dcc thracia part 8 ... giant! (ish)

let's get right into the next sesh!

Judge Claire: Okay guys, I was looking back over the notes from a few sessions back where you were in the smoky incense room, and I realized I didn't tell you that there's a non-secret door in the south wall of that room once you tear down the black curtains.
Sasha: What? We probably definitely wanted to go through that one instead of this one.
Judge Claire: It's another stone door, but this one has a skull set in the middle of it with glowing red eyes, and when you revealed it by tearing down the curtains, it said, "Enter fools! Join me in the bliss that is Thanatos! Become one with blessed death! It is in the final end that fulfillment lies!"
Heddy: Not sure I agree that we would have wanted to go through that one.
Sasha: It's basically daring us to go through, though. Connie's always up for a dare.
MSG: Did it register as inherently dangerous or evil to my spell?
Judge Claire: No.
MSG: Then I'd tell Connie it seems like bait to me, considering it reads as safe to my spell and is right out in the open, compared to the trapped, plastered-over door we found in the corner.
Sasha: Well, Connie is pretty keen on plastered-over doors by now, and not that smart, so that might work on her.
Heddy: Then ... what, we're back to trying to make an archway out of these pews to protect us from the spear trap in the ceiling?
Elle: Seems like.
Judge Claire: Anybody have a profession that would include construction or engineering of any sort? If not, Antwerp will have to direct everyone using her Disable Traps skill, and each person helping will need to make a Luck roll to not mess something up.
Akane: Nanda will be unhelpful, then. My luck ... so poor!
Judge Claire: You'll need at least 12 points of strength on each end of a bench to lift them up and make the top piece of an arch.
Elle: Imlero has that covered, and his Luck is semi-decent.
Sasha: Connie's buff too, with a 10 for Luck, which she thinks is fine.
Judge Claire: All right. Hettie, make Antwerp's Disable Trap check.
Hettie: Only an 11.
Judge Claire: Bench Warriors?
Elle: 10 is under my Luck.
Sasha: 5's under mine.
Judge Claire: Your arch is in place, then. What do you want to do?
Hettie: Can I make another Find Traps check to see if it's set up in a way that will block the spear?
Judge Claire: Yes, but at one die size lower because as far as you know, you succeeded in the building task.
Hettie: Only a total of 8. I guess we get chipping at the plaster.
Sasha: Wait ... I thought Connie already did that? While Chopper and Nanda were futzing with the other door and the hallway.
Judge Claire: Let me look back at the notes ... well, you said you were going to hang back and chip plaster at the end of one session, but then we did all that stuff with the 0-levels and when we came back here, you acted like Connie was with everybody else.
Sasha: Dang. I guess it would pay to re-read the notes before every session.
Ariel: Gosh, that would be a lot of work. They're super long.
Sasha: Not all the notes, just the ones about what we were doing most recently.
Ariel: Those are the ones I meant.
Judge Claire: Anyway, it's too late to replay that whole combat as though Connie was still chipping plaster the whole time, so we'll just say she changed her mind about staying behind.
Sasha: I guess that works.
Judge Claire: It'll be another ten minutes to chip away the plaster, because only one person can effectively get under the arch and work there. Also, you have to take breaks to avoid being poisoned by that gas, whatever it does.
MSG: We're probably coming up on the end of my Detect Evil spell, then.
Judge Claire: I think it's done by now, actually, between all the arch-building and work-checking and plaster-chipping and break-taking.
MSG: I'll re-cast it, then. It's just too valuable to wander around without it. 10 fails ... 6 fails ... 19 succeeds. Actually, it's even better than last time -- I detect things out to 120' and it's omnidirectional.
Judge Claire: Let me re-check the map. You detect several evil or dangerous presences between 50' and 70' due south, and one evil presence about 90' south by southwest.
Hettie: With the plaster chipped away, can I use Find Traps again to see if I can locate a trigger for that spear trap?
Judge Claire: Yes.
Hettie: 11.
Judge Claire: Looks like it will be set off by inserting a key in the lock. By the way, you find a keyhole for a lock in it.
Hettie: I'll try disabling this keyhole trigger. That's 11 ... I think it's worth it to spend a point of Luck and be sure about this. My Luck Die makes it 14.
Judge Claire: You feel pretty good about disabling it.
Hettie: Well, who has that skeleton key, then?
Akane: Nanda, but she prefers offering it to a more burlysome type.
Sasha: Connie takes it. And ... insert and turn.
Ariel: (That's what she said.)
Sasha: You, sheesh.
Judge Claire: The spear trap does not go off.
Sasha: Open the door, then.
Judge Claire: Beyond, you see about 40' of narrower hallway that then opens up into a room with orange light emanating from it. It looks like there's a beam of illumination shining down on a figure in the center of the room. The dark hallway continues beyond the room.
Sasha: I'll move up and size this dude up as I go.
Judge Claire: He's clad in chainmail and holds a stone mace. Vestments of some kind are draped about his shoulders. Around his neck is a more ornate version of the silver pendants you found, with larger turquoise stones. He appears to be slowly coming around, as though from a daze or sleep. As you get closer, you see that along the sides of the room are six skeletons, all in chainmail and wielding longswords. By the way, are any of you wearing the pendants you looted in the other rooms?
Heddy: I have 5 of them, and I don't even know that my peasant garb has pockets, so hanging them around my neck seems like the logical way to carry them.
Hettie: As a thief, Antwerp probably doesn't care to have his valuables visible out in the open, so I should think if I'm wearing them, they're tucked away under my shirt.
Elle: Imlero has a backpack as one of her only possessions, so she'd be using it wherever possible. If she were any smarter, she might think to wear a pendant just to have a 10 gp fall-back even if she loses her pack. But I'm playing her on the slow side.
Ariel: Well, Granny is even dumber than Imlero, so she probably doesn't think of doing anything with a necklace besides wearing it.
Sasha: Connie's a con artist. she'll keep things close to the vest like Antwerp.
Akane: Lack of storage means Nanda also wears hers.
MSG: Chopper's not keen on displaying something that seems cult-y and not related to his own deity, so he probably pocketed his.
Judge Claire: All right. Getting closer up, Chopper notices that the skeletons are registering as Unholy to his spell, but the guy is not. His mace is inherently dangerous, but there's no ill intent coming from him. 
MSG: I'll let everybody know that. 
Sasha: Connie says, "Maybe so, but he's got that big fat silver amulet that might be nice to have."
MSG: I grimace and look to see if the guy becomes wary at that.
Judge Claire: He doesn't seem to understand. His expression is somewhat curious as he takes you in.
Hettie: Considering all the unreadable writing we've encountered, he most likely speaks some ancient language unbeknownst to any of us. Antwerp tells Connie that if she's desperate for that amulet, I can try to pickpocket it off of him as we pass, assuming he lets us by.
Sasha: I'm good with that plan. When we get close, Connie waves at the dude and points to where the hallway keeps going on the other side of the room.
Judge Claire: He nods beneficently and steps aside, making some kind of ritual gestures at each person wearing the pendants while you pass. The skeletons stand at attention, watching you with their bones occasionally creaking and clacking. You notice that in one corner of the room, there's a rolled-up rope ladder with two stone balls attached to one end.
Heddy: Do we see any sign of a trapdoor or pit anywhere?
Judge Claire: No, but Chopper is sensing danger from an area of the floor about 15' past the room.
MSG: I'll warn everyone about it. So are we just walking past this guy and his skeletons without any problems?
Judge Claire: So far, so good. Once the last of you is out of his way, he heads up the hallway in the direction you came, with three skeletons ahead of him and three behind.
Hettie: I'm at the back of our marching order right now. Is there a temptingly obvious moment where his attention goes past me and I might try filching the necklace?
Judge Claire: No, he's still standing to one side watching you as you go through the room. He doesn't turn to the north until you've passed him and he's sent the first three skeletons ahead.
Hettie: I'm not going to risk stepping in close, then. When I hear Chopper's concern about the floor, I go up to search it. 16.
Judge Claire: You easily find a pit trap there. It doesn't span the whole corridor width, though, so if you point it out, people could walk around it.
Sasha: Or we could spring it and see if there's treasure down there.
Akane: Also, if there's gaseous poison or jetting flames.
Sasha: I ask Chopper if he's got a Detect Goodies spell to go along with his Detect Evil.
MSG: That would be a cool spell, but no.
Heddy: Previously we've been leaving no stones unturned, though, so shouldn't we be opening up whatever we find and checking all the walls for secret doors?
Hettie: That was our modus operandi before. Can Antwerp spring the trap by pressing on the floor with one of his crutches?
Judge Claire: Yes. When you do, it swings open to reveal a shallow pit with a small chest at the bottom. Then a spring mechanism lifts the pit cover back in place.
Hettie: I'll see if I can disable it so that it stays open. 18.
Judge Claire: Easily. The drop is only a few feet, so you can climb down without danger of injuring yourself.
Hettie: Is Chopper sensing any danger from the chest?
Judge Claire: No.
Hettie: I suppose I'll climb down and see what's in it, then.
Judge Claire: It's locked.
Hettie: My Open Locks check is over 20.
Elle: You know ... not to deliberately fuck us or anything, but what are you using to pick these locks and disable these traps?
Hettie: Obviously, I'm utilizing the Judge's failure to ask that same question of me.
Judge Claire: The Judge is allowing it as a narrative convenience, because otherwise the group would really have needed to go back to town and buy Thieves' Tools -- along with more lantern oil and spare flints and steel, considering you're one magic wind away from being permanently in the dark. I didn't think a detour back to town sounded tremendously fun. But thanks for the honest question, Elle.
Elle: Don't mention it.
Ariel: That's what I said. About you mentioning it!
Judge Claire: The lock opens easily to Antwerp's agile fingers and apparently very long, pointed fingernails shaped just right for lockpicking. Inside you find 200 copper pieces and 50 silver. By this point, I'll say Chopper is far enough south to detect something inherently dangerous in the darkness about 100' away.
MSG: Is it coming toward us?
Judge Claire: No, it's stationary.
Sasha: Well, let's go see what it is and whether it's got any loot.
Judge Claire: When you get about 60' further on, you see that the hallway appears to end in a blank wall.
Heddy: Do we need to make checks for searching along the walls as we go?
Judge Claire: If you're going to do that through the whole dungeon, I may have to give some more thought to whether I make you track your lamp oil.
Heddy: That's all right, then. I guess we'll save the searching for spots that look unusual.
Hettie: Or dead ends. I ask Chopper if the danger is coming from the blank wall.
Judge Claire: More like from just barely past it.
Hettie: I guess I'll go up and make a very careful search of the wall and the area around it. That's a 17 on my Find Traps, though I'm not sure Find Traps applies if there's nothing dangerous on this side of the wall.
Judge Claire: You don't find any traps or any sign of a secret door, but you do find a pair of reinforced circular holes in the floor. Each one has a little groove running from it right up to the wall.
Akane: These holes -- does their size match the stone balls of the rope ladder?
Judge Claire: At least roughly.
MSG: So ... is my sense of danger beyond the wall coming from a downward angle?
Judge Claire: It is.
Ariel: So like, a pit or something is over there? But I don't get it. If the wall's not a trap then how's the pit dangerous to us? We can't get to it.
MSG: Unless the wall isn't actually there. Okay, I don't have a Detect Goodies spell but I do have Detect Magic. I'm going to try using it on the wall. Natural 20 on my spell check, 22 total. What's a natural 20 let you do for a spell check again?
Judge Claire: You just add your level twice instead of once. So it's a lot better at higher levels than lower ones.
MSG: 23, then. Basically I can tell any individual thing that's magical within 30', including how strong the magic is.
Judge Claire: The entire blank wall is magical.
MSG: So probably an illusion, I'm betting. I tell Antwerp to carefully push at it with one of her crutches.
Hettie: I'll give it a try.
Judge Claire: The crutch goes through with no resistance whatsoever. Everyone observing this can make a Will save to disbelieve the illusion.
Heddy: 16.
Hettie: 17.
Elle: 8.
Ariel: 3. That's totally a wall!
Sasha: 5.
Akane: A 15 of disbelief.
MSG: I get a 7 even knowing it's magical.
Judge Claire: Glynette, Antwerp, and Nanda can now see faintly past the wall into a cavernous area that drops away into darkness immediately beyond the illusion.
Heddy: We should definitely go get that ladder, then.
Ariel: Why? There's a wall.
MSG: I carefully explain to Granny that the wall is an illusion.
Ariel: Granny's totally not getting it. She says something about you whippersnappers and your magic spells and how in her day walls were walls.
MSG: Well, do we want to get the rope ladder and climb down and see what's there? Or do we want to go back and see whatever is behind that red-eyed skull door.
Heddy: I'm not sure I want to push our luck on running into that guy and his six well-armed skeletons again.
Ariel: Plus we're right here, and if we go back there then afterwards we'll just have to come back here again, which seems like a lot of going back and forth to me. Granny's okay with that though since she still doesn't get how we're supposed to go past this wall.
Sasha: Connie wouldn't mind another crack at that guy's fancy amulet, but somebody went to a lot of trouble hiding this secret way down to whatever is down there, so she could go either way.
MSG: I say we get the ladder and hook it into those ready-made holes and have a look.
Judge Claire: When you go to carry back the ladder, you get the impression it's pretty long -- not just 10 or 15', more like several dozen.
Hetty: Antwerp will secure it in the anchor holes and unroll it through the illusory wall.
Judge Claire: You hear it clatter and swoosh as it unrolls to its full length, extending down into the darkness.
Heddy: Glynette is willing to scout at least partway down, since she has darkvision.
Hettie: Antwerp will put her head through and watch Glynette's progress at least as far as our lantern's light extends through the illusion.
Judge Claire: That's not terribly far in the downward direction. Maybe 10 or 15'. Glynette, as you climb down the ladder, you can hear the sound of rushing water from below, as if there's a subterranean river near the bottom of the climb. The cavern is too wide north-to-south for you to see the far side, but to your right, you can see the wall your climbing against curve southward about 20' away. At 20' down the ladder, you can see the bottom of the cavern, and by 25 or 30' down, you see the river running west-to-east not far south of you. There's a bridge across it not far from the bottom end of the ladder -- and you spot a very large figure sitting in the middle of the bridge, facing away from you to the south. It looks almost like a giant, but you would have expected from the stories you've heard that a giant would be even larger.
Heddy: I will climb as carefully and quietly as I can back up the ladder.
Judge Claire: You can make a Sneak and Hide check to be quiet.
Heddy: 19.
Judge Claire: You don't hear any sounds of a giant suddenly hearing you and investigating. As you get close to the top again, you notice that there's a second opening at the same level as the illusory wall, about 10' to the west.
Heddy: Is there any sort of ledge between the two?
Judge Claire: No, just what appears to be a flat expanse of cavern wall. It's rough stone, so someone skilled might be able to climb it, but you can't imagine many people wanting to try it in the dark.
Heddy: All right. I'll file that away for later, then. When I reach the top, I tell everyone about seeing the river and bridge and miniature giant.
Ariel: Granny is confused. Wouldn't a miniature giant just be a person?
Heddy: I say, "Bigger than a person, smaller than a giant."
Ariel: Okay.
MSG: And within 30' of the ladder's bottom end, since that's as far as your infravision goes, right?
Heddy: Yes.
Hettie: Meaning that if he's hostile, he's bound to notice our light descending the ladder, and he'll have plenty of time to come over and maybe just yank the whole ladder down with all of us on it if he's of a mind to.
Elle: Well fuck that. Back to the evil skull door?
Akane: If sitting in the bridge middle, though ... could he be a bridge guardian? In this case, would he leave his position?
Judge Claire: Hang on, actually. I have to check something. Okay, let's back up again. For some reason, I was thinking monsters in this game all had infravision, but I'm seeing infravision listed under Special Powers for several creature entries in this book, and it's not listed for this giant.
MSG: You may be remembering Old School Essentials. That game makes it impossible for parties with humans to ever sneak up on monsters in a dungeon.
Judge Claire: So from the point that Glynette got on the ladder, she could see a faint light down and to the south of her, and when she gets closer, it's enough to let her see the semi-giant and the bridge he's sitting on. The light has no apparent source, though. It's just a 10' radius area of illumination.
Heddy: That's strange, but I'll tell everyone about it too.
Elle: So if he's facing away from us and the river is loud enough, we might be able to get down without alerting him.
Judge Claire: The river is definitely loud. Just to the east of the bridge, it exits that cavern through a narrow crevice with a rushing, roaring sound.
Sasha: I say we send Antwerp and Glynette down there to sneak up on him from behind and whack him. Antwerp can backstab, right?
Hettie: First, it's not exactly Antwerp's style to murder someone in cold blood without actually knowing whether they're hostile. Secondly, if we go down there alone, I'm not inclined to freely share whatever loot we might gain from the battle. We might parcel it out in whatever manner best benefits the party, but Connie shouldn't assume she'll get a portion if she's not helping.
Sasha: I helped just by making the suggestion. But if you're going to play Lawful Greedy, fine. Connie says let's just all head down and let the chips fall.
Ariel: Mmm, chips! Now I kind of want a snack. I'll be right back. Granny just does whatever everybody wants to.
Akane: I will help bring chips. Nanda would have more security confronting a giant after recovery of her spell of Hand Flaming, but probably this is an impractical achievement.
MSG: It sounds like we're climbing down, then.
Judge Claire: Have the person with the highest Luck make a Luck check to see whether the semi-giant hears you on the way down or notices your light out of the corner of his eye. 
Hettie: I have an 11, which I think is among our highest at this point ... I roll 14.
Judge Claire: Okay, you missed it by 3, so that's how many of your party are still on the ladder when he notices. The giant stands and spins toward you, his eyes wild with suspicion. You see that he holds a club in one hand and a spear in the other. Curiously, they appear sized more like those for a normal humanoid would be, not someone of his proportions. He cries out, "Who are you? Why are you sneaking up on me?" Up closer now, you see that he looks somewhat gaunt, with skin hanging loose on his enormous frame. 
Elle: Imlero has a pretty good Personality score, so she speaks up quickly before Connie takes charge. "We're not sneaking, we're just exploring. We'll be happy to introduce ourselves if you want."
Sasha: "Or to introduce you to our battleaxes!" Connie says, lifting hers up.
Ariel: We're back with chips! What did we miss?
MSG: Connie is about to get us all whacked by the giant.
Ariel: Oh no! Here, there's cheese puffs and jalapeno tortilla chips.
Sasha: Thanks.
Elle: We noticed that the giant looks underfed, and he's wild-eyed and suspicious. So naturally Connie threatened him after Imlero tried conversation.
Sasha: It wasn't a threat, just an offer.
Ariel: Granny has a duck if he's hungry and he wants it. I guess I've had it tucked under one arm this whole time. Maybe I put it on my shoulder like a pirate parrot while I was climbing down the ladder.
Judge Claire: If Granny actually offers him the duck, he reflexively licks his lips and stares at it, but remains tensed and untrusting.
Hettie: Has there been time for the remainder of us to descend?
Judge Claire: The next two in line can get down.
MSG: That includes Chopper, who still has his side of beef from being a butcher. He'll offer that up too.
Judge Claire: The side of beef is too much for him. You hear his stomach growl loudly, and he pleads for you to bring it over to him. 
MSG: I'll take it near the foot of the bridge and put it down, but I'm not getting within arm's reach of him.
Judge Claire: He grabs it and gnaws a hunk off, raw. After he swallows, he thanks you and says you can cross his bridge if you want. Then he bites into the meat again.
Hettie: I'll ask if he knows the best way out, since we could do with resting up and possibly go back to town to better equip ourselves.
Judge Claire: He shakes his head. "Came down come stairs, long time ago. (Chomp, chomp, chew) Two different rope bridges with giant bats trying to knock me off. (Gnaw, gnaw, gnaw) Fell on second bridge, hurt bad landing. Living on crayfish and stirges since then. (Gobble, gulp) Stairs up over that way, but no reason for me to climb." He gestures behind him to the southeast corner of the cavern, where you can faintly see an opening in the south wall. It's a little too far to make out any stairs.
Heddy: That sounds like a sad story.
Sasha: Yeah, tough nuts. What else do we see around here, Judge?
Judge Claire: A roaring river cuts west to east along this cavern. To the west on your side of the river there's a narrow ledge hugging the north wall. When the river surges, it washes up onto the ledge, leaving it constantly wet. To the east, leading north, is a smoothly carved tunnel tiled with polished marble. Aside from that dark opening to the southeast, most of the southern side of the cavern is too far for your light or infravision to reach.
Elle: So maybe if we go across and up those stairs, we might find a back way to the rope bridges where our friendly giant got knocked off by bats. I'm thinking none of us would survive that fall.
Ariel: I'm surprised even a giant did if our ladder was 50' long!
Sasha: Yeah, but if we know about the bats, we could rope ourselves together or something.
Akane: Possibly good ... or possibly one fall, all fall?
MSG: We could always climb back up and try going out the way we came in. Or explore westward in this cavern on one side of the river or the other.
Ariel: Too many choices!
Sasha: Yeah, but one of them's a nice clean tiled hallway, so maybe we should at least poke our noses that way before we try finding our way out.
MSG: I'm okay with that. At the very least I can sweep it with my Detect Magic and Detect Evil while they're both still going.
Judge Claire: The Detect Evil alerts you to inherent danger in that wet ledge to the west.
MSG: How about when I go look up this tiled hallway?
Judge Claire: Inherent danger somewhere on the left about 100' ahead. The walls are lined with marble panels 5' wide and 15' tall. Each panel has a skull in its center with glowing green eyes that illuminate the hallway. The skulls within your 30' range do register as magical. At the far end of the hall, just past the inherent danger, an arched doorway leads into a darkened room.
Sasha: I'll lead the way further up.
Heddy: Hang on. Individual panels make me think we could be in secret door territory again. Should we search as we go?
MSG: Will doing that take us past the 2-turn duration on my Detect Magic?
Judge Claire: I'm going to say yes.
MSG: Then I think we should go up and at least peek into that room before searching the whole hallway. We can always come back.
Judge Claire: As you near the end of the hallway, then, Chopper is able to pinpoint the source of danger as coming from the last two skulls on the left-hand wall before the archway. Your lantern lets you see into the chamber, which is about 40' long by 20' wide, with vaulted 40' ceilings. At the far end of the room is a 10' by 15' pedestal stretching out from the north wall. Chopper detects a magical presence at the near end of the pedestal ... let me read that spell check description again ... okay, you are able to sense that it's some kind of non-mortal creature, meaning it's divine, demonic or extraplanar or undead. But you don't sense anything Unholy about it. It's being affected by a spell that's higher than first level.
MSG: So ... maybe good, maybe bad, but probably able to kick our asses if we piss it off. I tell everyone I'm not keen on the vibe from that room and that we should check out what's up with these skulls on the last couple of panels before we decide about going in there.
Hettie: I'll search the skulls for traps. Left one first ... 18. Right one ... 11.
Judge Claire: You find that each of the skulls is trapped so that it will bite anyone touching it. You also notice that pushing them both in simultaneously will activate something else.
Hettie: For disabling the traps, I get a 17 and a 15.
MSG: Do I still sense inherent danger from them?
Judge Claire: You do not.
Ariel: Let's push them, then!
Sasha: Connie pushes one.
Ariel: Granny pushes the other.
Judge Claire: The two panels with the skulls swing inward to reveal a 30' corridor that turns south at the end and opens onto a downward staircase.
Heddy: Down, though. That's the wrong direction.
Sasha: Not if there's treasure, it's not.
Akane: Wasn't the group agreement for looking this direction before deciding how to return upward?
Sasha: Maybe if we go down, it leads to a great way to go up. With some treasure along the way. Or we can just go in Chopper's bad vibe room that he's not giving us much of the scoop on.
MSG: And that kind of recklessness is exactly why I'm leery of going into more detail. But I guess I will if I have to ...

[i'm breaking this here because it's getting long! next post, we'll pick up with the big debate!]