Chronicles of Arcania: B/X Homebrew game.

Game Master Peet

"I still have a sleep spell remaining, but rest does sound good!"

"Agreed, I think we are too weakened to risk attack. We may also want to consider going back up the ramp to the third level if we can't barricade the door well with someone in this adjacent room," Zynazyr adds.

Ramp room, or at least up the ramp, sounds good.

4:50 PM, Day 5

15d6 ⇒ (2, 1, 5, 1, 2, 5, 5, 2, 2, 5, 3, 5, 5, 5, 3) = 51

The party continues south along the hallway.

As they come around the corner, Ana spots a secret door in the wall on her left, north of the dog-leg.

No sounds can be heard from the door to the east.

A little ways south of the corner, Zynazyr detects another magic aura on the floor, similar to the magical alarm that was detected further south. It lies between you and the door you planned to go through.

TIER 4 MAP UPDATED.

So now what?

* Try to figure out how to open the secret door? If so, how?
* Open the door to the east?
* Ignore the magic alarm and continue down the hall to the south to the slide room?
* Go back and find another route? If so, what?
* Something else?

Hearing about the magical alarm triggers Ferrous memory about the rumbling boulder. Seems to me Ana that this door you found is how the boulder is not here right now. I would suggest the fastest of us trigger the Alarm spell and duck out of the way of the boulder. The rest of us can wait here in the hallway and observe the boulder and this secret door. The dwarf is stroking his beard and peering at the stone work of the secret door quizzically.

Zynazyr nods. "Yes, it would appear that the boulder goes back and forth down the hall. The alarm probably opens the doors which then close after a period of time when the alarms reset," he says with a look of deep concentration as he tries to figure out the mechanics of the trap.

"I believe Brathas opened the door when he came down earlier from the ramp, so it should be easy enough to enter. Although, I could try to trigger it from around the corner just like I bypassed the illusion earlier," he says. He then takes our a piece of chalk to draw a line across the hallway floor to mark where the alarm is. He makes sure to stay far enough way as to not set it off. He then makes an X marks on both walls about 4 feet off of the ground.

"Ana, do you mind casting a light cantrip here on the floor. I can try to use it as a target for my spell." Once she does that, he motions for all of them to move back to the corner out of the way of the boulder. While Ferrous watches the secret door, Zynazyr peeks around the corner far enough to cast a cantrip to "push" on the floor beyond the light source, hoping to trigger the alarm.

Ana complies, attempting to cast light.

Cantrip: 1d6 ⇒ 3

Zynazyr activates his cantrip and trues to "push" on the magical floor using telekinetic force. Sadly, there seems to be no response. Perhaps the force involved is not strong enough to activate this trap, or perhaps the sensor only detects the passage of actual living things.

So now what?

* Have someone run down the hall to trigger the trap? If so, who?
* Try to figure out how to open the secret door? If so, how?
* Open the door to the east?
* Ignore the magic alarm and continue down the hall to the south to the slide room?
* Go back and find another route? If so, what?
* Something else?

Brathas will examine the secret door closely.
Does it look like the one at the other end of the hall?

Also, is the hallway sloped? If so, the boulder only rolls one way (and this is the "accept boulder to reset trap" door). If not, the boulder gets its momentum from rolling down from higher up but can go in either direction.

Brathas looks at the secret door. It does indeed look like an exact duplicate of the one at the south end of this corridor.

There is a slight slope to the floor in the first foot or two in front of the secret door, sloping downward towards the south, but then after that the floor is level.

Perhaps it is a some sort of magic that allows the boulder to move up and down the corridor?

"Hmmmm."

My guess is that this ramp continues up beyond the doorway. As such when this door opens the boulder may roll out and down this slope gaining momentum enough to make it up the ramp on the other side and trigger a pressure plate at the top to close the door and drop the floor a bit catching the boulder on the opposite side. In this way one would never really know from which direction the boulder may come and there are doorways near either alarm spell. Mind you this all just a hunch on my part but that is how I would engineer the trap if it were my home. I suggest some one fast trip the alarm and run to where we went when the trap was first sprung.

"Fine, I can go trigger it and make a run for safety. Is it okay with you all if I drink one of those minor healing potions first?"
Brathas will also try to do what he can to jam the door shut, though he isn't sure how it opens.

Brathas will also try to do what he can to jam the door shut, though he isn't sure how it opens.

You could nail more spikes in front of it, which would block the door if it opens out to the left or right. If it opens in or slides somehow then you would have to come up with something creative to prevent that.

If I don't hear some dissenting opinions soon I will assume you are going with the spikes plan and then running down the hallway.

Brathas will first drink a minor potion of healing.
potion: 1d4 ⇒ 4
Then he spikes he door and triggers the trap.

Wait I don't believe we want to jam this secret door on this end. We simply want to see how it works.

"I would agree Ferrous. I was hoping to be able to trigger it from here so someone wouldn't have to run. I'm sorry I wasn't able to, Brathas," Zynazyr says.

"Okay. Can you try to jam the door open if I trigger it? Could be a way to access other parts of this complex."

Lets trigger the alarm and see.
Ferrous waits just in the hallway peering at the secret door.

5:00 PM, Day 5

Brathas runs down the hall, and ducks into the room with the slide.

Sure enough, as soon as Brathas reaches the alarmed area, the secret door to the north opens. The top of the door recedes into the wall slightly and then the whole secret door slides upwards. Kind of like a garage door.

A moment later a round boulder rolls out and rolls southwards down the hall. It soon rolls out of sight.

The secret door then shuts again, but not before you are able to look inside. Beyond the door is a small 10'x10' chamber. The floor slopes up slightly and you can see some kind of wooden cradle embedded in the floor that the boulder presumably sits on when inside.

You think that you might be able to open such a door by putting pressure on the top of the door, causing it to go in and then be able to slide upwards.

TIER 4 MAP UPDATED.

So now what?

* Check the secret door at the other end of the hall?
* Camp out in the slide room?
* Try to make your way back to the second tier and camp with the NPCs?
* Return to an unexplored/unresolved area? If so, which one?
* Something else?

Did the secret door at South Open up to accept the boulder?

Did the secret door at South Open up to accept the boulder?

You can't see that far down the hallway, so you don't know.

I say we camp in the slide room; we haven't much to bring back to the caravan at this point

I have a sinking suspicion that this giant boulder goes between this chamber and one at the other end of the hall. If that's the case then we could all wake up in the middle of the night with a 10,000 lb boulder on top of us.
Ferrous objects loudly to the idea of camping in the secret ramp room.

"No, Ferrous, I think the boulder rolls between the small secret room at the North end of the hall and an identical one to the South. The hydraulics just raise and lower the boulder cradles at each end.
The ramp room is off to the West, it is where we slid down from the third level earlier."

Too many ramps in this cursed dungeon to keep them all straight. It gots more traps, ramps, and secret doors than an orc beard has fleas.
Grumbled the dwarf.

Ana nods in agreeance with Fistep. "I think that the slide room would be the safest and most defensible location."

The group makes camp in the room with the slide. They notice that the coffin (in which there was a mock clown head on a spring which shot out when opened) has been re-sealed.

Day 5 XP:
Traps 200 XP
Treasure 310 XP
Wandering Monsters 25 XP
Skeletons 90 XP
Treasure (plate mail and halberd) 205 XP
Apes 150 XP
Treasure (plate mail) 200 XP
Trap (ball) 100 XP
Trap (arrow) 50 XP
Rat Swarms 120 XP
Custodians 140 XP
Treasure (masks) 80 XP
Carrion Crawler 75 XP
Treasure 2000 XP
Zombies 160 XP
Treasure 80 XP
Total Today: 3935 / 6 = 656

Zynazyr 50 XP bonus - finding the charm person inscription
Brathas 25 XP bonus - "turning" the undead

Ana: 656 + 66 = 722 (+ 3741 = 4463) ...Levels up and 3537 needed for 3rd level
Brathas: 681 + 68 = 842 (+ 1467 = 2309) ... 191 needed for 3rd level
Ferrous: 656 + 66 = 722 (+ 2722 = 3444) ... 1056 needed for 3rd level
Fistep: 656 + 66 = 722 (+ 2768 = 3490) ... 510 needed for 3rd level
Wallia: 656 + 66 = 722 (+ 1544 = 2266) ... 734 needed for 3rd level
Zynazyr: 706 = 106 = 812 (+ 3070 = 3882) ... 1118 needed for 3rd level

Ana gains a level!

She gets:
+1d6 hit points (+ CON)
+2/3 progression (so to-hit and saves all improve by 1)
One more spell per day
One more spell in her spellbook (you have 10 to choose from)

All Wounded Characters gain back a number of HP equal to their hit dice.

Once settled in, the party wizards attempt to identify some of the things you have found. They burn a cone of incence of perception to help them with these abilities. You guys have yet to use any of those.

Zynazyr analyzes the thieves' tools and discovers they are thieves tools +2. They add +2 to tinker rolls.

Ana realizes that the magical short sword is a short sword +1.

Ana identifies the arrows found in the huntress sarcophagus as arrows +1, +2 vs. animals.

Pretty sure Brathas is carrying all of these.

Zynazyr determines that the leather armor she had is magical but does not ascertain its properties.

Zynazyr identifies the ivory wand carried by the undead creatures as a wand of knock with 7 charges.

Ana identifies the ebony wand as a wand of wizard lock with 4 charges.

Knowing the leather armor, ring, and banner are all magical, they concentrate their efforts on those for the rest of the evening, but are unable to identify any of them.

Meanwhile Wallia tries to decipher the two clay tablets but is unsuccessful.

Brathas is happy with this haul!
I think you were overly generous with XP for Brathas. 681+68 = 749, not 842. So he should be at 2216, or 284 from level 3.

All Wounded Characters gain back a number of HP equal to their hit dice.

Just to be clear since we all are level 2 now. Does that mean we gain 2 hp for resting for the night? If so Ferrous is still in need of some healing.

Polishes his equipment and sharpens his sword.

Brathas is happy with this haul!

I think you were overly generous with XP for Brathas. 681+68 = 749, not 842. So he should be at 2216, or 284 from level 3.

Good catch! I'll re-post.

Just to be clear since we all are level 2 now. Does that mean we gain 2 hp for resting for the night? If so Ferrous is still in need of some healing.

Remember you have a racial HD. So that's 3 hp each.

Zynazyr eyes the coffin suspiciously. "Hmm, either it resets itself somehow or someone has been in here to do it. We need to keep an eye out for visitors while we stay here," he says as he finds a spot in the corner furthest from the door.

After eating, Zynazyr sets about inspecting the various items they found. He smiles with satisfaction at their ability to identify many of them. "Well done, Ana. There are quite a few useful items here. This wand should help us open that magically sealed door we found," he says holding up the wand of knock.

Can I check the tablets one more time?

Ana gains 1d6 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3 hit points. She takes magic missle as her new spell.

What is the encumbrance value for plate mail, please?

Severely tired and bruised Ferrous finds a spot to lean against the coffin and close his eyes. He needed some sleep maybe his wounds would hurt less in the morning.

Can I check the tablets one more time?

You have spent the whole evening examining them. You can check again the following day.

What is the encumbrance value for plate mail, please?

The only real impact of encumbrance is on movement and you already have your move down as 15', which is correct.

BTW you have down that you are at 15/15 HP. You were at 6/12; you gained 3 from leveling up and healed 3 over night, so you should be at 12/15. FYI, if you ever take a negative level you will lose your worst hit die roll.

Edited to include Brathas' correction:
XP recap:

Day 5 XP:
Traps 200 XP
Treasure 310 XP
Wandering Monsters 25 XP
Skeletons 90 XP
Treasure (plate mail and halberd) 205 XP
Apes 150 XP
Treasure (plate mail) 200 XP
Trap (ball) 100 XP
Trap (arrow) 50 XP
Rat Swarms 120 XP
Custodians 140 XP
Treasure (masks) 80 XP
Carrion Crawler 75 XP
Treasure 2000 XP
Zombies 160 XP
Treasure 80 XP
Total Today: 3935 / 6 = 656

Zynazyr 50 XP bonus - finding the charm person inscription
Brathas 25 XP bonus - "turning" the undead

Ana: 656 + 66 = 722 (+ 3741 = 4463) ...Levels up and 3537 needed for 3rd level
Brathas: 681 + 68 = 749 (+ 1467 = 2216) ... 284 needed for 3rd level
Ferrous: 656 + 66 = 722 (+ 2722 = 3444) ... 1056 needed for 3rd level
Fistep: 656 + 66 = 722 (+ 2768 = 3490) ... 510 needed for 3rd level
Wallia: 656 + 66 = 722 (+ 1544 = 2266) ... 734 needed for 3rd level
Zynazyr: 706 = 106 = 812 (+ 3070 = 3882) ... 1118 needed for 3rd level

Another day like this will see both Brathas and Fistep level up, and Wallia won't be too far behind.

8:00 AM, Day 6

The party gets up and prepares to face a new day.

For the record between the apes and the rats you harvested 56 half-meals of food. I am assuming you do not wish to eat any of the undead, or the carrion crawler. You have been on half-rations the last couple days which you can survive on, and that takes up 18 half-meals of food. You could go up to full rations, which would make you feel better and would use up 36 half meals. You could get away with that for one day with the food you have now.

You left the other camp with enough food for almost 2 days at half rations.

So what is the plan?

* Continue exploring this level? If so, where?
* Return to camp upstairs first (stopping on the third level for water)?
* Rest for a whole day (here or in camp upstairs)?
* Something else?

I would say eat full meal, rest a day so that Ferrous can get healed, and then return to camp stopping to get water.

Walia says, "I think it may be prudent to fill our waterskins first."

I would say go back to camp (stopping for water), check in with our NPCs, heal Ferrous with most (but not all) of Walia's healing, then push on. We need to gather more food, so I'd rather not rest a full day.
How much healing does Walia have?

Wallia can cast two spells per day to heal 1d6+1 each. He can also lay on hands once per day for 1d4. So that's an average of 11.5 hp per day he can heal.

I have two hand on and a CLW

Okay, we don't seem to have a consensus here.

* Fistep has suggested resting here for the day then returning to camp at the end of the day.
* Wallia wants to get water first.
* Brathas does NOT want to rest for a day, and wants to return to camp and then explore some more.

So what is the plan?

Ferrous wakes up and stretches his sore and aching muscles. The cuts and bruises visible on his face and arms. The dwarf lets out a low groan as he gets to his feet.
Well then I know I can use a day of lighter duties and some rest. Some of you have suggested that we return to camp. In my opinion we see if that door to the North still has the noise coming from it. We explore that room and then return to the others after stopping for water.

Food is not as pressing as water. And our comrade in arms is hurt, he deserves to be helped before we run into other enemies within this tunnels.