Hmm, I can't really do much with perception or dungeoneering myself here, nor arcana, so up to those with the appropriate skill I guess.

I'm gonna try a perception check, let's see what happens.

>>760
You could also make a dungeoneering check.

Well, why not. We are not on initiative yet.

Should we ask to Sariel to investigate the area as well? George's apparently not around.

>>765
Probably.

By the way, this is what I have for everyone's HP after spending surges. Tell me if it's off anywhere.

Players
Myn Nthelsyr (George): 38/38 HP Darkspiral Aura 6
Michael Silversteel (Hideyoshi): 35/35 HP
"Bernkastel" (Bernkastel): 36/38 HP
Torinn Tormine (Astaroth): 42/44 HP, Light
Sariel (Liliane): 29/30 HP
Sureiya (Anonkun): 40/40 HP
Spirit Companion (Bernkastel):
Elemental Spirit (Bernkastel): Grants adjacent allies +1 to all defenses
Roth (Sariel): (Passive Mode)

>>769
That looks about right.

>>771
You mean, THE HEART

>>774
...No, I mean the fifth elephant that holds the world up.

>>775
Is that a book? Well i thought they were only four elephants, ne.

>>777
Correct. Legend had it that the fifth one fell off... Somewhere and became buried in the Disc's crust. That's why the dwarves have fat mines.

;_; poor elephant

I haven't listed any options for skills, but you could search the new area with Perception or try to see what's down the tunnel or whatever.

Alternately, you could use a dungeoneering check to try and determine what's going on with the dwarf face there.

Torinn, when you feel the gem for a few moments, you can clearly sense that this is what it does:

Fiery Guardian Summoning Stone Level 5
This small, red gem contains the spirit of a fiery guardian knight, clad in burning armor and armed with a flaming lash, who will be released upon cracking the gem open.
Gem 50gp
Power (Consumable * Fire, Summoning): Standard action. You summon a Medium fiery guardian in an an unoccupied square within 5 squares. It has speed 5 and resist 5 fire. You can give the guardian the following special command. On the turn you summon the guardian, you give that command as part of using this power.
------Standard Action: Close blast 3; targets each creature in blast; Primary ability modifier + 3 vs. Reflex, 1d8 fire damage and ongoing 5 fire damage (save ends).
Instinctive Action: If you haven't given the guardian any commands by the end of your turn, it makes its attack against at least one enemy, targeting as many enemies as possible. If it can't do that, it moves its speed to a square adjacent to an enemy.
Special: Using this gem counts as the use of a magical item daily power.

I'm okay with us moving ahead, if you're waiting on my input or something

If it's athletics, Sureiya is about the only one who can pass it, and he has a climber's kit as well. Michael and I might be able to aid him effectively if we stow our shields and weapons, and we could use a length of rope to help guide everybody.


...Come to think of it, couldn't we use one of those pitons included in the climber's kit to secure a rope somewhere and just slide down the length of said rope? Or is it far too long a passage for that to be a viable solution?

>>831
You could certainly get a bonus for using the tools contained in a climber's kit intelligently.

>>831
For the record, my atheltics is only 2 points worse than his.

>>832
...Fair enough.

Why's the ground slick, though? Is it wet?

>>834
Probably the moisture in the cave combined with the fungus mentioned earlier, maybe.

What should we do now?

>>837
well Rin mentioned in her spoiler text a "lead climber" or using an item to help. All I can think of is using the rope to grab onto something sturdy to help us maybe keep balance on our way down, or a climbers kit or something.

>>838
What I mean is, the "lead climber" is the one who mechanically makes the check. In character, he's the one who is "leading" the group in their climb.

Everyone else is doing their best to remain steady. They can either:
(A) Aid another using Atheltics or Acrobatics.
(B) Use items they have on them to help.
Depending on how well everyone describes their actions, I may give bonuses to the lead climber.

>>839
>Depending on how well everyone describes their actions, I may give bonuses to the lead climber.

>>839
oh, I see. That's much more helpful. Sureiya and I being one of the people leading the climb I assume, I wouldn't know much about the item part and describing how to do so well enough, though.

>>841
Don't forget to put away your shield, though. That thing puts a -2 penalty on such checks.

Actually, could I request a better description of where we currently are? I'm having a difficult time visualizing the corridor and how it slants.

>>842
Ah, yeah. That should put me on par with his.

>>844
...But it does cost a Standard to equip or remove a shield if I end up getting in combat...

>try dungeoneering check
>roll a 3
>why didn't I take 10
Anyways, let's hope Shion gives us some information about the problem. I didn't understood from reading it...

>>845
Then put it back on after we finish the climb. I'm not asking you to leave it off.

>>846
You're in a narrow tunnel, trying to climb down. The ground is suddenly not very stable nor sturdy (it is slippery, with water or some other liquid that doesn't give off any particular color or smell), so you think it would be best to proceed with caution. Since there's very little to grab onto should you slip and start to fall, you'd be best off using some sort of climbing aids.

>>849
Down? Like straight down?

>>850
Not straight down, it's just inclined.

>>851
Is it steep enough that you risk slipping even by standing still?

Hmm, Could always have one person leading and the other at the back or staying back to make sure the rope or whatever is being used is held in place. (I'll probably put away my shield to help with the check) Up to you guys whether to have Sureiya lead on and me stay back and hold the rope or something.

>>853
We don't need to have somebody hold the rope. That's what the pitons are for.

>>852
Inclination + Slippery floor, probably.

>>855
But how steep is it?

>>854
Yeah but you could think of it as maybe helping those towards the back or something with my Athleticism

If we were to construct something like this would be awesome.
Explanation:
Find a really big stone or near wall, reforce one side of the rope. Either Hideling or me get to the other side and reforce the other side on a wall, object or even the floor, making sure the rope is tense. We use tense rope to help the others get down.

>>853
Tying yourselves together or having someone strong hold a rope for the others to hold onto seems like the best ideas.

>>856
What, you want me to give you an angle? It's nothing so complicated, it's just a steep, slightly slippery incline. Completely normal in a cave.

>>858
None of your ropes are long enough to reach all the way to the top.

>>859
Hmm, are you upset or something?
What about using two or three ropes?

>>858
Actually, I have an even better idea: build a zipline.

>>859
...Sorry. I can figure something out without that information.

>>860
The problem with using several ropes is that if one of them manages to become untied, the person climbing down will plummet.

>>858
That's sort of what I was thinking of!
>>859
Ah, a setback then.. Maybe have each of us tied together with the best Athletics at each end.

>>864
Why "each end", though? Wouldn't the ones with the best athletics check be at the front holding the rope?

>>865
So that the ones at the middle/back don't end up sliding down into only two said people with Athletics?

Technically, I think the person LEADING the climb would be the one highest up, holding the rope for the rest of the climbers as they slowly, carefully go down, using the rope to keep themselves steady. The one with the best Athletics and strength is bracing the rest of the group.

>>867
This is what I meant.

>>867
That sounds a lot better.

>>868
>>869
Just keep in mind that the leader is ALSO moving down. They might want to tie the rope around themselves to help keep everyone else steady. This is because, as I have said, the tunnel is too long for a rope to extend all the way down.

>>870
Astaroth was going to post the plan I think. And it was more that we were confused on how the whole thing was going to work until you told us in knox's stream.

>>871
It's no big deal, these things happen.

Just so there's no miscommunication, here's what the plan looks like. Sureiya's the one holding everybody up, we're the ones making checks to see if we make his job easier or harder. We each roll starting from the person at the bottom (Michael) all the way up to the person at the top (Sureiya), reacting to how well the last person's roll went (or not).

At least that's how I picture it. Questions?

>>873
Sure, I'm fine with it. I should auto pass anyway with my shield put away. (9 Athletics and even a 1 is passing with aid another.)

Sorry for the monster post, guys. I think I took the mention of describing our actions for extra points a little too far~

Is there something in particular you're waiting for?

>>881
Waiting for everybody to give their in-character agreement/disagreement with the plan.

...And maybe an evaluation of my scene.

Evidently today is the designated GM/DM day. (March 4th)

>>882
It looks fine to me. I'm just ready to see it all in action.

>>884
Just waiting for everybody's consent before putting everything in motion.

Happy Dungeon Master day, Shion.

Just to humor George and Bern, Shion.. Tell them how bad of an idea burning the Shrooms probably is, if at all possible. And shooting them, or any variation of that. Because from a logical standpoint, that seems like the worst sort of idea. The fumes from the mushrooms, and it's spores, combined with the smoke and fire, and the mossy floor. Smoke/fume mixture rises towards us/the path we came, etc.

A thought occurs to me.

Anyone remember how in Nausicaä and the Valley of the Wind (or Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä if that matters to you) that burning the toxic jungle was bad and that the heroine managed to save the forest by removing what was corrupting it in the first place?

Of course, in the end the plants weren't toxic, so the metaphor kinda falls apart there~

Anyway, the point is that the mushrooms haven't done anything bad to us yet, so let's just leave them be and let them live out their mushroomy lives. They might even revert back to normal if we fix the problem.

There could even be some kind of adorable mutant animals that depend on the mushrooms somehow. And it's faster and less hassle to go through by being cautious and leaving it alone than worrying about a fire or trying to save all the animals (if that's what you decide to do, anyway).

If you still want to go through with it, though, you should ask the relevant characters if they're willing to go through with it.

>>905
Oh, and Goblin-caps are a type of tree in Dwarf Fortress that grow in moist areas, lending a little more to the jungle-y thing.

For the record, I'm having quite a bit of fun with this opportunity to write out longer, more detailed responses.

Nice, we have +4 already, that's +14.

>>907
No, actually, I specifically looked to Dwarf Fortress when trying to think up a name for these mushrooms. I knew they had a bunch of different kinds of underground mushrooms.

>>903
Shooting the mushrooms is a very bad idea. Even if it didn't directly harm you, it could leave lingering clouds of the poison, which would be even harder to navigate than the mushrooms.

To answer questions raised in the thread,
Hide: I'm not against it, but it's not breathing in the secretions that anon-kun is really scared of, rather, it's contact with your skin and armor.
Bern: You don't see any footprints, or any indication that another creature has passed through recently.

>>915
I see, good to know. Thanks Rin. The mental imagery I thought of when you described the Mushrooms are those in EPL or in the plague wing of Naxxramas.

>>915
>no footprints
...Is there a clearing with the moss bundled around the edges? Or some stems that got knocked over?

>>917
Nothing so obvious. I would've mentioned such a thing.

>>918
So it's either not a dragon, the dragon has excellent flight control to head down that corridor like that without hitting the ceiling, they took off from somewhere nearby where there was no moss to scatter... Or spidragons.

Or we picked the "wrong" path.

Or the people crossing are just so darn good they don't leave impressions in the spongy moss when they walk across. Please tell me if I got the "spongy moss" thing wrong in my post.

...Did I do good?

>>922
Very, very complicated. It's not overpowered or anything, but I'd try to find a way to make it simpler myself.

>>927
I tried, but if it made an attack roll directly against him, then I'd have to add a bunch of clauses about specific stuff that would not trigger on a hit.

Let's try this again, all nice and sorted out.

>>935
Third time's the charm.

>>937
It's good. Quite good. Still, most utilities from paragon paths aren't quite that good, I don't think. ...It's very creative, but I'm afraid if you take the baseline Cavalier paragon path, you'll have to take the current utility~

>>940
Fair enough.

Now that you're all rested up, are you ready to proceed down the web-filled tunnel?

Mechanics-wise, web-filled squares are difficult terrain. RP-wise, you can slash through the heaviest clumps to enter the tunnel just like the moss, but you don't actually need to roll attacks since there's no chance of dangerous mushroom dislodging for slashing through them.

There's any knowlogement check we can do to get information of the spiderweb? Ideally the best would be to cut it, but it could be a trap, ne.

>>947
Nature, or dungeoneering would be appropriate.

>>947
Or burn it, but that may backfire, like making passage even harder to go through depending on how long it takes for the blaze to extinguish.

My guess is than if we destroy it some big horrible spider could react. But if we don't we could start an encounter with difficult terrain.
By the way, I'm not sure if 19 is the best dc check that spiderweb have, so feel free to roll again.

Giant Cave Spider imminent

>>951
>>953
If we fail enough skill checks, maybe. I'm pretty sure combat wasn't listed as something that happened if you didn't botch a skill challenge.

>>954

>>956
>it's in the rules.png

>>956
...Well, if it's not on the level of the last few encounters...

Incidentally, if we're going to use a torch, we need... A torch, for one. Do we have any torches?

>>958
That depends on you. You can make it easier if you're a bit less stingy to use your limited resources as you were on the last few encounters.

>>960
...Right.

Wait, I'm sort of confused, are burning the webs a bad idea?

>>961
Well, I'm not trying to scold you or anything, but when I played 4th edition, about half the time I would use a daily power in the first encounter of the day--even at 1st level.

Why? Because other people were way too hesitant to use them. My opinion was that if I can make the monster dead faster, that's less healing surges spent, an easier time for the defenders and controllers to do their thing, and generally the encounter becomes "easier" sooner rather than later. It's an aggressive, proactive approach, and I prefer it over a reactive approach that tries to carefully judge when the best time to use the daily/action point is. It could be a matter of taste, I suppose, but I think my way results in less rests for the party.

>>959
Ever burning torch? But I'm not sure if it can actually make things burn.

>>963
Burning the webs is not a bad idea, it's just not particularly more efficient than slashing through them.

Well, unless there are spiders hiding IN the webs you set alight, but they're likely to attack you when you try to burn them if that was the case.