New to the game and trying to understand how time works. Example, a spell says it lasts 30 minutes or an adventure says it will take two hours to walk there or a long rest says it must be 8 hours. How is time measured in the game?
Time keeping is rather arbitrary, sometimes it matter to keep track of it more tightly when time is of the essence, otherwise it matter very little, and become a mere reference.
Combat calculate in matter of rounds of 6 seconds increment, 1 minute basically equal to 10, an hour is 60 minute and so so. You can always record it when time-keeping matter.
Otherwise in game usually time flows at the same rate. At the table, doing something that take hours or even days can be resumed in minutes or seconds in narrative though.
In addition to what plaguescarred said, usually things move at the speed of plot. If the characters need to be to the next plot point within 3 days, only a real jerk DM would make it impossible to get there within 3 days. They might give the players options or distractions that could force the travel to take longer, but then if the players bite, the characters will need to deal with the consequences.
Also, I’ll add, most combats last 3-5 rounds. So if you have a spell or power or something with a duration of 1 minute, it’s basically saying it will last for 1 fight. Similarly, if something lasts 1 hour, you might use it for a couple fights, but not if you take a short rest. Or if a spell has a casting time of 1 minute or 10 minutes, it basically means you can’t use it in combat. Often durations like that are more about game balance than anything else.
Adding onto Xalthu's post, I measure time fairly simply. a 1-minute spell duration lasts one fight, and one with a duration of 1 hour will last for 2, maybe 3 if the encounters are close together in the dungeon. A long rest will probably take 10+ hours in practice, because everyone needs to sleep for at least 6 hours, keep watch for 2, and then you need to eat and pack up.
So in reality if you have to rest that might mean they are going “home” or “camp” and it would really only impact the time they arrive at an encounter . Example they maybe slept during the day and arrived at an encounter at night. the encounter has a creature with excellent night vision which make the encounter much more difficult. Am I on the right track?
Yes, except for one thing. Typically, at least half of the characters have darkvision, and the other half has torches, Light, etc. An encounter at night will very rarely be any harder than a daytime fight, except for if the party gets ambushed while they sleep.
If you have torches, then one of your hands is occupied - meaning you can't have a shield, wield with two hands, do two weapon fighting and so forth. It also messes with things like Rogues' Sneak Attack. It's pretty imposing if you actually play the rules. It's mostly straight casters that are barely imposed upon by it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
Time keeping is, for the most part, relevant only for those spells with a Concentration time limit of one or two minutes. In that case, you simply jot down the number or rounds that you spend concentrating on the spell.
Longer time periods, such as the Eight (8) hour for Mage Armor, are mostly irrelevant in that the spell expires at the end of an adventuring day.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
New to the game and trying to understand how time works. Example, a spell says it lasts 30 minutes or an adventure says it will take two hours to walk there or a long rest says it must be 8 hours. How is time measured in the game?
Time keeping is rather arbitrary, sometimes it matter to keep track of it more tightly when time is of the essence, otherwise it matter very little, and become a mere reference.
Combat calculate in matter of rounds of 6 seconds increment, 1 minute basically equal to 10, an hour is 60 minute and so so. You can always record it when time-keeping matter.
Otherwise in game usually time flows at the same rate. At the table, doing something that take hours or even days can be resumed in minutes or seconds in narrative though.
In addition to what plaguescarred said, usually things move at the speed of plot. If the characters need to be to the next plot point within 3 days, only a real jerk DM would make it impossible to get there within 3 days. They might give the players options or distractions that could force the travel to take longer, but then if the players bite, the characters will need to deal with the consequences.
Also, I’ll add, most combats last 3-5 rounds. So if you have a spell or power or something with a duration of 1 minute, it’s basically saying it will last for 1 fight. Similarly, if something lasts 1 hour, you might use it for a couple fights, but not if you take a short rest. Or if a spell has a casting time of 1 minute or 10 minutes, it basically means you can’t use it in combat. Often durations like that are more about game balance than anything else.
Adding onto Xalthu's post, I measure time fairly simply. a 1-minute spell duration lasts one fight, and one with a duration of 1 hour will last for 2, maybe 3 if the encounters are close together in the dungeon. A long rest will probably take 10+ hours in practice, because everyone needs to sleep for at least 6 hours, keep watch for 2, and then you need to eat and pack up.
So in reality if you have to rest that might mean they are going “home” or “camp” and it would really only impact the time they arrive at an encounter . Example they maybe slept during the day and arrived at an encounter at night. the encounter has a creature with excellent night vision which make the encounter much more difficult. Am I on the right track?
Yes, except for one thing. Typically, at least half of the characters have darkvision, and the other half has torches, Light, etc. An encounter at night will very rarely be any harder than a daytime fight, except for if the party gets ambushed while they sleep.
If you have torches, then one of your hands is occupied - meaning you can't have a shield, wield with two hands, do two weapon fighting and so forth. It also messes with things like Rogues' Sneak Attack. It's pretty imposing if you actually play the rules. It's mostly straight casters that are barely imposed upon by it.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
Time keeping is, for the most part, relevant only for those spells with a Concentration time limit of one or two minutes. In that case, you simply jot down the number or rounds that you spend concentrating on the spell.
Longer time periods, such as the Eight (8) hour for Mage Armor, are mostly irrelevant in that the spell expires at the end of an adventuring day.