DM Carbide's Core Emerald Spire

Game Master John Woodford

Tibearius brings the torch to the webs, saying "I recommend you all walk out of this room... it's about to get toasty!"

Tibearius, remember that the party tried this already, with results described HERE.

”The we bs are remarkably resistant to burning. Can we just bypass the room and see if we find anything to help?“

would alchemist fire burn and better than a torch?

Tibearius throws the torch up in the high webs.

Ranged Touch, Bless, IC: 1d20 + 2 + 1 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 2 + 1 + 1 = 24

Mrs. Book just starts clearing out webs where she can reach with her torch.

The torch is still effective, right? It just doesn't start a conflagration.

Tibearius, remember that the room is still filled with obscuring mist, so you won't be able to target anything more than 5' away; you also won't be able to tell where the torch lands. Mrs. Book, correct. It does take some time to ignite, though, so you can't start large swathes on fire in a single round. But that won't matter if Joseph or Corbrae can kill the spider.

@GM: I got nothing... should we just go away and come back later?

The spider didn't retreat this round, so you might be able to drop it.

fort save dc 15: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 = 11

"I'm not feeling so good."

heavy mace: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11
blugoning: 1d10 ⇒ 7

An alchemist's fire would burn hotter and spread faster, at least initially.

Round 6 (ongoing):

Initiative order
Red Spider-acted
Joseph (-7 HP)-acted
Corbrae-
Viridian-
Mrs. Book-acted
Tibearius-acted

His arm weakened by the spider's venom, Joseph can't hit the wounded arachnid. Mrs. Book and Tibearius try to ignite some webs.

Corbrae and Viridian? Viridian, you can try to attack the spider, assuming that Corbrae and Joseph spot for you.

Viridian will try to hit the spider with his spear

”Where is it? “

Spear 2H: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18 for dmg: 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

Miss chance, lo=hit: 1d2 ⇒ 1

Guided by the others, Viridian blindly stabs the last spider. It obligingly curls up in a ball and dies.

Out of combat! Joseph, make another Fort save or take 2 more points STR damage.

After some time, the mists clear out, leaving only the thin smoke from the slowly-burning webs. Some cutting and waiting for complete combustion later, the party recovers two longswords, five daggers, and a hand axe, all slightly rusty but still quite serviceable.

Tibearius mutters a quick prayer to Desna and runs to Joe. He then begins to suck the poison out of the wound!

Heal to Treat Poison, Take 10, Guidance: 10 + 8 + 1 = 19

Viridian will gladly take one of the Rusty daggers.

”May come in handy in a pinch. “

He searches for any other doors hidden or otherwise

Perception : 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (6) + 14 = 20

Mrs. Book does the whole detect magic thing on the gear they discovered, but since they are rusty she does not hold out much hope.

"Well done lads. That was a tricky one what with the spiders being so sneaky. Reminds me of a boy in one of my classes that serves as a scout for the town now."

The schoolteacher doesn't detect any magical auras on the gear. Tibearius' treatment gives Joseph a better chance of resisting the poison's effects. Take +4 on your next save, Joseph.

There are doors in the north and south walls.

"Thanks."

fort save DC 15: 1d20 + 4 + 4 ⇒ (7) + 4 + 4 = 15

So -4 Str total?

Yes.

Mrs. Book grabs a couple of the daggers in case her wand proves useless, then lines up for the next door.

"Tsk, Tsk. One should always take care of ones gear. Then again, who knows how long these things have been laying here."

Given Joseph's weakness, do you want to rearrange the marching order?

Nah. AC is more important that damage when it comes to being in front. That is just my opinion, of course.

Joseph goes into the hallway to retrieve his bow.

"How long will this be smokey?"

"A while I bet... let's go check another part of this level yes?"

"There's a door right there."

Mrs. Book points to the door to the north of her.

The smoke from the burning webs soon dissipates.

Checking the north door, no one hears anything, nor do there seem to be any traps. The same is true of the south door.

Corbrae provides some light sources with her magic

I hope we won't meet any other spiders, we had troubles enough getting rid of these last two.

"Usually I deal with the little nuisances with a broom, but these two were a bit much. Joseph, you up to opening that door or do you need a rest? You look a little peaked."

"I could use some healing but am otherwise good to go."

After any potential healing Joseph opens the door with bow at the ready.

Wand CLW on Joe: 2d8 + 2 ⇒ (6, 2) + 2 = 10

"There, you should be ok. Anything else is from that spider poison, and only time and rest will be able to fix that... monitor your level of pain or dizziness and please update me of any changes..."

Viridian nods.

There is not much else I can do beyond what our holy man has done already.

The small hallway on the other side of the door is choked with heaps of stone rubble. A skeletal human-looking hand protrudes from one pile. The debris looks old, and the few sagging strands of web draped over it are dust-covered. There are other doors in the north and east ends of the hallway. Looking up, the party can see where the rubble came from: something seems to have blasted a hole in the ceiling. In the center of the cavity, an irregular shaft leads up into darkness.

Viridian will give it a quick search...

perception: 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (8) + 14 = 22

Corbrae gets a little closer to the hole in the ceiling, and sends her balls of light inside, to get a better view

She just hope there isn't any monster inside, ready to pounce on her

Perception: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27

Viridian spots a 10x10 trap door occupying the west end of the hall. Corbrae can tell that the shaft goes up another five feet or so before ending and turning horizontally.

Checking the skeleton will require moving some of the rubble. After doing so, the party finds that the skeleton has been quite thoroughly shattered. The robes it wore are only rotted scraps, and the longsword it carried is mostly rust. There's a brass key underneath it, though.

After poking around in the rubble, delicately, proving to be more of a hindrance than help, she is excited by Viridian's find.

"A key? Hopefully it will prove useful. I would assume it is for a door somewhere in here, though that is not a certainty."

Viridian nods.

”Perhaps it’s contents have not yet been despoiled by goblins or vermin. “

Where to? You've got two doors here, plus another couple behind you.

"Well, let's keep going. How about that door?" She points to he door to the north. And then, if that is nothing but a closet, hat one. She then points to the door to the east.

Viridian nods

”Works for me. “

He moves to the first door indicated and checks before openin

Perception : 1d20 + 14 ⇒ (1) + 14 = 15
bleh

The north door opens to reveal a dark room--the only chamber the party has seen without any of the luminescent moss. Corbrae sends her dancing lights into the chamber, illuminating an apparent tomb. The large stone chamber contains two clusters of four stone caskets each. In the center of the room, between the two groups, stands an empty, unlit iron brazier that's covered with soot and smells faintly of past fires. Drapes of dust-covered spiderwebs cling to the ceiling.

Mrs. Book wrinkles her nose and shakes her head disapprovingly.

"I'm not much for desecration. I say we leave the tombs alone and move on. What say the rest of you?"

Do you mind if I check the place for religious symbols or historical clues, Mrs Book?

asks the bard with a respectful tone

Viridian keeps an eye for living creatures like more spiders

"Please do. That would actually honor the dead. Inscriptions are put on resting places to be read, after all."

Corbrae cautiously approaches the nearest casket. When she's about five feet away from it, though, a chill breeze arises as if from nowhere, howling through the room. The shadows cast by her dancing lights deepen, and in the sudden gloom scores of small spectral eyeballs appear, drifting with the breeze. They orient themselves to peer intently at the bard before fading away. As they disappear, the breeze and gloom likewise vanish.

WHAT WAS THAT?!? Viridian shifts his focus, trying to see if it is still around. Blitz sniffs for anything in the room.

Ducking out of sight of the unexpected appearances, she peeks around the corner to respond to Viridian.

"Creepy, that is what what was. Either that or someone had some odd monitoring spell and we've been made.

After all that, Corbrae finds no legible inscriptions or iconography on the caskets. Blitz doesn't alert on anything, either.

Joseph sniffs derisively.

"Like cheap stage theatrics intended to scare us."