Kithre, Ovak, Suth, and Mitchell returned to the cavern they had previously explored, after a short rest following the fight with the bandits. Sliding into the hole in the hill, they found themselves back in the room with the corpse of the giant snake. It was time to continue exploring.
I'm continuing right where I left off. Rolling for the type of Connector, I got "Expected." I decided to make it a straight passageway to the next room. Entering the next room, the group is up to 6 Progress points.
Next Room:
Encounter: Full Protected (Bat).
Encounter: Colorless, Odd (Giant Vulture).
Expected, Exit.
The four entered a cavern that seemed similar to the previous one. Hearing a crashing sound and seeing pieces of debris falling on them. They looked up. A bat slammed itself over and over again into the ceiling. Already, a tiny hole formed in the ceiling, but it looked to get bigger with each hit.
Looking closer, they noticed they bad wore a kind of customized armor, which explained how it was able to hit the rocks without suffering injury. Seeing the group, the bat stopped and angled itself to dive.
Then they heard a screech. A giant vulture, with pale gray feathers watched them from its perch atop a rock. After regarding them for several moments, it leaped up and dove.
For the armored bat, I gave it a +1 to AC, HD, and Attack. This actually doubled its CR, which worked out.
The heroes won the first two Clashes, with the second generating a Random Event.
(Event) Help, Attain.
I decided this meant the vulture and bat somehow communicated and worked together. I gave them an additional +1 to their combined attack.
Unfortunately for them, the heroes killed the bat on the next Clash.
(Q) Does the Vulture flee? (Very Likely) X-No, Random.
(Event) Fears, Benefit.
I decided this meant it was running on adrenaline, and so I kept its +1 bonus. Again, though the heroes got the edge and killed it on the next round, with Sutha shooting it with her bow.
There was nothing else in the room, so the heroes continued on.
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Connector: Same. Another straight line.
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Next Room:
Object: Purposeful, Dark.
Expected.
Location: Rare, Powerful.
The next room seemed almost completely round, like a grain silo. As they entered however, Ovak accidentally stepped on a switch. Water began to pour from the ceiling, and the four realized quickly that they were in trouble.
I rolled a puzzle and for descriptor, I got Combination, Access.
The heroes would have to open the lock on the door by pressing the stones in the door in a set pattern. for Difficulty, I got +4. Tough for normal folk. Luckily, Sutha had +6 when it came to disarming traps and figuring out puzzles.
(Puzzle) Does Sutha solve the puzzle? (+2 = Very Likely) Yes.
The door opened and the four fled down the hallway, after closing the door behind them.
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Connector: Same: Another straight passageway.
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Next Location: 8 Progress Points.
Location: Stolen, Average.
Object: Domestic, Crude.
Object: Small, Domestic.
I decided that Domestic meant Familiar, at least to one or more of the heroes.
The room they entered next was clear except for a single treasure chest against the wall.
Sutha approached it carefully, gazing all around. "The room isn't trapped." Lowering herself to one knee, she studied the chest itself. "It has a padlock. Doesn't seem too difficult."
I again rolled +4 for Difficulty. Sutha succeeded, and they found about 100 gp in treasure and 2 Potions of Healing. They might need those in the future.
With nothing else in the room, they moved on.
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Connector: Same with Side Room.
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The side room contained a fire trap.
As they entered the room, the door slammed shut behind them. Then fire leaped out from pipes in the wall.
"We need to get out of here," said Mitchell. "I can't patch us up if I'm charbroiled as well."
Spinning around, Sutha examined the door. "Give me a moment."
Kitre used her magic to deflect the flames. "We don't have a moment."
Because of the short time span to succeed, I increased the Difficulty to +6. Luckily, Sutha again figured it out and opened the door. Returning to the hallway, they continued on to the next room.
Next Room:
Encounter: Peaceful, Useful.
Complete.
Object: Old, Cold.
The four entered the last room to find a man in brown robes standing before a large mirror. The mirror looked like it had been buried in the cavern for a long time. Hearing a noise behind him, he turned around.
I rolled Acolyte for the man. I was hoping for something stronger, but I can work with that.
(Q) Is he friendly? (Since I rolled Peaceful before, I'm going with Almost Certain) X-No.
I'm interpreting this to mean he's pretending to be peaceful. The Useful part then means he's trying to pull a fast one on the heroes.
"Why, hello there," the man said. "I am Charmes."
"What are you doing here?" Kithre asked.
"I'm glad you asked," he responded. "This is my experiment. I figure if I bring wildlife from other lands here, I can shake up the population and help nature thrive again."
"Nature does fine on its own," said Mitchell, "until your monsters began attacking people."
"Attacking?" Charmes appeared upset. "I sent them as proof that I succeeded. Look, here are some more."
From the portal a swarm of bats, all armored, flew in. Then two large forms crawled over the threshold.
"There, they are," he said to the creatures. "Go make some friends." He then lifted his fingers and launched darts of flame at Kithre.
This Clash is between the heroes versus Charmes, a swarm of Armored Bats, a giant Fire Beetle, and a Giant Wolf Spider. I deliberately added a few more opponents, hoping to make the fight even. Let's see how it plays out.
Clash #1: Kithre blasted Charmes. Mitchell smashed the bats. Ovak sliced the spider. And Sutha fired arrows at the beetle before it could open, well, fire. Charmes and his group suffer -1 RS.
Clash #2: Same result. Heroes suffer very little, if any, damage.
Clash #3: Heroes score huge. Kithre hit Charmes with a magical blast that sent him flying. Ovak sliced the spider to ribbons, and Sutha dodged fire from the beetle and pierced its carapace with more arrows. This left the bats.
Clash #4: Mitchell finished off the bats with Ovak's help.
As the acolyte fell to the ground, Kithre raced over to the portal. "It look like more things are going to pour in."
Ovak glanced around, eyeing some stone pillars. "We can make the wall fall the mirror."
"Yeah, great idea," said Mitchell, "but what about us?"
"Not enough time." Kithre studied the portal. "Plus there's a chance that if the portal explodes, it could cause a cave-in not just here but all over."
Sutha nodded. "We wouldn't make it out in time."
This is another puzzle. I know it's a portal so I rolled for Success and got Positive Location. For Failure, I got More Adversity.
"I've got an idea." Kithre took a step back. "I can't change the portal, but I can change the location that we're looking at. Once that's done, we can jump through once Ovak takes out the portals."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Mitchell asked.
The halfling shook her head. "Does it look like we have a choice?"
The puzzle's Difficulty is +8. Ouch, but that's because they're attempting multiple tasks. Kithre looks for a new and hopefully safe location. And then Ovak takes out the pillars. However, I'm combining the heroes and their efforts, for a total of also +8.
(Puzzle) Do the heroes succeed? (50/50) Yes.
Holding up both hands, Kithre focused and the portal's image changed to a colorful forest. "Ovak, go!"
The orc swung her sword, taking out each pillar.
As the roof began to cave in, the four leaped through the portal.
It shut behind them, most likely because it got destroyed on the other side. Standing, they looked around.
(Description) What are they looking at? "Festive, Stylish."
(Q) Are they in a familiar area? (50/50) No.
(Q) Is there a town right there? (Likely) Yes.
Since I rolled positive for the reward, I'm guessing this is a friendly town, just in a new location, possibly a different country.
The four stood up and found themselves at the edge of a forest with trees of all colors; orange, pink, violet, and even silver.
"Where are we?" Sutha asked.
Kithre shrugged but then pointed. "There's a town. Let's check it out."
"Let's hope they're friendly," said Mitchell.
"Let's hope they have food," said Ovak.
The adventure ends there, for now. I'm waiting until I get the Mythic Mags which have the City and World Crafters to generate the town and surrounding area.
I will say that Ovak, Sutha, and Mitchell all progressed to Level 2. Kithre remains at Level 3 for now.
They also have a nice chunk of change to spend in their next adventure, wherever that takes them.
Until next time . . .
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