I use exploration statblocks. I used once mosquitos as hit dice damage reducing player hitdice. I used swamp drains hit dice. I used high dcs one that climbing dc it was set at 60 and lowest had get an tally
i normally give the brief description of the location, one or two important details, encourage asking questions, normally bringing up cool ideas on whats there, or for extra details they are interested in. "you come to the front of what looks like a ruined temple of blackstone, in a familiar design from your character, X's, upbringing. outside is a statue of a women in robes, which is currently leaning toppled over onto a dried out, gnarly tree. The air is arrid, and the sun high in the sky. and to know ones surprise, sand covers much of black stone. a camp, complete with fire pit and many bed rolls can be easily seen and finally two orcs sit in the shade, trying to keep cool. They dont seem to have noticed you, but if not careful, they can and will do so. what do you do."
Exploring is. 1st: About being able to picture yourself in the space and time that your players characters are at. 2nd: being able to describe the over all place with a healthy balance of detail that gets the over all view across. You don't want to drone on too long and you don't want to just give a bland overview that does not immerse them. 3rd: giving them three or four specific scenarios that the PC's come across as they travel through the area which are interesting, and PC's may want to interact with. They can be just for flavor, and they do not have to be encounters. Make sure you give a good long pause between them, for effect and to let your players have a chance to react, comment, or discuss. You can sprinkle them inbetween encounters or you can use them to cause an encounter, or you can just use them as they are and move on (It all depends on what your group is like), but afterward have them exit the area or reach wherever it is they are going). From time to time I have a player in my game that wants to fast travel to the location. I don't have a problem with that as long as everyone agrees, but I do give them a brief overview of what happened along the way. "Okay you want to fast travel here is what you missed". A few times you all stopped as you heard strange noises in the nearby woods, but never ventured in to really investigate. At one point there was a tower that looked to be made of crystal that suddenly appeared in the distance. Another time you passed by a fancy covered wagon with a broken wheel, it had writing on the side that said, "Crisando's Magical Curios and Oddities". And there was a hermit near a stream dancing and shouting at the top of his lungs "I'm Rich". Well anyway as you crest over the hill to your destination. This is where they usually say, "Wait a minute, do we have to fast travel, or can we change our minds and go back to this that and/or the other thing"?
What's so weird to me is the argument that exploration in D&D is lacking and is somehow D&D's fault. But there's entire sections of D&D books dedicated to giving examples of exploration encounters and things to have players do. I think a lot of this is just a fascinating example of 'Monopoly'; so many people have been taught how to play a game by the people before them that they never bother reading the rules and just assume the way they were taught is all there is to it.
Right. It’s bad DMs devoid of imagination. And there are many excellent wilderness and city exploration systems that you can easily use with any D&D edition you play. No excuses.
DM preplans encounters before players go for a walk. Move briskly until such encounter occurs. It could be as simple as you hear a rattle snake rattle in warning and you all step around it. You encounter a small heard of does., you are moving through tall sword grass 7 feet tall. You encounter an owlbear coming from the other way. Not everything is a threat. Sometimes it is lunch.
Friendly feedback: the way the speakers constantly affirm one another and “ok”, “yes” or “right” over the other mid-sentence feels very contrived. The dialogue sounds heavily edited to come off as natural, but it achieves the opposite. Can you try a more natural discussion with fewer edits for authenticity?
💬 How do you make exploration exciting in your campaigns? Share your ideas in the comments below! 👇
I use exploration statblocks. I used once mosquitos as hit dice damage reducing player hitdice. I used swamp drains hit dice. I used high dcs one that climbing dc it was set at 60 and lowest had get an tally
i normally give the brief description of the location, one or two important details, encourage asking questions, normally bringing up cool ideas on whats there, or for extra details they are interested in.
"you come to the front of what looks like a ruined temple of blackstone, in a familiar design from your character, X's, upbringing. outside is a statue of a women in robes, which is currently leaning toppled over onto a dried out, gnarly tree. The air is arrid, and the sun high in the sky. and to know ones surprise, sand covers much of black stone. a camp, complete with fire pit and many bed rolls can be easily seen and finally two orcs sit in the shade, trying to keep cool. They dont seem to have noticed you, but if not careful, they can and will do so. what do you do."
Exploring is.
1st: About being able to picture yourself in the space and time that your players characters are at.
2nd: being able to describe the over all place with a healthy balance of detail that gets the over all view across.
You don't want to drone on too long and you don't want to just give a bland overview that does not immerse them.
3rd: giving them three or four specific scenarios that the PC's come across as they travel through the area which are interesting, and PC's may want to interact with.
They can be just for flavor, and they do not have to be encounters.
Make sure you give a good long pause between them, for effect and to let your players have a chance to react, comment, or discuss. You can sprinkle them inbetween encounters or you can use them to cause an encounter, or you can just use them as they are and move on (It all depends on what your group is like), but afterward have them exit the area or reach wherever it is they are going).
From time to time I have a player in my game that wants to fast travel to the location. I don't have a problem with that as long as everyone agrees, but I do give them a brief overview of what happened along the way.
"Okay you want to fast travel here is what you missed".
A few times you all stopped as you heard strange noises in the nearby woods, but never ventured in to really investigate.
At one point there was a tower that looked to be made of crystal that suddenly appeared in the distance.
Another time you passed by a fancy covered wagon with a broken wheel, it had writing on the side that said, "Crisando's Magical Curios and Oddities".
And there was a hermit near a stream dancing and shouting at the top of his lungs "I'm Rich".
Well anyway as you crest over the hill to your destination.
This is where they usually say, "Wait a minute, do we have to fast travel, or can we change our minds and go back to this that and/or the other thing"?
well said! Hope you stick around...
Got a new campaign in mind
What's so weird to me is the argument that exploration in D&D is lacking and is somehow D&D's fault. But there's entire sections of D&D books dedicated to giving examples of exploration encounters and things to have players do. I think a lot of this is just a fascinating example of 'Monopoly'; so many people have been taught how to play a game by the people before them that they never bother reading the rules and just assume the way they were taught is all there is to it.
very well said, traveler. hope you stick around...
Right. It’s bad DMs devoid of imagination. And there are many excellent wilderness and city exploration systems that you can easily use with any D&D edition you play. No excuses.
DM preplans encounters before players go for a walk. Move briskly until such encounter occurs. It could be as simple as you hear a rattle snake rattle in warning and you all step around it. You encounter a small heard of does., you are moving through tall sword grass 7 feet tall. You encounter an owlbear coming from the other way. Not everything is a threat. Sometimes it is lunch.
When your party orders DoorDash, but an owlbear shows up instead??? Guess it’s rolling for initiative and dinner!
I think it's basically boils down to how slow exploring can be
yea it's all about the DM and how they handle it
What website do you use to make ai podcast sounding videos?
Several AI tools (some custom built) are used to make the videos.
Notebooklm? It sounds like has similar length and sounds same voices.
@@soMeRandoM670 I believe you are right, these are the voices of NotebookLM. The talky guy and the hype/accentuation lady.
This is ai slop
No, fellow human, it is AI stew, slightly different.
Thanks for your input. Bleep. Bloop.
AI garbage
Correction: AI stew + a little squishy human tinkering, fellow human.
Thanks for your in-in-in-in-input! Giving!
Friendly feedback: the way the speakers constantly affirm one another and “ok”, “yes” or “right” over the other mid-sentence feels very contrived. The dialogue sounds heavily edited to come off as natural, but it achieves the opposite. Can you try a more natural discussion with fewer edits for authenticity?
No, the whole thing is AI.
Thanks, fellow human. We're working on getting quality up. Appreciate the input!
Most are finding the human DMs in the comments and "Community" tab a LOT more helpful. Hope you stick around.
First 60 seconds of ya, uh-hum, ya... no way. Ya. Nope. Nu-huh. Bye!
Goodbye, fellow human!