9. Jess #2
I sat back in my chair, giving the entire table a smug look.
I was no slouch when it came to roleplaying games.
It also helped that all the players couldn’t roll above a ten all night.
Daniel’s improvisation skills made him a natural for the game.
However, he couldn’t roll worth a damn and had to constantly check with Bennet on the rules.
The crowd loved him, which wasn’t a surprise.
As an actor, he knew how to play to the audience.
“Okay!” Bray said, cueing a lighting change to raise the tension of the moment. “Sir Roderick. All of your allies are unconscious and bleeding out. You are the last one standing. Out of curiosity and above the table… How many hit points do you have left?”
Danny chuckled. “Oh, I’ve got three.”
The crowd murmured.
Bray smirked and turned to me. “How are you doing, Kismet?”
“Significantly better,” I replied smugly, not wanting to play my hand. I had twelve hit points left, which wasn’t much, but still counted as ‘significant’ in my mind.
Bray hit a music cue, and a tense drumbeat with a heavy bass line kicked in.
“Sir Roderick of Meh. It is your turn. What do you want to do?”
“One second, please!” Daniel turned to Bennet. They consulted Daniel’s character sheet. He and Bennet had a hushed conversation away from the microphones. Daniel broke into a big smile.
“Is that good?” Daniel asked, pulling back in front of the microphone as Bennet nodded. “Right. Okay then. First, I would like to use my last spell slot as a bonus action to cast healing word on Grover, as he’s next in initiative and down two death saves.”
The crowd cheered in relief. Bray smiled. “Roll for it.”
“Riiiiiight,” Danny said, scrambling for the dice and then doing the math in his head. “That’s six hit points to Grover.”
“I’ll take it!” Grover shouted, sighing in relief.
“And now for my action, I’d like to take my full movement and rush at Kismet, attacking with my trusty rapier,” Daniel announced, waving his hand like he was wielding a sword.
“Roll to attack!” Bray commanded.
Daniel smirked at me as he rolled the twenty-sided die. There was a confidence in him that made me want to melt. He looked down at the roll and smiled. Bennet peeked over his shoulder and laughed. “No freaking way! No!”
“Is it a nat one?” Bray asked eagerly.
“No,” Daniel said, savoring the moment. With a flourish he waved his hand towards the dice tray. “I believe you call this a natural twenty.”
The crowd erupted into wild cheers.
“Roll for damage! You need to roll the damage die and double it before adding your Dex modifier,” Brayonna instructed.
Daniel leaned forward, gleefully checking his character sheet. “And if I read this correctly, I can expend my last bardic inspiration to add damage. Does that double as well?”
“It does!” Bray laughed.
Daniel let out a cackle, and the crowd joined in. He rolled his dice and muttered softly to himself, his voice picking up on the microphone. “Okay, that is a six on the die, a four on the inspiration dice, so… twenty-three?”
Brayonna looked over at me. I let the silence hang there for a moment to raise the tension level.
“I had twelve hit points,” I replied.
The entire auditorium screamed and jumped to their feet.
“Sir Roderick of Meh! How do you end this battle?”
Daniel stood up, throwing his arms open to the crowd, milking the moment for all it was worth. “I run up to her on my wee tiny feet. I call out to Grover, using my magical words to heal him. Then I thrust forward, burying my blade to the hilt. As the light starts to fade from her eyes, I say-”
He dropped his voice low, using his Tyrst’an voice. “I guess I’m not so meh after all.”
The crowd cheered and stomped their feet. Daniel bowed, throwing his arms out grandly.
But the game wasn’t over yet.
Bray smiled and turned back to me. “Kismet! Any last words?”
I leaned forward, putting my elbows on the table, and gave Daniel and Brayonna a sly grin. “That depends. Do I get a reaction?”
“Indeed, you do,” Bray cackled.
The crowd gasped. Danny’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
This is where my gaming experience paid off.
“As the light fades from my eyes, I point at Sir Roderick and say, ‘you may be victorious, but I’m taking you with me!’” I shouted in my best hag voice. “And then with my dying breath, I cast Hellish Rebuke. At seventh level.”
The crowd reacted, applauding and shouting.
“I don’t understand what’s that?” Daniel asked, looking around and blinking rapidly.
“Dude, you are so dead,” Grover said, shaking his head.
“Sir Roderick, I’ll need you to make a Dex saving throw,” Brayonna informed him. “Roll high.”
Daniel rolled and then burst out laughing. “That’s a natural one.”
The crowd ate it up, groaning and gasping at the turnaround.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, Bray, but I believe the house rules state that on a natural one for a saving throw, they take critical damage?” I asked with a wide grin.
“Oh no!” Pippin shouted.
I picked up all the dice I needed and rattled them around in my hands, a smirk on my face. Daniel’s eyes went wide.
“That’s a lot of dice,” he murmured.
Bray laughed. “What’s the damage?”
I rolled my dice, counting it up in my head. “With critical damage? That’s eighty-two hit points.”
“God. Damn,” Crayden swore.
“What does that mean?” Daniel asked, laughing.
“What’s your maximum hit points, Roderick?” Bray asked.
“Forty-seven.”
The smile on Bray’s face faded away. She hit a music cue, and a mournful tune began to play.
“The damage you take from the hellish flames that sink into your body exceeds your total hit points,” Her tone became somber and grave, but I knew she was milking this moment for all it was worth. “I’m sorry, but Sir Roderick of Meh has died.”
The entire crowd gasped in horror. Daniel, however, reveled in the moment.
“Do I get any last words?” Daniel asked, vibrating in his seat in excitement.
“Oh, God. Actors and their last words,” I groaned, which caused the crowd to laugh.
“Sir Roderick of Meh, who performed so gallantly on this day, what are your last words?” Brayonna asked.
“I reach out to Grover,” Daniel said, dropping his voice to a low grumble.
Matching words to actions, he reached across Bennet to take Louis’ hand.
“And I say… Grover! Remember this moment. Tell the world of my actions here today. Let the people of Rex Dondrion remember the name of Sir Roderick of Meh in the ages to come.”
Grover chuckled. “Yeah, dude, there’s no way I’m going to remember that with an intelligence of six.”
“I loot the hag!” Pippin shouted.
“Can I have Meh’s boots?” Cricket asked.
“And that’s where we are going to end it tonight!” Bray shouted to the cheering crowd.
I smiled at Daniel, who gave me a smirk in return.
Once again, Daniel offered to walk with me back to the hotel, and I accepted without hesitation.
The thrill of the live show began to wane, and I could tell his energy level was off like when I first saw him at the theater.
His shoulders were slouched, and while he smiled, something seemed off.
Part of me wondered if this was a sign that maybe he had some doubts.
Not that we were dating or anything, but compared to earlier in the day, he was very low-key.
“Are you okay?” I asked, slipping my arm around his.
“Hmm? Oh, I’m fine,” he said with a shrug.
“You’re awfully quiet.”
He shrugged again. “Must be the trailer shoot tomorrow. There’s a lot riding on it.”
“Opening night jitters?” I suggested and gave him a little bump with my hip.
That seemed to knock him out of his funk a bit. His gaze turned to me, head tilting. “Maybe.”
“Just do what you did yesterday at the interview,” I assured him, and I slipped my hand into his.
“You’re supposed to be impartial,” he teased me.
“I want you to do right by your niece,” I said, dodging the statement.
His smile faded a little, but he gave my hand a squeeze. But when he dropped me off at my floor, I could feel the doubt creeping into my head.
Maybe this thing between us was just a fling after all.