Morning of July 18th, in Camp

Continued from Restarting on the 19th of July

Starting Down

The DM: The stairs at c. lead into a cold pool of air that for whatever reason baffles your infravision. You will all need manual illumination of some kind in order to see.

Marcule: Sorry everyone i will be absent today, I had my shot yesterday and it has put me on my ass. I will see you on Friday.

Lexent: I obtain and light a torch. About how far down do the stairs go before reaching the water?

The DM: sorry, miswrote. That should be "air" not water. I've changed it above.

The DM: As a reminder, the stairs are steep and drop about 25 feet overall. Lexent]]: That simplifies things. Might we presume Marcule will hold the torch for us while we continue?

The DM: No, afraid not. You'll have to do on your own. Marcule is assisting the sappers in their search. I always try to have absent characters participating in the safest activity at the moment of their departure.

Lexent: OK. I proceed with the torch carefully to the bottom of the stairs.

The DM: The temperature drops practically to freezing as you light on the bottom of the stairs. You can see your breath and there’s very little heat coming from the torch. I’m working on a map.

The DM: sorry, got caught up working on the effect.

Lexent: "Well, with this torch, we're targets for anything down here."

Lexent: I start proceeding along the lefthand wall.

The DM: You move only five feet when you realize you're not alone in here. A shadow flashes on the periphery of your right eye and your head snaps around to see there's nothing there. Just like a horror flick.

Lexent: Are there any other distinguishing features within our sight?

Vafrandir: In. I'll go join Lexent. (I intentionally did not check the bed; thought that would be too on the nose!)

Lexent: After that post I couldn't risk not checking. Believe me. I tried.

Pandred: I'll set myself up just beside Lex on his left. Grit my teeth, rolling with the Battleaxe.

The DM: If I had thought of something to put there, you would have found something in the bed. Without updating the map, I’m counting Lexent in 2528 and Vafrandir in 2529. Vafrandir, you notice that you can’t see anything that your body casts a shadow against. The torch isn’t throwing any ambient light off the ceiling or walls that would give light. Something in here is messing with simple physics.

The DM: Until someone gives ground, counting Pandred on the stairs, where “2429” would be.

Lexent: While watching into the darkness, I edge another 5 feet along the wall.

Pandred: I'll follow behind. Arduin well in the rear.

Taking off Vafrandir's move for now; look carefully at the image.

Vafrandir: Nice, very creepy!

Lexent: Would setting the torch down in 2728 still provide us light with which we could fight if necessary?

The DM: I think we’ll have Vafrandir roll initiative.

Vafrandir: raw 4; adj 5.

Something

The DM: Absolutely not, Lexent. You’ve already noticed that the torch only gives off half the light you would normally expect; there’s NO reflection off the roof, and logically the floor. Putting the torch down would black out everything outside a five foot circle.

Lexent: Understood.

The DM: Sorry, Vafrandir. I rolled a six.

Vafrandir: You win some, you lose some.

The DM: A literal black shadow rushes out of the blackness and attacks Vafrandir. It rolls a 5 and misses.

Party’s Round 1

If you attack, please say what you’re attacking with. Pandred, if you move into 2629, you’ll block Lexent’s torch and you won’t be able to see a thing in front of you.

Lexent: Can a torch be used as a weapon, and if so, does that entail risking the light of the torch?

Vafrandir: I'm close, so I'll attack with my longsword. 12 raw, 15 to hit; 1 raw, 3 dmg.

Pandred: I'll call out to Arduin to toss me the +1 Spear while I drop the Battleaxe. Let me know if I have AP remaining when I get it in hand. "Arduin, SPEAR, now!"

The DM: There’s a rule for all such questions, Lexent. See the rules under Found Objects used as Weapons. Check the torch’s weight. Yes, every time you hit with it, you could extinguish the flame.

The DM: Hm. Arduin reacts and tosses it; Throw aimed object is two AP; that includes your catch. Pandred needs 2 AP to throw it or otherwise attack with it. I think I’ll ask for a wisdom check from Arduin to see if he hesitates.

Lexent: I move to 2728 and attempt to turn the Something (undead seems likely) To Turn: 14

The DM: The creature is beyond you; it cannot be turned by someone with less than 10 points in dweomercraft.

Arduin: 6 on the wisdom check. "Heads up, Pan!"

Pandred: Can you rephrase that? Do you mean it costs him 2 AP to throw it, costs us both 2 AP to throw/catch it, or that it costs us 1 each, one for his throw and one for my catch?

The DM: Tempting to say it takes him 2 to throw it and you 1 to catch it, but time is passing ... I’ve got to argue you have to wait for it, so 2 AP for both of you. I think I’ll skip you making a dexterity check.

The DM: Vafrandir, I should have actually looked at the Puissance table last week. “Draw Speed” says plainly, “decreases the penalty incurred by firing a bow more quickly, while improving the time in which a crossbow can be loaded.” My error. So, the penalty for loading and firing a bow in one round is reduced to -3 to hit. The crossbow speed for loading a light crossbow is reduced from two rounds loading and one round firing to 1 round loading; for a heavy crossbow, from three rounds loading to 2. The adjustment to pulling a weapon from your scabbard is also included.

Vafrandir: Understood. Thanks!

Pandred: Then I advance to 2629 with Spear in hand. That's me. "Hroagh!"

Shadow’s Round 2

The DM: Putting up the map after the shadow’s move. It attacks Pandred, rolling a 17; Pandred takes 3 damage AND loses 4 points of strength ... no saving throw. The strength drain stuns Pandred from the shock; she stands and shivers, and does not fall back (moderately paralyzing in effect). The shadow takes its place in 2729.

Lexent’s new position lights up the whole cavern, so the shadow is revealed. Lexent and Vafrandir can act.

Lexent: I also assume a torch cannot be effectively held in the same hand as a shield, correct?

Vafrandir: Shit! I advance to 2630 and attack and with longsword: 13 raw, 16 to hit; 7 raw, 9 dmg.

The DM: Pandred, is Arduin using a shield? What weapon do you want me to put in his hand?

The DM: The longsword isn't magic and doesn't hit. Oh definitely, Lexent. No possible way to do that.

Arduin: A sling I think, even if spears are cooler.

Pandred: No shield currently. Unlucky getting hit so early. I assume that drops me to 14, and the percentile strength doesn't affect anything?

The DM: In this case, your 18 percentage counts as 18.

Lexent: I attack with the torch. To Hit: 12-3=9 Damage: 2

The DM: the torch isn't magical either. Both it and Vafrandir's sword just go straight through the shadow's body without contacting anything.

The DM: Okay, the sling depiction will have to wait. working on next round.

Shadow’s Round 3

The DM: Sensing that Pandred is the only one that can hurt it, the shadow attacks Pandred again, rolling a 12. That hits AC 6, missing.

hope you like the look of him, Pandred

Player’s Round 3

Vafrandir and Lexent, you’ll have to think of something else. Arduin has shillelagh as an option. Pandred, you can roll for real now.

Pandred: 9+1 hits AC 6, 3+1 is 4 damage.

Arduin I begin to cast shillelagh. Also I look good as hell.

The DM: shockingly, that hits Pandred. It’s stunned. Technically, since it takes one round to cast, Arduin doesn’t need to “begin” ... he just casts it. He can discharge the spell next round.

I want to see if Lexent or Vafrandir have an action.

Lexent: I cast cause light wounds.

Vafrandir: I'll move to 2830. I don't have any magic, but I can flank for Pandred.

Pandred: Oh snap! I have a spear! That's so rad!

The DM: I do my best. Because the shadow missed, let's have:

Player's Round 4

The DM: Take another move.

Lexent: I attack the darkness. To Hit: 2.

Lexent: Sorry, couldn't resist the phrasing.

The DM: I absolutely would have done that also. You know, before I went to Toronto with my book in '14, I staged that youtube video to get funding.

Pandred: THE SPEAR OF GOD DESCENDS!! 20 +1 to hit is a CRIT! No triple, but don't worry kids because damage is 6+1, doubled to 14! "HROAGH!"

The DM: Um, that's one discorporated shadow.

Pandred: "HROAGH!"

Arduin: "...Right, well done. Weren't some of the goblin-swords semi-magical? Do I recall that incorrectly?"

Aftermath

The DM: not much experience for something quite so scary. On 3d8 I rolled 7 hit points. Pandred who got hit takes 165 x.p. Lexent and Vafrandir get 22 x.p. each for witnessing it.

Shit, scrub that. I forgot Arduin. Arduin threw the spear so he counts in this.

The DM: correction. Pandred gets 162, Vafrandir and Lexent get 19 each and Arduin gets 9 x.p.

The DM: the adamantium weapons are +1 but are not magical. I said what weapons were magical in the chieftain’s room: I believe only the bow and the spear.

Lexent: So, do I keep my spell unless I touch something else, or was it specific to that target?

The DM: It’s not specific to the target, but it is cast and held for as long as you concentrate and don’t touch anything. As a DM, I don’t like the cost ... let’s say that if you cast it as “cause,” you can adjust it to cure if you take 5 rounds of concentration. I’ll add that to the spell description.

Vafrandir: Whew. That could have gone a lot worse. Lets move to this door. Once Lexent and his torch are behind me, I'll open it.

Pandred: Right with you.

The DM: The description is adjusted.

The DM: As well, Arduin’s spell will last a long time. I’ll add a shillelagh in his hand eventually.

The Shaft

no need for illumination effects, but you still need a torch

The DM: You find yourself at the same shaft where earlier, several visits ago, found an elevator down and evident ghouls. You see no ghouls now. This seems to be two levels below where you saw it before, from above. The elevator is one floor above you, with an evident mechanism, chains & tackle, to bring it down to your level. No telling how deep it goes.

The DM: Infravision continues to be ruined; you might consider lighting more than one torch to ensure you don’t cast shadows that could conceal more of what you just fought.

The DM: The tunnels leading off the map to the right are just two feet wide, even 18 inches wide in places. They’re goblin/gnome sized.

Lexent: I take the time to reverse the polarity of my spell and discharge it on Pandred for 3+4=7.

Lexent: Does there seem to be anything I can do for her Strength damage?

Vafrandir: Shall we lower ourselves down? How many needed to operate the mechanism and how many can fit on the lift?

The DM: you have no spell; and it doesn’t seem to be restoring itself, even after a couple of minutes of cooling down and entering this room, looking around. Pandred is pretty shaky on account of it.

The DM: It appears to be designed for about 25 goblins. The party as is can easily fit on it.

Lexent: "I recommend we head back up and regroup for at least a little bit. We can check on the sappers and I will retrieve the Staff for use as a weapon."

Vafrandir: Pandred, how do you feel? I think that's a good idea. What time is it?

The DM: Opening doors, checking out the green pool, checking the bed, descending the stairs, fighting the battle, recovering, entering this new room ... you’re not exactly sure, because Marcule is not around with his watch. Somewhere about noon?

Pandred: Evil things have evil ways, just glad we had tools to hand for it. Let's check on the lads. I can tell the exact time once we're outside.

Lexent: We head upstairs and outside to see if some sunlight will do Pandred some good, and to check on the sappers.

Pandred: Doubt it. I think I'm gonna be this way for an annoying amount of time. As long as I don't die from it we're alright though.

The DM: Getting up the stairs to the hall makes you all feel better. Getting up to the surface, you find the temperature is cool and overcast, with a drizzle falling. The improved light makes Pandred feel better, but her strength isn’t restored. Still, the fighter feels that if she could feel just a little sun on her skin, that might do it ... but as I said, the cloud cover is banked in and there’s no sun to be seen.

The DM: We’ll call it here for the day. The sappers have found the hole and have carefully begun to clear it out. A layer of silt from the tarn seems to have been deliberately spread over the rubble after it was collapsed, to conceal this as an entrance. It must have been done by the living goblins you killed at the start of this adventure. Out.

Outside

Lexent: In.

Vafrandir: In.

The DM: In.

Pandred: In.

Lexent: So, what time of day is it, and what is the estimate from the sappers on getting the tunnel dug out?

The DM: Marcule informs you that it is 12:13 in the afternoon. The sappers feel they can make a crawlspace by 4 p.m. and an easy passageway by tomorrow noon.

Pandred: Is it within their ability to make impromptu fortifications if we, say, brought up and dismantled the bunkbeds?

P: In the way that the goblin entry tunnel with the invader-pointing spikes is a fortification. Not asking for a barbican or something crazy. Just a defensible tunnel.

The DM: They could do that. It only takes a hatchet. To make it efficient, it would mean you couldn’t comfortably come out this way, though you could go in.

Lexent: "Arduin, you seem to know a great deal about the outdoors. Any better than a guess when or if the sun will decide to show her face today?"

Arduin: "If only that were within my power."

Pandred: I won't ask them to create such a fortification at this time. While I think we're pretty sure there's a decent portion still unexplored, I don't know how much we should invest in this. For now the tunnel makes me feel better about moving in and out, rather than climbing down a rickety ladder over a pit of certain death.

Lexent: "Well, I see three clear courses of action before us."

Lexent: "We can return to where we fought that shadow and try to explore those smaller tunnels, but might want additional assistance holding torches."

Lexent: "If I'm not mistaken, there was a floor between the top level and the Shadow level of the mine we could take the elevator to and attempt to explore."

Lexent: "Or we could see what is down the stairs in the bedroom. I'm partial to the last, myself."

Pandred: "Were there not still more stairs? Where we fought the ooze, not far from the blinding skeleton. The place is a bloody hive, the way it folds in on itself." "I'm agreeable to the bedroom stairs, at least."

Lexent: "As far as we can tell, the tunnels below the circular stairs were all dead ends."