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Message: <blockquote data-quote="cathyb" data-source="post: 1441123" data-attributes="member: 16765">Vorpatril's games are usually pretty fun, but this latest adventure has been side-splitting.  We have several brand new players, so we’re still running into newbie misunderstandings.  A session or two after the chicken-and-goat/character-creation incident (BTW, although everyone tried to do "upset chicken" impressions, I believe mine was best) we ran into the following scene.  Imagine one party, trying to break into the necromancer's castle, having located a secret entrance involving a 40’ drop down a dark hole.  We’ve decided to go down the hole when the GM, helpfully reminds the fighter of a basic practicality…GM: What are you going to do with your horse?Fighter character: Can't the horse just jump down the hole?<A moment of stunned silence follows>GM: No.  The horse does not want to jump down the DARK HOLE that’s 40 FEET DEEP.  City boy.Fighter: well....we could tie the rope to the horse and lower it down the holeGM: how are you going to convince the horse to go down the hole?  Does anyone have handle animal?<a few minutes of hurried consultation determined that no one had handle animal>Fighter: Maybe we could push it down the hole?  If it gets hurt, the cleric could heal it at the bottom… GM: Don’t forget, your horse is the best fighter in the group - it could probably take all of you in a fight.Wizard (the one with the goat): I could cast grease on the floor and we could push it down the hole!GM, with a gleam in his eye: Mmmmm.  That’s certainly an idea.  But if you step on the same square as the horse, you’ll be on the greased square too.  To be guaranteed to push the horse down the hole, you’d have to get some momentum by getting a running start and flying-tackle the horse.  And whoever did it would have to make a dex check to keep from going down the hole with the horse.Rogue: Don’t look at me!<some impressions of flying tackles and startled horses followed.  I can’t absolutely rule out that startled goat and chicken impressions didn’t get mixed in there in the confusion.>Wizard: I’ve got it!  OK, I'll cast sleep and we can lower it down while its sleeping.  <he casts the spell> SLEEP!GM: The horse shakes its head a little and keeps chewing cud.  It made its save.Several players, only now realizing that non-enemies got saves: WHAT!!???  Why does it get a save??GM: Can anyone communicate with the horse and tell it to cooperate with the spell?<a more desultory consultation determined that no one knew how to communicate with horses>Wizard: Well…I cast sleep again! SLEEP!!!!!The horse fell asleep and, the GM taking pity on us, we got the horse safely down the hole.  Of course, the horse had to be left behind almost immediately after we made it down the hole, since the tunnels quickly got too small to fit a horse.  To find it a good place to stay, we killed a carrion crawler, dragged it out of its cave, and left the horse tied up in its old nest.  The GM had a moment of apoplexy when he misheard and thought we wanted to tie the horse TO the carrion crawler and drag it around. Post note: the goat got accidentally left behind somewhere in the necromancer’s forest of ghoul-trees.  The GM says it may still be alive, we never know.</blockquote>

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