Author Topic: Metric or Imperial System for RM Revised  (Read 48278 times)

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Offline Pit Ote

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Re: Metric or Imperial System for RM Revised
« Reply #140 on: October 08, 2007, 03:03:31 PM »
I voted Metric but better two versions (or dual system).
I have grown up with metric system and the conversions become boring mainly because of the spells that include areas, volumes, velocities,... I guess the same thing would happen to Imperial people.

.... or a " Universal Fantastic ICE system for ICE Worlds"  :D
.....unbalanced ......overpowered ......chaotic ......

Offline ictus

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Re: Metric or Imperial System for RM Revised
« Reply #141 on: October 10, 2007, 03:36:42 PM »
gosh is this one still going, and are us imperialists loosing....



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Offline Setorn

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Re: Metric or Imperial System for RM Revised
« Reply #142 on: October 10, 2007, 03:50:33 PM »
In Eden Studio’s WitchCraft, they use the IS, but give a conversion note in the Convention section at the beginning of the book:
“Measurements
This book primarily uses U.S. measurements (feet,
yards, miles, pounds, etc.). Metric system equivalents
appear in parentheses. In the interests of ease of use,
the conversions are rounded relatively arbitrarily. For
example, miles are multiplied by 1.5 to get kilometers
(instead of 1.609), meters are equal to yards (instead
of 1.094 yards), pounds are halved to get kilograms
(instead of multiplied by 0.4536), and so on. If a
Chronicler feels that more precision is necessary, she
should take the U.S. measurements provided and
apply more exact formulas.”
I feel that it works well. 

I also like that they switch gender each chapter:
“Gender
Every roleplaying game struggles with the decision
about third person pronouns and possessives. While
the male reference (he, him, his) is customarily used
for both male and female, there is no question that it
is not entirely inclusive. On the other hand, the “he or
she” structure is clumsy and unattractive. In an effort
to “split the difference,” this book and all books in the
WitchCraft line use male designations for even chapters,
and female designations for odd chapters.”
Rev. Scott

It all started with two men vs. three-hundred thousand orcs.

Offline ictus

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Re: Metric or Imperial System for RM Revised
« Reply #143 on: October 10, 2007, 03:54:12 PM »
The UK uses an odd mix of Imperial and metric, which works for us.



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Offline ironmaul

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Re: Metric or Imperial System for RM Revised
« Reply #144 on: October 10, 2007, 09:29:59 PM »
The UK uses an odd mix of Imperial and metric, which works for us.
Is that because all you Brits are odd people?  :P ;)

Offline arakish

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Re: Metric or Imperial System for RM Revised
« Reply #145 on: October 10, 2007, 11:01:09 PM »
Quote
Everything is logarithmic (powers of 10).

That's not what "logarithmic" means.

And the SAE system is useful in some situations, whereas metric is useful in other situation. Neither is good for all.

I prefer to use archaic systems for fantasy, a mix of SAE & metric for modern, and metric only for future (space) games.
« Last Edit: October 11, 2007, 06:57:39 AM by Andraax »
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Offline Justin

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Re: Metric or Imperial System for RM Revised
« Reply #146 on: October 11, 2007, 08:05:39 AM »
The UK uses an odd mix of Imperial and metric, which works for us.
Is that because all you Brits are odd people?  :P ;)
oh, I so want to forward this to my Brit gf.  :)
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Offline Andraax

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Re: Metric or Imperial System for RM Revised
« Reply #147 on: October 11, 2007, 11:07:16 AM »

OK, that's weird. *I* wrote that post, not arakish.

Offline Marc R

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Re: Metric or Imperial System for RM Revised
« Reply #148 on: October 11, 2007, 11:28:03 AM »
Problem with conversions is oddity.

Like if ICE were a metric company, "Symbolic Ways" would likely require a stone weighing one Metric Ton, instead of 2000 lbs, or one imperial ton. . .of course, one metric ton is 2,200 pounds. . .

Whatever the standard, you end up creating oddity in the conversion, like "Range of .9 meters per level" or "Affects 900 cubic centameters/level". . .if done for metric, those would be just 1 meter per level and 1000 cubic CM. (In which case the conversion back ends up with odd fractions or percentiles.)
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Offline Setorn

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Re: Metric or Imperial System for RM Revised
« Reply #149 on: October 11, 2007, 11:35:47 AM »
LM,

See my earlier post.  Eden does a good job with the conversions without much hassel. 
Rev. Scott

It all started with two men vs. three-hundred thousand orcs.

Offline Blakkrall

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Re: Metric or Imperial System for RM Revised
« Reply #150 on: October 11, 2007, 11:52:07 AM »
Quote
Everything is logarithmic (powers of 10).

That's not what "logarithmic" means.
I'm afraid it does...
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Offline Justin

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Re: Metric or Imperial System for RM Revised
« Reply #151 on: October 11, 2007, 12:47:17 PM »
Quote
Everything is logarithmic (powers of 10).
That's not what "logarithmic" means.
I'm afraid it does...
QFT  (at least in some contexts)
"Even the most free roaming video game in the world still has to rely on programmed quest resolution triggers.  Only table-top RPGs make any solution possible.  Even ones not originally intended by the GM.  You  will never replace that." --Rivstyx

Offline smug

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Re: Metric or Imperial System for RM Revised
« Reply #152 on: October 11, 2007, 01:24:49 PM »
'Logarithmic' doesn't mean powers of ten, because ten is only one of the bases to which logarithms can be taken.

Offline Marc R

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Re: Metric or Imperial System for RM Revised
« Reply #153 on: October 11, 2007, 01:26:22 PM »
Decimetric?
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Offline ictus

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Re: Metric or Imperial System for RM Revised
« Reply #154 on: October 11, 2007, 02:03:15 PM »
I've seen metric introduced to the UK over my liftime, and have done maths with imperial, and it is much harder to use than metric MUCH.

saying that I like imperial when it comes to miles, feet and inches, stones and pounds and acres. All for larger items, but when measuring layouts it is much much easier to use millimeters than fractions of an inch, no slide rules required shall we say.



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Offline ictus

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Re: Metric or Imperial System for RM Revised
« Reply #155 on: October 11, 2007, 02:04:30 PM »
actually having said all that, these are generally fantasy and thus old fashioned worlds, so imperial fits better, though spacemaster perhaps should be more progressive.



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Offline Andraax

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Re: Metric or Imperial System for RM Revised
« Reply #156 on: October 11, 2007, 02:08:52 PM »
Quote
Everything is logarithmic (powers of 10).

That's not what "logarithmic" means.
I'm afraid it does...

A base-10 logarithmic scale (such as the Richter scale for measuring earthquakes) has a ten-fold increase for each unit of the scale. In other words going from 1 to 2 is ten times as much as going from 0 to 1. And going from 2 to 3 is 10 times as much as going from 1 to 2.

So, unless in the the metric system the distance from 1 meter to 2 meters is 10 times the distance from 0 to 1 meter, it's not logarithmic. Last time I checked the length from 1 to 2 meters was identical to the length from 0 to 1 meters.

Plotted on a graph, logarithmic measurements are always curves. Measurements in the metric system are always straight lines.

Other common logarithmic scales include the decibel scale, photographic "f-stops", octaves in music, pH, stellar magnitudes, etc.

Offline Andraax

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Re: Metric or Imperial System for RM Revised
« Reply #157 on: October 11, 2007, 02:16:10 PM »
I've seen metric introduced to the UK over my liftime, and have done maths with imperial, and it is much harder to use than metric MUCH.

Unless you're in construction, or one of several related fields. Dividing by 2, 3 or 4 is common in those fields, and difficult in metric (hence the 12 basis of a number of measurements). Dividing a meter into thirds yields a number with a repeating decimal... Also, the multiples of 8 and 16 come from coins, which are relatively easy to divide into 8 or 16 (change used to be given by literally cutting up the coin and giving back pieces of it, ie, "pieces of eight").

Offline Blakkrall

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Re: Metric or Imperial System for RM Revised
« Reply #158 on: October 11, 2007, 02:40:15 PM »
Quote
Everything is logarithmic (powers of 10).

That's not what "logarithmic" means.
I'm afraid it does...

A base-10 logarithmic scale (such as the Richter scale for measuring earthquakes) has a ten-fold increase for each unit of the scale. In other words going from 1 to 2 is ten times as much as going from 0 to 1. And going from 2 to 3 is 10 times as much as going from 1 to 2.

So, unless in the the metric system the distance from 1 meter to 2 meters is 10 times the distance from 0 to 1 meter, it's not logarithmic. Last time I checked the length from 1 to 2 meters was identical to the length from 0 to 1 meters.

Plotted on a graph, logarithmic measurements are always curves. Measurements in the metric system are always straight lines.

Other common logarithmic scales include the decibel scale, photographic "f-stops", octaves in music, pH, stellar magnitudes, etc.
Ok, thanks for lesson  ;D
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Offline smug

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Re: Metric or Imperial System for RM Revised
« Reply #159 on: October 12, 2007, 12:16:27 PM »
A 'logarithmic scale' often also refers to a graphing scale, which will allow for a large range to be expressed on the axis and also makes exponential relationships follow a straight line.

The reason that metric is often said to be 'logarithmic' is that there are new named units every power of thousand.