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Message: <blockquote data-quote="iserith" data-source="post: 6625484" data-attributes="member: 97077">After recovering from their ordeal with the glyph of warding via a short rest, Chuck Dagger, Lack-Toes the Intolerant, Rosemary Thyme, and Sacred Cow encountered a salamander in its lair who demanded they defeat it in combat to learn what it knew of the Flame Tongue sword...DM: Bloodied, the salamander Miraj withdraws to the pile of smoldering obsidian orbs near the churning pool of lava. A huge tremor rocks the mountain. "Time runs out for you! Only by this one..." the salamander gestures to Chuck with his tail, "... fighting dishonorably have you have bested me. Yet I will hold to the bargain." The sinuous serpent points to one of two tunnels with its flaming spear. "There - the path to the Flame Tongue." What do you do?Chuck: "That feint wasn't dishonorable - it was crafty. Anyway, thanks for the directions."Rosemary: I whisper to my friends. "It is known that these creatures are treacherous."Cow: "Indeed."Lack-Toes: "You best be telling the truth, fire-slug, or else we'll return to finish what was started here!"DM: "The Flame Tongue is nothing to me for my very touch will make any sword or spear glow like the sun... go then and claim it!" Miraj points to the same tunnel again.Cow: I am carefully observing the salamander's manner of speech and body language to discern its truthfulness. << DM Decision Point. >> DM: It sounds like you're making an Insight check - DC is 10. Because the salamander is a monster that comes from a culture so foreign to your own, the check will be made at disadvantage. If you succeed, I'll tell you if Miraj is telling the truth. If you fail, Miraj's trustworthiness is inscrutable and you'll have to decide whether you can trust it or not.Cow: *rolls 14, 11*DM: Miraj is not telling the truth.Cow: "We will take our leave then, noble salamander." I bid my comrades to follow me down the tunnel Miraj did not indicate. Along this path, the adventurers do battle with some fire bats and narrowly avoid a collapsing floor that tumbled into a bubbling sea of lava...DM: The tunnel stretches before you and ends at a stone door carved with an image of a glowing sword. Several pools of lava flank the tunnel and in each rise giant stony crabs, their carapaces stalagmites, brandishing open pincers that could drag even mighty Lack-Toes to a fiery end. They begin emitting a clicking sound as a warning to any who dare tread upon their domain. What do you do?Lack-Toes: I grumble and ready my ax. "Did anyone remember to bring some drawn butter?"Rosemary: "Perhaps we don't have to fight these creatures, Lack-Toes. After the battle with the salamander and fire bats, we can ill afford another melee."Chuck: "Agreed. But what can we do?"Rosemary: "Let us approach and try to pass by them slowly and with no sudden movements. If things go wrong, race toward the doors."Cow: "I hope you are right, Rosemary..." We do what Rosemary said. << DM Decision Point. >> DM: Okay, since I imagine you can all tread carefully, we're going to see if Rosemary was correct in her advice with a DC 15 Animal Handling check. If you succeed on the check, you'll make it past the crabs, no problem. If you fail on the check, the advice doesn't work and one of you is grappled by a crab, determined randomly. Roll it, Rosemary.Rosemary: *rolls 10* Uh oh.DM: *rolls 1d4* Mere feet from the door, Chuck's pack is grabbed by a giant fire crab. A sharp yank nearly pulls the rogue off his feet. If something isn't done, Chuck will be pulled into a pool of lava! What do you do?Chuck: "Aaaargh! Help!" A brief skirmish ensues resulting in Chuck losing his pack full of supplies and tools. The adventurers make it beyond the doors, slamming them on the agitated giant crabs.DM: Beyond the door is a grand circular chamber lined with pillars. At the center is a dais over which floats a glorious flaming sword, its white hot steel lighting the room. Amid some rubble that has collected on the floor as a result of the tremors, a bloated corpse stinks up the place. What do you do?Lack-Toes: "The Flame Tongue! At last!"Cow: "Cautious, friends - something deadly lurks yet unseen in this place..."Rosemary: I will approach the corpse and set about carefully examining. I want to determine the cause of death. << DM Decision Point. >> DM: That will take a few moments to determine the cause of death with certainty. Will you spend some time on this or do a quick look-see and make a Medicine check?Rosemary: It seems important, so I'll take my time. I'll see if the corpse has anything useful on it as well.DM: What will the rest of you do in the meantime?Chuck: I'll walk the perimeter of the dais, looking for any hidden threats.Lack-Toes: I will watch over Rosemary, keeping my back against the door in case those crabs want in.Cow: I will look for other exits.  << Multiple DM Decision Points. Some time is being spent on these activities. I'll go with passive Perception checks for Chuck and Sacred Cow. Rosemary has opted to trade time for certainty, so she just succeeds. I also decide that Lack-Toes succeeds as well due to his strength and the strength of the door. >> DM: Chuck notices intermittent vents carved into the floor around the dais which appear to have been purposefully concealed when constructed - part of a trap. Sacred Cow finds some lava tubes opposite the door Lack-Toes is guarding, leading to darkness. The door thumps several times as the crabs bump and scrape against it, but Lack-Toes is able to hold it shut. Rosemary discovers the corpse belongs to Poncho Cloak - Chuck's old partner-in-crime before their falling out - and he has died of asphyxiation. He might have gotten the Flame Tongue before you had he not met his fate here in this chamber. On his corpse, you find a set of thieves' tools.Rosemary: "Chuck, look - it's Poncho. He suffocated."Chuck: "I didn't recognize him, bloated as he is. I guess he finally got what he deserved." I say that, but my voice is a bit choked up and I trail off. Then I change the subject. "There are vents in the dais. Perhaps he fell victim to a gas."Cow: "We may be able to escape via these lava tubes."Lack-Toes: "Take the sword and let us go. These crabs still strike at the door."DM: A big tremor shakes the chamber. A loud snap precedes a fissure snaking its way along the wall, cracking the stone door and toppling two pillars nearby. A pincer tries to work its way through a small hole created by the crack. Red light spills out of the fissure as a wave of heat washes over you - lava is beginning to flow! What do you do?Chuck: I quickly try to find the trigger of this trap, perhaps a floor tile or the like sets it off. << DM Decision Point. >> DM: Time is of the essence and there's no time to be too cautious, so let's see a Perception check, Chuck. The DC is 15. If you succeed, you'll find any trigger that is there. If you fail, you'll find it, but not quickly enough - the crabs will break down the door.Chuck: *rolls 12* Botched it!DM: You find the trigger - it's all the stones on the uppermost step of the dais - but just a little too late. The door crumbles behind Lack-Toes and the giant crabs force their way into the chamber! What do you do? Lack-Toes makes a break for the sword, leaping over the trapped stones to snatch it. The adventurers engage in a fighting withdrawal into the lava tubes as lava spills into the room...DM: Maze-like and treacherous, the lava tubes offer you too many choices to run with too few clues to determine the best route. Molten rock and poisonous volcanic gases chase you all the way. How do you plan to escape this mountain with your prize?Lack-Toes: I'm leading the way, guiding the group through the tunnels in the way lava might flow out.Cow: "May the Horned God give you wisdom, my friend!" I'm casting guidance on Lack-Toes. Also, I'm trying to help him by drawing upon my knowledge of the terrain.Rosemary: I race behind them, trying to keep up.Chuck: I pray to every god I've ever heard of that I don't end up like Poncho. << DM Decision Point. >> DM: Let's see a Survival check, Lack-Toes - DC 20. You'll have advantage because of Sacred Cow's knowledge of nature and terrain, plus another 1d4 because of her guidance spell. If you succeed, you'll manage to find Scurvy Pete's secret entrance and escape. If you fail, you'll find an opening on the side of a cliff and a long fall to a lagoon below. Lack-Toes: *rolls 19, 21* Phew!DM: You manage to find the side tunnel that leads to the light of day outside - lava rushes past your last position and carries on down the tube away from you as you exit. Outside, you find Scurvy Pete... captured by yuan-ti warriors... Pro-Tip: When you adjudicate the results of an Insight check, it's important not to tell the players what their characters believe. Just tell them the truth (success) or nothing at all (failure). Alternatively, you can tell them the truth with either success or failure, but have there be a cost e.g. the NPC/monster knows the PC knows the truth. There are a number of good reasons for doing things this way, not the least of which is that you keep the trust of your players. Looking at a low die roll and then being told that "you believe the NPC" puts a player in an uncomfortable position. Instead, say that they do or do not discern the NPC's truthfulness. Then leave it to the player to decide what his or her character believes.</blockquote>

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