Seemingly insignificant things which became major obstacles?

[MarkVIIIMarc]

During our last game we were exploring a dungeon and came upon a deep pit about 5 foot across. We're level 4 and the DM gave it a DC10 acrobatics check to get across.

Wouldn't you know it, our Ranger failed, and failed the save to catch the edge before rolling a 20 to stick his sword in the wall on the way down. It comically took a few of us to pull him up.

My skill monkey Bard made it across, then another member failed, then another. At least we had sense by then to tie rope to ourselves as we tried after the Ranger failed lol.

What seemingly insignificant challenges became big deals in your games?

[Hrugner]

Your running long jump distance equals your strength score if you have more than ten feet of movement beforehand. I can't believe you all have strength scores of less than 5, so what happened here exactly? Heck, a standing longjump for a strength of 10 is still 5 feet, this is a weird thing to have the ability to fail.

[BW022]

You shouldn't need skill checks for mundane things.

A 5' pit isn't something anyone would have any problems jumping across. Even a fairly out-of-shape person can jump 5'. The PHB jumping rules say that anyone can long jump a distance equal to their strength score (so typically at least 8 feet). Unless they needed to grab the edge, jump over a low obstacle, etc. then there is no point in asking for a check.

However... if your DM wants checks for mundane things... you should start taking reasonable steps to prevent the check, give advantage, lower the DC, and/or prevent any consequences for a failed check. If you need to cross a pit...

a) Tie a rope around the person jumping and have a number of PCs holding it or tie it to something. Even if they fall, they only fall 6' or so.
b) Put a pole, door, log, etc. across.
c) Have a strong/big person reach out with a pole and swing across.
d) Have a strong person jump across and then reach back and help grab the next people crossing.

etc., etc.

[D.U.P.A.]

Hm, 5 feet can be jumped by anyone having at least 5 Str...

[hymer]

And what's with uit being an acrobatics check? Jumping is athletics.

Maybe the problem wasn't just the 5' jump? Maybe there was very little room overhead, so jumping normally wasn't possible.

[Fishyninja]

I remember in a session 0 for new players (I was the token experienced player *snort*) We had to push through a wall of full wooden crates.

None of us had Strength scores higher than 8 and with all of our rolls we failed. So rather than bursting in hero like and dispatching our foe we had to awkwardly clib over 5ft of wooden boxes.

[Contrast]

Started a game last night where the PCs had access to be building which would be their base in a city they weren't familiar with.

I started narrating to them how they found it by asking around but they quickly clarified that they weren't talking to people as they were worried about the wrong people tracking them.

Then they went to the pub and (again after some initial resistence where they sat on their own table not talking to any of the locals) started talking to someone but didn't want to disclose to him their base of operations so didn't ask about the address.

They continued to explore the city without talking to anyone. Eventually several hours in they decided to ask someone for direction to a district, then an area and then the location, all while doing checks to see if anyone was following them.

In the end it took them several hours to do what could have been achieved in 30 seconds - there was never anyone following them...

[Spellbreaker26]

I remember in a session 0 for new players (I was the token experienced player *snort*) We had to push through a wall of full wooden crates.

None of us had Strength scores higher than 8 and with all of our rolls we failed. So rather than bursting in hero like and dispatching our foe we had to awkwardly clib over 5ft of wooden boxes.

That is a beautiful mental image.

"Prepare, Evildoer, for JUSTICE!"

*huff, huff*

"Hang on, give us a sec!"

[Fishyninja]

That is a beautiful mental image.

"Prepare, Evildoer, for JUSTICE!"

*huff, huff*

"Hang on, give us a sec!"
Not gonna lie pretty much how it went.

We were only saved my the Gnome Wizard squeezing between a hole and then using a fireball spell on the boxes.

The dry......wooden......Boxes.....in a Barn.....

We had one today, not a simple situation but went form ok to OHMYGODTHEPAIN quickly.

Long story short, it's a heist and we were going to crash a blimp into the building to act as a distraction, my fighter is being attacked so the Barbarian detonates 10 cials of alchemists fire inside a fully fuelled blimp....

[solidork]

We had two PCs very nearly die while climbing a slick rock face in our first dungeon, so we would alway jokingly RP as if we were super afraid of any amount of climbing.

[StorytellerHero]

When the BBEG makes sure that the local inn served your entire party food and drink laced with a timed laxative.

[hymer]

Long story short, it's a heist and we were going to crash a blimp into the building to act as a distraction, my fighter is being attacked so the Barbarian detonates 10 cials of alchemists fire inside a fully fuelled blimp....

Oh the humanity!

... too soon?

[Fishyninja]

Oh the humanity!

... too soon?
My fighter may or may not have utilised that line.

[ad_hoc]

During our last game we were exploring a dungeon and came upon a deep pit about 5 foot across. We're level 4 and the DM gave it a DC10 acrobatics check to get across.

Wouldn't you know it, our Ranger failed, and failed the save to catch the edge before rolling a 20 to stick his sword in the wall on the way down. It comically took a few of us to pull him up.

My skill monkey Bard made it across, then another member failed, then another. At least we had sense by then to tie rope to ourselves as we tried after the Ranger failed lol.

What seemingly insignificant challenges became big deals in your games?

Sounds like you are playing 3.x. This is the 5e forum.

[jaappleton]

Doors are a major obstacle in Tal'Dorei, in the world of Exandria. Not even the best Rogues can get by them.

[King539]

Doors are a major obstacle in Tal'Dorei, in the world of Exandria. Not even the best Rogues can get by them.

I chuckled at that one. Good job. Good job.

[LordVonDerp]

Oh the humanity!

... too soon?
Of course not
http://www.nytimes.com/images/blogs/laughlines/thehugemanatee.jpg

[Talyn]

Elevators seem to have it in for our party - we've lost something like three PCs to elevator-related mishaps. One was thrown down an elevator shaft, one was zapped by lightning while on the (metal, conductive) ladder, then fell into the now-electrified water at the bottom and died, and one was crushed when they botched a DEX save to get out of the way of the elevator as it came crashing down (and she was the one who cut the cable, too).

These were three separate elevators, incidentally.

[LordVonDerp]

one was zapped by lightning while on the (metal, conductive) ladder, then fell into the now-electrified water at the bottom and died,

If the ladder was conductive then what caused the person to fall?

[solidork]

If the ladder was conductive then what caused the person to fall?

Jurassic Park, probably.

That kid goes flying with the electric fence comes on instead of clamping down hard on it, like he should have (according to my high school physics teacher).

[hymer]

Jurassic Park, probably.

That kid goes flying with the electric fence comes on instead of clamping down hard on it, like he should have (according to my high school physics teacher).

My ex-electrician friend concurs that muscles contract when being shocked. My dad once told me that if I must feel for charge in an electric fence, I should use the upper side of the finger, so the finger would jerk away if there is a charge.

[sir_argo]

Not 5e, but I don't think it matters.

Our party entered a cave and found a line of white crystal powder across the entrance. We immediately assumed it was a glyph or barrier like a magic circle. We didn't want to set it off, so we tried various arcane and occult skill checks. None of it identified the line. We spent probably half an hour before one player got frustrated and said, "*** it! I kneel down and use taste" (a skill used to identify potions and detect poison). The DM responded, "it tastes like salt" we then spent time debating if magic circles are made with salt. Finally, another frustrated player said, "**** it! I step over the line." Nothing happened. We all crossed the line and entered the cave. First room was a bunch of monstrous snails. The white line was literally just table salt put there to keep the snails in the cave. We wasted an hour on table salt.

[ShikomeKidoMi]

Not 5e, but I don't think it matters.

Our party entered a cave and found a line of white crystal powder across the entrance. We immediately assumed it was a glyph or barrier like a magic circle. We didn't want to set it off, so we tried various arcane and occult skill checks. None of it identified the line. We spent probably half an hour before one player got frustrated and said, "*** it! I kneel down and use taste" (a skill used to identify potions and detect poison). The DM responded, "it tastes like salt" we then spent time debating if magic circles are made with salt. Finally, another frustrated player said, "**** it! I step over the line." Nothing happened. We all crossed the line and entered the cave. First room was a bunch of monstrous snails. The white line was literally just table salt put there to keep the snails in the cave. We wasted an hour on table salt.

Actually salt is used to ward off evil spirits or demons in real life folklore and making a magic circle out of it makes perfect sense for such purposes.

So, really your precautions were justified, even if they turned out to be wrong here.

[Anderlith]

Not D&D but in a campaign of MERP we played shipwreck survivors & got sidetracked finding civilization to spent forever trying to catch a turtle in a pond, some of us almost died to it. Never caught it.

[Knaight]

Not 5e, but I don't think it matters.

If we're taking this tack, I have some from my GMing.

The PCs are sabotaging an enemy plasma cannon, and they specify that they disassemble some pieces inside (why, I don't know). They jetpack out, enemy forces move in, and lo and behold they reassemble the pieces. So now the PCs get to go back in, disassemble it again, melt the disassembled pieces, and generally handle it in the middle of a firefight. It's tricky, but they handle it, emerging in a cloud of toxic gas that had been launched at them. I require a jetpacking roll to deal with the intake problems they've incurred, and one PC fails it and ends up in the gas.

This is where the insignificant part comes in. They come up with a rescue plan that is basically a swoop and grab, and all it takes is one fairly easy jetpack maneuvering roll. So the pilot makes the roll, and gets a -3*, a bit off course. The PC in the cloud rolls to try and grab them while they're off course, and gets a -3. Between wound penalties and lower starting skills, both of them have rolled catastrophically badly, and the one to be saved ends up getting severe jetpack burns and drops to critical condition. The other one drops down to attempt to treat them with what is basically a stimpack - an easy medicine roll, and only a roll at all due to the vision conditions, and how an untrained and injured character is doing it. Naturally it's yet another -3, and they accidentally induce an overdose. Everyone does get out alive eventually, but it was a mess that ended with a character in the hospital for months when had the dice not gone full traitor it would have been easy enough to get out.

*Roughly equivalent to a 1 in D&D, 1/27 chance of happening.

The PCs, a group that is arguably the most four most powerful mages in the entire setting, are trying to get to a site of magic power. They've got a small band of nomads with them, lots of supplies, and a giant sheep. To get to the site all they have to do is get over a 30' tall mound of soil covered in regenerating and incredibly slippery ice that slowly forces anything embedded in it out and heals the gash. It takes a solid half hour of dithering, with the eventual successful plan being to tie a rope to a heavy stone object, magically launch the object over the mound, and have one person climb up the rope while others hold the other end to prevent it from going over entirely. Said other end was also tied to the giant sheep.

The PCs are playing Atlanteans, sent to the surface on a research expedition only to find out that one of the previous expeditions that never returned is still on the surface, and they've made themselves secret royalty. So, at one point they are trying to get into a city hostile to the ruling faction, and have disguised themselves to prevent being mistaken as members of the ruling faction. So far, so good - all they need to do is go into the city without doing anything stupid, it's pretty much a case of coming up with a half decent lie or deflection for why they look odd. So they approach the gates, talk with the guards briefly, and one of the guards says "You all look a bit odd. Why is that?". One of the PCs respond "It's not leprosy, it just looks like leprosy". They're barred from the city.

[Dr. Cliché]

I recall going through a dungeon which had some sort of pendulum-blade trap. Since I was a gnome, the beefy fighter offered to throw me over the tile, past the blade (I can't remember exactly why - possibly we thought there was some sort of off-switch behind it, or maybe I was the only one in the party who couldn't make the jump). Anyway, the fighter proceeded to roll a 1, and threw me onto the tile and directly into the path of the blade.

Slice.

I survived and managed to crawl back to the party. The fighter elected to throw me again. And proceeded to roll yet another 1.

Slice.

[ShikomeKidoMi]

I had a party in 3.5 nearly attain TPK through trying to climb down a twenty foot drop on a rope.

Admittedly, there were (weak) monsters at the bottom, but they wouldn't have been an issue if three out of four players hadn't managed to knock themselves unconscious trying to get down. One was a wizard with low strength. One hadn't put any points in climb and had armor check penalties. The third actually jumped down thinking he had enough hit points it wouldn't matter. The party rogue was the only one to actually make the climb. And then he was desperately trying to stabilize his dying friends when a couple monsters attacked.... I think they were either hounds or giant rats, but while the whole party would have crushed them easily they weren't meant to be soloed by characters that level.

[Mr. E]

The first time we were playing, the party was trying to remove some doors to allow them to move a train. The doors were bolted shut, and the party had just acquired a fancy new ray-gun kind of a weapon. So the PC steps up, pulls out the gun, and says, "I shoot the hinges so the door falls down." Why he didn't shoot the lock I do not know. But he rolls his dice and gets snake-eyes (it was a game based around 2d6's). The GM arbitrates this as the door falling inwards, not outwards, when shot. The PC then has to make a dodge check to avoid being hit by falling door. He rolls something like a three, gets hit by the doors, and is killed by impact damage (they were steel doors which the party had determined beforehand to be quite thick). The doors also hit the front of the train they were supposed to be getting out, doing it some damage as well.

[BigONotation]

I had a party in 3.5 nearly attain TPK through trying to climb down a twenty foot drop on a rope.

Admittedly, there were (weak) monsters at the bottom, but they wouldn't have been an issue if three out of four players hadn't managed to knock themselves unconscious trying to get down. One was a wizard with low strength. One hadn't put any points in climb and had armor check penalties. The third actually jumped down thinking he had enough hit points it wouldn't matter. The party rogue was the only one to actually make the climb. And then he was desperately trying to stabilize his dying friends when a couple monsters attacked.... I think they were either hounds or giant rats, but while the whole party would have crushed them easily they weren't meant to be soloed by characters that level.

Your DM must really love winning (eye roll)

[ShikomeKidoMi]

Your DM must really love winning (eye roll)
It really shouldn't have been that big a deal. It was a confluence of bad rolls, mostly, though I still don't get why that one guy jumped when he was one of the people in the party with good climb checks. I think he was just intimidated by the first two people horribly failing with incredibly low dice results (I think they rolled a 5 and 3).

[Grimjudgment]

I remember playing my bard and trying to manuver through a ruin that had acid pooling on the floor, so I had to jump onto platforms to not get submurged in acid, the rest of my party seriously didn't want to go, neither did I. We went through a bunch of ideas, but everyone said in unison "Let Swall go first!"

And so, I went. Took about 6 acid damage from barely touching some acid, but made it to the end. I then began to cast Leomund's tiny hut at the end because a horde of ghouls were looking for us. The rest of the party got halfway through the acid before one of them jumped on a mostly submurged pillar under their weight, they broke it, taking a dive into the acid. I casted Tasha's hideous laughter on myself as the rest of my party nearly died.

Of course, I had to heal them all, but ya know. Still funny seeing the warforged fighter swim through acid, screaming that he can feel his non-existent genitalia melting.