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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"Thats the trouble with ignorance: one never knows what one doesn't know. Thus, I put the question to you: what is it that I do not know? Ask a question I cannot answer, and passage across this chasm is yours. But be warned, failure has its price: passage will be had only once a toll has been paid." demand the sphinxs.
Ooc: ask me something. I won't google it. 3 rules: 1 no math, 2. must be in English and 3. No sports /ranked competition.
Each time the enhanced sphinx successfully answers a question, it demands that the characters pay the toll to cross: either one character’s Intelligence score permanently decreases by 1, or two characters each have another ability score of their choice permanently decrease by 1.
*Like ask anything, anything? Doesn’t have to be DND related?*
It can be DnD or not. This is straight ou tof the module... mostly because over the last 4 months I never came up with anything better. The only tweak is they allow Googling with a timer to similate the enhanced Sphinx's vast knowledge. My expectation is to be asked something that I don't know - the vast bulk of all human knowledge.
Also, it's DnD, so you know, you could always just try hitting it with a stick.
Huarache puts his left paw to his chin for a few seconds, then says, "How much does Echo weigh?" He gives no deliberate verbal or visual indication as to what Echo is, although he enunciates to make it clear he is saying, "Echo," rather than "an echo."
Shonisaurus, Artificer Enthusiast
Without paying much attention to the source if the question, the sphinx begins blindly responding, "echoes are sounds, chsnges in oressure, with a firce measured per unit area, ad opposed to weight which is a force experienced by mass under acceleration..." Then notices Huarache pointing at the metsl canine with 'Echo' stamped on a plate below her neck.
After a moment's pause, ths sphinx asks, "Do yiu tske me for a charlatan? The guessing od weights by sight is a gsne if averages with the real trixk being thwt the value if the prize is less than the wager made by the subject. Still, as it happens, I do know how much 'Echo' weighs."
<The Sphinx pauses, dramatically.>
Ooc: You may interject if you choose
First off, Huarache very much avoided pointing at Echo, but if we're saying that her name was on her neck, sure. That makes sense; it's the equivalent of a collar, and I don't doubt that a creature of riddles has a high perception modifier.
Second, Huarache casts Heat Metal on Echo, but not enough for her to "glow red-hot." To quote the spell's description, "Any creature in physical contact with the object [that is heated] takes... fire damage," which doesn't indicate that the object itself is damaged. Additionally, hot objects weigh more due to energy and mass being one and the same, so by heating Echo, Huarache is increasing her mass.
He will attempt to disguise that he is doing so by trying to disguise the somatic components as gesticulation (his shield is a focus due to artificer spellcasting rules), and he will attempt to hide the verbal component (I still don't understand why artificers need those, but whatever) in his speech as he says, "Impressive. I haven't shown the blueprints to anybody; I'm surprised that you can guess the weight by looking. I'm also impressed at your ability to gauge her hollowness. But how much do you believe she weighs?"
Shonisaurus, Artificer Enthusiast
"It is rude to guess a girl's weight." Omiy adds, gives Huarache a big wink, "I wouldn't say she's over 10 pounds."
Following that display, the sphinx concludes, "She weighs nothing." The enhanced sphinx closes her eyes, and in an instant, she, along with Huarache, Echo, Omiy, Shutorn and Leann are transported to the Astral plane, where they float about in the absence of gravity.
"In fact, it seems you've all lost weight. Now then, pay the toll and I will take you where you were trying to go."
This does qualify as 'roll initiative' but if you recall, I've been using static initiative by modifier (formally +10, so if anybody has initiative above 20 somehow, let me know.)
*What about Hondo?*
Mary watches, amused from the edge of the cliff. When she stands, you see she is shuffling a deck of cards. Walking toward you, she seems to recognize only Samogri from their earlier meeting, "The lizard man got left behind. Pity that, but at least, you've got some new friends to keep you company. Lets all get to know eachother over a game of cards." She walks over to Ctenmiir, "Well, at least this thing is good for something, she says to Hondo, Samogri, Sigurd as she fans the cards across the top of Ctenmiir's coffin."
The deck contains twenty-two colored cards made of some strong but unknown metal, each of which features a design printed as a mosaic of raised dots. "Before you draw a card," Mary explains, "You must declare how many cards you intend to draw and then draw them randomly. Oh, and where are my manners? My name is Mary Greymalkin. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
ooc: I forgot about Gearbox,. I thought you'd invite him along. He would have declined saying he has to stay in Sigil with his son, 'Patch'. He carries his picture with him.
Hondo looks worried because most of his new friends just vanished. He wonder where the new lady came from, but decides it would be rude to decline the card game. “I will take three cards,” he says. He draws three cards randomly.
Awww Gearbox has a son 🥺. I opted not to invite him because I figured he’s having a stable life in Sigil, which proves to be a good call since otherwise he’d be fighting a Sphinx with us right now.
So, I guess there’s no other choice now other than to, “poke it with a stick”. Omiy draws her sword. How far away is the Sphinx?
The image did not load for me :(
Mary has him lay down the cards on the lid of the coffin one at a time.
The first she turns over is Euryale. The card’s medusa-like visage scowls at Hondo. "You have crossed the serpent, and now you bear her curse."
{ You take a −1 penalty on saving throws for the duration of the adventure.}
Next, Mary flips a card revealing Ruin. {All forms of wealth that you carry or own, other than magic items, are lost to you.} "Your burden is lightened." she says. An instant later, all of your non-magic items vanish.
{if you're not sure, you can ask, but most adventuring gear wouldn't be considered wealth.}
The next card to be overturned is the Jester. "You will soon discover you are gifted in a new talent. If you choose, you can draw twice more."
{You gain proficiency in a skill of your choice for the duration of the adventure, or you can draw two additional cards beyond your declared draws.}
ooc: cards drawn from https://www.mithrilandmages.com/utilities/5EDOMT.php with Kwalish module rules applied to cards
"That was fun, wasn't it? Who's next" Mary asks.
Hondo realizes everything he owned that isn’t magical is gone. “I wouldn’t really say that was fun.”
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/5/59/Razorvine-2e.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/700?cb=20200809025017
He's a sentient Razorvine plant.
Oops, a little creepier than I imagined...
@Huarache; your call, we kill it?
"Sorry, but that was the incorrect answer. At the time that you said that, we were still... not here, wherever here is. By answering before transporting us here, you were incorrect due to the existence of gravity. The correct answer then would not have been nothing," answers Huarache calmly but firmly. "So please take us all back to the rest of our group, and we'll be on our way."
OOC: I'm glad she doesn't actually know because I think the rest mass gained from heating to just below red-hot (for steel) would be about 4e-6 grams. I had a whole thing prepared that involved phlogiston theory (the scientific theory, not the D&D concept) to explain why Huarache would know one of Einstein's most important theories in a medieval fantasy world (he wouldn't need to be right about why it works to be able to notice it), but it doesn't matter if the sphinx is going to be so rude as to teleport us.
Shonisaurus, Artificer Enthusiast