The Speed of an Unladen Barbarian

    In the d20 System

    The Barbarian class in the d20 System gains a 10-foot bonus to speed. But how fast does this make them? In this, I will do a quick examination of some aspects of speed in the d20 System, and show that, on average and in general, the speed of d20 System Humans is on-par with the speed of real-world Humans, allowing for reasonably small variances in physical fitness.

    In order to determine the speed of a Barbarian in the d20 System, we first need to establish a baseline. We'll use Humans for a baseline, as Humans exist in both the game world and (provably) in the real world.
    A baseline Human has a speed of 30 feet per round. How fast is that? Well, a round is 6 seconds, and the baseline speed is fairly implicitly "walking speed." That gives us 5 feet per second. At 3,600 seconds per hour, the character is going 18,000 feet per hour, or 3.41 miles. A quick internet search tells us that average Human walking speed of a real-world 21st-century Human is "about 3.1 miles per hour."

Source: [Link]

    Now, given that modern Humans are fairly sedentary, and given that medieval Humans were very likely not sedentary; about 90% of medieval Humans were farmers, and most of the rest in some physical trade; and even much of the nobility expected to maintain in physical fighting trim... Given that, an adjustment to 3.41 mph for a medieval walking Human is reasonable.
    Humans can also hustle; being defined as either walking their full speed while taking a "1standard action", or taking a "2move action" twice in one round. At a hustle, a Human can move 60 feet per round, or 10 feet per second, or 36,000 feet per hour. Or, 6.82 mph.

    A real-world 21st-century Human jogs at between 4 and 6 mph, generally towards the lower end. Now, this is slower than a d20 Human's hustling speed; and besides, hustling is not jogging. However, I could not find useful information on "average human hustling speed" in a casual web-search, and this is, after all, a post about a game, not a scholarly report. So, we can guess that moving up to a hustle, and the difference in physical fitness, also makes 6.82 mph a viable real-world speed for real-world humans moving at a hustle.

Source: [Link]

Dictionary definition: Hustle: 1. to proceed or work rapidly or energetically.
Source: [Link]

    At a run, a Human (d20 baseline) in light or no armour, and with no more than a light load (hence "unladen") can proceed at 3x4 their usual speed. Or, at 120 feet per round. At this speed, you're 4presumed to be doing nothing more than taking two move actions each round, and moving twice as fast as normal during each, as well. But, aside from 40 yards, how fast is it, really?
    Well, once you do the math, it's 72,000 feet per hour, or... 13.64 mph.
    Average real-world 21st-century Human running speed is "...15 miles per hour for short periods of time."

Source: [Link]

    Given some reasonable variance in the term "5for short periods of time", the two numbers are a match. A baseline d20 System Human cannot even come close to Usain Bolt at 27.44 mph.

    But how fast is a d20 System Human Barbarian? At a speed of 40 feet, and 160 feet per round, how fast does he or she go? Well, as it turns out, 96,000 feet per hour, or 18.18 mph.

    This post is a part of a continuing series intended to disprove common power-level myths about the d20 System. Coming up: A 20th-level Wizard casting Meteor Swarm against a Rock Wall; and the truth about Locate City Bomb that just might break your heart (it doesn't work).

* Something taking effort, skill, and/or focus, like making an attack.
** Such as moving 60 feet in a round, or standing up and then moving 30 feet.
*** There is no need to write "x4 times". "x4" implicitly means "times".
4 Unless, in the usual d20 System caveat, some other more specific rule specifies otherwise, such as a spell or special ability.
5 d20 System Humans can run for about 1 minute by implicit context of a chart.

The d20 System is (c) Wizards of the Coast, inc., and is used here solely for review purposes.
The d20 System SRD is (c) Wizards of the Coast, inc., and is included or referenced here solely for review purposes.