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The Perilous Wilds

Overview

The Perilous Wilds is a wilderness and exploration supplement for collaborative, emergent campaign building. It combines mapmaking, travel procedure, follower rules, encounter support, and lightweight dungeon generation. Core resolution uses Dungeon World's 2d6 system (10+/7-9/6-) but each subsystem can be extracted for use with other rulesets.

Core Travel Moves

Five moves drive all wilderness play (2d6 resolution, 10+/7-9/6- bands):

Move Attribute On 10+ On 7-9
Scout Ahead +WIS Choose 2 from the options list Choose 1 from the list
Navigate (Trailblazer) +INT Avoid dangers, make good time Consume expected rations; risk getting lost
Forage/Hunt +WIS 1d4 rations (+1d4 if equipped for terrain) Face a Discovery or Danger first
Make Camp — Night passes without incident GM picks one complication from a list
Take Watch +WIS Alert everyone; all party members take +1 forward Sound alarm but complications follow
Recruit Follower +WIS Follower joins on your terms GM imposes one condition

Scout Ahead 10+ options include: find a safe route, identify what lies ahead, spot a shortcut/shelter/tactical advantage, make a Discovery, or notice sign of a nearby Danger and learn what it signifies.

GM soft moves for 6- outcomes: weather worsens, scout attracts unwanted attention, scout becomes lost, scout is ambushed or captured, the rest of the party is ambushed.

Discoveries and Dangers

Every region has both Discoveries (anything the party can find and benefit from) and Dangers (anything harmful if left unchecked). They are region-tagged before play and revealed through move outcomes — not placed on maps in advance.

  • Danger level scales with region type and player decisions.
  • A Danger can be incidental (a single encounter) or persistent (a recurring threat across sessions).
  • Discoveries are the reward side of the equation: places, objects, information, allies.
  • Both emerge from region tags, not predetermined room keys.

Follower System Skeleton

Followers use two stats:

  • Quality: −1 (rubbish) to +3 (masterful). Used when rolling for their domain of expertise.
  • Loyalty: what they want from the relationship — not a number but a described cost (payment, status, completing a specific task).

Followers can make Encumbrance, Make Camp, Recover, and Last Breath moves. They do not make basic moves — use follower-specific moves instead. Followers deal and take damage like monsters.

Region and Place Name Generation

Two-stage procedure for procedurally named locations:

  1. Roll 1d12 for a Name Template (structure, e.g. "[Adjective] [Noun]" or "[Terrain] of [Noun]").
  2. Roll 1d100 on the component sub-tables (Terrain, Adjective, Noun) as required by the template.
  3. Reroll or rewrite any result that does not fit the setting.

Both Region names and Place names have separate 1d12 template lists with their own 1d100 component tables.

Mechanical details from source: - Region templates are terrain-weighted and support forms like adjective+terrain, terrain-of-noun, and noun-possessive constructions. - Place templates bias toward landmark-style labels ("The [Place]", "[Place] of the [Noun]", "The [Adjective] [Noun]"). - Component tables include a [Name] wildcard slot, allowing import from external name lists when desired.

Quality-control rule in text: after rolling templates/components, rewrite, shorten, or reroll anything that clashes with table tone or setting language.

Pre-table naming method in source: start with descriptive English labels, optionally run through translation tools, then aggressively tweak results for pronounceability and tone fit.

Integration Pattern

  1. Use the collaborative map step to establish 3–5 regions before the first session; pass the map around so all players contribute.
  2. Tag each region with 1–2 Discoveries and 1–2 Dangers — keep tags vague enough to surprise yourself.
  3. Run travel as a structured sequence: Journey → Scout → Navigate → Forage as each becomes relevant.
  4. Resolve Make Camp as a structured beat with its own outcomes — never skip it.
  5. Import follower or dungeon-gen subsystems only when those layers become relevant; each is modular.

Design Value

Useful beyond Dungeon World because it treats wilderness play as a conversation supported by clear prompts and small procedures. Strong inspiration for low-prep exploration loops even when the exact mechanics are not imported intact. The Discoveries and Dangers framework in particular translates easily to any system.

See Also