Challenges

You need to watch out for ___
The way is perilous, plagued with danger
You risk getting lost
You must surmount/cross/brave ___
The terrain itself is treacherous; you risk injury on the way
The way will be grueling; you risk exhausting yourselves/your resources
You risk drawing the attention of ___

You'll usually link these with "and" but can also use a merciful "or." "You'll need to bring warm clothes OR the way will be hard and grueling." "You need to wait until daybreak OR you risk getting lost."

If you choose "First you must travel to ___," then Chart a Course for each leg of the journey. You can nest this requirement two or three levels deep. A journey to Lygos might require traveling to Marshedge, and from there to the arid South, and from there to Lygos proper.

Answer whatever questions the players have. Clarify your statements. Don't be afraid to negotiate or change your mind. Write your choices down with tick boxes next to them. Ideally, put this someplace public so the players can see it, too. This will help the players make preparations, and it'll serve as your narrative to-do list once the journey starts.

As the PCs Outfit or otherwise prepare, remind them of the requirements. "Does everyone have something warm, like a cloak or thick hides?" "You'll need to bring a horse and cart—someone's going to need to Requisition for that." "You still need to find a guide, a map, or accurate directions... how do you go about that?"

If they fail (or refuse) to meet the requirements, tell them the consequences and ask what they do. "Okay, without a guide, you'll risk getting lost." "Okay, but without enough supplies, you'll definitely need to Forage, and that's both time-consuming and risky." "Okay, but without warm clothes you will probably freeze to death. What do you do?" Sometimes, they'll fail to meet the requirements and call the journey off.

Once they set out on the journey, you'll frame scenes and situations that show them traveling and approaching their destination. During some of those scenes, you'll make GM moves that introduce the challenges you outlined. You'll ask the players what they do, resolve the situation, and—assuming the PCs keep going—move on to the next one. See Running the Journey starting on Running for more guidance.

Box

"… a corresponding amount of supplies"

"Supplies" are something characters can have in their inventory. They represent stuff that the PCs might need or want on an expedition: food, water, whisky, bandages, salves, etc. The steading's Prosperity stat affects the quality and quantity of supplies available to the PCs; they add the steading's Prosperity to the number of uses they get out of each ◊ of supplies.

Supplies get used when...

... they Recover;
... they Make Camp;
... they Have What They Need) to produce additional small items; and
... you use up their resources, and supplies are what you use up.

By default, each person in the party consumes 1 use of supplies per day. But if someone has and uses a mess kit (which requires water and fire) then 1 use of supplies can cover up to four people.

In other words, when they use a mess kit...

... a party of up to 4 will expend 1 use of supplies per day;
... a party of 5-8 will expend 2 uses of supplies per day; or
... a party of 9-12 will expend 3 uses of supplies per day.

If they don't use a mess kit, each party member will expend 1 use of supplies per day. Obviously, it's very favorable to bring and use a mess kit!

Pack animals can graze or browse, and carry enough extra feed to "cover" themselves. Use your best judgement for other animals. The Ranger's pet wolf can probably fend for itself, and small critters don't need much food, but wellheeled hounds probably need to be fed from the party's supplies.

If the party travels with a pack animal or a cart laden with at least 1 Surplus worth of supplies, then there's no need to track individual meals and uses. As long as they have access to their stash, they can effectively re-Outfit out of it.

Winter has been brutal and Stonetop is running out of food. Rhianna and Caradoc decide to go hunt the cave bears south of town, despite Blodwen's reservations. "Sounds like you're Charting a Course," I say. "How do you intend to get there?"

Rhianna: "Their lair is a cave in the bluff, right? If we follow the bluff south, we'll find them."

I look at the list and jot down:

O It'll take at least 1 day there and back (little need to worry about supplies)
O You'll need to bring at least 3 sleds to haul the meat home, if you want enough to feed everyone
O You'll need to bring warm clothes
O You'll need to watch out for crinwin
O The way is grueling (cold, snow)
O You risk getting lost
O You risk drawing the attention of the cave bears as you approach!

I read these off and Rhianna's like, "We risk getting lost? We're just following the cliff face south." Oh, sure. Of course. I cross it off the list.

Vahid convinces the others to visit Three Coven Lake in search of the Mindgem's ever-burning heart. "Just the four us," says Rhianna. "I'm not risking my crew on this." Andras insists on coming, though—mostly because he's sweet on Blodwen.

"How do you intend to get there?" I ask. They'll take the Highway to Marshedge, resupply there, then follow the Sruth upstream to Three Coven Lake. That seems legit, so I look over the list and write down:

O First, you'll need to travel to Marshedge
O You need to wait until summer OR you'll need to bring warm clothes
O It'll take at least 8 days (and 8 uses of supplies each, or 16 uses total if you use a mess kit)
O You need to watch out for nosgolau
O It'll take at least 4 days from Marshedge, and a corresponding number of supplies
O You need a knowledgeable guide OR you risk getting lost
O The way is perilous, plagued with danger
O The terrain is treacherous; you risk injury
O The way is grueling; you risk exhaustion

Vahid asks why they need a guide, given that they'll just be heading upstream. "Well," I say, "The terrain's pretty rugged. There will be places you can't stick to the river, and who knows how many little tributaries feed it."

"Hmm. I did spend time wandering the Steplands before I got to Stonetop. Maybe I've got the lay of the land?"

"Maybe. But you've never actually been to the lake, right? So you still risk getting lost."

"Ah," Vahid says. "Yeah, that makes sense."