{Modern Setting} Beneath the Green Lantern

[CGM3]

Eric steps to 0707 and plays his flashlight over the man-sized bulge in the southeastern goo, careful not to step on any of the scurrying beetles. “I think I may have found somebody here, or at least what's left of 'em,” he informs his companions.

[patransom]

OUT-OF-CHARACTER:    Ooooh, now Eric's gone and done it! But first, a little more exposition...

Marcus puts on the ring, but this has no obvious effect. He takes the holster and the gun, discovering that the gun is loaded and there are 12 more bullets in loops on the gun belt. He takes some pictures.

Dr. Alexander comes over to assist Marcus in examining and moving the corpse. “It appears this fellow died from a single blow to the head from a very large heavy object. These other wounds appear to be post-mortem. From their size and shape, I suspect the body was gnawed on by that large beetle I just killed. It's interesting that there's no decay, given the age of the victim's clothing.” He and Marcus move the body to the floor next to the slab. There is no immediate change in the corpse's condition.

Meanwhile, Eric moves into the east room and shines his flashlight over the man-sized bulge in the "nest." As he does this, the beetles skittering about the nest flee to the east. They are met by more beetles from the basin farther east and together they coalesce into a coherent swarm, like the one you saw before! At the same time, another man-sized beetle comes lumbering around from behind the raised back of the basin!

The swarm (which won initiative) moves over to envelop Eric, who is bitten by thousands of beetles and burned by their acid slime [ouch, max damage of 10 hp]

OUT-OF-CHARACTER:    Heehee, I imagine the combined buzzing of the swarm sounds like "Defend the queen! I'm the queen! No you're not, I am!" Initiative Order: ROUND 1 Swarm (already went for Round 1) Sahid Khan Brad "Tex" Laskin Eric Lightner - 10 hp damage, needs a DC11 Fort save to avoid being nauseated Marcus Tilsworth - 3 hp damage Tividius Alexander Momma Beetle ROUND 2 Swarm --> Next validation

[Duniagdra]

Marcus, presumably unaware of what is going on to the east, begins examining the statue. (that is a statue, right? the star thing?)

[patransom]

Marcus, presumably unaware of what is going on to the east, begins examining the statue. (that is a statue, right? the star thing?)

OUT-OF-CHARACTER:    The star thing is indeed a statue. Marcus has certainly heard Eric curse and scream from being eaten by the bugs. By the time his turn in initiative rolls around, he'll also likely have been alerted by the others. So he's aware unless you don't want him to be...

[Duniagdra]

Then Marcus will instead double move closer to the commotion with Beretta in hand.

[klakxor]

“Its another one of those bug swarms along with one of those big beatles. Throw a cocktail at it.” Sahid moves to 1108 and takes a shot at the Big Bug in the back of the room.

[CGM3]

OUT-OF-CHARACTER:    Bugs! Why does it always have to be bugs!

Eric manages to throw off the effects of shock and the insects' septic bites (burned another Action Point -- and a good thing, too! -- to roll 1d20+1d6+4 → 5+6+4 = 15) and stumbles to 1307, brushing at the beetles on him with the flashlight and pistol in his hands. “Break out the Molotovs, we've got another censored bug infestation!”

[tdsprouse]

Tex holds out a lighter for the others do light the rags with.

[patransom]

ROUND 1 CONTINUES

“Its another one of those bug swarms along with one of those big beetles. Throw a cocktail at it.” Sahid moves into the hallway and takes a shot at the Big Bug in the back of the room. He misses.

Tex retrieves his lighter and holds it out, hoping someone will run by with a Molotov cocktail in hand. [I am calling this a ready action: if anyone had moved adjacent to Tex with a molotov ready, Tex could have lighted it for them, thus saving the wielder a move action. No one did that this round, however, so the ready action was wasted. If Tex does the same thing this round, it seems likely that either Eric or Marcus (but not both) could take advantage...]

Eric manages to throw off the effects of shock and the insects' septic bites and stumbles away from the swarm, brushing at the beetles on him with the flashlight and pistol in his hands. “Break out the Molotovs, we've got another censored bug infestation!” Eric, for some reason, doesn't realize he has a molotov cocktail of his own stashed in his gear...

Marcus comes running in the direction of the commotion. [I moved Marcus to 1308, which is 35 feet. He could move farther than that with a double move, but I figured he wouldn't want to get any closer than that. Let me know if you wanted to be somewhere else.]

Dr. Alexander follows Marcus back into the hallway, but does not go quite as far. He levels his double eagle, waiting for a clear shot at the big bug.

The momma beetle moves into the center of the room. Even she seems concerned about getting enveloped by her babies in the swarm. She does, however, end up in a position where Dr. Alexander can see her. His 10mm bullet, however, flies over her head into the back wall.

ROUND 2

The swarm proceeds up the hall far enough to cover Sahid. This swarm seems nastier than the last one you fought, as Sahid faces a nearly overwhelming attack of bites and acid. [Another max damage for 10 hp. Sahid needs a fort save DC11 to avoid being nauseated.]

OUT-OF-CHARACTER:    Initiative Order: ROUND 2 continues Sahid Khan - 10 hp damage, needs a DC11 Fort save to avoid being nauseated Brad "Tex" Laskin Eric Lightner - 10 hp damage Marcus Tilsworth - 3 hp damage Tividius Alexander Momma Beetle ROUND 3 Swarm --> Next validation

[Duniagdra]

If no one does so before Marcus, he'll take out his Molotov and let Brad light it, assuming that Sahid is clear of the swarm, and dowse the swarm in a warming after-glow.

[CGM3]

Eric retreats to 1508, holstering his pistol and readying the Molotov cocktail he's carrying. (He remembered he had it, he just didn't have a third hand available.) I assume this takes his full turn.

[tdsprouse]

“C'mon guys, let me light those for you. Take that thing out!” Tex continues his ready action to light a bottle.

[klakxor]

Sahid moves to 1109 to get out away from the biting insects. “Get these things off of me.”

[patransom]

ROUND 2 CONTINUES

Sahid manages to avoid being nauseated, but still finds the experience disturbing enough that he can only bring himself to move just out of the swarm. “Get these things off of me,” he pleads.

“C'mon guys, let me light those for you. Take that thing out!” Tex continues to hold his flaming lighter at the ready.

Eric continues his retreat, holstering his pistol and retrieving a Molotov cocktail.

Marcus retrieves his Molotov cocktail. In an amazing display of teamwork, Tex lights it and Marcus flings it with great precision into the back half of swarm. Marcus' placement is excellent and he manages to avoid splashing flaming chemicals on Tex or Sahid. The fire eliminates more than half of the beetles, but there are still enough in the warming after-glow to be a threat.

Dr. Alexander fires another shot at the momma bug, but misses.

The momma beetle continues scuttling toward you, but finds her way blocked by her remaining offspring.

ROUND 3

What's left of the swarm seeks revenge by covering Tex. With fewer beetles, the swarm is less deadly, but still very annoying [4 hp damage. Tex needs a fort save DC11 to avoid being nauseated.]

OUT-OF-CHARACTER:    Initiative Order: ROUND 3 CONTINUES Sahid Khan - 10 hp damage Brad "Tex" Laskin - 4 hp damage, needs a DC11 Fort save to avoid being nauseated Eric Lightner - 10 hp damage Marcus Tilsworth - 3 hp damage Tividius Alexander Momma Beetle ROUND 4 Swarm --> Next validation

[Duniagdra]

Marcus steps back to 1407 drawing his beretta as he moves. He then fires a round at the big bug. Ranged attack/damage vs Momma Bug. (1d20+1=21, 2d6=3) Ranged critical confirm attack/damage vs Momma Bug. (1d20+1=13, 2d6=3)

[CGM3]

Eric advances to 1408 and holds out his Molotov cocktail, declaiming, “Light 'er up, Tex!” Assuming Tex moves out of the swarm and ignotes the fuse on Eric's improvised incendiary device, he will then chuck it into said swarm, trusting in Sahid, Marcus, and the doc to deal with Big Bad Mama.

[klakxor]

Said steps away from the swarm to 1210, making sure the bugs are off of him and aims for the corner, waiting to shoot the momma bug as soon as she comes in to sight

[tdsprouse]

Fort Save (1d20+1=19)

Tex, trying to hold in his lunch, moves to 1307 and lights Eric's Molitov.

[patransom]

ROUND 3 CONTINUES

Said steps away from the swarm, making sure the bugs are off of him and aims for the corner, waiting to shoot the momma bug as soon as she comes into sight.

Eric advances and holds out his Molotov cocktail, declaiming, “Light 'er up, Tex!”

Tex, trying to hold in his lunch, moves to out of the swarm and lights Eric's Molotov. After Tex lights the fuse on Eric's improvised incendiary device, Eric then chucks it at said swarm, trusting in Sahid, Marcus, and the doc to deal with Big Bad Mama. Unfortunately, the bottle slips as Eric throws it, hooking out of his hand to the left, missing the swarm and crashing into the wall of the intersecting hallway (at 1109). Some of the burning liquid splatters on the bugs, but also on Sahid [1 hp damage]. The minor burns are not enough to finish off either of them. [Time to improvise. I leave it up to you to decide who's carrying your remaining gasoline, since we never made a determination about that.]

Marcus retrieves his Molotov cocktail. In an amazing display of teamwork, Tex lights it and Marcus flings it with great precision into the back half of swarm. Marcus' placement is excellent and he manages to avoid splashing flaming chemicals on Tex or Sahid. The fire eliminates more than half of the beetles, but there are still enough in the warming after-glow to be a threat.

Marcus blasts the momma bug, but it's only a flesh wound.

Dr. Alexander finally manages to hit momma, but she's not done for yet.

Momma keeps coming. Once Sahid catches sight of her, he fires, but his shot connects only with the corner of the wall between them.

ROUND 4

The swarm continues mindlessly toward the greatest concentration of food, once again envelping Tex [2 hp damage. Tex needs a fort save DC11 to avoid being nauseated.]

OUT-OF-CHARACTER:    Initiative Order: ROUND 4 CONTINUES Brad "Tex" Laskin - 6 hp damage, needs a DC11 Fort save to avoid being nauseated Eric Lightner - 10 hp damage Marcus Tilsworth - 3 hp damage Tividius Alexander Sahid Khan - 11 hp damage Momma Beetle ROUND 5 Swarm --> Next validation

[Duniagdra]

Marcus will withdraw to 2207, gathering the components for making two more Molotovs. (How much time will that be? Can it be done in one round? I suppose I might be looking at the next two rounds with this?)

[patransom]

Marcus will withdraw to 2207, gathering the components for making two more Molotovs. (How much time will that be? Can it be done in one round? I suppose I might be looking at the next two rounds with this?)

OUT-OF-CHARACTER:    Crafting one Molotov cocktail will take one round plus the time to retrieve the materials (three move actions: one for gas, one for bottle, one for rag). Of course, you could consider a more improvised approach to the problem... On another note: anyone entering the room with the slabs requires a DC15 Will save to resist being fatigued

[Duniagdra]

Will Save (1d20+3=14) Marcus is fatigued.

[CGM3]

Hoping the debilitating influence in the western chamber might slow or even deter the swarm, Eric moves to 2008, remarking, “Guys, we have got to get some industrial strength bug repellant!”

His Will save fails (1d20+1 → [6,1] = 7) which means he is fatigued (can't run or charge, -2 to Strength and Dexterity).

[tdsprouse]

Will Save for bugs (1d20+1=5)

Barely holding in his lunch, Tex only manages to stumble backwards. But while doing so, splashes gas from the can on to the remaining beetles and the floor. He backs up to 1606. Will Save for Room (1d20+1=17)

“<gag><cough> Somebody toss some fire on that gas!”

[patransom]

Will Save for bugs (1d20+1=5)

Barely holding in his lunch, Tex only manages to stumble backwards. But while doing so, splashes gas from the can on to the remaining beetles and the floor. He backs up to 1606. Will Save for Room (1d20+1=17)

“<gag><cough> Somebody toss some fire on that gas!”

OUT-OF-CHARACTER:    Having failed the will save for the bugs, Tex is nauseated and can only take a single move action per turn. So he can move away from the swarm OR retrieve the gas can from his stowed gear, not both.

[tdsprouse]

OUT-OF-CHARACTER:    He'll get teh gas and then continue the above action next round if he's still standing.

[Duniagdra]

If Brad has the gas, then Marcus is just wasting his time. I thought Marcus had all that since he made the Molotovs the first time, but that's fine. I think there's only one lighter too and Brad already has that, so he's the one to light it.

[patransom]

If Brad has the gas, then Marcus is just wasting his time. I thought Marcus had all that since he made the Molotovs the first time, but that's fine. I think there's only one lighter too and Brad already has that, so he's the one to light it.

OUT-OF-CHARACTER:    I think Brad has the gas, since he's committed to it in his posts. But everyone has a lighter.

[Duniagdra]

If Brad has the gas, then Marcus is just wasting his time. I thought Marcus had all that since he made the Molotovs the first time, but that's fine. I think there's only one lighter too and Brad already has that, so he's the one to light it.

OUT-OF-CHARACTER:    I think Brad has the gas, since he's committed to it in his posts. But everyone has a lighter.

OUT-OF-CHARACTER:    Okay. Marcus will twiddle his thumbs. I don't recall, and I'm not about to go searching for, who took what after Marcus mixed everything the first time, but it would only make sense for Marcus to have all of it as he would be the one to make more, but no matter. Marcus seems to be wasting his time trying to concoct more Molotovs without having the gasoline. It makes sense.

[klakxor]

Sahid, now seperated from the group by the swarm, continues to concentrate on the big bug, taking another shot.