Is speed a real-world number?

[GilesTheCleric]

When I say speed, I of course mean things like fly speed, base speed, burrow speed, etc. Is it a real-world number for the purposes of D&D? Specifically, is it subject to real-world multiplication, or D&D-style additive multiplication?

[Jormengand]

I would say no - it's distance(action^-1), not distance(time^-1), and actions aren't real world numbers.

[Solaris]

When I say speed, I of course mean things like fly speed, base speed, burrow speed, etc. Is it a real-world number for the purposes of D&D? Specifically, is it subject to real-world multiplication, or D&D-style additive multiplication?

Well, it's a number in the game mechanics, so... I'm going with D&D-style multiplication.

[InvisibleBison]

The distinguishing characteristic of real-world measurements is that they exist in the real world, as opposed to being purely mechanical constructs that don't directly correspond to anything. Since speed is something that a character can easily observe and measure, I think it qualifies as a real-world measurement.

[GilesTheCleric]

You all make good points, and I could see it going either way. My reasoning is that because it's in feet, it's a real-world measurement. But, like Jormengand points out, it isn't really applied to anything related to the real-world. Your base move speed is used almost exclusively in game mechanic numbers, such as deciding how far you can move with X number of move actions (which don't have a discrete amount of time), or whether you're able to take a 5' adjust or move into a rough terrain that uses more movement than non-rough terrain. Basically it's fairly inextricably tied to the move action, which is clearly a game construct.

[Jormengand]

It's not really in feet - the game says it is, but it's more like feet per action.

[SangoProduction]

Consider that a round is 6 seconds. You can make a run action in one round. So, a human's double move is 120 feet in 6 seconds, which is 20 feet per second.

I can't find any stats on jogging speed (double move) in feet per second, but it would appear that human running speed is around 22 feet per second. Oh, and guess what? That's right around the run speed.

If my sources are correct, Usain Bolt ran 34.06 feet per second in a 100 metre dash. The run feat doesn't even come close to that, but of course, he was the fastest human, you're just some half wit who picked up the run feat.

[GilesTheCleric]

Consider that a round is 6 seconds. You can make a double move in one round. So, a human's double move is 60 feet in 6 seconds, which is 10 feet per second.

I can't find any stats on jogging speed in feet per second, but it would appear that human running speed is around 22 feet per second. Oh, and guess what? It's only about 2x as large as double move (which is the ratio of double move's movement to run's).

We can extrapolate that, sure, but it's not that precise. In one turn, you could take two moves, or a move and a standard, but not two standards. If we assume that a standard action takes longer than a move action, then we're actually wasting some time during a double move, and we can't accurately calculate our real-world speed.

[SangoProduction]

We can extrapolate that, sure, but it's not that precise. In one turn, you could take two moves, or a move and a standard, but not two standards. If we assume that a standard action takes longer than a move action, then we're actually wasting some time during a double move, and we can't accurately calculate our real-world speed.

Consider this though: You can always find your speed for the round. You move 30 feet in a round? That's 5 feet per second, regardless of if you went light speed for some inconceivably small amount of time or if you moved 5 feet per second constantly.

[GilesTheCleric]

Consider this though: You can always find your speed for the round. You move 30 feet in a round? That's 5 feet per second, regardless of if you went light speed for some inconceivably small amount of time or if you moved 5 feet per second constantly.

That's a good point. I don't know if I'm really convinced one way or another yet, though. Does anyone know of some RAW that might clarify?

[Elkad]

Somewhere (possibly not even in this edition?) it says combat movement is at a jog/hustle. Which fits the math nicely. If you are taking double moves, it's in the 8 minute mile range, which is reasonable when hauling 50+ lbs of gear around (and sustainable for a couple hours if you don't mind being exhausted at the end)

[SangoProduction]

Also, under Movement, in the PHB, it does give mile/hour calculations based on your speed.

1 hour's walking is 3 mph. That's in line with regular human speed. Hustle is 6 mph, which is about 1.5x as fast as regular human jogging speed. So...yeah.

And it also basically confirms, Hustle (double move) is exactly twice as fast as walking (single move).