Labyrinthine - Team Stealth

[Rizban]

http://www.mornproductions.com/gitp/labyrinthe/Delvington-small.jpgTalvis All Wise appears differently to each of you who meet him. He looks like your own race, or the closest humanoid race to yours for those of you nonhumanoids.
He offers you information and divinations. He has a reputation for never being wrong, only misinterpreted.
He requires information about the labyrinth in return, particularly any texts you discover.

You arrived in Delvington a two days ago and got settled into a very modest... hut hastily constructed. The construction seems sound enough, but you rather hope that no large storms blow through anytime soon.

A messenger arrived late last night from Talvis All Wise, which is why you now find yourselves standing on a dock just before sunrise, shivering in the early morning chill. It seems that you're to be the first into the dungeon today.

Why the docks you might ask? Well, it seems some fool with a decanter of endless water died in the dungeon before deactivating it. The top two levels of the dungeon in the area quickly filled with water and collapsed, creating the small lake you see before you. Fortunately, a small island near the middle remains above the waters with a relatively safe entrance into the labyrinth below.

[AdamSmasher]

Conor stands on the edge of the dock looking intently down at the water. He's tall and narrow, with black hair and green eyes. He clearly hasn't shaved since he arrived to the village, but he's still more handsome than any Gods-fearing man has any right to be. His clothes are practical on the whole, but with pieces of finery traded in wherever form could be allowed to triumph over function. He's certainly not dressed for the weather, at least, but he doesn't seem bothered at all by the chill. There are lesser known perks to pyromancy. He has a great, finely bred dog almost the size of a pony sitting next to him. It's packed down with a harness and supplies for their expedition.

"You're the people I'll be stitching back together, ey?" He looks back and then nods towards the still water with a grin. "Do you think they've had any swimmers to dredge up all the gold, yet?" He saw a few tin-can mercs back in 'town.' One of them could probably do it.

He turns his back to the water and holds out a hand to shake with each of his new teammates, even if they scowl at him. "Conor Hughes, Pyromancer and Field Medic, at your service."

[Book Wombat]

The gnome stares at the water too, shivering. Shaking Conor's hand in return he says I guess that's about right. Mine's Jacob. I'll be the one disabling traps and such.

[PeacefulOak]

Standing quietly at the edge of the docks, the dark-robed figure stares listlessly at the water with the lead to a mule hanging from its hand. Ignoring the proffered hand, the figure speaks in a soft voice that whispers like the gentle breeze coming off the artificial lake. "I am Robin, and I make sure whatever is around doesn't hit you. Anyone have a boat?" The figure gestures towards the water with its free hand.

[AdamSmasher]

"Well," Conor shrugs his shoulders after being snubbed. "I suspect we'll be being picked up. Otherwise this'd be a little silly."

He moves the fingers of one hand like he's playing an instrument, then clenches his fist to crystallize the arcane gesture. "Here." He offers an empty hand to Jacob. "For the cold. Anyone else want one?"

If Jacob touches his hand, he must make a DC 16 Will save or be afflicted with an Endure Elements spell for 24 hours.

"Think we might want to move some things from Bosco here to the mule?" He musses up the overgrown hare-catcher's head. "I don't know how far they'll be able to follow us in there, but he might do better less burdened."

[Rizban]

DM

Can you please start your posts with your character's name in bold? I haven't mentioned it before now, but that will really help me with keeping characters straight.

As you stand waiting on the dock, a wide, shallow boat with a small roofed section (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ab/Japon-1886-32.jpg/1280px-Japon-1886-32.jpg) approaches you. While large enough for the entire party, it is obvious that you will need to make two trips to safely transport all four of you, the riding dog, and the mule to the island with the dungeon entrance.

The ferryman greets you with a silent nod and waits for you to board.

[Jeriah]

Vera S. Neekee

Movement at the end of the dock catches your eye, as a small, black shape starts to speak. You wonder how you didn't notice her before now...

http://www.mornproductions.com/Jeriah/Vera.jpg
"It appears to be time."

Standing up, Vera looks over the party once more, the look on her face passive but slightly questioning, as if wondering if she made the right choice with organizing this group.

"First group across will be Robin, the mule, and myself. Jacob, Brian, and his dog on the second boat.

From what I understand, there's not much room to gather outside the entrance, so the first group will start the descent and secure the entrance while the second group makes the trip."

[Book Wombat]

Jacob Esme

Taking Conor's hand Jacob gets a small shock but then immediatly feels a bit warmer, Thanks, that feels better. he replies.

In answer to Vera, Jacob starts a bit as she appears in his field of vision, Sounds like a plan.

[Rizban]

DM

As soon as the first group is aboard, the ferryman pushes off from the dock, poles the boat over to the island, and allows them to disembark before returning for the second group.

Once the party is safely on the tiny island, the boat heads back toward the dock.


Calling this an "island" is generous. In fact, it appears to be more akin to the topmost section of a set of ruins rather than an actual island. You stand on a small, rocky outcropping about 30 feet in diameter that is no more than 4 or 5 inches above the water at its highest. There is a 10 foot wide round hole in the very middle and second, smaller hole with what appears to be a stone staircase leading down.

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/85/ec/d2/85ecd2bf26ff1e6dedc3b0712f9039f1.jpg

Looking down over the lip of the hole, you realize that there is about a 100 foot drop straight down with a spiral staircase around the sides, cut deeper into the stone, leaving the central shaft completely clear.

The mule should be able to traverse the stairs, but it will need to squeeze the entire way down. It does not look pleased with the idea, or the trip in general thus far.

[AdamSmasher]

Since we all had a free day before campaign start, I'd like to have taken a few hours to canvass for info about what we'll find down there. [roll0], [roll1] to have chatted up the locals.

Conor Hughes

Before anyone embarks, Conor claps his hands together. "Alright, then. In that case I'm going to insist that everyone take a blessing before they go. Not only will it warm you up, it'll keep me from burning you accidental-like. But just me, don't go playing with any matches. If this boat brings me over to find you in a fight with some beasty, I'll be starting fires without asking questions."

He gives everyone, including the mule, an Endure Exposure invocation with a tap on the shoulder or by offering a hand.

As he nears the island on the second ferry-ride, his voice lowers to a whisper and his demeanor loses its levity. He steps off the boat and coaches Bosco to follow with a hand signal. After a nod to Vera and Robin, he tip toes over to the two holes and peers in each.

[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

"Alright everyone, eyes peeled, weight on your toes, stay together. Lets decide a marching order. I think that mule might jam us up down there, it'll be hard to around if we need to run."

Everyone gets Endure Elements and a +3 bonus to Initiative, Stealth, Acrobatics, and other assorted dex checks. Everyone within ten feet of Conor also receives a handy +2 on saves and AC vs anything evil.

[AdamSmasher]

Don't preview your post to make sure you formatted the rolls correctly. It assures that you didn't. :smallsigh:

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
One for each.

[Jeriah]

Vera S. Neekee

Before boarding, Vera stows her backpack with her rations and waterskins on the mule.

Vera takes point, working her way slowly down the stairs as the second half of the party crosses in the boat. She attempts to hide in the shadows as she reaches the bottom and takes a quick glance into the room.

[roll0]
[roll1]

[PeacefulOak]

Robin Darkweaver

Leaving the mule at the landing, Robin follows his shadowy leader down the stairs. Readying himself, his cloak is pushed back revealing a light wooden shield strapped to one arm, and a strange weapon with a hooked blade on one end of a long chain, balanced by a heavy weight on the other. He sets it to swinging idly as he makes his way down the stairs, the faintest of whooshes accompanying each lazy arc of the weight.

[roll0] Perception
[roll1] Stealth

[Rizban]

●●●●●●DM

You make your way slowly down the stairs, leaving the mule behind for the other party members to bring down with them. The more meticulous (or OCD) among you counts the steps, discovering that the entire staircase is 400 feet long. That's not going to be a quick or easy ascent if you have to climb back out in a hurry.

You see the remnants of three traps along the staircase, they have been thoroughly disassembled and removed by earlier groups, though the lowest one still bears the bloodstains of an unfortunate adventurer.

You make your way down the spiral staircase into the deep darkness only to emerge into the center of a decently well-lit room. The vaulted ceiling is some thirty feet high, and the walls at least 50 feet away in all directions. Several mighty columns support the roof, each with one or two continual flames cast on otherwise empty torch sconces.

This large room is mostly empty, with only the detritus of past adventurers present: scraps of broken gear, discarded rations, even the remnants of a shattered cart that looks as if it fell when someone tried to lower it from above.

There are closed doors in each of the four walls. Three doors head north, four doors head west, two doors head south, and three doors head east.

[Jeriah]

Vera

Moving south, Vera examines both doors, looking for signs that they've been used lately. She also searches them for traps.

Perception 14, taking 10.

[AdamSmasher]

Conor

"They left us, Jake." Conor measures the mule and the passageway by eye and decides against bringing the beast down until they need it. He moves his bedroll and half his rations from Bosco to the mule and then commands the dog to follow with a hand sign. "Lead the way, trap man."

Jacob, he, and Bosco descend the stairs to reach Vera and Robin. He imagines the half-dozen floors of labyrinth they're bypassing with this descent and what might be in them. He also imagines the logistics of scrambling back out of here if things went South. He would do well enough, he had the body of a long distance sprinter, but the little ones were too short of leg to cover much ground.

Reaching the bottom, he trades his rapier with the dog for his book and inkpen then opens it to the first page. He starts a map, noting the length of descent, traps, chamber size, and doorways. Notes made, he grabs a few more light items like the antitoxin, a few candles, and the chalk then slinks over to Vera, giving her the benefit of his anti-evil aura. "West, I say. Most doors, people don't like choices. One of the two in the middle's less likely to have been tried."

[Jeriah]

Vera

Taking a look at Conor, Vera simply asks, "Where is the mule?"

[AdamSmasher]

Conor Hughes

Conor points to the ceiling with a thumb. "'s up top."

[Jeriah]

Vera

"Why...?"

She sighs deeply.

"Go back up there and get the mule before the next team shows up and takes it for themselves or some random monster shows up and eats it or it slips into the water and drowns itself. We need those supplies!"

Assuming she found no traps on the southern doors, she opens the western door and proceeds through, searching for traps as she goes.

[Book Wombat]

Uhm, I could help you with disabling those traps, as that's the best thing I can do. Jacob says quietly.

Perception: [roll0]
Stealth: [roll1]
Look at next post.

[Book Wombat]

Perception: [roll0]
Stealth: [roll1]
EDIT: Can I take a 10 for Perception? So if it's okay it's 13.

[AdamSmasher]

Conor takes a second to process the words, then leans in conspiratorily after a glance over his shoulder.

He blocks the other two's view of one hand with his body and counts the reasons on his fingers. "Because you left it up there. Because rendezvousing here to make sure you were alive and the entrance secure was more important. Because we were left no orders regarding the mule. Because that half-ton of stubborn won't come quietly. And because... you don't bother someone else's animal without due cause."

He just keeps talking, completely unfazed.

All five fingers accounted for,


Conor snaps a quick salute and slinks over to Robin. "That thing like you or do I need to go sweet talk it?"

"Right-o." Conor rubs his hands together and then stretches, looking back up the spiral staircase. He puts his book and pen back in the dog's pack. "Bosco, Defend." He points at Robin, the one he judges least likely to need to sneak off or mess with traps, then ascends the staircase.

Topside, he slowly approaches the mule. "Alright, it's you and me, beautiful. Why don't you be a dear come inside before you catch cold." He approaches slowly and lets it sniff him before giving it a pet on the nose to gauge its temperament. He takes a handful of rations out of its pack in one hand and the reins in the other and tries to lead it down the stairs.

Take 10 for 12 on Handle Animal, plus any bonus for coaxing with food. His persuasion bonus is +11 if he can sub that in at a penalty. If that fails:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
He'll coax it for a minute tops and if he hasn't gotten it through the door he'll return with a shrug. "No dice, won't mind me. Need anything specific off it?"
"Thanks." He nods and opens his book back up, beginning a slow circuit around the room to visually survey for anything not obvious on their first glance. If he sees anything out of the ordinary, he stays the hell away from it and alerts Jacob or Vera with a wave. He also stays away from walls, doors, and any decorations. Where any caution might be taken, he does; he doesn't want a spear popping out of something and gelding him.

Take 10 for 12 on Perception.

[PeacefulOak]

Robin Darkweaver

”I bought the stubborn beast yesterday, and our mutual hate has persisted since. Please, go retrieve it.”

Robin follows the sneakier members of the party closely.

[Rizban]

●●●●●●DM

Vera discovers no traps on or around the door and proceeds to open it while someone retrieves the mule.

The hallway beyond is some 20 feet long and has a small 1-foot tall by 6-inch wide niche carved into both walls about every three feet. In each niche is a small, vaguely humanoid statue of grotesque likeness. A heavy layer of dust covers everything in the hallway, indicating that none have attempted to travel this way in many years.

As the door opens, the head of every statue simultaneously turns to stare unblinking at the party.

[Jeriah]

Vera

Closing the door without a word, Vera takes a step back.

"Maaaybe we'll try one of those other doors after all...

I think someone suggested west? West sounds good right now."

Nervously, she approaches another door, searches for traps, and then opens it if none are found.

Edit: West wall, second door up from the south.
Perception [14]

[Rizban]

●●●●●●DM

Vera discovers no traps on or around the door and opens it.

The door opens immediately into another room with no hallway at all.

The room is 50 feet east to west and about 20 feet N/S.

Every surface bears scorch marks, and ash piles litter the floor. The room reeks of fire and burnt flesh. You suspect some sort of fire-based trap, as no flames light the room.

There are two doors on the far western wall. Both appear to be made of rusted iron.

[Jeriah]

Vera

"So, who's first?"

She motions over her shoulder towards the mule.

"I've stowed several days worth of firewood with the mule. Someone with some muscle grab a bundle or two and toss it through the door. Two days ought to do for a quick test."

[AdamSmasher]

Conor reaches the bottom of the staircase with the mule in tow. "There, there, that's a good..." He checks. "Boy. Here you go." He gives the mule the fistful of ration he had used to coax it and gives it a pat on the shoulder. "Bosco, come. Defend." He pats himself on the chest to signal.

Seeing the group staring down a new door, the points his thumb at the old one. "What was back there?"

Looking over everyone's shoulders as the new door opens, Conor resists the urge to whistle. "I've got to reiterate that my invocation only protects you from me."

Conor does a quick comparison of his own arm to Robin's and nudges him with an elbow. "I think that's you. I'm no good for dodging explosions. But I'll patch you up if it goes awry." He unloads two bundles of firewood from the mule and hands them to Robin, then takes cover a few feet to the side of the door.

Did Conor get anything from that gather information check I tried to insert into his yesterday activities? Have we seen anything worth a knowledge check?

[Rizban]

●●●●●●DM

The firewood flies a few feet through the door before hitting the floor, tumbling a short distance, and coming to a stop. Whoever threw it managed to get it just barely 10 feet into the room.

There appears to be no change to anything in the room, except for the addition of some firewood.

[Jeriah]

Vera

Taking a deep breath, Vera moves carefully into the room, searching for traps as she goes.

Search, move 5ft, search. Repeat.
Moving 10 feet, to the location of the firewood.
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]

[Rizban]

●●●●●●DM

As she moves slowly through the room, Vera notices a glyph carved into the ceiling near the center of the room in the shape of a stylized flame.

She finds no other traps so far.

[Jeriah]

Vera

Carefully slipping a wand out of her belt, Vera uses it to cast mystic reflections.

She glances around the room, looking for magic aura, then studies the flame glyph followed by any other auras she detects afterward.

Flame Glyph:
[roll0] + [roll1] = [19]
Other auras, as needed:
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

[Rizban]

Time has passed
http://www.mornproductions.com/gitp/Dice/d8.png
●●●●●●DM

Vera detects 3 auras in the room: two on the flame glyph and one near the center of the room.

The flame glyph has a faint divination and faint evocation aura.

The center of the room has a faint abjuration aura.

[AdamSmasher]

Conor Hughes

Assuming Vera relays what she's seen.

Conor thinks about what he knows about these glyph things.

[roll0]
[roll1]

Also, just for the hell of it, info about the Labyrinthine in general:
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]


"Should we shoot an arrow at it from outside the room?" Does that disrupt glyphs? It ought to.

He reaches into Bosco's pack and grabs a small rod. Depressing a mechanism, he starts to extend it out and then closes it back up, apparently just checking the bearings. "I've got an eleven foot pole, here. Think that might help?" If anyone wants it, he hands or tosses it to them, as requested.

[PeacefulOak]

Robin Darkweaver

”What is it? Magical trap, right? I could disrupt the symbol perhaps.”

[Rizban]

http://www.mornproductions.com/gitp/Dice/d8.png
●●●●●●DM

Conor doesn't seem to know anything about this specific type of glyph, other than that it's likely triggered when a certain condition is met.

Until just a couple of weeks ago, this dungeon was unknown and undocumented. Whatever civilization built it has been lost to recorded history.

Results of earlier rolls I missed: The adventurers around town are extremely tight lipped, even the drunk ones. A pallor of depression seems to hang over the local adventuring community due to the high number of missing teams that have vanished without a trace and the general unwillingness of the various teams to work together. Everyone wants to be the first to score a big haul, and none want to share the glory.

Conor learns of one group that consisted of three high rank teams that entered the dungeon last week to much fanfare. Most people seemed convinced they would conquer the dungeon. Only one member returned, wounded and barely alive, dragged out by his own summoned mount. His mind was seemingly broken, his last words only unintelligible gibberish. He died before a cleric could reach him, and the two attempts made to resurrect him failed. A speak with dead revealed only that something wiped out the entire party in less than a moment, most before they could even react, but it did not reveal any more than that, as he was guarding the rear and fled when the horrifying screams began, never actually seeing the attacker.

[Jeriah]

Vera

Carefully collecting the firewood, Vera turns and slinks back out of the room.

"Based on my experience with traps... I have no clue.

There's definitely a trap in there. It's probably fire related, given the evidence. It's triggered by something, but I don't know what the trigger could be.

Based on its nature, I don't think that either shooting or poking it will activate or disable it. The trap is almost certainly detecting something, which is likely the trigger. So, as long as none of us meet the triggering condition, we should be safe... In theory."

She stops to think for a moment longer.

"Alright. Let's just do something.

Conor, shoot it."

Vera steps back from the door and around the corner, about 30 feet away, just in case.

[AdamSmasher]

Conor Hughes

As Vera steps out, Conor takes up position at the entrance using the wall for cover while his head and one arm have line of effect to the glyph. He scans the room for anything Vera might have missed, particularly looking for anything aesthetic rather than mechanical that might clue them in to the trap's function. It doesn't go off for a single hafling creeping about, it doesn't go off for a stack of firewood crashing to the ground. That rules out proximity and sound at least.

[roll0]

"Truth be told, I'm a piss poor shot. I carry this thing for show. But-" He checks that the other three are out of line of sight of the rune. "I've got this." He breathes in and pushes his right hand forward with a sharp exhalation. A ripple of fire the size of a man streaks through the air to collide with the glyph. Conor preemptively dives to cower by the wall outside the door.

[roll1]

Assuming that didn't trigger the glyph, Conor gets up and dusts himself off as if that dive didn't look silly. "That rules out heat and malice. One of you two take the shot, if you will." He unhooks his crossbow from his back and holds it out to Jacob and Robin.

Assuming it did, he checks his burns and possibly casts a healing spell. "Malice or warm bodies could be a trigger."

In the meanwhile, Conor puzzles. "There's an abjuration in the center of the room, what could that be for? If I were designing this death trap, I'd set it to go off after a time limit or once a counter was reached to make sure the whole group was inside before it blew. I might also rig the trap to one of those doors down there, so it goes off when we try to leave and then we have to track back through the entire room in a hellfire to escape. But that abjuration confounds me. Could it be the detector with an Alarm spell while the divination watches the abjuration? That seems roundabout."

He rubs the hair on his jaw. "Vera, can we assume you're a humanoid native to the plane?" That was a common trigger. "Alignment and any patron deities?" Another common trigger.

He gets an idea. "Somebody check the entrance door, see if it's got any mechanisms that might seal us in there like a crucible." Reducing something the size of a man to ash was not an easy task. He... knew from experience. But time and exposure could do it.

[Rizban]

http://www.mornproductions.com/gitp/Dice/d8.png
●●●●●●DM

The very moment that the fire blast passes into the room, the entire room explodes into flame, sending a gout of fire out of the room and directly into Conor. Though he managed to avoid the brunt of the attack, he still takes half of [roll0] fire damage. He fortunately manages to avoid having his clothing set alight.

With nothing in the room left to burn, the fires quickly wink out.

[Jeriah]

Vera

"That's nasty. Effective, but nasty. Whoever built this definitely believed in fighting fire with fire...

So, unless we're missing a trigger condition, we should be safe to pass through, as long as we don't have anything burning. There was only the one faint divination aura, so I'm fairly confident on that being the only trigger."

Vera peeks around the door into the room, checking on its current status.

[PeacefulOak]

Robin Darkweaver

Robin rolls his eyes as this magnificent display of fiery burning. "Oh, for the love of..."

He stalks off across the room, shield raised and weapon spinning, eyes scanning the corners and the far entrances for motion.

[Rizban]

http://www.mornproductions.com/gitp/Dice/d8.png
●●●●●●DM

As Robin enters the room, the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, but he manages to cross the room safely.

Each of the two doors is about 5 feet in from the north and south walls, leaving a 10 foot gap between the two. On closer inspection, the two doors on the far wall look absolutely identical, down to the rust spots...

[Jeriah]

Vera

Vera enters the room after Robin crosses past the glyph and carefully approaches where she detected the abjuration aura and attempts to locate its source.

[PeacefulOak]

Robin Darkweaver

The cloaked figure turns back to the group and calls in a stage whisper. "See, I have saved you from the empty room. Now someone 'clever' come check these doors. They're weird and identical."

[AdamSmasher]

Conor Hughes

Conor recoils from the door as the flame. "Augh!" He smacks the side of his head to put out any burning hair and takes a moment to breathe, watching the skin on his arm start to turn red. "****in hell!"

Placing a hand over the symbol on his chest, Conor whispers something in Celestial. It translates to Cure Minor Wounds. [roll0] The injuries recede and any lost hair miraculously returns.

Feeling better, he looks at the rest of them. "It went off before it reached the glyph, the fire itself did it. So it's either flame or having too many warm bodies in there." A torch-targeting trap was plenty sadistic, but he wasn't ruling anything out yet.

"Vera, you or Jacob should go next. I volunteer to lead the animals in last, once I see one of those doors on the far end open."

[Jeriah]

Vera

"I think now would be a good time to make use of that eleven foot pole..."

[AdamSmasher]

Conor Hughes

Conor takes the expandable pole and tosses it to the nearest person.

"Are the spooky identical doors locked? Are there spooky identical rooms on the other side?" He wondered if they would add spooky identical traps as well. "Check and see if they're warm, first. Might be a cruel redux of this room's trap waiting to happen. Might have to open both the same way at the same time."

[Book Wombat]

Crossing to the other side to Robin, Jacob answers I'll do it.
Checking the doors carefully over and once more to be sure he searches for anything out of the ordinary. If he doesn't see anything alarming he taps the door.


Perception to see anything unusual: 1d20+3]/roll]
Engineering for knowledge about the door: [roll]1d20+6
Damnations, messed up rolls

[Book Wombat]

Sorry for the messed up rolls, it's hard to to do them on a phone.
Perception to see anything unusual or interesting:
[roll0]
Engineering for knowledge about the door: [roll1]

[Rizban]

http://www.mornproductions.com/gitp/Dice/d8.png
●●●●●●DM

Vera pokes around in the ashes and finds a golden ring that is completely unmarred and undamaged. The soot hasn't even made it dirty. She is 95% confident that this ring was the source of the abjuration aura.

Jacob notices nothing amiss about the doors, at first. Just as he starts to approach the one on the right, his keen understanding of Engineering causes him to notice something wrong! The hinges on that door aren't actually connected to the wall!

The door takes a 5-ft step towards Jacob and pops open, attempting to slam into him with its doorknob!

[roll0] – [roll1]

Caught completely off guard, Jacob receives a truly nasty bruise and finds himself stuck fast, as if glued tight to the door! He has been grappled!

The way I handle combat is a little different. I don't expect you to all post in order and wait for your turn to post. Please post as soon as you're online and comfortable with posting your actions, and after everyone has posted (or 24ish hours have passed), I'll adjudicate things in initiative order.

[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]

[roll8]

[Jeriah]

Vera

While retreating back towards the entrance to put some space between the door and herself, Vera's shadow moves in a way that doesn't reflect her own actions. An arrow of solid darkness takes shape from her shadow and rapidly flies towards the door creature.

[roll0], Confirmation - (1d20+3)[15] –
[roll1]+(4d6)[17] = [24] + [roll2] = 30 damage.

Edit: Added in the roll from the post below.

[Jeriah]

[roll0] – [roll1]

[AdamSmasher]

Conor Hughes

Conor tries to make heads or tails of what he's seeing, but immediately disregards throwing a firestream into the crucible.

[roll0]
[roll1]

Believing that this is an evil door they're fighting, he also frustratedly rules out firing a metal tipped crossbow bolt at the metal monster and panics for a moment over his own uselessness. Even Bosco wouldn't understand a command to attack a doorway! Then with a flash of inspiration, he charges in to the room, drawing and dropping his crossbow in the doorway to act as a stop to keep it from locking them in. He runs straight for that 11 foot pole to use as an improvised reach weapon. "Hang on, Jacob! That thing's an aberration!"

Scooping the pole up off the ground, he brandishes it to its full length and levels it at the animate doorway, serving mostly as a distraction for Robin and Vera to flank. "Let him go, door."

Move 40 ft per action, should be able to draw the crossbow as part of that and drop it as a free action. Head for the expandable pole and pick it up, we didn't exactly establish who has it. I don't think there'll be time to attack in there. Bosco is still commanded to Defend him, so with any luck he'll follow.


If Conor is able to get and extend the pole quickly, he'll move in to position to offer Robin a flanking bonus. If he can do all that and still attack, I'll roll.

Conor has +11 to every social skill, if that command needs a check.

[Rizban]

Conor tries to make heads or tails of what he's seeing.

[roll0]
[roll1]

Conor determines that it's definitely not a construct, dragon, magical beast, ooze, or outsider.

[Book Wombat]

Shocked by the door creature, he attempt to break free of the grapple, then he materialises his Mindblade gathering psychic power into one blade and attacks the door.


Acrobatics (to break free): [roll0]
Focus (to manifest Mindblade if Acrobatics check fails): [roll1]
Attack: [roll2]
Damage: [roll]1d4-1[roll/]

[Book Wombat]

Damage: 1d4-1

[AdamSmasher]

It's not under arcane lore. Then maybe:

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

Knowledge is power.

[Rizban]

It's not under arcane lore. Then maybe:

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

Knowledge is power.

http://www.mornproductions.com/gitp/mimic.pnghttps://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/pokemon/images/f/f6/Ditto-_Who%27s_That_Pok%C3%A9mon.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/640?cb=20171010052244Conor identifies it as an aberration... of some sort.
He does get the +1 bonus to killing it from Knowledge Devotion though!

[Book Wombat]

Jacob Esme


Damage again: [roll0]

[PeacefulOak]

Robin Darkweaver

Robin dances to the side, attempting to gain a flanking edge on the monstrosity. He lashes out with his blade from as far away as he can.

[roll0] to hit for [roll1] damage

[Rizban]

http://www.mornproductions.com/gitp/Dice/d8.png
●●●●●●DM

Jacob manages to manifest his mindblade and cut at the door, dealing 2 damage.
Conor crosses the room, grabbing the discarded pole and threatening to poke the monster.
Robin successfully strikes for 3 damage.
The riding dog, with no commands but otherwise trained for combat, stands where it is and placidly watches.
The mule, ordered to defend Conor, looks very confused, as it does not recognize any threats. It does not enter into the battle.
Vera's attack manages to strike the door rather than Jacob, much to Jacob's relief, striking for 30 damage.

The door pulls back a step towards the corner, dragging Jacob with it. It then does the unthinkable by speaking!

"Hold! I'll yield, if you swear my safely. I'll even release this morsel... without further harm, even."

[AdamSmasher]

The mule's defending Conor while the riding dog watches placidly? :smalltongue:

Does Vera's natural 20 replenish a blue action point?

The SRD says a goat costs 1 gp, and google says a meat goat weighs between 200 and 300 pounds...

Conor holds a hand back in a signal for the other two to ease up. He stares the door down, assessing its injuries and trying to figure out how to tell if it's lying. "I think we might be able to work something out. My top priority is our lives remaining intact. I'd like to heal him, you gave him a nasty bump on the head; it'd go a long way towards earning our trust."

[roll0] to assess its injuries, particularly looking for any burns from the trap trigger earlier.
[roll1] to see how sincere it is about letting Jacob (and us) go.
[roll2] to get it to let him heal Jacob.

If it allows the heal:
Conor nods and steps forward. He takes a hand off of the pole and puts it to Jacob's back, casting a Lesser Vigor on him. "Alright, thank you." He relaxes considerably. "Now let's talk about how we're going to peacefully coexist."

[Rizban]

Conor determines that the metal door is, in fact, most likely an inanimate object. It's certainly not wounded in any way. >.>

It seems entirely earnest in its offer, with no hints of deceit that Conor can detect.

When Conor attempts to heal Jacob, the door turns slightly to block the attempt.

"No. No spells. Too dangerous. I don't trust you enough for that.."

[AdamSmasher]

Conor pulls his hand back, not casting the spell.

"We find ourselves in a little bit of a bind, then. You don't trust us and we have an awfully hard time trusting you, given the ambush and choice of nomenclature. He looks back to search for an objection from the other two, then puts his hand over his holy symbol. "But if you let him go, I think we can guarantee you your life for it. Now am I right in assuming you were going to try to eat him? We've got some rations back there, if you like oat bread and hard cheese."

[roll0] to trade Jacob's life for his.
[roll1] to start a conversation that might lead to a job offer.

Just for the record, I'm not trying to make rushed Diplomacies

[Rizban]

The door agrees with your proposition.

"Glad you agree.

I guess, but I'd rather eat the horse."

Jacob finds himself no longer stuck to the doorknob.

[PeacefulOak]

Robin Darkweaver

”You sue for leniency but speak as though bargaining from strength, door. You have to date offered the release of our companion, a result which could have been equally achieved with your death. With what do you seek to buy peace?”

[AdamSmasher]

Conor Hughes

"Thank you." As Jacob becomes unstuck, Conor motions him over and blesses him with a Lesser Vigor. "Jacob, do me a favor and go grab about four days' rations off the john for me while that fixes you up."

The more he thinks about it, the more powerfully curious he becomes as to how a door planned to eat anything at all, let alone a pack-mule.

Chiming in after Robin, Conor keeps playing good cop. "We'd certainly like to know anything you can tell us about this place. Layout, traps, creatures, origins, et-sit-ra."

Let me know when I need to add more persuasion checks.

Two questions from the Discord that probably got lost in the wall of text:
-Are lawyer-ese lies different from regular ones? aka letter v spirit
-Is the 'no monster PCs' rule indicative of a firmly anti-monster setting? Or could we hire this door as a guard above-ground?

[Rizban]

http://www.mornproductions.com/gitp/Dice/d8.png
●●●●●●DM

"You question my strength and threaten me when I call for peace and offer your friend leniency? I will not stand for such insults!"

The door takes a step towards Robin, two meaty arms taking shape from the sides of the door, and attempts to pummel him into the ground.

[roll0] – [roll1]
[roll2] – [roll3]

Robin is struck for 5 damage after DR and finds himself glued to the mimic.

"Food does not make up for the insult to my honor!"

[Book Wombat]

Jacob Esme

Thanking Conor with a grateful glance, he rubs his hand that was glued to get some feeling back into it.
Half-way to the rations while listening to the exchange he whirls around at the moment he hears Robin getting grappled in the same way as he was, and starts running towards the door with his Mindblade attempting to get a flanking position.

[AdamSmasher]

Conor Hughes

"****!"

Conor scrambles around to offer the best flanking position for Jacob and Vera. If possible, he reaches in to the melee to grab Robin and channel a Lesser Vigor in to him. If not possible, he demonstrates why he didn't get accepted to fighter college.

[roll0], [roll1]

I don't see anything in the grapple rules about a chance of accidentally tagging the wrong guy, so default is preemptively healing Robin, who will probably need it.

[Jeriah]

Vera

Backing away from the melee, Vera casts black candle on herself, giving herself a brief halo of black flames that seem to eat the light, cloaking the side of the room away from the mimic in darkness.

Ignore this post. See actions below.

[Book Wombat]

Jacob Esme

Getting in position Jacob wields his kama and strikes at vital spot hoping to end the fight as soon as possible.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]
Sneak Attack: [roll2]
Crit confirm if there is one: [roll3]

[Jeriah]

Vera

Vera backs away from the melee, drawing her hand crossbow, which she uses to try to shoot the mimic.

[roll0] – [roll1] + [roll2]

[Jeriah]

[roll0] – [roll1]

[Rizban]

http://www.mornproductions.com/gitp/Dice/d8.png
●●●●●●DM

Jacob and Vera manage to land telling blows on the mimic while Conor does his best to distract it and Robin struggles helplessly. Fortunately, the battering the mimic has taken overwhelms it, and it collapses into unconsciousness.

[Jeriah]

Vera

With the creature down, Vera approaches it and shoots another bolt into it at point blank range.

[roll0] + [roll1]
And so on, and so forth, until it dies. Let me know how many bolts I use up.
[roll2] + [roll3]
[roll4] + [roll5]
[roll6] + [roll7]

[Rizban]

After firing three additional bolts into the mimic, Vera has dropped it to -9. It then bleeds out and dies.

[Jeriah]

Vera

As the final bolt pierces the creature's hide, tendrils of sickly blue energy ooze from the wounds and waft up into the air. As fast as you can blink, Vera snatches them from the air, draws them to her face, and breathes them in with a deep breath and satisfied sigh.

"Ahh... That's the good stuff."

Gaining 1 point of Stolen Essentia.

[AdamSmasher]

Conor Hughes

As the door collapses, Conor sighs with relief and collapses the pole unused. "Hell, Vera, you always fight like that?"

Staring at the unconscious aberration for a moment, Conor scratches his chin and thinks. "Well, we can't leave a man-eater roaming around. No different than a... really smart bear. But should we try to get some information about the labyrinth out of it?"

Vera answers by putting a bolt in it. "Right, then."

He kneels down to Robin, still glued to the door, to look him in the eye and clap a hand on his shoulder. "From now on, maybe you should let me do the talking."

He stands up and idly motions a finger at the three teammates and two animals. "Any bumps, bruises, or assorted contusions I missed? No? Good, one of you should take a look at that next door."

He returns to the entrance of the room and grabs his crossbow, stowing both it and the pole on his dog again. Outside of the crucible, he grabs a single piece of firewood and inserts it as a doorjam, then takes the opportunity to note down the characteristics of this room as he knows them in his journal.

[PeacefulOak]

Robin Darkweaver

Being stuck to the fallen puddle that was once an evil talking door granted Robin a unique view of their party leader absorbing dark fumes from the corpse. Interesting. I suppose we all find power in our own ways.

When the adhesión finally expires, the dark-rover warrior rises and adjusts his gear. Glancing about... “Given the state of the room, I would guess that this door may have had some concealed treasures. Perhaps the wall against which it had attempted disguise?” He begins to check the wall.

I guess perception? Doing a quick look.

[roll0]

[AdamSmasher]

Conor throws a burning log in and slams the door shut.

Conor, having conveniently missed the necrocarnic shenanigans, reenters the crucible room. "You might be on to something there. But where would a door hide its loot?" He starts looking around for any loose bricks on the wall or floor that might have something behind them. If he spots one, he informs Vera or Jacob so they can check for traps.

[roll0]

[Book Wombat]

Jacob Esme

Examining the fire-room carefully, Jacob searches for anything out of the ordinary, be it a loose stone, an object or even a faint carving. In reply to Conor's query he answers Would a door even have treasure?


Perception: Taking a 20 for 23
Insight (for clues): [roll0]
Engineering (for interesting architecture or similar): Taking a 10 for 16

[AdamSmasher]

Conor Hughes

"Well it spoke, so it was smart. The smarter something is, the more it lusts for gold. Just look at Dragons; smartest things on terra firma, literally sleep on piles of treasure. That's not comfortable, I tried it with coppers after my first tour's pay."

[Book Wombat]

Jacob Esme

While chuckling Jacob asks You did what? Why would you do that?

[AdamSmasher]

"I'd never seen that much money in one place before and it had me feelin'... experimental. I figure there has to be a reason they do it, but it eludes me."

[Rizban]

http://www.mornproductions.com/gitp/Dice/d8.png
●●●●●●DM

Through your collective efforts, you indeed discover a hidden compartment near where the mimic was positioned. Carefully opening it reveals several items:

a small package lined with waxed paper, inside are 53 tindertwigs.
a magic wand topped with a red stone, seemingly devoid of any actual magic.
a fine pair of gloves made of red dragonhide.
804 copper coins, 37 silver coins, and 2 gold coins.

[AdamSmasher]

Conor stands behind Robin as he slides the brick out to reveal the loot. He assists in shoveling the coins out and into the mule's pack. When they unwrap the tindertwig package, Conor stifles a laugh. "That's just comically dangerous in this room. Best bury that somewhere secure in the packs once we get out from under that ward."

As for the wand and gloves, Conor studies them for any clues as to their purpose.

Gloves:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]

Wand:
[roll7]
[roll8]
[roll9]
[roll10]
[roll11]
[roll12]
[roll13]


If he doesn't come up with anything definite, he holds the gloves up. "Should I try them on?"

[PeacefulOak]

Robin Darkweaver

Rolling his eyes at the jestery of his companions, Robin focuses on stowing the assorted loot and examining the more identifiable items. ”Wear then or don’t, it is your choice. We have not discussed the division of spoils, should such arise on our return to the surface. I feel that our first goal may be to retrieve the jar that has created this lake, though it may prove difficult.”

He looks to Connor. “Do you wish to know if they are magic before you recklessly adorn yourself?”

[Rizban]

http://www.mornproductions.com/gitp/Dice/d8.png
●●●●●●DM

The gloves are clearly made of hide from a red dragon.
You know red dragons are immune to harm from fire, so these gloves likely share similar properties.
There's definitely a market for these, and a buyer should be easy to find.
They appear to be made entirely of materials from a single creature.
You are aware of no theological or psionic significance.
Your bardic knowledge conjures up stories of dragons, none of which are relevant.It's definitely an arcane wand. It appears to have all charges expended.
It's not a divine wand or psionic dorje.
The stone focus is a finely carved garnet.
You believe that this particular type of wand can be recharged, but you aren't completely certain.
Your bardic knowledge informs you that wands are used by spellcasters.

Robin realizes his suggestion of retrieving the "jar that made the lake" is somewhat problematic, as they'll need to travel up from here. The entrance they used bypassed the first floor of the dungeon, which is now completely flooded, at least where it has become a lake. Lacking the ability to breathe underwater will also prove a hindrance.

[AdamSmasher]

Conor stows the empty wand on his person, then offers the gloves to Robin. "An even split once topside, naturally, but 'till then I vote we give to whoever benefits the most. If you've got an Identify you want to use, go ahead. Otherwise, save your cantrip. I don't see any markings even suggesting these are magic, let alone what for, but we'd know if they conveniently fit any size hand. Figuring out what they do is another matter." He glances over to Jacob and Vera. "While we figure this out, why don't you take a look at that door?"

[Book Wombat]

I'll do it. calling out to Conor. Walking to the door Jacob looks at the it closely, studying it, looking for traps, knobs, triggers or anything unusual. If he finds any traps he calls Vera to help him and if he doesn't he pushes/pulls with the extendable pole which he borrows.


Engineering: Taking a 10 for 16 (knowledge) and 18 (disabling), EDIT: 20 because I forgot to add the +2 from Aid Another by Vera.
Insight: [roll0]
Perception: Taking a 20 for 23

[Jeriah]

Vera

"Let's get this door open and get out of this deathtrap of a room."

[roll0]
[roll1]

I'm not sure you can take 10 on Engineering to disable...

Assuming any traps are dealt with, Vera opens the door.

[PeacefulOak]

Robin Darkweaver

Receiving the gloves with a simple nod of his head, Robin slips them onto his hands and flexes to ensure the grip and fit are solid, then takes his weapon and goes through several motions to confirm that there is no slip.

"They'll do. Shall we continue?"