Time Zones in Eberron (I'm such a geek)

[Henry]

I haven't seen anyone specifically deal with the topic yet, so I printed out a map (sebby's excellent map from WotC's forums) and started tinkering. Assuming that Khorvaire has 24 hour days, and assuming that its circumference is 17.500 miles (Keith says 20K, a strict eyeball of the map in the book says 17.5K), I came up with one hour time zones being ROUGHLY 730 miles in width.

I then made another assumption - that Khorvairians are on Korranberg Standard time, and put the prime meridian through Korranberg. Going from east to west, I demarked the meridians, and then made some joggings based on political boundaries. The result?

Khorvaire has 6 time zones (somewhere between the numbers for Russia and the U.S.) I called the time zone just to the right of Korranberg KMT +0 (Kooranberg mean time). and went from there.

If you use these assumptions, you find a two hour time difference between Korranberg and Sharn. You also find as much difference between Time in Great Britan and the US as there is from the Shadow Marches to the Mror Holds. Even if it's not very scientifically accurate (but then, neither is the map ) it might be useful to see what kind of timespan there is between different parts, especially when teleportation or lightning rail travel over short distances comes into play.

Any comments, suggestions, deconstructions?

 

[Davelozzi]

Yep, you're a geek alright.

Seriously, as a self professed map geek myself, I love this kind of stuff. But I'd use it more to have a general idea of how many hours apart two places were, not as actual time zones. Generally in my games I've always just figured that local time is all that matters.

 

[BrooklynKnight]

Niiiiiiiiiiice....Do you mind If I pass this along to Keith (if he doesnt see it here first) for his opinion?, and if Coveworld/Breland Ledger hosts a copy?

 

[Hand of Evil]

Mmmm, interesting and useful.

And yes that is geekish but this is not a bad thing.

Not that it matters but should not the zones be narrower at the top of the map due to curve of planet? But then, making a globe does change the shape of a world.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Any comments, suggestions, deconstructions?

Great work!

Although the physics and demographics of Eberron (as much as I like the setting) really kind of underscore the point that it's always nice to mind real-world principles during design. I mean, what would have been the worst case scenario? A hemisphere that was left off the map? Big whoop!

 

[diaglo]

well same but different.

so in D&D standard there are 24hr days for spell recovery.

so must be 24hr days in Eberron too i guess

their world just turns slower. which is another anomaly.

our RW 25000 miles must make them sick.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

Thanks Henry, you are the Geekus Maximus.

I think that is the real world and fantasy work close enough, if
not perfectly together, that's fine by me. I can suspend my
disbelief enough to make it work.

 

[Henry]

Niiiiiiiiiiice....Do you mind If I pass this along to Keith (if he doesnt see it here first) for his opinion?, and if Coveworld/Breland Ledger hosts a copy?

Hey Arthur, if you want, I can also give you a higher-res-copy if you wish; I saved it in CorelDRAW, and can re-export it if needed. E-mail me at henrythelesser AT yahoo DOT com and give me an e-mail address of who to pass it on to.

For that matter, if you want to pass it on to the Korranberg Chronicle (the fan site being run by some regulars at WotC forums), feel free

 

[DanMcS]

I would have put the prime meridian through the island that was the capitol of the old empire- Thronehold is it? This is actually something that could come up, since time zones were instituted IRL due to train schedules- before that, everybody called the sun being at its highest, noon. Now there's some variance on that within the time zone, but you know exactly when the lightning rail is going to arrive and depart.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Thanks Henry, you are the Geekus Maximus.

... excuse me while I go eat a plate of chopped liver and sour grapes ....