Unplanned Wilderness Trouble

[the Jester]

So I was running my game last night, and the pcs were traveling through a month's worth of mountains (relying on their guide to find the way through).

Early in the game the pcs fought a pack of giant pedipalps (inspired by the camel spider thread), and they ate the guide!! It wasn't planned, but it played out that way- part of the problem was the rogue shot the guide by accident while he was grappled- and the group is now wandering through dangerous mountains without a guide, good maps, etc. Yikes! What had been planned as a game or two of wilderness travel en route to the group's next big adventure has turned into an adventure in itself!

So... how often do things like getting lost in the mountains happen in your game? Do you adjudicate them with simple survival checks, or what? Anyone got any ideas for any wandering mountain halfling-themed side treks?

 

[Hand of Evil]

Mountain travel is hard and getting lost very easy, wrong turn and you can be going someways before you you know you are lost.

Side adventure:

Can you say Deliverance!
Lumberjacks
Miners and the mines of Moria
Robber Barons
Gypsys and the Werewolf
Vampire Lord
Mad Wizard aka Frankenstein
An Old Road
The Hunting Lodge of the Evil Earl​

 

[DragonShadow]

Well, rolling a single Survival check for the party (based off whoever has the highest modifier in it) would be best. Even people that get lost might be able to find their way out, and everybody will eventually not be lost anymore. If they pass, it should take them more time that it would with the guide, but much less time than if they were just wandering around aimlessly. One thing to note: If there are any dwarves in the party that are stereotypical for dwarves, and there happens to be a dwarven settlement nearby, you should roll either an Intelligence or Wisdom check to see if he/she knows of it, as well as how to get there. I'm basing this off of the assumed "dwarves are isolationists" dealy.

On the same note, if they don't have trail rations enough for the trip, Survival would be the only thing keeping them alive, unless they run into some monster and decided to eat it rather than hunt for small (or large) game.

Assuming that they fail the Survival check to get themselves out of the mountains, they have a problem on their hands. Personally, I would roll a percentile chance to see just -how- lost they are. 100% meaning they're going in completely the wrong direction, 50% meaning they have at least one of the compass point directions right, and 01% meaning that they just can't find a path.

An adventure wandering through the mountains could mean any number of things. Mountains, like everything else in D&D, are populated by a number of both good and evil creatures and peoples (or dwarves). Mountains often have caves in them, which can lead extremely deep underground, if you want to take them to the lightless Underdark.

Really though it's up to you how long it will take them to get out if they can't find a way, and where you want it to lead them. ~.^

 

[Steverooo]

...and the group is now wandering through dangerous mountains without a guide, good maps, etc. Yikes! What had been planned as a game or two of wilderness travel en route to the group's next big adventure has turned into an adventure in itself!

So... how often do things like getting lost in the mountains happen in your game? Do you adjudicate them with simple survival checks, or what? Anyone got any ideas for any wandering mountain halfling-themed side treks?

Does the party have a map, of any sort? If so, then to orient themselves to it is DC:5 Survival/Wilderness Lore. If not, avoiding getting lost is DC:15 against the same skill. Wandering to the edge of the range, of course, where they can peer off the side of a mountain and get oriented, in pretty easy, so about DC:5. This is in the PHB, under Survival, in 3.5e (DC:5 to know direction, DC:15 to avoid getting lost).

Maybe make them roll for this once a day or so, or less often if they are following a valley, stream, etc., and there's no "wrong turn" to make...