Date and Time

Time is fungible in the Realms of Terror. Great distances may be crossed in the matter of what feel like hours where yet others take weeks or even months to return from the same trip; this elasticity is normal to natives born beyond the Misty Border, however proves difficult for an Outlander to grasp, let alone become comfortable with.

Dates

For numbered dates, The Domains of Dread is pegged 1:1 with real time or IRT in the timezone that the server is hosted, which is Eastern Standard Time. Put another way, whichever date it is in the real world is the same fictional date as on server with only the year altered per the timeline. This includes the name and length of days and months, as the Core does not use a calendar system separate from our own.

Seasons correlate to the timezone the server is hosted. If it is August in the real world, then it is August and therefore summer in the Core as well, with conversely winter falling between the months of December into March.

Timescale

For matters of progressing in game time or IGT, one in game day is equal to that of 6 real world hours in The Domains of Dread—therefore there are 15 real world minutes to every in game hour. These in game days are not numbered dates and as such may only be referenced with relative terms fictionally.

The choice for 15 real world minutes to every in game hour is a balance consideration, so that nighttime in game does not progress as slowly as it would if the timescale was 1:1 with real time and likewise spell and spell-like abilities are given durations which are easy to measure and calculate. The exact time of day is reset to a random in game hour every planned server reset (typically daily IRT), so that players with consistent schedules do not log into the same hour of the in game day, including during nighttime.

Verisimilitude is required when characters recall the passage of time. Generally numbered dates are reserved for IRT reference—the 14th, the 30th, next Friday and so on—with IGT reserved for relative reference—the next dawn, this coming night and so on. This means it will always be clear when characters mean IRT and when they mean IGT without the need for a player to explicitly indicate which out of character.