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[King Mir]

The OP. ZZ's is fine, since it's just like setting a trap.

Actually It would be neat naturally occurring contaminants prevented climbing. You can't easily climb a wall that's covered in horrid ooze.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Depends on how viscous and sticky it is...

[King Mir]

Does it? I imagine a cliff covered in honey would still be harder to climb than a dry cliff.

[GreatWyrmGold]

I'd imagine that a cliff covered in glue would be easier. Unless you got stuck, of course.

[CaptainArchmage]

I seem to remember something about lubricants Space Station 13 - some people used lubricants to make the passage to the escape pods slippery so when it came to evacuation time, everyone slipped up on their way to the escape pods. I haven't played Space Station 13, but I've read about it.

This could be applied in Dwarf Fortress - have a lubricated hallway so when the goblins charge in on mounts, they slip up.

[King Mir]

I'd imagine that a cliff covered in glue would be easier. Unless you got stuck, of course.

I don't. Most glues aren't very sticky until they harden, and anyway it's putting a liquid coating on your grip. The best conditions for climbing are dry, and covered in chalk.

[GreatWyrmGold]

I'd imagine that a cliff covered in glue would be easier. Unless you got stuck, of course.

I don't. Most glues aren't very sticky until they harden, and anyway it's putting a liquid coating on your grip. The best conditions for climbing are dry, and covered in chalk.

I'd imagine a cliff covered in something viscous and sticky would be easier to climb,

[King Mir]

How easy it is to climb is determined most by the quality of holds. A nice, dry outcropping is the easiest to grab on to. An outcropping covered in honey is worse, it puts a layer between you and the rock, and being sticky is absolutely no help, since it's nowhere near sticky enough to hold you up. Being viscous might mean you get a marginal amount of extra reaction time when your grip fails, but it also slows your ability to move your arm or leg to another hold quickly.

If that were not the case, rock climbers might cover their hands in something sticky instead of chalk.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Did I ever say honey?

[King Mir]

You said sticky and viscus, honey qualifies. Molasses isn't any better, if you think it's more to your point.

[GreatWyrmGold]

I don't know how sticky or viscous it needs to be, but I'd imagine that, at a minimum, some unpleasant procedurally generated stuff would be. In any case, honey would be better than oil, no? Therefore, it makes sense to have a progression of "Severely hurts your clinging abilities" to "Slightly impairs your clinging abilities" to "Helps you cling."

[Helgoland]

I don't know how sticky or viscous it needs to be, but I'd imagine that, at a minimum, some unpleasant procedurally generated stuff would be. In any case, honey would be better than oil, no? Therefore, it makes sense to have a progression of "Severely hurts your clinging abilities" to "Slightly impairs your clinging abilities" to "Helps you cling."

Try thinking about the ration of adhesive-covered surface to body mass - you'd need some damn good glue to stick to the wall. That's why a gecko can run up a window, but you won't be dooing that anytime soon.

[GreatWyrmGold]

I don't know how sticky or viscous it needs to be, but I'd imagine that, at a minimum, some unpleasant procedurally generated stuff would be. In any case, honey would be better than oil, no? Therefore, it makes sense to have a progression of "Severely hurts your clinging abilities" to "Slightly impairs your clinging abilities" to "Helps you cling."

Try thinking about the ration of adhesive-covered surface to body mass - you'd need some damn good glue to stick to the wall. That's why a gecko can run up a window, but you won't be dooing that anytime soon.

Actually, geckos walk on walls due to various electromagnetic forces in the ends of microscopic hairs called setae. These are capable of holding humans, if you made enough artificial setae.

[Bytyan]

Helgoland made a fine point- climbers use chalk or gloves to improve thier grip, not honey. Humanoids don't have enough surface area in our <Grasp> for the increase in cohesion from a glue like substance to be worth the decrease in precision. ANy stickiness in our hands must be overcome when we remove our hand from the handhold; the friction between our hands and the handholds is enough to hold use to the wall, then there isn't much advantage to increasing it. If a liquid is viscous enough not to impede ones grip, it must not move in the time it takes to find the next handhold, in which case it would be nearly solid, or thin enough that you can grip the rock itself, in which case it is nothing but a hinderance, since it's the rock you are griping and the liquid can not apply enough reaction force to significantly reduce your chances of falling.

[Helgoland]

I don't know how sticky or viscous it needs to be, but I'd imagine that, at a minimum, some unpleasant procedurally generated stuff would be. In any case, honey would be better than oil, no? Therefore, it makes sense to have a progression of "Severely hurts your clinging abilities" to "Slightly impairs your clinging abilities" to "Helps you cling."

Try thinking about the ration of adhesive-covered surface to body mass - you'd need some damn good glue to stick to the wall. That's why a gecko can run up a window, but you won't be dooing that anytime soon.

Actually, geckos walk on walls due to various electromagnetic forces in the ends of microscopic hairs called setae. These are capable of holding humans, if you made enough artificial setae.

Yeah, they aren't actually using glue - but the same principle applies: The force/surface ratio is way too high with humans.