Trekking
Overview
When you first launch the application you are shown the Trekking panel. This shows information particularly useful for the trekking routine (see pages 141 to 150), but also whenever the group is outside of combat, where the IR Tracker is more appropriate. At the top of this panel are the calendar controls.
This provides information about the Environment and Weather: Season, Climate Zone, Daylight, Wind, Temperature, and Precipitation.
Below that is the Terrain and Paths key. For more details see page 144.
Information for Landscape and Movement are provided just below that: Topography, Terrain, required Bearing Modes, and Trek Movement in leagues per watch.
The information on the best choice for a guide for the orienteering roll is provided when a group is selected.
Moon and Zodiac information
The first section shows the current moon phase and the current rising zodiac.
This is followed by the current date (day and month) and more detailed information on the moon phase. Below that you find three pieces of information:
- A modifier for stealth tests while outside at night based on the current moonphase;
- The modifier for the sighting distances in the Surprise routine (page 150) based on the moonphase (see also page 142);
- The Astrological Position for an astromantic reading (see page 279).
Date and Weather Controls
Next we have the month index and the current year, the current season (as defined on page 142 sidebar, and with the corresponding colour), and two buttons related to weather:
- A button to re-roll the weather if you don't like what it is currently. This refreshes the weather for the whole year, not just the current date.
- A button to roll the current wind conditions. This is not done automatically. As the rulebook suggests, use this when relevant to the situation. It generates the wind as per the rules on page 64. The generated wind conditions are shown below the watch indicators.
You can change the current day and month with these controls. Normally during play you just use the arrow key when a new day starts, but you may want to set the date and month. The month can also be set with a drown-down menu, which additionally can be used to get a list of months' names and order.
Daylight Hours
The daylight hours section has a lot of information. The most prominent is the Daylight, Twilight, and Night-time hours for the current date based on the latitude and season (see page 142).
At the top you have the 24 hours. Below that you have the hours of daylight numbered from first sunlight when a day's trek usually begins. These numbers alternate between non-bold and bold to represent "daylight watches" for the trekking routine (see page 142). Below you'll find the six watches for the day, starting at midnight (with a name people use to refer to that watch).
You click on the current hour as the day progresses. In the example above it is currently 7PM (19h). The weather in the box to the right will change depending on the current hour. It is generated exactly as stated by the rules on page 144 and is adjusted for the time of day, day/night, and elevation. You can select the elevation with the menu at the top (Lowlands is shown in the example above).
Also shown is the currently selected latitude and climate zones. These are selected in the settings.
Below the day's watches is where the wind information is given.
Day's Weather Box
And finally there is a calendar-day box with the date, temperature, precipitation, and moon phase. At the bottom are listed any ceremonies or festivals occurring on this day for the selected pantheon.
In the middle of the box you'll also find the name of any character who's birthday it is and their new age in parenthesis. Note that the age of the character is adjusted automatically on the character sheet so there is no need to change it manually because it's their birthday, but you might want to check the ageing rules on page 414.
The legend for the weather symbols is found at the bottom of the calendar view. A filled icon means continuous precipitation which might induce a slow mode in step 4 of the trekking routine (page 145).
Topography & Terrain
You can select the topography and the terrain (see page 144 sidebar) and the corresponding travel rates are shown in Leagues Per Watch (see page 146) for the various conveyances. Also in the Trek Movement table on page 146 there is a Bearing Mode indicator representing the number of Bearing Modes the guide needs to select to avoid a Direction Hazard in step 7 of the trekking routine. This is shown before the movement rates. A blue dot (shown in the example) means the bearing mode is required only if there is continuous precipitation (shown as a filled icon in the Weather Box). One dot or two dots means the guide must select that number of bearing modes to prevent the hazard. A empty sign (crossed circle) means no Bearing Mode is required.
Group Selection & Guide Suggestion
You select a group of characters with the drop-down menu, and a combat summary for each of them is displayed. As they travel, you can add trekking fatigue directly on this page for all the characters in the group (step 7 of the trekking routine on page 149) and you can see each character's END SR to reduce the accrual by 5. You also have access to Initiative, Awareness, Encumbrance, etc.
Next to the group's name there is a suggestion for the most likely guide: the character designated as the primary navigator and pathfinder, usually the one with the highest Survival EML. Other characters in the group may assist (see page 60). This suggestion shows the character that might be the guide, with their Survival EML, as well as the assistance that can be provided (and by whom).