Pulling up a rope... with a PC attached

[nicholasgeorg]

Cleric "climbs" at half speed, so it'll take 2 rounds to get the whole way up. Cleric needs to spend a standard action to hold on - unless your players are clever enough to keep a robber's ladder tied into their rope. During that time, the knight needs both hands for this, but probably doesn't need to make a check (unless your table really likes to punish critical failures) unless attacked, when they need to be able to hang on while taking damage.

My interpretation, anyway.

 

[Morrus]

20 ft ... pft ... it's not very much now is it? I mean, most humans could reach 9/10 ft nearly with their arms stretched above their head.

Most people don't have 4-5' arms!

 

[Pbartender]

If there was no danger going on I'd have probably let it work with a both characters using their actions for that turn (minor to tie/untie, move and standard to heave, pull their way up and get back to their feet). But if it was outside of an encounter situation actions and turns are irrelevant. In which case I would probably just let them do it with a nod...

For that matter, if it was outside a combat encounter and there was no real danger or hurry, why not just let the cleric climb the rope with a wink and a nod in the first place?

 

[BobTheNob]

Wow. How many times has this scenario come up. I always hate this because, truth is, this wouldnt really happen in real life. You would just let those who could climb go, and only resort to this if there was no-other choice how to proceed.

In real life, people wouldnt do this unless forced, but because this is an RPG, the possibility = the reality. Blech.

You know what I like to do...let em do it, but throw in an encounter with flying creatures half way through the lift. Its a bartstard act by the DM, but then again, its just responding to a barstard act by the players (i.e. saying skill dont matter cause we can talk our way out of it with predictable, cheeseball approachs)

 

[Alex319]

Wow. How many times has this scenario come up. I always hate this because, truth is, this wouldnt really happen in real life. You would just let those who could climb go, and only resort to this if there was no-other choice how to proceed.

In real life, people wouldnt do this unless forced, but because this is an RPG, the possibility = the reality. Blech.

You know what I like to do...let em do it, but throw in an encounter with flying creatures half way through the lift. Its a bartstard act by the DM, but then again, its just responding to a barstard act by the players (i.e. saying skill dont matter cause we can talk our way out of it with predictable, cheeseball approachs)

I'm not sure I understand. How is it a "cheeseball approach"?

 

[fuzzlewump]

I disagree that pulling a character up is a 'cheeseball' approach, people would do it in real life if it they had to or it was just easier that way. Why wouldn't anyone do that? People take the elevator instead of stairs even if it's only 1-floor and thus time isn't really a factor. Maybe that's not the best example, but I can't think of a reason why someone wouldn't be pulled up if the circumstance called for it. And I disagree, even if you thought it was a bad approach, about countering a bad approach with a bad act. Two wrongs don't make a right and all that.

That aside, I think you ruled it correctly. If the dwarf makes their climb check to just hold on, then the tension of the rope (weight of the dwarf), as far the knight is concerned, is just a load. If it's not a heavy load, then he can move full speed, essentially pulling the dwarf up with each step. If there's significant friction (dwarf is grinding against rock walk as you pull her up), I'd rule it like pulling someone around if they're grabbed. You can only move half-speed that way. If he's just pulling with arm strength, well, that's a whole different call. Maybe a strength check. Or just handwave the whole situation. I played encounters for the first time last night and found my group's focus on getting up to the cave opening boring at best.

 

[Reaper Steve]

I played encounters for the first time last night and found my group's focus on getting up to the cave opening boring at best.

Thanks to all who've given thoughts so far.

I agree with the handwaving option as best... but there was the potential that the knight would still be pulling while combat ensued.

Plus, my Encounters group has this ongoing gag about climbing things. (It doesn't help that I encourage it by making 3D props and having a box of 1" wooden cubes to stack climbing models on. I've been characterized as one of the rare DMs to ultilize all 3 dimensions.)
Anyway, during the encounter last week, it took the Assassin 2 attempts to climb the wall and the Thief couldn't do it at all! To add insult to injury, the Eladrin Wizard just teleported to the top after they finished struggling. It was pretty humorous.
So, the same thing ensues at the beginning of this encounter. The Asassin steathily climbed into the cave while the Dwarf Knight climbed right up the middle of the waterfall ("I'm not stealthy, so I'll use the roar of the water to mask my climb!") It took the Assassin a couple tries, and the cleric just couldn't do it. The wizard couldn't climb either, but he was being stubborn and wanted to save his Fey Step... but the fight began and he ended up having to burn it to get in the game.

So yeah, climbing has become a *thing* for my group.

So has having a dwarf knight swing 5 squares on a rope to cross a shallow stream only to get surrounded by 3 oozes on the other side. Yeah, he was down and out before the rest of the party could catch up. Thank goodness healing word is range 5!

 

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Yeah, I can't see how hauling a friend up on a rope is in anyway unrealistic or an abuse of the rules. After all, when one throws a line down from a helecopter or a boat, one typically doesn't wait for the person to climb up entirely on their own power, but instead those at the top help out by hauling the line up from their end (or, preferably, having a winch do so).

 

[A Passing Maniac]

Generally speaking, I'd say there should be no check, because either

(A) there is no combat situation and the group can take their time, or

(B) there is a combat situation and it sucks to be left hanging off a ledge because your party couldn't make the first Athletics check and didn't want to waste the Fighter's time multiple turns trying to haul your butt up a cliff.


And, uh, I recommend never sending flying monsters to punish your players for trying to help each other.

 

[vagabundo]

Pulling someone up by a rope is not easy, it is about technique as much as raw strength, even if you could normally lift that persons weight. I'd require strength/endurance checks or that cleric would fall on his chubby ass. The ability to lift the weight would be the requirement to even attempt this action.

There is also the chance that the rope would become frayed, ten feet isn't much, but you could mention that the rope is now damaged from the attempt.

DC Level based on size of creature: small 1, medium 3-5, large 8-10, huge ...

Easy DC: 1d6+5 rounds
Mod DC: 1d4+2
Hard DC: 1d4