Take 40% off any annual World Anvil membership: www.worldanvil.com/w/ginnydi , use code "GINNY" for your discount, and nevermind the wizards...

@vincentwinqvist4023

2 жыл бұрын

Janet at WA would probably be over the moon if you ask her to record a brief cameo as a wizard. :D

@GinnyDi

2 жыл бұрын

I actually thought about asking her to record the audio on the other end of the phone, but I was working a little bit last-minute on this ad and didn't want to have to demand anything from her on a really short timeline!! So I just did a tribute by completely bastardizing her accent 😂

@MenricJJones

2 жыл бұрын

I love World Anvil, been a subscriber since 2018. I couldn't recommend it more.

@kerah4623

2 жыл бұрын

@@GinnyDi Personally I have never touched a dnd session. However I do love to role play! Your videos have helped me so much. Every time I watch one I ask my self. “ what part of this can I use in rp? “ many of your videos have helped me to learn everything I can about role play. Thank you for everything you have done! You inspire me 😁

@coda821

2 жыл бұрын

The Ryuutma RPG is almost entirely about travel. It seems to have a lot of creative ways to make it interesting. Also thanx. These were great ideas, and really get imagination rolling.

Make your party watch the entire extended Lord of the Rings trilogy each time they travel

@GinnyDi

2 жыл бұрын

"You have an eleven and a half hour journey ahead of you. Real time." *presses play*

@newlegend2402

2 жыл бұрын

@@GinnyDi did you say eleven and a half. What kid of socrercy is this. Where are the behind the scenes disks? Who are you? And what have you done to the dm

@stevecarter8810

2 жыл бұрын

Just read them the book

@Veran42

2 жыл бұрын

"I walk to the inn across the road." "Alright, you guys want me to make popcorn, sorry, the coach is a bit messy" groans

@ivansmashem

2 жыл бұрын

The ultra extended version, where every single time Sam takes a step away from the Shire, he talks about how it's the farthest he's ever been.

I used to play in a campaign once where every time we set up camp we would have a story-telling improv activity where we would get a prompt and each of our characters would each tell a story from their past based off it. It was easily one of the most memorable parts of the campaign

@kenaar

Жыл бұрын

That is such a good idea.

@devilchomps3295

Жыл бұрын

This is an amazing idea

@crossroadgames

9 ай бұрын

Hello. Would you mind sharing some examples of what these prompts might be?

@JakubWojciechowski933

4 ай бұрын

That sounds very cool, but I wonder how to introduce this idea to the players without making them feel weirded out

@Evasiv

4 ай бұрын

@@JakubWojciechowski933 Have an NPC travel with the party, get them to tell a campfire story of their past and then get them to ask the PC's if they want to share

Running travel as a sidequest seems so obvious in hindsight. Probably the best D&D advice I've heard in a while.

@dantedharma6252

2 жыл бұрын

As a DM I made the perfect travel, told my players they could Talk on character. One of the best experiences posible to a DM

@MumboJ

2 жыл бұрын

All of the best advice seems obvious in hindsight. :)

DM: "So, you all settle in for the night. just as you are beginning to set out your bedrolls you hear a howling in the distance." P1: "Wait, what phase is the moon?" DM: Putting down monster card for CR1/4 wolf and beginning to search for CR3 werewolf monster card. "Oh, you know... full."

"If you think of the journey as the way that you get to the quest, there's no way that it's not gonna feel like filler..." is literally genius.

@rogerwilco2

9 ай бұрын

indeed.

This is probably the only content creator I've seen that actually gives advice on how to improve mechanics, not just describe some vague content they "like to run"

@ArvelDreth

2 жыл бұрын

Have you never watched Matt Colville's channel? Or Dungeon Craft? Or Bob The World Builder? There are plenty of content creators out there who do more or less exactly what Ginny does.

@CrazyLikeUhFox

2 жыл бұрын

@@ArvelDreth I was about to mention Matt Colvile too. But in OP’s defense, for every informative D&D KZread vid there’s five terrible ones.

@ArvelDreth

2 жыл бұрын

@@CrazyLikeUhFox yeah I wasn't trying to imply they're dumb for not knowing Matt or anyone else I mentioned. Just that you can find a fair amount of other content creators who are on Ginny's level.

@Veran42

2 жыл бұрын

I recommend The DM Lair, or Bob the World Builder

@Random_Traveler_

Жыл бұрын

How to be a Great GM is a pretty good one, too, imo

My DM took a page from the Fellowship RPG and uses travel montages. We go around in a circle, each person thinking of a problem for the next player to solve until everyone has gone. There's no dice rolls and you can use any of your powers without expending them. The focus in on getting players to be part of the travel sequence and encouraging roleplay opportunities as well as chances to flex if you have powers or skills you don't get to use often. It also means that as a group of 4, travel goes by pretty quickly and doesn't drag on the plot.

@Cherryoak

2 жыл бұрын

This is a very cool idea, very inventive Morgan B's DM

@GinnyDi

2 жыл бұрын

This is such a fun idea!!

@WritingJenS

2 жыл бұрын

This is a great idea! I'm going to steal, er, borrow it!😇

@morganb1474

2 жыл бұрын

@@Cherryoak All credit goes to Vel Mini for writing it. We just stole the idea. :)

@millerlkme01

2 жыл бұрын

That’s a really interesting co narrative idea. I think I will use that during FATE in the future.

I use a short set of rules to run travel in my games. 1) everyone gets to take an action each day, such as keeping watch, driving the wagon, scouting ahead, or maybe a downtime activity. Then providing description based on that, as well as the general environment. 2) I plan out a number of "Random" encounters that may occurs during the trip, such as threats, interesting locations, or NPCs. 3) Each day that passes I roll a D6, on a 1 an encounter happens. Each day that nothing happens I add another D6 to the pool. Also if something that the players do during their actions would draw attention to them I will either add another D6 or roll all the dice then and there. Once an encounter happens the pool either resets to 1D6, or if the party is close to their destination or has already used up all the planes encounters then I'll fast tract them to the location. The thrill comes from letting the players see the dice pool and watching their reactions as it grows in size. I use a modified version of this as well for certain events, such a sneaking through a dungeon or other location. I add dice to the pool every so often, but only roll it when the party draws attention to themselves.

@allanmonroe692

Жыл бұрын

This reminds me of the churn mechanic from the rpg for The Expanse.

You nailed it. The big problem with overland travel I find is that it ends up being too railroady where something can happen, but there is no lasting implications. Either weave those encounters into the overarching plot, or create a mini side adventure out of it for the players to get invested in over the session(s). Glad to see you back! Hope you're all caught up and excited to see what you have planned for 2022!

@GinnyDi

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Jordan!!

@aaronwilliams8887

2 жыл бұрын

the other thing i find Travel being excellent is A) taking a chance to do world building, often using NPC's both friendly and hostile. B)giving some diversions, and letting the party decide what options they get hooked into. basically travel is great if it makes the party interested in the world, and for them to become being more connected with people. Everyone loves talking about that story about a Hag who runs a random magical shop who is morally questionable but Loved the party because they helped her with a Mephit infestation, and promised to both tradw with them whenever and even help them out them with a magical problem in the future if they want!

@00blaat00

2 жыл бұрын

Well, travel and railroading go really well together, if you think about it.

@3nertia

2 жыл бұрын

I *LOVE* the way Matt Mercer handled this in one of the Critical Role episodes: He introduced some bandits, the players torched one of them just outright but let the others go with a warning (and with less gear than they arrived with) only to run into them *again* some time later and have the (new) leader recognize them from the earlier encounter! Makes it really feel like the world is alive and there are consequences (even if they're good and not bad) to the players' actions! :D

@3nertia

2 жыл бұрын

@@00blaat00 Especially if your setting actually has a train :D

I remember having a table where you rolled 2D6s that decided the encounter and then another table of 2D6s that decided what they were doing. For example "You see a bunch of orcs, but they are running from something". That way the encounters started to live more.

@Drekromancer

2 жыл бұрын

I remember Matt Colville said something like that too. If you roll up 2d6 orcs on a random encounter, then don't let them be generic orcs. They could be... 1) A tribe of nomads quietly passing through the area, 2) A hostile horde of Orcus worshippers who have flayed all the skin off their left hands, which gives each of them a touch attack for 2d6 necrotic damage, or 3) A proud company of mercenaries looking for work. Are the PCs hiring?

@wunksta

2 жыл бұрын

yeah, i think it helps to get a grasp on why the creatures are there. another problem i see is that a lot of DMs just immediately make them hostile and spring out of nowhere. determining the initial hostility level and distance can help improve encounters. maybe that band of orcs is some distance away, and theres foreshadowing or clues indicating they are in the area. they may have just survived another fight and arent going to immediately attack the party. it helps to generate a few random encounters ahead of time so you can work in the clues, rather than rolling and consulting a table in the middle of play.

@zackrose6261

2 жыл бұрын

@@wunksta Matt mercer does it pretty well, mighty nein befriending a group of yetis thanks to a random encounter.

One of the biggest tips I have for DMs who want better travel is - walk more. Like literally, go on a long walk in a place and just see how things are.

@THEM0J0MAN

10 ай бұрын

I find walking boring

@seanfsmith

10 ай бұрын

@@THEM0J0MAN soz

@rogerwilco2

9 ай бұрын

Indeed. I think to many people only experience the world driving a car on a highway. Visit your local forest, castle, old medieval inn.

I think one of my favorite travel experiences was a session we had that was legit 70% role play and 30% combat. We'd hired a couple of NPCs to accompany us on a journey and had one of them manning the carriage at the time while the rest of us just sat around in the back and talked for a bit in character until Savallis, the party Rogue pulled out some playing cards. We role played a few games of Texas Hold Em and had been gambling some wealth and items we'd accumulated until we realized that literally everyone was cheating in some way, including the Cleric we'd hired. By this point a few magical items had traded hands and Savallis had gambled away about half of his wealth. Good times.

WE’RE BACK! Nailed the background and the travel tips. The DMs guide is great… but not at everything. Travel being one of those things. One of the things I use travel for is world building. Every stretch of road is a new opportunity to show your party a living, breathing world.

@GinnyDi

2 жыл бұрын

Love that!! Travel is an opportunity to show your players more of what's going on around them!

@dem1s3

2 жыл бұрын

Oh, hey Crispy.

@Commonwealth_Of_Pennsylvania

2 жыл бұрын

Ginny Di on Roll for Insight? Is this possible?

@goodshepherde6442

2 жыл бұрын

Two of my favorite dnd peeps in one thread, making sense... Beautiful

Id also add to tie in the random counters to your players backstory as much as you can. Assassin's for the escaped Noble character, blighted treants for your druid, escaped constructs for your artificer, etc. 😊 Amazing videos as always!!

@Cherryoak

2 жыл бұрын

This is a brilliant idea

@GinnyDi

2 жыл бұрын

Yes!! That's such a good tip.

My tip would be... Treat travel like a dungeon! Use the 5 room dungeon format to create encounters that happen along the way from A to B, with each "area" of the map being a different room in the dungeon. Works great on a hex map, but can be done with any kind of map (or theater of the mind). I also recommend changing "random encounters" to "random occurrences" that include other adventuring parties, ruins, outposts, hazards, changes in weather, etc. and specifically include "special encounters" that relate to the plot. Populate your wilderness! There is always something going on!

Love the way you clearly explain this stuff

As cheesy as it sounds I'd say self doubt is my biggest DM weakness. I accidentally ruined a campaign once because I was worried that the plot wasn't exciting so I completely changed it (introduced a multiverse and teleported the players to a new world, bad choice). All I did was confuse my players and some of them got pretty upset at the change, I had to end the campaign and take a break from DMing because I was so embarrassed. A little bit of self reflection is healthy and useful but doubt can cripple. P.s. The video's background music was quite enjoyable and exciting!

@GinnyDi

2 жыл бұрын

It's wild how much we can self-sabotage over criticisms that our players don't even have!! I'm sorry that campaign ended the way it did, but it's so good that you can recognize where it went wrong and learn from it.

@Zoe_A_MacDonald

2 жыл бұрын

I've done similar stuff! Took over a decade of stumbling to really get my DM skill and confidence up to a good level. If it's any inspiration to you, I dusted off the original campaign notes about 6 years later, did a soft reboot of the setting, and re-ran the campaign (with a better endgame and without the shark-jumping) and it went AMAZINGLY, probably my best campaign yet.

@MajorHickE

2 жыл бұрын

Sometimes the best thing you can do is check in with your players and see what they think of how things are going. Ask them if the plot makes sense, if they think the loot drops are sufficient, if there's any recurring themes they like (or perhaps aren't fond of). Just as your job as DM is to be there to help your players, sometimes you need your players to give you a hand as well.

@cruorek

2 жыл бұрын

If I may, always ask your players what they think about your campaign. Ask them what they liked. What they dont like. And work on those parts. You will get confidence that way and you have to trust them. If they tell you some stuff they didnt like, it would be easier for you to believe about stuff they DO like. Also, players are usually happy that they can even play, so dont question yourself.

@FlatOnHisFace

2 жыл бұрын

@@cruorek I agree. I had one DM that insisted that we each told her something that we liked and something we didn't after each session. Being too vague with petitioning often leads to detached responses of "It's fine," or even "It was great!" which is more encouraging, but not very helpful. By each being required to give a good and a bad opinion, we already felt that our responses were tempered and fair, and we were under no obligation to give weight to either. So even if there was something that really bothered me about a session, but I didn't want the DM to feel bad about it, I didn't need her to know just how bad it was, and the thing that I liked, for all she knows, more than makes up for it. Any DM that does this is already looking for ways to make the players enjoy the game more, so no need to elaborate further, other than calling her attention to it. Finally, knowing that a moment for feedback would come at the end of every session allowed us to just roll with whatever happens during the game, and air our grievances later, instead of interrupting any dramatic tension. This meant that anything that seemed off-putting might later have some big reveal that makes it make sense before we go off on a tangent.

I have started to give a general description of the territory they are traveling through and then asking my players what they have seen. I feel like this helps them to "see" the trip and offloads some of the world generation. It adds some color to my world and might influence my world lore as well. Also, if they mention something that sounds interesting to me I can always expand on it to provide a quick encounter. So far it seems to be working.

@jamesblount3143

2 жыл бұрын

@@JohnSmith-zk8xp you seem to have missed the point. I describe the basics of the terrain but I ask the players to describe a memorable thing they "saw" during the trip. My trips are now a montage with the occasional random encounter instead of a long slog. If you want to run heavily detailed travel that is fine. I will always describe any relevant points of interest but if a player wants to mention the vibrant red flowers they saw along the way I can always throw something in. Maybe alchemy if a player is interested in that, or an encounter with a plant creature like an assassin vine. The point is to allow my players a chance to help build the shared world and keep them engaged during travel.

@pcbilingue

2 жыл бұрын

Nice tip, like a Dungeon World.

@dantedharma6252

2 жыл бұрын

Is almost the same to me, I let them Talk in character and its a great fun

As a first time DM I have quickly learned that my biggest struggle is trying to figure out a narrative for role-play when my group decided to just have a session in town that I wasn't ready for

@tsstahl

2 жыл бұрын

That is what tropes are for. Use them to build your improvisation skills. At first your burly dwarven blacksmiths, and flirty barmaids will feel forced and tropey. Soon you will see them morph into Kindar the one handed blacksmith who talks too much and Sadoran the high born barmaid with too much makeup and a fake limp to avoid detection by some-random-whatever-that-means-nothing-but-can-totally-become-a-BigDeal-for-the-players. The players will seize on random bits of your flavor and think it is worth following up. BAM, they just created your next adventure to flesh out. Or, you let them follow briefly before being turned away by some other information, event or NPC encounter.

transforming a random rolled encounter into a 3-encounter arc is such a simple tip that it's a little maddening that it's never occurred to me before. Thanks Ginny!

Some of the best moments I have ever had in D&D come from travelling. It can be a useful tool for DMs to further develop their world from some small encounter in the forest instead of a massive city as it adds variety to the game.

You're right, it IS time to binge watch Ginny Di all day again!

@goingpostale

2 жыл бұрын

great way to spend a day!!

@FlatOnHisFace

2 жыл бұрын

I wanna be in a game where every player is another Ginny Di.

This is perfect timing! The group I DM is going to have some travel coming up in our next session and I've been worried about how to make it interesting. I can't wait to try these ideas out! I'm still pretty new to being a DM, so what I've been working on lately is getting out of railroading mode. In our last adventure I tried to not assume any solutions, just set up the problem and make sure the environment was filled out, and it was super fun!

@tsstahl

2 жыл бұрын

You hit upon a tool for success. Don't worry about solutions. Have the obvious in mind so you know how to react, but the players will always surprise you. Let things play out and see where they go.

@thecookiemeister5374

2 жыл бұрын

How’d it work?

I love how even the adverts in Di's videos are entertaining. They've ironically become to be one of my favorite bits of their video's! I've seen so many add reads where folks will literally reuse the footage of them reading from a script with nothing else. I'm usually content to skip these, but I look forward to Ginny's adds funnily enough! The effort is A+!

@jonathan4189

2 жыл бұрын

Right???

@rworrick8037

2 жыл бұрын

@@jonathan4189 yes! If I must watch an advertisement I'm glad that it's rather entertaining.

I don’t DM currently, but the players in my group (including me) often have projects that we are working on. Learning a new skill for practice or from another party member. Potentially even language. Though adding a language or skill still needs the game mechanic to allow it, the teaching.learning mechanics add something to the role play in travel even if we fast track the travel.

@littlekong7685

2 жыл бұрын

Pathfinder has some nice (if expensive) retraining rules that I think can be handily adapted to any D20 system, might be worth checking out.

@andeannafarnes4719

2 жыл бұрын

My players often use travel evenings to study & practice new skills or languages.

Once again, you've knocked it out of the park, Ginny! Amazing video on a worthwhile topic. Two of my favorite authors, L. Frank Baum (of Wizard of Oz fame) and Jack Vance (who inspired so much of classic Dungeons & Dragons) were great at telling travel stories. While the characters in their books were on quests, they would often have encounters with peculiar villages with strange customs, impish faeries with dangerous senses of humor, or travelers who were secretly important characters in disguise. For me, travel on the road in their books was always entertaining.

My group's travels were where some really awesome in-game character conversations happened. It's tough to read when the conversations are ending, then skip a bit, then role play some more travel, etc. Encourage the party to have conversations between them while they are traveling. If you want to do random encounters, make it at least somewhat meaningful. Maybe you fight a group of werewolves, then as they reach the next town, they hear stories of werewolves plaguing the town at night. Now the party has some options on how they will play it. Now you've made the random encounter more than just randomly swinging a sword.

@angelanave148

Жыл бұрын

My party just...hired the werewolves to kill the vampire. XD

If you ARE going to use a random encounter table, make sure those encounters mean something in the long run. If the party is attacked by wolves, what do they do in response and how does that affect things later? Did the Druid befriend them? Maybe now they have a pack of good boys following them around. Did they fight them off? Maybe the Ranger tracks them back to their den to wipe them out, and the local town shows them gratitude by offering a free night at the inn or a farmhouse. The point is to make those temporary breaks in story flow meaningful, even if only in small ways.

@FlatOnHisFace

2 жыл бұрын

A couple moths later, the local village has a goblin problem because the wolves they used to hunt are now wiped out and they need to raid the villagers.

I've been playing and serving as a DM for 40+ years and I absolutely loved your approach to this topic...exceptionally well done!

The way I run travelling in my games is as a skill challenge (homebrewed from 4th ed D&D). Each missed challenge adds a degree of fatigue and/ or a day to the journey. An epic failure generates an encounter. I also have this handy-dandy random weather chart to add to the drama of the journey. My players treat travel in my campaigns as a mini-game of sorts and they know they are in for a ride... maybe. But they are never bored.

When traveling through an area where I don't have any story beats set up, one of my go-to methods is to prompt them to forage/hunt and cook meals rather than just eating bland rations, and giving them small temporary benefits for doing so. Gives them good rp moments, helps them engage with their environment, sometimes sets up encounters, and makes the world feel more continuous and whole for them because if they travel through that same area again they know where they'll be able to find food and what kind of meals they'll be able to make there. It also opens up avenues for more meaningful "busy work" fetch quests if they're trying to make some money by gathering ingredients for a local chef/alchemist/etc, they might already know where those things are and how to get them.

There is a lot of great and actionable advice in here! Great job as always! And uh... I actually love the face rock 😓. I love it when my DM's offer random, "neat" things in their world no real significance! Like Fog that smells like battlefields or a mermaid bathing by the rivers! It makes it feel full and strange and a little frightening!

I really focus on lots of roleplay moments during travel for my parties. Leaving little tantalizing moments to build the world or add future worldbuilding that they won't know until later that makes them stop and interact and turns into a lot of roleplaying for them is something they seem to enjoy. And then every so often I'll send some creepy creature or a bird to attack them or something just to keep them on their toes.

@Dyundu

2 жыл бұрын

I Kettch what you’re saying here (pun fully intended, based off your excellent username). The DM should def make things interesting as discussed in the video, but sometimes a well-described area and engaged players is enough to make some travel sessions fun. Players will also use your well-crafted descriptions against you during the inevitable midnight orc raid when the PC on watch fails their perception check (which is fun in its own way)!

@yubyubcommander

2 жыл бұрын

@@Dyundu XDDD You're one of maybe 20 people who have ever understood the reference. Absolutely made my day. Oh for sure. I love a good description of stuff. I'm not perfect at travel and I've rushed through it before, but both of my parties are VERY talkative so leaving a little nugget of something that'll get them going is what I do. Most of the journeys either group has is all improv. I have one group playing Strahd so any where I can through in something to further put them on edge I do, or leaving a little bread crumb trail to plot points to pique their interest. My other group is playing Witchlight so I try to choose stuff from the "random encounter table" that will directly correlate to whatever they're doing in that session. Or have them finding lost trinkets or items of their belongings that they've not even noticed they lost. Starts great roleplaying and they love it.

@Dyundu

2 жыл бұрын

@@yubyubcommander Sounds like good times all around! Always glad to see another Wraith Squadron fan too!

Great advice, and excellent video quality as always. One of my players gave me some honest feedback (praise the sun) a few years back. He told me he just wasn’t interested in obstacles that were obviously ‘encounters for encounter’s sake. Ever since, I’ve made it a point that encounters are either very short and sweet, or impactful in some way, and the players have voiced loving the shift.

Y'know, I've watched a ton of DM tips for how to run travel better. Hours of it in fact! This is the best video I've read about it to so far -- and the best part is the examples. "Make the travel part of the adventure!" is thrown casually a lot, but you broke it down so well I feel inspired to try it again. Thank you so much Ginni!

Great advice. Ive not had much experience with “travel sessions”, but one great one I had actually involved the characters needing to show how they prepare for the journey through the snowy mountain pass. Pretty much, if we didn’t have the right gear, enough gear, or enough rations or survival we simply wouldn’t make it. It allowed us to be much more proactive in the journey and got some interesting ideas from characters

@GinnyDi

2 жыл бұрын

I love that!! Sort of an "Oregon Trail opening scene" situation.

@bjhale

2 жыл бұрын

You might be a closet old schooler. ;-)

@livtempleton

2 жыл бұрын

@@bjhale that's an incredible feat given how late a start i got XD

Prompting roleplay is my personal #1 out of these. The party is traveling from A to B for a week? Guess what, the bard realizes it's his birthday on the third day of travel, and it's his first birthday away from his homeland. What thoughts are running through his mind over the quiet fireside breakfast? Instantly memorable and engaging and there's room for both serious reflective backstory-exploring rp and wacky silly impromptu partying. If travel is filler, don't pay attention to the travel, pay attention to one or two key things that just so happen to occur during travel, like meeting an old friend or crossing a national border post or encountering a traveling fortune teller

I cannot thank you enough for this. Travel has been a HUGE issue for me as a new DM. This advice I can work with and create some awesome things. You rock!

Welcome back and happy to see you are right back to it. Really looking forward to see what you have in store for us this year! ( No pressure right!?) It is great to be able to gain some inspiration through your thoughtfulness and perspective. Thanks for all you do! Greatly appreciated

Great advice! I love travel in games bc I tend to use it for RP conversations and useless encounters now and then amuse me, but it’s good to remember that not everyone feels that way, and there are still choices the DM is making in those situations that are allowing me to have fun!

Amazing advice, and to give new dms permission to skip it is something a lot of us need to hear. I’m running a nautical campaign at the moment and the journeys via ship can regularly take weeks, not every time is going to be super interesting and I often instead treat it as a section of downtime. Players learn new skills, harness new tools, teach NPC crew members new things to improve their combat capabilities or roles on board. Much less doable if players are walking everywhere or riding horses, but if your PCs have a ship? I’d recommend the downtime route for those longer journeys as another option!

@Heritage367

2 жыл бұрын

This is inspired! Definitely going to use this, friend!

@druid_zephyrus

2 жыл бұрын

It takes over a year to gain proficiency in a new tool or skill. If nothing is going to happen during the weeks of downtime remind thebplayers this is a possibility and ask how they practice. Can lead to RP.

@conorjames3489

2 жыл бұрын

@@druid_zephyrus honestly my campaigns rarely go on in world past a few months to 1 year, so when a player is engaged and interested with a new tool skill or something I tend to make the time scale more attainable in the short/medium term. Less so with skills, but more so with tools and languages. They often have small side quests to find the right resources from books to teachers or basic equipment, and then I have them do skill challenges (with fun failure consequences) over separate downtimes and several sessions to attain something like half proficiency and then slowly build up etc. I’ve found that all to often a player has a fun idea that they’re excited about, and I tell them the RAW timescale/cost and the idea suddenly becomes something that will take far too long/is so taxing it stops it being fun. Instead I just use it as a way to consistently challenge them and an excuse to squeeze extra RP and story out of something that ignites the engagement in them!

@FlatOnHisFace

2 жыл бұрын

Ghosts of Saltmarsh, apparently, is really cool for random encounters when travelling by ship. Even without the included adventure.

@conorjames3489

2 жыл бұрын

@@FlatOnHisFace I’ve found random encounters (combat atleast) really lacking for the most part, largely because the battlefield is the same ship every time haha. I’m writing a nautical source book at the minute and I’m realising a more expansive/creative encounter section will be a great addition

The fact that you can pinpoint exactly what sucks in normal d&d makes me trust you more. Lol.

Welcome back. I have found your videos to be hugely helpful in making me a better dm.

Love this! Especially the part about linking encounters to a wider narrative or making the journey a quest in itself - it makes it feel more real and adds depth to the world beyond just ‘there are bandits sometimes’.

The house rule that fixed travel for us in 5e: Long rests may only happen at friendly settlements. This means that there is tension in every encounter. Even simple things like wilderness hazards can weaken the party in some way making their quest more difficult once they get to their destination.

@nessa-parmentier

2 жыл бұрын

That really depends on the way your plot is made but that really seems to activate hard mode in general

@tiph3802

2 жыл бұрын

Hope all your players are on board. I met a DM like that once. Absolutely miserable. It completely cripples spellcasters. And Warlocks? Not even playable.

@rect7840

2 жыл бұрын

@@tiph3802 Maybe you've misunderstood. It's still just 1 adventuring day's worth of encounters. It's just a narrative device it doesn't actually change the gameplay.

These all sound so fun!! I’m definitely going to try to incorporate some of these tips to my Rime of the Frostmaiden campaign. There’s only so many times I can describe trudging uneventfully through a snowy wasteland.

I’m new to DMing and without even looking up stuff on KZread the algorithm has recommended me several of your advice videos. I’ve always found them not only helpful but really motivational, getting me excited to try out things you’ve recommended. I just wanted to say thanks, and I hope you enjoy doing these as much as I enjoy learning from them.

Welcome back! So excited to see what you do this year. 😀

Savage Worlds has a great Interlude mechanic that is easy to adapt to any system and setting. Basically it's a way for the characters to interact and flesh out their characters, interactions and/or history, and be rewarded with XP for it. Great for travel, talking around the campfire before shut-eye, tavern, etc.

I am so going to use your tips. Thanks for the video! It's really comforting to turn to your channel when I'm looking for inspiration, when I'm having problems or just want to watch and relax.

I'm so glad I found your channel! I'm running my first campaign and in a few days we'll be having our eighth session. A lot of the game revolves around being responsible for a delivery to a safehouse from one end of the island to another, with the starting location being the capital city, and the final destination being around three weeks away on foot. This has given me some ideas for how to make sure there aren't as many lulls since I want my friends to stay interested and have fun. I love your channel, I've been trying to stay away from (and I mean no offense to fans of this stuff) more televised/dramatized D&D content, and you have such a kind and warm energy while also giving such useful feedback that makes me feel encouraged to find new ways to improve! My friends and I have been having a lot of fun so far, and I hope to keep improving by learning from other experienced, wholesome DMs! Thank you!

Amazing advice! This really helped me pinpoint some issues I had with random encounters as a player as well. Your videos always give me lots of things to think about :)

My reasoning for skipping travel is that realistically, not every trip will have encounters or something interesting. Sometimes, nothing happens and to me that gives my games a more grounded feel as compared to seeing or encountering something every time the party goes for a trip.

@Giles29

6 ай бұрын

You might make the journey into a "scene" (to steal terminology from Mythic). If you think about it, Tolkien had plot reasons for all the travel description that he did. Wouldn't have made much sense for them to have to go into Moria if they hadn't tried and failed to cross Caradhras.

Loving the new intro! The advice in this video made me realize why I don’t love travel and is giving me great ideas on how to implement it more effectively. Thanks, Ginny! This video is super informative and well put together for this and I feel much more confident~

Your point of making the journey the quest (or part of it) is GREAT! The overland travel I'm most proud of having prepared/GM'd was the time when the BBEG came to the players stronghold while they were on another quest, kidnapped a child goblin the PCs were fond of, then made his way back to his own base. The players overland travel, then, was basically them retracing the BBEG's recent steps, finding out what he had done on the way. It was entirely a building of his character through proxy. Since he was a bugbear, that meant he ate people, so they found a whole farm that he singlehandedly destroyed: scattered remains of the occupants with bitemarks all over the place, the bed where he slept in a few nights before still bloodied and with a letter he received from his minions (foreshadowing a future encounter and a secret way to enter his base), etc. We also had a girl who helped him, not knowing who he was, only to get stabbed in the stomach, this kind of things. It was a great experience overall, got the players red in anger ready to obliterate him!

I absolutely love this! Lots of amazing tips that I'm going to be using in the campaign I'm working on!

I swear I hope that this is how my dm handles travel in the campaign were about to start, he said each of the three continents that make up the world we’ll be in are the size of North America and he wants travel to reflect that I will actually die of boredom if he handles travel like he did last campaign (which had a much smaller map btw) where half of the campaign was just traveling and we only met one plot related character and had one side quest

@rworrick8037

2 жыл бұрын

Did you try showing this video to your DM and asking travel to be handled this way? If something about a campaign isn't working for you as a player I highly suggest taking a bit of time (outside of the game) to politely mention it. If your DM is anything like me then your DM's enjoyment is specifically linked to how much you and your fellow players enjoy the game.

Love getting notifications for your uploads! And such a helpful topic!

Welcome back. It’s great to watch new videos from you again.

I’ve always loved travel in D&D, and when I have DMed those travel sessions I usually use it as a way to expand the landscape, place clues that could hint at things to come.

I really needed this, I have been struggling with overland travel bogging things down when we only get 1.5-2 hour sessions. Thank you! Loved the opening, well done!

@tsstahl

2 жыл бұрын

Here is another tip for you. When short of time, have the players help. Create a brief d10 table. You can roll once for the party, or have each player roll. The table is simply they arrive at the front door with: fresh with one piece of helpful knowledge, fresh with false knowledge, down d3 hit points, nothing special, a fond (or bad) memory of an NPC, terrain feature, etc. (player decides). After rolling have the players tell you what happened for them to arrive in that state. As for the numbers to assign to the events, that is completely up to you, as are the table entries. Having the players think something up immediately enhances immersion into the game session.

This was a great video! I often feel like the travel sections mean nothing. In the early stages of the campaign it can even feel a little awkward if the PCs don't know each other and have nothing to talk about. Introducing a fortune teller would've solved that problem 🤩 Welcome back! 💕

I have a travel session coming up this weekend and was concerned about what I was going to do, when this came up on my feed. This is exactly what I needed! Great video, great advice!! 😎😎Thanks!

Good advice (again). I love weaving sub-plots, the bandits they fight today become a problem later, and not just in that Asterix pirate way; sometimes players take the bait and sometimes they don't. I like everything you said (mostly because it's what I've been doing for 40+ years). Keep up the good work, you're an amazing ambassador for the game.

This is why I tend to roll all of the travel in advance, and try to weave it into the story. You can make any random encounter interesting and fun by creating a scene, rather than "monster X jumps out and attacks"

Glad to see you back Ginny! February's a little warmer

Fantastic video, and great tips! I know that I have been guilty of running boring travel sessions in the past, so I look forward to utilizing these ideas in the future!

Traveling has always been a real downer in my campaign. Slows down the momentum and everyone checks out. I'm definitely going to take these ideas to spice up getting between point A and point B. Thanks Ginny!

You are a treasure and a gift to the community. Keep up the AMAZING work.

I think this is your best DM tips video yet! Glad you’re back!

Excellent advice Ginny, and an entertaining video as well! I think you hit the proverbial nail on the head by pointing out that making the players roll dice does not equal engagement. This really got me thinking about all encounter design in a different way!

this was a fun video! I am actually designing my own ttrpg, and I want to make world building, social encounters, and exploration more developed as game mechanics... like in D&D you have a few footnotes on how to handle that stuff anf then the other 90% + of the rules are all about combat encounters. I am trying to make Combat, Exploration, and Social interaction equally meaningful pillars of my system so that things like travelling can be interactive and fun

The Witcher 3 game adds some interesting examples of making travel eventful and meangingful. Having a war with checkpoints that have to be dealt with or avoided. Quests to find missing individuals that eventually tie into another quest, etc. Even side quests can have indirect impact on the main campaign and give value/meaning to the trips.

@GinnyDi

2 жыл бұрын

I think Dragon Age: Inquisition does a good job of this as well! There are some general "fetch quest" ones of course, but there are also some great side quests that impact things like which people join your squad.

Welcome back, Ginny! I accept that you needed and deserved a break, but I missed your original content. You are so insightful!

Excellent video! I plan on using these tips. I've had trouble with travel before, and I now usually only use it to make grand descriptive monologues of the environment. Actually, the only time travel has been interesting for our group was when, as you said, the travel was the quest. The party had to escort someone about two weeks' travel north, and they didn't know at first that they were being hunted. I ran it using the Pathfinder chase mechanic, and everyone loved the tension.

Yes! Using small adventures on the road are a good way to pass time. I like to run my overworld sections like the Oregon Trail, they can hunt, deal with weather, forage, and fish.

in one of my current campaigns the party has been accompanied by the Kobold Scout Shh on their travel as he has been leading them to a slavers outpost to free the slaves adorable little fellow, players seem to adore him and there was lots of rp .. within the party itself and including Shh :) my biggest weakness as a DM is probably self doubt, but that has been tempered a lot by experience by now (I also might be arrogant and overconfident sometimes because of that :D )

@GinnyDi

2 жыл бұрын

The spectrum of self-doubt to self-importance is a hard balance, haha! It's easy to overcorrect to one end or another. Awareness can help keep us in the middle, though, I think!!

Welcome back, Ginny! Hope you had a great vacation and got some much deserved rest. :)

Thanks for this video. Lots of good tips! I’m actually excited to run a travel encounter now!

I always wonder how the devs would react if they found these "Why XXXX in D&D sucks, and here's how to fix it." kind of videos. I'd be curious to hear what they have to say.

@GinnyDi

2 жыл бұрын

Honestly, a few WotC designers follow me, so I have no doubt they've seen me talking shit 😂

@vincentwinqvist4023

2 жыл бұрын

As a game designer in a different context, I can tell you that they're probably aware of all these weaknesses and are very happy about tips being shared. The best ideas are mulled over and those thoughts are incorporated into future products if it makes sense. Developers LOVE feedback as long as it's constructive.

@FlatOnHisFace

2 жыл бұрын

@@vincentwinqvist4023 Plus, they're just happy you are playing the game and talking about it.

I'm starting a road trip style campaign this week, definitely gonna take a lot of this advice to the table~

@emilysmith2965

2 жыл бұрын

That sounds amazingly fun… best of luck! (Also, Rowlet is best boi) 🥰

Super happy to have Ginny Di back after that last month off! DnD travel in one of the first campaigns that I played in the DM used the random encounter table and it pissed me off so bad that I have created huge plans for any travel that I've had to DM, haha.

Glad to see you back and on form. Absolutely fantastic advice, travelling shouldn't be as boring as a bus ride, it should be a story in of itself! I really like the new intro too.

Hey there, thanks for all this inspiration. It's always nice to get another view on how to handle storytelling. But the issue here is, as with most of all other arcs and plots, preperation. What if you do not have the time to prepare a journey, because the players just decided to go somewhere else? There real interesting question is, how to handle player decicions on the fly and still make them interesting, and travel is just one of those events. But it's one that will happen quite frequently.

Here’s my take: the road is a dangerous place, and for a group of semi-famous to famous heros, it’s a rather vulnerable place as well. No walls to hide behind, no real paths to hide in while keeping pace… Really, the perfect place to have something stalk them.

Great video! All your points are spot on and your advice is great. Also you have such high budget ad reads.

This video was so friggin helpful! I'm a new DM (I've run 2 sessions so far) and left the table both times feeling like there was so much narration and that the travel was so lackluster, I panic thinking I'm doing it wrong. This definitely sparked so many ideas. My players are all fairly new to DnD, and I'm trying to manage expectation, and also provide something memorable for them. Thanks!

Ginny thank you so much! I had a travel session recently and this video helped inspire me and make it the most memorable session! The gang cooked soup, fought man eating plants, and even lost their wagon!

Really good video! Travel actually got me started writing my own stuff. I was running a store bought campaign for my kids and decided to spice up the random encounters a bit. They really liked the modified encounters, so I put more effort into them. Soon we had abandoned the main adventure and rolled into a completely home brewed adventure, which became a city, then a kingdom, and someday soon a world. I owe it all to boring travel.

I wanted to say thank you very much helpful only begins to explain how much this video will help me with dming my sessions. The world my players are playing in is very large and designed to host multiple campaigns. So when the players travel sometimes it can be a bit of a distance. Thanks to you now I can ensure each time they travel I can keep it interesting. You are amazing at providing both creative and well structured direction THANK YOU!!!

Firstly, welcome back Ginny! I hope you have a lovely vacation and your year started off just as lovely. Secondly, I love the idea of travel being a quest in and of itself! Combat encounters during travel can be fun, but I don't think anybody wants their travel sessions remembered for having no impact on the plot at the end of the day. I've participated in that kind of travel before, and while it was kind of fun, it didn't really mean anything. Then again, most of what happened in that adventure had no plot significance, but that's a whole other story, hahaha.

I have some long travel (probably) coming up in the game I DM very soon, so this is incredibly timely! Welcome back!

I feel so great watching this because I realize I'm doing some of what you talk about here in my campaign. It made me think of just how much of the campaign been encounters that took place during travel. Great video!

Your dice are perfectly in line with your color palette and I love them soooo much. Also, great video.

LOVE THIS💕 Thank you for the tips!

Excellent job once again Ginny. Those dice look beautiful too.

Ginny… we missed you. Welcome back, hope you had a great break!

This was so helpful! I'm new to dming and haven't played as a player for years, so its nice to hear these tips to spice things up a little besides just being attacked or skipping altogether (: Great video!

I really like the new intro with the dice. I was a bit afraid the sponsor would have an ad short but Ginny delivered it. Good video