Iljudheim, by Charlie Bullen-Spicer
If you joined us last time, in the Introduction to Hundred Dungeons, you read that there are four modes of play: the Wild, the Dark, Combat, and Recuperation. Today we’re going to look at the rules for the Wild, which includes overland travel, exploring large areas of geography, and resting outside of safety.
The Wild (wilderness exploration)
The Dark (dungeon exploration)
Recuperation (resting and downtime)
THE WILD
Navigating long distances, gathering resources, and weathering the environment over a day or more are part of the Wild. The focus of this mode is establishing the setting as another character in the game. Generally, rest isn’t possible in the Wild unless all goes well.
Map by Dyson Logos
STRUCTURE
Large geographic areas in Hundred Dungeons are normally divided into 3-mile-wide hexagonal units, called hexes. Hexes can be laid out in a grid to make overland travel intuitive — however, a map with the hex grid laid over it is usually for the GM’s eyes only.
When characters leave a place of safety to journey across hexes, they shift to the Wild. Rounds in the Wild represent 8 hours, and so each day of travel includes 3 rounds.
Each round, do the following:
GM sets weather rating (on subsequent rounds, check for weather changes during this step)
Party chooses round activity (travel, explore, or camp)
Characters take actions
GM checks for encounters
1. GM SETS THE WEATHER RATING
Weather is rated as a number between 1 and 6. As the GM, you can describe the actual nature of that weather in any way that’s appropriate for the terrain of the region where the party’s traveling. At the start of each round after the first, roll a d6. If the roll exceeds the weather rating, increase the weather rating by 1. If the roll is under the weather rating, reduce the weather rating by 1. Weather has the following effects:
Weather 4-6: All terrain becomes difficult terrain.
Weather 5: The party can’t travel at more than a slow pace.
Weather 6: The party can only take Camp rounds, but characters get no benefits from rest.
2. PARTY CHOOSES ROUND ACTIVITY
Travel: Spend this round covering distance. Each character can take the action Clear Path, Guide, Quarter, Scout, or (at a cost) an action listed under Explore.
Explore: Spend this round investigating your current hex. Each character can take an action from any round type at no cost, including unique Explore actions: Forage, Search, or Survey.
Camp: Spend this round trying to rest. Each character can take the action Craft, Endure, Quarter, Revel, or (at a cost) an action listed under Explore.
3. CHARACTERS TAKE ACTIONS
During each round in the Wild, individual characters have the opportunity to take actions to improve the success of their party’s travel. Each action requires an ability roll. Record the number of successes and failures for these rolls during a day in the Wild — it will affect your party’s travel distance and ability to benefit from rest.
Players use ability rolls to accomplish their chosen actions. The base difficulty for these rolls is 10 + the number of characters — managing the travel of a larger party often makes tasks more complicated to complete. The GM should adjust this number based on the circumstances, and the players’ action descriptions. A result of 20 on the die counts as two successes. A result of 1 on the die counts as two failures.
Rules and action options are described under each travel activity below. If after taking actions, the party reaches a safe site, end this round and enter Recuperation.
4. GM CHECKS FOR ENCOUNTERS
After checking for weather changes, roll a d20, adding the number of rounds the party has traveled without a long rest. An encounter occurs on a result of 20 or higher. We’ll discuss Encounter Tables and advice on preparing these in a later section.
TRAVEL
To Travel, the party first agrees on a pace: slow, normal, or fast. A fast pace covers more ground, but makes the day’s ability rolls weak. A slow pace allows for traveling in stealth and taking additional actions, but reduces distance traveled.
A character can take one of the following actions during a Travel round (with no action being chosen by party members more than twice): Clear Path, Guide, Quarter, Scout. Characters traveling at a slow pace can take an Explore or Camp action instead. Otherwise, taking those actions results in the character suffering a level of exhaustion.
Clear Path (Strength or Constitution)
Make travel easier in the future by creating or repairing the trail. On a success, mark a +1 on the hex. This applies to the travel distance of parties who pass through it. You can apply that bonus immediately. Hexes can’t be marked this way twice.
Guide (Intelligence or Charisma)
Spend time navigating, planning, or bolstering the morale of your party. On a success, add +1 to the travel distance. An accurate map of the area makes this roll mighty.
Quarter (INTELLIGENCE OR WISDOM)
Arrange food, drink, and shelter for the party. On a success, each character may spend one hit die to recover a level of exhaustion.
Scout (DEXTERITY OR Constitution)
Move back and forth ahead of the party mitigating challenges. On a success, ignore difficult and unknown terrain. You cannot be surprised by encounters.
After actions have been taken, the party moves 1 hex, applying any bonuses and penalties, including those shown in the table below for pace and terrain. If the travel distance becomes 0 or lower, or if the party rolled 4 or more failures in the last 24 hours (this round plus the previous two), they move 1 hex in a random direction.
| Pace | Easy Terrain | Difficult Terrain | Unknown Terrain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flying | +3 | +3 | +3 |
| Mounted | +2 | +1 | — |
| Fast | +1 | — | -1 |
| Normal | — | -1 | -2 |
| Slow | -1 | -2 | -3 |
Unknown terrain includes hexes that no party member has traveled or surveyed. Impassible borders are edges of a hex that can’t be crossed, or can only be crossed with certain modes of travel, such as swimming or flying.
EXPLORE
During an Explore round, the party doesn’t move out of their current hex, but gathers resources and information from it.
A character can take any action during an Explore round (with no action being chosen by party members more than twice), including the following actions unique to Explore rounds: Forage, Search, Survey.
Forage (Dexterity or WISDOM)
Find and harvest a resource from the wilderness. Before rolling, discuss with the GM what you seek. On a success, add a material or item from the natural terrain to your gear.
SEARCH (INTELLIGENCE OR WISDOM)
Reveal discoverable locations in your current hex and travel to one of your choice.
SURVEY (CONSTITUTION OR INTELLIGENCE)
Reveal visible locations in adjacent hexes. If those hexes were unknown, they are no longer.
CAMP
If the party hasn’t taken a Camp round for the last two rounds, they must do so or suffer a level of exhaustion. Party members must now each consume a ration or gain an additional level of exhaustion.
A character can take one of the following actions during a Camp round: Craft, Endure, Quarter, or Revel (with no limit on these actions). Characters can gain a level of exhaustion to take an Explore or Travel action.
Craft (Strength or Dexterity)
Create a useful item or structure. This action requires materials, tools, and an applicable skill. On a success, add the item to your gear. If the crafted item helps with travel, give yourself or another character inspiration.
ENDURE (CONSTITUTION)
You consume no rations today, and you regain 1 hit die.
Quarter (INTELLIGENCE OR WISDOM)
Arrange food, drink, and shelter for the party. On a success, each character may spend one condition die to recover a level of exhaustion.
Revel (Wisdom or Charisma)
Keep the party’s spirits up by telling tales, bonding, or caring for them. On a success, inspire a player. They may take a second action during the next round without suffering exhaustion. The second action can’t be Revel.
RESTING in the Wild
Whether the party is able to gain the benefit of a long rest during a Camp round depends on the ability rolls made since the end of the last Camp round.
If there were no failures, characters all gain the benefit of a long rest. Otherwise they must continue with no rest. If failures exceeded successes, characters each gain levels of exhaustion equal to the excess.
EXAMPLE
The Red Coins are traveling 16 miles across difficult terrain from Mather to Dradun. The DC for this travel is 16 (10 + 6 for a party of 4 characters and 2 hirelings).
Round 1 (Travel): Weather (2, no change). Encounter (6, no encounter).
They choose a normal pace. Their actions are Clear Path (Str 21, Con 14), Guide (Cha 10, Int 18). That’s 2 successes, 2 failures.
Since Clear path and Guide were each successful once, the party adds +1 to their first hex (gaining that bonus to travel distance) and add another +1 to the travel distance. They move 2 hexes (1 - 1 + 2) or 6 miles.
Round 2 (Travel): Weather (5, increases to 3). Encounter (9 + 1, no encounter).
They choose a normal pace. Their actions are Guide (Cha 19, Cha 16), Scout (Con 17), and the fourth character suffers exhaustion to Search (Int 19). That’s 4 success, 0 failures.
Guide gains them +1 travel distance, Scout allows them to ignore difficult terrain, and Search reveals a dire wolf den. They explore it, then return to Wild rounds. They move 2 hexes (1 + 0 + 1) or 6 miles.
Round 3 (Camp): Weather (1, decrease to 2). Encounter (18 +2, encounter is a wandering, diseased bard).
Since they haven’t camped the last two rounds, the party sets up camp in the cleared out dire wolf den. They leave a corner for the diseased bard. Their actions are Craft (Str 10), Quarter (Wis 16, Int 15), Revel (Cha 13). That’s 1 success, 3 failures.
The party totaled 7 successes, 5 failures. They gain no benefits from rest, but take no exhaustion.
Round 4 (Travel): Eager to finish the journey, they choose a fast pace. Their actions are Guide (Cha 17) and Scout (Dex 5, Dex 18). The fourth character takes no action. That’s 2 successes, 1 failure.
Guide gains them +1 travel distance, Scout allows them to ignore difficult terrain. They move 3 hexes (1 + 1 + 1) or 9 miles, reach Dradun, and enter Recuperation.
EXHAUSTION
Some of the rules above reference Exhaustion, so I’m including the details of that condition below. The level effects are slightly adjusted from 5E.
Exhaustion is a condition with six cumulative levels. When you suffer a level of exhaustion, add it to the levels you already have. Characters remove one level of exhaustion after completing a long rest.
You can’t take reactions
You don’t benefit from skills
Your ability rolls are weak
You are slowed
You are stunned
You die
NEXT TIME
We’re going to dive into the other three modes of play this week (the Dark, Combat, and Recuperation), then on the class designs. If you missed the primary rule introduction from last week, take a look!
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
Hundred Dungeons is created and written by Graham Ward © 2023
Permission granted to copy for personal use only.
