Promises

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(COUGHING) Peacocks. This summer, during the biggest sporting event of the year, Peacock turns to two broadcasting legends for the Olympics coverage you can't find anywhere else. Um, I think they mean us. Oh, s***. Um... (CLEARS THROAT) With an incredible duo sure to take home the comedy gold, Olympic highlights with Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson. New episodes Monday, Wednesday and Friday, only on Peacock. (MUSIC FADES) Coming to Apple TV+ on August 9th. -You're the Marine? -Yeah. You're the ex-con. Yeah, I did time, but you don't gotta cast aspersions at me.

From the director of Mr and Mrs Smith and The Bourne Identity comes a new film. -Is this your first job? -I know what I'm doing. I'm a little late for a crit change. Starring Matt Damon. Everybody in New England is after us. And Casey Affleck. Go, go, go, go, go! -What are you doing? -Taking notes. Taking notes on a criminal conspiracy. The Instigators, rated R. Streaming August 9th on Apple TV+. Howdy, folks. I'm gonna let you get to your episode in just a second, but before we get started, I wanna tell you about this really cool company called Blackshell Media.

Blackshell Media showcases a ton of really awesome game designers, and you should definitely look them up on Steam. Some of the games they have, you've seen us play on Twitch. Sanctuary RPG Black Edition was super fun. A lot of people came in, voted on what we were gonna do, and it was just a blast. It has this really awesome text-based style. The other game that we played on our stream is Rogue State, where you become a leader of a country, and you can decide to run it any way you want, and all options are open. So that was really fun. They also have a lot of really neat 8-bit style games, like Dungeon Souls and Zombie Party, and I believe even This Book is a Dungeon has that same really awesome style.

They just have so many different types of game. You should definitely go to their website, check them out, see what they're all about. All of their games are very cheaply priced, because it's a lot of really great indie designers trying to get their names out there. So give them a look. We support them. We hope you do, too. And with that, on with the show. Let's do that thing where we go around the table and introduce ourselves. I'm Jason. I'm the Dungeon Master. Going around the table, start with Ian. Hi, I'm Ian. I play Khaldun Halek, a half-elf sorcerer.

And James. Hey, it's James. I play Dagon, the Aladdin scion. And Alex. Hey, I'm Alex. I play Brelin, the halfling bard. And Xavier. Hey, I'm Xavier, and I play actor-ownest, a revenant cleric. And last and certainly not least, Susan. Hey, it's Susan. I play Aral of Grimnest, the chief lingamvoker. Whew. You feel that? You feel that tension? Hey, I'm Xavier, and I'm terrified. -Yep. -Guys, last time on the show, you finished negotiations with a certain drow vampire. And you worked out an agreement with both him and his kind. You will be assisting them in trying to slay this perhaps legendary half-orc vampire, which inexplicably has appeared unfortunately near the tiny town of Aubrey.

And you also found out some things through the head researcher there at the temple that this half-orc, if it's the same one, has quite the reputation. And a trail of bodies has been left in his wake. So the plan, as I understand it, is at dawn, you are going to meet these vampires at their cave near the entrance, and you are going to head in with them and try to find this half-orc vampire and slay it, correct? -Yes. -Yes. I think so. I mean, is there any other side stuff we want to get done, like ride our last wills? -Well, here's what... -Run away. Please don't take this the wrong way.

Uh-huh. But this could be your last night. Hmm. What would you guys like to do with the evening here? What would you like to do? Right now, it is the sixth of Thorim. The vampires are in town, right? They're just waiting. Well, they left. You escorted the drow vampire out and... Are they waiting for us, like for down or... Oh, God, no, because they wouldn't wait till dawn. Hell, no, that's just suicide. So they're going to be at the cave waiting for you, and then there's tunnels that just catacomb all through the area, so they would be meeting you at the entrance to the cave when it starts getting light.

Which, by the way, they are not chipper about. That's probably a hard sell for this drow vampire to go back and attack. "Okay, guys, hear us out." Like, that's probably a tough one to explain, but yeah. It makes sense. Even from their standpoint, there's more of them. -Orc is guaranteed to be weakened, too. -Right. -A lizardly... -Yeah. They'll be grumpy, but we'll bring coffee. It'll be great. Everyone's gotten to a job site really early. The guy who brings coffee is always the most popular. Is there any chance these caves have been mapped out? You know, funny you should mention that.

-Oh, thank you, Dagon. -Yeah. Just in case we get ambushed or something happens. Dagon is actually in possession of a very rare artifact. -I can use that, finally? -Yeah, you could always use it. Yeah, but I didn't think it actually mapped out specific things. It was just like sort of a general area view of, like... -Well, I mean... -For the map of Theria we have. Yes, it's something like that, but anyone can have a map of the world. Like, that's not crazy. What's interesting is, as you, like, let's say you were to, say, go into these caves, it maps out the general area on the map.

Like, you can look at it, and that's what makes it a rare artifact. So would it be only the places we've been in the cave or the whole layout? It's the area within about a mile of you. -That's sweet. -Game changer, bro. I'm sorry, when did you get that? -Oh, he's had it for over a year. -Oh, there you go. -Yeah. -Whoa, dude. Okay. -Pretty werewolf gear, then. -I'm pretty sure I got it in brightport. -Holy shit. -When we got the dragon statue. -Yeah. -We have a dragon statue? That's when we got a house. Oh, was that with, like, the chess pieces, the chessboard and stuff like that?

-Oh, okay. -And I took the map, and I haven't had an opportunity to use it. Or maybe I haven't, just haven't recognized the opportunity, but apparently I can use it now, which is great. This is a fine time to start using it. Yeah. I'll keep that right in my back pocket. Sweet. So, again, I don't mean to be morbid, and I'm not trying to... I'm not trying to stoke the fire here, but... You have several hours until dawn. What would you as a party like to do, or is there something independent one of you would like to do, or all of you, or... Eric Love would be in so much trouble if she didn't write her mom.

Aw. So that's gonna happen. That's really sweet. What would... Okay, just... I don't know if you'd like to talk about this now, or if it's like a character journal type thing, but what would the tone of the letter be? Would you be telling her about this stuff, or was it just like, "Oh, just wanted to say hey." It'd probably be a warning about what's to come, and if you hear of my death, don't be alarmed. Well, I mean... I mean, it would be character... I wouldn't do it in a character journal, but that'd be like the gist. It'd be a warning, and like probably coming to terms with something.

I don't know. Probably regarding a brother? I don't know. What about the rest of you guys? I think for sure, Braylin. Would first go to the nearest tavern. Drink himself silly. Like, literally take however much gold he has. Let me see. I forget how much I have. Whatever. A lot. A lot. He would drink a lot. He would drink a lot. To be clear... Is this gonna affect his... I'm just asking. To be clear... I mean, he knows his... I feel like I would know... Braylin would know his limit. Okay, well then that's... Stop him. I'm trying to think what would be the... What would be the limit for him?

And if he knew that he was gonna potentially die the next day, depending on his actions, he probably wouldn't go that ham. He wouldn't go too... Maybe we could all take a shot together or something. Yeah, probably that would be the best. I think that would be appropriate, yeah. Okay, so it's more just to loosen up, not get completely hammered. Yeah, 'cause he's got other stuff he wants to do too, but I guess as a group, he would buy everyone a round. Well, that's really sweet. Yeah. Boy, I... God, I'm sorry, I feel it. Like, I... It's just like... I'm excited and nervous and everything and...

Okay, um... So, what about Actaronis? Yeah, he's super silent after he escorted the leader of the vampires outside of the town. He met up with the group after, but he's pretty much keeping to himself. He's a bit like David Bowie in Labyrinth, just playing with the ball in his hand. -Nice. -And... Also the tight pants. But he has armor on. -Yeah. -So he might be wearing those pants. He might be. Yeah, yeah. -I'm sorry. -Yeah, more aloof than even usual. Just really lost in thought, but would hang out with the group, and then, like, if the group ever breaks at some point, he would probably go to his room and then make a little entry in his journal.

Ooh. Is this gonna be like... -I don't know. -All of us are gonna do journals? -It just... -Sounds like a good moment. I don't wanna jinx anybody here. I wanna be super fucked up if someone dies in this episode and there's a last character journal that appears. That would be crazy. -That would be really good. -That would be amazing, though. That'd be great. It wouldn't be, but... I mean, like, dramatically, 'cause, like, Doyle in the commercial at the end of Angel. -No. -Angel Investigations. We're here to help. And it's like, "Oh, my God, he's dead." (laughing) What about Keldon?

Well, first of all, if we're all getting a shot, what should we toast to, guys? -To break futures. -To break futures. (laughing) Yeah, I think to victory would be the first chance, for sure. -Then to victory. -Okay. Let's try to do it for real. Yeah. So, Berlin, do you propose a toast? Yeah, he's gonna stand up on... I guess we're... I'm assuming we're all together at the tavern or whatever inn that we could find, and he's gonna stand on the table that we're all sitting at. He's gonna say, "A long time ago, I never thought I would lift up a sword and kill anything.

But then I met you guys." And he's gonna kind of point to the entire table. "And I was forced to kill stuff. And it felt great. And tomorrow, we're gonna show the people of this town." And he's gonna whisper real impossibly to those vampires. "Just exactly how tough we really are." He's gonna look at Dagon. "Here's to the boss man." He's gonna look at Actoronus. "Here's to the tin man." "Here, love. Here's to the strongest, smartest man." And they called him, "My new best friend man." And to victory. He's gonna raise his cup and drink it. All right. Oh, at the same time.

Three, two, one. To victory! Oh, that was awesome. [LAUGHTER] What about Dagon? I think he'd say something like, "Just remember, this is just one step on a longer journey." I think he'd say something like that because, considering what's happened up to now, and he's alive, he's probably starting to buy into the fact that, you know, there's a bigger purpose for him and this is definitely not where things are gonna end. I'll hope anyway. [LAUGHTER] So, let me ask a question of you guys. It's gonna be getting pretty late at night here soon. And the bar's thinning out.

It's mostly you guys having the run of the game. Nighttime isn't a crazy popular time. There's not a great nightlife in Aubrey for a lot of reasons. A lot of people kind of lock themselves in. Now, would this be a situation where you're going to try and get some sleep at some point? Or are you pretty much just staying up for the night? And, like, is adrenaline just taking over? What do you think you'd do? Does Aubrey have, like, a parcel service again? -Oh, yeah. -I think we asked this before, right? Oh, yeah. Most of the towns and cities have, you know, there is some sort of mail service in Theria, yeah.

Okay, well, I think Braylon, if we're leaving the bar or thinning out, he would tell everyone he's gonna go to sleep. But I'd look for--he would look for the parcel service. If they're closing up, hopefully there's somebody still there. There's usually someone floating around. You could, at the very least, like, leave a message to somebody. It is late, but, yeah, there's usually someone floating around. -Okay. -'Cause travelers get in late and stuff. There's usually, like, one person running a counter. Braylon will ask whoever the last employee there is, can they send out a parcel as soon as possible?

So this would be a human behind the counter, and at first wouldn't see where the voice is coming from, just, like, turn around and then just kind of shock someone's in there all of a sudden and then lean over the counter and see, "Oh, there's hair." [chuckles] Yeah, listen, I need to transfer some pretty important stuff, and I want to make sure that whoever's receiving this knows that it's anonymous. Can you make that happen? Yeah, sure. Where's it going? Brightport. Okay, any place specific in Brightport? It's a manor. I'm not sure what the name's going by anymore, but probably the Golbok Manor.

And the entire time, like, he's jotting this stuff down. Okay. Okay, and what are you shipping? And Braylon will take out half of his gold, put it in a nice little satchel, and give it to the-- or, like, a little sack and give it to the counter. I'd also like to leave a note if that's possible. Yeah, the shipping's not going to be that much. I don't know. The money's the parcel. The money needs to get there. Oh. And then, like, looking--he's going to stare at the money, because that's a lot of money. And then kind of snap out of it, and he'll have some parchment and, like, scoot it over to you.

Okay, I'll write down a little note. [writing on paper] Like, he's trying to very quickly, very scootily, like-- And then he's going to give it to the guy and tell them. Is there any chance I get the messenger to actually, like, give them a verbal message? Whoever's going to receive this package? Yeah, sure. And he's going to write this down, too. Let the messenger know to tell whoever takes this package from the manor to fuck off. Stop looking for me. Uh, okay. Anything else? No, that's it, big guy. Thanks for your help. And then he's going to give them finger guns and walk out. [laughs] Let me ask a question really quickly.

This is just in my head. I just want to know. How would you define Braylon's, like, writing? Is he more of a fancy writer? Is it chicken scratch? Does he write like a doctor? I would say, because of his upbringing, it was very fancy. Oh. He learned from--whenever he learned his bardic tricks, the same teacher taught him how to write fancy. Because it was shit before. It was awful. It was terrible. But then he learned how to-- It's like those drills where it's like, "Oh, you're writing an essay. Well, guess what? Now you're writing it in cursive. So redo it." Oh, no.

Yeah. Okay. I'm always curious about stuff like that because I feel like Braylon has hidden talents the group doesn't know about. Oh, definitely, dude. Look at my bluff. Look at my bluff. Make me lie, guys. Make me lie, please. Never. So the rest of the group-- So we're gonna settle down and get some sleep, right, for a few hours until dawn? Yeah. Hey, could I-- Could Cauldron have kept maybe like a small-- one of the smaller scales from-- I wouldn't. I wouldn't see why not. Okay. I think right before he goes to bed, just in whatever room they're in, he's going to be at the window sort of looking out towards the mountains, holding that scale and just sort of like running his fingers over it and just like, "Oh, I'm gonna go to sleep." Everyone do me a favor and roll a perception check. [gasps] Oh!

Gasp! Gasp! Oh, crud. Me too. Oh, nice. [chuckles] It is now the seventh of Thorm, approximately three-ish AM. The party's going to be sound asleep, and they are going to awaken to a god-awful noise. That includes Actaronis. The entire party is going to hear this. Erolove, Dagon, and Brelin are going to scramble to a window. Now, this thing sounds massive, and it's unlike anything they've ever heard before. The entire party. And it sounds like it's coming-- First of all, it's aerial. And secondly, it sounds like it's coming from the northeast. And it is going to let out a long and loud, screechy roar.

Erolove, Brelin, and Dagon are going to get to a window just in time. To see the largest dragon they have ever seen in their entire lives. I'm including Strahd. Oh, shit. Tell me it's Mara? It's high above. It's high above your heads. This is something you have to--like, scouring the skies to find this. And then you're going to look up and see this massive black dragon. Unlike male black dragons. Female black dragons have long since been rumored to be extinct. They have these long, almost elegant necks, but their faces and heads are almost demon-like. Like, straight out of nightmares.

Sort of tattered black wings, and this thing is going to streak past the town of Albury. And then it's going to swing slowly outward and then start to head south. And after a few seconds, it is going to be out of eye shot completely. Like, you're not going to be able to see it. Cool. What the fuck? Okay, well-- Why do you do that to us? I did ask room service to wake us up. Are we all in the same room? Oh, yes. I would say--like, either you're all in the same room or adjacent rooms, and I would say that you all know, like, you all heard it. Would this be something that you would reconvene and talk about?

Or just go back to sleep? Cauldin is going to run right out of the building and into the street. Braelyn will chase him, like, "No, come back, wait!" Alright, if I hear people running outside, I'm going to follow. Okay, you are not the only ones to leave your building. I'm sure. Are we still in pajamas, dude? Oh, yeah, we've all got our little-- Eye and footies? I'm in my footies, yeah. Little back flap hanging down just a little bit. I'm trying to put my chain shirt on top of my footies. Wait, no! Do me a favor, then, and roll Perception one more time. This is going to go great!

Ooh, okay. We all ran outside, though, right? Yeah, I would say. Dagon, Acta, Ronis, and Braelyn are going to perhaps have a better lay of the land, but the trajectory of this dragon--and it could change any moment-- but it is going to start to fly south, and before it disappears over the mountains and just out of your line of sight, there are two places that it looks like it could be heading. One would be the city of Esterhold. And two would be the city of Odessia. Strahd didn't have a girlfriend, did he? Jason, does Cauldron get anything from this dragon's presence at all?

I'm going to say no. Okay. Other than just--I mean, it's an awe-inspiring sight. Absolutely. He's going to turn to the group and say, "That was one of the Great Ones. This is a good omen." Are you sure it is? Yeah! Good? How on earth could that be a good omen? Seeing one of the gods of the skies, this can only ensure that we will be victorious today. And he's going to look to where the dragon sort of flew. He's like, "Where do you think she's going?" "I--well, there's nothing left to destroy in Odessia, so..." [Laughing] "Yeah, Odessia, perhaps Esterhold. Hard to say.

Maybe just the mountains. No clue. Why is a black dragon a massive black dragon flying about?" Do me a favor. Can the party give me a history check, please? Sure. Yeah, now we're talking. And can Xavier say, "Do you think it's related to the earthquake?" True. I'm not expecting a response. [Laughing] Braelyn is going to bust off some trivia for you guys. Now, there is only supposed to be one black dragon left in the whole of Theria. At least that's been the rumor now for decades and decades and decades. And that would be Kaelthorne. Kaelthorne is a male black dragon that supposedly lives in the Emgar Swamp somewhere.

There's not too many people who would be foolhardy enough to go track it or try to kill it because it doesn't bother with any towns or cities or anything like that and hasn't been spotted in any populated areas in a long time. What was popular to do was for young knights, noblemen, something like that to try and prove their worth, go kill a black dragon. Because of the dragons in the world, black dragons are the smallest. I'm sorry, the male black dragons are the smallest. And there were many more male black dragons than there were females back in the day.

Sadly, most of the black dragons, the male black dragons, were hunted to extinction. Kaelthorne was supposedly the last one. Female black dragons eventually died out and they just went missing. To see a female black dragon is crazy rare and to see it flying around in a populated area is even more rare. I'll drop that knowledge down and say, seeing a female black dragon, guys, that's probably one of the rarest sights you'll ever see. That can only be an even better omen. I haven't seen a dragon in a long time. To see one now, it raises my spirits. That's good, man.

That's real good. And I'm going to pat Cauldron on the back. That's very good. Are female black dragons known to go after civilization? Well, they're pretty much like any other dragon. Firstly, if provoked or attacked, they will, yes, absolutely, 100%, they wouldn't care. If they felt like they were defending their territory or kin, something like that, yeah, they would unleash hell. That would be devastatingly terrible. But an educated guess would be that some event had to have drawn this dragon out. It's not for nothing. Out of our hands, I'm not fighting him.

No me problem. No me problem. Well, I mean, yeah, there's nothing really we can do except take it as a good omen. Absolutely. Because there's no, except like courier service or mail, there's no instant messaging in Theria. None that I know of. There's no long distance telepathy. We could shoot at it. Would you like to shoot at the dragon? I light the flare and I wave my arms, over here. Well, let's take it as a good omen. Yeah. And we all get plus two on our rules, right? Yeah. Yeah, I'm gonna put my hand on Kaladin's shoulder and like, your bravery is contagious.

My hopes are up. Yeah, me too, man, me too. Yes, I'm glad that the spirit of the dragon could inspire all of us. Now, let us bring this power to this beast. It's gonna be daylight soon, guys. A couple hours. You wanna start making your way to the cave, or is there anything else you'd like to do? Just wanna double check what Alexandra's plan is. Fortunately, just in case, she is going to stay behind. Just in case the vampires use this as some elaborate plan to attack the town or something like that, she is going to stay behind and just sort of keep watch.

Alright, good. I think we suggested that, right? Right. That was, yeah, I think it was talked about in the last. Okay. But if she wants to come and help, like an hour later, I know that she wants to. Yeah. Alright, then allow me to load the table up here. Oh, shit, a map! You guys are gonna make it to the mouth of this cave here. And this is the largest one in the area. This is the one where a lot of them are rumored to come in and out of. This is, again, these cavern spider web throughout the area. The drow have used them for fucking decades, but yeah. The vampires have used them even longer.

And the second you cross the threshold, and this is just before daybreak, I would say. But a lot of you have low light vision. You are going to be able to see just beyond the mouth of this cave. You're gonna see seven vampires, including the drow vampire, standing there waiting on you. And as you walk in, I imagine this drow vampire is just going to kind of have a smile on his face. Almost like he didn't expect you to show up. And he is going to extend a hand out to Actaronis. With my arms crossed, I'm just gonna say, where is the rest of your force? We have scouts in the cave.

I'm told we have a bead on him. If we hurry, we can catch him before he moves again. Honestly, I'm astonished you still don't trust me. While this may change a third the outcome of this fight. Again, we'd like nothing more than to just solve this little problem tonight. I have no interest in double-crossing you. Insight. Good call. Do me a favor, roll an insight check. Since when is my insight fourteen? Oh man, since now man. I guess this is my character. It says Actaronis on that sheet. That's me. That's me. That's all of me. Despite all common sense, the words coming out of his voice, though seemingly shellacked in a thick glaze of sarcasm, it sounds on the level.

It sounds like he would rather just solve the problem than rip you guys to shred. Alright. Do me a favor everyone, roll perception. Okay. Everyone except for Kaladin, firstly, is going to notice that these vampires are sort of spread out. They appear to be kind of tense on their guard. Everyone except for this drow vampire, who appears to be the only one willing to stand close to the party. He looks like he's still a little bit on his guard, but not as much as the rest of them. Mixed into the crowd are a couple of drow. Those guys are going to be giving the stink eye to Dagon.

Ah, man. And then you get some humans and stuff. After a beat, the drow vampire is going to step just a little bit closer to the party. The name's Hadril, by the way. Since you never asked, I thought it might be handy for you to actually have something to call me during the fight. Why do we need a roll to see if we know anything about him? Um, history. Okay. I automatically... Oh, crypt fail. Sorry guys. Oh! Here we go. Oh, wow. Nice. Ooh. Airlove, Dagon. The name Hadril is actually going to sound, to Airlove, somewhat familiar. Dagon II, in the city of Brightport, there actually was one of the higher ranking members of House Silverclaw from way back.

Disappeared decades ago, but was said to be a very skilled assassin/negotiator. He was actually painted as someone with a silver tongue that didn't need to necessarily kill anybody to get what he wanted out of someone. And disappeared a few decades back, but had quite the reputation in Brightport. The kind of guy where if you saw him coming, you would probably get out of his way and hope to God he wasn't coming to talk to you. It actually makes sense that we would know, because Dagon's older than me, so you've probably heard about him. And then I heard about him from living in Brightport.

Alright, I'm gonna, when he says his name, I'm gonna extend my hand. Finally. Actaronis Sidual Athanasius. You can call me Actaronis Sidual for short. A pleasure. And he'll reach out and shake your hand. Forgive me if I'm slow to trust the undead. You have no reason to trust him. He's an assassin. And I'm sure he won't hesitate to pull one on us. Well... Dagon, I'm sure if you promise not to... He won't either, until this fight is over. Aladrin. You wound me. If I can't be taken at my word, honestly, what hope does our partnership have? I have no reason to take you by your word until you prove yourself.

He's going to step forward towards Dagon just a little. Ah, kids. Well then, I'm just going to have to show you how trustworthy I can be by the end of today. Erelove's gonna put her staff in between them and say, "We don't need either of your words. We need your weapons. Let's get going before we lose him." Dagon'll glance sideways at Erelove and give a quick nod and look back at... Sorry, what's his name? -Adriel. -Adriel. What is your plan? It's actually quite simple. Our people have found him, and though he moves fast, during the daylight, he tends to stick to a certain portion of the caverns.

If we can close in around him, we should be able to overwhelm him as long as we all attack as one unit. As long as we all stick to the plan. We should make it out of this alive. Is that agreeable, Aladrin? Very well. Show us the way. He's gonna give this mild bow. Again, coated in a thick glaze of sarcasm. Dear God. And he's going to motion ahead towards the two vampires in front, and they are going to take the lead throughout the cavern. Everyone do me a favor and roll a Perception check. Back to the old Brelin. A mighty 12. Dagon's gonna pick some stuff up.

So you guys are gonna start walking and you're going to follow these vampires in. And it's gonna get dark. Like, darker than you thought dark could get. Those of you with low light vision, unless you light up a torch, are going to spot... You're gonna spot a few things. One, these corridors are getting tighter and tighter. And then it'll open up into areas where there are two or three or four paths to take. And then from there, another tight cavern, and on and on. And this seems to go on for a while. It's a good thing you have a guide. Short of having some sort of, I don't know, incredibly rare map, you would probably have a very hard time finding your way in or out of this place.

Two, you're going to spot these little lived-in areas where there's obviously someone living here. And you're gonna spot a couple of corpses. These are bodies that have been obviously drained dry or fed off of. And this probably was not done by the half-orc you're hunting. And the third thing you're gonna notice is a vampire's corpse. And this is when the entire party comes to a halt because the vampires are gonna crowd in around this. This vampire is practically missing its head. And there is a huge spattering of blood and skull fragments sort of painting the wall of the cavern.

And then the body is just sort of slumped up against the side of it. It doesn't look like there was much of a fight put up either. And Haedra's gonna look down at this and kind of confer with his associates. Just sort of leaning in there whispering back and forth. As you can see, we're getting close. I hope you're prepared for what's about to come. I'm gonna look at the rest of our party. Just say, remember, stay close to me. And then I run away. Actor Ronis is going to feel... It's really tough to describe, but he's going to feel almost a tugging coming from his pack.

It's almost an impulse. And it's something telling you to pick up the orb. Like it is... it's almost as if it's calling out to you. Hmm... And it's just a mild thing. It's kind of like you're sitting on the couch like, man, I could use a pizza, but I don't need a pizza right now. It's just... but there's that kind of like, but boy, that would be great. Like it's kind of that. It's just kind of in the back of your mind. All right. I'll keep that in mind, but I won't immediately reach for it. But boy, some pizza would be nice. Like I'm holding my glaive in two hands right now.

I can't get distracted, you know. I'm on my guard. Going further into this cavern, there are going to be several traps that the vampires will hold up and just direct you over or completely disarm. And some of these are pretty nasty. Dropaway floors or spikes or darts, things like that. Like, I mean, they get progressively nastier as you head in. Again, probably a good idea that you have a guide. Or a rogue. Or a rogue. Eventually, after a long time, it seems like you've been in this place a lot longer than you're comfortable with. Haedra's going to halt the party.

And he's going to confer with his associates again. And he is going to have them march forward just a little bit and come back and talk to you. I'm being told that he's just ahead. This particular cavern leads to a dead end. If we attack him now, we can close in around him and make sure that he has nowhere to run except through us. Can I confirm on the map that it's actually a dead end? You sure can. How would I do that? Just open the map and look. Well, look at that. So opening this map up, Dagon can indeed confirm that, yeah, this particular little portion, it does lead into a dead end and you guys aren't too far from the end of it.

I'll hold that up and show the whole group. Can we see the exit or did we travel more than a mile? Oh, you've traveled more than a mile. I can't see in the dark anyway, so I'm just nodding and grinning. I made sure I left little bits and pieces as we walked, but not the red though. My thighs. He's just hopping on one leg. Shaking my boots. He's following the smell. Smells great. Kalden's going to say, when you trap an animal, it becomes desperate. What kind of plan is it to have him between-- have him and-- have us between him and the only exit? Trust me. There is no version of this that sees us negotiating with that mistake.

He's not one of us. He's something different entirely. It is an animal, like you said. And like any animal, it can be overwhelmed. And in what way do you suggest we overwhelm him? Just in sheer numbers? Did you have a better suggestion? Would collapsing the cave be viable since there's no other exit? You're going to see him give this some thought. I don't know about you, but I didn't bring any explosives. I look over. I visibly look over at Dagon. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I suppose I could try. So do you say this out loud? Yeah. But is this something we want to do as a last resort, or right off the bat?

Maybe if we start dying, that's you calling the retreat and blowing up the tunnels, because I feel like if you do that first, you might collapse the entire tunnel base itself and kill yourself in the process. I'm not a seismologist or whatever your feeling is in Baria, but I'm pretty sure you go all out in here and you do something to hit a wall, this place is coming down. Jason, would there be any way to use-- Do you remember my first fight against the werewolf, I used an ability with my blade that carved a line 50 feet in the ground. Would that be usable to collapse a cave?

It's kind of hard to say. Probably not collapse the cave. I mean, it would have to be a really weakened version of that, like something man-made or dwarven carved out, something like that, where there's pillars supporting it, maybe, but a natural forming thing would be tougher. Cool, cool. Well, maybe instead I'll just sort of knock on the walls and say, "I'm not particularly in the mood to be buried alive." [soft music] All right, last resort it is. That sounds good. As you're speaking, coming up behind you, another seven vampires are going to close in behind the group, not menacingly, but just sort of letting you know they're there.

In that way where they glide across the ground without-- [laughter] This has got to just feel like a trap, right? I mean, just keep close to me. There's nothing around the corner, like, "Ha ha, yeah, oh, good." Actually, before the game, I wanted to tell you guys, "Yeah, okay, I walk in front with the leader, and then you guys pincer them, but I thought he would be the 14 of them." They got the jump on us. [laughter] Just stay close to me. So we're in the middle now. Pretty much, yeah. [soft music] We haven't told these guys about the orb, Zell, something that we want to know at all.

We haven't told them about-- and they still think Dagon is, like, an illusionist or something. [laughter] I kind of want to strategize with them and let them know that we have ranged attacks just so if it does happen and then there's a bunch of them after if we kill the other vampire, they won't turn on us just for hitting them with our ranged attacks. Be like, "What the fuck, man?" But at the same time, if it does happen, we had told them in advance, so they would be cooler about it. Let's do this. How about we do this? Firstly... There we go. [laughter] I'll be able to escape.

My pants are super wet now. Of fear. [laughter] Well, you know, some call it A, some call it B. This is just super hot. We're in a cave. That's what's going on. Yeah, for all the listeners, the whole screen has just gone blue and dark and terrifying. And ominous. Yes. Let's do this. Is there anything you guys would discuss with your temporary partners before you go charging in? Would there be anything that you would sort of-- the putting cards on the table moment? I kind of want to go all military. -Yeah, like-- -I was in the military. That is true. Well, tactical style.

Like, basic stuff at first. Artillery stays behind. Yeah, and let them know that most of us are ranged, except for you, right, Actornis? Yeah, so I'll be--like, I can-- I look at Hadrol, and I'll be right there with you in the fray, while my team is the artillery. Air Love's gonna stand up a little straighter, like that military pose with their shoulders back. What kind of combatants are you bringing? Most of us are ranged except for Actornis. Are yours melee, or will they be sitting in the back with us? Most of my people are close-quarters attackers. Well, I would be wary, since most of us are ranged, that there might be friendly fire.

Not intentionally. And we will be there to support you. Noted. Do your best to tell the difference between a giant half-orc and someone a bit smaller, though. Noted. Well, many-- many of our attacks are large range, so keep that in mind as well. He's going to look over at a few of his people and just sort of nod at them, like, "You catch that?" And they're going to give him a look back, it's like, "Yep." And then Hadrol's going to turn back to the party. Again. Noted. Okay, guys, I know that kind of-- we didn't want them to know, but just think, if most of them survive, it'll be good so they don't think we were attacking them.

Yeah, yeah. I agree. Heralov has a high wisdom, so... Me too, but I don't want to use it. Well, I've never seen that many icons for sure on a map before. Mm-hmm. It's kind of jarring. Well, do me a favor and rearrange how you feel like your characters would be standing in formation. I want you to be nice and comfortable with how this starts. I mean, I guess I'd be here, right? Heralov should be further back. I think... I think I'd be up there with... Vactoronis. You're going to be right at the front, you want to be beside me. I'll be in front. I'm a cowardly leader.

So you guys go ahead of me, I'll call offside. So we made a penis. A smart leader. Smart leader. Oh, bye, big guy. Oh, God! Damn! I like the slow transition. Yeah. Good call. Oh, now it's a penis. Yeah. Maybe I can teleport him into the other cavern. Guys, do me a favor. Everyone roll initiative. Oh, no, I didn't want to go first. Thank you, James. Oh, I got it. Got it. Oh, yeah, I hate going first. Yeah, I didn't want to go first. Oh, shit. All right, all you... all y'all vampires are going to go first, all right? Makes up James and I. Yeah, they're the front lines. Turn them up.

No eager people. I don't want to antagonize them first. I'm going to get a target on my head right now. Oh, Dobert! No. Oh, no. No, he's fast. Oh, yikes. He just goes back to back, though. Oh, God, that could be really bad, though. That could be terrible. You're going to walk further into this cavern in this particular tunnel that you know for a fact leads to a dead end. And you're going to get to a spot where you can see this half-orc for the first time. Everyone do me a favor. Roll perception. Ooh. First of all, the rumors of this thing's size have not been exaggerated.

It is easily six and a half feet tall, but it's this huge, broad-shouldered thing. Looks like it's covered in sort of makeshift armor, or it may have been something polished and gleaming at one point, but now it is just coated and stained with blood and sort of awkward-looking jagged bits of metal. This thing also has long, wet-looking hair. You're not sure if it's slick with blood, or you're not sure if perhaps recently he's just wet himself down. You're not exactly sure, but he looks damp, like all over. And there is a smell, this god-awful smell, that is going to hit each one of your nostrils, particularly Dagon.

For all accounts, this thing looks like an unreasonable animal. And... through its long hair, you can see it staring daggers at the lot of you. Arms at its sides, holding this massive hammer. Dagon, what would you like to do? Throw up? I guess we gotta get this party started. We're all in agreement that we're attacking? Yep. I guess I'll just say, you know, I have a disgusted look on my face. I'm smelling this guy. I just say, you're a blight on this land, and your story ends now. And I'm gonna throw some mental trauma at him. Ooh. Right off the bat. Oh, just a range of 20.

I can go through Actoronis, right? Okay. Popping a daily. That's how to start. Half damage, and he'll gain 45 psychic damage. So... Ooh. Say it. Oh, it was almost a crit. Yeah. Did I click on him though? No, you didn't, but we're counting it. Ooh, 45 damage. Boom. Fuck. The daily. That is a damn good start, sir. Hit him hard. As a result of being bloodied. No. We're not there yet. 45? Come on. Anything else? No, I think... I like where I am, close to everyone. Okay. Well, you know you have to charge now anyway. Yeah, no, I know. Okay. So... Atoba's gonna take this full force, and it's gonna clearly cause him pain.

And he's gonna shake his head to try and clear out the cobwebs, raise his head, and look at Dagon. And he's going to ready his hammer. Air love, your turn. I'm debating, guys. 15 ongoing fire damage, or if he attacks any of my allies or myself, he's take 3D10 damage. The second one definitely sounds like it'd be a long-term better investment, I feel like, because there's a lot of us, a lot of potential targets. Yeah. Yeah. That's a one-at-a-time thing. It's an encounter, and it says allies, so all the vampires are allies. If you include them. They did say we're working together, right?

Yeah. Yep. They count as allies. At least for this fight. I'm gonna... I wanna try to sound badass when doing this, and if I miss, it's just gonna be like, "Oh." Well, that's part of calling your shot. You get to be the hero if you hit. Okay. Well, I gotta move on forward. And then she's gonna see him ready the hammer and, like, point it at Dagon or whatever, and then she's gonna be like, "Just try and attack him." And then she's going to do this thing. If he attacks him, he's gonna do shit. Oh, goddammit, motherfucker. [laughter] That's gonna miss, sadly.

It's an encounter, so there's not half damage. Oh, it is half damage. No, it's not. Oh. Oh. Good try. It's a good try, though. I fucked up. I should've given us the glimpse of the future before we even did this. You can still do it. Oh, no, it's its encounter. Never mind, never mind. Yeah, you can do it. And... Anything else? [laughter] No. Vampire spawn number three is going to race forward. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and get face to face. Oh, I like the cut of his jib. So brave. Number three, we will remember you. This is sort of a lighter colored female drow.

She's going to race up. She is going to take these jagged talons that a lot of vampires are famous for having and going to rake these clean across the chest neck area and try to draw some blood. That is gonna miss. [inhales] Uh, Doben's turn. Good try. Doben... I'm really glad that vampire is there right now. Might save me a hit. I don't know. Oh, man, Doben's gonna take this hammer and he is going to swing twice at this vampire. The first one's gonna hit. The second one's gonna hit. I don't like this. Are you ready to find out what a vampire is made out of?

He is going to swing vertically down at this vampire and strike it in the skull and kill it instantly. Uh, reaction or--oh, no, maybe not. I'll save it. There's no allies near. I'll save it. Sorry. This vampire's gonna crumple down to a heap and he is going to swing the second time and you're gonna hear a sound, this pulpy mass. Just get struck with the blunt-- the blunt instrument in this orc's hand. This vampire was dead, obviously dead, after the first swing. The second one was just-- just for this thing. That is gonna bring-- -Wait, I wanna try something.

-Okay. [sighs] As much as I hate it, I'm gonna try to get it to swing. [sighs] As much as I hate these vampires, what happens if I use healing magic on them? I just wanna know what-- I don't think you can answer that question, could you? What's healing magic, just for-- Okay, so, my idea is I use Word of Life. It's an immediate reaction. The enemy--and it's a close burst 20, so he's definitely in range. Mm-hmm. Enemy attack reduces ally within 20 squares if you do zero hit points or fewer. So this guy's definitely at fewer 'cause he died outright. Right.

Triggering ally in the burst, the target can spend a healing surge. In addition, the attacking enemy takes a minus five penalty to all defenses until the end of my next turn. Okay. That second half is what I wanna do. Well, that's--okay. That would work for the first hit. Yeah, but then the second one probably would've murderlized him again, right? Probably. Okay, so-- I'm telling you that to-- Yeah, 'cause I saw--I see the numbers, so-- Yes, okay. [groans] I'd save it for one of us in this. Yeah, yeah. It's better to use the whole shebang for all of us. Never mind.

Never mind. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt your narration, sir. No. Not at all. That's gonna bring up his second turn. What? Doesn't he have to charge now? [both laugh] His two turns are next to each other? Yep. Yeah, he rolled 22 for both his initiative counts. Oh, well, okay. That's terrible for us. He is going to-- Oh, jeez. He's gonna have to use both of his movements. To get right there. And that'll put him right next to Erolove, Dagon, and Actaronis. I'm moving--did he trigger? He moved, like, two squares from me. Oh, okay. Yeah. If he came in from the top, he would have moved through two squares.

Yep, get an opportunity attack. Go ahead. Sweet, so that's just a melee basic? Yep. Control-click. Melee basic attack. That's a hit. That is a hit. Nice. Okay, cool. My weapon was already damaged, so my glaive doesn't do its special thing. Oh, well, 14. Okay, so Actaronis is going to hack away at a doban here. And he is going to get right near the lot of you and just sort of ready his hammer and let loose this scream. And in this tight corridor here, it is ear-splitting. Like, it is--it's terrifying. Brailin, your turn. Oh, man. Brailin is terrified when he saw--because I guess he would see this big, you know, a doban-hulking beast of a vampire running straight towards the group.

He would shift or, I guess, move. Oh, man, I have never had to actually use my real speed. Six? Oh, whoa. I'm surprised it's not five because you're small. Whoa, dude. What are you trying to say? No, I'm sorry. No, I'm just--I didn't mean to generalize. Hashtag "halflings are people, too." I'm sorry. This is just your people have smaller legs and therefore... My speed is... My speed is six, too. Oh, so we're fast then, huh? Okay. I'll get right next to Hadril. Benadryl. Benadryl and me are going to be best friends. I'm going to use "Glimpse to Future." So I'll mark it as used.

And it is a minor action. Here we go, guys. -All right, so first one. -Hope for a 20. -Oh, that's a 12. -That's pretty nice. Oh, shit, I grabbed something. Hold on, sorry. Don't look at that. Okay. -Ooh. -That's a 16. Better. -Okay, yeah, we're good. -That's a six. -Okay, but the 16 is good. -Yeah, that's solid. -Yeah. -Let's pocket it. So what I envision "Glimpse to the Future" is basically Brailen sees three different outcomes of what will happen. Like, kind of like, you know, X-Men can see the future. He just sees, in like a fraction of a second, he sees Adobe do three different things and the outcomes...

Two outcomes pretty good. One outcome is like somebody dying. So he closes his eyes and then whispers to himself, "Yeah, I'll keep that one." Your vibe. -Yeah. -I like that. All right, and then I'm gonna bust out with... "Hidious Laughter." Gonna be adorable when he giggles. Because it's gonna be... It's psychic damage, so it's vulnerable five, right? Nice, yes. Okay, we'll do that. And I will attack. Oh, no! -That's gonna miss. -I will use... Will you use the 16? No, I have something else. -Oh. -My abilities as a half-ring. Don't you have Second Chance? I think that's only against...

-If it hits me. -If somebody attacks you, yeah. -Yeah, it's not against me. -That makes more sense. Yeah, yeah. Damn it. That's what I thought it was gonna be. Okay, um... Well, if I miss, it's still half damage, and you can't take opportunity actions until the end of my next turn. -Okay. -So we can all move away. -You can all move away from him. -Nice. And by all, I mean just me, because I'm a little... Yeah, all of us moved. Let's see, Will. It would have been -2 penalty to the back hold, but whatever. That's neither here nor there. So here's the damage. Don't go too far.

I got a charge from him. So half of 21, rounded down. This is D&D. So that would be 11. No, less than 11. -Say 10, right? -What happened? -What have we done? -I have to do half. Half of 21. Half of 21? This is 10. -Yes. -And that's psychic damage. Oh, yeah, so five more. -Yeah, so 15. -15. Okay, that's respectful. -That is gorgeous. -Yeah, so I try to do the Fran Drescher laugh again. And it just kind of... It becomes a Peter Griffin laugh instead of a Fran Drescher laugh. So it doesn't hit as hard. And I think I will keep my action point in case things get really bad.

And I'll end my turn. All right. Nice. Very nice. Very nice. Hadrill's turn. He is... That's the best thing he can do. He's gonna use Imperiling Strike. Remember the Drow swords? He's going to shift twice, which will put him right in between one of the vampires, Acta Ronis. So he'll be flanking Adobe with Acta Ronis. I'm sorry, Death Strike. He's going to move two squares, make a melee basic attack with a +2 bonus, plus he's going to get +2 for flanking. So... Boop, boop, boop, boop. Oh, fuck me. Okay, well, that's not going to do anything. -Aww. -'Cause he rolled a 2.

-Wow. -That is embarrassing. -He's not getting my 16. -Okay. Dagon will spit at his feet. Oh, no. Not right now. Not right now, boss. Come on. Alright, I'll save it. I'll save it. Gold, follow down. Oh, man. Vampire spawn number 4 is going to shift down one, target Adobe, and use its claws. 25 is going to miss. Who are these guys? What about the seven assholes in the corridor? Are they going to help? After this round, yes. Okay. Sorry. I'm a bit on edge. No, no. I fully understand. We need more fodder. Vampire spawn number 2 is going to move, going to shift down, be flanking with Dagon, target Adobe, get a +2 to the roll, cross your fingers, guys.

Gorgeous! 38. That will hit. -Good job. -Bring the pain, boys. -20 damage. -Oh, solid. Vampire spawn number 5 is going to move down and be flanking with vampire spawn number 4, target Adobe, and swing. That will miss. Oh, wow. This is... This is not great. Hmm. You know what? Fuck it. Just going to close in a round. Oh. One swipe. The AoE attack just demolishes everybody. I can move us away. Going to target Adobe, get a +2 for flanking. That's going to miss. Holy shit. Uh-huh. He's got some sort of 360-degree hammer. Well, for their defense, it's not because they suck.

They all rolled 5 and under. -Yeah, no. -Like 8 and under. They have a good bonus to them. They have a good plus. It's just bad luck. That vampire could push us out of the way. We're cool. Hmm. Vampire 6 is going to... He's going to delay for a second. Kaldin, your turn. Okay. Kaldin, seeing all of them converge onto this thing, is going to fall back here with Braelyn. First, he's going to clutch the small scale that he's holding just sort of like to his chest, and his clothes are the robes that he has. There's going to be like ruins that are going to sort of glow on them, just sort of like a blue, and he's going to activate his repulsion clop on his chest.

He's going to use his armor as a minor action, and then he's going to look at Braelyn and say... "To victory." And he's going to throw out his hand, and Icy Dagger is going to manifest there, and he's going to point it at this giant orc, and as he does so, it's going to shoot out a stream of like ice and snow surrounding this orc, like hitting him directly and then surrounding him for Winter's Clutch. I like the sound of that. Ben was going to look back and say, "Don't get too fancy, man. Damn." Everyone hope for a high roll? Tal, I'm going to give you my 16, because you're just so beautiful.

We need this. That will hit with the 16. Okay. That is awesome. So I hit this little thing here. Blue doo doo. 22 damage. Awesome. Okay, so, yes. Thank you so much. So the target takes that damage. He's immobilized until the end of my next turn, and I can slide him one square, though there's really nowhere for him to go. I can slide each ally within 20 squares of me, two squares, so if anyone wants to move away two squares, you can. Does anyone want to move away? All the vampires raise their hand. And he can take attacks of opportunity, right? No, this is just...

Until the end of Brailleland's next turn. Yeah, but slide is a... Slide doesn't count. You can slide everybody? Is that what you said? I can slide any ally two squares if you'd like to. Oh, okay. So he's immobilized, he also grants me combat advantage, and he is vulnerable five cold. Hmm. Who wants to move? I mean, I can't move next turn. He's going to shake it all off. Maybe move Dagon since he can't move. I don't want to take that away from anybody and say I need to move. Well, the Irela will get the chance to move before Adobe ends next turn. Well, what I could do is if you move me two away and then I run as far as I can, I could do Thundering Summons and get Dagon next to me.

That's what I was planning on doing. But if I have that extra two, I could get further. Either way, both of you can walk away as far as you want without getting opportunity attacked on you because you moved before Irela's next turn. Yes. And if I didn't have that, I have Divine Protection, which until the end of my next turn, I don't provoke the opportunity attacks. Irela, why are you so good at life, Irela? [laughter] So basically this giant winter storm hits him and sort of surrounds him, and then he's unable to see all of you and then anyone can move should they want to.

I'm going to. So two. Can I move diagonal? -Yeah. -Cool. All right. Excuse me, pardon me. [laughter] Just going over here. Anything else? That'll be it. I got my Cloth Armor. Any time an enemy comes up next to me, I can push him away as an immediate reaction. All right. Acta Ronis, your turn. All right. Everybody gathered here like this kind of messes up with my plans because now I'm going to have to treat all of these vampires as allies because I don't want to take them all out at the same time. Not that I couldn't want it, but first off, Minor Action, I'm going to use Shield of Faith on everybody within, I think, Burst 5.

Yes, Burst 5. That's +2 power bonus to AC until the end of the encounter. So should I click everybody and give it to everybody? All allies, right? All allies, yeah. Can I choose not to give it to them? [laughter] Well, let's read the power, shall we? Which one's this called again? Shield of Faith. You and each ally in the Burst. Yep. So if I decide not to include them, can I later decide to include them in attacks that say each ally? Well, there's a thing. If it says each ally, they count for allies, just like their attacks wouldn't... I know. Basically, it's like I'm not attacking them specifically, but should I stick with that for the whole fight?

Like if I have another power that says each ally, but then I want to include them. Well, I think because it says each ally, you and each ally in the Burst, I think you have to target them. Yeah, I think you can't pick and choose when it says that. Yeah. Because at the beginning of the fight, it's like, oh yeah, they are allies, so they can't really switch on them halfway. Right. So, again, if they were to use an attack that's an AoE, you'd be considered allies and not be hit by it. Alright, there might be a point where that changes. Anyway... That's fine.

Okay, so click this guy. Click this guy. Click this. Click. Oh, Xavier. Yes? Can you move where I was? Because I'm going to do an attack that attacks on dead, like, regardless of who I target. Yes. And I don't want to get you. Perfect. I will. Because I can. And myself. And then click the little guy. Hopefully it works. Bloop. Yep. Okay. Alright. And then I will swiftly move where Aralav told me to, like, in between Dagon and him. Well, actually, I'm going to move a little further away. Cool. Because it's a blast. Yeah. I'm going to swing my... Because I was just a miner.

And I'm going to swing my glaive in the ground and the force that it emits is... Shield of the Gods. Hmm. It's each enemy in the blast. I'm not including the vampires. Oh, although it's versus reflex, but it's half damage, so I'll do it. A hit will knock him prone. Ooh. So let's do it. Oh, almost a crit. Damage. 13 damage. Alright. And... So that's prone this guy. And that's... Oh, yeah, I give Annalei of my choice plus three AC and reflex. And as a miner action, I can switch it. Ooh. So it'll be Aralav for now. Because Dagon, you're going to move, right? Yeah, I think Aralav's going to move me.

Yeah. Okay, cool. So I'll give it to Aralav. So unclick this guy, click this girl. Sorry, it's a bit long. And AC and ref. Done. So that's miner, that's move, that's standard. Good. Turned on. Okay, let's see here. And I'll vampire spawn six there to delay his turn. I did, so I'm going to place him... Two things. One, Actarun is doing me a favor, roll an arcana check. Oh, boy. [Laughter] See, remember that feeling I was telling you about earlier? Yes. Okay, Actarun is just going to feel... It is most definitely the orb. That's the only thing... All of a sudden, his backpack is not speaking to him.

But Actarun is definitely going to feel that pull from his pack. And at this time, it's not... It doesn't feel like it's trying to outright take control. More... It's almost a plea, like a call to arms type of thing. Like it is trying to... It's like... It's begging to be used. It's just, "Come on, I can help you. I can help you. Just please." You're getting that feeling from it. It's almost a pleading. Well, I'm... Now that I have distance, I will reach for it. Alright. So, firstly, let's have number six here. Let's have number six take its turn. Number six is...

Let's see. One, two, three... It's going to move right there. Target a doben. Get a plus two. Cross your fingers, guys. That's going to hit. Awesome. Number six, you're the real MVP. He lives. Oh, yeah. Fourteen damage to a doben. Let's check a thing. Okay. Is any of it cold damage? This is just... Most of this is just like either tiny daggers or claws type of thing. Most of this is just... Are they cold? The claws? Hey, how about we... Will he have to go to therapy for this? That's psychic damage. Come on. I'm adding your allies to the board. Here's where things get messy.

There's going to be a lot of them coming. There's a lot of guys. Yeah. You know, I just realized, guys, that he's a vampire, right? A doben, technically, is a vampire. Uh-huh. Yeah, vampires regen by eating people. There's a lot of nobodies on this board. Yup. They're vampires. Yeah, but can they eat vampires and regenerate? Probably. Or at least bite them and get something back. Maybe he can. Yeah, I mean, he does eat vampires. There's a caveat to that. It just becomes a more powerful vampire. He becomes what's known as a double vampire. It's like Cell from BBC Dude.

Cell Perfect. He's going to eat specific ones. Jetly the one. Yeah. He's going to pick up a bike and hit someone with it. It's going to be crazy. Let's have them roll initiative and join the cause. I'm sorry I called you all assholes earlier. Whoa. Look at them bravely fight their brethren. Damn, we cannot betray these guys. There's way too many to betray now. Actuarona's boys are fucked up. It's not over yet. Not because it's the wrong thing to do. It's like, but there's a lot of them, guys. Don't worry, they're all fodder. That shit is rolled like shit in the beginning.

That's true. You're absolutely right. Dagon, do me a favor. Roll a flat D20. Give me that charge. Roll. Everyone pray for a 20. Oh, so close. Well, if you land your next attack, you're going to do a plus 15. Holy crap. Okay. Vampires for 110 is going to close in and attack Adobe and get a plus two for flanking. That's the good thing about the situation, is a plus two. No matter where you go. That's going to hit. Yes. Adobe's going to use a reactionary power called Bataway. Yes. [laughter] Vampires going to do its damage. 17 damage to Adobe. Adobe is going to do the following.

He's going to target this vampire and attempt to take one of these large... He's got these... His arm is completely coated, like both arms in this big, thick, kind of like dark iron looking armor that's just, as described before, it's just in disrepair and jagged. He's going to attempt to take his forearm and slam it against this vampire's skull. So let's see if that would hit. Oh, that's going to miss, actually. Sweet. So that's friggin' awesome. Brrrr, vampire spawn number seven. Might be bad for us, though. He should keep killing his vampires. That might be.

Yeah. Yeah, there's too many of them on the board. Just take care of my dozen, please. Yeah, Jason, could you do that for us? His turn's coming. Oh my. Okay, he's going to delay. There's nothing that... Like, the pack's too thick up front. Airlove, your turn. Okay, I got some stuff going on. Okay, I got to make sure I'm within five of him. Oh my god, I can move far. Okay, first I'm going to take care of Gagan. Hey buddy, come join me over here. That's exactly what I'm going to say. And then I'm going to do Thundering Summons. No, I'm going to scream out, "Gagan!

Get over here!" And then, kabam, he's going to all of a sudden teleport. That's cool. That's sweet. That's much cooler than the sock puppet voice. Yeah. Hey, get over here. And then I'm going to take an action point. Yeah, look at me. Yeah. Each enemy within five, because of my Paragon Path, takes 1d6 plus Con Modifier, Thunder Damage. So 1d6 plus seven. Meh. So nine damage. Okay. And then... Doop-a-dur, doop-a-dur-pa-dur. I'm going to revuke on dead. It's close burst five. So who am I hitting? I usually don't use burst. Okay. Seems to be up to the corner of Hadron.

Yep. Okay, so... It would be Hadron, Adobin, Vampire Spawn six, five, one, and two. Not six. We wanted to keep it alive. Oh, that's within six, so I can't do him. Okay, so these. Alright, I'm going to do revuke on dead then. Oh my. Yep. I don't like them. It rips. It's my best not to do that. I don't know, it does 3d10 damage, plus five. I don't know, I'm going to do it. Oh my god. That's all of d20s. Oh, it's for everyone. Okay, let's go down the list. You're going to miss Adobin. Oh, god damn it. Oh no. It may be Sis'Sis. Oh god. You're going to hit Vampire Spawn one.

You're going to miss Vampire Spawn six. You're going to hit spawn number five. You're going to hit Hadron, and you're going to hit number two. You hit almost everyone except Adobin. Can you do half damage? No. Oh, I can if I miss. Can I make that option? What do you mean? We'll give that to you, it's fine. Okay, so I've missed number six and number ten. Okay. Oh, my bad, guys. So go ahead and roll damage for the ones you hit. Okay, once I hit. 21 damage. They're fine. This radiant... Which may help us. This radiant burst flashes out from my rod and hits all of our allies.

Oh, my. Former allies. Yeah. I'm sorry, guys. Just say it out loud. Oops. Yeah. Well, shit, guys. Hmm. Anything else? I can't do anything else. That's going to bring up Vampire Spawn number eleven. Vampire Spawn number eleven is going to see this and then take a few steps back. Hey, we warned them. And stand by. Oh, shit. Not outright leave. Just like, whoa. A Doben's turn. Okay. Let's see here. Doben's going to lift his hammer up just by the weight of it and using its momentum, he's going to get ready and start to swing randomly around. He's going to make just two hammer swings here.

One against Vampire Spawn number six and let's see if that hits. That'll hit. That's going to kill Vampire Spawn number six. Hey, that would have killed him without my damage. All right, now let me just check a power that I could use as a reaction. I might use it now. Okay. You guys, should I use a power that does like a burst damage to each enemy in the burst? Whether it's probably just him for now? Against fortitude? Or should I save it? It also gives a plus two to attack rolls to allies. Until the end of my next turn. And we all gain five temp hit points.

Yeah, I think that might be a good moment. Yeah, use it, Ming. Sounds pretty good. Okay, so it's immediate reaction, so it's after he's dead. Close burst three. So it would start from the square where he was, but yeah, I think Braylon and Kaladin would get the plus two bonus to attack and five temp hit points. If I read the plus. Yep, they would. Yep. So, oh, damn. Alright, gonna attack Adoban first. Death surge. Attack. Woo. That'll hit. Alright, damage. It's psychic, so does he still take? Eleven damage. Yep. So that would be 16? Yep. Sweet. And everybody gets a condition.

You get a condition. You get a condition. Thanks, people. Oh, okay. So, all good? Yes. I'm also gonna do an immediate reaction. Don't worry, mine's easy. Mine's just an enemy with a ten of you hits your ally. Before the end of my next turn, I gain attack bonus equal to my int modifier, which is plus four. So my next attack gets plus four. Okay, has an awfully hypocritical power. Currently. Hey. He's gonna use his second hammer swing and he's going to try and strike vampire spoil number five. Yep. That'll work. Ooh, the red mist. You didn't say it. That will strike vampire spoil number five in the skull and just shatter it on impact.

He is going to take this momentum and continue onto his next turn. Can I take a reaction as a reaction to the guy that just died? What is it? It's called dark reaping. It's a revenant thing. And I can say that a creature within five squares of you that is reduced to zero hit points affect one creature of your choice that you hit within ten... God damn it. ...with an attack before the end of your next turn takes extra necrotic damage equal to one D8 plus your constitution modifier or charisma modifier. So it's just extra damage next time I attack, if I hit.

Gotcha. So I'll just trigger it. All right, and vampire five is gone. Liquid. Dead. And let's see. He's gonna continue to just try and cleave through you guys. He's gonna attack vampire spoil number ten. That'll hit. That will outright kill it. Oh. He's rolling high. And he is going to... He's gonna attack Hadril next. And let's see... That... Did that show up? Yes, it did. And that'll hit Hadril. And... Forty-five damage to Hadril. Oh. And that'll bring up Braelon's turn. Damn, Hadril, no! You're gonna let us kill you, bro. So at the end of my turn, he's gonna be able to take reaction attack, guys.

FYI. So I will go with... All right, you know what? Fuck it. Let's go for the bang. Let's try and control this guy. Song of Discord, please. Hmm. You got plus two to your attack. Sweet. It's fucking... It's fucking rage. [LAUGHTER] Ugh. Oh. So it's only thirteen. So twenty-eight against Will. Twenty-eight against Will? Yeah, 'cause I need a plus two, right? That is... That is gonna miss. Oh, no. Action point! Okay. I am now emitting a bright light five squares out from me in every direction. Every ally within that bright light. Allies in the light gain plus four to all defenses and do not provoke opportunity attacks.

This lasts until my next turn ends. Gorgeous. Yeah, so we get a little bit... I mean, I can't stop him, but I give you guys a little bit of protection. And now I get to do another thing. I used Song of Discord already. Let me mark that down. Stirring Shout I think will be my next one, and that is Charisma versus Will. All right. And I saw a plus two, right? From Actoronus. I think it was on your next attack. I think it was on your next attack, though. The Dark Wolf. Let me see. No, it was Death Surge. Sorry. I closed it. Until the end of my next turn. Okay, so yeah, you get it. [GASPS] [GRUNTS] Ah, damn it, you motherfucker.

All right. Do... Okay, you do get it? Yeah, I still have it. Oh, it's 14. Yeah, it would be 14 plus three, so 29, right? Is that what it would be? Or am I doing it wrong? Versus... Will. Will? That'll hit. Yeah. Oh, he did it. Yeah, you did it. That will hit. Okay, so we'll do damage first before I do anything else. 19. 19 damage. Oh, no. Oh, no. [CHUCKLES] Okay. Go ahead and finish. We're halfway through. All right, let me do my stuff before he becomes a new supervillain. Until the end of my encounter, whenever an ally hits a target, that ally regains hit points equal to my Charisma modifier.

And that is... [SIGHS] Six. And that'll end my turn, but I know you got some stuff you gotta tell us. As a result of being bloodied, Adobin... is going to turn into mist. [GRUNTS] He is going to shift backward... right behind Vampire Spawns 1 and 2. And he is going to drop his hammer, reach out, and try and grab and snap both of their necks. It's cute. So let's see if that happens. Okay, that is going to hit Vampire Spawn number 1... Oh, bye, guys. ...and miss number 2. [INHALES] Uh, let's see... That is... Nope, that'll be enough to kill 1. That will snap his neck clean.

So, 1 is gone. He's going to fall down the limp. Just nothing. 2 is going to duck down reflexively, like, "Holy shit!" [CHUCKLES] Anything else, Braylon? I think I'm going to reposition myself. Okay. I'm going to look to the vampire guys behind me, like, "Get in there! Save your brothers!" And then, like, kind of, like, make a face, like, "Oh, my God." And then, like, move over... This is still a viable space right here? Uh... yes. Okay, I'll move right there against the wall. You're like, "Oh, shit." Okay. That's the end of my turn. Hadriel is going to shift up 1 and try something called Imperiling Strike.

This could be advantageous to the party... if it's pulled off. Okay, so... Targeting a doven. Periling Strike. God damn it. Hmph. You know what? He's going to pop an action point and try it again. Yay! Do it, Hadriel. - Yup, that'll hit. - What was that? Hadriel gets 6 HP back. Ooh, he'll need that. So, that's 22 damage, but that's not the cool part. Adobe is going to take a -3 penalty to his AC and reflex. Good. So, that's a thing that's happening right now. - That changes things. - Oh, Jesus, here we go. Vampire Spawn #4 is going to shift up and try to attack a doven.

That will hit. 13 damage! - Yeah, go chumps! - Respectable. Vampire Spawn #2 is going to attack a doven. That's going to miss. Oh, you're the worst chump. Vampire Spawn 9 right up on the side of a doven. Going to swing. That's going to hit. 15 damage! Get him. 13 is going to -1, 2, 3, 4... Get right on the side of him. Going to be flanking. Very important. Attack a doven. Going to hit. 19 damage! Alright, well, the machine is on. And, let's see. Finally, we've got Vampire Spawn #12 going to move in. Attack a doven. That's going to hit. 20 damage. A doven's going to swing back at him with bat away.

Going to... target. Bat away. Oh, that's going to crit one! - Oh, man. - Alrighty. Poor him. Nah, man. Fuck a doven. That'll bring up Kaladin. Alrighty. Kaladin is going to hold out his hand and manifest a long, spear-like, icicle in front of him. And then he's going to bring it back, bring his hand back and sort of push it at a doven. And this will be some Ice Javelin. That's going to hit. Awesome. That's the damage. He takes an extra 5 because he's vulnerable. 5 cold. Okay. He takes an extra 2 because I have gloves of cold. Ooh. And then he also takes an ongoing 5 cold, Seivans, which will be 10 cold because he is vulnerable cold.

Oh my Jesus. God, Kaladin. Where have you been all my life? You're on fire! I mean, you're not, but I mean... God, anything else? As if you need to? I guess... yeah. I guess that'll be it, yeah. Actaronis, your turn. Huh. Okay. Alright, so I grab the orb. I don't know what it does really yet, but... Oh, question by the way. Can I swing with a reach weapon through an ally square? I would say yeah, just because it'd be the same as if someone were shooting a ranged weapon. I'm going to give you a choice. Remember how I said I was going to give you a choice? Yeah. Okay.

I'm going to give you the choice to completely give into the orb and let it do whatever it chooses to do in this moment, or resist temptation and just fight as you normally would. It's tempting. Now I will resist. Alright. For now. We'll move up here. One, two, three, four. Do I get flanking with Vampire Spinal Knight? I believe so. It's never come up before. Good point. I'm going to say yeah, go ahead. Alright. And I am going to use Healing Strike. I kind of want to give in. It's up to you. Alright, he's not dead yet, so let's not give in quite yet. Healing Strike on him, that would be...

Oh, and I also get my Dark Reaping from earlier, so I have 1d8 plus charisma, Necrotic Damage. Attack. Oh. Oh. Well, never mind. Okay, I'm going to hold the orb tighter in my hand. I'm going to activate as a minor Angelic Presence. I must not be bloodied. Effect, enemies take a -2 penalty to attack rolls against me until the end of the encounter, or until I'm bloodied. Alright. And let the record show that whatever bloodied enemy starts their turn within 5 squares of me, they take 2 radiant damage. Alright, anything else? Not for now. Let's see, where's 8? That was the guy who moved off the map.

You're like, "Oh, he's not running away." No, that's 11. Oh my god. There's too many of them. I know, there's too many. He's missing. He is missing. You know what? Blue. Found him. Hey, there he is. He turned into bats. He is going to move adjacent to Adobe and flank with Hadril. And he is going to try and swing. That's going to miss. So that's disappointing. Dagon. Oh. Well, I can't use Decimate now because I'll kill Actaronis. So. What is dead may never die. Well, I did it once. That's true. But not twice. Let's not push it. Do we still have just one action point or do we have 2 now?

You have 2. Oh, really? What? Yeah, I told you that last time. I'm sorry. Damn, I should really pay attention. I'm going to use a lot of them in the next few turns. Hey, Dagon, could you not kill him? Because I kind of want to gain back these Vampire's Trust with the next thing I'm going to do. Yeah, no, of course I'm going to. I will use... I'll just use Force Blast. I'm here. Plus 15 if I hit. That should hit. That's going to hit us. Alright. So, 27 damage plus 15. Holy shit. 42. Dagon. I told you not to kill him. Nothing lower than 40 this game. That should be an achievement, dude.

That's like an Xbox. Achievement unlocked. 150 gamer points. That is also going to blast the Dovin back against this wall. Oh no, stay away. And that is going to give him another 5 damage. Boom. Anything else, Dagon? Well, we do have 2 action points. Let me use 1. And do that again. Okay. That's a crit. Holy shit! Hold on a second. Dovin's going to use an ability called Tough as Nails. Whenever Dovin is subject to a critical hit, roll a saving throw. If he succeeds, then it's a standard hit. So it would just be regular damage. He didn't succeed. Roll crit. Tough as fingernails. 35 damage.

So, Dagon is going to blast at this half-orc. The half-orc is going to go flying against the wall and prone. As he goes to stand up, Dagon's going to let loose another torrent of energy and strike him in the chest. The half-orc is going to go down and is prone. Next up, Vampire Spawn #7 is going to see that Dovin appears to be weak. Run in. He's going to get a +2 because he's prone. And try and claw. That's a 33 and will hit. 20 damage! That is... He better not steal our kill. Wouldn't that be great? No. Heir of Love! Heir of Love! Come on. Oh, Dagon. Oh, captain.

My captain. Clean up hitter, Heir of Love. This is it. I'm going to do low damage because I want to gain these people's trust back by doing this bonus effect it has. No, it's not the time for it, but do it. [laughter] Well, I don't want them to turn on me as soon as this fight's over, which I have a feeling it's going to be soon. Okay, Blades of Astral Fire. I got +4, which I already added in. [laughter] Ooh. [laughter] Action point. Okay, because that's a crit miss, everyone at home. Yeah. I'm not going to gain these people's trust back. That's just not...

That's just what's going to happen. Fires of Judgment. Do I have any bloodied allies in a close burst one of this dude? No. Oh, wait. The vampires. Nope. Yeah. I'm checking. Vampires. Vampire two. Vampire spawn two. Okay. I'm going to help that dude out. [laughter] Alright. That won. You earned his trust. [laughter] Oh, guys. She seems okay. Well, I got a hit first and that hasn't been working well for me. Oh, no. Nope. You know what? That's going to miss. I can only hit allies. You must never give up. Oh, wait. He did take 1d6 plus seven damage because of action point.

Okay. So let me do that real fast. Let's roll that. Please don't be a one. Please don't be a one. Okay. 1d6 plus what? Seven? Yeah. So ten damage. Alright. Fucking nice. Okay. I did something, guys. [laughter] Vampire spawn eleven. Okay. Seeing that, Air Love hasn't done that a second time. Vampire spawn eleven is going to move in. Going to target a doven. Going to try to hit. That's going to hit. Twenty damage. I'm kind of glad these guys are on your side. It's worked out well so far. Yeah. For now. They've been great and we've got gift baskets for all of them. I haven't had to heal anyone yet.

Yet. We're playing a doven's turn. He takes two radiant damage and I believe he's vulnerable. He is. Let me see. He is vulnerable ten to radiant. My sheer presence isn't -- well, yeah. The others aren't enemies yet. So yeah. My sheer presence inflicts him terrible, terrible radiant damage. Oh, man. He is going to stand up. He's going to shift forward one. That's going to end his first turn. Then does he get more damage? Because he gets two turns? Technically, yes. I think Drauk did too. Yes. He also gets to save against the five cold save ends. Oh, well then he did.

So yes. Okay. He is going to take his hammer and he is going to spin around with it. And he is going to attack vampire spawn number two, four, seven, and eleven. He is going to -- wow, he's going to miss a large majority of them. Well, he's going to miss half of them. Still, not bad. Wait, wait, wait. Because they're my allies, right? Yes. So any ally within five squares of me gets plus four to their defenses. All defenses, yeah. All defenses until my next turn, which is coming up. Shit. Hold on a second. Is it everyone except eight and twelve? Within one, two, five squares.

So at eight and twelve are the only two who don't get my bonus. Okay, so wait. That's going to kill four no matter what. Now I've got to see if that will still kill seven. No. Okay. And that should make it all right. They should note that I saved one of them at least. Yeah. No, he's going to pop his second action point. Yeah, I didn't want to say anything. I was like, this guy probably has two action points for sure. Yeah. Damn it. He's going to pop his second wind and he is going to get a plus two to all his defenses until the end of his turn. Son of a fish. Did you just heal the...

Did I? Did he? Yeah, I did. You son of a bitch. Yeah, that's my bad. Now he's like a... He has to have a name now because he has high end defenses and higher health. His name is Gary. Gary! Keep doing your work. Did I also give the fly... I sure did. Seven. Where's seven? Seven, raise your hand. There we go. That's better. And that will bring up Brailin. I'm out of stuff. I'm out of stuff, guys. F-Y. Well, that's not what they are here. I'm running low, man. I'm not as beautiful and talented as Kalvin. Just sing a song or something. Yeah, I'm going to look at what I got here.

All right. All right. Inspiring Refrain. Let's do that one. So if I hit him, each ally within five squares gains a plus one power bonus to attack roll since the end of my next turn. And bust out Inspiring Refrain. Come on, bitch. Oh, you son of a bitch. All right. That was a miss. And I don't get the effect, do I? Because it says "and." What's this one? Inspiring Refrain. Yeah. No, that's on the head. So Brailin just basically tries to say, "Hey, you, you stink!" And it's like, "Ah, that didn't work." I'm going to bust my second action point. Ooh. Got two, right?

That's real. I didn't make that up. No, use it. Use it. I don't get it. There's no secondary cool thing about having two action points. No. Well, wouldn't my thing re-kick on again? Righteous Beacon. Action points spent until your next turn ends. Project a Bright Light. Would that recharge it again for another turn? I'll say yes. Cool. Awesome. All right, we're going to go with Inspiring Refrain. No, just hit that one. Psych. Just kidding. We're going to go with Dissonant Strain. Psychic damage and target takes a negative two penalty to attack rolls until the end of my next turn.

In addition, an ally within five squares of me can make a saving throw, but nobody's dying, so that doesn't matter. Oh, fuck me. Damn it. He has higher AC now too, right? Yes. There was no way. So basically, Brailein's just hurling insults and shooting all kinds of shit from his... I guess I'm using my wand for range attacks. So it's just insults are flying. He's basically just yelling like a heckler at a basketball game. "Fuck you, let's go!" And nothing is working. And then that's where I'll end my turn. All right. Jesus, Hadriel's going to move down and then over and continue to try...

He's going to take a short sword swing. Dovin, that's going to miss. Holy Lord, Vampire number two is going to shift down one. Targeted Dovin, take a swing. That's going to hit. Fifteen damage. Nine is going to move down. Targeted Dovin, take a swing. That's going to miss. Thirteen, going to move in. Take a swing. That's going to hit. Thirteen damage. Dovin's going to try and use bat away. On thirteen... Does he turn into bats? No. That's going to hit. Sixteen, he's going to fall back two spaces and hit. Sixteen, he's going to go into the water and go prone. Number twelve is going to take his spot.

Move in, try and attack a Dovin. Claws. That's going to miss. Kaladin, your turn. All right. Kaladin is going to reach up his hand into the air and clench his fist and say, "Now I will show you the power of the dragons." And an icy cloud is going to form above him and then what looks like sort of ethereal jaws snap down and try and bite him. I imagine there's going to be a hell of a sight inside this tight cavern. Well, here's hoping. You got this. Come on. Shit. Okay, wait. He also grants me combat advantage and I have a plus two to attack. Nope. Wait, to that, to reflex?

Twenty-seven to reflex. Let's check. Hold on. Shit. So it's going to miss him. I guess I'll pop an action point. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Something happens when I pop an action point, but I can't totally remember. Oh, whenever I spend an action point to make an attack, each creature I hit or miss with the attack is slowed, save ends. So the bite's going to happen, it's going to miss him, and then he's going to bring his hand sort of like a claw and drag it diagonally across his body and out of the same sort of like icy mist, a sort of what looks like a dragon's claw sort of vaguely is going to come out and slash down on.

That's going to hit. Rad as fuck. Okay. So a couple of things happen here. Let's do damage first. Boom. Fourteen damage to a Doben. And he has, yeah, he's vulnerable five cults, so he has plus five more and also plus two because of my gloves. So plus seven more damage. Got it. Anything else? Yes, if the target moves during its next turn, it takes cold damage equal to two plus my Dexterity Mod or Intelligence Mod, which I can't remember very much. And then I'm going to move. Meow. Kaladin, where you going? Back to Ronis, your turn. Oh. All right. As a miner, from where I'm standing, I'm going to raise one of my hands and take back the shield that's on Air Love.

So now I get plus three to AC and plus three to reflexes. Okay. I want you guys to hate me or think I'm being irrational here. Once again, I am going to give you the option to use the orb either as an implement to do your regular attacks or to hand over control just for one turn to the orb. And I'm just going to say, like, quote unquote, I'm going to tell the orb I know what I'm doing. I'm going to try to resist it. The entire time this orb is going to, it's going to, almost pleading, like you can, it's trying so hard. First, I'm going to use Rune of Peace.

Strength versus Will is just one weapon plus Strength, but the target cannot attack, save ends. And if I miss, the target cannot attack me until the end of my next turn. So I'll do that first. I hope for a high roll. I hope for a high roll. That is going to miss. Yeah, I guess I have no bonuses. All right, then I say, I know what I'm doing. You still cannot attack me until the end of my next turn. Okay, action point. Okay. Yeah, I'll raise my glaive because I'm not technically using the orb. I'm going to do something I've never done before. And I'm going to say, oh shit, you're all going to hate me.

Never. Let's rid this down of its problem once and for all. And he's going to channel Turn Undead on everybody. That's burst three, so I can hit everybody. Oh my. Oh goodness. This is happening. 2d10 plus Wisdom modifier damage, miss half damage, and I can move them a number of squares up to three plus my charisma. So like five. But I guess it's all going to be in the one. How do you see Turn Undead? Do they flee like they used to, or are they just pushed back? I would imagine it's more of a push. Okay, it's more badass. Yeah. All right. Can you get out of there when you're done?

Oh yeah. Decimate. Because I'm up soon. I already moved. Okay. Do you have an action point? I used it. You spent it. Can't use two in the same round. But maybe you have a teleport thing or something, or knock me back and use an action point to decimate. I wish I could. Anywho. Okay, well here's the thing. If these guys are considered enemies, they're not going to get my bonus, but Ectoron is supposed to get my plus four to AC, plus whatever he's got on also. Oh, by the way, my... And it's plus four to all defenses. Cool. Yeah, I get that. But also when I use an action point, I gain a plus four to my attack.

To the attack I use with my action point. So I'll put it here in modifier, plus four. You, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you. Whew. Everything. Oh boy, my heart is racing, my hands are trembling. Okay. Here we go. This is great. Turn undead. Plus four. Attack! Oh boy. Here we go. Okay. Aw. Let's scroll to the top. You are going to hit spawn number 12, miss number 11, you are going to miss a Dovin. You are going to hit spawn 13 and 9, you're going to miss Hadril. Oh man. You're going to hit spawn number 7, you're going to crit spawn number 2, and you're going to hit number 8.

So go ahead and roll damage, and it will know what to do. It will know what to do? Yep. Okay. It automatically untargeted the ones that you didn't hit. Okay, what about the crit? Will it do it? It should automatically count down. Okay, so that was turn undead, damage 2d10, so that's 29. 21 damage to everyone it hit, and 29 damage. That will kill. Shit. Just to spawn? Spawn number 2. And does it take into account the vulnerable? Yep. Holy shit. 13's dead. 2 is dead. You've bloodied the rest of them. Cool, they all take 12 radiant damage on the start of their turn.

Oh. Betrayer. You thought it was going to be me? Vampire number 8. On its turn, it is going to burst into flames and die. Damn, that was awesome. That was fantastic. Dagon. Dagon, it's okay. Dagon, if you want to die, you can delay your turn. Let me ask Jason something. Okay. Jason, I have my cape that teleports me 5 if I'm hit with an attack, but I think I've used it before where I kind of did inflicted damage myself and then teleported. I think I did that on the boat. Can I grab someone with it? No. Damn it, mother. No, that's just you. Did the ones I hit, are they all dead?

Because otherwise, the other that I've hit would be pushed back towards the wall. 5 square. Oh, wait. Okay, hold on. So 9 would be pushed back? 5 squares? Yeah. Toward the wall? I guess like outwards as a burst, yeah. Dagon, your turn. But I have another daily. [laughs] Yeah, but I'd have to get in close. It's a burst 3. The other vampires are no longer considered allies, right? I would say that's a deliberate attack. Here's the thing. Yeah, I would say, yeah. Because I have a thing that's... So if you do decimate, I could take away all the damage from Actoronus and give it to an ally.

So... Give it to... If they're still considered allies. Oh, if they're still considered allies. Well, we did tell them at the beginning that they might get hit. No, that was a deliberate. That was... The first one, maybe you could excuse. That one was a deliberate attack. Yeah, also made a one-liner. Yeah, he gave the standard action movie one-liner. Yeah. The first one was totally an accident. [laughs] Um... I wish I could push you down. Even just one. What does decimate hit? What defense is it going after here? Fort, I think. Fortitude? Yeah, fortitude. Okay, because Actoronus gets...

He has a +4 fort. I don't want to get stuck in that again. No, I've already hit him with that once. Well, then that means it can work. It's happened before. That's all special. I'd say we're still... We don't know when things could get messy and I think we can still save that for... Yeah. Then. I just don't know what your other attacks are. And I don't want that VampireSwan7 to escape. We must cleanse the land! Oh my goodness. If I hadn't already used two attacks, I could do something with an action point, but I can't. So... Okay, I'm just going to have to use Force Blast again.

Okay. That is going to miss. Nooooo! Action point? No, but I can't. No, but that's 3. I've done 3 attacks now. Oh, okay. 3 I will, so I have to charge now. I can't use an action point, right Jason? You can use the action point to charge. Really? Yeah, I'll let you do that. That would be the matter of life for a day. Oh, that's up to you. Sure, yeah. I'll do that. Alright, do me a favor. Roll a 5d20. That's an 8. It'll be a plus 5. Okay, so you're going to get a plus 5 on your next... Yep. VampireSwan7. Are there any lasting effects beyond... Oh, he gets damage, doesn't he?

Oh, he's beyond 5, so no. So no. Lucky. Hmm. He's going to delay. Erolove, your turn. Should I... Should I attack the vampires now too? Because I have an area of effect. It's a daily I haven't used because I thought we might turn on them. Or should I just attack Udobin? I would say focus on Udobin. Okay. Yeah, he's a parley. He healed once too. Okay. It doesn't do that much damage out of all my encounters. All I have is dailies that are ranged, which would attack all the undead. Okay, I'll just attack him then. It's radiant though and he's vulnerable. This isn't at will, so it's not going to do much.

That's gonna miss. Would 23 hit? Because I get things versus bloody foes and all kinds. Versus reflex? No. Well, yep. Anything else? I used two action points, so... Alright. VampireSwan7 is going... Oh, he's not. Cool. Nope. Good for him. Nope. He is going to try to attack Udobin just because he's kind of pinned up against the wall with him. And swing and shit. Nope. That's gonna bring up Udobin. Oh, that'll be 12 radiant damage. Alright. Burst into flames. Is he vulnerable? Radiant also, isn't it? Oh yeah. That's 12. Sorry. He is going to... Let's see what he's gonna do. He's gonna target this vampire 11 with his hammer swing first.

That's gonna hit. That will kill him. Good for him. So 11 is dead and gone. And he's gonna target Hadril. Is that his second turn or his first turn? That's part of his first turn. And that will hit. And that is going to do 43 damage. That is going to bloody Hadril. As a result of being bloodied, Hadril is going to... Oh man. He's gonna use his shortsword to attack both Actaronis and Udobin. I have plus 4 to everything. Alright. He'll probably... He won't hit you, probably. That will miss both of you. So that sucks. That'll bring up Udobin's second turn. Udobin is going to move in.

If he moves, he takes some damage. Okay, how much does he take? It was like your charisma or int modifier plus something else. Yeah, it's 2 plus my dex mod, which I think is just 1. So he takes... 3. 3, but it's cold damage, which he's vulnerable to. No, he saved out of that. He saved for ongoing 5. Oh. Oh, that's just in the end of the counter. Did he also take his second batch of radiant damage? Doing that now. Okay. So how much damage does he take from the cold? 8. Okay. He's gonna target Hadril first with a hammer swing. The wording on Rune of Beasts, if I missed, was that he cannot attack me until the end of my next turn.

Just, by the way. Okay, that would change my movement. Well, you can backtrack. I'll allow it. And he would go down here and take the opportunity to attack from Hadril. Oh, shit. Then you know what? Let's see here. Hadril's going to... Still takes that cold damage, though. Yeah, that still counts. Hadril is going to attack Udobin, short sword. That is gonna miss. Udobin hammer swings to first. Hadril. Okay, so after he hits Hadril... That'll hit. Okay. Your halfling thumb. Oh, never mind. Nope, it doesn't work. He's not an ally anymore. Damn it. But can you do your second chance or whatever?

Yeah, when he hits me, yeah. Just not right now. All right. He is going to target Brailin for the second swing. 31. You're gonna do second chance? Oh, man. Hold on. Let me see if I have anything else. Hand me a priest. Yeah, let's do second chance, man. All right. Oh! That's gonna miss. Lucky ass. Brailin, your turn. That was bad news bared, man. Okay. I don't have anything to get away from him, huh? A shift? A shift. A shift and a run. This is scary. Okay. I'm gonna shift one, right? And then I'm gonna use distracting shout. This is my last encounter that does damage. Damn it.

That's gonna miss. Sorry. It doesn't work. Yeah, okay. Damn, that was standard, I think, too. Let me double check. Standard, yep. All right. Oh. Let me see if I have anything else. Okay. No, man. All my shit just helps everyone else but me. Oh, you know what? I'm gonna plus my quicksilver armor, which is a minor. I can shift one more square. Okay. Keldon, help! Yes. Yeah, that's gonna be my turn. Vampire spawn number seven is going to tag out of delay and take his turn now. He's going to reach out and try and grab Brailin. Did you--oh, they can't do that. So he's standing right next to Brailin, so let's see here.

What's his strength at? So that's gonna be--oh, Jesus. Plus 14 versus your reflex. 24 versus Brailin's reflex? Oh, no, my reflex is 24. If Brailin is grabbed on this vampire's next turn, if Brailin doesn't get away, this vampire's gonna take a chunk out of Brailin. I'm gonna juice, guys. Hadriel's turn. Oh, Jesus. Hadriel takes damage, doesn't he? Yeah, if he's bloodied, yeah, 12. Well, depending on his vulnerability. He takes two gradient right off the bat. Yep, 12. That's another 12. Okay. Hadriel's gonna turn into mist. He's gonna go insubstantial. And he is going to-- Get sucked up by a shot back?

One, two, three, four, five. He's gonna start to try and make his way toward the exit. And both Adobin and Actaronis get opportunity attacks, but it's gonna be half damage if you hit. Still gonna do it. I do not blame you. So that's a melee basic attack. Melee basic, click. 31, that's gonna hit. All right. Six damage. So, six damage. Oh, Adobin gets one. That might end this right here. That's a crit. Oh. That's half of 200. So let's see. 68 damage, that's 44 damage. Is that enough to outright kill-- That is gonna be enough to outright kill Hadriel. Oh, man. What's happening?

Oh, my God. This is-- Wait, that's half damage? That's half damage. That'll be enough to kill-- Oh, God, you're right. Wait, hold on. I hope it still kills him. James, why did you do that? Well, because-- No, that's being honest. I appreciate that. I just avoided a lot of internet, you know, finger pointing. No, you did, yes. Totally. I probably would have caught it in the edit, but still. That'll still be enough to kill. Hurry. And I'm gonna yell. Although it's not my kill, but-- Nobody leaves this cave. Nobody leaves this cave? Is that what you-- It's implied that except us.

Right. Well, I mean, except for-- This guy's gonna take me out of the cave for me. Adobin is going to let loose a scream after killing this vampire. Hadrill after that is going to become corporeal again, and his limp, dead, bloody body is just gonna be lying there. Brailen, your turn. Oh, it's my turn? All right. Yep. Here's what I'm gonna try and do, guys. You haven't been bitten yet, right? I have not been bitten. Just grab me. What is this thing? Okay, so Majestic Works is I can target myself or one ally in the burst. Close Burst 5. It's actually Close Burst 10 at 11th level.

What I can do is I can spend a Healing Surge and regain additional hit points equal to my Charisma modifier. I also slide the target one square. Since I'm level 11, it is 2d6 Charisma File, 2d6 plus Charisma modifier additional hit points, but the slide still remains. Does the slide break as well? I have no idea. Usually do, I think, according to Google. I don't remember. I think Forest Movement breaks grappling. I can Google it real quick. I think this has happened before. It just happened so rarely that I forget what the... An onside kick, if you will. [laughter] That's some smart thinking, though.

You run up his chest and flip over and... [laughter] John Woo style. Yeah. It's a special thing to get. Okay, if the movement ends beyond the creature's reach, the grab ends. No, I'll still be in this grab. Oh, no, 'cause he's not... We're not occupying the same space. Yeah, you could slide back one, which would be kind of sweet. I'm not somebody that... I was gonna slide back to my... I'd say slide in Eastern Square. I was gonna go here. Am I out of his reach, Jason? 'Cause I can't see him down. That would be out of his reach. I'm gonna use that, then, majestic word.

Oh, maybe... Can you slide down? Maybe I was gonna summon something that might put something between you and the big guy. Anything else? That was a minor, so... Oh, you can just move, then. I can move, yeah. I can move. So I'm going to... Not run, but take my speed. One, two, three, four. Help me, please. I can move more back if you want me to. Yeah, one to the right. Five. If it works out, 'cause... I mean, that's provided Xavier can move down to... That's fine, man. Got this. I can still do a standard action. And I'm gonna aim for that vampire that grabbed me. I'm gonna use...

As a fuck you. What happens if someone's marked? Do they get advantage on them? They have to attack him. Or they... If they don't, they get minus two to their attack. Okay, we're not doing that. Yeah. Okay, we'll do Vicious Mockery, range ten. Okay. And I will say, "Guess you can't grab a halfling as well as you thought." And I'm gonna throw that, and that was awful. That'll miss. Well, your insult game is not a... Just moon him or something. Yeah, well, whatever happens, Braylin, at the end of it was like, "He's gonna cringe? God, that was terrible." [laughter] Yeah, man, that's it.

Vampire spawn number seven is going to move toward the exit. He's gonna use both of his movement actions, and he is going to leave this area and leave. No! He's gonna become the new vampire lord. Was that Greg or whatever his name was? Gary! Son of a bitch! Gary, no! Oh, God. Braylin, you let him escape! Bonjie, is that what it just says? Why don't you let him grab the game, Peter? Five. Vampire spawn number nine is going to move over to Dagon. Going to use his claws on him. Team, that is going to hit. Immediate interrupt. God, please. I'm just gonna take the damage, that's all.

Yes! Aw. So you're taking the 27 damage instead. Do you have less hit points than I do? Yep, but my mission is to protect my friends. Aw. So Airlove's going to jump in front of you. You're awesome. Well, actually, it's a divine thing, so white is gonna flash in front of you, like in the shield, and then it's gonna look like the claws go through that shield, but then the scars show up on Airlove. Ooh. That's pretty cool. And I live with the guilt. [laughter] You're welcome. The mental scars. [laughter] Alright. That'll bring up vampire number 12. Vampire number 12 is going to move to Airlove and try to grab her.

Okay. Airlove is now grabbed by vampire number 12. It's an attack, Jason. It's a grab, so I don't know what that thing says. Does it count as a hit? No. No, it'll be a hit. See, it's not damage. Yeah, it's not damage. Yeah, it's not damage, so it would, right? Kaladin, your turn. Okay. Son of a bitch. Alright, first things first. Minor action. Kaladin is going to raise his arms up and create a freezing gust of wind around him using Cloak of Freezing Wind until the end of the encounter. Each creature that hits you with a melee attack takes 1d8 plus your Charisma modifier, cold damage, and then you push that creature a number of squares.

Got it. Then I'm going to move up here, and he is going to take his fist and pound it into the ground, and Ice is going to sort of come out from where he hit the floor and summon these three Ice stalagmites at the location of each of these creatures, of all of these people, right in their way. So... Alright, let's see what we got. You are going to miss a Tobin, but you're going to hit the two vampire spawns. Okay. Boom. That is going to kill number nine. Whoo! Blam. Leaving number 12. Okay. So these Ice stalagmites shoot up out of the ground, impaling that one guy, I guess.

Puhh! And the other one pushes that guy back one square away. Okay. And then I'm going to... If the stalagmite stays around, then he takes damage, but it's any creature, so I'm just going to bring his hand back down in sort of a thrust motion down, and those two Ice stalagmites that hit are going to come back down into the ground. Does Dagon get an attack of opportunity or no? No. No, it counts as a push. It's just forcing him. Dang. Yeah. Then I'm going to spend my last action point and target Obden here with Frostbind. That'll hit. Okay. That'll hit a Tobin.

A Tobin, sorry. 22 damage. And he takes a penalty to Reflex, grants me combat advantage, and is vulnerable, 5 cold, and I'm going to throw an extra 2 cold damage on him from my cold gloves. Okay. Anything else? That'll be the end of my turn. Actoronis. Okay. Going to hit the bottom of my glaive on the ground and release the good old Astral Wave, White Wave of Energy, and that, and a Close Bear's too, so I'm in range. Attack. Yes. That'll hit a Tobin. That is going to be that much damage plus... 15 damage. And its radiant damage. Okay, so another 10. It's not dead.

He is not dead. This guy. I cannot believe this. Yeah. This is ridiculous. I will use an action point, my second one, and I will let the orb know. Will you be able to move off that action point, though? No. No. Do you want to move first, or can you? I don't know what the orb does. Oh. But you still have a move action before you pop the action. I could, yeah. So is there somewhere you would want to decimate, right? Yeah. I mean, I'm probably going to have to take an opportunity attack. That's fine. But if you can move just below him, like the row below him? I want to be too far from you, but yeah, I can.

So I'm going to do a sidestep. My footwork is incredible, and I'm going to let the orb know. Now you show me. Oh my God. This could be the end right here. For some... The same thing that happened in that clearing when Dagon first touched the orb is going to happen again, and that bright white light is going to shine. That bright white light is going to shine through Actaeronus' eyes again. And he is going to hold the orb aloft, and the orb is going to make an attack called Cleanse the Lamp. It is going to target every undead creature except the wielder. Yes.

Good. Even that guy who didn't get very far away that's running out the camera. It's a close burst one mile. Ha ha ha! It's eight squares, actually, so it'll just get 12 and a doben. And what's going to happen is it's going to be a +18 versus Will, and if it hits, it's going to pull them as close to Actaeronus as it can. You're going to see why in a second. So that is going to crit miss... That's going to crit miss a doben. And this is for the other one. That is going to strike the vamp. So that is going to bring the vampire right there. And the second part of this attack is a burst three.

And it's a +20 versus Fort. That's for a doben. That is going to hit a doben. 29 is going to hit vampire spawn number 12. Get ready. This orb is going to... Supernova, I guess, is the best way to put this. A supernova of light is going to fill this cavern. This cavern. Holy crap! 65 radiant damage. What the shit? Oh man, that should have been our opening play right here. I see. Okay. We're all blind. And you go... To say the least, this is a massive flashbang that's just going off. And Actaeronus is going to let Lusa scream as this fills the cavern. And this is just going to flat out eradicate vampire spawn number 12.

Like, he is seized to be. Like, there is not even a corpse. It's gone. It's actually going to eradicate the bones of every vampire within a three-square burst around Actaeronus. So any of the corpses beneath the skeletal, just gone. Dusted. And then after the light settles, a doben is going to lurch forward. And you can see that his entire body has been charred by this thing. And he is going to drop his hammer and fall face first onto the ground a smoldering corpse. That will take you out of combat. Hell yeah. I immediately chop his head off. He didn't chop it off.

No chances. Does Actaeronus get the notable kill or does the Orb of Light? (laughter) Oh. Aw. Hey, it needs a wielder. It does need a wielder, yeah. Can't do it by itself. It practically begged him, right? So Actaeronus for sure gets a kill. Before we continue, I really think that that's a good time for us to stop for the night. Can I just give one more line before we stop for the night? Uh, sure. Not losing a beat after, like, a doben falls. He's going to look down the cave and say, "We missed one." And then he, I guess, puts his sunglasses on and then is like, "Dude, I'm here." (laughter) That'll wrap us up for the evening.

Aw, man. That's a fucking kid, man. That was a good one. Hey, can I just say one thing? I used zero of my healing powers. Yeah. Dude, nothing got to you guys. Yeah. I mean, something did get me. Something got... Well, it got to you. Nobody came close to dying. Yeah. I almost got hit, man. I had to use second chance. None of your party. Hey, everyone. We really hope that you enjoyed today's episode. Just as a reminder, we are about 90% funded by fantastic, wonderful listeners like you through Patreon. If you go to patreon.com/damjd, we upload a ton of content every single month, and for just a couple of dollars, you can help support us and keep the lights on and help us do new, great things in the coming year.

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