Travel times and distances

[MoutonRustique]

A thing which is rarely brought up (at least, as far as I've seen) and that could be very interesting is using HP as a travel resource.

For those where HP is meat - this won't make sense. So... yeah, stop reading I guess?

For those who espouse the idea that HP are a wide combination of factors - including fatigue, moral and such, travel could very well have an HP cost.

Now, in this edition, there are a few ways to approach this and have it still make sense :
- you can have the "implicit" equivalent to 13thAge's "tier environments"
- you can accept that higher level characters can travel further
- you can use % of hp for damage
- something else, someone smarter will figure out

As to the first option, I believe it is the better idea. You set a certain "difficulty" to different "zones" or "terrains" and then travel through this costs hp - ex: 1d10hp/hour of travel would be a very deadly zone (dangerous volcanic area with roaming mephits and such). Since this isn't "combat damage", you could very easily allow for HD to be spent during the course of travel (w/o requiring a specific short rest)

Travel could incur an automatic hp loss, only a failed check, or both (automatic base, added on failed check).

This really adds the idea that travel is taxing.

It's also offers easy means of increased or decreased effort :
- more gear, higher dmg die
- forced speed, penalty on checks
- mounts, reduce dmg die
- guide, advantage on check
- etc

I'm leaving this here for someone else to run with... because I'm lazy

 

[pemerton]

A thing which is rarely brought up (at least, as far as I've seen) and that could be very interesting is using HP as a travel resource.

I think this is pretty common in 4e play: overland travel is resolved as a skill challenge, and healing surge loss is an element of skill challenge resolution.

 

[Campbell]

When it comes to travel times and distances I prefer qualitative descriptions than quantitative. It helps to invoke the scale of things in a way that is more readily understood and closer to the way most people understand the world around them spatially. I make sure that I'm addressing a character specifically when I do so.

Here are some examples:

• Winter's Ford is about 4 days travel by horse. Jaden, your palamino could make it in 3 days, but you would have to leave the others behind. If you travel through the Green Wood that will probably cut a day off your journey, but you will have to walk your horses through it.
• The goblin cracks a crooked smile at you, Rensar. He's a stride or two away from you. Not quite in your face, but you could reach him with your spear.
• Gertog, the ogre towers over you. His knees are at eye level.

 

[MoutonRustique]

I think this is pretty common in 4e play: overland travel is resolved as a skill challenge, and healing surge loss is an element of skill challenge resolution.

There is that implicit aspect. However, I've always thought that travel should get it's own subsystem - it's such an integral part of many games and many genres, it feels like a waste to always leave it sort of "up to the DM".

But yes, having this in 4e is very easy (actually, not having it is probably harder!) - but I'm not finding it easy to port over to other editions...

 

[Gilladian]

Hmmm... something else I was contemplating was adjusting the lengths of short and long rests during true wilderness travel. Make a short rest occur only after 8 hours of rest/sleep, and a long rest require a full day of camp/rest/no travel.

I'm SURE I didn't come up with this on my own - I read it somewhere as a recommended option - but WHERE did I read it? Curse getting old and having no memory!

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Hmmm... something else I was contemplating was adjusting the lengths of short and long rests during true wilderness travel. Make a short rest occur only after 8 hours of rest/sleep, and a long rest require a full day of camp/rest/no travel.

I'm SURE I didn't come up with this on my own - I read it somewhere as a recommended option - but WHERE did I read it? Curse getting old and having no memory!

Wouldn't that make travel more strenuous than combat?

 

[Gilladian]

Not really; for days on which there are no encounters, it will mean nothing. It simply means that if a party travels through wilderness for five days, and has 2 encounters, they will have one or more short rests between the two encounters, not one or more long rests. It means that pacing will be more "dungeonlike"; they won't be able to go nova on every day's travel encounter, fairly confident that they won't have another in the same day. And they won't always be fully healed, either. I'm anything BUT a killer DM, so I'm confident it won't lead to mass slaughter - just slightly more cautious overland travel prep.

 

[howandwhy99]

Think of it as a game, not a result. Outdoor Survival is perfect for just these situations.

if you're traveling through trackless forest

Each hex is 3 miles, 1 imperial league. 40 hexes is 120 miles distance on the board. Players stand a chance of getting lost each day as they try and navigate the wilderness. Track their actual direction on your DM map behind the screen, but let them wander about on the outdoor Survival map. Just as in that game's rules, track water and food as well as deprivations from the lack of such. Slow movement as their conditions worsen due to starvation and dehydration.

Keep rates of movement from D&D. Shorter humanoids are likely moving the slowest, so the group moves at their pace. But perhaps the group puts them on mounts? That is a game action by the players to speed up travel however. So as Ref I'd tell them they are going fast or slow and answer who's setting the pace, but not how to play strategically.

Forced march rules can be used from D&D as well. same with terrain type adjustments upon movement. I use the base terrain as the overall one experienced while crossing the Outdoor Survival map, so a desert uses the same board, but the features represent different elements. I think of them as smaller variations within a larger, undefined terrain feature on my big DM overland map.

We can than rate the terrain feature with a difficulty level given things like its size and components within it. Not to mention what monster lair and wander within (which sounds like only a few types in your case).

Seasons and climate could certainly affect certain game elements. Check your edition for game rules and alter terrain elements as necessary. Stuff like snow covering or or droughts would be big changes, shorter days and fallen leaves in a forest less so.

The benefits of keeping this a game rather than solely spent game clock means wandering off the beaten track is both dangerous and an adventure. Lost castles and dungeons can be placed and found. So can monsters who normally don't come into contact with civilized areas. Treasures from the past may be found too, but so too is lots of common scenery. Ultimately, think of it like a dungeon for all those purposes. Monsters, treasures, traps, and approximate locations for all on a map. But it's only going to be as interesting as its design ultimately.

Anyways - IMHO travel rates matter, but when used alone are best saved for easily followed paths or tracking time taken within a city or dungeon. Trackless areas are a completely different game.