GM Tarondor's Emerald Spire Campaign

Game Master Tarondor

Wymond startles as he's teleported and grips his polearm tightly, waving it back and forth to fend off awaiting foes...when he sees there are none, at least for now, he breathes a sigh of relief.

"Well...that could have gone worse. Y'alright, Marcel?"

Marcel blinks and looks around at the sudden change in setting. "I think so...do you recognize this corridor?" he asks the Dwarf.

Wymond looks around, seeing if any of this location looks familiar.

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (14) + 12 = 26

LOWER PARTY
Just so you know you're not just splitting the party. You're headed for a completely separate level of the dungeon.

Nycholas has heard of such spells, such "magic mouths" that allow wizards to leave messages in certain places. They are often triggered by the presence of the living, but can be triggered by anything the mage desires.

Other than that, this is merely a long staircase downwards. Let me know if you continue down or go up.

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UPPER PARTY
This corridor looks much like those in the level above - lots of snake imagery. Speaking of snakes, you begin to hear the hissing of snakes behind you. The wall is hissing...

"Oh, s***! Marcel, we gotta move! More ankle-bitin' snakes!"

He waves Marcel down the hallway.

"You go ahead, I'll cover ye!"

Seeing how far Marcel moves before I follow him.

Marcel will head out to avoid death by wall. "Lets move!" He says as he does so.

That is a single action. I will likely continue at least one more move action of 30 ft and then raise my shield unless I see a dire threat in front of me.

Kay, so obviously there's no way Lilika would randomly go back and touch the weird statue. However, as a player, obviously going to a whole new level of the dungeon is a bad idea. Happy to do whatever Nycholas would prefer, come what may.

Lilika: I'm not saying anyone's wrong or that your actions don't make sense. I just wanted to be transparent. "Gotcha" traps like that have a long traditions in D&D/Pathfinder but they're not always fun. Blame Jason Buhlman. This is his level. :-)

Wymond follows after Marcel back-to-back, keeping his bardiche ready to hack at any following snakes.

1 Action to Stride after Marcel, and 1 Action to ready an attack on any pursuing sneks!

Lilika: I'm not saying anyone's wrong or that your actions don't make sense. I just wanted to be transparent. "Gotcha" traps like that have a long traditions in D&D/Pathfinder but they're not always fun. Blame Jason Buhlman. This is his level. :-)

Oh, I know you don't mean it rudely or maliciously or anything! And I appreciate the transparency. Splitting up on a different part of the same dungeon floor IS very different than bypassing the level completely and splitting us across levels. And yeah, I personally don't like 'gotcha' style traps, but don't you worry, I know exactly who to shake my fist at for this one. *shakes virtual first*

LOWER GROUP Lilika, we haven't heard from Nycholas in a while. Maybe you should decide where the two of you are going without waiting further for him.

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UPPER GROUP

As you reach the bend in the hallway, you see another corridor ahead of you. Meanwhile, the hissing of unseen snakes gets louder behind you!

"Maybe they're just down on the next level?" Nycholas suggest.

Hmm. Tough decision =( Keep going down for now, I guess.

Marcel continues through the unknown corridors. He calls back behind him, "This way!"

Raise the shield, Stride to the end of the corridor in 1 action and if I do not see anyone I will just another 30 ft.

"Right behind ye!" Wymond replies to Marcel, peering back into the hissing darkness with his bardiche ready to strike as he walks backwards down the hall.

Stride and Ready an Attack.

Alright. I need to prepare the map for the next level, so I'll get back at it tomorrow.

UPPER GROUP - LEVEL 8
Marcel moves to the end of the hallway, sees another stretch of hallway and moves 30 feet. Wymond moves to the end of the hallway and as Marcel moves on, prepares an attack. Triath stays right with Wymond.

The hissing grows louder!

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LOWER GROUP - LEVEL 9

At the foot of the stairs, Nycholas, Lilika and Slaage see that the passage leads off into a strangely angled foyer. Most of the walls have been reduced to rubble. One of walls connects to a small corridor, but the passage ends in a collapse after a few feet. In the southern wall of rubble, a small dark hole in the rock is the room’s only exit.

"Ominous," Lilika remarks. After a moment's caution, she moves forward to examine the rubble, curious of the collapse was natural, sabotage, or damage from a battle or animal.

Crafting (trained) Was it shoddy craftsmanship, sabotage, or wear?: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (8) + 10 = 18
Survival (expert) Was it an animal or natural damage?: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (19) + 13 = 32

After a basic examination, she checks out the small dark hole in the rock.
How small is this hole? Can she crawl through it? Or does she need to transform into a tiny rat to get through?

And can she see or hear anything through the hole?
Perception (expert): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (12) + 15 = 27

"We got a way out, Marcel?!" Wymond asks, trying not to panic.

"Lets find out!" Marcel says as he continues to move forward and keep his shield raised.

I keep moving along the spiral to see what is in the middle.

Wymond follows Marcel, weapon at the ready to strike down any snake.

"Is this another snake level?" Nycholas looks at Slaage. "That was a snake statue thing, so it probably took them to a snake place, right?"

Lilika considers this. "I think it's more likely it sent them to a death trap and they've already met a grisly end. But, I suppose if they're alive, it's possible they were transported to someplace else snake-themed."

"MMhh. The different levels seem mostly isolated from each other, to me. If there's no more snakes down here, I don't think the others are further down. Was there any part of the snake levels you guys couldn't explore? A walled off area or something?"

Lilika resists the urge to sigh. "If you'd prefer to backtrack and keep looking, we can. Come then. Better to keep moving."

Heading back up.

MARCEL, WYMOND and TRIATH

As you make your way further into the spiral, the hissing becomes quite urgent and a huge spectral snake appears at your back, slithering through the hallway behind you! As you reach a chamber at the center of the spiral, you find another corridor leading out, but it too is blocked by a huge serpent!

At this moment, the two serpents become solid and attack!

Marcel Perception : 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24
Wymond Perception : 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22
RED Giant Cobra Perception : 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (14) + 13 = 27
ORANGE Giant Cobra Perception : 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (18) + 13 = 31

Rather than bite, the two giant snakes exhale clouds of noxious gas!

STATUS
ORANGE Cobra -
RED Cobra -
Marcel -
Wymond -

Each round, the DC to beat the poison gas is going to get harder, so act fast!

Marcel, Wymond and Triath, give me DC 22 Fortitude saves. If you fail you are Slowed 1.
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LILIKA, NYCHOLAS and SLAAGH

You climb back up the long stair to the room with the idol. You -so- want to touch it!

Seeing nothing useful within the statue room, Nycholas moves towards the trap, slashing his greatsword horizontally as he goes. The greatword leaves a silvery vapor trail as it cuts through the air, from which a ghostly rapier coalesces, ready to defend Nycholas. "Whatever. You only live once." He glances back at Lilika. "If I don't come back, tell Imariel Yelvaris..." Pause. "Actually, don't tell her anything." Expecting poison or underwater-ness beyond the portal, he takes a deep breath and touches the snek.

Whilst Nycholas has 16 Int and 14 Wis, canonically he's a dumb teenager ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Move to Statue. Cast Shield. Hold breath. Touch statue.

As Nycholas disappears, Del shakes her head and sighs dramatically. "And.... I'm travelling with fools."

Confident that she, at least, would survive whatever deathtrap was awaiting them, she touches the statuette to bail them all out of trouble.

Do we think we can attack the serpents? Do they look alive or like stone traps?

Fortitude: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (6) + 12 = 18

Fortitude Save (Wymond): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (2) + 15 = 17
Spending a Hero point.
Fortitude Save (Wymond): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (4) + 15 = 19

Despite summoning up his courage to deal with the reptilian threat, Wymond starts coughing and choking at the gas.

"BLOODY 'ELL!" he bellows, hopefully loud enough for some heroic friends to hear from down the hall.

Fortitude Save (Triath): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (5) + 8 = 13

Triath fares little better thanks to his sensitive nose, chuffing and squealing.

Despite the poison making him feel sluggish, Wymond steps into the door, trying to keep Marcel from getting struck from both sides. Then he hacks at the snake barring their path.

Step, then Attack.

Attack: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (12) + 18 = 302d10 + 4 ⇒ (7, 1) + 4 = 12

Marcel: Yes, they're real and you can fight them. Thank you for the link -and- description. Very helpful.

Cobra Will save: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21

Marcel gestures and in the snake's reptilian mind it sees sorcerer replaced by a huge bird of prey, recoiling, the terrified cobra believes the bird has stabbed it with its beak. Meanwhile, Wymond hammers the cobra near him while Triath moves as far from the snakes as possible.

Nycholas, Lilika and Slaagh touch the idol and instantly reappear in another corridor Luckily, the trap does not spring a second time. They can hear shouting somewhere far ahead.

The cobras continue to breath out clouds of poisonous gas!

Lilika Perception : 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (2) + 14 = 16
Nycholas Perception : 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (4) + 10 = 14 +2 Initiative.

STATUS
ORANGE Cobra - 32 damage, Frightened 2
RED Cobra - 12 damage
Marcel -
Wymond -
Nycholas -
Lilika -

The DC is going up as the cloud concentrates. Marcel and Wymond must now beat a DC 24 and if they fail they fall unconscious. Better roll a save for Triath, too.

The snakes don't look too badly injured.

Fortitude (Wymond): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (18) + 15 = 33
Fortitude (Triath): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19

Wymond manages to not breathe in more of the gas, while Triath slumps to the floor. Wymond wants to yell out, but he keeps his mouth shut to avoid sharing Triath's fate.

Instead he glares at the cobra cowering from Marcel's spell, thrusts his bardiche at it, hoping to take it down and clear the way.

Since my Bardiche (based on a Halberd) has reach, I'm going to attack Orange twice, since I'm only slowed 1.

Attack (1): 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (19) + 18 = 372d10 + 4 ⇒ (8, 5) + 4 = 17
Attack (2): 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (1) + 13 = 142d10 + 4 ⇒ (10, 6) + 4 = 20

Fortitude: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (14) + 12 = 26 Saved. Am I still slowed?

Marcel tries to scare the same snake to death once more.

Cast Phantasmal Killer again. DC 25 Will. Critical success stops everything. Success takes first 4d6 and Frightened 1, Failure adds in second 4d6 and Frightened 2, Critical Success adds in 4d6 more, Frightened 4 with Incapacitation Trait and a DC 25 Fortitude or die.

Damage on Success: 4d6 ⇒ (2, 5, 1, 6) = 14

Damage on Failure 14+: 4d6 ⇒ (6, 6, 3, 4) = 19 33 total.

Damage on Critical Failure: 4d6 ⇒ (4, 1, 1, 6) = 12 45 total if they critical fail but succeed on the fortitude.

Eyes closed, breath held, Nycholas stands stock still on the other side of the teleport for a few moments. When he doesn't die, he opens one eye and looks around, then exhales loudly with relief that there is no poison or crushing rock. "Well. That wasn't so bad!" Whence he hears the shouting, he hefts his sword and follows what appears to be the only path forward.

Move 3X (95 feet).

Lilika also hustles off down the hallway.

Stride x3. If she would enter a cloud of gas, she'll instead stop early (place me as appropriate) and attempt to recall knowledge on the gas/cloud. Roll below if needed.
Crafting (Trained): 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28
Nature (Master): 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (18) + 17 = 35
...What a waste of those 18's! >_<

Wymond's prowess in combat is on full display as he reaches past Marcel and violently chops the head off the Orange snake, which dissolves into a mist and dissipates (though the poisonous cloud does not.)

Cobra Will save: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (12) + 9 = 21

Marcel changes targets and terrifies the remaining snake, almost giving it a heart attack!

Nycholas runs up behind the remaining snake with Lilika not far behind.

STATUS
RED Cobra - 45 damage, Frightened 2.
Marcel -
Wymond -
Nycholas -
Lilika -

Lilika, the cloud hasn't come out into the passageway and so I'm going to assume that rather than stop and examine it, you moved your full move.

Having made their saves, neither Wymond nor Marcel are Slowed this round.

The Cloud of Poison:The DC is going up as the cloud concentrates. Marcel and Wymond must now beat a DC 25 and if they fail they fall unconscious.

"Ahh! More snakes!" Nycholas reflexively strikes at yet another large snake. Whilst acid spells had served him well against the previous snakes, the eldritch knight does not want to splash acid on his companions who may be adjacent to the snake further on. He pulls his greatsword back and swings horizontally, the tip of the blade dragging against the stone wall and throwing out sparks. As the blade tip leaves the wall, and just before the sword impacts the snake, the blade bursts into flame.

Strike ◆ the snek. Spellstrike (Somatic, Verbal) ◆◆ with Produce Flame (3rd Level) against the snek.

Greatsword Strike vs snek: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (10) + 16 = 26
S Damage: 2d12 + 6 ⇒ (7, 2) + 6 = 15

Spellstrike vs Snake (1x Multiple Attack Penalty): 1d20 + 16 - 5 ⇒ (19) + 16 - 5 = 30
S Damage: 2d12 + 6 ⇒ (1, 12) + 6 = 19 PLUS Fire Damage: 3d4 + 3 ⇒ (4, 4, 3) + 3 = 14

If those all hit that's 34 Slashing Damage plus 14 Fire Damage.

Reaction: Potential AoO: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (6) + 16 = 22
Reaction S Damage: 2d12 + 6 ⇒ (2, 5) + 6 = 13

Nycholas arrives and with his burning blade, stabs the giant snake repeatedly until it collapses and also dissipates into nothingness. The gas begins rapidly to dissolve.

COMBAT OVER

What now?

"Hello there. We need to find a way out of this corridor." Marcel will check the end of the tunnel he is closest to.

Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (11) + 11 = 22

Wymond coughs some more after he slays the first serpent, then turns to see Nycholas cut down the other one behind him. As the air clears, he takes a deep breath and gets the last of the foul stuff out of his lungs, then he drops his bardiche and gives Nicholas, then Lilika and even Slaagh a firm hug!

"Thank ye kindly! I knew ye'd come for us! We make a great team here!"

Then he turns and retrieves his bardiche before crouching down by Triath.

"Y'alright, mate?" he asks, giving the boar a little shake to wake him.

Assuming by unconcious he was just knocked out but at full health, not that that gas was some kind of save-or-die thing?

"That's how you deal with traps. Beat them into submission." Nycholas checks on Triath. "I guess that's not really disabling the trap. We should hurry, in case it resets."

Treat Poison (?) on Triath: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (2) + 16 = 18

Assuming by unconcious he was just knocked out but at full health, not that that gas was some kind of save-or-die thing?

Pathfinder 2e doesn't have a lot of save-or-die effects and I'd be very clear if this were one. Triath is fine.

Marcel determines that the passageway spirals out just as it had spiraled in. See map.

Triath wakes up, a bit woozy at first but quickly recovers.

Marcel continues along looking for an exit.

Unsure what to do with a hug, Lilika freezes, stiff and uncomfortable as a pole. After Wymond steps back she remarks, "Don't touch strange statues and you won't get into messes like this."

With no obvious way out, she starts to examine the walls, looking for a secret passage or a weakness in the walls that could be exploited.

Perception (expert): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (19) + 15 = 34

"Yer right...I ain't sure what came over me. Like, it was placed so fancy and by itself, I knew it had to be some sort of trap...but my hand was movin' toward it already without me thinkin' about it!"

When Triath comes to, Wymond pats him on the head.

"Good to have ye back, mate. Group's all back together now! Let's see where we've ended up."

Triath snorts a bit, and then the two of them join the others in looking around; Wymond with his eyes and Triath with his snout.

Perception: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (20) + 12 = 32

Marcel leads the team out of the serpent-haunted spiral, which ends in a stout stone door.

Wymond eyes the door warily.

"We wanna check to see if there's some sorta trap on this door, I assume?"

Nycholas checks the door for traps. He doesn't know much about traps.

Perception: Door Traps: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (4) + 11 = 15

Lilika leans in over Nycholas' shoulder to take a peek at the door and make sure it's safe.

Perception (expert): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (15) + 15 = 30

The door, she has no traps.