Travel - Clarification

[daedel]

Hi all,

I've checked Francesco's document regarding changes in travel and I have two doubts: first, if you take into account ponies and boats, what benefit do you apply? less fatigue points, less travel rolls, or both of them? Second, when do you apply the effect of travel fatigue? I think it's been said that you add all it up at the end of the journey and a full night of rest can delete one point of such fatigue. Is this correct?

Thanks!

[Stormcrow]

It's a a little unclear when fatigue is meant to be applied. If you go strictly by the section on journeys, you apply the fatigue immediately upon failing a test. However, in "The Marsh Bell," the text goes out of its way to note that the Loremaster should note who failed their fatigue tests so that he can apply that fatigue at a more appropriate point, later in the adventure.

I think the idea is that fatigue should be applied before its effects would impact a planned part of the adventure. So in "Marsh Bell" the journey takes the players to the Long Marshes, and fatigue won't be an issue until they deal with the troll. Hazards are unplanned situations, and fatigue is not applied to them according to that passage.

Many people prefer to make characters take the fatigue immediately, so that any hazards that happen subsequently might be affected. Record-keeping is easier this way, too.

[Woodclaw]

It's a a little unclear when fatigue is meant to be applied. If you go strictly by the section on journeys, you apply the fatigue immediately upon failing a test. However, in "The Marsh Bell," the text goes out of its way to note that the Loremaster should note who failed their fatigue tests so that he can apply that fatigue at a more appropriate point, later in the adventure.

I think the idea is that fatigue should be applied before its effects would impact a planned part of the adventure. So in "Marsh Bell" the journey takes the players to the Long Marshes, and fatigue won't be an issue until they deal with the troll. Hazards are unplanned situations, and fatigue is not applied to them according to that passage.

Many people prefer to make characters take the fatigue immediately, so that any hazards that happen subsequently might be affected. Record-keeping is easier this way, too.

Another bit to be clarified in the upcoming revision of the core rules.

[Hermes Serpent]

So far everyone seems to have answered the second part of the question and ignored the first part.

What happens is that the amount you travel each day changes with the use of ponies/horse or boats and as the Fatigue/Travel rolls are made based on the number of days travel taken the number of tests changes when boats/horses/ponies are used (LMB p34).

Example for eth adventure in the LMB:
Travel from Esgaroth/Laketown to the Stair of Girion at the southern end of the Long Lake - Fifteen miles by boat downstream (20 miles per day).
Travel down the Celduin through the Long Marsh - Twenty five miles of decent river travel and then you enter the eaves of Mirkwood.

It's sixty miles total to the junction of the Celduin and the Rotten river or six days on foot.
So Day One travel by boat from Laketown to the Stair (15 miles). Day Two travel by boat from the Stair towards Mirkwood (20 miles). Day Three travel by boat to the eaves of the forest and enter the Marsh (20 miles).

So by boat it takes three days and on foot six days so one Fatigue/Travel test in Spring or Summer if travelling on foot, but two in Winter. If travelling by boat there is only the need to roll one Travel/Fatigue test regardless of season due to the need to roll a minimum of one test for any long distance travelling as fractions round up.
Target Number (TN) is 14 for normal terrain, but 18 for Shadow lands such as the Marsh/eaves of Mirkwood so the Travel/Fatigue test should probably be made at TN18. However starting characters are unlikely to be able to make this so ensuring a Hazard.