Dec 15 2008
Travel and Narrative
Travel. It’s practically a staple of fantasy—I can think of very few books I’ve read, and only one game I’ve been in, in which there hasn’t been at least one journey from Point A to Point B. Back in the old days, the hardships involved in travel were enough to keep most people at home. But I often see a journey treated as little more than a delay, suitable only for montages and the occasional random encounter. Can’t we put a little more meaning into it? Some thoughts for the road:
Travel takes time. That, at least, everyone remembers. The catch is that not everyone remembers how much what sort of travel takes, and this leads to situations where the same trip under the same conditions will take different amounts of time depending on what would bring the most suspense, or worse, something that should be under more difficult conditions will be a lot faster than something in much friendlier circumstances. At least keep the basic rules in mind: travel by air takes less time than travel by land. Travel by sea does as well, but that can be highly dependent on the winds and the currents. If you’re in a boat on a river, you’ll go faster downstream than upstream. Uneven terrain slows people down. So does bad weather.
Rarely is travel peaceful. In games, this is often represented by random encounters; in stories, the characters might get attacked by bandits, beasts or similar inconveniences. On the other hand, some people eschew these sorts of plot devices entirely because they slow things down. There is, of course, a middle ground; one can talk about these things happening without having to go into complete minutiae. In fact, there is no reason why it shouldn’t; even game groups can have really easy battles handwaved. My rule would be to only describe these sorts of encounters if they are a. a threat, or b. interesting (a particularly colorful opponent, perhaps, or something that gives a hint to greater problems). Otherwise, mention they happen and that they’re resolved but leave it at that.
Travel does not occur in a vacuum; those who travel are crossing territory, and that territory has to look like something. Take the time to describe at least some of the scenery. The general terrain will give an idea of what it’s like to travel over it, and landmarks can both provide color and help people know if they’re on the right path.
There are, of course, the issues of eating, drinking and sleeping. Travelers are going to need to either bring rations or hunt and forage en route; rations will be harder to carry, but hunting and foraging will make for a slower trip. Sleeping won’t be as easy between civilized areas, between rough things to sleep on and the occasional dangerous creature (wild or human) coming up on the camp at night. Posting watch is a good thing. Tents help, as well.
Are the characters riding horses? If so, that may speed up the travel, and it will certainly help with the amount they can carry, but they’ll need to either provide feed or be traveling through places where there’s plenty of grass (and that will slow things down a bit). Too high slopes and they won’t be able to travel, and if they’re traveling through areas where the ground is rocky, there’s a strong chance that they’ll end up with stones in their hooves.
What about the weather? You’d be amazed by what simple weather patterns can do. Wind can chill people, pick up dust, aid or interfere with travel by both air and water, carry or hide the sounds and scents of approaching people, and just plain wreak havoc with a tent. Rain messes with visibility, causes further chills, swells rivers, and turns dirt into mud, but can be caught for a drink if desperate. Just don’t try to sleep in it; that ends badly. Snow has all the difficulties of rain, with the added issue of hiding depressions and small holes to trip over, and either facilitates or hinders tracking (either of which can be a help or a hindrance for a party of travelers. And the sun isn’t much better, particularly in the desert.
Of course, there’s always the chance of seeing something interesting en route. Perhaps there’s a problem to be solved (is that village burning?). Maybe stopping into a city or a village en route can create a chance encounter with a friend or a foe. Or somewhere out there is something intriguing, like an unexplored cave, or just plain spectacular: a high waterfall, a particularly interesting rock formation, a rare or legendary creature appearing for a moment before running/flying off. Lot more interesting that just going from Point A to Point B, right?
Spice up your travel. It makes it mean something, makes it memorable, and gives you a chance to sow additional plotlets. And isn’t it good for all concerned to have the journey matter as much as the destination?
I’ve seen it done pretty well. Had one game that accidentally ended up in a pretty much cross-world boat trip, and some of the incidents I managed (or the incidents that I planned that the players somehow avoided) were pretty classic.
Way I see it, though, if you don’t feel like messing with the space between point a and point b at all, why’s there distance between them?
Eh, but there are ways to make the trip seem like a trip without going into detail. I did it a while or so back, when the group was following one of my Arthchwyl back to his base. Told them about how they spent a week or so walking and how their guide managed to help them through certain events (creating a shelter when the blizzards came, guiding them into a crevice just before something that made a humming noise when it passed shot overhead). You don’t need to play out an entire trip to make it feel like travel, just toss in a couple amusing things that might have happened in passing that make it seem less like a loading screen and more like actually going somewhere.