Boseman High School Shenanigans: Episode 1

"Me?" Zach asks. "I haven't even come up with a name for my own character yet. I'm terrible with names." It took me months to settle on Zachary, he thinks but doesn't say.
But then he thinks about the question. After a while, he says, "Well, you're a ranger, like Aragorn, so maybe something similar. Like... Aarongorn." He snorts dorkily at this thought, then shrugs.

"But seriously," he then continues. "How do half-elf names even work? Does it have to be like half human name and half elf name?" He makes a face. "Dave'ythiel? Urgh, this game is hard."

To Emily's question he says, "There is definitely a rogue in that pile, but if someone else grabbed it first, you'll need to Rochampbeaux for it." He mimes rock paper scissos as he says that.

Freddie scratches his head. He hasn't have thought that names would be a hold up. "You can choose any name, from movies or books, whatever. Just something that helps you feel like the character. As to half-elves that may just rest on who raised them? Raised by a human mother only? Or raised by an elven parent? Or found by wild intelligent wolves and raised by then in the mountains?"

"Ok, if no one has or wants the rogue I'll take him." She finds a sneaky eyed good-looking character and withdraws him from the pile.

"Oh he looks fun I think. Not that I have any idea what that fun looks like or even if I know how to do any of this."

Lily rifles through the sheets, trying to get a read on what each of them do.

"Hmmm…" she says, stopping on a human barbarian: all muscle.

"BRUTALITOR!!" she names him, in a gruff, manly voice.

She flips to the next one, tongue sticking out.

"Or…" she rasps. "… perhaps, I’m Gandarry Potterdolf, esteemed wizard." she croaks, dusty and suddenly hundreds of years old.

"Or this… This one looks good."

She shows the sheet to Wendy, like it was a hand of cards at a poker game, waiting for the go ahead.

"Ora Rusk. Oracle. What’s an Oracle?!"

She places the sheet down, and tosses the others back into the middle.

"Dibs!"

As the party makes their way down into the tomb, past mechanical traps, and tiny animated warrior dolls (hilarity ensues), and then giant bugs (Ewwww), they find themselves in a chamber with a golden sarcophagus.

Freddie narrates, half reading from the pdf on his phone. "The center of this large octagonal room is a raised square platform a few inches above the floor, with a stone pillar at each coroner. A gold-trimmed sarcophagus sits in the canter of the platform, flanked by two status of humanoid beings with canine heads, each of which holds an ankh in one of its crossed arms. Stone double doors exit the room to the north and south."

He leans back, spinning a d20 casually with one finger. "What do you all do?"

"What's ank?" Emily asks innocently as she looks at her rogue character sheet and numbers swim over the page. She's not sure how it all works but she thinks she is having fun.

Freddie draws a symbol on a piece of paper. "Here, it looks like this," and he shows her the symbol.



"It represents eternal life, or something."

During the game, Zach is mostly quietly listening along. He's having fun, he just feels awkward interjecting, so he stays mostly quiet. "Well, we are looking for treasure, right?" he says. "So that sarcophagus seems like the best place to look?" He glances at Aaron, then says, "I guess my guy goes there and tries to open it."

Taking the sketch, Emily examines it. "Oh. Nice." Thinking about what Freddie had read she chews on a lip and hands the sketch to the others. "Seems like we might want to get that gold sarcophagus. Do we have to, like fight for it?"

"There doesn't appear for there to be anything to fight. At least, nothing obvious, but you're no doubt expecting some kind of trap or other defense." His mouth twists into a smile, but he clamps that down, not wanting to give much away.

He then responds to Zach, "Okay, as Dave'ythiel gets close to the platform," rolling a d20 five times before speaking....

"Zach, Dave'ythiel sees the edge of a secret door on the other side of the platform, on the east side of the room. Meanwhile, Aaron, your character, and Wendy's Ora Rusk you both see the outlines of secret doors on the western wall."

He then lifts a d20 and says to everyone, "However, when Dave'thiel opens the sarcophagus, it animates! The sarcophagus moves like a living creature and tries to swallow Dave'thiel.." he rolls the d20. "But barely misses you, snapping closed on your sleeve with tears."

He looks around at the others. "The rest of you barely notice as a grate opens in the north part of the room, and a torrent of water comes pouring in. It's a heavy flow, enough to fill the room like a bathtub, at the rate of about an inch deep every second.

What do you all do?"

"Uh, uh..." Zach seems kind of overwhelmed by this, suddenly being the target of this weird monster. "I have a rapier. I could poke this thing. But, like, that seems kind of useless. Maybe I can sing at it. Freddy, didn't I have some song that would distract it and make it easier for the others to fight it? Or something. There's so much on this sheet. Oh, I also get away from it. While singing. Is that allowed?"

"You bet, does Aarongorn shoot his bow when Dave'thiel is attacked? (Or whatever you name it, Zach.)"

He laughs at Wendy's antics. He makes a show of reviewing his notes. "It smells like, let's see here, ass."

"Zach, your character runs away, as the sarcophagus looks like it will shoot. Your magical song buoys the others, gifting them increased competence."

Emily bursts out laughing. It smells like ass. I think this game will be a fun." Looking down at her character sheet she twirls a strand of hair and cries, "Oh yeah! I have a dagger and I'm going to fling it at ... at .. uh ... who am I flinging it at? Should I impale the sarcophagus with it?"

"Nobody listened to the lady who can see the future?!! Who could have seen this coming?" Lily says, rifling through the sheet for an effective spell!

"Will this work?" she says, letting Wendy read over the description quickly before passing it to Freddie.

"Come on!" she says, picking up some dice with anticipation.

"You're faster than it, Zach, but as the water gets deeper, you'll get slower. Will it?"

Anyone who wishes to attack it while it chases, roll a d20 and add your attack bonus. For most of you, that's +5. Aaron, you're not sure there is any real vulnerable spots, so you'll just hope to cause enough damage so that the magic animating it fails."

When Lily suggests she uses Cause Fear, he looks at the stat block and nods. "Nice! It gets a save, but sucks at making those.""Wow, it needed at 18 or higher, and got a 20. It is Shaken, Lily, so it's less effective for the moment, but not hilariously galumping away from you, which would have been awesome to imagine."