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Nope - magical healing heals an equal amount of lethal AND nonlethal damage simultaneously. Nonlethal damage naturally heals at a much faster rate and tracks separately from lethal damage. That's why it's not as scary. You guys just took a ton of nonlethal damage!
The three within the room hustle back toward the corridor as arrows fly all around them. Nadab and Venedictos watch in horror as an arrow to the back of the head fells Quinn and two arrows - one to the back and another to the leg - plants Brayken on the ground . Faunra also takes an arrow to the back , but manages to keep moving into the safety of the hallway. Using the door to shield the three of them, Faunra, Nadab, and Venedictos wait out the trap, which finally runs out of ammunition after another 40 seconds or so. Once the pillar ceases its spinning barrage, they reenter the room, and Venedictos channels some positive energy to heal his fallen comrades. Brayken bolts upright, ready to go, but Quinn is groggier and still seems staggered by the blunt force trauma to his noggin. Once everyone has their bearings, they find that the door in the western wall is unlocked, while the northern door stands not only unlocked, but wide open leading into a dark corridor. Quinn 0/11 HP
GM Rolls:
Nadab and Venedictos, flustered by panic at the sight of the self-closing door, struggle with its iron handle for a moment before realizing that it opens out toward them with very little effort. They also find, however, that unless they hold it open, some spring or mechanism within its hinges attempts to close it once again. Meanwhile, Quinn manages to slide another pulley from its track as the trapped pillar whirls around pelting those within the room with arrows. This time the blunted arrows catch each of them . Quinn 4/11 HP
GM Rolls:
Quinn gets to work on disabling the trap in the center of the room. Crouching beside the pillar of arrows, he can see a clear course of action - it's a simple (to him) matter of unlatching two levers and three pulleys within the under-workings of the mechanism. Shoving his arm into the gap between the pillar and the floor, he quickly slips the first pulley off its track as a loud click followed by a whirring noise fills the chamber. Just as the pillar begins to spin and fire arrows, the eastern door slams shut, closing Brayken, Faunra, and Quinn into the room. Blunted arrows pelt the three people in the room, with one hitting Quinn (for 2 nonlethal damage) and two hitting Faunra (for 2 nonlethal damage, total).
GM Rolls:
A single pillar in the center of the room supports this wide, domed chamber. The pillar is surrounded by a pit, but a stone bridge crosses the pit on the north side. Dozens of arrows jut from holes in the pillar, facing every direction. There is a door opposite the one Quinn just opened on the far side of the chamber, as well as another door in the north wall. Quinn:
You recognize the pillar as a mechanical trap that will more than likely start shooting arrows every which way in a couple of seconds.
Oh yeah - you had a day-and-a-half to rest.
Quinn, Nadab, and Venedictos find nothing of interest in the small chamber beyond the faded mural. The rogue does not locate any traps along the hallway or about the door at the end of it. A quick jiggle of the door's handle reveals that it is neither locked nor stuck.
I deleted Bern and Zane's tokens to make room on my ditzie account for the new players. In doing so, I broke the map. A simply created a new map for you, so there shouldn't be any more problems. Consider all the pit traps in the maze room to be disabled - a product of Nadab and Venedictos boredom waiting for the reinforcements. Also, I'm already loving all your interactions. Great additions to reinvigorate the game!
Quinn finds the door to the north locked, but quickly proves his usefulness in managing to pop it open. More than likely, Nadab's work on it with his crowbar a few days prior loosened something in the rusted mechanism. Beyond the door, a small stone bench sits in the center of a dusty chamber. On the far wall is a faded mural depicting the hero Kassen defeating the mercenaries at the entrance to this crypt, with his blade piercing the chest of the mercenary leader. These figures stand alone in the center of a scene of carnage, with dead villagers and mercenaries all around them. DC 15 Perception:
You notice both Kassen and the mercenary leader are wearing golden necklaces, each made up of a simple golden chain, from which hangs an oddly shaped medallion. While not identical, the amulets look similar. Beyond the chamber is a long, dark corridor which hooks to the left and ends with a sturdy wooden door.
Now that we're up and running again with a new crew of characters, here's a couple of things off the top of my head:
Please shoot any questions or comments my way, introduce yourselves in-game, and have fun!
Just as Nadab starts to try and bust the northern door open, a strange swell of exhaustion washes over Bern and Zane. Apparently, the touch of the shadow they had encountered earlier had affected the two men far more deeply than the group had realized. Not wishing to burden their companions further, the weakened ranger and fighter decide to head back to Kassen and seek reinforcements to aid in the rescue of Roldare's sister. 36 hours later ... Roldare frantically paces the front chamber of the crypt, his fear of leaving the supply closet having subsided hours earlier. "Where are they?" he asks over and over again, kicking aside the crumpled remains of the skeletal warriors Nadab and Venedictos had defeated just three days prior. "Dimira could be dead now ... she probably is ... where are they!" Brayken, Faunra, and Quinn - the three brave volunteers from Kassen who did not hesitate to risk the journey upon hearing Zane and Bern's tale - hear Roldare's shouts from outside the cracked stone doors of the crypt. Figuring the cobbler's complaints signify a lack of danger, they hitch their horses beside the freshly dug graves containing the remains of what townsfolk Nadab and Venedictos were able to recover and enter the crypt. Nadab, Roldare, and Venedictos are there to receive them and immediately burst into a rundown of the past three days' events - much of which the reinforcements have already heard from Zane and Bern:
"Yes, yes, there's been plenty of horror to be had by all," Roldare interjects. "Now go and rescue my sister already! You know where I'll be hiding ..."
Welcome to the new players. And to answer your question on the Recruitment thread, Brayken - yup, Core weapons only.
How's about the both of you join us then? The Crypt is no cakewalk, so adding two first level fighters rather than just one won't make it drastically easier. Plus, I think the group could use a feminine touch. If interested, both Brayken and Faunra should consider themselves accepted. I'll get a post up tomorrow setting up the new status quo (loss of Bern and Zane and addition of Quinn, Brayken, and Faunra). In the meantime, you three should set up your character sheets and introduce yourselves on the Discussion thread. For all those considering joining, recruit,net is hereby officially closed.
Well, both potential dwarven fighters dropped off the face of the earth after I posed the posting question, so I'll put it out there again: We need a melee-type for the second half of Crypt of the Everflame. We have a cleric, sorcerer, and rogue. Your "hook" would be that you're a member of the town's militia sent to help some youngsters find and rescue a missing woman after two of the injured youths return to town with a tale of a simple initiation ceremony gone horribly wrong. Looking for a level one character of the head-bashing, door-smashing persuasion that can post once per weekday (at the minimum). Don't bother posting a completed character sheet yet - I just need a one or two sentence description of your character's personality and background. I'm eager to get this game rolling again lest it dies completely, so I will likely accept the first acceptable candidate. Expect to start immediately following your selection.
Before I make my selection, could each of your dwarven fighters give me an idea of your expected posting rate?
We're about halfway through the module and we've lost a player - our human ranger. I could use another character, preferably with the ability to disarm traps though that is not completely necessary. The rest of the party is comprised of a dwarf fighter, half-orc sorcerer, and human cleric. I'd like to get the game rolling again starting Monday, so if you're interested please pitch me a character by Sunday night.
We're going to finish this, by-golly. Nadab's RL buddy sent me a PM to join, so I'll get him up and going. Venedictos - you still here? Bern, Zane, you guys around?
The combination of Nadab's strength, racial darkvision, and magical aptitude proves incredibly fortuitous as he is able to locate and retrieve the single magical key at the bottom of the pool with relative ease. The doors to the west and north remain locked . There is nothing else of interest in this room, though Nadab does smell quite a bit better than before his swim.
I know Bern will be out indefinitely, but I just wanted to see if Zane was planning on coming back. Working in Africa sounds like a trip, so I'm just impressed he kept up with us as long as he did. I'll give it the weekend before posting for a replacement or two. In the meantime, I'll get a new post up presently and have Zane and Bern just follow along.
Venedictos detects a faint magic aura emanating from the bottom of the pool before him.
Despite only being able to get a very short head start, the combined force of Bern and Nadab slamming their shoulders into the door manage to bring it down off its hinges with a thunderous slam. In the center of the room before them is a large pool of clear water, fed by a fountain on the wall above it. By the illumination provided by Venedictos's glaive, you can see that the fountain has a stone statue of a weeping maiden holding the slain body of Kassen, but his head has been broken off and is nowhere to be seen. Once the first of you steps into the room, a voice booms out from the darkness, saying, "Magic is the key." The voice slowly fades, leaving a dreadful silence. To the left is another door, identical to the one you've just knocked down, leading north. Examining the pool:
By the light of the cleric's glaive, or some other means, you can see through the crystal-clear water that what must be 100 keys line the bottom of the pool, which appears quite deep . Examining the door: It is locked .
Moving slowly and deliberately, Nadab, Venedictos, and Zane are able to bypass the blades without injury. Bern, however, encumbered by his armor, stumbles over the second pair, slicing his thigh . Not hearing any obvious threats in the room at the end of the corridor, Nadab attempts to open the door, only to find it locked . Bern (13/16)
GM Rolls:
Wow - glad things lined up for your doctor to catch that when he did. Get better, man. I can auto-pilot Bern until you're back. As for the other three of you, I am going to push you through the hallway and get things moving again.
Just Nadab prepares to take another step forward, Zane calls out, halting the sorcerer's progress. The ranger moves alongside his companion and points out the faint outline of a pressure plate in the tile he was about to walk upon. Zane has his fellow adventurers step out of the corridor as he crouches and sets to work lodging bits of wood and debris into the crevice between the tile and pressure plate. GM Rolls:
As the ranger jams one last piece of wood between tile and plate, he can hear a click and the scraping of stone on stone. Suddenly, all eight swords - padded and not - come crashing down forcefully. Stuck between two pairs of blades, Zane sighs in relief. Though he had not been able to disable the trap, at least no one was injured in its triggering.
Now that those of us not living in Nigeria are well rested from our extended Memorial Day Weekend, let's get back to the business of saving Roldare's sister and lighting the flame of Kassen!
Nadab presses the butt of his long spear against the floor, both directly in front of him and the full range of his implement. The stone seems firm, without giving so much as an inch.
Vendictos's cursory glance beneath the first two statues does not turn up any evidence that covers had been pulled from the swords. DC 10 Perception:
Looking down the corridor, the covers for the first four swords are no where to be found. They look unpleasantly sharp and shiny.
By the light of Vendictos's glaive, the party can see the long corridor beyond the southern door is flanked by a row of human statues, set into alcoves on each side. The statues look like Kassen, and each one holds a longsword out in front of it. The blades of the four northernmost statues are wrapped in leather padding, while the four closest to the adventurers are uncovered. At the end of the corridor is another door.
Nadab hears nothing and he is incredibly confident that that is because there is nothing making any noise on the other side of the door.
With a little help from Bern, Zane is able to detach the two shields from the statue with minimal difficulty. The twin tower shields are poorly designed and weigh about 60 pounds each. Pushing against the door in order to gauge its strength and whether it might be barred from the other side, Zane assesses that a man as burly as Bern, even weakened slightly by the shadow, would likely be able to pop it open with a hearty kick or a hard shoulder.
Between Bern's brutal slash and Nadab's orb of acid, the statue proves it cannot tolerate any further damage. Its limbs cease movement with its battered arms extending two large tower shields toward the party. From Zane and Bern's close vantage point, it appears the shields could be slid from the statue's grasp with moderate effort. The door beside the altar on the lower level of the room appears to be locked , while the door on the upper level is not. The stairways remain chutes, though a cursory observation of the altar reveals a pressure plate with which the party might revert them back to their original form. Nadab 5/11 HP
Bern, still ignorant as to what the statue might be (other than the obvious), continues to hack away at it. Zane, too, attacks, but far less successfully. You can clearly see that the dents and divots inflicted on the statue is slowing the thing down significantly. Venedictos's channeling manages to bring Nadab back to consciousness, though just barely. The staggered sorcerer weakly pushes himself to his feet looking worse for the wear. The statue again bashes at Bern and Zane, sending a huge wooden shield toward each fighter simultaneously. Bern is able to leap from the blow, but Zane is not so lucky. The ranger takes the full brunt of the shield . GM Rolls:
Nadab 0/11 HP (staggered)
Both Zane and Bern manage to strike deep divots into the wood of the animated statue of Kassen, visibly marring the construct's movement and durability. Venedictos bravely extends his glaive (and body) over the stairs-cum-chute in order to pull Nadab to safety, but not before the statue bashes at the sorcerer with its shield, critically brutalizing the poor half-orc . GM Rolls:
Turning its attentions to the two warriors, the statue sloppily swings a shield at both Zane and Bern, missing both. GM Rolls:
Nadab -6/11 HP (unconscious, dying)
Wow - I'm just impressed you made it back from Nigeria in one piece!
Yoo hoo! Anybody home?
Sure - I wonder what lies behind that door on the upper level of the chamber you're currently in?
Sorry about that - no, you did not make it up. It is a DC 10 Climb check.
You're not that bad. Got lucky that last round. Retreat is probably a good idea, though.
Zane's attack strikes true, chipping a sizable chunk of wood from the statue's arm. Seeing this, Bern slashes at it with an attack of his own, but only glances his greatsword harmlessly off one of its shields. Bern Rolls:
The statue takes full advantage of Nadab's futile attempt to climb up the slide, smashing at the sorcerer with a shield and only just barely missing his heels. GM Rolls:
Turning toward the two closer, more aggressive assailants, the statue attacks Bern and Zane with one shield each, bringing them down in a thunderous and laborious slam. Despite their injuries, both warriors manage to back away from the impact. GM Rolls:
Nadab
Alright, I got this combat started for you and even gave you a nice hint as to the trick of winning it. Now its up to you guys to post!
Nadab, like Bern, manages to land on his feet when the stairways shift to slides. Drawing his longspear, the sorcerer immediately and inaccurately jabs at the statue, which bears down on Zane menacingly. Nadab Rolls:
Bern, seeing his ally's futile effort, steps forward and brandishes his greatsword at the statue, though his swing is no more deft than Nadab's. Bern Rolls:
Seeing his allies in combat with the suddenly animated statue, Venedictos steps to the edge of the upper level and draws his crossbow. Meanwhile, Zane - his sword ever at the ready - strikes the threat and manages to cut a shallow notch in the wood of its shoulder. Raising its shields high above its head, the statue brings both down in unison with tremendous force. Bern manages to sidestep one of the shields, but Zane is not so lucky with the other. The great wooden tower shield bashes against the ranger . GM Rolls:
Nadab
As soon as Zane steps off the last step, the sound of stone grinding on stone emanates through the chamber. Two things happen in rapid succession: the wooden statue of Kassen springs to life and the steps individually rotate 45 degrees turning the stairways into two long slides. Zane:
Before the statue comes to life, you notice a small keyhole in the center of its back. Bern and Nadab - Pass - DC 10 Acrobatics:
You manage to brace yourself against either side of the steps and safely make it down the stairs on your feet. Bern and Nadab - Fail - DC 10 Acrobatics:
The steps take you by surprise, causing you to fall on your rear end and slide down to the bottom of the stairway. Nadab
GM Rolls:
Zane presses his ear to the door and is fairly certain there is nothing moving about on the other side, nor are there any traps on the door. Venedictos does not locate any magical auras within the room.
Back from vacation and ready to jump back to it. In fact, new gameplay post is up and a-waitin'.
On the upper level with the party there is a door to the south. On the lower level there is another door to the north adjacent to the 15-foot-tall wooden statue of Kassen wielding two enormous shields. One of the shields is inscribed with the word “home,” while the other reads “family.”
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