Fast-forwarding Random Encounters

[CombatOwl]

Thanks for the input so far. Most of it was great and will definitely be used. However, I think I still didn't make myself clear. Perhaps I shouldn't have said "random encounter". Perhaps I should label it "background action" or something. I'm not saying that random encounters are a great mechanic. Nor am I saying that travel or exploration can't be exciting. But sometimes I'd just like to say "You're going from A to B (where the exciting stuff will happen) and it has some kind of impact on you".


(Of course they could rest now, but I try to design my adventures in a way that they include some kind of "ticking clock". So in fact they have to choose between entering the Temple of Evil while not being in the best shape or resting and risking the lives of innocents caused by The Plague.)

My usual way of doing this is to give players rope and let them hang themselves with it. Half the time I don't even need to come up with monsters, the characters will find crazy ways to hurt themselves without me needing to throw monsters at them. They have to take the initiative, but there's often a reward if they're smart about it. But I also let things fall where they may with stories. I plot out campaign calendars well in advance with events happening outside the party's view--if they do certain important quest goals in time, they can stop things from happening behind the scenes (or cause them to happen differently) and reveal some of what's going on. Otherwise it will just play itself out.

Then again, they also can't really trust anything NPCs say (sometimes it's the truth, sometimes it isn't--in all cases it's given in the NPC's perspective) and I don't make it clear when they've got a time crunch (they have to figure that out for themselves). I've found that this method works best for preserving tension--unless the heroes do their heroics, bad things *will* happen. If they don't have a definite clock, they have no idea if the day or week they spend ******* around in town crafting gear will cause them to arrive too late or not.

However, this is not a play style for all groups. It also helps if you do actually do the planning work and let the party "win" and "lose" fairly according to their own choices and efforts.