Do you miss the Turn?

[diaglo]

Miss 'em? Heck no! I still use 'em!

I don't play 3E, I play AD&D.

ditto. but in my case it is OD&D

 

[hong]

A "turn" as described adds nothing to the game. You can say "ten minutes" and get across exactly the same information, without having to define another piece of jargon.

OTOH, I do wish there was a metagame unit of time fitting somewhere between "encounter" and "adventure". Now that would be something useful to have.

 

[Creamsteak]

OTOH, I do wish there was a metagame unit of time fitting somewhere between "encounter" and "adventure". Now that would be something useful to have.

Odd thought. Since an encounter could also be the whole adventure, under certain circumstances, the in-between term would have to be capable of also encompassing the whole. Just throwing out terms, but "Event" might work. In modules, they almost always call the thing in-between a chapter.

Encounter <= Chapter <= Adventure

 

[MerricB]

What exactly is the 'new system' in 3e? Don't DMs just have to keep track of time?

Yes - but in little bits and pieces.

Search a 5'x5' square - that's six seconds.

Take 20 on the search - that's two minutes.

Move down a 10' wide corridor without checking - 20' or 30' distance in 6 seconds.

Move down a 10' wide corridor whilst checking for traps - 30' distance in 72 seconds...

A combat - 4 rounds lasts 24 seconds...

Six one way, half a dozen the other, so why bother having 'turns'. Do you also miss 1 minute melee rounds that were also integral to the whole idea of 'a turn is 10 rounds'?

No, they weren't. Basic D&D had 10 second rounds but kept the turn at 10 minutes.

Anyone remember flipping over initiative numbers (1-100) over and over again just to be able to keep track of who went when? 10 phases per round 10 rounds per turn.

No. Never did that. I am not responsible for your house rules.

####

So, why Turns at all?

The big reason is for keeping track of
(a) Spell effects, and
(b) Wandering Monsters
while the party is in the dungeon.

Of course the 10-minute Turn is somewhat abstract... but what we have at the moment is so absurdly complicated that the DM must guess at all time measurements.

I don't see this as an improvement.

Cheers!

 

[MerricB]

A "turn" as described adds nothing to the game. You can say "ten minutes" and get across exactly the same information, without having to define another piece of jargon.

Oh, I agree - I'm not particularly fond of the nomenclature.

However, the usefulness of the 'turn' is a different matter.

Hong - who is stalking you?

Cheers!

 

[diaglo]

A combat - 4 rounds lasts 24 seconds...

and takes 4 hours in real time.

 

[hong]

Of course the 10-minute Turn is somewhat abstract... but what we have at the moment is so absurdly complicated that the DM must guess at all time measurements.

The turn is not abstract at all! It's perfectly well-defined in in-game terms, at 1 turn == 10 minutes. What IS abstract is the 3E definition of "encounter", which pops up for example in how long a barbarian is fatigued for after a rage, and some other obscure places. The Sage defined it as the period from when the DM starts counting rounds, to when he stops counting them: ie, one combat.

Hong - who is stalking you?

That damn Algolei is STEALING MY PIC. It's outrageous, I tell you!

 

[MerricB]

and takes 4 hours in real time.

I don't think I've ever had a D&D combat (any edition) go that long. A battle of Star Warriors as part of a SW RPG session, yes...

I think about 30 minutes is about as long as one of my combats ever goes...

Cheers!

 

[Li Shenron]

So, why Turns at all?

The big reason is for keeping track of
(a) Spell effects, and
(b) Wandering Monsters
while the party is in the dungeon.

Of course the 10-minute Turn is somewhat abstract... but what we have at the moment is so absurdly complicated that the DM must guess at all time measurements.

I don't see this as an improvement.

Cheers!

I don't see the real advantage with (a) since you can just say it in minutes or 10s of minutes... really I don't see the point :\

About (b) I have never ever rolled wandering monsters at specific time intervals, maybe that's just me but I've always found the idea very boring.

Guessing all time measurements has worked fine for me so far. There's no need for me to keep track of exact times. Besides, 10min as minimum interval is definitely not going to help exact timing either... and the less exact they need to be, the easier it is to guess.

 

[MerricB]

The turn is not abstract at all! It's perfectly well-defined in in-game terms, at 1 turn == 10 minutes.

It's a well-defined game term that holds some abstract timings.

Sort of a Schrodinger's Box for D&D...

Cheers!