farther beyond the doorway of death! (dcc part 7)

(if you need reminding of what's going on with this doorway of death place, head back to "the party splits" a few posts ago!)

Judge Claire: All right, everybody remember where the first first-level group is?
Heddy: Choking and coughing in a room full of evil temple incense smoke?
Hettie: Actually, I think we'd arrived at a decision to venture north from that room in search of materials with which to build a bulwark against some sort of trap in front of another plastered secret door.
Ariel: Wow, you guys are really good in the remembering department! I was just going to say, "I'm playing Granny in this part, right?"
Heddy: I borrowed MSG's notes and re-read them.
Hettie: In my case, I went back through Claire's blog posts.
Ariel: Yeah, but you both remembered that that would be good idea at least, and I didn't even do that!
Sasha: I'm not calling you lazy about that, Aers, but --
Ariel: Then don't! Because I feel like you're about to even though you said you weren't about to.
Sasha: Okay, you got me there.
MSG: So my Detect Evil spell is good for an hour, and I don't think we took that long exploring the smokey temple room, so it's still up, and I assume I'm still sensing something evil or dangerous down this hall?
Judge Claire: Correct. As you move forward, you are able to perceive the location of the danger -- a stretch of floor about 40' along the hallway. No sign of what's dangerous about it, though.
Hettie: Time for some Thievery, I believe.
Ariel: Ooh, that would have been funnier if you said, "I believery!" On account of it rhyming.
Hettie: Ahem ... noted and logged for possible future use.
Elle: She said politely.
Judge Claire: Roll your Find Traps skill. I'll give you +4 for knowing the exact spot thanks to Chopper's spell.
Hettie: 8 plus 3 is 11 plus 4 is 15.
Judge Claire: You find an ancient, unmaintained pit trap that looks like it covers the entire next 10' of corridor. You think it looks relatively easy to disable.
Hettie: I'll roll for that, then. 16 total.
Judge Claire: You're confident it's been disabled.
Elle: Imlero's been in the lead, so she'll step forward.
Hettie: Antwerp holds out a hand and says, "Maybe we should drop something onto the trap first to make sure I'm just being confident and not over-confident."
Ariel: Granny has a duck!
Sasha: You brought that into the dungeon with you? How have you been keeping it from running away during fights?
Ariel: Oh. Maybe I left it with somebody back in town, then.
Elle: Imlero just tosses her backpack onto the trap. All it has in it is a few coppers.
Judge Claire: The floor supports it without any sign of collapsing.
Elle: Good enough for me. I get moving down the hall.
Judge Claire: All right. The way opens up into a room ahead. It's about 60' long and 30' across. At the far end is an amorphous black blob that writhes eerily as though to unheard music. It's big -- about 20' tall. Evenly spaced along the side walls are a set of six faces painted onto the plaster. Each face stares directly across the room at the face on the opposite side. Chopper, you sense evil intention at the outer reach of your Detect Evil spell as you approach the room, and when the group reaches the doorway, you can tell that the evil intent comes from behind the nearer two faces on the west wall and the nearest face on the east. The farthest face on each wall is beyond your range for now. The blob is too.
MSG: I'll alert everyone of the evil presences.
Sasha: Connie says, "More plaster, huh? Let's go get cracking!"
Akane: Possibly start with a face not seeming evil to our cleric?
MSG: And maybe wait for me to get far enough into the room to tell whether that statue and the last two doors seem evil too, I'd say.
Sasha: Fine. Wimps.
Judge Claire: As soon as Imlero and Connie step into the room, they feel a rush of supernatural wind fierce enough to make their hair stream back from their faces and their clothes flap with its strength. The characters who are still outside of the room do not feel anything.
Akane: Is this game like the rules of Dragonbane, where torches and lanterns go out easily?
Judge Claire: Possibly.
Akane: Nanda should remain outside this room, then, since she has our only light, and flint and steel remains with Kindly Miner in the other grouping.
Judge Claire: Does everyone else proceed in, then?
Heddy: Sure.
Hettie: Cautiously.
Elle: Yes, keeping an eye on that blobular shape. 
Ariel: Granny does.
Sasha: Yep.
MSG: Chopper carefully moves in until his range reaches all the way to the back of the room.
Judge Claire: You sense no danger from the writhing shape. The far west face also seems pretty evil-free. But there's definitely evil intent behind the far east one.
Heddy: Just to be clear ... if there's evil behind most of these faces, and that's all Chopper is detecting, does that mean we're safe from stepping on a pressure plate that makes the faces pop open and let the evil out?
Judge Claire: Yes. A trip wire or pressure plate would be "inherently dangerous," so Chopper's 17 spell check would let him know the trigger object was dangerous.
Heddy: And the faces and plaster aren't registering as dangerous themselves?
Judge Claire: Correct.
Hettie: I'm in favor of chipping away the plaster for the faces that don't seem to be hiding danger.
Sasha: Good point! They might be hiding treasure instead! Connie goes and starts chipping at the one in the upper left.
Hettie: Antwerp has an iron spike she can use to chip at the one on the center right.
Elle: Imlero is going to go and look at the wobbling blob.
Judge Claire: As you get closer, you see that the dark, shifting shape is actually an oversized black robe draped over a statue of some kind.
Elle: I'll try to get it down.
Judge Claire: You find it's not too difficult to pull loose. As soon as you do, the magical wind stops. Underneath, the statue is humanoid, but faceless. Meanwhile, chipping away at those two faces reveals that there's a door hidden behind each.
Heddy: Glynette will help finish chipping them clear, then.
Judge Claire: It will take about ten minutes of work for one person to uncover each door. Five minutes if two are collaborating.
Sasha: When Connie gets hers done, she opens it right away. Were you helping her, or Antwerp, Heddy?
Heddy: I'm thinking Antwerp, since Connie has been kind of a pain.
Ariel: Granny says she's going to see if there's a door behind one of the evil ones too. She'll just chip away a little bit to see. Uh ... I guess that one in the back on the right.
Judge Claire: Anyone else chipping plaster?
MSG: I'm waiting to see the outcomes before doing anything.
Judge Claire: No one? All right, after five minutes, Glynette and Antwerp get the east door clear of plaster.
Hettie: If the Detect Evil is still reading clear, I'll try opening it.
Judge Claire: It is, and it opens easily. Inside you find dust and a pile of rags, with a 10 gp pendant resting on top of it.
Hettie: I'll take it if Glynette doesn't object.
Heddy: All yours.
Judge Claire: Granny has by now discovered that there is indeed another door behind the plaster of the face she chose.
Ariel: Can I hear anything behind it? Ooh, 14 on my Intelligence check.
Judge Claire: If there's anything there, it's entirely still.
Ariel: I'll keep chipping then so at least we have the option to open the door.
Heddy: I'll help her.
Hettie: Antwerp will do the same for the middle left face.
Judge Claire: Then at the 10-minute mark, Connie's door is uncovered and so is the door Glynette and Granny were clearing. 
Sasha: I'm opening mine the second I can. What's in it?
Judge Claire: Nothing but dust.
Sasha: What? Boo.
Akane: Should all party members prepare for danger and proceed with opening the evil uncovered door?
MSG: Sure.
Judge Claire: Okay, show me on the map where you're positioning yourselves.
Heddy: Here.
Hettie: Here, where I can fire my sling at any monsters as soon as the door is opened.
Elle: Here.
Ariel: Granny's right at the door.
Sasha: Connie's here, ready to rush in if she sees treasure.
Akane: Nanda remains at the room entrance.
MSG: Chopper hangs back behind the others.
Judge Claire: All right, everyone roll initiative.
Heddy: 10.
Hettie: 14.
Elle: A sad 7.
Ariel: I'm even sadder then! 5.
Sasha: 14.
Akane: 19 after subtracting poor Agility from an otherwise crit.
MSG: 12 for Chopper.
Judge Claire: Looks like Akane first, then.
Akane: Nanda awaits an opening door and monsters.
Judge Claire: Hettie or Sash, then.
Sasha: Connie thinks waiting is for the birds. She goes up to the door and opens it, since there's a space right there between Granny and Imlero.
Judge Claire: Monsters! Inside is another small-ish room with 4 skeletons in black robes gathered ready to attack! But their initiative isn't up yet.
Sasha: Does that mean I can take a smack at one?
Judge Claire: Yes. The rules say opening a door can be part of a movement action.
Sasha: Axe! I'm going to try to sweep two of them with my battleaxe if I can. 17 on the 20 sider and 3 on my deed die! Yes!
Judge Claire: All right, roll normal damage for the first one and I'll give your deed damage to the second one. As it happens, that's going to be enough to kill both of them.
Sasha: Hell yeah! BOOM! That's how you do it! Next?
Hettie: I believe I tied with you, so Antwerp will attempt a sling attack on the next visible skeleton. Miss.
MSG: Chopper's up next, but I don't want to risk Deity Disapproval or put my neck on the line when these things seem to be going down so easily. I'll wait and be ready to heal anyone who gets hurt.
Heddy: If it's Glynette's turn, she'll move in and attack one of the last two with her handaxes.
MSG: Two attacks means you use the d16.
Judge Claire: Watch out, it rolls forever if you don't put something in front of it as a stopper.
Heddy: Wow, you're not kidding. Right off the table. Let me just ... okay, a little more carefully ... no, fuck, what the hell is with that die?
Hettie: For some reason they appear to have burnished all the vertices.
Ariel: Here, I got it for you!
Heddy: Thanks. And this time I kept it on the table for a total of 13. 7 damage if it hits.
Judge Claire: Hit and killed.
Heddy: Maybe I should have positioned myself where I could reach them both. That was almost too easy.
MSG: Yeah, you never want to say that in this game.
Judge Claire: Elle, your turn.
Elle: My deed die is to crush its skull to pieces. 15 to hit, 11 damage.
Judge Claire: Crushed skull accomplished. In fact, you keep crushing halfway down into its chest. No experience for that easy a battle. Each of the 4 skeletons does have a 10 gp pendant like the others you've seen.
MSG: Time's a-wasting on my Detect Evil spell, then. Let's get chipping at these other doors.
Judge Claire: Who's on which door?
Heddy: I'll go to the middle west one.
Hettie: We seem to make a good plaster-cracking team, so I'll join her.
Elle: I'll take the bottom left one.
Ariel: I'll help!
Sasha: Connie's on the bottom right then.
Akane: I remain watchful in the doorway.
MSG: I guess I'll help Connie, then. That should get us through all three plaster walls in half a turn.
Judge Claire: All right, which door do --
Sasha: Bam! I'm opening mine.
Judge Claire: Connie and Chopper roll initiative, then.
Sasha: 5.
MSG: 7.
Judge Claire: As Connie reaches for the door, Chopper realizes that with the plaster chipped away, his Detect Evil spell is reading the door itself as dangerous, in addition to the evil presence behind it.
MSG: I tell her, "Hey, wait a --"
Sasha: Should have said you put your hand on the door to stop me. I'm opening it.
MSG: Do I get a chance to make an opposed Strength check or something, Judge?
Judge Claire: Look, by this time I think Sasha is right. You ought to know Connie's going to go for it, so you really should have stated you were trying to stop her, not just talk. The door opens -- and as soon as it does, the other two burst open as well, revealing more skeletons behind all three doors. Let me just put them on the map. There ... there ... and there.
MSG: Oh, great. And our room is the one with six skeletons. Do Sash and I keep our initiative rolls for the fight or were we just rolling off against each other?
Judge Claire: Connie was being really proactive there, so I'll let Sash re-roll. Chopper kind of got caught with his pants down, so he can re-roll if you want to, but he gets a minus 2.
MSG: Crap. I feel like the odds are good I'll end up with an even lower initiative. I'll keep the 7.
Heddy: Natural 20 for Glynette.
Judge Claire: Oh! Hold up a second too. I just remembered, I was looking in the book last night and saw that battleaxes are actually 2-handed weapons that do 1d10, not 1d8. But they also require you to roll the d16 for initiative. For the sake of this fight, I'll let you pick which way to go instead of dropping that on you without warning, but after this we'll use the real rules.
Hettie: I don't have one, so my initiative is 9.
Elle: I'll be cautious this time and roll the d20. 12.
Ariel: Granny has a spear. 8.
Sasha: d10 damage? Connie is in for it! Oof, but I only get a 3.
Heddy: On the bright side, you managed to keep the d16 on the table.
Akane: The roll for Nanda is 6.
Judge Claire: Lucky for almost everyone, the skeletons go on 5. Heddy, you're up.
Heddy: Handaxes on one of the two by the -- damn it. Can I have some kind of tray or something to roll this damned thing in? Thank you. Aha! Well that was worth two rolls. It's a crit. Crit roll is ... blah. 0.
Judge Claire: Battle rage makes friend and foe indistinguishable! You do an extra d12 on the target, but rebound for d4 on Antwerp.
Heddy: 15 on the skeleton.
Judge Claire: Pasted.
Heddy: Do I add my strength against Antwerp?
Judge Claire: The "rebound" sounds like it was a bad bounce, but "friend and foe indistinguishable" sounds like you were raging and hit him by mistake. Antwerp, make a Luck roll to see whether you take strength damage too. 
Hettie: I make it.
Heddy: 3 points, then.
Hettie: Ouch. Let's not do that again. Or rather, let's not roll the 0 on the crit again. Feel free to get another crit.
Heddy: Afraid not. That's a 10 on the next skeleton.
Judge Claire: 10 is a hit.
Heddy: Really? Terrific ... but only 2 points of damage.
Elle: I'm next, right? I'll try swiping both of them with my Mighty Deed ... no, only 2 on the deed die, but it's a hit for 11.
Judge Claire: Dead. Hettie?
Hettie: Antwerp tries her shortsword against number 3 ... only a 6.
Judge Claire: Miss. Aers?
Ariel: Grannytime on this one here! I'll try stabbing right through both of those ones there. Ooh! A crit! My Deed Die is only a 1, but I get 9 on the crit table.
Judge Claire: You splinter his femur, doing an extra 2d6.
Ariel: 16 points!
Akane: Nanda will attempt hands of flames by spelling toward the room with 6. A 1. This is exceptionally bad for spelling, isn't it?
Judge Claire: Probably. Roll d6 and add your Luck modifier.
Akane: 3.
Judge Claire: Corruption. Roll d4.
Akane: It's a corrupt 2. The spell entry says my hands catch fire for 1d3 damage. Ow. I roll 3.
Judge Claire: Looks like Chopper's turn next. 
MSG: I'm going to try turning these undead. I roll a 12, which turns ... 1, it looks like.
Judge Claire: Sadly, its will save beats your spell check, so there's no effect, and it's the skeletons' turn. Number 3 attacks Connie with a 9. 
Sasha: Miss.
Judge Claire: Number 1 attacks Chopper. 19, for 1 point. Number 2 attacks Glynette. 15 for 1 again. Other Number 3 attacks Antwerp ... 4. Number 2 attacks Granny and fumbles ... 1 is just a hilarious miss, but its party lacks any sense of humor, so no one laughs. Number 4 on Imlero rolls 12 for 2 points. Your turn, Heddy.
Heddy: Somewhat relieved by how that turn went, but I'll try not to jinx us by crowing about it. I get a 4 on my first strike and 8 on my second.
Judge Claire: Both miss.
Elle: Imlero attempts to knock her guy back but fucks it up entirely.
Hettie: Antwerp gets a 14 with her shortsword for 5 points.
Ariel: Granny blows it.
Akane: Nanda gives cheering encouragement from the doorway.
MSG: Chopper tries to Turn Unholy again. But I fail, and my Deity Disapproval goes up one.
Judge Claire: Skeletons! Fumble on Chopper. It trips and falls prone for the next round. 11 on Connie hits, right? 3 points. Glynette is missed with a 7. Antwerp with a 9. 8 on Granny and 2 on Imlero. Back to Glynette.
Heddy: 15 is a hit for 5 points on number 2. Wait, can I reach number 3 too? He's been hit already. 5 points to him.
Judge Claire: Dead.
Heddy: Second attack on number 2, then. 12 hits, right? For 7 points.
Judge Claire: Still up.
Hettie: Antwerp tries to finish it off ... 10 to hit and 7 more points.
Judge Claire: Dead. That's one room down.
Elle: I think I got skipped. I'm trying to hack number 4 in half, but I miss.
Ariel: Granny-whammy! I'm stabbing it through the eye-hole! 18 to hit! 7 points! Woo, we're all like, lucky number 7 this round!
Judge Claire: It's still up.
Akane: More cheerfulness from Nanda.
MSG: Chopper chops weakly with his dagger with a 10, for 4 points.
Sasha: Hey! How'd Chopper go twice and I haven't gone at all?
Judge Claire: Because I had the bottom of the initiative roll scrolled offscreen. Sorry. You can go before the skeletons and then after them too. 
Sasha: Axe! That's a hit, for 8 points. On the one Chopper already got.
Judge Claire: Dead. But another one moves up in its place.
Sasha: You want some of this too, huh? Come and get it!
Judge Claire: Your taunting energizes its moldy bones. 16 to hit, 1 damage. Number 3 strikes at Chopper -- 11 for 3 points. Number 2 on Granny hits with 17 for 3 points also.
Ariel: Ouch! My hit points aren't great to start with ... probably because I'm old.
Judge Claire: Number 4 claws at Imlero. 15, 3 points. Glynette's turn.
Heddy: You can throw a handaxe, right? Oh, but if I throw into combat I might hit one of our group, and if I throw into the room with skeletons that aren't in reach, I'll have to wait a long time to get my weapon back ... Well, I'll risk that anyway. Throwing at number 6 ... 13 to hit, 3 damage. Don't know if that felt worth it.
Elle: Imlero tries to crack number 2's skull. That's better -- 16 to hit, 8 points.
Judge Claire: Kills it easily.
Hettie: Antwerp will make a sling attack on number 6. 8 ... that's really close, but I think I'll conserve my Luck and not buff it.
Ariel: Spear to the spine! Hit! And a 3 on my Deed Die! Woohoo, maximum damage of 11!
Judge Claire: Your spear hits a weak point in its spine and pops its head off. Dead.
Sasha: OMG. I just realized you went straight to Glynette again instead of letting Connie have her turn.
Judge Claire: Wow, what's wrong with me tonight? You can go. 
Sasha: Axe! 10 to hit! 9 damage!
Akane: Even more of magicianly cheering.
MSG: Chopper tries daggering the one Connie just chopped. 9 is a hit, right? Thank god they've got crap for AC. 1 point only, though.
Judge Claire: Still enough to kill it. Number 2 on Chopper gets a 4, number 5 on Connie gets a 10. 2 points.
Sasha: Starting to feel pretty hurt here ... my turn though, right? Okay, I'm going to try to uppercut number 5 with my axe and go with the swing into a backflip to get out of their reach without taking a leaving engagement strike. That is a fumble. 2 is the save or go prone one, right? Prone.
Heddy: Prone means someone can step over connie, right? I think I'd rather it be someone tougher like Imlero, though. I'll hold where I am. 
Elle: Sure. I'll move in there with my axe and try another skull-splitting Deed on number 5. Hit, but no Deed. 5 points.
Hettie: Another sling stone at number 6 from Antwerp. That's a 10, for 5 points.
Judge Claire: Right through the brain-pan. Very dead.
Ariel: I don't guess Granny can reach ... but can she go over and pull Connie back out of combat?
Judge Claire: Sure.
Sasha: Nice! Thanks, Aers!
Ariel: You're welcome!
Akane: I proclaim so much success for this round. We are near triumph! Continue!
MSG: Jabbing number 5 with my dagger ... 18 to hit, another singleton damage.
Judge Claire: Still enough to kill it; it was already hurt. Skeletons go. Number 4 moves up and claws at Imlero ... 2. Number 2 on Chopper ... 9.
MSG: Just misses.
Sasha: My turn! Mine! Oh. I'm not in combat any more anyway. Damn.
Judge Claire: I was definitely going to remember this turn.
Heddy: I guess it's kind of up to Imlero and Chopper now, since any ranged attacks might hit one of them and they're blocking our way to the door.
Elle: Maybe my axe will take one down and let me move into the room. Striking at number 4 with a head-shot. Hit but no Deed. Only 4.
Judge Claire: Still up.
Ariel: Can I try a Mighty Deed to get my spear past our guys and to a skeleton?
Judge Claire: Sure, but if the Deed die fails, you miss no matter what.
Ariel: Woohoo! 3! Oh, but the d20 is a 3 also. That means I get a 7.
Heddy: Glynette will spend a point of Luck with her halfling Lucky Charm ability to make that a 9.
Ariel: Yay! 7 points!
Judge Claire: That downs it.
Akane: Hip and hooray!
MSG: Only one left ... Chopper tries to slash it with his dagger ... oof, fumble. What's a 4 mean?
Judge Claire: Weapon damaged. You can fix it with 10 minutes of work, but it's done for now.
MSG: I'll hold out a hand and ask if someone can give me a club or something. 
Judge Claire: The skeleton strikes at you, hitting with an 11 for 3 points.
MSG: Ouch.
Judge Claire: Sasha?
Sasha: No room to get in there.
Heddy: Me either.
Elle: Imlero's got room to maneuver now, though, so she swings all the way around it and cleaves it in half with her axe. No deed, but 10 points
Judge Claire: Looks like this one's a tough one -- it's still up.
Hettie: Antwerp doesn't want to get into hand-to-hand, so she'll stay where she is.
Ariel: Granny to the rescue! Another spear to the spine move! Well, it's a hit at least, for ... 5 points.
Judge Claire: Done. All skeletons are down.
Heddy: Whew! We're pretty beaten up now, aren't we?
Sasha: Yeah. Connie says Chopper needs to get healing.
MSG: I'm a little nervous about that. If I roll anything under a 5, I'll have to roll on the Deity Disapproval table.
Judge Claire: Hang on. How has your Deity Disapproval been going up but you haven't rolled on the Disapproval table once yet?
MSG: Doesn't it go up whenever I fail a spell check?
Judge Claire: No, it goes up whenever you have to roll Deity Disapproval, which starts on a 1. So if you haven't fumbled any spell checks, it should still be 1. Haven't you played a cleric in this game before?
MSG: If I have, it's obviously been forever, because that's a pretty important rule for me to be getting so wrong.
Judge Claire: Yeah, clerics would suck big time if their Disapproval went up with every failure. 
MSG: Okay, sounds like I'm good to do a lot of healing now, in that case. Who's hurt?
Heddy: Glynette's just scratched, so someone else can go first.
Hettie: I've only taken 3, but that constitutes almost half my health, so I'd appreciate any healing I can get.
Elle: Imlero's down 5.
Ariel: Granny's only got 5 left!
Sasha: So you've been holding out on the healing for no reason? Connie's pissed. She better be first in line.
Akane: Some small damages to Nanda.
MSG: Here we go then. I'll humor Connie, I guess. Miss ... miss ... miss ... okay, 19. That's 2 dice since you're adjacent to me --
Judge Claire: Sir, your homework after this session is to read the rules. You can only heal as many dice as the target's level no matter what you roll. So any success is one die at this point.
MSG: Sorry. Okay, 7 points, then. Next, I'll heal myself, since we don't want me going down in a battle ... fail, then a 19 for 6 points. Warriors? A 14 on my check for Imlero, but only 3 points of healing. Sorry. 2 points of healing for Granny ... 3 for Antwerp ... 1 for Nanda. Anyone still hurt by more than a point?
Elle: I am.
Akane: Nanda also.
MSG: Another 3 points for Imlero, another 2 for Nanda.
Akane: Improved!
MSG: I'll heal myself by another point to full ... Connie too ... Granny, yep ... and finally, Glynette -- ergh. That's a 1.
Judge Claire: Okay, so now your range goes up to 1-2 and you have to roll on the table.
MSG: Can I see the book, then? Okay, I roll a 1, which is 10 minutes of chanting and praying.
Judge Claire: All right. While he's doing that, I assume the rest of you will search the rooms ...
Hettie: Exceedingly generous of you, Judge. We appreciate it.
Judge Claire: Call it payback for failing to get Sasha's initiative right all those times. At any rate, you find another 13 of those pendants, along with a locked box against the north wall of the room that had 6 skeletons.
Hettie: I'll attempt to pick the lock. 21 with my bonus.
Ariel: Sweet!
Judge Claire: Inside the box, you find 100 silver pieces, 20 gold, a potion of levitation in a skull-shaped flask, and a suit of chainmail. I'll say there's a 10% chance it's halfling sized ... nope, 92.
Sasha: Connie got hurt the worst, so she gets the chainmail.
MSG: Chopper suggests that even though he's not a front-liner, it might be good to give your healer more protection.
Hettie: Antwerp is fine with that, since a thief won't do well in chainmail anyway.
Elle: Imlero wouldn't mind having the armor herself, but if it's between Chopper and Connie, he'll go with Chopper.
Ariel: Granny thinks it looks kind of heavy for her, and that's about all thinking she can manage with her Intelligence, so she's not voting.
Sasha: Anybody votes against me, I'm not stepping in between them and danger the next time they're in battle and hurting.
Akane: Is selfless defense of comrades a Connie habit otherwise?
MSG: Not that I've noticed.
Heddy: I vote Chopper.
Elle: Imlero votes for herself.
Akane: Nanda prefers to armor our cleric ... but 3 votes already guarantee this result, so she votes for Connie in hopes of sometime being defended. She will explain this to Chopper when Connie's ears are not near.
MSG: If we're dividing up the pendants evenly, that's two apiece for all but one of us, so I'll skip my second to make up for taking the armor.
Judge Claire: Everyone also gets 2 xp for the fight, since there was plenty of damage but not much resource loss and no deaths. We got through a good chunk of stuff this session, so I think we're at a decent stopping point for now too. We'll pick back up with this crew next time, since the other bunch headed back to town.
Ariel: Thanks, Claire! Super-fun!
Sasha: As always.
Judge Claire: Thanks!

more thracia! dcc part 6!

moving right along ...

Judge Claire: So! Did you guys decide whether to climb back across the rope to investigate that stone chest some more? Or tuck your tails between your legs and go back where the dwarves are mining out the trap-door that statue rose up through?
Ariel: Well on the one hand, Ruri just got to be a level 1 thief, so she might be able to pick that lock now. But on the other hand, she doesn't have any tools to do it with, so maybe not. And also on the other hand, it's scary over there! Short died and Vinnie almost did too.
Heddy: Don't forget that I lost Ham over there too. But we killed the centipede thing before it got away with Short's body, so if there are more of them crawling around looking for carrion to scavenge, we should be able to watch for them and shoot them from a distance before going over.
Ariel: Well ... that would make it safer, I guess.
Sasha: Just mining away over here.
Akane: Kindly also. But Pestra will participate in this scavenger hunting.
Judge Claire: How long are you going to wait and watch for it?
Heddy: At least until the dwarves make it all the way through that stone slab.
Judge Claire: That's another 20 minutes or so. Let me roll for wandering monsters ... nope, you're in the clear. Stubbly and Kindly clear an opening in the statue-door and there hasn't been any sign of another crawly thing.
Heddy: I say we go for it. By which I mean, Shemp says someone should go for it while he covers them with his sling.
Sasha: Stubbly is done mining and is still feeling pretty fatalistic from his sister dying, so he's willing to climb across if our new thief needs some back up.
Akane: This is true for Kindly also. In fact, with two such mining dwarvesters, is a thief needed for getting into a stone chest?
Ariel: Ruri is happy to hang back and shortbow anything that shows up while you guys mine the thing open, for sure.
Sasha: Let's do it, then. Stubbs climbs with a 14.
Akane: For Kindly, 11.
Judge Claire: You make it across with ease. Are you doing anything besides going straight to the chest to pick-axe it open?
Akane: No, we are business-like dwarves.
Judge Claire: Both of you can make mining skill checks using your strength, then. It's going to take you 20 minutes to get through the really hard stone of this chest, minus one minute for every point your rolls beat a DC of 10.
Sasha: 14 for Stubbly.
Akane: Sadly, it's 7 for Kindly.
Judge Claire: That's basically a wash, then. Two more wandering monster checks. Well, you're faring a lot better than back in the first session. Neither of them turns up a 6. Inside the chest, you find a map, a wooden box with two turquoise stones in it worth 50 gp each, a large, gem-encrusted statue of a female goddess that's super-heavy --
Heddy: Meaning the statue is heavy, not that the goddess is a chunky one?
Judge Claire: Right. You estimate it's about 500 pounds and worth several hundred gp.
Sasha: Is that value mostly from the statue, or mostly from the gems. 
Judge Claire: Hmm. I'll just roll percentile dice to find out what portion of the value is gems. Looks like only 3%. It's mostly valuable as an art piece.
Sasha: Dammit.
Judge Claire: There's also an engraved tablet with what looks like four lines of poetry in some unknown language.
MSG: Speaking out of character, I think we'd be fools to try to get this statue out with just rope and brute strength. If anyone's character has a profession that would logically use a block and tackle for something, I think it would be good for them to suggest we go back to town and buy some gear to help us move the thing.
Judge Claire: Anyone?
Akane: Wouldn't miners?
Judge Claire: I'd say so.
Sasha: Well, Stubbly's not in a state of mind to come up with that, so it's up to your guy, Akane.
Akane: Kindly makes this suggestion, but only to Stubbly for now. We are alone with the statue, so no sense exciting greediness of companions with the information. We can return with the smaller items.
Sasha: Stubbly shrugs and says whatever. He rolls a 20 on his climb back, though, so I guess knocking our way into the chest made him a little perkier.
Akane: 8 for the climbing of Kindly.
Judge Claire: Okay, you're both safely back. Now what?
Ariel: Oh no! Short's grappling hook! How do we get it back?
MSG: Can we try doing, like, a whip-crack motion to whip it loose?
Judge Claire: I'd call that a skill check related to climbing. Agility DC ... let's say 8. Anybody want to justify grappling-hook-assisted climbing based on your profession? Otherwise you'll be rolling a d10.
Ariel: Can I try it as a Thief? Like, I'm sort of undoing a trap of the hook being trapped over there, right?
Judge Claire: Sure. That makes sense to me.
Ariel: I get a 13!
Judge Claire: You manage to pop it loose, then.
Sasha: Let's head back and check out what we find under that slab concealing the statue.
Judge Claire: You find that the opening you created accesses a round shaft that descends into the darkness beyond the reach of your dwarves' infravision. The walls are slick and oily.
Elle: Sounds like time to play "Dangle the Dwarf." I don't think we want to send a human with a lamp down there by themselves.
Sasha: Stubbly volunteers to go.
MSG: Wow, he's really got a death wish, huh?
Sasha: More like he's testing fate? Like, "Here's your chance to get me too, damn it!" The more stuff he survives the more he'll figure it's just not his time yet.
Judge Claire: All right, then. When you lower Stubbly down the well, at about the 10' point, he can see the shaft open up into a room below. At 20', he can see the top of the statue and a floor beyond it.
Sasha: I'll quietly call up that they should lower me another 60', then. I'll try grabbing hold of the statue and maybe sitting on its shoulders to get at the eye gems once I'm there.
Judge Claire: You manage it without too much difficulty. You find yourself in an unlit, circular room. There's a hallway leading away to the east. Murals are painted into the plastered walls of the chamber, but they're so faded with time you can't really tell what they depict.
Sasha: Well, I'm not here for the art gallery tour. Once I'm settled in place I'll use my dagger to pry out the gems and pocket them.
Judge Claire: It takes some doing, but you manage it. Oooh. Unfortunately, while you guys are in the middle of this operation, I rolled another wandering monster encounter.
Heddy: What better time?
Judge Claire: Okay, how are you guys set up? I'm going to say you need at least 25 points of strength supporting Stubbly on the rope.
Ariel: Vinnie will be one of them because he sure doesn't want to be fighting anything after that creepy centipede thing whacked him. He's got a 13.
Elle: Mendi is very strong and also Lawful, so if something spooks her, she's less likely to drop the rope and run, I'd say. Her 15 takes us over 25, but she wouldn't mind another Lawful character giving even more support.
Hettie: That's exceptionally astute. Tandy volunteers.
Elle: Nora's going to stick close to Kindly, since he leveled up and is a little tougher.
Ariel: Ruri will be guarding with her shortbow keeping an eye on the direction from the chasm.
Akane: Kindly is here near the door of secrecy. Pestra is on the other side, also watching the chasm.
MSG: Carson hangs near Kindly and Nora.
Heddy: Shemp is on sling duty.
MSG: How about let's make sure we don't have anyone positioned where they'll run across that pressure plate between those two columns. We don't want our rope-holders cooked.
Judge Claire: Okay. Oozing its way up over the lip of the chasm to the southeast, you see another one of those primeval slimes. Roll initiative. 
Heddy: Yuck. And then double-yuck because I waste a natural 20 on initiative against a creature that we found out last time always goes last, right? 21 total. 
Hettie: At least you beat out the rest of us. I'll be holding this rope on 12.
Elle: Son of a ... that's a natural 20 for me too.
Ariel: Stinkerooni! I'm on 12 like Het.
Sasha: I'm gouging out demon eye-gems on 18.
Akane: 10 for my characters.
MSG: Carson gets an 18.
Judge Claire: You're up, Heddy.
Heddy: I'll try popping it with my sling ... oh, 19. I'll stop complaining about the die, then. And a 4 on my damage die for 6 points.
Elle: Nora's not about to rush up and club it. But it's slow, so I guess I'll move a little closer in case that becomes necessary.
MSG: Carson takes the same approach.
Hettie: Rope duty for me.
Ariel: Ruri shoots her shortbow at it! Twang! 17! 4 points!
Judge Claire: You seem to do less than that because it's piercing damage, and your arrowhead melts.
Akane: Pestra also arrows this slime. But as a warrior, she can perform Mighty Deeds. She aims to cause her arrow to pierce through slimy substance and hit a rock that can add bludgeoning damage. Ah! I roll a 3 on the die of Deeds and a 14 on attacking die, totaling 16 in all. 
Judge Claire: I'll let you do full damage instead of half damage, then.
Akane: That is 8.
Judge Claire: Slime's turn. It oozes forward one square.
Heddy: 12 on Shemp's next sling attack for 6 points of damage.
Judge Claire: The slime expires. No xp because it was such an easy battle. Once Stubbly gets the last gem loose, you haul him up none the wiser that there was ever even a fight. Under close inspection, you find that the gems are enormous, beautifully cut rubies worth at least 300 gp each.
Heddy: Okay, I say it's time to get back to town and cash in.
Hettie: No argument from Tandy.
Ariel: Ooh! We could always split the party again if anyone wants to stay!
Sasha: Spoken like somebody who still has two characters left alive in this party.
Akane: Wait, though. Before deciding, what appears on the map found by dwarves in a chest? Could be a shortcut for leaving, right?
Judge Claire: The map shows a complex of rooms. One of them appears to be the room you're in, complete with the chasm. It looks like there's an exit to the south that leads to an area with maybe seven more rooms, and two staircases that lead off the map. You can't tell if the staircases go up or down, though.
MSG: How many rooms between us and the staircases?
Judge Claire: If you count the unexplored southern half of this room, two as a minimum to get to the closer staircase, three to get to the farther one. Plus some hallways.
Heddy: Are there any traps marked on the map? Because my bet is, there are traps, so if the map doesn't show any, I really don't trust it.
Judge Claire: No indication of traps, but there is a section of hallway concealed by secret doors.
Elle: Of course, the whole damn map may be a trap, and when we get to that south "exit" we'll find out it's a dead end and all those bodies will animate and zombie-mob us.
Ariel: I for sure think we should keep the map, but also probably go back the way we came to get out.
Sasha: Sold! Let's do that.
Akane: My characters are agreeable.
MSG: Carson too.
Judge Claire: Anyone object? No? Then which direction will you take -- through the chapel where the lizardmen were, or along the hallway with the trap and plastered-over door?
Hettie: Considering we remain unaware of the other group disabling the trap, I'll favor the chapel.
Ariel: But there's like, twice as much bat-goo to walk through that way.
Sasha: Hey, nobody's washed their boots off, so I'm pretty sure we're used to the smell by now.
Ariel: Yeah, but the squishing is yucky too.
Sasha: There's going to be squishing either direction, though. It's just a question of how much.
MSG: Something to consider is the bat population and our much smaller number of infravision characters. If we do the shuttling back and forth through the dark again, our last two dwarves will have to cover that whole distance like, 10 times if we don't want to upset the bats with our lanterns.
Ariel: Plus Ruri's a thief now so she can check that trap to see if it's still working and then maybe break it if it is.
MSG: I'm leaning toward the trap hallway now.
Heddy: Sure. Let's just head that way.
Judge Claire: Rolling for wandering monsters again ... nope. You make it back to the hallway with the trap. Ruri can roll to check it out.
Ariel: Fooh. Only an 11.
Judge Claire: That's good enough now, because you've seen it before and Antwerp worked at it to disable it already, so it's pretty obvious where it is and that it's no longer functioning.
Ariel: Woohoo! Let's go!
Judge Claire: You reach the corner that leads back to the hall of bats. How are you going to go about things this time?
Elle: Lights on, full speed ahead, and fuck the bats, I say.
Ariel: I'm good with that.
Sasha: Doesn't matter to me. I've got infravision and am still in the who-cares-if-the-dungeon-kills-me stage of denial over Stumbly's death.
Akane: It's a suitable plan.
MSG: Yep, let's go.
Judge Claire: Okay then. Who's got the highest Luck stat now?
MSG: I think it's Carson with his 16. Our other lucky bastards have been spending Luck like there's no tomorrow.
Ariel: Vinnie had to or there definitely wouldn't have been a tomorrow for him!
MSG: Anyway, if I have to roll a Luck check, it's a 2.
Judge Claire: The bats swarm and swirl again, making vision impaired but otherwise causing no harm. You make it out into the sunlight once more.
Heddy: Shemp breathes a sigh of relief.
Hettie: I imagine we all do, with the possible mournful exception of Stubbly Stamps.
MSG: Let's get these wandering monster rolls out of the way then so we can pick up those polearms from our first encounter and head back to town.
Judge Claire: Three in the jungle ... no ... n-- whoop, that's a six. And the 12-sider follow-up is a 1, which is Gnoll Patrol A. What's your marching order?
Heddy: Level ones up front?
Akane: Agreeable to Kindly. Also, he has 3 kits of lizard medicine and our level one characters number 3 also. So each should take one, I think.
Sasha: Stubbly will go in the second row if we're doing two-by-two.
Akane: Kindly and Pestra accept first-row placement.
Judge Claire: Okay. After that we should go by your level 0 numbers, 1, 2, 3, 4 ... assuming there are any 1's and 2's left.
Heddy: Not for me.
Hettie: No.
Elle: Long gone.
Judge Claire: Kindly and Pestra need to roll Intelligence checks then, to see if they surprise the gnolls or vice versa.
Akane: Those rolls are 4 and 7.
Judge Claire: Gnolls come in at 7, so no surprise. I'll roll d4+2 and multiply by 10 for the distance you spot each other at ... 40' roll initiative.
Heddy: Yet another natural 20, which bumps to 21 with my Agility.
Hettie: 13.
Elle: A mediocre 10.
Ariel: 19!
Sasha: Trudging along on 2.
Akane: My characters on 3.
MSG: Carson's a 5.
Judge Claire: Heddy, you're up. 
Heddy: Shemp gets right at 40' and fires his sling for a 20 total. 3 points on whichever one is in the lead.
Judge Claire: Ariel?
Ariel: Ruri shoots her shortbow at that same one! Twang-o! 14!
Judge Claire: Hit.
Ariel: Only 2 points. Then she'll move off into the bushes to the side to hide so she can do a backstab next turn maybe! Hey, These guys don't have ranged weapons too, do they?
Judge Claire: It looks like they're carrying maces and longbows.
Ariel: Yikes! Vinnie will move forward some but then get in the bushes for cover. That way he can move up and attack next round if nobody sees him and shoots him.
Sasha: You're really strategizing the heck out of things lately, Aers.
Ariel: It's fun to!
Judge Claire: Hettie, Tandy is up.
Hettie: She'll follow Vinnie's cue and slink into the bushes at his side.
Elle: I'm next, right? Mendi throws a rock at the leader ... misses ... then takes cover in the bushes too. Nora ... hmm. She'll join Tandy and Vinnie.
Ariel: We're going to need a bigger bush!
Judge Claire: MSG, what's Carson's game?
MSG: He'll go in the bushes near Mendi. He's got that 40' movement from his lucky sign, but no way is he charging up alone against 4 gnolls this round.
Judge Claire: Gnolls' turn! Akane and Sasha, who's got the worst luck of your characters?
Akane: Pestra, 5. Kindly, 13.
Sasha: Stubbly is down to 8.
Judge Claire: The gnolls duck into the bushes too, and fire at Pestra from cover. There are two of them to either side of the path. Oof. Leader fumbles. Rolls a 1 on the d4 though and just embarrasses himself. Second gnoll on Pestra ... 11, for max damage, 6 points.
Akane: Pain, but not death.
MSG: Not death, yet. I'll cross my fingers for you. 
Judge Claire: Another hit, for 5 damage.
Akane: Now, it's death.
MSG: No, Pestra's level 1 now, so she's got one round for someone to patch her up with that lizard kit.
Judge Claire: Last gnoll on Stubbly. It's a hit, I'm afraid. But only 2 points of damage. The gnolls remain 40' away and now have cover. Akane is next. 
Akane: Kindly administers lizard aid to Pestra.
Judge Claire: She regains 3 hit points but remains unconscious. When she wakes up, she'll have a 1-point temporary Stamina loss.
Akane: Does time remain to drag her into the bushes?
Judge Claire: Well, you had to find the first aid kit on her, open it up, and use it, so I think no. Sasha's turn.
Sasha: Stubbly will charge up to the leader with a dwarven war cry. I think that takes my whole turn if we were still at 40' away.
Judge Claire: Yes. Now it goes back to Heddy.
Heddy: Cover or no cover, Shemp is firing at the leader. Another 20 to hit, this time for ... max damage of 6.
Judge Claire: He's not looking so good. Aers?
Ariel: Ruri's just sneaking this turn. I roll 18 to get around behind one of them. But not within reach yet, in case they notice me. If Vinnie's on the leader's side of the trail, he goes for him otherwise I guess he rushes one of the other dudes. That's only an 11 either way.
Judge Claire: The leader went to the opposite side from where he saw the three characters duck into the bushes, so you're now engaged with number 3. Het? That's the side Tandy is on too.
Hettie: She'll charge the same fellow. 18 to hit, battleaxe damage is 7.
Elle: Mendi heaves another rock at the leader. 17, minus 2 for range and minus 2 for his cover would be 13, right?
Judge Claire: Yes, and it's a hit. 
Elle: 4 points.
Judge Claire: That kills him.
Elle: Nora tries to finish off the injured one. 12.
Judge Claire: That's a miss.
Elle: I'll spend a point of Luck.
Judge Claire: He's down. MSG?
MSG: Carson rushes the one who was with the leader and hopes he doesn't regret it. Big miss.
Judge Claire: Gnolls' turn. One is unengaged, and he takes off running through the woods. The other one tries saying an oath to invoke his god, but fails, so he runs too, which means Carson gets a free swing on him. 
MSG: That's a 17 for 5 points of damage.
Judge Claire: He keeps running. Anyone want to pursue the gnolls into the forest?
Heddy: And risk running into a big encampment of them that those two ran off to? No thanks.
Hettie: I think we should make haste from this vicinity -- carrying Pestra if necessary.
Judge Claire: In that case, Pestra wakes up in a few minutes ... unfortunately, just in time for another random encounter.
Elle: Holy hell. If we live and decide to come back, can we for fuck's sake take a different route? 
Judge Claire: This time, you run across a band of uncivilized-looking peasants with makeshift clubs. They appear to be fleeing from someone or something, and are startled to come up face-to-face with you. What do you do?
Akane: Kindly attempts soothing them with a speech of, "What's wrong? Do you need help?"
Judge Claire: They don't understand your language, but roll a d20 and try to get under your Personality.
Akane: Kindly is very personable, and also rolls a 3.
Judge Claire: The leader of the group makes a series of quick gestures, pointing behind them and then at all of you as though indicating that the two groups should ambush their pursuers. You hear the noise of numerous figures rushing through the woods. They'll arrive very soon.
Heddy: I like the sound of an ambush better than trying to convince whoever it is that we're just passing innocently through.
Hettie: Especially if whoever it is turns out to be another batch of gnolls. Tandy hides in some bushes.
Elle: My characters do too.
Ariel: Well ... maybe these guys did something bad and whoever's chasing them are the good guys? Only I don't guess there's time to talk it over, so I hide too.
Sasha: Same.
Akane: Yes -- new allies are preferred to angry gnolls.
MSG: Yep, hiding.
Judge Claire: Luckiest character makes a Luck check.
MSG: Still me, I think. that's an 8.
Judge Claire: You hunker in the bushes while the peasants move across the ruined street to the far side, half in cover but still visible and looking over their shoulders. A troop of 6 gnolls rushes right between your ambush formation, and you get a free surprise round.
Akane: Pestra attacks shortbowingly. Her Deed attempt is to pierce one gnoll and have the arrow continue to the next. Sadly, her total is 11 only, though her Deed would have succeeded. Kindly attacks this number 4 gnoll, with a Deed attempting to knock him into number 5 and possibly entangle them together. It's a fist attack from him ... but only a 12 to hit.
Sasha: Stubbly clubs the hell out of this guy next to -- no, that's a fumble. ¡Híjole! 2 is that Reflex save or go prone, right? I make it. 
Ariel: Ruri gets in behind this number 3 dude and backstabs him! STAB! Boo, 6. Vinnie tries to smack the same guy ... nope.
Elle: Mendi throws a rock at number 6 -- what is wrong with us? Fumble. Reflex save or prone ... botch. Nora takes a club swing at the one Kindly attacked. Miss.
Heddy: Shemp tries to break our miss streak with his sling. Wow. This must be Karma for ambushing people without knowing the situation. I fumble too. What's a 3 do?
Judge Claire: You nearly lose hold of your weapon. -2 on your next attack.
Heddy: What happens if you fumble with a -2? Rhetorical question only.
MSG: Axe on number 6 ... miss.
Hettie: Tandy goes for number 6 too, but not with that die. Why in all of creation do we keep passing it around?
Ariel: It's our official DCC 20-sider!
Hettie: I'm getting a different one. Look: 15. For 7 points.
Judge Claire: Initiative, please. 
Heddy: 13.
Hettie: 6
Elle: 3. So much for the new die improving things.
Hettie: Next time I'll just keep it for myself.
Ariel: I'm using the DCC one! I believe in you, DCC die! Woohoo, 16!
Sasha: 6 for Stubbly.
Akane: 18!
MSG: And ... 2.
Judge Claire: 19 for gnolls, 5 for peasants. Gnolls first. The gnoll leader roars in fury and moves to attack Vinnie. Hit.
Ariel: He's dead. Unless I can do that dodge thing again with my last 7 luck.
Judge Claire: Spend 6 and if you roll a natural 1 you dodge.
Ariel: No, he's dead.
Judge Claire: Number 2 moves up to the peasants and tries to intimidate them into surrendering. He rolls a savage 13, which I think is not enough to overcome the seemingly greater numerical odds. 3 can reach Ruri or Stubbs, and I know Stubbs' luck is way lower, so ... 11 to hit. Damage is 4.
Sasha: Stubbly is reunited at last with his sister.
Judge Claire: Number 4 goes for Nora. Swing and miss. 5 goes for Ruri. 11.
Ariel: Just what he needed, boo!
Judge Claire: 5 points.
Ariel: Yow!
Judge Claire: That leaves number 6, and out of Tandy and Carson, I know Tandy's luck is worse. Het, you're hit for 4.
Hettie: Expired.
Elle: Here, you can play Nora if you like. 
Hettie: Thanks, although I don't have high hopes for it lasting long.
Judge Claire: Akane, it's your turn.
Akane: With a Deed of Might, Kindly attempts to punch through the skull of number 4. Deed die is only 1, but my roll for hitting, 19. Only a 4 for damage. Pestra attempts a bull's eye on a gnoll's eye, shooting at their leader. Success! 9 damage!
Judge Claire: Blood gets in his eyes, and he'll have a -2 on his next attack. Aers?
Ariel: I'm daggering number 5 like crazy! I only roll a 7, but I'll spend 4 luck to try and get a hit. My Luck dice add up to 7, so that's a hit, and I'll spend another 4 to try and kill him ... 9 damage!
Judge Claire: That takes him out.
Ariel: Now I'm running and hoping number 3 misses with his free attack.
Judge Claire: He does!
Ariel: Woohoo!
Judge Claire: Heddy?
Heddy: Shemp moves back out of easy reach of gnolls 1 and 3 and lets fly with his sling. This is at - 2 for that fumble. Miss.
Judge Claire: Hettie, I'll let Nora go on your initiative now that you're running her.
Hettie: Exceptional. She'll club the injured number 4. I'm spending 2 luck to turn this 11 into a hit. Damage is 3, I'll spend another luck to make it 4, because I don't think these hyena horrors have more than 8 except for the leaders.
Judge Claire: You're correct, and he is dead. Peasants go. The first one hits number 2 for 3. Second one also hits, for 2. Next guy misses ... next guy hits for 1 ... then another miss ... then another 1. Number 2 is on his feet, but barely. Elle, it's Mendi's turn.
Elle: Rock to the head for number 3. That's 10, and I'll spend 3 luck to make it 13, which hits, right? 3 points.
MSG: Carson's up, right? That's a 7. I hate spending 6 whole luck on a guy I'm pretty sure has only 1 hit point left, but if I don't hit him, he'll probably kill me on his round, so I do it anyway. There goes my beautiful 16 luck.
Judge Claire: You're right about his 1 hit point, though. He's now dead. You guys and the peasants now outnumber them 4 to 1, so the leader barks a command to retreat, and he and number 3 take off running. Number 2 tries it too, but that's 6 free hits on him, and he goes down. The peasants cheer and dance in celebration. 4 xp for the survivors. You recover 4 maces and 4 longbows as well. That's on top of 2 of each from the previous battle, which I forgot to give experience for, so add another 2. The peasants don't hang around to chat ... they seem to think more gnolls could appear at any moment, and dash off after their brief victory demonstration.
Heddy: As I think we should do also.
Judge Claire: Assuming no one disagrees, your characters make it back to town and can all level up to be available for future sessions. For now, though, I think we're overdue to switch back to the Death's Door party ...

continued next post!

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 doing 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 reach the corner and turn along the next wall, 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 about to demonstrate her flammability. 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 as Ruri's backup using 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 while you're carrying a chest 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, but it's very hard, so just landing a blow doesn't get through its AC. 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 really 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!