Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 knightserpent Jul 30, 2014 8:03:01	Some mild spoilers, etc, etc.   Last session the party decided to head to the "north east" in search of Cragmaw Castle after getting the information from a random goblin.  North East being all the information that they had.  They've made it to the edge of the Neverwinter Wood and are about to enter.  The question is, how and why should I let them find the castle under those circumstances?  I'm thinking a series of successful survival checks every couple of hours.  Similar to how the Death Save works.     They'll probably run out of food and water, or at least run low before retreating to Phandalin.  Not to mention the probability of random encounters whittling down their resources.   That said, why do they think they can find something with such general information and how do you put some common sense into the players?  Am I going about it the right way by allowing a chance for them to find it or what?   Finally, the fighter is sleeping in his armor.  I haven't found rules on that.  Would you penalize that, and how?
#2 Swede1985 Jul 30, 2014 11:17:39	Hm. That's a tough one. Many times I've had my players make rolls (whatever the appropriate roll is for whatever edition) to see if they can find their way through the wilderness without any hiccups. Rarely do I have them get completely lost; I just give them a chance to run into something unexpected (random monster or event) but generally, I get the players where they want to go. I'd give them a chance to find it, a small chance, but give them an even bigger chance to come across a few hobgoblins or something that can give them a more direct route. If they are in the general area then chances are they are going to come across some goons from the castle. I guess, the point is, if they have an encounter in the wilderness make it matter - a random ogre battle is fun - but having the players feel like they are making progress toward finding a place they want to go is better.    Super uncomfortable to sleep in armor. If he's on watch, then of course he's wearing his armor, but come on...chainmail...is uncomfortable. I'd at least give him fatigue from not sleeping very well. I mean, the reason there are rules for how long it takes to get in and out of armor is that your characters are not going to be wearing their armor at all times. Hm? I don't remember...are their rules for that in the Basic PDF?
#3 knightserpent Jul 30, 2014 11:46:34	That's a good idea.  There's a fairly good chance for them to come against an Ogre, some Goblins, or Hobgoblins on the wilderness encounters table.  That will give them the opportunity to get more directions to the castle as well as a chance to track where they came from.   As for the fatigue, there's not a specific condition for that.  I recall hearing about exhaustion somewhere though.  I'll see what I can do about finding that and see if it fits.
#4 Be3Al2 Aug 02, 2014 14:27:02	The rules for getting lost will be in the DMG, so no luck there yet.   Pages 63 and 106 in the Basic rules have the rules for exhaustion. Having sleeping in armor being as extreme as forced marching or starving would probably be a bit too harsh on the player due to the risk of random encounters at night. Sleeping in armor is even depicted in the art on the first page inside the Starter Set rulebook.