D&D 5E Player angry about enemies climbing rope with Rope Trick

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

It doesn't say the rope can extend through a ceiling though, so if you cast it in a 10 foot high room you only need to climb 10 feet to reach the dimensional pocket, which most PCs and orcs could do in a single move.

Alternatively, the spell would fail since it says that the entrance opens when the entire rope hangs perpendicular to the ground. Up to the DM, but the players can easily work around the problem by using a 10 foot rope. Experienced rope charmers might carry a variety of ropes of different lengths!

 

[Lyxen]

We had so much fun with tricks like this with Rope Trick in 1e. I had this construct of opening a potable hole, casting rope trick inside it, climbing in the rope trick. opening a mirror of mental prowess, getting out, folding the portable hole, and putting it in my pocket. Then stepping through the mirror back into the rope trick. I am now in my own pocket.

There was also this thing where the rope took the place of one person in the rope trick, so we were always counting to make sure that we could pull the rope up. Or not, if we wanted it to be a trap. Or of monsters waiting at the exit, or putting magical traps below it, etc...

 

[Benjamin Olson]

You didn't "cheat" and I wouldn't play with anyone who accused me of "cheating" if that was their actual quote, meaning they go straight to assuming bad faith and dishonesty rather than recognizing that I might just have done something they dislike. The game is built on trust, and at least for me I've never had a shortage of adults who trusted me to not cheat at it so I don't know why I would put up with one who saw the game in those terms. I doubly wouldn't put up with it as a DM, because it is likely I sign that they do not respect my prerogative to make rulings. If it was an eleven year-old having such an outburst I might let it slide, but anyone older who calls me a cheat is not playing with me again until I'm convinced they don't actually believe that.

Setting that aside, it might have been a bit a jerk DM move, but obviously Rope Trick should not just be the win button for encounters; there should be the possibility of things going wrong. Whether it was "fair" in this particular case, I don't know because I wasn't there and only have one side's brief summary of it. So here are just some disconnected thoughts that may apply:
-Rope trick even working for a short rest with it's one hour duration at all is based on the DM handwaving that the 59 and a half minutes they are able to actually rest there not climbing rope (a distinctly unrestful activity) is good enough. I would always say it's good enough, but if I'm indulging that I'm not going to take Rope Trick rules lawyering from the players about it.
-If the player didn't have the common sense to get out of a small enclosed space (extradimensional or otherwise) with 5 enemies that's on them. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and jump 50 feet.
-If enemies can't climb up the rope then what's the point of being able to pull the rope in?
-Whether the enemies understand how the rope trick works really depends on how common the spell is in your world.
-Personally if my players got in an obvious extradimensional space mid-combat I'd have intelligent enemies spend the hour fetching reinforcements.
-I think it's nice that cruel, gotcha, "git gud" DMing has mostly gone out of style, but I think DMs are a bit too hard on themselves these days.

 

[James Gasik]

That reminds me of the time we Sovereign Glue'd a Portable Hole to the back of the Fighter's plate armor, so he could deploy a stabby Halfling Thief out from under his cloak.

Great fun until the DM ruled a critical fumble (God, who misses THOSE?) made the Halfling accidentally cut the edge of the hole, sucking her and the Fighter into another plane of existence!

 

[Lanefan]

We had so much fun with tricks like this with Rope Trick in 1e. I had this construct of opening a potable hole, casting rope trick inside it, climbing in the rope trick. opening a mirror of mental prowess, getting out, folding the portable hole, and putting it in my pocket. Then stepping through the mirror back into the rope trick. I am now in my own pocket.

That's putting one extradimensional space inside another extradimensional space, isn't it? I was always told that was a really bad idea....

 

[Lanefan]

You didn't "cheat" and I wouldn't play with anyone who accused me of "cheating" if that was their actual quote, meaning they go straight to assuming bad faith and dishonesty rather than recognizing that I might just have done something they dislike.

This.

Setting that aside, it might have been a bit a jerk DM move, but obviously Rope Trick should not just be the win button for encounters; there should be the possibility of things going wrong.

In the past I've occasionally allowed strong enemies to pull the rope out from below, leaving whoever is up the rope-trick stuck there unless they want to jump, or have another rope they can lower.

Whether it was "fair" in this particular case, I don't know because I wasn't there and only have one side's brief summary of it. So here are just some disconnected thoughts that may apply:
-Rope trick even working for a short rest with it's one hour duration at all is based on the DM handwaving that the 59 and a half minutes they are able to actually rest there not climbing rope (a distinctly unrestful activity) is good enough. I would always say it's good enough, but if I'm indulging that I'm not going to take Rope Trick rules lawyering from the players about it.
-If the player didn't have the common sense to get out of a small enclosed space (extradimensional or otherwise) with 5 enemies that's on them. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and jump 50 feet.

In fairness, we don't know how much starch the Ranger had left at this point, as in would a 50' jump have killed him outright? It might have been the best of two bad choices for him to stay up there and fight.

 

[AnotherGuy]

In the past I've occasionally allowed strong enemies to pull the rope out from below, leaving whoever is up the rope-trick stuck there unless they want to jump, or have another rope they can lower.

This is similar to what I would have done or at least along these lines.

The DM would decide that either one of the opponents knew the parameters of the spell or didn't.
If you wanted to be impartial, you could make an open Arcana roll DC 15 + 1/level of the spell.

Upon failure, have the opponents test the rope for a round, giving it a tug testing its strength, swinging it around while the ranger had a moment of reprieve while climbing, they could make ranged attacks etc. After that (next round) its anyone's game if they decide to climb up, but the decision would be how many would actually do it, and how many would continue participating in the primary fight.
If you wanted to be impartial, you could make an open Persuasion roll DC 10 with the parameters preset and known to the players. This is what I do.
Failure by 5 or more = 0
Failure by 4 or less = 1 additional orc joins
10-14 = 2 additional orcs join
15 - 18 = 3 additional Orcs + Orog join
19+ = 4 additional Orcs + 2 Orogs join

After killing and looting the ranger, they would see if it were safe to climb down and deal with the rest of the party. If not, they would stay put as long as they could, maybe even tossing the dead corpse out of their hidey-hole.

Upon success, the opponents would give chase and the same logic as above would follow, i.e. how many joined and would they stay the full hour.

Having it open and letting the dice decide usually gets you out of trouble with players and furthermore player added input in possible outcomes, that you as DM may have never thought about, is also welcomed.

 

[Lyxen]

That's putting one extradimensional space inside another extradimensional space, isn't it? I was always told that was a really bad idea....

True, but the rules about this have always been extremely specific in D&D, and were only about items. Strange, I know...

 

[Seramus]

Introduce this challenge I designed at the next opportunity, altering any relevant details and replacing the ghost Phineas Lanyard with the dead ranger's ghost: Rope Tricked!

I owe you a reply in that thread.
And it's the perfect day to write one!

 

[Fifth Element]

Ok, Im missing something where does it say Orcs dont understand spells or how to climb a rope?

Knowing that there is magic and knowing the details of how a specific spell works are not the same thing. Do better.