TPK Postponed

[Ginger]

We managed to avoid a total party kill... because we ended before finishing combat.

To recap: We found a secret door which led to a few new rooms. We rescued a prisoner who was a low level, elven fighter/magic user. We were going down a passageway where we were attacked by dark elves. They cast "Darkness' on us in the passageway and it went downhill from there. They had hand crossbows with deadly poison which had a -2 save modifier. We'd cast Bless and Prayer, but so did they which cancelled our spells out. In addition to the drow there were huge spiders as well as half men/half spiders. Otto was charmed and held in the same round, then poisoned. Everyone went down at one point or another. As it stands now, Raven, Jasper and Otto are fighting in the main room. Otto is poisoned, held and charmed. Perrin is held. Hugh is unconscious, but unpoisoned.

In the corridor, Winthrop is poisoned and Grizzela is unconscious. They are both in a stinking cloud, which has 4 giant spiders in it as well. The cloud is the only thing keeping them from mauling Adler (held), Samantha (held), and Pfiffwin. Antonus is calling for Pfiffwin to retreat with him, and Pfiffwin grabbed Adler's Heal scroll and is gonig to flee.

The plan going forward is for Cedrus to slow Otto's poison next round. Then, he'll bring up Hugh, who will cast Tritherion's Mark on Otto to give him a second chance to save for Hold and Charm.

[Perrin]

Wow, I wish I hadn't missed that insanity... although maybe I should have allowed Perrin to have escaped it. When the plan going forward involves 3 rounds of actions going the right way, we're in trouble.

[venger]

perrin said:

When the plan going forward involves 3 rounds of actions going the right way, we're in trouble.

So true...

Party status:

outside the mountain-
Dell (feebleminded)
Adrienne
Clift

in the chamber-
Raven (20 hp)
Otto (held, charmed, poisoned)
Cedrus (2 hp)
Jasper (8 hp)
Perrin (held)
Hugh (unconscious)

in the hallway-
Winthrop (poisoned)
Grizella (unconscious)
Adler (held)
Samantha (held)
Pfiffwin (mirror imaged)
Antonus (flying)


The enemy: (mostly depleted of spells)

(3) driders (2 magic users w/mirror image, 1 cleric)
(6) spiders (4 stinking clouded, feared)
(4) dark elf fighters (1 confused)
(1) dark elf magic user (slowed)
(1) dark elf priestess (withdrew from combat)

I think that's about it.

Antonus is loathe to flee and abandon the party.

Raven's leadership will see us through...

[Dead Greyhawk]

Either 5 or 7 spiders. One got lightning bolted by a male drider and fled. The gold and black widow spider is with the priestess.

At 12" a round, it would take about 10 rounds to fly back to Dell and the others, assuming no door was closed and you went the shortest path. Six doors are in the way.

Each of the male driders has a single mirror image.

Perrin is likely held another 5 or so rounds. Otto is likely held another 3 or so rounds.

Otto was shot with a hand crossbow. Winthrop was bitten by a spider.

Pfiffwin still has some offense, chromatic orb (x2), color spray, imp. phantasmal force, as well as invisibility and wraithform. He has 7 HP.

Perrin has 9 HP and at least 1 1st level and 2 2nd level spells. (Assuming I'm reading Perrin's character sheet properly.)

Hugh has all of his third level spells still, as well as a smattering of others.

Aoife (Eve) Merril hasn't been seen since the battle started, but she would have 4 first level spells, none of them offensive, though she does have a bow.

[Wolfgar]

arrowguy said:

The plan going forward is for Cedrus to slow Otto's poison next round. Then, he'll bring up Hugh, who will cast Tritherion's Mark on Otto to give him a second chance to save for Hold and Charm.

Since the Hold is going to go down soon and Charm (which no one in theory knows about) only stops me from killing the drider that cast it (Does the drider even speak common to give Otto suggestions?). I think it would be better to bring Hugh up first and then the next round both of them could concentrate on Otto or Winthrop or heal themselves or Raven.

admin said:

At 12" a round, it would take about 10 rounds to fly back to Dell and the others, assuming no door was closed and you went the shortest path. Six doors are in the way.

Pfiffwin could run back and then use Wraithform to get through any closed doors, cross the narrow bridge and fly up the stairs. Before he leaves he can give the poison antidote (that Otto gave him) to Antonus to administer to Winthrop.

[venger]

The Stinking Cloud only lasts 4 rounds, the spiders only being affected for 1d4+1 rounds. Adler and Samantha are going to be held for longer than that, probably. Leaving them to be devoured by spiders is unacceptable.

Pfiffwin and Antonus can maybe take a couple of huge, vomiting spiders. But for the drider and two dark elf fighters behind them.....

[Wolfgar]

Pfiffwin could hit the spiders with a couple of Chromatic Orbs but that is unlikely to kill them unless they have already been hurt. Do you think Passwall can be used offensively to create a pit under people? It wouldn't slow down the drider but the dark elves would need help getting up. If we are lucky there is actually an open space less than ten feet down and they plummet to their death.

[Dell]

If Antonus could reach Winthrop, he could use the wand of steam to blast the spiders - the Drow will resist the magic, but the spiders won't. Meanwhile, Pfiffwin administers antidote to Winthrop.

In the room, Cedrus will heal himself, because he's only got 3 hitpoints. Jasper should hit the held Drow for max damage, which will kill it. If Raven can take out the two active fighters we'll be in good shape.

Well, better shape.

[Perrin]

otto said:

arrowguy said:

The plan going forward is for Cedrus to slow Otto's poison next round. Then, he'll bring up Hugh, who will cast Tritherion's Mark on Otto to give him a second chance to save for Hold and Charm.

Since the Hold is going to go down soon and Charm (which no one in theory knows about) only stops me from killing the drider that cast it (Does the drider even speak common to give Otto suggestions?). I think it would be better to bring Hugh up first and then the next round both of them could concentrate on Otto or Winthrop or heal themselves or Raven.

I agree - Cedrus should bring Hugh up first. At the very least, this shaves a round off the "free Otto" plan, as well as allowing greater flexibility in general.

If the hold on Otto has only about 3 rounds remaining, might I endorse the "free Perrin" plan instead? The spells on my character sheet were correct from last week, so Perrin would be able to slow poison on Winthrop or provide some healing.

[Perrin]

dell said:

If Antonus could reach Winthrop, he could use the wand of steam to blast the spiders - the Drow will resist the magic, but the spiders won't. Meanwhile, Pfiffwin administers antidote to Winthrop.

In the room, Cedrus will heal himself, because he's only got 3 hitpoints. Jasper should hit the held Drow for max damage, which will kill it. If Raven can take out the two active fighters we'll be in good shape.

Well, better shape.

If Cedrus heals Hugh first, then we'd have 2 healers, so that if one goes down, the other can still heal. Just my two cents.

[Ginger]

At such a dire time, Raven's arrow of cleric slaying is burning a hole in his quiver. Would it work on a drider cleric?? If not, maybe running to the back and slaying the leader will knock them off guard.

[Wolfgar]

I would worry their magic resistance would come into play. Don't you do enough damage with normal arrows to kill them?

[Dell]

I don't think magic resistance would work on the arrow of cleric slaying. Do vorpal swords not cut off their heads? Do swords of wounding not... wound?

In any case, going after someone that's essentially left the battlefield seems like a bad idea to me. Two good hits killed the other drider, so if you want to kill one, best to nail the drider in front of you repeatedly.

Where is Raven at? Is he by the little green altar, or in front of the center altar with Cedrus?

[Ginger]

dell said:

Would magic resistance would work on the arrow of cleric slaying?

No. It's not like they get magic resistance against a +3 sword. Or if magic resistance allowed them to ignore the bonuses on armor.

In other news, Hugh's armor failed vs. lightning bolt, so he'll be much less formidable when we bring him back up.

[Ginger]

I like how I quoted in my post something that was removed in editing while I was typing.

[Wolfgar]

dell said:

If Antonus could reach Winthrop, he could use the wand of steam to blast the spiders - the Drow will resist the magic, but the spiders won't. Meanwhile, Pfiffwin administers antidote to Winthrop.

Actually the way we play poison you die immediately. So the antidote won't do any good until he is revived.

Why are the Drow even worried about the stinking cloud? They are like 85% resistant to it assuming Antonus cast it.

[Ginger]

Raven is near the green altar. He killed on of the drow fighters last round. If we win initiative next round, he'll either plug 3 arrows into the drider near him or advance towards the main altar and plug 2 arrows into the main caster. Do you think he has protection from normal missiles? I don't think he does, because IIRC Dana didn't roll to dispel it when the priest tried to dispel the slow.

Question for the DM: Obviously they're wearing cloaks, but we should have been able to tell what armor the Drow were wearing when they engaged us in melee. Is it plate? Chain?

[Dell]

otto said:

Why are the Drow even worried about the stinking cloud? They are like 85% resistant to it assuming Antonus cast it.

There are 4 giant spiders in the stinking cloud, and they can't get past them to get to the people in the hallway.

And Samantha cast the stinking cloud, so yeah, they pretty much have no chance of being affected by it.

[Dell]

arrowguy said:

Question for the DM: Obviously they're wearing cloaks, but we should have been able to tell what armor the Drow were wearing when they engaged us in melee. Is it plate? Chain?

Under Armour.

[Wolfgar]

How about an illusion of us tossing oil on the spiders and lighting them on fire? The spiders should be intelligent enough to believe the illusion - in fact they might get a negative penalty for having a low but non-animal intelligence. Pfiffwin could keep the illusion of the fire going which would deter the drow from trying to cross.

[Dell]

Dell has some flasks of oil.

[Ginger]

otto said:

How about an illusion of us tossing oil on the spiders and lighting them on fire? The spiders should be intelligent enough to believe the illusion - in fact they might get a negative penalty for having a low but non-animal intelligence. Pfiffwin could keep the illusion of the fire going which would deter the drow from trying to cross.

That seems tough. First, the spiders are retching in the cloud. They're way too busy to have their minds trick themselves to feel like they're on fire. Second, the drow might be skeptical that we'd torch Winthrop and Grizzela.

I think Pfiffwin should first Dig or Passwall a pit beneath the two drow which are threatening the corridor.

[Wolfgar]

I didn't realize they were in the stinking cloud as well. That will make it harder to rescue Winthrop. Did Winthrop's Minor Globe go do down when he was poisoned? I don't suppose Antonus could read Fireball from his spellbook and just catch the spiders? If not Pfiffwin can give Antonus the wand and Pfiffwin will head for Dell. Pfiffwin also has some light and dark stones. We could use the dark stones to throw everything into confusion where no one can see anything or use the light stones to try to blind the drow.

[Dell]

otto said:

Did Winthrop's Minor Globe go do down when he was poisoned?

It's my understanding that spells, in general, don't go down until their duration is ended, regardless of whether the target goes from valid (caster) to invalid (corpse). This is why Otto can be dead, charmed, and held.

And it would take 4 rounds for Antonus to read Fireball from his spellbook, which is about 4 more rounds than we have. I think we should make casting from the book more practical, if only because I have so many books.

[venger]

Actually the way we play poison you die immediately. So the antidote won't do any good until he is revived.

You're telling me if we fed Winthrop an "antidote to poison" it would not revive him from being "poisoned??"

I don't think magic resistance would work on the arrow of cleric slaying.

The death magics in the arrow that "slay clerics instantly" are death magics. He might get a magic resistance.

If Antonus could reach Winthrop, he could use the wand of steam to blast the spiders - the Drow will resist the magic, but the spiders won't. Meanwhile, Pfiffwin administers antidote to Winthrop.

I didn't realize they were in the stinking cloud as well. That will make it harder to rescue Winthrop. Did Winthrop's Minor Globe go do down when he was poisoned? I don't suppose Antonus could read Fireball from his spellbook and just catch the spiders? If not Pfiffwin can give Antonus the wand and Pfiffwin will head for Dell. Pfiffwin also has some light and dark stones. We could use the dark stones to throw everything into confusion where no one can see anything or use the light stones to try to blind the drow.

Antonus can summon an Unseen Servant. It will traverse the Stinking Cloud with ease. It can then administer this antidote (which should in all fairness cure the poison) and fetch for Antonus the mighty sword "Foebiter." Or the Wand of Steam. Armed thus, with the aid of trusty Pffifwin and the hopefully revived, possibly retching Winthrop, he will rescue the party from certain doom.

Cedrus and Hugh should heal each other and Raven should pepper some Driders. Jasper should grapple that spellcaster off the altar. Using his open hand attacks while grappling...

*(Also Antonus has a Wand of Paralyzation to ply against these fell spiders)

[Ginger]

I think you're misunderstanding the nature of this particular poison. Typically, poison kills the afflicted person in d4 rounds. Thus, if you have 20 HP remaining and roll a 2, you lose 15 HP the first round and 15 HP the second round, bringing you to -10 and death. The spider poison in this mountain seems to be so potent that you go to -10 immediately. If you're dead, then an antidote will be just as unhelpful as a cure spell. However, magical spells like slow poison and neutralize poison don't just cure the poison. They magically make it as if the poison had never existed.

[Ginger]

apprentice said:

The death magics in the arrow that "slay clerics instantly" are death magics. He might get a magic resistance.

No. The magics in the arrow are like the magic in a sword. You don't get magic resistance versus magical weapons.

[Ginger]

The Heal scroll that Pfiffwin took also has Dispel Magic at 11th level on it. The unseen servant could bring it to someone to use on Otto to bring down his charm and hold.

[Dead Greyhawk]

otto said:

arrowguy said:

The plan going forward is for Cedrus to slow Otto's poison next round. Then, he'll bring up Hugh, who will cast Tritherion's Mark on Otto to give him a second chance to save for Hold and Charm.

Since the Hold is going to go down soon and Charm (which no one in theory knows about) only stops me from killing the drider that cast it (Does the drider even speak common to give Otto suggestions?). I think it would be better to bring Hugh up first and then the next round both of them could concentrate on Otto or Winthrop or heal themselves or Raven.

The drider spoke to you in common. One has spoken to Raven in common as well.

dell said:

If Antonus could reach Winthrop, he could use the wand of steam to blast the spiders - the Drow will resist the magic, but the spiders won't. Meanwhile, Pfiffwin administers antidote to Winthrop.

The spiders are on top of Winthrop. Two are on one side and two are on the other side of him. Steaming the spiders will definitely steam him and Grisela.

dell said:

In the room, Cedrus will heal himself, because he's only got 3 hitpoints. Jasper should hit the held Drow for max damage, which will kill it. If Raven can take out the two active fighters we'll be in good shape.

None of the drow are held. One is slowed. One is confused. Three are totally mobile.

dell said:

Where is Raven at? Is he by the little green altar, or in front of the center altar with Cedrus?

By the little green altar, along with one of the drow warriors and the green spider and the male drider with one mirror image.

arrowguy said:

Question for the DM: Obviously they're wearing cloaks, but we should have been able to tell what armor the Drow were wearing when they engaged us in melee. Is it plate? Chain?

Chain and buckler. All of them.

[venger]

I think you're misunderstanding the nature of this particular poison

How does one use this "antidote to poison" then? You heal the guy to 1 and then administer the antidote right away before he dies from poison again? What if you drank it pre-emptively?

arrowguy said:

The Heal scroll that Pfiffwin took also has Dispel Magic at 11th level on it. The unseen servant could bring it to someone to use on Otto to bring down his charm and hold.

Pfiffwin should throw a Chromatic Orb, maybe stick around to use Color Spray when the spiders wake up, and then go Wraithform with the scroll, taking it to Adrienne and Dell. If it's lost to the Drow, Dell isn't going to rescue us..

Besides, Antonus can't see Hugh or Cedrus without entering the room (past the spiders and dark elves and drider), doesn't know if they're alive, etc. The Unseen Servant isn't going to be much use in that regard.

Steaming Winthrop and Grizella would be bad. Using Foebiter would be much more heroic.

Also...

arrowguy said:

No. The magics in the arrow are like the magic in a sword. You don't get magic resistance versus magical weapons.

The arrow would still do damage like a normal arrow. It wouldn't pass right through him or anything. He might just get a magic resistance versus the magic killing effects. Like he would maybe from the lightning of a Javelin of Lightning.