| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Am I doing this right?
When my players are exploring, say a ruined/abandoned settlement I just have them tell me what they're doing and roll skill checks when and if necessary. If, for example, the rogue wants to sneak into a building where he heard a noise, I just have him roll for stealth vs. what, if anything, might detect him.
If PCs are climbing a cliff I just have them roll their climb checks to see how things pan out. There's really only "in combat" and "out of combat" and with the exception of speeding up time tremendously, to the tune of days/weeks/months, that's the only time that 'downtime' occurs.
I guess what I'm saying is I don't understand why we'd even need explicit 'exploration' rules when they're really just the application of skill checks... or is there something I'm not understanding?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The primary point is to have each PC "locked in" to one activity during exploration mode -- the PC can't be 'I'm checking for traps AND detecting magic AND watching for enemies AND covering their trail" sure as a party you might cover all those, but not individually. It also bakes into the rules how those options affect your travel speed.
Its to know what the 'default' is anytime you're not handling things more directly.
The primary point is to have each PC "locked in" to one activity during exploration mode -- the PC can't be 'I'm checking for traps AND detecting magic AND watching for enemies AND covering their trail" sure as a party you might cover all those, but not individually. It also bakes into the rules how those options affect your travel speed.
Its to know what the 'default' is anytime you're not handling things more directly.
Right but, how important is travel speed when you're out of combat and you're just in a house? Like... that's not "traveling" so much as it's just moving.
There are certain activities that are available to PCs during Exploration mode that they can't do during Encounter mode. Additionally, there are activities that are only available during Downtime mode (such as Earning Income).
As a GM you're free to combine Downtime and Exploration and let people earn income while Exploring, but I find it easier to separate the two activities.
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Filthy Lucre,
This is a good question. I will give my answer.
One use of Exploration Mode is to transition into Encounter Mode.
Thief sneaks into a building and a Cultist is there? Suddenly that Stealth check is an expression of Avoid Notice and is resolved doubly as Initiative as well. The Cultist rolls Perception - if they roll higher, they become aware of the Thief and act first!
Party climbing on a cliff when suddenly a Drake looks over the edge from the top? Suddenly those Athletics checks to Climb are resolved doubly as Initiative as well.
The first situation explicitly uses an Exploration Activity, the second doesn't. It is another tool in your GM toolkit to tell your story. (And, if you don't want to transition into Encounter Mode in the first example, then skip it!)
My hot take.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
How important travel speed is largely comes down to the GM. Does your game ever involve traveling through dangerous territory with time pressure?
If, for example, there's a risk of ambush (making exploration tactics like scout, defend or avoid notice relevant) and things will be different depending on whether you arrive in 3 days or 5, then travel speed matters. If you only walk down a hall and across a room, it probably doesn't (in your game, specifically).
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Am I doing this right?
When my players are exploring, say a ruined/abandoned settlement I just have them tell me what they're doing and roll skill checks when and if necessary. If, for example, the rogue wants to sneak into a building where he heard a noise, I just have him roll for stealth vs. what, if anything, might detect him.
If PCs are climbing a cliff I just have them roll their climb checks to see how things pan out. There's really only "in combat" and "out of combat" and with the exception of speeding up time tremendously, to the tune of days/weeks/months, that's the only time that 'downtime' occurs.
I guess what I'm saying is I don't understand why we'd even need explicit 'exploration' rules when they're really just the application of skill checks... or is there something I'm not understanding?
I think you're generally doing it right. Exploration mode is basically just a convenience thing. Instead of having rolling a check for traps every time they open a door, someone just says they are searching and you roll a check when it would actually be relevant. If they succeed, the party spots the trap before triggering it. If they don't, then the trap goes off.
You might consider taking the same approach to stealth. Don't have the players roll until there is something that can notice them.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
In general, I'd say you're the one making the rolls, not the player, because most of those are Secret. "I rolled a '20', we can go to the next room now." (or move into enemy territory confidently, etc.)
And while the party members can only be doing one thing in Exploration Mode, they can switch in response to input.
Like if they come across a corpse, they might switch to more combat-ready options. But if they come across a corpse and get ambushed, then it's too late to switch.
Exploration Mode is a narrative tool which gives a formal, yet fluid dynamic to what veteran GMs might take some time to develop on their own.
It allows story progress to move forward without narrating every moment as if the exact situation(s) needs to be determined for when the encounter occurs.
Also, when time's generous, a party could sweep through as commandos then backtrack as investigators, repeating as needed. Perhaps suggest this if the players are caught between options; you can't do both at one time, but you can do both if your PC invests the time.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I do want to say thanks for some of the finer points of explanations for this mode from everyone here.
|
I agree with Captain Morgan. Exploration mode is mostly meant as a convenient abstraction, not as a weirdly limiting minigame.
In 1E, you would have situations where people push their pawn 2 spaces forward, roll to check for traps, push it two space, check for traps... and that of course was ridiculous.
So people would do stuff like say "I'm walking forward carefully, so slow that I can check for traps before I step into them" and the GM would only roll a die if they actually got close enough to a trap.
2E just takes this and gives it a name, so we can easily refer to it, and maybe design some feats to interact with it.
---
The other thing is what NielsenE said. Sure, you would like to be sneaking and keeping your shield high and checking for traps and doing all the other things. But that's a bit too much of a good thing. The rules right now go a bit far IMO in saying you can do only one thing at a time (I'd like to sneak ahead and check for traps). But the general idea is that the activities describe "what you're doing while you walk".