Adventuring

Each character and monster has a speed, representing the distance in feet they can walk in 1 round, assuming short bursts of energetic movement. This forms the basis for calculating movement per minute, hour, or day.

While traveling, a group can move at a normal, fast, or slow pace, affecting travel distance and perception. A fast pace (-5 to passive Wisdom [Perception]) covers more ground quickly. A normal pace has no special effect. A slow pace allows for stealth and careful searching.

• Forced March: Characters can travel for 8 hours a day at the listed paces. Each additional hour requires a Constitution saving throw (DC 10 + 1 per extra hour), with failure resulting in a level of exhaustion.

• Mounts and Vehicles: For short durations (up to an hour), mounts can move much faster. A gallop covers twice the distance of a fast pace. Wagons and waterborne vessels move at their own pace, without pace-related penalties or benefits. Special mounts or vehicles can offer swifter travel.

• Difficult Terrain: Moving through dense forests, swamps, ruins, mountains, or icy ground is at half speed. Each foot of movement costs 2 ft of speed, halving the distance covered.

Drivers or crew can be hired to conduct passengers between established routes. Tolls or additional expenses may be applied.

• Coach Ride: Between towns, 3 cp per mile

• Coach Ride: Within a city, 1 cp per mile

• Road or Gate Toll: 1 cp

• Ship’s Passage: 1 sp per mile

• Climbing, Swimming, Crawling: 1 extra foot per foot of movement (2 in difficult terrain), unless a specific speed exists. Difficult surfaces/water may require Strength (Athletics) checks.

• Jumping: Based on Strength. Long jump: up to Strength score (running start) or half (standing). Each foot costs a foot of movement. Low obstacles might need Strength (Athletics). Landing in difficult terrain needs Dexterity (Acrobatics) to avoid being prone. High jump: 3 + Strength modifier (running) or half (standing). Reach is jump height + 1.5 times your height.

Establish a marching order (front, middle, back) to track who is affected by threats and who can spot enemies. Fewer ranks adjust the order. Slow travel allows stealth.

Use passive Wisdom (Perception), potentially affected by rank. Fast travel gives -5 penalty.

When the adventurers meet other creatures while traveling, both groups decide their course of action: attack, converse, flee, or observe.

If a hostile encounter occurs, the DM determines if either side is surprised when combat begins (see chapter on Combat).

Characters focusing on tasks other than watching don't contribute their passive Wisdom (Perception) to detect threats. Instead, with the DM's permission, they can perform one of the following:

• Navigate: Make a Wisdom (Survival) check to prevent the group from getting lost.

• Draw a Map: Record the group's progress to aid navigation if lost. No check required.

• Track: Make a Wisdom (Survival) check to follow another creature's tracks.

• FoRage: Make a Wisdom (Survival) check to find food and water.

A creature falling takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage per 10 ft fallen, up to 20d6. The creature lands prone unless the damage is avoided.

A creature can hold its breath for 1 + its Constitution modifier minutes (minimum 30 seconds). When out of breath, it survives for a number of rounds equal to its Constitution modifier (minimum 1 round). On its next turn, it drops to 0 hit points and is dying.

Splitting the party allows scouting ahead at different speeds, with each group having its own marching order. The risk is being divided in case of attack, but the benefit is that smaller, stealthier groups can bypass enemies more easily.

Seeing is crucial for noticing danger, finding objects, combat, and spellcasting. Obscurity hinders vision.

• Lightly Obscured: Dim light, patchy fog, moderate foliage impose disadvantage on sight-based Wisdom (Perception) checks.

• Heavily Obscured: Darkness, opaque fog, dense foliage block vision entirely, effectively imposing the blinded condition.

• Bright Light: Allows normal vision (e.g., daylight, torches, lanterns).

• Dim Light: (Shadows) Creates lightly obscured areas (e.g., twilight, dawn, edges of bright light).

• Darkness: Creates heavily obscured areas (e.g., nighttime, unlit dungeons, magical darkness).

• Blindsight: Allows perception without sight within a radius (e.g., oozes, bats, true dragons).

• Darkvision: Allows seeing in darkness as Dim Light within a range (shades of gray only, e.g., underground creatures).

• Truesight: Allows seeing in normal and magical darkness, seeing invisible things, automatically detecting visual illusions, and perceiving shapeshangers' true forms within a range. It also allows seeing into the Ethereal Plane.

Characters without food or water suffer exhaustion, which cannot be removed until the full required amount is consumed. Some DMs will choose not to enforce strick food and water tracking.

• Food: Needs 1 pound per day. Half rations count as half a day without food. Can go without food for 3 + Constitution modifier days (minimum 1). Beyond that, each day causes one level of exhaustion. Normal eating resets the count.

• Water: Needs 1 gallon per day (2 in hot weather). Half that requires a DC 15 Constitution save or one level of exhaustion. Less than half automatically causes one level of exhaustion (two levels if already exhausted).

Simple interactions (moving levers) are usually resolved by description. Forceful actions (rusted levers) may require Strength checks (DC set by DM).

Objects can be damaged by weapons and spells (immune to poison and psychic damage). The DM sets AC and hit points and may grant resistances/immunities. Objects always fail Strength and Dexterity saves and are immune to effects requiring other saves. At 0 hit points, an object breaks. Strength checks can also be used to break objects (DC set by DM).

Roleplaying is embodying your character's thoughts, actions, and speech. It's integral to all aspects of the game, especially social encounters. Your character's personality and mannerisms influence how interactions unfold. There are two main roleplaying styles:

• Descriptive Approach: You describe your character's words and actions to the DM and other players, conveying their intent and emotions. For example, describing a gruff dwarf's reaction to an elf minstrel. Focus on your character's feelings and how others might perceive them, providing comfortable levels of detail.

• Active Approach: You speak in your character's voice and might even mimic their movements, offering a more immersive experience. You still need to describe actions that can't be easily acted out. For instance, speaking as the gruff dwarf with a distinct voice, then narrating their physical actions.

The DM uses your character's actions and attitudes to determine NPC reactions. Cowardly NPCs might yield to threats, stubborn ones resist persuasion, and vain creatures respond to flattery. Pay attention to the DM's portrayal of the NPC's mood, dialogue, and personality. Understanding an NPC's traits, ideals, flaws, and bonds can help you influence their attitude by appealing to these aspects. Effective social interaction, like in real life, involves offering NPCs what they want, threatening their fears, or appealing to their sympathies and goals. Insulting or antagonizing NPCs will likely hinder your efforts.

In addition to roleplaying, ability checks often determine the outcome of interactions. While your roleplaying can sway an NPC's attitude, chance may still play a role. The DM might call for a Charisma check during an interaction to determine an NPC's reaction based on the dice. Other ability checks might be appropriate depending on the situation. Consider your skill proficiencies when deciding how to interact and use approaches that leverage your best bonuses and skills. For instance, a rogue proficient in Deception should lead attempts to trick a guard, while a cleric with Persuasion should handle hostage negotiations.

A short rest is a period of at least 1 hour of light activity, such as eating, drinking, reading, or tending to wounds. At the end of a short rest, a character can spend one or more of their Hit Dice (up to their level). For each Hit Die spent, the player rolls it, adds the character's Constitution modifier, and the character regains that many hit points. Additional Hit Dice can be spent after each roll. Some spent Hit Dice are regained after a long rest.

A long rest is an extended period of at least 8 hours of sleep or 6 hours of sleep and 2 hours of light activity (reading, talking, eating, or up to 2 hours of watch). If interrupted by at least 1 hour of strenuous activity (walking, fighting, spellcasting, etc.), the rest must be restarted to gain any benefits. Upon completing a long rest, a character regains all lost hit points and also regains spent Hit Dice equal to half of their total Hit Dice. A character cannot benefit from more than one long rest in a 24-hour period and must have at least 1 hit point at the start of the rest to gain its benefits.

During the time between adventures, you choose a quality of life and pay the associated cost to maintain that lifestyle, as detailed in the Expenses chapter. While your lifestyle doesn't drastically alter your character, it can influence how other individuals and groups react to you. For instance, an aristocratic lifestyle might grant easier access to nobles compared to a life of poverty.

The DM might ask what your character does during their downtime between adventures. These periods can vary in length, but each downtime activity requires a specific number of days to complete (with at least 8 hours spent per day) before any benefit is gained. These days don't need to be consecutive. If you have more than the minimum days, you can continue the same activity or switch to a new one. Discuss any downtime activities not listed below with your DM.

• Crafting: You can create nonmagical objects, including equipment and art. Proficiency with relevant tools (typically artisan's tools) is required, and you might need special materials or locations. For each day of crafting, you can create items with a total market value of 5 gp or less, expending raw materials worth half that value. For items exceeding 5 gp, you make 5 gp worth of progress each day until the market value is reached. Multiple characters proficient with the same tools and working together can combine their efforts, each contributing 5 gp of progress per day. While crafting, you can maintain a modest lifestyle for free or a comfortable one at half cost.

• Practicing a Profession: Working between adventures allows you to maintain a modest lifestyle without paying 1 gp per day. This benefit lasts as long as you continue your profession. Members of organizations like temples or thieves' guilds earn enough to support a comfortable lifestyle. Those proficient in Performance and using their skill during downtime earn enough for a wealthy lifestyle.

• Recuperating: Downtime can be used to recover from injuries, diseases, or poisons. After three days of recuperation, you can make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw to end one effect preventing hit point recovery or gain advantage on saves against a current disease or poison for the next 24 hours.

• Researching: Downtime is ideal for research, gaining insights into campaign mysteries. This might involve studying texts or gathering rumors. The DM determines if the information is available, the required downtime, and any restrictions (specific individuals, tomes, or locations). Ability checks like Intelligence (Investigation) or Charisma (Persuasion) might be required. Each day of research costs 1 gp in addition to lifestyle expenses.

• Training: You can learn a new language or gain proficiency with tools during downtime. The DM determines the duration and any required ability checks after you find an instructor. Training lasts 250 days and costs 1 gp per day, after which you gain the new language or tool proficiency.