RelicBlackOUTs Old School Modules (Inactive)

Game Master RelicBlackOUT

Correct, those are the first two openings you encounter without traveling further down the way. Yes you can make your way there and go down that side. Because of the incline and location there will be a climb check to climb down, or an acrobatics check to jump down.

Lanliss directs everyone over the western end of the hallway and points out how they can climb down there without encountering the water.

"But before we do that... Dalron, do you see any of the tracks that you've been following leading this way?"

Dalron crouches down to the floor looking for anything out of place.

Survival: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27

"HHmmmm, this looks promising."

Dalron looks around and easily finds two different sets of markings. The first one is at the middle opening. It looks as if someone gave a running start to jump onto the middle pillar but ended up going short. There are boot scraping marks that slide down the wet rocky side. Also at the far western door there are sliding marks of boots trying to stop themselves at the bottom of the incline. They look as if the boots slide into the water.

"It looks like they tried to cross but might have fallen into the water." Dalron points out what he sees

"I am thinking that the use of rope and grappling hooks to help keep us out of the water might be in order. So we can shimmy across."

Looking at Porkchop "You might be an issue to get across. Do we still have that basket?"

Del looks about at the things the professionals point out...

Gee there is more to this adventuring thing than I thought. I assumed we would just go into a cave and kill things and take their stuff. This makes my head hurt... I need a drink

"Well I'm pretty strong, but I'd have to take off this heavy armor to make that climb. Do you think there is another better path"?

"Yeah, I'll not be making that hop to the pillar. We will need a plan." Barnabus tells the others.

While Dalron sorts out the ropes and basket, Barnabus moves back the the opening and repeatedly casts Light on a handful of pebbles and tosses them into the water, one-by-one.

He tries to get a better look and whatever in in the water.

perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26

Barnabus uses a hand full of rocks with Light cast on them. As he drops them one by one in succession and it causes a bustle of action. The rocks drop into the murky water and provide some illumination, but it is not clear water and the light becomes clouded as it sinks. The swarm of what you originally could have thought were fish swarm the rocks again. But, since you are dropping them more rapidly they come to the top to try to catch them as they are going in.

As they begin to surface you see a rolling mass of spiny thumb-sized crimson worms. Each one of them squirming over the next to try and get to what is dropping into the water. There is an uneasy hissing sound that they produce as they come up out of the water then splash back down into the water.

knowledge(arcana): 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (18) + 9 = 27

"Great Balls of Fire!!!! That's not a school of fish in there!!!"

"There's a swarm of leeches from the Swamps of Stygia in the Abyss swimming around in there. We definitely don't want to fall in that water."

"They're the spawn of some motherless demonic leach that most likely is lurking in the murk down there!!!!"

"Great Balls of Fire!!!! "

LOL!!!! Also, you got bock arcana checks with your single roll. I should have stated that within the first spoiler box.

"Yeah. Definitely don't want to get into the water."

Moving to the far western descent, Scarlet carefully climbs down to the embankment, avoiding getting too close to the water.

Climb: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16

I’m back!

Bozvrig looks down at the water with concern. “I say we stick to Lanliss’s plan.”

Climb: 1d20 ⇒ 17
Truffels Climb: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (15) + 6 = 21

Well this starts an encounter.

Map of area
S=Scarlet, L=Lanliss, DE=Del, DA=Dalron, BA=Barnabus, BO=Bozvrig, T=Truffles

Scarlet begins to climb down but slips on the wet face of the rock, he would have caught himself but Bozvrig tries to climb down but slips also, both Scarlet and Bozvrig are prone in the water. Truffles as a trusty companion manages to climb down with no issues. Truffles is on the land edge at the bottom of the wall.

Del and Barnabus see the leeches at the bottom of their opening lose interest in the rocks and begin to move towards the large splashing sounds to the west. Del and Barnabus hear what happened but cannot see it.

Dalron, and Lanliss are at the top of the wall that Scarlet and Bozvrig just tried to climb down and see from just beyond the western pillar a large mass of something moving within the water.

The water is considered difficult terrain, you move at 1/2 speed

Initiative
Round One
Everyone
Creatures

Feel free to act whenever you are in bold. Luckily for you all, all of you go first.

Is standing from prone in the water 1 move action or 2 if our movement is halved?

Standing is a single move action, its not actually moving through the difficult terrain

Bozvrig quickly gets to his feet, drawing his axe as he does. Having a notion of what’s coming, he reaches down and touches Scarlet, granting the thief a bit of nature’s protection.

Casting Resistance on Scarlet. +1 to saves for a minute.

He then commands Truffels to move away from the water and make room for others to climb down.
Handle Animal: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (15) + 7 = 22

He then commands Truffels to move away from the water and make room for others to climb down.

[dice=Handle Animal]1d20+7

Are you just having him move westward? His speed?

yes, about 20 ft to the west, away from the water’s edge.

Truffels moves 20 feet following the wall to the west. Suddenly it lets out a squeal as the floor begins to light up under it as magical runes begin to activate. Everyone can hear the sound of rushing water, when all of a sudden there is a bursting fourth of water from the western side of the room. It is overwhelming at the rate and speed that it pours in.

The water fills the room so the water is just below the line of the openings where Lanliss and Dalron are and where Barnabus and Del are. The platforms in the middle are not little islands.

Scarlet, Bozvrig, and Truffels are hit hard with the water and are thrown about. Scarlet is able to overcome it can hold only the edge of the middle platform, as he comes into view of Barnabus and Del.

Bozvrig and Truffels on the other hand are overwhelmed and tossed about and are currently underwater.

If you are moving through the water you must make a DC10 Swim Check to move 1/4 of your speed.

New Map

Initiative
Round 1
Bozvrig
Everyone else
Leeches

Having latched onto the edge of the middle platform, Scarlet tries to scramble up onto it and out of the water.

Climb: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20

"Oh, dear!"

Lanliss racks his brain for something he can do to help. He can't pick off individual leeches with his arrows. "Stygian" implies demonic, not undead, so channeling positive energy won't work.

Suddenly, his mind flashes back to the dwarven temple near the town of Barrow's Edge and the hobgoblin mage the party defeated within those caverns. Ripping his pack off of his back in a hurry, Lanliss roots around until he finds the scroll of repel vermin the party looted from the hobgoblin. He tries to cast the spell on Bozvrig.

Move action to retrieve the scroll. Standard action to cast it. If it requires a caster check...

Caster Level Check: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10

If he can cast it on Bozvrig he will. If not, he'll cast it on himself.

@Lanliss the range of the spell is 10 feet, unfortunately Bozvrig is significantly further away than that. You do not need a caster check if it is a cleric spell, correct?

Also, what a scroll that saves the day. When I saw that in the first module i thought about replacing it, who ever needs that? I am glad I didn’t the funny thing on top of it is that the first module and this one aren’t even meant to be tied together. Great pull!

Scarlet pulls himself out of the water, soaked to the core. Out of breath and in a sort of panic due to what has just happened. You lay for a moment on the ground to catch a breath, but quickly get back on your feet.

Lanliss cast the Repel Vermin on himself and an aura radiates out him.

umm, I think I took the scroll, since I was the only one to have it on a spell list. So small change, Lanliss asks about the scroll Dalron pulls it out and casts it. Lanliss is a hero for thinking of it.

Sorry Posted last night but must have been consumed by the web monster.

Del is confused about what to do. He's not confident he could keep his balance, so decides to pull forth his massive ornate crossbow, and wait till he sees something to shoot at. He looks around the room to see if anything else wants to crash the party.

1d20 + 6 ⇒ (14) + 6 = 20 Perception

1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21 Bess (Heavy Crossbow)
1d10 ⇒ 10 bolt

Del is looking into the murky water. He can see where the swarm of leeches were and were heading, but no clear shot. He does see movement that was heading towards Scarlet who just climbed up onto the middle platform.

Lanliss, Scarlet, Bozvrig have all gone. Del is holding a shot for something to appear, I will save the rolls you made.

@Dalron the item is gone from the loot sheet so I am not 100% who had it, I suppose I should have looked immediately. It is on the Ranger, Durid, and Cleric list also so it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility that Lanliss had it. For the sake of flow this round I will say that Lanliss had it and it won’t consume your turn this round.

@Dalron & Barnabus you’re up!!

No worries. I did not think it was on the Cleric's, been wrong about things in the past and most likely be wrong about something in the future. :o)

Dalron draws back on his bow and waits for a target.

Ready's action to attack a threat, from the nice safe spot up high.
Do we get a +1 to attack for being up top?

My first major contribution to the adventure.... Oy.

@Dalron yes +1 for the height, though it is only a few feel due to the water raising. Go ahead and roll the attack so that when it comes up, I will do the action then.

@Bozvrig hey, when I originally ran this they set it off with everyone down below....

Seeing the threat, Dalron fire an arrow at it.

Attack: 1d20 + 7 + 1 - 1 ⇒ (11) + 7 + 1 - 1 = 18
If with in 30' please add +1 to attack and damage

Damage: 1d8 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 1 + 2 = 7

Thinking that since it is a readied action I only get one shot.

Barnabus holds his action, waiting for something to appear that he can cast a Force Missile at.

damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (2) + 1 = 3

Map

Dalron and Del’s readied actions go off as a much larger leech surfaces as it is about to make an attack on Truffels. Between the two arrows the leech stops moving and floats across the surface and drifts towards the northeast (up/right) portion of the room as there is a slight currant.

Barnabus fires his missile at the swarm of leeches but it doesn’t seem effective as they swarm at Scarlets feet, but they are unable to reach him.

Everyone is up.

Bozvrig and Truffels are both in the water, Scarlet is on the middle island, and the remaining party members are on the south side of the room.

Dropping his bow, Lanliss gets a running start, and jumps as far out into the water as possible.

Untrained Acrobatics check: 1d20 + 3 - 4 ⇒ (20) + 3 - 4 = 19 <--Nice!

If I'm reading the rules right, that should get me three squares north of Lanliss' 'L' on the map. If the water level is right at the same level as the top of the island, Lanliss will scramble forward over the island towards Truffels. If he can't, he'll pull himself around the west side of the island. I'm not sure how far he can move in either scenario or if a swim check is necessary.

"Bozvrig! Try and get your boar to me!"

Both Bozvrig and Truffels instinctively swim for the closest shore. For Boz that’s the tunnel to the north of him, for Truffels, that’s the island Lanliss is headed for.

Bozvrig Swim: 1d20 ⇒ 1
Bozvrig Swim: 1d20 ⇒ 11

Truffels Swim: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (20) + 6 = 26
Truffels Climb: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (2) + 6 = 8

Scarlet draws his bow and takes aim at any leech that surfaces long enough for him to fire upon.

Readied Short Bow: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (15) + 5 = 20
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 1

Barnabus moves from the overlook opening over to the second opening with the slope.

Cursing the situation, Del stows his weapons, backs up and attempts to jump onto the nearest island.

1d20 - 5 ⇒ (5) - 5 = 0 Acrobatics (Jump, AC penalty)

And miss timing his leap completely he barely clears the edge of the overhang.

Updated Map

Truffels in a fit of fear panics as it sinks into the water. Fortunately it is able to swim its way to the northern ledge and climb upon the shore.

Bozvrig starts off with a bit of trouble, but once he sees Truffels made it ashore he is able to make a little progress.

Lanliss with a mighty jump leaps almost ontop of the middle island but ends up just shy. He is currently holding onto the edge of the platform.

@Barnabus right now there is no slope, the water is just a few inches under the edge of where you are standing and just a few inches under the edge of the middle island platforms. Do you still want to move to that middle window?

@Dalron is holding?

Everyone sees more motion within the water. There seems to be two large masses moving within the water one heading towards where Bozvrig is and the other to where Lanliss is.

Something within the water bolts towards where Del is and Del feels it strike his leg. Thankfully it does not make it through his pants as he could feel the numerous teeth that were seeking a home.

Initiative
Everyone’s up!
Leeches

What is the climb like for Bozvrig to climb up the ledge two squares north of him? Apologies if you've already said this.

"There is more of the big ones coming! Watch out Lanliss! Bozvrig swim faster!"

Dalron Targets the one after Lanliss

When he can, he shoots

Attack: 1d20 + 7 + 1 - 1 ⇒ (7) + 7 + 1 - 1 = 14
If with in 30' please add +1 to attack and damage
Damage: 1d8 + 1 + 2 ⇒ (1) + 1 + 2 = 4

What is the climb like for Bozvrig to climb up the ledge two squares north of him? Apologies if you've already said this.

It is like getting out of a pool. The water is just a few inches below the ledges. DC 5. The only reason there is a check is because of the slippery surface.

Oh, of course. You said that about the islands, so of course it would be the same for the ledges.

Lanliss climbs up onto the island he's hanging onto...

Climb: 1d20 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (15) + 1 - 4 = 12

...and moves across the island. Two squares north, one east.

"Scarlet! I think I'm warding off the leeches! Can you leap over to me?"

Can I do some sort of aid another to help Scarlet if he decides to jump across? Like holding my hand out so that he has something to grab onto?

Barnabus throws a force missile at the leech Dalron targeted.

"Makes sense that there would be more than one if they've been makin' babies!" he calls out.

force missile damage: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (3) + 1 = 4

Scarlet puts his bow away and then leaps toward the island that Lanliss is on.

Acrobatics: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (3) + 8 = 11

I forgot that you were warded Lanliss, I wonder if it works for the big ones as well.

Truffels squeals as she clambers out of the water. Meanwhile, Bozvrig struggles to keep his mass afloat.

Swim: 1d20 ⇒ 13
Swim: 1d20 ⇒ 6

He makes some progress, but then goes under again.

Dalron: If they are labeled as 'vermin' in whatever stat block GM is reading them from, it should affect them no matter their size. But if they are strong enough, they can still get through, they just take damage to do so. Your arrow might still be useful.

Bozvrig: Sorry, I thought you were already able to climb out, but I see now that I've misread. After I rescue Scarlet, I'm coming to rescue you! Or drown while trying! I'd say it's 50/50.

I’ll get there eventually... don’t you worry :|

I'm a bit confused. You did see where Del tried to jump to the island, and ended up with a net zero? Where exactly is Del now as he's being attacked?

I'm a bit confused. You did see where Del tried to jump to the island, and ended up with a net zero? Where exactly is Del now as he's being attacked?

@Del If you look at the map you are in the water furthest to the right. I accidentally but yours as a BE not a DE. You tried to jump but you instead just flopped into the water. The ledge was slippery from the rising water. It is also your turn.

Del hops about a bit at the "unseen" things in the water, swinging his mighty Waraxe at whatever is trying to bite him.

1d20 + 5 ⇒ (2) + 5 = 7 WarAxe (Power Attack)

1d10 + 5 ⇒ (8) + 5 = 13 Damage

But finds he does little more than viciously cleave the water elemental.