A similar series of articles was first published on the web site of Wizards of the Coast, publishers of the fine role-playing game Dungeons&Dragons. However, their way of going metric was, in my opinion, silly and a blind alley, leading to a game where 10' poles are suddenly 4 meter.

Since I prefer my poles to be 3 meter, and I already had a swedish and metric version of the game going, I decided to publish my own way of going metric, which I feel to be more like a five-lane highway.

So turn on your cruise-control and get your kicks on route 66...

Every meter of it.

Going Metric
 
Going Metric, Part 1
Going Metric, Part 2
Going Metric, Part 3
Going Metric, Part 4

Going Metric (Part Two)
By Mikael Börjesson

Thrown and Projectile Weapon Ranges

You can convert ranges for weapons using exactly the same method used for speeds. The table below shows metric ranges for the thrown and projectile weapons included in the Player's Handbook:

Weapon Ranges

English
Range Increment		 Metric
Range Increment
Throwing Weapons[1]
Axe, throwing 10 ft. 3 m
Bolas 10 ft. 3 m
Club 10 ft. 3 m
Dagger 10 ft. 3 m
Dart 20 ft. 6 m
Hammer, light 20 ft. 6 m
Javelin 30 ft. 9 m
Net 10 ft. 3 m
Sai 10 ft. 3 m
Shuriken 10 ft. 3 m
Shortspear 20 ft. 6 m
Spear 20 ft. 6 m
Trident 10 ft. 3 m
Projectile Weapons[2]
Crossbow, hand 30 ft. 9 m
Crossbow, heavy[3] 120 ft. 36 m
Crossbow, light[4] 80 ft. 24 m
Longbow 100 ft. 30 m
Longbow, composite 110 ft. 33 m
Shortbow 60 ft. 18 m
Shortbow, composite 70 ft. 21 m
Sling 50 ft. 15 m
1. Throwing weapons have a maximum range of 5 range increments.
2. Projectile weapons have a maximum range of 10 range increments.
3. Includes the heavy repeating crossbow.
4. Includes the light repeating crossbow.

Spell Ranges

Spell ranges can be converted in the same manner as speeds and weapon ranges. Common ranges are shown in the table below.

Range English Metric
Personal Caster Caster
Touch Subject touched Subject touched
Close 25 ft. + 5 ft./two caster levels 6 m + 1 m/caster level
Medium 100 ft. + 10 ft./caster level 30 m + 3 m/caster level
Long 400 ft. + 40 ft./caster level 120 m + 12 m/caster level
0 feet Subject touched[1] Subject touched[1]
10 feet 10 feet 3 m
10 feet/level 10 feet/caster level 3 m/caster level
15 feet 15 feet 4 m
20 feet 20 feet 6 m
30 feet 30 feet 9 m
40 feet/level 40 feet/caster level 12 m/caster level
50 feet 50 feet 15 m
60 feet 60 feet 18 m
120 feet 120 feet 36 m
1 mile/level 1 mile/caster level 1.5 kilometers/caster level[2]
5 miles 5 miles 8 kilometers[2]
Other ranges in feet see note 3
1. Spells with a range of 0 feet generally involve placing some kind of sigil, glyph, or sign on something else. Such spells effectively have a range of touch but you cannot "hold the charge" as you can with a touch spell.
2. Range rounded down to a convenient number.
3. When a spell has a range in feet that is not listed here, simply divide the range in feet by 10 and multiply by 3 to get the number of meter it reaches. Round down to a whole number if necessary.

Spell Areas

Basic spell areas convert as shown in the table below.

Area* English Metric
Bursts
5-ft. radius 1-m radius
10-ft. radius 3-m radius
20-ft. radius 6-m radius
40-ft. radius 12-m radius
80-ft. radius 24-m radius
Cones
15 ft. 4 m
30 ft. 9 m
60 ft. 18 m
Long-range Varies
Creatures
All allies and foes within a 40-foot radius burst All allies and foes within a 12-m radius burst
All allies within 50 ft. All allies within 15 m
All enemies within 50 ft. All enemies within 15 m
Creatures no more than 30 ft. apart Creatures no more than 9 m apart
Creatures no more than 60 ft. apart Creatures no more than 18m apart
Cylinders
10-ft. radius 3-m radius
20-ft. radius 6-m radius
Emanations
5-ft. radius 1-m radius
10-ft. radius 3-m radius
20-ft. radius 6-m radius
40-ft. radius 12-m radius
60-ft. radius 18-m radius
Lines
5 ft. wide 1 m wide
Spreads
10-ft. radius 3-m radius
20-ft. radius 6-m radius
40-ft. radius 12-m radius
80-ft. radius 24-m radius
Others
5-ft. cube 1-m cube
10-ft. cubes 3-m cubes
20-ft. cubes 6-m cubes
30-ft. cubes 9-m cubes
60-ft. cubes 18-m cubes
10-ft. square 3-m square
20-ft. square 6-m square

*When a spell has an area measured in feet that is not listed here, simply divide the area's dimensions in feet by 10 and multiply by 3 to get the number of meter of the dimension. Round down to a whole number if necessary.