Dungeons & Dragons Players Petition for a Switch to Metric System

Some Dungeons & Dragons players are hoping that the next edition of the game will use the metric system. Earlier this week, an Australian D&D player going by the nom de plume "Concerned Player" launched a Change.org petition asking Wizards of the Coast to switch Dungeons & Dragons to the metric system when the game switches to a new/revised system of rules in 2024. "In previous Editions, including the most recent 5th Edition, the game has exclusively used the Imperial system, without any support for conversion or calculation to the Metric system," the petition reads. "While we recognise the game is designed by a US based company, Wizards of the Coast & Hasbro have already created foreign language versions of 5th Edition which converted all numerical systems to Metric."

The issue with these conversions is that they aren't particularly clean, resulting in some strange calculations and distance equivalents. Some players have noted that other distance measurements to sync up when using a grid and miniatures to represent combat. As an alternative, the petition requests that Wizards of the Coast release two versions of the game - one for the American audience that uses the Imperial system and one that uses the metric system as a base instead of using converted measurements.

The petition presents some reasons why D&D should make the switch to the metric system, noting that it would standardize movement for combat and distance from target for spells and assist DMs in calculating Strength and Dexterity-based check that factor weight, height, and depth. The petition also notes that only three countries still officially use the Imperial system (the United States, Myanmar, and Liberia) while the remaining 94.7% use the metric system.

Dungeons & Dragons has always had an international audience and Wizards of the Coast recently started to release their own localized versions of the game in non-English languages, with the aim of releasing translations of both new and older rulebooks every quarter. 

So far, the petition has picked up about 1,250 signatures since it was posted this week. You can check out the full petition here.