Rope Trick [Best Uses & Best Defenses Against]

[Quidam]

One of my players just took Rope Trick and the party is greatly enjoying the safe recuperation time it's been giving them. The PC in question is just about to turn 8th, at which point the spell really starts to gleam.

What have been the most clever uses you've seen for this spell? The best defense against it? Handy way to esape from drowning, though the air'll get stale before too long... Anyone ever enchant a rope with this spell? 1/day, 8th caster level?

Have at.

Rope Trick

Transmutation
Level: Sor/Wiz 2
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: One touched piece of rope from 5 ft. to 30 ft. long
Duration: 1 hour/level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

When this spell is cast upon a piece of rope from 5 to 30 feet long, one end of the rope rises into the air until the whole rope hangs perpendicular to the ground, as if affixed at the upper end. The upper end is, in fact, fastened to an extradimensional space that is outside the multiverse of extradimensional spaces (“planes”). Creatures in the extradimensional space are hidden, beyond the reach of spells (including divinations), unless those spells work across planes. The space holds as many as eight creatures (of any size). Creatures in the space can pull the rope up into the space, making the rope “disappear.” In that case, the rope counts as one of the eight creatures that can fit in the space. The rope can support up to 16,000 pounds. A weight greater than that can pull the rope free.

Spells cannot be cast across the extradimensional interface, nor can area effects cross it. Those in the extradimensional space can see out of it as if a 3-foot-by- 5-foot window were centered on the rope. The window is present on the Material Plane, but it’s invisible, and even creatures that can see the window can’t see through it. Anything inside the extradimensional space drops out when the spell ends. The rope can be climbed by only one person at a time. The rope trick spell enables climbers to reach a normal place if they do not climb all the way to the extradimensional space.

Note: It is hazardous to create an extradimensional space within an existing extradimensional space or to take an extradimensional space into an existing one.

Material Component: Powdered corn extract and a twisted loop of parchment.

[edit]cleaned up the srd quote[/edit]

 

[Bill Muench]

Nothing spectacular, but I have enchanted a rope with the spell before.

The Funambulist's Bolthole: This five-foot length of knotted silk rope has a spliced loop (bight) at one end. Once per day when jerked twice as a standard action, the rope rises vertically into the air and creates a rope trick 5 feet off the ground that lasts for 12 hours. The bight remains at the bottom and the knots make the rope easy to climb (DC 5). Like any rope trick, the rope can be pulled into the extradimensional space.
Moderate Transmutation; CL 12; Craft Wondrous Item, rope trick; Price 9,600 gp; Weight 1 lb.

 

[Darklone]

The best defense is not to allow bags of holding in there

 

[Bauglir]

We once knocked an enemy unconcious, brought him up into a rope trick, and then had someone outside get a good fire going under the hole. Then we brought the enemy round, pointed out this fiery portal, and told him that if he didn't tell us everything he knew we'd throw him through this portal to hell.

 

[Neil Aitken]

Our party once travelled across an ocean and a continent using Feathers, Fly, and Rope Trick. Not as convenient as Teleport, but still effective.

The BBEG never suspected his remote island fortress would be infiltrated by a band of migrating birds.

 

[Thanee]

The good old through the door trick, by casting rope trick halfway through a door, climb up on one side, climb down on the other.

Altho the 3E version might not really support this kind of use anymore.

Bye
Thanee

 

[random user]

You can use it to escape a brig on a ship (though better get off while still on the ship unless you have some way to deal with being in the middle of the water).

If you can get the cast off, you can often avoid being digested/suffocated/etc by whatever huge creature swallowed you.

If you need to scale a slick wall you can cast the rope trick and climb it to scale it.

If you are crossing a (short) bridge and are worried it may collapse on you, you can use the rope trick as an anchor. (I suppose you could tie on more ropes to the end of the rope trick rope for longer bridges.)

If you have a small chasm you can use the rope on the rope trick to swing across.

Rope trick is one of my favorite spells as it is very flexible and can be used in many ways that the DM usually hasn't thought of

 

[Evilhalfling]

For counters to -
In the 3rd campign with the players using extended ropetricks as THE way to camp, they found a country which is well known to have close ties to the dreaming (a plane from my own cosmology) when used here the rope trick is
actually inside, although seperated from the dreaming. It is as safe as normal dreams, which is not perfectly safe, and moving shapes are visable on the non portal sides of the space.
The only time it was actually breeched was by a non-physical dream, which was immediatly destroyed by a dreamcatcher (one use item hitherto seen as useless)

Animals - including familiars? and druid friends are unnerved by the space and may refuse to use it unless absolutley necessary.

For uses of -
The spell was cast next to a fallen tree or ramp, the rope was then laid on the ramp and this allowed a wolf comapion to "climb the rope" Im not sure that all DM's would allow this but it seemed so inventive that I let them get away with it.

Breaking a dominate person spell - tieing a PC up and crossing a planar boundary.

 

[Majere]

Rope trick can be spotted by detect magic.

Bags of holding and haversacks etc are non-dimensional spaces and thuc can be taken into a rope trick. Portable holes cannot.

Majere

 

[Sir Whiskers]

The good old through the door trick, by casting rope trick halfway through a door, climb up on one side, climb down on the other.

Altho the 3E version might not really support this kind of use anymore.

Bye
Thanee

I suggested this half-jokingly during a recent session, and the GM shot it down immediately. He saw it as a pretty twinky way of avoiding a pretty nasty door trap. Oh well...