D&D 5E player goes to extreme lengths to prove walking rules are inaccurate
Wizards of the CoastAre you truly a Dungeons & Dragons fan if you’ve never measured a five-foot square to prove a point? That’s the kind of thinking that led to one player testing out the walking rules in the Player’s Handbook to see if they’re accurate.
As D&D campaigns generally involve some degree of traveling (unless the players happen to live next to a dungeon), the Player’s Handbook features rules for overland travel. If the party is unmounted and not using magical assistance, they can move 3 miles per hour/24 miles a day at a normal pace.
Players love to debate the accuracy of rules, prompting one user of the DnD Reddit to test the overland walking rules. They managed to beat the Player’s Handbook rules, walking 24.07 miles in an 8-hour walk, a task they admit was exhausting.
The determined player wrote: “AND I BEAT IT! 24.07 MILES! MY LEGS ARE SPLINTERED BONE, MY FEET ARE NOW BACKWARDS, and I still feel so hollow in my heart, BUT I BEAT IT!”
They went on to say: “I defy you and reject you Wizards of the Coast! I defy you and reject you Jeremy Crawford! I defy you and reject you Hasbro and shareholders! Take that 7/10 of 1/10 of a mile and shove it up your chainmail! Next time anyone does a travel session, remember your worth. Remember what you can truly travel in 8 hours at normal pace. 24.07 miles.”
As pointed out by other users in the thread, the original poster was missing a few things that an adventuring party would possess when traveling.
“Now do it in half plate armor,” one user wrote, while another said, “And a filled backpack and a greataxe.” This refers to the fact that a lot of D&D characters are decked out in armor and weapons, to say nothing of their camping supplies, items they’d use in a dungeon, or any spellcasting gear they’d need.
D&D players have joked about the nonsensical rules since the game was created, with fans mocking everything from turn-based combat to the cap on falling damage. And while some fans might mock the distance for marching for being inaccurate, it’s another thing to put your money where your mouth is and walk for eight hours.
If you do walk for eight hours straight and are feeling tired afterward, always keep that feeling in mind next time your character refuses to buy a horse because it’s too expensive.