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<blockquote data-quote="Patryn of Elvenshae" data-source="post: 5982903" data-attributes="member: 23094">In addition to my point above about the effective differences between &quot;1 minute&quot; and &quot;1 encounter&quot; durations, I'm not a fan of any rule which is, by nature, designed to be inconsistently applied (e.g., at-best-occasionally-enforced speed limits).Durations expressed in real-life terms longer than a few rounds are almost always this kind of rule.&nbsp; Take a spell that lasts 20 minutes - you cast it, and then the party wanders around for a bit, pokes for a secret door, checks out a hidden chest, etc., and then a combat starts.How many people actually have a completely accurate tally of how many rounds that spell has left *right now*?In my experience, no one does.&nbsp; You were walking around for &quot;about five minutes or so.&quot;&nbsp; You checked for the secret door for &quot;a couple minutes.&quot;&nbsp; It took &quot;a little bit&quot; to elf the chest.&nbsp; Etc.Therefore, you cannot have a completely accurate idea of exactly how many rounds are left on your 20-minute-duration spell.&nbsp; It could be 10 - it could be 50; who knows?The only time I've ever seen such durations accurately handled is in computer games.So, in my mind, if you're just going to handwave the actual duration, anyway, you might as well go whole-hog and just use metagame or event durations: until the next short / long rest, until sundown, etc.&nbsp; Then, at least, you'll be accurate.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Patryn of Elvenshae, post: 5982903, member: 23094"] In addition to my point above about the effective differences between "1 minute" and "1 encounter" durations, I'm not a fan of any rule which is, by nature, designed to be inconsistently applied (e.g., at-best-occasionally-enforced speed limits). Durations expressed in real-life terms longer than a few rounds are almost always this kind of rule. Take a spell that lasts 20 minutes - you cast it, and then the party wanders around for a bit, pokes for a secret door, checks out a hidden chest, etc., and then a combat starts. How many people actually have a completely accurate tally of how many rounds that spell has left *right now*? In my experience, no one does. You were walking around for "about five minutes or so." You checked for the secret door for "a couple minutes." It took "a little bit" to elf the chest. Etc. Therefore, you cannot have a completely accurate idea of exactly how many rounds are left on your 20-minute-duration spell. It could be 10 - it could be 50; who knows? The only time I've ever seen such durations accurately handled is in computer games. So, in my mind, if you're just going to handwave the actual duration, anyway, you might as well go whole-hog and just use metagame or event durations: until the next short / long rest, until sundown, etc. Then, at least, you'll be accurate. [/QUOTE]

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