In this example from Ultimate Wilderness, do the players know the cost their aiming for?
Seeking a Location: If the PCs wish to seek out a location, they can do so by spending Discovery Points at the start of the day. If they are seeking a specific location that they know exists in the territory (typically having found clues to it in the form of way signs), they must spend a number of Discovery
Points equal to the location’s discovery score—a number that determines how difficult that location is to find (with higher values representing locations that are more difficult to discover). If the PCs want to attempt to uncover an unknown location at random, they choose how many Discovery Points from their total that they want to spend. Once the points are spent, divide the total spent in half, then compare that result to
the discovery scores of all the locations in the territory. If any
of those locations have a discovery score lower than that total, the PCs discover one of those locations (chosen at random if more than one location is a potential discovery). If none of the
locations have a discovery score lower than that total, the group recovers half the Discovery Points they spent, but the other half is lost. Once the party discovers a location, travel time to the site varies according to the GM’s discretion and the overall size of
the territory.
My specific example follows below. Would the players know they need 8 points to find the Pyramid?
Parched Dunes CR 3
Arid desert plagued by shifting sands, undead explorers, and aggressive predators.Exploration Check Survival DC 21
LOCATION DISCOVERY SCORES
The Tomb of the Pharoah of Spinxes 8 (base score of 3, desert terrain +1, location is incidentally hidden +4)Aspis Consortium Camp 4 (base score
of 3, desert terrain +1, location is
mobile within the territory +4, location is traveled to or from often -4) Contains rations and waterskins.Sacrificial Altar 3 (base score of 3) An ornate canopic jar contains a cat's eye agate jewel worth 200gp and a scroll of Protection from Evil.
I ask because it sounds like it would just be smarter to save up their points rather than waste half of them in the hope of finding something.
Are they just supposed to say "Ok, we're going to try to find the Pyramid with 6 points." and then I, as the GM, know they don't have enough so I just give them the Altar for 3 points?
Furthermore, what if they have enough points to find them all? Say they saved up 15 points before they set out to explore. Would they find all 3 in one day?
Lastly, this is probably obvious but I just want to make sure; Are Discovery Points used to find locations permanently removed from the Point Pool?