Swimming across a rushing river, sneaking down a dungeon corridor, scaling a treacherous
Mountain slope—all sorts of
Movement play a key role in fantasy gaming
Adventures.
The GM can summarize the adventurers’
Movement without calculating exact distances or
Travel times: “You
Travel through the
Forest and find the dungeon entrance late in the evening of the third day.” Even in a dungeon, particularly a large dungeon or a cave network, the GM can summarize
Movement between encounters: “After killing the
Guardian at the entrance to the ancient dwarven stronghold, you consult your map, which leads you through miles of echoing corridors to a chasm bridged by a narrow stone arch.”
Sometimes it’s important, though, to know how long it takes to get from one spot to another, whether the answer is in days, hours, or minutes. The rules for determining
Travel time depend on two factors: the speed and
Travel pace of the
Creatures moving and the terrain they’re moving over.
Every character and monster has a speed, which is the distance in feet that the character or monster can walk in 1 round. This number assumes short bursts of energetic
Movement in the midst of a life- threatening situation.
The following rules determine how far a character or monster can move in a minute, an hour, or a day.
While traveling, a group of
Adventurers can move at a normal, fast, or slow pace, as shown on the
Travel Pace table. The table states how far the party can move in a period of time and whether the pace has any
Effect. A fast pace makes
Characters less perceptive, while a slow pace makes it possible to sneak around and to
Search an area more carefully.
Forced March. The
Travel Pace table assumes that
Characters Travel for 8 hours in day. They can push on beyond that limit, at the risk of
Exhaustion.
For each additional hour of
Travel beyond 8 hours, the
Characters cover the distance shown in the Hour column for their pace, and each character must make a
Constitution saving throw at the end of the hour.
The DC is 10 + 1 for each hour past 8 hours. On a failed saving throw, a character suffers one level of
exhaustion.
Mounts and Vehicles. For short spans of time (up to an hour), many animals move much faster than
Humanoids. A mounted character can ride at a gallop for about an hour, covering twice the usual distance for a fast pace. If fresh
Mounts are available every 8 to 10 miles,
Characters can cover larger distances at this pace, but this is very rare except in densely populated areas.
Characters in wagons, carriages, or other
Land Vehicles choose a pace as normal.
Characters in a waterborne vessel are limited to the speed of the vessel, and they don’t suffer penalties for a fast pace or gain benefits from a slow pace. Depending on the vessel and the size of the crew, ships might be able to
Travel for up to 24 hours per day.
Certain
Special Mounts, such as a
pegasus or
griffon, or
Special vehicles, such as a
carpet of flying, allow you to
Travel more swiftly.
Travel Pace and Effects
| Pace |
Distance Traveled per... |
Effect |
| Minute |
Hour |
Day |
| Fast |
400 feet |
4 miles |
30 miles |
−5 penalty to passive Wisdom (Perception) scores |
| Normal |
300 feet |
3 miles |
24 miles |
— |
| Slow |
200 feet |
2 miles |
18 miles |
Able to use stealth
|
The
Travel speeds given in the
Travel Pace table assume relatively simple terrain: roads, open plains, or clear dungeon corridors. But
Adventurers often face dense
Forests, deep swamps, rubble-filled ruins, steep mountains, and ice-covered ground—all considered
Difficult Terrain.
You move at half speed in difficult terrain— moving 1 foot in
Difficult Terrain costs 2 feet of speed—so you can cover only half the normal distance in a minute, an hour, or a day.
Movement through dangerous
Dungeons or
Wilderness areas often involves more than simply walking.
Adventurers might have to climb, crawl, swim, or jump to get where they need to go.
Climbing, Swimming, and Crawling
While climbing or
Swimming, each foot of
Movement costs 1 extra foot (2 extra feet in difficult terrain), unless a creature has a climbing or
Swimming speed. At the GM’s option, climbing a slippery vertical surface or one with few handholds requires a successful
Strength (
Athletics) check. Similarly, gaining any distance in rough water might require a successful
Strength (Athletics) check.
Your
Strength determines how far you can jump.
Long Jump.
When you make a
Long Jump, you cover a number of feet up to your
Strength score if you move at least 10 feet on foot immediately before the jump.
When you make a standing
Long Jump, you can leap only half that distance. Either way, each foot you clear on the jump costs a foot of
Movement.
This rule assumes that the height of your jump doesn’t matter, such as a jump across a stream or chasm. At your GM’s option, you must succeed on a DC 10
Strength (
Athletics) check to clear a low obstacle (no taller than a quarter of the jump’s distance), such as a hedge or low wall. Otherwise, you hit it.
When you land in
Difficult Terrain, you must succeed on a DC 10
Dexterity (
Acrobatics) check to land on your feet. Otherwise, you land prone.
High Jump.
When you make a
High Jump, you leap into the air a number of feet equal to 3 + your
Strength modifier if you move at least 10 feet on foot immediately before the jump.
When you make a standing
High Jump, you can jump only half that distance. Either way, each foot you clear on the jump costs a foot of
Movement. In some circumstances, your GM might allow you to make a
Strength (Athletics) check to jump higher than you normally can.
You can extend your arms half your height above yourself during the jump. Thus, you can reach above you a distance equal to the height of the jump plus 1½ times your height.
