Glossary of Terms: Difference between revisions
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=== Time === | === Time === | ||
:* '''AKA:'''[[Spells#Duration | Duration]], Minute, Hour, Day,[[Full Day]], Week, Moon, Year, Season, [[Between Adventures]] | :* '''AKA:'''[[Spells#Duration | Duration]], Minute, Hour, Day,[[Full Day]], Week, Moon, Year, Season, [[Between Adventures]] | ||
Keeping time in a tabletop role playing game is interesting. In the game rules, there's really no way to tell how long 'a minute' takes. If a spell has a duration of '5 minutes per caster level'...when does it expire? | |||
The answer is, it expires when the GM says it does! | |||
In Epic Path, we have tried to make as many of these questions as simple as possible, and as a result we have introduced the concept of 'stateless time'. Many spell effects, magic item effects, etc, do not measure their effects in terms of impossible-to-define 'minutes' or 'hours'. Instead these effects last until Something Happens in the game which is solidly defined. | |||
Spell effects, magic items, etc, are usually defined so that they last until the end of an encounter, or the character takes a full night's rest. | |||
All other times are defined as full days (or longer), or as undefined 'minutes or hours' that happen as often as the GM feels like they should. | |||
Most skill challenges are defined as encounters, and thus, spell or other effects end when the challenge is resolved. Exactly how much time is required can vary between a minute, to five minutes, to an hour, or a few hours. | |||
As examples, sneaking out the back door of a tavern to avoid an angry barmaid might require a minute, in which time the party must make a whole slew of skill rolls. | |||
The party sneaking into a hostile castle through a postern gate might require five minutes. | |||
Attending a formal dinner at the mayor's house might require an hour, or two, or three. | |||
Tracking a party of hobgoblins across a fetid swamp might take several hours, or even a full day. | |||
Such matters mean that spell and magic item effects can last for variable lengths of time, but they always last until the end of an event of some significance. | |||
=== [[Total Defense]] === | === [[Total Defense]] === | ||