Funny, That's Spelled Just Like the Word 'Escape'

I used the classic bit of the players getting stuck on something trivial, defeating any kind of tension the GM tried to set up. And, no, Conan hasn't forgotten about Valeria being a traitor; they talked about it between comics (off screen). That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

I remember back as a player in the first edition AD&D rules - I used to always get those iron spikes and the mallet. I never used them. Kind of like that 10 foot pole everyone bought, but never thought of how they carried it around a tight, curvy maze for a dungeon.

The Snake Tower saga started way back in Chapter 22. It's also the first time Valeria's said anything since Chapter 28. I quoted her from the film here. While putting this together, I noticed that I missed using the "live forever" line back when they were going to go down the well. So it goes.

I threw together the knot references without really considering which would be most suited to the task. The right way would to use a hitch with a slip to hold fast the rope at the anchor point, with the loop end leading down along the load line (something like a slipped rolling hitch). This would negate the need for a knife to cut the rope. However, Chris was stuck on rigging up a knife to cut the line.

Transcript:

Scene: Conan and Subotai stand atop the Snake Cult Tower, looking over the edge at a pool of water below.

Subotai:That was a close one. What was our take-home loot?

DM:You're at the top of the tower. You still have to find a way down.

Subotai:We'll just get out the same way we came.

Conan:I'm going to take the rope. That way we won't run into that "can't climb" garbage again.

Subotai:How will you get down then?

Conan:I'll climb down the rope.

Subotai:You don't see a problem with both taking the rope and climbing down it?

Conan:I'll take it at the bottom.

Subotai:...

Conan:I could rig up a knife on the rope, so that I could pull on the rig to cut the rope.

DM:It sounds like the cultists are climbing up the well, and will be at the roof soon.

Subotai:I've got some iron spikes and a mallet. You could use those as hand-holds.

Conan:I could use a Prusik knot, or maybe a release hitch on the descent line and knife, to allow for the sawing motion, with the upper half of the trigger rope on a spar hitch.

Subotai:If the tower is sloped on the walls, we might be able to slide down.

Valeria (DM):{ Runs passed Conan and Subotai } Do you want to live forever?

Conan:Or, we could do that.

Valeria (DM):{ Jumps off the side of the tower } Yaaa!

Subotai:That's cheating.