Low level travel spells

[Story]

Are there any ways to quickly and cheaply travel long distances at low level? I'm in a party that needs to travel roughly 1000 miles. I'm a 3rd level Wizard, and there's also a 4th level Druid in the party (Bison AC), so I was looking for useful Wizard or Druid spells.

So far, the only promising spell I've found is Mount. If I use up all my spellslots for the day, I can summon horses for a total of 42 hours per day, but then I can't fight more than one encounter a day*, and I still need to buy the spell. A Druid spell would be better because they get their entire list automatically, but again there's the problem of not being able to fight much if you use too many spells.

It looks like all the long distance traveling spells are 3rd level or higher. Did WOTC decide that only 5th level parties should be rapid traveling, or what?

* Of course, I'm not sure how likely we are to actually face more than one encounter in a day either. Especially if you're already taking three weeks to go somewhere, there probably won't be many random encounters. But you never know.

[kabreras]

1 horse : 75 PO...

Last you a while and can eat grass on the way or on breaks.

[JaronK]

Magebreed Horses can go even faster. Magebreed Valentir Riding Horses go incredibly fast... and they're not horrifically expensive. A few of those gets the party really moving.

JaronK

[Jack_Simth]

Are there any ways to quickly and cheaply travel long distances at low level? I'm in a party that needs to travel roughly 1000 miles. I'm a 3rd level Wizard, and there's also a 4th level Druid in the party (Bison AC), so I was looking for useful Wizard or Druid spells.Let's see... can the Bison carry everyone? Traveler's Mount, Complete Divine; Druid-1, hours/level duration: "The touched animal or magical beast gets a +10 feet enhancement bonus to its speed, and it can hustle without taking damage or becoming fatigued as long as the spell is in effect)." - it can't fight, though. You spam Mount (or have everyone buy light horses), your Druid friend spams Traveler's Mount, you should be good for all day travel.

[nedz]

Book passage on a ship.

[TaiLiu]

A Coach Cab ride costs three copper pieces per mile. It'll cost about three thousand copper pieces, which should be affordable.

[Zanthy1]

A Coach Cab ride costs three copper pieces per mile. It'll cost about three thousand copper pieces, which should be affordable.

You are looking at 30 gold. Incredibly affordable.

The ship would be really cool to if there is a water route available, imagine getting attacked by pirates :)

[nedz]

We don't really know the terrain ?

In a desert you might use camels for instance, whilst in the frozen north a dog sled would be more appropriate.

[Kaeso]

A Coach Cab ride costs three copper pieces per mile. It'll cost about three thousand copper pieces, which should be affordable.

Or they could buy a coach cab (or cart) to be pulled by the bison.

[mattie_p]

How quickly are you trying to get there? 1125 gp for a scroll of teleport will basically get you there if you are familiar with the area (probably been there before, or if you are scrying the area) (bump up the CL from 9 to 10 to ensure you get the full 1000 miles - you can buy it from a sorcerer to get this effect for free).

[ShriekingDrake]

The Longstrider spell will improve things, at least a little.

[Incorrect]

Magic Missile
"Take us to [Destination] or we kill you and take your wagon" :smallfurious:

[nedz]

Cast Charm Person on a medium level Wizard or Sorcerer and have them teleport you there — well it might work.

[ericgrau]

Summon only 1 mount per party member, so 4 assuming a party of 4. They only last 6 hours, but during the last 4 hours have the 19 hp mount hustle (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/movement.htm#overlandHustle) and take 15 nonlethal damage. That will effectively give you 10 hours of travel in 6 hours.

That way you only lose your 1st level spells and you still have your 2nd level spells for combat. Prepare multiple copies of the cantrip daze in case you run out of 2nd level spells; it's not much but it's way better than a crossbow.

If any of your party members are size small it's fairly reasonable for him to share a horse with another party member. A light load is 150 pounds and a medium load 300 pounds. Though two lightweight medium characters probably wouldn't fit as a matter of space.

[Story]

There aren't any Wizards or other obvious casters above 1st level where we are.

There is an airship captain who we might be able to convince though.

[DEMON]

Mount (6 hrs at CL 3) + Traveler's Mount (4 hrs at CL 4). Your mount can Hustle for all the 6 hours (only taking 3 nonlethal damage) and should be able to cover 56 miles (if my math is right).

[Story]

I like the Mount + Traveler's Mount idea. Assuming we have 5 or less people, we can actually go faster than the airship and it's nearly free too (I don't know Mount so it will cost 125 to learn). Now I just have to see if I can convince everyone else.

[Spuddles]

What about phantom steed/horse of smoke? Phantom steed is hours/lvl, 100 feet a round. The horse of smoke is basically the druid equivalent.

Then put longstrider/traveler's mount on it.

There is also regal procession that summons a bunch of horses like a mount spell.

[Psyren]

What about phantom steed/horse of smoke? Phantom steed is hours/lvl, 100 feet a round. The horse of smoke is basically the druid equivalent.


He can't cast that yet as he is only 3rd level. The Mount squared tactic should work well though, or they could hire a Nomad/Erudite to Astral Caravan them someplace :smalltongue:

The nice part about using mounts like this is that it keeps both their higher-level slots open for combat use.

[Onerai]

The mount + traveller's mount combo sounds like a very solid option. If you have a melee type who's going for mounted combat, they'll love you forever if you learn the mount spell, too.

If you're short on spells/day, or simply want to keep more of them for combat, your druid may be able to persuade some local wildlife to help carry you through wild empathy and "speak w/ animals". This one depends on the DM.

If spells/day is not an issue, have the mounts hussle more or less constantly, stopping every so often so the druid can restore their lost hit points with the "goodberry" spell.

[Spuddles]

He can't cast that yet as he is only 3rd level. The Mount squared tactic should work well though, or they could hire a Nomad/Erudite to Astral Caravan them someplace :smalltongue:

The nice part about using mounts like this is that it keeps both their higher-level slots open for combat use.

Figured there was a reason I wasn't seeing it mentioned- got moved to 3rd level in Pathfinder and had the speed nerfed by a factor of 2.

[edit]
my bad again

OP is only 3rd level; read that as 3rd level spells.

[Story]

Well Traveler's Mount got banned. I guess we'll just have to find a way onto that airship.

[UnjustCustos]

Easiest way onto an airship is to be part of the crew if it is heading anywhere near where you want to go.

[Zanthy1]

There is an airship captain who we might be able to convince though.

This seems like the direction your DM may like, that being said, he likes that direction for a reason. Go for it!

[Psyren]

Well Traveler's Mount got banned. I guess we'll just have to find a way onto that airship.

"Clever players using a non-exploitative combination? Not on my watch!"

[ericgrau]

You can still go 40 miles per day hustling unaltered mounts. And technically the players weren't clever when he found an answer online.

Though I think there are some rails telling you to get on that airship and follow the material that the DM perpared for, gosh dang it. Or a lot of wondering why everything you're fighting on the ground for the next 3 encounters flies in with wings.

[Zanthy1]

Though I think there are some rails telling you to get on that airship and follow the material that the DM perpared for, gosh dang it. Or a lot of wondering why everything you're fighting on the ground for the next 3 encounters flies in with wings.

Sometimes you just gotta go with what the DM prepared. Plus, being nice to the DM and following his written plot every now and then could be a nice courtesy.

[Psyren]

Sometimes you just gotta go with what the DM prepared. Plus, being nice to the DM and following his written plot every now and then could be a nice courtesy.

It would be equally courteous to say "trust me guys, take the airship" rather than "You dare use brain??? NO U!!"

[ericgrau]

Meh, let the better man go first.

It's a balance between creativity and please-let-the-DM-have-a-life.

[Psyren]

But why bother even asking the players to find a solution if you're going to vet-

You know what, I'll drop it. (Now I remember why I stopped playing adventure games.)

[Story]

Well the DM is willing to let us take horses the slow way. I think he just doesn't like the idea of horses going faster than the airship.

(Which incidentally makes me wonder what happens once I get Phantom Steed. Of course it's a lot higher level, so it's more reasonable)

[Slipperychicken]

Well the DM is willing to let us take horses the slow way. I think he just doesn't like the idea of horses going faster than the airship.

(Which incidentally makes me wonder what happens once I get Phantom Steed. Of course it's a lot higher level, so it's more reasonable)

It's unlikely that you will be able to summon enough Phantom Steeds for the whole party until you are higher level.

Your DM may wish to consider that the horses and airship are not actually travelling the same distance, and require rest. Horses must rest or suffer the Forced March rules, must also traverse winding routes of varying quality from settlement to settlement (got to resupply every so often), and must navigate around mountains, dense forests, bodies of water, untamed wastes, and other obstacles. The airship simply beelines to its target, a route which will assuredly be more direct (and thus shorter), even if it needs to make a number of stops along the way.

[Story]

Actually, I think I might be able to.

1 base slot, 1 bonus, 1 from Elven Generalist, and 1 domain slot (converted into general via Alacritous Cogitation).

So that's 4 steeds. Since I can ride in a bag of holding due to not needing to breathe, we could probably carry up to 5 people. Of course, they're still limited to 5 hours and can only go 10mph at CL5.

One interesting note about the Phantom Steed is that it doesn't have encumbrance listed in pounds. Instead it carries the weight of the rider + 50 lbs. Meaning that we could conceivably have it carry around Hill Giants or the like. On the other hand, there's no doubling up of small creatures.


Also at level 5, there's much fun to be had with Regal Procession. It's just a more powerful version of Mount so on it's own it's pretty tame. But I can cast it 4 times a day, meaning we swap out horses every 2 hours and can hustle permanently. And this time, it's even justified by the fact that we're swapping out horses rather than just enchanting them to hustle forever. If the Pony Express can do it, so should we.

Plus of course, Regal Procession has obvious utility as instant barricades, trapfinders, and the like.

[UnjustCustos]

It's unlikely that you will be able to summon enough Phantom Steeds for the whole party until you are higher level.


Throw half a wagon on a floating disk and use a phantom steed or two like horses are supposed to be used on a wagon. Let the good times roll.

[Story]

I just looked up the Pony Express on Wikipedia. It says the horses usually went 10-15mph, with an average distance between stations of 10-15 miles. So it looks like the speed is comparable to a Hustle in D&D (12mph), but they were changing out horses every hour or so. I guess it's unreasonable to expect to hustle for two hours straight, even if everything in D&D is more hardcore (plus a Wizard did it).

[ericgrau]

It makes sense for the Pony Express to err on the side of caution, especially without any magical healing available. And to make sure the horses aren't sore the next day.

Traveler's mount is a bit strong for its level. Normally the only way to do this is to expend multiple 1st level spells to heal your mounts. But that's power creep for you. Totally fine compared to other powerful tricks, too strong for more meek groups. Personally I wouldn't have banned it though even with such a mild standard. I would have bumped it to Blackguard 1, Druid 2, Paladin 1, Ranger 1.

[Zanthy1]

It would be equally courteous to say "trust me guys, take the airship" rather than "You dare use brain??? NO U!!"

I get where you are going with this, and I do not think the DM should rail the party often. But every now and then a DM has a really cool encounter planned, and sometimes it is not only beneficial to go with it, but allows the DM to have some fun. Not saying that DMs do not have fun, but when I DM, I like to have like 1 in 15 encounters be based around a concept that involves a little more railing than should be used. It is all about limitation.

Sometimes railing is necessary, not all players are super creative enough to actually go out and do stuff. I've had a party, that after the pre-quest just drank all day and slept and drank and slept. They enjoyed it for a few days, but eventually asked me "What do we do next?" I pointed out that there had been numerous plot hooks presented, and they just looked at me confused. Mostly all you need is to give them a tiny push in one direction. Admittedly, this group was fairly new to the game, as you get more experienced players you lose the need to come up with ideas for them.

[Story]

Speaking of railing, one of the components needed for our MacGuffin is the blood of a demon that is more powerful that any demon you can hire a cleric to call. (Hey it was worth a try)

Of course the DM didn't explicitly rule out hiring a Wizard to Planar Bind one.

[Psyren]

I think I'm being misunderstood. I'm not opposed to railroading in general. As you say, the DM deserves to have fun too and it can be a pain to rewrite pages of encounters just because the PCs ran off in an unexpected direction.

I'm just against the specific way the railroading happened in this instance. Traveler's Mount is a perfectly innocuous spell - banning it outright doesn't just stop it from being a solution to this problem, it tells the players to not even think about it for the rest of the campaign. If I were the druid, rather than get any more of my spells arbitrarily banned, I would simply fold my arms at the next "puzzle" and ask the DM "what do you want us to do?"

And if he's going to ban that, I wouldn't hold out much hope for Phantom Steed either.