How do I let time pass in my setting?

[Locutus Zero]

So my players are not ones to sit back and let things happen (a good thing). They just got done kicking a group of bad guys out of a town, and left to their own devices they would go to the town this group comes from (about a week away) and fight them some more. I have an adventure that will keep them occupied for a few days, but I want the next adventure to take place several weeks later. So I'm looking for ideas to help keep the PCs occupied for a few weeks that doesn't involve more than 5 minutes to an hour of table time.

The idea is that after a few weeks, word gets to them that the bad guys are on the move again, but there is no realistic way to speed up what the bad guys are doing (one of the problems in a setting without phones and planes is that it takes a while for people and information to get around).

 

[fba827]

based solely on what you wrote here, it sounds like either you have to force the issue (which may annoy the players as to being told they hang out and wait) or you have to redo your plans for the bad guys such that okay they can't do the next thing you planned, what could happen instead?

having said that, a couple random ideas:

regarding speed up of information: no phones or planes? what kind of setting is it (tech, fantasy, etc -- if fantasy you could just say there is a magical communication device. or if tech-based maybe the bad guys have some highly special communication device that the captains use to contact the big bad guy, etc).

alternatively, what if the town the PCs want to go to is actually a fake-out and not the real town that the bad guys are doing stuff -- that would allow foro a delay in time as they go to the town, clear it out, find out they aren't in the right place, and then travel to the right town -- that's a few weeks of travel and investigation right there

barring all that, perhaps it's time to come up with a good side trek. it will *not* take 5 minutes of table time. but maybe that's unavaoidable. have some sort of minor (either related or unrelated) plot that the PCs must resolve... is a friend of theirs kidnapped (maybe by the bad guys, maybe by someone unrelated in order to introduce a new plot thread)? or maybe the nearby town's damn is breaking. hundreds of lives will be lost, they need help repairing it (and getting the associated supplies - adamantine isn't easy to come by you know) and/or evacuting, etc.

maybe SEVERE weather comes out of no where and plagues the area. this does two things 1) it allows for some sort of natural disaster scenario that they might spend a day helping with and 2) it grossly slows down travel time. of course, it may also slow down travel time for the bad guys as well if they are in the same area as the weather phenomenon...


anyway, don't know how well any of those ideas would work for your game, but just some random thoughts off the top of my head based on what's written here.

 

[Goonalan]

Think of the game as a film- move forward in time, change scenes, ta da. It's next wednesday, prime the players and get them to tell you how they spend three, four or five days before you shift time. Otherwise, run one short scene for each day- with a little PC interaction that serves as exposition for the next bit.

The narrative, is not solely the DMs responsibility, the players need to help out here and there.

If it was my guys then one of them would have been on a bender (drink), another would have bought some more clothes, another got another tattoo done and the mage and cleric learnt a new ritual or two.

The alternative is of course railroad one or all of them and let them spend a little prison time (or whatever- some other task/event that can be RP'ed swiftly), then get them up and about and after the bad guys.

 

[Sorrowdusk]

So my players are not ones to sit back and let things happen (a good thing). They just got done kicking a group of bad guys out of a town, and left to their own devices they would go to the town this group comes from (about a week away) and fight them some more. I have an adventure that will keep them occupied for a few days, but I want the next adventure to take place several weeks later. So I'm looking for ideas to help keep the PCs occupied for a few weeks that doesn't involve more than 5 minutes to an hour of table time.

They JUST kicked a group out of town, probably saving everyone.

No feasts in their honor, orgies of ale and whores? (Older editions had rules for orgying, you had to spend so much gold on it, but you would get XP. You could orgy for a number of days on your Con score, and would have o rest for an equal number of days)

What did they get for loot? Would be worth the "wait" if some magic items were crafted in their honor. I'll also note at very low lvl when you probably had to heal naturally, you could spend a while laid up.

Also-in the greater scheme of things, why do you need this to occur several weks later?

 

[Locutus Zero]

Thanks for the ideas. As I was reading them something pretty smooth came to me (as in not seeming too railroady).

The adventure that I mentioned will take a few days involves an ice themed dungeon. The enemies have just thawed from being frozen for centuries. At some point in the dungeon they can become frozen and not thaw for several weeks. Maybe killing the ice themed boss freezes the entire room in a giant block of ice and only after townsfolks come looking are they rescued.

 

[Sorrowdusk]

0.o

Do they get a save?

Thanks for the ideas. As I was reading them something pretty smooth came to me (as in not seeming too railroady).

The adventure that I mentioned will take a few days involves an ice themed dungeon. The enemies have just thawed from being frozen for centuries. At some point in the dungeon they can become frozen and not thaw for several weeks. Maybe killing the ice themed boss freezes the entire room in a giant block of ice and only after townsfolks come looking are they rescued.

 

[The Human Target]

Yeah just force the issue while making sure that it makes sense to do so.

Nothing wrong with it at all.

 

[invokethehojo]

Rest and regroup.

Characters on paper heal up quickly after battle, but real people strain muscles, pull tendons, and bruise ribs. If they don't take some down time they will start to feel the effects of fatigue (loss of healing surges, penalties to skills or attacks, reduced movement, etc. If your players require this kind of reasoning). They need to train to master new feats or work on a power they want. Maybe their armor is falling apart, or their sword has a lot of big nicks in it, and it takes a few days to repair or it won't work as well. Basically its an RP pit stop: pull in, change your tires, refuel, then your back on your way. Ya it's a little railroady, but it's realistic, and it should fit your needs without any undue work.

 

[SoulsFury]

Give the bad guys some sending stones for communication.

 

[kitsune9]

There are some approaches you can take on passing the time.

1. Simply fast-forward or hand wave the time. Other posters covered this fairly well.

2. Each adventure also represents a level of time that is spent. This is my current approach to the campaign that allows the world around my players to progress along. For those of you who played in the RPGA such as Living Greyhawk will know these as Time Units. At the very beginning of each module, the players will know how much time will pass, which is usually one to two months of game time. This represents the time spent traveling to locations, gathering supplies, talking to other travelers, gathering information and relaxing. I also set aside time for those players who want to craft magic items. For example, if the module is one month, it actually is about two weeks of actually engaging the adventure and two weeks of doing [whatever] that the players want to do. This also helps you determine how other events are progressing forward. In my campaign, there is a civil war going on and it's been going on for about two years; however, it is starting to wrap up as one of the major Great Houses has been wiped out, but it progresses as time moves on.

3. Draw up your calendar and pin events on days ahead of time when they occur. Your PC's kick the bad guys out of town. The bad guys need help but it's going to take three weeks for that help to arrive. As you keep track of each day going by, you mark the date of when the reinforcements will arrive. If the PC's happen to be in town, then it's another showdown. If not, then set another date of when the PC's will get the word that the bad guys are back in town. This works well if you're meticulous in keeping track of a calendar, also the PC's could be in the middle of something else when this batch of trouble comes calling.

4. Go for the recurring villain scheme by skipping a module or two. In Module 1, the PC's drive out the bad guys from town. In Module 2, the PC's have to explore a ruin and kill a bunch of crazy cultists. In Module 3, the PC's are getting ready to embark on another adventure but are interrupted with the bad guys from Module 1 showing up. In Module 5, some of the crazy cultists from Module 2 come calling for revenge. The time that has pass will feel more real to the players because this is actual physical time that has passed when you reintroduce old villains from earlier modules. I did this as a way for PC's to think twice about unfinished business. The PC's were accused of being spies in a foreign country and were sentenced to be hanged by the baron who was out with his ranger, paladin, and other warriors. The PC's defended themselves by killing the ranger (who was the husband to the paladin), killing the warriors and chasing off the baron. They wounded the paladin, looted her, and tied her up. Well, one of the players was also a paladin and I ruled that he was behaving unpaladin-like. Later on, he got himself into some serious trouble with his order and was put on trial with the expected sentence of execution. Part of the trial was the other paladin testifying (the one they looted and let live) against the paladin.

Have fun!