Russ Jennings wrote:
I was wondering how you fellow GM's handle long experiences. For
example, my party took a sailing ship on a 3 week journey to get to
their destination. How do you guys handle that? Do you just say "ok,
the ship journey takes three weeks! You're relieved when you see
land!"
I tried doing a little bit of roleplaying, like having one of the PC's
get caught up in a drinking game with some sailors, or gambling, etc,
but that only took about 10 minutes of real time before it wore thin.
I do want the players to get a feel of the monotony and boredom
involved in traveling long distances using primitive technology, but
on the other hand, I don't want the players to actually get bored and
feel the game is becoming monotonous . . .
Any advice?
It mostly depends on the group. Ask if anyone has any plans for the voyage,
perhaps some weapon practice, or spell research, or updating personal
journals of the previous adventures... How has the group handled previous
periods of downtime?
You know your group better than we do. (I hope!) If they are mostly short
attention-span slashers, then skip the long boring journey and just tell
them they get to the next port. However if there are any deep storyline
roleplayers, you might ask them if they'd like exploring more inter-personal
relationships. You could do a mini-scenario where everyone on board gets
more and more irritable until finally someone snaps, and they all realise
that they're being foolish and try to make a more united group.
It could also be a chance for you to drop in some rumors (read plot devices
for future scenarios) or just random gossip.
You could also throw in some shipboard encounters.... mutant rats, a vampire
in his coffin, the ghost of a dead crewman, the runaway daughter of a minor
nobleman who is escaping an arranged marriage, etc
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