Travel speed and times

[GoliathReturns]

Ok, we all know the various speed tables don't translate well..

I've been looking through, the book, but not seeing much of detail..

Wagon speeds? Carts? Ship travel times?

I mean, I think the closest we get to actual travel times for ships is the "Journal entries" we get in fluff text..

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GS

[JuliusCreed]

No books in front of me right now, but memories want to tell me that Adventures on the High Seas covers boat/ship travel speeds fairly well. As far as travel speeds by wagon or cart, use the speeds associated with horses, oxen, cattle or whatever it is you're using to pull it along and modify them according to how much weight you have them dragging. A little common sense and a fair bit of measuring and math can fill in the rest of the blanks.

Personally, I've never really worried about travel times/speeds all that much in my anyway. Sure, it kinda comes up in play from time to time, especially if the storyline involves a high-tension race against time to accomplish the mission. And actual speeds for wagons and carts almost never comes into play unless you're pulling some kind of fantasy chase scene with horse-drawn wagons crashing recklessly across the fields as arrows and spells fly back and forth between them (Picture 'Mad Max' meets Lord of the Rings... Weird, huh?). Usually, I find it best to leave out the calculating and just say it takes you a couple days to get there in a wagon and move right along with the story, barring any extra or important encounters along the way.

[kiralon]

2nd ed Old ones book page 24 has movement speeds of many common things

[darthauthor]

I was never very clear about how long it should take to travel between places in Rifts Earth or Palladium.

Running speed, to me, implied a flat track.

The wilderness is not a running track.

However, even with dense forest, I feel a guy used to the land ought to make a mile or so an hour minimum.
Also, many of the towns and cities did not get built over night. They have been around for years and traded with others.
So, in my mind, there ought to be trails or dirty roads that characters can use to not get lost and to make good time when they travel.

It reminds me of the show "Firefly" when they asked the creator how fast the ships were or long it took for them to get from one planet to another. He replied was something like, "As long or as short as the story needs it to be."

[Library Ogre]

So, my rule of thumb for travel is "average travel time per hour is equal to the number of d6 your race rolls for speed, for a number of hours equal to the dice you roll for PE." So, humans average about 3mph overland, and can usually do about 3 hours of that before they need an hour's rest. So, most humans will make about 18 miles per day... two 3 hour sessions (or, more frequently, eight 50 minute marches with 10 minute rests each hour). This also covers elves, kobolds, goblins, hobgoblins, orcs, and ogres.

Dwarves, but this RoT, average only 2 mph, but can do that for four hours; a dwarven army will move about 16 miles in a day.

Trolls can do 2mph for 3 hours, or about 12 miles. Fortunately for gnomes, this is no faster than gnomes can do. Changelings can do 3mph for 2 hours, which lets them manage about 18 miles a day... if they're willing to march for three sets of two, while the humans do two sets of three.

Wolfen do 4mph for 3 hours, which means a wolfen army can manage about 24 miles a day.

Trogs WOULD be able to do 6mph for 3 hours, or 36 miles in a day, but they usually won't, and their paths are seldom what we'd consider normal terrain.

This average gets modified for terrain; you go slower through mountains, faster on roads, and the like. Again, it's a rule of thumb for large groups, because the Megaverse runs on vibes.

***

If we parse out speeds for smaller groups and individuals, Speed is run at 5 times your attribute per melee round (20 times attribute per minute). I let you move half your speed in feet as part of your action, or hustle at your full speed in feet as an action; it breaks the numbers a bit, especially as you get higher level and have more attacks, but it's a good ruling, IMO, to tactical movement.