0:00 MATT: Hello, everybody. (laughter)
0:01 MATT: Welcome to our Session Zero
0:04 for the upcoming Age of Umbra
0:07 Daggerheart mini-series. MARISHA: (whispers) Age of Umbra.
0:08 TRAVIS: (deeply) Age of-- TRAVIS and SAM: Umbra.
0:10 MATT: Very excited about this. ASHLEY: Age of Umbra.
0:11 TALIESIN: Umbra.
0:12 MATT: This is one of the numerous campaign frames
0:15 in the base Daggerheart game
0:16 that Sam is holding right there.
0:18 TRAVIS: It's so pretty!
0:19 Ribbon! Foil! SAM: It's smells nice, too.
0:21 TRAVIS: Beautiful art. MARISHA: Mm, it does!
0:23 Smells like fresh book. MATT: It's verified.
0:24 TRAVIS: A crazy stack on the back. MARISHA: Fresh glue.
0:25 MATT: Hell yeah. SAM: Very nice.
0:27 MATT: But this campaign frame in particular
0:29 is one that I wrote for the book.
0:31 It draws a lot of inspiration
0:32 from a lot of things that I love.
0:33 ASHLEY: It's so good.
0:36 SAM: Oh, there's a typo. MARISHA: Shut up. Don't.
0:38 SAM: I'm kidding. (laughs) TRAVIS: That literally can't happen.
0:40 MARISHA: Yeah. (laughs)
0:41 MATT: Take that book away from him.
0:42 TRAVIS: I can guarantee that's not true.
0:44 (laughter)
0:48 MATT: Yeah, this is inspired by many different forms of media
0:51 that I love very much.
0:51 Very "Soulsborne," "Kingdom Death Monster,"
0:54 "Blasphemous," "Berserk,"
0:57 that kind of dark,
0:59 really horror, fantasy, survival.
1:04 All these different things
1:05 that are heavy moods in these projects,
1:07 I tried to bring into Daggerheart
1:10 through this campaign frame,
1:11 and I'm excited to explore it with you all.
1:13 So today we're making first level characters
1:15 within this Age of Umbra campaign
1:19 to give you a little bit of a setting, a brief setting.
1:22 I'll read here
1:23 the essence of the first paragraph.
1:25 SAM: Ooh, ooh! MATT: To get you guys into this.
1:27 There's a deeper breakdown in the overview
1:29 that you guys can study before we actually play.
1:30 But a quick little overview.
1:35 "A century has passed since the God-King Othedias
1:39 "betrayed the Pantheon,
1:40 "referred to as the Veiled Gods,
1:42 "provoking divine punishment and abandonment by these gods
1:47 "who then left the realm
1:48 "that was and is known as the Halcyon Domain
1:52 "shattered, desolate, and eternally cursed.
1:55 "Throughout this shadow-choked land of decaying fortresses
2:00 "and dreadful monstrosities,
2:02 "surviving communities cling to hope
2:04 "in the face of lightless oblivion.
2:07 "In an Age of Umbra campaign,
2:09 "you'll play as heroic survivors
2:10 "who protect their community
2:12 "from the terrors beyond their walls,
2:14 "venture out into the unknown to hunt the nightmares
2:17 "that twist and grow with each fallen soul,
2:20 "seek answers to the curses that corrupt this world,
2:23 "and perhaps even discover a way to change its fate,
2:27 "should you survive." SAM: Oh.
2:29 MATT: And I'm pretty sure not all of you
2:32 are going to make it to the end.
2:33 TRAVIS: Oh, goody!
2:34 SAM: Matt, which one of us is going to die?
2:36 TALIESIN: On a long enough timeline...
2:39 MATT: You, Sam. (laughter)
2:41 MATT: It's always you. (laughter)
2:44 MATT: But yeah, it is meant to be a dark, ominous tone.
2:49 A lot of, you know, epic moments,
2:51 but also a lot of grim and ominous moods and settings.
2:56 Terrifying, it's tragic.
2:59 It's, you know, the immediacy of surviving in the moment
3:03 with the backdrop of ancient forgotten lore and promise
3:06 and a landscape that grows ever darker and colorless
3:10 as the Umbra itself continues to expand,
3:13 an amorphous, dark cloud-like entity
3:18 that sweeps like a storm
3:20 with an unknowable intelligence.
3:23 You can almost hear it wailing in the distance
3:25 at any given point in time,
3:27 uncertain of where it may exist.
3:28 When it draws near,
3:30 everyone tries to find the nearest Sacred Pyre
3:34 and hunker down until it passes.
3:36 As those are the only real places of safety
3:39 in the Age of Umbra are the Sacred Pyres.
3:40 They are massive bonfires that burn
3:44 10, 20, or higher feet into the air
3:48 and are these burning little beacons of hope
3:51 and safety throughout the landscape.
3:54 There are--
3:55 Usually a community builds itself around one of these Pyres.
3:57 It's the only way that it can maintain itself
3:59 in this shadow-choked landscape.
4:02 Individuals have to keep kindling
4:04 the fire as it progresses.
4:08 There are rumors or historical record of relics
4:11 of the ancient age referred to
4:12 as Blessed Branches that are used
4:14 to either rekindle a Sacred Pyre that has burned out
4:18 or to create a new one to maintain its kindling.
4:21 That's how new settlements are born and expand.
4:24 But they are rare, if anything, mythological
4:27 to some of the youngest of the settlers
4:29 that try and survive throughout the Halcyon Domain.
4:34 But within this space,
4:36 a couple cool things to go over
4:37 that are specific about this.
4:40 Among that mood, you know,
4:42 I'll go through some of the distinctions of this campaign.
4:43 So this is kind of the fun bits
4:44 to give you the heads up of what this is about.
4:47 Things like eternal gloom and volatile weather.
4:50 TRAVIS: (laughs) That's amazing.
4:52 MATT: So it says, "Since the Veiled Gods abandoned the world
4:54 "an endless gloom has engulfed the skies
4:56 "leaving the nights black as pitch
4:57 "and even the zenith of day a dreary haze.
5:00 "Somber grays of the mist and sky
5:02 "are occasionally broken by heavy rains
5:04 "or strange erratic weather events,
5:06 "while the more cursed regions
5:07 "are home to never ending storms of vibrant hues.
5:11 "Some say even underground, cavernous spaces
5:13 "are occasionally host to strange weather phenomena."
5:16 ASHLEY: Cool. MATT: "The gloom
5:17 "only ever breaks over hallowed ground
5:19 "or on mysterious, unpredictable days
5:21 "revealing golden sunbeams or gossamer moonlight
5:24 "that grants esoteric boons or curses to those present.
5:27 "There are beliefs among the Enduring
5:28 "that the highest mountain peaks can pierce the gloom
5:31 "and offer new homelands free of turmoil.
5:33 "But those are so far off from these lands
5:37 "that they themselves are still just myth.
5:40 "Also, death becomes a curse.
5:43 "Places not protected by the Sacred Pyres
5:44 "are vulnerable to the Umbra,
5:46 "the flow of malevolent, unholy spirits
5:48 "that cling to lightless places.
5:51 "The amorphous necrotic energy courses
5:52 "through the Halcyon Domain like a dark wind,
5:54 "transient with unknowable intelligence
5:56 "as it calls to the souls of the dead
5:57 "like a mother to its children
5:59 "and draws them into its shape.
6:01 "The Umbra is a terrifying force of malice and corruption.
6:04 "Swirling, wailing black mist, invoking delirium and despair
6:07 "at its threshold while physically corrupting
6:09 "and transforming the bodies of those that surrender to it.
6:12 "Many of the horrifying monsters that are prowling
6:14 "these lands have been changed by the Umbra,
6:17 "leaving part of its ever-expanding mass within them,
6:20 "like a foul seed mutating the host
6:23 "and perpetuating its own cancerous expansion
6:25 "through wanton destruction and death."
6:28 So.
6:30 The land has some bad stuff going on throughout it.
6:33 SAM: Bad land. MATT: Yeah, yeah.
6:35 ASHLEY: Better pack an umbrella!
6:37 (laughter)
6:38 TRAVIS: Save it, save it, save it.
6:40 SAM: Maybe that's your character! ASHLEY: I'll save it for the game.
6:41 I'll save it for the game. SAM: Maybe you're
6:42 the umbrella salesman.
6:43 MARISHA: Ooh! MATT: Could be.
6:44 MARISHA: Age of Umbrella!
6:45 (laughter)
6:47 TRAVIS: Get your umbrella! 'Brella, 'brella.
6:49 ASHLEY: I kind of like this idea.
6:50 MATT: There you go.
6:51 MARISHA: Oh, you're writing it down. (laughs)
6:53 ASHLEY: Listen, ideas are brewing.
6:55 MATT: Other fun distinctions for this campaign.
6:58 The Shadow of Society.
6:59 "The Old World was one of grandiose castle fortresses,
7:01 "sprawling cityscapes, and imposing temples
7:04 "towering over the lush lands that surrounded them.
7:06 "However, the wrath of the Veiled Gods
7:08 "toppled much of that extravagance to ruin,
7:10 "the kingdoms and cabals that basked in opulence
7:12 "shattered and forgotten.
7:14 "What remains is a ghost of what it once was.
7:16 "Surviving remnants of the old ways
7:18 "struggle to reclaim a forgotten glory
7:20 "while most survivors lead grueling lives
7:21 "across the splintered communities
7:22 "of this broken realm.
7:24 "This tattered tapestry of heritage and history
7:26 "is fading with the light,
7:27 "yet the Enduring forge new culture through hardship,
7:29 "determination, and ambition,
7:31 "picking through the debris of what was
7:33 "in hopes of building what will be."
7:34 So that's where the dark of the past
7:37 and the light of hope for the future
7:39 exist through the Enduring,
7:41 the people that survive and what they hope to find,
7:43 uncover, and rebuild in the midst of this shadow.
7:46 Also, magic is suspicious here.
7:49 "In ancient times, the practice of Aetherweaving--"
7:52 SAM: Aetherweaving.
7:53 MATT: "-- was paramount to the Halcyon Domain's
7:54 "construction and prosperity.
7:56 "Yet, while rune-marked arms and enchanted relics
7:58 "of the Old World are considered boons
8:00 "by the surviving people of the Halcyon Domain,
8:02 "the Aetherweave is believed to be responsible
8:04 "for the wrath of the Veiled Gods
8:06 "and thus the Age of Umbra.
8:07 "Much of the world is now suffused in dark magic
8:09 "that saturates the wilds, chaotic and corrupting,
8:13 "wielded by those who worship the gloom
8:15 "of the new age, or yield to it entirely.
8:18 "The superstitious disdain for spellcraft
8:21 "is pervasive within many communities,
8:23 "with tales of Aetherweaver hubris
8:25 "taught as fables to youth
8:27 "to dissuade them from such temptation.
8:29 "Places that harbor lingering fonts of magic
8:31 "are instinctively shunned and avoided by many.
8:34 "While Aetherweaving can be used to protect and preserve,
8:36 "it is deeply mistrusted in many social circles
8:38 "leading to confrontation or exile if care is not taken."
8:42 So magic definitely exists in this world,
8:43 and you can be a magic user,
8:45 but you just might need to be a little careful
8:48 in how you use it and in front of whom.
8:52 TRAVIS: Got it. SAM: Cool.
8:53 MARISHA: Cool. MATT: So those are just
8:54 some of the distinctions for the campaign.
8:56 There are some campaign mechanics for this
8:59 that might be interesting for you guys to know about.
9:00 SAM: Okay.
9:03 MATT: Which is kind of fun.
9:05 One of them is called the Strength of Hate.
9:07 MARISHA: Strength of Hate?
9:08 TRAVIS: Hate. MATT: Hate.
9:09 MARISHA: Okay. MATT: Which is "The Umbra
9:10 "has seeped into all manner of beings,
9:13 "twisting them into a malformed mockery
9:15 "of their former selves
9:16 "instilled with preternatural strength."
9:19 Essentially, there are enemies
9:20 that you will come across possibly
9:22 that are called Umbra-Touched.
9:24 I use that as a mechanic as a GM.
9:26 But an Umbra-Touched creature
9:28 crits you on a 19 or 20. TRAVIS: Oh shit.
9:29 MATT: So it has twice the chance to crit.
9:32 But also you as PCs,
9:33 whenever you fall to zero hit points
9:36 and you choose one of the death options to go unconscious,
9:40 you take a scar, which permanently
9:42 marks off one of your Hope.
9:44 Because you are touched by the Umbra,
9:46 the soul blight that exists in every living Enduring
9:49 kind of clings to that,
9:50 you do more damage based on more scars you have.
9:52 SAM: Oh. MATT: So the more--
9:54 The closer you are to reaching the end of your journey,
9:57 the more damage you deal.
9:59 ASHLEY: Whoa, that's cool. TALIESIN: Ooh.
10:00 MATT: But when you mark off your last scar,
10:04 you immediately run screaming
10:07 into the darkness to join the Umbra itself.
10:09 TRAVIS: Oh! (laughs) MARISHA: Cool.
10:12 TRAVIS: It's like "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark."
10:14 MATT: Kind of, yeah. ASHLEY: Mm-hmm.
10:15 MARISHA: Yeah. MATT: I mentioned
10:16 the fiery beacons, the Sacred Pyres within society.
10:19 Those exist out there as places of safety.
10:22 Also, in this campaign--
10:24 Well, unlike normal Daggerheart in which you,
10:27 when you have downtime, a short rest, long rest,
10:29 and you have your downtime actions
10:30 and such throughout that,
10:32 there is always danger lurking
10:34 in the darkness of this realm.
10:37 This Lurking Darkness rule
10:38 represents the ever present danger of the Umbra.
10:41 So whenever the party finishes a short or long rest,
10:43 while not in the vicinity of a Sacred Pyre,
10:46 so if you're ever traveling out
10:48 and not directly near a Sacred Pyre,
10:51 I get to roll a d12 for the Lurking Darkness
10:54 and consult a table.
10:56 It can have all sorts of fun little things
11:00 that might happen as the darkness
11:02 slowly creeps in on you
11:04 as you try and take a bit of respite.
11:07 SAM: So taking rests has dangers and threats to it.
11:11 MATT: Correct. ASHLEY: If you're not near
11:12 one of the Sacred Pyres. MATT: Correct.
11:14 Now mind you,
11:17 there is a new downtime activity
11:19 throughout this campaign called keeping watch.
11:22 You actually, as opposed to,
11:23 you know, repairing your armor,
11:25 or healing hit points,
11:28 someone can keep watch in which they describe
11:30 how they stay vigilant against what lurks beyond the camp.
11:34 Then when I make this roll at the end of the downtime,
11:37 this player rolls their Hope die,
11:39 and chooses whether to replace
11:40 what I rolled with their Hope die or not.
11:42 SAM: Mm. TRAVIS: Oh shit.
11:43 MATT: As long as somebody spends a downtime action,
11:45 which is one less chance to heal
11:47 or repair or get a Hope or anything,
11:50 it means you might get a better chance
11:52 on that Lurking Darkness roll.
11:54 MARISHA: On this table, is it random?
11:56 Or is the higher numbers generally are more positive
12:00 and lower our numbers worse?
12:02 MATT: Well, put it this way. On a one to two,
12:05 I describe how something monstrous
12:06 found you in the dark
12:08 and an adversary immediately ambushes you.
12:11 MARISHA: Great. MATT: So you could just be
12:12 attacked at the end of your rest.
12:15 On a three to five,
12:17 I gain two Fear.
12:19 Just at the end of the rest for free.
12:21 On a six to nine, I gain one Fear.
12:23 SAM: 69. MARISHA: Nice.
12:24 MATT: Heyo.
12:25 On a 10 to 11, nothing happens necessarily.
12:28 On a 12, you all gain a Hope.
12:30 SAM: Oh! MATT: So the higher roll
12:31 actually can be a benefit.
12:32 MARISHA: Okay. SAM: Okay, okay.
12:33 MATT: But it's a one in 12 chance to get a benefit and a--
12:37 TRAVIS: Because everything sucks here.
12:37 MATT: -- 60-ish percent chance-- MARISHA: Because everything sucks.
12:39 TRAVIS: 69% chance. MATT: -- something bad's going to happen.
12:41 MARISHA: Nice. MATT: There you go.
12:42 TALIESIN: Okay. MATT: So yeah.
12:44 That's kind of a--
12:47 SAM: Fellatio. MATT: A very qui--
12:48 (laughter)
12:51 TRAVIS: Hand job. MARISHA: (laughs)
12:53 ASHLEY: (laughs)
12:55 MATT: This is heavy stuff. TRAVIS: Dry humping.
12:56 (laughter)
12:58 MATT: It's a very serious campaign. TRAVIS: Yeah.
12:59 SAM: It is. TRAVIS: This is session zero.
13:01 We got to get it all out. MATT: Of course.
13:02 SAM: We're getting it all out. MATT: You got to.
13:02 MARISHA: We're being serious. SAM: Getting it out now.
13:03 MATT: I know, I know. It's just fun to say. ASHLEY: We got to get it out.
13:06 MATT: So to that point,
13:07 let's jump into character creation for this
13:11 and start building out what your Enduring are,
13:14 and then decide through that process
13:16 where they exist in the world, what their history is,
13:18 how young, how old, how experienced,
13:20 how fraught they are. SAM: Druid?
13:25 ASHLEY: I have a question. MATT: What's your question?
13:26 ASHLEY: How-- TRAVIS: Shut up.
13:28 (laughter)
13:30 ASHLEY: Where are-- (laughs)
13:33 How many Sacred Pyres are there? Do we know?
13:37 MATT: You don't know. ASHLEY: And are they--
13:39 MATT: You can see some and we can discuss that
13:42 based on where you're starting.
13:44 We'll build at the end of this
13:45 one or more settlements that exist out here
13:48 that some of you are at or from.
13:52 There is one called Okros,
13:53 which is the brightest Pyre in the Halcyon Domain.
13:59 It's visible from most places in the entire region.
14:02 ASHLEY: I see here. Okay.
14:03 MATT: It's the brightest and largest Sacred Pyre
14:06 and is used like a North Star
14:08 when it comes to traversing the domain.
14:10 But there are many Pyres,
14:12 but many are much smaller and harder to see.
14:15 Some are obscured by topography,
14:17 some exist underground,
14:19 you know, some are obscured by mists and shadow.
14:24 Some are obscured by magic.
14:25 ASHLEY: Are these circles the Pyres?
14:27 MATT: Those are visible Pyres-- ASHLEY: Visible Pyres. Okay.
14:29 MATT: -- that are known in the landscape. Yes.
14:34 MARISHA: Another question. MATT: Yes.
14:35 MARISHA: This Halcyon Domain that fell,
14:40 how long ago was that?
14:41 Does it make any sense
14:42 that there might be older people who still remember?
14:45 MATT: It was a century ago. MARISHA: A century ago.
14:47 MATT: So if anyone remembers it,
14:48 they are very, very old. MARISHA: Very, very old.
14:51 Okay.
14:52 MATT: And most folks don't survive
14:54 that long here. MARISHA: That long here.
14:55 MATT: So anyone that, I'll put it this way.
14:57 In your settlements where you're at,
15:00 unless any of you are beginning
15:01 in a very well protected place of higher learning and care,
15:08 hard pressed to know anybody over the age of 60--
15:10 TRAVIS: Yeah. MATT: -- that has
15:11 survived this long. MARISHA: Okay.
15:12 MATT: Most people live to 30s to 50s, I'll say.
15:16 Even then, many are taken at a younger age
15:19 by things beyond the walls.
15:21 MARISHA: When that happened,
15:22 when the walls and everything fell,
15:26 was there also a pretty massive population
15:29 wipe as well?
15:30 Did we go from like, oh, you know,
15:36 out of every three people, one died.
15:38 Was it something like that?
15:40 MATT: Could have been. MARISHA: Oh! TALIESIN: Okay.
15:42 MATT: There are tales of cataclysm,
15:44 but much of the true history is honestly lost
15:49 except to those who have access
15:51 to the few remaining libraries
15:53 and places of higher learning from the old age.
15:58 So what most is known in the scattered settlements
16:03 is oral history with scraps of the occasional written tome
16:08 that's probably tattered and molded over time
16:11 that is kept under very careful watch
16:14 as contraband and fragments of memory
16:17 that is all these people hold onto
16:21 to recall mistakes of the past.
16:24 But it's largely an oral history
16:25 that's passed from settlement to settlement.
16:29 TRAVIS: Nice. MARISHA: Okay. Okay.
16:32 ASHLEY: I have another question on the Pyres.
16:34 MATT: Of course. ASHLEY: So they have been
16:36 burning for the last century?
16:38 MATT: Some of them have been.
16:41 There are some that have been around
16:42 for the better part of a century
16:44 and just maybe only two that have kept up that long.
16:48 ASHLEY: And they constantly have to be fed?
16:49 MATT: Correct. ASHLEY: That's really cool.
16:51 MATT: There are people who are specifically assigned
16:53 and probably family lines that their sacred purpose
16:57 is to continue to kindle the Pyre.
17:00 ASHLEY: Cool.
17:01 MATT: Because if it burns out,
17:03 there's no way to restart it
17:03 unless you find another Blessed Branch,
17:05 and those are--
17:06 ASHLEY: So they're started from the Blessed Branch?
17:08 MATT: Correct. ASHLEY: That's so cool. Okay.
17:11 TALIESIN: I think I know what I'm taking.
17:13 ASHLEY: You do?
17:14 TALIESIN: I'm waiting for other people because I'm--
17:16 You know me, I like to be,
17:17 I like to let other people--
17:18 TRAVIS: I think I'm going to do seraph.
17:20 MATT: You're going seraph? TRAVIS: I think so.
17:21 ASHLEY: Damn! MATT: Okay.
17:22 TALIESIN: I'm feeling wizard. TRAVIS: Yeah, a good story.
17:24 MARISHA: You're going wizard. Okay, okay.
17:25 ASHLEY: That's a terrible choice.
17:26 (laughter) MARISHA: Ooh.
17:29 TRAVIS: No terrible choices. TALIESIN: I'm so proud of you.
17:31 MARISHA: That's so Travis of you.
17:32 TRAVIS: No terrible choices, only terrible players.
17:34 (laughter)
17:37 MARISHA: I'm somewhere between guardian and warrior,
17:39 I think.
17:41 TALIESIN: I've played guardian, they're fun.
17:43 MARISHA: I've never just been buff and swung a sword.
17:46 SAM: Except in real life.
17:48 MARISHA: Well. MATT and SAM: (laugh)
17:49 MARISHA: This is make-believe.
17:50 SAM: (laughs)
17:51 I was thinking ranger.
17:53 MATT: Yeah? SAM: But--
17:54 ASHLEY: Interesting.
17:55 SAM: We'll get into it.
17:56 We can be both be rangers.
17:58 ASHLEY: No, no, no.
17:59 We all picked different things.
18:00 SAM: Oh, what were you picking?
18:02 ASHLEY: Wait, did you pick yet?
18:03 TALIESIN: Yeah, wizard. SAM: He's wizard.
18:04 What are you? ASHLEY: Oh yes.
18:05 Well, I kind of have an idea.
18:08 MATT: Okay. ASHLEY: I feel like,
18:11 honestly, it could--
18:13 I'm focusing more on a vibe.
18:18 MATT: Yeah. Yeah. ASHLEY: And I feel like--
18:19 SAM: An aesthetic.
18:20 ASHLEY: Kind of an aesthetic. MATT and ASHLEY: (chuckle)
18:23 ASHLEY: I feel like I'm my niece right now.
18:25 It's an aesthetic. Slay!
18:27 (laughter)
18:29 ASHLEY: Looks great.
18:33 And I'm thinking rogue or bard.
18:35 I know I always dance towards rogue.
18:37 TALIESIN: Ooh! MATT: Both are fun.
18:38 ASHLEY: But I also think there could be a cool idea
18:40 within bard for this.
18:43 MARISHA: You've always danced towards rogue.
18:45 ASHLEY: Between the two of those.
18:46 But I've always danced toward rogue.
18:47 MARISHA: Never gone-- SAM: You've never done bard.
18:48 MARISHA: -- full rogue.
18:49 ASHLEY: I've never done full rogue.
18:50 MARISHA: Or bard. SAM: Or rogue. Yeah.
18:52 MATT: Fearne pushed pretty heavy into rogue
18:53 towards the end, too. ASHLEY: I did.
18:54 Yeah, I did. That's true.
18:56 MARISHA: Bunnie was a rogue and it was very fun.
18:58 Or sorry, bard. ASHLEY: Bard.
19:00 MARISHA: Yeah, Bunnie was a bard.
19:01 ASHLEY: Oh, that's right! TALIESIN: Yeah.
19:02 SAM: Oh. MARISHA: She was very fun.
19:05 SAM: Hmm.
19:07 ASHLEY: Okay. MARISHA: Very different.
19:08 MATT: What are you feeling? MARISHA: She was a very
19:09 performance-based bard.
19:09 There's variation. ASHLEY: Well, I think
19:12 I'll want to talk it out once we get
19:13 to talk it out with you guys
19:15 and see how you feel about it,
19:16 and you feel like ones like-- SAM: Is this now?
19:17 What do we do now?
19:18 MATT: Yeah, we're choosing classes now.
19:19 SAM: Okay. Okay.
19:20 MATT: So you are picking ranger.
19:22 SAM: Yeah, so here's my only idea.
19:25 TRAVIS: Boring. MATT: Yeah?
19:26 (laughter)
19:28 TALIESIN: Good shot!
19:29 Well done.
19:30 SAM: I was reading in this book,
19:32 "Daggerheart," available now at bookstores everywhere.
19:34 TRAVIS: Yes! MATT: (laughs)
19:36 Yes, Sam?
19:37 SAM: That, you know, there's these pockets
19:39 of civilization or whatever
19:40 and then there's vast badlands between them
19:44 that are treacherous and stuff.
19:45 I thought maybe I could be fast.
19:48 Like a messenger,
19:50 like a courier,
19:51 someone who just has a gift
19:53 for getting across these wastelands
19:55 without getting killed.
19:56 MATT: A very important role for the survival
19:58 of these disparate societies.
20:00 SAM: Is ranger okay for that? That seems like
20:02 a ranger thing, right? MATT: Ranger is phenomenal
20:03 for that. Yeah. TRAVIS: Yeah.
20:04 MATT: There are many classes that can fill that role.
20:05 Ranger's definitely one of them.
20:06 SAM: Yeah, maybe not super strong but fast
20:08 and able to--
20:10 MATT: Knows how to traverse the land
20:11 to use it at his disposal. SAM: -- dart between things.
20:12 Yeah. MATT: That's great.
20:13 Yeah, ranger's a great choice. MARISHA: Wait, you're talking
20:14 about being like a runner? Is that what you
20:15 were just saying? SAM: Kind of, yeah.
20:15 MARISHA: That's cool. SAM: Like The Flash.
20:17 MARISHA: That's cool. SAM: (laughs)
20:18 Or, well, not the Flash,
20:19 but just fast enough to survive.
20:21 MATT: Yeah, that's great!
20:22 I love that! Awesome!
20:23 Marisha, you're going with guardian you said?
20:24 Or warrior you said? MARISHA: I'm in between
20:25 guardian or warrior.
20:27 MATT: Guardian's tanky, protective,
20:30 but still good with a weapon.
20:31 Warrior's, you know, still pretty tanky,
20:33 but not quite as defensive as the guardian,
20:36 not quite as apt to protect the people around it,
20:39 but in itself is a great
20:41 upfront combat weapon specialist.
20:44 Yeah. Do you want to lean more aggressive or more defensive,
20:47 is where it fits. SAM: Is guardian Ashton
20:50 and warrior's Orym?
20:51 Is that the distinction?
20:53 MATT: Sure. SAM: Okay.
20:55 MARISHA: (laughs)
20:56 I think I'll do guardian.
20:57 I want to be like valor and honor!
21:01 SAM: Oh! Oh, that kind.
21:02 MARISHA: Defensive. TRAVIS: Oh, oh. Yeah, yeah.
21:02 MARISHA: One of those type of-- SAM: Oh!
21:03 MATT: Sure.
21:04 TRAVIS: Beast Master handshake.
21:06 Yes! (laughter)
21:08 MARISHA: Did I do it right?
21:09 TRAVIS: Yeah, you did. MARISHA: Okay.
21:09 TRAVIS: It was good. (laughter)
21:10 MATT: You have to get real close and go, "Brother."
21:12 (laughter) TRAVIS: Strength and honor!
21:15 MATT: Great! Awesome!
21:15 MARISHA: Okay, yeah. I'll do guardian.
21:16 MATT: All right, so we have a ranger,
21:17 we have a guardian.
21:19 Travis? TRAVIS: Seraph.
21:19 MATT: Going seraph. Awesome.
21:21 Some fun bits I'll tell you in a second
21:23 about different magic-centric classes.
21:26 ASHLEY: I'm still decid-- MATT: Still deciding.
21:27 ASHLEY: Can I say-- MATT: We got a wizard.
21:29 ASHLEY: Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll go--
21:29 Okay. MATT: All righty.
21:31 TALIESIN: I'm building a whole thing over here.
21:32 I got thoughts. MATT: Okay, cool!
21:33 SAM: Are you having trouble making a decision?
21:36 ASHLEY: Who? Me?
21:37 Yes. (laughter)
21:39 MATT: Well, let's move on to heritage.
21:40 ASHLEY: When I'm given so many options.
21:41 TRAVIS: Heritage! ASHLEY: I don't know what to do!
21:42 MARISHA: Heritage. Heritage.
21:43 MATT: Well, this is a fun thing to consider, actually,
21:44 for you folks here.
21:46 So the Splendor domain,
21:48 which we have access to.
21:50 ASHLEY: (laughs)
21:52 MATT: As here in the campaign frame.
21:54 It says, "Since the gods' abandonment
21:57 "in the fall of the Grand Ordinants,
21:59 "the great clerics of old,
22:00 "access to divine powers and healing rituals
22:02 "are a fading art.
22:04 "Many fear the very essence of such magic
22:06 "is dying with the light.
22:07 "So it is not uncommon for some to foist sudden worship
22:11 "and expectation onto those
22:13 "who display such gifts.
22:15 "However, while some see hope,
22:17 "others see those with these abilities
22:18 "as an opportunity to express their hate
22:20 "for the absent gods.
22:21 "Seraphs and wizards,
22:23 "since both of you guys have access to this,
22:25 "who display their Splendor domain abilities or spells
22:27 "might make a profound impact
22:29 "or draw unwanted attention,
22:31 "depending on their current company.
22:33 "So players who create seraphs or wizards
22:35 "should consider how open or guarded
22:36 "their character would be with their abilities."
22:38 Something to keep in mind.
22:39 MARISHA: That's so cool! SAM: Okay.
22:40 MATT: And for bards, druids, rogues, rangers,
22:43 sorcerers, and wizards, of course;
22:45 "the forces of spellcraft and magic,
22:46 "especially dark magic,
22:48 "that flow unseen through the world
22:49 "are referred to as the Aetherweave.
22:51 "And those uncommon few that can manipulate it
22:53 "are known collectively as Aetherweavers."
22:55 So term might be used or thrown around,
22:59 referred to if anyone knows of your abilities there.
23:02 You might refer to it yourself as that as,
23:03 "I'm an Aetherweaver."
23:05 "The art is difficult to teach to mortals
23:08 "and they rarely wield it instinctively.
23:10 "With many of these secrets lost to the previous age,
23:12 "the presence of an Aetherweaver is remarkable
23:14 "and often met with awe, fear,
23:15 "and sometimes mistrust as well.
23:17 "So players who create Aetherweavers should consider
23:18 "the responsibility they carry with these gifts
23:20 "and determine how brazenly they use
23:21 "their mystical abilities as well."
23:23 So you're doubling up on being an attention drawer.
23:27 Be careful. (laughs)
23:28 TRAVIS: Yeah. TALIESIN: Oh,
23:29 I'm going to be a vibe. SAM: Just like Taliesin.
23:30 TRAVIS: I like the idea of an unwanted gift,
23:33 realizing that having divine power
23:36 would bring that sort of unwanted attention.
23:37 And for whatever reason, even with the gods absent,
23:40 this character has some semblances,
23:44 small flashes of divine power, and hates it.
23:46 MARISHA: That's cool. MATT: That's fun.
23:47 MARISHA: A little self-loathing there.
23:48 TRAVIS: Has to hide it. Yeah.
23:49 MARISHA: That's cool. TRAVIS: Doesn't deserve it,
23:50 wasn't seeking it,
23:51 doesn't know why he's got it.
23:52 MATT: Is there any distinction or relationship to the gods
23:55 within the knowledge of divine power?
23:57 Do you hate what they've done
23:59 and despise that this gift has found you,
24:00 or are you trying to understand it better?
24:02 TRAVIS: I think trying to understand it better,
24:03 but previously had disdain for the gods.
24:06 MATT: Okay, cool. TRAVIS: Or just
24:06 the semblance of them.
24:07 And whenever this stuff starts to happen,
24:09 it's like, "Fuck!
24:10 "What?"
24:11 MATT: Cool. Cool!
24:12 All right.
24:13 So for ancestries, you want to decide on that
24:16 while you're still thinking your class there.
24:17 ASHLEY: I think I know-- TALIESIN: I already know--
24:18 MATT: You think you know? SAM: Oh, she's got something.
24:19 MARISHA: Huh? Huh? MATT: What you got?
24:20 ASHLEY: Well, I'll let you do your thing.
24:22 (laughter)
24:24 TALIESIN: I already know what I want.
24:26 MATT: What do you want? TALIESIN: To be a faerie.
24:27 (laughter) ASHLEY: I know!
24:29 TRAVIS: Spotlight!
24:29 We need a spotlight. MATT: There we go.
24:30 TRAVIS: We need a big four gauge. TALIESIN: I got my shit.
24:31 MATT: Y'all can--
24:32 ASHLEY: I have a few ideas
24:35 and I feel like all of them could be fun.
24:37 SAM: Talk them out and maybe they'll sound better or worse
24:41 coming out of your mouth. ASHLEY: Well, sure. Sure.
24:43 One of them, I have really wanted,
24:45 because some of the artwork in "Daggerheart,"
24:48 there's always been that really hot orc woman.
24:50 MARISHA: Oh yeah! TALIESIN: Yeah!
24:51 ASHLEY: And I'm like, "God,
24:52 "I feel like a hot orc woman."
24:54 We haven't had one of those.
24:56 MARISHA: Yeah.
24:57 ASHLEY: But that's purely based on looks,
24:59 and I don't know if-- SAM: Sure.
25:00 TRAVIS: Hey, inspiration
25:01 can come from anything. MATT: Fit your vibe.
25:02 ASHLEY: It can come from anything!
25:03 But I feel like I want to play a clank.
25:06 MATT: Okay. MARISHA: Oh!
25:08 ASHLEY: Because I have another little idea, a-brewing.
25:12 When I was reading through
25:13 some of these materials. SAM: (robotic) Do you have
25:14 a voice in mind?
25:16 ASHLEY: (robotic) It is going to sound
25:17 like this the whole time. (laughter)
25:19 ASHLEY: Is this going to bother anyone?
25:20 TALIESIN: Full "Flight of the Conchords" here.
25:22 Okay. (laughter)
25:22 ASHLEY: No, I have an idea, though, but--
25:24 TALIESIN: (robotic) It is the year 2000.
25:26 SAM: (laughs)
25:26 TRAVIS: (shaky) I would like you to turn left.
25:28 (laughter)
25:30 MATT: (robotic) The humans are dead.
25:31 MARISHA: (laughs)
25:33 ASHLEY: I think I'm going to go with clank, though.
25:35 MATT: You're going to go with the clank?
25:36 Okay. You want to give the clank card? ASHLEY: Because I have a way--
25:38 I think I have some ideas to make it a little creepy.
25:40 MATT: A couple things to note here.
25:42 There are ancestry specifics
25:44 to this campaign frame to note for some of them.
25:48 For faeries-- TALIESIN: Mm-hmm.
25:49 MATT: It is noted that faeries are more sensitive
25:51 to the Soul Blight
25:52 that exists in the Halcyon Domain than other ancestries,
25:55 which causes your physical appearance
25:56 to develop in jagged and monstrous ways.
25:58 TRAVIS: Ooh!
25:59 MATT: So the faeries in this realm
26:00 are generally affected by
26:03 the land's corruption. MARISHA: So you're
26:04 going to be monstrous? MATT: So keep that in mind.
26:06 TALIESIN: Oh, I'm there. ASHLEY: Very cool!
26:07 MATT: Okay, I figured you would be.
26:08 As far as clanks are concerned in the Age of Umbra,
26:11 clanks are often carved from stone and iron,
26:14 and were originally developed as vessels
26:16 for holy spirits and messengers.
26:18 So many stopped functioning
26:20 when we came into the Age of Umbra,
26:22 and became statues when the gods left
26:23 the house that they made. ASHLEY: Yes!
26:24 When I read that last night, I was like,
26:26 "That's really cool!" SAM: Wait, wait.
26:27 Oh shit, I was reading the card!
26:29 What did you just say?
26:30 What became a statue?
26:31 MATT: Well, the clanks in the Age of Umbra
26:33 used to be constructed vessels of stone and iron
26:36 and wood for holy spirits to come in through
26:39 and speak from the gods. SAM: Cool, cool, cool.
26:40 MATT: Then when they and the Age of Umbra began,
26:42 they all went inert and became statues.
26:45 SAM: Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha.
26:46 MATT: So for clanks to start coming to life again--
26:49 SAM: Cool. MATT: -- within this space,
26:50 consider what purpose you've come through,
26:53 what spirit has found you,
26:56 what purpose are you seeking?
26:58 You know, these are all things to keep in mind
26:59 for your clank.
27:00 Because you were once a constructed holy vessel,
27:03 more or less,
27:04 that has probably been inert for a number of decades.
27:07 Or not! ASHLEY: Kind of just--
27:08 Maybe it's been around this whole time.
27:09 You get to tell me.
27:10 MARISHA: Are there any other fun ones in there
27:13 when it comes to ancestries?
27:15 MATT: Two other ancestries that have specifics here
27:17 that are different than what you normally
27:18 see across Daggerheart.
27:21 Ribbets in the Age of Umbra
27:23 are actually large, often six to eight feet tall,
27:27 and prefer to skulk on all fours
27:29 when not leaping or standing still.
27:30 So larger, swollen frogs
27:32 as opposed to-- TRAVIS: Badass.
27:33 MATT: -- cute, little ribbits. TRAVIS: Like a bull frog?
27:34 MATT: Yeah. TRAVIS: Yeah.
27:35 MATT: They're a little more (deep croaking)
27:37 TRAVIS: Yes!
27:39 MATT: Then the drakona
27:41 in here and in the Halcyon Domain,
27:43 drakona are taller and more reptilian
27:45 in both physicality and proportions.
27:47 They lean forward as they move,
27:48 using their tails to balance their weight.
27:50 So they're a little more dinosaur drakona
27:54 than perhaps the proud dragonborn we're used to.
27:58 TRAVIS: Dope!
27:59 MATT: So you get to think of that lean
28:01 into that reptilian monstrous aesthetic.
28:04 SAM: Cool!
28:05 MARISHA: Maybe, Ashley, if you're okay with it,
28:10 maybe I'll be the hot orc lady.
28:12 ASHLEY: Yes! MARISHA: Okay.
28:13 ASHLEY: Give us a hot orc. MARISHA: Unless you want to do
28:16 something like that down the road? ASHLEY: No, we just need
28:17 a hot orc lady on the table.
28:18 MARISHA: Okay. TALIESIN: I agree.
28:19 MARISHA: Maybe I'll be a hot orc lady. SAM: That's a necessity.
28:21 It says it in the book.
28:22 ASHLEY: And I will flirt with her and
28:23 I will make her my girlfriend. SAM: Ever table have to have
28:24 a hot orc lady. (laughter)
28:27 MARISHA: Let's go! Round two, baby!
28:28 TALIESIN: Are are we speaking the unspoken part now?
28:30 Okay. (laughter)
28:31 TALIESIN: All right.
28:33 MATT: And so-- TALIESIN: No, I'm good.
28:34 MATT: So he's still choosing his ancestry.
28:37 TALIESIN: You want the deck or you good?
28:39 Oh, you got the deck.
28:40 SAM: He passed on those.
28:41 TALIESIN: Okay. SAM: Did you have a deck
28:42 over there? Are you good? TALIESIN: I'm done.
28:43 I pulled mine first.
28:44 SAM: Okay, great.
28:45 MATT: Awesome. TALIESIN: I know my aesthetic.
28:47 MATT: (laughs)
28:48 SAM: You always do!
28:49 TALIESIN: Yes.
28:50 Start from the aesthetic, work your way down.
28:51 MARISHA: Are you going to be a faerie?
28:52 TALIESIN: Yeah.
28:53 ASHLEY: Yes! Yes! MARISHA: (laughs)
28:54 A faerie wizard? TALIESIN: Yeah.
28:56 MARISHA: Just you're the biggest problem.
28:58 TALIESIN: Weirdly, no.
28:59 I've got an idea.
29:00 MARISHA: You've got a vibe?
29:02 You've got thoughts?
29:02 TALIESIN: I got thoughts.
29:03 MARISHA: (laughs) MATT: What are you going with?
29:04 TRAVIS: Human. MATT: Human. Hell yeah!
29:06 MARISHA: Nice! Nice! TALIESIN: I'm not going
29:08 to be pretty. MATT: Humans have
29:09 some fun abilities. ASHLEY: Wait, what did
29:10 you guys choose? TALIESIN: Well I'm--
29:11 There's a fetish for everything.
29:11 TRAVIS: I was infernis. I went human instead.
29:13 TALIESIN: I'm going to find a pretty--
29:14 ASHLEY: Interesting!
29:16 Do you want to say what you are?
29:17 SAM: Yes, of course.
29:18 I think that's the purpose of this event
29:20 is to say what we're doing. MATT: For you guys to figure out
29:21 what you're doing. Yeah. SAM: Yeah.
29:23 I chose faun.
29:24 MARISHA and ASHLEY: (gasp) TALIESIN: Ooh!
29:26 SAM: Because I thought, if I'm speedy,
29:29 I could-- (laughter)
29:31 TRAVIS: Like a caribou!
29:31 SAM: Leap over stuff.
29:33 I could be a little-- TRAVIS: Antelope!
29:35 SAM: A little deer, a little fucked up deer.
29:37 (laughter)
29:38 SAM: Or an antelope or something.
29:39 MARISHA: That's cool! MATT: That's pretty fun!
29:40 SAM: Yeah. MARISHA: Centaur Scanlan
29:41 really awoke something in you.
29:42 TRAVIS: Then a cheetah katari breaks out of the trees and
29:45 starts fucking chasing you. SAM: Oh no! Oh no!
29:46 Oh no! (laughter)
29:47 I act dead! I act dead! TRAVIS: You shit and piss
29:48 all over yourself as you run!
29:50 (laughter)
29:50 MATT: Do you know how the legs work
29:52 yet? SAM: Yeah.
29:54 All the joints are backwards.
29:56 TRAVIS: Reverse knees. ASHLEY: Leg backwards.
29:57 MARISHA: (laughs) SAM: Yeah.
29:58 MATT: Cool. Okay.
29:59 SAM: And there's hooves. TRAVIS: "Cool."
30:01 (laughs)
30:02 SAM: With horseshoes.
30:03 MATT: You got it. You got it.
30:04 MARISHA: Wait, you could be almost like what I was doing
30:06 for the Christmas show,
30:08 where you can be creepy deer-like--
30:11 SAM: Creepy deer.
30:12 MARISHA: You can be, you know?
30:14 SAM: Sure. MARISHA: Yeah.
30:15 MATT: Yeah. ASHLEY: Krampus-y?
30:16 MARISHA: Yeah.
30:17 The Leshy was my inspiration
30:20 for the Christmas show. SAM: There's deer,
30:21 there's elk, there's moose?
30:22 I don't want to be a moose.
30:23 They're not fast. (laughter)
30:25 MATT: You could also lean in the more human side
30:26 and have the lesser faun feature,
30:28 or you can lean more into the animalistic side,
30:30 lesser human features. There's a whole spectrum there--
30:31 TRAVIS: Mr. Tumnus. MATT: -- you can decide on.
30:33 SAM: Okay. ASHLEY: Mr. Tumnus.
30:34 MATT: Awesome! So we have a faun.
30:36 SAM: Faun ranger.
30:37 MATT: We have orc-- MARISHA: Orc guardian.
30:38 MATT: -- we have human. ASHLEY: Cool.
30:40 MATT: We have a clank and we have faerie.
30:43 TALIESIN: I will sprinkle you
30:44 with pixie dust. MATT: Awesome!
30:45 Now we're going to move on to the communities here.
30:47 So for instance,
30:49 like I said, the materials I gave for you guys,
30:50 for the communities,
30:51 but highborne and slyborne,
30:54 generally are part of,
30:56 or at least grew up near
30:58 and within communities that are remnants of the Old World.
31:03 So the capital cities of this region,
31:07 a lot of them still stand,
31:08 though the structures themselves are abandoned
31:10 or crumbling into ruin.
31:12 There are pockets and settlements that still exist
31:14 in these spaces and have fortified them.
31:17 So you can come from a highborne community.
31:21 There are places where these exist in there,
31:23 they're just rare and often a little falling apart
31:27 from the inside.
31:28 Slyborne, of course, there is definitely a lot
31:30 of communities that are a little less into the idea
31:35 of, "Let us all work together and survive,"
31:37 and more like, "We'll take from you
31:39 "what's helped you survive,
31:40 "and then that'll help us survive."
31:43 Loreborne and orderborne,
31:45 there are temples and there are libraries and
31:49 grand athenaeums that exist throughout this landscape
31:52 that themselves have become strongholds.
31:55 You know, the last remnants of research and history
31:59 and lore are being kept as best as they can be
32:03 by these orders from the age before
32:05 that have passed it down from generation to generation.
32:07 So you could've come from or been part of
32:09 some of these older societies and
32:12 that could be the settlement we're beginning with,
32:15 or it could be you've come from that
32:16 and that was destroyed
32:17 and you fled from it and have come to this settlement.
32:20 Those are things you can consider.
32:21 But we're going to ahead and pass around
32:22 these communities for you to consider.
32:26 MARISHA: Do you know what? TALIESIN: Underborne.
32:27 MARISHA: You're going to go underborne. Okay.
32:28 SAM: Underborne. TALIESIN: Yep.
32:30 SAM: That's Underworld-y seedy stuff?
32:33 Let's see here. TALIESIN: Cave.
32:35 SAM: Oh, cave people! MATT: Yeah, subterranean
32:36 TALIESIN: Cave people. SAM: Cave people.
32:37 ASHLEY: Cool.
32:39 SAM: Are we all going to be part of the same group,
32:43 or area?
32:45 MARISHA: Are we coming together? ASHLEY: Are we meeting in a tavern?
32:47 MATT: That's up to you guys.
32:48 I mean, you all can be part of the same settlement,
32:51 all collected from other scattered settlements,
32:53 some that may have fallen
32:55 or you may have come here as part of a means
32:59 of inter-community trade,
33:01 and then decided you like it here better and stayed.
33:04 It could be that some of you are from one community
33:07 and some of you from another,
33:08 and our game begins as you arrive
33:10 as messengers or traders
33:14 from another community.
33:16 These are the things we can talk about
33:17 and figure out as we progress throughout
33:19 TRAVIS: Traders or traitors?
33:20 MATT: This could represent the community that you have now
33:22 or it can represent a community that you have
33:24 spent a lot of time with,
33:26 but might no longer be a part of.
33:28 SAM: Gotcha.
33:29 TALIESIN: I can go any way.
33:30 If we want to all be in the same place to start with,
33:32 or if we want to have two or otherwise.
33:34 SAM: Mm-hmm.
33:35 MARISHA: You said there were Pyrekeepers.
33:39 MARISHA: You said there were Pyre Keepers.
33:41 MATT: Mm-hmm.
33:44 MARISHA: If my hot orc girl--
33:47 TRAVIS: (laughs)
33:48 MARISHA: -- was a Pyrekeeper and then branched out,
33:50 would that be an orderborne type of situation?
33:53 MATT: That could be. MARISHA: Or is that more of
33:55 like, is that considered a high status role
33:59 or more of like a peons
34:01 that are just shoveling coal into the--
34:04 MATT: Usually it's considered fairly reverent.
34:09 You are considered one of the people
34:11 that keeps the settlement alive.
34:13 ASHLEY: Good throw!
34:14 MATT: So it comes with station,
34:15 it comes with respect.
34:17 It also comes with the responsibility
34:18 of never leaving the Pyre.
34:21 So if you were to be a Pyrekeeper in some degree,
34:26 consider why you would leave that station.
34:29 MARISHA: Hmm. Mm.
34:30 SAM: Keep burning my fucking hands.
34:31 TRAVIS: Here you go. MARISHA: (laughs)
34:32 (hisses)
34:33 MATT: I mean that could very well be a viable thing.
34:35 SAM: (laughs)
34:36 MARISHA: Here's ridgeborne, if anyone wants ridgeborne.
34:37 MATT: Yeah, because often Pyrekeepers
34:39 don't lead the settlement.
34:40 In fact, a lot of people love the position of Pyrekeeper,
34:44 and vie to become a Pyrekeeper within a community
34:49 because it means they're always provided for
34:52 and they're always safe.
34:53 SAM: Mm. MARISHA: Hmm.
34:54 MATT: But it also means they don't go anywhere.
34:56 MARISHA: Hmm.
34:57 TRAVIS: Going underborne.
35:00 MARISHA: And you're doing underborne?
35:01 TRAVIS: Yep. ASHLEY: What if like--
35:03 TALIESIN: Yeah, it's not just--
35:04 MARISHA: Is anyone with sly--
35:05 Are you looking at slyborne?
35:06 TALIESIN: I'll give you the rundown of it.
35:08 SAM: That's the underworld, scoundrel-y.
35:11 TRAVIS: And we're at least 100 years into this Age of Umbra?
35:14 MATT: Correct. TRAVIS: Yeah, okay.
35:15 Yeah, definitely underborne.
35:18 MARISHA: Yeah, that's a vibe. TRAVIS: Born into a family
35:20 or a group of peoples that definitely
35:22 took to caverns or underground dwellings
35:24 as a presumed natural advantage
35:27 against what was happening out in the wilds.
35:29 Except, as we all know,
35:32 shit lies in the deep.
35:33 ASHLEY: Okay. We'll think on it. MATT: Oh yeah.
35:34 Very much so. TALIESIN: We'll talk.
35:35 But yeah, there's a lot of different--
35:37 MATT: So you're underborne? TALIESIN: There's some options.
35:38 TRAVIS: Underborne. Human underborne.
35:39 MATT: So you both you and Taliesin
35:40 chose underborne, so you both could consider some,
35:43 if you want to,
35:44 some point in which you both either came
35:47 from the same community or--
35:49 TALIESIN: How much of a Cronenberg nightmare
35:50 are you willing to have come from?
35:52 ASHLEY: (laughs)
35:53 TRAVIS: What the fuck does that mean?
35:55 (laughter)
35:56 TALIESIN: I feel like I couldn't have been clearer.
35:58 (laughter)
36:00 MATT: We can get into that later, but--
36:01 TALIESIN: We can get into that later.
36:02 MATT: But things to consider.
36:03 TALIESIN: I have a home village in mind.
36:06 I don't have to be there.
36:07 There's lots of options.
36:08 But the place I come from is a horror show.
36:11 TRAVIS: Oh great.
36:12 No. Yeah. TALIESIN: Just saying,
36:13 it will probably-- yeah.
36:14 It may, specifically, even gross you out.
36:17 (laughter) TALIESIN: Excited.
36:18 MATT: Okay!
36:21 All right, so you got ridgeborne, you're thinking?
36:23 SAM: I'm going ridgeborne,
36:24 and now I'm thinking my faun is maybe
36:27 more like a mountain goat sort of vibe.
36:29 MATT: (laughs) (bouncing)
36:31 SAM: Yeah.
36:32 But human mountain goat.
36:33 ASHLEY: Little billy goat?
36:34 SAM: Yeah, little human Billy.
36:36 MATT: Every now and then you turn around
36:37 and you're just up on the wall
36:38 on this tiny little ledge.
36:39 SAM: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. MATT: It doesn't look
36:40 like it should be working. SAM: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
36:42 TRAVIS: Just posted up. Defying physics.
36:43 MATT: I'm good.
36:44 ASHLEY: -- and then we'll talk. SAM: Exactly.
36:45 MATT: Great! I love it!
36:47 TALIESIN: Yeah, I'll give you--
36:48 and I'm happy to bend to things
36:50 that you think would be fun.
36:51 ASHLEY: Oh, same.
36:51 TALIESIN: I've literally only--
36:53 This is only eight minutes of work so far.
36:54 MARISHA: Somewhere between. ASHLEY: Yeah, same.
36:55 TALIESIN: I'm feeling good about it. ASHLEY: Yeah, yeah, yeah
36:56 MARISHA: Orderborne and wanderborne.
36:58 SAM, MARISHA and TALIESIN: ♪ Wanderborne ♪
37:00 (laughter)
37:02 MARISHA: I know!
37:03 TALIESIN: (laughs) TRAVIS: I'll do that.
37:04 I'll do slyborne instead of underborne,
37:06 that way there's a little difference.
37:07 That's cool. MATT: Yeah.
37:08 TRAVIS: That works, too.
37:09 Great. ASHLEY: (grunts)
37:11 MARISHA: Hmm.
37:12 SAM: And those two things.
37:14 I was out for some of our last Daggerheart-y
37:19 MATT: Yeah, handling a few things.
37:20 SAM: Those two things become my Heritage, right?
37:22 MATT: Correct. SAM: Ridgeborne faun.
37:25 MATT: You are correct.
37:26 SAM: Okay.
37:28 MATT: So when you're done writing down your Heritage
37:30 on your character sheet--
37:33 MARISHA: Yeah, I'm going to go all in.
37:34 I'm going to go all in on orderborne.
37:36 ASHLEY: All right. MATT: There you go.
37:37 ASHLEY: I want to talk some things out.
37:39 MATT: Yeah. What you got?
37:40 ASHLEY: I'm going to talk some things out. MATT: Let's do it!
37:41 SAM: (mumbles) You're an orderborne orc?
37:42 MARISHA: (laughs)
37:43 ASHLEY: So with a clank-- SAM: (mumbles) You're an orderborne orc.
37:45 MATT: (mumbles) A guardian orderborne orc.
37:47 SAM: (mumbles) An orderborne orc!
37:48 MARISHA: (mumbles) A guardian orderborne orc.
37:49 TALIESIN: Nyork, nyork, nyork.
37:51 MATT: Sorry, Ashley wants to talk some things out.
37:52 SAM: Sorry. ASHLEY: No, you're fine.
37:54 MATT: What's up, Ashley?
37:55 ASHLEY: Okay, so I'm--
37:56 TRAVIS: (snores)
37:57 (laughter)
37:58 ASHLEY: I know! It takes me a minute.
38:00 MATT: It's okay!
38:01 ASHLEY: So-- SAM: So I'm thinking bard.
38:02 ASHLEY: (laughs)
38:04 Well, okay. So--
38:06 I have this idea, which I feel like could be cool
38:09 with a bard, but it's more of like,
38:11 I don't really know how to play it in a game.
38:14 MATT: Okay. ASHLEY: But there's
38:15 a part of me that's like, if I was a clank,
38:18 and then we're out in the woods
38:20 and my bard ability is a music box,
38:23 and thinking of how creepy that would sound in the woods
38:25 of cranking it up. MARISHA: Mm!
38:27 ASHLEY: ♪ (music box) ♪
38:28 I don't know.
38:29 Maybe I was a highborne kids' toy.
38:32 TRAVIS: That sounds horrifying!
38:33 MARISHA: That sounds fucking awesome!
38:35 ASHLEY: So that's why I was like,
38:36 I feel like I like that creepy--
38:40 Yeah, they're creepy.
38:41 MATT: Well, think like,
38:44 music boxes are a really, really cool thing
38:46 you can toy with, keeping it's a creepy sound.
38:49 The winding mechanic lends its own--
38:51 that means you have a clockwork interior,
38:53 which is its own fun vibe.
38:55 And that could be an interesting element.
38:57 If you want to keep leaning into the music aspect
38:59 of the bard, you know,
39:00 if you want to be leaning
39:01 into more of the holy vessel element,
39:02 there could be almost
39:05 flute-like holes within the body
39:07 that give off different discordant sounds
39:09 as wind passes through them.
39:11 ASHLEY: Whoa!
39:12 MATT: Almost like you can summon
39:13 odd, holy-sounding discord from your body.
39:15 TRAVIS: Aztec whistles.
39:16 MATT: Yeah.
39:17 ASHLEY: Yeah. MATT: That sort of vibe.
39:20 If you're worried about music stuff for any reason,
39:23 bards can also be, orators,
39:24 they could just speak or be good with words
39:28 to give inspiration to those around them.
39:32 But yeah, there are different ways
39:33 you can play the bard, definitely.
39:34 But music box sounds like a really, really cool way
39:37 that you could go if you want to lean
39:38 into that clockwork clank
39:42 who had a purpose as a vessel of the holy spirit,
39:45 and as that vessel,
39:48 music was its way of exemplifying the message
39:53 as it was received in translation.
39:55 ASHLEY: I think I'm going to go with that.
39:57 I feel like it makes sense for what I'm thinking.
40:00 MATT: Okay. ASHLEY: So now I don't know
40:01 whether I would be highborne or orderborne.
40:06 MATT: Highborne means that you would likely have come
40:10 from a more established community that fell.
40:16 The highborne communities fell the hardest
40:18 when the gods punished the realm.
40:22 ASHLEY: Okay.
40:24 MATT: So you likely were amongst the affluence
40:28 of the great age before,
40:32 and was lost to time until, eventually,
40:35 you found yourself for whatever
40:36 your renewed purpose may be,
40:38 whatever spirit or soul has found you since
40:41 and claims your body for its use.
40:43 ASHLEY: I kind of want to go highborne.
40:44 MARISHA: Yeah. ASHLEY: Because I like
40:46 that really big fall.
40:48 MATT: Okay.
40:48 Let's go.
40:49 ASHLEY: Yeah. MARISHA: And that works, too,
40:51 if you had a divine purpose.
40:54 ASHLEY: Yeah! MARISHA: You know?
40:55 ASHLEY: Yeah. MARISHA: That's cool.
40:56 That's really cool.
40:57 SAM: And the Umbra, Matt,
40:59 the Umbra is out there.
41:02 Is it in the distance?
41:04 Can we see it?
41:05 Is it everywhere?
41:06 Is it just in the shadows?
41:08 What-- MATT: So the corruption
41:10 of the Umbra lingers everywhere.
41:12 like a soot, if you will.
41:16 But the actual entity that is the Umbra is always out there.
41:21 You just don't know where.
41:23 Sometimes you can hear the distant echoing
41:25 of the horrible wailing,
41:27 like a wind in the distance.
41:30 And if it's getting louder--
41:32 ASHLEY: What you got?
41:33 MATT: It's about to get real bad.
41:35 SAM: Okay.
41:36 Okay. TALIESIN: Oh yeah.
41:36 SAM: So it's like a storm that can gather at any moment?
41:39 MATT: It's a force of nature
41:40 that is perpetually meandering,
41:41 sometimes slowly, sometimes fiercely.
41:43 SAM: Okay. Cool.
41:47 Spooky.
41:48 MATT: All right, so we've all chosen Heritages?
41:50 TRAVIS: Mm-hmm.
41:51 MATT: Great! SAM: Heriti?
41:53 MATT: Now we will assign character traits to your characters.
41:56 So you have your attributes to distribute,
41:59 a negative one, two zeros,
42:02 two plus ones, and a plus two.
42:05 Wherever you desire them to be amongst your attributes.
42:08 Why not?
42:09 While we're here, since we're in the base,
42:10 let's choose your subclasses
42:12 that you want to choose for your various classes.
42:14 TALIESIN: -- for a subclass.
42:15 MATT: So for the bard,
42:20 there you can choose either troubadour or wordsmith.
42:22 If you want to pass those along.
42:26 SAM: Stats.
42:27 MATT: For the guardian,
42:28 you can either choose stalwart or vengeance guardian.
42:33 MARISHA: Vengeance!
42:36 MATT: For the ranger, you can do beastbound or wayfinder.
42:39 SAM: That's right!
42:42 MARISHA: Two stress. Where's that other one?
42:44 MATT: For the seraph-- MARISHA: Oh, that's crazy!
42:46 MATT: -- you could be divine wielder or winged sentinel.
42:52 And then for the wizard,
42:54 you have the school of knowledge
42:56 or the school of war.
42:57 TRAVIS: Hello, Jaime Lannister. TALIESIN: Awesome!
42:58 MARISHA: Mm-hmm.
42:59 SAM: Ooh! MARISHA: Yes, totally!
43:01 TRAVIS: Yeah, I've always called him Jaime Lannister.
43:04 ASHLEY: Yes. Yes.
43:07 TRAVIS: Do I know--
43:08 ASHLEY: Jeremy Lannister. TRAVIS: Jeremy Lannister.
43:10 MATT: Jeremy Lannister! (laughter)
43:12 TRAVIS: Jeremy Ren-Lannister.
43:14 MARISHA: Hmm.
43:17 SAM: Hmm!
43:19 MARISHA: Man!
43:20 An additional armor slot. ASHLEY: (laughs)
43:22 TRAVIS: (mumbled reading)
43:24 TALIESIN: I sent you two. ASHLEY: (laughs)
43:25 TALIESIN: I don't know if you've ever seen that.
43:26 That's for later. ASHLEY: I've never seen
43:27 either of these. TALIESIN: You're going
43:28 to really enjoy it.
43:28 ASHLEY: I'm very excited.
43:29 SAM: I think I'm going to go--
43:30 TALIESIN: Just felt the need to--
43:31 SAM: -- wayfinder because that would help me.
43:35 MATT: It definitely feels in the bailiwick
43:37 of the character you're building.
43:38 SAM: Yeah! Yeah.
43:39 I can find quick paths to places
43:42 and I have a little extra bonus when attacking.
43:48 MATT: All right. Travis, you went with the divine wielder?
43:50 TRAVIS: Divine wielder.
43:52 MATT: Awesome.
43:53 TALIESIN: Oh!
43:54 TRAVIS: Fly is very attractive,
43:55 but that seems to be really, really obvious.
43:59 MATT: It definitely draws attention!
44:00 TRAVIS: Yeah, it draws a lot of attention.
44:03 MATT: (laughs) You're not wrong.
44:04 TRAVIS: I'll help you!
44:06 (rumbles)
44:07 MARISHA: For stalwart-- TRAVIS: (high-pitched) Is he flying?
44:08 MATT: Yes?
44:09 MARISHA: Iron Will. MATT: Mm-hmm.
44:11 MARISHA: "When you take physical damage,
44:12 "you can mark an additional armor slot
44:14 "to reduce the severity."
44:16 MATT: Correct. MARISHA: Is that because, normally,
44:17 you can only do that once?
44:19 MATT: Correct.
44:20 So you could mark two armor slots
44:22 from a single point of damage
44:24 and reduce it by two points, if you wanted to.
44:25 MARISHA: Wow! MATT: So when
44:26 they hit you with severe,
44:27 you could spend two slots and reduce it to minor.
44:30 MARISHA: Let's do that.
44:31 TALIESIN: Firstly, remind myself that this man--
44:33 SAM: This Ruthless Predator feature,
44:36 when I make a damage roll,
44:37 I can mark a stress to gain a plus one bonus
44:40 to my proficiency?
44:41 MATT: Correct.
44:42 SAM: Proficiency--
44:43 MATT: Is the number of dice you roll for damage.
44:45 SAM: That's right! MATT: Your weapon.
44:46 SAM: Okay, so I can hit harder.
44:47 MATT: Yeah, you can mark a stress
44:49 to roll an additional dice of damage
44:50 with your weapon. SAM: Cool.
44:51 I love it.
44:52 MATT: And you went with school of--
44:55 All right.
44:57 TALIESIN: School of knowledge.
44:58 ASHLEY: We have four Hope to start with, did you say?
45:00 TALIESIN: Two Hope. ASHLEY: Two Hope.
45:02 We have all of it, the Hope,
45:03 to start with? MATT: Yeah. 17 Hope.
45:05 TRAVIS: (laughs)
45:06 TALIESIN: Got it. MATT: (laughs)
45:06 TALIESIN: It's all downhill from here.
45:09 MATT: And we have five players,
45:10 so I start with five Fear.
45:12 SAM: Ooh! MATT: Which is fun.
45:14 I'll note that when it comes time.
45:16 MARISHA: It smells so good!
45:18 ASHLEY: I can't smell it. SAM: The book?
45:19 MARISHA: It's good book smell. TRAVIS: Yeah, it is.
45:21 MATT: So now that we have class stuff,
45:22 Heritage stuff figured out, Traits,
45:24 and your Evasion and Hope.
45:25 Now we can do starting equipment.
45:26 There should be some equipment sheets on the table.
45:29 SAM: There are.
45:30 MATT: Take a look at those.
45:31 And you can figure out your starting equipment there.
45:34 MARISHA: (laughs)
45:36 TALIESIN: Let us see.
45:37 SAM: Oh, and I can cast,
45:42 I can do magic?
45:44 TRAVIS: Question mark. MATT: Yes.
45:46 We'll get to that with your domain cards,
45:48 which will be after this.
45:49 SAM: But I can pick a magical primary weapon?
45:54 MATT: Yeah, if you want to. SAM: Okay. Okay.
45:55 MATT: It's your choice if you want to use a physical weapon
45:59 or a magical weapon,
46:00 based on the type of damage.
46:03 MARISHA: Going to try for greatsword.
46:05 That's what I'm going to do.
46:06 MATT: Go for it.
46:09 SAM: Oh man!
46:12 I can't choose!
46:14 TALIESIN: I'm--
46:16 SAM: I can't choose!
46:18 TALIESIN: I'm going to be weird.
46:19 I think that's good.
46:20 SAM: What I really want is a boomerang,
46:23 (laughs)
46:24 but that's not on the list.
46:26 MARISHA: You want a boomerang?
46:27 SAM: (laughs)
46:28 MATT: You can take something and spin it as a boomerang,
46:31 if you want to. MARISHA: Yeah.
46:35 ASHLEY: Man, that Returning Blade is kind of cool.
46:38 TALIESIN: Okay it's two-handed,
46:39 so yeah, you don't get a--
46:42 MATT: Depends on what you're vibing with.
46:43 TRAVIS: Going Halberd.
46:44 ASHLEY: When this weapon is thrown--
46:45 MATT: Yeah!
46:46 Go polearms, baby.
46:47 TRAVIS: Yeah, buddy!
46:49 I've not done a polearm ever.
46:53 Have to figure out a cool-looking
46:58 warhead for that.
46:59 ASHLEY: What can I do for Returning Blade?
47:01 MARISHA: Okay.
47:02 TRAVIS: Halberd.
47:04 SAM: Trait, Agility.
47:06 MARISHA: I never do characters like this.
47:08 This is going to be fun.
47:10 SAM: And then I get a secondary weapon?
47:11 Oh my god!
47:12 MATT: If you want to.
47:13 You don't have to. SAM: Oh my god!
47:16 And it has to be agility based?
47:19 MATT: It doesn't have to be,
47:20 that's just letting you know--
47:21 SAM: If I want to use it well.
47:22 MATT: It could also be another one of sets.
47:24 It's just one less than that.
47:25 SAM: Okay. Okay.
47:26 MATT: Up to you.
47:29 SAM: Okay. MATT: So you chose
47:30 the Glowing Rings as a boomerang?
47:31 SAM: Yeah, the Glowing Boomer-rings
47:33 MATT: Glowing Boomer-rings.
47:34 (laughter)
47:35 MATT: Is that two-handed?
47:37 MARISHA: (laughs)
47:39 SAM: It is.
47:40 So that's it, for me.
47:41 MATT: So that would be your--
47:42 I mean, you could have a secondary weapon, if you want to--
47:44 SAM: But it wouldn't have equipped.
47:45 MATT: But you have to spend a stamina,
47:48 or sorry, a stress to switch.
47:50 SAM: Gotcha.
47:51 So I'll just have something in my inventory.
47:54 MATT: If you want to. SAM: Okay.
47:56 MARISHA: My evasion is currently sitting at six.
47:59 MATT: Great!
48:00 MARISHA: Because I'm taking a greatsword, which is heavy.
48:03 MATT: Mm-hmm. MARISHA: Which gives me
48:04 minus one to evasion.
48:05 But I get to roll two damage die
48:07 and I get to take the highest.
48:09 MATT: Great!
48:10 MARISHA: Or discard the lowest,
48:10 however you want to phrase it.
48:12 And then, I'm taking full plate armor,
48:16 which is very heavy,
48:17 so it gives me minus two to evasion
48:19 and minus one two agility.
48:21 MATT: Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
48:22 You are the definition of a tank, really.
48:26 (laughs)
48:30 SAM: Okay.
48:33 MATT: You got your armor chosen?
48:34 SAM: Oh!
48:36 I got starting armor.
48:38 Starting armor-harmor.
48:39 MARISHA: Hardy-harmor. MATT: (laughs)
48:40 TALIESIN: Harden-harmor.
48:42 Mark it.
48:43 ASHLEY: Oh, that's also whip.
48:46 TALIESIN: Melee range.
48:47 ASHLEY: Mark a stress to crack the whip.
48:49 TRAVIS: Whip Wheaton.
48:50 (laughter)
48:56 TALIESIN: Oh no!
48:57 ASHLEY: Plus one armor.
48:58 SAM: Gambeson Armor?
49:01 What does "gambeson" mean?
49:02 MATT: Gambeson is like a heavy padded cloth kind of.
49:06 It's usually worn underneath heavier armor.
49:08 SAM: Oh! Yeah, yeah, yeah. MATT: It's a quilted,
49:10 thick, cloth armor. MARISHA: What fencers and stuff--
49:11 MATT: Yeah. MARISHA: Basically wear.
49:13 SAM: I'm going to go with that.
49:15 I like the name of it.
49:16 MATT: There you go. ASHLEY: Oh, you're picking
49:17 your armor as well.
49:18 Okay.
49:19 SAM: Base threshold's five 11.
49:22 Feature: plus one to evasion.
49:25 Yes!
49:27 I'm so evasive!
49:29 ASHLEY: Yeah, I'm going to go gambeson as well.
49:33 TRAVIS: Gambeson. ASHLEY: For clank?
49:35 I mean-- MATT: Sure. Yeah.
49:37 MARISHA: Did you guys know Omar was here?
49:39 SAM: (gasps) Hi Omar!
49:39 ASHLEY: Yes. MATT: He's been chilling.
49:41 MARISHA: He's just been napping.
49:42 MATT: It wouldn't be a session zero if he wasn't
49:43 just chilling nearby. MARISHA: Exactly.
49:44 He's our Daggerheart mascot.
49:47 He's happy to be here. MATT: Hey, buddy!
49:48 You've been so patient.
49:49 MARISHA: Hi, you. ASHLEY: Hi, baby boy!
49:51 MARISHA: Hi.
49:52 MATT: (laughs)
49:54 MARISHA: Hi.
49:56 ASHLEY: Hey, sweet boy.
49:58 MARISHA: (laughs)
50:01 You're funny.
50:03 MATT: Have you chosen your equipment, Taliesin?
50:04 TALIESIN: Yep. MATT: Awesome.
50:05 TALIESIN: I got myself a wand.
50:07 MATT: A wand?
50:07 TALIESIN: A wand.
50:08 MATT: What kind of armor did you get?
50:09 TALIESIN: I got the gambeson.
50:13 MATT: Okay. TALIESIN: Yeah.
50:14 MATT: Anything offhand as well, or for your--
50:16 TALIESIN: Yeah, I'm taking a grappler.
50:17 MATT: Grappler. Okay. Very cool.
50:19 TALIESIN: So it's going to be fun.
50:22 I can pull people close to me. It'll be great.
50:23 ASHLEY: ♪ It's going to be fun ♪
50:24 MATT: Greatsword.
50:25 TALIESIN: Come on in.
50:26 MATT: Heavy plate armor.
50:27 TALIESIN: Come on in. TRAVIS: That's a stretch!
50:30 ♪ It's going to be fun ♪
50:31 MATT: Glowing Boomer-ring.
50:33 SAM: Boomer-rings. MATT: (laughs)
50:34 SAM: And I have a secondary.
50:35 I have a crossbow, just in case there's a moment
50:37 where I need to (shooting). MATT: Got to switch it up.
50:39 Okay. SAM: Snipe somebody.
50:40 MATT: You got that.
50:41 You have greatsword?
50:42 MARISHA: Yes. MATT: All right.
50:43 And you, I'm sorry, we just said that.
50:44 And then you have--
50:45 TRAVIS: I have the halberd. MATT: Halberd.
50:46 TRAVIS: With the divine wielder,
50:47 so I could (whooshes)
50:49 throw the fucking--
50:51 MATT: (impact) That's cool!
50:53 And what kind of armor?
50:55 TRAVIS: Leather.
50:56 Just plain leather armor. MATT: Leather armor.
50:57 Cool beans.
50:59 And Ashley?
51:00 ASHLEY: I have the Returning Blade.
51:01 MATT: Returning Blade. Great.
51:02 ASHLEY: And then the gambeson armor.
51:04 MATT: Cool.
51:05 ASHLEY: So the base threshold's five.
51:07 What does that mean?
51:09 Oh, five 11?
51:10 TALIESIN: It's where the-- yeah.
51:10 SAM: Minor, major, and severe.
51:12 ASHLEY: Oh, that's right! TALIESIN: Yeah.
51:13 ASHLEY: That's right, that's right.
51:14 TALIESIN: It makes that happen.
51:16 ASHLEY: So, okay.
51:19 The base score is three.
51:20 So the base score three, that's my armor?
51:23 MATT: Base? Yeah.
51:25 ASHLEY: Which would be three.
51:27 SAM: Bloop, bloop.
51:29 ASHLEY: So gambeson armor.
51:32 MATT: Correct. That's three.
51:33 ASHLEY: So I added the plus one Evasion.
51:34 MATT: So you have three different slots
51:35 that you can use to reduce it.
51:37 ASHLEY: Got it. Okay.
51:37 TRAVIS: You can reduce it one threshold, right?
51:38 MATT: Yeah. Only one threshold, though.
51:40 ASHLEY: And then these are the--
51:42 MATT: Threshold there. ASHLEY: Five and 11.
51:43 MATT: So it's five and 11.
51:44 Correct. ASHLEY: Got it. Okay.
51:44 MATT: You also add your current level
51:45 to your damage threshold.
51:46 So for everyone who's putting in your armor,
51:49 make sure to add your level,
51:50 which is one to each of them.
51:52 SAM: Oh!
51:52 ASHLEY: So we go to six and 12?
51:54 MATT: You would be six and 12. SAM: Oh!
51:55 TALIESIN: Okay, and base armor to four.
51:58 SAM: No. TALIESIN: No.
51:59 Base score is still three.
52:01 TRAVIS: Your threshold should go up. TALIESIN: That's right.
52:02 MATT: That's right. Yeah.
52:03 Your armor score stays.
52:04 The thresholds change on your levels.
52:05 Every time you level up, your thresholds get better.
52:07 SAM: Add your current--
52:08 It says it right there on the sheet.
52:09 It says, "Add your current level
52:10 "to the damage thresholds."
52:11 MATT: Yep.
52:12 TALIESIN: I should read.
52:13 SAM: So well thought out.
52:15 MATT: (laughs) You guys.
52:16 SAM: I'm selling you on this Matt.
52:18 By the end of this,
52:19 you're going to be convinced that this is a good game.
52:21 MATT: (laughs)
52:25 All righty.
52:25 Everyone have their equipment chosen?
52:27 SAM: Mm-hmm.
52:28 ASHLEY: Mm-hmm. MARISHA: Yes.
52:29 MATT: Next up, we can create some character Experiences.
52:31 SAM: Okay. MATT: For this point in this.
52:33 So you can-- MARISHA: Oh yeah!
52:34 Character Experiences. MATT: So you all get to decide
52:36 on two of your character Experiences.
52:37 ASHLEY: I love this!
52:38 MATT: And set them both at a plus two modifier.
52:40 TALIESIN: Oh yeah.
52:41 Two.
52:42 SAM: You said two Experiences?
52:44 MATT: Correct. Two starting Experiences.
52:47 SAM: Okay.
52:47 MATT: So consider a bit of where you've come from,
52:49 what your skill sets are,
52:51 things that might be applicable.
52:52 that you can spend a Hope to add this bonus
52:54 to a roll you're making that, you know, leans into it.
52:58 SAM: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
53:00 I'm already so nimble and agile,
53:03 so being moreso won't be great.
53:07 Won't be as-- MATT: It's up to you.
53:08 You could be really good at things
53:10 that involve that.
53:10 SAM: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. MATT: And try and ensure its success,
53:12 if it's really important to you.
53:14 Or you could lean towards things
53:15 that round you out a little more.
53:17 SAM: Yeah.
53:18 Ja, ja, ja. MATT: Both extremely viable.
53:21 ASHLEY: I'm going to look in the book for Experience
53:27 examples.
53:28 MATT: Sure. TALIESIN: Mm.
53:29 SAM: That's very wise!
53:31 What about something
53:34 Well-Traveled if I've been a messenger
53:37 and gone to different places?
53:38 Maybe I've picked up little bits of culture.
53:40 MATT: Well-Traveled is awesome.
53:42 SAM: Yeah? MATT: Yeah.
53:43 SAM: Okay.
53:44 MARISHA: My first one, still thinking about my second,
53:47 but I did Historically Inspired,
53:51 like emboldened by the great warriors of the past.
53:55 SAM: Hmm.
53:56 MARISHA: Or interested in the Old Times.
53:59 MATT: Okay, yeah, that can be fun.
54:00 MARISHA: Make sense, a little bit more,
54:04 you know, yeah.
54:06 (laughter)
54:08 MATT: Do you see that being an application
54:10 when researching,
54:12 an application when dealing in a conflict
54:14 that has ties to historical value?
54:17 MARISHA: Yeah.
54:18 MATT: Okay.
54:20 Yeah, that could be very helpful.
54:23 SAM: History buff? No.
54:25 MARISHA: History buff.
54:26 Is that a better way of saying it
54:28 than Historically Inspired?
54:30 I feel like that emulation of previous warriors.
54:33 TALIESIN: Antiquarian.
54:34 MATT: Yeah, because history buff
54:35 means means you know-- MARISHA: Antiquarian.
54:37 MATT: -- a lot of history. SAM: Yeah.
54:38 MATT: It depends on do you want to be a person
54:40 that's very into history
54:42 and has a little extra historical knowledge
54:44 and instances where you might
54:45 recognize things from antiquity?
54:48 Or are you thinking more of like you want to be--
54:51 You say inspired by warriors of old,
54:53 is that an adage that you're keeping
54:55 to try and keep yourself?
54:57 MARISHA: Yeah, they're try and uphold the old ways
55:03 before things, like the glory days of knights and--
55:08 SAM: Like chivalry?
55:09 MARISHA: Yeah.
55:10 MATT: That's kind of cool.
55:11 So what I would task you with is,
55:13 before we start the game, think of a code,
55:17 like an old order of knights,
55:19 some sort of historical order may have kept
55:21 that you've heard about, you've learned about it.
55:23 Because you definitely didn't live under this order.
55:26 You weren't born yet. MARISHA: Right.
55:28 MATT: But somehow you've heard stories about it growing up
55:31 or you came upon a piece of text
55:33 or were told of this order's history
55:37 and its honorable adages
55:40 and perhaps even a mantra that you keep to yourself
55:43 to keep your will strong
55:46 and that could be a fun thing that would incorporate that.
55:49 MARISHA: Does Historically Inspired
55:50 still makes sense for that,
55:51 or just like chivalrous--
55:53 MATT: It's up to you. MARISHA: Make more sense?
55:54 MATT: I mean, you know
55:55 the context in which it'll be useful.
55:58 MARISHA: Yeah, like history above all.
56:00 Some fun code you could make.
56:02 MATT: Yeah.
56:04 Yeah, think on that.
56:06 SAM: For one of your Experiences,
56:07 can you also pick Hoarder just so you can be
56:10 a hoarder orderborne?
56:12 (laughter)
56:14 ASHLEY: Hoarder orderborne. MARISHA: That's pretty good.
56:16 It's very tempting. MATT: Pretty great.
56:17 Not going to lie.
56:19 ASHLEY: You're also just a hoarder on the side.
56:21 MARISHA: Yeah. ASHLEY: It's kind of funny.
56:23 MATT: A whore hoarderborne or-or-or-orderborne?
56:26 ASHLEY: A whore hoarderborne.
56:28 Whore hoarder orderborne.
56:30 MATT: What other experiences-- SAM: Experiahnces.
56:33 MATT: -- are people pulling down?
56:33 TALIESIN: I've only got one so far.
56:35 MATT: What do you got?
56:35 TALIESIN: I've got More Hands Make Less Work.
56:38 MATT: Okay. TALIESIN: Which is--
56:39 SAM: You have extra hands? TALIESIN: I do.
56:43 SAM: But not where you expect them. MARISHA: "I do."
56:45 TALIESIN: But not on a technical level.
56:47 This is how I'm going to make my hands technical.
56:49 ASHLEY: Think about widgets.
56:51 TALIESIN: And they're, yeah, they're just so.
56:53 MATT: That's fun. TRAVIS: It's headed there.
56:55 TALIESIN: I obviously can't wield
56:56 nine weapons or anything.
56:57 I'm not going to try any of that bullshit.
56:58 MATT: Yeah, is this a,
57:03 an application of nimble dexterity scenario?
57:06 TALIESIN: Yes. One of the things I want my character
57:09 to do is be good at, I want them to be
57:12 good at very delicate crafting.
57:16 They're a seamstress, they can, things like that.
57:19 MATT: Okay, cool, I dig that.
57:20 TALIESIN: A little bit of just
57:23 fixing things and a little bit of a tinker.
57:25 MATT: I like that. TALIESIN: Just a hair.
57:26 MATT: Awesome.
57:28 TALIESIN: It'll be fun.
57:30 MATT: Ashley, do you have an Experience of interest?
57:31 ASHLEY: Well, I just-- I'm trying to think
57:34 of backstory that will--
57:35 TRAVIS: The answer's no. ASHLEY: You know, no.
57:38 (chuckling) ASHLEY: Here.
57:41 (grunting) SAM: (mocking grunting)
57:45 TRAVIS: Yeah, I've got Reading Between the Lines,
57:50 as a overly-perceptive,
57:53 observant sort of an Experience.
57:55 MATT: That's cool.
57:56 TRAVIS: Or sort of discerning truth from--
57:59 MATT: Falsehood, yeah, yeah.
58:00 TRAVIS: Then also Helping Hand
58:02 just because he's been given this thing
58:04 that can heal, can help.
58:06 It was never something he was looking for
58:08 and I think he is used to knowing that he can help
58:11 and then jumping in and helping someone
58:14 and then trying to get the hell out of there
58:15 before someone realizes how that help was given.
58:19 MATT: Okay, so Lending Aid Unnoticed.
58:21 TRAVIS: Yes. Yeah, that's a better way to put it.
58:23 MATT: Interesting, okay, cool, cool.
58:33 SAM: The first Experience is always the easy one.
58:36 Then the second one is like--
58:40 MARISHA: I know. SAM: -- could go anywhere.
58:41 MATT: Yeah. MARISHA: Well, it's tough to--
58:42 MATT: It can also be a--
58:45 Think into your community as well.
58:47 What are some of the things that you offered
58:49 to your community and you were trained to
58:53 more or less hold a position of within your community?
58:58 MARISHA: How about
59:01 Calloused Hands?
59:04 Like manual labor from tending to fire and flame.
59:11 MATT: Yeah, that could be fun.
59:13 So you would apply that to things
59:15 that involve having strong grip.
59:20 MARISHA: Yeah.
59:22 MATT: The ability to endure things
59:23 that would often force others to release their grip.
59:28 MARISHA: Yeah, you know how head chefs get
59:33 weird boners about how they're like,
59:35 "I can hold a hot iron skillet with no
59:40 "gloves." Kind of like that.
59:42 MATT: Gotcha, cool. Yeah, that's awesome.
59:44 TALIESIN: Negative one to manicures.
59:46 (laughs) MARISHA: Yeah.
59:48 TALIESIN: I give up.
59:50 MARISHA: There we go.
59:54 Cool.
60:00 SAM: Hmm.
60:02 MARISHA: Okay.
60:04 Okay!
60:05 ASHLEY: Did you pick your Experiences yet?
60:07 SAM: I have one, but I don't know what I would use it for.
60:12 I was thinking maybe he's very superstitious.
60:15 MARISHA: Hmm? Oh, that's fun, though.
60:17 SAM: Like has different good luck charms
60:20 or believes in certain superstitions.
60:23 I don't know how that would help me, though.
60:25 It's just an interesting characteristic.
60:28 MATT: It could be--
60:33 SAM: Can't really do it.
60:34 MATT: I was going to say in tune with superstition.
60:39 SAM: Mm-hmm.
60:41 MATT: Meaning like, because superstition often is based
60:43 in some semblance of--
60:44 SAM: Sure. MATT: -- reality in a realm
60:48 as magic and twisted as this.
60:49 SAM: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
60:56 (scratching)
61:00 MATT: It's like esoteric interests.
61:02 SAM: Mm-hmm.
61:03 MATT: Anything in that realm could be interest,
61:06 could fall into that space if you wanted.
61:07 MARISHA: Occultist?
61:09 SAM: Ooh.
61:12 That's dark and twisted.
61:14 MARISHA: Mm-hmm.
61:16 TRAVIS: Weird eyeballs.
61:17 SAM: Weird eyeballs.
61:19 (laughter)
61:19 SAM: Square eyeballs. ASHLEY: Square eyeballs.
61:21 MARISHA: Oh, you can have, please have square eyeballs.
61:23 SAM: Sure, of course I'm going to have square eyeballs.
61:24 TRAVIS: (baas) MARISHA: That's so cool.
61:26 SAM: Didn't Fearne?
61:28 ASHLEY: Well, they were more like octagonal shape.
61:32 SAM: Get into the octagon. ASHLEY and MARISHA: (laugh)
61:38 ASHLEY: So question.
61:40 MATT: Yes. ASHLEY: So,
61:43 if I was a clank that was created for,
61:50 you know, way back when,
61:52 for when there were the,
61:54 the Veiled Gods were still--
61:56 MATT: Present, yeah. ASHLEY: -- present.
62:04 Is that something now that I wouldn't be,
62:07 I would have to keep those types of things under wraps?
62:11 Like the--
62:15 What am I trying to say?
62:18 Like the
62:21 worship songs or things like that for--
62:24 MATT: Depending on where you are, maybe.
62:25 ASHLEY: Depending on where you are.
62:26 MATT: Yeah, there are still places of faithful out there
62:29 that hope that gods might return,
62:31 or you know, hold faith to whatever other entities
62:36 might exist out there to grant them salvation
62:40 in their absence.
62:42 There are also those out there that
62:44 wouldn't even recognize them.
62:47 You know, that's the thing, a lot of these holy songs
62:51 of that era often haven't been heard
62:55 by many ears in a long time.
62:58 ASHLEY: So I wonder if there's an Experience
63:00 then that's just like psalms
63:04 or something where it's just a song
63:08 that can provide hope.
63:10 You know, even if they don't have meaning
63:12 anymore for people.
63:14 It's just a--
63:18 I don't know. MARISHA: Bardic Inspiration.
63:20 ASHLEY: Yeah, I guess that's Bardic Inspiration.
63:21 MARISHA: (laughs)
63:22 ASHLEY: I keep thinking of stuff, and I'm like,
63:23 Well, that's probably a spell
63:25 or something that's going to be--
63:27 MATT: Well, consider here.
63:28 If you want to create something that's like a
63:35 soothing melody,
63:37 and that could be a bonus that you add to scenarios
63:41 where you have the opportunity to calm a group
63:43 of angry individuals with the music
63:45 and you're trying to, I don't know,
63:48 roll a presence roll to get them to not charge
63:53 over a dangerous threshold
63:56 and then you'd be able to add the bonus to that
63:57 by playing that music as part of it,
64:00 or to try and calm an entity, like a corrupted creature
64:04 that's rampaging through a space
64:06 to try and use the music to calm them.
64:09 That's just adding a small bonus
64:11 to an existing roll to try and do so
64:12 and that's where it could be helpful there
64:14 if that's what you're trying to do.
64:15 ASHLEY: Yeah, like a soothing balm.
64:16 MATT: Yeah.
64:17 ASHLEY: Just music of some sort.
64:19 which I'm sure, yeah, okay,
64:21 I'll put that in there for the moment.
64:22 MATT: Yeah, totally.
64:23 MARISHA: Can we pick our abilities?
64:26 MATT: Yeah, you can always think more on your Experience
64:29 when we come to the end, too, if you want to.
64:30 SAM and ASHLEY: Yeah. MATT: All right, so now
64:31 let's pick some domain cards
64:33 and see where the inspiration takes you from that point forward.
64:35 SAM: Woo!
64:36 MATT: All right, so. MARISHA: Let's go.
64:38 MATT: We'll start over on this side.
64:39 ASHLEY: Yeah. MATT: You have--
64:40 MARISHA: Pipe, pipe, pipe, pipe, pipe, pipe, pipe, pipe.
64:43 SAM: Pipe? MARISHA: Pipe.
64:45 ASHLEY: Peep. MARISHA: (laughs)
64:46 MATT: Arcana for you. TALIESIN: Bless.
64:48 MATT: And Splendor, which you both share.
64:51 TRAVIS: Nice.
64:52 MATT: Then you both share Valor, I believe.
64:56 MARISHA: Me and Travis share Valor, I think.
64:59 MATT: All right, there's your Valor.
65:00 MARISHA: Then I think I share Blade with you.
65:02 Wait, do you-- TALIESIN: Just ones for now.
65:04 SAM: I got Bone and Sage.
65:05 MARISHA: Bone and Sage. MATT: Indeed, you do.
65:08 TALIESIN: There's nothing but level one.
65:09 SAM: Which is a great craft beer that I love.
65:12 MATT: So you're just choosing level ones
65:14 of those elements you get to pick.
65:17 Of these cards here,
65:20 you could choose two cards of level one
65:22 of either of the domains that are at your disposal.
65:24 ASHLEY: I'm Grace and Codex. MARISHA: Can you hand me--
65:25 MATT: Yes, you are. MARISHA: And can you hand me Blade?
65:27 TALIESIN: Oh, I have--
65:28 MATT: So you share Codex with--
65:30 TALIESIN: Me.
65:31 MATT: -- the wizard there, so have Codex and Grace there.
65:33 TALIESIN: And I'm waiting on Grace.
65:34 MARISHA: Blade. MATT: And Blade.
65:35 TALIESIN: I'm waiting on Splendor.
65:36 TRAVIS: You want to see some Splendors?
65:38 TALIESIN: Yeah, just a couple of level one Splendors
65:39 would be great.
65:40 TRAVIS: ♪ There's some Splendors ♪
65:42 Here there's only two level one Splendors.
65:43 MARISHA: We just pick one of these, right?
65:45 MATT: You pick two from either domain.
65:48 MARISHA: Two level ones. MATT: You can pick one from each.
65:50 MARISHA: Okay.
65:51 MATT: Or you can pick two from one or two from the other.
65:54 MARISHA: Okay. TALIESIN: No.
65:56 ASHLEY: Oh, look at all these cards, though.
65:59 I don't want to do this.
66:03 TALIESIN: This is fun. Maybe that.
66:05 Oh, and--
66:06 TRAVIS: Let me know which one you don't take.
66:08 I don't mind splitting. TALIESIN: Oh.
66:11 MARISHA: You use Valor as well, right?
66:13 TALIESIN: And I'm missing-- What am I looking for?
66:16 SAM: For two cards total.
66:19 So we just get two?
66:21 MARISHA: You get two. SAM: Okay.
66:27 TALIESIN: Don't know why I did that.
66:30 SAM: Cool.
66:34 TALIESIN: I'm having one of those wonderful ADHD moments
66:36 of like, "Where did I put my character cards?"
66:37 MARISHA: These are fun.
66:39 TALIESIN: They couldn't possibly have gotten far.
66:41 SAM: Cool.
66:42 MARISHA: (speaking faintly)
66:44 MATT: What are you looking for, Tal?
66:45 TALIESIN: My character cards.
66:45 This is very silly.
66:47 They were right in front of me.
66:48 (paper crinkling)
66:49 TALIESIN: But no. MARISHA: -- two.
66:50 MATT: Did you shuffle them accidentally into the Codex?
66:52 TALIESIN: Ah, there they are!
66:53 No, I covered when I moved that piece of paper.
66:55 All right, I'm going to put them over here.
66:57 TRAVIS: Oh.
66:58 ASHLEY: Did you go through the Codex already?
67:00 TALIESIN: Not quite. One second.
67:01 ASHLEY: Okay, sorry.
67:02 TALIESIN: No, no worries.
67:03 Actually, here, I'll read one at a time
67:07 and I'll put the ones I'm not reading right there.
67:17 MARISHA: Hmm.
67:24 SAM: (mumbling)
67:28 TRAVIS: So on this Valor level one Bare Bones ability,
67:34 "When you choose not to equip armor,
67:37 "you have a base score of three plus your strength
67:41 "and you can use the following
67:42 "as your base damage thresholds."
67:44 It says tier one, tier two, tier three, tier four.
67:46 Tier one, its starts at nine and 19, which is pretty sick.
67:49 MATT: Yeah. TRAVIS: But you would
67:50 go up tier one, tier two, tier three, tier four
67:52 each time you raise a level?
67:55 MATT: There's certain level tiers.
67:56 So tier two is when you get level two.
67:58 TRAVIS: Got it.
67:59 MATT: And that's two through four.
68:01 Then once you have level five-- TRAVIS: Oh, so it's a minute
68:02 to get to three.
68:02 MATT: Correct. Tier three is--
68:04 SAM: They're listed on this sheet.
68:05 MATT: At the back of the class--
68:07 TRAVIS: Got it. MATT: -- secondary sheet.
68:08 TRAVIS: I'm going to do that.
68:09 TALIESIN: Does School of Mullet Knowledge
68:11 mean I take three cards?
68:12 SAM: School of Mullet? TALIESIN: Mullet. Yeah.
68:14 SAM: Cool. TALIESIN: Mullet.
68:16 MATT: Correct. You get an additional domain one.
68:17 Yeah, so because you are a School of Knowledge,
68:20 you get an additional domain. TALIESIN: It's a party in the back.
68:22 SAM: Mullet is a pretty good Experience.
68:23 TRAVIS: That's fucking rad. So Matt,
68:25 I'm going to do the Bare Bones ability--
68:28 MATT: Okay. TRAVIS: -- under Valor.
68:29 MATT: So you're going to get rid of your leather armor?
68:30 TRAVIS: Yeah, so I'll have it, but I won't equip it.
68:32 MATT: Gotcha. TRAVIS: Then that makes it
68:35 three plus my strength, which is five,
68:36 so my armor is now five. MATT: Hell yeah.
68:38 TRAVIS: My damage thresholds are nine and 19
68:40 instead of seven and 14.
68:41 MATT: That's with the plus one for your level?
68:43 TRAVIS: To each one of those?
68:44 I guess I would add it to the tier one, nine and 19,
68:46 so 10 and 20. MATT: Correct.
68:49 TRAVIS: Damn!
68:50 MATT: Bare Bones is pretty good.
68:52 MARISHA: Okay. TRAVIS: That's a dope card.
68:57 That's awesome.
68:59 MARISHA: Yeah. SAM: Get it now
69:00 before they discontinue it because it's too OP.
69:04 (laughter)
69:06 MARISHA: Okay, I am taking one from Valor.
69:12 I Am Your Shield.
69:14 TALIESIN: Going to take one of these.
69:14 SAM: That's a classic.
69:16 MARISHA: Classic, classic valorous move.
69:19 TALIESIN: A little bit. Doesn't matter.
69:20 MARISHA: "When an ally within very close range of you
69:22 "would take damage, I can mark a stress
69:24 "to stand in the way and make myself the target
69:27 "of the attack instead."
69:29 And then Whirlwind.
69:33 "Make an attack against a target
69:34 "within very close range. On a success,
69:36 "I can spend Hope to use the
69:37 "attack against all other targets
69:39 "within very close range," so big sweeping,
69:41 feels fitting if I have a massive fucking greatsword.
69:45 MATT: Hell yeah. I love it.
69:47 SAM: I'm going to choose
69:52 from one of them.
69:55 MATT: Sage? SAM: Sage.
69:56 MATT: (laughs)
69:58 SAM: I'm going to choose the spell Vicious Entangle.
70:03 "On success, roots and vines reach out from the ground
70:06 "and entangle my target."
70:08 MATT: Hell yeah.
70:10 MARISHA: (laughs)
70:11 SAM: "I can spend a Hope to restrain them."
70:14 And from the Bone deck.
70:18 TRAVIS: Perfect.
70:18 SAM: Which is also what I call--
70:21 MARISHA: Don't. Nope.
70:22 SAM: -- part of my body. MARISHA: Nope!
70:23 (laughter)
70:24 TRAVIS: "Part of my body."
70:26 TALIESIN: Is that your other Experience?
70:28 MATT: Pull from my bone deck.
70:30 SAM: I'm going to choose Deft Maneuvers.
70:32 "Once per rest,
70:33 "mark a stress to sprint anywhere within far range."
70:37 What is far range?
70:39 MATT: So far range is considered pretty much beyond
70:43 the length of a pencil other than the range of a paper.
70:48 Actually, like anywhere,
70:49 like on a battlefield, it's like here.
70:50 So it'd say about-- SAM: That's far.
70:51 MATT: About 50, 60 feet. SAM: 60 feet.
70:53 ASHLEY: Get three? SAM: That's great.
70:54 MATT: So you could, in theory,
70:57 like if a person tries to run further than close range,
71:00 they have to make an agility roll,
71:01 and if they fail, fuck them up,
71:04 you don't have to take that at all.
71:05 You can do it for free, essentially.
71:06 SAM: And at the end of my maneuver--
71:08 TALIESIN: Those are levels that better--
71:09 SAM: Shh.
71:10 (laughter)
71:12 SAM: At the end of my maneuver, I can hit somebody.
71:15 MATT: Which is pretty great. SAM: Yeah.
71:17 Okay, cool. TALIESIN: This is fun.
71:19 MATT: Awesome.
71:23 Travis, what did you pick?
71:25 Got Bare Bones, and then what was the other one?
71:27 TRAVIS: Bolt Beacon.
71:28 MATT: Bolt Beacon. TRAVIS: From Splendor.
71:29 MATT: Awesome. Got it.
71:32 What you got, Ashley?
71:33 ASHLEY: I picked Enrapture,
71:36 which I feel like Bunnie had.
71:38 MARISHA: Yes, that's one where you're like--
71:39 ASHLEY: It's a very cool-- MARISHA: Look at me.
71:41 ASHLEY: Yes. MARISHA: Looky here.
71:43 ASHLEY: I think with the music thing,
71:45 it can be cool to like--
71:48 ♪ Do do do do ♪
71:49 Like try to enrapture somebody.
71:51 MARISHA: Yeah.
71:52 ASHLEY: I did that one from Grace.
71:54 (Australian) And from Codex-- MATT: Awesome.
71:56 ASHLEY: -- I did Book of Tyfar.
71:59 MATT: All right.
72:01 ASHLEY: I've got Wild Flame,
72:03 Magic Hand, and Mysterious Mist. TRAVIS: Hold this accent.
72:05 Make it stick. SAM: (Australian) Jennifer Lopez.
72:07 ASHLEY: Jennifer Lopez,
72:08 I'm just practicing, maybe I'll do this.
72:11 MATT: (laughs)
72:12 TRAVIS: Ooh.
72:13 ASHLEY: I won't. MARISHA: (laughs)
72:14 SAM: Ooh.
72:16 ASHLEY: I mean, I will, but I don't know
72:17 if that's the vibe we want.
72:18 TRAVIS: If it gets you killed faster.
72:20 MATT: That's true.
72:21 ASHLEY: Yeah.
72:22 MATT: That's what you have to do.
72:23 TALIESIN: I picked the Book of Ava,
72:26 which lets you watch very esoteric anime.
72:29 MATT: (laughs)
72:30 TALIESIN: Yeah, it gives me a power push so I can throw,
72:33 I can make people back off, I can,
72:36 Tava's Armor, which I can
72:41 give somebody a plus one bonus to their armor score
72:45 for Hope, and Ice Spike, which I will think
72:48 something of which I can summon ice spikes
72:52 far away from me.
72:53 ASHLEY: Summon Ice Spice?
72:54 TALIESIN: Yeah, summon ice spikes.
72:56 Then I have the Book of Illiat,
72:59 which is I can make people fall asleep
73:01 with Slumber. ASHLEY: That's so cool.
73:02 TALIESIN: I have Arcane Barrage,
73:03 which means I can basically shoot
73:06 magic projectiles at people.
73:08 MATT: Awesome. TALIESIN: And some telepathy.
73:10 MARISHA: So you just went full Codex?
73:12 TALIESIN: Well, I technically get three cards
73:14 because of my subclass,
73:16 so I also took Mending Touch
73:18 so I can do a little bit of healing just in case,
73:21 just even out,
73:22 because for some reason no one ever likes it.
73:25 ASHLEY: Interesting.
73:26 TALIESIN: Support class never happens.
73:27 There we go. MATT: (laughs)
73:28 Someone's got it.
73:29 TALIESIN: (mocking) Yeah, I want to be a support.
73:31 MATT: Any support class is awesome.
73:32 Fantastic. TALIESIN: Somebody got to heal.
73:33 MATT: All right, so we have domain cards chosen.
73:36 If there are any inspirations to hit for the Experiences,
73:38 feel free to go for that.
73:39 You can hand me back the decks that you have unused.
73:44 TALIESIN: I came up with my second Experience is
73:45 Nothing Up My Sleeves. SAM: You can take my Bone deck.
73:47 MATT: Thanks, buddy.
73:48 MARISHA: (laughs)
73:50 TALIESIN: Oh wait, oh, I'm giving you
73:51 the wrong ones, aren't I? Nope, never mind.
73:52 I already gave them.
73:54 Or you did.
73:54 TRAVIS: My Bone deck. ASHLEY: I put--
73:56 TALIESIN: Yeah. ASHLEY: -- those back up there.
73:57 TALIESIN: Thanks.
73:59 MATT: All righty.
74:00 SAM: I'm narrowing down for Experience
74:02 either Expert Tracker
74:06 or a Spineless Coward.
74:09 I don't know how I would use that either,
74:10 but I kind of want to be a coward.
74:12 MATT: It's good defensively.
74:13 MARISHA: Well, what's your--
74:15 Don't you have something that's kind of expert?
74:17 Like Wayfinder is kind of expert trackery.
74:18 SAM: Oh, you're right, you're right.
74:23 When I've traveled to a place before,
74:27 I can identify the path to it, so yes.
74:30 So maybe my experience is being a Spineless Weakling.
74:33 (laughter)
74:35 SAM: I don't know how that will work.
74:36 MARISHA: Well, it could be good for hiding or running
74:40 or being a coward.
74:42 SAM: Yep. (laughter)
74:44 SAM: Being a coward could help when I'm being a coward.
74:46 MATT: Trying to convince that somebody else is in trouble
74:49 instead of you.
74:49 SAM: Yeah, okay, okay, okay.
74:50 MATT: Take the fall. SAM: That's good. That's good.
74:53 All right. I'll try that one.
74:53 MATT: -- creative with helping a coward can be helpful.
74:55 (laughter)
74:57 MATT: Awesome.
74:58 ASHLEY: With the clank.
74:59 MARISHA: ♪ She coming near the Pyre ♪
75:01 SAM: ♪ It wasn't me ♪
75:02 TALIESIN: We definitely didn't start that Pyre.
75:04 (laughter)
75:06 ASHLEY: ♪ We didn't start the Pyre ♪
75:08 TALIESIN: Just getting it out now.
75:09 ASHLEY: With the clank, Purposeful Design.
75:12 At character creation,
75:13 choose one of your Experiences that best aligns
75:15 with this purpose and gain a permanent plus one.
75:17 MATT: Yes, you can choose one of your Experiences
75:19 earns a plus three.
75:20 ASHLEY: So far I just have
75:20 Soothing Music, so I'm going to add,
75:24 I'm going to elaborate on that a little bit more.
75:26 MATT: Yeah, no worries.
75:28 TALIESIN: I'm going with my second one.
75:29 I'm going with Nothing Up My Sleeve
75:31 to make it a little bit better to maybe hide objects
75:34 or perform up-close magic.
75:36 MATT: Right, right. Cool.
75:39 TALIESIN: Just little ways of making a spider work.
75:43 MATT: Fun. I dig that. TALIESIN: Good.
75:45 MARISHA: That song was always so ridiculous
75:46 because it's like if she caught you eight times--
75:49 TRAVIS: (laughs)
75:50 MARISHA: -- your defense couldn't be, "It wasn't me."
75:52 SAM: It wasn't me.
75:53 MARISHA: That's insane.
75:54 TRAVIS: We're debating the merit of the Shaggy song.
75:56 MATT: I know. I know.
75:58 TRAVIS: 24 years later. TALIESIN: Zoinks.
76:00 (laughter)
76:02 MATT: All righty, with all the domain cards chosen--
76:05 TRAVIS: Shaggy! MATT: Let's go ahead and--
76:07 (laughter)
76:10 MATT: All right, boombastic.
76:12 Let's create some connections here.
76:13 SAM: Connections.
76:14 MARISHA: Connections. ASHLEY: ♪ Connections ♪
76:17 TALIESIN: ♪ Conjunction Junction ♪
76:21 Oh yeah. We also have our item lists for later.
76:23 MATT: So some fun things to mention to you guys,
76:27 some questions to begin with to kick it off.
76:32 If any of you hail from different communities,
76:36 as we've said, it's a possibility,
76:37 consider why you've left
76:40 and what called you to this particular settlement.
76:43 So I guess for now: Who is from this community
76:46 that we're starting in, and who is a visitor, if any?
76:51 MARISHA: Where are we starting again?
76:52 Did you say this? SAM: We don't know.
76:53 It's up to us. MARISHA: We don't know.
76:54 MATT: No, we get to create the settlement.
76:55 MARISHA: Oh shit.
76:56 TALIESIN: I think we're both visitors.
76:57 Are we doing this thing, or do you want to do nothing?
77:00 ASHLEY: I'm into it. TALIESIN: All right.
77:01 TALIESIN: We're both from the same
77:03 village which we've left.
77:05 SAM: Which you've left.
77:05 MATT: So you've left a settlement.
77:06 TALIESIN: Yeah, we've left a settlement.
77:07 MATT: Why have you left it?
77:09 TALIESIN: Do you want to start or should I?
77:11 ASHLEY: I feel like you should
77:12 because you have a little bit more than I do,
77:14 but I found my way there prior to--
77:18 TALIESIN: Yeah. ASHLEY: Us meeting.
77:19 TALIESIN: Yeah, and then
77:23 I was on the edge of leaving for many, many years
77:26 and I just needed a push.
77:28 MATT: What was the push?
77:30 TALIESIN: That was Ashley's character leaving.
77:32 I felt that it would've been
77:34 A. inappropriate for you to travel alone,
77:37 and B. I was worried I was
77:39 going to get blamed for you leaving,
77:41 so I just went, and once I was out,
77:44 I realized life was much better without those people
77:47 because they're terrible.
77:48 ASHLEY: Interesting. MATT: Okay.
77:50 So think and iterate on the settlement or community
77:53 that you left from, name and culture,
77:56 and give me some notes or ideas on that.
77:58 TALIESIN: Oh yeah.
77:59 MATT: Okay.
78:00 What about the rest of you? ASHLEY: Great.
78:01 TRAVIS: Also a visitor, but I think
78:06 this guy left where he previously was
78:09 because it was overrun by some sort of dark phenomenon,
78:12 had to jet.
78:14 He was previously with just his mother,
78:16 raised by his mother, and she believed in the stories
78:21 that were at the edges of everyone's minds
78:23 of the divine are still there.
78:25 There are these little things that are popping up there.
78:28 There's chance to find the spark
78:30 to fight against the dark and all that sort of stuff
78:32 and he thought that was stupid.
78:34 Then after she died,
78:36 he started getting a little bit of this power,
78:39 and so in fleeing this village,
78:40 now it's his personal mission to try
78:42 and find where those sparks might be
78:44 since he has a little bit of it, but he's--
78:46 MATT: Right. TRAVIS: -- found his way here
78:47 and is trying to stay low
78:50 and I think he's just barely making it by.
78:52 He's slyborne, so he might steal a little bit
78:56 when necessary, maybe if for no other reason
78:59 than just to tease or test if doing dubious things
79:03 hurts the small gifts that he has.
79:05 MATT: Right.
79:06 TRAVIS: But also he finds time to help people in this place
79:09 and it's finding worth in that.
79:10 MATT: He's done what he needs to survive.
79:11 TRAVIS: Yeah. MATT: And has likely wandered
79:13 through some communities or cultures
79:15 that exist on the Halcyon Domain
79:17 that live by that sentiment.
79:19 TRAVIS: Yeah. MATT: Okay.
79:23 So we have, so the three people that have come
79:25 to the settlement, have you been here for a while then?
79:26 Have you become acclimated with this?
79:28 Do you call this home now?
79:31 TRAVIS: I think if this area has any stores of knowledge
79:35 that he could've tried to read through or visit,
79:38 then maybe he's been here for a bit trying to do that,
79:41 but also stay off radars.
79:42 Not a fresh visitor, not super new.
79:45 MATT: Okay, yeah, so you've been here for a little bit.
79:46 TALIESIN: The same, if we could blend in,
79:48 because we're not very blendy.
79:49 Anywhere where we would could blend in, that would be great.
79:54 ASHLEY: I feel like-- where would be an area
79:57 where the highborne were really at their height?
80:01 Would that be Amber Reach area?
80:03 MATT: Amber Reach definitely-- ASHLEY: Okay.
80:04 MATT: -- would be within the--
80:07 (laughs)
80:09 The core ruins of that whole area
80:12 is the previous capital.
80:15 ASHLEY: Would it make sense-- MATT: -- of the entire kingdom
80:16 under the God-King.
80:17 ASHLEY: That I was from there at one point?
80:19 MATT: Sure.
80:20 ASHLEY: Because I'm thinking
80:21 maybe I was there-- TRAVIS: Smells really good.
80:23 ASHLEY: -- with a family,
80:25 or was made as a--
80:28 MARISHA: (laughs)
80:30 ASHLEY: -- clank for the gods and then--
80:32 SAM: Go for some of that.
80:34 ASHLEY: -- maybe a specific family
80:36 for their private temple.
80:38 I'm just thinking out loud.
80:39 MATT: Yeah. ASHLEY: If none of this works,
80:40 it doesn't work.
80:44 As the highborne were getting sort of shunned
80:47 and moved out.
80:48 This feels very like,
80:53 what am I saying?
80:54 What am I? Whatever.
80:55 TALIESIN: I'm following you.
80:57 ASHLEY: Maybe they ran to parts of, as they fled,
81:06 they landed sort of in the area that you're at,
81:09 and then somehow--
81:11 Wait, where were you?
81:12 You're in the under?
81:13 TALIESIN: Yeah, so the city that I'm trying to flesh out
81:17 is basically an underground cave,
81:20 cave city similar to,
81:22 the less lush version of the
81:26 kids from "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome,"
81:28 where we just,
81:29 it is a cult that lives in a mountain, in a hill,
81:33 in a forest that no one goes to because it's bad.
81:36 SAM: That's where you came from,
81:38 or that's where we are now?
81:39 TALIESIN: That's where I came from.
81:41 ASHLEY: That's where he came from.
81:43 We met, so maybe the highborne feels like
81:45 French Revolution or Versailles when people are,
81:47 like the highborne leaving--
81:49 MATT: Right. ASHLEY: Getting shunned
81:50 out of their homes.
81:51 MATT: So are you saying that they were at the height
81:55 before the Age of Umbra, like 100 years ago?
81:59 Or is this one of the remnant societies
82:02 that's barely holding on, then recently got--
82:05 ASHLEY: Not yours. TALIESIN: No.
82:06 ASHLEY: I think where I was from,
82:09 would it make sense that I was alive during the time
82:13 that they were at the height of--
82:15 MATT: If you want to be. ASHLEY: Okay.
82:16 MATT: Because, in my mind, in this region,
82:19 there are clanks who might have memories from that era,
82:24 and there are some, because remember,
82:25 they were just vessels for holy spirits previously,
82:27 so those that would have consciousness now
82:30 and have come through could be lingering spirits
82:33 that came into them and now use it as a new body
82:36 and are trying to discover their purpose,
82:37 or they could be lingering spirits
82:39 that are now left moorless
82:41 in a time past where their holy purpose
82:43 is now detached and wandering,
82:47 so if you want to go more that route,
82:49 then you would likely have memory from the previous age
82:53 and the people that were involved in that time
82:55 and then likely went dormant for a while
82:57 before the spirit reemerged
82:59 and retook your physical
83:04 stone and metal body. ASHLEY: Okay.
83:06 I will think on that then. MATT: Okay.
83:08 ASHLEY: And somehow came from that area and then ended up.
83:12 TALIESIN: Yeah, I've got a pitch for you for that
83:14 when you're going to say it,
83:15 but we'll talk about that later.
83:16 MATT: Okay. ASHLEY: Okay.
83:17 MATT: So you guys can think on that.
83:18 ASHLEY: But, all in all, where we end up--
83:20 TALIESIN: Yeah.
83:21 ASHLEY: Wherever we meet, we're new here.
83:25 MATT: Cool. Awesome.
83:26 MARISHA: I feel like then I would be from the settlement.
83:30 SAM: Yeah, man, I'm with you. MARISHA: We'd be like here.
83:32 SAM: Yeah. MARISHA: We're like,
83:33 "This is our home turf."
83:36 I want to like--
83:38 Would there be a Pyre in this settlement?
83:39 There would be, right?
83:40 MATT: Oh yeah. MARISHA: Okay.
83:41 MATT: There would have to be for it to have existed.
83:43 SAM: Did the Pyres have names, or are they just like--
83:47 MATT: They're likely named of the settlement's name.
83:49 Which to that point-- MARISHA: Pyre Kevin.
83:51 MATT: What is the name of this settlement
83:53 and where on the map do you want it to be?
83:54 SAM: Oh sorry. MARISHA: (laughs)
83:57 What's the name?
83:58 SAM: It could be,
84:01 its name is David Duchovny.
84:04 We could be-- MARISHA: Well, it's funny.
84:07 TALIESIN: We're fighting funny.
84:08 MARISHA: The Shaw Chasm.
84:09 SAM: The Shaw Chasm.
84:11 Ugh. MARISHA: Ugh.
84:12 (laughs)
84:14 TALIESIN: Not the vibe, not the vibe, children.
84:17 SAM: No.
84:20 TALIESIN: That was last game.
84:20 MATT: Please don't name your settlement "David Duchovny."
84:23 (laughter)
84:26 MARISHA: No, we were being Shawcastic.
84:28 (laughter)
84:29 TRAVIS: David Duchovny.
84:31 SAM: I don't know, we could be--
84:32 TALIESIN: What's the city like?
84:33 SAM: Well, you guys are from the Amber Reach, what was the?
84:35 ASHLEY: No, no, no. TALIESIN: No, no,
84:36 we're from our around-- SAM: Very complicated.
84:37 Where are you guys from?
84:38 ASHLEY: Well, I originally,
84:40 when I was, because I'm a clank,
84:43 and whether or not I remember this,
84:45 I'm going to figure all of this out,
84:47 but I think that maybe my clank had spent some time
84:51 with a highborne family in the Amber Reach
84:54 in the time prior to the Age of Umbra.
84:57 MARISHA: I mean, it feels like you're maybe on the outskirts
84:59 or somewhere-- Yeah.
85:01 Near the Amber Reach is kind of cool.
85:03 SAM: Yeah, maybe on the mountains behind--
85:04 MARISHA: Mountains. SAM: Behind the Amber Reach.
85:07 TALIESIN: Why would the city be there?
85:09 SAM: Are we in a city? TALIESIN: Or a town?
85:11 Are we in a city?
85:13 MATT: You're in a settlement.
85:13 TALIESIN: That's just the Pyre, yeah.
85:15 MATT: It could be a sizable one.
85:17 It could be a small remote one.
85:18 What feels honest to the rest of you?
85:21 How many people do you think live in this settlement?
85:22 MARISHA: Well, it feels like we've got an underlying theme
85:26 of people maybe looking for history.
85:30 So it feels like having something that's maybe
85:34 ancient but a little forgotten,
85:37 but there is knowledge there.
85:39 Because I want my, I'm thinking the vibe
85:42 for my orc girl.
85:45 So maybe she has a little bit of a "Don Quixote"
85:49 thing going on where she's like--
85:50 TALIESIN: Love it.
85:52 MARISHA: Once she's got this high station
85:56 position of tending to the Pyre,
85:59 but it's like, "I can do more.
86:01 "I want to be even more defensive."
86:03 It doesn't matter if anyone tells her like,
86:06 "You are doing one of the best things
86:09 "that you can do." MATT: Great.
86:10 MARISHA: That she's still like, "Nah."
86:11 So a little "Don Quixote" vibes.
86:14 MATT: Okay.
86:15 MARISHA: But like I said, since I'm inspired by
86:19 the knights of yore and whatnot.
86:22 MATT: Okay. MARISHA: So maybe it's,
86:25 maybe there's some history wherever we are.
86:28 TALIESIN: Ooh. I like it.
86:29 MATT: Great. MARISHA: Yeah.
86:30 TALIESIN: Like a dig site, something like that?
86:32 MARISHA: That's kind of cool.
86:33 SAM: Or a university or no,
86:35 we don't have those in this world.
86:36 TALIESIN: Well, I mean, like a--
86:37 MATT: There are elements of old universities that exist,
86:40 the Celsian Athenaeum is specifically
86:44 over on the western side of the Amber Reach
86:47 is the remnants of a massive library and place of learning.
86:50 TALIESIN: I was going to say, yeah.
86:51 ASHLEY: But isn't it also overtaken by--
86:53 MATT: Yeah. ASHLEY: Monsters and things.
86:54 MATT: But most everything is to a certain degree.
86:56 TALIESIN: Yeah, I was going to say that it could be
86:58 a Dead Sea Scrolls vibe
87:00 because they were found in a cave.
87:02 MARISHA: Yeah. SAM: Oh.
87:03 TALIESIN: Where they uncovered slowly-decaying ancient library,
87:07 so there's just, but not a huge one.
87:09 It's just we found a bunch of crazy stuff
87:11 and people would go in and try and pull things out
87:14 and then it's just a little--
87:17 MARISHA: Yeah. TALIESIN: Commerce place for--
87:18 MARISHA: I think that's cool, a little like--
87:20 TALIESIN: Yeah. MARISHA: You know.
87:21 TALIESIN: Panning for books rather than panning for gold,
87:24 or panning for--
87:25 ASHLEY: Panning for history.
87:26 TALIESIN: Panning for history.
87:27 MARISHA: Yeah. It could be fun.
87:29 MATT: Sure. TALIESIN: Tiny town.
87:30 MATT: All right. Where would you like to place it?
87:31 MARISHA: Sort of like the burying out the cities
87:33 from Mount Vesuvius kind of a vibe.
87:36 MATT: Okay. TALIESIN: I like that.
87:37 MARISHA: Little Pompeii-tastic.
87:38 SAM: All right, we're in Pompeii.
87:40 MARISHA: We're in Pompeii.
87:41 MATT: Where would you like it to be?
87:42 Would you like it to be closer to the core
87:43 of the Amber Reach?
87:45 Or near the central of the previous civilization
87:48 that still has civilization within,
87:50 broken and separated
87:52 by its own disparate communities
87:53 and different interests and goals.
87:57 Or are you more in the outskirts of the area?
88:00 Are you deep in the Idle Hollow mountain ranges
88:02 and that's where you found these excavation places?
88:06 MARISHA: This is calling to me.
88:08 MARISHA and SAM: The Griefcleft Mountains.
88:10 MATT: Okay, so maybe on the--
88:10 MARISHA: Or somewhere over there.
88:13 MATT: On the outskirts of the Jungles of Aveidoora?
88:16 MARISHA: Yeah!
88:17 That. SAM: Oh wow.
88:19 We're far over there.
88:21 MATT: If you look-- MARISHA: Cool.
88:22 MATT: If you look, there is a Pyre on the map there
88:24 that is unmarked. MARISHA: Right down here?
88:25 MATT: Do you want that one? MARISHA: This one.
88:26 MATT: Do you want that to be taken?
88:27 MARISHA: Yeah, we'll take it.
88:28 MATT: All right, what are you calling your settlement?
88:30 MARISHA: What are we calling our settlement?
88:31 SAM: Hey, shut up so we can pick our name.
88:33 MATT: (laughs) ASHLEY: Okay, sorry, sorry, sorry.
88:34 SAM: What are you even talking about?
88:35 (laughter)
88:37 ASHLEY: Okay, where are you? What's happening?
88:39 MARISHA: We're going to be at this, there's this Pyre
88:41 that's at the bottom right-hand corner near the jungles.
88:43 ASHLEY: This over here?
88:44 MARISHA: Yes. ASHLEY: Okay.
88:45 MARISHA: That's going to be where we're going to be.
88:47 ASHLEY: All right.
88:48 Near the Jungles of Aveidoora.
88:51 SAM: Correct. MARISHA: Yeah.
88:52 ASHLEY: Okay. SAM: We need a name,
88:53 and it can't be Duchovny.
88:55 (laughter)
88:57 TRAVIS: The Sky Fyre Pyre.
88:59 SAM: What? ASHLEY: The Unbroken Spire.
89:01 MARISHA: So I can be an orderborne orc
89:03 at the Sky Fyre Pyre?
89:05 SAM: Oh boy. TALIESIN: No.
89:06 God, people. SAM: It could be Mordor.
89:09 MARISHA: Mork.
89:11 (laughter) MARISHA: A Mordor--
89:13 SAM: An orderborne orc from Mordor.
89:15 ASHLEY: We could have it be M-O-R-E-D-O-O-R.
89:18 (laughter)
89:21 SAM: No, what's a cool name? MARISHA: Just Moredoors?
89:22 ASHLEY: Moredoors. SAM: What's a cool name?
89:25 TALIESIN: I'm thinking about how you would describe--
89:26 ASHLEY: I mean, there's such cool ones here.
89:27 TALIESIN: How would you describe a place like that.
89:28 ASHLEY: The Unbroken Spire. TRAVIS: The Desperloch.
89:30 ASHLEY: The Valley of Penance. MARISHA: Desperloch?
89:32 That's cool. SAM: Oh, there's suggested names.
89:35 MARISHA: Oh, there are? SAM: Desperloch is cool.
89:37 MARISHA: I like Desperloch. MATT: Desperloch?
89:39 TRAVIS: Well, there's the the sea below it, right?
89:40 So there'd be little isles-- MARISHA: Yeah, there'd be a loch.
89:42 ASHLEY: Desperloch?
89:44 MARISHA: Desperloch. Done. SAM: Sure. Sounds fun.
89:46 ASHLEY: D-E-S-P-E-R-- MATT: Desperloch, let's go.
89:48 MARISHA: Sounds tragic.
89:49 TRAVIS: Better than fucking Duchovny.
89:51 (laughter) MARISHA: Or Mordor.
89:53 SAM: If you're watching, by the way, David--
89:55 TRAVIS: Big fan. SAM: -- big fan.
89:57 ASHLEY: Very big fan.
89:58 (laughter)
89:59 ASHLEY: Mulder-- TALIESIN: How do you spell loch?
90:01 TRAVIS: Forever-- ASHLEY: Forever Mulder.
90:02 TRAVIS: Truth is out there. TALIESIN: Is it L-O-C-H
90:03 or L-O-C-K? SAM: "Red Shoe Diaries."
90:04 MARISHA: Okay. (laughter)
90:05 ASHLEY: Yeah. Wait, loch is spelled
90:08 L-O-C-H-E? O-C-H? SAM: L-O-C-H.
90:10 TALIESIN: Loch, okay. ASHLEY: Desperloch.
90:11 MARISHA: Desper-- So D-E-S-P--
90:12 MATT: The settlement of Desperloch.
90:14 D-E-S-P-E-R-L-O-C-H. ASHLEY: That's really cool.
90:17 TRAVIS: That is cool. TALIESIN: That is pretty good.
90:18 MARISHA: L-O-C-H.
90:19 MATT: On the outskirts of the jungles of Aveidoora,
90:21 which means you probably exist
90:23 right on the edge of where the tree line
90:25 meets the mountains. SAM: Cool.
90:26 ASHLEY: Did you just think of that, Travis?
90:27 TRAVIS: Yeah.
90:28 ASHLEY: Damn.
90:29 TRAVIS: I know. It happens once every 10 years.
90:32 (laughter)
90:33 MATT: Which is interesting because
90:35 you're over a mountain range
90:36 from the standing outer walls
90:40 and boundaries of the Amber Reach
90:41 and the previous capital city of the elder age.
90:45 Which also is a source of possible promise
90:49 of ancient knowledge. Much lost,
90:53 some still hidden within,
90:57 and rumors of safeguarded strongholds
91:01 and possible, possible alliances with survivors
91:06 throughout reaches far beyond.
91:08 There are all these swamps in the realm beyond,
91:11 and of course, the Ashen Seas themselves,
91:13 who knows what islands might exist beyond that as well?
91:15 So there's a lot of opportunities here
91:17 to create amongst the space beyond what resides here.
91:22 So now that we have the settlement,
91:23 let's go around the table and have you all
91:25 add something to this map-- SAM: Oh boy.
91:26 MATT: -- that could be an interesting thing
91:28 to refer to-- TRAVIS: I did mine.
91:30 MARISHA: You did. (laughs) MATT: -- or even possibly explore.
91:32 TRAVIS: Desperloch.
91:37 Okay.
91:39 You can go first. SAM: Ah! What?
91:40 MATT and MARISHA: (laugh)
91:42 SAM: Oh my god.
91:43 MATT: You can take inspiration from the list of names
91:44 that are there, or you can craft something wholly unique.
91:46 TRAVIS: Find a spot for the Anal Cleft Cavern.
91:49 (giggling)
91:53 MATT: That's the upper right, I think, right?
91:54 TRAVIS: (laughs) Yeah.
91:56 SAM: Let's say--
91:58 MARISHA: Let's go to Power Thesaurus.
92:01 MATT: (laughs)
92:03 ASHLEY: Power Thesaurus? MARISHA: It's great.
92:05 It's my favorite
92:09 thesaurus app.
92:11 TRAVIS: Oh? MARISHA: Mm-hmm.
92:13 SAM: Better than-- MARISHA: And it's an org.
92:14 It's a dot org. Shout out Power Thesaurus.
92:19 SAM: Let's say that--
92:24 Boy, I don't know.
92:28 Let's say that there's an area over here
92:33 called the--
92:36 I don't have Travis' gift.
92:38 TRAVIS: I can do one, if you want more time.
92:42 SAM: It's a series of sinkholes,
92:43 ever-moving sinkholes.
92:46 SAM: Let's just say Ever-Moving Sinkholes.
92:49 MATT: That's fun. SAM: I lost someone there.
92:55 I had a partner, and we used to go on runs together.
92:59 He-- She was lost there.
93:03 MATT: All righty. SAM: Great.
93:03 TALIESIN: Do you have a name for it? TRAVIS: Got to close to the--
93:05 MATT: You have a name for these sinkholes?
93:06 SAM: The Ever-Moving Sinkholes. TALIESIN: All right.
93:08 SAM: The Ever-Shifting Sinkholes? I don't know.
93:10 TALIESIN: Just call it the-- TRAVIS: The Cereal Shits?
93:13 TALIESIN: The Pits.
93:14 SAM: The Pits? No.
93:16 Here, I'll just use one of your names.
93:18 TALIESIN: Toss them in the Pits. SAM: The Sinkholes--
93:22 TRAVIS: The Barbecue Regrets?
93:24 (laughter)
93:29 SAM: I don't got it. (laughs)
93:31 TRAVIS: (wheezes)
93:32 MATT: Call it the-- TRAVIS: Chasing the Dragon.
93:34 SAM: The Duchovny-- (laughter)
93:42 TALIESIN: You think of a word
93:44 that describes what happens there
93:45 or why you shouldn't go.
93:47 SAM: Yeah, the Ever-Shifting Sinkholes.
93:48 There you go, done. MATT: There you go.
93:54 SAM: Done.
93:56 MATT: All righty, pass that down.
93:58 TRAVIS: I'll do one. I'm going to put--
94:00 Is there any kind of a temple ruin
94:04 in this map, the Celsian Athenaeum or the--
94:08 MATT: There could be. Do you want to add one?
94:09 TRAVIS: Yeah, I want to add one. MATT: Add one.
94:10 Pick a place, put it in. TRAVIS: Okay, cool.
94:12 Then I'm going to put it down by the water,
94:16 out in the street.
94:18 Okay, I'm going to do it, yeah, more in town.
94:22 TALIESIN: What you shooting for? TRAVIS: You know what?
94:23 ASHLEY: I don't know.
94:24 TALIESIN: What do you want to build?
94:26 TRAVIS: It should be hard to get to. Fuck it, why not?
94:29 I don't know what this structure is,
94:30 but I'm going to do it.
94:31 It's out in the middle of an island
94:32 in the middle of the water.
94:33 I'm going to make it the--
94:35 I love "Severance."
94:36 I'm going to make it the Lumon Ruins.
94:39 MARISHA: Yes! MATT: All right,
94:40 the Lumon Ruins. TALIESIN: You want to make a--
94:42 SAM: I haven't started season two yet.
94:44 TRAVIS: Oh man. TALIESIN: I keep thinking about the--
94:44 MARISHA: It's good. It's good. SAM: Yeah?
94:45 TALIESIN: -- pirate treasure on the island--
94:47 TRAVIS: Yeah, it had a little freakout moment,
94:48 and they got it back on the rails.
94:49 MARISHA: Yeah.
94:50 TRAVIS: About to pull a fucking ripcord
94:52 like "Hannibal" season three. MARISHA: I agree. I got one.
94:54 TALIESIN: It's a real-- SAM: They're busy.
94:56 We'll get to them later. TALIESIN: I don't know.
94:57 No, we're discussing where it's going.
95:02 MARISHA: Okay, we're going to go,
95:03 so being on-- TALIESIN: It can be a ruin.
95:07 TRAVIS: Sorry.
95:09 MARISHA: Being a tender to this Pyre, being up high,
95:14 had a view of the mountains for some time,
95:18 and there's one that is particularly high,
95:22 off in the distance, and it is going to be
95:24 the Firmament's Harrow.
95:26 ALL: Ooh. TALIESIN: Good name.
95:28 SAM: What does that mean? TRAVIS: Power Thesaurus.
95:29 MARISHA: It's going to be-- (laughter)
95:32 SAM: What are those words synonyms of
95:34 that we would understand? MARISHA: Firmament is
95:38 deep sky.
95:39 SAM: Okay. Okay. MARISHA: Heaven.
95:40 And then Harrow being a wound.
95:45 SAM: Ooh.
95:46 MARISHA: A scar.
95:47 MATT: To be harrowed by something.
95:48 MARISHA: Yeah. MATT: That's what it's based on.
95:49 SAM: Sky scar. MARISHA: Sky scar.
95:51 SAM: Great.
95:53 TRAVIS: Basically, Starscream.
95:55 (laughter)
95:58 SAM: Megatron! MATT: I mean, good choice!
96:01 TRAVIS: Dude, the kid's watching it.
96:02 He's like, "Dad, do your Starscream!"
96:03 I'm like, "I can't.
96:06 (bad Starscream voice) Megatron!
96:07 He's like, "That's terrible."
96:10 MATT: Dad, you disappointed me.
96:11 TRAVIS: I should call Sam. You should come over.
96:14 SAM: Yeah. MATT: Do it.
96:15 SAM: I could do it. MATT: All right.
96:17 MARISHA: Firmament's Harrow. MATT: Pass that over,
96:18 other side of the table.
96:21 What you got?
96:25 ASHLEY: I feel like I want to make something
96:27 that's like "The Descent,"
96:30 where it's just a hole that no one has been to the bottom--
96:34 Can't. MARISHA: Just a big-ass sinkhole.
96:35 TRAVIS: You mean like the Ever-Moving Sinkholes?
96:36 ASHLEY: But I know that's kind of, I know.
96:38 But with sinkholes you can find the bottom.
96:40 SAM: Go for it, Ashley. ASHLEY: More of a cave.
96:41 SAM: That's fine. That's just fine.
96:43 (laughter)
96:45 SAM: You lose a friend there? ASHLEY: Okay, wait.
96:47 (laughter)
96:49 TRAVIS: What was the other one?
96:49 What was the temple that mimicked people's voices
96:52 and drew you within it?
96:53 Do you remember that other movie?
96:55 It was an Aztec temple and it had vines that grew over it,
96:59 and as you got closer it sounded like it
97:00 mimicked human voices-- MATT: Oh, what was that called?
97:02 TRAVIS: -- to get you inside so that it could eat you.
97:03 ASHLEY: What? MARISHA: That's cool.
97:05 TRAVIS: They salted the earth around the temple.
97:07 TALIESIN: Some of us haven't gone yet, Travis.
97:11 ASHLEY: Do you want to do the whole map?
97:13 Because-- TALIESIN: Yeah, man.
97:15 TRAVIS: Not my idea.
97:16 ASHLEY: Wait, I do like-- TRAVIS: What was that called?
97:17 MATT: Yeah, I'm trying to remember. I remember--
97:19 ASHLEY: That sounds very cool. MATT: That was 2010-ish.
97:22 TRAVIS: Yeah. ASHLEY: You know what?
97:23 I'm going to choose one of the things on here,
97:25 because I really like this name.
97:28 MATT: The Astrofoundry. All right.
97:30 ASHLEY: I feel like that could be, you know,
97:33 a place where people look at--
97:35 TRAVIS: "The Ruins." ASHLEY: -- stars.
97:37 MARISHA: Oh, it's just called "The Ruins?"
97:38 TRAVIS: Yeah. ASHLEY: All right,
97:39 let's put that--
97:41 MATT: Would that be-- TRAVIS: 2008.
97:42 MATT: -- along the Griefcleft?
97:44 Within the various
97:47 inner or outer walls of the Amber Reach?
97:49 Would it be beyond, to the north?
97:54 ASHLEY: I mean, I was thinking up here.
97:57 MATT: Yeah, if you want to place it there.
97:57 ASHLEY: Does that make sense? MATT: Sure.
97:59 ASHLEY: Okay. MATT: Go for it.
98:10 ASHLEY: That's just a cool title.
98:13 MATT: Taliesin, what you got?
98:15 TALIESIN: Well, I'm going to come back around
98:16 to my old city. I want to get something
98:19 odd on there first.
98:23 MATT: You guys can add other things
98:24 based on your backstories, which we can develop
98:26 until we actually run the first session.
98:28 TALIESIN: This is just something fun
98:29 I want to put together.
98:37 My family does not actually come from
98:40 the town that we were living in.
98:43 There is a haunted chunk of forest
98:49 which is called the--
98:55 It's called the Screaming Forest.
98:58 MATT: Okay, Screaming Forest. ASHLEY: Sounds pleasant.
98:59 TALIESIN: It's called the Screaming Forest--
99:00 MATT: Awesome.
99:02 TALIESIN: -- because there is no sound there.
99:04 It is quiet. It is absolutely quiet.
99:08 There are no leaves on the trees.
99:11 There's just wind, and for some reason,
99:14 the trees there have grown to look almost like people--
99:18 TRAVIS: Sweet. TALIESIN: -- frozen in place,
99:20 with their mouths wide open and their eyes open in terror,
99:23 and when the wind picks up,
99:26 they start to make noise like flutes.
99:29 MARISHA: Cool. TALIESIN: Of just terrible
99:30 moans and-- MATT: That's fun.
99:33 TALIESIN: And there are a whole bunch of rules.
99:35 You don't wander off the trail.
99:36 You try not to look up,
99:38 because people die in there mysteriously
99:40 and never come out all the time.
99:42 MATT: Cool.
99:43 TALIESIN: That's where my faerie people come from.
99:45 MATT: Delightful.
99:46 TALIESIN: That's the Screaming Forest.
99:47 ASHLEY: Lumon Ruins? MATT: Where would you like
99:48 that Screaming Forest to be on the map?
99:51 TALIESIN: Let's put it--
99:53 Where's a place you have to walk through
99:54 every now and then
99:55 if you want to get somewhere quickly?
99:58 You know, we've got the ruins there.
100:02 Where are the sinkholes again?
100:05 Where are the Ever-Moving Sinkholes?
100:06 MATT: They are towards the middle bottom.
100:08 TALIESIN: There we go.
100:12 Let's actually, even better--
100:15 I'm just trying to find something that
100:17 fucks everybody up.
100:18 Let's make them slightly
100:23 to the east of Okras
100:28 so that if you have to move out of the Idle Hallows
100:32 and get to Okras, you have to walk through this terrible
100:36 Screaming Forest. MATT: Very cool. Let's do it.
100:44 TALIESIN: Filled with spider fae. They're fun.
100:46 MATT: Fantastic. MARISHA: Filled. I hate it.
100:48 MATT: So with some of these map aspects
100:50 and a bit of the world expanded upon
100:52 to give you some anchors,
100:54 some places of history, either that you've heard of
100:56 or might've been through, been to.
101:00 Let's finish up here
101:02 with some character connections.
101:03 MARISHA: Okay.
101:04 TALIESIN: We'll do
101:05 the town together. ASHLEY: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
101:07 TALIESIN: It'll be fun.
101:10 MARISHA: Okay. TALIESIN: Where's the--
101:12 MATT: Do we have any character names, by the way?
101:14 MARISHA: No. TALIESIN: Working on it.
101:15 MARISHA: Got to think about it.
101:16 SAM: Duchovny. MARISHA: Let us think about it.
101:17 Oh my god. MATT: (laughs)
101:19 SAM: I need to add one more thing.
101:20 I'm going to add, just off the coast where we are,
101:22 there's a Floating Orchard.
101:24 MARISHA: That's cool. TALIESIN: Ooh!
101:25 You like things that move.
101:26 I'm into it. SAM: You're right.
101:28 It's a bunch of seaweed and kelp
101:30 that's floating off the coast,
101:33 and it's got delicious berries in it if you can get to it
101:37 through all the sea creatures and awful
101:40 creatures around it. MATT: That's fun.
101:41 I love that. Hell yeah.
101:52 MARISHA: So you're starting at Desperloch with me.
101:58 SAM: I'm a Desperlochian.
102:00 MARISHA: You're Desperlochian.
102:01 So what lie have you told me about yourself
102:04 that I absolutely believe?
102:06 SAM: Oh boy. MARISHA: You spineless coward.
102:11 SAM: What lie have I told you that you believe?
102:12 MARISHA: Yeah, and I'm like, "Tracks."
102:16 SAM: Jesus.
102:18 MARISHA: (chuckles)
102:19 SAM: I don't even know our relationship.
102:20 Why would I tell you a lie?
102:22 MARISHA: I don't know, small-- SAM: I told you that--
102:32 I told you that I have a girlfriend.
102:33 (laughter)
102:36 TRAVIS: The one that fell into the Ever-Moving Sinkholes?
102:40 MARISHA: Is that what it is? She fell into the sinkholes?
102:42 SAM: No, no--
102:43 TALIESIN: You actually just lost your wallet there,
102:45 and upgraded-- SAM: No.
102:46 (laughter)
102:47 SAM: That was not a romantic partner.
102:50 We would go on runs together.
102:54 Yeah, no, I told you that I have a girlfriend.
102:58 MARISHA: Okay.
102:59 SAM: And that she definitely exists.
103:01 MARISHA: So she's still alive.
103:02 Does she live in another settlement?
103:03 SAM: She doesn't exist. That's the lie.
103:05 MARISHA: But what if you told me-- SAM: Oh, oh, oh.
103:07 TALIESIN: She's north of the Idol Hollows.
103:08 MARISHA: Yeah, is she?
103:09 SAM: Yes, yes. TALIESIN: You've never been there.
103:11 SAM: I see her in another town that I go to visit.
103:16 I see her.
103:17 She's in the Amber Reach. MARISHA: Okay.
103:19 SAM: She's a brilliant researcher.
103:22 ASHLEY: Wait, but does anybody live in the Amber Reach?
103:24 MATT: Many people live in the Amber Reach.
103:24 ASHLEY: Oh, okay, okay, okay.
103:25 MATT: There are all manner of pocket societies there.
103:28 ASHLEY: There are. SAM: The smartest researcher
103:32 in the Amber Reach, she's a brilliant--
103:34 MARISHA: I love that. SAM: Everyone comes for miles
103:36 to hear her philosophy and wisdom.
103:38 MARISHA: Okay, that's great.
103:41 MATT: Awesome. MARISHA: That will
103:42 100% come up. SAM: Okay, good.
103:44 MARISHA: If we can just get to Amber in the Amber Reach.
103:48 SAM: Shit, I should've come up with a better name!
103:51 MATT: Are any of your characters
103:53 burdened with burgeoning oracle sight?
103:57 SAM: What the fuck does that mean?
104:01 TALIESIN: I'm in. MARISHA: Sounds like some you shit.
104:02 MATT: Slight, tiny threads of visions
104:05 within your dreams or in your waking day.
104:09 Flashes of something that is
104:13 sight beyond what a normal
104:15 person's perception allows. SAM: That feels like you.
104:16 TALIESIN: Yeah, one of you two.
104:18 I'm weird enough already.
104:20 ASHLEY: Maybe? TRAVIS: It'd probably be me.
104:22 MATT: All right, if so,
104:25 what visions have begun to creep into your sleep, Travis?
104:29 TRAVIS: Pictures of my mother, who's no longer around,
104:32 but then also a shining light,
104:36 almost like a doorway or a cave opening,
104:39 that cracks and fills out the entrance or portal itself,
104:45 and then spreads through the land.
104:47 But it's also connected by water.
104:50 There's also water around it in the vision,
104:52 which is why I've been drawn to the Idol Hollows,
104:56 because of the Lumon temple,
104:58 the Lumon Ruins that I know are here,
104:59 and that seems to be a good starting point, but who knows?
105:03 It's just a dream, right?
105:04 MATT: Yeah. Okay, cool.
105:06 Somebody else want to ask a connection question?
105:09 SAM: Oh, Ashley? ASHLEY: Hmm?
105:15 MATT: You can make one up, if you want.
105:17 SAM: Sure. MATT: You can read off the sheet.
105:18 SAM: I'm going off the sheet.
105:20 What threat have you asked me to watch out for,
105:22 and why are you so worried about it?
105:26 What are you scared of?
105:29 ASHLEY: Hmm.
105:32 MATT: He is one that travels away from the settlement often
105:36 as part of his messenger runner experience,
105:39 so there are many things that he could--
105:40 ASHLEY: Oh, he's mad.
105:42 SAM: Omar's a-growling. OMAR: (barks)
105:44 SAM: Oh! MATT: Oh.
105:45 MARISHA: What are you mad about? OMAR: (barks)
105:47 ASHLEY: I have never been-- OMAR: (barks)
105:49 ASHLEY: -- in the forests. OMAR: (barks)
105:52 SAM: This is good audio. ASHLEY: It is.
105:55 OMAR: (growls)
105:56 MARISHA: It's just Steve.
105:58 Oh no, he's okay.
106:00 ASHLEY: I'm afraid of the creatures.
106:01 I'm afraid of the dark in the forests,
106:03 of what creatures--
106:06 MARISHA: Weirdo.
106:07 SAM: Is there a specific creature?
106:10 ASHLEY: Yes, it's the one that--
106:14 There's a specific creature that I have heard of
106:18 that has taken in
106:22 whoever it kills,
106:25 you become a part of it,
106:27 and it's like this massive creature
106:31 of all of the people that it has killed.
106:35 MARISHA: An amalgamation. SAM: Yeah.
106:37 ASHLEY: It's an abomination. SAM: Okay.
106:40 You've seen this thing?
106:41 ASHLEY: I've heard of it. SAM: You've heard of it.
106:42 ASHLEY: I've never seen it. SAM: Okay.
106:44 ASHLEY: But I'm terrified of it.
106:45 But maybe you've told me you've seen it.
106:48 In your travels?
106:50 SAM: Maybe. Maybe I've heard of it, too.
106:53 But I'll look out for it for you.
106:55 ASHLEY: Yeah, I don't want to deal with that.
106:59 So let's avoid it.
107:01 MARISHA: I don't have time
107:02 to deal with that. ASHLEY: I don't have time to
107:03 deal with this, please.
107:06 MATT: Okay, if you want to think of a nickname,
107:10 you don't have to do it right now,
107:11 but think of a nickname for that entity
107:13 that you've heard referred to.
107:15 TRAVIS: Big bit.
107:17 TALIESIN: Travis. TRAVIS: Hmm?
107:19 TALIESIN: What weird hobby or strange
107:21 fascination do we both share?
107:23 TRAVIS: (laughs)
107:25 TALIESIN: And our characters, too.
107:26 MARISHA: (laughs)
107:27 TRAVIS: That's a good question.
107:31 TALIESIN: We're both a little magicky.
107:33 TRAVIS: Do we have--
107:37 Do we collect little trinkets or totems
107:40 or little charms
107:44 on our wrists?
107:50 Little icons that bring luck and meaning
107:53 from different parts of--
107:54 TALIESIN: I feel like I'd be cheating
107:55 having all these places to put them,
107:58 but yeah, I definitely love the idea of--
107:59 MARISHA: Oh, on all your hands.
108:01 TALIESIN: I love the idea of, I'm happy to--
108:03 TRAVIS: We collect little things from everywhere we go.
108:05 TALIESIN: Trade them on occasion.
108:07 TRAVIS: Yeah, every little
108:08 journey outside of the city or little trip
108:11 or little quest that we come back and don't die from,
108:15 there's one little thing that we add to our--
108:17 TALIESIN: I like them, yeah,
108:17 we can fight about whose is better.
108:21 TRAVIS: Yeah.
108:22 TALIESIN: And definitely show off
108:23 things and be irritated. TRAVIS: And we split,
108:26 yeah, we'll split things. TALIESIN: Yeah, yeah.
108:28 TALIESIN: Cool. MARISHA: Pogs.
108:29 MATT: (laughs)
108:30 TRAVIS: Marisha.
108:31 MARISHA: Yeah.
108:32 TRAVIS: You've told me to protect one member of our party
108:36 above all others, even yourself.
108:39 Who are they and why?
108:45 MARISHA: It would probably be Ashley.
108:49 TRAVIS: This bitch?
108:50 MARISHA: This bitch. ASHLEY: This bitch?
108:52 MARISHA: Because she is an ancient relic
108:57 of our history, of our past.
109:02 There aren't many of her left.
109:04 She is a walking artifact,
109:09 and if we lose her,
109:12 we lose an even further connection,
109:15 or we lose a piece of that connection
109:19 to the golden era before now.
109:22 She's important.
109:23 TRAVIS: Got it. Yeah, she is FernGully.
109:26 MARISHA: Yeah, yeah.
109:29 MATT: I'm going to do a quick round
109:29 at the table here with you all.
109:31 SAM: Yes, please.
109:32 MATT: What do your characters see when they stare
109:35 into the inky void of night too long?
109:43 TRAVIS: Kind of like when you stare into a neon sign
109:45 and then look away.
109:47 MATT: Mm-hmm.
109:48 TRAVIS: Like a little impression, but--
109:49 MARISHA: Yeah. TRAVIS: I think for me
109:51 it's glyphs or runes or symbology
109:55 that don't make any sense
109:56 and are probably just a trick of the eye,
109:57 those little things you see
109:58 swimming around in your vision.
109:59 MATT: Right, some sort of either
110:02 your eye caught some sort of an odd burning image
110:04 near the Pyre and it's probably just floating
110:06 on the periphery there.
110:07 TRAVIS: Every once in a while, the past few months,
110:11 I feel like I've seen a few of them a couple times.
110:14 MATT: Okay.
110:18 ASHLEY: I think for me, it's almost more of a feeling.
110:21 It just feels like
110:24 looking in it, it's just fear and despair and death.
110:31 MATT: Does it overwhelm you,
110:32 or do you rally against it internally?
110:36 ASHLEY: I think it overwhelms a little bit.
110:40 Okay.
110:40 ASHLEY: Yeah, I think they don't like looking in it
110:42 because it's--
110:46 It can't be defined and that's scary.
110:49 Like when you're a kid and you put all your clothes
110:51 on a chair and then at night you're like:
110:52 That's for sure a person sitting in it.
110:54 TRAVIS: Poltergeist. MATT: Right.
110:55 MARISHA: Yeah. ASHLEY: It is like a shape.
110:57 You're like: I can't tell what it is,
110:59 but there's something there. MATT: Okay.
111:01 TRAVIS: That boy was stupid.
111:02 He should never have had that clown in his bedroom.
111:04 ASHLEY: Never. You don't put a clown under your bed.
111:07 TRAVIS: What were you thinking?
111:08 SAM: I feel like my guy is so used to running and hiding and
111:17 escaping and averting danger, that maybe
111:24 the fear of the unknown and seeing that,
111:28 imagining that things are out there waiting is almost like,
111:32 it's not like a high, but it fuels, it fuels him.
111:37 There reaches a level of cowardice,
111:41 of fright where it's like he goes into overdrive
111:45 and he's like: I got to go, I can get through this.
111:49 And it gives him a boost of adrenaline
111:52 to get through it.
111:54 So it's almost like the unknown
111:56 inky void is like a drug.
111:59 MATT: It's enticing, there's something about--
112:03 Is it like Ashley's character
112:05 where that threshold of oblivion is exciting?
112:09 Or is it because there's something there looking back
112:12 that makes you, kind of triggers the adrenaline?
112:16 What is it you're vibing on that?
112:16 SAM: I think that's it, there's eyes in the darkness
112:19 and there's something there that
112:23 I think maybe I'm chasing or I'm intrigued by.
112:28 MATT: Okay, okay.
112:29 You feel as if you were being watched by something beyond.
112:32 SAM: Mm-hmm. MATT: Cool.
112:36 TALIESIN: I see home and I see the woman who ran home,
112:42 the home I came to, and I'm terrified
112:45 that they're looking for me
112:46 and that they're going to find me
112:48 because I know what they will do and it is awful.
112:53 MATT: Okay.
112:56 TRAVIS: Hmm. Hmm.
112:59 MARISHA: I think I've spent years, decades even,
113:05 staring into fire, sacred fire,
113:10 and now when I look into the darkness,
113:14 it starts to form black tendrils of flame
113:22 and it gives me a sense of
113:26 shame
113:29 or unease.
113:30 Is it because I've abandoned my post
113:33 on some sort of selfish,
113:38 self-fulfilling journey of honor?
113:42 Or is it because
113:45 the flame is just all-consuming
113:47 and eats everything it touches?
113:52 Or maybe the flame isn't as sacred
113:55 as we've made it out to be,
114:00 and we've just built it up in our heads.
114:02 Maybe the flame was a lie.
114:04 SAM: The flame is inside of us?
114:06 TRAVIS: The cake is a lie. MARISHA: Maybe the flame,
114:07 Maybe the flame is inside of us.
114:09 TALIESIN: The flame is the cake.
114:09 MARISHA: I think it's like-- TRAVIS: The flame is the cake.
114:11 The cake is inside of us.
114:12 MARISHA: (laughs)
114:13 SAM: You ate the cake?
114:16 MATT: (clears throat)
114:17 (laughter)
114:19 MATT: Okay, okay, very cool.
114:21 MARISHA: Ravaging flame.
114:24 MATT: I dig it. Works for a Pyrekeeper.
114:27 MARISHA: Yeah.
114:29 MATT: Any other connections anyone wants to ask?
114:32 TALIESIN: Yeah.
114:35 Actually, would like to get a couple.
114:43 I want to get all three.
114:45 Marisha.
114:45 MARISHA: Huh?
114:49 TALIESIN: What favor have I asked of you
114:51 that only you could help me with?
114:55 MARISHA: Oh.
114:56 Fully smuggling you
114:58 TRAVIS: (chuckles)
114:59 MARISHA: -- into underneath the settlement,
115:04 because I know all the ins and outs.
115:07 TALIESIN: And I love, I mean, I'm here to learn, so yeah.
115:10 MARISHA: And so I think probably if there is
115:13 some sort of archeological dig or something,
115:16 I think I would probably be going
115:19 a little bit against code in that way,
115:22 but it's also because I have that strong volition
115:26 towards the pursuit of knowledge.
115:27 TALIESIN: And I would owe you, so that's fair.
115:29 MARISHA: Yeah, so I would
115:30 totally smuggle you out of sight
115:34 to whatever knowledge we're seeking.
115:37 TALIESIN: Mm-hmm. MATT: Cool.
115:39 TALIESIN: I'm happy to be
115:39 sharing that whatever knowledge
115:41 we can be looking for it together,
115:42 I think it's a fun idea. MARISHA: Yeah.
115:45 TALIESIN: Mm-hmm.
115:50 MATT: All right. TRAVIS: Taliesin.
115:51 SAM: Oh!
115:52 TALIESIN: Jesus Christ.
115:54 TRAVIS: What promise did you make me agree to
115:58 should you die on the battlefield?
116:06 TALIESIN: I made you promise
116:07 to give a letter to my family
116:08 if you ever find them.
116:10 TRAVIS: Nice.
116:11 TALIESIN: Or at least to my parents.
116:16 Yeah, it would be my parents or grandparents,
116:18 any of my family you find.
116:21 TRAVIS: Got it.
116:25 ASHLEY: Taliesin. TALIESIN: Oh god, yeah.
116:27 MARISHA: (chuckles)
116:28 ASHLEY: Why do you grab my hand at night?
116:31 TALIESIN: Oh. MARISHA: I love this one.
116:37 ASHLEY: Or do you? TALIESIN: I do.
116:40 I think it's because if they find me,
116:45 I actually believe that you would be the reason
116:47 why I survive.
116:50 TRAVIS: No pressure.
116:53 ASHLEY: I will protect you.
116:54 TALIESIN: I think they fear you.
116:58 SAM: Marisha. MARISHA: (startled noise)
117:00 TALIESIN: Okay. ASHLEY: Okay.
117:02 TALIESIN: I think they fear you.
117:04 TRAVIS: Leave.
117:05 (laughter)
117:06 TALIESIN: I wouldn't have left.
117:08 SAM: What friendly competition do we have?
117:12 You know how we're buds. MARISHA: Yeah.
117:15 Just lying to me and shit.
117:17 SAM: Just about the girl.
117:19 (laughter)
117:21 SAM: I want to impress you.
117:23 You're strong. MARISHA: You impress me.
117:25 SAM: You're strong and I'm weak.
117:27 MARISHA: You're just a little goat man.
117:28 SAM: I'm a little goat man.
117:30 MARISHA: (giggles)
117:40 Oh my god. What friendly competition do we have?
117:46 SAM: I'm going to answer my own question.
117:47 MARISHA: Yeah. MATT: (chuckles)
117:48 MARISHA: Give me a suggestion.
117:49 SAM: You're big, right?
117:50 MARISHA: Yeah.
117:52 SAM: Maybe I,
117:55 I feel like I'm small and very skinny.
117:58 MARISHA: Okay.
117:59 SAM: But I can eat so much food.
118:04 MARISHA: Ooh.
118:04 SAM: And never seem to gain any weight,
118:08 and so we have like--
118:09 MARISHA: Like eating competitions.
118:10 SAM: Yeah, like how many grapes
118:12 can you fit in your mouth--
118:13 TRAVIS: Grapes. SAM: (laughs)
118:14 MARISHA: Yeah, that's good.
118:15 MATT: I will say, too, a fun bit of this--
118:17 MARISHA: That's fun. MATT: Any sort
118:18 of eating competition that you both have,
118:20 you have to keep secret
118:21 because rations are thin
118:24 in these settlements. MARISHA: Even better!
118:25 MATT: So you guys are stealing food more or less to compete,
118:30 which is awesome. TRAVIS: Mom, I'm hungry.
118:32 MATT: That's fucked up. MARISHA: Yeah.
118:34 (laughter)
118:37 MATT: "Our rice stores are two weeks behind, what's going?"
118:40 MARISHA: And that can come into foraging or scavenging,
118:43 like what did you all find today?
118:45 SAM: Ooh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
118:46 MARISHA: What did you squirrel away?
118:47 SAM: I can squirrel us away stuff
118:49 and we don't show anybody else.
118:51 MARISHA: Sure, that's fun. TRAVIS: Are you sure the game
118:51 isn't she tries to see if she can startle you
118:54 so that you fucking faint? MARISHA: Yeah.
118:56 (laughter)
118:57 SAM: I like that, too. I like that, too.
119:00 TRAVIS: (bleats)
119:02 (laughter)
119:03 SAM: Do they do that?
119:04 ASHLEY: Fainting goats. MARISHA: Fainting goats.
119:05 MATT: Oh yeah. SAM: Maybe I do that!
119:07 (laughter)
119:09 SAM: I love it.
119:09 MARISHA: You've seen fainting goats.
119:11 SAM: I have. I have. MARISHA: This is so good.
119:13 TRAVIS: (bleats)
119:14 MARISHA: Okay, yeah, we have a little eating competition.
119:18 TALIESIN: Sam. SAM: (yells)
119:19 TALIESIN: Feels good, doesn't it?
119:21 What about me irritates you?
119:24 My character. Shit.
119:26 (laughter)
119:27 SAM: You're what kind of wizard?
119:28 What do you look like?
119:29 TALIESIN: I'm a humanoid spider.
119:32 SAM: Oh god.
119:34 TALIESIN: But charming.
119:35 (laughter)
119:36 SAM: Charming humanoid spider. TALIESIN: I'm cute for a spider.
119:39 TRAVIS: Maybe a little jumpy.
119:40 TALIESIN: Actually, it's slightly different build,
119:42 but yeah. I can do the little parachute thing.
119:44 TRAVIS: Funnel wolf.
119:47 SAM: What about you annoys me?
119:49 TALIESIN: Yeah.
119:51 It doesn't have to be a big thing
119:52 and you know, we could have a discussion about it.
119:55 TRAVIS: (laughs) He's already qualifying it.
119:57 MARISHA: Yeah. (laughs)
119:58 TALIESIN: I'm trying to-- MARISHA: Not a big deal.
120:00 TRAVIS: It could be small. TALIESIN: I'm trying to just
120:01 throw you something, you know.
120:03 SAM: I'm trying to think if I want it
120:05 to be a big deal or a little deal.
120:06 TRAVIS: It's a fucking giant spider.
120:08 MARISHA: Yeah. SAM: I know.
120:09 (laughter)
120:12 SAM: You know what, I've never said this to you.
120:14 TRAVIS: (wheezes)
120:15 SAM: You have this smell.
120:19 MARISHA: Oh yeah. SAM: You smell real weird.
120:21 TALIESIN: I eat a lot of raw meat.
120:23 SAM: Yeah, yeah. MARISHA: Mm.
120:25 ASHLEY: There it is. TRAVIS: You melt your own food.
120:26 TALIESIN: And I also don't chew with my mouth closed
120:28 because I'm a spider.
120:29 SAM: I'm intrigued by you.
120:30 I'm intrigued by-- TALIESIN: Probably smell like--
120:32 SAM: Do we know about your magic?
120:33 We know about your magic.
120:34 Your Aetherweaving? TALIESIN: How close are we?
120:37 SAM: I don't know. TALIESIN: I don't fucking know.
120:38 SAM: What are we together, to each other?
120:40 TALIESIN: I think if I've used your services,
120:43 I think at this point, I would definitely have friends
120:46 who would know.
120:47 MATT: Yeah, you're not an adventuring troop,
120:49 but you all know each other to a certain degree.
120:54 I mean, both of you are outliers in the settlements.
120:58 We'll talk more about where your place is in this.
121:01 You said you were smuggled through
121:02 and probably hidden from some of the more jumpy folks
121:05 since you resemble some of the things that people
121:07 are afraid of on the outside of the walls.
121:11 MARISHA: It's a big pursuit of knowledge.
121:13 TALIESIN: I'll also say I changed one of my Experiences
121:19 that I thought it was a little too to
121:20 Absolutely Supposed to be Here.
121:23 MATT: Okay.
121:23 TALIESIN: So I can just-- I'm fine.
121:25 I'm with her.
121:26 MATT: (laughs) That's fun. That's fun.
121:28 TALIESIN: Have to do a lot of that.
121:28 MARISHA: Have you ever had, you know, like--
121:30 TALIESIN: Like wearing a suit at Comic-Con.
121:31 MATT: Right. MARISHA: In the fall
121:32 when all the ladybugs start coming inside
121:35 and then they'll gather in the corner
121:37 and then when a lot of ladybugs gather
121:39 in the corner of your window
121:41 and they smell weird.
121:44 Do you know that smell, ladybug smell?
121:47 SAM: I don't.
121:48 MARISHA: Is this a--
121:49 SAM: I don't.
121:50 TRAVIS: Oh no, no, I'm familiar.
121:52 That's a southeastern part-- MARISHA: Is this a southern thing?
121:54 Is this a Kentucky-ass thing?
121:55 TALIESIN: I was going to go with a--
121:57 MARISHA: Yeah, and they'll come in.
121:58 TALIESIN: With the meat plant. SAM: Is that question
121:59 on your sheet?
122:01 (laughter)
122:01 MARISHA: Yeah.
122:02 ASHLEY, SAM, and MARISHA: "Do you know ladybug smell?"
122:05 TALIESIN: I assume I would smell like
122:06 rotted meat a little bit.
122:07 ASHLEY: Weird.
122:08 MARISHA: Yeah, they're cute when they're one at a time,
122:11 but then they get, and they'll gather and--
122:14 ASHLEY: A little aggressive?
122:15 TRAVIS: If you yawn, they
122:15 fucking fly in your mouth. (gagging)
122:18 TALIESIN: There's so many awful insects.
122:20 MARISHA: I once woke up and brushed my teeth
122:22 and one had crawled onto my toothbrush
122:24 in the middle of the night
122:25 and there was this weird like--
122:26 ASHLEY: No. MARISHA: -- acrid acid taste
122:28 and I spit it out and it was a ladybug
122:29 that had crawled on my toothbrush.
122:31 ASHLEY: Ew.
122:31 MARISHA: Because you know when you stumble
122:32 in the bathroom and like--
122:33 TRAVIS: It's good luck.
122:34 ASHLEY: Yeah.
122:35 MATT: (laughs) MARISHA: Anyway.
122:37 SAM: Taliesin, I'll also say that another thing
122:39 that annoys you about me, me about you--
122:42 TALIESIN: Yeah. SAM: You about, whatever.
122:44 MATT: No, you had it, the second one you got it right.
122:46 SAM: Is that you ask me to get you things.
122:48 TALIESIN: All the time.
122:49 SAM: But they seem to me
122:52 like they're useless and cumbersome.
122:54 It just doesn't feel like, why would you need this?
122:58 TALIESIN: I love it.
122:59 SAM: Why would I have to risk my life
123:00 to get this for you?
123:02 TALIESIN: I love it.
123:03 MATT: This is fun.
123:05 TALIESIN: Smell. MATT: I think we got
123:06 some solid connections here.
123:07 This is a continued conversation
123:09 until we start our first session, of course,
123:10 so we can keep developing this and asking questions,
123:12 but I think this is a good jumping off point.
123:14 My last question for all of you--
123:16 MARISHA: Ooh. MATT: Is how deadly
123:18 do you want this campaign to be?
123:20 TRAVIS: Very. MARISHA: Let's go!
123:21 TRAVIS: Well done steak.
123:22 Level 10.
123:23 TALIESIN: Really spicy or only from the home country spicy?
123:27 TRAVIS: Punishment for--
123:28 the first person that dies. ASHLEY: I want to see what a super spicy--
123:30 TALIESIN: Only from the home country.
123:30 ASHLEY: Yeah. MATT: Okay, let's go.
123:31 ASHLEY: Full spice.
123:33 MARISHA: Video game menu challenge rating
123:35 expert, god mode.
123:37 TRAVIS: Skull next to it.
123:38 SAM: Do we know how many of these we're doing?
123:40 TALIESIN: It depends on how quickly we die. MARISHA: Eight.
123:42 SAM: So there's not really time to come back
123:45 as another character. TRAVIS: Sure there is.
123:47 TALIESIN: Yep. TRAVIS: Sure there is.
123:48 TALIESIN: There ain't no getting--
123:49 TRAVIS: Oh yeah.
123:50 MARISHA: Or you just die. MATT: We'll talk about it.
123:51 TRAVIS: Or if she dies, something fucked up might happen.
123:54 MARISHA: We also, if you notice--
123:55 TALIESIN: I had to make Caduceus in a week;
123:56 you'll be fine. MARISHA: We have two people
123:57 missing at this table.
123:58 SAM: I actually hadn't noticed.
124:00 MARISHA: Yeah. (laughs)
124:01 TRAVIS: We should actually make a pool
124:02 about who's going to die first and the first person out
124:04 has to buy everybody, I don't know, Porto's.
124:08 MARISHA and SAM: Ooh.
124:09 MATT: We'll figure something out.
124:10 I think there's some fun options.
124:11 TRAVIS: Okay.
124:12 MATT: But I think we have enough to jump off of here.
124:14 We'll develop things together
124:16 until we actually get to this first session here,
124:19 and Desperloch, one of the few remaining settlements
124:23 gathered around one of the burning Sacred Pyres here
124:27 in the Age of Umbra.
124:28 We'll see you all soon enough for the first session--
124:31 TRAVIS: Oh shit! MATT: -- of this campaign
124:33 in Daggerheart.
124:34 Super excited for you all to join us for this.
124:35 We'll see you soon.
124:37 (cackling)
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