Chronicles of Arcania: B/X Homebrew game.

Game Master Peet

Walia says, "Sounds good to me. Should we start a fire under the urn where we are so we can purify the water as we get it?"

Given the volume of water we'll need, and the limited supply of stuff to burn, that might not be practical. If Walia gets to level 2, he can purify 6 waterskins with a spell.
Or, I would imagine our now-NPC shaman can do this, if we do the hard work of finding a supply of mostly-potable water.

Capture the water, then we can set the others to the job of purifying it.

Ana begins gathering small pieces of debris to weight the urn down.

Ferrous laughs at Brathas suggestion of dragging a goblin corpse. Aye always happy when I find a use for a goblinkind. Too bad they are always dead first the beings are absolutely useless while breathing. Ferrous sets about helping to prepare for triggering the trap.

"Thought you'd like that."
Brathas helps Ferrous locate a suitable 'volunteer', tie a rope to said goblin's feet, and throw him over the pressure plate (the two-person hands-and-feet swing). If he is not certain of his ability to make the throw, he'll ask Fistep or Ana to take over.

Is the pressure plate raised off the floor surface or flush with it? I was thinking we drop the goblin corpse on the opposite side and pull him across the plate.

Not one for physical activity, Zynazyr keeps watch in the hallway to make sure nothing sneaks up on them while the others try to trigger the pressure plate.

Sorry for my absence. The holidays were crazy as was year-end at work.

Picks up the goblin volunteer to toss the goblin across the pressure plate.

Is the pressure plate raised off the floor surface or flush with it? I was thinking we drop the goblin corpse on the opposite side and pull him across the plate.

I think it's flush with the floor, but takes up the entire width of the room so we can't easily get to the far side of it while carrying a dead goblin. At 3', it is too far to just step while encumbered. Hence the need to throw the goblin over, then drag him back.

Aye always happy when I find a use for a goblinkind.

Unfortunately you don't have any goblin carcasses handy, unless you want to return to camp and kill your prisoner. The goblins you have killed in past days have been devoured by scavengers. You haven't seen any goblins since day 2.

Some other bundle with similar weight would do the trick.

If you plan to return to other parts of the dungeon to get materials let me know where you are going; wandering monster checks will need to be rolled.

I think it's flush with the floor, but takes up the entire width of the room...

This is basically correct.

There's a partially-chewed dead guy in the next room over, where the lizard was. Pretty recently deceased.
Not that I am itching to use a corpse in this way, just that we don't seem to have much in the way of suitable containers other than the snake basket.

There's a partially-chewed dead guy in the next room over, where the lizard was. Pretty recently deceased.

Not that I am itching to use a corpse in this way, just that we don't seem to have much in the way of suitable containers other than the snake basket.

This is true, and he is not far away. The lizard was chewing on him for a while, though; there is not a whole lot left, and the remains are a mess.

Shall I assume that the plan is the same, only using the remains as a weight? Or do you want to use something else?

Brathas is having second thoughts.
"This is a gruesome task that I would rather not do unless absolutely necessary. Does anybody have any other ideas for a way to drag a suitable weight across the pressure plate? Anything else we have seen that I am forgetting about? A crate, a sack we can spare, an object that is heavy enough to trigger the plate but light enough to get across it easily?"
I would think the 4' stone statues from the crypt are more like 250+ lbs each, too heavy to easily maneuver across the plate.
Maybe the flagstones that covered the trap door to the crypt? Stack them up, wrap a rope around them, and pull?

We could put some rubble in a sack and pull the sack by a rope. Should be enough weight?
Ferrous suggests meekly.

Walia says, "My dwarfen friend, you wouldn't happen to have a pick, in that case we could break off some of the wall if we don't have enough."

"The issue is finding a sack. I don't want to sacrifice my backpack as I keep my tools in it. Perhaps some others back at camp have spares, or we can use the bales of cloth by our camp to fashion one. It would be unwise to split up looking for crates and bags.
If we're back at camp, we can also get sand from the desert to fill the sack."

The original plan was to drag a sack or crate of stuff. But we have no spare sacks or crates right here, so maybe a body. Has weight, holds together. But we have no suitable bodies. Searching throughout the first 3 levels for containers means wandering monster checks and that can mean way more IRL time on this task. We just have the snake basket, and need that to hold the jar upright and in place.
I've been searching through all the previous pages of nearby room descriptions with an eye to "What will take the least IRL time so we can move this on."
Using the bales of cloth near our camp to make sacks is the best I can come up with. That's my final suggestion, although I am open to other ideas.
Who would have thought that not buying a spare large sack would be so problematic?
I actually enjoy the problem-solving part of playing a 1E thief, but feel badly that my convoluted plan here is taking up so much time.

"The issue is finding a sack..."

Ferrous and Ana both have large sacks. Wallia and Zynazyr both have small sacks. These are useful for caarrying treasure, so I am not sure if they would be called "spare," but they are available.

Walia says, "My dwarfen friend, you wouldn't happen to have a pick, in that case we could break off some of the wall if we don't have enough."

The walls of this room are bare stone, but in the hall (and in every corridor you have seen so far, as well as most chambers) the stone is covered with plaster sheeting, which is cracked and old. It wouldn't be too difficult to chip hunks of plaster off the walls until you filled a sack, and it would be less messy than collecting the remains of the dead guy. It would leave a big bare patch on the wall, but I can't see how that could be a problem for you.

In fact, this is smart enough and doesn't require you to go very far, so I'd say I'm ready to move ahead with this as the plan. We've got the main details down.

Okay. I was thinking nobody would want to sacrifice what they are carrying their stuff in, but all of our packs would have originally held mostly food, and so be mostly empty now. We can shift Ferrous's gear to Ana's bag or vice versa, until such time as we find another sack.

4:10 PM, Day 4

After spending some time in discussion, the party begins collecting materials. First they plan to gather plaster from the wall outside, then some rubble from the ruined chapel near the pit room to hold the urn in place.

since this doesn't involve much travelling, only one wandering monster check is needed...

1d6 ⇒ 11d2 ⇒ 11d8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 61d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 31d2 ⇒ 2

The party begins chipping pieces of plaster off the wall outside the secret room. Wallia and Zynazyr stand back and gather up the pieces while Ana, Brathas, Fistep, and Ferrous chip away.

Fistep, on the west end, hears something behind him. He spins around, and... to the north, he can see a large number of small scurrying shapes coming towards him.

Rats! At least a dozen have come pouring out from the narrow passage to the north.

2d6 ⇒ (4, 5) = 9
Neither side is surprised.

TACTICAL MAP updated.

Note: these are normal rats, not giant ones. They are quite small, ranging from eight inches to one foot in length.

Round 1 Initiative:
Block 1: Brathas, Ferrous, Fistep, Zynazyr
Block 2: Some rats
Block 3: Wallia
Block 4: More rats
Block 5: Ana

Brathas, Ferrous, Fistep, and Zynazyr are up. Ana and Wallia may post conditional actions if they wish.

Does anyone have flasks of oil to throw at these beast they would likely be turned aside by fire.

Ferrous moves to the front of the group places his shield long edge down on the floor to provide a wall type barrier to the small rats swarming towards the group.

We can shift Ferrous's gear to Ana's bag or vice versa, until such time as we find another sack.

Ninja'd! Didn't notice your post until now.

But this is not necessary; the people I mentioned have backpacks as well.

My bad, everybody. Sorry for making this more complicated than it needed to be.
Brathas curses at the rats. He draws his dagger from its forearm sheath and throws it at a rat.
THAC0 16: 16 - 1d20 ⇒ 16 - (14) = 2
damage: 1d4 ⇒ 4

While Ferrous puts his shield in position, Brathas flings a dagger at the nearest group of rats, and easily kills one of the rats.

Fistep, and Zynazyr are up. Ana and Wallia may post conditional actions if they wish.

Ana resorts to the use of a sleep spell to take out some of the rats.

Zynazyrbot cannot see the rats from where he is, so he gets a cantrip ready to shoot at them when they come around the corner. A bit of electricity crackles at his fingertips.

1d6 ⇒ 3

Fistepbot gets his sword ready for when the rats come in reach.

16 - 1d20 ⇒ 16 - (14) = 2

Ana begins to cast a spell (which will resolve on her initiative).

Brathas, I realized you did not have line-of-sight to any rats and you didn't move your icon, so I moved it up for you.

The rats that remain awake rush forwards, heading for the corner. There stands Ferrous, with his square dwarven shield braced against the floor.

As they come around the corner, there is a crack of lightning as a small bolt of electricity shoots from Zynazyr's hand, killing one of the rats. Fistep's blade snakes out and cuts another rat in twain.

But the remaining eleven rats press on. Ferrous's shield is not large enough; some of the rats just run around the end while others leap to the top of the shield, and soon Ferrous is covered in swarming rats.

Meanwhile Brathas is caught in the open and also overcome with rats.

20 - 1d20 ⇒ 20 - (6) = 141d6 ⇒ 2
20 - 1d20 ⇒ 20 - (12) = 81d6 ⇒ 5

Fortunately the rats are unable to find a gap in Ferrous' armor... for now. Ferrous stumbles, struggling to get the rats off of him.

Ferrous: No damage, but you are now covered in rats and must make a will save (you need a 9) or fall prone. Prone creatures are easier to hit and use up their move when standing up.

Brathas wears less armor, but manages to keep the rats from biting him. But he has to get them off him!

Brathas: Also no damage, and like Ferrous you are now covered in rats and must make a will save (you need a 9) or fall prone.

Fistep can hear more rats coming down the corridor, though they are not in sight yet.

Round 1 Initiative:
Block 1: Brathas, Ferrous, Fistep, Zynazyr
Block 2: Some rats
Block 3: Wallia
Block 4: More rats
Block 5: Ana

Wallia is now up.

Walia flings a pellet at the rats not on anyone 19 - 1d20 - 1 ⇒ 19 - (10) - 1 = 8 if hits 1d6 ⇒ 6

Steps up in front of the others to ward off the more rats

Sorry guys, was having some trouble logging on over the weekend.

Walia flings a pellet at the rats not on anyone 19-1d20-1 if hits 1d6

Wallia: at this point all the rats that are visible are climbing all over Brathas and Ferrous. Does this mean you want to delay until you see a rat in the open? I will assume that is what you want for now.

Also, you gave yourself a bonus to hit on your roll and I think it was supposed to be a penalty. Remember a negative is a bonus to hit and a positive is a penalty. The formula generates a result that is the best armor class your attack hits, and the lower the AC the better. So a -1 will make your attack hit an AC 1 point lower.

Also: Sling bullets do 1d4 damage. Sling stones do 1d3.

Steps up in front of the others to ward off the more rats

Fistep: If you want to do this on your next action, that is fine, but if you wanted to do this before on your turn, the rats would now be all over you instead of Brathas. I can retcon it this way of you want; the attack wouldn't have hit you either but you will need to make the save.

Quick Rulings:
1. Attacking a rat that is on a character
There is a chance that an attack against a creature clinging to the body of a fellow character will hit that character.

But the chance is not very high, since a normal attack assumes that you are trying to find a vulnerable spot in an enemy's defense. Making such an attack against a clinging rat is not also seeking a vulnerable spot in the character's armor, so it is less likely to hit, but is still dependent on the character's AC.

If you strike at a rat on the body of another character and miss, then you roll to hit the character, but your attack is resolved as if you are a normal man with no to-hit bonus from DEX or STR. So you just roll 20-1d20. Thus going after rats that are on an armored character will be relatively safe, but if the rats get on Zynazyr this will be a problem.

2. Escaping from rats that are on your body
If you have rats on you you can still act normally but the rats will still be on you and will move with you.

However, you may spend your attack "shaking the rats off" which can be done as long as you are standing (so if you have fallen prone you must get up first). If you do so the rats are no longer on you and if you move away then you will be out of danger (unless the rats follow).

If you remain in the space where the rat swarm is then they will likely attack you again next round.

WillSave: 1d20 ⇒ 20
On the topic above can you attack a rat that is on yourself? Assuming that there is still the chance you miss the rat and attack yourself. And what a useless time to roll a 20.

Wallia hold his sling ready for a safe shot against a rat.

More rats come streaming from the passage to the north, but they do not reach anyone in the party. When they come in sight Wallia lets fly but he fails to hit any of them.

With a wave of her hand Ana casts sleep, and sparkling sand seems to coalesce on the rats. The closest 6 rats fall asleep; five fall off of Ferrous, leaving him unscathed, and one falls off Brathas.

There are sleeping rats in those squares but the rats are not smart enough to wake up their friends so I have taken them off the map entirely. If you are standing in a square with sleeping rats and want to kill them you can CDG one normally and then step on another as your move.

TACTICAL MAP updated.

Fistep: If you want to do the retcon then the red rats will be in 9:14, and you and the blue rats will be in 10:14.

Round 2 Initiative:
Block 1: Ana, Wallia
Block 2: Red & Purple rats
Block 3: Brathas, Fistep, Zynazyr
Block 4: Blue rats
Block 5: Ferrous

Ana and Wallia are now up.

Brathas: Also no damage, and like Ferrous you are now covered in rats and must make a will save (you need a 9) or fall prone.

Sorry, Brathas; this was a copypasta error - your will save is a 12, not a 9.

On the topic above can you attack a rat that is on yourself? Assuming that there is still the chance you miss the rat and attack yourself. And what a useless time to roll a 20.

Yes, you can attack a rat that is on yourself. If you use a weapon there is a chance of hurting yourself, but you could just grab one with your hand and crush it (doing unarmed damage) - this would not require a hit on yourself on a miss, but wouldn't do as much damage (which is not an issue unless your character is very weak).

FYI: unarmed damage is normally 0-2 points (1d3-1). Having a higher STR increases the die type so if your STR bonus is +1 it is 1d4-1, if your STR is +2 it is 1d5-1, and so on. Half the damage is nonlethal (round up) but one point is enough to take out a rat.

Will wait to see what Fistep decides before making my save. If Brathas ends up prone, can he try to use his weight to crush the rats against the floor or the wall? Basically stop, drop, and roll?

If more than eight rats remain, Ana will try and sleep another batch. Otherwise, she readies her axe to attack any that get past the front line.

I guess since the rats go before me you need to know if I'm prone.
Not wanting it to influence Fistep:

Ana can see about 20 rats, so...
Ana casts her spell again, and once again sparkling sand seems to rain gently on the rats.

Five more rats curl up and go to sleep, including four of the ones crawling all over Brathas. There is only one rat left on Brathas now.

TACTICAL MAP updated.

Round 2 Initiative:
Block 1: Ana, Wallia
Block 2: Red & Purple rats
Block 3: Brathas, Fistep, Zynazyr
Block 4: Blue rats
Block 5: Ferrous

Wallia is now up. Not going to bot him yet as he usually posts around this time.

BTW Zynazyr & Ana: FYI a cantrip energy bolt has no chance of striking an ally.

Fistep: You have until I post the actions of the rats to decide if you want the retcon.

I thought I got a +1 for close range. Why would you bot me anyway it hasn't been 24 hours?

Walia tries to flick the last remaining rat off of Brathas 19 - 1d20 ⇒ 19 - (17) = 2

I thought I got a +1 for close range.

Yes! But you also get a -1 cover penalty to hit for each character that is in the way of your shot. There were two people in your way.

Why would you bot me anyway it hasn't been 24 hours?

Yeah, that too.

With his sling, Wallia managed to dispatch the last rat still clinging to Brathas.

However, there is only a moment's respite for Ferrous and Brathas as the rats in the hallway surge forwards.

vs. Ferrous: 20 - 1d20 ⇒ 20 - (1) = 19
vs. Brathas: 20 - 1d20 ⇒ 20 - (9) = 11

The rats are still unable to find a gap in the men's armor, but Brathas and Ferrous stagger again under the coat of disgusting vermin!

Brathas and Ferrous: You guys need to make another save or fall prone.

TACTICAL MAP updated.

Round 2 Initiative:
Block 1: Ana, Wallia
Block 2: Red & Purple rats
Block 3: Brathas, Fistep, Zynazyr
Block 4: Blue rats
Block 5: Ferrous

Brathas, Fistep, Ferrous, and Zynazyr are all up.

Brathas & Ferrous: if you end up prone you can either use your move to stand up or to crawl (half your normal speed). You cannot "shake off the rats" unless you are standing. You may still make attacks while prone at a -2 penalty and attacks against you while prone are made at +2 to hit. If you are rolling around trying to crush rats with your body, it counts as an attack, but I will allow two attacks that round if you do not otherwise move.

"What sorcery is at work? A rat may bite if cornered, but to attack a group of larger foes like this?"
Assuming rats are like rats in our world, Brathas is baffled by their behavior.
Willpower: 1d20 ⇒ 4
Distracted, he slips under this latest wave.
He tries to crush some rats (two attacks).
THAC0 17: 17 - 1d20 + 2 ⇒ 17 - (11) + 2 = 8
THAC0 17: 17 - 1d20 + 2 ⇒ 17 - (17) + 2 = 2
Damage as per unarmed strike?
damage: 1d4 - 1 ⇒ (2) - 1 = 1
damage: 1d4 - 1 ⇒ (1) - 1 = 0

Do we have any of the food with us and if so couldn't we throw it to them so we can escape?

Will: 1d20 ⇒ 16
Undaunted the Dwarf stands proud while being swarmed over by the rats.
Against such a small foe his axe is not as useful so the dwarf tries to smash one with a gauntlet-ed fist.
GrabARat: 19 - 1d20 ⇒ 19 - (15) = 4
SquashThatRat: 1d5 - 1 ⇒ (5) - 1 = 4 Only half is lethal
After grabbing one of the rats crawling over him and squeeze the life out of it the dwarf squashes a sleeping rat beneath his feet.
Foot squash as move.

"What sorcery is at work? A rat may bite if cornered, but to attack a group of larger foes like this?"

Assuming rats are like rats in our world, Brathas is baffled by their behavior.

Normally rats would only attack a human if that person was sleeping or otherwise helpless. Clearly these rats have lost their fear of humans somehow. But they are still cowards, so if you came up with a way to scare them off that might work.

Do we have any of the food with us and if so couldn't we throw it to them so we can escape?

This is a valid strategy (actually it is mentioned in the original Basic rules), and I believe you have the snake meat with you.