D&D 5E (2014) Foraging at a slow pace

[CapnZapp]

What is the benefit of travelling at a slow pace as regards foraging (compared to travelling at a normal pace)?

I would imagine you either get to make more than one check, or that you gain advantage on the one foraging check, but can't find this expressly stated anywhere in the module or the DMG.

Am I blind? If not, could someone with a Twitter acount please ask the designers?

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Furthermore, I can't find any rules at all for how much you forage if you don't travel at all (in the "get from A to B" sense; obviously you the hunter will be running around a lot throughout the day).

Any suggestions on house rules for if (=when) the ranger PC states she will spend an entire day solely focussed on foraging?

 

[Wolf118]

Cap,

From DMG p111: "Characters can gather food and water as the party travels at a normal or slow pace. A foraging character makes a Wisdom (Survival) check whenever you call for it, with the DC determined by the abundance of food and water in the region."

So it looks like there is no RAW benefit to traveling at a slow pace. Further, each character foraging gets to make a check. Which makes sense; either the food and water are there to be found, or it's not. If you're traveling at a fast pace, you have no time to forage.

If you wanted to houserule this, I would suggest a conditional bonus; maybe +2 on the check if traveling at a slow pace? Advantage would probably be too great a bonus, but it's an option.

As far as spending the entire day.... perhaps doubling the amount of food and water found on successful check? Or granting advantage on the check? I could see either, or maybe both. Or even an auto success, if that is all the character is doing in non-scarce environment.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

There is no adjustment to foraging made for pace adjustment because the priority placed on gathering food is not inherently altered by change in pace - you don't have any greater or lesser need to eat just because you are trying to cover more or less ground.

You get to make more than one check if more than one character is foraging.

If you aren't actually traveling, I don't think that matters as you can still declare your pace, which has a limit as to how far you can move but doesn't actually seem to require that you move more than 0 relative to the scale you are using (i.e. you do not need to travel the entire 18 miles in a day when traveling at a slow pace).

My only house-rule suggestion is this: if you have a ranger, or other skilled survivalist character, dedicating their entire day to finding food - let the attempt be as successful as is reasonable for the locale, with no roll.

 

[ddaley]

There is no adjustment to foraging made for pace adjustment because the priority placed on gathering food is not inherently altered by change in pace - you don't have any greater or lesser need to eat just because you are trying to cover more or less ground.

You get to make more than one check if more than one character is foraging.

If you aren't actually traveling, I don't think that matters as you can still declare your pace, which has a limit as to how far you can move but doesn't actually seem to require that you move more than 0 relative to the scale you are using (i.e. you do not need to travel the entire 18 miles in a day when traveling at a slow pace).

My only house-rule suggestion is this: if you have a ranger, or other skilled survivalist character, dedicating their entire day to finding food - let the attempt be as successful as is reasonable for the locale, with no roll.

I think the question is, if you are foraging, what is the benefit to traveling at a slow pace instead of a normal pace. On page 18 of the module, it explicitly states "while a slow pace ... improves their chances of successful foraging for food and water." However, it doesn't say what this improved chance is. In the "Underdark Travel Pace" table, for Slow movement, it also says there "Improved foraging"... but again, doesn't say what that means.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

IOn page 18 of the module, it explicitly states "while a slow pace ... improves their chances of successful foraging for food and water." However, it doesn't say what this improved chance is. In the "Underdark Travel Pace" table, for Slow movement, it also says there "Improved foraging"... but again, doesn't say what that means.

I saw no mention of a module in the OP.

That said, if the module has a difference from the core rulebooks, which it sounds like is the case in whatever module you are talking about, then either that module details the different rule or is simply mentioning something that the author thought the rules say that they don't and it wasn't caught in editing and proofing processes.

 

[ddaley]

I saw no mention of a module in the OP.

That said, if the module has a difference from the core rulebooks, which it sounds like is the case in whatever module you are talking about, then either that module details the different rule or is simply mentioning something that the author thought the rules say that they don't and it wasn't caught in editing and proofing processes.

Sorry... the Original OP was started in a thread relating to OotA... I was still working with that mindset. And, I agree... I think they missed this in editing or intended the DM to decide on what modification to use.

 

[ExploderWizard]

I think the question is, if you are foraging, what is the benefit to traveling at a slow pace instead of a normal pace. On page 18 of the module, it explicitly states "while a slow pace ... improves their chances of successful foraging for food and water." However, it doesn't say what this improved chance is. In the "Underdark Travel Pace" table, for Slow movement, it also says there "Improved foraging"... but again, doesn't say what that means.

Per the regular rules (I don't have the module) foraging works the same at a normal or slow pace. The benefits of a slow pace are for stealth purposes. I wouldn't have a problem giving advantage on the check to a party that was not moving and only foraging.

 

[Mistwell]

I'd give advantage to foraging at 0 or slow pace. That, or I'd increase the amount foraged with a successful check. I might even do both for a zero pace.

 

[iserith]

What is the benefit of travelling at a slow pace as regards foraging (compared to travelling at a normal pace)?

In the absence of fictional context, there is no benefit. When you consider the specific environment, exceptions may apply e.g. zero or reduced chance of successfully foraging in a desert or the Underdark when traveling at a normal pace.

Furthermore, I can't find any rules at all for how much you forage if you don't travel at all (in the "get from A to B" sense; obviously you the hunter will be running around a lot throughout the day).

Any suggestions on house rules for if (=when) the ranger PC states she will spend an entire day solely focussed on foraging?

I would suggest you just make that an automatic success, barring an environment where that doesn't make sense. If you really want to make a Wisdom (Survival) check, however - and as a player, I'd definitely prefer automatic success to rolling - then make the stakes something like: (Success) "You find enough food for the party and then some..." or (Failure) "You find enough food for the party and then some, but it's guarded by [Monster]..."

 

[CapnZapp]

There is no adjustment to foraging made for pace adjustment because the priority placed on gathering food is not inherently altered by change in pace

Sorry if this doesn't add to the discussion but I'm in love with this sentence