Autumn in Hieron 15: Have You Ever Swung A Sword At A Ghost Before?
Transcriber: Dylan (disasterpaladin#7113)
KEITH: Okay so here's the thing
AUSTIN: What's the thing?
ALI: Mmhmm?
KEITH: I did - so one: I did have coffee already made, someone made coffee earlier, (JACK: Yay!) and it was already made so now I have some. But.
AUSTIN: Wait, I thought you lived alone.
KEITH: What's that?
AUSTIN: I thought you live alone.
KEITH: No I haven't moved in yet, I'm at my mom's house for another week. Another two weeks.
AUSTIN: Oh, okay.
KEITH: Yeah. So I'm moving again in another couple of weeks. It's gonna be great. So...there was no cups in the cabinet, so what I'm doing now is I'm (AUSTIN, sighing: No!) drinking cold coffee out of a bowl.
ALI: Oh my god.
[Jack laughs]
ALI: Oh my god.
JACK: Keith!
KEITH: So if you thought living with my mother (JACK: Keith!) was gonna make my life a little bit less sad then that's not-
JACK (over Keith): Keith! You are an innocent kitten!
[Everyone laughs]
AUSTIN: You are the most innocent kitten! We thought it was that kitten from that video that you sent us!
KEITH (over Austin): You thought it was that kitten but it's me, I’m drinking cold coffee from a bowl. Cold, old coffee.
AUSTIN: Wait! Wait are you that- are you the kitten from that video? Was that you?
[Keith meows, Ali laughs]
AUSTIN: Oh my god it was Keith!
JACK: Keith was the kitten all along!
[Keith meows again]
AUSTIN: Awwwwww! Little Keith!
[more meowing]
AUSTIN: Aww little keith, so innocent!
JACK: What's amazing is that he's really running, you know...a patreon campaign, and youtube game streaming service with such a high viewership, being as he is a tiny kitten.
AUSTIN: Well- he's both the most innocent kitten and the most industrious.
[Everyone laughs]
JACK: Right.
ALI (deadpan): Honestly, if I knew he was a kitten earlier I would have supported his stuff more.
[Everyone laughs]
AUSTIN: Kittens need help, kittens need support.
[Keith meows]
ALI: They do! (laughing) Especially the most innocent kitten.
[AUTUMN NOT WINTER BEGINS TO PLAY]
KEITH, in a weird high pitched cat voice: Someone please pat my head!
[Everyone laughs]
AUSTIN: Hey internet! It's Austin Walker. As always I'm bringing you Friends At The Table, an actual play podcast focused on critical worldbuilding, smart characterisation, and fun interaction between good friends. We are presented by streamfriends.tv and runbutton.net. Joining me today: Keith Carberry,
KEITH: Hi! My name’s Keith Carberry, you can find me on Twitter @keithjcarberry and you can find the let's plays I do at runbutton.net or youtube.com/runbutton
AUSTIN: Jack de Quidt,
JACK: My name's Jack de Quidt, you can find me on Twitch and Twitter @notquitereal
AUSTIN: And Ali Acampora.
ALI: Hi! You can find me @ali_west on Twitter.
AUSTIN: You can find me @austin_walker on Twitter, @thecalcutec on Twitch, clockworkworlds.com. We are continuing our Dungeon World game...we haven't recorded this side of the campaign in three weeks? Four weeks? Ali went on vacation, I got super busy...it was a whole thing.
JACK: I haven't spoken to Keith in six weeks.
AUSTIN: That's true.
KEITH: That's true. Jack and I have been on a long hiatus.
AUSTIN: We've been recording this game, they just haven't spoken besides this.
JACK: Yes. Yeah.
AUSTIN: As always, the agenda with Dungeon World-
KEITH (over Austin): If you listen back, also we never spoken to each other during the thing.
AUSTIN: Right. This is like in Community, when there's like a secret hidden joke that only the biggest fans would catch? The secret joke is Keith and Jack have never spoken to each other. (KEITH: Yeah, that’s true.)
[MUSIC ENDS]
AUSTIN: Uh- Dungeon World is a game by Sage LaTorra and Adam Koebel and our agenda is, as always, to portray a fantastical world, to fill the characters' lives with adventure, and to play to find out what happens. That last one is like- I'm really excited for this session, because lots of things could happen. I mean- they always can, but we left off in a really interesting place. I'm trying to decide if I want to do the school teacher thing or the like, narrative thing, of like do I wanna ask one of you to tell me what happened last game, or do I wanna just say it...does anyone feel like recapping what happened last session?
[PAUSE]
KEITH: [sighs] I think if I tried I could do it.
ALI: There was a lot that happened.
AUSTIN: There was A LOT that happened.
JACK (over Austin): I think if I tried I would fail.
AUSTIN: Alright- let me do it, because-because I've been deep in this all day thinking about this game and prepping and all that.
KEITH: Okay you recap, I'll keep drinking out of my bowl.
AUSTIN: Oh, jesus- I hope that's in this intro, otherwise people are not gonna understand-
[Ali laughs]
KEITH (over Austin): Of course it's gonna be in the intro. I’m not-what kind of slacker do you think I am where I'm not gonna leave that in the intro?
AUSTIN: Hmmm...I don't know...
JACK (over Austin): He's the industrious kitten.
KEITH: Also it's a shitty bowl. Check out this shitty bowl.
AUSTIN: We're not- oh! Are we videoing? Keith is videoing right now!
KEITH: I turned it on because I thought it would be a funny bit to-
[Talking over each other]
JACK: Oh! Oh, hey Keith.
AUSTIN: We should - should we video?
JACK: Yeah alright
KEITH: It helps me pay attention!
AUSTIN: It does. It also helps me pay attention. I'm gonna- I'm gonna video.
JACK: I don't know how I'm going to look, and I'm probably gonna look bad.
AUSTIN: I look terrible.
KEITH: I'm drinking cold black coffee out of a shitty bowl.
ALI: That's a really nice looking bowl though.
KEITH (over Ali): It’s not! It’s a bad bowl!
AUSTIN: Ali I like your shhhhirt!
ALI: Thank youuuu
JACK: Ooh! Nice shirt Ali! For listeners of the podcast, Ali is wearing a shirt made of gold, it's sequinned, it's got lapis lazuli brace- um beaded, enamel beaded collar...it's really great.
ALI: It’s just a collar
KEITH: It's a little gaudy.
AUSTIN: What button? What button am I supposed to hit? I don't-
KEITH: Uhhhh the one that's a video camera.
AUSTIN: Hey. Hi. Hoo.
KEITH: Hey guys.
AUSTIN: Uh, okay! Now we can do this- wait, no that didn't do the thing I wanted. None of this is working. Why is this not popping out the video like it normally does?
JACK: I can’t even see you. You've just a spoon with [INAUDIBLE]
KEITH (over Jack): You've turned into a swirl.
JACK: Mmhmm
AUSTIN: Yeah?
KEITH: Yeah. You're like a chocolate and vanilla.
[A LONG PAUSE]
AUSTIN: Is that like a race joke?
[Ali giggles]
KEITH: No! It's a soft serve joke, Austin!
AUSTIN: Hmm...alright, you do have all that time...actually, someone else should host this call! That's what we should do.
KEITH: Okay. Bye!
JACK: Not me. I have chocolate.
KEITH: Did you...wait, hold on- did you just real quick check your email?
[Ali laughs]
AUSTIN: I- something came in. I'm waiting for something important. I'm waiting to see if I'm going to review Far Cry 4 for Paste.
ALI and JACK: Oooohh
AUSTIN: It'll be really cool, but it depends on if they give PC codes. If they don't give PC codes-
KEITH: (sounds like he's underwater?? Drinking bowl coffee and talking??)
JACK: I found out there were snakes in it today, and I'm not playing that game.
AUSTIN: Aww.
KEITH: There were snakes in the last one!
AUSTIN: Did you hear about that guy? Oh my god. Ugh.
KEITH: Are we talking about that guy that got eaten by a big snake in England?
JACK: I don't want to-
ALI: No.
[Everyone laughs apart from Jack]
AUSTIN: Oh, Jack! He didn't get eaten!
KEITH: I'm sorry Jack! I'm really sorry!
AUSTIN: He didn't get eaten.
KEITH: I didn't know what- I'm just- I made a thing up. I just made it up. I made the whole thing up. Jack- hold on, but- did you know that in my 12 hour marathon I name and Ekans ah- Snack de Quidt?
[Everyone laughs, Austin claps]
JACK: That is pretty great though.
KEITH, laughing: Yeah.
JACK: Is my video working?
KEITH: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Yeah you're good. You're good.
AUSTIN: So, last time on Boat Party, Boat Party kinda became Ghost Party as you did a soft landing into the empire of Nacre, which is kinda a little seaside town filled with people, and ghosts, and the undead. While there, you learned a bunch of things, you learned that this was a town that was from before the Erasure, that the- the kind of Death himself loved this town so much that he protected it, and kind of ceded his divine power. A lot of other things happened. Lem, Jack's character, ran into Emmanuel, the pirate--the would be baker-pirate, the would-be pastry chef, and got led around the town and learned a lot about the history of the town. Hella's sword came to life, and warned of the power of Tristero, who you would later learn was the god of the dead, or the former god of the dead. And one of the things that struck Fero was the strange mingling of the living and the dead here.That there was a- the way that life and death worked here was not nat- was not unnatural in the sense that- it wasn’t you know, morally wrong or something, but it was not like any other bit of nature. It was unnatural in that sense. To have a sort of lifeless presence throughout the town. And also saw, kind of a nice point, a man giving away his life, kind of stepping out of his unlife, his ghosthood, into-
KEITH (whispering over Austin): That was the best- that was the best part of last week.
AUSTIN: -into the ether. At a certain point, Fero and Hella realised that they had lost Lem, who had been kind of traipsing around the town with his new buddy, Emmanuel, and tracked him down to a little hotel, the hotel that Tristero, the former god of death, used to stay at when visiting Nacre. And this hotel was sort of half-hotel half-church, a kind of temple atmosphere, because of how often Tristero stayed there. And just as we concluded, Lem and Emmanuel were smoking cigarettes on a balcony looking over the marketplace and the shore and the docks of Nacre, and Hella and Fero had found them there in that penthouse suite, and just when everyone thought that [laughs] everything would be okay, a very familiar man took hold of Hella from behind and put a blade to her throat. Before closing his own to issue threat. Of course, that was Brandish, the undead pirate king, who just-will not leave us alone.
JACK: He's our nemesis at this point, right?
KEITH: He's kind of a dickhead. Like kind of though.
AUSTIN: Kinda.
JACK: Um, also wasn't there something about-
(overlapped)
AUSTIN: I might be forgetting something
JACK: -Calhoun?-
AUSTIN (over Jack): Yes! That's the biggest thing!
JACK: As like an abdicated prince?
KEITH: Oh yeah!
AUSTIN: One of the things- one of the major things you learned was that Calhoun had been captured and had been taken to the sable spire, which is a prison here in this town, of kind of marble. This one prison that is- it strikes up against the night sky and blots out the stars, and you overheard through a conversation between two men in the marketplace, that Calhoun-who you know as Calhoun is really Angelo Triste, who is-who was in line to be the next emperor of this place, but mysteriously betrayed his people and fled. I don't remember how much I gave you. Do you remember what his crime- if there was a crime associated with this?
KEITH: Yeah. He had...MURDERED...
AUSTIN: Yes.
KEITH: His...father?
AUSTIN: Yes.
KEITH: ...and...then…...scram.
[Ali giggles]
AUSTIN: Yep! Good cadence. On that.
KEITH: Thank you! [singing] Professional performer!
[Ali giggles again]
JACK: He says, drinking a bowlful [laughing] of cold coffee. Keith, you're the worst!
AUSTIN: Oh, oh! Don't break things.
JACK: Keith you're the worst person!
KEITH: It's fine, my bed is right behind me.
AUSTIN: Okay.
JACK: That doesn't make it any better!
AUSTIN: So.
KEITH: It-it landed right side up!
AUSTIN: Don't- okay.
KEITH: I told you, I'm part clown! And I finished it.
AUSTIN: It's not a race. That's not a- you can't be.
[Keith laughs]
AUSTIN.: Hella, there's a knife to your throat. What do you do?
ALI: [whimpers] Um...I don't have a lot of options. I've been considering this for three weeks and I don’t really have...any options?
AUSTIN: So are you just kind of holding still at this point then?
ALI: Yeah.
AUSTIN: Okay. Lem, who is with you- sorry not Lem, Fero. Immediately. We're like five minutes in and I've already mixed up Lem and Fero. [Ali and Jack laugh] God damn it, I'm never gonna get it down.
JACK: It's traditional.
AUSTIN: It is, at this point. Fero, you feel the prodding of a metal point in your back. Meanwhile, Lem and Emmanuel on the balcony look over and see Brandish and Ginny, who is his first mate, along with three other figures behind them.
ALI, quietly: Oh boy.
AUSTIN: One of them is a human, who is alive. One of them is an undead elf, who bears the scars of years and years of combat, and one is a ghost. A ghostman.
JACK: A human?
AUSTIN: A ghost human. Yeah. And they are dressed in the armour of Nacre and the, kind of... they're professional soldiers. These aren't pirates. So-so what do you do? As the person with the most mobility here, without like being under threat, what do you do, Lem?
JACK: How far away from them am I?
AUSTIN: I'm picturing this as like - they're in the entryway to this kind of penthouse suite, I'm kind of imagining it, I know we evoke Wes Anderson a lot here, and I'm kind of imagining this space being carefully -
KEITH: Do we do that? Do we talk about that guy? [Ali and Jack laugh]
AUSTIN: I do-yeah, a bit. Kind of a lot. But I imagine this being a space that like his set director would have lovingly put together. Lots of old furniture, couches that are like um, what's the -- there's a certain sort of like upholstered fabric that I’m thinking of that I can't get to immediately, but-
JACK: Chintz.
AUSTIN: Maybe that's what I'm thinking of. Red and very lavish carpet, with lots of ornate markings on it, you know - very smooth wooden furniture, lots of just stuff scattered on tables, old documents, old candles. Lots of stuff is everywhere. A little too neatly- a little too neatly placed for it to actually be messy, this (JACK: Right) is the space that's meant to resemble the space when Tristero visited, right?
JACK: Yeah.
AUSTIN: And so it's been produced to look lived in, but there's still that air of production around it.
JACK: So um-
AUSTIN: And that's- so anyway, you're probably like...25 feet away.
JACK: Okay
AUSTIN: You're through the main entry hall, like living room area, and then pass into this grand open air balcony, that the windowed doors are open to.
JACK: And there's no question that Brandish can see me.
AUSTIN: No question.
JACK: What are you drinking? That looks amazing.
ALI: Is that iced tea?
KEITH: And why isn't it in a bowl? [Austin snorts]
JACK: Also, I just realised - I haven't levelled up? Should I just keep adding points until we can rest and level up?
AUSTIN: No just-- oh, you haven't rested yet, so yes.
JACK: Okay, I'll just accumulating and maybe level up twice or something.
AUSTIN: You'll have opportunity to rest before that.
JACK: mmhmm, probably in a jail, or in death or something. (AUSTIN: We'll see.) Places that you can rest. [LONG PAUSE] I'm kind of thinking that I- [PAUSE] What's Emmanuel doing?
AUSTIN: I think the last thing he did was let a cigarette fall from his lips and utter a curse.
KEITH: Yo, Emmanuel's like, fucked right now, [Ali giggles] because his boss just saw him hanging out with the worst dude to be hanging out with. [Jack laughs]
JACK: Um, but I mean like, is he still here? Has he run away? Is he making a move to attack me?
AUSTIN (over Jack): Well, there's nowhere to run. The way to run is through Brandish at this point. We're talking about- there's been three seconds. This is like 'previously on...' and we've come in and the knife is at Hella's throat. There hasn't been time to react yet. What he says, right. The curse that he was issuing was just "Tristero".
JACK: Oh yeah!
AUSTIN: Remember that was the- [TRAILS OFF]
JACK: Um, is he trying to attack me?
AUSTIN: No- he's not- three seconds. Like, we're not- you are the person who's acting. No one else has acted yet.
JACK: Okay. I could take him hostage, but I don't think that's very Lem. [Ali and Austin laugh]
KEITH: Hold on... maybe it is, though?
JACK: Well, but-so I could-I could...what I could do is I could take him hostage, then force a charming and open [laughs] as a result. I've got leverage. I've got leverage. Although Brandish might not care about Emmanuel...at all. Oh yeah, no- charming and open is speaking frankly with someone.
AUSTIN: Right, right, which you could also do.
JACK: Yeah, do I need to have leverage to do charming and open, or just to be able to speak frankly?
AUSTIN: You just need to be speaking--yeah, yeah.
JACK: I don't really feel we're in a [TRAILS OFF]
KEITH: Cause, yeah... maybe charming isn't the...even possible.
AUSTIN: You can be charming. He could-he could
KEITH: It's not that you can't be charming, it's can he be charming now?
AUSTIN: Sure. Absolutely. He's a bard. Like, Lem is a bard. What he does is charms in moments when no one else could possibly be charming. I wouldn't take that away from Jack.
JACK: In that case, I want to do something...this massive Wes Anderson...beautiful echoing hallway...frozen moments, people have put knives to the throats of my friends. I'm going to whip out my violin and start playing arcane art. Just-on the balcony of this hallway.
AUSTIN: Okay
KEITH: What does that do?
JACK: It's going to...when I target it on somebody, the next time somebody successfully assists the target with aid, they get +2 instead of +1.
KEITH: Oh!
JACK: So Lem just shuffles the violin off his back, and just kicks into this weird sort of mournful-no! I know what it sounds like! It sounds like hotel muzak!
[They all chuckle]
AUSTIN: Of course it does!
KEITH: But on a Stradivarius
JACK: Uh-yeah- do we know- is it a good violin? Or is it just a...we know it's a special violin.
AUSTIN: We determined it was a good violin.
JACK: It was a good violin. Alright.
KEITH: Yeah, you- when we- you cited in the first episode, like the pre-episode, your reason for stealing it was because you thought it was amazingly gorgeous and couldn't bear to not have it.
AUSTIN: It wanted to be played.
JACK: Yeah. I wasn't sure if it was very good or very special, but very good I'm happy with. Because one of the weird things about pattern magic, is that just like any sort of pattern, it moulds itself on the space in which it is being performed. Any sort of pattern magic - pattern magic in a laboratory works very differently to pattern magic in a forest, or a cave? So obviously musical pattern magic or semiotics-
KEITH (over Jack): What about a forest cave?
JACK: Well, a forest cave you've gotta take into account the trees, you gotta take into account the acoustic effects of the trees, you've gotta take into account the way the light and shadow falls through the trees, it's very complicated. But of course, in a hotel, it would sound like elevator muzak. Because that's just how pattern magic works.
AUSTIN: But it would be, it's like elevator muzak by way of like, a temple choir, right? Because this place is also this weird holy place.
JACK: Yeah. Yeah.
AUSTIN: I like that. I like that a lot.
JACK: It's music taking the-
KEITH (over Jack): Is the tonality of violin itself changing? (JACK: Nope!) Or just the style of play? Okay.
JACK: Just the style of play.
KEITH: It still sounds like a violin, like you're not- this isn't like a Terry Pratchett thing where all of a sudden you're on a airplane.
JACK: No. And it's not like one of those Casio keyboards where you can get a Bossa Nova beat going.
[Everyone laughs]
AUSTIN: If only!
JACK: It'd be great. So what do I need to roll for that? Um...
AUSTIN: That is plus Cha.
JACK: So I just get to click the little button, right?
KEITH: You can click whatever you want, buddy.
JACK: Ten!
ALI: Ooh, you did it!
AUSTIN: That is...uh, that is a success. So wait, who are you targeting with this?
JACK: Hella.
ALI: I appreciate that.
AUSTIN: Okay, so Hella will now get a +2 on a-
JACK: The next person to aid her.
AUSTIN: The next person to aid her, okay. The- oh, one second, Ali if you just, you can just switch off of Skype-
ALI: Oh no, I mean on Roll20.
AUSTIN: Oh, wait what faces are you seeing in Roll20?
ALI: Like Nick and...
AUSTIN: Oh you can turn that off, go over to the settings bar, on the far right, and then if you go down to where it says video player slash avatar size? You can go to names only.
KEITH, laughing: I do...I feel like the fact that you at first thought Ali didn't know how to switch windows
AUSTIN: [snorts] Well she said all these faces- for the people listening, Ali in the Roll20 chat said 'all these faces are making it hard to see the maaaaap!' and I thought she meant our human faces, not our avatar faces.
KEITH: Wait hold on, settings and then what? Because I also
[CROSSTALK]
AUSTIN: Under video and voice. This is one of the reasons I wish everyone would leave after they're done for their session.
JACK: Set faces to 'off'.
AUSTIN: Yeah, put it to names only. Yeah. Okay, so- Jack your music- Lem's music fills the air, and I think it makes everyone a bit more confident. It's also just distracting, right? It distracts everyone here.
JACK: Yeah.
AUSTIN: It's a strange thing, but it's also-it must feel in place, at the same time, right? You've caught the rhythm of the space really well.
JACK: Yeah. Plus, for Emmanuel, it must simultaneous- it must- he must have just seen it and just gone like 'of course this is what's fucking happening now.' [Ali giggles]
AUSTIN: Right, yeah. Absolutely, Emmanuel at this point is-is, despite being from this strange place that no-one's ever been to, I think very much the audience...uh what's the word I'm thinking of?
JACK: The analogue? Or the-
AUSTIN: Yeah, right right for the audience here. And definitely is giving you a look like: 'I can't believe this is happening.'
JACK: 'What the hell are you doing?'
ALI: I don't think it's just him that's doing that. Like, this is also gonna be sorta frustrating-
JACK: SCREW YOU HELLA!
[Ali laughs]
AUSTIN: So Hella, what are you doing, now that you have this little- basically, what this has opened up is: Hella you can now do a thing that someone else could aid and help you with really well. Presumably Fero. Um, you could make a- you can do anything, but you have to defy danger to not take damage when doing it. That's the mechanical way to get out of this situation, to defy danger. And it would depend on what you're trying to do, to uh [TRAILS OFF]
LEM: Also, my only ranged weapon was a violin, [Ali chuckles] I mean, what else could I do, throw it at him?
AUSTIN: This is true. This is true.
KEITH: Don't you have a crossbow?
JACK: No!
AUSTIN: No, you're imagining that. He has like a...duelling machete.
[Jack snorts]
KEITH: Oh yeah, thought he had like a...
JACK: That's it's proper name.
KEITH: Like a...thing.
JACK: Like a crossbow. No.
AUSTIN: You need a new bond, too. Lem.
JACK: Oh I do?
AUSTIN: Yeah it says here. 'Needs a new bond next time' on your character sheet.
KEITH: Oh I think I had that too.
[Jack laughs]
AUSTIN: I think you all- I think we all rushed to the conclusion last time and didn't-
KEITH: It- yeah we had [TRAILS OFF]
AUSTIN: It's optional.
KEITH: Oh you know what? It's because we couldn't think of a bond that we really liked.
JACK: Oh yeah, I have 'needs a new bond next time.'
AUSTIN: Anyway, let's move on and hopefully get to a place where we can think about that. [PAUSE] So what's Hella doing?
ALI, distracted: Um...yeah I'm sorry, I'm looking at the move list real quick to see...
AUSTIN: Well forget about the moves right this second. Think about what she would do, and then we'll talk about what move matches up with that.
ALI: Okay. Cause, I mean- [LONG PAUSE]
AUSTIN: Like, Hella has a knife to her throat, but she's also this rad badass lady. A warrior.
ALI, laughing: Right!
AUSTIN: What does- what does she do?
ALI: Cause my thing here is that like, she doesn't have a lot of the ability to move, but in terms of like-
AUSTIN: Yeah but she can get that ability, right? She's a trained fighter...all you need to do as the player to secure that, is to roll defy danger. Do you know what I mean?
ALI: Okay.
AUSTIN: That's the thing she does, before she does whatever the second thing is she does.
ALI: Right. Well, what I'm quietly considering is like, if she's saying something, and if so is that like a...yeah.
AUSTIN: Like what tone is she taking?
ALI: I mean that's the question that's [TRAILS OFF]
AUSTIN: That's what I mean, that's the question that you're...yeah yeah yeah.
ALI: Yeah ‘cause I still think that even with Lem's like support or whatever, it's not- this isn't something that she's capable of breaking out of? Because I don't think she knows-
AUSTIN: Yeah it is. It absolutely is. This is absolutely the sort of thing that in her life- like, fighters train for this. Like that's what makes you a fighter, and not a druid, or not a paladin, even. Y'know? Like, this isn't a thing that's out of- she should be confident in her ability here.
ALI: Okay
AUSTIN: More than- [CLUNK]
KEITH: Austin did your camera fall over?
AUSTIN: Probably.
[Ali laughs]
(overlapped)
JACK: Why are you a coffee cup, Austin?
KEITH: Because I'm seeing your ceiling.
AUSTIN: Hey. Hi. Welcome.
KEITH: It's...it's the same thing.
AUSTIN: Okay...I don’t have like a place to put this.
KEITH: But does it- but is it just a...is your camera round? Like what is happening? [Ali AND JACK laugh]
AUSTIN: No, it's - I almost just tried to show you the camera. It's like a clip on-
KEITH: Let's not...
AUSTIN: It clips on to things.
JACK: It's just mounted on a very, very polite dog that's just [TRAILS OFF]
KEITH: There's the microsoft surface, the famous-
AUSTIN: famous surface
KEITH: Austin's favrou-famous surface. You still liking it?
AUSTIN: Yeah. I haven't used it as much as I- I haven't used it as much as a tablet as I hoped I would at this point? But largely because the sort of stuff that i've been reading hasn't been on PDF for the last couple weeks. Or months I guess. I've been reading a lot of books and that's not...anyway. Hella.
ALI: Right.
AUSTIN: To be clear, it's totally within Hella's ability to do this, in fact it's just-all it is-it's just a defy danger roll. I'm not making you roll anything especially hard, I'm not making it like, this is the same sort of roll that you would make if you were trying to get close to someone with a spear, or if you were trying to dodge from arrows or something. This isn't a um...it's well within her realm, more than anybody else in the party.
ALI: Okay. I-well the reason I hesitate is because I was having this conversation with Jack where like...I don't think she was ever formally trained to fight? She's not like a soldier, and she's not like a paladin.
AUSTIN: Right, yeah but she's-
ALI: She's basically like-
KEITH: You're on the jo-this is on the job.
AUSTIN: Yeah, but there's- I mean there's fantasy stories filled with people who are naturals. You know what I mean, you have the instinct. You have it in you, to-to...that's why you're a fighter.
JACK: In your heart. You have it in your heart.
AUSTIN: Exactly. Exactly.
KEITH: Yeah. Nobody taught me to be a little mouse! [Ali laughs] I just did it one day. [Austin hums, unsure] One day I was a little mouse.
AUSTIN: Right, right. We learn lessons all sorts of ways. Who knows? You have a weird magic sword that sings to you, you know what I mean? [Ali laughs]
ALI: Yeah, there's like a disconnect from the like 'black widow, secret agent, breaks out of holds like this', but like, I'll just-
AUSTIN: Right, right, but maybe you could do it in a different way. She does it in like a cool acrobatic way, you could just fucking hit this dude you know? [Jack snorts]
KEITH: Yeah, knock him on his head with your head.
AUSTIN: Or not! Or if you think Hella wouldn't be violent here, and wouldn't take action, then that's the right way to go, you know? It's-it's...I wanna be clear that there's nothing mechanical that suggests that Hella isn't capable of this. And there's nothing narrative that makes me think that she wouldn't be. But if this was just some schmuck with a knife around her throat, and it wasn't Brandish, I'm curious if this would be the same response.
ALI: Right.
AUSTIN: But maybe that's interesting. Maybe it's interesting that with Brandish she's having second thoughts.
KEITH: Well Brandish is a ghost boy.
AUSTIN: He's a zombie boy right now, he's not a ghost boy. There's a distinction.
KEITH: Not for me. [Austin laughs]
AUSTIN: There is! We'll find out, about that. So what do you do, Hella?
ALI: I...I think that her endgame would be to try to break out anyway, so...what that sort of looks like, I guess I'm not sure of?
AUSTIN: A bunch of things! You could do the classic, like headbutt backwards thing, you could elbow from behind, you could you know...any
KEITH: Stomp on his foot!
AUSTIN: Yeah you could stomp on his foot!
KEITH: Stomp on his zombo foot!
AUSTIN: Ahh, that'd be bad. That wouldn't heal nice.
KEITH: Squish some gross toes [Ali and austin groan] some fuckin, like a jello stomp down on with your heavy boot on his disgusting zombo toes [more groaning]
AUSTIN: All of this is bad. All of the things Keith is saying.
KEITH: Zombo toes-os like freakin' floor jelly.
AUSTIN: Oh. Keith, you're done.
JACK: Keith? Now's probably the good time to tell you that my microphone keeps defaulting itself back up to full volume again.
KEITH: Is that what's happening?
JACK: Uh-huh.
KEITH: So what I'm gonna suggest...is...
JACK: Is that I just run away and never touch audio again.
KEITH: Run away, yeah...you're just gonna have to not be on this podcast anymore! [Ali and austin chuckle] So, we have two options. One: You can keep your eye on it and keep moving it downwards. Three options. Number two is just I can deal with it later. Like who cares. You just be conscious of your level, maybe move away from the microphone a little bit? Three, option three is that we stop the recording, we start again, we do another clap-
JACK: No. No.
KEITH: and you restart audacity.
JACK: Oh it just jumped again.
AUSTIN: Then you should- you should keep an eye on it, but it might be- it may make more sense for you to just not be near the mic, because otherwise it will be bouncing up and down and up and down.
KEITH: Right, that was what I was about to say.
JACK: What do you mean 'not be near the mic'?
AUSTIN: Back up.
KEITH: Yeah- [all giggle] (in a rough voice) HEY BUDDY!
AUSTIN: Yeah if you were back here...
KEITH: Yeah just sit back in your chair instead of up in-near it.
JACK: Oh, okay. How-hmm.
AUSTIN: Just watch the thing.
JACK: Like this?
KEITH: However you were? Up on the mic? Move like three inches farther back.
JACK: Okay how does this sound?
AUSTIN AND KEITH: Fine.
JACK: Okay, you can fight the audio recording later. Let's play Dungeon World.
KEITH: This will be fine, There's no way- Jack there's no way your audio will ever be worse than the garbage I was getting from Austin and Art. [Everyone laughs]
AUSTIN: There's no way. There's NO way. The other thing is- as long as it's the same all the way through, Keith can-
JACK: Ohh, that's not the case.
AUSTIN: -mess with it?
JACK: Noo
KEITH: Well, as long as from this point forward it's the same all the way through. Consistency is more important for me, than uh...quality. 'Cos I can fudge quality.
AUSTIN: So don't-don't lower it, is what I'm saying.
JACK: Okay. Okay, so keep going like this. Alright.
AUSTIN: Yeah, because otherwise Keith will have to lower it in some places and not other places, and that will be bad.
KEITH: I'm actually gonna make a note right now (AUSTIN: Good call.), that this is where I can stop paying attention to your audio. Jack what's your time at right now?
JACK: My time is at...um...49:46. It still looks like shit, but y'know. Let's just go.
AUSTIN: Alright, so Hella-
ALI: So, okay. So um...I think as someone whose neck is half cut, and whose head I super want now, I want to do the headbutt thing? Cause that's like a weak point?
AUSTIN: Good call. Good call. So do a defy danger: strength is what that sounds like to me? You're just kinda like pushing him back off of you, you know what I mean? You're not trying to nimbly slip away. So gimme a defy danger: strength.
ALI: And that's a nine...
AUSTIN: That is...a success. So either Keith could help you here, either Fero could use his aid roll here to help you slip away, or he could save you for the next time he wants to aid you, that's up to Fero.
KEITH: Um...
AUSTIN: She got a partial success here.
KEITH: She got a partial success...um...you know what, I'm all for trying to get this done, no mistakes, because that would be really cool. The idea that this guy comes up on us, and
AUSTIN: And then you like-
KEITH: Just fucking take him down! Like no errors. So I'm gonna help out. I'm gonna help out on that. And uh...I do just a regular roll?
AUSTIN: It's a 1d...it's a roll plus your...plus two. It's a roll plus two.
KEITH: Okay. I think this is the right button...
AUSTIN: So 2d6+2. Great!
KEITH: Totally nailed it.
AUSTIN: Totally nailed it- how do you help in this situation, when she does this headbutt?
KEITH: So I'm thinking that she's going to do the headbutt, and he's going to be falling backwards, and I'm imagining that if I did not help, he'd be able to recover himself. I'm just going to-what's his hair situation like? [Jack chuckles]
AUSTIN: I've been picturing him with like-you know, this isn't a real thing but like blackbeard hair? Like long-ish, shoulder length, a mess.
KEITH: I'm just gonna get a fucking fistful and fucking yank him down. Is what I'm going to do.
AUSTIN: Okay go ahead and...Ali go ahead and give me an attack roll. Because this is definitely getting you free, but let's see if it also does damage to him, or if it just kind of stuns him for a second. So that’s the same thing.
ALI: That's an eight.
AUSTIN: That's also...okay, so here's what happens. Give me a damage roll, too.
[PAUSE]
ALI: Three.
AUSTIN: That's fine, that's actually probably appropriate. And then I'll do...as a response...[PAUSE, TYPING] Again, this happened last week and people didn't um...don't worry about this. Gimme a second here. Okay [laughs] so (KEITH: Hold on, wait…) no no, okay, we’re fine. So, as you slip away, you do- you ah hit him in the back- you hit him in the face with your head, and his knife does catch your neck. Take four damage. Take the less of those two. So you are bleeding a bit, but he doesn't catch anything major. Fero does manage to throw him to the ground with his hair and slip past the spear that was pushed up against his back. And you're both able to stand firm and face the people who are in front of you. So now you have Brandish on the ground, who has taken a bit of damage, you have Ginny, who is his first mate, who is in the back, and she's holding two small, curved blades. And then you have the human-the living human, the ghost human, and the undead elf. Who are in kind of the Nacre, like, guard armour. At this point I think Emmanuel is just like [sighs] I think he's flabbergasted. I don't know that he knows what to do. And I think you can probably tell that, Lem. [Jack sighs] I think he gives you a look, like and he says...he gives you a look and he says
AUSTIN (as Emmanuel): What have you gotten me into?
[Jack laughs]
ALI: That's so sad.
JACK: Haha, okay, how far is it from the balcony to the floor?
AUSTIN: Oh, it's far. You're on like the third or fourth floor. This is not a jumpable situation.
JACK: Oh, not a jumpable situation.
AUSTIN: No. This is like the penthouse suite of this very nice hotel. It's not a skyscraper or anything, but like I think the fourth floor. And that first floor is BIG. That first floor is like a doozy.
JACK, laughing: So if I want to get involved in this fight, I have to run down fourteen flights of stairs?
AUSTIN: Nonono, they're at the door! They're at the front door of the penthouse suite!
JACK: Oh! Oh they're- right, sorry. I presumed.
AUSTIN (over Jack): Everyone's here. We're all in the same- yeah yeah.
JACK: Okay, um...
AUSTIN: I thought you were trying to escape! Like 'alright everyone, bye!'
[Everyone laughs]
KEITH: Manny! Come on!
[more laughter]
JACK: Oh, my health's pretty good. [PAUSE] Alright. So I turn to Emmanuel, and I just go
JACK (as Lem): Alright Emmanuel, pick a side!
JACK: And I just go running towards the ghost-elf. Is it a ghost elf?
AUSTIN: It's an undead elf, thank you very much. (JACK: An undead elf.) And his name is Balladash
JACK: I go running towards the undead- oh, that's a great name. Can I just roll hack and slash on him?
AUSTIN: Yeah! Totally. Oh, actually you know what, he has...um...you're gonna have to roll to...actually no yeah with him you can get in close. I should actually explain what these people have. So there's the human guard, Deneer, who has a spear that was previously pointed at Fero's back. As Fero turned to help Hella, he tried to like stab forward and missed. So he's like [weird voice] aaah!
KEITH: Bleeuugh!!
AUSTIN: Yeah, exactly.
JACK: He's been stunlocked.
AUSTIN: Heh. Right. Right, exactly. Balladash has an axe that is chain...has like a long running chain to his belt. And that Balladash is the elf. The undead elf. The kinda zombie elf.
KEITH: So he's sort of like a Bob Marlow-Bob. Not Bob Marley!
AUSTIN, laughing: He's a Bob Marley?
KEITH: Jacob Marley.
[Jack and Keith laugh]
JACK: Pastry chef vs Bob Marley: Stream Friends [Keith laughs again] tonight-
AUSTIN: And then last, but certainly not least, the ghost man has a sword. Ted. His name is Ted. The ghost's name is Ted. He has a sword.
KEITH: I thought the axe man was the ghost man.
AUSTIN: No no, the axe man- the axe elf is undead. (KEITH: Okay) Is like a zombo.
KEITH: So he's not even- he's not a Bob OR Jacob Marley type. (AUSTIN: No.) Is he a Ziggy Marley type?
ALI: Oh boy.
AUSTIN: He's a Ziggy Stardust type.
JACK: Er- Austin, what happens if...just...I am aiming for this elf, but if I went and I swang [sic] my duelling machete at the ghost, what would it do?
AUSTIN: Good question. Have you ever- have you ever swung your sword at a ghost before?
JACK: Nope! [laughs] Anyway I'm gonna roll hack and slash on this guy. So essentially, I've just turned away from Emmanuel, and just gone sprinting across the hallway towards this person. And I'm rolling strength, right?
AUSTIN: Yep!
JACK, surprised: Ten!
AUSTIN: Hoo! That's a hit! That's a real-life hit!
ALI: You did it!
AUSTIN: Give me your damage!
JACK: Ahh that's 1d6, right?
JACK & AUSTIN: Yeah
AUSTIN: Is that what it is? I don't know what your...what your damage is.
JACK: Oh. Two.
AUSTIN: Okay. But you still get good a chunk in, of Balladash. You- are you like slicing, is this a slicing weapon, is this a thrusting weapon, or something?
KEITH: Jack-
JACK: Yeah I think it's a slicing weapon.
AUSTIN: Okay.
KEITH: Well Jack, here's the thing that we don't take advantage of very often, is that...you could open yourself up for... an attack and take another attack, a damage roll. Right?
JACK: Okay. Cool!
AUSTIN: Yeah. It would be- you add 1d6 to that, if you're willing to take damage.
JACK: Fine. Yeah, I'll do that.
AUSTIN: Go for it.
JACK: Ummmm...excellent!
AUSTIN: Look at that!
KEITH: Yeah! Way to go! That's a fucking roll, Jack!
JACK: I rolled a six! So I've rolled an eight. So, what's actually happened here, is before when I said that I'd sprinted across the room, I was not talking about full-on sprinting. Now this time, I am doing like, a straight, complete disregard for my own momentum, towards this person.
AUSTIN: Yes. (KEITH: Oh.) You do- so you-ah, this is one of those situations where, I think as you're running at him, he throws his axe at you, that's on this chain [Jack exhales] and it catches you in the shoulder [Jack gasps] for five damage.
JACK: Oh no! Okay.
AUSTIN: But then you lop his head from his shoulders.
JACK: Oh! [laughs] Okay.
ALI, sadly: Ohh.
KEITH: Oh shit, you killed this guy!
ALI: Whoa!
AUSTIN: Yeah. No more Balladash.
KEITH: Man, you're like-you're what happens when Art meets a skeleton. [Austin and Ali chuckle]
ALI: Would...would Lem do that?
(overlapped)
AUSTIN: Well he did now!
JACK: He did!
AUSTIN: He did it.
ALI: Accidentally, I guess.
AUSTIN: I don't...[Jack laughs] he did eight damage, you know, and even with armour-
KEITH: Wait wait hold on, cause in my head, this is we're in a fight, and taking off someone's head...like, I'm sure that Lem or-or I was sure that Lem had taken off someone's head before
AUSTIN: Right. The-
KEITH: But NOW I'm thinking is maybe a Mace Windu?
AUSTIN: This might be a Mace Windu.
JACK: I don't get that reference.
AUSTIN: But here's the other thing. (KEITH: Okay) When Balladash hits the ground, his body shimmers for a second. And...where his head is missing is suddenly whole again. Not with flesh, but with a ghostly visage. It isn't moving, but...you know. It's there.
ALI: Just his head?
AUSTIN: I mean his whole body is kinda shimmering in this way, but there's a ghostly head where there wasn't a moment ago. Where there's just a neck.
KEITH: Is-now, you saying ghostly, considering this town, is it just literally a ghost head?
AUSTIN: It's a ghost. It's a ghost head. I'm not saying he's pale, I'm saying yeah, it's a ghost head. [Keith giggles] It's like a shimmering, see-through, jedi ghost head.
KEITH: Right.
AUSTIN: It's a whole ghost. He's a ghost now. He's a ghost, but he's unconscious.
KEITH (over Austin): Right, so like if I saw a mouse, I wouldn't call that mouse 'mousely', I'd call it just a mouse.
JACK: Also, once- er, once Lem's done this, he just sort of turns around and like looks at Emmanuel? You know like sometimes you do when you um...when you're like walking up some stairs and you trip up the stairs, and you look around you like 'did anybody see me fall up those stairs?' [Austin and Jack laugh]
KEITH: Is that what you guys do? I just fall all the way down the stairs and hope someone saw. And laughed. And recorded it. [Ali laughs] Like [yells like he's falling down the stairs, hitting each step]
AUSTIN: We live different lives. No.
KEITH: Yeah, I guess.
AUSTIN: Hella what are you doing?
ALI: Well now that I've broken free...I draw my sword, and turn towards Ginny and Brandish?
AUSTIN: Yep. Brandish is still on the ground at this point. But Ginny is stepping- Ginny steps towards you, as if to issue a challenge. And she spits on the ground, and says uh-
AUSTIN (as Ginny): That was an easy one! You'll find me much harder.
[PAUSE]
ALI: I definitely attack Ginny.
AUSTIN: Okay.
[All giggle]
JACK: Guys. I think we're probably going to lose Emmanuel.
[they giggle again]
KEITH: You're saying you think that Emmanuel does not want to hang out with us anymore, or that Emmanuel is gonna die?
JACK: I think the former, if not the latter. Maybe the latter and then the former.
AUSTIN: Hella go ahead and roll your damage, as a successful attack.
ALI: That's a four damage.
AUSTIN: Okay....
KEITH (quietly): What...what move did I choose last time I levelled up? Oh no, I know what it was. It was a d10 [TRAILS OFF]
AUSTIN: Alright. The two of you engage in like a...quick exchange of swords. She has these two short swords that she like, is blocking some of your attacks with, and getting a few good hits in, and you both kind of hit each other a couple times here. Take five.
ALI: And when you say that, do you mean minus my armour each time?
AUSTIN: Subtract your- yeah subtract your armour from whatever I tell you.
ALI: Okay. So…
[PAUSE]
AUSTIN: The...two remaining guards move in on Fero, and kind of pressure him back into the space of the room at this point. I could probably just...quickly...one second. Let me just- I wanna just get a real basic version of this room out so you can see what I'm talking about.
JACK: Good plan.
AUSTIN: I should also be over on this page, and then...ah...this, and then- oh, nope nope nope nope. I hope people listening don't hate it when I do this, because it sometimes takes a little bit of time, and I hope it doesn't take too much time. [PAUSE] Balcony...hallway. Okay. So. You can see, this is the top bit here, that is the balcony, then there's a big sitting room-this big one in the middle, and then there's the hallway. At this point, Emmanuel is up on the balcony, Fero and two of the guards are in the big sitting room, Brandish, Hella, and Ginny are in the hallway.
JACK: Where am I?
AUSTIN: You're also I guess, in the doorway to the hallway? Or I guess you...maybe you're just in the sitting room. Maybe that's where you're at at this point.
JACK: It's where I love to be!
KEITH: So there's- so...in...I'm in a room with two guards.
AUSTIN: You're in a room with two guards. Yes.
KEITH: Okay, um. Here's what I'm gonna do. I'm going to...that won't make sense, I take it back.
AUSTIN: Yeah?
KEITH: Yep. Well, because I can turn into a pack animal, and one of the things I can do is call a pack, but -
AUSTIN: Yeah, this is not that space.
KEITH: That does make sense!
JACK: Wildebeest busting in through the doors!
KEITH (laughing): A team of wolves, falling from the skylight!
ALI: Ohmygod that would be the best, what if they were ghost wolves!
AUSTIN: That would be pretty cool
KEITH: Okay, (laugh) so I'm going to be...I'm going to be a cougar…
[Jack laughs]
JACK: Keith...
AUSTIN: Yeah?
KEITH: Yeah. I'm gonna turn into one of those.
ALI: Old favourite.
KEITH: Yeah. Yeah, I'm gonna turn into a cougar,
ALI: The usual.
KEITH: Yeah.
JACK: This game for Keith, is just...choosing what animals to be, right?
AUSTIN (over Keith): Yes.
KEITH: I rolled a 15...no I rolled a 13.
AUSTIN: That's really...
KEITH: I forgot that I already added my plus two.
AUSTIN: ...good, yeah.
KEITH: Listen, I'm a fuckin' high roller.
AUSTIN: So that gives you three moves that you can do. No, put those dollar bills away, Keith. [Ali and Jack laugh] They're singles, you know?
KEITH: This one's a five!
AUSTIN: Hmmm.
KEITH: Here's what is happening. I'm a cougar now. (AUSTIN, incredulous: Yeah?) And...what I'm going to do is I'm going to just...the one who's farther from me, (AUSTIN: Yes.) would that...would I be defying danger, passing the second one? The first one, I mean?
AUSTIN: I'm trying to decide who would be near you.
[Austin and Keith talk over each other]
AUSTIN: Ah...no. Because he has-the one who's nearest to you is the one with the spear. So the one that's nearest to you is...Deneer, the human, who has a spear. And you're already in on him? Do you know what I mean? You already have the advantage on him in terms of space. So getting out of you-
KEITH: Okay, I was thinking that if I ran past the first one-
AUSTIN: Right right right, so what I'm saying is because you're already in on him, you have the kind of combat advantage at this point, so you can totally just disengage without taking any - without him being...like, you're in on his spear. So if his spear is out, you're already up on it, and so if you quickly jump past him-
KEITH (over Austin): You know what? Because I already got- first of all Austin, you're a robot right now, and none of us can understand you.
AUSTIN: Okay. That's good. I think I'm better? I think I'm better.
ALI: You're getting better.
KEITH: You're kind of better. You're kind of better. Okay, so. What I think you said (AUSTIN, laughing: Yeah?) is that, I already- because I've already like, got him in a...in a bad way, moving past him would not be difficult because he's like 'whoa, hold on!'
AUSTIN: Right
KEITH: Right?
AUSTIN: Correct.
KEITH: So, and now- and so I think- because I now know that, I'm gonna take advantage of that, use the momentum of having transformed into a large scary animal, (AUSTIN: Right,) ro just...to f- to just lunge at his dumb face. Face slash neck area.
AUSTIN: Sounds good.
KEITH: Alright. [singsong voice] I'm gonna roll plus strength!
JACK: Is this the ghost?
AUSTIN: Is what the ghost?
JACK: Who...who Keith's-
KEITH: That's an eleven.
AUSTIN: That is a...hit!
KEITH: All right. Um-
AUSTIN: Go ahead and roll damage. Or are you gonna do the thing where you get to use a...where you get to do extra damage, or are you gonna...not do that.
KEITH: So here's the thing: if I do that, and I killed him...no nevermind, I take that back. No, I'm just gonna do my damage.
AUSTIN: Nevermind.
KEITH: I take it back,
AUSTIN: You're just gonna do your damage
KEITH: I'm gonna do plus six.
AUSTIN: You ARE gonna do the plus six?
KEITH: I'm gonna do the plus six
AUSTIN: Well that's a two,
KEITH: Because I got a two.
AUSTIN: That's terrible.
KEITH: Yeah. So...[PAUSE] so six.
AUSTIN: So six. You do six...and in response you take two. You're a cougar, right? I think-
KEITH: I'm a cougar.
AUSTIN: And you're jumping on the human. You're jumping on Deneer, the human. I think you- in fact, you kind of crunch down on him, and- what are you- how are you attacking? Like, what are you doing, other than pouncing?
KEITH: Okay, so I'm going...I'm going lunging, paws on shoulders, face on...mouth on neck.
AUSTIN: So you're biting his neck.
KEITH: Right.
AUSTIN: Okay. You bite down on his neck, and you kill him. He's like punching at you and hitting you, so you do take a couple, you take two damage, but he's...he is expired.
KEITH: Okay. [PAUSE] Man, these humans ain't nothing!
[Ali giggles]
JACK: Uh, my one was an elf.
AUSTIN: Yeah, (pointedly) thank you.
KEITH: Oh. These living things ain't nothing! [Jack laughs]
AUSTIN: Great. [PAUSE] Sorry. I'm getting...I'm getting this set up so that in the future that we have to do this, we'll just have...we'll just have tokens so that we can imagine this space. Better. I am also, as always, recording...my (JACK: OBS) my Roll20 stuff with OBS, which means that at some point we really could just release the video on YouTube.
KEITH: It's- listen, as soon as you send me the video.
AUSTIN (over Keith): One of those files. They're big, is the thing.
KEITH: Yeah. They're big.
JACK: We're just saving it for our BluRay release.
[Ali laughs]
AUSTIN: That's...also true.
ALI: Oh my god let's do that.
AUSTIN: I'm gonna...I'm gonna...this is... Hella, I'm not happy with your token right now...
ALI: Yeah, what are these tokens anyway?
KEITH (over Austin): I like my token!
AUSTIN: So...
ALI: They're just...
AUSTIN: Uh, so...if you look at the situation as it stands, Hella you're the warrior with the sword. Jack-
KEITH: You could have just said 'Hella, you're the worst'. Is what I thought was gonna happen.
AUSTIN (over Keith): Oh. I did not know. So. At this point, one of these humans is dead, there's another dead guy who I haven't put on the board yet, who's in front of Jack- who's in front of Lem King the orc, and there's this ghost remaining in the sitting room. But at this point let's talk about Hella. I think...Brandish is back on his feet, and has moved over to flank you on the other side of where Ginny is, who you've kind of pushed back. What do you do?
ALI: Um...I mean- I turn towards him? And sort of lunge towards him and attack him?
AUSTIN: Okay. Give me a hack and slash.
[PAUSE]
ALI: Oh. That's not good.
AUSTIN: Oh that's bad. That's a bad.
ALI (over Austin): Can I roll damage on that?
AUSTIN: No that's a miss. That's a complete miss.
JACK: Mark XP!
AUSTIN: Yeah, mark XP. I think you lunge at Brandish, and uh...one second, what are you at? Uh...HP, oh you have plenty of HP. You'll be fine! [PAUSE] Take...eight. (ALI: Eight?) Eight, then subtract your armour.
ALI: So six.
JACK (over Ali): Oh! I'm sorry- when I took five damage earlier I forgot to take account of my armour
KEITH (over Jack): Oh me too! Same things! So I no longer took any damage from that other thing.
AUSTIN: Good job! You lunge at him with your blade, and he-he...he kind of grabs it? On the blade, and pulls you towards him. But it's a dead hand. That hand means nothing to him anymore, and he feels no pain from it. And then puts his sword, I guess it's a slashing weapon, so slashes you across the chest.
ALI: That's fair. That's a good kill.
JACK (over Austin): Good on you Brandish.
AUSTIN: Yeah. When you're dealing with this- as you stand over the corpse of the elf-ghost, or the elf...undead who is a ghost, the ghostman, Ted the ghostman, is coming at you from behind, Lem. What do you do?
KEITH: Oh the ghost's headman got up?
AUSTIN: No this is just Ted. This is just ghost. This is the Ted-ghost, who has a sword. He's the third of the three-
JACK: He's coming at me, or coming at Fero?
AUSTIN: He's coming at you, Lem
JACK: Hmm. Can I take a defy danger?
AUSTIN: Yeah, sure.
JACK: I want to try and get out of his way and pull back towards the window, and Emmanuel. So that's dex defy danger, I suppose? (AUSTIN: Yeah.) Seven! Is that a- that's a moderate success.
AUSTIN (over Jack): Alright, so...it's a moderate success, and that means that again as it's written, it says that on a 7-9 you stumble, hesitate, or flinch; the GM will offer you a worse outcome, a hard bargain, or an ugly choice. I think you can take damage- or you can get away without taking damage, but it will mean...[sucks on teeth] I wanna make it something tempting to actually take here. Ah- it will mean losing your sword. It will mean having your sword disarmed. Or- you can get away, you can get towards the window, and also take damage.
JACK: I would like to take the former option, please.
AUSTIN: Alright, so you're disarmed. Your blade goes flying through the sitting room, and I think it crashes into some plates that were set up on the-on like a counter, like on a bureau on the desk or something, like kind of decorative plates, and they smash into little pieces. But you manage to get up towards the window, where Emmanuel is drawing a dagger.
KEITH: It took you long enough, Manny! Come on!
JACK (over Austin): Um, in what sort of direction is he drawing it?
AUSTIN (as Emmanuel): Lem, don't make me do this.
[Jack sighs. A pause]
KEITH: We already killed three of them.
AUSTIN: Two of them.
KEITH: Two- okay, so we killed two of them. At what point are we- at what point do we start making Emmanuel do it?
[Jack laughs]
AUSTIN: I mean this has all happened in moments, remember. Like, it took us 20 minutes to get here, but all of this is fifteen seconds of action, twenty seconds.
KEITH: Yeah, we're real good.
JACK: Uh- can...can I make another defy danger roll back towards the ghost again?
[Ali laughs]
AUSTIN: You can go back towards-you can just go back towards the ghostman at this point.
JACK: Uh, no- um. [PAUSE] Ah, man. I really don't want to kill Emmanuel. I don't want to be forced into a compromising position because of this.
AUSTIN: There are other things you can do. You can do lots of different things.
JACK: You can do lots of different things in Dungeon World! [laughs] Hmm, let me just check this [PAUSE] Oh! Oh!
AUSTIN: Yeah?
JACK: I wanna be charming and open. Um, I'm gonna speak frankly with him. I think I have a very plausible opportunity to speak frankly with him here? I have no weapons in my hand, he's drawn a dagger.
AUSTIN (over Jack) Yeah, absolutely. You absolutely do.
JACK: So I'm gonna say to him ‘Look, we have found ourselves in a situation that neither of us quite intended or planned for. Um, and...I don't want to have to hurt you, and you clearly don't want to have to hurt me. This doesn't seem like a very good situation.’
KEITH: You guys have the weirdest relationship ever. [Austin and Ali laugh] It's so weird. It's like fucking, like he had no clue who you are really (JACK: Nope) and you have this entire… headworld of Emmanuel. And then you met and it was like this 'oh man, it's this guy" and he was just like 'oh my god, it's this fucking dude!' [Everyone laughs] And then you were like 'I'm gonna be one of you!' and then he was like 'what? Ah, what? Okay...just follow me.' and then all of a sudden (JACK: I beheaded one of his crewmates.) his boss finds you, with him, and your first reaction is to kill TWO of his buddies. [everyone laughing] And then it's like 'hold on, wait, we can still make this work.'
[Keith's goofy laugh]
AUSTIN: So what do you- what are you asking, Lem?
KEITH: This all means so much more to you than it does to him, probably
JACK: Keith- Keith, Lem is a combat librarian. [Ali laughs] What else do you think a combat librarian would be doing? [Keith laughs then starts coughing really hard] So the question that I'm gonna ask him is...how can I get you to leave?
AUSTIN: Hmm...it's a good question.
JACK: And I want to make it clear in the intonation in my voice that I don't mean 'how can I get you to leave-' I want Lem to be expressing, dropping your weapons and going with the guards is not an acceptable answer in that instance. Which is- he can give that answer, but Lem's not quite-
AUSTIN (over Jack): Right right right, but it'd be a disappointment. He- yeah.
KEITH: Wait, so wait- what are you asking- what are you trying to get out of Emmanuel?
JACK: I want him to leave.
AUSTIN: He's asking 'how can I get you to leave?'
JACK: And we all know that Emmanuel cares Very Much about Lem.
KEITH: Here's- wait, listen. Maybe Emmanuel wants to come with us as a hireling.
AUSTIN: That's possible.
JACK: Oh shit! I forgotten there were hirelings! (AUSTIN: There are hirelings. There are definitely hirelings.) Okay, let's just get him out of the fight, we can pick him up later, [Ali laughs, Austin sighs] it'll be great...
[PAUSE]
KEITH: Hold up, but also...we should...we need...we also...it wouldn't be a bad idea to have [laughs] Calhoun with us like, all the time with us (ALI: I know...) because that dude is the best.
ALI: Calhoun is in my boat for sure.
AUSTIN: Alright. Emmanuel...Emmanuel says
[PAUSE]
AUSTIN (as Emmanuel): Give up this dream of saving your old captain. And...I'll drop my blade. And you can go.
[PAUSE]
AUSTIN: In fact- he adds:
AUSTIN (as Emmanuel): And I'll go with you.
KEITH: Wait- but we need...we need Calhoun.
ALI: No. Yeah.
KEITH: Ali and I don't give two shits about Emmanuel!
ALI: Yeah! Who even cares?
AUSTIN (smugly): Lem does.
ALI: Lem also cares about Calhoun! [laughs]
KEITH: Yeah. [laughs] Don't- (over Jack) This is such a hard decision for Jack.
JACK: Calhoun is the abdicated prince king of a ghost city that he had read about, but only just discovered! [Ali laughs] This is the really...this is the ultimate conflict of Lem's love for...stupid shit going on [Ali laughs], like massive grand scale histories.
KEITH: Hold on. Wait. Can we have an alternate future real quick, where you say 'Calhoun, more like Calwho?'
[Ali and Jack laugh. Austin sighs in disappointment]
JACK: And then- and then THROW Emmanuel off the balcony.
[Everyone laughs]
JACK: What do Hella...what do Hella and Fero-
AUSTIN: Oh! Wait! Sorry, I just forgot that there's another part of your move. [PAUSE, door slams in the background] Whoa. That was loud. Something in my house made a lot of noise. The second part of your move is that they may then ask you a question from the list, which you must answer truthfully. What are you really feeling right now? [a pause, Jack sighs]. I think the way that he asks that in character, is that he actually says like...he says this whole spiel about how to give this dream up of saving your old captain, we can leave. But is that what you really want? What do you really want, Lem?
JACK (as Lem): I don't want my friends to get hurt.
ALI: Awww
JACK (as Lem): Anymore than they have been. As somebody who just decapitated a man, (AUSTIN: Yeah?) I'm neutral.
[Everyone starts laughing]
AUSTIN: NO! That's not neutral!
JACK: No, I was thinking about this-
KEITH (over Jack): It was a Mace Windu, though! It wasn't a real thing! He's a violence mulligan! Austin your camera fell-
AUSTIN: I saw
JACK, laughing: I don't know what this violence mulligan is
AUSTIN: When he says-
JACK [in a deeper voice]: I'm violence mulligan!
KEITH, laughing: No! You're not violence mulligan! There was a violence mulligan!
AUSTIN: So when you say-
KEITH: Violence Mulligan though is a really good name.
AUSTIN: It is. When you say that you don't want your friends to get hurt, he says,
AUSTIN (as Emmanuel): Then go with the guards. No one will be hurt. She wouldn't hurt you.
JACK: I um...
KEITH: I think they'd hurt us though! Hold on Ali is silent.
AUSTIN: No she's whispering.
ALI: I'm whispering really excitedly about meeting the character we probably can meet if we go with the guards [laughs]
[Jack sighs]
KEITH: Who's the character? What're we talking about?
ALI, emphatically: The Queen!
KEITH: Oh! Okay.
JACK: Something that-um, something that-
KEITH, whispering REALLY quietly: I'm a great queen!
[Ali laughs]
ALI, whispering: I don’t want to.
JACK: Something that Nick does a lot, in the episodes that I've heard, where he's in, is that he seems to be really, really good at just...doing fucking crazy shit as his character?
AUSTIN: You don't even know. You don't even know the HALF of it yet.
JACK: No but like- the temptation would just be to- to go to Emmanuel like 'Okay!' but then at the same time, that feels-it's this weird tension of like 'oh, what does the rest of the party want?'
AUSTIN: Play your character.
[Jack sighs]
AUSTIN: Think about it.
(overlapped)
AUSTIN: Let's go back, while you're thinking about it as an exchange
KEITH: How concerned are you about what you want?
JACK: Thank you.
AUSTIN: Let's go back to....back to last over on this other side of the table. Uh, let's go to Fero. (KEITH: Okay, hey buddy.) So you're squared up against ghostman, who has a sword, and is moving into combat range with the cougar-you. The cougar inside of you.
KEITH: Okay. So here's what I noticed last time, is that: last time I used my d6 roll instead of my d8 roll because [muffled]
AUSTIN (over Keith): Oh cause you're a- yeah, that's true. But it didn't matter in that case. But. Make sure you do it right this time.
KEITH: Right, I killed him anyway, and didn't take any damage. So, here's what I'm gonna do. I'm going to...is he all ghost? He's hundred-this is 100 percent ghost?
AUSTIN: Yeah. He's all ghost.
JACK (over Keith): All killer, no filler.
KEITH: Okay, so here's what I'm going to do- I'm going to run at his legs, and as I'm running at his legs, try to grab onto one, and tear it- pull it out- I can just attack him like other people, right? It's not a-it's not a
JACK: We'll find out.
AUSTIN: You've never hit a ghost before.
KEITH: I've never hit a- so I'm gonna try to attack this ghost like it's a person, run at their legs, bite their leg and pull it out from underneath them.
AUSTIN: Sounds good. [PAUSE] That is a damage roll. That is not an attack roll.
KEITH: Oh. Oops! Yeah. So. Wasted that eight...that's a...nine.
AUSTIN: That is a hit, but a hit where you also take damage...go ahead and roll damage.
[PAUSE]
AUSTIN, chuckling: Right.
KEITH: That is a one! That is the opposite of an eight! [Jack laughs]
AUSTIN: Your teeth, or your claws- your whole body does-passes through this ghost as you claw at it. On the other hand, [PAUSE] his sword does not pass as easily through you. Or rather, it does, but in a much more physical way.
KEITH, laughing nervously: Okay!
AUSTIN: Take six.
KEITH: So I still do damage. (AUSTIN: No.) When I pass through. (AUSTIN: No.) No? (AUSTIN: You did no damage.) Okay, he's got armour.
AUSTIN: Well, he has- he's a ghost. And you're not exactly sure...you felt presence when you passed through him. (KEITH: Okay) It wasn't like moving just through air. So maybe you could. Do damage (KEITH: Alright.) You could certainly do more damage, you bet, if you...were…
KEITH: Tried harder?
AUSTIN: Well, one, if you tried harder. Two, if you weren't...just a...like a cat. Like if you were a magic missile, or something. (Laughs) I know you can't do magic missile, but-
KEITH (over Austin): Okay, I kind of can't be a magic missile?
AUSTIN: I don't think you can. I don't think that's an animal.
KEITH: Is...is Brandish still here? Where's Brandish?
AUSTIN: Good question! He is uh...he is currently engaged in melee with Hella. (Ali hums). Ginny is also moving up on her. (ALI: Oh boy.) She says...she looks at the collection of people that are left at this point, and she looks over to Brandish and says:
AUSTIN (as Ginny): Let me just end this.
AUSTIN: And he goes [growls] and nods, and then jumps back a couple of feet. She takes something out of her inside coat pocket, and in a flash, there is a bit of- there are some sparks. It's a small, round object. And she rolls it right into the middle of the room.
[PAUSE]
JACK: Do I have enough time to do spout lore on this object?
AUSTIN: Every- enough to do what?
JACK [laughing]: Spout lore on this object?
AUSTIN: Yeah, go ahead.
JACK: I'm thinking about it like the owl-bear situation from the first episode where he got smashed into a tree. (AUSTIN: Mmhmm.) How do I roll spout lore?
AUSTIN: It's plus intelligence, right?
JACK: Okay. [PAUSE] Okay. That's like a partial success.
AUSTIN: Yeah it's a partial success. It says uh...can you guys hear me? Do I sound like a robot right now?
(overlapping)
ALI: No you're fine
KEITH: No you're good.
JACK: Nope.
JACK: Also I just noticed your *amazing* t shirt.
KEITH: Jack kind of does.
AUSTIN: Thank you. It's a good t-shirt. On a 7-9, the GM will something interesting, it's up to you to make it useful. Here's the interesting thing I'll tell you. [PAUSE] It's a bomb.
[They laugh]
KEITH: Hold on! I would argue...that that is useful!
[Ali laughs]
AUSTIN: That's true.
JACK: Okay, so…
AUSTIN: You hear it clank along the floor. It's small, it's not a cannonball, it's, y'know, it's about the size of a fist, maybe two-
KEITH (over Austin): Is it a cannon bomb?
AUSTIN: It's not a cannon bomb either. It rolls across (JACK: Is it a cannibal?) the floor here. And you all have...a brief moment to decide what you're doing. Lemme give you a bit more. Of this map. Just to let you know. There is...there's the balcony, there's the marketplace further to the north, on the ground, four flights down. There are doors on the left and right sides of this room. And then there's the hallway, which eventually leads down to stairs. Which Brandish is now heading back towards, along with Ginny.
KEITH: So they tossed the bomb, and scrammed?
AUSTIN: They backed up. They're not leaving. Like, they're still facing the room.
KEITH: Oh, okay. I thought that maybe they were scramming.
AUSTIN: Not scramming.
KEITH: Okay. Oh! You know what I never did? (Austin hums in question?) I never rolled hold! For coug!
AUSTIN: What?
JACK: For the coug!
KEITH: I never rolled hold for coug.
AUSTIN: Yeah you did.
KEITH: Oh no, I did. I had a full success. I have three moves.
AUSTIN (over Keith): You had a full success. Yep. You have one more.
KEITH: Yeah. I forgot that that was tied to the initial roll.
[PAUSE]
AUSTIN: It's been- [They giggle.] Alright. (As if singing the start of 'One Week') It's been…
[PAUSE]
JACK: Okay, um...what-what are we doing?
AUSTIN: I- that's my question! I'm the one asking that!
KEITH: Here's what I'm gonna do. Here's what I'm gonna do. Because I have- I move my…
AUSTIN (over Keith): Wait wait wait, actually, Lem is the one who knows what this thing is. (KEITH: Okay.) Are you communicating something about it, Lem?
[They snort]
ALI: I think all of us can figure it out?
AUSTIN: Well he rolled that spout lore. I have to give him that. You know? He knows what this is, because he read about it once. [Ali laughs] You know?
JACK: Yeah. Thanks Ali. I've read about bombs! I've never seen one,
AUSTIN: No, that's important. You have never seen one.
ALI: Is Lem gonna stay behind and watch it go off, because he wants to see it go off?
[Austin laughs]
KEITH: I wonder what bombs doooo? I mean I know what they do, but I wanna see how they do it!
AUSTIN: But- are you explaining what this is, really quickly? What are you saying?
JACK: Umm...I'm gonna- I'm saying:
JACK (as Lem): It's a bomb! Get down!
[Ali laughs]
JACK: And I am running towards a large therapist’s couch one one side of the room? (AUSTIN: Mhm. Yep!) And just flipping it over and hiding under it. [Laughs]
KEITH: Here's...here's what I wanna see if I can do. So, I ran through this guy. So I'm like here. (AUSTIN: Yeah. Yeah that's fair.) Can I just go through that door? (AUSTIN: Totally.) Alright, so I'm gonna go through that door over there.
AUSTIN: Okay, are you... (KEITH: As a coug.) As a coug.
JACK: Wait, where am I? Oh, I'm there, I'm there.
KEITH (over Jack): Unless this is a defy danger, so after I do that, then I am a man again. But…
AUSTIN: I think this will be a defy danger, for you. Because you're the one who's like...oh, also yeah, what are you doing Ali, at this point? [Jack yelps]
ALI: I'm going towards where Brandish and Ginny are?
AUSTIN: Okay, good call.
JACK: Austin just....Austin just...slid the sofa.
KEITH (over Jack): Oh that is also where I am going. I just did not describe it that way.
AUSTIN: Yeah. Okay. Give me a defy danger...Jack and Fero. Lem and Fero.
JACK: What sort of defy danger? Strength?
AUSTIN: Er, I think this is dex, I think for both of you. This is about getting to a safe place.
JACK (over Austin): Uh oh! Okay.
[PAUSE]
AUSTIN: Like you're not...being strong...
JACK (over Austin): Eleven!
AUSTIN: That's a...that's a success!
KEITH: Miiine is a....partial success!
AUSTIN (over Keith): Partial success...okay. So Fero...as you, as you get out of range for this thing, you, you slide to a stop. The explosion doesn't catch you in the aftermath of the...you don't get caught up in the blast range? But you do- it does force you to fall. And you fall right at the feet of...Brandish.
KEITH: Hm. That's a weird place to fall. And by weird, I mean dangerous.
AUSTIN: That's a dangerous place to fall.
KEITH: And by dangerous, I mean fuck Brandish!
AUSTIN: Yeah.
ALI: We can take him!
AUSTIN: Emmanuel is hanging on with dear life. To the railing.
[PAUSE]
JACK: Oh no, he fell over?
AUSTIN: He- yeah! He didn't see this thing.
[Ali gasps]
KEITH: God, poor baby.
AUSTIN: And Lem, you can see that from behind your therapist couch.
ALI: How could he not see it?
AUSTIN: 'cause Lem was in his way with a fuckin- like his big orc body.
ALI: Oh...he is
KEITH: And, you know, we're a lot better and cooler than Emmanuel.
ALI: I know, but Lem screamed it's a bomb!
JACK: I did shout that it's a bomb.
AUSTIN (over Jack): Emmanuel- right, but he was still...separating him from the big room, you know?
JACK, indignant: Austin, if you were in a room and someone told you there was a bomb-
AUSTIN (over Jack): You're not in the room! YOU were in the room, he was outside. He was on the balcony, near the banner. (JACK: Oh.)
KEITH: Yeah. You know, again, we're super quick. He's a...you know, he's a dumb pirate.
AUSTIN (over Keith): And like- so here's the thing. You had...you were here when he said it, you were inside this room and able to get behind a thing. In the time that it would have- it took you to move that six spaces or whatever, and get behind there? He could have moved...closer to the bomb? [laughs] You know what I mean?
JACK: Heh, yeah. True.
AUSTIN: There wasn't...there wasn't a place for him to get to as quickly as it was for you guys. He was in the worst possible situation. I guess he could have been in this corner, you know, but that's just as bad. That's not...much better. Right, he probably did run to that corner. So yeah, that is where he is dangling. [Jack laughs desperately] Hella, what are you doing, now? With Fero at the feet of Brandish, and I think Ginny is giving you a look like she's real upset that her...her plan B didn't work. The B stands for 'bomb'. Plan Bomb.
ALI: Right [laughs] I mean...I guess that's Fero's call to see if he attacks Brandish? So I can go towards Ginny?
KEITH: Well I'm on the floor...like, I fell? (ALI: Right.) On the ground. With my face on the ground in front of the bad guy.
ALI: I'm gonna hope that you attack him, and go towards Ginny.
(overlapping)
AUSTIN: There's also a ghost in the...still in the-
KEITH: What I'm saying is that you should help me.
[Ali laughs]
AUSTIN: There' a ghost still in the...in the room.
ALI: In the hallway that we're in?
AUSTIN: No, in the room where the bomb went off. (ALI: Oh.) He's fine. He's a ghost.
ALI: Yeah, okay.
JACK: Had no effect on the ghost whatsoever.
AUSTIN: He's a bit like, dazed. Like, it was loud! [Ali laughs] You know, and he's kind of like, 'whoa!'
KEITH: On a scale of one to ten, how confused is he, also?
AUSTIN: He's a seven? (KEITH: Seven?) Yeah.
KEITH: He's dazed AND confused?
AUSTIN: Uh...he's dazed and confused. Yeah. I'd say he's dazed and a little confused. Dazed and confused too.
JACK: It's very noisy. Must be just very noisy really, for him.
(overlapped)
AUSTIN: Alright, so go ahead and-
KEITH: Aah, I'm a ghost, I need silence!
JACK: What did Hella do?
AUSTIN: She's swinging at Ginny.
JACK: Yeah, but what did Hella do in the bomb sitch?
AUSTIN: She ran out with Ginny and Brandish. 'Cause she was like, up in their grill anway.
ALI: Yeah. Okay.
AUSTIN: So go ahead and make your hack and slash. [PAUSE] Look at that! Look at THAT!
[ALi laughs]
KEITH: Yeah!
AUSTIN: G'dang!
KEITH: You should do a-you should do a take another damage roll.
AUSTIN: You could do that.
ALI: Can I?
AUSTIN: Yeah, or you could take a second damage - 1d - not a second damage roll, it's an additional 1d6 damage
KEITH (over Austin): Yeah! You could do another damage roll and open yourself up to damage.
AUSTIN: It's an additional 1d6 damage, but you'll-get hit. So if you roll a ten or above, on attack, you don't get hit, and you get to deal your damage. You can also sacrifice not getting hit, in order to do extra damage. So you could do that 1d6 to get in a little bit more.
ALI: I think I'm at 13HP, I'm not doing that.
AUSTIN: Uh huh? Okay.
KEITH: Are you? Where'd you get 13HP?
ALI: Because I was 25, then I got hit three, three, and an eight.
AUSTIN (over Ali): A bunch of times. She got hit a bunch of times.
KEITH: Oh, I didn't realise you get-
(overlapped)
AUSTIN: Well, did you reduce damage? Did you reduce-
ALI: My neck was cut...like [laughs]
AUSTIN: Did you reduce the eight by your armour?
ALI: Yes. So it was three and three, and then six.
AUSTIN: What I will remind you, is that the last time she attacked you, she did 2d4 damage. Which means you're not within lethal range with her right now. She can't kill you, even if she gets and eight.
KEITH: She doesn't have lethal?
AUSTIN: You're not lethal- [laughs] Yeah, she doesn't have lethal.
KEITH: But she DOES have a bunch of murlocs.
AUSTIN: Right. She does have that sick murloc deck.
ALI: What can I roll? It's 1d6?
AUSTIN: Yeah it's plus 1d6.
KEITH: Yeah it's 1d6.
ALI: Okay.
KEITH: Also, I've got two...balance still.
AUSTIN: Oh yeah, he can heal. I forgot that Fero could heal people.
KEITH: I can heal you.
ALI: Ah, right.
AUSTIN: That's useful.
ALI: Okay, so... [PAUSE, she laughs] Fuck!
KEITH: There we go.
AUSTIN: That's still a REAL good hit. Like, she is not in good spirits. Ginny, you- I think you catch her. She- you catch her, she's reaching in for another bomb, and you remove her hand from her arm. Uh, and she holds it in like
KEITH: Feels like a less extreme Jack
AUSTIN: Much less extreme, you know. Not as evil.
KEITH: Yeah, not as Windu.
AUSTIN: She kneels to the ground-
KEITH: ??? 1:18:54.6 Windu.
AUSTIN: And screams a slur at you, in-in their weird- remember, like their language is like...has some holdover words from a thousand years ago, or whatever? And you can hear- you know what she's saying. You know what she just called you. And she drops to a knee.
KEITH: Which?
AUSTIN: Her left knee.
KEITH: Okay, thank you.
AUSTIN: You're welcome.
JACK: Is she gonna get like a cool pirate hook hand?
[PAUSE]
AUSTIN: Good question.
KEITH: Or we're gonna kill her today.
AUSTIN: The best thing about these pirates is that every time that I'm like 'uhhh I don't know, they do a pirate thing.' you guys go like 'oh, what if they did this other, more cool pirate thing. [They all laugh] Every time!
KEITH: They weren't even gonna be ghosts at first!
AUSTIN: No! No, they were- that all came from Keith saying- this whole city is borne in Keith saying 'wait, are they undead?' and I said 'huh. Huh.'
[Jack laughs]
KEITH: To be fair, I did say 'oh these ARE undead pirates, for sure. Definitely.'
[Ali laughs]
AUSTIN: Yes. That is what you said.
KEITH: Definitely Austin did that already, and then you said 'sure I did!'
AUSTIN: Yeah. Uh, Brandish-
ALI (over Austin): Can I just attack her now?
AUSTIN: Yeah, but one second- (ALI: Okay.) As she grips her hand, Brandish puts his blade up against Fero's back. And he looks at you, Hella, and he says:
AUSTIN (as Brandish): Move wise- [pauses, makes his voice deeper and more pirately] Move wisely.
AUSTIN: Lemme do it- it's deeper.
AUSTIN (as Brandish): Move wisely. Think carefully.
JACK (over Austin): More British.
[Ali laughs]
AUSTIN: I can't do British! I can't do British and also like, gripping my neck.
KEITH: You don't have to do real British, you can be Paul F Tompkins British, where it's not actually a British accent, but you get it?
AUSTIN: Right.
JACK: Oh! No, Keith. Paul F Tompkins’ British accent is so good that I couldn't tell if he is?
KEITH: Really? Is that true? (JACK: Mmhm! Yep!) Wow!
JACK: Yeah. Like, his H.G. Wells is solid enough that I didn't know it was...fake. Anyway.
AUSTIN, in a sort of British accent plus Brandish' voice: More British. [Ali and Jack laugh] That's what he says. No.
[They all laugh]
KEITH: Wait, hold on, is this guy Lord British?
AUSTIN, in Brandish's voice: I am Lord British. [hysterical laughter] It's me. I made that game, ultima-(KEITH: How was space?) I went to space. It was pretty cool.
KEITH: I don't understand how you got so much money. Like, Ultima was popular, but how did you do that?
AUSTIN, in British Brandish voice: Gambling. (ALI: Oh my god) Played the slots. (ALI, laughing: Oh my god!) I'm slipping towards Australian now.
[Ali loses it]
AUSTIN, in his normal voice: What are you doing, Hella?
KEITH: I just...I had no idea that that H.G. Wells was so good! That's all I can think of, I'm freaking out over here.
JACK: No it's-it's really good.
ALI: Oh my god, I definitely came to this town just to kill Brandish though.
[They laugh]
(overlapping)
AUSTIN: You did. That might- that would surprise him!
ALI: I was like 'yeah! Let's go get Calhoun, but secretly...
AUSTIN: You could just do a hack and slash on Brandish.
JACK: Hold on. Who just wandered over to Emmanuel.
AUSTIN: It's Ted.
JACK: Oh.
ALI: Oh is he gonna...oh.
KEITH: Yeah, ghost Ted!
(overlapping)
ALI: Also...Fero could like...turn into a bird. Or something.
AUSTIN: What are you doing, Lem?
KEITH: Well I could turn into a lot of things!
AUSTIN: He can do a lot of things, but he would take damage. Like, he would have to defy danger, or risk taking full damage.
KEITH (over Austin): I could turn into a cat…
ALI: But he's not like…
KEITH: Although I haven't taken damage yet. I'm still at full health.
AUSTIN (over Keith): There's a blade to his back. (ALI: Right.) Like, there is a blade to his back. One of the things that you have to remember about Dungeon World is that fictional positioning means a lot more than what it would normally mean in any other game. Which is to say, just because a move exists, or just because someone is...if you were standing over somebody's body...right now, if you wanted to kill Ginny, she'd be dead. I wouldn't make you roll it. (ALI: Right.) She'd be dead. She's at your mercy. If you roll to hit on a dragon, and then rolled full damage, [WAVES AT START OF MUSIC PLAYS] you wouldn't do any damage to it. It's a dragon [Ali laughs] and your crossbow doesn't do any damage to dragons. [FIRST NOTES OF 'AUTUMN NOT WINTER'] Do you know what I mean? There is- so...Keith is in a Bad Spot right now. Fero is in a place where like...I'd let him roll defy danger if he had something interesting, but he's almost Definitely take damage in doing it.
KEITH: It kind of...it kind of sucks that no one would even have the opportunity to help me when I first got into this situation.
AUSTIN: Right- Hella has that opportunity right now. That's what I'm saying.
ALI: Right. (KEITH: Yeah.) This is sort of uh…
KEITH: Didn't before, definitely, when I was already on the floor, also.
AUSTIN: Hella didn't- Hella specifically went after Ginny instead of helping you.
KEITH, laughing: I know! I know! That's what I'm saying.
ALI: Oh, yeah!
AUSTIN: Oh, this is a joke! This is you pointing out-
KEITH: It's a bit.
AUSTIN: It was a bit, okay.
ALI: No- I...I think I'm still not helping you. [Laughs]
KEITH: Okay.
AUSTIN: What here is evil?
[Everyone laughs]
[MUSIC CONTINUES]