A Wilderness System

02 Aug, 2025

This post is part of a series on the development of my own system. You might come back later and see that this is the only post. If so, that means I failed. Disclaimer: I have used AI to check for spelling. So if you spot something wonky. My bad.

DEV DIARY 1: A short introduction and wilderness travel

I’ve been thinking about creating my own TTRPG, a mishmash of different concepts I’ve encountered in the OSR blogosphere, games I’ve run, and others I’ve read.

The game I want to propose today places you in the role of an adventurer during the age of exploration. Your countrymen have discovered a mythical New World, filled with strange humanoids, ancient sites, and mystical artefacts. You’ve travelled overseas and, together with your party, will lead expeditions into the jungle to uncover its treasures.

Since wilderness exploration is one of the game’s core pillars, I’ll start by describing that component.

The New World, Wilderness Travel & Exploration

Before discovering a sacred site, the expedition must explore the surrounding regions. This is handled using a mostly abstracted method. Travelling through unknown and heavily overgrown regions creates a maze-like experience that our brave adventurers must navigate. Within this timescale, we distinguish between three different types of travel, each detailed below.

Core Terms

• Watch¹ - Each day consists of three watches. A watch can be spent on travelling, resting, or other significant, time-consuming activities.
• Point² - A point is a memorable location or significant landmark.
• Exploration - Investigating a region without a clear destination.
• Traversing - Moving through a region toward a specific, known point.
• Region - An ambiguously sized area with several key points of interest.
• Sacred Site - A combined aboveground and underground location of special importance.

As mentioned in the core components, the designed wilderness travel system supports three primary uses:

1. Travel along a known path - The expedition follows a previously explored trail. The party has knowledge of the route.
2. Trailblazing through the wilderness - The expedition attempts to reach a specific point, but no path currently exists.
3. Exploring a region - The expedition aims to discover all points of interest in a region, possibly uncovering a sacred site.

Sequence of Play Per Day

The recommended procedure³ for wilderness travel is as follows:

1. Decide Course: The players decide whether to continue exploring.
2. Getting Lost: The GM determines whether the party gets lost during travel.
3. Determine Next Point: Roll on the region’s table to determine the next point of interest encountered.
4. Random Encounter: Check for a random encounter during travel.
5. Describe the Results: The GM combines the outcomes of steps 2-4 and describes what the party experiences during the day. Many points may only be briefly mentioned. If an encounter occurs, follow the encounter procedure.
6. End of Day: Update records such as remaining expedition days and progress in traversing the region.

Getting Lost

An expedition can only get lost when travelling off known paths or trails. At the start of each such day, roll a d6. On a result of 1-3, the party becomes lost during part of the day, adding one additional watch of travel.

Example: The expedition is en route to the next point. However, the GM determines they get lost. Instead of arriving in the early afternoon, they reach it in the early evening, too late for further travel before setting up camp.

Points During Travel

Each region contains a set of shallow points and deep points:

• Shallow points are simpler locations or encounters, usually resolved quickly.
• Deep points require player decisions or actions to resolve and are key to fully exploring the region.

When the GM rolls a shallow point that has already been encountered, they instead use the first entry of the deep point table.

A region is considered fully explored once all deep points have been encountered. In some cases, the final deep point is a sacred site.

Number of Points per Region Size:

• Small: d4 shallow, 1 deep
• Medium: d8 shallow, 3 deep
• Large: d12 shallow, 6 deep

Example: While exploring, the GM rolls a 2 on the shallow point table. The party encounters a lake with a small fishing hut. A local Pertuian watches them from a distance, spear in hand. After dealing with the fisherman, they continue. The GM rolls another 2. This time, they use the first deep point: a clearing reveals a large Pertuian village. The villagers seem unaware of the expedition’s presence.

Random Encounters

Each travel day includes a check for hostile or unexpected encounters. The chance depends on the type of path:

• No Trail: 1-in-8 chance
• Trail: 1-in-6 chance
• Road: 1-in-4 chance

Encounter Distance:

• 4d6 × 10 yards normally
• 1d6 yards if one side is surprised

Travel Speed

Travel time depends on the region's size and the presence of trails or roads. The base number of watches to traverse a region is:

• Small region: 2 watches
• Medium region: 4 watches
• Large region: 8 watches

Conditions that Modify Travel Time:

• Trailblazing: Doubles the time needed (e.g. a small region takes 4 watches = ~2 days).
• Roads: Halves the time needed (e.g. a small region takes 1 watch = half a day).