Zarban

Gary Gygax loved mega-dungeons (as many people still do). He gave lots of advice about creating a dungeon with numerous levels, where each level deeper was a little tougher than the last. He included the Caves of Chaos–with its gorge full of monster lairs, many of which are connected–with the Dungeons & Dragons Basic box set. Play numerous adventures all in one dungeon!

But I’m here to tell you: make your heroes travel. Indiana Jones traveled from South America to his home in the US to Nepal to Egypt to sea to a secret island and finally home again–all in the first movie!

Your Realms

You probably created a map with several realms. Have them roam all over it. Theater of the mind has an unlimited budget!

Instead of putting points of interest close together (let alone in the same hex), I say scatter them across regions and make the regions noticeably different. Don’t make your realms homogeneous; make them distinct in both in terrain and culture:

• forests here, mountains there
• goblins here; orcs there
• churches here, temples there
• cloaks here, coats there
• bears here, lions there
• oaks here, palms there

Send Them Packing

Give the heroes some motivation to travel far and wide. Yes, there are plenty of goblin warrens in the Horsehead Hills, but only one of them has a decent treasure, because they seized a small merchant wagon train. On the other hand, the Long-tooth gnolls in the Grassy Lasts captured a monastery’s tribute shipment recently….

In this scenario, you don’t roll up the recommended treasure for goblins just because they’re goblins. You only roll it because they are the goblins known to have amassed some wealth recently.

This way, the rumors the heroes hear are soon (once they get to 3rd level) no longer about local problems but rather about problems in three different directions two day’s travel away. If they start in Pacita, do they want to pursue the trade caravan lost over near Zagri, the kidnapped heiress down in Tuscara, or the werewolf hunt over in Giona?

The decision is down partly to their desire for the type of adventure (and treasure) to be had and partly to their interest in the culture to be found there. If they choose Zagri, their next choices might be the Ruins of Ancient Urbus or even a journey to far-off desert land of Alaram. But if they choose Tuscara, it may lead to a trip to the imperial capital of Portovinia or even across the southern sea to the coast of Sush, land of lions and elephants.

Travel Itself

It doesn’t really matter if you roll for travel encounters daily or just fast-travel to the destination. Either is better than playing a lifetime of adventure in your own back yard.