DM VoV - Throne of Night - Explorer's Adventure Path (Inactive)

Game Master Mark Sweetman

Hilde's nostrils flare at the message, and after she's translated it she adds in Dwarvish, "They need to die."

Initiative: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 2 = 3

Attempt at Knowledge check to recognize the creatures: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (20) + 3 = 23

Add another 4 to that if they're aberrations, oozes, humanoids, constructs, dragons, or magical beasts. Yeah! Too bad she goes so late in the round.

"Hmmmmf. Damn straight! Let's get those gnomes back!" Seeing no hope for diplomacy, Stáli casts a spells and moves forward toward the spider creatures with his longhammer ready to sweep down if they attack.
Initiative 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20
Casts lead blades and moves forward 20 feet.

Initiative: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 4 = 17

"We get the gnomes back and we get to beat some heads"

Normally I'll roll initiative for you, but I've kept anyone who rolled.

Action Tracker (Round 1): Skis'raal, Stali, Nar, Padrym, Agna, Love, Hilde

The spiders sense that danger is coming and react quickly, rearing up on their hind sets of legs and bringing their abdomen spinning forwards to loose a gobbet of sticky fluid that expands as it flies towards you...
Web at Nar: 1d20 + 8 - 2 ⇒ (4) + 8 - 2 = 10
Web at Stali: 1d20 + 8 - 4 ⇒ (12) + 8 - 4 = 16
...Nar avoiding the one cast at him, but Stali catching his across the chest. He is entangled by it and struggles to move.
Entangled at though hit with a net

Map

Stáli begins a dodge to the left, then the right as he sees the grey glob arc right toward him. The priest begins a prayer, "Torag, lend the weight of your hammer to your servant..." Only to have it interrupted as the webs splat all over his face covering his beard and mouth. Spell ruined, he reaches to scrape a little away from his mouth. "Oh, hells! They got me mates! Bring it on you disgusting bugs, my hammer still works just fine!" Stáli stumbles forward, ready to whack the spider if it comes close.
Concentration check (DC 16) 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (11) + 3 = 14
Move 10 feet to J7. Stáli has Combat Reflexes and a reach weapon so I'll give you a couple entangled AoOs in case the try to approach or run by him.
AoO 1 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (12) + 2 = 14
Damage 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (6, 3) + 4 = 13
AoO 2 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (5) + 2 = 7
Damage 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (5, 3) + 4 = 12
AC is now 15/10/15

Round 1

"Don't worry Stáli, we'll take 'em!"

Since hostility has ensued, Padrym will move forward and swing at one of the spiders.

Are these 5' squares? If so I move to H10. If not, can I charge on this ground? Attack roll non charge so I don"t hold us up.

Greataxe: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (2) + 3 = 51d12 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16

Agna points at the closest spider like creature and opens her mouth in a silent howl.

Ear Piercing Scream. Damage 1d6 ⇒ 5 DC 15 Fort save for half damage and to avoid being stunned next round.

Round 1:

At the end of the round (so it won't help until next round, sorry), Hilde moves to stay in the midst of the party and begins to declaim in resonant tones of the features and vulnerabilities of the Skis'raal. Naturalist; starting next round everyone adds +1 to AC, attack rolls, and saves vs. the spiders' special abilities.

Not wanting webbing shot at him again, and Stali moving in front of him preventing a charge, Nar double moves to the spider at I12, getting in position to use his reach weapon.

Squares are 10ft as shown - thought the size of the portraits would have made it clearer, sorry.
Stali - J7 would be 15ft, put you in K7 instead.
Padrym - charge line is marginally blocked, so I went with the doublemove.
Agna - you're outside of close range - so I moved you forward first. Also, note that ear piercing scream dazes, it doesn't stun.

Stali strains against the webbing and moves forward as Nar outpaces him, jogging near to the spiders. Padrym joins him at the forefront as Agna hustles forward and intones words arcane.

Love joins the rush for the front, moving ahead of Agna as Hilde begins her declaration of weaknesses. Ivy alone remains hidden towards the rear, dagger in hand but unwilling to expose herself to danger.

Fort Save: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13

The skis'raal affected by Agna's silent scream remains in place, skittish but still able to defend itself. The second skitters under Stali's reach and lunges forth with venom dripping teeth...
Bite at Stali: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (3) + 6 = 9
...though it is unable to even land a touch upon his flesh.

Action Tracker (Round 2): Skis'raal, Stali, Nar, Padrym, Agna, Love, Hilde

Updated Map

Round 2

I figured but wanted to make sure I was reading the map correctly.

"We've got it now Nar!"

5' to H11.

Greataxe: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 181d12 + 4 ⇒ (6) + 4 = 10

The exuberantly hairy dwarf takes a swing at the skis'raal next to him.

"Aye, let's show these spiders what we dwarves can do!"

Nar 5' steps to the north and brings the hammer down upon the spider creature at I11

Dwarven Longhammer: 1d20 + 4 - 1 ⇒ (17) + 4 - 1 = 20
Damage: 2d6 + 4 + 3 ⇒ (2, 5) + 4 + 3 = 14

Apologies DM, I know EPS very well and have no idea why I typed stunned instead of dazed! I'll be sure to try and keep that straight in the future.

Agna fires a tiny splash of acid at the spider creature in E 10.

Ranged touch 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 1 = 20

Damage 1d3 ⇒ 2

Sorry for that screw-up. Think that might have been Nar it was biting. Stáli was back in K7.

Straining to pull his way through the sticky webbing that is running all over his lower body, Stáli manages to stumble 10 feet closer to the spider-creature. "Ha, thought you wouldn't have to deal with Torag's hammer yet ya fool bug. Have a taste of fire forged steel!" Taking up a position shoulder-to-shoulder with Nar, Stáli swings his hammer against the creature's chitinous shell.
10 feet move from K7-K8-J9
Attack 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 2 = 18
Damage 2d6 + 4 ⇒ (4, 1) + 4 = 9

"Nice hit! The hammer brothers will leave their mark!"

Sorry for the short delay - site was down in the AM, and work got busy in the PM.

The swift work of Padrym and Nar bludgeon one of the spiders into immediate unconsciousness, before the second is bloodied severely by Stali's hammer and Agna's caustic emulsion. The second of the spiders backs away fearful "Surrender... not kill... gnome yours..."

"I see no reason to slaughter this spider if it agrees to retreat, and allows us to take back Ivy's friends."

"I'm going to keep my eye on it in case of trickery."

Hilde will interrupt her declamation to translate again. "I agree." She continues in Undercommon. "Bring back the ones you took and we'll show you mercy."

I hope at least one of you is planning on learning Undercommon when we hit second level ;P.

The spider is slowly skittering backwards towards the main tunnel as it speaks "Up there... in roof... find gnome..."

Yeah, seems necessary to learn Undercommon at this point.

Padrym holds off as the others negotiate, then looks at where the spider pointed.

"So then, let's find a gnome."

Split up or keep together - if split up, who is climbing through?

Agna is not a climber. She'll be happy to wait with the 'ground' team.

Hilde addresses the spider creature. "Stop where you are. Are there any more of you up there?"

The spider-thing shakes it's head.

As much a climber as any dwarf, Padrym stows his greataxe and moves to climb up.

"Less any of you wanna?"

Climb: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (5) - 1 = 4

Failing to find purchase, he will gathers his dignity and try again.

Climb: 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (17) - 1 = 16

"No more of them on the other side of the door there. I'll stay down here with Agna; how many of you can climb?"

"I'm not much of a climber, but I don't want to leave Padrym alone"
Nar attempts to follow him the best he can

Climb: 1d20 + 3 - 5 ⇒ (17) + 3 - 5 = 15

"Umfh, I think we should make the bloody spider carry the gnome down, but I'll see if I can help get him back." Stáli stows him hammer and reaches up, trying to pull him up to follow Padrym and Nar.
Climb 1d20 ⇒ 9
And probably making no progress

Both Nar and Padrym easily make it through the trapdoor, and Stali manages also after some grunting, swearing and assistance. The three left below with Ivy are left staring wordlessly at the remaining spider...

Give me a Sense Motive check for those still below.

The hole in the ceiling leads up through a five foot chimney to a small chamber with the walls covered in webbing. Woven into the webbing are jagged runes fashioned from discolored silk.

On from there is a large cavernous redoubt where you guess the spiders dwelt. The desiccated, murdered corpse of a gnome hangs suspended in webbing as does the caravan’s dead pack lizard. Beside those are six still barely alive svirfneblin soldiers.

A quick fossick through the debris dredges up:
A badge of office
A Mithral ring inscribed ‘G&E forever’ in gnomish
script
A well made short sword
Bag of 200 gp with elvish writing that reads “Hail Satha, Baroness of Vothys”
An Iron key with gnomish ‘A’
A bolt of silk
Misc. coins tallying to 77 gp
A Masterwork greataxe engraved with a dwarven runic D

Stáli hustles over to the closest svirfneblin and begins checking the soldier's breathing and pulse.
Heal (untrained) 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17

Untrained Sense Motive check: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (14) + 1 = 15

Untrained Sense Motive 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17

Agna and Hilde both sense that the remaining spider is tensing to flee, and move to interdit physically to prevent the same.

Stali finds that six of the gnomes live... but the dessicated corpse has been bled dry and the pack lizard has passed on also.

Assuming they're unconscious...
"I don't have the gift, like some priests, to bring them all back at once. Let's bring them and these items down and then perhaps we can figure out a way to bring them back to their home." Stáli shows Padrym and Nar how to move the gnomes and begins helping to lower them to our comrades down below.

"Good plan."

Padrym will stow his axe and help move the gnomes. Once the first is taken to the door he'll drop down and help lower them to the cave floor.

"Ivy, a hand here. What's that spider doing?"

"The spider's still here. It's twitchy, but we are not letting it escape until you are back down safely."

"We've got six alive up here and one dead. Plus a dead pack lizard. We're going to try carefully lowering them down. They all seem to be unconscious. We need to get them someplace where we can get or give them some attention to return them to health." Once Padrym lowers himself down, Stáli works with Nar to lower each body to the cavern floor.

"Hilde, could you ask it if the gnomes have been poisoned? And, if there is a antidote?"

"What did you do to the gnomes? Will they recover on their own?"

The gnomes are slowly brought from the place above to that below by the ceiling team. It is easy to confirm that the gnomes are showing signs of poisoning. Specifically loss of Strength in addition to damage suffered. You think you could rouse one with some healing help though.

The spider shrugs "Sometimes live, sometimes not... tasted them we did... but not drink deep."

Stáli bends over the gnome who looks least worse for wear, "I might be able to do something to wake this one. Worst of their problem is beyond my abilities...just going to require some good bed rest or a more experienced healer I think." Grasping his holy symbol, Stáli prays to Torag, "Smith father, hear my prayer for our earth brother. Take the gift that you bestowed upon me for my hammer this day and transform it to the energy of life much as the smith transforms iron into steel and tools. Let it be enough to wake the earth brother this day." Completing his prayer, Stáli reaches his hands forward to press both hands against the gnome's still body Convert lead blades into cure light wounds for 1d8 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3 hit points healed.

The gnome comes to with a start, breathing that was ragged and shallow solidifying into desperate breaths. Once he realises he's not in mortal peril he does calm somewhat and give his name "I am Harvald dwarves, and am in your debt for what you have done."

Nar helps rescue the gnomes. Heading in there he didn't really care about their status and was more excited about the treasure found. But as he helped save those gnomes including the one who need magical healing, he discovered that he did care about the fate of these gnomes. Nar thinks to himself that that is the first time he ever cared about a non dwarf in his life.

However looking at the spider creature, he feels no compassion.

Agna approaches Hilde and whispers to her. "I don't think it would be right, killing this creature now helpless before us. Do you think you might advise it, that if we let it live, it might change its diet to include only animals...no humanoid type creatures?"

The archivist considers Agna's question. "I don't know enough about it to guess whether that would have any chance of working. I'm inclined to let it go with a warning, though, that if we catch it hunting gnomes again, surrender won't save it."

Does Hilde remember anything about Skis'raal society?

{yup, lots of skill-points being spent on linguistics next level I expect}

"Let it go. It will be a while before it tries its luck again."

"I agree. It's beaten, no sense killing it. Hopefully it doesn't return with an army and make us regret this."

"Yes, let's leave it and see about getting these gnomes to safety. Harvald, do you recognize this place? Are we close to your home?"