In previous posts I examined the evolution of character movement rates across the TSR editions of Dungeons & Dragons. Now we turn to the 21st century, and the editions which brought many changes, for better or worse, to D&D.
D&D 3e (2000)
In some ways Third Edition D&D was a story of standardization and simplification, but it other ways the game became far more complex than ever.
As in 2e, humans, elves, half-elves, and half-orcs move faster than dwarves, halflings, and gnomes, but the shorter races are now a little faster relative to their larger comrades than before, with base speeds of 30' and 20' rather than 12 and 6. Certain classes (e.g., barbarians and monks) have a bonus to their speed. These speeds represent feet per round in combat, but rounds are now defined as six seconds. ("Turn" has been abandoned as a defined amount of time, although many spells still have durations in the form of "10 minutes per caster level", so the notion lingers on from previous editions.) In a combat round, a PC can move their speed and take an action. By using that action to take a double move, they can move twice their speed in a round, or by running they can move quadruple their speed (but only triple if wearing heavy armor). Charging allows movement of up to double speed along with an attack at +2, but penalizes the PCs AC by 2 for a round.
These combat movement rates are fairly brisk, with an unarmored human moving at a base speed of about 6.8 mph if doing nothing other than moving.
Wearing medium or heavy armor slows humans, elves, half-elves, and half-orcs to 20', and dwarves, gnomes, and halflings to 15'. This represents a simplified encumbrance system, and a more detailed encumbrance system is also offered, with the PC using which of the two penalties are worse. Encumbrance is divided into three categories (light, medium, and heavy loads) and these bands are determined by the PC's Strength score. Either a medium or heavy load reduces the PC's speed in the same way as medium or heavy armor does. Coins continue to weigh 50 to the pound, as in AD&D 2e.
Outside of combat, the same movement rates apply (i.e., an unarmored human walks 300' in a minute). There's no slow exploration speed as in previous editions, and no distinction is made in the rulebook between exploring a dungeon and walking overland or in a city, so it would seem that PCs are exploring the dungeon faster than ever.
D&D 3.5e (2003)
The "half edition" revision three years later didn't change any of the movement rules significantly, although the emphasis was increasingly placed on playing with miniatures on a battle map with a 5' grid. This reaches its peak in...
D&D 4e (2008)
Fourth Edition committed itself fully to the use of miniatures on a 5' grid. (Indeed, many would contend that 4e is nothing but a tactical miniatures game with D&D theming.) Movement rates are now given in squares, rather than feet. Most races have a base speed of 6 squares (i.e., 30'), while dwarves move 5 squares (25') and elves move 7 (35'). Perhaps oddly, even halflings move 6 squares!
Heavy armor (chainmail, scale armor, and plate armor) reduce speed by 1. Encumbrance has been radically simplified in some ways, while still being fiddly in others. All mundane equipment (but not magic items) has a weight specified in pounds. A PC can carry 10 times their Strength score in pounds without penalty. They can carry up to twice that at half speed. Coins continue to weigh 50 to the pound. (Although I personally don't have a ton of experience hiking or the like, these capacities seem unrealistic to me. I don't think the average human could carry 100 pounds all day long without being slowed down or fatigued.)
Exploration continues from 3e to use the combat speed extrapolated to feet per minute (e.g., a PC with speed 6 travels 300' per minute). The book notes that "if you're in a hurry" you can move at twice this rate with no penalty (similar to the ~7 mph "hustle" from 3e).
Combat rounds continue to be 6 seconds long. The term "turn" has now been entirely repurposed to mean an individual PC's actions within each combat round. In combat, PCs can move their speed and take an action. Another movement can be substituted for the action, so the double move notion from 3e is preserved, however these is no longer any concept of running at quadruple speed in combat. It has been replaced with a Run action that simply allows a PC to move their speed plus 2 squares (10') in exchange for significant penalties.
D&D 5e (2014)
Fifth Edition retained many of the simplifications and standardizing of 4e, but reframed them in a style of gameplay that felt much more familiar to players of 3e and earlier. Movement has returned to feet rather than squares (although 5e does retain an implicit focus on the battlegrid that is evident in the detailed way that many spells and class abilities work). Most races move 30', although dwarves move 25', wood elves move 35' (these two are holdovers from 4e, it seems), and halflings and gnomes move 25'. (Over the next decade, there was a general trend to standardize all races, even small ones, at a speed of 30'.) Many class abilities (especially for monks) modify speed.
Fifty coins continue to weight a pound. Encumbrance is now an entirely optional rule. The standard rule is that a PC can carry 15 times their Strength score in pounds without penalty, but no more. (Carrying 150 pounds all day without any negative effect seems wildly unrealistic.) The variant encumbrance rule allows 5 times the Strength score without penalty, up to 10 times at -10' to speed, and between 10 and 15 times at -20' to speed.
Exploration movement continues to be the same as it's been since 3e: 300' per minute, and this seems apply for all races and classes, regardless of their actual base speed. The rules now also offer a fast pace at 400'/minute at the cost of a -5 penalty to Perception checks, and a slow pace at 200'/minute that allows the use of Stealth.
Combat rounds continue to be 6 seconds, and "turns" retains the 4e sense of a player's turn in a round. In combat, the same basic system from 3e and 4e applies: PCs get a move and an action, and another move can be substituted for the action via the Dash action. Some classes (such as Rogues) get abilities allowing another Dash action as a bonus action on top of their normal movement and Dash action.
D&D 5.5e (2024)
The 2024 revision of the 5e rules did not substantially change the movement rates of PCs for either exploration or combat. Following the 5e trend, speeds are a minimum 30' for all PC races (now called species), with wood elves and goliaths having a speed of 35'.
Carrying capacity is now so reduced in emphasis as to be tucked away into a Rules Glossary at the back of the Player's Handbook. And the variant encumbrance rules are nowhere to be found! We have come a long way from the treasure-hunting version of D&D where players had to consider whether a bag of 500 gold pieces was worth the additional wandering monster checks it would incur them (if they even had enough torches left to exit the dungeon!). Now, a typical 1st-level fighter can carry up to 255 pounds without breaking a sweat.
To Be Continued...
I'm planning to finish up this series by looking at a few retroclones and "D&D-like" systems with which I'm familiar, to see if they've made any divergent choices regarding PC movement.
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