Saturday 29 August 2020

#RPGaDAY2020 29: RIDE

#RPGaDAY2020

29: RIDE

How do the characters get from adventure to adventure, outside of single-city games?

Horseback is a popular choice for historical and medieval-ish-fantasy games. As noted by clarkythecruel, horses are often treated as motorbikes that run on oats. I’m not an expert on horses myself, but I do know they can get tired.

Modern groups often have vans that somehow carry six people and all their gear. Vehicles being bigger on the inside isn’t just for Doctor Who!

Planet-hopping SF games usually have a fairly detailed ship, and frequently ship combat rules. These are often small and run by the player characters and maybe an NPC or two, Millennium Falcon style. Star Trek style big ships with lots of NPCs are less common. Smaller ships come with fewer expectations of staying on mission, and breaking down as a spur to adventure feels less contrived.

Some games follow the Indiana Jones line on a map to show travel, while others make the journey a major feature of the game. The One Ring is very much about the Journey.

Kids On Bikes is more about the genre than the actual bike-riding, although having a bike denotes a certain freedom to travel.

And there are lots of ways a vehicle can lead to an adventure. A coach pulling up at a crossroad? A car with no driver? An express elevator to Hell? A boat across the Styx?

See also the Combat Wheelchair for a vehicle taken into indoor adventures as well.

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