First some music whilst travelling…
One of the things I always found lacking in the RPGs I played was a proper system for travelling. Travel speed never sounded very likely, the random encounters were too random for my liking and not much could be done in relation to travel. Travelling was reduced to a basic math exercise, a boring intermission between adventures, and not really a part of the adventure, or indeed an opportunity for additional adventure. In MYFAROG I try to make travelling an adventure too, or at least an important and exciting part of the adventure.
In MYFAROG there is a fixed travel time that will be influenced by the load carried by the traveler and his speed. E. g. base time for walking 1 mile on a road is 10 minutes, and you can add 1 minute if the character is carrying a medium load or 4 minutes if he is carrying a heavy load. You can subtract a number of minutes equal to his attribute related to speed. The travel time will then (when not travelling on a road) be influenced by the Navigation skill of the traveler (or guide) (and a number of factors, such as weather and time of day). The better a character is at navigating the less time he will spend on detours and ‘taking the wrong turn’, so to say. The larger the party the slower the travel too.
You can walk, jog, sneak, track or both sneak and track when you travel (and ride a horse, sail a ship or row a boat), and of course the mode of travel influences the travel time. However, if you sneak or track (or sneak and track) along a road, in a field, in a bog, in the mountains or a forest doesn’t really matter; you pretty much sneak and/or track in the same tempo no matter the type of terrain. It does however matter if you walk or jog (or rider a horse) in this or that type of terrain.
The Stealth skill (sneaking) can be used whilst travelling to decrease the chance for a random encounter. The Tracking skill can be used to increase the chance for a random encounter.
When travelling in difficult terrain, and especially if jogging, you have to check if your character falls whilst travelling. If he does he can e. g. drown in a bog or injure himself from the fall (and in theory even suffer his death from this). Naturally falling is more dangerous when travelling in the mountains. The dexterity of the character, as well as the load he carries, will influence this.
The travelling speed, the size of the party and the Perception skill of the travelers (and the creatures they might bump into) matters when determining who discovers the other group first. This is very relevant for shy creatures or parties who for some reason may wish to avoid contact with others, and will of course also allow for ambushes or the tracking of others to their lairs.
When travelling in Etunakaimas (Jötunnheimr), an untamed wilderness of Þulê, the risk of bumping into other (often aggressive) creatures is even higher, and travelers can also be exposed to the different Ettin Phenomena present there. Very strange things are happening in Etunakaimas, that transcend logic. The sky is different, trees and other growths are twisted and grotesque, the weather wilder and travelers can come by e. g. an Ettin Earthstar, a Mara, a Netja, a Skîra, Sôtt orVertigo and if really unlucky can even hear the Call of the Kraken. These phenomena can send the characters running in panic, they can make them freeze, burn, be electrocuted in strange webs, lose all hope or even go insane. Nobody knows from whence these phenomena come, nor why they are there – or indeed why they just appear as from nowhere, and then disappears again without any trace. The use of runes can decrease the risk of being exposed to them, and an Ettin Stoneheart carried by someone in the party will do the opposite. Many in Þulê fear the growth of Etunakaimas, and commonly refer to it simply as “The Hunger”.
Þulê is a low-tech world of fantasy, inspired by mythology, history and pre-history, but also by the Lovecraftian mythos and science fiction. Gamers are free to use or not to use any of the aspects in the game. You can also simply have a Game Master who (some times?) says that “After 2 hours of walking through the wilderness you arrive safely in ‘this-or-that’ village”…. MYFAROG however allows for gamers to do it in a different, and I think interesting and exciting way.
