Now I am sure I have covered this before but tonight the path most travelled buy all parties is generally a road. Tonight we look at a very forested wooded path from the origin to the destination point for a party and look at just some of the thing that could be encountered.
So sit back, grab a coffee and let’s check out tonight’s ideas!
The Path Most Travelled
420SaPaMoTr
The path most travelled is a simple affair really. Having a driving force move the party through a generally hostile landscape to reach their destination. Travel is something that many people either gloss over or over-do with bandits, roaming wolves or the like but there are a multitude of other options that we can explore.
The first is a travelling merchant.
Picture this the party have been travelling for days now on the road and the weather has turned. As the skies darken, their animals slow and the world begins to get louder as rain pelts down against the travellers. But there is the scent of cooking meat on the air that rises above the smell of mud and damp vegetation. As the fat raindrops splash down from the trees above a flickering light ahead of them reveals that there are other travellers taking this popular road.
Approaching the light the warning growl of two large dogs put the party on on alert however the call that answered alleviated some of the worry. “Down girls, there is no need for that. These people don’t look like bandits and they are definitely not orcs or the other marauding humanoids. Come strangers, share my fire if you wish” called the voice of a thin man who poked the fire. The dogs growl softened into a concerned throaty noise but they listened to their owner.
The fire held what remained of what appeared to be a deer while a pot hung next to the fire and the contents, a stew, bubbled. The man smiled as nearby a horse whinnies as it rested under a large canvas that was strung up next to a wagon that was laden with boxes, barrels and cloth wrapped packages. “The names Steve, this here is Filly an this is Kane. Named her that before I realised she was a girl, but the name stuck anyway.” he said as he gave the large mastiff on his right a big scratch behind the ears.
“I am a merchant of types, general goods, supplies and a few other rarer items but most of those are back home in the shop. You are welcome to share the first and some stew if you want. I can share some stories too” he flashed a toothy grin as he fished out a ladle and some small bowls.
The other one is something that isn’t what it seems to be. Now this has been done many times before – once or twice on this blog and several other times in the TTRPG media scene. But the easiest is a child appearing next to the road and picking flowers, or my favourite curiosity – mushrooms.
As the party travelled along the well worn path the trees began to open up and more sun began to shine between the branches. Along the side of the road animals hurriedly avoided the party as they scampered into burrows or up trees just in case the party decided to make meals out of them. But there was plenty of other things to eat near the road with a bounty of mushrooms, fruits and other edible plants lining the road.
However while admiring the view next to the road a young boy was spotted moving from plant to bush and from bush to mushroom patch as he carefully prodded and examined each edible long the road. When he became aware of the party he smiled and waved before continuing to look at the mushrooms before plucking one out of a dozen similar ones surrounding it to be placed in a bag.
“Dad always said you need to be particularly careful when picking mushrooms!” he called out as he moved to grab a few handfuls of berries from a bush. “The berries are generally fine, its all about the leaf shape really when you think about it. Rounder leaves generally are less likely to be poisonous and you can always give them a sniff if you are confused.” he said as he grabbed the last few berries from a bush.
When asked what he was doing here, how he got here or who he was he replied with “Oh just doing nothing” or “Nothing special to get here” or “Just nobody” as he tried to artfully dodge the questions. After a while he approached the party and held out the bag. “you lot will need this food more than I will. There is something strange going on in the forest lately with something scaring the bigger game away. You best be careful what you hunt as well as they say its protected by the elves!” he said whispering and looking to the trees.
Before the party could ask any more questions he skipped away into the forest, pausing to wave once before walking behind a tree and disappearing from view entirely. Even as the party kept an eye out for him to reappear, or if they followed him shortly after any trace of the boy could not be found. The food he had collected appeared to be all edible and harvested with a master foragers touch. There was also a small whistle made of yew in the bag which made no sound when blown – but no matter how far they travelled they still felt like there were eyes on their backs constantly.
Two options for random encounters on the side of the road. Not everything has to be combat, nor does everything have to make sense on the road when it comes to D&D. Don’t forget that we will have another adventure starting tomorrow so don’t forget to come back daily this week. And as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe
Brazen Wolfe Tabletop 