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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Goonalan" data-source="post: 9775240" data-attributes="member: 16069">Not KotSSession #015b: Spiders!The Inspectors.Chromium Malifax aka C-Fax (Rob), Male Silver Dragonborn (Noble) Paladin of Bahamut Level 2Mavis Golightly aka Mave (Sandy), Female Half-Elf (Acolyte) Cleric of Chauntea Level 2Arbuthnot McGow aka McGow (Al), Male Mountain Dwarf (Soldier) Fighter Level 2Snakebite (Kenji), Female Half-Orc (Outlander) Monk Level 2Travis Pickle (Yui), Male Lightfoot Halfling (Criminal) Rogue Level 2Dead PCsThe Inspector aka Spek (Kenji), Male Rock Gnome (Charlatan) Sorcerer Level 1- Killed in Session #2 by Eggnog the Kobold Dragon Priest.To-do list/Quests-#001 Save Dicky Bird aka The Fat Pidgin, and bring him home safely to Edna Gingster, although Dicky is on his way to the Narthex, which is in the Labyrinth, which is near the Seven Pillared Hall- which is in the Underdark- Bugger. Reward: 2000 XP & 1000gp each.<s>#002 Find and investigate the ancient dragon burial site Dicky was looking for, he might be there. Reward: 250 XP.</s> COMPLETE<s>#003 Destroy the kobold menace, including their leader- ‘Chopper.’ Reward: 250 XP & 75gp, with 1gp paid for every kobold tail handed in.</s> COMPLETE#004 Stop Orcus-worshipping Karl’s ritual to bring an undead army to Kirkgate. Basically, save the village, begs (eventually) Lord Crumble. Karl is in Kirkgate. 1000 XP & 500gp reward.#005 Find/Save Cheggers. That's it really, the PCs just need to find/save Cheggers (he’s with Karl, if he’s still alive), for Fionulla (the spy). Reward 100 XP.#006 Find and kill/capture the Bloody Heck- including any leaders. Recover any prisoners they have kidnapped. Reward: 400 XP & 100gp, with 1gp paid for every member of the Bloody Heck confirmed dead or captured.#007 Find all five symbols of Kurgan Kurgan’s office to open the way below Kirkgate. 1000 XP reward (and the PCs get to keep the items of course). Three items found so far.<s>#008 Save the Lowder’s and their farm from the Bloody Heck slavers. 250 XP reward.</s> COMPLETEAnd so, free of the maddening crowd the Inspectors, run around the now pretty much deserted village, and then- after a chat with Fionulla back at the Church of Chauntea (about what’s been going on etc.) they’re back on the mounts and off again.Well, nearly…The first job according to the Inspectors prayer expert (which turns out to be Travis, oddly) is to try to discern if the two missing Bahamut magic items are in the direction of the ancient dragon burial site, this their next port of call (they think). The DM has let slip, earlier in the game, that if they can roll five successes DC 11 on their Religion checks then they’d be able to get a bead (just the direction) on the missing items, no matter how far away they are.How hard can that be- five PCs all need to make a DC 11 Religion check- in the same turn. Simples.I stopped counting at the 30th attempt, and keep in mind the PCs can try every turn- it only takes an action to pray. The PCs don’t even need to pray to Bahamut for guidance aloud, they can just mumble stuff in their heads.To be clear, by the 30th attempt the PCs have only managed to get four out of five successful checks once. It’s DC 11, I think I mentioned that, but Religion it turns out is a sparsely populated skill.Oh, and C-Fax has advantage on this check because Bahamut is his homeboy and I’m a nice DM, Mavis has a +2 on the check because she’s also prayer-friendly too.They get there however, five from five, it only took just over ten minutes of solid (mindless) dice rolling.Great action though, five hardy mounted adventurers with their eyes screwed shut, parked just outside the village gates, and (some of them) mumbling (and swearing, McGow) to themselves. Like they do in all the great action-adventure films. For ten minutes.The signal is… in the right direction. Although the DM let’s the PCs know- that doesn’t mean the two missing items are at the ancient dragon burial site, they could be somewhere else in the same direction. Which doesn’t help.Also, it doesn’t mean that both items are in this direction, just that the nearest missing item is in the direction indicated, and now the players hate me. So- achieved.The Inspectors get to the ancient dragon burial site in a little over an hour, mostly at a gallop- and they know the way.Another round of prayers, and… this is the right place. The DM is happy (at last) to concede this fact (that at least one of the items is here). So, they’re looking for either a shield or a longsword, or else both items, and both items, the PCs think (the others are), are magical. C-Fax (sword and board) is very keen to find the two ‘Bahamut beauties’- his words.[ATTACH=full]419366[/ATTACH]Here we all are, having just parked the horses and wandered back inside. Cautiously.And the first stage of the search is to have a good look around, considering stuff they’ve found since their first venture here, they think they know what they are looking for.Something like… a sarcophagus.[ATTACH=full]419367[/ATTACH]Like this one (bottom right). What do you know- the markings on the ancient monument clearly indicate this repository was made for a Bahamut adherent.This is the spot- a riddle, or a set of stairs within. Most likely.But the sarcophagus is- as it turns out- a solid lump of stone, a carving rather than a hollow space. It takes McGow’s stonecunning ability to work this out, this after a dozen or more (helpfully mostly very low rolls) to attempt to open it.There is swearing.Followed by more praying and more searching.The prayers work, or else, a little.Mavis gets a feeling that the (next) missing item(s) is/are situated in a downwards direction, somewhere beneath the chamber(s) they are in.We get to here…But only after a lot of random wandering and praying.The item(s) are down the hole.[ATTACH=full]419368[/ATTACH]And so, the PCs repeatedly pray their way to here. Bahamut, or else an Angel of the Platinum Dragon is basically whispering to the prayerful Inspectors- “Getting warmer… getting warmer… warmer still- BINGO!” Or something similar.It takes five attempts to land a torch on… Well, let’s see.[ATTACH=full]419369[/ATTACH]Here’s McGow, he’s tied onto a rope and dangling thirty feet down from the chamber above, the rest of the Inspectors are holding the rope- the dwarf is a hefty bugger.Note, it took a good ten minutes to get from the second to last picture to the one above. A full (and frank, at times) ten-minute tussle to discover just who’s getting lowered into the hole. The obvious candidate (everyone else thinks) is Travis. Only Travis is adamant that it’s not going to be him. No Darkvision, he can’t do it.Mavis, volunteers but is soon shouted down (mainly by C-Fax), the paladin doesn’t want to risk the healer (also his wife). In truth none of the other players want to risk Mavis either, also- she’s heavily armoured and not a front-line fighter.C-Fax (also no Darkvision) just doesn’t want to go, although he’s trying to avoid saying those actual words. More surprisingly Snakebite, after a bit of a scare in the last session is also keen not to go first.McGow is back to saying nothing, and so while all this goes on he (eventually) ties a rope around his ample girth and then tells the others to grab hold of the ‘t’other end’.He’s also gone back to his northern/Yorkshire accent, Scottish it seems indicates drunkenness- see the first half of this session.McGow is a very heavy dwarf, just for giggles we checked adding the weight of his gear to his actual weight- so there’s the best part of 350lbs dangling from a frayed rope that someone got with their adventuring pack for Christmas.McGow tells his friends that the two bridges here lead to (different) exit tunnels, the place is full of webs- as silent as the grave and... below the bridges and the ledges it’s a long way down.Even McGow is a little frightened, the dwarf is now doing cautious- which is not at all in character (so far).[ATTACH=full]419370[/ATTACH]And then fifty feet down from the chamber above, we have… touchdown, and… nothing happens.McGow waits a while- weapon at the ready, slowly turning on the spot.Nothing continues to happen.The dwarf anchors the rope, around his waist, and then Travis follows the big guy down, and then- as soon as the halfling is clear- Snakebite.It’s at this point that two things happen.Firstly, the Inspectors suddenly realise that they’ve not anchored the rope up top, as in the PCs up top are taking the strain as other folk descend. This solution to the problem isn’t going to last- there’s just Mavis and C-Fax left up above. The pair therefore deduce that they need a hammer and some pitons to secure the rope up here.Three PCs each have in their inventory a hammer and a bunch of pitons.You guessed it. McGow, Travis & Snakebite.Snakebite therefore turns tail and having climbed all the way down the rope she starts heading back up again.And then secondly, moments later- after the above is all worked out, a bloody big spider appears and attempts to eat Travis.[ATTACH=full]419371[/ATTACH]Travis is going for a wander (he has a Light spell cast upon him). Snakebite is climbing back up as fast as she can go, while McGow has the other end of the rope tied around his waist. He’s the anchor. It’s at this point that the four foot (or so) leg-span spider crawls up and over the side of the bridge and leaps onto Travis’ back.McGow was watching Snakebite, and the half-orc monk is looking up too.[ATTACH=full]419372[/ATTACH]Travis is absolutely savaged, and the halfling rogue makes his poison save, he’s down (from full) to maybe seven hit points left. Travis is screaming.There’s also a lot of screaming around the VTT, and an awful lot of Japanese that I don’t understand, I’m going to presume from the reaction of the other players that it involved a hefty chunk of swearing.Yui (playing Travis) is not happy, she makes this crystal clear (and repeatedly), this is an emergency. Everyone stop what they are doing and come and rescue Travis.Well, not quite- Snakebite is pulled all the way up by Mavis- back to the surface, the half-orc monk quickly ties the end of the rope around her waist and then braces herself and starts to hammer a piton into the stone floor. Next up C-Fax, with Mavis also taking the strain on the rope, lowers himself into the void. Lots of good rolls and the plan is working.Meantime…[ATTACH=full]419373[/ATTACH]McGow (he has enough play on the rope) dashes over and quickly kills the spider on Travis (Miss- Action Surge- Hit & IP- Hit). At which point two more spiders climb over the rails and leap to attack the dwarf, who somehow manages to keep both at bay. Travis scrambles to his feet, grabs out his crossbow and shoots one of the spider’s threatening McGow. The halfling spots another spider emerging behind him, he also spots a narrow crevice in the rocks off the rickety wooden bridge to the west. He has squeezed himself into the crack in the rock’s seconds later- silent, still and out of sight. Travis is saving himself. The fourth spider skitters down onto the now swaying wooden bridge, the arachnid is looking for a halfling-sized snack, where did it go?Back up top Mavis continues to take the strain, as C-Fax makes his way down the rope and onto the rickety bridge, the priestess of Chauntea now has a hand free, and so fires off a trio of magic missiles- blammo, a second spider is killed by the force blasts.C-Fax lands on the bridge- jumping down the last five feet or so- several of the wooden planks and slats shatter and snap beneath the dragonborn’s size 13 boots. The wooden bridge sags significantly, causing all PCs on it to make a DC 11 Dex save, but the hefty pair keep their feet.[ATTACH=full]419374[/ATTACH]The screaming paladin dives into action and almost slices one of the giant wolf spiders in two (a Crit), the follow up attack ends the beast.At which point yet another wolf spider makes itself known by leaping on the back of the paladin.Travis steps out of his hiding place, crossbow reloaded, and- ZING! And the spider that was looking for him is cruelly pinned to the wooden planks that form the bridge. A Crit- the spider dies. Travis returns to his hiding place, his anger assuaged- he’s back to grinning.[ATTACH=full]419375[/ATTACH]McGow smushes the spider he’s been fighting, and missing, and then rushes over to menace the last arachnid.Up above Snakebite is just beginning her climb down, the rope above now tied securely.At which point…[ATTACH=full]419376[/ATTACH]The half-orc looks bemused as a sticky ball of something odd whistles past her nose, the rope she’s hanging from turns slightly, and Snakebite is looking at a spider about twice the size of her perched atop a stack of rocks. It’s beady eyes on the momentarily paralysed half-orc.There is swearing, followed by screaming, and then pointing, and then nearly falling off the rope, however the monk safely scrambles down to the bridge, which sags some more- necessitating more checks, but again- no (bloody) failures.Snakebite lands next to the last of the giant wolf spiders, she therefore takes her anger out on the little (in comparison) creature, but not enough to put the arachnid down.Oh, and here are the bad guys-[spoiler= The Bad Guys]Enc#21 Spiders! 500 XP CR 4 Deadly.6 x Spider, Giant Wolf (50xp each) As per MM Giant Wolf Spider except better HP spread on Fantasy Grounds 2d4+10 (12-18 HP each).1 x Spider, Giant (200xp) As per MM Giant Spider except better HP spread on Fantasy Grounds 4d5+24 (28-44 HP).Tactics- Attack- Leap & Bite or Web. Poison & Kill, Kill, Kill.[/spoiler][ATTACH=full]419377[/ATTACH]The half-orc turns to see behind her, to see where the giant spider has got to, and… is knocked off her feet and thumped hard into the swaying, rotting planks of the bridge- many of which crack and splinter. Snakebite discovers she doesn’t like heights.Snakebite also fails her poison save and is reduced to maybe four hit points.The bridge sways dramatically (DC 12) and both McGow and C-Fax are knocked off their feet.There’s a loud PING sound followed by a ZOOOOOP, and the floored adventurers witness one of the anchoring lines of the bridge break and tension released elastic twang off into the dark and depths.The bridge tips and cants.Suddenly things are going less well.Although Travis to the rescue, the halfling scurries out of hiding, now that the coast is clear- his bit of bridge is much more secure, he skids to a halt and then shoots the rearing giant spider in its soft underbelly (and rolls another bloody ‘20’).McGow meantime staggers to his feet and then hammers the last wolf spider off the side of the bridge, and into the abyss.Snakebite also manages to make it back to her feet and then unleashes everything she has got- ki points spent, IP used, and… the giant spider is critically wounded but still in the fight.[ATTACH=full]419378[/ATTACH]But only for a second longer, Mavis- hanging thirty or so feet above the scene below has a good enough grip on the rope to grab out her Wand of Magic Missiles and let another three force bolts find their target.The giant spider sags, and then while making little squeaking and bubbling sounds, it dies.That was nice, and pretty much the end of the session, although…[ATTACH=full]419379[/ATTACH]The Inspectors- all of them- make it off the broken sagging bridge and rest, they are going nowhere, for a while- they need a short rest- and some healing for Travis and Snakebite, and a bit of a chat about things.They also take the opportunity to do a little bit of praying, and the results are in- the Inspectors need to cross the swaying partially broken bridge they fought the spiders on- the item(s) are in that direction. Bugger. But their prayers just leave a few of the PCs thinking, I wonder what’s to the south then. But that’s for next time.100 XP each for the encounter.Cheers goonalan and the Tokyo Massive.</blockquote>

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