Getting Around Barovia

When characters are traveling Barovia, they are supposed to roll for an encounter for every 30 minutes of travel. An encounter happens on an 18-20 on a road, or a 15-20 elsewhere. Once they hit 2 encounters in a 24 hour period, you stop checking.

To simplify the process, such that I remember to periodically do so, I have recorded the time it takes to travel on foot at normal pace between various locations by road, by river, and by wandering through the brush. I specify river travel, because buying a row boat and riding it up and down the rivers might actually be a good idea in some situations.

Personally, I do the hour-by-hour approach for travel, so I upped that rate to 1 check per hour. Still, if you want to do it RAW, there's nothing stopping you from just rolling twice as much.

To use this information, simply ask the players their destination and pace, then find each of the encounter sites between them and their destination by their travel route, and finally add together the times between those destinations to find the total time. This will tell you how many times to roll for an encounter.

For even higher precision, simply add up the travel time between sites as the party goes. Each time they hit 1 hour in the process of travelling, roll for an encounter. For example, if the party travels on foot at a normal pace by road from Barovia to Villaki, their route would look like this:

E-D 0h15m
D-F 1h0m (1 ENCOUNTER)
F-H 2h50m (1 ENCOUNTER)
H-I 3h20m (1 ENCOUNTER)
I-O 4h20m (1 ENCOUNTER)
O-N 6h10m (2 ENCOUNTERS)

To find the slow pace, increase the time by 30%. (A 45m walk becomes a 58m walk)

To find the fast pace, reduce the time by 30%. (A 45m walk becomes a 31m walk)

On horseback, cut the time in half. If they are riding at a non-standard pace, apply the 30% deviation AFTER halving the travel time by horseback.

In addition, if the players wander the empty spaces of the map, use the following time per hex:

Normal Pace: 5m
Fast Pace: 3m
Slow Pace: 6m
Horseback Normal Pace: 2m
Horseback Fast Pace: 1m
Horseback Slow Pace: 2m

Those numbers are based on each hex being equal to a quarter mile, and standard pace being 3 miles to an hour. That's 12 hexes in an hour, which divvies into 5 minutes per hex. The adjustments for special travel pace are then applied to the time per hex, rather than the speed that generates it.

Finally, the distances are broken into chunks named with the assumption that characters begin in Barovia at site E and move outward from that location by foot. The river directions are given in the direction it appears the rivers are flowing; beginning upstream and ending downstream. (Keep in mind that the water flows down hill away from the mountains into pools/lakes or off the map.) The named sections are still the same in reverse. D-E could just as easily be E-D.

BY ROAD

The roads are probably the most dangerous way to travel, frankly. They are winding time wasters that give enemies ample time to attack and kill you.

E - D 15m

D - F 45m

F - G 30m

G - H 30m

F - H 1h50m

H - I 30m

I - J 1h45m

J - K 5m

I - B 5m

I - O 1h

O - N 1h50m

N - L 10m

N - P 15m

P - U 1h5m

P - V 55m

V - R Crossroad 15m

PQR Crossroad - P 35m

PQR Crossroad - Q 40m

PQR Crossroad - R Crossroad 25m

R Crossroad - T 2h40m

T - X 1h35m

R - W 1h

R - Y 1h45m

R - S 55m

BY RIVER

This is probably the safest way to travel, but also the most limited. The rivers of Barovia are disconnected and divide the land rather than uniting it. Additionally, moving rowboats from one river to another requires hauling large heavy objects along the winding roads that do connect settlements.

D - G 55m

G - H 25m

N - P 25m

P - U 75m

U - T 45m

S - R 40m

R - V 15m

WANDERING

This is the middle ground for travel. It is faster to simply plow through the wilderness, rather than take the roads. As a consequence, you are going to run into fewer encounters on average. Many places do have a straight shot along a road or river, but these are usually intermediary locations leading to major locations. As such, it is usually better to travel straight from major site to major site. That being said, the dividing rivers are a major barrier to this type of travel unless you carry a boat with you.

E - G 45m (BOAT)

E - K 45m

E - N 2h20m

G - K 35m (BOAT)

H - K 35m

O - N 35m

S - Z 35m

S - W m5m (BOAT)

P - Q 30m

Q - U 30m

T - X 40m

W - Y 45m