From: Russell L. Bryan <rbryan@Mail.trincoll.edu>
Subject: Re: Bubblyhotrock (was Sense of Wonder)
X-Xxmessage-Id: <A72D179C89013165@downes1-101.dynamic.trincoll.edu>
X-Xxdate: Mon, 16 Nov 92 14:17:16 GMT
Organization: Starving Writers of America (sole member)
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d12
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 14:14:39 GMT

In article <74337@apple.apple.COM> Darren Giles, dgiles@Apple.COM writes:
>> You are looking down yet another deep chasm, with a river of lava
>> bubbling far below (by this point of the game, you've probably seen
>> enough lava to scrap your vacation plans to the volcano planet of
>> Bubblyhotrock Centauri).  A rope spans the chasm from just above the
>> entryway here to just above the entryway of an opening at the other
side
>> of the chasm.  On the other side of the chasm is a carriage of some
sort.
>Attached to the rope, I gather...  More detail on the carriage &
attachment
>would be very helpful.

As was mentioned in the post, this is not verbatim.  More detail IS
available, of course, if you take the trouble to look at the carriage or
the attachment.  For your own info, you have to guess about the inside of
the carriage (no windows) , but if hollow it could probably fit four
comfortably.  It is made of some lightweight material you have not seen
before.  The rope passes into the carriage through a small hole about a
foot below the roof of the carriage.  You assume that the rope continues
through the carriage to the other side, and that the carriage is somehow
suspended by the rope.

>> There is a lever on the wall.
>Does it do anything?

No.  A lot of things in the adventure don't work because the place hasn't
been visited for at least a century.

>>If he climbs on top of it, the carriage overbalances and swings him
right off
>Why?  Presumably it's hanging from the rope; if he could get this far
hand-
>over-hand, what's to say he can't keep holding onto the rope that the
>carriage hangs from?  [Or perhaps I don't have a good enough image of the
>carriage to know why this is impossible.]

See description of the carriage above.

>> If... he climbs part of the rope and then cuts it... then if he has
gone
>> thirty feet across the rope he will swing right into the cave
>Unhurt by the 70' plummet?  Players might rule this out as "surely lethal
>even if allowed"

I neglected to mention that gravity on this planet is lower than on Earth
by nearly a factor of two.  The cave is actually a balcony for a very
comfortable bedroom, and your fall is easily broken by cushions / bed. 
The carriage is pretty strong, but is quite dented from impacting with
the rock ledge.

>Also, it is necessary to allow for all other objects that could be
brought
>to this location.  For example, if I had a 80+ foot rope, I might try
tieing
>it to the first rope just before the carriage, climbing down it, and then
>swinging until I reached the ledge.  I might also try to use the knife or
>other tool to release the carriage from the rope so I could get past it.

Actually, you have a 50 foot rope.  That doesn't cut it.  I can't
envision in my head a way to cut the carriage loose without cutting
yourself loose, as well.  Well, there is ONE way -- your 50 foot rope
tied around your waist, the other tied to a protrusion (which does not
EXIST) in the rock wall, then slice away, but you wouldn't be able to get
back -- you need about sixty-six feet of the ninety-six feet you cut away.
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