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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JamesonCourage" data-source="post: 6408709" data-attributes="member: 6668292">Welcome to EN World!Different people have different methods, so I'll just tell you what I do, and let you determine which answer appeals to you the most.Alright, so, for most time, I just wing it, and then tally up time if necessary. For example, if people say "what time of day is it?" I'll say "about two hours after noon" if that's what I feel is appropriate. If there's no reason to look into the precise time any more than that, I just react to what the players do next ("oh, so the shops should still be open, then; I'll head to the blacksmith").If there's something important tied to time, I'll stop to add up the time with my players (as you did in your example). "Well, you were told that the messenger was heading towards the castle, and would reach there in two hours on foot. You talked about things for about ten minutes, traveled to the capital in another hour, spent fifteen minutes waiting to talk to the captain of the guard, spent five minutes filling him in, and then spent another ten navigating the streets to cut him off at the gates to the inner keep. That's should put you there with about twenty minutes to spare, if the information you were told about the messenger was correct."I do pay very close attention to the date, though. I mark each day as it passes (well, I just update the calendar), so that I can keep an eye on the seasons, weather, etc. I've found that paying attention to this helped improved my ability to run the game over some time (instead of things being eternally spring until a storm happens, and then somebody asks what time of year it is). It helps the PCs plan for events, gives interesting hooks (now you're traveling through bad weather [my PCs almost all died to a blizzard at one point], fighting in high winds, or whatever), and makes the setting feel more realistic. All wins, in my opinion.Hope some of that helps. You'll figure out what works for you, though, so even if you take some of the answers you get as inspiration, tweak it to fit what's most intuitive for you. That'll make things easier and more fun for you, and that will spill over to your players most of the time. If the DM ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.</blockquote>

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