failure-mechanic

Time of failure: 2020-12-17

Using Pathfinder 2e’s exploration mechanic in D&D 5e

(originally posted in /r/dndnext)

I have been really liking the idea of exploration mode in Pathfinder 2e and have introduced optional rules to my fellow players in a 5e game to support this style of play (we’ll see if the GM wants to use it…) Thought I’d share it here in case others want to use it.

Essentially exploration mode is the in-between state where you’re not in initiative-based encounter mode (e.g. combat) but activities are still organized and have mechanics.

Why is this helpful? Well, it obviates a whole lot of back-and-forth about what’s going on as you explore a location, and I really like the way they thread it into combat encounters via the initiative system.

In detail:

• Everyone declares a skill or other single-action ability that they are using that cannot have a consumable resource such as spell slots and which is not actively opposed. This is what they are doing during this period. If I say that my character is investigating, then that’s what they’re doing as the party moves along and the DM might roll several times or ask me to, as appropriate.
• The group then decides where they are going and the like as normal, always keeping in mind their primary activity from above.
• If combat ensues, the skill most related to what they were doing can be rolled for initiative, so if I’m investigating and my investigation is higher than my initiative, then I can use that to represent my intense attention to the hints that a combat encounter is about to begin. Some skills make no sense for initiative (e.g. medicine) so the DM must adjudicate a player’s rationale for using a skill for initiative on a case-by-case basis, but this can be an ideal mechanism for injecting some extra detail and color into a combat as it begins!
• At any time, players can change which ability they are using or perform a non-exploration activity, but they can only ever have one ability as their exploration activity at a time. This represents on-the-move activities, so the results might be more cursory than otherwise. For example, if a character is investigating while moving, they might spot some scrapes on the floor that indicate some sort of swinging or sliding mechanism, but analyzing them further and drawing conclusions might require more time than they have when just walking by.
• Stealth has an important consequence. Using stealth as an exploration activity not only means that you can roll against stealth for initiative but that you begin encounters hidden unless an opponent detects you using passive perception (for which they might have advantage or automatically succeed if there are few or no means to remain unseen, e.g. walking down a brightly lit corridor with no obstructions or alcoves).
• Exploration is more free-form than combat, so there are no “turns” per se. You just roleplay movement and discovery as you go with your primary action guiding the flavor of information and perspective that the DM gives you.
• Some skills don’t sound very much like exploration, but they can be used to great effect in exploration mode.
  • Persuasion - As you move through a guarded location, you act as if you belong there and convince guards and others to let you pass.
  • Survival - Hiding your party’s tracks as they move through natural surroundings might use this skill.
  • Medicine - Although you’re on the move, you can still quickly assess the injured on a battlefield, determining who can’t wait to be found by the battlefield medics.
  • Insight - While moving through a crowded market you can quickly assess who might not belong there. Is that customer at a fruit stall pretending to browse the wares while watching your party?
• Not all exploration activities are skills. Cantrips, for example, could be used. Examples:
  • prestidigitation can be used to continuously remove the muck from party members while trudging through a swamp.
  • druidcraft could be used to give the party a resplendent appearance as they move through a natural setting, blooming flowers and reviving wilted plants as they pass.
  • (optional) true strike can be used to give advantage on initiative checks for any immediately hostile encounter where the player can open with an attack.
• Super optional! Ritual spells can be used while on the move and with continuous effect, which conveys only some benefits depending on the spell. Any ritual that requires a material component cannot be used in this way! The effects should always be muted compared to the normal ritual usage because of the lack of ideal conditions and the continuous nature of the effect.
  • Commune with Nature - As you move through a natural setting, you gain insight according to the specific type of information you are seeking (see spell description), but only a sense of what you might learn if you properly used the spell.
  • Detect Magic - A general sense of the presence of magic is detected, but specifics will require stopping and casting the spell over the normal duration.
  • Silence - Complete silence blankets your party’s movement, but this effect ends abruptly when entering combat or otherwise taking a different action, though the spell can be re-cast at that point should the player desire.

This is often done in an ad hoc way in many games. The classic “SOP” for dungeon delving is a form of this exploration model. All this does is enhance the structure and remove some quibbling over routine activities.

A couple updates and responses to common comments

1. “Why not just play Pathfinder 2e?” – Because it’s not always that simple. First off, D&D 5e has a lot going for it, and maybe those features are what you decided were most important. Maybe you are just a player in the game, but would like to offer the DM a way to enhance non-combat mechanics. Options are a good thing and no DM has to use a house rule they don’t like in their game.
2. Someone pointed out that one of the major advantages is that this system points out options to players. This is a great insight and definitely worth noting.
3. This isn’t a combat mechanic (except for its impact on initiative, which DMs should keep under careful control). As such it shouldn’t be evaluated in the spirit of combat-mode min/maxing. Encounter mode should be about freeing players up to think about the world and their interaction with it, not adding crunch to RP moments.