Overland Travelling Descriptions

[theoremtank]

What do you DM's do to make otherwise uninteresting overland travelling descriptions interesting to your players. For example, the PC's need to travel from point A to point B which will take 2 days of walking through the wilderness. Also assume there will be no encounters along the way. What kind of stylistic descriptions do you give to the players about what the characters see and experience along the way?

 

[DanMcS]

If nothing is going to happen, why drag it out? Make a couple of rolls and consult a chart (to make them think they narrowly dodged something), then tell them they travel peacibly on the road through the forest for a couple of days, and reach their destination.

 

[Walter_J]

If nothing is going to happen, why drag it out? Make a couple of rolls and consult a chart (to make them think they narrowly dodged something), then tell them they travel peacibly on the road through the forest for a couple of days, and reach their destination.

Pretty much sums that up.

 

[Shadowdancer]

I like to give them a little local color, such as if the geography is changing -- flatlands into foothills, forest into grasslands, etc. Nothing elaborate, just enough to give them a sense of the place.

But I do like to keep it moving pretty quickly and smoothly if no encounters take place. If the geography doesn't change, and no encounters take place, we move straight to the next location.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I let them know about road condintions, possible weather changes and have them meet other travellers that may or may not give them information as part of the plot or future plots. sometimes they even meet and old friend or make a new one.

As for sights, sorry most people do not look 50 feet off the beatten path! I do describe sights if it is a land mark.

 

[Sanackranib]

non encounter days

I let them know about road condintions, possible weather changes and have them meet other travellers that may or may not give them information as part of the plot or future plots. sometimes they even meet and old friend or make a new one.

thats what i do allong with the encounter checks. One of my pc's keeps a chronicle so we can keep up on whats happened. He is a lot less discriptive then I am.

 

[Eudaimic]

I love to throw in various details in my descriptions, trying to make the world come alive as much as possible.

I really hate it when the game goes something like this:

PC: We head north towards that forest with no name and no real scale on the map, towards that city on the other side.

DM: You get to the borders of the city, what do you do?


I mean... really... WHAT?!... I might as well just be doing actual system playtesting instead of roleplaying if the encounters are all that matters.