Here's a challenge

[lionkingcmsl]

For those that remember my spiral staircase:



I designed a stair challenge based on it:



The idea is that the stair on the left spins clockwise, while the stair on the right spins counter (anti-)clockwise.

As the treads alternate between the two stairs you have to "climb" the challenge by staying in place and climbing on each tread as it swings into place.

I think this would be a good trap/challenge for AD&D and such. I think it would be a 2d12 difficulty vs. ones body, climbing, acrobatics and other skills.

You say you would like an animation of said challenge? Ask and you shall receive.

Well, here is the link for a QuickTime "movie": http://dirtdeninn.com/LionKingCMSL/stairchallenge.mov

Be advised, dial up users, that this file is >16.3 megs in size. 8=0

Of course you could reverse the spin and make it a descending challenge. ;=3

EDIT: Here is a pic that shows the challenge in a likely setting:

Comments

[jarylanvulpine.livejournal.com]

That's a cool idea, LK. Although, the downward challenge would be a one time thing, wouldn't it? I mean, if you failed the roll, you'd likely fall...and thus end up on the bottom anyway. You'd just be more sore for having done it that way.

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

One spike jamming the stairs so they can't rotate together defeats trap.

True, ...

[lowen-kind.livejournal.com]

but then you can't really climb them. ;=3

That's why I changed it from a trap to more of a challenge.

[yaochi.livejournal.com]

You could design the staircase to shatter all spikes and such. Now imagine such a climb that is to deliriously lofty heigths, without pause or rest....

Clever

Diabolical

[lowen-kind.livejournal.com]

Depending on the height and your body/soak.

Being sore would be the best one could hope for in that instance. If you failed the climbing down roll, you could possibly die, be knocked unconscious, etc.

Also it would depend on how big the lower landing is. If it is just big enough to step onto, and cantilevered out from the main floor, and the poles continue into something more nasty, like spikes, etc., then falling would be much more dire.

[blacktigr.livejournal.com]

Or you could make the stairs themselves sharp...

Jump from one blade to another! Impress your friends!

[rrwolf.livejournal.com]

that's a clever idea

[kamau-d-lyon.livejournal.com]

I think you might want to hide the unused steps otherwise someone might still climb the one stair (or hop from one to the next seeing the distance) instead of meeting the challenge you want. I'm not sure it's a 2d12 but then that's just me.

Are you going to let your GM see this little toy?

[lowen-kind.livejournal.com]

That distance is a bit more than you think.

It is over 16 inches vertical and 45 degrees apart radially. Using the formula a^2 + b^2 = c^2 gives you 16^2 + 16^2 = 22.627416997969520780827019587355^2 ( 256 + 256 = 512 ). I get the 16 inches horizontal because it is a 45 degree angle.

I don't think "hopping" would be the correct word, unless you were/are part 'roo. And even then you have to "hop" up a curved path.

As for the GM, he probably already has thanks to mooncat. ;=3

[lowen-kind.livejournal.com]

P.S. If you look at the animation, you'll see that a new step is swung into place every second.

At a 22.5 degree spacing for the steps, that makes the stair make a complete revolution every 16 seconds.

To hop up those stairs you'd have to be quick, otherwise you'd get knocked off as it swung you backwards into the opposing treads.

[kamau-d-lyon.livejournal.com]

But if they are not covered you can still climb the outside part after the two have cleared each other. A tall player could climb with no more difficulty then where they intersect and still avoid your intended challenge. Also covering it would hide the full meaning of the challenge and make it more difficult to judge how to climb.

[plonq.livejournal.com]

Why stop there? The stairway itself is a challenge, but the steps themselves are the trap. Some of them are rigged as triggers for any one of a number of possible events -- maybe a 1/6 chance for each person who descends.

- Rotation freezes momentarily. Roll versus DEX or fall.
- Rotation reverses. Roll versus DEX at -3 or fall.
- Step breaks off entirely. Roll versus DEX at -6 or fall.
- Rotation speeds up to 100RPM, temporarily turning the "stairway" into a giant Cuisinart.

Naturally at the bottom there is a lever that says, "Emergency Stop". Pulling it causes the stairway to momentarily stop... and drops a ceiling block on the companions waiting above. That's why one should never randomly pull levers in in a dungeon.