Distance

1” = 10 ft. indoors = 10 yards outdoors

For purposes of the game, distances are basically one third with respect to spell and missile range from outdoors to indoors/underground situations.

Thus most ranges are shown as inches by means of the symbol (“) or “in.”. Outdoors, 1” equals 10 yards. Indoors, 1” equals 10 feet. Such a ratio is justifiable, to some extent, regardless of game considerations.

Actual effective range of an arrow shot from a longbow is around 210 yards maximum, in clear light and open terrain. Underground, with little light and low ceilings overhead, a bow shot of 210 feet is about maximum.

Archery implies arching arrows. Slings are in this category as are hurled darts and javelins, all arching in flight to achieve distance. Crossbows are a notable exception, but under the visibility conditions of a dungeon setting, a yards to feet conversion is not unreasonable.

Magic and spells are, most certainly, devices of the game. In order to make them fit the constrictions of the underground labyrinth, a one for three reduction is necessary. It would be folly, after all, to try to have such as effective attack modes if feet were not converted to yards outdoors, where visibility, movement, and conventional weapons attack ranges are based on actual fact (See Movement).

Attacking distance

Any creature within/under 10 ft. of an opponent may attack without penalty or cost in time for movement.

Larger creatures may attack from farther away if the DM allows.

Spells and Distance

Distance scale and areas of effect for spells (and missiles) are designed to fit the game, The tripling of range outdoors is reasonable, as it allows for recreation of actual ranges for hurled javelins, arrows fired from longbows, or whatever. In order to keep magic spells on a par, their range is also tripled.

It is imperative that outdoor scale be used for range only—never for a spell’s Area of Effect (which is kept in feet; ie. 1” equals 10 ft.).

Movement scale is kept as flexible as possible in order to deal with the multitude of applications it has, i.e. dungeon movement (exploring and otherwise), city travel, treks through the outdoors, and combat situations arising during the course of any such movements. The Dungeon Master will have information which will enable him or her to adjust the movement rate to the applicable time scale for any situation.

Use of Miniatures and Battlemats

The special figures made for roleplaying games add color to play and make refereeing far easier. Each player might be required to furnish painted figures representing his or her player character and all henchmen and/or hirelings included in the game session. Such distinctively painted figures enable you to immediately recognize each individual involved. Figures can be placed so as to show their order of march, i.e., which characters are in the lead, which are in the middle, and which are bringing up the rear. Furthermore, players are more readily able to visualize their array and plan actions while seeing the reason for any DM imposed restrictions on their actions. Monster figures are likewise most helpful, as many things become instantly apparent when a party is arrayed and their monster opponent(s) placed.

Battlemats. Figure bases are necessarily broad in order to assure that the figures will stand in the proper position and not constantly be falling over. Because of this, it is usually necessary to use a battlemat with squares of about 1 actual inch per side.

Each ground scale inch can then be used to equal 3½ linear feet, so a 10 ft. wide scale corridor is 3 actual inches in width and shown as 3 separate squares. This allows depiction of the typical array of three figures abreast, and also enables easy handling of such figures when they are moved. Note that many weapons need space to be wielded effectively.

As with all matters in the game, the DM can help manage discrepancies with the size of figures (e.g. long figures may not be constructed to properly take up the required number of squares and the DM may rule the scale works differently in this case, or perhaps will use a properly sized figure).