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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Schmoe" data-source="post: 859350" data-attributes="member: 913">This is a topic that definitely interests me.  In my current campaign, the group is trekking across a vast wasteland on a quest to find the parts of an artifact.  What I've found works to keeping the journey interesting is to treat the journey and the terrain as a backdrop for the adventures, that is, it should stay in the background.Most books that you will read where characters undertake a great quest use the journey in the same way - the terrain is great for setting the mood and providing an inspiring mental picture, but it generally stays in the background.  What makes the journey interesting are the adventures that the group has as they travel across the land, it's not necessarily the land itself.  If you treat the journey as a series of obstacles that need to be overcome, it seems to relieve the tedium of "another day, another great view, and another wandering monster."  As an example, here are some of the encounters I've placed along the way to keep my group occupied:1.  A group of gnolls who are thralls to a vampire that lairs in a ruined keep in the side of a mesa.  The vampire spawn attack by night, by day the gnolls approach and try to arrange for the party to get rid of the vampire.  They attack if the party refuses.2.  A widespread clash between two gnoll tribes.  One tribe has found a way to transform themselves to ghouls ("Dead Eaters") upon their death, and that tribe is in the final stages of destroying the other tribe.3.  An ancient crypt, uncovered by erosion, that holds a fiendish terror to be unleashed by demonic forces when the time is ripe.  If the party tries hard enough, they can open the crypt and unleash the terror themselves (most likely unwittingly).4.  A gnoll village, occupied entirely by females and children.  Male warriors pass through, mate, and recruit young warriors.  The village is ruled by a gnoll crone who can tell the PC's their fortunes, for a price.5.  The Valley of Kings, where the kings of the ancient Wystorian empire were buried in great tombs.  A treasure map the party has uncovers the secret entrance to one of the tombs and leads to great treasure and a tragic, deadly family secret.6.  The Boneyards of the Devver-Na.  The site of a climactic battle from the War of Ending hundreds of years ago.  The party meets the Order of Silver Light, who have fortified themselves at the edge of the Boneyards and pledged to contain the undead horrors that lurk in the valley.  In order to continue their quest, the party must find a way through or around the Boneyards, carefully weighing time versus risk (their quest is time-sensitive).In between these "mini-adventures", the party had several random encounters, and they were constantly travelling, but the travel was in the background.  The effect has been that the journey can be long enough to feel "epic" without becoming tedious.  Each new adventure presents another challenge to the progress of the party.Anyway, that's just one approach that I've been trying to use, and I am interested in hearing what others have to say.While I'm at it, another thing that I've been toying with is including a sort of philosophical journey along with the physical.  As the party comes across strange and foreign places and peoples, each has a lesson of sorts for the PC's to think about.  It's definitely not heavy-handed, it's only there for the players to pick up on if they want to, but I'm hoping that by the time they reach their goal, what at first seemed to be a straightforward quest with a clear-cut goal will have much more significance and present some interesting philosophical dilemmas.</blockquote>

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