User:Average/Time-slots
Speed is now better defined and is now called time quanta or time slots. The conversion is 5ft = 1 time slot. Since most races got 30ft, that means most races get 6 time quanta OR enough movement/perception to search a small (5x5x6 foot) room, of familiar surface (stone, dry dirt, etc.), diligently OR enough to have a full battle round (defensive & offensive moves + bonus). Faeries get slightly more, dwarves slightly less. These time quanta encompass both cognitive processing (including complex perception, fine motor work, and spell-casting) and movements. During rest, you regenerate mana commensurate with time credits expended.
It defines how much time/intensity you have per round rather than merely a factor of how many feet you can move. You can convert your time slots to intensity, so that your magic has twice the range or twice the effect, for example. If a fighter rolls a 20 for a critical hit, s/he may have to take an extra time-slot for the extra damage. A cleric may use all her time-slots towards a protection aura, yielding half the normal damage.
A similar, related concept is mana, indicating reserves of energy you can use in a burst. At any rate, the conversion is 1 time credit for every 5 feet of the old system. Credits are used for body movement, resting, perception (including searching), talking, building, gathering spellcasting forces, running or battle (double consumption). If you want extra special search, for example, you can use all of them to do so. No more DC checks, it’s all about how you want to spend your time. In battle, you might use 3 credits for a defensive move, 3 for an offensive move. A wizard might use 3 credits for gathering forces (pulling the mana: up-to LVL*100 mana per time-slot), and the rest for concentrating it for max damage, if s/he's feeling lucky (there's no perception credit and s/he'll receive double damage if they didn't disable your opponent in that round). If you’re in battle, time compresses and the D&D universe has to deal with both forces at once (good and evil if you’re fighting the right opponents): 6 for you and 6 for a matched opponent. That is, your time credits are honed to resolve the battle rather than move you through the game universe. If you use your credits to flee, you can move 30 ft out the way (5ft * #QUANTA). An NPC with 6 credits against 4 fighters each with 6 credits is going to get bludgeoned with only 1/4 the hits per round as it`s opponents. A tiny bug is going to either have an allocation of less than 0.2 credits or STR of 1. Your 6 credits will squash it, no problem--you don't even have to do battle rounds. A 7-headed dragon might have 5x7+7=42 time quanta per round (some of which will be used to recharge the breath). You better have friends.
