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Post by Wolfgar on Jul 23, 2013 11:10:53 GMT -5
Summary for Lee's benefit
We were resting in the corridor after the blade barrier. An hour in, those on guard saw a billowing cloud moving in our direction. Youssef moved to the front and used the peacock feather to push it back. The creature (hag of some sort) then used a wand of frost on the people in the front. Most were protected by Paavo's magic resistance. Youssef hit it with a fireball. The rest tried charging but were slowed by a ice storm and wall of ice. Mamnoon went toe-to-toe with the creature and killed it before it could surrender. Youssef claimed the wand of frost (frigida command word).
People continued to rest while the fighter types searched for secret doors and tracks. Once everyone was up a Knock was used on the section of wall and heard a door open but couldn't see it. Paavo used Dispel Magic to reveal an illusionary wall behind which was a secret door opened by the Knock.
Exploring further we found a long hall of prison cells. We used keys from the hag to check each door. One revealed another passage way. The last revealed a golden spirit which was once a Lion of Mitra. We had a good talk with her (Hortensia). We agreed to return her bones to the White Tower. In the meantime we can summon her once a day and she can fight and heal. The holder of her bone gets PfE while she is summoned (20 turns/day).
Moving forward we found a couple more stone faces and made it passed them without setting off traps. Poor unseen servants. We entered a big room with a moat. A body in linens was on the ground in the middle of moat. We were attacked by water weirds when we attempted to retrieve the body. Dan was pulled under. Lasting Breath once again came to the rescue. We also used the rug of memorization to quickly learn Purify Water which we used to destroy the weird holding Dan. The weirds left us alone at that point knowing we could destroy them if they attacked again.
At this point Colby awoke. We immediately put him to work retrieving the body. Much jewelry was found as well as a scroll that detonated with Explosive Ruins.
Friedrich explored the conjoining room and was attacked by a ghost. Mamnoon and Mary flew to help him. Mamnoon was feared and Mary escaped Magic Jar. The three fled back to the rest of party and the ghost obliging came after them. Surprisingly everyone else made their save and we killed it before anyone put Friedrich could be aged (50 years is nothing to a dwarf). We retrieved the linen wrapped corpse of the ghost and got more stuff including some nice 6th level magic user scrolls - Disintegrate, Tenser's Transformation and Project Image and a couple of protection scrolls.
The next room had 128 niches holding the bodies of the servants of Tazolo. One of the niches was empty and revealed a secret door. At this point all of the bodies animated and began to rush us (think World War Z). They ran through Colby's Wall of Fire and over Mary's Wall of Ice. And took out at most of the party in the first round. Paavo used his faith in Ukko to disbelieve the illusion. Those who succumbed ended up taking half of their hit points in damage.
We rested a little and then proceeded through the secret door in to the next room. Here we found 3 plots of earth and pool with a silver ladle. There was an inscription on the ladle that we interpreted as us needing to ladle water on the mounds. We did and after a couple of minutes large animal headed (pig, camel and hippo) humanoids began to rise from the earth. We left it there.
As they were coming up we recalled the earlier note
Pig and camel bring thee woe, hippo shows the way to go
I am guessing they are clay golems (the soil they were in was very clayey) and this might be a good time to use our protection from golems scroll.
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Post by Wolfgar on Jul 23, 2013 14:43:05 GMT -5
Magic:wooden-handled shovel dark-red clay ring ... 3 clay golems rising from the earthen plots (camel, pig, hippo...) Do you think a magic shovel is effective against clay golems? Who wants to put on the clay ring and try to control the golems? |
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Post by Friedrich on Jul 24, 2013 22:46:52 GMT -5
Damn, I don't think I've seen that one before. These are great! |
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Post by Ginger on Jul 25, 2013 7:46:01 GMT -5
I definitely think now is the time for that Protection from Golems scroll. Cast Prayer asap and go to work against the pig and camel golems with the best blunt weapons we have. Haddiq is loath to part with his awesome +2 demon skull flail, but it should definitely go to someone with 18/00 strength in this situation.
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Post by Wolfgar on Jul 25, 2013 9:01:48 GMT -5
Dan will give someone (likely Paavo) the rod of the flailing (+3) and suggest they use the protection (+4) before attacking. Also Youssef is willing to part with his staff of striking (+3). Is that all of the blunt weapons we have? Does anyone have the flanged mace?
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Post by Ginger on Jul 25, 2013 11:03:06 GMT -5
Now is a very good time to burn through charges getting an extra +6 to damage on the staff of striking.
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Post by Wolfgar on Jul 29, 2013 8:45:27 GMT -5
Poor Colby. Hopefully when we do raise him there won't be any lingering effects of the sleeping curse.
In order to get around the Symbol of Death, Paavo can try using repeated Dispel Magics. With a 12 level difference, he has roughly a 1-in-4 chance to dispel it. He can keep his head down (not looking at the Symbol) and keep at it for 15 minutes. There should only be a 1% chance it isn't dispelled with that amount of time. We can use Find Traps from 3" to see if/when the doorway is no longer trapped.
Also I think we are getting close to the end of the dungeon (we found the ship). How are we on rations? If we have a couple of days of rations remaining then I say we rest, get back up to max hit points and spell load. I still don't think there are any wandering monsters and I don't think Tzolo is planning anything. We can use the time to try more Remove Curses. Also people can level.
Also I am in no rush to make an agreement with Tzila. Pentadastion is close by and it is a big city. I bet we can find a 9th level cleric that we can just pay to have Colby raised. We certainly have the loot to pay for it.
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Post by Ginger on Jul 29, 2013 10:54:39 GMT -5
How far away is Antioch? We breezed through our travel pretty quickly, but I recall it being on the order of 2 weeks. If we want to be 100% to avoid a double cross, maybe we could find an altar, use some spell inks and have Tzila write a raise dead scroll that we'd then use.
I think we have 6 weeks rations in the q box. I think we probably use 2 weeks worth per day, so a day of resting makes a lot of sense. I was disinclined to spend the time because Colby only go so much time, but that's no longer a factor. At least 4 henchmen will level, so we should definitely rest.
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Post by Wolfgar on Jul 29, 2013 11:23:12 GMT -5
It is hard to tell with the travel montage music running. I thought Barb-el-Shay was 3 or 4 weeks away. Of course it might be much faster in the Uzrivoy!
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Post by Ginger on Jul 29, 2013 11:42:16 GMT -5
It's also much faster via magic carpet. I don't know how the "1 person" rule works if the rider can carry Colby's body without being encumbered.
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Post by venger on Jul 29, 2013 13:27:19 GMT -5
In order to get around the Symbol of Death, Paavo can try using repeated Dispel Magics. With a 12 level difference, he has roughly a 1-in-4 chance to dispel it. He can keep his head down (not looking at the Symbol) and keep at it for 15 minutes. There should only be a 1% chance it isn't dispelled with that amount of time. We can use Find Traps from 3" to see if/when the doorway is no longer trapped. As any caster will tell him, if he fails to dispel the magic, he could be susceptible to the effects of the symbol. One cannot tamper with dangerous magical wardings without some risk. 4.5 weeks = 3 days rations remaining, everyone having eaten after the last rest period. With Colby dead there is slightly more although you must decide if you are going to feed your prisoner. Pentadastion is close by and it is a big city. 5 days to the east. I bet we can find a 9th level cleric that we can just pay to have Colby raised. Haddiq is skeptical. How far away is Antioch? We breezed through our travel pretty quickly, but I recall it being on the order of 2 weeks. With Khaddil as guide: Barb-el-Shay is 24 days away from Pentadastion. Entioch is 20 days away from Pentadastion. The party is 5 days away from Pentadastion. Though it is pretty much due east. Khaddil was very specific in his route: southwest from Barb-el-Shay, to the City of Vultures (Damasat), skirting the western edge of the Desert of Regulator, crossing the Indulapar and following the river to the coast, south to Pentadastion. And I will remind you that he referred to the nearby mountains and their immediate vicinity as dangerous "dragon territory". Death with no save situations make me uncomfortable. But in fairness, I think I was pretty lenient with the other trap. When reading on the puddings, oozes and jellies in the Monster Manual: black puddings can only pass or flow through "narrow" 1" cracks under doorways. Grey oozes are 6-8" thick and the entry on the ochre jelly is fairly vague, indicating only that they can flow through "small spaces". And, technically, Teleport spells and the like cannot be used to bypass obstructions - walls, doors, gates, etc. within the dungeon. So my conscience is somewhat eased... |
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Post by venger on Jul 29, 2013 13:56:10 GMT -5
It's also much faster via magic carpet. I don't know how the "1 person" rule works if the rider can carry Colby's body without being encumbered. Nobody, even with 18(00) strength, can carry a human body without being encumbered. DMG pg. 225: The encumbrance figure should not be taken as the weight of the object - it is the combined weight and relative bulkiness of the item. |
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Post by venger on Jul 29, 2013 14:55:24 GMT -5
The raven-haired cleric Tzila is willing to bargain with the party. She is extremely intelligent, wise beyond her years and charming in a Neutral-Evil-yet-17-charisma sort of way.
She has to offer:
1) a raise dead for Colby - either by spell or by scroll
2) her aid in escaping the tomb
3) first-hand knowledge of this tomb, the Uzrivoy, the Jezulein Cult, the Great Temple and of course the Demonspore.
Surely, Tzila insists, the party must realize that even more lethal traps and powerful guardians are still yet to come. She could prove a powerful ally.
In exchange for any of the above, at a minimum, she requires:
1) food and clothing
2) not to be gagged/tied up and dragged around the dungeon
3) your Lawful-Good types to offer oaths that she will be unharmed/released upon escape from the tomb. In her own form, not polymorphed, with no mind-altering magicks used on her. And not subsequently followed and murdered...
And if she is cooperative, maybe the party would consider returning some of her possessions.
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Post by venger on Jul 29, 2013 15:06:56 GMT -5
With regards to the symbol of death, Tzila would recommend simply sending through a few more of your expendable henchmen/followers to discharge the spell.
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Post by Wolfgar on Jul 29, 2013 15:15:55 GMT -5
In order to get around the Symbol of Death, Paavo can try using repeated Dispel Magics. With a 12 level difference, he has roughly a 1-in-4 chance to dispel it. He can keep his head down (not looking at the Symbol) and keep at it for 15 minutes. There should only be a 1% chance it isn't dispelled with that amount of time. We can use Find Traps from 3" to see if/when the doorway is no longer trapped. As any caster will tell him, if he fails to dispel the magic, he could be susceptible to the effects of the symbol. One cannot tamper with dangerous magical wardings without some risk. I will throw out some suggestions and the casters can weigh in on the likelihood of success. Cast Dispel Magic from the end of the hall 50" away. If the Symbol is dispelled it will be harmless. If not dispelled, then it is triggered but no one is in range to suffer the effects. So also rendered harmless. (I know we have used this to disable glyphs from a distance.) I think Colby's Mage Shield was up when he read the Symbol. So the Symbol should have already used most of its killing capacity. Assuming it could kill up to 80 h.p. of creatures and Colby was at 20 of 40 h.p. Then only an additional 20 (=80-40-20) h.p. of creatures can be killed. Youssef or Mary could take the remainder on either of their Mage Shields. Other suggestions: -force the ghouls to go through the doorway (open pit, drop rope, PfE on our side of pit, turn). -send a number of Unseen Servants through doorway, each takes 6 h.p. -get Friedrich's total h.p. above threshold, cast Feign Death on party members, have him drag them through. -use Projected Image to cast Dispel Magic. -use Charm Person repeatedly on Tzila, get her to tell us how to get around this trap Also, should I ask what happened to Colby's familiar? I suppose it is still alive in his backpack since it didn't read the Symbol. But they are no longer linked. |
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Post by venger on Jul 29, 2013 16:38:42 GMT -5
I'm not looking for a "gotcha-moment" with the symbol of death, so I'm willing to discuss as DM how I see this would work. Cast Dispel Magic from the end of the hall 50" away. I'm with you so far. If the Symbol is dispelled it will be harmless. Correct. If not dispelled, then it is triggered but no one is in range to suffer the effects. So also rendered harmless. (I know we have used this to disable glyphs from a distance.) Correct. But realize, even if the symbol is triggered, it has to kill 80HP worth of people before it will disappear. So if nobody is in range when the spell is triggered, 0HP are dealt, and the symbol remains. If the intent is to safely attempt a Dispel Magic without risk to the caster, I agree, this will work. But if the Dispel Magic fails, the symbol still remains in effect until 80HP have been slain... I think Colby's Mage Shield was up when he read the Symbol. Mage Shield, a 2nd level spell, only works on "direct damage" magical energy, to steal a term from Magic the Gathering. Magic missile, fireball, lightning bolt, cone of cold, ice storm, meteor shower, etc. Spells where we roll damage. Symbol of death states "one or more creatures whose total hit points do not exceed 80 are slain." It's not dealing damage, so it can't be shielded against. I'm interpreting the spell to mean that once 80HP of creatures are dead, the symbol is gone. Though I feel like the spell leaves a lot of room for interpretation. -force the ghouls to go through the doorway (open pit, drop rope, PfE on our side of pit, turn). This is my favorite idea, though I think undead things are immune to death magicks. -send a number of Unseen Servants through doorway, each takes 6 h.p. Unseen servants aren't living, so they can't die. Also see above, re: symbol of death doesn't actually deal damage. -get Friedrich's total h.p. above threshold, cast Feign Death on party members, have him drag them through. I have no idea how this would play out... clever clever. -use Projected Image to cast Dispel Magic. This would be the same as casting Dispel Magic from 50' away and use up the Project Image scroll. -use Charm Person repeatedly on Tzila, get her to tell us how to get around this trap She already told you how she would do it. She would send dozens of slaves and low-level followers through until the symbol was satiated and then trod over their corpses to claim her prize. Also, should I ask what happened to Colby's familiar? I suppose it is still alive in his backpack since it didn't read the Symbol. But they are no longer linked. His backpack saved vs. crushing blow when he was grasped by the fist, so the snake survived that. It did not read the symbol, nor did it pass through the portal, so it was not affected by that. There are no explicit rules for what happens to a familiar when the magic-user dies... in the PHB it indicates Colby would lose HP if it died and in the DMG it only says that the familiar will serve until killed. Maybe Colby's soul is now co-habitating the snake's body, and is why it will remain docile until he is raised or found to be permanently dead. |
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Post by Dead Greyhawk on Jul 29, 2013 20:50:24 GMT -5
Monster summoning I
Several times.
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Post by Wolfgar on Jul 29, 2013 21:06:02 GMT -5
In theory (i.e. according to the MM), ghouls are subject to all attack forms except sleep and charm. However with only 2 hit dice, they don't have enough h.p. to negate the Symbol. I guess repeated use of Dispel Magic is the way to go. Once people have slept 6 to 8 hours we can muster 16 3rd level spells between Dan, Mary, Ingrid, Haddiq and Youssef. Hopefully we will get lucky and not have to use all of those spells.
Still it seems a little odd that there is no other way around this. The spell says nothing about the caster being immune to the effect unlike the description of Explosive Runes and Glyph of Warding. So either the caster didn't plan to come this way or they would have to dispel magic and re-apply every time they wanted access to the ship.
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Post by Wolfgar on Jul 29, 2013 21:10:18 GMT -5
Summoned monsters are accorded a soul in this campaign and as such the good characters cannot use them as sheep in a minefield. It is okay to send them to their death in battle but knowingly getting them to trigger death traps is wrong.
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Post by Wolfgar on Jul 29, 2013 21:51:34 GMT -5
With 3 days of rations we should easily be able to dispel the symbol, remove the curses, heal everyone up, and explore the rest of the place. And Mamnoon (and the clerics) can try again to create food - maybe sometimes it works.
I am in no rush to make any agreement with Tzila. At 12th level she would be the most powerful cleric this side of Antioch. That is not something I am comfortable releasing to the world. We can see what Hortensia has to say when we bring her back in 24 hours.
Regarding Colby, I am thinking once we are out of here Mary can Teleport with him to Antioch. First she would copy Teleport from one book to another. Then she would read it from one book (destroying that copy) and take herself (shrunk) and Colby to Fizzi. Once Colby is raised he can teleport the two of them back. This assumes we are unable to locate a local priest of 9th level.
A simpler option would be to summon Dariel to do a quick round-trip with Colby. He could also take Tzila to Fizzi for safe keeping.
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Post by venger on Jul 29, 2013 23:35:29 GMT -5
In theory (i.e. according to the MM), ghouls are subject to all attack forms except sleep and charm. The Monster Manual doesn't specifically state that spectres, wraiths, vampires, wights are immune to death spells. But it also doesn't say fire elementals are immune to fire. I feel some of these must go without saying. Maybe it's a quirk of my particular campaign. Still it seems a little odd that there is no other way around this. The spell says nothing about the caster being immune to the effect unlike the description of Explosive Runes and Glyph of Warding. So either the caster didn't plan to come this way or they would have to dispel magic and re-apply every time they wanted access to the ship. You have to imagine a 20th level magic-user has a wide array of options. I mean, Friedrich could easily dimension door into the room avoiding the symbol. Summoned monsters are accorded a soul in this campaign and as such the good characters cannot use them as sheep in a minefield. It is okay to send them to their death in battle but knowingly getting them to trigger death traps is wrong. I don't know if it is as clear cut as all that. But from a paladin's standpoint that works. |
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Post by Ginger on Jul 31, 2013 10:00:50 GMT -5
Maybe I'm just engaging in wishful thinking, but can't we just avoid the symbol by telling everyone to avert their gaze while entering the room? It says that the penitent will be ok, I think that's suggesting that if you keep your head bowed reverently, you'll avoid the symbol.
Why do we need to dispel it?
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Post by venger on Jul 31, 2013 10:21:43 GMT -5
I can definitely hear Sean Connery/dead Colby muttering "only the penitent man will pass... the penitent man.." and that appeals to me on some level.
However:
"A symbol spell causes the creation of magical runes which affect creatures which pass over, touch, read or pass through a portal on which the symbol is inscribed."
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Post by Ginger on Jul 31, 2013 10:30:52 GMT -5
I really love how in this campaign appeals to pop culture references will frequently trump the text of the rules.
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Post by venger on Jul 31, 2013 11:06:46 GMT -5
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Post by Wolfgar on Jul 31, 2013 13:14:23 GMT -5
Maybe I'm just engaging in wishful thinking, but can't we just avoid the symbol by telling everyone to avert their gaze while entering the room? It says that the penitent will be ok, I think that's suggesting that if you keep your head bowed reverently, you'll avoid the symbol. Why do we need to dispel it? I wondered the same thing. A possible interpretation of the spell is that "the portal on which the symbol is inscribed" specifically means the lintel and jambs of the doorway. This symbol would then be above the doorway instead of on the doorway. And then the only way to trigger it would be to read it. I don't necessarily agree with this interpretation but it may be what the dungeon designer had in mind. |
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Post by Friedrich on Aug 4, 2013 21:21:10 GMT -5
Fun session today as usual. No need for a recap as everybody was here including Dan and Garreth. Sucks about the level draining. To think I had some hopes that Friedrich would catch a break....but it just hasn't come yet.
Anybody ever watch Charlie Brown with the Great Pumpkin? Linus stays out all night every Halloween believing that this is the year that the Great Pumpkin will finally arrive and everybody just looks at him like he's stupid? Linus never gave up!
The Great Pumpkin WILL ARRIVE!!!
But if not I'd settle for a restoration. That was the worst spot on the XP chart to get level drained. Come on DM!
/rant
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Post by venger on Aug 4, 2013 23:10:35 GMT -5
what is the pumpkin in this analogy?
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Post by Friedrich on Aug 4, 2013 23:32:59 GMT -5
You've never seen the Great Pumpkin? The Great Pumpkin is to Linus as a dwarf size armor or a magic axe would be to Friedrich. Everybody but Friedrich knows it doesn't exist! But he keeps holding out anyway just like Linus.
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Post by venger on Aug 5, 2013 7:28:26 GMT -5
Unfortunately, now I have to take all the magic axes and dwarf-sized armor out of Tzolo's treasure vault or I'll look like a weak DM who folds to his players' every demand. :'(
Friedrich has an axe of wounding and a +3 two-handed axe (bardiche) that he never uses. I offered magical dwarf-sized chainmail for sale and he turned his nose up at it.
I gave the party a ridiculously overpowered item that casts permanency and with some time and $$$ you could have created any magic weapon you wanted. Of course that hammer has been gathering dust in Sherlane's basement for years.
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