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Expeditions
Camping and camping skills
How firewood, food, respite points, buffs, and nighttime ambushes shape a long expedition.
Overview
Camping is a limited planning window, not a free reset. It converts firewood, food, and a finite respite budget into recovery or preparation. The best use depends on what remains in the mission: an upcoming boss, a damaged party, severe stress, or a long return route.
Meal choices and trade-offs
| Food spent | Standard effect | When to consider it |
|---|---|---|
| 0 — starve | Party takes damage and stress. | Avoid as a routine choice; only consider if no food remains and continuing is safer than retreat. |
| 2 — half meal | No meal bonus or starvation penalty. | Preserve supplies when health and stress are stable. |
| 4 — full meal | Restores a portion of maximum health. | Use when several heroes need moderate recovery and the route still needs supplies. |
| 8 — feast | Largest standard health recovery and stress relief. | Choose only when the party needs both and the remaining food budget still covers hunger checks. |
Spend respite on the mission's bottleneck
| Need | Useful camp effect | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| An ally may die on the next attack | Shared Wound Care heals and removes bleed/blight for a companion (not the Flagellant). | Protect the endangered hero first; do not spend all respite on damage buffs. |
| A hero is close to an affliction | Encourage, Pep Talk, and class skills can reduce stress or incoming stress. | Target the hero whose stress changes the next resolve check. |
| A boss or difficult room is next | Class buffs can improve damage, accuracy, speed, or resistances for a limited number of battles. | Spend before the encounter; buffs are not permanent campaign upgrades. |
| A night ambush would break the formation | Some camping skills prevent nighttime ambush. | Equip and activate one before ending the camp; do not assume every hero can do it. |
A practical sequence
1. Decide whether the next fight or the party's current condition is the real threat. 2. Use the meal only after reserving food for the rest of the mission. 3. Spend respite first on a death-risk, disease/DoT cleanup, or stress threshold; then buy a short-lived combat advantage. 4. If the next room is the objective, prepare immediately before it. 5. Before pressing Rest, verify that every skill is used and ambush protection is active if needed.
Continue the expedition plan
Before the expedition
- Check the expedition length and whether firewood is available.
- Count food for the meal and the remaining route before choosing a feast.
- Equip the camping skills that solve this party's actual risk.
- Reserve an ambush-prevention skill when an interrupted camp would be dangerous.