PFS: Emerald Spire: Level 2--The Cellars (CORE) (Inactive)

Game Master R D

Desh leads the team into the hallway.

Now that the's in the hallway, can he see that the hallway (headed east) goes to the B12 room? And are there any more doors or hallways down that way?

Now that the's in the hallway, can he see that the hallway (headed east) goes to the B12 room?

Yep

And are there any more doors or hallways down that way?

Nope

Good to know on the webs, thanks Engleaktig!

Garrett follows along behind, taking mental notes on the heroics of the group and how to best put their actions to ink, mumbling occasionally.

East or South?

South.

Noting a second entrance to the spiders, Desh continues southward, doing his usual "door" routine.

trap check > ear to door > peek through > then open if no perceived threats
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15; +1 vs traps
Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

On to room B11!

Gray webbing fills this chamber. Huge cocoons of spider silk hang suspended in the webs, and the webs crawl with countless hundreds of pale little spiders.

Kohinoor drops her spear, pulling out her holy symbol with one hand and her scimitar (not that it'll do much good) with the other. "Not this nightmare again!"

"Spiders," Desh grunts, making it sound like a curse. "What's that saying? 'they're more afraid of you than you are of them'?" He grins back at Kohinoor, "Wanna see if we can make that true?"

Then he stalks forward, longspear held at the ready as he begins searching the room for threats.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (8) + 7 = 15; +1 vs traps
Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

Normally I shouldn't say this. But you rolled a 25 at level 2. There's shenanigans here. They know you're there; 25 stealth won't help.

I've moved everyone forward a bit. You all good with your positions on the map?

Desh's position's good. And yah ... sometimes even good rolls can't help. Thanks for the heads-up, though.

Kohi is good.

Garrett looks into the room over Desh's shoulder at the comments of spiders. "Oh my! Perhaps we should burn those webs? I do not feel like having my innards sucked from my body..."

I'm good with Garrett's position.

"Sure. Anyone have a torch ready?"

Kohinoor looks at Desh. "I do not, but I asked my goddess for some of her power. I could cast a burst of fire into the room, if that would work. Only...I would rather keep it in reserve in case the spiders attack."

Desh nods, eyes forward and alert.

"I would save it in lieu of mundane fire, Kohinoor. Of course, I've neither torch nor tinder," says Cëanel with a shrug and a grin.

Did Detect Magic find anything in the prior spidery room?

"And really, we are all dolts for not carrying more alchemist's fire...or rather, I blame myself...next time, summon the Mount earlier, Kay..." mutters the elf.

Kohinoor's jaw drops and she fiddles around in her bag. "Oh! I bought this...it's in here somewhere, here, I think. Yes." She pulls out a flask, scuffed and scraped from its journey in her bag. "I think it'll make fire. That's what the man said when I bought it. Would anyone else care to make the toss?"

Did Detect Magic find anything in the prior spidery room?

Nope. But most of the room was concealed by webs...

GM's fiat as to whether those webs would block Detect Magic. :) It can penetrate 1 ft of stone, 3 feet of wood or dirt, etc. Not to mention the spiders and spies themselves, which would emanate, I think. Anyhow, we'll go back for completion.

Cëanel cannot see that there's a huge pit behind and beneath those webs. Who knows what's down there? ;-P As far as he knows, there's a flat floor in there, and he's detected all there is...

So are we waiting on position confirmation from some of the group, still?

Does the party want to fight or run? Or something else?

I thought we had moved onto B11. Are folks wanting to kill those spiders? I don't really care one way or the other.

Yep. B11. There are spiders there too.

We'd like to burn spiders in B11 with a torch.

The whole party goes before the spiders do.

"Let me try something!"

Kohinoor gives the flask of alchemist's fire a toss into the room, as close as she can get it to the spiders.

Alchemist's Fire: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6 Plus 1 splash.

Boom! Kohi fries a bunch of spiders!

The rest of the part is up.

I"m not trying to bog things down, but I'm confused. Are there spiders in B11 that our characters can see? I don't see anything on the map.

I think it's a swarm. It'd be nice to know where it is, but I know I hit it!

In character, you don't know. The text of the module says that they're "all around you" and in three turns something special will happen. We're on turn two by my count.

Welcome to Emerald Spire! :-)

Well, then in-character knowledge must rule. Sigh.

Desh squints suspiciously into the room. Kohinoor's fire was a good idea, but without a target ... the half-orc was stumped, so he stalked warily into the room.

5' step into the room, use his action to Percept for stuff.
Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (16) + 7 = 23; +1 vs. traps

No traps. Just a bunch of spiders. Since you did Perils of the Pirate Pact, I'll give it to you: next round these pale spiders will have amassed enough to count as a swarm. They can sense your heat, and they will form directly beneath your feet.

You can expend resources now, but it won't harm them. Also, there is a gap beneath the door. (This is specifically called out in the module.) The spiders can easily crawl under and get you.

These aren't normal spiders; they won't quit chasing you.

Well isn't that just lovely. In that case... Garrett will do nothing until combat officially starts, because I only have one more item at hand that can actually damage a swarm...

Garrett looks around at all the spiders in disgust. "I truly dislike spiders, disgusting little creatures. I say we move on... I'd rather not walk through that room if we do not have to." He peaks into the room once again, shivers, and backs away a few steps...

You guys are welcome to position yourselves so that you're not ALL caught up by the swarm(s). I'm going to set the map to be editable by all.

Done. If you already had it open, you might need to reload the page.

Desh and Garrett have moved. Flyn, Kay, and Kohi can act before the spiders do their thing.

I thought I did act. I threw a flask at the swarm, thinking it was swarming. I guess it's not...

Kohi shivers, remembering the feel of hundreds of spiders swarming over her, and steps back away from the growing mass. She fumbles through her bag, coming up with a second flask, and prepares for the inevitable.

There was nothing to target with the first flask, in round 1. There still isn't anything to target now. From a game-mechanics point of view, not enough of them have yet collected to become a swarm. Feel free to add the flask back to your inventory. This is round 2. As stated above, you may also move so that you're not all caught in the swarm as it coalesces.

Cëanel beats a retreat, not having anything with which to attack a swarm. "Good luck!" he calls helpfully.

Well, then in-character knowledge must rule. Sigh.

Desh squints suspiciously into the room. Kohinoor's fire was a good idea, but without a target ... the half-orc was stumped, so he stalked warily into the room.

With no clear opponent to smash into bits, Flyndal rummages through his bag for something of use.

Retrieve Acid Flask

"Have your flasks ready." Desh barks out, "When I step out of it, everyone toss them at once."

Basically, everyone pull out an acid or alchemist's fire and ready an action to toss it, with the trigger being when Desh steps away from the swarm. That way we put as much AoE damage on it as quickly as we can.

OK. Since several of you have readied actions to toss splash weapons at it:

1d6 ⇒ 2
1d6 ⇒ 5
1d6 ⇒ 5

Just as the swarm coalesces into a real threat, it is vanquished! Combat over!

What would the party like to do next?

Desh swipes at a few stray embers and acid burns on his boots as he gives the dispersed swarm a suspicious look. ”Nice,” he grunts to the team. Then he points to four flasks—two filled with acid and two with alchemical fire. ”I have more … just in case.”

He gives the group a few moments to prepare, then pulls a torch from his pack and spends a minute lighting it. ”I figure we fire the webs as we move forward.” Then, assuming there are no objections, he stalks forward. Eyes and ears straining. Torch burning away webbing as he encounters it. Longspear held ready in his right hand.

I figure we keep moving forward through this room. Desh will take point again, removing any webbing he can with his torch as he goes. The goal is to basically move methodically though this room and burn away all possible webbing. While I realize it may be pointless, he’ll do so quietly.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (7) + 7 = 14; +1 vs traps
Stealth: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (2) + 8 = 10

It takes several rounds to work the room. At which point, the guys stealthing behind you with a 28, does his thing...
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It looks like a skeleton, but there's more than simple malevolence behind its empty eyes; there is intelligence!
- Free Action: "Welcome to my parlor," he says a haunting, deep, gravelly voice the party.
- Standard Action: He looks at all of you. (Unnerving Gaze attack.)

Kay and Garret have the shaken condition for this many rounds: 1d4 ⇒ 1
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And he's up again! I took the liberty of moving Kay so that he's not separated from the rest of the party.

Bastard Sword: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13, Damage: 1d10 + 3 ⇒ (5) + 3 = 8

The elf takes 8 HP of damage.
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One of the moon spiders moves up to Garrett. (The bone priest had stealthily opened the door to B12.)

Bite: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (20) + 4 = 24, Crit?: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22 Ouch! Sorry, Garrett. :-(
Damage: 2d6 + 2 ⇒ (3, 1) + 2 = 6

The bard takes 6 HP of damage and tries to shake off the poison: Fort: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (9) + 2 = 11

Pausing here before declaring success or failure. Garrett, do you happen to have a re-roll boon?

Dang. O.o

Garrett Noooooooo! We knew you such a short time! When things are going again...

As the skeleton attacks and the spiders storm into the party, Kohinoor panics. She releases a burst of holy energy, excluding the spiders and hoping to patch up Kay's wounds, and, if he still breathes, Garrett's.

Channel: 1d6 ⇒ 6

I think you just healed Garrett's physical wounds to full. We just need to resolve the poison before moving on.

Cëanel staggers in shock at the indignity of a physical attack by the undead warrior, and then moments later, most of his wound disappears. "It's a horror!" he shouts, and moves behind Kohinoor in a most unheroic retreat...

...then remembers himself and casts Open/Close on the moon spider door.

Cëanel, you'll provoke by moving 2 squares.