I've finished the 1st draft of my Authentic wiki's Travel page. At more than 8,500 words, it is the longest page on my wiki. It covers ten elements related to travel: getting started, being on the road, riding mounts, using vehicles, crossing rivers, finding a place to stay, dealing with town gates and fees, sea travel, weather and, finally, encounters. This last is a short addition, but I'd like to reproduce it here, then return to writing posts about the original Dungeon Masters Guide.
Encounters
Chance run-ins with other persons, vermin and monsters are more than situations calling for combat. While the interrupt the flow of an adventure, encounters also provide opportunities to provide players with knowledge of the game world. Individuals met on roads or in meeting places will speak of interesting places, tell stories, inform the players about current events and bring news from far away. Vermin tests the players' preparation and enables them to practice their tactics against foes that offer little threat; a well-equipped party should be able to dispatch a few vermin very easily. Monsters make good side quests, or could be part of the adventure coming to meet the players before the players meet them.
It is all a matter of how the DM shapes and manages the game world. If encounters seem too random, then we should make them less so. If encounters seem frivolous, give them a reason for being there. If an encounter on the road isn't a part of the adventure, then make it a part of the adventure. Only a narrow mind believes the only solution to an unsatisfactory encounter is to get rid of it.
Encounters are the natural consequence of travel: to visit new places and see new people. And yes, as the joke goes, to kill them, but also to discover them, to understand them and to learn from them. Encounters must be more than a die roll generating wandering monsters. They must be the reason to travel — the motivation that makes adventuring a worthwhile occupation.
Great work, Alexis. On my initial reading it seems you've finally brought together a rule set that places travel at the dead center of the gameplay loop. Set off in a direction; get stymied and change course; make good time, then bad; attend to your selves, followers, and belongings; sleep, wake, preparations, set out again ... choosing how fast to move and which direction to go, in an unfamiliar region with what may be an unreliable map ...
ReplyDeleteLast night after reading the Travel page, I watched Stagecoach (for the first time.) Your page was an appropriate appetizer given the movie's premise of travel under dangerous circumstances. Especially the scene where they ford the river, with the horses up to the tops of their necks in water.
I believe firmly that comprehending and enabling meaningful travel in the game draws the game setting into a single cohesive whole. Travel transforms a collection of ethereal set pieces into a concrete locations, the existence of which adds meaning and value to the extended, elevated campaign.
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