Out of the Abyss (Pathfinder Conversion)

Game Master EmEss

The chest should be strong enough to survive a drop into the water and is light enough to carry, although it would encumber anyone carrying it. The trap door appears to be neither locked nor trapped.

Harro will pull the trap door open to glance inside it quickly. If it is anything dangerous, he'll slam the door shut and pin it with something heavy.

If it is inconspicuous, then he'll open it wider. Especially if it is an emergency escape tunnel (or similar) for the priestesses.

1d6 ⇒ 1

A silken ladder leads down from the trap door to a richly decorated room. Area 7 on the Map Inside the walls are hung with black mesh resembling a spider's web, extending from a central spot on the ceiling out to the walls, then draped down like curtains. Thick woven mats cover the floor, while a low platform is covered with cushions and pillows to make a broad divan like bed. One side of the chamber contains a small table and two chairs, while the other holds a small shrine to Lolth.

The room appears to be empty.

Harro smiles at the view of the luxurious room, but he does not hesitate long.

Pulling his dagger he cuts the silk ladder free, and quickly pulls it up. If there is an open flame anywhere in the temple he'll toss it down through the hatch too.

Moving to the chest he bundles the silk ladder into the chest, throws a couple of scattered pillows from the main room into it too, and closes the chest and latches it closed as best he can.

Stuffing his club under his belt, he then shoulders the chest with both hands and moves toward the exit and the inevitable jump.

The smell of smoke begins to fill the air after Harro drops the large altar candles down through the trap door.

"Nice. The fire should privide quite a distraction, won't it. And not it REALLY is time to go."

Not waiting for any response, Tanic moves out, collects his door, and launches hesitates at the waterfall.

I envision him standing there like a kid at the end of the diving board at a pool, trying to screw up his courage.

Since they weren't taking the chest with them Vinexa quickly grabbed the silver chain headdress and put it away safely before Haro started setting his fires. When they were ready and the smoke was growing she saw Tanic hesitate and walked up behind him saying, "Just go already." She then reached out and gave Tanic a push before jumping off herself.

As she fell Vinexa's wings snapped open and began catching the air. She may not have been able to truly fly yet but at least she could glide. She followed the form of Tanic as he fell, though at a more leisurely pace. As she went she glided a spiraling path down to the base of the waterfall.

Micar walks passed the waterfall, back to the guard tower, and down to the location the guard told us to jump in the net. He takes a look to see if the spiders are still busy with the bodies we threw down earlier.

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (2) + 7 = 9

As the others begin to jump (or get pushed), Talindra does as well.

Harro tosses the chest into the abyss, waits a few seconds and jumps after it.

Tanic tosses his door over the edge. After a couple of aborted attempts he screw up his courage and throws himself over near to but not on the door.

Are the webbings in the way? I thought we had to figure out a way to get through them.

There is a gap in the webbing near the waterfall but the water is much more turbulent there. You can either jump in to the waterfall or jump down to the webs then into the calmer areas of the pool. The area near the waterfall needs a DC15 Swim check while the check for the calmer area you would jump to from the webs is only DC10.

Swim (DC15): 1d20 + 7 - 1 ⇒ (12) + 7 - 1 = 18

Micar will jump into the webbing and into the calmer water.

Escape Artist to unstick from the webbing: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (8) + 8 = 16

If Micar can take 10 once in the water he will for a swim check of 10

Talindra also opts for calmer waters.

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Harro swims strongly out of the area directly beneath the waterfall, and resting his hands on the floating chest pushes it towards the bank.

GM Roll: 1d6 ⇒ 6
GM Roll: 1d6 ⇒ 1

spider will save: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (11) + 1 = 12

Micar manages to make across the webs and into the pool without attracting any arachnid attention. You can take ten when swimming in calm water as long as you are just swimming.

Talindra does attract the attention of one of the spiders but by copying the behaviour she had seen many times while growing up she is able to prevent it from attacking with a mixture of a confident stare and a firm voice. Talindra slowly backs away from the spider, watching it closely for any sudden movements.

Tanic feel free to choose between having been standing near the web or the waterfall when pushed. Vinexa due to your gliding ability you can jump near the waterfall and land in the calm water. I shall assume this is what you did, unless you want to land in the rough water near the bottom of the waterfall for some reason.

Summary: Micar, Harro, Vinexa and possibly Tanic are in the water. Talindra is near the edge of the web. Akri is on the walkway at the top where Jimjar, Buppido etc. have joined him, waiting to see if the jump is safe before risking it themselves.

Swimming: 1d20 + 7 - 1 ⇒ (20) + 7 - 1 = 26

Taking a deep breath, Harro draws one of his daggers and dives! He knows the sooner whatever it is, is gone, the quicker everybody can get out of there.

Micar wastes no time and swims for shore.

Swim: 1d20 ⇒ 20

Talindra attempts to swim ashore also. Swim: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (13) - 2 = 11. Despite the weight of her armor, she finds some success.

Tanic would rather risk the spiders than the plunge. However, he tossed the door over by the waterfall and I would have to say it is more likey he got pushed over by the waterfall than the web as he watched the turbulence toss his boat around.

swim: 1d20 + 3 - 1 ⇒ (8) + 3 - 1 = 10

I took a -1 for the wooden shield, but perhaps in this case it might actually give a bonus instead.

Perception(Harro): 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (19) + 5 = 24

Micar makes it to shore. Talindra jumps from the web into the pool and begins to swim towards shore, making some progress. Seeing Micar make it to safety, and not noticing the danger, Jimjar and Buppido also jump into the pool.

Seeing the size of the pseudopod, Harro beleives the creature is probably much larger than he originally suspected and will need everyone's help to fight it.

Swimming for shore!

Swimming: 1d20 + 7 - 1 ⇒ (15) + 7 - 1 = 21

When he pops to the surface he immediately bellows.

OUTTA THE WATER! NOW!!! ITS TOO BIG!!

Swim: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (16) + 1 = 17

'Can't belive I'm doing this,' Akri thought before jumping off, trying to avoid the webs on the way down. "I HATE THIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSS" echoed as his body fell before landing with a resounding splash. Immediately making his way back to the surface, he looked around wildly to locate the others and made his way towards them.

Harro rushes out of the water as Akri, Buppido, and Jimjar enter and begin swimming for the shore. Akri and Jimjar make it to safety but Buppido is not so lucky and a few metres away from the shore he stiffens up and sinks beneath the water.

Jimjar seems somewhat taken aback by this and shouts out,
"He's gonna drown! Buppido's going to die! In fact I bet ten gold pieces that he's already dead!"

Meanwhile up on the walkways the guards seem to have finally noticed the escape attempt and a fierce melee has broken out in front of the slave pen between the drow and quaggoth guards and the remaining slves who weren't so sure whether the escape was worth the risk. Seeing little alternative Derendil and Shuushar also make the jump, just before the guards reach them.

Would I not be able to glide onto the shore as opposed to landing in the water?

As Jimjar cries out about Buppido's fate, Talindra sees that as a reason to swim harder, rather than turning around. Swim: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (7) - 2 = 5.

Ironically, she finds herself sinking as well!

If Micar can reach her with a rope, he'll take the 50' rope he's got on him and throw one end to Talandria to help pull her to shore.

@Vinexa I've thought about it and decided that you can glide onto the shore. I believe I initially set a limit of 30 feet falling without taking damage for the glide (with the distance between the platforms and the ground being between 40 and 60 feet) but having reconsidered, taking no damage from a controlled and intended glide for 40 feet (or more) seems reasonable and the better option. This does not mean that the glide ability will provide complete immunity to falling damage in less ideal situations.

tldr: Yes you can land on the shore.

Are we in initiative? If not...

"Get OUT! Get outta'the water NOW!! You misbegotten sons of drow-whores!"

Turning to look back at the others clustered on the shore, Harro shakes his head sadly and shows his acid-burned side,
then pointing back at the water with his dagger.

"If yourn out, DO NOT GO BACK! They must save each 'tother or not at all! Be ready too! If it follows one ove'm outta'
water, we'll need to beat it back t'gether!"

Is there any non-water exits from the area near the shore?

Perception: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (20) + 5 = 25

Rope Throw: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

Micar throws the rope and it lands just a short distance away from where Talindra is struggling.

swim: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (10) - 2 = 8

After several seconds of splashing around, Talindra manages to grad hold of the rope, more through luck than judgement.

attack: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (6) + 6 = 12

The splashing seems to attract the attention of the creature in the water, as Talindra feels something brush up against her armour, fortunately not causing any damage.

@Harro I think I'll keep out of initiative for as long as the creature and people are in the water, as some people will be taking actions and others not and I think the increased flexibility, with the departure from strict action economy that initiative order imposes, helps in this situation.

Also not sure exactly what you mean in your question about exits. If you are out of the water then you are on the floor of the main cavern, with the three tunnels leading out to the North, North West, and South.

@GM: That works! Thanks. =)

What shape in Tanic in?

Yay and understood. I knew there would be limits to glide and that's why I asked.

Vinexa managed to come in for a landing safely on the shore as the voice spoke from the water. It was times like this she was glad that she had wings. As the other swam for shore Vinexa did her best to help them get out of the water and away from whatever was speaking.

Swim: 1d20 - 2 ⇒ (16) - 2 = 14.

Holding onto the rope, Talindra makes some progress. "Pull!" she cries between gurgles and gasps of air.

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"Wait, there's something in the water?! Akri yelled as he heard Harro's screams. Rushing over to Micar, he helped pull on the rope, trying to get the drow woman out.

I believe Tanic is either in the water or in the webs (@Tanic's choice) after being pushed by Vinexa. If he is in the water he'll be near the waterfall and I'll need a DC 15 swim check. If in the webs then I'll need to make some rolls.

Akri and Vinexa help Talindra out of the water as Micar recoils the rope he threw to her.

Akri, Vinexa, Harro, Talindra, Micar, and Jimjar are on dry land.

Shuushar and Derendil are still swimming.

Buppido is underwater and in some difficulty.

Tanic is in wibble-space.

I made a swim check previously and got a 10. I had asked if the wooden shield still counts as a -1 as per its ACP, or whether it would give a counteracting bonus since it floats. See post at Thursday, 07:57 pm. Should I make another swim roll, and at what ACP given the shield is wooden?

@Tanic Ah my apologies, I think I must have been posting at the same time you posted on Thursday and missed your post. These things happen I suppose. Thank you for pointing it out. I think with the shield I'm going to say here that the flotation of the shield counteracts most of the downwards push of the waterfall and reduced the swim check needed to 10 (instead of 15). It would probably provide a static +1 in other rough water situations such as a fast flowing river however. Given this I would say that Tanic is also safe on the shore.

Tanic, who also grabbed some rope, unlimbers it and throws one end of it to the nearest swimmer.

Tanic throws the rope to Derendil and helps him ashore. Shuushar, who as a Kuo-toa is able to swim like a fish, also quickly makes it to land.

After a quick look over who is present Shuushar asks about Buppido, and hearing from Jimjar that he is still in the water will re-enter to look for him unless physically restrained.

At this point Buppido has been underwater for about 15 seconds.

Meanwhile a group of drow have started to try to operate the lift, but seem to have been delayed as the still fighting demons pass closely overhead, causing some to pass out.

"Look, we gotta go, people!" Akri said, his eyes looking upwards. "Let the kuo-toa get the guy and we make our escape. Otherwise those drow up there will be down here. I don't think we want that."

Perception to see which way to go: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (18) + 8 = 26

There are three passages out of the chamber, to the North, West, and South. There was a discussion on which way to head on the 5th page and I believe the consensus was to take the West Passage towards the kuo-toa town of Sloobludop, about 8 days away, and then cross the Darklake to Neverlight Grove and Tanic's cave.

Taking the North or South Passages would require passing quite close to the watchposts at either end of the Outpost (areas 1 and 13), while the Southern Passage would also bring you directly underneath where the demons are fighting.

Not trying to railroad you here (Honest :P). You can choose any of the three passages. Feel free to ask further questions about possible destinations/routes if you want. It is possible to reach any destination regardless of the initial passage picked, it just may be a longer and more difficult journey as you started out heading in a different direction.

Tanic definitely still wants to go west and responds to Akris call to movement by heading in that direction.

"How about that. Who knew I could swim? The shield sure helped. Let's go!"

"Everybody start moving West cautious-like. I will follow last...in case that thing tries t'follow or help anybody who makes it past."

With that statement he guzzles one of the potions of healing he found/grabbed and looks for the chest he threw in the water, wondering if it was close enough to shore to grab.

How much for the potion?

Healing Potion: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6

6 Points of Healing. And the chest is near enough to the shore to reach, perhaps using Harro's club to bring it closer if you really don't want to even touch the water.

With that settled, Akri followed behind Tanic, nervously keeping a lookout for any approaching drow or demons. Hopefully, just hopefully, things will turn out better now that they've left the slave pen.

Of course, that wouldn't make much sense for his life. That was why he kept a few steps behind the druid. No sense in careless trust after all. "So, you ever been to this place before, the one we're gonna hole up in?"

Talindra spits out the water she's ingested. "There's a creature in the water - don't be a hero, Shuushar. Heroes wind up dead." But she doesn't stop the kuo-toa. Instead, she spies the Drow in pursuit. "Time to get outta here."

Talindra leads the way toward the Western passage. Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25

Dagger at the ready, Harro will step quickly into the water to grab the chest and drag it back from the shoreline.

He will then monitor the shoreline until everybody that is still moving through the water makes it, or goes down.

Only then will he leave.

Micar shakes his head at the kuo-toa then make his way toward the closest exit.

If wanted, he can take point.