One autumn day, just as the sun passed over the highest point in the sky, a band of bold adventurers spotted something at the bottom of a river. It was shiny, glittered with gold, and caught the eye of the party's bard. The river was flowing fast at this part, quickly sweeping away branches and leaves that had fallen into the river. The river's edge was 3' below the shore line as there was a steep drop to the water below. The glittering gold lie a full 6' under water. Normally this would be too much for normal people, but these were bold adventurers!
There was the bard, a little gnome not more than 3 feet in height. The wizard, who through his dealings with demonic forces had become part human and part demon. The warlock, who's ambitions had lead her to leave her kingdom in order to save humanity. Lastly, there was the cleric, who was not really sure why he was helping the others but could not find a reason good enough to leave them on their own.
They did as most adventures would do... immediately do something stupid without informing any of the others about what was going on. So the bard, who had spotted the shiny thing first, jumped on her magic flying broom and descended towards the water. Being only 3' tall, the bard attempted to hold on to her broom and grab the shiny thing below, despite the DM repeatedly telling the bard that it was 6' under water.
The wizard then noticed that the bard was missing and quickly headed towards the river to look for her. There he spotted the gnome who was carefully drowning herself in the cold water below. The wizard also spotted the shiny thing in the river and thus immediately gave up on trying to help the gnome and dove in the river, attempting to get the shiny first.
After a few seconds of digging, the wizard found that the shiny thing was attached to a large piece of wood. Digging some more, the wizard discovered that the piece of wood was part of a chest. Knowing that it would be impossible for the wizard to lift the chest out of the water, he levitated himself out of the river and back on to the shore line where the drenched bard waited.
The wizard then began chanting a magic spell which lifted the chest up out of the water and placed it next to him on the shore. The gnome sighed as the cleric and the warlock ran over to see what was going on, knowing that she would now have to share the treasure with everyone. Unfortunately the chest was locked and rusted tight.
"Pick it!", said the wizard to the bard. "Get it open and let's see what's inside."
"I don't know how to pick locks", the bard replied. "I doubt that I could sing it open."
"Punch it!", joked the cleric to the wizard, who's muscles were swollen with demon magic.
"Alright!", the wizard happily replied and prepared to punch the chest open. "20!", he shouted at the top of his lungs.
The DM noticed that his critical success would allow him to punch straight through the top of the chest but also warned that he would break exactly 1 item because of it. The wizard agreed and rolled for the number of items he would receive from the random loot table. 1, the wizard rolled. The DM then proceeded to make the wizard roll to see which magic table the wizard would be rolling on. The wizard rolled high. Excellent, the DM thought as he made the wizard roll one last time to see which item he would receive in pieces because he broke it with a mighty punch. The wizard rolled one last time and rolled high again. Staff of the Magi, the table concluded. So the DM read the description.
The Staff of the Magi was a legendary item, able to let a wizard or warlock cast many spells with its 50 charges, absorb magic, levitate, block in melee, and much more. At the bottom, the staff also had a special attack. The attack read: upon breaking the staff, all of the charges left in the staff would be released at the same time in an arcane explosion. To all within 10 feet of the staff, force damage will be taken in the amount of 16 times the number of charges on the staff. Everyone in the party was standing next to the chest when the wizard punched it.... resulting in everyone taking 800 damage.
And that's how everyone in the party died. Moral of the story is: 20's won't save your life either. They might just get you killed.
Side note: No idea how a 6' long staff was hiding in a 3' long chest, but I like my loot random so that's how I roll!
There was the bard, a little gnome not more than 3 feet in height. The wizard, who through his dealings with demonic forces had become part human and part demon. The warlock, who's ambitions had lead her to leave her kingdom in order to save humanity. Lastly, there was the cleric, who was not really sure why he was helping the others but could not find a reason good enough to leave them on their own.
They did as most adventures would do... immediately do something stupid without informing any of the others about what was going on. So the bard, who had spotted the shiny thing first, jumped on her magic flying broom and descended towards the water. Being only 3' tall, the bard attempted to hold on to her broom and grab the shiny thing below, despite the DM repeatedly telling the bard that it was 6' under water.
The wizard then noticed that the bard was missing and quickly headed towards the river to look for her. There he spotted the gnome who was carefully drowning herself in the cold water below. The wizard also spotted the shiny thing in the river and thus immediately gave up on trying to help the gnome and dove in the river, attempting to get the shiny first.
After a few seconds of digging, the wizard found that the shiny thing was attached to a large piece of wood. Digging some more, the wizard discovered that the piece of wood was part of a chest. Knowing that it would be impossible for the wizard to lift the chest out of the water, he levitated himself out of the river and back on to the shore line where the drenched bard waited.
The wizard then began chanting a magic spell which lifted the chest up out of the water and placed it next to him on the shore. The gnome sighed as the cleric and the warlock ran over to see what was going on, knowing that she would now have to share the treasure with everyone. Unfortunately the chest was locked and rusted tight.
"Pick it!", said the wizard to the bard. "Get it open and let's see what's inside."
"I don't know how to pick locks", the bard replied. "I doubt that I could sing it open."
"Punch it!", joked the cleric to the wizard, who's muscles were swollen with demon magic.
"Alright!", the wizard happily replied and prepared to punch the chest open. "20!", he shouted at the top of his lungs.
The DM noticed that his critical success would allow him to punch straight through the top of the chest but also warned that he would break exactly 1 item because of it. The wizard agreed and rolled for the number of items he would receive from the random loot table. 1, the wizard rolled. The DM then proceeded to make the wizard roll to see which magic table the wizard would be rolling on. The wizard rolled high. Excellent, the DM thought as he made the wizard roll one last time to see which item he would receive in pieces because he broke it with a mighty punch. The wizard rolled one last time and rolled high again. Staff of the Magi, the table concluded. So the DM read the description.
The Staff of the Magi was a legendary item, able to let a wizard or warlock cast many spells with its 50 charges, absorb magic, levitate, block in melee, and much more. At the bottom, the staff also had a special attack. The attack read: upon breaking the staff, all of the charges left in the staff would be released at the same time in an arcane explosion. To all within 10 feet of the staff, force damage will be taken in the amount of 16 times the number of charges on the staff. Everyone in the party was standing next to the chest when the wizard punched it.... resulting in everyone taking 800 damage.
And that's how everyone in the party died. Moral of the story is: 20's won't save your life either. They might just get you killed.
Side note: No idea how a 6' long staff was hiding in a 3' long chest, but I like my loot random so that's how I roll!