Chronicles of Arcania: B/X Homebrew game.

Game Master Peet

In the back of the marching order, Ana sweeps the rear with her infravision each time the party pauses. I feel uneasy, though it is good to be out of the hot sun.

Pulls his backpack off after setting down his shield and sword, then rummages through it. He pulls out two pitons, and a hammer and hands them to Montague. "Try using the pitons to brace the stone plug to keep it from coming out." He straps back on the backpack and picks his shield and sword back up.

Montague looks at the plug, which is hard to see in the crack around the door.

You could use an iron spike to hold the plug in place for the moment, but the spikes are too large to jam it in place permanently. Jamming something small in the seam around the plug could keep the plug from moving up and down.

You have a few options. You have thieves' tools, so you could attempt to disarm the trap from where you are. This will be tricky but possible. You basically make a 1d20 roll adding your tinker rating, with a DC of 20, but with a +2 to your roll because of the simplicity of the trap. You could retry this multiple times but at increasing consumption of time for each check.

On the other hand, you would have a much better chance of being able to disarm the trap if the door was already open. Assuming someone was able to hold the plug in place while the door opened, this would give you a +5 to your tinker rolls. Zynazyr's cantrip would be effective for this if you wanted to, though it might be difficult for him to maintain it for long periods. There is a bit of a risk of setting off the trap here, whereas if the door remains closed you think the trap cannot be activated.

The third option would be to simply spring the trap and run for it.

Ferrous looks at the stone plug for a few seconds before turning to the party. This plug probably triggers a trap. We can either attempt to disable or intentional trigger the trap. I would suggest whichever method gets us through this door the fastest as there is no water or food on this side of the door and we can hope that both are on the other side.
Ferrrous wipes his bald head before continuing.
Zynazyr you said you could maybe cast a spell to keep the plug in place for a short time. I would suggest you try doing so. Once you have the plug safely suspended, I will open the door and Montague can attempt to rig the stone in place. I suggest that until this is done everyone keep a safe distance. Zynazyr how close do you need to be to cast your spell?

@ Zynazyr: you will need to maintain line of sight to keep your hold on the plug. Because you would be looking at it through the crack between the door and the jamb, that pretty much means that when the door is not yet open you would need to be right there, but afterwards you could back off down the hall.

Zynazyr listens to the options and nods. "Alright then, let me get a closer look. I need to be able to see what I am controlling. The rest of you may want to back off just in case," he says with a nervous smile.

Cantrip to hold plug: 1d6 ⇒ 6

lol, figures. Do I know I'm not successful and can retry or do we not know the results until the door is open? In case I can retry ...

"Wait! Don't open the door yet, I don't think I have it. Let me try again," he says with panic in his voice.

Cantrip to hold plug: 1d6 ⇒ 3

When Zynazyr nods that he has the stone plug under his control Ferrous opens the wooden door to allow Montague access to secure the stone plug before the party can continue. Montague is aided by Zynazyr proximity due to torch being so close however it totally skews Ferrous's infravision. Undaunted Ferrous stares into the darkness daring anything to make itself know.

@ Zynazyr: you can always retry a cantrip in the following combat round. So out of combat we can assume that you can do a cantrip more or less at will unless the precise timing matters.

The heavy door swings away from you with a creak, and reveals a large dark room. Like the hallway the walls are rough stone. Montague works quickly to disable the trap...
Montague, roll please. Your Tinker is +5, and you have a net +7 in bonuses, so roll 1d20+12, DC 20.

Ferrous detects no other traps in the doorway while Montague works, and he can see no living heat sources in the room, though three large objects that go from floor to ceiling about 20' away do seem slightly warmer than the air of the room.

1d20 + 12 ⇒ (20) + 12 = 32
Making this post from my phone. I'll make a better post later tonight.

Thylla stands at the back of the group, allowing the tinkers and trap minded to discern its function and possible disarmament.

The amazonian priestess leans against her maul, and if necessary will hold a torch to provide additional illumination.

"Can we use the hob's body to trigger the trap? Easy fodder and far more use than the brute was in real life I'll wager!"

Ferrous looks back to Thylla with a grin. I'd wager a barrel of beer on that even dying of thirst as I be. All goblin folk are worth more as corpse than breathing. But I don't believe we can use him to trigger this trap due to the mechanics of this one.
Montague works on securing the plug between the dwarf and Thylla.
Besides Montague will have this trap disarmed in no time.

Zynazyr hears Montague say he's disabled the trap. He hesitates for a moment, but then stops concentrating on the plug and it drops to the floor. He holds his breath, waiting for something to happen, but then relaxes when nothing does.

"Nice job. What do we have here? Can you two check them for traps before we make a decision on which one to open?" he says once they enter the room.

Ana looks on with a look of curiosity. I wonder...

10:30 AM, Day 1

After Montague disables the trap on the door, you all carefully enter the chamber (see spoiler above).

The chamber seems empty aside from the three brass cylinders. There is a small but ominous patch of dried blood on the floor in front of the middle cylinder. You go over the room carefully; this process takes about half an hour.

Ferrous couches down in a corner of the room running a hand over the stone walls.
These corners be as porous as a wedge of cheese. His stomach growls at the thought of food and he looks back to the rest of the group of adventurers apologetically as a few other stomachs echo his own. Sorry, wasn't thinking.

Fistep points out the pit trap in front of the eastern door. To the dwarf he asks, "Any signs of water had come from the holes?"

Thylla claps the shoulder of the doughty dwarf;

"Cheese would be good... and wine to wash it down with..."

The priest nods her head toward the doors;

"Three choices... Which to pick? Do any show more signs of wear or use perhaps?"

"Any signs of water had come from the holes?"

"Three choices... Which to pick? Do any show more signs of wear or use perhaps?"

There is no evidence that water has ever come from the holes, though it is impossible to say for certain that it does not. None of the doors or cylinders show more signs of use than the others.

Ferrous studies the 10' square that Fistep pointed out to the group. He eyes light up and he starts heading out of the room through the South door. I'll return in a moment. I have an idea.
About a minute later Ferrous returns with the corpse of the hobgoblin found outside. Thylla this was your idea want to help me throw this body in the area of that pit trap. It might be triggered by gravity.

Zynazyr curiously watches Ferrous leave the room, wondering what he is doing. When the dwarf returns, he smiles and nods in approval of the plan.

Heh... fodder for my next book: "101 Uses for a Dead Hobgoblin."

Thylla and Ferrous toss the dead hobgoblin unceremoniously onto the area marked out by Fistep. The floor, however, does not give way, leading you to think that weight (or at least weight alone) does not trigger the trap.

Undismayed Ferrous let's out a laugh and jokes We were wrong Thylla. Hobgoblins are apparently useless even when dead. Ferrous laughs again lyrics coarsely this time.

Takes out his rope after setting down his sword and shield. He ties a lasso. "Here's to see if there is a pressure plate somewhere on the floor." he says, then lassos the corpse and pulls it back across the floor between them and the pit.

Ana watches the proceedings dispassionately, saying nothing.

"Look at the blood stains here. I'll bet these two panels are responsible for that. Let me see if I can figure out how to disarm this... if it's still set".

Montague steps out from being right in front of the panels... especially near the bloodstains, and begins to try to disable this trap.

"Stand Clear".

Just before he starts the hobgoblin trap detector is brought into the room. He decides to wait until this is resolved before continuing his assault on the middle door.

Moving the body of the hobgoblin around does not seem to have any effect; the party finds no pressure plates on the floor in the room.

Guys, if you want to dedicate extra time to do another general search you may. The second try will cost you 1 turn; the third try can cost you an hour, etc. Each additional try results in me rolling again for your searches. You have eliminated certain things already through process of elimination, including the fact that just moving around in the room has not triggered a trap; you have been through pretty much the entire room at this point. Just let me know if you want to do that.

@ Montague: You may begin your attempt to disarm the trap or you can wait to see what the results of further searches are. If you are going ahead roll 1d20 + your Tinker rating. Normally the DC is 20 but it is modified by the quality of the device which you don't know yet. If you have any specific ways you want to go about it let me know and this might provide modifiers.

Zynazyr frowns when the apparent pit trap isn't sprung. "Maybe the trigger is opening the door. I can cast a spell to do that if we want, otherwise, I would suggest we just choose a different door, like the one with the blood stains, assuming that the trap has already been sprung. Montague, why don't you make sure for us."

If party wants pit trap sprung, I will cast cantrip to open door once everyone is clear.

Ferrous watches in amusement as Fistep drags the tied Hobgoblins corpse across the room. See useless as I told ye. When Zynazyr mentions casting a spell to open the door Ferrous nods his head. Yes that should work in fact we might as well have you open all 3 doors from a distance just to be safe.

Thylla too watches the macabre scene unfold as the hobgoblin's corpse is pulled betwixt and between in search of an elusive trigger.

The tall priestess still smirks at the dwarves joke about how useless the dead goblinoid was;

"Indeed. Perhaps we should leave the corpse to absorb whatever the trap dishes out? If only we had a pole or prop to stand it up..."

101 Uses for a Dead Hobgoblin: Number 87 - Trap Sponge ;)

I'm actually growing fond of our dead comrade, we should drag him along for the ride... ;P

Seeing the other attempts at setting off the traps fail, Montague decides to further investigate the door he is standing at. "Let us take our time here. Obviously whomever was here before us failed to do so, and here are the results".

How close to the opening of the door are the bloodstains? Are the openings high, low, or medium height on the door? Does the door open in or out?

Montague will take a turn to further investigate the door.

If possible he'll try to either figure out a way to open the door from an off center angle... perhaps using a rope, or lying flat on his back, or somehow suspended above the doorway.

If party wants pit trap sprung, I will cast cantrip to open door once everyone is clear.

If the doors being opened springs a trap and the trap targets someone in front of the door then this ought to do the trick.

How close to the opening of the door are the bloodstains? Are the openings high, low, or medium height on the door? Does the door open in or out?

The bloodstains are about 3' to 5' from the door. They could have been made by someone who was in the process of opening the door. The openings are about abdomen-height for a standing human. They are about 3 inches to either side of the door. However, it is impossible to tell what direction they "shoot" (unless the bloodstain is "ground zero" in which case you know where they go) - though standing behind the cylinder will definitely be safe.

Montague will take a turn to further investigate the door.

Sadly, you gain no additional information. FYI though the handle of the door is a simple latch, and will open easily. You also would have tripped the trap by now if it was activated via a pressure plate in the floor.

BTW: what is everyone else doing while Montague checks the middle door?

If possible he'll try to either figure out a way to open the door from an off center angle... perhaps using a rope, or lying flat on his back, or somehow suspended above the doorway.

It should be possible to stand behind the cylinder and open the door by tying a piece of string to the handle.

Oh, and the doors clearly open outwards.

As Montague checks the central door, Thylla warily stands eyeing the rogue's work whilst readying her maul should something monstrous enter the chamber if a door opens...

Possessed of the infinite patience of one who lives for hundreds of year, Ana waits while preparations are made and the traps are checked. She keeps her weapon at hand, just in case, but her expression is one of indifference.

Leaving the opening of the doors to the wizard and the thin human Ferrous backs up to a corner with holes on and takes out his rope and dangles the loose end in front of one of the holes.

"Allright then. I'm opening this thing. Stand back or get out of the room... this could get messy.

Montague carefully ties a string to the knob, and goes behind the column to try and pull the door open. He sees if there is anything he can do to keep from setting off the obvious trap as he contemplates his next move.

1d20 + 5 ⇒ (4) + 5 = 9 Tinker

Zynazyr watches the thief attempt to open the door by using the rope. He must not be familiar with what I am capable of doing.

"Montague, I can open the door from across the room if you would like. It is but a simple spell for me." he asks.

10:50 AM, Day 1

"Allright then. I'm opening this thing. Stand back or get out of the room... this could get messy.

Montague carefully ties a string to the knob, and goes behind the column to try and pull the door open. He sees if there is anything he can do to keep from setting off the obvious trap as he contemplates his next move.

1d20+5 Tinker...

The rest of the party gets clear of the path in front of the middle cylinder while Montague gets in position.

Montague pulls on the rope, and the latch comes open. The party hears a 'click' sound and the two ports on either side of the door open... and nothing comes out. It seems this trap was sprung some time ago and has not been reset. Looking into the holes you can see some kind of spring apparatus that must have been designed to shoot a long slender object from the holes, like an arrow or javelin.

The door of the cylinder swings open and you can see a ladder within, going up and down. There is a bit of light in the cylinder; looking upwards you can see some levers and wheels about 45' up and there are a couple of holes in the cylinder letting a little daylight in. Below, you can see a faint reddish light illuminating the bottom of the cylinder (which is about 25' down). It is unclear what the source is but you see that the source seems to move periodically.

Montague; for the record, what you were doing counts as 'springing the trap' and that requires no tinker roll - the effects of the trap just happen. If it turned out that opening the door caused rocks to fall behind the cylinder then you would have been in trouble, but otherwise once you deduce out how a trap works, causing the trap to activate has no roll. Tinker would have been used for trying to disarm the trap using your thieves' tools (as you did in the entry way).

Leaving the opening of the doors to the wizard and the thin human Ferrous backs up to a corner with holes on and takes out his rope and dangles the loose end in front of one of the holes.

Nothing comes out of the hole; there seems to be no effect.

Ferrous looks up from his corner and calls back to the group questioning them as a whole.
Shall we open the other doors the same way before proceeding down?

Good job Montague! he says to the rogue, then nodding to the dwarf Sounds like a plan Ferrous.

Ferrous runs over to the Eastern cylinder and copies Montague's method of opening the door. He makes sure all of the party is standing back before doing so. My turn.

Ferrous is not as deft as Montague, but after a couple tries he is able to open the latch with a rope from behind the eastern cylinder.

With a crack and a creak two panels in the square Fistep identified as a pit give way; whoever would have been standing in front of the door when it opened would have fallen in.

You didn't move the icon for Bob the dead hobgoblin, so I am assuming he was still on the square where the pit was. He is still tied to the rope so you can hoist him back up if you want.

The dead hobgoblin drops out of sight and lands with a thud just over a second later. The air coming from the pit smells slightly metallic and oily, and is a little more damp than the dry air in this chamber. Peering over the edge, you can see there is another darkened room of similar size to this one a level below, perhaps 25 feet down. You can see that the eastern cylinder has an opening at that level large enough for a human to walk into. At this level, the eastern cylinder has a ladder going up and down, just like the middle cylinder.

You can hear a clicking sound coming from below, and you see some dim red lights moving around. They seem to be clustering around where the corpse dropped. Holding the torch low over the pit, the torchlight just barely reaches the floor below, and the red lights turn out to be glowing spots on three huge insects, each perhaps three feet long, with huge horns and mandibles.

In future, if one of you is going to spring a trap, I will normally wait for at least one other player to give a "go-ahead" (i.e. the "rule of two"), but you had pretty clearly figured out this trap so I just went ahead and ran it.

It wasn't necessary this time, but if you want everyone else to "get clear" be sure to move other people's icons "out of the way" if you think they might be in danger, since those players may not have the chance to post in a timely manner. I don't want to have to wait for everyone each time so that will speed things up. Please explain what you are doing in the thread too though so everyone knows what is going on. When I run the effects of the trap I will assume that the icons are in fact where the characters are standing.

Noted for future occasions of trap springing. I did look and see that everyone was clear and I was hoping our corpse buddy would land on anything inside the pit- spikes, water after a very long fall, or an angry bear. I did forget that he was tied still sorry whoever's rope it is.
Ferrous peers into the floor below from his perch on the eastern most cylinder. Aye them be fire bugs down there. Dangerous critters what with their hard shell and nasty bite. He looks over at Thylla. Cruncy on the outside, spicy in the middle. You'd love them. Bwaha! He lets out a laugh at his own joke.

Thylla matches Ferrous' hearty laugh with one of her own;

"Perhaps a delicacy deep in the belly of the earth where you dwarves love to tread Ferrous! I'd prefer a cask of wine and a slab of roast hog hah!"

The amazonian priestess shoulders her maul;

"So onwards and downwards?"

Moves over to the middle column, putting away his sword and shield and pulling out a torch. He peers down the ladder holding his torch out to see if the similar movement resolves itself to be these same firebugs.

The movement of lights seems to be concentrated in the area around the dead hobgoblin, and the area at the bottom of the middle ladder seems dark.

Those looking into the pit can hear small ripping sounds, and see that the bugs have begun eating the corpse of the hobgoblin.

Guys if you are going ahead please let me know who is where. Obviously the regular marching order won't work in this case.

Anyone up for fishing for buggies? Ferrous suggests. It is commonly known as use number 47 for a hobgoblin corpse. Stealing a sheepish look at Thylla before continuing. We have a rope and if we can pull these buggers up one at a time it will be an easier fight. What do the rest of you think? Ferrous walks over and grabs a hold of the rope tied to the hobgoblin.

Ana is right where she wants to be.

"Disgusting," she mutters under her breath. "Whatever you decide is easiest. Your plan makes sense, I suppose, as it doesn't seem that we can up, so we will need to clear the way down."

Zynazyr carefully looks over the edge of the pit at the beetles below.

"Well, I can fire bolts of energy at them from here, but it would take a while to finish them off. Assuming they don't run away or are resistant, that is. Should I try?" he says as he looks to the others.

Brother Zynazyr I am sure your bolts would eventually bring the beetles down but most likely they would run away from the bolts only to return later when we are caught off guard. Ferrous pauses to scratch his beard. Maybe if everyone fires their missile weapons at the same time we can do enough damage to bring the beetles down before they scatter or we can try to see if one of them hangs onto the hobgoblin corpse as we pull it up. That way we pick them off one at a time.