Dice, Camera, Action: Episode 69 - Tomb of Annihilation

Episode 69: PAX Sub Optimal

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This is a live show at Pax Unplugged! The players have their gear on. Holly looks so good. Anna has robot face paint on, and Jared is decked out in Diath attire.

We have a special guest for this one. It is fantasy author and Acq, Inc. member, Patrick Rothfuss! He'll be playing a character who appeared on Critical Role: Kerrek.

The Party

(Anna) Evelyn - Human Paladin of Lathander
(ProJared) Diath - Human Rogue
(Holly) Strix - Tiefling Sorcerer
(Patrick Rothfuss) Kerrek - Human Paladin

The heroes are in the jungle of Chult. They're freed two prisoners and are making their way back to Camp Vengeance. They are hoping to broker peace between the grung and the Order of the Gauntlet.

Once they get there, they see the camp is under attack by a massive zombie horde!

Patrick's character, Kerrek, had arrived in the camp a few days prior. He was inside a crate. There's a joke in here that people think his name is "Carrot."

The group puts together a plan to deal with the zombies. We later learn that the players brought a pile of tiny rubber frogs that they were going to throw around. There were frog sounds cued up and everything. This plan never came to fruition.

Strix drops a fireball on them. Evelyn casts Moonbeam. It is chaos. Then, a portal opens. 3 figures step through. The people who step through:

Karas the Invincible: A mercykiller from Sigil (!) who wears rusty, blood red armor adorned with spikes. He's got a sword in one hand and shackles in the other.

2 Chronikers (?): They are wearing golden robes wearing tight-fitting helms. They have staffs
They are constructs from Mechanus - robotic, tall and svelte. Cut into their chests are ticking clocks. We are told that they "impose the will of the multiverse."

Karas throws magic shackles at Strix. The clamps tighten around her ankles. Strix falls. she had some frogs in her garb, who desperately hop toward the jungle. Chris ponders aloud if this will be the beginning of a "Green Frogs" catchphrase.

Here come some modrons, too. They are coming after Evelyn.

Karas says that "the Skizzix Kharym (?) is waiting for you." The mercykiller says he is taking Strix back to her family. Chris uses voice effects that echo through the building. Holly hides under  the table.

Evelyn charges the mercykiller and does a pile of damage to him with treebane. She does a total of 52 points.. good gawd.

Sigil, the City of Doors

Karas tells his chronikers to destroy everything. He tries to haul Strix through the portal, but Strix wins the opposed Strength check.

Kerrek does a pile of damage to Karas on an opportunity attack, as does Evelyn.

One of the chronikers has a clock on its chest. It's ticking down. It's going to blow in 5 rounds.

Diathn runs over and actually removes the shackles from Strix's ankles. He grabs Strix and runs.

Strix tries to polymorph him... she wants to turn him into a frog. He makes his save. Green frog?

The broom bloodies Karas and Evelyn tries to chuck the ticking guy through the portal. Nope.

Karas snaps the broom! No! The group is quite unhappy.

Diath stabs ticking bomb guy. He was keeping the portal open. He fails his concentration check, and the portal is off.

Karas grapples Diath and pulls him onto his spikes. Another portal flares open. Diath is pulled through.

The heroes follow and we get a description of 5e Sigil:

They emerge on a street lined with buildings covered inh razorvine. They see a train go by? A train? Like Eberron?

When they look out and up, they see that the city seems to curve up and there is more city high above them. They're near a flower shop with weird plants in it.

Karas says to Diath, "You're not what I wanted, but the Skizzix Kharym (?)will take you for half the price. They don't like your kind very much."

Now Diath has a new name. "Discount Diath."

When Strix, Evelyn and Kerrek come through the portal, Karas says: "My lucky day. Two for the price of one."

The fight continues as citizens of Sigil gawk at the group.

The players are drinking from an actual wineskin that apparently has wine it.

After some more fighting, Kerrek drops Karas the Invincible. The man inside turns into a cloud of mist, some kind of blood mist ghost thing.

Chris points out that some mercykillers have special abilities. If this blood mist spirit-thing returns to the Mercykillers HQ, Karas can reform.

The group gets into a dispute. Evelyn wants to hand herself over. Diath wants to get the other two back to Chult so he can investigate.

Kerrek kills the blood ghost. Evelyn looks at him with clockwork heart eyes.

Diath notices some creatures in the crowd. He sees two tieflings arguing. One is a  woman, short and old. The other is a male, tall and proud. They seem to be arguing. One wants to intervene in some way, the other thinks it is a bad idea.

A human steps out of the crowd. He takes his helmet off. Kerrek can see that half of his face is angelic, the other half is human. He's an aasimar.

Diath doesn't see that. To him, the guy just looks like a human. The stranger gives Diath a look. Diath realizes that this is the man who gave him the mysterious key ring so long ago.

Shockingly, the group tuens to go back to Chult. What are they, nuts? Diath turns to Kerrek and says, "We never got your name."

He pauses and then replies, "It's Carrot."

Then the group goes back through the portal.That's where we stop!

Overall

They actually went to Sigil, which is awesome. You definitely get the idea that one of the next D&D  products is planes-related. The newer unearthed arcanas deal with plane-touched races, there's the arcanaloth in Tomb, and other things here and there.

I really wonder what they're going to do about the faction war. Did it happen in canon? Did things revert back to what they were? I'd like it if they switched it back but maybe got rid of a few factions - there were too man. It got confusing.

Very good show! It was quite amazing to see the group actually go to Sigil, if only for a short while.