The Dungeon Master (M/M) - *30.10.24 COMPLETE*

[Straitjacketed]

You probably know, by now, that I love collaborating with other writers and that's exactly what this is: a narrative bounced back and forth between myself and another TUG member, reformatted slightly and published here with his permission. My parts of the narrative are in default font, his are in red.

This isn't the first or last time we've co-written a story. All the characters were originally role-playing personae - we liked the idea of them all having a reason to get together - and at least one may be familiar to you...


The Dungeon Master - part 1

(Co-written with @DeeperThanRed)

Mateo:
Part-Italian, swarthy, dark-eyed, dark-haired, consciously gym-fit. Has a short, well-trimmed beard and a reasonable covering of body hair. Enthusiastic about bondage equipment but still self-conscious about trying it, especially with others present.

Julian:
Pale, dark brown hair worn in medium-length waves. Shortest and least fit, has a fair bit of stubble/leg hair. The youngest of the group, he is as reckless as he is lively.

Stu:
An inch or two taller than Mateo, almost as dark-haired but paler complexion, clean-shaven (shows stubble quickly) with grey/green eyes; well-built but with muscle gained more naturally from playing sports, diving, etc. Less vain than Mateo, fairly naive – even after getting together with Kaiden.

Kaiden:
Dark blond hair, brown eyes. About as tall as Stu but more of a runner's build with leaner muscles and a healthy tan. Older and more confident than Julian but perhaps not as bold.

Richard:
Tall, wide, muscled white man, older than the others (in his forties). Impression of bulk. Celtic complexion, ginger hair and beard, blue eyes. Open features. Nose broken and crookedly reset.

---

“Role-playing,” said Stu, “you mean like D&D?”

Clad only in a brightly-coloured Spandex wrestling unitard – a gift from Kaiden – the big man looked extra-huge perched at the breakfast nook in his partner’s kitchen, spoon midway between mouth and cereal bowl. It was hard to believe it had only been a month or so since they met but Stu had, he supposed, moved in. More or less.

He and Kaiden had shifted to “in a relationship” with apparent ease, pretty much by default. That suited Stu: he saw himself as a doer rather than a discusser.

Which is not to say they didn’t talk. They’d talked, of course, about the Houdini enthusiast’s love of escaping and Kaiden’s efforts to prevent that – but rather less so about Stu’s love of not escaping. Both accepted it, however, and the occasional escapologist enjoyed a comfort and satisfaction he’d never experienced with another person.

He listened as the wirier man explained the situation. An old acquaintance of Kaiden’s – Richard – was an experienced DM. He planned to run an adventure at the home of another couple, this coming weekend, and wanted Kai and Stu to be part of it (“apparently, we have a lot in common”).

“Sure,” shrugged Stu, “sounds like fun.”

That went easier than I expected, Kaiden thought, though maybe he shouldn’t be surprised.

Stu was sweet to a fault, and he always jumped to new experiences without a second thought. A brunch with Kaiden’s flamboyant friends or a new vacuum bed to test were all the same to him.

Kaiden pulled his tight sweatpants higher on his waist, the only article of clothing he wore in the mornings. “I know Richard well,” he added, for more of his own sake rather than Stu’s, maybe, “although things have drifted a little since he started going steady with some new guy he met in Berlin. Last time I saw him, they were meeting in Paris; that was over a year ago.”

The usual push-and-pull, the blond man reflected of new relationships versus old friends. He could relate to that.

“Anyway, Richard takes the games seriously but is good at what he does. I thought us doing a double couple activity could be fun.”

After all, they were both experienced in roleplaying in their own ways, even if Stu took his role as an escape artist seriously. Kaiden, on the other hand, had a more detached approach to their cat-and-mouse plays, and maybe not being in charge of one for a change would help him connect with Stu better.

At least, that was the idea. Being more of an idea guy, Kaiden wanted to have something to celebrate the relationship he had with the guy he valued so much.

“I can’t wait to see the kind of character you’ll play,” he said, affectionately flicking Stu’s ear.

In a larger, more luxuriously appointed house across town, a broadly similar conversation was taking place.

“… and I honestly think you’d like Richard,” concluded Mateo, scratching his short dark beard. The breakfast dishes were stacked by the sink, ready for Joe the cleaner, and Mateo looked every inch the alpha-professional in his business suit. The more observant of his colleagues told him he seemed more chilled out in recent weeks, and this was reflected in his decision to forgo a tie. Instead, his pristine white shirt contrasted with his Mediterranean skin and the open top button revealed a glimpse of chest hair…

… but did not reveal the chest harness buckled and padlocked in place, just an inch or two lower down so the edge of the straps constantly teased his nipples. Julian held the key to Mateo’s harness, as well as the key to the tight leather jock concealed beneath his suit trousers. His cock – inaccessible to Mateo himself – was further encased in a rigid polymer cage with, mercifully, a tube through which he could pee.

As Mateo had relaxed, Julian had grown in confidence. Sometimes, their games were reciprocal – Julian, too, might be locked in chastity with the means of release on a chain around Mateo’s neck – usually less so.

Julian was, naturally, curious about Richard. Richard fell somewhere between acquaintance and friend: Mateo had met him when they sang in a choir together and just clicked. Apparently on the same wavelength, Richard was the only person other than Julian who had even a hint of Mateo’s kink interests.

“I’m not entirely sure what he does for a living,” mused Mateo, “he’s dipped in and out of acting, performing, he travels a lot, I think he worked as some sort of therapist… and then there’s the role-playing. He used to talk about his campaign and getting me involved but you know me, I never quite found the time.”

Not until meeting Julian, anyway. Today was a relatively rare instance of going into the actual office; since the two of them began seeing more of each other, Mateo had been operating from home as a general rule, sometimes literally tethered to his workstation.

“Richard wants to set up the game here this weekend, maybe at the big dining table? There’s another couple, he reckons we all have a lot in common. Sometimes the sessions go on for hours so we'd need to get the spare bedroom ready... and the fold-out bed. What d’you reckon?”

“… and I honestly think you’d like Richard,”

Julian questioned that a little but he decided to give his buddy the benefit of doubt. He’d met a couple of Mateo’s friends, once even as they were in the middle of a play and the older, submissive man had to open the door after throwing a robe over his rope harness… and while they weren’t bad people, they were certainly more “macho” than Julian was used to.

Mateo’s put-together, “successful, fit businessman” personality was cute on him but Julian lost interest quickly when a bunch of guys began discussing productivity reports and gym regimes. One part of it gave him flashbacks of his high school days of getting bullied by jocks, where he never could’ve imagined carrying the key to their voluntary bonds one day.

Still, he wanted to learn more about this actor/therapist/role-play DM guy. Now that he spent a lot of time in Mateo’s house, he could greet him after finishing his commissions and learn more about him. “Sure,” Julian replied, a bit absent-mindedly, before smiling. “I’ll get the table and the rooms ready for the night. Don’t worry about it.”

He leaned across and patted Mateo’s chest - right at the leather belt passing under it. “You’d better worry about not getting caught in this.”

After a light-hearted tease and a quick kiss on the cheek, Mateo went off to work and Julian got on with his own business. He wondered how similar this other couple would be. He hoped this Richard guy didn’t think they were a sugar daddy and baby. Well… in a weird way, maybe they were but definitely not in the traditional sense!

Maybe some of the others were also interested in bondage, he thought as he changed his clothes. Was this too much wishful thinking? He certainly knew some kinky D&D players. Hmm, maybe he’d bring one of the gear containers in to the living room… just in case.

Now dressed in a long-sleeve shirt and shorts (with a pair of jock briefs underneath in case things got interesting), Julian decided to be a little bold and wear Mateo’s cage key on a chain around his neck, wanting to see his face when he returned. As he thought about snacks and drinks, the doorbell rang.

“That must be Richard,” he said as he opened the door and found someone not quite fitting his mind’s eye picture of a “roleplay nerd”…

To be continued...

[CaptiveDan]

As a lover of bondage AND role-playing games I am super excited for this story! Great start yall

[blackbound]

Another @Straitjacketed / @DeeperThanRed collab this quickly? Be still, my beating heart.

[Guardianbound]

The universes colide. And all our favourite characters are coming over for some inescapable fun. Can't wait for more

[Straitjacketed]

We do this largely for the interaction so, whether old hand or newbie, if the spirit moves you, please do drop a comment. As ever, thanks already to @blackbound, @gag1195 and @Guardianbound - always lovely to hear from you guys .


The Dungeon Master - part 2

(Co-written with @DeeperThanRed)

There, on the second step down, framed by murky rainclouds, loomed what could only be described as a mysterious cloaked figure.

Tall, wide and hunchbacked, Julian’s first impression was of bulk, a dramatic expanse of shiny black oilskin. It was as if a hybrid of Quasimodo and Aragorn had joined the cast of a Gothic edition of ‘The Deadliest Catch’. Raindrops glistened on the figure’s cowled head and pattered off his shoulders, but the fairly mild downpour didn’t begin to justify the extravagance of the garment.

Before Julian could react, the hood was thrown back, a large hand extended from the folds and a distinctly actorly voice boomed, “Hello! I’m Richard! And you must be… Julian?”

The face underneath the hood was a pleasant one: broad, open features, lively denim-blue eyes, a nose that might’ve been patrician were it not for having been broken and reset slightly crookedly (Julian immediately thought of boxers) and a full ginger beard, a shade or two redder than his hood-flattened hair.

Richard’s stocky build was also suggestive of rugby or perhaps wrestling. What had initially looked like a hunch or scoliosis was now discernible as a large bag or rucksack, protected from the rain beneath the voluminous rain slicker.

“Patron saint of hospitality!” he continued, not waiting for an answer, “certainly enough of a miracle-worker to coax old Worky McWorkpants away from the twin obsessions of office and gym. Or perhaps you have him chained up somewhere?”

Julian could swear the man’s eyes flickered for a second to the key around his neck.

“So, Saint Julian, are you going to invite me over the threshold?”

He advanced up a step, leaning closer and speaking in a conspiratorial stage-whisper, “I’m like a vampire. I have to be invited in.”

He held eye contact for a moment then Richard's serious expression cracked into a slow grin.

Honestly, Julian’s first impression was to be intimidated and he had half a mind to close the door shut. However, as the handsome (but of course, not as attractive as Mateo) man kept talking, Julian began to understand that this was at least somewhat a part of the game. Probably.

The theatrics and the gloomy weather certainly did wonders at changing his mood and he began to play along instinctively, inviting Richard inside as if it were an inn or a castle. “That would be me, yes. Won’t you come in? The weather’s a bit wetter than I expected, even a vampire should be more comfortable inside.”

He stepped aside and as the burly ginger stepped inside, Julian noted the size of his bag. That seemed a bit too big for a regular board and props. Did Mateo give him a hint about a potential sleepover? They seemed close enough so that Richard’s jokes about him being chained seemed intentional and calculated. “I’m afraid he’s out at the moment. But I’ll keep the chains in mind.”

Well, he hadn’t really used them to secure Mateo to anything yet, at least as far as he remembered.

“And I’m not much of a Saint, I’m sure you’ll see soon enough,” he jested, wanting to make a mature expression on the older guest. “so, uh, if you wanna rest or something, we can wait for the others in the living room. Maybe you’ll show me the ropes of our game?”

He swore he didn’t mean to flirt but there was something a little captivating about Richard. Thrilling. Julian couldn’t wait to see where it might lead them.

Richard seemed to appreciate Julian’s playing along, his eyes glinting with something akin to mischief as he stooped slightly to pass through the doorway.

Inside, he unfastened his heavy waterproof cape, shook the rain off it and hung it up by the door before easing the large black canvas bag off his shoulders.

Black seemed to be Richard’s colour. Slightly disappointingly, he was not attired in full evening dress but wore slightly loose black leather cargo trousers, fastened with a wide belt, and a plain black t-shirt against which his beard seemed almost to glow. Julian noted the heavy workman-style lace-up boots into which his cargos were tucked and the intricate tattoos curling around muscular arms and forearms.

And the silver keychain, running from middle-back belt-loop to left trouser pocket.

Neither a vampire nor a hunchback, it seemed, but as he followed Julian through to the living room, Richard walked with a slight limp, intermittently resting his weight on a short black cane topped with a silver knob that Julian could swear was at least faintly reminiscent of… a butt plug?!

Julian tore his eyes away.

“Ah,” said Richard, in a somewhat less theatrical tone, “I guess I can tone down the Gothic melodrama, eh?” His voice was still rich and fluent but lighter, less sonorous; Julian thought he detected a distant trace of accent… possibly Irish? He wondered if this was Richard's true speaking voice; he imagined the man might have quite a repertoire.

“Don’t worry, once our game gets underway, I’ll flip into Inscrutable Dungeon Master Mode but I’m afraid I have a tendency, when I first meet someone, to babble. I’m a babbler. That’s one reason I made a Godawful psychotherapist.”

“But… Mateo said you were a therapist?” said Julian, confused.

“Yes indeed, I originally trained as a hypnotherapist, wayyy back. Amongst other things. My real passion is this stuff, role-playing.”

“Maybe you’ll show me the ropes of our game?” asked Julian.

“I’d be delighted to!” beamed Richard, “but maybe better to do so once the others have arrived. I’m sure it won’t surprise you to learn that this is the first time I’ve actually been invited to Mr Closed-Book’s home. You really have worked wonders on the old tight-arse, bless him. Would you mind showing me around a little?”

To be continued...

[blackbound]

Oh you'll be shown the ropes alright... I think?

[Straitjacketed]

Thanks for the comments thus far, @blackbound, @gag1195 and @Guardianbound!


The Dungeon Master - part 3

(Co-written with @DeeperThanRed)

Julian felt like Mateo being friends with this guy was not just a simple matter of being acquaintances. Did his boyfriend have something that made him attractive to dominant guys? Because between his suggestively shaped cane, all-black ensemble, and… interesting hobbies, Richard fitted the definition to a T.

Or maybe Julian read too much bondage erotica. It’s not like hypnotherapists in real life could turn people into their sex slaves with a snap of their fingers.

Feeling a little underdressed but more at ease, Julian cleared his throat. “I don’t mind melodrama, really.” He remained a bit confused about what this guy did for a living so as he led the way into the house, he pondered upon the topics they could speak about.

How did Richard and Mateo meet, for starters? What was it like being a hypnotherapist? Could he tell him anything about the other guests?

Julian gave up at the end, figuring he would ask all of those as he did his best to be a good homeowner (or owner’s boy toy, the same thing) and went on to show Richard around as best as he could.

“Alright, so if you look here, Mateo has a pretty nice kitchenette,” he gestured. “And at the opposite side, his office where he’d eat most of his lunches if I let him, to be honest.”

He only briefly mentioned the garage door, not wanting Richard to see more than he should without knowing his exact level of trust with Mateo.

Damn, he wished Mateo was here. Julian sucked at showing off rich people's stuff. “And then there are the bedrooms upstairs and the cellar downstairs. You can obviously sleep on the beds if you want to stay.” He added a wink and a joke to ease his tension, as being in the dom mood was where he felt the most comfortable. “Unless you rather want me to chain you down somewhere, so you don’t escape from my terrible hosting before the game ends.”

Richard seemed more than happy with what Julian felt was a rather lacklustre tour of the place, remarking in a neutral tone that it was “very… Mateo”.

He chuckled equally neutrally at the “chain you down” comment but gave no more concrete response.

The man was indeed a babbler, seemingly happy to answer questions. He confirmed Mateo’s account of having met while singing in the same gay male choir (“and we just hit it off, y’know, when someone’s on the same wavelength… I get the feeling you and I are also on the same wavelength, Julian”), he enjoyed his work as a therapist (“a recently switch back to my original career – worthy and satisfying in its own way but it’d be dull if that’s all I did”) and it seemed that his contact in the other couple was another “old friend” called Kaiden. Interestingly, Kaiden had also recently got together with a new partner “and, delightfully, I get the impression that they too are on the same wavelength”).

This “wavelength” euphemism – or maybe innuendo – seemed to be doing a lot of heavy lifting and Julian was working up to asking Richard what, exactly, he meant when… suddenly, he became aware of a regular tapping.

Tap. Pause. Tap. Pause. Tap.

He realised that one of Richard’s fingers bore a silver ring with a large black stone, and he was tapping that ring, softly but definitely, against the knob at the top of his walking stick.

Tap. Pause. Tap. Pause. Tap.

The rhythmic tapping was oddly compelling, and Julian found himself focusing on it to the near exclusion of all else. Richard’s voice receded into the background and the two men walked slowly but steadily through the house…

… and, suddenly, they were in the garage, Mateo and Julian’s play space, amid the gym apparatus and… well, the bits and pieces of other equipment.

Julian’s face coloured. He wasn’t sure how he had managed to lead Richard there. He opened his mouth to stutter an excuse, but the older man spoke in soothing tones and laid a reassuring hand on Julian’s shoulder as they proceeded back through to the living room.

The sound of the front door and Mateo entered. Unable to put his car in the garage, he’d been caught in a short but intense downpour and his white shirt, soaked through, was sufficiently translucent to show black strapping beneath.

“Richard, you wicked old bastard!” he exclaimed, seemingly genuinely pleased. The men embraced.

The doorbell rang again.

Julian didn’t know how he got so comfortable around Richard. Maybe it was the subtle hints that they may share similar interests but he honestly kinda zoned out of the actual words, too lost in the rhythm and intonation of the man’s voice.

Richard smiled to himself discreetly as the boy walked in front of him in his gangly gait, which turned gradually more in tune with the tapping of his cane as he wordlessly led him to the one room he was visibly avoiding from the start.

The sight of the equipment with which Julian doubtless had a lot of experience briefly broke him out of his trance but before he could question what just happened, Richard walked them out of the room with a steady hand and deep voice.

Any little doubts he had about Julian being a stick-in-the-mud about tonight’s game vanished. Oh, no. This boy was going to fit right into what he had in mind for Mr. Workaholic, Kaiden, and the one he’d yet to meet: the Great Studini.

Julian blinked as they returned to the hall… maybe we overthought things? Yeah, Richard didn’t even react to - whatever he was supposed to react to. Anyway, there were bigger issues. Mateo came back soaking wet!

Under normal circumstances, a rain-soaked Mateo would make a great sight for sore eyes and even as a pinup model, really. But his clothes showing off what he had underneath could be an issue.

Though, given how he bearhugged with Richard, probably not.

Julian broke the duo apart, feeling like a human among giants, and pointed to the door. “Mateo, you’re finally back! I missed you!”

Not minding the water seeping into his clothes, he gave Mateo a quick hug, then patted him on the back. “Now, you’d better go change while I greet the rest of our party, you’re gonna get sick before we even start.”

He opened the front door and sure enough, two men with impressive bodies under their clothes stood in the rain. The blond one was lean and fit, while the brunette was tall and broad.

Geez, did Mateo have no friends who were normal-sized?

“Hi, I’m Julian!” He smiled and gestured for them to come inside. “Welcome to the game night, my guys!”

To be continued...

[gag1195]

Thank you for tagging me in this! I've been a bit MIA, dealing with a cold, so this was a treat to log back in to! Cannot wait to see how this progresses! Definitely up my alley!

[Straitjacketed]

Thanks to previous commenters @blackbound, @gag1195, @Guardianbound and @CaptiveDan.


The Dungeon Master - part 4

(Co-written with @DeeperThanRed)

In matters sartorial, Stu was generally happy to take direction from his newfound partner – except when it came to his motorcycle gear. Rain or shine, bike or car (or, for that matter, public transport), the amateur escapist could not be prized out of his much-loved leathers. Years of wear had moulded the jacket and pants to the contours of Stu’s athletic frame so they fitted like a glove; in order to spirit them away for specialist cleaning, Kaiden had to resort to dirty tricks, keeping the big man "otherwise occupied" without need for clothing, sometimes for almost three days straight.

It was worth it, Stu conceded. On their return, cleaned and repaired, he’d spent an afternoon feeding, buffing and polishing the supple hides until they gleamed even more than when new. He wore his rejuvenated leathers today, comfortably and unselfconsciously, over a tight one-piece garment that Kaiden had selected for him. The leaner man liked to pick out Stu’s undergarments and Stu liked to indulge him.

On the way to Mateo’s address, his curiosity had been pricked and he’d asked Kaiden about the other participants, the couple and the Dungeon Master chap, Richard. How did he and Kaiden meet?

“Hi, I’m Julian! Welcome to game night, my guys!”

Stu instinctively liked the lanky young man who opened the door, detecting (and warming to) what seemed a hint of shyness beneath the effusive welcome. He followed Kaiden inside, stamping the rain off his boots and mouthing his own hello.

“Uh, can I give you this?” he said, brandishing the six-pack of beer he’d insisted on buying en route ("it's kind of a party, right?").

As soon as he was in front of a mirror, Mateo realised the reason for Julian’s prompting him to change clothes. A couple of months ago, he’d have been thoroughly mortified, utterly aghast. Now? Well, he was a little aghast but also somewhat amused. It was another little sign of his kink-thawing as a result of Julian’s presence in his life.

Stuffing his soaked shirt into the laundry chute and hanging up his damp suit, he realised that harness, jock and cock-cage were all staying put; with his partner holding the keys, Mateo didn’t have the option of changing out of them. He frowned.

Most of his casual clothing was gym-wear and correspondingly body-conscious but he eventually found a slightly looser t-shirt and shorts in a suitably dark charcoal grey, in decently opaque jersey fabric. He pulled them on, hoping the outlines of jock and harness were sufficiently hidden.

Mateo could recall at least one night when, slightly in his cups at some choir after-event, he’d blurted some of his more “intimate” thoughts and feelings to an interested Richard – so he likely wouldn’t be surprised by the reveal of a little leather and strappery... but Mateo had yet to meet the other couple; they were an unknown quantity.

---

Downstairs, Julian’s efforts had started conversation flowing, helped by Richard’s easy sociability. And the ritual cracking open of alcohol.

“… so yes, I absolutely do use a board, dice and so on. A lot of it’s on my laptop, though, so I’ve brought that plus a veritable cornucopia of props. Kaiden here will tell you I like a prop or two."

A freshly attired Mateo was just descending the stairs.

"And now our absent host has finally slipped into something more comfortable, perhaps we might get set up and speed ahead to character generation?"

It’s weird to see him in his biker leathers again, Kaiden thought, with a mix of fondness and affection. Stu and his clean shaven nice-guy looks didn’t fit the image of leather-clad bad boy image in his head at all, which made it all somehow ridiculous. But it was also cute and after another three-day marathon of keeping him naked and under lock and key, he deserved some leniency.

Plus, this wasn’t somewhere Kaiden could tug his partner around on a leash with hardly decent clothing. At least he had that kinky singlet underneath, thank God for small victories.

“Hey, Kaiden, how did you guys meet?”

Well, he didn’t actually know Mateo all that much. The ginger man had talked about him a bit but that was it. “I’m more familiar with Richard,” he confessed. “We met on an online meeting for bondage enthusiasts which later turned into a live meeting in a gay bar. We hit it off quickly as we both have nerdy interests, I guess.”

“He’s hard to pin down, really. Sometimes he’s a little goofy and you think he’s an airheaded eccentric. Then, he surprises you by being all calm and strict and shit.”

Kaiden stopped for a bit. “But I do trust him. We talk about the best ways to tie guys up and lend each other cleanable gear on occasion. He takes care of his stuff well.”

And then they were at where they needed to be, welcomed by a scruffy, yet cute young guy. Kaiden removed his raincoat, stepping inside in his plaid button-down shirt with an “ASK ME ABOUT MY DUNGEON MASTER” t-shirt underneath, jeans and sneakers, all deceptively plain and geeky. His backpack hid some small trinkets he thought he could use on Stu if the night got long.

The boy took the beers with some mumbled thanks and showed them inside where Richard was waiting. Kaiden’s first impression of their young host was a shy, artsy sub but the more they talked, Julian (his name) began to lead the conversation, easily introducing himself to Kai and Stu.

Despite some tension remaining, everything was going smoothly when the final player joined them. Kaiden almost whistled when he saw strong muscles peeking out of his short sleeves and legs. Mateo was a catch! He elbowed Stu lightly. “I’m sure this guy could break out of my bonds just by flexing,” he whispered, mostly to taunt him.

“Kaiden here will tell you I like a prop or two."

The man in question nodded after a sip of his beer. “Richard doesn’t half-ass his games. I hope you guys are ready for what’s to come.”

"Perhaps we might get set up and speed ahead to character generation?"

That cued everyone to make their way to the large oak dinner table where the necessary papers, figurines, stationery, and dice were laid out carefully. Richard took the head of the table while each couple picked a side of the circumference.

Not wanting to be the second, Kaiden piped in. “I want my character to be a fighter, I think. An elf would be cool. What does everyone else want to be?”

Mateo, who had just opened a bottle of wine and brought it through (with glasses for anyone else tempted by grape rather than grain), appraised the tall, lithe man who had gone first. Quietly confident, he decided, one to watch.

“It’s years since I did this,” Mateo confided, “and I always used to play elven fighters. I’m thinking something different this time, though, maybe a mix of action and magic…”

“A cleric?” suggested Richard, and that seemed a fair option. Mateo liked the idea of a holy warrior and human seemed the most versatile option. Richard had yet to outline the setting, so he had yet to choose his God.

Stu was last to choose, admitting he’d never actually taken part in a role-playing game.

“You role-play an escape artist,” teased Kaiden, “not always very well.”

Stu flushed slightly, remembering his most recent period of enforced naked “down-time”. Feeling suddenly warm, he unzipped his jacket slightly, revealing a glimpse of PVC singlet beneath.

Richard couldn't help but arch an eyebrow. Leather and PVC...

“What would be closest to an escapologist?” Stu asked. Eventually, with the others’ input, he settled on a Rogue (“leather armour” Julian pointed out) but hesitated over race.

“How about… a dwarf?” said Richard, enjoying the irony of making this suggestion to perhaps the largest, most clean-cut man in the room. If anyone there looked like a dwarf enlarged several times, it was the stocky, bearded Dungeon Master himself. To his surprise, Stu went with it.

“Okay,” said Richard, clearly getting his DM head on, “let’s begin”.

Everyone sat at a sturdy, high-backed chair – the seating around Mateo’s dining table almost like six thrones – and, against the atmospheric backdrop of rain beating against the windows, the ginger man had lowered and arranged the room’s lamps for maximum dramatic effect. At the head of the table, clad in his trademark black with blackwork tattoos coiling around both arms, face underlit by his laptop, he appeared faintly demonic.

The game commenced.

Richard reviewed his notes. He always preferred a balanced party with few overlaps as it made for a more authentic and interesting composition in his book. Thankfully, an elven fighter and a human cleric made a good start.

Mateo’s partner decided his role surprisingly easily. “I want to play a halfling bard. That’s a thing, right? I Googled some stuff before tonight,” he added proudly.

He certainly fit the part of being small and nimble. Not that Julian was a short man but with so many big, tall guys in the same room with him, he looked somehow dainty in comparison. And the bard fitted his chipper personality nicely.

What Julian had in mind, in reality, was the Silence skill the bards could learn. He thought about using it on any humanoid enemies they encountered and maybe one even would return the favor! This was like the fantasy bondage scenarios he was fond of before discovering Mateo, but better.

Stu choosing to be a dwarven rogue rounded up the team well, so Richard got comfortable on his chair, after adjusting the light and tone of the room. Even before they began, he could see the atmosphere he created having an effect on the players along with the slight alcohol buzzing in their veins and the unspoken tension.

He took a quick peek at his notes (he only needed occasional reminders – the players in the room were enough material to work with) and then started speaking in a low, slow tone with which Julian was now familiar.

“You are descending a flight of stairs, into an ancient chamber made by dwarves of a forgotten age. It is dark and claustrophobic, the tunnel a bit taller than the tallest of you and lit only by the torches you’re carrying.”

While talking, he opened a faint ambient soundtrack from his computer, the murmuring echoes gently reverberating from Mateo’s stereo sound system. Kaiden seemed impressed by the whole thing, with his grin gradually turning into a frown as he got into character.

“As you descend to the abandoned tomb, you all think about what brought you here, which may be hard to remember as the surface and the light seem so far away. The only things here are four pairs of footsteps,”

Richard emphasized this by knocking on the floor with his cane and tapping his foot in a rhythm. Tap. Clack. Wait. Tap. Clack. Wait.

“At long last, you arrive at an iron door, surrounded by ancient inscriptions. There is a keyhole in the door and a pile of discarded equipment on its sides. You can tell there were others who tried to enter here before you.”

Richard turned his gaze to the players, from the eager-looking Julian to the warier face of Kaiden. “Why are you here? And what do you do?

Mateo’s eyes gleamed. He wanted to establish himself as a natural leader of the adventuring party.

“I am a warrior-priest who has travelled here in service of my God: I believe a stolen relic of my faith is hidden in these unholy tombs. After a period of rest, prayer and scourging…”

Not for the first time, Julian wondered just how much of his partner’s religious upbringing had been channelled into his sub identity.

“… I strapped myself into the armour of righteousness, polished my shield and holy symbol, picked up my mighty war-hammer and set out to retrieve what belongs to my deity. I met these three along the way and agreed to lead them into adventure!”

Richard suppressed an eyeroll at Mateo’s “leader of men” schtick.

“What, then, do you actually do?” he asked.

“I… step forward to examine the keyhole,” concluded the swarthy man, a tad anticlimactically.

Stu took a little longer to warm up but found himself getting into the spirit of things, doubtless aided by Richard's talent for conjuring up atmosphere.

“I’m a dwarf…” he began. Kaiden smirked.

“… and, although the others don’t yet know it, I’m on the run. I was arrested for a crime I didn’t commit and imprisoned in a prison cell in a deep dungeon. In chains, lots of them. I managed to free myself with my lock-picking and escape skills and I sneaked and tricked my way out of the prison. I’ve got a short-sword and a dagger, my lock-picks and I’m wearing, uh, light leather armour. Black leather."

A certain amount of wish-fulfilment going on there, thought Kaiden.

“I… move to the side - the more shadowy side - and skirt around the discarded equipment. I kind of want to look through it but… I reckon first I ought to try to read the inscriptions because they’re written in dwarfish, right? And… maybe once the priest guy’s finished with it, I might have a go at picking the lock of the door.”

Kaiden followed suit. He wanted to jump ahead but Stu’s background gave him an idea. Smirking to himself, he described his character:

“I am an elf… an elf fighter who earns his bread through cage bets and bounties. Born among a ragtag bunch of criminals, I’m a hardened brawler without care for alliances.”

Every party needed a wild card, Richard pondered. It seemed like Kaiden was eager to provide.

“I joined the group in order to get rich,” he continued. “hearing about the treasures hidden in this tomb. However, I suspect there may be a runaway hiding in these grounds and I’m hoping his bounty can earn me a new pair of scimitars.” He mimicked spinning long, curved blades in his hands while winking at Stu. “Oh yeah, I also have a net on me.”

Stu's jaw dropped and he shot Kaiden a "really?!" expression. Already his partner was on his tail! Secretly, however, he thrilled a little. As surreptitiously as he could, he adjusted himself under the table.

To be continued...

[blackbound]

I I think noticed some sneaky hypnotism earlier, and it seems to be continuing now too... or is it just random tapping? Excited to see where this is going, and interesting concept to let the players pick the scenario.

[Straitjacketed]

Thanks to previous commenters @blackbound, @gag1195, @Guardianbound and @CaptiveDan.


The Dungeon Master - part 5

(Co-written with @DeeperThanRed)

As the gear of the fighter was not specified, Richard just recorded him wearing light, scale armor.

“I just knock on the wall and see if there is a part that makes a different noise,” Kaiden finished, hoping to find a secret door.

Julian wondered how much of himself he should put into his character. “I’m a halfling bard,” he began. “I travel far and wide to uh, seek stories worth telling. That’s why I joined you, people, I’m not interested in dusty old tombs.”

He pauses and thinks about what he read about the game. “My clothes are made of sheer and cashmere, with a lot of loose ends and sewn for Charisma rather than protection.” This sounded more like an exotic dancer character than a traveling bard but Richard supposed Julian chose a flexible class.

“Approaching the walls, I strum my lute slightly to cast an object location spell, to see if there’s anything my companions can use to their advantage,” the youngest player concluded, looking to others expectantly.

Richard made a note of what everyone did so far.

Mateo chose to investigate the keyhole, Stu tried reading the writings around the door, Kaiden knocked on the walls and Julian sang to them.

With everyone doing their own thing, they shouldn’t be surprised if they accidentally triggered a trap.

“Julian, you - and only you, hear a faint noise coming from the walls. They seem to be whispering something to you,” he continues, lowering his voice. “They hear your music and answer back, beckoning you or maybe warning you. It’s hard to make sense of the exact phrases, however, as you’re not a native dwarvish speaker. Do you spend a turn listening to them?”

Julian wordlessly nodded, awestruck as if he was actually in the game. “Yeah, I-” he blabbers, not paying attention to the tapping cane which started again. “I listen to them.”

Richard’s lips curled upside, as he turned to Stu. “Stu, you can recognize some letters so your first instinct is to try to read the whole text inscribed on the granite door frame. You are more familiar with the sayings but if you want to understand everything clearly, you need to make a History roll.”

This could lead to three different situations. A high roll would result in Stu immediately realizing the door warned the visitors against the cursed traps placed around the tomb, enchanting them to never leave the place.

A regular roll would alert him about a trap but not give any details. And a low roll would force him to spend longer there, also give him a disadvantage in any charm spells aimed at his directions.

As for Kaiden… “You don’t hear anything suspicious from the walls, unlike Julian,” Richard informed him. “You only notice a discarded flail in a surprisingly good condition. You can try to take it, as it doesn’t look dangerous and has the hints of highest quality dwarf craftsmanship.”

Kaiden didn’t even question the potential of a trap and jumped at the chance of getting more loot right from the get-go.

Richard turned to Mateo at last. “Mateo, you take a careful peek at the keyhole. You can see the other side through the contraption but it’s dark, predictably. You take a closer look and - what’s that? A beam of light! The flash of a candle or a spark, vanished as quickly as it appeared. It then shows itself again, flickering in the dark.

“It appears and disappears,” Richard’s voice almost drowned in the rising background music, “in and out. You find it hard to look away, feeling like you’re this close to solving the secret of the passage...”

After going on for a minute, he snapped his fingers. “… and it’s gone. Mateo, make a Wisdom roll to see if you found a way to open the door.” He had a fifty-fifty chance and either way, Mateo was in his hands, either in the game or in real life.

Richard saw his professional and personal interests as a series of intersecting Venn circles. His training in acting and performance brought obvious skill sets to the table but so too – in, perhaps, a more subtle way – did his vocation as a therapist.

Indeed, he reflected, one could make a good case for role-playing and even BDSM play being therapy of a sort. He was constantly aware of dynamics in the room, and the ability to hypnotise the suggestible helped him nudge those dynamics in directions he found interesting. A natural manipulator, he enjoyed discovering what made people tick – finding their buttons then pushing those buttons in new and intriguing combinations.

(That worked better at some times than others. The actor-therapist had begun a relationship with a younger, more impetuous man whose impulsivity - oddly - made him harder to manipulate and who had surprised the larger man by getting the better of him on more than one occasion. Regaining the upper hand was part of the reason Richard had revived and refined his original training in hypnosis.)

Already, he noted with satisfaction, the dynamics of this gaming party were taking form.

Of all those present, Richard knew Kaiden the best – there was a mutual respect there – but, while he hadn't exactly disbelieved his friend’s description of his new inamorato, Kai’s account of Stu had seemed too good to be true: a hulking leathered-up biker with an apparent drive to let himself be put into tight situations he imagined he could get himself out of, but then couldn’t - a perpetual triumph of hope over experience. He'd seemed a bullying dom's fantasy.

Now, meeting Stu in person, Richard was delighted to find the man exceeding his expectations, displaying an oddly charming mix of resilience and seemingly endless naivety. Ordinarily, the ginger man would suspect a well-built hunk in full, tight leather and shiny PVC to be fully aware of the impression he was making but, in Stu’s case, he reckoned it was all going on unconsciously and, endearingly, the big biker genuinely lacked conscious awareness of his own attractiveness.

Stu was, Richard decided, a good match for Kaiden. Their charged dynamic was the most obvious in the room, the lithe hunter immediately, gleefully turning the screw on his comedy-shocked-but-secretly-thrilled quarry.

The other couple was harder to read, at least at this early stage. Richard’s own friendship with Mateo was more superficial (in the sense that they had met via the distinctly non-fetish singing group) but sufficiently enduring for the DM to have formed a strong sense of the businessman, picked up on the clues regarding his plentiful kinks and saw through his sometimes-domineering image to his even more plentiful hang-ups. Working his hypnotic will to glimpse the contents of the playroom earlier, with Julian, had merely confirmed what Richard had already deduced: despite his strutting workaholic exterior, Mateo had a powerful need to be powerless.

Well, he reflected (with an internal shrug), that could certainly be arranged - and Richard would enjoy engineering it.

Julian was more of an enigma but, strangely, the player with whom the ginger Svengali most resonated: Julian reminded him of his own younger self, when Richard knew he wanted to control and manipulate men – the more superficially alpha-male and commanding the better – but was still in the process of finding his voice, coming into his own power.

(And was there not sometimes an equal pleasure in being controlled? Richard felt a warm glow at the thought of his resourceful new partner, currently in Paris...)

Julian lacked confidence, for sure, but Richard was amused that such an apparently unlikely rising star had pulled Mateo into its orbit. He wanted to help Julian consolidate his dominant mode and, if he was being fully honest, the most meddlesome part of Richard found himself wondering about scenarios in which an unarmoured halfling might find himself in control of all his weapon-wielding companions...

Ah, the joys of role-play! The night, the russet-bearded manipulator reminded himself, was still young...

Despite being newest to the concept, Stu was immediately immersed in the game.

Initially, as with so many of Kaiden's friends, he'd felt a little shy, not so much with Julian but with Mateo and especially the charismatic Richard. There was something magnetic about the Dungeon Master and, despite the constant erotic appeal of Kaiden's targeted bullying (which simultaneously shocked, irritated and thrilled him), Stu also found himself sneaking the occasional glance at the imposing ginger at the head of the table, when he thought no-one was looking.

Stu's image of the dwarven race came from the films of Peter Jackson and, without giving the matter conscious consideration, he'd begun to visualise his own character's appearance as not dissimilar to the DM, albeit in miniature form: black-leathered, blue-eyed, red-bearded.

He'd continued to find Mateo's partner relatable, easy company.

“Julian?” he said, turning to the younger man, “could you speak or sing the phrases you’re hearing? That way, I can maybe translate from dwarfish. I’m likely to understand it, right? We could work together on this.”

If his dwarf could cooperate with Julian’s halfling, he decided, he’d rather do that than continue trying to read the inscription around the door frame.

“Well, the two of you are around the same height,” smirked Mateo, taking a sip from his wine glass. He hadn’t had time to get to know Stu or Kaiden properly before Richard signalled the start of play and wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the couple. The big biker addressing Julian gave him a faint stirring of something he couldn’t quite identify… was it curiosity or jealousy?

If it wasn’t possible for dwarf and halfling to join forces, Stu decided, he would continue reading the stuff around the door, doing the History roll or whatever. He resolved also to keep one eye on that tall elven fighter in the group; he didn’t trust that lanky piece of work as far as he could throw him...

Mateo's human cleric character looked like an idealised version of himself, swarthy and black-bearded but virtually illuminated from within with holy zeal and dedication. Without realising it, he'd chosen to play... a workaholic.

“Mateo, you take a careful peek at the keyhole... You find it hard to look away, feeling like you’re this close to solving the secret of the passage.”

All Mateo’s attention turned to Richard; he found himself hanging on the ginger DM’s every word. When Richard snapped his fingers, Mateo felt like he’d just been wakened from a light snooze or the sort of meditative trance-like state he got into when he was swimming lengths of the pool, up and down, up and down, up and down…

“And it’s gone. Mateo, make a Wisdom roll to see if you found a way to open the door.”

The dark-haired man reached for the relevant dice. Richard hadn’t stinted on those either: they were oversized and fitted satisfyingly in the hand, seemingly carved from some dark ebony-like wood with the numerals inlaid in silver.

Mateo cast the dice across the tabletop and waited, almost hungrily, for the spinning to stop.

Julian felt out of his depth and among like-minded fellows at the same time.

Richard’s confidence and talent in his craft were almost as intimidating as impressive but he was actually into it. He finally could see what Mateo liked so much about being dominated: the feeling of letting go could be a thrill and even if their perilous adventure into the depths of the dwarf tomb wasn’t real, the young man could almost feel the excitement of danger thanks to the immersive atmosphere and the brilliant narration.

It helped that the subtle looks Mateo kept giving to other players assured Julian that there was a common, unspoken sense of camaraderie at the table, where the players all kept going between giving in against the Dungeon Master’s authority and rebelling against it with their characters.

Julian didn’t think about his character too much but as he got more and more drawn to the game, he could imagine a dark, lithe pretty boy in a danseuse-esque ensemble, way out of his comfort zone but revelling in the danger of adventure.

“Julian?” Could you speak or sing the phrases you’re hearing? That way, I can maybe translate from dwarfish. I’m likely to understand it, right? We could work together on this.”

This was… unexpected. Stu, for all his stature and black leather look, was a nice guy but Julian had got the impression that he was the silent type, unlike his foxy partner. On the contrary, Stu seemed to be very outgoing and eager to be friendly, which suited the younger player just fine; he liked the challenge of pushing people out of their shell but one Mateo was enough.

Looking at the DM for permission (and man, wasn’t this a testament to the new power dynamic in the house?), Julian beamed and began to hum a generic RPG victory theme. “Does that ring a bell?” He liked the idea of Stu and him being on the same wavelength.

Richard tsked. “Julian, a Charisma roll please.” His plan to scatter small hypnotic traps all around the entrance had had interesting results. A normal party of players would likely find this beginning a bit slow and boring but the lack of clues had instead pushed this group to try and cooperate, protecting themselves from the danger they were not yet fully aware of.

After the halfling bard rolled a high enough number, the Dungeon Master spoke: “Julian, you convey the words you hear to the rogue. Your pronunciation is completely wrong but the rhythm of your words is enough to make him understand the meaning. Stu, you recognize the words as a threat or a curse. Do you want to press on or tell your friends to go back?”

He knew the answer before he even asked. Stu, with his stubborn competitiveness, would try and find a way to beat the tomb. Giving up was not an option. He would keep going until the traps broke him, which Richard could and would happily arrange.

Kaiden, for example, jumped right into the trap. “Alright, so what kind of loot have I found?” he asked, cheekily. Feeling comfortable as the cocky elf fighter he was playing suspended his suspicions. In his imagination, the platinum blond and scar-covered persona of his already stood proudly with a ransacked flail.

Richard rolled dice (no cheating, as fun as it would be; he didn’t need to) and smiled to himself when it spelled danger for Kaiden. “Kaiden, as soon as you touch it, a black smoke erupts from the weapon, spurting the fumes directly at your eyes. Your eyes are not hurt but the curse blinds you for a while until you find a cure or get out of there.”

To his credit, Kaiden didn’t protest or complain, despite his obvious disappointment. After all, taking some risks was the essence of roleplay, no matter what kind you were playing. Without a few bumps here and there, what was even the fun in that? Still, as he looked at Stu, Kaiden couldn’t help but wonder how the normally clumsy partner of his wasn’t the first one to trigger a trap.

Little did he know…

And now it was time for the first prop of the night, Richard thought. Opening his bag of wonders, he passed a padded blindfold to Kaiden. “As you won’t be able to see, please put this on for the sake of authenticity. There is a lock on the back, which should ensure that you can’t remove it without the ‘cure’; in this situation, a key.”

“Wow, you weren’t lying about taking this game seriously,” Kaiden laughed. He was never one to worry about being the alpha guy in any situation so Richard showing off his dominance over him wasn’t an issue, but it was certainly a first. Almost. It’s not like he had never tried bondage gear on himself before. But with so many observers? Even an innocent blindfold felt like a big step.

He took the surprisingly light, black item from Richard, put it on himself with experienced hands. It was, in essence, a wide black band, with cut-out holes through which his nose and ears could pass. Inside, shaped padded inserts pressed gently into his eye sockets, ensuring a total absence of vision.

Kaiden passed the key blindly to the DM after buckling the blindfold’s two straps behind his head and locking them shut.

“Lights out,” he chuckled, surprising himself with how different his voice sounded.

Richard turned to Mateo, who now looked a lot warier about the situation. His fate was also in the dice, so it was understandable that he felt as if he, like his character, was in danger.

Richard intentionally checked his notes as slowly as he could, to increase the tension. “Mateo, you find the mechanism that opens the door. Someone with the Lockpick ability - such as Stu - could easily force the lock open. You also think about telling the others about the light you see on the other side but as soon as you think about it, the idea slips from your mind. From now on, you’ll have a disadvantage in the Wisdom rolls against the dungeon.”

The change in Mateo would be gradual so Richard didn’t push it. But he could already envisage himself having more and more control over the muscled man as the game continued.

After Stu opened the door, Richard waited for everyone to recollect themselves and compare notes before moving to the next phase. It was time for their first encounter.

To be continued...

[blackbound]

What wouldn't I give to have been present at this game? Not just kinky but also legitimately mesmerizing, and not in the "DM does hypnotism" sense.

[gag1195]

What wouldn't I give to have been present at this game? Not just kinky but also legitimately mesmerizing, and not in the "DM does hypnotism" sense.

It's definitely a unique take on a d&d session...

I wonder what all Richard has planned to further entice and control this group of hapless adventurers...

[Straitjacketed]

Old hand or newbie, if the spirit moves you, please do drop a comment - and thanks already to @blackbound, @gag1195, @Guardianbound and @CaptiveDan.


The Dungeon Master - part 6

(Co-written with @DeeperThanRed)

“Stu, you recognise the words as a threat or a curse. Do you want to press on or tell your friends to go back?”

Pleased that his tentative overture toward Julian had resulted in successful in-character cooperation, Stu entirely missed the point of Richard’s question. Of course they’d press on! Didn’t every tomb come with warnings and curses?

Then, when his partner found himself abruptly sightless, Stu’s eyes – ironically – were like saucers.

“Wow,” he exclaimed, “you’ve gone blind!”

He watched, open-mouthed, as Kaiden fastened the blindfold around his own head. It wasn’t a simple little bandanna but a device of leather, seemingly designed to stay put: Stu assumed the triangular hole that fitted over Kai’s nose would stop him sliding the whole thing upward off his face.

The blindfold seemed to adjust with Velcro at the back but was then secured with twin buckles and padlocks.

Stu was entirely unused to seeing his partner locked into any kind of leather – Kaiden was always the one applying restraints, not wearing them – and it was weirdly fascinating seeing him, for once, on the receiving end.

He tested the effectiveness of the device, waving his hand right in front of Kaiden’s face.

“You really can’t see!” Stu repeated, as if this were news, and couldn’t resist taunting the blindfolded man further, “I guess I don’t need to worry anymore about this bounty hunter!”

Not only could his dwarven rogue relax a little but Stu was the one picking the lock on the actual door. He glowed with pride, feeling super-useful within the party.

Mateo wasn’t sure what to make of the odd phenomenon of the light through the keyhole or the disadvantage in terms of further Wisdom rolls. He shrugged to himself; hopefully he wouldn’t need to make too many of those.

“I keep my hammer in hand as the door opens,” he said, trying to seem prepared, “and ready a Command spell in case there’s a guard in there who might raise the alarm”.

Somewhat belatedly, Stu thought about the poor sightless elf, who no-one seemed terribly concerned about. Should he have suggested the cleric try to heal Kaiden's blindness before the group headed into their first encounter?

Or, at the very least…

“If Kai can’t see anything, maybe we should put him on, I dunno, a leash or something?” he asked mock-innocently, “you know, so he doesn’t get separated from the rest of us?"

Richard wasn’t wrong about the lack of caution on Stu’s part. Any hesitance he may have over the dangers awaiting them further down in the tomb (which wasn’t a lot, to begin with) was lost in the promise of triumph and the novel sight of his partner wearing a blindfold.

Kaiden grumbled, but he didn’t seem to be in a bad mood. “Wait until I drag you to my guild, trussed up like a sausage. I don’t need eyes to find my way, I have warrior’s instincts!”

At least, he had a game system that allowed players to press on despite such small obstacles in their way.

“If Kai can’t see anything, maybe we should put him on, I dunno, a leash or something? You know, so he doesn’t get separated from the rest of us?"

The blindfold didn’t prevent Kaiden from raising a brow at Stu’s suggestion. “Uh, is that necessary? I just said my warrior ins-”

“A brilliant idea!” Richard interjected, “what thoughtful and heroic companions you have! Stu, can you please do the honours? We don’t want Kaiden to get lost in this dreadful place.”

Stu may have been more experienced in tying himself than tying others but even he could easily recognize and apply the gear he was handed by the DM. It was a leather collar, with a thick, short leash that ended with a loop, perfect for a handhold.

Despite Kaiden’s half-hearted protests (he seemed equally confused and excited), Stu fastened the collar around his neck, careful not to pull it too tight.

“Hold it in your hand all the time,” Richard suggested, “you don’t want him to get lost.”

Switching his attention to Mateo, he said, “Now, as you open the door, you enter the next room with a spell ready, which should give you an advantage if the target can understand your words.”

He continued with a more low, serious voice: “As you entered the chamber, a large body of mass shifted in the corner, obviously awoken by your presence. It now lifts itself to its feet unnaturally, like a marionette learning to walk without its strings.”

All were suitably enthralled.

“What you see before your party is a Rope Golem, a slender humanoid giant around eight feet tall, made entirely of ropes, cords, strings and other binding material twisted into a parody of human muscles, with its head being a beautiful mask.”

Stu leaned forward, already imagining the potential of this rope-being.

“Mateo, it notices you and whips several lariats from its makeshift hand in your direction. What do you do?”

Julian hurriedly adds: “I help Mateo!” He then looked sheepishly at the others. “Uh, I mean, when it’s my turn, I’ll rush to his help… if it’s not too late.”

“Oh hell,” said Mateo, touched by Julian’s immediate support but alarmed overall, “do you have to fight these things with… fire?”

Having begun preparing a magical attack on a sentient creature, he was taken by surprise and struggled to recall suitable cleric spells.

“Sacred Flame!” he suddenly remembered, almost spilling his wine in his excitement, “I try to set it alight!”

Stu, fingers curled tightly around his blindfolded partner’s tether and trying not to grin widely (at both the reversal of their usual positions, given Kai’s previous threat of the dwarf ending up “trussed up like a sausage”) felt out of his depth: the rope-based creature sounded cool and terrifying but the guy who could potentially cut it to pieces with his twin scimitars was a) blind and b) being led around on the end of a leash.

Suddenly, it seemed like the entire party could end up sausage-trussed - captured in what was surely still the first room of the dungeon proper!

“I, uh, I try to orientate the elf, helping him get the blades in his hands and making sure he’s facing the rope thing. That’s if you want to try to defend us, Kaiden?”

Stu’s instinct was to charge into the situation himself, but he was trying to behave in character. He’d chosen a character whose job was doing things more subtly and obliquely, evading this kind of head-on situation.

“I release his tether and skirt around the edge of the room, do my best to stay out of the ropes…”

“How uncharacteristic,” said the sightless Kaiden, wryly.

“… and shout directions to the elf. If I’ve got any time left to do anything else, I get my dagger ready in case I have to cut my buddies free from that thing. And I look for exits from this place.”

Stu felt almost out of breath, suspecting he'd got carried away and tried to do too much.

To be continued...

[blackbound]

Oh, to have a rope golem of my own... Excited for where this goes next!

[gag1195]

It feels almost cruel to point out that Sacred Flame doesn't actually do fire damage. A common easy mistake to make, but one that will potentially ruin Mateo's plans...

[Bradstick]

just got caught up on this series today and it is fantastic! I love the rope golem encounter! I too would like to face one of those…though I don’t plan on winning

I also really liked the subtle bondage at play. The enforced blindfold from the curse was brilliant. The party choosing to add a leash instead of curing the curse was hilarious.

It feels almost cruel to point out that Sacred Flame doesn't actually do fire damage. A common easy mistake to make, but one that will potentially ruin Mateo's plans...

As pointed out, Sacred Flame does not actually do fire damage. Not only that, but a hall mark of golems in 5e is magic resistance. So the golem will roll with advantage on the cantrip making it more likely to succeed and take no damage. I love seeing new players make these mistakes as they make it more entertaining. This story has an added benefit as these mistakes end up with BDSM type consequences. I look forward to the next chapter!

[Straitjacketed]

Thanks to all commenters for their patience: @blackbound, @gag1195, @Guardianbound, @Bradstick and @CaptiveDan.


The Dungeon Master - part 7

(Co-written with @DeeperThanRed)

Kaiden was grateful that Stu was trying to help but it was immediately apparent that his rogue character, ironically enough, was not very well-versed in the art of subtlety. “Yes, I can take care of myself,” he retorted, partly because that’s what his character would do but also because fighters would theoretically work better with a support class.

Hmm, Stu’s first instinct was to help Kaiden, but they should keep in mind that there were four in the party, not two couples. If everyone only thought of his partner, this adventure would quickly go nowhere. He turned to Julian, hoping he could address him without facial expressions (everyone told the blond man he had expressive eyes).

“Julian, Stu’s got my aim in the bag. Can you make sure the golem won’t dodge me? Let’s take care of this together!” Since Stu was still “helpfully” holding onto his leash, Kaiden flexed his neck as much as he could.

“Richard, I’ll follow Stu’s instructions and attack the monster with two blades.”

Richard smiled at the bold suggestion. “By all means. If you can reach the dice at your left - no, your other left, there you go - make a Dexterity check with disadvantage. Mateo can check the numbers for you.”

The players had realized the value of teamwork earlier than he expected. It shouldn’t, therefore, be an issue that he made them fight a pretty strong encounter right from the get-go.

After looking at the numbers, Richard informed the party: “Mateo, you cast what you think is a fire attack but your Sacred Flame simply bathes everything in a warm radiance. It doesn’t even distract the golem...”

Mateo looked crestfallen.

“… but, well, you can all see it better now.”

Looking on the bright side – literally.

“Kaiden, your attack is just below the necessary threshold.” The collared, blindfolded man’s shoulders sagged in disappointment.

“Wait!” Julian intercepted, “I didn’t do anything yet. Can I try and rebuff the golem?”

Richard tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Technically, you could. But it’s going to counterattack. Wouldn’t you want to protect your allies instead?”

Julian looked at Mateo and apologised, wordlessly. The beefy cleric could take a hit, they needed to finish this fight before they got too tired from their very first brawl. “I cast Bane, then. My character does a pretty suggestive dance and tries to lower the golem’s saving roll.” Julian winks at Stu. “This should help the elf to make the shot.”

After a Charisma roll, which the halfling won, Richard made the executive decision to be kind, to throw the team a lifeline. He declared that Kaiden managed to slash one of the Golem’s cable-like arms clean off. “However,” he added, “with its free hand, it entangles Mateo, who is a sitting duck.”

Taking out a coil of red rope from his bag, Richard grinned at Mateo.

“Our very first capture is upon us.”

“Oh shit,” murmured Stuart to himself. In reality, though, the rope in Richard’s hands exerted a magnetic pull and he couldn’t look away. Being who he was, a large part of him wanted to be in Mateo’s shoes: unconsciously, he began tensing and flexing his arm muscles in sympathy as if he were the one about to be tied.

There was a definite fascination, however, in seeing another guy about to be bound. Conscious that the rope golem might be far from defeated, Stu watched Richard’s technique like a hawk, noting where and how he formed the knots. Would the roping just be token, or would their swarthy host be unable to wriggle free?

Mateo looked genuinely worried.

“Is it going to strangle me to death? You’d better not recreate that, Richard.”

He took a (last?) swig from his wine glass.

“Well, guys, this may be my shortest-lived character ever…”

Kaiden felt the pull on his leash tightening. He had to assume that the prospect of someone getting put in ropes excited his boyfriend. Cute, he thought but also couldn’t help to be at least a bit possessive. He wouldn’t dream of holding Stu back from such interests but, when they were together, one part of him wanted to be the biggest dom in the room.

Still, he was also eager about the whole deal. Even if he couldn’t see Mateo, he knew how the guy looked, and he was sure Richard could make a fine portrayal of a hypermasculine cleric caught in bondage. He never thought of having a priest kink but that sounded pretty fun...

Julian, who had no such pangs of jealousy, glued his eyes to Richard. He always admired men fitter than him and seeing his Mateo tied up was a great treat! “Yes, Richard, please don’t kill my partner. I need him to pay the bills.” He flashed the cleric a slightly facetious smile but made no other attempts to come to his help.

A distant voice at the back of his head was telling Julian to be more cautious about Richard but that was dismissed when the DM began talking, his tone calm and smooth.

“Mateo, don’t worry, I would never endanger one of my players,” Richard assured him, not without a devilish glint in his eyes. Without giving the swarthy man a chance to protest, he cradled the back of his head.

“Now, be nice and put your arms behind your back,” he whispered, Richard’s voice triggering something in Mateo. With an already willing captive and an experienced set of fingers, Richard took the rope and got behind the other man.

For a more workable position, he gently pushed the group’s host toward the table until his head rested on it. Then, the DM take hold of Mateo’s tanned arm and began winding rope around his wrist. He didn’t want to take too much time but with Stu and Julian both watching eagerly, he didn’t want to rush things.

“As you can see, the golem is programmed to capture, not hurt,” he lectured as Mateo’s arms were pulled towards the center of his back with a rope harness attaching wrists to elbows and encompassing hairy forearms. “Even the fingers are wrapped with rope so the golem’s captive has no hopes of escaping,” Richard added.

With more rope reinforcing itself, he tied a simple harness around Mateo’s shoulders and under his armpits. This way, the weight of his arms was distributed and wouldn’t be uncomfortable in the long run.

Also, as Mateo leaned forward, his muscle shirt hitched upward, revealing a patch of skin between his low-riding gym shorts and the waistline of his underwear. A jockstrap? Useful to know. Richard intentionally touched the exposed skin but otherwise made no signs of having glimpsed the kinky underwear.

Okay, perhaps he winked at Julian a bit. Patting Mateo on the shoulder, the DM asked “Are you comfortable, brave cleric? That foul monster dealt a nasty attack on you but is but one blow away from oblivion. Can you keep going to finish him off?”

If he knew anything from his experiences as a Dungeon Master, it was that players (usually men) could be swayed, easily, by the opportunity to become gallant warriors, even against imaginary opponents.

“Of course, if you’d like, you can use hold your weapon in your mouth. We could even help you keep it there…”

Mateo felt a mix of conflicting urges, the familiar clash between Control Freak (that residual part of him still anxious about maintaining status and authority and avoiding public disclosure of his kinkier interests) and Rope Bunny (the greedy sub part of him that had grown and flourished since meeting Julian).

If there were any genuine internal struggle, however, Richard’s reassuring tone served to settle it.

“Now, be nice and put your arms behind your back.”

Mateo did so and felt his arms manoeuvred into position for a classic box tie, Richard fastening each wrist snugly to the opposite elbow with what seemed like intelligent knotting and cinching between.

“As you can see, the golem is programmed to capture, not hurt,” Richard continued, working swiftly but giving no impression of rushing, “even the fingers are wrapped with rope so the golem’s captive has no hopes of escaping.”

“Are you tying his fingers together, then?” interrupted Stu, transparently fascinated. In his eagerness to see what Richard was doing, he leaned across the table, not realising his change of position had pulled Kaiden’s leash taut.

“Or maybe taping them?”

“Thanks fellow adventurer,” muttered Mateo, throwing Stu a SERIOUSLY? look as Richard pulled him gently upright again to continue spinning and lacing the harness around Mateo's shoulders and torso. The host of the party was doing his best to avoid showing, in his face, the fact that the rope being looped around him pushed his concealed - but securely locked - leather strap-harness more closely against his sensitive nipples.

“Yeah, shut up Stu,” laughed Kaiden, adding provocatively, “anyone else up for gagging the rogue?”

The upper body roping felt simple but effective, helping distribute the weight of Mateo’s parallel arms but also, he was starting to suspect, positioning the knots far enough that he couldn’t reach them with his hands. Not that he was going to attempt an escapology display here and now, in front of his guests.

Stu, who would happily have played Houdini right there and then, mentally assessed the “escapability” of Richard’s handiwork: the apparent tightness of the rope bonds, the placement of the knots (were the rope ends tied off upward and/or in front?). It was a novelty watching another guy being bound up and the biker found himself empathising mostly with Mateo but, to his surprise, a little with the DM too – hence his naïve question about finger-taping.

Having coloured slightly at the reaction from Mateo and Kaiden and feeling the need for more air, Stu pulled the zip of his leathers down an inch or two (inadvertently exposing more of the low-cut PVC framing his broad chest).

“Are you comfortable, brave cleric? That foul monster dealt a nasty attack on you but is but one blow away from oblivion. Can you keep going to finish him off?”

Mateo squirmed a little in his bindings, more for show than anything else, but nodded that yes, he was comfortable.

“Am I even still holding my war-hammer?” he asked. He clenched one fist behind him and twisted his torso, mimicking an attempt at swinging a weapon from his trussed-up position.

“Of course, if you’d like, you can hold your weapon in your mouth,” Richard somehow managed to make this sound a reasonable option, “we can even help you keep it there…”

Kaiden let out a chuckle, guessing where this was heading.

“Oh hell,” said Mateo, seeing it too, “what are our options, guys?”

He waggled his fingers and gave another tug at his bindings. Having amassed a whole storage bin of rope, he thought he recognised this as the supple red cotton cord that was often sold in magic shops, as “magicians’ rope”. He knew that type of rope held knots extremely well and, if he wasn’t mistaken, Richard had done a bloody good job knotting it.

Stu was making a conscious effort to be more helpful.

“I could direct Kaiden in another scimitar attack,” he ventured, adding quickly, “if he needs directing. We need to avoid accidentally hurting Mateo. Otherwise… well, I’ve got my dagger. If we go all in on attacking this thing – like, if all of us hit it with everything we’ve got, including Mateo trying to use the hammer with his mouth – I’m fine with running up and trying to cut the ropes around the cleric.”

Richard smiled the smile of a benevolent Great White Shark.

“That might bring me into its range of attack, though…”

Stu tailed off, waiting for suggestions from the rest of the party.

“That would save me a bit of gift-wrapping when I haul the dwarf back as my bounty,” smirked Kaiden, “when the job is done, I could just bundle you up in my net, ready-hogtied, and carry you off.”

“Not while you’re blind!” retorted Stu, immediately rising to his partner's teasing. Even sightless and leashed, Kaiden was able, effortlessly, to get his burly biker hot under the collar.

“Okay,” sighed Mateo, cutting through the squabbling with an exaggerated, rope-constrained shrug of world-weary resignation, “I can’t quite believe I’m attempting this but yes, fine, if I can get the hammer to my mouth, maybe with Stu’s help, I will actually try to wield it as part of our combined attack.”

He looked longingly at his wine, now effectively out of reach.

“Anyone else up for gagging the rogue?”

Julian raised his hand upward like a schoolboy who couldn’t wait to show off his smarts to the teacher. He wasn’t sure if the other people in the room were familiar with the term, but he was all for a “himbo sub” and Stu was a perfect specimen.

“If he’s going to be a distraction,” he began to explain himself, a bit sheepish when the eyes turning to him pushed him to justify the thought, “it’s better to keep the rogue mute. He can still be useful. I even have a silencing spell.”

Richard, as busy with roping up Mateo’s beefy upper torso, seemed to make a note of this. The DM, just like the delighted Kaiden, seemed to need very little in-game motivation to gag someone. Maybe Julian’s first impressions were wrong, and Stu wasn’t the dominant one in their relationship (“they could both be versatile”, an open-minded part of Julian’s mind chastised him)?

After all, why else would Stu wear that revealing, shiny tank top? It screamed “muscle sub”.

Speaking of those, Mateo’s grunts got Julian’s attention back on track. His boyfriend was expertly tied up, better than what he could likely achieve in such little time, he grudgingly admitted. Richard obviously had a lot of experience and Julian’s briefs got tighter at the thought of what else he could learn from him. “You’re pretty good at this,” he complimented awkwardly.

Kaiden, who was enjoying every second of Mateo being pressured into a ridiculous battle strategy, cheered.

“Mateo, you sound like you’re not used to taking big weapons in your mouth!” Now that subtlety was dead, he had to admit that Stu’s suggestions were actually quite sound.

He loved Stu and while he could be a bit dense sometimes, he’d be the first to admit that he had a good head on his shoulders. Even if he couldn’t see (including in real life – damn that blindfold, equal parts frustrating and thrilling!), he knew that his character’s physical stats were high enough to bring down a starter monster if Stu could lead him into the attack.

He kinda wanted Mateo to stay bound but he couldn’t see Richard’s handiwork anyway, so it didn’t make much of a difference.

“That might bring me into its range of attack, though…”

…but of course. Leave it to Stu to always throw himself into perilous situations.

“I think you should go for it,” Kaiden said in his best supportive voice. “You literally have me on a leash, I think I’m literally bound to comply.” He didn’t need to see to Stu blushing at his remark.

“That would save me a bit of gift-wrapping when I haul the dwarf back as my bounty,” he added, “when the job is done, I could just bundle you up in my net, ready-hogtied, and carry you off.”

“Not while you’re blind!”

“I’m sure I could get him trussed up and gagged without my eyes if he’s as easy as someone I know,” Kaiden played along.

Julian also backed Stu up, eager to see more of Richard working his magic to immerse them in the adventure.

Richard stacked his notes together by tapping them to the table, drawing the players’ attention. There was something about his tap-tapping that pulled them in.

“Alright, then. Stu, I take it that you’ll use your daggers in close range.”

“He’ll first show me where the golem is,” Kaiden reminded. “Then I can throw my scimitar at it like a boomerang. That’s allowed, right?” So, Stu wasn’t the only one with crazy plans. Richard could appreciate what these two men saw in each other.

“It has a low chance of working but you can try,” he smiled at the blond, who fist pumped, blindly.

“Julian, will you also be attacking?”

The bard shook his head. “I’ll cast True Strike to search the golem for weak points, giving Kaiden an advantage in his roll...”

Smart, Richard mused. He had figured the boy would rather try and help his partner.

“… after helping the cleric with his hammer.”

And here came the opportunity.

“Mateo, let’s help you get that hammer in place,” Richard’s voice practically dripped with honey, “I have the perfect prop for the situation.”

As Richard got his supplies from the bag, Julian piped in. “Do you want my help to drink that?” If he was willing, the businessman was going to need help.

Meanwhile, Richard showed off what he had brought for the occasion: a long, thick, sturdy bamboo stick. This was his go-to spreader bar for shibari sessions, but the others didn’t need to know that. “Of course, there’s no way you can get this in place without use of your arms. Julian, would you do the honors?”

These words brightened the youngest player up, like a magic spell. Eager to prove his talents to the ginger, Julian eagerly snatched the ropes and the stick handed to him. As Mateo squirmed to see the boy walking behind him, Julian put a hand on his back - right where he knew the harness still lay.

“I lift the cleric’s jaw,” Julian mimed, “and put the battle hammer between his teeth. With his supernatural neck muscles born from working hours at the monastery gym, it’s not an impossible task for the hunky priest.”

Any protests Mateo may have had were stifled by the wood thrusted between his teeth. The bamboo was a lot harder than it looked and worked just like a bit gag as Julian tied two knots at either side then tied them together at the nape of the captive’s neck.

Just to be sure, he also attached the rope to Mateo’s rope harness, tilting his head back slightly. Julian smiled to him and whispered in his ear as Stu and Kaiden turned their gaze to Richard’s gestures detailing how the battle round would turn out.

“We don’t want you to drool all over your shirt and expose what’s underneath,” he teased, “right, Mr Holy Man?”

Richard, with his theatre-trained ears, pretended not to have heard.

“Kaiden, your attack is successful thanks to the bard’s magic. Mateo, you somehow manage to land a hit! You, however, lose your balance and take some fall damage. And as for you, Stu,” the DM waited a few beats, “you zigzag through the battlefield like a shadow, striking the monster between the knots that make up its heart!”

Stu’s eyes widened in triumph.

“However, right as you do that, it also gets a hit! As a result, you receive a movement penalty,” Richard pulled out another coil of rope from his somehow-still-full bag, “the question is: where did it land the hit?”

To be continued...

[Bradstick]

Fantastic continuation to this series! I am in love with rope golem, where does one find a wizard that can make one for me?

I am excited to see they are coming together as a team. Secretly I hope they all fail and end up bound by the golem and taken to the dungeons. I am excited for the next chapter, keep up the great work!!!

[Straitjacketed]

Fantastic continuation to this series! I am in love with rope golem, where does one find a wizard that can make one for me?

I'm kind of in love with it too. Bravo to @DeeperThanRed for introducing it to the story - and thank YOU @Bradstick for making the amazing new banner now appended to my signature. I love it!

I am excited to see they are coming together as a team. Secretly I hope they all fail and end up bound by the golem and taken to the dungeons.

Heheheh, I won't leave it as long before the next thrilling instalment...

[blackbound]

Love the rope golem's real-life consequences, and the cheeky "weapon in mouth" excuse. Excited for what's next!

[Straitjacketed]

Love the rope golem's real-life consequences, and the cheeky "weapon in mouth" excuse. Excited for what's next!

Glad to hear it! I'm sure we've all experienced that DM who takes "method role-play" just a little too far...

I realised every story involving Richard tends to include a poll, so added one here.

[Straitjacketed]

Thanks to all my commenters - @blackbound, @gag1195, @Guardianbound, @Bradstick and @CaptiveDan - now go vote in the poll at the top of the thread!


The Dungeon Master - part 8

(Co-written with @DeeperThanRed)

Aware that it might be his last for the time being, Mateo took a greedy slurp from the wine glass proffered by his partner. He concentrated on avoiding spills and, when he looked up again, Richard was handing Julian a chunky length of bamboo.

“… Julian, would you do the honours?”

Mateo shot his boyfriend a complicated look, but Julian was already moving to stand behind him. The bound businessman – or rather, the bound businessman’s nipples - registered the slight pressure at harness level. Mateo’s hands were expertly bound, each to the opposing elbow, but he flexed his fingers like an apprehensive pianist.

“I lift the cleric’s jaw… and put the battle hammer between his teeth.”

The rest of Julian’s comment fell on deaf ears, as Mateo struggled to accommodate the thick section of bamboo, Richard leaning forward and holding it steady between the muscled man’s straining jaws with a single well-placed finger while the younger man pulled cords taut at either side, securing the wooden gag in place. Mateo was reminded, absurdly, of two gift-wrappers cooperating on the tying of a ribbon.

Saliva already starting to pool, the businessman felt a mix of relief when his head was pulled back and the bamboo-roping tied off to the rest of the rope harness at his upper back. Relief with an edge of humiliation at being tightly bound and now gagged in front of four other men.

Then again, he reasoned inwardly, the player across the table was blindfolded, collared and leashed, leash held by a gawping biker in full creaking leather and shiny black PVC. Mateo’s own predicament seemed prosaic by comparison.

And the bamboo would be out of his mouth as soon as his character dropped the battle hammer.

Wouldn’t it?

Fresh from his back-and-forth with Kaiden and the threat of a silencing spell, Stu had forgotten not to stare and watched the gagging of their host with undisguised fascination, his own mouth falling open slightly. His leathers suddenly felt tighter around the crotch.

“… and as for you, Stu… you zigzag through the battlefield like a shadow, striking the monster between the knots that make up its heart!”

Immediately, the DM’s narrative pulled the biker back into the action.

“Yesssss!” he exclaimed.

“However, right as you do that, it also gets a hit! You’ll get a movement penalty as a result.”

Hm, thought Stu, what does that mean? He glanced at Kaiden for explanation and reassurance, momentarily forgetting his partner’s eyes were sealed off behind blindfolding leather.

“The question is: where did it land the hit?”

Stu’s pupils dilated at the sight of a coil of rope in Richard’s hand, unquestionably meant for him.

“Uh-oh...” His mouth suddenly felt dry.

Kaiden, who’d encouraged the biker to attack the golem, chuckled, but Stu found himself strangely conflicted. In the specific context of an escape challenge, he’d have no issue submitting to the burly ginger man’s trussing and binding – hell, he was curious to test it – but now the moment was upon him, he felt oddly… shy? In a short span of time, the role-play session had taken on an unusual intimacy and, to date, the only man who had tied Stu up in an intimate rather than challenge setting was Kaiden.

And then there was that entirely separate part of him in thrall to the role-play itself: he wanted their party to defeat the rope monster, dammit!

“Does… does my leather armour protect me?” he asked.

Almost without thinking, Stu was reaching for his own psychological armour: slowly, his fingers began pulling the zip upwards up on his bike leathers, reaching to fasten the press-studded jacket collar.

Julian felt a bizarre sort of pride as Stu unabashedly ogled the way Mateo’s muscles strained against the ropes holding him and his handsome face contorted by the thick gag between his lips.

Since he knew all about the exhibitionist tendencies his boyfriend could never fully admit to, he wondered how he felt in this position that forced his head slightly upward, making it easier for others on the table to look at him than vice versa.

“Just tell me when you’re done with that hammer,” Julian winked, fully aware of what a low-hanging fruit this was. Judging by Stu’s admiration that the biker could hardly hide and the knowing smirk on Richard’s face, Julian felt like everyone would conveniently forget to take Mateo’s gag off as the scene progressed.

Kaiden, for his part, was more concerned about Stu so Mateo’s predicament was quickly thrown to the back burner, waiting until a particularly loud moan would remind the blindfolded man about their host’s situation.

“’Movement penalty’,” he parroted, absentmindedly tugging at his leash and collar. It disturbed him how quickly he got used to the leash but that was mostly due to the biker’s talented hands. Kaiden’s partner could be a bit clumsy on occasion but, he reminded himself, Stu was also an experienced escape artist.

That meant that he was very considerate of how much weight he put on the leash and that made the buckled leather around Kaiden’s neck feel secure rather than stifling.

“So, he’s going to get tied up, too?”

That… was a little concerning. This development would make Julian the only guy, other than their DM, who wasn’t in bondage of some shape or form. Kaiden trusted Richard but wasn’t everything happening a bit too fast?

Still, he couldn’t help but laugh at Stu’s eagerness to turn on him so abruptly, especially after getting to hold him on a leash.

What he didn’t realise was the way Richard watched Stu. As soon as he saw the hesitating expression on the leather-clad man’s face, the actor knew that he had what it took to push him over the edge. With Kaiden unable to see and Julian just going along with everything, Richard felt he could take a small risk.

“You don’t need to be nervous Stu,” he drawled. “You have this battle in the bag. But it’s not going to be a flawless victory. Your current armor actually doesn’t give you much protection; in fact, it may hamper your movements.”

Truth be told, he wanted to see what the tight, padded bike jacket of Stu’s was hiding but there was going to be time to discover that. Unless…

Richard made a bet that Stu wouldn’t know to check his sheet carefully. “However, you could easily shuck your armor – just slip it off – and still finish the golem off with one good blow aided by the agility bonus you’ll get.”

The light armor actually wouldn’t be a significant enough hindrance in this situation but hey, players could always work this out for themselves.

“If you agree, let’s get to work.”

Richard’s fingers reached to Stu’s jacket collar almost coaxingly and lowered the zipper. The result wasn’t disappointing: beneath his bike leather, the PVC vest he wore was skin-tight and had such a low neckline that Stu’s large pectorals were threatening to spill, pushed together as they were.

The burly ginger man’s movements were measured and his voice reassuring as he folded Stu’s hands around each other and Kaiden’s leash, using black tape to wrap the whole bundle, after pulling the handle around one of his wrists. “You should hold things tightly,” he said, rubbing the escape artist’s shoulders to relax him, “wouldn’t want your target to get away from you, right?”

The others were likely anticipating a box tie similar to Mateo’s as Richard slid more red rope from his bag but he surprised them when he patted Stu’s tape-bound wrists to make him lift them over his head and hold them behind, at the nape of his neck.

Using two separate lengths of rope, Richard bound Stu’s forearms to his respective biceps in a chicken wing tie and wrapped the two ends together, making a thick knot. Then, he tautly pulled the rope-tails downward, tying them securely around his belt at the back.

“There you go,” he said, admiring the way Stu was forced to expose his armpits and push his muscled chest forward, “the golem gave its best shot and tangled you up a bit but you can still move. Now, are you ready to deliver the finishing blow?”

Checking his calculations once more, Richard found that the party could move on with their way once this danger passed. “I think you all did a wonderful job at battling with everything you had.”

"So, um, is the battle over?"

Stu, dazed and still somewhat disoriented, needed to check in with Richard.

"Did we win?"

He tugged experimentally at his taped-up hands, fixed at the back of his neck.

When he was a kid, Stu was taken to see a showing of Disney’s The Jungle Book and one scene stood out for him: that part of the film when Mowgli is charmed by Kaa the snake, whose eyes spin in hypnotic spirals, mesmerising the boy while the python wraps coil after coil around his unresisting body, pinioning him completely.

As Richard removed his jacket, all the while talking in low, reassuring tones, Stu flashed back to that scene.

He watched as his fingers were first coaxed then taped into an interlocking position, Kaiden’s leash between them, then red rope snaked swiftly and tightly around his wrists. Up over his head they went, and it almost seemed a comfort to have forearms and biceps meet and meld… then that additional tightness as the rope was tied off at his belt.

Knots out of reach, thought the escape artist part of him, distant but never quite able to shut off, even if I could get the tape off my hands.

“I think you all did a wonderful job at battling with everything you had.”

Stu shifted in his ropes, taut PVC reflecting the light from his lower chest and his drying armpits giving off a gently musky scent as he fidgeted. A very faint frown creased his brow. Did something feel… maybe not quite right?

“We won, then” He murmured, “so we can go further in?”

That was good. Winning was good. He quickly forgot the feeling of notquiteright.

Mateo strained against the red cord harness, the back of each hand kissing the opposite elbow, his questing fingers meeting nothing but air. He would’ve nodded if such a thing were possible, but the businessman gazed a few inches above the top of everyone else’s head; if he tried to flex his neck downwards, he was caught up short against the length of bamboo so tightly secured across his open jaw. He was fairly sure the drool escaping his mouth was starting to trickle down his neck into his shirt.

Why was that wooden thing there anyway? It probably didn’t matter. He gave a trussed shrug. No, it didn’t matter, everything was fine.

Kaiden felt another distracting tug as Richard went roping up Stu, realizing that the collar wasn’t coming off and worse, it was apparently attached to the bound hands of the biker, seeing how the light tugs almost coincided with the near-rhythmic rope creaks.

Pull. Stop. Rinse, repeat.

It felt… kinda nice, actually. Maybe he was just desperate for more stimulation in the darkness but he didn’t even stop and think that the blindness curse should’ve worn off by now.

Eh, Richard probably knew best, right? Yes, the Dungeon Master knows best.

The ginger man nodded as Kaiden began to tilt his head left and right in time with Stu’s tugs at the length of leather attached to his neck.

“Yes, you won, the golem stopped moving and some of its ropes came apart. You’re able to move further in to the dungeon, everything is going according to plan,” Richard assured them. “You grab the loot - mostly a lot of top-quality, err, rope - before travelling onward, the dim halls echoing with your footsteps.

Outside, a gust of rain pattered against the large window. Richard consulted his papers.

“Stu, you are the first one to see that the new door that looms in front of your party, better protected against the sands of time and more lavish, too. It’s surrounded by inscribed warnings that say one can only enter by imparting a gift of equal value to those who step inside the chamber. At least, you think the symbol means ‘gift’; it could also be ‘offering’ or maybe… ‘sacrifice’.”

Stu gulped, the movement a little exaggerated in his chest-out position.

“There’s what looks like a stone altar at the side of the door, adorned with manacles and secure chains, no doubt for leaving gifts. What do you do?”

Julian’s face scrunched up with thought. “So, we like, have to leave someone behind if we enter? That makes sense to me.” The idea of his exotic dancer halfling chained up on the stone like an offering was intriguing, even if it didn’t fit his current clothing of a baggy sweatshirt and running shorts.

“What do you say, big guy?” he asked his boyfriend. Mateo had every reason to be casual about bondage, but Julian thought it a bit weird how calm he was, considering the way he drooled all over himself, albeit slowly. The businessman was usually a lot more skittish about such things. Maybe Richard’s presence was having a calming effect?

Actually, weren’t Kaiden and Stu a bit too relaxed about their situation? The way Stu’s arms were forced over his head… and Kaiden’s collar, forcing him to keep his chin up, couldn’t be too comfortable…

…on second thoughts, it may not be a bad idea to leave himself untied, Julian thought… but then Richard’s smooth voice interrupted his reasoning.

“You should make a decision, soon. What do you offer? Or who? Maybe someone with high Charisma could be a good option.”

Someone like a bard. Julian tried to continue his line of reasoning. Was he thinking that, uh… it could be fun to be an offering? Wait, what was that again? Julian shook his head. The atmosphere in the room was getting to him but he needed to keep a clear mind going forward.

“I pick, erm, someone else. Maybe the rogue and cleric can stay behind?”

To be continued...

[blackbound]

Looks like Richard's a master hypnotist if nobody's even thinking about freeing the others now that the golem is defeated! Or are the characters free but the players are not?

It doesn't really matter. Keep going, boys, I'm sure nothing untoward will happen.

As for the poll, my choice reflects the state of the game right now, not counting Richard...

[Straitjacketed]

Looks like Richard's a master hypnotist if nobody's even thinking about freeing the others now that the golem is defeated!

I think it's more that he's lucked into a situation where he's been allowed to set up the perfect environmental conditions for hypnosis: a quiet room with gentle, rhythmic background noises (rain pattering outside), a quality sound system playing his own ambient soundtrack (with plenty of subliminal calming) and an audience of willing participants (some of whom are meeting him for the first time) with their inhibitions lowered (by alcohol and an atmosphere of playful, low-level bondage).

And, as the man with the plan, he's in control of it all.

Or are the characters free but the players are not?

There's an ambiguity there, isn't there? Everyone has a different threshold of suggestibility but it's fair to suppose that at least some of those present are going to think, at some point, "hang on a minute! why am I still tied up?!"