D&D 5E L&L: Exploration and Interaction

[Iosue]

Which is why it's weird that, in his description of the rules, Mearls says that the 1-hour scale is for "overland travel," while not mentioning any rules for actual overland travel.

In Mearls' defense, rules for actual overland travel can vary from state to state, and indeed from country to country.

 

[GX.Sigma]

In Mearls' defense, rules for actual overland travel can vary from state to state, and indeed from country to country.

Is a quick rundown of state, federal, NATO, and UN regulations too much to ask from a roleplaying system?

 

[DEFCON 1]

Is a quick rundown of state, federal, NATO, and UN regulations too much to ask from a roleplaying system?

Not at all. But you only get the state and federal in the main book. You gotta save NATO and UN regulations for the splat!

 

[JamesonCourage]

From Twitter:

Mearls: Assumption is that in safe areas, you can just resolve things on a per day basis. Hours are for hacking through wilds

gx: So e.g. in Hobbit, you use 1-day turns between the Shire and Rivendell, 1-hour turns in Mirkwood, and 1-minute in Smaug's lair?

Mearls: That's a good way to look at it.

So 1-minute turns are for dungeon exploration, 1-hour turns are for wilderness exploration, and 1-day turns are for overland travel.

The 1-hour turns for wilderness would be maddening to my players, considering many trips in my campaign take weeks (or occasionally months), including through threatening, wild areas. I imagine you can easily shift the time scale (just like I never required 50 Climb checks on tall objects), and I would, but it's just such a weird answer to me. But, my play style is probably on the fringe, so there's that. As always, play what you like

 

[KidSnide]

The 1-hour turns for wilderness would be maddening to my players, considering many trips in my campaign take weeks (or occasionally months), including through threatening, wild areas. I imagine you can easily shift the time scale (just like I never required 50 Climb checks on tall objects), and I would, but it's just such a weird answer to me. But, my play style is probably on the fringe, so there's that. As always, play what you like

For time scale, I think I agree with the article -- not because it's the best system for an arbitrary campaign, but because it's a fairly simple system. A 1 hour turn is probably about right for 1 mile hexes and a 1 minute turn is about right for 5-foot squares. Yes, other scales are relevant, but let's keep the core system as simple as possible. It's easier to tweak a simple system to what you want in your campaign that figure out a complex system that is attempting to cover "most" campaigns.

And as a significant added bonus, "1 minute" and "1 hour" are time scales that everyone knows. We don't need a "1 turn = 10 minutes" rule that is easy enough to learn, but still piles in more vocabulary that new players need to figure out.

-KS

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

The "key motivator" concept is vital to an interesting interaction pillar because it allows the players to investigate the situation and then make an interesting decision based on that information.

I'm not clear whether this is meant as rebuttal to my post or agreement. I agree with the above 100%.

 

[Ichneumon]

My groups have traditionally shortened exploration time by travelling through the one-dimensional red wormhole. But I'll be happy to try these new rules out.