Wilderness Survival Rules

Weariness
Weariness is the core mechanic of wilderness travel. Every two points of Weariness marked adds a -1 CON penalty to the PC. CON penalties accrued in this way can only be restored through restful travel behaviors such as sleeping a full night, eating an especially hearty meal, or spending part of a day resting. For simplicity's sake, most of the various ailments and setbacks you suffer will be boiled down into an effect upon your overall Weariness. For example, if you start skipping meals, you will find that the hunger makes you tire more easily—this is expressed as a Weariness penalty. Weariness will become more punishing the longer you ignore it. At 10 points and above, all sources of Weariness are doubled.

Food
Your adventuring party requires 3 meals per day. Each meal missed will cause an extra point of Weariness. Food may come in the form of trail rations, or fresh meals. It is assumed that your crew always has access to a (somewhat) inexhaustible supply of Trail rations--unless a specific event determines otherwise. Trail rations will sate your hunger, and nothing more. A fresh meal has a chance to reduce your overall Weariness, if it is cooked exceptionally well (survival DC 25). Fresh food can no longer just be tossed in your backpacks and forgotten. If it is not preserved somehow (smoked, salted, pickled), it will go bad by the next day. The process of preserving fresh food is time consuming. It takes an entire extra travel slot to complete the job.

Travel
Each day will consist of four travel "slots" after you set out in the morning--though this number may be modified through various means. Each slot constitutes one card drawn from the deck. To break up the exhausting hike, the party must skip one of their card draws sometime during the day's travel. This is usually the best time to stop and cook a meal, if they have fresh food on hand. They may instead choose to eat their rations in the saddle without stopping to rest, but it will incur a point of Weariness.

A travel segment will have a pre-set number of cards required to complete it, and a par travel time (based on the number of days it would take to reach destination at a lax rate of travel) that you're looking to beat. The faster you get through the deck, the faster you arrive. This is managed by making decisions which increase your total travel slots per day, some of which are outlined below. Generally speaking, the sooner you arrive at your destination, the better things will pan out for you story-wise. The longer it takes you to get there, the more bad things will happen in your absence. For example, if you're looking to join and aid an allied army on the march, you may arrive late to find they've fought and lost a decisive battle without you.

Common Travel Speed Adjustments

 * Pack Animals: +1 card per day
 * Travel Spell: +1 card/day (non-stacking, even between non-duplicate spells, maximum +1 total per day)
 * Forced March: +1 card per day (adds +1 weariness)
 * Moderate Weather: -1 card per day (adds +1 weariness per day)
 * Severe Weather: -2 cards per day (adds +1 weariness per card traveled)

Weather
Weather will be based on a d10 roll at the beginning of each day. Mild weather (6-10) will not impede your progress. Moderate weather (3-4) will be a mild hinderance. Severe weather (1-2) will be a major hinderance, possibly even preventing travel altogether. The exact type of weather will be determined by the local region and season.

Camping
At the end of the day, it's time to find somewhere to rest. This period of time will consist of several phases: Camp setup/dinner, first watch, second watch, Camp breakdown/breakfast. A luxurious campsite may reduce Weariness, as will sleeping through both watches. In the morning, spellcasters must prepare their spells for the day. The last thing you do before heading out is make a navigation roll (negated with certain spells), subject to Weariness penalty if you do poorly, since a bad detour costs you time and energy.