Keep Travel Exciting
Travel is more than just getting from point A to point B. At the beginning of a campaign, these portions offer an acknowledgement that stepping outside of the boundaries of civilization can be dangerous. They can be a way to make the world feel alive through NPC interactions or with emotive descriptions of the views around the party, but after a while, they start to get glossed over simply for the sake of reaching the story’s destination. How do we bring that magic back? How do we keep the exploration pillar of TTRPG’s alive and well?
First, what is exploration? The word means different things to different people, and probably even more things when brought into the scope of TTRPGs - My current definition is:
The exploration pillar is a system by which players can experience the environments, or change thereof, in a way that provides two-way engagement between them and the storyteller.
Whether it’s a dungeon or a forest, exploration means that a character’s presence impacts the environment somehow, and/or the environment (or change thereof) impacts the character somehow. Fortunately, dungeons and the like are easy for players and storytellers to explore, we’re here to tackle crossing larger swaths of land.
Don’t Go Overboard
The quickest way to burn yourself out as a storyteller is to try to paint the entire picture all by yourself. Let the players know in simple terms the journey they’re making, but pick out a single moment to spotlight and bring to life. For example;
“The path to Veilspire brings you from the familiar roads and hiking amidst the mountains of Velka. Days in the mountains feel bleak and dreary. One night, however, as you are setting up camp the sun breaks through the lingering fog, streaking light across the sky for a glorious farewell.”
By creating an outline of the journey in mentioning what they see and how long it takes, the players can fill in the colors for themselves. Your spotlight of a moment connects the players’ mental image of the whole trip to the heart of their character. These moments can be anything, they can be a beautiful vista, the fifth night of solid rain, or zoning in one of the many NPCs they meet on the road.
Focus on Feelings
The moments that stick with travelers stay with them because of how they felt. Once you’ve spotlighted a moment, connect it to the characters by asking the players how their characters feel and what those feelings make them do. If they were afraid, how did they comfort themselves? If they were frustrated, how did they handle that frustration? If they felt serene, how would the others in the group perceive this? Over time you’ll get to know the things that particularly speak to each character and can bring more of those into the game.
Change Thereof
If you’re looking to take these moments to the next level and bring out some more RP, consider the times when the environment changes and how your players/characters adjust to these changes. In the earlier example, characters had to transition from the roads to mountains - How do they handle this? Will they set up a camp before the transition? Layer up on clothes? Gather kindling to bring in case they can’t find more? Whenever they choose to do something to proactively handle a change, make sure it means something in an upcoming description; “The higher you travel, the colder the winds bite, and the fewer trees there are to protect you. Fortunately, the extra kindling staves off the cold and exhaustion.”
Alternatively, the change in environment could be smaller but more active, such as in the cases of river crossings, rock slides, and sinkholes. Changes like this step into the realm of encounters where parties will have to use their skills to problem solve, although these can still lead to roleplay. This is not a spotlight for every journey, but provides a nice way to mix things up every so often.
