Thirty Fourty Sticks
2020-11-28

Thirty Fourty Sticks

Gerald about to round the corner

We play on top of a hex/square battlemat and I was/am looking for a way to measure ranges.

Tape measures are nice, but they quickly become toys. Rulers are usually as wide as the miniature bases, they get in the way somehow. I wanted something that could be left on the mat and sneak between the miniatures.

The most frequent use case is "I move in that direction" and the "I" is a human character. That makes for a 30ft move (six quares) so I printed half a dozen of 30ft sticks to help me (the GM) and the players determine their max move for the round.

The 30ft stick also indicates the normal range of a javelin or a sling, and of a hand crossbow. Handy.

By using two 30ft sticks, one can determine the dash range of a human, or the move range of a horse.

The normal range of a dart, a dagger, or a hand axe is 20ft. I don't think it necessary to print 20ft sticks. I added a "hx/lh" at 20ft on the 30ft stick, I should probably change that to something simpler like "x".

But I printed 40ft sticks. Fourty feet is the speed of a dog or a wolf.

By lining two 40ft sticks, one reaches 80ft and that's the normal range of a shortbow or a light crossbow.

The 30ft and the 40ft can be combined. Ftt for a heavy crossbow (normal range 100ft) and FFFt for a longbow (normal range 150ft). But that usually falls out of the battlemat...

Each stick is labelled in feet on the top, in meters on the side, and in squares on the other side. The bottom is free of markings. The sticks are 5mm by 5mm thick. They are very light and are easy to move in and out of the setting. The 40ft sticks are handy as pointers as well.

I printed the 30ft sticks in bright color and I leave them in front of the players. The 40ft sticks were printed in black or grey and are left in front of the gm screen. The player mostly need the colorful 30ft sticks. The grey 40ft sticks are for encounters and ranges.

Here is a table with various ranges at low level. F is for "fourty feet stick", while T is for "thirty feet stick". FFFt means 3 fourty feet sticks plus 1 thirty feet stick. t-2 means 1 thirty feet stick minus 2 notches.

distancesticks
speed
dwarf, gnome25ftt-1
human, elf, goblin30ftt
dog, wolf40ftF
ravenfly 50fttt-2 :-(
horse60fttt
ranges (normal, max)
Dagger20ft 4sq 6mt-260ft 12sq 18mtt
Handaxe20ft 4sq 6mt-260ft 12sq 18mtt
Javelin30ft 6sq 9mt120ft 24sq 36mFFF
Lt Hammer20ft 4sq 6mt-260ft 12sq 18mtt
Spear20ft 4sq 6mt-260ft 12sq 18mtt
Crossbow80ft 16sq 24mFF320ft 64sq 96m8F
Dart20ft 4sq 6mt-260ft 12sq 18mtt
Shortbow80ft 16sq 24mFF320ft 64sq 96m8F
Sling30ft 6sq 9mt120ft 24sq 36mFFF
Trident20ft 4sq 6mt-260ft 12sq 18mtt
Blowgun25ft 5sq 7.5mt-1100ft 20sq 30mttF
Crossbow hnd30ft 6sq 9mt120ft 24sq 36mFFF
Crossbow hvy100ft 20sq 30mttF400ft 80sq 120m10F
Longbow150ft 30sq 45mFFFt600ft 120sq 180m15F
Net15ft 3sq 4.5mt-3
spell ranges (cantrips and level 1)
0 Acid Splash60ft 18m 12sqtt
0 Chill Touch120ft 36m 24sqFFF
0 Dancing Lights120ft 36m 24sqFFF
0 Druidcraft30ft 9m 6sqt
0 Eldritch Blast120ft 36m 24sqFFF
0 Fire Bolt120ft 36m 24sqFFF
0 Mage Hand30ft 9m 6sqt
0 Message120ft 36m 24sqFFF
0 Minor Illusion30ft 9m 6sqt
0 Ray of Frost60ft 18m 12sqtt
0 Sacred Flame60ft 18m 12sqtt
0 Thaumaturgy30ft 9m 6sqt
0 Thorn Whip30ft 9m 6sqt
0 True Strike30ft 9m 6sqt
0 Vicious Mockery60ft 18m 12sqtt
1 Alarm30ft 9m 6sqt
1 Animal Friendship30ft 9m 6sqt
1 Bane30ft 9m 6sqt
1 Bless30ft 9m 6sqt
1 Charm Person30ft 9m 6sqt
1 Chromatic Orb90ft 27m 18sqttt
1 Command60ft 18m 12sqtt
1 Compelled Duel30ft 9m 6sqt
1 Create or Destroy Water30ft 9m 6sqt
1 Dissonant Whispers60ft 18m 12sqtt
1 Entangle90ft 27m 18sqttt
1 Faerie Fire60ft 18m 12sqtt
1 Feather Fall60ft 18m 12sqtt
1 Floating Disk30ft 9m 6sqt
1 Fog Cloud120ft 36m 24sqFFF
1 Grease60ft 18m 12sqtt
1 Guiding Bolt120ft 36m 24sqFFF
1 Healing Word60ft 18m 12sqtt
1 Hellish Rebuke60ft 18m 12sqtt
1 Hex90ft 27m 18sqttt
1 Hideous Laughter30ft 9m 6sqt
1 Hunter's Mark90ft 27m 18sqttt
1 Magic Missile120ft 36m 24sqFFF
1 Ray of Sickness60ft 18m 12sqtt
1 Sanctuary30ft 9m 6sqt
1 Shield of Faith60ft 18m 12sqtt
1 Silent Image60ft 18m 12sqtt
1 Sleep90ft 27m 18sqttt
1 Tenser's Floating Disk30ft 9m 6sqt
1 Unseen Servant60ft 18m 12sqtt
1 Witch Bolt30ft 9m 6sqt

Maybe a t-2 "twenty feet stick" might be worth printing, for now I'll try sticking to t-2, using the "thirty feet stick" minus 1 or 2 notches.

sticks and rulers source code / 30ft stick stl / 40ft stick stl

And yes, you are right, one can cut wooden sticks at the right size and mark them to have even nicer whatever feet sticks.