Shae attacks the strange clawed undead creature with her ancestral spear.

ROUND 4
Borimer hits the giant zombie twice with his longsword, the swiping blade tearing at its stomach and bowels. (39 damage)

Hatchman also hits the giant zombie, stabbing it with a solid hit where its heart would ordinarily be at.  (Critical hit. 20 damage.)

Kahan swings at the southern sludge zombie, barely missing it.

Tahldar turns and casts magic missile directly into the clawed skeletal and half disemboweled creature behind him, hitting it.  (15 dmg.)

Shae stabs at the skeletal clawed creature with the magic spear but misses.

Shapfren casts magic missile, and the fiery darts fly across the room and hit the zombie giant. (18 dmg.)

Lukas fires his arrows at the clawed undead creature, hitting with one arrow.  (6 dmg.)

The web finally breaks off the sludge undead, which are still glowing.

The centipedea attacks but misses Kahan.

The giant zombie swings at Hatchman but misses the paladin, his fists falling against the nearby pillar with such force as to seemingly shake the whole crypt.  Splinters of stone fall to the ground.

The large clawed undead does two things simultaneously.  With one clawed hand, it tears open its own belly, making a slippery, bloody discharge spray all over the area, soaking Shae and Tahldar as well as the surrounding floor.  The fatty, greasy substance covers the area directly in front and to the sides of the creature.  (This is treated as the equivalent of a grease spell covering the area J5, J6, K5, K6, L5, and L6.  Shae makes her saving throw, but Tahldar fails his.)  Shae manages to keep her balance, but Tahldar loses his and slips on the floor, falling into the greasy slippery stuff.  (Tahldar is slipping and off balance, on his back on the floor, and cannot attack in Round 4 unless he remains on the ground and casts or does something not requiring physical movement.  5 hp damage to the creature.)

The second thing the creature does is pierce Shae with the long claws of his other hand, stabbing them directly in her gut.  Shae realizes instantly that these are not normal claws, but instead are hollow.  They begin draining the blood from her body. (5 hp damage, -1 Constitution.)  At the same time, the creature begins healing as a result of "drinking" Shae's blood. (+5 hp.) )

Northern sludge undead creature takes 4 damage from heat, and the southern one takes 1 damage.

Kahan takes 2 damage from heat.

Borimer takes 4 damage from heat.

Shae takes 3 damage from heat.

Etag is at the doorway, turning pages in his spellbook as his eyes open in horror.  "I knew it!" he says in alarm.  "I knew this would happen."


This message was last edited by the GM at 15:57, Fri 18 Apr 2014.

Covered in the reddish slime, Tahldar gasps audibly as he slips and falls.  "By the gods I'll never be clean!" he shouts in frustration.  Scrambling for a clean spot, he does his best to regain his feet and rejoin the fight.

OOC:  Tahldar will try to move out of the greased area.  He will try to crawl one square south to K7 and stand.

Borimer slashes at the giant zombie two more times before rushing to help the others.

sacrificing one of my 3 attacks for 1/2 movement B8 to J5

"Focus on the Key!! we need that key and we should retreat after that!" Shapfren yelled when she felt completely drained, then unsheated the sword once again and made a quick slash against the nearest monster.

Seeing the blood sucking claws stuck inside her, Shae has to take drastic measures.  She begins casting as she reaches down and touches the hand of the undead creature.

Casting Knurl from the Druid Handbook:
Casting a knurl spell transforms a creature's arm into a tree branch of the same thickness, covered with bark and twigs. The new limb possesses neither elbow nor wrist joints not even a hand. The "arm" remains attached to the shoulder. The spell's recipient can use it as a club but not to manipulate tools, weapons, or spell components.
The caster chooses which of the recipient's arms to affect. A character could use multiple knurl spells to transform both arms of a humanoid. The arm is treated for all purposes as a tree branch: It becomes subject to fire, wood-altering spells, and tree diseases. Dispel magic ends the spell's effects.

Hatchman strikes out with his longsword at the zombie giant once more.

Kahan attempts to turn the sludge monsters in front of him, hoping they'll run straight through the fire. That or be utterly destroyed. Either works.

Lukas will continue to fire arrows as long as he has a clear line of sight

ROUND 5
Borimer and Hatchman finish off the giant zombie, and as Borimer runs back to help the others, Hatchman reaches down and plucks off the key hanging around the dead (again) giant's neck.

Borimer runs through the heat to J5.  (5 hp heat damage.)

Tahldar manages to move back out of the greasy slime that had come from the dead clawed creature's intestines.  Tahldar is on the ground at K7.

Shae is casting.

The clawed creature strikes out at Tahldar with its long, clawed hand, barely missing as Tahldar scoots away.  It's other claw continues to suck Shae's blood.  (5 hp dmg to Shae, -1 Constitution to Shae, +5 hp to the creature).

Kahan is turning, and the northernmost slime creature with the body parts inside it begins to flee, going directly through the fire.  The already injured creature falls into a puddle of green slime just on the far side of the fire.  The other creature is unaffected.

The remaining slime creature (called graveyard sludge) is emitting a negative energy of great fear.  Kahan resists it (critical hit saving throw), while Didit is powerless against it and runs in fear toward the east.  The giant centipede gets an attack of opportunity, and it hits Didit.  While running in fear, Didit is paralyzed by poison, collapsing to the ground at K8 and unable to rise to her feet.  The poison is acid in nature, and her legs go numb below her knees.  (8 hp dmg, and she is currently overcome by fear, so now she is trying to crawl west to exit the tomb.  She will overcome her fear after the end of the next round.)

The graveyard sludge then lashes out against Kahan, hitting him with its green, slimy arm.  Kahan feels the acid and the blow as it sizzles.  (Kahan takes 12 damage from the blow, plus 5 acid damage, for 17 total damage.)

Shae finishes her spell, and the arm of the clawed undead creature (called a sanguinous drinker) turns to wood.  It withdraws its claw from Shae's body.  The blood also seeps from her gut, but the sanguinous drinker is down to only one usable claw.

The megalo-centipede strikes out at the fallen Didit, hitting her again with its acid poison.  (4 hp acid damage.)

Lukas fires at the centipede from nearly a point blank range, hitting it both times.  (8 total dmg.)

Kahan takes 3 damage from heat.

Shae maintains her balance and does not slip, but takes 4 damage from heat.

Hatchman runs to H8 and begins hacking at the last of the sludge creatures.

Borimer crashes into the sanguinous drinker with the ebony artifact making two quick slashes.

Shapfren just keeps moving while screaming in fear and pain.

"Come on die already"  Lukas fires more arrows at the centipede

Shae stabs her spear at the sanguinous drinker, echoing Lucas' thoughts and saying, "Die, already.  Again."

ROUND 6
Borimer and Shae hit the clawed creature, but just as it turns to retaliate -- badly wounded and about to collapse -- Etag finishes a spell.  A rainbow colored lightning bolt flies from his hand, goes directly through Tahldar (not harming him at all), hits the sanguinous drinker and makes it explode into a million ashes, and then it bounces from wall to wall, and as Etag redirects his hand, the lightning bolt seems to curve in midair and hit the graveyard sludge, which collapses into a puddle of green slime before hitting both Kahan and Didit (but injuring neither of them).  Then the lightning bolt dissipates.

Lukas puts two arrows into the centipede and it collapses before it can get to Didit again.

You take a deep breath as you look around at the carnage and the heat, which doesn't make the bodies in the tomb smell much better, and you decide to head out.

You help Didit up the stairs.  Hatchman holds the key.

From the bottom of the stairs, you can hear the hushed voices of the giants as they are descending.  Despite being worse for wear, you haven't much time.

Luckily, the key fits, but it will take a minute or two to get everyone out.

Meanwhile, Etag is conjuring a spell in the western corner.  A black swirling portal opens up.  It is about 8 feet in diameter.

"We must go through here quickly," Etag says.  He stands near it to usher you all through.

So far, 4 gnomes have been released from their prison cell, but there more cells to open.

Borimer stands guard near the stairs as others free the remaining gnomes.  He absently rubs the stump of his arm while thinking of the best way to slay multiple giants when they come down the stairs.

Didit begins casting a spell to try to open at least one of the cells.

Knock I think I still have one other casting left

I don't have access to the phb atm but I believe knock may be an area of effect spell that will open every door, hatch, etc. in its area of effect.  then again, maybe ive always been too generous with the interpretation.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:01, Tue 22 Apr 2014.

Kahan moves to the staircase and begins casting.

Tahldar lends a hand in leading the weakened Gnomes to the portal.

I think you are mixing two different things.  The knock spell allows use on up to two locks per door, but the size of the door is the area affect I think you are referencing, if I have read this right.  I don't think it can apply to multiple doors.


The knock spell opens stuck, barred, locked, held, or wizard-locked doors. It opens secret doors, as well as locked or trick-opening boxes or chests. It also loosens welds, shackles, or chains. If used to open a wizard-locked door, the spell does not remove the former spell, but simply suspends its functioning for one turn. In all other cases, it permanently opens locks or welds--although the former could be closed and locked again later. It does not raise barred gates or similar impediments (such as a portcullis), nor does it affect ropes, vines, and the like. Note that the effect is limited by the area; a 3rd-level wizard can cast a knock spell on a door of 30 square feet or less (for example, a standard 4-ft. x 7-ft. door). Each spell can undo up to two means of preventing egress through a portal. Thus if a door is locked, barred, and held, or triple locked, opening it requires two knock spells. In all cases, the location of the door or item must be known--the spell cannot be used against a wall in hopes of discovering a secret door.
The reverse spell, lock, closes and locks a door or similar closure, provided there is a physical mechanism. It does not create a weld, but it locks physically operated locking mechanisms, set bars, and so on, up to two functions. It cannot affect a portcullis.

I agree with you now that I can see the description, it's explained pretty clear. related news, I seem to have temporarily lost my only copy of the phb

Aren't there copies to be found online?  I also recommend the Core Rules CD-ROM set.  It has a lot of good stuff.

You begin unlocking the cells with the key and with a knock spell.


There are ten gnomes locked in ten different cells.  Junar has been comforting them while you were in the tomb.  Now, he is panicked as the giants appear to be descending.

Kahan weaves a spell as Etag opens the portal.  The walls of the staircase seem to converge into a funnel too large for the giants to fit through.  The giants begin pounding on the now shaped and thinned stone.

One of them cries out, [Language unknown: "Pe ounof ckniinevnd.  K esca whiastter artproter eediin.  Whntlo outstaera nd aipr wasnd iou!"]

You are unlocking cells with the key while Didit opens one with a knock spell.  It seems to be taking a long time, but each of them thanks you in Gnomish before stepping through the portal, followed by Junar, and then Tahldar, and the rest of you...

The black portal swirls and emits no light.  You enter it not knowing where you will end up on the other side, but surely, you think it must be better than this.

EXPERIENCE POINTS:

The last XP handout was at the beginning of Here There Be Giants 4, so it has been awhile (at least, in real life time, only two days in game time).

Remember that in addition to traditional reasons to get Experience Points, bonus points are awarded for roleplaying, posting and keeping with the game, and unusual and skillful thinking.

If you level up, please update your character sheet and send me a message letting me know you have done it.  The XP I gave you also does not include any XP bonus you might get for wisdom.

This message was last edited by the GM at 00:11, Fri 25 Apr 2014.