| Morality and Murder (Campaign 2 - Episode 96) |
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| Information | |
| Release Date: | April 29, 2024 |
| Recording Date: | April 23, 2024 |
| Episode Length: | 1:12:32 |
| 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: |
| J'Michael Goes to J'ail | Stealth Mission |
After a slightly disturbing miscommunication with J’Michael our heroes must shake it off and head towards the bandits lair. Well… they can’t shake it off entirely since it is going to be super confusing when the battle starts and all those bandits get killed. So, it looks like it is time for a class in ethics, time travel and morality.
Story[]
Long Story[]
So... J'Michael has just killed Draven Bloodfang. That's not good. They'll have to deal with that. R'Oarc isn't able to find anything that would indicate to the rest of the circus that Draven has been killed, so that... is good? I guess. This leaves room for her to hatch a plot of her own. She takes a bag of Draven's, packs some of his clothes into it, and then forges a note saying that he's going away... forever. She leaves this somewhere for people to find.
There is one big piece of evidence, though, in the ferret cage. It's Draven's dead body, with a giant bite taken out of it. J'Michael put the body here after killing him, so the ferrets could eat him. Which they didn't do. Much like how J'Michael didn't eat the ferrets that Draven had wanted him to eat. Hmm. Poetic. After forcing J'Michael to apologize to Draven's body, they take the corpse out and away, leaving it for a bear to eat. And with that business taken care of (I guess), the party heads out toward the looters' camp.
Along the way, T'Chuck tries to teach J'Michael morality. Sure, Draven was a bad dude. Nobody liked him, nobody will miss him, and it's probably a good thing that he's dead. We all agree on that. And yet, somehow, killing is still wrong. It's just one of those things you have to just go with. Although, they do suggest that maybe J'Michael will need to help them maybe do some murders when the get to the looters' camp. So, that's a little confusing. They are also being led by a Hill Giant, one of the looters who had attacked them a few episodes ago. He, too, may need to be killed when they get where they're going. The morality on that is a little iffy as well. He's not an immediate threat. In fact, his hands are tied, and they are also forcing him to carry a heavy tree branch, to tire him out. R'Oarc tries to talk with him, to get him to see how cool the party is, so he won't try to attack them.
Eventually, the party sees a tower jutting up from behind the tree line. It looks very roughshod, pieced together with sticks, twigs, and mud. That must mean they're here. With no more need for the Hill Giant, the party thinks on what to do with him. R'Oarc attempts to see if he would make a good juggler, but when she throws some objects at him, they just bounce off his head. T'Chuck tries to get him to join the circus, but, you guys, this Hill Giant is, like, super evil, okay. There's no way forward from here that doesn't involve pillaging and murder. So that means it's time to die (despite R'Oarc's desires to take him on as a Clown Ward). T'Chuck causes a distraction, while Screech sneaks up behind him and kills him stealthily. Fortunately, the Hill Giant loves being killed. At least he died doing what he loved.
Alright, well now they have a looters' camp to infiltrate. There's more discussions on morality. Ultimately, they decide that they will wait to go in and do more murders, until they can get a sense on if these people can be reformed. If they seem to just be evil, and all about stealing and killing, they should be stopped. But if they're cool, maybe not so much. Screech will sneak in, and see if he can get a sense of them. R'Oarc grants him Invisibility, and T'Chuck grants him Emboldening Bond, and with that, Screech creeps into the camp, unnoticed.
He sees a tower, about 40 ft tall, with the Wyvern from before chillin' at the top of it. This is the tower they saw before, and it appears to be made of tree logs, mud, and stone. A ladder leads to a landing area part way up. In the center of the camp is a big cook fire, with two Bugbears hanging out around it. There's also a Warg pen, full of Wargs, which are like big wolves. Also, built into a nearby hillside is a "rustic looking stronghold", kind of a log cabin kind of thing, with "big-ass double doors" serving as its entrance. Off to the side is a series of tents and lean-to's, with 5 Goblins wandering around over there.
But what about any signs that these people are bad? He sees a few more things. There are three cages hanging from somewhere, with a human looking skeleton in one of them. Also, near the hole where the looters shit, are a pile of bodies of people they've killed. Fortunately, none of them are children. But still, these people are bad. Screech returns to the others, tells them what he saw. They figure, yeah, these folks need to be killed, but first, what was in that stronghold? Still invisible, Screech slinks back in, and peers through the windows in the door.
Inside is a large common room, a number of smallers rooms off to the side. In the center of the room are two massive ogres, one with a club, and the other with a chain. They are locked in an arm-wresteling contest. It seems as if one of them is about to win against the other, when suddenly... the episode ends.
Short[]
The party reprimands J'Michael for killing Draven Bloodfang, then they clean up his mess. After that, they head out to the looters' camp, following the Hill Giant they had captured. Upon reaching the camp, they kill the Hill Giant, and Screech sneaks in to get a look around. He finds a stronghold, with 2 ogres inside.
Trivia[]
- R'Oarc learns that, back at the looters' camp, there's an ogre, with a name like "Aldinzaeyene..." or some nonsense.
- R'Oarc questions if Emperor Beauregard is even that bad of a guy. She decides she wants to put out feelers on what he's like, once they get back.
- Last episode, J'Michael said he wasn't sure if he's ever eaten a whole person before. In this episode, he claims not to have ever eaten anyone before. His biting of Draven Bloodfang was more of an attack, rather than an eat.
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[]
- J'Michael
- An unnamed Hill Giant
- The Wyvern
Locations[]
- Drunkeros
- The Big Top Traveling Circus and Magnificent Menagerie
- The Looters' Camp
Inventory[]
| T'Chuck | Selene von Esper | R'Oarc | Screech Echo | General Inventory | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Quest Board[]
- [Active] - Clear out the Looters' Camp
- [On-Hold] - Save Selene's family!
- [On-Hold] - Go to Brunnell
- [On-Hold] - Go to 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
- [On-Hold] - 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[]
- "I have had enough of this. I can take no more. Do not come find me. I leave." ~ Draven Bloodfang's run-away note, as written by R'Oarc
- "I would have locked baby Hitler in a box." ~ Selene, or Jennifer?
- "I'm sorry I killed you, even though you seemed to be doing some sort of weird ferret genocide. And, when I saw the terror and upset-ness on my friends's faces, I felt something akin to guilt. So, I'm sorry about all of this, everybody involved. Especially you, Draven Bloodfang, fuckin' bitch. I ate your ass!" ~ J'Michael
- "I was seein' if he could be a clown, or a juggler. And he can't be a juggler. So, he's on Team Clown!" ~ R'Oarc
- "Do you want it? Do you want invisibility? Do you want it, you little bitch?" ~ Nika Howard
Rolls[]
- R'Oarc rolls Investigation to see if there's any actual evidence that J'Michael ate Draven - 4
- She doesn't notice any signs that something has happened.
- R'Oarc rolls Deception to forge a note from Draven - 19
- She is able to do so successfully.
- T'Chuck rolls Perception to see if he can find any skeletons in J'Michael's droppings - 21
- He doesn't find any skeletons in it
- T'Chuck rolls Insight to try to get J'Michael to understand the rules of society - 12
- I think he does that.
- R'Oarc rolls Survival to find a good place to hide Draven's body (with Advantage, and with T'Chuck's Guidance) - 18 + 3 = 19?
- She finds a bear's... nest? Lair? Not sure what the term is.
- R'Oarc rolls Deception while asking the Hill Giant how many people there are at camp, without making it seem like that's what she's asking - 13
- There are more than 3 goblins, and no giants. There's also a bugbear and an ogre.
- R'Oarc makes an attack roll to throw three objects at the Hill Giant - Nat 20
- He doesn't catch them.
- Screech rolls Stealth to invisibly sneak into the enemy camp - Nat 20
- He's stealthier than a... something that's really stealthy.
- Screech rolls Perception while preparing to invade the enemy camp - Nat 20
- What? Another Nat 20? He sees everything there is to see.