Game Time vs Real Time / Rounds vs Turns vs Mintutes

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I should probably know this, but I can't find it in the documentation. How long is a Turn and a Round?

I had thought that 1 Round = 6 seconds and 10 Rounds = 1 Turn, thus 1 Turn = 1 Minute (60 seconds), but the spell descriptions in the manual flip flop over what units they use. I've seen both 5 Minutes and 50 Rounds used for spell durations, so it makes me suspect that they are not the same thing.

I'm also unsure about how Rounds adjust for the 10:1 time compression (the fact that 24 Hours of game time = 2 Hours real time). Does a Round really only take 0.6 seconds, or do they still take 6 seconds of real time, but 60 seconds of game time. So, do Minutes or Hours in spell descriptions refer to real time or game time?

 

Oh no! Not this again!

Short answer: your numbers are correct for standard D&D, but IWD2 is screwy, and furthermore in many cases the manual and in-game descriptions are lying. Even extracting and viewing the spells in an editor is not enough, because it seems there are also undocumented engine "features" which can affect duration.

There is at least one thread where someone manually measured durations and posted results.

 

Ah, my favorite kind of features; "undocumented features." (My wife's a software developer and is always telling me what a joke documentation is.)

I found DaRock's duration post. Although many spell descriptions are wrong, here's the "standard" timing list he posted:

I still don't get how "Turns" are used for spell Durations (Static Charge and Storm Shell both use Turns rather than Rounds) unless they mean the same thing.

[ June 12, 2007, 13:56: Message edited by: Tartan ]

 

i am pretty sure "Turns" and "Rounds" are interchangeable.

 

1 turn is 10 rounds AFAIK.

 

"1 turn is 10 rounds AFAIK."

Under AD&D rules I believe that is true, but I'm pretty sure that changes with 3rd Ed. The 3.5 Player's Handbook defines "turn" as "The point in the round at which you take your action(s)." I think they figured that since Turn and Minute were exactly the same amount of time, it's was confusing to keep using Turn as both a duration and a part of a sequence.

Now that I look at the spells again, the only ones that use the word "Turn" are ones that don't appear in the 3rd Ed. rulebook. They are either holdovers from AD&D games or just didn't get properly translated over into 3rd Ed. terms.

 

It used to be easer for me to know this kind things in the old BG2. You just have to cast "true sigth" and when the message boards up, means the beggining of the round.Sorry if it does not clarifies anything

 

@Tartan

Really? I did not know they made the round and turn concepts that confusing in 3e. Then again they managed to make everything as complex and confusing as possible in 3+ eds so no big suprise.

@Lord Fox

There should also be an option to auto-pause at the end of every character's personal combat round. It may help to keep track of certain things. (durations of the casted spells, or when to cast a new spell, etc.)

 

Blackthorne's got it right!