Why anybody thought that 10ft pole should be more expensive then 10ft ladder?

[With a box]

Aren't they priced by same person? did everyone in WotC failed Appraise DC 12 check?

[JeenLeen]

Aren't they priced by same person? did everyone in WotC failed Appraise DC 12 check?

It's possible different folk worked to make those tables, so not necessarily. :smallbiggrin:

However, on a more serious note, I've contemplated this because I like to make up rational reasons for irrational things in systems.
The 10-ft pole is supposed to be sturdy enough to be handled at one end and still be manipulated to poke and prod a targeted area. I can see it having to be higher-quality wood and, potentially, requiring better craftsmanship than a ladder.

A ladder needs to be sturdy, but it has two poles and several interlinking piesces of wood that have to support a heavily armored person; a ladder gives itself the sturdiness it needs by how it is built, and thus could be of lower quality wood or be easier to make and still hold up to adventurer standards.

[johnbragg]

It's possible different folk worked to make those tables, so not necessarily. :smallbiggrin:

However, on a more serious note, I've contemplated this because I like to make up rational reasons for irrational things in systems.
The 10-ft pole is supposed to be sturdy enough to be handled at one end and still be manipulated to poke and prod a targeted area. I can see it having to be higher-quality wood and, potentially, requiring better craftsmanship than a ladder.

A ladder needs to be sturdy, but it has two poles and several interlinking piesces of wood that have to support a heavily armored person; a ladder gives itself the sturdiness it needs by how it is built, and thus could be of lower quality wood or be easier to make and still hold up to adventurer standards.

I've always assumed that the ladder is wooden while the pole is iron. That may have even been true in some past edition.

[ninjamaster1991]

I always figured that the 10' pole was collapsible - which also solves the problem of how adventurers manage to carry a stick that's taller than they are without any problems.

[Tiri]

Must be hard carrying around a 10ft long stick or ladder around all the time, though. You'd have to be insane to buy it.

[JeenLeen]

I always figured that the 10' pole was collapsible - which also solves the problem of how adventurers manage to carry a stick that's taller than they are without any problems.

I think a collapsible pole is a special item mentioned in another book, maybe Complete Rogue, which is pricier than the first version. (I could be completely off; been a while since I've been in D&D.) I always figured it wasn't, which made it a strange image for my halfing or gnome characters, but my groups were generally ones to be lax on things like "where did you put it?".

That would certainly be a good reason for it being a greater price, though, and probably a good houserule even if it's not the case by the book.

[Flickerdart]

I always figured that the 10' pole was collapsible - which also solves the problem of how adventurers manage to carry a stick that's taller than they are without any problems.
Nah, what you do is just choke up the pole at both ends.

[sideswipe]

I always figured that the 10' pole was collapsible - which also solves the problem of how adventurers manage to carry a stick that's taller than they are without any problems.

this was my groups reasoning since day 1. which it why the ladders to poles is scrubbed in my group.

[Coidzor]

The simplest explanation for that I can think of is a combination of the fact that 10 ft poles are adventuring gear while 10 ft ladders are for if they really want to putter around their stronghold and the very likely occurrence that no one did a price check on the list of goods and services, they just plugged 'em in as they went.

[Vinyl Scratch]

10ft poles are crafted from ladders, so you need to factor the costs of producing ladders into the cost of producing poles.

[daremetoidareyo]

The simplest explanation for that I can think of is a combination of the fact that 10 ft poles are adventuring gear while 10 ft ladders are for if they really want to putter around their stronghold and the very likely occurrence that no one did a price check on the list of goods and services, they just plugged 'em in as they went.

Actually, in a city campaign, the ladder is such a great infiltration tool, equal to or greater than a pole in a dungeon. You need to get into the mayors house, which is surrounded by a wall? Dress up as carpenters, bluff the guards, ladder up the back window, and blackmail that corrupt SOB blind.

[Chronos]

Ladders are sold to ordinary commoners, who will don't have money to burn, and who will hence buy from the cheapest merchant. So there's competition that drives the market price of ladders down to just a bit more than the cost to make them.

Ten-foot poles are sold to adventurers, who are so stinking rich that they think a gold piece is a small amount of money, and who won't even bat an eye if you ask them for two SP for a piece of wood. So you happily take them for all the market is worth, and they don't even notice, and you both win.