Barrowmaze V: Expanding Dark Horizons

[Spearmint]

Peaches, could you post a [1d13] whenever you cast the dice. As it is down to 'lady luck', I will wait for the edit ...

[SocraticLawyer]

Post edited.

[Spearmint]

Storm in the Windy Corridor.

Faced with a trio of acolytes who wish to sacrifice him, Amos blasts the undead with radiant light, uttering a prayer to the saints and Arcantryl and thrusting forth his Palanthus gauntleted arm. While the Huecuva are ignorant to obey his command as he tries to Turn Undead, the gauntlet flashes a cone of brilliant white light, a holy radiance that blasts those caught within the blessed cone's area of effect. They each reel under the injuries it causes. -6hp each.

One is further melted by the blessed wrath of St Ygg, the holy font water adding -4hp as Sven reveals his presence behind one creature. Baptised and blasted, it withers within its tattered robes, releasing whatever necrotic spirit that inhabited its undead form in a final sigh, dying upon the corridor floor.

The other two, urged on by a passion to attack the cleric, take him with their diseased hands. Super strong to tear and smash. One overcomes the cleric's defences. -4hp Amos.

Orgoth joins in the fray, leaping over the rubble to try and drive them backwards. He misses with his attack. Sling stone and knuckle-bone in hand, Peaches pitches some random luck. Casting the dice upon the floor it rolls along until settling with an 8 face up. Suddenly oil gushes forth from her hands, olive green and viscous. She splashes the stream over the melee and covers the cleric and two Huecuva who slip and slide in an effort to keep their feet. One has 'bambi' legs and falls prone whilst the other one and cleric grip each other to stop falling over in the wrestling match.

On the other side of the ghoul packed web, the NPC's are making hard work of thinning out the creatures before they tear through. Gnimish shafts one in similar vein to Sven and a second ghoul rather than biting the dust, is impaled upon the corridor wall.

To add to the confusion and mayhem, Smokie the wolf turns around to growl, facing up the corridor as the door to the Temple Room is opened. After a few seconds it shuts again but apparently no one has stepped through. Perhaps they were warned off? ... or invisible ...

Amos tries to Turn Undead [1d20+2]=6+2=8 [1d12]=4 [3d4]=6 [1d6]=6 Amos fails to Turn Undead. Gauntlet of Palanthus radiant blast -6hp to all undead within cone.Holy H2O [1d6+1]=3+1=4Huecuva: A,B,C [1d20+2]=1+2=3[1d6]=5 [1d20+2]=15+2=17[1d6]=4Amos vs 15, Huey, Cuva vs 12: Dex saves vs oil effect. [4d6]=13[4d6]=12[4d6]=17

Next actions please.

Huey 1 dead, 2 & 3 -6hp.

Sven 13/13
Orgoth 12/23
Amos 7/13 Read Magic.
Truro 3/5. Remove Fear,
Gnimish 3/9
Treyvor 6/6
Bucko 4/8
Yardie 8/8
Smokie full health. Wolf Familiar to Sven
Peaches 3/8.

[Rex]

Orgoth

Orgoth attacks the closest Huecuva.

Spear +1 [1d20+2]=18+2=20 to hit [1d6+4]=1+4=5 damage
Superior Shield Bash [1d20+2]=1+2=3 to hit

[OGRE MAGE]

Does the green oil smell like it might be.....flammable?

Sven sees the chaos unfurling all around him once again, becoming almost accustomed to this ever-present sensation of utter doom by now.

With limited magic remaining, he resorts to his hand crossbow again, aiming for any remaining threats nearby.

Crossbow Attack [1d20]=19 Dam [2d4]=4

"We got em right where we want em now folks!" He exclaims sarcastically.

He has Smokie sniff around the area where the door opened to see if the wolf can pick up any unseen scents, hoping this new threat was just another Barrowmaze quirk.

[Spearmint]

most oils are flammable. This is more Olive oil than lantern fuel, but yes, you can fry the Huey's.

[OGRE MAGE]

I was thinking more like telling the others to back away and firing up the ghouls in the webs next round.

Any chance some of the oil splashed on the gob of webs?

[Spearmint]

Peaches could turn and cover some webs. Or add a Burning Hands if she still has that memorized.

What happened to the 'no fires' protocol?

A normal torch out to a web spell causes 2d4 damage to all those trapped but releases them after burning the web threads away. I would add another d4 to the damage for those entangled. Otherwise treat as normal oil burns, 2d6 & 1d6 over two rounds.

Amos is covered too mind so needs to dodge away.

[OGRE MAGE]

What happened to the 'no fires' protocol?

Desperate times call for desperate measures definitely applies when getting attacked on three sides.

[Rex]

What happened to the 'no fires' protocol?

Desperate times call for desperate measures definitely applies when getting attacked on three sides.

Agreed!

[SocraticLawyer]

Peaches McGee
Peaches accidentally burned her fellow party members with Burning Hands last time. I don't think she retained it after casting.

If no one objects, Peaches will take the following action, but I don’t want to imperil anyone else. But it seems like everyone agrees that lighting up the oil is the way to go.
Also, its pretty badass.

Peaches throws a lit torch on the oiled-up undead, hoping to roast the foul things in the most badass way possible.

Also, sorry for the delayed post. Been moving this week and it has taken a lot out of me.

[Spearmint]

Storm in the Windy Corridor.

Covered in copious amounts of olive oil, dripping with anointment, the Huecuva on the floor slips and slides to get up. Flailing and then flaming as Peaches strikes a firebrand and tosses it into the slippery pool. It screams and burns, an agonising howl of pain that echoes down the corridors, carried on the gusty breeze to unknown far reaches of the labyrinth deep. -6hp

Orgoth stabs with his silvered blade, penetrating between ribs and sternum to further disembowel the other half dead cadaver. It staggers back from the blow -5hp and then takes a bolt from Sven's crossbow in the middle of its forehead. An otherwise fatal wound is merely an inconvenience and the Huecuva pulls the shaft out as if it were just a splinter then stabs it into the shoulder of the mage, impaling him in return.

Sven -5hp.

The writhing burning undead in the pool begins to crack aloud, like the sound of bones splitting. However under the blazing robes a metamorphosis is taking place as the skeletal frame of the figure becomes a hardened exoskeletal carapace and from the flames emerge a large fiery crab, burning with a radiance of hellish energy that consumes the remaining oil and frazzles the garments of those nearby.
Amos tries to bash it with his quarterstaff but the wooden staff blackens with the heat and begins to turn into ashes at the end.

Smokie sniffs, heckles rising, tail up, growling at an unseen threat. The gnomes continue to target the webbed up ghouls killing one, leaving one remaining which Truro tries to bash brain dead. He misses and finally the ghoul cuts free of his restraints and lashes out at the cleric. Truro bleeds -2hp but stands firm against the venomous touch.

Huecuva: A,B,C [1d20+2]=12+2=14[1d6]=5 [1d20+2]=2+2=4[1d6]=4Gnimish & Treyvor light crossbows [1d20]=4 [1d20]=14 [2d4]=6 [2d4]=8Truro melee mace. [1d20+1]=2+1=3 [1d6+1]=6+1=7Ghoul vs B, Y, T [1d3]=3 claw, claw, bite [1d20]=18 [1d20]=11 [1d20]=11Bucko and Yardie: [1d20]=12[2d4]=5[1d20]=11[2d4]=7Ghoul claw damage upon Truro [1d3]=2 Save vs paralysis 10+ [1d20+1]=11+1=12

Huey: 1 dead, 2 @ -11hp, 3 @ -12hp turned into 'fiery Crab'.

Sven 8/13
Orgoth 12/23
Amos 7/13 Read Magic.
Truro 1/5. Remove Fear,
Gnimish 3/9
Treyvor 6/6
Bucko 4/8
Yardie 8/8
Smokie full health. Wolf Familiar to Sven
Peaches 3/8.



next actions please.

[OGRE MAGE]

With tears welling in his eyes from the pain in his shoulder, Sven is aghast to see the undead monster suddenly morph into……a crab? A fiery crab? He immediately regrets the suggestion to use the knuckle die.

He tells Smokie to turn invisible and stay out of the way of whatever it is that hasn’t shown itself, hoping this is all some kind of trick of the maze.

When his bolts do nothing to hurt the huecuva, he dives aside and fires at the crab instead, wondering if this is all some horrible illusion, waiting for the 7th different enemy to show itself. Crossbow Attack [1d20]=5 Dam [2d4]=6

Slime
Ghouls
Huecuva
Giant Fire Flys
Fire Crab
Unseen Threat
Yep, 7th

[Spearmint]

Slime
Ghouls
Huecuva
Giant Fire Flys
Fire Crab
Unseen Threat
Yep, 7th

just think of the XP ...

[Rex]

Orgoth

Orgoth targets the nearest undead to him.

Wasn't sure who is where at the moment.

Spear +1 [1d20+2]=9+2=11 to hit [1d6+4]=6+4=10 damage
Superior Shield Bash [1d20+2]=15+2=17 to hit

[Spearmint]

just for your notes, you met very similar looking crabs inside one of the crypts in the 'Metal Door' room: West Wing.

[SocraticLawyer]

Peaches McGee
Peaches wonders idly whether this crab has anything to do with her magical die. Shrugging, she loads a bullet and lets loose her sling.

To hit with sling [1d20]=2

[Spearmint]

Storm in the Windy Corridor

The windy corridor gusts a new fetid breeze and lantern lights flicker and Smokie blinks out altogether. The fire radiating from the carapace of the crab is fanned higher, the heat a mini bonfire that causes those in the lower part of the passage to seek refuge in the side alcove (c). Whilst the polymorphed form of the Huecuva is immune to the blazing olive oil, the other undead is still aflame. Immune to normal blades she is unbalanced by Orgoth's Aspis shield bashing, shoulder barging her to slip and fall prone into the still burning oil. -5hp. "I'm melting, melting." the Huecuva screams as she turns to ashes and drips body fat on the floor. deceased.

Sling stone and crossbow bolt both ricochet off the hardened shell of the Fire Crab. The creature spins around, targeting the mage Sven and rises up to grab and cut him, huge pincers slicing open his legs. His laboratory garment absorbs the heat that would otherwise cause it to burn. -4hp

In the furious melee, the nearby webs also catch fire. Burning away as the NPC group deal with the last of the un-living ghouls. Amos draws his blade, his quarterstaff cast away, blackened and brittle as a burnt twig.

While one Huecuva was burned to death, you cannot fight a Fire Crab with more fire, but can you fight it with something else.

Amos short sword [1d20]=1 [1d6]=1Gnimish & Treyvor light crossbows [1d20]=4 [1d20]=20 [2d4]=5 [2d4]=4Bucko and Yardie: [1d20]=11[2d4]=4[1d20]=1[2d4]=7Truro melee mace. [1d20+1]=5+1=6 [1d6+1]=5+1=6
Fire Crab: claw, claw [1d20]=4[1d6+1]=4+1=5 [1d20]=19[1d6+1]=3+1=4 radiant damage [1d4]=1

Huey: 1 dead, 2 dead, 3 @ -12hp turned into 'fiery Crab'.

Sven 4/13
Orgoth 12/23
Amos 7/13 Read Magic.
Truro 1/5. Remove Fear,
Gnimish 3/9
Treyvor 6/6
Bucko 4/8
Yardie 8/8
Smokie full health. Wolf Familiar to Sven
Peaches 3/8.

The Fire Crab radiates heat, anyone in melee with it is automatically subject to d4 fire damage unless having some form of fire resistance.

next actions please

[OGRE MAGE]

you cannot fight a Fire Crab with more fire, but can you fight it with something else.

I have scoured my sheet and other than throwing my water skin at it, I have no cold or water based attack methods.

I can’t see your sheets, but one of us must have some way to effectively combat this thing.

Or is peppering away from a distance the only answer?

Lure it under the slime, maybe?

Any ideas?

[Spearmint]

Orgoth could throw his magic spear to reduce the melee penalty but if he doesn't kill it, then it will obviously move to attack a random person or persons.

You haven't injured it in Fire Crab form. It may be vulnerable to normal weapons unlike Huecuva form which are silvered + to damage.

There are some other possible items or skills you have. Just think about it.

When you give up, you can look at this clue.