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A ropey issue
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<blockquote data-quote="Cleon" data-source="post: 8147422" data-attributes="member: 57383"><p>Okay, I'll go through them in the above order:</p><p></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 22px">String</span></strong></p><p>Using the First Approach, Break DC 14 => +3 Strength bonus => Strength 16-17 max lift => 460 or 520 pounds => working load 76.66 or 86.66 pounds.</p><p></p><p>Using the Second Approach, 100 ft. of string weighs 1 pound, so one foot weighs 0.01 lb. Which is 67.18 m/kg, or 14.88 g/m, or 3.275 kg/220m.</p><p></p><p>That weight matches a cord somewhere around 4.5 mm to 5 mm in diameter, which to me sounds more like thin rope than thick string:</p><p></p><p><strong>Engineering Toolbox</strong> 5mm sisal rope (0.01 lb/ft. or 0.02 kg/m, min break strength 290 lb or 1.29 kN)</p><p><strong>Engineering Toolbox</strong> 5mm manila rope (0.014 lb/ft. or 0.02 kg/m, min break strength 405 lb or 1.8 kN)</p><p><strong>Buy Rope</strong> 6mm hemp rope (6kg/220m [36.66 m/kg or 27.27g/m, break load 250 kg or 550 lb.])</p><p></p><p>The above breaking strengths translate to a working load of around 45 to 50 pounds assuming a 1:6 safety ration, which is distressingly low compared to the First Approach's Break DC derived working loads of 76 to 87 pounds. Those loads would require a natural fibre cord around 6 mm in diameter - that's definitely a rope!</p><p></p><p>The Pathfinder SRD lists "string or yarn" as costing 2 cp a pound, which is one-fifth the price-per-weight of hempen rope (1 gp for 10 lb => 1 1b. is 1 sp or 10 cp). This <em>strongly</em> suggests it's made from a cheaper and presumably inferior fibre than hemp. Maybe sisal or flax?</p><p></p><p>If standard Pathinder String is made from such a cheap material, then presumably better quality cord made of hemp or silk should be a thing too.</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 22px"><strong>Conclusion</strong></span></p><p>The Break DCs of Pathfinder string or yarn indicate it's a thin rope roughly one-quarter of an inch in diameter, able to support 70 pounds safely, or up to 210 lbs with an increasing risk of it breaking. It's too cheap to be made from hemp, so must be made from inexpensive but relatively weak plant fibres such as sisal or flax.</p><p></p><p>The listed weight is too low for the indicated Break DC; a plant fibre line that strong should be roughly twice as heavy, or about 50 feet to the pound.</p><p></p><p>A line one-quarter of an inch is way too thick to be realistically called "string or yarn", so I would recommend renaming it "Cord" and adding "Twine", "Line" and "Thread" for thinner yarns.</p><p></p><p>Twine tends to be 3 mm in thickness (about 1/8th of an inch), although I've seen it in 2 mm so could call it 1/10th of an inch on average (about 2.5 mm).</p><p></p><p>A <a href="https://www.sailrite.com/Selecting-the-Right-Thread-Size" target="_blank"><strong>fairly thick thread</strong></a> (size 69 of Tex 70 thread) is about 0.01 inches in diameter). So if 1,000 metres of Tex 70 weights 70 grams a tenth of a pound (45.4 grammes) of thread would be… 649 metres or 1,428 feet long. Silk thread is slightly denser than nylon, so a thread of that thickness would be heavier and shorter.</p><p></p><p>Putting that together could gives us stats for yarns along these lines:</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px"><span style="font-size: 18px"><strong>String or Yarn</strong></span></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px">Strings and yarns can range in thickness from cord the diameter of thin rope to fine threads thinner than elven hair. Yarn is sold in balls or spools. A spool of string is heavier than a ball of the same length due to the weight of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbin" target="_blank"><strong>bobbin</strong></a> or spindle it's wound around.</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><strong>Cord</strong>: Sold in lengths of 50 feet or 600 feet, cord has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and a break DC of 14. A cord can support 70 pounds safely, or up to 210 lbs with an increasing risk of it breaking. <strong>Price</strong> 2 cp for 50 ft.; or 2 sp for 600 ft.; <strong>Weight</strong> 1 lb. for 50 ft. (2 lb. in spool); or 10 lb. for 600 ft. (+5 lb. in spool)</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><strong>Cord, Hempen</strong>: Sold in lengths of 50 feet or 600 feet, hempen cord has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and a break DC of 14. A hempen cord can support 80 pounds safely, or up to 240 pounds with an increasing risk of it breaking. <strong>Price</strong> 1 sp for 50 ft.; or 1 gp for 600 ft.; <strong>Weight</strong> 1 lb. for 50 ft. (2 lb. in spool); or 10 lb. for 600 ft. (+5 lb. in spool)</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><strong>Cord, Silk</strong>: Sold in lengths of 120 feet or 600 feet, silk cord has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and a break DC of 15. A silk cord can support 100 pounds safely, or up to 300 pounds with an increasing risk of it breaking. <strong>Price</strong> 2 gp for 120 ft.; or 10 gp for 600 ft.; <strong>Weight</strong> 1 lb. for 120 ft. (2 lb. in spool); or 5 lb. for 600 ft. (+5 lb. in spool)</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><strong>Cord, Spider's Silk</strong>: Sold in lengths of 150 feet or 600 feet, spider's silk cord has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and a break DC of 16. A spider's silk cord can support 150 pounds safely, or up to 450 pounds with an increasing risk of it breaking. <strong>Price</strong> 25 gp for 150 ft.; or 100 gp for 600 ft.; <strong>Weight</strong> 1 lb. for 150 ft. (2 lb. in spool); or 4 lb. for 600 ft. (+5 lb. in spool)</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><strong>Twine</strong>: Sold in balls or spools of 200 feet, twine has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and a break DC of 9. A length of twine can support 17 pounds safely, or up to 50 pounds with an increasing risk of it breaking. <strong>Price</strong> 2 cp; <strong>Weight</strong> 1/2 lb. (1 lb. in spool)</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><strong>Twine, Hempen</strong>: Sold in balls or spools of 200 feet, hempen twine has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and a break DC of 9. A length of hempen twine can support 20 pounds safely, or up to 60 pounds with an increasing risk of it breaking. <strong>Price</strong> 5 cp; <strong>Weight</strong> 1/2 lb. (1 lb. in spool)</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><strong>Line, Silk</strong>: Sold in balls or spools of 400 feet, silk line has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and a break DC of 10. A length of silk line can support 25 pounds safely, or up to 75 pounds with an increasing risk of it breaking. <strong>Price</strong> 1 gp; <strong>Weight</strong> 1/2 lb. (1 lb. in spool)</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><strong>Line, Spider's Silk</strong>: Sold in balls or spools of 500 feet, spider's silk line has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and a break DC of 11. A length of spider's silk line can support 35 pounds safely, or up to 100 pounds with an increasing risk of it breaking. <strong>Price</strong> 125 sp; <strong>Weight</strong> 1/2 lb. (1 lb. in spool)</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><strong>Thread</strong>: Fine linen or cotton thread sold in spools of 800 feet, thread has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and a break DC of 2. A length of thread can support 2 pounds safely, or up to 6 pounds with an increasing risk of it breaking. <strong>Price</strong> 1 cp; <strong>Weight</strong> 1/4 lb. (1/10 lb. without bobbin)</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><strong>Thread, Silk</strong>: Sold in spools of 1,600 feet, silk thread has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and a break DC of 3. A length of thread can support 3 pounds safely, or up to 9 pounds with an increasing risk of it breaking. <strong>Price</strong> 2 sp; <strong>Weight</strong> 1/4 lb. (1/10 lb. without bobbin)</p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"></p> <p style="margin-left: 20px"><strong>Thread, Spider's Silk</strong>: Sold in spools of 2,000 feet, this thread has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and a break DC of 4. A length of spider's silk thread can support 4 pounds safely, or up to 12 pounds with an increasing risk of it breaking. <strong>Price</strong> 25 sp; <strong>Weight</strong> 1/4 lb. (1/10 lb. without bobbin)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cleon, post: 8147422, member: 57383"] Okay, I'll go through them in the above order: [B][SIZE=6]String[/SIZE][/B] Using the First Approach, Break DC 14 => +3 Strength bonus => Strength 16-17 max lift => 460 or 520 pounds => working load 76.66 or 86.66 pounds. Using the Second Approach, 100 ft. of string weighs 1 pound, so one foot weighs 0.01 lb. Which is 67.18 m/kg, or 14.88 g/m, or 3.275 kg/220m. That weight matches a cord somewhere around 4.5 mm to 5 mm in diameter, which to me sounds more like thin rope than thick string: [B]Engineering Toolbox[/B] 5mm sisal rope (0.01 lb/ft. or 0.02 kg/m, min break strength 290 lb or 1.29 kN) [B]Engineering Toolbox[/B] 5mm manila rope (0.014 lb/ft. or 0.02 kg/m, min break strength 405 lb or 1.8 kN) [B]Buy Rope[/B] 6mm hemp rope (6kg/220m [36.66 m/kg or 27.27g/m, break load 250 kg or 550 lb.]) The above breaking strengths translate to a working load of around 45 to 50 pounds assuming a 1:6 safety ration, which is distressingly low compared to the First Approach's Break DC derived working loads of 76 to 87 pounds. Those loads would require a natural fibre cord around 6 mm in diameter - that's definitely a rope! The Pathfinder SRD lists "string or yarn" as costing 2 cp a pound, which is one-fifth the price-per-weight of hempen rope (1 gp for 10 lb => 1 1b. is 1 sp or 10 cp). This [I]strongly[/I] suggests it's made from a cheaper and presumably inferior fibre than hemp. Maybe sisal or flax? If standard Pathinder String is made from such a cheap material, then presumably better quality cord made of hemp or silk should be a thing too. [SIZE=6][B]Conclusion[/B][/SIZE] The Break DCs of Pathfinder string or yarn indicate it's a thin rope roughly one-quarter of an inch in diameter, able to support 70 pounds safely, or up to 210 lbs with an increasing risk of it breaking. It's too cheap to be made from hemp, so must be made from inexpensive but relatively weak plant fibres such as sisal or flax. The listed weight is too low for the indicated Break DC; a plant fibre line that strong should be roughly twice as heavy, or about 50 feet to the pound. A line one-quarter of an inch is way too thick to be realistically called "string or yarn", so I would recommend renaming it "Cord" and adding "Twine", "Line" and "Thread" for thinner yarns. Twine tends to be 3 mm in thickness (about 1/8th of an inch), although I've seen it in 2 mm so could call it 1/10th of an inch on average (about 2.5 mm). A [URL='https://www.sailrite.com/Selecting-the-Right-Thread-Size'][B]fairly thick thread[/B][/URL] (size 69 of Tex 70 thread) is about 0.01 inches in diameter). So if 1,000 metres of Tex 70 weights 70 grams a tenth of a pound (45.4 grammes) of thread would be… 649 metres or 1,428 feet long. Silk thread is slightly denser than nylon, so a thread of that thickness would be heavier and shorter. Putting that together could gives us stats for yarns along these lines: [INDENT][SIZE=5][B]String or Yarn[/B][/SIZE][/INDENT] [INDENT]Strings and yarns can range in thickness from cord the diameter of thin rope to fine threads thinner than elven hair. Yarn is sold in balls or spools. A spool of string is heavier than a ball of the same length due to the weight of the [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbin'][B]bobbin[/B][/URL] or spindle it's wound around.[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT][B]Cord[/B]: Sold in lengths of 50 feet or 600 feet, cord has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and a break DC of 14. A cord can support 70 pounds safely, or up to 210 lbs with an increasing risk of it breaking. [B]Price[/B] 2 cp for 50 ft.; or 2 sp for 600 ft.; [B]Weight[/B] 1 lb. for 50 ft. (2 lb. in spool); or 10 lb. for 600 ft. (+5 lb. in spool)[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT][B]Cord, Hempen[/B]: Sold in lengths of 50 feet or 600 feet, hempen cord has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and a break DC of 14. A hempen cord can support 80 pounds safely, or up to 240 pounds with an increasing risk of it breaking. [B]Price[/B] 1 sp for 50 ft.; or 1 gp for 600 ft.; [B]Weight[/B] 1 lb. for 50 ft. (2 lb. in spool); or 10 lb. for 600 ft. (+5 lb. in spool)[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT][B]Cord, Silk[/B]: Sold in lengths of 120 feet or 600 feet, silk cord has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and a break DC of 15. A silk cord can support 100 pounds safely, or up to 300 pounds with an increasing risk of it breaking. [B]Price[/B] 2 gp for 120 ft.; or 10 gp for 600 ft.; [B]Weight[/B] 1 lb. for 120 ft. (2 lb. in spool); or 5 lb. for 600 ft. (+5 lb. in spool)[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT][B]Cord, Spider's Silk[/B]: Sold in lengths of 150 feet or 600 feet, spider's silk cord has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and a break DC of 16. A spider's silk cord can support 150 pounds safely, or up to 450 pounds with an increasing risk of it breaking. [B]Price[/B] 25 gp for 150 ft.; or 100 gp for 600 ft.; [B]Weight[/B] 1 lb. for 150 ft. (2 lb. in spool); or 4 lb. for 600 ft. (+5 lb. in spool)[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT][B]Twine[/B]: Sold in balls or spools of 200 feet, twine has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and a break DC of 9. A length of twine can support 17 pounds safely, or up to 50 pounds with an increasing risk of it breaking. [B]Price[/B] 2 cp; [B]Weight[/B] 1/2 lb. (1 lb. in spool)[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT][B]Twine, Hempen[/B]: Sold in balls or spools of 200 feet, hempen twine has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and a break DC of 9. A length of hempen twine can support 20 pounds safely, or up to 60 pounds with an increasing risk of it breaking. [B]Price[/B] 5 cp; [B]Weight[/B] 1/2 lb. (1 lb. in spool)[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT][B]Line, Silk[/B]: Sold in balls or spools of 400 feet, silk line has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and a break DC of 10. A length of silk line can support 25 pounds safely, or up to 75 pounds with an increasing risk of it breaking. [B]Price[/B] 1 gp; [B]Weight[/B] 1/2 lb. (1 lb. in spool)[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT][B]Line, Spider's Silk[/B]: Sold in balls or spools of 500 feet, spider's silk line has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and a break DC of 11. A length of spider's silk line can support 35 pounds safely, or up to 100 pounds with an increasing risk of it breaking. [B]Price[/B] 125 sp; [B]Weight[/B] 1/2 lb. (1 lb. in spool)[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT][B]Thread[/B]: Fine linen or cotton thread sold in spools of 800 feet, thread has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and a break DC of 2. A length of thread can support 2 pounds safely, or up to 6 pounds with an increasing risk of it breaking. [B]Price[/B] 1 cp; [B]Weight[/B] 1/4 lb. (1/10 lb. without bobbin)[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT][B]Thread, Silk[/B]: Sold in spools of 1,600 feet, silk thread has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and a break DC of 3. A length of thread can support 3 pounds safely, or up to 9 pounds with an increasing risk of it breaking. [B]Price[/B] 2 sp; [B]Weight[/B] 1/4 lb. (1/10 lb. without bobbin)[/INDENT] [INDENT][/INDENT] [INDENT][B]Thread, Spider's Silk[/B]: Sold in spools of 2,000 feet, this thread has hardness 0, 1 hit point, and a break DC of 4. A length of spider's silk thread can support 4 pounds safely, or up to 12 pounds with an increasing risk of it breaking. [B]Price[/B] 25 sp; [B]Weight[/B] 1/4 lb. (1/10 lb. without bobbin)[/INDENT] [/QUOTE]
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