GM Warah's 6-01 Trial by Machine (Inactive)

Game Master Warah

"Well, that's disappointing. Oh well." Inle turns away from the back wall and watches the rest of the group investigate.

The Black Rabbit sniffs at the items that Maddie found.

Perception TBR: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (11) + 5 = 16
Perception TBR: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (3) + 5 = 8

He growls, "The vials smell like the cure potions that she carries." pointing at Inle. "I think the other thing is..." he sniffs again. "...an oddly shaped candy. Looks crunchy."

Anyone else want to try to identify the wand thingy? What do you want to do next?

Not sure if Gozrog can try.

Lanel will offer to carry the potions and is ready to move to the next area (B5) to check the door for traps or hazards before opening it.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 + 2 + 3 ⇒ (9) + 5 + 2 + 3 = 19

That requires skill points, right?

Yes, my bad, I thought you might had it. I don't think anyone else can identify it then.

None of the party members is able to identify the wand thingy. Shechera and Meleren have no clue what it is, either.

What is the group doing with the three potions and the wand thingy? Remember that your choice can affect the bandits' Epiphany Points. Please state who is holding what.

Lanel exits the medical bay and crosses the control room. The door on the west side doesn't appear to be trapped or locked. Opening it, he sees that rows of metal shelving fill this room. The shelves bear the look of long disuse but are surprisingly dust-free, considering the age of this place. Most of the shelves hold assorted pieces of machinery: wires, gears, and cases of bolts and screws, though nothing seems organized in any logical fashion.

Everyone who enters B5 can make one DC 15 Appraise OR Perception check to find useful stuff in this room. Multiple successful checks will find more goodies, as well as additional items if you roll high enough.

Lanel will give them one potion for the moment and keep the wand to figure out later.

"Two for us and one for you? Does that sound fair? We really need to be prepared in case the healer goes down again. I'll keep an eye on the wand as it's magic."

Diplomacy: 1d20 + 8 + 1 ⇒ (5) + 8 + 1 = 14

Lanel steps into the room to take a look around the entrance without touching anything yet.

Perception: 1d20 + 5 + 2 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 5 + 2 + 3 = 25

Gozrog will taste the potions.

Percpetion: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (7) + 3 = 10
Percpetion: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6
Percpetion: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (13) + 3 = 16

And check out the room.

Percpetion: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19

Inle peeks into the room, but lets The Black Rabbit past since his nose is much better than hers.

Perception Inle: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (10) + 1 = 11
Perception TBR: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (20) + 1 = 21

The first item the team finds is a box containing numbered buttons, identical to those on the control panels in area B3. A sequence of numbers (9, 2, 7, 4, 6) is painted on the underside of the box lid, along with a short message written in another language.

The other items that are salvageable are two identical pieces of technology that have a pokey thing coming out of one end of a sort of blocky body, and a hand-sized disk.

That's all that's available in this room. What next? There's one more door you haven't checked out, to the north in B3.

Egg checks the remaining door…

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (13) + 7 = 20

…and opens it if he finds nothing hinkie…

Forgot to respond to Lanel's generosity, so here's my retcon:

Shechera accepts the healing potion from Lanel, angling her body so she can keep Maddie at the edge of her peripheral vision. "That's fair, considering the numbers. Thanks." Meleren nods as well, and exits the room. Shechera follows.

Unfortunately, that's a failure on the Epiphany Points roll.

The two of them also look through the junk in the storage room, but the Pathfinders seem to have found all the good stuff. Shechera doesn't hide her disappointment; Meleren is as stoic as ever.

Anyone want to try to ID the gear? If not, do you let Meleren or Shechera try to ID it? Who keeps which item(s)?

------------------------

Once the above is resolved:

Reasonably certain that there's nothing hinkie about the door to this glorified column, Egg opens it. Inside is a small round room. The interior wall to the left of the door has a keypad, numbered 0 through 9, next to a panel with an imprint of a five-fingered hand with fingers splayed, much like the handprint panel by the cabinet that Maddie unlocked with the gauntlet earlier.

Lanel will attempt to identify the other two items.

"Let's see here..."

Perception pokey: 1d20 + 5 + 2 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 5 + 2 + 3 = 26
Perception disk: 1d20 + 5 + 2 + 3 ⇒ (8) + 5 + 2 + 3 = 18

"These two things are for disabling devices like the ones in the other room. The ones that use energy. They are not magic. They can come in handy I guess... The disk one I'm not sure. Anyone wants to give it a look?"

Gozrog tries to unlock the secrets of the universe. Or at least this room.

Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (18) + 3 = 21
Perception: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (1) + 3 = 4

"Brown e-picks. And... round toothpicks?"

Maddie follows behind Shechera and Meleren to the room Lanel and co are perusing. After hearing Gozrog mention toothpicks she takes a squiz at the disk.

Perception: 1d20 + 1 ⇒ (12) + 1 = 13

She takes it and uses it as such.

Lanel identifies two e-picks, but no one can tell what the disk is. Maddie tries to pick her teeth with it, but it's a disk. It does start humming softly when she accidentally presses a button in its center, but stops when she removes her finger from the button. Nothing else seems to happen.

Lanel sighs and shakes his head. "We should not try to use that without knowing its true purpose. It might backfire on us... But this looks like it has the form of a hand like the other one before and some numbers... Maybe we can input the ones we saw over there with your glove?" He asks Maddelyn.

"Before I do that should we not check everything available to us?"

Maddie wanders over to Egg and if he hasn't already entered brushes past him into the room beyond.

Shechera mutters to Meleren: "They're quick enough when loot is involved, but now they're futzing around."

They respond flatly: "Antagonizing them won't get us out of here sooner," which elicits a resigned sigh from Shechera.

Meleren addresses Lanel: "Let us know when you've decided on the next course of action."

Egg covers Maddie as she brushes past him, looking for any signs of danger within…

Perception: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18

"Inle wants to try the panel with those numbers over there?"

BTW, I haven't seen anyone state whether or not they speak Goblin, per this post, or whether or not you show the items to Shechera and Meleren for them to identify. If no one says anything, I'll assume the answer is "no" to both.

Egg only speaks Common & Tien

Languages come from the same stat as skill points. Gozrog has no problem showing them.

Lanel doesn't know goblin but if he sees some numbers and an numerical panel, he will certainly try that sequence there. lol

Lanel strides into the lift and begins entering the sequence of numbers found on the underside of the lid of the box found in the storage room. Immediately the door slides shut. Shechera exclaims: "What the--?!" Meleren strides to the door and stares at it.

Lanel and Maddie are already inside the lift. Egg is right next to it, and has just enough time to dash in. No one else is close enough (Meleren only moved up to it after it was too late.)

With a lurch, the circular chamber begins to rise, but it jolts to a halt after a dozen seconds or so. A flashing red light appears next to the door-opening panel, accompanied by a faint buzzing sound. Next, a tinny-sounding disembodied voice states, first in Goblin and then in Common: “Negligible atmosphere detected. Do you wish to proceed? Push open button twice for yes.”

What do the people in the lift do?

What do the people in B3 do?

"Negligible atmosphere?? That doesn't look safe. Uh-oh... That doesn't seem safe. No... Can you return? At the very least to get the others."

"I'm guessing that isn't supposed to mean it's a boring place to have a drink then? Do you think if we shout the others can hear?"

"I don't think it's a tavern. It shouldn't hurt to try to check if the others can hear us."

He will bend down close to the door and shout. "Hey! Can you hear us over there?"

I'm going to rule that Egg didn't enter the lift, since it's been almost 24 hours since my last post.

Lanel and Maddie listen intently for a response from the rest of their team, but all they hear is their own breathing.

"Uh... interesting. Three, up. Six, down?

He will try to push six to see if something else happens.

Egg watches the platform go up and…shrugs…

Lanel pushes 6. The tinny voice repeats its message. “Negligible atmosphere detected. Do you wish to proceed? Push open button twice for yes.”

Lanel will input the first sequence that brought them here. "With some luck it should work... maybe?"

Lanel fiddles with the controls, eventually figuring out the correct sequence to return the lift to the previous level. The door opens, revealing Egg and Meleren, who looks Lanel and Maddie up and down before commenting evenly: "You look unharmed."

"It took us to a level above, I think. It warned that the next area had some ... air issues? It might be best if we all go check it together." Lanel suggests.

"Wouldn't that exasperate the lack of air situation? Maybe we can fix it from here?"

"Yeah, that might be worth to take a second look around." Lanel nods to Maddie.

"I guess while we do that, might as well ask if you have an idea on these other items. Maybe these could help with that?" Lanel will show the rest of the items that we couldn't identify to Meleren and Shechera.

Shechera and Meleren inspect the disk-like item.

Shechera almost immediately gives up. "No clue." Meleren stares at it for quiet a while, turning it over in his hands, before handing it back to Lanel. "I feel like I should know this, but I can't remember."

Shechera and Meleren already tried and failed to ID the wand-thingy from the med room.

The Pathfinders and Blood-Red Raiders search the area again, but are unable to find a way to restore air to the Monitor Room (B6) from here. However, the control panel with the glowing display above it does indicate that the controls to restore air pressure are located in the (currently airless) Monitor room.

Egg shrugs. ”Master Wanyi train Egg to hold breath…get Egg to room, and Egg can try restore air…”

"I can send The Black Rabbit up, if you want to try that." Inle comments, after getting approval from her protector. "I can stay by the door to get us back down if we have to. Engineering is definitely not my strong suit, but I don't see anything else around to get us out."

I think I haven't tried IDing anything, so I'll try now.

Inlé isn't able to ID any of the items, but she floats an idea for the group to consider.

Does TBR have manual dexterity?

TBR is a base quadruped with claws and a bite. I don't think it specifies whether it can use it's limbs dextrously or not, so GM call? He can also go up, look around and come back (hopefully).

A base quadruped doesn't have manual dexterity unless it was specifically granted somehow, so I would rule that TBR doesn't have it.

Makes sense

The Black Rabbit looks down at his claws, then back at the gnome. "I'm not sure what you're expecting me to do up there, but unless I get to mash a button, there's not much I'll be able to do."

Inle shrugs and nods. "OK, then I volunteer to go up with him. Anyone else want to come along?"

Egg nods. ”Egg will go…”

Lanel offers to use his wand of mage armor on Egg and TBR to help out in case there are constructs or undead on the other side that don't need air to function.

Everyone volunteering to go into the airless area can make an Epiphany check for each NPC. You get 2 EPs if you succeed. I will wait until you have rolled or said you won't before proceeding, since that might affect how helpful they are.

Inle and TBR are already mage armored, but thank you for the offer.

Diplomacy Meleren Inle: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (10) + 4 = 14
Diplomacy Shechera Inle: 1d20 + 4 ⇒ (19) + 4 = 23

Diplomacy Meleren TBR: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (6) + 0 = 6
Diplomacy Shechera TBR: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (4) + 0 = 4

Diplomacy Meleren: 1d20 - 2 + 2 ⇒ (18) - 2 + 2 = 18
Diplomacy (Shechera): 1d20 - 2 + 1 ⇒ (1) - 2 + 1 = 0