Wanderlust

I'm thinking about making a game that focuses on traveling between places, and the end state of the game (or of one PC) is the PC settling down and ending their journey.

The mechanic I'm currently considering is to have a character attribute called wanderlust. It has a value between 1 and 20. When you roll equal or under (d20), you are content to travel onward. If you roll greater, then you have a connection to this place, and traveling onward is affected.

Rather than tracking this with a number alone, I'm thinking of drawing 20 cards (standard playing cards, face down). The player holding this hand has a tactile representation of their character's desire to travel. 20 cards feel substantial. As the hand is diminished, I would hope that it feels significant. The character is visibly coming to the end of their journey.

My thought is to have a "push your luck" feel to the journey. Engaging with a location means playing a card and diminishing your wanderlust. When you later plan to leave, there's a possibility that your interest in the place will hold you back.

The cards come into play as prompts for new aspects of locations. I'll need to write some tables for handling this part. For example, 8 of Clubs could give the prompt "Their history is based on a lie". If you want to learn more about a place, or significantly impact the place, you have to spend more cards.

When you fail a wanderlust roll, it means you have a newfound connection to this place and you hesitate to leave. I'm thinking of a checklist you can use to resolve that and move on. If you run out of items to check, then you have no choice but to stay in the location. The checklist could be something like this:

• Take a memento with you, to remind you of this place. 
• Leave something you cherish in this place. 
• A companion from this place joins you for the onward journey.
• Make a promise to someone who lives here.

And so on...

With a wanderlust that can only be reduced, it would limit the play time. If you wanted to extend it, you could have events that allow you to recover wanderlust - it could be something as simple as draw d4 cards when you travel onward. Or perhaps it would be linked to encountering wondrous things on the journey which inspire you to continue.

To summarize:

1. During character creation, set the wanderlust attribute between 1 and 20. A dedicated traveler can begin with 20.
2. Draw a number of cards (face down), equal to the wanderlust score.
3. When taking an action that shows personal interest in a place (investigating, protecting, challenging), turn over a card and resolve the associated prompt. The card is discarded and the wanderlust attribute is reduced by 1.
4. When deciding whether to leave, roll d20 versus wanderlust. Equal or under is a success and travel can proceed without issue.
5. On a failure of the wanderlust roll, either end your journey in this place, or check one of the unchecked prompts for connections to places you have visited.
6. Optionally, recover your wanderlust when you travel onward.

I have a little more in mind for the game this might fit into, but it might also make sense as a MOSAIC Strict text that could be used in different games.