Let’s Look At Exploration
One of our primary goals with Level Up is to expand and fully flesh out the game’s exploration pillar. There are various ways we’re doing that: we’re giving all characters exploration knacks themed to their character class, we’re making a few tweaks here and there to spells and abilities which interact with that pillar, and we’re writing new journey rules.
Of course, it’s important to remember that the exploration pillar includes dungeons as well as the wilderness. The exploration pillar is a full third of the game, and we want to ensure that all characters get to participate in the whole game, albeit in their own ways.
Supplies
One mechanic we’re adding is the concept of supplies. Supplies are an abstract unit which consist of food, water, firewood, bedding, and other things. You need supplies to travel. You can think of supplies as the party 'hit points’ while traveling; when you run out of supplies, things start to get pretty dicey. That means we need to make sure that supply scarcity is a thing.
It’s harder now to ‘magic up’ supplies. You can do it, but it’s harder. Some characters will have abilities which allow them to gather supplies while traveling. All characters have a limit on the number of supplies they can carry, as do horses, mules, carts, and so on (and using those limits the terrain you can cross). And, inconveniently, food spoils in extra-dimensional spaces, so that bag of holding can carry treasure, but it can’t carry supplies.
One supply is used per long rest by one Medium or smaller character. Larger characters and other creatures use more. If you take a long rest without consuming a supply, you lose a level of fatigue or resolve.
Failing Exploration Challenges (see below) can cost supplies as your mule runs off with half your rations or your firewood tumbles into the raging torrent below.
Safe Havens
While traveling, you can only recover fatigue and resolve by resting at a haven. A haven is a place where you can rest, get a meal, a full night’s sleep, be protected from the elements, and are at little risk of attack. An inn is a haven; a campsite is not (although you can still take a long rest at a campsite—you just can’t recover fatigue or resolve). Some characters may be able to create havens in the wilderness, at least temporarily. But often, your goal will be that next village or roadside inn.
Exploration Challenges
That brings us to Exploration Challenges. The core rulebook includes about 50 Exploration Challenges. These are plug-in encounters which take place during journeys. They are grouped by tier of play, and they have Challenge Ratings like monsters do. An Exploration Challenge might be a broken bridge, or a sheer cliff, or a tornado; at high levels it might be some kind of planar breach, or a firestorm. We generally assume that characters can easily overcome Exploration Challenges from lower tiers, so we don’t need to bother 20th level adventurers with low tier challenges.
Depending on the length of your journey and the terrain in which you are traveling, the number of Exploration Challenges you encounter will vary. The GM will determine the number of Exploration Challenges and then introduce them during the journey.
Exploration Challenges gain you experience points just like combat encounters do. They are usually resolved with skill checks, although many have methods which can instantly circumvent or solve them (levitating above a stampede is an automatic skill check success).
Often a group check is required to pass an Exploration Challenge — a group check means that all members of the party make a check, and the group succeeds if more than half of the party succeeds at their checks. Not everybody has to make the same check. What happens then depends on the results of that check. If you critically succeed, you pass through with no delay. If you fail, you might lose time, or supplies. If you critically fail, the penalties are even worse!
Here’s some early drafts of a couple of very simple Exploration Challenges. Note that this is early in the development process, and these stat blocks will definitely change. But it gives you an idea of where we’re going with this.
Pests
1st tier exploration challenge
Challenge 1 (200 XP)
A nasty horde of bugs has broken into your supplies, and it’s eating them all up! You’d better get rid of these things quick.
Suggested Solutions
DC 14 Nature check to locate a tastier treat to lure the pests away.
DC 16 Animal Handling check to drive the pests away from your supplies.
Critical Failure: Lose half of your supplies to the pests.
Failure: Lose 1d4 supplies to the pests.
Success: Lose 1 supply while removing the pests.
Critical Success: Remove the pests without losing supplies.
Magical Overgrowth
1st tier exploration challenge
Challenge 1 (200 XP)
The path ahead is completely overrun with plants, making it difficult to forge ahead. When you cut through it, more seems to grow in its place!
Magical Effect. The overgrowth counts as a magical effect created through evocation magic. The dispel DC for it is 15. A successful casting of dispel magic grants characters an expertise die on each roll made to cut through the brush.
Vulnerable to Fire. Applying fire to the overgrowth grants characters an expertise die on each roll made to cut through the brush.
Suggested Solutions
Group DC 16 Athletics check to cut through the brush.
Group DC 16 Acrobatics check to squeeze through the brush.
Critical Failure: Travel time in the overgrowth is doubled, and adventurers sustain one injury.
Failure: Travel time in the overgrowth is doubled.
Success: Lose 1 hour clearing the overgrowth.
Critical Success: Pass through the overgrowth with no delay.
As you can see, the penalties for failure depend on the Exploration Challenge. Common penalties are supplies or injuries, but each Exploration Challenge is unique.