[DF] 40 Days Travel Time?

[DAT]

Originally Posted by JMason

Ignoring the rules in Wilderness Adventures for the moment, DF2 offers up using a set amount of time for travel. The example given is 40 days and nights.

This has always struck me as very long. Does anyone actually run games that include this length of travel? I had my PCs go on a 20 day trip and it has been a logistical nightmare to get all the food they need. They ended up buying a wagon and 2 horses! And with random encounters, we only got 1/2 way there in our last session (and they are using quick march to shorten this to 10 days!)

I'm not planning on altering my game to make travel longer, I was just curious where this time came from. Is there some president in "old school" games?

A 40 days there and 40 days back overland trip, without resupply, is insane.

That is a minimum of 240 meals per person. Using Traveler's rations, that is $480 ($2 per) and 120lbs (0.5 lb per). If you have to carry water too, that could add 160 to 640 lbs. And you have to add container weight to that.

The quick thought answer is to bring pack/draft animals, but they need food too (5+lbs per day, comes to mind; so +400 lbs per animal).

The better DF answer is to bring a Cleric with Create Food and Create Water, or travel slower and have your scout do lots of hunting along the way.

As a GM, I place most of my Dungeons within 2 days travel of a town.