Veeky Forums, how do you DM moving from point A to point B?

Veeky Forums, how do you DM moving from point A to point B?
Everytime my party wants to travel through a dangerous or highly populated area I feel like I'm missing out on a worldbuilding/immersion opportunity by just saying:
>Okay you arrive at [place]"
or
>Oh hey you're walking along and [encounter]

But everything else I've tried has just been hopelessly awkward and the players just sit around. twiddling their thumbs like "are we there yet?"
I'm trying to throw potential sidequests and interesting locales and hooks at them but....nothing?
Maybe I'm going about it wrong?
I really feel like any type of travel really either gets handwaved in my games, or it slows the game to a crawl, and both ways I feel like i fucked up.

>how do you DM moving from point A to point B?
Through the shortest possible route.

Bumping with art.

I like you.

Go the Tolkien route.
Have random encounter tables but not necessary all the encounters are enemies to run from or kill.
Some of them are just there to provide flavor, something as simple as "On X day/hour you pass a clearing and you see a pair of deer. As you move through the clearing they notice you and dash off into the woods." Then move on unless the players are dumb and think every thing you bother to describe to them is a plot hook and they decide to chase after those deer.
Also everything has its own life. Just because they encounter a troll doesn't mean that troll is hostile and it certainly doesn't mean that troll is willing to fight to the death even if it is.

Listen to this guy, he knows what's up: Random encounters don't need to be plot-related or have combat or even need rolls to happen. You can easily have a fluff encounter that's just there to show off the landscape's nature.

For instance, if they're traveling through an area with heavy banditry, maybe them come across the bandit's handiwork, prior travelers who have been robbed and (possibly) killed or maimed. Or if they're *that* kinda party, maybe they come across some other travelers to rob and/or kill. Stuff like that, minor but flavorful stuff.

Finally, there's one other thing to consider: if your players don't engage with this sort of stuff, just don't do it. No sense including something that players don't want to or won't interact with. This is a "talk to them" moment.

Foremost, I like to throw perception checks out even if nothing is there. Keep the players on their toes, and discourages them from metagaming when something is there.

I would say though, fit this to their route. Well travelled and protected routes won't have monsters in most cases, but they may come across friendly traders who are willing to share their camp site and tell stories.

Back water routes can be more dangerous, wild creatures like to move into areas when people move out. If the route is still somewhat travelled there could be robbers looking to make some money off anyone unlucky enough to come by.

One thing I can't stress enough though, is try to keep combat encounters to a minimum unless you have a reason. Players travelling through a warzone? That warrants a fight. But if you're just taking a walk in a peaceful kingdom, reflect that. A group of clerics who go along trade routes to offer prayer services to travellers if the kingdom is religious, or a festival group moving along from town to town as per a harvest tradition. Have it reflect your setting and the society you want to build.

These are fantastic advice - totally going to be using them myself.

I've got a probably-not-the-best solution of my own: the means of transport can spice things up too. Some of my players were semi-jokingly asking if they could have a motor vehicle of some sort (this is standard high-fantasy setting, so its not like cars exist) so I replaced what would have been a boring section of 'you travel for a month and run into some random encounters' with 'you meet an inventor with an idea and a shopping list'. They're going to go (hopefully) go off to a few different places to acquire pieces for their vehicle, customise it, make it their own, that sort of thing.

Then, while travelling will get in-game shorter (the whole idea is that it's a lot faster than just a horse and cart), the vehicle itself can supply means for them to need to stop. Still working on that part though (obviously random encounters will still exist, they'll just encounter them a lot faster)

Oh, thought of this as soon as I hit submit. Later in the campaign, after your adventurers are a bit more storied, they may see effects of their actions on the trail. Fight a group of bandits in an area? Next time they're there, mention fresh graves and a sign saying "These knifesuckers stabbed me brother, then some cool guys stabbed them. Justice bitch!". Maybe not that, but you get the idea. Every event and quest probably effected people along the line, these people may be inclined to leave markers there, or even visit (conveniently, just as your PC shows up). It really adds depth when you find the wife of the random villager you saved, who's been following you since she heard you were in town to give thanks. Thanks in the form of freshly baked goods.

Thanks anons. This definitely gives me some ideas for next session.

I'm right now running a game that's very much based on exploration, and there are some milestones that I want them to hit and discover, but I also want them to get lost a bit on the way, pursue false trails, etc. Maybe I need to invest some time writing up area-specific roll tables with some of this stuff in mind.

...

Is this OC?
Is that a /k/ reference on top of a reference to some other thing I'm not familiar with? I legit dunno how to parse this.

Not that user, but I think the joke is that the "starting guide" is to buy the rulebook in the picture and then hold your players at gunpoint to play it, in order to teach them how to roleplay while their characters travel. Apologies for ruining the joke.

oh okay, I figured out Ryuutama had travel as a bit more central but wasn't sure whether the gun was "This game deserves to be shot" or what.

What you said makes sense.

Got a link to the pdf of that?

There's one in the PDF sharing thread's mega list. But I recommend actually buying it if you like what you see. It's good and both the original game and the translation companies (English, French, and iirc Spanish) are tiny companies.

This is what our group is actually going through right now.

So, basically, our group is made up of mostly honorable/upstanding ronin samurai, who were asked by a VIP to bring the swords of a deceased Crane ambassador to the Crane clan.

So off they go, on their -not so- merry way to Crane lands, all the way from north Shinomen Mori.

(cont.)

Of course, the group of ronin have decided to stop by a village to clean up and resupply on their travels.

The village, however, is infested by bandits who are holding the kids of the village as hostages so the peasants have to do everything they say.

The group of intrepid ronins decide somewhat confusedly to rid the village of the bandit scum, so they do so. Out of 23 kids, 17 survived. Of the bandits, 3 survived out of 14 and were driven from the village.

The village was none too happy with the death of the kids. The group was also not very happy that they couldn't save the kids. But they had been stupid and this was the price they had to pay, so there.

Oh, and one of the party died, so the new ronin was introduced and then they went on their way together.

(cont.)

Fair point, been looking into it a bit more and didn't know it was kickstarted.

So off they go, travelling semi-peacefully for a while until they get to a crossroads.

There, they witness a woman samurai facing a couple of Scorpions and about 6 or so armed peasants (Ashigaru): one of the scorpion was just finished screaming at what appears to blatantly be a ronin woman.

Of course, now there are the other four ronins appearing from the other road and the scorpion starts to yell at them too: the party is none too thrilled with this guy, who is being rather rude. However, they stay polite and answer honestly to what he asks, even if they don't reveal what they are going to do in Crane lands and so on and so forth because, really, it's none of his fucking business y'know?

So after some introductions and explanations (and the peasants levelling their spears at the party. Geez, talk about rude), the Scorpion demands the party hand over their weapons.

Party will have none of that shit, especially after hearing the ronin woman say that "Hey, I'm your problem, not them!"... the group -very wisely- decides 'fuck this shit, we're out' and backtracks for five minutes or so and takes a detour around the clusterfuck that is going on there, not even responding to the other scorpion who calls them filth -because the group is not made of murderhobos. No, honestly, the whole bandits-in-the-village thing wasn't just them running and gunning their way in.

hey, 75% survival rate is pretty good.

After that whole shit is over, it doesn't start raining: it starts pouring.

The group takes shelter in a small traveller's shack along the road, where there's a peasant who is preggers already taking shelter inside.

Now one of the ronin, who I'll hereby dub the 'Voice of Reason' of the group tells them not to get involved with the peasant and to mind their own business.

That doesn't happen, of course, so the group talks to the peasant, who is clearly afraid of the dickass scorpions coming this way: one of the ronin of the group decides that help is in order, because she is clearly pursued and in the right here and goes the rest of the way to the village with the peasant while the other three go ahead alone.

So, after the peasant and the ronin finally arrive, the party is reunited in the inn. During the night, VoR is awakened by the peasant woman who is trying to sneak out to the bathroom. Peasant asks VoR to go with her, because she is also a woman and would feel comfortable with this.

VoR agrees. And is rewarded by a stab in the back when they are outside, because there's an assassin after the peasant woman.

After a close call, peasant woman spills the beans, that she got her condition because a Scorpion lordling couldn't keep it in his pants (she is rather cute) and is on the run from the Lordling's irate father. That was the henchman of the dick-ass Scorpion who was sent after her.

So the group is torn over what to do -one of the group was an insensitive scorpion who had been bullying the peasant woman from the start- ultimately decides "fuck the scorpion" and get some vengeance on the dick that almost killed VoR.

So they accompany the woman for a while and after three failed attempt at assassinating the killer, they finally manage to kill a *Scorpion-raised-assassin*

The VoR almost died again because she played the bait and is a glass cannon, but hey! Victory... somewhat.

Demanding a samuri's weapon, is a great way to get it. Usually lodged in between your heart and spine. No murderhobo required, should have been a dead scorpion and dead peasants

He wouldn't have died if he retreated from the group of bandits that attempted -and succeeded- at encircling him when he was out of position.

But you know how that song and everything goes- dice be dice and they don't reward suicidal play generally.

no, i meant hostages.

Also, i'm not that good with L5R lore, but i have the feeling that scorpling who couldn't keep it in his pants would be extremely inconvenienced in a very short time.

Very true: it's very fortunate for those scorpions and peasants that the group is not keen on fighting if they aren't forced to or if their enemies aren't dick-ass bandits.

Ah, yes, that is for sure! Well, in times such as those the ronins are going through, losing kids is a pretty bad thing apparently. So the village suffered a bit of a setback.

I, for one, hope that our group will manage to not entirely screw up the next time.

Mostly because they are kind of on a strict schedule and they have to get to Crane lands before the father of the deceased samurai ambassador catches wind of his son's death, sparking a cold- or hot, depending on how the courtiers do- war with the Crab, which already is depending on the Crane to bring them food so they can hold out on the Wall against the innumerable horrors lurking beyond.

>*who are already depending on the Crane
I can into english, honest!