RQG 67 - Ack Zombies!

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## Ack Zombies!

### Players

Ben Meredith as Grizzop
Bryn Monroe as Hamid
Lydia Nicholas as Sasha
James Ross as Bertie

## Content Warnings

Undead (Western-fantasy zombies), physical violence/combat, mind control, gore, viscera, blood, graphic description of injury, mass panic, SFX: screaming, squelching

## Summary

The party find out what that scream was all about. Bertie gets taken for dinner, Hamid fights like Hamid, Sasha gets explosive, and Grizzop gets interviewed.

## Synopsis

After hearing a loud scream as they teleported away, the party lands in front of the university. The landscape is completely illogical; the staircases move, there are walkways with no destination, and buildings float around and bump into each other before re-shifting elsewhere. It’s clearly a place built exclusively for those with magic powers.

The party ask if they can get back down to the city and investigate the scream they heard. The mage in front of them doesn’t seem to take it seriously. He tells them to join the queue on the other side and Bertie attempts to shout him down; the mage directs them to the complaints office, and Hamid attempts to convince the mage to let them jump the line. The mage clearly doesn’t care, and Grizzop jumps in, saying that the mage could be responsible for someone’s death if they don’t let them get back to the ground. The mage finally agrees and they pay 100 gold to get back to the ground. The world shifts around them and they end back up on the ground in the middle of the square.

The square is complete chaos; a mage shoots a *fireball* into the crowd and there are a few people running and screaming around the square. There are no guards anywhere to be seen, and Hamid, Sasha, and Grizzop notice a bunch of lumbering shapes wandering around and recognize them as zombies; they all immediately launch into an all-out fight. Hamid, noticing Bertie is facing the wrong direction, yells at him to make him turn around.

## Quotes

**Teleportation Wizard**: "What are you?"
**Grizzop**: "Uh ... I'm a Goblin."
**Teleportation Wizard**: "Uh, alright, sorry."
**Grizzop**: "Anyway—"
**Bertie**: "Rude."
**Grizzop**: "Thank you."
―The party gets teleported up to the University level of Prague.

**Bryn**: "Hamid backs off so he's standing next to the other wizard... cause y'know... we're safer in flocks."
**Ben**: "Is there any combat that hasn't started Hamid's turn with "I back off"?"
**Alex**: "Occasionally he vomits."
**Lydia**: "Sometimes he's started off with his back against the wall—"
**Alex**: "Oh that's true, that's true, then, then he has to find a corridor to back away down."
―The party begin to fight the zombie horde.

**Bertie**: "Sorry fans, no autographs."
**Alex**: "How? How are you attracting undead and treating this as the best thing that ever happened to you? Ugh, Bertie I hate you!"
―The zombies swarm Bertie.

**Sword**: "Hello!"
**Bertie**: "Ah!"
**Sword**: "What's the problem?"
**Bertie**: "Zombies."
**Sword**: "Zombies, eh? Let me tell you about a zombie."
**Bertie**: "I mean, in a minute?"
**Sword**: "Yeah, okay."
―Bertie uses Sir Everard MacGuffingham's sword for the first time.

**Alex**: "Catching zombies are a thing—we'll have to find out."
**Ben**: "Ah no, I don't wanna deal with zombie Bertie!"
**Lydia**: "No, not zombie Bertie!"
**Bryn**: "Guys, it'll be fine it'll be less offensive."
―Bertie is bitten by a zombie.

"Dissolving on me, eh? The *coward's* way out!"
―**Bertie**

**James**: "Bertie, uh, having now—he's now got his less *chatty* sword in hand—"
**Alex**: "*Boo! Boooo!*"
―Bertie stops using Sir Everard MacGuffingham's sword.

**James**: "What Bertie's now going to do is—so with the regular Bastard Sword in hand, he's also now going to pull out, uh, Sir Everard MacGuffingham's sword—"
**Alex**: "Provoking an attack of opportunity which cannot happen cause they're zombies."
**James**: "Yup. And he's going to attempt a Dazzling Display. He's not attempting to intimidate the zombies, he's attempting to intimidate Sir Everard MacGuffingham's sword."
**Alex**: "Right, just, just ... just gimme a second to process this. So you're trying to use both swords to intimidate one of the swords that you're using *in* the Dazzling Display."
―Bertie attacks the zombies.

**Bryn**: "I'm gonna have to get—I'm gonna make, make sure I help, actually help him, move *towards* the enemy—"
**Alex**: "Woah, woah!"
**Bryn**: "I know right."
**Lydia**: "Leadership is going to Hamid's head."
**Bryn**: "Yeah."
―The party fights zombies.

**Lydia**: "Do I—have—as it was falling, and I punched forward, did my hand go into the skull, so I now have a little skull puppet?"
**Alex**: "Yes. I'm glad we had this chat."
**Lydia**: "With, with a dagger coming out of its eye."
―Sasha attacks the zombies.

## Dice rolls and Mechanics

Bertie rolls an intimidate check on the mage at university: 16.

Grizzop makes a diplomacy check: 20.

The entire party makes perception checks: Grizzop gets 9, Sasha gets 18, Hamid gets 23, Bertie gets a 1.

Sasha makes a will save to resist Bertie’s ring: 9.

Bertie makes a perception roll: 1.

## Combat

Initiative rolls: Grizzop gets 14, Hamid gets 8, Bertie gets 12, Sasha gets 13.

Grizzop nocks an arrow while running forward and channels positive energy to attack the zombies. Two of the groups of zombies fail and take 6 damage, and the final group takes 3.

Sasha steps forward and throws a bomb at the group of zombies that didn’t take any damage, gets a 13 on the attack. It hits, does 4 fire damage and 2 splash damage.

Bertie is flat-footed. He puts on the ‘repel undead’ ring. A wave of calm rushes over Sasha and then passes, and then every single zombie in the area turns and looks at Bertie; turns out the ring is “attract undead”.

Hamid sees every zombie look at Bertie and backs off so he’s next to the other wizard, and casts *scorching ray* at the zombie next to Grizzop. He rolls a 22 on the hit and deals 19 fire damage. The zombie explodes.

Every zombie swarm toward Bertie, and three more appear in the square.

The wizard yells that he’s out of spells.

Grizzop channels positive energy again. One group doesn’t fail; all of the zombies who fail take 5 damage, and the single group that made the check take 2 damage. Six of the zombies fall.

Sasha steps forward and throws a bomb at the zombies that just appeared. She hits on a 23, and deals 2 damage and 2 splash damage.

Bertie attacks the zombie closest to him; rolls a 22 attack, deals 12 damage. The zombie falls. Bertie sheathes Sir Everard’s sword and takes the other one out of his pack.

Hamid ushers the other wizard back to safety and casts *magic missile*. He hits and does two damage to the first zombie and three to the second.

More zombies appear in the square, for a total of 13 zombies. The zombie closest to Bertie attacks and misses. A second attacks and crits, confirms the crit with another nat 20, and deals 13 damage.

Grizzop channels positive energy once again; the zombies on the left hand side take full damage, the ones on the right take half damage, and the one that hit Bertie gets another nat 20. Grizzop deals 9 damage to the ones on the left, 4 damage to the ones on the right, and Bertie is healed for 9 damage. The ones on the left fall, and the ones attacking Bertie do as well.

Sasha steps forward and throws a bomb at another zombie, gets a 16 on the attack and deals 8 damage and 2 splash damage. The one hit by the bomb explodes.

Bertie charges at the lead zombie; rolls a 20 on the attack, and deals 12 damage. The zombie falls.

Hamid shoots *magic missile* at the two hit by Sasha’s bombs; 5 damage against one and 2 against the other. The one that took 5 is dead.

Three zombies move forward, almost surrounding Bertie.

Grizzop fires two arrows at the two behind Bertie. Rolls an 18 on the first, deals 6 damage. Rolls a 17 on the second, deals 5 damage, the zombies fall.

Sasha acrobatics to the other side; rolls a 19. She stabs the zombie and rolls an 18 on the attack, dealing 1 damage.

Bertie pulls out Sir Everard’s sword and attempts a dazzling display to intimidate the sword. He rolls a 6, and hits himself in the face, dealing himself 1 damage.

Hamid moves toward the enemy and casts *scorching ray*; hits on a roll of 21 and deals 15 damage, blowing the zombie away.

The zombies attack Bertie. The first misses, the second hits and deals 10 damage.

Grizzop shoots arrows at the two around Bertie. He rolls a 26 on the first and it takes 3 damage. He rolls a 27 on the second and it takes 3 damage as well.

Sasha stabs the zombie in front of her twice. Hits on a 13, misses on a 1. She deals 3 damage and kills the zombie.

Bertie attacks the zombie in front of him, dual wielding. Rolls a 13, deals 5 damage and kills the zombie, and then rolls a natural 1 with the hand wielding Sir Everard’s sword and deals 11 damage against himself.

Hamid walks over to Grizzop and introduces himself, asking if Grizzop wants a job.