I will go ahead and remove my two knightly fellows from consideration. Bart has a 7 DEX and weighs 242 pounds. Bercy has a 9 DEX and weighs 190 pounds. Not to mention they're both clad in chainmail.

I'm sure they'd manage fine on a magical rope of climbing, but there have to be better candidates for the job. I'm guessing it's a choice between Cass (the thief) or Rasxif (the smallest)?

Edit: This was intended for the OOC thread. I posted here by mistake. But since Hieroman has responded, I'll leave it. Sorry for the clutter. FTR, B&B don't care who climbs the rope. They were just thinking out loud.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:03, Thu 02 May.

OOC: Raxsif can climb. If something disastrous happens, maybe he’ll be small enough to catch. Or not.

"I'll climb." Hieroman offers.  "Though I have memorised stone shape in case we cannot find the key to the door.  I can either pull the stone away from the locking mechanism or from the hinges to get the door open.  Either way it isn't going to hinder us for long, but I'm also really interested in how gravity is working up there," she says staring up at the chest, "and I guess a little interested in the contents of the chest."

She holds out her net of entrapment to Bart.  'If you and your squire can hold this open, as well as perhaps Archonia and Cassandra, it might help to cushion a fall if I should slip."  She considers removing her studded leather armour, but in the end thinks better of it, as the magical armour weighs nothing and might protect her a little if she does fall.

OOC:  Gnomes have a -15% chance of climbing walls on the thieves ability table, not that a magical rope is the same, but perhaps Rasxif isn't the best candidate, especially since he only has 13hp.  Hieroman is happy to make the attempt, and since she also has more HP than most of the other non fighters, she is also the better option.  Rasxif also needs to be holding the rope for it to function.

Archonia thought Cassandra would be the best for climbing. She was trained for climbing, after all. But druids probably climbed and swung around on vines, so she might be skilled at it as well. However, the point was to open a chest, so if it was locked or trapped, there did not seem to be much the druid could do. But if the woman wanted to experience the reversal of gravity, that seemed to be reason enough just to go, skills or not.

She declined to take the net. Brant, Orwin, Bercy... any one of them would be more suitable to hold it if the druid fell. Archonia doubted she had the grip strength to maintain hold of it if that happened.

Cass offers her thieves’ picks and tools to the Druid in case she needs them when searching for traps or unlocking the chest.

Hieroman looks puzzled at the tools.  "Perhaps you should go, I've got no idea how to use those," she honestly says to Cass.

OOC:  Sorry just a noob, I didn't see any character was a thief.

She looks to Archonia and Ornwin in consideration of the net.  'It was more about having 4 people of an equal height, but perhaps Ornwin would make up with his shorter statute in strength.  I'll take one of the corners if Cass climbs."

"Oh, you just wanted a visual for this scene, not effectiveness. Very well then," Archonia replied, taking a corner of the net, understanding the situation now.

Bart and Bercy also assist with the net, as requested.

Hieroman a little taken aback by Archonia's attitude isn't offering her a corner now though.  She stares the other down.  "If my thinking was wrong, like it was with scaling the rope, say you think so.  Don't step up to a task you don't think you're up to and endanger anothers life."  Hieroman is clearly unimpressed by Archonia's sarcastic bitchiness.

Brant's head swivels back and forth as he struggles to keep up with the verbal duel.

At last he raises a hand, "Ladies! As much as I enjoy a riveting repartee, lets' get back to the task at hand. That being the chest. It's likely a trap that'll kill us so let's try to focus."

Even without her professional training, Cass could have worked her way up the rope without fail. Like any self-respecting length of intestine, its ridges are coated with sticky juices and it snugly coils itself around her feet to form footholds.

25' up the rope later...

Roughly five feet from the ceiling, Cass senses the gravitational shift and goes with it, keeping one hand firmly within the rope's embrace. The rest of her swings vertiginously upward until her feet are planted on the ceiling and she's face to face with somebody else's chest. It's a dizzying prospect.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:28, Fri 03 May.

Archonia smiles at Hieroman's statement. "Very good! Interparty drama! We have had disagreements on tactics before, but no personality clashes. This shall be fun!"

Since the druid's even tone and directive indicated Archonia was expected to respond, and Brant's interjection to ramp up the emotion, Archonia pointed at Hieroman. "Not just this, or scaling the rope. You also wanted to set fire to wet canoes and push them into a ventilated room! Your thinking is wrong, and has been wrong since we met you!"

Breaking the eye contact of the stare, Archonia looked up. It might hurt the interaction, but she really did not want to miss seeing the reverse gravity come into play, or if there was a pyrotechnic trap.

If Archonia's words meant anything to Hieroman she didn't show it.  When Archonia broke the stare she was promptly forgotten as Hieroman concentrated on what was important.

Cass looks up at the party on the floor below her. She holds off on checking for traps or anything productive for the moment. The men who had been holding the net and spotting her climb were no longer watching her. They were watching the start of the cat fight.

Cass had not minded Hieroman’s offer to climb up and check out the chest. The Druid WAS more robust and likely could survive a poison trap far better than she could because of her Druidic arts.

Cass’ offer of her picks and tools was only partly in jest - she didn’t mind if the Druid wanted to try to check for traps or pick the lock first - as long as she didn’t break anything. But she had deferred once she realized Cass was suited for this task - one of the few things she COULD do for the party.

Oh well. She hoped Archonia and Hieroman resolved their issues amicably and quickly. She liked both of them and appreciated the input, creativity, and capabilities of each - they were invaluable to the party.

When things above her settled down and the boys were paying attention to her again (in case gravity reversed suddenly and she fell up toward the net they were holding), she would check for traps and then try to open the chest, unlocking it if necessary.

Cass, who had slipped into a subconscious sulk after the bright stars of Archonia and Hieroman had overshadowed even the scant attentions she had been accustomed to receiving, did not lend her full attention to the task at hand. Instead, her eyes keep furtively tracking towards the men below, thinking that surely one of them might hope for a bit of a show.

No.

Only the alien eyes of Archonia fixed unwaveringly upon her, hungry for some novelty no matter how discomfiting it might prove to be for her. Blue almonds. Her eyes are like blue almonds, she thinks absurdly, paying no mind when her left index finger slips in an inch too deep, depressing a hidden lever, triggering the release of altogether too much gas.

13:06, Today: The Host, on behalf of Cassandra, rolled 44 using 1d100.  Check for traps.

Cass, please make a Save vs. Spells.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:22, Sat 04 May.

Cass realizes a bit too late that she wasn’t paying enough attention to the task at hand. Blue almond eyes. And she was wondering how a Druid might search the chest.

When the gas released, she knew she needed to jump away. But being upside down confused her. Which way to go? If she jumped, which way would she fall? Up? Or down? So. She didn’t jump at all. Mistake.

12:56, Today: Cassandra rolled 1 using 1d20.  Save vs Spell/Poison/Gas. – 1 - Ah.Love our die roller!

A madness seizes Cassandra. She knows how to get the gents' attention. She'd teach them to prefer brunettes. They'd need to see her vulnerable side before they want to see more of her.

"Oops, oh, no! My hand has slipped!" she cries out. It's not very convincing because she has used her other hand, the one gripping the rope of many coils, to yank herself off the ceiling and catapult towards the floor, first the wrong way up, and then the right way down.

She grins maniacally on her way down. "Elf booty got soul, Elf girls know how to rock and roll. They'll see!"

The four PCs forming the net brigade may each make a dex check to coordinate their movements and track her descent.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:18, Sun 05 May.

Bart & Bercy had no plans to move the net. They were positioned directly under Cass and assumed she would fall straight down. If that turned out not to be the case, they did the best they could to react.

17:31, Today: Bart rolled 1 (succeeds) and Bercy rolled 15 (fails) using d20,d20.  DEX rolls.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:37, Sat 04 May.

In reply to Bartholomew (msg # 216):

Ornwin will also hold a corner of the net as needed.

Ornwin rolls 1, succeeds  and moves successfully to help catch Cassendra.

Seeing Cass lose her grip Hieroman calls out, "She's coming down, hold the net tight don't let her weight pull us together."
She also does her best to move to keep the net beneath Cass as she comes down.
14:38, Today: Hieroman rolled 10 using 1d20.  Dex roll needing less or equal to 15

Oh, were they putting on quite the show! Archonia gasped aloud as Cassandra cried out. While in the back of her mind, she knew there was nothing to worry about- the woman's manic grin as she fell showed she had planned for this- but Archonia could not help but her chest tighten as Cassandra made her 'fall'.

And those with the nets, zipping back and forth to catch her! Maybe it was supposed to be dramatic, but she could not help but chuckle as she glanced down at the comedic image before her, before turning her attention back to Cassandra. Would she be caught? Would she reverse gravity? Perhaps turn into a bird and fly off safely?

The quartet, even though it had not practiced its third-floor involuntary escape drills to the satisfaction of any board of licensure anywhere, nonetheless nearly positions itself to catch a falling Cass, save for clubfooted Bercy, who, perhaps seeing the bi-class lass from an intriguing angle, perhaps seeing any woman from that intriguing of an angle for the first time, flatfoots when he should pirouette, leaving her to bounce off his edge of the trampoline and come crashing down in a heap of shattered dreams and crushing contusions.

10:17, Today: The Host rolled 9 using 2d6.  Dweller-style falling damage.
1/2 damage from net mitigation.
Cass takes 5 damage.

This message was deleted by the player at 22:04, Sun 05 May.

Hieroman immediately moves to Cass's side, crouching down to assist her.  "Stay still, let's see if you broke anything before you try to move.". With practiced ease Hieroman first visually checks Cassandra, initially looking for signs of blood seeping through clothing, or obvious compact fractures or breaks.  She then quickly runs her hands up and down Cass's arms and legs, as she moves from visually checking to feeling if any bones are obviously out of place.  Satisfied Cass was more likely stunned and bruised she checks for concussion as she asks, "Do you want a cure?"