Dungeon Metric: A Hombrew Measuring System

[AugustNights]

Dungeon Metric
This measuring system is simply a tool I use for immersion, and perhaps for an odd form of simplicity. I have players that are familiar with the metric system and the imperial system at the same "table," as it were. While asking metric system users to familiarize themselves with the imperial system would be far easier than asking both to familiarize themselves with a new system, I find the new system creates an advantage in common ground, and a lack of real-world precision. It also grants more fudge room when it comes to the topic of real-world physics applied to D&D. This measuring system may not be appropriate for all games and players, as that it abstracts concepts and combat even further, and may create even more inaccuracies within the game. It also brings what may appear to be a heavy amount of additional book work in converting all measurements in the game as presented, but many of the conversions are quite simple. However it is important to note that the rough estimations are just that, rough estimations.

Mass/Weight*

Units	Rough Metric Equivalence	Rough Imperial Equivalence
Stone(s)	1 kilo	2 pounds
Barrel(s)	100 kilos	200 pounds
Boulder(s)	1,000 kilos	2,000 pounds

*Assuming material plane is similar to earth

Distance

Units	Rough Metric Equivalence	Rough Imperial Equivalence
Rod(s)	.5 meters	1.5 feet
Pace(s)	1.5 meters	5 feet
Field(s)	1 kilometer	.5 miles

Volume

Units	Rough Metric Equivalence	Rough Imperial Equivalence
Gourd(s)	1 liter	1 quart
Bucket(s)	5 liters	1.5 gallons
Cask(s)	200 liters	50 gallons

Time

Units	Composed of
Second(s)	1 second
Pass(es)	6 seconds
Minute(s)	10 passes, 60 seconds
Hour(s)	60 minutes, 600 passes
Second(s)	1 second
Day(s)	24 hours, 144,000 passes
Tenday	10 days, 1,440,000 passes
Month(s)	3 tenday, 4,320,000 passes
Season(s)	3 months
Year(s)	4 seasons, 12 months, 360 days
Decade(s)	10 years
Century(ries)	10 decades
Millenium(nia)	10 centuries

Speed

Units	Rough Metric Equivalence	Rough Imperial Equivalence
Field(s) per hour (Fph)	1 Kph	.5 Mph

The Chump's Twopence

Spoiler

Show

What does this change? Not a lot, really. Items weigh half as many "stones" as they did pounds, most all distances are divided by 5 and represented as "wings" (name derived from wing-span, a sometimes used term for the arm-span of a human, which is roughly a 5 foot distance in D&D) "paces" as that most distances are divisible by 5 feet, volume, usually represented as gallons, is mostly divided by four and represented as gourds, and applications of the craft skill may need to change from factors of seven to factors of ten. It's a lot of conversion, and maybe it's not worth it to some people. Since D&D is largely abstracted anyhow, I like the immersion that abstract measurements provide. It's what I use, and having it online makes it easier to show my players. Comments welcome.

Edit: April 16, 2013
* Changed "Wings" to "Paces"
* Added "Buckets" and "Casks" to volume.
* Converted tables to new format [Sept. 3rd, 2014]

[YouLostMe]

I respect the idea of new measurement systems, but the whole thing just doesn't seem necessary... I measure my spaces in 5' spaces because my players can identify with that. If I start saying "move 6 wings towards the ogre", I'll get funny looks.

While immersive, the system just isn't necessary. Also, I don't quite thing a liter and a pint are as correlated as one would think. For gourd measurement, did you mean 1 quart for the imperial equivalent?

[Domriso]

I will certainly look at this more in depth later. It's an intriguing concept.

[AugustNights]

Also, I don't quite thing a liter and a pint are as correlated as one would think. For gourd measurement, did you mean 1 quart for the imperial equivalent?

I did indeed. Thanks for the catch, I'm always mixing up those two.

[DracoDei]

I approve of this for immersion (and as a stickler for accuracy, that is saying something).

[gkathellar]

I like it. Now a square just needs to be equivalent to 1-2 rods as opposed to one wing, to finally solve that whole absurd size problem.

[Siosilvar]

Your mass/weight units are backwards. 1 kilogram on Earth weighs 2.2 pounds.

And I think stones and rods are RL units (at 8-20lb and 16.5ft respectively), but that's not too important.

[AugustNights]

Your mass/weight units are backwards. 1 kilogram on Earth weighs 2.2 pounds.

And I think stones and rods are RL units (at 8-20lb and 16.5ft respectively), but that's not too important.

So it is. Another hole in the system. Thanks for the catch.
Stones and rods are indeed RL units, but they are also uncommon, and fit the bill quite nicely.

I like it. Now a square just needs to be equivalent to 1-2 rods as opposed to one wing, to finally solve that whole absurd size problem.

I'm glad you like it. As for Rods opposed to Wings for squares, I feel that may complicate things further; but for your own games, go for it. I like the full Wing's worth of space, not so much as a representation of the amount of space a combatant takes up with their body, but how much they take up while actively fighting.

I approve of this for immersion (and as a stickler for accuracy, that is saying something).

Huzzah, more approval!

[Pyromancer999]

Not too shabby. Still, not to frown on your system, but the PBH states that a round is roughly equivalent to 6 seconds.

[Mulletmanalive]

For refence, in Britain, Stones are 14lb and Barrels are a standard measure of 36 gallons or 36 dry stones worth of material in cargo manifests.

As stones are used as the standard measurement of human and animal weights for anything smaller than an elephant when talking in non-medical terms, It's always perculiar to hear people refer to them as "rare" or "obsolete" if an American is feeling particularly superior

[flabort]

Isn't a round (and therefor a pass) 6 seconds?

[AugustNights]

The PHB does indeed list a round as 6 seconds. I made a passing note of the change in the spoiler at the bottom, but I suppose I could have made it more clear that I had changed it to 3 seconds. I personally like shorter rounds, but it doesn't make a huge difference. Effects that last for 1-9 minutes might need to be adjusted, but anything over 10 minutes probably wouldn't change the flow of combat to have its duration effectively doubled.

[Zeta Kai]

I find it interesting that you've rounded everything to nice even integers, & yet a year is still that messy cumbersome 365 days. Why not just shave it down to 360?

[AugustNights]

A good question.
At this point I honestly have forgotten my reasoning.
I find the idea of non-month days to be interesting and fun.
Maybe that's not appropriate for this sort of thing, or should be added in as fits to the campaign.

[Lyndworm]

The PHB does indeed list a round as 6 seconds. I made a passing note of the change in the spoiler at the bottom, but I suppose I could have made it more clear that I had changed it to 3 seconds. I personally like shorter rounds, but it doesn't make a huge difference. Effects that last for 1-9 minutes might need to be adjusted, but anything over 10 minutes probably wouldn't change the flow of combat to have its duration effectively doubled.

It effects the verisimilitude of movement speeds quite a lot; that's the first thing I noticed about it. 30ft/round is a brisk walk for a human being at 3.4 miles per hour. This gives us a perfectly reasonable average running speed of 13.6mph. Add in the Run, Fleet of Foot, and Dash feats and you get a running speed of 25.5mph. According to the Intarwub^TM, Usain Bolt can consistently run at around 23.7mph while Donovan Bailey once hit an instantaneous velocity of 27.1mph. This seems to show that, if a small amount of effort is put into it, a 3rd level Commoner is roughly equivalent to the fastest human beings alive (slightly better, actually, but this isn't a simulator so cut WotC some slack, eh?).

You've literally doubled all of these speeds. 30ft/round is now 6.8mph, and runs at 27.2mph an hour. With the aforementioned feats you've "regular" people zipping around at 10.2mph and virtually flying at 51.1mph.

[AugustNights]

Ah, well then, I'll go ahead and leave it as it was, 6 seconds.

[Zeta Kai]

Ah, well then, I'll go ahead and leave it as it was, 6 seconds.

Yeah, unless movement speeds were to be adjusted accordingly (IE cut in half across the board), the 6-second round needs to stay the same. You might say that normal human speed should be changed to 5'/second, & make the round/pass however long you want it to be, but the math would be more complex for creatures with different speeds.