In mods it is generally assumed that adventuring parties all travel the same way. A bed roll, and either a Hot or Cold camp. In the crusade arc this was likely a good assumption. Nobody had cash. But now that folks have cash to spend....

How are PC's traveling these days. Is is all on foot? Mounted? Or with the kitchen sink in tow?

Mine are all pretty basic - either on foot or mounted. I have a Sc'math from the Kickstarter but won't use it until the new Sethregore book comes out (so I know if I put it on Ss'kethis or make a new Ss'ressen).

Maybe I should expand on what I was interested in....

The Roman Army would march 5-hours (About 12 miles hard march), then spend the rest of the day setting up what could best be described a fortified camp so when night fell they were secure. This was aided when engineers with the legion would serve as an advanced guard, and stake out the location for the camp. Again all with preplanned precision. When I was stationed in Korea, we did pretty much the same thing, only we didn't march for five hours, we rode in humvees and armored vehicles instead. But the whole 5-hours on the march, followed by setting up fortifications seems to be standard military procedure for centuries on end.

With that in mind, and also considering the large number of adventurers with military experience, I am surprised that most "camps" are little more than a collection of bedrolls. Granted this is reasonable for scouting parties, that want a stealthy approach. But it seems counter to the thoughts of most of our PC's backgrounds.

Perhaps the mod writers are assuming a full 12 hours on the march? In which case we would expect to cover 30 miles by foot a day? That is a lot of walking with gear, and armor, and weapons.

Another thought is that most players are dumping all or most all of their cash into runes and weapons/armor upgrades. Would a real person do this? Or would they rather spend their gold on a nice tent and a soft bed to sleep in while traveling?

Just some thoughts.... Remember magic is supposed to be rare in this game. So why are we walking around with so much rare equipment, and so little mundane gear?

What this did make me think about is runes for more normal items. Hardness runes to help ladders live their secret lives longer. Warmth runes for the always toasty bedroll without weighing 20 pounds. what is the effect on digging if your shovel or pick is made of fervidite? There are a lot of creature comforts I could see spending cash on over just getting an additional +1 on damage.

Though maybe that is the magic creep the campaign is worried about...

Given what I recall reading in Forged in Magic we are not going to see runes on ladders. As I recall enchanting in general is an arduous process fraught with danger, so not taken lightly. Hence the 5GP cost which in Arcanis terms is a LOT of money. At least to the average person. Adventurers well that's another story.

Me thinks toodeep was making fun of me and my ideas in good humor.

Oh I was just having fun. No harm done or meant. This is Arcanis not Eberron after all.

Reminds me of an Eberron game I did play with my Warforged Ftr/Art. Boarded by pirates, as soon as there was room, my orders went out: "board them!"

Between bull-rushes (off the boarding plank) and tactics, we wiped out the scripted foes. The story didn't envision us *taking* the pirate ship (recurrent foe), so had to twiddle our thumbs and sit on the deck to get back on script.

Really odd; the best way to 'win' Eberron games was to go with the "Action Movie" genre. Origins'05, ours was the only table to max out one of the games for the weekend doing that.

A lot of mods don't involve setting camp. Hard to dig a berm and a dry moat if you are in downtown Savona. Though the thought of that is so weird I kinda want to use that as a hook someday in something I write. "You're trying to get to the Governor's office but it looks like legionnaires are trying to set up a fortified camp in the middle of the street, digging up cobblestones and blocking traffic..."

I have not served in the military but I have had the misfortune to dig some big holes with shovels. IMO it's absurdly hard work. I am well aware that the legions of Rome did it day in and day out ... Which I find pretty impressive. On the other hand I think the only reason it worked for them is that they had a hundred (or more) people working it for three hours. I don't think 5 people produce anything really impressive ditch-wise in the same period. IME holes take a lot of digging.

Lots of mods that involve travel still don't worry much about setting camp either. My PCs Made it to fervidite mines and Tultipet (twice!) without worrying much about the camping layout. Mostly I think because 4 hours can go fast in a slot and mod writers usually don't want to spend time there that they could use on RP or combat.

Do people want complicated plans for camping to make a difference in mods? Would that add an important layer of versimilitude? Or are players just worried about being "screwed" at some point by mod authors and judges?

Since the campaign is aiming for a Sword & Sorcery level of magic, the thing i always ask myself is "Would something like this show up in a Conan-esque story from Howard?" Generally not a lot of "mundane" magic there.