Part 1: Character Creation & Introductions | Starter Kit - D&D Edition

Summary

Podcast Summary: Critical Role & Sagas of Sundry Episode: Part 1: Character Creation & Introductions | Starter Kit - D&D Edition Release Date: August 11, 2025 Host: geekandsundry

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Introduction to Dungeons & Dragons

The episode begins with Jason Charles Miller introducing listeners to the world of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D), emphasizing its rich history spanning over four decades. Jason shares his personal journey, stating, "I've been playing Dungeons and Dragons since I was 10 years old and I want to share with you the joy that this game has brought me" (00:56). He outlines the basic components essential for playing D&D: a Dungeon Master (DM), an adventure, and a group of players. Jason explains his role as the DM, responsible for guiding the story and facilitating the game.

Character Creation Process

Player Introductions

Two players join Jason for this session: Carmel and Angela.

• Carmel steps in as a new player with prior experience, mentioning, "I played on a web show at Meltdown Comics" (17:14).
• Angela is also new to this particular setup, excited about creating her character.

Creating Angela's Character: Trin Hill Topple

Jason assists Angela in crafting her character, a halfling rogue named Trin Hill Topple.

• Race & Class Selection:

  • Halfling Traits: "One of the great things I love about halflings is you have this ability that's just called to be lucky" (08:33).
  • Rogue Abilities: Emphasizes stealth and trickery, ideal for handling traps and puzzles.

• Ability Scores:

  • Angela rolls for her stats and strategically assigns them to enhance her rogue’s capabilities.
  • Notable Quote: "So take the 16, because it's gonna turn into an 18... you're gonna have an 18" (05:18).

• Character Name & Personality:

  • Names her character Trin Hill Topple, a nod to her character's backstory and traits.
  • Angela enriches her character by deciding on traits like being vegan and bringing snacks, adding depth to her role.

Creating Carmel's Character: Thumper Fire Forge

Carmel crafts Thumper Fire Forge, a mountain dwarf fighter.

• Race & Class Selection:

  • Mountain Dwarf Traits: "Great advantage on saves versus poison" (19:21).
  • Fighter Abilities: Focused on combat prowess with abilities like Second Wind for healing during battles.

• Ability Scores:

  • Carmel strategically assigns her rolled stats to maximize her fighter's strength and constitution.
  • Notable Quote: "That's what second wind is... like WWE when it looks like I'm haggard" (21:43).

• Character Name & Personality:

  • Names her character Thumper Fire Forge, reflecting her dwarf heritage and warrior spirit.
  • Adds a personal touch by relating her character’s background as a brewer to real-life interests.

Setting Up the Campaign

Background Story

Jason weaves a compelling backstory for the characters set in the bustling city of Waterdeep. All five characters—Deborah, Thumpar, Moonblood, Haldor, and Trin—share origins in Waterdeep and aspire to join the Adventurer's Guild.

• Quest Initiation:

  • They learn about a man named Darion in Daggerford who possesses a map to a mystical lost keep known as Q.
  • This map is believed to lead to the legendary abode of Rogan the Fearless and Zellagar the Unknown, heroes who once saved the realm from a barbarian invasion thirty years prior.

• Story Development:

  • The characters gather the necessary gold to purchase the map from Darion at the Broken Boatwright Inn.
  • Notable Quote: "So we give him the 30 gold pieces, and we get the map. He hands you the map, and then immediately stands up and walks out a side door" (45:11).

Journey to Daggerford

The party sets out towards Daggerford, encountering typical D&D scenarios such as negotiating for the map and preparing for the adventure ahead.

• Map Examination:

  • They scrutinize the map to ensure its authenticity, debating its merits and the trustworthiness of Darion.
  • Notable Interaction:
    • Carmel: "Let's do it for 20 gold."
    • Angela: "We could all go in evenly on the map." (44:19).

• Encounter with Darion:

  • Upon purchasing the map, Darion behaves suspiciously, leading the party to decide whether to follow him.
  • Angela: "Let's keep an eye on him."
  • Carmel: "Follow him." (45:22).

Conclusion and Next Steps

The episode concludes with the party securing the map and preparing to venture into the cave marked on it, setting the stage for the next installment of their adventure.

• Final Remarks:

  • Jason encourages excitement for the upcoming journey: "I'm excited... That's where the fun happens" (47:38).

• Cliffhanger:

  • The characters stand at the cave’s entrance, ready to embark on their quest: "We have to look at the map... We're gonna be focusing on today. The theme of today" (47:37).

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Jason Charles Miller:

  • "I've been playing Dungeons and Dragons since I was 10 years old and I want to share with you the joy that this game has brought me" (00:56).
  • "So take the 16, because it's gonna turn into an 18... you're gonna have an 18" (05:18).
  • "But that's a really, really good ability" (08:33).
  • "You're gonna get a couple extra hit points... You'll be using that skill a lot when you're trying to detect certain things" (14:39).

• Angela:

  • "Do it for 20 gold." (44:19).
  • "I am so excited to come on in." (10:00).
  • "I can bring lunch. I'm happy to like if anybody needs anything" (37:08).
  • "My character's name is Deborah. You can call her Deb or Debbie." (14:19).

• Carmel:

  • "I think I'm gonna go with charisma." (07:08).
  • "I'm loaded. I got 12. Yeah, I've got 12. You got gold?" (44:12).
  • "I am Thumpar Fire Forge. That is why they call me Thumpan." (33:00).

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Insights and Highlights

• Engaging Character Development: The episode showcases an interactive and detailed character creation process, highlighting the importance of attributes, race, class, and personal backstories in shaping each player's unique role within the party.

• Collaborative Storytelling: Jason emphasizes the collaborative nature of D&D, encouraging players to contribute to the narrative and develop intertwined backstories that enhance the depth of the campaign.

• Strategic Gameplay Elements: Discussions around ability scores, class-specific abilities, and tactical decisions (like how to approach interactions with NPCs) provide listeners with practical insights into effective D&D gameplay.

• Setting the Stage for Adventure: By establishing a clear quest and introducing potential challenges (such as verifying the map's authenticity and dealing with suspicious NPCs), the episode effectively builds anticipation for future adventures.

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Conclusion

This inaugural episode of the Starter Kit successfully immerses listeners into the foundational aspects of Dungeons & Dragons, blending educational content with engaging storytelling. By guiding players through character creation and setting up an intriguing quest, Critical Role & Sagas of Sundry paves the way for epic adventures ahead.

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Note: The timestamps correspond to the moments in the transcript where the quoted conversation occurs.

Transcript

[Jason Charles Miller]

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[Carmel]

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[Jason Charles Miller]

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[Angela]

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[Carmel]

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[Jason Charles Miller]

Dungeons and Dragons or D and D is a fantasy role playing game that people have been playing all over the world for over 40 years. It's the granddaddy of all modern role playing games and its release in 1974 is commonly recognized as the launch of the modern role playing industry. I've been playing Dungeons and Dragons since I was 10 years old and I want to share with you the joy that this game has brought me. Together with five of my friends, a few, a few of whom are going to be playing for the very first time, I'm going to show you the basics of how to play this amazing game. If you've never played D and D before, or if you love the game and want to recall the joy of playing it for the first time, this is the show for you. I'm Jason Charles Miller and welcome to your starter kit. To play Dungeons and Dragons, you really only need three a Dungeon Master or dm. Ideally, this is someone who knows the rules of the game pretty well or is willing to read the rule books to learn the Dungeon Master guides the story. You'll see how that works for our story. That's me. An Adventure this could be a published adventure from Wizards of the coast who makes D and D one of any number of amazing smaller companies who publish D and D adventures, or one that's completely made up by the DM for StarterKit. Some friends and I have taken a classic D and d adventure from 1979 in search of the unknown and rewritten it to make it a good teaching tool for new players. With an experienced DM, players excited about the game usually 3 to 6, but really any number works. Depending upon the adventure and everyone's experience, the players will each create and play the main characters of our adventure. So you've got me, your dungeon master, and you've got an adventure. Let's meet our players and together we'll create our characters.

[Carmel]

Hey.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Hey, Carmel.

[Angela]

Nice to see you.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Come on in. Have a seat.

[Carmel]

Hey.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Hey. So thanks for coming over today.

[Angela]

My pleasure.

[Jason Charles Miller]

We're going to play Dungeons and Dragons today. This is exciting that you've never played before in your life, right?

[Carmel]

Never.

[Jason Charles Miller]

What I wanted to do was make sort of a classic part party that's been represented in D and D the entire time the game's been around. And really four classes. Class is your profession or your job, your main job. We're going to have two fighters. Those are the guys that are in the front lines swinging the swords. We're going to have a wizard and we're going to have a cleric. Cleric is the one. Just remember in the back of your mind, I always want to keep that cleric alive because she can keep the rest of us alive. Okay, I gave you a little bit, a little bit of homework to kind of look up some things.

[Angela]

Yes, I did. It's quite involved. Yeah, it's exciting.

[Jason Charles Miller]

We kind of came to the conclusion that you might want to play a rogue.

[Angela]

Yep.

[Jason Charles Miller]

So the rogue is sort of the sneaky trickster of the bunch. A lot of times in Dungeons and Dragons, you're gonna encounter, there's gonna be traps, there's gonna be locked doors, there's gonna be puzzles, there's gonna be hidden things that a rogue has special abilities to handle, or more so than anyone else. You're a good fighter, but primarily you will be probably the second line of defense. We've got the fighters up front, but you could try to sneak behind an opponent unseen and stab them in the back. That's what rogues do. You're going to play a halfling. And it's funny because you're our tallest player today, and yet you're playing a character that's three feet tall.

[Carmel]

I know. I'm always like, I'm small. I'm small.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Remember that. So we're gonna talk about alignment for a second. You're Chaotic Good. And that's a role playing. That's sort of a role playing guide. Meaning chaotic good is you're good, but the ends justify the means. If I could turn. Whatever you have to do to kind of get the job done, you're gonna get done, but you're still mainly a force for good.

[Angela]

Okay.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Think sort of like Han Solo. You know, he gets the things done even, you know. Is it illegal? Maybe, but that's okay. Let's roll some dice for your stats. And what I like to do is I would like you to roll these six times. And every time, we're going to throw out the lowest die.

[Carmel]

Okay.

[Jason Charles Miller]

So the first roll isn't necessarily for the top ability. We're going to get six scores to choose from, and then we're going to assign those as we go.

[Carmel]

Okay. So.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Love it. So your first roll is a 16. That's really good, this one. But I really like those two. And 14. Another. Another good one. I'm really liking these scores. I wanted the rogue to have good scores. We're already in a good position here. One thing to keep in mind too, is you're a light foot halfling. And those. Those are the halflings that want to go on adventures. Those are the ones that you find sort of more out in the world. And so you actually will get some ability score help. You'll get some bonuses. So whatever you assign to your dexterity, you'll get a plus two. And whatever you assign to your charisma, you'll get a plus one. So that's always good.

[Carmel]

I like those two.

[Jason Charles Miller]

I would say take the 16, because it's gonna turn into an 18. I see.

[Angela]

Because you can't go higher than 18.

[Jason Charles Miller]

You can, but. So even if it turns into a 19, you're gonna get the same modifier.

[Angela]

Oh, I get it.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Okay. Might as well do 16. So make that an 18.

[Angela]

Oh, 18.

[Jason Charles Miller]

And add plus four to that because that will apply to your die rolls later. So we gotta figure out where to put that 17. Wisdom is a great place for a rogue because you're gonna be using that skill a lot when you're trying to detect certain things. And that's sort of what the rogue does. You might sneak out in front of people. Charisma could be good too. Are you the kind of rogue that's gonna bluff people? Try to persuade them to do what you want them to do. High charisma helps with that. If you're maybe a frontline, do you want to be a crazy rogue fighter? Strength will help a lot with that too. So I guess it just really depends on where you see your character.

[Carmel]

Okay.

[Angela]

I think I'm gonna go with charisma.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Okay. I like that. And you have a bonus there too. So that 17 will turn into an 18. You've got two 18s. That's pretty badass. Yes, that is a badass character. Yeah. I mean usually if someone were to show up at a game with a character that had two 18s, the DM might be a little suspicious. I saw roll that myself. So, you know, I. So I.

[Carmel]

That's good.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Wow, this is really good.

[Angela]

I think I'd like to put the 14 on the wisdom.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yes, that's a really good, good idea. The 13 and the 12 are basically the same because they'll both give you plus one and the 11 won't give you any bonuses. So. Yeah, tell me what you think.

[Angela]

Okay. I'm thinking I'd like to put Constitution in case I get in a scrape.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Sure. Yeah. That'll give you. That'll give you a couple extra hit points or at least one.

[Angela]

I feel like maybe that there strength 12 and intelligence 11. Because I already have pretty high wisdom.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah, I think that's great. It's going to really a well balanced robe. Let's talk a little bit about some of your bonuses that you get as a halfling and as a rogue. One of the great things I love about halflings is you have this ability that's just called to be lucky. And what that means is anytime you roll a one on a D20, which is not good, that means critical fail. Your lucky ability lets you reroll it. You automatically get to reroll it.

[Carmel]

Wow.

[Jason Charles Miller]

If you roll a one again, it's going to fail no matter what. But that's a really, really good ability. You also have advantage versus being frightened. You're very brave. You can move through creatures of at least one size large. And what that means is you're not physically moving through someone like a ghost. But if you're in combat and you your small, your official size is small because there's small, medium, large, giant. Right. So humans and elves and half elves are all size medium. So if you needed to move through them to get to another area on the map, you could do that with no penalty.

[Angela]

I see.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah. Also, you can hide behind creatures and gain cover in combat. So that's very useful.

[Angela]

This is a great character.

[Jason Charles Miller]

It really is. And these ability scores, you're going to have fun with this character. The last thing we need to do is decide your name.

[Angela]

Okay, I have a name.

[Jason Charles Miller]

What is your name?

[Angela]

It's Trin Hill Topple.

[Jason Charles Miller]

I love it. I love it. Trin Hill Topple. So go ahead and write that into your with a Y. Okay. Yeah, gotta have the Y. Trinh Kind.

[Angela]

Of for rogue and Hill Topple for halfling.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Halfling yeah. And here's your figure.

[Carmel]

That's awesome.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Great. And I'm gonna see you when the party assembles. Awesome.

[Angela]

See you then.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Angela. Hey.

[Angela]

I am so excited to come on in.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Come on over.

[Angela]

Let's roll some dice.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah. All right. You're ready to roll?

[Angela]

I am.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Okay. You're one of my ringers. You've played DD before.

[Angela]

I have, that is true. But I will be happy to learn more things.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Okay, well, maybe you're gonna teach me some things too, and that's always good.

[Angela]

Yeah.

[Jason Charles Miller]

The DM always has to be open to learn from. From his players. What I wanted to do with today's game was make a really balanced classic party. And you graciously wanted to be the cleric, so I'm really thankful for that.

[Angela]

What if they get hurt? I'm here for you.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah. We decided that your cleric is going to be a cleric of the God Helm. Helm is the vigilant one, the great guard and the watcher. God of guardians, protection, and protectors, and worshiped by guards and paladins. He was long seen as a cold and focused deity who impartially took the role of. Of defender and sometimes also enforcer. So I think that's pretty cool for a cleric.

[Angela]

It's very, very good.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah, yeah.

[Angela]

Punch and heal.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah, exactly. Punch and heal. Yeah, yeah. Slam and heal. We're good to go. You're really gonna be the lifeblood of the party and hopefully give them back some of their blood here and there.

[Angela]

All right, are we ready?

[Jason Charles Miller]

We're ready. Okay. Yeah. Nice.

[Carmel]

Oh, wow.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Nice.

[Angela]

That's very good.

[Jason Charles Miller]

What's great about being a human is you can add one to all of those.

[Angela]

Oh, nice.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Fifth edition humans get plus one to all of their ability scores. Okay, so now let's figure out where we're gonna go.

[Angela]

Still two 8's but that's okay.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Well, you know, use that for your role playing, your role playing ability.

[Angela]

So I assume I'm going to want to go wisdom high, right?

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yes, Wisdom high for sure. So I would definitely put the 16 in the wisdom.

[Angela]

What else am I going to need? Do you have any tips from the DM here?

[Jason Charles Miller]

I would say we want to make sure you stay alive, so probably Constitution I would go for I need to.

[Angela]

Be alive so that everyone else is alive. I like having dexterity, but intelligence might be more for spell casting.

[Jason Charles Miller]

With clerical spells, it really relies on the wisdom more than intelligence.

[Angela]

So let's do decks so I can get out of the way of me.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Great. Although you know what I could have said, too. Is that because of the modifier, an 8 or a 9 basically are the same? Yeah. They're both negative.

[Angela]

I feel it, though, when I say my charisma is an eight, it feels different than saying my charisma's a nine.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Okay. Yeah, that's fine. Yeah. Different for you, so. And actually that kind of maybe goes along with. You've got a lot of wisdom, but not a lot of maybe. Street smart.

[Angela]

Not so much street smart.

[Jason Charles Miller]

You can play it that way. We're going to talk about spells for a minute. As a cleric, you get your spells directly from your deity. Wizards study spells that they learn in books. Clerics get them from the divine. There are two types of spells that you're going to be able to cast as a first level cleric. One are cantrips. Cantrips you can cast at any time. They're not very powerful, but they're sort of ingrained in your body. You know how to. You know, you just. You've done them so many times. You can do them whenever you want.

[Angela]

Light, light, light.

[Carmel]

Right.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah. There you go. Just throw light everywhere. And as level one, you have two level one spells. You can choose from any of these, but you can only cast two of them per long rest. And a long rest is like sleeping for eight hours, hopefully. What we have to do now is. I hope you've been thinking about a name for your character.

[Angela]

My character's name is Deborah. You can call her Deb or Debbie.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Okay, great.

[Angela]

Yeah. And she's here to sort of be the mom and take care of everybody.

[Jason Charles Miller]

I love it. Yeah, I love it. Deborah.

[Angela]

The thing I remember from learning how to play DD in high school is that if you add just apostrophes in the middle of stuff, it becomes a fantasy name.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah, exactly.

[Angela]

So I'll just do that.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Perfect. And here's Deborah. Here's your figure.

[Angela]

Oh, my God, she's so beautiful.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Custom painted.

[Angela]

That's gorgeous.

[Jason Charles Miller]

So you'll be using her today to represent your character in combat. So I'm gonna see you in a little bit when the party assembles.

[Angela]

All right, let's do it.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Great. Hey, Mike, Come on over. Come on in.

[Carmel]

Thanks, man.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah, thanks for coming.

[Carmel]

Of course. Great.

[Angela]

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[Jason Charles Miller]

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[Angela]

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[Jason Charles Miller]

Now we're gonna play D and D today.

[Carmel]

All right, let's play D and D.

[Jason Charles Miller]

So you've only played one other time, right?

[Carmel]

Yeah.

[Jason Charles Miller]

So you're one of my newbies.

[Carmel]

I played on a web show at Meltdown Comics, so I've never actually played without cameras. And now.

[Jason Charles Miller]

And you never will. So one of the fun things about playing D and D is creating your character. You chose to be a fighter. You're gonna be a dwarf fighter. Now, often when you're a new player, the DM will give you a pre generated character. And we've done some of that today. But I wanted to do the funnest part for me anyway, which is rolling for your stats.

[Carmel]

Okay.

[Jason Charles Miller]

And I am going to give you your very own dice. These are for you to keep.

[Carmel]

Thanks. Really?

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah. And here's some extra dice because you can never have too many D6s because you're going to need a lot of these in the game eventually.

[Carmel]

Or as we just call these dice.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah.

[Carmel]

I didn't realize these were dice.

[Jason Charles Miller]

There's so many. There's so many different ones. So we've got some things set out here, but what we're gonna do first is we're gonna roll for your six attribute scores. Strength, dexterity, constitution. Those are the three physical and then intelligence, wisdom, and charisma. And those are more the mental or spiritual. As a first level character. We're all starting. That's first level.

[Carmel]

I'm in first grade.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah, you're in first grade. Basically as an adventurer, you know, you might have done something else. In fact, I think we have that. You, your, your previous background with your character was that you brewed beer.

[Carmel]

Okay.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Okay. So you were a brewer before activity.

[Carmel]

Yeah.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah. And now you're ready to kick ass.

[Carmel]

Where do I throw this?

[Jason Charles Miller]

Anywhere.

[Carmel]

To the north, to the.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah. To the east? No, just right there on the table. Okay. Wow. Okay, so that was pretty good roll. So now we're going to do this five more times.

[Carmel]

Oh.

[Jason Charles Miller]

So now you've got these six stats to place. One thing to remember is because you're a mountain dwarf, you get bonuses on top of this. So constitution, you're going to get a plus two bonus to whatever, whatever you place this. And same with strength.

[Carmel]

What's the difference between constitution and strength?

[Jason Charles Miller]

Constitution is how much damage you can take, how much like what your fortitude is, whether that's like, not only is it physical, but also how much can you get through before you get exhausted.

[Carmel]

Like kind of passive strength or something like that.

[Jason Charles Miller]

It also has to do with what we're gonna talk about later, too, which is hit points, how many hit points you get. Okay. So really, how much damage you can take, but also, you know, how long can you hold your breath, how long can you march before you fall over? All that kind of stuff. That constitution, also a great stat for a fighter, for sure.

[Carmel]

Right? Okay, so I'll put my 16 in constitution.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah. Great. And then because of your bonuses, that'll make it an 18. I think that's a really good idea. Your ability scores also determine you're gonna be rolling different skills based on that, and you're gonna get bonuses. And with an 18, you get a plus four. So you're gonna write plus four in that little. In the little one. The 15, you're gonna get plus two.

[Carmel]

All right.

[Jason Charles Miller]

And for the 13, you're gonna get plus one. Now we've got.

[Carmel]

I feel like I'm applying for a very weird.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah, you are. You're applying to save the world. Oh, yeah. With the wisdom, you get a plus one. So that's good. And with the charisma, you're gonna get minus one. So. And you can look at that in. Yeah, you can look at that in many ways. You know, charisma is really like leadership ability. It's not necessarily about physical appearance. So you're gonna.

[Carmel]

And mostly beard, right?

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah. Yeah, you're mostly beard, first of all, Which I can relate to. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe. Maybe you stink. Or maybe, you know, you stink of. Of hops because you're always brewing beer or something, and. Or maybe you're just crude or you, you know, speak out of turn, stuff like that. What we're also going to talk about are your. Your special abilities. Okay, so you've. This is what's really great about being a dwarf. You've got dark vision for up to 60ft. You can see in the dark for up to 60ft.

[Carmel]

I live under a mountain.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah. That's amazing. Yeah. So you don't need any light source, anything like that. You've got advantage on saves versus poison. We're going to talk about advantages later. And one of the great things about fighters is you have an ability score called second wind. What second wind is, is if you get damaged, if you get injured and call in your second wind, and then roll a D10, add one to it, and get those hit points back.

[Carmel]

So that's like. Like wwe when it looks like I'm haggard.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yes.

[Carmel]

And then take it off, and then suddenly that's it.

[Jason Charles Miller]

That's second wind.

[Carmel]

Perfect.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Cool. You can do that. Every short rest. And a short rest is only an hour. So as long as you rest for at least an hour, you can use your second wind power again. So it's very, very helpful for fighters.

[Carmel]

That's exactly what I assumed it would be.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Oh, good. Okay, you've got a lot of standard stuff in your pack. Check that out. And the last thing we need to do is decide your name.

[Carmel]

Oh, yeah.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Have you decided your character's name?

[Carmel]

I think so.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Okay, what's it going to be thinking?

[Carmel]

Thumper.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Thumper.

[Carmel]

Yeah. Yeah. Thumper, Fire Forge.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Thumper, Fire Forge.

[Carmel]

I love it. Thumper is th Apostrophe U, M, P Apostrophe AR R. Okay, so thump R. Thumper.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah. Thump R. Great. Okay, so write that in there. And here's Thumper.

[Carmel]

Hey.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Boom, there's your guy.

[Carmel]

Little big Thumper.

[Jason Charles Miller]

So we'll be using him in combat today. And that will represent your.

[Carmel]

All right, cool.

[Jason Charles Miller]

I'll see you soon when the party assembles. Mixy.

[Carmel]

Hey.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Come on in.

[Angela]

How are you?

[Jason Charles Miller]

Good. How are you?

[Angela]

Amazing.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Cool.

[Angela]

I'm excited.

[Jason Charles Miller]

So we're gonna play D and D today.

[Angela]

Yeah.

[Jason Charles Miller]

And you've never played before, right? Yep. You're one of my brand new noobs.

[Angela]

Noob.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Okay, cool. What I wanted to do was sort of play a game where we have a nice, balanced, classic party. We talked about you being a high elf wizard. Yeah. Cool. Are you excited about that?

[Angela]

I am.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Awesome. One of the most fun things about creating a character is rolling for your stats, rolling for your attributes. The six attributes are strength, dexterity, constitution, and those three deal with more of the physical aspects, which I don't do.

[Angela]

Much of as a wizard.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Right. Yeah. Intelligence is going to be your.

[Angela]

And wisdom.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah, Intelligence, wisdom, and.

[Angela]

Which is totally not actually me.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Right. Well, you know, that's why hero charisma. What we're going to do is we're going to roll for these. And the lowest score you can get is a three. And the highest you can get is an 18 at level one. Boom. Look at all that.

[Angela]

I just throw all of them at one.

[Jason Charles Miller]

You throw them all? Yeah. We're going to just take four of the D6s. These are D6s. So the way the dice work is this is a D4, 4 sided, 6 sided, 8 sided, 10 sided, 12 sided, and 20 sided, 20 sided. You're gonna use the most in the game once we get playing. But now just in character creation, you're gonna use. You're gonna roll these six times and we're gonna write that Down. And then we're gonna assign the scores that we get to the ability scores. Not too bad. 12. Okay, nice. 14. Yeah. 14. Okay, cool. So now one of the things to remember too is because you're a high elf, you're gonna get a couple of bonuses, you're gonna get to your dexterity, you're gonna get plus two. So just remember that. And then for your intelligence, you're gonna get plus one. Now, intelligence is the stat for wizard.

[Angela]

Right.

[Jason Charles Miller]

So I can't see any reason why you wouldn't put that 15.

[Angela]

15 on the intelligence.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah. And make it a 16 because that'll actually give you more bonuses too.

[Angela]

Yeah.

[Jason Charles Miller]

So I take the cross out the 15, put it in intelligence and make it a 16. Okay. Yeah. And also you can add. Do a little plus three below that. That's gonna be. That's the bonuses you get for any intelligence boost based skill that might happen later. So that's all very good.

[Angela]

Which are going to be a lot of skills for me.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah, definitely. Yeah. So now the next number to plays is we have a 14 that we need to put somewhere. And I would say one of the things that we need to remember about wizards is that they can't wear armor. And so either constitution or dexterity would both be good places to put that.

[Angela]

What's the difference in dexterity and constitution? They're both protecting you.

[Jason Charles Miller]

They're both protecting you, but in different ways. So constitution is how hardy you are. How many hits can you take? How far can you go without being exhausted? Things of that nature. Dexterity is how agile are you? Can you jump out of the way if someone's trying to attack you? Can you balance on that?

[Angela]

Both kind of defense things?

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah, yeah. It might make more sense to take the 14 and turn it into a.

[Angela]

16 for dexterity or 14 in constitution.

[Jason Charles Miller]

And then you could take the 12 and put that in dexterity. Make that a 14 too. That's great. That's a good idea.

[Angela]

You like that?

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah.

[Angela]

Okay. Yeah, do that.

[Carmel]

14.

[Angela]

14 and then 12 in dexterity, which.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Will be 14 also because your racial bonuses. Yeah, great. And then the bonuses with those 14 will both be plus two in the little thing below it. This is great. This is a very well balanced wizard character. I like these numbers a lot. You're immune to magical sleep, which is also a really good thing. So someone cast.

[Angela]

I said that I get. Yeah, if they cast a spell on me and they put. Or they put everybody to sleep, I don't go to sleep.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah, that's so you Might be dragging people out.

[Angela]

I don't really sleep anyway. High elves only sleep while they go into a trance for, like, four hours versus most characters are, like eight hours. I read that. I did homework a little bit.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah.

[Angela]

I didn't want to be a super noob, so I tried to learn.

[Jason Charles Miller]

That's great. We're gonna talk about spells. Sweet. As a wizard, you get your spells from knowledge. You get your spells from studying and from learning them from other wizards that might give you a spell to learn or a spell book that you find.

[Angela]

Or looting.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Or looting, yeah. You could loot a scroll and then see. Oh, this is a spell. I'm gonna copy it into my book. You've got two types of spells. You've got cantrips, and then you've got first level spells. Cantrips are the spells that you can cast at will. You can cast those anytime you want. They're the ones that you've been practicing your whole life. So, you know, if you want to cast fire bolt every round, you can do it right out of your finger. Level one spells. As a level one wizard, you can only cast two of those per long rest or per day. Sometimes people say. But really, like, whenever you go into your trance again, you can only cast these. You can only cast two of these. You have all of these prepared, so you can pick from these, from these. And we're gonna add a few more, too, now that we know what your ability scores are. But you can only cast basically two per day or two per long rest. All we have left to do right now is decide your name. What is your character's name?

[Angela]

My cat's name is Moon.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Okay.

[Angela]

So I thought Moon could be my first name. And then blood.

[Jason Charles Miller]

That's great.

[Angela]

I just wanted to be a little evil.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah, why not? I mean, you are good, but, you know, we're good characters, but.

[Angela]

But Moonblood.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah. Moon Blood. I like it.

[Angela]

Okay, cool.

[Jason Charles Miller]

I like it. Great. So write that in your. Right here. And here is Moonblood. That's gonna be your figure today.

[Angela]

She's hot.

[Jason Charles Miller]

And I will see you when the party assembles.

[Carmel]

Yay.

[Angela]

Thanks.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Great. Come on in.

[Carmel]

Al.

[Jason Charles Miller]

What's going on, man?

[Carmel]

Hey.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Good to see you. Good to see you, too. On the seat.

[Carmel]

Right on.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah. So thanks for joining us on this little adventure.

[Carmel]

Absolutely. I love what you've done with the place, by the way.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah, it's great, right? Everyone's got a suit of armor in their basement.

[Carmel]

No, just you and I. I think pretty much just you and I.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Okay.

[Carmel]

At this Point.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Fair enough. So you're kind of. You're one of my ringers. You're ring my veteran players.

[Carmel]

That's right.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Tell me a little bit about that.

[Carmel]

Well, I. I grew up in a place called Peeks Mill, Kentucky, and at the Tom Sawyer Library, we would have Dungeons and Dragons every Sunday. I became the kind of de facto dungeon master when I was 11, and then 12 years old because I was the only one who wanted to do the reading.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Well, what we're gonna do today is we're gonna play sort of a classic party makeup. And I didn't want to add any more classes, so we're gonna have two fighters. So you're gonna be the second fighter and you're gonna play a half hour.

[Carmel]

That's good.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah, yeah. It's always good to have another fighter in the party. What I love to do is I love to have people roll for their stats.

[Carmel]

Great.

[Jason Charles Miller]

We've filled out a lot of this already. We'll go over that in a minute. But I'm going to give you your dice. These are officially your dice. These are your dice to keep.

[Carmel]

What?

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah. All for you for today.

[Carmel]

Very exciting. Should have brought my loaded dice.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Hey, not too bad. Not too bad. Not too shabby. So we've got two 14s, a 9, a 12, and two 10s. Now, because you're a half elf, you get plus two to charisma. And this is what's great. You get plus one to any other stat of your choosing that comes to the fact that elves get higher charisma and humans add plus one to all of their stats.

[Carmel]

Right.

[Jason Charles Miller]

In fifth edition, I'm half right, so.

[Carmel]

You get to do one that little extra. Okay, cool. Well, since I'm a fighter, I'm gonna load up my strength and my dexterity with the 14s.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Okay, great.

[Carmel]

Like that. And that's a plus one there, too.

[Jason Charles Miller]

So, okay, so, yeah, go ahead and write that as a 15. Now, you can't add plus to both. You have to pick. So you can only. So it's plus one to one of your choosing. Oh, I see. And then plus two to charisma.

[Carmel]

That's very disappointing.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Sorry, man. You gotta pick one.

[Carmel]

So. So, okay, so dexterity will get a four, and then I get plus what? On charisma?

[Jason Charles Miller]

You get plus two on Charisma. So whatever.

[Carmel]

Yeah, yeah, Great.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Okay. There we go.

[Carmel]

Not bad. I'm not. I'm not stupid, but I might make some dumb decisions now and again.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Right, but you're pretty strong.

[Carmel]

Yes, I am.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah. All we Need. Now is your. Your character's name?

[Carmel]

Yes. Well, Haldor is always my kind of D and D go to. Go to name. But we had a. Like, what it would come up for a last name. Spalharkus or something.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Spal. Spalharks. Right.

[Carmel]

Spell arcs.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah.

[Carmel]

Haldor Spalharks.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah.

[Carmel]

Yeah. Love it works. I like it.

[Jason Charles Miller]

And here's Haldor.

[Carmel]

Ah, that's awesome.

[Jason Charles Miller]

It's gonna be your.

[Carmel]

Your looks just like me.

[Jason Charles Miller]

It does. It really does.

[Carmel]

Only taller.

[Jason Charles Miller]

And I will see you when the party assembles.

[Carmel]

I love it.

[Angela]

Cool.

[Jason Charles Miller]

You guys want to introduce each other to each other really quick, Just kind of tell me your. Your character's name, what your. What your job is, your class is, and kind of where you're.

[Carmel]

I am Haldor Spalox. I am half elf because mother was that way and not an elf. I mean, you know what I'm saying? And I destroy evil, which is what I do, so.

[Angela]

Hi, guys. My name is Trinh Hill Topple. I'm a half halfling and half rogue. Or that's my class.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah, right. Actually, you're all halfling, all rogue.

[Carmel]

Yeah.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah. Your race is halfling. Your job is rogue.

[Carmel]

You're half right.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Okay.

[Angela]

I'm hopling.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Rogue.

[Angela]

That's what I am. So. So I'm here to help us get to our goal. And that's what we're gonna do. Guys, you ready?

[Carmel]

Mm. Ready.

[Angela]

Hi. I'm Moonblood. I am a high elf wizard. And I will have your backs no matter what, through thick and thin, through the whole entire night. And I will be there to cast spells on all of our enemies. And I will be there for you all.

[Carmel]

I am Thumpar Fire Forge. That is why they call me Thumpan. I am a mountain dwarf. I like to fight. I'm very strong, and I have a lot of constitution. And I grew up making beer. And I want to talk about. We can be friends. Thoughts about beer.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Let's talk about beer.

[Carmel]

All right. That's where the constitution.

[Angela]

Hi, my name is Deborah. I am a cleric of Helm, and I am here to just make snacks and heal people. So please, if you need anything, I'm here.

[Carmel]

Great.

[Jason Charles Miller]

And heal people with your snacks.

[Angela]

I'm gonna kill people too. But I like to talk about the healing more.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Deborah, Thumpar, Moon, Haldor, and Trin. All five of you grew up in the city of Waterdeep. And all five of you met on the steps of the Adventurer's Guild, A guild that all of you are trying to join, but you've all been turned away because you've been on no adventures. Trin. In your underground network being a rogue. You have heard of the legend of Rogan and Zellagar. Rogan the Fearless and Zellagar the Unknown are legendary names. Rogon earned his name as a great warrior and his reputation spread far and wide across the land. Zelligar, equally renowned, earned his status and power as a foremost practitioner of the mystical arts of magic and sorcery. No one knows what brought these two together, but they formed a strong bond of friendship. Eventually, stories surfaced about a hideaway being built deep in the wilderness, far from the nearest settlement. Away from traveled routes where they practiced their adventuring prowess and kept their treasures. Thirty years ago, a great barbarian invasion came from the lands of the north. Threatening to engulf the entire land. Rogan and Zelligar and their band of loyal henchmen met the barbarian army in great battle. Rogan slew a horde of barbarians single handedly and Zelligar's powerful magic put their army to flight. Eager to destroy the hordes once and for all, Rogan and Zellagar pursued the barbarian horde into the north where they met their demise in a great battle that shook the heavens. In the past week it has come to your attention that there is a man named Darion in the town of Daggerford who claims to have a map to a mystical lost keep. A place apparently called just by one letter Q. He claims it's the lost keep of Rogan and Zelagar. It's filled with vast knowledge and treasure and he's entertaining bidders. The map is accurate. It could lead you to the mystical place that was once their home and sanctuary. And perhaps their treasure trove. Just the thing that you guys might need to prove that you're adventurers can gain admittance into the Waterdeep Adventurers Guild. Now Daggerford is just the next town south. It's just right down the sword coast. You could get there easily. So let's say you go. It's pretty obvious.

[Angela]

Get him.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Move on.

[Carmel]

I'm for it. I just gonna pack a lunch and then. Yeah, just my character needs to.

[Angela]

I can bring lunch. I'm happy to like if anybody needs anything.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Great.

[Angela]

I'm vegan. Anything.

[Jason Charles Miller]

You have reached the town of Daggerford and there is. You heard that Darion is hanging out in the inn called the Broken Boatwright. Daggerford is a town of 900 people. It wishes it was a a bustling metropolis. And they try but it's.

[Carmel]

Are you ready to dairy free your mind this summer Melt away your dairy free expectations with so delicious Dairy free frozen desserts. Enjoy mind blowing flavors like salted caramel cluster chocolate cookies and cream cookie dough and more. For over 35 years, so delicious has.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Been cranking up the flavor with show stopping products that are 100% dairy free.

[Carmel]

Certified vegan by Vegan Action, and are so unbelievably creamy, your taste buds will do a double take.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Dairy free your mind.

[Carmel]

Visit sodeliciousdairyfree.com.

[Angela]

In the time it takes us to say we're using Folger's instant.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Coffee, seamlessly blended with water and ice.

[Angela]

A splash of whatever kind of milk is your thing. And gotta get that caramel drizzle, all to make a toasty roasty caramel iced coffee.

[Carmel]

You could be enjoying it.

[Angela]

Every damn sip of it. Damn right. It's Folgers Instant.

[Jason Charles Miller]

You know, there's not that many. There's not that many inns. So finding the broken boat, right, is pretty easy.

[Carmel]

How can you trust people from a place called. Named after Daggers? And isn't the coast Sword Coast?

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah.

[Carmel]

I mean, what a. Yeah, right? Come on. Begging people not to come back on anyone. Literally. Do not come to our resort. Good idea. Yeah, I get wisdom extra points for that. Sorry. So what's our first option?

[Jason Charles Miller]

What do we want to do? What do you guys want to do?

[Angela]

Oh, well, we need to. We need to go in there. Yes.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Great.

[Carmel]

Yeah.

[Angela]

Get that map.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Okay.

[Carmel]

I think so.

[Angela]

Now who's good at talking to people? Like, who's friendly, charismatic? That would be me. Okay.

[Carmel]

I'm very charismatic. Or you.

[Angela]

You have spells. My charisma's not really on its own.

[Carmel]

Mine's pretty good. Thanks. Maybe say so. My damn selfie. All right.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah, okay.

[Angela]

But I have wisdom enough to let you start.

[Carmel]

There you go. There you go.

[Jason Charles Miller]

So you enter the inn. It's actually pretty bustling. There's probably about 20 people in there. You see the bartender sort of tending bar and, you know, wiping it down. And he looks at you and clearly doesn't recognize you. So he's like, welcome to Daggerford. Never seen you guys here before. It sort of goes back to, you know, cleaning. Cleaning glasses.

[Carmel]

Let's kill him. Sir, we look for an old friend of a horse.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Old friend, you say old.

[Carmel]

What's his name? I didn't write it down.

[Angela]

Darian.

[Carmel]

Darian. Darian. We seek Darien.

[Jason Charles Miller]

You sure you're not thirsty from your long journey? You all look thirsty to me.

[Carmel]

It's very important. Let's have a couple beers. He is an expert on beer, my friend. He'd love to taste your win.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Would you like to taste our local brew?

[Carmel]

Yes.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Okay. That'll be two copper pieces each.

[Angela]

That's what I have to say.

[Carmel]

All right. Here you go. Okay. Great.

[Jason Charles Miller]

So he.

[Angela]

Okay.

[Carmel]

Yes.

[Jason Charles Miller]

He gives you all. He gives you all five of you beers. And you taste it and it's. You know, it's not. It's okay, you know, it's not really. It doesn't live up to the firefighter forge standard.

[Carmel]

I want one of my copper pack. You're cheating me out of a two copper beer.

[Jason Charles Miller]

No, you're fine. He doesn't.

[Angela]

It's not bad.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Darion's over there.

[Carmel]

Here it is.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Thank you for the business. So he points to a man in a green cloak sitting next to a fire by the hearth. He's reading a book. And he's just sort of all by himself. Just.

[Angela]

Let's go talk to him.

[Carmel]

Absolutely. Yeah.

[Angela]

Yeah.

[Carmel]

Yep. And then kill him. Right.

[Angela]

See, I can't remember who Darion is specifically.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Oh, Darion's the guy that's supposedly selling the map.

[Angela]

Selling the map.

[Carmel]

And we find the territory of the two dead guys. Who? Rogan and Zelliger. Zelliger, the unknown. Who was famous.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Okay.

[Carmel]

Yeah, right. A famous fighter named Zelliger, the unknown. He's like Zelig. He just blames it. Right. Blunt. Everywhere that could be selling. So, yeah, he allegedly has the map. But I doubt we go straight for map. So I think it's just kind of like, you know, chat him up. Yeah, somebody's gotta chat him up.

[Angela]

Okay, you start while I.

[Carmel]

Okay. I've got fairly decent charisma. I suppose. I ask him his name and then I. I guess. Excuse me, friend. When I recognize you from up the coast. Are you not a member of the Adventurers League? Do you not.

[Jason Charles Miller]

No, I'm not a member of the Adventurers Guild.

[Carmel]

I. Or League. Yeah, the League. The Guild. The Guild itself. The League's a loosely banded group of people. They're friends of mine or whatever. But a friend of mine, Rogan, a friend of my father's, said that he had friends down this way. And we are traveling adventures.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Rohon.

[Carmel]

Hmm.

[Jason Charles Miller]

That's very interesting. I happen to have procured recently a map to Rogan's abode.

[Carmel]

Is that so?

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yes.

[Carmel]

Father had said we should always.

[Angela]

We had no idea.

[Carmel]

Father had always said I should visit this place. It was a place of great learning.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Hmm. I somehow don't believe you. But regardless, I have a map. If you have Gold. I have things to sell.

[Carmel]

I say we grab the map and go. We have bigger fish fry. Yeah.

[Angela]

Well, should we check that he's even Darion? He said he was Darien, but we didn't say.

[Carmel]

Yeah, maybe we should see the map first, because if the address on the map is, like, one of our houses, we'll know it's fake. Yeah.

[Angela]

Okay. And then we turn away from our huddle where we've been loudly singing, of course.

[Jason Charles Miller]

So he. Out of a very ornate scroll case, he pulls this map out, and he sort of opens just about a few inches of it to show you, and you notice the surrounding countryside. Everything sort of recognized it.

[Carmel]

Right.

[Angela]

So how do we know this is the real map?

[Jason Charles Miller]

You don't.

[Carmel]

We don't. How much is it?

[Angela]

How much much.

[Jason Charles Miller]

30 gold pieces. There are a lot of people that want their hands on this one. Yeah, I'm pretty firm on the price.

[Carmel]

60 or 60, sure. Absolutely. Yes.

[Angela]

Okay.

[Carmel]

So anybody got any thick gold?

[Angela]

Yeah. Do we have money?

[Carmel]

Do we have tons of money?

[Angela]

I have four gold.

[Jason Charles Miller]

You do?

[Angela]

Yeah, it's right here.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Right there in 12. Middle there.

[Carmel]

I'm loaded. I got 12. Yeah, I've got 12. You got gold?

[Angela]

I'm not paying for your whole map.

[Carmel]

I've got 12.

[Angela]

We could all go in evenly on the map.

[Carmel]

All right, so I will give my 12. If anyone wants to match and meet with me to. To buy the map. I've only got 12. Okay. So. All right. Got 24 right now. Who. I have.

[Angela]

I have four. Four gold.

[Carmel]

Okay, you have four.

[Angela]

I'm sorry, where does it say that?

[Carmel]

Actually, yeah, you have. You have three gold pieces.

[Angela]

I'll do eight, and then that'll. That'll be 30, right? Four, six. Oh, you only have four?

[Carmel]

Yeah, I only have three in the.

[Angela]

World, but it's fine.

[Carmel]

Okay, how about this? We'll. We'll do. We'll give all of ours, and you can give us six more. We just need six from you. 30 gold to him. Yep. So.

[Angela]

Or do it for 20 gold.

[Carmel]

Yeah, I just write down you have zero gold prices. I'm not here to negotiate. Just pay for it. Let's go. All right. Do you have change for a 32?

[Jason Charles Miller]

I don't give change.

[Carmel]

Back to normal.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Okay, so you give him the 30 gold pieces, and we get the map. He hands you the map, and then immediately stands up and walks out a side door.

[Angela]

Keep an eye on him.

[Carmel]

Yeah.

[Angela]

Yes. Let's keep an eye on him.

[Carmel]

Want me to follow him?

[Angela]

Follow him.

[Carmel]

Don't follow yet you want to go spy on him? I follow him. Sure. All right.

[Jason Charles Miller]

I follow him through the door.

[Carmel]

Can I follow you? The door?

[Jason Charles Miller]

He's gone, dude.

[Carmel]

That dude just disappeared completely. He's left it as a burden. All right, so now we have to look at the map. Yeah, let's look the map over. Yeah.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Okay. So you roll out the map.

[Carmel]

That guy.

[Jason Charles Miller]

It looks legit. And you see basically a. You know, what looks like the surrounding countryside. About two days journey. You see the letter. You see the letter Q. So everything seems to match up with what you heard in your. In your Spyro.

[Carmel]

We'll find certain devices that will help us. Oh, different cues. Sorry.

[Angela]

So we can follow the map and.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Look for cues along.

[Carmel]

Yeah, look at. Look. Yes.

[Jason Charles Miller]

It looks like a shot to queue.

[Carmel]

Yeah. Okay, so I think we start on the. Is there a. Can we tell from the map if there is a more circuitous or more dangerous route?

[Jason Charles Miller]

It looks pretty dangerous, yeah. I mean, it doesn't depend the way.

[Angela]

You look at it.

[Jason Charles Miller]

From what you know, you grew up in Waterdeep, which is the big city north of here. From what you may know, just with your survival skills, these don't look like roads or paths you've ever seen, but.

[Carmel]

Mm. Then I think we start on the firmest, straightest path to Q. Since that's our goal. We want to be in the Adventurers Guild. Man, we can't tiptoe around after that nonsense trying to decide whether or not to buy the map. I'm questioning whether we deserve to be in the Adventures Guild. Us, we're just getting going. Throw a little caution to the wind, people.

[Jason Charles Miller]

All right. You start out on the map. You've already. You're already well equipped for this. You're ready for this. You're ready to go. So what we're going to do is I'm going to get you right there. This is what ours entered all about. And what I want to say also too, is if this were a longer campaign, if this were a campaign that we were starting as friends and we were going to play every week, every Wednesday in the library, there may have been a lot more detailed things along the route. But I want to get you to Q because. Because that's what we're gonna be focusing on today. The theme of today.

[Carmel]

Right.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah.

[Carmel]

Great.

[Jason Charles Miller]

So I'm excited.

[Carmel]

That's where the fun happens.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Yeah.

[Carmel]

Let's go to Cube.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Do I have a teleportation spell at level one? You do not have a teleportation spell.

[Angela]

No.

[Carmel]

Level one. You don't have Jack. Jack. Yeah. Right.

[Jason Charles Miller]

So here's what happens. So you're following along the map and you're in a heavily wooded area.

[Angela]

Light.

[Jason Charles Miller]

You don't need light yet. It's during the day. It's like light I did, though. You can cast as. As many times as you want. You could cast it on each tree as you went along if you want. You see as you're getting closer to on the map, which what looks. Everything is kind of, you know, it's like third rock on the left kind of thing. Everything looks legit to you. And you're going up a sort of craggy hill. At the top of this path that doesn't look very worn at all, you see a cave like opening somewhat obscured by vegetation, noticeable at the end of a treacherous pathway which leads up to the craggy outcropping of black rock. By sweeping aside some of the vines and branches, the opening becomes easily accessible.

[Angela]

A dungeon.

[Jason Charles Miller]

So you look like you're at the exit.

[Carmel]

The opening of Pew. The opening of a cave. Oh, okay. So I say we enter the cave.

[Angela]

I say we enter the cave.

[Jason Charles Miller]

Great. Okay. And that's where we're gonna take a little bit of a break. And the next episode, we're going to enter that cave.

[Carmel]

Oh, boy. Oh, wow.

[Jason Charles Miller]

The Old west is an iconic period of American history and full of legendary figures whose names still resonate today, like Jesse James, Billy the Kid and Butch and Sundance, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Geronimo, Wyatt Earp, Bat, Masterson and Bass, Reeves, Buffalo Bill Cody, Wild Bill Hickok, the Texas Rangers, and many more. Hear all their stories on the Legends of the Old west podcast. We'll take you to Tombstone, Deadwood, and Dodge City. To the plains, mountains and deserts for battles between the U.S. army and native American warriors. To dark corners for the disaster of the Donner Party and shining summits for achievements like the Transcontinental Railroad. We'll go back to the earliest days of explorers and mountain men and head up through notorious Pinkerton agents and gunmen like Tom Horn. Every episode features narrative writing and cinematic music, and there are hundreds of episodes available to binge. I'm Chris Wimmer. Find legends of the Old west wherever you're listening. Now, look, we all know there are a lot of celebrity interview podcasts out there, but there's only one Happy, Sad, Confused Josh. I'm Josh Horowitz, and yeah, I'm the host of the show, so I'm a little biased. But truly Happy, Sad, Confused is the place for nerdy and intimate conversations with all your favorite actors and filmmakers, from Andrew Garfield and Scarlett Johansson to Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino. For over 10 years and over 700 episodes, Happy Sad Confused has broken movie and TV news every single week. That's because I ask all the questions I want to know. And more importantly, you want to know casting, what ifs, backstage stories, acting, pet peeves, and much more. So whether you're into superheroes, prestige tv, or just the coolest actors and directors alive, you're going to learn something in every episode. Listen to Happy Sad Confused on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. American history is full of infamous tales that continue to captivate audiences decades or even hundreds of years after they happened to on the Infamous America podcast, you'll hear the true stories of the Salem witch trials and the escape attempts from Alcatraz, of bank robbers like John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd, of killers like Lizzie Borden and Charles Starkweather, of mysteries like the Black Dahlia and D.B. cooper, and of events that inspired movies like Goodfellas, Killers of the Flower Moon, Zodiac, Eight Men out, and many more. I'm Chris Wimmer. Join me as we crisscross the country, from the Miami drug wars and Dixie Mafia in the south to mobsters in Chicago and New York, to arsonists, kidnappers, and killers in California, to unsolved mysteries in the heartland and in remote corners of Alaska. Every episode features narrative writing and cinematic music, and there are hundreds of episodes available to binge find Infamous America Wherever you get your podcasts.