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Time and distances
- Thread starter bryanlo
- Start date
Nytmare
David Jose
In general I stick to what I learned in scouts when I was a kid.
A "real" day of hiking is 12-16 hours.
Hiking on roads and trails is roughly 1.5-3 miles an hour and a day's worth hiking should run in the 10 to 20 miles per day range without pushing things. Speeds off road depend entirely on where you're hiking. I've been stuck in places where a mile a day would have been considered making good time. There are probably climbers out there who laugh at people who don't measure daily progress in feet.
I've never done any distance horseback riding, but I know that 100 light miles in a day is fine for a single horse. That can be pushed depending on how much you can run it like the pony express, or if you don't mind losing your horse in the process.
None of these numbers involve moving with gear however. I have no idea what kind of mileage a soldier with a full pack can get out of a day.
[EDIT] Oh yeah, you could also use the old 3rd ed Overland Movement rules.
A "real" day of hiking is 12-16 hours.
Hiking on roads and trails is roughly 1.5-3 miles an hour and a day's worth hiking should run in the 10 to 20 miles per day range without pushing things. Speeds off road depend entirely on where you're hiking. I've been stuck in places where a mile a day would have been considered making good time. There are probably climbers out there who laugh at people who don't measure daily progress in feet.
I've never done any distance horseback riding, but I know that 100 light miles in a day is fine for a single horse. That can be pushed depending on how much you can run it like the pony express, or if you don't mind losing your horse in the process.
None of these numbers involve moving with gear however. I have no idea what kind of mileage a soldier with a full pack can get out of a day.
[EDIT] Oh yeah, you could also use the old 3rd ed Overland Movement rules.
This should vary vastly depending on terrain.
In fact, due to that, I'd say its up to you to "stat out" the terrain before your party get to it.
Remember that there's a lot of Skill Challenge type stuff you can put out there: imagine your party hiking the Grand Canyon, rim to rim, in August.
You've got some kind of skill challenges to deal with cliffs ..
You've got some kind of skill challenges to deal with finding good routes ..
You've got some kind of skill challenges to cross rivers ..
You've got some kind of skill challenges to avoid random encounters ..
You've got some kind of skill challenges to represent the elevation changes in that heat ..
Compare and contrast to a two-day hike along a well-traveled road between two cities - you still might have skill challenges, but they'd be much more social-oriented.
Of course, you set the DC's to level-appropriate, and force a speed of movement that fits your other campaign goals.
In fact, due to that, I'd say its up to you to "stat out" the terrain before your party get to it.
Remember that there's a lot of Skill Challenge type stuff you can put out there: imagine your party hiking the Grand Canyon, rim to rim, in August.
You've got some kind of skill challenges to deal with cliffs ..
You've got some kind of skill challenges to deal with finding good routes ..
You've got some kind of skill challenges to cross rivers ..
You've got some kind of skill challenges to avoid random encounters ..
You've got some kind of skill challenges to represent the elevation changes in that heat ..
Compare and contrast to a two-day hike along a well-traveled road between two cities - you still might have skill challenges, but they'd be much more social-oriented.
Of course, you set the DC's to level-appropriate, and force a speed of movement that fits your other campaign goals.
For Eberron you may want to pick up the 3e 'Explorer's Guide' supplement. The first chapter deals with all the Eberron-specific ways to travel and has tables showing distances, travel times and cost for major routes.
PHB, pp. 260-263.
I'm occasionally annoyed by the fact that loads of information that DM needs to run the game are in the PHB. Granted, they're supposed to be a set, but really, the only people who would want to be exacting about overland movement are the DMs.
And I say this as a DM.
I'm occasionally annoyed by the fact that loads of information that DM needs to run the game are in the PHB. Granted, they're supposed to be a set, but really, the only people who would want to be exacting about overland movement are the DMs.
And I say this as a DM.
And I like this because as a DM I don't need to bring the DMG. Everything I need is either in the PHB or on the DM's screen.
Actually that is very true.
In which case the DMG is misleading it's not really a DMG, except for those people who want to learn how to DM if they have no experience, or teach experienced DMs the general design ideology of 4e.
Still, as opposed to actually teaching you the rules of the game itself, it focuses on the most DM-relevant stuff such as teaching you how to build treasure parcels, customizing monsters, determining encounters and doling out XP.
But hey, off-topic I am.
In which case the DMG is misleading it's not really a DMG, except for those people who want to learn how to DM if they have no experience, or teach experienced DMs the general design ideology of 4e.
Still, as opposed to actually teaching you the rules of the game itself, it focuses on the most DM-relevant stuff such as teaching you how to build treasure parcels, customizing monsters, determining encounters and doling out XP.
But hey, off-topic I am.
I'll second the reccomendation for the 3e Explorer's Guide. Very useful for this kind of thing.
As a yardstick, I'll use the fact that a good day of travel on the Oregon Trail (wagons on plains at a walking pace) was 20 miles. When I was a scout I participated in a hike called the 50/20. 50 miles in 20 hours. Us younger scouts could do a 25/10, which was as you'd expect, 25 miles in 10 hours. It is pretty tough for short legs to do that, even on paved surfaces. I'd say if you have any of the races with a speed less than 6, you may want to consider having that make a difference (unless they are on horseback or using some other conveyance).
Jay
As a yardstick, I'll use the fact that a good day of travel on the Oregon Trail (wagons on plains at a walking pace) was 20 miles. When I was a scout I participated in a hike called the 50/20. 50 miles in 20 hours. Us younger scouts could do a 25/10, which was as you'd expect, 25 miles in 10 hours. It is pretty tough for short legs to do that, even on paved surfaces. I'd say if you have any of the races with a speed less than 6, you may want to consider having that make a difference (unless they are on horseback or using some other conveyance).
Jay
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