FORAGE
When you spend a few hours seeking food in the wild, roll +WIS. In winter, you have disadvantage. On a 10+, pick 2; on a 7-9, pick 1:
- You acquire 4 provisions (1d6 uses)
- You acquire an extra 1d6 uses of provisions
- You discover something interesting or useful
- You avoid danger or risk (else, there is some)
Provisions can substitute for supplies when you Make Camp, 1-for-1.
This move represents one "party" going out to gather food. If two or more go together, one of them is Foraging while the other Aids. If they split up, they can each roll the move potentially gathering more food but putting themselves in more danger.
It's possible to travel while Foraging, but as a rule they'll cover only half the distance they would otherwise.
On a 7+, let them roll to see how many uses of provisions are at stake before they make their choices. You might also reveal the danger, risk, or challenge (at least its general form). If they're only getting a paltry 1 use of provisions, at the risk of getting lost, well... they might skip the danger, thank you very much.
Use the fiction, their choices, and the number of provisions at stake to fill in the details. If they get a 10+ and end up with 2d6 uses of provisions with a risk, then maybe they spot a big old buck and they have to bring it down. If they get just 1 or 2 uses and avoid danger or risk, then perhaps they found wild carrots and some birds' eggs and so forth but the trip was otherwise uneventful. Feel free to ask the player what they found, especially if they avoided danger or risk.
On a miss, you might reveal an unwelcome truth that the land is barren or picked clean, or show a downside of their lack of experience in the wild, or hurt someone and have everyone in the party mark a debility from hunger. Or you could drop them right into a bad situation, like getting gored by a wild boar or surrounded by feathered drakes, and, hey, maybe they can score some provisions after all.
After a week on the road, mishap and misadventure have depleted the party's supplies. They're all out, and still a couple days from Marshedge. Rhianna goes a-hunting, bringing Andras with her.
"Are you, like, hunting game? Looking for plants to eat? What's the plan?"
"Hunting game. This is what we do back home for a living." Sure, of course. She rolls (with Aid from Andras) and gets a 10. They roll a 3 for provisions, and decide to avoid danger or risk.
"Well, that's not great. What do you think you brought down?"
"Probably just some birds," says Rhianna. "Maybe a few mourning doves?"
Works for me.
Meanwhile, Blodwen and Caradoc are foraging near the road, looking for edible plants and the like. Caradoc is Aiding; Blodwen rolls +WIS and gets an 8. They roll the d6, for 2 uses of provisions.
That's a small number, but Blodwen's trying to impress Caradoc. "What's the danger or challenge?" she asks.
"Hmm. Blodwen, on a hunch, you follow a swath of wildflowers up and around a curve in a hill, and there, coming from a dead old tree still gripping the side of the hill, there's a big buzzing sound. Bees! There's lots of honey in there, for sure, 2 uses of provisions, but you'll have to get it out. That's your challenge. Or you can turn around and go home safely but emptyhanded. What do you do?"
Later, after resupplying in Marshedge and heading out towards Three Coven Lake, they once again find themselves short on food. Rhianna takes Andras hunting again, but the rest of them stay at camp. They're well off the roads, now, and don't want to take chances.
Rhianna and Andras roll to Forage and, alas, they get a 5. The party's getting close to Three Coven Lake, less than a day away (not that they know that). My notes include a run-in with Hillfolk who are devoted to keeping people away from the lake, and this seems like a good time to spring it.
"Okay, it's a dreary, miserable day, but at least it's no longer raining. Rhianna, you and Andras have tracked a big old ram through the hills for a bit, and you finally brought it down while it was drinking from the stream. There's plenty of meat for the taking, like maybe 8 provisions worth? Andras has gone down to butcher the thing while you keep lookout."
That's just me setting the scene. Now I use the Hillfolk's monster move, outmaneuver their prey, and I go hard. "You're scanning the hills around you, and then, like, out of nowhere, there's a mounted warrior on one of the peaks. A Hillfolk. He whistles, and as he does, you realize the trick—he's a distraction! You see Andras look up, too, and right then, an arrow comes from out of nowhere and tags him for 1d8 damage. Is he still up? Okay, cool, I think it took him in the leg, he's down and grabbing at it and his eyes are darting about in a panic, what do you do?"