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Exploration based adventures/campaigns: how do you do it?
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<blockquote data-quote="SiderisAnon" data-source="post: 5167454" data-attributes="member: 44949"><p>When I do exploration type games, I generally use what I consider a </p><p>"Star Trek" or "Stargate" model -- which is really just the model of any TV show where the main characters are traveling around. Even "Sliders" uses this model.</p><p></p><p>Basically, wherever the characters go, it's where it's going to be interesting. If they are exploring new lands across the Trackless Sea, they don't land on a piece of coast with nothing going on (at least not more than the first time), they show up where they can see a town. If they spend a week traveling among some small islands mapping them, it gets glossed over, at least until they get to the island where the pirates are.</p><p></p><p>To put it in terms of those shows, the Enterprise always showed up right when something interesting was going on (or already had happened and they have to solve it). Sure, they had boring missions like mapping stellar nurseries or whatever, but those get covered with, "So, you spent three weeks doing...." (Unless you like exploring such things, but that would be a really different sort of show.)</p><p></p><p>In "Stargate", the team would even talk about the time they went to P3-24A-7 and met those nice people and all, but you never see it on screen because, really, it's kind of boring to watch. We want to see the episodes where they meet interesting and exciting people, deal with tricky situations, or get into conflict with someone or something.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The OP seems to be aiming for exploring a smaller geographical area, not different lands or different worlds. What I would do is first lay out a map of the region and have a decent idea of what resources are where. The party can explore various areas initially to map them, during which time some stuff will happen. I'd do things like, "You spent four days traveling up the main river, mapping where the smaller branches are for future exploration. Midway through the fifth day, you see...." That's when it gets interesting. </p><p></p><p>Oh, I'd put in more details of what they find, either general ones like forest vs scrub if they know what the region is like, or more specific if they're exploring a totally new region.</p><p></p><p>Now for finding specific resources, the PCs have to travel to areas that look likely. A gold mine was mentioned. This could be found in a river (panning for gold) or buried underground (mining). Assuming that the PCs actually know how to look for gold, they could go to the general area and search for days, weeks, or even months. (From what I've read, it's not always easy to find a good mine location... though that ignores magical detection.) If I already knew the region was a source of silver then they'd have a chance to find that instead, depending on how long they search and what their skills in such were. If I knew the only gold was somewhere far away, it would never turn up, no matter how long they searched. </p><p></p><p>However, things can keep happening. They don't find gold, but they find orcs. (Who maybe have some silver, so it's a hint that it's around.) Later, they find goblins moving through the area. Maybe if they stay for months, they realize that more orcs are moving back into the area now that the original tribe is wiped out (or not, depending on your PCs).</p><p></p><p></p><p>I hope this rambling makes sense. Basically, it boils down to the idea that like a TV series, you focus on the interesting bits and not on the boring, slogging moments other than to mention them so that the audience and players know that there has been long, slogging moments.</p><p></p><p>Wherever you go, there you are.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="SiderisAnon, post: 5167454, member: 44949"] When I do exploration type games, I generally use what I consider a "Star Trek" or "Stargate" model -- which is really just the model of any TV show where the main characters are traveling around. Even "Sliders" uses this model. Basically, wherever the characters go, it's where it's going to be interesting. If they are exploring new lands across the Trackless Sea, they don't land on a piece of coast with nothing going on (at least not more than the first time), they show up where they can see a town. If they spend a week traveling among some small islands mapping them, it gets glossed over, at least until they get to the island where the pirates are. To put it in terms of those shows, the Enterprise always showed up right when something interesting was going on (or already had happened and they have to solve it). Sure, they had boring missions like mapping stellar nurseries or whatever, but those get covered with, "So, you spent three weeks doing...." (Unless you like exploring such things, but that would be a really different sort of show.) In "Stargate", the team would even talk about the time they went to P3-24A-7 and met those nice people and all, but you never see it on screen because, really, it's kind of boring to watch. We want to see the episodes where they meet interesting and exciting people, deal with tricky situations, or get into conflict with someone or something. The OP seems to be aiming for exploring a smaller geographical area, not different lands or different worlds. What I would do is first lay out a map of the region and have a decent idea of what resources are where. The party can explore various areas initially to map them, during which time some stuff will happen. I'd do things like, "You spent four days traveling up the main river, mapping where the smaller branches are for future exploration. Midway through the fifth day, you see...." That's when it gets interesting. Oh, I'd put in more details of what they find, either general ones like forest vs scrub if they know what the region is like, or more specific if they're exploring a totally new region. Now for finding specific resources, the PCs have to travel to areas that look likely. A gold mine was mentioned. This could be found in a river (panning for gold) or buried underground (mining). Assuming that the PCs actually know how to look for gold, they could go to the general area and search for days, weeks, or even months. (From what I've read, it's not always easy to find a good mine location... though that ignores magical detection.) If I already knew the region was a source of silver then they'd have a chance to find that instead, depending on how long they search and what their skills in such were. If I knew the only gold was somewhere far away, it would never turn up, no matter how long they searched. However, things can keep happening. They don't find gold, but they find orcs. (Who maybe have some silver, so it's a hint that it's around.) Later, they find goblins moving through the area. Maybe if they stay for months, they realize that more orcs are moving back into the area now that the original tribe is wiped out (or not, depending on your PCs). I hope this rambling makes sense. Basically, it boils down to the idea that like a TV series, you focus on the interesting bits and not on the boring, slogging moments other than to mention them so that the audience and players know that there has been long, slogging moments. Wherever you go, there you are. [/QUOTE]
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