Episode 395 - Fungal Fantasia

Something not that chill happens when Skud plays a prank on Toby.

## **Story**

### Long Story

Atop this large mushroom, Skud has created 24 demons that he can't speak to. Even if he could, these demons aren't from here, so they can't really help. Even so, Skud asks questions, and Rowan translates. These creatures don't know where Aludra, Jaela, and Adira are, but they are able to point toward the mushroom castle/mountain that Zuggtmoy lives at. This is surely where the 3 ladies have been taken, and where they need to go to. All the demons then destroy themselves, as they will no longer be able to help. To find more information, Toby heads to the tip of mushroom (lol), leans down to the slimy muck there, and attempts to scry. His messy magic is cut short by Skud pulling a prank on him *(I'm writing this article on April 1, 2021, so this is on brand, actually).* Skud lifts Toby up in the air and dunks him into the slime! As a very wise baby once said, "How rude!"

But, then... Toby's head shoots up out of the slime. His eyes are glowing. Mushrooms begin sprouting from his skin. His right eye is covered in mushrooms. He floats. And all around them, the Slime Pits fade away to reveal... Well, it's different for everyone. But at the same time, everyone sees what everyone sees. Each character's worst fears are brought to life before them, and attack! Everyone sees this all at once during the battle.

Rowan is confronted by her Dark Past, in the form of her father turning his back on her, telling her she isn't good enough.

Eckhart Dayhammer is face to face with a dilapidated, run-down building that's named "Rhaegar's Community Center for Respectful Teens and Precocious Tweens". Rhaegar has been abandoned...

Bucky is brought back to his days working at the burrito stand in Deephome. His burning teen angst is brought to life in the form of... a Natchoos! A massive hot wave of cheese and food chunks descends upon him, teeth chomping.

Lahni sees before her the dying bodies of her family, the Caplains. And behind her, a deep voice cackles. She turns to see a figure familiar to her... The E.G.G. (Eggplant Gore Garrote) Killer! He terrorized the lands of Arkensaw when Lahni was younger, and these two have apparently had a run-in before.

Skud has been running from his past at the Monastery of Uthgar, and remembers his Old Master, and the other monks, dying at the hands of the Skull Bandits so many years ago. The more he tries to fight, the more bones pile up at his feet.

The grand battle begins.

Lahni is swung at by the E.G.G. Killer, but she's too fast for him. He does manage to enshroud her with Fairy Fire. Lahni, for her part, well... she punch. Skud sends out some sick *Chain Lightning* (and a *Spiritual Weapon*) to pick off these skeletons. In response, they attack him right back, but instead of lowering HP like normal, they take away some of his max HP! Bucky goes absolutely ham on this cheese monster. And the battle rages on...

### Short

Skud's demons point them toward Zuggtmoy's castle, and then destroy themselves. Skud decides to play a prank on Toby by dunking him in some mushroom slime. This causes Toby to become infected, and uses his reality altering magic to attack his friends with their worst fears. Rowan confronts her father, Bucky squares off against a Natchoos, Lahni fights the E.G.G. Killer, and Skud faces off against the skeletons of the friends he couldn't save.

## **Trivia**

* This episode was recorded on Nika's birthday!
* Bachmann bought his first set of dice specifically to start this show. I just find that interesting
* The Wiki was in a right sorry state when this episode was recorded, so the previous episode Bachmann was trying to look up didn't exist. A thousand apologies for letting you down, Bachmann...
* I'm gonna be honest. I have no idea what's going on in this episode. Obviously, the DM change, Skud's prank, and Toby's subsequent episode was planned, but I don't think Nika was in on it. Also, there's some reference to $20 being made by Tim and/or Bachmann? It may be a Patreon thing? I don't know
* While it's true that the switch to 5th Edition happened on Episode 127, and Thom's last episode was Episode 154 (meaning there were 28 episodes of Thom in 5th Edition), it's also true that Thom has shown up rather recently...
* Everyone remembers Baz, right?

## **In This Episode...**

### **Cast and Player Characters**

* Michael DiMauro - *Dungeon Master* / Bucky
* Tim Lanning - Toby Treacletart / *Dungeon Master*???
* Mike Bachmann - Skud Derringer
* Nika Howard - Lahnik "Lahni" Caplain

### **Non-Player Characters**

* Rowan Grey
* 24 Lesser Demons
* Eckhart Dayhammer

### **Locations**

* The Abyss
	+ The Slime Pits

### **Quest Log Updates**

* [On-Hold] - Stop Tiamat!
* [Active] - Destroy The Orb!
	+ [Active] - Find the final missing piece
		- [Active] - Investigate The Slime Pits of The Abyss
		- [Active] - Find/Rescue Adira Harper, Aludra Wyrmsbane, and Jaela
	+ [Back-burner][Toby] - Deal (or no deal) with Vecna
* [Side-line][Boris] - Restore the used Planar Crystals that power The *BTS*
* [On-Hold] - Return to Catherine Beanlord's graveyard in The Elemental Plane of Earth get the body of Tuck Frump
* [Active][Jaeludra] - Investigate the Great Colosseum in Caer

### **Quotes**

* **"Bachmann, I rolled a 1! Again! But I rolled two of them. 11. You stupid bitch."** ~ *Tim Lanning*

* **"MisterRed's somewhere right now, he's just like, playing Pokémon, shuddering..."** ~ *Tim Lanning, It's true*

* **"Hey, Demons... Uh, I know it's pretty crowded in here. We're gonna work on um, a solution for that..."** ~ *Mike Bachmann*

* **"Michael, Tim's DM-ing again."** ~ *Mike Bachmann*

* **"By the devotion of Rhaegar, they... ignored Rhaegar!"** ~ *Eckhart Dayhammer*

## **Rolls**

* **Recap**
	+ Tim - Nat1 - *roll-off* - 11
	+ **Bachmann - Nat1 - *roll-off* - 18**
	+ Nika - 3

* Everyone makes an *Intelligence* check
	+ **Bucky** - 17
		- Success - 23 Psychic damage
	+ **Skud** - 23
		- Success - 23 Psychic damage
	+ **Lahni** - ~~6~~ 24
		- Success - 23 Psychic damage

*Combat Begins vs various mushroom visions*

* **Initiative**
	+ The E.G.G. Killer
	+ Bucky - 20
	+ Skud - 14
	+ 8 Skeletons
	+ Lahni - 7
	+ Natchoos
	+ Shambling Mound

*Round One*

* **E.G.G. Killer**
	+ Melee Attack vs Lahni {x2} - 14, 16
		- Miss, Miss

* **Bucky**
	+ Melee Attack (Greatsword) vs Natchoos {x6} - 29, 13, 13, 27, XX, XX
		- Hit, Hit, Hit, Hit, Hit, Hit - 74 damage

* **Skud**
	+ Casts *Spiritual Weapon* (at 3rd level)
	+ Casts *Chain Lightning*, requiring DC 18 DEX Saving Throws from 3 skeletons
		- Skeleton 1 - 4
			* Fail - 45 Lightning damage - *Kills it*
		- Skeleton 2 - 10
			* Fail - 45 Lightning damage - *Kills it*
		- Skeleton 3 - 11
			* Fail - 45 Lightning damage - *Kills it*
	+ Spiritual Weapon attacks Skeleton 4 - 14
		- Hit - 3 damage

* **5 Skeletons**
	+ Melee Attack (longsword, 2-handed) vs Skud {x5} - 5, 15, 5, Nat20, 19
		- Miss, Miss, Miss, Hit, Hit - 12 Slashing damage, also requires him to make 3 DC 13 CON Saving Throws
			* CON Save 1 - 18
				+ Success
			* CON Save 2 - 10
				+ Fail - 9 HP permanently reduced from his max!
			* CON Save 3 - 23
				+ Success

* **Lahni**
	+ Goes Invisible
	+ Monk Punch vs E.G.G. Killer {x4} - 23, 30, 30, 28
		- Hit, Hit, Hit, Hit - 60 damage

* **Natchoos**
	+ Melee Attack (Bite, I think) vs Bucky {x2} - 9, 16
		- Miss, Miss

* **Shambling Mound**
	+ Melee Attack vs Skud {x2} - 19, 10
		- Hit, Miss - 13 Bludgeoning damage, also requires him to make a CON Saving Throw - 17
			* Success - Not caught in a bone cage

*Round Two*

* **E.G.G. Killer**
	+ Melee Attack vs Lahni {x2} - 13, 13
		- Miss, Miss - also requires a DC 16 DEX Saving Throw - Nat1
			* Fail - Enshrouded in Fairy Fire

* **Bucky**
	+ Melee Attack (Greatsword) vs Natchoos {x3} - 15, 14, 19
		- Hit, Hit, Hit - 44 damage

* **Skud**
	+ Casts *Chain Lightning* requiring DEX Saving Throws from 3 skeletons
		- Skeleton 4 - X
			* Success - 22 Lightning damage
		- Skeleton 5 - XX
			* Fail - 43 Lightning damage - *Kills it*
		- Skeleton 6 - XX
			* Fail - 22 Lightning damage
	+ Spiritual Weapon attacks Skeleton 4 - 19
		- Hit - *Kills it*

* **3 Skeletons**
	+ Melee Attack (longsword, 2-handed) vs Skud {x3} - 24, 21, 18
		- Hit, Hit, Hit - 36 Slashing damage, also requires him to make 3 DC 13 CON Saving Throws
			* CON Save 1 - 13
				+ Success
			* CON Save 2 - 17
				+ Success
			* CON Save 3 - 16
				+ Success

*Episode Ends mid-combat*