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Lev
2010-07-06, 01:10 AM
From Arms and Equipment Guide sourcebook

Barbed Wire: This is a roll of barbed steel wire
designed to keep things in or out. A creature trying to
cross barbed wire must make a successful Reflex save
(DC 10) or take 1d3 points of damage and be tripped. A
pair of thick gloves is necessary to set up barbed wire.
A handler who does not have gloves needs to succeed
on a Dexterity check (DC 5) each round or take 1d2
points of damage. Building a barbed wire obstacle
takes 1d4+6 hours, including anchor posts.
1d4+6 HOURS? 7-10 hours to set up barbed wire?
I've never my self set up barbed wire but this seems absolutely ridiculous.
Anyone have some insight here?

Raistlin1040
2010-07-06, 01:21 AM
That seems absurd. If it were super-complex barbed wire, sure, but if your average joe can get through it 55% of the time without injury, it's not very intricate.

DrGonzo
2010-07-06, 01:21 AM
It depends on how big the obstacle needs to be, IMO. There's a difference between blocking a canyon of some sorts, and defending a city on an open plain..

Kyeudo
2010-07-06, 01:41 AM
I'd say that given the check needed each round, that there was a typo there. 1d4+6 rounds sounds more in line with D&D.

Skorj
2010-07-06, 01:48 AM
"Including anchor posts" sounds like the hours part. Ever dug a post-hole? Uck.

JonestheSpy
2010-07-06, 01:51 AM
More bad writing. Yeah, it could take hours if you're creating a barrier 8 feet tall and 75 feet long - how many adventurers carry a post-hole digger with them, anyway?

Skorj
2010-07-06, 01:56 AM
More bad writing. Yeah, it could take hours if you're creating a barrier 8 feet tall and 75 feet long - how many adventurers carry a post-hole digger with them, anyway?

You'd be surprised. Perhaps the most memorable battle in a multi-year campaign I ran in college was won thanks to a Shovel of Mighty Digging. :smallbiggrin:

Kaulesh
2010-07-06, 01:59 AM
Think about that. The time is probably pretty accurate. If the relevant section doesn't mention a shovel or other tools, you're presumably digging a 2-3 foot post hole with your bare hands. :smallamused:

Saya
2010-07-06, 02:30 AM
Do they actually ever mention how tall the barb wire line is?

Lev
2010-07-07, 05:56 PM
Do they actually ever mention how tall the barb wire line is?
The only other info besides the quote was:
Barbed Wire (50 ft.) 75gp 35lbs

Fax Celestis
2010-07-07, 06:00 PM
...so if they sell it in 50' spools, and the duration of set-up is measured in hours, one would think that the set-up is referring to setting up a whole spool.

Worira
2010-07-07, 06:16 PM
50 feet long, with anchor holes? Yeah, 7-10 hours sounds about right.

ericgrau
2010-07-07, 06:27 PM
For a single 50 foot strand? Try 5-10 minutes. I think they mean something smaller and more complicated.

gallagher
2010-07-07, 07:02 PM
You'd be surprised. Perhaps the most memorable battle in a multi-year campaign I ran in college was won thanks to a Shovel of Mighty Digging. :smallbiggrin:

ever have an adamantine shovel? no more need for lockpicks

Lysander
2010-07-07, 11:40 PM
You're not just laying the barbed wire on the floor, which would take all of a minute. You're attaching it from posts a few inches off the ground so it remains taut and secure and able to trip people. That involves hammering several posts deep in the ground and attaching the wire to the posts in some durable way. It's a considerable project and it makes sense it would take the better part of a day to pull off.

Sindri
2010-07-08, 01:53 AM
so, it should take 7-10 hours to put the posts in place and 5-10 minutes to put the wire on them? What happens if you're putting the wire, say, across a corridor instead of trying to build a wall with your bare hands?

Worira
2010-07-08, 01:56 AM
Then it would take maybe three or four rounds, assuming you had something suitable to attach it to at either end.

Lev
2010-07-08, 04:20 PM
Considering it can trip a colossal creature I don't know....

Snake-Aes
2010-07-08, 04:32 PM
Considering it can trip a colossal creature I don't know....

Do the sensible thing and don't let standard barbed wire trip anything bigger than Large. Huge creatures and above just step on it anyway.

Morph Bark
2010-07-08, 05:26 PM
For a single 50 foot strand? Try 5-10 minutes. I think they mean something smaller and more complicated.

I doubt a single strand spread out over 50 feet will do a lot in keeping someone from getting past. Three strands though? That will do something.

Lycanthromancer
2010-07-08, 05:30 PM
And here I thought it was a campaign based on this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barb_Wire_(film)).

At least it's not this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbarella_(film)).

Worst. Movie. Ever.

Axolotl
2010-07-08, 05:37 PM
At least it's not this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbarella_(film)).

Worst. Movie. Ever.You lie! Far from the worst. It's a cinematic masterpiece!

As for setting up barbed wire, surely it's best for the GM to adjudicate that based on what the players are trying to do?

Those rules seem based on setting up a standard trench defense type set up but I doubt that's what players would use it for.

Ernir
2010-07-08, 05:44 PM
Eh, I think it's a bit much, but still on the scale of hours. If joe the farmer has someone to help him, though, I'd be surprised if it takes more than an hour or two. Having someone to stretch the wire with you and hold the post in place while you secure it matters a lot.

This assumes the posts need to be dug for, and the wire securely placed. If we're talking about makeshift posts where you just need to hammer down a pair of sticks and loop some wire around them, it's a matter of minutes.

What I think is ridiculous about these rules is that the joe the farmer takes 1d2 points of damage every 24 seconds or so if he decides to handle this without gloves. I'd expect some nicks and cuts from that, but I wouldn't expect him to die. :smallsigh: