Navigation reflects your ability to orient yourself using environmental clues, maps, charts, and memory. It covers overland travel, maritime direction-finding, reading and creating maps, and plotting efficient routes through wild terrain, unmarked expanses, or urban mazes.
When You Use It:
Navigation applies when:
-
Plotting a journey across wilderness, desert, or open sea
-
Reading, interpreting, or creating maps, charts, and travel logs
-
Identifying your position after becoming lost
-
Finding known locations using limited information
-
Guiding a group through difficult, dangerous, or unfamiliar regions
Stat Used:
-
Always Mind.
Mechanical Effects:
-
Lost or Found:
A success keeps the group on course, shortens travel time, or avoids hazards. Failure may result in delays, wrong turns, or entering dangerous areas. -
Direction Checks:
In fog, magical distortion, or confusing terrain, the GM may call for repeated checks to maintain orientation. -
Map Interpretation:
Reading complex or ancient maps may require a combination of Navigation and Lore rolls.
Situational Modifiers:
Apply the Difficulty Ladder based on visibility, terrain, and information available:
-
+50%: Following a well-marked road in daylight
-
+40%: Using modern maps with clear landmarks
-
+30%: Good weather, compass or sun available
-
+20%: Familiar terrain or previously traveled route
-
+10%: Landmarks in sight, helpful signs or guides
-
0%: Average wilderness travel with reasonable visibility
-
–10%: Night travel or light fog
-
–20%: Dense forests, featureless plains, or confusing paths
-
–30%: No tools, poor visibility, or magical interference
-
–40%: Underground, at sea in storms, or deep wilderness
-
–50%: Blind navigation, magical illusions, or hostile distortions
Untrained Use:
Navigation may be attempted untrained using your Mind stat as a flat percentage. However, untrained travelers are prone to missing faster or safer paths, and may struggle in dangerous or confusing environments.
Narrative Examples:
-
A ranger uses moss growth and animal trails to stay on course through a tangled forest.
-
A sailor charts a course across the open sea under starlight, adjusting for changing winds.
-
An explorer deciphers faded runes and half-buried markers to find a lost temple.
-
A scout leads a caravan through a desert, carefully rationing supplies while staying true to the path.
Navigation should matter most when the world itself becomes a challenge. In safe or civilized areas, skip rolls entirely. Instead, call for checks when travel becomes perilous, uncertain, or magical interference is in play. This keeps the skill meaningful without turning every simple walk into a dice roll. Use failed rolls to introduce narrative complications—getting lost, encountering threats, or arriving late can all raise stakes without halting the adventure.
[ Back | Contents | Next]
You are welcome to print a copy of pages from this book for your personal use. Please note that mass distribution, commercial use, or the creation of altered versions of the content for distribution are strictly prohibited. This permission is intended to support your individual gaming needs while maintaining the integrity of the material.
File Created: 05/01/2025 Last Modified: 05/01/2025