[PF] Skill-checking your way across a river

[haplessvictim]

In the game I'm DM'ing, the players have indicated an enjoyment of environmental hazards and skill-check type challenges. I'd like to combine the two and present them with a storm-swollen stream that they have to cross, and I'd like some help determining some skill checks and DCs. For calibration purposes, they're first level: an alchemist, a psion, a rogue and a magus, and don't have a lot of equipment. (Ropes, pitons and access to a a forest where they could conceivably chop down saplings with their swords).

I was thinking of making the stream about 20' across, inside a ravine that is 15' deep; sloped on the side facing the PCs and more vertical on the opposite side. Obviously a Climb check followed by Swim and another Climb could do it, but that's boring and I'd love to hear more interesting ideas, if you have them. (They haven't actually come across the stream yet, so its dimensions can change.)

How hard should building a bridge be? How about throwing a rope across to lasso a post or tree stump? I don't want to introduce combat (no being chased by a bear); rather I want to give them a good 20-30 minutes of puzzle solving and some tense dice rolls.

[Phelix-Mu]

Mechanics-wise, two comments:

1.) Stormwrack supplement has info on current speeds and how they affect skill checks made to Swim and such while in them. Also, just a ton of info on water-based terrain hazards. Like all the terrain books (Frostburn, Sandstorm, etc), I find them to be gold mines for ways to make unusual challenges for my players.

2.) Make sure to gauge ahead of time the DCs that players are capable of making at whatever level they are at. Setting a challenging, but not totally impossible DC will allow you to determine the precise size of a circumstance bonus that you might want to give them for any clever ideas or unusual efforts they might make during the problem-solving period. Props to you for encouraging on-the-spot problem solving among players (as opposed to the best way to crush any enemy by 20th level problem solving).

In terms of how to present the threat, elaborate narration is good, but consider some dual-threat, possibly based on the player's alignments/motivations. Maybe there is a child trapped on a branch a bit downstream, adding a time element, a moral element, and additional danger for anyone inclined to attempt rescue (realistically, Swim DCs should skyrocket if you are attempting to carry a helpless person at the same time). Maybe there is a corpse precariously trapped in some debris, with some kind of visible treasure beckoning to any greedy characters.

While straightforward challenges have their merit, I often find that ones that also contain some kind of emotional content for the characters helps elicit more vigorous engagement. Though it sounds like your players are already interested in this kind of thing, which is great. Give them both barrels.:smallbiggrin:

[PlusSixPelican]

I have a character that could Acrobatics over that with a 4. She's L7, but I thought of it because she LOVES making acrobatics checks.

Anyways, someone might like to throw someone else across if there's size-category differences in play.

[haplessvictim]

Good point; I forgot to mention leaping across. I've made the total distance to leap (25') just barely possible for our most acrobatic character to make (DC 25).

I hadn't considered someone throwing a small character across. I'll try to figure out some DCs for that. I like the look of some of the homebrew solutions here: http://forum.rpg.net/archive/index.php/t-502961.html

Edit: And I love the idea of having a dead body (with visible treasure) snagged on a branch in the middle of the stream. By giving the players a goal, it makes it seem less like a series of rolls.

[SilverLeaf167]

I second adding some other threat element to the puzzle, or at least making the river wider, since if the players have any experience at all with this sort of thing the answer might be a little too obvious.

[D_Man_7733]

If it is just a puzzle/river then it can become annoying somewhat quickly if they don't figure it out if the goal is just to cross the river.

As someone stated above if there is a child trapped that adds morality and a time element... but if you remove the immediate time element it becomes more focused on the fact that "It would be easier to jump across, but there is a child with a skeleton with some valuable items on it, do we save them instead"

If the river gets wider towards the child* bait, then they can proceed to get past the river with jumps, swims, climbs & maybe a grappling hook, or spend more time working out how to find a way to save the child.
*child being used as a substitude for some possible moral bait

If you make the area on the other side of the river crumbly and deteriorated, changing the DC based on the weight of the character, but adding the threat of falling back into the river as well.

As an afterthought, if you are playing a game with quite a few undead or a known necromancer, that skeleton could scare/tempt your players.