CotMA - Episodes 4 and 5 - Catch Up Posting

Many interesting things happened in the Castle during Episodes 4 and 5.  This post is my attempt to "catch up" on both these episodes.  I'm afraid they won't be too narrative; just a set of bulleted highlights...

Episode 6 is this upcoming Thursday.  I want to post recaps with more regularity starting after that.  :)

• Xavier the Spiritual lost his leg to a giant beetle.  He had it replaced with an ornate silver "pegleg" below the knee of his own design.
• The characters discovered a magical tuning fork that has a silencing effect upon the wail of shriekers.
• At one point, the heroes encountered some blood sucking slime monsters...

• The adventurers encountered the "Room of the Clowns" and interacted with these magical mosaics.  Some gained; some lost.  HPs, Attribute points and minor magic items were on the table.  RF's cleric was the big winner.  Xavier lost his silver leg in the deal.  Is now considering himself "Xavier the Marked".  The "Room of Clowns" disappeared when they left it.
• The dungeon has suffered an earthquake.  The area once inhabited by the bandits is largely collapsed.
• The adventurers discovered and (largely) defeated a tribe of troglodytes.  The leader retreated and barricade himself in a small room with the women and children of his tribe.  He offered them their treasure with a crudely written plea of "TAK" on the floor.  The adventurers did indeed "take" the treasure and left the chieftain and non-combatants alone.  
• Following a corridor marked with snake-like bas reliefs, the adventurers went toe-to-toe with a 5-headed hydra that dwelled in an obscuring mist.  They defeated it, but Cack Trueshield lost an arm in the process.  The party collected parts of the hydra for future trade with a wizard or alchemist.
• The adventurers discovered an pedestal of sorts that emitted a mystical radiance.  A single crystalline tile was found upon its top surface.  It is obviously a puzzle, requiring more pieces to assemble.  The colored light, when cast upon the wall, revealed the name "Xanathar" written upon the wall.
• The party sold the hydra parts to Uuthak the Obscure, an alchemist in The City.  Uuthak was willing to subject Cack and Xavier to his "Regen-o-pod" to regrow their lost limbs.  It was dicey, but both heroes survived the process.  Xavier now sports a feline purple and bronze furred leg.  Cack has been graced with a steel colored tentacle in place of her lost arm.

If I've forgotten anything important, I invite the players to post in the comments.  See you on Thursday!

CotMA - Episode 3c

(It's been so long since we did this session; I'm not sure I can remember too much...)

The adventurers returned to the dungeon and returned to the pit.  They descended into the pit to discover the remains of poor Bob infested with large worm-like creatures.  One big douse of oil and then the liberal application of a torch took care of that.

Oryx searched the room for secret doors but found none.  How'd those worms get in there then???

They returned to the top of the pit and found a secret door.  A little fiddling with the "click/clunk" key allowed it to be opened with a push and turn.

Behind they found a damp chamber with a thin film of water on the floor.

At the end of an approx 40' corridor, they found another secret door (less secret from this side) and they opened it up.

Beyond they found a bedroom filled with a mouldering bed and other bedroom furniture.  Cautiously they searched the mound of refuse and found a small box and a set of pristine chainmail pants.  Inside the box they found a tuning fork of impressive quality.

They returned to the surface with their finds to have them appraised...

Regen-o-pod

What happens when adventurers lose a limb?

Perhaps it's bitten off by vicious giant beetles...

...or maybe it's devoured by a hungry, hungry hydra...

Never fear!

Visit Uuthak the Alchemist and his miraculous regen-o-pod!

	Form d6		Colors Roll d6 (1-3 = one color; 4-5 = 2 colors; 6 = 3 colors) d20
1	Canine	1	black	11	indigo
2	Feline	2	blue	12	orange
3	Squid/Octopoid	3	brass	13	pearlescent
4	Reptilian	4	bronze	14	pink
5	Crustacean	5	brown	15	purple
6	Insectoid	6	chrome	16	red
		7	copper	17	silver
		8	crystalline	18	steel
		9	gold	19	white
		10	gray	20	yellow

For even more exciting fun, roll d20 + CON bonus.  If the total rolled => 20, the re-grown limb has some kind of MAGICAL POWER (click here for ideas)

If the total is <= 1, the re-grown limb has a curse...

CotMA Episode 3b

...the party headed in a direction that should lead back toward the great spiral stair.  They spread out along the hallway, going mostly 2x2.  Bob the Burro, Kalen, the female elf and Hanuman were in the middle section...

The first few ranks of the party traveled across a covered pit without it triggering.  The weight of the middle ranks (with Bob included) was too much for the pit.

It triggered -- but it JAMMED!!

I asked, what do you do?

JS replied immediately that Kalen would "jump off" the pit.  Whoops!

That change in weight was just enough to trip the pit and the remaining adventurers all needed to save or fall.

Bob failed -- he's a burro; he didn't even get a save.  Elf failed.  Hanuman caught the edge of the pit due to his monk training.

Bob died as he crashed into the floor, 30' below.  Elf took 3d6 damage and was reduced to -3 HPs.  Ouch. She was dying at the bottom of the pit.

A rescue effort was mobilized.  Ropes were thrown down and secured at the top.  Rolf and F. Fighter descended into the pit....

Only to be confronted by 5 skeleton warriors with glowing gemstone eyes!

Battle ensued and F. Fighter was downed.  Rolf battled on and was eventually joined by Oryx and Hanuman at the bottom of the pit.

In time the skeletons were defeated and their red ruby eyes (10 of them) were removed and added to the party's loot.  Elf was tended to and stabilized.  Poor Bob was left to moulder at the bottom of the 30' pit.

The party left the dungeon before more harm could befall them...