Travel & Exploration Lite

A Day in the Wilds

This ruleset assumes a 24-hour day, and differentiates between travel days and camping days.

Travel Day

A travel day consists of 8 hours of travel. There are two travel speeds for wilderness travel:

• Slow pace: 2 miles per hour, 16 miles per day
• Normal pace: 3 miles per hour, 24 miles per day

While traveling, adventurers can select from several Travel Activities. Traveling at a Slow pace grants advantage on some Travel Activities such as gathering and navigation. Such modifiers are detailed in the corresponding Activities sections.

Setting Up Camp

Though inns are generally much preferred (excepting those outlander types), a campsite can serve as an adventurer’s home away from home.

It takes 2 hours to set up or break down a camp. This time may be spent locating a suitable campground, clearing underbrush, setting up and taking down camp equipment, gathering firewood, and preparing meals.

Camping Day

Circumstances may warrant staying in place for a day or two. Stocking up on rations, exploring an area of interest, or recuperating from battle are all possible reasons travelers may set up camp for longer than just one night.

A camping day consists of 12 hours of Camping, replacing the time normally dedicated to travel and camp set-up and take-down. While camping, adventurers can select from several Camp Activities.

Mixing Travel and Camping

Some adventurers, particularly those sent on cartographic expeditions or otherwise not in a rush, might prefer a shorter travel day and more time at camp.

These travelers can choose to travel for only 4 hours and allocate the other 4 hours for Camp Activities.

Skill Trounces Luck

Travel and exploration are lengthy activities, thus success in the wilds is more often attributable to skill and training than to luck. This also means that certain environments may not pose a challenge to an adventuring party, and exploration checks made to navigate or survive in these environments may unnecessarily bog down play.

When making an ability check for any Travel Activity or Camp Activity, you can choose to instead use your passive ability score, which is calculated as:

10 + all modifiers that normally apply to the check

Add 5 if you have advantage on the check, and subtract 5 if you have disadvantage on the check.

A Night in the Wilds

After a long day of travel, there is nothing adventurers anticipate more than taking time off their feet to enjoy a hot meal around a fire with their companions.

Free Time

Free Time is low-effort, but otherwise unstructured. Travelers who do not take Travel or Camp Activities during the day may also use this time for Free Time.

Free Time is up to player choice and DM discretion. Some examples of Free Time activities include sleeping or trancing, identifying or attuning to magic items, reading a book, writing, painting, crafting an item, sharpening weapons, maintaining armor, bathing, and grooming.

Resting

This module draws inspiration from the Gritty Realism resting variant in the DMG (pg. 267).

During travel, every 8-hour Rest period is considered a short rest and every third Rest period is considered a long rest.

Part 1 | A Day in the Wilds

Navigate

INT (Navigator's Tools)

Unless you are trekking the well-signed highways between cities, someone will need to take point and direct the party during their travels. The Navigation difficulty depends on the surrounding terrain:

When traveling at a Slow pace, Navigation checks are made with advantage. If the navigator fails the Navigation check, the party gets lost.

Track

WIS (survival)

Instead of traveling towards a known destination, sometimes adventurers need to track down another creature. The tracking difficulty is the higher of the Sneak DC of the tracked creature, or the Navigation DC of the terrain.

When traveling at a Slow pace, Tracking checks are made with advantage.

If the tracker fails the check by less than 5, they move in the direction of the tracked creature, but their speed is halved. If the check is failed by 5 or more, the party gets lost.

Keep Watch

WIS (perception)

When traveling in dangerous territory, the prudent adventuring party will have at least one person dedicated to Keeping Watch for threats.

Characters engaged in other actions may use their passive perception scores to Keep Watch.

When traveling at a Slow pace, Watch checks are made with advantage.

Sneak

DEX (stealth)

Tables can turn without warning, and the hunter can find themselves the hunted. When this happens, travelers can attempt to cover their tracks and lose their pursuers.

A character makes a DEX (stealth) check for the entire party. If the party is moving at an Normal pace, this check is made at disadvantage.

Hunt & Forage

WIS (survival)

Shelter, food, and water are the three vital resources needed to survive. Adventurers can attempt to Hunt and Forage while traveling towards their destination.

The ease of Hunting and Foraging depends on the abundance of resources in the surrounding terrain. Make a WIS (survival) check and consult the table below to determine how many rations are gathered:

Rations	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
Fertile	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Average	17	19	21	23	25	27	29	-
Scarce	20	23	26	29	-	-	-	-
Barren	25	29	-	-	-	-	-	-

One ration is equivalent to one pound of food and one gallon of water, enough to sustain a small or medium creature for one day.

When traveling at a Slow pace, Hunting and Foraging checks are made with advantage.

Travelers will find greater success Hunting and Foraging if they do so while Camping, instead of Traveling. For more details, see the Hunt & Forage Camp Activity on the next page.

Part 2 | Travel Activities

Camp Activities

For every 4 hours at camp, an adventurer can select one of the following Camp Activities. Each character rolls the appropriate ability check to determine their success.

The Treat Wounds and Meditate/Pray/Weave activities are made at disadvantage for each attempt after the first.

Meditate/Pray/Weave

Spellcasting Ability

Spells can be a valuable commodity in the wilds, and with rugged camping conditions making long rests an infrequent affair, some spellcasters may choose to spend their time at camp drawing from their source of magical power.

Make an ability check using the caster's spellcasting ability + proficiency bonus. The result from this ability check determines the number of spell points gained:

Spell Points	1	2	3	4	5	6
Full Caster	12	14	16	19	22	26
Half Caster	14	19	26	-	-	-
Third Caster	16	26	-	-	-	-

Spell points can be used to restore expended spell slots. The spell slots can have a combined level that is equal to or less than the number of spell points gained, and none of the slots can be of 6th level or higher.

Part 3 | Camp Activities

Forced Activity

There are times when adventurers must stay one step ahead of an enemy in pursuit, or spend every waking hour to secure enough rations to not go hungry. When such a time comes, they can forfeit 4 hours of Free Time to complete one additional Travel or Camp Activity. Each character must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw (with disadvantage if performing the Hunt & Forage or Explore Camp Activities).

Likewise, for every 4 hours of Rest forfeited, characters must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw (with disadvantage if performing the Hunt & Forage or Explore Camp Activities).

Characters suffer a level of exhaustion on a failed save.

Permanent Camps

When far from the comforts of civilized society, adventurers may wish to set up a more permanent base of operations from which they can recuperate and resupply. Such a base might have a permanent firepit, dedicated food preparation space, sitting areas, or even constructed shelters.

If adventurers spend at least 4 hours a day for 3 days developing a campsite, it becomes a Permanent Camp. Normal resting rules are used in Permanent Camps - every 8-hour Rest period is considered a long rest.

Rangers and Outlanders

Adventurers who are at home in the wilds are granted advantages above and beyond their proficiency in survival.

Characters with the Outlander background make Hunt & Forage checks with advantage.

Rangers with the Natural Explorer feature take Navigate, Track, and Sneak Travel Activities with advantage. Furthermore, they can Keep Watch while simultaneously performing other Activities. Lastly, the number of rations received from Hunt & Forage Activities is doubled.

Hunting Dogs

Dogs can provide more than just companionship and protection. When properly trained, they can be invaluable members of an expedition into the wilderness by helping track and hunt. When a hunting dog helps an adventurer with a Track, Hunt & Forage, or Keep Watch check, that check is made with advantage.

A trained hunting dog can be purchased from trainers for 100gp. Hunting dogs use the Mastiff stat block in the PHB (pg. 307) and require one ration of food and water per day.

Spell Rebalancing

Spellcasters may find they are at a disadvantage without the regular comforts of a long rest. To counter this, choose one of the following two options to boost spellcasters during travel.

Weather

Beautiful weather can lighten the spirits of travelers just as much as lousy weather can impart despair and fatigue.

Windy weather can interfere with ranged attacks. At the top of each round of combat, roll a d4. On a 4, ranged attacks are made at disadvantage.

Likewise, precipitation can make tracking difficult. When it is precipitating, the Track Activity is made at disadvantage, but Sneak and Camouflage Activities are made at advantage.

Stormy weather combines wind and precipitation. In addition, checks to Keep Watch are made at disadvantage.

Alternative Travel Rules

For DMs interested in a different travel and exploration experience, consider the following modules:

• Into the Wild – Unearthed Arcana
• Expanded Travel Rules - DracoDruid
• City and Wild - Ignacio Portilla
• Overland Travel – Dael Kingsmill
• Getting There is Half the Fun – Angry GM

Art Credits

• Borderland Explorer, by LucasGraciano
• Fantasy Landscape, by Jason Coates
• Lioness, by Matt Stawicki
• Setting up Camp, by Matt Stawicki
• Bjersig Torrsen, by Djon Harris

Part 4 | Variant Rules