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Message: <blockquote data-quote="carpedavid" data-source="post: 2156834" data-attributes="member: 6971">Hi Jurble,I can give you a few tips that have worked well with the groups that I've DMed. My group tends to be very story focused, in that they don't spend a lot of time "idling" anywhere, so if I want them to explore something, I generally create some sort of plot for them to explore. If you want to have them explore the city (which it sounds like you've spent a lot of time creating), try tossing in a sub-plot. It might be easy to resolve (e.g. a run in with a cutpurse or a group of drunken thugs), or it might be a setup for future encounters (e.g. the cutpurse is actually the young cousin of a high-level rogue who likes to hold grudges, or the drunken thug is actually a well-regarded priest who's fallen onto hard times and taken to drink).You might get lucky, and your group will be the kind that likes to explore every nook and cranny of every town they visit, but mine isn't, so I have to accomidate for that.With regard to overland travel, I treat it like I'm editing a movie. I may show my audience the mundanity of travel (like building a campfile, hunting for food, and setting up watch) the first couple of times in order to set the scene, but after that, I edit it out. I try to focus on what's interesting, so I frequently say "the next few days fly by," or "you spend a few hard days on the road before you reach..." Once they get higher in level, you can even gloss over the types of encounters that would be easy for them. For example, "The next three days pass by without incident, save for a few goblins that you take out handily."As a general guideline, use random encounters to illustrate what kinds of threats are in the area. Is the forest they're travelling through famous for being infested with fiendish dire-boars? Throw one or two at them while they're passing through - just enough to give them a good idea of what the local wildlife is like. Otherwise, random encounters are good for keeping the PCs on their toes and for spicing things up.Again, my group is very story and goal-oriented, so YMMV.P.S. You may want to check out the story hour in my SIG. The party is on an extended road-trip, and this chronicles their adventures along the way.</blockquote>

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