Author Topic: 50' per round?  (Read 912 times)

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Offline alloowishus

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50' per round?
« on: March 03, 2021, 12:10:26 PM »
I think RM extrapolates 50'/round walking pace from average miles per hour walking pace, but has anyone tried this out? I can walk about 10' in 5 seconds, so 20'/round walking pace seems more realistic.

Offline markc

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Re: 50' per round?
« Reply #1 on: March 03, 2021, 12:33:00 PM »
In most core books there is a chart with movement rates. I do not know off the top of my head exactly what the name of the chart is.

Also rate is moded by some factors so in general every person will potentially walk at a different rate in group.
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Offline Eladan

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Re: 50' per round?
« Reply #2 on: March 03, 2021, 12:33:34 PM »
50'/rd = 300'/minute (in old RM2 rounds). That means that you walk a mile in about 17.6 minutes. An out-of-shape 41-year old runs about 9-10 minute miles [cough.. cough], and high school athletes run between mid-4 to low-5 minute miles.

Unless my math is funky, that seems about right, at least according to the math.
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Offline jdale

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Re: 50' per round?
« Reply #3 on: March 03, 2021, 04:20:30 PM »
50'/round (for a 10 second round) is about right for a normal walk. Depending on age and how much of a hurry people are in, a brisk walk is not uncommon, and that's modeled pretty well by 1.5x BMR. A brisk walk uses more energy but if time is more valuable to you than energy, you'll probably walk briskly.

E.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preferred_walking_speed  gives 4.6 ft/sec as typical, so that's 46' per (10 second) round.
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Offline Hurin

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Re: 50' per round?
« Reply #4 on: March 03, 2021, 04:25:38 PM »
I think those are pretty accurate. The only caveat I have is that those assume a steady pace and no acceleration -- whereas often in an RPG game, characters are going from standing still to moving to standing still to moving again. Since there are few games that are capable of modelling acceleration/deceleration (it is normally just too complicated), it is probably better to err on the side of slower rather than faster than in-step speeds. Your first 5 seconds of walking are probably going to be a bit slower than your speed once you've hit your stride.
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Offline netbat

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Re: 50' per round?
« Reply #5 on: March 03, 2021, 06:54:21 PM »
There is a pretty good article on this with a revised formula for BMR in the guild companion: movement rate anomalies jul 2012.
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Offline Hurin

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Re: 50' per round?
« Reply #6 on: March 03, 2021, 08:48:08 PM »
There is a pretty good article on this with a revised formula for BMR in the guild companion: movement rate anomalies jul 2012.

Yes, and those too note that RM has been a bit generous with the speeds -- making characters go a little faster than they ought to. So I tend to err now on the side of making characters slower rather than faster (not even taking into account acceleration).
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Offline enoch

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Re: 50' per round?
« Reply #7 on: March 04, 2021, 03:20:39 PM »
If you're talking about moving in the wilderness, here's something I saved years ago for planning hiking and backpacking trips:
  • average hiking pace on uneven terrain is about 2 mph (3.2 km/h)
  • add 1 hour for each 1,000 feet (305m) of vertical elevation gained
  • travel time = (distance traveled/speed) + (elevation gained/1000)
  • Example: A shelter is 5 miles away and has 500 feet elevation gain from our current position. (5 / 2) + (500 / 1000) ~= 3 hours of hiking
If I can find where I first found this info I'll let you know.

Offline Jengada

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Re: 50' per round?
« Reply #8 on: March 06, 2021, 12:22:12 AM »
Wildland firefighters in the US have to do an annual fitness test, and there are three versions. The simplest, the "Light" work capacity test, requires you to walk 1 mile in 15 minutes without any gear. That's 58.7'/round. It's a pretty respectable clip, and would start to wear you down if you tried it for an hour. I think the base rate around 50' is quite reasonable.
(The "Arduous" version of the test is 3 miles in 45 minutes with a 45 pound pack on. It's arduous enough that they have medics posted every half mile in case anyone collapses. And the firefighters are fit.)
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