Narrating Travel
Narrating Travel
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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The idea that the GM needs to be this epic narrator as if they were an author is something I wish would die. The medium of play is different.
Here's some things I do for long travel scenes that have no backing mechanics:
- ask the PCs pointed questions. "You don't see any animals in these vast plains, how do you eat?" or "The road is alternatingly rocky and muddy, and it does a number on the wagon's wheels. How do you keep them in working order?" or even "The night out here is too dark. What do you do to make each other feel safe at night?"
- when pointing anything out, give two details and a small twist. Encourage them to ask questions for details, but don't drill down into nitty gritty scenes. "The motion you thought was a river from a few miles back is a mass migration of centipedes. They seem too small to be of harm, and Karlen your guide demonstrates this by striding across them. The ones he crushes underfoot give off a sweet maple scent"
- ask players individually how they pass the time. Do they zone out? Practice the florghorn? Play betting games with the cooks? Whatever they say, drill in and ask more questions.
What I'm trying to get at is that the conversation, not narration makes travel memorable. Converse with your players. Encourage them to converse with you.
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.
I completely agree! I think my shorthand of using "narrate" was possibly misleading. It was more about how to transition between points of interest leading to and from these conversations. You bring up some great pointers though that are super useful!