Measuring Distance in the Realms?

[Palanan]

Here’s a general question for anyone familiar with the Forgotten Realms: what are the units of measurement for distance?

I don’t see anything in the FRCS that sets out measures of distance, even though there’s plenty of attention paid to measures of time and all manner of other details, from units of exchange to modes of address. Does anyone know if this has ever been addressed in sourcebooks from any edition?

[Zombimode]

Official maps always have a scale in miles, so "mile" would be your closest bet.

What kind of mile is probably more of an open question. I always assumed the modern 1.609 km mile.

[Beelzebub1111]

I tend to use more personally useful units of measure. For overland travel I use leagues (Which is the distance that can be traveled by foot in an hour). Fathoms, Spans, Cubits, and the like are perfect for settings that don't have a centralized standard of measurement. Any frontier town or farming village probably would use these in everyday life.

[Mastikator]

The DMG and PHB uses miles, the map has miles as a meter. However it doesn't mention if it meant the old roman 5000 feet version or the newer 8 furlong version, I just assume the new one.

[gbaji]

The DMG and PHB uses miles, the map has miles as a meter. However it doesn't mention if it meant the old roman 5000 feet version or the newer 8 furlong version, I just assume the new one.

Yeah. I get using other forms of distance measurment for immersion purposes, but at the end of the day, the people actually reading the maps, and deciding "how far is something" are the people playing the game. So converting and representing everything in modern units is (IMO) a perfectly legitimate thing to do. Use of miles or kilometers is pretty standard and works just fine.

[Mastikator]

Yeah. I get using other forms of distance measurment for immersion purposes, but at the end of the day, the people actually reading the maps, and deciding "how far is something" are the people playing the game. So converting and representing everything in modern units is (IMO) a perfectly legitimate thing to do. Use of miles or kilometers is pretty standard and works just fine.

I wouldn't bother converting between imperial and metric personally. Imperial has that medieval feel so I think it's perfect for the forgotten realms. However for a setting like Eberron I think metric might make more sense (and then you can have one of the five nations being like "nuh we're sticking with furlongs")

[Vahnavoi]

Use units of measurements you and your players actually understand. Immersion? There is immersion in the correct thing only when people can actually imagine, quickly and intuitively, how described objects are. This doesn't happen if they have to do unit conversions in their head. The only case where this does not hold true is when dealing with an unfamiliar system of measurements is the actual point of a game. It's the same principle as with languages: use the language your players understand, unless teaching a new language is the point.

[KillianHawkeye]

There's generally an overland travel section in most editions of the game that can tell you how many miles a character or a horse/wagon/ship can travel in a day. Does it matter if your 8 miles are old-style miles or modern miles? Not really.

[Slipjig]

Erin M. Evans actually talked about this on one of the worldbuilding episodes of her podcast, "Writing About Dragons & ****". Unless there is some special significance to having different terms, it reduces the cognitive load on the reader to just use language they are familiar. If the reader has to stop to ask themselves, "Wait, is the High Snargliarch the equivalent of a Duke, or was that the Glompipurg?", that pulls them out of the story, and you are better off just calling them Duke's and Barons.

With that said, given the general lack of surveying equipment and clocks in the Realms, most in-character time/distance estimates are going to be rough at best. e.g. "Follow this road and you'll get there in half a day."

[Tanarii]

About 10 minutes on Wikipedia and I'd recommend agricultural measurements for native English speakers use the old British system for anything agricultural: (surveyors) chains, furlongs, and (for area) acres. And for longer distances, miles. And feet and yards for very short distances. Spans and cubits would probably be best for artisanal work. They're all based on something practical that can be estimated, or a derived calculation from the practical thing.

It breaks down as:
- a furlong being the length an oxen team can plough before resting (10 chains, 660ft)
- an acre is the amount an oxen team can plough in one day, (1 furlong by 1 chain, or 10 sq chains)
- a chain is 66ft and is derived from 1/10 of a furlong and the width of an acre.
- a mile is derived as 8 furlongs
- a foot is the average persons foot
- a yard is the average persons stride
- a span is outstretched thumb to little finger (~9 inches)
- a cubit is elbow to middle finger (~ 18 inches or 2 spans)

All these things "make sense" based on three different body measurements and an estimate of oxen ploughing capabilities. So they'd likely be used as a basis for measurement. Albeit with variable definitions because none of them are actually consistent. :smallamused: