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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Imaculata" data-source="post: 7794891" data-attributes="member: 6801286">It's really only the first check that matters. That's the dangerous one. The use of a rope is an extra option to lower the climb check (and a backup incase someone falls). I honestly didn't think they would fail that one, given that they all have ranks in rope use. But let the dice fall where they may. This is why I ruled that the first players descended safely.So the chance for success isn't as low as you say. They just need to succeed at one DC 15 or 16 climb check. Not unreasonable, but challenging. And they knew it was a tough climb with deadly consequences going into it. A successful Use Rope check would have been a very handy backup in case someone failed their climb check. The rope would have prevented them from falling to their death. But of course they failed that particular check. I felt that should at least play some part in their descent.You have to keep in mind that we play 3rd edition, so the number of ranks that players have invested in various skills differs quite a lot. It can easily make a DC 15 check a piece of cake, even at low levels. And in this case they let the person with the most ranks in Use Rope tie the rope, and he was also the best climber. He would hammer pitons into the cliff to attach the rope to, to ensure an easier descend for the rest of the party. When balancing the encounter difficulty, I always have to keep their skill ranks in mind to calculate a proper challenge.It could definitely have been an auto-success, you're right. I decided however not to make it an auto-success for the purpose of adding suspense (and it made sense given how they stated their approach). I decided that since the ancient city was located in a inconvenient hard-to-reach spot, it would make the climb very tricky, even with the aid of a rope. I also factored in the strong winds and the fact that all the other players relied heavily on the rope and pitons that had been hammered into the side of the cliff.I could have left it at that, you're absolutely right. But sometimes a DM may make an encounter a bit more tricky purely for entertainment value. That poor Use Rope roll was just too good an opportunity to scare the players a bit.</blockquote>

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