In Kubazan’s shrine, characters can reach the puzzle cube by hopping between a number of wooden beams. Each hop requires a successful Dex (Acrobatics) check, equal to 5 the number of feet hopped, else the character falls into a spiked pit. Each beam retracts into the wall, and the beams reset once they have all been used.

I know there are ample other ways the party can reach the cube without using the beams, but suppose they choose to attempt the challenge with the tools the game (i.e. Kubazan’s Shrine) presents to them, and are determined to use the beams. Repeating a check each hop doesn’t seem compelling game play to me, since it comes down to making multiple, back-to-back checks.

Has anyone else looked at the beams and wondered what they could do to make it more compelling?

An immediate idea that springs to mind for me is to have the character make a single check on the first hop. Suppose the character rolls a 10. You then know that they can hop 5-foot gaps successfully, and only need them to fall if they try to jump a gap of more than 5 feet. Essentially here, a single check determines their ability, and that check applies to each hop they make until they fail. No multiple rolls. Player still chooses how big a gap they risk jumping.

I’m curious to know if other people did anything to avoid rolling dice multiple times for this step, or what people think of my idea for avoiding it.