D&D 4E Should 4e convert to metric?

[Derren]

(I'm curious--for those who play non-English versions of D&D, do your rulebooks still use Imperial measurements? Or do they convert to metric in the process of translation? Edit: I guess Cirex just answered this question.)

That depends on the translator. The German 3E books use metrics

 

[Cirex]

That depends on the translator. The German 3E books use metrics

That proves that the webmaster of the website of the Spanish distributor of D&D in Spain (DeVir) is right. The other day he wrote something like "If the useless person we got as translator finishes his job, we may release X book".

Kinda shocking to see what in the news section of the site but well...

EDIT: His exact words were "- En marzo y/o abril debería ir el Dungeonscape (si el manta del traductor se digna acabarlo) y/o la Historia de los Reinos.".
Kinda useless information if you don't know anything of Spanish, but well.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

We only really use it for sodas (2 liter bottles), pills (milligrams) and occasionally guns.

This may or may not say a lot about America.

The important measurements are in squares. As for flavor things (the height of a monster, the weight of a fat politician, etc.) it doesn't really matter to me, but I suspect it'll be in standard at least through 4th edition.

 

[Silvergriffon]

Option three: Squares
One square is roughly equivalent to the height of an average medium sized humanoid.

 

[Ghaerdon Fain]

4E is throwing "realism" to the four winds, it's fanciful and clearly a fantasy game... so who really cares? Use whatever you like if the official system doesn't work for you; there's nothing to see here, move along...

 

[Carnivorous_Bean]

One thing that has always thrown me about running D&D games is the whole metric vs. imperial thing. Does my head in 'cause I naturally think in metres (not meters) and kilometres (not kilometers). So for me, it's a mental gear-shift to convert anything.

Sure, it's not a big deal, but it's still irksome when you're DM'ing and would rather be thinking of how the monsters are going to chew through the PC's rather than how many feet away they are and if the bows are medium or long-range.

To some extent, 4e fixes this with the simplification of counting squares rather than distance, but there are many other aspects of the system which imperial could affect. And I figure if they've gone far enough to eliminate feet by the use of squares, why not just nudge the system over the line into metric?

So, metric or imperial? And why?

Imperial forever!!!!

The Imperial measurement system is based on human measurements, and thus is intuitive and easy to use.

The metric system is an arbitrary mass of measurements that are either too small or too large to fit easily with human concepts and dimensions. The fact that most humans are between one and two meters tall, and that you need to pile up nearly 200 centimeters (a number that's impossible to visualize accurately) to make a human height, and that one meter is longer than a human stride, illustrates the problem of metrics right away -- either too much granularity, or not enough.

About replacing the Imperial measurement system in general -- if it ain't broken, don't fix it.

 

[WhatGravitas]

The Imperial measurement system is based on human measurements, and thus is intuitive and easy to use.

What is natural about imperial measurements? Most people don't have foot-long feet. And a stride is closer to a metre (and also yard). Oh, and the width of your finger(nails) is close to a centimetre. And the distance between your index finger and thumb, if stretched out, is quite close to 10 cm, while the length of your underarm is close to half a metre. This strikes me as much more intuitive and easier to use than holding my feet next to things I want to measure. Unless it's a distance on the ground - oh, wait, strides?

Okay, more seriously: I see why people use the imperial system - they grew up in world dominated by the imperial system. But... it's definitively not more natural, only in name.

Cheers, LT.

 

[med stud]

I voted imperial. I am a metric system user but I think there is something archaic about the imperial system that I like in a fantasy game with medieval tones. Saying that a dragon is 12 meters between the wings would kill the mood for me while saying that it is 36 feet between the wings only add to the suspension of disbelief.

 

[med stud]

Imperial forever!!!!

The Imperial measurement system is based on human measurements, and thus is intuitive and easy to use.

The metric system is an arbitrary mass of measurements that are either too small or too large to fit easily with human concepts and dimensions. The fact that most humans are between one and two meters tall, and that you need to pile up nearly 200 centimeters (a number that's impossible to visualize accurately) to make a human height, and that one meter is longer than a human stride, illustrates the problem of metrics right away -- either too much granularity, or not enough.

About replacing the Imperial measurement system in general -- if it ain't broken, don't fix it.

Just the fact that the metric system is decimal is enough for me to like it more on a theoretical basis. Besides, being based on natural measurements doesn't matter. Once you get used to it, you find metres, decimeters and centimeters as intuitive as inches and feet.

 

[Brown Jenkin]

If we are replicating ancient fantasy stuff then why not measure in Cubits, Sesters, and Stone. Then everyone can have fun converting.