Basic Concepts

I like increasing distance and Hx concurrently. That's cool.

Advancing while lost could work like gigs. You make some choices about what your character is doing, like "trying to get home", "wandering aimlessly", "investigating the mystery". The result of the 7-9 or miss roll determines how you re-enter the story, or what happened while you were lost. Maybe what happens when you're lost is particularly hard to remember for some reason...

I'm not 100% on the term Distance, since it's a bit too "on the nose" for Firmament, but it's okay as a placeholder.  It could also be called Terror or something like that, emphasizing the emotion rather than the outcome.

I really like your suggestion of treating being lost as a gig.  That also makes sense with those custom moves that Vx suggests using after having missed a session or two, which work similarly but not quite the same.

Just saw the movie version of The Road last night and my first thought was, damn, that's very similar in tone to what I'm trying to do with Firmament.  It's interesting that I didn't have that reaction when reading the book.  But check this out:

-- very small # of humans left
-- story focuses on even smaller group trying to survive
-- a lot of the other humans out there are wacko crazies
-- you cherish the rare moments you have with other sane human beings
-- you wander through a bleak but darkly beautiful landscape
-- the environment is mostly empty, but occasionally dotted with treasures
-- most of the story consists of wandering and looking
-- once, just once, they stumble upon a trove of treasures all in one place
-- a lot of wondering and soul searching, looking for meaning
-- very lonesome and sad, but with a glimmer of hope remaining

Yeah, I want all of that.

I just want to say I love Distance and Fetters sooo much.