Travel across the Wasteland is dangerous, time-consuming, and resource-intensive. The World Map uses a square grid where each tile represents a region with its own terrain type, potential encounters, and faction control.
Moving between locations requires planning: choosing routes, managing supplies, scouting for danger, and deciding when to rest.
The World Map Grid
The World Map is a 175 × 100 tile grid. Each tile has the following properties:
- Terrain Type — determines encounter tables, travel time, and detection difficulty
- Faction Control (optional) — modifies encounter tables and adds faction-specific encounters
- Fixed Locations (optional) — settlements, dungeons, landmarks, or points of interest
- Roads (optional) — reduce travel time through the tile
Terrain Types
Terrain Table
Type Description Foot (Off-Road) Foot (Road) Detection 📊 DC Plains Flat, open grassland 2 hours 2 hours 10 Wasteland Barren, irradiated desert 2 hours 2 hours 10 Hills Elevated terrain, uneven ground 3 hours 2 hours 13 Woods Dense forest, limited visibility 3 hours 2 hours 15 Urban Ruined city blocks, dense buildings 3 hours 2 hours 15 Swamp Murky, difficult terrain 4 hours 2 hours 17 Mountains Steep, treacherous terrain 5 hours 3 hours 17 River Water crossing, may require fording or bridge Special 2 hours (Bridge) 12 Rivers: Without a bridge, crossing a river requires an 🏋️ Athletics Test or finding an alternate route. A Bridge tile treats the River as standard 2-hour terrain.
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Roads
Roads overlay terrain types — a tile can be “Woods with Road.” The terrain type still determines encounter tables and detection DC, but roads reduce travel time:
- Use the Foot (Road) column of the Terrain Table. Roads flatten most terrain to 2 hours; Mountains to 3.
- Vehicles on roads may gain additional speed benefits (GM discretion)
Faction Control
Some tiles are controlled by factions (raiders, Brotherhood, Super Mutants, etc.). Faction control does not change the terrain type. It changes who is moving around in that terrain, and how much of that movement is hidden from you.
Two independent things describe controlled ground: the faction’s encounter table and its Detection DC.
Both follow the holder’s posture toward the party — what happens when they find you — rather than the bare fact that they own the ground.
| Posture | Encounter table | Detection DC |
|---|---|---|
| Allied — you have standing, safe passage, or their comms | Allied control — their patrols are why the road is quiet. More neutral traffic, fewer hostile results than open wasteland | +0 |
| Guarded — they hold it, you are unwelcome, but not yet a target | Guarded control — strangers are challenged first; force is a response, not an opening | +2 |
| Hostile — you are prey on their ground | Hostile control — prepared positions, ambushes, checkpoints that are shakedowns | +3 |
| Secretive — the ground is managed to hide what is on it | usually Guarded, occasionally Hostile | +4 |
On the encounter table. Controlled ground swaps the Standard table for the holder’s, which adds faction-specific results (patrols, checkpoints, ambushes, convoys) and shifts the odds. The practical difference between the tables is how often a tile turns violent: roughly 10% on allied ground, 15% open, 20% guarded, 30% hostile.
On the Detection DC. This is not a tax for standing on someone’s land — it measures how much the holder conceals from you. Allied territory should be easier to read, not harder; where the party has live intel from the holder (patrol reports, a shared radio net), the GM may apply a small negative DC instead.
Note the two axes are independent. The Wardens are the clearest case: they are not hostile to the party, so their ground uses the Guarded table — but Hidebehinds and scouts you never see make them +4 to read. Hostility and opacity are different problems.
Posture is a property of the party’s current relationship, not a fixed trait. A faction that turns on the party stops being +0.
Fixed Locations
Certain tiles contain fixed locations — settlements, dungeons, ruins, camps, or other points of interest. These are permanent features of the map.
- Fixed locations appear on the map when the party discovers them (through exploration, information gathering, or quest objectives)
- Entering a tile with a known fixed location gives you the option to enter the location
- Hostile fixed locations (raider camps, mutant nests) may trigger combat depending on how you approach
Travel Procedure
When the party travels from one tile to an adjacent tile:
Step 1: Declare Movement
The party declares which adjacent tile they are entering. Diagonal movement between tiles follows the same rules as combat grid movement (to be determined based on your diagonal movement decision).
Step 2: Pay Travel Time
Deduct the tile’s travel time from the party’s available hours. Travel time is modified by terrain, roads, vehicles, weather, and time of day.
| Travel Method | Time Modifier |
|---|---|
| On foot | Terrain Table, Foot (Off-Road) column |
| On foot with Road | Terrain Table, Foot (Road) column |
| Vehicle at Low speed | Base ÷ 2 |
| Vehicle at Medium speed | Base ÷ 4 |
| Vehicle at High speed | Base ÷ 8 |
| Condition | Time Modifier |
|---|---|
| Night travel | +1 hour |
| Rain / Dust Storm | +1 hour |
| Heavy Storm | +2 hours |
Step 3: Encounter Check
The party makes a Group Test using 👁 PER + 🏕 Survival to scan for encounters in the tile.
The Detection DC is determined by the terrain type, modified by faction control, weather, time of day, and vehicle speed.
| Modifier | 📊 DC Change |
|---|---|
| Base terrain DC | See terrain table |
| Faction controlled | +0 to +4 by posture |
| Night travel | +4 |
| Dusk / Dawn | +2 |
| Vehicle at Medium speed | +2 |
| Vehicle at High speed | +4 |
| Weather (Overcast/Wind) | +1 |
| Weather (Rain/Dust Storm) | +2 |
| Weather (Heavy Storm) | +4 |
| Scout activity (from previous Long Rest) | -2 |
Step 4: GM Rolls Encounter Table
The GM rolls on the Encounter Table for the tile’s terrain type (modified by faction control). This determines what is actually in the tile, regardless of whether the party detected it.
Step 5: Resolve Based on Detection
The party’s Group Test result determines how they interact with the encounter:
| Group Test Result | Outcome |
|---|---|
| CRIT (Leader CRITs) | Full Awareness. Complete information about the encounter. You may engage, avoid, or set up an ambush. Negative encounters can be bypassed entirely. Positive encounters are automatically found. |
| Success | Detection. Partial information — you know something is ahead (general type: hostile, neutral, environmental) but not specifics. You may engage cautiously or attempt to avoid (may require a secondary 👤 Sneak or Survival Test for hostile encounters). |
| Failure | Unaware. You stumble into the encounter. Hostile encounters may get a Surprise Round. Positive encounters (caches, friendly camps) may be missed entirely. |
| CRITFAIL (Leader fails both) | Ambushed or Lost. Hostile encounters automatically get the drop on you. The party may also suffer a navigation penalty — lost time, wrong direction, or entering a more dangerous tile. Positive encounters are missed. |
Step 6: Resolve Encounter
If an encounter occurs and the party engages (or is forced to engage), resolve it according to its type:
- Combat encounters transition to the combat map. The terrain type determines the map layout.
- Social encounters are resolved through 💬 Speech, 💰 Barter, or roleplay.
- Environmental encounters require Tests (Survival, Athletics, etc.) to navigate.
- Discoveries provide loot, information, or quest hooks.
Encounter Tables
Each terrain type has its own encounter table. The GM rolls a d20.
There are four tables. Which one a tile uses is set by the posture of whoever holds it — see 🗺 Faction Control above. At a glance:
| Table | Nothing | Environmental | Neutral | Hostile | Discovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allied Encounter Table | 40% | 15% | 30% | 10% | 5% |
| Standard Encounter Table | 50% | 15% | 15% | 15% | 5% |
| Guarded Encounter Table | 40% | 15% | 20% | 20% | 5% |
| Hostile Encounter Table | 35% | 15% | 15% | 30% | 5% |
Standard Encounter Table (No Faction Control)
Open ground. Whatever you meet is out here for its own reasons.
Standard Encounter Table
d20 Category Description 1-10 Nothing Uneventful travel. No encounter. 11-13 Environmental Weather hazard, terrain obstacle, radiation zone, water crossing, collapsed structure 14-16 Neutral Traders, travelers, wandering NPCs, animal herds, refugees 17-19 Hostile Hostile creatures, bandits, wild animals, feral Ghouls 20 Discovery Loot cache, pre-war ruin, unique location, quest hook, mysterious stranger Faction-Controlled Tiles use their own encounter tables, which increase the chance of Hostile encounters and add faction-specific results. See 🗺 World Map Travel for details.
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Allied-Controlled Encounter Table
Ground held by a faction the party has standing with.
Allied Encounter Table
Proposed — not yet reviewed by GM
AI-generated content. Review and update status to
canononce reviewed.
d20 Category Description 1-8 Nothing Patrolled and quiet. Current patrol markers, a maintained stretch of road 9-11 Environmental Checkpoints, controlled demolition, marked minefields, decontamination stops 12-17 Neutral Patrols, supply convoys, scribes and surveyors, vassal traffic 18-19 Hostile Something got through the perimeter, and the garrison is short-handed 20 Discovery An unclaimed cache, a patrol that never reported in, salvage flagged for pickup Used for ground held by a faction the party has standing with — the Brotherhood around Bunker Alpha, or a vassal settlement’s approaches.
The character of this table is traffic, not threat. Most rolls put people in front of the party: someone to be recognised by, questioned by, traded with, or asked for a hand. Their patrols are the reason the road is quiet — hostile results fall to 10%, the lowest of any table and below open wasteland, while neutral traffic doubles to 30%.
A Hostile result is not the holders turning on the party. It is a breach of their security — something came through the perimeter — and the party is the nearest body available to answer it. Played that way, a Hostile roll on allied ground is a favour asked at gunpoint rather than an ambush, and is one of the cleaner ways to hand out a quest hook mid-journey.
Allied ground also costs +0 Detection DC: patrol markers, cleared roads, and shared comms are information, not obstacles. See 🗺 Faction Control.
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Guarded-Controlled Encounter Table
Ground held by a faction that will challenge the party before it shoots.
Guarded Encounter Table
Proposed — not yet reviewed by GM
AI-generated content. Review and update status to
canononce reviewed.
d20 Category Description 1-8 Nothing Quiet, but the ground is managed and watched. Boundary marks, tended trails, cut sightlines 9-11 Environmental Deliberate obstacles — a closed route, felled timber, a crossing they control 12-15 Neutral Rangers, vassal traders, locals moving under safe-conduct 16-19 Hostile Challenged, shadowed, or escorted to the border — enforcement, not predation 20 Discovery Something the holders would rather you had not found Used for ground held by a faction that considers the party unwelcome but not yet a target.
The distinction from the Hostile Encounter Table is the opening move. Force here is a response, not an invitation: a Hostile result should begin as a challenge, a warning shot, a shadowing escort, or an order to leave — and only become a fight if the party pushes, lies, or is caught somewhere it shouldn’t be. A party that answers honestly and turns around can usually walk out of a Hostile result on guarded ground. That is the whole point of the table.
Against the Standard Encounter Table, hostile results rise from 15% to 20% and neutral traffic rises from 15% to 20%. Guarded ground is busier and touchier than open wasteland, because somebody is actually patrolling it.
See 🗺 Faction Control for how a faction’s posture selects its table and Detection DC.
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Hostile-Controlled Encounter Table
Ground held by a faction that attacks on sight.
Hostile Encounter Table
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d20 Category Description 1-7 Nothing Uneventful but tense. Signs of raider activity. 8-10 Environmental Raider traps, blocked roads, burning wreckage 11-13 Neutral Nervous traders, refugees fleeing raiders, scavengers hiding 14-19 Hostile Raider patrol, raider ambush, raider checkpoint 20 Discovery Raider cache, captured prisoner, hidden raider hideout
Daily Travel Schedule
A full day is 24 hours. Characters must balance travel, rest, and encounters.
On Foot (Sustainable Pace)
A 🏕 Long Rest takes 6 hours and can only be taken once per 24 hours. That leaves 18 hours in the day for travel, encounters, and a 🏕 Short Rest. How many tiles the travelling hours buy depends entirely on the terrain crossed:
| Terrain | Hours per Tile | Tiles per 18-hour Day |
|---|---|---|
| Plains, Wasteland | 2 | 9 |
| Hills, Woods, Urban | 3 | 6 |
| Swamp | 4 | 4 |
| Mountains | 5 | 3 |
Those are ceilings, not schedules — they assume the party spends every waking hour walking. Resolving an encounter, taking the party’s one 🏕 Short Rest (1 hour, plus any crafting time), or scavenging all come out of the same 18 hours.
Mixed routes are simply added up — the budget is hours, not tiles. Night travel and bad weather spend against the same budget, so a storm-bound night in the Mountains can cost a party most of a day’s progress.
Once 18 hours have passed since the last Long Rest, a 6-hour rest no longer fits inside the 24-hour window. Pushing past that means missing the rest and risking 😫 Exhaustion.
With Road Access
Roads flatten most terrain to 2 hours per tile (Mountains to 3). A party traveling entirely on roads covers up to 9 tiles per day through ordinary country.
In Vehicles
Vehicles dramatically increase daily range:
| Vehicle Speed | Time per Tile (Plains) | Tiles per Day (16 hours) |
|---|---|---|
| Low | 2 hours | 8 tiles |
| Medium | 1 hour | 16 tiles |
| High | 30 minutes | 32 tiles |
At High speed, a vehicle can cross the entire 175-tile width of the map in roughly 5-6 days. But detection penalties mean the party is likely to miss encounters (both dangerous and beneficial), and fuel consumption limits range.
Fuel System (Vehicles)
Vehicles consume 1 fuel per tile of World Map travel, regardless of speed. Faster speed doesn’t burn more fuel — it just gets you there faster.
Each vehicle has a fuel capacity listed on its stat block. When fuel reaches 0, the vehicle is Stopped and cannot move until refueled.
Night Travel
Traveling at night is possible but more dangerous due to reduced visibility.
Time of Day Table
Time of Day Hours Light Level Detection DC Modifier Dawn 04:00 – 06:00 Dim +2 Day 06:00 – 18:00 Bright +0 Dusk 18:00 – 20:00 Dim +2 Night 20:00 – 04:00 Total Darkness +4 Travel time is paid in hours, so the clock moves as the party moves — a leg that sets out in daylight can arrive after dark. Use the band the party is in when they set out for both the travel time and the Detection DC; if a leg crosses a boundary, the GM may instead resolve the check against the band they arrive in.
Night travel also costs +1 hour per tile (see 🗺 World Map Travel). Dawn and Dusk cost no extra time.
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Darkness is judged per character, so each participant in the detection Group Test applies the modifier for the light level they perceive:
- 👥 Night Vision — one tier brighter. Night counts as Dim (+2); Dawn and Dusk count as Bright (+0).
- 🎖 Night Person — darkness is ignored entirely. Every hour counts as Bright (+0).
Neither changes how visible the party is — only how well that character sees.
Weather
The GM may roll for weather once per day or as the narrative demands.
Weather Table
d20 Weather Detection 📊 DC Modifier Travel Modifier Special 1-12 Clear +0 +0 None 13-15 Overcast / Wind +1 +0 Minor visibility reduction 16-17 Rain / Dust Storm +2 +1 hour per tile Reduced visibility, difficult terrain 18-19 Heavy Storm +4 +2 hours per tile 🚗 Pilot Tests required for vehicles, extreme visibility loss 20 Radiation Storm +2 +0 All exposed characters take RAD damage per tile traversed. Must find shelter or push through. Ghouls and Radiation Storms: A Ghoul’s immunity to radiation creates an interesting party dynamic during a Radiation Storm. The Ghoul can continue traveling safely while the rest of the party must shelter or suffer. This may lead to split-party scenarios where the Ghoul scouts ahead while the others wait out the storm.
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Resting While Traveling
The party must 🏕 Long Rest at least once every 24 hours or risk 😫 Exhaustion.
Resting in Safe Tiles
Tiles without faction control or known threats allow normal rest procedures:
- Camp setup Group Test (END + 🏕 Survival)
- Normal rest activities (Sleep, Repair, Read, Scavenge, Lookout)
- Standard food and drink requirements
Resting in Hostile Tiles
Resting in faction-controlled or dangerous tiles is more risky:
- Camp setup Group Test has increased CRITFAIL Range (+1 to +3 depending on the threat level)
- Hostile encounters are more likely to occur during rest
- The Lookout activity becomes especially important — without a Lookout, ambushes are almost guaranteed in hostile territory
Scout Activity
During a 🏕 Long Rest, a character may choose Scout as their 🏕 Rest Activity instead of sleeping, repairing, or reading.
Scout: You spend the rest exploring adjacent tiles and gathering information about the area.
- You do not Sleep — your 🏕 Recovery roll is not upgraded (1d8 + END MOD instead of 1d20 + END MOD) and you do not mend your own injuries
- You may eat and drink normally
- Benefit: For the next 24 hours, the party’s PER + Survival Group Tests for encounter detection gain -2 DC (encounters are easier to detect)
- The GM may also provide general information about adjacent tiles (terrain type, signs of faction activity, approximate danger level)
This makes Scouting a valuable pre-travel activity, especially before entering unknown or hostile territory.
Supplies and Resource Management
Long-distance travel requires supplies:
Food and Water
Each character needs 1 food + 1 drink per Long Rest to avoid 😫 Exhaustion. A 5-day journey for a party of 5 requires 25 food items and 25 drink items. This creates real logistical planning — the party must buy, scavenge, or hunt for supplies before long expeditions.
The 🎯 Wasteland Survivor milestone (Survival +5) allows hunting, foraging, and cooking during travel, reducing the need to carry all supplies from the start.
Ammunition and Medical Supplies
Combat encounters during travel consume ammunition, Stimpaks, and other consumables. The party should budget for expected encounters when planning supplies.
Vehicle Fuel
See Fuel System above. Vehicle range is limited by fuel capacity.
Carry Capacity
All supplies must fit within the party’s combined Carry Capacity, vehicle cargo, and Pack Brahmin inventory (if available). The 🎖 Strong Back perk and trade assets from the 🎯 Businessman milestone help with logistics.
Quick Reference
Travel Procedure:
- Declare destination tile
- Pay travel time (base time ± terrain/road/vehicle/weather modifiers)
- Group PER + Survival Test vs Detection DC
- GM rolls Encounter Table (d20)
- Resolve encounter based on detection result
- CRIT: Full awareness, can avoid anything
- Success: Partial info, can attempt to avoid
- Failure: Stumble in, possible Surprise
- CRITFAIL: Ambushed or lost
Daily Travel (On Foot):
- A 6-hour Long Rest once per 24 hours leaves 18 hours for everything else
- At most that’s 9 tiles in Plains, 6 in Woods/Hills/Urban, 4 in Swamp, 3 in Mountains
- Roads: up to 9 tiles per day
- Encounters and the party’s one Short Rest come out of the same 18 hours
- Past 18 hours since the last rest, a 6-hour rest no longer fits — Exhaustion risk
Vehicle Speed:
Speed Time/Tile Detection Penalty Fuel Low Base ÷ 2 +0 1/tile Medium Base ÷ 4 +2 DC 1/tile High Base ÷ 8 +4 DC 1/tile
Encounter Odds (Standard, No Faction):
- Nothing: 50% | Environmental: 15% | Neutral: 15% | Hostile: 15% | Discovery: 5%