The group believes they’ve located the home of the man pulling the strings on the murders at the neutral grounds - but is he in trouble, or are they? And where is Diane?
Knights of the Night
KOTN Actual Play Podcast 56: DFRPG 1_6 "Blow Your House Down"
(upbeat music) - Hello, and welcome to Night to the Night actual play podcast. This Dresden File Story, New Tool grounds, was run by our GM town. And now, please enjoy episode six titled, Blow Your House Down. (upbeat music) - Before we start our plan, we're moving back. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - And at rpgprostock.web.com. This was in response to episode three of the Dresden File, is what the coffee cup saw. And it was, I believe in that, that we mentioned that we haven't heard from our friend Rocket. So this was from Rocket. - All right. - Saying, "Hey guys, it's Rocket." Good to see you're back up and running the games. As a father myself, I completely understand about the missing members of the troupe who's for Scott for making time for his craft. - I like the gritty feel of Dresden. And with all the minus fours, surely Chew was with you. - Mm-hmm. (laughing) - Please keep this coming. And I'll stay current with what the coffee cup sees. - It's funny because it's true. - Yes. - Bob is. - Bar none. - The worst roll is absolutely the worst. - The worst dice roll or he has the worst dice roll. - Yeah, bad dice roll or it's a-- (mumbling) - It would be easy to see a statistical analysis of how bad he rolls. - Seriously, someone should keep that information. - He is, he's a black hole of luck. - It's just bizarre. - And so anyway, it's good to hear back from Rocket. Always good to hear from a long time listener. And Rocket, I have to say that this is Scott speaking in the storyteller from World of Darkness. It's much easier to make time for your craft when the craft is being played in your basement each week. (laughing) - And you're not the GM or something. - Yeah, exactly. So although my-- - Oh, with three new kids though. - Yeah. - Although my personal life is quite hectic. I have a very understanding wife and was taking place about 10 feet or 15 feet below my domain dwelling level of our home. So it makes it a little bit easier. - The other bit of feedback we had was from our Facebook page. Right, so then I'd actually play podcast on Facebook. First is in reference to our episode number five bad side of town, DJ Allen. When we posted on Facebook about the episode five coming out, DJ Allen said came through iTunes already, which was only like five minutes later after I posted that it was up. So he says, "I came through iTunes already, yay. "I'm not as into this story as the previous one. "It isn't for a lack of interest in play, "but the story just hasn't grabbed me." - Fair enough. - Yeah, which I understood and I explained to him that we are running a canned adventure, just a little something that evil has put out this supposed to be run at conventions. It's three or four hours worth of play to give people into the game to give them a taste of the play. We tend to play a little longer than three or four hours when we play something because we play it more deeply. But that I also mentioned that it's also not run by Scott and that you do a good job in running yours and conventions. - Well, I think it's, you run a different style and it's gonna appeal to some people, appeals to me as a player, but it's gonna appeal to some people differently than World Darkness is just darker, I mean, at least the way we're playing it right now. But again, this is just one canned adventure that we're not even all the way through, yeah. - Well, which we could play Dressing and Darker, but I think that the game itself is created to be more of a cinematic, quick-- - Right, with quips and humor, I think, a little bit more quips and humor maybe, even than the World Darkness. - Certainly now we're playing it. - I think that it's, I think is from our group standpoint, it's more important that we actually try different styles 'cause if we just played heavy and dark and gritty all the time, or we just get bored eventually, so it's nice to have these breakups to have a little bit more of a humorous murder mystery or whatever you wanna call this particular genre. Anyways, I just, I respect his opinion, of course, 'cause-- - It's urban, urban, modern day horror, right? Same as World of Darkness, but they're definitely the two systems have a different flavor to them. - Yeah, a different theme, a different mood, all those things are different, and on top of it, it's a canned adventure, so hopefully when we get to the actual real adventure taking place in Cleveland, I think you're gonna use Cleveland, which is our hometown, for those of you who don't know, when we use Dresden as well, they'll be able to really see two different Cleveland's 'cause, I mean, both of them being true to Cleveland itself, but with obviously different themes and moods. - DJ Allen responded to my response by saying it's not the setting either, I actually took that into account, but as long as the entertainment keeps flowing, I'll keep listening, and you shouldn't be so hard on yourself, Scott doesn't have monopoly on mad skills. The players and the storytellers are interesting in this setting, and the story just aren't to me. - Right. - Which, you know, everybody's got their own taste. - Yeah, fair enough. - We also had two additional posts on our Facebook page. One was from James Lawrence, I'll let Scott read that. - All right, James, hey, just started listening a couple days ago, really enjoying it. Haven't heard an actual play this entertaining in a long time, so. - It would be nice to know which one James was referring to, but as a group, I think it's unimportant that they're just enjoying the podcast as a whole, so that's good. - Now, is that specifically for Dresden? - Yeah, that's what I'm saying. - Oh, I know we didn't know what episode or yet what game. - But I don't think it's important. - No, as long as you're enjoying games, that's all we care about. If it's World of Darkness, listen to our Dresden, see if you like that as well. If it's Dresden, give our World of Darkness a shake and see how you like that as well. I think it's important for people to know that, especially the new people coming out and because it's Dresden, that we did do all their work, we have another body at work. - We did the World of Darkness, and I think a lot of people thought our way of playing it was really interesting. - Refreshing and interesting. - Right, so, you know, a lot of people may scoff at World of Darkness, but. - Or have a pre-disposition how it's gonna be. - Don't listen to the first episode. Don't take the first episode as the Holy Grail. - We were rough then, we were new. Every podcast, we'll tell you. You wanna go to the second or third one before you make it. - We started to get our feet. - Every grade show, like the second or third season where things were really, very, very good. But anyways, James, we appreciate your positive feedback and thanks for posting. - And if you're gonna listen to any World of Darkness episode to get a taste, I think no means no woman would be the one. Just to grab it and listen, see if you like it. - That's a good one. That was a classic, instant classic, I think they call it. - Well, Bob was a good character for that. - Yeah. - And next piece of feedback comes from Sarah Moskater. She says, oh my gosh, I just downloaded and started to listen to the latest episode and my heart nearly stopped. Thank you guys so much for mentioning our podcast and for the really interesting comments, discussion about the fey and changeling. - Okay, really quick, I'll jump in here. Sarah is from the flaming sofa podcast which we spoke about last time and we do enjoy their podcast. - She continues and says, and yes, the portraits are altered versions of some of us. Colton and I are our characters in the portrait, but enough of my gushing back to listening so I can get into the meat of the episode. So just a nice comment from Sarah. - Sarah from the flaming sofa, thanks guys. - Thanks Sarah, appreciate you listening. - Who plays the character once? - So, with that out of the way, we will get on to the dressing files. We're running neutral grounds. I am your GM Tom and on my left is... - John playing Zach Mayer, an apprentice wizard. - Thomas playing Martin Capouti, the retired psychic detective. - Mike playing Sean Barnes, the metal head werewolf. - Scott playing Nate Velakis, the emo white court virgin. - And we are missing Jim tonight. Jim was unable to attend to recap very quickly. Last week, you were at the investigation scene. You had someone that you captured through on the back of a van. Martin did some of his voodoo that he does and determined some information. You guys went off into East Green area. You interviewed some people, some ladies on the street corner. You ended up at the house of Lizard, who is the guy who runs the area and had a bit of a conversation with him. And after that, you got the address of McCulloch. We believe is the prime suspect behind this attack. And you were discussing how you want to approach the residents. It is still early in the morning, nine o'clock or so. - So we think McCulloch is responsible, right? At least with the information we have available to us now. - If not responsible, at least involved. And he is a practitioner of some sort. - Well, we've got one working. When we looked into the thug with the site, I was able to see that his mind had been manipulated into this and that McCulloch was behind it. - And your site made it clear that it was Eric McCulloch who had done the messing around with the brain, which is bad matter, which is breaking the laws, which means that we can go and hurt this guy. - Well, I want to get him because we want to rescue him. - Diane, the owner of Neutral Crowns, who's missing. And also to avenge the two deaths there. I mean, I got a lot of good coffee from those guys. More depressed than normal today. Anyone got any great ideas about how we take on a magic user on his own home? What's the proper terminology, sanctum? - Well, I think that whatever we do, we shouldn't give him a chance to put the whammy down on any of us. So as the apprentice wizard, could I know about this mind mojo? How would it be worked if he would have to be in physical contact with you? - I think that would be dependent on a war role for you to know. - Okay. - Oh, the minus two. - So the war was only plus two, so that's a zero. - Yes, you did mediocre. And apparently in your studies so far, mind control, which is a big no-no in your-- - That's hypnotizing. - Your main wizard, your teacher wizard, you have not been teaching you something. You've got around to the defense against the bad stuff yet. Everybody here thought it. - Mm-hmm. - I mean, I almost went there, and I didn't. So my thought was gonna be discipline's important. If I've heard anything true in my family's discussions about their battles with various magic users, that discipline's very important for us to steal our minds against this McCulloch. - So I actually pretty good at that. I mean, I'm not trying to brag or anything, but I'm probably the best one here. - Brag of a great discipline. - That's only fair. - Right. All of you are slightly aware of Eric McCulloch. You've seen him in the past. You've met him. And that John's character, Zach, never, ever got the impression that Eric McCulloch was a big player, or even a player in the magic arena. And what he's doing, grabbing and controlling three different individuals in short order, that would make Eric a big player. - So there's a hint then that Eric might just be a face, a proxy. - I think he might have someone's help or something. What did you say your discipline was, Zach? - Two. - All right. - So originally we had Dana, who had a strong discipline going through the front door, potentially, and my character being in the back door, so he doesn't slip away, people with some discipline to protect against the magic. Now I would say that would be the inverse, where maybe I would go through the front door with Dirty Harry. And maybe... - It's not bad enough we have our names, our character's names, but now you've given everyone a nickname. - Right. - But maybe it'd be better for Zach to be in the back door, guarding the rear entrance, waiting to make sure no one escapes through an alternate exit, and I'll go through the front door with Dirty Harry. - Please stop that. - Put your Harry, and rather smelly. I'm sorry. And what do you think, Colombo, you want to come through the front door? You want to go stay in the back? - I don't know, man. Colombo's not really a storm like castle kind of guy. I mean, he can shoot. And he's pretty good at moving first, so he can probably shoot first. But he has absolutely no discipline, and I would then shoot you. You don't want to get shot by me. - So you being in the distance would probably be a good thing in the backyard with Zach. - Yeah, I think I'm gonna do it. - Watch. - It's how much I'm gonna take this guy down. How am I supposed to leave that to you? - Get skills. - Wasn't. Just 'cause I have-- - What kind of weapon skill have you got? - And my scarer running down my face right now does not mean I can't actually bring it to it. I got the big man with me. - I think he got shot. This is an all, yeah. - The uncontrollable-- - If it gets to that point, then he comes to you. - Is that how you see me? I'm a metal head bass player. - That's a bad weapon, is that what you're saying? - It does take a bit. - He can interrogate him. I've got the seat. I can flummox him. - That'll work. - I do have-- - I don't have-- - But it's flummox. - He's a big player. - And someone's backing him. I don't think he'll allow him to be flummoxed if he's there. Or this guy-- - Do you think having it? But should we have somebody like so you can't escape? - Yeah. - Who should that be? - Colombo's got it covered. - Colombo? You old guy in the trench coat? Smokes cigars? - Let's be clear. We're doing this the hard way. We're coming in hard and fast and we're going to be interrogating. - Me, me and about the front door. - Yeah. - We're not knocking, we're not-- - Yeah. - That's not clear. - Right. - At this point, you're approaching the house and the address you were given. - That's right. - You either got a park somewhere or farther away. - We got a walk. - Yeah, we're parking somewhere farther away. - We drive by. - You're driving, right? - I'm driving, I'm going to drive by the house and we'll park-- - We have one gun and it's a pistol. - And we're not driving by. - Passing in front of the house. - Yeah, just a general look. Maybe see if there's some cameras or some surveillance equipment set up or-- - A long type of neighborhood for that. This is a CD dilapidated rundown home. - It is in its own lot, which is, as opposed to when you were at Lizard's area, that was more compact than it's kind of like row houses and they were close together. This one is its own property. So it's on the edge of the bed. - Well, maybe he just wants us to think it's bad and he still has cameras. - Yes. - Because if it was me, I would not be living this neighborhood without some serious, serious cameras. - Or the security in your own powers to think you wouldn't need them. - Maybe that's a borderline cock, yes. - It is hubris. - And what does McCollum? - The windows hubris stick. - Do have bars at fault. - Okay. - Door looks like it's a strong look at them. - Not metal, but the solid door. - One of those reinforced doors. - Wear wolf resistance. - Right. - Please. - Level three, wear wolf resistance. - John, you have an ability called Inhuman Speed that allows you to sprint faster than ordinary people. - True do, by like one zone, I think, and a high athletic stability in your wolf form to compliment that. I think as soon as we bust it down, you should be rushing as far as in as you can, form a little reconnaissance stock when you see some people who would stop us, but just so we know how deep we can get in for him. - You know, not to contradict Zach, maybe he goes really fast into the door. - I can... - Oh, you can open it? - You can knock it down. - Yeah. - With one. - It's on the ground, right? - We're all rock. - Didn't know that. I saw you envelop someone with stone. - Oh. - You know, you could actually throw said stone. - I wanna save my magic for when we actually have to fight someone who has magic. - Well, I take suspect to the point of you want him going really fast into the door, because I think a wear wolf smashing down the door, I don't smile, but if I did, that might bring like just the corners of my mouth might twitch a little bit towards a grin, but I don't smile. - So, you want me to try? - You guys have now driven past this house. - A wear wolf shape. - Okay. - Whoa, whoa. - You guys have driven past this house. You're busy driving. Who's doing a scoping out investigation of this as you drive it in? He says looking over at the corner to look at it. - Look at this investigation. - Cool, cool, cool. - Cool, cool, cool. - I would also like Zach to do a lore check. - What is that, by the way, to see things? - Investigation to actively look or to accidentally notice would just be a awareness. - Passive awareness. - Got it. - All right, your investigation. - Not a crime scene. - Well, not that you're aware of. So, no, it's not a crime scene. Martin, it's somebody. - That's a great story. - Martin is riding in the passenger seat, watching, looking at the house and scoping it out as you drive by. I would say to notice anything of consequence would be at least a fair plus two. - Okay. - Minus one, but I have a total of four investigations. So, three. - You got it and plus one. - It's good. - And what you notice in driving by is there doesn't seem to be any external cameras or security systems. You do see the bars that don't seem to be, there's not even a little security sticker in the corner, but there's also no vehicle in the driveway. You do see an oil stain on the driveway, but there's currently no vehicle. Now, Zach, if a parent is wizard, please roll for me in a laurel. - Is there a garage? (keyboard clicking) - Minus one here? - Yeah. - My slower skill of two is just a one. - Okay. - Which is average. - You've got a slight tingle indicating to you that something is here magic wise. - I suppose that's enough to open the site. - That's just a taste of these not quite right. - Time to make things more glaringly obvious. - You have driven past the house. So, not a good time to open the site 'cause you don't have like a direct line on the house. - I don't think he's home. - But if he is keeping Diane here, she might be here. - And nine manipulated minions can't really drive or operate on their own for very long. And as he drives them around and like throws them out when he wants things done. So if the car's gone, he might be gone too. - But again, she might be here. - Yes. - There might be information here. - Information, yeah. - I still think we should check out the house. I just say it. I don't think he's here. - Okay. - I'm gonna try to sneak a bit closer to get a eye on the door and then I'm gonna open up the site. - Okay. - Yep, anyone. - Are you gonna stop me? - What are you gonna do? Is he gonna get out of the car? - I'm going to transform inside the van. And so when we open the van door, I will be in wolf form, looking like a giant shaggy wolf. - Okay. - I also suspect that if three of us plus a big wolf, like me, are walking down the street, it's gonna cause notice. But one guy walking his enormous dog may not be too much. And it's morning, so I really don't have any advantage of nights or stealth purposes, other than to try to look as - Inhaculous is a six foot where wolf can possibly look? - Well, I'm listening to Jimmy Eat World on my iPod and writing some poetry. - Waiting for the moment to come. - The middle? - The door opens and out steps, second the wolf? - Yeah. - Good TV show. - Would this be stealth to try to sneak up their nonchalantly? - I don't think you're trying to sneak per se. You're just trying to walk up there and blend. You wanna look assertive and not look like you're trying to not be noticed, that would be presence. And the other one would be a rapport. You're just trying to fit in. - So which one do you wanna use? You don't have either, do you? - Both. - Oh, you're both? - No, I don't have rapport, actually. I'm gonna use presence though. - You're gonna go there? - 'Cause you're a sports star. - Yeah. - You're used to people. And they're just walking out belong. - Please. - Half of them. Nobody is on the street. Nobody's looking through the windows that you're aware of. So I would say this is like just an average role for you to blend in and not look totally. - Well, I rolled plus three and I have a presence of average plus one, which is plus four, great. - I would like to walk up there with you if I may. - Oh, that changes back. - Yeah, I gotta walk. - I totally fit in. - I know. - All right, look at me. - Tasty little freak. - Exactly, who belongs in a neighborhood like this? Just Doc Martin, skinny jeans, hoodie, mascara. - You have me out with a mascara. - Lip ring, nose ring, check, check. I hope I have tried to score some weed. - In the meanwhile, Zach, the Prettis wizard is doing what? - Opening my site to look at this building has a threshold, not a threshold, but boards as you're good at constructing. - Okay. - Over the door. - One more. - You're supposed to be in the backyard? - Colombo goes in the backyard. - Oh, they're all stealth for that? - That sounds stealthy. - Yeah, because you are getting out of the van, walking down in someone's driveway. - Is there any way to get in his backyard without just walking around the house? - Well, actually you're parked a few down, so some of you are going through someone else's backyard and then sneaking up on it. - Well, okay. - This too is all up to you. I'd jump over someone's fence and crawl under their windows to make sure they can't see me out there. Combat roll across the glass door in the back that they probably don't have 'cause this is a bad neighborhood. - Well, you're back while you're doing all that 'cause you're 50 years old. - Fall over and line a bit and then make my way. My column's back here. - I would say that takes a pretty good effort. - I only have plus one stealth, so. I rolled negative one, rolled total of zero. - And what you did was a really poor job of stealthing. In fact, it appears that some old lady was looking on her window as you went by between the house. - And you flashed her. - And you flashed her, but you definitely got her attention and when you look at her-- - What do you think about where you see her? - When you look at her, you see her pull back from the window real quick. - You're not sure. - Where's your badge when he needed it? - I'm retired. I think he has his neighbor's mind controlled. - You can't really talk to her because you're all alone right now. - Yeah, or your rolled sock. - All right, I try to, can I hide like what's better? Just stationary hiding in his backyard. So if he comes out, I get the benefits of an ambush. - You may attempt to do that. - Yes, I hide in his backyard. Ah, that's a much more agreeable role, plus two for a total of three. I hide good with that good. - The other neighbors are standing and there were those looking up. - And now they can't see. - All right, so you're heading in the backyard. - Great job. - Good job. - Good job. - Thank you. - Good job. - And outside on the front is the wolf who's sniffing around a bit. And Zach, who is facing the house and opening his site. And the first thing he needs to do when opening his site, there is a level of power that the house has. And first, you are required to roll lower to understand it. - What is this I'm looking at? - I rolled plus one with my Laura of plus two, that is three. - It's good. - It's good. - It's like plus three, good. - You see the house and within the house, you see a large swirl of very chaotic energy that you are unable to make any sense of. In addition, you see a threshold around the house, but it is extremely minuscule. It's not very powerful at all. In fact, it's barely there, but you just see a boil of magic going on inside the house. And you are unable at this time to understand anything about it. - Okay, I'm gonna keep my site open then, so the next roll would not be to close it, but to not be damaged by rolling your discipline against the strength of the site. - I rolled a plus one and my discipline is plus two. That is again a three, good. - Unfortunately, the strength of this vision is a six. - It's a tough vision. - You take three stress damage. - Thanks. - This is mental, yeah. - This is mental? - Yes. - I could take one more turn to this. - Where are you? - Who are standing next to him? You see him go rigid as he's staring at the house. - Okay. - And just start to tremors slightly. - I have deceit and I've seen a lot of people lie and try to bluff because that's something that I'm just common with and I do it myself. I don't think he's got it. He says he's got it, I don't think he's got it. - I mean, there's a difference between seeing someone who's lying to himself and he might be lying to himself, but right now, you're not sure. If he comes next around and you see a little sweat bright got it, it's like he's still leaning into it. You might say, okay, no, he doesn't have this. Now it's like surprise and then they'll lean back into it. Like, okay, this is gonna take a little more than I thought. - And then, Zach, again, I wrote plus zero for this. - So, we're all a plus zero and you're two is still not enough to-- - What is this at, seven? - No, it was six, I think. - I could tap two feet in the space to get that, but it's expensive. - Give me two aspects that would fit into this situation. - No, we're rushing in here blind, I'm keeping these. I may need them for where we're going to face. If it's something powerful, I'd rather have them for combat than something you're not particularly good at. - Absolutely your choice to do whatever you wish to do. - So, then Zach still does not, there's a swirl. There's stuff going on, it's starting to slit a fine, no, it's not, it's really confusing. I don't know what's going on here. But there's a power center and there seems to be one color in the center and others swirling around it. You have no interpretation that makes any sense to your character at this point and then the power of the vision, again, assaults you. Good luck, I'm going to roll these dice this time. Plus one, my discipline is still two, so. - So you're still three? - Three. - What? - It was minus one, so it's only a attack of five, which gives you a mental stress to it. - I'm running out of magic to do. I'm trying to close it the second time. - Okay, well you fail. - I have to beat the vision. - The second one, you have to not take damage and then you have the option of whether to close it or not. - As he is continuing to stress, I wonder if my avoiding surprise or passive awareness from my alertness skill is making me think that okay, something is going on here that I need to interfere with. - Yeah, we just take an average roll on you and part to realize that he was that time attempting to close and to break and it didn't work. - I have to dissect it before I can act. - Right. - There you go. - Ooh. - Minus two, but I have an alertness of four, so I'm two. - This is tip fair. - So you're fair and all it took is average to see that he is actually like struggling to stop and it's not working. - Right. So that I'm going to-- - You can't take an action, it doesn't cost you minus anything. - Then I'm going to break his line of sight with whatever he's looking at by knocking him down. - Okay. - You might and he's caught relatively unaware. - Is he in wolf form right now? - I'm in, I'm still wolf. - You get to roll dice, but your defense is zero because you don't even see him. - Right. - He's the only the house. - All right. - And a chaos swirling within. - So I will have plus one-- - Plus one, and I roll plus three. - I have great. - I roll the minus one. - Okay, so you knock him down on the ground, but unfortunately that helps him to give him a aspect that he can tap with, you know, jostled or knocked to the ground, so his next role to break is a plus two. But he is still blindly staring through you at the house. - Okay. - And magic cuts through virtually whatever it wants so he's seeing that's got his full attention. So you're a larval. - I'd like to walk around in breaking, literally breaking his line of sight and going, I'm just blowing some smoke in his face. - Your attempt to give him an additional plus two would actually be requiring a pretty good effort. - Okay. - Plus three. - You're trying to get in his way. - Sure. - Trying to put smoke in his way, you're trying to-- - I'm kind of like doing this. - Fuck this. - I do, give it up. - You look silly casting magic from your ass. Just stop it, will ya? Give it up. And then I pull up some smoke in him. So maybe you watch athletics to keep moving with him or is there a better skill that, 'cause I don't even know if that's right. I could hit him if you want. - I was thinking actually like your presence. - You were trying to, you're trying to-- - Listen to my voice. Come on back, follow me, you know. Look, give that up. - Okay. - Is it what you were attempting or is it something more just physical, where you wanna get in the way? - I guess if the presence wasn't working then I would have gotten more physical, but I think that's two actions and one turn. So I think presence is probably the way I would have started. - Okay. So you're gonna need a good presence to get, well, Josh, which, oh, holy. - Okay, so mine is two on the roll and I have a one to start with, so I'm at a minus one, which is poor. And I need to be good or fair, was it good? - You need to be good. - So I need to actually kill two dots to-- - Well, I'll add a total of four if you can justify that. Or you can spend one to reroll and hopefully roll better than negative two. - That's tough to roll, plus two to get to-- - So you might end up spending two and that's a risk or you can just-- - Can I use athletics just next time? Or just all part of that first roll? Like I say, screw that. - Hey, you know, I'm just getting a little more aggressive with them, give it up. - You could do that, you could do that. - In this turn or next turn? - Okay. - Then I will wait a turn. I mean, I won't wait a turn, I will end my turn. - You'll fail on this turn. - Yes. - Yeah, exactly. - It's trying to understand what's going on in the hell. So would you all. - I rolled a plus three and my lore of plus two makes it up. Five. - You are so close to understanding this thing. - What's this thing, role, before I burn a fake point to find this out? - What's this thing? - Can you do that? What does the house roll? - You can't do that backwards. - Okay. - You are, you're spending fake point in what aspect? - I have no idea how much I don't know. - That's a good aspect. - You're learning, no. - I am. - Right. - Painfully. - The picture pulls itself together and the swirls look like they are centering in on four or five points that are around in the house, all of them around the living room. And they solidify to what look like landmines. So in the center of the room, you see it coalesces into a chair and with a person sitting in it in yellow waves just coming off. - She's around. - They seem to be bound here. They seem to be bound to the chair and the landmines are floating around them. - Are we got a dog here? You're speaking metaphorically with the landmines or is this like really landmines? - That's his interpretation of the magic he's seeing. Very powerful, very dangerous mines floating around this person that's sitting in a chair and just yellow waves of what he's interpreting as panic coming off of them. - A bait and trap. - Nice. - Okay. - And then you attempt to break the site. - Plus two? - Gonna need that. (laughs) - What do you roll? - I roll minus three. - Nice. - I have a discipline of two so that's a minus one. - I'd give you plus two for the swirl, right? - Yeah. - Yeah, yeah. - He counted that. - Do you want to save that? - No. - He has to be used this year. - Well, I mean, in the rules you can but it doesn't make sense here. - Yeah, this is something that just happened. It's a very short lived aspect. He knocks you to the ground. So you're, you know, jostled to the ground as the current aspect and to save that for, you know. - Can I use that to reroll rather than a plus two? - No. - Are you sure? - Yes, I'm quite sure. It is an aspect that you can tap for plus two. - Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. - Oh my God. - I rolled minus two. So that brings it down to a four. - Sorry, I forgot to do my roll part. - So you can spend two beads to win or-- - One bead degree roll and roll. - Your choice. - It's all in the attitude. I gotta pick this up. - That's what got you there. - It was tripping me and one, two. - All right, what is that, roll? - Plus one. I have a discipline of plus two, which is three. - Plus is three, plus is three. - Not give me on my ass. Plus two, which is five. - And the roll of the vision was six and then minus two, so it's four. You have minutes. You break the vision. And you're like, what? - What do you think? - Oh, guys. - Well, I'm not helping you. I'm just trying to break the vision. - And actually, to you, it sounds like. - Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. - Shut the hell up. - It's snarling and getting rid of his face. - We can walk right through the stories as long as we can unlock it. And there seems to be some sort of magical landmines in there. Wards, I would guess, of some sort to keep us from getting close to-- - Diane. - The goddess of the moon. - Right, so we describe it. It's a-- - And behind five points? - That helps. - Almost like a pentacle. Almost like a circle of magic. - Yes, Sean. - Oh, do you know that? - I like it. - I know. - Are you scratching this into the ground? - Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I couldn't mess this up. - I'm scratching this up. - What? - Jimmy's in the wall. (laughing) - All right, open the door, please. - All right. - I go try the door knock. - Try to use a wolf into males, go walking up to the door. - I try the door knock. - It appears to be locked. - I'm gonna bust out the lockbox. I have a burk on my skin. - So do I. - Interesting, that is better than average. - No, it's incredibly average. - Okay. - I have so over half more fake points than you do, so if you fail, don't spend a lot of time on it, okay? - Okay. - I have to work once. - Ooh. - I think he's got a piss. - No, I can't. - With my paws, I'm trying to. (laughing) - Show us, standing up like that. - What do you think this is, if I was, you know, it's time to lock picker, that's what it's like. - I don't know. - Okay, the wolf's doing it. - In your clear description, this is a run down old house. It's got white wood and it's chipping. The neighborhood is poor. The door is a decent size. One of the lock is gonna be a good to pick. - Okay. - But what you saw was in the living room, these things that appears, like you described them, probably warts, probably proximity, and they were floating around an individual sitting in a chair. - All around the same floor? - All of them are on the floor. There's only one floor to this building. As far as you saw, there were no veins going to the door or the windows, or they were free floating in the room, and there seemed to be throbbing in this circumference that you believe, if you come within that area, it's gonna detonate. You're not gonna be able to see them, but they exist. - I don't want to open my sight again. - Okay. - Well, where was the door in comparison to this male strum of landmines floating around? - You also got the indication of the power of these five different things, and they will all detonate with a great amount of damage. - I got a good reading on that. - Yeah, you did. I mean, you're shaken, huh? - You're shaken. - Awesome. - The sight gives you an understanding of the magic and how it works. And also, it gives you the necessary information to do a connoisseur. - So, and to do that, the scene has an ending. - No, unfortunately, it has an ending. - Well, I'm guessing you detected its evocation magic, right? - You knew it. - Explosive violence. - They detonate in that, yeah. - Well, it's stored. - What did the dots say? - What? - I'm talking that in terms of-- - Oh, I'm just out of the game. - Oh, yeah, I'm just talking journal. - Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. - You know, you talk to me a little bit. - You know what, I'll be naked all through the rest of the scene. I'm okay with that. - I can change it, what's we're inside? - What's in the house? - Cloth. - Point cloth. - I'm picking this great line. - No, I had a good lock on it. - I'll make you sell it. - I'll make you sell it. - I'll make you sell it. - I'll make you sell it. - And I. - I got a spark. - Go to the back door. - I got a spark. - Don't pick the front door in the morning daylight. - Park, spark. - Oh, God. - Yes. - I rolled it too. - I look like I got my keys up. - So, so fair. - Yeah, I'm taking you both failed then, to open the door. - Yeah. - Oh, sorry, I rolled, yeah, I did roll it too. Plus too. - Tricky? - Yeah. - He's got some sophisticated, seriously, a sophisticated mechanism on this door. - Clearly, these are legendary locks. - I think I will actually... - Maybe Martin's got the back door open already. - My knees hurt. - I've been crushing them in this bush for like five sages. - Can I spend one of my paid points to, that would take it from a fair to a great roll? - Yeah, let's do it. - That would exactly do it if you wish to spend one, but you have to tell me how your spending is set. - Well, the darkness always threatens. She is absolutely threatened. I'm not jerking around with this. I've been picking the lock and I'm going to get in there to save her because I saved her once from her ass white boyfriend, I'm going to save her again. - And will I change it to human form? - Naked. - This is the day I'm born. - I mean... - Hey, Sean. - Hey, well, well, hey. - Eyes. - Up here. - Yeah. - Up here. - This is broad daylight. You just yelled at them. - That's okay. I'm a rock and roll star. - No, let it breathe, baby. - You just transformed it. - Rock and roll stars go. - Oh! - Boxers. - It's like maybe next to our heart attack. Okay. - You're resting for what? My point is you can't just rush in here because obviously she's bait and it's a bomb. - Somebody who's got enormous amount of panic surrounded inside a magic circle that the metaphor that your brain gave you was a bunch of landmines circling around her. So if we get within too close of a proxy, I realize it seems to be a plan. - Right. What's the daughter going to do? - We disable the mechanism. - Oh, okay. - The way you were talking. - If they were rushing in and I see you open the door, we're going to blow up. I'm like, well, that's kind of goes against. - Yeah. - I'm going to go with my man. - She's deeper in the house than right now. - Right. - There's a small elbow when you walk into the door, there's a small alcove with a closet off to the side. And then there's a living room. - I saw it. - Okay. - I'm sorry. - Where are the doors now open? - It's a good warning because if we hadn't known, that would be if she was right by the door. - Well, I was trying to do the barking and then it'd lastly come home thing, but that wasn't working. So I'd go back to being a human or a, you are as you went to us, Sean. - When you walked into the rock, both of you felt a little bit of a twinge as you crossed the threshold. - I'm used to it. - We're talking about maybe a minus one in your rolls because it's... - Rolls riding. - What do we have to roll? At least. - It's a reduction of power. - Reduction. - Things that rely on your power would be a minus one. - Because of the power. - Got it. - Picking locks? Not so much. - Let's just say first you walk through the front door, there's a small alcove and that's part of the same zone as the living room and in the living room you see a gentleman sitting in a chair. - You have. - How utterly disappointing. - A gentleman. - But I'm used to it. - I'm used to it. - You actually recognize this gentleman. It is Frank Williams, which is some of the Diane was kind of seeing the last couple. - Did the guy beat up? - You see that. - Oh, okay. - Now you've seen Frank come into the coffee shop and they like talking giggles and you didn't know it was serious, but you didn't know that they were seeing each other and that is definitely him sitting tied up in a chair. - There's a couple of ways I could do this. - He throws rock in blood or anything. - Yes, that's one. I could cover him in rock so he doesn't get hurt by this and then just chuck a rock in there. Okay. I could try like throwing him through the roof. I don't know. Or I could try to counter spell these things, which is really my forte in case you've been absent. So what do you think is the best way to go about it? Waiting it out. This is the safest way. These will go down eventually. We just, he's going to come back though. I think so. - And maybe- - That's a strange. - Was with Diane this morning. So maybe Frank knows where he means that. - I'm sniffing around. - I mean, you could ask him, but he might launch something from us like to get the bombs off his chest. - I've had his high quarters. That's a really good idea. - What do you say? - Where are you wandering in his zone? What are you doing? - I see him sniffing. - Oh, our next was true. - No. - No, he being exact has warned you that there is some type of proximity mind, but he probably didn't specify exactly how far the proximity is because he- - So I'm kind of sniffing around the floor to see if there's like a any edge circle or something that typically, you know, you have to draw some from what I understand the magic. - I know where to look. Can I use my wizard senses to pinpoint this without opening up the side itself? - Sure. - All right. I'm trying to do my medical probing fingers unless you want to rule them. - I do have some lore, but I can maybe try to help you, but I'm just, you know, I'm trying to let my senses do the searching right now and not have a major failure on his part to set them off because maybe I should just like crawl this first. - What is it you're trying to do? - Shot. - Either I'm trying to pick up the sense of people that have been in this room. - You're the one that's telling me either or you're saying there's two. You were looking for magic or you're looking for people? Which one is it? - I'll start with the magic. Since we know that that's the immediate threat. - Just an average rule that you're trying to help identify the magic to help Zach. - Right. - Okay. - So minus one because of our threshold, minus one, I'm not helping you at all. - Okay. - You go in and start sniffing around trying to identify the boundaries and then you realize you're just getting a lot of magic and pretty powerful magic, but you're not getting a crisp line so you sort of back off, you don't want to cross it by accident and blow this poor guy's head off. Everyone in the room. - Colombo would be fun. - He's in the backyard. - In fact, I'm also, once I'm in said, I'm going to change back into a human. - Okay. - Is there a way to get around to the backyard or to open up the door? - You believe the outskirts of the room, you could get around without setting anything off. - All right. Just to make sure I have the boundaries right, I'm using this investigation with my lower first. This way is all off right here. - I'm just impressed that you knew from this way and I'm a little more, I'm glad he's my friend. - Okay. - I rolled a plus one. This is a lower used for investigation on magical things. Since I have the side, it gives me another plus one. This is a plus four and all a great investigation. - Actually, that's what you need because these things are set up on four. They do more damage, they do an attack of four, their power is four and you see that they are set up in a pattern which looks like a pentagram and that there is something, there's nothing visually on the floor, but obviously there was something drawn there and that they were set up on the points and that to conquer spell them, you would need to score a great power of four and a control of four. - Can you do that? - It takes some serious blows because I'm like burnt out magically from the side. - Zach, when you did the investigation, you found that they are set up in a pentagram, but you believe disarming one of them will unravel the rest, that it will break the pentagram and that they'll just crumble. - I need to do them all at once? - No, you need to do one. It's like a house of cards. They'll unfold. - I thought you meant the trigger. - No, counterspiling one of them will bleed the rest of the magic into that hole in the pentagram and just kind of pour out and just dissipate. So you're not going to have to do five counter spells, you're going to do one counter spell to unravel them. - I can definitely call it that power. Controlling it, on the other hand, is not my strongest answer. - Well, I thought before we do anything that might do anything with the magic that-- - Yes, but to talk to him is difficult because he has duct tape across his mouth and he is found to the chair and there's five land mines floating around him, ready to blow his house. He can't see them though. - He can't see them though, exactly. - Because you said that we were neutral grounds regulars that we least know his name. - Yes. - So I go to, I go, "Are you Frank?" - Then you-- - Not this bad. - Okay. - When he sees you come in and then you start talking, he's like kind of kicking his chair and kind of like skirting it over. - No, no, Frank. - We're waiting for him like-- - We're not here to hurt you. Oh, by the way, I'm sure he's the only one right now. - Yeah, right. - He's got to be a little-- - Oh, yeah, he is. - Yeah, yeah. - A lot of the spirit coming out of this guy. You know, so I'm like, I'm trying to stop, don't move. - You're rigged to explode. - Yeah. - We're being called. - We're here to help. - We're here to help. - We're here to help. - I'm guessing if Frank is Diane's boyfriend, that he is somewhat aware of Eric McCulloch. So I'm going to ask him, you know, did Eric do this to you? - He nods his head. - He nods his head. Was it him alone? - Jake. - Did you get taken this morning? - Frank nods his head, yes. - Okay. - So I'm guessing I'm just trying to link this operation up. - He looks a little fresh. - Do you know where Diane is? - He looks like-- - Trying to indicate something, do you? - Do you know where Diane is? - He takes his head, no. - Was she with you this morning? - Again, no. - We're abducted separately? - He shrugs. - Is there something we're not getting, Frank? - Yeah, I'm strapped to a chair, and you're not rescuing me. - So he says we're not missing something, you know, like-- - No, he wanted to tell us you're just-- - His eyes look slightly exasperated, like-- - Hey, here's a thought. - He's being a diamond. - You gotta realize, he was in our despair, and now suddenly, here's his rescue, and everybody's standing really far away from a masking question. - You're a big choice. - Did I not tell him he's rigged to explode? - Somebody said it. - I said it. - Yes. - He doesn't seem to really comprehend it. - 'Cause there are-- - There are all of us here. - There are all of us here. - There are all of us here. - There are all of us here. - They are well hidden. - They're in the room, Frank. - Frank, just stay still, and I'll try to disarm them. - The despair's back. - He thinks we're crazy. - Yes. Well, can somebody go get Martin, and bring him in? - My knees part. - Oh, yeah. - That's right. - I think we need to get Martin's experience and opinion and abilities on this, because-- - If somebody has touched the stuff like tying Frank to the chair, I'm sure there's gonna be some second impressions, or if you have some value. Second, I think we're pretty clear that there's only one person here that has the ability to do anything. - And that is you, Zach. - My hands, boyfriends inside. You wanna come on? He's all rigged up with invisible-- what the hell am I gonna try? Come on. - Good God. Look, man, I'll do it for 30 minutes. I think I got seen back there, somebody might call the cops. - Martin, do you have to physically touch an object to get your psychometry from it? - Yes. - I need to touch things to-- - Touch the door. - The door's seen a lot of things. It looks like an old-- - Hey. - What the door saw? - It's the exact same of the episode. - Okay. I just like to touch the door. - As you walk over to the front door and you get ready to touch it, you see a cop car tried by, and it goes down about two houses and pulls up to the house. - Fuck. - Seriously? - The neighborhood fucking watches. - I told you a walk past an old lady. - The cop lights were not. They were just pulling up and you see one guy get out. - Actually, a guy and a girl, two officers, and they walk over to the front of the house. - Maybe you should get to them first. - And knock on the door. - Fuck. - Do we recognize the officers? - Do I recognize the officer? - You are peeking out the door and watching. You believe you may know these officers. - I might know these officers. - Someone comes to the door and she's talking, appears to be the lady again, she's talking to the officers. - Okay. - And they seem to be in this kind of mode where they're like calmed down. - Okay. - Okay. - You know what? And they're explaining something to her, but you can't tell. - Martin? - What? - Do I go handle that? - I've got a pretty high deceit so I can go out there and make some crap up. - Skip my drawers. - Much better. - But if you want to have a reputation. - A fair rapport and with this situation I could say I'm a retired detective, I do these guys from the force. - Don't use a psychic. - So I could use it. - I'm a retired detective. I'm a retired detective. - I got the psychic chips not crazy. - Yes, exactly. - I know, I know, I know. - Yeah. - The point is I could talk to these people. If I was willing to use a third part I could talk to them fairly well, but how well do you? - Great. - Great lies. That's much better than my report. - She never saw you get into this house or come into this house at all. - I'm going to leave because she's going to report my percentage. - I don't think they're actually going to come into this house at all to be perfectly honest. She just saw someone stalking about. No one saw us in the, okay real quick. Was there a direct line from the front door of the drug house, McCollus, to the lady's window or her house? - It's a drug house. I know what it is. I just smell them. Could she see us walking up to the house or was it something that, you know, he was three of doors. It's probably like three doors down, which is a band never listened to because they're not, he know enough for me by the way, three doors down. So it's all else. - What she saw was him in between two houses. - Yeah, that view doesn't give her a view of his house at all. It's three houses down. She would actually have to get like out of her house and look down. - Right. That's what I'm saying. I don't think we have anything to worry about. - Right. Okay. Then we have some time I could touch the door. - Okay. We're back to the door. - I have time. - I'm keeping an eye out the window, one of the windows, preferably far away from his door touching and trying to see if they start coming in this direction so I can at least step out of the house and try to use them to see it. - What you see is that I'm talking to the elderly lady and the one guy just, even his hands like just calm down and he looks over at his partner kind of rolls his eyes a little bit and they both go around her house right in either direction and see if you can go in the backyard and lose sight of them. Are these even for police? - Yes. - Okay. Baltimore's fine. It's like a door touch. This is the scene of a crime. - The door. Truthfully, if you want to get a reading, the door is in a very small alcove which then leads into the living. What you're going to get from the door is both sides, the people out on the street and a very small view of the alcove and it's a small slice of the living room. - What the wall saw. - Is there a clock for like faces? - In the living room, there's a clock and it's facing the majority of the room in a little bit. - A little by the clock? - No. It's just, you know, one of those cheap old plastic walls. - What the clock saw? - White. - White. It looks stained slightly yellow. - It's got a face. - A total of +2. - That'll give you the difficulty. - Plus 4. - You're really good. - Plus 7 total, I guess, if this counts as the scene of the crime. - Fondling inanimate objects. - There's a crime over there. - There's a crime over there. - There's a crime. There's a guy that's been kidnapped. - And held against his will, which I think is another crime. - And rigged to explode it. - Yeah. - That's a real reason. - That's three crime. - That is. - Of course. - What is it? - Zero roll. - Seven. - What is the epic clock store? You see from the clock's point of view, you definitely see Eric McConan. - I'm flying by. - Different images of him wandering through the house. You see him. What appears to be studying books, you see him casting magic, you see him in anger throwing things around their own. - Because he sucks at magic. - You see him on the phone and you see the anger again and he throws the phone up against the wall. - Because he sucks at the phone. - Both the phone hurts. - You see-- - The phone's next. There's sweets like a club to this phone. - You see him and two gang bangers, street thugs type. One of them is thinner looking and he's got the glasses, a little circle glasses, looks a little more intelligent than the other guy. And they're dragging in Frank and the scene is dark because outside it's still dark outside. You see them dragging him in and he's unconscious at that time. - That's about all you see from the clock on the wall. - Man, this clock has a really narrow view of the wall. - That still is pretty impressive. - All right, where's that phone? - It's shattered. - Right next to the wall. - It's not sitting next to Frank now. - It's broken. - It's an extra wall so you could actually get to it. - But that took a while for you to read all those memories and now-- - Zach, earlier it said you could summon up the power of the treasure you can control. - Yeah. - Okay. - What happens when you can't control it? - Everything. - I mean, it triggers. - Well, there's two options. You bleed it out into the room, which means, yeah, you trigger it, or you take the extra damage into yourself and maybe-- - I don't see how my guy can do this though. You've got a well enough read on these that you think you can do it. - The world-- - You have no idea how much you don't know. I don't think you can do it. - I can feel really bad for you if you fail. - Actually, I think that's bad if he succeeds. - Are you just like all of a sudden out of when I'm going, okay, I'm going to do this. Or are you going to let them get out of the room so you don't kill them? - I'm going to do this now. - Whoa! - Whoa! - She gets a fake point for that. - No one can keep up with me. I don't need a fake point, I'm just fishing for them now. - No! - That was what? - Impulsive. - You might have let everybody leave the room before you blow them up. - Uh, it's okay, I'm just waiting surprised twice when he was doing it and trying to get out of dodge here. - You just see the pressure building up on him as you guys are just saying, "You know, it's on you. It's on you. You're the one that's going to do that. You're the wizard." And then all of a sudden he goes, "Ugh!" And he just starts to cast. - I'm okay with that. - I'm almost supposed to read this out of wizard school when you guys do it like this. - I started late. It's like those Jedi, you know? Can't train them once they're too old. They just, they never have the control. - And what was your result there, Mr. Zach? - What do I do first? - Something out the power. - The first thing you want to do is something out the power. - You want to figure it out for any way? - I'm enjoying this one. - Okay. - It almost smokes the guys, thank you. - Chef, this is so awful. - I don't have to roll this on there. - This is going to hurt, it's going to hurt. - This is the best way to go. I don't know, naked. - It's a guy who's talking. - Whoa. That's the guy. Oh, the Colombo might be... - You decide how much chips of power you want, you want four. You take one point of battle stress for each one point of power greater than your conviction. - My conviction is four. - Then you're fine. You have the power. - It's so built from it. - Okay. So you take one mental stress of damage for doing this. - That's magic. - That's all. - It takes off the one box. Now you want to roll your discipline to cast the actual counter spell. - Alright. - Plus, any control items you have to focus, I don't think you have any for... - I have a defensive control arc. - This isn't really earth. - You're attacking me with that. - Which is like, why am I doing it? But I am. - If you have, I'm the only one who can do that. - I have, I'm the self-appointed warden, this is my job. - If it was a rule, I'd be trying to do it. - If you're spending an aspect, then that would be a good one. - If I fail, I will. - Okay. - So now you want to discipline and control this. - Good luck, we're all counting on it. - There you go. - I knew you were going to make sure that I checked out. - Alright. - Plus three on the rule. - Yeah. - Yeah. - So plus two means this is a plus five. - Can you just pull some strings magically, just pull it out. - Look at you. - Yeah, alright. - Who's a big wizard? - Okay. - That was anticlimactic. - Yeah. (laughing) - Hey, next time, public giving us the head start to order and rip the duct tape off of textiles. - Oh, no, it's all saved. - Rip the tape off of Frank's face and he screams and the cops are right there. - I just lock the bridge. - Shut up. - Hopefully start around the corner and we just saved your ass. - The bombs are gone now? - Yes. - Yeah. (laughing) - I think. I mean, you'd be dead. - You see out the front window, the two police officers return to the front door and then talk to the lady, get in their car and drive away. - Ugh. - False drama. - Or just lucky then the old lady, as they're walking back, they're talking to each other and the one guy shaking his head like that. - Crazy. - These ladies. - They called every other day. - All right. - He's freaking normal. - Oh, he's normal. - Yeah. - He's normal as they come. - All right. So he might not be. - Yeah. - Frank, he describes someone busting into his apartment and dragging him out in the middle of the night. - He's saying that he got pulled out of his apartment. - Can we sleep in his apartment? The door was suddenly broken down. People dragged him out and he woke up. - That doesn't make any sense at all. - None. - Why? - Okay. - Frank took place at neutral grounds. - Yeah, but McCallen would have it out for the sky if he knows he exists. - I don't understand what-- - Yeah. - I swear. - But you're just a normal. - Well, you're a normal. - Well, he doesn't know what that means. - Yeah. - What I suspect is, so far-- - Yeah, sure. - What I suspect is that Diane is the target. If people are looking for Diane, this is a way of kind of covering his tracks by prying anyone who comes, you know, looking for him. - He wasn't doing-- he was sleeping. - I don't-- - I guess I just don't get how it fits together, like what he's doing here. - Because he means something to Diane. - Did you finish on time any second? - Frank-- - Well, this is exposition. - Frank, we're working on this, okay? Hang tight, buddy. - McCallen kidnapped him because he was dating Diane, and McCallen didn't like him. McCallen has suddenly come into magic power, because you said that you never seemed to have power before. - He was never even a disciple, or anything like all this. - He was either approached, or made a deal with something, yeah. - So now he suddenly has power, and he wants, you know, his petty little payback, starting with the guy that maybe took Diane's affections away from him. - The way he describes it, it was his apartment was broken in like three, three-thirty. - Okay, I can see him hitting both places and he's got it for her. - The murder happened. - That you guys discovered at like six, thirty, almost seven. - Maybe he was using magic as a way to get her back. You know, like, because he was jealous of all the mind mojo if it's in there. - Well, here's the other thing that's kind of scaring me a little bit, is this kind of more sad... - More sad than my diploma? - Wow. - I didn't know you had that, but now that you mentioned it, this kind of trap or this kind of magic makes me think that he knew that people are going to come after him. So it's almost like, is he aware that Diane has friends like us? - Don't think so, I think this was for the cops. - Do you really think? - Because me, she owns neutral grounds. He doesn't think she has friends who have magic? - Oh, I'm sure. - Well, yeah. - I just don't think this trap was particularly for us. - How intelligent is this man? - How intelligent is he now? - He's really close. - He's really, you can improve intelligence. - He's really close, he's really close. - He suddenly has power. - Well, no, he's suddenly has come into power. - Who knows what he has bargained his soul for? - Yeah, I'm thinking more about those lines, like he might have went outside his own, you know, he took the shortcut to power in order to get her back because she did, how long did she ditch him? - I was good six months. - I bet he called her on the phone. - Your power though, I mean. - No, it's not. - The phone call I made was to her and he was like, "Damn it!" - Then he called up the devil. - Do you know that? - No, no, no, no. - He's a speculation. - Okay. - I mean, like, I'm on the phone. Please tell us. - No, he can't hear things. - He can't hear anything. - That's all the phone. - You can pull it through that. - What's the phone on the phone? - Like, if the toilet's on the, here's the... - Yeah. - Group's conversations. - See, if we can have an also called what the phone has heard, this is all make perfect sense. - Trichlaster now. - He's Diane, danger? - Probably. - No! - She's missing. - Oh, no. - No. - No. - I mean, no. - No. - What do you mean she's missing? - She just didn't come into working. - Yeah. - This one. - That's all I didn't know of it. - We came here looking to see if maybe Mikola did something stupid because we know he's still pining after her. - She wants to thank you all for that. - Diane's in danger. We should call the police. - Oh, you are so normal. You are such a normal person. - Says the former policeman. I roll great for my deceit roll, so for what that's worth. - I'm glad you're alive. - You don't think the cops know at this point? There's a double murder at the grounds and she's not there. - Oh, yeah. Convinced Frank not to call the cops. Or at least give us something that has tried. - I'm not going to tell him not to call the cops. The cops are at the coffee shop right now. They're already involved. Just keep us out of it, Frank. - We've had enough cops today. - Listen, he's not going to not call the cops when his girlfriend is missing. Just keep us out of it. We just came to- - Well, let's just alter his memory and we'll be going with it. - That's illegal. - Yeah, I'll just chop rocks at his head and those are gas. - Well, that would work, technically. - Yeah. - But he might have to die. - We're going against the law. - That's the extent of my manipulation. - Smarting it. - My goal is just to ask Frank to keep us out of it. We came here, we rescued you. We don't want to get involved any more than we are. - Frank has absolutely no idea what the hell is going on. - Exactly. We rescued you from- - Excellent. - That is the story you need to go with, Frank. - We did not come here and rescue you, but get in the van. We'll take it back to a nice part of town. - Did he get this run marked white van with us? - No, it's like a black van with a wizard on the painting. - Jesus Christ. - You have a living room. You have a small kitchen/diting room. You have a back door. There's no garages shut out in the backyard. There's a really disgustingly dirty bathroom and a bedroom. And that's all that this house consists of. - No, yes. - You want to go check out the bedroom? - I'm talking about- - I'm talking about the- - No, no. Who knows? - Yeah. - Books. I smell books to get clues from stuff like that. - Perfini. - Bedroom, I'll investigate it. - A demon's phone. - I hold this on a crime scene. - I don't know. - It's a study body place. - No, like a second bedroom that he uses with the study sleeve. - No, no. - This is a warm bedroom. - Right. - I'll check out the bed. - Bedroom is just a mess. There isn't a bed. There's just a mattress. Go over. There's like milk crates and a door on top of it for a desk. And there's a folding chair. And the desk is just covered with all kinds of books and map. It looks like. That would probably require lore to understand. - Probably. - Is there any- - I'm sniffing. - All right. Any drops. - Your general sniffing of lore is their magic. - Yeah. - Not. - Okay. - Can I understand this magic? - You can't read it as a wolf. - So I investigate in our world. - You would probably know more about lore. - Hill lore. I'll exactly. - Best of game. - Right. Books, receipts. - Okay. - A second home somewhere that- - Giant messages. - Are all down the wall in blood about his future span. - I took her home. - Make any sense of this good bluster. - Good. - We're all the negative one. - Well, was your total then good? - Good. - Okay. - Just enough. - Yeah. You're going through the receipts and he's making purchases and there's something- - He bought the band. - He bought. - On the cheap. And there's some repair notices. But what you notice about the mattress, there's definite indications of like he was triangulating something and he was mapping something out. And his center of attention seems to be Fort McHenry. - I don't know. - Geomancy. - Yeah. - You mean like Earth magic? - That's Terromancy. - And you? - That's all right. - Is that so right here? - Terromancy. - Getting an idea. Also, good. Plus three lore. I don't understand what he was- - You call it geography. - Geography. - Two. I got a plus two because my dice panned up to zero. - But hey. - You see? - I'm using like magic senses, right? - On my reading. - You're reading. I don't get a plus one to breed him. - So you can't quite grasp what he was going for. - Well, come on. It's kind of important to not- - Am I going to have to make separate roles for understanding what the heck he was researching and the map? - I think they'll tie together. - Then I'm going to spend a big one. - The books fall into two categories. One of them is mind control, which is duh. You got that one already. But the other ones are based in Baltimore history and they're talking primarily about Leyline globally. - Geomancy. - The fuck does that mean? You know what I'm saying? - Was it Geomancy in your book? - Sure. - And one of the focal points of the huge Leylines that go across Baltimore falls on that map. That's where he was charting out. - All right. - And Fort McHenry is a very important part to where two Leylines meet. - So powerful magic goes on there. - Extremely. - See? Don't you feel better now? - What do they call that? - You've taken your first step in Geomancy. - A congruence. - Okay. - A congruence. - A congruence of Leylines. - Where that is is a major power. - I'm probably going to do some mind mojo, but like more than he can ordinarily do. - Maybe that's where we'll find him. - Yeah. - So you guys are letting Franco. - But I will say, and actually I'll get kind of grim and serious with Frank. - He's been too philosophical for me. - I can't follow this. - What's that? - No problem. - Leave us. - I don't guys need help with Diane. Just call me. I'm there. - Of course. I'll go straight to you. - I need to see you to form. - No, no. Give date your number. We may have some other questions. Diane, friend too, and we're doing what we can. - All right. And there's a cell phone in the key. - He's like, thanks. - I kind of put a little steel in my eyes. A little yellow. - A little frightening. - Yeah. - Trying to intimidate him. - Well, just keep us out of it, Frank. - All right. Why don't you give me a little to see how successful that is. - Just totally caught. - It requires an average old because Frank's scared shitless. - Oh my god. - Mine is too good. - Mine is too good. But it's still pretty good because I'm great at intimidation. So that's actually fair. - Yeah. - You need the one you got it too. - Okay. - You got a rough day. And he is willing to. - And we rescued him. - That makes you feel good. - No. - Because that hurts you. Okay. So you guys are leaving this house? - Yes. - And you are going to wear. - Damn it. - I think we should sort of de-fouring. - McHenry. - I mean, he's got to like-- - Man, just throw him in the castle right away. - You're both professed on? - Oh, I don't know. I'm both professed. - Well, you guys are leaving the house, walking down the street with a nearly naked man. - No. - And he has clothes. - He said he brought him in that. And he's got that Saint Bernard thing. - And as you walk down the street a bit and get into your van, there's a lady looking at the window. She's shaking a finger at you. And she's showing a phone. - Oh, wait, she's shaking a finger. - Oh, man, it hurt. I was waiting for this, too. So I stop, you know, turn and look at her and go. - And turn you a wolf? - Oh, another gentleman. - You guys are going to cut a rope, which is-- - Are you doing another intimidation roll? - Sure. - I'll do it. - I pee on a rope. - I can't. Hey, rules are for normals. I don't follow the rules. - This is not a strategy. - In fact, wolves, little grandmothers. I'm, you know, according to everything-- - Really? - I think he's a-- - That's worth a fake point. - I did a good job of threatening her. - Put the finger in the door. - Pretty tired. She falls down his arms. - Yeah. - She'll kill the woman. - Well, I don't really see her drop away from the window, so I'm okay. - All right. - She probably just fakes it. - All right. And what's going on here? [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] - Thanks for listening to Nights at the Night at Actual Play Podcast. Visit kotnpodcast.com for more information on this and other adventures where you will find character stats, photos, storytelling, props, and even a form for comments and suggestions. Or you could email us directly at feedback@kotnpodcast.com. Or contact us via Twitter or leave a message on Facebook. [MUSIC PLAYING] All music for this podcast was created and performed by Zen Audio Smith. If you'd like custom professional music created for your podcast or business, please visit ZenAudioSmith.com. And please join us next episode for more mystery and adventure. [MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] - Phone's next. There's sweet psychic love to this phone.