Or, A Funny Thing Happened At the Border

This is the first Gnome Stew article written and posted entirely from a foreign country, while I’m on vacation. In honor of that occasion, and of the “no problems” attitude of the Caribbean, I’ll try to make it useful but lighthearted.

When travelling internationally, and crossing borders in the legally approved manner, a few things may trip up the unexpected adventurer:

  • It is entirely possible for two people to speak the same language, but be largely unintelligible to each other.
  • “Not only did my familiar have to get a license, but he also had to spend 10 days in quarantine at the border.”
  • Don’t drink the water without rum or a cleric. Trust me on this one.
  • “The customs agent would only let me bring one potion back across the border. On the plus side, it could be a whole liter. Now, where’s that Potion Miscibility Table?”
  • ‘Island Time’ is the same as Eastern Standard Time, plus about 1d6 hours. (Please note that this die roll may or may not explode.)
  • “We made a haul on our first international adventure, but ended up spending most of it on international roaming charges…”
  • On the immigration form, does ‘Adventurer’ fall under ‘Self-Employed’ or ‘Other’? Both?
  • “The list of contraband items did not mention arcane artifacts. I checked.”
  • Scuba diving is the applied sciences of gas and biology under pressure. At least, it is until the first shark shows up.
  • “Wait, in order to enter the country, we have to convert how many gold pieces to copper at a 1:1 ratio?” (Yes, this really happened.)
  • Foreign cultures may have strange rituals. (Okay, sorry for making you watch my vacation footage, but it is kind of surreal, isn’t it?)
  • “Who knew that guns are pretty much illegal outside the USA?”
  • Sand gets in everything.

Anything you’d like to add, especially anything dealing with international travel, and how the process might be applied to gaming in any genre? Sound off in the comments and let us know!

Until then, I’ll save a place under the umbrella for you…