Expanded Travel Rules

by dracodruid

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Expanded Travel Rules

Version 1.5

This set of rules is meant to give the day to day travel of an adventuring party a mechanical framework to lean upon and likewise make traveling through the wilds a more interesting and adventurous endeavor.

Created by DracoDruid | with GM Binder

Format: A4

Credit goes to u/zmobie for sparking my creativity with his Braving the Wilds --- I highly recommend reading that post.

The Traveling Day

These rules assume, that the player characters are traveling for several days through unsettled territory and won't have neither the luxury to rest in an inn or road hut each night, nor the safety of well secured civilization.

A typical day of travel without any larger disruptions (such as combat or a detour to explore unexpected locations) consists of roughly 9-16 hours of activity, including 6-10 hours of actual travel:

  • Wake up around sunrise
  • Breakfast and breaking up camp (1-2 hours)
  • First travel leg (3-5 hours traveling)
  • Midday break (1-2 hours)
  • Second travel leg (3-5 hours traveling)
  • Finding & setting camp (1-2 hours)
  • Rest for the night

Optional: Daylight by Season

The amount of usable daylight vastly depends on the region and/or season you are traveling at. You should take this into consideration when planning your travel days.

Season Sunrise Sunset Daylight
Spring/Autumn 6 am 18 pm 12 hours
Summer 4 am 20 pm 16 hours
Winter 8 am 16 pm 8 hours

Player activities

During a typical undisturbed traveling day, the players must make several choices for their characters.

They must choose a travel pace and activity for each of the day's travel legs, as well as the camp activities for their midday and evening rests. Each of these decisions is detailed in the following steps.

1. Determine Terrain Difficulty & Navigation DC

Several activities during a travel refer to the Navigation DC. This DC is depending on the terrain you are traversing.

The harder the terrain, the slower your group will advance during your travel, up to a point where you must concentrate on actually getting forward than paying much attention to other activities.

This means that in order to travel through hard terrain, you must at least travel at a normal pace or a slow pace with a successful trailblazer to make any headway.

Navigation Difficulty DC        Travel Speed
Easy
 (open plains & fields)		 5 –
Moderate
 (arctic, desert, hills, forests)		 10 -1 mile per hour
Hard
 (deep forests, swamps, mountains)		 15 -2 miles per hour

2. Choose Destination & Speed

Once the predominant terrain difficulty is determined, your group will choose where they are heading and at which pace to travel at.

The party can follow a natural feature of the land like a coast, river or tree line, or just head off in any of the cardinal directions.

Each travel pace is further described by the following key features:

Travel Speed. The actual movement speed (by foot) either per hour or per day (assuming 8 hours of travel).

Favored Activities. Favored activities may be made with advantage when traveling at this pace.

Associated Activities. Associated activities are typical activities for the corresponding pace.

Hindered Activities. Hindered activities must be made with disadvantage when traveling at this pace.

Forbidden Activities. These activities cannot be taken when traveling at this pace.

Traveling on horseback. The listed travel speeds assume that the party is traveling on foot. If the party is using horses or similar mounts, their travel speed in easy and moderate terrain is increased by 1 mile per hour.

Travel Speeds and Activities

---------------------------------------------------------------- Travel Activities ----------------------------------------------------------------

Pace           Travel Speed Favored Associated Hindered Forbidden
Fast 4 miles per hour;
32 miles per day		 – – Keep Watch,
Navigate, Scout, Track, Trailblaze		 Draw a Map, Hunt & Forage, Sneak
Normal  3 miles per hour;
24 miles per day		 – Keep Watch,
Navigate, Scout, Track, Trailblaze		 Draw a Map, Hunt & Forage, Sneak –
Slow 2 miles per hour;
16 miles per day		 Keep Watch,
Navigate, Scout, Track, Trailblaze		 Draw a Map, Hunt & Forage, Sneak – –

Expanded Travel Rules | by DracoDruid

Fast Pace

No time to waste. Short breaks and fast steps.

Travel Speed. 4 miles per hour (32 miles per day)

Favored Activities. None.

Associated Activities. None.

Hindered Activities. Keep Watch, Navigate, Scout, Track, Trailblaze.

Forbidden Activities. Draw a Map, Hunt & Forage, Sneak.

Normal Pace

No need to hurry, but don't dilly-dally either.

Travel Speed. 3 miles per hour (24 miles per day)

Favored Activities. None.

Associated Activities. Keep Watch, Navigate, Scout, Track, Trailblaze.

Hindered Activities. Draw a Map, Hunt & Forage, Sneak.

Forbidden Activities. None.

Slow Pace

Take your time. Rest often or longer.

Travel Speed. 2 miles per hour (16 miles per day)

Favored Activities. Keep Watch, Navigate, Scout, Track, Trailblaze.

Associated Activities. Draw a Map, Hunt & Forage, Sneak.

Hindered Activities. None.

Forbidden Activities. None.

Forced March

Characters can travel for 8 hours in a day before risking exhaustion. For each additional hour of travel beyond that, each character must make a Constitution saving throw at the end of every hour. The DC is 10 + 1 for each hour past 8 hours. On a failed saving throw, a character suffers one level of exhaustion. If the party is moving at a slow pace, they gain a +5 bonus to the check, and a fast pace imposes a -5 penalty.

3. Choose Travel Activity

For each travel day's leg, each player may choose one of the following activities in accordance with your chosen travel pace. Each activity has an associated ability check you will take to determine your success or failure during the travel leg.

Dangerous Activities

Several activities are noted as Dangerous. Performing one of these activities usually means having to separate from the group and thus the risk of being attacked or trapped without help.

Distracting Activities

Some activities are so demanding that you can't pay much attention to your surroundings. If you perform a Distracting activity, you suffer a -5 penalty to your passive Wisdom (Perception) score.

Exhausting Activities

Some acitivies are much more tiresome that simple travel. If you perform two Exhausting activities on one day, you suffer one level of exhaustion after finishing the second, but before looking for and setting up camp.

Focused activities

Most activities can be performed by several characters. However, some activities can only be performed by one or two simultaneously. These Focused activities can only be performed by a maximum of 2 characters, and you only use the higher of the two check results to determine their effect. If a character fails their check, they still suffer the consequences.

Draw a Map

(Distracting, Focused)
Intelligence (Cartographer's tools)
Record your travel route and mark notable landmarks for future reference and orientation.

While your companions keep watch, hunt for food and guide the party, you focus on documenting your journey. Drawing a map won't help you on your journey forward, but might proof useful once you try to find your way back. Good maps are also a highly sought-after commodity.

Make an Intelligence (Cartographer's tools) check against the Navigation DC.

  • If your guide succeeded on their navigation check, you gain a +5 bonus to your check.
  • If they failed by less than 5, you suffer a -5 penalty.
  • If you got lost, your check automatically fails.

For each travel leg, note if you succeeded or failed your cartography check.

Once you have reached your destination, divide the number of successful cartography checks by the total number of legs traveled, and compare the result on the following table:

Success per Travel Leg
(or higher)		 Result
0,75 Detailed Map
0,5 Simple Map
0,25 Crude Map
0 Wasted Effort

Hunt & Forage

(Dangerous)
Wisdom (Survival)
Gather food and water along the way.

During your travels, you keep an eye out for nearby sources of food and water, such as roots, fruits, small game, and hidden springs.

Make a Wisdom (Survival) check and compare the result with the region's abundance level on the following table to determine the number of fresh rations you can manage to provide. Each ration can sustain 1 person for one day (i.e. 1 pound of food and 1 gallon of water).

--------------- Number of Rations ---------------

Abundance 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Plenty 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Average 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31
Scarce 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40
Barren 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Expanded Travel Rules | by DracoDruid

Keep Watch

(none)
Wisdom (Perception)
Detect hidden pursuers and prevent being surprised by an encounter.

You keep your eyes peeled and your ears open for any looming or approaching danger, as well as signs of close by pursuers.

Make a Wisdom (Perception) check. If your result is lower than your passive Wisdom (Perception) score, you take the higher.

The DM determines the DC for any threat or other suspicious activity along your path and compares it to all (passive) Wisdom (Perception) results.

If you travel at a Fast Pace, remember to apply a -5 penalty to all passive Wisdom (Perception) scores.

Navigate

(Distracting, Focused)
Intelligence (Navigator's tools) or Wisdom (Survival)
Find your way towards a specific location.

More often than not, a location of interest for a group of adventurers is not situated along a well trodden path, but hidden in the wilds behind obscure hints and directions.

If you wish to find your way through the wilds towards a specific location, you need to make a navigation check against the Navigation DC. The Navigation DC is additionally modified by the information you possess to reach your destination:

Navigation DC Modifier
Detail of information    DC   
Detailed map with travel hints -5
Outdated or simple map 0
Crude Map or general directions (e.g. 40
  miles north-west, near a small lake)		 +5
Obscure information (e.g. follow the
  rising sun for 2 moons as the owl flies)		 +10

If you navigation check fails by less than 5, you roughly travel towards your target, but not in the most direct way. Your travel speed is halved (rounded down) for this travel leg.

If your navigation check fails by 5 or more, you have made a mistake. Your travel speed is halved (rounded down) for this travel leg, however, you moved away from your location.

If you rolled a total of 5 or lower, you got lost. Depending on the nature of your surroundings, getting lost might entail additional complications and dangers.

Scout

(Dangerous, Exhausting)
Intelligence (Investigation)
Scout ahead to find new paths, approaching dangers, and interesting places.

If your travel informations where rather vague, or you are simply curious to see what else is there to see, you can scout ahead of the group.

Make an Intelligence (Investigation) check. The DM determines the DC for any noticeable thing in the vicinity.

You might find such things as creatures waiting in ambush, favorable paths, or hidden locations.

Sneak

(none)
Dexterity (Stealth)
Stay away from potential dangers or pursuers.

Sometimes you need to move quietly for a while to avert the eyes and ears of close by enemies or to cover your tracks and take detours to shake off possible pursuers.

In order to do so, you don't need the whole party to perform the Sneak activity, as the party members that do, can try to keep everyone else as stealthy as possible.

Add the Dexterity (Stealth) check results of all sneaking party members together and divide the sum by the number of all characters in the group (rounding down). This is the final and effective result for the group's efforts.

Track

(Focused)
Wisdom (Survival)
Follow a specific set of tracks or find those of creatures in the vicinity.

Sometimes you don't try to find a specific location, but follow or chase another creature or group.

Instead of using the Navigation activity, make a Wisdom (Survival) check against the Navigation DC to find and follow the track of your quarry. If your quarry is trying to cover their tracks, use the higher of their Sneak result or the Navigation DC.

If you check fails by less than 5, you are having some trouble following your quarry. Your travel speed is halved (rounded down) for this travel leg.

If your check fails by 5 or more, you have made a mistake. Your travel speed is halved (rounded down) for this travel leg, however, you moved away from your quarry.

If you rolled a total of 5 or lower, you got lost. Depending on the nature of your surroundings, getting lost might entail additional complications and dangers.

A different use for the Track activity is to read the tracks your group crosses during their travel, in order to glean what kind of creatures are roaming the vicinity.

Make a Wisdom (Survival) check. The DM determines the DC for any possible tracks you might find and to which creatures they might belong.

Trailblaze

(Distracting, Exhausting, Focused)
Strength (Athletics)
Cut a path through thick undergrowth or create hand- and footholds.

Traveling through difficult terrain slows your journey significantly. You can help your companions by clearing a path for them to follow.

Make a Strength (Athletics) check against the Navigation DC. If you succeed, the terrain's travel speed penalty is reduced by 1 mile per hour (to a minimum of 0).

If you succeed by 5 or more, the terrain's travel speed penalty is reduced by 2 miles per hour instead.

If you fail the check by less than 5, you still reduce the terrain's travel speed penalty by 1 mile per hour (to a minimum of 0), but you automatically suffer one level of exhaustion at the end of the activity.

Expanded Travel Rules | by DracoDruid

4. Making Camp

When it's time to make camp for the night, the characters need to start looking for a suitable camping location.

If you had characters scout on the last leg, they may make an additional Intelligence (Investigation) check, while characters that kept watch may make an additional Wisdom (Perception) check with disadvantage. Either check is compared to the following table.

If none of the party took either activity, you need to spend an additional hour to find a suitable campsite.

Campsite properties Search DC
0 5
1 10
2 15
Campsite properties Search DC
3 20
4 25
5 30

Each campsite is defined by up to three different properties (see below), determined by the DM (at random or chosen).

If you are not content with the campsites you found, you must travel on for another hour (risking a forced march), in order to search again.

Once night sets in, you can only search by scouting and your Intelligence (Investigation) check is made with disadvantage.

Comfortable

The campsite is reasonably protected against all but the harshest weather.

You regain half your maximum hit dice (rounded down, minimum 1) and reduce your exhaustion level by one after completing a long rest (as usual).

In an uncomfortable location you only regain one quarter of your maximum hit dice (rounded down, minimum 0) and don't reduce your exhaustion level.

Defendable

The campsite has a natural barrier or is otherwise difficult to reach (e.g. inside the canopy of a large tree or up on a rock ledge).

Approaching creatures need to succeed on a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check to enter the camp.

This property can be selected twice, increasing the DC to enter the campsite to 20.

Hidden

The campsite is removed or obscured from prying eyes (e.g. a cave behind a waterfall or under the leaves of a huge willow tree).

Approaching creatures need to succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) or Wisdom (Perception) check to find your camp.

This property can be selected twice, increasing the DC to find the campsite to 20.

5. Camp Activities

Once a party sets down to rest, players can choose one or more of the following activities.

Each activity takes roughly one hour, i.e. each character can perform one of these activities during a short rest, or two activities during a typical long rest of 8 hours (6 hours of sleep and 2 hours of light activity).

You may always expend hit dice to regain lost hit points, but you can take a special camp activity to accelerate your recovery (see below).

Focused Activities. Focused camp activities can be performed multiple times, however, only the last result is applied.

Attune Magic Item

(Distracting)
none
Attune to a magic item you hold on your person.

Attuning to one magical item takes time and concentration. You must have discerned the items magical properties before you can attune to it.

Camouflage Camp

(Distracting, Focused)
Dexterity (Stealth)
Use natural materials to hide your campsite from prying eyes.

You can use natural materials like rocks or foliage to hide your campsite.

A successful DC 15 Dexterity (Stealth) check adds the Hidden property to your campsite (if it doesn't already have it).

The DC to find your campsite is equal to the result of your Dexterity (Stealth) check.

Cook Hearty Meal

(Distracting, Focused)
Wisdom (Cook's utensils)
Cook a hearty meal to restore additional hit dice.

A good night's rest is not guaranteed when camping in the wilds and a fine cooked meal can go a long way to remedy this fact.

Make a DC 15 Wisdom (Cook's utensils) check. You need one fresh ration of food for every person that will partake of the meal, as well as a reasonable amount of seasoning.

If you provide at least 50% more fresh rations than necessary, you gain advantage on this check. If you can only provide half the required amount of rations (but not less), you gain disadvantage.

If you succeed, each person partaking of your meal regains a quarter of their maximum hit dice (rounded down, minimum 1). If you fail, the meal is eatable, but not that refreshing. If you rolled a total of 5 or lower, the whole meal is spoiled and the rations are wasted.

You can only benefit from one hearty meal per long rest.

Expanded Travel Rules | by DracoDruid

Fortify Camp

(Distracting, Focused)
Strength (Athletics)
Build barricades or other obstacles around your camp.

You can use wooden spikes or large boulders to barricade your campsite or dig a ditch and rampart around it.

A successful DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check adds the Defendable property to your campsite (if it doesn't already have it).

The DC to enter your campsite is equal to the result of your Strength (Athletics) check.

Hunt & Forage

(Dangerous)
Wisdom (Survival)
Gather food and water or hunt local game.

This is the same action as the travel activity. However, since you are not traveling at this point, you may make the corresponding Wisdom (Survival) check with advantage.

Identify Magic Item

(Distracting)
Intelligence (Arcana)
Focus on a magic item you hold on your person to identify its properties.

If you lack the magic abilities to use the identify spell, you can try to ascertain the nature of a magic item by focusing on its aura and trying to decipher its glyphs and markings.

Make an Intelligence (Arcana) check. The DC depends on the rarity of the magic item you wish to identify.

Magic Item Rarity    DC   
Common 10
Uncommon 15
Rare 20
Legendary 25
Artifact 30

Keep Watch

(none)
Wisdom (Perception)
Keep watch while your companions are resting.

A long rest requires at least 6 hours of sleep and 2 hours of light activity. Depending on the size of the traveling party, you are advised to take shifts keeping watch while the others try to gain some sleep.

Make a Wisdom (Perception) check. If your result is lower than your passive Wisdom (Perception) score, you take the higher.

The DM determines the DC for any threat or other approaching danger (hostile creatures or natural phenomenons) and compares it to all (passive) Wisdom (Perception) results.

Characters performing one of the other camp activities (i.e. not sleeping and not keeping watch) only contribute their passive Wisdom (Perception) score.

On a success, the watchers are able to wake and warn the rest of the party, and prevent being surprised.

Set up Traps

(Distracting, Focused)
Wisdom (Survival)
Set up traps to slow approaching enemies.

You can set a number of small traps like caltrops, slings, and small pits around your camp.

Make a Wisdom (Survival) check. The DC to find these traps with an Intelligence (Investigation) or Wisdom (Perception) check , as well as the DC for any saving throw made to resist their effects is equal to the result of your Wisdom (Survival) check.

Rest and Recuperate

(none)
Wisdom (Medicine)
Take care of your wounds, eat, drink, and catch your breath.

You take your time to catch your breath, properly, eat and drink a little, and properly dress your wounds.

Make a Wisdom (Medicine) check. The DC depends on the severity of your wounds (see the Dress Wounds table).

If you succeed, treat any hit dice rolled to determine the hit points you regain as having rolled their maximum value, during this rest.

Tend to the Wounded

(Distracting)
Wisdom (Medicine)
Take care of your wounded companions.

You go around camp, making sure that the wounds of up to six creatures other than yourself are properly cleaned and dressed.

Make a Wisdom (Medicine) check for each patient, in order to assess the wounds and properly dress them. The DC depends on the severity of their wounds (see the Dress Wounds table).

If you succeed, your patient can treat any hit dice rolled to determine the hit points they regain as having rolled their maximum value, during this rest.

.

Dress Wounds
Hit points
above		 DC* Required Uses
of Healer's kit
75% 5 0
50% 10 1
25% 15 2
0 20 3

* The DC increases by 5 for every use of a healer's kit you cannot provide.

Expanded Travel Rules | by DracoDruid

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