attention now. I'm sorry.

7:10

Could you say that again

7:12

for me? Um, the fight,

7:14

the fighting? The, you, we

7:16

were looking for some... No,

7:18

no. The ordining? The giants?

7:20

Red? You're such an intense

7:22

gaze. Yeah, I mean, like

7:24

eyes locked on you, like

7:26

laser beams. Perhaps we should

7:28

go to a table. Sure,

7:30

sure, yes. And... If you

7:32

lead the way, read like

7:34

gestures and then walks the

7:36

door and say, did I

7:38

say something wrong? That was

7:41

so intense. Yeah, there are

7:43

some free tables off to

7:45

one side kind of up

7:47

on a little platform on

7:49

the side of the room.

7:51

And we follow her over.

7:53

Hmm. Listen, this is a

7:55

bit awkward, uh, Tamil, right?

7:57

Yes. Did I get that

7:59

right? Yes, you did. All

8:01

right. I'm... We're here, let's

8:03

talk. How do you know

8:05

about the auditing and the

8:07

giants? Do you see a

8:09

hesitant expression on her face?

8:11

She kind of leans back

8:13

in the... Like, she's appraising

8:15

you. You're getting an up

8:17

and down look. She's looking

8:19

at each of you in

8:21

turn. Scanned. Yeah. And Red

8:23

is, like, decked out in

8:25

magic gear. He wears it

8:27

very humbly underneath, like, a

8:29

green cloak. And for a

8:31

second, you sort of read,

8:33

even without insight, that a

8:35

lot of his aloofness and

8:37

his... idiocy while some of

8:39

it genuine a lot of

8:41

it is sort of an

8:43

outward defense mechanism you know

8:46

a lot of it is

8:48

sort of meant to be

8:50

disarming and you meet his

8:52

eyes for a second and

8:54

do see there's like a

8:56

maybe not an intelligence but

8:58

definitely a wisdom behind those

9:00

eyes and a cleverness whim

9:02

who is sitting beside you

9:04

Tamil is a human girl

9:06

of 16 years old. She's

9:08

wearing kind of casual adventuring

9:10

clothes and she has short

9:12

brown hair. You can tell

9:14

based on how you haven't

9:16

heard her speak and the

9:18

way that she mostly uses

9:20

gestures that she does not

9:22

communicate verbally. But you can

9:24

also tell that behind her

9:26

maybe naivety. her youth, that

9:28

there is some kind of

9:30

deep power there that lends

9:32

her a self-assured quality. Strapped

9:34

in furs and leathers, allowing

9:36

only slips of golden plate

9:38

armor to show through your

9:40

initial perception of this grizzly-looking

9:42

dwarf might be something more

9:44

mundane until you take a

9:46

moment and realize the... beautifully

9:48

crafted gauntlets he's wearing the

9:50

rings and armor that adorns

9:53

his body are that of

9:55

real quality and extreme craftsmanship

9:57

the act which is strapped

9:59

to his back, has a

10:01

large stone and ruin engraving

10:03

at the top of it.

10:05

So Tamil's gaze drifts over

10:07

each of you in turn,

10:09

and then, out loud, she

10:11

says, a dwarf in iron

10:13

fist armour, a foxman with

10:15

a bow, I don't suppose

10:17

you would be Red's rovers,

10:19

would you? Hey. Well, how

10:21

did you know that? I

10:23

make it my business. to

10:25

be aware of adventurers, those

10:27

with heroic victories under their

10:29

belts. Oh, bless you. You

10:31

know, and I thought it

10:33

was kind of creepy that

10:35

we followed her here. No.

10:37

She knows her where we

10:39

come from. Well, that's great.

10:41

That must have been why

10:43

you were speaking of the

10:45

ordining and giants and whatnot.

10:47

That's wonderful. So you know

10:49

of our exploits. I know

10:51

some of them. I've been

10:53

aware of deadstone cleft. Good

10:55

work there. Oh. and also

10:58

that business in Jalentha. Oh

11:00

thank you, yes! Yeah, Jalentha

11:02

was quite bloody, that's where

11:04

this guy got his best

11:06

plate in Red Knox, Dorn's

11:08

chest. Yeah. Okay, so, so

11:10

were you, and listen, no

11:12

judgment or shade, but were

11:14

you, you know, sharing some

11:16

of our exploits against the

11:18

Giants or just to tell

11:20

a tale? Yeah. Well, it

11:22

is lucky then that I

11:24

met you here, although more

11:26

likely... Destiny has once again

11:28

moved its hand in my

11:30

way. Whim waggles her eyebrows

11:32

at you. How so? What

11:34

do you mean? And Red

11:36

gets serious all of a

11:38

sudden. Mm-hmm. To me, it

11:40

kind of like leans in

11:42

across the table, but she

11:44

makes sure to position her

11:46

body so that her mouth

11:48

is still visible to whim.

11:50

And she says, I am

11:52

on a quest myself. You

11:54

see, this ordining. the

11:57

hierarchy of the diets has

11:59

been thrown into tumult. And

12:01

I have been tasked with

12:03

setting it right again. Huh?

12:05

Well, hold on. Wait, who

12:07

tasked you with that? Yes,

12:09

that's a good question. Well,

12:11

it wasn't just... That was

12:13

our task. I'm sorry. Well,

12:16

I was saying red, I

12:18

thought that was our task.

12:20

Well, it is, but hold

12:22

on, who tasked you with

12:24

it? Well, I'll show you,

12:26

look at you when you

12:28

tell us. Okay. We were

12:30

picked up by a cloud

12:32

giant named Zephros. Yes. No.

12:34

No! Zephros. Hold on. Wait

12:36

a minute. Clearly you're putting

12:39

us on this. Wait a

12:41

minute. Everyone just take it.

12:43

Everyone calm down. Our stories,

12:45

I'm sure you've heard about

12:47

Zephros. You, you were picked

12:49

up by a cloud giant

12:51

named Zephros and given the

12:53

task of the reordering. Myself

12:56

and some of my fellows,

12:58

yes. Well, boy, that makes

13:00

me feel cheap. That same

13:02

thing happened to us and

13:04

some of our fellows. Where

13:06

are your red sits back

13:09

in his chair? Where are

13:11

your fellows now? Dorn sort

13:13

of leans forward and looking

13:15

around the tavern. When you

13:17

ask that there is just

13:19

a shadow that passes over

13:21

to Emil's face, she gets

13:23

a little quiet. And you

13:25

can sense a tension kind

13:27

of enter her body. And

13:29

kind of defensively, she says,

13:32

would I could ask you

13:34

the same? Weren't there five

13:36

of you? Right. No, that's

13:38

fair. Oh. Whom looks down

13:40

into her root beer. Yeah,

13:42

sits back, realizing maybe he

13:44

overstep with that question. Look,

13:46

look, look, look, look. This

13:48

has major ramifications, if this

13:50

is true. And I mean...

13:53

I imagine it is. So

13:55

Zafros picked you. and your

13:57

three companions up and tasked

13:59

you with the reordering as

14:01

well, about giant kind and

14:03

whatnot. There were four others,

14:05

but yes. We were traveling,

14:07

we were just moving our

14:09

way through this world and

14:11

we ran into this ridiculous

14:14

cloud castle. Yep, yep. And

14:16

who I'm now realizing is

14:18

a perhaps an adult-minded giant.

14:20

So he didn't seem very

14:22

connected to their society at

14:24

all. Now he's a bit

14:26

of a weirdo. Yeah. He

14:28

told us that he had

14:30

spoken to some entities and

14:32

they told him that there

14:34

were small folk who would

14:37

be vital in the reorganization

14:39

of their society. Well, when

14:41

did this happen? This was

14:43

mid-deep winter. Made deep winter.

14:45

The 14th day of hammer.

14:47

That was right around the

14:49

time that Kraloth died. Red

14:51

says and looks towards Dorn.

14:53

Oh, I guess so. I

14:55

mean, can't really, can't really

14:58

blame Zephros. I mean, why

15:00

wouldn't you, wouldn't you do

15:02

the same? You're told it

15:04

was little folks, so you

15:06

just hire every little folk

15:08

that come along and, well,

15:10

someone's bound to do the

15:12

task. I guess, I mean

15:14

this puts a lot of

15:16

pressure on people like Tamil

15:18

and her companions, I mean.

15:21

Whim signs, maybe we all

15:23

look the same. Yeah, it's

15:25

possible. I guess, sure. So,

15:27

hold on, how did you

15:29

hear about Red's Rovers then?

15:31

As I said, I've made

15:33

it my business too. Learn

15:35

as much as I can

15:37

about those who might be

15:39

able to join me in

15:42

my quest because now it

15:44

is Just me Well, I

15:46

mean Not to point any

15:48

fingers, but you didn't seem

15:50

to be looking for us

15:52

very hard. Red says almost

15:54

like a bit nervously. Oh,

15:56

let me be clear. I

15:58

wasn't looking for you in

16:00

particular. Oh. There are several

16:03

adventuring parties that make their

16:05

way through this world. Yeah.

16:07

To be clear, I did

16:09

not know that you were

16:11

tasked with this as well.

16:13

Oh. I understand. Right, that

16:15

makes sense. Yeah. Pretty awesome

16:17

to be recognized. Having never

16:19

been met before. No, totally.

16:21

Yeah, totally. I mean, I

16:23

don't know how to put

16:26

this together in my brain.

16:28

This is... This is... I

16:30

hardly do either. I agree

16:32

that if all small folk

16:34

look the same to a

16:36

giant, perhaps you would try

16:38

to get as many on

16:40

the job as possible, but

16:42

I have lost people... Very

16:44

dear to me as a

16:47

result of this quest, I

16:49

was told it was destiny.

16:51

As have we lost people,

16:53

and me too. I mean,

16:55

I can't count the number

16:57

of arguments we had in

16:59

an amongst the party, believing

17:01

that this was something that

17:03

they had to do. One

17:05

of our recently fallen members

17:07

said, so many times how...

17:10

He would have loved to

17:12

leave this all behind and

17:14

live a simple life in

17:16

water deep, but he couldn't

17:18

because this was his destiny.

17:20

I mean, the goal of

17:22

some... And red light sits

17:24

back, upset a little bit.

17:26

It's almost... It's almost too

17:28

much. whim reaches across a

17:31

table and takes your hand.

17:33

Thanks, whimmy. Yeah, Doran gets

17:35

up from the booth and

17:37

says, just give me a

17:39

minute. And he steps away.

17:41

Yeah, yeah, he's we've lost

17:43

two party members recently one

17:45

died the other left because

17:47

well I think that's what

17:49

she did when things got

17:52

too difficult and no shade

17:54

to her that's how some

17:56

people have to cope but

17:58

he was connected very closely

18:00

to both of them I

18:02

see more so than me

18:04

really well I mean Jack

18:06

and I always tended to

18:08

butt heads you know he

18:10

was a bit like him

18:12

well I guess I always

18:15

viewed him as a brother

18:17

and uh And I think

18:19

he viewed me as the

18:21

annoying brother. Just a like

18:23

a kind of a noncommittal

18:25

like non-judgmental knot. I wonder

18:27

how he would have seen

18:29

that. Doran where did you

18:31

go? Oh, it's only a

18:33

moment when Doran actually returns

18:36

to the table. With four

18:38

very large tankards of ale.

18:40

And he sets them on

18:42

the table. Red just reaches

18:44

across the table and slides

18:46

whims tankered over to. He

18:48

says, to me there's only

18:50

one way to celebrate meeting

18:52

someone that's been tasked with

18:54

the exact same adventure as

18:56

yourself and that's to drink

18:59

and be merry in the

19:01

best fashion that's possible. So

19:03

with a heavy heart, but

19:05

also with optimistic eyes, I

19:07

would like to raise this

19:09

glass to, well, to us

19:11

to us. Because we're going

19:13

to save the world, I

19:15

guess. Um... I'll do this

19:17

much to three bastards that

19:20

got duped into something. Red

19:22

lifts his glass. Tamil reaches

19:24

across and she takes, she

19:26

accepts one of the tankers,

19:28

and then she says, I

19:30

think before we toast to

19:32

the future, perhaps we can

19:34

honor our fallen comrades. Oh,

19:36

you're here. Yeah, totally. Yeah.

19:38

To those we've lost along

19:41

the way. The front door

19:43

of the tavern slams open.

19:45

and a man stands in

19:47

the doorway, winds swept, dripping

19:49

wet from the rain, and

19:51

silhouetted by lightning. He takes

19:53

a heavy few steps into

19:55

the bar, and we see

19:57

up close and personal now,

19:59

Rangel Blake. How ironic that

20:01

we were just looking for

20:04

a moment with silence. As

20:06

soon as Tamil sees Rangel

20:08

come in the door. She

20:10

rolls her eyes and she

20:12

says, oh, here we go.

20:14

And she stands up. Oh,

20:16

what, what? Red light turns

20:18

around, confused. I've got to

20:20

go fight this guy. Well,

20:22

you don't have to fight

20:25

this guy? Why do you

20:27

got to fight this guy?

20:29

What do you mean? He

20:31

doesn't need a fight. Hey,

20:33

friend, Red stands up. You

20:35

don't want to fight, right?

20:37

Red calls out across the

20:39

bar. The man's face snaps

20:41

towards you. His... Burne scars

20:43

highlighted it deeply from the

20:46

candlelight in the tavern and

20:48

he quickly assesses the four

20:50

of you at the table

20:52

and he says I've got

20:54

business with you and he

20:56

points the long sort across

20:58

the bar directly at you

21:00

Tamil. Meanwhile behind him Two

21:02

other people filter into the

21:04

bar, cloaked and looking furtive.

21:06

Tamil, what does furtive mean?

21:09

Now red. Do they look

21:11

like they're with wrangle? Yeah,

21:13

a little bit. Okay. But

21:15

what does furtive mean? It's

21:17

like secret. Yeah. Doran sitting

21:19

now in Tamil's seat was

21:21

expecting to watch a fair

21:23

fight go down when he

21:25

sees these other two people

21:27

approach and stands up. Well

21:30

now, I know that Tamil

21:32

doesn't like weighted fights, that's

21:34

not really fair now. And

21:36

if you're gonna have say

21:38

three on one, then we're

21:40

gonna make it three on

21:42

three. Doran sort of looks

21:44

at red, gives him a

21:46

nod, right? Wim looks between

21:48

the three of you and

21:50

then just kind of like

21:53

shrugs and puts her hands

21:55

behind her head like, I

21:57

can sit out. I think

21:59

that Tamil looks at both

22:01

of you and she says,

22:03

this doesn't have to be

22:05

your fight. Oh, now you

22:07

can't say that. Red's like

22:09

slowly pulling out his boat.

22:11

A smile starts to creep

22:14

across her face. It's always

22:16

been our fight, Tamil. Thorne

22:18

retrieves his axe off his

22:20

back. I know you don't

22:22

like an unfair fight. It

22:24

wouldn't be right if we

22:26

just sat here. You get

22:28

a nudge. An Ork Splitter

22:30

says, let's fucking go! Everybody

22:32

roll for initiatives. Joe, am

22:35

I right in that, um,

22:37

like acknowledging that fighting shouldn't

22:39

happen in the bar, is,

22:41

uh, we're past that point

22:43

already. Listen, you've been told

22:45

no fighting in the bar

22:47

by the proprietor. It's like

22:49

there's a sign on the

22:51

behind the bar that says

22:53

no fighting in the bar,

22:55

but no one's gonna put

22:58

you in jail. I mean,

23:00

if they catch you, they

23:02

might, but you know, don't

23:04

worry about it. Cool. Plus

23:06

this guy's the one that's

23:08

picking the fight. That's right,

23:10

it's his officer. He started

23:12

it. Officer. You were just

23:14

there defending defending her. Alex,

23:16

Alex, what you get? That

23:19

is gonna be a 17.

23:21

Harlan, what'd you get? Sixteen.

23:23

Nick, what about you? Fourteen.

23:25

Fourteen. Nice. Bringing up the

23:27

rear, we got whim with

23:29

eight. Top of the round

23:32

is Doran. I'm thinking for

23:34

storywise defer. Sounds good. Doran's

23:36

gonna defer. Cool. Harlan, you

23:39

want red to defer? Yeah,

23:41

red will defer too. Kind

23:43

of looking to Tamil for

23:46

the first. Action. Tamil, you're

23:48

up. Tamil stands up. She

23:50

takes the tankard off the

23:53

table. She throws back its

23:55

contents and then with a

23:57

big... down the tankard on

24:00

the table again and she

24:02

starts almost languidly walking over

24:04

towards Rangel and as she

24:07

does she removes from her

24:09

back this javelin and she

24:11

kind of casually starts spinning

24:14

it in her hand and

24:16

as she does these little

24:18

kind of moats of electricity

24:21

start to crackle and spit

24:23

off of the end and

24:25

she walks up to him

24:28

and she says all right

24:30

let's get this done. And

24:32

she will swing again. 23

24:35

to hit. Yes, absolutely. Okay.

24:37

And that is, that is

24:39

another 11 damage. Two beefy

24:41

blows. Rangel is knocked on

24:44

his heels as static makes

24:46

contact. Is that the name

24:48

of your javelin? Yeah. Oh

24:51

wow. Okay. One more thing

24:53

here. So when she whips

24:55

static around for that second

24:58

hit, she does this extra

25:00

little. It's not a twirl

25:02

exactly. This extra little flourish

25:05

of it. And, did you

25:07

do? Oh, wow, she does

25:09

an extra eight damage. Yes.

25:12

And I'm using a defensive

25:14

flourish. And so this is

25:16

going to add an extra

25:19

eight to my AC. I

25:21

now have a 28 AC.

25:23

Wow. Are you kidding me?

25:26

I am not fabulous. Is

25:28

that until the end of

25:30

the round or until your

25:33

next, what is that? Until

25:35

the start of my next

25:37

turn. God, I'm excited about

25:40

this character. All right, so

25:42

next up we have the

25:44

two aside. that Rangel has

25:47

managed to bring with him

25:49

on this beat-down mission. The

25:51

first assassin scampers into the

25:54

room and makes their way

25:56

behind one of the tables

25:58

where there are patrons currently

26:01

enjoying some food. Coward! What

26:03

a jerk! From that vantage

26:05

point, he begins to fire

26:07

arrows at you, Tamil. Bring

26:10

it on. Now it's just

26:12

become a matter of public

26:14

service. We're clearing the bar

26:17

out of these rascals, you

26:19

know? However, with your defensive

26:21

flourish, a 20 does not

26:24

hit you. Nope. No. Wow.

26:26

So the arrow comes singing

26:28

at you from the corner

26:31

of the room and you

26:33

just, hoo-da! She's knocking these

26:35

away with the with static

26:38

with her javelin just as

26:40

they come in it's like

26:42

a spinning shield almost That's

26:45

so cool. The second assassin

26:47

runs in behind Rangel vaults

26:49

over two of the tables

26:52

and Takes cover behind the

26:54

second table which is sort

26:56

of like in the middle

26:59

of the room and Likewise

27:01

fires a pot shot at

27:03

you with their crossbow. That's

27:06

only a 13 to hit

27:08

so you are safe. Next

27:10

up Rangel who is head

27:13

to head with you. First

27:15

he swings at you with

27:17

this long cruel hook trying

27:20

to keep you pinned to

27:22

the spot. with a 17

27:24

he misses and then angrily

27:27

he swings at you twice

27:29

with this huge sword. Oh

27:31

natural 20! As the sword

27:33

comes in as a reaction

27:36

I'm going to use silvery

27:38

barbs so when he when

27:40

the sword comes in it

27:43

looks like it's gonna hit

27:45

her but she holds up

27:47

the shield and underneath it

27:50

she shouts, Absolutely not. That's

27:52

amazing. Yeah, so you have

27:54

to roll again and use

27:57

the lower of the two.

27:59

Wow. 16

28:02

plus 9 to hit is

28:04

25, which misses you. Wow,

28:06

okay. That's cool. Great job.

28:08

And then for the final

28:10

attack, nope, that's gonna miss

28:12

as well. So these blows

28:14

just hammering against your javelin,

28:16

hammering against your shield, and

28:18

he is denied. Next up

28:20

we have whim. whim casts

28:22

a look over the top

28:24

of her root beer at

28:26

you red and you Doran

28:28

and she begins to cast

28:30

a spell and Doran she

28:32

throws a sliver of licorice

28:34

bark in your direction and

28:36

as it lands on the

28:38

table in front of you

28:40

it sprays this magical warmth

28:43

up at you and suddenly

28:45

it feels like the blood

28:47

in your veins is almost

28:49

carbonated and you begin moving

28:51

in Super fast motion. You

28:53

are hasted for the next

28:55

minute. Tell you. Doran, mechanically,

28:57

we've never seen haste on

28:59

a fellow party member before.

29:01

No. Until the spell ends,

29:03

your speed is doubled. You

29:05

gain a plus two bonus

29:07

to your AC and you

29:09

have advantage on dexterity saving

29:11

throws. You also gain an

29:13

additional action on each of

29:15

your terms. Oh, that's amazing.

29:17

And then she sits back

29:19

and puts her feet on

29:21

the table. Doren, it's your

29:23

turn. Holy crap. Doren feels

29:25

this sudden urge to move

29:27

and move quickly. And doesn't

29:29

he leap from his chair?

29:31

in a very cartoonish fashion

29:33

and tumbles across the room

29:35

doing a sub-assault land right

29:37

next to this farthest assassin

29:39

that's across the room and

29:41

hidden behind a table. Standing

29:43

now in front of the,

29:45

you know, shocked assassin, Dorn

29:47

is going to take two

29:49

attack hits. Marvelous. The first

29:51

one's going to be a

29:54

23 to hit. Absolutely. Doing

29:56

10 points of damage. And

29:58

then bringing it back around.

30:00

Oh, never mind. A two.

30:02

So that's gonna be a

30:04

12. I rolled my attack

30:06

and my damage to the

30:08

same time is the damage

30:10

that came up a lot.

30:12

Okay. But that's gonna be

30:14

a 12 to hit. No,

30:16

that one misses. Although you

30:18

do get one extra weapon

30:20

attack if you'd like. So

30:22

I can take another action,

30:24

right? Mm-hmm. So that action

30:26

can be used to dash,

30:28

disengage, hide, use an object,

30:30

or attack, but when you

30:32

attack, you can only use

30:34

one additional attack as opposed

30:36

to a multi. And so

30:38

it's going to be that

30:40

moment where Doran uses his

30:42

commander strike. Doran turns over

30:44

to our newest ally. Tamil,

30:46

make a quick attack now!

30:48

Just as a quick, does

30:50

the battle maneuver require that

30:52

I use my reaction? to

30:54

make the attack. Oh, says

30:56

that creature can immediately use

30:58

its reaction to make one

31:00

weapon attack. So yes, for

31:03

this round of ours, use

31:05

my reaction, so I wouldn't

31:07

be able to do that.

31:09

Um, Nick, I'd like to

31:11

just give you inspiration really

31:13

quick for knowing how to

31:15

play your character. Yeah, really

31:17

well done. Great job. Oh,

31:19

you're right. Use its reaction

31:21

to make one weapon attack.

31:23

Yeah, well done. I'm impressed.

31:25

Very impressed. Very impressed. Very

31:27

impressed. Very. Nice. You take

31:29

17 points of damage. Now

31:31

you have to make a

31:33

wisdom saving throw. Okay. 19.

31:35

Okay, you do, you win.

31:37

Never mind. I win the

31:39

game. You win the game.

31:41

You win the indeed. Cool.

31:43

Yeah, Doren, you leap over

31:45

and attack, you know, just

31:47

a flurry of blows against

31:49

this assassin. Meanwhile, Red, what

31:51

do you do? Red Bend's

31:53

down and picks up his

31:55

beer and bites it in

31:57

his snoot. And he tips

31:59

his head back drinking the

32:01

beer as he puts an

32:03

arrow into his bow. And

32:05

he spits the mug out

32:07

and as he's doing this,

32:09

climbs on top of the

32:11

table. and runs. Using this

32:14

feline agility, 60 feet to

32:16

the north end of the

32:18

room and hops up on

32:20

the p.m. Yeah, there are

32:22

like patrons diving out of

32:24

the way as you just

32:26

nimbly jump across the tables.

32:28

Out of the way! And

32:30

then as you land on

32:32

top of the piano, this...

32:34

Bard looks up at you

32:36

in fear and surprise. Sorry

32:38

buddy, time to change the

32:40

tune. And red fires an

32:42

ethereal arrow from his bow.

32:44

In fact, the arrow looks

32:46

real until he loses the

32:48

string and it disappears into

32:50

blue mist. I am using

32:52

a piercing arrow. And rather

32:54

than make an attack roll.

32:56

It fires in a straight

32:58

line from my position capturing

33:00

both of the assassins that

33:02

stand in a line behind.

33:04

So it's like a ray?

33:06

Yeah, it makes a one-foot-wide

33:08

30-foot-long shot. Each character in

33:10

that line must make a

33:12

dexterity saving throw. So both

33:14

those guys need to do

33:16

a decks throw. Okay, I'm

33:18

going to start from nearest

33:20

and then work my way

33:22

farthest. Sure. Oh, man, I

33:25

rolled bullshit. Good. Oh, you

33:27

did. 11 and then 16.

33:29

11 and 16. The guy

33:31

who failed, and 16. Ah,

33:33

16 passes. The guy who

33:35

failed takes 15 damage. The

33:37

guy has succeeded, takes 7.

33:39

Fantastic. And red eyes them.

33:41

How do they look? The

33:43

one that Doran's been fighting

33:45

is bloody. How does the

33:47

guy standing in front of

33:49

Tamil look? Pretty hardy and

33:51

healthy and happy. Tamio, you

33:53

want to handle? You want

33:55

to take them down yourself?

33:57

Red shouts. Listen, I've got

33:59

no pride associated with this.

34:01

We just have to get

34:03

these ones out of here.

34:05

So yeah, pie it on.

34:07

Enough said. Red fires at

34:09

Rangel's head. This is gonna

34:11

be a no special arrow,

34:13

just fun. Just a fun

34:15

arrow. Just a fun arrow.

34:17

Just good old-fashioned fly through

34:19

the air, stab you in

34:21

the eye arrow. Cheeky little

34:23

arrow. Sixteen hit? No. Ah,

34:25

damn. Oh. Red misses as

34:27

the arrow sinks the arrow

34:29

sinks into the wall behind.

34:31

I'm quite good actually. You

34:34

wouldn't believe it, but I'm

34:36

good. Oh yeah. Top of

34:38

the round. Tamil. Tamil is

34:40

still engaged with Rangel. I

34:42

think that they're doing this

34:44

thing where they butt up

34:46

against each other and then

34:48

they push away. She's taking

34:50

swings, she's gonna whacken with

34:52

this, javelin one more time.

34:54

Okay, that is a 19

34:56

to hit. Yes. Eight damage

34:58

on the first attack. Marvelous.

35:00

For the second attack, a

35:02

22 to hit. Nice. Another

35:04

15 damage. Wow. Nice. Amazing.

35:06

And then I'm going to

35:08

use my bonus action to

35:10

use my gift of spite

35:12

one more time. So I'm

35:14

going to give the help

35:16

action to Red since I'm

35:18

engaged with Rengel. Tamil will

35:20

turn back to Red and

35:22

say. A valiant effort, you

35:24

can try again. I'll hold

35:26

them a bit, and so...

35:28

Oh, beautiful. You're going to

35:30

get the help action, which

35:32

means you can attack with

35:34

advantage. The first time you

35:36

hit him with your attack,

35:38

he will then have disadvantage.

35:40

Hell yeah, thanks! For any

35:42

attack he makes within the

35:45

next minute. I hit him

35:47

this time, I promise. And

35:49

then I'm going to do

35:51

one more defensive flourish, so

35:53

this is going to be

35:55

more damage coming in. That's

35:57

five extra damage on him,

35:59

and my AC is 25.

36:01

Nice. Oh, so your AC

36:03

is the damage you rolled.

36:05

Yeah, so I'm using my

36:07

bardic inspiration dye. That's metal.

36:09

Yeah, so the... That's why

36:11

it was 28 the first

36:13

time. Exactly, yeah. That's fucking

36:15

cool. Very cool. All right,

36:17

um, it's the assassins turns

36:19

during the... assassin that is

36:21

directly in front of you

36:23

sets aside his light crossbow

36:25

and takes up his short

36:27

sword. Mmm. Attacking you with

36:29

a tend to hit which

36:31

misses. Doran sort of laughs

36:33

and in his face. And

36:35

then another 10 and like

36:37

you said, your clothes are

36:39

kind of hiding this golden

36:41

breastplate and the assassin just

36:43

like keeps trying to stab

36:45

you in the chest and

36:47

it's like tink, tink, like

36:49

not like. Yeah, Doris just

36:51

like stepping to the side,

36:53

like really not, not even

36:56

phased. Oh, I thought you

36:58

guys were here for a

37:00

brawl, not for empty threats.

37:02

The second assassin takes aim

37:04

at Tamil over the table

37:06

where all of these people

37:08

are eating and drinking and

37:10

fires. The crossbow 24 misses

37:12

you. They are going to

37:14

begin to ascend the stairs

37:16

at the side of the

37:18

bar. Moving up. Run away.

37:20

It's Rangel's turn. Rangel. Rangel.

37:22

Rangel. Rangel. He swings his

37:24

hook at you. Tamil. That's

37:26

a natural one. Nice. Shame

37:28

on you. Shame. Shame. Shame.

37:30

Shame. Shame. Shame. Shame. Shame.

37:32

Shame. Yeah. Then makes two

37:34

sword attacks. He's 19. Misses.

37:36

And then with a final

37:38

heavy attack. 28 to hit.

37:40

Okay. That hits. Oh, wow.

37:42

23 total slashing damage. What

37:44

is your what is your

37:46

hit points? What are you?

37:48

What's your two? I'm at

37:50

68. All right. So I'm

37:52

now at 45. When Tamil

37:54

gets hit, she can conjure

37:56

this wrath of the storm.

37:58

So basically, Rangel's gonna have

38:00

to make a deck saving

38:02

throw of DC 13. Mm-hmm.

38:05

he'll take half damage on

38:07

a 18. So he just

38:09

takes four extra lightning damage.

38:11

That's awesome. Wymn's turn, she

38:13

sees her companions all occupied,

38:15

she stands up from the

38:17

table and holds her arms

38:19

in the air. She starts

38:21

to conjure these lances, taking

38:23

inspiration maybe from Tamil's javelin.

38:25

She claps her hands together

38:27

and then she's holding two

38:29

of them, twinning the spell

38:31

and she fires both of

38:33

these psychic javelins across the

38:35

room. One of them at

38:37

the assassin that's trying to

38:39

escape up the stairs and

38:41

one of them at Rangel

38:43

himself. They need to make

38:45

intelligence saving through. Oh shit.

38:47

Idiots. Yeah, not so much.

38:49

Both of them fail, taking

38:51

23 psychic damage. Oh shit.

38:53

Dorin, it's your turn. I'm

38:55

gonna attack at 12 hits

38:57

no no no during swings

38:59

and misses and then swings

39:01

again with a 15 yes

39:03

hitting that does hit connects

39:05

and doing 10 more points

39:07

of damage this fabulous the

39:09

assassin is spurting blood all

39:11

over the table another 15

39:13

to hit and doing another

39:16

eight points of damage Dorn,

39:18

what does it look like

39:20

when you kill this assassin?

39:22

Oh, nice. Oh, you know

39:24

what? I don't know if

39:26

I want to kill him

39:28

or just put him unconscious.

39:30

You can always deal non-lethal

39:32

damage. I'm going to. I

39:34

feel like this is, again,

39:36

maybe Dorn looks over at

39:38

Tamil, and having met for

39:40

the first time doesn't feel

39:42

like slaughtering a person in

39:44

a bar. So he says,

39:46

listen, partner, you shouldn't have

39:48

picked this fight. And maybe

39:50

you should learn to pick

39:52

better friends. butt of his

39:54

axe and he waxed him

39:56

right in the head. Red,

39:58

it's your turn. Red, it's

40:00

your turn. Red fires at

40:02

the head of the guy

40:04

fighting Tamil. With an 18?

40:06

Yes, that just hits. 26

40:08

damage. Holy crap, nice. Red

40:10

pulls back and fires again.

40:12

I'm not like darn bad,

40:14

this one's going in your

40:16

eye. And that's going to

40:18

be a 19 hit? Yes.

40:20

30 damage. What does it

40:22

look like when you kill

40:24

wrangle? Glake. I feel like

40:27

Tamil sees it. So Tamil

40:29

is... holding up her shield,

40:31

they're not grappling, but they're

40:33

in close combat. She's got

40:35

her javelin up, she's got

40:37

her shield up, and then

40:39

all of a sudden she

40:41

just kind of feels a

40:43

weight, like pressing down on

40:45

her shield. When she looks

40:47

up, she just realizes that

40:49

there is this arrow sticking

40:51

straight through Rangel's neck. She

40:53

kind of shrugs him off,

40:55

he collapses to the floor.

40:57

She looks over at Red's

40:59

next to you. Oh, he

41:01

died funny. Well struck. Hey,

41:03

I saw what you did.

41:05

Very well done. Doren kind

41:07

of joins the party and

41:09

looks over a whim. Giving

41:11

a thumbs up. That was

41:13

powerful stuff, whim. Whom gives

41:15

you like an oke-dokee sign.

41:17

Coming from the back of

41:19

the bar, you hear Matild

41:21

yelling. No fighting. Get out,

41:23

all of you. Out. All

41:25

right, I don't want a

41:27

place that would let me

41:29

in anyway. Come on Tamil.

41:31

Red throws his hand around

41:33

Tamil, throws another one around

41:36

Dorn, and then sort of

41:38

gets a pinky to whim,

41:40

and starts walking towards the

41:42

door, and he says, Tamil,

41:44

I think this is going

41:46

to be the beginning of

41:48

a beautiful friendship. Please don't

41:50

touch me. I think that

41:52

Tamil drops a bag of

41:54

emeralds on the table as

41:56

they walk out. Totally. Oh.

42:00

All right, I just wanna

42:02

say thanks again to all

42:04

of our wonderful patron supporters.

42:07

And usually it takes me

42:09

so long to read this,

42:11

so I'm gonna take a

42:14

stab at going a little

42:16

bit quicker here. Thank you,

42:18

too. Abby Mae Berkin, absolute

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Ocelli behavior, Adam Fry, Gabriel,

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43:29

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43:31

Wanderer Fen, Wren Gillespie, and

43:33

Zill Street, Liz. Thanks again

43:36

for watching and see you

43:38

around the table. When the

43:41

sword comes in, it looks

43:43

like it's going to hit

43:45

her, but she holds up

43:48

the shield and... underneath it

43:50

she shouts something clever which

43:52

I'm gonna come up with

43:55

right now silver bulbs go

43:57

away I think I think

43:59

yeah she's like no she

44:02

holds it up and she

44:04

goes absolutely not yeah it

44:06

makes a one foot wide

44:09

30 foot long shot that's

44:11

55 feet I could move

44:13

here and it would work,

44:16

but then I don't get

44:18

to stay on the piano.

44:20

So either just pretend the

44:23

piano is here. Yeah, we'll

44:25

just pretend the pianos right

44:28

there. Listen, they can't see

44:30

it. I'm a stand on

44:32

the piano and I make

44:35

the shot. You want me

44:37

to stand? A couple pianos.

44:39

I want you to stand

44:42

there but we're gonna pretend

44:44

that there's 30 feet closer.

44:46

Or 20 feet closer to

44:49

them. Actually all of the

44:51

furniture is piano. Yeah, exactly.

44:53

They have these little trays.

44:56

Red's like staying on the

44:58

piano and it's too far

45:00

so like the stage hand

45:03

comes out from the corner

45:05

and pushes the piano closer.

45:07

Reels it. This

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