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Post by geoffrey on Nov 4, 2014 22:25:07 GMT -6
"Most doors are about 8' wide..." (AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide, p. 97)
Whoa!
No wonder you have to roll dice to see if you can open a door. Imagine a door 8' wide and 9' tall, made of 6" or 8" thick iron-bound oak, with rusty hinges, scraping across an uneven stone floor.
Now I know why you can't even open a door 2 out of 3 times.
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Post by oakesspalding on Nov 5, 2014 0:01:27 GMT -6
Oh yeah. I think dungeon doors are almost the paradigmatic fundamental and mysterious thing of the OD&D setting.
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Post by Merctime on Nov 5, 2014 0:40:25 GMT -6
...Yeah, what oakesspalding said, and they are Heavy too!  Joking aside, though... Great find, geoffrey. Love the bits that can be found in the DMG. Imagine a door 8' wide and 9' tall, made of 6" or 8" thick iron-bound oak, with rusty hinges, scraping across an uneven stone floor. And that picture in my mind is a thing of beauty! I love D&D  |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2014 19:44:02 GMT -6
A little googling about the density of oak, a little math, and a door of those dimensions and materials could probably weigh a ton, literally.
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Post by kesher on Nov 5, 2014 19:53:25 GMT -6
Is it not awesome that you can read the DMG over and over and still find stuff you've never seen before? Almost magical... |
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Post by Merctime on Nov 5, 2014 19:56:00 GMT -6
Is it not awesome that you can read the DMG over and over and still find stuff you've never seen before? Almost magical... This! In spades! |
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Post by thorswulf on Nov 6, 2014 12:20:51 GMT -6
Sounds like the gate to my back yard.....
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Post by Merctime on Nov 6, 2014 12:28:12 GMT -6
Sounds like the gate to my back yard.....  I hope you've got a great STR! |
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Post by TheObligatorySQL on Nov 6, 2014 16:01:44 GMT -6
A little googling about the density of oak, a little math, and a door of those dimensions and materials could probably weigh a ton, literally. Trying my hand at the math: assuming the wood is oak and not including the iron bindings and hinges, I came up with the door weighing 1953 pounds (0.8859 tons)  I don't think I'd be cut out to be an adventurer... Definately not a fighter, but maybe a wizard  |
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Post by foxroe on Nov 6, 2014 18:13:08 GMT -6
A little googling about the density of oak, a little math, and a door of those dimensions and materials could probably weigh a ton, literally. Trying my hand at the math: assuming the wood is oak and not including the iron bindings and hinges, I came up with the door weighing 1953 pounds (0.8859 tons) I don't think I'd be cut out to be an adventurer... Definately not a fighter, but maybe a wizard Exactly! Kind of puts high strength (13+ or whatever) in perspective, doesn't it! (assuming you follow the Gygaxian premise for doors of course) Interesting... I wonder if this was one of the driving factors for the inflation of the strength score in the Greyhawk supplement, what with all the "open doors" nonsense. I'd have to say that I rather like the "minimum strength required" to open a door based on this thread... And yes I agree, the original DMG is a treasure trove of fun stuff for any DM (My idea of an ideal D&D is OD&D, supplemented by Holmes, with an ample helping of the AD&D DMG. ). |
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Post by geoffrey on Nov 7, 2014 0:37:01 GMT -6
A little googling about the density of oak, a little math, and a door of those dimensions and materials could probably weigh a ton, literally. Trying my hand at the math: assuming the wood is oak and not including the iron bindings and hinges, I came up with the door weighing 1953 pounds (0.8859 tons) Wow. That really puts it in perspective. Opening such a door 1 in 3 times is actually generous! |
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otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
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Post by otiv on Dec 2, 2014 17:24:09 GMT -6
Well, consider all the beasts that use those doors and the fact that the doors may not have been built by human hands.
The doors also unlock for monsters and close automatically. They must be powered doors with biometric locks.
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Post by asaki on Aug 6, 2018 15:54:02 GMT -6
I always argue to my players that old wood swells. We don't usually close our bathroom door all the way, because it definitely requires a strength check or two to open (plus a check for wandering cats).
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bravewolf
Level 4 Theurgist
I don't care what Howard says.
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Post by bravewolf on Aug 10, 2018 13:07:18 GMT -6
Well, consider all the beasts that use those doors and the fact that the doors may not have been built by human hands. The doors also unlock for monsters and close automatically. They must be powered doors wkith biometric locks. I think of the underworld in terms of Ursula K. LeGuin's The Tombs of Atuan - the underworld is alive and wants to thwart incursions from the surface world. |
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Post by geoffrey on Aug 11, 2018 8:53:16 GMT -6
I always argue to my players that old wood swells. We don't usually close our bathroom door all the way, because it definitely requires a strength check or two to open (plus a check for wandering cats). Yep. That is yet another reason why having a 1 in 3 chance of opening a dungeon door is generous. And we haven't even talked about the rusted, malfunctioning, ill-made hinges! |
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Post by delta on Aug 18, 2018 22:14:37 GMT -6
Obviously a door so large is rather ridiculous. I read that as one of those DMG back-rationalizations for allowing 3 people to force a door in OD&D (Vol-3, p. 9).
N.B.: At least he was consistent about this. He allows a like number of people to listen at a door for similar reasons (DMG p. 60): "Each listener will take up about 2½' of space, so up to three can listen at a typical dungeon door."
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Post by Vile Traveller on Aug 18, 2018 22:52:32 GMT -6
I think this is just another example of the problems that arise when you start from an abstract idea and try to rationalise it later. Calculating an equation to 3 decimal places when the original numbers were wild guesses.
With all these things (like the pencil line thickness of dungeon walls), you either have to start from scratch, or come up with a universal theory like Philotomy's mythic underworld to make it all work.
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Post by strangebrew on Aug 27, 2018 20:33:37 GMT -6
Reminds me of the cover for the board game HeroQuest - a vast underground room with several stone staircases leading up to wide, arched passageways. Seemed much cooler and fantastical back then than the claustrophobic vibe of D&D dungeons (or HeroQuest in action), even if D&D dungeons were meant to be 10' wide with 8' wide doors. It's easy imagine huge doors of petrified wood sealing the massive corridors of an ancient age. Definitely gives an "otherworld" vibe compared to a crowded medieval city - we ain't in Greyhawk anymore!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2018 11:15:45 GMT -6
I bet with the first post that unless the hinges are oiled, an 8' wide door might creak rather loudly, and scraping across the floor when opened. Oops, there goes surprise!
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Post by rossik on Sept 18, 2018 8:02:13 GMT -6
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