D&D: Players Push For Metric System In “New Evolution”
A “New Evolution” of Dungeons & Dragons is coming in 2024, and with it comes a push by players to convert the venerable RPG to the metric system.
The future of D&D is wide open, and with a “new evolution” of the core rulebooks set to release in 2024, a group of players have started a petition advocating for a metric version of the popular RPG. Garnering more than 4,000 signatures at press time, the petition points out that 97% of the world uses the metric system, with only three countries still officially using the old Imperial system: Myanmar, Liberia, and the United States. A change, or at least included conversion for the metric system would accommodate gamers across the globe, which seems to line up with WotC’s goal of making D&D widely accessible. The full petition reads as follows:
On 27 September 2021, The D&D Team revealed that they are working on a 5.5 Edition of Dungeons and Dragons in 2024 for the 50th anniversary of the game.
In previous Editions, including the most recent 5th Edition, the game has exclusively used the Imperial system, without any support for conversion or calculation to the Metric system.
While we recognise the game is designed by a US based company, Wizards of the Coast & Hasbro have already created foreign language versions of 5th Edition which converted all numerical systems to Metric.
A Metric system version of 5.5 would assist players in many ways including
- Calculating the cost per 100g/1kg for various items such as minerals, gems, livestock and trade goods.
- Calculating distance in kilometres and metres
- Calculating liquids and alchemical checks using Litres.
- Standardise movement for combat and distance from targets for spells.
- Standardise weight and height for characters when interacting with the world,
- Assist DMs in calculating strength and dexterity based checks that need to factor weight, height or depth into the DC and outcomes.
- Additional, for young players looking to get into D&D, learning an entirely new system can be a hurdle, especially for children with learning disabilities. Having a Metric system would help teach children important maths skills that will be applicable to their country of origin.
Only three countries in the world (officially) still use the Imperial System and it continues to be a sore spot for the education and enjoyment of anyone outside of the US.
94.7% of the world uses the metric system by population, with only USA, Myanmar and Liberia using Imperial.
We strongly encourage Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro to consider their international audiences and release two versions, one using Metric and one using Imperial.
You can check out the petition here.
What do you think, should D&D convert to the metric system? Or will your dungeons always be measure in feet?
