[ALL] Making travel into an adventure
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- čas přidán 1. 06. 2024
- How often is travel just a blimp, a montage, a moment in your game? How do you make more of it? The journey? Surely the hardships on the road define the victory at the end? But how to avoid it being just one long slog? This is what I do...
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![[TOOLS] Proper traps for fantasy games](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/xQwwRHKt9s8/mqdefault.jpg)
![[D&D] Making travel a tough adventure](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8_AxjxDrcRQ/mqdefault.jpg)
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Only call for a check if Failure is interesting. If failing a check is boring or prevents the PCs from accessing key information, do not call for a check.
I haven't had the opportunity to play this out yet, but after the party secures a dragon's horde or they clean out a thieve's guild vault, the word inadvertently gets out and every pirate, privateer, mercenary, bounty hunter, crooked cop, corrupt noble, and even normal people who hear about it all come a them wave after wave after wave (or ship after ship) for a short period of time, fighting not only the party but also attacking and destroying each other for the treasure. All the while the PC's had thought that they completed the scenario and were headed to their next adventure, only to be waylaid and unwittingly drawn into this large and complex conflict for their million gold's worth of loot.
I am just finishing a 1 yr realtime journey campaign. I did much of this. Half the campaign was on foot/ horse, the other half was an airship. The player loved it so much. The campaign is the journey, not the destination. When they get where they are going, the campaign is over. It was so much fun.
Travel along roads or in normal shipping lanes is all well and good. But when the players go off the road and hexplore... that is when things get interesting. I like to use 4e style skill challenges, someone has to navigate, bushwhack, look out for danger, forage, etc.
All good points about travelling with NPCs. I like to make 1-2 NPCs be the main point of contact unless the travel will take multiple sessions. Noone remembers the entire pirate crew from Treasure Island. They remember Long John Silver, the friend of the MC. If the crew is very barebones because it is a small ship, make each of them a different race or distinctive in some way so they can be easily remembered. The captain is a gruff orc with a no-nonsense attitude, the bosun is a soft-spoken minotaur, etc.
Always check with your players after the session and ask them what their favorite part was, who their favorite NPC is, etc. That will tell you who they connected with most, and just have that be the main point of contact.
I love the idea of using travel to hand out information. You're going somewhere, and there are going to be secrets about that place, so why not give the PCs a chance to learn those secrets before they arrive?
The biggest thing that is unfortunately glossed over in this video. EVERY PLAYER HAS DIFFERENT OPINIONS OF WHAT IS GOOD PACING/FUN/EXCITING!!!
For example with the ship travel: I might think it would be fun to have a ship wreck on deserted island/planet and it leads to new discoveries. Perhaps while you and the crew are repairing the ship. Same for just stopping at places that provide trade or historical/fantastical exploration.
With the Wagon idea: What I would likely enjoy would be the travel is through new lands with its own exploration aspects and perhaps naming/establishing things perhaps for a Royal who sent you on that journey.
With the train thing: Same thing a more exploration type travel quests would be most fun.
YET, many other people/players may not enjoy those things/ideas I mentioned. So the point is communication and knowing what each person enjoys!
Funny enough in video game red Dead Redemption 2 The "casual talk with driver" is basically introduction to starting location and some Lore behind NPCs you travel with, so yeah it is wonderful idea i wanted to implement since a while, it is just perfect, especially now when you gave idea of caravans in circle, that may just be simply a well rememmbered event by the players, maybe even a bit anxious threather of mind? absolutely briliant
Oh and idea of catching a glass in wobbly train to let some player show off their character? It is perfect opportunity to encourage the more shy players into Talking! The lady would specifically direct her words to that one person and maybe there is Only One seat in front of her as well! genius implementation of event that is perfectly reasonable to happen with an acctuall interaction with player that may be a very specific target of a GM!
I had a necromancer kingdom that had a train that was basically a huge train of palanquins carried by the running skeletons in my last game. The players called it the Bone Train after Rick and Morty.
Things like stuck in the mud. Pacing indeed is important. It is like a trap in a dungeon. It can be just frustrating, or part of the adventure.
Travel events are more interesting if it in itself is treated like a dungeon. Lead in, progress, conclude.
It isnt just mud. It is weather incoming. You give rain, the water crossing. Urgency of rising tides. Then animals panicking when trying to circle the wagons. Plan for it in itself to be an adventure.
Typically for myself, a long travel is a short session in itself. Either by challenges or by social and exploration. The challenge are part of story. Social and exploration is something of player's choice.
And most of all, avoid the sidequesting at every stop. On urgent mission because of summons by the king? Dont have the village they stop at plead for them to deal with the missing children taken away by goblin necromancers.
Wagons: You died from dysentery.
10:12 Highwaymen pretending to be helpless to lure PCs into their trap? *BRILLIANT~!* I would add a twist to it by having one of them lying in the road because he's "hurt". *MUAHAHAHA!!!*
Oh wait, Guy was serious about that bit? Never mind 😉
I avoid it. Completely. Barovia is a master class. You can pack so much into a small geographic area, that travel isn't required.
I love ALL How to be a Great GM videos!!!! ❤
Dude honestly, now that ive finally started DMing a game, i hella wanna do the flying whale you had in Save or Dice! It was awesome and since I'm the only one in my party that has watched the series, i know it'll be a dope surprise
This is a small thing, but in the system I'm working on players have to spend down time training to make their character stronger and travel time counts as down time for that purpose, though it does still have to make sense. It's hard to train horseback riding on a boat or smithing without a forge, for example
I like the idea of technology in my fantasy world. I think having access to magic & science is such a cool concept. Unless a setting specifies why this cant happen, I get so confused why we restruct the settings. Imagine a train powered not by coal but an arcane core. Or an airship that utilises aerothurgic energies to power its flight. Could shink magitek down to someone using a two-way Scrying spell with a portable device *BAM* you got face time!
Guy I would love to hear how you would incorperate Magitek into a setting if youre players wanted to play a Dungeon/Latern Punk game?
Loved the inspiration. Helping a wagon made me think of helping someone transporting something dangerous (like the train danger you mentioned). Now I can let the PCs know they have to find the [insert cool beast].
Yeah no you are one of those guys who say things Id never think about. Thanks for the new perspectives! This is quite rare!
I generate encounters in a table with big ideas such as: Mystery/World Lore, Friendly/Neutral, Aggressive/Neutral, Neutral/Weather Change, Hazards/Skill Challenge, and Cool/Fantastic Locations. I have made separate ones for Forest Encounters and Coastal Road Encounters so far. The process also helps me world build as well as be creative and think of ways to incorporate things that relate to character backstories.
Sailing from here to there, and being close to shore, how about all the landmarks they see go slipping by, maybe to investigate latter. The crew or Capt. can fill in what they know about them. As for dice games, there are plenty of online resources for Medieval and Ancient dice games that are easy. The Players will be happy to keep track of the wins/losses. All you as the GM need to do is drop the info or hooks.
Thanks for your video, you just got a new subscriber :D
A circus train would be fun!
Great Video! Thank you for inserting trains! I am planing to insert a train voyage (and some rail roading puns) into the next season of my Blades in the Dark game.
Honorable mention to Claire and Moira.
All that ship talk made me wonder ... if would consider shooting a starfinder campaign any time soon 😅 maybe? After the Duskmourm Chronicles?
Such a good video, thanks!
Any suggestions on a system for naval combat? My players arent really interested in a crunchy naval combat system. But also dont want it to just be a skill check or them operating a vehicle instead of playing their characters
I do skill challenges when I don't want to get into crunchy combat. It is very cinematic and fun and loose.
I played once in a set like that.
Everything happened in our ship or on another ship or on the water around our ship. When the quest ended we would go on land.
Ask chatGPT to create naval classes based on current existing classes. Just crossed my mind...
Awesome video on a very important topic in ttrpgs. 🙂👍
Pirates.
I committed gm suicide on my game 1.
I made the players cross the ocean on a 5 day trip only to crash their ship and make them drown and wake up captured by goblins on the shore.
Why didn't i do anything on the ship ? Lesson learned. We never played again... 😢