Overland travel

[Tboy1492]

I’m working on understanding how travelworks now. It seems by the srd that it does not matter if you are on foot or horses, you have the same set of daily movement speeds (aside terrain effects)? I would have figured a creature with a higher movement would travel faster even at a walk than a slower creature?
Example: a horse walking with a speed of 60 ft would likely still walk faster than a human with 30 without pushing itself. Certainly faster than a halfling!

But it seems that they marked it down to “fast” “normal” and “slow” as a flat number regardless of movement speed? (Not counting terrain, of course) Can anyone confirm, deny, or elaborate?

For our current setting we’re in what seems to be grasslands and no roads in the area were conquering/adventuring if that matters.

[Tanarii]

My totally non-expert understanding of the real world:
Apparently Horse can burst faster but get exhausted quickly, and over the average day they don't travel any faster than a human. The main advantage is you aren't exhausted after riding a horse all day, and the horse is fine with regular breaks.

In terms of 5e D&D, IMO the main advantage is carrying capacity, nd any exhaustion levels apply to your mount, not you.

[Tiadoppler]

Overland travel is very simple by RAW, because the specifics are rarely important, and a 'travel distance estimate' is usually close enough for ease of play.




For a bit more simulation:

A party moves over flat roads, and smooth, dry flatlands at the walking speed of it's slowest member.

A party traveling over bumpy, muddy, or sandy terrain loses 5' of speed.

A party traveling over actively difficult or hindering terrain (deep mud, swampland, large rocks, thick underbrush) loses 10' of speed.

A party climbing up or down gentle slopes loses 5' of speed.

A party climbing up or down a steep slope loses 10' of speed.

A party can travel 8 hours a day without penalty. After 8 hours, the party must make a group CON save (DC 10) every hour or be slowed by an additional 5' (stacking until long rest).

Speed 5' = 0.6 mph or 4.5 miles per (8 hour) day
Speed 10' = 1.1 mph or 9 miles per (8 hour) day
Speed 15' = 1.7 mph or 14 miles per (8 hour) day
Speed 20' = 2.3 mph or 18 miles per (8 hour) day
Speed 25' = 2.8 mph or 23 miles per (8 hour) day
Speed 30' = 3.4 mph or 27 miles per (8 hour) day
Speed 35' = 4.0 mph or 32 miles per (8 hour) day
Speed 40' = 4.5 mph or 36 miles per (8 hour) day




I've done some long-distance and cross-country backpacking (40-60lb pack usually), and I think this lines up pretty well with what I've experienced. I'm not in amazing shape.

* 8.5 miles on steep slopes through heavy underbrush took me about 8 hours. At the end, I was done.
* 36 miles on gentle slopes on a muddy trail took me about 14 hours. At the end, I was sore, but more fatigued from the length of the day than out of energy.
(those are just the numbers I remember off the top of my head. A standard 20ish miles a day on a gentle trail is not unusual)






Edit: as a side note, I would also recommend using the Variant Encumbrance rules, at least outside of combat/for long distance travel. By RAW, a humanoid of notably below average strength (8) can carry 120lbs of gear (8x15) all day with no mobility penalties. An average character can carry 150lbs. If you want more granularity in travel speeds, keeping track of how much your characters are actually hanging on their backs can be useful.

[Biggstick]

If it's any help, there are Special Travel Pace rules on pages 242-243 of the DMG.

When I DM, I run with these special travel pace rules to determine the pacing set by the party, even if they're using Warhorses or the like for travel.



Slowest creature's movespeed during travel / 10 = number of miles traveled per hour.



What this does is pretty drastically increase the potential travel speed of the group. What i have though as a DM to deal with this is the ability to turn wherever they're traveling into difficult terrain through bad weather, lack of a real trail, or just plain tough to get through. This brings them back down to the standard travel speed (or lower if they're not on creatures with a base 60' of move speed). This both allows my Players to feel like mounts make a significant difference in travel speed (and ability to carry stuff) while still being able to slow them down/make use of the natural terrain and weather.

[Tboy1492]

If it's any help, there are Special Travel Pace rules on pages 242-243 of the DMG.

When I DM, I run with these special travel pace rules to determine the pacing set by the party, even if they're using Warhorses or the like for travel.



Slowest creature's movespeed during travel / 10 = number of miles traveled per hour.



What this does is pretty drastically increase the potential travel speed of the group. What i have though as a DM to deal with this is the ability to turn wherever they're traveling into difficult terrain through bad weather, lack of a real trail, or just plain tough to get through. This brings them back down to the standard travel speed (or lower if they're not on creatures with a base 60' of move speed). This both allows my Players to feel like mounts make a significant difference in travel speed (and ability to carry stuff) while still being able to slow them down/make use of the natural terrain and weather.

Apparently that’s the formula in the dmg, my dm finally found it, and terrain/weather can half it multiple times. But it gives our base rates we needed, page two hundred forty something I think? Thanks everyone and you Biggstick!

[LeonBH]

To know your travel pace over an hour, you take your speed and divide it by ten. That is the number of miles you can cover in a day at regular speed.

So a horse can cover 6 miles in 1 hour, while adventurers with the typical 30ft speed can cover 3 miles.

To get the "fast" pace, multiply the normal pace by 4/3. So A horse can cover (6*4)/3 = 8 miles in 1 hour at a fast pace. Meanwhile, adventurers with the typical 30ft speed can cover (3*4)/3 = 4 miles in 1 hour at a fast pace.

And to get the "slow" pace, multiply the normal pace by 2/3. So for a horse, that's 4 miles in 1 hour, and for adventurers, that's 2 miles.

Horses are special in that they can double their pace for the first 1 or 2 hours (no metric given as to when exactly they tire out here). So while the horse's fast pace can cover 8 miles in 1 hour, in the first hour of galloping, they can actually cover 16 miles. Beyond that, they cover 8 miles per hour as usual.