Battle for Beyond: Episode 1 | D&D Beyond

(epic music) (adventurous music) (adventurous music continues) (adventurous music continues) - Welcome to the "Battle for Beyond," the contest that resides at the end of time where whole civilizations come crumbling into the infinite sea of time and the glint of gold holds no value. Warriors, witches and wise men come here, traversing dizzying distances, and ignoring the limitations of their own planes to come here and prove their worth in the most clandestine of contests. The rules are as murky as the dark sky surrounding Polakott, the realm that hosts the contest. But the prize is worth risking everything for, the chance to change one thing from your past, to turn back one page in the book of your life, in the book of time, and to rewrite it anew. The strongest men carrying burdens so large, still balk at the thought of regret, the heaviest burden of them all. For truly, nothing can haunt a person's footsteps worse than the ghost of the past. It seduces us with what could have been, of who we could have been. And yet today I have assembled three adventurers who have not only decided that this is a challenge, this is a journey they want to embark upon, but one that they fully intend to win. I'm Jasmine ThatBronzeGirl Bhullar, and it is my divine pleasure to welcome these stellar players to my table. Let's meet them now. - Hi, I am Emma Fyffe. I am a gaming content producer at Fandom, who you might know from lots of other things on the internet, and I'm ready to roll some dice digitally. - Hi, I'm Erika Ishii. I'm an actor and you might know me from the internet or from one of many video games. - Hey, how's it going? It's Ify Nwadiwe, comedian, actor, and professional nerd, here to roll some dice. - And dice, we shall roll. - Ooh. - So, you are not new to this life. You are all adventurers, heroes in your own right. You know the business end of a sword or in your case, the business end of your focus, and you've spent your lives trying to find this strange contest that you've only heard of in hushed whispers in the back of shady taverns, from wenches that you probably don't want to be seen in public with, but here we are. For you, you found a tale of a staff, a Void Staff, something capable of capturing and channeling that which darkens our soul the most, pure evil, capable of turning a bad man good and potentially a good man evil. You set out in search of this staff. And as soon as your hand touched it, you found yourself at the contest. And here you sit now with this same staff in hand in the armory. There are warriors all around you, some of them seated on these beautifully lacquered benches preparing themselves for battle. And you reflect on the past three days, which have been a blur. You don't even remember exactly how you got here, just that at one time you were in your own plane, and then you shifted here. As soon as you arrived, you saw around you almost like the fabric of time and space ripped open, giving you glimpses into shattered realities, all floating in the cosmos and the arena centered in all of them. You were ushered to beautiful quarters, given pretty good accommodations, not as good as the upstairs, the downstairs, it's fine though, it'll do. And here you prepare yourself for your next battle. Sitting across from you is a young woman. She looks you up and down. What does she see? - Well, she sees an older gentleman. He's much older, but he was a strength around him. He is very strong, he's very muscular, yet, he's dressed like that of a wizard. He has lots of scars across his body from past battles and fights. But he holds on to his staff, his spell book, and his belongings, seems like almost as if it's a barbarian cosplaying as a wizard. - Hmm. The staff itself clings to your hand a bit uncomfortably. It feels cold to the touch. The length of the quarter staff is this dark obsidian. And as you sit here looking at it, you notice the top of it is a clouded quartz. If you stare too closely, you find yourself kind of falling away into it as the colors kind of pulse and this shadow almost seems to form a face and reach out to you and then disappear back into the recesses of the crystal. You're still not sure what the full capabilities of the staff are, although, I don't know, have you experimented with it at all yet? - I've researched. I've looked up and down and I was hoping that this would give me some kind of answers. I mean, by this point, I was sure that I'm getting up there in age and there was no way to make it to the so-called battle of the beyond, so I was going to see if I can turn back time itself, myself. - Hmm. Well, it was your ticket and now you've found yourself at the competition, seated across from- - A young woman, not so young though, and very ornately dressed, fine scale mail. She has beautifully coiffed hair and a headband and sort of a sweet, vacant look on her face, not so perhaps in tune with everything that's going on around her, as if she's just mentally, maybe somewhere else. - It is in this kind of, sort of spaced out state you're in, when the girl that was before kind of appraising Ekon now touches you on the shoulder and inquires about a gauntlet that rests in your lap, for you too went in search of a relic that you had only heard of. You haven't tried it on yet, but in your lap sits a, almost as though made of bone, shined to perfection, white scale mail glove. It's, almost looks like it's too large for your hand and each finger ends in what looks to be like a claw-esque structure. To the touch, it feels, it scintillates with energy, almost like your hands have fallen asleep or gone numb temporarily. - Oh. This glove is so pretty, but I don't have long claws, so I didn't think it would fit me properly. - Do look up at who asks you the question? - Yes. - Yeah, before you stands a tiefling. She has bright eyes and lilac skin. She wears gilded gold armor and she says- - Hi, I'm Sarenda. - Sarenda, my name is Lenore. - So nice to meet you all. - It's nice to meet you too. - It's so great to see like female representation here. - Oh, yes. - It's just great, us girls gotta stick together. I hope we're on the same team. I think like for the first group, they're sending people up together, but I'm not exactly sure yet. - Okay. - You should try it on though, because the nails on that thing are fierce. - But, I don't have long nails like that, so I don't think that I can fit into the nails on the glove. - Oh, bless your heart. - And she just like taps you on the shoulder. - But if you think that it might suit me, I suppose I could give it a try. - I mean, it matches what you're wearing. - It does look nice with my outfit. Okay. - And I'm gonna slide my hand into the gauntlet. - As you slide your hand in, you feel like a thoom of energy as this relic you're carrying attunes to you. - Hmm. - This gauntlet that was your ticket to this contest, it occurs to you that now it might be your ticket to winning it. You're still not sure of the extents of the magic of this item, but you think it could wallop someone, you think it could pack a punch. Sarenda looks over at you Ekon, and she says- - I think we should maybe form an alliance and team up. - Team up? I guess so. I mean, what do you do? What do you know? What is your specialties? - I am a master archer. - Oh, okay. - An archer? - Interesting - Yeah. Yeah. - Wow. - And I'm really excited to- - So like the first- - Is this your guys' first time here? - Yes, yes, it is. - Oh, that's precious. I love that. - Wait, you've been here before? - Well, I've tried this before. - Oh. - Yeah, yeah. I mean, I haven't- - And at this you see a woman in the corner folding towels. Leila, what do our heroes see? - In the corner, quietly folding towels and listening in to the conversation, is a radiant, glowing human, well, humanoid character, dark hair, almost seems to be blowing from an unseen fan (Emma laughs) and they finish up folding the towels and walk over. They glitter as they walk. - Hello. I'm Leila. You must be the newest contestants. - I mean, I hope so. Do you think it looks nice on me? - It looks wonderful. - Well, I think this is how I got here. - And you. - Yes, I guess this quarter staff is how I ended up here with everyone. So, yes, aha. - And you're trying again? - I'm trying again. - How wonderful. - I know. I was gonna tell them that, like you were the one that encouraged me to try this a second time. - Absolutely, you'll get them next year. - I think so. - Or even the year after that. - Or even maybe like, maybe this year? 'Cause everyone back home says I'm a big fish in a small pond, but I wanna prove to them that I'm a shark in the ocean. (Sarenda imitates roaring) - That means you gotta keep moving. - Yeah. - Always keep moving. - Yeah, 'cause sharks die if they stop. - You don't look like a fish to me. - Well, bless your heart. - And she puts her hand (laughing) on the shoulder again. - Well, I'm Leila and I'm here to serve. - To serve? - Welcome. - Oh, so you're not part of this contest. - Oh, no, I couldn't possibly. - Oh. - Wait, why would you not want to be a part of this contest? - Oh, I live here. I help out with the tournament- - Oh. - every year. It's a great fortune to get to meet so many adventurers and people from all over. - Oh. - Yeah. - So does everyone pay you? Is that why you have a great fortune? - Money doesn't mean anything here? - [Ekon and Lenore] Oh. - So you have no desire to enter the contest? - Mm-mm. - Oh. - No. - Hm. - It is a privilege just to be able to serve. - Okay, you see, you are saying things like it is a privilege and servant and it makes me think that you may be conditioned to think that you don't deserve to enter the contest. And I think you deserve, if there is something you want. - Hm. - That's so sweet of you. - Yeah. - I appreciate that. Nobody really ever inquires as to my role here. - Who's making you serve then, because if you're serving, then you must serve a master? - Yes. The one who runs this tournament. - The master of ceremonies. - The master of ceremonies? - The master of ceremonies? - Yeah, they run like the whole thing, you know? - And as she says this, the tiefling is pulled away by an individual in like a maroon cloak with peacock feathers adorning the top of it. They say, "We need you for a moment." And she says, "Oh, okay." Behind you, you hear through almost like a porthole, the sound of the audience kind of like shouting and sounds of battle happening in the battlefield behind you or in the arena behind you. You can see glimpses of it from where you are and kind of like this armory slash gym room. As the tiefling is pulled away, you see a small goblin approach you all. He's stooped-shouldered and he has mutton chops and a presence that comes off him in waves, from his bristly ponytail down to his lacquered, red hobnail boots. His widow peak points at you in an accusing fashion, as he raises one manicured brow and appraises you, Leila, You recognize him as Olin Munn, the armor and sort of the, as like the equipment inspector here. - Olin, good day to you. - Oh, what's this then? - Oh, two new contestants, Lenore, and Ekon? - Yes, Ekon. - So you're gonna try to make it past the pools then? - I plan to make it past the pools. - I think, you know what, based off your bearing, I think you might be able to do it. - He pops a monocle in his eye and like kind of looks you up and down. And he like kind of like slaps a hand on your arms. - Do you need any repairs before you go in? - No, I don't have any repairs. I'm ready to go in as soon as you're ready to have me. - Oh, all right. - I've finally made it. I have been waiting for this moment. - I can tell. It looks like you've been hitting the gym a bit. - In a past life. - You know, the competition's a bit stiff this year. I mean, you would know. We've watched some big contenders. There's a broad back there that's got... She's a elephant. - An elephant? - We have an elephant this year, yeah. I think the crowd's gonna love it. This might be one of our best competitions yet. If you don't get smashed into little giblets, great way to make a name for yourself. - Oh, stop frightening them. And it sounds like- - There's not always a chance of dying. It's perfectly safe. - I'm not frightened. Giblets are delicious. - That they are. That they are. Do we have a helmet for her? - Yes. - Let's maybe see if we can get you armored up a bit. You're looking a bit- - And he like starts to like pull small hammers and like tinkering tools from his belt and like kind of taps on your armor and like looks you up and down and does like a cursory inspection, he's like- - Yeah, you're gonna want to get that sharpened. - And points at like the mace hanging at your belt. - Okay. - Yeah, you're gonna want to get that sharp. Go ahead and hand that over to me. Yeah, let's see, do we... I don't know if we have something that'll fit you. I'm sure we do. Leila, do you think we've got something that'll fit her? - Oh, of course. You're gonna want a helmet. - I think you're just about my size. Maybe you can use some of my old things. They're in very good condition though. - That's very generous of you. I would imagine they're in very good condition if you don't get a chance to try and win a better life for yourself. - I like my life here. It's okay, I mean- - But, you're serving a master who therefore naturally believes that they are somehow superior to you. - Well, they are though. They're very powerful. I mean, it's... I'm here to serve and there is a great pleasure in that, in knowing what my role is and to be able to help others and learn a ton. - Yes, yes. I totally do not understand. I see where I come from it is all about holding power and if there is someone who tries to hold power above you, you kill him, and in that way you have the power and if you die, you serve no one because you are dead. - Yes. I feel the same way. - Ma'am, aren't you a cleric? - Yes, but I- - Isn't that basically the same thing that? - want to help everybody that is in need and no one should be denied help just because there is another that believes that they are greater than them. - That's true. That's true. - I go and I grab my arm around Lenore and I say this. - Listen, the way you're saying things, like I've met servants, who are happy to be servants. And I go, "Okay, cool, can you give me a drink?" But you, it seems like you are not quite happy here. And I understand, if this is what you want to do I don't want to hold it against you. But what I will say is you are mere inches from deciding your fate. And yes, you may not be powerful. I mean, you, all I've seen you do is fold some linens. But the chance, to take the chance is what makes us who we are. - Well, my folds are very crisp, but you're right, perhaps there is life outside of this, but to be honest, I don't really know much about life outside of here. And I don't know what I'd wish for or what I'd hope to gain by winning. - Well- - What do you two hope to gain? (intense music) - I mean, everyone's done something or experienced something in their past that they wish they could change. So that's what I hope for, is to be able to undo something that I did a long, long time ago. - What did you do? - Oh, it was really- - You don't have to- - And you notice she gets very like... - Oh, I'm so sorry. - Oh, no, no. - I'm so, so sorry. - It's okay. - I didn't mean to be- - You can't just ask people that. - Curious. - You can't just be like, "Oh, hey, what's your biggest regret in life?" - Well, if you're going into a big moment, you have to know that the stakes are worth it. - No, trust me, they are. - The stakes are always worth it. Everything in life is temporary. We're all gonna die. The only thing that'll remain is our legends. Money? What is that? Nothing. The only way to be truly immortal is to be remembered. - Yes. - At least that's what we believe here on Polakott, a very strong culture. Leila understands it, but, Leila is also just as good at folding linens as she is at folding fools, that she will not suffer. She's being very modest right now. - Stop it. - Yeah, you know. - Stop it. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're a little bit of a firecracker. - You do look very strong. - Oh, (giggling) stop it. - You know, I like you lot, so I'm going to do you a solid, 'cause I like the cut of your gym. I like your moxie. I'm gonna tell you that that man over there is who you're slotted up against. - And he points over to a dark corner of the room where you see a figure in a baby face mask. What flesh is visible, is twisted and kind of modeled. Some of it looks like it's been burned away or injured. It's like a walking scar, essentially. He wears a breastplate and he has sort of a tank resting on the ground next to him. He has big metal boots and a long tattoo, kind of going down his arm of a viper. He's polishing what looks to be a very large Bowie knife. And you see, as his head turns and like, kind of at the mention, of Olin kind of pointing him out. When you look into the holes of the mask, you see nothing. You don't see eyes or a glimpse of any light at all. As he's pointed out, he picks up his belongings, straps them to his back and walks out silently. And behind him, out walks the individual referenced earlier. You see a beautiful, war elephant painted in all types of like sort of paisley and lotus flowers. She carries a giant flail over one shoulder that is gilded, and she wears a beautiful like sari, that comes down into like beautiful curved embroidered shoes. She pushes past you roughly, kind of making space for herself. - Excuse you. - She looks you up and down and says- (dramatic music) - Excused. (dramatic music continues) - Well, that wasn't very nice. - I'm not here to be nice, I'm here to win. - Well, you could at least show a little common courtesy in the process. - Roll persuasion. (Erika laughs) - [Emma] Okay. (dice thudding) (Emma and Erika laugh) That's 24. - You see her like kind of shift awkwardly, for a moment quiet. You just hear the clinking of her flail as this happens. And she's like- - You know, I feel like I have this persona to live up to. It's... - I understand. - Yeah. - You wanna make an impression. - It's a lot of pressure. - Right, where you seem threatening. But, at the end of the day, even if we are all in mortal competition with one another, we're all people and we have hearts and feelings. So I think you better apologize. - I'm not gonna do that. But, I shouldn't have bumped into you, Leila. And see, these tusks are so huge, I can't keep them out of the way anyway. - You had a moment of self-reflection and to me, that's even better than an apology. - I'm was just trying to get in their heads and psych them out a little bit and I shouldn't have. - That's okay. Well, good luck. Good luck in the ring. - [Sarahbell] Okay. - As she stands there for a moment, you start hearing this like chanting outside and you see her kind of like stand up and redon the persona and she says- - My public is calling. - And she grabs her breastplate from Olin who's like polishing it. It's a beautiful gold breastplate that has a lotus flower emblazoned in the middle, and he helps her put it on and she leaves. - Have fun. - Oh. - Oh, that was really nice of you. Thank you, I appreciate that. - Oh, you're welcome. I mean, you were so kind to offer me to borrow one of your helmets, so I thought it was the least I could do. - Oh. - Whatever happened to the tiefling who was with us? - Oh yes, she got summoned away. - Give me a perception check. - Oh, yes, I will do just that. (dice thudding) It is a nine. (Erika laughs) - A nine? - [Ify] Yes. - Yeah, like, as you ask this question of like, "Whatever happened to the tiefling," it's hard to see because everyone in the room is like kind of swarming to one of the large oval portholes at the side of like your locker room. They're like kind of rushing around and in their bustling, it's hard for you to take stock, 'cause you're so distracted of where she is or whether she's still here, or whether she's left. - Okay. And I turn to the goblins- - Were you with the guys who have pulled away our friend. - What friend? - The tiefling who was with us? - Oh, yeah, I think she's out there. - We can see, if the portholes here look down to the arena? - They do. - Okay, I'm gonna run over to one of the portholes- - Yeah, yes. - and look, like press my face up against the glass. - Yeah, much like a dugout, this actually looks up into the arena. Before you, you see what looks to be marble that seems as old as the earth itself. It is an off-white color, maybe at one point it was white, and it is sort of interlaced with black and ivory and cream colors, kind of swirled together. And you see it, the battlefield, it lays before you, and it's a dust pit and you see graduated steps going up all the way around. And from where you're sitting, it seems like they go up to the sky because you're at a sort of a lower level. You see people cheering, kind of waving flags of every color and they're chanting. And you do see the tiefling, standing shaking in the middle of the battlefield with her arrow kind of like knocked in her bow. The chanting starts to reach like a fever pitch and out comes the elephant that you saw earlier. Her body is humanoid, but she has the head of an elephant. Some might refer to her as a loxodon. And as she comes out with her giant Hanuman inspired mace, and it hits the ground with a sickening thud, you see that the order of magnitude between these two warriors is more than what you could have expected. Sarenda draws her bow and let's lose one arrow. (dice clacking) - You got this Saree! (dice thudding) I don't know if she's got this. - I don't know. - This is a classical, what do you say, a mismatch? - When I'd say I roll on that one. - Oh, no. - (sighs) Yeah. So you hear like a thunderous voice kind of call out, and it says- - The crusher of cravings, Sarahbell. - And Sarahbell charges. She catches the arrow and like throws it aside very easily with her shield and comes charging at the small cowering tiefling. She sends the tiefling flying back several feet with just a headbutt. The crowd cheers. Sarahbell then takes the bow from Sarenda's hands, snaps it in half- - Ooh! - and starts beating her over the head with it while the crowd just cheers and chants. - Oh, no. - Oh. - You know, I think you might be right about her not gotting this. - You'll get him next year. - You know, it may seem mean, but I must say it. I am glad she wasn't on our team. You know, I was like- - Actually, that wait right there. - Yeah. - While Olin is saying this, he's also like strapping the helmet you've gifted to Lenore, like shoving it. - Yeah, yeah, probably was gonna keep you behind. - Well, I guess you're down a member. - Yeah, you're on deck. I just got word. - Oh. - Mm-hmm. - Oh, okay. - Yeah, you gotta get in. - Oh, okay. - This is your chance. - Well, it's for... They actually need me for something else. - You gotta fill in. - Oh. - Also, you gotta commentate a bit. We need some good footage for the pre, for our sizzler to get people out there going. - And you do see like sort of like this strange kind of image start to materialize in the middle of the arena. And you see like a beautiful, bright-eyed, golden-haired dwarf appear on the screen. And you also see her kind of enter into the locker room at the same time. And as she does, she says- - This is Harpy Goldendale, and today we're going to be interviewing some of our next contestants. We just saw that pathetic tiefling get utterly pounded into the ground. Now, I'm joined with the ever popular Leila. Leila, how are you today? - Oh, how's it going, Harpy? I'm just so excited. We've got some real, real good contestants this year. - Tell me about them. What are your odds, do you think? - Well, if I were a betting aasimar, I would say that I got some money on the new kids that are coming, Ekon and Lenore. They just got this air to them. - I completely agree. - That's not using augury or anything, that's just on their bearing and just the guts, the gut feeling I've got. - I completely get it. You know, honestly, there have been rumors of this one. I mean, have you seen the merch? - Oh, yeah. - Merch? What? - Leila holds up, there's like a tunic that has your face emblazoned on it already. - Well, that is nice. And no, I did not know of this merch. Ah, yes. - You get 20%. - Oh, well, I- - It's less now. - Oh, it's less now. - Purchase. - Yes, what do you have to say to your adoring fans? - What I have to say is I've fought many battles in my life, so many battles, so much blood is on my hands- - You love it. - from battle to battle. Then I changed practices, I've switched it up. I put down the blade, I've picked up the staff. And since then, I've been ready. - Well, we are ready to see what you have to do today. We also just want to ask real quick. How do you feel about your adoring fans calling you wizard daddy, thoughts, comments? - You know, I've yet to bare a child, so it seems out of place, but if they are screaming my name, then that is enough. - And that they are. We're so excited to see how you fare in the very next challenge. We hear that you're gonna be joined by our very own Leila, and now, Leila, you are a fan favorite yourself. - Ah, I can do some magic, you know? Thank you, Harpy. That's very nice of you. I'm sorry, but I got to learn to accept the compliments. Learn to accept the compliments. - You'll get there. - Yeah, okay. - You'll definitely get there. - Yeah, I- - I mean, look at you, you're so pretty. Your skin is so soft. I just want to peel it off and put it on mine. - Wow! Creepy! Yeah. It's good, I don't honestly feel like there is much for me to work towards for this, but good, now that I have people that I wanna make sure- - I understand that completely. You have everything you could ever want. But you're still willing to help try to help these people, which I think is so commendable. - Yeah. - Speaking of help, we hear you're actually a great healer of your people. Is this true? - Oh, yes, I'm actually very well known for my healing abilities and- - Oh, let's not get away from ourselves, somewhat well known. - I would say I'm very well known- - Maybe like- - in certain areas. (dramatic music) Well, what are you known for? - Hosting this competition. - Hm. - But, your healing powers might come in handy for the battering you might receive on the battlefield. How are you feeling after watching that battle with Sarahbell? - I feel like I am very needed for my team. I won't let that happen to them. - I really hope so. Now you're going up against The Line. How do you feel about it? - The Line? - Yes, The Line. - Well, it's only a line, it's a straight shot across a thing. I mean, that's the definition of a line. - Yeah, and she's not afraid of the straight. - Yes. - Role intimidation, with advantage because you have support from your team. (dice thudding) - 17. - When you say this like, she kind of pivots, almost as though you didn't say it, but also completely changes her tune. - Hmm. - It was like- - Well, The Line is old news. We've seen him before in this competition. He's a little bit of a weirdo. I definitely would not want to meet him in a dark alley, but these people are just darling and great for the sales. So Leila, I have it... Uh-huh, uh-huh, (gasps) I have it on good authority that you've decided to help them. Do you have any special tactics that you think you're gonna bring to the field today? - Well, I'm not much of a tactician to be honest with you, but I have to say that with the support of healing and buffing and then... - Spellcasting. - Spellcasting. - Casting spells. - Casting spells, and who knows, maybe a little bit of your heretofore mentioned blade swinging? - I've left that life behind me. - [Leila] Oh. - Oh. - Well, with his brawn and her healing and my buffs, we can't go wrong. - I believe it. I mean, you've already cast a spell on me and I don't know what kind of blade swinging you're into these days, but I am excited to see it. - And you see her like kind of then turn to like a gentleman who's like holding like a levitating crystal in front of her and be like- - Cut the cameras. - And then you see her like turn back to you and say like- - What was that? You're supposed to like make it seem like they're gonna lose. - It wasn't nice. - We're not paid to be nice. We're paid to be irritating. - Well, what if I told you that we won't lose? - Oh, I don't think you will. - Oh, so it's- - But we gotta get the crowd going. - Ah, ah. - We got to make you seem like, you know... - Oh, the underdogs. - Yeah. - The dogs that are under the things. - Yeah. - Yes. - I mean, you guys are pulling so much better than The Line that I really actually need you to win. - Okay, well, I'll do every... No. I will win. - I actually didn't know that was what we were supposed to be doing. - You... Didn't you get the- - No. - Do you- - No. - Uh-oh. - Sorry, I'll... - I'll be next time. - I'm sorry. I mean, I'll talk to the master of ceremonies- - All right. - and see, make sure you're getting all the... You know what? This might be our fault. We've thrown you in a very strange position here. - Yeah, I'm sorry. - Then you see Olin kind of talk up and be like- - Well, maybe you've been sitting on the bench too long, Leila. - Yeah. - This might be a good thing. - Okay, sorry, just... - Discomfort is great. - Yeah. - From discomfort, we learn to challenge our own boundaries, to become bigger than we are and to strive for more. - I don't want anything more. Everything's fine the way it is. - Well, you do though. You wanna help your friends. Friends? Acquaintances. - Friends. - Yeah. - Friends. - That was fast. That's really heartwarming. You guys are a wholesome lot, very wholesome lot. - Well, as we talked about, you have nothing in this life if you don't have friends. I mean, having friends is part of what having a reputation is. And if you have a reputation for goodness and helping people, friendship comes with that. - Roll a persuasion check. - Okay. - [Jasmine] As we say this. (dice thudding) - That is gonna be 14. - Okay, as you say this, you see his like green eyes, almost like kind of narrow to pinpoints, he looks at you and he says- - I wonder what your friends say about you. - Well- - Well, we say that she's very thoughtful and that she speaks up for people that aren't used to speaking up for themselves, and that she seems to have her values all in order. - Yes, that she is great to be around. - Great to be around. - Yes. - That's an interesting summation. - I've known this woman for like 20 minutes and already she's like stuck up for me a lot more than you ever have, Olin. - But that's because I've got to cultivate your character to where you stand up for yourself. - Oh. - It's important. - Well, that sounds like, what did you call it? A cop out You know, we say things like this to take the weight off of us in our actions. - Speaking of actions. Oh, I do wonder what you're going to do if you win. I mean, it's too early to say. - And his eyes linger on you. - And I- - I know exactly what I'm going to do if I win. - I do too. - You do? - Maybe, I don't know. Sometimes I just like kind of amping you up before we go in. I like to be the antagonist. I used to just go around slapping people to get them in the zone, that's frowned upon nowadays. - Yes, yes, yes, yes. I can see how that can backfire. - Olin's a fan of tough love, I would say. - Honestly, just a fan. I think it's so commendable putting yourself out there, potentially being humiliated. - As he says this, you see a tiefling being carried by on a gurney. - But it's okay, because well, looking at your standings or at least where you're gonna be entering into the competition, you will have each other and you'll have Leila. - Huh. - And I guess the power of friendship. And the real competition was the friends that you got killed along the way or something like that. - I think that's about how the saying goes. - Yes, yes, yes. - Yeah. - That's how I remember it, it is, yes. - Leila, have you been in this competition before? - I don't think so. - What do you mean you don't think so? - Have I, Olin? - Oh, you did get a pretty big knock on the head from- - And you see Sarahbell come in, toweling herself off. She's taking the towel and kind of rubbing it underneath her big elephant ears and kind of like just mopping her brow. - Yay, it's Sarahbell. - You see like all of the tough demeanor has fallen off and she says- - Thank you. They love me. They really love me. When I'm out there, I know who I am. - I love your armor. - Thanks. Yeah, I melted down my plow to make it. I was tired of the farming life and decided to farm glory instead. - Oh, well, that's one way to make sure that you make a stand in this life and people remember you. - Well, that's all that matters is being remembered. - Yes. A legend. Who doesn't wanna be a legend? I want to be a legend. What are gods if not just legends enduring through time and inspiring us to do greatness. I mean, that's what I wanna do. I say if there's one person that looks at me as an example and says, "I'm gonna be like her, I'm gonna be like this giant peaceful creature that goes and crushes people's bones into dust and just stomps them into the ground," then I think I've done my job, you know? Seeing the little girls' faces light up in the stands, (sighs) it just really gets me going. - As long as the bones you're stomping and grinding into dust are bones that deserve stomping and grinding into dust. - I mean, if you go in that arena, you probably deserve it. - And you see her like take one of the half broken pieces of the bow and kind of like scratch behind her ear with it. - I guess you're right. If you're going into this arena, then there must be something that you've done that's so terrible that you would want to undo it. - I, you know, honestly, the sins of the past are not who we are and sometimes it's okay to forget and to let them go. - Really, the only thing I wanna change is like getting here sooner, because imagine how good I would be then. - How long have you been here? - I think this is my third cycle. Fourth? No, fifth. You lose count. - Yeah. - I've never made it to the final round, but, I've gotten close. This might be my year. - I thought that when it came to memory that... Never mind. - Wow, how could you just assume that about me? - I don't know what you mean. I was like, "I thought when it came to memory, things that are simmering," 'cause you know, I am a poet. So I was making a poem. - Are you a poet? - I was making a poem. - Is that what you do? - Yeah, I was making a poem up. And I was like, "When it comes to memory, something, something shimmery," and I couldn't so I gave up. - Roll deception. - Oh, no. (everybody laughs) Okay, let's see. Here we go. (dice thudding) - I love that low charisma score. - Yep, 14. - She doesn't buy it. She like looks you up and down and she's like- - You know, we always remember where our graveyards are too. Be unfortunate if you ended up in one. - Oh, you see, everything you are saying, is cute to me, see. - You see color rise in her like in her gray cheeks. - Oh, I come from a tribe that is murder and death, and murder and death, and murder and death, so I like graveyards. - I do too, I think they're actually really peaceful places. - Yes, you can go there to think and honor your ancestors, the ones who have come before you who have put their life on the line. - Yeah, yeah. - That threat didn't go the way that I thought it was gonna go. - No. - Now I know everyone calls you wizard daddy. - And she like turns around and like grabbing her mace, like kind of walks away, like kind of more stoop-shouldered. - Goodbye. - Well, I think you guys are up next. Time to face the music. Good luck kids. - And you see Olin- - Oh, they're sending- is now standing- on a bench. - me music? - And is like kind of giving you a back rub. - You guys got this, all right? Make sure that's buckled right underneath the chest there. And then Leila, make sure you've got that sharp, right? - What? - That's sharp, right? Are you gonna use that? - Yeah, yeah, of course. Of course. - And he's like pointing at, what are you holding? - Oh, I have a mason and I have my short bow. - And where's your focus? You got your focus? You've gotta have your focus. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - And I pull up an amulet. - Oh, you gotta wear it, come on. Just wear it and just make sure you don't lose it. - Okay. - Okay? And then, you gonna leave your hair like that? - What's wrong with my hair? - What if someone grabs it? - Oh, okay. - Maybe we should pull it back. - I flick it back and it sort of swoops up into a little updo and tucks itself in. - That's cute. Oh, that's adorable. Oh wait, and you're gonna trip on those. - And you see him like fussing over you the way a dad fusses over a daughter. - Oh yeah. - All right, all right, you got this, I got it. - Oh, no, no. - Okay, okay, now just make sure you play to the crowd and you've got this. - And he leads you into the Hall of Warriors. - Olin, if anything happens to me, don't forget me. - I could never forget you. - Okay. - You're like the little star that twinkles in my eye, but you better do me proud out there, all right, 'cause I make all your weapons. Okay, go. - Whew, right. - And I think that's where we'll break. - Okay. - Woo. (everybody cheering) - [Man] Every heroic journey has sacrifices. (epic music) Every person has moments in their life where they have to make tough decisions. - [Woman] It's intense. It's emotional. - [Man] Hard fights and bitter losses and stuff. (epic music continues) - [Man] Something about making the decisions, right or wrong, good or bad. - [Man] So, how do you want to do this? (water bubbling) (dramatic music) (epic music) (dice clacking) - As you walk through this long marble hall, you hear the thrumming of the crowd. It seems to be amplified in here. You feel everything inside your body, simultaneously excited, or maybe nervous, depending on who you are and how confident you are. You feel like rock stars about to go out on the biggest stage of your life. Maybe you've been waiting for this. Maybe this is it. Everything in your body is prepared and ready to go do this thing. Or maybe you're just now wondering if this was a good decision. And as you step out, you see like the light of the end of the hall in sight. That seems almost blinding because of the sort of dim light that you're in. And as you see it and approach it and you exit out into the sunlight, you notice that the arena does not look like what you originally saw from your tiny little dugout viewing seat, viewing area. When you step out, you're in a verdant and lush forest. There is a beautiful tree, a banyan tree with long roots reaching out into the ground, kind of stabilizing it. It seems like it's been grown over and over several times. There are vines hanging from trees, beautiful green, tropical flowers. Some of them are purple, some of them are red. You see insects buzzing around that you've never even seen before, striped in all manner and speckled. Some of them look very poisonous and sinister. And the air feels thick and humid. Somehow it feels like you've almost stepped into a sauna. When you look up, there is no sky. There is no audience, there is nothing. You can hear them vaguely just beyond the reach of a almost viscous green fluid that has formed a dome over you. And you hear all of a sudden, a voice, a very familiar voice of our favorite dwarf, Harpy. You see her face, very sort of like distorted from being reflected onto the dome, appear above you all. And as she does, she flicks her golden ponytail to one side and winks at you all with like one heavily eyeshadowed eye and says- - Well, let's get right into it. Today's contest is between- - And she kind of like waits for you to announce yourselves. - (clearing throat) Ekon Okobi. - Leila. - And Lenore Ysmenia Alyon. - Wow, what a name. - Well, I've got a little bit of a fancy background. - And the crowd, you can hear them applausing, or applauding. You can hear them applauding, but you can't see them. And somewhere in the thick sort of mist that has settled over this beautiful lush rainforest, you hear the second like sort of voice begin to thrum. It almost sounds like a chainsaw starting and you hear like a laugh, like a- - Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. - And as you hear this, you see Harpy say- - And give it up for fan, someone's favorite, The Line. - And he says- - You're in my house now kids. - Roll for initiative. - [Ekon and Lenore] Ooh. (dice thudding) - I got a one. - 12. - We've gotta get those ones out early. (dice thudding) - 13. - The highest of this entire group, which is hilarious when I know that your initiative is negative one. (everybody laughs) But that just makes it so much better that you're just like the fastest here. Okay, Ekon, you don't see the person, but you hear the voice. In front of you, there's a lush verdant forest and you hear some rustling amongst the trees. Give me a perception check. - All right. (dice thudding) 21. - You hear movement ahead of you. It's very faint. In fact to the uninitiated, you wouldn't hear it at all, but you hear the faintest twig snap, but there's something more with the 21 that I'm going to give you, something you smell, something chemical, maybe even flammable. And that's really what tells you that this creature is about 60 feet ahead of you. You're not exactly sure where he is, like you can't pinpoint his exact location, but that smell pervades and kind of cuts through the sort of lush, earthy smells of this rainforest around you. - Your tricks are going to have to get better if you want to run from me. - All right, what do you do? - Well, I think the first thing I will do is armor myself up with my mage armor to protect myself because I am very weak without it. (everybody laughs) - As most wizards are. - Ah, yes. So I will cast the mage armor, which what it does is I touch a wheeling creature, which is myself who isn't wearing armor and a protective magical force surrounds me until the spell ends. My target, my base AC becomes 13, plus the Dex modifier, which is negative one, so 12, which you may be like, "Whoa," but my AC before this was nine. - Gotta love that wizard life. - Oh yes. So the spell ends if I put on armor or if I dismiss the spell as an action, which I will not. - Perfect. So you armor up, what does this visually look like? - Visually, I've been robed in this cloth, that kind of seems like more of a wizard robe, but now it seems like a magical version of what the Oku Hellfighters would wear, which is like a chestplate that comes down in the flowing kind of wrist, wrist, the waist belt with a large circular kind of belt in front of it, with the kind of magical cloth going behind it, just floating over before. So now it looks like something you would imagine, someone that I looked like would wear, but it is magical and over my robes. - Perfect. - Hmm. - Magnificent. - So I believe that is your action. Would you like to do anything with your bonus action or move? - No, I will simply wait and see what this fiend's next move is. - Lenore, you see your companion armor up and kind of take a defensive stance. What do you do? - I am going to take a cue from him in terms of getting prepared for a battle. And I'm gonna burn a level one spell to cast bless. So bless allows me to bless up to three creatures of my choice within range whenever a target makes that an attacker rolls a saving throw before the spell ends the target can roll a D4 and add the number rolled to the attacker saving throw. So it is a buff. - Perfect. What does your bless look like? - Oh. - Like what do you say? - Yes, so I'm going to reach my hand out to my two companions, my hands, and I'm going to place my hands on both of them. And I say, my friends, friends of the earth and of life and of all things equal and fair, stand proud against the evils, which we now must face and be protected. - Oh. I like this. - Feel tingly. - Yes, slight tingle. - Yeah, you feel like you're almost getting like a light sunburn, but in a good way. It's like that nice warm feeling from sunshine. Leila, this blessing falls upon your shoulders. How do you gird your loins for... (laughs) Well, it was nice being your DM. Question. - Leila goes- - Ooh! - And places a hand on Lenore's and places an arm on Ekon and calls out- - To those who protect this arena and those who protect the fighters within, please guide us. - And cast aid so that everybody has plus five hit points, extra hit points on top of that. - Perfect. You see parting from the mist to your left, a figure emerge with a baby face mask. He swings from one vine and perches himself perfectly on another branch that's jutting out just above your head. You see him brandish one gauntleted arm. The smell hits you before anything else does. It's very noxious. And then suddenly you see quick, like the briefest flash of light. (Jasmine imitates whooshing) It catches fire. He casts a sort of like cone of flame, using his flame thrower over, I think it's going to hit all of you. It's a 15-foot cone. So we've got one, two, three, actually, I think it's just gonna hit Lenore and Leila. - Hm. Oh, no. Yeah, 'cause he still has some movement left here so he can move here and cast it. So go ahead and give me Dex saves. - Glad it's out of range for me. - Yeah. - Dex is not my specialty. - You are saved from the flames by Lenore's sort of slowly roasting body. - 10, but then also we can add them- - You can, yeah. - like we did before. - Yes. - Yep, mm-hmm. - Yep. All right. 17. - [Jasmine] 17, perfect. (dice thudding) - 13. - 13, okay. So both of you are able to just barely kind of get out of the way of the flames. Maybe you duck down and they just brush over your heads, but even then, you feel the scorching heat sort of claw down your back. Both of you take eight fire damage. - Oof! - You can feel the tips of your hair begin to singe and flake off. - Ah! - It is then your turn, Ekon. - Ah, so you like fire, huh? Okay, well let me show you my flames. And I will use fire bolt. (dice thudding) - Perfect. - And I rolled a 16 to hit and I'll add the D4, just to be sure. - [Jasmine] Mm-hmm. (dice thudding) It's going to matter in this case. - Okay, that's a three, so 19. - That hits. - All right. - Go ahead and roll damage. - All right. So that is going to be seven and seven, 14. - Perfect. As this fire bolt hits him, you can hear his flesh crackle and you hear him laugh, a sickening laugh. - Ooh, you enjoy. - And he then sort of levees another metal contraption from his other arm, the one that's not gauntleted, and as a reaction throws it at you. You see a strange sort of contraption come shooting out of this, like what looks to be a modified arm crossbow. It's a small canister about this big and it embeds itself into the ground, right at your feet. It starts to let off a strange hissing sound. Lenore, it is your turn. - Okay, I am going to go ahead and cast spirit guardians. So the spirit guardians basically are gonna, there's gonna be all these spirit guardians that come forth to protect me. I am going to specify with the spell because you can, that both Leila and Ekon are allowed like within the realm of the guardians. - Of the spirit guardians? Yeah, yeah. - Yes, exactly. So they don't have to stay away from me. - Thank you. Thank you. - Yes. Thank you. - And so, yeah, so basically once this spell is cast anything that tries to enter the realm of the spirit guardians, the creature takes 3D8 of radiant damage. - [Jasmine] Perfect. - So, yep, I'm gonna go ahead and cast that spell. - What form do your spirit guardians take? - My spirit guardians take the form of, they're like little foxes, but they also have wings and- - Winged foxes? - Yeah, they're little winged foxes. That's correct. And they all wear like little headbands that look like my headband. - I love it. - Ooh, that's adorable. - Adorable. I know, that's the cutest thing ever. - Hello, I'm Leila. I'm here to serve. Hello, I'm Leila. - Yes. - I'm here to serve. - They have a 15-foot radius. - Yeah, as you say, "Hello, I'm Leila, I'm here to serve," one of the foxes like looks at you and is like- - You can serve us by hitting that guy. (Emma giggles) Get your head in the game kid. - Gotcha. - I believe in you. - Oh, thank you, I believe in you too. - And it is your turn. - Okay. Leila points at the figure in the trees, mutters a word and a guiding bolt shoots down at second level. (dice thudding) - Perfect. - [Erika] That is 24 to hit. - [Jasmine] That hits. - [Erika] Okay. (dice thudding) 16 damage. - [Jasmine] Perfect. - So a shaft of pure white light streaks down, sizzles on The Line and he is suddenly covered in a halo of glittering light, giving you all advantage on the next time that you hit. - Ooh. - Perfect. As this guiding bolt makes contact with The Line, you hear him like kind of grunt, almost like belaboredly. And you hear like his breathing almost like it's coming through a gas mask. He uses his reaction to throw, like to sort of shoot forward this like strange capsule full of dust from his same launcher. As he does, give me a Dexterity saving throw with a DC of 13. (dice thudding) (intense music) So 14 exactly. Perfect. So as this capsule sort of explodes in midair, right in front of your eyes, you see like a bright flash, almost like a million like glow bugs or lightening bugs have just gone off in front of you. You take four psychic damage, but you are able to regain your eyesight. Your vision blurs for a moment and there's like flashes, but you do see like the figures of your friends around you, even though it looks like they are kind of being displaced in time, but you're able to maintain your vision. Then it is The Line's turn. He readies two knives from his sort of like, inside of his coat and he aims them at you, Lenore. - Oh no. (dice thudding) (intense music) - I got a 20 on one, and a one on the other. I'm guessing the 20 hits. - Yeah, my AC is 16 - All right, perfect. All right, so. (dice thudding) I need new dice. (everybody laughs) I should have used the digital dice from "D&D Beyond." All right, so you take nine piercing damage. (Lenore grunts) And as a knife embeds itself, one embeds itself into your shoulder, like with a sickening crunch, (Lenore groans) you start to feel like a strange sensation, almost as though you've been drugged somehow. (Lenore moans) Make a constitution save. - Okay. (dice thudding) (intense music) 14. - Your arm starts to go numb and you start to feel like part of your face and jaw feels like it's starting to go to sleep, but you manage to maintain control of your body, even though it doesn't feel good. It is then the top of the round. Ekon, just as you are about to like sort of levy another attack, the capsule that embedded itself into the floor, goes off with the sickening poof, and the strange fog starts to emerge from it. So you are now engulfed in a cloud of smoke that is rapidly spreading out from this canister, filling a 20-foot radius around you. You cannot see out of it. - Ekon, where did you go? - He seemed to have a cast a shadow on me, huh? - Hm. - If he thinks that will protect him, he is sorely mistaken. Once I get rid of this shadow. All right. So the shadow is like, can I leave the shadow? - Yeah, it's just smoke emitting from a capsule, mm-hmm. - Okay. - You think you could reasonably get out of it. You'd probably have to make a wisdom saving throw to see if you can figure out the right direction or triangulate where you were. - Okay, yes, so I'm going to try to move to the kind of like bush and I will do a wisdom and, oh, that was almost a 19, but it was a 12. - A 12? Yeah, you know that like, if you go to your right, you could reasonably exit this like sort of smoke cloud, that is emerging from this thing. You haven't traveled inside of it yet, so you have a reasonable idea of where your bearings are for now. - All right, so that's where I am. And he is now close to me. He is now face-to-face, and I get angry, looking at him and him using his tricks, when I was trying to fight him with honor, I start to get angry much like I would get angry back when I was a barbarian, but I am not one now. So instead of going into a rage, I will use a bonus action to cast a dense, furious feast, and I will cast it at the third level. All right, boop. All right, so what happens is for the duration of the spell, my fist is gleaming, and I can make an action. I'd make a melee spell attack against a creature within reach of my unarmed strike. The first such successful attack during the duration of spell deals 2D10 force damage to the target. The target must make a strength saving throw, or be knocked prone, or pushed up to five feet away. - Perfect. - But at higher levels, at the second level or higher, you increase it by 2D10 for each slot level. So that'll be 6D10, since it's at the third level. And then it will be 15 feet because it adds five per level. - So your fists begins to gleam and you ready it, you still have some movement left. Do you want to attempt to attack this turn? - Oh yeah, I'm going to. - That's 15, 20. Yeah, you're about 20 feet away. I think you have 30 feet of movement. - Okay, yes. Okay, so I'm 20 feet away. Okay, so yeah, I will try and attempt to move in closer to him. - Okay, perfect. As you cross that middle square, give me a Dexterity saving throw. - No, you know that is not the one I want to do. - Oh, no - 13. - Unfortunately, a 13 is not enough. - No. - You feel the ground give way underneath you- - No. - as with a sickening crunch you begin to, like the twigs underneath you begin to snap, the soft dirt just completely crumbles underneath your feet. And you fall, landing in a pit full of punji sticks and you take (dice thudding) eight piercing damage. (Ekon groans) as one finds its way, kind of through your calf. You now are looking sort of like up, you can see the green dome of like this like, or the greenness of this dome that's above you, but you are inside of a 20-foot hole, a pitfall trap. - Okay, okay. Well, all right. I just, (indistinct) okay. - You don't see any of this happen, Lenore. What does she hear though? - Oh, no. - Does she hear an okay. - Okay, (groans). So this is the game you want to play, huh? You all these tricky traps and you are not fighting. - This is what you hear, Lenore. You hear something about a tricky trap and a sad groan coming from- - Ekon? (Ekon groans) What tricky traps and sad games- - I'm gonna like run towards where I can hear his voice. - Yeah, give me a perception check. - Okay, great. (dice thudding) 15. - Yeah, you know how to reasonably navigate your way outside of this smoke cloud using Ekon's voice and kind of like hearing him saying, "Okay. And look at these tricky traps." So you're able to like navigate your way out and you would also see like that there's like a hole in the ground that where the sound is kind of emanating from. - Oh, dear. Well, that's inconvenient. - Can I still see our nemesis? - Yes, yeah. - Okay, great. I would like to, I'm going to cast hold person- - Okay, perfect. - on him, so that he cannot move, he will be paralyzed should he fail a wisdom saving throw. - A wisdom saving throw, all right. Let us see. (dice thudding) (intense music) A 15? - No, that just succeeds. Dammit. - Yeah, as you like reach out your consciousness and attempt to like, hold this person, you feel like it fail. You're just a little distracted right now. There's a lot of cute foxes around you and you're such a sensitive person, you can't help but worry about poor Ekon like stuck in this strange trap. And this unfortunately like distracts you. Half of your mind is like worried about how to care for your party and the other half is worried about this creature that wants to do you harm and the spell fails. - Oh, no. - Would you like to do anything else in your turn? - Yes, I would like to climb down into the pit with Ekon. - I love it, I'm not even mad. So you climb down into the pit. You have the movement to do so. What is your climbing speed? - It is 15 feet. - Yeah, you are able to climb into the hole and start moving like a good third of the way down. - Okay. - Give me a Dex save for how well, or actually, give me an acrobatics check. - Oh, goodie. (dice thudding) Two. (laughs) - Yeah, you fall. You placed one of your hands on a pungi stick, like sort of like very cruelly jutting in towards this like whole kind of like a root tooth to sort of like find a way down. It completely comes out of the soft dirt and you end up kind of scraping and sliding against all of these sticks as you land with a thud, right on top of Ekon. - I'm here to help you, Ekon. - You take eight piercing damage as you slide down like a horrific cheese grater. (Lenore moans) - It didn't go quite as planned. - Yes, I can see that. - But we're safe now. - What? - And there's still just little like fox spirit creatures flying around our heads, but it's almost like a cartoon where we've got the ducks and the birds flying around your head when you hit your head. - Yeah. Yeah. They're still very cute and supportive though. Leila, you hear all of this. You hear like probably a yelp. - Ow. - I also hear a ting, 'cause like she's got the helmet. - Oh, yeah, the helmet. - It's a very thick helmet. - Yeah, you hear a plonk and kinda go, "Ooh," as Lenore kind of like falls down the pit rather than climbing down. - I carefully move forward to where I can see. - If I may offer a suggestion, it is to not enter this pit. - Oh, I wasn't planning on it. - Okay, just in case. - Thank you for the suggestion. I appreciate your help. - Please stay out of the pit. I will be on my way out as soon as I can. - Okay. - Okay. - I'm sorry, that's (indistinct). - I move forward out of the cloud- - Perfect. - where I can see our enemy. - Mm-hmm. Yeah, with their voices, you can definitely navigate your way out of the sort of cloud bank or the smoke bank. And as you do, with your particular angle, he has partial cover. You do see that he was attempting to make himself scarce, but then Ekon caught him in the middle of it. So he has half cover from where you're at. - Okay. I move over to where he is and I call upon the creator of the game and tendrils of dark light, it's not darkness. it's like light that is dark in color. They erupt in tendrils from me and batters him. He has to do a strength saving throw and get a 16. - Okay. (dice thudding) I only got a 12. - Amazing. He only takes three damage, but he can't take reactions until his next turn. - [Jasmine] Aah. - So the dark tendrils of light start slapping at him and then wrap around him like arms. - Mm-hmm. - Yeah, yeah. These arms like wrap around him, kind of pulling him to the ground. And you so notice he becomes infuriated because he does have a lot of reactions. And as these tendrils kind of grip at him and hold him down, he levees another weapon from his belt, with his free arm, not with his flame thrower arm, and he shoots it at you. You hear a strange kind of like flipping as it flies through the air. Let's see if he hits. (dice thudding) 19. - Ooh. - Ah, just makes it, yeah. - So this bola comes through the air at like a sickening speed and then just oink, it smacks against you. As it does, make a strength saving throw. (dice thudding) (intense music) - 10. - You take 11 bludgeoning damage. And as the bola wraps itself around you, you also fall backwards prone. - Oh, no. - Oh. - Yes, you can use an action to escape, but you must succeed on a strength or a Dex save. You can also cut yourself free of the cords if you can figure out a way to deal five slashing damage to it- - Okay. - or one of your friends can cut you free. - And as it wraps around me, like a light shoots forward from me with a hellish rebuke. - Perfect. Amazing. - That's- - My Dex save is a 16. - The Dex save is a 16, so it goes to defender? - I usually say meets it, beats it. - Okay. - So, yeah. - All right. All right, all right, all right, okay. Okay. - I mean, it would have gone to the defender anyway and so it works out either way. So like you get full damage. - Oh. - 'Cause yeah, meets it, beats it. - Oh, I see. - So if you meet it, you beat it. - Ha, ha, ha, okay. Fantastic. Great. (dice thudding) That's 11. - Perfect. This searing light shoots forward from your hands right before the bola finishes wrapping around itself and much like a cartoon character, you just fall backwards, prone, entangled. Then it is Ekon's turn. The Line is going to move out of sight. - So I think my first order of business is climbing out of this pit. - Do you just attempt to do so with your hands? - Yep. - All right, give me an athletics check. - That's what I was hoping you would say. But it was still an 11. - Okay, no, with an 11, you start to like climb up and you make it about five feet, but you're just so kind of like encumbered by Lenore, who's like half on top of you 'cause this pit is not very big. So you're kind of carrying up her weight and yours. - Wait, what if I... Ekon, if you stand and I get on your shoulders, then you can boost me out of here and then I can lower my mace down to you and you can hold it and I can hoist you up. - I guess. - Do you want to try to do that? - Sure. - Okay. Perfect. So you can use your action, 'cause this was using your movement, so you can use your action to like lift Lenore onto your shoulders. And that will give her- - Yes. - the help action- - I'm gonna stand on his shoulders to climb. - for the next turn. - Okay. Perfect. Lenore, then we come to you. You now have advantage from the health action. - Great. - Between the both of your heights. How tall are you? - He's about like 6'2", 6'2". - 6'2"? And how tall are you, Lenore? - Hm, like 5'4". - Okay, so even with the both of you kind of standing on each other's shoulders, you're still about seven feet from like the lip of this hole. Go ahead and make a athletics check to climb out. - I would like to use, 'cause I've got claws on my gauntlet, to like hoist myself into the side, to pull up and then like do the same thing. - Yeah. Yeah. Perfect. - Claw over claw. - Go for it. - Okay. Athletics you said? - Yes. - [Jasmine] With advantage. (dice thudding) - Okay, so that's going to be 12. - A 12? Yeah, that's enough. - Okay. - So yeah, 'cause you're only trying to go up seven feet. - Yeah, okay. - It's hard. - Yeah, you're right. - Ekon, you don't know what she's doing up there. You feel a foot step on your head and then back down to your shoulder. You feel like a bunny hop and then she falls back down. (laughs) Meanwhile, there's these like foxes swirling around you singing happy songs, but finally you manage to help push her up. You put one hand underneath her boot, push her up and you just barely, it's not elegant, with a 12 it's not elegant, crawl out of the hole on all fours. - Okay. - Because you only rolled the 12, this will have expended about most of your movement. - Yes. Okay. - But you still have about 10 feet left. - Ekon, we did it. Now I'm gonna help you, which is exactly what I was trying to do in the first place. - And I'm gonna take my mace and lower it down to him to try like lay on the edge of the pit. And I take my mace and I lower it down to him so he has something to grab onto, to like help pull himself up. - Is your maze 12 feet long? - No. No, no. It's a normal size mace. - Ekon, you see this mace just suspended six feet above you, maybe a little bit more give or take. (intense music) - Come on, Ekon. - It's fine, go on without me. I will make it out of here somehow. Just go on without me, - I will meet you. - It has a five foot reach the mace. - It has a five foot reach, okay. - I will meet you. Thank you. - Ekon, don't give up. - I am not- - Come on, you need to get back in the fight. - I'm not giving up, I will get out. Trust me, just go ahead. You and Leila, you go ahead and you'll see me before you miss me. - Hmm. Why are you being so stubborn? - You have an action left. - Hmm, okay. Hmm. I'm- - You also do see on the floor, your friend, Leila, bound by a strange, like sort of thick black cord that looks to be dried vine that has been like kind of a waxed in some way. - Well, that means that there's only one thing to do. And I'm going to cast motivational speech. - No! - You all take psychic damage. - Perfect, what is motivational speech do? - No, motivational speech, you address allies, staff, anybody that you like, and then five creatures that can hear you within range. So I'm gonna address my allies here. And so basically everybody will get five temporary, additional hip points. - Perfect. - And also have an advantage on the next attack roll that they make. - Perfect. - Yep, that is correct. Oh, and you have advantage on wisdom saving throws also. - Amazing. What do you say? - All right, listen, I know that it seems like our chips are down. I've lost feeling in half of my body and I intentionally fell in a pit, but I did it to try and bring us together so that we, the underdogs can stand up to this creepy baby face mask-wearing man, who has no regard for the lives of others who want to win this competition in order to do some good in the world. This man is clearly an embodiment of evil. And so I implore you, allies, to stand and fight and also, to anyone beyond this weird swirling green dome thing, if you can hear me, send us your energy and believe in the power of friendship. - Leila, you hear this as you're laying on the floor. - Yeah, Leila is just staring and says- - That's beautiful. Wow, what an incredible speech. - And a single tear rolls down. So I can spend a full action to disentangle or I can- - Yeah, to like break yourself free using Dex or strength depending on whether you want to break it or like squirm out of it. - Okay. - Dislocate a shoulder to- - Okay, I will try and wriggle out. - Okay, perfect. You could also attempt to cut the cords if you have a knife, but it would be a disadvantage since your arms are tied. - Right. - So it would be- - Yeah. - You only need to beat a 10. (dice thudding) - 10 exactly. - Meets it, beats it. - Yeah. - You're able to wriggle out, leaving the bola perfectly preserved in like a little spring, almost like a finger trap, right there in front of you. You're able to just squeeze out of it and kick it to the side. It does cost you your action and half your movement to stand up. - Okay. So I'm gonna do that. And in the meantime, I'm going to hide in the trees behind me. - Perfect. - Go ahead and give me a stealth check. (dice thudding) (intense music) - 17. - So yeah, you're able to conceal yourself pretty well among the boughs of this tree, in between like two very large leaves with like striated pink patterns on them. And you hide. As you do, you hear movement somewhere far off in front of you. You're not quite sure where. The baby face mask-wearing man reappears. And this time, like in full daylight, and you see that like he has horrific scarring all over his body and there's even some fluid like leaking from the giant tank on his back. His pants are covered with like a million pockets, basically fantasy cargo pants if we're being honest, filled with all matter of horrible accoutrement designed specifically to deploy horrible pain on you. That was a very awkward sentence, but we're just gonna roll with it. He takes aim into the pit that Ekon is standing in. (intense music) - (sighs) Well, let's try this again. I heard a speech, I am feeling confident and now I will climb. - And so I will attempt to climb out yet again. - Yeah. He's holding his action, like waiting for you. You get the sense, Lenore, that he's kind of doing his best to pretend you don't exist on this realm, on this material plane. - Please sets him back- - Yeah, after the motivational- Yeah, after the motivational speech, it was like too much for him. He was just like, "I can't deal with this right now. So I'm going to deal with this." - Great. - And actually you get the sense here, Leila, that maybe you've successfully concealed yourself from him, but he stands over the pit sort of like with an action ready to like sort of a wait for your ascent, Ekon. - Yeah, but like, I can't see him, so I wouldn't be able to do anything? Yeah. - Okay. Then I don't even know, so yes, let me get out. And they are handling him so he will get dealt with. This time, it is a 13, but I do get an advantage right, from the motivational speech? - It's only for attacks. - Oh, okay. - Yeah. - Well, then I have a 13. - Yeah, with a 13 you're able to get out. It's slow going, and it takes just about all of your movement. But as your hands reach either side- - Yes! - of this like pit you've fallen into. - Freedom! - Yes! - Oh, no! (dice thudding) - I've got a 16 and a 17. - Oh, those both hit. - Okay. - Oh, no. (dice thudding) - You take, I think a total of 14 piercing damage- - Okay. - as toonk, toonk, two knives embed themselves in each forearm, pinning you to the ground as you've just barely crawled out of this pit. You hear a sickening laugh behind you and just a- - Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. - A soul-stirring laugh even. I think I've been overusing sickening. He's just so disturbing guys. - He sucks. - And in light matter, do you want me to do a constitution check to see if I can still concentrate on my fists? - Yes, mm-hmm. - Yeah, 'cause I have my fists, but I also have two knives in my arm right now and I don't know (indistinct) what it is, or what I did. (dice thudding) 15. - Sorry, Ekon. - [Jasmine] Yeah, no, you maintain concentration. - Oh, I swear to you when I am out of this, these fists will touch your face and when they touch your face, oh, you will know, you will know the pain that you have put on me, but I will put it on you and that baby, that baby on your face, it will be crying, you big crying baby. Just you wait. - So that was your movement. You do have your action. - Oh, but am I pinned still or? - Yes, you are pinned, but you could use your action to remove. - Okay, then that is what I'll do. - Perfect. Awesome, so Lenore. - Ekon, are you all right? - Honestly, not as bad as it would've been, and I hate to say this, if you didn't give me that speech, let's say that extra boost, it felt like health I got, really kind of took the brunt of a lot of that damage. So I thank you, but feel free to not do another. And fight, I like to fight. I hope we are fighting. We are doing a lot of talking, not too much fighting. So let's do that. - Okay, well, if you think I should fight, then I guess I'll fight. So I am going to move so that I am within range of babyface killer. - Yeah. - The Line. - Babyface killer. - Babyface killer, The Line, okay. So that'll put him in the range of my spirit guardians, 'cause they're all around me. - Yes, mm-hmm. - And I'm also going to cast spiritual weapon. - Perfect. - So spiritual weapon creates a floating spectral weapon within range, it lasts for the duration or until you cast the spell again. When you cast the spell, you can make a melee spell attack against a creature within five feet of the weapon and on a hit, the target takes force damage equal to 1D8, plus your spell casting modifier, so. - Perfect. - So first of all, the spiritual guardians needs, or spirit guardians, he needs to succeed at a wisdom saving throw. (dice thudding) - I've got a 12. - Ah, 14, so that hits. - Perfect. - So he's going to take 3D8 of radiant damage. - Amazing. Go ahead and roll damage. - Woo -hoo! (dice thudding) Oh, sick, 16. - All right. So your spirit guardians completely batter away at him. These foxes like tearing a part of his armor and his flesh. Go ahead and roll for your spiritual weapon as well. - He also has halved movement speed. - [Jasmine] Perfect. - Okay, so that's five plus six is 11. - 11. Amazing. What form does your spiritual weapon take? - My spiritual weapon takes the form of like a bird. So it's like a great blue heron or something. So it looks like this big giant bird, but then it has a very pointy beak and it just goes right for the jugular. - Yeah. Yeah. That's amazing. So as it goes right for the jugular, The Line is gonna take his reaction. 'Cause I think Arms of Hadar end of your next turn. Am I right with that, Leila? - What's that? Yeah, it ends at his. - Okay, so it would be down by now. Perfect. So he's going to use his reaction. As this heron pecks and goes for the jugular, it hits, but it misses its mark and instead knocks off his face mask. - [Emma] Ooh! - Give me a wisdom saving throw. - Okay. (dice thudding) - Oh, my God, I'm throwing terribly, eight. - When the mask falls, you expect to see behind it a face. But what instead you see is a void or a lack of a face. And with an eight, you see a moment from your past and not something that you like. What is a moment that that could be. - So as I'm staring into the void, what I see is the image of a young blonde girl. She's about eight years old and she is in what is, like it's clearly a very nice house. It looks sorta like castle adjacent, if you will. And she's in a nursery and you see this young girl go and there's a baby in the cradle. And she goes over to the cradle and she's looking at the baby in the cradle and she picks up a pillow that's in the cradle with the baby. - Okay, so as this memory comes flooding back to you, as the face reflected in this void is the face of that baby. All of the memories come rushing back and you suffer from the frightened condition. Everything inside you tells you that you need to leave right now. So with your, I believe with your remaining movement, you're going to move as far away as you can from him. - Okay. And you get disadvantaged as long as you are within his line of sight. - Oh no. He like kind of like with... This time the laugh isn't like the same, like- - Ha, ha, ha. - This time it's a child laugh, a baby's laugh that comes emanating from him as he, once again picks up the mask and places it on his face. (intense music) - Oh, no. - Leila, you see Lenore from your perch in the woods go fleeing, crying. - I just ran into the bushes. - Yeah. - No. - You're not exactly sure of what she saw, because from your angle you may not have even seen it. You saw some face, but it didn't look that different from the mask that fell off. - I reach out from behind a tree and lob an Eldritch blast. And I'd like to call the shot- - Yes. - at the pack he has. - Perfect. Amazing. Yes, yes, yes, okay. Go ahead and roll to hit. It's going to be a little bit more difficult since you're trying to do a very precise hit. - Yeah. 15. - Well, you get to attack- - For the first one. - Mm-hmm, I think you also have advantage from the motivational speech. - Inspiring speech. - Right, right, I do. - Ooh, that's a one. So the first one does not make it to 15. Second one. - Woo. - 22. - Perfect. - Or is that one, two 22s? - So 22. - Amazing. The 22 hits. Go ahead and roll damage. - Okay. (dice thudding) 12. - Dang. - The pack explodes. As soon as your Eldritch blast hits it, it completely explodes. Some triggering mechanism inside of it sprays this like strange alchemical fluid all over him. And as he flails to like reattach the tube that you've knocked loose, the lighting mechanism, the ignition mechanism in his gauntlet sets it off. Go ahead and roll 4D6 for me. (epic music) (dice thudding) - 13. - As the flames course up his flesh, up his arm, putting everything on him on fire, you see the metal on his armor begin to glow red and begin to heat up. And he flails, screaming with a horrible screech because it's a child shriek. It was like a baby screaming. And then it is his turn. In anger and fury and rage, he is going to... Let's see. Well, you made an attack. So you've kind of made your position known at this point. - Yeah, I would like to, after I make the attack, I'm going to move back into the trees to where Lenore is on the other side. - Okay, perfect. Go ahead and roll stealth for me. (intense music) - 18 or 14. - Okay, perfect. Yeah, he still has an idea of where you are and he is angry. He moves forward. You can smell his flesh burning. It's like a forbidden bacon and there's still flame coming off of the leather and metal of his armor as he approaches. The liquid is still burning, when he himself raises his gauntlet one more time to try to use whatever fuel is left. These hoses are like kind of falling off and like spraying this fuel everywhere, as he tries to use whatever fuel is left on you and Lenore. - Oh, no. - So go ahead and make a Dex save. Lenore, your back is to this enemy and I believe you do have disadvantage on attacks and ability checks. - Yes, yes. - [Erika] 18. (dice thudding) Well, that's a four. - A four, okay, so- - Dirty 20. (intense music) (dice thudding) - Oh, wait, as a bonus action, I don't know. It's up to you if you want to like, let me right the contest. As a bonus action can I pop up a shield of faith on Lenore? - Yeah. Yeah. - Okay. - You know what? It's the first day. The first session, I'll let it happen. - All right. So- - I would assume also that you moved over there to help her. - Leila army crawls over there, taps her on the shoulder and is like- - Are you okay, are you okay? - And the shimmering field pops up and surrounds her. It's got extra armor. - Perfect. Yeah, you take 15 fire damage as the last flames sputter fourth from the gauntlet. You get the sense there's nothing left in the tank at this point, because the last bits of it, you probably would have taken more, Lenore, but the last bits of it just spray, like it puffs out and then like almost with the wheeze, (wheezing) just stops. For you, Leila, you take half of that. - Okay. - Ekon, it is your turn. - All right. (epic music) I've been sitting here. I've been trying to do something for so long and I see what's going on in front of me. So I walk up behind him with my furious fist, just to tap him, and say - I'm tired of waiting. - And I (indistinct). - Yeah, roll the hit. (dice thudding) - That is going to be a 26. - That hits. (Emma and Erika cheering) It definitely hits. Ekon is pissed, okay. - Yes, and let's see. Yep. Yep. Just to make sure, so I'm gonna be rolling 6D10 for damage. - Whoa! (dice thudding) - Right, that is going to be 25 damage. - High math. Explain to me in what fashion do you dispatch this foe? (Emma and Erika cheering) - So Ekon walks up, bloodied, arms just bleeding, it's from the stab wounds- - Knife wounds still, yeah. - The cuts on his neck from the falling down to the hole and he comes and he's standing there in his armor. And for some reason it appears, even though it's magical armor, it appears battered. And then his fists are just glowing and huge. And he taps him on the shoulder with his big finger. He says- - I'm tired of waiting. - And he just like, almost like a Kenshiro, Fist of the North Star, tut, tut, tut, tut, tut, tut. And all you see is just the dust from his magical fists hitting him. - It's almost like it's in slow motion. You see his body like a (gasping) and a little bit of blood like go. And then just like the perfect anime, he stays suspended in the air for a moment and then hits the ground with a cloud of dust. The dome above you dissipates. And as it does, you see the crowd in these graduated stands that seem to be raising up to the skies themselves. You see the stars, and remember that you are in fact, some place in the cosmos that you've never been before. And you hear the best sound you've ever heard in your lives, cheering, people chanting for you. They're stomping their feet, they're clapping and they're singing songs. You see like almost an announcer's box ahead of you. And you see a robed figure standing, kind of like, or seated in the middle, upon like what looks to be a giant like court's throne. The figure has a almost laurel esque head piece that consists of two hands holding aloft an amethyst that just swirls suspended magically in the air. Underneath the hood, you see the sort of like semblance of two purple eyes looking out at you, but you can't really see any features other than that. And they clap slowly. And you also see next to them Harpy, like jumping up and down screaming, like you notice now as the dome dissipates that she's been commentating the entire time, and you could only hear it as a vague booming, just outside the reaches of this dome, and she says- - And there we have it folks, the victors of today's contest. - And then almost like with a magical poof, she appears on the ground next to you all and like raises your arms with hers. - Oh. - Yes, yes. - We did it! - We did. - Yes. - Yes. We did it. - Yes. - Oh. - I knew we could do it. I just had this feeling about you two. - Well, looks like onto the next one, huh? - Onto the next one. - Whoa! - And there you have it, folks. We just got into our first round of combat with our newcomers. Let's see if they survive into the next seeds, but up next, we've got another green group and we'll see just how they fare against our next challenge. This has been Harpy Goldendale and I will see you in the next "Battle for Beyond." Until then, stay gold. - [All] Yeah. (epic music) - Another day dawned on the "Battle for Beyond," another chance at a new life. - I'm gonna kill both of the people up there as soon as we get upstairs. - It's common for people to be tongue-tied around me, no matter the language, my dear. - The universe is unfeeling and I will obliterate you if you want this for him. - Because I've don't wanna be covered in bees! - That 20, baby! (everybody laughs) (dramatic music) (epic music)

Channel: D&D Beyond

Views: 213,220

Keywords: D&D, Dungeons and Dragons, Dungeon & Dragons, D&D Beyond, DnD, 5e, Battle For Beyond, D&D Battle For Beyond, Critical Role, Dimension 20, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Erika Ishii, Jasmine Bhullar, Aabria Iyengar, Josephine McAdam, Emma Fyffe, Ify Nwadiwe, D&D Adventure, Actual Play, role playing game, D&D Campaign, Battle 4 Beyond, Battle for Beyond, Episode 1, First Episode, LAByNight, d&d gameplay, d&d squid game, joe starr, Screen Junkies

Id: KtLcWpD16Uo

Length: 108min 30sec (6510 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 12 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/ff2488]

Brennan and Aabria aren't in this episode but Ify and Erika are. Ify is a barbarian turned wizard and used the D20 homebrew spell: Adaine's Furious Fist!

[u/Katviar]

Omg yes!

[u/[deleted]]

That is a pretty all-star cast, thanks for the link

e - and it was pretty good, too!

[u/VirtuallyJason]

Man... am I the only one who feels like that should've had a content warning? That strong implication of infanticide came out of nowhere...