Travel

Your heroic adventures will often take you to far off and exotic locations. To get there will likely take days or even weeks of travel, depending on the distance, terrain and weather. You’re likely to accumulate stress and doom as you travel, making your adventures more difficult when you get to them. But your activities while traveling can make your journey easier and safer.

When you begin your travels, tell the GM where you plan to go and how you plan to get there. The GM will tell you what you know about the area and any obstacles of which you are aware. During each day of travel, you will cover a certain amount of distance depending on the landscape and the weather. You and your allies may each choose one travel activity you will undertake while traveling. In particular, you will need a navigator unless you can follow clear landmarks like a road.

Using this information, the GM will call for rolls to determine how well each day goes. The GM will tell you how far you go, what terrain or other features you encounter, and how much stress you suffer during the day. The GM will also determine if the areas you travel through are safe, wild, dangerous, or deadly, which determine how much doom your travels stir up.

The GM will keep track of your precise location, but only tell you what you see, hear and know. If you can’t determine your exact location and you suspect you might be lost, it is up to you to keep track of where you think you might be and make your best guess as to how to proceed. Likewise, you might not know how dangerous an area is until the GM gains a point of doom.

The GM will also tell you how much stress each character in your group suffers after your day’s travel, based on the terrain and weather. If your stress is getting high, you may try to rest in place for a few days to recover your strength. But even while you’re not traveling, you still consume supplies and accumulate doom.

Landscape

The landscape is the type of terrain that you travel through for most of the day, and it has the biggest impact on how far you go and how difficult the journey is. A list of landscape types, normal travel distance, and stress per day are show in the table below. If you need to determine how far your group travels in an hour, such as in a dangerous territory, divide these travel distances by 10. The table also shows the landscapes ruggedness and fertility, which determine the difficulty of some travel activities. These are only guidelines, and the GM may determine that a particular landscape has different features than those listed here.

Weather

Weather and storms can slow your travels and make them more stressful. The GM will describe the weather in one of four terms: clear weather, foul weather, mild storm, and severe storm.

• Clear weather is a sunny or cloudy day with no precipitation, it has no effect on your travel speed or stress.

• Foul weather might be light rain or snow, or an an unseasonal heat wave or cold snap. Foul weather slows your travels for the day by 5 mi / 8 km, and inflicts an additional point of stress The right equipment might protect you from foul weather.

• A mild storm might be a rainstorm, or a light blizzard or dust storm. Traveling during a mild storm is not recommended; your travels are slowed by 10 mi / 16 km, and you suffer five stress if you choose to travel that day. A mild storm imposes a bane on all travel activities; it might be wise not to attempt any activities during a storm. Even if you’re not traveling, you will need to find shelter to wait out the storm if you want to avoid stress.

• A severe storm is a thunderstorm, hurricane, or an extreme blizzard or dust storm. Travel is impossible, and any character exposed to the elements suffers one stress per hour. Some weather, like tornadoes and supernatural storms, may have even more immediate and dangerous consequences.

Mounts & Vehicles

Mounts and vehicles, such as horses, wagons, and ships, make travel easier and more convenient over long distances. With proper pack saddles, a donkey can carry 50 bulk, a horse, mule, or camel can carry 100 bulk, and an ox can carry 150 bulk, not including a rider. A horse, mule, camel, or ox needs to eat five supplies per day, and a donkey eats three. However, these animals may be able to forage for food where grass is plentiful.

Mounts are also more comfortable; you suffer one less stress per day from traveling through any terrain while riding. However, mounted travel doesn’t protect against the effects of weather. Mounts themselves may become stressed and suffer afflictions if taken to extreme environments or not cared for. While many mounts are capable sprinters, they aren’t much faster over the course of a day. Mounts don’t increase your group’s overland travel speed under normal circumstances.

A wagon or carriage must be pulled by a beast of burden, and doubles the amount of bulk that beast can transport. You also suffer one less stress while riding on such a vehicle. However, wagons and carriages travel 5 mi / 8 km per day more slowly on roads, and 10 mi / 16 km more slowly where there isn’t a road. If this would slow you speed to 0, you may need to make a forced march to make any progress that day.

Large sailing ships can travel around 100 mi / 160km per day, depending on their size and construction. Prevailing winds may increase or decrease this speed depending on their direction. You typically suffer one stress per day of travel aboard a large ship, though this might be increased by the weather. Large ships can carry tremendous amounts of goods.

Travel Activities

While traveling, you can undertake additional activities that help you on your adventure. At the start of each day of travel, tell the GM which, if any, activity you will do while you travel. In particular, you should make sure you have a navigator unless you can follow clear landmarks like roads or rivers.

With the exception of navigators and trailblazers, your group can benefit from multiple characters participating in the same activity. Travel activities can adjust your speed, stress, doom, and supplies favorably or unfavorably depending on your success. So consider your priorities, strengths, and the landscape when deciding the best course of action. You are encouraged to use your background–identity, any tools you have, and what you know about the terrain to aid with your travel activities.

Your activities will also determine your positions if a fight breaks out. Trailblazers and scouts will generally lead the way, with navigators close behind. Hunters and foragers will generally be to the side and a little off the beaten path looking for resources. Haulers, provisioners, and entertainers will generally be in the back taking care of supplies and allies.

Navigating

You keep careful watch of landmarks, your navigational tools, and the stars at night to make sure your group doesn’t get lost. The GM will call for a cunning roll based on the landscape’s ruggedness, but the GM will usually make this roll in secret. Tracking a creature or group is also considered navigating, and the GM will set the difficulty based on the landscape and your quarry. Success means you stay on course, while failure means you get lost. The GM will only describe what you see, hear, and know, so you must pay attention for signs that you might have gotten lost. Your group can only benefit from one successful navigator per day, though you can attempt a group roll if you wish.

Foraging

You rummage and dig to find valuable plants and minerals, especially water if you are in an arid environment. Make a cunning roll based on the landscape’s fertility. You gain one supply for each of your successful dice and find water if at least one die is successful. Failure means you attract unwanted attention and generate a point of doom, although a successful scout can prevent this point of doom. A mixed roll results in both.

Scouting

You keep a watchful eye out for danger and make sure that your group doesn’t stumble into dangerous situations. Make an agility roll based on the landscape’s ruggedness. Success reduces the amount of doom your group generates by one. Failure means you end up slowing your group’s travel speed by 5 mi / 8 km for the day as they wait for you. A mixed roll results in both.

Hunting

You creep through the wilderness to hunt animals for their meat and other useful materials. Make an agility roll based on the landscape’s fertility. You gain one supply for each of your successful dice. Failure means you attract unwanted attention and generate a point of doom, although a successful scout can prevent this point of doom. A mixed roll results in both.
A ranged weapon, such as a bow, is a minimum requirement for hunting. Most weapons don’t offer any bonus to your hunting roll, although specialized hunting tools might.

Trailblazing

You clear your path of underbrush, vines, or rocks and hike hills and climb trees make sure your group finds the easiest path forward. Make a brawn roll based on the landscape’s ruggedness. Success means you increase your group’s travel speed by 5 mi / 8 km for the day. Failure means you overexert yourself and suffer a point of stress. A mixed roll results in both. Your group can only benefit from one successful trailblazer per day, though you can attempt a group roll if you wish.

Hauling

You offer to aid your allies by carrying some of their gear and handling the lion’s share of the manual labor. Make a brawn roll based on the landscape’s ruggedness. Success lets you relive one stress each from two of your traveling companions. Failure means you end up slowing your group’s travel speed by 5 mi / 8 km for the day. A mixed roll results in both.

Provisioning

You tend to your group’s supplies to prevent spoilage and waste, and craft what you can to replenish supplies. Make a serious roll based on the landscape’s fertility. Success lets you choose two of your traveling companions to not expend supplies for the day. Failure means your strict provisioning has cause one of your traveling companions one stress. A mixed roll results in both.

Entertaining

You tell stories, play music, and crack jokes to lighten the spirits of your companions. Make a whimsical roll based on the landscape’s ruggedness. Success lets you relive one stress each from two of your traveling companions. Failure means you attract unwanted attention and generate a point of doom, although a successful scout can prevent this point of doom. A mixed roll results in both.

Miscellaneous

You might also set your own priorities when you travel. You might choose to create a map, mitigate a specific environmental hazard, cover your tracks so you can’t be followed. Tell the GM what you’d like to do during the day, and the GM will tell you what rules to use.

Forced March

In addition to other travel activities, you can push yourself to travel faster, at the cost of suffering stress. You may travel an additional 5 mi / 8 km per day at the cost of one stress, or an additional 10 mi / 16 km per day at the cost of three stress. You can benefit from a forced march even while doing other activities, and you don’t need to roll. But everyone in you group must choose a forced march or else you become separated from those who don’t.