Have you ever noticed that in pulp fiction (the genre, not the Tarantino movie), you rarely see characters traveling? At least, not in detail. In movies, it’s often glossed over with a picture of a map, and lines being drawn from way point to way point. The intrepid investigators start in Boston, go to New York, cross the Atlantic to London, then hop over to Paris before making their way to a chateau in the wilderness.
Unless something significant happens during the journey, that might be it. Travel consists of a cut scene that is enough to identify where the protagonists are.
I rather like this. For this campaign, anyway. I can identify way points and the paths between them, and otherwise mostly leave the middle bits low resolution. I can give attention to the important things, and leave the rest as minor dressing. This reduces the amount of work I need to do, and helps keep players focused on the important bits.
So… much as I can appreciate hex crawls as a play style, I don’t think it’s how I’ll do this one. I imagine three main grades of way point:
- First, and most importantly, major landmarks. In a West Marches game this includes the Town, and on any given adventure, the site the PCs are off to explore.
- Second, intermediate way points and landmarks. To get from the Town to the Adventure Site, the PCs likely pass by or through other known places. They might or might not be significant to the current mission, but they are along the way.
- Third, minor way points. These are points of interest along the way that probably are completely unrelated to the actual mission, but may be of interest to the PCs.
How to use this?
One of the simplest is to simply hand wave travel. You start here, and three weeks later you are on site, ready to start exploring. Totally acceptable and workable. Probably not exciting, but if the primary purpose is to get to the dungeon, why complicate things?
Why complicate things? Because it can be interesting. Intermediate way points are good opportunities to resupply or gather intelligence. A certain amount of this can be assumed (passing through a town, you probably pick up fresh provisions), some might be more specific (this town hosts the Temple of Bodily Harmony, try to get some healing potions). Similarly, if you want intelligence about where you’re going, those who live closer probably know something about the place you’re going. Of course, this can backfire, asking about certain things can draw unwanted attention. It’s best to make ‘look for intel’ a conscious decision on the PCs’ part.
Lastly, points of interest along the way can add texture. I would probably treat much of the descriptive content along the route as texture but not dwell on it. At least, unless a PC has specific relevant interest. If wayside shrines are common, travelers might often make a perfunctory offering (toss a coin into the collection, bow, move on). A particularly pious character might do more, and have an opportunity to notice something unusual that’s worth investigation. A warrior might notice signs of a scuffle, and a bit of gear with the markings of an ally (or enemy) and want to learn more. There can be many possible points of interest that won’t be of interest to the PCs, but a small number that are that can divert them from their path. For a while, at least.
When travel is the point of the scenario, even the ‘travel’ can likely be converted to a location. Crossing the ocean on a steamship, that steamship is a ‘location’. That the location itself is moving can be irrelevant. Ditto for being in a caravan crossing the desert (or plains, if you’re on the Oregon Trail).
So, it looks like ‘geography’ will be largely distilled to ‘important places’, ‘intermediate way points’, and ‘points of interest’, with enough detail of the surroundings that these things do not exist in a vacuum. Otherwise, keep detail to a minimum.
That could be challenging. I tend to lean into detail, often way beyond what is needed, and that can be a problem. I’ll need to break some habits, but this could be a good challenging for me.