What leaps out at me is: Respect.
The quicker the players make it to the top, the better they get treated. Like, if the players rocket their way up (taking shortcuts and never resting) the aaracokra monks treat them as grand "Fliers Who Never Leave The Ground" and treat them like champions, while if they dawdle, resting every chance they get, the monks treat them as worthless nobodies.
The players will probably end somewhere in between, so get treated well if they're closer to rocketing up, or just tolerated if they struggle up but pushed a little.
Totally.
I've crafted a story that Aerdrie Faenya once sacrificed her wings to uplift humanity (which is reflected in how the aarakocra saint Asharra running the monastery can give up her wings temporarily to magically bestow flight upon the PCs). Purportedly, the monastery holds a white feather of Aerdrie Faenya who made an arduous ascent up the holy plateau without her wings and left a feather with the monks at Kir Sabal. This story is remembered by aarakocra of Kir Sabal whose traditions demand that supplicants to speak with the living saint Asharra must likewise scale the plateau as their goddess once did.
As far as respect... One question is will the saint Asharra be so impressed by their climbing up Aerdrie Faenya’s route that she offers the Dance of the Seven Winds ritual with no strings attached, or will she demand a favor in return for the ritual?
Maybe.... if PCs work with one another & NPC companions, fall no more than 3 times as a whole, and don’t cast rituals or attempt a short rest (i.e. no lallygagging), Asharra is impressed enough to offer the ritual free of charge?
When I'm doing this sort of thing, I generally plan out a series of complications which the PC's are expected to handle. In other words, I hand wave away most of the ascent and skip to the exciting moments of it. The generic skill check thing is fine, but it's too generic. I'd tend to do things more like:
1) A footbridge on the trail collapses. This provokes one of the three checks to avoid falling. The players have to describe what they do to rescue those that have fallen, and how they negotiate the gap.
2) A brief rain storm brings wind and rain. This provokes one of the three checks to avoid falling. The players have to describe what they do to rescue those that have fallen, and what they do to mitigate the fact that the rocks and gear are now wet.
3) A rock slide blocks the path. Crossing it provokes a check to avoid falling/caught in landslide. The players have to describe what they do to rescue those and avoid triggering additional slides.
Things like that. With a bit of brainstorming I could probably keep going. As this is prolonged exercise, I typically also force endurance checks (con saves, or whatever fits the system you are using) to avoid becoming fatigued during the ascent. Fatigued players are obviously at greater risk on future challenges.
And so forth.
Yes, I agree, I also felt it was too generic as presented. Here's what I've concocted so far... Still need to figure out the final fifth section of the climb...
The Ascent to Kir Sabal
The base of the ascent is marked by a sandstone obelisk carved with the likeness of a flying swan and littered with bones and trinkets (a 10 minute search turns up 1 trinket per PC searching). A stone ramp rises up 450 feet through a series of switchbacks, then transitions to weathered wooden walkways that rise the rest of the way to the monastery some 550 feet above the jungle floor. Players notice a red-robed aarakocra watching from the highest point.
Ascending the stone ramp part takes about 45 minutes. Thereafter, each segment of the climb takes 10 minutes, with an additional 5 minutes for each fall that occurs.
When a PC falls, they may take a reaction to escape plummeting to their doom (see below).
The Stakes
Will PCs make it up before dry & sunny skies give way to heavy rains in 3 hours? The heavy rains impose disadvantage on all checks, wreck havoc on communication, and cause a small waterfall to pour between parts B and C.
Will Asharra be so impressed by their climbing up Aerdrie Faenya’s route that she offers the Dance of the Seven Winds ritual for free, or will she demand a favor in return? If PCs work with one another & NPCs, fall no more than 3 times, and don’t cast rituals or attempt a short rest, Asharra is impressed.
Which human (N)PC will Mwaxanaré become infatuated with? Whoever doesn’t fall once becomes the subject of Mwaxanaré’s infatuation.
A. Triple Gap (500’)
Switchbacking stone ramps take you up 450 dizzying feet above the jungle floor. However, where the wooden walkway should begin there is a 20-foot gap, soon followed by a 15-foot gap, and a 30-foot gap. Running long jump = Strength score in feet. Small moss-covered handholds along the cliff can be climbed across with a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check; Small PCs have advantage, PC with climb speed auto-succeed, jump spell bypasses.
Fall Reactions: Drop prone at last minute, Land on a lower walkway, Grab a vine.
B. Strong Winds (520’)
Strong winds (30-50 mph) buffet the cliffs unless magically countered. Flying creatures must land by end of the turn or fall, and verbal communication requires a DC 10 Perception check with disadvantage to hear. A free hand is required to stabilize oneself against the cliffs, and a character may drop an item to free up a hand as a reaction; anyone without a free hand must make a DC 12 Strength save or fall. Dropped items fall off the cliffside. Loose items (e.g. capes, cloaks, hats, scarves, open satchels, scrolls without cases, etc.) have a 1-in-6 chance of being torn free and fluttering off the cliffside.
There are two
Ruined Cliff Structures PCs may opt to explore here.
C. Exposed Beams & Rotted Planking (530’)
The walkway is offset from the cliffside by a good 15 feet, and the cliff is starting to overhang the darkened rickety wooden walkway. Intermittent holes where the walkway has worn away reveal oddly spaced supporting beams. A character can carefully survey the walkway for signs of rot – DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) – to safely cross. Alternately, a character can balance on the support beams – DC 15 Dexterity (Acrobatics) – to safely jump across. Climbing speed doesn’t help here
Fall Reactions: Fall into a ruined cliff structure, Grab a vine, Land on a lower walkway.
Increased Risk: Increase distance of any falls by +30 feet (+3d6).
D. Dwellings (540’)
Curious aarakocra young flutter around you, cloaked aarakocra whispering in Auran watch you skeptically from the archways of cliffside dwellings, and colorfully plumaged aarakocra offer the fastest climbers among you orchid-and-nut garlands while encouraging you upward.
E. Last Leap? (550’)
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Fall Reactions: Fall into a ruined cliff structure, Land on a lower walkway, Grab an aarakocra.
Increased Risk: Increase distance of any falls by +50 feet (+5d6).
Falling
When a character falls without using a reaction (see below)…
- Control fall: If you have a rope safety system, take 1 level of exhaustion, arresting your fall so you take no damage, and climbing back into position. If you’re tied to a (N)PC, they must make a DC 12 Strength save or also suffer a fall. If you’re anchored to a piton, whoever placed the anchor must make a DC 10 Dexterity or Intelligence (Climber’s Kit) check or the piton rips out and is lost, and you fall for 20-80 (2d4x10) feet.
- Long fall: If you don’t have a safety sytem, and don’t use a reaction, you fall 500 feet. If you hit the ground, take 20d6. If you’d still be falling, then you (or an ally) can use an action next turn to try and save yourself.
When a character falls, as a reaction they choose one of the following (options limited by section of ascent):
- Drop prone at last minute: Realizing you’re not going to make the jump/climb, you drop prone at the last minute, clutching the edge of the walkway for dear life. You take no falling damage, but you drop anything in your hands and have psyched yourself out, suffering disadvantage on any Athletics or Acrobatics checks for the rest of the climb.
- Fall into a ruined cliff structure: Fall for 2d4x10 feet and roll 1d6 on Ruined Cliff Structures table.
- Grab an aarakocra: Make a Strength (Athletics) check contested by the aarakocra’s +2 Dexterity (Acrobatics); on a success, you stop your fall entirely by grabbing it, on a failure you and the aarakocra fall for 2d4x10 feet.
- Grab a vine: Make a DC 12 Dexterity save. On a success you grab a vine and take no damage! However, roll on d6 on Vines of Chult table to determine what you grab. On a failure, you fall 3d4 x10 feet.
- Land on lower walkway: Fall for 30 feet, make a DC 12 Constitution save or crash through that walkway and fall an extra 2d4x10 feet to another walkway below, losing one item at random which falls all the way to the ground.
