Getting There is Half the Fun 2.0

The Wilderness

Outside the safety of city walls, the wilderness is a dangerous place, and many adventurers have gotten lost in its trackless wilds or fallen victim to deadly weather. The following rules give you new guidelines on running adventures in a wilderness setting, making travel both quick and fun. These new rules are designed to give the PCs more choices while greatly reducing the tracking of minutiae. They are an amalgam of rules devised for the Tomb of Annihilation by Wizards of the Coast, travel rules by The Angry GM, and exploration rules by Paizo. These rules require the use of a map that has been detailed with terrain, dangers, and scenic spots. The Pathfinder book Ultimate Campaign gives good advice for map generation and terrain elements, but using hexes isn't necessary.

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According to The Angry GM, "Navigation and Resources are both measured in terms of a DC. But either can be moot. For example, following a road or river makes Navigation moot. And traveling through civilized, friendly farmland makes Resources moot. Otherwise, you want to set a DC of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, etc. in D&D 3E, 4E, and Pathfinder. Verdant forests and lush meadows have a Resource DC of 5 or 10. Deserts have a Resource DC of 25 or 30. Gently rolling flatlands have a Navigation DC of 5 or 10. A Desert has a Navigation DC of 25 or 30. If you want to add a Fantasy Factor like confounding fair curses or the blessings of the Land Spirits, you can adjust the DCs by 5 either way."

Danger

The Danger system created by The Angry GM is a useful way of labeling hexes and determining random encounters (more on that one later). "Danger is measured from 1 to 5. 1 is a relatively safe, civilized region or a barren, desolate region. 2 is a dangerous frontier. 3 is enemy territory. 4 is regularly patrolled, extremely hostile territory, or hunting ground. And 5 is reserved for the sort of terrain which is filled with monsters that are actively trying to destroy all intruders and can detect the intruders with supernatural means. For example, Hell or The Land of the Dead. Seriously, 4 and 5 are pretty ridiculously dangerous." If a party wishes to explore a hex rather than merely travel through it, the DC for a successful exploration is based on the danger level of the hex.

Danger

Level	Type	Exploration DC
1	Civilized, Desolate, Barren	7+APL
2	Dangerous Frontier	12+APL
3	Enemy Territory	17+APL
4	Regularly Patrolled, Hunting Ground	22+APL
5	Extremely Hostile	27+APL

Into The Wilderness

1) Determine Location on Map

Using a map, identify the hex in which the party is currently located. Don't share this information with the PCs if the party is lost. If you are not using a hex grid, just mark the location on your map.

2) Determine Weather (Optional)

Roll a d20 to determine that day's weather.

• 1-16: Normal Weather: proceed as normal
• 17-19: Difficult Weather for Region: Visibility limited to 150 feet and -4 to perception checks
• 20: Extreme Weather for Region: travel by water is almost impossible, travel on foot gains fatigue, DC 10 Fortitude save for exhuastion. -4 circumstance penalty on checks to avoid becoming lost

3) Party Decides Pace & Direction:

Let the players determine what direction the party wants to go, and whether they plan to move at normal pace, a fast pace, or slow pace. During this phase the party may also determine if they are going to explore a hex or travel through it.

Normal pace:

When traveling at a normal pace they gain 1 hex per day by foot or 2 hexes per day by boat or horse. In addition, the party forager can forage for food but at a -4 penalty. During exploration, checks to determine if a hex has a place of interest are at a -4.

Slow pace:

When traveling at a slow pace there is a 50% chance of traveling 1 fewer hex per day, but the party can hide from encounters or approach stealthily. They gain a +4 Bonus to all checks to perceive danger and all hostile creatures suffer a -4 Penalty to detect the party, thus allowing the party to surprise enemies. In addition, the party can forage for food normally if they maintain a slow pace for the entire day. Finally, navigation checks enjoy a +4 Bonus when moving at a Slow pace. During exploration, checks to determine if a hex has a place of interest are without penalty.

Fast pace:

When traveling at a fast pace there is a 50% chance of traveling 1 more hex per day., The party suffers a -4 Penalty on all checks to perceive dangers and on navigation checks. Hostile creatures enjoy a +4 Bonus on checks to detect or track the party. While traveling at a Fast Pace, the party cannot scout or forage for food at all. Exploration is not allowed as the party is moving too quickly to fully explore an area.

4) Party Decides Roles:

Determine Party Roles: Each morning the part member selects which role they would like to take for the day. They choose from 6 roles: Navigator, Watch, Forager, Inspiration, Scout, Chaplain, or Cartographer.

Navigator:

Whether PC or NPC the navigator determines where the party is on the map and how to get to their destination. This roll however will be made in secret by the GM in #5. A Slow Pace adds +4 to this check whereas a Fast Pace takes a -4 penalty.

Forager:

It is the forager's job to be on the lookout for food and water while they party travels. They may find edible vegitation or hunt to accomplish this feat. The DC for foraging is set by the terrain. A successful Survival check gathers enough resources to feed the group. Failure means that the group must use rations or the starvation / dehydration rules are implemented. A Slow Pace adds +4 to this check whereas a Fast Pace takes a -4 penalty.

Watch:

The PC who takes this role is must stay vigilant for enemies or hazards during the trip. A successful Perception versus any encounter stealth checks negates surprise. A Slow Pace adds +4 to this check whereas a Fast Pace takes a -4 penalty. Exploration The watch may make a single Survival or Perception check when exploring a hex to determine if that hex has a place of interest. The DC is based on the exploration DC of the hex. On failure the party must spend another day searching the hex to determine if it contains a place of interest.

Inspiration:

This role inspires the rest of the party during the travel. If Fast pace has been selected, a PC may make a diplomacy check versus the navigation DC when determining the distance traveled. On a success the PCs progress an extra hex on a roll of 2,3, or 4. With a successful Preform check, Bards can also give each party member a +2 competence bonus to add to their travel Role checks. This increases by +1 for every four levels that the character is above Level 3.

Scout:

This role makes sure the party is not ambushed or followed by hostile creatures. Successfully camouflaging the camp reduces the probability of a night attack. A successful Stealth check versus the local survival DC gains a re-roll on any encounter die during camp. During travel, a successful Stealth check forces any hostile creatures to re-roll their perception checks to detect the party and take the worse result. Exploration The scout may make a single Survival check when exploring a hex to determine the danger level of a surround hex. The DC is based on the exploration DC of the hex.

Blessing:

A divine caster spends most of the travel time in communion with their God. While resting at camp that night the party is blessed by the God granting double HP recovery and regeneration from ability damage. At the end of the day the divine caster must make a Religion check versus the exploration DC of hex through which they were traveling.

Cartographer:

This role spends the day mapping the territory or recording its features in a gazetteer and can attempt one skill check for each day spent documenting. This can only be done while exploring. Creating a map requires one or more successful Profession (cartographer) checks, while creating a gazetteer requires one or more successful Linguistics checks (at the GM’s discretion, other skill checks can be used in place of these). The DC equals the hex’s exploration check DC. Once the character has succeeded at the required checks, she has created a detailed map or gazetteer of the region, which grants a +5 circumstance bonus on future exploration and navigation checks in that hex (bonuses from multiple maps or gazetteers don’t stack).

Situation Modifiers

Situation	Check Modifier
Proper navigational tools (map, sextant)	+4 for Navigation Role
Poor visibility	-4 for Watch and Naviagation Roles
Darkness	-8 for Watch and Naviagation Roles
Slow Pace	+4 for Watch, Forage, and Scout Roles
Fast Pace	-4 for Watch Roles
Resource Hex	+4 for Forage Role

5) Navigation

After the roles are chosen, the GM will make a Survival check on the Navigator's behalf to determine if the party is becomes lost. If the party is moving at a fast pace the modifier is a -4 or a +4 if they are moving at a slow pace. If the check succeeds, the navigator knows where the party is on the map throughout the day. If the check fails, the party becomes lost. Whenever the party moves to the next Hex, roll a d6 to randomly determine which neighboring hex the party enters and do not divulge the party's location to the players. The next time the Navigator succeeds on a Survival Check to navigate, reveal the party's actual location to the players.

6) Exploration Check (Optional)

Each hex on the map is 12 miles across from corner to corner, representing an area just under 95 square miles. As the PCs search a territory, the Watch will attempt an exploration check to determine if the party discovers anything in the hex. On failure the party must spend another day searching the hex to determine if it contains a place of interest. Exploration checks are typically Survival checks, though unusual territories may require other specialized skills. A character can attempt an exploration check using Perception in place of the required skill with a –5 penalty.

7) Narrate Daily Events

Random encounters represent all of the potential dangers and hazards an area might present to travelers: creatures, hazards, terrain obstacles, traps, disease sources, rare plants, a cashe, etc. They can even be discoveries that waste the party's time or a social encounter that does not need to progress into combat. Your list is not supposed to be one completely comprised of combat encounters. (See Example Random Encounter Table p.6) Finally, it is perfectly fine if the party evades an encounter. The ability to do that is the outcome of choices of pace and roles made by the party, and when they successfully evade those choices are validated. To determine the encouters use one of two methods:

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Angry GM version: "This version uses six 6-sided dice. Each one represents a time-period of the day. Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Dusk, Midnight, Predawn. Roll them all. For each one that shows the Danger number or less, an encounter MIGHT happen. We’ll talk about random encounters. For example, if the Danger is 3, and your six dice show 5, 2, 3, 4, 1, 6; the party will have three encounters that day. One in the evening, one at dusk, and one at predawn. Notice that the danger number is actually the number of encounters you will expect to happen in one day."

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Fewer Encounters: This version uses three 6-sided dice. Each one represents a time-period of the day. The Day of Travel, Evening/Midnight, and Pre-Dawn/Morning. In this version the GM controls when the encounters happen. For example: The dice say that an encounter will happen during the day of travel and Pre-dawn/morning. The GM could have the party morning encounter right after they set out that day OR late that night after they have rested.

Roll d100 / d20

Roll the percentile die and consult which ever random encounters chart you are using based on terrain and danger level. Each danger level in your adventure can have a separate chart. For example, more difficult encounters or increase the number of creatures in the encounters at higher danger levels.

Run Daily Encounters

The GM should narrate the journey and any daily encounters during this step before recaping how far they traveled and resting for the night.

8) Determine Distance Traveled

On a Hex map, each Hex measures 12 miles across. Characters moving at normal pace can travel 1 hex per day on foot or 2 hexes per day by boat or mount. If the PCs move at a fast pace, determine their progress by rolling a d4. On a roll of 3 or 4, they advance one additional hex that day. If the PCs move at a slow pace, determine their progress by rolling a d4. On a roll of 1 or 2 they advance 1 fewer hexes that day (in other words 1 hex by mount or none by foot)

Forced March

In a day of normal traveling, the party travels for 8 hours. The rest of the daylight time is spent making and breaking camp, resting, and eating.

The party can choose not to make camp and travel for more than 8 hours in a day by making a forced march. They may re-roll the d4 that determines the distance traveled that day. However, when this happens each PC must make a Constitution check with a DC equal to that hex's exploration DC. If the check fails, the character becomes fatigued for the following day.

Tracking Miles (Optional)

Instead of tracking movement by hexes, you can keep track of actual distances covered (12 miles per day at normal pace by foot or 24 by boat or mount). When you roll the d4 to determine progress for a fast or slow pace either add or subtract 6 miles.

9) Night

The Forager will roll to see if they have gathered enough food and water during the day. If the roll fails, the party must decide to either eat trail rations or starve. The GM will then implement the starvation & dehydration rules.

Cooking (Optional)

If the Forager is successful that day, a PC with ranks in Profession (Chef) or Craft (Cooking) may perform a check to cook the food adding bonuses for the next day. Failing the check by more than 5 spoiles the recipe and gives the entire party the nauseated condition for the rest of the day.

Example Recipes

Meal	DC	Bonus Effect
Decent Meal	10	None
Mystery Meat Soup	15	1d8 temp HP
Hunters Stew	18	1 temp HP/level
Hearty Meal	20	+1 to Saves
Magical Fruit Salad	25	Varies

Run Night Encounters

When the PCs stop to make camp at night assume everyone is on watch throughout the night and roll randomly to determine who is awake if an encounter is triggered by the dice.

Credits

Getting There is Half the Fun by The Angry GM

The Tomb of Annihilation by Wizards of the Coast

Pathfinder Exploration by Paizo

Ultimate Wilderness by Paizo

Ultimate Campaign by Paizo

Kingmaker by Owlcat Games

Example Random Encounter Table

Adult Red Dragon: A Red Dragon known as Glarataxus circles over a location in the distance. The dragon ignores the characters unless they do something to attract her attention.

Cinderwolves: The party is ambushed by Cinderwolves. Character’s who prevail against the Cinderwolves can search for their lair with a DC 15 Survival check.

Disease: 1) Sandeyes DC 14, 1day, Cha Track; Sandeyes: A creeping blindness caused by desiccated eye tissue. 2) Volcanic Fever DC 17, 1d3 days, Con Track: This disease causes the victim’s body temperature to rise to an unearthly heat. A character killed by volcanic fever crumbles into fine ash within 24 hours.

Difficult Terrain: Party's pace is slowed for the day by 1) Chasms, 2) Cliffs, 3) Light Undergrowth, or 4) Steep Slopes.

Fire Elemental: 4 Medium Elementals: CR 9; magic and mechanical device; location trigger; (11d6 fire, 20-foot radius for 10 rounds, DC 16 Reflex half) and spell effect (summoned 4 medium fire elementals after 1 round, stays for 11 rounds); Search and DD DC 32

Ko-Minka Pack: They observe the PCs from a safe distance but don't approach unless the characters demonstrate peaceful intentions. They are friendly and can lead the party to nearby landmarks.

Mirage: An illusion appears on a failed DC 12 Will Save, +4 DC to daily survival check for navigation

Rare Plant: 1. 2d6 fruit trees, 2. 1d4 roots growing in the ground, 3. 4d6 cinderberries growing on a bush

Red Mantis: Agents of one of Golarion’s most feared orders of assassins have been hired to assassinate the PCs.

Shoanti War Party: If this encounter occurs during the day, the characters spot Burn Riders in the distance. If the characters remain quiet and keep their distance, they can move on without being noticed. If this encounter occurs at night, the Burn Riders try to sneak into the party’s camp and murder them.

Storm Roc: Looming in the sky, a rock watches the party's every move and waits until they blunder into danger. The next random encounter, the roc takes advantage of the distraction and attacks from the air. If it meets firm resistance it flies away, but is not totally gone.

Thassilon Ruin:
1) Gargoyles 2d4 hide amongst a complex of ruined buildings. 2) Small ruined Shrine to Lissala. Skull’s of various beasts have been placed at the altar. 3) Treasure: A cashe of various jewels has been stored here.

Wild Fire (CR 6): A wild fire can be spotted from as far away as 2d6 × 100 feet by a character who makes a Perception check, treating the fire as a Colossal creature (reducing the DC by 16). The leading edge of a fire advances 120 feet per round for winds of moderate strength. Once a particular portion of the forest is ablaze, it remains so for 2d4 × 10 minutes before dying to a smoking wasteland. Within the bounds of a forest fire, a character faces three dangers: heat damage, catching on fire, and smoke inhalation.