Exploration

Every day, the party may undertake one or more Hexploration Activities. The speed of the slowest member in a group determines how many activities may be completed in a day; you can split up to cover more ground, but this may be dangerous!

• 0 to 10 feet per day = ½ activities per day
• 15 to 25 feet per day = 1 activity per day
• 30 to 40 feet per day = 2 activities per day
• 45 to 55 feet per day = 3 activities per day
• 60+ feet per day = 4 activities per day

This assumes a standard schedule with time for camping and resting.

Finding a campsite: You need to find a campsite in order to rest safely overnight. This doesn't require a Hexploration action, and multiple people can roll.

Forced march: If no-one in the party is fatigued, the group can spend the day in a forced march. If the group make a forced march, they can perform one extra Travel activity but that is the only activity they can take that day. A character can participate in a number of forced marches equal to their Con modifier (minimum 1). Additional forced marches make the character fatigued until they spend an entire day of downtime resting.

Hexploration Activities

There are two types of activity – group and individual. You can only undertake a Group action if everyone in the party undertakes it together.

Group Hexploration Activities

Travel (Move, Risky)

You progress toward moving into an adjacent hex. This action is Risky unless you are familiar with your destination (i.e. you have Reconnoitered the destination hex). The number of Travel actions required depends on the terrain:

• Open terrain (plains, downriver in a boat): 1 travel action
• Difficulty terrain (forest or hills, upriver in a boat): 2 travel actions
• Greater difficult terrain (mountains or swamp, upriver in a boat): 3 travel actions
• Road: reduce cost by 1, to a minimum of 1

Reconnoiter (Concentrate, Risky)

You spend time surveying and exploring a specific area, getting the lay of the land and looking for unusual features and specific sites. This activity is Risky.

Reconnoitering a single hex takes a number of hexploration activities equal to the number of Travel activities necessary to traverse the hex, but roads don’t reduce the time required for Reconnoiter.

After you have Reconnoitered a hex, you automatically find any special features that don’t require a check, and can make an appropriate check to find any hidden special features. You can also now Map the Area. Traveling through the area is no longer risky, unless there is a specific reason (e.g. a dragon lairs in this hex).

Individual Hexploration Activities

This list isn't exhaustive - if you can think of a sensible thing to do, please discuss it with me.

Fortify Camp

You can spend time fortifying your camp for defense with a successful Crafting check (typically at a trained or expert DC). Anyone keeping watch or defending the camp gains a +2 circumstance bonus to initiative rolls and Perception checks to Seek creatures attempting to sneak up on the camp.

Hide Camp

You hide your campsite from prying eyes. If a random encounter occurs, the creature must make a Perception roll against your Stealth DC to find your campsite.

Map the Area (Concentrate)

As long as your group has successfully Reconnoitered the hex, you can use this activity to create an accurate map of the hex with a successful Survival check (typically at a trained or expert DC).

When you have an accurate map of the hex, you automatically find all hidden special features you may have missed. The DC to Find a Camp or Subsist in a mapped area is reduced by 5. This reduction also applies to any other relevant checks.

Subsist

This is done as per the core book. Link to SRD.

Avoid Notice

You attempt to remain hidden as the party moves or is encamped. If an encounter occurs, you roll Stealth for initiative. The terrain may offer a circumstance bonus, typically +2 for difficult terrain or +4 for greater difficult terrain.

Scout (Concentrate)

You scout ahead of the rest of the group, and alert them if something dangerous happens. Everyone gains +1 circumstance bonus to initiative.

Cover tracks (Concentrate, Move)

You attempt to cover the party’s tracks as they move. Anyone trying to track you must make a Survival check against your Survival DC if it is higher than the normal DC to track.

Track (Concentrate, Move)

You follow tracks as you move. A successful check allows you to follow tracks for 1 hour. You have to make a new check after 1 hour, or when there are significant changes in the trail. The DC is based on the freshness of the trail, the weather and the type of ground.

Success: You find the trail and can follow it

Failure: You lose the trail, but can try again after 1 hour

Critical failure: You lose the trail, and can’t try again for 24 hours.

The Tension Pool and Wilderness Exploration

See the Houserules page for the complete version of this system.

Every day is divided into two segments, of about 12 hours each. Every time a segment passes, add a die to the pool (i.e. the pool takes 3 complete days to fill).

On a normal day, the party spends 1 segment exploring and 1 segment resting. This is safe behaviour. If the party do anything other than rest at night time, this is risky.

Moving into an unknown hex is risky, as is reconnoitering a hex. Once a hex is reconnoitered, it's no longer risky to move through it unless there's a specific reason (e.g. an orc band calls the hex home).