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Slaygrim
Learned Scribe
111 Posts |
 Posted - 24 Jan 2008 : 17:30:24
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Let's say you are the DM and the players are heading from Waterdeep to Candlekeep. Then from Candlekeep back to Waterdeep. How do you go through this?
Do you:
DM: Okay, you mount your horses and head to Candlekeep, a solid weeks journey. On your 4th day out, you're riding on the road and (makes spot roll) you notice figures up ahead coming towards you attempting to be stealthy.
*Battle ensues and is won*
After the battle you resume your trek and arrive at Candlekeep 3 days later.
*Players do what they were doing in Candlekeep*
Now that you've gathered what you came here for, you mount your horses and head back to Waterdeep. This time, you are not waylayed by any bandits or monsters and the week long trip passes by uneventfully. You arrive at Waterdeep.
Or do you get more descriptive? What do you generally do during these long travels?
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Watch my gorgeous wife sing at:
www.youtube.com/Airicx |
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Aravine
Senior Scribe
USA
608 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jan 2008 : 17:45:46
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| sometimes I tire of dealing with this issue, and therefore give the players an airship.call me lazy, I don't care. my campaigns have a lot of travelling. |
The brave don't live forever,the cautious don't live at all |
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LordArcana
Seeker
USA
53 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jan 2008 : 17:54:15
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Call me anal but if i know ahead of time the group will be doing any travelling i map out the route taking into consideration the time it takes for the standard modes of travel. I then preroll encounters that would be suitable for the area if any...then roll weather for the trip. Looking at what i have written down at this point if i feel the need for a planned encounter i will place it taking into consideration the weather.
If its spontaneous travel i will let the group roll for random encounters depending on the environment with the chance of a follow up encounter if a random encounter is rolled.
Most of the time however i have things planned ahead where i would "like" the group to go...sometimes they surprise me:
Hey guys, when last we left you were going to go back two days ride to the caves of Yorbindarr...
~: Ah to hades with that! Lets go kill that dragon that is rumored to live in the hills to the south.
<DM frantically fumbling through several notebook pages trying to find a hook to get them back on track>
Ok guys you want a dragon...lets go dragon hunting...
<DM grabs the Great Wyrm Red off the shelves!>
~: <Players gasp> ok perhaps dragon hunting can wait... |
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Spree Thunderheart
Acolyte
USA
12 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jan 2008 : 18:03:47
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quote:
Originally posted by LordArcana
Call me anal but if i know ahead of time the group will be doing any travelling i map out the route taking into consideration the time it takes for the standard modes of travel. I then preroll encounters that would be suitable for the area if any...then roll weather for the trip. Looking at what i have written down at this point if i feel the need for a planned encounter i will place it taking into consideration the weather.
If its spontaneous travel i will let the group roll for random encounters depending on the environment with the chance of a follow up encounter if a random encounter is rolled.
Most of the time however i have things planned ahead where i would "like" the group to go...sometimes they surprise me:
Hey guys, when last we left you were going to go back two days ride to the caves of Yorbindarr...
~: Ah to hades with that! Lets go kill that dragon that is rumored to live in the hills to the south.
<DM frantically fumbling through several notebook pages trying to find a hook to get them back on track>
Ok guys you want a dragon...lets go dragon hunting...
<DM grabs the Great Wyrm Red off the shelves!>
~: <Players gasp> ok perhaps dragon hunting can wait...
I do pretty much the same thing except for the weather part. For the weather I usually plan it based on the type of mood I want the encounter to have. I also have extra encounters just in case of detours. |
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Slaygrim
Learned Scribe
111 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jan 2008 : 18:24:09
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What I was thinking about was if I didn't want to have a random encounter, but the trip is long, like a week or more. I feel like I am going to fast with saying, "You leave Waterdeep. You arrive in Candlekeep." I was curious as to how you all handled things like this. Do you just skip a week with only a sentence or two, or do you prolong it, go into details for each individual day, etc.
I like the idea about going over weather, perhaps the terrain, etc. That's a good idea. |
Watch my gorgeous wife sing at:
www.youtube.com/Airicx |
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LordArcana
Seeker
USA
53 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jan 2008 : 19:53:14
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quote:
Originally posted by Slaygrim
What I was thinking about was if I didn't want to have a random encounter, but the trip is long, like a week or more. I feel like I am going to fast with saying, "You leave Waterdeep. You arrive in Candlekeep." I was curious as to how you all handled things like this. Do you just skip a week with only a sentence or two, or do you prolong it, go into details for each individual day, etc.
I like the idea about going over weather, perhaps the terrain, etc. That's a good idea.
~::: It really depends on where the PC's are and where they are going. I think the most important part is do you as a DM feel the need to use that time to introduce information to the PC's. It gets cheesy if you use every encounter to reveal a little more of the plans of the bad guys...i try to tell my players "sometimes a goblin is just a goblin" as they tend to get in the mindset that if i mention it then it must be important. I used to detail the types of trees they would see...flowers...animals...farm houses etc and it got to the point i had players say their characters were taking samples of everything...made me think they were playing a GD kender!
Anyway to the point if the travel the PC's are doing is in civilized areas and places that are well patrolled and you think encounters are counter productive then by all means let them travel a week without encounters. If they are XP mongers then let them roll for random encounters. Personally if they are traveling in an area like Waterdeep to Candlekeep i would detail the trip to most of the major stops along the way, daggerford, The Way Inn, passing Dragonspear etc.
During spring and summer months i describe a few trade caravans and the routine patrol of militia. |
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Slaygrim
Learned Scribe
111 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jan 2008 : 21:07:42
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| Yes, that's what I need to do. Detail all of the major stops along the way. It's not like the PC's are going to choose to sleep on the road when they can crash at The Way Inn or something. Something so simple I was overlooking. Yeesh... Thanks for the help man. |
Watch my gorgeous wife sing at:
www.youtube.com/Airicx |
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crazedventurers
Master of Realmslore
United Kingdom
1073 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jan 2008 : 21:20:15
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quote:
Originally posted by LordArcana
~::: It really depends on where the PC's are and where they are going. I think the most important part is do you as a DM feel the need to use that time to introduce information to the PC's. It gets
I would agree with everything in the entire post. If it is somewhere they have been before then briefly describe what they know to remind them and slip in a couple of pieces of clack and lore:
You will arrive at The Way Inn by the first night and stop there drinking boar brew and chatting to Jarold the stablemaster, he mentions the usual, hobgoblins raiding off the High Moor, Barbarians setting brush fires to smoke out the orcs and something new, Kuule's Bandits have been seen by the Winding Water just over a tenday ago attacking travellers fording the river. This is the furthest North they have been in 5 winters after they burnt out Jandrins Hold killing Argest Hawkwinter at the behest of the Zhentarim. You rememberthat Piergeron offered that reward of 10,000gp and the magical blade Kelmorna for the return of the bandits to Waterdeep dead or alive. On the second day you make it past Giants Tor without having giants throw rocks at you this time and arrive at......
I rarely run random encounters, though I will often roll up encounters before they go and fit them in randomly (so I devise 10 encounters and roll a d10 to see which one happens).
From my perspective I think random encounters need to have a reason (unless the area is known to be wild or well populated and so random encounters make sense i.e. Myth Drannor, Undermountain, in a major city travelling across town). so if you are going to use them I would have the random encounters do two things, just test the PC's (and maybe get them just enough XP to go up that vital level they need for the real adventure!) or to introduce something/someone/a plot. Now they may well ignore the plot entirely, but hey that's okay, because the plot is there so in a few weeks gameworld time they will hear about the raiding ogres ambushing caravans on the Dawnpost trail near Kulta killing 12 people and hopefully they will realise that it is the same ogre band that had a go at them those weeks back and if only they had trailed them back to their lair they might have saved 12 lives....... (consequences, consequences...... )
For new places they have never been to (so if it is the first time they have travelled from High Dale to Kulta) I would do a day by day talk through and more fully introduce the small hamlets and towns on the way and a few NPC's (traders, mayors, lords, militia, farmers etc) so they know how the 'land lies', who rules what, who makes what where and sells it here etc and have at least one tavern tale of the local legend about the 6 leaping ladies of Archenbridge who had their magical shield stolen from them in this very same tavern exactly 22 winters ago. They chased the thief out to the hanging hill where they all disappeared down a great hole that appeared in the ground by leaping into it, and they have never been seen or heard from again.... except on clear full moon nights when a swirling mist blankets only the Hanging Hill and faint cries can be heard from within the vaporous, clinging, chilling fog........ (of course tonight just happens to be a full moon and the mist is slowly rising )
Just a thought or two, hope this helps
Damian |
So saith Ed. I've never said he was sane, have I?
Gods, all this writing and he's running a constant fantasy version of Coronation Street in his head, too. .
shudder,
love to all,
THO
Candlekeep Forum 7 May 2005 |
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Thrasymachus
Learned Scribe
195 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jan 2008 : 06:38:18
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quote:
Originally posted by Slaygrim
Let's say you are the DM and the players are heading from Waterdeep to Candlekeep. Then from Candlekeep back to Waterdeep. How do you go through this?
Do you:
DM: Okay, you mount your horses and head to Candlekeep, a solid weeks journey. On your 4th day out, you're riding on the road and (makes spot roll) you notice figures up ahead coming towards you attempting to be stealthy.
*Battle ensues and is won*
After the battle you resume your trek and arrive at Candlekeep 3 days later.
*Players do what they were doing in Candlekeep*
Now that you've gathered what you came here for, you mount your horses and head back to Waterdeep. This time, you are not waylayed by any bandits or monsters and the week long trip passes by uneventfully. You arrive at Waterdeep.
Or do you get more descriptive? What do you generally do during these long travels?
I have an NPC remind them that taking a sailing ship from Waterdeep to Candlekeep would cut down on horseshoe wear and tear.
I let my players spend time getting to know some of the many portals about the Forgotten Realms.
Freeebies here...
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/archfr/pg
Players can befriend those in control of these portals. In some cases they can be paid for use.Sometimes that can be the adventure in itself.
When it comes down to playing lengthy travel time I play it by ear. If the players want to play through I roll a 20 sided, to see if they have an encounter per day. A fair ammount of the time I ignore the results to be perfectly honest. If it's at the end of the session and we're tired we just don't have any encounters. If it's been a slow night, I'll ignore the results, and we have an encounter. Above all if it makes sense to the storyline that will be the result. Reading any of the novels you don't have every 25' reacted to or even described. It's one of those things we play by ear. |
Former Forgotten Realms brand manager Jim Butler: "Everything that bears the Forgotten Realms logo is considered canon". |
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Vangelor
Learned Scribe
USA
183 Posts |
Posted - 05 Feb 2008 : 02:10:41
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This depends entirely upon the pacing of the campaign at that point, and whether I want to make the travel a challenge or not. At least, I will give a paragraph description: "You meet no trouble along the way, and the rains that prevailed at the beginning of your journey soom become intermittent, ceasing entirely late on the third day. Sky is able to supplement your trail rations by snaring rabbits in the evening, and on the fifth night you come to an inn around sundown. You see that a merchant caravan has also arrived. What do you want to do? Camp out, or try to get rooms for the night?"
If I want them to have an encounter, they will. I may give more or less detail to the scenery, and take note of anything the players say they wish to have their characters do along the trip.
At the opposite extreme, if I decide to make a trip a challenge, then it becomes a day by day or turn by turn adventure of its own. |
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Ergdusch
Master of Realmslore
Germany
1720 Posts |
Posted - 05 Feb 2008 : 12:00:42
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Actually, it depends a lot on what the gaming group enjoys. traveling can be fun but some gamers don't really like to roleplay through the every-day routines of getting up, cooking food, handling the horses and so on. they just rather want a straighter and more adventurous aproach on matters.
Therefore you should also discuss things with your players before going through the effort of working out in detail a long road trip. |
"Das Gras weht im Wind, wenn der Wind weht." |
Edited by - Ergdusch on 05 Feb 2008 12:01:09 |
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore
USA
1537 Posts |
Posted - 05 Feb 2008 : 22:48:07
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"Ha! Ha! Ha!" I answer in reply to the primary question.
My PCs spent TWO YEARS OF REAL TIME traveling from Waterdeep to the Battles of the Golden Way in Thesk. My group isn't called "Waterdeep1360" for nothing -- we have been in that year for three years of real time already. Those who've gone along for the whole ride, though, or even most of it, are now all 5th through 9th levels, depending on their actual playing time.
Adventures happen to the party en route to their prime destination. For example, some months ago (in real time) they were diverted from the Golden Way in Thesk to the ruins of a small village with a seemingly intact tower (almost certainly a wizard's to judge by the scorch marks and vitrified soil where fireballs and lightning bolts had hit). They have been there for less than a tenday of game time, and already one PC has been killed, one player so shocked that he left the game, and a general attrition of NPCs has occurred probably unlike anything the players have ever experienced. ("Yes, when your high-level rogue dodges the ballista bolt that is fired at him when he opens a previously unseen door, it will kill the mere 3rd level NPC immediately behind him, whom you have seen rise from Red Shirt to actual henchman, with a real personality and real personal goals, whom you had come to consider as indestructible as yourself.")
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I have a mouth, but I am in a library and must not scream.
Feed the poor and stroke your ego, too: http://www.freerice.com/index.php.
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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
Posted - 05 Feb 2008 : 23:56:21
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I "hate" loooong travel-describtions etc (one of the reasons why I never really finished Lord of the Rings), and I keep it with the catch phrase used for Ravenloft a decade ago or so. "There are no random encounters, only deadly ones".
I flash through the day, tell them whom they met, how that leg of the trip was, and be done with it. The adventure is what counts... so unless the journey is part of the adventure already, as in Dark Clouds Gather, I don't set any random "combat" encounters and such. If it belongs to the story, fine, but random encounters are something I don't use... especially after having heard that a buddy of mine rolled the Tarrasque three times as random encounter, whether or not that is true, it just put me away from them for ever |
Mace's not so gentle gamer's journal My rants were harmless compared to this, beware! |
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore
USA
1537 Posts |
Posted - 06 Feb 2008 : 19:48:18
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Oh, I rarely use "random encounters" (i.e. "wandering monsters") unless they make sense, and "the journey is part of the adventure already," with the PCs going to sites which they would probably never encounter in a "normal" FR campaign, such as some ancient Talfirian ruins, a near-revolution in Daggerford (SPOILER: part one of the "Age of Worms" adventure path), etc. I give the PCs a reason to travel to lots of cool places, meet interesting humanoids, and kill them (or lobotomize them, as happened to Hrruggek the Hobgoblin, now a dutiful servant to the Chirurgeon of the Company of the Red Spear).
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I have a mouth, but I am in a library and must not scream.
Feed the poor and stroke your ego, too: http://www.freerice.com/index.php.
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Edited by - Jamallo Kreen on 06 Feb 2008 20:55:15 |
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IngoDjan
Learned Scribe
Brazil
146 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2008 : 16:54:54
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I play every single traveling day... I roll a encounter for each hour... an I plan the first and last day (or the firsts and lasts days) of trip. The others I don´t thinks there´s a way to plan, presuming that the player choose what route they´ll take.
I think travels is a good way of roleplay the characters in "essence", not worrying about have to roleplaying classes n´ races characteristics. They develop personality n´ so even appearance in the times when they are not fighting or doing campaign. |
Ingo Djan
DUNGEON MASTER AO OF THE DIAMONDS!"I see the future repeat the past. It all is a museum of great news. The Time do not stop." |
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sirreus
Learned Scribe
USA
118 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2008 : 19:27:18
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i agree with erg, the player's enjoyment should have a good amount of weight in your planning. having said that, pacing is impoirtant when the pc's development is inherent in the arrival( say your pc's are 4th lvl and the candlekeep venture should lvl the party by 1-2 lvls then more time needs to be spent on route) just my 2 cents
"I've been way too far out, all my life;
and not waving but drowning." stevie Smith |
"The measure of an undisciplined mind, is that the intellect allows emotion to challenge the observed truth" Richard Baker |
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Fhaorn quessir
Seeker
Canada
52 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2008 : 03:32:59
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| I do the same kind of thing. Though sometimes I like to write a short story of the more remarkable journeys and accompany them with pictures that I sketched of interesting objects and such. I know it sounds hard but after DM'ing the same group for years I have found they really enjoy and benefit from it. |
Wander ye all to my humble gallery of art of the Realms, Ye'll find it right next to the Sly Wink Alehouse in Sumberton. Or at this page: http://goldendwarf.deviantart.com/
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How do you handle traveling in your campaign?
