Range to shoot that bird flying up there

[Russell Akred]

I'm sure everyone else has figured it out already but I finally came up with a calculation for distance to a flying opponent in Pathfinder (DnD).

When you know the altitude and the distance from a target take the smaller of the two numbers and divide by two (for distances ending in 5 add 2.5) and add it to the larger number and subtract ten. That is you distance to your target.

So it your target is at 215 feet away 115 feet high.

(115 away ÷ 2) = 57.5 + 2.5 = 60 + 215 high = 275 - 10 = 265 feet

If the target is 35 feet away and 60 feet high.

(35 away ÷ 2) = 17.5 + 2.5 = 20 + 60 high = 80 - 10 = 70 feet

If the target is 75 feet away and 60 feet high.

60 high ÷ 2 = 30 + 75 away = 105 - 10 = 95 feet

[clawoftiamat]

You are about 20 feet off on your calculations. The Pythagorean Theorem puts it at about 243 feet

[Russell Akred]

clawoftiamat wrote:

You are about 20 feet off on your calculations. The Pythagorean Theorem puts it at about 243 feet

I was trying to figure out how to calculate range in Pathfinder. The Pythagorean Theorem wasn't working.

[Russell Akred]

I made a graph to check my results.

altitude to horizontal distance graph

[Maezer]

Russell Akred wrote:

I made a graph to check my results.

altitude to horizontal distance graph

Your chart calculates distance in 2 axis. If you are trying to range find to a bird, you really should be working with 3 axis as D&D math will let you cut even more corners.

Also your chart is 5' off in both direction. A bird that is 5 above you and 10 feet away from is not 5' away. Its 10' away.

[Russell Akred]

The graph was to show if you placed a target on the square it was supposed to be on it would give you the distance to that square in that square. So if there was a target in the square 5' up and 10' over then the range would be 5' because you are 5' x 5' square yourself.

[voska66]

We just use the square root of the distance square plus the altitude squared round to the nearest 5 foot range increment. The Pythagorean Theorem works fine if you have calculator handy that is capable of doing square roots.

[Maezer]

I get that. Your chart shows the distance between two squares. But its not how D&D distance is measured. If you are throwing a dagger at someone 10 feet away along an axis, there is one empty square between you and the target. If their are two empty squares along an axis between you and the target he is 15' away, and you suffer a range increment penalty when throwing the dagger.

Generally when range finding in D&D its to determine a range increment. Though I suppose if you want the distance you need to move to be adjacent that's what you have.

[Michael Gentry]

Russell Akred wrote:

I was trying to figure out how to calculate range in Pathfinder. The Pythagorean Theorem wasn't working.

Man what. When you know the horizontal distance to the target, and you know the vertical distance to the target, and you need to know the diagonal distance to the target, how on earth does the Pythagorean Theorem not work?

[d20pfsrd.com]

For the math challenged (like me), you can always use the Range Finder on d20pfsrd.com.

Just enter the horizontal and vertical distance in feet, then hit the Calculate button.