RP Workshop: Travel Time

When servers go down and we can't play our favourite game, we instead blog about our favourite game.

Here's something to remember when you are roleplaying in LotRO: it takes a lot longer for your character to get places than it appears. Eriador is huge; the distance from the Shire to Rivendell is something on the order of 350 miles, and that is a straight shot. Gandalf makes it from Rohan to the Shire in six days, but barring flying mounts (little joke there) the rest of us will need to spend a couple of weeks on such a journey.

Be aware of travel time when you are in the Pony chatting it up with your kinfolk. A character who sits down in front of the fire and says, "I met with Lord Elrond this morning," is talking nonsense. There's no way you could have met with Elrond this morning, unless you have manifested the power to be in two places at once. Instead, keep all references to time and distance vague. Instead of saying "Today I was in the North Downs fighting orcs," try, "I have been in the North recently." The first statement confuses players near you; how are they to respond to such a clear impossibility? But the second statement can be probed and questioned. Of course, we also need to avoid demanding dates and times from our friends when they make vague statements like this. Don't ask, "When were you North? Yesterday?" Because that forces the other person to go through all sorts of gymnastics to explain the fact that, yes, the world can be crossed in half an hour.

Who needs a flying mount anyway?