Stace Babcock [GM]: Welcome to Explorers Wanted. We are a weekly Numenera Actual Play Podcast. Except for this week, we are a Claim The Sky Podcast. I am your slightly hungover Professor Perilous Stace Babcock, and with me today is Alex Finn. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Listen, I'm finally eating and it's amazing. Stace Babcock [GM]: Daniel Andrlik. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Hi, I'm Daniel Andrlik and I'm being chased by an insane military commander. Stace Babcock [GM]: And Sampson Davis. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Hi, I have coffee instead of alcohol today, so weird vibe. Stace Babcock [GM]: It's weird to play on a Sunday and I am spared the indignity of Lions football so there you go. Sampson, do you have anything else you would like to share on this bright and sunny Sunday? Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: I do. I suppose I could tell you guys and our listeners that we are dicefiliates with the Die Hard Dice, and that if they use our code, EXPLORE with an exclamation mark at the end, they can get 10% off their order. Go get some metal dice. They're a lot of fun. I have this big chunky, dragon scaly motherfucker and it's glorious and beautiful. It rolled a seven. I need to break it in some more, but it's beautiful to look at. Stace Babcock [GM]: Hey, a seven can get you pretty far in Cypher. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: True. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Can it? Stace Babcock [GM]: It depends on how many assets you have, how much effort you spend. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: How much cooperating we're doing. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: How much XP I have to re-roll it. Stace Babcock [GM]: I've had a few clutch fours at times, so. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Sometimes you want to roll low, like when I'm doing shit and I accidentally hit other people. Stace Babcock [GM]: You know what? Speaking of rolling, you guys, can I get everyone to roll a D20 for me and tell me what you get. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Oh fuck. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Oh. Okay. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Oh. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Are we rolling initiatives like that dog with the knife? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: I got a five. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: 15. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Ooh. I also got a five. Stace Babcock [GM]: All right. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Fight me. Stace Babcock [GM]: Daniel and Alex, can you please re-roll? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: One. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: I got 15. Fight me, Sampson. Stace Babcock [GM]: All right. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: What the fuck? Stace Babcock [GM]: No, no, Sampson won the first. Sampson had highest and this was just to determine middle and lowest, so. Cool. Well, now that's out the way, I guess I will introduce our setting. So Claim The Sky as the Cypher System's Supers Setting, superheroes, super villains. Our players are superheroes, allegedly. In fact, they're Venture City's newest Society of Seven franchise. And in the Claim The Sky setting, you can think of the Society of Seven kind of like the Avengers. They're like the top, the cream of the crop, the big team based in New York that everybody calls on when aliens attack the planet or whatever. But there are a lot of villains in this world. Supers are fairly common and so they have franchises in various places throughout the world. And these franchises are pretty desirable for a lot of people, for a lot of Supers because not every Super gets to go pro. Some Supers may never really actually use their powers. Some Supers may be nighttime vigilantes in their neighborhood working a day job and then going out at night, kind of like Daredevil or something like that. So being part of a Society of Seven franchise really does give the opportunity to do superhero stuff for a living. So in terms of the world, we are based in Venture City. It's a, semi-serious somewhat goofy, leaning into the superhero theme type of place. So it's not gritty like the Batman movies. It's really inspired by Batman, the animated series, Teen Titans, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. So we're going for kind of that vibe. And thing I do want to say is for Supers, the rule of cool is queen. If it's super cool and it's not game breaking, yeah, you can do it. The rule of cool is definitely going to guide us here today. And in fact, superhero combos are pretty awesome and amazing, I think. So since we are doing a one shot and since you guys don't have any XP at this moment, what I will say is I will put an offer and reward a table XP for any sort of team based combo or cool thing that more than one hero does together. It should probably be action packed, right? But if it meets whatever threshold that I have mentally, I will reward a table XP. So you are encouraged to do cool things as a group. Another thing that's a little bit different about Claim The Sky is we are using the Cypher Systems power shifts. So power shifts are essentially, you have various categories, you are able to put up to five power shifts, up to three in one category. You can put one in five categories, however you want to do it. And basically those ease different tasks. So dexterity power shift eases movement and speed defense. And basically each point you put into a power shift eases it by one more step. So if you put three into one power shift, you're essentially easing any task related to that power shift by three steps. So those will come up today. There's another thing called power stunts, which is essentially like, Hey, listen, my character has a giant mechanical fist which normally does 12 damage or whatever. You could spend extra from a pool to do something cool with that ability, basically like, "I'm going to punch the ground and cause the ground to ripple out and throw back this group of people." Okay, that's cool, but you're going to spend some extra might to make that happen because it's a bit of a stretch for your ability. Now, if you try to super stretch your ability, there's a whole set of rules and stuff that we can get into for that, but just know that you do have the option to say like, "Hey, what if my coverability was able to be a kinetic attack?" Hey, let's talk about it, and it's probably going to be a little bit difficult. Before I jump in guys, do I have any questions? Any concerns? Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Should we mention that the Cyphers are not super diverse in this one? Stace Babcock [GM]: Oh, okay, yeah. So this does use, I think they're called Subtle Cyphers is the correct term, not Manifest Cyphers. So like Stars Are Fire, they are just sort of like an extra feat of effort pushing a power stunt a little bit farther or pushing an ability a little bit farther or a skill roll a little bit farther than you otherwise could. So each player has two Cyphers that boost various things and that's kind of how they work. So however you guys want, do you take a pill? Do you just have that extra will and that fire to do something a little bit more? Whatever you guys decide. However, these Cyphers work for you is fine with me. You can get narrative with it. All right. Let's jump in. So the first panel of our comic book. We flip open the cover and there we see from a high angle Mendoza's Toy Store. Fat flakes descend from the sky. It's a very peaceful scene except for the 30 Aegis Security police cars outside, lights flashing. Dozens of Aegis Security officers outside of their vehicles. And at this moment we see Prince Roogy, flying out of the store window after being tossed by Minder, a super villain. Sampson, tell us about Prince Roogy. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: All right. So Prince Roogy, he's a clumsy explorer who explores dark places. And Prince Roogy is the crown Prince of the mole people. He is large, like 7 foot tall, four foot wide mole person. However you want to imagine him, he's hot. He's just like a hot, chunky furry boy who's only wearing pants and backpack and little circular black goggles. Just to give you an idea of what kind of hero he is, I'm kind of basing him off Namor and Namor really wasn't anything special except Atlantian, which means that he's just slightly stronger than a human. And that's kind of what Prince Roogy is. He's just slightly stronger than a human, but he's a mole person and that, in a nod to silver age and golden age of comics, is what makes him a superhero. He's just not human. Stace Babcock [GM]: All right. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Huh. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Is your face like a mole's face? Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: A little bit. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Could it be a naked mole rat face? Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: No, no, he's hot. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Oh right, right, right Alex Finn [Even Steven]: We're on thirst TikTok. Remember. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Whatever, half human, half mole configuration is most attractive to you listener, that's what Prince Roogy looks like. And then I guess he gets thrown into a car? Stace Babcock [GM]: How did you know? Yeah. So he finishes the arc and lands on his back on top of one of Aegis Securities police car. How far is this police car roof dented in, Sampson? Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Prince Roogy is fairly large, so I'm going to say it basically turns into a U. The car has almost snoot to tail wrapped around Roogy and then Roogy kind of pushes it away and just like, "Oh, oh God. All right." Stace Babcock [GM]: And these Aegis Security officers in their little armored vests and their uniforms just are sort of looking at you agape. All right. And we'll pause you right there. Within the store, which is decked out like a winter Wonderland, there's blues and silvers and little ice rinks and a bunch of ice skates. And in this chaos, in whatever is happening in this store, you have Minder the super villain and you have Alex, what is your superhero name? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Steven. Stace Babcock [GM]: Even? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Steven. Stace Babcock [GM]: Even Steven. All right. And here is Even Steven near the exit, trying to usher a final family of parents, their kids out of the store. Now, as you're doing this, all of a sudden, you don't even... It's just a blur, you take a punch to the side of the face. Now, since this is all for narrative flavor and setting the scene, this doesn't do any damage, but you hear a slight zooming sound as whoever did it races away. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: I think I need to go home sick. I got injured on the job. This is workman's comp. Stace Babcock [GM]: Now, before we go much further into this scene, how about you tell us about Even Steven. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: So, Even Steven, because he was peer pressured into picking a name. He didn't really want a name. He was just like, "Can't I just be Steven?" And there was a resounding, "No, can't just be Steven." So Even Steven was just minding his own business one day when he got bit by a radioactive wasp and... Stace Babcock [GM]: It happens. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Yeah. I mean, you're just casually walking down the street on a hot summer day and on your way to put money in the meter, a radioactive wasp gets you and you still get that damn parking ticket. Stace Babcock [GM]: So what does Even Steven look like? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Even Steven is just your average office worker, except now, due to the radioactive wasp bite, he does have wings on his back. And he's very self conscious about it so he tries to hide them underneath his button up dress shirt. But it's really awkward because he's not a high paying office worker. So it's just like a kind of okay fitting office shirt that's now bunched up in the back because his wings are just trying to get out and be wings, but he's just like, "No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No." And I'd like to say it's like a white office shirt with a little tank top underneath, as men apparently wear. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. And so it's a white dress shirt. Can we see any detail about the wings through the shirt or is it going to be a surprise at some point when they burst forth? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Oh no. You can definitely tell there's something underneath there because they're pushing against the shirt. And so his back will just ripple really grossly because you have wings pushing out. Stace Babcock [GM]: But are they colorful like butterfly wings? Are they like dragonfly wings? Or wasp wings? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Oh no, they're wasp wings. Stace Babcock [GM]: Wasp wings, of course. Naturally, bit by a wasp, that makes more sense. Okay. So wasp wings. All right. So we've got Even Steven trying to usher this family out while dealing with... Alex Finn [Even Steven]: And trying to sneak out with the family. Stace Babcock [GM]: And trying to flee the scene. All right. And then over in the middle of the store, right in front of Santa's throne, we have Professor Perilous standing between a half dozen black clad goons and about 12 store employees dressed as elves who are currently being held as hostages. Daniel, tell us about Professor Perilous. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Professor Perilous is a reformed super villain. "Reformed," I want to put the quotes in my thing. "Reformed super villain." And they're somewhat a shadowy figure. They are a dark energy master. So specifically they are an uncanny adept who dances with dark matter. So they're wearing this very sort of purple and black cloak with a hood and they are facing off against all these figures. And I think they're winking at them in sort of a threatening way. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Aggressive winking, like, "rrrr." Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Yeah, I guess one other thing, so he's winking at them, which makes it clear that occasionally he has green eyes, the green irises, but his pupils, the black pupils, occasionally will just start floating around like mercury across his eyes before they finally zap back into place. It doesn't affect his vision, but it's a little unsettling if you notice it. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. So this is it. This is the opening scene. Shit's going down at this toy store. And so what I would like is for you guys to roll initiative. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Woo. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: I got a five. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: There it is. I got a one. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: 16. Stace Babcock [GM]: Who got the one? Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: I did. Stace Babcock [GM]: All right. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Prince Roogy, we knew you so shortly. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Yes. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: He's clumsy. He trips on something, trying to get up. Stace Babcock [GM]: Daniel, these black clad goons with their MP5 sub machine guns face off with you. What do you do? And of course you have the hostages right behind you. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: I assume these goons are all within an immediate range of each other? Stace Babcock [GM]: Yes. And in fact, all of them have their weapons brought up and they are trained on you and or the hostages. They're very freaked out. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Okay. Well with that, I'm going to wink at them again and it's a Christmas display, right? Stace Babcock [GM]: Yes. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Okay. So Professor Perilous looks at them and says, "Tis the season for cuddles." And this dark energy bursts around him for a moment. And then underneath their feet, all these strange tendrils start reaching up and circling them. And I'm using ribbons of dark matter. So for the next minute, this dark matter is around all of them manifesting like swirling ribbons. And any tasks attempted by creatures in that area are hindered and leaving the area requires that creature's entire action to move. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. So go ahead and... Or this just happens? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: This just happens. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. So you have these six goons surrounded by these tendrils of dark matter and now they can take action. They just cannot move, right? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Yeah. They can take action or rather if they want to move, they have to spend their whole turn doing it to try to get out. And then if they take actions, they're hindered. They're hindered on anything they attempt to do. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. So these goons, they go ahead and train their weapons on you and fire. Now we're going to treat this kind of like a swarm. So just go ahead and give me a 12 speed defense. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: 12 speed defense. I will spend a level of effort on that. That's five. Stace Babcock [GM]: Ooh. So they fire as one and go ahead and take nine might... Ooh. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Ooh. That hurts. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. So next up we have Even Steven. Even Steven you're ushering this family that you would think would be moving with a sense of urgency, but they are frightened and they are afraid and they do not know where to go. And there's this super speed, super villain in your vicinity. What do you do? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Part of Steven wants to use the shrink ability and just be like, "I'm sorry, this is too much. I've already been injured on the job," But oh, I feel like that would even be too much for Steven to be like, "I'm out." I think what Steven is going to do is wait, I have to think about this. Because part of me wants to take the hostages and throw them out the door and get the fuck out. But the other part of me just like, "Maybe I should attack with a weapon," not the hostages. Let me just be clear. Stace Babcock [GM]: I am glad that you clarified that. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Is this who Steven is as a person? Stace Babcock [GM]: As Steven is pondering this, you see a blur race by and suddenly the father trips and falls on his ass. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Steven is going to help him up and shove him out the door faster, like, "Get the fuck out." Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. If you want to take a turn ushering the family out, you can do that. You can just simply do that, that is your action. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Yes. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay, cool. So the family's been ushered out and now we go outside to this formerly operational police car, Prince Roogy extricating himself from the U-shaped police car. And now what does Prince Roogy do? Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: "Oh, I'm sorry guys. I didn't mean to do that. Don't worry, I'm fine. It's a good thing I like being thrown out of windows or else I'd be getting pretty upset right now." And then Roogy is going to kind of trot over probably across the street to the store and stop. And is there a alleyway next to the store? Stace Babcock [GM]: Yes. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Awesome. Then Roogy is going to go into the alleyway kind of guesstimate, listening to the commotion in the store through the wall. And then dig down under and try, this is probably too much for one turn, but try to basically get a... Try to trapped the Minder, try to get up under him or them, whoever they are. Stace Babcock [GM]: Her. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Her, and then probably in a few turns, try to reach up and grab her leg as she's running around. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. So let's see your tunneling. So I'm going to say that in one turn, Prince Roogy, I'm going to assume is a fast tunneler. So you can tunnel in and emerge in one turn. And then you can't do anything else though. So you can't emerge and take an action. So, you do have to dig through some, obviously the cement or brick of the alleyway and then through the ground. So go ahead and I actually just thought of something. So go ahead and give me a 24 might roll. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: 24 might roll. Okay. So I have my digging mitts, does that give me an asset at all? Stace Babcock [GM]: It sure does. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: All right. So that brings it to a 21. I got two in my strength power shifts. Brings it to a 15. Anything else I can throw at this? Not specifically trained in digging, so I think that's the best I got at the moment. All right. Let's try it. Four. Stace Babcock [GM]: Ooh. So you begin to dig, but you just, as you come over, you encounter a super thick cement wall. Well, there's a basement here. And so once you encounter that wall, it sort of stops you where you are. So you've dug probably about, I don't know, we'll say eight feet down and two feet over and here you are encountered with this cement nastiness. And that is where we will leave that. Now it is the Minder's turn. So the Minder, their prey having escaped turns their attention to none other than Professor Perilous . Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: So what does the Minder look like? Stace Babcock [GM]: The Minder is a serious looking black woman who is wearing a silver helmet with circular, glowing green, almost look like bulbs on it. And when she uses her powers, they glow. She is wearing just sort of normal clothes, elaborate robes. It's not like a particularly special costume or anything like that, but definitely has layers of robed clothing in silver and green as well. And just perpetual scowl. You're not sure if she's concentrating or she's just pissed, what's going on. So there is the Minder. And the Minder turns, like I said, their attention over to Professor Perilous and is going to attempt to throw Professor Perilous using her telekinetic abilities. Why don't you go ahead and give me a 21 Intellect Defense or it could be speed. I would take arguments for either. I could see, actually I could see a case for any pool to resist telekinetic. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: I would say it's probably intellect or might. So I've trained, so that brings it down to an 18. I'm going to use my efficacy boost. So that's 15 and then I'll spend a level of intellect here. So that brings it down to a 12, right? Stace Babcock [GM]: Yes. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: That is a natural 20. Stace Babcock [GM]: Oh, dang. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Ooh, fuck. Stace Babcock [GM]: All right. So obviously, I mean, Professor Perilous is a, however they manage to do it, resist this telekinetic abilities. Tell me how they do it and tell me what major effects that you would like. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Okay. So I think what happens is because their ability essentially comes from magic, and so as this telekinetic field is going, he sends his dark energy barreling into the space inbetween and shifting it to almost like a psychic phase. So it catches and just absorbs that telekinetic pulse and just seems to grow darker in the air between them. And then as a major effect, I would like Professor Perilous to send it shooting back at Minder. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. And as a major effect, I will say it not only shoots back at Minder, but it is super effective and Minder takes 11 advantage. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Damn. Stace Babcock [GM]: And is knocked prone. Okay. So here we have it. We have Minder on their ass, we have the family out the door. We have Prince Roogy facing off with a basement wall. But Professor Perilous also has these goons to deal with. And these hostages, they're crying. They're obviously very upset. This is a very upsetting situation. So Professor Perilous, what do you do now? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: So Professor Perilous is going to turn to the gunners because they see that Minder got knocked over and they are going to look at those gunners and say... Because they're functioning like a swarm, right? Stace Babcock [GM]: Yes. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Okay. And so he's going to spit some blood because he got hurt very bad by all those shots earlier. And he's going to say, "My turn," and he is going to send an onslaught at this swarm. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Oh shit. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Tell me what my target is. Stace Babcock [GM]: 12. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Okay. So that also gets eased by two steps because of my power shifts. So that means it's a six. And I'm going to spend a level of intellect effort for damage if I get. That is a 17. Stace Babcock [GM]: Oh. Oh, 17. You rolled a 17. I thought it was 17 damage. I was just like, "Oh God." Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: No. So that's plus one damage. So and I'd spent effort, so that's going to be 11 damage. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Ooh. And we murdered that person. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Slamming into that one. Stace Babcock [GM]: Three of the soldiers are nothing but boots. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Ooh. Oh. And it should have been even easier because they're in the dark matter, so they're hindered, but. Stace Babcock [GM]: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right. They're hindered. So, and then, well, a fourth one looks kind of rough, looks kind of rough. So there are two apparently perfectly healthy and one damage soldier remaining. All right. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: So, and I'm also going to yell out, "Steven, get the rest of them out of here." Stace Babcock [GM]: So you shout that, no problem. And I want to say too, you guys have earpieces. You guys have ready coms with each other. So you can communicate. So, but I described that three of the swarm, they're nothing but boots. But can you tell me a little bit more about the nature of the attack and what that looked like? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Yeah. So again, you can see this dark energy flow over Professor Perilous. And most of the time he keeps his arms inside his cloak. But when he reaches outside the cloak here to fire this off, you can see he's got some dark gloves on his hand that honestly appear to be mostly cosmetic. As he generates his charge, you can see all of a sudden, all the veins on his bare arms become black with this energy as it flows towards his hand and then fires out in a blast at those figures. And it appears to be both concussive and corrosive. Stace Babcock [GM]: Dang. All right. So Professor Perilous yells to Even Steven to get the rest of these hostages out of there. But at this moment, Shrike, super villain, is suddenly visible. They have stopped moving at a rapid rate for some reason and they are going to attack. They're going to use their special attack called a Super Shrike. So Even Steven that is at 24 speed defense to evade. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Someone's going to get impaled. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: I understood that reference. Got it. Stace Babcock [GM]: Now remember you have a dexterity power shift. Do you have one or two dexterity power shifts? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: One. Stace Babcock [GM]: Just one? Okay. So that brings it to a 21. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: And I think I'm going to need to use some pool. Is that a speed pool? Stace Babcock [GM]: Yes. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Okay. So I'm going to use one level of effort. Stace Babcock [GM]: 18. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Yeah. Let's see if I have anything else. Nope. It's just, we're going to try and roll an 18. Maybe Steven's going to ruin his shirt by getting impaled. That's fine. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. I got a 13. That's... Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: The time tomb is with you. Stace Babcock [GM]: All right. So I, this is not actually an impalement. What Shrike does is they move super quickly and they fist their hands together and sShrike Even Steven in the stomach, tossing Even Steven across the store. And Even Steven lands in a display of this year's hottest toy, Chaos Elmo. Somewhat near the hostages than Even Steven was previously and Even Steven takes nine might... Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Holy shit. Stace Babcock [GM]: Damage. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Damn. Stace Babcock [GM]: Even Steven's back in the action, but they are kind of buried in Chaos Elmos, who as one, activate, throw their arms up into the air and pieces of cloth representing fire flare up from their backs. And they scream. All right. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Everyone takes one intellect damage. Stace Babcock [GM]: Everyone takes one. Ah, my eyes. All right, Prince Roogy, you are face to face. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Ah, my natural enemy. I'll find a voice for him at some point, but Prince Roogy in the meantime is going to use his ability, muscles of iron. Stace Babcock [GM]: Ooh. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Allowing him for the next 10 minutes to have an asset of all might based actions other than attack roles. So visually I imagine this as looking like an attack, but Roogy is going to start smashing through the concrete wall to try to get into this basement. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. So this concrete wall, since you're not also trying to go a long distance and emerge at this time, I'm going to go ahead and say that this is going to be an 18 might pass just to get through the wall. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Dope. So I got my power shifts, give me two, muscles of iron, my digging mitts. Stace Babcock [GM]: 12, 9, 6. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: 6. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: 11. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. You get through this wall. Can you describe it please? Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Roogy takes a step back, takes a breath. You see his digging mitts kind of like tighten, start making a heightened humming sound. And then he just starts Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventure, just Ora! Ora! Ora! through the concrete wall, into the basement. Stace Babcock [GM]: Prince Roogy bursts into the basement and the first thing that you notice are an extremely high number of disturbing child mannequins in various poses wearing clothing that is years out of date. And, but you also smell a burning. Not like a fire, but like a burning that comes from friction, like from construction, from grinding. And as you smell this, you hear a kind of high pitched whining noise, but beneath it all, you also hear a beep beep beep beep noise from deep within the basement. And that is Prince Roogy's turn. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: All right. Stace Babcock [GM]: So I skipped Alex an initiative on accident. So Alex, in the display of Chaos Elmos, somewhat near the hostages, Professor Perilous has just said, "Get the rest of them out of here." What do you do? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Well at first, I think Even Steven is just going to kind of look around and be like, "Why? Why?" And he's going to hobble over and try and get more hostages out of there. Stace Babcock [GM]: All right. So these hostages, they're crying, they're huddled, they're semi hysterical. And Emilio Mendoza, the owner of the store, is also somewhat hysterical, but trying to keep everyone together. But they are kind have backed into a corner. There isn't a particularly easy way out. How do you get these hostages moving? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Oh gee, oh gee, oh gee, I'm going to have to check on these skills. Oh wait. Hmm? I have a skill for this? Stace Babcock [GM]: Do you? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Find the way, well, plus skill or some... Stace Babcock [GM]: Oh shit. So you do. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: ... special ability. When you apply effort to navigation tasks because you don't know the way or a loss or it's something to blaze a new route, need to choose between two or more otherwise similar paths to take or something very similar, you can apply a free level effort enabler. I'm going to use that. Stace Babcock [GM]: All right. So you will need to apply a level of intellect effort to this task in order to get that free additional level of effort. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: I will. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. And so getting this group of people out of there with your two levels of effort is going to be a nine. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Ooh, I got a Nat 20. Stace Babcock [GM]: Well, that'll do it. All right. So how does Even Steven... I want to know. What feature, what route did Even Steven spot that perhaps wasn't obvious and how did Even Steven get these hostages out of here? And then we can talk major effect. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: I think, just because all the hostages are getting nervous and crying, Even Steven starts crying too. And it reminds him of all the times that at work, he gets really stressed out and he knows the best and stealthiest way to get to the break rooms and bathrooms to cry. And so he's just going to... He'll notice the layout's very similar to that one time he was at the grocery store and he couldn't make a decision between if he wanted to have fish or beef for dinner and he was just getting ready to just cry in the grocery store. This is me as a person sometimes. And so he sees the small path behind the displays that just is primo for sneaking out and crying in your car. Stace Babcock [GM]: Right. So it's like it's behind the Santa throne, right? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Yes. Stace Babcock [GM]: It's just the back door behind the scenes and you get the hostages. They get out because you succeeded, so they're through there and they can find their way at this point. Right? What would you like for a major effect? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: I think I want to hinder any enemies in the general facility because they're just so secondhand embarrassed by seeing Steven just crying and panicking and needing to get out of there. So they are hindered in any tasks that require perception because they're just so busy trying to not look at this scene. Stace Babcock [GM]: So yeah. So what I think that I will say is that for the next two rounds, Even Steven goes unnoticed even by Shrike. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Nice. Stace Babcock [GM]: Their nemesis. Minder pulls herself up off of the ground and she is going to send a psychic blast back at Professor Perilous. Now Professor Perilous, this would normally be a 21, but you have already... You've gotten the flavor of her power, right? You've managed to manipulate it. So I'll go ahead and give you an asset for that. So this will be an 18 before you apply anything. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Okay. So I'm trained in intellect defense. I'll apply a level of effort. So that brings it down to a 12. That is a Nat 20 again, Stace Babcock [GM]: A Nat 20 again. What would you do with it this time? Same shit, different round? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Second verse same as the first. Stace Babcock [GM]: All right. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Oh, a lot louder and a whole lot worse. Stace Babcock [GM]: So, Minder showing exceptional core and body strength, leverages herself up out of this display and fires off a visible psychic beam at Professor Perilous. And refresh my memory Daniel, Professor Perilous absorbs this and then fires it back? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Yeah. They send out a wall of their dark energy, phasing it into sort of like the psychic existence. The telepathic energy hits it. There's a dark roil and then it shoots it back. Stace Babcock [GM]: And Minder is flung back into the same display. But this time she goes three shelves deep and she is prone again, except now she's hurt. So this next round she will have to spend getting up. Okay, cool. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Mm-hmm (affirmative), great. Stace Babcock [GM]: Now, Professor Perilous, you have three super soldiers, Spec Op soldiers, whatever you want to call them. Not super soldiers in the sense of that they're super strong, but they're just highly trained goons still facing off with you. The hostages are gone, Minder's on her ass. What do you do? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Can I see Shrike from here? Stace Babcock [GM]: Can you see Shrike? Hmm. I'm going to say that you can see toys falling off the shelves at various places and sort of seems to be directional toward you. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Okay. Then in that case, I'm going to activate my resonance field and dark energy just flows over my body. And that means that for the next minutes, any kind of immediate range attacks against me, I can use intellect defense instead of speed or might. And I get to do damage to them if I get a minor or major effect. Stace Babcock [GM]: Excellent. So, I mean, that's going to come in really handy because as you're watching this sort of, this breeze that is formed by Shrike moving so fast, knock these toys off the shelves, Shrike is coming right for you. And I need you to make three defense rolls. Now these are melee, so you said you can use intellect, right? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Stace Babcock [GM]: Three 15 intellect defense rolls. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Okay. So they're already down to a 12 because I'm trained. Stace Babcock [GM]: The dark matter is still present, correct? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Stace Babcock [GM]: So if they enter the dark matter, which they would to attack you, they're hit... Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: If they were entering the dark... If they have to go into the dark matter to get to me, then they are stuck there and will have to spend a turn getting out. Stace Babcock [GM]: All right. They're smarter than that, then they're going around. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Okay, cool. So, it's down to a 12 for me. And then I am going to spend a level of effort on this first one. So here's the first one. That's a nine, which should do it. I'm going to spend another level of effort for the next one. That's a Nat 20. Stace Babcock [GM]: Ooh. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Hey, can you share some of those with me maybe? Stace Babcock [GM]: All right. Let's address this Nat 20, Daniel. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: I think you take the best dice. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Okay. So with my resonance field, if I hit a Nat 20 on him, I get to do four damage to the attacker automatically. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. All right. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Damn. Stace Babcock [GM]: So what happens is, Shrike is trying to come in and do you the front hand, backhand, front hand slap thing to Professor Perilous very rapidly. So the first one just sort of brushes the edge of Professor Perilous' jaw. And as Shrike comes back with the backhand, what happens Daniel? With that Nat 20? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: They come into strike, but the resonance field flashes in response and sends kinetic force back at them. Stace Babcock [GM]: Does it have any movement effects? Does it knock them back or is it just as for damage? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: It's just damage. It's just like so much of Professor Perilous' stuff is around a brutality. There's not much... With the ribbons of dark matter are sort of a control thing. But even that, you get the feeling that it's just because Professor Perilous hasn't figured out how to make that hurt yet. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. So, Shrike's moving so fast that when they come in for the backhand, it just, their own hand bounce is off the resonance field and they slap themself right in the face and they take that four damage. Now you also have a major effect. What would you like? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Would you let me do an action right now, no problem? Stace Babcock [GM]: I would. Yeah, certainly. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Then I'll do an onslaught. Stace Babcock [GM]: Oh no. All right. So Shrike's just hitting himself in the face. He's got bloody lip and teeth and that will be a 24 to hit with your onslaught. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Do I get anything because he's kind of been smacked himself in the face and... Stace Babcock [GM]: Sure. I'll give you an asset because embarrassment, momentary stun, didn't expect it. So that drops it to a 21. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Okay. Okay. So it's 21 then eased by two steps for me. So that's 18, 15. And I'm going to spend a level of effort to bring it down to a 12. Come on, big money. That's really good because that's a 12. So Shrike will take seven damage as this concussive and corrosive onslaught comes blasting out of Professor Perilous in response. Stace Babcock [GM]: Yeah. And I mean it messes Shrike up and Shrike spits blood as superheros and super villains do. And grins at Professor Perilous with bloody teeth and says, "Tick tock, motherfucker." And Daniel, I would like to offer you an XP. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Yeah. I'll take it, of course. Stace Babcock [GM]: Great. Who else? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: I'm going to give it to Prince Roogy because I think Prince Roogy is near whatever the tick tock is. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Hey, that's a really good idea. Stace Babcock [GM]: And then Shrike just manages to pull himself together and screams off unimpeded out of the store and gets away. All right, next up, Even Steven. Now, Even Steven has gotten the hostages out of the store, is somewhat unnoticed at this moment. Minder is in a pile of plushies of various kinds. And Prince Roogy is nowhere to be seen. The three goons remain near Professor Perilous. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Professor, did you murder everybody else? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Shrike ran away and they said, "Tick tock." Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Oh. So is this one of those missions where... Are these people the expendable people you guys keep talking about or are these people we send back and be like, "Hey, we got villains." Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. You get one short answer because this is still an action. So you get one short answer and then you guys, then Even Steven needs to do something. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Professor Perilous just says, "Sure." Alex Finn [Even Steven]: This... Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Because Professor Perilous honestly does not care what happens to these villains. Professor Perilous is just as happy for them to die as to be apprehended. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Even Steven will take that as the, these people are the quote unquote "expendable people," Professor Perilous keeps talking about and sends... That's how it is. I guess we're going to attack with a dual wield light ray gun. Stace Babcock [GM]: All righty. So your dual wield light ray guns act as a medium weapon when they're used in conjunction. Who are you firing at? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: I guess we're going to go with one of the three goons that are left. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. So the three goons are a swarm and that will be a six to hit, six speed because it's ranged. You have your boost, you have accuracy, which means that you're at ease on all attack rolls, so that drops it to a three. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Well good because I got a five. This dice likes five. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. You manage to hit and how much damage you do? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Four. Stace Babcock [GM]: Four damage. So we lose one entirely. So there are two remaining. So this is no longer a swarm. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Steven vomits a little in his mouth. Stace Babcock [GM]: Tell me what the ray from your ray gun looks like. Your dual wield ray guns. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: I think they're yellow, you know? Stace Babcock [GM]: Sure. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: They're just the very pap-pap, kind of like Steven was trying to make it look like a wasp, but it doesn't really look like the wasp. It just looks like yellow Nerf pellets. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. So they were kind of meant to represent maybe a stinger or something like that? These are like distinct rays. It's not like a ray extends fully from the barrel to the person. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: No. Stace Babcock [GM]: It's blast, blast bolts. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Yeah. They're blaster bolts and they end up looking like Nerf pellets. I have neighbor children and I keep finding these round yellow balls in my yard. And I'm just like, "What the fuck is happening?" It's like that. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. So you blast those goons. The one remaining is severely hurt. The other somehow has managed to survive this somewhat untouched. And now they're going to use their action to try to extricate themselves from this dark matter. Because they see Shrike running and they're going to run too, so. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Okay. That takes them their entire turn to get out of just the dark matter, so they'll only be able to move essentially out of their immediate range. Stace Babcock [GM]: Yep. Cool. So that's what they do. And then next up we have Prince Roogy in this creepy ass basement with a beeping noise in the distance and a grinding sound and smell. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Prince Roogy goes to coms. "Hey, I think I found a bomb." And then Prince Roogy, trained in the listening, is going to try to find the source of the beeping. Stace Babcock [GM]: Ooh. Okay. So to find the source of the beep, it's not that hard. This is going to be a six. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: All right. Trained, that's a three, so seven. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. Yeah. Your senses honed by years underground lead you directly to this bomb, which is kind of in a back room. And it's encased in black plastic and you don't see any timer or control. There's nothing except a little red light, which is blinking in time with the beeps. But you also perceive that the interval between the beeps is getting shorter. And just beyond that, you see a hole drilled in to the basement wall with a fairly sizable drill abandoned in front of it. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Prince Roogy takes half a second just to appreciate the drill and then is... Can I still do stuff? Is this still... Do I need to wait another turn? Stace Babcock [GM]: I will let you take one action. One action. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Prince Roogy is going to pick up this black plastic thing. It's going to pick up the, what he is assuming is going to be a bomb, and then which kind of direction is the hole? Stace Babcock [GM]: So this thing is huge. So what we are going to have to do is we are going to have to look at the feats of strength... Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Oh. Stace Babcock [GM]: ... table. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: How big is it? Stace Babcock [GM]: Four by four by four feet. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Okay, yeah. Stace Babcock [GM]: Let me just find that table. Okay. So I am going to go ahead and say that this... And is of course very dense because it's explosive. So I am going to say that this is a 27 to lift and carry. Now, if we're talking about throwing, that's going to bump it up to a 33. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Yeah, yeah. 25, no. 24, 21, 18 to a 15 if I apply effort. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: And you've got an XP. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Do have an XP and I can shift boost. Since this is so heavy, could I argue that balancing would come into play here? Stace Babcock [GM]: That would depend on what you're doing with it. I'm inclined to say no. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Yeah, okay. Stace Babcock [GM]: Beep, beep, beep. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Looking at the hole that the drill made, which direction is that coming from in terms of the layout of the city? Is that... really what I'm hoping for, Is that in the direction of a river or non populated area? Stace Babcock [GM]: No, you are in the central business district of Venture City. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Shit. Okay. All right, let's try this. Roogy is going to try to lift this bomb and bring it over to the drill with the intention of activating the drill and just putting it in reverse and sending it down the hole. So it's more just a moment of strength rather than a full on marathon. Stace Babcock [GM]: I'm sorry. So what are you trying to do with it? Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: I am trying to get it out of the basement by lifting it, putting it on the drill and then activating the drill and putting it in reverse. But that'll probably be its own turn. Stace Babcock [GM]: Oh, you are assuming this is like a mobile powered drill? Like it has wheels? Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Is that not the case? Stace Babcock [GM]: It can be. No, that's fine. I was just trying to figure out. I was like, "Are you drilling the bomb?" Because that would be fun. So all right. I would say lifting and setting it on the drill is about as far as you can get at this time. So yes, that is a 27. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Do I need to roll? 27. Stace Babcock [GM]: Before all your stuff. You had it down to a 12, I believe. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Okay. I'm not going to do the math again. Wait, was that a 12 using the shift boost? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: I think it was a 12 using the shift boost, but that was from the 33. Stace Babcock [GM]: Oh yeah. That's right. So since you're not trying to throw or do anything super crazy with it, this is a six. Thank you, Daniel. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Six with the shift boost? Stace Babcock [GM]: Yeah. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: All right. Got to quickly not forget to apply the efforts, those that are going to apply. I am going to reroll that. Thank you Dan for the XP. 16. Stace Babcock [GM]: All righty. You are successful in getting the bomb onto the drill. And now it's Minder's turn, which she has to spend extricating herself from the plushies and standing up. So she does that. And next up we have Professor Perilous. Now these guards are struggling through your tendrils of dark matter and they finally manage to get out. So it's one and a half guards. One and an injured guard. So what do you do? You've got Minder on her feet. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Oh, I'm going to onslaught Minder. Stace Babcock [GM]: Oof, alrighty. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: If the guards are running, I'm going to go after Minder. Stace Babcock [GM]: All right. That will be a 21 to hit. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: So I get eased by two steps. So that is a 15 and I'll spend a level of effort, get down to a 12. And that is a 17. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Damn. Stace Babcock [GM]: How much damage? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: That will be eight damage. Stace Babcock [GM]: Eight damage. Minder's upset and very battered due to your onslaught. And you see her sort of look around and get a read on the situation. And she starts to levitate just a little bit. Next up, Even Steven. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Oh man. So after vomiting that little bit, does Prince Roogy need help with the bomb? Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: I think Prince Roogy only really had time to say that there was a bomb and then start doing his own thing. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: I think because yeah, Even Steven is going to use fleet of foot and try and find Prince Roogy because Even Steven is not into this murder thing. Just kind of like, he's just trying to do his part-time job and work in his office and pay the bills and pay those student loans after he got a degree in underwater basket weaving. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. So we'll do this in kind of two parts. So the first part is finding the most efficient route so that you can reach Prince Roogy using your fleet of foot and don't have to waste time or navigating or see if you do have to waste some time navigating. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Fair. Stace Babcock [GM]: So that'll be a 12. You have find the way, so that's a nine. It's an intellect or if you spend effort, then that would drop it to a... Find the way would drop it to a six for you. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Let's just try and roll it without it. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay, just as well. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Because I fear that I will permanently injure Steven if I keep using up his pools. I am a hoarder of pools. We got a 12. Yay. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. So you are going to be able to reach, if you spend the speed for fleet of foot, you are going to be able to reach Prince Roogy on this turn. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Yes. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay, cool. Sweet. Next up, Prince Roogy. Yeah, so Even Steven has appeared next to you. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Hi. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Hi Steven. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Hi. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Do you have anything to get rid of a bomb? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Oh, bomb. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Actually, can you shrink other things besides yourself? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: It's me and my clothing. So it's not family unfriendly. I mean, we could see if I could wear the bomb and see if it works on a technicality. Stace Babcock [GM]: All right. So while you guys are puzzling over this bomb, I know this is a little bit out of the ordinary because we've got kind of two situations going on here. So very quickly, I'm going to go back to Minder who has gotten a read on this situation and she is going to use her turn to fly away and she is gone. So now we'll go ahead and leave initiative and you guys can deal with this bomb. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: All right. How about this? Prince Roogy is going to try to activate the drill and point it straight down instead of putting in reverse just... Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. And while Prince Roogy is doing that, what is Professor Perilous doing, now that there are no enemies? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: So I have a question. Exactly how fast does Minder fly away? Stace Babcock [GM]: Oh, she's pretty fast. I mean, she can probably get a long distance in one turn. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Mm-hmm (affirmative). I asked because I can also get a long distance in one turn. Stace Babcock [GM]: Oh you can chase if you would like. If you want to continue, you can chase. But she is flying, so she's not just going a long distance horizontally. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Oh, I know. I know. So I'm just going to say over the coms, "You guys deal with the bomb. I'm going to pursue Minder," and I'm going to use far step, which means I charge up with my energy and I can leap up to a long distance and land anywhere I can see within a long distance. And I am going to land on Minder. Stace Babcock [GM]: Ooh. All right. You do that. Okay. I almost... Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Grab ahold. Stace Babcock [GM]: I want to resolve Minder first. So you are on Minder. So you just grab a hold of her? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Yeah. I just drop right on... Fall down, draping myself over her. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. And she starts to kick her hands and her legs. And she drops a little and she's struggling to get altitude now at this point. And she of course is going to try to shake you off. And she does that by telekinetically ripping the M off of the Mendoza's Toy Store sign and flinging it at her own back, which Professor Perilous is draped on. So Professor Perilous, can you give me a 21 speed defense or intellect defense, whatever your choice is. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Well, luckily my resonance field is still active, so I get to use intellect defense instead. So that is an 18. I'll spend a level of effort, getting low. So that's a 15 and that is a 10, unfortunately. Stace Babcock [GM]: Does the resonance field still do four damage? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Only if I get a major effect. You know what? I'm going to spend my XP and reroll that. Stace Babcock [GM]: All righty. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Actually. That's what I'm going to do. I'm not going to accept this. Well, maybe. Okay. That is an 18. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. So you managed to evade because you are draped all over Minder and she's not only concentrating on trying to hit you with this M but she's also concentrating on, because she uses her telekinesis to fly. She just kind of misses. What does Professor Perilous do? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Professor Perilous... How high off the ground are we? Stace Babcock [GM]: Oh, 30 feet. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: I guess in this case, while I'm holding on her, I guess I'm going to try an onslaught. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. So... Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: And I'm going to try to do it as if I'm drawing the energy and pushing inward with my force. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. You do have to maintain your grip on her. And of course she's fighting you a little bit. So are you doing a physical or a mental? What are you? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: I'm doing a physical onslaught. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. So that is going to be a 21 to hit, eased by two steps. 15. And then are you expending any effort? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Yeah, I'll spend a level of effort. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. 12. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: 13. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. You hit. Tell me what it looks like when you knock Minder unconscious and she drops to the ground. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Get up. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Okay. Well my force just blasts inward so it looks like I'm charging up and then all that energy and force just seems to blast from me surrounding her down to a central blast. And I guess you specified unconscious, so. Stace Babcock [GM]: At this time, but you are dropping like a stone toward the ground. Still hugging Minder. What do you do? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Well, if she's unconscious and dropping, I'm going to... Do I get an action to respond to this or am I just... Stace Babcock [GM]: Yeah. I mean, we're kind of just doing flowing through initiative here because I want to resolve this. So it's really just you, then Minder, then you, then Minder, so. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Okay. Then I'll just do far step and land safely on the ground next to where she's going to collapse and fall. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay, so you're there and you watch her fall through the air and land face down on the ground. Her helmet cracks, blood and cerebral spinal fluid leak from her ears and her nose. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Jesus. Stace Babcock [GM]: And she looks super dead. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Since it's free for me, since I have two adds, just in casies that she's not dead, I'm going to do ribbons of dark matter right where she is. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Oh, Jesus. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: So that if she wants to escape, it would take a whole turn to try to move out of it. Stace Babcock [GM]: All right. And as you cast this, you see an entire squad of security personnel run over in that direction. And we now will return to the bomb. So Prince Roogy had a plan. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Yeah. So Prince Roogy is going to activate the drill. Point it down so it's just digging straight down. And while that's happening, Prince Roogy pulls out just a little scrap of cloth from his backpack. Try to find a place to tie it around, attach it to the bomb and then basically make a little bracelet out of it so that Even Steven can wear it as "jewelry" and see if he can shrink with it. Or if it'll shrink with him. Stace Babcock [GM]: All right. You do that, Steven? Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Try this, I guess. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Oh, oh, oh, okay. Not really a bracelet guy, but he puts it on. We're going to try and shrink it. Stace Babcock [GM]: Yes. Are you going to use your shrink ability? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Yes. Stace Babcock [GM]: For one plus might points you and your clothing or suit become smaller than your normal size. You become six inches tall and stay that way for about a minute. You can add four points to your speed pool, add two to your speed edge. And then there are various effects that we can go over as they come up, but... Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Yeah, in the movies, it's just a boop. It's tense. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: No big, like, do, do, do, do, do. It's just like a boop. Yeah. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. And you don't have to expend any effort because this is the first time you're doing it. So you tell us what it looks like when... Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: It just boops. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: She just boops. Or he boops. Stace Babcock [GM]: Oh. Were you guys talking while I was reading? Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Yeah. Sorry. Mm-hmm (affirmative). Stace Babcock [GM]: All right. All right. So you are worried? You are tiny sized, but the bomb is still full sized. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Damn it. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Oh. Ah, pebbles. Stace Babcock [GM]: Yeah. But you are sitting tiny size on top of the bomb. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: And mildly paid to do it. Stace Babcock [GM]: And you guys are out of initiative. So do you... Alex Finn [Even Steven]: So, I guess I'm chained to the bomb now. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Prince Roogy just kind of takes the scrap of cloth and then just kind of removes it from around Even Steven. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Oh. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: There you go. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: You mean, if I knew math, I might try and disarm it, but... Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Oh, how small can you go? Can you get into the blinky bits and just unplug it? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: I mean, feel like I could do that right now. I'm pretty small. Because I feel like he's the size of a wasp now and wasps get everywhere. If you've never had a wasp invasion, they get everywhere. Stace Babcock [GM]: Would you guys like to examine the bomb? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Yes. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Yes. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: You mean we weren't doing that? Stace Babcock [GM]: To analyze the bomb. Go ahead and give me a 12 intellect. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Nat 20. Apparently Steven in the admin pool has now learned bomb analyzing skills. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: I would love it if you're in the admin pool and it turns out your day job corporation is literally just like a super villain's operation, it's just not obvious. So you're in the mail room sorting all these bomb diagrams that are getting moved around. Stace Babcock [GM]: Yeah. And what Steven recognizes is that while there are no external timers or anything like that, there is an external light and removal of that light... Well, the power source has to come from somewhere. Right? It seems to be connected to a timer down below. Because again, it's now beep, beep, beep, beep, beep and it's getting faster. So you determine that perhaps there's a way in if that light is removed. Now what would you like for your Natty? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: I would like Steven to know how to remove that light because I do like Daniel's explanation. In the mail room, Steven may have or may have not seen the diagrams for some bombs. Stace Babcock [GM]: Yeah, you could remove the light. As you walk over, you look at a few Phillips head screws and you are not very big. So turning these screws is going to be a little bit difficult for you. However, you do have friends. But for you to turn those screws at that size, it does doesn't seem like there are any hindrances to strength using the shrink ability. And because you have a Nat 20, of course, you can remove them. So go ahead and tell me how a tiny, tiny wasp person manages to turn three Phillips head screws or tear the light off or whatever you want to do, Alex. How does this light come off? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: I think Steven takes off one of his shoes and uses it as a screwdriver. It's going to ruin the shoe, but... Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: I like that. Stace Babcock [GM]: There you go. The light is removed. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: There's a sale at Shoe Carnival or something. Stace Babcock [GM]: And you see wires leading down a tube towards the center of the bomb. And we'll pause there because what is Professor Perilous doing? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: I am yelling at the security people saying, "There is a bomb. You should be getting out of here." Stace Babcock [GM]: They immediately call the bomb over their radios, which is bad, bad practice within the vicinity of bombs. But they do it nonetheless. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Yeah. I should actually do that in character. So Profess Perilous, he says, "You idiots, there's a bomb. Get out of here." Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: "Ah, no. We've got it handled I think Professor." Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: "I'm not talking to you. You take care of it. I'm getting the guards out." Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: "Oh, all right." Stace Babcock [GM]: The guards sort of ignore Professor Perilous and they go and begin to pick up Minder as a squad. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: In a friendly, "I'm going to get them help," way? Or as in a, "We are apprehending," way? Stace Babcock [GM]: In an, "We are apprehending," way. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Professor Perilous will shrug and ask Even Steven for directions to where you guys are. Or ask, well, yeah, go Prince Roogy wouldn't know. Prince Roogy went a different way in. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: I think Prince Roogy would definitely say, "We're in the basement." Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Okay. Can I just start doing far steps heading down towards the basement? Stace Babcock [GM]: Absolutely. Professor Perilous is with you now. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Hi Professor. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Hi. He looks at the bomb and with the light hanging off and says, "I assume that's Steven in there?" Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Ah, yeah. How'd you know? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Lucky guess I guess. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Wow. How you doing Steven? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: So we got the light removed and I guess we could go further, but should I go further? Mm, I don't have a tool belt or any of my stuff. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Why don't just use your hands? Start grabbing, pulling stuff. Well, the important stuff, or is it any stuff? Professor, did you ever do bombs? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: I did a 26X one time. That was a debacle. I don't really want to get into it, but I don't know. Would I recognize this? Stace Babcock [GM]: It does seem like a custom built bomb. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Yeah. And I'm sort of magic based. So the smartphone is sort of the limit of technology for me and I'm definitely not an engineer. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: And even then, it's not even good at using the smartphones, constantly losing your apps because you put them in a folder. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Oh yeah. I'm constantly harassing Steven to help me with something on my phone. Stace Babcock [GM]: Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Okay. I guess we're going for it. Stace Babcock [GM]: All right. Are you crawling down this here tube? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Yeah. Stace Babcock [GM]: So you crawl down this tube. It's really just a set of wires, which lead you down to the power source. And if you get down there and now you do see a timer and this timer says 25, 24. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Oh no. Stace Babcock [GM]: 23, 22. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Oh no. Steven's going to start panicking and start ripping at things. Stace Babcock [GM]: 20, 19, 18. All right. So you're just trying to get lucky. So you start tearing at things. For you to do the right thing, this is going to be a 18 with some luck, so intellect. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: You guys ready for our shortest one shot yet? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Hell yeah. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: I actually am. That'd be really cool. In a really sad way, but kind of cool. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: It only took us an hour and a half to record this. Bam. Go us. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: This is the prologue to the real one shot. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: You heard one shot? That's right. It's only one episode. Sorry. Fuck it. I'm going to roll it. Just fuck it. Because I think this is more funny. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Do it. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: I'm sorry. Well sorry, not sorry. 18. Stace Babcock [GM]: All right. So somehow in your desperation, you manage to pull the cord or the wire that connects the timer to the ignition cap. But the timer doesn't stop, so you don't know if you fixed it, so it goes 10, 9, 8, 7. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: I guess this is it. Stace Babcock [GM]: 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. And nothing happens. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Keep that. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Steven starts vomiting in the bomb. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Steven? I think the bomb got him. Professor, what do we do? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Professor, I think, realizing the bomb did not go off, is probably going to take an action recovery role because I'm in bad, bad shape. It's only two. Stace Babcock [GM]: All right. And is everyone going to take some recovery roles? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Yeah, Steven's going to crawl out of the bomb. He's got a little vomit on his little white button down shirt. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Oh, Roogy is actually doing pretty good so he is going to go to whatever steering wheel this drill has and start redirecting it back up towards the surface. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. So as everybody is sort of resting, taking a breather, determining next actions, we turn the page on our comic book and we flash back to the three of you standing outside of Venture City Swole, Venture City's only 24 hour gym. And in front of you is a woman wearing a tie dye shirt, jeans, and Vans and she's opening up the door. And she's saying, "Welcome to your offices. The Society of Seven is so excited to have a new franchise in Venture City. My name is Brittany. I will be your base manager." And she leads you into the gym, takes you to an employees only door, takes you to the back of a storage closet. And there you see a set of stairs leading down into your secret base. And this is earlier in the same day. And what do you guys do? This is your introduction to Venture City. This is you coming together as a franchise and you're following your base manager down the stairs. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Oh, so we don't know each other in advance of this? Stace Babcock [GM]: You could, that's up to you guys. If you're meeting as strangers, that's fine too. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: 1, 2, 3, not it. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Professor Perilous will just go down the stairs. Stace Babcock [GM]: Yeah. So you go down the stairs. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Oh yeah. Stace Babcock [GM]: And you follow Brittany into your secret base. And the first room you walk into, it's got kind of ratty, beige rental carpet. It's got some thread bare curtains, dividing up rooms. There seems to be a door shortage down here. You have a nice 70 inch TV on one wall and there's a semi-circle of seven recliners around it. And Brittany turns to you guys and says, "The last franchise left a bunch of furniture and items behind and we've just left them here for you. We understand that Venture City is not the most profitable franchise. And the Society of Seven cares about each and every one of its franchises. And we want to give you the best start possible. So leaving the furnishings, as well as the television and communications hub, are all part of your base franchise package." And as she takes you through, you see a kitchenette, you see a spare room with an Xbox 360 and you're exploring around. So she orients you to the secret base. What do you guys do? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Is it clean or dirty? Did the last franchise, did they get their security deposit back at the end of their lease? Stace Babcock [GM]: It doesn't seem like they got their security deposit back. You would think that they wouldn't, but if they didn't, whoever owns this property, didn't use any of the security deposit to repair any of the damage. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Oh. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Typical. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Roogy is going to the kitchenette and eating what's ever in the fridge. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. And Brittany's like, "So do you guys know each other?" Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Yeah. We met a couple weeks ago, I think. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Yeah. But softball games don't count, right? Stace Babcock [GM]: I don't know why they wouldn't count. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Well, I was the softball. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: We won that game, so I think it counts. Question for Dan. How long has Professor Perilous been quote, "reformed?" Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: I would say it's only been a couple years. Because it took a while, I think, before any hero franchise would take the risk of taking him on, regardless of whether or not he seemed to be reformed. Stace Babcock [GM]: Do you guys have a crew name or should I just call you Franchise 69420? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: That works for now. Stace Babcock [GM]: Okay. Well, as you know, Venture City is safe and beautiful. But there's not a high profit margin here at this franchise. And in fact, it's so safe that they've recently privatized their police force. You'll probably see them around installing traffic cams and so on. You know, my role in this... Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: That always works out well. Stace Babcock [GM]: I mean, it's saving them some money. They're putting it in the schools and the parks instead. I mean, really, do you need city police officers just to enforce traffic? Catch to the occasional vandal? Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Do you? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Well, we should really be putting all that money in social services instead, but that's okay. He leans over to Prince Roogy. He's like, he motions as if sort of addressing the idea of the privatized police department. He's like and says, "I ran a scheme like this once a couple years ago." Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Oh, did that work out for you? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Oh no. I got my ass kicked. Stace, what's a hero that's a really well known hero that... Stace Babcock [GM]: The Silver Sentinel. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Oh no, no. The Silver Sentinel kicked my ass. He wasn't even supposed to be in the area. They just came over and took care of it. Yeah, spent about six months in jail before I broke out that time. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Whoa. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Oh, wow. And who is the Silver Sentinel? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Kind of an asshole. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Oh, right. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: They're a big deal. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: So are there any cool secret entrances or gadgets or anything or is this just this? Stace Babcock [GM]: "Oh, well, I mean, of course you have your com station, which is cool. You do have your work bench and gear storage. Of course, there's nothing of value left there. Oh, you do have a minivan." And she leads you down to the minivan. She goes, "It's kind of a loading dock situation so you can just leave and you'll end up in the parking lot behind. You'll drive right out behind the gym. It's a pretty cool minivan." Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Can it please be a Honda Odyssey? Stace Babcock [GM]: "It's a Honda Odyssey, which I think is a pretty good model." And you're looking at it and it's dented. There are scrapes, clearly whoever drove it before just had issues. It's got... Alex Finn [Even Steven]: It's that bronzy taupe color. Stace Babcock [GM]: ... parking and spatial awareness. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: But the important thing is it's a Honda Odyssey, so it's got that built-in vacuum cleaner inside of it. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Yes. Stace Babcock [GM]: The built in vacuum cleaner is intact as well, which is a surprise or maybe not a surprise because it looks like it has never been used. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: It's still got the little plastic stickers on it, it have the instructions. Stace Babcock [GM]: And Brittany leads you guys over to the minivan and she says, "So part of my role is collecting jobs and taking clients for you guys. And I have to say, due to how safe, I mean, we haven't had a super villain in 30 years. Jobs are thin on the ground. So actually today what I have for you is I need you to head right over to Mendoza's Toy Store. They're interested in possibly signing a contract to come out with a limited line of action figures based on you guys. So you have an appointment over there in about 90 minutes with this new security company. They're working out the kinks. They have security checkpoints and things like that. It's probably going to take you about an hour to get there. So I would get going here soon." Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: All right. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: I mean, I guess. It can't be that bad, right? Just sign some papers. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Roogy finishes the half jar of sauerkraut he found in the fridge, then tries to get into the Odyssey in the back, I guess. And then can't really make room so he forces his way out of the roof and just makes a little hole for himself. Stace Babcock [GM]: Oh. And the back of this thing is riding low. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Mm. But Professor Perilous hops right up in the passenger seat. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Oh, oh, I am driving. Am I driving? Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: I can't drive. I'm new here. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: I guess I'm driving. Been a little bit since I've droven in the city. Stace Babcock [GM]: All right. So Brittany, as you guys get settled into the vehicle says, "Come right back here when you're done. We'll have some more things to go over, different things that we have to do for the franchise and how it runs. And of course, I'm here to help." Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: And we were going to talk about the 401k, right? They said we'd talk about that once we got here. Stace Babcock [GM]: We like to give our franchisees the flexibility to find the retirement plan that is right for them. So, but yes, when you get back, like I said, I'd say stay safe, but what could possibly go wrong? And that's where we'll end this episode. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Oh shit. Stace Babcock [GM]: Ooh. Okay. Cool. Boy. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: All right. Stace Babcock [GM]: Daniel, something you liked? Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: So I liked a lot of things about this episode. I especially liked, I made a note of it too, I really liked how you had us introduce our characters at the beginning. How you did it with the pages of the comic book and things like that. I really enjoyed that. I love the ridiculous shenanigans of Prince Roogy underneath the ground and in the basement. I'm loving that. I love Steven's constantly trying to get out of stuff. Clearly completely fish out of water. And not in the, "I'm trying to adapt," but in the, "This is clearly the wrong job for me emotionally, even if I have the ability to do it." So I'm quite enjoying that. Yeah. I liked a lot about it. It was fun. Stace Babcock [GM]: Good. I'm glad to hear it. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: It's always fun when you get to use your abilities heavily right away. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Oh yes. Stace Babcock [GM]: Cool. So each week we have a segment called Player Intrusions where we offer listeners an XP to check out something dope as hell. Alex, what would you offer our listeners an XP to check out this week? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: So It's a shock, but it's going to be another dance. It's super shocking, I know. No one's going to expect this from me. Stace Babcock [GM]: I've got to say, I love it, Alex, because it's not something I'm super familiar with. And so I learn a lot every time you bring one of these intrusions. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Well, I'm going to recommend my Odissi teacher, Raka Bandyo. She's actually one of the only teachers I have that is local to me. I can go drive and have a puppy play date with her because she also has a dog who enjoys coming in during practice and just being like, "Ha ha." It's actually the best because... so before all styles of traditional Indian classical dance, you do a kind of a what's called in Odissi is Pranayama. And it's kind of like taking the blessing and thanking the earth for giving you permission to step on it and kind of thanking everyone for coming to watch you, thanking your teachers for teaching you this dance and just thanking yourself for doing the thing. And so every time she hears the (rhythm), she comes running in, because at one point you're squatting on the ground to touch the ground for thankness, and she'll be like, "This is puppy Pranayama now. And I'm going to give the kisses. Yes." And it's the best. So one, puppy Pranayama is the best. But Odissi dance is, well, I say Odissi and it's from Odissa, but the way you spell it is O-D-I-S-S-I and it is from the Eastern area of India. Where the previous styles I mentioned are from Southern India, this is from the Eastern region of one second, I can remember it. I think from Odissa. And so the most interesting thing is that, unlike all my other dance schools, I have a direct line to the guy who revived this style, direct line. My teacher learned from her teacher, learned from him before he died. So I think that's pretty awesome. I get to learn some of the OG dances and it's a very, almost a slow most of the time style that's all about the angles of your head in position to your chest, to your waist. And there's a very signature posture called Tribhangi where your head needs to be pointed in the opposite direction that your chest is pushed, which is opposite to the direction your hips are pushed. And so you're making a... Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: S? Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Yes. Thank you. An S curve with your body. And if you do not try and balance yourself out, you will have one butt cheek that's just like, "Mmm, mmm." So yeah, the importance of dance is, try and get balance or else that one butt cheek, one butt cheek. But yeah, we just had our Diwali performance locally here and it was really awesome. We got to do a Krishna piece and it's all about just feeling it, sinking into the rhythm. And we do a lot of... What people sometimes forget is yoga is based off of classical Indian dance. So when you see the yoga positions, they're often things that we're actually doing in dance. So yeah. Try and hold a yoga post for a minute and come speak to me. Yeah. I will be giving a link to my Odissi teacher's Instagram page as I do. It's yeah, it's the best. And it's very good for stretching your muscles and stretching your hips and just opening everything. And it's amazing. Stace Babcock [GM]: Awesome. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Developing a dump truck on one side. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Yep. My one sided dump truck. Stace Babcock [GM]: Sampson, what if people want to reach out to us? Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: An easy solution to that would be to go to our website, explorerswanted.fm. From there, they can go to all our socials. They can also find transcripts on the website, correct? Stace Babcock [GM]: Yeah. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah. But mostly our socials. On Twitter, we are @explorerswanted, on Instagram and Facebook, we are @explorerswantedpodcast. You want to talk to us directly? We have a Discord, nice little community. You could find that at explorerswanted.fm/discord. Also if it is within your means and the holiday season has not ruined you enough, we have a Patreon. Patreon.com/explorerswanted. Also use our dicefiliate code EXPLORE with an exclamation mark at Diehard Dice and get 10% off your order. Please and thank you. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: And if you can't financially support us, especially during the holidays or whenever you're listening to this, we totally understand. The best thing that you could do is tell a friend and tell them why you like the show and why they should listen to it. The second best thing would be to leave as a five star written review on a podcast directory like Apple podcasts or Podchaser. We actually have a new five star review. Stace, can you tell us about that? Stace Babcock [GM]: Yeah. So Kuitsushima wrote on Apple podcasts, a five star review titled, Deserves More Audience. Explorers Wanted is a... Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Yeah! Stace Babcock [GM]: Yeah, that's right. Explorers Wanted is a TTRPG Actual Play in Monte Cook's Numenera setting, presenting heroes exploring the futuristic ninth world during which they get involved in personal yet deeply world changing plots. Quality role play, and a rare, calm and collected approach to play create a more mystery based podcast, a contrast to many other casts. The creative and reactive GM leads the party through the world and allows everyone to shine equally. As a bonus, the recaps are at times hilarious and always useful, and the inspirational segments provide other suggestions and propositions to the audience, showing up valuable activities or other experiences worthy being found out about. A wonderful podcast by an entertaining and cool party of devoted players. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Awesome. Stace Babcock [GM]: Thank you so much. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Very nice. I do have an issue with the calm and collected thing. I don't... I mean, we don't scream, but I don't know if that makes us calm and collected. Stace Babcock [GM]: I'm pretty calm and collected, I feel like. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Yeah. That's awesome. Thank you so much for that review. If you didn't like the podcast or if you just thought it was meh, well, for whatever reason, our cognition, memory and sense of community is most easily understood as collections of stories. Stories we tell each other and stories we tell ourselves. Some of them are factual accounts. Some of them are metaphors and unfortunately, many others are outright lies. But the thing with stories is that the more you engage with them, either in listening or sharing, the more they become a part of you. So tell me, which lies have you told yourself and which do you even remember aren't true? Stace Babcock [GM]: Well, hell. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: You can find us on social media individually. You can find me on Twitter @andrlik. A-N-D-R-L-I-K. Stace Babcock [GM]: You can find me on Twitter @stacewindu. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Happy holidays. I'm @slampotato. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Wait, what are we doing? I'm teawithaunicorn at Twitch and @realteaunicorn on Twitter. I ho, ho, ho. Stace Babcock [GM]: All right. Well, thank you for listening. Have a good night, day, weekend, whatever, and we will see you next time on Explorers Wanted. And bye. Alex Finn [Even Steven]: Bye. Daniel Andrlik [Professor Perilous]: Bye. Sampson Davis [Prince Roogy]: Bye.