How many miles can one travel in a day?

[Rel]

I spent several weekends at Ren Faires in costume with correct boots. Not rubber bottoms but leather and no padding. OUCH! The first day isn't bad. It's not until that next day that you realize how much it hurts. Modern sneakers are awesome and they would have had nothing like it back then.

That's certainly true. But don't forget that Kenyans and other native Africans are nearly always among the top contenders in major marathons and most of them spent years running completely barefoot. Today we can't imagine having to get around in primitive (or no) footwear because we've always had it and that's what we're used to.

And hey, the Hobbits walked all the way to Mordor with no shoes on!

 

[Bluenose]

Twenty miles a day was/is regarded as sustainable for military units in full kit. Faster is possible. That though is for large military units, including breaking camp and setting off in good order. Parties of adventurers I'd expect to move faster.

 

[Umbran]

No one has mentioned footwear.

I spent several weekends at Ren Faires in costume with correct boots.

I don't think that is a good comparison - your feet are soft from a lifetime being swaddled in padding. Your feet are different from those of a person who has walked a lifetime in unpadded shoes, or barefoot. Expecting to deal well in period footwear without conditioning is not reasonable.

Remember - humanity covered the Earth before the invention of Dr. Scholl's.

One needs to consider the pairing of footwear and walking surface, as well. If you're walking on concrete, you probably want padding. But then, paving is rare in pseudo-medieval societies. Bare earth is far kinder on the feet.

 

[evildmguy]

Umbran - I don't know you but I constantly see/hear Christian Kane because of your icon. That was a trivial fact.

With regards to footwear, I agree to some extent. My point is that this would have existed at all times with the classes. If a character was a noble, they would have had the best shoes and possible carried or coached everywhere. Suddenly having to walk, no matter the shape they are in, would be tough. Imagine the noble woman who used slippers all of the time and now has to wear boots and walk long distances.

My bigger point is that there are all sorts of variables in this and it's tough to nail it down to how any particular individual will do. As such, that's why I would make it situational, mention it offhand and not impose any penalties.

As to total distance, also remember with no 'race against time' issue, why go faster than you have to? Don't wear things out faster or tire the horse without good reason.

 

[Rel]

My bigger point is that there are all sorts of variables in this and it's tough to nail it down to how any particular individual will do. As such, that's why I would make it situational, mention it offhand and not impose any penalties.

As to total distance, also remember with no 'race against time' issue, why go faster than you have to? Don't wear things out faster or tire the horse without good reason.

But the point of the thread is to establish some kind of average for use in setting the scale of a map (at least I think that's the point of the thread based on the OP). Of course there will be variables. But I think we're trying to establish what they are varying from.

I'm by no means trying to declare my figure the correct one. But, taking into consideration the fact that in the typical D&D world walking is how almost everybody gets almost everywhere, I'd probably say that an average person could cover 20 miles a day in fairly flat, open terrain.

 

[Dausuul]

Sorry to disappoint, but I've done 50 miles in a DAY, and that wasn't even a day that I went from beginning to end (that would be more of a 12 hour hike per day). I've gone for a week hiking as well...but then, I suppose I'm more experienced then anyone here. Wouldn't call myself an adventurer.

I HAVE done quite a bit of hiking in my younger days however...that's since died out, that stuff's for the young...but then, maybe I was in better shape then some here as well, back in my youth.

That's with ALL living supplies on my back that I'll live off of for at least a week, plus mountain climbing equipment.

Good. Now double that weight, because your PC is not outfitted with modern lightweight hiking gear.

Now add the weight of armor, weapons, spellbooks, dungeoneering gear, and whatever loot the characters are carrying.

Now consider that the PCs are probably in unfamiliar territory and will often have to backtrack. And that the PCs need to be in condition to fight if ambushed during the night, and need to set up a camp which is defensible as well as comfortable.

Finally, recall that for every Caramon in the party, there is apt to be a Raistlin. Not every PC is an athlete in peak condition.

10 miles is low except in really rough terrain, but 40 miles is ridiculous on anything short of a Roman road.

 

[GreyLord]

Good. Now double that weight, because your PC is not outfitted with modern lightweight hiking gear.

Now add the weight of armor, weapons, spellbooks, dungeoneering gear, and whatever loot the characters are carrying.

Now consider that the PCs are probably in unfamiliar territory and will often have to backtrack. And that the PCs need to be in condition to fight if ambushed during the night, and need to set up a camp which is defensible as well as comfortable.

Finally, recall that for every Caramon in the party, there is apt to be a Raistlin. Not every PC is an athlete in peak condition.

10 miles is low except in really rough terrain, but 40 miles is ridiculous on anything short of a Roman road.

You're PC's go around with 150 Lbs of gear? (75 lbs x2)

That's pretty hefty.

Granted I left a lot of it below when I started climbing, but when going into an area that was removed from civilization sometimes, I would carry EVERYTHING I would want or need.

Maybe returning with loot...but what are they carrying in that weighs so much? According to the old encumberance rules...could Raistlin even carry 150 lbs? I don't recall Raistlin constantly being encumbered...but maybe my memory is wrong...or I'm remembering his strength wrong.

Anyways...I admit that perhaps if the adventurers aren't experienced backpackers or travelers it could be much harder on them and they probably wouldn't handle travelling that far that quickly.

25 miles a day for at least two or three days should at least be manageable however...though perhaps after that they may be VERY tired (if judging from how scouts turn out) and not willing to do much more travelling after that. So maybe an upper limit of how far they can travel if they aren't used to walking much?

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Good. Now double that weight, because your PC is not outfitted with modern lightweight hiking gear.

Now add the weight of armor, weapons, spellbooks, dungeoneering gear, and whatever loot the characters are carrying.

Now consider that the PCs are probably in unfamiliar territory and will often have to backtrack. And that the PCs need to be in condition to fight if ambushed during the night, and need to set up a camp which is defensible as well as comfortable.

Finally, recall that for every Caramon in the party, there is apt to be a Raistlin. Not every PC is an athlete in peak condition.

10 miles is low except in really rough terrain, but 40 miles is ridiculous on anything short of a Roman road.

Raistlin I always had problems with because it was debatable is such a person could survive travelling the winderness. The unfit wizard is something that I really cannot buy into. One cannot go tramping the countryside for weeks on end and remain unfit. For that matter the weak wizard is more of an artifact of class balance than anything else. I have known a few physically strong college professors.

As for the gear that a typical D&D group cart around the countryside, that also is a genre trope that i do not believe any sensible people would engage in. If they really needed all that gear they they would buy pack animals and people to guard them or invest in portable holes and other such devices.

 

[evildmguy]

But the point of the thread is to establish some kind of average for use in setting the scale of a map (at least I think that's the point of the thread based on the OP). Of course there will be variables. But I think we're trying to establish what they are varying from.

I'm by no means trying to declare my figure the correct one. But, taking into consideration the fact that in the typical D&D world walking is how almost everybody gets almost everywhere, I'd probably say that an average person could cover 20 miles a day in fairly flat, open terrain.

I think we generally agree. I do agree that I wasn't clear in one point. With regards to the OP, I think this thread has established the walking numbers as the ones in the books, which is ~ 25 miles a day, modified by terrain. I know that when most of the settings came out back in the day, there were rules on how far that was and multipliers based on terrain type. (I always liked the clear overlays for FR and then you didn't have hexes on the maps themselves.)

What 4E seems to have done is remove a lot of the penalties and details about this. The group travels X miles in a day and that's all they say on it, not worrying about forced marches or the like. I think that's a good idea and groups that want more detail can always go into it.

 

[delericho]

Finally, recall that for every Caramon in the party, there is apt to be a Raistlin.

Actually, Raistlin was always very much a special case, due to the story-based conditions of his Test. If you look at his game stats, he has average Constitution and Strength.

In fact, given that he carried almost nothing (robes, spell component pouches, staff and dagger), he would have moved faster than many in the party - indeed, depending on the edition, he may well have moved faster than Cameron (who would be slowed by his armour in at least 3.x).

(This, of course, matches a very many D&D Wizards. The player might choose to dump Strength slightly, but seldom below an 8 - and they'll reduce the amount they carry to compensate. The player almost certainly won't choose to dump Constitution, due to the resulting loss of hit points. D&D Wizards are very seldom extremely unfit bookworms.)