Hexploration
The large distances between the dungeons and settlements of your campaign world are ripe for exploration. Short distances don't normally require many resources and can be done over a session or two, but large distance travel may take weeks or months to finish.
The Hex Crawl
One approach to traveling across large stretches of land is a hex crawl. In a hex crawl, players spend an amount of time traveling across hexes on a Hex map. The simplest way to measure the distance between two points on a map through hexes is either 1 hex per 1 mile, or 1 hex per 5 miles.
While traveling, a group of adventurers can move at a normal, fast, or slow pace, as shown on the Hex Pace table. The table states how far the party can move in a period of time and whether the pace has any effect. A fast pace makes characters less perceptive, while a slow pace makes it possible to sneak around and to search an area more carefully.
The Hex Pace table assumes that characters travel for 8 hours in day, then sleep for 8 hours. They can push on beyond that limit, at the risk of Exhaustion. For each additional hour of travel beyond 8 hours, the characters cover the distance shown in the Hour column for their pace, and each character must make a Constitution saving throw at the end of the hour, where the DC equals 10 + 1 for each hour past 8 hours. On a failed saving throw, a character suffers one level of Exhaustion.
Table - Hex Pace
Distance traveled...
| Pace | ...Per Minute | ...Per Hour | ...Per Day | Other Effects |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slow | 200 feet | 1 mile | 10 miles | Able to Sneak through hexes |
| Normal | 300 feet | 2 miles | 15 miles | — |
| Fast | 400 feet | 5 miles | 20 miles | −5 penalty to passive Wisdom (Perception) scores |
Mounts and Vehicles
For short spans of time (up to an hour), many animals move much faster than humanoids, covering twice the usual distance for their pace. If fresh mounts are available every 5 to 8 miles, characters can cover larger distances at this pace, but this is very rare except in densely populated areas.
Most vehicles can cover twice the usual distance for their pace, but move at a normal pace in difficult terrain, as they are more likely to get stuck
Only water vehicles can cross hexes dominated by water, and only air vehicles can move over mountains- all others must go around or find a path through. Only Cosmic Vessels can survive and travel outside of the borders of the world. See Ships For more details.
Terrain
The travel speeds given in the Hex Pace table assume relatively simple terrain: roads, open plains, or clear dungeon corridors. But adventurers often face dense forests, deep swamps, rubble-filled ruins, steep mountains, and ice-covered ground—all considered difficult terrain.
If the terrain is not relatively simple, you move at half speed, as if it were difficult terrain.
You might circumvent difficult terrain with special movement, such as overcoming high cliffs with a Climbing speed or crossing a chasm with a long jump.
Mountains block all travel, unless you have special means of traveling through or over them, such as by a flying vehicle or mountain pass.
Actively dangerous weather (such as a desert's heat or arctic cold) impose more dangerous effects by simple being there in addition to counting as difficult terrain, and are described later on in this document.
Hex Directional Grids
Hex Activities
While traveling through a hex crawl, characters can spend time to perform certain actions. Each of the following actions takes 1 hour, and are modified by the travel pace and environment. Unless characters push themselves past 8 hours of travel, travel less than 8 hours per day, or need less than 8 hours of sleep, only 6 of these actions can occur each days. Hex Activities are performed as a group.
- Search. You attempt to search the hex you occupy, one you immediately travel into, or 1 adjacent hex, for landmarks, creatures, edible plants, or make some other discovery. This is usually done by an Intelligence (Investigation), Intelligence (Nature), or Wisdom (Survival) check, but could possibly be done through other skills. Each character rolls such a check, and adds their results together in a group skill check.
- If characters do not Search the Hex they move through, they must rely on their individual passive Wisdom (Perception) scores.
- If characters choose to search an adjacent hex instead of the hex they occupy, the ability checks rolled to do so are made at disadvantage.
- Sneak (Slow Pace only). You move across this hex with stealth. Each character rolls a Dexterity (Stealth) check in a Group Stealth Check.
The DC for these checks can be determined by the following table. This table assumes there are 4 characters in a party. Increase or decrease each DC by 10 for each additional or missing character in your party.
If the group stealth check succeeds, the chance of a random encounter is halved. If the result is double the DC or more, the roll critically succeeds, and there is no random encounter.
Alternatively, the GM might decide that a success determines there is no random encounter.
If the group stealth check fails, the chance of a random encounter is doubled.
Random Encounters
While traveling through more dangerous areas, characters might stumble upon a random encounter. This encounter may be a trap, a hidden landmark, some wild creatures, or perhaps a group of creatures waiting to ambush them. When characters travel through a hex, roll 1d100. Whether a random encounter occurs is determined as follows:
Random Encounter DC (d100): 50 - half the level of the highest level character.
Bonuses from Hex Activities or Hex Alignment then apply.
If the result is above the DC, an encounter occurs.
Hex Alignment
Some hexes may be actively controlled by larger factions, and may directly oppose or assist their activies and travel. These hexes might be territory of an enemy kingdom, or a holy land of a cleric's deity. Hexes with an Alignment impose one of the following effects:
- Hostile Hexes. If the hex characters travel through is actively dangerous or opposed to the party's exploration, such as if they are traveling through an enemy nation's territory, they must be extra careful to succeed in their various traveling activities. Travel distance is halved, as if the Hex were difficult terrain, and affected characters have a -5 to rolls for Hex Activities.
- Friendly Hexes. If the hex characters travel through is safe or the characters are receiving active assistance as they explore, they can travel more confidently. Travel distance is normal, and affected characters have a +5 bonus to rolls for Hex Activities.
- Neutral Hexes. Neutral hexes (typically unclaimed wilderness) have no alignment, and impose no additional positive or negative bonuses to the roll based on alignment.
Becoming Lost
Unless they are following a path, or something like it, adventurers traveling in the wilderness run the risk of becoming lost. At the end of each day, or less or more frequent as deemed appropriate by the GM, the group can perform a Search Hex Activity to stay on the fastest path.
If the characters have an accurate map of the region or can see the sun or stars, one creature (typically a designated navigator) has advantage on the check.
If the Wisdom (Survival) check succeeds, the party travels in the desired direction without becoming lost. If the check fails, the party inadvertently travels in the wrong direction and becomes lost. While lost, the characters move between hexes randomly until they learn their location, which they can do by succeeding this check.