Non-fight travel encounters

[Alnag]

I am wondering how to improve the "travel phase" of the adventure. The part when the adventuring party travels from one place to another. It seems to me, that usual game practice (at least as I see it) is somehow crippled, because...

...it is either - ok, you have traveled for five days, you are there (the goal of the voyage)... what do you do?

or...

...it is series of encounters like - bandits attack, monster-attack, XY-attack... (you see the pattern right?)

So my question is, isn't there another possiblity. Some good - thrilling - voyage/travel encounter which doesn't necessary mean fighting, but rather mystery, curiosity, romance, anger, envy, disgust etc? Any ideas? What have you used? How to improve this kind of thing?

(I will post my own ideas later, because I don't want to ruin you imagination.)

 

[Frostmarrow]

I don't want to ruin you imagination.

That would be the day!

Seriously, let us see what you've got so far.

 

[Alnag]

Well... than just a few to make you contribute as well...

Wagon has broke its wheel (need to be repaired)

wagon sink into the sand (or mud) and need to be pulled

tree on the road

coach meats a tramp (stink, drunk...) and takes him, he makes mess inside

coach driver is sick, some character must take his place

one horse is sick (dies, or is stolen in a inn), it must be replaced

there is a new tollgate on the bridge, characters need/want to past (and they might not have the money, or don't want to pay them)

coach needs to cross the river by ferry (but they are transporting an army right now, and it will take a long, long time... and of course characters are in desperate hurry)

coach is cursed and inside appears a ghost of a tramp (the one from before) which was hit by the coach and died

coachman is a vampire or something like that (but friendly one), but one of the PCs is paladin (you know the buggers, kill any undead around)

coachman is very realy pious and anytime he pass some god statue (which is quite common around the roads and on crossroads especially) he say's prayers to a god PCs don't like or hate (cleric, paladin)

 

[Ry]

I firmly believe that any encounter the GM puts in should be a threat, problem, resource, or reward.

Passing a caravan is a terrible encounter, unless:
Threat: A mudslide or flooding threatens to wash the caravan away.
Problem: The caravan is stuck with a broken wheel, and is blocking the road. A harried merchant's five kids are running wild while he tries to coax intransigent animals into doing something useful.
Resource: The caravan sells stuff the PCs want, or has information that the PCs can use.
Reward: The caravaners recognize the PCs, and give them a free lunch for being great heroes.

 

[Stalker0]

I firmly believe that any encounter the GM puts in should be a threat, problem, resource, or reward.

Passing a caravan is a terrible encounter, unless:
Threat: A mudslide or flooding threatens to wash the caravan away.
Problem: The caravan is stuck with a broken wheel, and is blocking the road. A harried merchant's five kids are running wild while he tries to coax intransigent animals into doing something useful.
Resource: The caravan sells stuff the PCs want, or has information that the PCs can use.
Reward: The caravaners recognize the PCs, and give them a free lunch for being great heroes.

Agreed. The thing about mundane encounters is....they're MUNDANE!! I mean dnd is an adventure game at heart, does anyone really care about broken wagon wheels?

However, I'm all for setting up routine encounters that the characters can roleplay out. A flirty damsel interacts with the high charisma character. A drunken man on the road interprets one of the players as his long lost son, etc. These can be fun once in a while just so the players can flex their RP muscles, but should not be the normal for the game.

Also, be careful in that players have often been trained to look for adventure everywhere. You may just set up the damsel as a fun little sidetrek, but don't be surprised if the party follows her thinking something nefarious is going on.

 

[Celebrim]

Threat: A mudslide or flooding threatens to wash the caravan away.
Problem: The caravan is stuck with a broken wheel, and is blocking the road. A harried merchant's five kids are running wild while he tries to coax intransigent animals into doing something useful.
Resource: The caravan sells stuff the PCs want, or has information that the PCs can use.
Reward: The caravaners recognize the PCs, and give them a free lunch for being great heroes.

I think that is good advice, although the definition of resource is so broad that it can include just about any mundane encounter.

I think that there is one other thing I would like to add to the list and that is, for lack of a better word, 'reoccuring'. There is something to be said for introducing an NPC solely for the purpose of having the PC's interact with that NPC repeatedly. The value of this is that when the NPC takes on some role - threat, problem, resource, or reward - his value to the PC's is enhanced and the possibility of player emotional involvement in the plot increases. Frequently, I'll introduce several of these early in a campaign in an exposition role, in which the NPC serves as a means of explaining important parts of the campaign world to the players.

Whether an encounter is 'romantic' is more up to the player than to you, but the PC-NPC romances that I've had are usually with these sorts of characters.

In other words, if the encounter is not obviously a threat, problem, resource or reward, then the encounter ought to be with an NPC who is or who will become important later. This doesn't and probably shouldn't preclude the NPC being a threat, problem, resource, or reward but on the other hand if every time a reoccuring NPC shows up he's a problem for the PC's he's going to be seen as a problem or a plot hook and not an NPC.

I would also distinguish a great deal between the first time that the players take a road and later trips along it. The first trip would almost certainly get more window dressing and descriptive text, and then on later trips I'd only worry about the highlights.

 

[Peni Griffin]

Well - who travels, and what interesting interactions can the PCs have with them?

Traveling entertainers, from the full-blown traveling circus to the lone bard, can be sources of amusement, information, and campaign depth. Priests of Fahrveglangenugenohtaheckwithit (WTH were they thinking when they spelled the god of travel's name?) should be all over the roads and full of the latest gossip, advice, divine spellcasting, and good walking shoes. What about the iconic runaway kid with the bundle on a stick over his shoulder? The youngest son seeking his fortune along with the strange-looking cat in the boots? The pedlar with the pack full of mundane equipment and luxury goods? The campaign equivalent of gypsies? Refugees from some disaster the PCs are heading straight toward? Patrols from the nearby city? Farmers looking for strayed livestock? Con men disguised as any of the above?

You can plant any of these people when you need to create a source of local information, or you can put civilians on your random encounter table and roleplay them on the fly according to the situation and the amount of interest displayed by your players. Then, when your players are accustomed to meeting ordinary types, chatting them up, and traveling with them aways, you can slip in a ringer courtesy of the BBEG. But in order the tactic to be effective, ordinary people must outnumber stealthy foes in play.

 

[Shades of Green]

Use the weather and the terrain to your advantage. Finding a way across a chasm or finding shelter from a hailstorm or mudslide are both challenging, atleast for low-level PCs.

 

[S'mon]

I firmly believe that any encounter the GM puts in should be a threat, problem, resource, or reward.

It's fine to just describe non-threat stuff, but that doesn't really make it an 'encounter'.

From my Wilderlands PBEM today:

The group walk west, past fields and farms, the dreary expanse of the
Troll Fens visible in the distance to the right of the Road.
Occasionally they must cluster to the verge to allow Equithrong
patrols, merchant wagons and nobles' carriages to pass, but the day
passes peacefully and they reach the market town of Darkfield that
evening, spending a quiet night at a travellers' inn.

Day 6

Up early again next morning, the party follows the road on out of
Darkfield. To the north of the road a mile or so from Darkfield
stands a new castle, still under construction - the Conclave of
Twilight Anvil, a new wizards' conclave. The castle's central tower
looks out north over the fens.

Now the road leaves the fertile downland plains and wends up into the
hills. They take lunch at a village tavern, then press on. That
evening they reach Haghill, again overnighting at a travellers' inn.

Day 7

The road winds downhill from Haghill, heading north. Four hours'
hike brings the travellers to the village of Southfork, where they
take an early lunch, then leave the paved Rorystone Road, heading
west along a muddy and less travelled gravelled road. A further
eight hours' travel, and about 8pm that evening they reach the lead-
mining township of Gaehill. The gate is shut, but the guards open it
to Iris' entreaties, and Iris is able to secure rooms at Gaehill's
somewhat rowdy inn-tavern, where rough mining men enjoy the
attentions of the local floozies.

Iris' purse is now somewhat flacid, she counts 92 remaining silver
pieces, enough for only three more nights.

Day 7 - Gaehill Inn


The group take a seat by a table occupied by six dwarven miners playing
cards, and a large bowl of stew is brought by a fat, plain-featured
serving-wench, along with wooden plates and spoons.

"There y'go, dearies."

She smiles, revealing several missing teeth.

Iris:
> After several days of travel, Iris is feeling cacked down with dirt
and mud, and wold have loved a bath, but she can tell by the wieght of
her purse, a bath is a luxury she'll have to forgo. Perhaps she will
luck into a stram or a pond and can at least take a moment to wade.
>
> "Jana," she asked, "How much farther do you recken it is?"

Jana looks unsure.

"I'm not certain, Lady Iris. I know the road goes west from here over
the Howling Hills to the plains, and Council Lake. But I don't know
exactly how far."

One of the dwarves at the next table, a grizzled fellow with red beard
streaked grey, is sounding off to his younger companions:

"Why, ye whippersnappers never heard the tale of Koretina the
Sorceress? How she haunts these hills for all eternity, until she can
find a 'worthy partner'? They say she was the most beautiful woman in
all Creation, but she met her doom the night she summoned a demon tae
ask him foolish questions aboot love! That's what love'll get ye -
DOOM!"

He slams his beer mug loudly on the table for emphasis.

All pretty routine stuff - the tale of Koretina is from the CSIO Legends table - as I didn't roll any '1's on the encounter checks.

 

[Alnag]

It's fine to just describe non-threat stuff, but that doesn't really make it an 'encounter'.

Well "encounter" is essential type of conflict.
Conflict could be man against man (PC vs. NPC)
man against himself (internal conflict, not common for DnD encounter but still)
man against nature (threats of weather...)
man against society (problem with social traditions, culture... dwarf in elf community)
man against divine (or unknow, exploration, mystery)