Just gave Epic Role Playing for a whirl

Tonight we gave Epic a whirl using the Mythic GM Emulator. Holy mother of gaming!

My wife's character Elsbith was a rangery agile Leaf Walker. My character Wulfred was a mercenary with intuition as his natural talent. The setup was that we were on recon to find out why our main force didn't come back with the noble's 5 year old son who was being held captive by a group of outlaws.

The PCs reconnoiter the area where they suspect the boy is being held. They find a cave entrance amazingly being guarded by a single bandit. They achieve full surprise on the guard and launch two arrows into the poor sap. With it being full surprise each shot is a critical. One arrow to the head and the other to the neck. He goes down without a squeak. Elsbith and Wulfred sneak into the cave entrance to find that it opens up into a large underground complex. Amazingly it is well lit but still shadows lingered on the edges of the natural rock.

Up ahead the PCs see bodies - bodies of their men being looted by 3 hunched figures. Again Elsbith and Wulfred hold the upper hand with full surprise. This time the PCs act with swords drawn. Elsbith's sword strikes true and crumples the hunched figure with a stroke. Wulfred's strike lands on his opponent's arm breaking it. The struck bandit fumbles onto his back stunned by the sudden attack. The third figure looks up with abject horror in his eyes. Wulfred charges toward him hoping that he can strike the man down before the alarm is called. Elsbith brings up the rear with a bit more caution.

Wulfred swings his sword but the bandit evades while drawing a dagger. It's bad but it's all he's got. Before the bandit can take advantage of Wulfred being flat footed after the charge Elsbith runs him through with her long sword and he collapses in death. Elsbith watches down the hall while Wulfred drags the badly wounded bandit with the broken arm back into a crevice where a small waterfall splashes. Wulfred signals for Elsbith to come back where she begins doing some medical treatment to stabilize his wound. Wulfred begins interrogation but the bandit's resolve is strong and he holds firm. He's persuaded to give up information when Elsbith stops first aid. They find out that there's a side entrance to the area where the boy is being held. The main entrance goes through the main living quarters where there are up to 10 bandits.

The wounded bandit is bound and gagged. The plan is to take him along when they egress out of the cave. So, up the PCs climb up a short natural stone wall. They find that it's dark but wide open. By torch light they find an old suspension bridge slack across a chasm. The sound of fast running water boils out of the chasm so they figure that if they fall they are done for. Elsbith listens for bandits while Wulfred examines the bridge. His father was a siege engineer which led to him apprenticing in Siege Engineering for a military noble. He successfully appraises the problem - the main ropes are simply loose and would support two people if tightened up. With Elsbith's help the bridge repair is finished in no time.

Elsbith and Wulfred make their way across the bridge and immediately see a point of light ahead - the illuminated main passage. Taking up position on the edge of light and shadow Elsbith peeks around the corner to see a bandit killing time in the main hall. The PCs dash across the passage to take up a better position. Somehow the bandit didn't see them. It didn't hurt that the sound of churning water was louder here because of a series of small waterfalls plunging down from the ceiling to an unseen underground river. Two arrows dropped the sole bandit like a rag doll. Wulfred rushes out into the light and drags the downed bandit back into the shadows where he and Elsbith check their bearings. They figure that heading left would take them back toward the cave entrance on the way through the main living quarters. So they go right.

The PCs pick their way forward till they hear two voices. Voices of a man and a child. The man is trying to force the boy to eat. Wulfred times his attack with the gesticulations of the bandit who is yelling at the boy. Wulfred swings his sword into the bandit's right hip. The bandit buckles but does not fall from the strike. He spins around swinging his fist but Wulfred steps back from the punch. The next stroke decapitates the stumbling bandit. The headless body stumbles and falls sideways crashing into a bucket of gruel. Wulfred doesn't hesitate and dashes forward to muzzle the whimpering boy. The entire time Elsbith watches the main passage and sweats bullets hearing the noise coming from the back chamber.

Wulfred sneaks out to Elsbith's position revealing to her that the boy is chained but that the key was not on the bandit in the room. While Elsibth keeps watch Wulfred checks the nearest dead bandit. Again no key! They decide to hurry back and check their tied up captive. It's very unlikely that he has the key but it's worth checking. Maybe he can tell them who does. Against the odds he has it! Hmm, he's more important than first thought. Perhaps the leader? The PCs don't have time to dawdle so they head directly back to the boy and remove his shackles. Wulfric gags the him, slings him up over his shoulder and heads back through the side passage - completing extrication along with a prisoner as a prize.