How to I get my party to cross a continent?

[Goladar]

I'm DMing a game based in faerun and the next adventure is going to be RHoD. The only problem is that my group is currently about 30 miles west of Elversult and they need to get to the Shining South(the best fit in Faerun for RHoDs map). How can I get them to make an in-character decision to go so far?

[ryu]

I'm DMing a game based in faerun and the next adventure is going to be RHoD. The only problem is that my group is currently about 30 miles west of Elversult and they need to get to the Shining South(the best fit in Faerun for RHoDs map). How can I get them to make an in-character decision to go so far?

Do they have access to teleport? If so just give them a quest with a sufficiently shiny reward promise whose first step involves going there. If not as above but get them access to some goddamn teleport to skip an entire continent's worth of random encounters.

[Goladar]

They're only going to be 4th level when they finish their current adventure.

[ryu]

They're only going to be 4th level when they finish their current adventure.

Single use item backed by the quest giver. Do you want the most expedient path to getting your players where you want them to be, or drag the game down with long distance hiking with the occasional random encounter over several in-game months?

[zlefin]

Tell your party OoC that they need to go there for the next adventure; and agree on a suitable reason. Then you don't hvae to worry so much about railroading concerns, as it's mutually agreed to.

[Guizonde]

have you tried telling your players not to go there? i find shmuck bait works wonders for getting players to go where you want them to be.

[White Blade]

Getting across the continent is as simple as yoking the players to a caravan and describing the route and the trip, pay them gold plus hazard pay to work as guards. Getting them to want to go is a matter of incentive. Off the top of my head:
• An old enemy has resurfaced there.
• A family member, patron, or love interest is on the caravan.
• A mentor has written for help
• A holy relic of the cleric's order has turned up and he needs to retrieve it. Also works with a body of [order/army buddy/mentor/family member].
• Signs foretell doom for the party if they remain in place for [short amount of time] until [approximate length of trip]

[Jay R]

How can I get them to make an in-character decision to go so far?

The usual method is to just tell them, in character. Some NPC hires them, or some such.

Beyond that, getting them to decide to go across a whole continent is difficult, especially when you don't want them to spend a continent's worth of time and energy along the way.

On those rare occasions that I intend to try to control their decision (rather than make it for them or let them decide), I favor a certain amount of self-serving mendacity disguised as unselfish and brutal honesty.

“Guys, I designed this world, and I’m the only one who knows what your choices now will lead to. From where you are, the most obvious paths lead to:
A. a kobold village with copper pieces that would have been a fun adventure when you were first or second level,
B. A deadly swamp with quicksand and an Evil High Priest’s castle that will be a great adventure for you when you have about five more levels,
C. A city of Stone Giants that will make a great adventure for you in ten levels, and
D. A level-appropriate encounter with some really good loot, which could help you against an EHP and some giants later.

Do whatever you want — you’re the PCs. But I recommend that you go east.”

(Then I have five levels’ time to design a swamp, and ten levels’ time to design a giant city.)

[Fouredged Sword]

Have someone steal something from them and skedaddle in that direction. Best way to ensure they drop everything and chase someone across any distance is to have them pissed off. Just be sure to let them catch the thief and get their stuff back or they may be pissed at you.

[Jay R]

You don't necessarily have to steal something from them. Just let them find out that one of their items is half of a more powerful magic item, the other half of which is rumored to be on the other side of the continent.

[Nifft]

Tell your party OoC that they need to go there for the next adventure; and agree on a suitable reason. Then you don't hvae to worry so much about railroading concerns, as it's mutually agreed to.

This.

"Hey guys, I have some cool ideas for stuff to happen on the other side of this continent. Why would your characters be interested in doing a continent-spanning year-long road-trip?"


have you tried telling your players not to go there? i find shmuck bait works wonders for getting players to go where you want them to be.

Hah! Or this, I guess.

Depends on the maturity & trust levels of your players.

[Algeh]

They're only going to be 4th level when they finish their current adventure.

It sounds like you basically need something that will take them clear across the continent and gain them about one level.

If your players are amenable to being steered OOC, I suggest telling them that your next major adventure plan is over yonder, and that you're going to run a "greatest hits of a cross-continent caravan trip" (or whatever) mini-adventure to describe the most interesting parts of the trip to get there and gain them each a level.

Then, you can all brainstorm some interesting encounter ideas for "caravan trip's greatest hits" OCC, then you as the DM can steal and tweak the ones the players seem most engaged about and play out a few "road trip" scenarios around those bits for a session or three, and declare that the rest of the caravan trip was pretty uneventful, but now they're where they need to be and up a level.

Alternately, yeah, players will generally chase their stolen stuff. I mostly worry that there would end up being too much detail, planning, and sidequests around the stolen thing and that would make it take a long time to get there and they'd also arrive over-leveled.

[Segev]

Their current quest-giver had a sudden emergency that took him south; they have to find him to get their reward.

An intervening quest that involves taking a VIP or a valuable item to the Shining South.

A thief steals valuables from them; the trail leads south.

They get lost on their way home. Either they encounter travelers going where you want them to and join up, or their wanderings get them to the RHoD quest start locations.

They hear rumors of a great treasure in a dungeon down that way. On the way, they encounter the hooks into RHoD.

Start a session with them getting into the Shining South's starting locale, recalling speaking to a mysterious robed figure who told them going here would be a good idea. Now, days later, they're not sure why his suggestion sounded so reasonable.

The party Cleric's god sends him a vision, ordering him to go there.

The fighter hears about a grand tournament in the area, with a prize purse he hopefully finds tempting. He can't safely go alone.

One of the PCs receives word that he's inherited an estate in the area.

[Grod_The_Giant]

I feel like the simplest solution here is just to modify the maps to fit your module into the nearby areas. Either by fiddling with the RHoD ones, or by decreeing that your version of Faerun varies slightly from the canonical one. Chances are your players won't notice, much less care.

[flappeercraft]

I would reccomend that instead of railroading, you could do something that motivates them to go there.

[sktarq]

High work High Reward Option:
Have them be offered a short unrelated adventure of guarding a merchant as he travels to your target. Not with all his/her stuff nessesarily -just paperwork. Gets you freedom for colorful characters, exotic river and sea monster battles and chances to have quick 30 min excursions to your favorite Coastal sites in the E Heartlands, Sea of Stars, Steaming Gulf, Chult, Etc. Foreshadow, funny voices, throw a dozen things at your players and see where they want to come back to.

Maybe they gain a level over the couple of game meetups you run this. Maybe not quite. Who cares? Give them a sense of scale and wonder.

When they get there have the merchant settle in for months of talks about forging an alliance with some local merchants. When they start to look for other work - you have your preset ready.

[Telonius]

This.

"Hey guys, I have some cool ideas for stuff to happen on the other side of this continent. Why would your characters be interested in doing a continent-spanning year-long road-trip?"



Hah! Or this, I guess.

Depends on the maturity & trust levels of your players.

Works IC, as well. After they get the quest bait (either from the quest giver or some other thing), they're warned off of going by one of the bad guy's goons.

[denthor]

This was the way an,adventure started 25 years ago.
A prominent person was murdered.

Local law is stumped goes to the party your under arrest you have two choices accept guilt and leave or be executed for the murder. I know you did not do it your the easiest people to pin it on. If you give me a good scene of me running you out of town in this direction. Gives map to city . I will make sure (sending spell) or code words you will be rewarded.

[Karl Aegis]

"Dude. There's, like, this flying machine thing with rims that keep spinning when the machine stops moving. Let's get on it!"

After a long and uneventful journey, your party conveniently arrives at the next quest area. They get off the flying machine and the quest giver flags them down.

[Sagetim]

I feel like the simplest solution here is just to modify the maps to fit your module into the nearby areas. Either by fiddling with the RHoD ones, or by decreeing that your version of Faerun varies slightly from the canonical one. Chances are your players won't notice, much less care.

Alternatively, do this on their way to the location you need them to be at, then it goes back to normal after they arrive. It's Forgotten Realms, the setting where the explanation of 'a wizard did it' actually makes sense. Now, they might be thinking 'why would a wizard made it easier for us to reach the shining south?' but the real question to ask would be 'wait, what were they doing that made it easier for us to reach the shining south?'. After all, if the Thayans were using circle magic to fold the space between Thay and Halruaa to get their army there in a more timely manner, then the players show up after only some tens of miles or what have you instead of a continent's worth of journey. And maybe hear some rumors while they are there of epic wizard wars going on off at the mountainous border.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Alternatively, do this on their way to the location you need them to be at, then it goes back to normal after they arrive. It's Forgotten Realms, the setting where the explanation of 'a wizard did it' actually makes sense. Now, they might be thinking 'why would a wizard made it easier for us to reach the shining south?' but the real question to ask would be 'wait, what were they doing that made it easier for us to reach the shining south?'. After all, if the Thayans were using circle magic to fold the space between Thay and Halruaa to get their army there in a more timely manner, then the players show up after only some tens of miles or what have you instead of a continent's worth of journey. And maybe hear some rumors while they are there of epic wizard wars going on off at the mountainous border.
While normally I'd agree with you, the OP just wants to get the party there quickly so they can run a module. You probably don't want the journey to turn into a whole plot arc of its own. Especially not one that'll probably cover multiple levels.

[Yahzi]

I'm DMing a game based in faerun and the next adventure is going to be RHoD. The only problem is that my group is currently about 30 miles west of Elversult and they need to get to the Shining South(the best fit in Faerun for RHoDs map). How can I get them to make an in-character decision to go so far?
I don't think you should.

Remember how cheesed off we all were when Jon said at the end of an episode, "I'm going to Dragonstone!" and then the very next scene was Jon stepping off of a boat in Dragonstone? Not that we wanted to watch a long boring journey, but the whole scope of the world felt squashed. Where's the epic glory in long journeys travel if people bop back forth across the world at 4th level? Where's the drama, the meaning of it all?

One of my best ever adventures was a solo campaign where my low-level player decided to cross the continent. It took weeks of real time, he almost died a dozen times, and when he finally made it to the other side, it was incredibly... dramatic. I was amazed at how dramatic it was.

Just reflavor the module to fit your local area. Redraw part of the map if you have to. But don't rob their world of expanse and weight.