The Library of Last Resort is your last chance to find the resting place of Dragotha's phylactery. But you aren't the only people looking for it.
Loot Sheet.
GM Notes.
The humanoid of light walks down the stairs. Around and around and around it goes as it descends. The light is all but gone by the time Eben sees it reach the ground floor, a mere speck of light down there. It is about one hundred feet down.
There is a pause. Eben sees a dark round shape advance: Another one of the beetles, maybe. It seems to attack the white shape, and is of course unsuccessful in doing so.
"You know, Astraden, it was really sexist to presume the armored figure was a man. You might want to have a talk with your demonic help about that in the future, if that was where the assumption came from." Eben says, his rod making a sound like humming glass as he activates it.
"Like I said, it was really hard to understand," Astraden explains, gritting her teeth. "For all I know it was perfectly correct."
Also, the undead should be taking the luck penalties to attacks from recitation, for future reference.
Muttering, "As kanénas na antistatheí xórkia mou," Astraden plucks a small speckled feather out of midair and eats it. She descends the stairs in a rapid, yet safe fashion.
I didn't see any penalties in the spell description. Let me double-check. Nope. There is a misprint in the "Targets" line, but no penalties are mentioned in the description.
Astraden:
With regards to Nezzarin, Astraden has never seen anything like this before. It might be totally unique, in fact. It appears to be some sort of warrior undead, but it clearly has some limited magical powers as well—perhaps gifts specifically bestowed upon it. In this case, it is able to see the unseen, and is extremely quick to act. Other "Kyuss Knights" might have other unique abilities.
The beetles are somewhat easier. These appear to be one of a breed called the Hounds of Kyuss, a class of species she read about only briefly in the library. Said to lurk around especially undead-filled areas, the undead vermin are all-but mindless. They will follow simple commands from Kyuss-oriented undead, however. This scarab variety is known as the "eviscerator beetle". Aside from its necrotic might, which appears to inflict negative energy upon the target, their bite appears to be extremely sharp and deadly. Critical is threatened on an 18-20, before applying factors like Improved Critical.
Maybe we're reading different spells. I'm going by this - think it was a Tanith link?
Quote:
By reciting a sacred passage or declaration, you invoke your deity's blessing upon yourself and your allies while causing confusion and weakness among your enemies. The spell affects all allies and foes within the spell's area at the moment you cast it. Your allies gain a +2 luck bonus on attack rolls and saving throws, or a +3 luck bonus if they worship the same patron deity as you. Enemies suffer a -2 luck penalty on attack rolls and saving throws. After casting the spell, you are free to take further actions during the spell's duration as you see fit.
Could you put the spell stats in the campaign info?
"Nezzarin was some kind of unique undead, perhaps created by Kyuss himself. She and the other 'Kyuss Knights' have unique abilities. Hers was being able to see through illusions and invisibility, and being very quick on her feet," Astraden remarks in belated response to Tanith as the group descends. "The scarabs are called 'Hounds of Kyuss' and congregate around other undead, but are almost completely mindless. These ones are called 'eviscerator scarabs' and are much better at, say, lopping off your head than your average giant beetle. And as Tanith discovered, they pack a negative energy wallop in their bite."
Interesting. I'm going off the Spell Compendium (which includes at the front a list of corrections, and Recitation isn't mentioned—I checked).
It may be an error they overlooked, or they may have deliberately modified it for the Compendium. I'm guessing the latter, since the Spell Compendium modifies it to also give the bonus to AC.
It's effectively the same (you gain +2 to your AC as opposed to they gain -2 to their attacks) except for when your enemies have to make saves. It was probably done to make the "luck bonus" thing more consistent and intuitive, and/or to make the spell stand out more against spells like Prayer.
Not enough for everyone, but if you can make a DC 40 Craft check, you can make six of these in half a minute. If you get a 30 or below, it's instead five minutes.
Temp Acid Resist: 30|Action Points: 8/13|Bombs: 11/23|Female Undine (Formerly Yugoloth-Spawn Tiefling) Alchemist (Chirurgeon) 16|HP: 108/85|AC: 22(36)/14(23)/19(26)|Saves: +15 Fort (+20 vs. Poison), +18 Ref, +12 Will (+1 vs. Enchantments)|Initiative: +3|Perception: +21
Alrighty then. Let's see if I can pull it off.
Craft (Alchemy?):1d20 + 26 ⇒ (2) + 26 = 28
Well...
Carina digs out her alchemy kit and starts working on making earplugs for the party. Admittedly, a combination of her nerves and a lack of a sterile working environment causes her to take more time than she'd like.
After five minutes pass, she holds up six pairs of earplugs. "Sorry it took so long, guys."
*=temporarily buffed Human Bard 15/Ranger 1 — 151*/119 hp — AC 38*/26*/26* (6 mirror images)—CMB +15, CMD 32*— Fort +14, Ref +*20, Will +12 — Spells 3/3 5th 1/4 4th, 0/5 3rd, 2/6 2nd, 3/6 1st — Panache 3/3— Performance 37/40— Perception +19 — Init +4— Action Points 11/13—
Daily magic item use:
Bracers of falcon's aim 2/3, Lesser rod of quicken spell 1/3, rod of extend spell 2/3, Forzamele 3/3
Dungeon Kobold wrote:
The beetle currently has total concealment—you know where it is, but you're in near-total darkness. The light doesn't reach you up here.
It's not really applicable here, because we're headed down anyway, but I'm curious: I have a bowstring with 60-foot darkvision that can communicate telepathically with me when I'm touching it. In a similar circumstance where I'm within 60 feet of something in darkness, would it be able to talk me through the shot and downgrade total concealment to regular concealment?
"So... silver cut through these things with no problem, right? My normal arrows kind of bounced..." Eben says, recasting dancing lights in its normal 'four torch' version and sending it down to light up the bottom of the stairwell as the group finally descends. He also waves his bow through the air dramatically, as though activating a wand. Which he is.
So I'll take... two minutes? off my spell countdown timers, then? And casting dancing lights and gravity bow, assuming I can nail the UMD check. Which I can't imagine I can't, without some major penalties in play, at this point.
Use Magic Device, DC 20:1d20 + 19 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 19 + 2 = 29
Oh yeah, Cuetzpalli was dealing with DR last fight, wasn't he? I gave him a dagger to combat that a bit but if he doesn't want it Astraden will take it back and make use of it.
The group descends. Coming down the northwest spiral staircase, they find themselves entering the very center of the structure.
This once-grand chamber suffers from long neglect. The dark green stone floor of the temple lies broken in the middle, giving way to a gaping pit. Writhing tendrils of sickening green vapor slither up from this pit only to break apart and fade before seeping much further into the room. Great pillars line the outside of the vast chamber, but those near the center of the room lie broken—blasted outward by whatever force caused the hole in the center of the room. Immense stone double doors stand in the center of each wall.
Three eviscerator scarabs are crawling around the pit debris, as if attracted by the vapor.
As Cuetzpalli draws near the hole, he senses a foul power, a lingering vestige of some horrific rite. His vision flashes for a moment, and in place of the pit he sees a grand stairwell descending downwards. He feels nauseous.
Anyone approaching within 30 feet of the pit takes a -2 penalty to all attacks, saving throws, and skill checks from the aura of palpable evil emanating from it.
Astraden slips past Tanith and moves behind Cuetzpalli, flickering off an illusory double. "Farrukh, here's a great place for a bull rush!" she yells.
[6/7]
Round 1: Movement (move action) and cast copycat (move action). Bear's endurance lasts 31 rounds, shield of faith on Astraden lasts 66 rounds, shield of faith on Cuetzpalli lasts 67 rounds, shield of faith on Eben lasts 69 rounds, magic circle against law lasts 976 rounds, owl's wisdom lasts 90 rounds, prayer lasts 8 rounds, and copycat lasts 8 rounds.
Farrukh rams into the beetle, puncturing its thick carapace. Its six legs dig into the stone, however, and he is unable to push it over the edge.
Reflex:1d20 + 11 ⇒ (1) + 11 = 12
The beetle is, however, caught off-guard as a blast of force strikes it from beneath. It is sent flying clean onto its back, where its six legs flail uselessly. Shards of chitin are blasted off by the force of the explosion. Eben sinks two arrows deep into its exposed underbelly, and it ceases its chatter for a moment as one of them actually severs a mandible.
Round 1: Scarabs
The eviscerator scarab struggles momentarily to right itself, and something strange begins to happen. Its legs begin to retract into the scarab's suddenly almost viscous flesh. Its chitinous carapace shifts on its form as though floating on water. Worms crawl all around the place the legs vanished from.
The legs reemerge in what was once its back, and the eviscerator scarab rises once more. It resumes its chittering.
Cuetzpalli and Farrukh both get AoOs as it stands back up. If you hit AC 23 and deal at least 42 damage, it's dead.
The beetles attack as the chitter threatens once again to rise to maddening levels. One of them crawls over the rubble to get to Cuetzpalli.
Everyone make a Will save, DC 25, or be unable to take any actions on their next turn. Also, don't forget your moments of greatness. If the AoOs killed a beetle, it's only DC 23.
Rolls:
Bite @Farrukh:1d20 + 19 ⇒ (10) + 19 = 29 Bites @ Cuetzpalli:1d20 + 19 ⇒ (6) + 19 = 251d20 + 19 + 1 ⇒ (19) + 19 + 1 = 39Ignore the first roll if Farrukh and Cuetzpalli killed the beetle with their AoOs. Crit?:1d20 + 19 + 1 ⇒ (7) + 19 + 1 = 27Crit! (barely):8d6 + 22 + 2d6 ⇒ (4, 1, 2, 6, 6, 6, 1, 4) + 22 + (6, 5) = 63
The beetle attacking from the rubble catches Cuetzpalli off-guard, its mandibles catching him right in the side. It rips away hungrily, and for a moment the group grasps why these things are called eviscerator scarabs. Negative energy fills the wound, numbing the pain somewhat as it pulls Cuetzpalli just a little bit closer to death.
Critical hit! Cuetzpalli takes 52 damage from the bite and 11 negative energy damage.
I can't seem to get to Tanith's icon. Move him to the square where the arrow's pointing.
Will:1d20 + 13 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 13 + 3 = 32
Tanith moves up while grinding his teeth to push out the endless chittering. After taking a breath to call on Kord's might, he smashes his poleaxe into the nearest giant bug.
