D&D 5E Becoming lost -- how exactly does it work?

[Prakriti]

However, sometimes they weren't able to get their bearings even though they knew they were lost. At one point in the adventure they slogged through the jungle for 20 days. They knew they were lost but they just couldn't get a bead on where they were. They eventually came to a place they had been before which was far away from where they were trying to get - they had walked in a circle, having heaps of random encounters in the meantime and losing one party member (killed by a giant scorpion)

This all sounds really fun. Out of curiosity, though, do you remember how long, in terms of play-time, the party was lost for? Was it a whole session? More than one?

 

[Sword of Spirit]

The way I interpret it, they travel the 1d6 hours in a random wrong direction, and then realize they are lost. At that point they make the check again. If they fail, they travel another 1d6 hours in a (potentially different) random wrong direction, and realize they are still lost. Repeat until they succeed, at which point they have regained their bearings and can travel in the correct direction again, but may not know exactly where they are on a map.

Im not sure if this is what the rules were intended to mean, but it’s probably something like that (with the exception that 5e is easy mode and they might intend that you know exactly where you are on the map as soon as you succeed).

 

[Tonguez]

1d6 = number of random encounter/wandering monster checks
hours lost only really matters if the journey is time sensitive

 

[Nebulous]

The way I interpret it, they travel the 1d6 hours in a random wrong direction, and then realize they are lost. At that point they make the check again. If they fail, they travel another 1d6 hours in a (potentially different) random wrong direction, and realize they are still lost. Repeat until they succeed, at which point they have regained their bearings and can travel in the correct direction again, but may not know exactly where they are on a map.

Im not sure if this is what the rules were intended to mean, but it’s probably something like that (with the exception that 5e is easy mode and they might intend that you know exactly where you are on the map as soon as you succeed).

I think the revised ranger has the ability to NEVER get lost at 1st level, which I despise as a DM. I hate all or nothing abilities, especially low level. Earn that skill. I know they're trying to carve the ranger a niche, but I wish they could do it better than that.

 

[iserith]

I think the revised ranger has the ability to NEVER get lost at 1st level, which I despise as a DM. I hate all or nothing abilities, especially low level. Earn that skill. I know they're trying to carve the ranger a niche, but I wish they could do it better than that.

They can still get lost via magical means, so every now and again you just stick some kind of curse on the forest or whatever and you're golden.

 

[Nebulous]

I wish every inch of Chult had been cursed; I didn't think of that at the time.

 

[Charlaquin]

the DMG doesn't say when the party discovers that they've traveled in the wrong direction (i.e. How far do they travel "in the wrong direction" before they realize their mistake?).

You realize you’ve gone in the wrong direction when one of two things happens:
1. You reach a landmark you didn’t expect to encounter on your route.
2. The amount of time you expected your trip to take has passed and you haven’t yet reached your expected destination.

 

[Rabbitbait]

This all sounds really fun. Out of curiosity, though, do you remember how long, in terms of play-time, the party was lost for? Was it a whole session? More than one?

It was one session: Roll20

My memory was faulty though - it was the next session that the scorpion fatality happened. By that time 3 party members had died or been taken leaving only one chararacter.: Roll20

 

[pukunui]

I think the revised ranger has the ability to NEVER get lost at 1st level, which I despise as a DM. I hate all or nothing abilities, especially low level. Earn that skill. I know they're trying to carve the ranger a niche, but I wish they could do it better than that.

This! Sadly, the ranger’s niche is not “I’m really good at engaging with the exploration pillar” so much as “I’m so good at exploring that we can just ignore that pillar all together! Hooray!”

 

[Coroc]

For those of you who don't just hand-wave overland travel -- what exactly are the mechanical consequences of becoming lost in 5E? According to the DMG (p. 112):

"If the [Survival] check fails, the party inadvertently travels in the wrong direction and becomes lost. The party's navigator can repeat the check after the party spends 1d6 hours trying to get back on course."​

This seems pretty vague. For example, the DMG doesn't say when the party discovers that they've traveled in the wrong direction (i.e. How far do they travel "in the wrong direction" before they realize their mistake?).

I almost get the sense that the "wrong direction" part is just fluff text, and the party doesn't actually move on the map (to a random hex, for example). They just lose 1d6 hours out of their day for every navigational failure. Maybe I'm wrong, though. I don't know.

It is not, especially if in hostile surroundings, which e.g. deal 1d4 cold damage per hour for heavy frost in a winter landscape, or if you do some kind of micromanagement, like counting rations, or if you check for wandering encounters.

This goes especially if you got hard resting rules like 8hour short- and weekend/1week long rest e.g.