I think about D&D all the time, so being three hexes into the wilderness this weekend made me think about overland...
I think about D&D all the time, so being three hexes into the wilderness this weekend made me think about overland travel and exploration. Here’s random thoughts, nothing revolutionary.
1. Light is no joke. I walked a trail a few hundred feet across our small peninsula in the dark to look at the stars and could barely find the trail again when I went to go back. And I had a light and was probably never more than thirty feet away from it.
2. The moon is really bright. When I wasn’t in the woods the half-moon cast enough light for distinct shadows and I could see, dimly, for quite a ways.
3. Woods are no joke. In thick woods all directions look the same. Good luck walking in a straight line or retracing your steps.
4. Wilderness encounter tables should include weather. Inclement weather should slow travel, and severe should force you to stop, or require a roll to not take damage (or fatigue, lose hit dice, etc.) if you keep traveling.
5. Supplies can be ruined by severe weather. The Black Hack’s Usage Die mechanic makes this super easy. Disadvantage on rolls for rations or light in bad weather.
#everythingisDnD
I don't know how much you like "moves" but there's a great section on overland and weather in 'Perilous Wilds' =)
ReplyDeleteI've heard that is good, useful even if you don't play DW?
ReplyDeleteI think, it helps suggest some things that long time GM's would know to do inside the AW style framework. There's a cool, but largish free work about Dungeon World that is also interesting in this way as it tries to make more explicit the moves system and how the "conversation" of that kind of game could work. Hold while I link...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.curufea.com/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=roleplaying:dw:dungeon_world_guide_pdf_version_1.2.pdf
ReplyDeleteThis is a level of real-world that I just don't want in my pretendy games.
ReplyDeleteEven in the daytime, navigation without a trail is surprisingly hard. I did a beginning orienteering course in the woods of Missouri and in something like a quarter mile, even with a compass and map, people got wildly off course. Also, I think you're lucky to travel six miles in a day off road. No game limits travel distance like that.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah. No maps, no devices to indicate north or time, and no line of sight to a landmark? That's some serious pathfinding if you're in the back country.
ReplyDelete6. Night encounter: Biting insects. No hit point recovery overnight.
ReplyDeleteMarked for later
ReplyDeleteNGR has such brutal wilderness travel rules for just such reasons.
ReplyDeleteI need to reread NGR.
ReplyDeleteCasey G. I'll second Perilous Wilds. It's written for Dungeon World but contains tons of useful stuff for any fantasy RPG. I'd also suggest checking out Jason Lutes' other title Freebooters on the Frontier for a Dungeon World take on Old School fantasy.
ReplyDeleteI think I've linked you to Telecanter's mini games for wilderness travel, right?
ReplyDeletehttp://recedingrules.blogspot.com/search?q=travel+mini+games
I don't think so, I'll take a look.
ReplyDeleteRegarding weather.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.kickstarter.com/projects/497057119/the-d12s-youve-always-wanted-mood-and-weather-dice
The ultimate .pdf for Telecanter is here (after taking a minute to look it over.)
ReplyDeletehttp://city-of-brass.org/Travel%20ChallengesC.pdf
Also check out this badassery at the Blog of Holding.
ReplyDeletehttp://blogofholding.com/?p=97
The moon is really bright, but when there is no moon, there is no dark that any citybound person can compare it to. If the party is going to travel at night, it would be interesting to adhere to phases of the moon in play.
ReplyDeleteMy Greyhawk campaign did track the phase of the moon(s), but I never did anything with light. I'll say that using the dynamic lighting function in Roll20 is very satisfying when the players can barely see what's going on.
ReplyDeleteI have to track moon phases in one of my games because of the werewolves. =) The trusty internet helps me out.
ReplyDelete