How do you handle this situation?

[Wik]

You're in a dungeon, and have done some "light reconnaissance". You find in a hallway two adventurers, a male and a female, lying on the floor. The male is holding a rope that trails off into the distance. The female is crumpled near the leg of the male. Neither is dead, or seemingly asleep - they just seem frozen in time.

Following the rope, without touching the first set, you round a corner and find ANOTHER set of adventurers, a halfling and a dwarf. The halfling holds a rope that turns into a room, while the dwarf seems to have collapsed on top of the halfling. Both seem "frozen".

Following that rope, it leads into a room with a glowing gem in the middle, on a raised pedestal. Around that pedestal are several more adventurers, all collapsed. The two ropes both lead into the room, with lassos made that have looped around the gem loosely.

What do you do?

 

[Wik]

Assume you're a member of a 7 member party, consisting of all the classes (Elf, Halfling, Dwarf, Fighter, Cleric, Magic-User, Thief). You're all fairly low-level, but are well equipped with non-magical gear.

 

[MarkB]

Go back to the first set of adventurers, farthest from the gem. Using a form of remote manipulation, such as Mage Hand, sever the rope, then tow its far end as far back up the corridor towards the gem room as possible.

Then take the two frozen forms, retreat, and attempt to revive them using Dispel Magic, Remove Curse and anything else some Heal, Arcana or Religion checks might suggest.

If they cannot be unfrozen, search them thoroughly for clues.

 

[ppaladin123]

You're in a dungeon, and have done some "light reconnaissance". You find in a hallway two adventurers, a male and a female, lying on the floor. The male is holding a rope that trails off into the distance. The female is crumpled near the leg of the male. Neither is dead, or seemingly asleep - they just seem frozen in time.

Following the rope, without touching the first set, you round a corner and find ANOTHER set of adventurers, a halfling and a dwarf. The halfling holds a rope that turns into a room, while the dwarf seems to have collapsed on top of the halfling. Both seem "frozen".

Following that rope, it leads into a room with a glowing gem in the middle, on a raised pedestal. Around that pedestal are several more adventurers, all collapsed. The two ropes both lead into the room, with lassos made that have looped around the gem loosely.

What do you do?

1. Don't touch the ropes or anyone touching the ropes.

2. Find a different dungeon to explore; that's pretty freaky and there is no explanation that will make it less so.

 

[MerricB]

I agree: I find another dungeon to explore.

Cheers!

 

[GreyLord]

How much gold do I have.

Party separates...someone casts Dispel Magic. If nothing happens...

Hire some hirelings...and one member of the party who wants to reroll their character anyways. Give one of the hirelings a big stick. Have them hit the gem for all they are worth.

Go down and see what happened. If everyone is stil unconscious...see if you still have a spellcaster. Send them down with an Anti-Magic Sphere scroll and have them cast it.

If it works...great...if not...finally send on last hireling down to kill everyone still down there and take there stuff...

Hopefully they return.

I suppose that would put me under the evil alignment there...

 

[Whisper72]

Use the 10 foot pole you are carrying (ODD right?) and shove it such that it will dislodge the rope, preferably starting with freeing the first set of adventurers found...

See if they 'wake up' on their own once the connection with the gem is broken.

Consider throwing a pole against the pedestal / gem to dislodge the gem itself.

Since the aventurers in the room with the gem are presumably not touching a rope or the gem itself, assume that there is an area effect somehow, capable of knocking out all PC's in the room.

At the same time, be on the lookout for something completely different. Maybe there is no real connection between the gem/pedestal and the freeze in time effect, maybe there is some monster around that creates the effect. If you spot anything moving, squash it first, ask questions later.

Also, I would want to know if there is any indication (dust, the style of clothing / hair fashion etc.) of how long the other adventurers have been in stasis....

 

[DumbPaladin]

1. Don't touch the ropes or anyone touching the ropes.

2. Find a different dungeon to explore; that's pretty freaky and there is no explanation that will make it less so.

It'd be hard not to touch and search the people for clues, but if I were playing a wary character, I'd leave the dungeon, seeking out the nearest center of information to try and discover exactly what was going on there. Your example suggests there are no real clues as to what is going on, and the only clues might come from the victims of whatever-has-happened ... touching them could be what sets it off, or the gem could simply put everyone within its vicinity in stasis every hour.

So ... yeah, I'd leave too. If I'm meant to be able to figure this out on my own, there'll be some clues around. If I get some clues in town, I'd return to try and help the people.

 

[Jhaelen]

I think I'd try to burn the ropes at some point between the gem and the first bunch of adventurers, e.g. by placing a candle below the rope. Then I'd watch from a (hopefully) safe distance what happens.

Under no circumstances would I try to come into (direct or indirect) contact with the ropes or the gem.

 

[Tymophil]

Is the male adventurer a Human ? can I guess his job/task/class/profession ? Same question for the female...

Are they at the end of the rope ? I mean, is there some rope left for the male to go any further ?

Does the female touch the body of the male somehow ?

Same questions for the Dwarf rope and the Halfling body.

How many adventurers are frozen in the room ? Can I guess their race, class ?

Do I see rope in the equipment of some "frozen" adventurers within the room ?

Do all adventurers seem to belong to the same party ? Same style of cloth, equipment, weapons, etc.

What is the size of the glowing gem ? What colour ? Can we see something within the gem ?

Do any of my party members have rope ?