I always struggle with these, so feedback is much appreciated.
Referee: The base of the long staircase leads into a spectacular room, some 30ft high and equally wide. Its walls look like an intricate mosaic but the tiles are constantly shifting in colour. Waves of differing hues wash across the walls and the center of the room is dominated by a six-foot-wide circular shaft leading down.
Ezekiel: (Sketching down the room on his rough map) Are there any exits other than the way we came?
Referee: No, unless you feel like jumping down the shaft.
Toku: Well, this is a dead end. My hunter's instincts were right!
Ezekiel: The walls look strange... I'm being very careful not to touch them.
Toku: Uthred, you should try touching them.
Uthred: Sure, I'm not scared of a wall. I place my hand boldly against the tiles.
Referee: As soon as Uthred's hand touches the wall the shifting colours stop and a pulsing blue pattern starts to radiate from around Uthred's hand.
Ezekiel: Stand by for his head exploding...
Uthred: You worry too much! How do the tiles feel?
Referee: They feel much like you'd expect a smooth mosaic too, but they are giving off a faint warmth.
Uthred: Huh, weird. Well I'll take my hand off the wall and go to check out the shaft.
Referee: As soon as you remove your hand from the wall it starts to shift colours again and you now see the tiled shape of a person, looking almost like your own reflection. Barely a second later the room is filled with a crackling noise and the tiled visage of Uthred somehow steps out of the wall, hefting the axe from its back and taking up a combat stance.
Toku: Right, I'm not giving this thing a chance to pull us into the wall or whatever it's going to try. I leap at it with my daggers.
Referee: Okay, you get two attacks so give me a damage roll of 1d6 for each.
Toku: I rolled a 2 and a 3.
Referee: (Making a DEX Save for each attack against the opponent) the tiled copy of Uthred manages to parry away your first blow but your second dagger finds home. Do you want to Power Attack or take the 3 damage?
Toku: We need to get this thing killed quick, I'll risk the Power Attack!
Referee: (Makes a DEX Save for the opponent against Toku's STR, failing) You're able to pull off the Power Attack, twisting your dagger deep into the strange being's side for 6 damage. Instead of a scream the copy of Uthred roars out in crackling static-noise.
Ezekiel: I'm going to use the Wither spell from that weird glove-arcanum thing we found earlier.
Referee: Right, make a WIL Save against the Spell's Power, which is 10.
Ezekiel: (Rolls his WIL Save and passes) Made it! Next turn that thing's going down. Just don't let it interrupt me!
Referee: Uthred, what do you want to do?
Uthred: I'll grip my axe and do everything I can to keep the thing from interrupting Ezekiel's casting.
Ezekiel: Nice!
Referee: Right. The copy of Uthred drops its axe on the ground and reaches forward to try and grab Toku. Give me a DEX Save to avoid him.
Toku: (Rolls a DEX Save) Erm... I got a 1.
Referee: (Over the groans of the table) The creature grabs Toku and tries to push him against one of the walls. You'll need a STR Save to resist.
Toku: Uh oh, I don't like this. (Rolls a STR Save) Got a total of 12.
Referee: Unfortunately that isn't enough to resist this creature, who seems to match Uthred in physical power. As you slam against the wall you see a blue pulsing pattern form on its surface. A moment later the colours shift into your shape and the copy steps forward from the wall. Over to you guys. Ezekiel, remember you have Wither ready to use at the start of your turn.
Ezekiel: I never thought I'd have to choose between killing Toku and Uthred... I'll stick to the plan and try to touch Uthred's copy with the glove.
Referee: It gets a DEX Save to avoid the touch (Rolls a DEX Save), but it fails! Roll to see how much STR and DEX Uthred's copy will lose.
Ezekiel: (Rolls 4d6 for STR and DEX loss, as dictated by the spell) Seventeen!
Referee: (Checks his notes and sees that this will reduce the creature's STR and DEX well below zero) It's more than enough to drain the life from this thing. The touch of your glove causes the colour to fade from the being before it simply winks out of existence.
Uthred: There’s only room for one Uthred!
Referee: Before you get too excited you should be aware that you’ve really been making quite a lot of noise in this room. (Secretly makes a Luck Roll to see if any nearby monsters have noticed the noise. A roll of 1 indicates something bad should happen, so he rolls on the hostile encounter table he has prepared for this area). Everyone give me INT Saves and see if any of you score 10 or more.
Ezekiel: I don’t like the sound of this.
(Everyone rolls and Toku and Ezekiel pass their saves).
Referee: Toku and Ezekiel notice the sound of something descending the staircase. Remember that weird horse-like creature with skin like super-hard tree bark you were ambushed by last session?
Uthred: Sure, we knocked it down that pit and fled like heroes.
Referee: Well this thing looks almost identical, but rather than being horse-sized it’s large enough to barely be able to squeeze into the staircase. Its jaws look large enough to be able to swallow you whole and its forelegs end in grasping claws spanning some six feet. Needless to say it’s squeezing down the staircase with you in its sights and it doesn’t seem friendly.
Ezekiel: What are our chances of running through its legs?
Referee: It’s pretty tightly packed into the stairway. If you want to try it would certainly require a tough DEX Save.
Toku: Running past it is a stupid plan, we have a perfectly good exit right here!
Uthred: The shaft? Does it look like the creature could fit down there?
Referee: Unlikely, it’s certainly too big to be able to do so easily.
Ezekiel: As suicidal as it sounds it might be our best hope. Can I throw a coin or something into the shaft?
Referee: As you flick a coin down the shaft you head a distant splash a few seconds later.
Toku: Water!
Ezekiel: That’s optimistic... how do we know it isn’t acid or something? I figure we can probably distract this thing long enough to let us flee back up the stairs. Maybe we can work out a way to distract it with Toku's tile-copy.
Referee: While you’re formulating this plan the creature has managed to force itself into the room, brushing against the tiled wall, which sends out blue ripples.
Uthred: Oh crap, this isn’t going to end well.
Ezekiel: Fine! Into the hole!
Toku: Trust me! I’ll even leap it first.
Referee: You’re all leaping down now?
(The group all nod reluctantly)
Referee: You leap into the darkness of the shaft, falling for a few seconds before splashing into what feels like ice cold water, deep enough for you to fall into safely. You’re barely able to get your bearings in the pitch-black pit before you feel a tingling sensation over your bodies. WIL Saves all round!
(Groans fill the table)
Ezekiel: (Sketching down the room on his rough map) Are there any exits other than the way we came?
Referee: No, unless you feel like jumping down the shaft.
Toku: Well, this is a dead end. My hunter's instincts were right!
Ezekiel: The walls look strange... I'm being very careful not to touch them.
Toku: Uthred, you should try touching them.
Uthred: Sure, I'm not scared of a wall. I place my hand boldly against the tiles.
Referee: As soon as Uthred's hand touches the wall the shifting colours stop and a pulsing blue pattern starts to radiate from around Uthred's hand.
Ezekiel: Stand by for his head exploding...
Uthred: You worry too much! How do the tiles feel?
Referee: They feel much like you'd expect a smooth mosaic too, but they are giving off a faint warmth.
Uthred: Huh, weird. Well I'll take my hand off the wall and go to check out the shaft.
Referee: As soon as you remove your hand from the wall it starts to shift colours again and you now see the tiled shape of a person, looking almost like your own reflection. Barely a second later the room is filled with a crackling noise and the tiled visage of Uthred somehow steps out of the wall, hefting the axe from its back and taking up a combat stance.
Toku: Right, I'm not giving this thing a chance to pull us into the wall or whatever it's going to try. I leap at it with my daggers.
Referee: Okay, you get two attacks so give me a damage roll of 1d6 for each.
Toku: I rolled a 2 and a 3.
Referee: (Making a DEX Save for each attack against the opponent) the tiled copy of Uthred manages to parry away your first blow but your second dagger finds home. Do you want to Power Attack or take the 3 damage?
Toku: We need to get this thing killed quick, I'll risk the Power Attack!
Referee: (Makes a DEX Save for the opponent against Toku's STR, failing) You're able to pull off the Power Attack, twisting your dagger deep into the strange being's side for 6 damage. Instead of a scream the copy of Uthred roars out in crackling static-noise.
Ezekiel: I'm going to use the Wither spell from that weird glove-arcanum thing we found earlier.
Referee: Right, make a WIL Save against the Spell's Power, which is 10.
Ezekiel: (Rolls his WIL Save and passes) Made it! Next turn that thing's going down. Just don't let it interrupt me!
Referee: Uthred, what do you want to do?
Uthred: I'll grip my axe and do everything I can to keep the thing from interrupting Ezekiel's casting.
Ezekiel: Nice!
Referee: Right. The copy of Uthred drops its axe on the ground and reaches forward to try and grab Toku. Give me a DEX Save to avoid him.
Toku: (Rolls a DEX Save) Erm... I got a 1.
Referee: (Over the groans of the table) The creature grabs Toku and tries to push him against one of the walls. You'll need a STR Save to resist.
Toku: Uh oh, I don't like this. (Rolls a STR Save) Got a total of 12.
Referee: Unfortunately that isn't enough to resist this creature, who seems to match Uthred in physical power. As you slam against the wall you see a blue pulsing pattern form on its surface. A moment later the colours shift into your shape and the copy steps forward from the wall. Over to you guys. Ezekiel, remember you have Wither ready to use at the start of your turn.
Ezekiel: I never thought I'd have to choose between killing Toku and Uthred... I'll stick to the plan and try to touch Uthred's copy with the glove.
Referee: It gets a DEX Save to avoid the touch (Rolls a DEX Save), but it fails! Roll to see how much STR and DEX Uthred's copy will lose.
Ezekiel: (Rolls 4d6 for STR and DEX loss, as dictated by the spell) Seventeen!
Referee: (Checks his notes and sees that this will reduce the creature's STR and DEX well below zero) It's more than enough to drain the life from this thing. The touch of your glove causes the colour to fade from the being before it simply winks out of existence.
Uthred: There’s only room for one Uthred!
Referee: Before you get too excited you should be aware that you’ve really been making quite a lot of noise in this room. (Secretly makes a Luck Roll to see if any nearby monsters have noticed the noise. A roll of 1 indicates something bad should happen, so he rolls on the hostile encounter table he has prepared for this area). Everyone give me INT Saves and see if any of you score 10 or more.
Ezekiel: I don’t like the sound of this.
(Everyone rolls and Toku and Ezekiel pass their saves).
Referee: Toku and Ezekiel notice the sound of something descending the staircase. Remember that weird horse-like creature with skin like super-hard tree bark you were ambushed by last session?
Uthred: Sure, we knocked it down that pit and fled like heroes.
Referee: Well this thing looks almost identical, but rather than being horse-sized it’s large enough to barely be able to squeeze into the staircase. Its jaws look large enough to be able to swallow you whole and its forelegs end in grasping claws spanning some six feet. Needless to say it’s squeezing down the staircase with you in its sights and it doesn’t seem friendly.
Ezekiel: What are our chances of running through its legs?
Referee: It’s pretty tightly packed into the stairway. If you want to try it would certainly require a tough DEX Save.
Toku: Running past it is a stupid plan, we have a perfectly good exit right here!
Uthred: The shaft? Does it look like the creature could fit down there?
Referee: Unlikely, it’s certainly too big to be able to do so easily.
Ezekiel: As suicidal as it sounds it might be our best hope. Can I throw a coin or something into the shaft?
Referee: As you flick a coin down the shaft you head a distant splash a few seconds later.
Toku: Water!
Ezekiel: That’s optimistic... how do we know it isn’t acid or something? I figure we can probably distract this thing long enough to let us flee back up the stairs. Maybe we can work out a way to distract it with Toku's tile-copy.
Referee: While you’re formulating this plan the creature has managed to force itself into the room, brushing against the tiled wall, which sends out blue ripples.
Uthred: Oh crap, this isn’t going to end well.
Ezekiel: Fine! Into the hole!
Toku: Trust me! I’ll even leap it first.
Referee: You’re all leaping down now?
(The group all nod reluctantly)
Referee: You leap into the darkness of the shaft, falling for a few seconds before splashing into what feels like ice cold water, deep enough for you to fall into safely. You’re barely able to get your bearings in the pitch-black pit before you feel a tingling sensation over your bodies. WIL Saves all round!
(Groans fill the table)
What happens next???
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