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Overland Travel

Travel Phases

Travel is broken up into four phases that are resolved sequentially:

  • Choose Destination
  • Select Roles orChoose Activities
  • Travel Encounters
  • Camp

Choose Destination

The party members identify their desired destination. This location does not need to be well known by the party. They can work off of rumors or hearsay, but this may result in a higher Destination DC to find the location. 

Extended travel will require no more than three executions of the travel loop. Travel longer than that will be abstracted out by these three travel loops. It's a montage, baby!

Example Navigation DCs

DC Destination
None Destination has a clear road, trail, or well-marked path leading to it
10 Destination lacks a path but is in open terrain
15

Destination lacks a path but is in dense terrain such as forest or mountains

20 Destination is hdden, with active efforts made to conceal its existence through mundane means
25

Destination is hidden using illusions or other magic

30 Destination is hidden using powerful magic such as a regional effect that causes a forest's trees to slowly shift and force characters onto the wrong path

Choose Activities

  • Navigate
  • Provision
  • Scout
  • Track
  • Study
  • Talk
  • Etc.

Each character chooses an activity to perform. These activities do not need to be from this list or any list. Use your imagination. What would your character want to do?

The only required activity is Navigate. The character who chooses this activity rolls a navigation check and the DM compares their roll to the Navigation DC in order to determine if meaningful progress is made.

Travel Encounters

Travel encounters may occur. This may result in a location or event being dynamically selected using random generation (rolling dice and referring to tables) and dropped into the world, permanently changing the landscape of the campaign. Further deets are for DMs.

Camp

The travel loop ends with the party setting up camp. Camp encounters may occur. Deets are for DMs.