D&D 5E Climbing a tower rules 5e

[Nebulous]

The druid ended up scouting the tower anyway as a squirrel, they still achieved their goal, but it wasn't five people squeezing into a one foot wide broken window.

 

[iserith]

Just to clarify then, gravity and height don't count as difficulty? What about a single check then just to see if they have the strength to make it up.

No. See Chapter 8 for "Special Types of Movement." Then also see Chapter 7 under Strength (Athletics) checks. If you want there to be a complication, you have to establish one. (And then see what the PCs do to overcome it before you decide whether there's a check and, if there's a check, what the DC is.)

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

I second the suggestion that you can’t throw a grappling hook 80 feet. Make one pc roll to climb and plant the hook. If he fails, the danger falls on him. (Falling damage etc..) it could also cause a complication for the party, because a grappling hook falling on something hard makes a lot of noise and will alert guards.

assuming they succeed, though, everyone else auto succeeds because that was the reason for planting a grappling hook and a knotted rope.

- for the record, I think knotting a rope uses at least half the rope’s length.

 

[Nebulous]

I second the suggestion that you can’t throw a grappling hook 80 feet. Make one pc roll to climb and plant the hook. If he fails, the danger falls on him. (Falling damage etc..) it could also cause a complication for the party, because a grappling hook falling on something hard makes a lot of noise and will alert guards.

assuming they succeed, though, everyone else auto succeeds because that was the reason for planting a grappling hook and a knotted rope.

- for the record, I think knotting a rope uses at least half the rope’s length.

I didn't even consider that throwing a grappling hook 80 feet was too far. I said they failed a lot before they succeeded, no roll needed. BUT, in retrospect, maybe yes, having one person take the risk to climb up, and then everyone else succeeds automatically would have been a better option. And they had multiple ropes to knot.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

I didn't even consider that throwing a grappling hook 80 feet was too far. I said they failed a lot before they succeeded, no roll needed. BUT, in retrospect, maybe yes, having one person take the risk to climb up, and then everyone else succeeds automatically would have been a better option. And they had multiple ropes to knot.

The range of most thrown weapons is 20 feet, I think.

 

[DemoMonkey]

Unless you are playing an encounter for comic relief - which I highly recommend occasionally - assume that the players will overplan and that the characters are competent at their jobs.

To players:

"If you want to make a slow and careful ascent, taking as much time to prepare as you need and not worrying about being stealthy, you can do it in an hour. The best climber will go up first and help the others up. No check needed but I will roll a d20 once and on a 1, something goes wrong with the climb.

However if you are worried about the guards showing up - definitely a possibility - it is 3 DC 12 checks for the best climber to get up and then DC 5 checks for the rest of you, and will take 5 minutes."

 

[Nebulous]

yeah, I skipped any kind of rolls or accuracy or any of that, just assumed they took 10 minutes or whatever and eventually hooked it.

 

[iserith]

yeah, I skipped any kind of rolls or accuracy or any of that, just assumed they took 10 minutes or whatever and eventually hooked it.

If there was no other risk for retrying other than a few minutes spent, then I think this is the right call. This is discussed in the DMG, page 237.

 

[DemoMonkey]

We learned the "Don't roll if theres no stakes" lesson during the surprisingly acrimonious "What do you mean my WOOD ELF fails to climb the tree?" incident of 2E.

 

[Nebulous]

If there was no other risk for retrying other than a few minutes spent, then I think this is the right call. This is discussed in the DMG, page 237.

Except, that as some pointed out, tossing it 80 feet up might have been too far in the first place, and would need someone to risk climbing, no knotted rope, and hook it first.