It's Tomb of Horrors

Game Master Kelsey MacAilbert

Iset draws her battleaxe and uses it to prod one of these recessed bars.

Victor watches Wesley walk through the mist, waiting to see what happened.

Wesley walks into the arch and vanishes into the mist, the rope going immediately slack as he disappears from view, with the neatly severed end falling to the ground. There is no indication what might have happened to him, nor does he walk back out again as time goes by.

Iset's investigation is delayed somewhat by the need to secure the trapdoor in front of the mosaic in question, and does not initially yield much. The bars look to be embedded in the plaster underlying the mosaic, but said plaster does appear rather old and crumbly.

Wesley:

Victor watches the mist swirl as Wesley disapears, 'This sucks, should go after him I guess, two heads are better then one. You guys stay here, if you don't hear from us in half an hour go on, probably stick away from orange as well.'

With that he steps through the arch.

Dresmond flips through his notepad studiying the riddle trying to make some sense of it.

Go back to the tormentor or through the arch.

The mosaic of the torture chamber is the first thing that comes to mind as he examines it he notices that the bars are real! Meaning perhaps the horrid creature is to. He avoids opening the door not wanting to trigger any sort of trap and turns to the more dire situation. He looks at his note again.

Shun green if you can, but night’s good color

Yellow and blue make green the sky is orange at sunset he thinks to himself. "Try yellow, blue then orange that should do the trick." He says to his companions as he can't reach the top of the arch.

Iset attempts to knock the plaster away with her axe, using carefully measured taps.

Victor and Wesley:

Iset's chipping away at the plaster soon uncovers a wooden surface beneath. It will take time to uncover completely, but could be worth pursuing.

Meanwhile, Marius steps up and touches the three stones in sequence at Dresmond's direction. The mists swirling in the archway clear, revealing a short corridor, ending in a wall after a mere 15 feet. The tiled pathway continues inside, terminating at the far wall. Neither Wesley nor Victor (nor the weasel) is visible within.

Dresmond claps his hands together as he sees the mists fade but his excitement is short lasted when he notices neither of his companions are within."Looks as if we are to late but, were could they be..." Dresmond is lost in thought as to what could have happened to his two friends.

A riddle that says to shun a color then requires you to activate that color--seems messed up to me. But then I guess that's the deviousness of the riddle :-)

'Hang on a minute before you touch anything, probably wont work but I'll make myself a extract of reveal secret doors just in case.'

Victor fumbles with his various vials for a minute and then chugs back the concoction.

Can't say I got it either. There's no actual explanation of the riddle's clues, just the usual location listings.

Victor:

'Well, the roof is a secret door of some kind, and these levers act as its trigger mechanism, but I'm not sure how... My guess is as good as mine, so go ahead and pull the middle one.'

Dresmond looks around the now empty corridor from witch the mists once were finally convinced there are no secret doors in which they could have fell he joins Iset at the torture mosaic and assists in chipping away at the plaster with his shield hoping to make this process that much faster.

Middle one up or right. If nothing happens right one up or right. If nothing happens then left one up or right.

I continue tapping away at the plaster so as to uncover all of the wood.

The chipping at the plaster soon uncovers a plain door of wood set into the wall. It seems ordinary enough, as doors go.

Victor and Wesley:

Looking closely for traps (take 10 for Perception 32 for traps (28 for nontraps)). Wesley will jump up into the passageway being cautious and move along to the left.

'Well, that went better then expected, that tunnel looks fairly benign as far as this place goes...' Victor muses, as he helps Wesley with a leg up into the passageway, then he jumps up himself and follows Wesley, trying to light the way as best he can with his lantern.

I make a perception check 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (14) + 14 = 28 to check for traps on the door.

There are no signs of any traps on the door; it seems safe to open.

Victor and Wesley, meanwhile, follow the crawlway through a couple of turns, before reaching the end - a pivoting stone which swings effortlessly open to reveal some suspiciously familiar-looking spikes. If this is indeed one of the pit traps, it should simply be a matter of opening the trapdoor above to rejoin the others.

Opening this trapdoor will be done with great care (taking 20 to look if allowed).

Wesley gets auto detect for traps. I am hoping by looking he may actually improve his chances over just hoping the auto detect works.

I slowly reach for the door and open it.

A bit of cooperation is necessary to reach the trapdoor, along with due care to avoid being skewered by the spikes, but the trapdoor swings open easily enough, allowing the pair to clamber out of the second pit trap from the south, back in the original entrance corridor.

Iset, meanwhile, swings open the door, revealing a short passage some twenty feet in length, with another door in the opposite wall.

"Bloody doors never know whats behind em liked it better back home no need for em all open spaces and rooms..." Dresmond continues mumbling on to himself as such. "No point standing round we have two lost to worry about perhaps down this corridor." Dresmond begins making way down the short passage and up to the next of the bloody doors he draws his "fist" and shield as he advances waiting for the rest to get on over here before making for the next room.

After cautious trip to rejoin the others Wesley resists the urge to 'surprise' them.

I roll perception to check the floor for traps before I move into the corridor.

1d20 + 14 ⇒ (5) + 14 = 19

'We're back! Miss us?' Victor calls out gruffly as they return to the main group, spying the open corridor he turns to Wesley 'Looks like they figured it out in our absense, so, anyone else tripped off any traps yet?'

Wesley resumes his role looking for traps.
Taking 10 PER=28 (32 for traps)

"One riddle solved, on to the next obstacle."

A careful search of the corridor and door reveals no traps, leading to the group opening the door. A decent-sized room is revealed beyond. Not all the corners are visible, but up against the opposite wall there is a large statue of a grotesque, winged humanoid with four wickedly-clawed arms. About its neck is a collar studded with huge, gleaming gems.

An updated map.

And an image of the statue.

Victor steps aside and with a mock bow says to Wesley, 'After you, oh great and mighty trap finder'. After Wesley enters the room Victor follows suit.

Perception check:1d20 + 12 ⇒ (3) + 12 = 15

Curiousity may kill the hobbit.

Wesley approaches the statue fascinated by the obvious value of the gems in the collar. He is wary of traps, but irresistably drawn by the challenge and pure greed.

Taking 10=28 PER (32 PER for traps)

Apologies for the delay. Resuming now.

GM Rolls:

Wesley advances towards the statue, spotting a couple of doors thus far hidden in a corner, before stopping abruptly as he realises that the statue is, ever so slightly, moving. Unfortunately, that realisation buys him insufficient time to act before the creature realises it has been revealed and lunges at him, claws outstretched. The first swing tears a chunk out of his side, claws not even slowed by his armour.

Gargoyle attack: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (14) + 24 = 38
Damage: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (7, 6) + 10 = 23

Surprise round. As Wesley has made his perception check (barely), he gets to act in the surprise round of combat. After that, we go into the usual initiative order:

Initiative:
Victor: 17
Gargoyle: 14
Wesley: 10
Dresmond: 2

AC 21, touch 17, flat-footed 15 (+4 armor, +6 Dex)
hp 44/67 (9d8+18)
Fort +5, Ref +13 (+16 traps), Will +3

Wesley withdraws in horror as far back as he can.
I am not made for fighting, being close to things lets them really tear me up. That thing is way better at fighting than me.

Wesley tries to hide if he can in cover or shadows.
Stealth 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (19) + 22 = 41

Mindful of the danger posed by the gargoyle, Wesley scurries hastily back down the passage, leaving Victor and Dresmond standing before it.

Surprise round is over and Victor is up.

Is there a key to the map? The light blue squares are the doors, or us?

As soon as the Gargoyle swings into action Victor grabs several flasks from one of his many pockets and hurls them both at the creature.

Explosive Bomb 1: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (19) + 9 = 28
Damage: 5d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 1, 2, 4) = 18

Explosive Bomb 2: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (15) + 4 = 19
Damage: 5d6 ⇒ (3, 2, 3, 3, 5) = 16

Precise Bombs, exluding Myself, Wesley and Dresmond from any splash damage (Splash is 10ft). Also, explosive bombs, at a direct hit the creature is now on fire and suffers 1d6 fire damage per round till it's put out, which requires a full round reflex save, + 2 if it rolls on the ground, or pouring 2 gallons of water over itself.

Wesley would cheer Victor on, but he is trying to hide.

Light blue squares are doors. I've updated the map with characters' positions, and we're now down to the three active player characters plus Marius on NPC duty. Remember that squares are ten feet across, so characters take up only a quarter of the square (Hence the small icons). Now, on with the combat.

Even as Wesley reteats, Victor hurls his bombs at the gargoyle, blasting chunks out of the creature's craggy hide. Unfortunately, the damage appears to be largely cosmetic. Certainly, the creature isn't slowed at all by the flames licking over it, bearing down on the one who hurt it with murder in its heart.

Fire damage: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 6) = 11
Gargoyle attack: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (13) + 24 = 37
Damage: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (1, 5) + 10 = 16

As with Wesley, Victor's defenses are no match for the gargoyle, its claws slicing deeply into his flesh. If it brings the rest of its four arms to bear, he'll be in deep trouble.

Taking a leaf from another GM's books, I'll be providing basic combat stats so you can assess whether you're hitting and describe damage. Incidentally, an alchemist's bombs get bonus damage equal to his INT modifier, so that's a bit extra damage there. Dresmond is up.

Gargoyle stats:
AC: 21/8/21 HP: 176/199
Damage reduction: 10/-
Saves: F/R/W 17/5/6

"I think leading him into the pit trap is our only chance."
Wesley will ready a crossbow shot, but is afraid it will not pierce the gargoyles hide.

"Lad get back yer vulnerable up there go back to Wesley I'll hold im back till the trap be set." Assuming the trap actual does require to be reset Dresmond will five foot back to avoid being hit like 4 times and uses his glory domain power divine presence DC20 will. Just like casting sanctuary only you can turn it on and off any time. Other than that he will hold ground until Victor gets a chance to flee.

Victor howls in pain as the gargoyle rakes at his flesh. Carefully taking a step back so as not to get hit he then turns tail and rushes to join Wesley beside the trap.

5' step, so no attack of opportunity, then a move action to get beside Wesley. Also, please note that my armor gives me DR5/Piercing and Slashing, which of course don't matter in this encounter, since it appears the Gargoyle is slashing, but if he tries to just bludgeon me perchance :P.

@Victor:Based on the map the gargoyle appears to be a large monster so it's threat zone is 10 ft so it would still get an aoo, and you can't take move any other distance in the round if you do take a five foot, anyway the effects of Sanctuary effect his aoo so he would have to roll will 20 to even attack you so you are better to just run back.

Missed that, you're right. I run back ;)

On the other hand, if Victor makes a withdraw action, the gargoyle only gets a single attack of opportunity, as opposed to four plus attacks from a full attack action if he remains where he is. I think under the circumstances, a possible AoO (subject to passing the will save from Dresmond's divine presence) is the lesser evil.

Also, the pit traps have been disabled so that people can move about without worrying about them. Somebody's going to have to re-enable them if you want to use them against the gargoyle. Also, Dresmond, you still need to select your cleric spells for the day. This will be your last reminder.

With the sounds of combat echoing through the passage, Marius moves up to see for himself what's going on. For now, he seems to be holding off acting while the plan is put into action.

Victor is up. Fleeing or standing your ground?

Victor withdraws as far as he can with one movement action, if that ends up near the trap he'll assist Wesley in enabling it.

Disable Device:1d20 + 14 ⇒ (8) + 14 = 22

Withdraw is a full-round action, so Victor can move up to double his normal move, but will have to wait until next round to go after the trap.

Gargoyle Will save: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21
Attack: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (4) + 24 = 28
Damage: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (8, 2) + 10 = 20

As Victor scurries away, the gargoyle takes a swing at him, claws reaching out and halting momentarily. With a grunt of effort though, the gargoyle overcomes the Dresmond's aura, claws slashing into the fleeing alchemist.

Attack: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (10) + 24 = 34
Damage: 2d8 + 10 ⇒ (1, 7) + 10 = 18

In its pursuit, the gargoyle crashes into Dresmond, claws scything through protective aura and armour alike to sorely wound him.

Wesley is up.

I wasn't talking a literal "withdraw" action, I was describing what I was doing, it doesn't help me to use the withdraw action. >.< I am moving away expending 1 movement action, and spending 1 standard action on the trap.

Fair enough. A disable device check is a full-round action though, so you won't complete the action until the following round, though you will still have a standard action up your sleeve after it's done.

Since I recall, more fire damage from the bombs: 2d6 ⇒ (4, 5) = 9

Wesley will set the trap too.
Disable 1d20 + 22 ⇒ (6) + 22 = 28