Getting Around
| Method | Availability | Cost & Limits |
|---|---|---|
| Foot | Everyone | Default. Small zone: half a day. Large zone: 2–3 days. |
| Ground mount | Purchasable from ~tabletop level 4 | Horse, ram, mechanostrider, saber, wolf, kodo, raptor, skeletal steed. Faction-locked and culturally specific — a dwarf on a kodo is a story. |
| Flight path | Between known, allied roosts only | Expensive. Gryphon (Alliance), wyvern (Horde), hippogryph, bat. See pricing below. |
| Ship | Fixed routes, fixed schedules | Menethil ↔ Theramore ↔ Auberdine ↔ Darnassus · Booty Bay ↔ Ratchet. Days at sea, weather, naga. |
| Zeppelin | Orgrimmar ↔ Undercity ↔ Grom'gol | Goblin-built. This should worry passengers. |
| Deeprun Tram | Stormwind ↔ Ironforge | Two hours, beneath the sea, free. A genuine marvel. |
| Hearthstone | One per character, bound to one inn | Once per week. See below. |
| Mage portal | Mage PCs, or hired | Capitals only. Ruinous if hired at low level. |
The Hearthstone
Every character may attune one hearthstone to one inn. Rebinding takes an hour with the innkeeper and can be done anywhere with a bound inn.
Usage: once per seven days. Track it on the character sheet, not in your head — the players will.
Good reasons the stone fails, established in advance and telegraphed:
- Deep beneath Blackrock Mountain — the ley interference is audible as a hum
- Inside Ahn'Qiraj's walls or a Titan vault
- Aboard a ship at sea, or anywhere in The Emerald Dream
- Anywhere the Twilight's Hammer have prepared ground on purpose
Flight Path Costs
Flight is fast and it should hurt to use. Price it as a real budget decision at levels 1–8, and a convenience by level 12.
| Distance | Rough Cost | Feels Like |
|---|---|---|
| One zone hop | Small but noticeable | "Do we need to?" |
| Cross-continent, 3–4 legs | A meaningful chunk of party funds | A planned expense |
| Emergency, unlinked roost | Refused at any price | Roosts must be visited on foot first |
Time Skips and Artificial Breaks
Legitimate reasons to skip weeks or months, in rough order of usefulness:
| Break | Length | Fiction |
|---|---|---|
| Winter | 6–10 weeks | Passes close in Dun Morogh. Seas unsafe. Campaigning stops because campaigning does stop. |
| Training | 2–6 weeks | A new tier of ability requires a trainer, a capital, and time. Cover for a level-up. |
| Recovery | 2–8 weeks | A serious wound, a curse, a resurrection debt. See Death and Resurrection. |
| Crafting or commission | 3–12 weeks | Resistance gear, a forged weapon, a chartered ship |
| Waiting on the world | any | A trial date, a thaw, a shipment, a birth, a siege |
| Political delay | 4–12 weeks | The Senate votes in spring. The hearing is set for autumn. Nothing the party does moves it. |
During a skip, always:
- Advance the relevant clocks and read the World Events Calendar for the months crossed.
- Give each PC one downtime action (below).
- Deliver one piece of bad news the party could have prevented had they been there. Not a punishment — physics.
- Change one price. Every clock has an economic shadow.
Downtime Activities
One per character per skip, unless the skip is long.
- Craft — see Professions and Crafting
- Curry favour — advance a faction's regard (Reputation as a Mechanic)
- Research — libraries in Ironforge, Darnassus, the Kirin Tor in exile, the Explorers' League
- Train — new abilities require a trainer in a capital. This is the usual cover for levelling.
- Carouse — Goldshire, the Pig and Whistle, Thelsamar. Roll on Rumor Tables twice and let them keep both.
- Work a trade — mercenary contracts, caravan guard, bounties. Pays, and generates hooks.
- Tend a relationship — an NPC from Characters MOC. Genuinely the highest-value option and players under-use it. Say so.