Time; rounds, turns and days (p. 87)

Game time is divided into rounds, turns and days.

Rounds: Situations of immediate danger, such as combat or those precarious seconds when a character trips a trap, falls into a pit, grabs hold of the side and gazes down in terror at the poison tipped spikes far below, are normally measured in rounds, each of which represents 10 seconds of game time. Except when the rules specify otherwise, each character can perform only one action during a round; attack a single opponent, cast a spell, or perform some movement or other action.

Turns: Slightly less intense situations, such as carefully exploring a dangerous set of catacombs, sneaking up on an enemy encampment, or trying to escape a pursuing army that is a mile or more behind, are usually measured in turns, each of which represents 10 minutes of game time. In the course of a turn, should something happen to propel the characters into an immediately dangerous situation, the DM will always shift the time sequence to rounds.

Days: Character’s lives are not all spent in breakneck action scenes. Sometimes they do things that take a great deal of time to accomplish, like journeying 1,000 miles on horseback, library research, create a golem or construct, or sit around the city waiting for the King to put his army together. Typically, the DM passes this time in days, describing one or two things the characters might learn or do each day. Should one of these events lead to a role-playing encounter, the DM can always shift to turns or rounds.

Distance (p. 87)

Movement, Missile and Spell Ranges

Indoors: Normal movement speed, missile ranges, and spell ranges are measured in feet (90’ means ninety feet indoors).

Outdoors: Normal movement speed, missile ranges and spell ranges are measured in yards (120’ actually means 120 yards outdoors).

Everywhere: Spell effects are always measured in feet.

Character Movement Rates (p. 88)

Rates given on PC record sheets are listed as Normal, Encounter and Running Speeds. A character’s Movement rate is largely affected by how much weight, or encumbrance the character is carrying. Here’s the chart:

Character Movement Rates and Encumbrance Table

                                Normal Speed                       Encounter Speed                  Running Speed

Enc (cn)                 (feet per turn)                        (feet per round)                    (feet per round)

0 – 400                    120                                          40                                            120

401 – 800                90                                            30                                            90

801 – 1,200             60                                            20                                            60

1,201 – 1,600          30                                            10                                            30

1,601 – 2,400          15                                            5                                              15

2,401 +                    0                                              0                                              0

To find the distance a party travels in a day, find the Normal Speed of the slowest party member or mount (if all party members are mounted). Divide that number by 5. The result is the number of miles per days the party moves through clear terrain (open fields and range, city, etc.).