D&D 3E/3.5 A ropey issue

[Cleon]

Bloodvine Rope: This 50-foot length of tough, lightweight rope is made from alchemically treated bloodvine, a rare scarlet-colored vine that grows only in warm jungle environments. Though prized by climbers for its durability, bloodvine can also be used to bind creatures. Bloodvine rope has a hardness of 5 and 10 hit points, and can be broken with a DC 30 Strength check. A creature bound by bloodvine rope can escape with a DC 35 Escape Artist check or a DC 30 Strength check. The DC to create bloodvine rope with Craft (alchemy) is 30. Price 200 gp; Weight 5 lbs. Source Advanced Class Guide (2014).

Wow, Break DC 30 - that's four higher than a solid metal chain! Really impressive for a liana.

Right, that should mean the line can support four times as heavy a load as the Break DC 25 spider's silk rope, for "a bloodvine rope can support 7,200 pounds safely, or up to 21,600 pounds with an increasing risk of it breaking".

So it's +300% stronger than spider's silk rope, had +66% more hit points and has hardness 5 too boot. It also somehow has DC 35 for Escape Artist checks to escape from it (which I guess means someone without Use Rope can just use one a bloodvine instead. Heck, someone with lower than +25 Use Rope is better off tying up their victims with one).

That seems excessively good for a rope that's only twice as pricey as spider's silk.

Hold on, can you make ropes of entanglement out of bloodvine to make them ridiculously hard to escape from?

Stretch cords: Sold in pairs, these cords have an elastic quality. Both cords measure 2 feet long but can be extended to 4 feet. Each end of a cord has a small metal hook. Employed together, these cords can be used to tie down all sorts of equipment and prevent damage from wind or other inhospitable weather. Price 5 sp; Weight 1/2 lb. Source Ultimate Wilderness (2017).

Nothing much to go on here, no Break DCs or how much weight they can support.

The 100% stretch factor (2 feet to 4 feet) indicates they are as as elastic as high quality nylon. They're a bit cheaper than standard silk rope by length - five silver pieces for four feet, while the same length of silk rope (10 gp for 50 ft.) would be eight silver pieces. Plus that 5 sp includes four small metal hooks, which presumably would cost something to make too. If anything, they appear to be underpriced.

 

[Cleon]

Weapons
There are a few D&D/Pathfinder weapons that use rope, I'll only quote parts of their description that are relevant to this thread's "how strong and heavy are they" topic unless I get distracted by an interesting point.

Net (3/3.5/Pathfinder)
A net’s maximum range is 10 feet. If you control the trailing rope by succeeding on an opposed Strength check while holding it, the entangled creature can move only within the limits that the rope allows. The net has 5 hit points and can be burst with a DC 25 Strength check (also a full-round action). A net is useful only against creatures within one size category of you.
Price 20 gp Weight 6 lb.

Net, Snag (Pathfinder)
Price 30 gp Weight 10 lb.

Okay, if a Medium creature can entangle a Large creature with a Net, that suggests the net covers the same Space as a Large creature, or 10 ft. by 10 ft.

That suggests it must be made of several hundred feet of rope. If the net portion were a grid of ten 10-foot lengths going one in one direction and another ten in the orthogonal direction (Up-to-Down & Left-to-Right, North-to-South & West-to-East or whatever) that'd be 200 feet, plus the "trailing rope" would likely add another 10 ft. That's 210 feet without allowing for knots, extra trailing rope, and ropes a generous foot apart - which might be far enough for a Small creature to easily wiggle out between them.

But despite all that length of rope a net only weighs 6 pounds, the weight of a 30 foot stretch of hemp rope, plus it has a Break DC of 25 - maybe because the entangled victim has to burst multiple strands simultaneously to escape? The 5 hit points might suggest the victim has to burst the equivalent of two or three lengths of rope at once to escape, as hempen rope has 2 hp. The scaling of Carrying Capacity loads would suggest that's equivalent to a +3 to the Break DC, which might mean the individual ropes in a Net could be DC 22.

Maybe the Net's made out of silk rope that's thinner than normal? If it was, say, 50% the cross-sectional area and 240% the length of a normal silk rope it'd weigh 120% as much, which'd match the 6 pound weight of the SRD stats.

Plus, it'd help justify something made out of rope costing 20 gold pieces - you could buy a thousand feet of standard hempen rope for that much money.

As for Pathfinder's Snag Net, while it's heavier and pricier the main point of the weapon is it's harder to escape from and can deal very slight piercing damage to an entangled victim with its barbed hooks.

Harpoon (Pathfinder)
Range Increment 10 ft. (thrown); Weight 16 lbs.; A harpoon’s weight includes 10 pounds for the weight of 50 feet of hemp rope. The weight can be reduced by using shorter or lighter rope.

Please note that while there are stats for Harpoons in 3E D&D they're not in the SRD, so I'll only examine the Pathfinder version.

Nothing of much interest here. It just uses a standard hemp rope.

Lasso (Pathfinder)
Cost 1 sp Weight 5 lbs.
Category ranged Proficiency exotic
Weapon Group thrown
This thrown weapon is a length of rope with a simple open knot on one end that allows you to entangle a foe like you would using a net.
The lasso has 2 hit points and AC 10, and requires a DC 23 Strength check to break.

I was a bit baffled on first seeing this entry, because the Lasso doesn't have a Range Increment listed. After perusing multiple Paizo forums, there appear to be two conflicting opinions:

#1 The "entangle a foe like you would using a net" means that, as per the "A net's maximum range is 10 feet", a lasso can only be thrown 10 ft. and has no Range Increment.
#2 It's an accidental omission and a lasso is a thrown weapon with a 10 ft. Range Increment.

Personally I think #2 makes way more sense. Glancing at the Wikipedia's entry on the Lasso and various other rope-use webpages a short search of the internet turned up, I found that (a) cowhands sometimes use ropes up to 70 feet long, or even 100 feet or longer, to rope their cattle; (b) Yahoo Answers How far can you throw a line?says they can throw a 3/8" dock line 14 metres (about 46 feet), while A Guide to Rope Throwing and Throwlines says "An experienced arborist can use a throwline to get a TIP of up to 60 feet". Those distances are around the the 50 foot maximum of a 10 ft. Range Increment thrown weapon.

There are a couple more curious points. The Lasso has Break DC 23, the same as the standard hempen rope, but it weighs five pounds, half the weight of a standard rope, while costing only one silver piece, one tenth as much as a hempen rope.

What's that about? Being half weight might indicate the rope's half length (25 feet), which would make sense if the weapon only has a 10 foot maximum range, but why on earth would it be so cheap?

I'd make a lasso cost 1 gp or maybe 5 gp. Apparently a good lasso should be made from rope that's thinner & stiffer than usual and possible weighted slightly for ease of throwing, so it wouldn't be unreasonable to make the rope slightly costlier per unit length/weight than the normal hemp.

Oh, and give it a 10 ft. Range Increment for heaven's sake. The Pathfinder rules say a harpoon can be thrown up to 50 ft. and that thing weighs sixteen pounds!

 

[Cleon]

Magic Ropes
The 3E and Pathfinder SRDs have a few enchanted roped and rope-related items germane to this thread.

Generic D&D Magic Items

Net of Snaring (3/3.5)[not Pathfinder]: This net provides a +3 bonus on attack rolls but can only be used underwater, thus making it a somewhat useful item rather than what most would really call a cursed item. Underwater, it can be commanded to shoot forth up to 30 feet to trap a creature.

Moderate evocation; CL 8th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, freedom of movement; Price 10,000 gp.

Note: The Pathfinder version of the net of snaring is different from the 3/3.5 D%D version and is described below under Pathfinder Magic Items.​

Rope of Climbing (3/3.5/Pathfinder): A 60-foot-long rope of climbing is no thicker than a wand, but it is strong enough to support 3,000 pounds. Upon command, the rope snakes forward, upward, downward, or in any other direction at 10 feet per round, attaching itself securely wherever its owner desires. It can unfasten itself and return in the same manner.

A rope of climbing can be commanded to knot or unknot itself. This causes large knots to appear at 1-foot intervals along the rope. Knotting shortens the rope to a 50-foot length until the knots are untied but lowers the DC of Climb checks while using it by 10. A creature must hold one end of the rope when its magic is invoked.

Faint transmutation; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, animate rope; Price 3,000 gp; Weight 3 lb.

Rope of Entanglement (3/3.5/Pathfinder): A rope of entanglement looks just like any other hempen rope about 30 feet long. Upon command, the rope lashes forward 20 feet or upward 10 feet to entangle a victim. An entangled creature can break free with a DC 20 Strength check or a DC 20 Escape Artist check.

The rope has AC 22, 12 hit points, and hardness 10, and it has damage reduction 5/slashing as well. The rope repairs damage to itself at a rate of 1 point per 5 minutes, but if a rope of entanglement is severed (all 12 hit points lost to damage), it is destroyed.

Moderate transmutation; CL 12th; Craft Wondrous Item, animate objects, animate rope, entangle; Price 21,000 gp; Weight 5 lb.


Pathfinder Magic Items
The Pathfinder version of the net of snaring is quite different to the underwater-only D&D one so its SRD stats will be repeated here (see below). The pathfinder SRD includes the rope of climbing and rope of entanglement but those Wondrous Items are basically the same as the 3E D&D versions so I won't bother repeating their stats.

Pathfinder has several entirely new rope-related magic items. The razored rope, rope of knots, robe of infinite twine and vindictive harpoon have at least one feature I consider worth discussing. I'll exclude third-party entries to the SRD such as Bastion Press's Reaver’s Net. There may be more magic ropes in the SRD that I've missed since I haven't checked through the entire database, but I think that'll do.

The vindictive harpoon is pretty much a standard magic weapon mechanically, since it's only special feature is being freely usable underwater. I guess I should have a discussion post about magic weapons and masterwork ropes.


Net of Snaring (Pathfinder)
Price 28,940 gp; Slot none; CL 11th; Weight 6 lbs.; Aura moderate conjuration and transmutation

DESCRIPTION
This +1 distance net seems lighter than expected and is slightly sticky to the touch.

Three times per day, the wielder may speak the command word and throw the net of snaring at a target. This is a ranged touch attack with a range of 40 feet. The net immediately grows by two size categories. If the attack hits, the target must succeed at a DC 25 Reflex save or become entangled. So long as the wielder retains control of the trailing rope, he may attempt or otherwise act on a grapple as a free action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. Speaking the command word again shrinks the item to normal size so long as no creature is confined within it.

CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS
Feats Craft Magic Arms and Armor, levitate, permanency, shrink item, web; Cost 14,470 gp; Source Pathfinder Player Companion: Dragonslayer’s Handbook (2013)


Robe of Infinite Twine (Pathfinder)
Aura moderate conjuration; CL 7th; Slot body; Price 1,000 gp; Weight 1 lb.

DESCRIPTION
This coarse hempen robe seems made from a single strand of twine.

The wearer can draw up to 30 feet of twine or up to 10 feet of hemp rope per round from the robe without harming it. As an immediate action, the wearer can draw up to 150 feet of twine or 50 feet of rope from the robe, but this gives the robe the broken condition and suppresses its powers until it is repaired. Twine or rope drawn from the robe remains connected until cut or torn, but is treated as common material rather than part of a magic item. Pieces removed become normal twine or rope.

CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS
Feats Craft Wondrous Item, minor creation; Cost 500 gp; Source Ultimate Equipment (2012)


Rope of Knots (Pathfinder)
Aura moderate conjuration; CL 9th; Weight —; Slot none; Price 6,000 gp

DESCRIPTION
This rope is 100 feet long and can perform all the functions of a rope of climbing. Furthermore, upon command the rope of knots snakes out and knots itself into a rope structure. The rope can tie itself into any structure which can be created out of 100 feet of rope. Possible structures include (but are not limited to) a sturdy rope bridge up to 25 feet long, a 10-foot-square net or hammock, or a 40-foot-tall rope ladder. The rope takes up to 10 rounds to create a complex structure or half that time to return itself to a simple coil. The rope has hardness 1 and 20 hit points. It repairs damage to itself at a rate of 2 hit points every 10 minutes.

CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS
Feats Craft Wondrous Item, animate rope; Cost 3,000 gp; Source Ultimate Equipment (2012)


Rope, Razored (Pathfinder)
Aura medium transmutation; CL 3rd; Slot none; Price 8,301 gp; Weight 3 lbs.

DESCRIPTION
A razored rope is a +1 lasso made out of tightly braided lengths of fine chain, used to help restrain cowards attempting to flee a battle. It can be used to entangle an opponent as normal, but deals 1d4 points of damage to a creature that attempts to slip free and fails. The razored rope is also more difficult to escape from, requiring a DC 18 Escape Artist check to slip free from and a DC 28 Strength check to break.

If your patron is a god of battle, as a standard action you can cause the lasso to constrict around a creature already entangled by the rope, dealing 1d4 points of damage.

If your patron is not a god of battle and you attempt to make the lasso constrict, it lashes up and strikes you for 1d4 points of damage.

CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS
Feats Craft Wondrous Item, animate rope; Cost 4,150 gp; Source Pathfinder Player Companion: Faiths of Balance (2011)


Vindictive Harpoon (Pathfinder)
Aura moderate transmutation; CL 9th; Slot none; Price 10,305 gp; Weight 16 lbs.

DESCRIPTION
This +1 returning harpoon is made from the jagged, scrimshaw-carved tusk of a narwhal attached to a 50-foot length of woven sinew. Unlike most thrown weapons, a vindictive harpoon functions as well underwater as on land, and its wielder takes no penalties on attack rolls underwater.

CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS
Feats Craft Magic Arms and Armor; Spells freedom of movement, telekinesis; Cost 5,305 gp

 

[Cleon]

Okay, going through them in order, which prompts me to add an entry on masterwork and magic ropes:

Net of Snaring (3/3.5): This net provides a +3 bonus on attack rolls but can only be used underwater, thus making it a somewhat useful item rather than what most would really call a cursed item. Underwater, it can be commanded to shoot forth up to 30 feet to trap a creature.

Moderate evocation; CL 8th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, freedom of movement; Price 10,000 gp.

Net of Snaring (Pathfinder)
Price 28,940 gp; Slot none; CL 11th; Weight 6 lbs.; Aura moderate conjuration and transmutation

DESCRIPTION
This +1 distance net seems lighter than expected and is slightly sticky to the touch.

Three times per day, the wielder may speak the command word and throw the net of snaring at a target. This is a ranged touch attack with a range of 40 feet. The net immediately grows by two size categories. If the attack hits, the target must succeed at a DC 25 Reflex save or become entangled. So long as the wielder retains control of the trailing rope, he may attempt or otherwise act on a grapple as a free action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. Speaking the command word again shrinks the item to normal size so long as no creature is confined within it.

CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS
Feats Craft Magic Arms and Armor, levitate, permanency, shrink item, web; Cost 14,470 gp; Source Pathfinder Player Companion: Dragonslayer’s Handbook (2013)

Okay, there's no Break DC, weight or load capacity in the above so there's nothing to indicate that the ropes they're made of differ in strength from standard magic items.

The D&D SRD net of snaring is given a +3 bonus to hit, but it doesn't specify that it's an actual +3 weapon. A standard +3 magic weapon enhancement costs 18,000 gp, almost twice as much as the net's 10,000 gp but the net only works underwater (which apparently is why it's listed under "cursed items"), so maybe the writers arbitrarily reduced the cost? Alternatively, it could just be a standard magic item, which'd make it as tough as a regular masterwork item. Or maybe aim between the two extremes and make it equivalent to a +1 net, since magic weapons must have a minimum bonus of +1. Making one requires Craft Magic Arms and Armor, strongly implying that it's a magic weapon.

Dang it, I'd better cut out the (Wondrous Items) after D&D Magic Items in my above post… …Done!

The Pathfinder net of snaring is a +1 distance net.

Masterwork and Magic Ropes
Since you can make masterwork weapons out of ropes and chains, presumably masterwork ropes and masterwork chains must exist to make them with. That masterwork chains exist is also indicated by the presence of masterwork manacles in the SRD.

Masterwork manacles have Break DC 28, while standard manacles have Break DC 26. So let's say that rule applies to all masterwork ropes and chains - the masterwork version has +2 Break DC.

The SRD rules state "Each +1 of enhancement bonus adds 2 to a weapon’s or shield’s hardness and +10 to its hit points".

The Pathfinder net of snaring is explicitly stated to be a +1 weapon, so should have hardness 2 higher than a standard net.

If the D&D net of snaring is a +3 net, it should have a hardness 6 higher than a standard net.

Now I think increases in hardness probably have a 1-on-1 relationship with an object's Break DC. If a +2 hardness object needs two more points of damage to actually reduce its hit points, that's equivalent to being struck by a creature with a two-point higher Strength modifier, so it seems logical it also takes the same increase of Strength to break them with brute force, hence a two-point higher Break DC.

So if a standard net's Break DC 25, a +1 net should be DC 27 and a +3 net DC 31.

Conveniently that'd mean that a masterwork net and a +1 net should have the same Break DC, since they're both 2 higher than a normal net. There's still a major difference in that the magic net would also get +10 hit points from the enchantment.

Increasing the Break DC by 2 would also increase the breaking load of the rope or chain. Going by the Strength and Carrying Capacity rules, since a +2 Strength modifier increase require a Strength score 4, a +1 rope's breaking load should be about 175% as much.

A +3 net has +6 Break DC so the Strength score needs to be 12 higher, so the breaking load would be 520% as much according to the Carrying Capacity table.

So for the normal +1 to +5 range of magic weapon plusses, that'll come to:

Weapon Bonus	Hardness/Break DC​	Load Multiplier​
+0 (normal item)	+0​	1.00​
+1 weapon (or masterwork)	+2​	1.75​
+2 weapon	+4​	3.00​
+3 weapon	+6​	5.20​
+4 weapon	+8​	9.20​
+5 weapon	+10​	16.0​

Hmm… if we have Masterwork Rope that are +2 Break DC how about something inbetween with +1 Break DC for a good but not master quality rope? Such a rope would have a breaking load 130% as much as a normal quality rope. I'd call it Superior Rope.

Contrariwise to better quality ropes, lower quality ropes can exist to represent ropes made of cheaper and weaker materials and degraded ropes that have become old, worn, or rotten.

I'd go for something like:

Inferior Rope: A poor quality rope that is good enough for most mundane tasks were it would not be required to support dangerously high loads. This rope has a 1 point penalty to its Break DC and a breaking load 80% of a normal rope.

Weak Rope: A rope that is so feeble it should only be used for tasks were it would not matter if the rope fails. It would be rejected as unusable by most sailors. This rope has a 2 point penalty to its Break DC and a breaking load 60% of a normal rope.

Rotten Rope: A rope that is badly damaged or made with incredible ineptitude out of low quality materials. Only a foolish or desperate person would rely on it. This rope has a 5 point penalty to its Break DC and a breaking load 25% of a normal rope.

Quality	Break DC​	Load Multiplier​
Rotten	–5​	0.25​
Weak	–2​	0.60​
Inferior	–1​	0.80​
Normal	+0​	1.00​
Superior	+1​	1.30​
Masterwork	+2​	1.75​

Methinks that a masterwork or superior rope might not have a breaking load that's much higher than a regular rope, but is made to such a high quality that it has few weak points so it's "safe load" multiplier is lower than the 1:6 I've been using. If it's, say a 1:4 safe load its breaking load would only need to be 1.16% higher to have a 175% better working load.

Hmm, I appear to be wandering off track from contemplating the SRD magic ropes now.

Better do separate post(s) on Size & Quality of Ropes. I have further musings on rope scaling, how damaging ropes could affect its quality and Break DC and so forth.

For that matter, I'd better come up with some ideas how much masterwork ropes and chains should cost…

 

[Cleon]

Rope of Climbing (3/3.5/Pathfinder): A 60-foot-long rope of climbing is no thicker than a wand, but it is strong enough to support 3,000 pounds. Upon command, the rope snakes forward, upward, downward, or in any other direction at 10 feet per round, attaching itself securely wherever its owner desires. It can unfasten itself and return in the same manner.

A rope of climbing can be commanded to knot or unknot itself. This causes large knots to appear at 1-foot intervals along the rope. Knotting shortens the rope to a 50-foot length until the knots are untied but lowers the DC of Climb checks while using it by 10. A creature must hold one end of the rope when its magic is invoked.

Faint transmutation; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, animate rope; Price 3,000 gp; Weight 3 lb.

Reverse-engineering the First Approach, assuming being "strong enough to support 3,000 pounds" means a working load of 3,000 pounds then the rope of climbing has a breaking strength of 18,000 pounds. A Strength score of 43 is the best match to that, with a max lift of 19,200 pounds (Str 42 is max lift 16,640 lift). That's a +16 Strength bonus, so the Break DC should be 27 (since the Break DC is 11 plus the Strength modifier of the Strength category that can max lift the breaking load, since we're assuming the "take 10" effort is just enough to strain the rope to its breaking point).

Break DC 27 is the Break DC of a +1 spider's silk rope going by the previous post on masterwork and magic ropes' Break DCs. It'd also be the Break DC of a +2 hempen rope by the same guidelines. That seems reasonable for an enchanted rope.

A rope of climbing weighs 3 pounds for a 60 foot rope, or 20 feet per pound of weight. That's even thinner than the 12.5 ft. per lb. of a Pathfinder's spider's silk rope let alone the 10 ft. per lb. of a silk rope or 5 ft. per lb. of a hempen rope.

So it must be a rope that's lighter than normal, presumably bearing a stronger enchantment that compensates for the thinner material. For example, it could be a hempen rope that's ten times stronger than normal and three-tenth the weight, accounting for the resulting rope being three times stronger than a normal hempen rope. However increasing a rope's strength by a factor of 10 would require it to be equivalent to a +4 hempen rope, which seems too high for a regular magic item. More appropriate comparisons would be a spider's silk rope 2.66 times stronger than normal and 0.625 times the weight. That's between the ×1.75 load multiplier of a +1 weapon and the ×3 load multiplier of a +2 (see previous post), so it's "within bounds" for an +1 spider's silk rope. Alternatively, it could be a silk rope 4.60 times stronger than normal and one-half the weight, which'd be roughly equivalent to a +2 weapon.

That leaves hardness and hit points.

If it's equivalent to a +1 spider's silk rope then a rope of climbing would have 6 hit points plus 10 bonus hit points (+1 magic) or 16 hit points. However, the rope is 62.5% the thinness of a regular spider's silk rope so presumably has 62.5% the hit points (since the Breaking Objects rules indicate hit points are proportional to thickness just as Hit Dice of monsters are generally proportional to their dimensions (note that monsters twice as tall tend to have twice the HD). That would give the rope 10 hit points (16×0.625), which seems a nice round number.

Hardness wise, the Pathfinder rules don't give hardness to spider's silk rope, suggesting it just has hardness 2 from its +1 enchantment.

However, the SRD states Monstrous Spiders produce silk with hardness 5. If the proposed spider's silk rope used in a rope of climbing shares that trait, it should have hardness 7 including the 2 points of hardness from the rope's enchantment.

Of SRD ropes with listed hardness values we have D&D/Pathfinder's rope of entanglement which has hardness 10 and 12 hit points (so high-ish hardness like a Monstrous Spider's silk) and Pathfinder's rope of knots with hardness 1 and 20 hit points (so low hardness like a normal rope).

Hmm, which to pick.

Well, a rope of knots "can perform all the functions of a rope of climbing" and is a similar utility item to that magic item while a rope of entanglement is is quite different in its intended use as an offensive wondrous item, so I'm inclined to go for the low hardness option. Let's give a rope of climbing the same hardness and hit points as the rope of knots and leave it at that. I could give it 10 hit points of 16 hit points as calculated above, but if it has "all the functions" of a rope of climbing I'll assume that includes how difficult it is to cut through. A rope of knots is only twice as expensive as a rope of climbing but is almost twice as long (100 ft. vs 60 ft.) and has additional functions, so it seems inappropriate to make one a lot tougher than the other as well.

If anyone want some justifications for those values. Erm… the magic gave it half the expected hardness (2 => 1) and twice the expected hit points (10 => 20).

There you go!

Conclusion
A rope of climbing is roughly equivalent to a +1 spider's silk rope and has Break DC 27, hardness 1 and 20 hit points.

 

[Cleon]

Oh, and Merry Christmas everybody!

 

[Cleon]

Rope of Entanglement (3/3.5/Pathfinder): A rope of entanglement looks just like any other hempen rope about 30 feet long. Upon command, the rope lashes forward 20 feet or upward 10 feet to entangle a victim. An entangled creature can break free with a DC 20 Strength check or a DC 20 Escape Artist check.

The rope has AC 22, 12 hit points, and hardness 10, and it has damage reduction 5/slashing as well. The rope repairs damage to itself at a rate of 1 point per 5 minutes, but if a rope of entanglement is severed (all 12 hit points lost to damage), it is destroyed.

Moderate transmutation; CL 12th; Craft Wondrous Item, animate objects, animate rope, entangle; Price 21,000 gp; Weight 5 lb.

The 12 hit points of a rope of entanglement is the same as a +1 magic weapon made from a standard hempen rope, but such a rope would have have hardness 2. Obviously some additional enchantment was used to grant it hardness 10 and DR 5/slashing.

The weight of 5 pounds would match a 25 foot length of hemp rope, which lines up with the "about 30 feet long" in the description. If it were literally 30 feet long it should weigh 6 pounds assuming the rope is of standard hempen heaviness.

Note that there's no mention of an attack role or anything - a rope of entanglement unerringly wraps itself around its target. There's also no size limit, so it can entangle enormous creatures that would need more than 30 feet of line to tie up - I doubt that'd wrap around a Colossal Purple Worm more than once. Presumably the rope "stretches to fit" like magic clothing does.

The fact that "An entangled creature can break free with a DC 20 Strength check" is interesting. To me that implies they escape via brute force without breaking the rope. So I'm thinking the rope simply releases them when its strained to a degree it risks snapping, suggesting it might have a Break DC significantly higher than that 20.

The increased hardness might also be evidence that the rope has a higher Break DC than the DC 25 I'd expect from a +1 hempen rope. Maybe even Break DC 33 since it's hardness is +10 rather than +2? That'd match a +5 rope though, which feels too high, especially considering a +5 magic weapon normally costs +50,000 gp.

If one averaged its hardness 10 with the 2 extra Break DC a regular +1 rope would provide, that'd be +6 for Break DC 29. That's equivalent to a +3 hempen rope. A +3 magic weapon costs +18,000 gp for the enchantment, which is within the ballpark of the rope of entanglement's listed price of 21,000 gp.

Not sure I care for either of those arguments though. A rope of entanglement could simply be enchanted to be as strong as a steel chain of the same heaviness, thereby matching the listed hardness 10. That'd be Break DC 26 since both a hempen rope and chain are 5 feet long per pound.

Let's be conservative and use the lowest of those three Break DC estimates.

Conclusion
A rope of entanglement is roughly equivalent to a +1 hempen rope but is enchanted to be as strong as steel chain. It has Break DC 26 and can support 2,400 pounds safely, or up to 7,200 lbs with an increasing risk of breakage.

 

[Stormonu]

Wilderness Survival Guide, 1E p36 - "The standard 50-foot coil of rope is is assumed to be somewhat smaller than 1/2 inch in diameter, and a rope of this diameter can support upto 1,500 pounds without being in danger of fraying or breaking. If this weight limit is exceeded, there is a 20% chance per turn (non-cumulative) while the strain remains on the rope that it will break. If the rope does not break, there is a 10% chance, cumulative per turn, that it has become weakened from the stress (10% after one turn, 30% after two turns, 60% after three turns, 100% after four turns). The chance of a weakened rope breaking the next time it is used to support more than its weight limit is 40% per turn (noncumulative).

"For mountain climbing and other uses in the wilderness, a longer and stronger rope is often used. A climbing rope is 150 or 200 feet long and 1/2 inch in diameter, with a weight limit of 2,000 pounds. It is also subject to weakening or breaking as described above"

 

[Cleon]

Wilderness Survival Guide, 1E p36 - "The standard 50-foot coil of rope is is assumed to be somewhat smaller than 1/2 inch in diameter, and a rope of this diameter can support upto 1,500 pounds without being in danger of fraying or breaking. If this weight limit is exceeded, there is a 20% chance per turn (non-cumulative) while the strain remains on the rope that it will break. If the rope does not break, there is a 10% chance, cumulative per turn, that it has become weakened from the stress (10% after one turn, 30% after two turns, 60% after three turns, 100% after four turns). The chance of a weakened rope breaking the next time it is used to support more than its weight limit is 40% per turn (noncumulative).

"For mountain climbing and other uses in the wilderness, a longer and stronger rope is often used. A climbing rope is 150 or 200 feet long and 1/2 inch in diameter, with a weight limit of 2,000 pounds. It is also subject to weakening or breaking as described above"

That's an interesting reference, thanks to pointing it out.

Heavens, it must be pushing 30 years since the last time I cracked open my collection's Wilderness Survival Guide. I tend to only look up 1E sourcebooks with monsters or monster conversion-related content in them these days. Let's see, the WSG came out in 1986 so it might have been over thirty years. (Insert "get off my lawn" reference here!)

Anyhow, comparing those figures to my 3E based musings, they're a decent match to my estimates for a silk rope, "somewhat smaller than 1/2 inch" and "up to 1,500 pounds" being fairly close to my silken rope (9/16 inch and 1,300 lbs) and spider's silk rope (1/2 inch and 1,800 lbs).

A 1E AD&D standard rope has an encumbrance of 75 coins, although that's does not necessarily translate directly to a weight of 7.5 pounds, since 1E the encumbrance of bulky or cumbersome items (like rope or pillows) is higher than the 10 coins per pound.

The WSG's rope is certainly too thin to be regular hemp - a rope weighing 7.5 pounds that was a shade under half an inch thick would have to be made of something twice as dense as hemp. It ought to be roughly 7/10th of an inch rather than the 13/16th inch of the 10-pound 3E hempen rope.

The simplest explanation is that it's a silk rope, and the "climbing rope" is just a slightly thicker silk rope (4/3rd the heaviness to account for its breaking load being 2,000 pounds rather than 1,500). Since it's also 3 or 4 times longer than the standard 50 foot rope at 150-200 ft., it should weigh roughly 4 times as much.

Contrariwise, the 1E Player's Handbook spell entry for minor creation mentions "a bit of twisted hemp to create rope" and presumably the standard rope in that book's equipment list is hempen (as many ropes in Ye Good Olde Days were). The 1,500 pound safe load could just be because the author used a 1:4 safe ratio rather than the 1:6 one I did.

Hold on, consider that the WSG rope has a 20% chance of breaking. In 3E that would occur in an SRD breakage roll when a Strength modifier equals the Break DC minus 17 (i.e. the rope breaks on a roll of 17-20, so for a Break DC 23 hempen rope the breaking force must equate to a +6 Strength mod, or have a Strength of 22-23).

In 3E objects risk of breaking starts with a 5% chance since it's rolled on d20s.

We know there's a 20% chance of "fraying and breaking" at over 1,500 pounds, if it followed the 3E Carrying Capacity scaling it'd have a 5% chance of breaking under a load that's equivalent to a Strength modifier three points lower. A –3 modifier would require a –6 (or maybe –5?) reduction in the Strength score, A +/– 5 or 6 point change in Strength modifies a creature's carrying capacity by 200% or 230%. Which'd mean a rope that has a 20% chance of failing to an load over 1,500 pounds (according to 3E RAW) have a 5% chance of breaking at a load over 650 or 750 pounds.

That 750 pounds is 75% of the 1,000 pounds of my hemp rope guesstimate, which perfectly matches an encumbrance that's 75% that of a 3E hemp rope, so maybe these numbers match up to the AD&D rope being a three-quarter strength version of the SRD hempen rope (that is mysteriously extra-dense to make it thinner).

Of course the above few paragraphs is trying to bend the 3E rules to fit real-world physics.

I think it's more reasonable to say the rope in the Wilderness Survival Guide is some kind of silk rope, as that's a better match to the weight and safe load. There's also a chance that the author might have looked up the figures for modern climbing ropes (which is roughly equal to a silk rope in strength and density since they tend to be made of nylon or a similar material).

I'll just pretend not to notice that silk rope appears in the 1E Oriental Adventures for the equivalent of 25 gp (and hemp rope for the equivalent of 10 cp - a mere quarter of the 4 sp it costs in the 1E PHB!).

That would ruin a beautiful theory!

 

[Stormonu]

I'm just glad I actually found that in the WSG and wasn't misremembering it having those details!

For comparison, in the Arms & Equipment Guide, 2E p 116

"Hemp Rope: ...The diameter of a hemp rope can range from 1/4-inch to three inches or more (found primarily on ships). A fifty-foot length of hemp rope weighs nearly 20 pounds and is capable of holding more than 500 pounds of weight. Cost 1 gp."

"Silk Rope: ...A silk rope is less encumbering to work with (its smooth texture is not as rough on the hands), but does not have the ability to hold as much weight as a hemp rope. Usually no more than 200 pounds can be held by the line at once. A silk rope weighs about eight pounds for a 50-foot length. Cost: 10 gp"

From Aurora's Whole Realms Guide, p10

"Rope Ladder: ...Our rope ladders are also useful as bridges. We use only 3/4 inch hemp with 2-inch board slats, for loads up to 800 pounds. Our rope ladders are sold in two-foot increments, minimum of 8 feet, maximum of 60 (1 sp/4 ft)."

--p 57--
"Ladder: Our ladders are made of sturdy duskwood and come in 2-foot (7 sp), 6-foot (3 gp), 10-foot (5 gp) and 20-foot (10 gp) sizes. For an extra
gp, our 10- and 20-foot sizes can be fitted with hooks, allowing the ladders
to be strung together and hung from a window or roof. Can support 500 lb vertically and 400 lb laid out horizontally."

--p 73--
"Chain: A fine chain of gold can win a lady’s hand as surely as a broad
chain of iron will bind that of a hobgoblin. We offer chains in all sizes,
from 1/8-inch wide ornamental chains to 4-inch wide anchor chains. The chain prices listed below are for iron chains. Steel costs twice as much and can bear twice the weight. Silver is 20 times the cost, and gold is 200 times more expensive (available only in 1/8 to 1/2 inch sizes).

Chain (per 25 ft)

Dia	Cost	Wt (lb)	Load (lb)*
1/8"	6 sp	6	12
1/4"	2 gp	18	96
1/2"	5 gp	36	970
3/4"	9 gp	98	2,300
1"	17 gp	130	5,000
2"	25 gp	210	12,000
3"	35 gp	400	27,000
4"	60 gp	700	65,000

* Load does not increase with length; rope weight should be subtracted from total load

--- p 74 ---

ROPE: We offer many varieties of rope, from narrow strings useful for
ornamentation up to massive ropes used aboard ships. All of our ropes utilize the optimum weave, from a triple braid in our string stock to a dual pentad braid.
The widths of hemp rope up to 1 inch are shaved for easier handling.
Hemp Rope (per 50 ft)*

Dia	Cost	Wt lb	Load lb**
1/16"	5 cp	1/3	10
1/4"	2 sp	2	50
1/2"	5 sp	9	225
3/4"	1 gp	20	500
1"	2 gp	36	900
2"	7 gp	142	3,550
3"	16 gp	320	8,000
4"	28 gp	570	14,250

* Multiply width by 10 for rope hp's
** Load does not increase with length; rope weight should be subtracted from total load At times, a smoother, lighter, or stronger rope is needed for a specific task. In these cases, silk is the best choice. Silk rope is easy on the hands and resists twisting and binding. All our silk ropes are woven by elven artisans.
Silk Rope (per 50 ft)*

Dia	50 ft.	Wt lb	Load lb **
1/8"	2 gp	1 1/2	60
1/4"	4 gp	3 1/2	140
1/2"	10 gp	8	320
3/4"	23 gp	18	720
1 "	50 gp	30	1200

* Multiply width by 15 for rope hps
** Load does not increase with length; rope weight should be subtracted from total load

(Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog is da bomb for any sort of equipment for D&D).