Tainted Grail | Ep. 1 | The Quest for Kamelot
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Welcome to Legends of Avantris.

Today we have a very special mini-arc sponsored by Studio Agaté. We will be playing their brand new game, Tainted Grail: Song of a Dying World. It is set in the Arthurian dark fantasy world of Avalon, where its people must resist a deadly fog and danger around every corner. Join us as we brave the weirdness and search for the Tainted Grail. Are you feeling good? Yeah. I feel great.

As I can be. It is night. A crescent moon hangs high in the sky over the farming village of Briarbrook. The settlement is very small, as are most in Avalon, consisting of only roughly 30 people. It is quiet around the smattering of simple cottages that make up the sanctuary. Inside one of the cottages, an old woman and her grandson prepare for bed.

Grandma, will you tell me a bedtime story? Of course, my child. Do you want to hear one about the Whispering Wood? No, no. I want to hear about King Arthur and Merlin. Again? Yes, please. All right, my child. Long ago on the continent across the sea, humanity lived in relative peace. That is, until the Red Death plagued our lands.

The brave King Arthur and his wizard Merlin set sail to find new lands and escape this disaster. After many years at sea, King Arthur found this island of Avalon. But when they arrived, they found a horrific fog that laid over this land called the Weirdness.

Living in the mists were all manner of mutated beasts and horrible giants called the Four Dwellers. They are at least well-feel and move like death itself. I don't care for this part, Grandma. Can you skip ahead? Of course, my child. King Arthur and his brave knights found these Four Dwellers were no match for the legendary warrior king.

Merlin the Wizard was able to unlock the mysteries of the Menhir Stones and use them to push back the terrible mists. Oh, that's like our statue right here in the village. That is correct, my child. The heroes secured this new land and carved out a place for humanity to thrive once again.

Unfortunately, years and years after King Arthur and Merlin passed away, the magics infused into the men here's stones began to dissipate, and the weirdness rolled back in with a terrible vengeance. And that's why we don't wander away from the farm, right? Very good. Merlin's secrets and knowledge were slowly lost to time,

So no one knows how to reignite the Menhir Stones back to their protective state. The people speak of a grail, one lost to time of course, that may one day bring back the legendary king and he will once again vanquish the foredwellers, driving back the mists and saving humanity. Wow, I hope we find the grail. What happens next, Grandma?

"Next is bedtime, my child. I will see you in the morning." Without protest, the young boy lays down, closes his eyes, and tries to sleep. The old woman quietly gets up, walks across the room to a small table where there lays a small carving knife and some wooden discs. As she passes a window, she looks out upon the giant stone statue on the edge of the farming village. From here, it doesn't look so large.

It is this village's Menhir Stone, withered with age and much like herself, knowing it won't last much longer. She sits down at the small table and continues her work of carving runes and symbols into these small wooden tokens. Several cottages down the road, there is another fire lit in the hearth. Inside of this public house, quite literally a pub, three men sit, enjoying simple ale, simple stew, and playing cards.

These men look like they might be a bit gruff, but they are generally seen together around town, around this settlement. It is not uncommon to see the three of them together. Their names are Balto, son of Kassan, Kristoff Reiner, and Jasper Dunnington. These are our players for this miniature arc. Players, what I would like you to do is one by one, whoever would like to go first, we're gonna introduce your character, you're gonna tell us your name, you're gonna tell us a little bit about your appearance,

We're going to talk about what color you chose in building your character and your occupation. And we're going to give an opportunity to explain to the audience our character sheets a little bit. So whoever would like to begin, we can start with those things. And I might ask you some other questions as we go along. I feel like Richie should go first. He's describing his character, knowing the system as well as he does, being our resident rules expert. So tell us your name. Well, the name's Christoph Reiner.

I'm a human as all folk are in this land. Stand about maybe six foot three. Slick back, black hair, big mutton chops and a mustache that comes down and around to attach. And I'm a soldier or was a soldier. Now I sit in this pub playing cards with me mates. I, my collar,

He's red. And what does that mean? Pulling back the veil into the mechanics of the game, my occupation is soldier and my color is red. And the color is your role in the party. There's not a direct mechanical benefit, but it's a wonderful way that the system encourages a well-rounded party, so you don't have a bunch of edgy assassins or you don't have a bunch of-- Why'd you put it in me? Well-- I'm just going left and right. Well-rounded narratively.

Yes. Well-rounded narratively, which is actually an excellent tool. It is the very first step of creating your character. And why don't you tell us a little bit about what red means to your character? So what red means is that red cherishes freedom. They're a little brash. They don't like being sort of tied down and sort of dealing with authority. You know, they're a bit of a free bird in a way. And...

I would say they're probably a little more laid back. They're not super driven to achieve some great grand goal. They're kind of your classic smuggler archetype, or a barbarian, or a highlander, or any character that sort of appreciates freedom and independence. You say your occupation is soldier. That is essentially your class. It helps determine what your statistics look like, what kind of bonuses you get.

Why don't you tell us a little bit about what led your character to lay roots in Briarbrook and why you might have an interest in this little farming village? So, well, the name is, again, it's Kristoff Reiner and I'm from not too far away from Camelot. And, you know, small village like all villages are. I joined the military young.

and I knew that I was good with a sword and I figured I could help protect the village of Kerrig and eventually I rose up and became the sergeant of the 8th Kerrig swordsman and the crown would send us to fight their wars and the old sorcerer Mordred up in Crows Nest he's some unnaturally alive hundreds of years

And while we were up there fighting, we got word that a commander of one of his rook knights was captured. And the eight swordsmen were to escort him back to Camelot for trial. We got waylaid on our way back. And to keep a long story short, we were tricked by one of the Raven King's necromancers.

He summoned a great undead worm and wiped out my entire regiment, except me. I was a lone survivor. I knew I couldn't go back. So I became a sellsword, mercenary of sorts. And I worked my way down south, earning coin to defend folks, kill monsters, or kill people if the coin was right.

and eventually came down with a nasty illness and found my way here to this village and me mate Balto nursed me back to health and I figured you know what I'm tired I'm an old man the ripe old age of 42 so I figured why don't I stay a while

Well done. I think that's a perfect segue for Balto to go next. After we get through the next two characters, I'll talk a little bit more about the character sheet and things like that before we move on to the next part. Please. Tell us your name. Tell us a little bit about what you look like, your occupation, and what would have led your character to lay roots here in Briarbrook. My name is Balto. I'm very tall and broad-chested.

I have large beard that hangs down halfway or so. Almost red but mostly just light brown hair. And I do not come from Avalon. I am not from here. I am from across the sea where I found death. It was where I was born. But of course I...

Tried my best to survive with my family and I tried to survive the Red Death. But the plague, it is always present. It is always there. I am going to pause there before I describe the remainder of the reason why I brought myself to Briarbrook. Sure. And say that I am a brown healer.

Brown being my color and healer being my occupation in the game. I know much about the natural remedies. Why is that important? Brown is the seeking of knowledge sort of flavor of class or narrative role that one would play. Curiosity,

learning wisdom or facts or really anything, but really that it's the thrust towards knowledge that defines that and typically it would benefit you in going in sort of a magical direction if you wanted to start experimenting with some of the low magic systems in the game. You might be able to do some of the equivalent like level one cantrips and level zero cantrips and level one spells and stuff like that in the game. That was not Balto's path.

Instead, of course, he was drawn towards the natural world. And so his nature of healer is very much literally finding herbs and crushing other substances and creating, you know, using vinegar and milk and these kinds of substances to produce medicinal recipes, which is what he did on the shores of the

continent beyond the islands of Avalon that we find ourselves on and once he arrived. Eventually I have to leave. I have to go. I have to leave. I cannot stand the violence of the plague anymore. It made me do terrible things and I want to see if I can find peace. So I leave and I go to Avalon with great cost.

but I am not welcome when I arrive. I try to trade my skills of medicine and remedies, but I am made fun of for my strange ways and my accent until I find my way to Briar Brook, where they take me in. They are welcoming here. And this is where I stay and do my best to redeem myself for the

pain I had to inflict to flee the Red Plague. Well done. Mikey, tell us a little bit about your character. Start with your name, the color you chose when you were building your character. Explain a little bit of what that means. Tell us your occupation, what your character looks like, and what led you to lay roots here in this tiny farming village. My name is Lord Jasper Wah-- I mean, not-- My name is Lord Jasper Dunnington.

I am a gray ruler by occupation, but you will see as I play cards the man of 42 years old, dirty blonde hair, shoulder length, but some pulled back into ponytail. At my side is a crossbow and a cane. My leg is, one of my legs is twisted, and I wear a

padded doublet over which I wear very simple armor of boiled leather and above that I wear a surprisingly nice, uh, surcoat of purple with heraldry embroidered a black hydra. Uh, I...

I chose gray, which I can go into now. Gray is about the color of perfection and self-improvement, believing that humans can strive to basically achieve incredible things, and really it's self-improvement, very individualistic and greatness.

And that's really a big tenet with the perhaps, you know, the bordering on pride, at least for Jasper. What else was there to say about my occupation as ruler? Yeah, talk about what a ruler is. Yeah, so my occupation as a ruler is I am able to...

I am not much of a fighter, as we'll talk about in my backstory, but I am very much able to command leadership and inspire and command and give orders to my friends to help them in battle, as I really take a strategic view of the battlefield. So I have a... I lean towards tactician more so than the fighter or the healer of the group.

"Should I talk about my backstory?" "Yes, please. As much as you'd like to divulge." "Well, I figure that we all know each other, the audience may know, there's not much time to slowly drip out our backstories. So, House Dunnington was a-- from the southern kingdoms of Avalon, far to the south by the Grubwood, our ancestral castle and lands of Blackmont, our sigil of the Black Hydra.

We served, I served very loyally my liege lord House Mertonly, my liege lord Titus Mertonly. When I was a young man, I wished to be a knight until I, when I was a squire, I lost a tilt in a joust and my horse fell on my leg, my left leg crushing it.

shattering my dreams of being a knight, but I still was able to serve my liege lord by being a military advisor, tactician, strategist for House Mertonleigh, and I served as loyally as I could, but however, Titus liked to be in the front lines of battle, and he was smashed and slain by a great enemy.

leaving his young son not yet a man grown as the lord of House Mertonley. Young Benedict, shortly before his 16th name day, after giving the best counsel I could, was a great young man, but he died mysteriously. Some of the healers said it was a burst belly, some say it was a quick bout with the Red Death, but many accused me of poisoning the young boy.

After a petition to Camelot, I was stripped of my titles and my lands and I was exiled from the south, exiled from my castle. I lost everything and I wandered, losing myself in drink and misery until I was taken in by the good people of Briarbrook and found companionship in other broken men, such as my companions here.

Well done. Thank you. This is a perfect opportunity to talk a little bit more about the character sheet. In Tainted Grail, the character statistics are called ways. There are five of them. There is awareness, combativeness, conviction, creativity, and reason.

When you're creating your character, you use more or less a standard array of 1 through 5 to assign each of those points to a certain way. Those are further broken down into domains, such as under Awareness, things like Perception and Stealth, under Combattiveness, things like Close Combat and Feats. And you can kind of think of those as the categories with which we'll be making skill checks. We call them Resolution Tests here.

And so each of our characters have, each of our players have built characters and chosen the way that most accurately represents what they wanted to play. We have our soldier, we have our healer, and we have our leader, and their ways are reflected in the roles that they are looking to take. Outside of that, we will be getting into

other rules, how to make resolution rolls and how to conduct combat if and when those things arise. The only other very important thing at this moment is explaining survival points because that I think is important to know now rather than later, especially considering the twists. All of our characters here today, our players, have three survival points. Those are the only three survival points that they're going to get. They do not replenish on a long rest. They are extremely valuable. They allow you to do four different things.

And I'm just gonna tell you the titles of these things, I'm not gonna dive into all the details right now. Using a survival point, you can make a last ditch effort if you are dying in combat to do some pretty amazing things. You can ignore pain in combat or to escape or during some very high intensity moments. You can ignore torment or rout.

Routes is basically morale, things that can go awry while you're fighting. Torment is a mental kind of anguish condition that can be brought on by spending too much time in the weirdness or the fog. And lastly, you can choose to make a reroll. Very much like how we have done Twisted Fate in the past, the difference is that you must take the second roll regardless of if it is higher or lower. We join.

our three players. These three gruff older men sitting in this public house in Briarbrook as they enjoy some simple ale, some simple stew, and play cards like they often can be found doing on any given night. The three of you know the dire situation that surrounds Briarbrook. It is no secret

to the citizens and peoples of Avalon that the Menhir Stones are no longer functioning like they once did. Certain settlements and towns might have magic practitioners or perhaps a druid or an elder who has some magic knowledge about creating runes or risting that might help keep the weirdness and the fog at bay.

But without the Menhir stones, it is only a matter of time before every settlement, town, and city is ultimately engulfed by the weirdness, and humanity is doomed.

Now, the three of you know that Briarbrook is just a small farm, but these people opened their hearts to you. You've looked after them. You've looked over the town. You've protected their livestock from wolves. You've protected the small settlement from bandits. You come to Briarbrook with experience, knowledge, wisdom, and in the most unlikely of situations or scenarios, you found a home here.

You three have decided that you need to strike out from Briarbrook to attempt to either find a lead on lost knowledge that perhaps one of Merlin's descendants might have on how to reignite the power of this Menhir Stone, or maybe find a new location to move the residents of Briarbrook to. You're not sure. You know your best chance of a lead

is in the great city of Camelot, which is the largest city in Avalon, but you have a pretty rough journey ahead. There are valleys, forests, mountains, all manner of terrain between you and Camelot. Most of you have never been before. Some of you have experience walking through the weirdness and the fog. It is not an experience that you prefer to think about on more than one occasion.

It causes you distress. But you know what you must do on the eve of your grand journey while you sit in this pub and enjoy a pint with friends. Oh, Dunnington got me again. Well played. You should learn to quit while you're ahead. Well, I'll see if that knowledge sticks for the next hand. And I'll deal another hand. Thank you. Ah.

I think that we should reconsider our departure time. The sooner that we begin our journey, the fewer prying eyes there will be, fewer questions asked. Jasper, we've been planning this out for at least a week, and now you fucking tell us? I need more time to prepare my, uh, uh, remedies. They may not be as effective as, uh, ones with herbs, uh, more powerful, but I have more foraging to do.

You're right, you're right. It is the anxiety of the calm before the storm, the night before a battle. I mean, we'll hear you out. Hold on, you, if you have a... you're basically the smallest one of the group. If you have a suggestion, let's consider it. What do I know of our plans to leave? You know that the Avalon is a very tough place to exist.

Especially in a small community like this. There's a reason why on nights when you gather in the public house, you don't trade in coin.

The owners of this public house allow you to drink and eat for free. It's because of all of the wonderful things that you've done for the people of this settlement. That being said, knowing that your journey is so difficult, the tiny farm settlement pulled together resources to hire a mistfarer to lead you to Camelot, because you don't know the way.

And this Mistfarer, who is someone who will have lots of experience traversing the mists and the fog, the weirdness, will help keep you safe on the way there. You know Camelot is your destination because it being so populous, it's your best shot at finding a lead to help you achieve one of the two goals or perhaps find another solution that you hadn't even thought of. You know that the Mistfarer will be arriving in Briarbrook sometime in the morning

But ultimately, it will be up to you when you are ready to leave. You know that you'll have the morning, maybe even late morning, to prepare and do things that you need to do on your own. And that most likely there will be a small crowd of people who have grown very fond of you to see you off. Got it. I think if our Mistfarer, if he is not weary from his travels already, I am not concerned if...

I, or any of us, are recognized and we cause trouble. But these are good people here at Briarbrook. I would rather us be very far away from the sanctuary before any trouble is aroused. I'd much rather not have any danger be brought back here. Well, I mean, you made the plans we have to miss, Farrow. I suppose when he shows up, we can leave right away. And that being said, you know, if...

If the folks in Camelot put together who I am, you know, I suppose I could be court-martialed and executed. I was never formally discharged from the military, but... The 8th Carragh Swordsmen, we were a small regiment, and we're from a fucking bumfuck village. For as long as I served the Crown and fought for them, I've never stepped foot in Camelot proper. So, I think the odds are good no one's gonna know who the fuck I am.

Do you think that Camelot is as big as they say that it is? Oh, it's big. I've seen it from far off. I was a few hundred miles north of Camelot. You just go far enough south, you can see it. You can see the tops of the walls. Perhaps it will be easy to be lost in the city then.

That's my hope. I'm not too concerned about it. Should be fine. Well, I've never been to Camelot, but my fate was sealed by it. A letter with a wax seal. No proper trial. If that is any indication of what they believe in justice, then perhaps we have more to fear than we initially suspected. But I refuse to hide my arms, my family's crests,

Agreed. This is, uh...

A good place. Instead of wax seals that condemn, they use wax to make candles that shed light. And you share it with others. Well, do you think you can use some of your connections, maybe? Oh, if you have any connections. Once we're there. Yes, that is I know of. Of certain officials, and I had made many such correspondences, although I never made the trip myself. It was...

Long journeys on horseback were exceedingly painful for me and so I usually sent vassals and go-betweens. But I have been branded a turncloak. If not for these good people, I would have had no home at all. But I may be able to find a contact. We may be able to expedite our business in Camelot.

But I just pray that our Missed Farer is not needing a full day to recover before we leave. The longer we doddle here, the more anxious I get. The more that perhaps one wrong word to the wrong person, rumours spread quickly. Oh, if he's anything like any of the other Missed Farers I've met, he's grim and hardy. He'll be ready to leave the second he shows up.

"Love, one more round, please, and then cut us off. We've got important business in the morning." And this is a very common thing. This is what you do most nights when there isn't major work to be done, or after the sun sets and there's nothing left to be done. You congregate here, and this is what you do. You have the rest of the evening to do whatever you like before you return to your personal

lodging, wherever you might be staying, whomever you might be staying with. You are free to do what you want and prepare before bed for the morning and the journey in hand. You speak for yourself, Kristoff. Do not cut me off. You can cut them off.

The person who is behind the bar, he nods and understands and he waves over to his wife and signals another round to get ready for whomever wants it and doesn't want to be cut off. Thank you. I will also make this my last. I have some final preparations to do before I go to sleep. I planned it only...

can be harvested under the full moon. And it is important that I do this task before we go. Well, take all the time you need. I try not to get too blackout drunk before a battle. And if we're traveling and we get waylaid by the mists, we may be in for one. I'll be fine. And look at that, Reiner, you finally won a hand. Ha ha ha!

I don't know if I should read that as an omen, good or ill. You know, I think you just got one easy on me, Dunnington. I don't think I can remember the last time I won a hand. Well done. You'll get the hang of this game soon. It's only been how many years? If you drew the same cards I drew, I do not think any amount of strategy would account for luck.

With that, I down my ale very quickly. I think I'm going to bed. I don't stay up too late, lads. Well, we need you in fighting shape. We don't have the same problem, so... Be big and strong for tomorrow, will you, Mr. Reiner? You know it. Good night. See you in the morning. And I'll sort of stretch and get up, and I'll go back to probably some boarding house or wherever I'd be. Sure. Where I just have a room in the back of someone else's house, and I would...

I would just settle down for bed and maybe just sort of like get packed and ready to go before I go to sleep. Awesome. We won't have any ale on the road to numb the pain. Well, maybe we'll be able to find some fucking wine. Perhaps. I will have not as good as a dozen drinks, but I will have a little something for you each morning and night to make sure we make an easy journey.

You're a good man, Balto. I thank you. I will not deplete your reagents to the best of my ability. I make no promises. We will try to find alternative avenues should the need arise and should our fortunes be good, all mother willing, in Camelot. They will find you in the morning. I can always find a skin of cheap sour and that'll do the trick.

I nod and I will also say goodbye to the husband and wife who manage this public house. Maybe briefly chatting back and forth, checking in on...

Some ailment that I helped the husband with months and months and months ago. I'm sure it's fine now, but then I will exit into the dark streets of the village and Find my way back to collect my things for a night journey Yeah, you you have a brief conversation with the the couple that owns this public house and and they tell you that the recovery is coming well, they thank you again and

and encourage you to come back whenever. You have done so many great things for this small farming village and they thank you profusely.

I will linger for probably another hour. - Okay. - And I will, this will probably be something that Balto and Kristoff are used to, where basically I need like at least an hour alone at the end of the night. And I'll just drink very quietly, not causing any issue, and I will eventually, once I've, not belligerently drunk, but once I am very clearly

I'll grab my cane and I'll stand up and I will leave an extra coin on the table and just give the serving man a nod and then I'll make my way back to where probably another boarding house or a spare room of some, or maybe if there's a church, maybe wherever I would have been put up by the... There would definitely be a small cottage that would be designated for worship of the All-Mother. Yeah.

Maybe not a church like you would think that you've seen in the past, but definitely a small cottage building that is designated for religious worship. It is obvious to the people of this settlement that the three of you are friends, but it is also no secret that you are a man who enjoys his solitude from time to time. And so as much as people see you

with Balto and Kristoff, they equally see you as much alone, enjoying time, seeming to be in thought, maybe a little too in your cups, but never causing trouble. And still the people of this town have grown to have a fondness for you and the things that you've done for them.

Awesome, so wherever I would have at least a bed to sleep in, or just a space, I will lay my head down and, you know, maybe I'll, like, look out to see if there's, like, a

I don't know if this is, like, if you would have gone back, gathered your things, and then been heading out, but I basically would have, like, kind of kept an eye out for you while you go on your... I think I probably would have been beyond the village perimeter because I would have very quickly grabbed my harvesting tools and started making my way to wherever, uh...

Far out enough that I could find wilderness to get some materials, but not so far as to risk anything with the mist. Of course. You know that the mist and its intensity can change...

on a dime. You know this. It's something that you have grown to understand living in Avalon for as long as you have. That being said, what little power this farming village as Menhearstone has keeps the fog at bay for a several mile radius. There's enough of a reprieve from the weirdness where these people, they have

areas to plant their crops. There is a river that runs along this small town that doesn't seem polluted by the fog. It seems to be untouched as it flows. So you have your spots that you like to go to do your foraging, to do your looking for your different herbs and things like that.

Are you looking to do some sort of collection this evening? I'm endeavoring to find the last of an ingredient that I was hoping to keep. It's a good ingredient for...

a decoction. I have some, but I just used it up for the making of what I have in my pouch. Absolutely. So if I could, I would love to see if I could find this one flower, which is really the easiest to spot when it blooms at this time of night. Yeah, so this is something that you've done dozens, if not hundreds of times. You know where to look.

But I'm going to need you to make our very first resolution roll to determine whether or not you are able to find them, even though you know where to look, because this flower is a particularly difficult, you know, it only blooms in a certain time or you can only see it. So what I'm gonna need you to do is make a reason roll, and the way that this is going to work, we'll focus on natural environments. So my question to you is, do you have discipline in flora and fauna?

I do not. Okay, that's okay. So what's gonna happen is you're gonna roll a 1d10, you are going to add your way, which is reason, however many points you have in reason, and you're also going to add the domain of natural environment. That will give me two plus, uh, five for reason, two for natural environment, so I'm adding seven to, uh, I didn't...

It flipped out. Roll again. If it's cocked, roll again. Well, it's not cocked. It just went in a weird way. I'm going to go with a four because that landed. It was the intended roll. Four plus seven is eleven. Okay. Perfect.

You, again, have done this dozens if not hundreds of times. You go to where you know this flower to bloom, and before you are even immediately on top of it, you recognize the familiar almost bioluminescence that it has underneath of the moonlight, and you are easily able to collect maybe not as much as you would have hoped, but enough to maybe get you by for a few days and the start of your journey to Kemwok.

I'll snip off the pieces that I can, keeping the plant alive for future harvests. I'm hoping that that's going to be something that... I've endeavored to share this knowledge with the folks of the village and told them where this is. And so I hope that they find it too as I collect the plants. And then looking around for any wild animals to make sure, I turn and begin to...

the 30-40 minute walk back to town. Awesome. Because this is a 1D10 system, obviously the math works a little bit differently than a D20 system. And we have a difficulty threshold chart that I'm going to read out loud just so you get an idea of what we're looking for. Easy would be a difficulty threshold of 8. Standard is 11.

Complicated is 14, difficult is 17, very difficult is 20, exceptional is 25, heroic is 30, and superhuman is 35. So you have to think, if you only can add 10 from your roll,

You're getting 25 somewhere else to make a superhuman roll. Andy created a cheat sheet for us for all the rules, and it has a matrix of all those difficulty thresholds, but you didn't even include that. No, I left off from a fucking superhuman. This is like level one, level two adventure. We're starting off pretty low here, so there's absolutely no chance of anybody rolling heroic or superhuman. I walk into a cobweb, and I turn into cubes of meat. LAUGHTER

You walk directly into Lethica and you turn into cubes of meat. That's very funny. Okay, so you all find your way back to where you are sleeping for the evening. You've done whatever rituals you normally do before you go to sleep. And you have no issue falling asleep other than perhaps potential jitters for maybe going on an adventure for the first time in who knows how long for all of you.

Your lives have been relatively simple outside of the Stray Wolf, or the bandit who picked the wrong farm to attempt to loot. It is morning. The three of you awake, having slept fairly well. Some of you may be better than others.

The morning has arrived in which you know what you must do. You have the morning to prepare, to do what you want to do. Maybe you have your own morning rituals that you normally do. It would not be uncommon for you to maybe swing by the public house for a spot of breakfast. And you have time to do that this morning if you'd like, whether you meet your companions there or you go it alone.

But you know that even this early in the morning, as you begin to prepare for the day, you notice that some of these farmers and settlers are already gathering on the edge of town, awaiting the three of you to start your adventure. They don't seem in a rush. There's just a little bit of a buzz. There's an energy that floats around this farm that is unusual. There's a hopefulness.

that you might not always feel? I would have only gotten a handful of hours of sleep. I probably don't ever get much sleep, especially with the booze fucking up my circadian rhythm. Sure. I would have gotten up very early, and I think that before, you know, as soon as there's any kind of light at all, I'd probably...

basically go towards, if there's like a clearing and there'd be a tree where I would have like maybe had some kind of target and I would just be kind of loosing corals and basically practicing how fast I can reload and my cane kind of goes up further, although there's a handle down here, there's also a spot for my elbow where I can basically rest it and then reload and practicing my reloading and my aiming in order to basically

make sure that I'm ready for the potential dangers to come. Yeah, as you do this, it is clear that you are no stranger to this weapon, to this crossbow. It is something that might feel a little unnatural at first. You've defended the town, but those instances are so rare that you feel, as you stand in front of this tree and loose bolts into it,

Almost a sense of fluidity coming back to you. A remembrance of days of yore when you were younger. Maybe shortly after your accident when you had to take up this weapon instead of your preferred. But as you sit here, staring, focused on this tree, loosing one bolt into the other, it is an impressive display if anyone were to watch you do this.

I would be in the back room of whatever house I'm in. I would have gotten up a little early, still well rested, and start sharpening my sword. And maybe putting a little bit of oil on it to maintain it.

And once that's done, I would sheath it and throw my shield on my back and go out into the morning air. Awesome. Yeah, you do. It is an actually pleasant morning. It almost seems as if the All-Mother herself is smiling down upon you and granting you some sort of good fortune for the times ahead for your future journey.

I will be up around the same time and knowing that this particular villager that I want to visit probably won't be able to leave the house to join us in the farewell gathering.

I will go and see the sick child that I've been looking after for a few months. There's been some turns and some hard nights, but this will be the last time that I get to make the tea that I have been making them a remedy. And things seem to be getting better.

I've taught his parents this information and endeavored to show them what herbs to use in what order at what levels of maturity. But I would go there to make sure that he's all right and make the tea, make sure that it's drank in full. And then once I see that it's sort of the flush returns to his cheeks,

Only then would I finally get my remaining items and find myself to the borders of town. Yeah, this is a ritual that you've done regularly now for as long as you've needed to since this poor young boy has fallen ill.

You've passed your knowledge on to his caretakers, his parents, to make sure that they can continue to administer treatment while you're gone. You may have even prepared batches of tinctures ahead of time to help them out, to add to the tea, in addition to showing them how to brew it. And you're hoping, by your calculation, that this young man shouldn't be ill for too many more days or weeks long. And you are confident

that you have left them, you have equipped them with the knowledge that they need to make sure that this boy is okay. You all take your time doing these things in the morning as you head towards the edge of town where this small group of settlers await you. As you walk up to them,

There are greetings, smiles, pats on the back, hands offered to be shaken. You accept them. These are people that care about you. They've seen the things that you do for them and they know beneath the gruffness that you are good people and they are happy.

that you are bringing them a chance to continue to potentially live here in Briarbrook or find a new settlement, a new place to grow crops and bring salvation to these people. They are... there's a hint of sadness as they know that you must leave though. A conflicted feeling, this hope and this sadness. But they know what must be done. As you look out farther from the town,

you see a small figure walking towards the village. It's hard to entirely see what they're wearing, but it's clear that they have travel clothes, some light makeshift armor, a hood, and you know that that is most likely your Mistfarer waiting. He doesn't seem to be in a rush. He knows what needs to be done, and he's waiting for you to say your goodbyes. As

These people all wish you well and tell you each how sad they are that you have to part. One by one, they wish you well and they go back to their homes, to their daily duty to prepare for the day because even though you are leaving, life here in Briarbrook must go on. One by one, the crowd begins to thin and they all part except for one, a small,

ancient old woman that you know by the name of Sasha. She walks up to you, broad smile on her face, and she says, My boys, I am so proud of you. You have done such great things for Brinerbrook, and I cannot wait to see the success of your journey. Sasha, it is an honor.

We, uh... We have perhaps done deeds here in town, but it is small in comparison to what Briarbrook has done for us. For me. You, uh... If we get to Camelot and return with some solution, then maybe we have done great. Yeah. Don't give us credit until we've actually solved the problem.

But if the old mother wills it, we will return with good tidings. We don't need credit. And frankly, I mean, since I sort of settled here just doing things that aren't for gold because I need to, it's been nice because I want to be here.

So again, like old Dunne can say, we don't need credit, but I will take that muffin. Oh, thank you. She smiles warmly and she looks at you and she says, Oh, Christoph, my strong boy, here. And after you've taken the muffin, she goes into her pack and she pulls out a small bindle. I did bake some extra goods for you on your trip. Oh, I knew you would.

I do not want you to be hungry, but you must share with your friends. Oh, all right. She hands you the bindle, and as you take it, she puts one hand over your hand and says, Inside the bindle, there is a little extra something for you. I can't wait to see what it is. Thanks, Graham. I'll see you soon. She looks to Balto and says, Balto, my little medicine man,

Here is a small pouch of herbs that you might not be able to find on your journey. Here, here, take it. And she pulls out what looks like an almost ancient leather pouch. You're not sure how long or when this could have possibly been made. It's a little stiff and dusty, but she hands it to you, and she smiles warmly as you take it. So I say,

You remember how long you need to boil the water before you take your evening remedy? Yes, yes, Bolto, of course. Of course I know. Every night? Yes, I will never miss. I will never forget. Thank you, Sasha. Thank you. And Jasper, my proud Jasper, here, I made this for you.

And she reaches out and hands you a small wooden token with a charm collar carved into it. You must let go of your past burdens. Whatever troubles you, I know deep down you are a good man. Please give yourself a break. I will certainly endeavor to. Thank you very much, Sasha.

Oh my goodness!

All mother be praised, that's very generous. That will offset the costs of the Mistfarer. Here. And she pulls out another small leather pouch, which is the funds that they collected, which you will need to give to the Mistfarer to pay his fees. Please, please take this. It is not much, but it will pay the Mistfarer. And with the amount of coin that you've left behind, we...

I don't know what to say. Thank you. Say nothing and thank the All-Mother, not us. Of course, of course. My boys, if I do not see you again, I believe it will not be because you did not succeed. I've opened what Sasha gave me. Yes. Sasha, this is... How did you get this? Do not ask. I have had them in my collection for a very long time.

You are not the only medicinal knowledge person around here. That is good. I will put it to good use. Thank you. Good. Good. Good luck. I believe you have someone waiting for you. All right, we should get going. Thank you for everything. And hopefully I'll look back to the Muneer Stone. And I don't know if we can physically see it, like not...

as strong as it used to be. There isn't a physical indicator of the magics. What you see is that it's weathered, it's worn. What you do know, though, having spent a lot of time around it, is that when you're close to it, you can feel something. Right. So from out here, where you are, you wouldn't be able to feel it, but you would know the familiar feeling of having been up close to it before.

Then I'll just sort of think about, you know, or just kind of feel that understanding of like, hey, this thing is waning. Yeah. And that if we don't succeed, the mist might swallow this place. Don't you worry none. We'll be back in no time and we'll do what we can to fix it right up. I know you will. I know you will. Thank you and good luck. All right, mates. Are you ready? Yes. Let us meet our...

Guide. Guiding us, hopefully, to victory and not certain doom. I'm not sure which is more likely. You begin to walk towards that figure that is out north of your small farming village.

It's a short walk, maybe 10-15 minutes. He's a ways off. He certainly didn't want to come into a town and raise suspicion or cause any sort of a ruckus. But as you make your way to this individual, you might begin to inspect.

the token, Jasper, that you've been given. Yes, I will inspect it. The herbal pouch, Balto, that you've been given, and perhaps maybe even Kristoff couldn't help but dig into the bindle a little early. Not lightly. Won't be a meon grand. Can I have my portion?

What you find is, starting with the bindle, it will give you an additional three rations of food. Oh shit! That you can each take one more ration of food and add to your inventory. I will pass those out. And inside the bindle, Kristoff, you find a wooden token on a rope necklace, very similar to the one that Jasper was given. The rune that is carved into it is different.

But as you study it and you look at it, you have this understanding that it is... It gives you a sense of calm mentally. It kind of puts you at ease. And mechanically, what this will do is it will grant you a one-time use plus one to a mental resistance roll. She knows me well.

Jasper, your token, again, similar, simple wooden disc, carved with, lovingly hand-carved on a leather piece of strap that you can wear around your neck, has a different symbol than the one that Kristoff has. It will grant you a one-time use of blocking a single point of physical damage taken.

And Bolta. Not only is this collection of herbs rare, unique, things that you know, these herbs are not things that you've never seen, but you know that they don't grow around Briarbrook. You know that they potentially don't grow in the fog or the mist. This may allow you to create some tinctures or decoctions or elixirs that you otherwise might not have. And it will also give you a one-time use plus one roll to a decoction roll. Nice. Plus one bonus.

You chat amongst yourselves in the short five minute walk as you dole out these rations, these wonderful baked goods from Sasha and think about and hope that this is not the last time that you see these people. I will miss these muffins. Yes. Yeah, me too. And it is not long before you are in the presence of this gentleman who you believe to be the Mistfarer.

Now that you are closer, you can see that he is a little under six foot in height. He is not a broad gentleman. He's not a broad man. He's lithe. He's thin. He wears simple leathers.

Almost more cloth than leather. It's very clear that the things that he chooses to wear are to make him quick, to make him stealthy, to make him not draw attention to himself. These are dark colors. He wears a hood and has a cowl pulled up over his mouth. You really can only see his eyes as you approach and he says, "All right, listen up, name's Leo.

"Homme, you missed fair. You got the fees?" "Leo, my good man, yes. I have it right here for you." "You will find every coin accounted for." He kind of weighs it in his hand and holds it without counting it. He nods, he sticks it in his back pocket. Leo? I got that correct? Leo, yes. Yeah, you notice one of the first things that he, hearing him speak, that he's not easy to understand.

It's almost as if there's a... It's not a dialect, but it is... And it's not that he has trouble speaking, but his voice is a little garbled. It's hard for him to... It's hard for you to understand what he's saying. A little bit. My name is Jasper Dunnington. This is our blade. This is Kristoff Reiner. And our healer here is Balto, son of Kassan.

We are not leaving Briar... Briar... Briarbrook. Do you understand? If we are captured and...

undergo extreme torture, you are not to divulge that. You can divulge anything else about your life, I frankly don't care. But we are not to harm the people of Briarbrook. Right, right. No worries about that. I've done this more times than you can count. You have bought my secrecy, my silence. Well, aren't you a little short for a Miss Farah? I'm just kidding. Oh, how's the weather looking? Miss feeling at bay?

He doesn't seem to get your joke. He's a little solemn. He kind of stares at you and says, Well, weather should be fine, but beware, the fog, the mist, can change at a moment's notice with the wind. Well, I'll be on guard, and I'm excited to be back on the road for once, frankly.

When I came to this island, I traveled from the south to our current location. Uneventful journey. I have no experience with the mists. What do we do if we see the fog emerge or the wind shift? Well, it's not a question of if, it's a question of when. The mist will. We will see the mist. We'll be traveling through it.

But my job is to avoid it. That's precisely what I was going to say. That's why we are paying our good friend here. So we don't have to worry about that. That is his job. That's right. There we go. Good man. A few sets of rules before we get started. First off, stick a good 15, 20 feet behind me. It's for me to be able to spot things before they jump out and get us.

We can do that. I assure you, you will not need to persuade me to stand in the back. That is what I'm very good at. You all look like experienced men, but there's a difference between simple brigands and wolves and the mutated horrors that await us. Well, let's pray to the old mother that we avoid the mutated horrors and

I'll take a bandit or brigand any day. Our quest is good and blessed by the All-Mother. I have faith that we will arrive at our destination unmolested. With a little bit of luck, we'll be able to stick to the light mist, but you never know. Number two, take a look at this. And out of his pack, you see that he has a well-equipped...

sack with him, sort of a backpack of sorts. He pulls out a piece of parchment and unrolls it and it's a map. And are any of you familiar with the discipline of cartography?

I am not. Nope. Okay. You see this map. You are not able to immediately decipher it other than it-- What the fuck is this? Other than it being a map of Avalon. That so much is obvious. Yeah. But there's these strange lines and markings and all sorts of almost like a secret language that he seems to use himself that he has drawn all over this map that he's showing before you. And he says,

There are two major landmarks that we are looking for. Alright? The first, which is a couple days out, is a large gnarled tree. You can't miss the biggest tree you'll ever see. I call it the Skysundra. It's the first way of us knowing we're on the right track. Landmark number two. A large broken mania stone. Smash the bits. A few more days out after that,

Couple more days, she'll be the edge of the forest, Camelot will be in view. I'm telling you this in case we get separated, understood? Loud and clear, Miss Farah. Is what shattered the Menhir Stone lurking in the forest that we are about to proceed through? Hard to say.

Things been smashed as long as I can remember. Could be from hundreds of years ago. You'll find that the one in Briarbrook's not the only one losing his power. It's par for the course these days. Aye. For most of our journey, we're gonna be walking near a stream. Say you know your own course. Keep to the stream. To the best of your ability, yes.

It sounds very easy. Not even the three of us could fuck that up. Any other questions? Stream, tree, statue, forest line. Camelot. And then Camelot. That's right. Don't give us all your secrets. I hear that you can smell the city before you see it. I'm not looking forward to it. I have heard this as well. I always thought it meant to be a good thing. Is that not...

No, it's from all the freaking shit, Walter. What... Oh, no! How do you think it smells fragrant? Of flowers brought down by the king? Oh, it's not just the shit, it's the piss too! I had idea of some perfume or flower. I have much to learn. Welcome to Avalon. I know you've been here a better part of a decade and you still have much to learn, as do we all. Lead the way, my good man!

And he does. You know that he tells you that it's several miles before you really reach the edge of the forest with which the real adventure and danger potentially starts. You have conversations as you're walking. This is not a difficult walk. This is flat land fields, maybe minor hills as you are moving along. You strike up conversation about...

different things. He asks you about your supplies. He wants to make sure that you're well stocked.

can offer up how many rations you have to him. He lets you know that you're probably going to have, we're all probably going to have to hunt at some point. You know that even though there are mutational horrors that lurk in these woods, even if you might not have seen them yourself, you also know that there are plenty of normal game that also lives in the forests and in the fog beyond all understanding of why that should be the case.

You also know, he tells you, that the journey to Camelot is going to be a long one. Not necessarily so much because of the distance, but because traveling through the weirdness is difficult. It's slow going. You oftentimes may have to wait out fog as it rolls in. You might have to find other ways around it. It's not often wise to stay in one spot for too long, but it's even more foolish to rush your way

through the underbrush. He starts to tell you about the effect that the weirdness has on humans and beasts alike. His descriptions are not pretty. He talks about how humans who spend too long in the fog, in the mist, who don't have the proper protections begin to change, lose their humanity.

As he tells you and regales you with stories of other instances of him guiding people through the fog, it is then when you begin to reach the edge of the wood. It's a sunny day. It's about noon. It's midday. But you can even tell just standing on the edge of this forest that it is darker within the wood. The canopy is thick.

Yes.

What if something creeps up behind us? How are you going to account for that? Are we supposed to alert you? Oh, well, on the off chance something happens to sneak up on us, which is unlikely because you've got Leo, we'll deal with it. Let me know. But, hardly unlikely. I'm the best I ever was. Have you ever heard the saying that announcing your plans is a good way to hear the old mother laugh? Oh, that sounds like a good one. All right.

For the rate we're paying him, if something sneaks up behind us, we should ask for a refund. Keep that in mind, my good man. I'll keep an eye behind us. I'm sure it's gonna be fine. It's just a little jump through the woods. You proceed immediately. As you begin to cross the threshold into this wood, there's almost a chill in the air. You feel it gets considerably cooler. The sun isn't able to reach your skin.

There is a light haze that some of you have experienced before, and you know this to be the weirdness. You can feel it. It's thick. Again, you can kind of smell it. You almost feel like it sticks to your skin, but there's nothing there. You try to, like, wipe it away. You can taste it in the back of your mouth, but you proceed. The woods are dark, gray, and travel is slow. Leo is taking you...

on an often not traveled path. You're stepping over large fallen trees. You're taking your time to have to duck under other massive masses of brambles. But you're surprised at how well you're moving.

There isn't a lot of talking going on while this is happening, certainly not from Leo. He's told you that you're able to talk amongst yourselves as long as you do it in a hushed tone and you don't really draw attention to yourselves. It isn't long before you see him make a familiar hand gesture with which he told you before. His hand shoots up in a fist. - No. - You all immediately stop. He gets down and he hunches real low.

almost trying to conceal himself in the brush. You wait, you hold your breath, and he points. And he gives you another hand signal that says, "We're gonna go around to the right." And he ushers you to follow, but he presses his finger to where his lips would be under his cowl, as if to say not to make a noise. As you proceed forward, I'm gonna need you all to make a resolution test of

Stealth, which is going to be your awareness way and the domain is stealth. So if any of you are Have any particular disciplines that fall under the stealth domain now would be the time to let me know.

Any could apply. I don't, but I could technically point at one and be like, oh, any of them? In this instance, yes. I would be interested to hear if any of you have a discipline in stealth. Well, I don't have that. I didn't think so, but I wanted to check. You and I are doing great. I...

Ten. Okay, so again, the way that this works is you will roll a 1d10, you will add your way, and you will add the domain. So in this case you will add your awareness, and then you will add your stealth. So, and again, don't forget you guys have twists that you can use, up to three per roll if you'd like. What did everybody get?

- May I use three twists? I got a four. - Oh! - I also would like to use three twists. - Okay. - Because I also got a four. - I'm gonna use one to get myself to 11. - Oh, we know that we can't even with three twists still fail, seven, right? - No, no, no, no, no, you do not know that. You know that the difficulty threshold for an easy check is eight, but you do not know what the difficulty threshold is. - I see.

So I think we can still use it because I failed. And what I'll say is that I have definitely been able to keep up with the general walking pace with my cane, but going into the forest, it's awkward. I'm probably getting snagged on roots and I'm pushing through the pain. And I'm definitely at this point very much feeling the throb in my upper thigh. Sure. I would agree with that. You're not moving quickly, but this is not easy, right? I mean, you're not...

young men anymore. You're middle-aged men, and people in Avalon often don't live very long anyway. So it's not the speed of the journey that is difficult for you, Jasper, but it is your old wound that is potentially flaring up and causing you trouble. So that is a 7, a 7, and an 11? Yep. You

Heed the warning of Leo and as you begin to creep through the woods he is, through this underbrush, he's pointing out loose branches. He's pointing out potential things that you might step on, a twig to snap to make noise. You don't know why he stopped but with Leo's guidance you find that even with these rolls you're not making noise.

The things that he is pointing out, the obstacles that potentially are in your way, are obvious with Leo. You get the sense that having Leo on your side makes things a lot easier. And you are grateful in this moment to have him, because all Mother knows what Leo saw. Because you all certainly did not. Oh, fuck. Another couple of hours pass.

And there's a moment where he again, he puts up the signal to stop. But this time, he just, he calls you over closer. He brings you all in and says, Well, well, good job. I wasn't sure you all had it in ya. Don't patronize us. You did it. We avoided some nasty business back there. I told you, I'm the best that there is. I didn't see anything. Are you...

you with us that was going to be my question you're just trying to make yourself look useful we'll believe you well done leo great job i'll hit him on the back two words weirdness wolves and we avoided them right that's what i do

Well done, Leo. We will take your word for it, Leo. Now let us not waste any more time so we can get out of these woods as soon as possible. All right. We've got a few more hours walk before we make camp for the night. Fuck. I know it hasn't seemed like we've made it very far, but we're doing well. We've made great progress. Again, it's not the distance, it's about the time. And we're making great time. Let's proceed. And you do.

You continue to walk, like he said, for another three hours. You hear noises in the brush. The cawing of crows, ravens, maybe? But they don't quite sound like any crows or ravens that you might be familiar with. Something is off about them. It's not uncommon for you to hear a grunting or a howling or a snarling far away. It's not close. Leo makes sure of that.

And it isn't long before he stops you again and says, "Alright, this is where we're stopping for the night. We're able to have a small fire. We need it for the warmth. Shouldn't keep the beasties away. They don't like the light. And let's set up a watch. Who's feeling dinner?" I am feeling dinner, very much. You hear those crows? Oh yeah, yeah of course. It's not just me, right?

Oh, it's not uncommon here in the wood. But I'll bet you they're not like any crows you've ever seen. Just like regular mutated crows? Oh, the weirdness has gotten to them. Their beaks are jagged and large, and the crows grow up to three times what you'd expect. Three times? Oh, and they feed on the carrion that falls on the forest floor. I, uh...

I should have told you before we began our journey that animals, beasts especially, do not take kindly to my presence. Is that right? They tend to get enraged. It's not something I can explain. Oh, that might have been something worth mentioning before we left, don't you think? Make him say something on him that we can't, apparently.

Alright, well thanks for letting me know. I've been trying to pry it out of him for as long as I've known him with no success, so I wouldn't begin to try now. Saw milk a cow once. You should have seen how the Bessie reacted. I can relate. I had a brood for many weeks. I'm sorry to hear that. Many realized it was a male cow.

"Well, I bet that's no mistake you made twice!" "Too many why?" "Well, no. But frankly, it wears down. There's no point. It's not meant for survival. Gotta stay sharp." And while you're having this conversation, he's helping to set up camp. He's, you know, again, getting a small fire going, preparing maybe, you know, for you to be able to prepare your rations and have a little bit of a hot meal.

Um... I... Me too.

What are we doing for water in this situation? Are we near the stream? Do we have some sort of water stream? You all have your own personal sources of water, and Leo has urged that you use those first, sparingly, before we have to all go through the process of attempting to find water here in the woods that might be clean or unpurified or untainted by the weirdness.

You have plenty of water. You were prepared for a long journey, and you don't think that you'll run out before this journey is done. You've brought plenty of water, provided that you consume it conservatively. I will pour myself some water, and tonight we just enjoy water, Jasper. I'm sorry.

Oh, he'll live. Lucky us. Look at him. He'll grimace and grit his teeth and make some sassy comment, but he'll be okay, won't you, Jasper? Don't patronize me, Reiner. Reaching down, I'll pull out a small stopper, and over the water that you have in your cup, I'll drop a few drips into it and then quickly seal it away and put it back into my satchel. I turn water into wine for you, Jasper. A true friend.

Unlike some of us. While you are sitting down to enjoy your water and your rations, it is at this moment that Leo also sits down with you and is enjoying food, that for the first time, he pulls down the cowl that has been covering the lower half of his face. And it's now that you see that the left side of his face and his jaw is mutating. It is disfigured.

This is clearly the effects of the weirdness on one of your fellow humans, and he's BB&Z. Do I... would I know that it... or I guess, is it contagious? Or would... how would Kristoff feel about that? Um, if you've never seen a weirdness mutation on another human, it would be startling. It would be... you would be taken aback, potentially.

You would know, though, that these mutations do not spread like the Red Death. Okay, got it. It is not a disease. It is a magical mutation that happens from spending too much time in the weird without the proper protection or precautions. And he begins to eat as if nothing is wrong.

Ooh, sorry about the face. Oh, me? Oh, yeah. Occupational hazard, as they call it. I'm all right, though. Don't hurt no more. Have my proper protection. Ah, these things happen. You don't travel through the weirdness for decades without having an accident once or twice. That's how you get to be the best. You live and you learn, right? How'd it happen, if you don't mind me asking? Young Miss Fair, not

Taking the proper precaution, proper charms, proper spells, and spent a little too long once on a journey. And this was the result. Lucky it only took a quarter of my face. Yeah, too bad it wasn't a, I don't know, middle of your left thigh. Why do you say that? Oh, I just mean somewhere, uh...

Somewhere less visible I guess, but no, you know what? It just adds character, so uh... You know, why even wear the cow in the first place? The cow helps keep me concealed, but also doesn't startle people when I'm in a more populated area. If I were you, I'd wear a cow too, so... Thank you for sparing us. Oh, right, no offense taken.

You say this injury hurts. It hurts no more because it has faded or because you found some kind of treatment? Oh, it hurt. Oh, it hurt when it happened. But with proper treatment and protections, it's not so bad anymore. I would learn more about these treatments. All right, all right.

Magic's beyond me. Secrets, knowledge. But there are wizards, there are medicine people who are familiar with the weirdness. Healing magic. Right, right. Exactly. Would you have a name for basically water mixed with whatever tincture that you added? In my mind, I'm picturing that I have some sort of a numbing reagent that is like a diet lagnum.

So I'm asking, because there's moon tea in A Song of Ice and Fire. It would not be even remotely unreasonable for you to be able to craft some sort of tincture that would help mentally ease your friend Jasper. This is something that you would have done in the past. Maybe when the alcohol isn't helping, isn't enough, you might make something for him.

you know, without anybody else knowing to help him soothe his mind. - I like moon tea if you wanna go with that. - That was something legally to say. I will drink it and I will kind of mutter to myself, like, well, next best thing to wine. And I will basically kind of drop my cane and I will just try to do the best that I can as I'm very clearly in pain, as I'm just gonna basically kind of,

maybe if I have to go out and undress and basically kind of just make sure the best that I can that I'm able to mend my, to soothe my leg. - Sure, Balto, is this tincture something that you brought with you or is it something that you need to make with the ingredients that you brought? - It's, I would say I have my healer's pouch. Whether or not I would have to actually

No, I would say that this is something that I would have distilled long over time. Okay. I have limited amount of. Yes. Right? This isn't something that like I can take a few of the dried herbs and roots and barks that I have in my pouch and put it into water and bring it to a boil and actually like create a tea or something along those or have to powderize it. I don't, that's not what I've done here. This is something where I have a.

a concentrate that I have applied to the water to hope to ease the pain. And knowing that we have perhaps many more days, using it on my first night is perhaps not the wisest, but I don't want my friend to be hurting. As you're all sitting around the campfire, enjoying your rations and trying to lighten the mood, perhaps with stories and things like that, I need you all to make a mental resistance roll. Oh, shit. That is going to be your conviction plus five. Ooh!

Just straight conviction? Yes. No domain action? Nope. It is just conviction plus five. Conviction being one of the ways, the statistics. Wait, so conviction, we all get plus five? Yeah, the way that you make a mental resistance resolution test, the formula is just conviction plus five. We're not rolling anything. No, you will, and then you add... And then add your mental resistance. Oh, okay, so...

Sorry, I apologize. So whenever you make the roll... Four plus five for me is nine, plus six is fifteen. You got a fifteen? Okay. I would like to twist this. Do a twist to feed it. Bump it up. How many? Eleven. Okay. Nice. I got a hot sixteen. Okay. You and I have rolled the same value twice. Oh, nice. Four, four, sixteen, sixteen. You all feel a little strange.

But again, nothing that doesn't, isn't explained by just being where you are. Yeah, you kind of have a, you have slight headaches. Maybe Jasper's leg is hurting a bit more than normal. Nothing you wouldn't expect to be happening. Nothing to cause immediate alarm. And with that, if there's nothing else that you'd like to do, Leo informs you that it's best to be getting to bed because you have to get going after a night's rest. It's time to continue.

So if there's anything that you would like to do before you... Presumably you'd like to set up some sort of a watch with maybe, you know, every two hours, swap between the four of you, including Leo. He's more than happy. He's hardy. He doesn't need much sleep, he tells you. But other than that, the evening is yours before you need to continue to the next day and hopefully find the first landmark. I'm very curious about what is in the woods. This is the farthest I've been north. And I...

am dying to know if I could find more or unusual things, perhaps plants I've never seen before. But knowing how dangerous it is out there and without the Mistfarer to guide me or perhaps even warn me not to go, I will, having a full belly, drift off to sleep after we determine a watch order. Yep. Well, it depends how old Dunnington's feeling. I don't make any...

Sacrifices on my account. I'm feeling fine. I guess my point is, are you getting sleepy? Where I'm from, that's called dancing with Mr. Brownstone. I point at his water skin. Are you implying that I should take last watch so I can sleep this off? That's exactly what I'm implying. Then why don't you say that? I'll take first watch.

It's been quite a while since I've been in a mist like this, but I'll be okay. Jasper here, is he always as touchy? Yes. I was worried it might be the weirdness. He's been through a lot. And, you know, we like to look out for him. That's all. I'm just trying to be mindful. All right, well, determine what to order and let's get some sleep.

I'm going to do my waltz with Mr. Brownstone and fall asleep in his gentle embrace. Laura? Good night. I will finish my drink and, you know, use my... And I will make sure that I pull off

my surcoat and I will like take, you know, the, I probably would have spent a lot of coin to restore the dyes or the embroidery on the surcoat to basically for this journey.

and I'll make sure that any dust or dirt is off of it, and I'll make sure I fold it up very carefully, and then just go to sleep in my armor. - I need you all to make awareness perception checks. If you are disciplined in vigilance, you may use that instead. Otherwise, you will roll 1d10, add your awareness, add your perception, and let me know what you got.

Ooh, natural 10! Natural fucking 10! Natural fucking 10! Okay, well hold on. Damn, I'm suited. Alright, we're gonna hold right there for a moment, cause we get to explain a new game mechanic. Oh shit! But first, tell me what Kristoff and Balto got. Balto gets 6 perception. Okay. 12. Alright, are you keeping your 6? Using any twist?

It could take two to bop it up to eight. Just keep in mind that I am not necessarily going directly with these thresholds. It's just an idea to give you an idea of what's easy, medium, hard. Baldo is fascinated with the new world. Six. Six is fine. Jasper, I am so excited for you and your amazing...

Natural 10. Our first 10? Yes. You got a critical 10. So the way that this works with critical successes and failures on a natural 1 or a natural 10, you must re-roll to confirm the result. If the subsequent roll matches, it is either a critical success or a critical fail respectively. A critical success can be treated like rolling a 15 mechanically if that were to be important.

Critical failures will generally result in something catastrophic happening. So please roll again and let's see if you get another 10. Cricket of Firm! Spike a 10! So any other result does not matter, so you will just tell me what your total would have been with a 10. Awareness, right? 13. Yep, awareness plus your perception plus 10. Oh, perception. Oh, I actually think I have perception. Oh. So I have... So 10... That's 15 total. Wonderful. 15 total.

Yes. You all take your turns, staying as vigilant as you possibly can in this new strange place that you've never spent a night in, certainly. And it passes without incident. Kristoff, especially Jasper, are extra alert and

to the sounds, the eeriness, the scratching and clawing that is just outside of your peripherals. It definitely seems as though Leo's advice of making a fire was a good idea. Outside of that, the night passes without incident except for Kristoff. You find that when your watch is over, when you're trying to sleep, you are assaulted with horrific nightmares.

You have a pretty rough past. It's not uncommon for you to maybe have some nightmares of things that have happened in your lives, but in these nightmares, it's never-ending forests, it's beasts you cannot see, it's definitely the feeling of the weirdness creeping into your mind ever so slightly. The crows. That's right. Always the crows. Before long, Leo...

Rousts you all, taking his watch being complete, making sure that it's time to get up. Alright, alright, how'd you all sleep? First night in the woods. Like shit. It's to be expected. Yeah, not the best. Not too bad. There's no time for breakfast. We're gonna keep on moving, and we'll eat when we make camp later this evening. Is everyone ready?

Should I cross off a ration of food for our dinner from the previous? Yes, please do if you can. I believe that you all had an additional extra one, but you all I will use that one. You all also started with the rations that came with your character creation process of being travelers, which I believe is three. Yeah, so we are down to three again. I did not write that on my screen. Yeah, I don't have it on here. So I'm just going to do ration and then do bubbles. Piss. Piss.

One bubble, two bubble, three bubble. One pip, two pip, three pip. You continue on your journey, and you've been following a river. It's not a huge river. It doesn't seem to be rapidly flowing, but it's certainly not one that you would feel comfortable wading through. There are times where you lose sight of it. Leo takes you farther away. He seems to take you maybe in a direction that goes opposite of the river, but inevitably you seem to come back to it.

This day passes similarly to the other one until you reach a point where there is a large fallen tree trunk down and over above the river. He walks to the base of it and he says, all right, we got across. We're going up over the giant tree trunk and take an easy, nice and slow down on the other side.

How does everyone think they can do that? And he looks at Jasper and he kind of looks down at your... Why are you looking at me, Leo? I'll be just fine. Alright. I'll carry you, Dunnington. That is going to be exactly what I'd suggest. Oh. Would you maintain your dignity after that? We're in the middle of the woods with a mutated guide.

Do you think I have any dignity? My dignity was whisked away in a single letter, stamped and signed by Camelot. Oh, all right, all right, enough about the letter. So you take a look at this

makeshift tree bridge. It is a large tree. It is large enough for you to walk on and not feel like you're doing any kind of a tightrope, but you know that if you put Jasper on your back, it is going to make things a lot more difficult. It's not impossible. You're strong. This might not even be the first time you've had to carry Jasper.

given his old wound. But you do notice that this giant tree is moss covered. It looks like it might be a little slick. And you take this into account. And Leo looks at the reading and says, "All right, I'm gonna go first. "I'll show you how it's done. "I wouldn't have taken you here "if there were any beasties about, "so don't worry about that. "Take your time. "And please, don't fall in the river, all right?"

And swiftly, he moves like a cat. You've been watching Leo move over the course of the last few days, but it's almost nothing like this. And he deftly, expertlessly walks up this tree trunk as it goes up and up and up and up and up and over the river. As he gets to the other side, he kind of steps through the

the tree branches that are on the other side, using them as stepping stones or a staircase to get to the other side of the river. And he kind of points where he's stepping and makes note of what he's doing and says, easiest pie. Who's next? Alto? I will go next, yes. Come on, come on. I'll be right there.

So what I need you to do is make a resolution roll of feats. And what feats are is basically athletic displays of dexterousness, strength, things like acrobatics, climbing, endurance, evasion, running, etc. So if you are disciplined in either climbing or acrobatics, you may use that instead of just doing a straight feats roll. Otherwise, it is combattiveness plus feats plus a 1d10.

I get an eight. That's your total. That's it. Okay. You Tim Curry across. I rolled a seven, but my feets are one. You guys have a ton of twists.

Don't be afraid to use them. Get to 11 at least. Well, you'd have to use three of these beans. No, we can't. We can get to 11. Okay. That's half of what we have left to crawl. Oh, really? Yeah, that's half. What if I used a survival point to give myself advantage? It is not advantage. You can use the survival point to reroll

But you have to use the next result. Wait a minute. Oh, that's right. We have nothing as one of those. So I can make things worse if I try to use it. Yeah, but that's fun. It's horseshit that 10 is also divisible by 5.

Yeah. Wait, but you have three already, so you don't even need to use these. So are those really all dreads from a certain point of view? That's all I'm saying! That's true. I will say we can redistribute the wealth if needed. We can have some sort of conversion. Yeah, we can have a conversion. Don't worry. That's all I'm saying. I haven't even dreaded you yet. I have an eight. What I'm saying is you're out of fucking three. I have an eight. Okay, an eight. Would you like to use a survival point to reroll?

No, because I have more, it's more likely that I'll fuck myself on the reroll than I will. Okay. Than I will not. Did you roll a six naturally? No, I rolled a seven. Oh, I noticed. Which is right here. Oh. And I have a plus one. I have an eight. How, how easy could it be?

It's probably easy. Just let it roll. He's an easy as pie! Balto begins to make this treacherous climb slash acrobatic feat. It's very wet. And that you do. You notice that underneath of your boots, the moss is thick. It's moist. It's kind of spongy. And you do your best to try to make sure that you're standing on elements of...

as opposed to the moss. And you are climbing this natural bridge, and as you reach the apex of this log, I need you to make another feats check. - I don't know why I looked at the back of my character sheet. - Desperately looking for a boomerang. - There's gotta be something here. - Wind game, wind game, wind game!

- Yeah, everybody! We won. - Oh, that's kinda like crazy. - Oh, that's, yeah, it doesn't count. - Ooh. - Seven. - Okay. You find in a moment of misjudgment that your foot kinda goes out from underneath of you and there's a moment where you are worried that you're going to tip over, but then you catch your balance. And it is because you watched Leo do this first that you are not,

struggling with this and you are able to make it to the other side. - Take three quick shots and grab a branch. - Yes, yes, and you climb down and he pats you on the back as you make it and says, "Well done." All right, gentlemen.

Are you coming over together? Well, Balto... It's very slick. I do not recommend going by you together. If Balto can do it, don't fucking look at me like that, Kristoff. Get the fuck out of my way! Are you sure, Jörnington? I could throw you right over me shoulder.

I am a lord of House Dunnington. I had a castle! Castle Blackmont. The Black Hydra does not need to be carried.

As he takes a step, I'm gonna grab him by his waist and throw him over my shoulder. I'm contesting it! Yes, so if you are resisting... I'm contesting the goal! Hit him in the back with the cane. Hold on, hold on. Yes, if you are resisting, you will have to roll a contest against each other. So what I would ask you to do, Kristoff...

is I would ask you to roll a Combativeness Feats check of Strength. If you are disciplined in Strength, you may use that instead of just your Combativeness, plus your Feats, plus your 1d10. And then for Jasper, I think you're gonna do the same thing. I think it's Strength. - I feel like, yeah, it's exactly, yeah. - So Feats roll. - So you will, yes, you will roll a 1d10 and add your Combativeness and add your Feats.

- Neckle 10. - Wow! - I'm gonna confirm. - So confirm your crit. - Confirm. - Oh! - So nothing happens, so you get a, what is your total? 10 plus? - It's an 18.

I get an eight. I roll very well. I have plus zero. You are not able to squirm out of Kristoff's grasp as he grabs you, and in one swift motion, being so strong that he is, he throws you over his shoulder, holding you with one arm and begins to... You're walking stick in the other. He snatches it from you. He...

You begin to then proceed over this bridge. Oh, come on, Dunnington! I'll give you at least a 50/50 chance of you sliding in. At least this way it's about 1 in 20. And I'm gonna just try to balance with him on my shoulder. If I can go across the log. You feel

Jasper's squirming. He's not going willingly. And you have a feeling that this may increase the difficulty threshold for you as you cross this. Why did I buy you this armor? You are a seltzer! I need you to roll for me. Combattiveness feats acrobatics check. So if you have discipline in acrobatics... I don't, unfortunately. It's plus eight, though, so that's... That's pretty good. I like our odds here.

That's great. That's cocked, right? No, that is not cocked. That's a two. That's a two. It's not a lip. You get a ten? I would like to use one of my survival points. Oh, that's reasonable. Because I can do much better than that. You can do one worse. Okay, it's better.

So that is a 12. Okay. Not bad. You begin to make your climb to the apex of this natural log bridge, and as you reach the apex, Jasper just will not sit still.

and he shifts, and he bucks, and you lose your center of balance, and you know that you're gonna lose your grip on Jasper. So you attempt to hurry up. You think, if I can just take a few more quick steps, I'll at least make it to the end of this log where I can grab a handhold on one of those massive...

branches, and as you lurch forward to attempt to grab this thing, you lose grip of Jasper and plummets down into the river. Quit squirming, you're gonna get us bombed! You are going to awake the Hydra! Hydra! And it is with that stream, it's only a ten foot fall.

But with a large splash right on the bank of this river, he's not far luckily, Leo goes, "Oh no, grab him, grab him, fish him out, fish him out quick!" "What happened?" "Kristoff, get down here, we need to fish him out, Boto, help me!" And he immediately... You got a nice cane! Jasper, the moment you hit the water, you immediately fall asleep. Mike! We're in the blood of the hydrant.

Quickly! Quickly! Get him! Get him! You better go in after him! Can I go to the water? How do I get him from here? Just don't consume it! Get it in! Get him out! Get him out! And he helps you. Kristoff, you are descending. If I have rope, I would throw Balto the rope, but I'm wearing armor and I have a shield and I have a sword. I'm not going in. You see that Leo...

And where Jasper has entered is basically enough where Leo is on his knees and he's able to reach and grab forward. And so you don't have to wade in very far. You might get a little wet. But Leo has told you, as long as you don't get it in your face, you should be okay to help fish him out. As soon as I understand that and I see that

Jasper is within reach. I will put both of my arms underneath his and lift him up against my chest and just sort of start to shimmy backwards and make my way towards the bank of the river, shouting the entire time, "Grunitsov! Gunitsov, get down here!"

He does, you do. You have no-- I do. Now that you don't have Jasper in your grasp, you have no problem descending the rest of this way to the other side. Leo and Balto are able to pull Jasper out of the water, and Leo says, "Oh, this isn't good. This isn't good at all. There's a chance he's gonna be asleep for a week." What was wrong with that river? "Oh, it's the weirdness. What else? Tainted the river good. That's why we don't drink the water."

How do we wake him?

Oh, you... You had a pouch I saw earlier of herbs and things. Use some sort of medicine, man. Is he not magically asleep or is he just made very tired? I have waking salts. I can attempt. If you have anything that might be able to roust him, you best be starting brewing. I will. Quick, we'll dry him off. Mark told you do your thing.

Let's see what we can do. What are you endeavoring to do? I am going to...

He's not injured, so I'm not going to attempt first aid, certainly. No, he didn't take any damage by falling in the water. He luckily did not land on the bank and break it in bones or anything. I know that I have some clay-like mineral that if you taste it, it's very salty. It doesn't have much medicinal quality like that, but if you...

treat it the way that I have that the smell is like sulfur times rotten eggs times a thousand. Yes. And that I could put just a little bit underneath his nose and then essentially like induce a like not a sneeze but like get him to breathe heavy and hard and he'll hopefully wake up

in the shock that hits his brain in the back of his throat. It's an unpleasant experience, but I've used it a few times to get people who have been knocked out awake quickly. - And so is this something that you need to make on the spot or you have with you? - I have the clay, but I need to essentially activate it using heat.

Okay, so then you know this, you tell Leo this, and he quickly makes a small fire, knowing that with Jasper being out for potentially a week, you're not going anywhere anyway. So he quickly makes a fire, and I need you to make a reason healing check, and if you have...

With discipline in decoctions and elixirs, you may use that roll instead of the healing roll. So you set to work to brew this tincture. I wait for it to heat, and then very quickly I start to whisk it back and forth, and I know that I have a very thin window when it's going to be most effective.

If I go too far past it, then it'll dull. Or if I don't go far enough, then the heat won't have activated that smell. I'm smelling and watching the texture as... Ooh, nice. Pretty good. Domain, in this place you'll use your discipline plus your way plus the 1d10.

So I believe, oh wait, discipline plus my way. So yes. So reason, my reason is five. Yep. And then you add whatever your decoctions and elixirs are. Six. Okay. Plus eight is 19. Huge. You do an unbelievable job. I mean, this is a, this is a mixture that you've made many times. Like you said, you've used it on other people. You understand what you're doing. You are in your element and you quickly whip this up.

I'll hunker over and I'll say to Leo and to Christoph, I'm going to apply it now. It is just about ready. If he wakes up, stand back. All right. And I will immediately apply just underneath the nose. Jasper immediately kicks back to life. Oh!

I am... Dear God! That is common. Thought we lost you. You alright? You dropped me! I dropped you? You dropped yourself! Yes, you dropped me! If you could have just stayed still... If you had done what a sellsword does and let me go myself... If you could have had a fucking ounce of humility...

for two fucking seconds. We were almost across. You did this to yourself. I have no sympathy. As they're talking, I'll look over to Leo. Is there any chance that he transforms or the waters affect him in other ways? Oh, hard to say. We'll have to keep a close eye on him. Uh,

If I become as ugly as him, just kill me. Take my head off. Take my head off. Gladly stop. I pat a pocket right here and just sort of look at him. I think the effect of knocking him out was probably the primary effect. Hopefully we won't see any mutations, but we'll keep an eye on it. If you...

We're doing it for Briarbrook. We're doing it for Briarbrook. All right, my lord. Let's get you right up, my lord. Here we are. Thank you!

My cane, if you would, Mr. Reiner. I'll snatch it out. You spend a few moments, maybe a half hour to an hour, sitting by this small fire that Leo had started to allow Balto to create his decoction. Thank you, Balto. To dry out. You get warm, you dry, and it's not long before Leo urges you all on, and it's time to leave.

I will be very irritated, but I will eventually warm up. I'm dirty, but I'll mutter about it, but I will move on. The rest of the day passes without incident. You continue to hear the noises and the concern of Leo at times where there might be threats, and it isn't long before you end the day finding the giant gnarled tree that Leo calls Skysunner. It is the largest tree

tree you may have ever seen. It's old, it's ancient, it doesn't have any leaves, it's this massive, gnarled mass of ancient wood, and this is where you set up camp for the evening. I need you all to make a mental resistance check. What kind of tree is that? It's enormous. Again, this is your conviction plus five, plus your 1d10. 14. 10. 17.

Wow, 14, 17, and 10. Mr. Nightmare's over here. Uh-huh. You are sitting around the fire, and again, you can feel the effects of these, the weirdness on you, and Kristoff, it's not long before Leo says, Hey, Kristoff. Yeah, what, what? And he looks at you, and he points here, and then you notice that you have a little bit of blood trickling out of your nose.

Probably nothing. It's a sort of strain of carrying the Lord. Let me see.

I probably could have got a good crack on your nose with my cane. No, I'm... Believe me, Bolto, I'm fine. I'm fine. You can take a look, but I mean... Not there. Ah. Ah. Not down back of throat. I think we'll be okay. Nothing can be done. Here, need a hanky? And he gives you an unused piece of cloth. It's clean. I appreciate your kindness.

With that, again, he asks you all to decide on your watch order for the evening. I'll stay up. I'll take first. Water. Refreshing, healthy, crystal clear water. Thanks to your mother, I will take second again. And subtract another ration from your...

Your packs, if you are eating, if you are consuming food. My pit is being filled. My bubble is just... You guys. Fucking crows. That's right. Dark wings, dark deeds, my lord father always used to say. You...

You settle in for the evening. Your watches pass without incident. It seems like for all of his weirdness and strangeness, Leo is doing a good job. You haven't encountered any horrific creatures. I mean, obviously the woods are treacherous and you've witnessed that firsthand, especially with what happened to Jasper, but so far so good. The next morning you wake up and Leo gathers everyone around as you're packing up your small camp and he says,

Alright, with any luck today, we'll get to the second landmark, the Broken Mania Stone. And then, we're just a hop, skipping a jump from Kavalhaut. How's that sound? I understand why others fail at this. You have been a good guide, I think. Oh, well, I appreciate that. It's very kind of you to say. Forgive me, Leo. I spoke hastily about your face and abilities. No offense taken.

I am not myself when I am feeling my old wound. So, thank you very much for everything you've done and I am confident we will make it to Camelot whole and one piece. Well, I'll appreciate it. Let's get a move on. That's right. Let's get this over with. Let's go. And you proceed.

You're walking for a few hours. It's mid morning. It's not quite after. It's not quite noon. It's not quite midday. It's mid morning and as you're walking Towards where Leo is leading you to this men your stone is broken men your stone the miss is getting thicker and

And Leo's looking around and he's moving a little less quickly. He says, oh, I suppose we could... No, no, no, no, no. And he reaches into his... Under his shirt. And you see him pull out a charm that's around his necklace. And he sticks it back in. He's like, alright, well, we have to make adjustments. Alright, mhm. And he seems to be talking to himself very quietly. It is...

Then, again, he makes the familiar motion of the raised fist in the air to stop. You all see this happen and you stop. He's about 25 feet ahead of where you're at. Oh, faithful guide. He immediately turns to you and puts his finger to his lips, more urgent than you've seen him do before.

I will pull a coral and load my crossbow. As quietly as possible. It's at this moment that you realize the mist is rapidly getting thicker and thicker and thicker at a speed with which that you can see it. This isn't a gradual change. The weirdness is rolling in. I'll draw my sword. He had turned to look at you, to tell you to be quiet, and he...

He turns all the way around towards you and stands up, reaches into his shirt again to pull out and look at this charm that he's wearing around his neck and he seems to tap it. And before any of you can say anything, a large 12-foot shadowy figure appears directly behind Leo, silent as death.

Before any of you can say anything, this dark figure moves faster than anything you've ever seen in your life, and two arms snatch Leo around the legs and the ribs. You hear his ribs cracking as these two large arms and hands squeeze, and it is just then that you see two more arms come out from behind this creature. It is the tallest humanoid

Thing you've ever seen in your life. The only thing not humanoid about it is that it has four arms he is

yells in pain as he feels his ribs begin to crack and he says, "Oh, oh, Stagfather, help me! "Run!" And he is cut off as he is ripped in two by this creature using all four of its arms to absolutely shred Leo into pieces. Before you can react, I need all of you to make a mental resistance-- No shit. Oh.

I have to get my book. Mental resistance, you say? Four, five, plus roll is 12. Hold on.

- 13. - 11? - All right, 12, 13, and 11. I'm just writing down what you got. You may choose to do-- - I'm going to use one twist to get it to a 14. - Okay. - I'm 12-ing, I'm 12-ing. - I'm gonna 11 it. - I get to pull out the lovely rule book to consult some tables and things. You find that this is

Horrific. You have witnessed this poor Mistfarer Leo ripped in two. You've watched the viscera, his internal organs, spill out onto the ground before you. This alone raises the difficulty threshold of witnessing this horror. Not only that, you look at the large shadowy figure and it reminds you

of the Menhir stone back in your village. They look very similar. The one in your village was wearing robes and had a horrific skull face, and this one is wearing heavy, heavy plate armor and has two swords hanging from its waist. But you know this to be a foredweller. None of you

have ever seen one of these four dwellers in the flesh, and it immediately racks your mind and your soul to your core. I need you all to roll a 1d10, and we're gonna see what you got on the Torments table. You feel your minds begin to break. Lucky number seven. Only one of you has probably experienced the absolute horror

that this has happened. Should I reroll if I got the same thing as one of them? Just to mix it up? No, tell me what you got first and then I'll let you know. Seven. Also seven. Okay. I got a three. I got a 14 on my roll. Okay. When I see this, my mind flashes and I think of some of the things I saw before I arrived in Avalon and it pales. Okay. You...

You hear Leo's final words, his absolute scream and imploring for you to run. Both Balto and Kristoff, you experience a phobia of the four dwellers, with which you did not know could have existed before this moment. If you had no fears before this, your singular only new fear, potentially for the rest of your life, would be the four dwellers. And Jasper.

That's me. Despite your many decades being a hardened, almost stoic, proud man, you begin to feel yourself well up in tears. And for the first time since you were a small boy, you don't openly sob, but you feel your cheeks become wet with tears as you begin to cry. And that last imploring command from Leo rings in your mind to run. That's really good.

I would like to, as I am taken back to the moment when my dearest friend and my liege lord, Benedict, was completely smashed by a mountain of a man with a huge hammer.

and was completely crushed, and this takes me back, and I blink through, and I don't even realize that I'm crying. But as tears are running down my face, I would like to attempt to channel my battlefield

leadership ability, realizing that our guide and leader has been completely annihilated by a monster. Right. To attempt to basically try to look for and analyze and observe our environment to find the best means of escape and then shout out to my friends of where to go, et cetera. I love that.

So what you will do for me is... Well, first let me just tell you this. Your crying on the Torment table is really more of a...

RP prompt. But for our poor Balto and Kristoff, the phobia of the fear dweller has a mechanical portion, and it basically, from here on out, if you were to encounter another four dweller, you would suffer a minus two penalty on all of your rolls while being too close to one of these horrific creatures. Titus, not Benedict. To all rolls? It's all good. Jasper knows that. But that may not come into play right now. But that is the mechanical...

Penalty for your phobia. You are you're having this memory and you can feel your again Your cheeks are wet with with tears that is unfamiliar to you. This isn't something you know You don't cry right at least that you recall anytime soon But you still are able to find yourself able to issue a command you remember your

leader-like nature, and you are able to redouble down on the command that Leo issued by quickly surveying your surroundings, trying to find potentially some sort of exit, and then issue a command. So the first thing I'll need you to do is make a resolution roll of natural environment, and if you are disciplined in any natural environment thing, let me know. Certainly not. I'm not. Okay, then it will just be reason plus natural environment plus your 1d10.

Oh no! I would like to use a survival point. Sure. This is very, very serious. That's a reroll. Yep. Ha, nine.

Okay, you are able to kind of steady yourself for a moment and take a look around and you realize, not only do the words run ring in your mind from Leo, but you remember him telling you about staying close to the river. You do see that the river continues onward away from this horrific creature and you, if you would like to, you can make a leadership roll to tell your companions to run and follow you.

So to make a leadership roll, you're going to roll for... I think leadership is actually a domain. It is. So it's conviction plus leadership plus a 1d10. Conviction plus leadership. Yep. Which is... So that's 9 plus... It's a 10. I'm going to take... I rolled a natural 1. Oh, wait. I rolled a natural 1. I need to confirm I failed. So you need to confirm your fail.

Four. Okay. So it is not a critical fail, it is just a low roll. Just a one plus whatever. You said you got a nine? A nine. I'm gonna survival dice, because I have high leadership. So you've used what, two of them? Two. Okay. I used two. I know this is the first thing, but I just, you know. No, no, no, this is good. So it is conviction. Yes. So that is a 10, that is a 15. Good.

And I will, as I look, as it almost kind of slows down, like when it reminds me of that battlefield of literally in the heat of battle where time does seem to slow down, I'll serve my surroundings and I'll say, Through the thicket where it's dense and down into the riverbed where it can't find us! It cannot reach us! And I'll say, come, my friends! I'm petrified. Yes, yes, the map, yes, the, uh, the, the, the, the...

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. No, again! And I'm screaming, and I'm just gonna, I'm booking it the way that he needs. And in the moment, in the heat of battle, my battlefield commander and tactician experience comes back to me, especially as I see my friends. I am brought

back to seeing men that I had commanded crying for their mothers as their entrails had been spilled out by an axe wound or dying in horrible situations and I'm seeing my friends, fellow broken men like myself brought down low in this moment and suddenly my inherent experience and leadership snaps back to me and I will attempt to lead them through

uh dense thicket dense foliage even for us massive this thing is i believe i guess if the trees are large and it would basically be having to slow down to weave through and get into lower ravines and into a creek bed uh that's gonna be what i'm gonna try to do you you issue this command and uh you issue it with the full hearty

ability that you've developed over the years of you being a leader and a tactician and an advisor. And Balto and Kristoff, you had found yourselves almost frozen in place from the fear of this creature. And the ringing voice of Jasper shakes you and brings you back, snaps you back to reality as you will enjoy a plus two bonus to your rolls due to the success of Jasper's leadership test.

for a limited amount of time for the foreseeable future, and you follow his command, you bolt. And it doesn't look like immediately this horrific fore-dweller is chasing you. It seems to stand still, and you see its head almost tilt quizzically as it watches you run.

and you take off and it is not long before you feel that you've left it in the dust. Jasper is leading you as he's pointing out and he's surveyed the area and he leads you down as you follow the river until you're able to find a point where the river kind of dips down and goes low as the elevation kind of changes and there's a little bit of outcropping of rock that you'd be able to get down and under and hide and catch your breath.

Then I'll probably, as we're getting down, I'll say, "All right, I'll give me your shoulder," and as I'm gonna try to basically kind of steady myself and then slide down into the lower creek bed, not avoiding the water, but then kind of making sure, never looking back once, not stopping to look back, only moving forward and leading my friends to, until we no longer hear it pursuing.

Yeah, you find pretty quickly that this creature is not pursuing you. It seems to be happy with the one kill that it got, and it had no problem letting you go, and you feel in the back of your mind that if it had really wanted to, it would not have let you go. There was no way that you would have been able to physically outrun this demon, devil, human. It's hard to say.

We should be fucking dead. Like the statues. Have you ever seen one of those things before? No. I wondered if they were even fucking real. My lady mother would tell me bedtime stories of the four claimers. And if I was a bad child, I'd be snatched out and devoured. My blood mixed into their morning porridge. But I didn't think they were that fast. It was a living menhir. It pulled him apart like...

Tweaks for kindling. Aye. It let us fucking go. We could have outrun that thing. Certainly not with me, no. Is it watching us? Is it fucking playing with us? Quiet. If it is, we keep on moving. We know that after the Minhear Stone, that it's the edge of the forest.

"We force march. "We proceed on, we don't sleep." But which way from the tree, from the scar center do we go? Is it north? "We keep following the stream." Yes, he said that the creek leads its way and even if we have to twist and wind, perhaps if it was satisfied, if it has let us live this long, if it is satisfied with the sacrifice of Leo.

a guide, then it will let us pass through its forest and we will never pass this way again. All right, get up, let's go, let's go, right now, right now, here we go, come on, let's go. All right, we move, follow the creek and pray, pray to the All-Mother and I will mutter to myself as I pray, I'm basically muttering prayers to the All-Mother, reminding myself while it may be easier to just lay down and die and it hurts so badly,

Sometimes I will want to lay down and just let this thing kill me, but I will remind myself that we were doing it for Briarbrook, and so I'll pray to the All-Mother for every last bit of strength and to push through the pain to go, basically force march until we get out of the forest.

I will take a step forward and see a flash of color, but just as I step down, I realize that I have stepped on a small flower, and I pull my foot back, and reaching down, realize that this is a flower I know has medicinal qualities, unless the inner fronds have been crushed. And discarding it, I will catch up to my brothers. No! You do this, and it is...

Because of the friendship, this brotherhood that you three have formed, that you find the resilience in each other and the All-Mother to continue. And you are hesitant at first. You're unsure. You feel lost without your guide, even though he told you what to look for, just in case the worst was to happen.

You continue with the plan and what he laid out as the way without faltering. And it is only several hours that pass before you see up in the distance what you believe to be a broken Menhir Stone. It's maybe a few, I don't know,

I don't know, maybe a thousand feet away. It's not close, but you can see it. The statues are large. And even though this one is broken,

The base of it is... Yeah, there's this like... Yeah, it's dark. This stone that it's made of is almost like a basalt, right? It's a dark, deep black stone that is weird and unnatural and it sticks out in the forest so you're able to see it from a good ways away. I'll never look at one of those things again the same way. We walk. Careful.

If we look all the directions, if we see mist, we have to be like Leo. All right, no, you're right. It's just a fucking stone. It's just a stone. It's a step beyond me. And I'll pull my sword out and I'll have my shield. And we'll approach the stone? Stay at least 25 feet away from it at all times, Kristoff. As you approach the stone and you're about 30 feet away, you realize that, yes,

This is exactly what Leo was talking about. You're in the right place. This is great news. Then, without warning, from behind the back of this broken statue, a large human man steps out, unrevealing himself. This is a normal human man, but he's big. He's burly. He reminds you a lot of Kristoff's build. And in his hand, he has a blackjack.

He's hitting it against his hand and he says, "Well, well, well. What have we here? Heading to Camelot, are we? Boys?" And stepping out of the woods are three more brigands and bandits.

What have you got? Give us your valuables, eh? What do you say? And nobody gets earned. Oh, it's just a couple fucking brigands, eh? We don't want any trouble. We are humble travellers. We have nothing. Let us pass. And my friend, Kristoff here, will not have to disembowel you with his sword. Ha ha ha ha!

Oh, you have no valuables? Disembowel with a sword? What do you think we're waiting here for? Weakened, tired travelers. Kill 'em boys! Take all they've got! And I'm gonna need you all to roll for your turn order as you're-- Turn order! Yeah! So let me help draw a little map. Holy shit.

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Please take a look at the map. I drew it way too big once I realized how much movement we all have. This is going to be a really good opportunity for me to explain the rules of combat. Please place yourselves where you think you would be. The only thing I would like to point out is that number one is the guy who was behind the Menhurstone, and he is very clearly their leader. The other brigands that have come out from the treeline are clearly his lackeys.

So, the way that this is going to work is we have an overall breakdown of combat. Combat consists of rounds. Every time we make a full rotation of what's happening in the battle, there is a... that is a round. Every single round we are going to determine the order of action. The order of action is determined by your speed plus a 1d10.

So I'm gonna need everybody to roll those now. Let me jot down what I got here and then I gotta make a couple more cards. I'm pretty sure my battle... So we just add speed, right? It is speed plus 1d10. Oh, yep. Speed plus 1d10. I would like to use my unpredictable feature. Okay. Okay.

Do you need me to find what that does? I have it. Okay. This character has developed a unique combat technique relying on the element of surprise. At the start of every round before initiative is rolled, the character can choose an opponent and must roll two dice for initiative and keep the lowest. In addition, the character has a plus, so me, I have a plus one bonus to all combat-related rolls against the chosen opponent until the end of the fight.

Wow. Very cool. I might need you to-- That's an advantage. So basically it's rolling initiative at disadvantage. Okay. And then when I am fighting against him, I have a plus one bonus. So you're choosing the bandit leader. I'm choosing the leader. Yeah. Okay. You're gonna regret this. My slowness, I'm making four. These are just, they're gonna correspond to the token number.

And my leadership effect has worn off, correct? Yes, that is correct. It doesn't last long, but it saved your friends from being consumed by this. Absolutely. I just wanted to make sure. I thought about pocket sand. It was a little on the nose, and it doesn't feel very Kristoff to me. No. I think you'd probably be... I have thoughts. Okay. Um.

Apologies, I'm almost done. No worries, yeah. So what did-- Also, check out how these go. Oh, I need to roll? It's Thirsty Thursday, man. I'm not touching my-- I'm such a fidgeter that I need to be very careful with this, because

I usually roll a d20 and immediately start fidgeting with it again. You're good, you're good. Okay, so let me calculate the-- I don't know if that's good or bad, but I'm just saying that the d10s that came with this game really, really-- They have a good spin. Okay, what did everybody get? 16. Kristoff got a 16, so you're currently in the lead. Jasper got a nine. 15, 14, uh... 11.

Oh, okay. 11, nine. Uh-oh. 15, 14. I'm not fast. 13. My bet is-- You said you got an 11, Volto?

11, yes. And then four, okay. Wow, I thought 11 was good. Fuck me. All right. So, this determined, again, it's 1d10 plus speed, determines your ability to go in the order. The next part is in reverse speed order, we will call out what stance, what combat stance we are taking. Oh, that's right. You must decide quickly

But the reason it is in reverse order is the slowest people have to make the decision first, and the people who roll the highest will be able to react by choosing a stance that is most advantageous to them based on the previously made decisions. The different combat stances are standard stance,

Offensive stance, defensive stance, and movement. A standard stance doesn't change your statistics. An offensive stance gives you a higher attack at a cost of defense. A defensive stance gives you a higher defense at a cost of offense. And the movement stance allows you to move twice your normal movement speed in a turn. So, number four is going to go offense. Jasper, what are you choosing? I'm taking defense not even close. Defense. Balto, what are you choosing? Offensive.

Offense. Number two is choosing offense. Number one is choosing defense. Number three is choosing offense. Kristoff, what are you choosing? I'm going to choose defense. Smart. Okay, so smart. Defense, offense, offense, offense. Awesome.

So now what will happen is Kristoff you are first you can on your turn you can use your movement and you can make an action and once we have done that for everybody we will start the round over and reroll for our initiative and determine the order of action every single round. Kristoff what are you doing? I start

Just like lunging for this guy. I pull my sword out and I'll yell to my friends, Stand behind me! And I'm gonna slash for his throat. All right, you can move 18 feet in a turn. Each square is worth six feet of movement. So you have three squares of movement to move. Boom, boom, boom. Awesome. Have we determined, Leader, how we're diagonalizing? It's only one, I believe, right? I think everything is like...

one, two, one, two, but we can talk about that. Oh, okay, sure. You know what I mean? It doesn't really specify, so we can talk about that. Rather than 1.5, we're doing two to the diagonal. I think so. That's fine. We can talk about it. We can always change that. Let's talk about it. Anyway, I assume you are making an attack against this bandit leader. With my broadsword. Okay.

then what I need you to do is you are going to make an attack, and the way that you do that is you do your combativeness plus your domain or discipline that you use for fighting, plus your attitude modifier, plus your 1d10. So you took the offensive stance, correct? I did. So you will add your combativeness plus your discipline, because I know that you are disciplined in swords. Yes, I am. So I have two additional discipline. That's right. And I have five combativeness, so it's plus seven. Yep.

It should be five plus seven plus two plus your 1d10. That's correct. Minus two, because I'm defensive. Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you said offensive. Yes, I'm defensive. Awesome. So then, yep, so you roll your 1d10 and add 10, I believe. And add 10, that's right. Come on. Okay.

That is a 14. You got higher than the bandit leader's passive defense, which is 12. So to calculate damage, we look at your attack roll, which was 12. Sorry, 14. Add your weapons damage, which is? Three. That is 16, minus the opponent's defense, which is 12. Oh no, that's, sorry, 14 is 17, plus three is 17. 17 minus 12 is five, and his protection is one.

So he's going to take five points of damage. Did I do that math right? Yes, you did. I believe so. So that's like his toughness. It's like wounds, folks. This is sexy. So, Kristoff, you... I agree. It really is. You see this bandit leader step out from behind this broken menhair stone, and he threatens you with your lives if you don't turn over your valuables, and you say...

Not today, not on my watch. And you charge him and you brutally slash him across the chest as he attempts to get out of your way and he is unable to. And it is number three's turn. Number three, can number three get anywhere? He's gonna use his full movement

And he was in an offensive stance because he's not entirely bright. And he's gonna just run as far as he can, which is only three squares towards the back line, people, if he can. One, two, three. Number one is in combat with you, Kristoff. So he's gonna make an attack roll. All right. That is a nine, plus nine is 18.

He took a defensive stance, so that's gonna be 16. 16. That hits. Okay. So 16 plus three is 19. What's your toughness? What is your passive defense and your protection?

My defense is ten and my protection is two. That's twelve. You take 19 minus 12, you take seven points of damage. Holy shit! This bandit leader-- You're okay! He reels from this slash that you've delivered, and it's cut deep into his makeshift leather armor, but it did provide him a ten--

protection and without a hesitation he raises the blackjack high over his head and he brings it down directly on top of your skull as you try to defend with your shield but you are unable to and it does a massive amount of damage. I have to ask, did you check off all of your good health conditions?

I did. So you, in this game, we have a health condition table where I believe there are, and I don't have it right. Yeah, I'm going to show it off. I'm going to take a look here. Please do. I'm going to take a look here. It is six, no, five good health conditions, five okay health conditions. Yeah.

Four bad, four critical, and one agony. Every time you take a wound, you mark one of those off every time you take a damage, and because in this instance poor Kristoff has taken such a massive blow, he has used up all of his good bubbles and has dropped to the okay condition. He is no longer in good health. So he will suffer from a minus one penalty to most of his rolls moving forward, unless he can get some healing.

Then it is number two's turn. Number two is going to try to run three squares ahead towards the back line. Oh! Which I saw. His closest is our boy Jasper. Yeah. So he can't reach you, but he runs to you. That is his turn. Balto, you are up.

You give them what for, Kristoff? And I will, pulling the leather straps off of my wrist, immediately have my sling at the ready. I will reach down into my pocket to pull out one of the smooth stones that I found along the creek. I will hitch it and I'm

I'm gonna whip this at the man who's approaching us, number two. Okay. And I am going to make an attack roll with an offensive posture. Okay. I'm going to do-- Number two. Okay. Seven plus five is 12. Yeah. And I think that's it. That hits?

Great. These guys don't have as much defense as their leader. It's clear that he used all of their funds to bolster himself and not his crew. So you let loose with your sling and a sharp

easily sails through the air and connects with this. - I'm used to protecting myself from small beasts, so I just whip it and with good accuracy smack him right in the forehead. At 12, my damage is one, so I believe I do 13. - Yes, yes, you are gonna add what you rolled plus the damage from your sling, and then I'm going to subtract their defense and their protection if they have any. And you are going to deal, what did you say, 13? - 13.

You're gonna deal five points of damage to this guy. I load another stone into my... I have a question. I may have been confused. Yeah. So do I reduce my full defense from the attack?

Yes, it is your defense plus whatever your protection is. Okay, when you said baseline defense, I got confused. Okay. So it should have been 17. Oh. Or sorry, 14, 15, 16 instead of 12. So you said 14 instead of 12 or 17 instead of 12? So, sorry, I told you 12, but actually it was 16. 16.

Then you would only take three points of damage. I would take three points of damage, thank you. That's much better. I was going to say. That's much better. That's not just okay, that's pretty good. Why did I spend so much money on it? But we learned about the different health

Yes, so instead of this bandit leader dropping the blackjack directly on your head, you do manage to catch it with your shield, but it is a devastating blow. This man is incredibly strong, even for you, Kristoff, and you feel it rattle through your body. I still have some movement, correct? Yes, the stone hits this guy in the head and he looks stunned. He is shocked. He was not prepared for you to loose a stone directly at him, and he's bleeding. There's blood running down from his forehead.

Jasper, run!

And that is Jasper Cern, you're up. I hate to, I should know this, what is the range on the leadership on my shouts? I don't know if you have that handy. It's 30 feet. Wow. But there are, yeah, it's far. You could easily reposition and be in range of everybody, and if you're not quite 30, that's okay, because depending on how you roll could affect the outcome of the leadership. Was I here? I think because everything's in three,

Diagonal being one and a half is really elegant. It's all divisible. I trust you. I thought about it a lot, and I didn't have a good answer, so I trust you. Cool. Yeah, so you can use your movement, and now you can do what you like to do. I will walk over with my cane as I have my crossbow up, and I'm surveying the scene. And I will call out, Kristoff, kill the one in front of you and immediately turn around!

of the statue, murder the other two! And I will use a leadership check in attempt to basically do strategy. Yeah, so leadership roll is just your leadership plus one to ten. If you are disciplined in strategy, you may use your strategy bonus instead of your straight leadership bonus. Bonto, kill that other one before he gets to us! I'll do my best.

Nice. Strategy, which is Conviction, so that is 17. Wow. Unbelievable. And because I have the leader benefit, it adds an additional plus one to my normal lead. Oh my goodness, so you bought what is essentially a feat, right? You bought an advantage. An advantage. That improves your leadership skills. That is unreal. And that reminds me, you should have taken one more damage because I have unpredictable because I have a plus one that I forgot about. Thank you.

The main guy should have. The main guy. Just has one extra damage. No, that's good to know. You rolled very well on the leadership roll. You ring out these commands, and your party members hear this, and they are emboldened. They know that you are the brilliant tactician that you are, and by following your orders, that will surely lead them to victory. You all have plus four bonus rolls. Holy crap.

It's plus four for the next two turns. Amazing! I'm gonna put four. I'm gonna need you to remind me. That's huge. Do the best you can, okay? Yep. I got this. It's plus four for the next two rounds, not even this round included. It'll be two after this, right? Awesome. And then lastly is number four, who is also going to actually cross behind number three and make his way towards Kristoff.

- All right, yeah, we'll stay there. - And that is the end of the first round. I need you all to re-roll your speed. - Oh, right. That's just a d10 plus our speed. - Yep. - I'm gonna use...

I'm plus one against him already for the rest of the fight. Oh. I'm going to almost like, not like mechanically, but sort of duck behind the Menear Stone and be unpredictable against number four now. So I basically add my unpredictable debuff against four. Are you...

I'm sorry, you're just, are you doing, do you have to do it as a part of your turn or are you just doing it? It's just every time initiative's rolled, I can pick somebody and be like, oh, that's cool. So basically I'm already buffed against him. I could make him disadvantaged on his initiative too, but I figure I'll make four disadvantage and I get the buff.

Okay. So, number four needs to roll twice and pick the lowest. Okay, number four needs to roll twice. Not disadvantage. Yes, I am. Okay, yep, pick the lowest, got it. Awesome. So, let's go with, Kristoff, what did you get first? 15. You got 15, wow, okay. 15. Wait, before we calculate this, do we add plus four to our round?

Rolls? Yes. Oh! Yes. 19. Holy shit! That's gonna change things a lot. Thank you, Jasper. Thank you, Jasper! Holy fuck! 11. 11 for Jasper. So he's still gonna go here, but then 11 would be... here. No, yes, there. What did you get, Jasper? Sorry, what did you get, Balto? Balto got 12. Oh! Okay. So Balto's ahead of me.

Oh yeah. We are going to massacre. We are going to massacre. They picked the wrong fucking trio to fuck with. Kristoff, you are up my-- oh no, I lied. In reverse order, we are going to go with the stances. It is going to be aggressive stance. Offensive stance. Offensive stance. Offensive stance. Offensive.

Offensive stance, Balto? Offensive. Offensive stance, and Kristoff? Everybody goes in. Defensive for me. Ooh, okay, well done. I'm doing O, O, O, and O. I don't even plus four. All right, Kristoff, you're up. What would you like to do? Well, after blocking his blow, I'm gonna try to almost faint and be a little tricksy and pull up and then attack from underneath my shield. Oh yeah.

23-- no, 24. 24 is my roll. You were going to cut his fucking head off. You definitely hit. Maybe you should have worn armor. Ha ha! Oh.

This is devastating. You described the motion that you made, and it is smooth. You are a soldier. Again, you don't see combat regularly, especially against other humanoids too often. I think that's with humans. But you...

immediately fall right back into your calling as a soldier and a sellsword. And with one fluid motion, you double up on that initial cut that you made into his leather armor, and you follow it up with an absolutely vicious slash, dealing 11 points of damage to this bandit. Whoa! The bandit leader. He is looking a little rough. Oh no! Yeah, they got some health. Oh god! Holy shit.

He stumbles for a moment and says, "Oh, curse you, I'm gonna send you to the Allmother!" And he spits on the ground and you see that it's a little red. And he's looking no longer good.

He's one shot, he's one shot, he's one shot. That's very funny. The death spiral is just devastating. Number three is going to attempt to again advance on the back line. So there and there. Yep, and he can't make it, so he's closing in and he's got a crazed look in his eyes. Oh no! Balto, you're up.

I'm just gonna, without saying anything, hearing the words of Jasper still ringing in my ears, I feel inspired and I let a rock loose. He told me to kill number two, so I'm going to endeavor to hit him again. I'm going to roll for attack with my plus four. That was five. It was a five, it was a five. Yeah, that's just confirmed. Five, 10, 14 again. 14? Yeah.

And so that's if that hits and I think that it does then I will be doing 15 of the damages minuses whatever's and and and whatnot oh And then you see your total attack is yeah, my hit is 14 and my damage attack is I don't have a language unit. You deal a massive blow to this guy again He was kind of stunned and taken off off guard he in and

He had trouble closing the distance to you and you can see that he has a simple blade in his hand and he's frustrated that you are pelting him with stones at a distance and he's trying to get to you and he can't and he stumbles and he actually takes to one knee for a moment and has to shake his head to kind of regain his composure. He's looking bad.

I reach back into my pocket and I remember that not all these rocks were just rounded and smooth. Some of them were cracked and have a sharp edge and I pulled that one out and begin to reload my sling, ending my turn. - Who did you hit? Two or three? - I hit two. - He's hit two twice. - I see...

1.53. I will put myself between Jasper and... Oh, no, I'm going to block your path. Yeah, bandit number two is looking... He's looking back. You can do that. Okay, I'm going to put myself here, knowing that I'm truly engaged. Um...

I'm such a fifth edition person. Yeah. In this game, will I have any negatives for using my sling in close combat? You know that you are physically unable to use a ranged weapon in close combat. So all I got is my mitts?

I told you initially beforehand that you would all have a simple cutting hunting knife that would be considered a side weapon. Oh yeah, I'm scraping roots and stuff. In desperate times, you would have a knife that is absolutely capable of being wielded as a weapon. Great. I fumble for that in my back pocket as I see him get up. Jasper.

I'll see this guy barreling down, but I see that number two is taking two smacks and he's looking rough. I'm going to try to, as he's a little disoriented, I'm going to lean hard on my cane and aim my hand. And I hate to keep doing this, because I don't know if, because I said 24 for the attack.

Yeah. Did you add the three for the broadsword, or should I have said 27? You should let me know, because I didn't. Oh. Yeah, so he has three more damage. Perfect. Thank you. It might matter. It does matter, and he still looks...

Okay. But it absolutely matters. I'm going to thunk as I pull the trigger, loosing a coral at number two. Yeah, so you are going to roll your combativeness plus your domain again, which for you guys is the throwing and shooting instead of the close combat that Kristoff is using. Do I get my self-leadership? Yes. Okay, cool.

So then combativeness is one, five, plus shooting, eight, plus combativeness, or plus offensive stance. Yep. 14.

14. Total? Yep. Including the damage from your weapon? Oh no. Oh, you add that to the roll as well? Well, if you hit, you do. Which you have, these guys don't have a lot of defense. Yes. So what's the total with the additional? It's another two, so it should be 16? 16 damage, yeah. To bandit? To number two. To number two. As I basically am trying to basically try to get one down so we can basically back into this corner and then basically range-skite them.

This bandit was very clearly following the orders from his leader and he stepped out from beneath, from out of the brush and was

just following the commands that his superior had given him to hopefully find some riches. He very quickly took two stones to the face and looked shocked and surprised as now out of nowhere, as he's trying to regain his composure, a crossbow bolt sinks deep into his chest.

Looks even more surprised, he clutches at his chest and gasps as blood begins to spill from his mouth and he falls face-down into the dirt, dead. Oh, fuck. Which one was that? Number two. Thank you. That will befall the rest of you if you do not let us pass. And then, boop, boop.

That was Jasper's turn. Number two is gone. Number one is the bandit leader. He sees what is happening and realizes that his men have seen the fall of one of their comrades and they look a little shaken. So he steadies himself and he says, he shouts out,

"Alright boys, we're double your effort! Don't give up now! We have to take them! Definitely not alive!" As he will make his own leadership roll. Oh no! An attempt to command his allies to kill you. And that is... He is a leader after all. That's true. His allies seem to be emboldened, a little bit.

They look like they were faltering, and they look to the leader, but they nervously shake their heads "Yes!" and nod. But they don't clearly seem to have the inner fire that all of you have. Well, they just watch the man die. That's exactly right. And then it's number four's turn. Number four is going to use his movement, attempt to get behind Kristoff. He can. One, two, three. And use his attack? Yep.

Oh no, Kristoff is flanked. Oh no, thank god you're unpredictable. My defense is 14. Thank god you're a dirty sellsword. Delicious flank steak.

This bandit sneaks up behind you, and he is feeling re-emboldened by the leadership that the bandit leader has shown, and he attempts to get a cheap shot, almost like seeing if he can stab you in the kidneys. But you hear him coming a mile away. This is some green...

untrained, know-nothing thug, and you easily, quickly turn and catch his blade with your sword, knocking his hand away before he can stab you in the back. Here it comes, it's gonna hurt! Yeah, he accidentally... I will deflect his blade. Top of the round, reroll for the order.

Oh my god. Plus four. Do we still--natural fucking ten! Roll again! Confirm, confirm! I'll confirm with this one. No! That's still really good, though. When that happens, you might fucking explode. Three needs to make a disadvantage roll. Okay, okay. That's one. You might be out of range. Yeah, we'll save. Oh my god. And... Six.

Holy shit. 17, that's not bad. So this will be the last inspiration round. Yes. And I'll do it. Yeah, I have mine. Okay. What did you guys get? 16. 17. 13. Valtho beats me. Thank god. All right, sorry. I should have done this before I asked, because it went in through one ear and went up the other. Yeah, yeah, that happens. That happens, totally happens. One, three, four, R.

One, four, three. Okay, sorry, Kristoff got A? 16. Okay, and you said Volto beat you? Yep. Holy crap! Jasper, what'd you get? I grabbed the sharp knife. 13. We got speedy boys! Let's go! Okay, in reverse order, we're taking... Number three is going for offense. Number four is going for offense. Number one is going for defense. Smart. Jasper, offense. Kristoff.

Oh, it's me, shit, defense, sorry. Balto. Offense. Okay, I am out from blood. Balto, you're up. The order changing every round and the posture thing is so fucking fun because you know that other people are gonna, we're gonna talk a lot. Yeah, we're gonna talk a lot. Avalon and chill. If I hadn't made this, I might have had to make a close combat roll, but now that I can offensively, ah, I'm going to pull out the sharp rock and...

Swing one at three. Let's see if I can crit again. I would really care for that. No, I do not. I'm going to get an eight. 12 is what I'm going to attack three with. Including the damage from your weapon? No, that's just the two hit. Yeah, 12 hits. Then 13 is the amount that you will need to calculate the damage with. 13. 13.

Five. It's five. You deal five points of damage to number three. He has not been wounded yet, and you swing, and it hits him in the shoulder, and you can tell that it hurts. He winces as he grabs his shoulder, but he continues to press on. I'll start circling this strange space, 1.52, and I will stop myself right next to the dead body, looking down, hearing the final gurgling, grounding sounds.

And my turn. Kristoff. I will continue the leader, try to cut the head off the snake and I'll make him attack. Now would be a great time to have a dual-sided lightsaber. 22 to hit and then 25 for damage. Excuse me. That's 12 points of damage. That's fucked.

Again, you cut into this guy's armor and it's surprisingly well made. You can tell that you're getting somewhere and he's slowing down and starting to breathe heavily. But he is still smiling this slightly bloodied smile as he is coaxing you.

and to continue fighting. He's looking like he's still okay-ish, but you can tell that he's slowing down. This fight is wearing on him for sure. So I block his buddy. I'm like, Vord, won't you die? I'm just stabbing him, hitting him. Jasper, you're up. This is what normal bandits' stat blocks are. If we'd fought the Vordweller... I'll look, and I will say...

Balto, kill that boy. I'll say, Balto, kill the boy, as I'm going to go boop boop. Yep. And then, as I see that, you know, there's a sense of, like, the bloodshed of, like, where time slows down, um,

I'm starting to get the memory of my battlefield experience with my crossbow, and my practice has paid off staying nimble with this. I will once again reload. I'll lean on my cane, pull out a bolt, load it, and then aim at number one, at the leader, and try to shoot him. Okay. So you, again, you'll use your combativeness plus your long attack skill.

Whoa! That was a fun one. So nine plus four is 13, plus combativeness is 14, plus offensive is 20, right? Hold on. Whoa, whoa, whoa. What is your shooting and throwing? 108. Sorry. No, no. Shooting and throwing is three. Okay. But then there's a little number there. Combativeness is one. Okay, so that's all you need to worry about. You don't have to look up there. So that's three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Eight. Plus the offensive.

Plus offensive is 10. Or is it plus X? No, no, the offensive stat is plus 2. The offensive stance you took adds 3, because your creativity is so high. What stance are you? Offensive. I'm offensive. My attack is plus 6. That's 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Plus 4 for my leadership. Yes. So, right, 4 leadership because of me. Yes. Plus 6 offensive because of my stance. That's 10.

Plus nine. Plus your roll. And that's it. But not-- 19. No, that's already included in the map. Oh, oh, oh, sorry! 19. His roll is 19. I'm sorry. 19. I'm sorry. Okay, so you weren't that far off when he said 20. No, no, no. That scared me. You started going up to 30. Yeah. Okay, so you were dealing 19 points of damage with the crossbow blow. Wow. To number one. Number one. Yeah. Okay. Sorry about that. I did not realize that this was adding-- It already included that. That is very helpful. Thank you.

That is going to be another five points of damage to this bandit leader, and now he is looking bad. That's it. You'll see-- Who did you hit? I hit one. So basically, I said, "Kill the boy," and I'm going through the-- I was going to ask you if you meant four or three. Yeah, so basically, kill the boy, I gesture over to him, with my crossbow before whipping him around. Decent shot, Dunnington!

It is number one's turn, and he is starting to look like there's a little bit of fear in his eyes. He starts to maybe realize that he bit off more than he could chew, and the three of you are a bit more seasoned than maybe he initially thought. He's going to make an attack against Kristoff. I'll call out, "You soften them up, Reiner!"

Also, be glad that you didn't hit Reiner. Yeah. He got a natural 10. But the crit was not confirmed. Oh, thank goodness. So it's going to be 10. He's going to hit almost certainly. Oh, no! He's going to be 20 to hit. Yeah, my defense is 14. Plus the damage will end up being 23. Minus 2. So 23, and then my is 16.

That is seven points of damage to you, Chris. There's the seven points. Yeah. Leadership doesn't reduce damage, does it? No, because unless you're parrying, your defense is static. If you had decided to take the parry action, you could then roll to

attempt to increase your defense temporarily, but you forego your action for the turn, and you can only parry if you are in a defensive or standard stance. You cannot parry if you're in an offensive stance. I see. Okay. Very cool. I have a question about the health condition. Yes.

Let's say that I've checked off all five of my good hits. Does that mean that I'm now in okay? Yes. Okay, that's devastating. So you're not well, you're bad. No, I'm bad, 100%. I'm taking 10 damage. Poor Kristoff is looking rough. But he is giving this younger, stronger man a run for his money. And it is both of these men, Kristoff and this bandit leader,

Know that only one of them is going to leave this forest alive. Oh, shit.

It is number four's turn. Is number four the one behind Kristal? Yeah. He panics. He thought for sure that this sneaking backstabbing attack was going to work, and instead he sees that he can reach Balto, and he turns and goes after him. There are no attacks of opportunity in this game, so he has no problem doing that. He's going to make a melee attack against Balto. I cast Fireball.

That is gonna be 16, 17 to hit. It hits. Okay. His damage is plus two sets, 19 total for damage. What is your defense? 10.

I will take nine points of damage for this. You take nine points of damage. I didn't see it coming. You-- Balta was a little confident that this young brigand was going to try to finish off Kristoff and didn't anticipate that he might turn around and attack. Five, six, seven, eight, nine. He sinks a small dagger up in your side underneath of your ribs.

And as he withdraws it, the blood begins to flow. Number three. Number three can't reach you, but he continues to try to chase down just three squares straight ahead.

to Balto and to Jasper. He's running. And that is the end of the round. I need you all to re-roll your order. We lose our leadership. Oh, yeah. We should...

We should run! We should, like, twist these. Yes, feel free. The initiatives? Yeah. Right? You can. I would certainly allow it. Confirm that crit. I'm good. What's a crit? Did you do it? I did it. So mechanically, that counts as a 15. You rolled a 15. Okay. Before you even add your speed. Holy shit.

That's massive. Okay. You have done an unbelievable thing by confirming your crit. Our first confirmed crit. That's 1 in 100. Well done, well done. Holy fuck. On an issue roll. No one has done a new one up in my brain. Who are you using your feature on? Your advantage. What's that? Who are you using your-- Oh, him. So he's disadvantage. The big guy. Yeah, okay, perfect. Let me reroll his.

He rolled the exact same thing. And that's when suddenly the statue came to life. I use two points to bring this up to, if I have, wait, five plus speed is nine. No one's beating me, that's for sure. If I use three more, I will get a 12. Can I use, or should I save them?

Let's use them. Let's use them. Yeah, they're here. Thank you. I will have a 12 initiative. Do you want to go first or shall I? Oh, what is your speed? Oh, my speed's only four. No, that means that you go first. Oh, wow. Yes. We just have a combo. Wow, okay, yeah. So, just so I understand, you both had 12? Yep. Did you use three? Yes. You both had 12? Yeah. We both burst into flames. And you said Jasper's faster than Balto? Yeah. Okay.

All right, Kristoff, you're up. This bandit leader's looking rough, but so are you. For those watching at home, Andy slid down three of the NPC's tent cards when we finally beat them with a 12. Um...

You gotta kill this fucker. Oh god. Right now. Yeah, I mean, all I can do is attack. Oh, stances. Oh, exactly. Reverse stances. Four is going pure offense. One is going pure offense. Three is going pure offense. Balto. Defensive posture. Jasper. Defensive posture. Oh, ballsy. Kristoff.

Defensive, I have to. Okay, okay, I love this. Tristoth, you're up. What would you like to do? Remember, you do not have your +4 for this attack. So I'm just sort of wailing on him, and hopefully one of them will hit. Six plus ten is sixteen. That hits. So it's 19 total for my damage roll. Oh, wow.

Oh, you have to be Ed this fucker. Can I up it? Yeah, up it! Up it! You three? 22. Why haven't we been doing it? Okay, 22. What the fuck? You have been in this position before. You are not-- you are a stranger to mortal combat, let alone any kind of combat.

You notice the familiar signs of a battle dragging on. The bandit leader is huffing and puffing. He's moving slower. His movements are not as sharp, as quick as they were before. How do you want to do this? We're fighting, and he's getting me. And he gets a really good blow on my head, and I'm...

But as I'm down and I stumble a little bit with my unpredictable nature, I'm going to sort of almost lunge with my shield to kind of as a feint to get him to dodge that way. And as he dodges, I'm going to come around with my sword across his throat.

and finish the slash, still sort of hunched over and panting as he bleeds out. You have a dead, hold on, don't flip that over yet. You have a deadly precision with your blade, and without wasting too much energy, the tip of your blade slices through his neck beautifully. He has this absolutely stunned look in his eyes as he drives his hand into his coat,

and he pulls out a concealed weapon to try to make one final stab attack using his ability, Conceal Weapon. He's gonna make a roll. What a piece of shit. Flip it over yet. Don't flip it over yet. As he reveals this concealed weapon with absolute shock and horror in his eyes, he makes a jerky quick movement as he flashes the weapon and tries to get to you, but it limply falls from his hand as he falls to the ground dead.

How much overkill did I do? Not that much. Did I do at least two? Yes, you did. You did at least two. I forgot to subtract the two from the bad category, which will reduce the damage by two. Oh, wow. Then you almost exact-seed him. Okay, well done. So now you can flip over, he's dead. The blade hits the grass and then melts into the dirt. I am going to...

put another coral in my hand bow, my crossbow, as I'm going to basically get behind Bolt. I'm gonna get to the tree line, and I will say, "Your leader is dead, boys. "We have a lifetime of experience on you. "You can run away now, and we won't kill you." And I'm gonna make a leadership check on my friends, basically, kind of as

And to, seeing these boys, understanding that, you know, having pity on them. Now that the leader's dead, leadership check. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which I do this. Yeah, and make sure you use your strategy. Actually, hold on. This one's not strategy, I don't think. No, it's not. You are doing instead a...

- This is more, I would say, authority or peacekeeping, actually. You're attempting to basically make them stand down. - It's all the same. - Yeah, so I'm assuming you're not disciplined in authority. - No, not yet. - That's okay, so you won't get the bonus for this trap is all. - Then that is conviction, right? - Yep. - So that is 10 plus five is 15.

Okay. Your companions get +2 for the next two-- oh, and the additional one for the rest of it would be +3. So you guys get +3 for the next two rounds. Can I use my movement after my attack? Yes. Okay. I would have backed up here and squared up shoulder to shoulder with Bolt-Up. And I would have gotten to the treeline. Yep. Okay. Probably right over here. Oh, nope. Right here.

The mist is thick here. It's not overly dangerous, but the sweet smell, the weird, strange, sickly scent of the weirdness mixing with the hot metallic smell of freshly spilled blood is not pleasant on your stomachs and minds. Balto, it is your turn. Do I see them turning to run?

They're hesitant. They are undecided in this moment. They look like they might, but also they have a knowing look in their eyes that this might be the end for them either way. And I can't use my sling. You can back up, can't you? You can absolutely create distance. Can you just...

Okay, I put my vintage Barlow Imperial two-blade red-brown folding knife away and I back up. Also here, and I will take a crack at number four. Four. Great. I do really well. Do you want to use a survival point? I'll use a survival point.

That's a 9. That's a big fucking difference. That's definitely a 9. 9 plus-- I'm in defensive mode, so it's just 10, 13 on the dot. Okay. 13 to hit. That hits, so 14 damage. That's another 5 points of damage, and he is looking okay.

He hadn't really been wounded very much before. This is the second time that he's been hit. No, that was four when you're limbering him up. Yeah, he looks okay. He looks okay. I'm throwing tomatoes at him. Awesome. It is now number three's turn, which is actually... He's done. Sorry, I'm... No, that's fine. I'll yell that to... Well done, Kristoff. Thank you. Keep behind me! Stand down, boys!

Stand down. All right. All right. All right. All right. Number three is they've seen the death of their leader. They are younger than he was. They look scared and confused. They are unsure where to go from here. The only thing that they're absolutely sure of is that you are much more seasoned than they initially thought. And they picked...

fight with the wrong people number three and four because they're both going noise between them they're going to make a mental resilience checks I mean it's only this track back the tainted grail

Wow, that's... I've seen folks in chat backing it. That's amazing. I, one of them rolled a natural 10, the other one rolled a natural 1. So I'm going to crit, confirm, and crit fail both. Oh my god. Which one first? The critical number 10. I'm going to roll the 10 first. He does not crit confirm. Okay. And then crit fail. The failure, he also does not crit confirm. Either way, the...

Which one is closest to Kristoff? Four is here. Four, thank you. Number three is the one who had the crit failure, and he's the one who goes first. There's this look that comes over him, a moment of panic, and he is clearly broken. His will to fight is no longer there. I'm gonna roll on the Routes table to find out what the condition is. That's R-O-U-T Routes, everybody.

Yep. He all of a sudden has this frenzied look on his face where he has lost all reason and he knows that if he runs, he dies. If he stays, he dies. So he might as well try to make the best of it and take as many with you as he can. Oh my goodness. Whoa! He continues to press forward towards Jasper.

Because he looks like a wounded gazelle, for lack of a better phrase. Is he able to make it to you? Oh, absolutely. He's gonna take an attack. He rolled a natural 10. I'm gonna crit confirm. I'm gonna give him one shot. He does not crit confirm. But that is still an 18 to hit. I stupidly took the offensive. Oh boy. So my defense is eight. Holy goodness. Wow. You...

Can you get one shot? There's no way, right? No. You're going to take 12 points of damage, though. You have an armor, though. So I'm going to use that by one. Did you include that? Yeah, minus one. So that's only 11 points of damage.

But he spotted you across the battlefield like you were potentially the weakest of your friends and he immediately drives this blade into the leg that you are clearly not favoring. He can see that you're favoring one of your legs. He goes for the leg that you're favoring to see if he can basically make you collapse.

Is there massive damage in this game? No. Well, technically, if you were to ever take 20 points of damage straight up, you die. You don't. In one blow. Nobody's come that close. It's been about half. Because we only have 19 pips on our health reduction sheet. We gave you a chance, boys. Now you die screaming. Oh.

- I am down two points away from critical. - Oh boy. - Two HP away from critical. - Okay, number four passed their resiliency check and is going to make an attack on Kristoff. - Bring it.

Wow, I am just absolutely spiking these. This is a natural one. I have to crit confirm. Confirm this one! Confirm this one! I missed. I'm just going like 1, 10, 1, 10, 1, 10. Holy shit. My shield rings true. He does not have enough. He is...

He half-heartedly makes this attack. You can tell that his heart isn't really in it. He's scared. You are easily able to knock away his dagger with your shield. It is time to reroll. Plus three from my leadership. Make sure you minus, though, your penalties from your condition. Yes, thank you. Three's going to be the disadvantage.

You don't even need to use a survival. I'm gonna use that. It is a nightmare over here. Okay. They are looking slow. You do it, but I can promise you you already rolled as low as you possibly can. I'm using a survival point. Though, hold on, Jasper, that is your third. You've used your, or you're saying you're re-up. I'm using from the... Oh, I was using it for the pool. Okay, so just, you had used two. I used two. So did you cash in and get one back? I had previously, I was basically hoping to...

I was basically gonna do a new one from that, but I can basically either cash it up, then refill, and then do use that. It would be more helpful between sessions, since they don't recover on long rest, if you use them up, and then purchase new ones to use. So then... You've used how many total? This will be your third one. No, I think I used another one, didn't I? I have you marked down for two that you used. I don't think so. I've used... I believe this is my fourth.

Okay. I will err on the side of not affecting me. So what I'll do for now is I'm just going to tally how many you've used, and then we can remove the appropriate number from the bucket at the end. That works. Wonderful. Did anyone else use survival points?

I just used one. You just used one? So that's my second one. Okay. I don't think I've used one. I don't think you did either. I don't think I have. I don't think so. Okay, cool. Yeah, we will shore up everybody's survival points at the end of the session. Thank you. We'll do it after the end of the session. I think that's the cleanest way to do it. What did you guys get for speed? 13. 10. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 minus 2 is 14. You maintain the exact same movement. Wow.

Kristoff, you're up. I will-- Stances. Yes, I'm sorry. Thank you for reminding me. In reverse order, they're taking the offensive stance, offensive stance. They don't know what else to do other than to attempt to kill you because they are either maintained their mental or they are frenzied. Balto, what are you doing?

I'm hurt. Quickly. Offensive. Okay. Jasper. Offensive. Okay. Offensive. Okay. Kristoff, you're up. Seeing that three is maddened and going after Dunnington and feeling okay, even though I'm hurt, he's thinking of his friends first. He's going to turn and as basically like just from behind, he's going to try to lunge in the back of this guy. Three is in trouble. Come on.

Come on. Three is fucked. Come on. Fuck. That's not what I meant. I'm going to use my last survival point. Use your last survival point. Because I really want to kill this guy. Okay. Come on. Oh. Meant to be. Meant to be. Two plus 14. Minus two. So 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 minus two is 18. But plus my three. I got that already. 18 total? 18 to hit.

Oh, 18 to hit hits. 21 for damage. Damn! Holy fuck.

Oh, you, these are untrained, under-armored, under-weaponed, poor guys who just got in over their head. I was only kidding! You, with the blink of an eye, faster than a man of your apparent age, appears to be able to move, but you do. And you, in one swift motion, cut him from hip length.

to upper shoulder across his back, and he falls into the dirt. He's going to, though, use his concealed weapon to see if he's able to make one final attack on Jasper. You slice his spine in half, good job. As he feels this strike hit him in the back,

his right arm flies up and the concealed weapon goes spiraling up into the air through the woods off into the darkness as he falls into the dirt, dead. Damn. That was number three? As he falls, I will see Jasper more clearly. Are you bleeding? Yes, no, he got me in my left leg. So I am bleeding profusely from the thigh. I'm still weak, but I'll say, ready?

Red's a good color on you, Dunnington. I'm going to turn and move one step back and try to get in this guy's face. It looks better on them. Jasper. Now that I was going to smack him with my cane to kill him, I now have the ability and the freedom and I'll say: We gave you your chance.

I'm gonna reload another coral and just shoot my crossbow. I am going to roll. - You are, no, no, you're good. I just wanna make sure that Kristoff is not standing between you and the bandit because that will make it harder for you to hit. And I don't think he is. I think you've got a clear shot. - I can just move here if that's better. - You shift out of the way to make sure that you have a clean shot.

So then if we count nine with my leadership, minus two because I'm weak, then plus my offensive is 13 to hit, 15 damage. Yeah, 13 hits. Did you minus your thing? I did. And 15 is the total points of damage. 15 damage.

The crossbow bolt, you're in a lot of pain. It's harder for you to aim. You pull the trigger and there's a little bit of kickback on the crossbow from a little bit of recoil, but you do still find your mark as the crossbow bolt sinks deep into his left bicep. He is looking wounded, but he's not down yet. Balto, you're up. You're open, Balto! Take the shot!

I reach down, keeping one hand on my wound, making sure that the pressure is there and I can still feel the blood creasing between my fingers. I'll reach down and pick up one of the stones that I had just used to knock out, to kill one of the other men. Or to at least injure that man. I'll put in my sling and let's go! And I will release. Attempting to hit number four. Yeah. Yeah, you got a clear shot.

You're offensive. You are offensive. Yeah, that just gets me to eight. Kill him. So I feel like I should probably-- Use one of your things. Use a survival. Let's fucking go. Yeah, you felt it. I felt it. Nine. 14. Wonderful.

Oh, and so it's 15 with the damage. Perfect. This brigand, this lone brigand who is all alone, and he had a frenzied look about him. He doesn't look quite right. You know from your previous fights that a man in his position would not stick around. Something about this place, the weirdness, got to him maybe...

shook him and and caused him to be a bit more aggressive and frenzy frenzy that he otherwise would have

With the bolt in his left bicep, he's screaming, wincing in pain, and just as he hears a whistling, and there's a sickening crack as the stone catches him in his left eye, and you hear the orbital crack. And he falls backwards into the dirt, dead. His eyeball exploded like a fucking grape. Yeah.

It is such a devastating blow. He doesn't even have time to reach for his concealed weapon with this crossbow bolt sticking out of his bicep. And a calm, a quiet, I said a calm, a quiet falls over the wood. You are all badly beaten, bruised, bleeding, wounded. But you know

At the edge of the forest is not far. In this moment, there's no more noise, there are no more brigands, you have a moment of peace. I suppose, Balto, you don't have... Balto! Something for the both of us. I have what I brought with me. Take care of yourself first. If you die, then the both of us die.

I am okay. You know that you have enough supplies with you to care for each of you many times over. You also know that whatever healing, wound treatment you might apply takes time. Applying it today

is just the first step. You'll have to check on these wounds tomorrow and the next day to make sure that they don't become infected, that the healing is working. But you have time and the supplies to make sure that you and your friends are okay. I get to work.

And, uh, seeing my own wound being okay, I, um, pull out, uh, the linens that I brought with me and just sort of give myself a quick mummy, uh, wrap field dressing. Ooh, ooh, ooh, it's hurt. And I, I will look at both of, uh, uh,

Kristoff and Jasper to get a sense of who is the most injured. Do I know that right away, or do I need to have some sort of... No, you'd be able to easily look at them without the heat of battle, once over, check them, and from a meta perspective, they can tell you who is more wounded mechanically. Oh, look at him. Dunnington's on death's door. For me, he's just a flesh wound. I'll be okay. Lie down in the grass. Oh.

Um, I will have, uh, just drop my crossbow and lean up against a tree and slid down, dropping my cane as soon as I'm, as soon as I'm, like, safely down. Do what you can. How bad is it?

I have yet to look, and I, um, uh, will examine, uh, the injury, and, um, it is a serious injury. I will need-- It feels like a serious injury. I will need to close it before I can treat it with medicine, and then it will be some time before it heals. Give me some water. First.

Okay, and I'll pull out my mug and fill it with water and put an extra drop in before handing it to Jass. You're a good man, Balthog. I doubt it. I guzzle it. I'm not trying until I sip at it. Okay. That would be a very aggressive numbing sensation, but it's very effective. And...

I get to work. I actually have a small sewing kit that I can keep with me and I will work it through the wound after getting it as clean as I can, hoping that there wasn't anything magical or poisonous on the blade. And pretty quickly I'm lifting your leg, as painful as that might be, I'm lifting it up so that I can get fabrics underneath it so that I can wrap it in total until finally

I come around and this is the jerk. I scream. My screaming, even though I presume I'm wounded, but just that, it'll be echoing through the forest. I tighten it to-- I feel that it's gonna hold.

and then make a quick knot, keeping with my knife as much fabric as I can, given how precious that is. - What did Leo say? Easy as pie!

You investigate the wound before you do all these things, and you do recognize that there is no poison. This is a normal blade wound, as gruesome and as brutal as it may be, there doesn't appear to be any lasting, lingering poisonous effects. What I need you to do, though, is make a healing check, which is the reason way, and you're gonna be doing first aid. You are not gonna be using your decoctions and elixirs discipline. You're gonna be using first aid, because it's gonna require you to sew, clean, and bandage the wound.

Does the outcome of this roll actually change his health condition? Yes. So the way the healing will work in this game is that it can only be done once per day, per person that you heal.

because of what I was explaining earlier, these wounds take treatment. This is not magic. This is very much a biological process of healing that will need to be done. But once per day per player? Absolutely. So you will make an appropriate healing roll. We will take a look at what you roll and what the DC is. I will say that

As an example for a critical fail, if you were to fail this or you were not a medicine man, you could potentially make the wound worse, dealing damage to your friends. Yeah, that's awesome. So I would like you to make a first aid roll. If you are disciplined in it, remember to add that to it. You do not have your leadership strength anymore. And if you are in not good condition, you need to make sure you take that into account as well. I have a negative one. Okay. But this is where you're a viking.

As one would say. Survival. I think I'll use a survival point. Yep. Yep. Could be worse. Okay. There we go. I'll take that. 13. Awesome. That is a successful check. Wait. Wait. No, no, no, no, no. It's gotta be way more than that. 8 plus 6 is 14. Yeah. No, no, I get negative 1. So let me do it. Sorry. It's 5 plus 8 is 13 plus another 5 is 18. Beautiful. You did better. Okay.

I forgot to add the reason. I had the healing. You get to work. You are in your element. Just as Kristoff so expertly dispatched these brigands, you expertly sew your friend's good leg back together, hoping, praying to the All-Mother that he doesn't walk away with another lingering injury.

You do so well that you will heal two points on your health scale, Mike. Okay. And I believe, because of one of the things that you took, one of your advantages, you get an additional point of healing, or... Oh, yeah, yeah. Yes, your medicine worker, miracle worker feature. Oh, shit! I'll tell you, I have that section pulled up. I definitely read that before we played tonight.

I wasn't working on the overlay that we're in right now. I remember some things. I remember some things. I'm looking out for you. Miracle worker. Miracle worker is an advantage, very much like a feat in D&D that our good friend Balto has taken, which increases his healing power.

Being versed in medical knowledge from the continent, which is where you're from, the character is exceptionally skilled at soothing pain and curing the most severe of afflictions. This character gains a plus two bonus to healing rolls and plus one to compassion rolls.

Additionally, when the character makes a healing roll to save a person in agony, the difficulty, and you're not in agony, it basically reduces the DC one tier. Okay, so it didn't provide any additional healing, but it added a higher roll, which is great. Which would actually put you, what, to a 20? Yeah.

I'm going to say in that case, because you passed by such a large margin, I will give you the extra heal anyway. Jasper, you're going to heal three points off of your health condition. Throwing water into wine. Provided this wound doesn't get dirty and you keep it clean, and Balto continues to treat you in the following days, Balto thinks you're going to pull through.

What is your current health condition after this? I am okay. Awesome. Thank god. I'm afraid the leg will be the same. While that's happening, my ears are ringing, because it was all like blackjack head, so I got hit in the face. Oh yeah! It's like one of my ribs is broken or something.

I will walk up back to the leader and I'll say, I see how fucking good these thieves were. I lose the body. That's exactly what you would fucking do. I'll call out after I'm calming down. I don't know how it was possible, Kristoff, but you're even uglier than you were before.

You find, by going through not only this body, I'll say that you started with him, but you gave him all of the ones over. Yeah, I would go through all of them, yeah. You find a total of 23 opals.

which are units of currency in this world. You are more than welcome to divvy them up however you see fit. You also notice that while you're going over the younger brigands, that they were starting to show signs of mutation. They didn't seem to be as protected from the weirdness as maybe their leader was. And that is evident because the leader had some sort of a rock structure

totem on him that had a rune wristed into this, you know, pebble, like a large pebble. And you can tell that it has a warmth of a protective magic on it as well. So then those are the two items that you find. It is apparent that this protective stone, it won't last long, but it is how he was able to protect himself from the weirdness, whereas these other younger brigands were not so fortunate.

I will put them all in whatever main pouch that I found, and I'll walk up to Jasper, and I'll say, I'd rather be lucky than pretty, and I'll throw you the coin purse of everything that I found. 23 total obols. That brings us to 43. We actually might be able to afford some good fucking wine.

When we get to Camelot, thank the old mother. Let's not spin it all in one place. And to be fair, it wasn't the fucking old mother that found it. It was me. All right? All right.

We will be judicious. Thank you for trusting me. You take a look at their weapons and armor. It's not as well made as the stuff that you have. Especially you, Kristoff. No, I wouldn't. You might be, you know, if you were feeling like one of your daggers was in bad shape, maybe you'd be able to swap it out. But you don't necessarily feel the need to mess with any of their gear. Oh, wow. It's all... LT50 laser repeater. Yeah.

I'll look down and I'll say, well, he was kind enough to not stain my surcoat. Silver linings, Balto. Silver linings. Kristoff, you're next. Come on. All right. Like I said, it's just a flesh wound. I'm okay, but I'll take it if you got it.

I look and I'm sure it's just like black almost. Yeah, bruises. Instant bruising. I mean, it is welts. It's welling up. You can see these contusions are forming very quickly. And you would have the ability to help treat the pain. It's not as easy to treat these kind of wounds as it is to sew up somebody in staunch bleeding. With such heavy bleeding, I actually make a mixture of vinegar and salt to thin his blood.

to endeavor to make sure you avoid any clotting along those lines. And I sort of tenderly touch the wound to make sure that it... Oh, that way worse. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So in this case, give me a decoctions and elixirs roll since you're mixing something up on the spot. Oh, for sure. Oh, yeah. I love that. For sure, for sure. Ah!

Man, that one is really good. I really like that one. Keep that one separated. Don't forget you get +2 from the feature that you took, the advantage that you took. Oh yeah. You're a miracle worker. 17. And from the ultimate. The ultimate? 9. Plus 5. Plus 5. So that's 21. 21.

you also heal three points on your healing health condition chart. Amazing. Should be even higher than that. It takes a lot of time to take effect, right? This mixture that Balto has whipped up. It takes time to set in, but you can feel...

The bruises are not so painful, and they actually diminish in color. They're not as nearly as bad as they were. It has the intended effect of thinning your blood and not risking horrific clots or anything like that, and you are also healed great. Oh, that's good stuff. Oh, it's a miracle anyone on the continent fucking dies with meds like that. The Red Death is far more powerful than...

these natural medicines. All right, Dunnington. Up you go, my lord. And I'll reach my hand down. We should keep moving. If we don't make it to Camelot before long, we're not going to survive out here. Only a few more days of travel, and then we will be able to... I'll grab... Find salvation.

We're pretty close, aren't we? You know that it's not days. Oh, no? You remember that Leo told you that once you got to the Menhir Stone, you were almost there. No, it's okay. You were almost there. The Menhir Stone was the final landmark that made it so you were a hop, skip, and a jump away. I'll grab my cane and I'll help kind of push myself up, grabbing Kristoff's arm and then steady myself.

You know, it's an absolute miracle I can even walk on this thing. You really are a miracle worker. Arm in arm, leaning on each other, three brothers, friends. You help each other as you continue to press forward, knowing the direction north-northeast that you need to go. And with each step, the trees begin to thin, the mist continues to recede. You feel almost as if you can breathe fully again. The sunlight

begins to peek through the canopy. A couple hours pass, and this continues to improve. It gets easier and easier and easier to walk. The brush isn't as thick, the brambles don't pool at your boots like they were before, and it isn't long at all before you break through the tree line of the forest.

and you see a wide, shining, beautiful, clear field, rolling hills. The sun feels warm on your skin. It feels good to be out of the weirdness, out of the forest. And you feel as if you can see for miles and miles. And it is with that you see the walls, the shining bastion that is the city of Camelot.

And that is where we will end our session. Give it up for fucking D, Leader Andy! Leader Andy! Leader Andy! Holy shit, that was so fucking good! Well done, Andy! Holy fuck! Thank you. I want to say thanks to all of you. You three made this so easy for me. You have all been so supportive of me in my endeavor to build this miniature arc. Especially Derek, who has talked... Give it up!

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