D&D 5E How much is a ton in Ghosts of Saltmarsh?

[Sword of Spirit]

The book doesn't say, and my research on ships has indicated some very different values. What volume would you use for the tons listed for ship's capacity in Ghosts of Saltmarsh?

 

[Flamestrike]

Gross tonnage - Wikipedia

 

[NotAYakk]

A cubic meter. Or cubic yard. Depending on which I'm more familiar with.

1 modern US ton is about 0.9 m^3 of water, one modern metric tonne is 1 m^3 of water.

 

[jasper]

To make the math easier go with either 2,500 or 3,000 pound. Tons are generally 2,800 pds.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

At first I thought you were trying to measure the weight of a ghost, and how many ghosts in a ton. Like trying to measure how many angels on the head of a pin...

 

[Greenstone.Walker]

1 ton is 160 stone or 80 tood Does that help?

 

[Dausuul]

To make the math easier go with either 2,500 or 3,000 pound. Tons are generally 2,800 pds.

You're calculating the weight of a metric ton in pounds, which is an odd thing to do. The metric ton is 1,000 kilograms. The short ton (what is generally just called a "ton" in the U.S.) is 2,000 pounds. If you consistently use the appropriate unit system (metric or imperial), calculating the weight of either type of ton is a snap. Since the D&D books use pounds, I would assume they are also using short tons and go with that.

(There is also a "long ton," which is defined as exactly 2,240 pounds, because... uh... look over there. This is the ton to use if a) you have to deal with it in the real world for some reason, or b) you think the British currency system pre-decimalization was too simple.)

And then there is gross tonnage, per @Flamestrike's link, which is a volume-based measure that requires logarithms. If that appeals to you, you may wish to consider giving up D&D and looking into GURPS.

 

[Flamestrike]

You're calculating the weight of a metric ton in pounds, which is an odd thing to do. The metric ton is 1,000 kilograms. The short ton (what is generally just called a "ton" in the U.S.) is 2,000 pounds. If you consistently use the appropriate unit system (metric or imperial), calculating the weight of either type of ton is a snap. Since the D&D books use pounds, I would assume they are also using short tons and go with that.

(There is also a "long ton," which is defined as exactly 2,240 pounds, because... uh... look over there. This is the ton to use if a) you have to deal with it in the real world for some reason, or b) you think the British currency system pre-decimalization was too simple.)

And then there is gross tonnage, per @Flamestrike's link, which is a volume-based measure that requires logarithms. If that appeals to you, you may wish to consider giving up D&D and looking into GURPS.

I presume when 5E are talking about ships being sized according to tons, they're using gross tonnage, which is the conventional measurement for sizing ships.

 

[Dausuul]

I presume when 5E are talking about ships being sized according to tons, they're using gross tonnage, which is the conventional measurement for sizing ships.

It sounds like they are talking about cargo capacity, which gross tonnage is not.

 

[Sword of Spirit]

Is cargo capacity more likely to mean weight or volume?