Paranoid??!!

Somewhat delayed with the report but most of the D&D group finally sat down for a session last Thursday. A decent enough session there was a little bit of rust to shed but after a reasonable break everyone was keen to get stuck in and do a pro job,.........a little too keen maybe.

In total we covered two rooms which isn't the highest tally for a full session but an old adversary struck....PARANOIA!

Even worse than a vengeful dice god this particularr malady is primarily self-inflicted by the party upon themselves, though a good / evil / devious GM can definitely help the incubation period along.

Checking for traps, mundane and magical, we, or at least those of us not in full plate, crept into our next room to be confronted by some furniture and a STATUE........ well that just couldn't possibly be right!

As a group we've had issues with STATUEs on a number of occasion. STATUEs that do things, bad things like glow, whip and attack you. Cue backs to the wall as we skirt around the room keeping as far from it as possible. No-one wants to be first to front up to said vaguely inanimate object but after people starting taking various resistance checks we "selected" the Paladin.

Being the clever chap that he is he opened negotiations with a lusty blow of his longsword. Eventually noticing the glowing glyphs "we" changed to making, and failing, an INT check followed by another lusty blow.

Leaving the advanced negotiations to the specialist I crept through a side-door and spied the back of a random goon, many of whom we have dispatched previously. Executing a text-book back-stab I was fully expectant of another notch on my short-sword.......erm no!

So all our initial uber-stealth had been well wasted and the sounds of battle drew the local Necromancer and a couple of his pets! going for the super-move I fluffed ensnared myself at El Necro's feet and was Ghoul-Touched into rancid paralysis. I went and made the tea whilst others carried the load.

After a heavy flow of hit points we had and extended mass healing session squeezed into a corridor with  a rotational shift of guards and reminded ourselves that we're 7th level now and so as we're substantially tougher, so our opponents shall be.

After a few more spot, arcane knowledge and detect magic checks we worked out the marble pagoda shifted about........to reveal a set of spiral stairs descending into PITCH BLACK!!!!

Oh dear......... :)