The Adventure Zone Royale: Episode 15

Previously on Taz Royale, I will be administering the trial of transmutation. The trial shall end when four of you have been eliminated. Now, you may not make armed attacks against one another, nor may you directly target each other with your suite of spells. you must find more inventive methods of defeating your rivals. I assure you, no harm is coming to do but sweetly. Defeat the Goliath, I will happily give you whatever prize we may earn. Oh. Like, who's the target for you? Hellgrammet cannot win the Conclave. Welcome back, everybody, to Taz Royale. We're neck deep in the trial of transmutation where our brave aspirant wizards are trying to climb an infinitely descending spiral staircase in an attempt to not go into eel-infested waters. The trial will end when four wizards have fallen. So far only one has gone down. Everyone's favorite Build-A-Bear Factory reject, Snoutjaw, was murdered. in cold blood. I think by just, I think by Loravith. I think Loravith did that one. Yeah. That sounds right to me. Klaxon, the sort of automaton was gravely injured in the last episode. But so far, that is the results of the trial so far. We are at the top of the order to Rictus Ravenwood. Rictus, sitting pretty. Step number 15, halfway up the tower. Classic step. Classic step. We love step 15. To remind you, there are these glyphs in alcoves all around the central pillar where these spiral stairs are descending around. And that's the business. Rickness with your move action. You can move up six steps or do whatever the hell you want, man. It's your game. I'm gonna run up to step 20. Okay. Boop, boop, boop, boop. And cast Unseen Servant. When you said boop boop boop boop boop Was that you moving your character? Because I didn't actually see it In my mind I was moving it in my mind I thought you would do it for me Okay I made the noise Okay, you are casting Unseen Servant That's a new one for you What does that do? Well, Griven, it makes a servant Okay That is invisible Great It creates an invisible, mindless, shapeless, medium force That performs simple tasks at my command Until the spell ends I can on my turn As a bonus action mentally command The servant to move Up to 15 feet and interact with an Object it can perform simple Tasks that a human servant could do Okay is this a Sort of delayed action That you're waiting to deploy or do you want To go ahead and tell me sort of what your Intention is He's just hanging out with me That's my action to make him Okay let me Make a little I'll put a little token down for an unseen servant. Beauregard. Beauregard is his name? Yes. Okay, cool. B-E-A-U. Too late. I already did it fast. So you have created an unseen servant. That is your action. Is that it for your turn? I believe you have one more step if you want to go up to 21. No. But I'm not going to tell you your business. No, I want to stay here where I can see everybody and I guess I could see them from 21 just as clearly. Okay. Great. Yeah, I'm going to stay at 20. Is it possible to kind of squeeze against the wall, the inner wall? Sure. Step 20 has an alcove on it. You can sort of press up against it. Just to make it a little tougher for somebody to shove me. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, there's nobody else on this step except Beauregard, so you can trade places with him. And I trust him with my life. Absolutely. It would be crazy if your unseen servant tried to kill you. Next in the order is Scorpo. Scorpio is going to move up to step 12 where the spider is clinging to the wall. He is going to try and pull him down, but he is unsuccessful. He tries pulling down the spider, but the spider is too sticky. He says, hey, stop it, man. Scorpio is going to then move up two more steps. Next in the order is Klaxon. Klaxon is going to climb. He is at half speed Because his legs were more or less destroyed Because he's a remnant He is sort of a He is a remnant He's going to climb up Three steps here He is going to try and grapple With Rhyme The icy wizard Has the trap already been sprung on that Step? The trap that was set was on 10 Loravith very nimbly Evaded that trap So that has been activated. You see step 10 has reformed. Oh, okay. I was wondering about the red exclamation point on there. The red exclamation point is like the glyph where you use to activate the traps and set it where you want to set it. Klaxon is also unable to tangle up Rhyme. Yeah, Rhyme's going to move up two steps. Klaxon's going to take an opportunity on our melee attack here against him. Another unsuccessful roll. Okay, so he reaches the same step as the two of you, Helgrammet and Loravith. And Loravith, since you are standing on the sort of edge of the step, he is going to put all of his might into trying to shove you off the steps. As he comes near you, you hear a piercing wail. What is the sound of the alarm again, Helgrammet? You said it. Woo! Great, great, great. Excellent, excellent. So I'll give you advantage on this check since you definitely saw him coming. You are going to contest his athletics check with either your athletics or acrobatics check. I better go with acrobatics. He's pushing Loraveth, not you. Oh, right, gotcha, okay. Athletics. That's a 13 that he got total. Son of a gun. I got a seven plus three, 10. You have advantage because of the alarm that was set on your back. One more time. Come on. 19 plus 322. Yeah. It's genuinely, you know, Batman punching Superman and there being absolutely no reaction to it. He just, Ryan puts their hands on you and tries to push and just absolutely no purchase is found whatsoever. That saved your life, Justin. Thanks. No, we'll know. Hey, you got advantage. Well, hellgram it. Yeah, that's true. We got to keep it separate or we're going to be amazed as a monster's territory. True. With that, Rhyme is going to try and use the rest of their move. You can make an opportunity attack if you would like. I guess both of you could since you're in the same space. If that is how you want to use your reaction. Or you can just let Rhyme go. Up to you. I don't think such action should go unpunished. But it's not my turn. No, but this is your reaction. It's an opportunity attack. So either one of you can make an attack as your reaction, not as an action on your turn. I think it would make more sense for him to act first if he wanted to react. Like, if we both have an option here, I think I'm kind of caught off guard. So if Dad wanted to do something, I think he's been waiting for whatever this is. Yeah, opportunity attack. Mm-hmm. Shocking grasp. I'm going to hit him with shocking grasp. Well, can you do that with your—do you have, like, a thing that lets you do spell attacks as your opportunity attack? I'm asking Dad to be the arbiter of this, Griffin. True, true, true. Yeah, good point. I think it's just a melee an armed melee attack it says actions okay yeah okay yeah okay I will you know what no I don't have anything like that okay I'm gonna just grapple with him okay yeah I'm gonna grapple with him great so grappling target must succeed on a strength dexterity it chooses which saving throw. Okay, and you roll your melee attack, and that is the number that Rhyme is trying to beat here. Plus two. So fourteen. Ten. Doesn't do it. Plus? Just plus one. Oh, okay. Not quite enough. Rhyme is able to slip through your grasp and continue their march up the stairs. Does Lorvith want it? But Helgramit gives him such a look. I bet. Yeah, I'll kick him in the stomach. Oh, Lorvith. You're just making a melee attack? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Just one quick, quick old stomach hit. Okay. That is a 15. That is exactly what you need. Yeah. Go ahead and roll damage on your unarmed strike. Four. Okay. Yes. Rhyme is not the sturdiest of foes. And so Rhyme doubles over in pain, takes a step backwards. Right in the spleen. Right in the spleen. You hear Rhyme say, oh, my spleen. Rhyme looks at you, Helgramit, pretty furious because Rhyme thought that you were going to help them with their goal of killing Loravith, seeing that that's not the case. Rhyme is going to run up, already used their action, up to step number 11. Next in the order, gonna move quick through Tommy Falcon. He's got sort of one objective here and it's just getting as high up as he can. So he's going to move up 12 steps using a dash action to step 27. I wave at him as he goes by. He waves at you too. Tommy Falcon has no beef with you that I can remember. Oh, he's poultry. That's good stuff, man. That's really good stuff. Randolph is going to pick up Sweet Little Duber Sweetleaf and carry him, moving half distance, but bringing his sweet little boy ward up three steps further from the edge. Hippocrates is up next. Okay, Hippocrates moves up two steps. Does anyone have eyes on him? Rictus, you can kind of see Hippocrates as he stops in, places his hands on one of those trap glyphs and places down, places a trap down. You obviously can't see where it is, but you know enough to know that there is a trap on the board at this point. And then he stops his move there. Yes, he does. Duper Sweetleaf runs up. He stops by you, Lorvith, and Helgramit and says, Excuse me, would you mind helping out Grandpa behind me? He helped me out, but his knees, his sweet knees. You don't know me very well, but your grandpa is my grandpa. Not literally, of course, but I'll care for him as though I was caring for you to a lesser extent. That, I mean, because if you are in danger, I will abandon your papa. I thought this was the reverse of the Taz classic I'm your dad line. No, actually, that's my grandpa. But Trav, it's like in conversation with that. You know what I mean? It's aware of that device, and it's in conversation with it. Oh, my God, Justin. Thank you for making space for that. He gives your big, thick ankle a big hug, and then he is going to- Nice. He only comes up to his ankle? Oh, he's a little tiny guy. Duper runs up to step number 13. There is a glyph on the wall there. He sees it in the shape of a water droplet. He says, Grandpa, I can drain some of the water for you. He puts his hands on it and with his action, channels some of his magic into it. And then seconds later, you all hear the sound of rushing water as step number three is overtaken suddenly. Sleep Duber. Duber says, shit! As he increases the height of the water. Spider is going to climb up six around the edge of the room. Rictus, I mean, he's gonna climb kind of past you. If you wanted to take a swing at the spider with your opportunity attack, you could do so or you could let him go. Nah, wait for him. Okay, cool. He continues on up the spire up to step 23. And now we are back to Loravith. You and Helgramit on step number eight. Water's at three, and you're going to go down three steps. You are... Can you show me my... No, I have to move it myself, so you're not in control of this. Yeah. Right. See, I'm currently on eight, which will bring me up to... 15? But what about your step, Grandpa? On the step? Yeah, man. All right, Randolph, come along. I'll throw Randolph over my shoulder and go up as many as I can, carrying his old ass. Okay, you use one step, dropping back to... Oh, I can reach him. Don't be ridiculous. Well. Don't be a child. You use one step. Don't be a child. I'm on step eight. He's on step seven. I can grab him without using any moves, Griffin. Okay, so you do not... No, you are going to move to step seven if you want to grab Randolph. Griffin, you are being such a child. That sounds so stupid. You're being such a child about this. Why would you... So can you not attack? You know what I'm saying? Griffin, reach. Give me a... Okay, I'll tell you what. If you want to make a long-ass reach with your long arms, and he'll stretch his long, long grandpa arms towards you, give me an athletics check. Here's what I'll say, Griffin. Yeah. Give me an athletics check. If I succeed, no steps. If I fail, it takes two. Yeah, I'll grant you that. So we are looking forward to pick- 11. Okay, I'll meet you in the middle. It does take one step. You are able to grab it all. I just went into fairness. He is slight. He is extremely slight. And you are enormous. I don't think you have any. I don't think this is going to affect your speed. With an 11, I do think there's some light bruising from my grip. Yeah, you have to touch his old butt through his robe in order to get a good grab on him. Okay, so this leaves you with six steps to go up if you move your full speed. Yes, I will head it. So that takes us to what, 13? Up to 13 with Randolph. Are you setting him down here? Yes, right next to Duber. Okay. As promised, little man. Duber is teary-cheeked. He thought he had just definitely killed his grandpa by increasing the water level here And they have a nice sweet embrace That is Now listen Duba in exchange you have to take care of my good cousin Scorpio I pat Scorpio on the shoulder. Scorpio looks at you, sort of surprised that you feel that way about him, but he- I'm just kidding, Duba, I don't care about you. Scorpio looks kind of disappointed. Okay, that is your turn. Hellgrammit, you are up. Fire and ice, Scorpio, fire and ice. That's me. Hellgrammon is going to move his whole six. Okay. That is going to get you up to 14 next to Scorpo. Right next to Scorpo. And leans in close to Scorpo and kind of in a very low tone says, Hey, watch out for the old man. I think he's got it in for you. I remember seeing in his room he has a bug collection. All of our little brothers and sisters on pins. Watch out for him. Give me a deception check, please. You are trying to beat a 12. Here is the insight roll that Scorpo got. Four didn't do it. Four does not. As Helgrammets' wonderful rolls continue. You give me an insight check now, please. An insight check? Yes, sir. Four again! Back to back! Wow! Consistent, but not accurate. Scorpo gives you a look. A look, man. He gives you a look, dude. That is that round. And we are going to advance the water level to four. and everyone's going to move down three steps. So, except for the spider, who is, and Tommy Falcon, who is flying. So those two are good. Travis, I'll grant this to you. Is Beauregard floating? Is he? He moves with me. He moves with you. Okay, so. Because in order to command him, it's limited. Like, I can command him to do things 15 feet away from me. Yes. So I don't think it would make sense for him to not move with me because then I would be limited with what I could command him to. For sure. I got you. Okay. So scooting everyone down here. Randolph, Duber, Loravith on 10. Rhyme is going to move down to seven. And Klaxon, poor Klaxon, did not manage to get safe. and he is pulled into the raised water level. I think because of Duber's actions, Klaxon is pulled under the elevated water level. And yes, no, you see him reach up and give like the T2 thumbs up as his mechanical components are torn bit by bit by these blood red eels. And then there is nothing but floating machinery in the water that moments later sinks down out of sight. And with that, a loud horn sounds from way, way, way above the surface of the lake where you all are submerged right now. And the second aspirant in this trial is defeated. Two more and you guys have survived it. This podcast is brought to you by Squarespace. 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Got a few announcements before you get back to the rest of the episode. we got some new merch up in the McElroy merch store over at McElroyMerch.com. A new t-shirt with a helping is always a free action design on it. There's 20 make it stick enamel pins on there. Lots of really, really great stuff this month. And 10% of all of our merch proceeds this month will be donated to Border Angels, whose services include educational programs, water drops in the desert, day laborer outreach, Familias Reunitas Immigration Bond Fund Program, and shelter aid support in Tijuana to aid migrants and asylum seekers in need. I also want to let you know that I have a book coming out very soon. It's a choose-your-own-adventure book. It's called The Stowaway. It's appropriate for middle-grade readers, but I think it's a rollicking adventure, a survival tale set in outer space that anyone would get a thrill or two out of. There's intrigue. There's action. There's stunts. There's everything that a book can't have, I think. Those are the three, right? I said action and stunts, right? Yeah, no, that's all of it. So you can pre-order that now at bit.ly slash griffinstowaway. And it would be, gosh, just a huge help to me if you would consider doing that. The book is $10 and it comes out again on March 10th. So don't wait, go ahead and secure your copy today. That's it. Enjoy the rest of the episode. We will be back with a new one in two weeks. So talk to you then. Bye. Howdy there. So sorry to interrupt whatever amazing show you were listening to, but it's time for an ad. I'll be so quick and get back to your show. Don't worry. I'm host Austin. One half of a podcast called Secret Histories of Nerd Mysteries that I make with my good friend Brenda. We talk about the pop culture stuff you like, like Thundercats and Yu-Gi-Oh! Did you know that the Thundercats are cousins with Farrah Fawcett? Or that Yu-Gi-Oh! once caused a riot? You probably want to know more. You can find us at Maximum Fun or wherever you get podcasts. Every single Tuesday. Next in the order is Rictus Ravenwood. Excellent. I mentally command Beauregard to go crouch down on all fours behind Hippocrates. Okay. So, read me the description one more time of Unseen Servant. The spell creates an invisible, mindless, shapeless medium force that performs simple tasks at your command until the spell ends. I need you to roll a dexterity saving throw for me, please. For Beauregard. Not 20. Holy shit. Okay. You watch. Can you see Beauregard? Yeah. Okay. I mean, I know where he is in my mind. You know what I mean? Well, then you see as he takes a step down to 16, and then when he puts a foot on 15, that step suddenly disintegrates into sand. And it does not seem to affect him at all. He walks right past and crouches down behind Hippocrates. Like behind, like you're putting Beauregard between Hippocrates in the edge of the step. Yes, I am, Griffin. Okay. Moments later, after activating the trap, step 15 reforms, transmutes back into regular stone. So it's safe now, right? It is safe now, yes. Is that your action? That is a bonus action. Okay, great. So now I'm going to hop down there and push Hippocrates over Beauregard. Okay, I love it. Classic schoolyard bullying. Yeah, man. Hell yeah. So I'll give you an advantage here on the shove. It's also so important to know that Hippocrates does not know that Beauregard is there. Yeah, absolutely. I think this is a great maneuver. Hippocrates looks surprised. He is wearing this Plague Doctor mask. gets hard to tell his facial reaction as you sort of retreat back down to his step i think he realizes very quickly that you are about to move on him so he is going to roll a uh acrobatics check to avoid your push here uh he gets an 11 total so you need to beat an 11 with your athletics check you have advantage on the roll. Okay. Unfortunately, neither of those rolls are going to do it. Beauregard is still there. You see Hippocrates as he kind of like takes a step back as you push him. He bumps into something, but it actually like stops his motion, prevents him from falling over the edge. So that is your bonus, your action. Well, damn it. Griffin? You still have, let me think. You still have three steps of movement. If you wanted to try and put some space, Hippocrates is definitely going to take a swing at you. Well, yeah, he's mad at me now. Hell yeah, he is, dude. Yeah, I'm going to move back up to 17, I guess. Okay, he's going to take an opportunity attack on you. Critical failure. He trips over Beauregard. And you are back. Yeah, Beauregard grabs his hand as he takes a swing towards you and fails to make contact. and you are back to step 17 where you started. Well, that was so pointless. We did it, but we're all right. Okay, go on. Next in the order is Scorpo. And Scorpo looks at you, Hellgrammit, and says, I'm sorry, Hellgrammit, but I've seen what you want. I've seen what you'll do with the powers of the Octave. We... We are bugs. We came from bugs. Yes. I will not allow you to control us like bugs. And he is going to try and shove you over the edge of step number 11. That is a 14 that you need to beat on either an athletics or acrobatics save. Okay. I'm standing still, correct? You are? So with communion carapace, shouldn't I have advantage on dexterity checks? No, sir. No, that's a specific thing. That's like for hiding when nobody is looking at you and you are standing still. This is not a stealth situation. and this is a resisting being pushed. Okay, so what kind of check do I need to make? This is an acrobatics check trying to beat a 14. Okay, I'm doomed. Here we go. Oh, it's an 18. Whoa, man. Okay, hell yes. All right, Scorpo puts his arms on your shoulders. You come at him with your arms and your bonus vestigial arms, and the two of you are kind of grappling on this step. Gravel from the stair beneath you is kind of pushing out over the edge, but you plant the sort of claws on your insectoid feet and manage to hang on and push him off of you. However, Scorpo is going to disengage and he is going to use his move. You are able to take a, let me think. Yeah, we're at a new round, so you can use your reaction again if you would like to take an action against him, an unarmed melee attack action. Well, I mean, since my rolls have obviously turned around. Yeah, man. Yeah. Right? Yes. What could go wrong? What could possibly go wrong? Like a 16. Yeah, a 16 absolutely hits. Go ahead and roll damage. That's two. Okay. Okay, yeah, you're not able to get a huge blow on Scorpio. He has this thick scorpion kind of armor, but you slash at his back with your claws as he takes off. He takes two points of damage here, and he is going to run up the stairs. One, two, one, two, three, four, five, six. Next to you, Rictus. How'd it go down there? I couldn't see. Is everything cool? He looks at you and says, I failed. I made a move on Hellcrimmon. What? It's, I think it's over for me. Okay. Rime is up next. Hey, this was discussed previously. Can I have your stuff? If you die, it needs to be explicitly said or they won't let me do it. He ignores you. That is not his concern right now. Okay, Rime is up next. uh rhyme is going to move up now there's only enough space on a step for uh for three people uh and right now in order to keep moving up the steps he would have to get past the step that has duber randolph and loravith on it uh so everyone here i think is able to get an attack on him for him to get through this space uh and so instead he's going to cast a spell you see Rhyme's eyes glow bright blue and they channel some sort of energy down into their fist and reaches out and punches the central pillar. As that happens, a trimmer shakes the ground in a 10-foot radius. I'm going to need Loravith to make a dexterity saving throw. Same with Duber and Randolph. Alarm is still in effect. I don't know if that gives Lorvith advantage. So you put it on his back I don think for this it good Wow it doesn matter He got a nat 20 Wow and so did Duber Sweetleaf That two nat 20s Oh the dream team Come on Randolph Wind beneath my wings. Okay, Randolph got a nine. So what happens is Randolph is going to take five points five points of damage here as the trimmer sort of shakes him and he falls down and cracks his head on the step. You're embarrassing Dubu and I, Randolph. Randolph falls prone and... I carried you all the way up here. You fall on your ass. In addition, the steps eight, nine, and 10 all become difficult terrain. so they are going to take double movement in order to get through. I think doing that, Rhyme, is just going to stay put where they are. And that is Rhyme's turn. You know you're wasting your time with him, Duper. You see this now. But he's my, he's sort of my grandpa, not exactly. Yes, well, I could use a ward. I could use a Duper around to make me look taller. Randolph looks up at you, Loraveth, from the ground and says, just keep him, keep him safe. Keep him secret. Keep him safe. Sorry, are you telling me where your medicine is, old man? I can't hear very well from all the way up here. You see, I'm up here standing. Okay, next up, Tommy Falcon is going to make his way to the top of the stairs, and he is going to place his hands on the glyph. No one is up there close enough to see what happens when he does so. But he channels energy into this glyph on the very top step, step number 30. Next in the order is Randolph, who is going to stand. And he is going to then spend his action, I guess, to dash, losing one step for the difficult terrain here, and make his way up very slowly to step number 14. Hippocrates is up next. Hippocrates. He's probably forgiven me by now, right? Absolutely not. Hippocrates is going to take a couple steps up to step number... Yeah, he is just going to move up to step number 16. And he holds up his arms inside of his feathery black cloak. And he is going to... Give up. Oh, well, that targets a creature. Dang, okay. He then brings his hands together. and from his cloak, a line of strong wind, 10 feet wide, blasts forward, and you and Scorpo are going to need to make a strength saving throw. Oh, not my strong suit. Okay, you are trying to beat an 11. That's a two. That is a two, Griffin. Okay. Okay, so, Scorpio hangs tight. He buries his scorpion tail down in the ground, and he hangs on for dear life. You are pushed away from Hippocrates over step 18, and you are going to plummet down to step number eight, right behind Rhyme and Duber Sweet Leaf and Loraveth. You are going to take 1d10 points of bludgeoning damage as you fall 10 feet. You take six points of bludgeoning damage. Awesome. And you land prone on the crumbling steps of stone eight. Duber Sweetleaf is up next. Duber Sweetleaf is going to run. One, two, three, four, five, six. and is going to place his hands on the arrow glyph that no one has quite touched yet. You see him channel energy into it. And with that, you hear thump, thump come from above you. Both Tommy Falcon and the spider succeed on dexterity saving throws, but you hear Tommy Falcon say, my board! Tommy Falcon and the spider have both been pulled down to the ground by a strong gravitational force negating their flying and climbing powers respectively. So the spider is going to move up a step and place a invisible trap with his action. Okay, that brings us to Loravith. You are now up. Yes. You are on step number 10. You have just seen Rictus fall over the edge And land on step eight prone You have Rhyme right behind you on step nine He just tried to take you out with a trimmer Rictus, do you need me? Ow I think I'm okay Um, yeah Oh, fuck Ow And Rhyme What? And then I hit Rhyme And I can't No, dang it Can I use physical attacks? Yeah, you can use melee attacks You just can't use a weapon Yeah, okay And Rhyme And when he looks to me I punch him in his nose With my fist Okay, great Make an unarmed melee attack, please A 15 plus 520 Yeah, absolutely Roll damage It's always four Oh, it's always four with an unarmed strike. Okay. With that, you punch the mask off of Rhyme, and now you can see that you have broken Rhyme's nose absolutely, blood dripping down their chin. That's how you fight someone. Rhyme looks like they are on death's door. I will... Well, go ahead and... Oh good, Griffin. Yeah. I can finally use this. When I hit a larger, smaller creature with an attack roll and deal damage to it, you can give it the prone condition. Oh wow, okay. That's a good time for that. That is a great time for that. Okay, Rhyme is not prone. So is Rictus, I have to remember who all is prone here. Okay, awesome, cool. Rhyme is now laying on this sort of crumbled step that they kind of messed up here and they are lying on the ground, unable to retaliate if you move away. I will go two steps down to eight to help Rick this up. Okay, so you did use your attack action, you did use your action already to attack Rhyme. So an aid action here would be an action that you do not have. Never mind then. Screw them I guess I just think helping should be a free action That should be a motto of mine That's cool Helping That's cool It's like an important beautiful message for now It's like a beautiful house rule That we've recently developed Is that helping is always a free action Yeah I like that That's cool man I like that a lot Hey kids remember like are you sticking with that or how do we feel about that oh no I mean absolutely it can't be the rule of the game but like as like a motto or like something we could put on a shirt like fuck yeah okay so I'm on step 10 I'm gonna go up to step what 17 is that sound about right yes is there anyone that would want to hit you on the no man you're Loravith is somehow the sweetheart of this of this trial so far okay yeah you can move up to step 17 no one's gonna take a swing at you and you post up right next to Scorpo. Okay, and then Hellgramit, you're up next. How far would I get if I dashed? Dashing would use your action, right? So you would be able to cover 12 steps total. Okay. Assuming no one took a swing at you or tried to grab you or anything. There's quite a few dudes in front of you. Randolph, Duber, Hippocrates, Scorpo, Loraveth, Beauregard, the Invisible Assistant. So it's up to you. So I should have been hitting all of them as they ran past me just now? So you get one reaction, right? You can take one opportunity attack per round. Okay. So you couldn't attack all of them as they ran past, but if you wanted to be super-duper nasty, I guess so. Okay. I'm going to use dash and move 12 steps. Okay. Okay. One, two, three, four, five, six. at step 17 Scorpio is going to try and grab you he is going to try and he's going to use his reaction attack here to try and grapple you to stop you in your tracks okay so you can try and contest this with acrobatics or athletics I'll try acrobatics okay he rolls a 15 20. Oh shit, dude. Okay, yeah. You are able to slip through Scorpo's grasp. Lorvith, you clocked this. Your former teammate, Scorpo, definitely just tried to make a move on Helgrammit. You are engaging in open hostilities at this point. So you're going to continue. And Helgrammit is one of the... He's one of the people I know. And lie, you know? Well, you're one of your best buddies. Okay, you're gonna keep moving up. Uh, how much farther do I get? I mean, you've only used one move. You have not taken your action. Yeah, but I dashed, right? So, yes, if you, I'm asking you if you want to, if you want to keep moving, you are going to dash. If you want to take another action here, you know, this can be where you stop. No, no, I want to keep dashing up to 23, right? Okay, well, um, you're going to need to make a dexterity saving throw on 20 for me, please. You can do this, Todd. Or you can't, I don't know. Dexterity saving? Yes, dexterity saving throw for me, please. 10. That is not going to cut it. As you take a step on 20, you gasp as suddenly the stair, the hard stone stair beneath your feet turns into sand, and you fall completely through it, falling to the ground and plummeting to plop down prone on step number 10. Oh, give me a freaking break. Yeah, man, it sucks. You are going to take five points of bludgeoning damage, and you are prone. It is a bad scene down here on steps 8, 9, and 10, where we have Rictus, Ryman, Hellgrammit, all laying prone on these crumbled steps. All groaning in a chorus. All groaning, writhing, just sort of side by side by side. Ow, ow, ow. That is going to be... No, it's not. No, I don't think it is. I have a bonus action. Okay. I'm going to use Misty Step. Oh, awesome. Okay, cool. And I'll let you interpret it as best you can. Misty Step, briefly surrounded by silvery mist, you teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. So how far would that get me? Okay, yes, you can Misty Step. So let me think. You're on a spiral staircase, right? Right. So I mean, using line of sight where you landed on 10, I think that could get you up to step number 14, which is where Randolph is, just kind of drawing a line. Okay, I'll take it. Of where you could go seeing through the central pillar. But yeah, okay, cool. You are still going to be prone when you arrive, but you are able to move yourself up several steps. It is great. So in other words, if I had had my head out of my ass, I would have stopped at 19. Yeah, but the trap was hidden. There was no way of knowing. Right now, there are no traps on the board. Yes, that's true. That is what I would say. The traps are only placed by the other players. They're not just secret bonus ones. Dude, you're all of them. We know that. You gotta stop. Here's what happens next. We are going to advance the water level. That's a square. That's not a cone. Get the fuck out of there. Stinker. Okay. The water has risen up to overtake step number five. Then everyone is going to move back. only as you are moving back, you realize that the stairs are descending in double time because of the act taken by Tommy Falcon. So everyone is going to move back six spaces. That means Rictus, you are pulled down. I think once you hit step number four, you are floating in the water so that it is not going to continue to pull you back. but Beauregard is down to 8 Helgram it prone on 8 the crumbled stairs are gone they've submerged under the water Randolph Apocytus down Scorpio and Lorabeth down to 11 and the spider and Tommy Falcon have been pulled down from their perches they are going to also be pulled down 6 steps now we need to resolve this You are floating in the eel-infested waters with Rhyme, Rictus, and suddenly you look over and see Rhyme is assaulted by these blood-red eels. You see a look on Rhyme's unmasked face of pure panic, and it is very quick as they are pulled under, and you see the waters, which are already sort of red from the eels floating around. Just a plume of red blood floats to the surface, and a horn sounds from high above. Snakes that won't drown. Moments later, these snakes that won't drown are going to attack you. Because I said that? No, because he's in the water with all of the eels and he is prone. I have resistance to eels. Oh, that's incredible. Yeah, because I grew up sleeping on a bed of eels. Okay, they rolled terrible damage. Yeah, two ones and a five. So seven points of damage as you are attacked. By the eels. Looking at your HP here, it does seem like you are bloodied, but not dead, which is an important distinction. You are no longer prone because you are floating on the surface of the water, but you are in water, which is going to take double movement for you to move through. But the action is actually yours, Rictus, as we're back to the top of the order. three aspirants are down. Only one more needs to fall before this trial will be concluded. So this means that I be looking at to get to five would be two Correct And so then I to nine You could get up to nine with your action Okay Is anybody injured Is anybody injured? Yeah. Hellgrammet is mildly injured. Randolph has taken some damage here. That is about it. I will tell you that if you're thinking of using a healing spell, that is a directly targeted spell and would not. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Oh, you're thinking the other thing, who you could murder. Yes, correct. Sure, sure, sure. So I can get up to, I just said it, nine, right? Right. Okay, well, I definitely do that. Okay. And then I'm going to cast Wither and Bloom. Okay. Which is an area of effect attack. Yes, you're right. Centering it on Hippocrates. Okay. Which I keep wanting to call Hippocrates. I know that's not it. So, Wither and Bloom is a 10-foot radius sphere. Correct. I don't think there's a version of this where you only hit Hippocrates, right? 10 feet is going to encompass two stairs. Um, actually, you know what then? I'm gonna just keep dashing up. Okay, uh, Hippocrates is gonna take a swing at you as you move past him. Uh, just an unarmed attack roll here. Uh, 12 plus one, does 13 beat your AC? No, thanks to my mage armor. Oh, very good, very good. Okay, so you're gonna move up to 15? Uh, yeah, that's as far as I can go. That is as far as you can go with your action. Okay, great. You, uh, what a comeback. You have managed to get yourself well. Just happy to be alive, Griffin. Yeah, for sure. Okay, next in the order is... Oh, and as my bonus action, I'm gonna have Beauregard come back up to me. Okay. We've been separated too long. You got it. All right, Beauregard, your invisible servant, has moved back up to step 15 with you. He gives me a back rub. It doesn't heal me at all, but it just feels nice. All right. Next in the order is Scorpo, who's going to move his six steps. And he is going to... Rictus, you can see him very clearly as he stops at one of these trap glyphs and puts down... Which stair? Hey, which stair are you going to put it on? I won't tell anybody. He says, I can't let Elgramit survive this trial, not after I've opened hostilities against him, but I can't put a trap down without catching up Loravith or someone else, and I don't... He is having a crisis of conscience at this moment because I think he's realizing there's no way for him to do this trap and guarantee that it is going to be Elgramit who falls into it. Well, can you put it on nine? um he couldn't do that because there is a there is a person standing on nine um and that would be uh that would be too bad yeah i don't think he's actually gonna do it i think he is going to uh stop here on 17 second guessing his decision here to to move uh to to place the trap down uh next in the order is tommy falcon who has no such reservations he is going to stop at 25 and put a trap down. But where it is, no one knows. I do actually know. Yeah, for sure. Okay. Randolph is up next. Randolph is going to... He is going to use a help action to help you up, Hellgrammit. He is? He is. He looks down at you and he says, some aid for you, my friend. Please join Loravith in helping to protect Duber Sweetleaf. He is a very special young lad. Oh, I understand. Yes. And he blames with his compact eye. Okay. Everything you say has a sort of sinister undertone. I understand completely. Okay, with that, Randolph walks past Duber, up past Hippocrates, and he is going to stop on 13. Next in the order is Hippocrates. Hippocrates is going to move up to step 15 with you, Rictus, and Beauregard. and he is going to place himself between the two of you and try and push you backwards over the step. Hey, don't be a wiener. Like we each had a shove. You won, ow, right? We're cool. From behind his mask, you hear a voice say, we are absolutely not cool. Yeah, tell me about it, man. You're being real not cool. That is a three that he rolled on his athletics check. Yeah, that's not gonna do it. check. Well, you need to roll either a... No, Griffin, that's not gonna do it. You need to roll either an athletics or acrobatics check here. Okay. Okay, acrobatics. So I have a plus two. Yeah, that's an eight, plus two, ten. Okay, once again, as he goes to push you, he is restrained reflexively by Beauregard, who holds him back, and he says, You're cheating! You have a ghost friend. You mean Beauregard? Nah, he's cool. Okay, next up is Duber Sweetleaf. Duber Sweetleaf is going to move up to step 15, and he sort of waves at you, Loravith, waves at Randolph as he runs through, and he makes it to step number 16, where he is going to make a dexterity saving throw. insufficient the step uh number 16 crumbles beneath his feet and duber sweet leaf falls through the trapped step uh landing on step number six where he is going to take one point of bledgeoning damage not not too bad uh look at him he however he's bleeding everywhere he has landed he has landed prone on step number six one step ahead of the uh the waters and the eels uh and that is the end of his turn uh next up is the spider the spider is going to take a step up to 20 and he is going to save duper's life because he's spider man griffin he's going to realize he's going to do the right thing. A beautiful story out of Adventure Zone today. With great power comes great responsibility, Griffin. This is his moment. A group of adversaries put all their differences aside to rescue one small boy who had fallen down a well or something like that. Spider, this is bigger than us. The spider says, I don't know what you're talking about because I can't see it. He is going to channel his energy into the vines. turning steps 19 and 18 into difficult viney terrain here, which brings us to Loravith. Loravith, you are on step number 11, and it is your turn to act. How does everyone else look? Who looks the worst? Let me sum up. Who looks the worst? Rictus looks the worst. When last you saw Rictus sprinting past... Oh, no, you can see Rictus from where you are. He is extremely bloodied. Randolph looks pretty bad as well. And then, I mean, Duber sweetly- Talking is a free action, right? Yeah. Randolph. Yes? How badly do you want Duber to survive? It is of the utmost importance to me. Randolph, there needs to be but one more death before the trial can cease. I'm not sure I can get down to the trial and retrieve him before he perishes. Do you understand what I'm asking you, Randolph? You're going to sacrifice yourself. Oh, Randolph, weren't that easy. Oh, Randolph, no. Oh, cry me. Randolph, you've missed us on me terribly. No, no, no. I don't think I could be killed, honestly. But you, Randolph, if you do the right thing and step up for Duba, this could all be over. It seems like But it's your idea So wouldn't you rather do the noble sacrifice? You're so sick, Randolph And you live so much more than me Look at how much vigor you'd be wasting If I were to perish I flex What about, let's do rock, paper, scissors Maybe Okay I suspect though, Randolph At the end of that contest, I'll still be much bigger than you Here's the deal I understand what you are trying to get Randolph to do. It is not Randolph's turn to act. So, uh. Yeah, but I can make it. Yeah, sure. I can probably whip something up. If you want to, I mean, Randolph is two steps away from you. He is within your movement. And if this is. I guess I just can't. Oh, man. I'm just trying to figure out what kind. Dude, okay, give me an... I'm not gonna make you persuade Randolph, right? Randolph has told you time and time again and has exhibited that this is important to him, the protection of Duber Sweetleaf. So I'm not gonna make you roll like a persuasion check. I think, give me an insight. Give me an insight check to tell if this is effective. Okay. 10. He does not seem afraid. That is what you were able to, there's a resignation in his eyes that you are able to clock. And it's not so kind of like apparent that he is actively agreeing saying, you know, go ahead and go ahead and kill me. That's why this is it. I don't want to, well, listen. Randolph I'd like to think were our places reversed I would have your bravery and if I may say class in the face of such a big man as myself but here we are and I am going to attempt to chuck Randolph into the water okay he as you put your hands on him you can tell he is not really fighting back. He is going to roll with disadvantage here. Okay. Classy. And I would do, is this just a strength? This is your strength. This is an athletics check, yes. Oh, wow, man. I rolled a, let's see. It doesn't matter, man. Did you see what I rolled? What did you roll? I rolled a one and a four. Oh no, oh man. I rolled, hey, can I tell you something, Griffin? Yeah. I rolled a two. Yeah. A two plus three. Nobody's heart was in it. His heart wasn't in it. Why weren't I in it either? Yeah. You barely. You don't, there's a lot of, between the two of you, a lot of hesitance to do this. It's almost intimate. Oh boy. It is almost intimate. And Randolph, I think just doesn't push back at all. It really doesn't take a whole lot for him to. I just want you to know, Randolph. I wish this was the bug man. And then I'll throw, I throw him in. In the arms. With that, Randolph. No, I got a different one. And they say that a hero can save us. Not gonna stand here and wait. Randolph takes a step back. Much like another brave Andolph. Yeah. sacrifices himself to save us. I shall not pass. He goes tumbling ass over tea kettle off of the edge of step 13. And he falls downward, splashing onto step number three. And you look over the edge as you watch him plummet. and you see Duber Sweetleaf inches away from a disaster here on the next step above the waterline. Look over at Randolph as he proudly stands at his full height on the submerged step number three and with a flash of light, as Randolph's last act, he hides his demise from Duper Sweetleaf and everyone else around the chamber is filled with a brilliant flash of light. And me, I don't even see it. So I don't even feel that bad. Wow, beautiful. Thank you, Randolph. As the eels dispatch Randolph and when the light clears, The steps grind to a halt. The water descends. The eels return to their sort of crushed red kelp form. A horn sounds from above the surface of the lake and set. the octave of transmutation flies down and lands on the ground next to the tower and says it is time now for you victorious aspirants to receive your your just reward and with that the entire tower begins to shake and through the sort of porthole windows on the exterior wall of the tower you see those bioluminescent fish begin to sink as the tower rises it rises upward like a rocket shooting up out of the surface of the lake upwards and upwards into the sky high above the octave ziggurat We'll be right back. Maximum Fun A worker-owned network Of artist-owned shows Supported directly by you