Running Modes of Play
Pathfinder Core Rulebook (Second Edition), page 493
Pathfinder sessions are divided into three different modes of play: encounters, exploration, and downtime. Each mode represents different kinds of situations, with specific stakes and time scales, and characters can use different sorts of actions and reactions in each.
Encounters take place in real time or slower, and they involve direct engagement between players and enemies, potential allies, or each other. Combat and direct social interaction usually take place in encounter mode.
Exploration is the connective tissue of an adventure, and it is used whenever characters are exploring a place where there’s danger or uncertainty, such as an unfamiliar city or a dungeon. In exploration mode, characters aren’t in immediate peril, but they must still be on their toes. Exploration and encounters are collectively called adventuring.
When the party isn’t adventuring, the characters are in downtime. This mode covers most of a normal person’s life, such as mundane, day-to-day tasks and working toward long-term goals.
In this section
- Encounters Encounter mode is the most structured mode of play, and you’ll mostly be following the rules presented in Chapter 9 to run this mode.
- Exploration Exploration mode is intentionally less regimented than encounters. As a result, during exploration you’ll be making judgment calls on just about everything that happens.
- Downtime In downtime, you can sum up the important events of a whole day with just one roll. Use this mode when the characters return home or otherwise aren’t adventuring.