The Glass Cannon Podcast - Giantslayer Episode 73 - Trees Company

Episode Date: October 18, 2016

As summer turns to fall our heroes set forth on the next stage of their quest in search of the tomb of famed giant-killer Nargrym Steelhand. For more podcasts and livestreams, visit glasscannonnetwork.com. To become an official member of the Naish, subscribe today at http://www.jointhenaish.com. Want to be a part of Glass Cannon Nation? Follow us at twitter.com/glasscannonpod instagram.com/theglasscannon facebook.com/glasscannonnetwork tiktok.com/@glasscannonnetwork Get the best apparel and gaming accessories in the biz at https://glasscannonnetwork.com/store If you enjoyed this, we have several other series featuring Call of Cthulhu - Time For Chaos Delta Green - Get in the Trunk Pathfinder 2E - Glass Cannon Live! Strange Aeons Pathfinder 1E - Legacy of the Ancients Traveller - Voyagers of the Jump and so much more! Join us every Thursday night for Campaign Two of The Glass Cannon Podcast – a playthrough of the Pathfinder 2E Gatewalkers Adventure Path! Videos premiere on YouTube Thursday nights at 8PM ET with a companion podcast available at midnight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on the Glass Cannon Podcast. Get ready for those campfire stories. This whole episode is just going to be campfire stories. Oh, Jesus. A new party sets out from Trudeau. I'll go on record as saying I don't even know what Nestor's designs are in this world. Joe, you have a great opportunity here. This is a new character. Start a new trend with your role.

Right now, today. Let's start it right now. And treks is a new character. Start a new trend with your rolling. Right now, today. Let's start it right now. And treks through a beautiful forest. Really picture this, you know, the covering of leaves on the ground, the sunlight coming through these bright golden leaves is just casting this glow over the area. It's very beautiful. But when danger strikes...

Boom! And then boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom! Chain reaction. Who will take the lead? i think it's a smart move actually as a matter of fact i was about to suggest it myself come on this way a new adventure begins that's why you bring along a criminal right now I don't know about you, but I am really looking forward to ignoring my ever-growing mountain of responsibilities for one hour this week to just kick back and enjoy a whole new adventure with the Glass Cannon crew. What's going on, guys? This is Joe O'Brien, back again to thank you for tuning in for the latest installment of

the glass cannon podcast if you haven't noticed there have been a lot of changes recently in the show and i have to say that you guys in particular have been amazing at working with us through this whole transition i was thinking about how baron and della's reactions to lork's departure last week kind of mirrored the fans reactions that we saw in the few days after the episode released on Facebook and on Twitter. Troy even put that poll up that he promised and people were pissed. Coward! They shouted and spit on the ground and threw rotten tomatoes at me. Though there were, I think, a majority of people that said that Lork had his reasons. But I really appreciate the responses that said, you know, it's not so black

and white. Someone can have good reasons for doing something and it can still be cowardly. I thought that that was interesting. But I wanted to bring it up in the context of how Grant and Matthew reacted last week through their characters, because I just want to stress something that might not exactly come across in the way we play the game, though I hope it does. Yes, we played a little differently than most games since we're recording a one hour show. But for the most part, the game is just like any other. We're just as surprised as you guys when crazy stuff happens. when crazy stuff happens. I look forward to getting together with these guys and playing for the same reason

that you probably look forward to downloading the show because I'm equally as eager to see what happens next. I am not lying at all when I say that I have no idea what Skid is cooking up right now with this Nestor Coyne character. I'm honestly nervous. Why was he really in True Now at the killing grounds that night? Did he just

happen to be passing through town looking for a drink and a game? Did he really lose his composure and murder someone over some loaded dice? From what I've seen so far, I suspect not. Nestor does not strike me as the kind of guy that acts without thinking. I'm guessing he's a cold, calculating assassin, and that he's got a plan in the works, but I don't know what it is. The limits of my knowledge are what happens this week, and I can tell you it's worth the price of admission. A new adventure begins, and it's got a little bit of everything. Travel, role play, New adventure begins, and it's got a little bit of everything. Travel, role play, saving throws, everything our nerdy hearts crave.

Well, friends, my rhetoric professor always said that the key to closing an intro really strong is to quote pop artist Billy Joel. His song, I've Loved These Days, is about loving all the good times you've had in the past, but realizing that they are just that in the past, and it's time to move on into a new future. I mean, really, what it's all about is cocaine, and how if you don't stop using it on a daily basis, it'll kill you. But we get this line out of it, which I think is appropriate. So now, before we end and then begin, we'll drink a toast to how it's been. A toast to Galabras and Lark. May we see you both again. And to Gormley and Benverine. I've loved these days, but they are in the past. It's time to look forward. Today, Sheriff Barron and his little deputy lead a new party into the Mindspin Mountains. What does the future hold? Here's Episode 73.

I'm looking at my initiative tracker here, and I don't even know what game we're playing anymore. Willamette, welcome to the new Glass Cannon Della Nestor Baron Umlo And Ingrahild Who are these people? Baron I recognize Hello How are you?

I'm doing well Della we're pretty familiar With at this point She just changed her hair You don't recognize her? Oh that's why Oh it's Della I didn't recognize you

With the blue hair Umlo and Ingrahild Sure they've They've Well Umlo's very new to this We the blue hair. Umlo Angrehild, sure, they've... Well, Umlo's very new to this. We haven't even seen Umlo... We haven't seen him in combat. I mean, with us.

In the Dire Bear Pits, he was swinging with a mithril skillet. Really? Seriously? Because he's a cook, and so they just left him with a mithril skillet. That's sporting. Do you think they melted down his mithril shirt to give him a skillet and say, Cook, dwarf, now fight with it.

Take his eggs and then go fight those bears. Nestor and Willamette have now joined the party. So, you know, we ended last time and you guys set off from True Now. And the whole council was there to say goodbye. They gave Baron and Umlo and Ingerhild and Nestor some of Tom's shittiest horses. And Della, of course, is on her old war horse, combat trained and lucky. Reginald, the girl, the female horse. The mayor, if you will. And of course, Willamette.

The mayor of Trinidad. And of course, Willamette on his trusty steed, Lexington. Lexington. Lexington the wolf. It's not a dire wolf, right? It's just a wolf. He considers it to be a dire wolf, but it is just a regular wolf. He tells people it's a dire wolf. And they just look at it. And they look at it and they wolf, but it is just a regular wolf. He tells people it's a dire wolf

and they look at it and they're like, that's just a regular wolf. I think that's a husky, actually. It's an Akita. Ooh, Japanese breed. So you guys, you met with Tom and you met with a grit and she told you about

they looked at the map and said, you need to get to, they looked at the map and said, you need to get to this place called Stag's Pike. And normally from there, you would go off to the northeast or whatever, and there'd be mines, old abandoned mines that would eventually take you to Janderhof. But the map is pointing in a different direction. So she said, go to Stag's Pike and from there you should be able to assess the situation. And Stag's Pike is roughly 90 miles? Roughly 90

miles away, as the crow flies. And now that you're mounted, it's probably going to take you five to six days. Get ready for those campfire stories. This whole episode is just going to be campfire stories this whole episode is just going to be campfire stories

oh Jesus I'm going to go get a beer and come back so you guys set off and it is a at least to start a pretty uneventful journey the weather's nice and

it's not like the sadness over what's happened with Galabras, and obviously Gormley has gone away, but the people that knew that, there's more party members that don't know who Galabras and Gormley are than party members that knew them. Do you know what I mean?

So it's kind of like the Baron and Della are grieving in their own way, but they've got these new people they've got to get to know. This is their party. These are the people they're stuck with. So they're going to have to find a way to all assimilate together.

So what is happening? Tell me on this journey, who's reaching out to who, who's talking to who, and what is the general feeling for these characters? Like, hey, it's a great time to sign and just check in on mindset. Baron, you've now become sort of the de facto leader in a way. Yes, and I know so far that I can trust Ella, so I've kind of let her know to keep an eye on our friend Nestor for me when I can't. Because I think it's going to take two sets of eyes to keep him in line. Are you worried about Nestor? Are you worried that he's going to do anything he's not supposed to?

I'm worried more in situations where we're in battle and someone might have information for us. Maybe he'll slit his throat maybe some sort of but he seems to be motivated by cash so i'm also worried that he'll get bored if the spoils of war aren't coming to him so i'm concerned about getting to our next um location where there might be loot that he could be have his his his desire for filthy lucre sated and uh that's what i'm thinking of and i'm i'm i'm glad that we have willamette a holy paladin but part of me thinks he's like so into appearances and like looking cool that he would maybe not see something evil happening from him i don't know will met well enough you don't know well enough sure and so i'm also trying very hard to get to know umla who i was and um now my other personality umla and i i'm like

i'm after ingrahild got showered and cleaned up i'm beginning to find her a little bit attractive so i'm trying to yeah you mentioned that before you were like by the way yeah she looks really good cleaned up i I'm beginning... You know, I've seen friends die all over the place, get replaced. I almost died. I'm thinking, you know, thinking about the future.

I'm looking forward to that uncomfortable role play. Della. Now, I think... I don't want to speak for Baron here, but I feel like Della was hit the hardest by Galabras. I think that's definitely true. And then the double whammy of Lork leaving. And then Lork leaving on top of that.

What of Lork? And I think that maybe, correct me if I'm wrong, led to your reticence at certainly Nestor, but even Willamette, Holy Paladin. Are you softening up to these guys at all? Because I would think Della would really, who's wide-eyed, bushy-tailed, so excited about everything that she's coming into,

would really be into a guy like Willamette. Well, after losing Galabras and Lorik, I mean, is she so wide-eyed and bushy-tailed anymore? But that said, I think she's very resistant, but Willamette is just so damn likable. Yes. He's so damn charming. He has a 16 charisma.

So I think Della is definitely starting to come around on Willamette. I think she's starting to kind of enjoy him as opposed to just kind of be tired by him. But Nestor, she does not like at all. Not one bit. So not even like an interest in like, ooh does not like at all. Not one bit. So not even like an interest in like, ooh, an assassin. Nope. I've read about these in fairy tales. No, well, I mean, we haven't tapped that far into Della's past,

but it might be one of those things of like when you see the mirror of yourself or your past self. Ah, Della sees evil. And she's like, no, he is not trustworthy. Not one little ounce. Now, Nestor, you got your freedom. Were you at all worried, like, they're really going to kill me, and then now you've been thrown into this party?

Like, what is going on in Nestor's head that you're willing to share with us? Yeah, well, I think a lot of what's motivating Nestor, what he's thinking is going to be secret for now. But, yeah, I mean, he's definitely glad to have avoided the hangman's noose. And I think he's

looking forward to, you know, the opportunity to kill new and exciting people with the assistance of a group who may or may not know what they're doing. And I think he's kind of... He knows that Della in particular does not trust him, does not like him at all, and he loves that.

He is so into that. And he's like, he really wants to... He finds that fascinating, and he really wants to win her over. Yeah. I'll go on record as saying, I don't even know what Nestor's designs are in this world. So I'll be interested to see how it all plays out.

But somehow I see him dying at one of your hands. Really? I doubt it. Roll for initiative? Now? That's somehow I see him dying at one of your hands. Really? I doubt it. Roll for initiative? That's what I see happening. But what do I know? I'm just glad you've basically banned poison from this game, because I feel like Nestor could poison us all in our sleep. He'd be like the

anti-Galabras who is cleansing all of our food. I only ban it because I forget it. Oh, right, right, right. That one time. Sir Willamette, you've been bouncing around from group to group to group, and now you've been discharged again into another group. What is happening with the charismatic Sir Willamette? Well, I think that he keeps getting transferred,

and he believes that it's because, uh, his services are desperately needed elsewhere. Um, and it isn't necessarily because he's, uh, terrible. I mean, in combat or whatever, even though he's a little person,

but I just, I think that he is, I'm excited to see what he does. I don't really know how it's going to work out. Um, from a mechanic standpoint, the build, like I don't really know because I was really

building it around this idea of this, this character, this halfling knight. And maybe he's not very effective in combat and that's why he gets pushed around or transferred. But I think it's more so that he is, he's noble and he, even though he's not technically noble born, he does have that pedigree in the sense of like of his father's a very powerful man and his brothers are very powerful. And so people don't want to be kind of responsible for his death. And so he gets kind of pushed out of the front lines a lot. And he ends up just getting put to more and more safer places in a way. So he has seen combat, but he hasn't seen like the most dangerous,

you know, of combats. And I don't think Jagrin really knows this or cares because he finally got to kind of a frontier settlement where they don't have a lot of political ties with the, the aristocracy of Mendev. You know what I mean? So they're just like,

yeah, yeah. You know, go ahead and without thinking much of it. But for Willamette, he's just excited to be out with Baron and Della because everybody was talking about them at Castle Fereen with the Knights of Ozem. They were talking about, you know, how they took the fort and how,

and Della's amazing combat skills. And she's from another plane and she moves like a shadow. And Baron has this magical gun, gun you know that he uses in combat and uh and you know they got into the fort and killed the giant that was holding it and everything so to him he's like gleeful uh and the way that i kind of balance that is like on one hand he's a paladin and he has this like duty but on the other hand he is a halfling and he can never really get that fun loving natureving nature out of himself, that want to be a little chaotic and to be a little outside the lines a little bit.

And so I think that he's just really excited and totally positive about the whole thing, even when it comes to fighting giants. I mean, I think that he's like, a giant will be easier than anything else I've fought because I'm so much smaller than it. You know, I can run around and be... He's eager to impress. He is very confident in his abilities. Is he desirous of the same... I think he thinks he has his reputation precedes him, but is he desirous as well of... Is he excited at this opportunity of fighting

alongside this crew to bolster his his his fabled story his his own story yeah uh yeah in a way i mean i think that he he definitely wants to become a hero like he wants to be known as a hero because he has heroes he's not one already in his family you know no he's not one yet he hasn't really done anything of great renown but he also isn't a disappointment to anyone. He has relatives that have been basically famous in war, and he has not been yet, and he wants to be. His adopted family.

His adoptive family, yes. Is his family made up of halflings? No, his adoptive family, they're human. Human nobles, yeah. Interesting. So it's basically the story of Tyrion, but with a very interesting curveball in there. But without a terrible, terrible father?

Right, his father doesn't hate him. Right. He's not as complicated as Tyrion. I don't think he's frankly as interesting, because I made him. But, you know, who knows? I think he could get much more interesting, and that's what I want to try to explore.

Just make him interesting and likable enough so when I eventually kill him, it'll mean something. Okay, that's what I'm going to try to do. That's the goal. That's all we can ask. Can you give me more than one episode? Well, that's up to you. That's up to you and your dice.

Oh, shit. Well, better start rolling up that next character. All right, so, you know, I wanted to get your general sentiment going into this because you've got the lesser part of a week to really get to know each other. And it's all campfire. It's like riding 10 hours a day and then camping. And it's that camping time that you really get to know each other. You know what I mean?

And, uh, yeah. And I think that Willamette is talking, is very interested in Della, especially because she's beautiful and young and, uh, is from another plane.

So he's very interested in like where she came from because he fought outsiders in Mendev, you know, he fought demons and he's very interested in where she came from because he fought outsiders in Mendev. He fought demons. And he's very interested to find out what's the difference between the two, the shadow plane and the abyss and how do they cross over. Has she ever been to the abyss? Has she ever planes walked or whatever? And I don't know what she's willing to tell him, but that's kind of the conversation he would be having. I think you're still new, and even though she likes you,

I think she'll kind of make reference to the fact that she has been to other planes and has seen other endemic planes and all kinds of things. I don't think she's going to get too specific with you yet. She'll just be like, yes. Tell me again about the time you saved your whole battalion. And then we'll be talking to Nestor on the side. Tough not to crack that that Della, eh? So, six days into your journey.

Oh, wow, okay. Uneventful. Totally uneventful. No mud elementals? No mud elementals. No settlements to speak of. You'll see from time to time farmers. There'll be like one lone house and a farm and like one little farmer.

They're not very friendly. They don't see outsiders and they're probably wary of them. And what's the terrain like? Is it hills? It's hilly. But not mountains? No, you're not in the mountains yet. You can feel the elevation going up if any of you are sensitive to that.

But for the most part, it's pretty flatlands, forests. And is it warm and nice during the day, chilly at night? Is it cold all the time? I think it's fall, so it's kind of that fall weather and a little bit colder at night and damp. So six days into your journey, you reach Stag's Pike. Wow, okay. You see into the distance. You see a big spire of stone,

just as Agrit described to you. And you can see there, off in the distance, there is a rather narrow footpath leading off into the mountains, as she also described. Most likely it leads to the former mining settlements of the Janderhoff dwarves. But when looking back at your map, you see that the tomb is going in another direction, and it's just woods there.

Okay. No path. No path. We'll have to find the path. Oh. You know what? Bottle cap. Wow.

Yeah, I don't know. That really struck me as funny. It's early in the day. See, that's like in, what is it, that Bond movie, A View to a Kill, and Christopher Walken plays the bad guy, and one of them's like, what a beautiful view to a kill.

I love those moments. We were just watching What About Bob last night, and that is a famous example of shoehorning the title of the movie into the dialogue. What about Bob? What about Bob? There's a great UCB sketch about having the titular line in Star Wars. Oh, yeah. I'm so tired of all these Star Wars.

The titular line. I had both the title and the titular line In Star Wars So I want to Nestor wants to walk up Get as close as he can to the Spire and I want to examine it to see

If it's natural man made Any sort of evidence of that. Sure. Roll a perception check. All right. Thirteen. Thirteen. Yeah, it's completely natural stone spire, weathered by the rain, made it into this beautiful shape. Stella does not detect any magical presence in it whatsoever. And looking at the map, if anything, it was probably

put here by the dwarves to sort of delineate boundaries, because you're coming this is sort of a crossroads between the holds of Belkson and Varesia at a certain point. So it is artificial. No, they probably just shaped it from a stone that was already there. Would that be artificial? Yeah. They didn't bring it over from Sandpoint and plant it there.

No, but they carved it. A tree in LA. What a huge waste of time that would be. Aliens did not descend to build it. Like pyramids. That's probably what Barry would think. Yes.

If Barry was here, he would sing a song. Remember Barry. Does it have any dwarven runes on it? It does not. But yeah, you see the footpath leading clearly in the wrong direction and just woods in front of you. And it's not like so thick that you can't fit in there, but if you were to go in there... Can the just woods in front of you. It's not so thick that you can't fit in there, but if you were to go in there...

Can the mounts go in there? Sure. It's just going to be a little slower. But you just don't see a set road. Right. A little slower going. Well, it seems you've come to a bit of a crossroads here. And I, for one, am not that great at orienteering,

navigating my way through the wilderness, so I don't know if any of you are. I've not been trained in the arts of survival. I don't know how to track things very well. I'm usually paired with a ranger of some kind. Finally, we had one. I can try my hand at looking for a path, pathfinding, if you will.

Ooh. 23. 22, sorry. 22. Okay. Just kind of looking into the woods and seeing. You can see at least an area that looks the most trot. To call it a path would be a compliment.

But you see a way that you could go. Okay. That it seems other people have passed before. It seems other people have passed. It's very like, it snakes through the wood. Um, so I'm thinking of Hansel and Gretel and in no way do I

want to drive anyone's character. But I turn to Della and I ask her if she can leave marks on the ground for us. So we could find our way, like a breadcrumb trail, basically, in case we get lost. Mark the trees with a little chalk.

We could just do it ourselves, yeah. We could just do it mundanely, actually. So let's leave little markings as we go. You leave breadcrumbs and Lexington just eats them. Lexington! Put down that crumb. Lexington, I thought you only ate potatoes. I think it was peanut butter. Yeah.

He has to keep calling them over and offering peanut butter to get them to stop eating the breadcrumbs. So let's leave some sort of trail, some sort of marking in case we get lost. Yeah, I like it. Cool. Let's mark the trees as we go by. Yeah, I like it. Cool. It was like Mark the Trees.

Yeah. I would like to trot Lexington up to kind of the very edge of the forest there before we step on this path and just kind of detect evil. And I can see about 60 feet in. You feel a very strong presence of evil directly behind you. That's why I walked in front of the party. It's really beaming off of them. Hello? You turn around and Nestor's just standing there smiling. I turn around like, Nestor, could you turn it down

a bit? I'm trying to get a reading here. Sorry, I'll fake a kitten. I didn't realize how hard detect evil is going to be from now on. Yeah, seriously. You're like 11. Yeah. You do not detect any evil in front of you in the woods. Okay, so there's no aura of evil just hanging around.

Okay. I can walk in the lead as well. I have a good stealth score. I can try to stealth, but not range 200 yards ahead like Lorquan's did. Okay. All right, so you guys head in. Yep. We head in.

Okay. All right, so you guys head in? Yep. We head in. And you can see that, you know, with Baron's good survival role there, there is a really overgrown trail. And eventually you see little small weather-worn stone markers placed every hundred feet or so. Like Karen stones. I don't know what that is.

Exactly what you just said. Yeah, they're the little stones that are piled up. Somebody put them there, but you don't know who, and they're kind of scattered throughout as you go. Karen stones. Karen. Karen. Oh, as opposed to he went to Jared. Yes. Right. She went to Karen. Or the well-known

actress Karen Stone. Ah, Right. She went to Karen. Or the well-known actress Karen Stone. Ah, yes. You see Karen Stone sitting along the side of the roadway. Hello! Looking for an Arkham Steelhands 2?

It's that-a-way! I'm looking for work. Harder and harder for an aging actress in Hollywood, you know. So, you follow these stone markers along and eventually, and it's not a straight path. You're winding through here.

And eventually you get to a high and lonely plateau overlooking the source of a river. Ah, Amon Sul. And it's very beautiful. And the leaves have all begun changing color. And you kind of look down on the forest below you every color of the rainbow

is there it's rather beautiful the music seems rather ominous that's because I don't believe Troy you're supposed to play what I'm saying play what you're anticipating and then a giant dragon comes out of the sky You're supposed to play what I'm saying, but play what you're anticipating. And then a giant dragon comes out of the sky!

Jump on my back! Willamette is, he does pay tithings to Shailen, so he's super into beautiful scenery like this. He's way into it. So if there was any time along the way that they were stopping, he would try to write poetry about it and be awful at it. Take if there was any time along the way that they were stopping, he would try to write poetry about it and be awful at it. Take a photo on his iPhone.

I must Instagram this. Later, Graham! Upon reaching the plateau, the trail heads into a secluded wood of pale silvery aspens with golden leaves

swaying slowly in the brisk and chilly mountain breeze. And that's where the trail goes. If we can still follow it, I say we follow it. Do you want another survival check or anything? No, you're pretty clearly following a trail. So you have this moment of stillness looking over this beautiful scenery, and then you descend from the plateau down this trail into this wood. Those aspen leaves are just gently rustling, glistening, glittering,

like the pale golden embers of a forge fire, for you flavor text lovers out there. And the wood is very peaceful and quiet. I would think Della would find this very tranquil and beautiful. Why, because she's a woman? Yes. You fucking showbiz. No, because she spent her time

halfway in a tree for years. Got a lot of memories about that tree. This would be like PTSD for you, being around all these trees. Beautiful. And you are in this glade. Wow. Okay.

And there still seems to be these stones, or the stones have stopped? The stones continue. Okay. Can I look for tracks at some point? Tracks, sure. Go ahead. 50.

No, animal tracks, sure. Nothing that looks out of the ordinary. Can we look up in the air around us? Is there anything large? Sure, you look up and you see the boughs of the trees, golden leaves, sunlight coming through. I mean, really picture this. The covering of leaves on the ground,

the sunlight coming through these bright golden leaves is just casting this glow over the area. It's very beautiful. And Joe's sirenscape work here, this is exactly what you hear. I know exactly because growing up in Colorado And, I mean, Joe's sirenscape work here, this is exactly what you hear. I know exactly because growing up in Colorado, as I did, that's what we do around this time of year is go up in the mountains and see the aspens turning.

And I know exactly what you're talking about. And look for the tomb of famed giant killers. Well, on the weekends. Yeah, I mean, that's exactly what this is. And so it's very beautiful. I mean, to me, fall is my favorite, so I want to be transported to this scene. Do you guys just keep continuing?

I'm going to just do a perception check, just looking around. 19. Everything. Nothing out of the ordinary. And then I'm'll have lexington do a little uh scent a survival check with scent just to see if there's anything fishy smelling on the path or anything if he notices anything uh 18 you can tell he smells you know animals um nothing out of the ordinary nothing out of the ordinary. You guys continue walking?

Yes. Where's everybody standing? Are you standing in a straight line? Are you guys sort of riding side by side? I sort of imagined us in a straight line with Baron in front and Willamette right behind him. That's sort of what I imagined. Baron, Willamette. And all mounted, right?

Nestor, Della. Della's behind Nestor so she should keep an eye on him. Perfect. Enter. Ingrahild. So I have Baron, Willamette, Nestor, Della, Ingrahild, and Umlo. Kind of straight lining it. Got it.

Okay. And we're all mounted, correct? Yeah. Okay. All right. So you guys continue through through and all of a sudden Baron's horse triggers

something and you see a rustling of the leaves and all of a sudden and then chain reaction on all of you. Roll for initiative. Oh, no.

Oh, man. Roll, Ricker. Oh, fuck. Roll, Ricker. Roll, Ricker. Roll, Ricker. Roll, Ricker. Roll for initiative.

Yay. We did it. All right. All right. All right. What did everybody get? Anybody over 20? Nope.

Just waiting for the people who are over 20. Baron, what did everybody get? Anybody over 20? Nope. Just waiting for the people who are over 20. Baron, what'd you get? 16. 16. Anybody higher than 16? 18 for Della. 18 for Della. What's your bonus?

Just kidding. Okay, Nestor? 10. Will limit? 10 for me as well. I have no bonus. Okay. All right.

This is all happening in succession. In the... A slate shard comes... A slate shard? Comes flying. What is that? At... You know what?

It's actually... Because you're all mounted, there's a 50% chance this is either gonna hit you or your horse if it hits. So I am going to roll a percentile die for every single one of you

to see who it hits. First one, 99. Hits Baron. Well, you tell me. 23 to hit. That is a hit. Alright, let's see who else gets hit before I go into the specifics. Willamette. Willamette or Lexington? Willamette. 96.

Okay, I am going to immediately drop to Lexington's side. So, like, slide down to the side in order to try to get cover from the attack. Okay. So you just roll to hit and I roll an opposed ride check. Okay. 25 to hit. 25. Fail. So it hits.

One shard goes into Baron. One shard goes into Willamette. Nester hits Nester's horse 24. Hits Nester's horse. Twenty-four hits Nestor's horse. And then Della sixty on the dot.

Della's gonna do the same thing and do the ride check for cover. Okay. Fail. Yeah, I rolled like a thirty-four. Wow. Ingerhold's horse gets hit and Umlo's horse gets hit,

and Umlo's horse gets hit, of course. Jeez. So Nestor comes off scot-free, but his horse and Ingrihold and Umlo's horse gets hit. Okay. First things first. All three of you roll a Fortitude save. Oh, shit. Fortitude save. Oh, shit. Fortitude save.

Natural 20. 23 for Della. Willamette has a strong constitution. 19 for Nestor. Nestor's good. He didn't get hit. Oh, right. Okay. 9, unless it's against poison. It is poison.

11. 11. Really, really did it Baron takes 7 points of damage and more hold on Willamette I almost said Lork takes 6 points of damage Della takes 5 points of damage

Willamette and Della save on the poison Baron takes points of damage. Willamette and Della save on the poison. Baron. Baron. Takes two points of dex damage. Oh no. And is paralyzed. Oh shit.

Oh my god. Dex damage. Dex damage. Oh wait, no, that's not as bad, right? I thought drain was worse. Drain is worse, but it's still... One heals naturally, like a not as bad, right? I thought drain was worse. Drain is worse, but it's still... One heals naturally, like a point a day, and one you have to cast spells for.

We do have potions of Lester Restoration. For such an occasion. Yeah, I was going to say, we have no cleric! Baron, two points of dex damage, and is paralyzed on his horse! So does that require a ride check? I was going to say he's going to fall from the saddle.

Well, that was just the surprise run. All right, so now this is what happens. Della, you're up. This is all happening very quickly. So what do I see?

You just see a... They came out of the woods. Whatever this was, just chain reaction of traps. From the side? From the... From the trees.

But I don't... Can I just roll a perception to see if I see any living enemy? 15. You see no living creatures. Whatever just happened must have been tripped

through walking and came all through the trees. A very intricate trap setup. Tell us what's going to hold. She doesn't see an enemy. It's like having Chinese stars being thrown at you. Okay.

They're not Chinese. Ninja stars. Racist. Chauvinist. Who is hosting our show? Baron. Roll a fortitude save. Fail.

Oh. fortitude save fail oh uh take three points of dex damage oh my god and the dc has now gone up additional or it's just additional oh my god oh jesus this is the situation. This is very, very bad. And still nothing else. I didn't realize in looking at this trap. It says I can only take mental actions when paralyzed, but can I shit my pants? You can. Okay, I just wanted to make sure. I'll allow it.

You know what? I'll allow it. Can only take mental and peristaltic actions. Rules as interpreted. Ingrihold and Umlo jump off their horses and start tending to the horses because the horses have been poisoned as well. And the horses are already old and decrepit.

Nestor, you're up. This is just all happening really, really quickly. Okay, I'm going to dismount and ready my bow and make a perception check to see if I can see anyone threatening us. 28. 28, no, but you do know that

that stuff was coming from the trees and it wasn't, it was definitely a trap. There was no, like, person throwing this. You're 100% sure of that, whereas Della was like, you think it came from there? You know that this was a trap. There was no person throwing this. You're 100% sure of that. Whereas Della was like, you think it came from there? You know that this was a trap. A perimeter trap.

Okay. Willamette. It's a trap! I yell. Okay, I'm just going to do a perception check to see if I see anything. 18? Nothing.

Still nothing. Yeah, you know as much as Della knows. Baron's got to be just like, everything's slowing down. Yeah, and he's right in front of me. Yeah. I've probably fallen off the horse at this point. And you see Barron's got to be just like, everything's slowing down. Yeah, and he's right in front of me. Yeah. So. I've probably fallen off the horse at this point.

I have zero strength, zero dexterity. Yes, you have. I meant to do it on your actual turn, but yeah, you are. My boot might be stuck. You know, this is all happening very quickly, so you're starting to fall off your horse. Okay. Well, if Del sees that, she'll act right after you. Okay, well, if he's starting to fall off the horse,

Willamette is going to ride up next to where he's about to fall, and he's going to do total defense for a round just to see if anything else is coming out. And then once he hits the ground, he'll tend to him. He's going to hold over Baron, basically, with his sword and look around and make sure nothing's going to come at him since he's lost since he's paralyzed these are the lessons

of our battle with Malira right that's the first time we forgot about total defense it's Della's turn unless you want to jump in the initial it's your turn

it's the top of the new round oh it's my turn I mean I don't see anything I mean right now the major what's going through your head as a player what's the problem right now on the scene I mean she doesn't see anything. I mean... Right now, the major... What's going through your head

as a player? What's the problem right now in the scene? I mean, she doesn't see a threat. She sees Baron, you know, slumping off his horse. She sees Willamette go up

and, you know, help him. Umlo and Ingerhild are, like, tending to their horses and their horses are starting to... knees buckling.

So the only ones around to... The only ones who are paying attention to any additional threat are me and Nestor. This is what brings people together. Situations like this. She barely has power lines.

Who does she ask? She's going to ready an action. If she sees a threat, she's going to whip it good. Whip it good. All right, Perrin parent roll another fortitude save oh boy I don't have my regular dice today either by the way

the drain doesn't matter while I'm paralyzed it'll matter after I'm unparalyzed because I have zero dex right now wait you're at zero dex? when you're paralyzed you have zero dex there you go that's a 27. Luckily, the cure for this one was one save.

So you are no longer suffering the effects, but you're still down five dex. Oh, jeez. Oh, my God. He does... He will... I just looked up. You will heal one per day, plus we have spells... We have potions of less restoration.

So that's what damage is. Damage, you heal one per day. Yeah. Drain, magical healing. I'd love one of those potions of less restoration. So that's what damage is. Damage, you heal one per day. Yeah. Drain, magical healing. I'd love one of those potions. We'll look that up a little more. So you look down at your arm, Baron, where this shard hit you, and it's just got, like, amber.

Ambergris on it. Ambergris? Not ambergris, but... A whale's vomit? Gangrene? Honey, sort of like a nectar sap? yeah just seeping out of your wound

and you feel but it's fine a gunslinger doesn't need dex oh man I'm sure I'm so funny so yeah that just happened and once Baron triggered that first

trap chain reaction and the only difference between damage and drain is how it restores itself I think so I think drain will not drain does not heal you can have temporary naturally and if you don't fix it within 24 hours it becomes permanent

I think it's something along those lines like drain can only be cured with restoration yes yeah so i go to pick myself up off the ground and i i stumble again like i'm not as as as quick on my feet right the end and the paralysis is slowly coming back but you're not like oh i'm 100 now like it's not like, oh, I'm 100% now. Like, it's... Got a dart in your neck. Okay, so that is what you see. And Nestor knows from his perception this is like they set up some sort of trap,

they, whoever they is, around the perimeter... Of something. Of something. Yeah. Oh, dear. We seem to have stumbled across the perimeter of something. I don't see anyone around. Do you, love?

Are you talking to me? Yeah. I'm sorry. Don't mean to get too familiar yet. It's only been a week. It's only been a week, after all. I see nothing. Right, well...

Sir Willamette! What do you see? My lady, my eyes do not serve me well. I do not see any threat in front of us here. I say we move along. The longer we stand here, the more we are at risk.

I agree with that. Can I do a quick perception, since I've been unparalleled? Sure. That is a 28. So what are you looking for specifically? I was looking for the origin of these traps, where they lead to,

and again, if anything that was unseen by my compatriots wasn't seen, but specifically that. Sure. So they've already looked and seen no immediate threat. You want to look at the source of this and you think, I'm up on a horse. There's nothing I did. So you look down to where the horse's hoof is, and there's a trip wire there.

And if you sort of lift it up and run it, it goes up into the trees. And as you can see in your dwarven mastery of how things work, engineering, that there's an intricate trap that was all triggered so that if one triggers, it all triggers. And did we get all of them? I look like along the general line. Did all of them trigger or are there more that

could possibly go? It looks like, well, I should be clear, when these things all started shooting, a bunch flew by you and missed. Yeah. So you would think that it probably needs to be reset manually for all of these to work. So you would think that it probably needs to be reset manually for all of these to work. But you should be like,

we're probably fine at 15 feet as well. You want to be careful. This is Nestor's area of expertise. So he wants to take a really close look at this and say, oh yeah, I'll show you how that works. That's brilliant. And then I want to fuck it up.

I want to disable the device, to sabotage it completely. Okay. And that's something you can just do. I mean, you have knowledge of that. Yeah, I mean, I could take a 20 and... Try to go up in the tree and really fight it. So whoever made this is going to have

a real pain in the ass time. Yeah, yeah. Fixing it. Yeah. Okay. And then Willamette is going to tend to Baron. So he's going to say,

Baron, come here. And ask him his symptoms, what's the feeling. Was that Lork? I stick my tongue out. It wasn't Lork. Is Lork back? Baron, come here. He's been following us this whole time. I knew he'd leave. I couldn't leave you. I stick my...

He comes swinging out of a tree shirtless I stick my tongue out for the doctor Yeah so he has some experience treating field wounds and stuff like that he has a heal skill

and has and obviously some magical healing abilities so he's gonna look Baron over and he tells him he's like I can take care of you Baron I just need some time to pray and focus my divine energies

on healing your damaged dexterity. Tomorrow, I will be able to help you. I appreciate that, and I know that Yomadai is a friend of Torek. Yes, yes, she is. Now, I suggest that you don't get yourself into too much trouble today. Let's take it slow and be careful. As your AC is lowered. Significantly.

You think I should pop one of these potions ahead of time? You think you... I feel pretty shitty. You do whatever you like. I did not know you had potions, so by all means. I'll pop one and do a 1d4. All right, so this is a potion of restoration you roll 1d for to try and heal of the five damage let's

see how much you get oh it seems my services will not be required and you'll heal the next one right overnight overnight all right so now you're only down one dex and one potion. I just couldn't go through a day. That's a good use of that potion, though. 100%. Della turns to Nestor and says, Seen how they work now, Coin. Why don't you take the lead?

Are you sure you trust me? No. Oh, I see. That's why you want me in front. She shrugs. Right. Well, fine with me. I'm good at that, you know. I'm good at looking. I can spot traps pretty well. So, yeah, I think it's a smart move, actually.

As a matter of fact, I was about to suggest it myself. Come on, this way. Nestor rides up. Oh, by the way, did Nestor and Baron name their horses? Ingridhild named hers about to be a daddy. Yeah, this one's going down. My horse is actually named Dustin Hoffman in honor of the horses that were killed on the filming of Luck.

So we'll call him Dusty. Dusty. That's a perfect name. Excellent. Mine's Buttercup. Buttercup and Dusty. Butter that's a perfect name Dusty excellent mine's Buttercup Buttercup and Dusty Buttercup Buttercup, Dusty, Reginald and Lexington

Daddy Daddy one and Daddy two but no I rolled the fortune save for Ingrid Hilton and those horses and they're both down decks it took them three rounds to cure so the horses are almost completely useless

so they're walking they're walking their horses or just dragging them by a horse. Yeah, they're dragging their horses. Come on, girl! I've got them on a sledge. Dragging them through the woods.

We'll catch up with you. Baron just walks up and shoots both of them in the head. They shoot horses, don't they? head They shoot horses don't they? They shoot horses don't they? It never gets easier Alright so Nestor takes the lead

Followed by Baron, Willamette, Della Ingrid and Mumlow Walking their horses You guys continue on And Nestor is very careful To make sure there are no other traps. Sure enough, you don't see any others. And then the aspen wood begins to thin

and forms a small clearing that you can see through the trees with a large granite obelisk in the distance. It looks to be covered with runes. Baron would notice, even from 60, 70 feet away. Are they legible to me? Not from where you are. You're definitely up close. We've got to get close to read that.

There are two pillars flanking a small, dark archway leading inside the obelisk. Wow. Above the pillars, the symbol of a clenched fist is carved into the stone. That's Torag, right? It is indeed.

A strange structure resembling a tent of shimmering gray webs woven through logs and whatnot, surrounds the obelisk. It looks very deliberate. Webs, logs, like a canopy covering this obelisk. Archway leading inside.

Let me bring out the map. We haven't had a map in four weeks. It's been a while okay so that's what you see the opening to this obelisk

appears to be you know 30 feet away 35 feet away at this point there's trees surrounding the obelisk and then this

strange web-like structure above it symbol of a clenched fist and dwarven runes that Baron is salivating to try and look at. Willamette is going to say a prayer under his breath and just detect evil on the facade or on the runes, in particular to see if there's any evil etchings in there, though he doesn't expect to find any.

He wants to see if it's a trap of some kind. Detect evil. You do detect the presence of evil. Really? Oh, that's me. Sorry. I was picturing it like the aliens, the motion detector. Yeah. It's like, wee-wee. It's like,

they're inside the room, man. How can that be? Alright. So, yeah, Willamette's going to say, friends, I believe we have some evil inside the room, man. How can that be? All right. So, yeah, Willamette's going to say, friends, I believe we have some evil presence lingering here. Baron says, but by Torag's grace,

we will persevere. And he pulls from the back of his beard a braid that he usually keeps back and it has a ring in it, which is something devotees of Toreg keep within their accoutrements in order to be identified as a follower. And you wrap it, or you clasp it around your beard?

I just pull it out. Normally it's in the rear, because I want to be as unassuming as possible. I don't want my bling out. And you said the symbol is a symbol of Toreg? Yeah, it's pretty obviously a symbol of Toreg. Baron would be like Toreg. Could I roll perception on the webbing?

Sure. Isn't Toreg a hammer? I'm going to do the same too. Toreg is a hammer. I don't see shit. 23. 23. Perception. The webs are connected into the boughs of the trees

without being directly underneath them. It just looks like an artificial tent was built covering this obelisk. And the obelisk is 100 feet tall. Does the webbing reach all the way to the top of the obelisk or it's just around its midsection? It starts around the midsection and then slowly wraps up. Okay.

Can I detect magic on the obelisk, or are we too far away? You're probably a little too far away, but you don't detect any magic in the vicinity. Okay, and you said there seems to be a hallway going into it? There is an archway leading into the obelisk. Okay, so Willamette will turn and say, should we call them out here for a talk or are we going in stealthy? Well, I don't think they're friendly,

being as they set up that nasty little trap back there. But if we can get them out here and they open, I think that'd be better for us. What do you say, Sheriff? Do we draw them out or do we go in? I don't like sneaking up on people, but I do like executing a well-made trap, much as we just fell into. So if we can figure out a way to jury-rig this outside to pincer attack them

or something along those lines, I'm all for that. But I'm also happy to sneak up in there, whatever the party would like. I'm inclined to draw them out. Della nods for approval. All right, and Willamette is going to ride Lexington up to within about 15 or 20 feet of the front of the door. And I've got my old jolter out,

and I'm ready. I'll bring you in action. If I see anything, I'm going to shoot it. All right. Ready to action by Nestor with his bow. So Willamette just kind of turns Lexington slightly to the side, and kind of looking into the door,

he just, you know, basically calls out, Ho there! We have sprung your trap and survived it. And we are now outside quite obviously show yourselves and there will be now you see why he got transferred show yourselves and there will be no need

for force roll a perception check. Perception. Six. You're nothing. Nothing. Have we dismounted, or are we still mounted, by the way? I'm dismounted. I'm dismounted. Alright, I'll be dismounted, too.

I love how an angry hild are obviously dismounted. They finally caught up with you I look at Nestor, I give him an eye and I say Come on And we just walk up on either side And I'm asking Nestor to help me Look for traps on the way up to the entrance Okay, so you guys come

I want to look at them runes If nothing's happening after that Do you follow Nestor? Yeah, a little bit behind This is your final warning Show yourselves or we are entering happening after that. Della will back up. Do you follow, Nestor? Yeah, a little bit behind. This is your final warning. Show yourselves, or we are entering uninvited. Della will approach as well. Della approaches.

She'll try to get near Willamette. Perception, 17 overall, 20 against traps. Okay, you don't see any traps, but you do hear a rustling in the bushes

to your left. I immediately train my bow on those bushes. Say, we've got friends here. I draw my longsword and turn Lexington toward the bushes. Turns those bushes, okay. Baron, what are you doing?

If I'm alerted of these bushes, I point my pistol at it. Okay, and I'm low in Ingrahild, in awe of the sight of what could very well be their ancestor's tomb, are, like, slowly approaching, and they also go towards those bushes, slightly behind you guys. And all of a sudden, a creature that looks like this.

Oh, it's an Ettercap. Comes running out at you. What is an Ettercap? From the bushes. They're like spider creatures. Spider people. Thus the webs. They're humanoid spider things.

Thus the webs. Behind Baron, another one comes out. And then two spiders fall out of the webs. Oh, shit. Roll for initiative. Oh, this is ugly. This is ugly. Roll, Rick and roll. Natural 20.

Roll for initiative. Oh, fuck yeah. Oh, man. Combat. Instantly surrounded. Hungry for combat. Combat. Instantly surrounded. Hungry for combat. Okay. Who's got over 20?

27. Della's got a 27. 29. 29 for Nestor. And I also had a ready action. You do. Anybody else in the 20s? Okay.

Baron. 18. 18 for Baron. and Willamette 15 15 surprise round who Nestor at a cap one all right I. I fire all jowl at the first at a cap. Flat-footed AC. Ooh. That is a 33 to hit. Yeah. That's going to hit.

Nestor's first attack in this game. So that's with sneak attack damage. And the electricity damage from my bow. That's 22 damage. Shh. What? and the electricity damage from my bow, that's 22 damage. What? What is it? Old Jota.

The old Jota, my daddy used to call it. Well, no, he wasn't around when I got here, but he would have called it that. So I'll call it that. Round one, Nestor again. All right. around when i got it back he would have called it that so i'll call it that uh round one nester again all right um so i am going to as a swift action study the target so i'm going to take a take a brief second that's like terminator just like look at this yeah, it's got a little bit of a gap in his natural armor right under the arm All I'm gonna do deadly aim also So that's

23 hit yes and That'll be 26 damage so you guys come up willamette can't really get a sense of what's happening nester comes up here's a little rustle in the bushes trains his bow on it this thing comes out kills the inner calf yeah that's why you bring along a criminal. Yeah. And with my second attack, I'm going to train my bow on the spider next to me. Right. Clear shot on the spider.

Yeah. Actually, you know what? Yeah, I'm gonna do that. 20. 20 hits. And 25 damage. And you kill that spider.

Yes! Oh my god. Boom! Boom, boom, boom. Good round there for Nestor. Della, you're up. What would be the appropriate knowledge check on the Endercap?

On the Endercap? I think that's knowledge local. Yeah, I believe it's a humanoid. I'm gonna do knowledge local on the Endercap. I think that's knowledge local. Yeah, I believe it's a humanoid. I'm going to do knowledge local on the Endercap. Ten. You know nothing! Nothing! Della lights her scimitar on fire.

Okay. And begins to do a little shadow dance. Ooh! And inspires some courage. Oh, nice. Swift lights Scimitar on fire, dances to inspire courage. And then she'll move up to,

does she have enough movement to flank? Yep, there we go with Baron. Okay. Baron. With a spider right in his face, the size of Baron. Presumably Baron could see over Lexington, even on his mount, to see what Nestor just did, right?

To see what Nestor just did? Yeah, I mean, you've got a clear shot. You saw electricity bolt. Hot damn, nice shooting, Nestor. He's a man who appreciates a good ranged attack. And Nestor's just laughing. Did you see that? Got right in the neck all day.

Oh! He takes a five-foot step back. And with his first attack, we'll target the spider. Okay, five-foot step back. Targets the spider. And I'm going to rapid shot, so I'm going to get three shots out of this, and hopefully I can do some damage to both.

Inspire courage. Oh, wait a minute. New house rules, so keep that in mind. Oh, that's right. If you miss, roll a D100. Right. So then I'll target the Ettercap first. Boo!

Boo! All right, I'll target the spider. Yeah, kill Della. Eddercap first. Boo! Boo! Alright, I'll target the spider. Yeah! Kill Della! That's a 19. 29 to hit. That's a hit. That is 12 points of damage. With the Inspired Courage.

It's on. It's activated. Thanks, Hero Lab. 12 points of damage. Next attack. I'm going to activate my... I'm going to activate Up Close and Deadly. Hopefully, he'll be close to dead. Okay. Spider.

20, or 19. 19 hits. There you go. 15 plus 18 total damage. You just earned yourself a grip point back. Because it's dead too. Nice. Boom, this party is ready.

Woo. All right, Ettercap, it's time to make your day. He had a ton of hit points. I saw what Nestor did, and I don't think I can kill him with one bullet. Spoon, spoon. That is a 16 against Touch AC. 16 against Touch AC 16 against touch AC Hits That is 15 points of damage

15 points of damage You were correct He did not die But good volley And all of you rolled higher than my monsters Awesome Willamette you're up Willamette

This is exciting Willamette, you're up. Awesome. Willamette. Ooh, this is exciting. So he, yeah, Willamette is like snapping his head around like the enemies are just dropping right around and boom, boom, boom. He turns. Right. He turns. He sees one left, orients Lexington to face it, holds his long sword up in the air and is like, for the light and the sword! And charges at this Eddercap.

Joe, you have a great opportunity here. This is a new character. Start a new trend with your rolling. Right now, today. Let's start it right now. I feel it, man. Charges in, 25 to hit. Hits the Eddercap.

Yeah. . So you like charge past him or charge right up to him? I charge right past him. So it's called Ride by Attack. So I slice and I continue moving. Max damage. 18 points of damage.

And you kill the final enemy. Yeah! Get ready for that. 25. So you guys, the first Ettercap comes out. Second Ettercap comes out. Two spiders jump out of the webbing. Nestor's just like, kaboom, kaboom, kills the first Ettercap.

Kaboom, kills the spider. Bear, boom, boom, kills the other spider. Boom, weakens the Ettercap. Willamette comes in. Meanwhile, Della just Dancing all along And then all of a sudden A giant Black widow spider

Oh Comes out And we'll see you next week Oh my god We thought that was easy You just gave him A little taste Troy Just a little taste

Just a little bit of taste That's a meatball Give him a little taste, Troy. Just a little taste. Just a little bit of taste. That's a big one.