Okay, the arrow is pointing towards the Orange Lantern. The party wants to turn it to the Green Lantern. Would this activate the elevator under the Yellow Lantern as it passes (probably clicking into place at that point) or can they rotate it straight to the Green Lantern without activating the elevator?
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I made it clear that sarcophagus seems to settle at each alcove but the PCs can continue pushing on, making another DC 15 check (+2 for each "click" of momentum they've built). So if the Strength check fails and the sarcophagus comes to rest pointing down the Yellow Latern Alcove, I gave them one last chance to make the Strength check to get it to the Green Latern position. If this failed, then the Yellow would activate.
Okay, the arrow is pointing towards the Orange Lantern. The party wants to turn it to the Green Lantern. Would this activate the elevator under the Yellow Lantern as it passes (probably clicking into place at that point) or can they rotate it straight to the Green Lantern without activating the elevator?
This is pretty much a DM judgement call. I made it so that the arrow activates automatically at each "click" on the dial, so that the elevator under the yellow lantern rises before they can shift it over to the green lantern. This gives the PCs the *opportunity* to explore the Lair of the Architect before unleashing the Acid Beetle Swarm and Mad Slasher, so that the party can hopefully get some more experience under their belts before taking on the potentially deadly swarms in the lair of the Workers. Of course, knowing most PCs, they'll want to examine ALL the possible positions on the dial before going down any of them - so they'll probably unleash the swarm and slasher first thing, no matter what you do.
VedicCold,
Yeah, that's what the group I'm DMing did (check each position before choosing one). I was a little surprised at how cautious they were being. As veteran players (or despite that fact, perhaps) I expected them to eagerly explore but they were VERY reluctant to go down ANY of the elevators (perhaps I've impressed the point of what a lousy idea it is to separate the group a little too powerfully). They didn't want anybody "waiting" at the bottom of the elevator alone even for the amount of time it would take for the elevator to return to the sarcophagus room.
VedicCold,
Yeah, that's what the group I'm DMing did (check each position before choosing one). I was a little surprised at how cautious they were being. As veteran players (or despite that fact, perhaps) I expected them to eagerly explore but they were VERY reluctant to go down ANY of the elevators (perhaps I've impressed the point of what a lousy idea it is to separate the group a little too powerfully). They didn't want anybody "waiting" at the bottom of the elevator alone even for the amount of time it would take for the elevator to return to the sarcophagus room.
This is exactly what happened with my group. When they finally did settle on going down into the Lair of the Architect (they pretty much cleaned out the Workers lair first, since they wound up unleashing the swarm and slasher, pasting both handily thanks to the fire-loving sorceress and her nifty burning hands spell), it took them FOREVER to decide who would be going down alone first. Wound up being the Cleric/Monk, since she was deemed most capable of handling herself for a few rounds alone in a fight.
VedicCold,
Yeah, that's what the group I'm DMing did (check each position before choosing one). I was a little surprised at how cautious they were being. As veteran players (or despite that fact, perhaps) I expected them to eagerly explore but they were VERY reluctant to go down ANY of the elevators (perhaps I've impressed the point of what a lousy idea it is to separate the group a little too powerfully). They didn't want anybody "waiting" at the bottom of the elevator alone even for the amount of time it would take for the elevator to return to the sarcophagus room.
Yeah my group tried each position first. The swarm didn't come out until they were ready because as soon as they heard it make sound they moved it to the next color quickly. Once they had seen what each one did, they went through them one at a time saving the swarm one for last.
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A lit Green Latern was enough to convince my players that this was the first place to turn the sarcophagus once they realized it turned. Still, they went down the Yellow Alcove after being "scarred" by the beetle swarm. I think my suggestion of more beetles down below was the kicker on discouraging that route first.
Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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I made it so that the arrow activates automatically at each "click" on the dial, so that the elevator under the yellow lantern rises before they can shift it over to the green lantern. This gives the PCs the *opportunity* to explore the Lair of the Architect before unleashing the Acid Beetle Swarm and Mad Slasher, so that the party can hopefully get some more experience under their belts before taking on the potentially deadly swarms in the lair of the Workers.
For what it's worth, this is the way we played it in our campaign and is the way the encounter was intended to be run when I wrote it.
--Erik
For what it's worth, this is the way we played it in our campaign and is the way the encounter was intended to be run when I wrote it.
--Erik
Thanks everyone, especially Erik.
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My group didn't jump in the first elevator and went ahead and turned it and ended up fighting the swarm and slasher (or rather upon seeing it, running for their lives).
Upon their return, since the hole was open (after the fought the slasher and beetles), they just dropped right down.
Maybe it seemed safer since it was "open" ?
What was really fun was when my group's elf rogue went down the elevator, without a light source.
No darkvision...
"You hear the doors open... You see... blackness".
The problem was that he had to GET OUT OF THE ELEVATOR for it to go back up...
Heh heh heh...