How far can a person or horse walk?

[TechnoGothic]

Most people seem to be able to Travel around 10 miles a day without trouble. That does mean they take rest breaks however.

FORCED MARCH = No Breaks. Usually 20 miles.

Horses. They need to Eat, Rest, Water throughout the day or you risk killing them. Horses Travel around 10 miles also. If Forced, a Horse and travel 25-30 miles in a day, but that horse will be near death from not taking breaks to rest, eat, and drink. Horses cannot run or travel endlessly like in the movies or TV programs. Horses have ONE advantage ... The Rider himself will not be tired.

[Mack]

How far can a person or horse walk in a day (24 hours)?

Assume open plains, perfect weather, and no weight or need for rest.

A steady walk for a person is about 2.5 ~ 3 miles per hour.

As for a horse, I can't say. But according to this website...
Walk: Roughly 3-4 MPH
Trot: Roughly 8-10 MPH
Gallop: About 30 MPH

[dragonfett]

A rider's feet will not be tired, but that says nothing of the condition of his rear end after riding for a day on the back of a horse (has anyone here ever tried to sit in a car for hours on end?). And as for how far a person can walk in a day, I would have to say at least 20 miles (walking speed of 3 mph, with regular breaks, and total actual time walking of about 6.5 hours). I would say that forced march would allow you do exceed that by 40% + 1d10%. As for horses, I would say 30 miles on a non-forced march. Horses can move a little faster than a human walking, and I would have to say that they have the endurance to walk for a little longer as well.

[Mack]

The only canon reference I know of is the Forced March skill in Palladium Fantasy.

Maximum speed on a forced march is roughly 60% of one's speed attribute... (never less than a speed of 8 ).

[TechnoGothic]

As an Owner of Horses.
Horse can only travel Safely 10 miles in a Day. You can push them to 20+, but the horse will be very very tired from NOT eating, drinking, or resting. The Horse may Stoke out. On a Hot day 80 degree Far.+ You better not risk more than 10 miles on Horse with Water (alot of it), and alot of food..

People and Horses their actual Walking speeds do not matter that much.
You have to factor is Climate Temperatures, Humitity Level, Water comsumtion, and Food requirements as well as sufficient Rest Periods. Roughly 20-30 Minutes of Rest per Full Hour of travel. During the Rest period, drink, eat, and rest as much as you can.

I can walk walk walk like Mad. But after 10 miles in a day your going to be tired.
Their are people Trained to RUN Cross-country to travel faster. I did this at one point in my youth. Trust mean your still looking at 20 miles tops for most people even if they can run it in a few hours. They then need to rest, eat, drink. BUt in the Past, Cities would have people trained to to this this and form Relay Teams to get messages to places faster. Pony Express was based on this old method but with horses. They would Run the Horse to Near Death over a few hours to full day travel then relay the message off to another. Then resting their Horse for several days to recover from the ordeal.

Realisticly your looking for 10-15 mile travel. With Walking over a day. If you do not want your Characters too tired that is. If you dont mind them being Very Tired at the end of the day, then push them to the 20+ mile travel per day.

Supernatural Endurance or Robotic Endurance characters can travel much farther and Longer in the given Day.
Cyborgs can travel without tiring for example.
Power Armor means they can travel much farther without tiring.
and so on...

[The Beast]

A rider's feet will not be tired, but that says nothing of the condition of his rear end after riding for a day on the back of a horse (has anyone here ever tried to sit in a car for hours on end?). And as for how far a person can walk in a day, I would have to say at least 20 miles (walking speed of 3 mph, with regular breaks, and total actual time walking of about 6.5 hours). I would say that forced march would allow you do exceed that by 40% + 1d10%. As for horses, I would say 30 miles on a non-forced march. Horses can move a little faster than a human walking, and I would have to say that they have the endurance to walk for a little longer as well.

Yup. Not really comfortable after long...

[abtex]

How about mules?

If powered armored reduces fatigue by 10%, would a part of cyber muscle long underware, for man and even horse be a plus? Or even a form of exoskeleton

[Kalidor]

If only there was some sort of guide... for game masters to use that had useful information like this.

Well, maybe someday :\

[Shark_Force]

How about mules?

same basic problem.

If powered armored reduces fatigue by 10%, would a part of cyber muscle long underware, for man and even horse be a plus? Or even a form of exoskeleton

theoretically it could be made to work, but i tend to think it makes little sense without a full frame.

oh, and also, another advantage to the horse is that the horse can carry a bunch more stuff as well if the human is willing to walk

(of course, the horse *can* go faster over a short distance with greater weight, but try to maintain it for a long time and you'd best be ready for your horse to die)

[avollant]

They then need to rest, eat, drink. BUt in the Past, Cities would have people trained to to this this and form Relay Teams to get messages to places faster. Pony Express was based on this old method but with horses. They would Run the Horse to Near Death over a few hours to full day travel then relay the message off to another. Then resting their Horse for several days to recover from the ordeal.

How about the exploit of the horse Hidalgo depicted in the movie (of the same name)? Could that kind of racing even existed then? Did the horse even existed? (I know! I know! Of Topic but stilll... )

[mobuttu]

As an Owner of Horses.
Horse can only travel Safely 10 miles in a Day. You can push them to 20+, but the horse will be very very tired from NOT eating, drinking, or resting. The Horse may Stoke out. On a Hot day 80 degree Far.+ You better not risk more than 10 miles on Horse with Water (alot of it), and alot of food..

Supernatural Endurance characters can travel much farther and Longer in the given Day.

That's why Ostrosaurus Express (pg 31 MercTown) use Ostrosaurus (pg. 153 New West) as a mount: They have Supernatural P.E. and can run at full speed for 6 hours without tiring. So only the raider becomes the travel distance limiting factor.

[azazel1024]

For clarification is this supposed to be a distance they can walk day in an day out? Or is this a one time feat that they do not need to repeat (IE they can be exhausted the next day).

Also are they receiving some kind of support along the way, someone giving them meals, water, etc. If not then the distance will be greatly constrained, or else they are carrying weight (food, water, pack) even if not a great deal.

Horses I am not that familar with, but I am with people since I spend a few weeks every year backpacking.

On level terrain (I hike the C&O canal a lot and that is pretty darned level, less than a 1 degree slope along the entire length) you can hike pretty far. With a day pack with food and water if you forced it a person in good health could probably hike about 50 miles in a 24hr period including stops to rest and eat. You'd be completely burned out the next day and you would be hiking almost 24hrs straight, but you could do it.

With an actual overnight pack and everything required (tent, sleeping bag, cook gear, etc) I'd say someone in great shape can hike maybe 40 miles in a 24hr period and be exhausted the next day.

A hikeable distance and be able to repeat it the next day with nothing but a day pack, and accomodations at the end of each day's journey you could hike about 30 miles a day.

With no support, not even a day pack with food and water, I'd say maybe around 30-35 miles in temperate weather. If it is really hot or really cold out you'd likely cut your distance by 25-50% due to the effects of fatigued caused by inadequate water and food (hike hard in temps over 80F and you are probably going to go through 5-6 liters of water in a day, IE dying of dehydration in less than 48hrs). Same goes even with support, really cold weather below about 30F and the cold weather clothes you are wearing, ignoring snow, is going to contrain your distance by 10-25%. In really hot weather over about 90F you are similarly see your distance reduced from having to pace yourself more to keep from heat postration and more frequent stops to cool off.

The furthest I have ever hiked was about 32 miles with a hiking pack packed for a week long trip (6 days) and it was day 4 (did the last 2 day's distance in 1 day). I and my friends were completely burned out the next day and it took us from breakfast at about 8am until about 10pm at night to hike the distance. It was up on the Appalachian trail, so not flat. Typically on the C&O where it is flat when I am in good shape I hike about 12-15 miles a day with a hiking pack on (around 45-50lbs with water) taking it a bit liesurely hiking about 6-7hrs out of the day and spending time 'sight seeing' along the way and a lot of time in camp. On the AT I do about the same distance per day, but it is a bit of a harder pace with the changes in elevation. I rarely schedule a day where the distance is more than 20 miles. Much more than that starts to wear me out so I can't do more than 20 miles for a few days before being burned out (I might manage it for 2-3 days, but then my distance is going to start dropping as I get blisters, or fatigued, etc).

A note, a typical person, not used to hiking a lot could maybe do 10-15 miles in a day with a day pack and probably be pretty tired the next day. Even on level ground. If you are in shape its much easier, but 10 miles is a pretty long distance on foot (about 5hrs straight walking with no stops for an out of shape person, maybe 4hrs for someone in good shape. I typically hike at about 3 miles an hour with a 50lb pack and I'd consider myself in very good shape).
-Matt

[azazel1024]

Something I neglected to mention, considering the supernatural nature of what you say (no need to rest and no carried weight, so I assume 0 fatigue) you could cover maybe 70-80 miles in a 24hr period hiking at about 3mph which would be on the high end of speed. I know a handful of people who can hike up around 4mph, but they also spend a lot of their year hiking the AT and staying in perfect shape. They also still typically only do 25-30 miles a day at that speed.
-Matt

[TechnoGothic]

They then need to rest, eat, drink. BUt in the Past, Cities would have people trained to to this this and form Relay Teams to get messages to places faster. Pony Express was based on this old method but with horses. They would Run the Horse to Near Death over a few hours to full day travel then relay the message off to another. Then resting their Horse for several days to recover from the ordeal.

How about the exploit of the horse Hidalgo depicted in the movie (of the same name)? Could that kind of racing even existed then? Did the horse even existed? (I know! I know! Of Topic but stilll... )

That Race in that Movie is/was Real.
What they forget to mention Most of those horses in those races DIE.
Hidalgo himself almost died several times in that race just from the pace they needed to keep up for the day. Its not like they would run the whole way of course. But they did need to bring food for the horse and water. The Pit Stops water holes were Life Savers and where only about every 15-20 miles. I did a paper on that Race and Hidalgo back in the 1990s in High School. That Horse was a True Champion of the Pony Expressers.

[mobuttu]

In the Pilgrim road to Santiago (an ancient medieval pilgrim's road from Roncesvalles (France) to Santiago de Compostela (Spain), about 775 km (481 miles) long), there are 31 stages with a mean of a 20-25 km (12-15 miles) long to be walked on a daily basis.

[dragonfett]

Well then I stand corrected on the issue of horses, thank you TechnoGothic.

[Colt47]

I'd go with 10 miles per day for most people who keep themselves active and healthy. A human being is capable of traveling much farther than 10 miles a day if they are trained correctly since they build a tolerance for it, but they need to have sufficient food and water to do so as other people here have mentioned. (By the way, the phrase "building tolerance" is much easier to say than it is to do.)

[Shawn Merrow]

The local Walk-America was 21KM when I was in grade school. In the 5th grade did manage to make it 20KM but could barely walk at that point.

[Dustin Fireblade]

How far can a person or horse walk in a day (24 hours)?

Assume open plains, perfect weather, and no weight or need for rest.

According to the skill Land Navigation, pg 330 of RUE -

"A group of average men can cover about five miles an hour at a brisk, but relaxed pace through grassland, along dirt roads or pavement."


Didn't see anything about horse's in RUE, maybe one of the Fantasy books would have that information?

[Shark_Force]

How far can a person or horse walk in a day (24 hours)?

Assume open plains, perfect weather, and no weight or need for rest.

According to the skill Land Navigation, pg 330 of RUE -

"A group of average men can cover about five miles an hour at a brisk, but relaxed pace through grassland, along dirt roads or pavement."


Didn't see anything about horse's in RUE, maybe one of the Fantasy books would have that information?

huh. i wonder if that person has ever tried walking at the speed of 5 mph. i wouldn't exactly describe it as relaxed.

[azazel1024]

Nor would I.

I hike at a pretty consistent pace of a mile every 20 minutes almost on the dot when hiking things like the C&O (flat ground with a pack). Every day walking is a bit more relaxed, maybe 2-2.5mph. A really fast hike is about 3.5-4mph for me and not something I could do for hours on end (not relaxed in any way).

Also I think you'd have to call it pavement or well maintained paths for 3mph even, on flat ground. Grass lands, unless you are mowing them to keep the grass short are going to slow you down. Calf length grass is probably going to slow you by 20-30% and increase fatigue and waist length grass is going to slow you by about 50% and at least double fatigue coming from experience pushing through tall grasses. A poorly maintained path will also slow you as will elevation changes.
-Matt

[Shark_Force]

oh, and as has been pointed out already earlier in the thread: horses aren't really all that great for traveling faster. they're handy for carrying more, and once you get there they can provide a significant advantage in combat, but they're actually not all that handy for faster travel. unless you're going to do what was also suggested, which is ride them until they're exhausted, and then change horses, which requires some planning and preparation. horses may have a faster speed over short distances, but if you try to maintain that speed it can literally kill or permanently harm the horse.

[Dustin Fireblade]

How far can a person or horse walk in a day (24 hours)?

Assume open plains, perfect weather, and no weight or need for rest.

According to the skill Land Navigation, pg 330 of RUE -

"A group of average men can cover about five miles an hour at a brisk, but relaxed pace through grassland, along dirt roads or pavement."


Didn't see anything about horse's in RUE, maybe one of the Fantasy books would have that information?

huh. i wonder if that person has ever tried walking at the speed of 5 mph. i wouldn't exactly describe it as relaxed.

I don't know. But it's been there since Rifts came out, so that's what we have to work with.

[azazel1024]

How far can a person or horse walk in a day (24 hours)?

Assume open plains, perfect weather, and no weight or need for rest.

According to the skill Land Navigation, pg 330 of RUE -

"A group of average men can cover about five miles an hour at a brisk, but relaxed pace through grassland, along dirt roads or pavement."


Didn't see anything about horse's in RUE, maybe one of the Fantasy books would have that information?

huh. i wonder if that person has ever tried walking at the speed of 5 mph. i wouldn't exactly describe it as relaxed.

I don't know. But it's been there since Rifts came out, so that's what we have to work with.

Or use common sense.
-Matt

[Colt47]

The local Walk-America was 21KM when I was in grade school. In the 5th grade did manage to make it 20KM but could barely walk at that point.

21 KM is approximately 13 miles and 81 yards. I'm not surprised you could barely walk once you hit 20 KM. 16.10 KM is approximately equal to 10 miles. I know that when I was young they would say that 3 KM is approximately one mile, but in reality 3 KM is actually well over a mile: 1520 yards over to be precise. There are 1760 yards in a single mile, so 3KM is nearly two miles in length! Talk about being cheated on.

[Dustin Fireblade]

Or use common sense.
-Matt

Why start now?!

[dragonfett]

Common Sense ain't all that common. Come on, it's so rare that it could be classified as a Special Ability!

[azazel1024]

The reason I ask is the spacing between towns/villages and how long it would take my PCs to travel from point A to point B.

I've heard that William the Conqueror Spaced his castles/keeps 10 - 15 miles away from each other; the average distance that a horse can travel in one day. And Andrew Jackson marched his men 100 miles through Florida in 7 days. I know those are probably unusual occurrences.

So to summarize what's been said.

A person, with minimal equipment and on relatively level ground, can cover an average of 10 miles in 24 hours. Doing about 2-3 mph. If pushed they can speed up to 4-5 mph or for a longer distance, but will ineffective in a fight afterwords.

If they have to cover mountainous or marsh like terrain, extreme heat/cold or heavier packs would lower the speed and distance.

Horses can cover the similar distance that people can, but can carry more weight and the rider would not be as tired.

It depends? Are there well maintained trails? Are they on horse back or have pack animals?

In the military they normally do 20 mile route marches with about 80lbs of gear and are expected to be in at least minimal fighting form at the end of it, and this is in less than 24hrs.

So if your PCs are supposed to be adventurers, I'd assume they'd be fairly physically fit and used to hoofing on their own leather. If so I'd say 20 miles in a day on decent trails or roads is doable, even in armor with packs, weapons, ammo, etc. Not something they could probably do day in, day out, but a day or two at that pace should be very doable.

Now if they have to trail break, even on relatively flat ground it'll probably reduce it to about 10 miles a day or so just because they have to pick their way around some obstacles, maybe double back, slowed down by tall grasses or some thick patches of woods, etc.

Its less the speed than it is how long you travel. 3mph is an okay pace for me, but not something I could keep up for 12hrs with no breaks and feel chipper at the end of. 2-3mph is a good pace and about as fast as you are going to be able to march (4mph is getting in to power walking territory and 5-6mph is a decent jog).

10 miles in a day is likely to be accomplished at a speed of about 1-1.5mph average in an off-trail situation with between 6-10hrs of active travel in a day with probably 1-2hrs of breaks, meals, etc in there pitching tents at the end of the day and breaking camp in the morning.

20 miles in a day is likely to be accomplished on trails or roads with a speed of about 2-3mph with the same 6-10hrs of active travel in a day.

30 miles in a day wouldn't be at any faster a speed, it would just be spending more like 10-15hrs traveling with shorter breaks and traveling in to part of the night with minimal camp perperation at the end of the day (maybe MREs and bivy sacks).

To get an idea of speeds, 1mph is about a stroll (or having to bushwack), 2mph is the average person's walking speed, 3mph is a fast hike, 3.5mph is a very fast hike, 4mph is basically power walking, 5-7mph is a jog, 8-15mph is running and 16+mph is sprinting. At least for people in resonable health. Again I hike with a 40-50lb pack at about 3mph on flat ground on a good path. I jog at about 6mph for exercise (about 10 minutes a mile), I run (long distance) at about 8mph (7:30 miles), run for short distances at about 14-15mph (quarter or half mile distances, 4:00 mile times, though not something I can keep up for more than about half a mile) and sprint at about 20-21mph (100-200m dash speeds).
-Matt

[dragonfett]

I'm kinda guessing that well maintained trails are not the norm.

[Shadow Wyrm]

There is a small order of Buddist monks that train to walk long distances, the final test is a sixty mile walk.

[Kalidor]

Presumably if a character has the obligatory physical skill selections that would count as 'proper training'

[Rockwolf66]

Personally I try to go backpacking in the Trinity Alps every summer. In places the mountains of that area have been used by the military to simulate Afganistan. With the massive changes in elevation and in places rarely maintained trails one can make aboout 8~10 miles a day on average with a weeks worth of supplys. Although I have seen someone run from a trailhead to a lake that was 16 miles distant the last mile hopping ridges, have lunch and run back to the trailhead. That was unusual even with just a knapsack. Doing it with a 60~100 pound pack would be impossible.