Keeping up, but not really inclined to any of this dungeon crawling stuff Valenestria still seems to be trying to decide what to do when the others just pick one path, so she moves into a position to cover them for whatever problem comes from the choice.

No one ever told Kassan curiosity killed the cat.


The door leading north opens to a short hallway with yet another door, then another, all closed, but when you open it you learn it's properties and purpose. The three doors along the corridor are made of thick metal, their edges flanged so that they overlap the door jamb on the north side and thus can be opened only by pivoting them to the north. The north side of each door has a handle so that it can be pulled open from that direction.

Tempe points out temperature, and while the first door to 14 was the same temperature as 11, each further door is a bit hotter, though not unbearably so.

These barriers are emergency doors, whose purpose is to prevent the dungeon from being flooded by the boiling lake at area 15, in case of an "accident."

---

This takes you to area 17/15. You are underwater. A magic bubble is the only thing keeping you safe from boiling water, which constantly churns and makes it hard to see details on the outside, but the cave is lit brightly by the red-hot rock somewhere below. This must be the source of all the steam that constantly billows out of the mountain and covers Neverwinter.

At the north end of this 40'x40'x40' (at the widest points, only 5' high at the edges) bubble is a treasure chest. In the center of the bubble is a giant crab, it's left claw dipped in copper and covered in magic runes. The crab is 8' tall and 15' wide with a reach of 10'. It clacks toward you with amazing speed and has Beck in it's claws before you can react. Half of Beck in the left claw, half of Beck in the right claw.

There are now two halves of the bard, he is no longer whole. His lute clacks to the floor, also broken in half.

B l a c k r a z o r speaks into your minds, No! I could have consumed Beck WormEater's soul! Damn crab. I will help you slay it if you wield me against it, for in the chest beyond lies WAVE, a sentient trident.

---

Giant Crab AC15

Beck quit. I will advertise for another, but we will do this battle without the new player.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:23, Mon 07 Mar 2022.

No longer fooling around, the apparently quite lethal crab urges Valenestria into action of a more serious nature than most of the other minor threats.  She flies up to the top of the bubble in the hope that she will at least not be the first target, and launches five darts of force at the crab each of which follows its own flight path and each hits regardless of what it has to do first.

Quick reminder of how i run combat, all players go first, no init, actions resolved in post order, then my turn, then next round.

Who ever made this place sure liked crustacean creatures, was the brief thought he had before witnessing the fall of Beck.  A merciless hell hole this place was.  Fury entered Kassan's eye's as he swam forward to kill the clacking beast blasting through blood misted water.


Swinging at the platter of future food Kassan attacks with the key battle axe.

Bonus Action: Rage

17:57, Today: Kassan rolled 21 using 1d20+6.  attack roll.
17:57, Today: Kassan rolled 21 using 1d20+6.  attack roll.

18:27, Today: Kassan rolled 9 using 1d12+6.
18:27, Today: Kassan rolled 16 using 1d12+6.  attack dmg.

Tempe also lost it a little bit, fear or anger the great black blade came free of it's cloth and ignited with sickly green flame. Though it soon became apparent that Temperance had not trained in the use of such a large weapon, its magic tried to compensate as much as it could... Which still led to crunching and a burn scar in the ground- not even particularly close to the crab.

7 to hit

Kalda rushes to the crab, placing one hand on a lege and then continuously punching the hard chitin of it hoping to crack the solid shell.



15:36, Today: Kalda Silverhammer rolled 8 using 1d20.
15:37, Today: Kalda Silverhammer rolled 11 using 1d20+6.  Double Punch.

15:38, Today: Kalda Silverhammer rolled 16 using 1d20+6.  Flurry 1.
15:38, Today: Kalda Silverhammer rolled 4 using 1d6+3.  Damage 1.

15:38, Today: Kalda Silverhammer rolled 11 using 1d20+6.  Flurry 2.

You all pummel the crab...well, except for Temperance, he just gets laughed at by the greatsword he's holding.

Heh. Here, let me help you. HST HST HST.

Magic emanates from the sword and Temperance gains HASTE.

But the crab spins around with its giant pincers and claws at both Kalda and Kassan. The crab takes extra care not to get close to the bubble wall, remaining in the middle.

Kassan hit ac20 for 20 magical piercing. I'm not sure if your rage reduces magic damage but if it does then take half that.

ROUND 2
Giant Crab AC15
HP - 49

As much as the sword packs magic around Tempe to Haste him, it doesn't fix the fact the the teifling isn't trained in the use of so large a weapon, leaving one burning scar and another jagged rip in the ground though they WERE closer than the original. Tempe was at least wreathed in dark flames and trying to take the melee around the monster as advantage.

4 misses... Thanks to flanking.

Taking her queue from the local guide, hostile though it may be, Valenestria drifts a few feet away from the bubble just to make sure she doesn't accidentally touch it, but is still well above the crab when she unleashes another spray of five darts of purple force energy, each of which follows its own curving path around the melee combatants and directly into the crab itself.

Kalda continues her pounding, raining blow after blow upon the giant crab. Her fists collide with the chitin. Wile her flesh has been hardened through regular activity, the shell is designed for protection and is good at that role.


02:58, Yesterday: Kalda Silverhammer rolled 7 using 1d20+6.  Flurry of Blows 2.

02:58, Yesterday: Kalda Silverhammer rolled 7 using 1d20+6.  Flurry of Blows 1.

02:56, Yesterday: Kalda Silverhammer rolled 9 using 1d6+3.  Damage 1.

02:56, Yesterday: Kalda Silverhammer rolled 23 using 1d20+6.  Unarmed Attack 2.

02:56, Yesterday: Kalda Silverhammer rolled 12 using 1d20+6.  Unarmed Attack.

Taking the hit, Kassan grins in a menacing way.  Attacking twice more at the future sea platter of food.  One hits the other skittering off the shell.




1st Attack
20:04, Today: Kassan rolled 26 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 20.  Atk Roll.
20:06, Today: Kassan rolled 9 using 1d12+3 with rolls of 6.  Damage for Battleaxe.
20:06, Today: Kassan rolled 6 using 1d12 with rolls of 6. Crit Damage

2nd Attack (Misses)
20:05, Today: Kassan rolled 10 using 1d20+6 with rolls of 4.  Atk Roll.

Blackrazor seems to sigh, Like all things, completely useless. If only I could swing myself...

Crab claws at Kassan with his claw covered in runes, and at Kalda with a normal claw.

The crab is very careful to not move any closer to the bubble.

Kassan, if 17 hits take 20, Kalda if 16 hits take 10

Kassan, because you are raging, make a wisdom save dc12 to avoid touching the bubble with your axe.

ROUND 3
Giant Crab AC15
HP - 89

With the crab clearly having its fun on the ground, Valenestria stays out of reach while she peppers it with another spray of five darts of purple force energy, each of which once again follows its own curving path directly into the crab.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:56, Thu 31 Mar 2022.

One more flaming scar in the ground and Tempe makes a frustrated noise, regaining some of himself he used the speed granted by the sword to make a back swing with the large weapon, finally connecting with the monster crab.

18 to hit 11dmg... Should I have been using my spell casting ability modifier for green flame blade to hit?

You brandish the weapon used in the spell’s casting and make a melee attack with it against one creature within 5 feet of you. On a hit, the target suffers the weapon attack’s normal effects, and you can cause green fire to leap from the target to a different creature of your choice that you can see within 5 feet of it. The second creature takes fire damage equal to your spellcasting ability modifier.


Tempe, there isn't a second creature to hit, so I'm not sure you should be using green flame blade in this situation. No, you would be using your melee attack modifier, then just putting damage on the next creature. I'll go ahead and allow the bonus damage to apply to the crab  because in pbp it's extremely rare that we will ever know when the bad guys are 5' next to each other. So +3 to damage whenever you use it.

Shaking her hands after the pain of fist on chitin violence, Kalda takes another approach. Grabbing a leg, she braces herself against it and slams her knee into it. Rotating and moving to her other knee, it produces a similar crack as it collides with the shell. Repeating the process a second time is met with less effect.


13:53, Today: Kalda Silverhammer rolled 26 using 1d20+6.  Attack 1. Critical Hit!
13:53, Today: Kalda Silverhammer rolled 5 using 1d6+3.  Damage 1.
  Actually 7 Bludgeoning damage

13:53, Today: Kalda Silverhammer rolled 26 using 1d20+6.  Attack 2. Critical Hit!
13:53, Today: Kalda Silverhammer rolled 6 using 1d6+3.  Damage 2.
  Actually 9 Bludgeoning damage

13:53, Today: Kalda Silverhammer rolled 11 using 1d20+6.  Flurry of Blows 1.
13:53, Today: Kalda Silverhammer rolled 14 using 1d20+6.  Flurry of Blows 2.

POP

Kassan looks behind himself to see his axe accidentally bumped the bubble.

A highly concentrated stream of scalding hot water hits him in the shoulder, sending him to the ground. The stream rips straight through the crab's shell, supposedly where the crab's brain would be, because it twitches very violently then drops dead.

Kassan take 10dmg -this is halved already.

You cautiously open the large chest that the crab was guarding.

Inside the chest is Illiranth, I shall have her describe herself. In addition: 1,000 gp in small sacks, twenty gems (two big ones worth 1,000 gp each, one big one worth 5,000 gp, and seventeen others worth a total of 3,935 gp), goggles of night, and a stone of good luck (luckstone).

Illiranth is clutching a very intricate trident. She slowly wakes as the chest opens, much like you all, she has no idea how long she has been in this magical coma, brought into this dungeon by Keraptis.

The pressurized stream of water continues pouring in, if you do not act fast you will soon be in a few inches of boiling water.

Tempe: Blackrazor speaks to you, Well done, though you lack what it takes to wield me your efforts were not in vain. You have rescued Wave, a similar sentient weapon. I doubt anyone of you are capable of using her properly either, but we don't have time for that now.

Illiranth: Wave speaks to you, Who knows how long we have been in this chest together? If you can, use me to cast a cube of force to keep us safe from the water.
Illiranth, if you want to, make a wisdom check dc17 to use Wave to cast this spell.

While the weapons are chatting to their wielders Valenestria reaches out to the small magic stone in the chest and pulls it up to where she is hovering and able to retrieve it without getting overly close to the ground.

Moments later she looks over at the still flowing water and with several much more complex gestures, and words she casts a significantly more complex spell on the ground directly below the leak.
 A small part of the floor turns into a plug that extends out through the hole in the dome and flattens out to at least vastly reduce the flow of water.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:37, Tue 12 Apr 2022.

"Val, looting before we are boiled?" there is an awkward amount of mirth in that statement as he levels his hand at the fissure in the bubble that kept them safe. His magic sealing a 5' thick cube of ice across it.  "We can sort out treasure and this elf..." He turned his head to regard her, "...may as well be a maiden." She had heavier muscle than the bookish elves he had known at the library.

He wrapped Blackrazor and returned it to his back. He began picking up treasure with no regard to immediate ownership in mind and glanced as his ice plug... If it was only slowing things then he would start freezing a tunnel back towards the door. He wanted to be able to block it off and buy them time to handle the vault like doors at standard pressure.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:32, Tue 12 Apr 2022.

Working together, Val and Tempe plug the magic bubble and all is well for now.

Kassan was clearly in agreement as he grabbed whatever else was not being grabbed going so far as to just grab the chest and follow the group to a safer location.

"Seriously!? You wake me up from the best nap I've had in ages in the face of certain doom. It's going to be one of those days isn't it.."

She regarded Waves voice curiously. Then the artifact itself. Moments stretched.  It was intricate, and intriguing, but she felt no thrill about the meditation or study.

Today: Illiranth rolled 13 using 1d20. Wisdom. DC17

"oh well. Another talking trinket that just can't be bothered to tell people what they need to know so all of them can escape.. so let's try something else... Which you have all just done. So.. Illiranth. Interested to meet you all. Now let's get out."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:14, Fri 15 Apr 2022.

Temperance smiled-no teeth- teeth was always worse... He regarded the newest addition while she complained, "I'm a 'doom-adjacent living specialist, the name's Temperance. I'm kind of a demon. I want to do nice things with magic but so far... My natural tendency is having the gift of doing bad things. So I try to stick to only doing bad things to bad beings." After they got out he practiced a bit of water bending and made a table to sort loot on, hoping Kassan would see to the vault like door that was probably too large for himself.

Further introductions are made (I assume) and you head back the way you came, being sure to close all of the iron doors securely behind you. You don't want this place flooding with boiling water.

You then head down hall 11, to new territory.

The stone corridor changes abruptly to a spinning cylinder, apparently made of some light-colored metal. The inner surface rotates rapidly. It is painted in a dizzying black-and-white spiral pattern, and it glistens as if coated with some substance.

The 30-foot-long cylinder is 10 feet in diameter and spins counterclockwise at about 10 feet per second. The inner surface is covered with slippery oil. It is possible to slide through the cylinder by propelling oneself along the floor, but walking through this area without being knocked prone requires a successful DC 20 Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.

Of course Val will have no issues, but everyone else can either crawl or attempt the acrobatics check.