The Affection Multiplier - Side Story 7: The Dungeons & Dragons session. (Patreon)

Author's note: Sorry for the delay, but it's finally here. And it's quite a bit longer than other side stories because I really suck at short stories. I'll need to work on that, but it doesn't matter much for now because I had a blast writing this. A lot of the time I was grinning like an idiot. To be honest, it's very tempting to turn this into a spin off series with a monthly update with longer chapters. Perhaps make that the new patreon goal? Let me know what you think. If it turns out you guys don't like it, then there's no point. Still, I loved writing this and I hope the length can make up for the delay.

Original idea by The Fool: A high fantasy story involving the characters of The Affection Multiplier. I had to make several changes because it wasn't working, so we end up with David and his schoolmates playing Dungeons and Dragons.

This is canon to the main plot and takes place at any moment after Katherine and David get together.

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“Alright. You guys have your character sheets ready?” Sophia asks, taking a seat at the head of the table in your room.

“I’m ready.” You nod. “I wanted to name my character something other than David, though.”

“Next time. Now we’re just figuring out how to play. Let’s try to keep things that will confuse us out of the game.” Sophia says, and you reluctantly agree.

After all, the magic of Dungeons & Dragons is to create whatever character you want, right? Katherine seems to share your thoughts. But considering you’re also playing with Emily and Megan, who’ve never even heard of tabletop RPGs, and that this is Sophia’s first attempt at being a Dungeon Master, you’re willing to make compromises. Since Emily and Megan found it strange to play a game where they play the role of a different person, Sophia decided to have you all just play as yourselves for this introductory session.

“This is actually my first time playing D&D as well.” Katherine says, giggling. “My friends from high school and I always wanted to play, but none of us ever learned how.”

“Same here.” You tell her.

“Okay, I think I get how this works. But you’ll still need to teach me as we go.” Emily says, looking over her character sheet as she takes her spot at the table.

“Don’t worry. I’m familiar with the rules already.” Sophia reassures her. “And the point is to have fun. So just relax and let your imagination do the work.”

“We have to throw the dice to know if what we do works or not, right?” Megan asks, examining the 20-sided die with amusement. “Alright. Let’s play!”

Everyone takes a seat around the table and you wait for Sophia to start this up.

With her notes, dice and maps hidden behind a wine colored screen on the table, Sophia takes a deep breath and begins.

“The four of you are a group of able fighters who’ve left the comfort of your home town for a life adventure. After traveling for several days through dry deserts, dark forests and rocky mountain paths, you…”

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“I finally see a town!” Katherine announces from on top of a rock it the middle of the hill path down. She sounds excited and has a big smile on her face. Her tight, emerald green dress is spotless despite the long trek along the mountain. An enchanted dressed passed down in her family, she says.

“Good. I hope we find some work there. We’re starting to run low on funds.” You say, nodding. But getting a bit of rest will be top priority. You’ve been trained, but that still doesn’t mean walking through the mountains with chainmail under your clothes and a big sword hanging from your shoulder is particularly comfortable. Though you’re looking forward to the day you can afford a full set of armor, you’re not looking forward to carrying it around.

“…”

“…”

Your other two companions, though you’ve known for a long time, have remained silent for a lot of the trip. Emily, who’s wearing a set of traditional sky-blue monk robes in a very untraditional way, doesn’t seem tired enough to not speak. She has her sleeveless robes opened, showing the set of bandages wrapped around her chest.

“You okay, Emily?” You ask her.

“Ah? Oh, yeah, sure. Let’s go to the town.” The blonde nods absentmindedly, still walking forward with a quarterstaff in hand.

“What do you think, Megan?” You ask your third companion.

“…That’s what we’re here for, right?” She answers with a casual nod.

Well, at least they’re trying.

Megan is wearing a brown leather cuirass over her thick, black linen clothes with a light brown mantle finishing her adventuring outfit. A slick wooden bow and a quiver of arrows hang from her back.

You and Katherine share a wry smile before you decide to just let them be for now. You’ll be getting to the town ahead around the afternoon. You’ll be able to familiarize yourselves with the area before night falls.

As you walk towards the small town, you notice the empty, dry fields. Farming spots that should be filled with greenery seem completely abandoned. You swallow, wondering if there’s something wrong with the town ahead.

The village is small, with no more than 13 or 14 houses made of lath and plaster, with one big stone building that seems like a church. Other than that, dirt roads and dry grass cover the area. The people walking around look immensely tired and depressed.

“What’s going on here?” Katherine asks, worried.

“Let see if we can get some info at the inn.” You suggest.

After asking an old lady for directions, you arrive there. And the inn/tavern is nearly empty. The young woman behind the counter raises an eyebrow when she sees your group coming, then forces a smile to her face as she welcomes you in.

“Travelers! Welcome! What can the Nimble Cat Inn do for you today?”

“We wanted a room to rest. And… perhaps know what the situation in town is?”

“W-Well. R-rooms I have, but I wouldn’t know what to say about the town.” The woman laughs nervously. “Everything’s normal here!”

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“Megan,” Sophia says, “Do an insight check. That means throw the die and add the number next to the word ‘insight’ on your sheet.”

“W-Why? What did I do?” Megan asks, looking worried.

“Nothing. This is to see if you notice anything weird with the woman you’re talking to.”

“Oh! Alright then.” After understanding, Megan rolls the d20. It lands on a 14. “Plus… 4. That’s 18.”

“Is that good?” Emily asks.

“Very good.” Sophia smiles. “Megan, you notice that the woman seems to be acting strange. She’s very happy to have customers, but is also oddly nervous. She’s been glancing at David a lot.”

“So… uh… what do I do?”

“Whatever you want.” Sophia tells Megan. “That’s the thing about this game. You can do, or try to do, whatever you want.”

“Okay, so then… I ask her why she’s so nervous.”

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“What’s wrong? Why are you acting so weird?” Megan asks.

“M-Me? W-Weird? Why would I be acting weird?” The woman asks, now visibly agitated and glancing from side to side.

“She’s not hiding it very well.” Emily chuckles.

“Look. If you tell us we might be able to help.” Katherine says, looking at the woman with a soft, small smile.

-Persuasion Check: 9+5=14 – PASS!

“L-Look. It’s just… I don’t know if you’ve noticed that there are no men in this village.” The woman finally gives, her shoulders slumping and her face obviously scared. “All the men have disappeared, leaving our already small town with very little people to work the land. What’s more, rumors have spread that even men who stay here end up disappearing, so I barely ever have customers anymore. This has being going on for about five months.”

She looks directly at you, and the eyes of your companions follow suit.

“But… unlike the others, your group looks strong. Maybe you could… find out what happened to them?” The woman asks, hesitant.

“What do you think?” You ask your companions.

“I’m curious.” Emily says.

“I want to help.” Katherine says. “It’s very weird that only men are disappearing.”

“Uh… sure?” Megan nods, following along with the rest.

“Then it’s decided. We’ll try to find out what’s going on in this town.” You nod.

You end up renting a room with two beds. Leave your stuff there and go back down the get some food and discuss what to do.

______________________________________________________________

“So? How will you try to approach this mystery?” Sophia asks you all.

You and Katherine share another short glance of understanding and turn to Emily and Megan. “What do you think?” Katherine asks them.

“I don’t know. What can we do?” Emily asks.

“Like I told you. You can do anything.” Sophia reemphasizes. “If you want to go around and talk to people, you can do that. If you want to go out of town and explore, you can do that too.”

“Wait! So…” Megan smiles devilishly. “If men are suddenly disappearing… Why don’t we use David as bait?”

And while Emily and Sophia burst out laughing, Katherine is completely on board with the idea. “Yes! We could just watch him from afar and see where he goes! We might even be able to find the others!”

“Okay then, let’s do that.” Emily grins.

“I’m gonna have to re-roll a character, aren’t I?” You sigh, resigned to your fate.

______________________________________________________________

Since the inn owner said people only went missing at night, the four of you take the rest of the day to rest up. When the sun has completely set, you grab your greatsword, make sure all your gear is in order, and walk out of the inn alone. You know the others must be silently tracking you. Either that or you’ve already lost them, because you can’t hear anyone near you.

And that gives you an idea.

You take a deep breath and focus your mind. Slowly, you start to become aware of the possibility that something grander than humans is present in this town. As a Paladin, your Divine Sense lets you feel the presence of either evil or virtuous beings close to you. There’s a chance that something of that nature is at play here, and it’s better to avoid taking chances. And when a normal, yet oddly beautiful young woman walks up to you with a pungent, repulsive odor coming from her, you know you’re dealing with a fiend.

You want to reach out for your sword immediately, but force yourself to remember the plan. Even if you managed to kill this creature, it wouldn’t prove or solve anything. You simply grit your teeth as the fiend in disguise gives you an innocent, puzzled look.

“Hello, mister. Are you lost? Do you need some help?” The girl giggles. “I’d be more than happy to assist you in… any way you wished.”

Her innocent smile turns sexy and devilish. Her eyes narrow and there’s something like a pinkish glint to them.

______________________________________________________________

“Roll a wisdom save, David.” Sophia tells you. “Also, only show your roll to me.”

“What’s going on?” Megan asks, raising an eyebrow. “Why can’t we see?”

“Okay, big rule here.” Sophia says. “Sometimes I’ll tell things only to one or two of you. That’s because, although we’re all playing in the same table, your characters SHOULDN’T know what’s happening to another if they aren’t there to see it or hear it.”

“Ooooh. Gotcha.” Megan nods.

“So even if we know David smells something weird on the girl here at the table, our characters in the game have no idea?” Emily asks.

“Correct!” Katherine nods with a satisfied smile.

“Alright…” The blonde hums. “This is a weird game.”

“Just give it a chance until the end of the session.” You tell her with a wry smile. “If you don’t like it you don’t have to play it again.”

“Hey, I said I’d give it a chance and I will.” Emily nods. “Sorry. Go on, Sophia.”

______________________________________________________________

Katherine and the other two girls watch from afar and hidden behind a house as David speaks to a girl. They can’t quite hear what they’re saying.

“Do you think she’s lost?” Katherine asks.

“But this is her own town, right? How would she be lost?” Megan says.

“Oh. Right.”

“They’re moving.” Emily says.

They watch as, with a simple movement of her finger, David starts following the girl… right out of town!

“W-What’s going on?” Katherine asks, nervous.

“Oh come on! Did he get seduced so easily?” Emily groans in annoyance.

“He wouldn’t just ditch us, right?” Megan asks.

“He wouldn’t. That means…”

“It’s that girl!” Megan exclaims, realization hitting her. “But how!?”

“We figure it out later! Follow them!” Katherine orders.

-Katherine stealth roll: 10+0=10 – PASS!

-Megan stealth roll: 8+3=11 – PASS!

-Emily stealth roll: 15+3=18 – PASS!

The three girls follow David and the strange girl from a safe distance, trying as hard as they can to keep quiet as they do. The night sky might be helping them, as well as tips from Megan on how to blend in with the grass.

They follow the two for about a 30 minute walk through the abandoned fields until they reach a single wooden building in the middle of nowhere. It’s like a small cabin, run down and completely abandoned.

“She’s gonna rape him!” Megan gasps, aghast. “In an abandoned shack, no less!”

“Not like we were expecting her to bring him to a high class inn.” Katherine comments.

“So every other guy was brought here like this?” Emily asks.

“Probably. If they came willingly, then that explains why no one could prevent it.” Katherine nods. “Could the others still be there?”

“We’ll see.” Emily nods.

-Katherine perception check: 2+3= 5 – FAIL!

-Megan perception check: 13+4=17 – PASS!

-Emily perception check: 3+2=5 – FAIL!

The girls slow their steps as the move forward. Megan doesn’t notice anyone near the entrance, and can faintly hear the soft sound of conversation coming from within. Further inspection from the glassless windows confirms that there’s no one outside, but that no one seems to be inside, either.

“But we saw them come in.” Megan says.

“Shhh.” Katherine shushes her by putting a finger over her own mouth. She then procures from her pocket a small, golden chain necklace and wraps it around the fingers of her left hand. She whispers a few inaudible words to herself, waves her hand and suddenly…

“Remember. Whisper in a way only you can hear. I’ll hear you anyway.” Megan hears Katherine’s voice directly inside her head. That’s right. This was one of her spells.

“Okay. Let’s move in, then.”

After quickly casting the spell again to inform Emily of the plan of action, the three girls move into the shack. There’s no one inside, like they thought. But how could that be?

-Emily investigation check: NATURAL 20 – AUTOMATIC SUCCESS.

As Emily looks around, she notices how a step on a specific wooden board would make a hollow sound. A more detailed inspection reveals a trap door hiding a corridor with nothing but a set of stairs leading down to a basement.

“Oooooh.” The three girls say in unison, yet very hushed tones.

They make their way down with slow, soft steps. Megan goes in front, with Katherine in the middle and Emily guarding the rear. And as they near the end of the corridor, a familiar sent assaults their noses.

It’s the scent of sex. The mix of sweat and other fluids combined that make up the already familiar smell now sends a cold shiver down their spine. Losing their composure, all three girls rush down the stairs and kick the door open to see what’s at the other side.

It’s not what they expected, but it chills their bones nonetheless.

A quick glance reveals seven men tied up with chains to the stone walls and laying on the floor. They’re naked and covered in their own semen. Their eyes are lost, some of them chuckle madly, while some have lost all strength.

In the middle of the room, they see their boyfriend. Thankfully still in full gear, yet surrounded by three gorgeous monsters dressed in skimpy, tight leather outfits.

Yes, monsters. Although their bodies are those of alluring, sexy women, the black wings spreading from their backs, their slender horns pointing to the ceiling and their tails wiggling excitedly at the prospect of a new man to devour easily reveal their true nature.

These are, without a doubt, succubi. Fiends that feed on sex. All three of them have black, raven hair, yet one of them has it long and straight, another one short and another one tied in two small braids. They turn to the group of adventurers with an icy glare.

“Irina, you fool! You were followed!” The one with the long hair yells at the one with the short hair.

“Who cares? We just need to kill them and that’s it, right?” The fiend named Irina licks her lips, sadistically. “I could go for an appetizer.”

“Ugh! But I wanted to fuck NOW!” The one with the twin braids whines in a high pitched tone.

______________________________________________________________

“Nice voice range.” You tell Sophia, genuinely surprised she can do three distinct enough voices.

“Thanks.” She smiles proudly.

______________________________________________________________

“David! Snap out of it! They’re gonna turn you into a living dildo!” Katherine yells at you, her expression a mix of worry and anger.

“That doesn’t sound bad at all, really.” You shrug.

“What? What’s with him?” Megan asks.

“The succubi have him under an enchantment! He’ll follow their orders without questioning them!” Katherine explains.

“How do we save him?” Emily asks.

“Whack him hard.”

Wait. What?

“On it.” Emily says, nodding, grinning and cracking her knuckles.

WHAT!? Why does the monk of all people have to be the one to hit you? What’s more, you don’t want this to stop! You’re about to have sex with three sexy succubi! That’s a dream!

Irina, your succubus master, clicks her tongue. “Well, we don’t want our new meat rod to get snatched from us. Go stand in the corner, dear.” She says, shooing with her hand you towards a dirty corner of the room.

You see no reason to argue, considering it’ll keep you away from any harm. You just nod and walk away.

“My name is Elana,” The succubus with the long hair says. “These are my sisters, Irina and Matilda.” She chuckles. “A pleasure to meet you, girls. We don’t gain much nourishment from other girls but indulging for the sake of pleasure alone is nice every once in a while.” She grins devilishly.

“Not really into horns. Sorry.” Megan tells her honestly.

“Yeah. Not to mention that your torture fetish is a real turn off.” Emily nods in agreement.

“That option was off the table the moment you kidnapped our boyfriend,” Katherine adds.

“It’s not like we need your consent, you know?”

Irina laughs loudly, and the three succubi spread their black wings and jump into the air.

The younger succubus, Matilda, flies impatiently and straight towards Emily. She swipes at her with her claws, but the agile monk takes a step back and effortlessly evades the blow.

______________________________________________________________

“How do I hit it back?” Emily asks, now suddenly straightening up in her seat and moving her chair closer to the table.

“According to initiative order, you go next. Look at your character sheet, pick which weapon you want to hit with, throw the dice and add the corresponding modifiers.” Sophia explains.

“This is a lot just to punch someone in the face.” Emily says, but still picks her character sheet and looks it over. “I want to hit it with my staff, then.”

“Alright. Throw the dice.”

Emily follows the instructions, and grins excitedly when she rolls a 17 total and Sophia tells her the hit lands. She rolls the damage and listens to Sophia narrate what happens.

“You watch the fiend flying at you full speed, gritting her teeth and growling at you. She swipes her claw at you, but you manage to effortlessly step back, having seen the attack coming. And without wasting movements, you use the momentum of your dodge to do a quick turn and bring your quarter staff down on the head of the fiend. She recoils in pain and shakes her head, surprised that a weak human like you could actually land a hit on her.”

Emily is grinning, and so is everyone else at the table. Sophia is really into her narration, and Emily seems to be into it as well.

“Holy crap, I did that!” She laughs.

The battle continues.

______________________________________________________________

You watch as the three human women and three succubi fight each other from your corner in the room. There’s a bit of a nagging feeling in your gut from watching, but you figure it must be because your master is in danger. She told you to stay put, though, so that’s what you’ll do.

You watch as Megan takes her bow and fires arrow after arrow at the Elana, who’s flying close to the ceiling. You watch Emily trying to act as a wall for Katherine, knocking aside as many claw attacks as she can and just withstanding those she can’t while the sorcerer casts a fire bolt at Irina. The arcane projectile hits her directly in the face, but the succubi seems to just shrug it off.

“Dammit! We need David for this!” Katherine yells.

“Do I shoot an arrow at him?” Megan asks.

“No! That may wound him too much!” Katherine bites her lip. “What can we do!?”

______________________________________________________________

“I’ve got it!” Katherine yells, slamming her palm on the table. “I pull down my dress and show him my breasts!”

The second her words leave her mouth, the rest of you burst out in laughter. It’s especially great because Katherine is totally serious about it. She’s gonna use her turn on that.

“The rules specify that a charmed person needs to either be harmed or receive a suicidal command to attempt a new saving throw,” Sophia smirks and crosses her arms. “But I’ll allow it if you actually unbutton your shirt and show him your tits.”

And your girl doesn’t even blink. She unbuttons her shirt, pulls up her bra and lets her glorious tits free for your eyes to feast on. That only makes Emily and Megan laugh harder while you and Sophia nod in approval of her commitment to the roleplay.

“Do you think that would work?” Sophia asks you.

“Yeah, it would work.” You nod, satisfied.

“Roll a saving throw, then.”

______________________________________________________________

“David!” Katherine yells from the other side of the room, calling your attention. The next thing you see is her pulling down her dress and letting free those big, glorious jugs of her. They somehow manage to trigger all sorts of memories. The smell of her skin, warmth of her embrace and the comfort of her bosom.

It’s like a glass wall breaks inside your mind, and suddenly you wonder why the fuck have you been standing here like an imbecile while your girlfriends are in danger.

You draw you greatsword and make a charge towards the succubi attacking Emily and Katherine. Probably having felt the connection between you break, Irina turns back with a look of horror and flies out of your way. However, her younger sister doesn’t notice you in time. You swing your sword down with a loud cry of righteous fury.

-David Attack roll: 13+4=17 – HIT!

The blade of your sword lights up in a bright platinum light like ethereal fire. A Divine Smite ready to punish the wicked!

-David Damage roll: [(2d6+3) + 2d8 + 1d8] 11 + 12 + 3 = 26

The shining blade cuts across the back of the fiend, making it let out an otherworldly scream of agony. The light seems to burn the body of the succubus, catching it in divine fire until nothing remains of the creature.

You turn around, shielding the wounded Emily and ready to strike down any of the other two fiends. But both of them seems to be completely paralyzed by the scene.

“M-Matilda…” Elana mutters in shock.

“He’s a paladin… Sis, that guy’s a FUCKING PALADIN!” Irina screams in a panic.

And they’re right to fear you, for the light of the gods is the natural enemy of fiends like them. But you can only do an attack like this one more time today, and you won’t be lucky enough to catch one of them off guard like that again. They don’t need to know that, though.

“And to make things worse for you, your charms won’t work on me again. So? Why don’t you come down here so I can pay you back for the attention you gave to my girls?”

“We could’ve beaten them.” Emily pouts behind you, causing Megan and Katherine to laugh.

Elana glares at you with a look at could kill. Yet she grits he teeth and turns to her sister. “Irina! We’re leaving!”

“B-But he killed Matilda!”

“I said we’re leaving. NOW!” She turns to you again. “And don’t think for a second this is the last you hear of us! I’ll make sure to have your head, you scum!”

“Yeah, that’s rich.” You shrug.

“And how do you even think of leaving?” Megan asks. “We have the basement entrance blocked.”

But she has her answer when both succubi vanish in the blink of an eye and with no as much as a poof.

“Oh. I guess that’s how.” She mutters.

“They can shift between the Material and Ethereal planes at will, as far as I know.” You sigh, allowing yourself to relax a bit. “I’m sure there’s a lot you want to say, but we need to make sure these people are brought to a doctor.” You say, glancing at the chained, naked men around the room.

“Didn’t they say all the men in the village disappear? There’s only seven here.” Megan points out.

“…The others might already be dead.” Katherine grimaces.

Emily clicks her tongue. “There’s no way we can move these guys. We should bring the doctor here.”

“Good idea. You can Megan go back to town. Katherine, stay with me. I’ll see what I can do for them in the meantime.”

The group splits up, with you using whatever limited healing abilities you have to stabilize the victims.

______________________________________________________________

“You end up going back to town the next morning. The people are extremely thankful to you and gather what little money they can to pay you for your work.” Sophia tells you. “And I think we should leave it at that for today. We’ve been playing for 4 hours.”

“What? Four hours!?” Megan asks, shocked. She looks at her phone to confirm that, yes, four hours have passed since you started playing. “That didn’t feel like four hours.” She giggles.

“Right? That was really fun!” Katherine says, smiling excitedly. “That was great, Sophia!”

“I admit, I didn’t have much hope for it, but it’s actually very much okay.” Emily says.

“Oh, don’t give me that. You even stood up once when Sophia was describing how you kneed the succubus in the jaw.”

“…” Emily looks like she wants to deny it, but ends up grinning instead. “Yeah, that was really cool.”

“So? Do you think there will be a next session?” Sophia asks.

“Could be.” You tell her. “I hope so.”

But even if there isn’t, you’re glad Emily and Megan got to try something new that they wouldn’t have ever considered before. You still want to play again, though. You wonder if Emma, Mia, Julia and Anzu would be up to give it a try.