I'm currently running Hoard of the Dragon Queen. Last session my party started the long road trip portion in Episode four. It's been going well, but in 14 days I've already rolled 5 of the 12 pre-existing encounters.
Because of this, I'm thinking of adding some extra monster encounters to fill things out. Does anyone have any good ideas for some good beasties to throw at a party of five level 4s? I almost considered adding a Bullete, but then I saw it's attack damage...
(Note: We already did the hobgoblins and perytons encounters)
Short answer: 3-5 encounters max (including fights, sights, and social encounters) is all it should take to travel ANYWHERE. Period. (Also, there are infinite exceptions to this stance! :P )
Slightly longer answer: adding in too many travel events turns journeys into a slog. That 40 day trip up the Sword Coast in HotDQ is poorly written (particularly the uninspired random encounter table mechanic provided) and poor advice is given on how to run it and keep it entertaining. The answer is not more encounters but rather encounters that matter to the narrative you're trying to tell. The players will have much more fun (and travel will feel more impactful) with a handful of choice encounters that matter to the story than they will a bunch of nickle-and-dime speed-bump encounters. You don't even have to roll on the random table. Use the table for inspiration for an encounter, or make up an encounter and tie it into a PCs backstory, or make the encounter a test of one or more PC's traits/ideals/bonds/flaws. A few encounters later, boom, they're in Waterdeep.
Hello!
I'm currently running Hoard of the Dragon Queen. Last session my party started the long road trip portion in Episode four. It's been going well, but in 14 days I've already rolled 5 of the 12 pre-existing encounters.
Because of this, I'm thinking of adding some extra monster encounters to fill things out. Does anyone have any good ideas for some good beasties to throw at a party of five level 4s? I almost considered adding a Bullete, but then I saw it's attack damage...
(Note: We already did the hobgoblins and perytons encounters)
Hombrew: Way of Wresting, Circle of Sacrifice
Short answer: 3-5 encounters max (including fights, sights, and social encounters) is all it should take to travel ANYWHERE. Period. (Also, there are infinite exceptions to this stance! :P )
Slightly longer answer: adding in too many travel events turns journeys into a slog. That 40 day trip up the Sword Coast in HotDQ is poorly written (particularly the uninspired random encounter table mechanic provided) and poor advice is given on how to run it and keep it entertaining. The answer is not more encounters but rather encounters that matter to the narrative you're trying to tell. The players will have much more fun (and travel will feel more impactful) with a handful of choice encounters that matter to the story than they will a bunch of nickle-and-dime speed-bump encounters. You don't even have to roll on the random table. Use the table for inspiration for an encounter, or make up an encounter and tie it into a PCs backstory, or make the encounter a test of one or more PC's traits/ideals/bonds/flaws. A few encounters later, boom, they're in Waterdeep.