How long should a round represent?

[Kingreaper]

Simple question: how long do you think one combat round should represent in the game world? 6 seconds? A minute? Somewhere in between?

 

[Jan van Leyden]

I actually don't have a preference. A round is mainly an abstract measure of time. Short rounds make it nigh impossible to do things besides direct combat actions during combat; ever tried to tie a rope to something or look in your backpack during GURPS 1-second-rounds? 1-minute-rounds, on the other hand, make combat actions rather abstract and lessen the credibilty of detailled maneuvers.

 

[Kingreaper]

My personal preference leans towards longer rounds, for simple reason of drama. If a round is 6 seconds, it doesn't matter whether you take 5 or 10, you're still done in under a minute.
If they take 30 seconds, those extra 5 rounds is 2 and a half minutes. That could make more of a difference. And seems more fitting to high fantasy, not every fight is blink-and-you-miss-it.
For instance, if you need to stop a ritual an extra 2, or (with 1 minute rounds) 5 minutes is going to make a big difference. An extra 30 seconds? Not so much. And if you want the ritual to be occurring, with a chance of finishing, during the combat, it's easier to justify why they turn up at the right time if rounds are longer.

 

[jodyjohnson]

1 minute - based purely on how much imaginary time/interaction I get with a Succubus per level drained.

Otherwise, shorter is better.

 

[TwinBahamut]

Honestly, I'd prefer to simply not specify the amount of time. Leave it abstract, or even variable from round to round. I actually prefer the idea that a character's actions in a round are more limited by the amount of energy it takes them to perform the action, rather than the amount of time it takes. Overall, rounds just track what happens, and I don't think the question of how long that takes is essential to the concept.

 

[billd91]

I'm not sure I have a pat answer. I feel 6 seconds is too short and combat based to really reconcile with some round-long skill applications like picking a lock. There are definitely times I feel that 1e's abstraction that an attack roll represented a minutes worth of feints, ripostes, parries, thrusts, and so on was actually better than treating it as an individual swing.

On the other hand, the shorter round times allow for more tactical movement that isn't insanely slow.

 

[ArmoredSaint]

A round should be long enough to make a single attack. I've never had any problem with GURPS's one-second rounds.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

The one second round is why I can't play GURPS. I love the system, otherwise. What do you do this round? I draw my sword. I move 5 feet. Next round, I move 5 more feet. Ug. I'd pay dearly for a GURPS with 6, 10, or 60 second rounds.
That said, I voted for one minute rounds. It allows for spells that work both in and out of combat. A spell that lasts 6 seconds might be okay for a combat, but it sucks for anything out of combat. Suppose I want to use a haste spell to finish fortifying a wall before the attack gets here? Or summon a monster to do some heavy lifting? One minute rounds allow for a more abstract combat, and make for more interesting out of combat play.

 

[Yora]

10 rounds per minute is the easiest to convert, as anyone from a country that uses the metric system can tell you.

 

[Sunseeker]

I don't really care. But I feel it should be short, very short, as in less than 30 seconds. Mostly to prevent players from going overboard in what they do during their turn.