Telling Time

[Westwind]

This thread was born out of someone in the persistant spell thread commenting that they use their metamgiced spells 8.1 hours before they have their "recharge" period, allowing for overlap of spell slots. My first thought (building a char with this feat) was "fantastic!" Then I wondered how I would ever justify knowing when it was 11:45 pm.

How do you run time-telling in your campaigns? I assume clocks and such, if they exist at all, are far too big to carry with you and a sundial isn't going to do much good in the Underdark. Players would have some sense of time through spell duration, but a 17th level cleric casting Endurance would probably think if it lasting "quite a long time" rather than "17 hours".

Of course, getting overly anal about this makes the players work more at bookkeeping when they should be having fun...

 

[AGGEMAM]

I can just picture it.

Krusk comes down the dark corridor just a few miles from Menzoberranzan dragging along a huge rock with somesort of metalwork on top, yelling 'hey you guys, look what I bought'.
Mialee: 'what is it ?'
Krusk, proudly: 'It's a sundial !'
Mialee, frowning: 'And what good is it gonna do us ?'
Krusk: 'Now we can tell the time !'
Mialee, still frowning: 'Krusk, do you know how a sundial works ?'
Krusk, proudly again: 'Yeah, when the sun comes up, it tells us what time it is !'


Repeat the last four sentences at your lessure.

 

[HeavyG]

I get what you're saying and mostly, it's a valid concern, but the example is wrong.

Mostly, 8.1 hours before your recharge time means "just before sleep", since mostly, spellcasters prepare spells just after waking up in the morning. So there's no precise timekeeping involved here.

That said, anybody knows when the concept of "1 hour" was invented ?

Edit : Found this :

The invention of mechanical clocks in the 1300s led to a need for equal hours:

-Ensured the clocks read true in the morning.
-Simplified clock design.

Medieval clocks were large and complex:

-Erected in towers in cities for everyone to see.
-Led to a standardization of time keeping:
-Personal timepieces came only later.

Until 1500s, clocks only kept time to the quarter hour.

Further division of the hours was needed as clocks became more complex.

1 hour was divided into 60 minutes.
1 minute was divided into 60 seconds.
Seconds didn't become common until the 1670s (39-inch pendulum clocks have a natural 1 second "tick").

 

[Crothian]

For general time when characters can see the sky I allow characters with knoeldge naure, intuit direction, or wilderness lore make a check to get an estimate of the time. I don't use a 24 hour clock I say late afternoon, or a little after dusk.

 

[Stalker0]

You could always get a water clock. A huge item costing over 1000 gold, how could you lose?

 

[Kershek]

I just use actual time, usually rounded off to the hour, because it's easier for us to keep track of things that way, especially as the DM. It's not really important to us whether or not the characters have that keen a sense in timing and it hasn't been a problem.

 

[Grazzt]

For general time when characters can see the sky I allow characters with knoeldge naure, intuit direction, or wilderness lore make a check to get an estimate of the time. I don't use a 24 hour clock I say late afternoon, or a little after dusk.

Yeah- that's pretty much how I do it for the most part. Characters really have no concept of time (more or less) and unless they are in one of the few cities of Alorel that has a huge central clock, they just have to guess.

But- time has really never come up as an issue. I mean, a spellcaster fires off a spell and knows it either lasts a short time, a long time, or whatever. Never really needed an exactness for that (from the character's PoV).

 

[Dreaddisease]

I see a useful spell for people like that

Tell Time

Lasts 24 hours and you know exactly how long something has been occuring or how long ago something happened.

Of course than someone could make a magic item with it on it using up the bracer spot and call it a magic time teller. People would pay for it straping this little medal medallion to their wrists with leather straps.

Of course to be mean I would make it a 3rd level spell.

 

[Hejdun]

It's strange, because a lot of fantasy books have the people knowing exactly what time it is. Look at Lord of the Rings, for example, they have people who know exactly when 8 o'clock is. I always wondered how the guards knew it was 7:30 and not 8 o'clock...

 

[Ricimer]

just goes to show you how much of an indoor culture we are.

I can tell time quite accurately when I spend a while outdoors (assuming I knew the time when I went out). If I get outside at about 1pm and puddle about doing stuff for a while I can look at the sky and my surroundings and get to within 10minutes (easily, I'm usually closer) to the time my friends watch says. Of course, to make a show I closely investigate my bare arm before announcing the time.

Hard way to do it if you aren't temporally (or spatially) gifted or as observant: If the sun is directly overhead, or rather halfway between horizons, (here in nebraska the sun is ALWAYS a bit to the south) its noon. Now, the sun moves 15 degrees every hour (shock, same distance between longitude lines that make up earths time zones...). So if the sun is 45 degrees past its midpoint (this takes some general observation and orientation to notice where this is on a day to day basis) its 3 o'clock. BTW fifteen degrees is the 1.5times the width of a clenched fist at arms length. I.e. hold your fist out in front of you, that covers a 10 degree span from pinky side to thumb side.

Thats basically how I do it, accept its quite subconcious after a little bit of practice.

The little uncertainty is why people weren't to strict on meeting times and if it was really important the meeting would be at sunrise, or sunset due to their unequivicable nature, or noon because its quite easy to judge.