This table assumes the PCs are moving at a walking pace and are not doing a forced march extending their travel time beyond 8 hours in the day. If the travel is along clear terrain such as a trail, road or along a body of water the party can travel up to an extra six miles a day. Mounted characters traveling along clear terrain can gain another bonus doubling the amount of miles covered. Any travel in difficult terrain moves at the same pace whether it is on horseback or walking. Travel in carts can only be achieve along relatively flat terrain. Traveling in the dark is the same as traveling in difficult terrain. Travel speed is halved if any party members are encumbered with too much load.

Each day, characters should choose a pace of travel. Traveling fast gets the party farther, but leaves it vulnerable to ambush and raises the chance that they get lost. Careful travel gives the party options to sneak to surprise others themselves, forage for food along the way, explore any hidden points of interest or navigate to recover from getting lost.

PCs may choose to travel slowly in order to perform one or more of these tasks. PCs who wish to sneak as they travel may scout ahead of the group and attempt to identify wilderness encounters ahead of time. By doing so, the group may use that PC’s Stealth proficiency to see if they sneak up on any encounter along the way. They may not spend their time doing any other tasks such as foraging or exploring.

For each four hours of travel, a survival check should be made by the navigator with a success score based on the terrain type. Any PCs who navigate while they travel may do so with advantage, at the cost of the entire group traveling slower. This check may be made with help from other PCs, and might have advantage depending on PC capabilities and how fast the party is traveling. The consequences for getting lost could be an extra encounter, lost time, making any mapping that was done worthless, and putting the PCs in the wrong place. Those consequences may be chosen by the GM.

PCs who forage while traveling may make a Survival check against the DC for the appropriate terrain type to see if they can find appropriate food or water. Foraging PCs also have advantage on their first shot to hunt any wild game. PCs who wish to explore will have a chance to find any hidden features along their route of travel, and they may map the terrain types along their route of travel.

A general terrain type describes how hard it is to move through the wilderness, how hard it is to get lost, and what resources are available to those who seek it.

• Plains: Not difficult terrain for any mode of travel as characters push East from Jorvikshire toward the Danelands and Thorsburg. Navigation is Simple (DC 5) and access to both food and water is Adequate (DC 15).

• Forest: Not difficult for foot travel, but travel to the forests of the West and Southwest are difficult for horses or wagons. Navigation is Difficult (DC 15), access to food is Abundant (DC 10) and access to water is Adequate (DC 15).

• Hills: Not difficult for travel by foot or horse, but difficult for wagons. Navigation through the hills to the near East is Easy (DC 10), access to food is Abundant (DC 10) and access to water is Poor (DC 20).

• Mountain: Travel through the mountains to the North is always difficult, and perhaps impassable for wagons without a pass through the province. Navigation is Challenging (DC 20), access to food and water is Poor (DC 20).

• Swamp: Travel in the swamps that border the Great River and line the basin of the Great Bay is always difficult, but Navigation is Easy (DC 10) and access to food is Adequate (DC 15) and water is Abundant (DC 10).

• River: Unless they have a map, an hour is lost as the PCs struggle to find an appropriate ford to cross a river. By an unfrozen river, access to food and water becomes Abundant (DC 10) and Navigation along the river becomes Easy (DC 10).

• Road: If the terrain borders a road, the terrain is not difficult for any mode as long as the PCs travel along the road. Navigation along a road is automatic.

• Path: If the terrain borders a path, the terrain is not difficult for foot or horse but wagons are subject to the terrain type of the square as long as the PCs travel along the path. Navigation along a path is Simple (DC 5).

All characters start each game session in civilization. If characters have not returned home by the end of the session, they automatically return after play has ended. If there’s insufficient time to roleplay the party’s return to civilization scene by scene, the GM can have each player roll to return.

This roll is a check, with each PC rolling with a mod equal to their highest modifier (including proficiency). The GM decides if the path to safety is dangerous or arduous.

DC = 10 + 1 per travel day, max DC 20.

Success means the PC returns to safety without issue. Failure has a cost as described below, depending on the nature of the path.

• Dangerous: 1d6 damage per 1 under DC
• Arduous: lose 1 load of equipment per 1 under the DC

If the PC is reduced to 0 HP, they die or are left unconscious. This damage ignores armor and can’t be healed or avoided. The GM picks what if any load is dropped, start- ing with less valuable and less secure items, and working up to weapons and armor.

Additionally, player characters are penalized a cost of 1GP/level per mile they must travel back home after the end of a session.

We'll want to tweak this, but the idea is that for Western Marches play we should get back to civilization before the end of the game session.