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veven
2012-02-28, 03:42 PM
I am running an E6 game centered heavily on exploration of an unknown land. My players are about to embark on a journey that should take about a month and a half.

Now, I don't want to just have an endless amount of encounters that add nothing to the story (I do have several encounters planned over the course of the journey however) but I want to make sure that is SEEMS like they've traveled for a long time.

I was thinking of covering only 1-2 weeks per session to give the feel of a long trip.

Does the playground have any advice/other ideas to help the players to feel as though they really have been traveling for a long time instead of just saying, "After a month long journey you arrive"?

DaMullet
2012-02-28, 04:08 PM
In a similar manner to playing up-tempo music during boss fights to keep everyone engaged, you might look for slower instrumentals to play at low volume while all the various RPing is going on, to give it the impression of taking longer. Spending time to describe the time of day, especially sunrise and sunset, will help give the impression that time is passing.

Vitruviansquid
2012-02-28, 04:22 PM
IMO, there really is nothing better to do than have encounters, but that doesn't mean those encounters can't be meaningful or add to the story. "Random" encounters could do a lot to set the mood of your world or help players explore their characters.

But you're not asking for encounters, so here's some other ideas.

1. Perhaps you can craft a (possibly Oregon Trail-esque) sub-system around it? Make the players keep track of their provisions and equipment. You'd then make them deal with things like food running out, shoes being worn out, not having the correct gear to adapt to harsh weather or terrain, and so on. Failing to deal with these challenges causes the party to take statistical penalties during random encounters (like if your party ran out of food, they have to make a check or lose a percentage of their hit points) or make it so they took longer to reach their destination. Naturally, allow the party some control over how they travel, like setting the pace, rations, or picking their routes.

2. Use a map to help the players visualize their progress as you split it into encounters. It's just a nice little gimmick, but it can really help players really know they've been on a journey, as opposed to having switched from one scene to another.

JadePhoenix
2012-02-28, 04:24 PM
Well, if they are low level and use the rules as written, they'll feel it alright.

valadil
2012-02-28, 04:25 PM
Last time I ran a game I let the players tell me what happened during their journey. Basically I said they were on the road for 4 levels worth of adventuring, but in order to earn those 4 levels they had to tell me what happened AND it had to be a story instead of a series of fights.

This worked great, but the key was that I didn't let their story become filler. If they know they're just killing time, they won't care. Take notes on what they do and who they meet. Bring those things back into your game later on. The players will love you for it.

brantaylor105
2012-02-28, 04:28 PM
Since this is an e6 game anyways and they may not have easy access to provisions, heavy resource management could make the journey seem longer. Make them keep track of food and supplies so they see that they are running low after a few weeks.

Also, going along with DaMullet's idea, you could also throw in a few changing weather patterns. Maybe it is late fall when they start out and by the time they reach the destination it is going into winter. This also provides you with something more to describe than the daily sunrise and sunset. You can go into the changing of the season.

Finally, depending on the encounters you have planned, maybe a couple of them involve the enemies tracking the party for a few days/weeks? This can build some tension and force the party into some clever planning to try to get the enemies off their trail.

I hope I helped!

Inkpencil
2012-02-28, 04:30 PM
Just to add to the last poster, add in some delaying encounters. Torrential rainstorms force the party to seek shelter or a bad snowstorm means no movement for two days. If there aren't any roads, geographical issues like rivers and mountains will mean having to find fords and passes.

Also, when they get to civilization again, there should be news that they've missed that could happen in a month. Throw in a bad plague or war in the area they left, or better, make it something cool that happened there. "Did you hear that a group of adventurers your level found a really cool artifact that got them a crapton of money?" Nothing says "time passes" like missing out on big events.

Oh, and ask what they're doing to pass the time while travelling. Just walking is boring. Ask enough that they get bored of giving pad answers and try to think up interesting things for their characters to do to pass time.

jindra34
2012-02-28, 04:42 PM
Add little events or problems that are slightly related to the main story at villages, outposts and what not along the way? Keep them short (as in no more than two sessions to resolve) and it should help. And it helps flesh out the world they are in.

Lapak
2012-02-28, 05:17 PM
How closely are you tracking the calendar in your world, and the overall passage of time in your campaign? A month and a half is more than enough for a change of seasons depending on when you're starting, and I've found that mentioning the transition and making it relevant to gameplay makes the players feel the passage of time more. It also gives you more variation in non-combat encounters and hazards. For example: now they're adventuring with three feet of snow on the ground. That changes things quite a bit!

veven
2012-02-28, 05:21 PM
These are all great suggestions so far! I suppose when I said I didn't want encounters I really mean that I didn't want a bunch of pointless combat encounters.

Any more ideas for RP encounters would be awesome.

They are traveling through some wide open plains notorious for strong winds, there are 3 major settlements between their starting point and their destination. They don't know it right now but near the end of the campaign there is going to be a huge battle that they cannot possibly win alone so more RP encounters is just more opportunities to gain allies in the future.


Some ideas I have so far to break up the journey include:
-Encountering a friendly halfling caravan
-Helping (or not) said caravan in a bandit attack
-1 or 2 wild animal attacks
-finding interesting animals or plants (perhaps some living plants,one player is working for an explorers guild and will want to do some cataloging)
-In towns, occasion bits of info regarding main quest/side quests they are on
-Mild wind storms that hinder travel
-A tornado (wary of this since if they end up in it they are too low a level to survive)
-A thunder storm
-New 1-2 session side quests in the towns (Problem here is that the players are sort of racing against the clock so I doubt they'd actively seek these)
-Deal with angry Centaurs who claim the party is encroaching on their hunting grounds or something
-The river bisecting the plains floods during a storm (The second town is built on the river, this could be an interesting, no-combat encounter).



How closely are you tracking the calendar in your world, and the overall passage of time in your campaign? A month and a half is more than enough for a change of seasons depending on when you're starting, and I've found that mentioning the transition and making it relevant to gameplay makes the players feel the passage of time more. It also gives you more variation in non-combat encounters and hazards. For example: now they're adventuring with three feet of snow on the ground. That changes things quite a bit!

I have mentioned that they are in the last week or so of spring so summer and the regions rainy season will be starting soon so that is a good noticeable change. Things get hotter and more wet.

There are 360 days in a year in my campaign world (and ten months of 36 days each). The world is a stationary flat object and the sun orbits it in a rotating spiral so it rises 1 degree to the left each day. I didn't think about this but the changing location of the sunrise makes for a good way to demonstrate the passing of time.


The longer the list the better!

Thanks again for the help, keep em comin' guys!

erikun
2012-02-28, 05:27 PM
Have a lot of things happen during the journey? I mean, if they run into three or four actual adventures before arriving at their destination, then they'll realize that the place they were headed is really far away.

Mystify
2012-02-28, 06:07 PM
keep track of weather. If its just 4 weeks of sunshine, its muss less meaningful than to puntuate it with various weather effects. A severe storms can serve as an encounter, which will drive them to the shelterof the nearest town, and helping the town protect against the storm can serve as an introduction to another minor adventure. Try having some plot hooks that require them to go forward in their adventure to get something, but then they would have to backtrack to finish. Other objectives could form detours. If there is no road, then make sure they are having survival checks to stay on course; a party getting lost can make the journey feel more monumental.
An enemy body(nation, several tribes, whatever makes sense in context) that opposses travel through the area can make it more difficult; yo ucan have that be a quest line for the party to follow, in an effort to secure safe passage. It could alternatively lead to them abandoning the roads, and trying to avoid patrols. Seeking out an alternative route may be advisable; such as travelling through some mines to bypass them. Try to create multiple ways for the players to deal with the obstacle, and let them figure out how they want to handle it.

Ashtar
2012-02-28, 06:32 PM
I ran a long Dark Sun caravan scenario covering several weeks of travel that was named the "Caravan of death" that was quite successful. The techniques I used were lots of interactions with the NPCs, keeping track of supplies, tending the beasts of burden and really showing the harshness of the elements. Attrition of a group can focus people and also bring out the good and the bad.

In the wilderness, you can emphasize on the wilds, in D&D, the untamed lands are untamed for a reason. The wild fey, strange covens or cults, the barbarian tribe making a living at the edge, the banished bard who is cursed never to return to a city, not to mention all the wonderful monsters of D&D. You can throw out the strangest things, living storms, sentient plants, flooded rivers, a rain of frogs. Not every encounter needs to lead to a battle, even no combat encounters like having to cross a ravine, brave the wind canyon or cross a mountain pass in deep snow are dangers to be overcome.

Just for an idea of the scale of such a journey in relation to the US: The shortest route from coast to coast, from San Diego, CA, to Jacksonville, FL, is approximately 3,782 kilometres (2,350 mi) long. With an average human walking speed of 5 km/h, and allowing 12 hours per day of walking, the journey would take at least two months. Paris to Moscow as the crow flies ( 2495 km ) is about 40 days walk at 60 km per day (5 km / h), and that is a heck of a lot to cover. So you are talking about something quite epic. Three towns in that distance means you have absolute and complete wilderness, isolation will be extreme.

In a scenario that you describe, I would encourage you to allow them to switch modes of transport once or twice, maybe follow a river with a boat (or a raft) for a few days for a change of scene. Get them up into the mountains, into the deep snow. Followed by the deepest forests you can imagine. Heck, give them some desert, too, while you're at it.

Trace that distance on a map of the world between any two cities and it will give you enough material to describe it. You can even fly through the terrain using google earth before the session to give yourself some visuals to help you describe the terrain.

Rorrik
2012-02-28, 06:40 PM
Finally, depending on the encounters you have planned, maybe a couple of them involve the enemies tracking the party for a few days/weeks? This can build some tension and force the party into some clever planning to try to get the enemies off their trail.


I agree with this concept. Maybe having one of the storms loom on the horizon behind them and overtake them in a few hours, or having the centaurs shadowing them to give tension to the eventual confrontation when it does happen. Maybe someone they meet on the road foreshadows the flooding of the river after a few days of rain.

nedz
2012-02-28, 11:52 PM
Have them encounter the local fauna and flora. If there are bears in the woods, then they meet bears and so on. These should be changed to reflect the different terrain along the route. Don't be afraid of a little repetition.
These don't have to be combat encounters, you should be able to create some tension from the meer risk of a dangerous animal.
Show "nature red in tooth an claw" too. Have, say, some dear leap out of some trees across the parties path and run off. Moments later a pack of wolves emerge in persuit.

W3bDragon
2012-02-29, 02:55 AM
-Deal with angry Centaurs who claim the party is encroaching on their hunting grounds or something

There seems to be a lot of good suggestions already to tide you over, but I'd like to mention that the Centaur hunting grounds idea alone can cover many sessions of travel.

If the PCs are low level, then they don't have the option of simply obliterating everything in their path. With that in mind, having to cross say a thousand miles of Centaur territory with 12 different warring tribes of centaurs claiming different parts of it can be very interesting. Dealing with distrustful clans that are ever at odds with each other while trying to peacefully cross their territory without being accused of siding with one clan or another can be quite a handful for the PCs. If the PCs have magic users among them, then the centaurs would be loathe to let them pass peacefully through their territory, allowing other tribes a chance to meet the PCs and perhaps ally with them.

Trying to go around the Centaur's territory will not only add too much time to their trip, but also, the borders aren't exactly clear, so they can't really avoid that path. Also, if the PCs manage to wheel and deal there way through the centaur territory, doing whatever has to be done to get through, then they'll probably dread having to travel back through the centaur territory in the future. That'll add more weight to traveling at a later date.

Tyndmyr
2012-02-29, 08:48 AM
Have lots of stuff happen during the journey.

That's it. It doesn't matter how you describe the journey, the length and difficulty of it will be tied to how much effort it takes the players to actually get there.

YeomanSC
2012-02-29, 12:31 PM
This ties into some of the management things, but have the players talk about what their characters are feeling. In the morning they have to deconstruct camps, ready mounts, and forge into the unknown. Everyone deals with this differently. Let your players describe some of what they see. Do they trust each other?
Having them make lots of decisions, even if you don't care too much what choice they make, like fording a river, or going upstream to find a shallower section gives them a chance to interact and balance risks. Then give them a similar challenge a while later (with other challenges), they may make different choices.
But I think emphasizing in-character interactions might be a nice way of going about it. Because it's hard to imagine seeing mostly the same people for 40 days, and nothing else, except maybe one or two villages.

Also most traveling days are maybe 8 hours, depending on conditions, so while the journey is long, it's more like walking from Miami to Philadelphia than walking across the country.

MukkTB
2012-02-29, 10:22 PM
In addition to your 'storyline' encounters you could just have some really simple encounters along the way.

"You wake up and think you hear something." Then if the players want to poke around the bush you can spend some time having NPC companions talk with them.

kyoryu
2012-02-29, 11:07 PM
Have them encounter the local fauna and flora. If there are bears in the woods, then they meet bears and so on. These should be changed to reflect the different terrain along the route. Don't be afraid of a little repetition.
These don't have to be combat encounters, you should be able to create some tension from the meer risk of a dangerous animal.
Show "nature red in tooth an claw" too. Have, say, some dear leap out of some trees across the parties path and run off. Moments later a pack of wolves emerge in persuit.

Pretty much this.

One thing I've noticed is that people tend to view "length" in terms of "distinct changes." Putting the party through distinct areas, with distinct themes/flora/fauna should go a long way. This doesn't have to be as cliched as "fire land, ice land, earth land" kind of stuff, but if you look at it, there's a whole ton of variety in the environments even within the US. A little Arizona, some Grand Canyon, some Mojave Desert, maybe a little Pacific Northwest...

veven
2012-03-01, 12:33 PM
Pretty much this.

One thing I've noticed is that people tend to view "length" in terms of "distinct changes." Putting the party through distinct areas, with distinct themes/flora/fauna should go a long way. This doesn't have to be as cliched as "fire land, ice land, earth land" kind of stuff, but if you look at it, there's a whole ton of variety in the environments even within the US. A little Arizona, some Grand Canyon, some Mojave Desert, maybe a little Pacific Northwest...

Sadly I've got most of my massive world map already drawn out and between their starting point and their destination there is really not much other than a vast plain modeled after the Serengeti (except about 10 degrees C hotter, with more rain, and horrible wind storms). There is a pretty big chasm to cross, and a small mountain range, and a river, so it isn't just plains, plains, plains. The main changes are probably going to be a steady temperature/humidity increase and a slowly approaching jungle in the distance (their destination).

nedz
2012-03-01, 05:32 PM
Sadly I've got most of my massive world map already drawn out and between their starting point and their destination there is really not much other than a vast plain modeled after the Serengeti (except about 10 degrees C hotter, with more rain, and horrible wind storms). There is a pretty big chasm to cross, and a small mountain range, and a river, so it isn't just plains, plains, plains. The main changes are probably going to be a steady temperature/humidity increase and a slowly approaching jungle in the distance (their destination).

Pity, but since nothing is final until you run it: you could change your map ?

Alternatively:
Have migrating herds of animals. Maybe the party seem them some way off to the south one day, only to discover them all around their camp site during the night. There would be major predators too, these tend to be terratorial - so the ones ahead of the herd would be hungry.
Following the herds would be nomads.
You could break the journey up with several such scenarios.
To avoid a sterile (boring) plane you should place interesting locations every day or so. Be they an isolated hill, a wood, a lake or whatever. Maybe you could add towns or shrines.

Kaun
2012-03-01, 07:26 PM
I find the best way to make travel feel long with out bogging the game down in it is through the changes that the PC's find when the return home.

Mystify
2012-03-01, 07:33 PM
I find the best way to make travel feel long with out bogging the game down in it is through the changes that the PC's find when the return home.

Ooh, good one.

kyoryu
2012-03-02, 02:18 PM
Sadly I've got most of my massive world map already drawn out and between their starting point and their destination there is really not much other than a vast plain modeled after the Serengeti (except about 10 degrees C hotter, with more rain, and horrible wind storms). There is a pretty big chasm to cross, and a small mountain range, and a river, so it isn't just plains, plains, plains. The main changes are probably going to be a steady temperature/humidity increase and a slowly approaching jungle in the distance (their destination).

If they haven't been there yet, change the map.

You realize the actual Serengeti is about 12,000 sq mi - which, if it were perfectly square, would be approximately 109mi on a side?

If you're going to continue with a Serengeti the size of North America, there's still some things you can do:

1) Random encounters. Yup, I said it. They're not "pointless." They're the cost of traveling through hostile terrain with scary beasts. Random encounters also don't have to mean "lions attack." It just means they encounter the thing - what happens from there is up to them.

2) Play every day out. This goes with the random encounters. Make sure they track their food supplies, and understand how much food they'll need. Find ways to threaten that food supply. Make them deal with the logistics of a long journey. Make them try to hunt - and don't necessarily make it easy on them. Many days will boil down to rolling their random encounters for the day, and marking off their food supplies. If you want to be really fun, don't let them have generic "rations", but give them actual supplies (meat, cheese, etc.) and let them deal with the supplies dwindling and/or going bad.

3) Don't have it be a single journey. Have other mini-adventures between point A and B

4) Is this the only way? Typically, travelers will avoid a long, barren area in favor of a slightly longer route that keeps them in or near some level of civilization.

5) Play some Oregon Trail for inspiration.

TurtleKing
2012-03-02, 03:17 PM
Simple way to give the impression of time is by use of a map. If one of the characters is navigating with a map then they can plot their intended check points of when to be there. So basically by week one we should be "here". Week two we should be "here" because if any later the area would be flooded. Got to be already beyond this point for thats when certain creatures roam through that location. Said creatures are very territoral so best to not run into them. Also plan out the rate of resource consumption so don't run out as well determine areas best to replenish food and water. Where would be a good spot for shelter?

Magesmiley
2012-03-02, 03:54 PM
I'll second the adding encounters. A few that I've used:

A burial mound. (Its nice to do a mini-dungeon crawl in the middle of the trip.)

A prairie fire. I'd use this one when they're getting close to a water source, turning it into a race to get to safety before the fire reaches them.

An old battlefield.

Vultures circling a recent kill.

A small farmstead. Maybe they're having some sort of trouble or maybe they are some sort of trouble (lycanthropes maybe?)

Wandering travelers, possibly willing to trade tales of the road ahead or willing to travel with the PCs for a few days

A small shrine (evil or good?) (in use?) (forgotten?)

Standing stones

A tower sitting in the middle of nowhere, with no entrances

A dragon flying by overhead. Maybe it circles the PCs a few times before flying on (watch the PCs panic on this one).

A well

Animal herds (very dangerous if they are stampeding)

Plant monsters

Insects (such as a massive swarm of mosquitoes, or maybe locusts)

An abandoned campsite

A decaying dragon carcass

Recently disturbed graves

Some sort of an invisible/ethereal stalker

Tall grass (particularly nasty for hiding predators)

Barren areas (no grass for mounts)

Dry areas (keep track of the water supply)

Fog and mists (maybe magical, could be hiding stuff)

Illusions hiding something

A burned farmstead

Smoke in the distance

Jay R
2012-03-04, 06:37 PM
Sadly I've got most of my massive world map already drawn out and between their starting point and their destination there is really not much other than a vast plain modeled after the Serengeti (except about 10 degrees C hotter, with more rain, and horrible wind storms). There is a pretty big chasm to cross, and a small mountain range, and a river, so it isn't just plains, plains, plains. The main changes are probably going to be a steady temperature/humidity increase and a slowly approaching jungle in the distance (their destination).

Plains aren't all alike. In a wet area, the underbrush is lush, difficult to walk through, and hides reptiles and vermin. Later, in a drier area there will be long stretches with no water. In rolling plains there are small rises that hide larger beasts until you reach the crest, and some places there a streams and creeks that cut small rifts in the ground.

Some places there will be lines of trees following streams, and other places the high grasses will prevent sight at any distance, unless flying.

The animals should change. A large herd of thousands of buffalo is an extremely difficult hurdle to pass.

The weather should change too. In deep rain, the land becomes boggy. Other places have high winds, and sometimes there will be a change in temperature. Hot muggy days make armor extremely uncomfortable.

Coming across a herd of a hundred slain and half-eaten antelopes will get their attention, even if they never find the carnivores.

If they are meeting people, then emphasize the strange accents, or the clothes that seem outlandish, or the unusual architecture.

Different stones - granite here, limestone there, flinty rock elsewhere.

The journey will seem longer if big changes are observed.