11  Wilderness Adventures

Wilderness Movement Rates

Movement rates when traveling in the wilderness are related directly to encounter movement rates, as shown on the table below:

Encounter Movement (Ft per Rnd) Wilderness Movement (Mls per Day)
10’ 6
20’ 12
30’ 18
40’ 24
50’ 30
60’ 36
70’ 42
80’ 48
90’ 54
100’ 60
110’ 66
120’ 72

Naturally, any group traveling together moves at the rate of the slowest member.

Overland Travel

The movement rates shown on the table above are figured based on an 8 hour day of travel through open, clear terrain. The terrain type will alter the rate somewhat, as shown on this table:

Terrain Adjustment
Jungle, Mountains, Swamp ×1/3
Desert, Forest, Hills ×2/3
Clear, Plains, Trail ×1
Road (Paved) ×1 1/3

Characters may choose to perform a forced march, traveling 12 hours per day. If this is done, add an additional 50% to the distance traveled. Each day of forced march performed after the first inflicts 1d6 damage on the characters (and their animals, if any). A save vs. Death Ray with Constitution bonus applied is allowed to avoid this damage, but after this save is failed once, it is not rolled again for that character or creature. A day spent resting “restarts” the progression.

Becoming Lost

Though adventurers following roads, rivers, or other obvious landmarks are unlikely to become lost, striking out into trackless forest, windblown desert, and so on is another matter. Secretly roll a save vs. Death Ray, adjusted by the Wisdom of the party leader (i.e., whichever character seems to be leading). An Ability Roll against Wisdom may be rolled, if that optional rule is in use. The GM must determine the effects of failure

Waterborne Travel

Travel by water may be done in a variety of boats or ships; see the table in the Vehicles section for details. Travel distances are based on a 12 hour day of travel, rather than the usual 8 hours per day given above. Note that sailed ships may travel 24 hours per day (if a qualified navigator is aboard), and so may be able to cover twice the normal distance per day of travel. This is in addition to the multiplier given below. If the ship stops each night, as is done by some vessels traveling along a coastline as well as those vessels having less than the minimum number of regular crewmen on board, the two-times multiplier does not apply.

Movement of sailed ships varies depending on weather conditions, as shown on the following table. Sailing movement modifiers shown apply when sailing with the wind; sailing against the wind involves tacking (called “zigzagging” by landlubbers) which reduces movement rates as indicated on the table.

d12 Wind Direction
1 Northerly
2 Northeasterly
3 Easterly
4 Southeasterly
5 Southerly
6 Southwesterly
7 Westerly
8 Northwesterly
9-12 Prevailing wind direction for this locale
d% Wind Conditions Sailing Tacking
01-05 Becalmed x0 x0
06-13 Very Light Breeze x1/3 x0
14-25 Light Breeze x1/2 x1/3
26-40 Moderate Breeze x2/3 x1/3
41-70 Average Winds x1 x1/2
71-85 Strong Winds x1 1/3 x2/3
86-96 Very Strong Winds x1 1/2 x0
97-00 Gale x2 x0

Notes:

Becalmed: Sailing ships cannot move. Oared ships may move at the given rowing movement rate.

Very Strong Winds: Sailing against the wind (tacking) is not possible.

Gale: Sailing against the wind is not possible, and ships exposed to a gale may be damaged or sunk; apply 2d8 points of damage to any such ship, per hour sailed.

Traveling by Air

When traveling by air, overland movement rates are doubled, and all terrain effects are ignored. Most winged creatures must maintain at least one-third normal forward movement in order to remain airborne; however, devices such as flying carpets generally do not have this limitation.