Sorry if this has already been covered.
I am not entirely clear on the elevator in the Cairn that breaks after 3 rounds and allows a swarm of beetles to spew forth.
Exactly what is the time line for this event? The text says the elevator will crash down the shaft on the 3rd round that the pointer points at this hallway, but it also says it takes 1 round for the elevator to reach the bottom of the shaft under normal use.
Assuming the elevator is just below the floor when it starts, on round one it appears and the doors open. A PC steps in, doors close, it descends. Does this take one round or two (one round to enter the elevator, one round to descend, or does it take only one round to enter the elevator _and_ descend)?
I've read over this again and again, but it seems to me that one PC can get in to the elevator and ride it to the bottom, at which point (if that takes 3 rounds) it stops working, but also blocks the path of the beetles, or it has 1 round left, rises to the top and subsequently crashes down again.
Either way, if the elevator does not crash down for three rounds, it seems that one PC is going to be stuck at the bottom with the beetles for at least one round, unless all the PCs stand around gawking at the open elevator for 3 rounds.
The elevator that breaks does not rise to allow entry.
When the sarcophagus is pointed at it, it begins rumbling, as whatever controls its ascension has gotten jammed. It continues to rumble and grind for 3 rounds. These rounds do not have to be consecutive. If the PCs think quick and move the sarcophagus again on the first round, then when they eventually move it back it will rumble for 2 rounds.
After the 3rd round, the elevator drops completely, its support having broken under the strain. At this point the PCs can begin to make Listen checks to hear the bugs coming. If I recall correctly, the bugs come up 2 rounds after the elevator falls. This can give the PCs time to prepare for the unknown, potentially.
TK
That's how we did it...everyone was far too paranoid to ride the elevators before they were tested, and then it fell down, we heard the insects and took some distance to check out what was happening and think of a strategy to deal with the beetles.
Either way, if the elevator does not crash down for three rounds, it seems that one PC is going to be stuck at the bottom with the beetles for at least one round, unless all the PCs stand around gawking at the open elevator for 3 rounds.
With all the noise and rumbling from the elevator grating against stone, my PCs had no intention of going into it before they'd waited awhile and seen what happened. And 18 seconds isn't a particularly long time to wait, after all :)
Hmm... I didn't think to bring the issue with me to work today, and I am too impatient to wait until I get home.
Does it actually say in the text that it does not rise up and open? I guess I assumed that it did just like the other elevator.
Thanks for the answer though, it makes sense that way (obviously).
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Hmm... I didn't think to bring the issue with me to work today, and I am too impatient to wait until I get home.
Does it actually say in the text that it does not rise up and open? I guess I assumed that it did just like the other elevator.
Thanks for the answer though, it makes sense that way (obviously).
Yes, it accually says the elevator dose not rise, this is why it breaks and crashes.
Ok, got it in front of me now. The text does NOT actually say that the elevator doesn't rise. It doesn't say that it _does_ rise, but neither does it say that it doesn't.
"Unlike the previous elevator, however, this one is jammed and is not likely to survive much experimentation.
"When the arrow platform points at this tunnel, a cacaphonous creaking of stone against stone emerges from below the green lantern..."
So, yes, the part about it being "jammed" could (and obviously in retrospect does) mean that it does not rise, but when I read it I imagined that there was something jamming the works beneath the ground that would cause it to collapse at some point after it rises.
NEway... the point is now moot.
Thanks, M.