A Rather Odd Shovel [Judge: Bront]

[Rae ArdGaoth]

OOC: Loot! All equipment here is small sized.

Female halfling: MW Throwing Axe x4, MW dagger, MW handaxe, MW chain shirt, MW small steel shield, 16 gp

Male halfling: MW mighty composite shortbow (+2 str), MW dagger, MW dwarven waraxe, extra-shiny MW chain shirt, MW small steel shield, an inert, black potion, a fizzy white potion, 84 gp

Each dog: bit and bridle, riding saddle

Fingers manages to strap on one shield on his own, but he thanks Tarag for helping him strap on another.

I thought that shields had straps so you didn't really need fingers to use them.

Fimble nods at Keldar and takes the lantern. He approaches the wall with a look of wonder in his eyes. "Now this is an incredible feat. I wonder what spells..." He whispers words in draconic and taps his closed eyes with his index finger. When he opens them, they have a tiny tinge of blue around the iris. "Not magical at all! Astounding."

He turns around and points at the male halfling's chain shirt. "That's magic, though. And the potions, the black one emits an aura of necromancy and the white one... conjuration. Are we ready to move on? I'd rather not have those balconeers return with friends."

 

[Boddynock]

He whispers words in draconic and taps his closed eyes with his index finger. When he opens them, they have a tiny tinge of blue around the iris. "Not magical at all! Astounding."

OOC: Nice!

Fingers manages to strap on one shield on his own, but he thanks Tarag for helping him strap on another.

I thought that shields had straps so you didn't really need fingers to use them.

OOC: Yes, but my understanding is that typically you curl your fingers around the smaller one to keep the shield in place.

He turns around and points at the male halfling's chain shirt. "That's magic, though.

OOC: Given that magic items change their size to fit a new wearer, since Keldar's looking for a chain shirt, this might suit him.

Hmm, now that I re-read that section of the SRD, it refers to "an article of magic clothing or jewellery". I've always played it that armour will change its size, too but on reflection I suppose that's not the case. What do you think, Rae?

 

[Trouvere]

OOC: In 3.0, armor definitely resized. I dug out my 3.0 DMG and it specifically says so on p.179. The 3.5 DMG is less forthcoming, but a bit of googling tells me that the Rules Compendium, p. 83, explicitly says that magic armor will not resize to a different size category. Oh well. If it were mithral, I'd have Keldar keep it for Rolli.

According to the book, the four doors lead to other small chambers, similarly sized, before exiting to the long network of corridors again. In fact, one might say these chambers are a sort of hub; an intersection of some of the more prominent, well-connected passages in the labyrinth.

We seem to have found three dead-end rooms off the first secret room and one that exits back into the corridor we were originally following. That corresponds with the first sentence, but not so much the hub comment. Am I misunderstanding?

 

[Trouvere]

OOC: the short bow vanishes weightlessly into Keldar's quiver. Tarag won't put sharps in his haversack, but each side compartment can easily take a halfling chain shirt and shield, with a regular chain shirt in the main compartment. If Tarag also takes the food that Keldar swiped just now, then Keldar can carry the rest of the halfling weaponry (10.5 lb) in his mundane backpack and still be in light load. Tommy can easily carry some oil and lanterns.

"The Balconeers!" Keldar exclaims. "Every random group of nobodies gets a nifty nickname, and we - well, some of us - still keep resisting the inevitable. Tarag."

Back in the cavern, Keldar salvages the halfling gear, giving the undersized bow an experimental draw that causes him to raise his eyebrows. "It doesn't pay to underestimate halflings, you know. They might be small, but they're wiry. Some of them aren't even all that short."

"On we go... if the book has nothing more to say?"

 

[Boddynock]

"The Balconeers!" Keldar exclaims. "Every random group of nobodies gets a nifty nickname, and we - well, some of us - still keep resisting the inevitable. Tarag."

Without missing a beat and while maintaining an absolutely straight face, Tarag replies, "Tarag. Tarag's Team. Yes, I like the sound of that. Very generous of you there, Keldar!"

 

[Rae ArdGaoth]

OOC: In 3.0, armor definitely resized. I dug out my 3.0 DMG and it specifically says so on p.179. The 3.5 DMG is less forthcoming, but a bit of googling tells me that the Rules Compendium, p. 83, explicitly says that magic armor will not resize to a different size category. Oh well. If it were mithral, I'd have Keldar keep it for Rolli.We seem to have found three dead-end rooms off the first secret room and one that exits back into the corridor we were originally following. That corresponds with the first sentence, but not so much the hub comment. Am I misunderstanding?

OOC: I think so, yes. My fault, really. Imagine that the chamber with the balcony is sort of an easy choke point. Many of the nearby passages converge and end up passing through the area where you had your battle. Passages seem to begin and end in that chamber and through secret doors in the corridors nearby.

The book indicates that many passages start in the caverns through which you now travel. Taking one, you continue your trek to the surface. It isn't long before you reach a dangling pull cord. This time you can see another pull cord about 30' ahead.

 

[Boddynock]

"We surmise that there are three other rooms, with three other boards, so we may well be advertising our presence to other watchers by pulling the cords. Still, we need to get across, so let's go ... and keep an eye open for more ambushes."

"Tommy, are there any other likely places we might be waylaid coming up?"

"Oh, and we might want to lay our hands on a board long enough to stretch across these pits if we're going to come back down."

 

[Trouvere]

"Right, yes. No. No, no, no. What if we ring and the bell jangles uselessly where we've just been, and there's no one to pull the off cord, because we killed them, and the trap still works?"

"We'll definitely bring a plank next time. Good idea, Tarag! No wonder they made you the leader of Tarag's Team. If only we had a plank now! But where could we find a plank in a maze of wood-lined hallways?"

 

[Boddynock]

OOC: Hey, Rae. You mentioned that the thread download tool was too unwieldy to make it worthwhile starting up a new thread. I agree, but I thought a new thread might be a good idea anyway, so I've taken the liberty of downloading this thread and compiling it in 4 text files. I hope that will make it easier for you to create a new thread if you want to.

 

[covaithe]

"Right, yes. No. No, no, no. What if we ring and the bell jangles uselessly where we've just been, and there's no one to pull the off cord, because we killed them, and the trap still works?"

"Well, that's easy, Keldar. You can just find the trap without setting it off, and we'll get past it like we did the other one," Tommy says, with the easy confidence of someone who won't be walking at the front.