The party arrives at the edge of a deep gorge and quickly realizes there’s no straightforward way across. They see what may be a precarious trail leading down, but its viability is questionable. The walls drop sharply to a fast-moving river at the bottom, and the far side is the only way forward. The gorge is riddled with caves at various levels, and it doesn’t take long to figure out that most of them are occupied. Something is watching from the dark openings in the rock face, and whatever is down there isn’t friendly.
Just below the rim, the party finds the wreckage of a hot air balloon that came down hard at some point in the not-too-distant past. The basket is battered but intact, and the envelope is torn in a few places but repairable with the right materials and enough time. It’s not an obvious solution, but it’s a solution, and a party that figures it out will spend some time debating whether getting airborne above a gorge full of caves is actually safer than climbing down into it. The answer is probably yes, but probably isn’t certainly.
Repairing the balloon is a resource management and creativity challenge. The party needs materials, time, and a plan for what happens if something comes up from below or swoops down from above while they’re in the air. Flying creatures are a real possibility here, and the DM should make sure the party knows it before they commit to the ascent. How the crossing goes depends entirely on how well they prepared and how much trouble finds them mid-flight.
Party Level: 6-9. The environmental challenge and the creature variety the gorge can support both fit this range. Lower-level parties won’t have the resources to manage the crossing, and higher-level parties won’t feel the pressure.
World: Any
Rules-set: Any
Note: I’ve never run this one but have it developed to add some difficulty to an otherwise routine hex crawl. – SW
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