Level Up (A5E) Today I am working on Exploration Challenges

[Morrus]

My job today is working on the format of exploration challenges. We have 75 or so of them, and we're play testing them and ironing out the wrinkles to make them as easy to use as possible. So my focus is on quality-of-life and ease-of-use stuff - sometimes as simple as changing the formatting, sometimes by adding extra information.

This is the first EC in the book and how it's currently looking after a bit of brainstorming and massaging. It's the same challenge, just tweaked in terms of presentation. So today I --

-- added a Suggested Area entry as this held me up in every playtest when an EC referred to the amount of time spent traversing it
-- trying out a standard DC (15 is a placeholder right now) rather than listing different DCs for each check and save in the description
-- moved the success/failure chart up next to the skill check which prompts it
-- other little changes

So, ignoring the actual mechanics (that's not what I'm working on here!) what in terms of presentation would make this easier for you to adjudicate on the fly at the table?

I'll add something important here -- there's a whole bunch of intro text you can't see here. But it basically says:

• these are just guidelines to help the GM adjudicate; it's designed to be freeform.
• inventive player solutions are to be encouraged and rewarded. If they figure out how to spend a resource to circumvent the challenge, this is working as intended.
• a challenge is only a challenge if you can't walk around it. If you can just walk around it, it's just a curious sight. The 'Leave it Be' entry assumes that it's blocking your journey in some way (say a mountain pass) and you have to backtrack and select a new route.
• challenges don't usually halt a journey; they just impose penalties if you fail.

 

[Faolyn]

For the Survival and Properties sections, I'd go with either bullets or hanging indents. Maybe increase the leading a bit (3 point) between the lines as well? And Survival shouldn't be indented; it should be flush left.

 

[Morrus]

For the Survival and Properties sections, I'd go with either bullets or hanging indents. Maybe increase the leading a bit (3 point) between the lines as well? And Survival shouldn't be indented; it should be flush left.

Ah, yeah, this isn't actually the book layout, just a word doc. That gets done by a layout designer and will look very pretty. He'll worry about indents and spacing and fonts and colours and text size and stuff. I'm working on the content and what should be there and what shouldn't.

(Sorry I wasn't clear by what I meant by 'presentation')

 

[Stalker0]

I am really happy you added in the "leave it be" section, as if you are using random encounters, that question will come up a lot.

I would add in the time for a regular pace along with slow. It also says you "spot the geysers" but doesn't say how that helps.

 

[Morrus]

It also says you "spot the geysers" but doesn't say how that helps.

Hmmm? It says you avoid them and that counts as a Success.

 

[Stalker0]

Hmmm? It says you avoid them and that counts as a Success.

Ahh, for feedback my brain just went too...well sure but doesn’t it help me prevent damage on the geyser attacks every half hour?

you probably meant it as flavor text, but since there are mechanics (and consequences) tied to the geysers...I immediately wanted to take the flavor and “do something” with it

 

[Morrus]

Ahh, for feedback my brain just went too...well sure but doesn’t it help me prevent damage on the geyser attacks every half hour?

Well in my mind that's what the word "avoid" means.

"Traveling at a slow pace (2 mph) allows the adventurers to spot and avoid the acid geysers and counts as a Success."

 

[Morrus]

 

[Faolyn]

Ah, yeah, this isn't actually the book layout, just a word doc. That gets done by a layout designer and will look very pretty. He'll worry about indents and spacing and fonts and colours and text size and stuff. I'm working on the content and what should be there and what shouldn't.

(Sorry I wasn't clear by what I meant by 'presentation')

Yeah, as someone who's an artist and whose done design, my brain immediately went to layout. But that's OK. And from what I've seen of your finished pieces, your layout designer is quite good!

If you're looking for something to add, maybe large areas like this example could include creatures that might live in such an area. Obviously not every exploration challenge will need things like that, but for a place that takes up two or so miles, it might come in handy.

 

[Morrus]

If you're looking for something to add, maybe large areas like this example could include creatures that might live in such an area. Obviously not every exploration challenge will need things like that, but for a place that takes up two or so miles, it might come in handy.

We do have that, but backwards. A Region contains four elements: monsters, exploration challenges, social encounters, and scenery. You can mix and match those (challenges have a CR just like monsters do, so you can treat them as a monster and add them to a monster encounter, or you can add a monster encounter to a challenge) using encounter building guidelines.