You Do Not Gotta Hand it to The Jokester (Campaign 2 - Episode 119) |
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Information | |
Release Date: | November 11, 2024 |
Recording Date: | November 7, 2024 |
Episode Length: | 1:03:01 |
Cast & Characters | |
Michael DiMauro: | Dungeon Master |
Tim Lanning: | T'Chuck |
Jennifer Cheek: | Selene von Esper |
Nika Howard: | R'Oarc |
Mike Bachmann: | Screech Echo |
Guide | |
Previous Episode: | Next Episode: |
A Long Hallway of Fractured Nightmares | The Resistance |
We learn some odd and, frankly, disturbing things about The Jokester that really throws us for a loop. Will this change anything about our core opinions of him? No, because we are stubborn. But at least we can have a weird things to mention about him other than his generally creepy vibe.
Story[]
Long Story[]
The party finds themselves in a small library, having just been sent here by the Grinning Beast. Looking around, they see a door, a bunch of shelves full of scrolls and books, a mirror with a small crack in it, and the dead body of an Aarakocra. In the mirror, they can see the giant kaiju form of The Jokester, battling with the Grinning Beast. Alright, well now what? Screech searches the Aarakocra's body, and finds a pouch of 5,000 gold. He takes 70 gold for himself, without the others noticing, and hands the rest to T'Chuck. He also finds a note on the body. At Big Beau's urging, Selene reads it. It appears to be a contract.
"By order of Oswald Cobblepot, esteemed figure of influence and power, this contract binds the Dartblades Assassins Guild to seek and to terminate the lives of the following individuals: T'Chuck, the hobgoblin, a known disruptive presence with vast physical prowess; R'Oarc, the bard; Unknown magic user that goes by "Serena"; Screech Echo, playboy millionaire; And the illusive Squirrel Man, a rogue and master infiltrator whose survival poses a persistent threat. Each target is to be eliminated swiftly, and without trace, their presence erased from the world by any means necessary. 5,000 gold is enclosed, and the remaining payment will be rendered in full upon delivery of each targets' head, or proof of passing. The Dartblades are entrusted to enact Cobblepot's will with their unparalleled discretion and efficiency."
Huh. So, the assassins guild knows about the party. Except they got Selene's name wrong. That's weird. But before they can dig into that, it's getting pretty late, and they're getting sleepy. Should they, perhaps take a short rest? Before they do, they should see if the area is safe to chill out in for a while. Screech attempts to open the door, but finds nothing on the other side except the Astral Plane! He's nearly sucked out of it, but manages to pull himself back inside, and closes the door. They appear to be stuck here.
Meanwhile, Selene rummages around the papers and scrolls in the room, and finds a few magical scrolls that could prove useful. They are a Scroll of Featherfall, a Scroll of Water Breathing, a Scroll of Speak with the Dead, and a Scroll of Speak with Animals. T'Chuck gathers together some of the more boring books, and uses them to make a fire. The party gathers around, and has a short rest.
Afterward, they turn their attention to the dead Aarakocra. Obviously, they need to question him. T'Chuck does know the spell Speak with Dead, but he'd rather burn the spell slot right now, especially since they just got their hands on that Scroll of Speak with the Dead. They decide to use that, but Selene does it, seeing as she's apparently not known to the assassins. The Aarakocra wakes up.
Okay, so... this is kind of super confusing to me. The Aarakocra appears to be "The Professor", who the frog assassins were supposed to meet up with after killing Emperor Beauregard. Those assassins were working for this Aarakocra. Apparently, these assassins had a run in with the Jokester some time ago. They gave the Jokester a truth serum, and the Jokester told them everything about the party. That's how the assassins knew about them. But it seems the Jokester didn't know Selene's name, so that's why she's "Serena". But, there's also some business about getting a new contract? Like, he says that they were given "the contract" (not sure if that was the one for Beau or for the party), and heard about some magical battles on the road to Farhold. They went out to investigate, and that's when they ran into the Jokester. He then ratted the party out, under duress. Then, the Aarakocra says they "reported back", but "wanted a little more cash", and "got a new contract", and "they were gonna come back". So, piecing this all together, here's how I interpret this: The Professor and the three frog assassins were given a contract to kill Emperor Beauregard. While tracking him, they ran into the Jokester, gave him a truth serum, and learned all about the party. Then, the assassins reported all of this to the Dartblades Assassins Guild, and (wanting more cash), requested a new contract to kill the party members, whom they just learned about from Jokester. The Dartblades gave them the contract from Cobblepot (who's supposed to be named "Copperpot", by the way). The Aarakocra sent the frog assassins out to take out Beauregard, while he stayed in the graveyard mansion. Then, the Aarakocra got attacked by the Jokester, but this time, something seemed different. It seemed to be a different Jokester, like some other creature. The fake Jokester sent the Aarakocra into the mirror dimension, and then killed him, is what it sounds like.
So, there are a few questions I have about all of this. Why did the contract from Copperpot have the "Serena" mix up? It sounds like that came from the Jokester, but if the contract was from Copperpot... Copperpot never met the Jokester? So, I don't understand? Also, if the Aarakocra sent the frog assassins out to fill their contract, they maybe had two at the time, one for Emperor Beauregard, and one for the rest of the party. But the assassins only had the one contract on them when they killed Beauregard. So, that's confusing too. I might be completely misinterpreting this whole thing.
Anyway, the Aarakocra says that he believes the Grinning Beast is keeping them all here. He says that the real Jokester is trapped here, too. If the Grinning Beast is defeated, that's the only way they can all be freed. He leaves them with his parting thoughts, which is not to make the same mistakes he did in life: pushing people away, and not making any lasting connections. With that, he re-dies.
Okay, my head hurts. The party turns to the mirror, and T'Chuck touches it gently. The crack widens slightly, and he feels as though, if he were to touch it again, it would open fully, and they would all be sucked into the room with the Grinning Beast yet again. With no other options, and nothing left to investigate here, they decide to do just that. They smash open the mirror, and get sucked into the room with the Grinning Beast yet again.
The Jokester (or, the fake Jokester), greets them with a laugh. He tells them that he needs their help in defeating the Grinning Beast, and then they can all be free. The party agrees to this, and together, they finish fighting the creature. They send Fire Bolts and Toll the Deads at it, while the Jokester stabs it with his "big weird knives". And with that, the Grinning Beast is shattered to pieces.
This also causes the entire reality to crack and shatter around them. The party find themselves being sucked back, yet again, through dimensions. Finally, they emerge, landing back in the entryway of the mansion in the graveyard. And the Jokester is there with him. He's described as being "small again", but I'm not sure if that means normal sized (in comparison with his kaiju form), or actually tiny, like he was in the diorama a few episodes ago. Time will tell.
Short[]
Screech finds some money on the dead Aarakocra's body, and a note indicating that Copperpot has put out a bounty on the party! They use a Scroll of Speak with the Dead to ask the Aarakocra some questions. From this, we learn that the Aarakocra was working with the frog assassins from before. They had given a truth serum to the Jokester, who told them all about the party. Also, the Jokester who they've been hanging out with is not the real Jokester, he's a fake. The Aarakocra dies again, and the party joins the fake Jokester in fighting the Grinning Beast. They defeat him, and all of them are freed, emerging back in the graveyard mansion from before.
Trivia[]
- The contract that they read is from "Oswald Cobblepot", a character we've heard about before. Although he is supposed to have been renamed to "Copperpot".
- T'Chuck suggests that they rename Selene to "Tugboat". But she's not very into that idea.
- When Screech investigated the dead Aarakocra's body, he found that the guy had a hernia, but no hemorrhoids. He also had a giant bite wound.
- Two of the papers laying around this library are titled: "The Greater Farhold Area Records of Crops", and "The Farhold Area Record of Livestock".
- The mention of a Scroll of Speak with Animals reminds Bachmann of Daisy.
- There's mention of the frog assassins that were sent to kill Big Beau. There were three frogs, and one of them was killed. The other two were questioned, and then wrapped up in leather, and stored in some barrels, so they wouldn't escape. T'Chuck mentions being sure that they let them out of those barrels, but I'm pretty sure that never happened. They just took off for the graveyard, without ever releasing the frogs.
In This Episode...[]
Cast and Player Characters[]
- Michael DiMauro - Dungeon Master
- Tim Lanning - T'Chuck
- Jennifer Cheek - Selene von Esper
- Nika Howard - R'Oarc
- Mike Bachmann - Screech Echo
Non-Player Characters[]
Locations[]
- Drunkeros
- Farhold
- Grimwatch Hollow
- Farhold
Inventory[]
T'Chuck | Selene von Esper | R'Oarc | Screech Echo | General Inventory | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Quest Board[]
- [Active] - Keep The Emperor safe
- [Complete?] -
Find out who ordered the hit on the Emperor- [Complete?] -
Meet "The Professor" in Grimwatch Hollow, a graveyard outside of Farhold- [Complete] -
Defeat the Grinning Beast
- [Complete] -
- [Complete?] -
- [Complete?] -
- [On-Hold] - Save Selene's family!
- [Abandoned?] - Go to Brunnell
- [Abandoned?] - Wait for Ratma Ritmo to arrive in Brookwillow
- [On-Hold] - Recruit the help of Hortentia Calamore
- [On-Hold] - Travel to Vhur'endal
- [On-Hold] - Recruit the help of House Bartell
- [On-Hold] - Travel to Anchordowns
- [Abandoned?] - Go to Brunnell
- [On-Hold] - Find a cure for Thaldin Emberbrew
- [On-Hold] - Go to the nearby Drow city, probably Vhur'endal
- [On-hold] - Investigate "Bill, the Necromancer", in the far off city by the coast
- [On-hold] - Take the disembodied lips to the oceanfront, for a burial at sea
Quotes[]
- "Give me juuuust a second to finish adding this 70 go- I mean, this... something to my page here..." ~ Mike Bachmann
- "I'm getting sucked off!" ~ Screech Echo
Rolls[]
- Screech rolls Investigation to search the dead Aarakocra's body - 26
- He finds a pouch of gold, and a note/contract.
- Screech rolls Sleight of Hand to pocket some of the gold for himself - 24
- He successfully takes some gold, and rolls a percentile to see how much - 70 gold
- Screech rolls Acrobatics upon opening the door - 24
- He is able to hold onto the door handle, instead of getting sucked into the Astral Plane
- Screech and Selene rolls Investigation to see if they can find anything interesting amongst the library's books
- Selene - 19
- Screech - 20
- Selene finds some magical scrolls, while Screech stands back and judges her detective skills.
- Selene rolls Persuasion while questioning the dead Aarakocra - 25
- Success - He tells her who killed him.