Mummy's Mask (OOC)

[JWallyR]

Oops, didn't roll the wand for its use on Lehasti: (1d8+1)[9]

[JWallyR]

Posting here due to OOC nature: Lehasti would have examined the slave mummies with Detect Evil active, and I expect that any of the members capable of detecting magic would likewise have done so. Assuming that there's nothing to find, I'll move on and post IC as normal.

[Gwynfrid]

Posting here due to OOC nature: Lehasti would have examined the slave mummies with Detect Evil active, and I expect that any of the members capable of detecting magic would likewise have done so. Assuming that there's nothing to find, I'll move on and post IC as normal.

I passed over that a little too quickly, maybe. Your assumption is correct: No evil, and no magic. These people were buried correctly and their souls are at rest.

[Gwynfrid]

Calathon: (1d20+8)[18]

[Gwynfrid]

Disable device (1d20+9)[17]

[Gwynfrid]

Swarm Will save (1d20+1)[19] DC11

[JWallyR]

Knowledge (Religion) check for any useful information about the sarcophagus or burial rites or anything else in this room: (1d20+4)[19]

[Gwynfrid]

Knowledge (Religion) check for any useful information about the sarcophagus or burial rites or anything else in this room: [roll0]

Everything here is consistent with what your character knows of ancient Osiriani burial rituals: The sarcophagus, the divine representation and symbolism, the goods left close by to help the deceased in his afterlife journey, the mummified cats, the tapestries, slaves buried next to their master, etc. It seems Akhentepi ordered this to be constructed by the book. And it was done in the right way, as evidenced by the lack of any undead presence. So far.

[Gwynfrid]

The dice are making some noise behind the DM's screen. Pay no attention.

(1d20+12)[21]

[Gwynfrid]

Reflex (1d20+2)[22]

[Gwynfrid]

That was a critical threat right there.

Confirmation (1d20+3)[9] addititonal damage (1d6+1)[7]

[Gwynfrid]

Reflex (1d20+2)[20]

[Farmerbink]

Good grief! This freaking cobra can't miss!

[Gwynfrid]

The cobra's d20 has rolled only 18 or 20, on 5 attack rolls or saves so far. Only exception, the crit confirm. Pretty scary. Good for her that Grekka has a good Fort bonus!

[Farmerbink]

Seriously. I was debating just a normal move so I could cast divine favor last round. Might not have done me much good to be unconscious.... 😳

[Gwynfrid]

Our heroes have vanquished the dangers of Akhentepi's Tomb. And with this victory...

Spoiler

Show

DING!

Welcome to level 2! Your characters immediately gain all benefits of the new level, the only exception being spells (you need to rest for those).

Please roll your HP as a half-die + half max (example: instead of 1d10, roll 1d5+5, for 1d8, roll 1d4+4), plus Con and other bonuses as appropriate. Please let me know when you have updated your character sheets, so I can review.

[JWallyR]

Lehasti's additional HP: (1d5+7)[12] <-- d10 (1d5+5) plus 2 Con bonus

[DarkOne-Rob]

Vershab's additional HPs - (1d3+4)[7]

Favored Class Bonus will be +1 HP

Learning Magic Missile and Obscuring Mist this level

[Farmerbink]

Grekka's level 2 HPs: (1d4+6)[7]

edit: boo. D:

Thanks for the half a HD free :-D

[Gwynfrid]

Grekka's level 2 HPs: [roll0]

edit: boo. D:

Thanks for the half a HD free :-D

You're welcome. In my experience, the impact of hp distribution variance isn't a symmetrical thing. A far above average hp total doesn't give a decisive advantage to a character, while far below average is crippling. My solution is to guarantee hp Is never below average, and the variance is greatly reduced.

[CleverDragon]

Cal's HD roll:
(1d4+4)[6] (no Con bonus to speak of)

[Gwynfrid]

Bunch of Appraise rolls

Calathon (1d20+8)[11] Vershab (1d20+5)[18]
Calathon (1d20+8)[20] Vershab (1d20+5)[6]
Calathon (1d20+8)[22] Vershab (1d20+5)[12]
Calathon (1d20+8)[18] Vershab (1d20+5)[11]
Calathon (1d20+8)[11] Vershab (1d20+5)[10]
Calathon (1d20+8)[14] Vershab (1d20+5)[21]
Calathon (1d20+8)[18] Vershab (1d20+5)[21]

Spellcraft

Calathon (1d20+8)[18] Vershab (1d20+9)[10]
Calathon (1d20+8)[24] Vershab (1d20+9)[19]
Calathon (1d20+8)[9] Vershab (1d20+9)[20]

[Gwynfrid]

A question has arised relative to how soon the characters get their new abilities after leveling. I originally wanted to have everything available immediately, save for spells, since spells either need to be prepared, or are regained after rest, or are regained at a given time of the day. However, there is some inconsistency with how other, similar abilities are gained, such as Lay On Hands. There's a lack of RAW for how casters like Oracles and Inquisitors regain spells, notably.

So, for now and for future similar situations, I'll rule as follows:
- Upon leveling, all permanent stats (HP, abilities, BAB, saves, skills, caster level, etc) and all abilities that don't have a limited use per day are gained immediately.
- Spells and any abilities, magical or not, that have limited per-day uses, are gained after the next time the character rests (or regain spells, for those that don't need to rest for regaining spells).

One-time exception: Lehasti can use Lay on Hands immediately. Consider this a special favor from Sarenrae. (This is mostly because I don't want to walk back on stuff that happened in the IC thread).

[Farmerbink]

(1d20+5)[22] bluff time!

[Gwynfrid]

Vershab's turn to Bluff (1d20)[13]

[Gwynfrid]

(1d20+8)[27]
(1d20+5)[19]
(1d20+7)[27]

[Gwynfrid]

(1d20+2)[13]
(1d20+5)[10]
(1d20+8)[17]

[DarkOne-Rob]

I think a moment of meat-game discussion is needed here. Is there another (reasonably likely) way out of this tomb than to send up treasure to our captors? As PCs I recognize none of us would know, but as players I am more inclined to do something than explore every other option for weeks of real life time.

If this is a moment of story-based railroading, I understand - let's get on with it.

If there is another (reasonably likely to be successful) option to be found, I am pretty sure all four players (and PCs) would prefer that option. Let's find it and try it.

(Absolutely zero criticism is meant towards Gwynfrid, especially regarding the use of the word "railroading," by the way. I suspect this encounter is written into the campaign by its original authors, so if I was upset it would be directed at them, not our DM.)

[Gwynfrid]

I think a moment of meat-game discussion is needed here. Is there another (reasonably likely) way out of this tomb than to send up treasure to our captors? As PCs I recognize none of us would know, but as players I am more inclined to do something than explore every other option for weeks of real life time.

If this is a moment of story-based railroading, I understand - let's get on with it.

If there is another (reasonably likely to be successful) option to be found, I am pretty sure all four players (and PCs) would prefer that option. Let's find it and try it.

(Absolutely zero criticism is meant towards Gwynfrid, especially regarding the use of the word "railroading," by the way. I suspect this encounter is written into the campaign by its original authors, so if I was upset it would be directed at them, not our DM.)

Thanks for approaching this problem via OOC. I had a feeling that the mindset of the group, as well as that of their opponents on this encounter, is such that the game could reach a deadlock. As DM, I want to avoid that, and if it happens, my job is to find ways to circumvent it.

First, to your question: There is no other way out than the shaft. Obviously, the tomb builders didn't plan for a escape hatch: The room you are in was designed as a death trap, as you noticed when the very first thing you found here was a dead body. If you had a means to breathe underwater, you could risk the underground river branch - but you don't.

To tell you the truth, I'm rather embarrassed right now, because this encounter is in fact to be blamed on me, not the story's authors: It's the first modification I have made to the campaign on my own. Obviously, the players are not exactly happy with this, so I think an apology might be in order.

Let me explain why I decided to spring this rather nasty surprise on you:
- The story reason is that, sure, there are criminals in Wati, and there are desperately poor people (check out the entries for Bargetown and Asp in the city's description in the first post). There also are people who visit the City of the Dead on the sly. The opening of the City of the Dead has been the talk of the town for weeks, and this charter for exploration was given to you in the most public manner possible. Put two and two together, and it's no surprise a group of soon-to-become rich explorers would become a juicy target for robbery.
- The author of the story did plan for something like this to happen, but that was more of an optional group of thugs from the random encounter table on your way back. I didn't find this very appealing, as it would have been just another combat.
- The metagame reason is this: the scenario's first section is 100% dungeon crawling. I thought a purely RP-based challenge would be a good change of pace.

Now, in hindsight, I realize this could be seen as railroading, as you feel you don't have any choice. For the record, I don't agree, as I think you have several options, some of which you have tried to some degree:
- The Bluff + Diplomacy option: You could say you have found nothing of value, because you have a grievously wounded team member, or you couldn't bypass a trap, or something along those lines.
- The Bluff + Intimidate option: You could threaten retaliation or capture by the authorities by inventing whatever lie might work in this case.
- The Diplomacy option: Appeal to your foes' decency and mercy. Lehasti did this rather well, and was successful in improving the robbers' attitude. Not enough, however, that they would give in entirely, because they are desperate (I hope I was able to convey a sense of that in the answer). But their response gave you an opening for negotiation, which you could decide to pursue further. It likely involves giving them something, however.
- The compromise option: You give them something of modest value, and wait to see if they ask for more.
- The trick option: You give them something that will give you a chance to track them down at a later time. That's Grekka's suggestion, which you're still free to pursue.

However, that I feel there are choices is irrelevant: Your perspective as players is what matters here. It seems my little addition to the story is less than a resounding success. Sorry about that. In the future, I should probably not throw this kind of curveball at you... I'll need to think about it some more. As for the resolution of the present encounter, it is up to you to decide if you want to go for one of the options above. The default right now is that the robbers' will have to make do with Vershab's spellbook.

[DarkOne-Rob]

This is such a great example of how things are supposed to work when GMs and players find themselves at odds - talk about it and figure out what is going to be fun for both.

Thank you for being willing to honestly share and respond, Gwynfrid.

I am going to post Vershab's suggestion in the IC thread, but the summary is: either let them sell my spellbook and try to track it down again or pay them the selling price for the spellbook and let them get a head start on us.