Water Slide and Bears
The corridor ahead changes to have a circular cross-section, the water from behind making the floor slippery. Yes, we've found the water slide. The agile members of the party aren't too worried, at least not with getting to the bottom of the slide itself. Ganelon in his plate armour is somewhat concerned, but Brennan volunteers to head down first and take a rope, to ensure it can reach far enough for our paladin to be able to brace himself and not slide to his doom.
Even if we're confident about Brennan sliding his way to the end safely, there is always the danger of what he'll meet at the bottom, particularly if he can't then climb back up quickly. In case of threats, we work out a communication system. 'Scream if you run in to trouble.' It's a tested system, although it rather depends on who's screaming as to how quickly help comes.
'Make it three screams if you want us to follow.'
'In that case, let's hope whatever attacks him doesn't kill him in one blow.'
'Nope', I say, 'that's the genius of the system. If he can't survive long enough to scream three times I don't think we want to go down after him'.
We tie the rope to something sturdy at the top of the corridor and Brennan slides his way down the corridor. 'You're about 30 ft down at the moment', the GM says.
'Does it go straight?'
'To start with, then twists a bit, bears to the right...'
'Bears to the right? Do we need to roll initiative?' Apparently not, and Brennan makes it to the end of the corridor unharmed, sending us a message that he has arrived safely. It's our turn to follow.