Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
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I think I was typing the same time as you were.
I'm going to go with this so we can move along. If that's OK with everybody
Wanna role-playing the exchange?
Omiy shrugs. "Sure." she says, "I will need a written contract. 'Be rewarded handsomely' is far to vague. I do things for a price. How much are you willing to pay?"
"Of course, what kind of operation would this be if we didn't keep meticulous records? I have so.e contracts ready right here, we'll just fill in the blanks and I'll tack on an optional clause if you want to renew your contracts following the return of the our master gemsmith."
As he writes, you can see on and around the desk: calligrapher’s supplies; three scrolls a wand and a strongbox.
The contracts hold up to scrutiny and do t have anything untoward in their text. They state that you are to escort the gemsith Seodra and her apprentices back to the co structure site - that is the unfinished Tomb of Horrors, not referred to by name in the document, and that you will transport raw materials for construction (referring to the gems). Without mentioning a number out loud, he has written that the contract is to be divided among returning security contractors (you guys) from a total amount held in escrow equal to 10,000pp.
[The text is deliberately vague about these things in case anyone sees the contracts - Moghadam has explained that Acererak is not a patient master. Your duties are outlined clearly though. The contracts are legit]
"In addition, all contractors are required to wear these badges while on the grounds," Moghadam says as he pulls 4 pins from a drawer, each is marked with a different symbol: a tree, a bird, a wavy tapered line, and a fan. "They will ensure that our site security team doesn't bother you."
"Good luck, let me know if there are any provisions you might need and I'll see if we can't supply you with those."
(He's talking about mundane equipment, adventuring gear, which you can get here if you need it. Thinking about lanterns and torches and such. You don't have to describe it in the thread, just add it to your sheet)
The temple is in an abject cavern deep in the mountains, about a day's journey from here. It's not very far, but it is surrounded by swaps and mountains. In his description of the route, Moghafam looks at Sam - "or you could just follow him." (Evidently Moghafsm asdumes the lixardman is familiar with the area)
(Ooc: the gems are a perfect example of a thing you can turn in to an NPC for xp.)
You can tavern overland or by teleport (Logan can do this) or walk. Either way, no random encountered, etc. You'll just arrive.
"Well, best make haste." Moghafam says as he stands, gesturing you out the door. As you make your way down the switchback road descending the hill, you find yourself out if sight of the crew or any other prying eyes. At your bidding, Logan transports you to the edge of a fen. Two miles down a seldom-travelled road, you see some small columns of smoke, suggesting a nearby village.
A general bleakness hangs over this area, with only a few clumps of brush and tamarack sprouting here and there. Through this, a narrow causeway leads out to a low mound, upon which stand the outer walls of what must be the temple.
Stairs from the surface lead down to a damp vaulted chamber. The floor is strewn with bones and rubble. The ceiling is supported by arches meeting at the twenty-foot-high domed peak, and is obscured by thick webs. Corridors lead off to the east, south, and west, with the west ending at a heavy oak door with bronze fittings.
Ooc: I suggest naming a thing and investigating it. I'll call for a check as appropriate. Also, remember you have a means to move time forward and back. It's useful in almost every room in the module: temple and Tomb, but charges and all that.
Random roll: 3
Omiy's going west to check out the heavy oak door.
Investigation: 12
Omiy listens at the door to the west and hears a moaning that rises and fades away.
Sam notices a familiar skull on the floor of the chamber- it belonged to a lizardfolk.
Spotted: guards notice your arrival by peering through an arrow slit concealed in a gap in the stairwell stone.
Eight lizardfolk, a lizardfolk shaman, and the shaman’s two-headed crocodile companion emerge from the East corridor to "challenge" you.
PCs state what you will do. Initiative order will be determined after. Friendly reminder, you can reverse or advance time.
Sam will speak in draconic “why would you be here looking at the shamans, I demand why my people are down here shamin”
imtinidation: 10
investigation: 11
"We protect.. Where you from? Why you come here?" The shaman replies. "Grab them!" He commands Sam, poi ting to the humans others.
Ooc: You are understood, but you have a different accent or dialect or marking than these Oerthian. They just see you as different.
About tbis time you notice something stirring among the webs overhead.
Sam looks at the party and whisperers “go with it” then yells “yes sir” and grabs the tabix
Ooc like a different bread of dog
"Put them with the others." Tbe shaman commands the guards (and I now also Sam, who he stares at as he speaks)
Two Lizardman guards grab Omiy and Leann. The other 6 hold weapons at the ready. (2 with heavy clubs and 4 with javelins. The two grappling use clubs also)
(I'm putting in a grapple check in case you resist, but you can ignore it if you 'go with it' as Sam says.)
LMG1 x Leann 9
LMG2 x Omiy 3
Huarache shouts "Echo, follow at a distance!" in Gnomish as he holds his hands up, attempting to make it sound like an expression of irritation and/or disgust.
Shonisaurus, Artificer Enthusiast
(Waiting to see how the others react prior to Leann's reaction. I suggest we wait for everyone to chime in here, as being taken prisoner, when one of the players might have picked to do something different, isn't likely something you will want to fast-forward over here...)
Ooc: I actually expect you guys to reverse time at some point and do the room over. Timeshift is a big part of this module. If you've ever played Prince of Persia Sands of Time, it's like that. The ability does work on charges, but [whether I said so before or not] you can actually charge them with your own HP as well.
FYI, I'm playing this encounter right out of the book. We just got lucky having a lizardman in the party.
You can just kill them all, unless you're looking to negotiate with Thesellar or make some kind of escape. I wasn't planning on you guys being captured.
The two-headed crocodile follows close behind Echo, one head snarls as the other snaps its jaws.
"Yo, how about time reverse?" Omiy waves her hands at Huarache as the lizardman tries to approach her, "you know how to work that, right?"
Logan responds to the command, expending a single charge. The group watches as the scene freezes and then begins to unwind, moving back to the moment the group descended the stairs, moved by the force of time itself to retrace their own footsteps.
Logan now has 3 charges remaining for the day.
The guards from earlier are changing shifts, so you won't see them if you look through the arrow slit.
Edit: Logan expends a second charge, the tiny vestiges of lights coming in from the top of the stairs wax and wane rapidly as entire days and years pass locally to the bubble of the upper part of the chamber. If you actually look up at the top of the stairs, the stream of sunlight is constant and unmoving.
Random roll: 2
You see scurrying around the ceiling, a creature resembling a spider, about the size of a dog. Something is amiss, though. Where you would expect a set of mandibles protruding from below its four pairs of eyes, a sharp beak, like that of an owl, sits instead.
Ooc: I'm just going to mention this like it came up in conversation with the lizardmen: It's name, according to the Lizardmen, is 'Thacko'.
Ooc: As you have seen Thacko [I'm using the book's spelling] You can try to avoid him by stealth or confront him or just cross your fingers. Remember that you have seen a lizardman skull down here and living lizardmen, so it's probably not the safest room in the temple.
Ooc: You can also use multiple charges at once for different effects- it doesn't always do something extra bit if it doesn't, O just qont count the extra charge.
To clarify, you've got a shot to get past the guards as they change shifts. You will find they are no longer looking from the other side of the arrow slit, but the spider with a beaknis still on the ceiling (Logan de-aged it, so it's stats are nerfed). I'm explaining all this to get you more familiar with how the time bending mechanic plays out with this first example room. The guards never saw you and none have any memory of you, so you can pass freely except for Thacko.
Omiy remembers hearing wind through the oak door. There's a lizardfolk skull on the floor. Feel free to explore, lizardmen will not attack you in this room unless you rest here even if you fight Thacko (Unless maybe there's a blunderbuss. Sorry, but I just think that thing would draw attention
The beaked spider sees you and doesn't look surprised (he's used to seeing robbers try to sneak into the temple)
The creature stabs with its pointed arms at Omiy [10ft reach] 7 for 4
and bites at Leann [5ft] 16 for 8
Ooc: Nat 20. Ouch.
I understand that a blunderbuss would draw attention; Huarache would have realized that. Huarache mutters to whomever is next to him, "How quietly d'you think we could take out that beaked thing?"
OOC: I'm guessing "Thacko" is a nod to THAC0.
EDIT: So DDB didn't show Wile's post from two hours ago. Huarache bonus action activates his Duskcrusher, and swings it at the beaked beast.
Attack: 27 Damage: 15 Radiant
Attack: 26 Damage: 12 Radiant
Echo attacks as well. Attack: 13 Damage: 6 Force
Shonisaurus, Artificer Enthusiast