Guide
Travel
Routes advance when you spend steps or Energy, up to the next stop that needs a decision. Walking is the intended primary fuel for Walking heroes. Energy is available to every hero, and it can be a hero’s only fuel.
Travel and encounter choices Implemented
Creation presets combine two independent choices. Energy is available to every hero. Selecting Energy as the travel policy makes it that hero’s only route fuel. The final public name for that policy is still undecided; this guide uses Energy, the name in the current build. Pacifist changes encounters, not the fuel.
| Combination | Travel fuel | Encounter behaviour |
|---|---|---|
| Default / Normal | Newly credited steps, stored steps, and timed Energy | Combat enabled |
| Pacifist | Newly credited steps, stored steps, and timed Energy | Guaranteed escape presentation. Combat does not launch. |
| Energy | Timed Energy. Physical step credits stay in the shared reserve. | Combat enabled |
| Energy + Pacifist | Timed Energy | Guaranteed escapes. Combat does not launch. |
How steps move a route
For Walking heroes, newly credited steps go to the active route first. Surplus that cannot be used, including steps that arrive with no route or while an event blocks travel, goes into the shared step reserve. Steps beyond reserve capacity are lost and reported.
The reserve is not spent just because a journey screen opens. Press Travel to apply it. A Walking hero uses stored steps first, then Energy, up to the next stopping point. An Energy hero spends Energy and leaves stored steps for a Walking hero.
The step system keeps a ledger so it can recognise repeated samples and apply integrity rules. Moving the device clock backwards grants no Energy refill until time passes the previous recorded timestamp. That safeguard is local.
Current resource values
| Rule | Current value |
|---|---|
| Step-reserve capacity | 200 + 20 × (master level − 1) steps |
| Energy capacity | 200 + 20 × (master level − 1) Energy |
| Energy conversion | 1 Energy advances 1 route step |
| Energy regeneration | 1 Energy every 5 real minutes |
| New profile’s initial Energy | Full bar |
| Step-reserve expiry | None in the current configuration |
Master level 6 gives a reserve of 300 steps and an Energy capacity of 300. A brand-new profile has 200 of each capacity. Refilling 200 Energy from empty takes 1,000 minutes, or 16 hours 40 minutes. Raising capacity does not speed regeneration.
Energy regenerates from saved elapsed UTC time while the application is closed. A full bar gains nothing further. Walking does not refill Energy, and Energy never counts as physical steps.
Stops and partial spending
Travel applies only as much fuel as the route can consume before its next event, fork, encounter, hidden-path decision, detour summary, or quest node. Partial progress costs only the amount applied. Resolve the stop and press Travel again to continue. Detours use the same travel resources.
If Travel stops while Energy remains, the route has reached something that needs attention. Resolve it before spending more fuel.
Journeys Implemented
A journey, also called an expedition, is a route with an authored step cost and milestones along the way. A milestone can deliver narrative, a discovery, gathering, an encounter, or a route decision. Some routes are one-time story content. Others are repeatable.
The progress screen shows the route, distance remaining, milestone events, and relevant rewards. A route can pause at a decision rather than consuming all available fuel. Completion can pay rewards and satisfy a chapter or story objective.
Energy-funded travel earns the route’s normal travel XP. Daily missions are a separate, optional source of generated journeys. They are described with the world map.
Forks, hidden paths, and detours
Route forks
At a fork you choose which road to take. Branches can change events, discoveries, encounters, and later dialogue. An arc can remember the chosen route and refer to it during a later quest.
Hidden paths Implemented
Some event nodes carry an Exploration check. The current base modifier is half the Exploration skill level, rounded down and capped at +10. A d20 roll plus that modifier is compared with the authored difficulty. The result popup shows the die, modifier, total, and required result.
A successful check offers Follow or Leave, including the additional travel cost. Failure is shown and acknowledged. It does not by itself block the road permanently. Results are saved for the run rather than rerolled every time a screen opens. A new run can make a new check.
Hidden-path support exists, but not every proposed hidden path in the Area story scripts has been authored.
Detours
Following a hidden path can start a side journey. The main route pauses while the detour receives progress. Detours have their own milestones and reward recap, and their scenery can match the surrounding terrain.
You can drop a detour and keep gains already awarded. When it finishes, its summary is shown before the main route continues. Detours do not count as completing the main journey’s story objective. Quest routes can also contain hidden spurs and side excursions.