Tomb of Horrors? (Inactive)

Game Master leinathan

"That hand will allow you to wear an extra ring as a necklace if you wish.. Kinda creepy to have that around your neck though.."

"Assuming it doesn't decide to strangle you when you put a ring on it..." From over by the barrels, Ferrek continues "Hmm. Something tells me this isn't ordinary water, no matter what it appears to be. Is anyone versed in alchemy?"

Various attempts to identify the liquid.
Knowledge (arcana): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (15) + 15 = 30
Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (11) + 15 = 26
Knowledge (engineering): 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (4) + 12 = 16

The first one (the one with no gold glint) is very obviously just dirty water. The other two are harder to place, although they're certainly not water, there's probably at least water IN them.

And yes, IS anyone trained in Alchemy?

"Hmm, well I am no expert in the field of alchemy, but I do have some minor interest in it." Said Aviel as he came over to the barrels with an empty vial and carefully scooped up some of the liquid to begin examining it.

C.Alchemy: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (14) + 12 = 26

Which barrels? All of them?

Yes.

Gathering samples of each of the liquids takes but a moment, and swilling them around in his little vial, Aviel is able to determine for certain what they are.

The first barrel is, as articulated, simply brown water.

Aviel discovers that the second barrel is filled with avid, although that of a weak variety that won't simply melt your arm on contact.

When he places his hand in the third barrel to gather his specimen, he's subjected to a strange vacuum force - one that without warning pulls him into the large barrel. The inside of the barrel feels viscous and thick, and its contents sting and damage his skin.

Aviel is pinned and suffocating - it seems he's been engulfed by a gelatinous cube!

Aviel, you are not paralyzed, but you need to attempt CMB checks if you want to escape. You also take 6 damage.

Garret springs forward and tries to pull Aviel free.

What should I be rolling for this?

Probably a STR check.

Str: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (10) + 5 = 15

Hmm. Probably not going to cut it.

Garret plunges his hands into the acidic creature, but just as he grasps ahold of his cousin, the crate bursts and he is sucked into the expanding creature himself.

Your condition is now quite similar. You're taking 3 acid damage and you're similarly unparalyzed.

Garret Fort: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (11) + 15 = 26
Acid Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 3

Good news - it's flatfooted. Bad news, that doesn't help since oozes are immune to sneak attack.

"Yipe!" Ferrek hurriedly backs away from the rapidly expanding ooze, then reaches into his backpack to pull out a 3-foot long pole.

Know Dungeon: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (1) + 20 = 21 Well thats not gonna get me much..

Isletta flies back and seeing her group in trouble casts an Empowered, Intensified, Acid Hands DC 21 Reflex for Half at the creature..

Sizzle: 10d4 + 24 ⇒ (4, 3, 4, 1, 1, 1, 4, 2, 3, 4) + 24 = 51 x1.5=76 Damage

Then as a swift action she'll cast Liberating Command on Garret giving him an imediate escape artist roll to escape with an additional +18 modifier..

Escape Artist: 1d20 + 5 + 18 ⇒ (5) + 5 + 18 = 28

Aviel was caught momentarily unawares as the Gelatinous Cube pulled him in. The acid was painful and made it hard for him to move but he honestly couldn't have hoped for a better first hand experience. Well not burning and being able to breathe would be a good few first steps.

K. Dungeoneering: 1d20 + 16 ⇒ (3) + 16 = 19

Still, at least I can remove myself fro-

Garret tried to reach in and pull him out and got pulled in himself for his troubles.

Oh no, Garret you fool.

He hoped Garret would not let go of him as he tried to move them both out of the cube.
Concentration to use Dimensional Steps: 1d20 + 19 ⇒ (15) + 19 = 34

Dimensional Steps is a Spell like ability so I'm not entirely sure I need to make a concentration roll.

Shadassa moves to make sure no one will get caught by a blast, and unleashes Burning Hands at the cube.

"I just hope we don't damage them while they are engulfed," she says.

Burning Hands: 5d4 ⇒ (2, 1, 1, 1, 3) = 8

Round One!

Garret plunges his arms into the creature in an effort to pull his cousin out, but he just gets sucked in as well. Both of the noble cousins manage to avoid the paralyzing powers of the ooze, but both are eaten away just slightly by the ooze's acid.

Ferrek dodges backwards and pulls out a pole while Aviel, who still has a hold on his cousin, warps both of them out of the ooze and across the room.

Shadassa hits the creature with a burst of flame, but it slithers towards her, attempting to engulf her as well.
Shadassa Reflex DC 12: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (5) + 6 = 11
It rolls right over her, and her finned bottom half fails to be fast enough to avoid it.
Shadassa Fort DC 20: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
Paralyze Duration: 3d6 ⇒ (1, 3, 3) = 7
Damage: 1d6 ⇒ 6

Shadassa is paralyzed, pinned, engulfed, and taking 6 acid damage. I paused without incorporating Isletta's action to ask - is she sure she wants to do that? Shadassa will be caught in the area of effect and liberating command won't work on her because she's paralyzed.

Initiative:

Garret - 16
Ferrek - 14
Aviel - 12
Shadassa - 10

Cube - 10

Isletta - 9

I targeted Garret with the lib command and no she would cast something else rather than scorching her companion.. She casts empowered acid ray instead..

range touch: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27
range touch: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (13) + 8 = 21

damage: 4d6 + 12 ⇒ (5, 5, 6, 1) + 12 = 29
damage: 4d6 + 12 ⇒ (2, 4, 5, 5) + 12 = 28

X1.5 = 85 acid damage

Arent gelatinous cubes immune to acid?

Garret seems surprised to suddenly be on the other side of the room. "How do we fight this… thing?"

Delaying to figure out what I should do.

Knowledge (dungeoneering): 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (19) + 15 = 34

Ferrek takes a step away from the cube, and then takes several seconds to unfold the pole and fasten it together. As he is doing so, he rattles off some useful facts about gelatinous cubes (and other polyhedra) to the pole he's assembling... or maybe it's in response to Garret's question, even though he doesn't look over at the paladin or project his voice very far.

As he finishes assembling the pole into a 10' length of metal, he wraps up his thoughts with "We can use this to reach in, or just toss it in for leverage in escaping. Maybe."

Gelatinous cubes are, in fact, NOT immune to acid, as is evidenced when Isletta's acid ray burns the one that holds Shadassa to death. It hisses as it melts away into just a wet patch on the ground, leaving Shadassa lying on the ground.

Shadassa lays there, paralyzed.

...For about 36 more seconds.

that is a LONG time if you're the one paralyzed. :D

"Or... not." Ferrek pokes Shadassa gently with the pole, from 10' away.

Garret checks her pulse and heals the damage done by the acid. "Is this normal? What can we do for her?"

Lay on Hands: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 6) = 7

Shadassa opens an eye, then the other.

"Thank you, Sir Garret. I'm a bit mortified to have been so useless in that situation, even when it came to healing." She rises to her...fins, then brushes the pole away with a small smirk. "It's not polite to poke the folk of the sea with poles, particularly if they have harpoons or hooks at the end."

She looks around the room. "I wonder if we should just Fireball each room as we enter it. For safety's sake. Was there any actual gold in those blasted barrels, or was it gilded pyrite, after all that?"

"Well, that was most unpleasant to my skin."

Garret helped Shadassa back to her , er... well, tail, at any rate.

"Glad you are alright. Well done everyone."

There was, in fact, gold at the bottom of each of the two barrels, if you look.

Fishing them out of the barrels, you find two halves of one golden key, as if split vertically down the long end.

Puzzles within puzzles... Garret muttered looking at the key. Aviel, what is the name of that trick you do that fixes broken things?

"Nasty things those oozes.. A golden key eh.. Wonder what diabolic trap is set off with that.."

Ferrek silently nods an acknowledgement of the merfolk's rebuke, then begins taking his pole apart again. After stowing it, he begins to look around the room for a keyhole for the key, or other forms of egress.

"I'd be careful putting the two halves back together. That may be the trap - it's such an obvious thing to do with two halves."

"And yet, it might be the only way to continue.

Ferrek's previous Perception roll entitles him to the location of a secret door in the southwest corner of this room - unlocked and untrapped.

I'm going to assume Ferrek points out the door.

"Well there is this other door to consider also. My vote is that tee not worry about the broken key until we run out of other options. Are we ready to continue?"

"I agree.. Lets roll"

"Agreed. It appears safe. For now."

Ferrek and Garret pull the door open to reveal a short and simple hallway, turning left after a few paces and leading down a set of stairs to another hallway, yet again to the left. This hallway's 60-ft length is filled with huge spikes, although it seems that the spaces between the spikes are more than large enough to step between.

"Anglerfish," says Shadassa, as if it is a curse. "Well, I'm no trap finder, and this couldn't be more clearly a trap. I wouldn't be surprised if the hallway tries to digest us."

Perception: 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (14) + 11 = 25

Garret eyes the hall carefully trying to figure out what purpose spikes that size could have.

"Collapsing hallway?" he muses to Ferrek.

Perception vs stone traps: 1d20 + 38 ⇒ (19) + 38 = 57

"Agreed," he mutters. "Although, given the nature of this place, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the blatant trap is actually the way forward. It's too obviously wrong."

Isletta pulls out her wand of detect secret stuff and hits Ferrek with it..

Although Ferrek can already see the outlines and give-aways of a trap in the hallway, Isletta's spell informs him without a doubt of its presence. It appears, to Ferrek, that the last five feet of the spiked hallway is a pressure trap and will hit any intruders with many attacks. Holes in the walls, floor, and ceiling betray this.

Ferrek mutters to himself a bit as he peers down the hallway, then shrugs. "As far as I can tell, the real trap here is overconfidence. The very end of the hallway will do nasty things to you if you step on the floor, but everything before that is just window dressing. Unless the spikes are poisoned."

"Then we should avoid brushing the dressing even. Come, let us move along with your cautionary revelations in mind."

Shadassa casts Detect Poison. "Let us find out about hypothetical poison, eh? This should cover most of the hallway."

The trap (nor any of the surroundings) are not poisoned.

"So disarm it and move on?"

"Looks like it."

Disable Device (stone trap): 1d20 + 33 ⇒ (10) + 33 = 43

Ferrek cautiously moves down the hall towards the trigger plate, which he then proceeds to jam so that it won't depress as weight is placed on it. "That should do it. It ought to be safe to cross now."