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Go back to 5e - Basic Rules.

👒5e - Adventuring👒

The world is vast and full of danger. From the cramped and darkened tunnels of a subterranean labyrinth to the wide open expanse of the plains, the worlds you explore are bound to be full of wonder and woe in equal measure. This chapter covers the basics of adventuring through that world, including movement, social interactions, time, and more.

Throughout game sessions the Game Master envisions and describes the setting, places, and situations your characters experience as the party becomes immersed in the world. Your character reacts to the circumstances and obstacles placed before them, developing their personality and honing their talents. For better or worse as the dice roll, the Game Master relates the outcomes of the party’s actions as the group continues through various adventures until a campaign reaches its end.

Time

Time is an important aspect of adventuring. For Game Masters, time serves multiple purposes and roughly outlines the flow of an adventure. Choosing which scale of time to use in any given situation is a matter of context.

The most common span of time is a round, which takes place during combat and other situations where time is of the essence. A round lasts 6 seconds. Minutes are the second most common. Most involved actions take a length of time using minutes.

For example, an adventuring party spends roughly a minute proceeding through a dungeon corridor, to find a treasure room which they investigate for 10 minutes to find a hidden chest that the rogue spends roughly a minute checking to discover the deadly poison dart booby trap cunningly hidden in the mechanism.

Hours are appropriate for exploring a city or a limited area of land. A sudden whim by a wizard to visit a particular reagent shop on the other side of the city would take hours just as it may take an hour or so for a druid to lead their party members to a defensible cave in the ominous and quickly darkening woods.

Days are generally used for long periods of time during a journey or adventure. Traveling from one city to another, getting lost in the wilderness, and a journey into the unseen depths of the world are all good examples of using days.

Movement

Adventurers come across a wide array of terrain and obstacles during their travels. For simplicity’s sake a Game Master is always free to summarize movement without determining exact distances or time frames.

However, in some cases it’s important to know the general time frame (minutes, hours, days, and so on) that it takes to go from one area to another.

When it comes to determining the time frames of movement, the most important factors are the Speed or travel pace of an individual or party and the terrain being traversed.

Speed

Every creature capable of movement has a Speed, measured in feet, that it can move in a single round. Travel pace is used when it comes to longer time periods of moment that take place over minutes, hours, or days.

Of course the world is wide and vast, leading to exceptions in mounts and methods of travel…

Vehicles

See 🛠️Vehicles for more Information.

Not all travel is done by foot. Vehicles and mounts are used by many adventurers to help travel the vast distances of the world.

Land-based vehicles can choose at which pace to move while water-based vehicles are restricted by the speed of the vehicle. A water-based vehicle gains no benefits from a slow pace, but has no penalties for moving at a fast pace. Depending on the vehicle and crew size, a ship can travel up to 24 hours a day.

Special Movement

Not all travel can be accomplished by simply walking from one point to another. Adventurers may be forced to climb, swim, or leap to reach their final destinations — nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Climbing, Swimming, and Crawling

Movement using these three methods is similar to traveling through difficult terrain though there are some key differences. First, it costs a creature an extra foot to move for every foot spent. Worse, if a creature is moving in actual 🏔️Difficult Terrain, it costs four feet to move for every foot spent. Moving by climbing or swimming through normal terrain by a creature with the corresponding speed costs no additional movement.

A Game Master may apply additional checks in certain scenarios, such as climbing a particularly slippery surface or swimming in churning water.

For example, a barbarian with a 30 foot movement speed only moves 15 feet on their turn while trying to climb a mountain. Should that same barbarian try climbing that same mountain during a snowstorm, they would only move 8 feet, and may even need to pass an Athletics check to maintain a hold or risk falling into the roaring water below.

Jumping

See 🏃‍♀️Jumping for more Information.

The distance a creature can jump is determined both by the method attempted and their STR modifier.

A long jump requires a creature to move at least 10 feet by foot immediately before making its jump and the distance covered is a number of feet equal to this formula: (STR Modifier + 5) x 2. Each foot covered by a jump costs the same in movement.

A Game Master can also request a DC 10 Strength (Athletics) check to clear low obstacles, which must be no taller than a quarter of the jump’s distance. A failure indicates that instead of jumping over such an obstacle, a creature crashes into it.

Landing is also a fair challenge. Should a creature land in difficult terrain, perhaps jumping over a table in the kitchen only to land on a freshly mopped floor on the other side, the creature must make an additional DC 10 Dexterity (Acrobatics) to actually land on its feet. Should it fail, it instead falls ☠️Prone.

A high jump is a bit more complex. To make a running high jump, a creature must move 10 feet on foot immediately before the jump, leaping up into the air a number of feet equal to 3 + STR Modifier (minimum of 0 feet). To make a standing high jump, a creature needs not move beforehand, but only jumps half the distance it would have doing a running high jump.

When a creature’s jumping distance exceeds its Speed, it can jump up to a distance equal to twice its Speed in a single leap so long as it takes no other movement on that turn other than to jump. In either case, a creature uses up a foot of movement for every foot it covers jumping.

There are a few special scenarios for high jumping though.

First, a creature can extend its arms up to half its height during a jump. Thus a creature can reach above itself equal to the height of a jump plus 1.5 times its height. In addition, the Game Master may allow a creature to make a Strength (Athletics) check to jump higher than it could otherwise.

Traveling

The majority of rules regarding exploration are in Trials & Treasures but some extend beyond journeys and into shorter forays as well.

Marching Order

When it’s relevant to the game — during a dungeon crawl or while traveling through a forest they know is brimming with bandits — the Game Master should have the party establish who is in the lead (and therefore the most likely to be targeted if a trap is triggered) and who is in the back (the first targeted in a flanking ambush). When it isn’t an important element to what’s currently happening in the game, whichever character is taking the lead on roleplaying is assumed to be in front of their companions.

Encounters and Threats

Whether or not creatures notice a hidden threat is determined by their passive Perception scores.

When players encounter other characters or creatures while traveling, both parties can choose what happens next. Either party can choose to attack, talk, flee, or wait to see what the other group does. In addition, a Game Master can decide whether or not a party is surprised by the other if combat ensues.

Stealth

A party looking to avoid threats can choose to travel at a slow pace and employ stealth, making a group Stealth check, typically using Dexterity.

A party with reasonable cover can do more than avoid ambushes — they may well surprise or sneak past their enemies.

The Environment

Not all dangers while adventuring are from enemies, monsters, and beasts. Whether urban or rural, the very environment a hero must traverse in order to complete their quest (or the battlefield they find themselves on) can present a multitude of hazards.

Be sure to pay attention to the environment around your character as they move through it, and be wary of any hidden threats — or anything you can leverage to get the upper hand in a fight.

Falling

When a creature falls, it takes bludgeoning damage and lands ☠️Prone. The amount of damage the Creature takes is calculated as follows:

The Creature falls less than or equal to 50 ft: The Creature suffers 1d6 damage per 10 ft. it falls.
The Creature falls between 50 and 150 ft: The Creature suffers 2d6 damage per 10 ft. it falls.
The Creature falls between 150 and 300 ft: The Creature suffers 3d6 damage per 10 ft. it falls.
The Creature falls 300 ft. or more: The Creature instantly dies.

A creature that falls into water takes half damage, or no damage if it dives with a successful Athletics check (DC equal to the distance it falls divided by 5).

Suffocating

See ☠️Suffocating for more information.

Drowning, strangulation, smothering, strange alternate planes of reality with no air — many situations can lead to suffocation. A creature can hold its breath for a number of minutes equal to 1 + CON (minimum of 30 seconds). Once a creature is out of breath, it begins suffocating and gains 2 ☠️Fatigue and 2 ☠️Strife at the end of each of its turns. When a Creature can breathe again, it removes all levels of Fatigue and Strife gained from suffocating.

Underwater

A creature that cannot breathe water begins to suffocate underwater once it cannot hold its breath.

In addition, creatures without swim speeds have DISADV on attacks made using any weapon other than a dagger, dueling dagger, javelin, shortsword, spear, or trident. Ranged weapon attacks automatically miss beyond their normal range underwater, and bludgeoning and fire damage are halved. A creature that takes damage while holding its breath underwater must succeed on a 🎲Concentration Save or immediately begin suffocating as if its breath had run out.

Vision and Light

Most creatures rely on sight for even the most mundane, everyday tasks. Adventurers are no different, and the amount of light in a given area impacts their ability to perform both in and out of combat. Other environmental features {like fog or heavy rain) may obscure a creature’s vision and cause difficulty.

A 💡Lightly Obscured area is one that creates a minimal, but not insignificant, amount of visual impairment. A moderately wooded area, lingering smoke from a sacked town, dim lighting, and the like can all cause an area to be lightly obscured.

When within this area, creatures have DISADV on Perception checks that rely on sight. See also: 💡Dim Light.

An area that is 💡Heavily Obscured may be a shoreline cloaked in dense fog, a jungle full of thick foliage and hanging vines, or darkness (magical or otherwise), that obstructs vision completely. A creature in this area is considered ☠️Blind.

Three types of lighting exist within an area: bright light, dim light, and darkness.

💡Bright Light is the most common. Even on a cloudy day the sun provides bright light, as do torches, bonfires, magical lights, and other similar sources (though often within a limited radius). Most creatures suffer no penalties from being in a brightly lit area.

💡Dim Light creates a 💡Lightly Obscured area. Dim light is typically found on the outer reaches of artificial light sources, such as the depths of a room lit only by candles or the outer ring of a bonfire. Dim light can also be found during dawn or twilight, or beneath a full moon.

💡Darkness creates a 💡Heavily Obscured area. Creatures venturing out at night, delving underground, or traveling into a windowless dungeon without any alternate sources of light will find themselves at a distinct disadvantage.

Blindsight

Not everything relies on vision to sense the world. A creature with 👁️Blindsight is not affected by 💡Darkness or other 💡Heavily or 💡Lightly Obscured areas, and can see through ☠️Invisibility, within a certain radius. Creatures adapted to the darkness (like bats and moles) or creatures without eyes (like purple worms) have blindsight.

Figments: Creatures that do not rely on visual sight, noted as having blindsight (blind beyond this range), are immune to visual illusions (such as those created by minor illusion).

Darkvision

Many creatures within the realms of medieval fantasy are gifted with sensitive sight. 👁️Darkvision allows a creature to see within 💡Darkness as if it were 💡Dim Light, and dim light as if it were 💡Bright Light, though the creature cannot perceive colors while in darkness, only shades of gray.

Truesight

Some especially powerful creatures, like particularly old dragons, have 👁️Truesight. This allows a creature to see in normal or magical 💡Darkness, perceive ☠️Invisible creatures and objects, automatically detect illusions and succeed on its saving throw against them, and perceive the original form of a shapechanger or creature that is transformed by magic.

A creature with truesight can also see into the Ethereal Plane.

Food and Water

Creatures need to eat and drink in order to survive, and often in the wilderness, the opportunity to find fresh food and water can be limited. Characters can circumvent hunger and thirst with dry food supplies, water stores, magic, and more. A creature that takes a long rest must consume food and water (Supply) or it suffers a level of fatigue.

Objects

The world is full of chandeliers and tree branches to be swung from, doors to be kicked in, and eldritch statues full of ruinous power to meddle with. There are numerous objects bristling with possibility for the intrepid and the bold. Adventurers can perform many actions with an object—they might pick up a vase to secure treasure, throw a glass sculpture to create a diversion, or try and hack their way through hastily set up barricades.

When interacting with an object, a creature might use a trait, feature, or combat maneuver, or it might simply make an attack. In general, given enough time and the right equipment, any adventurer can usually accomplish what they want with an object.

An object is a single inanimate item like a rug, vase, axe, painting, boulder, door, section of wall, or a bureau full of clothes (which themselves are many objects).

Interacting with Objects

Most physical interactions with the environment simply require a player to announce their intentions to the Game Master. A statement like, “I open the wardrobe,” is normally all that is necessary to set an action into motion.

Some interactions, however, may require an ability check. A wardrobe that won’t open might require a Dexterity (thieves’ tools) check to pick a lock or a Strength check to pull it open despite rusted hinges.

The Game Master sets the DC for the check based on the difficulty of the task. A Strength check can also be used to break an object. The Game Master sets the DC for the check.

Creatures can also damage objects with both physical attacks and spells. Objects are immune to psychic and poison damage, but otherwise they can be affected by damage just like creatures. The Game Master determines an object’s AC and hit points, and if it has any damage resistances, immunities, or vulnerabilities. Objects always fail Strength and Dexterity saving throws, but are immune to effects that require other saves. When an object drops to 0 hit points, it breaks.

Statistics for Objects

In the middle of a tense situation where time is of the essence, the Game Master can assign an Armor Class and hit points to a destructible object, as well as determine what immunities, resistances, and vulnerabilities to damage it might have.

When a creature is trying to do something besides destroy the object, the Game Master determines what ability checks are appropriate.

Armor Class

An object’s Armor Class represents how tough the object is to damage. Especially tough objects might be harder to damage — the Object Armor Class table has suggested values for objects based on the materials they are made from.

Object AC

Hit Points

An object’s hit points determine how much damage it can take before it is destroyed. A particularly sturdy object (resilient) might have more hit points than

more delicate objects (fragile). The Object Hit Points table has suggested hit points for objects based on their size.

Object Hit Points

Huge and Garganutan Objects

Against Huge or Gargantuan objects, normal weapons or tools are of little effect. Against a castle wall or treasure vault door, a hammer or sword won’t get the job done — but determined creatures might try just the same. If the Game Master decides a Huge or Gargantuan object is vulnerable to a creature’s attacks, divide it into separate smaller sections that are each Large-sized and track the hit points of each section independently. For example, a Huge windmill might fall apart when the axle holding the blades is destroyed.

Objects and Damage Types

When damaging an object some damage types might be more effective than others, depending on the object’s composition. For example, slashing damage might help cut through a rope, but be less effective for smashing the legs of a stone statue. Flammable objects are typically vulnerable to fire, and unless noted otherwise (such as with inanimate plants) objects are immune to poison and psychic damage. The Game Master determines the effectiveness of any given attack on an object.

Damage Threshold

Objects built to endure attack (like the reinforced walls of a towering fort or the armored hull of a skyship) often have an extra measure of protection: a damage threshold. If an object has a damage threshold it is immune to damage unless an attack or effect deals damage equal to or greater than the damage threshold. Any attack or effect that deals damage less than the damage threshold instead deals no damage at all.

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