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 Three)
By Mikael Börjesson

Converting Character Height and Weight

Unlike tactical distances, character height and weight in the D&D game isn't based on any basic unit of game distance. You can simply generate your character's height and weight according to Table 6-6 in the Player's Handbook and convert the measurements you get into metric units using the table at the beginning of this article. Or, you can use the height and weight table given below. The table will produce almost exactly the same characters as if you had used Table 6-6 in the Player's Handbook and then converted the measurements.

Random Height and Weight

Race Base
Height		 Height
Modifier*		 Base
Weight		 Weight
Modifier**
Human, man 145 cm +5d10 61 kg x(2d8) hg
Human, woman 132 cm +5d10 44 kg x(2d8) hg
Dwarf, man 116 cm +2d8 66 kg x(3d10) hg
Dwarf, woman 110 cm +2d8 66 kg x(3d10) hg
Elf, man 135 cm +3d10 43 kg x(2d6) hg
Elf, woman 135 cm +3d10 40 kg x(2d6) hg
Gnome, man 93 cm +2d8 21 kg x(1d2) hg
Gnome, woman 88 cm +2d8 18 kg x(1d2) hg
Half-elf, man 138 cm +4d10 51 kg x(2d8) hg
Half-elf, woman 133 cm +4d10 41 kg x(2d8) hg
Half-orc, man 145 cm +5d12 76 kg x(2d12) hg
Half-orc, woman 130 cm +5d12 56 kg x(2d12) hg
Halfling, man 83 cm +2d8 16 kg x(1d2) hg
Halfling, woman 78 cm +2d8 13 kg x(1d2) hg

*Add the height modifier to the base height.

**To determine weight, first determine height. Then multiply the character's height modifier by the weight modifier and add the result to the base weight.

Converting Money and Equipment

The game's monetary system is unique to the game and requires no conversion for use with metric weights and measures. We can assume that a single coin weighs 10 grams (100 coins to a kilogram).

Likewise, the weights for most items can be converted directly to metric units and rounded off to the most convenient number for game play. The tables that follow give metric weights for the equipment shown in the Player's Handbook. All of the metric values have been rounded down to whole units where possible. This rounding makes most equipment slightly lighter under the metric system and also gives most containers slightly less capacity.

Trade Goods

Cost Item
2 cp 1 kg of wheat or one chicken
4 cp 1 kg of flour
2 sp 1 kg of iron
1 gp 1 kg of tobacco or copper, or one goat
2 gp 1 kg of cinnamon or one sheep
3 gp One pig
4 gp 1 kg of ginger or pepper
4 gp 1 square meter of linen
10 gp 1 kg of salt or silver
10 gp 1 square meter of silk or one cow
15 gp One ox
30 gp 1 kg of saffron or cloves
100 gp 1 kg of gold
1000 gp 1 kg of platinum

Weapons

Simple Weapons Cost Dmg
(S)		 Dmg
(M)		 Dmg
(L)		 Critical Range
Increment		 Weight[1] Type[2]
Unarmed Attacks
Gauntlet 2 gp 1d2 1d3 1d4 x2 -- 0.5 kg Bludgeoning
Strike, unarmed -- 1d2[3] 1d3[3] 1d4[3] x2 -- -- Bludgeoning
Light Melee Weapons
Dagger 2 gp 1d3 1d4 1d6 19-20/x2 3 m 0.5 kg Piercing or slashing
Dagger, punching 2 gp 1d3 1d4 1d6 x3 -- 0.5 kg Piercing
Gauntlet, spiked 5 gp 1d3 1d4 1d6 x2 -- 0.5 kg Piercing
Mace, light 5 gp 1d4 1d6 1d8 x2 -- 2 kg Bludgeoning
Sickle 6 gp 1d4 1d6 1d8 x2 -- 1 kg Slashing
One-Handed Melee Weapons
Club -- 1d4 1d6 1d8 x2 3 m 1 kg Bludgeoning
Mace, heavy 12 gp 1d6 1d8 1d10 x2 -- 4 kg Bludgeoning
Morningstar 8 gp 1d6 1d8 1d10 x2 -- 3 kg Bludgeoning and piercing
Shortspear 1 gp 1d4 1d6 1d8 x2 6 m 1 kg Piercing
Two-Handed Melee Weapons
Longspear[4] 5 gp 1d6 1d8 2d6 x3 -- 4 kg Piercing
Quarterstaff[4] -- 1d4/1d4 1d6/1d6 1d8/1d8 x2 -- 2 kg Bludgeoning
Spear 2 gp 1d6 1d8 2d6 x3 6 m 3 kg Piercing
Ranged Weapons
Crossbow, heavy 50 gp 1d8 1d10 2d8 19-20/x2 36 m 4 kg Piercing
Bolts, crossbow (10) 1 gp -- -- -- -- -- 0.5 kg --
Crossbow, light 35 gp 1d6 1d8 2d6 19-20/x2 24 m 2 kg Piercing
Bolts, crossbow (10) 1 gp -- -- -- -- -- 0.5 kg --
Dart 5 sp 1d3 1d4 1d6 x2 6 m 0.25 kg Piercing
Javelin 1 gp 1d4 1d6 1d8 x2 9 m 1 kg Piercing
Sling -- 1d3 1d4 1d6 x2 15 m 0 kg Bludgeoning
Bullets, sling (10) 1 sp -- -- -- -- -- 2 kg --
Simple Weapons Cost Dmg
(S)		 Dmg
(M)		 Dmg
(L)		 Critical Range
Increment		 Weight[1] Type[2]
Light Melee Weapons
Axe, throwing 8 gp 1d4 1d6 1d8 x2 3 m 1 kg Slashing
Hammer, light 1 gp 1d3 1d4 1d6 x2 6 m 1 kg Bludgeoning
Handaxe 6 gp 1d4 1d6 1d8 x3 -- 1 kg Slashing
Kukri 8 gp 1d3 1d4 1d6 18-20/x2 -- 1 kg Slashing
Pick, light 4 gp 1d3 1d4 1d6 x4 -- 1 kg Piercing
Sap 1 gp 1d4[3] 1d6[3] 1d8[3] x2 -- 1 kg Bludgeoning
Shield, light special 1d2 1d3 1d4 x2 -- special Bludgeoning
Spiked armor special 1d4 1d6 1d8 x2 -- special Piercing
Spiked shield, light special 1d3 1d4 1d6 x2 -- special Piercing
Sword, short 10 gp 1d4 1d6 1d8 19-20/x2 -- 1 kg Piercing
One-Handed Melee Weapons
Battleaxe 10 gp 1d6 1d8 2d6 x3 -- 3 kg Slashing
Flail 8 gp 1d6 1d8 2d6 x2 -- 2 kg Bludgeoning
Longsword 15 gp 1d6 1d8 2d6 19-20/x2 -- 2 kg Slashing
Pick, heavy 8 gp 1d4 1d6 1d8 x4 -- 3 kg Piercing
Rapier 20 gp 1d4 1d6 1d8 18-20/x2 -- 1 kg Piercing
Scimitar 15 gp 1d4 1d6 1d8 18-20/x2 -- 2 kg Slashing
Shield, heavy special 1d3 1d4 1d6 x2 -- special Bludgeoning
Spiked shield, heavy special 1d4 1d6 1d8 x2 -- special Piercing
Trident 15 gp 1d6 1d8 2d6 x2 3 m 2 kg Piercing
Warhammer 12 gp 1d6 1d8 2d6 x3 -- 2 kg Bludgeoning
Two-Handed Melee Weapons
Falchion 75 gp 1d6 1d8 2d6 18-20/x2 -- 4 kg Slashing
Glaive[4] 8 gp 1d8 1d10 2d8 x3 -- 5 kg Slashing
Greataxe 20 gp 1d10 1d12 3d6 x3 -- 6 kg Slashing
Greatclub 5 gp 1d8 1d10 2d8 x2 -- 4 kg Bludgeoning
Flail, heavy 15 gp 1d8 1d10 2d8 19-20/x2 -- 5 kg Bludgeoning
Greatsword 50 gp 1d10 2d6 3d6 19-20/x2 -- 4 kg Slashing
Guisarme[4] 9 gp 1d6 1d8 2d6 x3 -- 6 kg Slashing
Halberd 10 gp 1d8 1d10 2d8 x3 -- 6 kg Piercing or slashing
Lance[4] 10 gp 1d6 1d8 2d6 x3 -- 5 kg Piercing
Ranseur[4] 10 gp 1d6 1d8 2d6 x3 -- 6 kg Piercing
Scythe 18 gp 1d6 1d8 2d6 x4 -- 5 kg Piercing or Slashing
Ranged Weapons
Longbow 75 gp 1d6 1d8 2d6 x3 30 m 1 kg Piercing
Arrows (20) 1 gp -- -- -- -- -- 1 kg --
Longbow, composite 100 gp 1d6 1d8 2d6 x3 33 m 1 kg Piercing
Arrows (20) 1 gp -- -- -- -- -- 1 kg --
Shortbow 30 gp 1d4 1d6 1d8 x3 18 m 1 kg Piercing
Arrows (20) 1 gp -- -- -- -- -- 1 kg --
Shortbow, composite 75 gp 1d4 1d6 1d8 x3 21 m 1 kg Piercing
Arrows (20) 1 gp -- -- -- -- -- 1 kg --
Simple Weapons Cost Dmg
(S)		 Dmg
(M)		 Dmg
(L)		 Critical Range
Increment		 Weight[1] Type[2]
Light Melee Weapons
Kama 2 gp 1d4 1d6 1d8 x2 -- 1 kg Slashing
Nunchaku 2 gp 1d4 1d6 1d8 x2 -- 1 kg Bludgeoning
Sai 1 gp 1d3 1d4 1d6 x2 3 m 0.5 kg Bludgeoning
Siangham 3 gp 1d4 1d6 1d8 x2 -- 0.5 kg Piercing
One-Handed Melee Weapons
Sword, bastard 35 gp 1d8 1d10 2d8 19-20/x2 -- 3 kg Slashing
Waraxe, dwarven 30 gp 1d8 1d10 2d8 x3 -- 4 kg Slashing
Whip[4] 1 gp 1d2[3] 1d3[3] 1d4[3] x2 -- 1 kg Slashing
Two-Handed Melee Weapons
Axe, orc double[5] 60 gp 1d6/1d6 1d8/1d8 2d6/2d6 x3 -- 7 kg Slashing
Chain, spiked[4] 25 gp 1d6 2d4 2d6 x2 -- 5 kg Piercing
Flail, dire[5] 90 gp 1d6/1d6 1d8/1d8 2d6/2d6 x2 -- 5 kg Bludgeoning
Hammer, gnome hooked[5] 20 gp 1d6/1d4 1d8/1d6 2d6/1d8 x3/x4 -- 3 kg Bludgeoning and piercing
Sword, two-bladed[5] 100 gp 1d6/1d6 1d8/1d8 2d6/2d6 19-20/x2 -- 5 kg Slashing
Urgrosh, dwarven[5] 50 gp 1d6/1d4 1d8/1d6 2d6/1d8 x3 -- 6 kg Slashing or Piercing
Ranged Weapons
Bolas 5 gp 1d3[3] 1d4[3] 1d6[3] x2 3 m 1 kg Bludgeoning
Crossbow, hand 100 gp 1d3 1d4 1d6 19-20/x2 9 m 1 kg . Piercing
Bolts (10) 1 gp -- -- -- -- -- 0.5 kg --
Crossbow, repeating heavy 400 gp 1d8 1d10 2d8 19-20/x2 36 m 6 kg Piercing
Bolts (5) 1 gp -- -- -- -- -- 0.5 kg --
Crossbow, repeating light 250 gp 1d6 1d8 2d6 19-20/x2 24 m 3 kg Piercing
Bolts (5) 1 gp -- -- -- -- -- 0.5 kg --
Net 20 gp -- -- -- -- 3 m 3 kg --
Shuriken 1 gp 1 1d2 1d3 x2 3 m 0.25 kg Piercing

1. Weights are for Medium weapons. Small weapons weigh half as much. Large weapons weigh twice as much.

2. When two types are given, the weapon is both types if the entry specifies "and" or either type (player's choice at the time of the attack) if the weapon specifies "or."

3. The weapon deals nonlethal damage rather than lethal damage.

4. Reach weapon.

5. Double weapon.

Armor and Shields

Armor Armor/
Shield
Cost		 Maximum
Bonus		 Armor
Dex
Bonus		 Arcane
Check
Penalty		 Spell
Failure		 ------- Speed ------- Weight[1]
(12m) (9m) (6m)
Light armor
Padded 5 gp 1 8 0 5% 12 m 9 m 6 m 5 kg
Leather 10 gp 2 6 0 10% 12 m 9 m 6 m 7 kg
Studded leather 25 gp 3 5 -1 15% 12 m 9 m 6 m 10 kg
Chain shirt 100 gp 4 4 -2 20% 12 m 9 m 6 m 12 kg
Medium armor
Hide 15 gp 3 4 -3 20% 8 m 6 m 4 m 12 kg
Scale mail 50 gp 4 3 -4 25% 8 m 6 m 4 m 15 kg
Chainmail 150 gp 5 2 -5 30% 8 m 6 m 4 m 20 kg
Breastplate 200 gp 5 3 -4 25% 8 m 6 m 4 m 15 kg
Heavy armor
Splint mail 200 gp 6 0 -7 40% 8 m[2] 6 m[2] 4 m[2] 22 kg
Banded mail 250 gp 6 1 -6 35% 8 m[2] 6 m[2] 4 m[2] 17 kg
Half-plate 600 gp 7 0 -7 40% 8 m[2] 6 m[2] 4 m[2] 25 kg
Full plate 1,500 gp 8 1 -6 35% 8 m[2] 6 m[2] 4 m[2] 25 kg
Shields
Buckler 15 gp 1 -- -1 5% -- -- 2 kg
Shield, light, wooden 3 gp 1 -- -1 5% -- -- 2 kg
Shield, light, steel 9 gp 1 -- -1 5% -- -- 3 kg
Shield, heavy, wooden 7 gp 2 -- -2 15% -- -- 5 kg
Shield, Heavy, steel 20 gp 2 -- -2 15% -- -- 7 kg
Shield, tower 30 gp +4** -- -10 50% -- -- 22 kg
Extras
Armor spikes +50 gp -- -- -- -- -- -- +5 kg
Gauntlet, locked 8 gp -- -- Special 4 -- -- +2 kg
Shield spikes +10 gp -- -- -- -- -- -- +2 kg

1. Shows the armor's weight when fitted for Medium characters. Armor fitted for Small characters weighs half as much. Armor fitted for Large characters weighs twice as much.

2. When running in heavy armor, you move only triple your speed, not quadruple.

3. The tower shield can instead grant you cover. See the item description in the Player's Handbook.

4. Your hand is not free to cast spells when you wear a locked gauntlet on it.