Travel
Within the Netheril setting there is a number of different ways to travel, each with their own benefits and costs. The most common method of moving short to medium distances is by foot, either personally or on a mount. Water-ways also permit travel by boat which can be very useful over long distance travel, especially with heavy cargo. Flying vessels are a rare luxury and something almost exclusively reserved for powerful and the very rich.
The sections below cover cross-country travel over large distances, this can either extend to expeditions or armed troops.
Contents
Movement
Foot
Moving on foot an average medium-sized humanoid marcher with equipment and supplies can cover about 25 miles a day, at 3 miles per hour.
Cavalry of that same size on the march can cover about 32 miles a day, at 4 miles per hour.
Caravan
Caravans are large transports which roll along even roads as luxury transports, or as a container for commercial items. These forms of transport are slow moving and struggle in any sort of uneven terrain. Provided a road and/or reliably even terrain a caravan can move at about 20 miles a day, at 2 & a half miles per hour.
Cavalry of that same size on the march can cover about 32 miles a day, at 4 miles per hour.
Boat
The speed of a boat depends largely on its size and cargo, the below table gives an approximate summary for the size of the ship.
Ship Size | Miles Per Hour | Required Crew Size | Maximum Crew Size |
---|---|---|---|
Small | 2.4 | 15 | 30 |
Medium | 2.0 | 30 | 60 |
Large | 1.7 | 60 | 120 |
Flying
Flying vessels are a rare sight and come in a variety of forms. These varities include: Flying Carpets, Flying Galleys, Netherese Enclaves.
Flying Carpets: Flying Carpets are a rare magical construction where a carpet has been imbued with the ability to carry a certain number of people (2-4 depending on the size of the carpet). These floating fabrics are very difficult to make and often unravel over time however despite these difficulties they provide a convenient and transportable method of achieving flight. These items hold no cultural exclutivity, save for the styles of carpets employed, and can be found in the employ of any kind of rich and well-connected enthusiast.
Flying Galleys: Flying Galleys are a magical construction developed by the Netherese in which specially designed galleys are out-fitted with an arcane arrangement which allows it the ability to achieve flight. These galleys are rare on account of their difficulty to construct, their cost of construction and their cost of maintenance with the resources required to fuel them exerting a heavy long-term tax. These galleys are often found in the employ of powerful Netherese Lords with their hefty investment for return making more than a dozen an exceedingly hefty, and usually numerous, amount. Flying Galleys run on an amount of fuel which they carry on board, once this is expended the galleys movement crawls to a halt and it will begin to descend. Rapidly.
Ship Size | Miles Per Hour | Fuel Duration (Hours) | Required Crew Size | Maximum Crew Size |
---|---|---|---|---|
Small | 3.0 | 12 | 10 | 15 |
Medium | 2.8 | 18 | 15 | 30 |
Large | 2.6 | 24 | 20 | 60 |
Netherese Enclaves: Netherese Enclaves are the Netherese's famed 'flying cities'. Essentially seen as a large mound of earth suspended above the ground upon which are settled a number of buildings, these enclaves serve as the lofty dominion of the leaders of the Netherese; ranging in size and grandeur. The enclaves themselves are exceedingly difficult to build, requiring years of construction with the direct involvement of archmages and other master of their craft. While slow moving, these enclaves provide a seclusion from the usual dangers of the ground and a platform for securing items of value such as squadrons of flying galleys.
Ship Size | Miles Per Hour | Fuel Duration (Hours) | Required Crew Size | Maximum Crew Size | ~Surface Diameter (Foot) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Small | 1.25 | Infinite | 20 | 100 | 125 |
Medium | 1.0 | Infinite | 40 | 300 | 250 |
Large | 0.75 | Infinite | 80 | 500 | 500 |
Terrain
The below details are approximated guidance on the effect of train on large number of bodies moving cross-country through differing types of terrain. These details are for greater use in over-land travel on a world-map sized scale and with large volumes of people in movement. They are at the discretion of DMs to employ and they are here simply to give player a rough guide and outline of the different kind of environments in effect.
Clear Grasslands
The most easy kind of terrain to traverse, these impose no impact to long-distance movement.
Forests
This form of obstruction can, in dense cases, increase movement through it by up to 50%; this doubles to 100% for giant-sized creatures.
Marshes
Boggy marshes can sway between frustrating and treacherous with a particular deep bog leading to an unfortunate demise to those in heavy armour. If marshes are traversed slowly and with one versed in this kind of nature, they mitigate the risks of unfortunate deaths by the careful choosing route and constructing short term bridges over problematic obstacles though incur a +100% movement delay through the marsh. Troops can, equally, attempt to push through and only incur a +50% delay though with a greater risk of potential injury and/or death.
Mountains
One of the most time-consuming of terrain obstacles, mountains effectively double the duration of movement while moving through them on account their steep inclines and directing channels which are rarely providing the most immediate route through.