Effective Travel Montages
An effective travel montage in D&D can transform a mundane journey into a meaningful and immersive experience. If well-crafted, it enriches worldbuilding, creates memorable moments, and engages the players.
Why Use a Travel Montage?
In the original version of D&D, travel involved counting hexes and rolling on random encounter tables. I still do this, and it is fun! But it's also time-consuming, and not everyone wants the journey from Iskandar to Tulsk to consume 3 sessions of play. For those who aren't counting hexes, travel might become a transitional phase—something to be skipped over or resolved quickly. However, treating it as trivial can undercut the sense of scale and adventure. A good montage makes travel feel significant without bogging the game down. It can offer opportunities for character development, deepen the party's connection to the world, and even foreshadow future events. Montages balance meaningful narrative with gameplay efficiency.
Visualize Each Scene
A crucial part of making travel memorable is finding ways to help players envisage the journey. You can enhance the experience by showing the players real-world photos of natural landscapes or strange environments to help fuel their imaginations. When searching for images online, using terms like "scenic," "beautiful," or "amazing" often yields fantastic results. Divide the journey into scenes, and pick one image per scene. For example, the party's journey might take them through hills, a forest, and then into a volcanic valley--three scenes.
As the party moves through these scenes, describe them with brief but evocative language. For example:
"The jade hills roll toward the horizon, their rich, green tones shifting with the light."
"Shrouded in the thick, swirling mist of the forest, ancient stone ruins emerge—weathered bones of a forgotten empire."
"A pulsing river of molten rock snakes through the valley, painting the towering black cliffs in a sinister, orange glow."
By combining spectacular images with vivid descriptions, you can make each leg of the journey feel distinct and immersive, giving the party a sense of the vast and varied world they inhabit.
Introduce a Fantastic Location
While realistic landscapes are valuable, D&D thrives on the fantastic. Consider introducing places beyond the ordinary—scenes that are magical, extraordinary, or larger than life. These locations can surprise players and bring something unique to the experience. For example, they might encounter a vast desert filled with enormous crystal spires or a dense jungle with bio-luminescent flora that illuminates hidden paths. But use these cautiously. Overloading the journey with too many fantastical elements can dilute their impact, so just throw them in occasionally.
Roll on the Happenings Table
A journey is more than just scenery—it's about the experiences, challenges, and moments that shape the characters along the way. After describing the travel scenes, roll on the following d12 table to determine what happened along the way. This table relies on "shared narration," with the players contributing to the world lore. I recommend rolling once per journey, but you may choose to roll once per scene.
Loss: The party loses a quarter of their coin due to theft, carelessness, price gouging, or some other means. Ask the players to describe how it happened.
Trial: The party endures a physically or mentally draining trial, arriving at their destination with one level of exhaustion.
Scar: A random character acquires a permanent scar. The player must describe how it happened.
Obstacle: The group faces a significant obstacle. Players describe what it was and how they overcame it.
Anecdote: Something humorous or shocking occurs. Players create and share the event.
Wonder: The party encounters a breathtaking natural or magical sight. Players describe it. Note that this is in addition to any other extraordinary site the DM might have described.
Memento: A character finds a trinket reminding them of their past. The player shares its significance.
Information: The party gains valuable knowledge. Players ask the DM one question, and the DM answers truthfully (though it may only be a partial answer). Players describe how they obtained the information on the journey.
Surprise Meeting: The group unexpectedly encounters an NPC from their past. The DM chooses who.
Personal Revelation: One of the characters reveals a hidden part of their backstory to the group.
Treasure: The party discovers a cache of valuables: coins, gems, or jewellery. The DM sets the value, and the players describe where and how they found it.
Magical Treasure: The group uncovers an enchanted item. The DM chooses the item, and the players describe where and how they found it.
An effective travel montage is more than just a transition between two places—it's a narrative tool that deepens the experience of the game. By focusing on evocative descriptions, introducing fantastic locations, and incorporating dynamic interludes, you can make travel feel like a vital and thrilling aspect of the campaign.