This system encourages players to find and use Sanctuaries (towns, allied strongholds, special wilderness havens) for full recovery, making wilderness survival a core challenge.
1. Embarkation Phase (Planning the Journey)
▶ Determine Destination and Distance: The Loremaster (LM) determines the distance and the general danger level (e.g., Safe, Perilous, Dangerous) of the terrain the party will traverse.
▶ Assign Roles: The players assign the following roles among themselves. A character can hold only one role:
• Guide: Responsible for the overall pathfinding and the final Arrival roll. This character should have high Wisdom or relevant skills (e.g., knowledge of wilderness).
• Scout: Focuses on avoiding ambushes and obstacles. This character should have high Dexterity or relevant skills (e.g., tracking, stealth).
• Hunter: Ensures the party has food and water. This character should have high Constitution or relevant skills (e.g., foraging, hunting).
• Lookout: Keeps watch during travel and rest, reducing the chance of being surprised. This character should have high Wisdom or relevant skills.
▶ 2. Journeying Phase (On the Road)
The journey is broken down into segments (e.g., one segment per week of travel). For each segment, the party rolls for Journey Events.
• Random Encounters: Instead of rolling for standard random encounters, the LM uses specific Journey Event Tables (which the LM must create or source from AiME material). Events can be beneficial (finding a safe glade, meeting friendly travelers) or harmful (weather, difficult terrain, a dangerous encounter).
• Role Checks: The assigned player for a given role makes a check related to their task. Use a d20 roll against an appropriate Ability Score (e.g., Guide uses Wisdom, Scout uses Dexterity) to resolve the event or specific challenges encountered along the way.
• Resting on the Road: Player-heroes may only take short rests (8 hour rests).
- Successes can provide bonuses to the final Arrival roll or mitigate negative effects.
- Failures can impose penalties, such as using up extra supplies, becoming lost, or acquiring Exhaustion.
▶ 3. Arrival Phase (Destination Reached)
When the party reaches its destination, the Guide makes a final Arrival Roll. This roll is modified by the outcomes of the Role Checks and events during the journey.
• Arrival Roll: The LM sets a difficulty (e.g., a d20 roll, or a 2-in-6 chance on a d6 check depending on OSE style of play). The result determines the party's condition:
- Success: The company arrives in good spirits, full of tales, and potentially with some minor benefits (e.g., a bonus to initial NPC reactions).
- Failure: The party arrives footsore, dispirited, hungry, and exhausted. Characters may gain Exhaustion levels, which impose penalties on future rolls or abilities until properly rested in a Sanctuary.
▶ 4. Key Old-School Essentials Adaptation: Resting and Exhaustion
The critical element to convert is the impact of travel on character endurance:
- No Full Recovery in the Wild: Characters cannot take a "long rest" (recovering all HP and spells) in the wilderness. Full recovery requires reaching a Sanctuary, a place offering safety, comfort, and tranquility (e.g., a friendly village, a well-fortified inn, or a special camp like Beorn's house).
- Exhaustion Mechanics: The LM should define simple OSE-compatible exhaustion rules. A system where each level of exhaustion imposes a cumulative penalty (e.g., -1 to all rolls, ability checks, and potentially movement speed) works well within OSE's minimalist framework. This penalty is only removed when the character rests at a Sanctuary.
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