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<blockquote data-quote="kitsune9" data-source="post: 5804637" data-attributes="member: 18507"><p>Xenophone, you seem to have it covered. If you want to emphasize the journey itself, you may want to have some simplified mechanics in tracking the party's resources so that when they run low, you call for Survival checks, morale checks, etc.</p><p></p><p>Since traveling from point A to B takes a certain amount of time, then it allows you to plan what would be required to make the journey.</p><p></p><p>1. Does it involve going through barren wastelands? Then do the players have enough water and food?</p><p></p><p>2. Does it involve going through a monster-infested areas? Then have a lot of planned and random encounters, no friendly contacts (or remnants of civilization that no longer exists).</p><p></p><p>3. Are there towns and settlements along the way? List out some interesting NPCs that could or hinder the PC's.</p><p></p><p>4. Also, throw in other kinds of hazards--if the PC's are traveling by wagon, a wheel breaks. A horse throws a shoe. It begins to storm and the PC's can take shelter in that abandoned tower or they press on, only to be ambushed by monsters or bandits. Bad weather force Survival checks.</p><p></p><p>5. Roads are usually taxed because they were the only means to safely get from Point A to B, especially if you had wagons or carts. Have toll booths, road wardens, king's guard patrols, etc. They are very valuable for countries so are heavily used unless they go through monster-infested areas in which they are likely abandoned while newer roads go around such places.</p><p></p><p>6. If roads are not necessarily safe, then it was common to have walled coach inns or wayside temples that were stationed about a day's distance for a wagon to reach. I have this theme in my Carrion Crown AP in which traveling the roads at night is a really stupid thing to do and should my players scoff at it, it's random encounter time and let the dice fall where they may if I generate an encounter four levels higher than the party's level.</p><p></p><p>7. Food and water is really important for long journeys. Particularly if it involves going through deserts, magic-blasted wastelands, or landscapes that give the Abyss a run for its money. Let your players know up front about the details of that journey, because their characters would be at least smart enough to provision; however, it's up to the players to provision enough for them and their horses and then have one of them just check off each day that passes. I use a simple house rule called resource points. For 20 gp per person, that provides enough food and water for the PC and equals 1 resource point. A small or medium creature needs 1 resource point a day, a large creature (a horse), needs 2 resource points a day. 1 resource point weighs 5 lb. If the PC's are traveling through temperate areas or feel comfortable, they only x1 in resource points. Going through deserts or blasted wastelands, they need x2 in resource points per day.</p><p></p><p>When the PC's run out of resource points, they got to start foraging and hunting. If they fail, then the rules for starvation start applying.</p><p></p><p>Part of the hazard table is that some of the rations gets ruined (dung beetles made a nest or dire rats were caught eating the wares) and the PC's lose 1d6 or 2d6 or X amount of resource points.</p><p></p><p>Keeping track of resources in any journey no matter how you do it should be part of the challenge. You can make it as detailed as any treasure and even award it as part of treasure. Maybe associate an XP award for tracking it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="kitsune9, post: 5804637, member: 18507"] Xenophone, you seem to have it covered. If you want to emphasize the journey itself, you may want to have some simplified mechanics in tracking the party's resources so that when they run low, you call for Survival checks, morale checks, etc. Since traveling from point A to B takes a certain amount of time, then it allows you to plan what would be required to make the journey. 1. Does it involve going through barren wastelands? Then do the players have enough water and food? 2. Does it involve going through a monster-infested areas? Then have a lot of planned and random encounters, no friendly contacts (or remnants of civilization that no longer exists). 3. Are there towns and settlements along the way? List out some interesting NPCs that could or hinder the PC's. 4. Also, throw in other kinds of hazards--if the PC's are traveling by wagon, a wheel breaks. A horse throws a shoe. It begins to storm and the PC's can take shelter in that abandoned tower or they press on, only to be ambushed by monsters or bandits. Bad weather force Survival checks. 5. Roads are usually taxed because they were the only means to safely get from Point A to B, especially if you had wagons or carts. Have toll booths, road wardens, king's guard patrols, etc. They are very valuable for countries so are heavily used unless they go through monster-infested areas in which they are likely abandoned while newer roads go around such places. 6. If roads are not necessarily safe, then it was common to have walled coach inns or wayside temples that were stationed about a day's distance for a wagon to reach. I have this theme in my Carrion Crown AP in which traveling the roads at night is a really stupid thing to do and should my players scoff at it, it's random encounter time and let the dice fall where they may if I generate an encounter four levels higher than the party's level. 7. Food and water is really important for long journeys. Particularly if it involves going through deserts, magic-blasted wastelands, or landscapes that give the Abyss a run for its money. Let your players know up front about the details of that journey, because their characters would be at least smart enough to provision; however, it's up to the players to provision enough for them and their horses and then have one of them just check off each day that passes. I use a simple house rule called resource points. For 20 gp per person, that provides enough food and water for the PC and equals 1 resource point. A small or medium creature needs 1 resource point a day, a large creature (a horse), needs 2 resource points a day. 1 resource point weighs 5 lb. If the PC's are traveling through temperate areas or feel comfortable, they only x1 in resource points. Going through deserts or blasted wastelands, they need x2 in resource points per day. When the PC's run out of resource points, they got to start foraging and hunting. If they fail, then the rules for starvation start applying. Part of the hazard table is that some of the rations gets ruined (dung beetles made a nest or dire rats were caught eating the wares) and the PC's lose 1d6 or 2d6 or X amount of resource points. Keeping track of resources in any journey no matter how you do it should be part of the challenge. You can make it as detailed as any treasure and even award it as part of treasure. Maybe associate an XP award for tracking it. [/QUOTE]
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