PlanetADnD.com

Polly replies, "Sure," and then unravels and offers Ruehar a silk rope, adding, "Please hold onto this."
Hugging the wall, she walks straight across albeit with a bit of a wobble in the middle..
She turns round on the west bank and says, "Hold on a moment,"and disappears out of sight, hidden by the rock face.
After a minute or so Polly's eager little face bobs up. "Ok, tie your end round your waist. Then, your turn, just come across."

======
Exactly. The horizontal line is what Hexographer thinks a waterfall looks like.
E bank moving, hopefully, to west.

Polly: Tightrope walk TN38%+65%(easy)=103%, D100=93%-10(ASS)-5(opportunist)-1(GH)=77%
RV: Rope Use is Easy (+40% bonus). Failure by more than 20 (unlkess natural >95%) is obviosly a poor knot and can be re-tied.
RV: Tightrope Walking is Medium (+20% bonus). Acrobatic SS allows -10% bonus (to be deducted from the roll) and a further -15% bonus (for the rope, also modifies the roll.)

Ruehar tries to cross carefully, keeping an eye out for any tripping hazards he can avoid.
====
So tightrope 38% (with 15 point bonus for rope and 20 pt bonus for 'medium?)
Or would a rogue 'climb walls' check be useful/better? (70%)

OOC: Oh climb is better. Good call. No rope bonus though, but 70+20 is a decent chance.
If successful, gains (thief only) +200xp.

Ruehar trusts his nimble, practiced fingers; finding nooks and notche in the rock to cling to as he makes his way cautiously across to join Polly on the other side.

====
Ruehar climb past waterfall [1d100] = 47

+200 thief xp to be added later

"Good job you've got strong fingers," comments Polly. "Maybe it's all those years of pulling a bow." She recovers her rope and repacks it.

Ruehar leads the way following the northern bank downsteam. It takes a while but eventually the right area of reed bed is found.
Having to step out right to the edge of the bank, one boot into the water, proves tricky but Ruehar is able to recover what he saw moving around - a leg.
Turns out it's not a body, just a humanoid leg but the reason for it bobbing around is now apparent - the 2' long giant tick trying to extract nutrient from the leg.

Combat Round #1:
Ruehar drops the leg and scrambles crab-wise back up the bank. Both leg and tick remain on the bank.
Giant Tick #1 releases the severed leg and skitters after more succulent flesh -Ruehar {but won't reach him until Round 2}
Polly hits the creature squarely in the side with a war-bullet that makes a loud 'thwack' noise {9 dam}

======
Surprise check for the party: 1d10=8, Success.
Polly: hits AC-9 for 1d6+4=9dam.
Giant tick #1 is ~2' long, so counts as Small

Need Ruehar's actions for round #1 (he's going last for once),
and then intentions (and rolls) for round #2.

Ruehar draws his swords and prepares to strike the tick when it gets near enough.

The creature comes close enough for Ruehar to strike at it with his just-drawn shortsword.

He has the option though -will he hold his ground or run away like a little girl?

======
Ruehar's inits:
d10:6-4Dex-2SSword+3kneel+3stand up+5-1GH=10
d10:8-4Dex-0LSword+3kneel+3stand up+5-1GH=14 = off 4 in R2

Ruehar attacks!

Ruehar holds his ground and waits until the giant tick is just within range of his short sword and with a mighty effort pierces its tough chitinous hide.
Not having faced such a creature, the elf is surprised just how hard the 2' long monster's hide is; comparable to plate armour.
It oozes a black ichor that smells awful.

Round 2:
Polly holds action as the risk of hitting her companion is too high. She takes the opportunity to move round 10' to view the foe from the side.
The slow tick leans in to bite Ruehar who manages to nimbly sway out of the way and then follow up with a longsword blow that hits the creature but just bounces off ineffectually.

Round 3:
Actions and rolls?
======
Round 1 (end of):
RV to hit short sword, d20:14+1(W.Qual)+1(elf)+1(GH)=17, hits, but only just. (Now that the elf has used this in anger, the char sheet can be updated with +1 to hit for good quality weapon.)
Dan 1d6:6-1+1(GH)+penetration1d6-1+1(GH)=4-1+1=10dam
Round 2:
Init 1, Polly holds action, having a 67% chance of hitting the elf with her sling.
Init 1, tick bites d20:6, AC7, misses
Init 4, RV longsword, d20:15-3(NP)+1(elf)+1(GH)=14, misses.

Ruehar attacks again with his swords.

===
RK001 LS attk, ss attk, LS dmg, ss dmg [1d20] = 16, [1d20] = 1, [1d6] = 6, [1d6-1] = 5-1 = 4
RK001 LS penetration dmg [1d6] = 4

LS attk: 16 +1(elf)+1(GH)=18, hit
LS dmg: [1d6]=6 +1(GH)+(penetration[1d6]=4+1) = 12 dmg

ss attk: 1, fumble!

Round 3:
Actions and rolls?
RK strikes at the hard-shelled creature, nearly dropping his short sword as he body-swerves to avoid the tick's viscous bite.
The longsword again bounces ineffectually along the tick's hide. ~Not quite got the hang of a long sword yet,~ thinks Ruehar.
Seeing that her taller companion has no intention of stepping back to let her get a clear shot with her far superior sling, Polly drops the sling, fast draws her short sword, swallows and advances on the ugly foe, kicking some sand up into its face before striking it a nasty blow with all her weight behind it, produces another small hole that bubbles ichor.
Unbelievably the creature is still looking for a meal.

Round 4:
Actions and rolls?

======
RK SS fumble (always roll d1,000)=379, damage own armour (none worn so no effect)
Tick d20=3, miss
RK LS to hit =18 -3 (not proficient) =15, misses
Polly: Dirty Fighting, 10 rounds @ +2 to hit, +2 dam, crit on 19-20, AC penalty of 2, -2 Temp Hon.
Polly SS: d20=19 crit! Severity d8=7+2(DF)+1(Str)+1(side)-5(Th)+3(tick)+1(GH)=10, Location d10,000=4,964 (front leg, x2 dam, -2 to hit)
Dam 2d6=(4+3)+1(Str)+2(DF)+2(GH)=12 dam
Tick MOR d20=2, pass

Sorry, didn't want to let it get to you. This thing's shell is a lot thicker than I expected, should we withdraw and pelt it with arrows and stones? Ruehar tries to kill the thing with his swords again.

===
Lol. Best possible fumble result

Wait... he missed with a natural 16? Ohcrap. Well, fumbled last time maybe I'll crit this time

RK001 LS attk, ss attk, LS dmg, ss dmg [1d20] = 7, [1d20] = 16, [1d6] = 4, [1d6-1] = 5-1 = 4

LS attk: 7 +1(elf)+1(GH) -3(non-p)=6, miss

ss attk: 16 +1(qual) +1(elf)+1(GH)=19, hit?
ss dmg: [1d6-1]=5-1 +1(GH) = 5 dmg

"Thanks. That's what I was expecting you to do to be honest. The things only got little legs. Even I can outrun it," replies Polly, matter-of-factly. "I'm not bothered about that knightly 'ranged weapons are cowardly' bullshit."
While Polly's pontificating, the elf waves his lonsword in a random direction and then neatly thrusts his shortsrod into an existing ichor-coated wound. The creature expires with nary a sound and only the odd twitch.
"Nice one," congratulates the halfling, {OOC: presumably thinking it was a called shot, which adds +1 dam even if not a crit}

End of Combat.
+117xp. +6 Temp Hon.

What next?

[Ooc: sounds good to me]

Hah! he laughs in surprise. Or I could just kill it outright, I suppose. He grins, amused. Right. Next time we use distance and rain death on it... Found an arm down there... hope that's not our friend...

Ruehar searches the bank from a few feet away, up and down the length about 40 yds each way, bow ready and half-drawn.

The leg from which the tick detached lays on the bank. It wears s leather boot that may once have been orange-red.
Ruehar searches up and down the bank for 40 yards but to not avail. Nothing assails him.

Meanwhile Polly examines the leg. When Ruehar returns she announces, "The leg's been sucked dry. But it was severed by something that wasn't the leech. I'd say it looks like teeth marks from a goat or sheep." She shrugs. "Nothing in the boot, apart from a shriveled foot, of course. If you want to show the boot to others, we'll have to remove it. You pull the leg and I'll pull the boot?"

When done, she suggests, "Maybe the rest of the body got washed downstream."

What next?

======
{OOC: It was a leg.}