Page 77 - Tales from the Yawning Portal

23. LIGHT AHEAD of a door or a porcculli . This object can be prevented
from coming down by wedging it in place as if it were a
pressure plate.
As you peer down the corridor, a faint flickering light Pressure Plate. The 10-foot-square section of floor
becomes visible. The light begins to move through the marked on the map is the location of a pressure plate
hallway away from you, sputtering and wavering just at (see "The Ruins: General Features" at the beginning of
the edge of your perception. the adventure . If an amount of weight equivalent to that
of three or four humanoids is placed on it, the trap de-
scribed below is triggered.
The bobbing light is a will-o'-wisp. It will attempt to lure Falling Door Trap. If the characters set off the trap
the party into a trap, then use Consume Life on a victim. by activating the pressure plate in the floor, they hear
The creature will lead parties coming from the west a click and then a crash as both portcullises, made of
toward and then into the north- south corridor. Charac- timber bound in copper, come crashing down, sealing
ters approaching from the north, who might already be off the indicated area. These barriers are a foot thick;
familiar with the will-o'-wisp (see area 24), will be led on each has an AC of 15 and 100 hit points. Lifting a door
a zigzag route through the passages toward area 19. requires a successful DC 25 Strength (Athletics) check,
and any such check is made with disadvantage, since
23A. TRIANGULAR STONE getting a good grip is difficult. If a door can first be pried
If the characters approach from the south, read: up slightly with a crowbar or similar lever, requiring a
successful DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check, someone
not using the lever can get a grip on the bottom of the
You come upon a ten-foot-wide pit that stretches across door, eliminating the disadvantage.
the corridor. Beyond it is a wedge-shaped stone block or After 5 rounds, characters confined by the trap hear
pillar that blocks the passage. The light ahead of you that the sound of stone slowly grating on stone. Small panels
near the ceiling move to expose four holes the size of a
you had been following is nowhere to be seen, as though
human fist on each wall. Dust trickles from the holes.
it somehow passed through the pillar.
After another 5 rounds passes, golden sand starts to
pour rapidly through the holes. The floor is swiftly cov-
ered by the sand, which builds up at a rate of 2 feet per
The pit is 10 feet deep and contains several humanoid
minute. Therefore, it takes 10 minutes for the sand to
skeletons.
completely fill the hallway.
The triangular pillar's apex points toward the pit.
The area becomes difficult terrain after 1 minute.
Scratches on the floor and ceiling, scribing short arcs
After 3 minutes of accumulation, a creature that moves
on either side of it, are easy to see. Someone who exam-
through the sand must make a DC 10 Strength or Dex-
ines the pillar notices that it can be pivoted to either the
terity saving throw, becoming restrained on a failed
left or the right, which will open a passage 2 feet wide
save. (A creature that crawls need not make the saving
that offers access to the north. If the characters move
throw, and creatures that have more than two legs have
through this opening, they once again see the light of
advantage on the saving throw.)
the will-o'-wisp in the distance.
A creature can end the restrained condition on itself
If the characters approach from the north, read: by using an action and succeeding on a DC 10 Strength
or Dexterity check. Another creature can use an ac-
I free. After 5 minutes of accumulation, the DC of the
I The hallway abruptly ends at a blank stone wall. tion to make the check and pull a restrained creature
saving throw increases to 15. Once the sand is flowing,
If the wall is hammered on, it will sound solid. A charac- it must be scooped away from a closed door for some-
ter who examines the floor or the ceiling finds scratches one to try to lift that door, and the sand flows through
that scribe an arc from one corner to the other. Pushing open doorways.
on one side of the apparent dead end causes the triangu- The dust that fills the air as the sand falls causes
lar pillar to pivot as noted above. If the characters move choking. Unless it need not breathe, a creature in the
through the opening, they discover the pit. If they pro- dust must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw
ceed to the south, continue with area 23. at the start of its turn. On a failed save, the creature
spends its turn coughing, able only to move at half speed
24. SANDBOX or to make a check (with disadvantage) to free itself from
The two thick lines on the map mark the boundaries the restrained condition.
of a trap. A character who examines the ceiling 20 feet Creature. As soon as the sand begins flowing, the
overhead as the party passes under one of the marked will-o'wisp that frequents this part of the ruins (see
areas and makes a successful DC 15 Wisdom (Percep- area 23), if it remains alive, moves through one of the
tion) check notices a narrow band of copper extending doors into the trapped area. It harries those who are
from wall to wall. A gap between the copper and the having the most success at escaping the trap.
surrounding stone suggests that the metal might be part

CHAPTER 3 I THE HIDDEN SHRINE OF TAMOACHAN