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Message: <blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 6625480" data-attributes="member: 97077">Our adventurers have made it into the dungeon, a burial complex for the kings that once ruled this island. As they explore and encounter dangerous traps and monsters, the volcano threatens to blow and come crashing down upon them...DM: A swarm of giant beetles the size of small dogs surges toward you and the door you have opened, glowing an angry red, mandibles clacking in a most disconcerting fashion. What do you do?Lack-Toes: "I hate bugs!" I start stomping them.DM: Several of the ones in the front of the swarm are smashed beneath your boot, but they just keep coming and now they perceive you as a threat. What do you do?Cow: I try to recall what I know about beetles like these. << DM Decision Point... >> DM: Okay, let's see a DC 10 Nature check. If you succeed, I'll give you something interesting and useful. If you fail, I'll give you the info, but you hesitate and you're subject to an attack from 1d4 beetles.Cow: *rolls 25* I am an expert, it seems!DM: Wow, yeah. So these are giant fire beetles. Driven by instinct, it's clear they seek to escape the quaking mountain more than they seek to feed on adventurers. What do you do?Cow: "Moooooove out of the way!" I instruct my comrades to simply get out of the way of the beetles and let them pass. There is no need to waste our resources doing battle with these creatures.Party: *gets out of the way*DM: The beetles pass by after a few moments with a great deal of clamor but no violence. Later, the adventurers come to what they believe to be an antechamber to an important section of the dungeon where rests the legendary magical sword, Flame Tongue...DM: The walls of the 20-foot-square chamber are covered in strange hieroglyphs that mark the names and deeds of the kings who once ruled this land. They are organized in neat columns framed with tiny pieces of obsidian. A large stone door stands upon the north wall. It bears a rectangle framed in volcanic glass, but there are no symbols within it. A tremor shakes the room, causing stones from the ceiling to fall, reminding you that time is of the essence. What do you do?Lack-Toes: "There is no time! Graaaah!" I rush toward the stone door and throw my shoulder into it, trying to break it down. << DM Decision Point. The door is made of stone and reinforced by magic, so here I'm going to say that Lack-Toes' action automatically fails. >> DM: You come away with a pain in your shoulder and the door has not budged. You can see that the rectangle framed in volcanic glass has an indentation where your shoulder hit it, as if it were quite malleable.Cow: "How odd!" I push against the malleable part of the door with one of my hooves.DM: It pushes in easily and when you come away, an impression of your hoof remains.Rosemary: "Hmm..." I'm going to walk around the chamber quickly look for clues to how we might bypass this door and delve deeper into the dungeon. << DM Decision Point. There's not much in this chamber to obscure Rosemary's search, so I decide she just succeeds. >> DM: You find what appears to be a stylus, fashioned from bone, carelessly tossed into a corner of the chamber.Rosemary: "Look - a writing implement..."Chuck: "I bet that has something to do with the clay on the door, or whatever that is. And I wonder if these symbols have anything to do with it, too." I'm going to spend some time investigating the symbols, trying to find a pattern. << DM Decision Point. Chuck is willing to take some time on his search despite the threat of the ceiling coming down around his ears. I think figuring out a good clue about the hieroglyphs has an uncertain outcome and I decide to go with passive Investigation because he's performing a task repeatedly over time as he moves about the chamber. >> DM: So that will be a passive Investigation. The DC is 15. If you succeed, I'll give you a good clue. If you fail, I'll give you the clue, but it takes additional time and a dangerous tremor occurs.Chuck: Pfft, no problem - I'm observant. My passive Investigation is 19.DM: You discover that every column bears some of the symbols that were marked on the sarcophagi in the crypt you previously explored. One column is conspicuously blank. As you are making your way around the room, out of the corner of your eye, you pick up a faint flicker of light from one of the symbols - a fearsome demon's face with a ring through its nose. Chuck: "I don't like the look of this symbol over here, Rosemary. It might be magic."Rosemary: Without approaching it, I try to examine the demon symbol from afar and see what it's about.DM: Embedded in one of the demon's eyes is a small magical glyph. It might have been overlooked if not for Chuck's keen eye.Rosemary: I try to recall what I know of eldritch runes, seeking to determine if it is dangerous or not. << DM Decision Point. A glyph of warding is a common enough magic spell, so I'm going to assume Rosemary can recognize it. Automatic success. If I thought there was a chance she couldn't recognize it, I'd ask for an Arcana check. >> DM: It's a glyph of warding that will cause this chamber to erupt in flames if the rune is disturbed in any way. A growing crack in the wall created by the tremors is less than an inch away from it. What do you do?Rosemary: I impart this dire news to my companions. "As if the ceiling set to collapse wasn't bad enough..."Lack-Toes: "Foul magic! Can you use your magic to erase it?"Rosemary: "I can try. We don't want to die by both fire and falling stone, after all."Cow: "I try to remember the names of the kings that ruled over this island. One of them is missing. That is what I will write upon the door."Chuck: "Good idea."Rosemary: I give Sacred Cow the stylus. I'm going to try to disable the glyph of warding with disruptive magic while she inscribes the name of the king on the door.Lack-Toes: I stand ready with my shield. "I will protect you from the rocks above and the magical fire." << DM Decision Point. The pressure's on and the tension of the moment almost demands some dice. I'm going to say that Rosemary's and Sacred Cow's actions have uncertain outcomes. >> DM: Rosemary and Sacred Cow are performing their tasks at the same time under pressure. So let's see a DC 14 Arcana check from Rosemary. Success, you disable the glyph; fail, you set it off. Further, let's go with a DC 15 History check from Sacred Cow. If you're successful, you'll inscribe the correct name before the ceiling collapses. If you fail, rocks fall, everyone... gets hurt. If both of you fail, well, that's bad times indeed. Roll at the same time - go!Rosemary: *rolls 10*Cow: *rolls 18*DM: As Sacred Cow makes the final mark upon the door, it slides open. Flames erupt from the glyph, drawing the breath from your lungs and searing your flesh. The explosion causes the ceiling to give way a stone at a time. Make a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw. With the door open and Lack-Toes' shield as protection, everyone but Lack-Toes has advantage on the save - half damage if you succeed.Party: *rolls* Pro-Tip: "Knowledge checks," that is, checks made to recall lore on a subject are perfect for "progress combined with a setback" or "success at a cost." The result of a check should always result in interesting and/or useful information, whether the check is a success or a failure. On a failure, however, that information costs something. Perhaps the adventurer flinches or hesitates which puts him or her at a disadvantage in the scene, tips his or her hand in some way to an adversary, or is frightened until the end of tis or her next turn because of a sudden dire revelation.</blockquote>

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