OMW to annoy my DM with this information.
Looking at the strength of climbing gear this source indicates a modern climbing rope holds around 5500lbf.
From The Engineering Toolbox , manila hemp rope that can hold around that weight should be between 3/4 in and 13/16 in, or for the other europeans between 18 and 20mm.
This corresponds to a weight between 0.159 and 0.186 lbm/ft. For 50ft that is between 8lb and 9.3lb.
I say that 10lb is close enough.
Adventurer peers over the edge of the cliff, rope in hand, anchor tied. As he turns to descend, an OSHA inspector springs from the nearby brush:
“Good morning traveler, I trust that rope you are about to use for life safety has a 20:1 safety factor.”
Begone, Inspector; you have no power here! For I am an independent contractor!
I don’t play or understand the rules but can’t you just get a ball of twine enchanted to be strong as spider silk?
Of course you could. In most editions there is the alternative silk rope that weighs a lot less but costs more.
Working with the rules and your gm you could also make/buy magical rope that does what you say. Or a bag that infinitely spews out rope. Or something similar.
It is not like carrying weights is that big of an issue in most games.
I think you get monkeys paw “strong as spider silk” and you annoyingly tear through it when rummaging through your bag.
“Oops, guess you meant as strong by weight as spider silk! Har har har”
Especially if it has become wet. Hemp rope is a bugger in rain.
Europeans, Asians, Africans, Australooceanians, South Americans and many North Americans
Common mistake. In D&D Hempen is a type of metal, not a plant.
(I made this up, and is exactly the kind of shit I’d off-the-cuff at my players when stuff like this came up ).
In the 2024 rules, rope:
- weighs just 5lb.,
- weirdly does not specify a length (so you always have enough??),
- and is a bit harder to burst (dc20 vs dc17), but you can now use Athletics instead of pure strength
oh, and the fancy Silk rope is no longer in stock.
Man, the 2024 rules seem stupid. It’s streamlined to the point of absurdity. Rope doesn’t have length? What?
I don’t know why people play D&D anymore. There are so many better systems now that aren’t owned by the friends of the Pinkertons, WOTC. Pathfinder 2e seems like it’d be easy for most players to move to easily. Everything is better defined, so you don’t have to memorize a ton of exceptions like 5e.
Glad I’m not the only one who finds it odd that no length of rope is specified any more. Chains are the same way, you either have it or you don’t apparently.
Had not looked at Chain yet. It requires the same dc20 check to break as you would need to break rope. wtf?
'Tis a very good rope
I am sometimes sad that I have only one updoot to give. In this case, I am bereft.
So I’m forced to use normal rope like some peasant?!??
Wait, you guys keep track of your carry weight?
Everyone gets mad at me for it, but yes, I have calculations both minor and major to make during our Dungeons & Dragons sessions.
No. It’s too fiddly. If I wanted to play with spreadsheets I’d go back to work.
There’s apps that keep track of inventory weight automatically
Yeah but that means asking the dm “Yo what’s that weigh tho?” Every time you get a trinket, world ending spider, Frying pan, and ballista bolt :/. So you try an guess an the next thing you know you just kinda forget that inventory weight exists… Until the DM reminds you again
I guess the best way to manage this is to just have cut offs:
Tiny and small objects are weightless
- So you can carry 9,000 marbles or arrows without worrying
- torches, lanterns, potions, scrolls, provisions, etc etc etc
Medium and higher objects weigh 1
- Bedroll
- Longsword
- Crossbow
- Mace
Large objects weigh 4
- Two handed bardiche axe
- Upper plate mail torso
- Lower body plate mail including sabatons
- Round shield
Huge objects weigh 8
- Tower shield
- Folding ballista
- Black cauldron
- Siege Bow
- Hand Cart
And then you give your character like a limit of, I dunno, 24.
You can carry three suits of plate mail and one tower shield before you’ve got a problem, ex.
We also don’t keep track of bolts or arrows. That one is a bit more controversial, but it’s overhead that slows down the story.
It feels like playing Stalker.
Some people would rather play Campaign for North Africa than a roleplaying game.
I suddenly care as soon as a player character falls off the boat. 😈
Until theres bags of holding, yes and then if something is significantly heavy still yes.
It’s how much weight it can hold, not how much it weighs…
Edit: oh, maybe I’m missing the DnD joke
I’m still missing it
The item in-game weighs 10lb, IRL less than 1. They’re stealing our inventory space.
Yeah, sure, 800lbs is how many adventurers with gear climbing at once? An average sized dragon born carrying its capacity in equipment is 478 lbs per the tables in the 2024 phb. So, better hope you aren’t in a hurry and need two people on the rope at once.
Oh and hope you don’t need to pull your draft horse up a with it, as a small horse weighs 900lbs on its own.
You need heavy climbing rope, and that’s gonna have a lift load of several thousand pounds. 10lbs for 50ft is about right. Here’s a modern material rope that can carry 10,000 lbs. It weighs 10lb per 100ft. https://www.bluewaterropes.com/product/12-spec-static/
Hemp is gonna way significantly more than polyester with the same tensile strength.
Ahhhh, makes sense
They again…
Jokes on y’all, I’ve already bought a Bag of Holding.
… FUCK, that was their plan all along!
It’s heavy duty rope, maybe?
Makes me want to weigh the tow rope I used to use for off road recoveries. I don’t think it was 10 lbs, and I can’t imagine needing heavier duty rope for much of anything in DND.
Dragon rodeos?
Dragon BDSM
Maybe ancient dragons? It was like a 15,000lb test rope.
That rope is probably not made of hemp. One of the top comments does out the math for hemp rope thick enough to be rated similar to modern climbing gear, and it came to around 9 lbs.
Oh it definitely isn’t. Its a very modern purpose built rope that has no business being in DND. Its just the heaviest rope that I would have easy access to.
That’s dry hemp rope, it won’t have that strength if it ever gets wet.
I wouldn’t call that rope to begin with. It’s practically string. It may be strong, but I’d like to see someone try to climb it.
In DnD, if you’re carrying rope, it’s something you’re expected to be able to use for something like climbing. Probably at least 3 or 4 times the diameter of that.
Idk man I’ve used that rope before for other stuff and it’s kinda strong af
Yeah I meant climbing the rope itself. I know it’s strong, but climbing a rope that thin is extremely hard, if not impossible, at least without tools.
a length of strong cord made by twisting together strands of natural fibers such as hemp or artificial fibers such as polypropylene.
Ropes have existed for like 5000+ years and I can assure you many cliffs have been scaled with less than what’s pictured
Does REI exist in your campaign? Like can you get mass-manufactured products?
A D&D REI where everything is magical, awesome, and expensive would be a pretty fun store to put in a campaign.
I’m talking about climbing the rope itself, not using it for safety. Like grappling to a roof or across a chasm.
It would be plenty strong, but you can’t really grip something like that.
What’s in the picture isn’t climbing rope… Climbing rope is rated for decent sized falls though, so it has a much higher weight rating than just the mass of the human climbing it (e.g. commonly 2.2+ tonnes)
The person I replied to said that the rope needs 3x or 4x the diameter to be used with climbing. Climbing rope doesn’t need to be that thick.
It’s not the diameter that determines the suitability for climbing.
I meant for climbing the rope itself.
I mean, is it ergonomical to climb a small diameter rope? Probably not, but you can still climb it. I’d also argue you’re less likely to get a “why are you purchasing a rope for burglary” from the shop keep. Like whoever is wholesaling these adventure kits must be making the ropes too.
There are 16 ounces in a pound… I am not surprised americans choose to measure in anything but the measurement system no one else uses…
There are two kinds of people in this world;
Those that use metric
Those that landed people on the moon
Personally, I blame the British
Usually a safe bet.
…by using the metric?
But I would would like to congratulate your scientist who did that! I mean, nothing was achieved by that aside from litting billions on fire but that does kinda sound cool!
I always wonder what empire people think the Imperial System of measurement was named after. Cause it wasn’t America. We are certainly stuck using an antiquated measuring system but it’s not like we invented it.
That kinda makes it worse you know? That the creators of the system dropped it for being worse yet you cling to it?
the creators of the system dropped it
You think the brits have dropped imperial??
Go ask them how much they weigh (after a night out drinking pints).
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WTF pints aren’t volume? They still measure body height in feet and inches. Speed limits are still mph. If you lived there and didn’t notice the mishmash of imperial and metric units I don’t know what to tell you.
I like to randomly convert things to metric in normal conversation
Oooooooor you could use yours instead of cups, teaspoons, shakes…
How many Bushels is that?
No idea, how many imperial units is that?
Technically? 1
Good job! There are also 10 pounds in 10 pounds
…ok? I know your education system is inferior, do you not underestand the concept of multiple units of measurements?
Guess I don’t need to ask if you understand the concept of missing the point
Its a genuine question! I know your country heavily relies on poaching foreign talent so bad your education system is!
Is that all you’ve got? Insults to the country I happen to be born in?
I’m not insulting your country, I’m mocking you
For one, yea you did! At least be bothered to edit your first comment
For two, those are facts regardless of how much it hurts your butthole
And why shouldn’t I get to shit on your country for the negative effect it has on the world? I shat on russia at every given opportunity in a very similar method
Lmao for one, no I did not. Here is our entire interaction for you to review.
What’s that saying about throwing stones in glass houses again?
For two, you seem to be under the impression that I have any national pride. This is a foolish mistake. This country kind of sucks, maybe tell me something I don’t know?
For three, your name is theUwUhugger. No room for mockery there, that’s the whole joke.
