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Rope of Climbing 5e: Commands, Climbing Speed and What 2024 Changed
A Rope of Climbing is an uncommon wondrous item, no attunement, made of 60 feet of rope that holds up to 3,000 pounds. Hold one end and command it, and the other end crawls 10 feet per turn toward a spot you choose, then fastens itself, knots itself for easier climbing, or unties and coils when you're done. In 2014 you animate it with an action and steer it with bonus actions; in 2024 one Magic action does both. The verdict: the rope solves cliffs, wells and tower walls without a climber going first, and it's cheap enough that any party can use one.
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Rope of Climbing Rules Text
First the 2014 card (SRD 5.1), then the 2024 card (SRD 5.2.1).
Rope of Climbing
2014 rules
Wondrous item, uncommon
UncommonNo attunement
This 60-foot length of silk rope weighs 3 pounds and can hold up to 3,000 pounds. If you hold one end of the rope and use an action to speak the command word, the rope animates. As a bonus action, you can command the other end to move toward a destination you choose. That end moves 10 feet on your turn when you first command it and 10 feet on each of your turns until reaching its destination, up to its maximum length away, or until you tell it to stop. You can also tell the rope to fasten itself securely to an object or to unfasten itself, to knot or unknot itself, or to coil itself for carrying.
If you tell the rope to knot, large knots appear at 1-foot intervals along the rope. While knotted, the rope shortens to a 50-foot length and grants advantage on checks made to climb it.
The rope has AC 20 and 20 hit points. It regains 1 hit point every 5 minutes as long as it has at least 1 hit point. If the rope drops to 0 hit points, it is destroyed.
This 60-foot length of rope can hold up to 3,000 pounds. While holding one end of the rope, you can take a Magic action to command the other end of the rope to animate and move toward a destination you choose, up to the rope's length away from you. That end moves 10 feet on your turn when you first command it and 10 feet at the start of each of your subsequent turns until reaching its destination or until you tell it to stop. You can also tell the rope to fasten itself securely to an object or to unfasten itself, to knot or unknot itself, or to coil itself for carrying.
If you tell the rope to knot, large knots appear at 1-foot intervals along the rope. While knotted, the rope shortens to a 50-foot length and grants Advantage on ability checks made to climb using the rope. The rope has AC 20, HP 20, and Immunity to Poison and Psychic damage. It regains 1 Hit Point every 5 minutes as long as it has at least 1 Hit Point. If the rope drops to 0 Hit Points, it is destroyed.
2014: while holding one end, you take an action to speak the command word, and the rope animates. Then, as a bonus action, you direct the other end toward a destination. Both can happen on the same turn.
2024: while holding one end, a single Magic action sends the other end toward a destination up to the rope's length away. No command word is mentioned.
The far end moves 10 feet on the turn you first command it, then 10 more on each of your turns (at the start of each later turn, in 2024) until it arrives, reaches its full length, or you tell it to stop.
Timing a 50-foot wall: the end moves 10 feet on your first turn and 10 on each of the next four, so it's at the top after five turns, about 30 seconds. Nobody has to free-climb first, and nobody has to be up there to tie it.
The other commands
You can also tell the rope to fasten itself securely to an object, unfasten itself, knot or unknot itself, or coil up for carrying. The text doesn't say what these commands cost. DM ruling: each one takes the same action as steering the rope (a bonus action in 2014, a Magic action in 2024), and you need to be holding an end, as you do for steering.
The unfasten command is what makes the rope reusable. Climb down, tell the top end to let go, and the whole rope comes down with you instead of staying tied to the cliff.
Fastening is to an object. The rope can't tie up a creature; for that, the SRD has a separate item, the Rope of Entanglement.
Knots and climbing checks
Telling the rope to knot puts large knots every foot. It shrinks to 50 feet and grants Advantage on checks to climb it (in 2024, ability checks to climb using the rope).
Climbing a rope still costs movement: each foot of climbing costs an extra foot unless you have a climb speed, in both editions. A check is only needed when the GM calls for one, for a slippery surface or one with few handholds; the 2024 rules suggest DC 15 Strength (Athletics) for that. The knots matter most when a check is called for: in the rain, under fire, or for a character with low Strength.
Durability
The rope has AC 20 and 20 hit points, and regains 1 hit point every 5 minutes as long as it has at least 1. At 0 it's destroyed. The 2024 rope adds Immunity to Poison and Psychic damage, and the 2024 SRD gives most magic items other than potions and scrolls Resistance to all damage, so a 2024 rope takes about 40 damage to cut. An enemy at the top trying to saw through it needs to hit AC 20 first.
Rope of Climbing: 2014 vs 2024
2014 (SRD 5.1)
2024 (SRD 5.2.1)
Rarity / attunement
Uncommon, none
Uncommon, none
Length / capacity
60 ft silk, holds 3,000 lb
60 ft, holds 3,000 lb
Weight
3 lb
Not given
Starting it
Action (command word) to animate, then a bonus action to direct it
One Magic action while holding an end
Movement
10 ft on your first turn, then 10 ft on each of your turns
10 ft on your first turn, then 10 ft at the start of each later turn
Knotted
50 ft, advantage on checks to climb it
50 ft, Advantage on ability checks to climb using it
Durability
AC 20, 20 HP, regains 1 HP per 5 minutes
Same, plus Immunity to Poison and Psychic damage
Value
No price in the SRD
400 GP (uncommon)
What this means at the table:
•2024 is faster to start. One Magic action replaces an action plus a bonus action, which leaves your bonus action free on the first turn.
•2024 doesn't need a voice. The text drops the command word, so the rope works inside a Silence area. The 2014 SRD says items with command words don't work where sound is prevented.
•Both versions move at the same speed. Neither one is quick in combat; it's an exploration tool.
Is the Rope of Climbing Worth It?
For most parties, yes. It costs no attunement slot, weighs almost nothing, and replaces the riskiest part of climbing: the first person up. It stays useful at high levels, because spell slots run out and the rope doesn't.
Compared with the alternatives:
•Spells such as Fly and Levitate are faster and work mid-combat, but they cost slots and concentration.
•Gloves of Swimming and Climbing give one character a climb speed (2024) or free climbing movement (2014), but take attunement and help only the wearer.
•The rope helps the whole party, including the armored cleric with Strength 10.
When it's a trap: in a fight. Ten feet a turn is slow, and a rope left hanging is a gift to anything that climbs.
Rope of Climbing for DMs
What it changes. Climbing obstacles stop being skill checks for the first climber. If your dungeon relies on a sheer shaft or a castle wall to keep the party out, the rope gets them in. Add something to the top: a guard, a gargoyle, a loose stone.
Pricing. An uncommon item is worth 400 GP under the 2024 SRD. The 2014 SRD has no prices. The treasure generator can roll the rest of the hoard.
Hooks.
•A coil of rope in a goblin warren is the only way down the shaft that leads deeper, and the goblins have been using it to come back up.
•A lighthouse keeper uses a Rope of Climbing to reach the lamp after the stairs collapsed. When the keeper vanishes, the rope is still hanging there, fastened at the top by someone else.
•Three thousand pounds is enough to hold a small boat or a frightened horse. A merchant needs a cart and its oxen lowered into a canyon before raiders arrive.
Where the rope was left fastened, and whether anyone remembered to bring it down, is easy to forget. Loreify records your session and writes it into the recap.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is a Rope of Climbing?
60 feet. When you tell it to knot, it shrinks to 50 feet and gives Advantage on checks to climb it.
How much weight can a Rope of Climbing hold?
Up to 3,000 pounds in both editions.
What action does a Rope of Climbing take?
In 2014, an action to speak the command word and animate it, then a bonus action to direct the far end. In 2024, a single Magic action while holding one end.
Can a Rope of Climbing tie someone up?
No. It can fasten itself to an object, not restrain a creature. The Rope of Entanglement is the SRD item that restrains creatures.
How much is a Rope of Climbing worth?
400 GP under the 2024 SRD, the value of an uncommon magic item. The 2014 SRD gives no magic item prices.
Item text: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Analysis, rulings and ideas are Loreify's own.
This page includes material from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Loreify is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.