Re: (TFT) Travel,terain and groups

["Jay Carlisle" <selfinflicted_wounds@boardermail.com>]

A few additional points.

I'm not pushing for something set in stone but rather looking for a 
baseline. How far can Joe Average travel over x terain in y time? (4mph walk?)
The reason I look for this is exactally because of questions of 
fittness, weight carried or encumberance and STR comparisions, 
among others. What I'm begining to think is that there is no such 
thing as a "standard" woods, or desert, or etc. For example sand is 
NOT sand. Some of the stuff has value to construction, other types 
are good for glass. Much of it is just sand. Then you take a look 
at stuff like dirt and you just about pull your hair out cause how 
are you going to try to describe all these details in game terms, 
you haven't even made it to plants and AUGHHHHHH!!!!! It'll never 
work! Too much detail.

Then I realised that all of these details that intrest me but have 
no place in a set of rules don't NEED to be in the rules at all. 
They are already written down in referance materal. If the rule set 
is tied closely to the objective referance materal like Almanacs, 
Encylopideas and stuff like the Guiness Book then whenever one of 
these oddball situations come up I can simplly grab the World Book 
or what have you. If someone shows up in my game and starts 
"digging" I reach for my Atlas of the area, turn to the map of 
'Soil orders and sub-orders' and the legend tells me that the place 
I'm thinking of sits on Haplumbreptic soil, a sub-order of 
Inceptisols. Long story short the legend further informs me that 
this basicly means the ground in this area is a thin layer of soil 
and grass over sand. This makes sense to me because the area is 
near the beach so I can tell him that with the first spade full 
he's turning over sand. If he persists long enough then I turn to 
the 'Geologic' map to check what type of rock the place is sitting 
on. Actually I'd probably try to have the sandy hole colapse on him 
if possable but none the less I think y'all get the idea.

A personal note on those encounter tables.
After a jaunt through a temperate rainforrest for the first time I 
noticed that you pretty much HAD to move down the same paths that 
the deer and elk and bears moved down. It's the bear part that's a 
bit disturbing. Them and the cougars. Almost makes ya miss the 
cottonmouths...
Anyhoo you'd be foolish to hunt by yourself around here. A good rule 
of thumb anywhere actually but some places more than others. Which means that I've decided that Murkwood is quite difrent from Lorien. Sometimes I awe myself with my keen insight.

And finally I've noticed that the longer players live in an area 
the more detailed/compleate they become. Just a thought there.


> From: "Paul MacDonald"  

> Travel distances that 
> make sense for armies do not necessarily have to  > hold for small 
> groups or individuals.

Yes. Of course this begs what an Army actually IS. In a very real sense an Army is a large number of small groups along with the personel to supply and suport those groups in the field. Having been in the US Army it took me quite some time to shake the concept of US Army orginization as a model for army orginization in general. How would a PC control an army anyway? I use followers. In the modern model a CandC has a Command Staff (Army, Navy, Air Force, etc.) each of which has a staff and so on. However it is NOT my job to force a command structure on other Game Orginazational Directors worlds much less on players in my own world. It's much more fun to build your own armies. 

> 20-30 miles per day while carrying full 
> gear is doable for the very fit.
> 
  
Of course that has to do with what Full Gear is...
I've got something for that.
Look at Equipment.

Thanks for the info.

Jay

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