[LT] Portcullises

[Dunadin777]

Originally Posted by Anthony

That's going to depend on weight. Absent a counterweight, and with no pulley or crank mechanism, the maximum a single lifter can manage is BL*10, but will lift faster than 1' per 3s (BL*10 at 1'/3s is BL*4.5W, or 90W for an average adult, which is a rate an average adult can probably maintain for multiple hours); with a reasonable crank mechanism, the 450 lb portcullis (which is not a side door; 15' x 20' is a large door) can probably be managed at the listed speed with a single person.

Everyone keeps invoking the Extra-heavy encumbrance weight limit, which is wrong. The rules specifically state that X-Hvy encumbrance is more than a person can normally lift--loading one object into a pack at a time, you could carry 10xBL, but there's no way you could realistically lift that much in the first place. The max someone can lift at once is 8xBL (B353) and that takes four seconds and two hands. And even that I'd require a strength roll to do successfully, as it otherwise assumes that an average strength 10 person can bench 160 lbs until the cows come home.

The whole concept of the mechanism, to me, seems like it should be based on one-handed lift limits, though, since I don't imagine a portcullis team of 8 straining and using both hands unless we're looking at an absurdly fantasized mechanism and gate. Plus we want to be fair to one-armed adventurers, right? Or allow them to hold a shield or weapon while operating the mechanism? The one-handed lift limit is 2xBL and takes two seconds. So each average operator contribues 40 lbs to the team's lift, with 8 guys lifting 320 lbs worth of stuff. Now the mechanism itself helps with the rest, which isn't great, but as said before features a safety/locking mechanism or some such. Also there might be track friction to consider as well. Just to make the raise rate fit this explanation's units, though, I'd say it lifts at 1'/two seconds.