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] 3 points 1 year ago

This is great advice. I like how this shares the narrative burden with the other people at the table. Mini-encounters like these give you some insight into a characters values, it's less railroad-y, and there's always the threat that it could turn into a big encounter if handled poorly. Plus, the players discussing what they want to do takes up some real world time, and that makes the travel seem less instantaneous.