PDA

View Full Version : What safety redundancy do you use?



BaronOfHell
2013-05-01, 10:04 AM
Recently I've been playing a game based on D&D. While my character is not able to cast certain spells, which other parts of my team can do, I've still made certain to be able to cast these spells from items, etc.

E.g. some time ago a team member of mine wanted me to follow him, then he dropped down a large hole. He was immune to fall damage, but I wasn't, and there was no one close by to cast feather fall. I however had made sure to have an item with this property quick listed, so I could cast it before reaching the bottom and keep up with my team mate (who I don't think knew I could cast the spell), and didn't consider I'd have taken substantial fall damage.

Reading through OotS, in 443 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0443.html) Roy drops to the ground, without any mean to deal with a drop from great heights without help from a team member. That made me think if he ought not to have had some safety redundancy so despite having a team member who could cast feather fall, he as well could cast it on himself? (In some games I believe there are potions with this effect, but I'm not aware if it is so in the world governing the OotS).

Which brings me to this topic. What safety redundancy do you usually apply? I.e. stuff you can usually rely on your team members to be able to take care of, but in case said team member for unknown reasons can't, then you still have one or more safety backups.

Tsriel
2013-05-01, 11:33 AM
Whenever possible, I carry an item that can cast Dimension Door and/or Teleport. It's a real life saver from falling, bad combat encounters, ect. Basically anything you need to get out of in a hurry, those spells would do it.

Geordnet
2013-05-01, 11:38 AM
In NetHack (which is a lot less forgiving than D&D, one should always have an escape item or spell ready; as well as a healing item and something to enscribe Elbereth with. :smalltongue:

Slipperychicken
2013-05-01, 11:50 AM
Lately, I've started encouraging the party Cleric to pack scrolls of Remove Curse, Dispel Magic, Remove Disease, Remove Addiction, Delay/Remove Poison, Restoration, and Remove Blindness/Deafness. The rationale is those things can royally screw you over if you're not prepared for them. I've even considered subsidizing these expenses as a sort of insurance policy.

The same deal goes for arcane spells like Water Breathing, Summon Monster (water elementals are great for fireman duty, since they can dispel even magic fire. I don't need to tell you what fire elementals are great for :smallamused:), Shrink Item (block a passage, kill people, steal stuff), Levitate, and so on.

If I'm playing a character who can cast it, I always have Feather Fall in some form, whether prepared, scrolled, or in a ring.

No matter what character I'm playing, there's always a 10ft pole, grappling hook, and rope in my inventory. Those have saved me from more traps and prevented more hassle than I care to remember. Tower shields are also useful, if you can find a use for a movable 5x5 wall segment or metal sled.

Frozen_Feet
2013-05-01, 12:13 PM
Depends on the game. For those closest to D&D, mandatory survival pack consists at least of the following, acquired as soon as possible:


Potions of Healing & Extra Healing
Potions/scrolls of Dimension Door or Teleport
Potions of Restoration
Scrolls of Word of Recall
Scrolls of Alarm / Rope Trick
Scrolls of Remove Curse
Scrolls of Identify
Wand of Dispel Magic
Flasks of Holy Water
Enough Iron Rations to last a week
Scrolls of Create Food and Water
Rope
Flasks of oil
Vials of acid
A light source
A shovel or other means of digging
Healing kit, craftsman's tool, alchemy set, viewing lens, disguise kit, thieves' tools, climbing kit


Other tools that are not mandatory but will be retained if found:


Items of Monster Summoning
Items of Water Breathing
Items of Water Walking
Boots of Levitation
Items of elemental resistance
Fire an waterproof blankets
Potions of Antidote/Cure Blindness/Cure Deafness etc.
Items of Restore Mana / spells
Ranged weapons


The point, of course, is not so much to survive emergencies, but rather be able to heal back up, survive in as many environments as possibe, and circumvent potential hazards. Only Teleport and Recall abilities really count as panic buttons - the point is to not end up in a situation requiring them in the first place.

Ironically, I'm almost never concerned of my character falling down. They near-invariably are tough enough to survive that, and can patch themselves back up. The real problem near-invariably is getting back up! Nothing sucks more than starving to death in the bottom of a pit.

Slipperychicken
2013-05-01, 12:19 PM
[List]


Your lack of 10ft poles disturbs me.

Geordnet
2013-05-01, 12:20 PM
And yet, you still have forgotten your towel... :smallwink:

(Verily, towels are vital tools of survival. Next time you need to wipe something clean, to hold something without touching it, or make an impromptu sling, dressing, tourniquet, torch, mask, lashing, gag, or blindfold, you better know where your towel is.)

Frozen_Feet
2013-05-01, 12:27 PM
Your lack of 10ft poles disturbs me.

I used to include it in my early roleplaying days, but since then it fell out of favor. Often, I carry a polearm / staff as a weapon, which can also be used as impromptu walking cane.

Slipperychicken
2013-05-01, 12:59 PM
I used to include it in my early roleplaying days, but since then it fell out of favor. Often, I carry a polearm / staff as a weapon, which can also be used as impromptu walking cane.

Makes sense. I find DMs tend to be more accepting of reach weapons used for that purpose anyway, with less whining about how you fit the 10ft pole through the 5ft wide dungeon corridor.

Also, quarterstaves are free :smallbiggrin:

Ozfer
2013-05-01, 02:15 PM
And yet, you still have forgotten your towel... :smallwink:

(Verily, towels are vital tools of survival. Next time you need to wipe something clean, to hold something without touching it, or make an impromptu sling, dressing, tourniquet, torch, mask, lashing, gag, or blindfold, you better know where your towel is.)

I love finding others who play NetHack.

Frozen_Feet
2013-05-01, 02:18 PM
Makes sense. I find DMs tend to be more accepting of reach weapons used for that purpose anyway, with less whining about how you fit the 10ft pole through the 5ft wide dungeon corridor.

The answer is easy: "I don't carry it sideways, dumbass". :smalltongue::smallbiggrin:

Geordnet
2013-05-01, 02:21 PM
The answer is easy: "I don't carry it sideways, dumbass". :smalltongue::smallbiggrin:

Less easy question: how did you ger it through the 90° turns in said corridor? :smallwink:

TheCountAlucard
2013-05-01, 02:30 PM
Hence the telescopic pole. :smallamused:

Karoht
2013-05-01, 02:44 PM
Ring of Spellbattle
Belt of Battle

Scrolls for removing the major debuffs that aren't all that common, wands for all the common stuff. The wand of Lesser Restoration is an excellent purchase, for the money.
Wand of Cure X Wounds, I always buy a Cure Light Wounds Wand for out of combat healing, if I find better then I keep that but I'll always keep that Cure Light Wounds Wand just in case.
Wand of Circle of Protection X is also an excellent purchase. AC, Saves, and some other benefits as well.

For falling I always keep an item that will grant me Flight where possible, even if it is on my spell list.
Dimension Door gets the same treatment.
Rod of Absorbtion can cover off a lot of bad things. Most of the Save or X spells are single target spells, so it can protect from a broad range of bad things. Expensive though, often hard to justify the cost unless someone in the party is crafting gear.
Featherfall Tokens are cheap enough if I recall. I keep two on hand just in case.

Potions? Mostly buffs. Anything I don't want to roll a UMD check on really.

Once I can afford it, some Sovereign Glue. It can save the day, big time.

TheCountAlucard
2013-05-01, 02:52 PM
A little more seriously, I'm gonna reflect the sentiment that the game in question is an important factor. Most of the items on many of these lists seem to be magic items, but in games without the "Christmas tree" effect, you might have only one or two magic items, and the likelihood of a bag of holding existing, let alone being available for your character, is low.

Of course, character power is also a factor; what good is a set of lockpicks when you're a demigod who can just touch a lock and have it fall to pieces, or teleport through a door?

Gravitron5000
2013-05-01, 02:58 PM
Less easy question: how did you ger it through the 90° turns in said corridor? :smallwink:

If you're dealing with an 8 foot ceiling (pretty standard ceiling height), you have around 10 & 2/3 feet between the bottom corner of the turn and the opposite top corner. There is room to spare.

Lord Torath
2013-05-01, 02:59 PM
Less easy question: how did you ger it through the 90° turns in said corridor? :smallwink:
Again, easy answer: I hold it vertically! Duh!

Plus, you can get a 14'-1 1/2" pole around a 90-degree turn in a 5' wide corridor while keeping it perfectly horizontal. Get some graph paper and find out for yourself!

Don't forget Iron Spikes and a Mallet. They have almost as many uses as the towel (hold doors open or shut, create hand/foot holds for climbing walls, and even for bribing that Rust Monster into leaving you alone)!

Karoht
2013-05-01, 03:01 PM
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187851
This thread covers quite a few of the bases too.

Geordnet
2013-05-01, 04:09 PM
If you're dealing with an 8 foot ceiling (pretty standard ceiling height), you have around 10 & 2/3 feet between the bottom corner of the turn and the opposite top corner. There is room to spare.

5' wide by 8' tall... And you say this is standard for corridors hewn from solid rock (most likely by hand)? :smallconfused:

Geordnet
2013-05-01, 04:13 PM
A little more seriously, I'm gonna reflect the sentiment that the game in question is an important factor. Most of the items on many of these lists seem to be magic items, but in games without the "Christmas tree" effect, you might have only one or two magic items, and the likelihood of a bag of holding existing, let alone being available for your character, is low.

Of course, character power is also a factor; what good is a set of lockpicks when you're a demigod who can just touch a lock and have it fall to pieces, or teleport through a door?

In both cases, towel. :smallwink:

Toofey
2013-05-01, 04:24 PM
Typically I keep a persistence of Etherealness. At worst it typically buys a round or 2 and allows for an escape "through" solid matter.

Slipperychicken
2013-05-01, 04:36 PM
A little more seriously, I'm gonna reflect the sentiment that the game in question is an important factor. Most of the items on many of these lists seem to be magic items, but in games without the "Christmas tree" effect, you might have only one or two magic items, and the likelihood of a bag of holding existing, let alone being available for your character, is low.

Of course, character power is also a factor; what good is a set of lockpicks when you're a demigod who can just touch a lock and have it fall to pieces, or teleport through a door?

We're working with the default assumptions: That encounters will give roughly some amount of treasure on average, and characters can expect to have roughly the values listed on the WBL table.

If you're a demigod who can only disintegrate locks or teleport twice a day, however, it can be helpful to have those lockpicks. Of course, even a first level character can break most doors, given sufficient time and tenacity.

Shadowknight12
2013-05-01, 04:45 PM
Pun-Pun In A Can(TM), for emergency use only.

What, am I the only one who carries one of those?

Frozen_Feet
2013-05-01, 04:54 PM
Actually, I'm not working on any assumptions of WBL - rather, I'm just listing what my characters have, historically, carried with them. In many cases, the potions, scrolls etc. have been custom made by the character, or have been scavenged from multiple shops and slain enemies across several adventures. Those games have practically been "infinite resources", by which I mean the primary limiting factor on items was work hours.

Also, you might notice a distinct lack of bag of holding. That's cause my characters have almost never had the luxury of finding one. All that junk was carried in a backpack - or multiple backpacks, even. With particularly strong characters, I often took the habit of carrying a chest or two to hold "handle-with-care" stuff like potions.

Naturally, carrying all of the above sometimes meant I had to be picky about what treasure to haul with me. I also have not-so-fond memories of having to hunt certain items for my equipment set for days to an end. Real-life days.

Take my words, kids. When you most need that Restoration potion, you can expect none to be around. Even the shop that sold them just yesterday will have sold out. Have fun with your lowered stats.

Rhynn
2013-05-01, 05:12 PM
In NetHack (which is a lot less forgiving than D&D, one should always have an escape item or spell ready; as well as a healing item and something to enscribe Elbereth with. :smalltongue:

Also, carry a lizard corpse.


Hence the telescopic pole. :smallamused:

Also, ladders. Rope ladders.

Glimbur
2013-05-01, 05:14 PM
5' wide by 8' tall... And you say this is standard for corridors hewn from solid rock (most likely by hand)? :smallconfused:

Well, yeah. How else would the construction crews get their 10' poles through?

Frozen_Feet
2013-05-01, 05:15 PM
Explosives are also handy, but remember to keep them inside a hard, fireproof box!

Because otherwise things get messy when the enemy shoots lightning or fireball at you. Or when you step in a landmine.

Gavinfoxx
2013-05-01, 05:19 PM
I look at these for ideas:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187851

http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=4400

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148101

Slipperychicken
2013-05-01, 05:20 PM
Explosives are also handy, but remember to keep them inside a hard, fireproof box!

Because otherwise things get messy when the enemy shoots lightning or fireball at you. Or when you step in a landmine.

I've always wondered what it would be like playing with the Items Surviving After a Saving Throw (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/spellDescriptions.htm#savingThrow) rules (near the bottom of the "saving throws" section).

Frozen_Feet
2013-05-01, 05:56 PM
Suffice to say that hilarity ensues. :smalltongue:

Gavinfoxx
2013-05-01, 06:04 PM
Wow, I... never knew about that rule. I don't think anyone I know of has ever used it...

TuggyNE
2013-05-01, 06:14 PM
I've always wondered what it would be like playing with the Items Surviving After a Saving Throw (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/spellDescriptions.htm#savingThrow) rules (near the bottom of the "saving throws" section).

Meh. If you're carrying at least four categories of other stuff, your explosives will never be affected.

Good times, good times.

Slipperychicken
2013-05-01, 06:16 PM
Wow, I... never knew about that rule. I don't think anyone I know of has ever used it...

I personally came to the conclusion long ago that total system mastery of 3.5 is impossible for humans. There will always be a rule you've never heard of, unless you dedicate your entire life to monastic study of D&D sourcebooks.

Frozen_Feet
2013-05-01, 06:21 PM
Meh. If you're carrying at least four categories of other stuff, your explosives will never be affected.

Yes... in 3.5. The systems I've played have had a tendency to prioritize fun stuff. By which I mean, stuff exploding.

Mnemophage
2013-05-01, 06:46 PM
Wow, I... never knew about that rule. I don't think anyone I know of has ever used it...

It is only ever brought up when someone is carrying something that could explode/implode/melt/ruin everyone's day when invoked.

One thing that is especially important is a backup weapon, because you ARE going to meet something that's immune to your standard gear. One of my favorite characters carried around an axe enchanted with fire, frost and sonic so that whatever she hit would at least suffer some kind of damage. And then you had the enemies that were weak to one element but absorbed another. The point is, your standard assault option is not going to be universally applicable. Element types, damage types (piercing, bashing, et cetera) and material are important things to consider.

On a similar note: if you're a ranged character, always have some way of physically attacking; something WILL get up in your face at least once. If you're a melee character, have some form of ranged attack; something WILL run faster than you can catch it.

The most useful common items a low-level character can have are flour, lamp oil, and spare paper and ink. Lamp oil is self-explanatory: it can interfere with movement, create or aggravate fires, loosen stuck mechanics and any number of other applications. Flour is a cheap, readily-available invisibility-dispersal mechanic - talc can also be used if you're a particularly vain character. Spare paper and ink becomes note paper, map paper, kindling, correspondence.

Geordnet
2013-05-01, 07:39 PM
Also, carry a lizard corpse.

That's a NetHack-specific example, though. :smalltongue:

AttilaTheGeek
2013-05-01, 07:41 PM
Depends on the game. For those closest to D&D, mandatory survival pack consists at least of the following, acquired as soon as possible:


Potions of Healing & Extra Healing
Potions/scrolls of Dimension Door or Teleport
Potions of Restoration
Scrolls of Word of Recall
Scrolls of Alarm / Rope Trick
Scrolls of Remove Curse
Scrolls of Identify
Wand of Dispel Magic
Flasks of Holy Water
Enough Iron Rations to last a week
Scrolls of Create Food and Water
Rope
Flasks of oil
Vials of acid
A light source
A shovel or other means of digging
Healing kit, craftsman's tool, alchemy set, viewing lens, disguise kit, thieves' tools, climbing kit


Other tools that are not mandatory but will be retained if found:


Items of Monster Summoning
Items of Water Breathing
Items of Water Walking
Boots of Levitation
Items of elemental resistance
Fire an waterproof blankets
Potions of Antidote/Cure Blindness/Cure Deafness etc.
Items of Restore Mana / spells
Ranged weapons


The point, of course, is not so much to survive emergencies, but rather be able to heal back up, survive in as many environments as possibe, and circumvent potential hazards. Only Teleport and Recall abilities really count as panic buttons - the point is to not end up in a situation requiring them in the first place.

This is an excellent list. I'm going to add a few more magic items:
Hat of Disguise
Scroll of Invisibility
Scroll of Invisibility again, because the second one is the one you'll really need.
Scroll of See Invisibility
Ring of Feather Fall
A mount
Scroll of Disintegrate. Not for people, but for when something really needs a 10-foot hole in it. It's a perfect size for your 10-foot pole!


And now I bookmark this post so I can have it on hand whenever I build a character.

Rhynn
2013-05-01, 08:22 PM
I personally came to the conclusion long ago that total system mastery of 3.5 is impossible for humans. There will always be a rule you've never heard of, unless you dedicate your entire life to monastic study of D&D sourcebooks.

It is not possible to read any of the Original D&D books (Men & Magic, Monsters & Treasure, and The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures) without finding some rule you never knew about.


That's a NetHack-specific example, though. :smalltongue:

And something for carving "Elbereth" wasn't?

Geordnet
2013-05-01, 10:06 PM
And something for carving "Elbereth" wasn't?

It'd work if someone tried it in my campaign! :smallbiggrin:

(Once, at least. :smalltongue:)

Rhynn
2013-05-01, 10:11 PM
Also, lizard corpses can be used to bribe powerful magic-users by curing their coughing.

Kane0
2013-05-01, 10:43 PM
Here's my checklist:

- Something for visibility
- Something for both melee and ranged fighting
- Something for Identification and/or direction
- Something for maneuverability
- Something for the prevention of injury and/or debilitation
- Something for recovery of injury and/or debilitation
- Something for hiding and/or escaping
- Something to use as distraction
- Something to pass the time
- Something for emergencies (usually falls under both the recovery and escape categories)

Telok
2013-05-02, 06:38 AM
Survival advice. I keep a copy of this on my hard drive and look at it once in a while.

http://home.planet.nl/~jvdriel/survivaladvice.txt

Gravitron5000
2013-05-02, 08:04 AM
5' wide by 8' tall... And you say this is standard for corridors hewn from solid rock (most likely by hand)? :smallconfused:

If it's somewhere where people expected to live comfortably (ie finished at one point, even if it is now ruins), then yes. If it's just a roughed in series of tunnels, then I wonder why anyone would bother making the turn a sharp 90 degree corner, rather than having the tunnel turn more gradually. If you're dealing with the den of shorter beings, then I suppose you should adjust your ceilings appropriately.

Slipperychicken
2013-05-02, 08:08 AM
If it's somewhere where people expected to live comfortably (ie finished at one point, even if it is now ruins), then yes. If it's just a roughed in series of tunnels, then I wonder why anyone would bother making the turn a sharp 90 degree corner, rather than having the tunnel turn more gradually. If you're dealing with the den of shorter beings, then I suppose you should adjust your ceilings appropriately.

Shorter races know they will eventually want to deal with larger races, even if just for commerce (a giant's gold is as good as any, amirite?). In most D&D settings, doors and ceilings really should be Large sized to accommodate larger races..

Geordnet
2013-05-02, 12:35 PM
Spoiler'd for off-topicness.

If it's somewhere where people expected to live comfortably (ie finished at one point, even if it is now ruins), then yes.

I'm perfectly comfortable walking down 3'-wide hallways in my above-ground house, and I'd be fine with any ceiling my head doesn't brush against.

Some calculations:
The last rough estimate for carving a 5'x5'x5' cube of tunnel I saw (for 3.5e) was 50 man-hours. (Frankly, that's probably an underestimate, especially when you add the task of carting the material off.) This comes out to 2.5 cubic foot per man-hour.

At this rate, a 5'x8' tunnel would take 16 man-hours per foot in length. By contrast, a 3.5'x5' tunnel (suitable for dwarves) takes only 7 man-hours per foot length, while a 3'x6' (suitable for elves) takes 7.2 man-hours per foot. (I got the heights by taking the tallest possible random height from the PHB, adding 6", then rounding up.)

This means that while a 40' long 5'x8' tunnel takes 640 man-hours, (about one person laboring 3 months) the more practical tunnels take 280 and 288 man-hours to carve -less than half the work!

And this isn't even accounting for the difficulty of keeping the larger tunnel from caving in...

Basically, I see no reason why any tunnel that didn't see two-way traffic on a regular basis would be any more than 3'x6'.


If it's just a roughed in series of tunnels, then I wonder why anyone would bother making the turn a sharp 90 degree corner, rather than having the tunnel turn more gradually.

Um, because you aren't going to get any degree of accuracy for a gradual curve unless you spend a lot of extra effort making sure your angles are correct? :smalltongue:



If you're dealing with the den of shorter beings, then I suppose you should adjust your ceilings appropriately.

You mean like Dwarves, Goblins, and Elves? :smallwink:



Shorter races know they will eventually want to deal with larger races, even if just for commerce (a giant's gold is as good as any, amirite?). In most D&D settings, doors and ceilings really should be Large sized to accommodate larger races..

But why would they spend so much extra effort everywhere? The main hall, sure, and probably some special accommodations; but beyond that how is it worth it?
TL;DR
It's a waste of effort to make tunnels 5'x8' by default. 3'x6' is much more reasonable.

Slipperychicken
2013-05-02, 01:29 PM
But why would they spend so much extra effort everywhere? The main hall, sure, and probably some special accommodations; but beyond that how is it worth it?

It would be more like how buildings are made handicap-accessible today, or how ceilings are much higher than necessary. Public places, commercial establishments, and any place expecting or servicing other races would be built with both large and small races in mind (even larger ranges too, depending on to what extent Tiny and Huge creatures interact with civilization).

For example, if you build a house with furnishings and accommodations only useful to Small sized creatures, you just cut that building off from ~60-70% of the market, and made sure the people living there alienate any medium-size visitors they might have. In a region which is even remotely cosmopolitan (or even where larger races visit with any regularity), such accommodations would be all but necessary.

Suppose a halfling made friends with a human, and wanted to invite him to his place for tea. Would he rather force the human to hunch over, or allow him to stand comfortably?

Lord Torath
2013-05-02, 01:46 PM
Spoiler'd for off-topicness.


It's a waste of effort to make tunnels 5'x8' by default. 3'x6' is much more reasonable.
Yeah, but everyone knows your standard dungeon is made up of 10' x 10' corridors. Even kobolds make their tunnels 10' x 10'. Just look at B2- The Keep on the Border! :smallbiggrin::smallsigh:
A Hooded Lantern with a small rock you've cast Continual Light on. Plus another pouch full of Continual Light rocks/sling bullets.

Sith_Happens
2013-05-02, 01:59 PM
Suppose a halfling made friends with a human, and wanted to invite him to his place for tea. Would he rather force the human to hunch over, or allow him to stand comfortably?

I don't know, why don't you ask Bilbo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmEBqJmnCP8)?:smalltongue: That poor, poor wizard.

Gravitron5000
2013-05-02, 02:07 PM
Off topic continuation ...



TL;DR
It's a waste of effort to make tunnels 5'x8' by default. 3'x6' is much more reasonable.

You might be fine with that, but I'd be grinding my skull on the ceiling and having to take care not to rub against the walls. Depending on the original usage of the space, I could see smaller tunnels, but most living space is generally sized for the beings using it and taking into account the use to which the space is intended. If it's a tunnel for siege work, a 3'x3' tunnel could be appropriate. Space that was intended for living is generally spaced larger than the beings inhabiting it, for usage/comfort/aesthetic reasons. With many fantasy races coexisting, if you are talking about a trade settlement, you are probably talking about the largest race that you are concerned with trading with. A Kobold den, not so much. In the end, it really depends on the reason that your dungeon is there, and what it's original purpose was/is.

On the other side of things, the next trap style dungeon I design is going to have random narrow sharp corners, just to annoy over-prepared characters (and pole arm users).



Sort of on topic, I should have left the tape measure out of this dungeon. It's turning out to be an impediment to my safety. :smallamused:

Lord Torath
2013-05-02, 03:12 PM
Just for anyone wondering how long a pole you can fit around a 90-degree corner: Without taking your pole off the floor, the maximum pole length is equal to double the width of the corridor multiplied by 1.4 (square root of 2).

To get the longest pole you can fit in three dimensions:
Square the above value, add it to the square of the corridor height, and then take the square-root of that.

So for a 5' wide x 8' high corridor turning 90 degrees, you can fit a 14'-1" (14.1421 ft) pole around the corner flat on the floor, or a 16'-3" (16.2481 ft) pole if you hoist one end to the ceiling.

For a 3' x 6' corridor, the lengths are: 8.485 ft flat and 10.392 ft in three dimensions. So you can still get your 10' pole around in 3' x 6' corridors. you just need to slow down at each corner.

Things get a bit more complex if you start going from a corridor of a given width into a corridor of a different width. Enough so, so that I'm unable to come up with a quick and easy formula off the top of my head. I think it may require using limits and derivatives. I challenge someone with more free time than me to figure it out.:smallwink:

Okay, so I just gotta know: How is the tape measure compromising your safety?

Geordnet
2013-05-02, 05:57 PM
A thread for the tunnel size talk:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=281919