D&D 5E Does Dungeonhacking work in 5e?

[Mistwell]

If we assume the pole is healed 3 ft. above the ground you would need to apply 150 lb worth of force to the pole. That’s a lot of force. You aren’t going to be tapping down the passage like that.

Give the imp a sack of gold and send it to walk ahead.

I'm just going off my most common DM's reaction. Tapping doesn't trigger a pit, but if we suspect a pit or similar pressure plate requiring more than a light amount of weight on it, saying we place the end of a 10' pole against the area and push usually does it. We've probably done this maybe 5 times since 3e. Which I guess is often enough since usually someone is carrying a 10' pole (which has other uses of course other than a pressure plate, like this thread of 101 uses for a 10' pole).

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I'm just going off my most common DM's reaction. Tapping doesn't trigger a pit, but if we suspect a pit or similar pressure plate requiring more than a light amount of weight on it, saying we place the end of a 10' pole against the area and push usually does it. We've probably done this maybe 5 times since 3e. Which I guess is often enough since usually someone is carrying a 10' pole (which has other uses of course other than a pressure plate, like this thread of 101 uses for a 10' pole).

Probably wouldn’t work if the DM was a physicist. The length of the pole actually makes it harder to apply sufficient downward force, and the pole would be likely to snap. The pole would need to be pretty thin to be manoeuvrable.

 

[Mistwell]

Probably wouldn’t work if the DM was a physicist. The length of the pole actually makes it harder to apply sufficient downward force, and the pole would be likely to snap. The pole would need to be pretty thin to be manoeuvrable.

I don't think D&D and real world physicist monitoring accuracy of the laws of physics is really a meaningful aspect of playing D&D for fun. I think "I push on a pole to trigger a trap" is well within the realm of verisimilitude for the level of D&D at most tables.

Also, rules-wise, you can push 30 times your strength score. You mentioned you'd need 150 pounds pushed to get 50 pounds on the end. That would be a 5 strength score, where the lowest scores we play with are 8. Our weakest character can push something with 240 pounds of pressure.

 

[Chaltab]

Honestly the bigger problem logistically is that a 10-foot pole is highly inconvenient to carry. It scrapes the ceiling if you wear it on your back, it doesn't fit in a bag of holding, and if you make it collapsible then it's probably gonna be structurally too weak to do much of anything.

So you need a magic extending pole. And then it's no longer low-level mundane gear but a magic item!

 

[Lanefan]

Probably wouldn’t work if the DM was a physicist.

Mine is, to the MSc level.

The length of the pole actually makes it harder to apply sufficient downward force, and the pole would be likely to snap. The pole would need to be pretty thin to be manoeuvrable.

Agreed.

Where the 10-foot pole is useful is for finding and snapping trip wires and the like before actually reaching them.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I'm...not clear on what exactly "dungeonhacking" even means. Can anyone clarify? These "101" posts kinda...aren't 101s. More like "Dungeonhacking 201: Time To Get Serious". I don't have the foundation yet to understand why these lists of items are relevant or important.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I don't think D&D and real world physicist monitoring accuracy of the laws of physics is really a meaningful aspect of playing D&D for fun

It’s a matter of belief. And I do not believe the pole would trigger a pit trap designed to be triggered by the weight of a human any more than mage hand would.

It’s not that the pole is useless, and a folding/telescopic probe is pretty handy for trip wires and the like. But it’s not useful for that job. Find something sturdier to push the trap open with.

It wouldn’t necessarily need to be magic. Two 5 ft. Poles that can be joined with a bayonet fitting could be made with 17th century tech.