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D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
A ropey issue
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<blockquote data-quote="Cleon" data-source="post: 8156493" data-attributes="member: 57383"><p>Reverse-engineering the First Approach, assuming being "strong enough to support 3,000 pounds" means a working load of 3,000 pounds then the <em>rope of climbing</em> 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 <em>just</em> enough to strain the rope to its breaking point).</p><p></p><p>Break DC 27 is the Break DC of a <em>+1 spider's silk rope</em> going by the previous post on masterwork and magic ropes' Break DCs. It'd also be the Break DC of a <em>+2 hempen rope</em> by the same guidelines. That seems reasonable for an enchanted rope.</p><p></p><p>A <em>rope of climbing</em> 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.</p><p></p><p>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 <em>+4 hempen rope</em>, 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 <em>+1 weapon</em> and the ×3 load multiplier of a <em>+2</em> (see previous post), so it's "within bounds" for an <em>+1 spider's silk rope</em>. 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 <em>+2 weapon</em>.</p><p></p><p>That leaves hardness and hit points.</p><p></p><p>If it's equivalent to a <em>+1 spider's silk rope</em> then a <em>rope of climbing</em> 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.</p><p></p><p>Hardness wise, the Pathfinder rules don't give hardness to spider's silk rope, suggesting it just has hardness 2 from its +1 enchantment.</p><p></p><p>However, the SRD states <a href="https://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/monstrousSpider.htm" target="_blank">Monstrous Spiders</a> produce silk with hardness 5. If the proposed spider's silk rope used in a <em>rope of climbing</em> shares that trait, it should have hardness 7 including the 2 points of hardness from the rope's enchantment.</p><p></p><p>Of SRD ropes with listed hardness values we have D&D/Pathfinder's <em>rope of entanglement</em> which has hardness 10 and 12 hit points (so high-ish hardness like a Monstrous Spider's silk) and Pathfinder's <em>rope of knots</em> with hardness 1 and 20 hit points (so low hardness like a normal rope).</p><p></p><p>Hmm, which to pick.</p><p></p><p>Well, a <a href="https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/r-z/rope-of-knots/" target="_blank"><em>rope of knots</em></a> "can perform all the functions of a <em>rope of climbing</em>" and is a similar utility item to that magic item while a <em>rope of entanglement</em> 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 <em>rope of climbing</em> the same hardness and hit points as the <em>rope of knots</em> and leave it at that. I <em>could</em> 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 <em>rope of knots</em> is only twice as expensive as a <em>rope of climbing</em> 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.</p><p></p><p>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).</p><p></p><p>There you go!</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px"><strong>Conclusion</strong></span></p><p>A <em>rope of climbing</em> is roughly equivalent to a <em>+1 spider's silk rope</em> and has Break DC 27, hardness 1 and 20 hit points.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cleon, post: 8156493, member: 57383"] Reverse-engineering the First Approach, assuming being "strong enough to support 3,000 pounds" means a working load of 3,000 pounds then the [I]rope of climbing[/I] 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 [I]just[/I] enough to strain the rope to its breaking point). Break DC 27 is the Break DC of a [I]+1 spider's silk rope[/I] going by the previous post on masterwork and magic ropes' Break DCs. It'd also be the Break DC of a [I]+2 hempen rope[/I] by the same guidelines. That seems reasonable for an enchanted rope. A [I]rope of climbing[/I] 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 [I]+4 hempen rope[/I], 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 [I]+1 weapon[/I] and the ×3 load multiplier of a [I]+2[/I] (see previous post), so it's "within bounds" for an [I]+1 spider's silk rope[/I]. 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 [I]+2 weapon[/I]. That leaves hardness and hit points. If it's equivalent to a [I]+1 spider's silk rope[/I] then a [I]rope of climbing[/I] 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 [URL='https://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/monstrousSpider.htm']Monstrous Spiders[/URL] produce silk with hardness 5. If the proposed spider's silk rope used in a [I]rope of climbing[/I] 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 [I]rope of entanglement[/I] which has hardness 10 and 12 hit points (so high-ish hardness like a Monstrous Spider's silk) and Pathfinder's [I]rope of knots[/I] with hardness 1 and 20 hit points (so low hardness like a normal rope). Hmm, which to pick. Well, a [URL='https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/r-z/rope-of-knots/'][I]rope of knots[/I][/URL] "can perform all the functions of a [I]rope of climbing[/I]" and is a similar utility item to that magic item while a [I]rope of entanglement[/I] 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 [I]rope of climbing[/I] the same hardness and hit points as the [I]rope of knots[/I] and leave it at that. I [I]could[/I] 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 [I]rope of knots[/I] is only twice as expensive as a [I]rope of climbing[/I] 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! [SIZE=5][B]Conclusion[/B][/SIZE] A [I]rope of climbing[/I] is roughly equivalent to a [I]+1 spider's silk rope[/I] and has Break DC 27, hardness 1 and 20 hit points. [/QUOTE]
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