Travel Encounters

There are two types of dangers that players will encounter on the road: natural hazards and warrior encounters. A natural hazard is an obstacle caused by the natural features of the environment, such as a tangle of brambles, a field of poppies that put characters to sleep, a swamp filled with leeches, or something similar. To overcome a natural hazard, players must approach it like a puzzle, using Supplies, lateral thinking, trials, and/or 🜉 to overcome it. To overcome a warrior encounter, players will have to win in combat or else think of a clever puzzle solution to avoid it.

Natural Hazards

When the result on the encounter die is that the player characters will come across a natural hazard, the GM should present them with a challenging obstacle appropriate to the climate of the path they are crossing. The Weather and Climate section contains examples of natural hazards that are appropriate for different climactic conditions. The players may tackle this problem any way they want to, and they may come up with a solution that does not require the expenditure of any items or 🜉. If so, allow them to pass the hazard. However, the standard solution to a natural hazard consists of spending Supplies and/or explaining what equipment from the PCs’ inventory they are using to overcome the challenge, and then succeeding in a relevant trial. Less dangerous natural hazards might only require the expenditure of Supplies, while more dangerous ones might count as puzzles with multiple stages. If the players cannot come up with a solution to the problem at hand, they may also backtrack and attempt to circle around the hazard. If they do so, they must spend an extra travel round navigating their way through an alternative route. If the players are able to pass the natural hazard without needing to backtrack, they also all earn 1 🜹. Certain kinds of natural hazards can also be passed by the use of Lore.

The consequences of failing to deal with a natural hazard depend on the hazard. Here are some possible outcomes:

• The PCs all receive a status, such as Poisoned, Burned, or Frostbitten.
• The PCs, or any Hero who fails the appropriate trial, each receive an injury.
• The player characters are forced to backtrack and waste a day of travel.
• One or more of the above.

Warrior Encounters

The other possible type of hostile encounter the party could come across is a warrior encounter. This is a group of 3-5 warriors, usually of the same tier as the party, that the Heroes have to defeat in combat in order to continue on. When creating the overworld, the GM should decide which warriors are present along each path. This will give the players a chance to learn about their opponents’ abilities and their various creature and elements in order to be better prepared. If the party defeats this group of warriors, they continue on to the Camping Phase of the travel round as normal. If the party flees the encounter, they must spend an extra travel round along their journey in order to regroup and cast the encounter die again the following day. Finally, if at least one of the player characters performed a successful Scout action during the prior travel round and decided to go ahead with having a warrior encounter, they will gain First Strike during combat. Once the battle is over, distribute items and 🜹 as normal. If the party members are all downed during a warrior encounter, what happens next depends on the motivations of their opponents. See the Playing Warriors section for more details.

It is mechanically possible for the result of the encounter die to indicate both a warrior encounter and a natural hazard. When this happens, the GM should decide which one the players encounter, but they shouldn’t encounter both in a single travel round.