Almost Bedtime Theater

Skellian: Adventure Review, Actual Play (Ep 17)

• Dan, Rachael & Leah • Season 2 • Episode 17

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A transcript of this episode is available via the episode page on Buzzsprout.

In this episode, we review and play the adventure “Skellian: A Land of Tricks and Treats.”

  • 00:16 – Intro
  • 00:40 – Adventure review
  • 05:04 – Actual play

Skellian is the work of Stephanie Campbell of TTRPGkids.com.  You can find more information and purchase the game through itch.io.  You can also find Stephanie on Twitter as @TTRPGkids.

How to reach us:

  • Email: AlmostBedtimeTheater@gmail.com
  • Twitter: @AlmostBedtime

Other TTRPG content referenced in this episode include:

Our intro and outro theme music are by McRoMusic, who can be found on Patreon at patreon.com/mcromusic.

We also used ambient soundtracks and music by Michael Ghelf Studios. You can find their content on YouTube and on Patreon at patreon.com/MichaelGhelfi. 

Ambient Soundtracks

  • Ship Interior
  • Haunted Mansion Livingroom (Quiet fire)
  • Haunted Forest
  • Open and Close Evil Book SFX

Music

  • Ruins of Calcheron
  • Broken Lutes and Rusty Daggers

How to reach us:

Rachael

Hi, I'm Rachel.

Leah

I'm Leah.

Dan

And I'm Dan.

Rachael

And this is Almost Bedtime Theater, a podcast about playing role playing games with kids.

Leah

In this episode, we are doing something a little different. Instead of reviewing a game system, we're going to be looking at a pre-built adventure called Skellian: A Land of Tricks and Treats. Skellian was written by Stephanie Campbell of the amazing website TTRPGkids.com, and puts the players in the role of a group tasked with helping the spooky residents of Skellian get everything ready for their Fall Full Moon Festival.

Rachael

Skellian is available on Itch.Io for about$10, though if you're very quick, you can pick it up for half the price through November 2nd. That purchase gets you a 30 page PDF that contains 22 pages of adventure content, including setting up for the adventure, a map, and assorted game tools, four simple coloring pages, and"find the right path" activity page.

Dan

There were a few things I particularly liked about this adventure module when it came to running the game. First, each encounter is presented on a single page and they all pretty much follow the same format, so that makes it much easier to find, uh, the information you need as you get to those encounters. And then each page starts with a descriptive introductory paragraph that sets the scene. Uh, usually gives the players something specific to react to too. So that's, that's really excellent. Then on the other half of the page, you get a rundown about the key NPC in the scene, including their personality, appearance, and then some bullet point lists of what they want, what they know, and a few other tidbits that, um, that you can just keep in mind, uh, when we're role playing them, some extra information you can dole out and that kind of thing. Some of the pages also have special challenges or bonus activities that you can integrate. Second, um, oh, the, the NPCs are so colorful. I found it very easy to envision these characters based off of the personality and appearance information, and they were a hoot to play. It was a lot of fun. The third thing I wanna mention is that as written, there is a lot going on in this module. When I first glanced at it, I was a, I was admittedly a little concerned that from the player perspective, it could get confusing. But it turns out it is very easy to scale the level of complexity. If you want something a bit simpler or even a lot simpler, you can totally do that. For example, there is an individual in the game that has gotten turned into a lizard. One possibility is that the players need to gather up multiple items from around town to make a potion to reverse that and getting each of those items could require additional interactions. But if that feels a bit too complex for your group or for the amount of time that you have to play, there is an option provided that a particular NPC can reverse the spell. As a side note here, I also created a to-do list as a handout to make sure that the main tasks were always clear for the players. I'd say that all told, I spent less than 30 minutes scanning through the encounters and getting a feel for the adventure before running it. Um, Skellian was designed for use with the Glyfi Scouts game, which is a game using a diceless role playing system that Stephanie has also created. But we ended up using Sodalitas instead since I didn't have a huge amount of time to prep and we have played multiple games using Sodalitas before, so we're familiar with that system. Somehow none of those have ended up as podcast episodes, so, uh, we definitely need to review that one sometime. Now the game mechanics, when it comes to dice rolls they actually don't show up much in the first part of this game because on the whole, um, I, as the story guide didn't feel that the interactions needed them. For example, there's a point where the characters are telling an NPC that they are, uh, inspectors or reviewers, and in theory, I could have made them roll to see whether or not the NPC believed them, but I didn't have an interesting outcome to offer if they failed and, and frankly, I wanted to see where they were going with that idea. Now, if they'd tried to use that subterfuge to convince the NPC to give them something, that's when I would've had them get the dice out. What did the two of you like about the adventure?

Rachael

I enjoyed meeting all the residents of Skellian and it was really fun to talk to Adam about rating his spooky hotel.

Leah

I liked the Halloween theme. I thought it was really fun.

Dan

If you'd like to get in touch with us with a question, comment, or suggestion, you can email us at AlmostBedtimeTheater@gmail.com or find us on Twitter as@almostbedtime.

Rachael

And now let the adventure begin.

Dan

So the good... well, I don't know if it's the good ship. The pirate ship, Donuts of Consequence. You're all aboard, you're sailing along on your way to your next big adventure. And-

Leah

Am I driving it?

Dan

Sure.

Leah

Cuz I know how to drive. Okay.

Dan

You can. Absolutely.

Leah

Mm-hmm.

Dan

You can drive your ship and you're going along. It's late and the hand is up. Yes, Rachael?

Rachael

Can the wheel be a donut?

Dan

Ahhh, I think it is. It's like, it's like this huge donut with handles on it? You can steer your ship with a donut. Yeah, yeah, totally. And it's, it's late. There's a big full moon and it's a clear night. But as you're going along, you realize, as you're piloting your ship here, that there is this bank of dense fog that comes outta nowhere on the sea. Very odd. And it unfurls and lifts up and your ship sails right into this fog bank. Not sure where you are. You can't see the stars. And then sometime later you sail out of the fog and you find yourself at a port. So you pull up at the dock, put it in park, and as you disembark and look around, you find that you are at the edge of a small town full of very eerie buildings. There's a huge yellow moon overhead silhouette of something flashes by real quick as you're looking and there are several figures strolling the streets. Some of'em have pointy hats and robes and all different shapes and sizes of beings out there chatting amongst themselves. From here, you can tell most of them are not human. In fact, you're not sure all of them are what you might even call alive, given the number of bones that are visible when they're walking around. Oddly disjointed from this view is the smell. You catch the scent of cinnamon and fresh baked pastries floating through the air, and then you realize that it's coming from this bulky figure that's approaching you. She's, she's big. Like seven foot tall big. Has these massive orange white horns and is covered in shaggy purple fur. And she comes up and she says,"You must be the help I requested. I'm so glad you're here. Uh, it's, there's so much to do, uh, for the Fall Full Moon Festival and people are late and the ingredients aren't in, and, and we don't have the lights and oh my gosh, there's so much to be done. Oh, I'm Ginger, by the way, uh, um, I run the Tea Shop and Bakery. So glad, so glad to see you. Uh, can you please help me get everything ready?"

Leah

Yeah, that's totally what we're here for.

Dan

"Oh good. Oh good." Would you like to describe your characters so we know who you're playing today?

Leah

All right. I am playing Finley Fireforge, who is an agile blacksmith's apprentice who can shape change into an animal. Oh, and I have a frog charm bracelet.

Dan

Very good. And what are Finley's pronouns?

Leah

Any.

Dan

Alrighty. Rachael, who you got?

Rachael

I am Miss Snarkypants, a stubborn elven thief. I have a cat named No. And a bow.

Dan

And what's your special ability?

Rachael

Um, I can appear where I'm not supposed to be.

Dan

Ah, right. All right. Well, nice to meet you. Um, I'm assuming Miss Snarkypants is going with she/her pronouns?

Rachael

She/they.

Dan

Good thing I checked. So Ginger is like,"Well this is, this is great. This is great. This is great. Okay. Um, let's see, let's see. What do we need you to do? I need you, um, if you could, I need you to, uh, do a, a few things. First, I need you to check on, uh, check on Morgan over at the Magic Market about getting some enchanted candles for the festival, cuz we need those ever-glow candles. Um, um, also I'm going to need, um, if, if you could find, find Blaize, uh, they have all the fireworks and they were supposed to be here, like, a day ago and they still haven't shown up. So we need to know where they are. And then also, also, um, pumpkins. We need, we need a pumpkin so I can make the pumpkin cupcakes for the festival." So those are the three key things that you're trying to accomplish today, although there may be other things that come up here and there. You also have a map here. You can pretty much ignore anything that's white with trees. That's the Whispering Woods that encircles this village. We've got the Donuts of Consequence docked here. We have the selection of shops and town center nearby. Just beyond that we've got the Haunted Hotel up on the hill. Muah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Sorry, that just slipped out there. Up here where you see the, the scarecrow, that's the pumpkin patch. And then down here where you see the tower, that is the Enchanter's Tower. Also muah-ha-ha-ha-ha, TM. So those are your four locations of note, and one of them is your own ship, so really it's three locations of note. Are there any questions you have for Ginger before you, head out and try to accomplish one of these things?

Rachael

Nope. None for me.

Leah

Where should we go, when we're done? When we have all the things? Where should we bring them?

Dan

Oh, if you could bring them back to the Tricks and Treats Tea Shop.

Leah

Okay.

Rachael

Actually, I do have a question.

Dan

Yes?

Rachael

What's the fall thing for? The Fall Festival.

Dan

The Fall Full Moon Festival! It is the big festival where everybody gets to come together and have a great time and eat treats. It's very important around these parts. What would you like to attempt first?

Rachael

Maybe we should get the candles from Morgan?

Dan

You're making your way out of the Tricks and Treats Tea Shop, you look down the street. What is it that strikes you as eerie or spooky about all these shops in this street?

Rachael

Ooo, okay. I've got an idea.

Dan

Uh-huh?

Rachael

So all of the houses, all the shops, all the buildings, they've got lanterns out front, but the lanterns at first glance, they don't appear to be on. But the lanterns are actually emitting a very soft, glowing fog.

Dan

Ooh.

Leah

And it's kind of greenish.

Rachael

Yes. Yes.

Dan

Ooh, I like it.

Leah

What time of day is it?

Rachael

Well, there was a moon.

Leah

So it's nighttime. So it's a very dark, just sort of greenish haze of light.

Dan

Just down the street, you see the storefront. It is the, uh, the Magic Market. Where you are to find Morgan and request these enchanted candles. It's a very narrow storefront. There's barely enough room to even put a door, much less like big windows or anything. You open the door and it goes into this small hallway and you follow it back and follow it back, and it ends up in a huge room full of shelves that are just covered in books and baubles and cauldrons and cloaks and just all kinds of things. And there's a little ting that comes from behind one of the shelves, and you see, well, you, you're assuming it's probably Morgan, but all you actually see is these eyes that peer out between a couple of books. There's just enough of a crevice that someone can look through and they say,"Ah, welcome, customers! Welcome! How can I help you today?"

Rachael

Um, I turn towards Morgan and I say, um, in a very formal voice,"We request some enchanted candles for the, the Full Moon Fall Festival."

Dan

"Oh, you must be from Ginger."

Rachael

Yes.

Dan

"Oh, grand. Just grand. Um, small problem about the candles. You see, I managed to break my wand this morning and I have not had the chance to, ah, get anything fixed. I can provide the candles, but you'll need to go get them enchanted. Liz can do it for you, certainly. She can put an ever-glowing spell on them, without a doubt. You know Liz, yes?"

Rachael

No, we're we're new here. Sorry.

Dan

"Oh, well, Liz. Liz. Oh, you'll love Liz. She's great. She's great. She's in the Enchanter's Tower over, on the south side of town. She's the enchanter. Mm-hmm."

Leah

Isn't that an evil tower? The Muah-ha-ha tower?

Dan

"A Muah-ha-ha? Oh. Well, I, I guess it depends on, on how she's feeling. Ah, but she's, she's great. She's just great. Uh, she, well, she is prone to forget things sometimes, so that happens. But if you show up and say,"Here's the candles. Can you just put that spell on?" Should be no problem. No problem at all. Ah, if you look right there behind you, there's that box. Yeah, that box right there. See the, yeah, it's those candles right there. Perfect."

Rachael

Thank you, Morgan.

Dan

"Oh, you're welcome. Sorry, I can't do it myself. I would if I could. Anything else I can do for you today?"

Rachael

Do you know where Blaze is? You know traveling crafter?

Dan

"Oh, yes. They have always the most wonderful fireworks. It's such, such a big part of the festival every year. I checked to see if they had shown up yet, they're supposed to be staying at the Haunted Hotel as usual, and, and I went and checked, but they hadn't been there yet. So, no one's seen them all night. I really don't know where they are."

Rachael

Well, thank you. Morgan. So we'll be on our way now.

Dan

"Oh, you're welcome. You're welcome. Any time!" So you've got a box of non-enchanted candles that just need a little zippity-do-dah from Liz.

Rachael

I guess we're gonna go to the south side of town then.

Leah

Okay. This is gonna be not the storyline you planned, so if this isn't where you want to go...

Dan

Nooo...

Leah

Would it be possible for us to help her fix her wand?

Dan

Oh, well. That's a great question. Um, I mean, the answer is it's a role playing game. Why not? Let's see, what would be involved in fixing a magic wand? I'm open to ideas.

Rachael

I don't know.

Dan

I would think it would be, it would be something sort of tricksy right? Maybe it needs to be like bound together with magic spider silk. And then, um...,

Leah

Do we need to do a ritual or something?

Rachael

Ooh, maybe if we bound it with the magical spider silk, and then Liz did an enchantment on it.

Dan

Sounds good to me. But Morgan points out,"I'm uh, fresh out of the magic spider silk, unfortunately, although I believe there's a very large spider in the orchard outside of town."

Rachael

Thanks, Morgan.

Dan

"Oh yes. Thank you. Thank you for taking those, candles along. See you, See you later at the party. I hope. I hope there's a party."

Leah

We're gonna make a party.

Dan

Making a party. Boy, howdy. Don't you know. All right. Where would you like to go next?

Rachael

The Enchanter's Tower maybe so we can get those, these candles enchanted?

Leah

Yeah. Yeah.

Dan

You wander your way through town, through the, the crowds. People are clearly, I, I use the term people loosely, but people are, are clearly very excited about, uh, the festival. And you do hear, mention several times of,"I can't wait to see what the fireworks are like this year." And you uh, make your way down and you then stand, are standing before the Enchanter's Tower. It is a huge tower, like 10 stories tall. It's all this moss-covered stone, and it's topped with this, crooked shingled roof. It looks like it really needs to be fixed before it falls on somebody, and at the tippy top of the tower, there's a small window where you can see just a little flicker of like a, a candlelight up there. At the base, there's this stone archway, and it has a welcome sign, looks very friendly that's hanging from the top. And you can see inside that there are stairs that spiral up and up and up. And so you go up the stairs, going up the stairs, up, up, up, up, up, up. And by the time you reach the top, your legs are like,"I'm done. I am so done. But you get to this upper room and it is... Well, not to put too fine a point on it, it is a total mess. There are books and papers scattered everywhere. There's an overturned cauldron. It's got these dribbly green contents spilled across the floor and splashed across the ceiling and in the middle of all of this is, um, it's a lizard, almost a foot long. It's a, it's a goodly sized lizard, green and purple scales, and it is peeking out from underneath a regulation-sized wizard hat.

Rachael

So, I guess that's where the name Liz comes from.

Leah

Hi, Liz.

Dan

The little lizard squeaks and hisses in kind of a desperate tone.[SCREECHING NOISE]

Rachael

How are you doing, Liz?

Dan

[SCREECHING NOISE] She scrambles around. She scrambles up on the desk.

Leah

Are you...

Dan

Yes?

Leah

Are you always a lizard?

Dan

And it gives you a look like,"Please." I think it's safe to say you can look around and see that the wizard hat is human sized-ish. All the furniture is like, regular human-ish sized. This does not appear to be a lab set up for a lizard.

Rachael

I'm gonna go with you turned yourself into a lizard. We need you to enchant some candles from Morgan.

Leah

How do we make you not a lizard?

Dan

She scrabbles around the room and ends up at a tome. It looks very well used, lots of splatter and stuff on it. Part of it looks burned. This is definitely, uh, a book that sees a lot of use. She scrambles over to that and suddenly goes still and just perches on the tome.

Leah

Can we go read it?

Dan

Oh, yes. So the lizard flips a couple of pages and taps a talon at the title of a recipe for making a potion, and it's a Shrinking Potion. And then she flips the pages a couple back to where it was open, sighs, rolls her little lizardy eyes and tap tap taps at the title which says Skinking Potion.

Rachael

Skinking? So they were trying for the Shrinking Potion, but they got the wrong one?

Dan

They did. Do you know what skink is?

Rachael

No.

Dan

It's a lizard. So she was, yes, trying to make a shrink potion instead made a skink potion that apparently exploded, and now she's a lizard.

Rachael

I think the main question is why did they want a shrinking potion in the first place anyway?

Leah

I think perhaps we should ask that question after they're back to human and can answer our questions.

Rachael

Well, I was thinking here we were the one with all the leverage cuz we're the only

Leah

True.

Rachael

Because we're gonna be making that potion to turn them back so...

Leah

We're in power here. We'll

Rachael

Make them write out their answer of why they wanted a shrinking potion before...

Leah

How many, how many fingers does a lizard have? Is it, is it enough to write with? Enough to hold a pencil?

Dan

Let's find out: how many fingers does a skink have? Because we're gonna be specific, right?

Leah

That's true.

Dan

Ooh, there's more than 1,500 described species of skinks. Oh, typical skinks have smooth, overlapping scales, four obvious limbs, which is just a disturbing little phrase, I think.

Leah

I too only have four obvious limbs.

Dan

Four obvious limbs with five fingers and toes, presumably on each limb. Each obvious limb. You get her set up with a little pen for her ink. She's got her little, little claws around it.

Rachael

She can just use her claws.

Dan

Yes, but that's not nearly as cute as a skink with a pencil.

Leah

Also, we did all this scientific research for something.

Dan

Right?!

Rachael

Fine. Turn this into a scientific podcast if you want.

Dan

Thank you. So Liz scratches out the word"Morgan."

Rachael

Morgan wanted a shrinking potion?

Dan

And I don't know how, if you could really see a skink sigh, but the skink sighs and picks up the pencil again and starts scribbling more and puts"can"...

Rachael

Candle?

Dan

"Halp." H A L P.

Rachael

Oh, Morgan can help.

Dan

And scribbles out the a and puts in a little e over the top.

Leah

We just came from there! Now I have to walk all the way back. Getting my steps in.

Rachael

You know, can I just pick up the lizard and...

Dan

Oh, sure. You can bring her along.

Rachael

All right. Let's go.

Leah

Do we still have the candles? Do I have the candles?

Rachael

You can carry the candles. I got the lizard.

Leah

Can I go sledding down the stairs?

Dan

Absolutely. There's probably a little handrail, you know, you can just[ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM NOISES]. Get some serious speed by the time you're at the bottom of 10 stories riding that handrail and back into town. I take it you're headed to Morgan's with the lizard.

Leah

Yep.

Dan

You get to Morgan's. Morgan says, uh,"Hello. Welcome customers. How can I help you? Oh, it's you. Did you get the candles enchanted okay?"

Leah

We got you a lizard.

Dan

"You got a lizard. That's, oh, that's a skink! Nicely done. Those are hard to catch. Did you know they have five fingers on every hand?"

Rachael

So Morgan...

Dan

"At least on their obvious hands."

Leah

On their obvious hands, yeah.

Rachael

Hey, hey, Morgan. Um, so you know how you call your friend"Liz," and you know how you suddenly thought that this was a Liz- ard? Have you connected the dots yet, Morgan?

Dan

Oh, not again.

Rachael

I have nothing to say to this.

Leah

I'm concerned by the"again."

Dan

"But you understand Liz..." and he looks to the lizard."You are an amazing enchanter, but, uh, if you must know, potions are something of a new hobby of hers. I think she's still learning. At least nothing's on fire this time, right?"

Rachael

This time?

Dan

"Right?"

Leah

Right, right.

Rachael

Yeah.

Dan

"Right. Oh, good. Good. Yes. That's one less thing to worry about."

Rachael

The book seemed a little burned, but...

Dan

"Oh, that was probably from Saturday. But, um, I'd digress. Uh, Right. Well, um, you know, I could get her back to her old self, uh, just without a, without a problem. Um, if I had... my wand. If we can find Blaize, I could, I could buy a new wand. I was about due for one. I mean, the old one had over a hundred thousand miles on it, but I, um, I guess the alternative would be, I, I don't suppose either of you has a little ah, how we say, um, panache for using rituals? Maybe you could, you could find the ritual in her notes about how to fix a wand maybe?"

Leah

Sure.

Dan

"Oh, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Uh, so, you know, if you get the chance, um, tell you what, this isn't doing me any good anyway." The eyeballs move away from the crack and two little pieces of broken wand come flying through."There you go. Uh, uh, you know, uh, if, if you get the chance."

Rachael

Okay.

Dan

"Wunderbar! Uh, um, did you wanna carry Liz around with you or, uh, would you like to leave her here? I can give her snacks."

Leah

I think we can leave her here.

Rachael

Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Dan

"Oh, come on back, Liz. I, you know, come on back. Come on back. I've got uh, you know, I was having some fly problems earlier. You know, you can help with that." And the lizard goes up through the crack."Ta Ta!"

Leah

Okay.

Rachael

Well, that just happened.

Leah

So, I mean... So are we going back to the tower?

Dan

Oh no.

Leah

Can you climb it this time? I'll just wait at the bottom.

Rachael

I thought we were finding Blaize.

Leah

Shall we go to the Haunted Hotel? Haven't been there yet.

Rachael

Yeah, see he's there yet. They're probably not there, seeing as Daddy's probably gonna make us chase our tails.

Leah

But we haven't been there yet. And it sounds like fun.

Rachael

Time to go to the Haunted Hotel!

Dan

Alright. The Haunted Hotel TM sits on a hill surrounded by a wrought iron gate. Actually, as you approach, you see, again, it's, there's just this small silhouette, this small shadow, as if something's flying across the sky past the moon, but it's, it's fast and just kind of, by the time you're really looking for it, it's gone.

Rachael

Either bats or witches on brooms.

Dan

And you walk up the path to the hotel, you go to knock on the door, but before your hand even makes contact, the door creeeeeeeaks open and inside the lobby is lit with hundreds of candles lining the walls and the chandeliers, just giving off a warm, flickering light.

Leah

Sooooo, are any of them enchanted and if they are, could we just steal them?

Rachael

I was just gonna say, we could just steal some. I mean, I am a thief after all.

Dan

As you start to inspect these candles very closely, up through the floor-

Leah

Not in a suspicious way at all.

Dan

Not at all. Up through the floor rises, well, it's probably a ghost'cause not a lot of other things can float up through the floor like that. And he's very prim, very proper. And he says,"Hellooooooo, I'm Adam. Welcome to the Haunted Hotel. This fine establishes-esmnmenm... establishment, and myself, of course, are at your service."

Rachael

Now I just wanna make this guy talk. Um, by chance, are any of these candles enchanted candles?

Dan

"Oh, oh. Whyyyyy?"

Rachael

You know, um...

Leah

We're just curious.

Rachael

No, no, no, no. I am a candle inspector and I have come to, um, rate this haunted hotel and the more magical, the more spooky, you know, that terror...

Leah

We, we could give you a five star rating, but we could also give you a zero star rating. And it all really depends on...

Rachael

The candles.

Leah

The quality of the candles.

Rachael

And, and about how much terror that grabs the, the tourist's heart and makes them wiggle in anticipation and, and horror, you know?

Dan

"Ooooooooh."

Leah

I'm nodding very emphatically.

Dan

"This is the most exciting day. I, I had hoped, I had hoped that someone would come and appreciate, appreciate my foyer. We have the most wonderfully imported candles. Some of these, some of these are made of the Wax of Ages."

Rachael

Very impressive. You know, very, very, um, admirable. Um, so... They enchanted? Because the, the enchantment, it can give you a plus 0.8 rating or, you know... It depends a lot.

Dan

"Oh, well, well, um..." and he gestures to the candles in the candelabra,"these have been enchanted, uh, by the, by the darkest witches in the darkest nights of the darkest swamp to glow ever more and, mmmmMMMMMmm, they're spooky! How's that?"

Rachael

Very nice. I'm impressed. Plus 0.8 for you. Um...

Dan

"And, and, and there's 13 of them. Did you notice? Ah, more spooky."

Rachael

Oh, wow. I'm so impressed. This is amazing. Alright, time to go judge how many spiderwebs there are in this spooky house.

Leah

I have, like, my shirt over my face standing next to her so I don't laugh. I'm, like, trying to play it off as a coughing fit.

Dan

"OoooOOOooo, you should, you should get that cough checked or you'll end up like, well, not like me, I never cough, but, but like Bill. You could end up like Bill." And peeking out from around the corner is just a skeleton head in like a bowler hat."Bill had a cough."

Rachael

Skeleton. All right. Plus 0.5 for you guys. This is amazing. Alright, um...

Dan

The jaw drops off the skeleton, Point five, my goodness!" And he goes running off, clank-clank-clank-clank-clank.

Rachael

Without his jaw?

Dan

And then comes running back

Leah

It's just on the floor!

Dan

And, and this, this little skeletal hand sneeeeeaks out, grabs the jaw and yanks it back. Clank-clank-clank-clank, back down the hall.

Rachael

Ooh, another 0.3 for you guys. Man, you're really doing great. Um, exactly how many spiderwebs are there in here?

Dan

"Ooh. Ooh. Um, um. I'll go check," and the ghost floats up through the ceiling and out.

Leah

So why are we here again? Oh, wait, I said we should come here, that's... okay.

Rachael

We're trying to find, um, Bill? Claire? Blaize? Blaize!

Leah

Blaize! Bill?

Dan

Bill? Claire?

Leah

Claire!

Dan

You were ostensibly coming to see if they'd seen Blaize yet, yes.

Leah

Oh, I think we just scared off the guy we could have asked. We didn't scare him off. We made him leave.

Rachael

Hey, Bill! Where'd you go?

Leah

Bill? Joshua?

Rachael

Claire?

Leah

Claire?

Dan

You hear the clicky clap of bone feet coming down the hall and the little skeleton head pokes around the corner. Pokes far enough now, he's got his jaw back on. You can tell not only does he have a bowler hat, he also has a bow tie, and he says,"This is so exciting! I'm, I'm ready to party, party, party, party, party, party, party, party, party, party."

Rachael

Bill. Two questions.

Dan

"Okay."

Rachael

Well, one's a statement, um, and one's a question. All right. Statement first.

Dan

"Yes. Statement first."

Rachael

The fact that you've got a bowler hat, a bow tie... good. Another plus four on your rating, like...

Leah

That's very stylish.

Rachael

Very stylish. I'm very impressed.

Dan

"Oh, thank you. My mother says so."

Rachael

Alright, the question is, um, have you noticed anybody named Blaize come through recently?

Dan

"Ooh, uh, oh. Uh, uh, uh, nooooo, but somebody else was here. Somebody else was here, uh, uh, looking for Blaize, who, uh, uh, Liz. Liz was here. Uh, she was, she was looking for Blaize and rambling on and on about that, uh, that great big bat she was looking for. Um, but, uh, but no Blaize. No Blaize."

Rachael

Thank you very much, Bill. That's another point two for you guys.

Leah

Thank you.

Dan

"Oh man, we're racking these up. Adam's gonna be so excited." And then Adam, the hotel manager, just slides in from one of the other walls and he says,"12,184."

Leah

Are any of them enchanted? Not, not for any reason. I mean, it gives you, it gives you extra points, you know.

Dan

"I, I, oh heavens. Um, I fear I must confess that no, none of them are enchanted."

Rachael

Adam, Adam. Look at me. Adam.

Dan

"MmmmMMMmm... yes?"

Rachael

You will be delighted to hear that 12 thous- Wait, what was the number you said?

Dan

"I don't know..."

Rachael

12,584 is about 12,534 more than the last contestant's amount of cobwebs.

Dan

"Oh, heavens, we're going to have to reward the spiders! We'll give them pudding."

Rachael

So, this earns you... Three stars.

Dan

"Wow. I am so glad that you came to see us and that I let you in."

Rachael

You guys have done amazing. This is just awesome. Your star rating... I forgot all the, you know, let's just go, your star rating is 9.8 out of five.

Dan

"Ooh. That is, that's glorious."

Rachael

The largest I've ever seen besides this haunted house was 7.3. You guys beat it by 2.5.

Dan

"I'm, I, I'm going to have to put this on my resume."

Rachael

Sure, sure. Sounds good. Yeah.

Dan

"Um, but, but in all of this, uh, excitement, I completely forgot. Are, are you wishing to stay with us?"

Rachael

You know what? Yeah.

Dan

And he goes over, it's all self check-in because as a ghost, he can't actually move anything around, but he points you through and you get to, you know, sign in and he says,"Oh, I do hope you will be able to enjoy the festivities later tonight.

Rachael

Yes, we're actually helping Ginger set it up. Did you happen to get your enchanted candles from... where did you get them? You know?

Dan

"Oh, oh, I'm sure it was, uh, the bit about the, the darkest night and dark witches in the darkest-"

Rachael

Oh, right, right, right. Yeah.

Dan

"Are those stars...

Rachael

I'm sorry?

Dan

"Are those stars already set? I mean, do you can't take them back now, right?"

Rachael

No, no, no, no. Obviously not. I was these, Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry for scaring you like that. No, no, no, no.

Dan

"Oh, in that case, Liz made them."

Rachael

You know what? Your story was so great anyway, I'm not taking it back.

Dan

"Oh, thank you."

Rachael

Any other truths you like to reveal now or are you done?

Dan

"No, no, that was pretty good. I'm a very honest ghost."

Rachael

So how many cobwebs do you really have?

Dan

"At least, mm. How many did you say I needed? At least 50? Yes?"

Rachael

You said last time that you had 12,584.

Dan

"For a given definition of cobweb, oh yes."

Rachael

You didn't happen to count every single strand did you?

Dan

"Maybe?"

Rachael

You know what, Adam?

Dan

"Yes?"

Rachael

I don't wish to make you sad, but I'm gonna have to take back at least just one star.

Dan

"Oh no, you couldn't take the stars back. I thought you said you couldn't take them back."

Rachael

It's okay. Adam, you're still quite-

Leah

You're still a whole star above than, than our last-

Rachael

A star. A star and a half.

Leah

Yeah.

Rachael

You're still doing great. You're, you're the top one. Top one. You're, you're first-

Leah

Best.

Rachael

You're the best-

Leah

Best. Top.

Rachael

Best haunted hotel ever.

Leah

Hotel Haunt.

Dan

"That will, that will have to suffice."

Rachael

Oh, one more question for perhaps bonus, um, stars: do the floorboards creak?

Leah

And also have you seen Blaize?

Dan

"Blaize is supposed to come in yesterday, I believe, but, uh, his room is still empty. Just as well. He's less likely to set fire to it when he's not here. He and Liz, you know, two fire-prone peas in a very flammable peapod."

Rachael

Sure. Yeah. Yeah.

Leah

I think what we should do is get the cobwebs from the orchard. Is that what those were?

Rachael

Yeah.

Leah

And try to repair the wand, because then we can talk to Liz and she can respond in a more useful manner.

Dan

All right. So you're interested in going to the orchard, looking for the, the magic spider silk?

Leah

Is that okay with you?

Rachael

Yeah.

Dan

Okay. The orchard, um, it, it requires taking a path through the Whispering Woods. OoooOOOOoooo. It's not Adam, it's just general"ooooOOOooos." And as you go along the trees, along the path to the orchard they become covered in more and more webs. A few checks here and there reveal that these are pretty mundane spiderwebs. Uh, but there are a lot of'em. They would get a lot of stars if this was a hotel, I'm just saying. So you go along you-

Rachael

Can I gather a couple for Adam?

Dan

Sure. Yes, absolutely. And, and finally you start seeing the first of the apple trees at the edge of the orchard, but they are all very encased in sticky webbing. As you check them out, you know, looking, is there anything magical-looking here, what you start realizing is that you're hearing a clicking noise coming from the tree and you look up and you see a really, really big spider. It's apple red and it's got, uh, it's got this crown. It looks like it's made kind of haphazardly out of apple branches on its head, and it clicks out:"You are trespassing. These trees are mine and I will not have you take what remains of my food!"

Rachael

"Too bad," I say, and I grab some spider webs and we can just book it out.

Leah

We don't want food, right? We just want the web."Spare us a little bit of web?"

Dan

"Oh, web. What would you trade for web?"

Rachael

Oh, no.

Dan

"Very valuable, web."

Rachael

Um, oh, I produce the web that I grabbed for Adam. I, I take it out of my pocket."I will trade this web for that web." Nevermind that, that's the same thing.

Leah

She's just kidding. She's joking. She's... Don't eat us. Please.

Rachael

Something handy! What does a spider want?

Dan

Oh, that's a great idea. There's a list of common items there. If any of them look like they're viable. Instead of like a pouch of flour, it could be a pouch full of bugs. Um, you could have-

Rachael

All right, I'll take a pouch full of bugs.

Leah

Live bugs.

Rachael

Yeah.

Dan

All right. Yeah, you totally got a pouch full of bugs.

Leah

Just cause everyone carries one around.

Rachael

Snacks for No.

Dan

The cat eats bugs?

Rachael

To sharpen their hunting sensibilities.

Dan

Oh yes. They're basically cat toys. Got it, got it. Okay. How are you going to go about offering these up?

Rachael

I will trade these bugs for your web, but magical web.

Dan

"Ohhhhhh."

Rachael

Please.

Dan

"Done!" And there's a little blur, and then this, uh, wad of spider webbing that shimmers with light blue is dropped at your feet.

Rachael

I, I hold up the bag of bugs.

Dan

A lasso of spiderweb snags it and yanks it up into the trees.

Leah

Run. Run!

Rachael

Have a good day, ma'am.

Leah

Have a good day.

Rachael

Books it out.

Dan

Down back through the trees, along the path, and back into town with your wad of magic spider webbing.

Leah

So now we need to go to the tower.

Dan

So back up all of the stairs again. You make it to the top of the Enchanter's Tower and there you find it's still the same huge mess that was there before. After a few minutes of digging through the mess, you manage to identify a couple of things. One is that there is a portion of bench that you, you clear all the papers and books and bits of food off of and on it is a very carefully engraved series of symbols. It looks like something that's been there for quite some time and it's meticulously done, but it's all built into the bench. And there is also an index card that is stuck to the wall right above that part of the bench. And it says Repairs, and then it has some instructions. This is apparently how Liz remembers how to fix things and looking around the room, it's probably something she does a lot. Lots of stuff blows up and breaks in here. You're going to have to bind up your pieces of wand with the spider silk. That's easily done. You lay the wand down on the engraved ritual surface. Then you're going to have to say the magic words and wave your hands appropriately. Those are the steps.

Leah

So who, who has the wand?

Rachael

You've got the wand.

Leah

Okay, so I'm putting the silk on the wand, wrapped it all up like a little wand burrito. And then we put it on the bench. Right?

Dan

So far, so good. Nothing blows up yet!

Leah

Miss Snarkypants, would you like to say the magic words?

Rachael

Ooh. Ooh. Okay. Haunted. Hotel. Rating!

Dan

Those are the magic words?

Leah

I'm waving my hands appropriately.

Dan

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. So it sounds to me like Miss Snarkypants is going to need to roll the dice. And since we're running this Sodalitas style, The first question is: Do you have any words in your concept that would give you a bonus to doing this sort of magic work?

Rachael

Does being an elf count? Cause elves do magic.

Dan

Certainly.

Rachael

I'm stubborn and I'm an elf.

Dan

As long as you have one concept that applies, you get the plus one. So in this case, being an elf gives you a plus one. The other question is, do you have an item or weapon that would be useful for the action? And I'm thinking a weapon probably not.

Leah

Is your cat magical?

Rachael

My cat is totally, totally magical.

Dan

Is it now?

Rachael

Yeah!

Leah

Uh-huh.

Rachael

No is completely black and everybody knows that black cats are totally magical.

Leah

That's true. It's a witch's cat. Known fact. Known proven fact. Scientific.

Rachael

It's got four obvious limbs. I think that's paws... positive.

Dan

Maybe it's a skink if it's got four obvious limbs.

Rachael

I don't think skinks are known to be furry. Didn't you say they had like smooth scales?

Dan

I did! You learned something! Yay, science!

Leah

Science Podcast!

Dan

All right, so are going to roll 2d6 plus one for being elven and plus one for having a black cat, who is your witch's cat, to assist. So you rolled a seven plus two is nine. That means that you succeed, but something doesn't go quite according to plan. Okay? You've got the wand. It's sitting out there on the bench with all of the markings...

Rachael

Can I just say I'm kinda nervous for this wand is gonna do? Is Liz gonna turn into a skunk?

Leah

A skunk! Oh no.

Dan

A great idea..

Rachael

Noooo!

Dan

The spider webbing starts to glow very brightly, and then just starts sizzling and popping, and then all the spider webbing lifts off and turns into this light blue fragrant smoke that dissipates. And there is, the perfectly fixed wand. Nothing wrong with it at all. It looks great. Nice job. Miss Snarkypants, you rocked that!

Rachael

I don't, I don't believe you You're grinning too much.

Dan

I'm sure it'll fine.

Rachael

That is sus.

Leah

Sus!

Dan

What would you like to do next?

Leah

Go back to Morgan's.

Dan

All right. Back in through town and to the Magic Market, you head in and you hear,"Oh, welcome customers. Welcome. How can, Oh, it's you again. Again. Welcome back!"

Leah

We brought your perfectly fixed wand.

Rachael

It's only got two obvious limbs. I mean, um, one obvious limb.

Dan

Thank you. Thank you. Excellent. Excellent, excellent." The eyeballs move away from the crack and you can see little fingers are going, pinch, pinch, pinch.

Leah

Here you go.

Dan

Oh, thank you. Oh, this feels very zippy. I like it. Oh, Liz! Liz, I have a present for you!"

Rachael

Uh, uh oh. Wait, wait, wait.

Leah

Wait. Wait.

Rachael

Um, um,

Leah

Can we say that we can't get sued if anything goes wrong here?

Rachael

Minor warning. So. Not entirely sure it went completely correctly cuz we're like amateurs here.

Dan

Oh, I'm sure you did a perfect job. It looks wonderful. Wonderful, wonderful. Oh, This is great.

Rachael

Please don't be sure it's a perfect job.

Dan

And this bolt of swirling color shoots out from the crack between the books, swirls around the room, and then slams into the lizard sending green and purple flashes all over the place like glitter! And then the skink-like shape grows and grows and grows and grows and grows up into a humanoid individual about your size, wearing a green and purple splotched lab coat. And, well, she probably didn't have that tail before. I'm just guessing that that skink tail that's now like many feet long sticking out from underneath the lab coat. And she has a pair of great big rimmed glasses and she says, Thank you very much. The tail is new. The desire to eat flies is new. I can work with this."

Leah

Can you enchant our candles now, please?

Dan

"Oh, yes. Do you have candles?"

Leah

I have the candles, right? I have the candles? I get out the candles. Here's the candles.

Dan

Liz takes the box of candles, draws a rather thin, elegant wand out from an inside pocket of her lab coat, does a few little hand motions, says a few little magical words. There is a flash of light and all of the candles are glowing. She says, There you go. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. Anything else?"

Rachael

No, thank you.

Leah

We gotta take the candles to Ginger.

Dan

While you are doing that, I have a bat to find."

Leah

What kind of bat?

Dan

"Oh, it's a very, very large bat right now, unfortunately. It was a very, very small bat, but it got into one of my growing potions. That is why I needed the shrinking potion. You know, an enchanter's work is never done, especially when they keep making more for themselves. All right. Well, I am going to go back up to the tower. Thank you again for your help."

Leah

Have fun climbing your stairs.

Dan

Oh, I have such amazing calves." And she marches off. Now what?

Leah

So we need the pumpkin.

Dan

There is the pumpkin patch there where the scarecrow is.

Leah

All right.

Dan

To the pumpkin patch! It's just a little walk through town and you come up to the gate of the pumpkin patch. You notice that there is a surprising lack of orange in this field of pumpkins. All of the pumpkins are shriveled up and gray. The only splash of orange is from a pumpkin-headed scarecrow that stands near the gate. And as you push open the gate to get a closer look, you hear,"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" coming from the scarecrow.

Rachael

We're here to get a pumpkin for the Fall Full Moon Festival.

Dan

"Oh yeah, yeah, I bet you are. Well guess what, I'm fresh out of all these nice pumpkins cuz these are all sucked dry."

Leah

What happened?

Dan

"The bat. The bat happened. It's probably like good six foot tall bat. Comes flopping down here. Sucks all my pumpkins dry."

Rachael

Let's go get Liz and come back.

Leah

Yeah, we'll be right back. Wait here, Don't move.

Dan

"Oh, I'm not, I'm not going anywhere." He's a pole that's stuck into the ground.

Leah

Yeah. Yeah.

Dan

All right. You're headed back up the tower?

Rachael

Can we just yell"Liz" from the bottom of the tower?

Dan

Certainly! A little head pokes out from the window up above."Oh, what do want?"

Rachael

Yeah, so the pumpkin patch, um, all the pumpkins... they're very shriveled. Thank you to the bat. So what if we find a pumpkin from somewhere, and fill it with, the shrink potion, then wait for the bat to come and get it?"

Leah

Ooh.

Dan

I'll be right down."

Leah

With the potion?

Dan

You hear a loud explosion from upstairs...

Rachael

Oh, no.

Dan

Yellow smoke peels out from the window."Certainly with the potion. Don't go anywhere." A few minutes pass without any more explosions, and then Liz emerges from the bottom of the Enchanter's Tower.

Rachael

To the pumpkin patch!

Dan

And you march back to the pumpkin patch where you find, of course, the scarecrow. He says,"Hey, Liz." she says,"Hello, Gourdy. What's the plan?"

Rachael

Fill the pumpkin with the potion, then the bat will come eat the pumpkin.

Dan

Gourdy says,"Well, I'm, I'm all outta pumpkins, but I could give you one of these, uh, one of these pumpkin seeds." And he goes and spits out a pumpkin seed.

Rachael

You got, any plant growing potions?

Dan

And Liz shoves the little seed down in the ground, takes out a potion that goes dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, dribble, there is a pumpkin.

Leah

What if we just take the pumpkin? Skip the whole bat thing. Don't we just need a pumpkin?

Rachael

Well, we're, we're trying to help.

Leah

Oh, that's true. That's true. We're trying to be nice people here. I forgot we're trying to be nice people here.

Dan

You know, one seed actually probably grows out to make a whole pumpkin plant? Do you only get one pumpkin per seed?

Rachael

How many pumpkins per seed? I wanna look it up.

Dan

How many pumpkins per plant is today's question.

Rachael

Two or three pumpkins per plant.

Dan

In that case, the plant grows out and it actually has two pumpkins on it. There you go.

Rachael

Well, plan and backup Plan. Now, who's got a syringe?

Dan

Liz says,"Perhaps we can just lie and wait and then when the bat comes you can splash it."

Rachael

Ooh. Okay.

Leah

Can I splash it? I wanna splash it.

Dan

Liz says,"I only had the time to make the one shrinking potion." She hands it over to Finley. But if it does go wrong, if you could be so kind as to grab the bat."

Rachael

Six-foot bat.

Dan

"Yep, it's a good six foot. Like wings out to here," and his arms, which can't move, so he's just got his arms sticking straight out. Liz goes and hides behind Gourdy. You still see like the lab coat sticking out, but you know. She's doing her best. And the two of you are hanging out next to plant.

Rachael

Is there any bushes, trees?

Dan

There's a lot of, well, pumpkin plants that are kind of mangled...

Rachael

Let's make a barricade and hide behind that.

Leah

I'm holding my little jar of potion with no lid.

Rachael

No, no.

Leah

I'm ready.

Rachael

Leah.

Leah

I'm ready!

Rachael

LEAH! Okay. Hide behind the barricade and when the bird comes, splash it.

Leah

Okay. And then you're gonna grab it, right?

Rachael

You ready?

Leah

Yeah.

Dan

It's not long before you see this large, black shape like a shadow pulled from the night, swoops in and lands at the fresh pumpkins and two big white fangs point out from its mouth and it starts chunk and sucking at the pumpkin: fwip, fwip, fwip.

Leah

I'm throwing my potion!

Dan

Do you have anything in your character concept that would give you a bonus?

Leah

I'm agile. Does that count?

Dan

Absolutely. Anything in terms of items?

Leah

I don't think so.

Dan

Okay, so it'll be a 2d6 plus one. Oh-ho, an eight. That's a"yes, but... You leap up and you throw the potion. It hits the bat- splash- all on the bat. The bat puts out this squeak, which you can actually hear, which is not usually the case with bats, but then the bat starts to shrink the squeak goes from something you can hear to higher, higher, higher, higher pitch. You have a little bat that is perched on this pumpkin. Um, Question. Who was on the other side of the bat? Is it Miss Snarkypants; was it No?

Leah

(Laughing)

Rachael

The cat.

Dan

On the other side of this bat, ready to jump and, and help capture it if things had gone wrong was No, the cat. Who is starting to meow and it's meow is getting higher and higher pitch as No shrinks down to handful-size.

Rachael

Awwwww. It's adorable!

Leah

Seems like a positive, not a, downfall.

Rachael

Just makes it more cute.

Dan

Hmmm; right, it's not much of a negative.

Leah

Nope. That's good. That's actually good. That is... That is a good complication. Yeah.

Dan

All right, so you now have Liz who comes out and goes,"Ah, nice. This is most excellent. Thank you for helping me with the bat!" And she goes over and grabs the bat, and goes"Muah-ha-ha-ha-ha," stuffs the bat in a pocket. Gourdy says, Oh, thank you. Ya stopped the plague. That's, that's just great. You need the pumpkin? You got the pumpkin. I'll get some more seeds going here."

Leah

Where are we gonna find Blaize?

Dan

And just as you say that, something zips across in front of the moon,

Leah

I thought it was the bat.

Dan

It looks more like maybe that was a cart?

Leah

Did we see where it went?

Dan

It seems to just be flying around in general up in the sky. In fact, a few minutes later, something goes whoosh overhead and you hear"ahhHHHHHHhhhhh!" and Liz says,"What was that?"

Rachael

I think that was Blaize.

Dan

"Oh, it sounded a lot like he's screaming when he's on fire."

Rachael

Uhhhhh...

Dan

Assuming that's Blaze, how would you like to try to reach-

Rachael

Hey, does Liz have a broom?

Dan

What do you take me for? I'm an enchanter, not a witch."

Rachael

Enchant a broom.

Dan

"That's brilliant! Gourdy, come here. I have an idea.""Don't touch me." he says."Ha ha! Too late!" And there's this explosion of shimmering white and yellow and orange sparkles. And then she goes, Muah-ha-ha-ha... Gourdy is hovering slightly off the ground. If you hop on his back, I think you could probably fly him quite like a broom!"

Rachael

Liz, have you ever flown a broom before?

Dan

"Why would I fly a broom? I'm an enchanter, not a witch."

Rachael

All right. Finley, you're flying the broom.

Leah

Okay.

Rachael

Actually, can I do it? I wanna roll some dice. I wanna roll.

Dan

I think you could both ride the pumpkin.

Rachael

Well, yeah, but somebody's gotta be flying it and directing it. I want to roll my dice.

Leah

And I'll jump off of it onto the cart.

Rachael

Oh yeah, Yeah.

Dan

Brilliant.

Leah

Which sounds quite safe.

Dan

So you each leap onto the back of Gourdy, the floating scarecrow, and then you take off into the air. I'm gonna close my eyes."

Rachael

You don't have eyes, Gourdy. You're fine.

Dan

You have any concept elements that would help you fly a floating scarecrow?

Rachael

Do elves tend to have flying brooms heritage?

Dan

That's...

Leah

Heritage?!

Dan

I have difficulty believing that one. If you wanted to argue that you were stubborn, like making this thing work, I could believe that!

Rachael

Sure. Stubbornly. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Stubborn.

Leah

And I'm helping by offering support and encouragement.

Rachael

Advice, you know?

Leah

Mm-hmm.

Dan

That's actually excellent. The way helping works is if the roll from Miss Snarkypants goes horribly awry, you can spend a stress point to make it a success.

Leah

Okay. You know what I just realized?

Dan

Hmm?

Leah

In my concept, for a stress point, I can shape change into an animal, which may have been w ay simpler than flying a broom stick, but I think we've gone too far to stop now. This is fun.

Dan

All right. Miss Snarkypants, let's see that roll. 2d6 plus one for flying this broom up to Blaize. Eight. Here's what I'm gonna say. Gourdy's not horribly aerodynamic.

Leah

Of course not.

Dan

So you're doing a decent job. You locate and you're catching up with Blaize, but there is a lot of turbulence on this flying scarecrow, such that I'm going to say that, uh, Finley, whatever it is you think you're gonna try to do, you're gonna have a minus one trying to do it. Bit of a handicap trying to manage it on this scarecrow. As you start approaching, you realize that this is in fact a flying cart. It doesn't look like it was designed to fly, it's got wheels on, but it is a cart full of supplies and there is a figure clinging for dear life on the front of the cart.

Leah

Why are you flying?

Dan

I've been stuck up here two days!"

Leah

Why did it start flying?

Dan

I was just, just trying to make it go faster. Ohhh, dear. It was a bad idea. I, I regret my life choices. You get me down, you can have some of my stuff. How about that? That's a good deal, yes?

Rachael

So you could turn into a flying animal, preferably big, and then Liz can enchant you-

Leah

Hear me out. This is a really original idea: a six foot bat.

Rachael

Okay, hear me out. Turn into any, any flying animal, preferably large. Have Liz enchant you to be strong.

Dan

I think if you're a big enough flying animal, you'll be strong enough.

Leah

So do I wanna be a pigeon or a bat? Maybe a pterodactyl?

Dan

Ooo, pterodactyl sounds good.

Leah

I'll be a pterodactyl.

Dan

All right, you're gonna spend your stress point, and what's this gonna look like?

Rachael

Um, I'm gonna like try to leap off the side of the broom into the air, flap my arms until they become wings.

Dan

As you turn into this gigantic pterodactyl, you don't have a minus one... I was not expecting that. Oh deary. You don't have to roll because you're spending a stress point to accomplish this. What would you like to do with this cart?

Leah

I guess I wanna grab it and bring it down?

Dan

Okay. I'm gonna have you actually roll at this point then.

Leah

Okay.

Dan

Do you have a concept that you'd like to apply?

Leah

Would being agile help?

Dan

You know, honestly, I'd also take I'm a pterodactyl," which I think that's a temporary concept, so 2d6 plus one, and let's see if you can wrangle this thing to the ground. Six plus one is a seven. You get your claws on this thing and you immediately feel Blaize grasp your leg, just, just clinging for dear life, as you then barrel roll and start pile driving this cart of goodies towards the ground. You come down in town. Zoom! And you manage to pull up and pull out just before you hit! You and Blaize are going to land gently and successfully. The cart, not so much The cart is going to hit the ground at high speed, uh, and it's like a pinata. Fireworks. Go. Everywhere. Candy. Goes. Everywhere. Shovels, for some unknown reason, go everywhere! I think some of those fireworks, hit things that light them and they, they, they all shoot up. It's just a handful, but they go firing into the air and start a glorious display. You have successfully grounded Blaize and the flying cart and Blaize says,"Ooh. You know, no complaints. No complaints." He still hasn't let go of your leg. Would you like to, uh, do anything else or you could head back to drop off the goodies?

Leah

I think we should head back.

Rachael

Yeah.

Dan

So you head back to find Ginger, report back with all of your information. Ginger is delighted. She gives you all a big fuzzy hug. The rest of the town gathers up the things that scattered from Blaize's cart and start putting things up everywhere. And you all work to finish the last preparations for the festival. A short while later, once everybody has been working hard, the enchanted candles are floating all about the square. The water in the fountain is lit up with orange lights. The bushes everywhere are dotted with orange roses among the black leaves, and a cheery orange glow fills the whole square. You find Morgan and Liz, they're performing magic tricks and shooting sparks from their wands, for entertainment. Liz has a small bat on her shoulder. She takes a little break, feeds it bits of apple. You see Bill. He's dancing through the square. He's playing on his bones like a xylophone. Gourdy even, uh, hops along, kind of floating around on his pole as they go around doing a little mini-parade. And Ginger bustles out of the tea shop with trays and trays of delicious baked goods. And as you pick one up, you can smell these are all pumpkin flavored. And then right above you, you hear, Boom, and you look up and the fireworks are going, for real this time and on purpose, and showers of sparks drift down across the sky as everyone watches entranced by the beautiful show. Congratulations, you have saved the Fall Full Moon Festival and made sure that everything went according to plan! And that's our show on Skellian: A Land of Tricks and Treats. If it sounded like fun, don't forget to check it out on Itch.io, or you can find Stephanie and TTRPGkids on Twitter as@TTRPGkids. Our intro and outro themes were created by McRoMusic. This episode also features music and ambient soundtracks by Michael Ghelfi Studios. A list of specific tracks and links to their work are available in our show notes. Thanks again for listening, and have a good night.

Rachael

That should be our motto:"You're sus."

Dan

Well, you are supposed to have a guild motto.

Rachael

I thought we already had one.

Leah

Something about donuts?

Dan

I thought it was"Eat donuts, do crime."

Rachael

Yes. Yes. I remember that. I had a fake mustache on, and that wig...

Leah

And like polka dot suspenders or something may have been involved...