The Long Road - Game Thread

Hildigrim attempts to figure out a way to jam the plate so that it cannot be triggered. He can use a dagger, if that will work best.

Intelligence 15 (+2 if dexterity is better)

(Works for me.) Each member of the party crosses quickly, to minimize the time on the pressure plate. There is a some creaking when Drusk crosses (with his heavy armor), but Hildigrim's jamming keeps the poison gas trap from activating.

The party reaches the end of the hallway, and looks west. The hallway is a total of 30' east to west. At the western end of the hallway, it turns north. There is also a 5' wide opening on the south side.

The party only goes 5' west, when a spider's claw reaches down from the ceiling. Looking up, it seems like Spider-Quillary is... laughing? She gestures carefully at the space in front of the party. Looking closer, there are dozens of fine tripwires spread across the hallway, like... a spider web.

If a few are cut, it will be possible for the party to go through this space (at slow speed). But it will require an Investigation check to determine which wires are decoys (and safe to cut), and which ones are tied to traps and/or alarms. (If you wanted to cut all of the wires, that will increase the DC to disable the trip/alarms.)

Jorin is about to indiscriminately hack at the wires before Drusk holds him back, probably for the best.  "Which ones should I cut?" He asks to no one in particular.

Quote from Guiltysparc >>

Jorin is about to indiscriminately hack at the wires before Drusk holds him back, probably for the best.  "Which ones should I cut?" He asks to no one in particular.

Drusk: "Let's call that Plan B. And everyone else except you should be at a safe distance before you try that... I'm hoping Plan A is Hildigrim investigating this mess, and getting us through these webs without any of us getting hurt."

(Using the list of rolls I asked for earlier, Hildigrim gets 12+9 = 21 for Investigation.) Hildigrim cuts 6 wires. This allows a path through (even for Quillary up by the ceiling.) He points to 1 wire that is over his head, but chest level for Drusk and Jorin. "This sets off some kind of trap. The others I did not cut appear to be connected to alarms. Move slowly and carefully."

(I will post an updated map in the next post.) The party advances 15' west. You can see that the hallway going to the north dead-ends after another 10'. The 5' wide opening to the south leads to another hallway.

Once again, Quillary stops the party. She points out another spider-web of trip wires that block the party's advance.

Quillary, in spider form or otherwise, is no good at Investigation, and peers at the wires, scratching her multi-eyed head with one clawed leg in a strange human fashion.

Hildigrim will once again investigate the web of wires.

Combat starts!  While Hildigrim works on the tripwires (and the party was watching him), "brain-dogs" (aka intellect devourers) skittered out from concealed openings in the walls.

• The initiative order will be (B1, B2, B3), the party, then (B4, B5). The first 3 had stealth rolls better than the passive Perceptions of their opponents.
• They are tiny creatures, so can move through the space of the party members (except Hildigrim) and vice versa. Quillary is on the ceiling, and currently out of range of melee attacks.
• B1 and B3 are underneath the trip wires. Be careful when attacking them. Huge swings or big spells might set off the traps... You can attack normally, or being careful to avoid the wires (disadvantage on to-hit rolls).
• This round Hildigrim must move half speed, or risk setting off the wires.
• The hallway to the south continues on, but it hasn't been explored yet ("fog of war").

The ID attacks:

• B1 vs. Pascal  Claw Attack: 12 Damage: 5  (misses)
• Pascal INT save vs. DC 12: 9  (saves, no damage from "devour intellect")
• B3 vs. Drusk  Claw Attack: 21 Damage: 7  (hits)
• Drusk passes the INT save for the B2 "devour intellect" attack
• B2 vs. Jorin  Claw Attack: 22 Damage: 7  (misses)
• Jorin fails the INT save for the B3 "devour intellect" attack, and takes 11 psychic damage.

Drusk has been slashed for 14 damage, and Jorin mind blasted for 11 damage.

Jorin's mind feels fuzzy. He is okay for now, but if he takes another psychic blast like that, he is afraid that his mind might be gone.

The party is up. You can go in any order.

Quillary drops right where she is and attacks the brain critter right in front of her (B5).

Action: attack B5 as spider. 17 to hit, for 7 piercing damage. Additionally, 11 poison damage or half on a DC 11 Con Save.

B5 CON save vs. DC 11: 20

Quillary strikes hard, but is annoyed that the creature is resistant to non-magical attacks (and avoided the worst of the poison). B5 takes 3 piercing and 5 poison damage.

Drusk decides it is best to concentrate the damage, so tries holy microwaves aka Sacred Flame on B5 as well. DEX save vs DC 14: 11  Fails, takes 6 radiant

B5 has taken 14 damage total, and is under half health.

Hildigrim, Jorin, and Pascal are still to go.

Hildigrim sends Volo to buzz B5 while he draws an arrow and fires. After firing, he offers some helpful advice to Jorin to help him defeat the same creature.

+1 shortbow attack: 10; damage: 8 piercing damage (regular roll as Volo's advantage counters the disadvantage of the careful shot)

Sneak attack if appropriate: 10

Bonus: help Jorin

Pascal is going to level a Firebolt at the brain-puppy! Attack: 25 Damage: 6 Fire damage! ... Wait, I just realized that he’d have disadvantage on the attack. Welp, 18. Oh good! Should still hit.

Jorin roars and swings his blades at B2!

• Bonus action: RAGE
• Action: Magic battle axe attack
  • First Attack: 28 Damage: 13
  • Second Attack: 13 Damage: 16
• Bonus Action: moonblade Attack: 22 Damage: 10
• +1 radiant dmg to the first attack that hits

Pascal flame-bolted B1 for 6 damage, being careful not to blast the trip wires that are still connected to an active trap. (He has disadvantage on ranged attacks since a foe is in melee range, so no additional penalties for taking a careful shot.)

Hildigrim does get advantage, so one more chance to improve that to-hit roll. (With where I happened to put B3, the Tiny creature is just outside of melee range of Hildi. Next round, it will correct that oversight by moving to the SE corner of that square it is in.)

Jorin to go. (He has advantage on his first strike due to Help.)

Looks like we cross posted, I did some edged weapon clobbering!

(Oh, thanks. Yeah, you posted as I was writing my previous one.)

(I will re-purpose one of Hildigrim's Perception rolls to be his advantage to-hit roll.) With a 16 on the die, Volo's buzzing sets up B5 for Hildigrim's shot. Despite the wires restricting his movement, the halfling gets a solid strike (8+10 damage), splattering the evil brain bits of B5 on the north wall.

Jorin's two axe strikes (29 damage total) chops up B2 (dead). Still having a chance to attack (but not a lot of room to move), he steps 5' east to sword-stab B1 for 10 damage. In his rage, Jorin isn't careful, but is fortunate (16 on the die) that he sliced through decoy wires, and not the ones attached to the trap or the alarms.

ID attacks:

• B1 attacks Jorin. Claw Attack: 6 Damage: Unable to parse dice roll.  (misses). It also brain-blasts Jorin, who fails his INT save (1 on the die). He takes 11 psychic damage, and has his mind attacked (roll vs. INT 8): 10  Jorin feels his mind slipping away, but uses his rage to focus.
• B3 moves south a bit (melee range of Hildigrim), then attacks Drusk again. Claw Attack: 7 Damage: 7  (misses)  Drusk resists the mind attack (18 on the die).
• B4 moves to melee range of Quillary and Drusk, and attacks Quillary. Claw Attack: 19 Damage: 7  (misses)  Quillary resists the mind attack (13 on the die).

(Lucky on that 3d6 vs. Jorin's INT score. If the roll was higher, Jorin's INT would go to zero, he'd be incapacitated, and the brain-dogs start trying to teleport into his skull to kill him.)

Well that sounds pretty horrible lol

Drusk took 14 damage the previous round. Jorin is in a Rage, and has taken 22 (psychic) damage in total. He narrowly avoids having his thoughts scrambled by the Intellect Devourer.

B1 has taken 16 damage, and is in bad shape. B2 and B5 are dead. B3 and B4 are unharmed.

B1 and B3 are dancing around the tripwires. You can attack them with disadvantage (careful to avoid cutting the wires), or attack normally (DEX check to see if trap goes off). With Jorin in a Rage, he is not being careful.

(Also, remember that ranged attacks are at disadvantage if a foe is in melee range of your character.)

Everyone in the party is up.

Quote from Guiltysparc >>

Well that sounds pretty horrible lol

(OOC: Yeah, they are way too deadly for a CR 2 monster. I have toned down their threat, including giving Jorin a pass on the mind blast in the first round. I want some urgency, but I don't want a 1-hit permanent death. When the ID teleports into someone's skull, that destroys the brain. That can only be fixed by Wish or maybe a high level Resurrection.

If you encounter these creatures in other campaigns where the DM is trying to be as deadly as possible, your character will be in great peril.)

Everyone is up. (See post 3604 for the updated map and situation.)

If I reckless attack, will that counter the disadvantage without imperiling the trip wires?  Mechanically I would think so, but that doesn't seem to fit narratively so I wanted to check first lol

Quote from Guiltysparc >>

If I reckless attack, will that counter the disadvantage without imperiling the trip wires?  Mechanically I would think so, but that doesn't seem to fit narratively so I wanted to check first lol

(I've made the ruling that Jorin will not be careful around the wires, due to his (normal) rage. If he goes Reckless, the DC to avoid setting off the trap will stay the same.

Also, a little trap damage might make the fight more interesting, so it won't be the worst thing in the world.)