| Rope (Campaign 2 - Episode 88) |
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| Information | |
| Release Date: | February 19, 2024 |
| Recording Date: | February 13, 2024 |
| Episode Length: | 1:21:21 |
| Cast & Characters | |
| Michael DiMauro: | Dungeon Master |
| Tim Lanning: | T'Chuck |
| Jennifer Cheek: | Selene von Esper |
| Nika Howard: | R'Oarc |
| Mike Bachmann: | Screech Echo |
| Guide | |
| Previous Episode: | Next Episode: |
| Doomjaw's Doom | Big Bad Bird |
Rope. How does it work?
Story[]
Long Story[]
Alright, you guys. I'm gonna level with you. There's exactly two things that happen in this episode: 1. They discuss the many ways in which they can use the Rope of Climbing to scale a cliff face. 2. They use the Rope of Climbing to scale the cliff face. I can't write out everything that they discuss, because my brain will melt, but you should really listen to the episode. It's one of the best, seriously.
Anyway, to actually attempt to summarize what happens here: Doomjaws has just been defeated. T'Chuck yanks out some of the beast's teeth, and then there's a brief mention of everyone else harvesting other things from the corpse. Selene asks if they can gather some scales, but this is never resolved, so I can't, in good conscience, add anything to the inventory section. Sorry, Selene. Anyway, with that out of the way, the party now finds themselves standing before a sheer cliff face, a 90 degree angle jutting far into the sky. It's so high up, in fact, that there are clouds obscuring the top of the cliff. There are, however, some caves along the way. So, how best to scale this cliff? Well, they do have the Rope of Climbing...
There's a looooong discussion on the various ways the Rope could be used to ascend this cliff. The conversation is too long and confusing to actually write out here. The rules of the Rope are read aloud, and some players interpret these rules differently. It sounds like Bachmann wants to have Screech hold one end of the Rope, and command the other end to fly up 60 ft into the air, and then do it again, while still holding onto his end. That would cause him to fly up into the air indefinitely. Nika interprets Bachmann's suggestion differently. She thinks she can have R'Oarc tie herself to the floating end of the Rope, and Screech does what he just suggested. But this time, R'Oarc will be a balloon on top of the Rope as they go up. There's no way this would be possible. They do try climbing up with a leap-frog style plan, with R'Oarc and Screech transferring ownership of the Rope every time, to change which end is the floating end. But they climb back down after the party comes up with a different plan. Since the rules state that the Rope can support up to 3,000 pounds, the party interprets this to mean that T'Chuck, R'Oarc, and Selene could all tie themselves to the Rope, and have Screech climb the cliff face as normal. He'll still be holding the Rope, and continuously commanding it to go up and up and up.
For some reason, Michael allows this. To be honest, I don't think the magical properties of the Rope would even be necessary. If Screech is climbing the cliff like normal, he could just have a normal rope tied to his waist, with the others dangling below him. I guess it does relieve some of the weight off of Screech, so maybe it makes sense? That said, it definitely doesn't make sense.
Anyway, this is the plan they ultimately go with, so they do that. And it somehow works! Although, there are some scary Pterodactyls that attack them on the way up. It's not too big a deal, since the three casters have their hands free, and are able to use their myriad magics. Selene hits one of them with a Fire Bolt, and I thought this made it go flying away. However, later, T'Chuck casts Toll the Dead specifically on the one that Selene hit, since that spell does more damage to a creature that has already been hit. And that bird explodes against the side of the wall, so I don't know. R'Oarc uses Vicious Mockery to embarrass the hell out of another beast, and it goes flying away. The last Ptero attacks Screech (aPttacks? with a silent P? Is that anything), but it misses. Screech doesn't miss as he throws something at the bird with his free hand. Annoyed, the Ptero flies away. And they continue climbing.
There's a long discussion about using the rope as anal beads. Just needs to be said. This is a thing that happens.
Finally, the party makes it to the top of the cliff. Before them is a huge nest, with a glow emanating from it. That must be the Crystal of Harmony! The bad news is, above them, a massive silhouetted shape looms from the nest...
Short[]
They climb cliff.
Trivia[]
- Tim's dad is a fireman.
- Stripper poles spin, which I also learned today.
- They all decide to be affixed to the rope in different, unique ways:
- T'Chuck is Buddy the Elf riding an escalator. Selene is holding on for dear life, wrapped arms and legs around it. R'Oarc is hanging upside-down, legs all wonky, looking cool.
- As they are going up, T'Chuck/Tim remembers that the others have Spider mounts. Did those come with them? This is kind of the first mention of them in a while.
In This Episode...[]
Cast and Player Characters[]
- Michael DiMauro - Dungeon Master
- Tim Lanning - T'Chuck
- Jennifer Cheek - Selene von Esper
- Nika Howard - R'Oarc
- Mike Bachmann - Screech Echo
Locations[]
Inventory[]
| T'Chuck | Selene von Esper | R'Oarc | Screech Echo | General Inventory | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Quest Board[]
- [Active] - Retrieve the Crystal of Harmony
- [On-Hold] - Save Selene's family!
- [On-Hold] - Recruit the help of Hortentia Calamore
- [On-Hold] - Travel to Vhur'endal
- [On-Hold] - Recruit the help of House Bartell
- [On-Hold] - Travel to Anchordowns
- [On-Hold] - Recruit the help of Hortentia Calamore
- [On-Hold] - Find a cure for Thaldin Emberbrew
- [On-Hold] - Go to the nearby Drow city, probably Vhur'endal
- [On-hold] - Investigate "Bill, the Necromancer", in the far off city by the coast
- [On-hold] - Take the disembodied lips to the oceanfront, for a burial at sea
Quotes[]
- "Cliffs are for falling, not climbing. Thank you." ~ Tim Lanning, who has forgotten about Cliff Hanger
- "I'm sorry, if there's a Nazgûl here, I'm wanna try to fuck him." ~ Nika Howard
- "This rope is powered by Hims." ~ Nika Howard
- "I have a feeling that after today, this is gonna get patched out of the game." ~ Mike Bachmann
- "Feathers are the hair of flying creatures, if you think about it." ~ Jennifer Cheek
- "Can we make it go up our butts?" ~ Tim Lanning
"SHUT UP!" ~ Jennifer Cheek
Rolls[]
- R'Oarc rolls Acrobatics (with Advantage) to hang onto the rope as it ascends the cliff face - 7 + 4 + 5
- Yeah no. Which either means she does or she doesn't. I mean, she does, but it's confusing.
- R'Oarc rolls Perception to find a ledge (using Inspiration to roll with Advantage) - 8
- She does find a ledge, but is not sure how sturdy it is.
- R'Oarc rolls Acrobatics to affix the rope to the ledge (with a -2) - 16
- Doesn't feel too sturdy, but it does hold her.
- Screech rolls Acrobatics to hang onto the rope? I guess? - 15
- They decide to do a different plan, I think. It's confusing.
- Screech rolls Acrobatics to climb the cliff, while the others float along with him (with T'Chuck's Bless and Emboldening Bond. R'Oarc does also give him Bardic Inspiration, but he doesn't need it) - 32
- Whoa! They go up like nobody's business!
- Selene casts Fire Bolt to scare off one of the Pterodactyls - 22
- Success - It falls away
- Uses a Bonus Action to Telekinetic Shove one of the other Pterodactyls, requiring it to make a Strength Saving Throw - 19
- Success - Not Shoved
- Uses a Bonus Action to Telekinetic Shove one of the other Pterodactyls, requiring it to make a Strength Saving Throw - 19
- Success - It falls away
- R'Oarc casts Viscious Mockery on one of the Pterodactyls, requiring it to make a Wisdom Saving Throw - ??
- Fail - It flies off
- T'Chuck casts Toll the Dead on one of the Pterodactyls, requiring it to make a Wisdom Saving Throw - 5
- Fail - 22 damage - It slams into the side of the cliff and explodes somehow.
- Screech makes a Dexterity Saving Throw to avoid the last Pterodactyl attacking him - 19
- Success - He avoids it
- Screech throws something at the last Pterodactyl - 19
- Hit - Also adds his Sneak Attack - 15 damage - It flies away