Ok I am wasting time at work and don’t have the rule book in front of me but I was thinking how realistic are the movement rules in general ? (Diagonal movement aside for the moment.)

One mile is 5280 or 1056 squares. In a round if characters spend their whole turn moving they can get 2 moves and a shift in. For a move 5 human that’s 11 squares.  So a in a minute (10 6 second rounds) we have 110 squares (see where I’m going with this?) and in an hour that’s 6600 squares (about 6.25 miles) That’s about a 9 and a half min mile. Which is in line for a reasonably fit 60 yr. old man (unencumbered) though off by about 40% for a fit adult.  My reference is over 10K , Marathon times are slower per mile and of course over one mile runs times would be significantly faster.

Not that I’m advocating more complexity, I’m just pointing out something for the realistic crowd. I wonder if a modifier equal to ½ con mod would be appropriate for movement values.  That would make an 18 con human have a move of 7 - 8.5 MPH (7 min miles) and a 22 con human a move of 8 or 9.7 mph or 6min miles.

Healthy folks move faster and those negitive Con modifier folks just wouldnt be able to get around like they used to.

Comments?

Keep in mind movement is with gear.  You are quoting times for people with endurance and running and probably some other feats not created (like modern shoes).  And also note that you aren't going to run a marathon every day.  If you use running then you've doubled your move which becomes closer to the marathon movement.

Starwars D20 is the same system but there you get 8 square movement.

I basically agree that the movement rules aren't going to be consistent with reality.  Both Hero and Gurps try to get speed right but still have their problems. 

I am not concerned with movement being 100% realistic, just that it be consistent between PCs and NPCs.  And of course, that the map help understand the scene and help you move more realistically in the scene.  That's my problem with the diagonal movement.  If the table top map doesn't help you know the scene than why use it?

We should not be compairing battle movement to marathon speed.  Combat is short periods of high intensity.  Sprinter speed would be more acurate.  A very so-so football player can cover 40 yards (24 squares) in five seconds.  Even the offensive linemen could do it in under 6 seconds(One round).  That is 250-300 pound men in full pads(Simulating light armor) traveling from a 3 point stance (Crouched position) 24 squares in a single round.  I've never thought movement rates were very real world acurate.

As an interesting side note.  People not used to good shoes do not suffer the same ill efects as we soft people do when we go shoeless.  When I climbed Kilamanjaro the native porters would put the turists to shame going up the mountain.  A significant percentage of them flew up the side of that thing wearing flip-flops. (That was a bit of a moral killer)

I think I did my math right.  I don't have a rule book with me either.  :-/