this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2023
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Pretty short and sweet, how do you successfully narrate travel between points of interest as a GM without it being all hurky-jerky?

I'm imagining attempting to narrate the epic travel scenes in Lord of the Rings, where they travel for days in fast-forward with nothing really interesting happening, only to then suddenly have time reel down to normal when something is about to happen. Every time I try this in a game though it just feels awkward and abrupt, while also clearly indicating to the players that something is going to happen.

Is there a way to make this a more smooth and natural transition?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@aaron_griffin @KiloGex This is great, and a good approach for more than just travel.
For travel, I also like the 13th Age montage approach: go around in a circle, and each player narrates how their character solves a problem and then gives the next a problem to solve.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@KiloGex @Wightbred @aaron_griffin The montage technique also works well as an intro to the characters!

I used a variation of this, where the scenario opens with the characters having to travel for 14 days on a spaceship. The players were asked what kind of «personal project» their character did in their free time. Then what problem occured, and then the next player described how they helped the first character with their problem. Great for immersion and trust-building.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

@Kobiac Love the idea of a montage introduction! Very clever.
Stumbled on this idea for the players describing the (pretend) session the GM missed and keen to try this as well. https://www.reddit.com/r/rpg/comments/13eziwd/what_did_i_miss_an_openended_roll_for_shoes/
@KiloGex @aaron_griffin