I know it's common knowledge that the ratio of time in real life to Arelith's timetable is 1:10, but I thought I'd break it down because some have asked about it (Krivoklat in the suggestions forum, most recently), it's neat to see it splayed out in a new perspective, and frankly, I'm bored. So, here goes!
To start, a simple table:
(Real Life = Arelith Time)
6 minutes = 1 hour
36 minutes = 6 hours
1:12 = 12 hours
2:24 = 1 day
7:12 = 3 days
16:48 = 7 days
1 day = 10 days
1 day, 9:36 = 14 days
After this point, it starts getting more or less pointless trying to be exact in terms of posting something using an IC timeframe because of server resets, maintenance, etc etc. However, if you're just wanting to give people a rough idea IC and intend to clarify with an OOC note at the end, you could keep going with phrases like these...
3 days = 30 days, "one month"
7 days = 70 days, "two and a tenday"
14 days = 140 days, "four and a half months"
21 days = 210 days, "seven months"
Since sometimes players like to rp a pregnancy, those would last about as long as...
20 days, 8 hours = rough prematurity estimate (when the child could still potentially live)
28 days = standard pregnancy
A bunch of characters will often respond to, "How long have you been here?" with, "A few months now." In case you're curious, that stops being true at...
36 days, 12 hours = 1 year on Arelith!
So, if you've been playing your character for a little over a month, you have earned the right to express your stay in terms of the "year" unit, not "month". Congratulations!
60 days = 1 year, 7 months, 15 days
90 days = 2 years, 5 months, 20 days
180 days = 4 years, 11 months, 10 days
365 days = 10 years!!
If you have a character for a year in real life, I have to give you some major kudos. I can never stick to mine for more than a few months. Good job!
So, if you go back and double-check some of the math, it doesn't all come out perfectly. For instance, 180 RL days * 10 = 1800 Arelith days - 4 years (1460 days) = 340 days - 11 months (330 days) = 10 days left, so 4 years, 11 months, and 10 days on Arelith. But! 182.5 days in RL should equal exactly 5 years (1825 days) on Arelith, right? 182.5 * 10 = 1825. Cool. But, let's compare the differences of those two equations. 182.5, exactly half a RL year, minus 180 days equals 2.5 days, which we know to be 25 days on Arelith, however, 5 years minus 4 years, 11 months, and 10 days equals 20 days left! 25 does not equal 20.
Is the system slightly flawed? Sure. It doesn't account for 31-day months or Februaries, or leap years, or as mentioned before, server crashes, resets, and scheduled maintenance. Not to mention, it does not account for the five random days in the Calendar of Harptos, the established calendar of Faerun. It's imperfect, but let's be honest- so is our beloved server!
I don't know about you, but if I tried to measure every single thing on Arelith in exact RL terms, I would stress myself out and stop having fun. Some things are meant to be left to the imagination. It's a fantasy world, after all!
That being said, don't forget that it is perfectly acceptable to follow an IC time in a note with an OOC one so that everyone knows when you're talking about. As far as I know, it's one of the only times an OOC message is acceptable. For example, "The festival's in a few months! I hope to see you there! ((OOC: in two weeks, Jan 1st, at 12:00 noon EST))". If your character is talking to another, however, it's still better if you send a tell instead of making an OOC note out loud. DM's, please slap a big "YOU ARE WRONG" in the comments and correct me if any of that is not true.
Otherwise, I hope this little guide serves all your timely needs, and I'll see you server-side!
