and then there were twelve! and then there were ... ?

after splitting the party and going into scaryville with their first-level characters, the gang now switches back to the remaining 0-level ones ... who will survive?

Judge Claire: Back to the gnoll room! After your leveled-up guys hit the road, the rest of you find yourselves in or just outside a room that has clearly seen a lot of use housing gnolls ... or maybe smelled a lot of use, since it reeks of rotting meat and unwashed bodies. There are heaps of untanned animal hides used as bedding and a crude table with wood blocks for seats.
Heddy: I'm going to check to see if these gnolls have anything on them besides their weapons.
Judge Claire: Each one has 4 cp and 1 gp, including the guy in the hall.
Elle: Mendi will search the room for secret doors. 14 plus 3 is 17.
Judge Claire: You feel confident there are none.
Hettie: Shall we proceed along the hallway in the other direction?
Ariel: Yes!
Akane: Continuing our searches of walls and floors.
Judge Claire: The hallway extends around 100' north from the guardpost. Each character give me an Intelligence roll, DC12. Let me know who makes it.
Heddy: Not I.
Hettie: Nor I.
Elle: Mendi does. And Nora.
Ariel: And Short! And Ruri!
Sasha: Stubbly does.
Akane: Both of my characters, yes.
MSG: Carson, no.
Judge Claire: That's plenty of yeses for you to feel sure there's nothing along this hall. Around the corner, the corridor continues far off into the darkness. Everyone roll again, same deal.
Hettie: Tandy succeeds.
Elle: Mendi and Nora do too.
Judge Claire: That's enough, then. I just needed to know if anyone on the left side of the marching order made it. Nora finds a secret door on the south wall after you've gone about a hundred feet down the corridor. Up ahead, you see stairs leading down.
Heddy: Can we count one of those other successes as a successful search for traps?
Judge Claire: Sure. With 12 characters, the odds of no one succeeding are very low anyway. But you find no traps.
Heddy: Ham and Short are in the lead ... Ham would rather Short do the opening, even if we detected no traps.
Ariel: Short's cool with that. He's pretty hit-pointy for a 0-level. What do we see past the door?
Judge Claire: A narrow hallway that ends in another door about 30' away. If you keep searching as you have been, I just need whoever's up front to make 3 rolls, one every 10 feet.
Ariel: Um ... 4, 14, and 16. I hope the trap wasn't right up front!
Judge Claire: You don't find any traps, and none go off as the characters file into the hallway.
Ariel: Okaysies! I open the door, then.
Sasha: Wait --
Judge Claire: No trap on the door either, fortunately.
Ariel: Oh, oops!
Judge Claire: Another great, open space with columns supporting its high roof. It's wider and longer than the reach of your lantern's glow. The walls here are covered in stained and discolored decorative panel work. To your left is a broad semicircular alcove. The air hangs thick with the stench of decaying bodies.
Heddy: Any notable sounds to be heard?
Judge Claire: Your voices and footsteps result in quiet but strangely cavernous echoes.
Heddy: Well, I vote we either search around the outer perimeter as a group, or maybe split into two search groups and have one go in each direction from the door.
Elle: Didn't we already just split the party a little while ago?
Ariel: It's a huge-ongo room, though. It'll take us forever to search it all if we don't split up.
Sasha: But splitting in two would only take it down to half of forever, and isn't half of forever still forever?
Ariel: I don't like it when you do that. Fine, we can all search around in a big group.
Judge Claire: Tell me what your characters are specifically doing to search, then.
Heddy: Ham will keep an eye on the ground for trap-doors or pressure plates. Shemp imagines that this large alcove must have been there for a reason, meaning at some point it would have had an altar or a throne or dining table or something. So he'll look for any signs of something heavy having been there once and been moved.
Hettie: Tandy will just search along the decorative panels and see if any are concealing something.
Elle: Same for Mendi and Nora.
Ariel: Short is close to the ground already, so he'll look along with Ham and Shemp. Ruri will check out paneling. Vinnie ... uh ... I guess he'll look up at the ceiling for any spear traps like before? Oh, wait, that was the other group. Well, he'll still look up there in case of vampires or something crawling around up there getting ready to jump down on us.
Sasha: Stubbly will just go along by whoever is in the lead to be ready and fight if they need him to.
Akane: Pestra goes and closes the outside door of secrecy, then returns along the hall and stands guard with her bow. Kindly will accompany his fellow dwarf, Stubbly, and also search while going.
MSG: Carson will look up at the ceiling for any kinds of traps or deadfalls.
Judge Claire: All right, Intelligence checks for your searching, if you please.
Heddy: Ham rolls a 3. Shemp rolls an 8 that becomes a 10 with his bonus.
Hettie: 9 for Tandy's panel-searching.
Elle: 16 for Mendi, 7 for Nora.
Ariel: 6 for Short. 7 for Vinnie. 6 for Ruri. I think this may be a bad die.
Sasha: Oh yeah? Watch this: search! Natural 20! Wait. Stubbly wasn't searching. Damn.
Akane: 17 for Kindly. 14 for Carson.
Judge Claire: Shemp is the only one who finds anything, and it's only because he's specifically searching the floor closely. There are no signs of furnishings having been there ages ago, though the generally scuffed quality of the floor would make it hard to tell anyway. But every few feet, regularly spaced throughout the alcove, he finds small holes about a half-inch across bored into the stone. Make a second search as well.
Heddy: 17! 
Judge Claire: Near the very center of the alcove, you find a section of flooring with no holes that looks like it might move somehow. The section is circular, about 5' across, and has a seam down the middle as well as around its edge.
Heddy: Anybody have a crowbar?
Hettie: No.
Elle: Not here.
Ariel: No ... but us dwarven miners don't actually have clubs for weapons, we have picks that just work like clubs. Could we use a pick as a crowbar?
Judge Claire: When you try, the narrowness of the seam doesn't let you wedge the end of the pick into it enough to get any leverage.
Ariel: Dang.
Sasha: Stubbly asks, "What about just mining our way through it?" He figures doing some mining might take his mind off his sister dying.
Akane: Kindly is willing to attempt this. But does not wish to stand within the circle while doin so.
MSG: Probably a good move. 
Judge Claire: Even after just a couple of blows, you can tell this is going to be tough. It's hard stone, and the sound it makes while you're smashing at it isn't a nice hollow one as if there's a space just under there an inch or two. It is pretty darned loud, though, sending up echoes through the whole chamber.
Heddy: All right. While they're doing that, I'll keep searching along the walls.
Hettie: A superior and quieter alternative to watching dwarves hew rock.
Elle: I'll agree and go back to searching too.
Ariel: My other characters think that's a good idea.
Akane: Pestra remains at watch beside this door.
MSG: Carson keeps searching.
Judge Claire: As you round the corner, up ahead you see that the floor of the chamber appears split by a great chasm. This is what's giving the room its strange echoes.
Heddy: How wide is it?
Judge Claire: About 10 to 12' where it splits through the wall and continues eastward into darkness. it gets wider toward the center of the room. Everyone can make search checks again as you search your way up to it.
Heddy: 12 and 21 for my characters.
Hettie: 16 for Tandy.
Judge Claire: Okay, no need to keep rolling. There isn't anything to find, so let's cut to the chase. The characters in the lead can see that across the chasm, near the wall of the chamber, stands a stone chest. It's about 25' past the chasm, which puts it 45' or so from your position.
Heddy: I'd rather not get too close to that chasm. But my interest is piqued by seeing a chest.
Judge Claire: By the way, the charnel smell of death gets heavier and more oppressive the closer you get to the chasm.
Heddy: Maybe my interest is a little less piqued.
Judge Claire: You can see now that what first looked like rubble on the ground across the way is in fact a massive arrangement of body after body after body, all rotting and arranged in orderly rows.
Ariel: I'm definitely not going over there.
Akane: Still, possible treasure in a box of stone.
MSG: Would it be possible to lasso the chest and drag it closer? Not so close that it falls off into the gap, obviously.
Ariel: Ruri has rope, but only 50'. So by the time we made a lasso it would be too short, right? Oh, but Short has a grappling hook! We could go back for it.
Akane: Also, Kindly has additional rope.
MSG: Do we want to go to the other side of the room and search that wall on our way back? The chest's not going anywhere, right? And maybe there's a secret door leading to a room with long wooden planks we could make a bridge out of.
Heddy: That seems smart.
Judge Claire: We'll just skip the rolling this time. There are no secret doors on the way back. It's probably 4 or 5 minutes of searching time plus the time you spent talking over what to do about the chest before you finish the whole circuit. The dwarves can each give me a mining skill check, adding strength bonus. On a crit, I'll say you hit a cleavage fracture in the stone and make a huge amount of progress. Otherwise you're probably looking at ... half an hour to hack away a decent portion of one of the two stone slabs?
Ariel: No crit.
Sasha: No crit.
Akane: None.
Judge Claire: Okay. You guys are back with your story of the stone chest.
Ariel: Hey, Short! Can we borrow your grappling hook?
Akane: And large amounts of rope, Kindly.
Sasha: Do you tell us about the stone chest and gobs of bodies?
MSG: Obviously.
Judge Claire: 
Sasha: Then Stubbly is okay taking a break from this, in case it ends up being a fight over there or we're needed to mine our way into the stone chest.
Akane: Kindly agrees.
Ariel: Short's good with that too. And also he'll get to see his grappling hook get used, which will be cool.
Judge Claire: What route do you guys take back to the chasm?
Heddy: The shortest distance between two points is a straight line -- which would also allow us to search around the middle of the room to see if there's anything else noteworthy that way.
Judge Claire: Single file, or two by two again.
Heddy: I'm becoming suspicious of the middle of the room now. 
Hettie: Single file puts the smallest number of characters at risk, but also means there's only one searcher to spot a pressure plate before it's stepped on.
Sasha: Personally, I don't have the patience for this single-file crap when there's two different places we might be finding treasure. Stubbly will go up front side by side with the leader if it helps speed things up.
Judge Claire: Okay. A search check from Stubbly and one from Ham, then. 
Heddy: 5 for Ham.
Sasha: A big fat 2 for Stubbs.
Judge Claire: As you pass between the first two columns, something clicks beneath your feet, and there's a loud whoosh and roar behind you along with a burst of fiery light and a wash of heat. When you turn, you see flames spurting up from all of those holes in the ground. The people at the back of the formation are still very close when it goes off. Tandy and Shemp need to make Luck checks, or you're close enough you'll have to do a Reflex Save.
Heddy: A 1 for Shemp.
Hettie: Natural 20 for Tandy. She may be toast what's the DC I'm shooting for?
Judge Claire: 12.
Hettie: I'm about to reverse the direction of that roll now. Watch. That's a 10 ... I think I'd better spend 2 points of luck to avoid roasting.
Judge Claire: You leap forward just in time and feel the hairs on the back of your neck get singed. There's now a wall of flames engulfing the area. After a couple of rounds, you see something rising up in the center of the flames.
Heddy: Great. A flaming demon trap?
Judge Claire: No -- although the shape does look demonic, it's clearly a statue. There's no motion to its limbs or body other than the vertical. A horrible, evil laughing echoes out from the statue. You notice that the three eyes of the demon sparkle and gleam in the firelight like gems.
Sasha: That thing better not sink back down after the flames are done spewing.
Judge Claire: Do you all just stand looking?
Elle: Hell, no. I'm hiding behind one of the pillars in case that demon starts spitting flames.
Ariel: Oh! Yeah, I'm doing that too now that I see Nora and Mendi do it.
Akane: Yes, hiding seems wise.
MSG: Carson takes the same approach.
Judge Claire: Anyone not scurrying for cover?
Sasha: Stubbs is standing mesmerized by those gems.
Judge Claire: After another round, flames pour out of the statue's mouth. Stubbly needs to make a reflex save.
Sasha: Uh-oh. Potentially not good. Whew, 13. Is that enough.
Judge Claire: Yes, you dodge out of the way unharmed. After two rounds of spitting fire, the demon statue descends again into the floor. When it disappears completely, the flames are all snuffed out.
Heddy: Wow. I'm glad we decided to circle the whole room or we'd have barbecued all three of our dwarves.
Elle: And, importantly, their rope.
Sasha: So, now the choice has gone from hard work maybe for nothing versus a chest probably full of loot, to hard work for three big fat shiny gems versus a chest that might be totally empty.
Akane: Kindly would be easy to convince back to mining.
Ariel: Short wants to see his grappling hook in action, so he'll still go with the others.
Sasha: Everybody stay away from those columns when we start work again!
Akane: Pestra remains guarding the door by shortbow.
MSG: So once we get back to the chasm, who's going to throw the grappling hook?
Judge Claire: Strength is the stat you use for throwing.
Heddy: I'm guessing no one beats Shemp in that department -- he's got a 17.
Hettie: Tandy Tunely bows to your mighty thews.
Elle: I'll skip the bowing, but have at it.
Ariel: Ruri draws a tarot card and predicts Shemp will do great!
MSG: Just to be clear, before you roll the throw, we've definitely tied a rope to the end of the grappling hook, Judge.
Judge Claire: I'm glad to hear it, but I probably wouldn't have been a stickler if you hadn't specified.
Heddy: Shemp only gets a 9 on his first attempt.
Judge Claire: That would make it, but I'm giving a -2 for range. If it's outside close range for a javelin, I think it's outside for a grappling hook too.
Heddy: My second try is a 14, or I suppose a 12 adjusted for range.
Judge Claire: Everyone who's present can make an Intelligence Roll for perception.
Heddy: 17 for Ham, 5 for Shemp.
Hettie: 2.
Elle: 13 and 18 for my characters.
Ariel: 8, 12, and yuck! 1.
Sasha: Mining.
Akane: Mining and also guarding.
MSG: 3 for Carson.
Judge Claire: Ham and whichever of Elle's characters got the 18 notice something when the hook catches against the chest.
Elle: That's Nora.
Judge Claire: You each see a small blue spark of electricity around the grappling hook, just for a moment.
Heddy: Hmm. Ham's a glovemaker. I doubt he has much of an idea what that might mean, but he asks if anyone else saw it.
Elle: Nora says yeah, but it seems to be gone now, so let's get hauling on this chest already.
Heddy: Shemp gives a heave at the rope. Assuming that's a Strength check, my total is 17.
Judge Claire: The chest is either fixed in place somehow, or has something really heavy in it. It doesn't budge.
Heddy: Shemp lets everyone know it's resisting his steely muscles.
Hettie: I suppose someone could climb across ... I think there are enough of us to keep the rope steady while they do.
Elle: Nora points out that there's a column right here we could tie this end of the rope around.
Ariel: We'd need to warn our miners first! Short is very concerned his fellow dwarves might get crispied. He calls out a warning to them.
Sasha: Stubbly moves well away from the blazing danger zone.
Akane: Kindly also.
Judge Claire: Nothing happens when you approach this column and tie the rope around it. Apparently, it was just that pressure plate between the first two columns that set the trap off.
Hettie: Then next we have the matter of who should climb across.
Elle: Meaning who wants to go alone over to an area heaped full of enough bodies for a whole graveyard?
Ariel: Short's not scared. Plus his grappling hook is over there. Ruri says she'll stay on this side and shoot arrows at any of them that turn out to be zombies.
Heddy: Shemp is happy to volunteer to back Ruri up with his sling. Ham is willing to climb across.
Ariel: I guess Vinnie is too. We should definitely go one at a time, though!
MSG: Carson recommends leaving behind anything you probably won't need, to lighten your weight.
Elle: Nora assumes what Carson actually means is, to let the rest of us inherit your loot if you fall. She gives him a thumbs-up but doesn't say anything.
MSG: That's what Carson was thinking, all right. He nods at Nora.
Heddy: Ham leaves his extra rope, then. 
Ariel: Vinnie leaves his chest. It's probably pretty hard to climb across a rope with anyhow. Short will leave his lantern and spyglass.
Judge Claire: Then whoever's first should describe how they approach the climb.
Ariel: I feel like swinging along by your arms sounds really tiring and scary, so my characters would want to like, hang on beneath the rope by their hands and knees and kinda inchworm their way along.
Judge Claire: That's pretty slow, but relatively safe. Make a DC 5 Strength roll to avoid mishaps.
Heddy: Ham will let Ariel's characters go first to see if it ends well for them.
Ariel: Short makes it ... and Vinnie does too!
Heddy: Ham feels emboldened by your success and follows with an 11.
Ariel: Short has a look at his grappling hook. Does it still look nice and hooked in place? Is it sparking?
Judge Claire: You think it's secure. No sign of sparks.
Heddy: I guess Ham will see if it's locked.
Judge Claire: Unfortunately, it is.
Heddy: Which pretty much screws us out of getting into it since we don't have any thieves or tools with us.
Ariel: Short still has his pick! He'll try busting open the lock with it. Ruri is still watching carefully with her shortbow for any sign of zombies getting up to go after our guys.
Heddy: Shemp as well.
Judge Claire: Short can make an attack roll on the lock. Ruri and Shemp can make Intelligence rolls to see if they spot anything.
Ariel: Pick! That's only a 9.
Judge Claire: It's an immobile object, so 9 is enough. Ruri and Shemp?
Heddy: 13 for Shemp.
Ariel: 10 for Ruri.
Judge Claire: You both notice a creeping shape -- sort of like a centipede but as large as a person. It's about 25 feet from the chest and squiggling closer.
Ariel: Yikes! I yell and shoot it. Bleh. 6.
Heddy: Shemp rolls a 12.
Judge Claire: Both of you miss. Time for initiative.
Heddy: 19.
Hettie: 16. Not that Tandy is climbing across to help just yet.
Elle: 14.
Ariel: Boo, only an 8 for me.
Sasha: I'm assuming I haven't heard anything over the clanking sounds of our miners' picks.
Akane: 12 for Pestra. Because she is guarding, probably she notices the firing of weapons by allies.
MSG: Carson is on 18.
Judge Claire: Heddy is first.
Heddy: Another sling stone from Shemp. That's an 18.
Judge Claire: Hit!
Heddy: Damage is 5. There's lots of rubble around, right? Ham will pick up a rock and throw it, because he doesn't want to get any closer to this thing. Nice, 16.
Judge Claire: That's a miss, since it's outside of close range for rock throwing.
Heddy: So better than a 14 armor class. Not great.
Judge Claire: And it's the creature's turn. It rushes to the attack, first lashing at Short with one of its many tentacles, since I know his Luck is in the toilet right now. 16 to hit for 7 points of damage.
Ariel: Yipes! He probably doesn't even have time to holler in pain.
Judge Claire: Second attack is on Ham for a 12.
Heddy: Ham is history.
Judge Claire: That leaves Vinnie ...
Ariel: How many attacks does it have!
Judge Claire: Just 3, and this one hits too. Sorry, 6 points of damage.
Ariel: Vinnie! Can he make a Luck check to dodge it or something? He's got a 17 Luck.
Judge Claire: If you burn 7 of that I'll let you have a Luck check against the remaining 10.
Ariel: Eep! 10 exactly.
Judge Claire: Carson's turn, then.
MSG: I'll try Ham's rock-throwing trick, hopefully with more success ... 15 minus 2 is worse than other rolls that already missed, so it goes wide.
Judge Claire: Hettie?
Hettie: Looks like rocks are our only recourse, but I roll worse than MSG.
Elle: I'm next, right? A rock from Mendi is a 17. Does a 15 total hit?
Judge Claire: No.
Elle: Nora misses too.
Akane: If Pestra advances 30', she is 80' from this tentacling monster, yes? This makes her very unlikely to hit, but I roll anyway. My prediction was correct.
Judge Claire: Your turn, Aers.
Ariel: I guess I'd better run -- but if I do it gets to hit at me again for free, doesn't it?
Judge Claire: Yes.
Ariel: Ughhhh ... I guess I better run. Otherwise everybody missing with bows and slings and rocks will probably hit me sooner or later.
Judge Claire: Thanks for reminding me of that ... I should have had everyone roll that this round. I'll skip it since I forgot, though. The creature hits you for 4 points and you need to make a Fortitude save if you're still up. 
Ariel: Natural 20 ... boo!
Sasha: Why do you say boo?
Ariel: Because if I'd've attacked it and rolled that it would have been a crit! Anyway, I run for the rope and start swinging along it as quick as I can ... only now I roll a 3. Plus 1 for Strength, right? And then I'll spend whatever much luck I have to so I don't fall!
Judge Claire: Let's call it 3 points. 
Ariel: Please tell me it doesn't climb out on the rope after me!
Judge Claire: Well, first it's Heddy's turn.
Heddy: Shemp fires his sling with a 19, doing 4 more points of damage.
Judge Claire: It's still up. It starts dragging Ham away into the darkness. Everyone can have one round of attacks before it disappears into the corpse piles.
MSG: Rock ... 17 goes down to 15 for range and misses.
Hettie: Tandy has even worse success.
Elle: Rocks going everywhere but at the centipede, it looks like. Both mine miss. 
Ariel: Ruri misses with her bow.
Akane: It's the same for Pestra.
MSG: I'm keeping my eyes peeled for it to come back. Maybe we can kill it when it tries to get Short.
Judge Claire: Does that go for everyone else? If so, then you can each have one attack as it approaches Short and one as it leaves with his body. 
Heddy: This is off to a good start. Shemp fumbles his first roll. The result is 2.
Judge Claire: DC10 Reflex or you trip and go prone and miss your second shot. 
Heddy: 11. My second shot is much better ... a 2.
MSG: Rock, rock ... two misses.
Hettie: The same.
Elle: Mendi's first roll is a crit, thank god! That's a 2 ... Jabbed in the eye for an extra d4. What's my rock do?
Judge Claire: I'll call it 1d3, same as an unarmed strike. 
Elle: That's an ungodly 9 points with a rock. Maximum on both dice plus my strength and lucky Hawkeye sign.
Judge Claire: Nice. It's still up.
Elle: Second roll is 19 minus 2 for range is 17. Is that a hit?
Sasha: Wow, Mendi's cooking!
Judge Claire: It's a hit, and with your damage bonuses, it will definitely be enough to kill it.
Elle: I'll gather some extra rocks, since I seem to be more effective with those than with my club.
Judge Claire: 3 xp for everyone but the two dwarves who kept mining. 8 survivors, right? Put them in order and I'll roll to see which two of them can level up.
Heddy: Two? Very generous.
Judge Claire: Ready? I roll 6 and 7. If those are the same player, I'll reroll the 7.
Ariel: 7 is Ruri!
Akane: 6 is Pestra.
Ariel: I think Ruri's going for Thief! She's got good Luck and Agility both and a bonus on finding traps from her birth sign. Hit points, hit points, hit points ... rats, I only roll a 2, so now I have 8.
Akane: This Pestra ... so poor with everything! I think only a Warrior is good for her. Her added hit points are 5, making her also 8.
Judge Claire: All right, I think this is a good place to wrap, and everybody can think until next session about whether you want to climb back across to investigate the chest some more, or cut your losses.
Ariel: Short still had 23 coppers on him we might get back!
Heddy: 4 well made pairs of gloves on Ham's body and 40 copper pieces. Definitely worth risking another centipede monster or zombie attack.
Sasha: Hey, that's all on you guys. Kindly and I are still going for those giant demon-statue gem eyes.
Judge Claire: Next time, then!

18 thanksgivings!

i haven't blogged for all of them, but this is my 18th thanksgiving since finding and intertwining my life with my soulmate.

wow.

i hope all of you out there have something equally thankful for, or will happen across it very, very soon!

happy thanksgiving, everyone!

xoxo,
claire

the party splits!

last session ended a little early because the gang decided to level up a character each to explore a scary area that may not be a good idea, but they're going for it anyway. their shaved down army of commoners will continue pressing ahead as they were.

Judge Claire: Okay, so what have we got with the leveling up?
Heddy: I leveled up Glynette because Ham kind of stinks. She leveled up as a halfling, because she's a halfling, and I guess that's the only choice halflings get in this game? Anyway, now she has 10 hit points and can fight two handed if she has two equal sized weapons ... which she doesn't. So if I could trade this staff in for a couple of somebody's hand axes or daggers, that would be great.
Hettie: Antwerp leveled up as a Thief, going all the way up to 7 hit points. Not too resilient, but as far as I can see, he's got pretty good Thief stats.
Elle: Imlero, Warrior, a nice 14 hit points. Heddy, if worse comes to worst, don't we have a crap-ton of clubs at this point as people inherited better weapons from our casualties? Just a thought if you can't scrounge those hand axes or daggers from anyone.
Ariel: I leveled up Granny. Now she has 8 hit points! Her lucky weapon is her spear.
Sasha: Everybody already knows Connie.
Akane: Nanda is now Magic Nanda the Magnificent! Or the Misfortuned, since her Luck remains terrible. She does have 9 for hit points, and gained spells, but some of questionable usage. Her hands can flame and she can read languages and magic now, though. Heddy, you can have her hand axe if she can have a staff.
Heddy: Deal.
Akane: Oh! Her magic reading causes entrancement. So if she says, "I'm going to read!" look away from her.
MSG: That could be handy for cutting down our number of active opponents in a big fight. Nice. Chopper became a Cleric, so he can now heal and cast some handy spells, particularly Detect Magic and Detect Evil.
Judge Claire: That Detect Evil is a badass spell. My very first character had it, and it rocks.
MSG: Yeah, if you roll halfway decent, it's pretty OP.
Judge Claire: So. What's up first? The Door of Death or onward for the level 0's?
Heddy: I'm still hoping for a second handaxe or a dagger.
MSG: I have a handaxe if someone has a dagger they could loan me.
Hettie: I have a dagger.
MSG: Thanks. Oh, and before we go anywhere, I should try healing anybody who needs it.
Sasha: Connie raises her hand.
MSG: Fail. Crud. Each time I fail, it raises my Deity Disapproval too. When it goes to high, bad stuff starts happening to me because my Deity is pissed. I'll try again. Ugh. Another fail. One more time and I'm concluding it's a bad omen and I'll give up. Whew. That's a 16 total. You can roll one of your hit dice.
Sasha: 8. I'm probably good now, since I'm guessing you're all, "Don't want to push my luck with my god."
MSG: Yeah, I'm not risking more disapproval if you're just a point or two away from max.
Heddy: If that part's done, I'll say my vote is for challenging the Doorway of Death with our newly improved characters. I'm interested to find out what's through there and see what it's like not expecting someone to die in every room we go into.
Ariel: That sounds good to me too!
Judge Claire: Then if we're sticking with the first levelers, how are you getting back to the door?
Hettie: Given that it's just around a few corners ahead, I'd like to take a shot at having Antwerp disarm that pressure plate we found earlier.
Elle: That would be a damn fine step up from sloshing our way back through the dark guano rooms.
Judge Claire: All right. As you said, it's literally just around the corner that you came upon the pressure plate, and since you know where it is, I'll give you a plus 4 on finding it.
Hettie: 21 total, then.
Judge Claire: Now for the tricky part. Roll your check for disabling it.
Heddy: I'm standing back around the corner for this part.
Ariel: Let's all do that, I think!
Akane: Nanda agrees.
Hettie: Oof. I roll a 2 with my bonus, that's a 7, which I assume misses.
Judge Claire: That it does. But it takes a natural 1 to trigger the trap by accident, so you're safe from that at least. The question is, do you want to spend some Luck to try to succeed?
Hettie: Do I get to know the DC first?
Judge Claire: What fun would that be? I will say that putting a highly intricate and diabolical trap in a standard run of hallway sounds a bit extreme, so it's probably within reach if you spend 2 or 3.
Hettie: Well, if MSG can burn his way through deity disapproval twice, I suppose I can spend a few Luck points now that I get them back every night. One of them, at least. All right, I'm spending 3 ... and my Luck die comes up 2, 3, and 2 for a total of 14 when I add in my original roll.
Judge Claire: You feel confident you succeeded in disarming it.
Heddy: I'm still going to try to jump across to the other side of the plate without stepping on it, when it's my turn.
Elle: Imlero just walks across.
Judge Claire: Nothing happens to him.
Sasha: Same for Connie.
Ariel: Granny is definitely not jumping around if no one is getting trap-whapped so far.
Heddy: Maybe it's overly cautious, but I still try the jump ... 17.
Judge Claire: Totally safe.
Heddy: And maybe a little red-faced.
Hettie: Antwerp will show confidence in her work and in the lack of any fireworks or sprays of poison or arrows. She walks across.
Akane: Nanda is clumsy and toeless, so leaping isn't suitable for her. She walks also.
MSG: Chopper too.
Judge Claire: You all make it safely to the far side and into the hallway where the plastered-over door is.
Sasha: Connie starts chipping at the plaster with her dagger right away.
Judge Claire: If others help, it's the work of a few minutes to chisel and shave away most of the concealment. When you do, you find an inscription etched into the door there, written in some archaic, unknown tongue.
Akane: Now is a time for wizarding, then! I have a spell of language comprehension. I cast it to see if I can read. No. A 6 means my spell is lost for this day.
Judge Claire: Well, your spell didn't succeed, but as a wizard, you do sense magical power emanating from beyond the door.
Hettie: Should I search it for traps? Sorry, a ridiculous question. Of course I should. My roll is well over 20 this time.
Ariel: You're rocking this thievery stuff, Het!
Judge Claire: No sign of any traps.
Elle: Imlero tells everyone to get ready, and then opens the door. What do we see?
MSG: Actually, hang on. Does this group of characters actually have one of the lanterns? Or any rope in case we need some?
Judge Claire: I was wondering if anyone would ask that.
Heddy: Not me.
Hettie: No.
Elle: Wow, we would have been fucked if we hadn't thought of that.
Ariel: Well obviously we did think of it because how else did we see once we got around the corner from our other guys? The only one who can see in the dark is Heddy's halfling, right?
Akane: It's true about lanterns, but still lucky to remember about rope.
Sasha: Stubbly's got a lantern to spare. Sniff. And a hundred feet of rope.
Elle: Imlero's pretty strong, so he'd volunteer to carry it, except that if there's a pit trap and he's first, he'll fall to his death and leave you with no rope use to climb down to him.
Ariel: Granny can carry it!
MSG: Okay then, back to the door.
Judge Claire: Well, then. Once you're back to the Door of Death, what you see is a short stretch of hallway that becomes obscured by impenetrable darkness beyond 5'. Your lantern doesn't penetrate it, nor does Glynette's infravision.
Sasha: Spooky!
Elle: Anyone have a spear or something to poke ahead with?
Hettie: You can borrow one of my crutches, since I'm not using them for begging purposes anymore.
Elle: Thanks. Elle, Imlero will lean forward enough to tap the crutch against the floor in the dark area.
Judge Claire: As you lean in, you find that the darkness is not static. It prevents you from seeing more than 5' ahead of you, but that 5' seems to move forward with you.
Heddy: Even spookier, but I'll take it over not being able to see at all.
Elle: Imlero will move in, then.
Judge Claire: Everyone going to follow?
MSG: I do, but with an occasional backwards glance toward the door behind us. 
Judge Claire: After the occasion of you moving more than 5' from it, you can no longer see the door.
MSG: Well, I don't want to get left behind or increase the amount I'm creeped out by, so I'll just follow everyone else from then on.
Judge Claire: After about 30', the hallway opens up into a dismal eerily lit chamber where the walls are draped floor to ceiling in black curtains. Eight black marble benches are set in two rows from east to west. The light comes from four incense burners, one in each corner. They give off a thin green light and trails of sweet smelling vapor. Kneeling throughout the room are a number of black-robed figures.
MSG: This place weirds me out. I'm going to cast Detect Evil. 17. Unholy creatures are immediately detected, along with anything inherently dangerous. I'm Neutral, if you need that to check what's unholy to my deity.
Judge Claire: Got it. All right, you sense that the burners and smoke are inherently dangerous. There's also some inherently dangerous object in the southeast corner. Most of the figures give no impression at all, but one of them, toward that same corner, is definitely unholy.
MSG: I tell everyone the smoke may be poisonous, then I'll hold my breath and try to Turn Unholy. 15 total.
Judge Claire: It isn't turned, but it does rise and leap toward the group. Roll initiative.
Heddy: 17.
Hettie: 17 as well.
Elle: Mine has a 7 in it, but it's not 17.
Ariel: Mine is just 5.
Sasha: 9 for me.
Akane: A 16 for Nanda!
MSG: Miserable. 1.
Heddy: Not sure I like going first in this instance ... can I tell what the thing is?
Judge Claire: A malevolent figure in black robes. Bony claws jut from its sleeves That's about all.
Heddy: My movement is only 20, so I can't get all the way up to it anyway. I'll just position myself closer, near the north wall. How do I go about holding my breath in this game, to avoid breathing in the dangerous incense smoke?
Judge Claire: Holding your breath for 30 seconds or so is an easy task for any normal person, so I'd give it a DC5. You don't normally roll for DC5 tasks, but this one has a consequence for failure, so you can make a Fortitude save to hold your breath for 3 rounds. After that, you'll roll every round with the DC going up one per round.
Heddy: I almost said, "That seems easy enough." But I rolled a 4. Thankfully I've got good stamina and a save bonus for my level.
Hettie: If I'm up, I'll move in and fire my sling at it. 16, which hopefully hits, for 3 points.
Akane: Nanda bravely advances to a range for Flaming Hands! The roll is 19, becoming 22 after plussing! It's sad there is only 1 creature, or this result would allow me to flame several. Oh. But damage is only 1 points.
MSG: I am not at all sad that there is only 1 creature.
Judge Claire: Sash, it's your turn.
Sasha: Charge! I'm going to hack one of its arms off with a Mighty Deed! HACK! Nope, 2 on the Deed Die. But it's a hit, and for 6 points of damage.
Judge Claire: It's the creature's turn. It strikes at the obvious target, rolling only a 6 to hit. Elle?
Elle: Let's see if I can eff this guy up with my axe. If my Mighty Deed works, I'm knocking him back into that censer in the corner to see if it will fire him up. 18 to hit but no Deed. 12 points of damage for me.
Judge Claire: That is enough to kill it.
Elle: Oh, and I hold my breath. 7.
Sasha: Me too! And 7 too.
Akane: 14 for Nanda.
Hettie: Antwerp barely makes it with a 5.
Ariel: Granny rolls 6!
MSG: Waste of a crit for Chopper.
Judge Claire: Okay. You've got 2 rounds before you have to save again, then. What's everyone do?
Ariel: I didn't go yet though! Don't I get to do something?
Judge Claire: Sorry, you and MSG both.
Ariel: I'ma poke one of these kneeling dudes with my spear.
Judge Claire: It crumbles to dust at the merest touch, leaving nothing but cloth shreds, a few bones ... and a silver skull pendant with turqoise eyes, on a silver chain. It looks valuable.
Ariel: Ooh! I'll take that on my second turn.
MSG: My Detect Evil is still on ... I'll move to the door and see if I sense anything dangerous on it or emanations of evil intent from beyond.
Judge Claire: None within your 60' range.
Sasha: I'm just tearing down these black curtains to see what's behind them.
Elle: Imlero will help with that.
Judge Claire: You can each tear down one wall's worth of drapery in the first round.
Heddy: Glynette will push the drapes aside in the northwest corner and search along the walls toward the entrance we came in.
Hettie: Antwerp will do the same with the southwest corner.
Akane: Nanda will check the body of the robed attacker.
MSG: I'll try to open the north door on my second turn.
Judge Claire: Okay. Connie and Imlero reveal plastered walls behind the east and south drapes. They're painted with frescoes depicting a dark-robed, faceless being in scenes of conquest and subjugation over a variety of creatures and religions. There's a short phrase repeated over and over above and below the frescoes. Glynette and Antwerp can roll search checks. Nanda finds a double-headed skeleton key on the robed figure. It is large and heavy and has a skull on each end, but is still obviously a key. MSG, the north door is stone, bound with iron, and locked.
Heddy: 6 for my search.
Hettie: 19 for mine.
Judge Claire: Neither of you finds anything.
Heddy: I'll go a short way down the hall and see if I can breathe without getting a whiff of that incense.
Hettie: Great minds think alike. That was my plan as well.
Judge Claire: The air seems ancient and stale, but free of the smoke.
Elle: North wall curtains, I guess.
Ariel: Granny pokes another kneeling robed figure if one's close enough to poke once I pick up the silver pendant.
Sasha: East wall curtains for Connie.
Akane: Nanda moves back to the entrance hallway also.
MSG: Chopper too.
Judge Claire: The teardown of the curtains reveals more frescoes. Poking the next figure causes the same thing to happen to it; Granny finds another pendant.
Ariel: Yay!
Judge Claire: New round. Everyone make your next save. The three warriors are aiming for DC 6 this time.
Heddy: Safe.
Hettie: Oof. I fail.
Judge Claire: You cough or hiccup as you're returning to the room, and inhale a full breath of the stuff. It makes you feel slightly woozy, but no ill effects yet.
Hettie: I'll retreat back up the hallway.
Elle: Fail for Imlero also. Seriously? We can't hold our breaths for 40 seconds in a life-or-death situation? If I don't keel over, I follow Antwerp into the hallway. 
Ariel: Granny blows it too! She starts wheezing like she's really old, but that's probably because she is. She'll leave the room too.
Sasha: Connie needed a 6 and gets a 5, so I guess she's out too.
Akane: Nanda succeeds. This means a new 3 rounds of breath-holding?
Judge Claire: Right.
Akane: I will try my strange key in the lock of the north door.
MSG: Chopper sucks as bad at holding his breath as everybody else, so he stays in the hallway.
Heddy: Glynette pokes one of the remaining figures with her handaxe.
Ariel: Hey, that's my thing!
Heddy: Sorry, Granny.
Judge Claire: Poof, dust, and you see a silver skull pendant in the heap of ragged scraps and bone. Akane, the door's lock clicks at the turn of your key. New saves for everyone but Nanda and Glynette. Wow, you guys rolled bad.
Hettie: At least it wasn't in combat. I save easily this time. 
Elle: Same.
Ariel: Me too. OMG, that was a 19, which reminds me that Granny crits on a 19 or 20! Now it's even easier for me to crit ... or to waste a crit, I guess.
Sasha: Connie's still gasping over here in the hallway.
MSG: Chopper's good for another three rounds now.
Heddy: I poke the next figure. How many are left?
Judge Claire: Poof, dust, pendant. That was the last one. 
Hettie: I'll go search the southeast corner. Since there's more plaster in this room and we found the place behind a plastered-over door, I'm particularly looking for any sign of that sort of thing. My search is a 19.
Elle: I'll search the northeast corner. 4.
Ariel: I look for more figures to poof and call Glynette a whippersnapper when I see she did the last ones already.
MSG: I'll go over by Nanda and ask if we can open the door now, I guess.
Akane: Nanda says, "Yes, please do, if you wish."
MSG: I will if I have any of my turn left.
Judge Claire: The door opens to reveal a corridor leading off beyond the reach of your light or that from the incense burners. Hettie -- you find another plastered-over door! Elle, sorry, nothing for you. Next round. This is round 3 of your fresh breath for Nanda and Glynette, round 2 for everyone else but Sasha, and time for a new roll for Sash.
Heddy: I scurry back to the hallway with the fresh air.
Hettie: I let everyone know I've found a secret door over here.
Elle: I'll search any area that hasn't been searched yet. Big failure with a 1, though.
Ariel: I guess I'll go see what's going on at the open door to the north.
Sasha: Connie saves this time. "Did I hear someone say another secret door? Let me at it!" I head that direction.
Akane: I wait for Chopper to inform me of inherent dangers with his Evil Detecting.
MSG: I'll let her know what I sense down the hallway now that the door's open, and I'll also call out to everyone else, "Hey, remember that there's something dangerous in that corner!"
Judge Claire: You sense something else inherently dangerous 50' down the hallway, beyond the limit of your light. 
Akane: With this information, I step into the new hall for breathing.
Judge Claire: All right, if you are all going to keep taking breathers from the incense smoke every few rounds, we can stop rolling for that.
Hettie: Since I just searched the corner to find the door, I guess I'll look carefully at the floor and ceiling there to see if I can spot any sign of a trap. 5 plus 3 is 8.
Judge Claire: Because you know something is there, I'm giving you plus 2, which means you just barely spot a spear trap in the ceiling. No sign of what triggers it, though.
Heddy: Maybe something behind the plaster?
Hettie: I'll drag a bench over and see if I can disable the spear somehow. That's only a 7, though. I don't want to spend another extravagant amount of Luck improving that, so we'll have to figure something else out.
Elle: We could build an arch out of benches to hide under when we spring the trap.
Ariel: Ooh! Smart! Granny would never have thought of that.
Elle: Damn. Imlero probably wouldn't either. Sorry to speak out of turn.
Ariel: I'm sure somebody else would have thought of it.
Sasha: We've got some smart noggins around here, characters and us too.
Akane: Possibly by exploring northernly, we will find other things for building protection against ceiling spears.
MSG: Everybody okay focusing our attention that direction, then?
Heddy: Sure.
Hettie: Certainly.
Elle: Let's go.
Sasha: Actually, Connie's going to stay and chip away at the plaster on the door. You guys knock yourselves out.
Akane: Do not forget breathing breaks, Connie!
Judge Claire: Oh, I almost forgot experience for that wight fight. Did you guys expend any resources or get injured?
MSG: Did you actually almost forget, or are you just rubbing our nose in it? Nobody used any resources up or got hurt that I recall.
Judge Claire: It was a serious question. Anyone have a different answer? Maybe one that doesn't badmouth the Judge's sincerity?
Heddy: It wasn't damage per se, but didn't we come very close to getting poisoned by that smoke by failing Fortitude save?
Judge Claire: Bingo! That's what I was looking for so I could justify handing out an experience point each for dealing with that.
Ariel: Yes! Way to go, Heddy!
MSG: Sorry for snarking. I feel pretty dumb now.
Elle: Let's not diss on snarking. I'm pretty g.d. fond of it myself.
Ariel: The yamily that snarks together ... uh ... sparks together! Or something.
Judge Claire: Anyway, record your 1 xp and we'll switch back to the 0-level brigade.

thracia level 1 continues!

jumping right in here with the third part of our caverns of thracia adventure!

Judge Claire: Let's get this session started with some excitement. Dare I roll the d6 for encounters to see if something attacks you on your way back to the halls of bats and guano? Yes, I dare!
Heddy: If it's a 6, please tell me we don't get attacked while shuttling people back and forth in the dark.
Judge Claire: It's not a 6, so everyone can relax. Now, while you're ferrying folks through the dark and shit, where are you taking them to, and are the humanfolk just going to wait in the dark for the infravision brigade to do their work?
Ariel: I think we should just put them in the room the lizardy guys came out of, and they can hang out in there with a lantern and keep the door shut to not disturb the bats.
Sasha: I'm good with that.
Akane: A sensible plan. But is this sort of plan one our group would normally make?
MSG: I think we're still finding our groove. Too early to know what our overall party vibe is.
Hettie: Meaning not enough characters have died to leave us with a pellucid gestalt.
Elle: Let's go with Aers's idea, then.
Ariel: Woohoo!
Sasha: Okay, so as soon as the light's on, Connie starts asking where this secret door is. She's itching to get exploring something without getting more bat crap on her.
Heddy: Glynette tells her to wait until we've got everyone shuttled through the bat rooms.
Sasha: She grumbles and mutters a lot and starts searching once the infravision guys are gone. Ooh, I roll a 19 on my search.
Judge Claire: Connie finds the panel that serves as a concealed door.
Hettie: While she's searching, Noir would definitely say we shouldn't open that door until more of the party is here.
Sasha: As soon as she finds it, Connie says, "Oh yeah? Well, look here!" and opens it.
Judge Claire: Connie sees a hall leading north and south. About 50' to the north, it turns back west. 30' to the south, it does the same, but there's a door in the wall right at the corner, facing north.
Hettie: We 100% did not let Connie hold the lantern, so she probably can't even see that far.
Sasha: Fine. She closes the door most of the way but keeps peeking out through the crack.
Judge Claire: I'll roll to see if anything happens along and notices the faint light while you're waiting for the next batch of arrivals. No, you seem safe for the moment. It's about 10 rounds there and back, almost 2 minutes. Does Connie keep the door cracked that long?
Sasha: Only if people keep pestering her to shut it. If they leave her alone, she gets bored after a while and looks around the room some more.
Hettie: Noir immediately closes the secret door the rest of the way if Connie didn't.
Judge Claire: Okay. After 20 more rounds, everyone is in the room. What next?
Elle: Whatever we do, let's not roust those fucking bats up again, all right? Maybe open the door of this room wide and have the lantern a few feet inside, shining toward the opposite door.
Judge Claire: Who's up to head over there, then?
MSG: How about all the expendables? That includes Connie, right?
Heddy: Ham is willing to go.
Hettie: Noir will keep an eye on Connie ... or possibly look for an opportunity to push her in harm's way if it looks like there's a chance to rid ourselves of this death-wish woman.
Elle: Imlero's good to go, and pretty strong if we end up needing muscle.
Ariel: Granny is pumped.
Akane: Nanda accepts.
MSG: Chopper too.
Judge Claire: The wood of the door seems swollen, making it hard to open. I'll need a strength check DC 8 from someone to pull it free.
Elle: Imlero will try. 17 total.
Judge Claire: The instant the door opens, a great swarm of red-headed centipedes rushes out to attack those closest to the door! Roll initiative. Only those characters in the exploration group, please.
Heddy: 17.
Hettie: 1.
Elle: Imlero gets a 17 too.
Ariel: 10 for Granny!
Sasha: Connie's on 14.
Akane: Nanda foolishly wastes a roll of 20, reduced to 19 by her poor Agility.
MSG: Chopper is barely ahead of Noir with a 2.
Judge Claire: Nanda is up, Akane. The swarm is occupying this 10' square.
Akane: I step out of the square and chop centipedes with my handaxe. No, it's a 2.
Elle: Imlero tries to dice the little bastards with his battleaxe. 5.
Heddy: Ham makes a daggar attack with a 12.
Judge Claire: Hit. But you find it's hard to get a solid blow in against the skittering, writhing swarm.
Heddy: I roll 1 for damage.
Sasha: Connie's going to show you guys how to do it. Battleaxe! Does a 9 hit?
Judge Claire: I'm afraid not.
Sasha: Well, she's pissed at being held back so I'm burning luck. How much do I have to spend to hit?
Judge Claire: 2 points.
Sasha: Worth it. Max damage, 10 points.
Judge Claire: Aers, you're next. 
Ariel: Granny's going to Grannytize them with her spear! Jab! Boo, that's a 10. I guess I'll spend a point of luck to hit too. 5 damage!
Judge Claire: Everyone in the square gets attacked -- Het, Elle, and Aers. Miss on Imlero, miss on Granny, hit on Noir. One point of damage and I need a Fortitude save.
Hettie: Sadly, you don't. Noir has only 1 hit point.
MSG: My turn then? Chopper gets a 13 to hit for 3 points.
Judge Claire: Back to Nanda.
Akane: A handaxe roll of 9 is close, but too far for a character of such poor Luck to spend points to reach. It's a miss.
Elle: Imlero gets a total of 21 for 6 points of damage.
Heddy: Ham tries to dagger them again ... 18 to hit for 3 points.
Sasha: Big fail for Connie.
Ariel: Granny pokes at them ... oh no, fumble! And that luck point I spent means I don't have a bonus anymore! I roll a 3. How bad is it?
Judge Claire: Your weapon comes loose in your hand. -2 penalty on your next attack.
Ariel: Whew! Not so bad.
Judge Claire: Centipedes keep biting at Granny and Imlero. Fumble on Granny. A 2 is save or spend your next round prone, which I don't think applies to dozens of centipedes. 16 on Imlero for one point and a Fort save.
Elle: 14.
Judge Claire: Easy save. MSG?
MSG: Chopper gets a 9, and I'll spend the 2 Luck points to do 5 damage.
Judge Claire: You guys are thinning them out, but they're still at it. Anyone from the other room who wants to join in can roll initiative now.
Hettie: Antwerp has a sling. Can she aim for the parts of the swarm that aren't in anyone's square without the normal penalty for firing into melee?
Judge Claire: I'm going to say no. Everyone's bending down sweeping and smashing with their weapons, so I think even the empty squares count as engaging enemies.
Hettie: Fair enough. I'll still roll, ending up with a 6.
Judge Claire: No one else? Okay, Akane is up.
Akane: Nanda continues attack rolls of poorness. 5.
Elle: Imlero gets an 11 for 8 points.
Judge Claire: That disperses the swarm. The remaining centipedes scurry away or come at you one at a time, which makes them easy to stomp on and kill. We had a fatality, so 3 xp to everyone who participated in the fight. I'll let Antwerp's initiative roll and contemplation of using her sling count.
Hettie: Thank you.
Elle: High roller gets to level someone up again?
Judge Claire: Sure, go for it. 
Heddy: 7. Probably not good enough.
Hettie: 8. Right behind you. 
Elle: 14.
Ariel: 5. Poop.
Sasha: 15! Sorry, Elle.
Akane: A 6, so no double leveling for me.
MSG: 11. Looks like Sash is the winner.
Judge Claire: And that's to level up one of the participants, so it's Connie, not Stubbly.
Heddy: Really? I'm sure we don't need her getting more powerful than everyone else. 
Sasha: Suck it, guys! Connie's going for Warrior! d12 hit points -- and I roll max! My crap Stamina brings that down to 11, though.
Akane: Now seems a good time for warrior Connie to lead us through a secret door of possible dangers.
MSG: I agree, except that I think we should search this centipede room first.
Judge Claire: It appears to be a small chapel like the one on the other side. This one has faded, stained paintings on the walls that are barely intelligible due to age and neglect, but they seem to show two goddesses undertaking various holy activities. There is a broken statue of a winged woman in the alcove that mirrors the one in the other room.
Sasha: Well that seems like a bust. Connie goes and looks to see if there's a secret door panel like in the other one too.
Judge Claire: No -- the walls contain only the paintings.
Sasha: Okay, I'm headed back to the other room with a first-level strut.
Judge Claire: Will this affect the marching order you want to use when you head through the secret door into the hallway?
Sasha: Not for me. Connie was up front as cannon fodder before. Now she's up front because she can take a hit and has a chip on her shoulder.
Akane: My character of level 1 has still only level zero-ish hit points, so will remain in back.
Judge Claire: All right. As we were before, then. So do you head right when you open the secret door, or left?
Sasha: Connie says right. She sees a door and she wants to go through it, dammit.
Akane: Is it time to return to slow searching?
Sasha: You guys can. Connie's pushing past you toward the door.
Akane: Nanda allows Connie to pass.
Judge Claire: As you reach the corner, you see that the corridor dog-legs and appears to connect back to the area with the pressure plate, though you're not sure, since you've gotten turned around in the dark a lot since then. On the wall opposite you, though, is a gnoll, stretching as though he's just woken from a nap. I'll let the lead 3 characters get a surprise round on him.
Sasha: Connie leaps to attack. As a Mighty Deed, I'm going to try axing his throat so he can't let out a death scream if I kill him. 16 to hit! My Deed Die is only 2, though, so no special slicing. Damage is 7 plus 4 for 11.
Akane: The Deed Die increases damage as well?
Sasha: Yep! Sweet, huh?
Akane: I am pleased Dwarves get them also!
Judge Claire: The Mighty Deed wasn't needed. Your axe cleaves deep into the creature's neck, killing it instantly.
Ariel: Granny's got her spear pointed at the door, then, in case somebody heard and comes out.
Akane: Nanda imitates this. What do we hear from beyond the door?
Judge Claire: Both of you roll Intelligence checks.
Ariel: OMG, Granny actually makes it! A 4 is exactly what she needed!
Akane: Nanda succeeds by a much wider margin.
Judge Claire: You both hear what sounds like discussion in the growling language of the gnolls.
Akane: Nanda whispers suggestively, "We could create an ambush again. Have missile attackers ready from both directions and make a painful barking noise to lure these gnolls out.
Judge Claire: All right, whoever's got the highest Luck, make a check to see if you guys keep quiet enough that the inhabitants of the room aren't alerted early.
Ariel: Vinnie has a 17! I roll a 5! Yay! I mean, Shhh!
Judge Claire: Whoever's doing the barking, make a Personality check to see how well you fake a gnoll noise.
Akane: Kindly is personable to a degree of 16. My roll is 2. Am I adding a modifier to try to reach a high number, or attempting to roll below my score?
Judge Claire: The second one, so you do a great job. You all hear the voices go quiet a moment. Then one of them speaks in a suspicious tone. Aers, if Vinnie makes a DC 15 Luck check, they assume their buddy fell asleep like he often does, and they just open the door to yell at him. Otherwise, they act more warily.
Ariel: Rats. I only get a 12.
Judge Claire: You hear quiet movement from inside the room, and then the door bursts open and you see 6 gnolls ready for action. Your missile weapon characters can get surprise attacks on the lead 2.
Ariel: Ruri misses with a 10.
Hettie: Antwerp gets a lovely 4 with her sling.
Heddy: Shemp's sling does better ... 19, for 4 points of damage.
Akane: The shortbow of Pestra manages a 12 only.
Judge Claire: All right, now the first row in each hallway can get a surprise round.
Sasha: Connie's going to try chopping number 1 so hard it knocks him into number 2 and the both go prone! Dang. I get a 3 on my Deed Die, but my total is 11, so I guess I miss and the Deed isn't done.
Akane: Nanda strikes with handaxe at number 1. Success! 5 points!
Ariel: Grannytime! Nope. 2.
Judge Claire: Okay, initiative, then. Number 1 is dead, by the way.
Heddy: 15.
Hettie: 22, wasting a possible crit.
Elle: 2.
Ariel: 15 for me too. Twinsies, Heddy!
Sasha: I'm on 15 too.
Ariel: Tripletsies!
Akane: 9 for my characters.
MSG: 5 for me.
Judge Claire: Hettie, you're up.
Hettie: If Antwerp moves here, can he fire his sling past the melee to a gnoll in the back?
Judge Claire: The rules only say there's a chance of hitting allies if they're engaged with the enemy you're shooting. I will give you -2 for them having cover, though.
Hettie: I fire at number 6, then, with a total of 20 for ... 5 points of damage.
Elle: Solid.
Hettie: I don't think Tandy can do anything though.
Judge Claire: One of the triplies can go, then.
Heddy: Shemp will follow Antwerp's lead and shoot at gnoll 6. Also a hit, for 3.
Sasha: My turn? Connie barges in where gnoll 1 was and --
Akane: Who was there?
Sasha: Gnoll 1.
Akane: Apologies. I thought you said someone.
Judge Claire: Haha.
Sasha: What? Oh, I get it. Anyhow, Connie tries a Deed of deadly destruction, whirling her battleaxe to try to get all 3 of these guys around her. Dammit, only 12. I would have hit if you didn't interrupt my jam with your pun, Akane.
Akane: Apologies. I will gnoll better next time.
MSG: Boo.
Judge Claire: You're getting the hang of this, Akane.
Ariel: Granny will try spearing number 2. Waah! It rolled from the 19 onto the 1! My fumble roll is 2.
Judge Claire: Make a DC10 Reflex Save or spend the next round prone.
Ariel: 17! Made it! If Ruri can see number 4 from here, she shoots it. Nope. 10.
Judge Claire: The gnolls get their turn, then. I would have all 3 of these attack Connie, but I know Nanda's luck is only 5, so number 2 attacks her. Fumble! 1 means he's the laughingstock of the party, but no other damage. None of them feel like laughing right now though. 3 and 5 attack Connie. Miss, and 11. Only 2 points.
Sasha: Bring it!
Judge Claire: Okay, number 4 moves into melee with you and brings it.
Sasha: I didn't really mean that. 
Judge Claire: 14 is a hit, for 5 points this time.
Sasha: No smart-assing from Connie this time. She may be in trouble here.
Akane: My round if the gnolls are complete, yes? Nanda attacks number 2 with a 15 for 4 points. Kindly moves closer to Connie. If killed and bleeding out, she may need lizard medicine.
MSG: My guys have no angle to get anywhere.
Elle: Mine either. Well ... Mendi will move up to here and throw her cheese dip at gnoll number 2, hoping to blind it. If I hit an ally with this missile fire, it shouldn't be fatal, at least. Probably hit the back of someone's head.
Ariel: Cheese dip down your neck sounds pretty gross! But I guess we all smell like guano anyhow.
Elle: Only a 9.
Judge Claire: If I roll odd, Nanda might get covered in cheese dip. 3. Repeat the attack roll to see if you hit her.
Elle: No, I get a 6.
Judge Claire: Back around to Hettie, then.
Hettie: Antwerp is going to fire at number 4 and risk hitting Connie. She somewhat asked for it by charging in there by herself. I miss.
Judge Claire: 50% chance you have to reroll against Connie ... I'll just roll percentile dice ... 45.
Hettie: Now I get a 14. Sorry Connie. 3 damage.
Sasha: I'm still up, but not by much!
Heddy: I don't know that Shemp really wants to repeat Antwerp's mistake, but he's trying anyway ... 14 on number 4, whew! Damage is 4.
Sasha: Number 2 and number are both hit already, right? Connie's going to do the Deed on them and try to slash them both. It's a hit at least. I would've primaried number 2 to try making room for some other party members, I guess. Should have said that to start with. 8 points.
Judge Claire: Diced. Aers?
Ariel: Granny's prone this round, right. So she's got nothing. I guess Ruri's going to risk it by shooting number 4. Swish with an 8.
Judge Claire: The dice come up 10%, so try it again on Connie.
Ariel: Yay! 4!
Sasha: Here comes the pain from the gnolls, though.
Judge Claire: Gnoll 3 ... miss. Gnoll 5 ... miss. Gnoll 4 ... Connie's AC is better than 9, right?
Sasha: By 1. Yes!
MSG: The only thing I could see to do is have Chopper move in and get in somebody else's way ... But I guess he's got pretty decent hit points' I'll go here and try axing number 4. 17 is a hit ... 3 points.
Judge Claire: Just enough to kill it.
MSG: Hey, look at Chopper go.
Judge Claire: Hettie?
Hettie: I've now got 2 possible allies to hit if I keep firing, so I'll wait for now.
Heddy: If Shemp moves here, he can get a bead on number 3, who's only engaged with Connie. So he's going for it. 14, another hit! 5 points.
Judge Claire: Hurt but still up.
Sasha: Connie's gonna try another sweep Deed, with number 3 for her first target. These dice! Only 11.
Ariel: Granny gets up and spears number 3! No, she misses.
Judge Claire: They've got no escape route, so the gnolls keep desperately fighting. Number 3 uses its action to say a prayer to its god, actually. But it does no good. Number 5 goes for Connie. Another miss.
Akane: If Nanda can move in, she will attack gnoll 5. A 20! The sort that's natural! But her sad luck is -2, so the total is negative 1.
Judge Claire: She hits so hard her weapon is knocked loose. Add 1d6 and you're disarmed.
Akane: 6 in all.
MSG: Chopper goes for number 5 but misses.
Elle: Mendi will squeeze in and attack number 5. And apologize to Nanda for almost cheese-dipping her. My attack misses badly.
Akane: Nanda allows your apology to be more successful. "But next time, say duck or some such!"
Hettie: Since the way into the room is clear, Antwerp will attack number 5 with her shortsword. Miss.
Heddy: I don't see much I can do.
Sasha: Back to Connie, huh? Slashity-slash, same trick as last time only more hitting involved! Well, I do hit number 3 for 4 points.
Judge Claire: Dead.
Ariel: Granny comes in to spear number 5 ... 13! For 6 points!
Judge Claire: The last gnoll goes down.
Sasha: Whew! Ugh, though ... nobody died.
Judge Claire: That's right, only 2 xp each. I'll give it to everyone, though, not just those who took part in the combat. Any body break the 10 xp mark for the first time? No? Then we'll skip the roll-off for leveling up.
Ariel: Aw, man!
MSG: I think that's reasonable. Although ... how many characters do we have who would be ready to level up just on xp?
Heddy: Both my halflings.
Hettie: Just Antwerp for me.
Elle: Imlero's my only character at or over 10 xp.
Ariel: I've got Granny and Short both waiting.
Sasha: Stubbly's ready to join Connie anytime.
Akane: Nanda has 12.
MSG: So adding in Chopper, that's 9 characters in addition to the two who already leveled up.
Judge Claire: And ... where are you going with this?
MSG: Well, if we leveled up enough for everyone to have one character each, that would be 7 first-level characters, which might be enough to split off and give that mysterious Plastered-Over Doorway of Death a try. And there would still be 12 level 0's to keep exploring with.
Judge Claire: I'm fine doing that if the group is.
Heddy: Hm. Tempting ... but what if the first level group conquers Death's Door and a bunch of the 0-levels are still alive?
MSG: Well, even one more encounter and the rest of the 0-levels will be ready to level up, so if that happens, we'll just have a big pool of characters to pick from for the campaign, plus a lot of replacement characters in the wings if any of the leveled up characters die.
Hettie: Or get trapped forever in a maze of death behind the plastered-up door.
Elle: I'm good with that.
Ariel: Me too! I really want to level somebody up!
Sasha: I've already got Connie, and she already wants to get at that door, so ...
Akane: With only 1 hit point, Nanda has poor survival chances remaining at level zero. This plan seems good to her.
Judge Claire: Sounds like we should break here to level some characters up, then.
Ariel: Woohoo!

into thracia!

picking up right where we left off last time ...

Judge Claire: We ended last session with all the gnolls dead and the temple ruins presumably yours to explore. What do you do?
Heddy: I feel like as adventurers looking for our fortunes, we should be checking these bodies for any treasure they might be carrying. We didn't do that with the last set.
Sasha: Oh, man. I'm falling down on the job there! Well ... I guess it's my D&D character who's gold-obsessed, though.
Judge Claire: All you find are five battleaxes and one longsword. If you'd searched the others, you'd only have found their four polearms.
Heddy: How much is a battleaxe worth?
Ariel: The book says 7 gold pieces! Same for polearms. And a longsword is 10! My character doesn't even have any silver pieces, so ... dozens of gold pieces means we're rich!
MSG: We can probably only get half that selling them back to a shop, though, so not that many dozens of gold pieces.
Judge Claire: Anyone who wants a battleaxe can grab one, then. But the polearms you're out of luck on unless you want to hike back 30 minutes along the road.
Heddy: And risk another 5 or 6 encounter rolls? No thanks.
Akane: If still there when returning, we can acquire polearms in the journey home.
Elle: Let's keep up this optimism that we'll live to return.
Ariel: So what do we find in these ruins?
Judge Claire: The only thing of note is the broad staircase leading down into pitch darkness. The entryway is almost 15' wide, and inside, the stairs are close to 30' across. A bitter, astringent odor hangs faintly in the air as you approach.
Heddy: Did anyone bring a light? I may break down and cry if we have to go all the way back to town for torches or lanterns.
Ariel: I've got a lantern! But I don't have any oil for it. Or anything to light the oil with if I had oil.
Sasha: Same here. Both my dwarves have lanterns but no oil. And they're dwarves, so they can see in the dark anyway, so I'm not sure why they need lanterns to mine with.
Akane: In case they have guest miners? "But it's bring your own oil, guests. Sorry." Fortunately, the characters of Akane are prepared with a lantern, also a torch, also oil, and even flint and steel for lighting!
Heddy: I have a flask of oil too, so I guess we could have two lanterns going at once?
Hettie: With our surfeit of characters, using the torch for a third light source seems wise as well.
MSG: Maybe not, since the dwarves and halflings all have infravision. How many of this party/army need light? I've got 3 who do.
Heddy: I only have 1.
Hettie: All 3 of mine are useless in the dark.
Elle: Same here.
Ariel: 3 for me too.
Sasha: I'm down to 1.
Akane: It's 2 for me.
MSG: So that's 16 who need light and 7 who don't. Why don't we put a couple of dwarves up front, have 2 lanterns lit for the group in the middle, and the rest of the dwarves and halflings bringing up the rear. I'll volunteer Noor to be up front.
Ariel: Short can be up there too!
Heddy: I don't mind putting Ham in harm's way.
Akane: Kindly Minely prefers the back. Nanda has oil, so he loans her his lantern.
Sasha: Stubbly or Stumbly can give a lantern to Connie if you'll let her use your oil, Heddy.
Heddy: Sure. Glynette hands it over.
Hettie: I suppose then, it's in we go.
Judge Claire: The gloom closes in around you. As you march deeper and deeper, the stench you smelled before thickens until it's almost choking. Behind you, the opening to the outer world dwindles until it's a mere postage stamp of light, at least a hundred feet away. At this point, you see the stairs open up into a large chamber ahead.
Akane: Nanda aims her lantern to see.
Judge Claire: The moment you do, a wave of noise rolls up from below -- a din of flapping and squeaking sounds. The beam of your lantern reveals a swarm of bats rousing to swirl just within the entrance to the chamber.
Ariel: Super duper. I guess Short heads down that way.
MSG: Noor too.
Heddy: And Ham. But hanging back just a little.
Akane: Nanda raises lamplight and makes a gesture of, "Follow me!" to the remainder of adventurers.
Judge Claire: You descend to the level of the chamber, now storming with bats in a roiling cloud.
Sasha: Batnado!
Judge Claire: This area seems to have been a worship chamber, ages in the past. Now it lies heaped with noxious mounds of bat guano, built up over decades or centuries. The walls are streaked with befouling excrement from above, leaving only faint hints of the faded, chipped religious murals that once adorned the place. The swirling bats harrass you from all sides. Whoever has the highest luck, make a luck check.
Ariel: Vinnie's is 17! I roll a 5.
Judge Claire: For the moment, the bats are only screeching and diving around you -- no one is getting attacked. You see dark passages leading off to east and west, and some massive, iron-bound doors standing ajar to the north.
Ariel: Short would be okay scouting around, since the light seems to get the bats all antsy.
MSG: Noor will go along.
Heddy: Ham follows.
Ariel: Let's go up and check that west hallway first. Do I get there safely? What's down it?
Judge Claire: It's just a 30' run of corridor leading to a dead-end. The guano makes footing treacherous, as it's slick and clinging and ankle deep in places.
Ariel: Ewww! And ugh, I guess we've got to search for secret doors?
Judge Claire: Do all three of you head down to the end? If so, make intelligence checks.
Ariel: I get a 16, which is way over my intelligence.
MSG: Noor's roll is 1.
Judge Claire: Nice. Noor is completely certain that there are no secret doors. It looks like the end of the corridor has been bricked up and sealed with mortar.
Heddy: I rolled a 9, but I assume that's moot now.
Ariel: Okay, what's down the other hallway?
Judge Claire: It goes about 40 or 50 feet east and turns left.
Ariel: Hmm ... well, I don't wanna go down there without more people ... should we peek through these big iron doors?
Heddy: Ham says he's game. Or at least, game to have Short and Noor check it out while he's a few steps behind.
MSG: Sure, let's have a look.
Judge Claire: Poking your heads through the gap, you see a long, wide hall with columns supporting its 20' ceiling. Some of the columns are crumbling, leaving hunks of marble on the floor and places where the ceiling sags. The hall extends beyond the reach of the dwarves' infravision, and is even more heaped with bat guano than the chamber you're in. There are bats hanging from the ceiling in there too, mostly undisturbed because the light from the lanterns hasn't reached this far.
Heddy: Was that hallway to the right a big guano-fest too? Because Ham is about ready to get out of the batshit instead of marching deeper into it.
Judge Claire: It looked pretty clear of guano, except the first few feet where there's some flow out from the room they're using for a roost.
MSG: If the bats are alerted by the light, maybe we should consider having the infravision crew investigate the area beyond the gates while everyone else either hangs back or explores the eastern corridor.
Heddy: Ham says, "Did you not just hear me say I wanted to get out of the batshit?"
Ariel: Without Ham there'd only be six of us, which doesn't sound like a lot to me as far as exploring into a huge-o unknown area.
Sasha: No guts, no glory. The Stamps dwarves would be up for it if you guys make the suggestion once you're back.
MSG: Well, I definitely don't think the three of us should go any further alone, so I'm for returning to the group and letting them know what we found.
Heddy: Glynette is Lawful and has 5 hit points, so she's a little more comfortable with the infravision scouting party idea than Ham, if that's how the party wants to go.
Akane: Kindly Miner is Lawful also ... but poor of hit points, so less excited in leaving the safety of numbers.
MSG: I just checked, and Brandy has infravision too. I was thinking elves only had dim-light vision, but that's some other game, I guess. So even if Ham stays behind, we've still got 7 people in the mini-party. My characters vote for that, particularly the two who wouldn't be putting themselves at risk.
Heddy: If we're voting, Shemp's in favor of that too.
Hettie: My surviving characters all give three cheers for democracy and vote to send our see-in-the-dark companions ahead.
Elle: Same here.
Ariel: I guess it sounds like we're doing that, then? But if we get in trouble, does everybody promise to run help us?
Akane: Is running through ponds of bat waste accomplishable?
Judge Claire: Those who've walked out into the stuff know it's pretty slippery. Running or even fighting in it would require some rolls to avoid slipping.
Heddy: All right, what's our marching order for the brave voluntold seven?
MSG: I'm okay putting Noor in the front row -- she's my number 1 in marching order anyway. Brandy has a shortbow, though, so she should be in back for missile fire support.
Ariel: Short can go up front.
Sasha: I'll put Stumbly in the middle row and Stubbly in the back, if that's all right.
Akane: Kindly Minely is weak in hit points and prefers rear positioning also. And would not mind borrowing a weapon of range, in fact.
Heddy: Shemp can loan you his sling. Which I guess leaves Glynette in the middle? She feels pretty safe with that.
Judge Claire: The gap in the great iron doors is wide enough to proceed through, and you find your presence without lights doesn't excite the bats into swarming. As you get further into the column-lined hall, the sound of the flapping maelstrom quiets slightly, turning into a hum of white-noise echoes. 
Heddy: Glynette is keeping an eye out for anything lurking behind those pillars.
Ariel: If Short's up front, he wants to keep going forward until we can see the other end of the hall, so we don't get surprised by something when we start searching around.
Sasha: Aye-aye from the miners.
MSG: Sure.
Judge Claire: Ahead of you, you see the hallway narrow slightly and end in a broad alcove without columns the far end of the alcove holds a large plinth strewn with rubble. There are doors to the east and west. It looks like the east one is slightly ajar. There are bats in the area as well, somewhat agitated. But it appears the floor is much less gunky here. You can see some trails worn in the guano leading to the east door.
Heddy: Can we tell how recent the trails look?
Judge Claire: Anyone have any hunting or similar background as a skill? If so, make an intelligence check.
MSG: Noor is a rat catcher. But I roll a 1, so ...
Judge Claire: So, I've decided when I call for a "check" and not a "roll," it's like a Luck check and you're trying to roll under your ability score. Otherwise I'll say "roll" and give you a DC to beat. So you wanted to roll low in this case, and it lets you tell the tracks are pretty recent because the guano isn't, you know, crusted over.
Heddy: Ew. I didn't need that explanatory detail.
MSG: So maybe somebody is still in that room. Is the door ajar enough for Brandy to use her spyglass to see into the room?
Judge Claire: I'll say "slightly ajar" is more than "open a crack," so sure. Make an Intelligence check to see if you can peer anything out. Or maybe a Luck check for something to be at a lucky angle you can spot. Your choice. 
MSG: My Intelligence and Luck are exactly the same, 14, and I roll ... 15. Can I say that was an Intelligence check and then spend a point of Luck to make it? I'm feeling nervous about what's behind this door for some reason.
Judge Claire: I'll allow it. Through the gap, you can see motion as of multiple figures. One stands where it's visible to you -- a humanoid creature with reptilian scales and a lizard-like head. It's holding a club and looks alert.
MSG: Hmm. Okay, here's an idea I whisper to my companions. What if we string a rope between these last two columns here, a little over ankle high. Then Brandy and Kindly can stand braced against the next set of pillars so hopefully we won't slip and fall firing our weapons. The rest of the group can hide behind that plinth or behind the corners where the hall narrows, and then we make some noise to see if we can get Lizard-Face to come out. If he and his pals rush to attack us, we ambush them. If they don't, we maybe back off and come back with more support.
Heddy: I like that a lot better than just going up and knocking on the door.
Ariel: Let's do it!
MSG: Noor will also have her net ready to throw over a couple of them if we get surprise on them.
Sasha: Badass!
Akane: Kindly approves of this plan also.
Judge Claire: Okay, position your characters, then.
Sasha: Hey, Stumbly's got a bunch of rope too -- a hundred feet of it from Buspar, because he was a ropemaker. Can we lay it out around Brandy and Kindly's pillar so they have better footing?
Judge Claire: Seems like plenty of rope for that, sure. With all these preparations, though, I think I'd better ask for a Luck check from whoever has the highest Luck, to avoid accidentally making enough noise early to alert the lizardmen.
Sasha: Stubbly's got a 15. Anyone higher? Great. And I easily make it 'cause my roll's a 4.
Judge Claire: Okay. Everyone's in position, then. 
Heddy: So what noise do we make?
Ariel: I don't know ... I guess Short will make an owl call or something. "Whoo! Whoo!"
Judge Claire: Nothing happens for a moment. Then you see the door open a bit wider, and the lizardman comes out and spots you. He sends up a call of alarm in his hissing language and rushes to attack the two intruders he spots. Everyone roll initiative.
Heddy: 16 for Glynette.
Ariel: Short gets an 11.
Sasha: Stamps siblings on seventeen!
Akane: 11 for Kindly.
MSG: 21 for my two.
Judge Claire: Okay. The one Brandy saw rushes out, followed closely by another one. There attention is on you, so the lead one needs a pretty good Reflex save to avoid going prone from tripping on the rope. He fails and goes down hard right here -- faceplant into guano. Number 2 sees his companion trip and has a little better chance ... makes it. He jumps across the rope, but comes down in the guano-patch and has to save to avoid slipping. He fails and is prone too. Two more come out more cautiously and end up here. You can all take your surprise round actions now. MSG?
MSG: Noor throws her net on the two just outside the door. How do we handle that?
Judge Claire: I'm going to say your to-hit roll becomes their Reflex save roll.
MSG: Ugh. That's a 5. You know what, Noor's number 1 in my cannon fodder order, so I'm spending 3 luck points to make that an 8.
Judge Claire: Use 'em or lose 'em, right? But both of them easily save.
MSG: Damn. Okay, Brandy fires an arrow at number 1. I assume 6 is a miss. 
Judge Claire: By a fair bit. Sash?
Sasha: Miner 49'ers dogpile on number 3! Yech. 9 for Stubbs, 7 for Stumbly.
Heddy: I'm next, right? Can I move to here and strike the prone guy with my staff without sliding in guano?
Judge Claire: Yes. We're going to say the last two columns are the edge of the batshit.
Heddy: 8.
MSG: Plus 2 for striking at a prone opponent.
Judge Claire: Still a miss.
Heddy: Bah.
Ariel: Short tries the same thing with his club. Pow! Wah, 8 even with the extra bonus.
Akane: Kindly sling shoots number 1. A miss.
MSG: Well that plan was a bust.
Judge Claire: Not quite yet. That was your surprise round. Now we go back to the top of the order, which is MSG.
MSG: Noor moves in and tries to club number 3, then. Does a 12 hit?
Judge Claire: I'm afraid not.
MSG: This is starting to feel like trouble. Does Brandy get the missile fire penalty for shooting at the downed lizardmen? It seems like from point blank it would be easier to hit them, not harder.
Judge Claire: I'll give you the bonus for now, since you really seem to need it.
MSG: Still a miss.
Sasha: A miss from Stubbly. But a 19 for Stumbly! Who has shit for damage, though because of her bad luck modifier. 1 point.
Heddy: Ye-- oh, come on. That was a 17 before it tipped onto 10. That's a 13 total. Hit?
Judge Claire: No.
Heddy: Oh, Christ. I spend a point of luck and if that still misses I say we get out of here.
Judge Claire: 14 turns it into a hit.
Heddy: Thank god. And some luck for a change, max damage. 4 points.
Ariel: 19 for Short! Maybe our luck's turning around! Only 2 points, though.
Judge Claire: The lizardmen rolled badly on initiative, so you're up, Akane.
Akane: Again, a miss.
Judge Claire: Their turn, then. Number one needs an easy Reflex check to stand up from the muck ... fails. Same for number 2. I assume Noor has the worst luck of you three, after spending those 3 points?
Sasha: You'd be wrong, because Stumbly only has a 4 luck, remember?
Judge Claire: Ooh, that right. Lizardman 3 attacks her then. That's a 19, for 4 points.
Sasha: Damn. This is going so far south. She's dead.
Akane: Oh no! So sorry for your loss, Stubbly.
Judge Claire: Well, now I'm pretty sure Noor has the worst luck there. Number 4 moves to attack her. You notice that number 4 appears injured, with some bandages on his leg and chest. Does a 9 hit?
MSG: Yeah. 
Judge Claire: 2 points, then.
MSG: Not fatal, at least. My turn? I'm definitely hitting the injured guy. No, not with a 5, I'm not. Sash?
Sasha: I like the thinning the herd idea, so I'll go for number 4 too. Finally a hit! 5 damage.
Judge Claire: That takes him down.
Sasha: That's for you, sis!
Heddy: A reliable miss from Glynette.
Ariel: Short too.
Akane: Poor slinging from Kindly as well.
MSG: Oh, I forgot to shoot with Brandy. Twang! Wow, we suck with this die.
Judge Claire: Their turn again, then. Number 1 successfully rises from prone! But slips and falls again when he tries to take a swing at Kindly. Number 2 gets up as well, wasting a natural 20 on it. He stays up when he swings at Brandy, for a 14, and 4 points of damage.
MSG: Wow, this is turning into a bad idea.
Judge Claire: Number 3 strikes at Noor, since she's still up. A 12, for 2 points.
MSG: She's done and down.
Judge Claire: Rough break on these dice so far. Sorry, guys.
Sasha: Stubbly smacks number 3 with a 7, and we're toast apparently, so I'll spend 7 Luck to make that a hit. 5 points of damage.
Heddy: Glynette can no longer reach number 1 now that he moved, right? Can I step across our rope and put my back to that column so I don't have the chance of slipping?
Judge Claire: You'd have to move really slow and careful and I wouldn't let you take an attack this round.
Heddy: What if I try leaping at number 2, swinging my staff while I'm in the air, and crashing into him so we both go down?
Judge Claire: That sounds more like a Mighty Deed of Arms for a Warrior, but you guys are in such bad shape I suppose I'll let you. If you hit, you'll do damange, and both of you go prone in the guano.
Heddy: What about if I crit, like that?
Sasha: Sweet!
Judge Claire: Your choice. Either keep your feet when you land, or roll on the crit table as normal.
Heddy: Too much strategy for me, but I like the chance of extra damage more than I trust my chance of hitting next round if I'm on my feet, so I'll take the crit roll. It's a 1, -1 for my luck is 0.
Judge Claire: You hit so hard it knocks your staff from your hand. Add a d6 to your damage, but you're now unarmed.
Heddy: 7 points.
Judge Claire: He's hit but not dead -- barely.
Heddy: Can I burn Luck to make him dead?
Judge Claire: How many points?
Heddy: I'm going to hope that "barely" means he's only got 1 left, so I spend 1.
Judge Claire: Dead.
Heddy: Whew!
Ariel: Short's turn, right? I don't feel too good about my chances of rolling a crit like that, so I'm going to go help Stubbly. You guys got this, Kindly and Glynette! I move over here and club-ola this lizard guy. That's an 8, so it would take 6 luck for me to hit him. Sheesh, though, I may not get a better chance, so I'll spend it.
Judge Claire: Dead. He had only 1 hit point left.
Ariel: Woohoo!
Akane: Kindly will punch this last lizardman. Hmm. It's 10 after bonuses ... I will expend 4 Luck points with sadness, reducing to only 13 luck.
Judge Claire: That takes him out, then. He's got 2 hit points left, but I know you have a damage bonus, so the 4 survivors get 4 xp each. 
MSG: So is it time to cross the bridge of whether people get to level up when they hit 10 xp?
Judge Claire: I don't think I'm ready for there to be 4 level 1 characters and still 16 level 0's, or however many it is. If you guys want to roll off on a d20, I'll let whoever rolls highest level up.
Heddy: I'm good with that.
Ariel: Sure.
Sasha: Already rolling ... 3.
Akane: My roll is 18.
MSG: Whoa, 19! Sorry, Akane.
Heddy: Still room for a 20, MSG. Nope, not from me.
Ariel: I get 8.
Akane: Wait. Only survivors got these xp, correct? You have survivors?
MSG: Oh. Good point. I got so excited about leveling up I forgot both my characters bit it.
Judge Claire: Akane it is, then.
Akane: Reviewing the book ... hmm. I roll a d10 for hit points ... sad, only 3. I pick one weapon for permanent luck bonus ... also sad that I spent those 4 Luck points! Only +1 now, not +2. I continue to have lucky fists ... now +3. Some better ability to attack with a "Deed Die," and some improvement on Saving Throws. It's an improvement over a level 0 character, definitely. But still I feel somewhat weak-ish.
MSG: Bummer on that hit point roll.
Judge Claire: So. With the excitement leveled off for the moment, what do you do?
Heddy: I don't have high hopes for gold from people armed with clubs, but I suppose we should still search the bodies.
Judge Claire: After wiping away the guano --
Heddy: Never mind.
Akane: Kindly will investigate past guano even if Glynette does not.
Judge Claire: You find these creatures had very little on them ... except that each carries a bundle of bandages, mosses and lichens to make dressings similar to those you saw on the one injured lizardman earlier. These are basically last-ditch first aid and will return 1d3 hit points to a character who is bleeding out. Heddy, bleeding out is what happens to characters of level 1 and higher. If healed within a number of rounds equal to their level, the character loses a point of stamina instead of dying. Normally  it's permanent, but with these healing packets, the stamina damage heals as normal for ability damage.
Heddy: Still, something I'd rather not experience. Well, for now I say we let Kindly carry them, since he's the only one they'll work on.
Ariel: We should also scrounge the stuff from our own guys who died. 
Sasha: Stubbly lays claim to his sister's goods.
Akane: It's appropriate for a brother to do so.
Heddy: Glynette will loot Noor's body since Brandy died in the muck and none of MSG's other characters are there to do it.
MSG: Fine by me. We're all villager pals as far as I know; whose characters are whose is just a convenience of play. Noor has a net, one day's rations, and 34 coppers.
Heddy: When that's done, I suppose we should look into the room they were occupying.
Judge Claire: Inside, you find a small chapel that appears to have been deliberately defaced. Fragments of an unidentifiable statue lie shattered on the floor in an alcove. At the back of the alcove is a decorative panel depicting stalks of grain. There's a small pile of dead centipedes -- much larger ones than normal -- with their heads removed. Some are cracked open and the insides missing. Others still writhe and twist in spite of being headless.
Ariel: I guess the lizard guys were munching on them for a snack?
Sasha: They must have killed them pretty recently for that, right? Otherwise these no-head ones would be more dead than they are.
Akane: Hmm. Is there a mystery of, where did the centipedes come from?
MSG: Maybe they were in here when the lizardmen got here.
Heddy: Hey, wait. Claire, you said the place was thoroughly defaced, but then you said we could tell the decorative panel showed stalks of grain. Does that mean it's intact?
Judge Claire: It does seem to be, yes.
Heddy: I'm going to check it out. Maybe there's a reason for that. Can it be removed? 
Judge Claire: Maybe. Make a DC10 Intelligence roll to see if you can figure it out. 
Heddy: 12.
Judge Claire: You find a catch along one side that allows it to swing open. 
Heddy: I'm not about to swing it all the way open without anyone being ready. Can I just peek through it a crack?
Judge Claire: Yes. There appears to be a hallway beyond, about 10' wide and running north to south.
Heddy: I close the panel back into place and let everyone else know what I found.
Ariel: Do you think maybe that hall and the hall we saw in the big room connect up somehow?
MSG: If they do, then we could bring everyone else through that route and have some backup to check out that door across the way. Oh, wait. I can't suggest that because both my guys are dead.
Heddy: I would have said the same thing, I think, given the chance. Anyone opposed to heading back and seeing if the rest of the party wants to try that unexplored hallway?
Ariel: Not me.
Sasha: I'm good with it.
Akane: Kindly accepts this plan.
Judge Claire: All right. You make it back without incident and inform the rest of the group.
Hettie: While we've been waiting here, an idea has percolated up in my head.
Ariel: Like, we should have coffee while we're playing? I could go for coffee if it's got enough cream and sugar in it!
Akane: Sugar can be optional, but cream I never refuse.
Hettie: I was actually speaking "in character." Since the bats in the room beyond the iron doors didn't swarm like this while the scouting party looked around in the dark, what if we shutter or shut off our lamps and have the infravision characters shuttle us across without light?
Ariel: Short's okay with that but my other characters are maybe on the fence.
Sasha: I'm fine with the idea.
Akane: Less appealing than coffee, but I do not object to it.
MSG: Sure, why not?
Heddy: What I would say is, we've already encountered a secret door, but we haven't had any traps befall us yet. So I'm expecting one any time now; I read up on these old modules between sessions and it sounded like traps were a big thing. So my addition to the proposal would be for some of the infravision crew to go down that east hall searching for traps and for more secret doors before we cluster our army of peasants in such a confined space.
Hettie: Are you volunteering your halflings, dear?
Heddy: Sure. Glynette is a bit emboldened by having survived the morass and melee she just went through, and Ham is getting antsy to do something.
Sasha: Stubbly's not in any emotional condition to go searching for traps or doors. But he'll go along with his dagger and club to whale on anything he can take his distress out on.
Akane: Kindly will attend for searching and defense as well.
Judge Claire: All right. Give me a marching order for those four.
Ariel: It's 10' wide, right? So we can go side by side in two rows and somebody taking up the rear alone. Short's okay being up front.
Sasha: Stubbly is gloomy enough to trudge in the back.
Akane: Kindly has greater leveling than others, so can go in a front row.
Heddy: My halflings can take up the second row, then.
Judge Claire: Okay, so how slow and careful do you take the searching? 10' a round, using your move to go the 10' and your action to search? Or slower than that?
Ariel: That sounds kinda fast to me if we're being super careful. How about just 5' a round?
Sasha: Sure. Gives Stubbs more time to deal with his grief.
Akane: Agreeable.
Judge Claire: Then if the halflings don't object, it takes you 8 rounds to search up all the way to the corner where the hall turns north. 8 Intelligence checks each.
Heddy: This is so many dice. Someone else go and I'll note all mine down.
Akane: Kindly is in front and searches this way: twice successful, then a failure. Then success, failure, success, failure, success, and two failures.
Ariel: Uh ... yes, no, no, no, yes, yes, yes, no.
Heddy: All right, for Ham, on the left, it's no, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, no. For Glynette, yes, yes, no, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
Judge Claire: You make it to the corner with no traps encountered and no secret doors discovered. 
Heddy: I'll take it.
Judge Claire: The corridor extends northward, and at the far extent of your dwarves' infravision, takes a turn left again.
Heddy: How about if we start shuttling, then, and the characters who need a light can put one on around the corner from the bat room and start searching while we finish leading everyone through the dark.
Ariel: We don't need to shuttle one at a time, do we? Like, one infravision person could hold hands with a human, and then the human could hold hands with the next human, right?
Elle: That sounds great ... until a wandering monster takes out the first human in line and leaves all the others flailing in the dark.
Ariel: Oh. Yeah, I guess one at a time is better, then.
Judge Claire: Shuttling order for the humans, then.
MSG: Can we just assume our normal 1, 2, 3, 4 order by player instead of talking that all the way through?
Judge Claire: Sure, that's a better idea. So, to avoid infinite die rolling, I'm going to give a spoiler and say there might be one thing to find in this section of hallway, or there might be nothing. So each character roll one Intelligence check to see if you find the something or don't find the nothing.
Hettie: I'm disquieted by the double-negative, but fine. Noir is in the front row, and succeeds. Antwerp succeeds, and Tandy as well.
Ariel: Granny is so dumb! She definitely fails. Short too. Then Vinnie makes it, and Ruri blows it bad.
Akane: Nanda ... success. Pestra --
Judge Claire: No need to go any further. Nanda is on the right and in front, so she finds the unusual thing 40' along the wall. Like the other chambers down here, this hallway has plastered walls, and Nanda spots an area about the size of a door where the plaster seems to be just slightly recessed.
Heddy: Ooh, promising!
Akane: Maybe. Nanda has suspicions. She will look very carefully. Is any sign see-able that this area can actually be opened, without chipping away the plaster covering?
Judge Claire: Make a DC10 Intelligence roll.
Akane: Success with a 13.
Judge Claire: It seems to just be completely plastered over.
Hettie: Noir is right next to Nanda. If it's obvious what she's looking at, I think I see her concern. If the plaster is the same age as the rest of this area's walls, it seems probable no one has come out from that direction in centuries. Which means it's possible that something beyond has prevented anyone from coming out in centuries.
Akane: Nanda considered it just so as well.
Sasha: Connie Tistra's a con artist, so she smells potential treasure. Like, whatever else is in this dungeon, other adventurers have had a shot at it all these centuries, but they haven't as far as what's behind that plaster, right?
Ariel: Hey! I just remembered Ruri is a fortune teller! Can I use my tarot cards to see if it seems like a good idea to chip away this stuff and go in there?
Judge Claire: Make a Luck check. 
Ariel: Easy, with a 2!
Judge Claire: I don't know all that much about tarot cards, but I know there's a Death card, and that one comes up in a position that indicates grave danger.
Sasha: Yeah, yeah. Wouldn't it come up that way anywhere in this place? What about treasure? Any indication of that?
Judge Claire: Yes, but overall, Ruri has a bad feeling about opening the area up.
Ariel: Plus, I didn't say I did my tarot stuff out loud, Sash. So Connie doesn't know what I'm learning yet.
Sasha: Well, even when you tell her, it's not like you're a wizard or anything, right? Seems like just mumbo jumbo to Connie.
Ariel: I tell everybody the cards say there's death behind that plaster for sure.
Hettie: That's good enough for Noir.
Akane: Nanda also.
Sasha: Connie says you guys are pussies and tries to convince everybody else we should check it out.
Akane: If all from the same village, we know the intelligence of Noir and Nanda, yes? My other character find Connie lacks convincingness.
Ariel: Granny's dumb and pretty fearless, plus she's old and maybe not that far from dying anyway. So she's good with going for it. Vinnie's on the fence. But Short and Ruri are definitely against.
Sasha: Stubbly is in a fatalistic mood and says he's fine facing down death.
Akane: Kindly points out ... how many more rooms to explore on level 1? If those don't enrich us, we can return here. This logic persuades Pestra. Nanda already expressed her dislike.
MSG: My guys would go if the whole group was going, but Chopper would rather we all stick together. Carson's thinking about it. If the party splits, he might go in with Connie's group. 
Heddy: Glynette knows there's a secret door somewhere ahead if we keep going down this hall, and there's still that one door to explore in the bat area. My group isn't into ignoring that Death card.
Elle: So that's 3 in favor, maybe 4 or 5 with Vinnie and Carson ... my most chaotic and cannon-fodder character is dead, and as far as the others, Mendi is Lawful, so no splitting the group for her. Nora's chaotic, so she's a maybe. Imlero is not the brightest, so another maybe.
Judge Claire: It sounds like Connie has a decision to make as to whether she wants to initiate a split.
Sasha: Connie's pretty set on it, but she's also only got a 6 Personality, so she knows people don't normally listen to her. I actually think it's a terrible idea, so I'm going to make a Luck check, and if I miss by a lot, she goes for what I think is a bad decision. Oof. Natural 20.
Akane: Seems like fate desires Connie to go through the plastered door.
Sasha: Time to shit or get off the pot then, people. Who's definitely with Connie?
Akane: Kindly attempts to persuade others of the foolishness of this con artist. His Personality is opposite of hers: 16.
MSG: Sounds like time for them to make a roll-off for the characters on the fence.
Judge Claire: I don't want to make anyone send their character in a questionable direction just on the roll of the dice, but let's see how well the two of them make their case. Roll d20 and add your Personality modifiers.
Sasha: Connie winds up with a total of 4.
Akane: For Kindly, 16.
MSG: That gets Carson off the fence. I'm with the smooth-talking dwarf.
Elle: Yeah, if Connie hadn't flubbed it, Imlero might have gone with her, but she got her ass handed to her in that debate, so my two on-the-fencers are off now.
Ariel: Vinnie buys into what Kindly says. Granny's dumb, but she's not crazy. If nobody else is into it, she's for going on. 
Sasha: Stubbly will listen to his fellow dwarf.
Judge Claire: That leaves Connie pretty much holding the bag, if I'm hearing right. Is she stubborn enough to try going on her own?
Sasha: Maybe, but she doesn't have a torch or a lantern, so she just gets pissed at everybody and gives up.
Judge Claire: The wandering monster die doesn't come up with an encounter while you're debating, so if the party's ready to move on, around the bend is another 35 feet of hallway and a turn to the right. This time, I want Granny and Noir to give me a d10 roll modified by Intelligence.
Heddy: Should we be nervous that it's just a d10 not a d20?
Hettie: Skill checks in this game are done with a d10 if you're not trained in the skill, so it might mean we're rolling a Find Traps roll. My roll is 10 plus 2 is 12.
Judge Claire: No need for Granny to roll, then, because Noir finds a pressure plate on the floor -- clearly some kind of trap.
Hettie: Can I determine the borders of the pressure plate?
Judge Claire: Yes. It's big enough that it would take a DC 7 Agility check to clear it.
Heddy: So statistically, somebody out of our army of characters is going to set the thing off.
MSG: That's what my math says too.
Heddy: How about a new plan, then?
Sasha: Connie immediately says, "Back to the plastered-up door!"
Heddy: No, Shemp is going to say we should go back and use our infravision shuttling strategy to get everyone to that room we found the secret door in. Glynette groans at the prospect of trudging through more guano, but agrees that makes more sense than having somebody spring the trap and die.
Hettie: I'm for it.
Elle: Me too.
Ariel: If Granny was Chaotic I bet she'd say, "Come on, you whippersnappers! How hard is it to jump across a little stretch o' floor like that?" And then just jump to show them. But since she's Neutral I don't think she would. My other guys are okay with Shemp's idea.
Sasha: Stubbly is too. Connie's just pissed off about everything, but she doesn't have much choice.
Akane: Back to the bat rooms, my characters agree.
MSG: Mine too.
Judge Claire: All right then, let's pick up there next session.
Heddy: I think I'm starting to get into this game.
Hettie: It's an acquired taste, but it has its charms.
Elle: Nice gamemastering, Claire.
Ariel: Yeah!
Sasha: Although if somebody had stepped on that pressure plate and died, we all could have gotten another 3 xp.
Judge Claire: Brutal, but true. We'll see how things go next time!