Do druids and rangers make the wilderness too freindly?

[Hussar]

I think for the most part, the "wilderness" part of an adventure is usually just filler between the start point and where the adventure really is. Going back to, say, Keep on the Borderlands - the players want to go to the Caves. Sure, it's a day march through the wilderness to get there, so, it could potentially be a problem. But, for most of us, we WANT the players to get to the Caves, so, you have your one (and only one) random encounter on the way and then arrive at the Caves.

Is it realistic? Probably not. But, like RangerW said, it isn't the most fun to mess about getting wet and starving. Particularly after several sessions of the same thing.

 

[Quickleaf]

A quick opinion about getting lost in the woods. Rangers and Druids should never get lost unless something or someone royally Fs up.

A ranger would have solid orienteering skills and even in unfamiliar territory would be able to locate north/south, prevailing wind conditions, places of high/low sun, key lines which water flows down as well as where to look for water, as well as significant spots they'd passed thru before, significant animal trails, lookout perches, bird behavior indicating human presence, and that it's wiser to hunker down in bad weather especially in unfamiliar lands. These are pretty fundamental orienteering skills, nothing fancy.

Now multiply that by a medieval fantasy amount of "dirt time" and magic, and a ranger getting lost should be on the far outlier of wilderness challenges.

 

[S'mon]

IME players would much rather fight fearsome monsters than face weather or terrain challenges. I think this is mostly due to uncertainty about how the rules will work - it could be anything from ridiculously easy Pathfinder food-gathering to ridiculously deadly 1e Wilderness Survival Guide temperature effects.

Mostly, IME PCs stick to roads and trails if at all possible, and don't go wandering off onto the moor. So getting lost rarely applies. I did recently have 1e PCs who went 'ogre' hunting, and after fleeing the troll one ended up separated from the others and lost in the swamp at night - the swamp was only a few miles across and bordered a river, so when dawn came up he eventually reached the riverside and was able to follow it upstream.

But I very rarely see large-scale wilderness travel into unknown territory.

 

[Balesir]

IME players would much rather fight fearsome monsters than face weather or terrain challenges.

For D&D, this is the key, to me. If you can come up with some weather and terrain "encounters" that are fun challenges, go for it! If weather and terrain is added by inserting rules that just contribute grindiness, however, skip them.

For other systems than D&D, it depends on what focus-in-play you want. In Hârn, surviving the wilderness can be a whole game on its own - and a fun one, too!

 

[Blackbrrd]

Living in Norway I too often read about people going into the mountains and dying from falling down (not finding the correct path), freezing to death (sudden snowstorms), due to avalanches or by falling into rivers.

If I wanted to use any of those situations I would probably throw in a monster to force the players into making some hard decisions. Trying to find shelter from a snowstorm? Have the cave occupied by some ogres. Have the bridge swept away by water and have scrags (water trolls) attack when crossing. And so on.

 

[Tonguez]

I wonder if personification might be a useful route so that GMs treat environmental hazards as 'elemental monsters' that the PC's can confront or outmanoeuvre.

In the past I have used two magically directed cyclones, a fire and a giant cloud of posionous gas flowing through the streets. The fire was background to the real adventure of saving orphans from the burning orphanage, but the poisonous gas had to be channelled away from the populace (the PC's were lead by the Towns Chief Architect/Civil Engineer) and the cyclone was also rediverted (by high level druid and his companions in that case)

Dying of Hypothermia sucks but fighting a giant whirlwind could have some adventure potential...

 

[Janx]

A quick opinion about getting lost in the woods. Rangers and Druids should never get lost unless something or someone royally Fs up.

A ranger would have solid orienteering skills and even in unfamiliar territory would be able to locate north/south, prevailing wind conditions, places of high/low sun, key lines which water flows down as well as where to look for water, as well as significant spots they'd passed thru before, significant animal trails, lookout perches, bird behavior indicating human presence, and that it's wiser to hunker down in bad weather especially in unfamiliar lands. These are pretty fundamental orienteering skills, nothing fancy.

Now multiply that by a medieval fantasy amount of "dirt time" and magic, and a ranger getting lost should be on the far outlier of wilderness challenges.

I think some folks make too much of the wilderness. It's plants and trees and animals that want nothing to do with you. Sure, I've almost stepped on a few deer, but most folks make too darn much ruckus long before they get to the animals. I've never known anybody who got attacked by an animal. So animal combat encounters are virtually out.

Note: in Colorado, or whatever place has all the dang bears that maul people, you'll note that the head count is high, and the people have food. that's a special situation. I've seen two bears or so. Once in a field, from the window of my house, and once in a car on my way home from prom. they ain't exactly common.

I'm not even a huge wilderness guy. Put a ranger in the party, and we're about as safe as can be, like quickleaf says.

I wouldn't discount that there can be some dangerous PLACES, where heat, cold, lack of resources, or collapsing terrain could do you some trouble. But animals? meh.

Note: In Texas, assume every spider or snake can kill you. There's only really 2 of each, but if you can't tell them apart.... Also, I suspect animals in North America are downright tame. In Australia, every other animal is poisonous. Africa has lions and tigers which are pretty tough as well.

I still suspect that the standard D&D party wearing the standard gear would clunk around and scare off most of the mundane animals and be pretty safe from them.

 

[Scott DeWar]

I just sent the party through a 3 hex sized underground adventure with naturaal hazards as well as monsters.

eggshell floor that was a pit trap with stalagmites at the bottom.

falling rocks from loose cielings

steam vents and lava flows

hunger and thirst

and at the end, a rickety old rope bridge (thank you Indiana Jones!)

I should have thrown in hypothermia, but oh well.

 

[mmadsen]

I think some folks make too much of the wilderness. It's plants and trees and animals that want nothing to do with you.

If you drive your truck up to the campsite, unload your supplies, and go for a hike, sure, it's fun. If you're trekking cross-country with all your food and gear on your back -- all your pre-modern food and gear -- and the weather changes, or you get lost, you could easily die out there. Or be miserable for a long time before getting back to food, shelter, and a chance to rest.

 

[Scott DeWar]

If you drive your truck up to the campsite, unload your supplies, and go for a hike, sure, it's fun. If you're trekking cross-country with all your food and gear on your back -- all your pre-modern food and gear -- and the weather changes, or you get lost, you could easily die out there. Or be miserable for a long time before getting back to food, shelter, and a chance to rest.

And in a fantasy environment, that could get hairy with a sudden monster attack.