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Travel, and the process of moving from place-to-place, is the focus of Pilgrim’s Passages. Do not skip, or “fast forward”, past these parts. Instead use your map and the distance between characters’ objectives as opportunities for characters to spend resources, learn, chat, and have encounters with other beings. Every hex, or relevant distance, a character travels costs them Stamina based on the type of Route taken. The terrain and weather the character is traveling through might change this value, but that cost cannot be reduced below 1.
Existing ways between different locations are known as Routes. The type of Route determines the Stamina cost to travel from one hex to another via that route, and what can travel that route.
Keep in mind, that like Rolls, Stamina costs can be adjusted due to justifying Items, Traits, and situations. Thus, you could change the cost of travel by wearing nice boots, having a Skill that marks you as familiar with the terrain, etc.
-5 Stamina to Traverse No trail exists here but you can pass with effort.
-3 Stamina to Traverse Game trails, walking paths, and riding trails are all Paths. Paths cannot support carts, animals larger than a horse, nor any other specialized vehicles.
-2 Stamina to Traverse Highways, dusty dirt paths, and cobbled city streets. Carts, carriages, and any other vehicle, or mount can travel by Road.
-1 Stamina to Traverse via train, otherwise -2 to Traverse Ancient metal tracks that suture the land together. Railways can be ridden when you are lucky enough to find a functioning and maintained locomotive.
-8 Stamina to Traverse Rivers, channels, and the oceans of the world can be traveled by swimming but it is not recommended.
-1 Stamina to Traverse any reasonable route while on a vehicle.
During play, time passes at a rate that feels natural or makes sense for the narrative. When players Rest, end that day and begin another. Out of play time passes one day at a time, or at what ever rate makes sense for your play group. There is no need to track the date, months are less important than the feel of the seasons changing.
For example: when the leaves start to grow back and the days are starting to warm it might be time to greet Prevernal.
Every hex, mile, or distance of your choosing, the GM should check for a random encounter. Different 5-mile hexes should have their own tables of random encounters. There is a 1 in 6 chance of having an encounter when traveling.
For every real-life day, in-between sessions, that a character spends on the road. That character must either: spend 1 Stamina, reduce the Grade of an item by 1, or lose 1 or more Load’s worth of items.
Pilgrims are likely to follow one of the six wandering Spirits. Each Spirit’s domain is focused on one of the six seasons. When making a character use the following table to select a Spirit to follow.
Domains: Alteration, Transmutation Early Spring. Migratory animals begin to return to their warm weather habitats, and plants begin to prepare their buds.
This festival is treated as a mourning festival. Folk where masks and cover themselves in costume. For communities that do not burn their dead, this is when they bury the frozen dead of Hosteler. Community members promise changes they wish to make this year, and make requests of others to make those changes happen. The festival ends with the initial planting of spring plants, and gathering of amphibian eggs for farming.
Domains: Water, Healing True Spring. Animals begin mating, and plants flower.
The first warm rain shower of the year, the entire community cleans their homes, farms, and selves. Towns end the festival with a communal bath in the warm rains.
Early Summer. Animals raise offspring, and plants are in full leaf.
Domains: Earth, Protection Estival brings with it the rainy season. Most years the lowlands flood and the highlands have mudslides. The folk greet Estival with clay in-hand, the community spends an entire week shoring up flood walls and any loose earth. The week ends with a massive celebratory communal feast cooked in a massive pot made from the leftover clay.
Domains: Evocation, Fire Late Summer. Animals begin preparing for colder seasons, leaves begin to change color, and harvest begins.
On the first night of Serotinal, when the twin moons are split by the shadow of the world, the lowland ferns open their spore pods and the massive shimmering spores float high into the air. Folk come out into the warm night air and dance with the spores.
Domains: Revelation, Entropy Autumn. Migratory animals head to warmer climates, leaves change from bright colors, to deep browns, then fall.
Autumnal brings the sprouting of fungus in great abundance within the archipelago. The communities celebrate Autumnal’s arrival by having a great fungus feast. Each household brings a large dish to the meal and the entire community eats together. Some communities have an unspoken competition for which dish is the tastiest, rarest, or most hallucinogenic. Afterwards the community rests for the remainder of the day. Walks, naps, lovemaking, and art makes up the evening.
Domains: Winter, Necromancy Winter. Animals hibernate or are in their cold weather habitats, leaves decay, and trees are bare.
On the first day of Hibernal, all households send a representative from to collect wood for Hibernal. Then all homes send a representative to collect wood for Hibernal. The group spends all day hunting for one household. The next day this repeats until all households have stocked woodsheds. Each day ends with dinner cooked by the household being helped. The final day is always for stocking the town’s hostel.
Excess wood is used in a massive bonfire in a twin festival, at the end of Hibernal. The entire town comes out into a clearing; wood and bodies in-hand to celebrate. The festival celebrates the lives of their friends and family who have passed, the ending of the year, and to keep dangerous decay spirits out of the wood sheds.
Every time the player characters Rest, roll 2D6 on the following table for the current season.
Weather affects every roll, and Travel cost, that takes place in the elements. Add the modifier to the cost associated with the Route the characters are traveling on. Ordinarily it would cost 2 Stamina to travel by Road, in a Frost it would cost an additional 2. The weather may cause other justifications to be relevant in a roll in an attempt to counteract the weather. Justifications can also reduce the penalty of weather on Stamina costs for travel.
For instance if a pilgrim is trying to start a fire rain would apply a -1 to their roll. The pilgrim might choose to justify their wax covered cape as a benefit to their roll, granting them its Load and Grade.
| 2D6 | Weather | Modifier |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Blizzard | -5 |
| 3 | Gale | -4 |
| 4 | Snow | -3 |
| 5 | Frost | -2 |
| 6 | Rain | -1 |
| 7 | Windy | -1 |
| 8 | Overcast | 0 |
| 9 | Cloudy | 0 |
| 10 | Partly Cloudy | +1 |
| 11 | Clear | +1 |
| 12 | Warm | +2 |
| 2D6 | Weather | Roll Modifier |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Gale | -4 |
| 3 | Snow | -3 |
| 4 | Frost | -2 |
| 5 | Rain | -1 |
| 6 | Windy | -1 |
| 7 | Overcast | 0 |
| 8 | Cloudy | 0 |
| 9 | Partly Cloudy | +1 |
| 10 | Clear | +1 |
| 11 | Clear | +1 |
| 12 | Warm | +2 |
| 2D6 | Weather | Roll Modifier |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Tornado | -5 |
| 3 | Thunderstorm | -4 |
| 4 | Humid | -2 |
| 5 | Rain | -1 |
| 6 | Rain | -1 |
| 7 | Rain | -1 |
| 8 | Overcast | 0 |
| 9 | Cloudy | 0 |
| 10 | Partly Cloudy | +1 |
| 11 | Clear | +1 |
| 12 | Cool Breeze | +2 |
| 2D6 | Weather | Roll Modifier |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Hurricane | -6 |
| 3 | Thunderstorm | -4 |
| 4 | Humid | -2 |
| 5 | Hot | -2 |
| 6 | Rain | -1 |
| 7 | Partly Cloudy | +1 |
| 8 | Clear | +1 |
| 9 | Clear | +1 |
| 10 | Clear | +1 |
| 11 | Clear | +1 |
| 12 | Cool Breeze | +2 |
| 2D6 | Weather | Roll Modifier |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Hurricane | -6 |
| 3 | Wildfire | -5 |
| 4 | Snow | -2 |
| 5 | Rain | -1 |
| 6 | Windy | -1 |
| 7 | Windy | -1 |
| 8 | Overcast | 0 |
| 9 | Cloudy | 0 |
| 10 | Partly Cloudy | +1 |
| 11 | Clear | +1 |
| 12 | Cool Breeze | +2 |
| 2D6 | Weather | Roll Modifier |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Blizzard | -5 |
| 3 | Freezing Rain | -4 |
| 4 | Gale | -3 |
| 5 | Snow | -2 |
| 6 | Snow | -2 |
| 7 | Rain | -1 |
| 8 | Windy | -1 |
| 9 | Overcast | 0 |
| 10 | Cloudy | 0 |
| 11 | Clear | +1 |
| 12 | Warm | +2 |
Back to Spirits and Magic
On to Refereeing