Pathfinder 2e Roleplaying Game

Running Exploration

Pathfinder Gamemastery Guide (Second Edition), page 17

Exploration covers a wide variety of situations, letting the group’s creativity and storytelling shine. You can also use it to control the pace of the game, guided by the number of interesting locations and phenomena in the area being explored and the level of detail you want to go into.

The Core Rulebook discusses running exploration mode starting on page 496 of that book, and this section supplements that information. If you want to run a session or adventure specifically focused on exploring and mapping uncharted wilds, consider using the hexploration subsystem on page 170. If you’re looking for guidelines on managing initiative, see page 11 in the Running Encounters section.

As you run exploration, keep the following basic goals in mind. You’ll find more advice on many of these points in the sections ahead.

  • Evoke the setting with sensory details.
  • Shift the passage of time to emphasize tension and uncertainty, and speed past uneventful intervals.
  • Get players to add details by asking for their reactions.
  • Present small-scale mysteries to intrigue players and spur investigation.
  • When rolls are needed, look for ways to move the action forward or add interesting wrinkles on a failure.
  • Plan effective transitions to encounters.

In this section

  • Evocative Environments As the PCs explore, convey their surroundings by appealing to the players’ senses. This sets the scene, gives them a better sense of their environment, and can be used to foreshadow what they might find ahead.
  • Flow of Time As noted in the Core Rulebook, you rarely measure exploration down to the second or minute. If someone asks how long something takes, the nearest 10-minute increment typically does the job.
  • Exploration Activities As described starting on page 479 of the Core Rulebook, PCs will undertake exploration activities while they explore.
  • More on Searching The rules for Searching deliberately avoid giving intricate detail on how long a search takes. That’s left in your hands because the circumstances of a search can vary widely.
  • More on Follow the Expert Follow the Expert is a truly versatile activity that lets a PC who’s lacking at a skill or exploration activity have a better chance to succeed. It’s important that this doesn’t become too rote.
  • Improvising New Activities The list of exploration activities isn’t exhaustive. More appear in special subsystems and adventures, and you’ll often need to create your own.
  • Scenes Within Exploration It can help you to think of exploration as a series of scenes, with encounters not just breaking up exploration, but functioning as subsections within it.
  • Getting Lost When PCs are exploring the wilderness or twisting dungeon corridors, they might get lost.
  • Surprise Attacks Page 499 of the Core Rulebook covers the mechanics of how surprise attacks occur while PCs rest. Such surprise attacks should be used sparingly, even in dangerous areas.