3e SRD:Movement
| This material is published under the OGL 1.0a. |
Movement
There are three movement scales in the game:
- Tactical, for combat, measured in feet per round.
- Local, for exploring an area, measured in feet per minute.
- Overland, for getting from place to place, measured in miles per hour or day.
Modes of Movement
While moving at the different movement scales, creatures generally walk, hustle, or run.
Walk
A walk represents unhurried but purposeful movement at three miles per hour for an unencumbered human.
Hustle
A hustle is a jog that is movement at about six miles per hour for an unencumbered human. The double move action represents a hustle.
Run (X3)
Moving three times your character's standard speed is a running pace for a character in heavy armor.
Run (X4)
Moving four times your character's standard speed is a running pace for a character in light, medium, or no armor.
Tactical Movement
- see also: Movement, Position, and Distance
Use tactical speed for combat.
Some creatures have other modes of movement.
Hampered Movement
Obstructions, bad surface conditions, or poor visibility can hamper movement. The DM determines the category that a specific condition falls into (see Table: Hampered Movement). When movement is hampered, multiply the standard distance by the movement penalty (a fraction) to determine the distance covered.
If more than one condition applies, multiply the normal distance covered by all movement penalty fractions that apply.
Local Movement
Characters exploring an area use local movement, measured in minutes.
Walk
A character can walk without a problem on the local scale.
Hustle
A character can hustle without a problem on the local scale. See Overland Movement, below, for movement measured in hours.
Run
A character with a Constitution score of 9 or higher can run for a minute without a problem. Generally, a character can run for about a minute or two before having to rest for a minute.
Overland Movement
Characters covering long distances cross-country use overland movement. Overland movement is measured in hours or days. A day represents 8 hours of actual travel time. For rowed watercraft, a day represents 10 hours of rowing. For a sailing ship, it represents 24 hours.
Walk
Your character can walk 8 hours in a day of travel without a problem.
Hustle
Your character can hustle for 1 hour without a problem. Hustling for a second hour in between sleep cycles causes your character 1 point of subdual damage, and each additional hour causes twice the damage taken during the previous hour.
Run
A character can't run for an extended period of time. Attempts to run and rest in cycles effectively work out to a hustle.
Terrain
The terrain through which a character travels affects how much distance the character can cover in an hour or a day.
Forced March
In a day of normal walking, a character walks for 8 hours. The character spend the rest of daylight time making and breaking camp, resting, and eating.
A character can walk for more than 8 hours in a day by making a forced march. For each hour of marching beyond 8 hours, the character makes a Constitution check (DC 10 + 1 per extra hour). If the check fails, the character takes 1d6 points of subdual damage. A character can't recover this subdual damage normally until the character halts and rests for at least 4 hours. It's possible for a character to march into unconsciousness by pushing himself or herself too hard.
Mounted Movement
A horse bearing a rider can move at a hustle. The damage it takes, however, is normal damage, not subdual damage. It can also be force-marched, but its Constitution checks automatically fail, and, again, the damage it takes is normal damage.
See Table: Mounts and Vehicles for mounted speeds and speeds for vehicles pulled by draft animals.
Waterborne Movement
See Table: Mounts and Vehicles for speeds for water vehicles.
| Base Speed | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 feet | 20 feet | 30 feet | 40 feet | |
| One Round (Tactical) | ||||
| Walk | 15 ft. | 20 ft. | 30 ft. | 40 ft. |
| Hustle | 30 ft. | 40 ft. | 60 ft. | 80 ft. |
| Run (×3) | 45 ft. | 60 ft. | 90 ft. | 120 ft. |
| Run (×4) | 60 ft. | 80 ft. | 120 ft. | 160 ft. |
| One Minute (Local) | ||||
| Walk | 150 ft. | 200 ft. | 300 ft. | 400 ft. |
| Hustle | 300 ft. | 400 ft. | 600 ft. | 800 ft. |
| Run (×3) | 450 ft. | 600 ft. | 900 ft. | 1,200 ft. |
| Run (×4) | 600 ft. | 800 ft. | 1,200 ft. | 1,600 ft. |
| One Hour (Overland) | ||||
| Walk | 1-1/2 miles | 2 miles | 3 miles | 4 miles |
| Hustle | 3 miles | 4 miles | 6 miles | 8 miles |
| Run | — | — | — | — |
| One Day (Overland) | ||||
| Walk | 12 miles | 16 miles | 24 miles | 32 miles |
| Hustle | — | — | — | — |
| Run | — | — | — | — |
| Condition | Example | Movement Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Obstruction | ||
| Moderate | Undergrowth | X 3/4 |
| Heavy | Thick undergrowth | X 1/2 |
| Surface | ||
| Bad | Steep slope or mud | X 1/2 |
| Very bad | Deep snow | X 1/4 |
| Poor visibility | Darkness or fog (*) | X 1/2 |
(*)Includes any effects that create a "fog".
| Terrain | Highway | Road | Trackless |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plains | X1 | X1 | X1 |
| Scrub, rough | X1 | X1 | X3/4 |
| Forest | X1 | X1 | X1/2 |
| Jungle | X1 | X3/4 | X1/4 |
| Swamp | X1 | X3/4 | X1/2 |
| Hills | X1 | X3/4 | X1/2 |
| Mountains | X3/4 | X1/2 | X1/4 |
| Sandy desert | X1 | - | X1/2 |
| Mount/Vehicle | Per Hour | Per Day |
|---|---|---|
| Mount (carrying load) | ||
| Light horse or light warhorse | 6 miles | 48 miles |
| Light horse (151-450 lb.) | 4 miles | 32 miles |
| Light warhorse (231-690 lb.) | 4 miles | 32 miles |
| Heavy horse | 5 miles | 40 miles |
| Heavy horse (201-600 lb.) | 3 1/2 miles | 28 miles |
| Heavy warhorse | 4 miles | 32 miles |
| Heavy warhorse (301-900 lb.) | 3 miles | 24 miles |
| Pony or warpony | 4 miles | 32 miles |
| Pony (76-225 lb.) | 3 miles | 24 miles |
| Warpony (101-300 lb.) | 3 miles | 24 miles |
| Donkey or mule | 3 miles | 24 miles |
| Mule (231-690 lb.) | 2 miles | 16 miles |
| Cart or wagon | 2 miles | 16 miles |
| Ship | ||
| Raft or barge (poled or towed)* | 1/2 mile | 5 miles |
| Keelboat (rowed)* | 1 mile | 10 miles |
| Rowboat | 1 1/2 miles | 15 miles |
| Sailing ship (sailed) | 2 miles | 48 miles |
| Warship (sailed and rowed) | 2 1/2 miles | 60 miles |
| Longship (sailed and rowed) | 3 miles | 72 miles |
| Galley (rowed and sailed) | 4 miles | 96 miles |
*Rafts, barges, and keelboats are used on lakes and rivers. If going downstream, add the speed of the current (typically 3 mph) to the speed of the vehicle. In addition to 10 hours of being rowed, the vehicle can also float an additional 14 hours, if someone can guide it, so add an additional 42 miles to the daily distance traveled. These vehicles can't be rowed against any significant current, but they can be pulled upstream by draft animals on the shores.
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