D&D General A thread about Rope

[Ancalagon]

So in the GLOG, each race has a "perk". Spiderlings can make 30 feet of rope per day

 

[LordEntrails]

My data is for hemp. It is not going to be that much heavier for a given diameter.

My point is your data is for modern hemp. Woven by machine and with quality control. Not for hemp made by hand from mostly low-skilled commoners with little interest or regard for legal liability. "Your rope broke and your friend fell into a pit of green slime and died? Next time buy silk rope and not my cheap hemp."

 

[RealAlHazred]

In Dragon #135 (July 1988), there was an article by Robert Plamonden called "Give Them Enough Rope!" It had a useful table with the weight, maximum strength, usable strength and cost (in D&D/AD&D/RQ3 terms) for manila rope; agava or jute ropes are two-thirds as strong as manila. Values are given for ropes with 3/16" diameter, all the way to massive 4" ropes. I clipped the table, pasted it to my DM screen, and used it for years.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

My point is your data is for modern hemp. Woven by machine and with quality control. Not for hemp made by hand from mostly low-skilled commoners with little interest or regard for legal liability. "Your rope broke and your friend fell into a pit of green slime and died? Next time buy silk rope and not my cheap hemp."

I think you are being very unfair to old time rope makers. They were not low skilled and they may not have had to deal with legal liability but they mostly sold rope to their neighbours and if the rope broke and cousin Jake dies from a poorly made rope then Jakes family and neighbours came and took it out on the ropemaker.

 

[RealAlHazred]

I was thinking in 4E they had a variety of new special materials; maybe something in there would work for special masterwork ropes?

Feyweave armor is woven with techniques perfected by the eladrin. Starweave armor is fashioned after patterns created in the divine dominions of the Astral Sea.

So, feyweave rope would be woven with "techniques perfected by the eladrin" -- and maybe also using elven hair, which has been in D&D since at least the 2E days as a rope material. "Feyweave rope" sounds better than "elven hair rope" to me, anyway.

Starweave rope might be made out of strange Astral materials, possibly harkening back to the silver cord that binds astrally-projected forms to their physical bodies; I'd make is shimmery and silvery.

Githzerai weavers first taught other peoples the methods of making githweave. It’s clear that the githzerai took these techniques from their erstwhile masters, the mind flayers. Patterns taken from captured mind flayer garments led to mindweave and mindpatterned armor. All these armors infuse some form of crystal into textiles, channeling mind energy to fortify the body. Efreetweave seems to be similar, but uses rare reagents and metallic threads from the Elemental Chaos.

Githweave rope is made with crystalline fibers harvested by the githzerai. It probably differs from mindweave rope in weaving pattern only. I'd use the highest of a character's Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma to determine the strength of the githweave or mindweave rope they are using, since "willpower" is poorly reflected in the rules as written.

Efreetiweave rope (which is an awkward phrase), made from metallic fibers, would be used extensively in their ships which sail the flame-seas of their Elemental Plane.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Hempen rope is the standard rope. It is relatively cheap and strong, and can be found in many varieties; in elven lands, it is frequently also dyed fabulous colors (such ropes cost twice as much as regular rope). It is usually made from three strands of hemp fibers, although four-strand ropes can be found. Such rope is 133% as strong as regular three-strand rope, weighs 125% as much as normal rope, and costs twice as much. (Player's Handbook (3E), pg. 127, 128)

Silk rope is made from three strands of silken cord instead of hemp fiber. It is rarer than hempen rope and costs ten times as much, but it is 150% as strong and weighs half as regular hempen rope. (Player's Handbook [3E], pg. 127, 128)

Feywoven gossamer (also known as elven rope) is an uncommon seven-stranded rope sometimes traded in goblin markets. Made by families of elven craftspeople using patterns that have been passed down in those families for thousands of years; it is said that the manufacturing process also incorporates the hair of elven maidens, but this is likely just a rumor created by envious tradesmen. Elven rope is twice as strong as manila rope, but it costs a hundred times as much and is very rare in human-dominated regions. (Arms & Equipment Guide, pg. 22, 24; Player's Handbook [4E], pg. 212)

Ephemeral shroud is a kind of cordage said to be woven on the Astral Plane. Made from five strands of silvery material and woven in a complex pattern that resembles the ropy forms sometimes taken by cosmic gas clouds and nebulae, ephemeral shroud is half as strong as regular manila rope, weighs half as much, and typically costs fifty times as much. However, ephemeral shroud is said to be able to bind ghosts and other intangible creatures; when used to do so, it operates as if it were five times as strong as hempen rope. It is also rumored that tying ephemeral shroud around one's body using particular knotwork will prevent the wearer's body from being possessed; the exact knotwork required varies depending on the teller of the tale, but such a harness generally requires at least a hundred feet of rope to cover a Medium sized creature. (Player's Handbook [4E], pg. 212)

Flameforged hawser is a braided three-ply metal cable frequently found on the efreeti vessels that sail the Sea of Fire near the City of Brass. Constructed with fibers made a variety of metals not found on the Material Plane, its manufacture requires enormous strength to turn the crank on the rope-making machine. While the efreeti possess enough strength to accomplish this task, they prefer to make use of slaves walking in treadwheels in groups who are worked until they perish. As a result, flameforged hawser is rarely found in markets at a cost less than two hundred times the cost of normal rope, weighing five times as much as hempen rope and with a strength equal to heavy metal chain but with far more flexibility. (Adventurer's Vault, pg. 6)

 

[LordEntrails]

@RealAlHazred I like that type of detail. Adds nice flavor to a setting.
Though I have to admit, it's pretty unlikely my players would ever care about that level of detail. At least my current ones. But it's fun to think of this type of stuff for setting building, even if it never comes up in game

I think you are being very unfair to old time rope makers. They were not low skilled and they may not have had to deal with legal liability but they mostly sold rope to their neighbours and if the rope broke and cousin Jake dies from a poorly made rope then Jakes family and neighbours came and took it out on the ropemaker.

Uh huh. Happy Gaming.

 

[RealAlHazred]

@RealAlHazred I like that type of detail. Adds nice flavor to a setting.
Though I have to admit, it's pretty unlikely my players would ever care about that level of detail. At least my current ones. But it's fun to think of this type of stuff for setting building, even if it never comes up in game

I like just putting lore like this in, and then rewarding the detail-oriented player; for instance, knowing the trick of using ephemeral shroud to prevent possession could be key in a scheme...

 

[Mad_Jack]

The classic example I give of rope use in my own adventures is the time the party was attacking a bandit camp - we waited until some of the bandits went off on a raid, then waited until the guy currently in charge had to use the outhouse, whereupon we tied a rope around the outhouse so he couldn't get out until after we'd taken out the rest. At which point, we yanked the slipknot on the rope, the guy came charging out and caught an entire party's worth of readied attacks.

Another time, back in the day, the party rigged up what was essentially a rope ladder hung from a pair of immovable rods and transported the party through midair over a canyon filled with dangerous monsters.

Most of my characters (I play a lot of rogues, rangers and fighters) carry 100 feet of rope with them, and usually a ball of twine or string as well for tripwires.