Vegren, catches Renakaris's glance and shows thumb up, meaning he's ready. He holds his left palm on the sword's pommel which is still in its scabbard. The 50 ft rope forms a chest coil and looks useful for tying up these naughty spiders.

"Lead on, Renakaris." - says Vegren quietly.

======
[OOC: Retcon continues]
“Hello, Renakaris. It is nice to meet you. I was a mercenary my whole life. I had no choice but it fitted my nature very well as I can see it now. I was involved in different missions performing different tasks from guarding a landlord’s heir room to convoying rich trading caravans on their route to distant countries. I also had a chance to fight meanwhile, as you can imagine. At some point I started enjoying my adventures especially considering they were paid well. Although most of my fights were for a coin, I help simple people in troubles from time to time, if they’re lucky to catch my attention and my mood…"
Then, suddenly, his face changes.
"...And I hate kobolds... I hate them with all my heart. I lose my temper when I see them and urge to battle no matter what.” Frowned, he adds surly and hoarsely: “Filthy creatures!”
*The veins on his skull are pulsating and his cheekbones are covered with red spots. He turns away, tense and full of hate.*


======
OOC: Renakaris, thanks for the welcome! I'm happy to join the party!
This message was last edited by the player at 23:19, Thu 25 Nov 2021.

"You know that these aren't normal spiders, right?" checks the dark elf. "So they have seemingly teleport from one place to another. Actually they go to another plane, the Etherial plane, and then come back to ours. Their favourite trick is to 'dematerialise' in front of you and then 'rematerialise' behind with a nasty attack! And we need to capture a quantity of them alive. You know this, right? And about the barrel? And stones?"

Vegren nods to Renakaris.
“We need to catch at least 6 spiders. 12 or more is even better. Zaron gave us the jar with the runestones that should prevent these spiders from jumping between the planes. We probably won’t need my rope, since we’ll be putting the spiders we caught into the barrel immediately.
Is Rathyl still carrying the jar with the runestones?
I get it that phase spiders or their hatchlings cannot teleport FROM the area covered by runes’ effect. But can they teleport into such an area? If they cannot, can’t we create some sort of path secured by these runes and avoid a sneaky attack from behind while we’re advancing? The troop leader would place the stone every 5-7 feet. Then the one from rearguard could pick the runes and pass them to the ones in avangard. I believe 2-3 stones would be enough, if we stay close.
Btw, I have a torch. I suggest to spare if for later if we have enough light for now.
In any case, tell me at which place you want me in the troop (middle or the rearward ).”
Vegren gets his sword at the ready.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:10, Fri 26 Nov 2021.

OOC: Moving forward...

As you peer westward, you see nothing but the dark curve of the cave toward the south past the mass of webs blocking you.

You burn through the webs with the torch, and they melt away, shrinking before you like shriveling wax.

You continue about fifty yards to the southwest before the path opens into a giant cavern.

You stop in your tracks and look closely at what is there in front of you. There are about 10 spiders. They look different from ordinary spiders. (Unlike the middle picture below, FYI...) they are a whitish color with pale blue markings (like the bottom picture). (Like the middle picture below...) They crawl over and around a giant mass of webbing hanging like a ball from the center of the room. They seem to be intent on their ball of webbing and have not noticed you yet. Each of the spiders is roughly a foot long in body length, clearly young hatchlings.

The room itself appears as on the map. You are entering from the east-northeast area. There are further exits to the north, northwest, southwest and southeast. Webs are almost everywhere. (To walk through without getting caught in a web will take a Dex check every 15 feet--3 squares.)

In this map, I added a grid letters and numbers so you can pinpoint where you are going. Each square is 5 foot x 5 foot. You are currently all in the 4M area.

When you move, please indicate which squares you step into for each step.

We will move at 6 second rounds, and the terrain is difficult, so you generally move at 3 squares per round, depending on your move speed/encumbrance, assuming you are trying to avoid stepping in webs. You can move faster if you don't care to try to avoid it.

The center brownish mass represents the hanging glob of webbing like seen in the picture.

Spiders you see are at 8A, 4C, 3E, 3F, 7F, 7G, 7I, 5I, 5G, and 2F.


This message was last edited by the GM at 05:16, Mon 29 Nov 2021.

OOC: Just to clarify, if we stick one into the barrel, can it get out when we put another one in?
Or is this more like a lobster pot, once in, heck of a job getting out?

Being not sure if the spiders attention can be drawn by the sound, Vegren quietly whispers:
"Rathyl, place one of those stones at where we are now, so these spiders wouldn't teleport on our necks!"
Then musingly mumbles:
"Are there bodies in the cocoons over there?" - he points at the central part of the cave nodding his head in that direction - "I'd like to search them later, if we have a chance. Who knows what we can find there..."

[TO DM HEATH: Can Vegren try to figure out what else he can se (eg perception check)?]

OOC: 2 questions to DM
1. Do the cocoons, green and dark grey coloured circles indicate objects on the map or merely the decorations?
2. Are the elevations on the map walkable or climbable? (eg at coord. 6B-6C)

This message was last edited by the player at 12:48, Mon 29 Nov 2021.

Once you get it in, it will be considered in for good absent outside interference.


1. They are just remnants of the map I stole. I tried to make the starting points of the spiders coincide with some of them for more easy visibility.
2. You can walk around the cave freely, except that the middle area, you would have to crawl or crouch to get under the giant ball of webbing. Wherever you go, you will be walking around rocks, rubble and of course webbing,.

The ceiling is 15 feet high on the outsides, 20 feet high in the center.

Renakaris whispers back, "The stones only last a limited time. Don't deploy them  'til phase spiders appear here. 'Til then, keep your backs to the bacll. Before anything else though, let me try and clear some of the webbing." She nods, "Yes, keep your torch for later." If nothing untoward, the drow wizard casts Mage Hand* and uses it to deploy her torch, trying to destroy the webs in front of them. With sword in hand, back kept to north or south wall, she tries sweeping the area in front of them clean of webbing.

======
OOC: *Mage Hand, 30' range, lasts 1 minute, 10lb capacity.
Not sure how well (or otherwise) this will work but she tries clearing visible 5' wide sections in front of the group, working north to south and then the next section.
e.g. M3, M4, M5 are web-free, so Renakaris tries to clear L3, then l4, then L5 before moving on to K2, K3, K4, K5 & K6 and so forth.
If an area conatins phase spiders, she won't set fire to that area (5' square ).
This message was last edited by the player at 15:28, Tue 30 Nov 2021.

Vegren stays alerted and holds his back to the cave wall. Sword at the ready.
Renakaris, do you think it is possible that these hatchlings can teleport in the air above our heads?

[TO DM HEATH: Thank you for the clarifications!]
This message was last edited by the player at 19:35, Tue 30 Nov 2021.

"I can't be sure, never having done it myself, but I think a teleportation is a translational process, not including any rotational element. But if, rather than teleporting, they change plane, the etherial I think, then they still have to move. How movement during transition from plane to plane works I don't know. I'd rather one overhead than behind me though," whispers Renakaris in response. "Now, keep your eyes sharp." She starts torching the webbing.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:07, Wed 01 Dec 2021.

OOC: [to DM]
I'd like to confirm that using nonlethal weapon attacks (eg the flat of the blade or with pommel) will result in -4 penalty to the attack roll. Does this rule apply in current setting?

Some clarifications:

The jade stones that block the ethereal jaunt jumping of the spiders do not have a time limit. However, they must be stationary and have a 10 foot radius of effect. They can be reused indefinitely, such as picked up and placed somewhere else. There is a 6 second (1 combat round) delay between setting them down (i.e., making them stationary) and their auto-activation, so planning ahead is helpful.

You can use nonlethal attacks with the penalty to cause subdual damage. There is a chance that you overcompensate and actually kill by accident. (This method will avoid an attack of opportunity if successful -- see below.)

Catching the live spiders is a "Sleight of Hand" challenge, so you can catch them with a DEX roll at -2 penalty upon an attempt. Failure provides them an attack of opportunity. Special skills may nullify the penalty.

Each hatchling has 7 hit points.

Vegren puts his sword into the scabbard and prepares for catching phase spider hatchlings with bare hands, still holding his back to the cave’s wall. In case a bigger monster appears, he’ll draw the sword immediately and fight the bigger monster with it.

Rathyl rolls the barrel out in front of them. "We'll have to keep this within the stone's reach or they will phase out. We could try to lure the spiders to us or chase them down. Neither way sounds all that appealing to me."

Rathyl also prepares to catch them with his bare hands. If the party wants to move, he will cut around to the right, staying close to the walls and trying to maintain stealth. If any spiders get within 15 feet, he will set a stone down in front of himself and stand his ground.

In reply to DM Heath (msg # 95):

"Right, as they can be re-used, let's pop a stone down where we are and then at ten foot spacings as we progress," says Renakaris. "Then there's 100% overlap but then they can't phasec right behind if we pick up a stone."

======
OOC: Is it correct that as Mage Hand can't be used for combat it therefore can't be used to pick up an active phase spider hatchling?
Is there a penalty to try and just use one hand to pick up an active hatchling?
Do we know if spiders react to webs some distance away being melted by fire?
***
For clarity, will stones be placed in the middle of a square? Or at grid intersections?
This message was last edited by the player at 10:10, Mon 06 Dec 2021.

OOC: Hi folks! I wonder if this adventure will be continued? No pressure, just askin'

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OOC: I'm still here and keen but the GM has some RL stuff to sort out and should be back after that.

OCC: Oh, I see, sorry, I didn't know. Thank you for letting me know. I'm here as well.

Still here!

NOTE: Again, thanks for your patience. Picking this up again...

I am going to make one change because I think we had a player drop. Zaron comes up behind you in the corridor to help, having felt guilty about lagging behind and sending you into danger. The wizard is not really combat trained much but is young and ready to help.

The party moves to H3. The nearest spider at I3 about 10 feet away.

(I got you moving. No danger yet.)

I updated the map below to include your location, spider locations, and Zaron's location. Please indicate at which grid points you are placing the runes.

Remember that the spiders must be subdued, the runes must be stationary to stop them from using their phase ability, etc.

So far, you have been careful to sneak around the webbing in the dark cave and have not been spotted.

Rathyl makes sure there is a Rune at I3, H2 and by the barrel. He then moves to G2. If attacked, he will use the pommel of his sword to fight and subdue. Otherwise, he will try to sneak up on the spider at F2 to subdue it.

OOC: Dear players. Unfortunately I have to admit that I need to leave the game due to the real life situation. I won't be able to play with you at least for some time and I don't know if I'll be able to join the game in the near or distant future.
Thank you for your advices, support and willing to integrate my character into the party.
I wish you a good game and I hope for understanding.

Regards,
Vegren

Thanks for letting us know, Vegren. If you want to join back in later, please PM me.

Given the issues in both parties, mostly caused by my delays, I'm going to also fast forward this and advance us a bit. I had two other interesting cave encounters, but maybe I will use them when we have a full party.


You place the markers around, and when the baby phase spiders come close, they expect to attack and phase out, but they are confused and easily caught.

Before long, you have disabled the bunch and put them in the barrel for keeping.

Zaron leads you back to the entrance. "I think," he says, "That I can use this bunch to teleport us where we need to go."

He makes preparations and when ready, he teleports you all.

You find yourself in a misty forest at the banks of a pond.

Zaron looks around, confused. "Oh, no," he says, "The spell didn't bring us where I was intending. Can you look around for some clues as to where we are? Flora or fauna or some sort of landmark? I have no idea where I've brought us and we will need to find rocky ground before the next dawn."
This message was last updated by the GM at 10:54, Sun 20 Mar 2022.

Renakaris examinines the plantlife surrounding them as best she can and tries to divine where they are. She announces what she's worked out and then adds, "For a supra-mage your teleportations do, if you accept peer critique, intermittantly suck. And the only other things, apart from walking in a random direction, would be to check the bottom of the pool in case it's stone or else get to the top of a tall tree to look for the nearest suitable rocky area that can be seen over the trees. I have Spider Climb.""

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OOC: 22:38, Today: Renakaris rolled 9 using 1d20.  Herb Lore 17.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:43, Mon 21 Mar 2022.