Basically, that’s probably an Iron Flask. Which is basically a genie’s lamp situation, though the original, the Iron Flask of Tuerny the Merciless, was made for catching demon lords. Could be any planar being in there, from an irate tiefling to Orcus to a solar.
Well, I respect the hell out of that roleplaying in this situation over trying to do the most tactical possible thing. Good on him. And hey, this lets Brett fudge what’s in the bottle if he wants to 😛
I’ve had something like this. Rogue got cut off from the rest of trhe party by a trap that locked him in with two dozen golems all on his own. Expecting death I took a chance and had him down a mystery potion I’d taken from a boss we’d managed to assassinate. Turned out the potion hadn’t been a buff as I’d hoped but a kamikaze designed to take us all with him if the boss felt out gunned. DM ruled my poor guy had at least killed the entire encounter along with himself. The scene that met the rest of our party was vividly described…
Iron flasks are fun one of my players actually caught me with one, I had the big bad shift the players into a realm of his own creation and in 5e anyway if you are not a native of the plane you are on you can be trapped in an iron flask so you can guess where this is going as my big bad gets trapped in a flask for eternity it was not til about an hour after session I remembered I gave him legendary resistance.
I love the way this man thinks. “We’re probably fucked 9 ways from Sunday anyways, might as well take an insane risk and uncork the probably trapped flask I found in this deathtrap of a dungeon. Who knows? Might actually help.”
Oh! This is what happens. Sam rolled a Natural 20 on his Death Save for Calvis and by the letter of the rule:
Whenever you start your turn with 0 hit points, you must make a special saving throw, called a death saving throw, to determine whether you creep closer to death or hang onto life. Unlike other saving throws, this one isn’t tied to any ability score. You are in the hands of fate now, aided only by spells and features that improve your chances of succeeding on a saving throw. Roll a d20. If the roll is 10 or higher, you succeed. Otherwise, you fail. A success or failure has no effect by itself. On your third success, you become stable (see below). On your third failure, you die. The successes and failures don’t need to be consecutive; keep track of both until you collect three of a kind. The number of both is reset to zero when you regain any hit points or become stable.
Rolling 1 or 20. When you make a death saving throw and roll a 1 on the d20, it counts as two failures. If you roll a 20 on the d20, you regain 1 hit point.
Huh, that sounds like you could cast resistance on somebody to buff their death saves or use a luck reroll or something. (I play 3.5, I dunno if there’s luck reroll feats in 5e too? Hm.) Cool, hadn’t known it actually counted as an actual saving throw in that regard.
Yes! That’s the way, Sam. Play your character, not tactics. When the chips are down and the dice are bonkers, victory is roleplaying to the hilt come what may. Better a dramatic death than playing like an accountant (that is, like an accountant who treats the game as work).
Can Luck-effects affect the death save? In my mind it makes sense that they do, and a +1 to such a roll is nothing to scoff at, especially if a 19 counts as a nat 20.
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and we still have to see where the Nine-Lives Stealer comes into play!
I have a feeling this is going to be either very good or very bad.
Ballsey choice mate. Good time for a 20, don’t know ’bout the wild card though. What’s gonna happen Brett.
“Everyone should believe in something…
I believe I’ll have a drink.” – Calvis, probably
Efreeti bottle? EFREETI BOTTLE?!
Basically, that’s probably an Iron Flask. Which is basically a genie’s lamp situation, though the original, the Iron Flask of Tuerny the Merciless, was made for catching demon lords. Could be any planar being in there, from an irate tiefling to Orcus to a solar.
“Raaaaaaaghhh!! OY! Ten thousand years in a bottle gives you SUCH a crick in the neck!”
Open MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love it
I’m partial the “R.P.” on the ribbon. It screams “roleplay for the win!” to me.
Chekhov’s Flask!
YESSSSSSSS!
Well, I respect the hell out of that roleplaying in this situation over trying to do the most tactical possible thing. Good on him. And hey, this lets Brett fudge what’s in the bottle if he wants to 😛
I’ve had something like this. Rogue got cut off from the rest of trhe party by a trap that locked him in with two dozen golems all on his own. Expecting death I took a chance and had him down a mystery potion I’d taken from a boss we’d managed to assassinate. Turned out the potion hadn’t been a buff as I’d hoped but a kamikaze designed to take us all with him if the boss felt out gunned. DM ruled my poor guy had at least killed the entire encounter along with himself. The scene that met the rest of our party was vividly described…
Iron flasks are fun one of my players actually caught me with one, I had the big bad shift the players into a realm of his own creation and in 5e anyway if you are not a native of the plane you are on you can be trapped in an iron flask so you can guess where this is going as my big bad gets trapped in a flask for eternity it was not til about an hour after session I remembered I gave him legendary resistance.
I love the way this man thinks. “We’re probably fucked 9 ways from Sunday anyways, might as well take an insane risk and uncork the probably trapped flask I found in this deathtrap of a dungeon. Who knows? Might actually help.”
SO what happens with the nat 20 or nat 1 from the previous comic, since Brett made a point of bringing it up!? I’m in suspense!
Oh! This is what happens. Sam rolled a Natural 20 on his Death Save for Calvis and by the letter of the rule:
Whenever you start your turn with 0 hit points, you must make a special saving throw, called a death saving throw, to determine whether you creep closer to death or hang onto life. Unlike other saving throws, this one isn’t tied to any ability score. You are in the hands of fate now, aided only by spells and features that improve your chances of succeeding on a saving throw. Roll a d20. If the roll is 10 or higher, you succeed. Otherwise, you fail. A success or failure has no effect by itself. On your third success, you become stable (see below). On your third failure, you die. The successes and failures don’t need to be consecutive; keep track of both until you collect three of a kind. The number of both is reset to zero when you regain any hit points or become stable.
Rolling 1 or 20. When you make a death saving throw and roll a 1 on the d20, it counts as two failures. If you roll a 20 on the d20, you regain 1 hit point.
Thanks! 🙂
Huh, that sounds like you could cast resistance on somebody to buff their death saves or use a luck reroll or something. (I play 3.5, I dunno if there’s luck reroll feats in 5e too? Hm.) Cool, hadn’t known it actually counted as an actual saving throw in that regard.
Wow, I just looked it up, and the Halfling’s Lucky trait would in fact apply: a Halfling can re-roll a 1 on a death save. That is badass!
Time for Clutch City Sam!
GET YE FLASK!
Yes! That’s the way, Sam. Play your character, not tactics. When the chips are down and the dice are bonkers, victory is roleplaying to the hilt come what may. Better a dramatic death than playing like an accountant (that is, like an accountant who treats the game as work).
Can Luck-effects affect the death save? In my mind it makes sense that they do, and a +1 to such a roll is nothing to scoff at, especially if a 19 counts as a nat 20.
This page is a beautiful demonstration of how an experienced player goes through their thought process. Well done. Glad you’re safe & sound.