Hexploration

Exploration within a roleplaying campaign can be done in many ways. This page explains the home brew rules for exploring, mostly taken from Pathfinder 2e's Exploration Mode as well as inspired by the Alexandrian.

Basics

Watches

A watch is the basic unit for tracking time. A watch is equal to 4 hours.

Determine Time Within a Watch: To randomly generate a particular time within a watch, use 1d8 to determine the half hour and 1d30 to determine the exact minute (if necessary).

There are six watches per day and three types of watch:

• Active
• Rest
• Travel

While traveling, it is generally assumed that an expedition is spending two watches per day traveling, two watches per day resting, and two watches per day engaged in other activities.

Forced March: If a character spends more than two watches traveling in one day, they must make a Constitution check (DC 10 + 1 per hour of additional travel). On a failure, they suffer one level of exhaustion/fatigue.

Travel Pace

During each watch, the expedition determines their travel pace.

Normal: (x1) An expedition traveling at normal pace cannot use Stealth checks to avoid detection.

Slow: (x2/3) While moving at a slow pace, the expedition is purposely being careful. An expedition traveling at slow pace:

• Gains advantage on navigation checks.
• Can make Stealth checks to avoid detection.
• The chance for a non-exploratory encounter is halved. (If a non-exploratory encounter is generated, there is a 50% chance it doesn’t actually happen.)

Exploration: (x1/2) While exploring, an expedition is assumed to be trying out side trails, examining objects of interest, and so forth. While exploring, an expedition:

• Cannot use Stealth checks to avoid detection.
• Gains advantage (PF2 = +5 circumstance bonus) on navigation checks.
• The chance for encounters is doubled.

Fast: (x1.5) While moving quickly through the wilderness, expeditions traveling at fast pace:

• Cannot use Stealth checks to avoid detection.
• Suffer disadvantage to Wisdom (Perception) checks.
• Suffer a -5 penalty to navigation checks.

The most common speed is 30ft, 3mph, 12 miles per watch, 24 miles per day.

= Terrain

The type of terrain modifies the speed at which an expedition can travel.

• Highway: A highway is a straight, major, paved road.
• Road: A road is a dirt track or similar causeway.
• Trail: An irregular byway. Probably unsuitable for most vehicles and may only allow for single-file travel. Most off-road travel follows local trails. A known trail does not require navigation checks, although a known trail in poor repair requires a DC 10 navigation check to follow.
• Trackless: Trackless terrain is a wild area with no paths. +2 to navigation DCs.

TERRAIN	HIGHWAY	ROAD/TRAIL	TRACKLESS	NAVIGATION DC	FORAGE DC
Desert	x1	x1/2	x1/2	12	20
Forest (sparse)	x1	x1	x1/2	14	14
Forest (medium)	x1	x1	x1/2	16	14
Forest (dense)	x1	x1	x1/2	18	14
Hills	x1	x3/4	x1/2	14	12
Jungle	x1	x3/4	x1/4	16	14
Moor	x1	x1	x3/4	14	16
Mountains	x3/4	x3/4	x1/2	16	18
Plains	x1	x1	x3/4	12	12
Swamp	x1	x3/4	x1/2	15	16
Tundra, frozen	x1	x3/4	x3/4	12	18

Army movements

Large scale movement is hindered by several factors, well summarised here.

Rule of thumb 8-12 miles per day rather than 24 odd. Can probabl be refined with eqation + dice.

References

• https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/46101/roleplaying-games/5e-hexcrawl-part-2-wilderness-travel