A New Start
Game Master sunshadow21

I think we should wait it out, there is no need to add more danger to a journey if it's not necessary

Pretty much.

The next couple days are wet and uncomfortable, between the need to calm the animals down frequently, and the lack of a reliable fire, but you get through them, and wake up one morning to find that the sun has once more come out and promises to make up for it's absence by making a nice hot day. After giving your gear an hour or two to dry before packing it up, you are moving once more by late morning. The terrain is mostly flat, but has a surprising number of small hidden ravines and streams that require you to be a bit careful as you travel. Eventually, evening starts to fall, and you need to find a place to camp, as you are still at least half a day's travel away from the door.

I need three survival rolls for the days travel. One is too avoid getting lost. One is to find a path that doesn't injure your animals. One is to find a good campsite.

Survival Check 1:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (3) + 7 = 10
Survival Check 2:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22
Survival Check 3:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

Survival, if multiple people are allowed to make them.

1d20 + 1 ⇒ (9) + 1 = 10
1d20 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 1 = 15
1d20 + 1 ⇒ (18) + 1 = 19

Survival 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20
Survival 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11
Survival 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

The distance you manage to cover during the day is shortened as the party struggles to maintain landmarks and avoid the many natural and plant life hazards to the animals' health, but the party is able able to avoid the tall dirt columns and find a decent campsite before the moonless night descends on the vast plain.

Forgive me if I've already asked this, but I don't think I have for this group. What is your watch order?

I'll take any watch. I don't have any particularly helpful kind of vision, nor do I have a Perception score of any use, but I'll go for one.

I can take first or last watch.

I'm always a fan of doubling up watch duty so I'll pair up with Evrail on first and Einar and Atokos can take last. If we keep these teams for a while, Evrail and I would be able to get a full nights rest for our spells.

My addition:
Handle Animal: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (17) + 9 = 26
Handle Animal: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21
Handle Animal: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

The night passes uneventfully, though several times, the animals seem to be get a bit jittery as if something was close by they didn't like. Morning comes, and you set out once again, hoping to make better time today.

Another set of Survival rolls, please.

Survival Rolls.

1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9
1d20 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 12
1d20 + 1 ⇒ (15) + 1 = 16

I stink at survival so I'll help out in other ways

Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (2) + 10 = 12
Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27
Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (5) + 10 = 15

Handle Animal: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16
Handle Animal: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28
Handle Animal: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (7) + 9 = 16

Survival:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (12) + 7 = 19
Survival:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23
Survival:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15

Survival
1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19
1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25
1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22

Once Atokos proves that he is not the go to person for tracking or finding anything out here, you are once more able to avoid any serious trouble, and find a good campsite close to where you think ravine with it's pillars should be, but it's getting dark, and clouds block the moon and stars tonight. You have another uneventful night, and are able to find the ravine in question without too much trouble, although you see very quickly why the door is undisturbed, since you would not have found it without looking out for it. It's actually a pretty impressive sight given it's surroundings. Built into the side of a moderately deep ravine, the simply decorated slab of stone celebrates the life of a minor giant noble. There is no immediately obvious way to open it.

I should just tend to the horses.

Handle Animals, instead

1d20 + 5 ⇒ (9) + 5 = 14
1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20
1d20 + 5 ⇒ (1) + 5 = 6

Bah, I give up. Maybe I'll be good in combat?

Well, that's a helluva door, eh?

I'm going to assume you were able to secure someone to come along and tend to the animals while you investigated the tomb, and the ravine actually makes a pretty good place to hole up, being surprisingly defensible and low key for it's size and depth.

I'm sure you'll find your niche soon enough, Atokos.

"I'll say. Perhaps we should have asked Crulimin how we open it," Garrett muses with a disheartened sigh. He walks up to the stone slab and begins searching around the entryway for some sort of device that could be used to open the door.

Take 20 on Perception, Total 30

"We could try pushing on it." Evrail says after hearing Garret speak.

My niche will be combat, I'm certain. It was more a joke than anything else. The Dice simply aren't complying with me right now.

"In hindsight, that would have been an excellent idea," he says, pushing on the door.

I doubt I could open it even on a 20, but I'll give it a go. STR check, incoming.

1d20 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

See what I mean? The dice are out to get me. :P

Edit: Ninjaed by someone with the same idea as I have.

lol! It's better to get all those bad rolls out now... Maybe?

I will do Handle Animal

Handle Animal
1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11
1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22
1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

It takes a while to figure out, but you are eventually able to find the mechanism to open the door. You don't think it was screamingly obvious to begin with, and being exposed to the weather made it even hard to detect, but there is a small latch integrated into the design on the door.

Overjoyed, Garrett gives the door just enough time to open wide enough for him to squeeze himself through and runs along inside without waiting for the others.

Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (10) + 10 = 20 (Darkvision 60')

Will try to get a map up later today. Actually found a temp job, so it will be later today or early tomorrow morning.

The wide stair case that is revealed is clearly built for giants, but there is a small section on one of the sides designed for their servants that you can traverse comfortably. It seems to go down for about 30 to 40 feet before it hits a landing and turns a corner.

Congrats on the new job!

Continuing along and gracelessly descending the appropriately sized staircase, Garrett is now a notable distance from the rest of the team who has apparently decided to wait outside.

Perception: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (20) + 10 = 30 (Darkvision 60')

Congratulations on the job

Einar will follow behind the other to protect the back of the group as we advance behind Garret.

Follows behind Garrett.

Congrats on the job indeed. Now If only I could find one.

Atokos indeed follows behind, whip in hand just in case.

It's technically just a temp job through a temp agency, so I'm not celebrating too much just yet, but it looks as though it could turn into something more permanent eventually. I'll get a map of what you find up tonight.

Going down, you find that the hallway leads to a large square room. In the center of the room is a large sarcophogus very fancily decorated. There are also four big chests in the room, one on each wall. The walls of this room are also richly decorated, with a couple of the walls appearing to be large maps, and the others with various murals and such. There is a hallway that wraps around the room, with several entry points filled with niches with urns in them. Many of the urns seem to be labeled.

Does anyone speak Giant currently?

Not I.

Looks around the room "They seemed to honor the dead well."

I do not, but next level going to pick it up.

Nope I'm not that smart! I'm just charming and wise

No sir, I do not. Somebody with Linguistics could make a try if there's some writing around.

There is some writing on both the urns and the maps. Is anyone going to investigate anything in particular in the room?

Not exactly the brightest group of adventurers are we?

"Who do you think these people were?" Garrett asks as he scoops the nearest labeled urn from it's place and makes a try for it's cap.

Perception: 30 (take 20)

I live the brains to you guys I'm average hahaha

I will investigate the contents of the urns and continue on to a room.

"Very well off." Evrail says as he looks around the room.

Atokos nods. "Well off indeed." He looks around the room, but doesn't touch anything.

Garrett Snow: Putting the 'stupid' back in Lawful Stupid.

You go up to the closest labeled urn, and the point that these were giants is driven home; some of the urns are almost as tall as you are. About 2/3 of the urns appear to have writing, and even though you can't read it, you can guess it's probably a family crypt from the repeated words. You can open an urn barely, if you really try, but it takes a while, and all you find is ash. None of the chests appear to be trapped, though they are locked. The maps seem to be mildly interesting, showing the growth and decline of both the empire as a whole and this family's land holdings over a period of time, though you are not familiar with the calendar, so you don't know the extent of the time covered. The murals seem to be related to the process the soul goes through after death, though again you can't really make out details. Oddly enough with the ornateness of the maps, walls, and urns, the sarcophagus seems out of place, especially if they cremated their dead. It's a plain stone box built into the floor, and the plain lid seems to be hinged, though again the fact that everything is giant sized suggests that it would take a bit of effort to open the lid.

"This is quite tiresome" as Einar catches some breath after opening the urns putting his back into it. "Let's just check everything for traps and such and just let the dwarves open this while we watch or something"

"Let's just check everything for traps and such and just let the dwarves open this while we watch or something"

"Dwarves?" Garrett asks with a puzzled look on his youthful face. "You mean Mikon, the stableman? I assumed he was tending the horses. Someone is still guarding our horses, right!?" With a quick look around, not seeing Mikon with them, he answers his own question and (with a sigh of relief) gets back to work.

He picks up one of the maps and begins rotating this and that way, trying to make it easier for him to figure out exactly what the drawings meant but ultimately resolves to simply roll it up and take it with him. He then approaches one of the chests on the outside walls of the room and cracks his mailed fingers with anticipation, "There are four chests and four of us, how about we each take one and see if we can't find anything for the museum."

Before anyone even responds to his suggestion, Garrett leans over and tries opening his claim.

Perception: 30 (take 20)

"That works for me if we could get the chests open." Evrail says.

The chests are giant size. While you could drag/lift one, maybe two, of them out between the four of you and get it on your cart, that would be it, and the cart would definitely feel the weight of more than one.

If Garrett happens to have a massive coronary, remind me to rejoin as a rogue or bard.

Tugging at the locked chest, "O... Yes, I suppose you're right. Well if none of you have the tools to open these locks, I made sure to purchase a crowbar back in Tent City." he proclaims with a smile before crashing off back to the wagon in his bulky armor.

After a few moments he returns winded but with the tool in hand. He levels the bar underneath the latch of his chest and starts wedging clumsily.

Strength: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 3 + 2 = 9 (+2 from crowbar)
Strength: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 3 + 2 = 23 (+2 from crowbar)
Strength: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (7) + 3 + 2 = 12 (+2 from crowbar)
Strength: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 3 + 2 = 25 (+2 from crowbar)
Strength: 1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 3 + 2 = 20 (+2 from crowbar)

Don't forget, you can aid another on these things. The entire party could easily fit around one of these things. DC is 25

On the fourth try, you finally break one of them open. You find 640 ancient gold coins, a large sized +1 longbow, and an efficient quiver made for a giant. If you reach out to pick up the weapon and the quiver, they shrink down to medium.