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In Act 2 some of the directions seem to conflict with each other which causes some confusion and might make a tactical difference to the players.
The first contradiction concerns the directional approach the players can take to arrive at their intended destination. Under 2a. Boulder Dash it states “The PCs can choose to approach the area from any direction but if they approach from the west, the sewer is backed up and the passage is filled with sewage and debris making the route impassable on foot.” When you look at the map the compass shows north to the right and has a boulder blocking a debris filled tunnel on the bottom of the page, which would make it east while the other three offshoot tunnels look clear. Furthermore, under Traps in section 2a it states “A huge boulder currently blocks much of the sewage and debris from flowing through the east offshoot channel of this intersection.” This confirms that what looks like rubble on the map is actually rubble.
Mentioning the trap section brings up the next piece of confusion. The map shows eight alcoves down the section of the sewer tunnel that is labeled east; four on the north side of the tunnel and four on the south side, directly across from each other in pairs with the sewer muck flowing down the middle west-east. In all subtiers there is one trap shown on the map and it is located in an alcove on the north tunnel wall, second from the bottom (NE mid). It shows two kobolds also in alcoves on the north wall, one above (NE) and one below the trap (NW mid). This leaves the top alcove on the north (NW) and all the south alcoves empty in subtier 3-4 as all additional traps and monsters are only in subtier 6-7.
In 2a Traps there are two listed in subtier 3-4, a Boulder Trap that tests the players’ on being Indiana Jones and a Chute Trap that drops someone into area 2b. In the text above the stat blocks for the traps it states: “The kobold scouts can manually trigger the trap or it is triggered if a Medium creature enters the southeast alcove (with the broken gate).” Directly below the trap stat blocks is the stat block for the kobold scouts, where in During Combat the last sentence has the following: “One scout mans the trap trigger at all times.” Talking about the boulder trap.
Let’s move on to section 2b Drainage Room. In the description text for the players it is described that “There are eight large openings in the ceiling…The opening in the southwest has a knotted rope hanging down from it.” Under that in the explanatory text for the GM it explains how 2a and 2b connect: “Each of the grates in the sewers above connects to a corresponding drain exit in the ceiling of this room…anyone entering the southwest grate in the sewers above exits at the southwest drain exit in this room, and so on.” It further explains that “The kobolds have a knotted rope going from the broken grate in area 2a down to the northeast corner of this room.”
Here are my questions.
Which direction is north supposed to be on the map?
Is the blocked tunnel for player arrival the same blocked tunnel behind the boulder?
As there is only one trap in all subtiers and there are stat blocks for two different traps in each subtier does that square trigger both traps?
Since there is always one kobold manning the trap trigger, which one is it in case the players get to it before it can trigger the trap?
Since only medium creatures trigger the boulder trap automatically, is the trap trigger for the kobolds located in the same place and is a kobold supposed to be standing there?
The alcove with the broken grate is said to be southeast in 2a Traps, while 2b player description has the knotted rope on the southwest grate and the 2b GM info has the knotted rope going from the broken grate in 2a to the northeast corner of the room. Also, 2a Development explains that “…only the broken grate has a rope”. The alcoves in 2a are supposed to correspond to the 2b sections so which one actually has the broken grate? Shouldn’t it be marked with a trap icon on the map?
I run this game on Tuesday and if I don’t have an official answer by then here is how I am going to interpret everything.
I will keep north to the right.
I will change the blocked approach from west to east.
I will choose the northeast alcove as the boulder trap trigger location because there is a kobold there and it would be able to manually trigger the trap that a medium creature would automatically trigger. Furthermore it’s most fitting with the tactics and morale listed for the kobolds.
I will keep the mid-northeast alcove as the chute trap as it’s the only square labeled as a trap on the map for all subtiers. Also, as kobolds are clever trap-makers they wouldn’t choose the grate that is broken in a manner so obvious that small creatures can slip down an attached rope without difficulty as a chute trap designed to trick foes.
Which direction is north supposed to be on the map?
- When I ran this I just picked a direction for the PCs to enter from and made all the rest of the directions dead ends or made it obvious which way the foot traffic was going.
Is the blocked tunnel for player arrival the same blocked tunnel behind the boulder?
- See answer #1. But from what I understand the boulder is part of the debris and that's how its triggered by rushing water shooting it down the tunnel.
As there is only one trap in all subtiers and there are stat blocks for two different traps in each subtier does that square trigger both traps?
- One trap in 3-4, three in 6-7
Since there is always one kobold manning the trap trigger, which one is it in case the players get to it before it can trigger the trap?
-Pick one that is standing near the switch. Just assume that they do not have to be near the trap to trigger it.
Since only medium creatures trigger the boulder trap automatically, is the trap trigger for the kobolds located in the same place and is a kobold supposed to be standing there?
- See above
The alcove with the broken grate is said to be southeast in 2a Traps, while 2b player description has the knotted rope on the southwest grate and the 2b GM info has the knotted rope going from the broken grate in 2a to the northeast corner of the room. Also, 2a Development explains that “…only the broken grate has a rope”. The alcoves in 2a are supposed to correspond to the 2b sections so which one actually has the broken grate?
-not sure on this one. Once again, pick one and go with it.
Hope this answered your questions. Have fun with this scenario its really fun.
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I ended up running this as I said above & it worked great!
I will keep north to the right.
I will change the blocked approach from west to east.
I will choose the northeast alcove as the boulder trap trigger location because there is a kobold there and it would be able to manually trigger the trap that a medium creature would automatically trigger. Furthermore it’s most fitting with the tactics and morale listed for the kobolds.
I will keep the mid-northeast alcove as the chute trap as it’s the only square labeled as a trap on the map for all subtiers. Also, as kobolds are clever trap-makers they wouldn’t choose the grate that is broken in a manner so obvious that small creatures can slip down an attached rope without difficulty as a chute trap designed to trick foes.
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Looking at the map without all the kobolds on it, I've finally figured it out.
There is only one broken grate. It is in the alcove immediately to the right (North) of the boulder. You can't see that it's broken because there's a kobold standing on it. :) Thus, this is the location of the manual trigger and the location of the knotted rope.
I assume the writer wanted the broken grate to be the trigger area/escape route so that the Kobolds don't have to waste a standard action lifting the grate and can therefore double move down the rope. They can move through the broken grate and down the rope easily because they are Small sized creatures.
There are eight grates in 2a and eight drainpipes in 2b. They correspond to each other. Therefore the bottom right-hand drainpipe is above the broken grate and thus is the location of the knotted rope.
For the two traps labelled:"all subtiers" PCs can only land in either the top left-hand corner or the third left hand side.
For the additional trap labelled "subtier 6-7" PCs can also fall into second-from-the-bottom right-hand side drainpipe (just above the knotted rope's location).
As a final note: the chute traps are 20 feet long but are not 20 feet straight down which makes sense since none of the drainpipes line-up with the grates above. The pipes must be more like angled-slides. If the fall was 20 feet straight down the damage would be 2d6 not 1d6.
My two cents.
